Search results for "our"
| Artist |
Album |
Format |
Label & Cat. Number |
Year |
Price (incl. 19% VAT) |
|
| 1000SCHOEN |
Moune |
CD |
Nitkie patch four |
2010 |
€13.00 |
 |
| A SILVER MOUNT ZION |
This is our Punk Rock |
CD |
Constellation Records CST027 |
2003 |
€16.00 |
|
| A.G. (AGHIS GIANNOULIS) |
Colours in Black & White : 2017-2018 |
DVD |
Aghis Giannoulis self relased? |
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| AEOGA |
Triangle of Nebula-Devourers & Palace for Vultunales |
CD |
Aural Hypnox - Stellar Mansion Series [AHSM08] |
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| AKIYAMA, MITCHELL |
Small Explosions that are yours to keep |
CD |
Sub Rosa SR238 |
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
| ALGOL |
All these Worlds are yours |
CD |
Ksenza Records / Infinite Fog Prod. KSZ 015 |
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| ANKERSMIT, THOMAS / JIM O'ROURKE |
split |
LP |
Tochnit Aleph 054 |
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
| APOLOGIST |
We're on Vapour Cougar |
CD-R |
Essentia Mundi EM014 |
2010 |
€8.50 |
|
| ARBEIT / BEAUCHAMP / PALUMBO |
Torino 012010 |
do-CD |
Tourette Records 022 |
2011 |
€16.00 |
|
| ART ZOYD |
Musique pour l'Odyssee |
LP |
Sub Rosa SRV364 |
2013 |
€20.00 |
|
| ARTAUD, ANTONIN |
Pour en finir ave le Jugement de Dieu |
LP |
Fantome Phonographique OME1006 |
2017 |
€18.50 |
|
| BAKER, AIDAN |
The taste of Summer on your Skin |
mCD-R |
Taalem alm 15 |
2004 |
€5.00 |
|
| BARDOSENETICCUBE |
Blood of Green Colour |
CD-R |
Blade Records wmda065 |
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
| BATES, MARTYN |
Your jewled Footsteps |
CD |
Sub Rosa SR257 |
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Fireworks & Jewels / The Colour of Amber |
CD |
Ambivalent Scale Records ASR 053 |
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| BECUZZI, GIANLUCA |
Faraway from Light |
CD |
Luca Sia 014 / Show Me Your Wounds Prod. |
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| BEEQUEEN |
Winter |
LP |
A COLOURFUL STORM -029 |
2020 |
€21.50 |
|
| BELLUCCI, ANDREA / MATTEO UGGERI |
The Soundtrack of your Secrets |
CD |
Silentes / 13 - sps2250 |
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| BIANCHI, MAURIZIO (M.B.) |
Dead Colours |
CD-R |
Silentes cdr 20050906 |
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Dead Colours |
CD |
Silentes minimal editions SME0717 |
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
|
YNOHPMYS (special ed.) |
CD |
Tourette Records 013* |
2010 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
YNOHPMYS |
CD |
Tourette Records 013 |
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| BIG CITY ORCHESTRA |
The Beatlerape (Sound effects library Volume four) |
CD |
Staalplaat STBCO |
0000 |
€13.00 |
|
| BJÖRGULFSSON, HEIMIR & JONAS OHLSSON |
Fur Your Bears Only |
CD |
Bottrop-Boy B-BOY 016 |
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| BLACK SUN PRODUCTIONS & VAL DENHAM |
Somewhere between Desire and Despair |
CD |
Tourette Records 010 |
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| BLACKHUMOUR |
Selected Pieces |
CD |
Noise Below |
2014 |
€10.00 |
|
| BOKANOWSKI, MICHELE |
Pour un Pianiste |
maxi-CD |
Trace Recordings TRACE 021 |
2005 |
€9.00 |
|
| |
Musique de Courts Metrages |
do-CD |
Invsibilia Editions |
2021 |
€18.00 |
|
| BORISOV, ALEXEI + K.K.NULL |
Xenoglossia |
CD |
Insofar Vapour Bulk Records IVBCD 11 |
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| BOURBONESE QUALK |
Hope |
CD |
Klanggalerie gg317 |
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Preparing for Power |
CD |
Klanggalerie gg335 |
2021 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Bourbonese Qualk |
CD |
Klanggalerie gg414 |
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| BRAND, STEVE & JONATHAN BENHAM |
One hour as the one who watches |
CD-R |
Blade Records wmda064 |
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| BRUME / OUBLIER ET MOURIR |
A Year to live |
LP |
Silken Tofu stx.24 |
2012 |
€17.50 |
|
| CARTER TUTTI |
Feral Vapours of the Silver Ether |
LP |
Conspiracy International CTIFVOTSE22 |
2023 |
€30.50 |
|
| CASCONE, KIM / ANDREY KIRITCHENKO / ANDREAS BERTHLING / KOTRA |
Fourfold Symmetry |
CD-R |
Nexsound Records ns08 |
2002 |
€10.00 |
|
| CELER |
Discourses of the Withered |
CD |
Infraction INFX 028 |
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
| CHION, MICHEL / LIONEL MARCHETTI / JEROME NOETINGER |
Les 120 Jours |
do-CD |
Fringes archive 03 |
2003 |
€15.00 |
|
| CHORA(S)SAN TIME-COURT MIRAGE (=CATHERINE CHRISTER HENNIX) |
Live at the Grimm Museum |
CD |
Important Records IMPREC342 |
2012 |
€17.50 |
|
| |
Blues Alif Lam Mim |
do-LP |
Blank Forms BF-012 |
2021 |
€37.50 |
|
| CHRYSTAL BELLE SCRODD |
Belle de Jour |
CD |
Klanggalerie gg102 |
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
| CINDYTALK |
Silver |
7inch |
Tourette Records tourette 023 |
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
touchedRAWKISSEDsour |
CD |
Handmade Birds HB-069 |
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| COIL |
Theme from the Gay Man's Guide to Safer Sex |
LP |
Musique Pour La Danse MPD018 |
2019 |
€22.50 |
|
|
Theme from the Gay Man's Guide to Safer Sex |
CD |
Musique Pour La Danse MPD018CD |
2019 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Love's Secret Domain (colour in colour) |
LP |
Kontakt Audio - AKT04LPcol |
2022 |
€39.00 |
|
|
The New Backwards (colour in colour) |
LP |
Kontakt Audio AKT11LP |
2022 |
€39.00 |
|
|
Moon's Milk (in four phases) |
3 x LP BOX |
DAIS Records - DAIS188 |
2024 |
€59.50 |
|
| |
Moon's Milk (in four phases) |
do-CD |
DAIS Records - DAIS188CD |
2024 |
€20.00 |
|
| COURTIS / MARHAUG |
North and South Neutrino |
CD |
Antifrost AFRO 2021 |
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| COURTIS / WEHOWSKY |
Return of the Stone Spirits |
CD |
Beta-Lactam Ring Records mt139 / BLACK SERIES NEGRO 3 |
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
| COURTIS, ANLA |
Eating an estufa |
CD-R |
oo(oo)oo |
2004 |
€8.00 |
|
|
Greatest Hits |
CD-R |
Lonely Whistle Music |
0000 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Antiguos Dolmenes del Paleolitico |
CD |
Sedimental sedcd042 |
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Tape Works |
CD |
Pogus Productions P21040-2 |
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Tribute to Calcium |
7" |
Tonschacht 019 |
2004 |
€6.00 |
|
| COURTIS_MATSUNAGA |
same |
CD |
Kokelo / Prele prl001 |
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| CRAWL UNIT |
 Tucson, Mon Amour (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
Drone Records DR-28 |
1998 |
€6.00 |
|
| CURRENT 93 |
The Moons at your Door |
CD |
The Spheres THE SPHERES NINETEEN |
2016 |
€17.50 |
|
|
Invocations of Almost |
CD |
The Spheres twentyfour |
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Invocations of Almost |
LP |
The Spheres twentyfour |
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
If a City is set upon a Hill [coloured vinyl] |
LP |
House of Mythology / HomAleph HOMx 5 |
2022 |
€37.50 |
|
| CUSACK, PETER |
Favourite Berlin Sounds |
CD |
ReR MegaCorp ReRPC5 |
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
| D.D.A.A. (DEFICIT DES ANNEES ANTERIEURS) // DDAA |
Pourriture Cubique |
CD |
Klanggalerie gg163 |
2012 |
€14.50 |
|
| D.D.A.A. / LE COMMISSAIRE HJULER ET LA MAMAN OURSE |
Une Voiture Banalisee |
LP |
Psych.KG 493 / Fluxus +/- series |
2019 |
€28.00 |
|
| DAO + COH |
Dzerzhinsk-9 |
LP |
Tourette Records 011 |
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
| DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE / ANLA COURTIS |
Squenun |
CD |
Ferns Recordings stem_07 |
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
| DE WAARD, FRANS |
Courriere |
CD |
Mystery Sea MS78 |
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| DEAD VOICES ON AIR |
The Light of June drowned Flowers in your Mouth |
LP |
Brudenia B231 |
2009 |
€23.50 |
|
| DEAD VOICES ON AIR & SIMON FISHER TURNER |
MzMzLaLaLa |
7inch |
Tourette Records tourette 025 / DVOA 20 series No. 1 |
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| DEATHPROD |
Sow Your Gold in the White Foliated Earth |
LP |
Smalltown Supersound STS402LP |
2022 |
€26.50 |
|
| |
Sow Your Gold in the White Foliated Earth |
CD |
Smalltown Supersound STS402CD |
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| DEISON & LASSE MARHAUG |
33 Minutes of your Life |
maxi-CD |
Loud! - L!CD04 |
2003 |
€8.00 |
|
| DESACCORD MAJEUR |
La Coulour Odorante |
CD-R |
Kokeshidisk kodi 6 |
2006 |
€9.00 |
|
| |
La Lumiere des Jours |
CD |
Taalem - alm144 |
2023 |
€12.00 |
|
| DIMUZIO, THOMAS & ALAN COURTIS |
Monk Style or Scream |
LP |
Monotype Records monoLP026 |
2017 |
€18.00 |
|
| DINEL, KARBE |
MMXX-09: Ouroboros |
LP |
Matiere Memoire MMXX-09 |
2020 |
€23.00 |
|
| DRUMM, KEVIN |
Inexplicable Hours |
do-LP & CD |
Sonoris LP03 |
2018 |
€27.00 |
|
| DUNCAN, JOHN & C.M. VON HAUSSWOLFF |
Our Telluric Conversation |
CD |
23five Incorporated 23five 008 |
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| ELECTRIC SEWER AGE |
Moon's Milk (in four phases) (lim. clear vinyl) |
3 x LP BOX |
DAIS Records - DAIS188 |
2024 |
€63.50 |
|
| ELEH / TARA JANE O'NEILL |
Circle Four: 100 Gongs for Arieto / Medusa Smack |
LP |
Important Records IMPREC430 |
2015 |
€30.00 |
|
| ELLENDE |
Odyssey, A Sentimental Journey |
BOOK + 2 x 10inch |
Smeerlappen - SMEERLAP 2 |
2019 |
€38.00 |
|
| ELODIE (TIMO VAN LUIJK & ANDREW CHALK) |
Enteha |
LP |
A COLOURFUL STORM (AUSTRALIA):ACOLOUR 039 |
2022 |
€22.00 |
|
| ELOY, JEAN-CLAUDE |
Erkos / Galaxies (Chants pour l'autre Moitie du Ciel Part III & IV) |
do-CD |
Hors Territoires HT-17-18 |
2012 |
€22.00 |
|
| |
Butsumyôe / Sappho Hiketis (Chants pour l'autre Moitié du Ciel Part I & II) |
CD+BOOK |
Hors Territoires HT-16 |
2012 |
€22.50 |
|
| ELPH VS. COIL |
Worship the Glitch (coloured v.) |
do-LP |
DAIS Records DAIS 115* |
2018 |
€34.00 |
|
| EYELESS IN GAZA |
Mania Sour |
CD |
Ambivalent Scale Recordings ASR 049 |
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| FAGES, FERRAN |
A cavall entre dos cavalls |
CD |
Creative Sources Recordings CS019CD |
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| FEAR FALLS BURNING |
Woes of the desolate mourner |
7inch |
Tonefloat / Ikon tfi002 |
2006 |
€7.50 |
|
|
The Carnival of ourselves |
CD |
Tonefloat TF63 |
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Woes of the desolate Mourner |
CD |
Tonefloat TF83 |
2010 |
€10.00 |
|
| FENN O'BERG (FENNESZ / O'ROURKE / REHBERG) |
Magic & Return |
do-CD |
Editions Mego 3154 |
2009 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
In Stereo |
CD |
Editions Mego 103 |
2010 |
€13.50 |
|
| FERRARI, BRUNHILD |
Exterieur-Jour |
LP |
Streamline - STREAMLINE 1043 |
2024 |
€33.00 |
|
| FIND HOPE IN DARKNESS |
Locked so tightly in our Dreams |
CD |
Moving Furniture Reocrds MFR020 |
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| FJERNLYS |
Four (One unearthly Room) |
do-CD |
LOKI Foundation LOKI 63 |
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
| G*PARK |
Gour |
LP |
Tochnit Aleph TA119 |
2015 |
€18.50 |
|
| GILLIS, ANNE + XT |
Our's Bouture(s) |
CD |
Art Into Life - AIL 028 |
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| GNOME & SPYBEY |
At Willie's Place |
CD |
Tourette Records 017 |
2010 |
€10.00 |
|
| GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPOROR! [GYBE] |
Lift your skinny fists like antennas to heaven |
do-LP |
Constellation Records CST 012 |
2000 |
€26.00 |
|
| HAARVÖL + XOAN-XIL LOPEZ |
Unwritten Rules of a Ceaseless Journey |
CD |
Cronica 148 |
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| HATI VS. LAL |
The Journey like never before |
CD |
Requiem *31 |
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| HIJOKAIDAN |
Zouroku No Kibyou (40th Anniversary Edition) |
LP |
Urashima – UMA 164 |
2022 |
€24.00 |
|
| HOURGLASS DROPS |
Vapours |
do-CDR |
Idrone Park C 15 |
2009 |
€8.00 |
|
| HURTADO, MARC WITH VOMIR |
2011 |
do-CD |
Tourette Records Tourette 030art |
2013 |
€24.00 |
|
| ILLUSION OF SAFETY |
In Opposition to our Acceleration |
CD |
Die Stadt DS32 |
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
| INADE |
The Nine Colours of the Threshold |
CD |
Loki Foundation LOKI 68 |
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
The Nine Colours of the Threshold |
LP |
Loki Foundation LOKI 68 |
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| INFANT CYCLE |
Old Plus Four |
CD-R |
EE Tapes ET66 |
0000 |
€8.00 |
|
| JARL |
Amygdala Colours - Hemisphere Rotation |
CD |
Reverse Alignment RE-21 |
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Misophonia Colours |
CD |
Drone Records SYM:01 |
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Isolation Colours |
CD |
Zoharum - ZOHAR 302-2 |
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Isolation Colours |
MC |
Zoharum - ZOHAR 302-4 |
2023 |
€10.00 |
|
| JERMAN, JEPH |
Four Drivers |
CD |
Impulsy Stetoskopu IS025 |
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| KASSEL JAEGER & JIM O'ROURKE |
In Cobalt Aura Sleeps |
LP |
Editions Mego EMEGO 272 |
2020 |
€19.00 |
|
| KILLING JOKE |
Hosannas from the Basements of Hell (coloured deluxe vinyl) |
do-LP |
Cooking Vinyl COOKLP346DE |
2023 |
€28.00 |
|
| KIRCHENKAMPF & THE IMPLICIT ORDER |
M103 (a cosmic Peregrination in four parts) |
CD-R |
Cohort Records CRCD 106 |
1999 |
€9.00 |
|
| KLEISTWAHR |
This World is not my Home |
CD |
Fourth Dimension Records FDCD91 |
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
|
The Return |
CD |
Fourth Dimension Records FDCD94 |
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
|
This World is not my Home |
do-LP |
Fourth Dimension Records FD2LP115 |
2020 |
€23.00 |
|
|
Common Values |
CD |
Fourth Dimension Records FDCD139 |
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Do Not |
LP |
FOURTH DIMENSION FD130LP |
2022 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Mobility |
LP (single-sided) |
Fourth Dimension FDLP129 |
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
For the Lives Once Lived |
CD |
Fourth Dimension FD 149 |
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| KNEALE, CAMPBELL & ANLA COURTIS |
Several more Echos |
MC |
Impulsy Stetoskopu 038 |
2013 |
€8.00 |
|
| KONRAD KRAFT |
Nifbin Circle (coloured) |
LP |
Auf Abwegen aatp90 |
2023 |
€23.00 |
|
| LALI PUNA |
Our Inventions |
CD |
Morr Music 098 |
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Our Inventions |
LP |
Morr Music 098 |
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
| LEGENDARY PINK DOTS / KINKELAAR, FREEK |
Close your Eyes, you can be a Space Captain. The Legendary Pink Dots in the 1980s |
BOOK + CD |
Korm Plastics - ISBN 978 908 242 2948. |
2022 |
€28.50 |
|
| LEHNBERG |
Morgondröm |
MC |
Lamour Records lamour062kz |
2017 |
€7.00 |
|
| LILES, ANDREW |
In my father's house are many mansions |
CD |
Fourth Dimension FDCD68 |
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Monster Munch |
7inch |
Tourette Records 016 |
2010 |
€11.50 |
|
|
Muldjewangk, Morgawr & other Monsters |
CD |
Tourette Records tourette 021 |
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Fast Forward through Time (Illusion Four) |
LP |
United Dairies UD 19571969 |
2014 |
€18.00 |
|
| LLARKS |
Reflections |
MC |
Lamour Records lamour058kz |
2017 |
€7.00 |
|
| LOSCIL // LAWRENCE ENGLISH |
Colours Of Air |
CD |
Kranky - KRANK236CD |
2022 |
€16.00 |
|
| MANDELBROT SET |
All our Actions are constantly... |
CD |
Highpointlowlif HPLL021 |
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| MANINKARI |
Phantasmes |
LP |
three:four records TFR020 |
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
L'Océan Rêve dans sa Loisiveté |
CD |
Three:Four Records TFR025 |
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| MARANHA, DAVID & HELENA ESPVALL |
Sombras Incendiadas |
LP |
Three:four Records TFR027 |
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
| MARIAE NASCENTI |
Raise your Paw to the Sky and break the truce |
CD |
Finalmuzik FM 07 |
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| MCFALL, CHRISTOPHER |
The Body as I left it |
CD |
Sourdine sd004 |
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| MENCHE, DANIEL |
Together we shall melt Mountains with our Blood |
CD |
Waystyx Records 13 |
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
| MENCHE, DANIEL & ANLA COURTIS |
Cuspa Llullu |
LP |
Moving Furniture Rec. MFR081 |
2020 |
€17.50 |
|
| MERZBOW / CARLOS GIFFONI / JIM O'ROURKE |
Electric Dress |
CD |
No Fun Productions NFP-15 |
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| MILTON, ANTONY & ANLA COURTIS |
Bronze Age Subway |
LP |
Ikuisuus IKU-033 / Gold Soundz [GS#106] |
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
| MODELBAU |
Four Squared Wheel |
CD |
Moving Furniture Records MFR029 |
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| MOMBI YULEMAN |
Hours Lost |
MC |
Zerok - ZK04 |
2022 |
€9.00 |
|
| MONTEIRO, ALFREDO COSTA & BEN OWEN |
Frêle À Vide |
CD-R |
Contour Editions ce.cd_0002 |
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| MOURMANSK 150 |
Zwischen Verfall und Veränderung / Between decadence and mutation |
CD |
L.White Records LW-012 |
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| MUNDY, GARY & ERALDO BERNOCCHI |
Broken Masses |
CD |
Fourth Dimension Records FDCD135 |
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| NEW BLOCKADERS / THE HATERS |
Zero is the Journey |
CD |
PsychForm Records PFR 03 |
2004 |
€13.50 |
|
| NEW BLOCKADERS / THURSTON MOORE / JIM O'ROURKE |
The Voloptulist |
maxi-CD |
Hospital Productions HOS144 |
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
The Voloptulist / 840 seconds over |
LP |
Ecstatic Peace! E#85b |
2007 |
€16.00 |
|
| NIBLOCK, PHILL |
Four Full Flutes |
CD |
Experimental Intermedia Foundation XI101 |
1990 |
€13.00 |
|
| NID |
Manga Myggor, Mycket Öl |
CD-R |
Petty Bourgeois Broadcasts SR500-13 |
2001 |
€7.00 |
|
| NOCTURNE |
Le Dernier Jour |
7inch / object cover |
Cold Lands CLAN#03 |
2004 |
€15.00 |
|
| NOISE RECEPTOR JOURNAL |
No. 5 |
mag |
Noise Receptor |
2017 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Issue No. 7 |
mag |
Noise Receptor |
2019 |
€11.00 |
|
|
Issue No. 8 |
mag |
Noise Receptor |
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Issue No. 9 (April 2021) |
mag |
Noise Receptor |
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Issue No. 10 (May 2022) |
mag |
Noise Receptor |
2022 |
€12.50 |
|
| |
Issue No. 11 (August 2023) |
mag |
Noise Receptor (Australia) |
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| O PARADIS |
Pequenas Canciones de Amor |
CD |
Tourette 005 |
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| O PARADIS / ESCAMA SERRADA |
La Corte del Rey Pescador / La Reina esta mala |
2 x CD |
Tourette Records 007/008 |
2009 |
€22.00 |
|
| O'MALLEY / PATERAS |
Sept Duos pour Guitare Acoustique & Piano prepare |
do-LP |
Shelter Press - SP146 |
2023 |
€30.50 |
|
| O'ROURKE, JIM |
Rules of Reduction |
mCD |
Metamkine MKCD009 |
1995 |
€4.00 |
|
|
I'm happy and I'm singing and a 1,2,3,4 |
CD |
Mego 050 |
2001 |
€10.00 |
|
|
The Visitor |
CD |
Drag City DC375CD |
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
|
To Magnetize Money and Catch a Roving Eye |
4 x CD BOX |
SONORIS SNS 016cd |
2019 |
€32.00 |
|
|
MMXX-07: In all due Deference |
LP |
Matiere Memoire MMXX-07 |
2020 |
€23.00 |
|
|
Too Compliment |
LP |
DDS 046 |
2021 |
€27.00 |
|
| |
Hands That Bind |
LP |
Drag City DC 839 |
2023 |
€27.50 |
|
| O'ROURKE, JIM & C.M.VON HAUSSWOLFF |
In, Demons, In! |
LP |
iDEAL Recordings iDEAL189 |
2019 |
€21.50 |
|
| OESTERGAARDS |
Rötterna |
MC |
Lamour Records lamour068kz |
2018 |
€7.00 |
|
| OLIVEROS, PAULINE |
Four Meditations / Sound Geometries |
CD |
Sub Rosa SR422 |
2016 |
€13.50 |
|
| ON (SYLVAIN CHAUVEAU & STEVEN HESS) |
Your naked Ghost comes back at Night |
CD |
Type Records |
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Your naked Ghost comes back at Night |
do-LP |
Type Records TYPE050V |
2009 |
€20.00 |
|
| OPION SOMNIUM |
As they fly into darkness, only black feathers remain to wipe away our tears (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
Drone Records DR-69 |
2004 |
€6.50 |
|
| ORSI, FABIO & VALERIO COSI |
We could for Hours |
CD |
A Silent Place ASP26 |
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| OUR LOVE WILL DESTROY THE WORLD |
Polished Glass Autobahn |
7 |
Dirty Knobby |
2009 |
€6.50 |
|
|
Fucking Dracula Clouds |
LP |
Blackest Rainbow Records BRR153LP |
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
|
I hate even Numbers |
LP |
Dekorder 047 |
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Beautiful Monolith two |
7" |
Quasi Pop QPOP REC05 |
2009 |
€6.50 |
|
| PALESTINE, CHARLEMAGNE |
Cathedrale de Strasbourg |
do-LP |
Erratum EM10 |
2016 |
€33.50 |
|
| PHARMAKON |
Devour |
LP |
Sacred Bones SBR-226 |
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Devour |
CD |
Sacred Bones SBR-226 |
2019 |
€14.00 |
|
| PHILLIPS, DAVE |
Should A Seeker Not Find A Companion Who Is Better Or Equal, Let Him Resolutely Pursue A Solitary Course; There Is No Fellowship With The Fool / Cicada Trance |
do-CD |
NO PART OF IT |
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| PRESTON, JOE & DANIEL MENCHE |
Cerberic Doxology |
LP |
Discourage Records 006 |
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| PRIME / PREVOST / O'ROURKE |
Alpha Lemur echo two |
CD |
Mycophile Records SPOR 05 |
2001 |
€13.50 |
|
| R.O.T. |
Ceci n'est plus avioth / ils chantent pour vous |
LP |
Morc Tapes Morc47 |
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| RAMLEH |
It's never alright |
7inch |
Fourth Dimension Records FDS120 |
2019 |
€8.00 |
|
| RAPOON |
Ten Four: Centred Horizons (lim. blue vinyl) |
LP |
Winter-Light WIN 047LP* |
2022 |
€28.50 |
|
| |
Ten Four: Centred Horizons |
CD |
Winter-Light WIN 047 |
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| RAPOON + PACIFIC 231 |
Tour de Force |
CD |
Alone at Last AAL[6] |
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| RATKJE, MAJA S. |
Crepuscular Hour |
do-LP / DVD / CD |
Rune Grammofon RLP 2181 |
2016 |
€34.00 |
|
| |
Crepuscular Hour |
CD + DVD |
Rune Grammofon RCD2181 |
2016 |
€19.50 |
|
| RATSIMANDRESY, NADIA / MATTEO RAMON AREVALOS |
Messiaen et autour de Messiaen for Onde Martenot and Piano |
CD |
ReR Megacorp ReR OM1 |
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| RE-DRUM |
Four whispers for the bees |
CD-R |
Umbra 041 |
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
| REFORMED FACTION |
I am the Source of Light, I am not a Mirror |
3 x CD-box |
Soleilmoon Recordings SOL 165CD |
2009 |
€44.00 |
|
| |
Save our Ghohsts Volume II |
CD |
:retortae: elixier 2 |
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
| REICH, STEVE |
Four Organs / Phase Patterns |
LP |
Aguirre Records SSH02 |
2016 |
€22.50 |
|
| REICH, STEVE / ENSEMBLE AVANTGARDE |
Four Organs / Phase Patterns / Pendulum |
LP |
Karlrecords KR26 |
2014 |
€17.50 |
|
| RETARDER |
Enquiries |
CD |
Tourette Records 006 |
2009 |
€6.00 |
|
| REUTOFF |
The fourth face |
10inch |
HauRuck HR27 |
2002 |
€12.00 |
|
| RIEK, LASSE-MARC |
Harbour |
CD |
Herbal International Concrete Disc 1002 |
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
| RLW |
Contours Imaginaires |
10inch |
Substantia Innominata SUB-06 |
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| SAND |
North Atlantic Raven (lim. mix coloured vinyl) |
LP |
Rotorelief ROTOR0009 |
2014 |
€23.00 |
|
| SASHASH ULZ |
Chtenie |
CD |
Fourth Dimension Records FDCD79 |
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| SCHUMACHER, MICHAEL J. |
Four Stills |
CD |
Sedimental SEDCD 032 |
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
| SEASONS (PRE-DIN) |
Your Eyes The Stars and Your Hands The Sea |
CD-R |
Mystery Sea MS55 |
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Your Eyes The Stars and Your Hands The Sea |
LP |
Type Records TYPE061V |
2009 |
€16.50 |
|
| SHADOW MAGNET |
Source and Purity |
CD-R |
Avatar 09 |
2006 |
€9.50 |
|
| SHOEMAKER, MATT |
Isolated Agent Stranding Behaviour |
pic-LP |
Elevator Bath eeaoa031 |
2010 |
€17.50 |
|
| SIDHARTA, OTTO |
Four Indonesian Electronic Pieces 1979-1984 |
LP |
Sub Rosa SRV452 |
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
| SILVERMAN |
Blank for your own Message |
CD |
Beta-Lactam Ring Records mt208 |
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
| SION ORGON |
Into the Dark |
7inch |
Fourth Dimension Records FDS82 |
2012 |
€8.00 |
|
| SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE / (R) |
Shivers |
7inch |
Tourette Records Tourette 029 |
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| SLIM VIC |
Personliga Artiklar |
LP |
Lamour Records lamour050vin |
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
| SMALL CRUEL PARTY |
Ancien des Jours |
7inch |
Adi Grand AG01 |
2023 |
€12.00 |
|
| SMITH, CHAS |
An Hour Out of Desert Center |
CD |
Cold Blue Music CB0013 |
2003 |
€14.00 |
|
| SMOLDERS, IOS & JIM O'ROURKE |
Additive Inverse |
CD |
Moving Furniture Records MFR091 |
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| SMOOTH QUALITY EXCREMENT |
Destroy our planet, please Vol. 2 |
CD-R |
Discorporeality Recordings |
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| SMOOTH QUALITY INSTRUMENT |
Destroy our planet, please Vol. 1 |
CD-R |
Audio Odditions # 8 |
2001 |
€10.00 |
|
| SONIC YOUTH / JIM O'ROURKE |
Invito al Cielo |
LP |
Sonic Youth Records SYR3 |
1998 |
€15.00 |
|
| STELZER, HOWARD / JASON TALBOT |
Four Sides |
do-7 |
Crippled Intellect Productions CIP 12 |
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| STOREY, ROBIN & DEAD VOICES ON AIR |
With an Ear and a Why |
7inch |
Tourette Records tourette 027 / DVOA 20 series No. 3 |
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| SUBTERRANEAN SOURCE |
Ellipsis |
CD |
Winter-Light WIN 037 |
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| SUDDEN INFANT |
Lunatic Asylum |
CD |
Fourth Dimension Records FDCD138 |
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| SUNN O))) |
METTA, BENEVOLENCE, BBC6 MUSIC (coloured vinyl) |
do-LP |
Southern Lord SUNN400 |
2022 |
€36.00 |
|
| SUTCLIFFE JUGEND / SATORI |
Japan Tour split |
CD |
Cold Spring Records CSR83CD |
2007 |
€15.50 |
|
| SYBARITE |
Dolourous Echo |
7inch |
Brainwashed BRAIN 005 |
2005 |
€6.00 |
|
| TABATA (TABATA MITSURU - BOREDOMS) |
Mankind Spree |
CD |
Fourth Dimension Records FDCD75 |
2010 |
€9.00 |
|
| TALVIHORROS |
Music in four Movements |
LP |
Denovali Records DEN142 |
2012 |
€20.00 |
|
| TAPE MEASURE KID [N + JIM CAMPBELL] |
Ours is a Stubborn Monster |
LP + CD |
Denoval Records - DEN 158 |
2013 |
€32.00 |
|
| TAPHEPHOBIA |
Blue Hour |
CD |
Cyclic Law - 151st Cycle |
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| TARAB |
Take all the Ships from the Harbour, and sail them straight to Hell |
CD |
23five Incorporated 23five 014 |
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| TEMPLE MUSIC |
Soon you will die and your lives will have been as nothing |
CD |
Silken Tofu stx.13 |
2010 |
€6.00 |
|
| TERUGGI, DANIEL |
The Four Seasons |
CD |
Megadiscs Classics MDC 7868 |
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| THE ONE ENSEMBLE OF DANIEL PADDEN |
Wayward the Fourth |
LP |
Daffodelic Records 702 |
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| THE PICKLE FACTORY |
Our Anthems |
LP |
Twisted Knister knack 003 |
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| THE RITA |
Journey of the K-Verband |
7inch |
4iB Records 4iB 7 |
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| THE THRESHOLD HOUSEBOYS CHOIR |
Form Grows Rampant |
2 x 12inch |
Musique Pour La Danse MPD 034 |
2022 |
€30.00 |
|
| |
Form Grows Rampant |
CD |
Musique Pour La Danse MPD 034 |
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| THEE SILVER MT. ZION MEMORIAL ORCHESTRA |
Fuck off get free we pour Light on everything |
LP |
Constellation CST099 |
2014 |
€21.00 |
|
| |
Fuck off get free we pour Light on everything |
CD |
Constellation CST099 |
2014 |
€14.50 |
|
| THEME |
Our Angels dislocated |
CD |
Lumberton Trading Company LUMB 003 |
2006 |
€13.50 |
|
| |
Sacral Blood Warning |
CD |
Fourth Dimension Records FDCD116 |
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
| THROBBING GRISTLE |
Journey Through a Body |
LP |
Mute TGLP8 |
2018 |
€26.00 |
|
| TICKLISH |
Here are your new Instructions |
CD |
Textile Records TCD5 |
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
| TOMKINS, KEVIN |
Her Favourite Distance Was That Between A Cough... |
CD |
Klanggalerie gg459 |
2023 |
€15.00 |
|
| TONE COLOUR |
Today will die Tomorrow |
mCD-R |
Taalem alm96 |
2013 |
€5.00 |
|
| TONTON MACOUTE |
Mureedil |
LP |
Les Productions Flourescentes FLUOR001 |
2011 |
€19.50 |
|
| TREPANERINGSRITUALEN |
Yours is a Kingdom of Death |
CD |
Old Europa Cafe OECD 244 |
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Yours is a Kingdom of Death |
LP |
Old Europa Cafe OELP 022 |
2018 |
€23.00 |
|
| TRUE COLOUR OF BLOOD |
[absence] |
CD |
Eibon Records tru043/afe052 |
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Awakend to never sleep again |
CD-R |
Soulworm Editions WORM XVI |
2001 |
€10.00 |
|
| UGGERI, MATTEO & MOURNING DOVE |
Does the Moon not Dream |
CD |
ADN (Alma De Nieto) - DNN 026 C |
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| UP-TIGHT |
The Night is yours |
CD |
Essence Music ESS020 |
2014 |
€15.50 |
|
| UTON |
The Source has its rare Beauty |
MC |
Outlier Communications OCOMM4 |
2022 |
€9.00 |
|
| V.A. (VARIOUS ARTISTS) (COMPILATIONS) |
33 rpm : Ten Hours of Sound from France |
CD |
23five Incorporated and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 23F/SFM 903 |
2003 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Four Studies for a Human Portrait : Tribute to Francis Bacon |
CD |
Vital Records Vital 002 |
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Roulette Russe pour un peu de Caviar |
CD |
Monochrome Vision (mv12) |
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
SOURCE RECORDS 1-6. Music of the Avant Garde, 1968-1971 |
3 x CD |
Pogus P21050-2 |
2009 |
€33.00 |
|
|
Million Ways to spend your Time |
CD |
Quasi Pop Records QPOP040 |
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Music of our time - Wergo Collection II |
CD |
Wergo WER 6600-2 |
1997 |
€7.50 |
|
|
SUBSTANTIA INNOMINATA STARTER SET : 10 SUBS (your choice) as SET |
10 x 10inch-SET |
Substantia Innominata SUBXXTEN |
2022 |
€105.00 |
|
|
TOTAL Volume One |
LP |
Parade Amoureuse PHOE 012 |
1991 |
€16.00 |
|
|
The Post Romantic Empire Album |
do-LP & 7inch |
Our Sweetest Songs OSS001 |
2013 |
€39.00 |
|
|
Your Reality is broken |
LP |
Black Rose Recordings BRV 17-1014 |
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Hour of the Wolf |
CD |
Freak Animal Records fa-cd-77 |
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
An Oblique Reference to Zeros |
do-CD |
Fourth Dimension Records FD2CD132 |
2022 |
€13.50 |
|
| VALANX |
Ouroboros |
CD |
Reverse Alignment RA-30 |
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| VAN HOORN, NILS |
Colours |
CD |
Soleilmoon SOL 128 |
2003 |
€12.50 |
|
| VAN LUIJK, TIMO & KRIS VANDERSTRAETEN |
Autour du Lac d'Asselt |
LP |
La Scie Doree SCIE 2822 |
2023 |
€23.00 |
|
| VAN VELDHOVEN, WOUTER |
Four simple Songs for five dead Bumblebees |
CD |
Eat This Media etm001 |
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
| VIDNA OBMANA & PBK |
Monument of Empty Colours + Depression and Ideal |
do-CD |
Zoharum - ZOHAR 275-2 |
2022 |
€16.00 |
|
| VON EULER-DONNERSPERG, DITTERICH |
Weisheit aus des Kindes Mund tut uns stets die Wahrheit kund |
LP |
A Colourful Storm - acolour034 |
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| VOUDOURIS, DIMITRI |
NPFAI.1/PALMOS/NPFAI.3/PRAXIS |
CD |
Pogus Productions P21043 |
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| WANKE, RICCARDO DILLON |
Cuts |
LP |
Three:four Records TFR028 |
2015 |
€19.50 |
|
| WATERCOLOURED WELL |
Arsonist's Rebirthday Audition |
CD |
Monochrome Vision (mv42) |
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| WE WAIT FOR THE SNOW |
Lullabies from our Dreams |
CD |
Finalmuzik FM09 |
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| WISHART, TREVOR |
Journey into space travelogue |
book |
Trevor Wishart |
1975 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Journey into Space |
CD |
Paradigm Discs PD18 |
2002 |
€15.00 |
|
| WOLF EYES / SKULL DEFEKTS |
Yes I am your Angel |
LP |
Fangbomb FB001 |
2006 |
€16.50 |
|
| WZT HEARTS |
Threads rope spell making your bone |
LP |
Hoss Records |
2007 |
€14.50 |
|
| ZEALLEY, ANDREW |
Themes & Variations |
LP |
Tourette Records 009 |
2009 |
€25.00 |
|
| ZSOLT SORES |
Astro-Noetic Chiasm (Ahad's Flux Worlds 2) |
LP |
Fourth Dimension Records FDLP136 |
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| [-HYPH-] |
Alter.Tenacio |
CD |
Tourette 004 |
2008 |
€13.50 |
|
"our" entries in albums descriptions
| Artist |
Album |
Format |
Description |
Year |
Price (incl. 19% VAT) |
|
| 1997EV |
Zeta Reticuli |
LP |
first LP release by 1997EV - very bleak "minimal post-psychedelia" and deranged songs based on sparse electronics, guitar chords and spoken words.... - ".. a long, dark, trance inducing ritual journey verging on astral bad trip. Spooky, spacey, percussion-driven and guitar-loaded ballads unfold.. " - lim. 315 copies
|
2010 |
€8.00 |
|
| 2:13PM |
Anus Dei |
CD |
newcomer from France doing dark gloomy / doomy ritualistic impro-ambience with esoteric connotations, using analog electronics & animal sounds (?) and many other vocal sources, low-fi & original.. think of AETHENOR, SYLVESTER ANFANG, HALO MANASH, etc... recommended, to discover!! lim .150 copies, silkscreen cover
|
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| AALFANG MIT PFERDEKOPF |
Mutatis Mutandis |
MC |
three long new tracks that are remixes of FREIBAND-source material = mysterious micro-drones & strange collages; MC-version limited to only 30 copies!!
|
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Mutatis Mutandis |
CD-R |
three long new tracks that are remixes of FREIBAND-source material = mysterious micro-drones & strange collages; CD-R version comes in transparent paper sleeve and plastic case
|
2012 |
€8.00 |
|
| AALFANG MIT PFERDEKOPF & DRONAEMENT |
Hermit Haven |
CD-R |
lovely obscure & experimental low-fi drone-ambience with weird folky passages, purely acoustic soundsources, field recordings; a bit crazy & beautiful at the same time; collaboration between two Drone Records artist who go unusual paths & develop a very own dimension of music; lim. 150 in DVD-box with three full-colour inlays
|
2010 |
€10.00 |
|
| AB INTRA |
Henosis I-V |
CD |
after the collab/split with 1000SCHOEN the Polish transcension ambience project is back with this work in five movements (Henosis = unity), this is multi-layered synth muzak carefully constructed for full waving efffect, at times reminding on old BAD SECTOR... "It comes across as a bunch of tormented church organs that over the course over several hundred years have been left outside in the acid rain and just recently have been dusted off to play some music again" [Frans de Waard]
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| ABBILDUNG |
The Midnight Aftermovie |
MC |
a special concept album for cineasts ("noir soundscapes") using lots of field recordings from movies and leading through different moods and atmospheres dedicated to certain directors or genres.. eight pieces inspired by: Transylvanian landscapes, Nosferatu and silent movies, Ingmar Bergman and the theater world, Asian Cinematography, Ridley Scott, Tarkowsky, David Lynch... a full C-90, copied on a 'recycled' cassette, full-colour cover, numbered ed. of 66 copies
|
2018 |
€8.00 |
|
| ABLINGER, PETER |
Regenstücke Vol. 2 |
LP |
four more pieces from PETER ABLINGERs 'Regenstücke' series (recorded / produced from 1997 to 2013 in Berlin, Graz, Linz (studio, live, installation), using field recordings intertwined with ensemble/orchestra music... "City noise, landscape sounds, rain drops, boosted with powerful instrumentation - simple and almost manifestly."
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| ABRAHAMS, CHRIS |
Memory Night |
CD |
the following solo-album to the great "Play Scar" by the NECKS-pianist, four ultra dense and innovative drone-based compositions mainly based on hardly recognizable instrumental sounds, very experimental and beautiful, our highest praise !!
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Fluid to the Influence |
LP |
CHRIS ABRAHAMS (pianist in NECKS) fourth solo album for ROOM40 (the label run by LAWRENCE ENGLISH), less 'droney' than on 'Memory Night' he creates here very playful, evocative tracks that are in steady tonal motion, divided into small sections of notes, operating with Jazz-, Drone- and pure sound elements... (based on piano, organ, electronics and concrete noises); masterful and unique stuff again !
|
2016 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Fluid to the Influence |
CD |
CHRIS ABRAHAMS (pianist in NECKS) fourth solo album for ROOM40 (the label run by LAWRENCE ENGLISH), less 'droney' than on 'Memory Night' he creates here very playful, evocative tracks that are in steady tonal motion, divided into small sections of notes, operating with Jazz-, Drone- and pure sound elements... (based on piano, organ, electronics and concrete noises); masterful and unique stuff again !
|
2016 |
€14.00 |
|
| AESTHETIC MEAT FRONT |
Essence of Rituals |
LP |
extracts from four live rituals by the body art performance group around LOUIS FLEISCHAUER, who use body sounds for the creation of their music, creating a shamanistic and cathartic experience live on stage: "For example the heartbeat of Louis Fleischauer during suffocation, brainwaves at the moment of piercing and thereafter, amplified springs that are connected to the skin via hooks, the ultrasonique sound of an embryo." - lim. 200 with gatefold art cover with many photos from the shows
|
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
| AETHENOR |
En Form For Bla |
do-LP |
fourth album, recorded at three live gigs in Oslo 2010; lim. white vinyl-version with sleeve-design by STEPHEN O'MALLEY
|
2011 |
€21.00 |
|
| AF URSIN |
Aura Legato |
CD |
re-issue of AF URSINs second LP from 2005, for the first time on CD! => the four delicately woven, mainly handplayed drone muzak pieces contain piano slices, smooth vocalizations, harmonium & zither (?) sounds, lightweight percussion and bass-textures and levitated analogue electronics, everything arranged in a very sensitive way... a real gem!
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Aura Legato |
LP |
re-issue of AF URSINs second LP from 2005 => the four delicately woven, mainly handplayed drone muzak pieces contain piano slices, smooth vocalizations, harmonium & zither (?) sounds, lightweight percussion and bass-textures and levitated analogue electronics, everything arranged in a very sensitive way... a real gem! Comes with a cover replica of the great 1st ed. cover (gold print on black, die-cut sleeve and hand-glued labels)
|
2016 |
€26.00 |
|
| AFFLUX |
Bordeaux TNT |
CD |
AFFLUX = ERIC LA CASA / JEAN-LUC GUIONNET / ERIC CORDIER excerpts from 6 hour live performance / installation 12/02/00 |
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| AHTI, MARJA & JUDITH HAMANN |
A coincidence is perfect, intimate attunement |
LP |
"What are we opening ourselves to when we tune in to sound?" - Scandinavian soundartist MARJA AHTI (field rec & electronics) in collaboration with Australian Cellist JUDITH HAMANN, created over a period of 2 years: *an intuitive, lyrical longform piece that considers the idea of attunement itself as, in some sense, the smallest form of measure or denominator connecting their respective practices: across field recording, just intonation, electronic sonorities and instrumental bodies* - lim. 300
|
2022 |
€24.50 |
|
| AKATOMBO |
Sometime, never |
CD |
fourth album by the "Industrial dub" project from Scotland/Japan with their doomy version of hypnotic bass driven beat electronica, so slow & heavy, this really sucks you in .. if you like SCORN or dubby MUSLIMGAUZE, ESPLENDOR GEOMETRICO or TECHNO ANIMAL this is a must to check out !! .. ."A sort of dubbed out downtempo dance music that’s not so much for dancing, but lurking, hanging out in the shadows, in empty clubs in empty cities.." [Aquarius Rec.]
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| AKSAK MABOUL |
Charles F. Bleistift |
7inch |
a limited 7" with four otherwise unavailable reworks from the "Figures" album, the first album in decades by the charming experimental / electronic POP band with a certain jazz appeal, from Belgium, with the unresistable French vocals by VERONIQUE VINCENT... ed. of 500 copies / RSD release" - "...jumps from the craziest experimentations to irresistible pop songs, with joyful ease" [Les Inrockuptibles, FR]
|
2020 |
€10.00 |
|
| ALDINUCCI, GIULIO & THE STAR PILLOW |
Hidden |
CD |
Italian ambient collaboration by two rising acts from the scene (ALDINUCCI is especially known for his praised "Borders and Ruins" album on Karlrecords)... " A very intense, intimate, minimal and mindblowing four track album, focusing on field recordings, electronic sounds and guitar drones. The mixture of those ingredients brings something very beautiful to life..." lim. 200 only !
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| ALIO DIE |
The way of fire (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
sec. ed. 300 copies / blue vinyl w. yellow-red spots / full-colour printed covers |
2002 |
€6.00 |
|
|
Deconsecrated and Pure |
CD |
ALIO DIE further continues his "medieval ambient" direction, using beautiful vocal pieces by the Venetian 16th Century Renaissance composer CLAUDIO MERULO as source material => completely ethereal & suspended sacral music, full of solacing harmonies...
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Imaginal Symmetry |
CD |
four long tracks (77 min.) including the epic title-track, creating an extremely full and wide aural space (never sounded STEFANO MUSSO's zither so symphonic), often reaching a choral like beauty and sublimeness... feat. LINGUA FUNGI and AGLAIA (kantele, organ, electronics, effects), recorded in Oulu (Finland) and Tuscany 2011-2015; lim. 300
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
An Unfathomable Convergence |
CD |
studio recordings made 2011-2015 in Oulu, Finland and Italy, feat. AGLAIA, LINGUA FUNGI and ENTEN HITTI... two long tracks, sonorous yet lush hallucinogenic dream drones..."when Alio Die produces sound, any sound, a masterful amalgam of stories led by a watershed of powerful emotions is the result. Here I feel as though peacefully drifting in a haunting, yet dreamy atmosphere, provoked by mysterious sounds of past lives in a place never visited." [Brian Bourassa]
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| ALIO DIE & AGLAIA |
Opera Magnetica |
CD |
our favourite new HSL release is this ALIO DIE & AGLAIA collaboration, 72 min. of very mysterious, psychonautic deep ambience where everything seems to be dissolved and re-assembled again in cycling consciousness waves, these are highly trance-inducing dream & drug drones, for us the pendant to the genius "PASSWORD FOR ENTHEOGENIC EXPERIENCE"; lim. 300, beautiful full colour 6 panel digipak
|
2017 |
€15.00 |
|
| ALIO DIE & MARIOLINA ZITTA |
La Sala dei Cristalli |
CD |
MARIOLINA ZITTAs site-recordings made in different caves in Sardinia from stones, stalactites, bats, flutes were later processed by ALIO DIE for a very organic & psychogeographic sound-journey..
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
| ALIO DIE & ZEIT |
A Circular Quest |
CD |
STEFANO MUSSO (ALIO DIE) and TOMMASO CIMO create 'circulating' drones again, on their fourth collaboration album; extremely meditative sacral ambience for full self-absorption, timeless & extremely subtle.... 5 tracks, 61+ minutes playtime
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| ALONE |
Fossilized In Concrete (1995-2006) |
LP |
first LP release for this Avant-Pop project from Belgrade, collecting material from 12 years.- "Definitely pop but never easy, futurist and neo-romantic at times, ALONE’s music remains through the years as unfamiliar and utterly compelling as the post-apocalyptic landscapes it tells us about.." - lim. 318 copies on crystal clear vinyl with fold out full colour insert
|
2009 |
€8.00 |
|
| ALTIERI, CORRADO / GIANLUCA FAVARON |
Decomposed Days |
CD |
dense 'industrialized' ambience, underneath booming & hissing, creaking sounds, mechanical loops and atmosphere... . strong second collab of these two fresh Italian experimental / electronic artist after "The System of Objects", with reference to imaginary & existing movies (PETER GREENAWAY); their collaboration reveals layers of various sounds, arranged in a suspenseful way; comes in satin-finished colour cardboard sleeve
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| ALUVIANA |
Tonicna Negibnost |
CD |
second full length album by this very promising experimental ambience project from Slovenia => non-usual dark atmospherics with a "deranged" and surealistic note with many breaks & surprises.. . (think of IRR.APP.(ext.), etc..=) lim. 200 - handpainted covers, really nice & unique each one (full colour)
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| ALVA NOTO |
Xerrox Vol. 4 |
do-LP |
"TRANSIT EXTRASOLAR TERRITORIES AND INNER WORLDS" - the fourth part in the series (using 'copying' / digital replication as basic idea), much more ambient and warm organic / harmonic as before.. " Xerrox Vol.4 is an album worth listening to on numerous continuous repeats, and if you prefer, you can lie down and turn off the lights. And as you float out of these outer worlds and through your inner, I hope to see you on the other side." [Headphone Commute] - comes w. gatefold cover
|
2020 |
€23.00 |
|
|
Xerrox Vol. 4 |
CD |
"TRANSIT EXTRASOLAR TERRITORIES AND INNER WORLDS" - the fourth part in the series (using 'copying' / digital replication as basic idea), much more ambient and warm organic / harmonic as before.. " Xerrox Vol.4 is an album worth listening to on numerous continuous repeats, and if you prefer, you can lie down and turn off the lights. And as you float out of these outer worlds and through your inner, I hope to see you on the other side." [Headphone Commute] - special oversized cover
|
2020 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Kinder der Sonne |
do-LP |
very ambient + romantic soundtrack to the theater piece "Komplizen" by SIMON STONE, the title is inspired by MAXIM GORKY's play "Children of the Sun"... - *takes the listener into a sonic journey of emotional tension and release, revealing a particular kind of sci-fi lust fused with a suite of modern, minimalist ambient classical...* - lim. vinyl version comes in gatefold cover, on black vinyl
|
2023 |
€27.50 |
|
| |
Kinder der Sonne |
CD |
very ambient + romantic soundtrack to the theater piece "Komplizen" by SIMON STONE, the title is inspired by MAXIM GORKY's play "Children of the Sun"... - *takes the listener into a sonic journey of emotional tension and release, revealing a particular kind of sci-fi lust fused with a suite of modern, minimalist ambient classical...* - comes w. oversized 8-panel foldout cover
|
2023 |
€17.50 |
|
| AMBARCHI, OREN |
Destinationless Desire |
7" |
full-colour cover, lim. 500
|
2008 |
€7.50 |
|
| AMENRA / CAVE IN / MARISSA NADLER |
Songs of Townes van Zandt Vol. III |
LP |
a deeply emotional compilation with cover versions of TOWNES VAN ZANDT songs, the dark / desparate US American folk singer... each artist has 3 tracks, the "atmospheric sludge metal" band from Belgium AMENRA shows their most melancholic and sensitive side... limited colour vinyl ed.
|
2022 |
€25.00 |
|
| AMINI, SIAVASH |
TAR |
LP |
discovery from Iran on the Swiss label with 4 excellent experimental / ethereal drone-tracks, sharing a great spatial quality and quite massive electronic / granular sounds, with classical string instruments as sound sources, powerful and sublime at the same time... highly recommended! "This is Music to get lost in" [THE WIRE]
|
2017 |
€21.50 |
|
|
Serus |
LP |
third LP for this rising and favoured 'experimental / orchestral ambient drone' artist from Teheran / Iran, inspired by the "other night" conception of MAURICE BLANCHOT, focusing on the special consciousness state between sleep, dream and being awake ("body and mind in an in-between state")... - the album gets life and (e)motion from this contradiction, mirroring the interchange of somber moods with moments of harmony and relief, totally suspended in the nocturnal dark.. comes with DL code
|
2019 |
€26.00 |
|
|
A Mimesis of Nothingness |
LP |
already the fourth album on H.G. for this high-class "exp.-drone" artist from Tehran, transfering the photographs from NOOSHIN SHAFIEE into six stunning sound pictures.."..führt sein Publikum in ein Teheran, durch dessen Häuserschluchten und Alleen, über dessen weite Plätze, Parks, Fabrikgelände und Ruinen ein eisiger Wind weht, ein Wind, der Hagelklötze und Staub und Erinnerungen transportiert und all dies sprunghaft in die unterschiedlichsten Richtungen weht" [African Paper] + 8p booklet, on white vinyl
|
2020 |
€22.00 |
|
| |
A Trail Of Laughters |
CD |
four new elobrated tracks of visionary drama-ambience based on a series of recurring "lost in a maze of pits" - dreams, strangely co-incidencing with a story from "The Book of Marvels" from the 12th century => "oneiric, hallucinatory, dense, ominous, soundscapes from a new entry in my collection. A distant, subterranean, hazy feeling of middle-eastern ghosts in desolate and windy sandscapes" [Giuseppe Frigeni]
|
2021 |
€15.50 |
|
| AMON |
Aura |
7inch |
first vinyl release from the Italian project, few copies available again! "..with the minimal, but effective dark ambient soundstructures on this first AMON-vinyl the listener is taken to a journey into the archaic heart of darkness. 1000 miles away, calming and alien." - 300 copies on orange-grey-yellow vinyl (2nd ed.)
|
2002 |
€7.00 |
|
|
Aura (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
clear vinyl, gloomy handcoloured covers in green & black, edition of 250 numbered copie
|
1998 |
€ |
|
| |
El Khela Al'Akhdar |
do-CD |
when this CD appeared in 1996 it seemed it could become a dark ambient milestone like some works of LUSTMORD or YEN POX, though Drone Rec. artists AMON ("Aura" 7"/DR-29/ 1998) sounds much more subtle and ghostly,- "with the minimal, but effective dark ambient soundstructures the listener is taken to a journey into the archaic heart of darkness. 1000 miles away, calming and alien"; this well deserved re-issue comes with a full bonus CD of rare material 1996-2004, including the Drone EP!!
|
2016 |
€16.00 |
|
| ANEMONE TUBE |
Golden Temple |
CD |
third part in the "suicide series" (that started with 'Dream Landscapes'), merging field recordings from Japan and China with electronics and feedback; a thoughtful work analysing todays consumerism and capitalistic 'landscapes' and the alienation from our archaic and mythological heritage... strongly influenced by PASOLINI's "Medea", harsh and destructive industrial soundscapes are the main component of this ambitious work... luxurious artwork + 12p. booklet
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
In the Vortex of Dionysian Reality |
CD |
expanded re-issue and re-working of a cassette project from 2015 (contains now four new bonus tracks feat. PACIFIC 231, POST SCRIPTVM and MONOCUBE!) with a strong relation to NIETZSCHE's philosophy of the Dionysian, a wall of sound oscillating between expressive distortion and melancholic beauty, a melodramatic maelstrom of noise.....music seen as the primordial form of expression! lim. 200
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS |
Swanlights |
CD |
fourth album feat. BJÖRK
|
2010 |
€16.50 |
|
| AOYAMA, MICHIRU |
Wetlands |
mCD-R |
the latest batch of releases on TAALEM (alm116-119) is entirely dedicated to Japanese artist, which are usually a bit underrepresented in our catalogue: MICHIRU AOYAMA presents 5 tracks (23 min.) of amorphous digital ambience with waving harmonics inside, and glitchy repetitive elements shining through at times, reminding on TIM HECKER for example.. very nice !
|
2017 |
€5.00 |
|
| AQUA DORSA |
The November Earth |
CD |
AQUA DORSA is the project of OÖPHOI & ENRICO CONIGLIO, with recordings finalized in 2013 => shining & ultra light and lonely micro-sound ambience like atmospheric raindrops... comes with 12p full colour booklet incl. short story (on Italian) by OÖPHOI.... the legacy of GIANLUIGI GASPARETTI aka OÖPHOI, who passed away in April 2013
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| ARA SOLIS |
Ashvattha |
CD |
black metal from Galicia, Spain, this is their debut album with three long tracks; CD version on Greeks esoteric cult label run by ACHERONTASS.. - \"The ancient Tree of Life and Death - Ashvattha, Yggdrasil - pours the sap of eternity in the ritual copulation of oxygenic and anoxygenic photophosphorylation.\" - as with all Zazen CD releases, very limited
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| ARABELLA'S PARADE |
Evelyn ambient series: volume 1 |
CD-R |
professional full-colour cover & label printing. last copies |
0000 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
Static infinite |
CD-R |
professional full-colour cover & label printing. last copies |
2000 |
€7.00 |
|
| ARANOS |
No Religion |
7inch |
ed. of 500 / green vinyl / fullcolour sleeve / one of our favourite ever singles! a must have!! - *Feine Single mit einem lustig-beschwingten Stück über Religion („I’ve got no religion and I’m glad“) auf der Verso-, und einem wunderbaren Konkret-Noise-Collagen-Stück auf der Recto-Side.. giftgrünes VinyL
|
2005 |
€7.00 |
|
|
Alone Vimalakirti Blinks |
CD-R |
"Message is: do not bother dreaming about promised land, work thee not in a silly factory making somebody else rich, have a nice picnic, include a vintage bike if you like" - comes with special cover (full colour)
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Archarcha |
CD |
recording of a concert in Prague, April 2010; organic drone-vibrations based mainly on violin-sounds and gongs, at times more demanding and eerie, excellent stuff again ! Handmade cover (full colour inside)
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| ARCANA |
Emerald |
maxi-CD |
three track EP, orchestral / melancholic / neo classic bombast-wave at its best; first material by the Swedish band after four years
|
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| ARCHITEUTHIS DUX |
Submergence |
CD-R |
noise duo from Austin, Texas, with a lim. CD-R on ARVO ZYLO's label, prof. cover & duplication - "The result is just under an hour of crisp sampling, damaged percussion, and simultaneously subdued, yet clearly pissed off pedal action that could stand up to SPK's early live sets, or Nurse With Wound's darkest moments..."
|
2016 |
€8.00 |
|
| ARKTAU EOS |
Mirrorion |
CD |
deluxe re-edition of the phantastic first ARKTAU EOS album from 2006 => music as a gateway to the OTHERWORLDS => all sounds were created without electronics on archaic instruments or using elemental sources as water, wind, wood, metal, invocations... music as coming from deep catacombs, sometimes very powerful and demonic, then almost smooth and ambient, with dark folk elements in between.. oversized screen print cover, 8 panel booklet, eight full colour cards !!
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| ARTHUUR EN ENNO |
From Antwerp to Absidi |
mCD-R |
Drone Records-artist MOHR (DR-02) aka Andreaz Vogel is back with this new project, contains a cover-version of TGs "Discipline". Comes in slimline-DVD-box with colour-cover. Tiny edition of 20 !
|
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
|
Music for headphoneheads |
mCD-R |
Drone Records-artist MOHR (DR-02) aka Andreaz Vogel is back with this new project. Comes in slimline-DVD-box with colour-cover. Great sounds, absolutely recommended!! Tiny edition of 20 copies
|
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
Made in Hilversum |
mCD-R |
three new tracks by the new project with Drone Records-artist MOHR, comes in slimline-DVD-box with handmade artwork. Strange sounds from the 5th dimension using lots of radio-source materials...
|
2008 |
€7.00 |
|
| ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE (AMT) |
Calliphon Draft (Sonosketches 1991-1994) |
CD-R |
re-issue of old tape, comes in large glass frame w. full colour covers on both sides; numbered ed. 120 copies, weight almost 400 gr per copy !
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Boto [Encantado] |
LP |
a new volume in the nice INI.ITU 12" series and the first AMT-vinyl release since a long time; surreal & subtle collages, strange sounds you can hardly recognize, based on field recordings from the "Boto" = the Amazon river; stunning full-colour cover, handnumbered ed. 250 copies, simply fantastic !!
|
2011 |
€12.50 |
|
|
Where the Language might be born |
CD-R |
a "soundsketch for radio" from sound-workshops with autistic children, recorded 1999-2000 in Belgium, also some other "sono-biotops" are mixed in (insects & fire, forest ambience, ec..); full colour cover
|
|
€10.00 |
|
|
Insekno (index) |
CD-R |
recordings of insects made 1994 in Czech Republic (direct to DAT); comes with full-colour cover & postcard
|
2010 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Drawing the Air |
CD-R |
a strange & surreal dance of field recording snippets & other short-timed noises & drones, unique surrounding.... CD version of a 4-track installation that happened in Ireland in 2007; prof. full colour cover, on A.M.T.s own label
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Xixuau Xiparinia Pt. 1 |
CD-R |
pure field recordings from flooded rainforest in Brazilian Amazon-region - first part; rare release on AMTs own label, full colour cover
|
2010 |
€10.00 |
|
| ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE / GERALD FIEBIG / EMERGE / PBK |
Fiction Circuit |
LP |
four experimental collaborations on this colourful designed LP, feat. re-workings of A.M.T. and PBK basic materials... "one will experience, thoroughout the whole album, a change between very different sonic textures and temperaments that showcase the wide range of expressive possibilities of electroacoustic music. This is not the product of good luck, but of planned collective composition.." lim. 300 copies on green-marbled vinyl, hand-numbered and with download code
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| AS IF (KENNETH WERNER) |
Faraway Trees standing still |
CD |
the first album for this well established Danish electronic ambience / deep dub techno producer... "The musical content varies from stark pulsating rhythms, like the heartbeat of a commuter train filled to the brim with muted spectres, racing through a grey suburbia and exploding into a sudden vastness of nature where you find yourself overwelmed by open vistas of pure colours and fresh air." - for fans of BVDUB, ROD MODELL, etc.. 16 page full colour booklet, 75+ min playtime
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Havet |
CD |
'Kenneth Werner returns to gterma with an album inspired by the ocean that surrounds his home island of Bornholm. During our stay we will experience the passing of the seasons in the southern Baltic Sea. Twelve deep tracks hovering in the borderlands between dubtechno and ambient, the zone which we find As If returning to again and again.' - full colour 16p booklet |
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| ASCIONE, PATRICK |
Metamorphose d'un jaune Citron |
mCD |
back in stock last copies, special priced (the "cinema pour l'oreille" series is closed now, no further repressings); mcd full-colour cardboard cover
|
1995 |
€5.00 |
|
| ASHER |
Simple Machines |
CD-R |
professionally printed CDR release, full colour cover & labels, ed. of 100 copies only
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
| ASHTORETH |
Rites III & IV |
CD |
the successor of "Rites I & II" from 2019 now out! - ritualistic compositions based on guitar sounds.. "
Minimal, meditative ambient drones with layers of meandering guitars and voices mixing elements of doom, drone and ambient experimentation. Rites III & IV expand on the shamanic and animistic path, an ongoing journey through flesh, sound and spirit."
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| ASHTORETH & STRATOSPHERE |
Between Worlds |
CD |
two Belgian (dark) ambient artists in a very fruitful collaboration, extremely ethereal and super slow driftings with occasional tones and harmonies appearing like ghosts.. - "A blurred movement on the edge of our peripheral vision... Sensed but never grasped, felt but never seen. A passing between two worlds." - nicei digipak design, lim. 200 copies
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| ASHTORETH'S GATE |
same |
CD |
the project of CRAIG MURPHY and LEE NORRIS with their first proper album, three long expanses of spiritual "goddess"-ambience, peacefully flowing and endlessly vibrating...."Norris and Murphy have created an immersive and at the same time deeply mesmerizing trip into a world where no boundaries seem to exist."; comes with the usual 16 page full colour booklet GTERMA is known for
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| ASIA NOVA [=ASIANOVA] |
Magnamnemonicon (SOLD OUT) |
10inch |
first vinyl for ASIA NOVA, second part in the new 10"-series by Drone Records. Full colour cover & pink / red-white vinyl, 33 rpm, more than 30+ min. playtime. ed of 500. Release-date: 3. March 2006 !! |
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Burns Alive! |
CD |
re-issue of a rare CDr from 2008 with finest quality live recrodings from their 2007 tour with TROUM through Europe; 70+ minutes of deeply ethereal, heavenly melancholic handplayed psychedelic / transcendental drone ambience, incl. the long "Arabian Aria" bonus impro session from Trieste... - ASIA NOVA is: the two members from VOICE OF EYE, plus URE THRALL - 4 panel digipak with numbered inlay card, lim. 100 only !!
|
2023 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Asia Nova |
T-SHIRT |
printed some years ago to their Europe tour and CD release on White Rabbit Records, last copies in stock, still in fine shape, we have L and XL sizes : "180gr high quality cotton shirt with special dissearch technique plus metalic bronze silk-screen print on front and with the White Rabbit Circle as a neck dessearch print."
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
| ATKINSON, FELICIA |
Hand in Hand |
do-LP |
this French artist (once active as JE SUIS LE PETIT CHEVALIER) releases on the prolific Shelter Press, creating poetic, sensitive and very emotive day-dream ambience from synthetic and acoustic sources, field recordings and her voice; "This record is meant to be a moment of common thinking and listening in its diversity and abstraction. In the same way a sci-fi novel by Philip K. Dick or a sculpture by Guy Mees can be percieved: trivial, sensitive and mysterious at the same time"
|
2017 |
€25.00 |
|
| ATOM EARTH MOTHER |
Ancient Faith |
do-LP BOX |
stunning first solo-release by ZOVIET FRANCE member (of the current line up) MARK WARREN => "archaic" ethno ambient, using digital & analog sound sources along with field recordings, inspired by prehistoric artefacts / marks of the Northumberland regions; lim. 250 in hand-designed "art-branding" WOOD-BOX, each one unique, comes with bonus CDR of the same album
|
2013 |
€55.00 |
|
| ATOMINE ELEKTRINE |
The Antikythera Mechanism |
CD |
this impressive album was inspired by the cryptic ANIARA poem from Swedish writer HARRY MARTINSON (it was recently made into a film), describing a spaceshuttle that deviates from the right track and moves into eternity... => six long tracks (60+ min.) take you on real dark space journey with many obscure sounds, this is pure synthetic "cosmic" music, extremely rich and complex - best A.E. album so far! Lim. 500
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| ATRAX MORGUE & CONTAGIOUS ORGASM |
Forced Entry / N.C.W |
CD |
originally released as a tape in 1996 on SSSM (the Japanese label of HIROSHI HASHIMOTO aka C.O.), this re-edition comes with two long bonus tracks of both artists from the "Rift Laboratory" cassette compilation (1994), (the A.M. track is entitled "Miss Rosie's Favourite Penis Torture" - [sic]), which you can find anywhere else.. lim. 400 copies
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| AUBE |
Millenium-R2 |
CD-R |
minimal & silent remixes from AUBE's "Millenium" series (12 CDs / 2 do-LPs), appeared on the AUBE label GROSS in 2002; numbered edition 120 copies, excellent design/cover; sound-sources: Water, Fire, Earth, Air; nice recording by the master of sampled loops from Japan who sadly died Sept. 2013; last NEW copies found !!
|
2002 |
€10.00 |
|
| AUME (SCOT JENERIK & ALEPH OMEGA) |
CQ CQ |
USB-stick / wood-box |
third full length album by AUME, who created a rousing surrealistic journey "through a visual wormhole" with masses of electronic pulses & percussion sounds, undecipherable vocal and white noise transmissions from the aether, elementary field recordings (wind & thunder), and dark atmospheric drones, always immershing in delays and echoes.. phantastic stuff!!! = this is the special, heavy handmade wood-box edition with audio USB-stick feat. bonus video material, plus bound insert; lim. 55 copies !!
|
2018 |
€30.00 |
|
| |
CQ CQ |
CD |
third full length album by AUME, who created a rousing surrealistic journey "through a visual wormhole" with masses of electronic pulses & percussion sounds, undecipherable vocal and white noise transmissions from the aether, elementary field recordings (wind & thunder), and dark atmospheric drones, always immershing in delays and echoes.. phantastic stuff!!! - think of BAD SECTOR or JIM HAYNES, played in a parallel dimension.. standard CD edition
|
2018 |
€14.00 |
|
| AUN |
Full Circle |
10inch |
three track EP with very electronic / cosmic / ambient material, pulsating & mesmerizing... feat. FREDERIC ARBOUR (VISION) and ERIC QUACH (THISQUIETARMY); lim. 500
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| AUTOPSIA |
Palladium |
CD |
early material by this pioneering post-industrial & multi-media artist from former Yugoslavia - the re-issue of 2nd album from 1991 (Hyperion), plus the more sacral / dark ambient sounding "Factory Rituals" - a set of four unreleased tracks from 1989 => very structured 'martial' industrial using neo-classic samples, dark drones and very nice atmospheric parts with choirs, etc..
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| AWARE |
Requiem for a dying Animal |
CD |
AWAREs second album is a mournful, impressive soundtrack to all the animals and species that had to die or were eradicated through the actions and influences of human mankind... - *... the fundamental question is: can they suffer? If the answer is yes, we are one with them. So instead of imprinting an image of ourselves in the air, music arises when the atmosphere is handled with care. If we succeed in that, maybe, we can be forgiven.* - lim. 250 copies
|
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| AYERS, NIGEL / PBK / ALLAN ZANE |
This Home stands on Ancient Bones |
CD |
excellent ethno-ambient collab by the men behind WYRM + NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS, plus PHILIP B. KLINGLER! - *... our present world is built upon a history of all that has gone before. Compassion, contrition, repentance - all the layers of emotions that rise from the surface of the earth-mingle and drift through the emptiness, existing all around us. This powerful work captures and embodies these emotions, serving as both a requiem and a hymn to humanity across time-past, present and future.* - Japan import
|
2023 |
€14.00 |
|
| B*TONG / FABIO ORSI |
Hold me tight |
MC |
"From Insomnia to Revelation in 15 minutes" - Drone Records artist (Drone-Mind 1 LP) B*TONG is back on this C-30 split cassette with prolific ambient composer FABIO ORSI : "30 minutes of Ambiences. Dark wastelands, wide clouds, warmth and light" - lim. / numbered ed. 50 copies on turquoise-shining MC, with colour cover and inlay
|
2020 |
€8.00 |
|
| B.E.F. |
Music for Stowaways |
LP |
\"Music To Kill Your Parents By\" - originally released as cassette-only by VIRGIN in 1981, now one of the 50 Greatest Lost Albums of All Time - list (Uncut mag:) - - *Groundbreaking early recordings made by HEAVEN 17\'s Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh (The British Electric Foundation) after their departure from THE HUMAN LEAGUE in 1980, feat. ADI NEWTON (CLOCK DVA) on one track..*
|
2023 |
€23.50 |
|
| BAD SECTOR |
Plasma |
CD |
the second full CD (1998) by the ever impressive Italian *experimental ambient* project: diverse electro-atmospheric source sounds (VLF recordings, pulsars, neon tube radio signals, high voltage transformer) intertwine with the melodic 'vintage/damaged synth' sounds = an uncomparable atmosphere of tension and beauty is created.... BACK IN STOCK (this is the 2nd ed. with different cover)
|
1998 |
€13.00 |
|
|
CMASA |
CD |
based on material recorded for the M3M art exhibition in Pisa, 2005, using field recordings and acoustic instrument sources. digipack
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Storage Disk 3 |
CD |
third collection of rare & unreleased material, covering the period from 2000-2015; four of of the 12 tracks have never seen the daylight before... lim. 500
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Anthology (collectors ed.) |
3 x LP + 2 CD |
collector's edition of the definite BAD SECTOR anniversary vinyl-anthology (23 tracks 1997-2002), lots of rare material + unreleased tracks, 3 x colour vinyl (yellow marbled), 2 x CD, A3 poster, and 20 page art booklet, comes in trifold gatefold sleeve on heavy vinyl, lim. 80 copies only !!
|
2023 |
€85.00 |
|
| BAD SECTOR & ASTRO |
Idioblast |
CD |
re-issue of this hard to find album from 2005 which is rather a full BAD SECTOR album than a real collaboration (=BAD SECTOR re-working some minutes of ASTRO source material) ; a dense & droney electro buzz one-tracker, 45 min. long, with many tiny micro-details, highly recommended if you missed the first edition
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| BAD SECTOR / SSHE RETINA STIMULANTS |
Neurotransmitter Actions |
CD |
re-issue of this album from 2000 (released as lim. CDR) with four pieces by BAD SECTOR, one long collab.-track by both artists, and 5 tracks by SSHE RETINA STIMULANTS => pure electronic, vivisecting ambient industrial with piercing tones, clinical voices and a harmonic analogue drone / sequencer basis, and oscillating frequencies occuring in compelling loops & patterns.... comes in nice cardboard box with bronce embossing
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| BAILEY, THOMAS BEY WILLIAM |
La Production Interdite |
MC |
highly interesting work by this researcher and writer who often cares about the 'threshold states' of consciousness, this is about the phenomenon of "Autoscopy" (i.e. the visualization of phantom doubles / Doppelgängers)... "Split into a purely instrumental half-hour side and a vocally-enhanced side in which TBWB narrates accounts of autoscopic events, this new album oscillates between moments of narcotic consolation and moments of sharp poignancy... " C-60, lim. 50
|
2018 |
€10.00 |
|
| BAKER, AIDAN |
I fall into you |
CD |
re-issue of deleted CDR from 2002, one of our favourite "early" solo-works of him; the perfect combination of emotional drones & whispered poetry, with vocals by NAOMI OKABE and beautiful violin-loops of LISA ROSSITER-THORNTON... edition of 500 copies, better price
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Gathering Blue |
do-LP |
gatefold-cover lim. 444 copies designed by ALAN MC CLELLAND, coming in three vinyl colours! Feat. new material, a JOY DIVISION cover-version of "Twenty-four hours", the CICATRICE mCDR (Dreamland Rec.), THE TASTE OF SUMMER ON YOUR SKIN mCDR (Taalem), and two remixes of tracks by BUILDING CASTLES OUT OF MATCHSTICKS and TROUM that appeared before on the "Remixes" CDR (Arcolepsy). A wonderful collection of introspective & poetic drone-ambience !
|
2009 |
€24.00 |
|
|
Rictus. EP Collection |
CD |
collection of four previously released (but most are deleted now) mini CDRs (2003-2008): Cicatrice, Blauserk, The Taste of Summer on your Skin, Fragile Movements in slow motion... lim. 200 only !!
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Bach eingeschaltet - vierter Band |
7" |
fourth part in this lovely series of J.S.BACH interpretations - AIDAN BAKER plays "Prelude" from Cello Suite # 1 in G Major (BWV 1007) and "Menuet II" from Cello Suite # 2 in D Minor (BWV 1008) in "drowning" and "drowned" versions ; lim. & numbered ed. 166 copies, on silver-grey vinyl!
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Souvenirs of the Eternal Present |
MC |
first ever (?) AIDAN BAKER tape, showing him in a full drone-mode but with surprising 'Kraut'-influences, using hypnotic drums & bass against wide shimmering drone & overtunes... C-30 lim. to 3 x 100 copies in three colours (of shells): red, green and blue, professional cover, numbered, comes with digital download code of the same album
|
2013 |
€11.00 |
|
| |
Same River Twice |
7inch |
finally the re-edition of one of the most beautiful Drone EPs (both in sound & artwork) is out, more than 10 years after its first appearance this was the also the very first VINYL release of AIDAN BAKER => two pieces of shimmering guitar drone harmonics, with titles inspired by literature phrases; filed under: Poetic & trancy day-dream-drones ~ lim. 300, colour vinyl, new artwork by AIDAN himself !!
|
2015 |
€7.50 |
|
| BAKER, AIDAN & PLURALS |
Glass Crocodile Medicine |
LP |
two side-long tracks recorded "live in the studio" with AIDAN BAKERs tour-mates PLURALS in 10/2011 for the now famous Latitudes series, very droney, experimental, soundscaping, very different superb tracks... comes on blue vinyl with diecut cover, numbered ed. 500 copies
|
2013 |
€18.50 |
|
| BAKER, AIDAN & THE INFANT CYCLE |
Rural Sprawl |
CD-R |
what can there be better than a collaboration between two Canadian Drone Records-artists??? lim. 250, professional full colour cover; has two tracks from the long deleted "Rural" CDR (Blade Records 2001), plus two new tracks
|
2008 |
€8.00 |
|
| BAKER, AIDAN / N / DIRK SERRIES |
Enomeni |
do-LP |
"Enomeni" (which is Greek and means 'connected') is a document of a special live performance (Sept. 2014), held at the marriage of the MIDIRA REC. label-owner: AIDAN BAKER, N and DIRK SERRIES came together for the first time to play an improvised live session. The result is an one hour session (divided into four tracks) of guitar-based dream drones and pulsations. So nice. Gatefold-cover , black vinyl ed. lim. to 150 copies; BACK IN STOCK LAST COPIES!
|
2016 |
€27.50 |
|
| BALDINI / BIGAZZI / FERRI |
Alfabetiere Majakovskij ! |
BOOK + CD |
LA GRAMMATICA DELLA RIVOLUZIONE - a trans-media project by ARLO BIGAZZI dedicated to the Russian poet MAYAKOWSKY, on the CD sphero-jazzy ambient musical arrangememts from BIGAZZI & FERRI are combined with Russian lyrics in the background, the impressive 72 pages book (8" size) comes in full colour with photographs by LUCIA BALDINI, information and quotes on Russian & Italian connected to the latin and cyrillic alphabets, a very ambitious project !!
|
2022 |
€25.00 |
|
| BALDRUIN |
Die halluzinierte Welt |
MC |
rare cassette-only release with 26 short electronic sketches, music to escort the listener into a hallucinated reality... - "Impressionistische musikalische Skizzen als Ausdruck innerer Sehnsuchtsbilder.." - .. everything seems to be enchanted and to appear in a surrealistic light... - comes wth download code, full colour cover
|
2020 |
€11.00 |
|
| |
Relikte aus der Zukunft |
LP |
this German artist, raised in a small Bavarian village near a church and serving as altar boy, developed an ongoing interest in transcendental and mysterious atmospheres; this surprising LP on the Peruvian label BUH is another journey into a bizarre fairy-tale world based on electronic miniatures and acoustic hallucinations.. * The gloomiest soundscapes can jump into a ship fueled by retro sci-fi arpeggios, the solemn can turn to rejoice, and a star can shrink into a fireplace.* - lim. 300
|
2023 |
€27.50 |
|
| BALESTRAZZI, SIMON |
Asymmetric Warfare |
CD |
four long tracks on the new 'glorious' world of modern warfare by the Italian (post) industrial pioneer (and member of favored DREAM WEAPON RITUAL) => extremely threatening ambient industrial, using audio recordings from middle east conflicts, electric metal plates, metal, wood and plastic objects and motors along with various effects and electronic gear to create a scary, distorted, feedbacking form of critical and challenging soundscape... very much recommended !
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| BALL, DAVE & JON SAVAGE |
Photosynthesis |
CD |
unique collab. between DAVE BALL (SOFT CELL, THE GRID) and JON SAVAGE, working with vintage analogue synths in a digital way they created quiet and introspective cinematic soundscapes, with an almost classical approach... "a haunting, delightfully organic album of ambient and experimental electronica. This is a record to sink in to, letting it take you on its journey to some other place," [The Sound Not The Word]
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| BARDOSENETICCUBE & VRESNIT & KSHATRIY |
Creation |
CD |
three way split CD presenting 2 long beautiful tracks from BARDOSENETICCUBE (feat. female Russian singing by ANNA RYZHENKOVA), 3 tracks from VRESNIT and 2 from KSHATRIY, all based around the theme "Creation" as a realization of Nature and Being... this is high-class mega organic drone-ambient with the special "Russian touch"; numbered ed. of 580 copies in 6-panel full-colour cardboard cover
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| BARDOSENETICCUBE / LT. CARAMEL |
Silence Submarine |
CD |
a very strange musical journey, with tape & collage-elements and deep drone parts, multi-layered and sensual overflooding, sometimes extreme with much voice-material.. the first part is called "Before death, they yell", the second "After death, the soul flies".... remarkable Russian-French file-exchange collaboration, if you're looking for something unusual...
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| BARTC |
Insubstantial as Ghosts |
CD |
"B Ar Tc" - first album for this new, London-based experimental ambient / surrealistic drone artist (JASON BARTON), the project-name consists of the chemical symbols Boron (B), Argon (Ar) and Technetium (Tc); "I build layers to create something abstract yet strangely beautiful, mixing source material, organic and experimental sounds plus field recordings that are heavily distorted with various effects" - mastered and released by COLIN POTTER
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| BASINSKI, WILLIAM |
Vivian & Ondine |
CD |
music for the birth of 'two beautiful girls', a one-tracker of 45+ minutes created from old tape loops.. -
*The power of a simple loop, played over and over, in various states of decay, hearing the sounds literally crumble before your very ears, like getting a glimpse inside music, behind the notes, within the chords, observing the magnetic particles as they drop like flakes of soot after a fire, music transformed into inert object, and the glorious sound of that transition, from light to dark, life to death, sound to silence.* [Aquarius Rec.] - BACK IN STOCK !
|
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
|
On Time out of Time |
CD |
two pieces commissioned for installations in Berlin 2017: "These works utilize, among other things, exclusive source recordings from the interferometers of LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) capturing the sounds of the merging of two distant massive black holes, 1.3 billion years ago." - the CD feat. different material/mixes than the vinyl version |
2019 |
€14.00 |
|
|
On Time out of Time |
LP |
two pieces commissioned for installations in Berlin 2017: "These works utilize, among other things, exclusive source recordings from the interferometers of LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) capturing the sounds of the merging of two distant massive black holes, 1.3 billion years ago." - the lim vinyl version feat.. different material/mixes than CD version
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| |
Melancholia (opaque red orange vinyl) |
LP |
re-mastered re-issue of this favoured BASINSKI work from 2003, fading tape-loops creating a timeless beauty...
comes w. gatefold-cover and on red-orange "opaque" vinyl;
* Like many of Basinski's most soul-stirring works, Melancholia began as a series of short tape loops captured in the early 1980s. Basinski then stored them away for decades, revisiting them at a different time in his life, at which point they took on a stunning new sound all their own..*
|
2023 |
€29.50 |
|
| BASS COMMUNION |
Sisters Oregon (first edition) |
10inch |
The newest studio material of STEVEN WILSON's experimental drone project, especially recorded for our 10" series! Based on ethereal vocal choir material the four parts of "Sisters Oregon" reach a transcendental beauty of the highest degree. first edition: 500 copies, black vinyl, excellent artwork by CARL GLOVER
- SOME LAST COPIES FOUND - SEALED!
|
2017 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Sisters Oregon (SOLD OUT) |
10inch |
the newest studio material of STEVEN WILSON's unique experimental drone project, especially recorded for our 10" series! Based on ethereal vocal choir material the four parts of "Sisters Oregon" reach a transcendental beauty of the highest degree. Excellent artwork by CARL GLOVER. // NOW AVAILABLE the 2nd edition 300 copies on sky-blue marbled vinyl & now black cover-frame
|
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
The Itself of Itself |
CD |
THE NEW STUDIO ALBUM!! Status: PRE ORDER (release date Late May 2024) - "...This new album has some interesting changes. On one hand, there are sounds of vinyl and tape hiss, heavily processed yet to be recognised as such, and there is the addition of real instruments, such as a mellotron (well, maybe not 'real', but a distinctly different kind of instrument than you'll find on your usual dark ambient record. Also, there are some shimmering chords played on a keyboard (in 'Apparition 3', for instance), crippled voices in the very creepy title track, along with more mellotron (I think)..." [Vital Weekly] |
2024 |
€14.00 |
|
| BATES, MARTYN |
Unsung |
CD |
10 new songs, the purest form of enchantment - just "vox" and guitar by the EYELESS IN GAZA singer + some tiny droney "instrumental colourings", great poetic songs of love & nostalgia..
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
I Said to Love |
CD |
MARTYN BATES always had a liking for spheric, experimental (background) sounds and drones, and they also play a big role on this new album with 15 songs, mixing his unique voice, guitar-playing and song-writing with suspended sound effects, to our great delight...this album sounds like a dream, filled with so much passion, longing and precious melodies.... the perfect mixture of folk, lyrical poetry and atmospherics ! feat. ELIZABETH S. and ALAN TRENCH (ORCHIS, CUNNAN, etc.)
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| BAYLE, FRANCOIS |
Les Couleurs de la Nuit |
CD |
'Perhaps that which is lost or destroyed does in fact circulate?' - the complete version of BAYLEs masterpiece from 1982, a work for tapes and computer, transforming various instrumental sources with electronic means in order to create 'sound images moving like butterflies through audible space' [BAYLE]... a very own musical language !
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Les Couleurs de la Nuit |
LP |
'Perhaps that which is lost or destroyed does in fact circulate?' - the complete version of BAYLEs masterpiece from 1982, a work for tapes and computer, transforming various instrumental sources with electronic means in order to create 'sound images moving like butterflies through audible space' [BAYLE]... a very own musical language; vinyl version lim. 500
|
2013 |
€20.00 |
|
| BAZE.DJUNKIII |
presents Pink Minimalism |
7inch |
ENGRAVE YOURSELF! ANTI-RECORD! A completely blank PINK 7"-vinyl with no grooves at all, in order to become creative with this medium on your own and make it a very personal record...."a gift to all free spirits out there"... lovely idea! lim. ed. 120 copies
|
2012 |
€6.50 |
|
| |
In Macrospace |
MC |
excellent ghostly monolithic dark drone ambience from Hamburg, a raw journey (C-76) into otherworldly macrospaces by the DJ , reviewer and labelmaker (INTRAUNTERIN Rec.) who is normally more based in electronic / technoid areas.. "A dark and threatening journey through the realms of brooding DeathAmbient, cold, hostile sci-fi atmospheres and an innate feel of darkness, doom, desolation and industrial wastelands covered in toxic fumes and the aftermath of a nuclear apocalypse." - lim. 100, tape only!
|
2022 |
€13.50 |
|
| BEARS |
I was a good Hunter until that Day |
MC |
First relesae on this new German tape-label: a bewildering & almost earplay-like experimental journey using distorted field recordings, animal noises and other found sounds.. placed in a largely oversized photo-cover bag, lim. 40, numbered, comes with small bag of dog (or bear?) hair and lip(stick)s imprint ! C-60
|
2012 |
€8.00 |
|
| BECUZZI, GIANLUCA |
(In)Visible Fields |
do-CD |
collection of live, theatre and installation-works of a highly experimental / abstract nature; really challenging stuff combining elements from various styles / sound-sources / conceptual ideas, often monumental droney & bizarre... - very nice overview about the 'non-compositorical' side from GIANLUCA BECUZZI
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| BECUZZI, GIANLUCA & FABIO ORSI |
Dust Tears and Clouds |
do-CD |
two collab albums from 2007 by the hyper-active Italian composers combined on one release, showing their more experimental skills: 'Dust Tears and Skinny Legs Poets' (unreleased so far, from 2007) + 'Please don't count the Clouds' (re-issue of rare 3 x mCDR release plus fourth bonus tracks); lim. 300 with oversized cover
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| BECUZZI, GIANLUCA: PLAYS LIMBO |
Unholy Rituals Vol. I / II / III |
do-CD |
BECUZZI uses source sounds from LIMBO, a legendary Italian dark wave band, to create extremely dark & isolationist, at times horror-filled pieces, pervaded with anxiety and helplessness, spread on 2 cds...
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| BEEQUEEN |
Aughton |
LP |
nice vinyl-only release with older recordings by the Dutch experimental ambience project with FRANS DE WAARD; organic & dark drone/musique concrete at its best ! lim. ed. 300, full colour inner sleeve, last copies available
|
2004 |
€17.00 |
|
| |
Winter |
LP |
two new / old (does it matter? it's BEEQUEEN!) side long pieces = older unreleased material (dating back to 1988!) with new re-shaping in 2020, inspired by the ever mysterious winter atmospheres... - "Think woodblock, guitar, static radio signals, ethereal ambience. An honourable addition to Beequeen's discography and a beautiful piece of the Dutch avantgarde with historic ties to Edward Ka-Spel, De Fabriek, Merzbow and Nurse With Wound."
|
2020 |
€21.50 |
|
| BEGG, MICHAEL |
Moonlight and Sentiment |
CD |
"This music does not create a song for our ears. It is a 'state', such as moonlight poured over the fields...". - extremely subtle and floating, lulling melancholia ambience, like slowly drifting clouds in the sky,.. MICHAEL BEGGs (HUMAN GREED, FOVEA HEX, BLACK GLASS ENSEMBLE) dark romantic explorations are almost not tangible, pouring out of special mental states...
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| BEGG, MICHAEL / ROEDELIUS |
Two gather in the Waiting Room |
CD |
surprising collab work by Scottish favourite ambient artist MICHAEL BEGG (HUMAN GREED / FOVEA HEX) with German early electronic music pioneer HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS (CLUSTER, HARMONIA), who met for a performance during BEGG's residency at Edinburgh's Queens Hall in August 2020; feat. members of the BLACK GLASS ENSEMBLE (trumpet, violin)...
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
| BEHRENS, MARC |
Mut Att Narc Imm |
CD |
three long pieces based on live-material, formed and combined like genetic sequences, using mainly object sound material such as: "various electric kettles, a wet towel, metal percussion, and metal jetties at Marseille harbour" - the result are metallurgenic strokes and swooshes in reverberated rooms, like being inside a huge bilge, raw and softly droning noises appear and disappear... very nice!
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| BELL, JAKE |
Awake in my flying Dream |
CD |
debut album of this US-project (residing in Ukraine!) doing pure electronic / cosmic space ambient with an esoteric touch, reminding on ÖOPHOI, M. GRASSOW, VIDNA OBMANA... for fans of GTERMA or HYPNOS labels; comes with nice oversized cardboard cover & full colour 8p. booklet
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| BELLERUE, BOB |
Music of Liberation |
do-LP |
four long pieces by the US-American drone/noise composer, recorded 2016 in Porto, Portugal, dedicated to Z'EV: "balancing drone feedback states with instrumental and vocal elements - controlled eruptions, seeping slowly with the force of geologic synthesis." "In the realm of noise and experimental music, Bob Bellerue elevates his recordings beyond the mere level of harshness into three-dimensional soundscapes that can be felt as well as heard." [Chuck Foster] lim. 250 copies
|
2018 |
€25.00 |
|
| BERG, MOLLY / OLIVIA BLOCK / STEVE RODEN / STEPHEN VITIELLO |
MOSS |
maxi-CD |
recording of a unique live collaboration that happened in a Cathedral in San Jose, CA, in September 2010; one-tracker 24+ minutes of very instrumental & dense atmospheric improvisation, with colour insert, lim. 500
|
2011 |
€10.50 |
|
| BERNOCCHI, ERNALDO & MERZBOW |
Patterns and Mechanisms |
CD |
*Bernocchi and Merzbow's first album together, written + recorded during the lockdown. Both artists exchanged audio files and ideas fascinated by the phenomenon of urban wildlife where wild animals decide to relocate, or establish home in our cities, the album is just two long pieces. Despite being dense and noisy, "Patterns and Mechanisms" has a 'melodic' approach to composition, with Merzbow's noise assault conjugating with Bernocchi's music...* - ed. of 300 copies, oversized cover
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| BERTOIA, HARRY |
Sonambients : The Sound Sculpture of Harry Bertoia |
CD + DVD |
a film from 1971 entitled "Sonambients" showing HARRY BERTOIA in performance + interview + and at his barn in the Pennsylvania woods on the DVD, plus four recently found early recordings from 1969 by BERTOIA and his brother and sister who sings overtunes to the sculpture sounds !! All for the first time published
|
2017 |
€24.00 |
|
| |
Hints Of Things To Come |
CD |
four unreleased "sculpture ambience" pieces from the archive, recorded around 1970, with the over 30 min. long, deep harmonic title piece and first experiments with overdubbing... - "This CD is defined by ambient passages, long drones, gongs that sound like whales, shimmering harmonics and the feeling of an artist searching for sounds deep within his own sonic sculpture."
|
2023 |
€17.00 |
|
| BEX |
Rosegger |
LP |
third album by this French composer + guests => very ethereal, melancholic atmospheres with passionate vocals (which often rather sound like chants), subtle, sad and desolate, full of tragic emotion...."deep and mournfoul post industrial chants"; very much recommended if you like music of the YEARNING and abyssal moods...lim./numb.ed. 200
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| BHATTACHARYA, DEBEN |
Music on the Desert Road |
LP |
new issue of this LP from 1958 (!) by the Indian ethnomusicologist and radio producer, feat. recordings from journeys through the Middle East (Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, as well as India and Pakistan).. "this LP is one of the best and earliest documents of the diverse and rich musical traditions of the Middle East. Subtitled 'A Sound Travelogue by Deben Bhattacharya', 'Music On The Desert Road' is exactly that, a beautiful and flowing document of the region's sound." - lim. 500
|
2019 |
€18.50 |
|
| |
Paris to Calcutta, Men and Music on the Desert Road |
BOOK + 4 CDs |
beautiful art book and ethno music document with photos and field recordings of traditional music from Bedouin camps, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, Pakistan and Greece, all recorded 1955 (!), first time published! - DEBEN BHATTACHARYA (1921-2001) was a field recordist, poet, filmmaker, musicologist from India....- 4 CDs with 43 tracks, four hours of music, 160 pages cloth bound cover
|
2018 |
€52.50 |
|
| BIANCHI, MAURIZIO & CLAUDIO ROCCHETTI |
Alienation |
CD-R |
deep dark noise ambient by the Italian industrial-legend together with the member of 3/4HADBEENELIMINATED; lim. 700 released as professional silver CDR with full-colour cover
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
| BIANCHI, MAURIZIO & MAOR APPELBAUM |
Innervation |
CD-R |
hypnotizing drones & noises connected to the world of neurochemical impulses, roaring like wind & fire; lim. 300 copies, professional full colour cover & pro-duplicated CDR
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| BIANCHI, MAURIZIO & RYAN MARTIN |
As strong as Death is |
do-LP |
this remarkable collaboration by M.B. with RYAN MARTIN (co-founder of DAIS Rec.) is inspired by the biblical "Song of Solomon" (Chapter 8, Verse 6), a collection of poetic lovesongs; the four long tracks are based on strings, prepared electronics and tapes and sound like smooth, rusty noise, as coming from a 1000 years old past... "an ambient religious compilation to understand the desire to be ONE"; mixed and edited by HOOR-PAAR-KRAAT; lim. 400 in black vinyl
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
| BIANCHI, MAURIZIO (M.B.) |
Celtichants |
CD |
based on multi-layered chanting voices from unknown sources, this creates a surreal atmosphere of strangely whispering and morphing organisms, woven into a flowing, otherworldy 60 min. collage... excellent new M.B.-work with an odd emotional quality.. lim. 500 special package, using different colour variants & incl. a set of 3 full colour postcards
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Mectpyo Bakterium |
LP |
re-issue of the much sought-after LP from 1982 released on DYS (the label run by THE MNEMONISTS), recorded August-October 1981, one of the "calmer" albums of the early MB phase, comes with reproduction of the original cover, lim. 275 on coloured /marbled (grey / black / white) vinyl, with inlay... "The icy opression, the hallucinative electronic wounds, are a precious and singular fact in a technological society brought to limit" [M.B.]
|
2013 |
€22.00 |
|
|
Industrial Murder / Menstrual Bleeding |
CD |
this album was once released as LP on Banned Productions (1992), so its one of the releases that appeared when M.B. was not musically active; the material was recorded in 1991 (two long tracks, 49+ min.) - amazing industrial drone noise with the use of rhythm machines... comes in an elaborate multi-colour silkscreen cardboard box (gold, blue, red & white), lim. 300
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
T.A.M.B.C.S. |
CD-R |
Japanese re-issue of a rare cassette from 1981 (C-60 on Mectpyo Rec.) - two long tracks in three sections - "Decomposed by M.B. at Mectpyo Studio, Milan, in the month of July 1981, using electro-synth effects, concrete noises and neurotic rhythms."; lim. 30 copies only, DVD sized box & full colour cover
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
| BIG CITY ORCHESTRA |
Drone Gnomes (SOLD OUT) |
10inch |
ed. of 500 in light blue marmor-vinyl / full-colour cover by well known designer MIKE DRINGENBERG ! / 5th part in our 10"-series dealing with acoustic ideas about the "something" we can't know anything about....
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Eerily |
CD |
back in stock this strangely - obscurely - mysteriously - droning & looping BCO-album, feat. DAVID AELLEN (GONG) and JONATHAN SEGEL (CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN)! Lim. 300 in 7"-cover with unique poly-colour silkscreen inlay, each one unique & numbered! very nice edition !
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Probe |
CD-R |
74 minutes of unique obscurism-drones & noises by DAS & his friends (here: NINAH PIXIE, CLIFF NEIGHBOURS, JESSE BURSON, MELISSA MARGOLIS); perfect sounds for a new programming of your brain!
|
2006 |
€7.00 |
|
|
Salty Sea Shanties |
7inch |
right in time to BCO's "SONIC UTOPIA" tour October 2012 through Europe & the 30th anniversary of the band (= BILGE SEAWEED ORCASTRUA for this relase) this 7" comes on oceanic split-coloured vinyl (half light & half dark blue) with six tracks of weird ocean-tales songs between earplay & craziness, that proof once again BCO are on of the most exceoptional "bands" on earth, and beyond.. well, not really a "band", rather a mystery we still fail to understand; feat. ROBO, DAVID AELLEN, CHERYL E. LEONARD, etc..
|
2012 |
€6.00 |
|
| |
Stanchenzza |
CD |
finally a new proper full-length CD by BCO, 'Stanchenzza' is full of dancing overtunes & subtle e-drones, a great atmospheric set with some special mind-bending moments of course.. 65+ min
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
| BIG CITY ORCHESTRA / CTEPHIN |
MiZture #2 |
CD-R |
second split CDR of "CTPHN" and "BKG CKTK KRCHKSTRK", full-colour non jewel-case cover
|
2008 |
€9.00 |
|
| BIOSPHERE |
The Hilvarenbeek Recordings |
CD |
this is the remastered and expanded version of an unofficial 4 track 12" released in 2016 (now 8 tracks), the material is based on field recordings made at a Dutch farm in Hilvarenbeek, commissioned by Incubate Festival => subtle electronic pulsing in warm colours, spheric choral loops, foggy background synths,.. merge with all kinds of interesting nature & farm sounds..
|
2018 |
€11.50 |
|
|
Dropsonde |
do-CD |
re-issue of the much praised 'jazzy' TOUCH album from 2005, now with seven (!) so far unreleased bonus tracks on the second CD..."..new directions towards the jazz colours of Miles Davis and Jon Hassell, whilst re-invigorating the pulse and projection of his signature sound: a hypnotic combination of pleasure and dread."
|
2020 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Dropsonde |
3 x LP |
re-issue of the much praised 'jazzy' BIOSPHERE album from 2005 (TOUCH), now with seven (!) so far unreleased bonus tracks, comes with DL code ..."..new directions towards the jazz colours of Miles Davis and Jon Hassell, whilst re-invigorating the pulse and projection of his signature sound: a hypnotic combination of pleasure and dread." - lim. vinyl version
|
2020 |
€32.00 |
|
| BJARNADOTTIR, HAFDIS |
Sounds of Iceland |
CD |
an acoustic "round trip" through Iceland, with no human based sounds involved, recorded through all seasons!! listen to: geysers, hot springs, lava fields, caves, streams, waterfalls, coast, bird cliffs, etc... a rough and archaic sound world, nicely documentated (12 page full colour booklet), great spatial sound quality... produced at EMS in STockholm
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| BJERGA / IVERSEN |
Empire of Dirt |
MC |
rare cassette-only release by the 'experimental / low-fi dronescapes' duo, recorded live in Amsterdam April 2007; lim. 100, C-41, full-colour cover, red cassette, ONE second hand copy (VG+) in stock
|
2007 |
€9.00 |
|
| BJÄRGÖ, PETER |
The Architecture of Melancholy |
CD |
second solo-album (2011) by this Swedish neo-classic icon (also: ARCANA & SOPHIA); melancholic, pathetic (in a positive sense), vocalized guitarish dark ambient at its best! - " Melancholy was once a disease, a mental statement of chronic depression, we are now facing this illness again around the world and this album is a real journey with the melancholic mind.." lim. 700 - 8 panel digipack
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Animus Retinentia |
CD |
"Filled with nostalgia and longing of a lost world" - third full-length solo release by the Swedish SOPHIA & ARCANA member/founder, 11 intense mournful songs with an often neo classical background (but also using chorus guitars, highly atmosperic synths, piano and slow electronic percussion), reporting on nostalgic childhood memories and the daily deep melancholy.. this is where depression and beauty meets; his most dream-like album so far !
|
2017 |
€13.50 |
|
| BLACK MAGIC DISCO |
same |
do-LP |
JACKIE-O MOTHERFUCKER & MY CAT IS AN ALIEN. Colour vinyl, gatefold-cover, incl. huge poster !
|
2007 |
€19.50 |
|
| BLACK TO COMM |
Wave UFO |
do-7" |
lim. 200 with a full colour collage poster-cover
|
2009 |
€12.50 |
|
| |
Seven Horses for Seven Kings |
do-LP |
the Hamburg-based project with the first new studio album after many years, going into a much more experimental and abrasive "industrial drone" direction => mighty multi-layered drones from various sources arise, noisy orchestral elements (percussion, wind instruments, sax, etc.) are present, this really sucks you into a dark maelstrom, without using structures and harmony... on 13 very versatile tracks - the best BTC album so far we think! Last copies in stock on limited green vinyl
|
2019 |
€23.50 |
|
| BLACK WANDERER |
Hostile Territory |
CD |
new project of ALGOL who follows a darker and more cinematic approach with BLACK WANDERER: based on atmospheric bass & guitar sounds, occasional spoken word and quotes from films are added... a melancholic human journey into alien, cold territories, we had to think of MONOCUBE or MELANCHOHOLICS as reference points.. to discover!
|
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| BLOCK, OLIVIA |
Dissolution |
LP |
phantastic new LP by OLIVIA BLOCK which moves from incredible collage music to polymorphing shortwave drone muzak and beyond, also lots of differently mutated vocal & voice material is present....[sound sources: found and personal microcassette tapes, NIST time recordings, shortwave radio broadcasts, municipial audio feets from several US cities, field recordings from various sites, musicians playing clarinet and flute]; two side-long pieces about the human "webs of significance"..
|
2016 |
€27.50 |
|
| BLOCK, OLIVIA & KYLE BRUCKMANN |
Teem |
CD |
first full collab-album by these two experimental / impro artists from the US; uniquely styled soundscapes based on field recordings and instrumental sources |
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| BLOOD RHYTHMS |
Civil War |
LP + BOOK |
second LP (after 'Assembly' co-released by RRRecords, 2015) by the exceptional noise & power electronics project of Seattle-based ARVO ZYLO, with stunning studio material collected over 10 years, feat. many guests such as DAN BURKE (ILLUSION OF SAFETY), DAVE PHILLIPS, BRUCE LAMONT (YAKUZA, BLOODIEST), WYATT HOWLAND (SKIN GRAFT), etc.. - we got few copies of the ART edition (lim. 100) with gatefold cover and 44 page foll colour book, on RED vinyl
|
2019 |
€35.00 |
|
| BOB DOWNES OPEN MUSIC |
It's a Mystery |
CD |
incredible, genre-crossing material (12 pieces) from this late 60's/early 70's experimental musician (flutist / saxophonist), between Jazz and contemporary dance composition everything is possible, all carefully created.. "from solo to 65-piece wind band, recording experiments to library music and the years 1970 to 2004. And, of course, Alphorns."
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| BOCKSHOLM |
Caged inside the Beast of the Forge |
CD |
fourth studio album by the ongoing band-project of two Swedish subjects named the same (= PETER ANDERSSON), better known as DEUTSCH NEPAL & RAISON D'ETRE; bleak & haunting atmosphere, sluggish metal pulses, strange sounds & odd harmonies... very atmospheric & experimental & otherwordly droney, adding more noise & dirt sometimes.. (9 tracks in total, 57+ minutes playtime); just excellent !
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE |
Geisterfaust |
CD |
fourth album |
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| BOKANOWSKI, MICHELE |
Three rooms of unrest (trois chambres d'inquietude) |
maxi-CD |
piece first performed in 1976 from this highly interesting female composer who worked with PIERRE SCHAEFFER and ELIANE RADIGUE; lim. 1000 full-colour inner & outer jackets
|
2001 |
€9.00 |
|
| |
La Plague |
LP (one-sided) |
a so far unpublished piece composed 1991 for the short film "La Plague" by PATRICK BOKANOWSKI, by the French electro acoustic createur who studied with ELIANE RADIGUE and is known for some phantastic albums; this one-sided mini LP comes in four different editions w. embossed cover and insert, lim. 300 - "...It is pure liquid abstraction in sounds. It is one of those rare compositions really out of time and space..."
|
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| BORGA, ASCANIO |
Xenomorphic |
CD-R |
newest work by this interesting Italian "experimental ambient" composer... as usually with AFE releases this comes in a professional full colour cardboard-cover. Lim. 150
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| BORGHI, ANDREA |
Moltiplicazioni |
CD |
very experimental droning noise-scapes, undecipherable acoustic sources, feedbacks, fragmented sounds.. great debut album by this so far (for us) unknown Italian artist, also a member of VIPCANCRO... to discover !
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Fuochi Rituali Di San Giuseppe |
CD |
field recordings from a pagan bonfire ritual (where a puppet symbolizing the winter is burnt) made in the night of 19. March, 2014, in the province Lucca in Tuscany: sounds of crackling fire, people & chilrden gathered around it, the frying of oil on the fire and firewood were used and processed to create a somehow intimate composition of mysterious concrete sounds, with strange smackling and gurgling overtones... very special! lim. 200 ful colour cover with art card
|
2016 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Palsecam |
LP |
SENSUAL but RAW tracks with material from old VHS tapes, mixed with the mechanical OBJECT sounds from the VHS players itself, very original stuff, our highest recommendation! - *The result is a complication of inside and outside sounds: distant, gesturing snippets of semi-remembered, half-imagined films compete with TV cathode burn, tracking stutters, mechanical interference, and vérité whirrs and clicks that could only come from that original reproducer of dreams, the VHS player..*
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| BORIS WITH MERZBOW |
Gensho |
do-CD |
CD version of the newest BORIS_MERZBOW collab project that already gets excited reactions=> the 150 min. of new material (one CD with 9 tracks by BORIS, one CD with four long MERZBOW tracks) are meant to be played simultaneously at different volumes to form the complete "gensho" (phenomenon) experience... "This album is really fucking with my head" [S810]
|
2016 |
€17.50 |
|
| BRADLEY, PAUL |
Anamnesis |
CD-R |
full-colour printed sleeves |
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| BRAND, STEVE |
Looking into the other |
CD-R |
oversized full-colour / fold-out cardboard cover / lim. 100 copies / SPECIAL OFFER now!
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| BRANDAL, ANDREAS |
The Merchant of Salt |
CD-R |
new recordings by this Norwegian artist with his idiosyncratic experimental ambience, mainly based on synths & guitar, at times beautiful, at times sombre & mysterious, at times more weird... lim. 100 professional 6-panel colour digipack, on a new Russian label from Moscow !
|
2011 |
€8.50 |
|
| BRIGHTER DEATH NOW |
Everything is Gonna' be Allright |
10inch |
clear vinyl 10" with four exclusive tracks, luxurious cover w. postcard + DL code, lim. 500 and already gone at source..
|
2022 |
€25.00 |
|
| BRODERICK, PETER & GABRIEL SALOMAN |
same |
LP |
collaboration by these two artists known from EFTERKLANG and YELLOW SWANS - basic source material recorded together was later shaped into 5 pieces:' Broderick’s side brings together elements of modern compostion, electronic music, dub and vocal-oriented songwriting, while Saloman’s side is an epic 18-minute journey that builds into a gorgeous crescendo before gliding away on plaintive cries of a violin'; lim. 350 copies on black vinyl
|
2015 |
€19.50 |
|
| BRUITAL ORGASME |
Experiment in functional Background Music |
LP |
this very active male/female industrial noise duo from Belgium releases their first LP on Silken Tofu! - by incorporating a wide range of different sound-sources (self build sound objects, old vinyl players, tapes, radios, etc..) they manage to create very versatile collage noise tracks with lots of atmosphere... lim. 200, comes w. silkscreened PVC sleeve & cover + download code, very nice artwork
|
2015 |
€18.00 |
|
| BRUME |
Anthology (BLACK edition) |
13 x CD-Box |
the full anthology in one box, BLACK edition (unnumbered, but in same nice box, black coloured)
|
2008 |
€115.00 |
|
|
After the Battle |
CD |
one of our favourite BRUME works back in stock, very intense and dark! lim. 300, silk-screened 7" cover, includes sheet with complete BRUME-discography
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Two Characters |
10inch |
the French "atmospheric musique concrete" master on the Drone Rec.-sublabel with two highly evocative drone-pieces, full of tension & great sounds, showing a compelling densification process.. lim. 500 coloured vinyl; cover-artwork by MAL HOESCHEN (MULTER)
OUT NOW !!
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Friction |
LP |
a 'compression' from the two very first BRUME tapes 'Frikture' (1985) and 'Le Jour du Cochon' (1986-1987) with recorded material 1984-1986, showing a different, more rhythmic & electronic sounding early BRUME... lim. 200 copies RED vinyl, a release in the "Archives des Musiques Industrielles de France"
|
2015 |
€22.00 |
|
| BRUME & TBC |
House Unwillently |
CD-R |
CDR edition of the deleted LP from 2001 / full-colour 7" cover / BACK IN STOCK ! |
2005 |
€8.00 |
|
| BU.D.D.A. |
Diese Anmut von Trophäen |
MC |
"Think of EARTH meets TROUM together with BRIAN ENO on LSD... " - stunning new album of the experimental ambient / drone project founded by B'TONG & EMERGE with lots of surprising elements, feat. guest musicians from COMMON EIDER / KING EIDER, DREKKA and BEBAWINIGI... - the cassette version is limited to 70 copies - bronce C-65 cassette, packed in ivory case, full colour fold out cover, DL code
|
2022 |
€10.00 |
|
| BUCK, TONY & MASSIMO PUPILLO |
Time Being |
LP |
collaboration by the ZU bass-player MASSIMO PUPILLO and TONY BUCK, drummer of THE NECKS, and what a collab this is! => two phantastic, sublime, ghostly drone-scapes based on mainly instrumental sources , that seem to breath - drums, percussion, vibraphone, bass & electronics
|
2019 |
€19.50 |
|
| BURNES, ANDREW |
Telescope |
LP |
7th release in the new TOTE guitar vinyl-series Vol. 3 & 4 (12 LPs!), a one-sided LP with etching by SAVAGE PENCIL on the other side on colour or clear vinyl; solo debut album of this member of SAN AGUSTIN; mastered by JIM PLOTKIN
|
2008 |
€17.00 |
|
| BURROUGHS, WILLIAM S. |
Three allusive Tracks from Break Through in a Grey Room |
7inch |
collector's item! "Curse go back", "Interview with Mr. Martin", "Burrourghs called the Law", numb. ed. 300 copies; label design by STEPHANE BLANQUET
|
2009 |
€11.00 |
|
|
Let me hang you |
LP |
recordings from 20 years ago, with new musical input: BURROUGHS reading his favourite parts of NAKED LUNCH, combined with musical and sound creations of BILL FRISELL and WAYNE HORVITZ (NAKED CITY), EYVIND KANG and many more, creating a kind of atmospheric soundtrack and background for the ever strange contents of the novel... finally these recordings have been re-found & finished by KING KHAN and other musicians. 13 pieces, pretty obscure but it works!!! multi-coloured vinyl, gatefold cover
|
2016 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Ali's Smile |
LP |
re-issue of one of the rarest ever published BURROUGH's LP (from 1971, only about 50 non-damaged copies could be distributed) with a reading from 1970 ("A tale of revenge, heartless cruelty and amulet power, muddied with frequent recourse to Scientological references"), plus "Nova Dispatches", earliest recordings with shorter texts done on tape in 1963 by the master himself ("Cut-up and Fold-In Techniques", "Virus", "Nova Mythology"); nice ed. with numbered inlay + postcard, 1000 copies
|
2021 |
€26.00 |
|
| BVDUB |
Wrath & Apathy |
CD |
four long new tracks (each clocking at almost 20 minutes!), inspired by HARUKI MURAKAMI's surrealistic novel "Kafka on the Shore" (deutsch: "Kafka am Strand", from 2002)
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Wrath & Apathy |
do-LP |
"People are drawn deeper into tragedy not by their defects but by their virtues.." - four long new tracks (each clocking at almost 20 minutes!), inspired by HARUKI MURAKAMI's surrealistic novel "Kafka on the Shore" (deutsch: "Kafka am Strand", from 2002); comes on coloured vinyl ("coke bottle clear"), lim. 500 copies
|
2020 |
€32.00 |
|
| BVDUB & NETHERWORLD |
Equilibrium |
CD |
their first official collaboration - inspired by the notion EQUILIBRIUM which means the state of complete balance inside a glacier... - "the gritty warmth of bvdub above, the glacial cold of Netherworld below, locked in a line that forever remains the perfect point at which they both exist as one.." - four long tracks, *fragile, intense, and transportive soundscapes of calm beauty, employing different sound sources from organic to electronic with the addition of grainy noise dynamics..* [IGLOO mag]
|
2022 |
€16.00 |
|
| B°TONG (B*TONG / B-TONG/ BTONG) |
Prostration before Infinity |
LP |
the very first full LP release for the Swiss Drone Rec. artist (MIND 01 LP) who found a remarkable own way to transform subconscious matter into audio material (or vice versa?=), here with a stronger focus on oral / voice sources... we had to think of OVRO or even NURSE WITH WOUND when these bizarre & surrealistic micro sound drones appear, exist for a moment and seep away... lim. 300
"inspired by the vast and still quite unknown space that surrounds us" |
2014 |
€17.50 |
|
|
Each and every Word must die |
LP |
collector's item! - recordings of private concert given in Barcelona in December 2016, in front of an audience of 2 people only!! numbered edition, lim. 100 - handpainted cover - coloured vinyl - inlay - download code
|
2017 |
€26.00 |
|
| |
Monastic |
CD |
MONASTIC (='klösterlich') is the companion release to 'The long Journey' on the same label =>; from various field recordings uncanny soundscapes and strangely reverberating acoustics are formed, resulting in long one nightmarish, unescapable ambience realm which seems to have no beginning or ending, going on in endless circles..
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| CAMINADA, ANSELM |
Short Frites AA |
do-mCDR & object |
cardboard box & flourescent screenprint, artwork by ANJA GERSCHER. lim./numb. 300 copies
|
2007 |
€22.00 |
|
| CAPECE, LUCIO & SERGIO MERCE |
Casa |
CD |
lim. 500; Lucio Capece: sruti box, filter (on track 1), bass clarinet (on track 2) // Sergio Merce: four tracks portastudio without tape (on track 1), tenor saxophone (on track 2)
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
| CAPELLE, MIREILLE |
Blue Veil |
CD |
a breathtaking, arcane "transcension drone" installation soundtrack (for the exhibition 'I Fortuny' , Venice 2019) created by legendary actor and singer MIREILLE CAPELLE and the HERMESensemble - metallic ghost strokes, whispering voices, crackles, wide spheric drones..." I wanted this piece to allow us to hear the inaudible. I wanted to enlarge what is hidden in sound. " - ed. of 350 copies, 46 min. length, our deepest recommendation !!
|
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| CAPELLE, MIREILLE; WITH HERMESENSEMBLE |
Do'un |
CD |
a phantastic, excellently elaborated work composed for the exhibition "Intuition" that happened in Venice at Palazzo Fortuny in 2017 => a spheric, cryptic composition of another kind, based on real time instruments (ethnic percussion, flutes - performed by HERMESensemble), subtle voice/words experiments, and strange organic sounds of unknown sources... the whole radiates an alien, outlandish atmosphere and uses lots of 'standing' waves and overtunes... our highest praise !!
|
2017 |
€18.00 |
|
| CAPSULAR |
Exhibition |
CD-R |
new arrangements of pieces from the strong "Derail" album (2014), used for a vernissage of an art exhibition... extreme reverberation and echo sounds build a dark trip, sound sources could come from field recordings or cinematic found sounds, always oscillating between more heavy noise sounds and the sublime... - this is the dark drone horror ambient project of MIRKO HENTRICH aka SPHERICAL DISRUPTED
|
2018 |
€7.00 |
|
| CARTER TUTTI VOID |
Play Chris & Cosey |
do-LP |
re-workings & re-interpretations of classic CHRIS & COSEY songs from the 80's & 90's, which they performed at live performances throughout 2011 - 2014; five remixes come from the limited tour CD; vinyl version w. gatefold-cover
|
2015 |
€29.50 |
|
|
Triumvirate |
LP |
the third and final album by the project of CHRIS CARTER, COSEY FANNI TUTTI and NIK COLK VOID - "The rhythms, created by Chris Carter, formed the foundation and starting point from which the process began of melding the live instrumentation of Cosey Fanni Tutti and Nik Void’s searing guitars, vocals, effects and the arsenal of sounds each had amassed from a variety of sources, some sounds manipulated to extremes, all fed into the mix.." lim. vinyl version
|
2019 |
€26.50 |
|
| |
Triumvirate |
CD |
the third and final album by the project of CHRIS CARTER, COSEY FANNI TUTTI and NIK COLK VOID - "The rhythms, created by Chris Carter, formed the foundation and starting point from which the process began of melding the live instrumentation of Cosey Fanni Tutti and Nik Void’s searing guitars, vocals, effects and the arsenal of sounds each had amassed from a variety of sources, some sounds manipulated to extremes, all fed into the mix.."
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| CARTER, CHRIS |
Chemistry Lessons (CCCL Volume One) |
do-LP |
the first solo-album by CHRIS CARTER in 17 years, the 'genius behind the machines' at T.G. - "Each of the 25 tracks feels to offer a window onto worlds of encrypted kinetic energy, fulminating figments of the imagination which come to life in shapeshifting, plasmic forms made all the more 'real' and hyperstitious....cropping up as alien sirens, glossolalic darkroom murmurs, and fully-fledged 'singers' in their own strange right." [Boomkat] gatefold cover, coloured vinyls
|
2018 |
€26.50 |
|
| CASAS, CARLOS |
Mutia (special ed.) |
3 x LP |
the Spanish soundartist and film-maker CARLOS CASAS created a highly atmospheric / surrealistic documentary named CEMETERY about an "Elephant Graveyard" in Sri Lanka (2019) => MUTIA has been created from the field recordings made for the film, radio frequencies and electronics, and contains four contemplative side long pieces, plus 2 on the bonus LP and more bonus material via Download Code; lim. 200 RED vinyl (special ed.), with art print
|
2019 |
€45.00 |
|
| CASPAR BRÖTZMANN MASSAKER |
Koksofen |
do-LP |
the fourth album from 1993, 1st time vinyl re-issue, their most dark & intense masterpiece! - "Mountainous noises tower up and crash down, and tormented sounds rise from ominously seething grounds, haunting the entire song-scape. The feel of doom and dread hangs heavily over the five songs, and the title song rumbles, shrieks and wails, plagued by Caspar’s guttural growls of war, suffering and death..." |
2019 |
€24.00 |
|
| |
Home |
do-LP |
with "Home" (1994), a collection of live recordings, the circle of vinyl re-issues of C.B.M albums by Southern Lord ends = simply one of the most raw and violent, ecstatic and experimental rock industrial bands that has ever existed... and there are rumours they are recording again! "Schwere Gitarren, Feedback-Wogen, ausufernde Strukturen, wuchtig bollerndes Schlagzeug, ein Noise-Sperrfeuer, aber in Blues grundiert - eine Musik, die kaum eindeutiger in den 1980er Jahren zu verorten wäre."[Andreas Schnell]
|
2020 |
€24.00 |
|
| CAUDAL |
Let's all take the yellow Pills |
LP |
the trance / drone - krautrock outfit from Berlin with their fourth vinyl release, most subtle, hypnotic, instrumental and very clear structured pieces... with AIDAN BAKER on guitar,GARETH SWEENEY on bass, FELIPE SALAZAR on drums.. "A great release that would be wonderful in an endless loop.." [Expose]
|
2018 |
€16.50 |
|
| CELER |
Sunlir |
CD |
re-issue of an early CD-R from 2006, containing 10 tracks of loopy/minimal/orchestral drone-waves with hypnotic effects & strange titles; one of our favourite CELER-works definitely! Lim. 300 digipack
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Perfectly beneath us |
CD-R |
rare Russian CDR-only release on the label of EXIT IN GREY & FIVE ELEMENTS MUSIC; new material recorded by WILL LONG summer of 2012 in Tokyo => extremely smooth sensitivity-drones, like an acoustic breeze you can almost not recognize anymore... 35 min. playtime, full colour cardboard cover
|
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| CELER & DIRK SERRIES |
Background Curtain |
CD |
first ever collaboration between CELER and DIRK SERRIES (VIDNA OBMANA, FEAR FALLS BURNING) who exchanged files through several years and created two long ambient compositions that are interconnected as they are based on the same source material... softly biting guitar-rays, shimmering / flickering drone-clouds, undulating in an enchanting way.... the perfect music for the early morning air! Lim. 300
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| CELER & MACHINEFABRIEK |
Compendium |
CD |
re-issue of the three deleted 7" singles from 2012, now with four previously unreleased bonus tracks (feat. remixes by STEPHAN MATHIEU, SYLVAIN CHAUVEAU and NICOLAS BERNIER)
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| CENT ANS DE SOLITUDE |
En Concert - El Diablo, Lille, France 29.11.14 |
LP |
the French project (formed by the person behind the legendary LES NOUVELLES PROPAGANDES label) in a rare live concert from Nov. 2014, perfect old school industrial which mixes electronic drones and pulses, object noises and cinematic spoken word and other found sounds, from rough ambient to noise... - comes w. excellent "constructivists" silk-screen sleeve, on rust-coloured vinyl, lim. 270 copies
|
2020 |
€18.00 |
|
| CHALK, ANDREW |
The Circle of Days |
LP |
older CHALK recordings feat. DAISUKE SUZUKI performed on / created with field recordings, keyboards, guitar, bass & slide-guitar => everyday environmentals (like in ORA with DARREN TATE) merge with subtle instrumental drones and sound drops, filed under: impressionist ambience... "A magical, captivating piece of work that functions like a sonic parallel to the way shooting stars grip our gaze in wonder" [Infinite Limits]; ed. of 325 copies
|
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
|
The Circle of Days 4 |
MC |
a collection of 18 ambient miniatures, fourth volume in the "Circle of Days" series, lim. ed. with ull colour cover; "The mind empties, your biorhythms adapt to Chalk’s excruciatingly slow pace, and you become aware only of where individual sounds begin and end....This is sculptural, present music, for which background details ultimately seem superfluous, and which makes the past as well as the future feel entirely open." [Soundohm]
|
2019 |
€12.50 |
|
| |
Dreams - Scenes I - XV |
CD |
very floating, dream-like electronic surroundings + occasional instrumental elements, with that certain nostalgic flair CHALK is known for.. CD version of the cassette, excellent mini-gatefold sleeve, lim. 300 -
"All of this is bliss. Timeless and of the moment.
I cannot decide a 'favourite' because it all works together so well." [Michael J. Bates]
|
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| CHALK, ANDREW / JEAN-NOEL REBILLY |
L'etat Intermediaire |
LP |
the follower of "A Paper Doll's Whisper of Spring", an album like a daydream, based on mainly acoustic instrumentation; 10 pieces recorded over four years using clarinets, string, and keyboard instruments alongs with collected sounds.. "...Dreaming when Dawn's Left Hand was in the sky, I heard a voice within the tavern cry,..."
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| CHALK, ANDREW / RALF WEHOWSKY / ERIC LANZILLOTTA |
Yang-Tul |
CD |
re-issue of deleted LP from 1999 => two long pieces of mysterious, circling ambient-scapes inspired by the spiritual phenomenum of the 'YANG-TUL': one ANDREW CHALK piece using source-materials from RALF WEHOWSKY (aka RLW/ ex P16.D4), one RALF WEHOWSKY piece using materials from CHALK & ERIC LANZILLOTTA... the idea is: an emanation that produces its own secondary emanation, sounds still phantastic!!
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| CHARTIER, RICHARD |
Continue |
CD |
re-workings of older material form four new movements of most subtle drone minimalism entities, evoking philosophic questions: When is a music or art piece really finished? Are we ever finished "forms", too ? Is the sun the same everyday? - *The music is subtle, delicate and at moments fragile. Full, with details, like delicate patterns that unfold like ripples on water...* - lim. 200 gatefold sleeve wtih metalic ink print
|
2020 |
€12.50 |
|
| CHASSAGNARD, JEROME & JEREMIE MATHES |
Outer Dialog |
CD |
French deep droner JEREMIE MATHES (known from our 10" vinyl in the Substantia I. series) worked before with J. CHASSAGNARD (AB OVO), this fine genre connecting album is the follower to "Inner Dialog"... "ambient electronica and shoegaze spheres counteract with intense rhythm-oriented idm textures while the sound is focused on extroverted beat patterns. a fascinating interaction between soothing beauty and stirring, powerful force.." - to discover ! / SPECIAL LOW PRICE
|
2020 |
€6.00 |
|
| CHASSE, LOREN |
Characters at the Water Margin |
CD |
finally a new release by LOREN CHASSE (who was once active with ID BATTERY, COELACANTH, and in THUJA) who assembled field recordings from the Olympic Rainforest in Washington, USA, near the Pacific Ocean; you can hear his activites and interactions merging with the pure sounds from air, ocean, wind, stones, wood, etc. etc... very pure "exploring sounds" in this series of MYSTERY SEA, dealing with "spirits of specific places", lim. 200, full-colour cardboard-sleeve, inlay
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| CHATHAM, RHYS |
Outdoor Spell |
CD |
four new compositions of the legendary US underground minimalist
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| CHEN_PITCHER_VAN NORT |
One History of Troy |
LP |
DOUG VAN NORT - electronics, JEFFERSON PITCHER - guitar, clarinet, field recordings, playground, JONATHAN CHEN - violin, viola=> free improvisations dedicated to PAULINE OLIVEROS (all three musicians have worked with her), "Instrumental and electronic timbres blend seamlessly, with harmonic/melodic and noisy elements perfectly balanced. The album is dominated by calm, rather meditative pieces which exude a certain melancholy.." lim. 300, coloured (marbled) vinyl
|
2017 |
€17.00 |
|
| CHESSEX, ANTOINE |
Subjectivation |
LP |
impressive solo LP by the radical Swiss sax-player and sound artist, based on live-material recorded 2010-2015, with two very different approaches to sounds and textures on each side; "...a formidable tour-de-force, a developing field of distortion in which tenor saxophone adds on a metal-tinged sludgy tonality, wedged through dense masses of sound.... a rapid-fire of voices from the horn that gets enveloped in a back-and-forth between electroacoustic structures, psychoacoustics, and pure tone." lim.323
|
2019 |
€17.00 |
|
| CHION, MICHEL |
Gloria |
mCD |
mcd full-colour cardboard cover |
1995 |
€6.50 |
|
| CHOMO |
C'est illimite (experimentations sonoros et poetiques) |
LP |
filed under: strangest noises, drones, vocalizations and poetry from a true hermit and "total artist" who lived in the forest near Paris for 40 years until his death in 1999 (see: chomo.fr), doing 'primitive' and archaic paintings, sculptures, objects, self-made instruments, living in a surrealistic place between trees.... the utterings remind on ETANT DONNES or other French sound poetry, low fi and authentic.. a great document - comes with full colour inlay
|
2020 |
€18.00 |
|
| CHORE IA |
Postscriptum |
do-CD |
the Polish cult label OBUH released cassettes of this project in the 90's, in the typical style for that time - instrumental ambience, sometimes weird and with psychedelic / avant rock influences, with spoken words or more expressiveness... - here are now 5 new dark tracks, plus material from two long deleted more wild OBUH cassettes - "This is a great slab of weird electronic drone that should find favour with fans of creepy atmospheric horror drones as well as fans of avant garde rock." [Musique Machine]
|
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| CINDYTALK |
Silver |
7inch |
first part in the "We Dream in Colour" series, presenting 7 acts working on different colours (combined with live-shows in Athens, Greece); this is the first part, colour: SILVER. Edition of 300
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Wappinschaw (lim. clear red vinly) |
LP |
first ever re-issue of the fourth CINDYTALK LP from 1995, and the last of the "first phase", a most remarkable mixture of styles and approaches between beauty and aggression, as impressive as "Camouflage Heart", comes with rare bonus tracks... " As beautiful as it is strange, and as savage as it is delicate. There is no other record even remotely like it, and very few that equal it's artistic process. " [dreamritual] lim. colour vinyl version
|
2021 |
€23.50 |
|
| CIRCULAR |
Ghostwhite |
CD |
fourth full length album by CIRCULAR (since 2006), who always constructs very carefully his vision of the darker side of 'cosmic music' - "Circular shines with his new album and creates haunting and gripping sonic works that capture the imagination. Beautiful melodies and rhythms contrast the field recordings and sounds of modular synthesizers to build an abstract image spanning the entirety of the inner cinema." - 6 panel ecopak design
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| CISFINITUM |
V |
CD |
massive digipack with many full-colour inlays |
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| CISFINITUM & FIRST HUMAN FERRO |
Alchemicals (re-issue) |
CD |
a deep and solemn collaboration by these two "sound-alchemists" from Ukraine & Russia (1st released 2012) - dedicated to the ever unexplainable transformations of matter this is an album full of nostalgia, mystery, pathos & unexptected jazzy sounds (sax), and neo-classic chamber tunes....source material was used from JAMES THIRLWELL (FOETUS) and others, this new edition has almost 30 min. bonus from the original recordings.. lim. 100
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| CITY OF WORMS |
Whime |
CD-R |
re-issue of MC from 1988: comes in handmade/sticked jewel-case cover using special papers, with translucent full colour inlay & on light-scribed CDR, numb. ed. 120 copies; CITY OF WORMS was the project formed by JEPH JERMAN & GEORGE ERICSON
|
2008 |
€9.50 |
|
| CIUTA, DARIUS |
l2di-(3) |
CD |
first full album on Mystery Sea/Unfathomless for this Lithuanian field recording composer, who works with a very cryptic concept to gain his recordings => the very long (73+ min.), extremely subtle one-tracker invites the listener to concentrate on tiny microsounds from the forest, often of unknown origin.."lots of insect sounds, crackling of leaves, and maybe birdcalls. It makes all together quite a fascinating environment" [FdW]; numbered ed. of 200 copies, full colour cardboard cover & inlay
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| CLADE, |
Klavierstücke |
CD-R |
a kind of continuation of the "Vietnamese Piano" release, this uses again processed recordings of piano, organ and keyboard, "12 hours of raw materials are in turns cajoled, caressed, genetically modified and burnt beyond recognition" lim. 100
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| CLEMENT, JODA |
The Narrows |
CD |
one long hazy dronescape based on various field recordings mainly made in Canada, very complex & rich, unidentifiable & mysterious ... ninth release in this strong series by MYSTERY SEA, dealing with "spirits of specific places"; lim. 200 handnumbered copies, beautiful full colour artwork as usual by DANIEL CROKAERT
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| CLOAMA |
same |
CD |
This is dark experimental ambient with a very piercing edge, evokes a very unsettling and eldrich atmosphere....the other, dark & abysmall side of CLOAMA... oversized full-colour covermap |
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Embargoed |
CD |
exciting new album by this Finnish ambient / doom industrial act (active now since about 20 years), combining rather concrete field recordings with monumental drones, ranging from wall-of-sound guitar drones to more collagic material.. "...impressive gloomy post-industrial soundscapes from wide variation of sound sources. Eventually tracks move closer to two past albums, including eerie guitar-drone and synth oscillations as well"
|
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| CLOCK DVA |
Neoteric RMX4 |
12inch |
four remixes of the 3 track CD-EP from 2016, by: JACK DANGERS (MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO), BORIS DIVIDER, WRANGLER and ADI NEWTON/CLOCK DVA himself; comes on limited white vinyl with stunning artwork
|
2019 |
€19.50 |
|
| CODE INCONNU |
Abgesang |
CD-R |
full-colour cardboard sleeve |
2002 |
€11.00 |
|
| COELACANTH & KEITH EVANS |
Wrack Light in Copper Ruin |
CD & DVD |
back in stock , the fourth album by the former project of JIM HAYNES & LOREN CHASSE, this time in collaboration with film-maker KEITH EVANS whose works are feat. on the DVD; the higly abstract audio consists of mysterious yet somehow 'concrete' materialized ambience, a´sound-net made from frictioned objects, field recordings, glass-drone feedbacks, granular surfaces, everything seems to flicker and flutter permanently, so close to the matter but opening unknnown spaces at the same time.. we love it!!
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
| COIL |
Time Machines |
CD |
IN STOCK NOW!! COIL as 'TIME MACHINES' : re-issue of this much requested release from 1998, when COIL created four drone "tones" named after psychoactive substances: Telepathine, DMT, Hecate, Psylocybin, enabling time travels; CD version incl. reproductions of the 6 original vinyl stickers, comes in gatefold brown board digipack with spot gloss overlay
|
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
|
A Prison Of Measured Time (col. vinyl) |
12inch |
two unreleased tracks finalized by DANNY HYDE in 1998, containing unheard JOHN BALANCE vocals; very rare (numb. 500) and normally only available from the label directly; comes in three different vinyl colours (white, blue, and blue-white mix) |
2020 |
€30.00 |
|
|
Musick to play in the Dark 2 (Black Vinyl) |
do-LP |
first vinyl re-issue in over 20 years of the sister release to "Musick to play 1", feat. THIGHPAULSANDRA and ROSE McDOWALL, a further exploration of their 'Moon Music' => "a full witching hour of bad acid sound design, synthesizer voyaging, opiated balladry, Luciferian glitch, and subliminal hymnals, alternately ominous, oracular, and absurd.." - BLACK vinyl edition, with etching on Side D + download code
|
2022 |
€29.50 |
|
| |
Musick to play in the Dark 2 |
CD |
remastered re-issue of the sister release to "Musick to play 1", feat. THIGHPAULSANDRA and ROSE McDOWALL, a further exploration of their 'Moon Music' => "a full witching hour of bad acid sound design, synthesizer voyaging, opiated balladry, Luciferian glitch, and subliminal hymnals, alternately ominous, oracular, and absurd.." comes in oversized gatefold cardboard sleeve |
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| COLLEY, JOE |
6 Feedback Channels |
7inch |
handmade colour-photo-cover, edition of 215 copies; LAST COPY ! "six piezo transducers hang above, and barely touch, six speakers of different sizes. Each speaker emits the signal of its piezo input creating feedback. Three oscillating fans move the air, randomly affecting the resultant sound. Collaged from field recordings made on site 5/12/02 @ Black Hole, San Francisco, USA." |
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Hive |
mCD |
mCD-gatefold cover (fullcolour), third in this nice series / lim. 500
|
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
|
Deformation of Tone |
LP |
"Until Everything Miserable Disappears" - a collection of shorter pieces recorded in 2020 working with analog electronics, voice material and broken / damaged machine sounds and cut ups, not without a sense of existentialist humour.. - "machines whirring, devices beeping, blank-face rotary drones swelling and merging with unnaturally regimented hive rustlings and perfectly unpleasant high-gain squelch - all constructed with a master’s timing and sense of scale." [Seymour Glass / BANANAFISH] - BACK IN STOCK!
|
2022 |
€21.50 |
|
| |
Pleasure Pressure |
LP |
rare US LP by the master of somehow deranged electronics, like a mirror of our society and our minds within....- *Damaged wires, crackling speakers, and the existential dread of droning electronics are woven together into Colley's trademark juxtaposition of haunting minimalism and industrial wreckage... Buzzing, hissing, corroded sounds are wrenched from machines that seem on the brink of imminent collapse and deftly resurrected into new forms* - comes with DL code
|
2023 |
€29.50 |
|
| COLUCCINO, OSVALDO |
Parallelo |
CD |
two shrouded field recording pieces by this Italian Contemporary Classic Music composer, captured in North West Italy at abandoned ruins from an old monastery from the 17th century.. "there is dripping of water, objects falling onto the floor, and everything reverberates through this giant space, or maybe even various spaces of varying sizes..." [Vital Weekly] lim. 200, numbered, 300gr. full colour satin paper cover with art-card
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
| COLUMN ONE |
Electric Pleasure |
CD |
back in stock this strong album by C.O. with retro-futuristic IDM using lots of source material from old science fiction films; first release on their own label 90%WASSER
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Feldaufnahmen I |
CD |
" Le Bruits du Monde: L'Allemagne". digipack with nice full-colour booklet
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
AntiphoNA |
10inch |
"ANTIPHONA AD INTROITUM" - finally on SUBSTANTIA: the genius German masters of experimental dadaism & de-construction, whose releases are always a thoughtful play with hidden meanings, conceptions & contradictions => the two pieces on this mysterious 10" sound completely different (* a bewildering collage-work / * a meditative bowl-drone recording) but can be regarded as anthiponies that form a single whole => draw your own conclusions; Side A ends in a endless groove, artwork by SEAN HILLEN, lim. 500
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Cindy, Loraine & Hank |
do-LP |
'A boundless world' - first full C.O. album after the NO ONE box set (2011); being in the works for almost 10 years, this collects many finished fragments & ideas that were created during their collaboration with Berlin's ZEITKRATZER.... 11 tracks of highly abstract & experimental COLLAGES & musique concrete, of electronic origin or by using object noises & field recordings or weird found sounds, feat. "Antiphona #2" which is a continuation of our SUB-10"; lim. 300 gatefold cover
|
2015 |
€21.00 |
|
|
Cindy, Loraine & Hank |
do-CD |
'A boundless world' - first full C.O. album after the NO ONE box set (2011); being in the works for almost 10 years, this collects many finished fragments & ideas that were created during their collaboration with Berlin's ZEITKRATZER.... 11 tracks of highly abstract & experimental COLLAGES & musique concrete, of electronic origin or by using object noises & field recordings or weird found sounds, feat. "Antiphona #2" which is a continuation of our SUB-10"; lim. 500 double digipack
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Boiling Pool |
LP |
BOILING POOL consists of 953 fragments, 722 situations, 952 interruptions & countless Sources, intensions & beings." - great new C.O.- album with two mind-bending sound collages, musique concrete in the truest sense of the world, full of often fast changing surprises (all kinds of imaginable sources), reminding on such classics as the MIXED BAND PHILANTROPIST LP, but it contains also longer and more calmer passages....100 records in 1! Lim. 245 copies only!
|
2016 |
€19.00 |
|
| |
Whip cracking & Death defying (a Ceremony) |
LP |
this LP was recorded during rehearsals for the ENTROPIUM performance in Berlin, March 2012 (when COLUMN ONE was ZEITKRATZER); it sounds like a completely unintentional "in between" recording, musicians testing instruments, talking, making just noises, along with the sounds of the aeration/electronic devices in the hall...C.O. focus your attention to the 'preparation', of what normally stays unheard.. what is false, what is real? and how to show it? a very thoughtful concept album, perplexing your brain!
|
2016 |
€17.00 |
|
| COMPEST |
Danach |
CD-R |
behind COMPEST we find MARTIN STEINEBACH, long time active performer as STILLSTAND or CONSCIENTIA PECCATI, who uses orchestral string samples and subtile percussion as a basic source for his dark harmonic 46 min. composition, a kind of neo-classic ambience that could be the soundtrack to an old 'exotic' movie..
|
2014 |
€6.00 |
|
| CONCERN |
Truth and Distance |
CD |
first fabric pressed album by this US artist, creating wonderful drones based on acoustic sources; recommended!
|
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| CONIGLIO, ENRICO |
Sea Cathedrals |
CD |
"four elements ambience music", very spacey, evocative, subtle, uplifting... excellent album by this newcomer from Venice, Italy
|
2010 |
€12.50 |
|
| CONIGLIO, ENRICO / UNDER THE SNOW |
Dialogue One |
CD |
the new (?) project of STEFANO GENTILE (the man behind SILENTES) and GIANLUCA FAVARON, who create their very own kind of widely approached flowing experimental ambience using many different sound-sources from electronics to pure field recordings, always with on brain-half in dreamlands... very much recommended !!
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| CONSUMER ELECTRONICS |
Airless Space |
do-LP |
third C.E. album with the line up: SARAH FROEHLICH, PHILIP BEST (the legendary UK industrial noise musician who was in RAMLEH, WHITEHOUSE and SKULLFLOWER), and RUSSELL HASWELL and their first since they moved to San Francisco... "a state-of-the-union address that does for our American cousins what the band's earlier "Estuary English" album did for a British audience poised upon the coming madness of Brexit"
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| |
Airless Space |
CD |
third C.E. album with the line up: SARAH FROEHLICH, PHILIP BEST (the legendary UK industrial noise musician who was in RAMLEH, WHITEHOUSE and SKULLFLOWER), and RUSSELL HASWELL and their first since they moved to San Francisco... "a state-of-the-union address that does for our American cousins what the band's earlier "Estuary English" album did for a British audience poised upon the coming madness of Brexit"
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| CONTEMPLATRON |
Delog |
CD |
deep spiritual ambience from Poland, influenced by Tibetan Buddhism (the term 'Delog' means: the one who has crossed the threshold of death and returned ); multi-layered synths with swirling effects, subtle rhythmic passages and original Tibetan Ritual Music sounds appear well balanced in the mix for a contemplative journey, ... perfect stuff for your deeper mind if you like the releases on GTERMA, OÖPHOI, ALIO DIE, GRASSOW, etc..
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| CONTINUUM [STEVEN WILSON & DIRK SERRIES] |
Continuum Recyclings Volume One (expanded re-issue) |
do-LP + CD |
this expanded re-issue of the first CONTINUUM RECYCLINGS release contains as a bonus the so far unreleased BASS COMMUNION remix "Construct III - Immersion mix" (a remix from one of the pieces of the first CONTINUUM album on Soleilmoon) - a full 60 min. CD !! On the vinyl: four "recyclings" of the CONTINUUM album done by VIDNA OBMANA / DIRK SERRIES, 180 gr. black vinyl and gatefold picture sleeves
|
2016 |
€32.00 |
|
| CONTRASTATE |
English embers (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
lim. 200, handmade covers, coloured vinyl (two colours) |
1994 |
€ |
|
|
An Exercise in deFascination |
7inch |
two pieces inspired / dedicated to the Italian "Giallo" film genre, these are alternate mixes of ongoing studio recordings for the next album
- "It reminded me of the first time I heard Contrastate and I was reminded straight away why I like it so much back and still would play with great fondness." [Vital Weekly] - lim. 250 copies on yellow vinyl & with colourful cover art |
2019 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
35 Project |
10inch |
four new studio tracks, dark industrialized collages of superb quality and vision! - ' "Their current sound insinuates itself inside the dark ritual ambience of the electronic avant-garde shot through with a vein of experimental noise and stentorian vocals that are strewn amongst touches of industrial surrealism and sonic soundtracks." - lim. 250 copies on white vinyl, UK import
|
2022 |
€16.50 |
|
| CONTROLLED BLEEDING |
Headcrack |
LP |
essential (first ever) vinyl re-issue of this early, most favoured C.B.-album from 1986 (Sterile Records SR11) where they moved completely away from the harsh noise beginnings: melancholic vocal chants as coming from middle age, dreamlike synth patterns move through raw and spheric air, repetitive proggy / jazzy structures and subtle harmonic echo ambience build by guitars, bass and electronics... a unique sounding album! Lim. ed. BLUE vinyl
|
2017 |
€23.00 |
|
| CONTROLLED DEATH |
Ritualistic Mutilation in the Bloody Darkness |
do-LP |
new release by the "dark side of MASONNA" - project, started in 2018; much different from classic dark ambience, he creates a very bleak & harsh oppressive "death industrial" sound, extremely low fi and with sharp cuts.. "Cracked minimal electronic sound by Korg MS-20, unclear and disturbing voice with the influence of primitive black metal and dark ritual in this new double album which developed a moisturized doom world while wearing a raw material texture." - 299 copies in full colour gatefold sleeve
|
2019 |
€32.00 |
|
| COOP |
Moped |
CD-R |
full-colour cardboard sleeve |
1999 |
€11.00 |
|
| |
|
CD-R |
full-colour cardboard sleeve |
2001 |
€11.00 |
|
| COPH NIA |
A Prelude to Lashtal Lace |
12inch |
the Swedish martial industrial / dark wave-ambient- folk / neo-classic hybrid with a very 'musical' four-track long-play 12", where COPH NIA continue their tradition to cover underground classics ("In a lonely Place" by JOY DIVISION) and remind on a more electronic version of MICHAEL GIRA or EDWARD KA-SPELs solo works... three tracks are exclusive to this vinyl, lim. 200 excellent cover artwork + design
|
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
| CORDIER, ERIC & JEAN-LUC GUIONNET |
Synapses |
CD |
the French musicians and sound artists "play" this hanging installation, consisting of diverse string and percussion instruments plus metal resonators - all interconnected with diverse strings - when one string is touched the resulting sound is transfered to the next resonater, so one actions causes several acoustic events.. - recorded in Paris 1996/1998, reminds of NOISE-MAKER'S FIFES, ORGANUM, MORPHOGENESIS, etc..- comes with fold out / full colour inlay - mix: ERIC LA CASA ;
BACK IN STOCK!
|
1999 |
€13.00 |
|
| CORNER, PHILIP |
Italian Air: Wind, Water & Metal |
LP |
three previously unreleased pieces recorded all outdoors in Italy (1990-1996), mixing raw field recordings of water, rain & thunder with cymbals, alphorn & gong. Great atmospheric stuff (very low fi & rough & minimal) by this long active FLUXUS member and GAMELAN orchestra player; lim. 300 copies, comes with full-colour inlay & info sheet. FIRST EDITION !
|
2012 |
€18.50 |
|
| CORONA BARATHRI |
Lapis Sacrificialis |
CD |
dark heathen / witch audio rituals from Russia, feat. female vocalizations from CHTHONIA, DARKAMA, HEKTE ZAREN, as well as sounds from MARTYRIA and NAM-KHAR.. - " 4 rituals, 4 sacrificial stones as the the foundation of this opus. Enthralling incantations merge with deep ceremonial atmospherics, immersing one into the realm of ritualistic fervour." - lim. 300 copies, 6 panel digisleeve
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| CORRAL SHUT / RESIDUAL / TYHJÄ PÄÄ / HAUDAT |
same |
CD |
"Magnetic Tape Lullaby": four projects from the new wave of Finnish (harsh) noise artists on one CD, on the amazing label SATATUHATTA, known as a platform for non-standard, more handmade and object-based compositions, or unusual noise sounds.. - *On top of everything, on this split they've found a common thread to make this release feel like a proper album, a rarely achieved feat with splits or compilations..*
|
2023 |
€12.50 |
|
| CORTINI, ALESSANDRO |
Risveglio |
do-LP |
re-issue of the 2015 album - "Risveglio is an album that, while a continuation of Cortini's increasingly esoteric and hermetic journeys to the edges of the analogue synth frontier, actually turns away from the idea that ambient music should be passive and pastoral... Embrace the abyss and enjoy." [The Quietus]
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| CORTINI, ALESSANDRO & MERZBOW |
same |
do-LP |
after the highly successfull "modular synth" albums A. CORTINI collaborates with MERZBOW, both performing on a vintage EMS Synth, a British machine from the early 70's; "The result is a retching, sputtering beast of a record wresting jittery animations of white noise and spooling oscillators into chaotic briar patch of pure analog synthesis making the machine wail, buckle and cough up its least salubrious secrets in four extended parts." [Boomkat] black vinyl ed.
|
2017 |
€32.00 |
|
| COSEY FANNI TUTTI |
Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and the Legendary Tapes |
LP |
audio explorations and experiments that lead to the creation of the soundtrack to the film about DELIA DERBYSHIRE (who died 2001) from CAROLINE CATZ... COSEY FANNI TUTTI had full access to DERBYSHIRE's audio archive and her compositional notes..15 tracks & surrealistic miniatures, merging COSEYs and DELIAs sound in a great way...- "the album is a journey through both Delia and Cosey's practise -- to create an audio world for Catz's depiction of the artist to inhabit." - CLEAR vinyl
|
2022 |
€30.00 |
|
| |
Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and the Legendary Tapes |
CD |
audio explorations and experiments that lead to the creation of the soundtrack to the film about DELIA DERBYSHIRE (who died 2001) from CAROLINE CATZ... COSEY FANNI TUTTI had full access to DERBYSHIRE's audio archive and her compositional notes..15 tracks & surrealistic miniatures, merging COSEYs and DELIAs sound in a great way...- "the album is a journey through both Delia and Cosey's practise -- to create an audio world for Catz's depiction of the artist to inhabit." - digisleeve CD version
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| COSTA, RUI & FRIENDS |
Sightseeing for the Blind |
CD |
"sonic sightseeing": sound-artist from Portugal doing psycho-geographic recordings of Lisbon based on a tourist-guide; re-working of this were done by MARC BEHRENS, GREGORY BÜTTNER, PALI MEURSAULT, BILL JARBOE, MAILE COLBERT. Very interesting concept & result!
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| COSTER, TIM |
Mornings |
mCD-R |
rec. July-August 2005 / full-colour cover
|
2006 |
€6.00 |
|
| CRAB, SIMON |
Demand Full Automation |
CD |
SIMON CRAB is a legendary figure in UK's experimental/industrial underground, as founding member of BOURBONESE QUALK and with his RECLOOSE label; this is his second solo CD, a very political, electronic and rhythmic album about 'Automatism'... "This is a great album. Intelligent as well as accessible and as poppy as it is ambient. Excellent!" (FdW/Vital Weekly) |
2018 |
€14.00 |
|
| CRANIOCLAST |
(THE) L.K.A. SONAR KIT (SOLD OUT) |
pic-7 |
lim & cryptically numbered to 250 copies, with 11 different coloured & printed transparent papers around
|
2000 |
€ |
|
| |
Cract on Sail |
LP |
incredible return by this pioneering "mytho-poetic" ambient industrial band, for a while they seemed to be the German counterpart of ZOVIET FRANCE; their Drone Rec. pic-7" from 2000 was one of the most successful in the series; this is their first album since 1993, and of course these "game-changers" are surprising with another incarnation of CRANIOCLAST; using guitars and electronic pulses, it's music like circling aural mantras, hypnotic and surreal...
|
2018 |
€19.50 |
|
| CREATION VI |
Tetragrammaton |
CD-R |
the "spiritual drone" project of TIM SIX from Yaroslavl, Russia (who is also running the excellent PANTEON label), with a very contemplative drone CD, three long tracks using voice, singing bowls, ethnic instruments, field rec., etc.. when all is combined to express a holiness inside the (full sounding) drone, loosing your mind completely... "the direct intrusion into metaphysics of the Sound". numbered edition, handmade cover, last copies !
|
2014 |
€9.00 |
|
| CREATION VI & UHUSHUHU |
∆ |
CD |
mystic ethno-ambient from two of the "new wave" of Russian drone-ambient projects in collaboration, this beautiful one-tracker is loaded with handplayed drone instruments, nature sounds and ethereal chants, reaching a great spatial quality and vastness... reminds very much on VOICE OF EYE, LUNAR ABYSS, VRESNIT, etc.. "A dream filled with bright colours or a psychedelic slumber with a whirling kaleidoscope of asymmetric images and visions..." numb. ed. 300 copies
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| CRESHEVSKY, NOAH |
Rounded with a Sleep |
CD |
first full-length album by this daring US-composer with 7 compositions from 2006-2011; really unusual stuff based on instrumental and voice sources; to discover
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| CROUCH, ROBERT |
Sublunar |
CD |
a highly minimal / meditative 'attention drone' composition by this Californian sound-artist known from releases on Dragon's Eye and LINE => slow, pulsative, subtle and airy expanses, where the sound or composition is seen as a sculpture, architecture or choreography, with numerous conceptual relations... the source material was delevoped in performance with YANN NOVAK & RAFA ESPARZA... BACK IN STOCK, special priced now!
|
2017 |
€10.00 |
|
| CURRENT 93 |
Black Ships heat the Dancefloor (remixes & videos) |
CD/DVD (dualdisc) |
four remixes from the "Black Ships" album by JG THIRLWELL (FOETUS) & MATMOS, with additional vocals by ANTONY, PLUS 2 videoclips made by CAM ARCHER on the DVD-side!
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Honeysuckle Aeons |
CD |
"Honeysuckle Æons" is the new album by hallucinogenic super group Current 93; it follows on the heels of the recently released trilogy of "Black Ships Ate The Sky", "Aleph At Hallucinatory Mountain" and "Baalstorm, Sing Omega". The CD comes in a four-page black and white digipak with a 16-page booklet containing all the lyrics and family photos.
|
2011 |
€14.50 |
|
|
Invocations of Almost |
LP |
dark experimental / atmospheric music for DAVID TIBETs art exhibition in Fullerton (Californa, launched on Davids 59th Birthday, March 5), containing 9 untitled tracks with elements of the latest album "The Light is Leaving us all" - the vinyl version has a shorter edit than on the CD and comes on ivory coloured wax..." Fast allen Stücken wohnt etwas (Alp-)Traumhaftes inne, und insofern erinnert es von der Stimmung zum Teil an 'The Stars On Their Horsies'. [African Paper]
|
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
If a City is set upon a Hill |
CD |
CD version of the new album, inspired by an ancient Akkadian text..."Letztlich ist es so erfreulich wie erstaunlich, dass nach dem fast 40-jährigen Bestehen Current 93s, “your favourite hallucinatory skipping-rope”, wie es auf dem Albumcover heißt, noch immer Alben entstehen, die beeindrucken können und beeindruckend sind und ein Spätwerk einläuten, das viel verspricht." [African Paper] - gatefold digi-sleeve, fold out inlay
|
2022 |
€18.50 |
|
| CUSACK, PETER |
Sounds from dangerous Places |
do-CD & BOOK |
"What can we learn of dangerous places?" - for this fascinating project PETER CUSACK has visited "dangerous places" in Chernobyl and Azerbaijan (Caspian Oil fields) & recorded acoustic phenomena & atmospheres as ghost towns, radiometers, wildlife, people, nuclear, military, greenhouse gases; this acoustic psycho-geographic journey comes with an impressive book (hardcover, 100 colour images, 80 pages) and two PDF files on the CD with more images
|
2012 |
€24.00 |
|
| CUTLER, CHRIS / THOMAS DIMUZIO / FRED FRITH |
Golden State |
LP |
lovely designed LP edition (180 gr.) with four recordings made 1999-2002 (in LOS ANGELES & SAN FRANCISCO) comes with circular die-cut sleeve; we have copies on white & black vinyl in stock
|
2010 |
€20.00 |
|
| D'INCISE |
Rivages sur l'Antipode |
LP |
numbered edition of 250 copies, first vinyl release for this project doing experimental ethno-electronica; beautiful full-colour artwork & poster
|
2010 |
€12.50 |
|
| |
(aral) |
CD |
Swiss soundartist & improviser with strong release on Belgiums finest atmospheric music series MYSTERY SEA => a one-tracker (40+ min.) of microcosmic musique concrete drones, lots of details over a humming tone, an 'architecture' of smooth sounds that slowly develops into new forms... lim. 200 full-colour cardboard sleeve with inlay
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| DAIJING, PAN |
Jade |
LP |
second full length LP for the Chinese post-industrial sound artist, an intense, high-class tour de force into catharsis, solitude and darkness...- "It's an anxious, solitary album that twins basement noise aesthetics with Daijing's cathartic performance, playing her signature vocals against screaming oscillators, booming Wolf Eyes-esque percussion and uncomfortable analog bass. " [Boomkat] - comes on white vinyl with 8 page 12" booklet
|
2021 |
€23.50 |
|
| DANIELL, DAVID |
I-IV-V-I |
LP |
8th release in the new TOTE guitar vinyl-series Vol. 3 & 4 (12 LPs!), a one-sided LP with etching by SAVAGE PENCIL on the other side on colour or clear vinyl; D. DANIELL is / was a member of the RHYS CHATHAM ensemble, FEBRUARY, TORTOISE, SAN AGUSTIN; where Blues meets the Drone
|
2008 |
€17.00 |
|
| DANIELL, DAVID & DOUGLAS MCCOMBS |
Sycamore |
LP |
favored experimental guitarist DAVID DANIELL teamed up with DOUGLAS McCOMBS, also from the Chicago scene (founding member of TORTOISE, etc.) and guest musicians like STEVEN HESS on drums, for hours studio improvisations, which were later combined and mixed... - these 4 endresults on "Sycamore" impress with their wideness and beauty.. "There's a wider dynamic range on Versions, from brutally raw to delicate to practically inaudible." - this late discovery now in stock, with DL code
|
2009 |
€20.00 |
|
| DAS AUDIOVISUELLE KOLLEKTIV |
Betrachtung |
CD-R |
project of EMERGE, GERHARD ZANDER, and EAZY; documents a live performance of two long improvisations from June 2011 in Augsburg - manipulated sounds of breathing, pure e-bow guitar-notes, machine-like samples, deep metal drones, processed percussion sounds... nice interactions, all in crystal clear quality; comes in DVD slimcase with colourful transculent cover
|
2011 |
€8.00 |
|
| DATASHOCK & BLACK TO COMM |
same |
CD-R |
rare collaboration-release by the german impro & psych-drone projects; incl. 9 min. quicktime video, full colour cover, lim. 150 copies
|
2008 |
€7.00 |
|
| DAUBY, YANNICK |
Sounds of HORSE. Music for Dance by Yannick Dauby |
do-CD & BOOK |
pieces taken from six soundtracks for a Taiwanese contemporary dance company named HORSE; excellent field recording based tracks using animal voices, urban soundscapes, electronic processions; comes in a full-colour / glossy book-like fold-out sleeve with pictures of the performances & additional texts
|
2011 |
€16.00 |
|
|
一流水 tsi̍t lâu tsuí (Penghu Experimental Sound Studio Vol. 1) |
LP |
two side-long compositions based mainly field recordings and arranged object sounds while staying in a certain region of TAIWAN: sounds from the seashores, sellers in the village, rituals of a temple nearby, underwater plants, harbours, funeral music, radio snippets, improvations on objects found at the beach and analog electronics.... very detailed & complex musique concrete / nature sound collages; lim. 300
|
2015 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Vescagne, Salèse |
CD |
recordings from the Mediterranean Alpes in France served as source material for two long compositions, inspired by a mineral called "Lignite" (Brown Coal) that was extracted in the mine of Vescagne...with additional 'in-site' improvisations, these sound figurations evolve between the concrete and the flowing into mysterious, whispering atmospheres... lim. 250 copies
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
The Disaster Area |
CD |
dedicated to J.G. BALLARDs book of the same name YANNICK DAUBY has created two unusual, immersive tracks full of strange concrete debris sounds that could have been emerged from abandoned industrial sites or wastegrounds, slowly developing into more floating archaic drones based on metal bangs and overtunes and unknown sources, a dystopian "object-sound" symphony of the highest degree, think of JIM HAYNES, JEREMIE MATHES or TARAB; lim. 300
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| DAUBY, YANNICK & HITOSHI KOJO |
La Vie dans les Airs & dans les Eaux |
10inch |
two pieces based on environmental, concrete & instrumental sources recorded in various parts of the world between 2006-2013, we present the first ever collaboration release of these two cosmopolitan sound artists from France and Japan: mysterious (micro)-sounds that could come from minerals, stones, plants, or daily objects and instruments - opening up two soundscaping tracks full of wondrous elements, combining the 'concrete' with the sublime and the atmospheric.... lim. 300, cover artwork by ANDREW CHALK
|
2017 |
€15.00 |
|
| DAUBY, YANNICK / HITOSHI KOJO / MICHAEL NORTHAM |
КОРЛИГОН (Koriigon) |
CD |
spontaneous live-recordings made 2004 & 2006 (at four locations in France), combining resonating metal-objects, pre recorded field recordings like steps in the snow, and overtune-drones into beautiful suspended textures.. lim. 300
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| DAUBY, YANNICK / WAN-SHUEN TSAI (SHEJINGREN) |
Village, Vestiges |
BOOK & CD |
small full colour art-book, 144pages, & CD; pictures from villages & abandoned houses in France & Taiwan, texts in French & Chinese Mandarin. Very beautiful & poetic
|
2009 |
€20.50 |
|
| DAVACHI, SARAH |
Long Gradus : Arrangements |
4 x CD BOX |
"Harmonic Observances In Four Parts" - extremely minimal longform chamber drone compositions for "any ensemble of four similar instruments": each CD has 4 long movements for STRINGS, WOODWINDS, BRASS / ORGAN, and CHOIR + ELECTRONICS, comes in cardboard box with four separate gatefold sleeves and 16 page booklet with score, performance notes, and essay
|
2023 |
€52.00 |
|
| DE FABRIEK |
Terugkeren |
LP |
after a long time a NEW release by the dutch 'hard to define' post industrialists - "Over the years the group experimented with ambient music, with noise, with rhythms, industrial music and perhaps even cosmic music. This release of Terugkeren sees a bit of all of this and that makes release a nicely varied journey as well as an introduction into the world of De Fabriek.." lim. 300
|
2017 |
€19.00 |
|
| DE FABRIEK & P.FUNK |
Music for Hippies |
CD |
this is a remixed re-issue of a cassette from 1988 (C-90, released by DE FABRIEK themselves), with an ironic title, showing them in collaboration with P. FUNK (another collective closely linked) in a very ambient - atmospheric - psychedelic / cosmic / weird modus, hypnotic - flowing synth and guitar washes far away from their more "industrial" sounding albums, but with a nice experimental edge and, yes, Funk tunes... lim. 75 copies only, very colourful oversized cardboardcover
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| DE FILIPPIS, ALAIN |
Ton dieu ne s'appelle-t-il pas ego? |
mCD |
this French composer (from Nantes) with his at this time debut release, a musique concrete piece in 8 parts realized in 1993, very dynamic and often ultra weird with many different passages between completely abstract sounds, field recordings and more 'musical' elements and quasi-rhythmic / noisy inventions, words can only fail to describe this... BACK IN STOCK, special offer !!
mcd full-colour cardboard cover |
1994 |
€3.50 |
|
| DE WAARD, FRANS |
Everything but the Reviews |
BOOK |
a collection of liner notes, articles, tour diaries, obituaries, presstexts, etc. written by FRANS DE WAAARD through the years,- i.e. for THU20, JOHN WATERMANN, STILLUPPSTEYPA, NOISE-MAKER'S FIFES, MSBR, MAEROR TRI, IF BWANA, MUSLIMGAUZE, about CASSETTE CULTURE, AMBIENT MUSIC,.. all in english, 90 pages, hardcover |
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
De Nederlandse Cassette Catalogus 1983-1987 |
BOOK |
hardcover re-print of DE WAARDS yearly Independent Cassette release surveys 1983-1987, styled the same way as the famous ""International Discography of the New Wave" (1982/83), along with lots of archive / source material - articles from magazines about the cassette scene, flyers from labels, letters, adverts for cassettes, etc.. lots of stuff you will never find at Discogs, a true treasure trove about an amazing DIY scene !! 304 pages
|
2021 |
€16.00 |
|
| DE/MUTE |
Visual Noise |
CD-R & booklet |
the german drone/ambient project asked via internet to send art-photographs to create music to it; "VISUAL NOISE" shows the result, 7 tracks for 7 photos, somewhere between BAD SECTOR & dark TANGERINE DREAM maybe, comes in DVD-digipack & 16p. full-colour booklet with texts to the pics; nice idea / project, recommended if you like electronic ambience; lim. 100
|
2012 |
€18.00 |
|
| DEAD FACTORY / ATUM |
Extinction / Zona |
CD-R |
special cover with metal-grid inlay & colour photo on the front, numb. ed. 213 copies , sold out at the label
// www.beastofprey.com
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| DEAD MAURIACS, THE |
Beaute des Mirages |
LP |
the French project known for its obscure sound/field recording collages (like an alien form of NWW) with their first LP, exotic plunderphonics from various odd sources, contrasted with cut ups, eerie electronic sounds and noises... a bizarre and weird record as you always wanted it ! - "full of fake(?) vintage atmospheres and armchair jungle hallucinations. An abstract journey into a beautiful (and sometimes scary) world of mirages."
|
2017 |
€19.00 |
|
| DEAD PIANO (ANDREA BELLUCCI + DEISON) |
Dead Piano |
CD |
ANDREA BELLUCCI (SUBTERRANEAN SOURCE, RED SECTOR A, etc) and DEISON formed this project to bring out the "essence" of melancholic, shimmering piano sounds and it's side-effect noises, resulting in a wonderful album with experimental edge and surprising atmospheres.. lim. ed. oversized cover
|
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| DEAD VOICES ON AIR & SIMON FISHER TURNER |
MzMzLaLaLa |
7inch |
lim. 350 copies, Nr. 1 in the "DVOA 20th Anniversary series" ; a collaboration with British musician, composer & film-soundtracker SIMON FISHER TURNER (who created the soundtracks for six DEREK JARMAN-films, like. CARAVAGGIO, THE LAST OF ENGLAND, BLUE); excellent full colour artwork
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| DEAS (CAMERON) |
String Studies |
LP |
late discovery, this highly interesting object / instrument / unrecognizable sound tools - record, all kinds of short micro (+drone) noises are set together with fast changes, to be followed only with your full concentration... - hardly believable that CAM DEAS produced this live and with almost no overdubs only on a 12-string guitar (+ samples and modular system); 8 varying tracks full of electrified drones and strange sounds, very nice..
|
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
| DEASY, JONATHAN |
Le Fletrissement |
MC + object |
collector's item on a new cassette-only label from Germany, the artwork is handmade and unique and as important as the music => JONATHAN DEASY is an Irish guitarist and improviser, he presents two contemplative "self-nourishing" drones with rich overtunes.. - "The degradation of a tape loop and the saturation of a driven tube created an idea of sustain, meditation and patience." - incredible package: translucent blue bag with a piece of a mirror on it, numbered ed. 30 copies
|
2023 |
€18.50 |
|
| DECONDITION |
Sukellan Tuntemattomiin Syvyyksiin |
CD |
for lovers of the Finnish harsh noise scene = the only CD by this "Freak Animal" artist, blocks of harsh noise in different layers, far away distortion / echo vocals and other founds sounds, as a whole this has quite a hypnotic / trance-inducing effect with elements repeating themselves... 13 tracks, 61+ min., 6 panel full-colour digipack with nice (abandoned industrial buildings) artwork; mastered by C-DRIK (AXIOME, etc..) - special priced now !
|
2014 |
€6.50 |
|
| DEISON |
Any Time Now |
CD-R |
very limited (100 copies) self released DEISON album from 2016 on the theme "Time", excellent instrumental source sound procession, last copies! - "the record is focused on small sounds, interferences and long slow-moving drones captured to explore the perception of time.."
|
2016 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Quiet Rooms |
CD |
field recordings of EMPTY HOTEL ROOMS build the basis for the four tracks of this album, completed with electronics... this is dark isolation ambient drone at its best ! - "...these lonely urban soundtracks evoke powerful tensions between serenity and alienation.. . Drones builds to such dystopian density that the sounds of our world become science fiction" - comes with special fold out poster!
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| DEISON + GIANLUCA FAVARON |
Nearly Invisible |
CD |
first ever collaboration by these two Italian experimentalists: G. FAVARON has specialized to work in an electro-acoustic way with daily sounds, C. DEISON uses field recordings & electronics for his noise-ambient scapes => on "Nearly Invisible" they created 9 pieces that almost defy categorization, merging ambient industrial influences, electronics and musique concrete to surprising pieces, highly interesting! comes with oversized 16page full-colour book with pics by STEFANO GENTILE, lim. 230
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| DEISON / DEVIS |
Uncut |
CD-R EP |
excellent 'cyberelectronic' 4 track collaboration E.P. by favored DEISON (soon with a 10" in our Substantia Innominata series!) with DEVIS G. from TEATRO SATANICO - lim./numb. 100 copies; "...where intriguing rhythms and complex structures are wrapped with rough sounds, unsettling voices and a swarm of cybernetic noise...It is a metallic universe devoid of light and heat that flows obsessively between distorted particles and viscous persistences."
|
2019 |
€10.00 |
|
| DEISON / K.K.NULL |
Yugen |
CD |
YUGEN, the second collab album by praised Italian DEISON with Japan legend KK NULL, is an exciting, pure electronic "black hole" journey with lots of weird synthetic sounds, restless and endlessly morphing, sometimes moving in ambient industrial areas but never standing still, you may find glimpses of PAN SONIC, BAD SECTOR, etc. in this electro swampland.. somehow between twisted break beat industrial and apocalyptic ambience... lim. 200
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| DEISON / MAURIZIO BIANCHI |
[Black Panorama] |
CD |
six tracks of spheric darkness, amazingly calm ambience on this first ever collab. between the two Italian industrial veterans..
'That's why this work will help us to regain our peace of mind or to lose it forever, while remaining unchanged the view before us' [Maurizio Bianchi]
lim. 200 only!
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
White Landscape |
CD |
second collaboration by DEISON and M.B, a kind of sister album of "Black Panorama" from 2015; four long excellent pieces related to light & luminousness... "4 long tracks of white and freezing ambient sounds, mixed with minimal noise; a work the presents a drone of quiet and hypnotizing noise, far from the devastating sounds of his early works." - lim. 200 copies
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| DEL (DRONE ELECTRIC LUST) |
Villa Graps |
LP |
"Dedicated to crazy Taxi Drivers everywhere" - recordings from 2006 by the Norwegian psych impro rock band, sounding like "a dirty wound that looks cool and doesn't hurt enough for you to want it to disappear"; on the 2 colour silkscreen cover images of their favourite female film stars appear, and indeed these low fi guitar drone excursions with bluesy sounding guitars could appear nicely in a WIM WENDERS film...
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
| DEL / KOBI |
split |
10inch |
two side-long "psych-impro" tracks from the Norwegian underground, recorded live with no overdubs in Oslo in 2009 - both coming from the fruitful ORIGAMI ARKTIKA circle of musicians - DEL sounds here more silent and mysterious, the KOBI (known from some very good CDs on Silber Rec.) material is like a dance of overtunes and echoes, but later percussion joins in... very low-fi, authentic, special.. lim. 220 copies, three coloured silkscreen cover,
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| DELPHIUM |
Snowhill-X EP (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
sec. ed. 300 copies / red vinyl / full colour - printed covers / back in stock few copies !
|
2002 |
€6.00 |
|
| DELPLANQUE, MATHIAS |
Chutes |
CD |
finally in stock the 2013-album by the French composer who just impressed us completely with his LP "Drachen"; "Chutes" is an album using material from his live solo performances as source material, again a very own form of suspended "electro-acoustic" electronica is manifested, with wonderful clear details and strange morphing effects..
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| DEMEULENAERE, STIJN |
Latitudes - September 2016 |
CD |
this promising field recording artist from Belgium presents his first work, a multi-layered studio composition with audio sources mainly from South Africa and Iceland, lots of water and underwater sounds and mysterious jungle wild-life, all set cleverly together for a captivating head-trip with great spatial resolution... a must if you love TOY BIZARRE, E. LA CASA, YANNICK DAUBY, F. LOPEZ, CHRIS WATSON, etc... comes in oversized full-colour gatefold-cover
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| DESIDERII MARGINIS |
Vita Arkivet |
LP |
'Vita Arkivet' translates from Swedish as 'The White Archive' and is an official document detailing ones funeral arrangements. In death our existence is whitewashed, the slate wiped clean. We start all over and we bring nothing with us were we go.... This record is a personal reflection and manifestation of that process, the loss and the great detachment from life, from others, and from ourselves." - BLACK vinyl ed, 200 copies only !
|
2018 |
€23.00 |
|
| DESPREZ, JOSQUIN |
The Renaissance Master. Sacred music and Chansons |
3 x CD / book |
*Sublime Genie!* - beautiful choral Renaissance music for the 500th anniversary of JOSQUIN DESPREZ (2021), the Franco-Flemish composer, this is a collection of some of his most characteristic and sacred works, performed by various Choirs and Ensembles. Comes with a richly illustrated CD book (116 pages), full colour, total playtime 3h 25 min
|
2021 |
€29.50 |
|
| DEUTSCH, ANDREW & STEPHEN VITIELLO |
Inductive Music |
CD-R |
re-issue of CD-R from 2006; great micro-sound dances... lim. 250, nice full-colour / cardboard cover
|
2007 |
€7.50 |
|
| DHOMONT, FRANCIS |
Birthdays |
LP |
new recordings (four pieces) created 2007-2010 by the now 85 years old French composer; one sided white vinyl picture disc, with backside screen-printed, lim. 300 only
|
2012 |
€18.00 |
|
| DIE ANARCHISTISCHE ABENDUNTERHALTUNG |
#1 |
LP |
re-issue of debut talbum from 1995, for the first time on vinyl, by the modern / perfectly arranged, very moving and powerful "Eastern Folk" band from Belgium, inspired by the "Magisches Theater" of HERMAN HESSE.. - *DAAU offeriert mit gehörigem Überhang von Postpunk-Spirit und Imaginärer Folklore eine wilde Mixtur von osteuropäischem Gypsy- und Klezmer-Drivfe mit Polka und Musette-Verve..* [Bad Alchemy] - comes on coloured / marbled vinyl
|
2023 |
€17.00 |
|
| DIE FORM (IT) |
La Dimensione Umana |
LP & CD |
the Italian "DIE FORM" (which later re-named into TASADAY) were active around 1982-1984, a collective of young people from Monza influenced by philosophy (BATAILLE, BAUDRILLARD, etc.) => a handplayed open "industrial" sound with punk spirit, aggressive vocals, bass, guitar, sax, clarinett, percussion, in the vein of THE POP GROUP, early CLOCK DVA, TUXEDEMOON or BOURBONESE QUALK; 14 tracks in total taken from the first MC (1982) and unreleased private live cassette, spread on a one sided 12" + CD
|
2016 |
€18.00 |
|
| DIE TÖDLICHE DORIS |
Stopp (der Information) |
12inch + box |
'Du bist schon da, wo Ich jetzt bin - Deine Zeit in Meiner in Dir drin' - very obscure unfinished DTD piece from 1984 (a weird RAP with german lyrics), finalized by NAMOSH ARSLAN in 2011 (Side B) - lim. 333 copies in black silkscreened (cardboard) box/wrapper, with a terrific 20 p. full-colour booklet (12") with many photos & collages & texts.. numbered & signed by WOLFGANG MÜLLER
|
2013 |
€37.50 |
|
| DIETER MÜH (DIETER MUH) |
Aakal / Nostrum / Earblind |
7inch |
still one of the best British acts of roaring post-industrial tunes, DIETER MÜH excite the listeners with rough & machine-like alien ambient noise on this new 7". Comes with postercover & colour-vinyl; lim. 400 - poster cover, vinyl in different colours: red, olive-green, marbled! BACK IN STOCK
|
2008 |
€7.00 |
|
| DIMMER (JOSEPH HAMMER & THOMAS DIMUZIO) |
Remissions |
do-LP |
second album by the project formed by THOMAS DIMUZIO & JOSEPH HAMMER; lim. 500 full colour sleeve
|
2009 |
€25.00 |
|
| DIMUZIO, THOMAS |
Amid Zero Echo |
do-10inch |
the jubilee release, a double-10" in gatefold cover with four breathtaking drones by Californian sound-designer & multi-experimentalist THOMAS DIMUZIO, whose massive hypnotic soundscapes already released in the 90's were much ahead of the time! Comes with great gatefold-cover art by MARS WELLINK, lim. 500, clear vinyl! |
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Balance (Duos, Trios, Combos) |
3 x CD |
extensive, amazing collection of DIMUZIO live collabs! => "49 Artists, 28 shows, 10 years - Thomas Dimuzio and friends deliver a stunning live anthology of noise, dark ambient, textural, experimental, and electro-acoustic music in distinct duo, trio, and combo configurations. Exquisite excerpts combine the sublime synergy of live spontaneous music with the visceral energy of the stage across this colossal and compelling collection." feat. i.e. ILLUSION OF SAFETY, ARCANE DEVICE, BOB BELLERUE, A. COURTIS,..
|
2020 |
€22.00 |
|
| DIP LING |
Live at Huberwirt |
CD-R |
full-colour cardboard sleeve |
2001 |
€11.00 |
|
| DISKAHOLICS |
Live in Japan Vol.1 |
CD |
live collab JIM O'ROURKE / MATS GUSTAFSSEN / THURSTON MOORE (Tokyo 2002), mixed by JIM'O ROURKE! |
2006 |
€13.50 |
|
| DISKREPANT |
A Captive Of Oxygen |
mCD-R |
the following release after the very good "Through an Odious Framework" EP by this Swedish ambient Industrial project, again an elaborated journey made up from natural and synthetic sounds, crackling and scraping micronoises merge with subtle electronics, going in circles...
|
2013 |
€6.50 |
|
| DISSECTING TABLE |
Cosmic-Ray Modulation |
CD-R |
six new D.T. tracks created in December 2019, with titles like "Cosmic Black-Body Radiation" this is a kind of "cosmic synth harsh noise", a complex clatter of sinus-tones and deranged sounds, bombarding you and jerking at every nerve-cell of your body, but it's also like a special meditation/concentration training of the mind.. lim. 20 copies only, comes with handpainted inlay, numbered, in DVD sized box
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Decayed Gomorrah |
CD-R |
"Bullshit Composition By The Drunk And Disorderly" // "I'm sick, suffering from Hysteria" - with titles like this you can imagine where this journey might take you.. jerking and bubbling eruptions over noise drones in endless morphing formations, for the restless mind, not completely harsh, but insistent.. lim. 20 comes with handpainted inlay, numbered, in DVD sized box
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Mystical |
CD-R |
mid range noise consisting of the typical D.T. morphing digital particles that seem to move up and down in endless configurations, like crackling rain showers, but not outside, INSIDE your brain... lim. 20 copies only, DVD sized case, full colour cover
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
| DISSECTING TABLE / VASILISK |
Saddharma / Tibetan Liberation |
CD |
music for katharsis & ritual: one long real tour de force (from dark noise to grindcore - 30+ min!) by D.T., + four new quite raw & powerful pieces by the refreshed legendary ritual / ethno / ambient / psych noise act VASILISK that are alone worth the money !! Lim. 500, comes in DVD slimcase
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| DMT |
Ultimatum |
CD |
compilation and rare tape material by a 'legendary figure' of the Russian industrial scene: DMITRY TOLMATSKIY aka DMT (who also worked as journalist and died in 2009), compiled material from 1998-2008 feat. ALEXEI BORISOV (live recordings), symphonic & dark rhythmic / martial / technoid stuff in the vein of REUTOFF, DEUTSCH NEPAL, rhythmic COIL, etc... 16 tracks mastered by KSHATRIY, 77+ min.
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| DOUMA, MARCO / ROEL MEELKOP / RUTGER ZUYDERVELT |
Pierdrie |
DVD |
a very nice installation film (18 min) that runs automatically in a loop, filmed at the harbour of Rotterdam showing lots of fascinating moving water-surface patterns using also field recordings for the collaged sounds... a collaboration of MACHINEFABRIEK with MARCO DOUMA (images) and ROEL MEELKOP (sounds), comes with option for stereo & stereo surround sound; this brings the typical, contemplating harbour atmosphere into your rooms...
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| DREAM WEAPON RITUAL |
Ebb and Flow |
LP |
great LP by this Italian duo formed by MONICA SERRA and SIMON BALESTRAZZI & guests with brooding drone improvisations between more musical elements and noise, based on electronic & instrumental sources, concrete sounds, vocals... [using: analog & digital electronics, prepared toy psaltery, objects, bowed metal plate, organ, 'sacred horse skull', chalumeau, dobaci, bongo, gong set, flutes]... to discover !
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
|
The Uncanny little Sparrows |
CD |
one of our favourite Italian experimental units (S. BALESTRAZZI and MONICA SERRA) is back with a strange "story" about a group of eerie sparrows, their free-form electro-pulsing drone is marked with expressive voice and birdcall material, folk instrumental sounds and strange effects, always tension filled and just on the border to explode; the cover & 8 page full-colour booklet show the artists with bird-masks - an excellent, surrealistic release all around again !!
|
2018 |
€16.50 |
|
| |
Like a Tree growing out of a Sidewalk |
CD |
first album by one of our favoured projects from Italia - strange quasi-rhythms, electronic wheals and quite extravagant female vocals form a kind of EXOTICA INDUSTRIAL..."In this work Dream Weapon Ritual deconstructs and reassembles the thin substance of dream and vision in a performance-ritual that, moulding together organic electronics and treated acoustic instruments, takes place in an invisible and vague terrain; an unexplored territory, where the borders between song, theatre and installation blur"
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| DROMOMANE |
Abaton |
LP |
another unseen project "avatar" from BENJAMIN BEX (aka DUKHA, etc.), if you like very emotional experimental music with androgynous vocals / voice, this is very worth to check out! - Gnawing electronic drones rub shoulders with delicate arrangements of guitar arpeggios and synth loops, carrying a passionate, at times almost extatic voice. Grégory Lelay contributed field recordings from his sojourn in the Azores, as well as the stunning artwork." - numb. ed 314 copies
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| DRONAEMENT |
Ezoterick Muzick |
CD-R |
ed. of 150 full colour cardboard cover |
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Wassermond |
7inch |
re-release of this much requested Drone, 300 copies on grass-green vinyl with inlay & full-colour cover designed by Mr. Dronaement himself !
|
2007 |
€6.00 |
|
| DROWNING POOL |
Aphonia |
CD-R |
re-issue of the fourth (and last) LP from 1988 by this great experimental ethno/art-rock/wave band from the US who established a unique style - everything digitally re-mastered and professionally duplicated; contains one bonus-track
|
2009 |
€11.50 |
|
| DRUMM, KEVIN |
OG23 |
LP |
the new KEVIN DRUMM album, now on CHRISTOPH HEEMANNs Streamline! - *this time takes the fellow time-traveler through what sounds like an electronic field recording, a journey through an electronic soundscape of luminescent textures that invites immersive listening. The appropriately mysterious looking cover was designed by Christoph Heemann. Who wants to find out where that submarine is going? Mastering by Jim O'Rourke.*
|
2024 |
€29.50 |
|
| DRYGIANAKIS, COSTIS |
Άδηλα Καί Κρύφια (Adila & Kryfia) |
CD |
new album by this long active Greek composer of sound art and electroacoustic music (who started one of the earliest experimental bands in Greece in the 80's), interesting collages made of many different sources, field recordings, found sounds, etc.. ... lim. 200 numbered ed., comes with 10 page booklet in Greek and English
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Chondros and Katsiani on the Mountain (Ο Χονδρός Και Η Κατσιάνη Στο Βουνό) |
CD + BOOK |
a "radio opera" that was created in 1998 with the help of THANASIS CHONDROS and ALEXANDRA KATSIANI - pretty unique in its peculiarity, very silent / soft parts interchange with extreme ones, lots of spoken word material, but also found stuff from other music, object sounds, psychodramatic formations, very special stuff comparable to dramatic 'earplay' compositions from L. MARCHETTI i.e. a real audio JOURNEY with tons of surprising moments and beautiful moods.. incl. 48 page book Greek/English
|
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| DUAL |
Klanik |
7inch |
second ed. 300 copies / handcoloured white covers / clear-printed white inlays / white vinyl |
2005 |
€6.00 |
|
| DUBIT |
Vitriol |
CD |
excellent 'alchemical' experimental drone with post industrial touch from this Italian artist on his second full length album, based on analogue sources, self made instruments and gadgets from metallic elements plus digital synthesis, at times with a more electronic / technoid substrate...dark & vivid stuff, "drawing distopic landscapes in the sky"; 10 tracks, almost 74 min. playtime, strongly recommended to be checked out ! ed. of 500 copies
|
2017 |
€10.00 |
|
| DUHKHA |
Mariyammal |
LP |
excellent, overlooked LP by this BENJAMIN BEX project with many guest musicians, a highly emotional ambient journey that combines many sounds and sources...- "Ambient-Puzzle aus Frankreich. Zahlreiche Soundlandschaften von Musikern werden zu einer Fläche verbaut. Organisch und handfest. mit einer ganz besonderen, kränklichen, geheimnisvollen Stimmung und irren Vocals. Achtung Sogwirkung!" [NonPop] - 5 tracks, lim. 314 copies, excellent cover art!
|
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
| DUNCAN, JOHN |
John See Soundtracks |
CD |
incl. full colour booklet |
1996 |
€13.00 |
|
|
The Nazca Transmissions |
LP |
sounds based on mysterious recordings from the "Nazca Lines" (famous geoglyphs) in Peru, made by an archeologist; lim. 380 with embossed black sleeve, full colour inlay and extra data-inlay about the source recordings
|
2009 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Klaar |
LP |
re-issue of this 'forgotten gem' from 1991 (CD, Extreme Records), created by DUNCAN in collaboration with ANDREW Mc.KENZIE (HAFLER TRIO) - 4 tracks of abstract / concrete field recordings, atmo drones and hummings, electric pulses and rattles, a strange journey.. "...McKenzie contributes various field recordings, with Duncan lacing those amidst long-form collages of blank static, distant signals detuned into smeared vibration and swells of electric noise."
|
2017 |
€17.50 |
|
| DUNCAN, JOHN & PAOLO PARISI |
Conservatory (San Sebastiano) |
BOOK & CD |
Box w. 64 p. full-colour catalogue & CD |
2006 |
€35.00 |
|
| DUNHAM, KEVIN HENRY |
Sol Evocations (Live From Tio Gordos Cantina Exotica) |
CD |
a special kind of ghostly ambience, distilled from a 13 hour live impro set in oder to call the Sun to illuminate our dark times, using extraordinary sound sources such as: *solar and ionic samples, Schumann resonance, field recordings of sacred rites and mythic teachings.. * - the sound is incredibly sublime and "unconscious", backwards voices merge with mysterious calls and synth /sample sounds.. - lim. 200, first CD by this US American artist
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| DUPLANT, BRUNO |
Zone Habitable |
CD |
French underground composer BRUNO DUPLANT loves to collaborate with others, there are only few full solo albums - \"Zone Habitable\" is a notion for EXOPLANETS with friendly conditions for humans, this 48 min one-tracker is a beautiful drone piece expansion, subtle and humming, with various (micro) sounds in the mix, from instrumental sources, field recordings and electric devices.. - lim. 100 a must for micro / drone world explorers !!
|
2022 |
€12.00 |
|
| DURAND, WERNER & ALIO DIE |
Aqua Planing |
CD |
an exciting release for us as ALIO DIE is enlarging his sound spectrum using only acoustic sources and field recordings for this collaboration with WERNER DURAND, who delivers organic drones created from self-built ethnic wind instruments (NEY, KHEN, etc..) => five pieces of a very natural atmosphere, energetic & dynamic.. |
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
| DÄLEK {DALEK] |
Gutter Tactics |
CD |
"Blessed Are They Who Bash Your Children's Heads Against A Rock" - DÄLEKs 2009 album, their fourth full length, the CD version for midprice! - *this album changed my perspective on what hip hop is and how far you can push it.* [G.Wulf]
|
2009 |
€8.00 |
|
| E/I MAGAZINE |
MUSIC ELECTRONIC AND OTHERWISE - Issue Seven (Summer 2006) |
mag |
articles on JOHN DUNCAN, TROUM, MUSLIMGAUZE, CHRISTOPHER WILLITS, RADBOUD MENS, INFRACTION, RUNE GRAMMOFON, 'ellipsis' by COLIN NEWMAN, 150+ reviews... great full colour mag from the US |
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
| EASTLEY, MAX |
Installation Recordings (1973-2008) |
do-CD |
amazing installation-recordings from many different sound-sculptures using aero- & hydrophones, aeolian flutes & arcs, friction tubes, wires, motors, metals, strings, wood; -> creating beautiful & surprising atmospheric sounds; great collection by this British soundartist, highly recommended! Comes with 20p. full-colour booklet
|
2010 |
€20.00 |
|
| ECCLESIASTICAL SCAFFOLDING |
Lucid Dreaming // Sleep Paralysis (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
lim. 250 on multicoloured vinyl
|
2003 |
€7.00 |
|
| ECHOES OF YUL |
Tether |
CD |
four new tracks (EP length) by this remarkable Polish (?) band moving somewhere between doomy psychedelic stoner rock and experimental drone / post industrial ambience (difficult to categorize), with additional 7 remixes by JAMES PLOTKIN, DIFFERENT STATE, STENDEK, and others... to discover !
|
2014 |
€10.00 |
|
| ECKLOFF, JÜRGEN |
Angeflantschte Fugenstücke |
LP |
seven pieces by the COLUMN ONE member and film-maker: Side A has a long piece with a mixture of location recordings (smacks and other concrete surprises recorded in a factory work floor?) developing into something surrealistic, used for an exhibition at 'Sibirische Zelle' in Berlin in 2004; Side B six shorter, newer tracks incl. a trilogy of four tracks (!) named MÖRTEL, all for his forthcoming film "Girls in Dirty Aprons", again with very concrete material, pushing your imagination...
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| EDGE EFFECT |
Only Ghosts Remain (Symphony for Shadows, First Movement) |
CD |
"do you dream of unexplored places where you and I are the first to tread?" - debut CD (after some CD-Rs) of new cosmic ambience project from UK, feat. a one-tracker 45 min build on minimal synth-drones that delevop into otherworldy areas...very soft, dark & secretful... comes with nice full-colour booklet (28 pages, A5 format) with intimate / poetic / philosophic texts & photos... to discover
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
| EIRIKURA |
Reflections of a Higher Realm |
CD |
enchanting dark romantic folk with neo-classic influences, the debut album of this ensemble with experienced musicians (many are also active with SUNSET WINGS), using lyrics from poems and literature.... "a fantastic, bright and marvelous journey throughout a serene, ordained, sensible and sincere universe, where a colorful ocean of hope can be seen involving worlds of incommensurable delight, in a warm and complete embrace of patience, immutability and beauty." [Merchants of Air]
|
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| EKIN FIL |
Ghosts Inside |
LP |
Could there be a more gentle melancholy than this? Most ethereal, intimate and smooth drops on guitar, piano/keyboard and voice caress the listener; beautiful mournful melodies are shining through the haze... second album on HMS for this Turkish "drone-chanteuse", who transfers her shoegaze (SLOWDIVE, COCTEAU TWINS, CRANES) and folk influences into something even more amorph and elusive...
|
2017 |
€19.00 |
|
| |
Maps |
LP |
already the fourth LP for the Turkish artist who mesmerizes here with ghostly, intimate 'songs' based on synth-piano, electronics and smoothly aspirated vocals... extremely melancholic, lonely, fragile and haunting..."The saddest songs of The Durutti Column excised of rhythm and those few plunges into sorrow by Harold Budd make for apt comparisons to Maps, in addition to the drone-on classics of Grouper, Slowdive, and Sarah Davachi."
|
2018 |
€19.00 |
|
| ELLEN FULLMAN & THERESA WONG |
Harbors |
LP |
three immersive, acoustic pieces by the "Long String Instrument" (installation of over forty strings spanning seventy feet in length) inventor and performer ELLEN FULLMAN, with THERESA WONG on electronically processed Cello, creating rich resonances and extended drone harmonics... all inspired by the eternal exchange of "bodies of water"... wonderful drone music full of shimmering and shifting tones and colours..
|
2020 |
€26.00 |
|
| ELLENDE |
Heavy Metal Drones |
10inch + CDR |
back in stock this clear coloured ELLENDE 10" + long play CDR (different material) and extensive booklet containing obscure photo collages and texts, combined with the piercing, pulsating, overtuning analog drones on the record (between cosmic beauty and experimental sharpness) a most remarkable, surrealistic impression is made... - ' "A manifesto with quite a lot, artistic nudes and deep profound writings that might change your life"; numbered ed. 300 copies, Japan import
|
2011 |
€19.50 |
|
| ELODIE (TIMO VAN LUIJK & ANDREW CHALK) |
Echos Pastoraux |
LP |
debut album of new project by TIMO VAN LUIJK & ANDREW CHALK - 2nd pressing 2015 (300 copies)! -"Elodie's quiet drones, acoustic impression, smoke, shadow, and maudlin atmospheres are hardly anywhere near the 'freak folk' camp. This is much closer to what Akio Suzuki has done, although there are plenty of flourishes in the production that gives evidence of the hands of Andrew Chalk being at work. As a result, it's still spellbinding, like pretty much everything that Chalk has ever touched." [Aquarius Records]
|
2011 |
€19.50 |
|
|
Miniatures Persanes |
LP |
the fourth album finally in stock => two side long pieces with music that must be under a charm: really strange psychedelic/folky ambience with an irresistable subtleness and the typcial "nostalgic" flair, you feel like being locked in an experimental movie from the 70's.... or in an ancient painting of even earlier times.. ; performed on various instruments like flutes, chimes, bass & organ and cleverly layered & mixed... enchanting ambience!; lim. 350
|
2014 |
€17.50 |
|
|
Vieux Silence |
CD |
the masterful impressionistic duo of ANDREW CHALK (MIRROR, FERIAL CONFINE) and TIMO VAN LUIJK (NOISE-MAKER's FIFES, AF URSIN, etc.) for the first time published outside their own labels, now on the prolific IDEOLOGIC ORGAN run by STEPHEN O'MALLEY: "a visual imagination in an instant, perhaps filtered through aged watercolour, tape grain, antique lenses, forgotten levels of listening and observational patience"; incl. guest musicians on piano, clarinette and guitar pedal steel
|
2017 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Enteha |
LP |
"I wish I could show you - when you are lonely or in darkness - the astonishing light - of your own being" - ANDREW CHALK + TIMO VON LUIJK in full ethereal, impressionistic and somehow consoling mode, two new side long pieces...- "..Enteha is one of the duo's more melancholic pieces and can be seen as a human response to seasonal transition. It's one of their uniquely longform explorations of mood and atmosphere as an air of romance drifts deftly into mystery and despair.. " - comes with ART PRINT
|
2022 |
€22.00 |
|
| |
Clarte Deserte (special edition) |
LP |
eft-over copies of the special edition with handmade sleeve designed by ANDREW CHALK in the typical FARAWAY PRESS - style; comes with beautiful 12" x 12 " insert on dark blue art paper, with four postcards sticked to it, and on CLEAR vinyl... please note: the insert is SIGNED by both members, but NOT numbered! Only very few of this extra edition exist !! (UK import, directly from Andrew Chalk)
|
2023 |
€38.00 |
|
| ELOY, JEAN-CLAUDE |
Etats-Limites ou les cris de Petra |
CD |
"Borderline or Petra's shouts" - new composition (epic 79+ min. long) combining concrete & synthetic electro-acoustic drones with female vocals sounds & noises (rustles, whispers, breathing, laughter, erotic sighs, shouts), based on older recordings of a special "Borderline" person named Petra, and his huge collection of cow-bells - an absolutely fantastic & intense piece, our highest recommendation!! 28p. full colour booklet with interesting interview about his fascination for the Borderline phenomena..
|
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
| EMERGE |
Retentive Disrupt |
mCD-R |
mysterious amorphous sounds from an unknown Otherworld, establishing a different kind of harmony; great new release by the south german Drone Records-artist; comes in a yellow flourescent 5" case; please note the first 3 EMERGE mCDRs from 2004 are still available from our shop!!
|
2009 |
€6.00 |
|
|
Angle |
mCDR-box |
fantastic 17+ min. one-tracker using sounds of breathing as the main source for this composition; electro-acoustic drones full of tension, breaks, rumblings, and strange sounds.. undefinable stuff!! Comes in mini DVD-box!
|
2011 |
€6.50 |
|
|
Contrition |
mCDR-box |
two long tracks using bass & e-guitar sources to create the typical bleak EMERGE sound, here more reduced & focused & with more attention to harmonic elements; dark electro-acoustic drone-muzak ! comes in mini DVD-box
|
2011 |
€6.50 |
|
|
Desecrate |
mCD-R |
"dreamtime musique concrete " - EMERGE is enlarging his compositional approach to reach a more organic & warm sound as usual, now based on various sound sources: church organ, guitar feedback and animal sounds... endless UR-drones moving around very SLOWLY.... one-tracker 18+ minutes in nice mCD box
|
2013 |
€6.50 |
|
|
Frown |
CD |
after almost hundreds of CD-R releases this is the very first "fabric pressed" CD of this very open-minded German label, with new recordings by EMERGE => "Frown" is a rumbling dark drone journey in three parts that seems to go deeply into the abyss, into a underground mining or sewerage system, using gurgling water sounds, metallic winds, breaking rocks, mechnical machine loops... where no traces of humans are to be found; great ultra dark musique concrete (no synthetic sounds used) !!
|
2014 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Materia |
CD |
'paradigm shift' for EMERGE on this new release, the German project converges to rhythmic / sampled minimal IDM structures in a new way..."EMERGE improvised with prepared samples and amplified objects made of various materials- hence the title-, namely wood, stone, and plastic.. the rhythms, perhaps, is the direct, almost in-your-face way in which distorted voice like samples are used as a counterpoint to the live-generated sounds.." - lim. 100 copies
|
2019 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Indulgence |
CD-R |
small CDR re-issue of great tape from 2016: two long 20+ min. pieces of EMERGE exploring the areas under the earth / surface, microsonic granular drones made out of soil, sand & sludge it seems.. at times this could be a very dark droning version of ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE.. "it will take you deep under the underground surface for your recreational, or even scientifically approved purposes.." - lim. 25 copies, oversized cover w. special design |
2021 |
€10.00 |
|
| EMME YA |
Ophidian Fetish Mandala |
CD |
finally in stock, the latest album by the occult droner from Colombia => like HALO MANASH or PHURPA, the music is born out of authentic rituals connecting with other "spheres", but these sounds are completely based on scratchy, homemade analogue instruments, that drone, rumble and bubble in various organic transformations, always dark but glowing and urging.... comes in oversized gatefold cover with 5 full colour postcards, numb. ed. 493 copies
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| ENCEPHALOPHONIC |
Exhuming the Perversion |
do-CD |
"Play Loud and Fuck Yourself!" - Italian harsh noise project - these are the first three tapes "Metal Obsession", "Beauty/Death", "Chronicity of a Disease" combined on one double CD... " Of course, there is energy and ripping power, but it is razor sharp, cold and cruel and filled with destructive feel." - comes with 8 page booklet, 200 copies
|
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Alone |
7inch |
Geez, this boy is fucked. Fucked raw. Raw. That's the fucking word, you fuck. Wonderfully blown-out sonics from A to B. A to Z. Whatever, you fuck." - very last copies of this very limited 7" (100 copies) by the Italian harsh noise project, excellent powerfully developing noise landscapes, comes with full colour fold out cover with sexually explicit collages, the vinyl pressed on 'piggy pink' colour
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| ENDO, KAZUMOTO |
Live at Sendai Contemporary Museum |
12inch |
one sided LP with a legendary live recording from 1999 by K. ENDO also known as KILLER BUG => "This live recording shows once again an artist on fire, both in studio as well on stage, with usual master control over his sharp and abrasive electronics. A delightful mangle to the fanatic's earholes, with non stop assault of metal scrap feedbacks, and powerful, crushing walls of distortions.. " -lim. 250, never seen black & white halved vinyl + splatter colours above.. - 45 RPM
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| ENGLISH, LAWRENCE |
A Mirror Holds The Sky |
CD / BOOK |
a condensed field recording sound art piece from the Amazonas, made up from 50+ hours of recording material done 2008 at a FRANCISCO LOPEZ Artlab residency... "Hundreds of thousands of narratives are in play moment to moment, their interactions flow together forming a perpetual cascade of arrival and departure, fertility and decay - these fundamental states are intrinsically linked and constantly informing one another..." - comes with 48 page book feat. photographs from this trip
|
2021 |
€24.00 |
|
| ENGLISH, LAWRENCE & STEPHEN VITIELLO |
Fable |
CD |
second collaboration based on three years of 'audio communication' by the two well known sound artists => seven pieces of superb experimental ambience, by use through professional digital synthesis of field recordings and acoustic instruments, so delicate, dreamy and elegant.... our highest praise ! ! ! lim. 500
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| ENGLISH, LAWRENCE & WERNER DAFELDECKER |
Shadow of the Monolith |
LP |
first collaboration by these two sound-artists from Australia & Austria, working on "atmospheric, hydrophonic and ionospheric" source materials, resulting in mesmerizing microsound ambience..."a record that drifts from dense microscopic cracks to vibrant shifting frequencies, from sections of profound white stillness to storms of intense activity, from intense light to improbable dark and from immersive macro-spaces to non-spaces" ; lim. 300 on a new Greek label
|
2015 |
€17.50 |
|
| ENVENOMIST / MURDEROUS VISION |
Liminal Presence |
CD |
this album contains both, single and collaboration tracks, by M.V. and ENVENOMIST, the dark noise project of DAVID REED, who was also very active as LUASA REALON once... - \'Liminal Presence\' forms a whole electronic, very doomy psychedelic dark ambient voyage in 10 movements .. - \"a 70 minute journey into interstellar light drifts and sleep transformations. Floating and mystical ambient and underlying dark nightmares..\" - 300 copies
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| ERCETIN, TURGUT |
Panopticon Specularities |
CD |
four ambitious New Music compositions by this Turkish composer (*1983, Istanbul) who lives now in Berlin - "Erçetin's works engage with issues of sound, not as colors but as sonic entities that interface with time and space. Most of his works, therefore, are involved with acoustics and psychoacoustics as well as computer aided compositional processes." - debut CD with 32 p. booklet and label-catalogue in gatefold slipcase
|
2019 |
€15.50 |
|
| ERICHPHONE MANNSTEIN |
Schmetterling |
MC & object |
Nr. 5 in this unique object/tape series, using this time a 20 seconds "endless tape" that plays a loop infinitely in a row => behind a strange pseudonyme we find a member of german Drone Rec. artist MULTER and A.B.G.S., who created a crazy/lovely 'found sound' cut up collage that plays endlessly with your mind, only after few minutes you realize all the details; great! Comes in an ultra-heavy iron box (2 kg!) with handmade engraving, hand-numbered edition of 47 copies
|
2014 |
€39.00 |
|
| ESA RUOHO |
Parched Throat |
CD-R |
remix of an electro-dance track by ANODYNE, which is stretched and transformed from 7 minutes to over 1 hour... "everything that used to be beats and melodies has been pulverised into drifting audio grit"... project from Finland also active as LACKLUSTER; lim. 33 special cover
|
2015 |
€8.00 |
|
| ESMERINE |
Everything was forever until it was no more |
LP |
the band around G.Y.B.E./ SILVER MOUNT members with a new pearl (first in 5 years) of chamber like post-rock ethno / ambience and neo-classic beauty, perfeclty arranged around the Cello (REBECCA FOON) and Marimba (BRUCE CAWDRON) basics... great harmonic phrases and changes like in old French film music, let this stand out, too.. - phantastic deisgn with die-cut cover, thick full colour printed inner sleeves, and extra inlays + DL card
|
2022 |
€27.50 |
|
| |
Lost Voices |
LP |
fourth album by the super(chamber)group from the Montreal scene (with many GYBE / MT:ZION members), more rhythmic and "rocking".. comes with art print poster - "...balancing melodic expression against methodical restraint through a diversity of stylistic touchstones (minimalism, post-rock, math-rock, desert rock) while allowing for explosive crescendos of exuberant density and maximalism that most notably distinguishes this record from previous work."
|
2015 |
€22.50 |
|
| ETANT DONNES |
Royaume / Aimant + Aimant |
LP |
"Two pole like two bodies like two hearts like two magnets": field recordings - noise - poetry - ritual: re-issue of the wonderful CD from 1991 (Touch), a surrealistic / mystic journey through the four elements, refering to the light evoked by the colour green; on the B-side the LP contains three rare tracks from a split 10" (1992) "Aimant + / Aimaint -" a 'magical alchemical mantra based upon the force of love, the force of life'
|
2016 |
€22.50 |
|
| |
Bleu |
do-LP |
"FORCE DE L'AMOUR" - first ever re-issue of the fascinating, deeply passionate CD from 1994 (Staalplaat), forming a kind of trilogy with "Aurore" and "Royaume"; printed inlays, 45 RPM: "Bleu is the final gesture and culmination of this period of creation where poésie and la nature form a magical alliance that resonates as an alchemical wedding.."
|
2021 |
€35.00 |
|
| ETIENNE, YVAN |
Feu |
CD |
FEU is the promising debut album of French sound artist YVAN ETIENNE, recorded at EMS in Stockholm, using SERGE MODULAR synths and a hurdy gurdy (Drehorgel) plus field recordings = an unusual combination with highly interesting results! *.... like having your head inserted in the centre of a lengthy electrical discharge, making your hair stand on end with its wild tendrils of direct current, and threatening to clean out your pores once and for all with its vibrant force." [Sound Projector]
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| EVANS, GRANT |
Brittle |
MC |
two side-long pieces between noise & multi-layered ambience on this new C-32 in the nice Helen Scarsdale cassette-series; the compositions slowly morph from one state to another figuration with almost no recognizable sound source present... "Brittle is capable of opening vast worlds to its audience" [Heathen Harvest]
|
2015 |
€9.50 |
|
| EVAPORI |
Dia-Logos |
LP |
strong new album by the Hamburg based project, 4 tracks full of highly experimental multi-layered collages with very different sounds from instrumental, vocal or object-sources, feat. many guests like DITTERICH VON EULER-DONNERSPERG, PETER SCHLEWINSKI (drum sounds), MARTIN LAU (voice acrobatics), etc.. - all in all most uncategorizable and challenging music.. ed. of 300 copies with obscure "metal fish" cover
|
2020 |
€18.00 |
|
| EX-EASTER ISLAND HEAD |
Mallet Guitars Three |
LP |
third release by this guitar- & percussion trio from Liverpool, UK: four movements of purely instrumental guitar drones that sound like a bunch of violins, of clapping (hands?)- percussion, and almost orchestral tunes, very dense and energetic, elevating... "The treated guitars create a complex array of choral overtones and crystalline harmonics, sounding in unison with an array of handbells and prayer bowl percussion..."
|
2013 |
€17.50 |
|
| EXIT IN GREY |
Nowadays Warm |
CD-R |
re-edition of the first EIG-album from 2004; highly melancholic ambient drones from Russia; comes in full colour cardboard cover, compared to guitarish TROUM or AIDAN BAKER solo; BACK IN STOCK!
|
2006 |
€9.00 |
|
| |
Moments ( Моменты ) |
CD |
pure overtone-muzak for overcoming the time - a one tracker of 52+ min length / - "It will open your vision and let you trespass a mysterious world of transcendentalism and inner equilibrium....another magic listening experience, which confuses my emotional state of mind and pleases my search for aural satisfaction. Recommended, highly recommended" [Concrete Web] - numbered ed. 300 copies in lovely full colour package
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| EXPO 70 (EXPO SEVENTY) |
Kinetic Tones |
LP |
four new studio tracks by the prolific JUSTIN WRIGHT with his space rock / neo psychedelia project in this nice release series, this LP is dedicated to the Flores Hawk-Eagle > "Laced with drones, heavy and leaden as cinder block bunkers, and shot through with a cosmic strain of psychedelia that unwinds as much as unravels the soul...from minimalist Drone over spooky Psychedelia to harmonic and beautiful soundscapes" ed. of 500 copies on bronze coloured vinyl
|
2015 |
€20.00 |
|
| EXTREMA RATIO |
A Dangerous Method |
CD |
"Free Jazzcore" from Italy, extreme and brutal improv stuff performed on drums, electronics, sax, and growling voice... - think of NAKED CITY, PAINKILLER, BRÖTZMANN, ZU, quoting political / cultural texts.. - "Extrem harter Stoff, abgedreht jenseits von No Wave." [Bad Alchemy] - "once it starts you are trapped in its labyrinthine maze with some hulking mythic creature on your trail.." [Nick Roseblade]
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| EYELESS IN GAZA |
Summer Salt & Subway Sun |
do-CD |
The expanded / re-issued version of "Summer Salt & Subway Sun"; contains one full CD (Ambivalent Scale A-Scale 034) with 10 tracks that are not on the original album ; standard ed. of 600 copies, comes in deluxe full colour book bound box, 16 page booklet, book bound CD cases
|
2008 |
€19.00 |
|
|
Rust Red September |
do-LP |
re-issue of the great EIG album from 1983, comes with 6 rare bonus tracks (from rare 12"es) w. gatefold-sleeve on coloured vinyl
|
2015 |
€28.50 |
|
| |
Sun Blues |
CD |
great return by the exceptional 'Pop meets Avantgarde' - duo of MARTYN BATES and PETER BECKER, on their journey for 36 years now! " An imaginative, emotional, headswirling buzz to wrap up another fascinating release from the always reliable duo, who never fail to excite us while eliciting nuances of emotional responses that are all-too-rare in this cookie-cutter, commercial world of Voices, Idols, and other nameless, brainless distractions." [Jeff Penczak / Ptolemaic Terrascope]
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| F-SPACE |
Bleeding Rays of Dawn |
CD |
new album from the band-project with SCOT JENERIK, ETHAN PORT (SAVAGE REPUBLIC), and ALEPH KALI (CHROME). Four long tracks; dark & monumental noise-rock with folk-influences & excessive poly-rhythmic passages; special priced now
|
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| FANUM |
Kerpg |
CD-R |
dark droning ambience from Russia; comes in large black clothbag and hand-coloured cardboard-map; lim. 68 copies
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| FARYUS & VADIM BONDARENKO |
8 Atmospheres |
CD |
lim. 500 nice full-colour cardboard cover; contains video-clip by ALEXANDER SVESHNIKOV
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| FAVARON, GIANLUCA |
Surfaces |
LP |
collector's item, lim. 86 only - second release in the 'Private Sounds' - series (one sided, coloured vinyl) => G. FAVARON created digital processed, repetitive, quasi-rhythmic microsound-patterns derived from smallest particles of object-sounds (paper, scissors, stones, daily kitchen things), inspired by a series of polaroid pictures... a very conceptual release with often surprising result !! LAST COPY!
|
2014 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
Variations (Fragments Of Evanescent Memories) |
CD |
This member of UNDER THE SNOW or ZBEEN, citing ARNOLD SCHÖNBERG in his title, creates fascinating and dense sonic worlds with extremely small particles of sounds and multiple layers of electronic effects, very dynamic and weird, field recordings and instrumental sources can be compounded with this, the resulting 7 tracks are difficult to categorize or to describe, but this is definitely one of the most distinguished releases on the SILENTES sublabel... lim. 100 - oversized/handmade cardboard cover
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| FAVARON, GIANLUCA & STEFANO GENTILE |
Entretien |
CD & booklet |
the combination of visuals/graphics (16 pages of STEFANO GENTILES "black" series) with music by GIANLUCA FAVARON - on the disc four surrealistscapes made out of electronic sounds, field recordings, whispering concrete crackles, machine-like sounds & drones... music like an undecipherable, alien language, excellent !! Comes with 16 page A4 booklet, lim. 230
|
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
| FAVARON, GIANLUCA / ANACLETO VITOLO |
Zolfo |
CD |
highly recommended collaboration work - based on various sound sources fragmented micro sounds are used in high speed collocations, full of cracks and crispy details.. "I call it particle accelerator music (PAM), as it sounds like agitated atoms. 'Oblivion' highlights a scuttling sound, like that of the crablike creature racing across the floor in the medical lab of Aliens.." [ A Closer Listen] - 240 copies available in oversized cover
|
2016 |
€10.00 |
|
| FEAR DROP |
No. 16: LA ZONE GRISE |
mag & CD |
finally a new FEAR DROP (best french mag for ambient & experimental music) issue, on the theme "GREY AREA"; feat. two long essays by publisher DENIS BOYER, plus articles about COILs ANS-work, HUMAN GREED; STEVE RODEN, BERNHARD GÜNTER, and the very first interview / article about our 10" series SUBSTANTIA INNOMINATA! + compilation CD with mentioned artists and CISFINITUM, TROUM, YANNICK FRANCK, L. MARCHETTI, M. DELPLANQUE, etc.. a definite MUST HAVE, highly recommended!!! Exclusive material only !
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| FEAR FALLS BURNING |
Once we all walk through solid objects |
5 x LP-SET |
source material by FFB performed by 10 artists (one per LP-side): BASS COMMUNION, FINAL (Justin Broadrick / JESU), FREIBAND, HARVESTMAN (Steve von Till / NEUROSIS), BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL, BYLA, AIDAN BAKER, JOHANNES PERSSON, JEFRE CANTU-LEDESMA (of TARENTEL), STEFANO PILIA. Lim. 500, pressed on clear 180gr vinyl. LAST COPY, MINT !
|
2007 |
€62.00 |
|
| FEINE TRINKERS BEI PINKELS DAHEIM (F.T.B.P.D.) |
Ahuenna |
CD-R |
excellent new release by this "alien drone" outfit from Bremen, Germany (and formerly one half of NID); dark & weird spheric experimental dronescapes using only analog sources, record players & incredible handmade objects, one intense one-tracker 44+ min full of variations and strange sounds; professional cover & duplication lim.100, highly recommended
|
2010 |
€9.50 |
|
| FELINE/FERAL |
Wilderness |
T-SHIRT |
FELINE/FERAL is the new VINYL label project of TURGUT KOCER, known for the great VOLUNTARY WHORES tape series; high quality shirt with black print on white / cotton wool colour, ask for available size
|
2015 |
€20.00 |
|
| FELIX KUBIN & MARIOLA BRILLOWSKA |
Morgenröte |
7inch + comic art |
two FELIX KUBIN pieces (one previously unpublished) as a soundrack for M. BRILLOWSKA's colourful comic & video works, telling an "anti-utopian" SF-story ("in the 71st century, sex is practiced only by machines.." ) with their two heroines Linda and Lorna... lim./numb. 100 copies in oversized special packaging (20,5 x 43 cm!) and on turquoise coloured vinyl
|
2018 |
€19.50 |
|
| FENNESZ |
Transition |
7 |
7"-only series, nice full-colour design, lim. 500
|
2008 |
€7.50 |
|
|
Live in Japan - Part one |
LP |
recordings taken from the Japan-tour 2009 part one
|
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Live in Japan - Part two |
LP |
recordings taken from the Japan-tour 2009 part two
|
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
AUN: The Beginning and the End |
CD |
Original Soundtrack to the film with the same name by EDGAR HONETSCHLÄGER, feat. R. SAKAMOTO on some tracks; comes with 28page full colour booklet with stills from the film
|
2012 |
€14.50 |
|
| FERRARI, BRUNHILD & CHRISTOPH HEEMANN |
Stürmische Ruhe |
LP |
their first collaboration, a half hour piece recorded in the studio of LUC FERRARI in Paris, 2011-2014 => field recordings of very concrete (slamming doors) and atmospheric elements (wind, water) collide and fuse with electronic drones and near silence, every second becomes meaningful and changes time and space..highly recommended !! - "an organic flow of cross-fades, double-exposures and abrupt cuts, a free-associative dream in which wind and water take on mythical characteristics."
|
2022 |
€28.00 |
|
| FERRARI, LUC |
Music Promenade / Unheimlich Schön |
LP |
two of the most fascinating / well known pieces by LUC FERRARI: "Unheimlich Schön" (1971) - for the first time on vinyl; "Music Promenade" (1965-1969) in an edited version for four stand-alone tape recorders, premiered in March 1970: "A series of colliding realistic sounds and sonic images. Whilst walking, a man is struck by the violence of his surroundings. Nature has disappeared in a whirlwind of warfare and industry in the midst of which he encounters a dying folklore and a lost young girl."
|
2019 |
€19.50 |
|
| |
Photophonie (Bandes magnétiques inédites (1973 - 1992) |
LP |
for the 90th birthday of the French composer Transversales Disques has collected four previously unreleased works: "Photophonie" (1981), "Il etait une fois" (1973), "Trans Voices" (1992), "Tu m'ecoutes" (1975);- "The four pieces of ‘Photophonie’ beautifully and thrillingly speak to Ferrari’s grasp of the sonosphere and its omnipresent plurality with a deftness of arrangement and overarching vision that that sounds both of its era and also within its own parallel dream dimension." [Boomkat]
|
2019 |
€24.00 |
|
| FERRARI, LUC & BRUNHILD FERRARI |
Contes Sentimentaux |
4 x CD-BOX |
this 4 CD box contains 11 pieces made by the couple for Südwestfunk (German Radio) from 1989-1994, a wonderful sensitive melange of experiences from their lives, field recordings and music; BRUNHILD MEYER-FERRARI is translating everything into German, LUC FERARRI talks about his compositions and curious details... this has a very meditative charackter, we could listen for this for hours non-stop!! Comes with 44 p. booklet with many photos, etc..
|
2013 |
€45.00 |
|
| FERREYRA, BEATRIZ |
Senderos de luz y sombras |
LP |
NEW 16-channel piece which was constructed 2016-2020, inspired by astrophysics and universal questions of the pre-Big Bang and the Unconscious - there's a permanent movement of amorph and spiraling sounds in this music, of flashing by objects, of trans-morping patterns... "What connects these themes are the dark energies operating outside our knowledge, far beyond the conceptual scope of our limited thinking.." - great work, highly recommended! Embossed cover, full colour inner sleeves, DL card
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| FERREYRA, BEATRIZ / CHRISTINE GROULT |
Nahash |
CD |
rare, demanding collab. CD by the recently re-discovered BEATRIZ FERREYRA, with recommended French composer CHRISTINE GROULT - "Restlessly oscillating between recognisable natural sounds (water, kids’ voices, horses’ hooves, car engines) and synthetic ones, Nahash is best described as a somewhat literal embodiment of para-normal or super-natural where normality and nature are examined in a new light and found to be far beyond our understanding.." [The Quietus]
|
2015 |
€14.50 |
|
| FIEBIG, GERALD / BRUNO KLIEGL / EMERGE |
Hörbar in Farbe |
CD-R |
three ways of translating paintings into music; pictures of LINDA BENNANI, CLAUDIA GULDENSCHUH and TINE KLINK but also the concrete sounds of painting tools were used as sound sources - presented at an exhibition in Augsburg Febr. 2011. Nice concept and very minimal & pure acoustic results...
|
2011 |
€5.00 |
|
| FIVE ELEMENTS MUSIC |
New Communications : One |
CD-R |
full colour / photo - cardboard-cover
|
2006 |
€9.50 |
|
|
VarunaGhat |
CD-R |
lim./numb. 100 hand/laser-printed fullcolour cover
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Isolation and Echoscopy |
CD-R |
work created with performed sounds from the human body; comes in professional full colour cover; the great solo-project of Sergey Suhovic from EXIT IN GREY from Moscow!
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
|
New Communications : Two |
CD-R |
full colour / photo - cardboard-cover; two long tracks of mysteriously droning post-industrial ambience, revealing a microsounding inner level... very nice & recommended ! |
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Sylphstream |
CD-R |
full colour / cardboard-cover
|
2008 |
€9.00 |
|
|
Nexus |
CD-R |
full colour / cardboard-cover
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Mystic Echo |
CD-R |
full colour / cardboard-cover
|
2006 |
€9.00 |
|
|
Summer Session |
CD-R |
processed concrete nature drone recordings that build a nice earthy flow - bees, water, stones, etc... masterful release by this Russian project; nicely printed CD-R & full colour cardboard cover
|
2011 |
€9.00 |
|
|
Rishikesh |
CD |
the favoured Russian project presents field recordings from two highly interesting places in India (Ganges river, Himalaya, and the ancient city of Vrindavan), all recorded in the middle of the night - very special atmosphere; fabric-pressed CD, numbered ed. 200 copies, in the typical artwork-style (beautiful patterns from nature & natural objects) of Daniel Crokaert
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Oborot |
CD-R |
the regular STILL*SLEEP series continues with this F.E.M release, using again nature sound sources (metal, wood, stones), but also vinyl player and radio coils => secretful field recordings with low bass sounds, you can almost feel the structure of objects and the air....4 hypnotic tracks with unique 'breathing' organic ambient ... F.E.M. is the experimental solo project of SERGEY SUHOVIC, also active as SISTER LOOLOMIE and part of the drone duo EXIT IN GREY
|
2015 |
€9.00 |
|
| FOGAR, ALESSANDRO |
Surface Studies # 1 |
CD-R |
lim. 100 / prof. full-colour printed cover |
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
| FOR KINGS AND QUEENS |
One Day I discovered a Dreamachine |
CD-R |
the Berlin-based project with a nice work (second album) about "time, relativity, fragility, changing, awareness and human consciousness" - roaring amorph dark drones & weird instrumental elements (guitar, mouth organ?), enriched with field and object recordings, backwards-voices, etc.. surrealistic, weird & otherworldly at the same time... comes in printed A5 envelope with 4p colour inlay with bizarre drawings; recommended !
|
2009 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
Marchantiophyta (2nd edition) |
CD-R |
third album by the recommended Berlin-based project, a psychedelic / surrealistic journey to a secret land called "Marchantiophyta", this sounds very ghost ambient like, with strange loops and effected objects.. "rain forest, a coffeemaker, a glas of water, little tubes, contactmics, guitar, various synthesizers.." very much recommended to be checked out !!
|
2010 |
€9.00 |
|
| FOR KINGS AND QUEENS & BARBARA KINDERMANN |
Schwarze Himmel von Metall |
CD-R |
poems and fragments from GEORG TRAKL (1887-1914) are sung and spoken by professional vocalist BARBARA KINDERMANN, mutated, cut into pieces and intermingled with the dark experimental noises of FOR KINGS AND QUEENS - again a very expressive and stunning tour de force, carefully constructed; one long track 25+ min.
|
2014 |
€8.00 |
|
| FORT, BERNARD |
Fractals |
mCD |
another amazing release in this series is the 5-part composition by the Lyon based writer, ornithologist and teacher BERNARD FORT, which forms nice contrasts between more intense creaking sounds and subtle or polyrhythmic clicks and rumbles..sounds like nothing else ! = > "musiques amorphes et infinies dont le centre est partout et la circonference nulle part.. " (from the credits) ; 21+ min. back in stock, special offer !
mcd full-colour cardboard cover |
1996 |
€3.50 |
|
| FOSSIL AEROSOL MINING PROJECT [FAMP] |
The Unlistening Place |
CD |
the anonymous "sonic archaelogists" from the U.S. midwest who work with disintegrating media sources for their somehow archaic sounding drone ambience, with 8 new, mysterious tracks! "The tape sometimes feels like a sonic cage for all of the sounds it was able to capture. It’s like a prison or a collection of dead and long-forgotten living beings whose voices you’re not really sure if you’re actually hearing or if they exist only in your head." [Angel S./MYTRIP/Heathen Harvest]
|
2017 |
€14.50 |
|
|
August 53rd |
LP |
the wondrous/wonderful/mysterious FAMP project with new LP using low-fi tape loops and samples from old physical media only, thus creating a sound as coming from an ancient culture... "Down-pitched, disquieting rumbles form the foundations for much of Fossil Aerosol’s compositions, which mutate the fractured, crumbled, and mildewed artifacts into patterned yet shifting phrases. The result seems like hybrid, time-compressed mimicry of the evolution of our media-driven language."
|
2018 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Scaath Catfish |
CD |
this FAMP album focues on the 'River/Water' theme, using field rec. taken in the Illinois River valley, ancient tapes with instrumental recordings, etc...- again a most stunning work full of extraordinay sounds and beautiful microscopis environments, with a strange deep nostalgic touch through the use of old recording media.. - "It is not only the sediment, the debris, the waste, the scum, the mud, and the rot that are the source materials in Scaath Catfish, but also what is preserved in those elements.."
|
2020 |
€15.50 |
|
| FOX, TERRY |
552 Steps through 11 Pairs of Strings |
do-LP |
a lost installation / sound-art recording from 1976 where TERRY FOX worked with extended long strings in his studio in San Francisco: 11 pairs of strings / piano wires with different thicknesses were stretched around the floor, building a giant horizontal harp, representing the 11 concentric rings of the Chartres Cathedral labyrinth; these are recordings from the 4 1/2 hour performance, pure and contemplaitve handplayed drone-minimalism... comes in nice gatefold-cover
|
2017 |
€35.00 |
|
| FRAJERMAN, DENIS |
Herbes & Golems |
CD |
NEW album by the French avantgardist, who released in his early stages on the legendary NOISE MUSEUM label; "Herbes & Golem" is inspired by a book of same name from MANUELA DRAEGER, a 'post-exotic' author; compositions are derived from many sources, often based on electric organ and beat box, with spoken lyrics, field recordings, other instruments, maybe like a softer form of D.D.A.A....
|
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| FRANKLIN, MARTIN & MICHAEL NORTHAM |
An Opening of the Earth : recovered |
CD |
re-worked recordings (that appeared originally 1991/1993 on CD / MC - on the legendary SOUNDS FOR CONSCIOUSNESS RAPE-label!) by the TUU-member M. FRANKLIN and the Drone Records-artist NORTHAM; lim. 500 in the typical Faria-design (full colour cardboard cover with postcards)
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| FREIBAND |
Replicas |
CD |
all sound- & image-sources taken from ASMUS TIETCHENS album "Daseinsverfehlung"
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Reflection |
mCD-R |
lovely one-tracker on FRANS DE WAARDS mikro label, comes with handmade photo cover
.... "Piano sources recorded on boxing day, transformed in the days after with the final mix on new years eye 2007. Moody textured music with a bite."
|
2008 |
€6.00 |
|
| |
Mutatis Mobilis |
CD-R |
re-workings of AALFANG MIT PFERDEKOPF and FREIBANDs own source-material, resulting in mysterious ambient industrial drones full of metallic overtunes & hissing cloud-mantras, ultra minimal, analogue & soft... very nice !
|
2013 |
€8.00 |
|
| FROGOROTH |
same |
LP |
lovely project with four single tracks by YANNCK DAUBY, DAVE PHILLIPS, SLAWEK KWI (ARTICIFIAL MEMORY TRACE) and SYLVAIN DAL (from Ini.Itu), all working on original FROG and other Ambhibian sounds with different aproaches, adding industrial pulses and guitar noises, doing weird processings ("Amphibians in the Throne Room"), or letting the strange animal sounds speak for themselves.. lim. 250 copies, numbered
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| FROM THE WHITE CHIMNEYS |
Nautilus with Wings |
CD-R |
lim. / numb. 100 copies with full-colour laser print cover
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| FROMBERG, DANIELA & STEFAN ROIGK |
Unfamiliar Home |
LP |
this rising (sound) artists couple from Berlin with a curious project=> the house they live in got renovated completely (for several years), they recorded 400 hours of material from these noises and mixed a 12-channel installation from it: "Tremors, hollow scratching, resonating gas-heaters, droning jackhammers, crumbling ceiling plaster, wind, chimney sweeping, blow torches, rustling plastic cover, elevator buzzing, dismantling of the scaffolding." - phantastic sounds & artwork, 3 art inserts, lim. 200
|
2022 |
€25.00 |
|
| FROZEN FACES |
They who became Enemies to their Ancestors |
CD |
"DULL DAYS AMONG THE SHEEPS" - re-issue of the rare tape (C-46) from 1998 (11 tracks), plus the four tracks from the 10" "In Order to Confuse" (Hauruck, 2005), by the side-project of DEUTSCH NEPAL... this is powerful, angry post industrial, partly with vocals and melodics: 73. min playtime, 300 copies pressed
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| FUCHS, LIMPE & VIZ MICHAEL KREMIETZ |
Kugel Haus Musik |
CD |
rare live CD with a recording from 2012 (Waldorfschule Wangen, Germany), by LIMPE FUCHS (from legendary ANIMA) and VIZ M. KREMIETZ, fully improvised noises and sounds on all kinds of self-built or other exotic instruments and objects.. "Audionautic Newspaper between Experimental Zenflute, Pendelbronze, Neue Musik, Dadanoise, Crying Silence & the Film in your Ears!" - digipak release
|
2019 |
€10.00 |
|
| FULLMAN, ELLEN |
Staggered Stasis |
CD |
one of the last releases on the legendary Anomalous Records label from Seattle was this beautiful overtune drone-album by ELLEN FULLMAN, perfecting her Long String Instrument; two long pieces of colourful drone-rays |
2004 |
€15.00 |
|
| FUNERARY CALL |
The Mirror reversed |
CD |
extremely bleak & haunting sounds for your personal nightmare, this is not the typical dark ambient....one long track (47+ min.) inspired by the 'Tree of Death' (Kabbala) , the counterpart to the divine forces of the Sephiroth; filed under: spooky ghost drones & silences...
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| GALERIE SCHALLSCHUTZ |
ZOON-LOGON-ECHON |
LP / CD / MC - BOX |
"LET US BLAST OUT OUR OLD FORMS, OUR IGNORANCE, OUR WEAKNESS AND OUR MORTALITY" - the always ambitious North German 'ambient industrial" project with a tryptich of three dark immersive albums on three different formats, released for the 20th year of existence, dealing "with the definition and meaning of being human".. ; lim. 350 copies in box with inlay, logo patch, DL code
|
2020 |
€79.00 |
|
| GARCIA, MIGUEL A. |
Beastiari (for Tzesne) |
MC |
the Bask artist MIGUEL A. GARCIA is known for his project XEDH and countless involvements in other projects and collaborations, here he has used source material from TZESNE to create 8 tracks full of mechanical post industrial sounds, between subtle moments and more powerful passages, subdrones hissing structures, mysterious machine tones, interesting breaks and developments, not unlike some of FRANCISCO LOPEZ works...great great great !! lim. C-60 with printed covers and full colour inlay with 6 "masks"
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| GAS (=WOLFGANG VOIGT) |
Rausch |
do-LP |
the title of this GAS / WOLFGANG VOIGT - 4 track release ("Intoxication") has been chosen aptly, four untitled pieces of the most "suspended" ambient techno you can imagine, and even reminded us on old RAPOON... "Light as mist / Heavy as lead / Music happens / To flow like gas / A clearing / Heavy baggage / Debut in the afterlife / Death has seven cats / World heritage Rausch / Finally infinite" - comes w. printed inner sleeves and DL card for bonus tracks
|
2018 |
€25.00 |
|
| GEINS'T NAIT & L. PETITGAND |
Like This Maybe or This |
LP |
next in the nice atmospheric soundscaping "Mind Travel" series of the French label presents a new album with a strong cinematic edge by the fruitful collaboration of "post industralist" GEIN'S NAIT and "film score composer" L.PETITGAND (who worked with WIM WENDERS and PAUL AUSTER) >= "The subject matter is certainly difficult to grasp and invites us on an inner journey while leading us to doubt and question ourselves incessantly..." ; printed inner sleeve / DL card / great artwork again!
|
2021 |
€18.00 |
|
| GENETIC TRANSMISSION |
Genetic Transmission |
CD |
re-issue of GT's very first release, which was originally a cassette that came out on Polish legendary experimental label OBUH Records in 1997 => "harsh, metallic sounds, a mechanical structure, brut collages created using only analog sources and recorded in exactly the same manner - without the use of computers." lim. 200 and a great document of Polands "early" post industrial sound
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| GENOCIDE ORGAN |
Civilization |
do-CD BOX |
re-issue of the sought after second GO "Save our Slaves" album (1991) plus a rare live performance (Mannheim Dec. 1990) and diverse compilation tracks and the Klan Kountry 7" (1998) - this limited CD version comes as luxus slipcase (linen-paper, foilblocked & debossed) with ext. 24 page booklet; "Save Our Slaves stands out as the landmark release that definitively executed each hallmark element of sound, visuals and thematic content with flawless accuracy.." [Spektrum Mag]
|
2017 |
€28.00 |
|
|
The Truth will make you free |
LP |
20th anniversary, luxurious re-issue of this industrial classic from 1999 (Tesco 040) 'featuring many dark rhythmic industrial pieces filled with the agony of a dying world' ; comes with debossed cover and four inlays / inlay cards and numbering (full ed. 750 copies)
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| |
DEATH ZONES |
do-LP |
*The seventh year anniversary of the release of :OBITUARY OF THE AMERICAS: sees Genocide Organ returning with a release full of cynical survivalism in a world of havoc! While those celebrate the new world - we prepare ourselves for :DEATH ZONES:. * - numbered ed. gatefold cover, 2 inserts and card! Probably gone soon, the actual amount pressed was due to received pre orders!
|
2023 |
€39.00 |
|
| GERARD, PIERRE |
ENVIRONMENT & gesture |
CD |
very minimal & concrete improvisations & environmental "silence drones" by this electro-acoustic soundartist from Belgium, using unknown objects & instruments with/in water outside... lim. 200, two (colour) inlays, cardboard cover
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| GERECHTIGKEITSLIGA / GEHIRN.IMPLOSION |
Centaurea Cyanus |
7" |
NEW material from the legendary German industrial group, another part in the split 7" series with GEHIRN.IMPLOSION; lim. 199 copies, white marbled vinyl, full colour cover !
|
2010 |
€8.00 |
|
| GERMAN ARMY |
Passage Through Selk'nam Hain Ceremony |
do-LP |
epic double LP album by the West Coast duo who established their very own style, percussive, hypnotic, full of unusual sounds and arrangements..- *The prolific group once again explores the freaked out fringes of the electronic world where blown out beat experiments stand beside buried guitar twangs, synth drones, and rigged textures, conjuring images of barren landscapes from forgotten far away lands. This is an album that you need to sink your mind deep into.* - comes with fold out poster!
|
2021 |
€32.00 |
|
| GEROGERIGEGEGE, THE |
The Gerogerigegege |
12inch |
a 45 rpm 12" with 16 pieces, feat. the basic sounds used for their April 2003 US tour, which now forms an "instrument" for your own creations... samples of all kinds and funky 70's dance-music, pretty weird .... lim. 400 black vinyl, lovely cover
|
2017 |
€12.50 |
|
| GERTOT, DAGMAR |
Os Lacrimale |
CD |
debut album for this female performer from Russia, using many real instruments (gusli, accordeon..).. "A somber surreal opus sourced from the composer’s dream state experiences. Instrumental and vocal improvisations are the tools used for turning the dream world of the subconscious to the outer world, deploying ambiguous visual and aural imagery. Partially ceremonial and 'Art brutal' in character, it is a free expression of the psyche’s sometime painful secret world" - 300 copies
|
0000 |
€13.00 |
|
| GFFR |
Blockchain Me Anonymous |
LP |
this must be the first item in our catalogue with "Blockchain" in the title => the story behind "gFFr" is that two computers of two users build an "Artificial Intelligence" (AI) named VERENA BECKER ("These machines are non-human yet they develop ambitiousness and sexuality. They are assertive. They do not argue. They do not care"") who forced the users to create this music, full of electronic glitches, twisted rhythms, digital voices... a highly interesting record & music ! Lim. 200
|
2021 |
€18.00 |
|
| GHEYSEN, FILIP |
Tabletop Guitar |
CD / DVD / BOOK |
discover the details of audio-visual microworlds (revealing macroworlds): debut album for this musician & audio artist from Ghent (Belgium), using solely tabletop guitar and autoharp, creating quite raw overtune-filled drones, minimally shifting in tone & colour... the music is strongly connected with his visual art, paintings, and 3 video-clips presented on the DVD and the very nice 34 page A5 booklet
|
2013 |
€20.00 |
|
| GILLIS, ANNE |
Vhoysee |
CD |
the six tracks from her first cassette-only release "Angebigue" (1983), a true collector's item, plus 4 new re-mixed / re-worked compositions made up from the same minimal synth sources, imagine D.D,A,A, mixed with electronic chansons and incredible intimate singing...- lim. 200, Japan import
|
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| GNOD |
Chapel Perilous |
LP |
stunning new album by the furious and versatile "industrial psych noise rock" band, incorporating more experimental elements again, here deeply inspired by the writing of ROBERT ANTON WILSON... lim. 700 coloured vinyl version (clear & black splatter); "Chapel Perilous ranks easily as one of the best things they’ve produced to date" [Dusted]
|
2018 |
€24.00 |
|
| GNOSTIC GNOMES |
Zwergenlieder |
2 x 5inch vinyl |
this is, in many respects, a unique and bizarre release => the story behind it tells that the music on these micro vinyls comes from religious GNOMES who live in the mountains of Spain - the music is incredible weird, folky, Gnomes on acoustic guitar and with bizarre vocals - a very beautiful designed item...and the described place really exists, in Northern Spain, as the full colour fold out sleeve shows us all... - lim. 495 copies numbered, 8 panel full colour sleeve + 1 paper dwarf included
|
2007 |
€6.00 |
|
| GOBEIL, GILLES |
Dans le Silence da la Nuit |
CD |
four intense, captivating pieces by the still too unknown Canadian composer: the genius ultra dark & cacophonic "Derriere la porte la plus eloignee" (1998) (dedicated to OSCAR & JANINE WIGGLI); "Projet Proust", using texts by MARCEL PROUST combined with mighty sounds, the furious "Point de passage" (1997) - relating to HG WELLS "Time Machine", and "Nuit cendre" (1995), an adaption of the underworlds of JULES VERNE's "Voyage au centre de la terre"; great cinema for the ears!
|
2001 |
€14.00 |
|
| GODFLESH |
Nero |
12inch |
for the collectors:a limited long play 12" (33rpm) with the irresistible first track from the PURGE album, plus three different / unreleased versions (remix, dub, alternate), lim. 1000 copies in two multi-colour versions: Vortex Variant [White And Blue] + Fade Variant [White To Blue]
|
2023 |
€25.00 |
|
| GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPOROR! [GYBE] |
Yanqui U.x.o. |
do-LP |
fourth album back in stock for acceptable price; a timeless classic, produced by STEVE ALBINI; gatefold cover, silkscreened
|
2002 |
€26.00 |
|
|
Allelujah! Don't bend! Ascend! |
LP + 7inch |
the BIG surprise - after many many years a new GODSPEED YOU! album, and it's brilliant - very droney & dense, developing to ecstatic power-rock with oriental flair.. the vinyl version comes with 7" (seperating two drone-tracks that are bound differently into the album on the CD) & nice full-colour fold out poster in a gatefold sleeve!! Masterpiece !!
|
2012 |
€25.00 |
|
|
Asunder, Sweet and other Distress |
LP |
"We love you so much our Country is fucked" - already another studio album by Montreal's anti-Major legends, four new heavy rocking & experimental droning tracks..."This new Godspeed You! Black Emperor, stripped of the sidebars, has become the high-volume anarchist epic rock band they've always been in their deepest core" [The Quietus]; gatefold cover, printed inner sleeve, poster
|
2015 |
€22.00 |
|
|
Asunder, Sweet and other Distress |
CD |
"We love you so much our Country is fucked" - already another studio album by Montreal's anti-Major legends, four new heavy rocking & experimental droning tracks..."This new Godspeed You! Black Emperor, stripped of the sidebars, has become the high-volume anarchist epic rock band they've always been in their deepest core" [The Quietus]
|
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
|
G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END! |
LP + 10inch |
"The God's have returned to rain ash upon our graves." - four epic new pieces spread on 12" and 10" vinyls, with wonderful artwork again + DL code... - "Poignant atmospherics, noisedrenched orchestration, drone, hypnotic swingtime crescendos, inexorably-layered towers of distorted clarion sound: STATE'S END encapsulates every beloved facet of the band"
|
2021 |
€27.50 |
|
| |
G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END! |
CD |
"The God's have returned to rain ash upon our graves." - four epic new pieces - "Poignant atmospherics, noisedrenched orchestration, drone, hypnotic swingtime crescendos, inexorably-layered towers of distorted clarion sound: STATE'S END encapsulates every beloved facet of the band" / CD version in gatefold digisleeve
|
2021 |
€14.50 |
|
| GOL & GHEDALIA TAZARTES |
Alpes |
LP |
the 4-member "dada-quartett" GOL on "Electric Mandoline, Jew’s Harps, Percussions, Janotron, Flutes, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, Electronic Garage and Voice" with G. TAZARTES; recorded on two days in Paris Feb. 2013: "a 'bal musette' (dance event) for mentally disabled. Reaching at some points the sides of rock that doesn’t roll, this sonic attack jumps from topic to topic as a ritualistic anthology of unknown 'ritournelles'.. " ed. of 400, last copies !
|
2013 |
€20.00 |
|
| GOREHALLREIDER |
A Blow to the Head |
CD-R |
project of JOHN GORE (KIRCHENKAMPF), STEVE HALL (YEN POX, V.O.S) and C.REIDER (VUZH label and solo-artist). hand-coloured digipackcovers ! |
2005 |
€9.00 |
|
| GOUGH, HELENA |
Knot Invariants |
CD |
third album by the British digital-drone composer, using here solely sounds from two Cello-players; refined microsound journeys into unknown areas.. comes again in the typical (printed) anti-static bag
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| GRASSOW, MATHIAS |
Sky |
CD |
re-issue of CDR album fro 2000 with additional material in the newly arranged condensation... pure floating bliss, timeless contemplation, synth-rays as wide as the sky... nice ed. with 12 p. full colour booklet
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Tamanoshima |
CD |
brand new work reflecting the eternal waves & vibrations of water & air, "a warm and glowing drift based on material composed in the summer of 2013" - comes with full colour 16p. booklet
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
|
The Darklight Quest |
CD |
MATHIAS GRASSOW is one of Germany's deep ambient pioneers, his first releases date back to 1986; this favoured 4 track album was privately issued in 1998 as CDR and is finally released in proper form... extremely minimal and only slowly changing synth-drones with hypnotizing overtune and bass waves....- when music turns into an "agent of transformation"
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
|
The Dreamquest Sessions |
CD |
Third part of the trilogy (Darklight Quest => Nightquest Sessions), feat KLAUS WIESE on Tibetan singing bowls, with the 40 min central piece "The Eerie Valley of the Firebirds"... "Longform desolate ambience as we soar through unknown vistas to places forgotten in time and space.." with full colour booklet
|
2020 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Isola |
CD |
this GRASSOW work is inspired by the omnipresence of the "Solar Cycle" for all civilizations on this planet, the deep meaning it must have for everyone... the four tracks follow and symbolize the solar cycle from daybreak to deepest night - a mystic experience; almost 80 min playtime, full colour booklet
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| GRASSOW, MATHIAS & JIRI MAZANEK |
Music Infinity meets Virtues |
CD |
holy contemplation muzak & psychedelic drones => documentation of a live concert held in Prague 23th May 2009 in a church; GRASSOW in collaboration with JIRI MAZANEK who does overtune singing & plays traditional instruments like sitar, zither, singing bowls, tibetan bells, etc... phantastic audio quality, incl. a live video track, and 8- page full colour booklet
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| GRASSOW, MATHIAS & THOMAS WEISS |
Conscience |
CD |
'transpersonal ambience' inspired by the human conscience, first collab by these two German spiritual ambient composers on the now defunct label from Prague, special offer! => "four long tracks leave space to freely morphing soundwaves, reflecting both positive spiritual power as well as somewhat murky moods" [Igor Novácek]
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| GREENAWAY, PETER |
4 American Composers |
DVD |
four 55 min. long documentary films made 1983 by the British master of art-filming: PHILIP GLASS; ROBERT ASHLEY; JOHN CAGE; MEREDITH MONK; PAL Zone 2
|
2010 |
€20.00 |
|
| GREY FREQUENCY |
Empyrean |
7inch |
DIETER MÜH has re-activated his small label with three great 7" releases, this U.K. project tries to reveal the hidden powers lying beneath the surfcae of our everday modern lives through music; from atmospheric drones and noise spheres to more pulsing and structured / electronic areas, two very nice pieces. - . lim. 100 copies with hand-stamped labels and two inserts
|
2022 |
€9.50 |
|
| GRIMAUD, DOMINIQUE & VERONIQUE VILHET |
Iles |
LP |
the label from Rennes (FR), active since 1989 with the slogan "unusual, unexpected music, off the beaten track, far removed from commercial interests" with the 2nd album by these two veterans of French underground music (VIDEO AVENTURES, CAMIZOLE..) on the topic ISLANDS - "Au final, douze morceaux correspondant à douze îles réelles ou fictives, avec douze contours et douze destins tour à tour cabossé, rouillé, déchiqueté, déroutant, extravagant, accidenté, bousculé, tourmenté, cocasse..."
|
2016 |
€18.00 |
|
| GRKZGL |
Esque |
mCD |
complex Canadian digital experimental music; lim. 500 full-colour cover |
2006 |
€6.50 |
|
| GRODOCK |
Verwerfungen |
CD |
'Every person is just a gear in a system" - ambient Industrial newcomer from southern Germany (Freiburg) with a nice blend of loops, drones & samples, dark atmospheric noises with a political message, to discover! Replicated full colour CD (not CDR), lim. 100 only!
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| GRUNT |
Documentation : Live Assaults around Europe 2005-2008 |
3 x CD BOX |
re-issue of the box from 2009 with new artwork/packaging, feat. live recordings by this Finnish harsh noise and power electronics act, touring around Europe 2005-2008 => "A lot of good sounding live gigs, that match level of studio recordings. Various versions of songs some known from studio releases, but a lot of material never published as studio versions. Does not overlap with old live tape releases!"
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
|
Spiritual Eugenics |
do-LP |
the Finnish (harsh) noise & industrial project (active since 1993) with a new epic work, spreading on two LPs (80 min.) with 'pure filth & anger', the tracks are short attacks gouging into your brain, and have a nice 'mechanical' and trashy old school touch, analolgue throbbing pulses and cut up distortions, screams and pushed vocals, establishing quite a wide spectrum of noises and sounds in these 20 tracks; - gatefold-cover w. 2 inlays, black vinyl
|
2020 |
€26.00 |
|
| |
Spiritual Eugenics |
do-CD |
the Finnish (harsh) noise & industrial project (active since 1993) with a new epic work, spreading on two LPs (80 min.) with 'pure filth & anger', the tracks are short attacks gouging into your brain, and have a nice 'mechanical' and trashy old school touch, analolgue throbbing pulses and cut up distortions, screams and pushed vocals, establishing quite a wide spectrum of noises and sounds in these 20 tracks... - comes in double digipak with booklet
|
2020 |
€16.00 |
|
| GRÄF, JENNY |
Os |
CD-R |
METALUX member JENNY GRÄF SHEPPARD with a solo-album on Hamburgs WP label - synth-based atmospheres, vocals, weird industrial soundz... psychedelic low fi ambience; self made 7" colour cover
|
2012 |
€7.00 |
|
| GUDNADOTTIR, HILDUR |
Chernobyl (Music from the HBO Miniseries) |
LP |
the score for the HBO mini series "Chernobyl", following the events during the aftermath of the nuclear disaster in 1986; for this, HILDUR GUDNADOTTIR (who just won the Oscar for the "Joker" soundtrack!) travelled to a power plant in Lithuania with CHRIS WATSON and recorded sounds from the site, which were then incoporated into this dark & mournful soundtrack... comes with colour inlay
|
2019 |
€25.50 |
|
| |
Chernobyl (Music from the HBO Miniseries) |
CD |
the score for the HBO mini series "Chernobyl", following the events during the aftermath of the nuclear disaster in 1986; for this, HILDUR GUDNADOTTIR (who just won the Oscar for the "Joker" soundtrack!) travelled to a power plant in Lithuania with CHRIS WATSON and recorded sounds from the site, which were then incoporated into this dark & mournful soundtrack... - CD jewel-case edition
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| GUIONNET, JEAN-LUC & MIGUEL A. GARCIA |
Siticidelhous |
CD |
both sound-artists met 2016 in a conservatory in Spain where they could experiment with church organ and electronics => two long pieces that play with your perception and attention emerged - sounds seem to disappear completely in silence, but if you increase the volume you listen to completely new elements, a new soundworld arises.. lim. 200
|
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| GURDJIEFF, G.I |
Improvisations |
LP |
nine improvisations on harmonium, recorded 1949 (!) in Paris, by the controversial Armenian / Greek philosopher, spiritual teacher ("Fourth Way")... "His goal was to teach humans to reach a higher consciousness out of the 'waking sleep' he considered most to be living in... Droning and ethereal, these beautiful pieces mark a pinnacle in the work of a legend of human spirituality." lim. 500
|
2018 |
€18.50 |
|
| GURUN GURUN |
Uzu Oto |
LP |
stunning Czech experimental ensemble with a record on the Peruvian BUH Records label, creating excellent multi-layered drone noise and confusing fragmo electronics with a surrealistic / psychedelic edge, feat. a female singer from Japan! - *like falling through a strange wormhole full of sounds, noises, and soft female vocals, mercilessly sucking you in, forcing you to collapse into yourself and enter a parallel universe.* - 300 copies, great cover art, too
|
2022 |
€22.00 |
|
| GUS, LARRY |
Iasmos |
CD |
very charmful "Baby-Paradise" miniature music from Greece, a most obscure release combining field recordings (mainly from kids from a birthday party), Casio / synth melodies and samples with voice; extremely cute and soft, reminding a bit on earliest FELICIA ATKINSON tunes.. 18 short tracks, comes with a 10 panel full-colour fold out cover with all those kids and involved persons... lim. 252 copies
|
2009 |
€7.00 |
|
| GÜNTER, BERNHARD |
Impossible Grey |
mCD |
BERNHARD GÜNTER became well known to use sound material on the border of the audible - 'Impossible Grey' is a great example, consisting of low bass drones and rumblings and subtle granular washes, at times a louder sonic incident is appearing at the surface... back in stock, special offer !
mcd full-colour cardboard cover
|
1997 |
€3.50 |
|
| HAARE |
Karesansui |
CD |
ZEN FEEDBACK HARSH NOISE MEDITATION METALJUNK SATORI - this Finnish project wants to use harsh noise with the aim / approach of a total meditative immersion, sitting still inside the turbulent eye of a metallic storm... - "The main sound sources comprise metal junk, microphone feedback and electronics/fx. Be absorbed in a vortex of harsh screeching feedback, hollow resonating echoes and heavy stereo shifting of organic drones..." - lim. 200, Singapore import
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| HAFLER TRIO |
Only the hand that erases can write the true thing |
do-10inch |
STANDARD EDITION, lim. 500 clear vinyl; four long tracks, using the voices of MICHAEL GIRA, DUA42, YVES KLEIN and BJÖRK GUDMUNDSDOTTIR for incredible result! Comes in gatefold cover
lim. 500 clear vinyl, beautiful textured cover ! |
2004 |
€20.00 |
|
| HAFLER TRIO / DITTERICH VON-EULER DONNERSPERG / KONTAKT DER JÜNGLINGE PLAYS THE HAFLER TRIO |
untitled |
do-7inch |
lim. 200 clear vinyl, usually only available on the H30-tour May 2003 through Germany, clear vinyl, numbered edition, exquisite artwork! Has rare THOMAS KÖNER & ASMUS TIETCHENS tracks on Side C / D, using HAFLER TRIO souce materials. LAST NEW COPIES FOUND !!
|
2003 |
€25.00 |
|
| HAIGH, ROBERT |
Human Remains |
CD |
third in the trilogy of piano-based works for Unseen Worlds => "The title, Human Remains, was initially based on a painting of the same name by Haigh that is suggestive of an ancient structure resolute in the wake of overwhelming forces. As a metaphor for our current times, it could be interpreted as human frailty in the face of nature’s unyielding dominion. Conversely, it could represent the persistence of human spirit and resourcefulness in the midst of catastrophe and upheaval."- vinyl version to follow
|
2022 |
€14.50 |
|
| |
Human Remains |
LP |
finally out, the lim. vinyl version of the third album in this trilogy, mastered by STEPHAN MATHIEU => "The title was initially based on a painting of the same name by Haigh that is suggestive of an ancient structure resolute in the wake of overwhelming forces. As a metaphor for our current times, it could be interpreted as human frailty in the face of nature’s unyielding dominion. Conversely, it could represent the persistence of human spirit and resourcefulness in the midst of catastrophe and upheaval."
|
2022 |
€24.00 |
|
| HAINO, KEIJI / BALAZS PANDI / MERZBOW |
Become the Discovered, not the Discoverer |
do-LP |
the second noise-clash (after "An Untroublesome Defencelessness", 2016) for these three gifted performers on the RareNoise label, four long sets recorded in a studio in February 2018... "the three intrepid improvisers explore a threshold of sound so blisteringly intense, that it passes into a zone of divine cacophony." - comes on coloured vinyl
|
2019 |
€27.50 |
|
| HALO MANASH |
Elemental Live Forms MMV - Initiation |
CD |
unique live material recorded in July 2005 in Tampere, Finland, the first ever public live performance of HALO MANASH; excellent quality of a powerful set, comes in oversized cardboard design with two screen print colours, 8 page booklet, 8 photograph postcards from the performance in handstamped envelope; phantastic design & sounds; lim. 444 copies
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Unetar |
CD |
rare & early HALO MANASH material recorded deep in the Finnish woods, first issued in 2016 on a limited cassette that sold out too quickly, now for the first time on CD... "All audio material on this album originates from the 'Tulitania' private ritual held in the deepest forest of Northern Ostrobothnia in December 2006." - lim. 400, extremely nice issue w. oversized screen printed 7" cover, three full coloured insert cards + digital download card
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| HARRIS, MICK & MARTYN BATES |
Murder Ballads (Passages) |
do-LP |
first vinyl re-issue of this breathtaking vocal / isolationist ambience merge album (originally released 1997), the second part in this trilogy after 'Drift'... lim. ed. on coloured / marbled vinyl; - "Passages plays out an unbreakable and timeless cycle of bloody folklore (people) and hypnotic soundscapes (the god who watches). The effect is chilling yet engrossing..."
|
2022 |
€20.00 |
|
| HARTMAN, HANNA |
Ailanthus |
CD |
four pieces rec. 2003-2006 all built from authentic / self recorded sound sources
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| HASEGAWA, HIROSHI (長谷川洋) |
Ascension No. 999 |
CD |
cascades of spacey analogue noises overstraining your nervous system - powerful solo-work of this Japanese noiser also active with ASTRO, C.C.C.C., and collaborateur of AUBE; these are excessive electro alarms that can only come from Japan ! special price
|
2008 |
€8.00 |
|
| HATERS / LA CYANESCENCE |
Untitled |
MC |
NEW recordings, 'destroyed music' legend HATERS collabs with new French project; repetitive & loopy hypno noise & a feedbacking ultra low fi drone-noise journey, flickering & pulsating...lim. 100 copies, comes with mini-poster, C-60
|
2013 |
€7.00 |
|
| HATI |
Zero Coma Zero |
CD-R |
oversized cardboard / gatefold cover, professionally printed / gold-coloured / lim.-numbered 250 copies |
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
| HAVDIS |
Nightbreeze |
CD |
pure contemplation muzak also on this album by the Norwegian project, dedicated 'to the magnificent colours of the long summer nights' in the very northern regions....
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Fugloya |
CD |
the newest work by the Norwegian ambient composer is a musical interpretation of desolated cliff islands, inhabitated by pelagic birds, in front of incredible atmospheric skies.... this is warm, lonely / melancholic synth-ambient at its best ! Comes with 8 page full colour booklet, 70+ min. playtime
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| HAXAN CLOAK, THE |
Excavation |
CD |
CD version of the latest, breathtaking release by the London-based project, an overwhelming tour de force about the journey after death with eerie horror ambience,tension-filled power-drones and mighty bass-pulses and rhythms, absolutely compelling, dark & visionary! "I'm absolutely terrified of death. It scares the living hell out of me. It's the unknown element that gets to me. It's the human condition to be afraid of the unknown." [Bobby Krlic aka THE HAXAN CLOAK]
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
| HAYNES, JIM |
The Decline Effect |
do-LP |
Corrosion-drones! Stunning new album by this sound-artist from San Francisco with high conceptual approaches; four long tracks of mechanic, electromagnetic or field recording-based sounds with interesting "stories" behind, always on the border to mystery and wonder... lim. 350 gatefold-cover
|
2011 |
€22.50 |
|
| |
Inauspicious |
LP |
masterful new album by the Californian noise-ambient "decay process" droner and drowner... one of our records of the year !! lim. 200 - comes with 12" x 12" 8 page colour booklet on heavy paper...
|
2023 |
€22.50 |
|
| HAYWARD, ROBIN |
Words of Paradise |
pic-LP |
the prolific British tuba player (who also plays in CHORA(S)SAN TIME-COURT MIRAGE) with a microtonal album feat. his ensemble ZINC & COPPER => tuba, horn- & trombone tones / drones, slowly interacting for focused and contemplative attention... the picture disc itself replicated the multicoloured circular scores of the piece, with liner notes on the back-cover, explaining the inspiration and concept (through Brabantic language from the Renaissance) behind it; ed. of 300 copies
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| HECKER, TIM |
Dropped Pianos |
LP |
sound-sketches from 2010 that became later the "Ravedeath, 1972" album, all based on piano sound-sources. Lim. vinyl version
|
2011 |
€17.00 |
|
|
Dropped Pianos |
CD |
sound-sketches from 2010 that became later the "Ravedeath, 1972" album, all based on piano sound-sources. mini-album length
|
2011 |
€12.50 |
|
|
Love Streams |
do-LP |
now on a major label: TIM HECKERs irresistable "fake church music" or "neo metal drone", heavily processed digital spheres between harmony & ambient noise, usually based on acoustic sound sources / samples from church organs, pianos or strings; on LOVE STREAMS he works with JOHANN JOHANNSSON who contributed medieval chorals... lim. vinyl version with download code, gatefold cover
|
2016 |
€27.50 |
|
|
Love Streams |
CD |
now on a major label: TIM HECKERs irresistable "fake church music" or "neo metal drone", heavily processed digital spheres between harmony & ambient noise, usually based on acoustic sound sources / samples from church organs, pianos or strings; on LOVE STREAMS he works with JOHANN JOHANNSSON who contributed medieval chorals...
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Konoyo |
do-LP |
KONOYO is based on a collaboration of TIM HECKER with the Japanese Gagaku (traditional Japanese music) ensemble "Tokyo Gakuso", transforming these sound sources into new atmospheric figures...."keening strings are stretched into surreal, pixelated mirages; woodwinds warble and dissipate as fractal whispers of spatial haze; sparse gestures of percussion are chopped, isolated, and eroded, like disembodied signals from the afterlife... Visions flutter and fade; dreams gleam and decay.."
|
2018 |
€27.00 |
|
| |
The North Water (Original Score) |
LP |
selected compositions (enhanced mix) from the soundtrack to "The North Water" (deutsch: "Nordwasser") series, created in Montreal in 2020 with several guest musicians, merging instruments (Cello, Piano, Guitar) and electronics, on 15 tracks...- "a doomed arctic journey that charts a trajectory from hardened optimism into abject futility..." ; - 180gr. black vinyl with insert and download code
|
2022 |
€29.50 |
|
| HELM |
Silencer |
mini-LP |
long play 12" by this London-based project with four new tracks using lots of subtle & droney percussion....comes in the typical artful silkscreened pvc sleeve with artwork by Bill Kouligas
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
|
The Hollow Organ |
12inch |
four new studio tracks by LUKE YOUNGER aka HELM (who is also a member of BIRDS OF DLEAY) on clear vinyl, very powerful pulsing & repetitive structures again with sharp & metallic sounds & drones... the suspenseful meeting of drone & industrial..
|
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Olympic Mess |
do-LP |
already the fourth release by London-based project HELM for PAN => 10 tracks of quasi-rythmic, loopy & hypnotic electro drone-scapes, often enriched with effected field recordings... less rough and noisy as before but with an excellent flair for captivating atmospheric sound figurations...
|
2015 |
€27.00 |
|
| HENRIKSEN, ARVE |
The Nature of Connections |
LP + CD |
remarkable album by the Norwegian trumpeter and singer, combining subtle Jazz with Nordik Folk and Contemporary Chamber Music in an elegant, highly emotive / melodic way... recorded with four different string-players (2 x violin, viola, cello), many of the pieces were composed by his collaborators... the vinyl version comes with CD copy of the same album included
|
2014 |
€25.00 |
|
| HENRY, PIERRE |
Un Monde Lacéré |
LP |
"Un Monde Lacere" is a 45 min. studio piece from 2008 that has never been published before, a special tribute to JACQUES VILLEGLE and his work (French artist of the Nouveau Realisme)..."Sounds captured from a vast range sources - instrumental and non-instrumental - collide in fields of rhythm, tone, texture, and ambience, appearing at moments to be far closer to acoustic, real-time free improvisation than most recognizable forms of electronic music.." [Soundohm]
|
2020 |
€25.00 |
|
| HET INTERSTEDELIJK HARMONIUMVERBOND |
same |
LP |
a new Drone-collective from Belgium consisting of four members, all performing on Harmoniums (!), creating two side-long, most sublime and minimal "classic drone" pieces.. "Long, layered tones of four harmoniums stretch from past towards future, and from emotionally charged warmth of an ensemble to the coldness of post-human electronics. They trigger an uninterrupted flow of music and call for an intensified and extended ritual of contemplative listening on multiple levels"; lim. 300
|
2019 |
€28.00 |
|
| HIDEG RONCS |
A Vihar / The Storm (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
limited + numbered first edition of 200 copies; silk-screened covers, each in different colour, luminous red vinyl |
1994 |
€ |
|
| HILDEBRAND, GUSTAF |
Heliopause |
CD |
finally the third full-length album for the Swedish cosmic / ethereal dark ambient project, thematically inspired to the Heliopause, the point outside our solar system where the solar wind ceases to be...
|
2012 |
€13.50 |
|
| HILTON, CRAIG / TOMAS PHILLIPS |
Le gout de neant |
CD |
stunning collaboration by these two US composers (also members of praised GAUCHISTE) using the chinese zither Guzheng and electronics to create wonderful dronescapes, minimal haunting atmospheres, but also more fragmented sound-art eruptions,.... nicely printed full colour silk screen fold out 7" cover, numbered ed. 500. Highly recommended !!
|
2011 |
€16.50 |
|
| HIMUKALT |
Septic |
CD |
CD version of the quickly sold out LP from 2020 (Malignant), now re-mastered with elaborated 6 panel digipack plus 12 pages full colour booklet with images & collages by ESTER KÄRKKÄINEN aka HIMUKALT, lim. 300, 2 bonus tracks! => "Deadening rhythmic pulsations, bristling oscillations, and a steady stream of crackling and frying circuitry, often infused with layers of filth, hostility, and sexuality. This is best Industrial P/E. "
|
2023 |
€15.00 |
|
| HIROSHIMABEND |
J10C |
do-CD |
ambitious project from Vienna using original source sounds created by PETER CHRISTOPERSON and ADAM CZARNECKI that were made for ELECTRIC SEWER AGE years ago - HIROSHIMABEND started an "alchemical rendition of the possibilities" these sounds represented and produced 12 tracks=> intense & otherworldly ghost drones, pulsating electronic layers, echo voices, strangely atmospheric vibes... absolutely recommended, no COIL copy at all !!
|
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Sequenxium |
CD-R (object) |
collector's item release by this deeply recommended US-American/Austrian "esoteric / transcendental post industrial" project (soon to be featured on the next DRONE-MIND LP !) => 10 tracks, only 25 copies existing, comes in super handmade wood/timber plate jewel-case object covers, hand coloured and painted
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| HIS MAJESTY THE BABY |
Hope for Madness |
CD-R |
Itallian project of F. PALADINO & L. FERRARI) with a strong "late 60's experimental psychedelia" relation, after appearing on the SYD BARRETT tribute compilation from Gonzo Records they release their first album with 14 tracks, feat. many guest musicians / singers like: EDWARD KA-SPEL, IN GOWAN RING, MARTYN BATES, etc. - 14 tracks that appear like a dadaistic carnival of weirdness and beauty, a hallucinogenic journey... - lim. 200 in 21 x 21 cm full colour folder with inlay
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| HOARFROST |
Anima Mundi |
CD |
very quickly REVERSE ALIGNMENT becomes a most active label in the world of (dark) ambient and doomy experimentalism; this fourth album release by Polish HOARFROST dives deeply into mythology about "mother earth" , they establish here a kind of gothic/folk/theatrical industrial-drama style with pathos and emotion (& female vocals)....quite special and to discover! lim. 300
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| HOARFROST & INNER VISION LABORATORY |
Decline |
CD |
collaboration by two promising Polish newcomers to the dark ambient scene; extreme deep & spacious journey into the real of madness, based on two existential poems; very cinematic & depressive; recommended !
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| HOLLYWOOD DREAM TRIP |
Second Album |
CD |
the project of CHRISTOPH HEEMANN and CELER (WILL LONG) with their second somnambulant collaboration, recorded and mixed in Heemann's studio in Aachen in 2013... a 42+ min. movement - *It's not as relaxing as it could have been, which is good. This has all the markings of a live-in-the-studio recording, not trying to smooth things out too much. I enjoyed this work a lot, especially for that direct, in-your-face quality* [FdW/Vital Weekly] - lim. 200 copies only, cover painting by C. HEEMANN
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| HOLOTROP |
Dead Bird Calling |
CD |
promising debut album for this German dark electronic / ritual industrial project with an apocalyptic approach, combining sharp pulses and repetitive samples with field recordings and instrumental sources.. "In his compositions, drones mixed with ritual sounds result in tremendously powerful tracks which evoke the feeling of desolation which throws us back onto the essence of mere human existence"
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| HOLTERBACH, MANU |
23 Panoramas de Frequences |
BOOK + CD |
64p hardcover-book 15 x 21 cm with colour photos & CD; 20 different environmental sounds of all different kinds, recorded in France, very pure & special ! Texts by LIONEL MARCHETTI & E. HOLTERBACH
|
2010 |
€17.50 |
|
| |
Leonore |
7inch |
a re-interpetation of a classical opera (!) through three short pieces => solemn & harmonic, extensively sounds full of melancholy and droney overtunes (track 2 on Side B ends in a lockgroove)... a surprising work by this sound artist from Belgium, known also for his administration of the ELIANE RADIGUE archive; golden silscreen cover, various coloured papers, yellow transculent vinyl; a great little EP !!
|
2012 |
€8.50 |
|
| HOLZKOPF & EMERGE |
Craft |
CD |
the third "real" CD on Attenuation Circuit is a collaboration by Canadian artist HOLZKOPF (german for 'woodhead') and EMERGE, using sound sources from Y-TON-G => two long pieces that "combine seemingly concrete, referential sounds with abstract, brooding frequencies", an open stream of improvised, morphing drones...
|
2014 |
€10.00 |
|
| HOROLOGIUM |
La cartoline perse |
CD |
lim./numb. 300 copies / full-colour cardboard cover. special offer now !
|
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
| HUBWEBER, PAUL / ULI BOETTCHER |
Schnack |
LP |
lim. 300 full colour cover / sublabel of AUF ABWEGEN |
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| HUM |
The Spectral Ship |
10inch |
two great new pieces by this russian artist, most sensible & emotional drone-ambience, a graceful dance of acoustic reflections & resonances; edition of 500 on silver-coloured vinyl, full colour sleeve design by DANIEL CROKAERT / MYSTERY SEA !!
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| HUMAN GREED |
Fortress Longing |
CD |
fourth album by the project of MICHAEL BEGG - mesmerizing poetic & acoustic ambience noir, feat. many guest-musicians as JULIA KENT or LAURA SHEERAN; creating a very filmic & melancholic atmosphere, this is nightshade-music at its best, like being lost in a dream, combining beautiful drones & poetry... still very much to discover !
|
2011 |
€14.50 |
|
| HUNT, JERRY |
Phalba |
CD |
four compositions by this unique US composer ("and modern day shaman") who died already in 1993 - these are pieces written for different line ups and electronics, performed by THE BARTON WORKSHOP in 2000 & 2003... central is the very long "Cantegral Segment No. 19" (31+ min.)...."Includes an extended piece for trombone and electronics, two colorful compositions for ensemble and a charming minimalist piece for violin and piano" .
|
2004 |
€16.50 |
|
| HURTADO, MARC & Z'EV |
Sang |
CD |
one of the ETANT DONNES brothers in collab with Z\'EV, forming an almost perfect amalgamation of what both artists are known for, and it really works in an enchanting way - the emotional voice & whispers of French poems about love, nature & transformation, the passion, the alchemistic metallic overtune-drones and drumming... surreal, intense, fathomless.. fold out paper cover, contains CD and 36 page full colour booklet
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| HYBRYDS |
Dreamscapes from a Dark Side / Voices without a Sound |
do-CD |
the re-issue series of the pioneering post-industrial shamanists from Belgium continues with these two lesser known albums: "Dreamscapes From a Dark Side" (1996) - a trance-inducing "journey into the dephts of your subsconscious mind" with lots of highly suggestive material; + "Voices without a Sound" - the only album that was released under the moniker NA-DHA (2001) contains ritualistic live improvisations with poetic and short movie voice quotes...a very rewarding re-release! ed. of 500 double digipack
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| HYPNODRONE ENSEMBLE |
The Shape of Space |
LP |
Krautrock drone group with AIDAN BAKER & ERIC QUACH (THISQUIETARMY) on guitars PLUS three (!) different drummers & one bassist; this is their studio-debut after one live CD, selected from many hours of material, recorded in autumn 2014 in Berlin... very powerful spacerock, poly-rhythmic & psychedelic... lim. 500 copies
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| I SNOR |
The Wolf Project |
LP |
'Can you fight monsters without becoming one yourself?' Soundtrack to the dance theatre choreography of the same title by KENNETH FLAK (Norway) & KÜLLI ROOSNA (Estonia), which is performed at various places around the world...=> dramatic & complex electro industrial, at times slowly rhythmic, eerie abstract ghost drones, dark instrumental zither tunes with pulses underneath, etc.. ... an intense, dynamic work by this Danish project of YANN COPPIER creating lots of tension! lim. 250
|
2014 |
€18.00 |
|
| I.CORAX |
Kuilu |
CD |
live March 2002 in Oulu (Finland) - the first ever live performance of I.CORAX, and what a performance it was - eerie drones, all kinds of ritualistic loops (animal & human voices, percussion, etc..), otherwordly winds & breaths... lim. 500 cardboard cover with special design & 3 printed inserts cards and four panel booklet
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
From gOLDem flesh to silverb ONE |
CD |
re-issue of I.CORAX (the project of Antti Haapapuro [HALO MANASH, etc.] and Jaakko Vanhala [also in ARKTAU AON, ZOÄT-AON] third official release from 2003, recorded 'live' in the studio preparing for a live show, using analogue synths, hypno sampling loops, manipulated field recordings, horns made of animals bones & voice material to create a special experimental 'aural alchemy'... lim. 500 silk-screen cardboard cover with three inserts and four panel booklet, lim. 500
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| I:WOUND |
Traumpfad (a Travelogue in three Acts) |
LP |
coincinding with the re-activation of this German experimental project here's a new "handmade" edition of this almost 25 year old LP about a journey to India and Tibet: original field recordings and noises merge with electronic/concrete sounds, confusing lyrical impressions of the beauty and the ugly, the myths and the mystery, as a whole a surrealistic sound-experiment and document... spec. ed. lim. 50 with new cover, the original booklet and incense stick
|
1993 |
€17.00 |
|
| |
Ram Nam Satya Hai |
CD |
back in stock the first CD by the German ethno ambient Industrial project, using original recordings from an overland journey in India: voices, chantings, music, tablas, flutes, bicycle-bells, gongs, birds, train noises, recordings from holy places, etc. were re-constructed, processed and mixed sometimes with percussion sounds and rhythms... This is real ethno-experimentalism!
|
1998 |
€12.00 |
|
| ID BATTERY (=LOREN CHASSE & BRANDON LABELLE) |
The Foot (SOLD OUT) |
7" |
lim. 250 copies on multicoloured (orange based) vinyl
|
2002 |
€ |
|
| IELASI, GIUSEPPE |
MMXX-10: Untitled |
LP |
10th release in the new series that presents 20 artists from the experimental sound-art scene with very nice design / concept => dedicated to the year 2020 there will be 20 x 20 min. compositions on one-sided clear vinyl, with laser engraved artwork by the artist on the B-Side, lim. to 500 copies => Italy's prolific composer GIUSEPPE IEALASI formed a piece with many microscopic / delicate sounds and noises (of probably instrumental sources), building weird and beautiful patterns and moments...
|
2020 |
€23.00 |
|
| IF, BWANA |
Radio Slaves |
CD |
Bizarre, samplig-repetitive Soundwelten entwirft IF,BWANA auf "Radio Slaves", am ehesten vielleicht noch mit BIG CITY ORCHESTRA zu vergleichen, Typische Cassetten-Szenen Musik der 80er in Reinform, Re-issue eines Tapes von 1986... [Drone Rec] // *Loopy and sampledelic, it will return the spirit of 80s into your ears. Great collage music from the pioneering american experimental sound project* - incl. bonus tracks, 500 copies
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| IIBIIS ROOGE |
same |
LP |
this is the only available LP at the moment by the "superastral duo" of HIGH WOLF (MAXIME PRIMAULT), and NEIL CAMPBELL (ASTRAL SOCIAL CLUB, etc.) who created highly trance-inducing electronic psychedelic sound with pulsing beats mixed with countless echo effects and noises... everything's blinking and flashing.. for the endless dance of your mind!
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
| IKEDA, RYOJI |
Ultratronics |
CD |
newest work by the Japanese installation artist, always focusing on the essence of digitization and, data, arithmetics, genetics, quantum physics and astronomy.... strict digital structures and phormations to CLEAR your mind! - *Ikedas immersive Live-Performances und Installationen verwenden eine aufwändige Orchestrierung von Ton, Bild, Materie, physikalischen Phänomenen und mathematischen Konzepten.* - digipak ed.
|
2022 |
€17.50 |
|
| ILLUSION OF SAFETY |
More Violence and Geography |
CD |
re-release of first IOS LP from 1988 - a milestone of the North-American (post) Industrial, eerie and massive!! - "The 11 tracks display a much rawer and more 'industrial' feel with the use of harsh found sounds and voices, compared to recent works. Featuring new artwork by Dan Burke perfectly matching the albums title the CD also includes an unreleased live track (approx. 11 min. long) from the early 90's that didn't appear on the original album" - BACK IN STOCK, full colour cardboard cover
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Probe |
CD |
re-issue of one of their main works from 1992 (Staalplaat), when JIM O'ROURKE was member of the band; edition of 500 copies
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Sweet Dreams |
10inch |
3-track EP by the legendary experimental project from Illinois / Chicago-area around DAN BURKE, one of the inventors of what once was called "Ambient Industrial", undergoing through many musical changes through their almost 30 years of existence; SWEET DREAMS is an almost psychedelic record, using many incredible acousmatic sounds coming from field recordings & instrumental sources; lim. 500 3-colour vinyl with stunning artwork by TILMANN BENNINGHAUS, Berlin, and mastering by THOMAS DIMUZIO !!
OUT NOW !! |
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Surrender |
CD-R |
newest release by the strongly returned Chicago-based project, refining the more 'psychedelic' & experimental ambient/drone path known from the great 'Sweet Dreams' 10" - always boundary expanding, often pulsing & with unexpected changes & cuts; 8 carefully assembled and wonderfully complex tracks, using all kinds of field recodings & electronic sounds... almost 60 min. of material; professionally duplicated CD-R wtih full colour cover
|
2013 |
€9.00 |
|
| |
Organ Choir Drone |
MC |
40th anniversary release, constructed from hours of IOS source material together with ARVO ZYLO (BLOOD RHYTHMS), this way 7 new tracks emerged that show everything IOS became well known for:
|
2023 |
€12.00 |
|
| ILSE LAU |
Abbreviation Hits |
CD + bonus 7" |
the final album of this amazing "somehow advanced [yes,no,maybe] no wave / post-rock" band from Bremen; comes in full-colour silkscreen 7" cover in an edition of only 250 copies. The members continue after the disbandment as ANTON TORNISTER and DIAMETRICS
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| IN MEDITARIUM [IN MEDITARIVM] |
Les Fleurs du Mal |
CD-R |
we could get back few copies back in of some release from the Polish dark ambient / industrial label SOULWORM, all in highly professional design! This one by Ukrainian Drone Rec. project IN MEDITARIUM comes in full-colour cardboard-cover w. inlay and is limited to 300 copies
|
2002 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Mare Internum |
7inch |
Esoteric inner-cosmic / mother-womb drones, pre-symbolic surroundings attracting your unconscious.
first ed. 300 copies / white vinyl / selfmade covers /
|
2005 |
€7.00 |
|
| INDO |
Rupa Loka |
CD |
first CD album for this Hungarian ambient project, inspired by the Buddhist notion of 'Rupa-Loka' (the realm of form, of higher beings) - a stunning atmospheric journey using many strange animal & bird-sounds and environmental recordings of forests, water, valleys.. comes with 12p. full colour booklet; filed under: mystic / meditative organic ambience; great start for this new label from Sweden
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Winter in Zangla |
CD |
dark & spheric synthscapes inspired by the travels of Hungarian orientalist and 'founder of Tibetology' CSOMA DE KÖRÖS to Tibet about 200 years ago; comes with 12 page full colour booklet
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| INDRA KARMUKA |
Aardster-Bovist |
LP |
the only album of Drone Records artist INDRA KARMUKA, who had an EP on DRone in 1996 (DR-21) => this trio from Amsterdam with RAYMOND DIJKSTRA combines fluid electronic drones with strange sounds, a mysterious ambience journey, very very nice ..... BACK IN STOCK last copies !!
|
1998 |
€13.00 |
|
| INFANT CYCLE |
Secret Hidden Message |
7inch |
hypnotic drone-circles from Canada using tons of instrumental sound-sources, lim. 300 transparent/black vinyl, comes with self-made transparent cover-sheet by the artist. VERY LAST COPIES available (retour from distro)
|
2008 |
€7.00 |
|
| INFANT CYCLE & RAMUNAS YARAS / DELPHIUM |
Translation / Heart full of Soul |
do-mCDR |
last copies back in stock of this very nicely packed (4 x 8" gatefold cover, full colour) split release of two Drone Records artists from Canada & England - hypnotic, quasi-rhythmic experimental drones at its best! Lim. 100 - special offer now !
|
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
| INFANT CYCLE / DRONAEMENT |
split |
CD-R |
rare split release (lim. 100) of these two Drone Records (DR-41 and -95) artists from Germany & Canada - over 30 min. of material from INFANT CYCLE creating strong atmospheric industrial drone-tunes with a mechanical / rhytmic edge, whereas DRONAMENT mesmerizes with the mixture of subtle field recordings and sublime melodies, slowly oozing into your unconscious... not to be missed ! Comes in a handmade (coloured) wallpaper sleeve
|
2008 |
€9.00 |
|
| INFANT CYCLE / JARED DAVISON |
Periodical I |
mCD-R |
lim. 80 / nice little full-colour self-printed covers in different colours (thick glossy paper) |
2005 |
€6.00 |
|
| INNER VISION LABORATORY |
Perpetua |
CD |
"Human beings live in their myths. They only endure their realities" - citing ROBERT ANTON WILSON & PHILIP K. DICK, this is a dark cosmic & very cinematic journey into inner & outer spheres, based on the philosophic idea of 'creation-stagnation-destruction' => powerful & emotional existential ambience, very orchestral, neo-classic, melodramatic... the masterpiece of I.V.L so far !!
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Continuum |
CD |
Metaphysical dark ambient! - the always impressive Polish project is asking the "last questions", taking you on a journey for a much needed sophistication, into the 'world-inner-space'... " 'Continuum' is made of deep drones and textures, melancholic, but strangely warm and soothing. Painting this aural image to the introducing words, but also giving you comfort and the feeling of detaching from this mundane world" [Santa Sangre] - lim. 300 copies
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| INSIDE ARTZINE |
# 11 |
mag |
"maximum artscum"; german A4 underground magazine for extreme & dark art, feat. international artists doing surrealistic, esoteric, horrifying & misantrophic paintings, collages, sculptures & drawings, along with short stories & poetry; FULL COLOUR, around 40 pages, written mainly in english, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
|
2006 |
€5.50 |
|
|
# 12 |
mag |
maximum artscum"; german A4 underground magazine for extreme & dark art, feat. international artists doing surrealistic, esoteric, horrifying & misantrophic paintings, collages, sculptures & drawings, along with short stories & poetry; FULL COLOUR, around 40 pages, written mainly in english, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
|
2008 |
€7.00 |
|
| |
# 13 |
mag |
maximum artscum"; german A4 underground magazine for extreme & dark art, feat. international artists doing surrealistic, esoteric, horrifying & misantrophic paintings, collages, sculptures & drawings, along with short stories & poetry; FULL COLOUR, around 40 pages, written mainly in english, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
|
2009 |
€7.00 |
|
| INTRETOSH |
Unkraut vergeht |
CD |
project of INOX KAPELL, DR.TREZNOK and TOSHIYUKI HIRAOKA with first album: bizarre & retro-futuristic 80's influenced LSD-electronics with weird & political german lyrics, at times rhythmic / structured and sequenced, at times free floating & experimental, always as coming from another dimension or viewing or our planet from a very far away perspective...
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| IONOSPHERE |
Stellar Winds |
CD |
re-issue of IONOSPHEREs second album from 2007 (CD-R on Avatar Records), now with two additional / new tracks => thunderous drone-storms and elevated wind-choirs, organic whispers and overtone waves, this is a very dense and multi-layered journey, a kind of 'cosmic post industrial', excellent and very much worth to re-discover...
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| IRISARRI, RAFAEL ANTON |
Sirimiri |
MC |
tape-only release by the prolific ambience composer with the same 4 tracks on both sides (72 min. in total), this 'drizzle' ambience is "shrouded in melancholic vapours and forlorn harmonics... four majestic extended cuts as so many viewpoints on an untouched phantasmal valley... ‘Sirimiri‘ offers sensations in their purest essence, primitively symbolic yet actively contemplative." 2nd. ed. in cassette-case with download code on this label from Mexico City
|
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
El Ferrocarril Desvaneciente |
MC |
following album to "Sirimiri", inspired by an overnight journey to Spain by train.. "Irisarri focuses on deploying sonic cycles throughout these four shorter pieces, basing much of this sweeping ambience around looped sounds and distant pulses. The sound is however kept in a state of forward motion and constant evolution, invoking the slowly rumbling night train that inspired it - not to mention its cargo of misfits and travelers"; lim. 200 with download code, very last copies!
|
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
| IRR.APP. (ext.) |
Flux / Crayfish |
MC |
a "loose re-interpretation" of the classic ORGANUM / EDDIE PREVOST album of the same name from 1987; great powerful drones with ecstatic percussion work and amazing flute sounds on Side B, a phantastic tape!! C-40 MC-only release, professionally manufactured with full-colour cover & printed translucent shell lim. 200 BACK IN STOCK, RARE !!
|
2011 |
€11.50 |
|
| IRR.APP.(EXT.) - BLUE SABBATH BLACK CHEER |
Discordant Convergence |
CD |
four intense collaborative pieces (53+ min in total) by MATT WALDRON and the doomy noise duo (STAN REED [BROKEN PENIS ORCHESTRA, etc.) and WM.RAGE) named BSBC (plus guests), the right mixture of dark brooding atmospheres and eerie, ominous noises, alien organics seem to populate the space, penetrated by surprising cut ups and irruptions of the absurd... "special thanks to weeping children anywhere"...
|
2013 |
€10.00 |
|
| ISHIGAMI, KAZUYA |
Cleaner 583 |
CD |
this interesting Japanese composer (formely active as DARUIN and BILLY?) has refined his style: slowly moving and inherently swirling ambient-scapes that also use undefinable abstract soundsources (probably from field recordings), there's always a certain unrealness involved in these mainly quiet expanses, higher resonances and smooth sub bass drones....after "tuning in" into these atmospheres a very rewarding experience... to discover !
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| ITAMOC / MARINA STEWART |
Sunshine Discord |
7inch |
next release in THORSTEN SOLTAU's highly interesting 7"-series for unusual sounds; numb. ed. 100 copies, full colour silk-screen cover & postcard; expect the unexpected !
|
2012 |
€9.00 |
|
| IYV (SKELDOS & RUKANA) |
Upes |
LP |
re-issue of the rare cassette from 2017, the so far only release by the project of SKELDOS and RUKANA, a beautiful exploration into Lithuanian "post folkloristic" drone-ambient melancholy (UPES means "River") - "an album about travelling. About the hearing of birds, close to the rock chains, which twists on the surface of mountains, through marks of our memory just like the rivers.." - lim. 150 copies with two cover variants, screen printed artwork
|
2022 |
€22.50 |
|
| JACASZEK |
Pentral |
LP |
re-issue of this outstanding album from 2009 by the rising Polish composer, the source sounds for this album were entirely recorded in 3 churches in Gdansk and 'describe' the interiors, the architecture, the 'temple', with sounds from there (chants, organ sounds, micro environmental sounds)... a church seen as huge musical instrument... comes with gatefold-cover and DL code
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| JAGATH |
Devalaya |
CD |
JAGATH is a 'primitive / archaic' industrial band from Perm (Ural mountains), performing their rituals inside huge, abandoned tanks and sewers with large reverb, on simple - often handmade - instruments and found objects, along with voice and fires... - "We do this to share our vision of decaying post-industrial age, to unleash the spirit of deep beyond-world and unveil life in the abyss." - very authentic industrial noises, their first wider available album !
|
2020 |
€12.50 |
|
| JARL |
Phonophobia |
CD |
only shortly after the first release in our new SYM-serie we can offer the next JARL opus: "Phonophobia" is a ghostly drone expanse that shimmers in wide spectrums and circles, with strange psychic effects, inspired by the psychiatric syndrome of "Phonophobia" (=the fear of loud daily noises)... the album contains three long "Scales" with growing intensity, in the typical JARL style.. lim. 300 copies
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| JAZKAMER / MARK DURGAN |
split |
7 |
lim. 500 / the project of LASSE MARHAUG & JOHN HEGRE on one side; MARK DURGAN aka PUTREFIER (& live-member of NEW BLOCKADERS) on the splitside! comes in hand-stamped juke-box sleeve with full-colour labels
|
2008 |
€8.50 |
|
| JENSEN, CLARICE |
For this from that will be filled (silver) |
LP |
recommended debut album for this Cello-player and composer, creating minimal drones with lots of resonances and 'inner' harmonic movements - "JENSEN expands and confuses the familiar sound of the cello through the use of effects pedals, multi-tracking, and tape loops recorded at variable speeds, presented in works she has written for herself as well as a piece she conceived together with Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson." - re-press of 2018 album on silver vinyl, lim. 300, metallic colour art
|
2022 |
€23.50 |
|
| |
Esthesis |
LP |
her third album for 130701, marking a surprising change in style + concept, using piano + electronics, inspired by a special form of Synesthesia, mirroring different emotional states with colours... - *a deep and gorgeous new work conceptually structured around the emotional and harmonic spectrum and the phenomenon of CHROMESTHESIA - a condition whereby sound involuntarily evokes an experience of color, shape and movement. * - comes with DL card
|
2022 |
€32.50 |
|
| JERMAN, JEPH & FIVE ELEMENTS MUSIC |
Insecta |
CD-R |
subtle subterreanean drones & microsounds from processed insect field recordings - a permanent crackling, creaking & rubbing of grass & diverse organisms mixed with environmental sounds of wind, etc.. very special drones at work here, comes in full colour cover & on professionally duplicated & printed CDR
|
2011 |
€9.00 |
|
| JGRZINICH (JOHN GRZINICH) |
Phase Inversion |
CD-R |
lim. / numb. 150 copies with full-colour inkjet print cover
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| JK FLESH |
Exit Stance |
12inch |
four track EP by JUSTIN BROADRICKs (JESU, GODFLESH, etc.) industrial/noise techno project, new material after the sold out "Suicide Estate" do-LP on Hospital Prod.
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| JOBIN, FRANCE |
Death Is Perfection, Everything Else Is Relative |
LP |
sound artist from Montreal with first album for E.Mego, creating extremely minimal and subtle 'mother womb' drones ("a narcotic flux") on a BUCHLA 200, based on diverse locations recordings... - "The result amalgamates perfectly with our environment when played at moderate volume... It’s sorrow-inducing, brain-quietening, and profoundly individual." [Massimo Ricchi / Touching Extremes]
|
2020 |
€19.50 |
|
| JOHNSON, RAGNAR ASSISTED BY JESSICA MAYER |
Sacred Flute Music from New Guinea: Madang / Windim Mabu |
do-CD |
these recordings of tribal flute players and their environment in Papua New Guinea were made already in 1976 and released on two LPs in 1977/1979 => a fascinating journey into a completely different musical world, this shows the various forms of flute playing from different regions of the country (ultra large bamboo flutes in combinations with gongs or singers or shell rattles), we thought this sounds like nothing else!!
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
| JOSEFSON, MATHIAS |
As Above So Below |
mCD-R |
stunning, multi-layered installation work presented at "Deichtorhallen" in Hamburg, 2019, by the man behind MOLJEBKA PVLSE: "It is a massive work, right from the start, until the very end, save for one small lapse in volume, following which the piece sets off in a slightly different course and more string sounds become apparent, adding, oddly enough, a more organ-like ring to it. This is quite some powerful drone music." [Vital Weekly]
|
2020 |
€5.50 |
|
| JUILLARD, PIERRE |
Haga |
mCD-R |
a mesmerising 22min. sound collage made of field recordings from the coast of Cherbourg, Normandie, France... - "the diversity of the sound spaces in this small part of the french coastline, a concentrate of biodiversity: cliffs, rocky foreshores, immense sand or pebble beaches, monumental dunes, salt meadows..." - we had to think of some TOY BIZARRE or ERIC LA CASA works, when the different environmental sounds are enmeshed in a new way....
|
2021 |
€5.00 |
|
| JUPITTER-LARSEN, GX |
The Internationale |
MC |
MC-only release in the new limited Banned Prod tape series (standard jewel-cases & printed full colour covers); six versions of THE INTERNATIONALE, as obscure sound-poetry ending in harsh noise, in a jazzy brass-band version, with piano & drones, etc.. lovely insane stuff !!!
|
2011 |
€6.50 |
|
|
Empty Holes, Empty Homes |
BOOK & 5 |
ZERO IS THE JOURNEY - nice book of the (anti) muzak & noise pioneer (aka THE HATERS), 'an amanthopaedia of nonfiction, fiction, poetry, & cryptograms', incl. thoughtful philosophic texts from 1990 until now, little short stories, strange schematic drawings, and 5" flexi disc; printed by using traditional offset methods
|
2013 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Digging Through Time |
BOOK |
a "performance journal" describing all HATERS live activities and other obscure dadaistic actions through the artist's history (1979- 2020) for example:"JUPITTER-LARSEN sat still and looked at an empty garbage-can for 22 minutes " (Amsterdam 12. Nov. 1989); comes with many s/w photos, 114 pages; ...."four decades of noise, from using a camera as a hammer, to amplified sandpaper, to loud luggage.. " - a must for any true HATERS fan !!
|
2021 |
€32.00 |
|
| JÜPPALA KÄÄPIÖ |
Rainbow Mask |
LP |
first recordings (2006) by this new project feat. HITOSHI KOJO, lim. 200 orange vinyl / lim. 250 clear vinyl; full colour cover
|
2010 |
€19.50 |
|
| |
Alpen Ocean |
LP |
the final release by this duo of CAROLE & HITOSHI KOJO with their warm shimmering & wide harmonic ambience using many instrumental sources, human voice / chants & field recordings with an organic touch... a gritting overtune-symphony...celebrating the deep connection to the landscapes, plants & animals around... beautiful & elevating ! lim. 250 copies
|
2013 |
€19.50 |
|
| KA-SPEL, EDWARD |
Caste O' Graye Skreeens |
CD |
contains the long one-tracker "Our Captain's Eyes" (53+ min); last copies, still sealed
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
The Moon cracked over Albion |
CD |
limited edition CD on the 'new' LPD Terminal Kaleidoscope label, recorded secretly by EK through one full year, with full colour insert w. artwork by the artist + dl-code for extra-track! "Conceived and recorded in a nation (a World?) so tragically divided, it could fall apart, it's hoped that just a few seeds of hope and optimism can be sown over the course of the time you'll spend in this peculiar world."
|
2019 |
€18.50 |
|
| KABOOM KARAVAN |
The Log and the Leeway |
LP |
first album by BRAM BOSTEELS extraordinary project after 7 years, this is like entering a beautiful and strange universe of its own, merging to many musical influences to be classified into any known genre... "A rare, spectral folk music has emerged from this metamorphosis, and it’s created a genuinely diverse record..." [Fluid Radio] - lim. 200 on coloured vinyl with 16 page LP sized booklet (full colour)
|
2020 |
€26.00 |
|
| KABUTOGANI |
Bektop |
CD |
fourth album; experimental glitch-ambience in the way of R. IKEDA or ALVA NOTO, surprising arrangements & sounds
|
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
| KAHN, JASON & RICHARD FRANCIS |
same |
CD |
four live recordings 2007 & 2008 (USA, Switzerland); lim. 500 "Four pieces (between ten and sixteen minutes each) of great lo-fi humming sounds. A very special kind of drone music that sounds both electronic and acoustic.." [Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| KALLABRIS |
Music for very simple Objects |
10inch |
one of the most mysterious & thought-provoking German experimental projects with a bizarre formation of sequential sounds derived from field recordings; "substantia innominata et principium innominatum" (Kallabris). Edition of 500 copies, great full colour artwork by Mal Hoeschen (Multer, Genesungswerk), transparent flour green vinyl !
|
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Red Square |
LP |
shortly after the "Plays and Sings for Money" LP KALLABRIS releases another LP; on Dortmund's best hidden secret, INSELKIND; 14 tracks: "Noises and songs for the intrepid. Kallabris still is in a singing mood and croons his way down the roads not taken. Electronic shivers, acoustic shakes, cheap beats, and a 1000 volt voice: That is the formula that makes your needle dance through the grooves of this record. A look back in anger down Nevsky Prospekt." lim. ed, silkscreen cover
|
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Kettenwindel Bingo |
CD-R |
re-issues of two very rare / deleted CD-Rs ("Kettenwindel" from 2004 & "No Bingo" from 2002), now digitally available and as a special edition (few copies made) => another trip into the bizarre musical world of KALLABRIS, which combines strange samples and rhythms, atmospheric synths, kind of oriental melodies, odd voice-samples, accordeon-tunes & popmusic-found sounds, often merged to something like dark coloured 'songs', designed for careful listening...
|
2018 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
The Ping of Pongs |
7inch |
rare EP released on the occasion of the exhibition / installation "The Ping of Pongs" by KALLABRIS & JENDREIKO in August 2018 at Trinkhalle Bochum; the table-tennis game as metaphor for the socio-economic basics of our society .. "Ping it on your turntables and pong the needle into its grooves!" comes in handmade, silkscreened & folded cardboard cover with postcard, lim. 100, we only got a handful
|
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
| KAMMARHEIT |
Thronal |
CD |
only the fourth full length album by the Swedish project in 20 years of existence, for many seen as the "flagship" of the C.L. label and authentic dark ambience in general... - "This one has a heavy and gargantuan feel to it, heavier than all previous Kammarheit releases. Each track like a massive block of iron and stone. " [Ayn Soph] : "I really can’t recommend this album highly enough. It’s been on repeat here, awake or asleep for days.." [This is Darkness]
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Thronal |
LP |
only the fourth full length album by the Swedish project in 20 years of existence, for many seen as the "flagship" of the C.L. label and authentic dark ambience in general... - "This one has a heavy and gargantuan feel to it, heavier than all previous Kammarheit releases. Each track like a massive block of iron and stone. " [Ayn Soph] : "I really can’t recommend this album highly enough. It’s been on repeat here, awake or asleep for days.." [This is Darkness] - lim. BLACK vinyl version
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| KANTER, ADRIEN |
Infinites Reflexions |
LP |
first solo album for this French ambient experimentalist (aka TRESORS; and also part of EDDIE135 and LE REVEIL DES TROPIQUES bands), who creates a very 'handplayed' & bit obscure ambience with layers of old synths, percussion, guitar... "a kaleidoscopic sonorous dream, a psychedelic hypnotic and sensorial film score on the boundaries of ambient cosmic music, drone, post-rock and experimental music." - lim. ed. multi-colour silk screen cover with postcard
|
2017 |
€15.00 |
|
| KAPOTTE MUZIEK |
Musik ohne Ende |
CD |
a trip back into the early analogue years of noisy tape-experiments, incredible spiraling sounds of tape loops... this ia a re-issue of an old PRION Tapes release from 1988, exploring the possibilities of two reel to reel tape machines combined, "recorded with sound sources mentioned in the titles; metal, feedback, paper and surfaces, and resonances"... the CD has 3 bonus tracks from rare compilations, not on the original cassette
|
2022 |
€12.00 |
|
| KAPOTTE MUZIEK & RICHARD RAMIREZ |
Muziek - Mix - Memory |
CD-R |
rec. in Stralsund July 2004 (KM working on Ramirez source material), comes in full-colour digipack, limited to 121 copies
|
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| KARINI / PALADINO / SIMON FISHER TURNER |
Ghosts of Industrial Sunday |
CD + DVD |
The Poetry of Iron: short film by MARIA ASSUNTA KARINI & FRANCESCO PAOLO PALADINO (film-makers with participations at Cannes & Venice film festivals) feat. a soundtrack by SIMON FISHER TURNER (known as DEREK JARMAN film-composer, etc.), capturing the essence of 'empty' industrial working places normally filled by professional workers, showing the unreal, dreamy atmosphere there... comes with 20 p. full colour A5 booklet with great shots from the film, and extra material on the CD
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| KARL BÖSMANN |
Mindfucker |
LP + CD |
German soundartist and sculptor KARL BÖSMANN (see 'Drone-Mind Vol.2' LP) is known for provocating/thoughtful art and abstract experimental soundscapes, using both analogue synths and instrumental/found sound sources and collages that are often pretty weird and bizarre... MINDFUCKER (one-sided LP) & FUCKMINDER (CD-R, 44+ min.) gather 10 very experimental tracks; comes with handmade photo-cover and inlay, collector's edition only 40 copies!!
|
2016 |
€35.00 |
|
| KASSEL JAEGER |
Toxic Cosmopolitanism |
LP |
two new side-long pieces by the rising Swiss-French composer, using for each side the same source materials (instrumental sounds from different cultures, like balafon, tremolo, gnbri, gee, tibetan gongs, pan flutes)... this sounds like music coming from another planet, mysterious drones, crackles, hums, metallic tones, melodies...very dense, thick and slow.. great immersive album again for this member of the GRM (Groupe des Recherches Muscales) from Paris !!
|
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Meith |
LP |
newest album by one of our favourite newer 'experiMENTALdrone' composers, one long acoustic 'field' spread on two sides... "..densely layered sound world of electronic tones, positive organ, and unidentifiable field-recorded textures. Almost static yet constantly in flux, it deliberately opens itself up to repeated and varied listening: from a distance, its many voices cohere into a monolithic plane of sound, while closer inspection reveals myriad details and momentary events."
|
2020 |
€21.00 |
|
| |
Shifted in Dreams |
LP |
complex electroacoustic drones forming an intermediate state, \"when the reality of signs looses its consistency\", based on various sources (ARP 2500 synth, organ, gutars, the slamming of windows, etc.) - * Shifted in Dreams explores a wide range of instruments and techniques, going seamlessly from instrumental improvisation to field recording, via micro-editing and the use of asynchronous loops..* - masterful atmospheric and captivating again !
|
2023 |
€27.50 |
|
| KE/HIL |
Zone 0 |
LP |
staggering, sluggish, slow waving industrial noise, the second recommended LP by KE/HIL ("The Saints of the Scum"), white vinyl lim. 250, last copies.. "reports from precarious minds and worlds, written in analogue noise reflecting degenerated inner city life and death. Observing non-zones, non-objects and especially non-subjects. Nightmarish sounds and rhythms beat the pulse of cities and areas in agony. It could be your city! it could be you"
|
2015 |
€18.00 |
|
| KELLER, ALEX & SEAN O'NEILL |
Kruos |
LP |
recommended debut release of these U.S. sound artists, who use field recordings and vintage electronic devices for their performances and installations... "It is difficult and challenging at times, and there is not much to grab on to as far as conventional rhythm or melody, but it excels in abstraction. In many cases the result is far removed from the source material, but the environment the two create on here is just as fascinating as any natural one that could be captured." [Creaig Dunton/Brainwashed]
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| KEMIALLISET YSTÄVÄT |
Alkuhärkä |
LP + 7inch |
comes with 4-track bonus 7", lim. 150 ! 220 gr vinyl, full-colour cover & inner-sleeve
//
www.blrrecords.com
|
2007 |
€25.00 |
|
| KENT, JULIA |
Asperities |
CD |
the fourth album of JULIA KENT - extremely subtle & emotional compositions for multi-layered, looped Cello, with a cautious use of electronic effects that add tension & drama... "The cello swirls in clouds of reverb, dancing around the stereo stage, temperamental, volatile and glum. Like the early dark clouds of an autumn downpour, the sonic whirlwind slowly gathers among the textured washes of its aural weather..." [Headphone Commute]
|
2015 |
€15.50 |
|
|
Temporal (lim. white vinyl) |
LP + CD |
JULIA KENT's new album is a "meditation on the transitory and fragile nature of existence", most material was originally made for dance theatre productions... "The electronic manipulations are subtler, with Julia sampling voices from a theatre production and processing them into unrecognisable textures: ghosts of the source material." lim. 500 white vinyl, + CD of the same album
|
2019 |
€22.50 |
|
| |
Green and Grey (Expanded) |
do-LP |
'personal landscape music' based on Cello, electronics and field recordings that appear in loops & layers, beautiful, timeless and deeply melancholic; second solo-album by this New York City based Canadian artist - this is the first vinyl issue for this album in an expanded version with bonus material: three tracks from the the rare "Last Day in July" EP (2010), and two previously unreleased tracks; comes on green & grey coloured vinyl; a special RECORD STORE DAY BLACK FRIDAY release !
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| KEROVNIAN |
Far beyond, before the Time |
CD |
"From The Lands Where The Winds Die" - re-issue of the long sold out album from 1999 by a project deeply inspired by black metal & H.P. LOVECRAFT => ultra bleak doom ambience with a strange language mixture between Persian & Greek appearing.. sounds like nothing else!
for fans of LUSTMORD, INADE, HALO MANASH....
this re-edition has four previously unreleased bonus tracks
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| KG AUGENSTERN |
Tentacles |
BOOK & CD |
recordings from "under the bridges" during a trip on a ship that travelled from Berlin to southern France, the bridges were touched with tentacles to reveal their personal soundprofile... the artists group KG AUGENSTERN created this mixture between a permanent sound installation (tentacles) and field recording journey, plus two sound exhibitions, nicely documented in a 42p. page book with photos, maps and travel notes: Berlin-> Nijmegen-> Paris-> Lyon-> Monpellier
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Circles and Cycles |
BOOK + CD |
after the obscure, hyper conceptual sound art "Tentacles" release on the same label, a like-minded offering by KG AUGENSTERN from Berlin: recordings from scratching surfaces with a special fiberglass tentacle, this time made on abandoned places and ruins in Sicilia and accompanied with video recordings of the sites, also using sheep wool and clay, which lead to an exhibition in Palermo; - comes wtih a very nice 60 page art book with many s/w and colour photos, texts, notes..
|
2020 |
€18.00 |
|
| KHOST |
Buried Steel |
CD |
brutal, mighty doom industrial noise with Zombie vocals by the duo of ANDY SWAN (FINAL, IROHA) and DAMIAN BENNET (TECHNO ANIMAL, CARTHAGE), who managed to collaborate with diverse guest musicians four this, their fourth album: STEPHEN MALLINDER (CABARET VOLTAIRE), STEPHEN BURROUGHS (HEAD OF DAVID, TUNNELS OF AH), and members of 16-17 and OXBOW; enough namedropping, this apocalyptic machine mind crusher has to be experienced!!
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| KILLERLADY |
No Music |
5inch |
a 3 min. piece by the EA 80-singer project, released on a most obscure format (a 5" flexi in the shape of a postcard, one side full colour); this appeared in conjunction with an exhibition at Spedition Bremen, October 2013; lim. 250 copies
|
2013 |
€6.00 |
|
| KIRCHENKAMPF |
Island of the Dead |
CD-R |
A one-tracker (almost 43 minutes) with a very dark, almost orchestral sounding electro-acoustic journey with layers out of high-pitched /backwards-effected drones, analogue electronic sounds, eerie voice-material, field recordings, unsettling and beautiful at the same time... if you like dark trips, this is the Island to be..our favourite KIRCHENKAMPF release so far!!
|
2006 |
€9.00 |
|
| KIRKEGAARD, JACOB |
40 Days of Silence |
LP |
soundtrack to a film from SAODAT ISMAILOVA (Uzbekistan) by the always fascinating composer from Denmark who released several albums on TOUCH before....very minimal drone expanses with a special touch... 'a journey into silence and its possible inner variations' - lim. 500 copies, LAST COPY!
|
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
| KIVA |
same |
do-CD |
four tracks by this performing group existing 1975-1991, "an experimental group dedicated to notionless music" that refused to publish any of their improvisation-recordings during their lifetime
|
2010 |
€18.00 |
|
| KLEISTWAHR |
This World is not my Home |
do-LP |
limited vinyl re-issue of two albums ("Over your Head Forever", 2016; and "This World.., 2014) by GARY MUNDY's (RAMLEH) legendary solo project (starting once with a cassette on Broken Flag in 1983!).. - "..ranging from harmonic guitar distortion drones to overwhelming noise, with occasional vocals (both sung & spoken) and percussive elements, all very blurred & and drowned in heavy emotions & distortion.." [Drone Rec. info]
|
2020 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Common Values |
CD |
7th album on Fourth Dim. since 2014, the 'second incarnation' of the project.. 6 new tracks, a perfect mixture of noise, melancholy and despair.. - "MUNDY uses a guitar, organ, synthesizers, and a plethora of sound effects and creates a multi-layered, orchestral sound...It is dark and grim, as opposed to dark and pleasantly atmospheric. The soundtrack for harsh times.... An excellent album all around, and KLEISTWAHR goes from strength to strength." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| KLOOD |
Retraction |
CD-R |
handcoloured & screwed wood-cover lim. 80; great melancholia guitar drones & deep foggy humming in the way of ULTRA MILKMAIDS & more mellow MAEROR TRI! |
2004 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Gag-Hamin (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
lim. 250 on pink vinyl with handcoloured & burned Cover!
|
1999 |
€ |
|
| KMRU |
Stupor |
LP |
KMRU aka JOSEPH MAKARU, originally from Nairobi, with three new longform tracks on a new Finnish label =>
"Stupor reminds us that we are intrinsically spatial and temporal beings who contribute to the social construction of our worlds. Importantly, this album is a reminder of the capability of sound to carve out space and its potential to open spatial and temporal dimensions. Sound is movement. Sound is space." black vinyl, printed inners, OBI strip |
2023 |
€26.00 |
|
| KODJABASHIA, NIKOLA |
Explosion of a Memory |
CD |
Four works as a homage to the works of JAMES JOYCE, HEINER MÜLLER & VALERE NOVARINA; performed by the Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra with help by CHRIS CUTLER and others
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| KOJO, HITOSHI |
Lux Ova |
MC |
HITOSHI KOJO = SPIRACLE; collection of older recordings from the middle 90's; lovely handmade full-colour cover & sleeve, lim / numbered 100 copies
|
2010 |
€9.50 |
|
| |
High Tide Mirror |
CD |
Ecstasis-Drones! Collection of live-material rec. 2012 in Switzerland & France, very psyched out & spiritual acoustic drones with a strong tendency to become weightless forms - using vocal material it reminds on C. PALESTINE or VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA, but there are also beautiful uplifting light sound expanses that are pure & calm.. lim. 200, very nice cover-design in 3 different colours (silk screened 300gr cardboard stock)
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
| KOLLAPS |
Mechanical Christ |
LP |
2nd album for the raging Australian "violent industrial" band who just toured Europe extensively..."The bands’ distinctive primordial tones are created using appropriated waste materials like scrap metal, raw plastics and steel plates combined with blistering percussion, bass and vocals. This is no empty 'industrial' gesture, for the band this process of creation facilitates the literal use of postmodern society against itself.." - LP version comes with double sided insert
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| KOMMISSAR HJULER & GUI RONG |
Erzählung der roten Gaslampe |
MC |
KOMMISSAR HJULER in collaboration with a Chinese opera singer (of course) - the true ART BRUT sound, a symphony of metal-bangs and bells & weird quasi-chinese singings & instrumental madness..C-50...11th tape on the great German tape label, always using coloured MC bodies & oversized art-covers (21x21cm) with additional object inside (this time a painted electro-nut! ), lim. to 70 copies
|
2014 |
€8.00 |
|
| KONTAKT DER JÜNGLINGE |
Frühruin |
mCD & Box |
after the four brilliant KONTAKT DER JÜNGLINGE CDs (KDJ = ASMUS TIETCHENS & THOMAS KÖNER) this box appeared with a new 2-track mCD, the box to hold all four prevously released CDs... back in stock last copies !
|
2004 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
n (live Amsterdam 18.05.2002) |
CD |
'Unsere Lieblingsjünglinge bisher: "n" ist ein dumpf pulsierendes, von zäh-amorphen Klangmassen zusammengehaltes Machwerk.. / our favourite Juenglinge-release so far, "n" is a dull pulsating work being hold together by tenacious & amorphous sound-masses.' [Drone Rec. 2003] - back in stock the last release in the Die Stadt KdJ series with classic cardboard cover, a one-tracker of 43+ min.
|
2003 |
€14.00 |
|
| KOSK, PATRICK |
Mondweiß |
CD |
*This is an assemblage of works by Finnish electroacoustic composer Patrick Kosk. Recordings from the Elektronic Studio at the TU Berlin, the Studio of the Institut International de Musique Electroacoustique de Bourges, and the artist's studio.* - amazing organic and breathing sounding stuff, tiniest micro details, field recordings in a new context.. highly recommended overlooked release, 6 compositions, over 70 min playtime, gatefold digipak + 12 page booklet
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
| KOUW, MATTHIJS & GAGI PETROVIC |
Recalcitrance |
do-CD |
two promising Dutch drone / minimal / experimental artists on this split double album, inspired by philosopher ISABELLE STENGERS and her concept of "Recalcitrance", and starting from the same source sounds: "Anything that resists subsumption to technical rationality is seen as a threat to public order....Recalcitrant subjects ask new questions, thereby allowing the currently dominant reductionist mindset obsessed with productivity to be unsettled by space for reflection and quiet contemplation." lim. 200
|
2021 |
€15.50 |
|
| KOUW, MATTHIJS & PHIL MAGUIRE |
Isometry |
do-CD |
the 'ultra drone minimalist' MATTHIJS KOUW in collaboration with PHIL MAGUIRE, in four movements they try to transform architectural structures into musical matter, synthesized sounds seen as concrete forms, a highly interested concept & suggestion... - "The four resulting pieces invite the listener to explore the fractal properties of large-scale structures, and to wander within apparent stases to discover ever so slight variations, movements, and developments." - ed. of 300 copies
|
2021 |
€15.50 |
|
| KRAKEN |
Chagrin |
CD |
excellent fourth album by the ambient Industrialists from Belgium, aggressive, cold, isolationistic... back in stock, SPECIAL OFFER NOW !
|
2006 |
€9.50 |
|
| KRANITZ, JERRY |
Cassette Culture - Homemade Music and the Creative Spirit in the Pre-Internet-Age |
BOOK + 2 x CD |
huge book about the global cassette / network culture from late 70's to early 90's, incl. 2 CDs with 160 minutes (46 tracks), "The author explores how the participants communicated, traded, collaborated, and set up cottage industry labels to distribute their work." - a must for everyone interested in this true DIY scene or coming from the idealistic beliefs of it... many full colour cover pics, silver embossed hardcover, 320 pages, a true gem !!
|
2020 |
€85.00 |
|
| KRAUSBAUER, JOHN & R KEENAN LAWLER |
Spectre of Radiants |
CD |
LAWLER & KRAUSBAUER (instrumentalists from the States) create long form drones (with steel guitar and banjo!) in the ultra-minimalistic composer tradition (NIBLOCK, RADIGUE, TONY CONRAD), this is a one-tracker of 44+ min., oversized gatefold cover // " .. a droning, everlasting buzz of strings, gently undulating and intersecting. Unconventionally played, as usual, the resonator guitars and the banjos, builds the perfect stream of sound to accompany your longest days."
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| KRAUSE, ANDRES |
Move Ground |
LP |
based on a soundtrack for an audio-visual installation; a sound-journey using field recordings from Cologne; co-produced by CHRISTOPH HEEMANN, KRAUSE is also known as AFRI STUDIOS and with his label SOFTL MUSIC
|
2010 |
€18.00 |
|
| KRAUTROCK |
1 - Film by Adele Schmidt and Jose Zegarra Holder |
DVD |
US American documentary (129 min.., english, german, subtitles) about the exploding Krautrock scene end of 60's / early 70's in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Hamburg, feat. interviews with members of CAN (Irmin Schmidt, Malcolm Mooney, Jaki Liebezeit, Damo Suzuki), NEU!, KRAFTWERK, HARMONIA, FAUST, FLOH DE COLOGONE, + historical film material and lots of music of course...over half an hour is only about CAN and a must have seen! This first part concentrates on the Rhineland scene... comes with mini-poster
|
2020 |
€16.00 |
|
| KRENG |
The Summoner |
LP |
four years after the last KRENG album "Grimoire" this intense & claustrophobic new work reflects the undergoing of the "5 stages of mourning" (adding a new stage in between - "The Summoning") after loss => using the sounds of 12 string players & wall of noises provided by a Belgian doom metal band, this album creates extreme tension, dramatic phases, existential emotions... comes in beautiful die-cut cover with thick full colour inner sleeves
|
2015 |
€17.00 |
|
| |
Selfed (SOLD OUT) |
do-10inch |
An Interplay of Circling Dynamics! KRENGS most intense soundtrack in three parts for a solo dance performance choreography by KEVIN TRAPPENIERS, relating to the phenomenum of 'Self-Pollination' in Biology ; a double 10" (45 rpm) in full colour gatefold sleeve, first ed. of 498 copies; two different coloured vinyls, the fourth side has a 'clear on red' etching with the credits, something you have never seen before!!!!
|
2016 |
€25.00 |
|
| KRENG + SVARTE GREINER |
The Night Hag |
CD |
nocturnal drone-muzak in the truest sense: inspired by the phenomenum of "Sleep Paralysis" KRENG and SVARTE GREINER created this eerie one tracker that slowly occupies your mind... and body - "Your body becomes a prison, a padded cell. It is the ultimate personal lockdown scenario.." - great return for KRENG on his first collab with the man behind the MIASMAH label; ed. of 300 copies, handfolded package with stitched cover, plus inlay card, mastering: IAN HAWGOOD
|
2021 |
€15.00 |
|
| KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK |
To Dream Is To Destroy |
CD |
the fourth album from the Russian project (who is also behind the legendary ZHELEZOBETON label & mailorder), now being located in Amsterdam (NL), K.R. delevoped a very own experimental style based on radio sounds, drones, crackles, and multi-layered vintage electronics, a challenging ride into the reality of ether static noises with a great nostalgic flair... - lim. CD version only 103 copies !
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
To Dream is to Destroy |
MC |
the fourth album from the Russian project (who is also behind the legendary ZHELEZOBETON label & mailorder), now being located in Amsterdam (NL), K.R. delevoped a very own experimental style based on radio sounds, drones, crackles, and multi-layered vintage electronics, a challenging ride into the reality of ether static noises with a great nostalgic flair... - lim. cassette ed. 50 copies only, CD available too
|
2023 |
€8.50 |
|
| KSHATRIY |
Transforming Galaxy |
CD |
second full length album by this Russian deep ambience project, dedicated to the end of Kali-Yuga; using electronics, instrumental sources & field recordings from elemental nature-sounds (thunder, waves, etc..) creating hallucinogenic effects... filed under: breathing & whispering organic ambience & psychedelic drone emanations; excellent cosmic contemplation drones...
|
2012 |
€12.50 |
|
| KUBISCH, CHRISTINA & ANNEA LOCKWOOD |
The Secret Life of the Inaudible |
do-CD |
incredible collaboration (4 new pieces) with transformed sounds coming from normally inaudible sources such as: ultra- and infrasounds from the planet's environment (solar oscillations, troposhere, ionosphere, earth crust, trees, etc.), electromagnetic waves captured from various sites, hydrophonic recordings, earthquakes, vulcanos, etc.. the frequencies around us seen as a net of energies, a web in which we move.. fascinating drones and electro-waves, comes with 16 page booklet
|
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| KUBISCH, CHRISTINA / FABRIZIO PLESSI |
Two and Two |
LP |
the very first release for German sound artist CHRISTINA KUBISCH was this collaboration with visual artist FABRIZIO PLESSI, using sounds of unusual sound sources like water, a special whistle, a ventilator, waterjet on steeldrum, etc.. the four pieces, named after the four elements, were combined in performance with two camera operators and several video screens... re-issue w. cover-replica from 1976
|
2017 |
€28.00 |
|
| KUBOTA, KAZUMA / S.I.V. [SELF-INFLICTED VIOLENCE] |
The first Cry / Atrocity of Sunrises |
7inch |
Japanese harsh noise 'newcomer' with a well-composed track pairing with S.I.V. from Poland doing extreme noise with silent blocks; wash your brain, think again! black vinyl, lim. 150
|
2013 |
€7.00 |
|
| KULTHUM, UMM (also: KALTHOUM, OUM) |
The Twinkling Star |
LP |
fully re-mastered re-issue of this extraordinary LP from 1961 - UMM KULTHUM was a legendary female singer, songwriter and actress from Egypt ("Egypt's fourth pyramid"), and this her most well known release => popular 'oriental' music with many strings and the typical harmonic phrases from that time, combined with a pretty low fi recording quality and UMM KULTHUMS vocalizing, for "western" ears this sounds like music from another planet...
|
2019 |
€18.50 |
|
| KUTIN, PETER |
Burmese Days |
LP |
Austrian composer (also in => DIRAC) who connects 'sound art and journalism/documentation', when the used Burmese metallophones (various gongs), Burmese field recordings (recorded in Myanmar in spring 2012 just after the military dictatorship) and live electronics form something like an abstract sonic essay, expressing his personal experiences (heat, sickness, fear, jungle, rain, radical Buddhism, rebels fighting for freedom or more rights, the sound of mantras, gongs, bells and the language itself..)
|
2014 |
€16.50 |
|
| KUUPUU |
Lumen Thäden |
LP |
comes in ultra heavy laminated gatefold-cover (full-colour), ed. of 750 copies; the "post-everything" project from JONNA KARANKA (AVARUS, ISLAJA, etc.)
|
2009 |
€23.50 |
|
| KÜPPER, LEO |
Electro-Acoustic |
CD |
oldest available CD with works from LEO KÜPPER (*1935), who collaborated with HENRI POUSSEUR and was the founder of the first electronic music studio in Brussels => four great atmospheric & poetic compostions, much worth to discover: "Electro-Acoustic Santur" (for 2 Santurs and electronics, 1989), "Guitarra Cubana" (guitar + phonetic sounds, 1988), "Inflexions Vocales" (for soprano / stereo tape, 1982), "Le Reveur Au Sourire Passager" (a kind of experimental radio play, 1977!); incl. 24 page booklet
|
1996 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Ways of the Voice |
CD |
four challenging compositions (created 1984-1998) by the Belgian componist, using the female voice (of Brazilian singer ANNA MARIA KIEFFER) as the only sound-source, along with 'tropical' field recordings... Beautiful, suspenseful, exhausting music.. very unique and stunning stuff !! Finally back in stock!! - comes with 28 page booklet
|
1999 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Digital Voices |
CD |
six newer pieces by this Belgian composer (*1935) who's earlier works had already been published on two POGUS CDs before; very demanding new music using mainly digital processed human voices & singings...."to encourage the internationalization of spirituality through a musical language that accepts both sung and instrumental world sonorities that can be mixed with electronic sounds derived from the voices of the singers."
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
| KÖNER, THOMAS |
Motus |
do-LP |
four years after "Tiento de la Luz" this new KÖNER work goes into a more electronic and strangely morphing direction, futuristic dance-drone music without dance elements.... absolutely stunning! "Motus is part of this exploration: to find dance, free of clock, and groove, free of rhythm. There is pulsation, and the downbeat connects to the downward beings as in stones and minerals, the upbeat connects to the upward beings as in grasses, flowers, trees and stars." [Thomas Köner]
|
2020 |
€27.50 |
|
|
Motus |
CD |
four years after "Tiento de la Luz" this new KÖNER work goes into a more electronic and strangely morphing direction, futuristic dance-drone music without dance elements.. absolutely stunning! CD version finally in stock!- "Motus is part of this exploration: to find dance, free of clock, and groove, free of rhythm. There is pulsation, and the downbeat connects to the downward beings as in stones and minerals, the upbeat connects to the upward beings as in grasses, flowers, trees and stars." [Thomas Köner]
|
2020 |
€15.50 |
|
| |
Aubrite |
do-LP |
this is the re-issue of KÖNERs fourth album (Barooni, 1995), drones coming to the endpoint of droning, reaching the "ULTRABLACK" spere.. "Whoever understands the spirit of impartiality through ten thousand million partial tones, hears Ultrablack and can no longer be measured. No measures, no enclosures, no properties are the sign of ultrablack scores." [Thomas Köner] - comes with 2 bonus tracks, about 15 min. of extra material; for the first time on vinyl !!
|
2022 |
€26.00 |
|
| LA CASA, ERIC & CEDRIC PEYRONNET |
La Creuse |
CD |
a super fascinating 'pure sound' journey based on mysterious field recordings, 'concrete' & droney at the same time; both artists mixing each others material; highly recommended !!
|
2008 |
€13.50 |
|
| LA MONTE YOUNG |
Der Zweck dieser Serie is nicht Unterhaltung - Vol. I |
do-CD |
earliest material 1956-1963, partly very radical: "For Brass", "Poems for Chairs, Tables, Benches, etc.", "Day of the Antler", "The Well-Tuned Piano", "B-Flat Dorian Blues 28th/63", "Early Tuesday Morning Blues", "The Tortoise: His Dreams & Journey"; - all recorded from Radio Broadcats, this is a re-issue of a double CD from 2003; nicely printed black digipak
|
2019 |
€29.50 |
|
| LA MONTE YOUNG & MARIAN ZAZEELA |
31 VII 69 10:26 - 10:49 PM / 23 VIII 64 2:50:45 - 3:11 AM The Volga Delta |
CD |
first official re-issue of the mythical "Black Record" from 1969 by the father of DRONE music and his wife, MARIAN ZAZEELA... "Within this music is both the journey and the arrival, each appealing to the other within the context of itself. These deceptively simple methods we might refer to as “drone” are layer up on layer of complex responses to the various stratagems I have highlighted above.." [Lisa Thatcher]
|
2023 |
€18.50 |
|
| LA STPO (La Société des Timides à la Parade des Oiseaux) |
Romanciel |
CD |
the legendary Italian label ADN (very active in the cassette scene of the 80's / 90's) is back with a new studio album by the true "Avant" Rock band from Rennes, France, who often deal with dreams and neologisms in their lyrics, the surreal and the absurd...- "this music is beautiful, imaginative and free just like a successful picture or like the flight of the birds that paint the sky with their wonderful parade."- four epic + incredible expressive new studio tracks, + 8 page booklet
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| LABRADFORD |
Mi Media Naranja |
CD |
fourth album of lonely cinematic desert psychedelia |
1997 |
€14.00 |
|
| LALELOO |
same |
CD-R |
full-colour cardboard sleeve |
2001 |
€11.00 |
|
| |
Sane |
CD-R |
full-colour cardboard sleeve |
2004 |
€11.00 |
|
| LAMY, PHILIPPE |
Entre Deux |
mCD-R |
hallucinatory microsounds & drones from this painter & plastic arts sculptor from Toulouse, France, derived from field recordings and (maybe) objects.. whispering, subtle dreambient, slow & hazy..... unrecognizable sources full of tiny details, really fascinating !!
|
2013 |
€5.00 |
|
| LAND USE / MAURIZIO BIANCHI / PHARMAKUSTIK |
Spülfeld |
CD |
an epic drone-journey into the otherworld, with mysterious sounds & drones that shift, transform & mutate all the time... minimal but never static.. lim. 223 copies, comes in DVD slimcase with printed covers & inlay, numbered... already the fourth collab release by this dutch project with M.B. (and this time with help of PHARMAKUSTIK)
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| LANDER, DAN |
Zoo |
CD |
first album from this Canadian cut-up / tape- composer, crazy found sound & de-coding voice collages on four long tracks (1988-1992) |
1995 |
€13.00 |
|
| LANDING |
Third Sight |
LP |
the US American (Connecticut) post rock / psychedelic drone / space rock band with a four track LP, some wonderful floating and trance inducing textures are created.. "Listening through this LP is likely to stimulate mental images of rural winds blowing across vast American fields of grass, bonfires, blue rivers and power lines sailing through rolling hills."..."like a calming codeine syrup, thickening once they’re in yr skull like gummy candy." [Tiny Mix Tapes] green vinyl
|
2016 |
€23.00 |
|
| LAST DOMINION LOST |
Abomination of Desolation |
LP |
fourth album by the band project feat. industrial legend JOHN MURPHY, who died in 2015 when the recordings for this had already started; their probably last and most impressive statement, feat. lots of guest musicians and compelling arrangements + vocals.. "Metallic percussion and the screams of terror, ritual chants and anxious atmospheres, all used and abused in order to create the most accurate soundtrack of desolation." - lim. 300 copies
|
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Abomination of Desolation |
CD |
fourth album by the band project feat. industrial legend JOHN MURPHY, who died in 2015 when the recordings for this had already started; their probably last and most impressive statement, feat. lots of guest musicians and compelling arrangements + vocals.. "Metallic percussion and the screams of terror, ritual chants and anxious atmospheres, all used and abused in order to create the most accurate soundtrack of desolation." CD version lim. 500
|
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| LE GALL, PASCAL |
Landscapes |
10inch |
this sound-artist from Tours, France, creates quiet acoustic landscapes by playing records on 6 rpm, using BACH and SCHUBERT compositions but also unknown sources, evoking a very special, unreal atmosphere between somber harmonic phrases and droning winds... a very nice 10" EP with wonderful cover artwork & mastering by MATHIAS DELPLANQUE, a true "secret tip" and very much recommended!
|
2017 |
€17.00 |
|
| |
Returns |
CD |
first proper CD album by the French composer, who created with "Returns" a 'suite' in four parts (with dedication to JOHN CAGE) - "The first part, mixed with the sound of different broken glasses, is a musical overture and introduce with his rhythms and his melodies the following parts. The three following parts are mixed with different sounds from records played on turntables with variable-speed drives." - absolutely to discover ! comes in oversized 19 x 19 cm handmade sleeve
|
2018 |
€14.00 |
|
| LE SYNDICAT 1984 |
Mars |
MC |
re-issue of tape from 1987 with recordings from 1984 - an endless stream of eruptive noises that NEVER stand still, a cascade of electronic arrows drilling through your brain; lim. 150 copies - professional design and duplication on a new established German label that once operated as CTHULHU RECORDS
|
2016 |
€9.00 |
|
| LEACH, MARY JANE |
Woodwind Multiples |
LP |
four instrumental drone pieces for multi-layered expanses of one certain instrument: 4 bass flutes, 9 oboes, 9 clarinets, 7 bassoons...- very pure, organic, meditative..- *Each piece works closely with the unique sound of each instrument, combining pitches that create other, sometimes unexpected, tones, primarily combination and interference tones, as well as rhythmic patterns. What you hear is what happens naturally -- there is no processing or manipulation.* - lim. 500 clear vinyl
|
2023 |
€30.00 |
|
| LEGENDARY PINK DOTS & CEVIN KEY |
9 Lives to Wonder |
DVD |
a 80 minutes long film by CEVIN KEY (SKINNY PUPPY) with material from 1993 documenting the recording sessions for "9 Lives to Wonder" in a remoted 16-track studio (De Klaverland) in the 'wild east' of the Netherlands, when they were in a most psychedelic / spaced out mode... and mood'! "It was crowded, a 24 hour party, much curry was imbibed, the air itself was perfumed" [E. KA-SPEL]; a great personal insight into the world of LPD 20 years ago!!
|
2012 |
€17.50 |
|
| LEGENDARY PINK DOTS & KETVECTOR |
The Shock Exchange |
LP |
split album by LPD (three new tracks on Side A, with the beautiful 'The Lie in the Sky') with a new project of SKINNY PUPPY and BAHNTIER members (four tracks on Side B); excellent electronic neo-psychedelia.... lim. 299 on clear vinyl, planned RSD release 2015 which came out a bit later
|
2015 |
€23.00 |
|
| LEGENDARY PINK DOTS (LPD) |
Chemical Playschool 15 |
CD |
after more than 10 years NEW recordings for the mythical "Chemical Playschool"-series; "Songs, labyrinths, and colours so vivid you'll never wash them out of your mind"
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
|
10 to the Power of 9 - Vol. 2 |
LP |
concept album about 'conspiracy theories, magic & spirituality', a dark psychedelic trip - the second part! 'Minimal synths, guitars, syncopated rhythms that are making weird, psychedelic and transcendental noises which are of course accompanied by the distinctive voice of Ka-Spel' - lim. 499, mint-marbled vinyl
|
2015 |
€22.50 |
|
|
Five Days... Complete |
do-LP |
so far only available on self-issued limited CD-R\'s, this collects the FIVE DAYS and FIVE DAYS INSTRUMENTALS recordings from 2015...."the only real thread holding all of the endlessly morphing electronic fantasia together is Ka-Spel’s voice. Almost everything else seems completely fleeting and illusory." [Anthony D'Amico / Brainwashed] - "Hours of experimental improvisation went into creating this project in what Edward Ka-Spel describes as a "primeval freak-out!" - gatefold cover, ORANGE vinyl, lim. 30
|
2019 |
€43.50 |
|
|
The Seismic Bleats of Quantum Sheep |
CD |
remastered, expanded and for the first time on CD, this personally much favoured / experimental album from 2016 (LP on Abstrakce), lim. 399 copies - "the 'secret" sister album to "Five Days", recorded in Spring 2015 - extremely Kaleidoscopic and as far out as the Dots may have gone in their history" [Edward Ka-Spel] - comes with third bonus track not on the LP !!
|
2019 |
€18.50 |
|
|
Five Days... Complete |
CD |
so far only available on self-issued limited CD-R's, this collects the FIVE DAYS and FIVE DAYS INSTRUMENTALS recordings from 2015...."the only real thread holding all of the endlessly morphing electronic fantasia together is Ka-Spel’s voice. Almost everything else seems completely fleeting and illusory." [Anthony D'Amico / Brainwashed] - "Hours of experimental improvisation went into creating this project in what Edward Ka-Spel describes as a "primeval freak-out!" / comes with 4 page booklet
|
2019 |
€16.50 |
|
|
Come out from the Shadows 4 - Live at Lounge AX Chicago 1993 |
do-LP BOX |
taken from SILVERMAN's cassette archive, a recording from an unforgotten live performance that happened in Chicago 1993, during the "Shadow Weaver" and "Malachai" times; comes in a luxus / full colour box with insert, and on yellow vinyl, lim. 299 copies
|
2021 |
€33.00 |
|
| |
The Maria Dimension - Complete Recordings |
3 x CD |
re-issue of one of LPDs "landmark" albums (from 1991), now with the complete additional material recorded at the same sessions (first released on the 5 LP set in 2015) : "In addition to the original album, remastered by Edward Ka-Spel, two additional CDs of material from the same recordings sessions are presented here. It’s all packed into an eight-panel digipak with a 12 page booklet with lyrics and notes about the recordings. Over three hours of music in one package!" - lim. 499 copies
|
2022 |
€43.00 |
|
| LEPENIK |
Atoll K. |
CD-R |
full-colour cardboard sleeve |
2000 |
€11.00 |
|
| |
Treatments |
CD-R |
full-colour cardboard sleeve |
2002 |
€11.00 |
|
| LES FRAGMENTS DE LA NUIT |
Musique de Nuit |
LP |
third album by this amazing French neo-romantic / classic ensemble, re-worked early material (from first CDR 2006) and brand new tracks! Lim. vinyl version, 500 copies, two different vinyl colours
|
2012 |
€16.50 |
|
| LEVENSLEED |
DWEEMOED |
mCD-R |
a new project of ELLENDE and MODELBAU, with one excellent experimental drone piece - "The combination or difference between ambient, drone, soundscape and experiments.... "Dweemoed" (Afrikaans for melancholy) is a 17-minute four music pieces release that combines the best of both worlds. Literally. There is the massive soundscapish approach of Modelbau, and there is more than enough happening in the periphery of the type of sounds we've found in Ellende's release." [Bauke van der Wal] - 35 copies only!
|
2022 |
€8.00 |
|
| LEWIS, E.G. |
All Under |
CD |
the sister album to "All Over" shows LEWIS experimental and sound art passion, with four very varified tracks from 'pure sound' dronescapes over an earplay like narrative to a very long & wonderful harmonic ambient piece at the end; excellent album reminding on the great DOME works from the past
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| LICHT-UNG |
Gieb Fahrt! |
mCD-R |
mini-DVD-box with colour inlays, numb. ed. of 150 copies, incl. video-track
|
2007 |
€7.50 |
|
| LIGHTBORNE, MICHAEL |
Sounds of the Projection Box |
LP |
lovely concept / sound art album with recordings of analogue/35mm 'Cinema Projection Boxes' (now that most Cinemas have converted into digital), made in UK 2016-2017 ==> the noises coming from inside the projection machines, different functions of it and captured through various recording techniques and at various places... excellent full-colour gatefold design with printed inner sleeves, and extensive liner notes about the phenomenon...
|
2018 |
€18.00 |
|
| LILES, ANDREW |
Monster Munch |
7inch |
8-track EP, full colour poster cover (lovely psychedelic porn art), red vinyl, lim. 300
|
2010 |
€11.50 |
|
|
Life is an empty Place |
LP |
an album that seems to be focused on personal childhood & adolescence memories filled with judgements, disciplination and control (school, work) as the cover-art shows; musically based on drum machine and machine gun sounds, lots of processed (vocoder) voice material and analogue / digital synths, this is like a dismal journey into LILES implicit autobiographical memory... lim. 400 on golden vinyl, gatefold cover with front artwork by BABS SANTINI (aka STEVEN STAPLETON); BACK IN STOCK, better pricing!
|
2015 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Mother Goose's Melody or Sonnets for the Cradle |
do-LP |
vinyl re-issue of one of LILES best albums (originally a CD from 2005), where human language and weird found sounds play the main role, building a kind of "bad fairy tale" journey with elements from plunderphonics, dark ambient and earplay; lim. 160 copies only! Very last copies back in stock !!
|
2015 |
€29.50 |
|
| LILLIOS, ELAINIE |
Entre Espaces |
CD |
debut-CD for this US American electro-acoustic composer, presenting 7 works realized from 1998-2007; ELAINIE LILLIOS manages it to explore the blind spots of our minds & imagination, with great care for sonic details & thoughtful concepts behind the compositions; a real discovery !
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| LIMITED LIABILITY SOUNDS |
Glassworks |
CD-R |
this experimental project from Poland is working on creating unsual sounds since 2006 - on "Glassworks" we find 5 tracks that are based (mainly?) on GLASS as soundsource, the derived material can be of a very concrete shape, but also result in warm and full tones, it's strange resonances and droning overtunes... an album full of minimal micro-details; lim. 50 copies
|
2019 |
€10.00 |
|
| LINGUA FUNGI |
Melankhton |
CD |
excellent album (third published full length CD) after the collab. with ALIO DIE from 2012 by the Finnish project (nowadays also a member of HALO MANASH) creating captivating organic ambience with folk and oriental influences, builds a surrealistic dimension of it own; only acoustic instrumental and field recording sources are used, delicately sampled and mixed... comes in a customized / silk-screened cardboad cover w. 4-panel booklet and insert card, lim. 449 copies
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Flowery Dreams |
CD |
FOR YOU, LITTLE SEED - the debut album of this Finnish "subconscious ethno/folk drone" project, mainly created with real instruments (flutes, guitars, bass, mandolin, various percussion tools).. "Magical journey through the strange dreams in beautiful flowery scenery, drifting and melting. No sharp line between sorrow and joy, dark and bright moments".. long waving organic ambience for fans of ALIO DIE, JÜPPALA KÄÄPIO, ORIGAMI ARKTIKA, ethereal TROUM, etc..
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| LINGUA FUNGI & SHRINE |
Strange Growths / Wander |
CD |
highly recommended split release by Finnish LINGUA FUNGI and Bulgarian Drone Rec. artist SHRINE => four tracks of acoustically shining and gracefully shimmering percussive / guitarish ambience form LINGUA FUNGI's "Strange Growths", with slight folk influences a wonderful melancholy is created.... SHRINE has two long complex ambient pieces ("There", and "Back") that are like a dark mirror, a dualistic entity representing nature's mystical harmony and human industrial destruction
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| LOCKWOOD, ANNEA |
A Sound Map of the Housatonic River |
CD-R |
field recordings of the whole course (224km, from Massachusetts to Connecticut) of the fast flowing Housatonic River, made at the surface & underwater, along the riverbank; experience the beauty of the streaming water & the einvironment; nice release by the prolific composer from New Zealand (*1939), who began to record "sound maps" or "aural scans" of rivers a long time ago....
|
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| LOCKWOOD, ANNEA / RUTH ANDERSON |
Sinopah |
CD |
a wonderful field recording multi-channel piece from ANNEA LOCKWOOD; the 45min. long "World Rhythms" (1975) uses sounds of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, radio waves, geysers and pools, etc. - " a physical manifestation of energies that shape our environment constantly, " the second piece is by RUTH ANDERSON, a kind of meditative sound poetry formed through whispered vocals, an abstract and ghostly sonic texture reminding on breathing noises.. - great CD back in stock !!
|
1998 |
€15.00 |
|
| LOCRIAN |
New Catastrophism |
LP |
first new LOCRIAN album after 7 years, four great droning magmatic tracks.. - "Massive dystopian soundscapes through the intricate, layered, and spacious sound palette LOCRIAN unveil." - comes with large poster, printed inners, DL card and gloss spot cover, extremely nice edition !
|
2022 |
€17.50 |
|
| LOCRIAN & MAMIFFER |
Bless them that curse you |
do-LP |
rare vinyl version of this much attention-drawing collab by Chicagos ambient noise heros LOCRIAN with MAMIFFER (project of FAITH COLOCCIA and AARON TURNER and guest musicians) = 7 musicians in total creating a great album between dark cinematic chamber-like music & high tension-dronescapes... lim. 550 copies, colour vinyl
|
2012 |
€29.50 |
|
| LOCRIAN / HARPOON |
split |
7inch |
rare split single by these two Chicago-based bands, industrial-grind & metal-core... lim. 300 on green marbled vinyl, comes with etched cover & oversized full-colour inlay
|
2009 |
€11.50 |
|
| LONG DEAD SEVENS |
White Waltz & Other Stories |
do-CD |
dark & pathetic "wild west" songwriting produced by NEUBAUTEN-producer BORIS WILSDORF; lim. 400 with bonus CD, comes with full colour book bound case & 16 p booklet
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, FRANCISCO |
Untitled single piece 1 (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
music like being underwater, deepest possible drones, an experiment for your mind & body!
|
1996 |
€ |
|
|
Untitled # 295 |
LP |
mysterious ultra low frequency pulses & crackles, sounds like electrified whistles.. a masterpiece of mysterious muzak that sinks into your mind like cotton wool into water.... two long tracks especially designed for vinyl, hard to find album released by the excellent Austrian GOD label
|
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
|
1980-1982 |
CD |
fourth release in FRANCISCO LOPEZ own new label-series: earliest sound experiments done with walkman recorders and cheap cassette players in the early 80's in Madrid; 'the most essential tools are spiritual, not technical'; first ed. of 300 copies
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
|
A Bunch of Stuff (1980-2020) |
USB card |
" 40 years of sonogenic composition" ~ something very special for the 40th (!) anniversary of music creation from the gifted Spanish sound artist ~ a USB MEMORY CARD with 12 hours of uncompressed material, feat. excerpts from 138 selected pieces created 1980-2020; limited to 300 signed copies !!
|
2020 |
€34.00 |
|
|
Untitled #370 |
CD |
there's no real press release for this exactly one hour long composition, but the following note exists: "contains substantial low frequencies, ultra-subtle materials, virtual sonic space, and other aural delicacies that are inaudible via laptop or smartphone speakers. Please use decent headphones or speakers." => awesome piece which uses lots of mysterious, somehow organic scrape and and scratch sounds and drones, mechanical repetitions on various sonic levels, etc.,. - outstanding again !
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
|
VirtuAural Electro-Mechanics |
USB card |
subtitled 'Machinic Pieces 1995-2018' this is the third USB-stick collection with over 8 hours of material (16 pieces)=> "developed from a myriad of original sound recordings of mechanical machines, electro-mechanical systems and industrial environments gathered over the past 25 years all over the world; from food factories to 'white rooms', from 18th-century automata to computers, from wood and wires to magnetism, from the microscopic to the monumental." - printed Memory Stick, 300 copies, signed
|
2019 |
€33.00 |
|
|
Sonic Fields Vlieland |
USB card |
six compositions made out of field recordings from VLIELAND, one of the West Frisian Islands (North Sea) of Nord-Holland , no cars are allowed... a map shows where these recordings have been made (forest, dune crater, beach, polders..), a truly captivating "new virtual sonic reality" of the Island with so many natural sounds of wind, sand, water, rain, animals, arranged in a new, typical LOPEZian way ("transfigured and dramatically evolved..").. - lim. 300. 3 hour playtime(!), printed USB card, signed
|
2018 |
€33.00 |
|
| |
Dynamo |
CD |
soundtrack for a huge, interactive (walkable) 16-speaker installation sculpture artwork by DANIEL CANOGAR, developed for the atrium of the Spanish Pavilion at EXPO DUBAI 2020; - *This moment captures the intense roar of so many machines of the past echoing through our modern history –technologies that we behold with a mixture of fear and fascination.* - 200 copies pressed |
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, FRANCISCO & ALBERTO NOVELLO |
Neocortical F-Bars |
CD |
ALBERTO NOVELLO (aka JESTERN) is a sound artist working with old analog devices, connecting sound and light in his installations, using self repaired or modified machines from the past... - this way, a very unusual collaboration arised with FRANCISCO LOPEZ, both working with the same source materials - one long (37 min.) piece by both, full of strangest electro-magnetic buzzing and humming, sinewaves and analogue hissing, anti -music in new shaped forms.. lim. 300
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, FRANCISCO & DANIEL MENCHE |
Sacrificed Phloem (Zannec Line) |
CD |
For the first time both long active artists from the experimental / post industrial / field recording scene have collaborated, creating a mesmerizing one-tracker (56+ min.) with many breathtaking moments and passages from the very beginning... an incredible intense new sonic reality arises, full of surrealistic (almost psychoactive) drones capturing your whole body, taking you on a journey to the microworlds of the "more than human" lifeforms... a "Phloem" is the part of plants that transports organic compounds = photosynthates.
Lim. 250 copies
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, FRANCISCO & XABIER ERKIZIA |
Elektra Bidasoa |
CD |
four long pieces based on recordings from POWER PLANTS made in the Basque County - a fascinating microcosmos of machine-drones & overtunes; comes with full colour booklet, lim. 500
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, FRANCISCO / AERNOUDT JACOBS |
Lith |
do-CD |
four collaboration pieces spread on two CDs using each others original recordings => great microsound drone compositions full of contrasts, dynamics, surprises... for the heart of hearing ! Lim. 500
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, FRANCISO & MIGUEL A. GARCIA |
Ekkert Nafn |
CD |
awesome collaboration by these two Spanish sound-artists working on each others source materials, resulting in two long tracks; => really striking is the pushing, pulsing power these pieces develop, but also the strange mechanical sounds that appear, along with completely unrecognizable sonic areas... ed. of 300 copies
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| LOSCIL |
Clara |
CD |
latest full LOSCIL album on Kranky, special concept:: *a stunning meditation on light, shade, and decay, sourced from a single three-minute composition performed by a 22-piece string orchestra in Budapest ... Despite their limited palette, the compositions summon a sense of the infinite, swelling and swimming through luminous depths. Certain tracks percolate over narcoleptic metronomes while others slowdive in shimmering shadowplay, sounding at times like some noir music of the spheres.*
|
2021 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
Clara |
do-LP |
latest full LOSCIL album on Kranky, lim. vinyl version! - *a stunning meditation on light, shade, and decay, sourced from a single three-minute composition performed by a 22-piece string orchestra in Budapest ... Despite their limited palette, the compositions summon a sense of the infinite, swelling and swimming through luminous depths. Certain tracks percolate over narcoleptic metronomes while others slowdive in shimmering shadowplay, sounding at times like some noir music of the spheres.*
|
2021 |
€32.50 |
|
| LOTUS EATERS |
same (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
sec. ed 300 copies, full colour cover, colour-vinyl.
|
2004 |
€6.00 |
|
| LSD MARCH / MAMA BAER |
Untitled / .... plays Amy Winehouse |
LP |
eighth part in the HJULER/MAMA BÄR split LP series with 12 different artist, each LP is limited & numbered to 177 copies with handmade cover; split-partner this time is japanese psych-outfit LSD MARCH with very bizarre, uncategorizable recordings, using much vocal sources, whereas MAMA BAER sings and plays guitar in a way it will kick the last braincells out of your head...
|
2012 |
€20.00 |
|
| LUCIER, ALVIN |
Almost New York |
do-CD |
Four quite NEW pieces (written 2001-2006) by the famous conceptual / electronic / minimal composer, feat. CHARLES CURTIS on cello and others.. - *Almost New York employs slow sweep pure wave oscillators, Broken Line, flute glissandi. In Twonings two different tuning systems collide and in Coda Variations slight variations in pitch are heard chronologically.*
|
2011 |
€18.50 |
|
|
Still and Moving Lines |
CD |
four LUCIER works performed by the Australian new music ensemble DECIBEL, three were recorded for the first time: "Ever Present" (2002), "Carbon Copies" (1989), "Hands" (1994), and "Shelter" (1967)... 'amazing examples of Alvin Lucier’s fertile mind and exploring, experimental sensibility'
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
|
So You... (Hermes, Orpheus, Eurydice) |
CD |
a truly astonishing (1 hour long) new LUCIER piece, inspired by the Orpheus myth experienced from Eurydices perspective, working with speakers mounted inside amphoraes, sine waves, clarinet, cello and female voice (feat CHARLES CURTIS and JESSIKA KENNEY... "This record has all of the mind-bending acoustic effects you’d expect from a Lucier piece, but also features a strong sense of narrative drama and flashes of raw emotion that are unexpected and deeply affecting."
|
2018 |
€14.50 |
|
| |
Works for the Ever Present Orchestra |
do-LP |
Four long pieces written for the thirteen-member 'Ever Present Orchestra', formed in 2016 exclusively to perform LUCIER's works, with four electric guitars played with e-bows to create "pure wave" oscillatior-like tunes (feat. S. O'MALLEY and O. AMBARCHI amongst many others on saxophon, piano, violins, bowed glockenspiel...) - "the pieces recorded here focus on acoustic phenomena, especially beating patterns, produced by the interference between closely tuned pitches"; gatefold sleeve + DL code w. bonus!
|
2020 |
€26.00 |
|
| LULL |
That Space Somewhere |
CD |
first LULL album in 14 years, created during Covid-19 times, four immersive expanses, extremely amorph drifts into timelessness.. - "I'm a fisherman. It gives me a lot of space. It gives me immense pleasure. For me it's about going to the river. I like moving water. The seasons change, the river changes with the season.." [Mick Harris] - .."It seems to exist somewhere on the threshold between consciousness and the unconscious" [Aaron Turner / SUMAC / ISIS]
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| LUNAR ABYSS / VANUM |
Ulm-Gra / Pelena Sna |
CD |
3 new tracks from LUNAR ABYSS (ethereal voice drones, mysterious harmonics not from this world, really sublime) and 4 tracks from VANUM based on old Soviet analog synth-sounds and psychedelic micro effects with a great droning drive, too...handmade gatefold cover (thick cardboard with stamp colour) , 3 stickers, super nice and enchanting.... lim. 222, almost 70 min. playtime
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| LUNAR ABYSS DEUS ORGANUM |
Bereg Teploj Vesny |
CD-R |
one-tracker, first part of two-part opus "Spring Shores"; comes in oversized handmade / sprayed colour-cover, incl.3 photograph inserts, lim. 108 copies
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
|
O.D.A.L. |
CD |
so far missed CD from 2015 by the Russian cult project: "Shamanic drone ambient with the abundance of layers of all kinds of origin, multi-dimensional worlds of consonances and acoustic phenomena. Perfectly fits for psychedelic tea parties and drowsy journeys in the depths of the cell memory riding the mitochondria. lim. 222 copies, handmade cardboard sleeves." - 6 tracks 69 min, numbered ed., nicely thick gold/bronce on green coloured w. hand-sticked images.
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
A Sherpa's Sleep is More Milk Music |
CD |
glorious new CD (the 1st for Zoharum) by our favoured "Somnabulismdrone" project, excellent new studio tracks.. "a fabric woven from the sounds of various origins: resonant dawns and dusks, roars of distant thunderstorms, rustling of small creatures, sough of wind and leaves, ringing of strings and trumpet calls.... All this swarm of sounds doesn't fall into chaos but builds up in a forest temple surrounding sleeping children, and the air vibrates with emptiness." - lim. 250, hallucinogenic OWL cover !
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| LUNAR ABYSS DEUS ORGANUM / ANAMEZON |
Nidra |
CD-R |
Vibes & Visions, shining! - ANAMEZON is a L.A.D.O-sideproject of a more electronic/ rhythmic/ psychedelic nature; very subtle.... lim. 108 copies, very colourful handmade "psylocybine-cover"; BACK IN STOCK
|
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| LUNAR ABYSS DEUS ORGANUM / HATTIFNATTER |
Ostrov |
CD-R |
feat. M.M. from KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK; lim. 52 copies in totally handmade (handcut & written & coloured) sleeve
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Lesnaya |
CD-R |
second work with M.M. from KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK; lim. 52 copies in totally handmade (handcut & written & coloured) sleeve
|
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Boloto |
CD-R |
lim. 52 - totally handmade cover / strange trance-inducing entities, "A journey to the world of hobgoblins and water spirits".... LISTENING IS BELIEVING ! A drone is NOT a drone is not a DRONE!
|
2010 |
€10.00 |
|
| LUNAR ABYSS QUARTET |
Snovidenie |
CD |
lim. 323 copies in totally handmade covers (oversized maps in different colours with different pictures sticked on & symbol-paintings), truly beautiful !!
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| LUNDE, ERIC / KOMMISSAR HJULER |
split |
LP |
fourth part in the HJULER/MAMA BÄR split LP series with 12 different artist, each LP is limited & numbered to 177 copies with handmade cover; this one is a split release with long-time US activist ERIC LUNDE, recorded 2009
|
2010 |
€23.00 |
|
| LUNDVALL, TOR |
Sleeping and Hiding |
LP |
lim. / numb. 500, full colour cover with metallic embossing
|
2009 |
€17.50 |
|
| |
Beautiful Illusions (lim. clear blue vinyl) |
LP |
FOREVER RAIN: the painter and ghost-musician from New York with an album on the prolific DAIS label, simply the most ethereal, smooth & atmospheric, melancholic "Ambient Pop" you can imagine.. - "New album is purely ethereal. A ghostly sonic mural that perfectly represents the gloom that resides within the death throes of autumn. This one will resonate with me for a long time." [iniquitous_dusk] - lim. colour vinyl version, printed inner sleeves, DL code
|
2022 |
€24.00 |
|
| LUNDVALL, TOR & LEILA ABDUL-RAUF |
Ibis / Quiet Seaside |
7inch |
two beautiful introspective collaboration tracks by TOR LUNDVALL with LEILA ABDUL-RAUF (AMBER ASYLUM, etc. & now solo), who delivered vocals and instrumental sources.. filed under: meditative nightshade ambience.. lim .300
|
2014 |
€11.50 |
|
| LURK |
Furking |
CD-R |
lim./numb. 100 copies / full-colour cardboard cover / old MOLJEBKA PVLSE sideproject, very "industrial" !
SPECIAL OFFER now ! |
2006 |
€7.00 |
|
| LUSSIER, RENE |
Completement Marteau |
CD |
four most avantgardish commission compostions (one made for a "clown theater show"!) by this guitarist, composer, improviser, soundtrack-creator (with FRED FRITH for example), etc.. from Quebec, Canada. - "They all testify to a long process of gossiping and pecking. As a proud patentee of out-of-the-box music, I have grouped them together under the title Complètement marteau, as in crazy stiff, unbridled and surprising, but also as in handcrafted, patiently and laboriously, with my self-taught tools."
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| LUSTMORD |
[O T H E R] |
CD |
the landmark album from 2008, the first / only LUSTMORD album that ever had guitar sounds on it, delivered by members of TOOL, ISIS and MELVINS.. - "..resonates perfectly within the deep soundscapes that make up this frightening yet inspiring journey." - new layout by SALT - silver embossed gatefold digipak
|
2022 |
€16.00 |
|
|
[Beyond] |
CD |
"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of Worlds"; re-issue of the second album with extended remixes from [o t h e r] (2008) = otherworldy dark ambient in perfection! - "[OTHER] was a journey with friends, while The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond take the concept and listener further, deeper, in-between and beyond..."- comes in gatefold digipack sleeve w. silver embossed print
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Beyond |
do-LP |
Re-issue of the second album with extended remixes from [o t h e r] (2008) = otherworldy dark ambient in perfection! - "[OTHER] was a journey with friends, while The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond take the concept and listener further, deeper, in-between and beyond...." - deluxe gatefold edition with silver foil print; BLACK vinyl; lim. coloured vinyl also available (higher price) please ask
|
2022 |
€32.00 |
|
|
[The Dark Places of the Earth] |
do-LP |
Re-issue of the first album with extended remixes from [o t h e r], originally released on Vaultworks 2009 = otherworldy dark ambient in perfection! - "[OTHER] was a journey with friends, while The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond take the concept and listener further, deeper, in-between and beyond...." - deluxe gatefold edition with silver foil print; BLACK vinyl; lim. coloured vinyl also available (higher price) please ask
|
2022 |
€32.00 |
|
|
[O T H E R] |
do-LP |
first ever vinyl edition of the landmark album from 2008, the first / only LUSTMORD album that ever had guitar sounds on it, delivered by members of TOOL, ISIS and MELVINS.. "..resonates perfectly within the deep soundscapes that make up this frightening yet inspiring journey. " - deluxe gatefold edition with silver foil print; BLACK vinyl; lim. coloured vinyl also available (higher price) please ask
|
2022 |
€32.00 |
|
|
[Dark Places of the Earth] |
CD |
re-issue of the first album with extended remixes from [O T H E R], originally released on Vaultworks 2009 => otherworldy dark ambient in perfection! - "[OTHER] was a journey with friends, while The Dark Places of the Earth and Beyond take the concept and listener further, deeper, in-between and beyond...." - CD version, new layout by SALT - silver embossed gatefold digipak
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Much Unseen is also here |
CD |
the industrial legend, dark ambient inventor and (nowadays) soundtrack producer for films and video games, with a new studio album: music of parallel worlds, of the Unspeakable, the Unknown, of dangerous psychic terrains...- "My music is not meant to be explained - only listened to as a means of exposing the sheer insignificance of our primitive thoughts and actions within the vast scale of the cosmos - a scale which we as a species are ill equipped to comprehend." - CD version
|
2024 |
€16.00 |
|
| LUSTMORD & KARIN PARK |
Alter (lim. col. vinyl) |
do-LP |
"ALTER is a ritual of our times." - BRIAN WILLIAMS working together with 'nordic Pop diva' KARIN PARK - extremely ethereal and abysmal, but also beautiful and harmonic... most far away dronings collide with mournful, at times polyphonic vocalizations and choirs...- rare edition: lim. 150 copies on clear gold and silver; gatefold cover
|
2021 |
€35.00 |
|
|
Alter |
CD |
BRIAN WILLIAMS working together with 'nordic Pop diva' KARIN PARK - extremely ethereal and abysmal, but also beautiful and harmonic... most far away dronings collide with mournful, at times polyphonic vocalizations and choirs... "..it is a fascinating study of light and shade that delves deep into vast uncharted darkness."
|
2021 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Alter (black vinyl) |
do-LP |
"ALTER is a ritual of our times." => BRIAN WILLIAMS working together with the Swedish singer KARIN PARK : extremely ethereal and abysmal, but also beautiful and harmonic... most far away dronings collide with mournful, at times polyphonic vocalizations and choirs...- standard black vinyl edition, luxurious gatefold cover w. silver foil print
|
2021 |
€28.00 |
|
| LYKAION ECLIPSE |
Mesa |
CD-R |
the project of MATHIAS JOSEFSON (MOLJEBKA PVLSE) and ROBERT BROED with their rare second release (both were also active together as LURK): a recording of a self-oscillating feedback system, extremely smooth and amorph drone-clouds with slow subharmonic changes, sounds very distant and as through heavy haze... a mesmerizing one-tracker drone of 68+ min. length, playing tricks with your mind, leading you into a deep trance...
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| M.B. / COALMINER + ALLIES |
Antimateria |
LP |
split LP with two new M.B. pieces on one side, and four COALMINER (= scream noise duo from the Phillipines!) tracks feat. diverse collaboration guests on the other side: TORTURING NURSE (Shanghai), RICHARD RAMIREZ; GNAW THEIR TONGUES; UNSIGNIFIED DEATH + TOSHIIJI MIKAWA; extreme monolithic noise and extreme minimal ambience as daily practises for aural awareness! - comes on different coloured vinyl, each lim. 100 - our copies are RED
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| M.B.(MAURIZIO BIANCHI) / LAND USE |
Neural Frequencies |
mCD |
their third collaboration, very nice ghost-drones; three track EP in fullcolour fold out 5"-cover; edition of 500 copies, BACK IN STOCK!
|
2007 |
€8.50 |
|
| M.BRYO + D.M.T. |
Things I was due to forget (1979-2005) |
do-LP |
collection of material from this legendary figure (= MARK BURGHGRAEVE) from the minimal electronic / synthwave / industrial scene in Belgium, original founding member of the THE KLINIK... - "Things I was due to forget" is a compilation of songs that appeared on K7 and vinyls or came from M.BRYO's personal archives of unreleased tapes, all remastered by the artist especially for the release." - luxurious lim. gatefold cover edition, different vinyl colours (black, white), please ask
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| MACHINE LISTENER |
Sentient System |
CD-R |
this US-project (from Cleveland) was build with the idea of exploring the characteristics of machines and transforming this into sound, using machine sounds and electronics as sound sources.... the 7 tracks range from mysterious raw ambience to structured blocks of low fi and piercing signal noise and even harmonic elements, absolutely to discover! lim. ed. in DVD box with photographic inlay
|
2016 |
€9.00 |
|
| MACHINEFABRIEK |
With Voices |
CD |
much favoured MACHINEFABRIEK album with special concept: all 8 tracks feat. the processed voice of different musicians, like: TERRENCE HANNUM (LOCRIAN), PETER BRODERICK, MARISSA NADLER, RICHARD YOUNGS, CHANTAL ACDA, etc.. - "These human voices are featured as musical instruments rather than mere vehicles of lyrical content, resulting in a sub-linguistic mosaic of primordially stirring moods." - CD version in digisleeve
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
With Voices (col. vinyl) |
LP |
much favoured MACHINEFABRIEK album with special concept and atmosphere: all 8 tracks feat. the processed voice of different musicians, like: TERRENCE HANNUM (LOCRIAN), PETER BRODERICK, MARISSA NADLER, RICHARD YOUNGS, CHANTAL ACDA, etc.. - "These human voices are featured as musical instruments rather than mere vehicles of lyrical content, resulting in a sub-linguistic mosaic of primordially stirring moods." - lim. ed. RED vinyl
|
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
| MACHINERY DIRECTIVE / HYPNOSKULL |
Lobotomy Springs / Vier Geschichten |
CD |
split release by the well known Belgian rhythmic industrial project with another newcomer from Belgium, MACHINERY DIRECTIVE => the perfect combination of very loud and raw analog synth/machine drones, soggy loops, distorted rhythms that produce a real maelstrom, and hypnotic sequences that push you in a trancy state... - fabric pressed CD, lim. 100 copies only, oversized full colour cover + 2 x A5 inserts
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Lobotomy Springs / Vier Geschichten |
MC |
split release by the well known Belgian rhythmic industrial project with another newcomer from Belgium, MACHINERY DIRECTIVE => it's the perfect combination of very loud & raw analog synth/machine drones, soggy loops, distorted rhythms that produce a real maelstrom, and hypnotic sequences that push you in a trancy state... Prof. printed cassette w. oversized full colour cover + 2 A5 inserts, sticker, lim. 100
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| MAEROR TRI |
Meditamentum |
CD |
re-release of the 2nd. M.T. CD from 1994, collecting favoured cassette material recorded 1989-1992... "a seamless, darkly grand proclamation of the wordless beauty and sorrow that was Maeror Tri" - comes in brown cardboard-envelope with embroidered cloth-banderole & re-print of original artwork & liner-notes by Lutz Schridde, a German philosoph now living in China; last copies back in stock from the now in-active label MANIFOLD Records
|
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Hypnotikum II |
CD |
re-issue of the LP from 2000 (Absurd / Poeta Negra) - four long tracks created 1996 & 1997 based on loops used live in 1996; the powerful & noisy side of HYPNOTIKUM. For the first time on CD, lim. & numbered ed 300, comes in nice oversized gatefold / cardboard cover
|
2010 |
€12.50 |
|
|
Emotional Engramm |
CD |
re-issue of MT's last (5th) CD with recordings made 1993-1996, released by IRIS LIGHT in 1997; showing their deeply droning spheric & harmonic side, mainly based on field recordings & guitar-sounds... unavailable for a long time, this lovely re-edition comes in a 6-panel digipack with excellent new artwork by MARCIN LOJEK...
"...well, for God's sake, stop ... and stand and stare ... put your ear to the world, and listen to the song of the nightingale" [MARYTN BATES] |
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Mort Aux Vaches: Hypnos/Transe |
CD |
re-mastered re-issue of the fourth M.T. CD that came out 1997 in Staalpaats "Mort Aux Vaches"-series, with recordings made "live in the studio" in May 1995 at VPRO in Amsterdam with no overdubs; three movements of raw & contemplative power-ambience, symbolizing a 'different state of consciousness' = the expansion of the mind through sound; lim. 500 with new artwork by SALT (Ant-Zen)
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Meditamentum (I & II) |
do-CD |
re-mastered re-issue of MEDITAMENTUM I and MEDITAMENTUM II - both were collections of favourite tracks from the MC-only releases (originally released 1994 & 1999); lim. 500 special oversized gatefold cover design, comes with 2 bonus-tracks and the original liner notes by LUTZ SCHRIDDE. May the Noise be with you!
|
2013 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
MYEIN |
CD |
21 years after its original release, here comes another re-issue of M.T.'s maybe most favoured and "classic" album, three epic tracks incl. the 47 min. long title track, all recorded on 4-track analogue machines in 1992/1993..."It’s like an endless journey through forgotten catacombs that eventually leads to you own soul" [Björn Mascher]; deluxe "digi-book" design, edition of 300 copies
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| MAGDALENA SOLIS |
Hesperia |
MC |
Droney and experimental psychedelic space rock with mideastern influences a la GRAILS, from Belgium, comes on a professional copied RED MC with black print & full coloured cardboard box & inlay, and download code, lim. 55 copies. On a new label from Berlin
|
2011 |
€6.50 |
|
| MAGRINI, MASSIMO (BAD SECTOR) |
Vrachnas |
CD |
this is the very first solo album for MASSIMO MAGRINI aka BAD SECTOR, who impressively steps into new directions here, without loosing the typical B.S. sound completely... "inspired by hypnagogic hallucinations and presents one long track full of drones, noises, distant voices, surrealistic soundscapes, fragmented sounds..., for a real journey into the obscure side of mind." digipak edition of 400 copies
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| MAIN |
Ablation |
CD |
the return of ROBERT HAMPSONs project, known for beautiful guitar-dronescapes, now as a collaboration with STEPHAN MATHIEU => working with concrete objects (of unknown source), instruments (guitar, piano, 'ebowed phonoharp'), percussion, analog synth & Farfisa organ, they create somnambulant experimental sound-figures, slowly moving through imaginable spaces... really intoxicating! great comeback !
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
| MALLINDER, STEPHEN |
Um Dada |
CD |
co-founder and frontman of the lengendary CABARET VOLTAIRE with his first solo-album in 35 years ! "...Laced with leftfield house and cut-up sound collages, Um Dada is a melding of energies that are an exercise in simplicity and motion. Sincere, playful realism that beckons your body to move..." CD version in Gatefold cardboard sleeve
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| MALONE, KALI |
Living Torch |
CD |
the current superstar of electro-acoustic drone-minimalism with a new work, the marriage of instrumental (Bass Clarinet, Trombine, Boite A Bourdons) and electronic / synthetic sounds..."through its unique structural form and harmonic material, is a bold continuation of Kali Malone’s demanding and exciting body of work, while opening new perspectives and increasing the emotional potential of the music tenfold..."
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Does Spring Hide its Joy |
3 x CD |
a full immersion drone piece performed by KALI MALONE, STEPHEN O'MALLEY and LUCY RAILTON on tuned since wave oscillators, e-guitar and cello...-" The music is a study in harmonics and non-linear composition with a heightened focus on just intonation and beating interference pattern...Her nuanced minimalism unfolds an astonishing depth of focus and opens up contemplative spaces in the listener’s attention." - CD version with full 1 hour versions
|
2023 |
€23.50 |
|
| MAMA BÄR / MAMA BAER |
Mitten im Wald |
MC |
C-20 with two short & extreme sound-collages using speed-up found sounds from horror-movies combined with scary voice overs, crazy sung pop chants & more hard to stand outflows....11th tape on the great German tape label, always using coloured MC bodies & oversized art-covers (21x21cm) with additional object inside (this time something from the forest), lim. to only 41 copies !!
|
2013 |
€8.00 |
|
| MANIFESTO |
Hive |
CD |
this must the fourth full length CD (+ some CDRs and cassettes) by the recommended Swedish dark ambient industrial project (of the educated sound designer MAGNUS ZETTERBERG), this is dark ambient with a special emphasis on the very amorph and nebulous forms, subtle and dreamlike melancholic with occasional percussive / ritual elements... only 200 copies pressed
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| MANTRA, MICHAEL |
Amanita Lake |
do-CD & DVD |
two hours and a half of music plus DVD video by the master of "positive" or "new brain" ambience which he calls "Brain Hemisphere Harmonic Healing", a tool for synchronizing the brain hemispheres & reaching deep meditation states
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
| MARANHA, DAVID |
Noe's Lullaby |
CD |
the fourth solo-album for the OSSO EXOTICO mastermind is an epic work (52+ min) for a 7 piece ensemble, feat. all O.E. members + guitarist MANUEL MOTA, sax player RODRIGO AMADO, + drummer LUIS DESIRAT => very creepy, droney, slowed down percussion and guitar pulses, lots of cymbal-sounds,glass harmonics, bowed strings... always evolving, complex + atmospheric, mysteriously breathing..."as fascinating on an intellectual level as it is luxurious on a purely sensual one." [Allmusic.com] - special offer now!
|
2007 |
€6.00 |
|
| MARCHETTI, LIONEL |
Mue (la demeure brillante) |
mCD |
back in stock one of the remarkable releases in the nice Metamkine "Cinema pour l'oreille" mini-CD series; this 21 min long electro-acoustic piece in 7 parts uses extreme poetry/vocals (with texts by french writer WILLIAM PELLIER)and eruptive cut-up/fragmented/processed instrumental and electronic sounds, forming something bewildering beyond all typical genres... special priced now !
|
1993 |
€5.00 |
|
| |
Chasser (1ère étude naturelle) |
MC |
a work from 2012 (44+ min. long) that that uses many recordings already made in the 90's - as usual for L. MARCHETTI, no easy, but rewarding listening: many field recordings from mountain landscapes are in the mix as well as electronic sounds, piano and poetry - the result is as unique and suggestive as imaginable.. "Lionel Marchetti manage to approache his music as a source of images, recreating an artificial sound environment, a world within world." - lim. 80 copies, professional cover & tape
|
2018 |
€9.00 |
|
| MARCHETTI, LIONEL + SOIXANTE ETAGES |
same |
LP |
"Working with old cassettes from the French free experimental rock group Soixante Étages, the composer of concrete music Lionel Marchetti build a very special sound environment in seven parts. Archive and also new recording sessions are mixed with Lionel Marchetti own sounds to create a beautiful composition going through rock, poetry, songs and of course concrete music." = undescribable, fragmented, weird, and funny, one of the most DADAISTIC records we heard in a while... completley crazed out!!
|
2016 |
€16.00 |
|
| MARGOLIS, AL & DAN BURKE |
Live April 5, 2008 - Le Bonheur, Brussels, Belgium |
CD-R |
recording of a European collab-concert by the men behind IF, BWANA & ILLUSION OF SAFETY; full colour cover and probably only in a tiny edition
|
2009 |
€8.00 |
|
| MARTINIS, SOCRATES |
Au Seuil de la Liberte |
7 |
the Greek Drone Records artist also known as HELICE PIED, NIXILX.NIJILX and BLANCO ESTIRA NUESTRO now under his "real name"; a lovely 45 rpm disc inspired by RENE MARGRITTEs painting from 1937. coloured vinyl
|
2009 |
€6.00 |
|
| MARUTTI, ANDREA |
Sleepless Nights / Lysergic Mornings |
mCD-R |
ANDREA MARUTTI (aka AMON) started the ever amazing TAALEM series in 2001, and he got now the honour for a second release: the two compositions (based on a special concept to work with "errors", hiss and glitches) show his skills to create pulsing and radiating (dark) ambient with great development, tension and a certain rawness, integrating field recordings and found sounds... 21+ min. of best drone ambient around !
|
2019 |
€5.50 |
|
| MASKED DIODE |
same |
mCD-R |
lim. 200 in mini-DVD-Box / fullcolour-cover
|
2006 |
€9.00 |
|
| MASONNA |
Bursting Absolute Moods |
LP |
first ever release of the first MASONNA album from 1989 that should come out on VIS-A-VIS AUDIO ARTS but couldn't be realized then....."Cascades of electronic noise, a psychedelic touch and vocal belching mixed together constitute the ingredients of Mademoiselle Anne Sanglante Ou Notre Nymphomanie Auréolé, the double-barreled name for Masonna... The album is full of very rough harsh noise that's mostly made up of lots of distorted screaming..." - lim. 300 silkscreen cover + full colour postcard
|
2019 |
€22.50 |
|
| |
Hate |
do-LP |
re-issue of ultra rare / limited cassette-only release from 1995, with two untitled half-hour noise tracks; lim. 299 copies, gatefold cover
|
2021 |
€32.00 |
|
| MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE |
Elogia de la Sombra |
maxi-CD |
mini-album (two long 15+ min. tracks) in the typical LATITUDES design (special cardboard fold out cover with embossing & metallic colour print), numb. ed. 1000
|
2010 |
€11.50 |
|
|
Far West |
CD |
a turn for this remarkable "progressive folk" band with a shamanistic & experimental approach, now concentrating on the rituals of the western world, "a true psychedelic, audiophile experience to dissolve your body in"
|
2013 |
€13.50 |
|
| |
Further West Quad Cult |
LP |
complimentary LP for synced playback with "Far West".. 'a deep journey into the cave where the self dissolves'... lim. ed. with fold out poster! |
2015 |
€23.00 |
|
| MASTER MUSICIANS OF JOUJOUKA (JAJOUKA) |
Apocalypse Across the Sky |
do-LP |
for the first time on vinyl, these recordings made by BILL LASWELL in 1991 ".. the music performed in several hour long rituals on traditional instruments like tebel and tariyya (drums), ghaita (a woodwind instrument), lira (flute) and gimbri (stringed instrument) reveals hypnotic, trance-inducing qualities and is considered to have magical and healing properties... a pure document of the ensemble, raw and unpolished but exquisitely recorded" - gatefold sleeve, liner notes inlay, DL code
|
2020 |
€27.00 |
|
| MATERIA CONFUSA |
Rubedo |
mCD-R |
First promising self-released mCDR from this experimental US-project, creating dense droney soundscapes with trance-pulsating structures originating from different acoustic sources. Two tracks. “The pieces on this release are constructed from source material culled from entirely acoustic sources. Track one deals with the Alchemical process, the stages of transformation represented in audio form. Track two is based on sounds collected via Electronic Voice Phenomena. An attempt at evoking that numinous realm.” [Brian Kindley] |
2004 |
€6.00 |
|
| MATH / ZEININGER |
Tempest |
CD-R |
full-colour cardboard sleeve |
2002 |
€11.00 |
|
| MATHES, JEREMIE |
Oiarzun |
mCD-R |
the fourth published work by this promising French 'new experimental drone' artist, who uses mysterious field recordings taken from "vibrant matters of acoustic origins" and musical instruments for his long stretched transcension-drones that spread out like wind flurries in many directions, with slowly elevating overtunes like living creatures.. beautiful stuff, highly recommended !!
|
2013 |
€5.00 |
|
| MB / BAD SECTOR / SIGILLUM S |
Endometrio / Endometrio De-Composto |
do-CD |
re-issue of one of the true masterpieces by M.B.(originally LP from 1982 = recycling of his own material which he called "bionic music") - especially we love the 2nd long track with piercing drones and strange harmonies underneath, one of our favourite MB tracks; as as bonus you get a CD with two AWESOME 2016 remixes by two other already "classic" Italian post industrial groups: BAD SECTOR and SIGILLUM S
|
2016 |
€17.00 |
|
| MCDOUGALL, JAMES & HIROKI SASAJIMA |
Injya |
CD |
four long tracks of subtle field recordings made in Japan & Australia and brought together to form transcendental drone-weavings by these two rising sound artists... eighth release in this strong series by MYSTERY SEA, dealing with "spirits of specific places"; lim. 200 handnumbered copies, beautiful artwork as usual by DANIEL CROKAERT
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| MCDOWALL, DREW |
Lamina |
6 x CD-BOX |
*The six CD collection includes expanded editions of his four most recent Dais LPs (Collapse, 2015; Unnatural Channel, 2017; The Third Helix, 2018; and Agalma, 2020), alongside a disc of rarities (Undulations and Aberrations) and one of live performances (Entanglement). Taken together, it presents a definitive portrait of McDowall’s cryptic, questing artistry, forever seeking \\\"that sense of stepping over a threshold.* - sturdy cardboard box w. ribbon, extra sleeve for each CD, lim. 1000
|
2023 |
€38.50 |
|
| MECANO |
Waving Goodbye |
CD |
our favourite one and only dutch "intellectual Punk" or Post Punk band who (after their great time in the 80's) continued since 2005 with a more "Pop / Rock / Chanson" approach, still being inimitable: this rare Brazilian compilation was pressed + sold for their LAST EVER concert in Brazil late 2023 and contains classics from the past, partly in new versions, as well as newer material, plus one track that was only available as a download so far; lim. 200
|
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| MEIRINO, FRANCISCO |
A New Instability |
LP |
stereo version of a 32 channel piece commissioned for INA GRM, resulting in two side-long pieces of challenging / processed musique concrete (filled with physical intensity), source recordings have been made in a martial arts DOJO in Switzerland ! - "..seering frequencies build, swarm, and amass out of these episodes rise to psychologically tense crescendo that rupture at their heights, quickly turning attention towards a violence that originates from within..." - lim. 200 copies
|
2021 |
€18.50 |
|
| MEIRINO, FRANCISCO & KIKO C. ESSEIVA |
Focus on Nothing on Focus |
LP |
using the same source material, each composer is responsible for one side of this record, both use all kinds of devices to create their "intelligently sliced noise collages" [ISNC] - this is very dynamic, collageous, ever surprising stuff with lots of acoustic micro occurences, culled from all kinds of homemade objects and electronics, using reel-to-reel tape recorders, EMF detectors, piezo transducers... numbered ed. of 300 copies
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| MEIXNER, STEPHEN |
Between the Lines |
CD |
four dark compositions inspired by the symbolic architecture of DANIEL LIBESKIND for the Jewish museum in Berlin, moving between electro-acoustic and experimental ambience... very emotional and challenging at the same time, the first solo album by the CONTRASTATE-member from U.K.
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| MELANCHOHOLICS |
Masking My Monkeys |
7" |
the german trio working on dark guitarish & very filmic sound-drones, "thick atmospheric darkness" at its best. dark blue vinyl, different coloured silk-screen covers, lim. 300
|
2009 |
€7.00 |
|
|
Solar Cafe |
LP |
the third and last, so far unpublished album by this German "cinematic post-rock drone" and Drone Rec. artist (DR-98, 2009) trio who had to disband sadly after the passing of one member => desolated 'desert' guitar-chords, deep bass drones, voice samples, flickering electronic effects, field recordings... rough & melancholic at the same time - a great legacy of this impressive band, with many beautiful emotional moments; comes on coloured vinyl (180 gr.) + download code, lim. 400
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
'Masking my Monkeys' motive |
T-SHIRT |
heavy T-Shirt with the Drone Records 7" (DR-98) cover print, very nice.. shirt colours: green, brown, khaki, sizes: XL, L
|
2015 |
€20.00 |
|
| MENACE RUINE |
Union of Irreconcilables |
CD |
fourth album by the great avantgardish "medieval metal" band
|
2010 |
€14.50 |
|
|
Alight in Ashes |
CD |
fourth album by the Canadian martial ambient/folk/black metal cult act, who created a unique style since their first album/masterpiece "The Die is Cast"
|
2012 |
€14.50 |
|
| |
Venus Armata |
CD |
the sixth album of our most favourite "medieval harmonies & vocals vs. transcension guitar doom drones" male/female duo from Montreal, more song-oriented as before.... "If Nostradamus had spoken through NICO, the result might have resembled Venus Armata" [Pitchfork]
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| MENCHE, DANIEL |
Guts |
CD |
GUTS is using the inner parts of a piano as only sound-source; single sounds drown into unusual drone-fields & dark reverb, you can feel almost bursting metal & wood... four masterful tracks
|
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Guts |
do-LP |
GUTS is using the inner parts of a piano as only sound-source; single sounds drown into unusual drone-fields & dark reverb, you can feel almost bursting metal & wood... four masterful tracks, lim. vinyl version
|
2012 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Sleeper |
3 x CD |
a monumental three hour work made to fall asleep to, mirroring the strange condition between waking and sleeping: deep sub bass pulses and waves, organ-like harmonic layers, rough edged "chainsaw" drones with hypnotic effect, metal object clatter, all drenched in overtune resonances... NOT an ambient record to lull you in: "The ghostly frequencies that flare out of from his drones almost always evolve into sharp and blinding coronas of sound, embruing the album with an unnerving tension." lim. 500
|
2017 |
€22.00 |
|
| |
The Soaring |
CD |
THE SOARING is based mainly on the voices of JOE PRESTON (THRONES, etc.) and FAITH COLOCCIA (MAMIFFER), with additional cello sounds, a most meditative and elevating experience (a one tracker of endless 62+ min.)... - "The Soaring is a sensory experience of nitrous-grade drones and helium-weight ambience." - 300 copies, metallic colour print
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| MENS, RADBOUD & MATTHIJS KOUW |
1 |
LP |
like ELEH or PHILL NIBLOCK, a "pure drone approach"-album, but on this collab. by the two dutch sound artists, a very monotone / monochromatic drone starts to warp and develop harmonic 'bubbles' and resonances after a while that seem to be filled with independent life on their own, like slow dancers of shimmerings waves... the special beauty in here is only revealed after you crossed a certain threshold of time, and your mind... lim. 300
|
2017 |
€16.50 |
|
| |
3/4 |
do-CD |
third collab release of the new dutch drone stars! => 'On their new album, MENS and KOUW use a 12-meter magnetic string instrument and a modular synthesizer to create 6 carefully tuned pieces. With a total playing time of over 2 hours, ‘3/4’ continues the long-form drone explorations first released on the LP ‘1’ on Moving Furniture Records in February 2017.." - a homage to the drone works of ELLEN FULLMAN, LA MONTE YOUNG and ALVIN LUCIER, ed. of 300 copies
|
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
| MENTER, WILL |
Always Sound |
BOOK / 3 x CD |
200 page book of photographs, texts and documents, all full colour, along with 3 CDs presenting the great "land art" of British (sound) artist PHIL MENTER, who uses natural elements like wood, slate, stone, water, etc.. for his huge (often outdoor) installations, sound sculptures and (dance) performances...very beautiful, highly recommended !
|
2013 |
€30.00 |
|
| MERZBOW |
Dead Leaves |
CD |
the urban blues for noise-o-phils !
comes in 6-panel full-colour digipack
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Merzbow Duo 86 + 89 |
do-LP BOX |
unreleased studio recordings with KIYOSHI MIZUTANI made in 1986 and 1989; lim. & numbered 200 copies on different coloured vinyl in handmade black cardboard box, with insert... "A fantastically varied Duo Merzbow release. The only piano that’s piano like on any release I’ve heard. As well as great use of chain." [Donsolo]
|
2018 |
€65.00 |
|
| MERZBOW / M.B |
Merzbow meets M.B. |
LP + 7inch |
first ever album collaboration by two of the most important and well known industrial and harsh noise artists => "Dissonant Abstractions" and "Surreal Distortions" are characterizing the music quite aptly, these are wall of sound drones with lots of subtle distortion and distant harmonies appearing... comes on multi-coloured vinyl and with a bonus split 7", only 267 copies were pressed in total !!
|
2013 |
€26.50 |
|
| MERZBOW / RAVEN / DAO DE NOIZE |
Animal Liberation |
CD |
after "This is the Truth" (2007) and "Transgression" (2008) this is only the third full length LP by KEVIN TOMKINS (ex WHITEHOUSE) "transgressive art" project; one side sounds more suspenseful and dark, the other goes the classic power elecronics way, all powerful and captivating; comes in heavy gatefold sleeve on colour vinyl, numbered 300 copies
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| MERZBOW / SCUM |
Scissors for Cutting up Merzbow |
3 x LP / 2 x CD set |
expanded re-issue of the do-LP from 1989 (released on Merzbow's ZSF produkt), now spread on 3 LPs (CD version included, too), lim. 200 only! "Present re-production systems point in the direction of a future hyper-dimension of physics. We no longer use a dialectical approach in our disposal/recycling system, only a forward movement to the reproduction of re-production." [MASAMI AKITA]
|
2018 |
€49.50 |
|
| META MEAT |
Voices |
7inch |
4-track 7" blending hand-drum percussion with vocal elements from different ethnic cultures.. "some of these voices articulate the clamour of rebellion, some whisper the poetry of nature, other evoke a spiritual quest or chant their ancient tales…" - luxus edition lim. 150 copies with 4 artprints included and special cardboard / cover gloss print |
2024 |
€18.00 |
|
| MGR (MUSTARD GAS AND ROSES) |
Nova Lux |
LP |
solo-project of MIKE GALLAGHER of ISIS ! Lim. 200 on blue/gray vinyl, full colour outer & inner-sleeve ! |
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Wavering on the Cresting Heft |
LP |
lim. 500 / solo-project of ISIS-guitarist MIKE GALLAGHER / 180gr vinyl, heavy stock full colour sleeve & innersleeve!
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| MICHAEL, DAVID & SLAVEK KWI |
MMABOLELA |
do-CD |
the more or less same African field recordings from two different perspective/microphones (recorded during a 2 week workshop in South Africa organized by FRANCISCO LOPEZ in 2013): SLAWEK KWI (ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE) and DAVID MICHAEL recorded the wildlife, certain animals and bugs, subaquatic sounds or just the midnight atmospheres revealing a fascinating variety; nice full colour presenation, a must for field recording specialists!
|
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
| MIGHTY ACTS OF GOD |
Joy of the Mountain |
CD-R |
wallpaper-cover / full-colour mini-poster inlay / organic plant-materials included / lim. 87 copies
|
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
| MIMETIC DESIRE |
Sacred Aim |
DVD |
first DVD-release for JEROME SOUDANs (VON MAGNET) solo-project, an extensive collection of very colourful & futuristic video art clips with lots of bonus material (clips of other projects, live material, experimental interview extracts, etc..) , adaquate visualisations for his hypnotic mix of exotic ambient / ethno electronica & IDM beats... comes with 8p. booklet.. special offer now !
|
2006 |
€7.50 |
|
| MIMIR |
Mimyriad |
CD |
re-issue of the remix-version of the second MIMIR-album (1993) that appeared later on LP, a project by EDWARD KA-SPEL & CHRISTOPH HEEMANN, here also featuring JIM O'ROURKE & SILVERMAN....
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
| MINAMATA |
Cyclator |
CD & DVD |
CD-album with NEW material rec. 2002-2007; on the DVD a full live-performance (filmed April 2007 in Antwerp on the NUIT & BROUILLARD festival) plus the video-film screened at this performance (3 hours of video material in total); lim. 500 & almost sold out at the label !!
|
2009 |
€19.50 |
|
| |
Fukushima |
CD |
the latest, ambitious work of the French industrialists is an emotional noise-drama based on the Fukushima disaster, harsh and oppressive, devastating and sad at the same time! - "a free sonic interpreting of the japanese industrial disaster of the nuclear power station of Fukushima - the soundtrack of this dramatic event, mixing cold and telluric electronics with metal elements and heavily processed vocals. The entire recording sounds like radiations eating your skin!"
|
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| MINIT |
Now right here |
LP |
the great 3 track LP by this Australian duo (JASMINE GUFFOND and TORBEN TILLY), extremely contemplative & hypnotic drone-layers, somehow illuminated from the inside, gaining slowly volume and densitiy.. back in stock, our highest recommendation!! |
2004 |
€12.00 |
|
| MINTON, PHIL + AUDREY CHEN + GUY SEGERS + PETER JACQUEMYN + TEUN VERBRUGGEN |
Quintet |
CD |
crazy, chaotic anti music with free jazz influences, improvised with voice & instruments, with enough tension & silent parts to take you on a ecstatic journey... to suck you in.... and spit you out again!
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| MIRROR |
Still Valley |
CD |
probably MIRRORS most calm, meditative and timeless sounding release, revealing mysterious undertones..; recorded by ANDREW CHALK, CHRISTOPH HEEMANN and JIM O'ROURKE between May 2002 - January 2005; comes w. special dye-cut cover and has 1 bonus track compared to the previous LP version
|
2005 |
€15.00 |
|
| MIRT |
Most |
12" |
very first vinyl release for the Polish label NEFRYT known from many great CDR releases presenting the Polish ambient/drone scene (HATI, ARSZYN, UCHO/OKO, etc.); a long play (24min) 12" by MIRT with subtle prepared field recordings &instrumental sounds (clarinet, accordion), very beautiful and softly hypnotic, comes in full colour cover &inlay, lim. ed. 250 copies
|
2009 |
€12.50 |
|
| MIXED BAND PHILANTROPIST |
The impossible Humane |
LP |
first ever vinyl re-issue of the very rare & legendary collectors LP by this side-project of NEW BLOCKADERS - a milestone of mail-art & collage-noise, using source material from P16.D4, ORGANUM, NURSE WITH WOUND, ANDREW CHALK, H.N.A.S., ASMUS TIETCHENS, MERZBOW, HATERS, and many more... comes with two bonus tracks not on the original LP from a rare 7", lim. 400
|
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
| MIYATA, RYOSUKE |
In a Drainage Outlet |
mCDR |
violet drones! - composer from Tokyo who stands in the tradition of poetic or nostalgic ambience with classical / instrumental influences... four beautiful "endless moments" movements, waving, caressing, suspended, but with enough droning energy.. somewhere between W. BASINSKI and TIM HECKER, to discover !
|
2014 |
€5.00 |
|
| MNORTHAM (=MICHAEL NORTHAM) |
Automnal 2003 |
CD |
masterful field recording drones, our highest recommendation !! |
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| MOAN |
Endemia |
CD-R |
we could get back few copies back in of some release from the Polish dark ambient / industrial label SOULWORM, all in highly professional design! Lim. 250 in DVD box with glossy mini-poster & full colour cover
|
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| MODELBAU |
X |
BOOK + CD |
the main project of dutch experimental underground legend FRANS DE WAARD is since 10 years MODELBAU, with a current stream of limited micro releases filled with minimal / immersive ambience, using mainly analog equipment and imaginative concepts.. - MEEUW designed this beautiful full colour book (about 100 pages) with "everything about Modelbau in the closest detail via designs, diagrams, photos and more", incl. a 70 min. CD with previously unreleased material, lim. 100 copies
|
2022 |
€23.00 |
|
| MOGARD, ABUL |
Kimberlin (Original Soundtrack) |
LP |
soundtrack to the short film KIMBERLIN by DUNCAN WHITLEY, using field recordings from the Isle of Portland (UK) = > four extremely subtle, but slowly swelling and dramatically evolving dronescapes, less raw and even more meditative as before.. once you've sunken in, it's difficult to resist these absorbing drones... the track titles are taken from the poetry of CECIL 'SKYLARK' DURSTON (1910-1996); this is the CLEAR vinyl version, lim. 500 copies
|
2019 |
€23.00 |
|
| MOHAMMAD (MMMD) |
Pèkisyon Funebri |
3 x 10inch BOX |
after the great "SPIRITI" 3 x LP-box (2011) which became a collector's item, this is the second vinyl-box by the Greek "chamber doom" trio/duo, operationg in similar acoustic realms with their incredible low end Cello drone harmonics..." Let it all sink in. Let it make your bones shake. Let it change how you walk. Let it bring you down when you feel too proud. Let it pull you up when you feel too small. Let it be and let yourself be changed by its unrelenting resonance." [Tinymixtapes]
|
2016 |
€58.00 |
|
|
Roto Vildblomma |
CD |
re-issue of the first CD from 2010, only 111 copies pressed!! => the Greek trio (Coti K.: double bass, ILIOS: oscillators, Nikos Veliotis: cello) started their drone journey on these 5 tracks, between the now well known deep bassy harmonic cello- & bass-drones and pure low end frequency hums and pulses, a reduction to basic vibrations that is captivating and contemplative... + at the end a surprising musical, obscure slo-mo Jazz "song", but in the MOHAMMAD style..
|
2016 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Pekisyon Funebri |
CD |
CD version of their second vinyl-set (3 x 10") after SPIRITI, incl. one bonus-track... operating in similar acoustic realms with their incredible low end Cello drone harmonics..."Let it all sink in. Let it make your bones shake. Let it change how you walk. Let it bring you down when you feel too proud. Let it pull you up when you feel too small. Let it be and let yourself be changed by its unrelenting resonance." [Tinymixtapes]
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| MOHANNA, NICKOLAS |
Phase Line |
CD |
multi-media sound artist from New York City who creates demanding, fast changing, flickering / oscillating synthetic music (based on concrete city sound sources) with stunning effect, sets you into a strange, de-humanized world...two tracks produced for the sound exhibition FOAM in London; "a great work of busy electronic systems, buzzing around like bees. Like big city traffic" [Frans de Waard] lim. 200
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| MOLASSES |
Trouble at Jinx Hotel |
CD |
fourth album feat. members of GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPOROR, CODEINE, COME, SHALABI EFFECT, SET FIRE TO FLAMES, etc..
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| MOLJEBKA PVLSE |
Sadalsuud |
CD |
back in stock this phantastic multi-layered multi-drone one tracker (69+ min.) CD of the Swedish project, created with diverse guest musicians and sound sources => smooth / earthy dronescapes, whispering voices as coming from an intermediate dimension, surrealistic, microdynamic and complex... a true drone masterpiece !!
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Zojo |
CD |
surrealistic dreamdrone-scapes of a higher beauty; you can not recognize how these sounds were made anymore, really captivating stuff that sinks slowly into your deeper mind; feat. Japanese artist MICHIKO KASHIBA, MOLJEBKA PVLSE has created this album without any musical instruments; very much recommended !!
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
|
In Love and Death You are Alone |
10inch |
after a long break our series dealing with "the Unknown" continues with this great 10" by Stockholm based MOLJEBKA PVLSE, presenting two dense & emotional drone-tracks ("In Love and Death" , "You are Alone") that form an existential unity; lim. 300 only, comes on crystal clear vinyl with 'frozen bronze' metallic cover print, artwork design by THOMAS DOHMEN.
####
OUT NOW !! |
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
|
A Transformation |
CD-R |
our favourite Swedish psychonautic drone project with three new tracks - revealing how droning foundations are superimposed by 'concrete' sound material, which is never becoming too distinct, but stays in a foggy acoustic background like in a dream, with elevating transcendental effect at the end... lim. 100 professional digipack ed., highly recommended again !!
|
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
|
The Distant Past Resound |
CD |
epic ambient one-tracker (74+ min., three movements) with beautiful harp, piano and double bass harmony parts from guests ISABEL F., KRIS KULDKEPP and HARA ALONSO.. - *outlined in a very expressive way so as to release a whole palette of colors, moods and emotions from the sound matter, allowing you to lose yourself even deeper with each subsequent listening...* - lim. 300, 6 panel digipak
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
|
The Distant Past Resound |
MC |
rare cassette version (30 copies) of this epic ambient composition (74+ min., three movements) with beautiful harp, piano and double bass harmony parts from guests ISABEL F., KRIS KULDKEPP and HARA ALONSO.. - *outlined in a very expressive way so as to release a whole palette of colors, moods and emotions from the sound matter, allowing you to lose yourself even deeper with each subsequent listening...* - prof. cover, printed cassette, sealed case
|
2023 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Topography of Frequency and Time |
CD |
the Swedish ambient experimental and electro-acoustic "multidimensional drone"project with the sixth release in our new CD series, applying the concept of TOPOGRAPHY to sounds and time, which can be interpretated "geographically" like a landscape in a similar way.. - "an expedition through expansive sonic landscapes that stretch beyond our daily awareness...an open invitation to transcend the visual confines of physical space, encouraging a deep dive into the unexplored realms.." - lim. 250 copies --- excerpt: https://soundcloud.com/drone-records/moljebkapvlse-topographyoffrequencyandtime-excerpt
|
2024 |
€13.00 |
|
| MONOCUBE |
The Rituals |
CD |
2nd proper album by the Ukrainian project => unreal, haunting desert guitar drones collide with eerie, rumbling winds, pulses and strange organic entities as coming from another dimension...9 pieces that apear like 9 different ritual spheres.. "While too many dark ambient albums sounds like echoed wind noises with an occasional bell ring, The Rituals offers something else: a full journey in the desolate wastelands of darkness. Perfection." [Heathen Harvest]
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Substratum |
CD |
awesome fourth album by the now Berlin-based "transcension drone" ambience artist, whose creations appear like direct transformation of unconscious matter, the radiating slow motion expanses have an almost uncanny suction into otherworlds, filled with reverberation drones, amorph low fi winds and sparse harmonic arrangements.. "The outcome is considered as a reflection of non-verbal communication - An alchemy of mysterious spirit."; ed. of 500 copies
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| MONOS (DARREN TATE & COLIN POTTER) |
Sunny Day in Saginomiya |
CD-R |
tiny re-edition (90 copies) of the long deleted debut album from 2001, two long tracks merging (at times quite concete) field recordings (DAISUKE SUZUKI) and electronics (DARREN TATE, COLIN POTTER) in a highly meditative, ZEN-like way... comes in standard jewel-case with full colour cover, professionally duplicated
|
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| MONTEIRO, ALFREDO COSTA & BEN OWEN |
Frêle À Vide |
CD-R |
four untitled tracks of very 'brittle' minimal drones, first collaboration by the US / Spanish improvisers & soundartists = > "pure sonic matter without any harmonic or melodic consideration"', made out of walkman feedbacks, short wave radio, microphone... lim. 150 copies, six-panel cover printed utilizing archival pigment ink on strathmore paper
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| MOOR, ANDY |
Marker |
CD |
first solo-CD of guitarist from THE EX & DOG FACED HERMANS. Comes with extensive full-colour booklet
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| MOORE, ANTHONY / TOBIAS GREWENIG / DIRK SPECHT |
The April Sessions |
LP |
after the great "Ore Talks" another hallucinogenic dream-drug collaboration of A. MOORE with members of THERAPEUTISCHE HÖRGRUPPE KÖLN... - "This journey, this slowly drifting sonic meditation, is an 'inner soundscape', a dialogue between the senses, the conscience and the world, inside / outside, interconnected. Like waking up from a long dream, and being stuck into its echo..." - highly recommended, most sublime & suggestive subconscious sounds again..
|
2021 |
€16.00 |
|
| MORI, IKUE & CHRISTIAN RONN |
Chordis Et Machina |
LP |
meeting of two experienced musicians/composers (IKUE MORI was drummer for DNA, inside DEATH AMBIENT with FRED FRITH, etc..) at EMS in Stockholm, for these 5 stimulating 'microscopic otherworlds" improvisations... "Endless probing that hooks into your neurons, this album leaves sonic organisms floating around you. Even if that's merely an illusion, the alchemy of Mori and Rønn’s hyperactive stew is very real." [Marc Masters]
|
2018 |
€23.00 |
|
| MOSCOW HOLOCAUST SOUNDTRACK |
same |
CD |
the early experimental project of E. VORONOVSKY (CISFINITUM) and IVAN TIHOMIROV, recorded in Moscow in 1998 and released as cassette on INSOFAR VAPOUR BULK => rough and droning low-fi experiments with microphone, reverb, voice & feedbacks, one of the first signs of the Industrial / Drone scene in Russia at that time!! "Self-explaining title. Dronning misanthropea. Female vox, feedbacks, samples. Post-industrial desert, ambient wind, sand in your ears and eyes and gothic sadness in both hemispheres."
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| MOTHRA |
Doom Engine |
LP |
- "Sounds like it was recorded in a slaughterhouse, after-hours..." [Bart Furp] - most extreme old school torture industrial by this project from Japan with members from LINEKRAFT and SCRELOMA, , with some psychedelic (rock) moments in between... "...full of Industrial junk percussion, "Doom Engine" was created using gas tanks, iron plates, junk metal, heavy bass, distorted / screamed vocals, and psychedelic sound imagery." - lim. 400
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| MOTT, NICK |
The Visitors |
LP |
after the great 7" on Lumberton this is the very first solo LP/album for the ex VOLCANO THE BEAR - an incredible record full of weird, melancholic & unsettling arrangements (using often vocal & instrumental sources but also simple electronics, loops & tapes), at times it sounds like a more orchestral/humming version of GHEDALIA TAZARTES, then more 80's styled similar to RESIDENTS or RENALDO & THE LOAF, all lovely surreal; lim. 250 copies, very much recommended for explorers of the unexpectable..
|
2012 |
€16.50 |
|
| MUNDAL, ARE |
Kreis |
12inch |
impressive long play (45 RPM) 12" by Norwegians "doom collage" droner, soon to be featured on Drone Records!! => this is the place where surrealistic / hallucinogenic visions, dark cosmic connotations, strange cinematic samples and dense dark post industrial tunes melt into a ritualistic atmosphere... the perfect music for our times of hazy illusions, alternate realities and self deceptions... - lim. 100 copies w. phantastic artwork and 3 artprint inlays, hand-numbered to 100 copies! Get your poison now !
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Compilation Vol. 1 |
do-CD |
this compilation collects all existing vinyl material: two LPs, one 7" and the recent 'Kreis' 12", + a bonus track from the Norwegian dark industrial surrealist...=> this is the place where hallucinogenic visions, dark cosmic connotations, strange cinematic samples and dense dark post industrial tunes melt into a ritualistic atmosphere... the perfect music for our times of hazy illusions, alternate realities and self deceptions...- excellent artwork, too, double digipak, numbered ed. 200 copies
|
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| MURMER |
We share a Shadow |
CD |
two masterpieces of processed field recordings, almost poetic 'concrete' drones, shimmering & emotional...
lim. ed. of 300 with hand water-coloured artwork & letter-press
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Specular Reflection (Liquid Solid Redux 2000-2010) |
mCDR |
interesting concept: this is the "digital version" (digitally re-worked sound sources) of a piece from 2000 that used the same sound sources processed in an analogue (4-track machine) way... mysterious metallic drones & concrete drops, wonderful..
|
2012 |
€5.00 |
|
| |
Periodic Exercises in (f)utility [homework 2016-2022] |
do-CD |
a collection of pieces published the last 7 years, most appeared in taalem's excellent online "Homework" series at the end of a year => awesome field and object recording "ambience" (like sounds from harbours, water, grain, oil, nylon strings..) with the special emotional touch and sensitivity..- *His field recordings are usually entirely obscured, which adds to the beauty of it all. Murmer uses quite a bit of filtering and prefers darker sounds... * [Vitai Weekly] - lim. 250 gatefold sleeve, 4 p booklet
|
2023 |
€15.00 |
|
| MUSLIMGAUZE |
Shekel of Israel Occupation |
CD+SHIRT |
a withdrawn/unreleased album from 1993, which was replaced through the "Betrayal" album, some remixes of these basic versions appeared later on various releases; lim. 120 copies only, comes in fake-leather sleeve with gold foil print and insert, plus high quality black / silver (with special foil) colour T-Shirt, size L
|
2019 |
€35.00 |
|
|
UZI |
LP |
first time re-issue of LP from 1989 (Parade Amoureuse) - "Muslimgauze's gem from the late 80s. Cinematic, minimal, noisy, hypnotic, and gloomy. Probably not so overtly Middle Eastern as his later works, though definitely bearing an influence. Backed by electric drones percussion forms a living, breathing atmosphere of impending menace." - lim. 400 copies on GREY vinyl with fold-out (12" x 24") poster
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Farouk Enjineer |
do-LP |
first vinyl re-issue of the praised album from 1997 (Soleilmoon), lim. 600 copies on black vinyl - " This is MUSLIMGAUZE at their peak! This is one of the absolute best albums Byrn made, superb all around. Amazing high and low tech sounds circling and coliding together, to make one remarkable album. It sounds like you may have sand in your speakers. Unmistakable Gauze!" [SAW]
|
2021 |
€30.00 |
|
| |
Lo-Fi India Abuse |
LP |
very nice re-issue of praised album from 1999 (BSI Records), very percussive and loopy.. lim. 500 black vinyl with full colour inlay - "Nearly all of the tracks have hand percussion in varying tempos and intensities and at least 1/2 make use of electronic noise surges. The sound is very crisp and clean, extremely well produced, recorded and nicely varied throughout the length of the disc.." [Brainwashed]
|
2023 |
€24.00 |
|
| MVK (MATTHIJS KOUW) |
ER-1 |
CD-R |
this rising drone/minimal artist from Utrecht, Netherlands, has deconstructed source sounds from the KORG Electribe ER-1 Analog Drum Machine for this album (10 tracks, 49+ min.), with stunning result: strangely morphed and somehow 'organic' drones, granular sounds, almost bubbling quasi rhythms and metalloid overtones appear.. sounds like nothing else, absolutely to discover ! Lim. 100 copies, prof. digipak ed.
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| MY BLOODY VALENTINE |
EP's 1988-1991 |
do-CD |
collection of EPs by the unique British dream/drone/noise pop pioneers, who co-establised a new style that was called 'shoegazer': "You made me realise", "Feed my with your Kiss", "Glider", "Tremolo", and some rare extras plus two previously unpublished tracks ! Comes in oversized 8-panel oversized cover, with booklet, new pics & liner notes
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| MYTRIP |
Circle of Loss |
MC |
cassette mini-album by the favoured Bulgarian drone-act, most dark & ethereal & powerful, this EP reminds us on the great albums of Canadians AUN for example.. lim. 37 copies only !!
|
2017 |
€6.00 |
|
| MZ.412 |
Ulvens Broder |
10inch |
the return of Scandinavians "death industrial" project (12 years after the last studio album), = NORDVARGR DRAKH ULVTHARM; feat. B-Side with ORDO ROSARIUS EQUILIBRIO; limited ed. on three vinyl colours; BLACK and WHITE in stock ! "If Ulvens Broder is an indication of what’s to come in the forthcoming full-length album from these sonic geniuses of destruction, then it should be nothing short of devastating, if there is anything left that is.." [NoiseBeneathTheSnow]
|
2018 |
€18.00 |
|
| NADJA |
Under the Jaguar Sun |
do-LP |
this vinyl version features three completely different remixes (from last years do-CD with the same name) by NADJA and a real stunning one by EDWARD KA-SPEL! Comes in oversized "book bound" full colour gatefold sleeve
|
2010 |
€26.50 |
|
|
Flipper |
LP |
special release dedicated to dolphin & wales, all profits are donated to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation; four long tracks, feat. ANGELA CHAN & PETER BRODERICK (on violin & viola); very subtle, slow, harmonic & beautiful... definitely one of our most favourite NADJA release; comes with free download code, clear vinyl, lim. 500, 180gr. vinyl
|
2013 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Tangled |
7inch |
last copies of this limited new tour single, with surprising doom metal material!! lim. 200, nice vellum paper cover
|
2014 |
€8.50 |
|
|
Queller |
CD |
second ed. re-issue of the Essence LP from 2014 that sold out immediately, for many listeners (and us) one of the best NAJDA LPs ever....four tracks of what is now called "DREAMGAZE", ethereal slow motion heaviness; comes in a wonderful designed oversized mini-gatefold cover, silkscreened & with die-cut bellyband and mini-poster, lim. 450 copies
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
|
The Stone is not hit by the Sun, nor carved with a Knife |
CD |
studio album with three new tracks recorded 2015, inspired by a runic inscription on an Icelandic burial stone.... "Slow, heavily distorted doom songs, alternating with atmospheric guitar ambient, drums and delayed shoegazing vocals, this is Nadja pur-sang" [Merchants of Air] - the CD version has a fourth bonus track!!!
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Autopergamene |
do-LP |
re-arranged re-issue of the CD from 2010 (Essence Music), one of the highlights in the NADJA discography! The three tracks have been re-mixed to form three side-long tracks, plus there's an unreleased fourth track on Side D, built from segments of the others... black vinyl lim. 200, gatefold cover
|
2018 |
€25.00 |
|
|
Luminous Rot |
LP |
almost three years after the glorious "Sonnborner" NADJA are back on the SUNN O)))-label Southern Lord, with this heavily distorted, throbbing & pulsing drone-doom monster, everything seems to blur inside thick atmospheric air, a full dose of (sub) bassy, oneiric hallucination... - comes on milky, YELLOW vinyl (lim. 500), w. colourful gatefold cover
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Labyrinthine |
CD |
extremely heavy, doomy new album with special concept => "Four extended tracks of atmospheric doom sludge, each with a different guest vocalist: Alan Dubin (Gnaw, Khanate), Rachel Davies (Esben & The Witch), Lane Shi Otayonii (Elizabeth Colour Wheel), & Dylan Walker (Full of Hell)....Labyrinthine explores themes of identity and loss, monstrosity and regret, extreme asceticism, the differences between labyrinths and mazes, etc.. " - no vinyl version, but numerous Cassette versions on other labels exist!
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| NADJA & VAMPILLIA |
The perfect World |
CD |
collaboration by NADJA with this 'brutal orchestra' from Japan (three vocalists, two guitars and violins, etc.) feat. ex BOREDOMS member; a hybrid of doom and neo-classical music => new mixes from the limited / deleted Japanese tour-edition CD from last year ("Primitive World"), plus some extra tracks
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
|
The perfect World |
LP |
collaboration by NADJA with this 'brutal orchestra' from Japan (three vocalists, two guitars and violins, etc.) feat. ex BOREDOMS member; a hybrid of doom and neo-classical music; the lim. vinyl version has new mixes from the limited / deleted Japanese tour-edition CD plus one extra track!
|
2013 |
€22.50 |
|
| |
Imperfection |
LP |
LP version of the rare japan tour only CD from 2014 with new artwork; 400 copies black vinyl -"Imperfection was recorded as if both bands were one, with Nadja playing their world-acknowledged thick unearthly droning wall of bass and guitars, while Vampillia arranged the doomy acoustic drumming, beautifully harsh classical strings and piano. This instrumental voyage will take you to the highest peaks in a crystal-clear sunny day only to drag you to the blackest abyssal ocean's depths right afterwards."
|
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
| NADJA / NETHERWORLD |
Magma to Ice |
CD |
each 2 solo-tracks & 1 collab-track by both projects; comes in oversized full-colour cardboard-folder
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| NAM-KHAR |
Secret Essence*Sangwa Dupa |
CD |
Drone Rec. artist NAM-KHAR (MIND-06 LP) with a stunning album on WINTER-LIGHT, the new dutch dark ambient specialist; in fact this is NAM-KHARs first proper full-lenght CD => 9 dark and subtle transmissions, creating sound-fields where electronics and ethnic instruments merge, extremely focused and immersing, reminding us on some AURAL HYPNOX releases... excellent (sub) consciousness music, for your deeper mind! Lim. 300
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| NAMBLARD, MARC |
F. Guyana |
CD |
field recordings of French Guyana, recorded in the coastal regions in three consecutive years; 11 tracks (72+ min.) of wonderful, often dreamlike and surreal surroundings, from ocean waves to insects to most obscure, incredible sounding animals of all kinds, with a great spatial recording quality; reminds on CHRIS WATSON's wildlife recordings, but has a more atmospheric character often... comes with extensive full colour booklet and exact documentation
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| NAMOSH |
SCHOCKO & CO |
BOOK & CD |
art-book lim. 50 & CD-R with four audio-collages between music & earplay; incl. four original drawings, signed
|
2007 |
€50.00 |
|
| NEBELUNG |
Mistelteinn |
LP |
re arrangement of the first EP from 2005 - all songs have been re-recorded and newly treated => this is very emotional German 'nature-mysticism'-folk with a guitarish & almost 'wavey' character; using lyrics by BAUDELAIRE & NIETZSCHE... "The delicacy of the picked guitars, the mournful melancholy of the cello, and the warm sonority of the matured voice": our favourite German neo-folk band! lim. 300 copies, white vinyl
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
| NECKS, THE |
Mosquito / See through |
do-CD |
two over one hour long pieces from 2004 by the Australian minimal Jazz trio, comparions have been made with ALICE COLTRANE or TALK TALK...
|
2004 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Three |
CD |
three excellent new 20+ minutes pieces by everone's favourite floating Jazz trio, the first piece with hallucinogenic percussion work must be one of their best ever! "Das selbstgesteckte Ziel, auf jedem Album anders klingen zu wollen, erfüllt das Trio mit seinem vielschichtigen, immersiven Klanggebräu aus experimentellem Jazz, Minimal Music, Ambient und Neoklassik abermals bravourös" [Laut.de]
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Travel |
CD |
THE NECKS start each day with a 20 min. impro session in the studio, the new album proofs again their unique profession to create the best floating droneZjazz of this planet, on the four new tracks, movements, developments, abstractions.. -*These tracks (save for some light overdubs and post-production) feel closest to their 30 years of celebrated live performances.* - CD digipak ed.
|
2023 |
€16.50 |
|
| NECROPHORUS |
Underneath the Spirit of Tranquility (Redux Version) |
CD |
re-issue of the debut album from 1996 of the RAISON D'ETRE sideproject (which appeared after the second R.D. album) which contains two separate works: "The Spirit of Tranquility" and "The Impressions of Salvador Dali" as a homage to Dali's surreality.. - wonderful emotional ambient with ritualistic passages, less dark & more intimate and personal than R.D. maybe.. this re-editon comes w. oversized cardboard cover and 6 full colour postcards with paintings by ELINROS HENRIKSDOTTIR
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| NEGATIVLAND & CHUMBAWAMBA |
ABCs of Anarchism |
maxi-CD |
three completely crazy collaboration collage pieces - the title & some original quotes being based on ALEXANDER BERGMANs book from 1929 of the same name - using hundreds of different samples of music, sounds & speeches from various sources = this is plunderphonia at its weirdest & funniest !
|
1999 |
€9.00 |
|
| NEHIL, SETH |
Furl |
CD |
sequel to the amazing album from last year "Flock & Tumble"; unique, wondrous music build mainly on instrumental sound sources
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Bounds |
LP |
SETH NEHIL continues his journey into unknown / new territories of ingenious transformed SOUND - on BOUNDS he uses percussion materials (drums, gongs, cymbals, vibraphones, etc.) and treats them often in a way you can hardly recognize the source, connecting them to 11 breathtaking compositions, where very concrete acoustic objects erupt and vanish in strange patterns & textures... great album again! Lim. 300
|
2014 |
€18.00 |
|
| NERELL, LOREN |
Taksu |
CD |
"fourth world ambient" - pure atmospheric vibrations derived from field recordings made in BALI, music of the eternal presence, without beginning or ending; back in stock this nice album by LOREN NERELL
|
2003 |
€12.50 |
|
| |
The venerable dark cloud |
mCD |
very large / fullcolour sleeve |
2000 |
€9.00 |
|
| NEUROSIS |
Fires within Fire (white vinyl) |
LP |
rare European colour pressing (white vinyl) of the latest album by the doom metal cult-band (their 11th in 30 years of existence); 5 long tracks, recorded by STEVE ALBINI, luxurious gatefold cover, lyric sheet & download code; "It's not really about the individual songs as much as it is about the overall experience that the music communicates, the burning darkness and the overwhelming passion." [Metalinjection]
|
2016 |
€33.50 |
|
| NEUROSIS & JARBOE |
same |
do-LP |
in 2003 this remarkable collaboration appeared by San Francisco's apocalyptic noise-rock band and JARBOE (ex SWANS), now for the first time on vinyl with new wonderful artwork by AARON TURNER (ISIS, etc.), on clear & gold splatter coloured vinyl - a powerful, hypnotic & expressive teamwork, crossing all kinds of genre-borders... "a deeply textured mosaic that is a culmination of merged aesthetics from two major influences on free-thinking sounds.."
|
2019 |
€26.00 |
|
| NEVER KNOWN |
Once in a lifetime |
CD-R |
re-mastered version now available (originally released in 1995 as MC), oversized full-colour cover. AMON sideproject !
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| NEW BLOCKADERS & VARIOUS ARTISTS |
Viva Negativa ! Vol. III : USA |
do-CD |
tributes to the legendary anti-music group from UK , third volume only US projects: Z'EV, MICHAEL NORTHAM (!), DANIEL MENCHE, JIM O'ROURKE, WOLF EYES, AMK, DAMION ROMERO, THURSTON MOORE, IDEA FIRE COMPANY, JASON KAHN, BROKEN PENIS COMPANY, JOHN WIESE, THE HATERS, EMIL BEAULIEAU, CONTROLLED BLEEDING, ALAN COURTIS, and more!
|
2010 |
€17.50 |
|
| NEW BLOCKADERS (THE) |
VIVA NEGATIVA Vol. 1 |
4 LP - Box |
Full-Colour box w. 4 LPs containing TNB remix-material from ASMUS TIETCHENS, SRMEIXNER, DANIEL MENCHE, CISFINITUM, FREIBAND, HATERS,KARKOWSK,ASHTRAY NAVIGATIONS, MSBR, CONTROLLED BLEEDING, OREN AMBARCHI, DIETER MUH, Z'EV, KK NULL, etc.etc. first part of this monstrous compilation project !! lim. 500 - only 250 for free distribution |
2006 |
€55.00 |
|
| |
VIVA NEGATIVA Vol. 2 |
4 LP - Box |
Full-Colour box w. 4 LPs containing TNB remix-material from C. RENOU, MNORTHAM, AUBE, RLW, VIOLENT ONSEN GEISHA, AMK, DAMION ROMERO, DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE, SPIRACLE, MERZBOW, WOLF EYES, INCAPACITANS,JIM O'ROURKE, DAVE PHILIPPS, BROKEN PENIS ORCHESTRA, LASSE MARHAUG, G. TONIUTTI, etc.etc. second part of this monstrous compilation project !! lim. 500 - only 250 for free distribution |
2006 |
€55.00 |
|
| NEW BLOCKADERS / KOMMISSAR HJULER |
ZERSCHLAGEN MUSIK / PUPPETMUSIKEN |
LP |
Collector's item - contains two side long tracks by both controversial artists, as far as we know all material is NEW and previously UNRELEASED!! Lim./numbered edition of 45 1/2 copies (one copy has been cut in halves) with laminated, handmade full colour cover in the Psych.KG FLUXUS+/- series
|
2018 |
€49.00 |
|
| NEXT CITY SOUNDS |
Interfaces |
CD |
documentation of a sound-art event that took place in Karlsruhe in August 2018, chanelled through the ZKM: four different sites with performances (LASSE-MARC RIEK, LINTU+ROYK, NO INPUT ENSEMBLE, etc.) were connected and mixed into a multi-room sound installation and could be changed by visitors via an interactive interface.. the recording was made at the "ZKM Cube"... - comes with oversized etched cover, booklet, ed. 500 copies
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| NEZNAMO |
Aiwyâstô |
CD |
a long active project from Moscow, now with the first properly pressed full-length album out => a well arranged one-tracker of thick clouds of foggy drone, very minimal & slow, waving within, contemplative, with enough details to be discovered inside... to be played in repeat modus, for endless droney hours... "The walls fell away; his self fell away from him, and he was nothing" [from the inner sleeve]; lim. 300, numbered,
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| NIBLOCK, PHILL |
T H I R |
DVD |
first ever publication of this film (16mm) from 1971-1972, with visuals taken in the Adirondak Mountains, now with new soundtrack "One Large Rose" recorded in 2008; 43+ min. length ; comes with 16 pages full-colour booklet & cardboard slipcase; another nice DVD release in the Italian VON ARCHIVES series
|
2015 |
€18.50 |
|
|
Music for Organ |
LP |
two powerful / overwhelming drone piece for organ recorded 2007 / 2019, entitled UNMOUNTED / MUTED NOUN and NAGRO (AKA-ORGAN), recorded in Austria & France.. "...sustains a breathless pressure that’s either hellish, ecstatic or simply otherworldly, depending on your disposition.." [Boomkat] - ed. of 300 copies on clear vinyl on the new Matire Memoire label
|
2019 |
€26.00 |
|
|
Music for Organ |
CD |
two powerful / overwhelming drone pieces for organ recorded 2007 / 2019, entitled UNMOUNTED / MUTED NOUN and NAGRO (AKA-ORGAN), world premiere release! - "...sustains a breathless pressure that’s either hellish, ecstatic or simply otherworldly, depending on your disposition.." [Boomkat] - lim. 300 copies
|
2019 |
€17.50 |
|
|
Exploratory I |
LP |
a new multi-dimensional drone piece, originally written / performed by ENSEMBLE PHOENIX from Basel (Switzerland) on 11 instruments; further studio versions were recorded by ARDITI STRING QUARTET (2 x violin, 1 x viola, 1 x violoncello) = Side A on this LP, and DAVID WATSON on scottish bagpipes and guitar (half acoustic, half electric) = Side B on this LP; lim. 300 copies on clear vinyl with full colour inlay and DL card
|
2021 |
€26.00 |
|
|
Exploratory II |
LP |
a new multi-dimensional drone piece, written / performed by ENSEMBLE PHOENIX from Basel (Switzerland) on 11 instruments - it toook 22 rehearsals before the enlarged piece of 30 min. could be recorded in the studio (spread on two vinyl sides) => awesome deep and spectralized drones, with subtle changes appaering in waves or 'blocks', this is a true masterpiece of powerful expanses!!! - lim. 300 copies on clear vinyl with full colour inlay and DL card
|
2021 |
€26.00 |
|
| |
Nurturing Exhibitions |
BOOK + 2 x CD |
full colour ART book (48 pages) about an exhibition in Tokyo by MATTHIEU COPELAND, accompanied by six NIBLOCK tracks, newly performed by various drone artists: DEBORAH WALKER (cello), TOEPLITZ / VIGROUS / BRESCHAND, STEPHEN O'MALLEY, DAVID MARANHA (OSSO EXOTICO), THE VOX HUMANA VOCAL CHOIR, ELISABETH SMALL (Viola).... lim. 200 copies COLLECTOR'S ITEM!!
|
2023 |
€48.00 |
|
| NICCHIARELLI, SUSANNA |
NICO, 1988 (Movie) |
DVD |
intense Biopic and Roadmovie about NICOs last year(s) before her death (July 1988) when she was, fully Heroine addicted, touring in Italy and East Europe (!), between complete despair and aggressive ecstasy... NICO is played by Danish acteur TRINE DYRHOLM, who sings all pieces on her own.. English with German subtitles, 93 min.
|
2018 |
€10.00 |
|
| NICHOLS, PASCAL |
Nihilist Chakai House |
LP |
excellent album of most unusual & vivid 'solo percussion' music => PASCAL NICHOLS surprises with all kinds of drum sounds, using various percussion instruments (also made from metal), creating membran-drones, bell-like layers, or furious distorted clatter... comes on frosted clear vinyl with, full colour insert , lim. 250 on a highly interesting North-East UK based record label that "specialises in alien sounds"
|
2014 |
€18.00 |
|
| NICO |
Femme Fatale |
LP |
very rare live LP with good quality live recordings from the East Europe 1995 tour, - made in Warsaw, Budapest and Prague; feat. the rare "All Saints Night From A Polish Motorway", "One more Chance", and "The Song of the Lonely Girl"
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
| NICOLAI, CARSTEN |
Ray Collector |
10inch |
lim. vinyl release with pure static noise recordings from magnetic tapes and films used for his exhibition "Strahlen" in Modena, send around to unknown persons ("Mr. NEMO") with special return result (capturing the electromagnetic waves and radiations through transport); - a most conceptual sound art release presented on a lovely x-ray picture disc, w. gatefold cover and full-colour booklet in book-bound style.. amazing release !!
|
2023 |
€32.50 |
|
| NILSEN, BJ [BJ NILSEN] |
Invisible City |
CD |
mixing field recordings & instrumental sources; guest musician: HILDUR I. GUDNADOTTIR
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| NILSEN, BJ & STILLUPPSTEYPA |
Big Shadow Montana |
LP |
spectral surrealism-drones, dusty ambience, almost amorphous sounds with hidden melodies & hardly recognizable structures & a somehow melancholic / nostalgic / hallucinogenic flair, always pouring out of your consciousness... already the sixth album by this fruitful collaboration-unit... limited vinyl edition incl. download code
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| NIMH |
The Missing Tapes |
CD |
NIMH plays diverse traditional instruments from THAILAND (like the Jackee, Tzeebu, Soong) and mixes this with exotic field recordings and electronic sounds, creating a raw surrealistic sound journey which is not too far from early ZOVIET FRANCE at times.... very nice, still to discover !
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
The Unkept Secrets |
CD |
back in stock, we wrote some years ago: NIMH takes you on a floating ethno dark ambient journey with some folky roots and ritual chants, quite intense, maybe his best work yet ! .- "A totally absorbing electronic mantra, a real pleasure for the ears. Clearly among my all time favourite experimental electronic records with a things from Maurizio Bianchi, Maeror Tri and Aeolian String Ensemble. So recommended. " [Prog Archives]
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| NO BUSINESS FOR DOGS |
Lovely Objects |
LP |
amazing album of this quartet with STEVEN HESS (LOCRIAN), searching for new musical pathways between improvisation & composed material, lim. 200 coloured vinyl
|
2013 |
€22.00 |
|
| NOBLE, LEE |
Darker Half |
LP |
reissue of the first LEE NOBLE album from 2010 (limited MC) - four tracks of suspended low fi synth-ambient and amorph dronescapes with a loopy & repetitive touch.... lim. 300
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS / FRAG |
Esoteric Sedition |
CD |
behind FRAG is STEPHEN R. BURROUGHS (TUNNELS OF AH, + legendary HEAD OF DAVID), this is the first ever collab. with NIGEL AYERS, active as NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS and with his STERILE RECORDS since the very early 80's => both together create a kind of non-ordinary 'deranged' industrial ambience, beatless or with pulsative elements, everything seems to be morphed in a strange, almost psychedelic way... sounds really fresh to our ears, these 12 tracks; lim. 300 copies
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| NOCTURNE |
Working Ecstasy |
do-CD |
epic work from the French cold ambient Industrial project.. -"Two albums full of analogue sounds, droning noises, rumours as building collapsing while bombing, sensations like driving in an endless tunnel, far alarms, electricity, S/M & B/T/K feelings, cold and freezing voids mutating into hot layers of concrete, far sampled voices. and much more."
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
| NOETINGER, JEROME AND ANTHONY PATERAS |
A Sunset for Walter |
LP |
their first duo release: four excerpts from a highly interactive, three hour concert for piano and multiple Revox tape machines that happened during PATERAS residency at 'Schloss Solitude' in Stuttgart, June 2018; "Noetinger’s tape manipulations range from nearly imperceptible shadowing of the live piano to anarchic bursts of rewinding tape, floating wisps of feedback, and dreamlike concrète interjections of children’s voices and splashing water.. " - ed. of 300 copies
|
2019 |
€21.00 |
|
| NOGOCIELLA |
Satanismo Di Basilica Concattedrale Di San Marino |
4 x MC |
epic release (240 min.!) spread on 4 cassettes with recordings of Satanistic rituals (often based on viciously processed and alienated religious chants) by the mysterious CHRISTINE NOGOCIELLA from Italy; lim. 50 and only available from Drone Records !! Comes with 21 x 21cm colour cover & small 'ritual object' made out of metal !!
|
2014 |
€18.00 |
|
| NOISE-MAKER'S FIFES |
Zona Incerta |
10inch |
third part in the SUBSTANTIA INNOMINATA series. ed. of 500 on two different colour-vinyls (half of the edition clear, the other half green-blue!), artwork by MARS WELLINK (VANCE ORCHESTRA) !! |
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| NOISEGATE |
Nr. 07 |
mag |
60 pages A4-format, great theoretical articles on sound & noise, artists & reviews. includes: Duncan Marshalls, Kinds of Magic, Sounds Like Someones Enjoing Themselves, interactive sound installation, Philip Waterworth talks about his work which covers voyerism, eavesdropping, paranoia, surveillance and noise pollution, NGs Whispering gallery tour London-Paris-Rome-Sicily, & Second thoughts on the bassoon by Mick Beck. Article about TOD DOCKSTADER. |
1999 |
€5.50 |
|
| |
Nr. 12 |
mag |
60 pages A4-format, great theoretical articles on sound & noise, artists & reviews: "Sound Fetish Tendecies", Vanishing Point-Installation, Sound in relation to image, Acoustic Surgery, Field recordings made from Telephone Boxes, full-colour art-poster, etc. |
2004 |
€5.50 |
|
| NORDVARGR + TREPANERINGSRITUALEN = ᚾᛟᚢ II // ᚦᛟᚦ ᚷᛁᚷ |
Alpha AEnigma |
CD |
on this remarkable Scandinavian collaboration THOMAS EKELUND (TREPANERINGSRITUALEN) and HENRIK 'NORDVARGR' BJÖRK created (in four chapters) invocations, meant as living curses, that spiral and gain more and more control each time they are played... musically a very 'archaic' sounding beast with all kinds of hissing found sounds and harmonies, background percussion, and daemonic / animalic noises, as if you gaze into the abyss of another dimension...
|
2018 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Beta Aenigma |
CD |
the "living curses / invocations" dark ritual collaboration continues with another four chapters, comes again in DVD sized digipak, lim. 500; - "Let the atmosphere guide you to places you would never find on your own, and open up to the formulae of submission and madness, a deep and obscured abyss of unknown pleasure and pains.."
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| NORDVARGR BJÖRK, HENRIK / MARGAUX RENAUDIN |
Anima Nostra |
CD |
collaboration by the MZ.412 & NORDVARGR mastermind with MARGAUX RENAUDIN: ritualistic percussion, mighty dark drones, shamanistic vocalizations and invocations, orchestral / sampled sounds = a powerful doomy journey unfolds on 8 tracks, inspired by alchemical and mythological ideas and principles; comes with stunning (metallic print) 6 panel cover + 8 page booklet
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| NORTHAM, MICHAEL |
Suhina |
10inch |
lim. 500 white vinyl / "Suhina" is the notion for the wind going through trees, a wonderful new entry for our 10" series
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| NOS PHILLIPE |
same |
CD |
second album by east-London duo with excellent "experimental drone" constructions; at times mellow, at times massive, never static! comes in oversized full-colour cover
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| NOTRE DESSEIN |
Comme une Mer de Verre |
LP |
apocalyptic solo project from one member of the TuTRuR family (LaMort) - imagine black metal elements (guitars, vocals, synth-piano) stripped down to the melancholic "essence", very slow & without drums, this is like the saddest and most desperate core of harmonic music you can imagine... - a "prophetic journey to the end of times", inspired by the Revelation of St. John; lim. 212 copies, still to discover
|
2010 |
€7.50 |
|
| NOVAK, YANN |
Snowfall |
CD |
like MYSTERY SEA or ATTENUATION CIRCUIT, this 'fine ambience' label run by YANN NOVAK in Los Angeles just began to produce 'real' pressed CDs after a phase of CDR only releases; => this new recording by YANN NOVAK (also known from the "Drone-Mind Vol. 2" LP) tries to express the 'hushed stillness and isolation sometimes experienced during a snowstorm".. originally this was a 6 hour audio-visual performance presented in Los Angeles; a one-tracker (60min) of extreme meditative ambience..
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
The Future is a Forward Escape into the Past |
CD |
after 'Ornamentation' the second CD for TOUCH with four long minimal drone figurations that sound a bit more raw and dark as before (still highly contemplative and filigree), conceptually building a "quadriptych", a meditation on time, past and memory, inspired by TERENCE McKENNA's book "The Archaic Revival"... "The album is a study in perception and alteration, manipulation and awareness, effectively capturing Novak’s command of emotional texturing." - very best food for "sensitive drone" fans !
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| NOX |
Opus Unending |
CD |
abysmal ambient from Croatia, the first album for this new project (aka AEGRI SOMNIA), enabling a truly dark meditation, incorp. subtle field recordings... "... It creates a strong visual effect, which has something pretty paranoiac. You get the impression there’s an invisible presence walking at your back. It’s a hostile atmosphere like appealing to awake the ghosts" [Side-Line] - lim. 200 4 panel digipak
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Abyssal Codex |
CD |
"Dead Archetype" = Ghostly dark ambient from Croatia (also known as AEGRI SOMNIA with releases on Cryo Chamber), the 2nd album as NOX => the processed field recordings give this an extremely mysterious and uncanny atmosphere, there's always "something going on" within these foggy dronescapes, for the perfect "cinema between your ears"... - lim. 200 in a 4 panel"digifile", 10 tracks 66+ minutes of finest black hole muzak..
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| NULL, K.K. |
Prime Radiant |
CD |
back in stock one of the definitely best NULL works, highly abstract electronic noise thunderstorms full of energy, but also more atmospheric 'pitch sculptures' creating unusual quasi-rhythmic structures, uncompromising stuff that directly attacks your brain!
|
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Gamma Ray Burster |
CD |
X-RAY noise! - a very adequate title for this journey in piercing, ponding, throbbing & crackling electro & sine wave sounds, that confuse the listener with their multi-layered attacks! Nice KK NULL release from 2007 which has also enough room for more droning & silent passages.. back in stock for better price, lim. 500, recommended !!
|
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
Extropy Ground Zero |
CD |
an extreme energetic staccato noise blast will overflood you on "Extropy Ground Zero", these manic sounds won't let your brain a single moment to relax, it is under permanent bombardment with ever changing, flickering, exploding particles, rhythmic fragments and carved up found sounds, highly recommended and really excessive!!! "KK Null is really pushing some boundaries here, like serious goose bump-inducing chaos and sonic bloody anarchy." [Noise Beneath..]
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| NURSE WITH WOUND |
Dark Fat |
do-CD |
a celebration and documentation of 10 years NWW shows - DARK FAT uses live material of all kinds, recorded by MATT WALDRON through the years ["all the live shows, sound-checks, rehearsals, off-stage events and even covertly recorded the private conversations of the band"], for the construction of entirely new pieces..."Listening is like entering into your dreams loaded on LSD - a portal to entire alternate universe exists on this two discs waiting to be unleashed into your mind." [Norman Rec.]
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Spiral INsana |
do-CD & BOOK |
and if you haven't already enough versions of this seminal NWW album classic from 1986, here's the definite one: two CDs with the same material as on the do-LP (the complete sessions plus "A Missing Sense", feat ANDREW McKENZIE (HAFLER TRIO), DIANA ROGERSON, DAVID TIBET, ROBERT HAIGH and others..), housed in a 30 page art book with silverfoil hardcover, presenting full colour screen prints !!
|
2017 |
€27.50 |
|
|
Arcane Reawakeing |
7inch |
rare 7" released for the festival "Scenasonica Congresso" that happened in Pordenone, Italy, in October 2019 - the 7" was normally only available at the concert or from the label directly, we could get a handful of copies... two pieces ("Trasference 1 & 2") on two different coloured vinyl, numbered ed.
|
2019 |
€16.50 |
|
|
TRIPPIN' MUSIK (black vinyl) |
3 x LP BOX |
re-issue (new master plates) of the stunning, trance-inducing 3LP box on BLACK 180gr. vinyl (as many of the first ed. coloured vinyls were badly pressed) - comes with NEW huge full colour inlay / mini poster - "There Is No Track Listing - No Side A, B Etc. This Music Is To Be Played In Whichever Order The Listener Wants To.".... "steeply psychedelic sonics that may well alter your breathing and heart rates and mental state.." [Boomkat]
|
2020 |
€51.50 |
|
|
Surveillance Lounge (with bonus remix) |
do-CD |
expanded re-issue with a full bonus CD (new alternate remix), our info in 2009 was: "Ein neues Meisterwerk von STEVEN STAPLETON, die "Surveillance Lounge" ist düster & verstörend unheimlich, und mit unglaublichen akustischen Überraschungen vermint.... basierend auf einem Soundtrack für den spät entdeckten MURNAU-Sturmfilm "Der Brennende Acker" !!" - feat. ANDREW LILES, FREEK KINKELAAR (BEEQUEEN) and many others..
|
2021 |
€19.50 |
|
|
Opium Cabaret |
CD |
expanded re-issue with 40 min. phantastic bonus material of last year's rare & immediately sold out new studio LP, a must for lovers of the spooky, ghostly 'gloom ambient' sound of NWW....- "This is a record that moves in slow motion. It unfolds into a floating nothingness to appease broken minds so drenched in opiates, time and place are but frivolous footnotes in a wider narrative of distorted reality.." - full colour 4 panel digipack with new artworks by BABS SANTINI
|
2021 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Salt Marie Celeste - Salt |
do-CD |
re-issue of one of the most important and beautiful NWW albums ('a drone-ambient masterpiece : one hour one-tracker filled with oceanic despair & sadness...' [DroneRec]), first released in 2003, which comes now as an expanded version with the original SALT source material, recorded for the "The Horse Hospital" exhibition in London in 2002 (so far only release as lim. LP), along with new artwork (six panel digipack)
|
2022 |
€17.00 |
|
|
Nefarious Volume II (The Continuous Accident / Circumventing Angels) |
do-CD |
standard version of the lim. box-set (the two single CDs without the bonus prints, stickers and badge) , containing the ultra rare "The Continuous Accident" (one hour long piece from 2008), plus an unpublished radio broadcast entitled "Circumventing Angels" on CD 2 (from 2019) - the special digpack of "Continuous Accident" has the thick cover art postcard sticked on the front of a black digipack
|
2022 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Deadlined (Nefarious Vol. III) |
CD |
standard version of the lim. boxset release "Nefarious", part III => this extremely eerie and claustrophic album was inspired by reading "Landscapes of the Metropolis of Death" by OTTO DOV KULKA (deutsch "Landschaften der Metropole des Todes") about his experiences in Ausschwitz and philosophic / poetic implications.. - the recordings were made in 2019 and stopped through the Covid-19 pandemia; 6 panel full colour digipack
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
|
The Ladies Home Tickler and Other Exotic Devices |
CD |
expanded edition of \"The Ladies Home Tickler\", now re-masterded and with over 40 minutes of extra material - \"Classic tape cut-ups, radio sludge, surrealism, and abstract chaos.\" - nice CD version / digipack with folded 10 panel insert (\"concertinaed insert of Tickler Models by Miss Santini.\"), with 10 DIFFERENT full colour artworks not included with the do-LP version!! UK import
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Little Dipper Minus Two Plus (Echo Poeme Sequences) |
LP |
rare vinyl version (300 copies on green marbled vinyl) with two newly formed pieces / remixes of a concert CD-R from 2005, one of the more beautiful and sublime NWW albums, layered and echoed female vocalizations and slow electronic pulses merge, so psychedelic and dreamy... - comes with full colour insert
|
2023 |
€32.50 |
|
| NURSE WITH WOUND & CONOR MCGRADY |
Entering the Forbidden Zone |
DVD + BOOK |
the eerie surrealistic film from CONOR McGRADY with phantastic, haunting 61 min. soundtrack "The Dream of Reason Brings Forth Monsters" by NURSE WITH WOUND - comes with 20 page 7" art booklet, full colour, special paper... "a loose narrative journey into the dark, violent underbelly of contemporary society, generating a sense of unease or disquiet." - only 300 copies exist !!
|
2023 |
€26.00 |
|
| NURSE WITH WOUND / GRAHAM BOWERS |
Mutation ...The Lunatics are running the Asylum ... |
CD |
there's no chance to relax yet - it seems GRAHAM BOWERS and STEVEN STAPLETON won't stop their collaboration series until all insane people are liberated and take over => six new tracks exploring acoustic mutations, transformations, metamorphoses, an incredible number of mixed up sound sources going wild for an carnivalesque listening experience!!
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| NURSE WITH WOUND / IRR.APP(EXT.) |
Possible Nursemix for Sun and Moon Ensemble |
CD-R |
much favoured EP with a powerful, surprising and quite percussive IRR.APP.(ext) - NWW collage "of various released & unreleased NWW pieces, prepared for a live performance" - handburned edition in slimline jewel case made first available at the NWW concerts on June 15/16, 2006, in San Francisco; some last copies BACK IN STOCK !!
|
2006 |
€12.50 |
|
| N[27] / TZESNE |
theBelt |
LP |
second collaboration by the Spanish Drone Rec. artist TZESNE with German epic droner HELLMUT NEIDHARDT (from MULTER) aka N => four absolute stunning pieces of rough & super contemplative transcension drones, combining location recordings and guitar surge waves in a great way; we love this album!! - "Expect something more dark, more heavy but also very alluring... Making you enter the old dark plant, even if you should know better... "- BACK IN STOCK last copies, lim. 100 copies !!
|
2014 |
€28.00 |
|
| O YUKI CONJUGATE |
OYC25 |
CD + DVD |
NEW recordings by the UK ambient pioneers marking their 25th anniversary; "five tracks of post-industrial, fourth worldish, dirty ambience"; PLUS a DVD of live recordings and rare footage through their history, and a complete alternate mix of the album
|
2009 |
€17.50 |
|
|
Sleepwalker |
CD |
selected live recordings from their extensive touring throught Europe 2017-2019, building the dreamlike soundtrack for the film of a same name by ANDREW HULME of OYC => elegant woven ethno-ambience with a stronger electronic touch than on their early classics, but the typical OYC sound shines through distinctively; comes with 16 page full colour booklet, ed. of 500 copies
|
2019 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Sleepwalker |
do-LP |
lim. vinyl version of the AUF ABWEGEN CD from 2019 with selected live recordings (with top quality!) from their extensive touring throught Europe 2017-2019, building the dreamlike soundtrack for the film of a same name by ANDREW HULME of OYC... 400 copies incl. 12" insert and 16 page 10" x 10" booklet, 3 bonus-tracks !!
|
2021 |
€36.50 |
|
| |
A Tension of Opposites Vol.1 & 2 |
do-LP |
lim. vinyl edition of the 2020 "Covid-19 isolation" material released last year on Cassette, which was split in two halves:"At Variance" was recorded and arranged by ROGER HORBERRY, "Into the Pleasure Garden" by ANDREW HULME, both long time members of OYC, they call this 'Dirty Ambient', - "a phrase coined by OYC for the process of working quickly and instinctively, embracing errors and honouring imperfections".. - lim. 500 gatefold cover
|
2022 |
€34.00 |
|
| O'NANCY IN FRENCH |
O'Nancy in French |
CD |
re-issue of sought-after tape from 1984 (originally on AQM, the label run by JOHN DUNCAN) by a Japanese duo who created thick noisy ambience or droney industrial noise with lots of resonances and 'archaic' atmosphere... lim. 200 with four page booklet, incl. new liner notes on Japanese and English
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| ODA RELICTA |
Lux Aeterna |
CD |
new version of a chamber requiem piece by MYKHAYIL A.SHUKH (composed 1988), arranged by OLEGH KOLYADA (FIRST HUMAN FERRO); mournful & dramatic neo-classic with a sacral atmosphere (choirs), dedicated to all children died during the 1932/33 famine in the Ukraine; lim. 200 only
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| OESTERGAARDS |
Rötterna |
MC |
debut release for this Swedish artist, a C-40 with dark apocalyptic visions, cinematic and dangerous, orchestral and droning intensely.. C-40 with six tracks, prof. cassette production (full colour cover, etc.), download code
|
2018 |
€7.00 |
|
| OGNI VIDENIY |
Sounding Emptiness |
CD-R |
experimental electronic ambience from the very north of Russia (Archangelsk), dedicated to the notion of emptiness in the Buddhist meaning, as an endless potential manifestation of all that exists.... pulsing drones made up from pulsing / creaking / smacking analogue electronics, and pure acoustic instruments (singing bowls, bells, pipes)... comparable to LUNAR ABYSS, not really dark but psychedelic in a special way.. lim. 77 copies, great colourful psychonautic artwork!
|
2014 |
€8.50 |
|
| OGROB + VOMIR |
Diffusions intradermiques et enregistrements en cavités corporelles |
LP |
Bodies as loudspeakers ! - collaboration of these two French (experimental noise) artists with a very special concept: Noise transmitting loudspeakers have been placed on the spines of four different women, the mixture of body fluids and the noise radiated through their bodies was then captured through a hydrophonic microphone being placed inside their Vaginas! Lim. 300, with 8 colour postcards of the "body installations" & very explicit cover
|
2015 |
€19.50 |
|
| OKO / UCHO |
Skrawy |
Video-CDR |
Multimedia-Disc (Film), full-colour DVD case |
2002 |
€12.00 |
|
| OLD CASTLE |
Artwork 51 |
CD |
third album from the psychedelic electro trio formed by RAPOON, PAS MUSIQUE and PROMUTE, shining & bubbling technoid expanses meet with Kraut influences ("echoes of CLUSTER, DEUTER or NEU) and weird sounds, for a colourful listening experience... 7 tracks, 6 panel digipak, 350 copies pressed
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| OM |
God is Good |
CD |
fourth album by the minimal / drone / doom rock hypnotizers
|
2009 |
€14.50 |
|
| ONDO |
Sol |
CD-R |
very limited CDR-release from this Swedish "doom drone"-project, here more experimental & dark eerie droning.. excellent one-tracker, compared to OMENYA, RAISON D'ETRE, TROUM.. lim. 100, nice full colour sleeve
|
2010 |
€9.00 |
|
| ONE LAST REGION |
A Random Set of Sarcastic Implications |
CD |
free impro/space/noise/jazz/whatever rock band with RICHARD FRANECKI (known from space rock industrial pioneers F/I or VOCOKESH), 4 people on drums, guitars, electronics, saxophon who wipe away the mists from your mind... this is the re-issue of the lim. LP from 2016
|
2018 |
€10.00 |
|
| ONE MAN NATION & MACHINEFABRIEK |
same |
maxi-CD |
live recording (15 min) plus two remixes of the source material from both artists
|
2012 |
€8.00 |
|
| ONODERA, YUI |
Too Ne |
CD |
"TOO NE is an old Japanese word that refers to a sound that is sounding from far away.. "- newest work by the Japanese composer, known to followers of Drone Records through his wonderful 7" EP "Synergetics" (DR-84), with most shimmering, sublime ambience expanses...- "Onodera has created an incredibly generous and open sound field here, one in which you might find yourself dwelling, deeply." - 5 long pieces, lim. ed. w. insert card
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| ONOMATOPOEIA (=ONOMATOPEIA) |
Irrelevant |
LP |
long active project (since the early 90's, also known as ONOMATOPEIA without the fourth "O") from the deepest UK underground with a nice 5-track LP, very minimal & pure experimental noise-ambience using analog electronics & instruments like horns, cymbals; limited & numbered edition of 300, each cover has a different flag on it!
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
| OPEN TO THE SEA |
Another Year is over, let's wait for Springtime |
CD |
acclaimed Italian "experimental" composers ENRICO CONIGLIO and MATTEO UTTERI formed this open "ethereal / melancholic / deep electronic Pop" project, with many guest musicians (for example LAU NAU on the first phantastic track) on vocals, bass, trumpet, cello, spoken word poetry, etc., creating a most intimate "experimental song" format, sometimes reminding on old 4AD Records... - comes with full colour 8 page booklet w. lyrics
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| ORGANISATION TOTH |
Follow the Red ö.rder |
10" |
lim. 450 / colour vinyl |
2001 |
€12.00 |
|
| ORGANUM / THE NEW BLOCKADERS |
Der Graben |
7inch |
the fourth collaboration 7" by both projects, after "Pulp" (1984), "Wrack" (1990), and "Raze" (1994), a very short but fine example of their landmark " metallic scraping sounds and dissonant noise elements"... - 2nd ed. 200 copies w. different sleeve - last copies
|
2002 |
€8.00 |
|
| ORGANUM ELECTRONICS |
Stilness |
CD |
2nd album of the new ORGANUM incarnation named ORGANUM ELECTRONICS, with a much more raw, unpolished drone noise sound that seems to sweep away everything... lim. 500 - "Wild vibrations touch our most innermost core and perception - Organum Electronics exists in the clear moment of the present - But its mysterious compositions lay hidden in a timeless past - Modulating oscillations mirror our most fundamental sense of being.."
|
2020 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Quietude |
CD |
one of seven O.E. releases in a new series by DIE STADT: *A dense work, consisting of buzzing washes of electronic sounds, reminiscent of the very first Organum recordings. In common with other recent works, the piece uses a carefully chosen set of sound sources, overlaid and structured to form a tapestry of shifting textures.* - "...es gibt einen langen Track (hier 40 Minuten lang), der den Hörer unter sich zu begraben droht .." [African Paper] - lim. 500
|
2023 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Darcknes |
CD |
one of seven O.E. releases in a new series by DIE STADT, the sister album to "Quietude", monolithic metalllurgic walls of drones to wash your mind away... - "Think of this as being locked up in a factory, with sounds buzzing everywhere, and reminding me of the early harshness of Organum, sans electronics: dense, minimal and dark.." - lim.500
|
2023 |
€15.00 |
|
| ORPHAX |
Saxophone Studies |
LP |
it's quite rare to see the Saxophone as basis for a drone-minmalistic piece, but here the dutch droner ORPHAX created two long tracks with Sax as only sound source, multi-layered and circling 'non-harmonic multitones'... "While the two pieces sound quite different from one another, both are compellingly unusual forays into longform drone that lysergically swirl and undulate with vibrant harmonic interplay." [Brainwashed] - ed. of 300 copies with CD copy included
|
2018 |
€16.50 |
|
| ORSI, FABIO |
Picture myself in a cloud (speaking through thought) |
CD-R |
nice full-colour design / lim. 83 copies !
|
2008 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
Wannsee |
LP |
single-sided LP with a side-long field recording piece made at the Berlin-based lake 'Wannsee' - a very droney, slow & nostalgic daydream.. lim. 200 with colour inlay
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| ORSI, FABIO / ALESSANDRA GUTTAGLIERE |
Giardino Forico N.1 - Napoli |
do-CD & BOOK |
a 60 page art book (17 x 24 cm) with photos by ALESSANDRA GUTTAGLIERE, all made in NAPOLI and altered with a special technique by her; the two CDs contain field recordings from the town (people sounds, airplanes, water,etc.) by FABIO ORSI with additional 'hand organ', guitar and synth-drones... "The city has passed through us like a big wave of dust carried by the wind... we found ourselves covered by debris, passing skeletons " lim. 100 copies only !
|
2018 |
€34.00 |
|
| OTAVAN VERET |
II - Syvys |
CD |
second album by the Finnish project, four long movements of dark shimmering 'cosmic' electro ambience, less ritualistic and rhythmic as before, elegant woven together... "The soundscapes quickly pull the listener into their grasp, opening us to feelings of awe, oneness and respite. The long track lengths, instead of making the album boring, turn it into a highly meditative medium, one that I’ve incorporated into yoga, and one which is also quite perfect for drifting off to sleep." [This is Darkness]
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| OVAL LANGUAGE, THE |
Hibernation |
LP |
in the early 90s THE OVAL LANGUAGE held a multi level performance about the irrational aspects of the "Völkerschlachtdenkmal", the original sound layers for this plus live recordings made at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig are now released on this LP, two half hour sides of extreme / orchestral / inudustrialized noise assaults made w. guitars, tapes, bass, percussion, samples.. inner sleeve with extensive documentation of this unique art project |
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| OVERTONE ENSEMBLE |
same |
CD |
Australian drone ensemble formed by TIM CATLIN, based on the sounds of his self-made VIBRISSA instruments (metal/aluminium rod instruments that are longitudinally stroked by hand to produce ethereal "singing" tones) => on four tracks subtle and microtonal, very high pitched, metallic drones are build, varified through the use of additional singing bowls, wine-glasses, scuba gongs, e-bowed guitars, etc... a very special form of drone experimentation, beautiful and demanding!
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| OWWL |
Tree speaks to Stone; Stone speaks to Water |
CD-R |
rough & rusty overtune-drones based on harmonium / reed organ and subtle guitar-feedbacks - first release with four long atmospheric tracks by a promising new duo from Bonn, Germany feat. STEFAN OTTO (NEBELUNG); lim./numb. 70 copies handmade cardboard cover w. inlay
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| OÖPHOI (OOPHOI) |
Potala |
10inch |
first ever vinyl by the italian deep ambient master! Two long contemplative tracks into the center of holy places (may it be physically or mentally), opening endless spaces with low humming & reverberating meditation-drones! Edition of 500 copies pressed on luminous green vinyl, full-colour artwork by 1000SCHOEN aka ex-MAEROR TRI-member HELGE SIEHL !
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| OÖPHOI / TAU CETI |
Le torri del silenzio |
maxi-CDR |
new sub-label of UMBRA / oversized full-colour cardboard-cover / LAST COPY! |
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| P16.D4 |
Kühe In 1/2 Trauer |
LP |
first LP from early 1984 (Selektion SLP03) by the most radical German collective around RALF WEHOWSKY, using all kinds of sound sources and all kinds of analog techniques to create 'a form of sound art that was much more profound, varied, subversive, and potentially dangerous' (The Sound Projector) - *Arrhythmic and amorphous and capable at moments of becoming quite noisy and abrasive, while at others far more somber and quiet, Kuhe in 1/2 Trauer is quite a fascinating release.* [AMG]
|
2022 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Distruct |
LP |
This was the second LP from 1984 by the radical German expermental collective, a mail-art / tape exchange project that began already in 1982, using material from NURSE WITH WOUND, DIE TÖDLICHE DORIS, NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS, BLADDER FLASK, THE HATERS, MERZBOW and anonymous sources, mixing and recycling it with their own technques & noises in a completely analog way... - finally a re-issue of this legendary LP !
|
2022 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Kühe in 1/2 Trauer |
CD |
first LP from early 1984 (Selektion SLP03) by the most radical German collective around RALF WEHOWSKY, using all kinds of sound sources and all kinds of analog techniques to create 'a form of sound art that was much more profound, varied, subversive, and potentially dangerous' (The Sound Projector) - *Arrhythmic and amorphous and capable at moments of becoming quite noisy and abrasive, while at others far more somber and quiet, Kuhe in 1/2 Trauer is quite a fascinating release.* [AMG]
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| PACIONE, ADAM |
Any Way, Shape, or Form |
4 x CD BOX |
rare material from a limited mCDR series and unreleased material spread on 4 CDs with beautiful 20page colour booklet in box, extremely subtle drone ambient of highest harmonic quality and immersive drift, full beauty at work here by the US American photographer and musician... "a hypnotic serenade of becalmed tone"... "contemplative soundscapes evolving at a deliberate pace".. lim. 200 (standard version)
|
2021 |
€38.00 |
|
| PADE, ELSE MARIE |
Aquarellen über das Meer |
CD |
hard to find CD by the Danish electronic composer (1924-2016), here in collaboration with GERT SÖRENSEN (percussion on the long title track), with two long unreleased works of ambitious electro-acoustic and experimental radiodrama: "Aquarellen über das Meer (Water Colours of the Sea)" (1968-1971), and the four part composition "Illustrationer" (1995); comes with 20page booklet + extensive liner notes "PAINTING WITH MUSIC"
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
| PALESTINE, CHARLEMAGNE |
Strumming Music |
3 x CD |
unreleased piece from 1974 / 1977 performed on three different instruments (CD 1: piano / CD 2: harpsichord / CD 3: strings) => minimal repetitve structures are very slowly rising and changing in tone colours, power & density, creating more and more overtunes and playing with the listeners perception; highly meditative and immersive... comes with 15 p. booklet / 8-panel triple digipack
|
2010 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
GesammttkkunnsttMeshuggahhLaandtttt |
BOOK |
art book to document PALESTINE's solo exhibition work, including his early video works, sculptures, paintings, installations, and sound scores; feat. an interview with LUCA LO PINTO (director of Kunsthalle Wien) and an essay by JAY SANDERS; 80 pages, full colour illustrated, oversized hardcover book, english
|
2016 |
€26.00 |
|
| PANIS, RAPHAEL |
Meta |
CD |
'Pieces pour Polivisions & Metamorphoses - Elements 1-4' and 'META - Strates 1-6' are the titles of two highly interesting compositions by the French electronic composer, consisting of 20 shorter pieces, originally created for an exhibition in Cachan (France); => highly abstract pure electronic sounds, drones, white noises, suspenseful arranged for carefully listening... recommended if you like pure experimental electronics with much variation and details!!
|
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| PARALUX |
La Laguna / Lux-ed |
DVD-R |
female spanish video-artist working with TZESNE. full colour poster cover ed. of 50 !
|
2007 |
€9.00 |
|
| PARIKRAMA |
Manusyaloka |
CD |
spheric ethno-ambience inspired by Indian/Hindu culture & mythology, very amorph & dreamy, with occasional percussion...reminds on VIDNA OBMANA, etc.. comes with 16 p. full colour booklet; second album by this project of SEETYCA & ARTIN MUCHT
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
The Silent Bon |
CD |
debut album by this project of SEETYCA and ARTIN MUCHT, inspired by the Himalaya shamans & ancient religion of the region; deep ambience with ethno touch, for fans of OÖPHOI, ALIO DIE, MATHIAS GRASSOW, etc.. comes with 12page full colour booklet
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| PARMEGIANI, BERNARD |
Les Soleils de l'Ile de Paques and La Brulure de Mille Soleils |
do-LP |
two never-released-before soundtracks: "Les Soleils.." (1972: "hallucinatory cinematography, exploration of supernatural phenomenons and occult symbolism, and one hell of a trippy atmosphere") and "La Brulure de Mille Soleils" (1965), produced for films by PIERRE KAST (with help by CHRIS MARKER for 'La Brulure.'); sourced from the original tapes, comes in gatefold-cover and with extensive English/French liner notes
|
2018 |
€32.00 |
|
|
Les Soleils de l'Ile de Paques and La Brulure de Mille Soleils |
CD |
two never-released-before soundtracks: "Les Soleils.." (1972: "hallucinatory cinematography, exploration of supernatural phenomenons and occult symbolism, and one hell of a trippy atmosphere") and "La Brulure de Mille Soleils" (1965), produced for films by PIERRE KAST (with help by CHRIS MARKER for 'La Brulure.'); sourced from the original tapes, with extensive English/French liner notes
|
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Violostries |
LP |
three classic electro-acoustic pieces by the French composer: "Violostries" (1963/1964), "Capture Ephemere" (1967 - version 1988), "La Roue Ferris (1971), described i.e. this way: "Breaths, fluttering wings: ephemeral microsonic sounds streaking space, sound scratches, landslides, bounces, vertigo of solid objects falling into an abyssal void, multiple snapshots forever frozen in their fall. As many symbols leave inside us the permanent trace of their ephemeral brushing against our ear..."
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| PARMERUD, AKE |
Necropolis |
CD |
the surrealistic side of Electro-Acoustic, on these four pieces by Swedish composer AKE PARMERUD (who also works for dance, film, multimedia art, theatre, etc.) => "Dreaming in Darkness" - what does someone who cannot see dream about? (feat. material from NATASHA BARRETT); "Crystal Counterpoint" - made entirely with sounds of glasses; "ReVoiced" - using self-recorded human voices from all over the world; "Necropolis" - exploring the remains of musical history; great contemporary E-A, highest praise!!
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| PARSONS, DAVID |
Puja |
CD |
the long active composer from New Zealand with his second album on Gterma => he creates strong ethno-ambient compositions with old Asian influences and dark monolithic drone passages..."Consciously or unconsciously you can feel that something has changed in the environment. That a touch of mystique has penetrated into your regular day like any other day." - 7 long tracks, 73+ min., full colour booklet
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Chakra |
CD |
DAVID PARSONs third "deep synth ambient" album on Gterma, inspired by the seven Chakras - "a 62-minute inner journey of slow progressing, minimal-angled and lush swirling sound waves. These meet up with David’s signature aural Tibetan and Asian flavours as well as some occasional monk chants. Its effect is dreamful, hypnotizing, and immersive..." [Sonic Immersion]
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| PATERAS, ANTHONY |
Collected Works Vol. II (2005-2018) |
5 x CD |
second CD box collection (incl. a 24 page booklet) on PATERAS label feat. various works and compositions (26 tracks, 5 1/2 hours of music) from the past almost 15 years: long form improvising ensemble and trio pieces and various solo pieces for instruments and electronics... = a great overview on this prolific Australian composer, who often combines instrumental & electronic sounds in a most atmospheric and challenging way... ed. of 500 / silver cardboard box
|
2018 |
€55.00 |
|
| PATTERNS OF THE SKY |
The Long Flight |
CD |
the so far only, overlooked CD for this US-American synth ambient project (from Houston, TX), a kind of 'best of' culled from previous digital releases, described as a soundtrack for slowly moving clouds ("these towering creatures we normally refer to a clouds"), very lonely and introspective.. for fans of VIDNA OBMANA, OÖPHOI, CELER, or YUI ONODERA.. comes with nice 16p. full colour booklet
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| PBK & ZANSTONES |
Mantis Fog Desert |
CD |
collaboration by ZAN HOFFMAN aka ZANSTONES and PBK, resulting in amazing rich & colourful psychedelic/electronic space drones, using acoustic instruments too.. lim. 500
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| PECORELLI, DANIELE / MARK SCHAUB |
& |
LP |
new LP series with philosophical approach, the two artists per side act completely independent and don't know the work on the other side: DANIELE PECORELLI aks what happens to the consciousness and our memory when we die - MARK SCHAUB (aka MAATH) reflects upon chemical transformations and the audible; both Italian artists create delicate electronic ambience pieces with strange animal (?) field recordings and waving organ synths... to discover! lim. 100 copies only
|
2019 |
€22.50 |
|
| PENDERECKI, KRZYSZTOF |
Kosmogonia |
CD |
re-issue of LP from 1974 with four of PENDERECKI's early orchester works: most intense, atonal, choir-filled, suspenseful compositions: KOSMOGONIA (1970) - originally composed for the 25th anniversary of the United Nations (!), ANAKLASIS (1960), FLOURESCENCES (1962), DE NATURA SONORIS II (1971) "...with aggressive barrages from brass and percussion, dissonant woodwind chords, spoken and hissing sounds, fervent strings, swirling organ, climactic choral and solo vocals."
|
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| PERILA |
How much time is it between You and Me |
LP |
behind PERILA is St. Petersburg born + raised Alexandra Zakharenko who is now living in Berlin, her evocative ambientscapes are filled with processed field recordings, spoken word seductions and electronic subtleties.. a celebrated album and deservedly so ! - "With a sound world so specific and transportive, Zakharenko’s ambient music is filled with detail and movement akin to hauntological musique concrète touched by song..." - comes with 12 x 12" colour inlay
|
2021 |
€22.50 |
|
| PERLETTA, FABIO & ASMUS TIETCHENS |
Deflections |
CD |
first collab release by the Italian sound researcher FABIO PERLETTA with A. TIETCHENS, a journey into micro-cosmic sounds and drifting nano-structures, citing Lucretius atom theory... "die beiden reflektieren darüber mit mikrofeinen Kollisionen und zuckenden oder feinmetallisch klackenden Geräuschen auf dröhnendem Fond. Wie 'Wimpern'- und Geißel-Schläge von Pantoffeltierchen in einem mal heller, mal dunkler getönten Urmeer." [Bad Alchemy]
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| PERRY, BRENDAN |
Eye of the Hunter / Live at the ICA |
do-LP |
first vinyl re-issue of BRENDAN PERRY's (=DEAD CAN DANCE) first solo-album from 1999, comes with the recordings of a rare live / promo cassette from 1993; w. gatefold cover, vinyls in two different colours... - "Don't remember how many times I listen to this album, home many more times I had sung this songs myselfs to the darkness of room. Alone.Poetry of late night." [audacter]
|
2023 |
€44.50 |
|
| PERSONAL BEST (MAGAZINE) |
N°6 |
MAG |
magazine for "noise, music and the cosmic soup" published by LASSE MARHAUG, 100 pages A4 format: "meeting Sun Ra, starting to play the sax at 28, The Nihilist Spasm Band, UFO sightings, changing guitar strings in 23 seconds, how play glass on your face, playing drums on a trampoline, painting skulls, noise bombing in Indonesia, salt, broken radios, etc.+ interviews with PBK, MARCIA BASSETT, JOE McPHEE, SODADOSA (Indonesia), SKASET.. full colour!
|
2016 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
N°8 |
mag |
LASSE MARHAUGs beloved magazine (almost a book) for "noise, music and the cosmic soup" with a new issue: GHEDALIA TAZARTES, JANA WINDEREN, PETER BRÖTZMANN, PETER REHBERG, OTOMO YOSHIHIDE, GX JUPITTER-LARSEN, RACHEL SHEARER, BENJAMIN NELSON - all with extensive interviews incl. many unseen photos, cover pics, posters, etc.. - A4 format, 100 pages, full colour
|
2020 |
€11.00 |
|
| PETBRICK |
I (split black - clear vinyl ) |
LP |
debut album by the new project of WAYNE ADAMS (BIG LAD) and IGOR CAVALERA (ex SEPULTURA (!), etc.) - extremely powerful electro gabba - industrial noise rock, dark & furious, think of MINISTRY, etc.. ".. there's a strong and convincing throughline to be found, the record hanging together brilliantly whether the duo are peeling skin from your face, smothering you with fizzling ambience or goading you to dance until you sweat your last drop of miserable life blissfully away." - lim. ed. colour vinyl
|
2019 |
€26.00 |
|
| PETERS, STEVE |
Airforms (Chamber Music 10) |
CD |
for "Airforms", 2 hours of "silent tones" from the empty house of STEVE RODEN have been used as source material, following the concept creating 'Chamber Music' made entirely from a single recording of the empty space in which they are presented => dancing bell- and chime like tones, in a marriage with lower frequency drones, permanently fluctuating and resonating like living entitites.. a one-tracker of 61 minutes from the still too unknown US composer STEVE PETERS, highly recommended !!
|
2017 |
€15.00 |
|
| PETERS, STEVE & STEVE RODEN |
Not a Leaf remains as it was |
CD |
a voice-based album project forms the first ever collaboration by PETERS & RODEN, with a highly interesting concept: instead of singing lyrics, they decided to use phrases from the Japanese book of JISEI (poems written by monks on their death bed), selecting them with a special method, the result: four highly intimate, emotional, improvised tracks with shimmering drones, spheric vocalizations and tiny concrete sounds from instruments and objects... no electronics used!!
|
2012 |
€15.50 |
|
| PETITE PORTE DE BRONZE |
En travers du chemin |
CD-R |
full-colour cardboard sleeve |
2002 |
€11.00 |
|
| PETROGRAD DRONE GATHERING / MOSCOW NOISE MANUFACTORY |
PoluDrema 26.11.2021 |
MC |
C-90 split cassette with a condensation of two improvised "experimental/drone/ambient" concerts that happened at the "PuluDrema" ("semi slumber") event in November 2011 in Moscow with 8 hour performances: PETROGRAD DRONE GATHERING (incl. members of LUNAR ABYSS, UHUSHUHU, etc.) and MOSCOW NOISE MANUFACTORY perform the most dreamy, somniferous, vision producing multi layered dronescapes... - lim. 150 copies, fold out cover, DL card, RUS import!
|
2022 |
€12.00 |
|
| PHARMAKON |
Contact |
LP |
third full lenght album by this impressive, vocal based female noise/industrial project from NYC, working on the four trance-states ("preparation", "onset", "climax", "resolution") as inspiration for the question how to transcend the physically body with your mind... "each track of the new Pharmakon LP can be heard as a violent scuffle between mind and body. Even when her visceral noise achieves moments of transcendence, it still strikes you in the gut." [Pitchfork];
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| PHILLIPS, DAVE |
Selective Memory / Perception |
CD |
"an hour long piece consisting of classical instrumentation and orchestral arrangements using cello, violin and piano, plus recordings of wind, broken urban creatures, intimate situations, insect and amphibian sounds and mutations thereof, transmogrified balloons, unconscious voices and more. " - the soundscaping / composition side of D.P., with great result ! 59+ min. , lim. 300
|
2016 |
€10.00 |
|
|
6 |
CD |
rare & super-intense DAVE PHILLIPS album with recordings from 2003-2005 (23 tracks, 74 min.!), released on a label from Belarus, with artwork paintings by RUDOLF EB.ER => sharp sound strokes and field recordings in eerie atmosphere, noise attacks contrasted with near silence, piercing instrumental and animal sounds, disturbing human utterings => all in all a hard to stand, but rewarding experience and tour de force, also a political attack on the achievements of human mankind !!
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Post Homo Sapiens |
CD |
slow suspension pulses, eerie field recordings. layered drone-walls, strange animal sounds, deranged instrumental melodies... a slowed down hell abyss opens up, but also quieter, almost beautiful passages, 6 tracks with 65 intense minutes, highly recommended! - "he urges us to shift our attention from the narrow focus of our human-made culture to the larger natural world of which we are only a part.." - ed. of 500 copies, special low priced
|
2020 |
€8.00 |
|
| PHILLIPS, TOMAS |
Chuchoter pas de Mots |
CD |
newest work by this composer and novelist from the US known for his early CDs on trente oiseaux and LINE; "Chuchoter pas de Mots" is a fascinating piece using very dense and focused drones, whispers, sudden instrumental sounds and emerging sharper frequencies, creating lots of tension and always requesting your full attention and mindfulness... lim. 250 copies, comes with 12p. 8" booklet with paintings by RICHARD DI SANTO, photos by STEFANO GENTILE and an essay by T. PHILLIPS
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| PHURPA + MARE DI DIRAC |
Misericordia |
LP |
MARE DI DIRAC is an amazing Italian ritual-shamanistic unit (with LORENZO ABATTOIR), in September 2015 they performed live in Turin with Russians ethno-drone spiritualists PHURPA - this memorable event, quite different from a usual PHURPA concert, is now published by 4iB from Singapur; lim./numb. 250 copies only! (please note that some cover-corners suffered from transport, thus we sell all our copies for a special discount price!)
|
2017 |
€15.00 |
|
| PIERMATTEI, EZIO |
From Afar It Looks Like An Oriflamme |
MC |
wondrous musique concrete based on often voice-based field recordings, by this Italian underground artist => "Detailed narratives are mixed with a big variety of field recordings, object and instrument sounds, as well as tapes. Ezio Piermattei delivers us two long compositions, with a cinematic point of view, humour and sound detail." - lim. numbered ed. 80 copies, prof. duplication and cover art.
|
2021 |
€9.00 |
|
| PILEWICZ, ANNA & RAFAL IWANSKI (X-NAVI:ET) |
Aqualuna - Alchemical Transformation through Vision and Sound |
CD + DVD |
very nice collaboration between the HATI-member RAFAL IWANSKI (aka X-NAVI:ET) and Polish visual artist ANNA PILEWICZ, who transforms the organic / electronic drones into dreamlike organic visions connected to water & the Moon (DVD playtime: 40+ minutes), visuals like moving & colourful RORSCHACH-tests, a face of a girl under water, dissolving organic structures... to discover !!
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| PILIA, STEFANO |
Spiralis Aurea |
do-LP |
luxurious vinyl issue of PILIA's masterpiece, 12 truly evocative, sad harmonic "drone" pieces that are mainly based on acoustic sources (Cello, Violin, Organ, Horns), feat. various guest musicians, the compositions were inspired by a visit to the Italian "Futa Pass Cemetary", a large war cemetary for German soldiers killed in WWII, holding the remains of about 31.000 soldiers.. - "a place crossed by thoughts about the landscape, history, symbols, rituals.. " - lim. black vinyl 6 panel gatefold, letterpressed
|
2022 |
€45.00 |
|
| PINTO, JOAO CASTRO |
Suntria - Imaginal Sonotopes |
CD |
the "imaginative journey" of site specific recordings arrives with U43 and JOAO CASTRO PINTO at the mythical forest Sintra and its surroundings near Lisboa, Portugal; in 12 sound pictures he captured the sounds of nature, people and machines, ruptured by loud breaks in between, relating to the notion of a "Sonotope" from the Sound Ecology research; a very versatile and challenging release with many surprising breaks and sophisticated concept; lim. 200
|
2017 |
€14.00 |
|
| PIPELINE ALPHA VS. MESSIAH COMPLEX |
Darking lights of Babylon |
CD-R |
comes in nice coloured silk-screened cardboard DVD box, lim. / numb. 119 copies
|
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| PLOTKIN, JAMES & PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE |
Death Rattle |
CD |
four pieces of energetic improvisation noise by PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE (hyper active free jazz drummer from Norway) and mythic doom noise figure (O.L.D.) and LOTUS EATERS (Drone DR-55!) member JAMES PLOTKIN on guitar, creating a fluid chaos: "Like a pair of clashing typhoons, they generate chaos, disturbance and a terrifying beauty in their first ever collaborative recording. Free jazz and metal-edged rock never chimed so exhilaratingly together before."
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Death Rattle |
LP & CD |
four pieces of energetic improvisation noise by PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE (hyper active free jazz drummer from Norway) and mythic doom noise figure (O.L.D.) and LOTUS EATERS (Drone DR-55!) member JAMES PLOTKIN on guitar, creating a fluid chaos: "Like a pair of clashing typhoons, they generate chaos, disturbance and a terrifying beauty in their first ever collaborative recording. Free jazz and metal-edged rock never chimed so exhilaratingly together before." lim LP version, last copies!!
|
2013 |
€22.50 |
|
| PLURALS |
Atlantikwall |
do-CD |
condensed extracts from a 4 hour (!) performance by the UK impro/drone/psych band, which happened near Ostend in Belgium at the Raversyde/Atlantikwall provincial open air museum in August 2015 (a former German military fortification): guitar, synths, keyboards, vocals, tape machine, radio, reed & string instruments are combined in endless droning improvisation sessions, a document of a very intense evening! 300 copies pressed
|
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
TriTone |
LP |
first studio album recorded as a trio by this group from Brighton, UK, who worked on two pieces condensed from three hours of material... with:guitar, synthesizers, keyboards, vocals, tape machines, radio and reed and string instruments they create hypnotically layered psych-drone and post rock ambience.. "A record with two sides, obviously, showing two different sides of Plurals, not as obvious. From what I heard from them, this is the most refined work."
|
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| POLARIS |
Nishkatup |
mCD-R |
lim./numb. 90 full-colour cover, jewel-case / last copies, sold out at the label
|
2006 |
€7.00 |
|
| POSCH |
Gruen_Anger Rudeboy |
CD-R |
full-colour cardboard sleeve |
2000 |
€11.00 |
|
|
Jakomini rue |
CD-R |
full-colour cardboard sleeve |
1999 |
€11.00 |
|
| |
Triest! |
CD-R |
full-colour cardboard sleeve |
2002 |
€11.00 |
|
| POST SCRIPTVM |
Variola Vera |
LP |
a surrealistic aural nightmare, inspired by the outbreak of smallpox in Yugoslavia in the 1970's... "Adrift in the sea of narcotic synth textures, discordant recitations, contaminated laboratory noises, misshapen fragments of charlatan sermons, cannibal ceremonies, voices of dying children and speeches of the moribund Eastern Blok dictators, Variola Vera navigates its wayward course amidst the bitter nostalgia, ritualistic fervency, lethargic dejection, and frantic anguish." - lim. 300, full colour inlay, mastered by THOMAS DIMUZIO !!
|
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
| POTTER, COLIN |
Rank Sonata |
LP |
four brandnew recordings by the NWW producer & live-member and man behind the excellent ICR-label, incl. a side-long A-side track which combines organic ambience and 'archaic' technoid rhythms in a great way.. lim. 300
|
2015 |
€19.50 |
|
| |
The Abominable Slowman |
LP |
five psychedelia-electronic tracks created 2017 using various source material dating back over 20 years ago.. "the emphasis is on rhythm, although the rhythmic components range from conventional drum sounds to strange electronic and/or mutated outbursts, often accompanied by squalling guitars...There's constant experimentation throughout the album, a search for never-before heard sounds to create obscure atmospheres and a pleasantly disturbing feeling of disquietude."
|
2017 |
€17.50 |
|
| POTTER, COLIN & PHIL MOULDYCLIFF |
Grey Skies on Asphalt |
CD |
warehouse found: for this collaboration, COLIN POTTER used the audio field recording sources from PHIL MOULDYCLIFF (street scenes, church bells,etc.) to create 7 movements of mysteriously droning bliss, exploring the nice contrasts between pure concrete material and slowly waving drones... we can listen to this in endless repeat modus, true ambience... 52+ min, playtime, lim./numb. 300, special cover, very last copies !!
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| POTTER, COLIN & THE HAFLER TRIO |
A pressed on Sandwich |
CD |
the only collaboration work by the two pioneers of experimental drones from UK! => COLIN POTTER reworks H30 sounds into a 53 min one-tracker, a glittering, oscillating overtone soundstreams inviting for full contemplation, a morphing glass-drone that takes your mind away.... special cardboard cover & booklet / one-tracker 53 min / lim. 1010 copies
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
| PROCER VENEFICUS |
How the Heather Moonlit Shivers |
do-LP |
this is the first epic vinyl release by this US American dark folk / dark poetic ambient project => acoustic guitars, amorph drones & whispers, melancholic tunes, but this also has a very sensual, erotic, night-shade coloured side... incl.a cover version of an AMBER ASYLUM song; comes in a stunning gatefold cover on RED vinyl, lim. 406 copies
|
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| PROPHECY SUN / EMERGE |
Spirit Dream |
CD-R |
EMERGE collaboration with Canadian video- & installation artist "prOphecy sun", who also works as dancer & singer & theremin-player => her often wordless vocalizations combined with theremin-loops build the basis for EMERGE processings and form expressive, ghostly, amorph drone soundscapes with a dreamlike quality (also included are solo tracks by both artists); comes w. special fold out cardboard sleeve & two full colour inlays
|
2013 |
€7.50 |
|
| PROXENUS / GLOWING PIXIE |
Elapidae |
maxi-CDR |
GLOWING PIXIE (member of SYRINX) remixes PROXENUS material for an almost 30min one-tracker of mysterious dark dronescapes, subtle & mesmerizing; as everything from this label, very much recommended for drone-lovers!! Lim. 80 copies full colour cover
|
2010 |
€6.00 |
|
| PRURIENT |
Casablanca Flamethrower |
do-LP |
the first proper PRURIENT full length album for Tesco, returning to his industrial / heavy 'doom' electronics origins, thematically centered on hidden allied war crimes:::: "Thirteen tracks of doom electronics crowded by voices of industrial cynicism focused on four theatres (corridors of violence)...these are the songs from torture chambers across hateful american shores." - lim. 250 BLACK vinyl, gatefold cover, numbered insert
|
2020 |
€33.00 |
|
| PSICOPOMPO / LORENZO ABATTOIR / HERMANN KOPP |
Synchronicity (Theory of Carl Jung) |
CD |
collaboration and split CD with each one track by HERMANN KOPP (who once made the soundtracks to the 'Nekromantik' and 'Der Todesking' films) and LORENZO ABATTOIR, plus 4 tracks of their new project PSICOPOMPO => these are handmade post industrial songs; using acoustic instruments like tambourine (slow and rumbling percussion), distorted violin and shruti-box plus electronics and voice, highly versatile and original,..
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| PSYCHIC TV |
Pagan Day |
LP |
mythic PTV album from 1984 with early song demos and sketches of ALEX FERGUSSON and GENESIS P.ORRIDGE, recorded on a simple 4-track cassette machine and originally not intended to be released as "finished" material; feat. "We Kiss" and "Cold Steel", one of the most intimate PTV albums - appeared first as TOPY 003 on 23rd Dec. 1984 as lim. picture disc. only available in the shops for one hour! we have copies on red vinyl in stock, after they're gone we sell the black vinyl ed.
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Pagan Day |
CD |
mythic PTV album from 1984 with early song demos and sketches of ALEX FERGUSSON and GENESIS P.ORRIDGE, recorded on a simple 4-track cassette machine and originally not intended to be released as "finished" material; feat. "We Kiss" and "Cold Steel", one of the most intimate PTV albums - appeared first as TOPY 003 on 23rd Dec. 1984 as lim. picture disc. only available in the shops for one hour!
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| QUEST |
(an) Exterior |
MC |
rare cassette (C-60) by FRANS DE WAARD's channel for "vintage analogue" ambience, think of early 80's dark synth music (COLIN POTTER, etc.) - "Deep synths passages, small shimmering melodies, vast drones, mildly processed field recordings, it is all one long, spacious journey of one of the unique voices in experimental music..." - lim. 50 copies with full colour fold out cover; CD version on request !
|
2021 |
€9.50 |
|
| RABELAIS, AKIRA |
Eisoptrophobia |
do-LP |
re-workings and -processings of solo piano pieces by ERIK SATIE, BELA BARTOK, and RABELAIS himself, using a special self build software ("Argeïphontes Lyre") to create incredibly haunting and poetic atmospheres.. CD from 2001 for the first time on vinyl; "The recognisable melodies here ring out in myriad new ways, sometimes fractured and indented by patinas of crackle that echo the original contours, while, at othere, smudged into mind-bending obfuscation or spectral, timbral thizz."
|
2018 |
€26.00 |
|
| |
The little Glass |
do-CD |
this album presents a collaboration of AKIRA RABELAIS with HAROLD BUDD, both known for their most sublime piano works: four solo piano pieces by BUDD on CD 1, a remix of the whole on CD 2 by RABELAIS => "Non-repetitive repetition that so deeply submerges the listener, it takes a while for the rather radical transformations occurring to be recognized." [Igloo Mag] www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-I0MMRVSMQ
|
2015 |
€18.00 |
|
| RACH, MARTIN WITH LYNN WAILS |
My Heart |
CD-R |
the spoken words "My Heart" by LYANN WAILS are processed, fragmented and / or looped by MARTIN RACH, setting the emotional words against pure frequency noises or transforming them completely into sound.. for fans of: BLACKHUMOUR, ERIC LUNDE, and other sound poetry (though this sounds very clear and focused, not low-fi at all..).... lim. 33 special cardboard cover
|
2015 |
€8.50 |
|
| RADIGUE, ELIANE |
Songs of Milarepa |
do-CD |
MILAREPA was a legendary Tibetan saint from the 11th century, who is said to have composed up to 100.000 verses to spread his beliefs; this do-CD uses five of his pieces, combined with subliminal drone waves a lulling and extremely subtle and calm atmosphere is spread; this collects the LP with same title from 1983, the "Mila's Journey" CD (1987) plus two unreleased pieces; BACK IN STOCK! |
1998 |
€26.00 |
|
| |
Occam Ocean 4 |
CD |
"Eliane Radigue returns with 'Occam Ocean 4', her fourth installment of the incredible, evolving work that she began in 2011. Issued by Shiin Records as a beautifully produced CD, featuring the three leading lights of contemporary experimental music - Bertrand Gauguet, Yannick Guédon and Carol Robinson - all of whom worked closely with the composer in its development, each of its works soar to remarkable heights and quietly redefine the boundaries of drone and minimal music in ways that only Radigue can." [Soundohm] |
2021 |
€23.00 |
|
| RADIGUE, ELIANE & FREDERIC BLONDY |
Occam XXV |
CD |
first ever organ piece for E. RADIGUE, part of her 'Occam Ocean' series and recorded at Union Chapel (church in London) in January 2020, performed by composer & organist FREDERIC BLONDY and commissioned by 'Organ Reframed' curator CLAIRE M. SINGER; a fully immersive, meditative piece about water and the universality of waves.. - comes in A5 DVD style digipack incl. 16 page full colour booklet
|
2022 |
€22.50 |
|
| RAISON D'ETRE |
When the Earth Dissolves in Ashes |
CD |
75 min. unique material collected from different live-performances 2010-2011 (Zürich, Wuppertal, Rotterdam, Cologne, Leipzig-WGT, etc..), mostly based on sources used for "In Sadness, Silences & Solitude" & "Metamorphyses" albums
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
|
The Stains of the Embodied Sacrifice (Expanded Edition) |
do-CD |
extended re-issue of this great R.D. album ("a masterpiece of dark visionary music") from 2009 that sold out completely quickly; this new version comes with a 60 min. bonus disc of previously unreleased additional material (early versions, etc.); comes in 6 panel digisleeve with 2 full colour inserts
|
2013 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Alchymeia |
CD |
phantastic new RD studio album, influenced by C.G. JUNGs theories this is meant as a journey to one's unconsciousness, in order to strenghten the 'true self'; using lots of vocal/choir material again, this contains the most deeply melancholic and emotional RD material we ever encountered.. first (?) edition of 500 copies only, a vinyl version will be available soon!
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Prospectus I |
do-LP |
first vinyl re-issue of R.D. classic first album from 1993, filled with religious chants, choirs, bells & creating a 'gothic' ambient atmosphere, this marked the invention of the typical R.D. sound, somehow a mixture of post-industrial & archaic catholic mysticism... for this re-issue all material has been restored and re-recorded from the original tapes, and four rare tracks from early cassettes have been added as bonus; gatefold cover, lim. 300 |
2018 |
€27.50 |
|
|
Enthralled by the Wind of Loneliness |
do-LP |
first vinyl re-issue of R.D. second album from 1994, a masterpiece of sacral & melancholic dark ambience; for this re-issue all material has been restored and re-recorded from the original tapes, and four rare tracks from early cassettes or online releases have been added as bonus; gatefold cover, lim. 300, black vinyl
|
2018 |
€27.50 |
|
|
In Sadness, Silence and Solitude |
do-LP |
first ever vinyl version of this dark ambient classic from 1997 (the fourth R.D. album) - "This is music guaranteed to at least bring about thoughts of mysticism, if it doesn't produce mystical states outright. This defines the term hauntingly beautiful...".- gatefold cover, incl. diverse rare bonus tracks from same period, 300 copies on black vinyl
|
2020 |
€28.50 |
|
|
Daemonum + Daemoniacum |
3 x LP set |
inspired by the ANIMA / ANIMUS archetypes theory of C.G.JUNGian Depth Psychology, DAEMONUM marks the 30th anniversery of the project, a truly mesmerizing subconscious drone release.. - "By learning to listen for the voice of our subconscious self, we can call that voice our Daemon, our internal genius that provide guidance, we can find hidden potential within ourselves." - this the special 3 x LP ed. with bonus album "DAEMONIACUM", SOLD OUT from the label immediately !!
|
2022 |
€47.50 |
|
| |
Apres Nous Le Deluge |
LP |
first ever vinyl re-issue of R.D. first cassette release (on Sound Source, sublabel of Cold Meat Industry), more raw & unpolished than any other RD album and more located in the Death Industrial genre, recorded 1991-1992, different from the later re-mixed CD versions! - *the album's title translates to "After Us, the Deluge," a phrase often attributed to Madame de Pompadour, suggesting an impending catastrophe. This sentiment echoes throughout the album* - lim. 299 copies
|
2023 |
€25.00 |
|
| RANK ENSEMBLE |
Papilio Noblei |
CD |
impressive album by a group of four Finnish 'new music' performers (each two male / female on guitar, french horn, harp, ukulele, spring drum, piano, electronics, flute, melodica, & voices) who create highly original improvisational subtlescapes; pure & contemplative, with chances for silence, a kind of focused meditation, always generating unusual "unheard" sounds & noises and arrangements from their instruments.... their first album
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| RANTA, MICHAEL |
Yuen Shan |
do-LP |
first solo release in almost 25 years by this percussionist & composer who worked with STOCKHAUSEN and JEAN-CLAUDE ELOY in the 70's; these four side long tracks for 'pre recorded sounds and live percussion' are deeply rooted in ancient Asian philosophy & spirituality... lim. 300 gatefold sleeve w. inlay; beautiful edition, a masterpiece !!
|
2015 |
€32.00 |
|
| RAPOON |
Messianicghosts |
CD |
amorph dronescapes coming from alien dimensions & hypersphere loops; re-issue of much requested Klanggalerie CD from 2002 (contains the rare & great CDR of same title (Syntactic 1997), plus the "Birethen" 7" (1995, Syntactic) and two previously unreleased tracks); lim. 430 copies only, comes with two full colour postcards
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Psi-Transient |
CD |
"A faint memory of once knowing and now forgotten. Elusive and dreamlike the ghosts return." [ROBIN STOREY] - rare new Russian Rapoon work, shimmering in many colours.. lim. 400
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Moon and Cups Series # 1 |
7inch |
rare 7" (lim. 100 in total) on this label from Hongkong, two tracks filled with hallucinogenic ethno-drones, exotic flute-sounds & rhythms, strange voices... gives you the full "early ZOVIET FRANCE" feeling; great but expensive EP! clear vinyl & two colour postcards included
|
2013 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Moon and Cups Series # 2 |
7inch |
rare 7" (lim. 100 in total) on this label from Hongkong, again a kind of surrealistic ethno-sound on two tracks filled with subtle percussion, exotic flute-sounds, deranged "oriental" voices...mesmerizing & dreamlike, gives you the full "early ZOVIET FRANCE" feeling; great but expensive EP! Clear vinyl & two colour postcards included; SECOND PART in this series !!
|
2013 |
€22.00 |
|
|
Fall of Drums |
CD |
new material in the "classic" middle-eastern RAPOON style with a really elevating hypnotic mood, based mainly on 'ethnic' percussion & vocal material immersed in hallucinogenic echo, delay & reverb effects... definitely one of our favourite new RAPOON albums of the past years !!
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Cultural Forgeries |
CD |
rare Rapoon album with special concept - pure 'acoustic' sources were later effected with delay & reverb to form one long "live" take in 17 different parts => 'Trumpet, Bodhran, Banjo, Pungi, Shehnai, Indian flute, Chinese flute, Irish tin whistle, hand bells, cello, accordion, guitar, one string slide guitar, Ukelele, Kan (Tai bamboo harmonica), mouth harps, percussion', all played by ROBIN TOREY himself....lim. 300 and almost sold out at the label; US import !!
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
|
What do you suppose? (the Alien Question) |
do-CD |
re-issue of deleted album from 1999 inspired by a theory about the presence of aliens by WILLIAM COOPER, now with a completely new & so far unpublished bonus album "The Project Book" which is based on the same source recordings as "What do you suppose" but uses (almost) no vocal material at all, sounding completely different... lim. 500
|
2015 |
€16.50 |
|
|
Blue Days |
CD |
RAPOON is productive as ever so this is already the fourth album with new studio material for the Polish label in 4 years: on 60 minutes 14 tracks spread with 'sketches and ideas' that form a wholeness together, relying on the typical sound ingredients (sampled choirs, percussion, exotic drones) but sounding here much more melancholic, slow, and less floating and shimmering, and we also hear Mr. STOREY singing... a winter album that slowly enfolds... lim. 500 oversized gatefold-cover
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Moon and Cups Series # 3 |
7inch |
rare 7" (this edition: 75 copies only!) on this label from Hongkong,clear vinyl & two colour postcards included
|
2016 |
€19.00 |
|
|
Moon and Cups Series # 4 |
7inch |
rare 7" (this edition: 75 copies only!) on this label from Hongkong,clear vinyl & two colour postcards included
|
2016 |
€19.00 |
|
|
Un Flic |
CD |
RAPOON on strange new roads again: "Un Flic" is a homage to the French Cinema of the "Nouvelle Vague", using ghostly percussion, lots of choral and vocal material (we hear the voice of VIRGINIE BOYER, the wife of DENIS BOYER from the legendary magazine FEAR DROP!) plus synths and other unusual instrumental sources, for the first time real drums are used...
|
2017 |
€14.50 |
|
|
My Life as a Ghost |
do-CD |
re-issue of this favoured album from 2004 (Klanggalerie), plus bonus-track and full NEW CD with remixes & re-arrangements of the original demos, plus new material; "This is one of the most interesting, if not the most interesting Robin Storey album, from the first decade of 2000s." lim. 500
|
2017 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Sol Laude (Mercury Rising Trilogy 3) |
CD |
third and closing part of the "Mercury Rising" project, a soundtrack to a science fictional 'replicants' story.. "...thundering it’s way through the universe, leaving it’s impression trailing across the cosmos like a giant comet’s tail. Deep industrial, space ambience and majestic choral bursts are interspersed with retro sci-fi electronica, emotive piano elements and off-world jazz." - lim. 300, 6-panel full colour digipak. 8 tracks with a total running time of 61:03
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Vernal Crossing |
do-LP |
first vinyl re-issue of RAPOON's third (or fourth?) album from 1993, masterful rhythmic & tribalistic, with endless tabla-drummings, chants, echoes, oriental harmonies & drones, defining the typical hypnotic RAPOON sound... the re-mastering for vinyl was done by COLIN POTTER, who also edited the new bonus track / remix included here; lim. 500 copies
|
2020 |
€26.00 |
|
|
Call Fires to Cloud |
CD |
session tracks and studio sketches for the "Mercury Rising Trilogy", all very reduced and silent / melancholic material, seen as the immemorial remains of a once existing culture of a very distant solar system.... - this is the special edition w. glossy DVD sized cardboard package plus 6 x full colour postcards, numbered editon of 100 copies
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Seeds in the Tide Vol. 6 |
do-CD |
collection of rare material Vol.6, covering the period 2013 to 2016 => tracks taken from compilations, small or limited formats, remixes, rare bonus tracks or live material: the biggest part here comes from the great "Moon and Cups" 7inch series (four EPs released 2013-2016 and belong to the best newer RAPOON material we know!); the second CD holds a live recording made at "Gorlice Ambient Festival" in 2013; 15 pieces in total, lim. 500, double digipak
|
2021 |
€17.00 |
|
| RAPOON & LORDS OF INFINITY |
split |
CD |
on this split CD (67+ min.) ROBIN STOREY returns to a very ritualistic and shamanistic approach, loopy & hypnotic and using guitar sounds... the five RAPOON tracks fit perfectly to the two long pieces from newcomers LORDS OF INFIINITY, a male-female duo who create wonderful multi-layered drones with extreme transcendental flow and instrumental sound sources, on two long pieces.... "We believe that music incarnates pan-unity" - ed. of 500 copies
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| RAPOON / RELAPXYCH.0 |
Amplified Transparency Reflection / Lost Terrain |
LP |
Collector's item! Split & remix LP by RAPOON with this Swedish newcomer, lim / numb. 200 w. handpainted cover made by different autistic children, incl. large full colour photo insert and numbered insert with the name of the kid who painted the cover; this release serves a charitable purpose
|
2009 |
€20.00 |
|
| RATKJE, MAJA S., / JONATHAN MEESE / KOMMISSAR DIONYSOS UND ARIADNE |
Das Kepler-452b-Pre-Sequel |
LP |
collector's item, limited to 45 1/2 copies (!) - (the 46th copy was cut in half) : a side-long, super obscure & rare track named "TEIP" by RAJA S. RATKJE with voice & tape experiments from 2007 (20+min), "DEAR ALIEN FRIEND, UFO BOY, UFO GIRL, ARE YOU RELIGIOUS? NO, OUR LEADER IS ART!", a kind of fomenting ART dialogue piece by JONATHAN MEESE, + KOMMISSAR HJULER with ARIADNE sing & mantra ecstatically in their usual 'senseless' way "With 19 Mountains"
|
2017 |
€35.00 |
|
| RE-DRUM |
Eclipse |
CD-R |
surrealistic & dreamy, soft feedbacking ghost-ambience by from Russia, using hypnotizing, entrancing voices & field recordings along with metallic sounding instrumental samples & slowly swirling electronics... 4 long pieces - 53+ min, comes in nice transparent plastic box with coloured paper-cover => impressive album of entrancing otherwordly atmospheres, to discover !
|
2013 |
€8.00 |
|
| REAS |
same |
CD-R |
full-colour cardboard sleeve |
2001 |
€11.00 |
|
| RECHE, PABLO |
Paredes |
mCD-R |
lim./numb. 100 copies / full-colour cover with inlay
|
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
| REDOLFI, MICHEL |
Desert Tracks |
LP |
This electro-acoustic composer from Marseille (who worked with LUC FERRARI, PARMEGIANI, or PIERRE HENRY) made field recordings in the Californian Mojave Desert (1987, with one of the first portable digital recorders, a PCM Sony) to work on the question if the light of a certain landscapes is expanding our perception of its acoustics; this resulted in four tracks mixing the concrete sounds with synthetic ones, creating a high tension listening experience with great sound effects..
|
2016 |
€16.00 |
|
| REFLECTOR |
Flugangst |
CD-R |
full-colour cardboard sleeve |
2002 |
€11.00 |
|
| REFORMED FACTION |
Years of Lightning, Day of Drums |
CD |
fifth studio album by the ex (2/3) ZOVIET FRANCE, for the most part a very dense, mysterious, versatile experimental journey, at times very harmonic & structured, but as usual with surprising breaks & elements. Lim. 450, comes with two inserts
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| REIBEL, GUY |
Douze Inventions En Six Modes De Jeu |
LP |
previously unreleased material from 1979 by the ex GRM composer who left the institute in the 80's, with many of his electronic recordings left unpublished... 12 pieces, partly performed by TM+, an electronic / acoustic trio with DENIS DUFOUR; lim. 500
|
2015 |
€18.50 |
|
| REMI |
Error_04 |
CD-R |
full-colour cardboard sleeve |
2003 |
€11.00 |
|
| |
Geist der Utopie |
CD-R |
full-colour cardboard sleeve |
2001 |
€11.00 |
|
| RENALDO & THE LOAF |
The Elbow is Taboo & Elbonus |
do-CD |
re-issue of their fourth album from 1987 (on Some Bizarre Rec.!) using and endless list of analogue instruments, plus the legendary 12" "Hambu Hodo" (1986, Some Bizarre); the last recorded material by the unique duo (consisting of a pathologist and an architect) who discovered by THE RESIDENTS
|
2016 |
€19.00 |
|
| |
Song of the Lungfish |
12inch |
elaborated designed 4-track 12" (with flourescent colours + art insert) with the title track using lyrics send in by a fan, all new material recorded after their re-union, 2017-2019... - "They continue to record and explore their decidedly individual unclassifiable sound world. Although the words surreal, playful, timeless, ethnographic, electronic, punk and oddly folk-ish have been used in attempt to describe their music." - lim. 100 copies only, numbered ed, BLACK vinyl
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| RENOU, CHRISTIAN & ANEMONE TUBE |
Transference |
CD |
collaboration by the german ambient experimental project ANEMONE TUBE with CHRISTIAN RENOU (aka BRUME); A.T.s source sounds are de-constructed and re-composed, with exciting long melancholic drone pieces as a result... BACK IN STOCK
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| REPTILICUS & HAFLER TRIO |
Designer Time |
LP |
first vinyl re-issue of the obscure CD from 1994 (Staalplaat / Soleilmoon) - a collaboration by Icelandic duo REPTILICUS (who had some great releases in the 90's) and ANDREW MC.KENZIE, who lived in Iceland during that time... they recorded various sounds from a derelict slaugherhouse freezer that poured into this release of weird sample, rhythm and drone architecture... - comes on white vinyl, over 50 min. playtime
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| RESIDENTS |
Mush-Room |
CD |
soundtrack to a dance-theatre performance by GRACE ELLEN BARKEY & NEEDCOMPANY from Belgium (2013), originally sold during The Residents' Wonder Of Weird 40th Anniversary Tour 2013'; comes in 6-panel card-wallet sleeve
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Mole Box |
6 x CD BOX |
the complete MOLE-trilogy, expanded: three studio albums released between 1981-1985 (Mark of the Mole, The Tunes of Two Cities, The Big Bubble) plus a full live album and 20 unreleased tracks (almost three hours of unreleased material!)..." LIVE-IN-THE-STUDIO PERFORMANCES, DEMOS, UNISSUED TRACKS, REHEARSAL ROOM RECORDINGS... = all known recordings related to the ‘Mole’ saga" + 24 page booklet with extensive liner notes
|
2019 |
€45.00 |
|
|
Intruders (yellow vinyl) |
LP |
last copies of this limited vinyl colour (250 copies in yellow) INTRUDERS version, their 2018 studio album... " Is this finally, after all these years, THE REAL RESIDENTS?... Intruders is a collection of atmospheric, paranoia-tinged yet oddly accessible tracks, each forever glancing over its own shoulder and wondering just who is out there - Or are they in here?"
|
2018 |
€27.00 |
|
| |
Duck Stab! Alive! |
2 x 10inch / DVD BOX |
collector's item with new recordings from May 2021, a new version of the legendary "Duck Stab!" programme and performance; comes in full colour glossy box with 2 x 45rpm 10"es, DVD, printed sleeves, graphical inserts, and download code voucher for the "24 Bit DeLuxe Edition"
|
2021 |
€79.50 |
|
| REUTOFF |
ReutRaum IV (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
sec. ed. 300 copies. full colour cover & coloured vinyl |
2004 |
€6.00 |
|
| REUTOFF & DEUTSCH NEPAL |
Eating the Dust |
CD |
10 years in the making, this full album collab of the two dark electro industrial acts, lyrics and vocals by LINA BABY DOLL aka DEUTSCH NEPAL, the melancholic dark pop and cinematic nighttime ambience merges very fruitfully.. "a bombastic expedition through rottening minds and haunted places. A marriage between beasts producing their bad seeds and poisoning our souls ." initial copies come with free "Eating the Dust" button !
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| REYNOLS |
10.000 Chickens' Symphony |
7inch |
re-pressing of 300 copies on coloured vinyl & w. printed full-colour covers! |
2003 |
€6.00 |
|
| |
10.000 Chickens' Symphony (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
lim. 250 on red-yellow-gold vinyl with different coloured covers & inlays
|
2000 |
€ |
|
| RICHTER, MAX |
Sleep |
9 x CD-BOX |
the full eight-hour version of SLEEP, which is said to be the longest one-piece composition in the history of classic music => beautiful 'contemporary drone' lullabies that work perfectly also during the daytime to set you in a dreamstate with their wonderful melancholy & repetitive structures....8 CDs + one blue-ray disc containing the same material, + booklet in cardboard box
|
2015 |
€60.00 |
|
| RIEK, LASSE-MARC |
Helgoland |
CD |
16 pure high quality field recordings from Germany's only ocean island, densely populated by marine birds => capturing the water, wind, and animals (especially marine birds) of this rough place at different locations (also from cliffs and caves normally not accessible); feat. a full colour booklet with extensive liner notes & photos...very much in the vein of CHRIS WATSONs or FRANCISCO LOPEZ unprocessed wildlife recordings, this is filled with a very personal approach, recorded over a period of 3 years
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
| RIPARBELLI, PIETRO / K11 |
Radiodrama (feat. BAD SECTOR) |
CD + CD-R |
concept-album using sound-sources by BAD SECTOR, GALERIE SCHALLSCHUTZ, STRANGE ATTRACTOR, etc. based on "hidden sound forms involved in radio signal transmissions". This edition of 211 copies contains a bonus-CDR "CAMERA SONORA" based on an installation in 2007 in collaboration with MASSIMO MAGRINI (BAD SECTOR); comes with booklet in Box, all hand-designed !
|
2008 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Radiodrama (feat. BAD SECTOR) |
CD-R & object |
concept-album using sound-sources by BAD SECTOR, GALERIE SCHALLSCHUTZ, STRANGE ATTRACTOR, etc. based on "hidden sound forms involved in radio signal transmissions". Special ed. of 80 copies comes with 2 small speakers enclosed (playable!)
|
2008 |
€17.00 |
|
| RITSCH, WINFRIED |
Woodscratcher |
pic-LP |
curious installation of pure sounds from a wood-scratcher machine that cuts tree-trunks into 2,5 cm thick "discs", while being amplified with 4 pick-ups and send to four loudspeakers; so that he machine is 'playing' the acoustic wood-information. astonishing work by this Austrian sound-artist who is known as a collaborator of BERNHARD LANG and PETER ABLINGER; the picture disc has an image of a wood piece on it: a most curious record, very limited
|
2012 |
€20.00 |
|
| RIVET, JEAN-MICHEL |
A fleur de quai |
CD |
Seven dynamic compositions by this composer from Bordeaux, using one "daily life"-sound source for each of his tracks, building intense quasi-narrative structures, true "cinema for the ears", lots of stunning micro-details !
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| RLW |
Herzblutanteil |
CD |
back in stock this collector's item with VERY special packaging, released by Russian's legedary WAYSTYX label... it's more a remix + multiple recycling compilation of a basic IHR KINDERLEIN KOMMET (German traditional folk song from 1794), performed by RLW's little daughter Sonja); feat. 9 tracks from BRUME, A. COURTIS (REYNOLS), HOWARD STELZER, and more, it all still sounds incredible,a timeless and absurd journey; lim. 432 copies in die-cut sleeve with 11 small inserts
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Tunnel |
CD |
one of Germany's most hidden geniuses with a new work, working on female voice material as only sound source, Fasten your seat belts and enjoy! ' "Tunnel presents five pieces built using fragments of Annette Krebs’s voice. Far from being anecdotal, the work reveals a true alchemy. Vocal prints are converted into roaring metallic textures lost in an endless sonic vortex, both sculptural and masterful. "
|
2021 |
€10.50 |
|
| |
Satanic Inventions |
CD |
This album is the result of Ralf Wehowsky’s (aka rlw) critical examination of COVID-19 as a cultural phenomenon and a comparison to the black plague of the Middle Ages: "Denial of reality, conspiracy theories, searching for scapegoats, etc." = a true festival or irrationalism, telling us more about the human mental state than about the pandemic. Condensed by rlw into 15 tracks, a challenging journey of heavy de-constructions, trans-morphed drones, and treated source sounds = surrealistic musique concrete!
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| RLW / PAAK |
Zur Arbeit I |
LP |
already the third collaboration by RLW with PETER KASTNER aka PAAK, this time on the subject WORK: on three pieces called "Schnaps" (booze), "Kantine" (canteen), and "Gerberei" (tannery) they distill the typical sounds from these "areas" of work in the 19th, 20th, and 21th century with a sarcastic and at times dadaistic approach, using harpsichord, mellotron, rhythmbox, voice and field recordings; a very curious record to say the least !! Lim. 300 colour vinyl & inlay
|
2016 |
€17.00 |
|
| RLW / RICHARD FRANCIS |
R |
CD |
many years ago RICHARD FRANCIS (ew Zealand) released as ESO STEEL a fine EP in our 7" series (DR-49, 2001) with amorphous, mysterious dronings, only 22 years later this collaboration with RLW sees the daylight, based on sessions they did in 2013 when R. FRANCIS had a scholarship in WORPSWEDE, northern Germany.. => analog and digital sounds merge, guding you through minimal landscapes of micro-noises; from two masters of 'sidetone awareness' compositions..
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| ROACH, STEVE & JORGE REYES |
The Ancestor Circle |
CD |
their second collaborative release, based on re-discovered recordings of the Mexican ethno-musician from 2000 who died 2009 => STEVE ROACH formed with these basics ("electronics, percussion, prehispanic flutes, ocarinas, other acoustic instruments and silence") a stunning fourth world ambient journey, warm and spiritually elevated... "Conjuring images of a primal futurism, this alchemical blending-of-sound is a ceremonial offering to the forgotten gods" - 6 long tracks, 73+ min.
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| ROBERT, JOCELYN |
The Maze |
CD |
new work by this highly interesting sound artist from Canada, who creates on THE MAZE a 'map of territories" linked through himself, mainly based on field recordings gathered through the years from around the world => very abstract, obscure, strange sounds & noises, often with unrecognizable source, but also very clear & concrete material from the everyday life are set into a surprising and cryptic musique concrete stream...
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| ROCCHETTI, CLAUDIO |
Every Live is a Problem solving |
CD |
four live-recordings (2006-2010) by this Italien composer and improviser working with all kinds of mainly analogue & mechanical sound sources (vintage records, radios, old instruments) to create hard to pin down acoustic landscapes; member of 3/4HADBEENELIMINATED
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| RODEN, STEVE |
Berlin Fields |
CD-R |
"a radiator touched with hands", "maracas in the bedroom", "feet on my ceiling", etc.. - delicate & pure field recordings made in Berlin, Paris & Helsinki, with no further processing; on a label from Hungary that - similar to Unfathomless - is releasing field-recording based works only; lim. 222 copies, numbered, oversized full colour cover; LAST COPY!!
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Flower & Water |
CD |
"Words in the Shape of a Tree": for this album STEVE RODEN used original sounds of the very first Dragon's Eye release (a flexi 7" by GEORGE WINSTON with a blues-piano piece) => by cutting & re-framing the disc or putting objects on it he started a very 'physical' and ritualistic process of creating source material with 'temporary sculptures'...
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| ROIGK, STEFAN |
PARKANLAGE |
BOOK & CD |
BACK IN STOCK this art catalogue (21 x 19 cm, 60 pages) with many colour pictures of installation works, plus texts in German & English, released on the occasion of the PARKPLATZ exhibition (Wolfsburg, Juli-September 2006) from this German soundart artist who was once active as KENOTAPH, K:EIM & SKALP! - On the CD 63 minutes of material with highly abstract and nice droning musique concrete. Still to discover !!
|
2008 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
De-Composed |
BOOK + 2 x CD |
phantastic 144 pages full colour art book presenting STEFAN ROIGKs works 2005 to 2023 => acousmatic compositions, sound installations, musical graphics and sound poetry works, photos, texts and drawings.. " A piece of music for the eyes" - the book comes with two audio CDs, incl. 33 tracks / 141 min. of extraordinary sounds and audio poetry, a great survey of the almost unique creative approach of the Berlin based sound artist..
|
2023 |
€28.00 |
|
| ROIGK, STEFAN / FROMBERG, DANIELA / CLAUDIA HINSCH / PIT NOACK |
Habitat |
CD + leporello |
these four (sound) artists built a wondrous installation in Hannover at Galerie Kubus (Nov. 2018) with four sculptural "positions" in a large hall that were interconnected in many ways - also soundwise - like in a biological system a complex entanglement was produced, without centre...the obscure sculptures made from paper, foam, wood, ceramic, silicon, etc. build this soundtrack of drones and tiny ASMR micro-sonics.. comes w. large fold out cover w. many pictures and infos, very nice!!
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| ROSS, DAVID & CLIVE BELL |
Recovery Suite |
LP |
British duo also known as TWINKLE with jazz / impro / world music roots, creating hard to categorize ethno-electronica / fourth world ambient landscapes with the extensive use of the Shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute, "dystopic lounge ambiance" the label calls it; very curious, unique music... lim. 250
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| ROSS, LESLIE |
Drop By Drop, Suddenly |
do-CD |
if you're into the ultra minimal drones of E RADIGUE or P. OLIVEROS, it's high time to discover LESLIE ROSS! => this is the very first release of works from this Bassoon (Fagott!) player, starting with shorter tracks that are very dry & concrete, followed by longer, multi-layered, smooth & contemplative ones..."An instrument builder, inventor and skilled player who lives surrounded by canaries and cats, and produces valhallas of tones, microtones and illusory tones from a single source." [Massimo Ricchi]
|
2018 |
€17.50 |
|
| ROSSETTO, VANESSA |
The way you make me feel |
CD |
how special "pure field recordings" can be proves this release by VANESSA ROSSETTO (painter & composer from USA, known from LPs on Kye for example), who recorded lots of material during a stay in New York City, which was later assorted and arranged...=> a strange mixture of personal, normally unnoticed 'everyday life' recordings with amorph clouds of hissing and atmospheric noises... lim. 200, numbered, full colour cardboard cover & artcard
|
2016 |
€14.00 |
|
| ROSTAMI, ARIA & DANIEL BLOMQUIST |
Wandering Eye |
CD |
the first collaboration album by these Ambient artists from San Francisco. based on all kinds of instrumental, electronic, live and field recording sources, using special concepts and techniques.. -"Wandering Eye is a sonic tribute to a cold night on a mountain top, inhabited by a peculiar nostalgia of light and diurnal agitation. From the first to the last track, from the spleen at dusk to the rebirth at dawn, this humble album only asks us to forget about the world and enjoy the here and now." [Dotflac]
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| ROTHENBERG, DAVID |
Bug Music |
CD |
investigations into the archaic "rhythms" of insects (cicadas, crickets, katydids, leafhoppers, water bugs...) which are brought together with instrumental improvisations on clarinets, guitar, Nordic flute, sax, overtune singing by ROTHENBERG & friends..16 curious tracks, some have been recorded live as "jam sessions with insects" outside.. "it's most likely that human music evolved out of the millions of years of listening to the sound of bugs that filled the soundscape of our ancestors"..
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Nightingale Cities |
do-CD |
ambitious / most curious project by DAVID ROTHENBERG known for his "Interspecies Music" (doing music together with other animals or insects), who invited various guest musicians in Berlin and Helsinki to perform with nightingales outdoors in real time.. the result are 24 tracks merging improvisations on clarinet, singing, bass, percussion, violin, etc. with the bird calls - "together we dream of a way that humans and nature might live closer together" - comes with 24 page full colour booklet, ed. of 500
|
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| ROZMANN, AKOS |
Mass / Massa |
7 x CD BOX |
first time release of this epic, 7 hour work that was created between 1989 and 2004 at the EMS in Stockholm, consisting of 12 electro-acoustic compositions that sound like nothing else with their religious references, vocal material from liturgys, chants, organ sounds and electronic noises, building a complex collage that seems to be in a constant movement of arching and warping... - 7 CDs in sturdy box with two booklets
|
2022 |
€50.50 |
|
| RRILL BELL |
False Flag Rapture |
MC |
limited cassette-only release after the great "Ballad of.." LP, merging field recordings, subtle instrumental sounds and electronics in a most empathic, daydreaming way.. - "a complex amalgamation of acoustic source materials (metallophones, winds, strings, and brass), (cassette) tape treatments, and digital assemblages, which coalesced over a period of six years," - lim. 100 copies, luxus design (green cassette with full-color six-panel j-card in clear Norelco case, plus full-color outer o-card) + DL card
|
2021 |
€11.00 |
|
| RYN (or R.Y.N.) |
Whistle and I'll come to you (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
lim. ed. 300 / full-colour handprinted covers & silk-screen covers |
2006 |
€6.50 |
|
| S.E.T.I. |
Final Trajectory |
CD |
a surprisingly un-rhythmic work by ANDREW LAGOWSKI's S.E.T.I. project => massive atmospheric / outer space drone walls and dark synth-rays, condensed from sound sources taken from his archives of the past 30 years...one long one-tracker 58+ minutes... "As the Voyager spacecraft reaches the outer edge of our Solar System it is a fitting time to imagine the exodus from Earth of the last human being on their final trajectory towards an unknown future.."
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Sleep Environments for Interplanetary Travel |
8 x CD BOX |
a soundtrack for the whole process of a cosmic journey, the epic new release by ANDREW LAGOWSKI's S.E.T.I- project! - " A deep ambient space soundtrack of nothing less than eight hours on eight CDs presented in a beautiful cardboard box.... These recordings have been composed, sequenced and mastered in such a way as to allow for periods of hazy dreams, deep sleep, time displacement and finally, awakening."
|
2018 |
€48.00 |
|
| SAKAMOTO, RYUICHI & DAVID TOOP |
Garden of Shadows and Light |
LP |
DAVID TOOP and RYUICHI SAKAMOTO invite to a contemplative journey with (exotic) instruments (flute, piano, guitars) and objects, but also field recordings and very subtle analog electronics appear, recorded in performance / London August 2018... . "You are led through a series of discrete moments, each uniquely shaded, whether by highly amplified small percussive sounds, austere electronic tones or the mournful tones of Toop's bass recorder.." - clear vinyl 180.gr, embossed sleeve
|
2021 |
€29.50 |
|
| SAKELLARIOU, YIORGIS |
Klaipeda |
CD |
two long subtle field recording compositions, with audio sources catched from a city & its surroundings in Lithuania, direct at the Baltic Sea, where SAKELLARIOU (also known as MECHA/ORGA) recorded not only the nature (water, hissing, plants, animals) but also the city, factories and rural life to construct 'a profound sonic world'... this combination of nature & industrial sounds works well and makes 'Klaipeda' very special! lim. 200
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
|
In Aulis |
CD |
after albums for POGUS Prod. and Cronica, this is the second CD in the Unfathomless-series for the prolific Greek composer, also known as MECHA/ORGA: "In Aulis" leads us to the Ancient Greek Temple of Artemis, where he used Aeolian Harps, recording the aura & psychogeography of this mysterious place... a one-track composition of 42+ minutes; lim. 200 full colour cardboard cover + extra art card
|
2018 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Auka |
mCD-R |
this very talented field recording composer from Athens, Greece, has put together a new piece based on various (object and field) sounds he captured in Lithuania during a residency, from whispering crackle organics to clanging metal bangs and deep hummnigs, this is a true journey into the mystery of environmental (micro ) sounds, with enough variation and development to keep the attention..
|
2020 |
€5.50 |
|
| SALAKAPAKKA SOUND SYSTEM |
Atonality Appreciation Society |
MC |
"noise, harsh drone & dark-n-dirty ambient" - the sister release to "Barbed Wire Boogie", again exciting noise-pieces with various approaches and sources, for example using GEROGERIGEGEGE sounds , recordings from a temple in Sri Lanka, blowing in a metal tube, etc... lim. 25 self-made edition
|
2015 |
€7.50 |
|
| SAMARTZIS, PHILIP |
Unheard Spaces |
CD |
two long soundart compositions by this Australian experimentator and ex member of GUM: "Absence and Presence" (2006) for five musicians and four loudspeakers, "Unheard Spaces" (2006) - based on field recordings made in Venice; special offer now !
|
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
| SAMARTZIS, PHILIP / KOZO INADA |
H [ ] |
maxi-CD |
meditative (Austro-Japanese) collaboration merging field recordings and smooth electronics....very nice ! "Ambient is everywhere today, silence is music, and found recordings are a new source of rhythm and structure.." [Foxy Digitalis] back in stock !
|
2006 |
€11.50 |
|
| SAND |
His first Steps |
LP |
recorded 1972-1973 as a "forerunner" to GOLEM with early/different versions, just after the split up of P.O.T. (Part of Time); 5th in the series of SAND albums on Rotorelief, lim. 700 coloured vinyl, luxurius oversize cover
|
2016 |
€25.00 |
|
| |
Desert Navigation (clear) |
LP |
unreleased album (first in a series of four unheard SAND albums on Rotorelief!) by the legendary Krautrock-band, composed during the period of "Golem"... - 'Desert Navigation is the link with the earth, in its primal sense' - re-press on CLEAR vinyl, 300 copies, numbered ed.
|
2017 |
€25.00 |
|
| SANTOS SILVA, SUSANA |
MMXX-08: Sometimes it's raining a lot |
LP |
8th release in the new series that presents 20 artists from the experimental sound-art scene with very nice design / concept => dedicated to the year 2020 there will be 20 x 20 min. compositions on one-sided clear vinyl, with laser engraved artwork by the artist on the B-Side, lim. to 500 copies => Portugesian trumpet player S.S.SILVA (more known in the impro & Jazz scene) mixes instrumental sounds, electronics, voice and field rec. for a dronish experimental journey, very nice..
|
2020 |
€23.00 |
|
| SARANG |
The Dream of the Earth |
CD |
overlooked album by this project from ENRICO MARANI (flutes, percussion, didjeridoo, vocals, laptop) and Italian experimental legend SIMON BALESTRAZZI, with various guest musicians who provide female vocals and other ethno-instrumental sounds... processed electronics intermingle and cross with oriental and folk elements in an often fruitful, dreamlike way.. - "the duo offers oriental sonorities and tribal atmospheres, following the coordinates of a primitive universe.."-comes in oversized colour cover
|
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| SARNO, LOUIS |
Song from the Forest: The Soundtrack |
CD |
absolutely stunning soundtrack to the documentary film about LOUIS SARNO, who lived 30 years with the Bayaka pigmies (a tribe of hunters and gatherers) in Central African Republic in the rainforest; this a selection from 1500 hours (!) of recorded Bayaka music => rich harmonic & beautiful chants and instrumental sounds ('tree drumming', 'earth bow', flutes..), along with nature field recordings & forest sounds, which fit perfectly together... comes with full colour booklet & extensive liner notes
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| SATORI |
The Hanging |
CD-BOX |
the long active 'otherworldy / esoteric ambient noise' project from the UK with only few releases so far is back; this is mighty, powerful, at times brooding industrial ambience with a disturbing effect.. "Every sound seems like a drill that is looking for a way through your brain. It hurts, it is destructive, but the feeling is blissful" [Peek-A-Boo] comes in big cardboard box with 11 squared cards for every track
|
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
| SAVAGE REPUBLIC |
Tragic Figures (40th Anniversary Edition) |
do-LP |
collector's item! = the 40th anniversary release of this cult album from 1982 (definitely in our personal TOP TEN for the lonely island), the masterpiece of "art punk" or "art industrial" with psychedelic / tribal / ethnic influences and strong political impact - comes with a full extra disc of rare recordings and demos from the same time, when they rehearsed in a garage with natural reverb; all re-mastered, plus new liner notes & interview, lim. gatefold cover edition on RED vinyl
|
2022 |
€55.50 |
|
| |
Tragic Figures (40th Anniversary Edition) |
do-CD |
the 40th anniversary release of this cult album from 1982 (definitely in our personal TOP TEN for the lonely island), the masterpiece of "art punk" or "art industrial" with psychedelic / tribal / ethnic influences and strong political impact - comes with a full extra disc of rare recordings and demos from the same time, when they rehearsed in a garage with natural reverb; all re-mastered and with the original cover graphics, 6 panel digipak
|
2022 |
€30.00 |
|
| SCANNER + MODELBAU |
Loess |
do-LP |
old school 'tape exchange' collaboration by these experiMENTALists from NL and UK, using both a FOSTEX 280 four-track machine, sending cassettes via postal mail...- 10 tracks build on various instrumental (analogue & dig.) sound sources, with additional mechanical treatments(tape-speed, etc.) - "Time seems to lengthen, and the interplay of tones and overtones create rich pathways of sound. There is a sense of space and form that envelops each piece. Unusual textures combine to form an elemental whole.."
|
2022 |
€26.00 |
|
| SCAPULAR |
Devotional LP |
CD |
fresh / unknown project from Mexico City with a promising debut album: electronic ambient, dub techno and illbient influences merge, strongly atmospheric and trippy-psychedelic and colourful..- *a collection of darkly-beautiful prayers. A late-night walk through an ancient city center. Ceremonial bass-music. Alien-transmission crackle, whispered messages, and snippets of soulful vocals beamed from another dimension..* - 12 tracks, 69 min.. digipak
|
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
| SCHEICH IN CHINA |
IV |
LP |
already the fourth LP by this Hamburg-based project (all records and tracks and albums have no real title) with his pure and dry analogue minimal drone muzak, here especially subtle, pulsative, static, circling like a helicopter... just sound, no messages!
|
2016 |
€16.00 |
|
| SCHITTKO, CLEMENS / LOUIS JUCKER / THE SPYON / JEROEN DIEPENMAAT / KOMMISSAR HJULER & MAMA BÄR |
Home Made Universe |
LP |
six pieces on this collection by five acts: spoken words ("ich habe versagt") by german writer and poet CLEMENS SCHITTKO, two obscure / lovely low-fi instrumental pieces by Swiss musician LOUIS JUCKER, THE SPYON is an experimental duo with ANDREAS REIHSE (KREIDLER, etc.), JEROEN DIEPENMAAT is a dutch visual / sound artist with a subtle / strange track (our highlight), and "Copenhagen Magazines" is another dynamic variation of spoken danish words, screams & instrumental sounds by HJULER/MAMA BÄR; lim. 100
|
2018 |
€22.00 |
|
| SCHNITZLER, CONRAD / PYROLATOR / WOLFGANG SEIDEL / KOMMISSAR HJULER / ETC. |
A Tribute to Anthony Braxton |
LP |
this release in the FLUXUS series by Psych.KG contains rare material by CONRAD SCHNITZLER (collaborations with WOLFGANG SEIDEL and PYROLATOR), KOMMISSAR HJULERs legendary "Gerichtsverhandlung für Eimer und Gießkannen" piece, a very long piece by HJULER UND FRAU named "____ Br/l+T° n_/ " and one track by "ALBRECHT/d.&der mußikant"; about 47 min. of material, lim. 75 w. hand-clinched full-colour sleeve, numbered and signed
|
2016 |
€23.00 |
|
| SCHWARZ, ROBERT |
Double Negative |
LP |
second LP of this promising soundartist from Vienna for Gruenrekorder - again, 7 pieces are grounded with unfocused field recordings from different places, conflating with strange modular synth tones and noises, for a stunning effect, dark and captivating! "Nature and electronics merge to compositions that reveal uncanniness and strangeness in the heart of the world as well as in ourselves." lim. 300, contains postcard
|
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
| SCHÜTZE, PAUL |
Without Thought |
CD |
new installation work ("a theme of Anti-Narrative") by the LAUGHING HANDS legend from Melbourne, Australia, known for his ethno ambient works for Extreme and others in the 90's => this is a one-tracker of 64+ minutes, extremely mysterious and somehow organic, with instrumental sounds (electric cello, guitar, Sho) slowly entering the scene... excellent stuff! lim. 300
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| SCOTT, SIMON (SIMON SCOTT) |
Insomni |
CD |
fourth album by British sound artist SIMON SCOTT (once the drummer in SLOWDIVE, but he works also for films, exhibitions and dance productions) creating beautiful organic atmospherics, between the very abstract and more harmonic (acoustic guitar) passages, involving environmental & field recordings.. "Highly recommended for fans of Rafael Anton Irisarri, William Basinski, Lawrence English and Christian Fennesz." [Headphone Commute]
|
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
| SEARCH ENSEMBLES |
same |
CD |
curious project by DALE LLOYD who collected material from the archives of various artists (recorded 1980-2015 around the world) and created 16 wondrous "archaic/ethno/field recording" pieces, reminding on ZOVIET FRANCE and beyond.. participants: C. PEYRONNET (TOY BIZARRE), A. COURTIS (REYNOLS), MICHAEL NORTHAM, LOREN CHASSE, SLAVEK KWI (ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE), and many more... he calls it "Sonic Archeology"; very nice! Lim. 150 copies
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Prescient / Legend |
CD |
second album of this "mail-art collective" project organized by DALE LLOYD, using field and instrumental recordings by more than 10 artist from the globe, such as C. PEYRONNET (TOY BIZARRE), MICHAEL NORTHAM, SLAVEK KWI (ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE), ALAN COURTIS (REYNOLS), etc. and for the first time legendary ERIC LANZILLOTTA (Anomalous Records); 10 tracks of "archaic" sounding drone-scapes, like an artefact from primitive times; lim. 150 copies only
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| SECONDFACE |
Transitions |
CD |
Synth ambient transitions from Denmark, this is the second album on GTERMA by SecondFace... "Elements of techno-minimalism and ambient dub are still on the menu but less present while the whole sound design (which proves quite hypnotic and mesmerizing) has expanded further into the mellow, chill-out domain." [Sonic Immersion] - comes with full colour booklet, 74+ min. playtime
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| SEEMANN |
Fluss |
CD-R |
recommdened ambient solo-album by the TUMORCHESTER member who uses piano, bowed bass and multiple effects and creates a dark oceanic, harmonic one-tracker (25 min.), beautiful shimmering sound waves rise to the surface, and ebb away, inside this huge and waving amorph drone ocean... think of TROUM, TIM HECKER, MOLJEBKA PVLSE, etc..:: comes in handmade / full-colour cardboard cover
|
2019 |
€6.00 |
|
| |
Hemisphäre |
CD-R |
a most spheric 40 min. piece by Hamburg's best kept drone-ambient secret, it develops from ethereal choirs into an ethno-percussive, hypnotrance-drone piece... - "eine hintergründige Spannung zwischen dem Fragment einer russischen Schellackplatte und dem archaischen Splitter einer balinesischen Feldaufnahme...." [Bad Alchemy] - comes w. self-made colour sleeve, not to be missed !
|
2022 |
€8.00 |
|
| SEETYCA |
Tingent Orbs |
CD-R |
"Sleep States II" - rare homemade CDR-version, the 2nd part of a trilogy => much different from part 1, this is the a pure space-drone journey through objectless areas... 74+ min one-tracker
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Lieder zum Summen |
CD |
a collection of 16 purely electronic 'songs'/ miniatures by the German ambient project dedicated to autumn atmospheres... => soft poetic aural pictures, with track titles like "sonnentropffen", "erde riechen", or "regen gucken"... very subtle and calm, this music mirrors certain 'magic moments' while experiencing nature phenomena... comes with full-colour 16p. booklet
|
2014 |
€13.50 |
|
|
Mbira |
CD-R |
epic one tracker of 80 minutes using sounds of various artists from the MBIRA-label such as VZUSDW, ARTIN MUCHT, MOEDRA, [:kopfapffel:], etc. etc.. => cosmic bubbles drenched in endless reverb, far away sonics waving in slow passages, weird electronic and non-electronic acoustic objects appear for a short time, etc...no rhythms, extremely subtle, real subconscious space - mind music ! full-colour cover, lightscribed cdr, the MBIRA jubilee release !
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Mbira 2: Facades |
CD-R |
Installation Music for a concert at Stadtbibliothek Gera, Germany, Sept. 2015 => various sound sources from previous mbira releases shape a long, 80 min. dense, anti-monotonous dream-ambient piece, going through various stages and atmospheres, a phantastic journey! this handmade edition comes with laminated colour cover and manually labeled CD bodies
|
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Seetyca 2 |
CD-R (MP3!) |
the second ever SEETYCA release from 2002 contains 4 hours (!) of material on MP3, among the 4 tracks are the ultra long "Dionysospassage" (107 min.), and "Borobudor Processoin" (117 min.); this was the time when seetyca began to construct very long, underworldly, transcending pieces with repetitive and percussive character for big halls or exhibitions, reminding on old HYBRYDS for example... highly recommended! comes w. handmade / laminated cover
|
2002 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Remnants of Carbon Beauty |
do-CDR |
the audio material on CD 1 was recorded for a CD-ROM project of the paleontologic museum of the university of Tübingen, CD 2 contains "remnants of the mesozoic", again seetyca imagines and immerses himself deeply into the pre-historic aeons of our planet earth, when human existence was thousands of years away... comes with laminated colour cover & hand-labeled CD-bodies
|
2005 |
€19.50 |
|
|
Seetyca 4 |
CD-R |
the fourth proper early SEETYCA release (recorded 2002) leads into already more droning and spheric areas, without loosing it's touch for true experimentation; 7 tracks with the central "PHLOX" (25 min), pure electronic landscapes that build bubbles and waves with subtle explosions underneath, repetitive glitch sounds with weird quasi-beats, loops that fray out and become porous... not the usual ambience here at all, comes with laminated colour cover & hand-labeled CD-bodies
|
2002 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Remnants of Silurian Beauty |
CD-R (MP3!) |
extended MP3 - edition (108+ min. playtime) of this long, dark meditative piece setting the listener into a pre-historic aeon, using lots of animal samples and metallic drones, bell sounds and coirs; a wondrous, mysterious piece and atmosphere... this extended edition has 30 min. bonus material (two pretty experimental pieces with studies of the same basic material) not on the first edition; comes with laminated colour cover & hand-labeled CD-bodies
|
2002 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Dühringa Aorta 2 |
CD-R |
following album to the great "Dühringa Aorta" from 2005, now the voice of seetyca is the only sound source for seven new tracks, which is hardly believable => repetitive forms of beatless phaser tube sounds, subtle harmonic tone elevations, kind of bell-ringing acoustics, and cryptic titles such as "Guyrolaisthan" or "Sæquoina"; this album shows impressively seetyca's ability to create a very own kind of oneiric ambience drift.. one of our favourites, highly recommended!
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Dühringa Aorta 3 |
CD-R |
five years after pt. 2 this is the third part in the favored "Dühringa Aorta" series, again all seven tracks are based entirely on voices (by seetyca himself, MARI SOLARIS, and the OPEN VOICES CHOIR, Hamburg) - ultra spheric voice drones and walls merge with digital sounds and arrangements.... comes with laminated colour cover & hand-labeled CD-bodies
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| SELAXON LUTBERG |
Cold House of Love |
LP |
first great album (Eibon Records 2006) now re-released on luxuriously designed vinyl; lim. 250 / 2 vinyl-colours
|
2011 |
€19.50 |
|
| SEREN FFORDD |
A Melancholy Light |
maxi-CDR |
new sub-label of UMBRA / oversized full-colour cardboard-cover: Well done one-tracker for this new discovery...
1 A melancholy light 23.22 - Seren Ffordd: synth
LAST COPY |
2005 |
€8.50 |
|
| SERRIES, DIRK / STEFANO GENTILE |
The Disintegration of Silence |
CD + BOOK |
beautiful raw guitar-ambience, transforming tones in slow changes, completely effected in analogue ways... this comes with a 28 page full-colour art booklet with collage works from STEFANO GENTILE, using the washed out fragmentations of female model pictures; another smaller booklet is included too.. pure timeless melancholia and transience, numb. ed. 250 copies
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| SET FIRE TO FLAMES |
Telegraphs in Negative / Mouths trapped in Static |
do-CD |
double digipack with full-colour booklet on art-paper |
2003 |
€16.00 |
|
| SHAKHNES, GRISHA |
Leave / Trace |
LP |
composer from Tel Aviv / Israel who is also known as MITES, presenting four low fi pieces for field recording purists, using strange & mostly unrecognizable sound sources, with a somehow tenderly effect... "offers a compelling display of musical abstraction, blending field recordings from peculiar and mundane origins into sumptuously detailed and surreally original new forms."
|
2013 |
€19.00 |
|
| SHASTA CULTS |
Shasta Cults |
LP |
second proper album for this Canadian technician and BUCHLA specialist, who recorded the entire (pure ambient wave sounding) album using a "Buchla Touche" (developed in the early 80's, programmed by DAVID ROSENBOOM, only four of this machine were made!)... "Within each track, he's able to cover a surprising amount of ground. If you didn't know the music was created all on one machine, you'd be forgiven for assuming these tracks were realized using a much more diverse arsenal." [Resident Advisor]
|
2019 |
€26.50 |
|
| SHE SPREAD SORROW |
Huntress |
LP |
already the fourth album on Cold Spring for the Italian 'dark industrial poetry' act! => 'Between love and psychosis, a tragic story is consumed, which vibrates in the stomach, like the music that accompanies it - dark and hypnotic death industrial, with moments of dark ambient, power electronics and noise..' - "The overall effect is that rare artistic achievement where brutality and beauty become intertwined into a hypnotic landscape of deep emotions." [Sleeping Shaman] - lim. 500
|
2021 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Huntress |
CD |
already the fourth album on Cold Spring for the Italian 'dark industrial poetry' act! => 'Between love and psychosis, a tragic story is consumed, which vibrates in the stomach, like the music that accompanies it - dark and hypnotic death industrial, with moments of dark ambient, power electronics and noise..' - "The overall effect is that rare artistic achievement where brutality and beauty become intertwined into a hypnotic landscape of deep emotions." [Sleeping Shaman] - 6 panel digipak
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| SHEFFIELD, COLIN ANDREW |
First thus |
CD |
the first full length CD by the man behind this fine underground / experimental label from the U.S., ELEVATOR BATH => four long tracks that sound very nebulous and analogic, with strange harmonies appearing within, a very own dimension of wafting transcension and dissolution into the ether... all material is sourced from "commercially available records", a kind of GHOST-plunderphonics... slim cardboard box / ed. of 330 / back in stock !
cardboard box / ed. of 330 |
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Don't ever let me know |
LP |
sounds from the city of EL PASO (TX) where Sheffield and his father were born, build the (sample) basis for this stunning, mostly abstract sounding LP: *A soundscape of a city, abstract it is, that feels like a sonic journey through the city, as seen through a mildly distorted lens. Sheffield applies collage-like techniques, and to stay with the analogy of the city, a hard cut is like turning a corner; the scenery might change completely. Dark at times, intense always..* - lim. 200 copies, spot tone print
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| SHEFFIELD, COLIN ANDREW / JAMES ECK RIPPIE |
Essential Anomalies |
do-LP |
COLIN A. SHEFFIELD and JAMES RIPPIE came finally together to re-activate their improvisational duo in 2015 - this double LP compiles 4 long, excellent tracks that were previously released as limited MCs => using turntables and samples from 'commercially available recordings', they create highly atmospheric, gloomy "abstract plunderphonics", extreme surrealistic soundscapes with unrecognizable sound sources, letting the original 'aura' shining through; lim. 293, over 90 min. playtime, great album!!
|
2017 |
€25.00 |
|
| SHENTOV, IVAN / ANGEL SIMITCHIEV / MARTIN LUKANOV |
Palimpsest |
MC |
four long-form drone ambient pieces based on several live & studio sessions by these three Bulgarian artists (also known with their projects KRALLAR, MYTRIP, MOTHER SPIT) => "delicate traces of raw ambient, found sounds and field recordings, processed guitar and electroacoustic improvisation." - Limited cassette release, prof. design, 66 copies
|
2022 |
€8.00 |
|
| SHOEMAKER, MATT |
Soundtrack for Dislocation |
CD |
beautiful & at times very massive dronescapes from this US-artist (who died in 2017), using field recordings, electronics & instrumental sound sources in an non-recognizable way; totally amorph & all-absorbing stuff, 3 long tracks, ; lim. 509 copies; matte 6-panel digipak feat. Shoemakers photography; BACK IN STOCK one of his best releases, still very much to discover for "contemplation" drone-heads!!!
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| SHRINE |
Distorted Legends, Pt. 1 (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
edition of 300 / black vinyl, oversized full-colour gatefold sleeve |
2008 |
€7.00 |
|
| SIDHARTA, OTTO |
Kajang |
LP |
highly recommended LP with four newer works (2015-2020) by the Indonesian composer, a great organic and contemplative mixture of processed field and object recordings, multi-layered drones, traditional instrument recordings (gongs, etc.)...- *deeply inspired by Indonesia's multifarious styles of traditional music, that he tries to preserve, as in some remote places, they keep their own tradition very strongly.* Lim. ed. WHITE vinyl
|
2022 |
€17.00 |
|
| SIGILLUM S |
23/20 |
do-LP |
20th anniversary album (new material)! Double gatefold-cover, coloured inner-sleeves, lim. 500 / different remixes & tracks than on CD
|
2007 |
€28.00 |
|
| SIGMARSSON, SIGTRYGGUR (BERG) |
For Einar Jonsson (1874-1954) |
BOOK & CD-R |
"I'm on holiday - From what? - .. everyting" - another lovely weird item by the lovely weird SIGTRYGGUR SIGMARSSON: a self published, full colour printed catalogue / magazine collecting all kinds of art (photos, drawing, paintings, poems) by him collected 1997-2014; edition of 100 numbered copies, the first 50 copies incl. a CD-R with a 14 min. shimmering drone piece dedicated to the Icelandic sculptor EINAR JONSSON; 56 pages, A4 format
|
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
So Long |
CD |
"this is foamy music" - extremely minimal & often silent drones, with daydream-soundbubbles appearing....3 long tracks (65+ min.) by the Iceland soundartist, feat. BENNY NILSEN and ANLA COURTIS, as usually garnished with a bit of weird humour... "polar impressionism flecked with hallucinatory ambience" the label calls it adequately
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| SIGMARSSON, SIGTRYGGUR BERG & BJ NILSEN |
Abstract Art Automat |
MC |
rare cassette-only item on the re-established Icelandic label SOME: the ex STILLUPPSTEYPA teaming up with BJ NILSEN: a tape album with 'experimental drone' muzak that is half acoustic, half collage, half low fi, half field recording based, a tape of various little wonders that is almost uncategorizable... 2nd ed. 50 copies - RED CASSETTE that comes in completly handassembled/coloured paper sleeve, with unique SIGTRYGGUR drawing inlay
|
2016 |
€10.00 |
|
| SIJ |
The Earth Shrine |
CD-R |
deep harmonic ethno ambient from Ukraine, this is the second chapter in the "Shrine"-series => field recordings from nature are combined with synths, percussion, bells and many other little sound objects for four very contemplative Ambient tracks with slow tribal pulses..sound sources were delivered from various artists as ROBERT RICH and RAPOON..comes in wonderfully designed handmade/gatefold cardboard cover with three full-colour cards, numbered ed. of 80 copies
|
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| SIJ & SERGEY GABBASOV |
Zhang Zhung |
CD |
collaboration of SiJ with the Russian ethnomusicologist, SERGEY GABBASOV who dive together deeply into the Tibetan & Eastern Ritual Music tradition of the BÖN (the archaic religion of the Tibetan Himalaya), combining sounds from the original instruments (also from Armenia, Moldavia, Tuva, etc..) with foggy transcension drones and chants... two epic tracks, 79 min. & full colour booklet with pictures from the region of the old ZHANG-ZHUNG in Tibet
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Perseides |
CD |
these gifted Russian ambient musicians/ethnologists created an almost 80 min. long "world/ethno ambience" soundtrack full of floating flute sounds, tribal percussion, evolving synths, humming drones, field recordings from water streams, birds, etc. and deep throat singing.. a guide 'through the dusty backwater trails of the Mongol steppe..' - comes with full colour booklet
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| SILENTWAVE |
Daiyuzan |
CD |
tranquility meditation Ambient from Japan, inspired by the temple complex at Daiyuzan Saijoji, one of many shrines in Japan hidden among trees and hills => three long tracks with extremely smooth and slow synth waves, spreading shimmering, positive vibes.. comes with 8 page full colour booklet with great photos from the temple..
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| SINGER, CLAIRE M. |
Trian: Recent Works |
do-LP |
this nicely designed vinyl release (full colour gatefold cover) presents CLAIRE SINGERs two recent CD releases "Solas" (without "The Molendinar") and "Fairge" - her beautiful, elevating 'instrumental drone' compositions based on electronics, organ, cello, etc. remind on HILDUR GUDNADOTTIR but also more experimental works and build a class of her own... ed. of 500 copies
|
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
| SIRIA |
Boa-Lingua |
MC |
this female Portugesian artist combines her beautiful singing/voice (based on traditional folk songs), field recordings and found sources (vinyl) into mesmerizing, improvised "songs"... highly atmospheric! - 2nd tape for Cronica; "Like my previous album, Boa-Língua was born and developed as a result of a subconscious will and energy, rather than a clear idea that was intended to be seen and heard..." - lim. 100 copies, prof. cover & duplicating
|
2020 |
€9.00 |
|
| SISTER LOOLOMIE |
Turn-on delay and simages |
CD-R |
full colour / photo - cardboard-cover
|
2006 |
€9.50 |
|
| SISTER LOOLOMIE / KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK |
[W]interloop[S] |
CD-R |
overlooked Russian collab release by SISTER LOOLOMIE (side-project of [S] from EXIT IN GREY & FIVE ELEMENTS MUSIC) and KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK (Artyom O. from Zhelezobeton), 29+ one-tracker of suspenseful, mysterious drone-ambience... very well arranged, recommended! full colour cover
|
2008 |
€8.00 |
|
| SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE / (R) |
Shivers |
7inch |
split 7" with two cover-versions of ROWLAND S. HOWARDS song, (r) is the project of FABRIZIO MODONESE PALUMBO (of LARSEN fame); lim. ed 350 copies - colour vinyl
|
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| SIYANIE |
Shining of Unity |
CD |
first full release of new project by former VRESNIT with different approach, drifting transpersonal drone ambience, very warm & shining, for pure contemplation/meditation, perfect if you like ALIO DIE or MATHIAS GRASSOW... lim. 300 in very special cardboard cover with colourful "flourescence" art.... feat. NEZNAMO & KSHATRIY as guests musicians. BACK IN STOCK this now rare item !!
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| SKELDOS |
Ilges |
MC |
most favoured release by Lithuanian drone-newcomer SKELDOS - two wonderfully breathing, resonating pieces based on accordeon, voice, Lithuanian zither and guitar, plinspired by a poem from the Lithuanian writer ANTANAS SKEMA; there's so much beauty and melancholy and sadness in here, it's almost unbearable.. lim. 75 copies in handmade/printed cardboard cover with bag & download code... SKELDOS will soon appear in the "Drone-Mind" LP series!!
|
2018 |
€9.00 |
|
| SKIN AREA / JARL |
La Petite Mort |
LP |
strong collaboration LP by Drone Rec. artist JARL (see MIND-01 LP) and the always impressing psycho-industrialists SKIN AREA both from Sweden => 4 tracks of eerie, minimal, pulsative industrial dronescapes with alienated/fragile voice, analysing the deepest drives, fears and guilt complexes of our unconsciousness.. really disturbing stuff! Lim. 220, comes with 13 thick/oversized colour artwork cards by MARTIN BLADH of IRM /SKIN AREA. Masterpiece!
|
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
| SKORPIO, NIKO |
To give Light to that which is without |
CD-R |
lim. 93 copies / handcoloured sleeves / great occult ambience from Finland |
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| SKULLFLOWER |
Fucked on a Pile of Corpses |
CD |
the title says it all, a real dirty acoustic voyage to wash your head from the INSIDE; a mix between low fi distortion swamp rock and low-fi power electronics, not for weak hearts !
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Kino IV: Black Sun Rising |
CD |
rare material from various sources (1990) plus 6 previously unreleased tracks from around the same period.. part IV of the 4CD retrospective series of SKULLFLOWER's early works 1986-1990
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| SKY BURIAL |
Corranach |
CD |
the second project of MICHAEL PAGE (FIRE IN THE HEAD) now on Reverse Alignment, presenting three epic tracks (57 min total) of unsettling, eerie ambience pulses and waves, a must for any LOKI or CYCLIC LAW fan.. "...one of the craziest, exhilarating journeys I’ve ever taken when listening to dark ambient. Have you ever had that dream where you were flying high enough you never saw the land? Corranach was the soundtrack to that dream." [Resounding Footsteps]
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Chapel Image |
CD |
impressive new one-tracker album by MICHAEL PAGE's heavy ethereal 'ambient industrial' project... "a constantly shifting journey through the nebulous depths of drone and dark ambience with full-immersion being just held at bay by the uneasy dichotomy of low and high frequencies and punctuation of rhythmic and industrial elements." lim. 300, & still to discover
|
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| SKYSCAPER |
Atmospheric Stratification (Rescape) |
CD |
project of ANDERS PETERSON (aka OBJECT4, RELAPXYCH.0, LAST INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, etc.) , these days known more for his masterings works, this is a re-working of a CD from 2013 feat. various new remixes from the dubtechno scene... "Imagine ascending into the heavens during a slowly building stormfront as immesurable walls of energy are about to be unleashed." - jewelcase + 8 page full colour booklet
|
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
| SLEEP RESEARCH FACILITY |
Stealth |
do-CD |
after a long release-break a breathtaking new album by this popular Scottish deep ambient project, based on location recordings made "inside the hanger environs of a Northrop-Grumman B-2 Stealth Bomber" - cold, mysterious & threatening drones with electronic & voice scraps in the mix; first 1000 copies have the original unedited audio source recordings as a bonus !
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| SLEEPING BABIES |
Arrow in the Earth |
CD-R |
full-colour cover / contains painted wood-materials / lim. 86 copies
|
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
| SLIM VIC |
Personliga Artiklar |
LP |
coming from the Swedish techno and DJ culture, SLIM VIC creates deep ambient drones combined with strange electronic tones and slow hypnotic pulses; like techno tunes stuck in a hundredfold slow motion dream.... the psychedelic / colourful artwork was created especially for this music by ROLFCARLWERNER, a prominent spraypainter in Sweden... an excellent long play 12" crossing the genre borders between electronica and dark ambient industrial
|
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
| SLOAN, JASON |
Deluge |
CD |
minimalistic dark synth ambience from the U.S., after many CDRs the first "fabric-pressed" CD, a soundtrack to "capture the aftermath of our world after having suffered through a grand deluge"--"The continuous live-set is an inner world ambient affair drifting into ethereal lands as it smoothly changes shape and reveals intrinsic motion along the way. Headphones are essential to discover the many fine details and hypnotic realm embedded in the carefully molded, overtly minimalist atmospherics" [Sonic I.]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| SMALL CRUEL PARTY |
Cervorum Simulacra |
CD |
this CD collects two enchanting live recordings: The title track was performed in Paris, April 2008 (and released as very limited lathe cut LP), "Pour Eric S.W." was performed at Radio KSER, in Everett, Washington, back in April 1992 and has never been published before..:- "Feeding small sounds, manually controlled and manipulated, through a few sound devices, so that drones occur, growing slowly in intensity. Think of this as ants crawling in a giant anthill, very busy... " [Vital Weekly] - lim. 200
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| SOISONG |
xAj3z |
CD |
debut album from the new project by PETER CHRISTOPHERSON (COIL) and IVAN PAVLOV (COH). This is the collector's edition: an octagon-shaped CD coming in a specially formed (a non-linear heptagon) fold out cover, with full-colour inlay ! Please note that the CD is only playable in flat loading / horizontally working CD players
|
2009 |
€35.00 |
|
| SOLTAU, THORSTEN |
Gewächse im Zwielicht |
CD |
This Friesian multi media artist with two works on one CD: his compositions combine drone-ambient and electro-acoustic elements in a wonderful (sometimes spheric, sometimes bizarre, sometimes melancholic) way, various instrumental and electronic sources are building a hypnotic and poetic web, very complex and with many unexpected twists and surprises in the mix.. this CD is like a little wonder! Lim. 250 copies, 6 panel digisleeve
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| SOLUMENATA |
From Gehenna to Elysian Fields |
CD-R |
Drone Records artist ALLAN ZANE(aka WYRM, see DR-99) is working now together with LIZ LANG and PBK as SOLUMENATA; after the "Aeriform" LP and "Aeriform Redux" CD this is the third release, a one hour one-tracker of spheric, choral experimental ambience with a special 'nautical', waving undertone... very nice! lim./numb. 100 copies only in slim plastic CD box
|
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| SONIC YOUTH |
Goodbye 20th Century |
do-LP |
gatefold cover. pieces by CAGE, REICH, OLIVEROS, JAMES TENNEY, etc. performed by S.Y. with help by JIM O'ROURKE, C.MARCLAY, etc.
|
1999 |
€19.50 |
|
| |
EVOL |
LP |
the third S.Y. album from 1986, where they moved more into the noise-rock / song format, while still creating strong experimental / minimal / droning material with mesmerizing trance effects... forever in our personal "Top Ten of [Avant] Rock albums" ;) .- "the cornerstone [of] the Sonic Youth sound..., ground zero for the combination of chiming guitars and atonal skronk... [and] muggy delirium" - "EVOL slithers into the unconscious" - 2022 re-press, w. DL code
|
2022 |
€26.00 |
|
| SONOLOGYST |
Ancient Death Cults & Beliefs |
CD |
thematically centered around Death Cults from different ancient cultures, this ritualistic investigation uses samples from Egypt and Maya music along with electronics and various instrumental sources (percussion, saxophone, bass clarinet, guitars) to create a strangely contour-less floating space, as if the music is not constructed but just "happens"... definitely not the typical 'dark ambient' album! Comes with great cover artwork by ABBY HELASDOTTIR (GYDJA)
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| SONS OF GOD |
The Sons of God perform a Miracle |
DVD |
selection of works by this group (formed by LEIF ELGGREN and KENT TANKRED) ranging from 1988-2007, video documentations, films, slideshows, over two hours of material; plus 24 p booklet, in DVD box
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| SORRY FOR LAUGHING |
See It Alone |
CD |
incredible project with three of our all time artists involved: WILLIAM SHARP ( BIOTA), MARTYN BATES (EYELESS IN GAZA) and EDWARD KA-SPEL (LEGENDARY PINK DOTS), plus more guest musicians - on 12 tracks they create minimal melancholic "folk" songs based on synth piano & organ, accordeon, violin, with some nice experimental sound effects and tricks, and often vocals.. - "This album is a gift that moves for its simplicity and intimacy" [LOOP]
|
2021 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
same |
CD |
re-issue of ultra rare cassette-only release from 1986 entitled "Jesus Wept", a kind of BIOTA / MNEMONISTS offshoot feat. GORDON H. WHITLOW ( ) and other BIOTA members on various instruments => slow improvised miniatures, charmfully incomplete, more song-oriented than BIOTA but with the same portion of staggering disharmony at times - elements that fit and don't fit at the same time - really dialectic music ! ". aiming for a sense of nostalgia, isolation/loneliness, and childlike muse" - 6 panel colour sl
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| SOUNDSCAPE ROST (ELIN OYEN VISTER) |
Spaces and Species Vol. I |
LP |
stunning field recordings from the Røst Archipelago, located 100 km into the Atlantic Ocean, west of Norway (Nordland), a unique place with thousands of seabirds... - "The listener will experience a multitude of nature and sea-bird voices/spaces and acoustic moments, spanning from booming roars to the faintest of hums.. " - from many hours of recording material, 12 tracks have been created, with some fascinating, very close animal sounds... - lim. 300
|
2021 |
€18.00 |
|
| SOUND_00 / IVERSEN |
same |
7inch |
nice otherworldy spacious 4-track EP and first vinyl release on this British label => the project from Macedonia in collab. with JAN-MORTEN IVERSEN from Norway, moving between versatile 'abstract experimental ambience' with subtle ice-sounds and more aggressive post industrial collage noise; "Someone dragging heavy sheets of cold steel through the soft mush formerly known as your brain.." lim. 500 BACK IN STOCK
|
2005 |
€6.00 |
|
| SPECIMENS |
Sculptures |
LP |
great debut LP by a new "experimental drone" project from London, working mainly with guitar feedbacks, resonances and overtunes (but also with other sources like piano, gongs, field recordings, etc..), creating amorph sculptures with sound, without loosing a harmonic and often subtle basis... think of AUN, PETER WRIGHT or TROUM.... a lift into timelessness and day-dreaming spheres.. mastered by LAWRENCE ENGLISH
|
2016 |
€18.00 |
|
| SPIEGEL, LAURIE |
Unseen Worlds |
do-LP |
re-issue of her second album, originally released in 1991, created with a self-written computer software instrument, stunning otherworldly synth-muzak... "Unseen Worlds is not so much based on melody and rhythm as it is on textures, pulses, and sonic environments. Sometimes dark, sometimes light, its drama pulls in the adventurous listener who wants to take a musical journey.." Includes postcard with Bandcamp download code
|
2019 |
€33.00 |
|
| SPIRACLE |
Lumen |
mCD-R |
SPIRACLE is the solo project of HITOSHI KOJO, on this 20 min. one-tracker drone a wide metalllic soundstream shimmers in 1000 acoustic colours, "like warm mercurial metallic texture slowly flow through capillary vessels".... BACK IN STOCK this great EP of the project that also had the very last Drone Records 7" in 2010 in our series
|
2007 |
€5.00 |
|
| SPK (S.P.K.) |
Zamia Lehmanni (Songs of Byzantine Flowers) |
LP |
re-issue of the classic SPK album and mystic ethno-masterpiece (1986, Side Effects) with new liner notes by GRAEME REVELL, gatefold-cover / lim. golden vinyl (lim. 500); "Its overall spirit is bathed in a classical mysticism conjured from the sounds and instruments of New Guinea and Indonesia. These textural pieces are occasionally accompanied by choral chants that add a haunting air. Their restraint belies an inner strenght that sends shivers down your vulnerability." [Kevin Murphy /Sounds]
|
2019 |
€23.50 |
|
| SRVTR I INTERNAL FUSION I DARDIS I A.MAIAH |
Thing |
CD-R |
fourth volumne in the new THING compilation series by the always active label from Augsburg, Germany: three of the four acts are newcomers to us, coming from Northern Ireland, Spain and France; this comp. is more rhythm , drone and loop based and features different approaches, INTERNAL FUSION excite again with great new material.. lim. 100 factory pressed CDR, absolutely to discover again! |
2022 |
€8.00 |
|
| START! |
The KREV National Anthem # 6 |
7" |
fourth part in this crazy & lovely series of National Anthems of ELGALAND-VARGALAND; recorded during the unofficial inauguration of KREV Ministry of Bankrupt Shopping Malls in Porto, Portugal, October 2008
|
2009 |
€7.50 |
|
| STATISCHE MUSEN |
Diskretion . Funktionsmusik Für Verrichtungsboxen |
CD |
new project (=Anagram) of ASMUS TIETCHENS, less micro-tonal and more clear structured tones, ambience with a "stimulating" effect, the story goes this is music for "intercourse boxes" in Hamburg.... - "The music is more ambient here, with more transparent sound, complex layers, and a bit of what is probably not a synthesizer but an abundance of sound effects." [Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| STELZER, HOWARD & FRANS DE WAARD |
Gravity@ half speed / A sunburned Grotto |
7inch |
HOWARD STELZER (New York) works with completely analogue tape players and recording machines only, for this collaboration he and FRANS DE WAARD used each others material as sources, partly based on 'vocal iterations' => two humming and hissing, somehow electro-static charged, highly abstract drone pieces delight the ears of the listener; comes with a very special die-cut "butterfly"-shape cover, lim. 200, super lovely noise / back in stock !
|
2010 |
€6.50 |
|
| STILLUPPSTEYPA |
Beach Jolanda |
LP |
after more than a decade Icelands STILLUPPSTEYPA is back with a full album working as a DUO again, with 12 tracks recorded at various locations from 2006-2017 and diverse guest musicians involved (as BJ NILSEN or OREN AMBARCHI), showing them at their most curious => "That is the music that deals with organ sounds, rhythm machines, exotic lounge music but then totally torn apart...There is a lot to smile about with this record." lim. 400, full-colour sleeve and insert
|
2018 |
€20.50 |
|
| STIMBOX |
Between Eugene and Victoria |
CD |
lim. 300 oversized / full-colour cardboard-cover
|
2005 |
€13.50 |
|
| STORMHAT |
Addicted to Disaster |
CD |
danish project with first CD; lim 500, comes in nice "custom printed colour wallet"
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| STREETLIGHT COLLECTIVE |
Evelyn ambient series: volume 5 |
CD-R |
professional full-colour cover & label printing. last copy |
2002 |
€7.00 |
|
| STROM, ANNA PAULINE |
Trans-Millenia Music |
do-LP |
collection of material created 1982 - 1988 by this highly interesting blind ambient/synth/spiritual artist from the US "Otherworldly and anomalous, hushed and hallucinatory, Pauline Anna Strom’s unique style of inner space music reaches across time to futures and pasts far from our own"; excellent cover art coming with printed inner sleeves and booklet with extensive liner notes
|
2017 |
€28.00 |
|
| STUZHA |
Butugichag / Бутугычаг |
CD |
second album for this Siberian experimental ambient project, evoking icy aural narrative images of a Soviet Labour Camp called KOLYMA... multi-layered drone rays mixed with field recordings from Sibera, mechanic noises from scraping metals, dark choirs & menacing waves, cold Siberian winds, and harmonies of grief at the ending.. to discover for "cinematic dark ambient" fans !
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| SUDDEN INFANT |
Things that happened |
LP |
intense noise- & bodyscapes, incredible collages, always original, organic, unescapable... documents two live-performances (Leeds 08.2011 & Hamburg 10.2007), comes in three different vinyl-colours (red, green, blue), definitely one of the best experimental noise-acts around !! Lim. 300 copies. Released on Hamburgs true underground label (& connected with the HÖRBAR / B-MOVIE association there) REDUKTIVE MUSIKEN
|
2011 |
€16.50 |
|
| |
Tell the bees |
MC |
MC-only release in the new limited Banned Prod tape series (standard jewel-cases & printed full colour covers); filed under: pure dada-esk collages with a political message, really amazing anti-muzak! C-30
|
2011 |
€6.50 |
|
| SULIDAE, PHILIP |
Barnish |
CD-R |
Australian composer creating very dream-like, lush & mysterious sea-drones full of width & depth; full-colour inkjetprint cover lim. /numbered ed. 100 copies
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| SUNCHARIOT |
Fictio |
CD-R |
lim. 100 oversized full-colour / cardboard-cover
|
2007 |
€9.00 |
|
| SUNN O))) |
White2 |
CD |
the following album to White1 goes even further into new directions, using more light suspended guitar drones and also concrete noises, as well as Indian chants... a terrific album, our favourite SUNN O))) at that time, BACK IN STOCK! |
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
|
ØØ VOID |
CD |
CD re-issue of their second album from 2000 feat. four side-long tracks with the "typical" ultra-low guitar-drone sound they got famous for |
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Pyroclasts |
LP |
a kind of sister-album to "Life Metal", the four tracks were recorded at the same sessions (Chicago, July 2018) as "early morning improvisation" contemplation practises... and here SUNN O))) do what they can maybe do best: creating mighty drones that swirl and circle, full of vibrations, resonances, overtunes, feedbacks, overwhelming with the full spectrum of frequencies, with the gradual crystallization of certain structures and forms.. feat. stunning full colour sleeves & inlays, PURPLE IN ORANGE vinyl
|
2019 |
€23.50 |
|
|
METTA, BENEVOLENCE. BBC 6MUSIC |
do-LP |
one hour session recorded in the legendary JOHN PEEL studios for a MARY ANNE HOBBS radioshow, October 2019: advanced versions of "Pyroclasts" and "Troubled Air", feat. ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF on synths / voice... - "The radiation embraces collaboration and freedom of interpretation by each player, within a structural format of the massive monuments of sound and distortion which define SUNN O))).." - massive gatefold sleeve with OBI, printed innersleeves, BLACK vinyl ed
|
2022 |
€30.00 |
|
|
METTA, BENEVOLENCE, BBC6 MUSIC |
CD |
one hour session recorded in the legendary JOHN PEEL studios for a MARY ANNE HOBBS radioshow, October 2019: advanced versions of "Pyroclasts" and "Troubled Air", feat. ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF on synths / voice... - "The radiation embraces collaboration and freedom of interpretation by each player, within a structural format of the massive monuments of sound and distortion which define SUNN O))).." - CD version comes with 8 page foldout sheet & OBI
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Life Metal (Pinwheel green and purple vinyl) |
do-LP |
the 2019 album with four side-long pieces (almost 70 min. long), feat. HILDUR GUDNADOTTIR and ANTHONY PATERAS...- "Drone isn’t catchy, drone catches you. When a sound reaches a certain depth, we no longer hear each note, we feel them." [Sputnik] - this new limited re-pressing comes on "Pinwheel green and purple vinyl" and comes in the well known luxus design / EU Exclusive Limited Edition of 500
|
2022 |
€35.00 |
|
| SUNSLIDE |
Mechanisme |
CD-R |
"Field recordings, light electronics & accordeon drones" - very mellow & warm ambience on DRONAEMENTS new label; lovely edition w. handmade cover & full-colour inlay & disc; numbered
|
2010 |
€7.50 |
|
| SUPERSILENT |
1-3 (re-edition) |
3 x CD |
the very experimental debut for SUPERSILENT - this was also the start for the prolific RUNE GRAMMOFON label, an epic 3 CD release in 1997: improvised, dense jazz-avantgarde with influences from ambient, noise and electronic experimentation, at times wild and ecstatic for a fully percussive NOISE BLAST.... every piece is a surprise, even after numerous listenings; comes in triple digipak with full colour booklet; this is the re-issue from 2002
|
2002 |
€32.00 |
|
| SUTCLIFFE JUGEND |
Offal |
CD |
our favourite S.J. album so far, on OFFAL four long tracks fight with your senses with their organ-like wall of drone piercings, intense electronic pulses, powerful/violent vocals, and stormy noise effects..."The production on the album sounds massive compared to previous releases, giving the carefully constructed songs an intense, brutal and relentless environment not heard before." CD in gatefold-sleeve
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Offal |
do-LP |
our favourite S.J. album so far, on OFFAL four long tracks fight with your senses with their organ-like wall of drone piercings, intense electronic pulses, powerful/violent vocals, and stormy noise effects..."The production on the album sounds massive compared to previous releases, giving the carefully constructed songs an intense, brutal and relentless environment not heard before." Vinyl version w. gatefold sleeve, printed lyrics + dowload code, lim. 500
|
2016 |
€23.50 |
|
| SUTCLIFFE JUGEND & JUNKO |
Sans Palatine Uvula |
CD |
collaboration of SUTCLIFFE JUGEND with Japanese extreme vocal performer JUNKO (member of HIJOKAIDAN), on 10 tracks her basic material of piercing screams has been manipulated, transformed and merged with SJ's power noise, with intense emotional impact!! "raw, carnal noise which audibly pierces through your ears and sharply personifies that of a torture chamber recording." [Heathen Harvest] great design (gatefold cover with 8 page booklet) numb. ed. 500 copies
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| SVARTSINN |
Traces of Nothingness |
CD |
re-press of SVARTSINNS third album from 2005 - with new artwork and four bonus remixes by LAMIA VOX, TRIARII, GYDJA and LETUM... " A slightly more melodic, sad and obscure side of Svartsinn that still keeps the cold and dark atmosphere that defines his sound." - ed. of 300 copies
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| SWANS |
Where Does A Body End? |
DVD |
the great film from last year about the SWANS phenomenon, with lots of never-seen-before recordings, videos and photographs, especially from their incredible beginnings in NYC, feat. interviews with MICHAEL GIRA and many others like JARBOE, THURSTON MOORE, FOETUS, BLIXA BARGELD, etc.. run time 161 min.! - "The film is many things, a musical history, a time-capsule, a tour diary, a concert film, but mostly it's the story of a life in the arts..."
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
| SWIEZYNSKI, MATTHEW |
The one who modifies Time and Light |
CD |
strong 'etnno-ambient' experimentalism in the way of ZOVIET FRANCE by M. SWIEZYNSKI (INGENTING KOLLEKTIVA and co-founder of the INVISIBLE BIRDS label), using sounds and quotes from SATYAJIT RAY's films which are modifized and put together in new ways.. lim. 200, nice handmade cardboard cover + four page insert
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| SYLVIAN, DAVID |
Alchemy - An Index of Possibilites |
CD |
digitally remastered re-issue of the 2nd album from 1985, pure instrumental "fourth world" music; feat. R. SAKAMOTO, HOLGER CZUKAY, ROBERT FRIPP, etc.. |
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
Secrets of the Beehive |
CD |
digitally remastered re-issue of his fourth solo-album from 1987; incl. bonus-track; special midprice now
|
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
| SYRINX |
Outside the Life that's haunting me |
do-CDR |
endless droning improvisations to loose your mind in; second album by this UK collective with members of GHOUL DETAIL; 'handmade cover, numbered ed.
|
2010 |
€10.00 |
|
| TAINNOS |
Kierto |
mCD-R |
TAINNOS is the new project of HENKKA KYLLÖNEN, who once had as NO XIVIC a wonderful 7" on Drone Rec. years ago, "Kierto" (=Circulation) is meant as "an audio journey through the evolution of life on this planet: from nothingness to beasts of the wild. from early humans to civilizations controlled by artificial intelligence....in the end there are only swarms of flies left and the circle of life and death starts again." => sophisticated approach, and a most captivating, evolving dronescape (22 min)
|
2018 |
€5.00 |
|
| TAJ MAHAL TRAVELLERS |
Live |
LP |
four live extracts by the legendary Japanese experimental / drone / impro - ensemble rec. 1972 & 1973 in Denmark, France, Japan; lim. 500 blue vinyl & clear cover with black printing
|
2011 |
€20.00 |
|
| TAM QUAM TABULA RASA |
Cotidie Morimur (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
re-pressing of 300 copies on coloured vinyl & w. printed full-colour covers! |
2003 |
€6.00 |
|
| TAMING POWER |
Twelve Pieces |
10" |
numb. ed. 525 copies / lovely full-colour design / 20 years of TAMING POWER - celebration release !
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| TANGERINE DREAM |
Revolution of Sound - Tangerine Dream |
DVD |
new documentation by MARGARETE KREUTZER about "Germany's first electronic band", that was founded 1967 in West-Berlin, rare & so far unpublished film recordings from EDGAR FROESE himself, behind the sceneries at their tours, at photo shootings with JIM RAKETE, + lots of interview footage with him and band-members, friends, and as bonus live recordings... in all, about 150 min of material!! Languages: German, English, French; subtitles: German & English
|
2018 |
€18.00 |
|
| TANKRED, KENT |
There is Nothing to Attain |
do-CD |
ten years after the original release (same title) a full reworking by the Swedish master of 'massive electroacoustic dronescapes' => different from the source material these are often shorter and more noisy / attacking pieces, like wild droning and jerking (sound) machines, liberated from any human input, but there are also more silent tracks.. - "The music is naked, or rather unclothed, inhuman, at the first encounter reminding you of everything you would prefer to avoid." - ed. of 200 copies
|
2021 |
€17.50 |
|
| TAPE LOOP ORCHESTRA |
Interiors Two |
LP + CD + BOOK |
a meditation on empty rooms once inhabitated by humans, extremely nostalgic, melancholic and contemplative tones, drones and drifting fields, nicely combined with the impressionistic sepia coloured photos in the 16 page booklet.. the bonus CD feat. a live recording captured in Manchester in a historic building in Nov.2018... for fans of: ANDREW CHALK, W. BASINSKI, ROBERT HAIGH:.. ed. of 300 copies
|
2019 |
€34.00 |
|
| TAPHEPHOBIA |
Escape from the mundane Self |
CD |
the emotional & melancholic side of dark ambience, using especially spheric guitar-based sounds & dark harmonies, the perfect soundtrack to an introspective inner journey, excellent new album reminding on TROUM/MAEROR TRI, DESIDERII MARGINIS, etc.. beautiful & desolate at the same time!
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| TARAB |
Strata |
CD |
field recordings made at 'vacant lots' in the suburbs of Melbourne - abandoned zones between factories, railways & highways, somewhere in between the 'industrial' and 'nature'.. TARAB tried to capture the odd feelings of emptiness that occur in these areas... lim. 200 copies
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
| TARKATAK |
Eschgl Hel |
mCD-R |
Nr. 27 in the great Taalem-series of new experimental drone-music brings us a fine piece of north-german TARKATAK, this sounds more strange, soft hummings with mysterious voices and sounds in the background, and melodic somehow instrumental tones. A truly mesmerizing and surrealistic journey !! - back in stock, now with non jewel-case cover
|
2005 |
€5.00 |
|
|
Skärva / Oroa |
7 |
re-pressing of 300 copies on coloured vinyl & w. printed full-colour covers! |
2003 |
€6.00 |
|
| |
Mormor |
CD |
back in stock one of the best releases of this North German droner, four long tracks of beautifully crafted subtle ambience pieces, varying immensely (one with female singing); plus one video clip; "Great CD, and hopefully bringing him some more recognition" [Vital Weekly] - cComes in handpainted cardboard-box with inlays, very nice. lim /numb. 300 ! special priced now !
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| TATE AND LILES |
Without Season |
CD-R |
small re-edition (90 copies only) of this long deleted collaboration album from 2005 (originally on Twenty Hertz): field recordings by DARREN TATE (wood-crunching, water, ether sounds, animals..) are contrasted by silent piano & accordeon drones... quite dark at times, and a bit of strange surrealism is evoked... but also lovely subtleness.. comes in standard jewel-case with full colour cover, professionally duplicated
|
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| TAUMEL |
In Pieces - Volume One |
10inch |
a most unusual release in our 10" series by this newly formed German duo (one member is a main actor in the cryptic Netflix series 'DARK', the other a prof. percussionist playing in diverse orchestras), moving beyond / between / inside various genres (improvisation & composition, collage and jazz noir ambience), well-shaped from various sessions with Berlin's ENSEMBLE ADAPTER => a kind of "acoustic theatre" or "surrealistc soundpoem" that will leave you simply astonished... lim. 300 / black vinly / OUT NOW !!!
|
2021 |
€16.00 |
|
| TAYLOR, SCOTT / SR MEIXNER |
Please Keep Clear at all Times |
CD |
early collab.work by S.R. MEIXNER (CONTRASTATE) and SCOTT TAYLOR (THEN JERICHO), they created three long tracks based on field and live recordings plus instrumental sources, very droney and archaic sounding, really captivating and with many micro details.... / "All three tracks are great pieces of haunting, cinematographic field recordings and careful electronic treatments. Great stuff" [Vital Weekly] - lim. 300 in sealed white bag with poster, LAST COPIES found !!
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| TAZARTES, GHEDALIA |
La Bar Mitzvah du Chien |
LP |
recordings from 2012, feat. TAZARTES son Lalo on the B-side track, back in stock ! "Another shamanic journey in Tazartès's universe. He sings and plays all the instruments and samples, recorded in the very same room as all his other solo records since 1974..."
|
2015 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Les Danseurs de la Pluie |
4 x CD BOX |
Anthology-box collecting the three CDs Alga Marghen has released before: "Diasporas-Tazartes", "Transports", "Une Eclipse totale de Soleil" (which include the first four LPs released 1979-1987, plus bonus material), plus a mini-CD with previously unreleased material with two tracks from 1977, and new tracks rec. 2005 - a must for fans or newcomers to TAZARTES unique musical universe
|
2015 |
€50.00 |
|
|
Les Danseurs de la Pluie |
mini-CD |
the bonus EP with material from the "Une Eclipse totale de Soleil" (1977) sessions and two newer tracks from 2005, so far only released inside the 4 CD boxset, collecting the four first albums (also on Alga Marghen)... "Yet again, Ghedalia provides us with some of the most compelling, weirdly life-affirming music we've heard in ages." [Boomkat]
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Quoi qu'il en soit |
CD + BOOK |
first posthumous release by the French artist who died in Feb. 2021 => a small 48 page fullcolour book showing pictures of TAZARTES studio curiosities ("Wunderkammer") filled with sculptures and art objects... on the CD is a document (35+ min.) of the only live performance by the trio of TAZARTES, JEROME LORICHON and QUENTIN ROLLET, recorded in Paris 2019; ed. of 300 copies
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| TBC |
No animal conviction |
CD-R |
full-colour 7"cover |
2005 |
€9.00 |
|
| TBC & GUY |
Lieder über Pflanzen und Bäume |
CD-R |
7"-full-colour cover |
2005 |
€9.00 |
|
| TBC & SEEMANN |
same |
CD-R |
three long pieces for pure Indian Harmonium (SEEMANN) and subtle hiss & loop analog synth (TBC), named "Bhopal", "Tibet", "Goa".. - very dry, minimal, intimate and simple, and surely clearing the mind.... - something rather unexpected by these two Hamburg based noise and drone veterans, this is their second released collab. and comes in a DVD sized cover with full colour cover
|
2020 |
€7.00 |
|
| TBC_CZEPOKS |
Korridore |
CD-R |
great new album by the impro noise & drone project with SEEMANN, TBC and others - using unusual sounds from Saz, Tankdrum, Violin harp, bowed bass and musical box they create captivating dronescapes with many 'concrete' improv details...- "It's a release about the transition, I think; What happens if we travel from one mental state into another, what do we see, and how do we influence each other..." [BW, Vital Weekly] - prof design handmade glossy full colour cover
|
2022 |
€8.00 |
|
| TBC_CZEPOKS_SIGD |
Radio Gagarin Allsound Orchestra |
CD |
excellent four person collaboration recordings made a FSK Studios in Hamburg, by Swiss experimental veteran CHRIS SIGDELL aka B*TONG (once a member of NID, etc.) together with two members of TUMORCHESTER (aka CZEPOKS) and TBC (who worked with BRUME, TIETCHENS, etc. and had a 7" on Drone Rec. in 2002 => complex multi-layered ambient industrial, strange loops and dark drones, micro noises, waves, strong atmosphere... digipack with handmade artwork
|
2020 |
€10.00 |
|
| TEAR GARDEN, THE |
The Brown Acid Caveat |
do-LP |
the perfect "pop"-album by the long going project of EDWARD KA-SPEL and KEVIN CEY, reminding on their early albums on NETTWERK, the title being inspired by 'bad acid' spread at the first Woodstock festival in August 1969; "Psychedelic electronic melancholia, fearless experimentation & improvisation combine to take the intrepid listener on a mesmerizing voyage of the mind. Feel the Love." gatefold cover, coloured vinyl, download code
|
2017 |
€34.00 |
|
| TECH RIDERS |
In the Sky |
CD |
the project of FRANS DE WAARD and SINDRE BJERGA, these are live recordings from various places taken from their tour early 2016, when they performed a pretty versatile programme of 8 tracks... " On tour Frans mixed all of these materials live, while Bjerga added his synth noise, radio/Walkman cut-ups and microphone abuse. All of this resulting in a wild ride of rhythm ' n noise and drones." - the live situation is really recognizable, very nice! lim. 200, co-released by GOLD SOUNDZ and KORM PLASTICS
|
2016 |
€8.00 |
|
| TELEPHERIQUE |
Musique Montage |
CD-R |
lim./numb. 200 copies / full-colour cardboard cover
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| TEMPLE MUSIC |
Incompleteness |
CD |
incl. 4 full-colour postcards
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| TEMPLE OF TIERMES |
Psychotropic Substances |
CD-R |
we could get back few copies back in of some release from the Polish dark ambient / industrial label SOULWORM, all in highly professional design! This one by the Finnish "archaic noise" band is limited to 333 copies and contains an oversized booklet, comes in DVD-box with full colour cover
|
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| TEMPLEGARDEN'S |
Live at Maschinenfest 2001 |
MC |
TEMPLEGARDEN'S was the following project of former ARS MORIENDI members, this is a highly interesting live document from 2001, recorded in Aachen, Germany => performed with 5 people on stage, a very ritualistic, amorph, dark fairy-tale mood is created, complex electronics zip into your Unconscious, enriched with field recordings and acoustic sounds... lim. 50 copies only!
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| TEMPLUM N.R. |
T.o.V. Improvisations XCII-XCIII |
CD |
re-issue of the second cassette release from 2015, with the two rare bonus tracks from the box edition: "this album is based on a more analog-organic approach than an analog-digital-synthetic. The four echoing Hymns of Otherness are here to awake the ghosts dwelling within; join the Stagnant Dance and meet the Carcass of Formations - the shrieks are heard from beyond." lim. 300, excellent silk-screen cardboard design & inlays
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| TERRALIENUS |
As the Red Giant passes |
MC |
first full length release for a project from Vilnius, Lithuania (also active as SKOL and VELEMARA) => a cosmic drone-minimalism ambience expanse of 38+ minutes, very meditative and richly tuned.. *dedicated to the vast cosmos, to its transformations, to the birth and death of a star...a journey that completely wipes out a sense of time.* - numbered ed. of 50 copies
|
2023 |
€9.00 |
|
| THAI ELEPHANT ORCHESTRA (TEO) |
Water Music |
CD |
the only album in our catalogue played entirely by ELEPHANTS ! 14 Elephants improvising on giant instruments in the Thai jungle - build by DAVE SOLDIER & RICHARD LAIR - gamelan gongs, wood & metal instruments and percussion, and you can also hear them trumpeting....the only human involved in the sound-creation is a Buddhist prayer at the beginning. Incredible stuff ! A video of the performance is available at mulatta.org !!
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| THE 120 DAYS |
Beauty & beast |
mCD-R |
lim. 200 in mini-DVD-Box / fullcolour-cover
|
2006 |
€9.00 |
|
| THE FLOATING WORLD |
The Wood beyond the World |
CD |
project around AMANDA VOTTA inspired by Buddhist philosophy and a novel from WILLIAM MORRIS, emanating much more brighter & 'positive' psychedelic vibrations & atmospheres (as usual known for Cyclic Law acts), using lots of flute sounds and other instrumental sources like guitar, bells, piano... everything floats and is ephemeral forever..
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| THE LORD |
Forest Nocturne |
LP |
doom laden debut LP from the other half of SUNN O))) and man behind SOUTHERN LORD, GREG ANDERSON! => this is dark and heavy cinematic music, especially JOHN CARPENTER and BERNHARD HERMANNs soundtracks come to mind...- "it feels less like an album and more like the score to some dark psychological thriller/horror fillm. There is an eerie vibe throughout, and the songs creep up the back of your neck like skeletal fingers reaching for your throat" [Kirk Gauthier]
|
2022 |
€20.00 |
|
| THE RITA |
Queen Sheets |
do-LP |
last copies of this do-LP with source sounds from MEGAN MILLER recorded during two installations of her - a brick rubbing against different materials - the perfect material for the Canadian "Harsh Noise Wall" and fetish project to work with... - comes in a silver on black silkscreen cover, with insert and 4 photographs of the installations, lim. 199 copies
|
2021 |
€26.00 |
|
| |
The Nylons of Laura Antonelli |
4 x CD-BOX |
first CD re-issue of the 8 x Cassette boxset from 2009 - "The Rita using various nylons as sole sound source, plus a bit of distortion of course, for a lengthy and intense exploration of texture and movement." [Norman Rec.] - comes in black wooden box, with laser engraving, 4 CD wallet and full colour artwork, insert, poster, and certificate numb. to 300 copies
|
2019 |
€38.00 |
|
| THE THRESHOLD HOUSEBOYS CHOIR |
Form Grows Rampant |
2 x 12inch |
re-issue of the only main release by P. CHRISTOPHERSON's post-COIL project from 2007, when he lived in Thailand; for the first time on vinyl (45 RPM), re-mastered / heavy vinyl / gatefold cover / full colour images.. - "Form Grows Rampant" is the soundtrack of a film shot by Christopherson (a video capture at the GinJae Vegetarian Festival)... a suite of lenghty dense atmospherics that combine shuddering electronics with sampled vocals, eerie digitalia, buried melodies and sinister undercurrents.. "
|
2022 |
€30.00 |
|
| THEME |
Sacral Blood Warning |
CD |
the project of RICHARD JOHNSON (ex SPLINTERED, publisher of GRIM HUMOUR mag., etc.) and STUART CARTER, with a much more aggressive and "industrialized" album than before, with suction pulses, beats and electronics along with disorted vocals and strange sounds...very good and rousing! - " the music that constitutes this album explores notions of a self without moorings violently torn in several directions..."
|
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
| THEOLOGIAN |
A Means by which to break the Surface of the Real |
LP |
four new tracks, improvised in the studio with diverse guest musicians... "Tortured screams reach out over the tumbling industrial workings below. Low register whispered meanderings slowly rise to meet those screams. Machines’ rhythmic drones fold in on the voices. Sirens invite and warn. Sink into the synthetic abyss." lim. 500
|
2015 |
€18.50 |
|
| THEY FOUND MY BODY BY THE RIVER (ANSGAR WILKEN) |
Lay down Moses |
5inch flexi-disc |
"Solange ich kein Blut weine bin ich völlig unbesorgt" - a 2 min. piece by the ANSGAR WILKEN project, released on a most obscure format (a 5" flexi in the shape of a postcard, one side full colour); this appeared in conjunction with an exhibition at Spedition Bremen, May 2014 ; lim. 100 copies
|
2013 |
€6.00 |
|
| THIRTEEN HURTS |
UVB-76 |
CD-R |
stunning noise album from this rather unknown US project, using lots of interesting crackling and feedbacking radio and shortwave sounds over loops and drones and raw booming noise... "This one is a real tickler! It has lots of noise squirts and kisses that almost sound like a lead saxophone in a free jazz jam. It also sources a mysterious crunchy Russian radio transmission. There is a ton of variety here to never sound boring. " [Nuclear Distortion] - jewelcase, prof. cover & duplication
|
2016 |
€8.00 |
|
| THIS WILL DESTROY YOU |
Another Language |
CD |
fourth studio album from the powerfully *droning* and highly melancholic / atmospheric / hypnotic post-rockers from Texas + L.A.,, often transcending the borders of "rock" music into something.....else... - *Hand in Hand mit Bands wie GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR, EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY oder MONO sind THIS WILL DESTROY YOU aus Texas zu einer der prägendsten Größen des zeitgenössischen Post-Rock avanciert*
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| THISQUIETARMY |
Aftermath |
CD |
fourth album by this Canadian "experimental guitar drone" project with a very own style, inspired by the aesthetics of German painter ANSELM KIEFER. lim. 500
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Phantom Limbs |
CD |
CD-version / re-issue of rare cassette from 2012 with recordings going back to 2009 + 2010 - four movements of dreamy and dark, sometimes more noisy guitar drone, full of dynamics and changes... created similar like the early AIDAN BAKER albums with dozens of loop pedals and loops, but this is more raw and experimental...
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| THISQUIETARMY X N |
Zerfall / Zerfallen |
LP + CD |
archaic guitar droner "N" (HELLMUT NEIDHARDT) in collaboration with ERIC QUACH (TQA), awesome live and studio recordings where 2 guitars seem to be multiplied into various layers and build one lava stream of morphing, psychedelic drone monuments at the end.... "All in all, you get 2 hours of massive drone doom ambient noise guitar fulmination." - 6 long tracks on LP + CD, lim. 222 copies
|
2022 |
€27.50 |
|
| THORSTEN SOLTAU & COMRADES |
Roman Feast & a Grape from Thor Heyerdahl's Table |
do-MC BOX |
a collection of various works by German composer THORSTEN SOLTAU, using diverse sources from other artists such as MAX KUIPER, DEAD MAURIACS or MARINA STEWART, with nice organ-like multi-layered drones.."whipping noise layers and piercing feedback drones combined with amplified objects, to field recordings, repeating piano rhythms and hidden voice fragments to spoken word storytelling!" Spread on two MCs in big double case box with many inlays/cards, lim. 76 copies
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| THUJA |
Pine Cone Temples |
do-CD |
lovely album by the sensible impro-ensemble around LOREN CHASSE, combining boundless sound-sources (instruments, field recordings, objects)
|
2005 |
€15.00 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS |
In die Nacht |
CD |
fourth part in the rerelease-series of all early vinyl albums by Asmus Tietchens on CD. This is the third of the SKY albums from 1982 incl. three bonus tracks of unreleased material not included on the original LP. Comes with a poster booklet feat. the original cover artwork.
|
2004 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Fast ohne Titel, Korrosion |
CD |
eight different stages of "Ernste Musik" (serious music) on this new TIETCHENS work, the title-names filled with the typical irony but the sounds build a wonderful journey into unorganic micro-sound drones and a kind of electro-acoustic minimalism, with a development from the 'serious' to the absurd &surrealistic...
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Marches Funebres |
CD |
re-issue of LP from 1989 (& 13th part of re-release series); comes with full colour poster booklet, reproduction of the original artwork & bonus-track "Grünschattiger Nachmittag" from 1979; lim. 600
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Linea + |
CD |
LINEA appeared originally as a cassette on KORM PLASTICS in 1988 (with the two long pieces "Linea 1" and "Linea 3", later once re-issued as CDR); this first time CD issue has about 35 minutes of previously unreleased bonus material ("Linea 12" and "Linea 13") => extremely minimal quasi-rhythmic patterns that move in circles and strange harmonic forms, very hypnotic and slowly shifting in tone and colour...
|
2018 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Seuchengebiete 4 |
CD |
The "Seuchengebiete" series continues, focused on water- and underwater-sounds, with six more "Hydrophonien", adding maybe more (soft) digital synthesis effects as before, this sounds all mysterious, somehow organic and sensually touching, a masterpiece! ... - "there is something profound about the music, slow, contemplative; maybe the music is a sign of the sorry state of our times..." [Vital Weekly]
|
2021 |
€13.50 |
|
|
Abraum Zwo |
CD |
the phantastic follower to "Abraum" (2010), based on the same source recodings from the harbour in Hamburg, but re-processed with different approach.. "...On this new release, everything that reverts to musique concrète is removed, and shimmering sounds is what remains. At times quite droney, but in the world of Asmus Tietchens, nothing is static. Much like the water in the harbour, everything is fluid. Tietchens traces the contour of sound without touching too much upon the sound itself." - ed. of 300
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Schatten ohne Licht |
CD |
"Es ist Endlich Still" - this new work is inspired by the radical theory of ULRICH HORSTMANN, who propagates the self-elimination of the human mankind, in order to come back to a peaceful mineral un-organic life... - "There is something profound about the music. It can be slow and is certainly contemplative. Maybe the music is a sign of the state of our times?"
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS / FRIEDER BUTZMANN |
NNOI#02 |
LP |
second release in a new series connected to our yearly favourite NNOI-festival in Zernikow, Germany => ASMUS TIETCHENS spreads on 9 short pieces his 'Stenogramme, Folge eins' series ("abstract structures that force a space that transforms its floating hardness and beauty into the clear outlines of a sculpture"), FRIEDER BUTZMANN presents the "SinusToneSuite", composed with sinus-tones found between generators, vocal chords and wooden tubes; excellent gatefold cover design, lim. 300
|
2020 |
€19.50 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS / MIKI YUI |
Neues Boot |
LP |
first ever collab by TIETCHENS with Düsseldorf based Japanese artist MIKI YUI who worked with ROLF JULIUS and others before... > a true "recycling" of mutual sound sources with no added own sounds, a sensitive balance of somehow natural and somehow electronic acoustics occurs and catches the listeners full attention... masterful abstract microtonal ambience... vinyl version lim. 300 copies
|
2021 |
€20.50 |
|
| |
Neues Boot |
CD |
first ever collab by TIETCHENS with Düsseldorf based Japanese artist MIKI YUI who worked with ROLF JULIUS and others before... > a true "recycling" of mutual sound sources with no added own sounds, a sensitive balance of somehow natural and somehow electronic acoustics occurs and catches the listeners full attention... masterful abstract microtonal ambience... CD version, only 200 copies pressed
|
2021 |
€14.50 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS / PEINEMANN |
Harvesterhude |
do-CD |
two collaboration albums with MARTIN PEINEMANN from the 90's and 2005 that see the day of light only now, reflecting the different phases in TIETCHENS oeuvre, showming him working on unusual source material.. "both CD's in this package are, no matter how different they turn out to be, quite beautiful. This is a must for every Tietchens fan." [Fdw/Vital Weekly]
|
2016 |
€18.00 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS / THOMAS KÖNER / ILLUSION OF SAFETY / DITTERICH VON EULER-DONNERSPERG |
Untitled |
do-7inch |
back in stock this nice double 7" with exclusive material, released on the occasion of a live event of all four artists that happened in Bremen, Germany, in April 2001; lim. 500
|
2001 |
€15.00 |
|
| TILLY, THOMAS (TO) & JEAN-LUC GUIONNET |
Stones Air Axioms |
CD |
"architectural drones" - collaboration by these two French composers working on / with the architecture of the St. Pierre's Cathedral in Poitiers, France - very abstract, amorph, at times fathomless experimental drones, using many unidentifiable sound sources & variations. great mysterious drone-muzak !! on a new label from Lille
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| TONIUTTI, GIANCARLO |
Ura itam taala' momojmuj löwajamuj cooconaja |
mCD |
fascinating dronescape derived from field recordings made on a mountain in Italy, using a 3 m cross & bell sounds; nice full-colour mini-gatefold cover / ed. of 500
|
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
| TONIUTTI, GIANCARLO & TIZIANO DOMINIGHINI |
Counterchronology |
CD |
earliest TONIUTTI recordings from 1979 (in collab with T. DOMINIGHINI) for the first time released => electric and acoustic instruments and noises, recorded inside a glassworks in Italy, two impro sessions based on electric chord organ + guitar, but also various instruments + objects such as bells, pipe, flutes, metals, sudanese harp, water, bottles, rods, tambourines, gongs, a workbench, etc. were used, with the incredible glassworks reverberation effect... lim. 300, BACK IN STOCK LAST COPIES
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| TONIUTTI, GIANCARLO / JAMES WYNESS |
Batlahatli |
CD |
the successor to last years excellent "Drookitarlup", using the same source sounds ("non-standard string, wind, friction and percussion instruments"), resulting in two new "concrete abstractism" pieces from both composers (both around 30 min long), from fragmented small sounds to wonderful floating "breathing" drones, especially the WYNESS is a true emotional masterpiece we think ! - digipak + 16p booklet
|
2021 |
€15.00 |
|
| TOOP, DAVID |
Lost Shadows: In Defence of the Soul (Yanomami Shamanism, Songs, Ritual, 1978) |
LP |
recordings from 1978 of YANOMAMI ritual songs, shamanistic ceremonies and rainforest sounds, when DAVID TOOP was travelling to the Amazon jungle to meet the fascinating tribe...comes with 40 page booklet with text by DAVID TOOP about the journey
|
2015 |
€15.50 |
|
| |
Lost Shadows: In Defence of the Soul (Yanomami Shamanism, Songs, Ritual, 1978) |
do-CD |
recordings from 1978 of YANOMAMI ritual songs, shamanistic ceremonies and rainforest sounds, when DAVID TOOP was travelling to the Amazon jungle to meet the fascinating tribe...comes with 40 page booklet with text by DAVID TOOP about the journey, and pictures & lots of additional audio compared to the LP version
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| TOTESLAUT |
Strident Impurity |
CD |
first CD after two vinyls of this new controversial Finnish project, the sound a mixture of martial industrial (with distorted spoken words), dark classic samples, whizzing noises and power electronics / harsh noise, combined with S/M imagery (the info says: BLOOD AXIS, NAOS.. and RICHARD RAMIREZ!). Time to get your poison !
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| TOTSTELLEN |
Tunnel / Brücke |
CD-R |
"A study of architecture and the perspectives it implies. An acoustic reflection of so called civilisation. Entirely recorded inside the structure of a motorwaybridge, wich is also a tunnel or even a labyrith underneath the droning traffic. A collaboration between Reduktive Musiken and Totes Format. First edition of 100 copies! Comes with colour-cover and inlaycard." [label info]
|
2007 |
€9.00 |
|
| |
KSR |
CD-R |
"a narrative journey through the ruins of utopian architecture", 2 long tracks rec. 2002 / 2003 by this very political Hamburg-based project; numb. ed. 175 copies
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| TOY BIZARRE |
kdi dctb 039 |
mCD |
nice full-colour mini-gatefold cover / ed. of 500
|
2007 |
€6.50 |
|
|
kdi dctb 257 [A] |
mCD |
a long piece (18+ min.) based on the idea of 'hearing instruments through walls', recorded at a music conservatorium in France; wonderful complex droning sounds creep nearer through stairs, corridors and walls... another phantastic musique concrete journey by CEDRIC PEYRONNET aka TOY BIZARRE - soon with a 10" on Drone Records !! |
2015 |
€8.50 |
|
| |
kdi dctb 180 |
10inch |
It's acous-MAGIC !! French CEDRIC PEYRONNET (aka TOY BIZARRE) is currently one of the most impressive composers using / processing pure nature recordings, and shaping them into something beyond the known... his soundscapes are full of details and circling dynamics but keep a floating & atmospheric character... like ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE, ERIC LA CASA or FRANCISCO LOPEZ, this is not just a recording of "what was", but a scheme of what could be!! lim. 300 full colour cover, clear vinyl
|
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
| TOY BIZARRE & PIERRE REDON |
Saisons |
CD |
four phantastic solo / collab-tracks by CEDRIC PEYRONNET with guitarist PIERRE REDON, a mixture of atmospheric drone expanses ruptured by more concrete field recording moments, interwoven in a delicate & subtle way.. "This is quite vivid, imaginative electro-acoustic music. Great stuff." [Vital Weekly] BACK IN STOCK
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| TOY BIZARRE / EMERGE |
untitled |
LP |
split album dedicated to the 'acoustics of mines': Side A uses original field recordings from TOY BIZARRE recorded in abandoned French mines (already 1995), which were later re-arranged & processed to form one fantastic side-long collage of various subteranean drones and ominous concrete sounds.... ; Side B shows EMERGE re-mixing the sources in a much different, dark musique concrete / ambient industrial way... a real masterpiece by these two Drone Rec. artists (DR-31, DR-64)!!! lim./numb. 300 copies
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| TOY DIVISION |
Cute |
LP + 7inch |
re-issue of the (much sought-after) only cassette release (1983) by this Australian electronic duo from Melbourne, plus more rare cassette-only material on the 7" => minimal rhythmic sequencer electro industrial / wave / pop with vocals and free floating melancho synth patterns, sometimes more experimental.. CABARET VOLTAIRE meets (very early) LEGENDARY PINK DOTS? - lim. / numb. 500 copies, full colour inlay & certificate
|
2020 |
€21.50 |
|
| TREHA SEKTORI |
Sorieh |
CD |
"claustrophic ritual ambient" from France; debut-album... *a psychic course with ethereal and nightmarish appearances* - original first ed.
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Endessiah |
CD |
the excellent debut for Cyclic Law from 2012 by this French project (the bandname means: "the place where they fall"), compelling guitarish ritual ambience with lots of tension and dark harmonies evoked...-"No keyboards were used and a predominance of voices and strings instruments (guitars, esraj, polynesian mandoline, banjo...) were utilized with a will of fading every sources into a distinctive sound mass..." oversized digisleeve, lim. 300 copies
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| TREMBLAY, JACQUES |
Chroniques d'une Seduction |
CD |
" THE SUBCONSCIOUSNESS CHARME RESIDES IN THE FACT THAT IT IS ENDLESS" - three works inspired by the "Otherness", second CD on Empreintes D. by this Canadian composer - we think this one of the best releases on this label, conceptually and regarding the variety of sound sources and multiple ways of processings... BACK IN STOCK
|
2008 |
€14.50 |
|
| TRIGGER PLUS JEROME NOETINGER |
Camera Obscura |
CD |
JEROME NOETINGER (Metamkine) with his REVOX Tape Recorder in collab with a wind instrument trio named TRIGGER (trumpet, trombone, clarinet), fully improvised, full spectrum sounds... - *By using advanced playing techniques such as circular breathing, multiphonics and a vast palette of air sounds the instruments are removed from their traditional context and resemble electro acoustic sound sources* - 6 panel digipak
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| TROUM |
AIWS |
CD |
first full-length album in many years, studio-material rec. 2002-2005, stunning artwork by ALAN MC. CLELLAND. 6-panel full-colour digipack.
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Nargis |
7inch |
the dark & roaring side of TROUM; ed. of 500 / part one of the "Landscapes Single Series" / full-colour artwork & inlay designed by MARS WELLINK (adVANCED); last copies back in stock, now SOLD OUT at label!
|
2007 |
€6.00 |
|
|
Grote Mandrenke |
CD |
2nd part of the POWER ROMANTIC trilogy after 'Mare Idiophonika' - back in stock! - "an aural hallucination on the events that occurred January 15-17, 1362 at the Friesian North Sea coast" - GROTE MANDRENKE is an oceanic & waving, but also dramatic & mournful journey symbolizing the nature's dominion over man; one long track in 5 movements, comes in oversized gatefold-cover; LAST COPIES - LABEL INACTIVE
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Dreaming Muzak |
CD |
"The soundtrack to your Dreams" - re-mastered re-issue of TROUMs first full length release (came out as lim. MC on Cling Film Records, at the same time as the RYNA CD in Oct. 1998) with recordings from 1997, for the first time as regular CD => two long amorph droning soundtracks to be played during your dreams in endless mode... lim. 350 copies with new cover artwork
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
These are Dreams, dreamt by Dreamers, who are awake |
T-SHIRT |
hypnotic circle with the slogan, printed 15 x 15 cm RED on BLACK on the chest => the accompanying T-shirt to the "Troum Transformation Tapes" anniversary, designed by THOMAS DOHMEN & silk-screen printed by Dirt Road Cotton in Utrecht (NL), with special 'Discharge printing technique' (the colour NEVER wears off the shirt because it discoulours the fabric instead of placing ink on top of it); 2nd edition of 50 copies, only GIRLIE sizes left, special priced now!
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| TROUM & AIDAN BAKER |
Nihtes Niht |
CD |
alien drones of DIS-orientation - a soundtrack for the endless NOTHING, for suspended ice landscapes, very dark & lonely & grim - maybe the darkest AIDAN BAKER has ever done! Lim. 500 in very special fold-out cover, comes with 11 additional full-colour inlay cards showing paintings of STAS MUKLINOV, released on a new Russian label from Moscow... LAST COPY !
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| TROUM & MARTYN BATES |
To a Child, Dancing in the Wind |
CD |
6 panel full-colour digipack, total time 38:30 min, artwork by DANIEL CROKAERT. Poems by W.B.YEATS. !special priced now! |
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
| TSEMBLA |
Fauna |
LP |
another discovery on IKUISUUS, this debut-album by a female Finnish project called TSEMBLA with colourful experimental "wyrd" neo psychedelia & drone...
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| TUMORCHESTER |
Feng Shui Katastrophen |
CD-R |
this rare album appeared shortly after their excellent "Autohimmelfahrt" LP - the free jazz/noise/industrial collective recorded 9 pieces at the "Free Radio Kombinat" F.S.K. in Hamburg, all entitled with shortcuts for FSK like "Früh Sport Kadaver", "Fliegen Schiss Katapult", etc.. - these are highly demanding impro and collage noise pieces with roaring drums, guitars, sax, all kinds of found sounds, emerging powerfully from the chaos.. full colour 7" cover
|
2004 |
€8.00 |
|
| TURCOTTE, ROXANNE |
Fenetres interieures |
CD |
the third proper release by this highly interesting Canadian composer from Montreal, presenting 8 works (2009-2014), with the intention to open up (inner & outer) windows: wildlife/animal sounds worlds, memories on lost persons and their acoustics, our relationship with time, studies of vibrating strings, the horror of Fukushima, "protest acousmatics" of the younger generation, => all perceived from a poetic and philosopic perspective and transformed into electro-acoustic pieces
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| TURRA, LUIGI |
Enso |
CD |
ethnic flute-sounds and other instrumental sources are set into a dense electro-acoustic context, minimal & sparse & at times harmonic, very good & unusual stuff ! special priced !!
|
2007 |
€6.66 |
|
| TUTSCHKU, HANS |
Moment |
CD |
strong collection of electro-acoustic pieces by this highly interesting composer from Weimar (Germany) - all produced 1991-1998 - integrating vocal & instrumental recordings from Southeast Asia and the 'colour' and tonal elements of poems from GEORG TRAKL,KARL LUBOMIRSKI, and ANTONIO BUENO TUBIA... often very eerie & intense..comes with 28p booklet in English, Francais, German...
|
1999 |
€14.00 |
|
| TUXEDOMOON |
Scream with a View |
mini-LP |
the second 12" from 1979 - recorded in the RESIDENTS studio - with four excellent avantgardish new wave tracks, establishing the singular TUXDEDOMOON style, merging instrumental and analoge electronic sounds (saxophone, polymoog, violin, e-bowed guitar, radio..), powerful & moody...
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| TZESNE |
Asimilacionismo |
LP |
12 years after the "Huffduff" 7" on our own label (DR-74) the first LP by the favored Basque project: field recordings and vintage synth drones+tones+pulses+sequences serve as basis for the mysterious, somehow drone-based compositions, which use lots of unrecognizable sounds, there are flickering passages, synthetic scrawls and glittering environmentals, all carefully constructed for a wonderfully inspiring brain-ride... lim. 200 copies only, on white vinyl, finally BACK IN STOCK !
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
| TZII |
SAnd HAert RAge |
12inch |
inspired by the artists childhood in the Sahara, this is the first solo 12" (with 4 tracks) by this French musician, film-maker and excessive live-performer, who is also active as SOLAR SKELETONS; "best Oriental Chill-Wave for both the dance-floor and your inner eye" ; lim./numb. 160, Arabian titles and lovely artwork with inlay card
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| UBEBOET |
Haereo |
CD |
Drone Rec. artist UBEBOET (see "drone-mind vol. 1" LP) from Spain (who also runs the CON-V label) with three new tracks, culled from field recordings a sublime and mysterious acoustic realm is created, with recognizable and unrecognizable sounds,interchanging and interfering in slow waves, building nice contrasts... lim. 200 full colour cardboard cover w. inlay
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| ULVER |
Flowers of Evil |
LP |
completely different from the previous "Drone Activity" monumental sound, this new ULVER album goes into a full "Melancholic Pop" direction, feat. C.FENNESZ and many other guests. ". a band moving deeper into beats and grooves, hooks and choruses, synths and guitars, yet sounding more stripped back, making room for the distinctive detail. Once again Michael Rendall (The Orb) and legendary producer Martin Glover have taken crystalline care of the mix." - lim . coloured vinyl available, please ask !
|
2020 |
€32.00 |
|
| ULVESTAD |
Fall |
CD |
cellist and composer AMUND ULVESTAD (known from SVARTSINN and WORDCLOCK) created four pieces of extremely slow and deep droning and moving expanses, with uprising choir sounds at the end, with overwhelming effect..."Drawing from material such as HAMSUN’s mysterious Pan, the old Irish song Aisling Gheal, and from contemporary texts on death and the moments gone to Norse ideas of youth, these musical works reflect a rich textual tradition on life and death."
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| UMPIO |
Insektio |
CD |
excellent album by the Finnish 'ASMR Industrial' drone noiser, pulsing electronics meet object sounds of scraping, scratching, crunching, sometimes weird fragmentations appear that confuse your perception... - "Like a heavy trip into nature, listen with one ear to the ground, how all the insects work, how temperature shifts affect the resonance of the planet, and how civilizations crumble away as only the frogs and moss will survive..." - Elektrobiologic microsonics to tape 2015-2020, CD version lim. 300
|
2021 |
€12.50 |
|
| |
Muelas |
CD |
extreme junk noise orgy, metallic objects drown in highly dynamic blasts of feedback.. no sign of electronic sound sources! Early album by the Finnish project.. - "Scrap metal, self build metal junk instruments, feedback, intense cut-ups. Think of KNURL, SICKNESS, K2. etc" - "loud face beating rage teamed up with sandblasted audio filth blown like a full load of coke up your ass" [Witchkuntzine]
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| UN/SOUNDING THE SELF |
A PORTRAIT |
DVD + book |
a film by CHRISTOPH COLLENBERG (60 min) with accompanying 120 page booklet about "silent composing": inspired by H.D.THOREAU and JOHN CAGE the filmed artists start composing only after hours of silent walking through the landscape, "Silent walking as a means of heightening the senses, inflowing sounds become the basis for compositions..."
|
2020 |
€18.00 |
|
| UNIVERS ZERO |
Relaps / Archives 1984-1986 |
do-LP |
a collection of unreleased live material rec. 1984-1986 (for example in Hannover and Frankfurt 1984, which shows the Belgian 'dark chamber rock' & RIO band around DANIEL DENIS in their legendary 80's line ups before they made a long break... excellent sound quality, coloured / marbled vinyl, nice gatefold cover with extensive liner notes
|
2015 |
€19.50 |
|
| |
LUEUR |
LP |
first album after 10 years by the legendary experimental / dark Prog Rock band from Belgium around DANIEL DENIS, active since 1974, now with electronic and dark ambient elements and singing - *a dense journey, rooted in the balance between power and calm, raging and serene sound. A balance, too, between complex arrangements and more contemplative moments* - lim. colour vinyl
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| UNKNOWN ARTIST |
Anastenaria |
do-LP |
"Anastenaria" is the name of a fire-walking folk dance ritual still held in some villages of Northern Greece, after hours of dancing the participants walk in trance barefoat over glowing coals... these recordings of the music and ritual were made in the village of Agia Eleni in Greece, on 20-21 May 1979; the vinyl re-issue of this rare CD-R (Edition_Zero, 2008) contains a bonus 12" with remixes by PETE SWANSON (ex YELLOW SWANS) and VATICAN SHADOW (=PRURIENT )!! Gatefold sleeve
|
2014 |
€18.50 |
|
| UR |
Triadic Memories |
CD-R |
first official album by this Italian industrial outfit: "Far away from Power Electronics and Harsh Noise, "Triadic Memories" is more a sort of psychedelic and liberatory journey reminding the best old-school Industrial music experiments." lim. 133, professionally printed cardboard cover / SPECIAL OFFER
|
2006 |
€6.00 |
|
| URBAN SAX |
Urban Sax 1 |
LP + DVD |
re-issue of the legendary first LP (from 1977) by GILBERT ARTMANs Saxophone & Multimedia orchestra: two side-long tracks of a droning saxophon-orchestra, with minimal structures and harmonies appearing in the mix.. just great ! Comes with a full bonus DVD with unreleased audio & video material, and 24 page colour booklet 12 x 12cm !!!
|
2016 |
€24.00 |
|
|
Urban Sax 2 |
LP + DVD |
re-issue of the second LP (from 1978) by GILBERT ARTMANs Saxophone & Multimedia orchestra, a continuation of the debut-LP...."It features parts 2 and 3 of the pieces contained on 'Urban Sax 1', and shows similarities to the music of La Monte Young, Phil Niblock, Glenn Branca, Steve Reich and Terry Riley." comes again with a full bonus DVD feat. unreleased audio & video material, plus 24 page full colour booklet
|
2016 |
€24.00 |
|
|
Fraction sur le Temps |
LP + DVD |
re-issue of the third LP (from 1985) by GILBERT ARTMANs Saxophone & Multimedia orchestra, on which they sound especially psychedelic and ethereal, including also gongs, electronics, a large choir, percussion & guitar into the orchestra, reviewers mentioned LIGETI and MAGMA at the same time! Comes again with a full bonus DVD with unreleased audio & video material, + 24 page full colour booklet, lim. 500
|
2016 |
€25.50 |
|
| |
Spiral |
LP + DVD |
first ever vinyl re-issue of the fourth full-length album (CD from 1991, now a collector's item) by GILBERT ARTMANs Saxophone & Multimedia orchestra; on SPIRAL the choir has grown to 22 singers, 3 vibraphones are used, the sound is majestic and cinematic.... comes again with a full bonus DVD with unreleased audio & video material, plus 24 page 12" x 12" full colour booklet; re-mastered, with original cover replica
|
2016 |
€25.50 |
|
| URE THRALL |
Arabian Knightmares |
CD |
re-release of the CDR from 2004 / comes in specially designed cardboard-box folder & with 8 postcards (full-colour); feat. the two great tracks from the Drone Rec. EP - think of the marriage of ZOVIET FRANCE, VOICE OF EYE, TROUM.. |
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
|
Premonition 9/11 |
7inch |
re-release of this much requested Drone, ed. of 300 on red-black striped vinyl, full-colour cover designed by Mr. URE THRALL himself & updated liner-notes on the inlay!
|
2007 |
€6.00 |
|
| |
Premonition 11/9 // The Traveler (SOLD OUT) |
7" |
lim. 250 copies on red-yellow-blue multicoloured vinyl
|
2003 |
€ |
|
| URENGA |
After Rain |
CD |
perfect chill-out ambient techno from Budapest, this is the first album with a dedication and use of rain forest atmospheres and field recordings... "After the rain stops falling and the storm clouds withdraw beyond the horizon, the tide once again rolls in like a wave of evening colour glow. Hypnotizing and captivating music to spend half-awake in your bed through the thick tropical night." - 12 page full colour booklet, 79+ min. playtime
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Pacific Depths |
CD |
third album by this Budapest-based deep ambient/techno artist on GTERMA: 'On Pacific Depths, we allow ourselves to catch our breaths and sink our tired souls into the deep blue abyss that is the lost history of Urenga itself. The album is made up of a deep ambient current collected from several digital releases that occurred between 2011 and 2013. Album in jewel case with 16-page booklet.'
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| UW HYPOTHEEKADVIES |
Nature of Nurture |
CD |
lim. 400 with full-colour insert and original hand drawing
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| V.A. (VARIOUS ARTISTS) (COMPILATIONS) |
Epitaph for John |
CD |
Post-mortem Waterman-collaboration compilation w. ASMUS TIETCHENS, RLW, MERZBOW, FREIBAND, and the original source-material from JOHN WATERMANN. oversized cardboard-cover |
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
|
INFERNAL PROTEUS |
BOOK / 4 x CD |
96-page-hardcover / full-colour book / w. J. COLECLOUGH, INADE, TROUM, CHAOS AS SHELTER, AUBE, MNORTHAM, YANNICK DAUBY, CHAOS AS SHELTER, etc etc |
2002 |
€45.00 |
|
|
Inventionen 2000 |
do-CD/book |
wonderful full-colour art-book & documentation of sound installations, by FRANCOIS DONATO, ADRIAN MOORE, ALVIN LUCIER, CHRISTINA KUBISCH, and many more |
2001 |
€29.00 |
|
|
The Golden Road |
7 |
four ed. of each 80 copies. With: BRUCE RUSSELL, ANTONYM, SINDRE BJERGA / ANDERS GJERDE, TAMING POWER |
2003 |
€6.00 |
|
|
Avanto 2006 |
CD |
long tracks by TONY CONRAD, RALF WEHOWSKY & JIM O'ROURKE
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Archives GRM - l'art de l'etude |
CD |
30 years anniversary compilation part 2/5 with historical material from PIERRE SCHAEFFER, LUC FERRARI, IVO MALEC, ALAIN SAVOURET, etc..incl. 32 page booklet. special priced
|
2004 |
€9.00 |
|
|
Archives GRM - le temps du temps reel |
CD |
30 years anniversary compilation part 4/5 with historical material from PARMEGIANI, DENIS DUFOUR, HORACIO VAGGIONE, DANIEL TERUGGI, MICHEL REDOLFI, etc..incl. 32 page booklet. special priced
|
2004 |
€9.00 |
|
|
ESCAPING FROM COLOR: RAPOON RECOMPOSED & REMIXED |
CD |
RAPOON source material remixes from : FRANCISCO LOPEZ, TROUM, AIDAN BAKER, CISFINITUM & RAPOON, MACHINEFABRIEK, TV POW, STEVE RODEN, ANLA COURTIS, GERT-JAN PRINS, etc.. lim. 500 in nice raw cardboard-digisleeve
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
|
ARYAN MEMORY. Musical Traditions in Pamir |
do-CD / DVD / BOOK - set |
Very impressive box-set about the traditional music of the Pamir-region in Central Asia: Two CDs, one DVD with film, a CD-booklet & a 100page full-colour book (14 x 25cm) housed in a double DVD-digipack & box; numbered edition of 1000 copies, an absolute beautiful edition!! (one set has 740 grams in weight)
BACK IN STOCK; BETTER PRICED !
|
2007 |
€50.00 |
|
|
DIY CANONS |
do-CD |
comp. based on LARRY POLANSKY's "Four Voice Canons" (from the 70's), w. KYOKO KOBAYASHI, SIMON WICKHAM-SMITH, PHILIP CORNER, MIKE WINTER, GEORGE ZELENC, etc etc.. lots of surprising interpretations to discover !
|
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Zelphabet Vol. B |
CD |
second part of this crazy compilation-project, Volume B feat. BEST PEOPLE, 16 BITCH PILE-UP, BLACKHUMOUR, BOB BELLERUE
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Zelphabet Vol. D |
CD |
fourth part of this crazy compilation-project, Volume D feat: DAMION ROMERO, DANIEL MENCHE, DAVE PHILLIPS
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
|
The Recommended Records Sampler 1982 - 25th Anniversary Edition |
do-CD |
re-issue of this historic milestone collection - the first compilation Recommended Records released (do-LP in 1982)t, now a collectors item, with exclusive material by: FAUST, ART BEARS, THE HOMOSEXUALS, UNIVERS ZERO, AKSAK MABOUL/HONEYMOON KILLERS, THE WORK, HENRY COW, ART ZOYD, THIS HEAT, THE RESIDENTS, PICCIO DAL POZZO, ROBERT WYATT, HECTOR ZAZOU, and many more... 2 hours of material, BACK IN STOCK
|
2008 |
€17.50 |
|
|
They've got the whole World in their Hands |
do-CD |
great Networking compilation compiled by Robert Schalinski (COLUMN ONE), with: VANCE ORCHESTRA, ILLUSION OF SAFETY, MUSLIMGAUZE, MLEHST, BOURBONESE QUALK, MASONNA, S-CORE, and activists from the Berlin experimental scene at that time; many groups have 2 tracks, all exclusive stuff ! BACK IN STOCK last copies!
|
1999 |
€15.00 |
|
|
TESLA : Werkstatt Klangapparate |
DVD |
documentation of 4 performances happening in Berlin 2006 & 2007 using historical sound apparatuses, by STEVE RODEN & MARTIN RICHES, THILGES, FRANK BRETSCHNEIDER, BENZO (consisting of OLEG KORNEV & RICHARDAS NOVILA, who was once a member of CISFINITUM!). Comes with colour-booklet, bonus material (video documentation feat. WOLFGANG MÜLLER) and PDF files, really nice!
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Heilige Feuer 6 |
do-CD |
"Heilige Feuer" was the name of a yearly festival in St. Petersburg for Industrial, Harsh Noise and Experimental Ambient / Drone...each 2 studio tracks of groups who performed there: KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK, THE PROTAGONIST, I-C-K, DES ESSEINTES, A CHALLENGE OF HONOUR, ANTHESTERIA, LEICHE RUSTIKAL, RADIO MURMANSK. Comes in deluxe digipack printed with bronze on designer paper, with embossed festival logo, lim. 500 - SPECIAL OFFER NOW!
|
2009 |
€8.00 |
|
|
Risveglio Di Una Citta (In Memory of Luigi Russolo) |
6 x CD-R / book |
another RUSSOLO memorial release but this one is really special: a handmade full-colour A4"book" with many photos, paintings, two essays (one by JEAN-MARC VIVENZA) on the subject, and 6 CDRs with new material by CRIA CUERVOS, LIEUTENANT CARAMEL, BIG CITY ORCHESTRA, HEAD58m, GOVERMENT ALPHA, HYWARE. Numbered. ed. 160 copies
|
2008 |
€33.00 |
|
|
TOTAL Volume One |
LP |
Collector's item ! We got some NEW / UNPLAYED copies of this classic electro-industrial compilation, feat. THE ANTI GROUP, COIL, FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY, BOURBONESE QUALK, PORNO SECT, FINI TRIBE, and others. On the backcover a text by ROBERT ANTON WILSON ! ; no booklet!
|
1991 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Musics in the Margin Vol. 2: Musik Oblik |
CD |
compilation mixing visual arts and music, combining modern art, contemporary art, outsider art; very weird stuff!; KLAUS BEYER, NORMAND L'AMOUR, BAUDOUIN OOSTERLYNCK, THE WILD CLASSICAL MUSIC ENSEMBLE, OTHIN SPAKE, ADOLF WÖLFI, etc.
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Offstrings |
LP |
the label of DAN BURKE (ILLUSION OF SAFETY) is back with a very experimental compilation feat. new work from Chicago-based guitar players: DAVID DANIELL, MARK SHIPPY, TRAVIS BIRD, DAN BURKE, MICHAEL VALLERA; 180gr. vinyl, colour vinyl, download coupon
|
2010 |
€18.50 |
|
|
Psychogeographical Dip |
CD |
back in stock this nice compilation based on the "Psychogeography"-theory, feat.: GEN KEN MONTGOMERY, CHOP SHOP, GEOFF DUGAN, FRANCISCO LOPEZ, SEAN MEEHAN, BRIAN CONLEY, JOHN HUDAK, IF BWANA, PAT COURTNEYM; comes with poster-inlay
|
1997 |
€13.00 |
|
|
25 Years of Kapotte Muziek |
CD |
25 year anniversary release which documents two celebrative concerts held in Nijmegen & Amsterdam 02.2010 by KAPOTTE MUZIEK and friends: RADBOUD MENS, DMDN, ASMUS TIETCHENS, ASRA, HOWARD STELZER, JOS SMOLDERS; lim. 200, multi-colour art cover printed by KNUST ;
special low price !
|
2010 |
€10.00 |
|
|
A tasty Swarm of small Signals |
DVD-Audio |
sound-art project curated by FRANCISCO LOPEZ, collecting 91 x 2 minute micro-compositions from different sound-artists, feat. JAMES WEBB, LAWRENCE ENGLISH, ASMUS TIETCHENS, LOUIS DUFORT, ALAN COURTIS (REYNOLS!), Z. KARKOWSKI, and the master himself, FRANCISCO LOPEZ; 3 hours playtime, DVD-audio (24 bit) playable in any DVD player or computer
|
2010 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Vox:one |
CD |
strong industrial / experimental compilation with intense tracks based entirely on the human voice of ELLEN AAGAARD: KK.NULL, WILT, BAND OF PAIN, KOBI, FREDRIK NESS SEVENDAL, CHAOS AS SHELTER, MOURMANSK 150, OLE MELBY, PAL ASLE PETTERSEN, V.V. (VEN VOISEY), R/A/A/N. The material was collected already in 2001, but is finally released only now in 2010 !
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
|
The Sound Ecology: Range |
CD |
Back in stock one of our favourite comps from the past years ! - "sound ecology" / environmental / field recording pieces by the current "creme da la creme" of sound artists, comes with extensive 24p. full-colour booklet: MATHIEU RUHLMANN, YANNICK DAUBY, MICHAEL NORTHAM, ERIC LA CASA & CEDRIC PEYRONNET, JOHN GRZINICH, FRANCISCO LOPEZ, JEPH JERMAN, RALF WEHOWSKY, CHRISTOPHER McFALL, MURMER; ed. of 500 copies - highly recommended for any fan of field recording art !!!
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Message from a Subatomic World |
CD |
transcension & dark ambience compilation with excklusive tracks by SVARTSINN, OÖPHOI, TRUE COLOUR OF BLOOD, STEPHEN PHILIPS, PHAENON, JASON SLOAN, NUMINA, RELAPXYCH.0, EVAN BARTHOLOMEW, AUSTERE; very good material !!
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
|
DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE Vol. 1 : HALO MANASH, UBEBOET, JARL, B*TONG (SOLD OUT) |
LP |
the NEW LP-series from Drone Records, dedicated to the Drones of the World, and the Drones of our Minds. Each LP features four artists from the international drone-scene and is limited to 500 copies, pressed on four different vinyl-colours. Volume 1: UBEBOET (Spain), HALO MANASH (Finland), B°TONG (Suisse), JARL (Sweden). Stunning artwork paintings by British artist PETE GREENING, design by NINA KERNICKE (ALL SIDES). RELEASE-DATE: 5. DECEMBER 2011 !!
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
|
...plays BAD SECTOR |
mCDR |
BAD SECTOR-fans Achtung! Four different artists worked on new BAD SECTOR-source materials for a stunning result: FREIBAND, IF,BWANA, HYPNOSKULL as 33MHZ, and newcomer dEmutE; excellent tracks all around, lim. 122 copies in oversized (fullcolour) cardboard cover
|
2011 |
€6.00 |
|
|
Yokomono 03.5 ("triple grooved" MERZBOW, MIKA VAINIO, NO ARTIST, JAAP BLONK, CYNTHIA ZAVEN) |
LP |
the fourth in the Yokomono-series is a uniquely mastered vinyl: three parallel soundtracks / grooves per side were cut into the master in a way that the needle will jump between the three tracks randomly !! REALLY a "experimental" record, use turntable & record as an instrument! Lim. 500, clear vinyl
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Strade Trasparenti |
CD |
original film-soundtrack of the film by Brazilian film-maker AUGUSTO CONTENTO with exclusive material only: a very long (28+ min) airy NECKS track and similar minimal & atmospheric pieces by DAVID GRUBBS (GASTR DEL SOL, BASTRO, etc.), MIRA CALIX, MUTE SOCIALITE, O-TYPE. "Strade Trasparenti (Transparent Roads) is a cinevoyage, a ritual of initiation to the journey, to the discovery of the unknown, the indecipherable and the irreducible..."
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
|
5 Composers - Second Coming |
CD |
the oldest available FYLKINGEN CD at this time, presenting Swedish electroacoustic music: ANDERS BLOMQVIST, JONAS BROBERG, AKEMI ISHIJIMA, TAMAS UNGVARY, AKOS ROZMANN; "expressive, dramatic, monumental and humoristic music gives the CD features of a journey within different landscapes of sound"
|
1994 |
€12.50 |
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|
Benefiets for Japan |
do-CD |
benefit sampler project that was planned immediately after the Tsunami-catastrophe in Japan; 36 artists have taken part, for example: EMIL BEAULIEAU, MICHAEL BARTHEL, YUI ONODERA, PRURIENT, FRANS DE WAARD, DAVE PHILLIPS, ANLA COURTIS, SUDDEN INFANT, CHRISTIAN DERGARABEDIAN, HER NAME IS CALLA, THE HATERS, RUDOLV EB.ER, etc. etc.. 5 Euro from every sold copy goes to the Red Cross and to the "heart on coin-kizuna" project in Japan
|
2012 |
€17.00 |
|
|
DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE Vol. 2 (SOLD OUT) |
LP |
second volume in the NEW Drone Records series, feat: YANN NOVAK (USA), STROM NOIR (Slovakia), EMME YA (Colombia), KARL BÖSMANN (Germany); lim. 500 - four different vinyl-colours! Official RELEASE DATE: 31.12.2012, OUT NOW!!
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
|
DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE Vol. 3 (SOLD OUT) |
LP |
Vol.3 features: JIM HAYNES (USA), MANINKARI (France), KSHATRIY (Russia), EXIT IN GREY (Rus). stunning artwork paintings by British artist PETE GREENING, great design by TILMANN BENNINGHAUS using bronce-colour & UV gloss! AVAILABLE NOW!!
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Epicurean Escapism II |
CD & DVD + book |
released to the 2nd festival of the same name (Berlin, June 2013), the CD has exclusive material by the performers KE/HIL, ANEMONE TUBE, POST SCRIPTVM, TREPANERINGSRITUALEN, DIETER MÜH, CON-DOM, the DVD early super 8 short films by CON-DOM; comes with 20p. full colour catalogue/book with art & texts by various people... lim. / numb. 350
|
2013 |
€22.00 |
|
|
Gyalpo |
CD |
very nice deep ambient / ethno compilation with four projects as a tribute to the "Four Heavenly Kings of Caturmaharajika" (Lokapalas - the guardians of the four horizons in Buddhist mythology) - ANDERS PETERSON (OBJECT4, RELAPXYCH.0), EARTH VIBRATION, MATHIAS GRASSOW and a very long stunning track by INDO (34+ min.); highly recommended for any 'meditative drone / ambient' lover !
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Musics in the Margin Vol. 3 : Inside Out Music |
CD |
the series of bewildering anti- and outsider music continues, truly unknown artists are presented again with often multiple tracks: AIDAN WALSH (who calls himself 'Master of the Universe'), DION McGREGOR, COSMIC DENNIS GREENIDGE ('Spaghetti Yeti'), PNEUMERSHONIC, STEVE WALLIS, SPEEDY (the man who sings faster than his tourette-syndrome), etc... discover the 'primitive', anti-professional, discover the deviation !!
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
|
MV X : Monochrome Visions 2004 - 2014 |
3 x CD |
the 10th anniversary of this important Russian label is celebrated with this crazy compilation containing 48 exclusive tracks from all so far appearing artists of the label (almost 4 hours of music), we can only name few: CISFINITUM, VOX POPULI, ASMUS TIETCHENS, BARDOSENETICCUBE, FRANCISCO LOPEZ, TBC, IF BWANA, ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE, MAURIZIO BIANCHI.... everything from past & present combined, sound collages, post industrial, musique concrete, etc. etc. fantastic !!
|
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
|
DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE Vol. 4 (VERY LAST COPIES!) |
LP |
after a long break listening to many demos of newcomers (showing us the drone 'scene' is alive & kicking!) we can finally present you Vol. 4 in our ongoing series, with new names you probably don't know yet: JEREMIE MATHES (France), KIRILL PLATONKIN (Russia), ILIOU PERSIS (Portugal), and ROMAN KHARKOVSKY (pseudonym for a drone ambient newcomer from Pakistan!); edition of 400 in four vinyl colours [each lim. 100 for every artists choice]
|
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Tincture of Japanoise |
CD |
another 'fabric pressed' CD on Attenuation Circuit presenting fresh / unknown acts from the brooding & insane Japan noise scene, most stuff is completely excessive & over the top, with crazy found sounds and restless ultra noisy collages... flushes your braincells free! ABISYEIKAH , Zr3a, NAOKI NOMOTO, EMEME, ELMA ,HEDOROMERUHEN, ZPORE ZPAWN, JAH EXCRETION.. special priced !
|
2014 |
€8.00 |
|
|
Phra Rahu |
do-CD |
massive compilation (2 x 80 min.) inspired by the Hindu demigod PHRA RAHU, feat: MATHIAS GRASSOW, SEETYCA & ETHEOCLES STEVENS, LAST INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, INDO, DAVID PARSONS, etc.. "Phra Rahu is an awesome, perfectly paced astral journey, anything but meditation music, an instar struggling toward surface and light." [Cyclic Defrost] Comes with 16p. booklet
|
2014 |
€19.50 |
|
|
DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE Vol. 5 |
LP |
echanting female drones by GYDJA (New Zealand), focused 'magic of the moment' drones by CLADE, (Scotland/USA), transcendental drones by MONOCUBE (Ukraine), cryptic drones by YRSEL (France): again filled with exiting experimental drone acts from the whole planet, we can finally present you Vol. 5 in our ongoing series; lim. 400 coloured vinyl, full colour artwork paintings by PETE GREENING. OUT NOW & SHIPPING !!
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Projekt Neue Ordnung II |
4 x LP BOX |
amost three decades after the legendary "Projekt Neue Ordnung" compilation here's the second volume, feat. mainly new and lesser known projects from the post industrial and apocalyptic ambient areas, to name a few: BODY CARGO, GRUNT, SHIFT, WERTHAM, KE/HIL.. lim. 500 with full colour A4 booklet |
2017 |
€78.00 |
|
|
NEW SONGS OF THE HUMPBACK WHALE |
CD |
six NEW recordings of Humpback Whales that excite with their great recording quality and incredible spatial details, strange trumpeting and groaning rattle sounds form amazing patterns and melodies after a while... DAVID ROTHENBERG curated this project, MICHAEL DEAL created graphic visualization; in the 70's the first collection of Whale Songs became the all-time bestseller of animal recordings..."it encompasses the full range of emotions in the longest song performed by any animal" (up to 24 hours!)
|
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
|
DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE Vol. 6 : NAM-KHAR, FOR KINGS AND QUEENS, MARKIAN VOLKOV, KEVIN DURR |
LP |
the newest edition in our DRONE EXPLORERS series, for MIND EXPLORERS, with: NAM-KHAR (Germany), FOR KINGS AND QUEENS (Germany), MARKIAN VOLKOV (Italy) and KEVIN DURR (U.S.A.), ranging from nature+ vocal-drone to electronic ethno rituals to surrealistic soundscapes.. lim. 400 on beautiful blue-violet-transparent vinyl, with amazing cover-art (a true 3D effect with the use of extra golden pantone colour) by TILMANN BENNINGHAUS, using paintings by British painter PETE GREENING
|
2017 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Metaphors: Selected Soundworks from the Cinema of APICHATPONG WEERASETHAKUL |
do-LP |
14 soundworks from the films of Thailandese director APICHATPONG WEERASETHAKUL, known for his unique, mysterious visual art, often using manipulated field recordings from the locations... Similar to the way he treats images, Apichatpong sometimes calls attention to the physicality and the fragility of the audio and to the process of audio manipulation"; comes with 12" x 12" full-colour 4 pages inlay, with extensive background info on all tracks
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Visions of Darkness (in Iranian Contemporary Music) |
do-CD |
a colllection of Iranian "majestic, heavy, dark ambient, ritual, drone and noise" underground material with 21 acts/tracks, curated by MOREGO DIMMER and RAFFAELE PEZZELLA (SONOLOGYST); names are completely unknown but the variety of creative approaches is stunning, illustrating the the boundlessness of non-meanstream music; our favourites incl. RHONCHUS, ALPHAXONE, POO YAR,.. two full CDs to discover !!
|
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
|
TOUCH Movements |
BOOK + CD |
art book project to compile photographs by TOUCH designer JON WOZENCROFT, a 76pages full colour book bound in dark blue cover; on the CD music to accompany the photos: 33 tracks by many Touch artists like FENNESZ, MIKA VAINIO, JOHANN JOHANNSSON, JIM O'ROURKE, STRAFE FÜR REBELLION, WIRE, CHRIS WATSON, HILDUR GUDNADOTTIR, JANA WINDEREN, PHILIP JECK, ELEH, C.M. VON HAUSSWOLFF, etc. etc..
|
2017 |
€42.50 |
|
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TROUM TRANSFORMATION TAPES: The 20th Anniversary Celebration (1997-2017) |
do-CD |
for the 20th anniversary of the band, TROUM invited friends and admired artists from their own history to cover, re-interpretate, re-process, collage, morph or just being inspired (by) any TROUM basic material; after one year of collecting masterial the result is a unique compilation of 19 tracks with a wide range of creative approaches - much more than your standard "remix" collection. ALL exclusive tracks / NEW material !! |
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Scatter |
CD |
compilation with US-artists by the TOUCH sublabel feat. tracks by KEVIN DRUMM, JOHN HUDAK, EARTH (!), JIM O'ROURKE, DANIEL MENCHE. some material is exclusive to this release! LAST COPY! |
1997 |
€13.00 |
|
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DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE Vol. 7: OPENING PERFORMANCE ORCHESTRA, MYTRIP, SKELDOS, SPECIMENS |
LP & CD |
: first DRONE-MIND compilation with full bonus CD: SPECIMENS (UK), SKELDOS (LT), MYTRIP (Bulgaria), OPENING PERFORMANCE ORCHESTRA (CZ); cover-art by TILMANN BENNINGHAUS using two paintings by British artist PETE GREENING; Edition of 400 copies on TURQUOISE coloured VINYL. Mastering by PETER ANDERSSON
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Turritopsis Nutricula |
LP |
another collection with 6 pieces in the Fluxus +/- series curated by DETLEV HJULER: LAURENT FAIRON / CODY BRANT & KOMMISSAR HJULER UND FRAU / MAGNUS PALSSON / LOUIS JUCKER / PAUL FUCHS & ZORO BABEL / MAMA BÄR: experimental earplay like collages, low fi plunderphonics, sound poetry choirs, absurd improvisations on instruments and somethings... numbered. ed. of only 65 copies, hand-assembled / oversized ful-colour cover
|
2018 |
€22.00 |
|
|
CHANGEZ RETRAVAILLE (Changez les Blockeurs) |
3 x CD |
"A warehouse symphony in which workers pile scrap metal in on honour of BEETHOVEN’s Ode To Joy. A masterpiece." [ND review on the original TNB LP] - more anniversary re-workings of the one and only "Changez Les Blockeurs" LP (1982) with some interesting new and exciting collisions: TIETCHENS, THURSTON MOORE, JEROME NOETINGER, RLW, IDEA FIRE COMPANY, DAISUKE SUZUKI, JIM O'ROURKE, IRR.APP.(ext), etc... lim. 300 + new liner notes, manifesto, interview..
|
2019 |
€26.00 |
|
|
Homo Strepitus |
CD |
"A compilation of modern music of the World. The finest selection of industrial artists doing their utmost in their war against silence" - compiled by LINA BABY DOLL, feat. REUTOFF, RAISON D'ETRE, BRIGHTER DEATH NOW, TREPANERINGSRITUALEN, MORTHOUND, KOLLAPS, HORSE GIVES BIRTH TO FLY, and of course DEUTSCH NEPAL.. exclusive material only, it seems, collected over a period of 10 years!
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Dies Natalis Invicti Solis |
CD |
excellent post industrial and ritual drone compilation, for your solitary winter rituals, with exclusive material from CONTRASTATE, BRIGHTER DEATH NOW, DEUTSCH NEPAL, KLEISTWAHR, THEOLOGIAN & VOMIT ARSONIST, GNAWED, MURDEROUS VISION, KONSTRUKTIVISTS, ORD, ENVENOMIST, DREAM INTO DUST, FAILING LIGHTS... US-import
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
|
PRSNT (Ryuichi Sakamoto, Pascal Comelade, Laurie Spiegel, Lyra Pramuk, Chassol, Nicolas Godin, Pierre Rousseau, Pedro Vian, Pierre Bastien, Visible Cloaks, Kelman Duran, Refree, Lucrecia Dalt, Lafawndah) |
LP + BOOK |
collector's item / ambitious art project with writings and artworks from diverse artists, plus original compositions which are all 32 seconds long, based on the fact that digital online platforms usually only play the first 30 seconds of a track (which truly shortens our attention spans); - gatefold cover with full-colour booklet (32 pages), white vinyl, one-sided (the B-Side has a 32 sec. "Silence" track by R. SAKAMOTO)
|
2021 |
€55.00 |
|
|
DRONE-MIND // MIND-DRONE Vol. 8: AUME, K. ISHIGAMI, HIROSHIMABEND, BALDRUIN |
LP |
finally the new DRONE-MIND compilation with an exquisite selection of experimental / "advanced" drone highlights: AUME (U.S.A.), KAZUYA ISHIGAMI (Japan), HIROSHIMABEND (Austria), and BALDRUIN (Germany); cover-art & mastering by puppy38, using two paintings by British artist PETE GREENING; edition of 400 copies on VELVET PURPLE (solid purple and solid red mixed) coloured VINYL |
2021 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Gudelnaya Polyana - Solar Systo Togathering 2020 |
3 x CD set |
once in a year there's a special "drone / ambient stage" at the 'Solar Systo Togathering" festival in the forests of the Russian Karelia area (Leningrad region); this compilation has 3 hours of material from it (= 28 artists, many unknown and few well known names): DRONE LIBERATION FRONT, MIRA DREVO, JAGATH, SIX DEAD BULGARIAN, LUNAR ABYSS, SVETLO111, SOILCULT, PETROGRAD DRONE GATHERING, NOISES OF RUSSIA, and and and.. - numb. 300 copies, 6 panel art digipak
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
|
44 x 44 - Orphax Reworked |
4 x CD BOX |
44 sound files of 44 seconds length by ORPHAX were used as source material for 8 artists to create experimental long form pieces (all around 32 min long): SIAVASH AMINI, MACHINEFABRIEK, JOS SMOLDERS, MODELBAU, FANI KONSTANTINIDOU, ELIF YALVAC, RUARIDH LAW and SIETSE VAN ERVE aka ORPHAX himself.... nice concept & great result ! - "Over 4 hours of new daring music." - ed. of 300 copies in box
|
2021 |
€25.00 |
|
|
TIME ENDS - A Tribute to J.G. Ballard's Tetralogy of Transformation (special ed.) |
do-LP / CD |
not just 'another tribute' to the great British writer, this release focuses in form and content one BALLARDS four early "disaster" novels from the 60's, each artist created about 20 min. of material inspired by one book: DESIDERII MARGINIS, TROUM, MARTIN BLADH (IRM) & KAROLINA URBANIAK, ANEMONE TUBE - finally the SPECIAL VINYL edition is out, numbered 150 copies with huge signed A2 poster of the cover art, booklet, and CD version of the album; comes on N EON YELLOW vinyl
|
2022 |
€36.00 |
|
|
TIME ENDS - A Tribute to J.G. Ballard's Tetralogy of Transformation |
do-LP |
not just 'another tribute' to the great British writer, this release focuses in form and content one BALLARDS four early "disaster" novels from the 60's, each artist created about 20 min. of material inspired by one book: DESIDERII MARGINIS, TROUM, MARTIN BLADH (IRM) & KAROLINA URBANIAK, ANEMONE TUBE - standard version lim. 250 copies, neon yellow vinyl, printed inner sleeves with lots of background info and essay by MICHAEL GÖTTER (African Paper, etc.)
|
2022 |
€27.50 |
|
|
Ode to MARCO VERONESI |
CD |
a tribute to MARCO VERONESI, co-founder of ADN, one of the most important labels for the experimental underground in Italy since 1983: excellent line up, with many of theacts that were important for the label: DDAA, RLW, LA STPO, CHRISTINA KUBISCH; BENE GESSERIT, T.A.C., SIGILLUM S, TASADAY, MERZBOW, MOTOR TOTEMIST GUIDE, LA1919, CELLULA ASCOLTO ATTIVO , F. PALADINO, etc.... lim. 300 with full colour poster cover (50 x 70 cm), almost 72 min. playtime
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Bhogavati |
CD |
ambient compilation dedicated to the deep sea discoveries on the mythical NAGA KINGDOM, an imaginative journey to hidden locations deep in the ocea, feat. loooong explorations from SILENTWAVE, HAVDIS and INDO (3 tracks); comes with 4 page booklet
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| VAINIO, MIKA & KOUHEI MATSUNAGA |
split |
LP |
first release in a four record feature on the work of Berlin based artist KOUHEI MATSUNAGA; here sharing one LP with the PAN SONIC half
|
2010 |
€20.00 |
|
| VAINIO, MIKA / PAN SONIC |
M.T.V. 15.05.63-12.04.2017 |
BOOK + CD |
"260-page full-colour book containing photographs from the Vainio family archive, a broad range of artistic contributions (text, photographic and visual remembrances) from Mika's artist friends and collaborators, an updated and exhaustive discography, a variety of Pan(a)sonic ephemera and much more. Also included is an exclusive full-length CD of previously unreleased Pansonic performance recordings." - incredible book, a must for any PANASONIC or VAINIO fan !!!
|
2019 |
€32.00 |
|
| |
25082016235210179 [Live at Berlin Atonal] |
do-LP |
a live recordings of VAINIO's performance at the Berlin Atonal festival in 2016, moving through various passages... from slow droning pulses to fully distorted and feedbacking minimal industrial with incredible sawblade synth sounds.. - "A long-form performance, of ebbing passages, it grows in quasi-orchestral style as mountainous sounds vie for daylight in a thick sound horizon." comes with (full colour) printed inner sleeves feat. photographs of VAINIO's archives
|
2020 |
€25.50 |
|
| VALERA HIP |
Mountain of Fugitives |
do-CD |
something special from a man who lives since 30 years as recluse in the ALTAI mountains and builds his own instruments (pipes, harsps, flutes); he creates soft ambient drones in combination with field recordings from the region and verses / poetry from ancient Chinese and Japanese sources as well as his own.. - "The serenity of nature, the simple tranquility of a secluded lifestyle, the purity of a self-contained existence and the tension of daily physical labor, all here in these sounds.."
|
2020 |
€17.50 |
|
| VAN HOEK, KASPER |
Minerva |
LP |
individual silk-screen covers with different motives & colours, numb. ed. of 300 copies
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
| VANCE ORCHESTRA |
Drek (parts I-VI) |
CD |
lim./numb. 100 / very special cardboard cover w. many full-colour inlays ! / fabric-pressed CD, no CDR ! |
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Vance plays Vance |
CD-R |
lim. 120 copies in handmade and sprayed wood-covers with glitter-effect, and fullcolour silkscreened poster-insert !! LAST COPY !! |
2003 |
€15.00 |
|
| VANTZOU, CHRISTINA |
No. 4 |
LP |
this American musician who lives in Belgium releases already the fourth album for KRANKY=> extremely lush and amorph ensemble improvisations (feat. many guest-musicians such as CLARICE JENSEN on Cello) drifting almost weightless through time and space, performed on piano, harp, vibraphone, voice, strings, marimba, synthesizers, gong, and bells.. "No. 4 feels both endless and ephemeral, immersive and immaterial. It’s a music of horizon lines and half-light, mapped with feeling and foresight"
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| VASILISK |
Whirling Dervishes |
LP |
re-mastered re-issue of the very first VASILISK LP from 1987 (Eskimo Rec. Japan) - a true collectors item, the perfect link between post-industrial, ethno and soft ambience; lim. 150 copies on coloured vinyl, containing one rare bonus-track
|
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Mkwaju |
LP |
re-mastered re-issue of the second VASILISK LP from 1988 (Eskimo Rec. Japan) - a masterpiece of experimental ritual music - lim. 150 copies coloured vinyl, contains one rare bonus-track
|
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Acqua |
LP |
re-mastered re-issue of the third VASILISK LP from 1989 (Musica Maxima Magnetica) - great percussive ethno-ambience, now developed to its full beauty... lim. 150 copies coloured vinyl, contains one so far unreleased bonus-track
|
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
| VAZHES |
Urja |
mCD-R |
3-track EP with truly primitive & archaic epxerimental sounds, made with flutes, percussion, vocal-hums, drones & noise, recorded outdoors (?) in the mythical village of URJA (Perm region), feat. VRESNIT and AKPAN... from ecstasis to contemplation.. lim. 117 copies, handmade cardboard cover with three colour photos
|
2010 |
€8.00 |
|
| VELDMAN, HESSEL |
Ymuiden |
CD |
HESSEL VELDMAN is know to the dutch underground for his weekly radio shows @Concertzender, but lately he became more and more active again as musician, on this album he gives a dark tribute to his hometown IJMUIDEN, the important harbour and industrial place in Noord-Holland, by creathing a dark and hypnotic "audio map" based on field recordings, totally morphed into an eerie parallel world, bleak and ultra minimal, this is true INDUSTRIAL DRONE MUZAK... lim. 200
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| VELEZ, DAVID |
Sonido Descompuesto |
CD |
DAVID VELEZ captures the "psychogeography" of a certain countryside landscape in Columbia, with an interesting mix of hazy slow-drones & more concrete elemental sounds, melting daydreamlike acoustics from natural, human and animal sources... fabric-pressed CD, numbered ed. 200 copies, in the typical artwork-style (beautiful patterns from nature & natural objects) of Daniel Crokaert
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
El Pajaro que Escucha |
CD-R |
deep drones & weird animal sounds - a long one-tracker (60+ min.), based on field recordings made in the Palomino region of Columbia (rainforest & jungle), especially focused on wildlife sounds... "a cultural approximation to the natural" lim. 200, full-colour cover
|
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| VELGENATURLIG |
Opalescent Pust |
CD |
spiritual dark cosmic ambience from Portugal, very fluid and slowly burning in endless reverberations, parfumed with tiny 'concrete' sounds from bells or water... ; this is only the 2nd factory pressed album after the "Humus" re-issue on GTERMA; "the breath opal, the colour of pearl, the purest form of breath. A cleansing process, that of a purifying experience. Purity.".
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| VERGARA, JESUS A. |
R Derive Aplysia |
MC |
another newcomer from the wide world of DRONES, J.A.VERGARA collected found sounds from TV shows and transformed them into something orchestral and distorted, full of resonances, with only short glimpes of the original source material.. (think of: TZESNE, GIULIO ALDINUCCI..) - the long title track on Side A has a remix on Side B by TEGH from Iran. Excellent Tape, amorph and mysterious! C-50, lim. 50 copies, cardboard holder, blue shell tape with white print, looks great !!
|
2022 |
€11.00 |
|
| VERNON & BURNS |
The Tune The Old Cow Died Of |
LP |
- "File under vaudioville, varièté concrete, documentary forgery, unsound art, whorespiel, blunderphonics, (not of this) world music, imaginary soundtreks, unimaginative soundtracks, lower case, lower class, lower quality.." - lim. 350 / two-colour silkscreen cover
LAST COPY
|
2005 |
€15.00 |
|
| VERTONEN |
Blood Shift |
MC |
MC-only release in the new limited Banned Prod tape series (standard jewel-cases & printed full colour covers); filed under: powerful hypnotic / multi-layered sound-drones & loops building complex stuctures, and more dense fluids on Side B; highly recommended release from this long going Chicago-based project ! C-20
|
2011 |
€7.00 |
|
| VIDNA OBMANA |
River of Appearance |
CD |
the 25th Anniversary edition of this classic ambient album (originally released 1996 by PROJEKT, their first V.O. full length album) - ".. With every minute, the music seeps lazily, filling the entire environment with a rich palette of sounds from flutes, ocarina, harmonica and percussion, perfectly harmonizing with loops and electronic structures; pulsating delicately and setting the rhythm of our breathing while relaxing..." - ed. of 450 copies, new artwork
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| VIKTOR, KNUD |
Ambiances / Images |
do-LP |
official re-issues of the only two albums from 1972, now rare collectors items, by this Danish ambient sound artist, who also was a painter & filmmaker (1924-2013), using lots of self recorded nature sources ; "Light became sound. The most fascinating aspect of Knud Viktor’s world is perhaps that there is a universal coalescence of all things: of artistic expressions and natural science, of painting, sculpture and installation. A paintbrush becomes a microphone. Music becomes sound."
|
2017 |
€32.00 |
|
| VISHUDHA KALI |
Unfinished Devastation Narrative |
CD |
Sehr ruhiges, spirituell-meditatives Album des St. Petersburger Projekts mit vielen Harmonika-artigen Sounds, gewidmet der Heimatstadt. Beeindruckende Aufmachung mit vielen Vollfarb-Postkarten...
comes with many full colour postcards - LAST COPY! |
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| VISIONS |
Temples |
CD |
after the awesome 2018 collaboration with PHURPA Frederic Arbour presents this new work named "Temples", seven pieces of haunting and beautiful, dark harmonic drones and ambiences, less "cosmic minimal" as on earlier releases, but with a great intuition for deep floating transcension sounds.. " “Temples” also serves as an hymn to lost civilisations, and a gratitude for what can still be found and discovered from our predecessors..." ed. of 500 copies
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| VIVENZA |
Veriti Plastici |
LP |
third part of the first works of VIVENZA (originally MC from 1983), based on the theory of RUSSOLO's bruitism; comes with text "LE PROGRAMME FUTURISTE DE RETOUR A LA REALITE MATERIELLE"; this luxus LP re-edition (very thick oversized cover) in white or red vinyl, numbered ed. 333 copies
|
2012 |
€22.50 |
|
| |
Veriti Plastici |
CD |
third part of the first works of VIVENZA (originally MC from 1983), based on the theory of RUSSOLO's bruitism; comes with text "LE PROGRAMME FUTURISTE DE RETOUR A LA REALITE MATERIELLE"
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
| VIZ MICHAEL KREMIETZ |
SUIZEN |
CD |
pure & beautiful meditation recordings on the SHAKUHACHI, the Japanese Zen-flute, by the South-German artist and performer VIZ MICHAEL KREMIETZ, recorded during his stay in the monastery of Koyasan and Ekoin temple in the mountains of Japan => main part of the CD consists of his interpretation of the "Honkyoku", a traditional piece of Zen-Buddhism, but there are also own compositions and a long (23:23 min) collage with voice & violin, as a hommage to COIL; comes with full colour booklet
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| VOGEL, MICHEL / PHILIP CORNER / PHOEBE NEVILLE |
Musiques des Ailes / Winged Music |
LP |
listen to the gongs of MICHEL VOGEL, played by him, PHILIP CORNER and PHOEBE NEVILLE, recorded at "Archipel" (l'atelier of Polska), Paris, Oct. 3, 1999; 4 pieces of improsived gong-drone muzak, performed on gongs, bells and sound sculptures, so far unpublished recordings, lim. 300 on black vinyl with full colour cover w. inlay. nice document of improvised contemplation-drones
|
2012 |
€17.00 |
|
| VOICE OF EYE |
Seven directions divergent |
CD |
finally the full-length album after their return ! Another masterpiece of ethereal power-drone music based entirely on acoustic instruments & sources, this time much more song- and vocal oriented with at times amazing results !
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Anthology 2 (1992-1996) |
do-CD |
rare & unreleased tracks from the U.S. dark ethno/drone cult-project, all re-mastered by VOICE OF EYE themselves; you can find here: the famous "Sprocket" 7" for Drone Records (1994), the lost mCD for ND that was never released (1995), rare compilation tracks (some of them came never out), plus a complete, fantastic rehearsal for a live show (1996) and an extract from Tryst 8 (split MC with BIG CITY ORCHESTRA, 1995); comes in a nice 6-panel digipack & full colour artwork by Bonnie McNairn.
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| VOLCANO THE BEAR |
Amidst the Noise and Twigs |
CD |
first 1000 copies are packaged in full colour book bound case with eight page booklet !
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
The Mountains among us |
CD |
edition of 500 copies in full colour book bound case
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Cinnamon and Ginger |
7" |
the bonus 7" alone that came with the mailorder-edition of the viny-version of "Classic Erasmus Fusion" !
Two tracks, full-colour cover
|
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
Yak Folks Y'Are |
CD |
re-issue of VTB's very first mini-album (1999), a journey into surrealistic, yet undefined musical / lyrical fields... + bonus material from a rare lathe-cut 7" / luxurious oversized gatefold cover, lim. 444 copies... "On a whole, the release is filled with a bizarre emotion that leaves a sinking feeling in your stomach." [Brainwashed]
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| VOLLMER, CARSTEN |
Arbeit Nummer 8 : Japanese Only Play Popmusic |
sound-postcard |
oversized sound-postcard which is playable on any turntable ! -=> "Noise will set you free" - bruitist C. VOLLMER with a new piece in the "Arbeit" series, and with a nice mail-art concept: every order will be shipped directly from the heart of the Ruhr-area (Essen) to you, by the artist himself; postage is included!! We will pass your adress to him, and you pay to us..
|
2021 |
€8.00 |
|
| VOMIR |
Musique de l'Indifference |
LP + CD |
last copies of this LP by the radical Harsh Noise Wall (HNW) pioneer and anti-artist from France, lim. 350; "The individual no longer has any alternative but to completely reject contemporary life as promoted and preached. The only free behaviour that remains resides in noise, withdrawal and a refusal to capitulate to manipulation, socialisation and entertainment" [Vomir]
|
2012 |
€18.00 |
|
| VON EULER-DONNERSPERG / WATARU KASAHARA / C. MEHRL BENNETT / MAJA S. RATKJE / POLIZEI-DIENSTHUND HJULER |
ENID BLYTON - Fünf Freunde erzählen Kindergeschichten |
LP |
ACHTUNG: SCHINKENFLUXUS! You look for daring concepts in art = ? = each of the artists on this release appears (conceptually) as a character of ENID BLYTONs "Famous Five", presenting a children's story as a collage... this has a rare live track by MAJA S. RATKJKE, and two tracks by DITTERICH on speed, much sounds fragmented and morphed here in some way... a weird record! lim. 100 with laminated, handmade full colour cover
|
2018 |
€23.00 |
|
| VON EULER-DONNERSPERG, DITTERICH / FELIX KUBIN |
NNOI#01 |
LP |
first release in a new series connected to our yearly favourite "NNOI" festival in Zernikow, Germany => various experimental electronic collages from DITTERICH:::; the soundtrack to RENE CLAIR's silent film "Entr'acte" by FELIX KUBIN, two loops with wildlife recordings from the festival surroundings, and a live-extract collage from both concerts / lectures.. comes w. stunning gatefold cover, ed. of 300 copies
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| VON HAUSSWOLFF, C.M. & CHANDRA SHUKLA |
Travelogue [Bali] |
CD |
after the highly successful "Travelogue [Nepal]" audio diary project this is the second collab by VON HAUSSWOLFF with American musician and label-maker CHANDRA SHUKLA => field recordings from diverse places in Bali (beaches, temples, market places, forests) were used to construct 5 long pieces; comes in DVD sized digipack; - "It swallows you, if you let it, and I am more than happy to. There is so much to see here, if you close your eyes..."
|
2023 |
€17.50 |
|
| VON HAUSSWOLFF, C.M. (CARL MICHAEL) |
Cut Down and Re-Order |
10inch |
collector's item - lim. 100 w. gatefold cover, feat. two pieces of mysterious hum tones and fizzing drones, based on field recordings from the Swedenborg Chapel in Cambridge, USA, plus other unusual 'esoteric' sources as it's so typical for VON HAUSSWOLFF; the piece on Side B is dedicated to Z. KARKOWSKI
|
2020 |
€26.00 |
|
| VOX POPULI! |
La Cathedrale Morte |
LP |
re-issue of the early obscure cassette from 1985 (Cause & Effect) by the French cult-band (that operated somewhere between experimental folk/drone/ethno and electronic post industrial), which has never seen a new edition so far !!! => pretty incredible collages derived from found sounds and all sorts of instruments, acoustic and electronic sources... silkscreened cover with full colour printed innersleeve, lim. 300 BLACK vinyl
|
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| VROMENNE |
Vromenne II |
CD-R |
full-colour cardboard inserts. one-tracker, 42 min |
2005 |
€6.00 |
|
| W>A>S>P>S / NACHT UND NEBEL |
split |
7inch |
lovely abrasive drones and 'harsh ambience' in the way of SMALL CRUEL PARTY or CRAWL UNIT based on Cello sounds and other sources; from these two U.K. based projects (one is connected with SCKE//)
|
2013 |
€7.00 |
|
| WADA, YOSHI |
Singing in Unison |
3 x LP |
improvised male singing for three vocalists, influenced by ZEN monk chants & PANDIT PRAN NATH, in order to create microtonal pitches/differences as a form of communication without words; this is the COMPLETE recording (2 1/2 hours), recorded March 14 + 15, 1978 & previously unreleased !!!
|
2012 |
€45.00 |
|
| WAKHEVITCH, IGOR |
Hathor |
LP |
re-issue of WAKHEVITCHs 3rd full LP from 1973, subtitled LITURGIE Du SOUFFLE POUR LA RESURRECTION DES MORTS, his most occult work full of ritualistic & dark vocal parts, sinister & droning... original cover replica, gatefold, incl. insert
|
2013 |
€23.00 |
|
|
Nagual |
LP |
'a bewitched musical journey'.. re-issue of WAKHEVITCHs 5thLP from 1977, the second collaboration with American dancer/choreograph CAROLYN CARLSON, inspired by CARLOS CASTANEDA's writings, more calm & relaxed as before, still stepping into otherworldly places => 12 shorter tracks & fragments with a wide range of always varying sounds & ideas; acoustic instruments, synths & electronics, field recordings & found sounds...like being in a haunted fairyland...
|
2013 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Let's Start |
LP |
re-issue of WAKHEVITCHs 6th and last LP from 1979 => his most meditative record, created for the 'Batsheva Dance Company' in Israel => a multi-layered synth journey with the very long title-track, going through numerous stages of sounds & meaning, from lyrical moments to more ambient 'cosmic' atmospheres, adding some odd vocal chants & hypnotic loops... masterful experimental keyboard music
|
2013 |
€23.00 |
|
| WALDTEUFEL |
Sanguis |
CD |
first pressing 900 copies, comes in full colour book bound gatefold CD case, incl. 8 page lyric booklet
|
2007 |
€16.00 |
|
| WARDROBE MEMORIES |
The Mean |
MC |
"a cyber soundtrack, written in the year 3046" - the revived German project created a very filmic, strangely futuristic piece with narrative elements, almost like an experimental ear-play, gloomy & melancholic; 9th tape on the great German tape label, always using coloured MC bodies & oversized art-covers (21x21cm) with additional object inside! Lim. 48 copies only
|
2013 |
€8.00 |
|
|
Early Years |
2 x MC |
do-MC re-issue of the first two CDR albums by WARDROBE MEMORIES from 1999, which appeared on the DIY label SCHNEETREIBEN in very limited editions => dreamy drone ambient with a strong 'cosmic" touch & experimental edge, travelling far away from earth...this is the 13th tape on the great German tape label, always using coloured MC bodies & oversized art-covers (21x21cm), comes with button & postcard
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Life after Suicide |
LP |
first ever LP for this ambitious (always conceptually working) German ambient project, who created with "Life after Suicide" a mournful cinematic soundtrack => subtle piano & synth figures with voice samples expressing despair and hopelessness, very intimate and emotional... "a virtual post-life-construction in ghosty environments"; lim. 200 with half of the edition pressed on coloured vinyl
|
2015 |
€18.00 |
|
| WASM [= JOS SMOLDERS AND FRANS DE WAARD] |
Een |
CD |
FRANS DE WAARD and JOS SMOLDERS have united for another musical project - written "WaSm" - (after the legendy THU20, etc.), following a "flexible score" for each of the five compositions: various electronic sound forms that shift and morph into different shapes, more like audio sculptures, with a good portion of analogue ingredients coming from cassettes, walkman and radio sources... very skillful and fresh!! edition of 300 copies
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| WATKINS, CLINTON |
Raaswater |
CD |
field recordings from South Africa (Mmabolela reserve area) served as basis for "Raaswater", an incredible rich dark atmospheric composition, breathing and organic, intimate and complex sounding...- "I spent countless hours exploring the dynamic environments of the Mmabolela reserve by walking, resting, listening, interacting, experiencing and recording a plethora of environments, objects, phemonema, structures, fauna and phyla unique to the are" - lim. 170 copies
|
2021 |
€14.00 |
|
| WATKISS, THOMAS |
Ancestor |
7 |
full-colour cover, inner-sleeve & postcard, lim. 500
|
2007 |
€7.50 |
|
| WATSON, CHRIS |
Locations, Processed |
LP |
New York City field recordings by CHRIS WATSON processed and filtered through the MOOG Sound Labs System 55 (there's no synth tone to be heard on this LP!) - "an immersive journey through reverberant halls and clanging streets, punctuated by snatches of quotidian conversation and startling intrusions.... Locations, Processed manages the impossible: Amid a deluge of energy, Watson records the empty space that surrounds the people who fill it." [Pitchfork]
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| WE LIKE WE & JACOB KIRKEGAARD |
Time is Local |
LP |
extremely ethereal and amorph "ghost drone" and neo classic ensemble music on this collaboration, by the Danish all-female (4 members) group WE LIKE WE (performing on violin, cello, percussion and voice) and sound artist JACOB KIRKEGAARD, based on a 12 hour live sound installation at the Thorvaldson Museum in Copenhagen, where they wandered through halls and rooms of the museum the whole day.. a must for lovers of minimal & haunting drone muzak! Lim. 500, laser cutted art cover
|
2019 |
€29.00 |
|
| WELLINK, MARS (VANCE ORCHESTRA / AD(VANCE)D |
TERATA - Treasures of fresh information |
ART-BOOK + 7inch |
collector's item, a must for any VANCE ORCHESTRA / (ad(VANCE(d) fan => MARS WELLINK is not only a gifted musician, he's also a professional silk screen printer, this art book (18 x 18 cm) collects beautiful multi-coloured, extremely multi-layered artworks on special art papers (Reviva, Kraftliner), in the typical VANCE ORCHESTRA-style, all handprinted and it also comes wtih a recycled, playable LOOPS 7"; 58 pages, only numbered 50 copies were made, stampled and with OBI banderole
|
2023 |
€50.00 |
|
| WESTERN, CREED, SPYBEY |
W ands |
CD |
a posthumous collab album with basic material coming from PHIL WESTERN (DOWNLOAD, BEEHATCH, etc) who passed away in 2019, and JESSE CREED; the mainly vintage analogue electronic sources were later finalized by MARK SBYBEY, adding his typical portion of "fake ethno" ambience.. a very "deep" ambient, warm and pulsative album..
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| WETTERLÄUTEN (WETTERLAEUTEN) |
same |
LP |
excellent debut LP for this South German trio, creating evocative and visionary dronescapes with great suction and width, using electro-Cinese Guqin zither, guitars, electronics, synths, organs, gongs... "from dreamy sunset drones to heavy pre-storm electricity to apocalyptic orchestral deluge"; lim. 272 copies, comes with lovely full colour fold out sleeve and 6 full colour postcards showing landscapes, geological forms, plants and animals in a surrealistic way
|
2014 |
€7.50 |
|
| WHETHAM, SIMON |
Velvet |
mCD-R |
24min piece from this very active British soundartist often working with processed field recordings - here he re-workes recordings made in South Wales for a subtle sound-journey that developes from completely amorph hiss-drones to a revelation of more and more concrete details..
|
2011 |
€5.00 |
|
|
Mall Muzak |
CD |
seventh release in this strong series by MYSTERY SEA, dealing with "spirits of specific places"; MALL MUZAK is a drone-work for a "half-derelict" shopping-centre in Bristol, using original sounds from this now rather desolated place of consumerism; lim. 200, numbered, full-colour cover
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Un Ano Tranquilo |
CD-R |
sound diaries based on field recordings WHETHAM made on a one year "round the world" tour, coming from a wide array of sound sources... all kinds of nature, object & animal sounds, various music from different cultures & actions of people.. . all this truly multi-cultural sounds zipping subliminally into your mind like a long daydream.. very nice ! 73 min. playtime lim. 200
|
2013 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Never so Alone |
CD |
during an extended stay in Lisbon, Portugal, the British artist captured sounds from the city with various (contact) microphones and hydrophones, to especially record vibrating and droning sources that build the basis for the 7 compositions here => a very different kind of city portrait, dense and ghostly drones are mixed with "small sounds", resonances, hisses... " Very delicate, very refined indeed. Maybe the best thing I heard from him so far." [FdW /Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| WHISPER ROOM |
Lunokhod |
CD |
high-class NEO Krautrock with drone and psych influences you could call this, the third CD (after two cassettes in 2017) by this guitar-bass-drum (& laptop) trio from Canada created one long floating piece (almost one hour long) in seven parts, which ebbs and flows through the ether like an ocean but never looses the percussive grounding...- highly recommended for Space Rock lovers and other cosmic babies; - lim. 220 copies
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| WHOTE (=THOMAS WATKISS) |
Align |
LP |
newest incarnation / project by THOMAS WATKISS from NYC who just toured through Europe with AMBER ASYLUM in Nov. 2010; showing more obviously his "metal" roots this is industrialized dark drone doom in the way of NADJA, SUNN O)), THIS QUIET ARMY, etc.. lim. 250 in two different vinyl-colours; incl. digital download code
|
2010 |
€18.50 |
|
| WICKED MESSENGER |
Officium Nocturnum |
do-CD |
FOURTH album by the German project with dark monolithic otherworldy dronescapes, visionary & dense
|
2010 |
€18.00 |
|
| WIEMAN |
Cryptonesia |
LP |
using 'exotic' Indonesian tape sources from the 80's, the re-arranged (&re-named) project of FRANS DE WAARD (BEEQUEEN, TOBACCONISTS, etc.) and ROEL MEELKOP creates a pretty unusual sound, the meeting of Asian ethno / gamelan sounds with experimental Pop, technoid rhythms and drones... " the unexpected meltpop child of dangdut and krautrock, filtered through electronica and post - exotica lenses." lim. 250
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| WIESE, JOHN |
Circle Snare |
LP |
powerful release by this noise-artist from L.A., known from his touring with SUNN O))) and WOLF EYES; lim. 500
|
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
| WIESE, KLAUS |
Perfume |
CD |
one of the last albums of the ex POPOL VUH member who died in 2009, 12 tracks of synth-based, highly meditative ethno-ambience using subtle instrumental sources... back in stock!
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| WIESE, NICOLAS |
Unrelated |
LP |
second solo-LP for this German artist under his real name (once known as [-HYPH-] ) who works in the field of gallery sound-art, taking samples from various sound sources to treat them "live" with his technique of 'modulated feedbacks' => challenging collages in various shapes, from fast changing, overloaded craziness to abstract drone-scaping, these are highly sophisticated compositions full of microscopic details... comes on clear vinyl, lim. 200 copies
|
2018 |
€22.50 |
|
| WILLIAMS, EMMETT |
Poems 1950-2003 |
pic-LP |
Colourful picture – disc with 31 obscure / funny / “visual” / concrete / sound-poetic poems by this FLUXUS-artist ! Comes with extensive liner-notes & explanations on the backcover.
|
2004 |
€18.00 |
|
| WINDEREN, JANA |
The Blue Beyond |
LP |
two new sound installations in order to raise awareness for the environmental issues of our society: "Du Petit Risoud aux Profondeurs du Lac de Joux", and "The Art of Listening: Under Water" - containing fascinatinng Ocean and Underwater recordings, we had to think of LLYN Y CWN, CEDRIC PEYRONNET / TOY BIZARRE or YANNICK DAUBY's works,or the great UNFATHOMLESS and GRUENREKORDER labels... - comes w. gatefold cover and printed inlay
|
2023 |
€26.50 |
|
| WISHART, TREVOR |
Fabulous Paris. A Virtual Oratorio |
CD |
hard to find self-released CD of the complete version (3 movements) of this newer WISHART work dealing with "our collective and individual experience of the mass industrial society"; incl booklet
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Encounters in the Republic of Heaven |
BOOK + CD |
"... all the colours of speech"... new amazing work completed Sept. 2011, an exploration of the music inherent in everyday speech, collected from all kinds of oral sound sources (fishermen, farmers, city-dwellers, etc.), highly processed vocal material between musique concrete & experimental earplay; comes with lovely 64p book
|
2011 |
€24.00 |
|
| |
The Garden of Earthly Delights |
CD + booklet |
"Trevor's new work, inspired by the BOSCH painting of the same name. He describes this as a comic opera. It is extremely dense using the voices of the characters as starting points for complex digital manipulation. As with his two previous releases, the work is intended to be performed with an 8 - channel sound diffusion system. This is a stereo mixdown of the 8 channels." - comes with booklet, a 'tour guide through the labyrinth', with no guarantee to find the exit ;)
|
2020 |
€23.50 |
|
| WOLFARTH, CHRISTIAN |
Acoustic Solo Percussion - Vol. 1 |
7inch |
two compositions for solo percussion by this Swiss musician, with unusual drum tunes => droning overtunes / resonances and trance-inducing drum rolls; first in a series of four 7"es, comes on red vinyl
|
2009 |
€7.50 |
|
| WOMEN IN TRAGEDY |
The Shame |
CD-R |
special green granular paper cover, coloured CDRs, lim. 81 copies
|
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
| WOOD, CYE & LISA GERRARD |
The Trail of Genghis Khan |
CD |
CYE WOOD (Australian violinist and multi-instrumentalist) and LISA GERRARD (voice and cimbalon) created this album from material recorded for the Australian documentary series "The Trail of Genghis Khan", showing a journey on horseback from Mongolia to Hungary; 10 tracks feat. 'Traditional Music' students from Kazakhstan on Dombra, this all sounds very acoustic and pure and is drenched in melancholy and yearning... highly recommended!
|
2017 |
€14.00 |
|
| WYATT, OLIVIA |
Staring into the Sun |
DVD / CD / BOOK |
wonderful film from 2009 (60 min.) presenting Ethopian tribal music: OLIVIA WYATT recorded & filmed various tribes & people with their most original pieces (usually based on chants & rhythms) often used for ceremonies, using very different self-made instruments like lyres, bowed lute, various flutes, animal horn, rattles, gongs, hand drums => an amazing range of different music & approaches; comes with 133 pages book with many colour shots from the film, lim. 1000 copies. BACK IN STOCK!
|
2011 |
€28.00 |
|
| WYNESS, JAMES |
Stultifera Navis |
CD |
Scottish field recording artist & builder of self made instruments & objects with music that is rather 'pure atmosphere', that floats by completely unconsciously, somehow derived from field recordings.. lim. 200 full-colour cardboard sleeve with inlay
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| WYRM |
Divination Bones (2nd extended ed.) |
7 |
second edition with revised & complete versions of both tracks previously released as a picture-7"; silver coloured vinyl & new full cover design, ed. of 400 (of which only 150 are for sale as single copies); FREE TO ALL (excl. postage) WHO ALREADY HAVE THE PICTURE DISC / FIRST EDITION
|
2011 |
€6.00 |
|
| WÄLDCHENGARTEN |
Beautyboxer |
mCD-R |
warehous-found! Last copies of this collector's item (lim. 50 copies only!) from the Danish Drone Records artist (DR-81) => a mCD (20+ min.) with a 5" squared METAL cover and four inlay cards telling a strange 'short story'=> "Five excellent pieces of experimental noises, effects and sound arrangments. Brilliant music consists of distorted electronics, hypnotic sounds and drowning grooves."
|
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| X-NAVI:ET |
Brain Overloaded |
CD |
the solo project of RAFAL IWANSKI from HATI - first full album, dedicated to WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS - very versatile ambient noise tracks, using all kinds of analog & digital sources, field recordings and acoustic objects, very different from HATI ! Lim. 444 copies / special oversized cover
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| XEREX |
Xerex meets Dracula |
CD-R |
anonymous German project with first release, 14 tracks of miniimal, often organlike, fluffy drones... *They\'re conjoined twins who also happened to have been grown in a petri dish as elderly mathematicians in 1972. \"XEREX Meets Dracula\" is their first \"invisible story\" in the spirit of \"choose your own adventure\"-style novels..* - professionally duplicated and printed CD + cover, sealed jewel-case
|
2022 |
€10.50 |
|
| XIPHOID DEMENTIA |
Secular Hymns |
CD |
second full length (CD) album of this versatile post-industrial project, combining different styles & sources as ambient-drone, noise & field recordings... to discover !
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| Y-TON-G |
Aus dem S(t)ein Vol. 2 (Von der Drei in der Vier) |
CD-R |
hand-stonecoloured cases |
2003 |
€8.00 |
|
| YELLOW SWANS |
Drowner |
do-LP |
first proper re-issue of rare cassette from 2007 ==>- "..one of the legendary duo’s fiercest deployments of scorched earth noise-gaze." [Boomkat] - "If Deterioration is our most kosmiche, I would say that Drowner is our most gonzo psych rock record.." [Pete Swanson]; 500 copies made, remastered by RASHAD BECKER
|
2021 |
€32.50 |
|
| YEN POX |
Universal Emptiness |
10inch |
OUT NOW May 2011 !! A new 10" vinyl on our sub-label series SUBSTANTIA INNOMINATA by the great dark / cosmic / black hole ambience project from the US!
Lim. 500, over 30 min. playtime, stunning artwork by EYELYFT feat. gloss-spots
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Between the Horizon and the Abyss |
CD |
the glorious new opus by this outstanding transcendental / cosmic dark ambient / ritual duo from the USA, many years in the making => trance inducing sinister drones of a higher beauty, with enough variation between the tracks and great spatial quality... music for your deepest mind! .... "with the full force of a black hole, slowing down time and stretching it infinitely over an unimaginably monstrous mass, ripping metallic atoms apart with the pulsing black heart of the cosmos" [Heathen Harvest]
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Between the Horizon and the Abyss |
do-LP |
the glorious opus by this outstanding transcendental / cosmic dark ambient / ritual duo from the USA, many years in the making => trance inducing sinister drones of a higher beauty, with enough variation between the tracks and great spatial quality... music for your deepest mind! .... VINYL version now available - lim. 500 copies w. gatefold sleeve
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
| ÜL |
III |
CD-R |
project from Argentina with ALAN COURTIS (ex REYNOLS), FERNANDO PERALES & CHARLY ZARAGOZA. Lim. 250 professional full colour cover
|
2008 |
€8.00 |
|
| Z'EV |
Headphone Musics 1 to 6 |
CD |
source material taken from the collection of cassette tapes Z'EV has piled in 30 years, creating completely analogue |
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Forwaard |
CD |
using sound-sources from FRANS DE WAARD (BEEQUEEN etc) / 15 x 15 cm cover , lim. 300
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
A Handful of Elements |
CD |
very droney collection of works (unreleased material from his archives), inspired by the 'five elements".. "the other side of ambient, through the door between your eyes" [label info]
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Heart Beat Ear Drum |
DVD |
"Music as a form of incantation" - most impressive film by ELLEN ZWEIG about the great 'shamanic' musician, sound poet, and performance artist who died in 2017, dedicating his whole life to art and the love relationship to his "industrial objects": archival concert footage starting in the 70's,interviews, etc. show his evolvement through the years, from his wild beginnings over sound poetry to the trance-inducing drones of the later period, comes with full-colour inlay and postcard, 75 min.
|
2020 |
€17.50 |
|
| Z'EV & JULIEN OTTAVI |
Crash & Cross |
CD |
unpublished collaboration recordings created in Nantes, France (in 2014 when Z'EV performed and stayed there), partly live, partly studio, undergoing a long mixing process after...- the combination of typical ZEV with JULIEN OTTAVI's noise approach leads to interesting results and non-ordinary, abstract (non)-structures... - 7 tracks, 60 min. playtime, very nice 6 panel digipack with 8 page full colour photo booklet , 200 copies ohly
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| ZAFFIRI, ENORE |
Riverberazioni Sonore |
7inch + magazine |
obscure 7" release by this pioneering composer from Turin (Italy), who established an Electronic Studio already in 1964; contains "Riverberazioni Sonore N. 31" (a newer, dense electronic piece from 1998 that spreads over both sides), and a live extract from 1973; comes with 50 page "design / art / music" magazine MIELE #8 (full colour) including a ZAFFIRI interview and other articles ("Music = Math"), all on Italian language; very limited, last copies!
|
2005 |
€18.00 |
|
| ZAHGURIM |
Moral Rearmament - Special Edition |
CD |
re-issue of great 80's UK industrial album (1985, Atonal Records) from this band arising around the circles of the TEMPLE OF PSYCHIC YOUTH (TOPY); technically supported by BOURBONESE QUALK, they created a rousing dark rhythmic industrial sound with pulsing bass & agitating vocals... this new CD edition contains 3 (new?) studio bonus tracks, plus 3 live tracks recorded in Budapest Feb. 1986
|
2014 |
€14.50 |
|
| ZANESI, CHRISTIAN |
Grand Bruit |
mCD |
back in stock one of the greatest releases in the Metamkine "Cinema pour l'oreille" mini CD series, this subtle piece of atmospheric musique concrete seems to be compounded from mutated natural, human and electronic sounds, forming a mysterious and complex entity that evolves in many directions through time, always flickering, whirring, swirling around.... phantastic ! special offer now!!
mcd full-colour cardboard cover |
1994 |
€3.50 |
|
| ZANNI, ADRIANO & ENRICO CONIGLIO |
A Corte |
CD + BOOK |
a masterpiece of suggestive dronescapes, based on a photographic exploration of "Corte di Cadore" in the Italian mountains, combining field- and object recordings of architectural spaces, nature, etc. with electronics... the result in interaction with the beautiufl 24 page book (full colour, oversized) is truly mesmerizing! *...explores folds of the soul of a place, overstepping realilty to become a dream. A total immersion in an "other" dimension amongst woods, etc.." - lim. 200
|
2022 |
€18.00 |
|
| ZARDO, GINO & JANEK SCHAEFER |
Walking East |
maxi-CD |
digipack w. 24p. fullcolour booklet w. photos from GINO ZARDO |
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
| ZEITKRATZER |
(Old School) John Cage |
CD |
three CAGE pieces performed by ZEITKRATZER: "Four" (1992), "Five" (1988), "Hymnkus" (1986), rec. in 2006
|
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
(Old School) KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN |
CD |
Fourth in the "old school"-series, working on five pieces from STOCKHAUSENs "Aus den sieben Tagen" - cycle, which is a precisely organized text composition without a single given note
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| ZEITKRATZER + SHE SHE POP |
The Ocean is closed |
7inch |
six members of the ZEITKRATZER ensemble in genre crossing collaboration with the performance group SHE SHE POP, a 45 rpm 7" with two obscure a-cappela / choir pieces of unknown origin, "Claudio", and "Grünberg", released for their 2 1/2 hour piece and theatre tour in autumn 2017 with same name... ; "Outside eyes and ears are interested in different things, ask the right wrong questions, misunderstand the agreements and breach basic laws."
|
2017 |
€5.00 |
|
| ZELIENOPLE |
His/Hers |
CD |
CD-version of this fine album by Chicago's post-rock/psych-droners, taking you "on a universal journey into the subsconscious"
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| ZOS KIA |
23 |
3 x LP |
collection of 23 tracks (over 2 hours) from the two vinyl releases (1984/1985), compilation / live material plus rare and unreleased stuff (for example: like "SLEAZY SAID") from JOHN GOSLINGs archive, some tracks feat. JOHN BALANCE and PETER CHRISTOPHERSON, other guests were STEFAN JAWORCYZN (early SKULLFLOWER) or FRITZ CATLIN (23 SKIDOO); these are the complete recordings of this early British Industrial project, strongly connected to the very early COIL; vinyl version triple gatefold 450 copies
|
2018 |
€46.00 |
|
| ZOVIET FRANCE |
Tables are Turning |
do-LP |
soundtrack to 'Designer Body', a curious dance-theatre work by 'ballatLORENT' that toured in England 2008/2009, exploring the relationship between humans and their clothing; cover consists of a deluxe dual-layer green satin bag with fold-over flap with elements sewn by hand; a phantastic release! lim. 400, LAST COPY!!
|
2013 |
€65.00 |
|
| |
The Tables are Turning |
do-LP |
re-issue of the album from 2013, now with additional, unreleased fourth side (3 tracks) and coming in a standard cover: "The Tables are Turning" is a soundtrack to 'Designer Body', a dance-theatre work by 'ballatLORENT' that toured in England 2008/2009, exploring the relationship between humans and their clothing... (this do-LP is also part of the Chasse 3 box)
|
2022 |
€31.50 |
|
| [AD]VANCE[D] |
Flushing the Veins |
DVD |
the second release for the "post"-VANCE ORCHESTRA project is a DVD with four films & new music, combining colourful vivid & floating shapes with field recordings and electronic sounds & drones... lovely stuff, contemplative & little bit bizarrre as always...
Comes in nicely designed handmade DVD-box, with colour-booklet, lim. 300
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
24 |
10inch |
the Dutch master of loopy trance-inducing collages (ex VANCE ORCHESTRA) has collected field recordings from a full day of his existence and processed them to form an atmospheric travelogue. The aural world seen from a subsconscious perspective. Great cover-collage by ROBERT SCHALINSKI (COLUMN ONE) and TOM PLATT. 500 copies pressed in "flamed solid white & black" colour. OUT NOW |
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| 1000SCHOEN |
Moune |
CD |
"MOUNE is a very old word for MOON, comes out of a old language that was spoken in Germany. But it’s not german, it’s friesisch. Anyway, the moon theme is one of favourite topics in mystic circles around dark ambient genre. For Helge Siehl, who is the driving force of 1000schoen since the time he split his way with the other two former Maeror Tri members, it’s definitely one of the most important subject - in his paintings, photos and music. This album, presenting the program of his first ever russian tour in December 2010 (with Troum and Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim), shows more ambient side of 1000schoen, leaving rhythmic path aside in favor of menacing sounds of highly personal moon rising visions. Moreover, it’s actually debut CD of this prominent german artist, who previously released his music mostly on limited/private edition CDRs. Featuring 3 tracks, with total running time of 45 minutes.
1000schoen is a trained artist, certified art therapist and surround sound acoustician. A native of Fries country, he is currently living in Bremen, where he participated in various art projects. As soundartist, he worked since 1994 in Turin (I), Amsterdam (NL), Zurich (CH), Ghent (B), Never (F), Nuremberg, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne, to name a few. Since 1995, he also created many pictorial and graphic works. For instance, he invented the famous Maeror Tri "wheel" logo, and designed some of their album covers, as well as others (Oophoi "Potala" etc)." [label info]
"The symbol of 1000schoen reflects the celestial bodies of Sun and Moon in inseparable symbiosis, which we can see (at least) in all that we can imagine. The world of 1000schoen art and experience moves in this continuum as well." - Helge Siehl
www.nitkie.ru
"Troum came from Maeror Tri. A trio reduced to a duo, so what happened to the third person? Helge Siehl started his own project, 1000schoen, and has had a few releases as such. This might very well be his first real CD release. Its not easy to review this and not to think of Maeror Tri or Troum, simply because there is a similarity between all three. Now if Siehl would have picked up the acoustic guitar and sang songs, it would have been easy: it would be very different. But in the three pieces, two long one short, Siehl continues to explore his own version of his own legacy. He does that in a slightly different way than Troum. Whereas Troum offers a very dense sound of atmospheric sound, layering many sounds together, to put the icing on the cake, it seems to me that Siehl likes a less crowded palette of sounds, stripping and reducing until he is left with a handful of sounds to work. In the final short track it seems that he is using voice only and for me it broke with the natural flow of the two longer pieces. In those he chooses to work with guitars and synthesizers, along with a bit of sound effects, but throughout in a more minimal field. The opening piece 'Moune Rising' moves along those bass lines, field recordings and finds itself eventually taken over by some more synthetic sounds, whereas 'Moune' is more a piece of gentle processed guitar sounds and rusty field recordings of large, empty factories. Not entirely surprising in the world of drone music, but then perhaps so isn't Troum either, but its quite exciting to hear this album and if Maeror Tri and Troum are close to your heart, then you'd should be lending 1000schoen an ear too. Equally good, I'd say." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| 15 DEGREES BELOW ZERO |
Under a Morphine Sky |
CD |
15 DEGREES BELOW ZERO is a trio from the US, working somewhere between experimental ambience and noise, using all kinds of sources from concrete instrumental sources (percussions, guitars) to more unrecognizable stuff; 7 tracks that reveal quite a variety of approaches & styles, quite strange & idiosyncratic & worth to check out!
"15 Degrees Below Zero brings you the companion to 'Morhine Dawn' (2004 Crunch Pod Media), a further journey into the experimental ambience of 15 degrees below zero, who were formerly known as "Imperial Flower Unit". Mastered By Tomas Garrison At Misanthrope studios. "15 Degrees Below Zero's sound ranges from subdued, drifting ambience, featuring skewed, conventional instrumentation and tatters of rhythm, to more insistent, grittier electronic flourishes." [label info]
label: www.forceofnature.cc
|
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
|
Between Checks and Artillery. Between Work and Image |
10inch |
Exzellente 2-track 10" dieses US-Trios, die sich hier weniger "industriell-elektronisch" als eher minimal Gitarren-dronig mit Hang zum Monumentalen zeigen.... anschwellende Gitarren-Anschläge, tiefe Drones, Rausch-Effekte, allmächtige Crescendi, erhabene Weiten
& wuchtige Pulses auf Seite auf Seite B..
"A trio from San Francisco composed of Daniel Blomquist, Mark Wilson and Michael Addison Mersereau, 15 DEGREES BELOW ZERO, with previous releases in CD or CDR format on the FORCE OF NATURE and CRUNCH POD labels, brings us their first production in vinyl format. It is comprised of 2 exclusive tracks, on 10’’ vinyl, released on the Montreal based label .ANGLE.REC., still fond of the vinyl disc. 2 tracks which suggest an even more brilliant and exploded future for this exploratory vehicle born on the ashes of the famous IMPERIAL FLORAL ASSAULT UNIT project. The trio’s most recent CD, ‘’Under A Morphine Sky’’, offered a well-balanced perspective between improvisation and composition, a sound alchemy that is realized without any pretension under a purple and…of course… morphined sky. Power-Electronics in symbiosis with Dark-ambient in symbiosis with Guitar-Noise in symbiosis with various layered and shifting acoustic and electronic elements …The result and the overall feel were stunning. This 10incher is the log ical follow-up to the madness. 2 face(t)s, 2 slices of life. A side, ‘’KRONOS’’, proposes us a guitar-based canvas with multiples effects and spacious microworlds, with an accelerating insanity and intensity, an 8-9 minute segment which flies like the wind. It can also be considered as an extrapolation on the last minutes of ‘’THE RETURNING’’, found on B Side; ‘’THE RETURNING’’ begins with an epic lo-fi martial/neoclassical/doom segment but rather soon, haunting post-rock/shoegaze guitar-based structures come to occupy the main stage, and the power electronics segment also turns up very quickly following that, the whole being accomplished with a constant mastery and concern for texture. It is chaotic, foggy buy damned melodic and moving …and it does not stop gaining in intensity. Towards the final segment, we have samples and then a melodic guitar-based motif with a healthy dose of echo, which reverberates while consuming itself, till the end … 15DBZ has crazy surprises in store for us. Discover why, now. Many ambiences and textures on this 10’’ remind us of the reasons why we got interested, in the first place, in various ‘’nocturnal’’ and/or ‘’subterranean’’ musical universes. The beauty of it all is that here, everything is presented in condensed fashion. 2 tracks which fly too fast despite their relative length. Another welcome add to the .ANGLE.REC. vinyl series." [label info]
www.angle-rec.net
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Morphine Dawn |
maxi-CD |
"Four track EP from this highly talented dark ambient and cinematic isolationist three piece outfit. "Morphine Dawn" is just a piece of what the companion album (label to be determined still) "Under A Morphine Sky" has to offer. "Morphine Dawn" was mastered by Thomas Garrison of Misanthrope Studio and features artwork from Ben Didier. First 50 copies come with a bonus CDR featuring the track "Leisure Day Satellite"." [label notes]
www.crunchpod.com
|
2004 |
€7.00 |
|
| |
Open Doors |
CD |
15 Degrees Below Zero is Mark Wilson, Daniel Blomquist, &Michael Addison Mersereau. The first release by this project was in 2000, so 21 years later we get to see how the project has progressed. Despite this album being started over 10 years ago it fully expresses a great maturity and beautiful diversity of styles. This is a truly epic album and I'm proud to present it to the world along with the members of the project.
Mastered by Thomas Dimuzio for full effect as well.
https://oxidation.bandcamp.com/album/open-doors
"For those unfamiliar with this project, 15 Degrees Below Zero is the work of Daniel Blomquist, Michael Addison Mersereau, and Mark Wilson (who also performs under the name Conure). This project began after the demise of Imperial Floral Assault Unit, and the structured improvisations that they have become known for would continue for the next 20 years. This album has been 10 years in the making. To give you a sense of how long it has been, a live version of "Horizon, Skyline" originally appeared on the Conure/15DBZ split cassette that was released on Danvers State Recordings in 2012. Still, this album still holds up as if it were recorded yesterday.
I have often enjoyed 15 Degrees Below Zero’s music because of its cinematic qualities. In previous reviews I've compared it to In The Nursery’s Optical Music series. One of the things that is consistent in 15 Degrees Below Zero is, ironically, their inconsistency. One album kind of reminded me of The Durutti Column with a little bit more of an edge to it. Others have a cinematic quality that sounds like it’s straight out of a soundtrack (they have often referred to their music as “cinematic isolationism”). This one is a slight departure in that the soundtrack would be for a very unhappy post-apocalyptic film where there is no happy ending. If you want a microcosm of this album, you can look no further than the first track Horizon, Skyline. This track begins with lush drone combined with a beautiful harmony. However, just beneath the surface is a wall of static that continually threatens to overrun the track. Toward the end we’ve achieved a kind of uneasy equilibrium with equal parts rumbling static and drone.
15 Degrees Below Zero enjoys messing with the listener and giving us what we don't expect. Just when you think they are moving back into beautiful soundscape territory, we find ourselves being slowly dragged back into a sea of squalling feedback and static. Sometimes the static comes completely to the forefront, as in “The Dead Sea.” In this track, we have high pitched squeal and harsh noise that would be right at home on any noise album. This is unsurprising, as I saw both Mark Wilson’s solo project Conure and Daniel Bloomquist’s solo project at this year’s Northern California Noise Festival.
This album is the best of all possible worlds in experimental music. In some ways, there is something for everyone. If you have a friend that wishes that bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor would let loose and be more experimental and chaotic, hand them this disk. This is what that would sound like. Do you know someone who is not really into harsh noise because they think it all sounds the same, or they simply want something more to it? Hand them this disk. There is all of the noise, but also all of the beauty. That is precisely what makes 15 Degrees Below Zero such an engaging act. You never quite know what you are going to get but you know it's always going to be worth getting. Highly recommended." [Eskaton, Chain D.L.K.]
"Eine offene Tür ist ein ausgesprochen vielgestaltiges Symbol, und das erstrecht, wenn es sich gleich um mehrere handelt. Sie zeigen unmissverständlich, dass der vor ihnen stehende weder ein- noch ausgesperrt ist und dass jede Wand, jede Grenze durch sie passierbar ist. Dem Auge jedoch offenbart sich in einer offenen Tür nur ein rahmenhafter Ausschnitt, der meist mehr versteckt als offenbart. Und mit dem, was man durch die Tür zu sehen vermag, steht und fällt jede Hoffnung, die ihre Offenheit suggeriert. Das Ausschnitthafte, Unbestimmte, mitunter Mysteriöse offener Türen ist beinahe ein perfektes Motto für die musikalische Erkundungsreise, die das Drone- und Noise-Trio 15 Degrees Below Zero auf ihrem vor einigen Monaten erschienenen Album „Open Doors“ unternehmen.
15 Degrees Below Zero ist das Projekt der drei Kalifornier Mark Wilson (besser bekannt als Conure), Daniel Blomquist und Michael Addison Mersereau, die in den 90ern bereits unter dem Namen Imperial Floral Assault Unit zusammenarbeiteten, und machte vor allem in den Nullerjahren von sich reden. Nach Wilsons Umzug nach Berlin und der Konzentration der Musiker auf andere Projekte wurden die Aktivitäten irgendwann seltener, und so brauchte es beinahe ein Jahrzehnt, bis „Open Doors“ fertig gestellt wurde.
Wenn es einen roten Faden auf „Open Doors“ gibt, dann dass die in den einzelnen Stücken entworfenen, meist düsteren Settings nie klar definiert bleiben, sondern immer wieder ihre Gestalt durch subtile Überblendungen und Verästelungen modifizieren. „Horizon, Skyline“ – der Opener und gleich längste Track des Albums – startet mit verunsichernden Rumpel- und Kratzgeräuschen, eingehüllt in eine mysteriöse Wolke aus dichtem Rauschen. Doch von titelgebenden Horizont dringt bald ein tief erdendes Ambientdröhnen ins Zentrum des Geschehens, intensiviert sich und verdrängt alle Kantigkeit, um am Ende Platz für weitere, perkussive Details zu schaffen, und so entpuppt sich jeder Moment, in dem man verweilen möchte, als vergänglicher Übergang zu weiteren, unbestimmten Orten.
Die abgeklärte Desolatheit, die sich bereits hier erahnen lässt, scheint in den folgenden Tracks deutlicher hervor: Im „The 5:15“ betitelten Stück breiten sich rauschende Wellen wie schwerer Atem über monotones Saitenspiel aus und mutieren zu etwas, das an gequälte Stimmen erinnert – alles scheint sich hier auf eine Eskalation zuzubewegen, während das Gitarrenmotiv stoisch unverändert bleibt, bis perkussives Klopfen für etwas Erleichterung sorgt. In manchen Stücken scheint es in emotionaler, atmosphärischer Hinsicht am Ende doch so etwas wie ein kleines Fazit zu geben.
Noch weitaus unbestimmter und wechselhafter offenbart sich der Titeltrack, der sich zunächst als knarriger Ambietdowner in die Gehörgänge bohrt. Hat man sich erst einmal eingelebt in seiner resignativen Statik, so sorgen allerhand kleine feine Bewegungen für Erleichterung: Helle Sounds bimmeln wie abstrahierte Glöckchen durch den Raum, doch das wiederum ist nur die Ankündigung für einen durch donnernde Detonationen eingeleiteten Sturm, der viel ungehörtes aufwirbelt. Interessant ist dass all diese gegensätzlich wirkenden Bestandteile der Kompositionen sich nie gegenseitig in Frage stellen, sondern in all ihrer Ambiguität zu koexistieren verstehen – vielleicht ist dies am deutlichsten spürbar in “White Sands”, dessen treibende Dynamik aus dem Hintergrund wirkt und die anrührende Melodie im Vordergrund nie antastet. es ist eines der kraftvollsten Stücke des Albums.
So haben letztlich alle Stücke ihre eigene kleine innere Dramatik, ihre eigenen Brüche und Richtungswechsel, und natürlich auch ihre Schwerpunkte. Lässt der nach dem Roten Meer benannte Track eine wuchtige Ambientwelle eine fast meditative Unbewegtheit in dem mit Klappern erfüllten Raum entstehen, so offenbart sein am Ende des Albums verortetes Pendant “The Dead Sea ” die größte Ambiguität zwischen Ruhe und Unruhe, zwischen getriebener Bewegung, schönen Synthie-Soundscapes und einem rabiaten Noise, der von etwas, das an Schreie erinnert, durchzuckt ist.
“Open Doors” ist ein ungemein reichhaltiges Album und jedes enthaltene Stück würde den Stoff für einen kongenialen Filmscore abgeben. Wenn die so untermalten Stoffe – mehrere Kollegen schrieben zurecht über postapokalyptische Dystopien – durch zahlreiche Ereignisse und zugleich durch eine nie zu eindeutige Stimmung auffallen würden, wären sie der Musik am ehesten angemessen." [U.S./African Paper] |
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| 21 GRAMMS |
Water-Membrane |
CD |
"With many qualitative independent CDr, Tape, eps productions, 21 GRAMMS garnered so much praise from so many quarters in the past years.
“Water – Membrane” is the second Poland’s 21 GRAMMS pro-CD album. Seven extended pieces of sublime orchestral dark natural ambient, generated a truly wonderful album.
“Water – membrane” sounds like a ”last hope” inner movement into the most unknown decadences of the soul. Discouraging, shining, naturally isolationist." [label info]
www.greytone.eu
www.greytone.eu
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| 23 SKIDOO |
The Culling is Coming |
CD |
"First released on vinyl only by Crepuscule's Operation Twilight arm in February 1983, The Culling is Coming flagged two radical new directions for Skidoo following their funky indie chart-topper Seven Songs the previous year. Drawn from two live performances, Culling combined a collaboration with the Balinese Gamelan Orchestra recorded at Dartington College of Music in October 1982, together with extracts from a more extreme, improvised set at the first Womad festival in July 1982, using scrap metal and tape loops. Both sides of the album were exactly 23 minutes long, and side one signed off (or rather didn't) with a stylus-hostile lock groove. Long deleted, this, challenging misunderstood album was light years ahead of its time. Now digitally remastered for release on The Boutique Label, it has been expanded by the inclusion of a complete (and equally extreme) 26 minute loop performance at Tielt, Belgium, on 8 October 1982. Recorded as part of Crepuscule's short Move Back/Bite Harder tour with Cabaret Voltaire, Tuxedomoon and Pale Fountains, this material has never before been released. The extended CD runs for 76 minutes. The booklet features the original artwork and contextual notes by Skidoo's Alex Turnbull. Full tracklist: G-2 Contemplation, S-Matrix, G-3 Insemination, Shrine, Mahakala, Banishing, Invocation, Flashing, Stifling, Healing (For the Strong), Move Back/Bite Harder." [label info]
www.ltmrecordings.com
www.ltmrecordings.com
|
2003 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Urban Gamelan |
CD |
An expanded remaster of the third album by 23 Skidoo, originally issued in 1984 and now with four bonus tracks including the 12" versions of Language and the mighty single Coup, as well as flipside dub mixes.
The CD booklet features detailed Skidoo biography and archive images.
Tracklist:
1. F.U.G.I.
2. Fire
3. Misr Wakening
4. Jalan Jalan
5. Urban Gamelan (Pt 1)
6. Sirens
7. Helicopterz
8. Kongo-Do
9. Language (dub)
10. Drunken Reprisal
11. Untitled (Coup de Grace)
12. Coup (12" version)
13. Language (12" version)
14. Language (12" dub)
15. Coup (In the Palace)
"The hippest of the British art-funk underground. Ultimately too unconventional for a wider audience, with their best tracks now back in print 23 Skidoo's unique achievements can be more widely appreciated" (Corriere Canadese, 02/2009)
"1984 saw Skidoo gamely attempting a slightly more conventional funk direction alongside their experimental percussion work, Urban Gamelan reflecting this awkwardly schizophrenic but rewarding period. Bonus tracks on this reissue include not only the irresistible 'commercial' single Coup, but also it's excellent (and long sought-after) follow-up Language" (The Wire, 01/2009)
www.ltmrecordings.com |
2008 |
€14.50 |
|
| 3/4HADBEENELIMINATED |
Theology |
CD |
Die Band mit STEFANO PILIA & CLAUDIO ROCCHETTI, filed under: seltsame atmosphärisch-melancholische Improvisationen im (entfernten) Post-Rock-Gewand [mit späterer effektvoller Nachbearbeitung im Studio ohne das improvisatorische Feeling zu zerstören]; zwei lange Stücke füllen THEOLOGY, schwebend und unfokussiert aber stets im Wandel, unter Einsatz von vielen "echten" Instrumenten (Gesang, Drums, Gitarren, Piano), mitunter blitzen Ähnlichkeiten gar mit A SILVER MT. ZION auf... die ist der "Schwester-Release" zur LP "Religious Experience".
"Soleilmoon Recordings is proud to announce the simultaneous release of 3/4HadBeenEliminated’s new CD and LP, titled “Theology” and “The Religious Experience”, respectively. 3/4HadBeenEliminated was founded in 2002 in Bologna, Italy as a trio, with Stefano Pilia, Claudio Rocchetti and Valerio Tricoli. An eponymous album was released in 2003 by Bowindo. In 2004 the group welcomed Tony Arrabito and became a quartet. The next year Hapna put out their second album “A Year of the Aural Gauge Operation”, and in 2006 the band self-released a 7 inch single “DimethylAtonalCalcine”. The group straddles the line between live improvisation and studio experimentation, blending and shaping raw sounds into living pieces, then gently dissecting the delicately structured songs into disruptive sonic excursions more evocative of moving shadows and swirling leaves than recognizable tunes. Stasis and stability are nowhere to be found here. Instead, an ever-changing dialogue between structure and chaos shifts from one performer to the next, never resting long before launching again into shuddering flight. Accoustic instruments and vocals form a familiar reference point, but studio treatments take the music into psychedelic and cinematic realms. In their words , “Improvisation is a way to experiment without thinking. When our improvisations ‘work’, the music just happens on its own. It reveals itself as if guided by its own logic, its own desire. In fact we don’t even feel like we are actually playing the music. It’s more like a stream that moves and changes autonomously. With composition (editing, overdubs, etc. etc.) we then remodel this stream, trying to make it more complex, ‘forever lasting, forever changing’, in the sense that every hearing will reveal a new perspective of the music. As a live band, we improvise 100%, and it's really risky, but when it ‘happens’, it’s the greatest satisfaction.” “Theology” is presented in a wooden box with a hinged cover decorated with layers of hand-painted tracing paper, and is limited to 450 copies on CD. The companion vinyl LP “The Religious Experience” is a reinterpretation of the recordings made for the CD. The LP is limited to 225 copies. The two albums – and their music – should be considered as mirror opposites. Where theology is a completely artificial system of belief, a religious experience is the immediate experience of the thing itself. Likewise, the music on “Theology” is complex and elaborate, while “The Religious Experience” is much simpler, going directly to the heart of the material comprising “Theology”. Thus, the two works are independent, yet relate to each other as mother and daughter." [press release]
"....and with some imagination you could say that they are a rock band. Well, an expanded rock band that crosses many lines: post rock, singer songwriter, improvisation and above all musique concrete collage techniques. Maybe the stage isn't their place but they should be safely stuck in the studio, where they can freely experiment with sound. Each member plays a wide variety of instruments, except Arrabito, who is just credited for drums. Inside the studio they find a safe place to improvise their music, but not as an end, but as a start. Recordings are separated, deconstructed and rebuilt into something. These two new releases, both lavishly packed with all sorts of nice paper, are best heard together, as mirrors of each other. The CD (limited to 450 copies) and the LP (limited to 225 copies) have however their differences, but the provide a nice view in the kitchen of 3/4HadBeenEliminated. The CD is perhaps more complex in approach. We hear lots of processed guitars, percussive sounds, organ like drones but also contact microphones scratching the surface alongside humming vocals. Not really rock by any rock standard, even when things seems to hint that way. Seemingly things move from atmosphere to atmosphere, gradually, slow, but without doubt moving.." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"...you'll know to expect fractured and mysterious soundscapes, a densely textured drone-zone constructed from field recordings, record crackle, improvised acoustic instruments, radio static, fragments of piano melody, electronic treatments, whispered Italian voices, turntable scratchings, reel-to-reel tape manipulation, synthesizer sinewaves, scattered percussion, and more. That's a zone we LOVE to visit. There's two long tracks, lots to explore, all manner of curious creakings and cracklings, shifting rhythms and rumblings abounding within 3/4hadbeeneliminated's carefully crafted and/or improvised music. At times quiet and meditative, at others noisier and distorted, but always (to our ears) utterly gorgeous and compelling. Aligns quite nicely with the likes of the Jewelled Antler collective, the Finnish forest foraging of Kemialliset Ystavat, and of course others in the experimental underground Italian scene of which the members of 3/4hadbeeneliminated are a part." [Aquarius Records review]
www.soleilmoon.com
|
2007 |
€19.50 |
|
| |
Speak to me |
LP |
"Black Truffle present Speak To Me, the sixth full-length release from 3/4HadBeenEliminated, the Italian trio of Stefano Pilia, Claudio Rocchetti and Valerio Tricoli. Based on source material recorded in Bologna and Berlin over the course of several years, the album is made up of two side-long pieces meticulously constructed in post-production by Tricoli in his singularly dense and unpredictable style. Although their live performances have always been entirely improvised, in their recorded work the group focuses on using improvised recordings as source material for compositions built up through layering, editing and analog manipulation, extending the practices of Teo Macero, Faust and This Heat. Melancholic instrumental ruminations sit alongside cracked electronics, concrete sounds and Tricoli's whispered vocals, drawn together into dense assemblages animated by gradual transformations and sudden jump cuts. Beginning from the abstractions of their self-titled debut release in 2004, the group embarked on a trajectory that saw them move toward near-song structures, Tricoli's voice becoming a dominant element amid an increasingly dense and layered production style. On Speak To Me, however, the listener feels confronted by the ghost of music, sonic memories echoing across a psychedelic expanse. Evacuated of any clear structure, the music becomes a reverb-saturated morass, from which crystalline details momentarily emerge: shimmering echoed guitar, bowed double bass, tactile hand percussion, skittering electronics. Suffused with a darkly pensive atmosphere, Speak To Me is an elegant summation of the distinctive blend of electroacoustic techniques, instrumental improvisation and contemporary psychedelia pioneered by 3/4HadBeenEliminated over the last decade. LP design by Stephen O'Malley with striking artwork by Stefano Pilia. Vinyl cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin."
www.blacktrufflerecords.com
|
2016 |
€17.50 |
|
| 400 LONELY THINGS |
same |
LP |
Stilistisch sehr eigenständige, erste Platte dieses neuen US - Experimental Projekts auf neuem Label aus Florida - 400 LONELY THINGS – das sind viele kleine ambiente & experimentelle Minimalismen, ganz entspannt und ruhig und ein bischen obskur, zwischen Experiment und Wohlklang.... kommt mit nummeriertem Envelope mit Photo..
“Appx 1 hour of sad, strange, spooky yet oddly soothing instrumentals. Probably would appeal to listeners of Zoviet France, A Small Good Thing, certain quieter tracks by Cindytalk, Nurse, Coil, Hafler Trio, Oren Ambarchi - although it's a bit lonelier than any of that.... Dark ambience, but cozy and warm. Lullabys for sad little monsters.” [Craig, Bronsonunlimited]
https://400lonelythings.com/album/400-lonely-things
|
2003 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Mother Moon |
CD |
The new album from 400 LONELY THINGS, produced by WILLIAM BASINSKI, is a dark ambient, sample-based séance to the Banning Mill - a real-life decaying \"mansion\" and haven for artists, freaks and misfits in the backwoods of the American Deep South in the 1970s-1990s - and an extraordinary piece of art that lived there.
An archaeological excursion in found sound - wandering through the art and memory of a real place, \"Mother Moon\" is an origin story for 400 Lonely Things. In the 1990\'s, Craig Varian was fortunate enough to frequent the Mill in the years before it closed. It was here that he was exposed to the artwork of Richard Scott Hill. The impact is hard to overstate.
Built on the Snake River in the early 1800\'s as a textile mill, it operated until the late 1960\'s and when its doors closed on that era, and reopened on another. In 1971, the Mill was purchased by a young wealthy \"eccentric\" (to use the vernacular of the time). He was openly gay in the deeply bigoted Old South, a collector of fantastic and surreal art, a drug enthusiast, an owner of at least one mental illness, and a self-described entrepreneur with a vision. In the years that followed, he turned this sprawling, mildewed structure into a private hippie art collective, music venue and refuge for Southern misfits - gays and gender-benders, visual artists, musicians, mystics, ghost-hunters, wizards, pagans, intellectuals, poets, nerds and psychedelic explorers by the dozens drifted in and out, creating their own alternate universe in its hundreds of rooms.
One of these artists was Richard Scott Hill. Hill\'s work stood apart from everything else at the Mill. It was all black and white or hand-coloured photography - typically stark portraits of people - almost always wearing masks. These photos were disturbing and disarming, hilarious and crazed, unsettling and aggressively surreal in their confrontational simplicity. His work both captured and fed into the Mill\'s sinister yet playful undercurrents of mania and depression. By the conservative 1980\'s, the Mill became a very different place. A dark and quiet ectoplasmic hangover haunted its rooms with just a handful of tenants, remaining so until its doors closed for good in the late 90\'s.
Varian had friends that lived there, and after hearing quiet legends of the Banning Mill since the late 80\'s, was finally able to visit. While the Mill itself was transformative enough, turning down a disused hallway, Varian encountered the image on the cover of this album and quite simply became a different person. A lifetime spent as a Southern misfit had led to fruitless artistic, philosophical, spiritual and psychedelic pursuits as relief. At this time, an obsession with visual collage and audio sampling had been brewing and upon seeing this image, boiled over. He realized that the sounds and images he\'d been seeking had been sought by many others and that for a time, these seekers had lived here in the secret winding halls of Banning Mill in the wilds of the Deep South. In particular, this nude cow-faced woman was the Minotauress who sat at the heart of that maze.
Since the days of the Mill (and Varian\'s subsequent purchase of Hill\'s \"Minotauress\" shortly before the Mill closed), Varian, along with best friend and musical partner Jonathan McCall, found a thread of music they\'d been consistently making yet had previously failed to notice - melancholic instrumentals with weathered sampling at its core - going back to their earliest recordings in the late 1980\'s. Eventually, this music was called 400 Lonely Things, and eventually an album would be attempted to honor both the Mill and Richard\'s \"Minotauress\".
The Mill has been closed for about 25 years now and all that remains of it is a gutted skeleton covered in yellow caution tape. After a dozen albums, Jonathan McCall has since passed on to the next realm. But this album, born out of that first visit to the Mill, is finally here - an imaginary soundtrack to the many years of solitude the Minotauress spent hanging in that musty hallway.
For this album, Varian reached out to Mr. Hill and a friendship and artistic relationship has developed. Richard - now in his 80\'s and an established figure in the established art world - still creates fantastically bizarre works daily from his home studio, just a mile from the remains of the Mill. He says that the music of 400 Lonely Things is from another dimension and he hopes you enjoy it and his previously unpublished art gracing the cover.
Presented in a 6-panel spot-varnished digipak.
credits
released April 11, 2023
Produced by William Basinski
Additional Mixing and Mastering by Preston Wendel
Covert art by Richard Scott Hill
\"Mother Moon is a cypher that saves an important hidden fragment of cultural history from erasure.\" Ben Ponton, Zoviet France.
\"Mother Moon is darkness calling. It will take you to the outer limits and leave you there. Guaranteed to twist your mind.\" Andrew Hulme, O Yuki Conjugate.
\"A wistful, burrowing, beautiful nightmare.\" Daniel Kraus, NY Times Best Selling Author of The Living Dead with George A. Romero, and The Shape Of Water with Guillermo Del Toro.
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/mother-moon-csr319cd
"It's one of those weeks... Being a former ginger/redhead, I have problems handling the moist 25-30 Celcius) heat in the Netherlands. So I hardly get to do anything, and I get distracted all the time, like work and such. So I have been trying to start a review of "Mother Moon" by 400 Lonely Things several times, and each time I end up just listening and floating away, Drifting on the waves ... And I didn't even feel bad about listening to it over and over and over ...
Produced by William Basinski, 400 Lonely Things is a project by Craig Varian inspired by recordings around, based in, or related to an old mill. A beautiful PDF was sent to us, and it might well be part of the Bandcamp download, but how you get your hands on it when you get the CD: I don't know. The 400 Lonely Things concept focuses on the arrangement of lost and found sounds, and the melancholia is certainly audible in the release. Also, the journey aspect is very well set in this release, the journey being the descriptive part of environments through sound as a medium. So in many areas where the boxes should be ticked to make a release interesting, those boxes are actually ticked.
Musicwise, "Mother Moon" is an absolute beauty. Almost 80 minutes, with deep drones, minimal melodic lines, scarce structural sounds (no rhythms), ambience and, on occasion, a mesmerizing voice preaching solitude and melancholia. And here and there, an ever so slight 'touch of Coil' (for example, in "In Darkness"). So
at this point, I would say: Get the album and don't worry too much about everything else. But the booklet and combined conceptual approach is a bit of a downer for me, as it turns out. I mean: Concepts make many releases I know/heard/have enjoyable, and I know all about it as an artist myself. But in a weird way the conceptual approach is so elaborate and massive that it almost forces me to think about it. And all I want to do is just enjoy the flow, as a psychonaut, ride the waves and not be bothered too much with all that mumbo jumbo. But that's just me. I think... I hope... Other than that: Go Flow, Go Dream, Go Listen, Just 'Be' ..." [BW / Vital Weekly] |
2023 |
€15.00 |
|
| 9T ANTIOPE & SIAVASH AMINI |
Harmistice |
LP |
9T Antiope have made a name for themselves in the vibrant experimental music scene of Iran over the past years. Now based in Paris, Sara Bigdeli Shamloo and Nima Aghiani are expanding their stylistic scope and team up with long-time friend Siavash Amini for their debut release on Hallow Ground. After 2017's "TAR" and "FORAS" the year after 2018, "Harmistice" is Amini's third LP for the Swiss-based label and his first in collaboration with other artists. Recorded in Paris and Tehran, the four tracks are the result of "all the long hours of speaking online, being kilometres away, it is a love child of those short times we actually got to be physically in one place." Vocalist and lyricist Shamloo enters a dialogue with Aghiani and Amini's sound art, which is from restrained but interlocks voice and noise with striking subtlety. "Harmistice" seamlessly blends the visceral with the sublime, the abstract with the oh-too-real. From the very first second of "Blue as in Bleeding", "Harmistice" evokes a sense of suspended terror. Shrill frequencies and aleatoric bursts of feedback give way to a hardhitting bass drum until Shamloo's voice arises from the chaos with an uneasy clarity. It's the perfect opening for a record that is built upon stark contrasts like this one. Amini and Aghiani bring together synthetic sounds with acoustic instruments, creating a tangible tension on which Shamloo's sometimes sensitive, sometimes emotionally detached delivery thrives. "It's all based on a dream, a nightmare about war," she says in regards to her lyrics that move between poetic abstraction and first person prose, blurring the lines between lived experience and sinister premonition. "Harmistice" takes inventory after the oneiric damage has been dealt in real life. As a whole, "Harmistice" is thus as ambiguous as its title suggests. As an all-too-lucid dream about unspeakable things that are being lent a voice it overwhelms the senses with an unheard-of volume. Drawn from the depths of the subconscious, "Harmistice" may just be the most challenging album in either 9T Antiope or Amini's discography.
|
2019 |
€22.00 |
|
| A SILVER MOUNT ZION |
13 Blues for Thirteen Moons |
CD |
Die derzeitige Vorzeigeband des Montrealer Labels (da es GODSPEED nicht mehr zu geben scheint) klingt auf "13 BLUES" noch weitaus wütender, aggressiver, rockiger & lauter als man es gewohnt war. Geblieben ist das verzweifelte Pathos und die ausschweifende bis mitreissende Psychedelik, die immer wieder zu wunderschönen Instrumental-Passagen führt, denn noch immer sind diverse Streicher im Kollektiv dabei.
"Nachdem sich die komplette Band hinter Silver Mount Zion über die letzten drei Jahre etwas rar gemacht hat, kommen sie nun umso eindringlicher um die Ecke. Doch der Reihe nach; denn unsichbar waren sie beileibe nicht. Als Silver Mountain Reveries oder The Silver Maountain Elegies Play War Radio suchten sie diverse Clubs in wecshelnden Bestzungen heim, zuweilen unterstützt durch Hangedup, oder als abgespeckte "Kammer"-Version. Und dann natürlich nicht zuletzt als Backing Band des famosen Vic Chesnutt auf seiner kürzlich absolvierten Tour. Das alles jedoch konnte nicht den Hunger der Fans nach einem neuen Album des Montrealer Künstlerkollektivs stillen. Und hier ist es nun: das neue Album. Nie zuvor waren SMZ eindringlicher, nie zorniger und nie mächtiger. Die Basis dieses Albums ist mehr als je zuvor: DAS Riff! Vom Blues, den es im Titel trägt bis hin zu zornigem Noise und wieder zurück zu ausufernden Klangkaskaden - zwei Gitarren, zwei Violinen, Cello, Kontrabass und Drums können nicht irren! "13 Blues..." ist Donnerhall und Sturmwarnung zugleich - es ist laut und doch fein arrangiert. Kurz: es ist absolut zwingend!"
[thee unknown reviewer]
"The music of the full band (two guitars, two violins, cello, contrebasse and drums) has grown louder, looser, full of spittle and tears. On 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons, riffs are the backbone more than ever. Anchored by new drummer Eric Craven (ex-Hangedup), the band works its slow build and burn with newfound patience, sinuousness and ferocity. Whether methodically framing walls of sound over the four-on-the-floor punk dirge of "1,000,000 Died To Make This Sound" or exploding in sheets of free noise and melody on "Black Waters Blowed", the band has never rocked harder and has never sounded more determined, desperate and driven. A stuttered blues riff is the foundation for the album's title track, making its appearance after a blisteringly minimalist intro. "Engine Broke Blues" features a gorgeous set of chords that build inexorably from multiple guitar, string and organ lines." [press release]
Constellation Records: www.cstrecords.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| A WAKE A WEEK |
Through line |
mCD-R |
"Perhaps more known for his more rhythmic stuff under the DETRITUS alias, david dando-moore also creates beautiful soundscapes under the A WAKE A WEEK alias where he mixes low key noisy drones with piano melodies. "through line" gathers four rather short tracks with a strong sad and melancholic feel... this 3"cdr/FLAC is the follow-up to the excellent self-produced digital-only release "abandon" still available from dando-moore's bandcamp." [label info]
www.taalem.org
|
2011 |
€5.00 |
|
| AALFANG MIT PFERDEKOPF |
Fragment 36 (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
Hinter dem Projekt mit dem seltsamen Namen steckt MIRKO UHLIG aus Bonn, der sich auf seiner Drone-7“ auf HERAKLITs „alles fliesst“ bezieht und entsprechende Dronescapes mit hoher Dynamik erschaffen hat.....zerfliessende-handbemalte Covers & multi-colour Vinyl !
“You never cross the same river twice! PANTA RHEI!” Behind this project with the strange name (german for “eel-catch with horse-head”) is one Mirko Uhlig from Germany, who had few CDR-releases so far, most of them standing out through their weird surrealistic coloration. In the meantime he also build his own label EX OVO. “Fragment 36” relates to a quote from Heraclites showing that ‘everything deliquesces” at any moment and can never be the same as one moment before. According to that, AALFANG MIT PFERDEKOPFs first and last ever 7” creates two drone-minimal pieces with very high dynamics, using water-sounds and Glockenspiel, drenched into overtune-feedback-resonances & dark deep drones... Filed under: fleetingmelting drones
LIGHT GREEN / YELLOW SPRINKLED VINYL. HANDPAINTED COVERS USING WATER-COLOURS IN GREEN, RED, VIOLET.” [press release] RELEASE DATE: 30. April 2006 !
|
2006 |
€6.50 |
|
| |
Kindspechleber |
LP + CD |
"On Kindspechleber Mirko Uhlig offers a set of real disturbing tracks bsomewhere between musique concrète and cold ambient layers. The
added CD Kall Trä presents reworked sound collections from the vinyl and with this four completely new songs. As they complement
this work as whole, these recordings shouldn´t be withhold. A release which shows once more that Mirko Uhlig is just a versatile experimental musician. Comes in a very appealing coverartwork by Robert Schalinski." [label info]
www.empiricrecords.com
"This proofs absolutely nothing. What the hell do I know? Like why Mirko Uhlig once changed from using his band name Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf to his own name, and since time it's back to that moniker again. There might be a perfect logic explanation for it, but I don't know. Or perhaps I am not certain about it but the differences could be hidden inside the music. If that is the case, then I am sure these differences are quite small. Maybe with Uhlig (as Uhlig) I had the impression things were all a bit more subdued, and with Aalfang it's perhaps all a bit more louder. But maybe I just have the volume turned up more today? Here we have a LP and a CD, both of around forty minutes which offer a sufficient insight in the world of Uhlig. Mood music is the best description but perhaps not mood music in the 'classic' drone sense, but more like a story telling. Uhlig uses long form sounds, drones if you will, but cuts it along with spoken word, children's voices, radio which gives the music a strange surrealistic notion. Will you be surprised if I bring up the name Nurse With Wound in this respect? It has that same estranged atmosphere here as on say 'Spiral Insana', like a wicked radio play, or a montage of film voices from a horror movie, but also with samples from a spaghetti western towards the end of 'Les Mouches Volantes'. If I understood matters correctly, the CD is Uhlig taking the sounds from the LP into a whole new world, a recycled version as we would have said so in the 1980s. Now to proof my point I don't know much. The LP sounds differently than the CD. The CD could be more Uhlig than Aalfang (am I still making sense?). with more subdued textured tones, more ambient, more Hafler Trio than the wounded nurse. It's great that both come to us as Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf as they fit along each other quite well. First play the record to get in a scary mood, and then the CD to relax and contemplate about what just happened. Great work, I must say, but I guess I have been a converted fan for quite some time." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€20.00 |
|
| AALFANG MIT PFERDEKOPF / EMERGE |
Die kosmische Zygote |
mCD-R |
Ein fantastischer, sehr subtiler Geräusch-Ambience One-tracker...metallische konkrete Schläge, instrumentelle Quellen (Melodika, Kalimba, Perkussion), verarbeitet in hallende Hyper-Echo-Räume...
“Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf and Emerge are two musicians from Germany, with some previous works on various lables (Drone Records or Verato Project for Emerge, our belgian cousin of Mystery Sea for A.M.P.). This quite surrealistic & surprising piece was created in three steps: first, Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf has created what he calls himself "a sound
sculture" with various instruments like melodica, kalimba or spring drum. Then Emerge reworked it, adding his dark-ambient sounds and low rumblings he's known for. The final mix was done by Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf. Expect a mix of dark-ambient and pure experimental musics !” [label info]
|
2006 |
€5.00 |
|
| AB INTRA |
Henosis VI - XI |
CD |
"Ab Intra returns to Zoharum with a new piece of music. As title suggests we’re dealing here with a continuation or an expansion of the ideas explored in Henosis I-V from 2016.
“Henosis VI-XI” takes us on a sound journey that unites (as “henosis in classical Greek stands for "oneness", "union" or "unity" ) the opposites on different symbolic levels. As much as album presents sound pallete that resembles the previous part it differs in terms of arrangement and composition presenting new, unknown and exciting side of Ab Intra project. Taking the formula of “old plays new ways” Ab Intra once again presents music that’s strongly influencing listeners imagination.
Album comes in 6 panel digipack limited to 300 copies."
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/henosis-vi-xi
|
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
| ABATE, MAURIZIO |
The Maadi Sessions |
LP |
I visited Egypt for the first time in October 2016, spending a week there, and I went back for a longer period the next February. Both times I stayed at Sara and Alberto’s place, a couple of friends who have been living in the Maadi district of Cairo for about a year.
The first impact with the city and its inhabitants was definitely strong: I had trouble in defining the energy which pervades the streets 24 hours a day and the feeling of perpetual movement one gets from it. Although this vortex was fascinating, it sometimes originated some kind of alienation and estrangement on my behalf. I had to distance myself from the excess of stimuli.
During my first visit, I was especially struck by the sounds, so I recorded some of them over my following stay, and I tried to mix them with my electric guitar, a sort of conversation between the inner world and the outside one. During the sessions in Alberto’s house, I also experimented new techniques and effects on the guitar, approaching the instrument in a broader sense.
The sessions originated the pieces on this record, which also feature a collaboration with Alberto Boccardi on one track, named after his house and headquarters of Canale Undici.
I’d like to thank all the people who allowed me to create and publish this record: Alberto, Sara, Giovanni, Pasquale, Giulia and, last but not least, little Pietro.
Maurizio Abate
https://backwardsrec.bandcamp.com/album/the-maadi-sessions |
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| ABBILDUNG |
All Demons are horned |
CD |
"ABBILDUNG's 10th years anniversary CD entitled 'All Demons Are Horned' puts together probably the best work so far from the Romanian sound artist. Spanning over 3 years in the making, the release takes you to a transcendental journey through finely crafted, dark ambient soundscapes, mystic drones with a touch of oriental inspired music."
http://www.winter-light.nl/login/ABBILDUNG-All-Demons-Are-Horned
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
At the Gates of Ouln |
CD |
"The welcome return of ABBILDUNG to our Winter-Light label with a new studio album 'At The Gates Of Ouln'.
We journey once more to the world first visited in 'All Demons Are Horned' and enter the realm of the other dreamers.
On 'At The Gates Of Ouln', ABBILDUNG presents us with six new tracks of classic dark ambient, forged in his own unique style. Utilising field recordings, samples, drones and beautifully crafted atmospherics, we are once again drawn in to the creative realm of Casian's music.
Uplifting organ sounds wrap themselves around rich, dark overtones, pulling them from out of the shadows and up in to the half light, only to let them fall away again in to the gaping abyss below, as they burn bright for one last time before fading away in to black nothingness ....
'They dream our darkest dreams. They are searching for the untold meaning of their own dreams. They are starting to conjure all manner of strange things; demons, fears and chaos in primeval rituals. The mysteries of their realm unveil themselves, as we descend through their mystical gate....'
https://winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/at-the-gates-of-ouln
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| ABBILDUNG & PLATEAU OMEGA |
Anthropocosmos |
CD |
"
'embrace the joy beyond the rational thought...'
EM020, Anthropocosmos split-album inspired and dedicated to Mircea Eliade and his vast work on the human 'cosmos'. A shamanic journey full of ancient mysticism.
Total run: ~ 63 min. of dark ambient, ritualistic world music.
CD release date 01.10.2015.
ABBILDUNG uses caval and oriental percussion instruments, fieldrecordings, keys, programming, sampling. Plateau Omega electroacoustic tracks were written in cooperation with AI. from Wolfskin.
Artwork by C.&L. Photography." [label info]
www.essentiamundi.com
www.essentiamundi.com
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| ABBILDUNGEN VARIETE |
same |
CD |
"We discovered this incredible multimedial experimental collective from Maribor (Slovenia) on the “84” LP compilation a long time ago. After almost fourty years since these unique artists started their activities, we decided to release their very first CD with all their best recordings.
Little is known about Abbildungen Varieté. We know they existed in the years between 1982 and 1984 and that besides their eponymous cassette release (“Abbildungen Varieté”, Galerija ŠKUC Izdaja-Ljubljana, 1983), their contribution with the track “Evolucija” to the “84” LP compilation (ZKP RTVL-Ljubljana, 1984) and a couple of cassette-demo, there were no other recordings by Abbildungen Varieté. Their eponymous cassette release came out in November 1983, in an edition of 230 copies: for the most part, it is a live recording, plus a couple of studio tracks.
Tracks 01.02.04.05.06 are taken from the "Abbildungen Varieté” cassette C-40,
recorded in August-September 1983, released in November 1983 in 230 copies by ZKP RTVL – LD 0933
Track 03 is taken from the “84” LP compilation, ZKP RTVL – LD 0933, 1984
Abbildungen Varieté (1983-1984) were:
Marko Ornik, Goran Majcen, Branko Mirt, Igor Zupe, Darko Senekovič alias Leonard Rubins.
Reissue project by Igor Zupe and Final Muzik.
Images taken from a 1983 promotional video (archive Škuc-a).
This CD reissue is part of the Final Muzik's “Eighties” series. Limited edition of 200 copies, in Digi-slim cardboard sleeve.
https://finalmuzik.bandcamp.com/album/abbildungen-variete
|
2023 |
€14.00 |
|
| ABNER MALATY |
Glide (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
released in August 1994 in an edition of 200 copies on light blue vinyl. Each Cover had a different coloured spiral on the front. The vinyl-labels were white stamped with the drone logo and a brain-stamp.
Press-information: "If there was ever something that could be called 'spacious' then it must be ABNER MALATY! This totally unknown musician from Indiana, USA, does a kind of mystic noise that is alien and surreal, complex and energetic. It seems to us that ABNERS view goes far beyond the earth, into cosmos or even further. It's a kind of dynamic quality that makes ABNER MALATY so unique... it's intuitive, intentional-made sound without any pathetic emotional outburst. So far, there are only existing a few limited tapes of this unconventional and original artist, this 4-track-E.P. is the very first vinyl. Exorbitant music for exorbitant people! YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF SOUND? THEN YOU SHOULD INTRODUCE YOUR MIND TO THIS OUTER SPACE RIDE! Mutate again – double check."
|
1994 |
€ |
|
| ABRAHAMS, CHRIS |
Play Scar |
CD |
" Chris Abrahams ‘Play Scar’ inhabits a sound world that’s entirely uncharted. It’s a zone of in-betweens – juxtapositions and parallel lines – a realm in which nothing is certain and at any moment dynamic shifts might occur. In this unusual electro-acoustic landscape, Abrahams has crafted by far his most complex and epically beautiful record to date. It’s a series of pieces that in many ways demonstrates the full scope of Abrahams’ work as a musician and composer. ‘Play Scar’, like Thrown before it is both exotic and unfamiliar. Pieces like ’Twig Blown’ hint at Abrahams’ interest in musique concréte, ‘Lieiden’ pulses with a distinctly electronic flare, whilst ‘There He Reclined’ shimmers in a hazy procession of organ, guitar and electronics. At its core, ‘Play Scar’ is an album of unrepentant diversity, united through Abrahams astounding sense of composition and focus. In another artist’s hands these elements might be rendered too divergent and too esoteric, but sculpted by Chris Abrahams, each piece is a continent of sound, in an auditory world of his making. ‘Play Scar’ is unique, compelling and most of all visionary." [label info]
www.room40.org
"Various works of Chris Abrahams have been reviewed before, but as far as I could judge they were recordings with other people. According to the press sheet this is his fourth solo release, but the first to be reviewed then by Vital Weekly. Abrahams is, as a musician part of the Necks, which are described as an avant-jazz trio, but that's not shown in his solo release. Abrahams plays piano, hammond, rhodes, church organ, guitar, tambourine, bells, Yamaha DX7, Nord Waldorf Q+, prophet vs kurzweil, auto harp and field recordings. Mostly things with keys that is. Its not an album that is easy to pin down. The electronics are mostly atmospheric, but there are some interesting variations to be noted. For once, this is not an album of droney ambient music. A track like 'Twig Blown' for instance revolves around samples drum sounds, and owes much more to musique concrete than ambient music, while 'Running Out' has sudden bursts of guitar like sounds, amidst a bed of low humming electronics and piano sounds. The (too) lengthy 'Birds And Wasps' is a piece of more loudly sounds than quietness. The fairground sounds of 'Jellycrown', while the opening 'There He Reclined' reminded of the obscure A-Tent release on Cherry Red (still not on CD, damn it!). See: a curious hybrid of electronic music which offers a great deal of variation, but then also a great sense of unified approach. A very refined album." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| ABTAN, FREIDA |
Subtle Movements |
CD |
Debut-Album von FREIDA ABTAN, die zuletzt als NURSE WITH WOUND-Bandmitglied & Collaborateurin auffiel. Auf "Subtle Movements" bewegt sie sich zwischen experimentellem Abstrakt-Drone und Elektro-Akustik und setzt dabei oft & gekonnt ihre Stimme ein, um z.T. sehr schöne harmonische, repetitive & sich überlagernde Texturen zu bilden. Auf zwei Stücken ist STEVEN STAPLETON vertreten. Ein sehr vielversprechender Erstling !
"Freida Abtan loves sound. Her music falls somewhere in between musique concrete and more modern noise and experimental audio. Concentrating on the visceral and inspired by dreams, she has created visual shows for and played with Nurse with Wound, and also as presented her own sound and visual work at festivals across Canada.
Subtle Movements was completed over four years from the sidelines of Abtan's other projects and during her schooling in Montreal. It's a collection of her favorite pieces, combining her love of electro-acoustic music with her love of found melody. Two of the songs that appear on the album are collaborations with Steven Stapleton of Nurse with Wound, recorded in Colin Potter's studio in Preston, England, when Abtan traveled there to play a show as part of Scribble Seven in March 2006 alongside Stapleton, Potter, Andrew Liles, Matt Waldron, Joolie Wood, and Maja Elliott." [label info]
www.jnanarecords.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| ACHELOO |
Cycle |
CD-R |
" 'Cycle' is the fourth album of Carlo Luzi under the alias Acheloo. This is a wonderfully dark ambient album, the mixture of electronics and guitar create wonderful soundscapes.
The sound cyclicity in every track is the recurring element and the thematic constant, as in the tracks titles, is present in various cultures and various ambits: an ancient Chinese numeral system ("ten"), the basic units of time -60 seconds, 60 minutes, 24 hours- can all perfectly divide by twelve ("twelve"), the Tonalpohualli, the Aztec Calendar, has cycles of 13 numbers ("thirteen"), in Christian symbolism there are 9 orders of angelic choirs in 9 circles of heaven and 9 orders of devils within 9 rings of hell ("nine"), the sun spot cycle is 11 years ("eleven")." [label info]
www.acheloo.com
|
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| AD LUX TENEBRAE |
Ghanood |
CD |
"Dark Ambient | Drone | Ritual. Ghanood is new album of Ad Lux Tenebrae played in collaboration with 121 of Closing the Eternity. One more then half of hour long track. 100% organic & synth-free ambient somnolent meditation with strings, bells, drones, bowls, chimes & rainsticks." [label info]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| ADLER, GUNTER |
Douches Dames |
mCD-R |
"Jürgen Hall? Bei so einem musikalischen Namen hätte man sich doch nicht so nibelungendeutsch umtaufen müssen. Der mit dem Grönland Orchester (mit G. Reznicek) und Augsburger Tafelkonfekt (mit S. Reier) und Soloreleases auf Staubgold und Mik unter seinem Nom de plume bekannt gewordene Aachener, der nach seinem Studium in Hamburg hängen geblieben ist, steuert zur 1000füssler-Reihe drei überdurchschnittlich attraktive Tracks bei. Das 13-min. Titelstück entstand für eine Installation im Brüsseler Bains::Connective, das in den Räumlichkeiten eines einstigen Jugendstil-Damenbads untergebracht ist. Das hat Adler offenbar zu entsprechend spritzigen Sounds und zu Unterwasserklang angeregt, durchsetzt mit knackend rumorendem Klingklang, zunehmendem Stimmengewirr und Plantschgeräuschen und einer ganz feinen harmonischen Zierlinie, zu der punktuell heptatonische Skalen getupft werden. Das kurze ‚Scheppertones‘ danach meint eigentlich einen Tauchgang auf der Shepard-Tonleiter, jenem scheinbar unendlich absinkenden Glissando aus Sinuswellenfrequenzen, das auch schon Komponisten wie Tenney oder Risset reizte und das Adler mit furzelndem Geprassel durchsetzt. ‚Mousse-Touch‘ schließlich lautmalt einen nuanciert bebenden Fond, mal flirrend aufgehellt, mal wummernd abgesenkt und von Pfeiftönen durchschwirrt aus Zeiten, als Weltraumfahrer noch Nick oder Laika hießen." [Bad Alchemy]
"Douches Dames was part of an ancient indoor swimming pool in Forest/Brussels. Today this elegant Art Nouveau building hosts the eclectic art laboratory Bains::Connective. The music, originally intended as a sound installation, is an amalgam made of field recordings from inside the building, antique heptatonic scales and synthetically produced sounds spread out painstakingly in the first movement, infinitely transposed downwards in the second (Shepard Tones) and finally hidden inside a shady atmosphere in the third, where another stimulating motif is aperiodically interrupted by sudden violent curves. In addition Gunter Adler has compiled a jumbled array of electroacoustic samples forming a zigzagged rather than streamlined path through his archives. During the roaring times, after the melting of the polar caps had begun, visual artist Isabelle Rouquette showed works on this theme from a diversity of sources and engraved them into the trapezoidal patterned floor of the pool. On the day of the opening the interior was illuminated by flowing zebra skin light projections while the music was presented in a sort of live performance, a soundtrack accompanied by a sweeping improvisation on a synthesizer and twiddling with delay effects. It has an opulent and festive character and is at home in both ancient and modern contexts.
Douches Dames 12‘55
Scheppertones 3‘31
Mousse-Touch 5‘00
About the Artist:
Born and raised in Aachen, Germany. At the age of 17 he starts experimentating with synthetically produced sounds (Commodore 64, all data lost). Moves to Hamburg, Germany in order to study physics, philosophy, music theory. From 1992 to 96 works under the nome de plume ANUBIS (see Stora Compilation from 1993). Works out his first sound installations and in 1998 co-founds the GROENLAND ORCHESTER with G.Reznicek.
Invents his alter ego GUNTER ADLER and releases his solo debut on Staubgold. Additionally works on animation film and film scores. Toured continuosly with Groenland Orchester and Gunter Adler and teams up in the duo-improv group AUGSBURGER TAFELCONFECT with Sebastian Reier since 2002. The same year he releases a split album with Klangkrieg, again on Staubgold. Following up to this his next record Minutemusic is released by the polish Mik.Musik label [run by Wojt3k from Retro*Sex*Galaxy] in 2003. Since October 2003 he is running a net label for exquisite electronic music plakatif.net. www.gunter-adler.de "
[label info]
"After reading the press text that comes with this release, I must admit I still have not much idea what it is about. It was originally intended for a sound installation and uses field recordings from ancient indoor swimming pool in Brussels. The text also mentions something about the opening, a live performance and a soundtrack, but Gunter Adler lost me there. Adler is perhaps best known as a member of Groenland Orchester (together with G. Reznicek), and later with Augsburger Tafelconfect and solo as Adler (which is not his real name). The three pieces on this release are made of highly processed field recordings, of which we no longer recognize the origins. Gliding tones, sine wave like, objects that fall to the ground and sound effects working overtime. This is quite a nice, sweet, short and highly enjoyable release, for those who love their microsound to be much more free and not tied to the strict conventions of that scene. Nice indeed." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.1000fussler.com
|
2008 |
€6.00 |
|
| ADMIN DADA |
The Hypnagogic Traveller |
LP |
"First of all, you should know that the hypnagogic state characterizes a phase between wakefulness and sleep: that of falling asleep. So, as an insomniac who has trouble falling asleep, I was curious to see how Admin Dada would put all this to music. On a purely sonic level, we sail aboard rather spatial electronic drones, sometimes disturbed by more abrasive sound frequencies. It is true that when listening to this opus, one enters a form of psychedelic trip, as if the brain was following the modulations of the music, which becomes almost meditative and brings us closer to a shamanic trance state. It's a bit of a sound illustration of this particular moment when we leave the state of pure awakening to become more cottony, to feel the sensations of our body evolve, the noises gradually fade away, the breathing slow down.
Although generally calm, this work can become darker at times ("Vouivr") and approach a form of dark ambient rather psychedelic. I am well aware of Sheitan's creativity and his talent for handling atmospheres and melodies, even in quasi-atonal moments, but I find that he has surpassed himself here: this album settles in itself as a great pleasure that one immediately wishes to repeat. In addition to the digital version, the album is also available on vinyl, which will allow you to appreciate the very nice artwork.
With this album, Admin Dada has established itself among the references of modern ambient/experimental music, and one would have to be an idiot to miss it!"
[Le Scribe Du Rock]
https://hammersteinwaldteufel.bandcamp.com/album/the-
hypnagogic-traveller
review: https://www.webzinelescribedurock.com/2021/04/review-admin-dada-hypnagogic-traveller.html |
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| ADORAN |
same |
CD |
"An impressive project featuring Aidan Baker (Nadja, Whisper Room...) and Dorian Williamson (Northumbria, Holoscene). Spanning nearly an hour, the tracks of this album explore Aidan's and Dorian's sludgy doom-side in a whole different way: atmospheric as ever, yet heavily relying on rhythmic patterns. Aidan's drums sound bone-crushing, and are really the pulse of ADORAN's music. Straightforward drumming or playing around with syncopations, it makes the odd sludgy sounds Dorian produces come vibrantly alive. In light of these gentlemen's oeuvre, this albums sounds both familiar and at the same time excitingly fresh." [label info]
www.consouling.be
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| AEMAE |
The Helical Word |
CD |
Neues "experimental drone"-Projekt aus den USA mit hyper-abstrakten Klängen, metallisch-feedbackend & von halluzinogenem Flair..
"....Throughout the music is quite dark, but not atmospherical in the traditional dark ambient sense. As such his own description is quite appropriate. Not too noisy, not too academic or even too experimental, but Aemae treats a fine line between well defined genres and creates something that is indeed his own and that is these days quite an achievement." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"...a gorgeous and exquisitely crafted abstract free noise drone record. dark and deliriously dense, a perfect amalgamation of the experimental dronework of the hafler trio, the sweeping skreescapes of sunrooof! and vibracathedral orchestra and the abstract minimalism of mirror or jonathan coleclough. as well, this has plenty of distinctly unique sonic elements. heavily reverbed chimes and bells are smeared into a twinkling fog, slowly thickening into a dense slab of electrical impulses, woven together so tightly it resembles a buzzing ball of hornets, a throbbing thrumming drone. strange steel drum like electronic pulses, an alien gamelan, pickes out a tranquil melody beneath swooping and blooping spaciness, sheets of industrial shuffle, scrape and rumble, leaving sparkling trails of dense and complex almost idm skitter in their wake, albeit wrapped in thick gauzy veils of warm reverberant flutter. all stretched into distant, soft focus soundscapes of warbling whir and creaking ambience. quite lovely and sublime!" [Aquarius Records]
"brandon nickell, a 23 year-old navigator of harsh synthetic and electronic seas known as aemae, shows his admirable will to construct new kinds of uneasy architectures. the eight pieces of "the helical word" form a pyrotechnic cycle of cascading incidents, timbral shifts and granular abrasions which move like creatures without a preconceived position in an undetermined system, finally finding a way to transform contraptions and extrapolations into rough elliptical shapes and dehydrated approximations of parallel galaxies. nickell starts everything from "a pure exercise in synthesis"; the mobile force of educated noise and a well planned mix, even in absence of natural sources, make this music live its life in full - no dead spots or dull moments. considering the next-to-nil significance of most of today's electronica, not bad at all." [massimo ricci - touching extremes]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| AEOGA |
Obsidian Outlander |
LP |
"We are proud to present the new Aeoga album ‘Obsidian Outlander’ through our Sublunar series. The album also carries the honour of being the very first vinyl release of the label.
‘Obsidian Outlander’ slowly weaves together droning fabric of guitars and analog synths that melt together with abstract sounds and field recordings. Whereas earlier works have been more holistic in nature, 'Obsidian Outlander' is maybe the most narrow-focused thus far - bound to only certain frame and concept. The album exhales its nocturnal essence upon the listener and inhales this sensory experience back into Aeoga's mythopoetical dimension, crystallizing into a vision of a vigil standing before a slowly throbbing corpsecloth, while the black loom weaves the fabric of UN-inverse-OM. Total running time: 29:08.
The golden edition of the ‘Obdidian Outlander’ LP is enclosed in a customised and screen printed cardboard covers & inner sleeve, including three A5-sized insert cards. Limited to 350 copies.
The silver edition of the ‘Obsidian Outlander’ LP is enclosed in a customised and screen printed cardboard covers & inner sleeve, including three A5-sized insert cards. Limited to 130 copies." [label info]
www.auralhypnox.com
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Obsidian Outlander |
CD |
We are proud to present the new Aeoga album ‘Obsidian Outlander’ through our Sublunar series.
‘Obsidian Outlander’ slowly weaves together droning fabric of guitars and analog synths that melt together with abstract sounds and field recordings. Whereas earlier works have been more holistic in nature, ‘Obsidian Outlander’ is maybe the most narrow-focused thus far – bound to only certain frame and concept. The album exhales its nocturnal essence upon the listener and inhales this sensory experience back into Aeoga’s mythopoetical dimension, crystallizing into a vision of a vigil standing before a slowly throbbing corpsecloth, while the black loom weaves the fabric of UN-inverse-OM. Total running time: 29:08.
The CD version of the album is enclosed in a customised and screen printed Sublunar series cardboard covers, including three two-sided insert cards. Limited to 500 copies.
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| AERE AETERNUS |
Humanity needs no Funeral |
CD |
From the new wave of 'apocalyptic' or 'doom/death industrial' bands surely one of most interesting and impressive projects, AERE AETERNUS build a de-humanized soundtrack full of dark drones, over-expressive tortured voices, and devastating sounds. There is no light in this hellish Miasma, imagine SLEEP CHAMBER meeting LUSTMORD meeting dark HYBRYDS... The CD Version has video-track as bonus !
"Humanity Needs No Funeral", the first full-length album from AERE AETERNUS, was released on the French label Kaosthetik. With a multi-national and eclectic lineup, the band comprises Alex (MACABRE OMEN, THE ONE, RAZOR OF OCCAM), Claudio Alcara (FROSTMOON ECLIPSE, STROSZEK), Cyr (DARK SANCTUARY, ELKTRONIK SCIETY) and Radu. Drawing on the wide range and considerable musical experience of its members, AERE AETERNUS creates a dark, disturbing atmosphere that probably best fits within the ambient and minimalist genres, and which the band themselves describe as "half misanthropic ritual and half sex ritual." The dominant atmosphere combines a sense of impending insanity with sexual deviancy and a large dollop of occultism, creating a dark and troubling misanthropic sojourn that is relatively unique. The final track is probably the most musical, as it is centred on a guitar arpeggio, but no such concessions to convention are present elsewhere on this deeply troubling disk. The accompanying video (CD version ONLY) of "Invocation" shows a Satanic ritual in all its kitchsy glory. Recommended for those looking for something a darker than the usual entities. "When Dark Ambient meets Industrial Deviance" [label info] |
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| AGLAIA |
Sacred Waters |
CD |
Neben Solo- und Kollaborationen seines eigenen Projekts ALIO DIE erscheinen auf Stefano Mussos Label auch weitere italienische Musiken aus dem „natural dream ambience“-Feld. Das Duo AGLAIA ist auch so ein Fall, SACRED WATERS ist ihr zweites Album .... Musik die wie flüchtige visuelle Eindrücke funktioniert, die langsam verblassen & neu aufscheinen, in der alles auf sehr sanfte Art und Weise verschmilzt..... down-oktavierte Flöten, Guitars, Synth-Drops & drones, vorbei-huschende field recordings, Wassersounds, lange Echos ....
die Musik ist „nach aussen“ bewegungslos, „nach innen“ jedoch erscheint sie in ständiger Schwingung & Zeitlupen-Oszillation....ein Tag-Traum aus Klang !
“The textural ambient project Aglaia have finally released their second album. After a very good feedback from the first CD "Three Organic Experiences", "Sacred Waters" is the new offertoires to introduce more and more in the amniotic sound dimension, of their music. The layers's quality become more deep here.. in breathing circles where processed voices and acoustic instruments, appear to be evocative and fragmented like in a dream, or just like what an echo can play with sounds in an open landscape, coming from far distances with the wind. The electronics/analog sounds are waves of flowing energy with a powerful relaxing quality, and behind them you can hear sometimes an indian flavour like an incense stick burning. By the way it's not possible at all to explain and describe the originality of this music, his poetry and his psychoacoustic properties, but if you start to listen, it invites you to stay inside yourself, in the motionless, and timeless space that induce, bathing in the Sacred Waters of the infinite ocean of peace and inspiration. Cover paints by Alessandro Savelli, graphics by Hic Sunt Leones.” [label description]
|
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Three Organic Experiences |
CD |
Die zweite neue VÖ im Jahr 2003 für HIC SUNT LEONES beschert uns sehr luftigen, leichten, vorbeiwehenden Ambient der hochsphärischen Sorte dieses Newcomers aus Italien, inspiriert von griechischen Mythen... perfect late night music by this new Italian project..
„AGLAIA is a musical projekt by Gino Fioravanti and Gianluigi Toso. Gino Fioravanti is a therapist, writer, painter and musician. his touch with electronic music make it human and cosmic/amniotic at the same time. His writings and inspiration, research in different spheres like Alchemy, mythology, ortho-bionomy . Gianluigi Toso is a musician and back-school teacher. He moves through different musical styles, with Gino Fioravanti has relesed many cd for mind and spirit.
"Aglaia is one of the Chariti. The 'Cariti' are goddess of beauty, generally represented as three sisters.They live upon Olympus mountain toghether with Muses, with whom sometimes they sing chorus. They pleasently follow the tracks of Apollo, god of divination and music. Their father is Zeus, their mother is Eurinome, the daughter of the Ocean. It is generally considered that 'Cariti' exert every sort of influence upon works of mind and art.
Charis means living artís work. In some tradition they are daughters of Erebo and of the Night and love to dance under the pale moon light. The concept of AGLAIA is to create long musical instants, apparently motionless, but with inside the movement of hundred of nuances, micro-variations, pulsations. A fluid, sonoruous tapestry with a never ending motion. The music was thought like a magma of raw materials to refine throught an infinite number of sonorous passages. The listening of T.O.E. behave towards the micro-particle that compose our subtle individual plot, in a world where nothing is firm and nothing is really moving." [press release]
www.aliodie.com
|
2003 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Intangible Opacity |
CD |
"Aglaia is a great project from Italy, but probably still not appreciated as much as it deserves. The artist releases his albums in Stefano Musso’s Hic Sunt Leones, and it seems that his work remains in Alio Die’s shadow. Aglaia could be even bigger, but I think that Gino Fioravanti, sometimes aided by Gianluigi Toso, doesn’t really care about worldwide recognition – I figure he’s fine with his current position.
By all means however, Aglaia isn’t an Alio Die clone. Although the points of convergence can be easily noticed, Aglaia sounds less organic and prefers to focus on electroacoustics and the creation of an atmosphere by the use of more or less sophisticated electronics. This is no different in the case of “Intangible Opacity”, one of the two Aglaia albums recently published by Hic Sunt Leones.
On “Intangible Opacity” Gino Fioravanti dares to visit the place where the Earth’s atmosphere ends and the infinity of space begins, following the physical and chemical processes that occur in the ionosphere. The sound is based on warm but at the same time somehow distanced synthetic textures, and classical “el-music” as we used to say in Poland. I suspect that Fioravanti didn’t use any other instruments or field recordings on the album. Synths only.
Despite the strict nature of the music, it has a soul. Composed of zeros and ones, enchanted in the tiny box filled with chips and integrated circuits, but not allowing for the treatment of “Intangible Opacity” as only a virtually emotional, but in fact dry and mathematical record of the aforementioned processes that continually start, progress and end tens of thousands of kilometers above our heads. There’s no blackness, the sound is painted with thousands of hues, the blue and green of the earth being the parent colors. The title composition, the second to last, probably contains the most decent amount of space; the horizon seems to stretch widely, though all the tracks remain on a relatively equal level.
After several listens, I conclude that there are earlier Aglaia releases which I cherish more and will come back to more often in the future. I miss some element raging on the surface of Mother Earth. A wind shaking the barley, or wild fires. A thimble of organic sound appears in “Protonosfera”, the last one: Gino Fioravanti, at least for a while, gets back to where you can breathe fresh air, as if in spite of the title.
It’s still worth buying a ticket to the place from where there’s still a possibility to return. Aglaia still holds the fashion." [Stark / Santa Sangre]
aliodie.bandcamp.com/album/intangible-opacity
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| AGNIVOLOK |
Sculptor |
LP |
Wirklich Genre-übergreifend, was das in Israel beheimatete Projekt (aus dem CHAOS AS SHELTER-Umfeld bzw. dürfte Vadim Gusis aka CAS hier auch mitspielen) hier fabriziert hat: Leidenschaftlicher, ost-europäisch geprägter Folk mit klagendem weiblichen russischen Gesang vermischt mit industriellen drones & samples & konkreten Geräuschen, Pianotunes, das alles sehr sehr schwermütig zerbrechlich schön. Auf Seite B lange düstere Streichersounds und drones.. dazu ein großformatiges, sehr ästhetisches Cover mit kirillischen liner-notes. Absolutes Highlight!
Israel based Folk-Industrial project with very passionate & melancholic tunes, very much recommended, one of our highlights!
“ Like all Stateart releases, a highly demanding album. Agnivolok compells us to discover a new world of musical meltdown and takes traditional music into new dimensions. It is not folk - although the traditional fire will project ancient Caucasian gatherings into your mind. It is not ambient - although it makes you dream, and these dreams ache. Agnivolok is near life experience - music for spiritual travellers and the listener's V.I.T.R.I.O.L. This heavy vinyl LP comes in a supreme white cardboard folder with silver print.” [label description]
|
2002 |
€12.50 |
|
| AGUILAR, LUIS DAVID |
Ayahuasca: Musica Para Cine de Luis David Aguilar 1978-1983 |
LP |
"Ayahuasca: Music for Film, by Luis David Aguilar (1978-1983)" compiles works by Luis David Aguilar, one of the most prolific composers of film scores in Peru. It shows the great versatility and avant-garde style that has distinguished his work.
Luis David Aguilar (Arequipa, 1950) occupies a fundamental place in the history of film music in Peru, not only because of the prolific nature of his work (which also includes music for television and advertising), but because of the singular, experimental style found in many of his scores. Aguilar's music blends modern academic composition with the use of native instruments, synthesizers, sound collages and a diversity of resources, which identify him as a key figure to understand a period of Peruvian music marked by the imprint of the avant-garde and the use of native sounds, which developed during the late 70's and the early 80's.
Aguilar belongs to the so called “Generation of the 70's”, along with Peruvian composers such as Walter Casas, Seiji Asato and Aurelio Tello, who were then immersed in the languages of contemporary classical music. But he also shares the spirit of renewal of a generation of musicians who came from the world of jazz and electronic experimentation such as Manongo Mujica and Arturo Ruiz del Pozo.
After his graduation from the National Music Conservatory, Luis David Aguilar studied at the Instituto Nacional de Teleducación, starting from 1976, which proved to be decisive. It allowed him to start a career as a composer of music for radio and television, and drove him away from the classical scene. With this experience in hand, he was then able to produce film music and to work in many recording studios in Lima. He also set up his own studio and, as a result, he is the owner of a large archive of recordings, which has been maintained without being published. “During those years I composed a lot of music: children's songs, jingles for various radio shows, as well as music for television series, etc.”, says Aguilar. “The great attraction for me was that all of the music I created was recorded immediately, and because of my academic training, I was able to write scores for symphonic orchestra. My purpose was to introduce the sounds of classical instruments in the auditory memory of a vast audience. I had never experienced this possibility before. As an academic composer, I created works that were rarely performed. Most of them gathered dust in different places or, because of my lack of order and frequent relocations, they simply got lost. But during this period, all of the music I wrote came to life. I was also able to work with different recording studios and use their fantastic technical resources. In addition, this situation allowed me to create job opportunities for classically trained musicians (who at that time were very poorly paid). Over any other consideration, this had a clear social function, and the experience was totally worthy for me. In large measure, this is why I stopped working in academic settings.”
Ayahuasca is an album that collects pieces from 1978 to 1983 and offers an overview of the different musical paths that Aguilar followed during his career as a soundtrack composer. The album opens with music from the film El viento del ayahuasca [The Wind of Ayahuasca] (1983), by director Nora de Izcue, performed by the National Symphony Orchestra and Choir of Cuba under the baton of Luis David Aguilar, with Chucho Valdés on piano. Recorded at the ICAIC studios (Cuba), it is an ambitious orchestral and vocal composition, in which you can hear the beginning of the famous melody popularized by the Amazonian cumbia group Juaneco y su Combo, which serves as an introduction to the sound world of the jungle, a dense and hypnotic atmosphere that, without a doubt, places this work as one of the most important compositions of the author's repertoire.
The next track is the music for the documentary Anónimo cotidiano [Anonymous Everyday] (1979), by director Jorge Rey, a unique experimental piece for synthesizers (played by Aguilar), drums and percussion (played by Manongo Mujica), with the addition of various Andean instruments (panpipes, charango, among others). It is a clear example of fusion of sound experimentation and timbres from the Andean world.
And finally Los constructores [The Builders] (1978), by director José Carlos Huayhuaca, a salsa which incorporates unusual sounds of tubular bells and prepared pianos.
About this diversity of genres, the composer says: “Creating film music gave me a wide perspective, because of the possibility of using all the composition techniques that I studied, both traditional and avant-garde, and even inventing some of my own, in addition to giving me the versatile craft that is needed”.
Ayahuasca: Music for Film by Luis David Aguilar (1978-1983) is the second album by Aguilar released by Buh Records, following the celebrated Hombres de Viento/Venas de la Tierra (1978-1982), appeared in 2015. The album is published in vinyl format, in a limited edition of 300 copies, as part of the Essentials Sounds collection. It includes a booklet with notes by Luis David Aguilar. The audio has been remastered from the original reel tapes by Aldo Montalvo. The artwork and design is by About Studio.
This project was awarded with the Economic Stimulus for Culture 2021 of the Ministry of Culture of Peru.
https://buhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ayahuasca-m-sica-para-cine-de-luis-david-aguilar-1978-1983-essential-sounds-collection |
2022 |
€25.00 |
|
| AGUIRRE, MARCELO |
Contes d'Etonnement |
LP |
Voices, percussion, drums, and rather spooky electronic processing. A minimal structure onto which uncanny atmospheres become kind of interwoven. A sort of heterophony, in the manner of Japanese Gagaku or Indonesian Gamelan. An intriguing inversion seems to unfold, when the drum set takes the lead in the composition's development. We could even say the drums court the shadow of a melody, whilst the voice delivers a litany, enhancing atmospheres that are, to my ears, less sinister than they are elegiac: the longing for a primitive age, a meaningful world now lost and irrecoverable in its healthful entirety. This invocation works by way of an overlapping of sounds, always finding their source in the percussion set and in the vocal intonations.
It becomes apparent that time is the very question here, a time that is intangible and yet ‘absolute’ (if I may incur in this oxymoron), giving up any stringent historical temporality in favor of a sort of sedimentation in geological layers. Just listen to "Malaria C", a post-industrial landscape in the style of Lustmørd that brings to mind images of a universe in stasis, forever frozen in an ancient phase, while the voice underlines this ominous scenery, and the sound of tiny bells towards the end conjures a unique form of consolation as an ephemeral corollary.
In "Krakatoa", an extensive and vast sense of time lingers morosely in aural repetition, varying only slightly in intensity before the layered singing voices invoke an unlikely fulfillment. Those unmistakable chants may also resound in "Only A Mother", sort of a psalmody framed by a vehement and rhythmic acceleration which emphasizes how exacting and unavoidable is time's call.
Yet elusive, ungraspable time, resists being dissected into discrete and symmetrical units, escaping the prison of human perception; the drums go on and on, scanning their disparate metrics in an integral, unrestrained use of every component in the drum kit.
'I will follow the Time' could be guessed within "In Eternal Life". It is the only song which foregoes the drums. However, gongs recorded by close-miking bring to mind and ears the rumble of a synthesizer, coalescing with a jeremiad sung in a somber dialect that is cryptic, never discernible as intelligible language. The voice is merely another instrument, overlapping in disparate layers and warping polyphonic textures as its frequencies collide and clash, one against each other. While a voice recites an eerie mass, an incantation from another world, then punctuated by chants which resound like undulating drones.
It is difficult not to acknowledge the overall effect of some healthy dispossession, of a deliberate shedding of fineries, aimed at reducing everything to minimal expression. It is as if Marcelo Aguirre turns a cold shoulder to the weight of tradition and to the classification of musical experience with definite labels and overwrought categorization, as if he wanted to go beyond any accepted distinction of rhythm and melody, prose and poetry, or noise and harmony. Is his an appeal which knows of no precedent, a longing for an unheard form of music? A music able to transcend time and place while not relinquishing its human and historical fate? I cannot help taking note of a certain kinship that this musical inquiry of Aguirre's crisscrosses the time-honored obsession with Time, held by European philosophers from the late XIXth and early XXth Century. For instance, William James and his brother Henry's 'stream of consciousness', the 'durée' of Henri Bergson, and the transcendental subjectivity understood as an absolute by Edmund Husserl. What Aguirre may share with this company is the search for a language adept to communicate the indefinable, the flow of a temporality that does not allow itself to be captured in any given moment, instead it is music at the service of a primordial intuition. Therefore recovering an original order, harmonizing in a fullness of sense the flow of sounds. An attitude which positions itself at the antipodes of some developments in current electronic music, with its disassembling of the sound reality into beats (or bits and bytes), and an everlasting reiteration of artificial rhythmic structures, always monotonous and symmetrical even in their angularity. It is in this context of predominant musical tendencies nowadays, which blesses in a paradoxical marriage the once hostile fields of pop and experimentation, that these 'Contes d'Étonnement' reinvent a fresh appeal to the liberal imagination; a force as ancient (and eternal?) as the human species is.
[from the inlay, text by NORBERTO CAMBIASSO]
https://marceloaguirre.bandcamp.com/releases
|
2018 |
€17.00 |
|
| AHTI, MARJA |
The Current Inside |
LP |
The Current Inside”, Marja Ahti's sophomore album for Hallow Ground, plays with the theme of currents - connecting and animating movements in the form of air, water and electricity. It approaches sound as a poetic medium, focusing both on the experience of sound as form and energy and on a loosely narrative arc, suggesting a riddle on the relations between the sounds. It implements alternative as well as intuitive tunings, analog and digital synthesis, recordings of sonorous spaces and vessels, electromagnetic fields transduced into audio, acoustic close-ups of elements in motion and other field recordings. Fluently connecting quite diverse sound sources, Ahti's music lingers in a zone between abstract sonorities and vaguely familiar acoustic environments.
The first half of the album consists of ”The Altitudes”, a piece commissioned by Ina GRM for Présences Électronique and Sonic Acts. It was inspired by descriptions of the layers of Earth's atmosphere. Imagining a movement through layers of air, the piece unfolds with a slow intensity, interweaving concrete sounds and closely tuned electronic sonorities. Traversing the altitudes, a landscape of entangled elements, masses and currents emerges. The air around us has weight and it presses against everything it touches. As gravity pulls it to Earth, it is sensed as pressure. The rotation of the planet, the angle of the sun at any new moment sets the elements in motion in a chain reaction.
The other side consists of four shorter pieces. ”The Currents” opens with a dance of trembling charged movements. ”Lost Lake” extracts resonant tones from a trail of close-up recordings of winter environments, while ”Fluctuating Streams” channels streaming air in different forms. The closing track, ”Sundial”, could be construed as the steady turning of the planetary angle towards the sun, unfolding through fragments of everyday activity against the backdrop of piercing, slowly twisting, suspended tone.
Marja Ahti (b. 1981) is a musician and composer based in Turku, Finland. Originally from Sweden, Ahti has been a part of the Finnish experimental music scene for more than ten years in different constellations. She is currently active in the duo Ahti & Ahti with her partner and as a member of the Himera artist/organizer collective. Her critically acclaimed 2019 solo debut, Vegetal Negatives, explored a new formal language and sonic palette inspired by a short text by René Daumal.
https://hallowground.bandcamp.com/album/marja-ahti-the-current-inside
Composition, production, mixing: Marja Ahti
Voice: Johanna Kalliokulju
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi
Cover artwork by Niko Karlsson and design by Juri Puhakka
The Altitudes was commissioned by Ina GRM as part of Re-Imagine Europe, co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. The work was supported in part by Arts Promotion Centre Finland. Synthesizers recorded at EMS, Stockholm and Ina GRM, Paris. Voice recorded at IAC, Malmö. Field recordings from various locations in Finland, Sweden and Croatia.
Thanks to Olli Aarni, Niko-Matti Ahti, François Bonnet, Jason Dungan, Jonna Karanka, Laura Naukkarinen and Remo Seeland.
https://hallowground.bandcamp.com/album/marja-ahti-the-current-inside
|
2020 |
€22.50 |
|
| |
Still Lives |
LP |
“Still Lives” is the third solo full length by the Finnish composer Marja Ahti, following a pair of releases on the Hallow Ground imprint. As a collection, it may be seen as a series of studies on the liminality of the listening act and an investigation into the physicality of sound. Ahti forges vivid electroacoustic environments from field recordings, analog synthesizers, acoustic feedback, magnetic tape and digital processing, resulting in a set of articulate, prickly, and surprising compositions. In the artist’s words, “These pieces could be conceived of as vanitas paintings of a kind – selections of mundane or archetypal objects, sounds that have their own distinct qualities, but exist only by virtue of being temporary events. From another angle, one could think of them as shrines – objects assembled and set in a particular relationship to each other, charging each other in their given constellations.” Marja Ahti (b. 1981) is a musician and composer based in Turku, Finland. Originally from Sweden, Ahti has been a part of the Finnish experimental music scene for more than ten years in different constellations. She is currently active in the duo Ahti & Ahti with her partner and as a member of the Himera artist/organizer collective.
https://marjaahti.bandcamp.com/album/still-lives
"Rethinking the boundaries of electronic process and musique concréte on visionary new terms, Marja Ahti, returns with “Still Lives”, her first LP with Students of Decay.
Doubling as studies into the liminality of listening and the physicality of sound, from a pallet of field recordings, analog synthesizers, acoustic feedback, magnetic tape, and digital processing, Ahti weaves a series of free-standing sonic worlds at the borders of metaphor and abstraction, endlessly reconfiguring the meanings carried by language and sound across the album’s stunningly beautiful two sides.
Building on the accomplishments of two groundbreaking LPs for Hallow Ground - 2019’s Vegetal Negatives and 2020’s The Current Inside - as well as Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear?, her stunning duo with Niko-Matti Ahti released by Ouidah last year, the Swedish-born, Finland based artist / composer, Marja Ahti, returns with Still Lives, her first LP on Students of Decay. Across the album’s two sides - venturing further into unknown creative territory - Ahti’s delicate hand transforms raw sonic materiality into a shimmering and immersive tapestry - imbued with humanity and life - that presents electronic process and musique concrète on visionary new terms.
Active for more than a decade, first issuing solo efforts under the moniker Tsembla, as well as working within the psychedelic improv collective Kemialliset Ystävät, over the last few years the Swedish-born, Finland based, artist and composer, Marja Ahti, has risen to prominence within the global context of experimental music, increasingly gaining critical accolades for a series of releases issued under her own name.
An artist who takes nothing for granted, through the vessel of her work, Ahti endeavors to challenge and reconfigure fundamental elements of meaning that are carried by language and sound, setting out to build them again from scratch. The result, blending metaphor and abstraction, seamlessly binds the familiar and known - be it fleeting impressions of the natural world or elements and approaches to experimental music - through a radically unfamiliar pattern of human action and thought.
Her latest, Still Lives, issued by Students of Decay in a limited vinyl edition of 300 copies, takes this line of inquiry to beautiful new extremes.
Comprising eight compositions that double as studies into the liminality of listening and the physicality of sound, across the album’s two sides Ahti forges vivid electroacoustic environments from field recordings, analog synthesizers, acoustic feedback, magnetic tape and digital processing, resulting in a strikingly visionary reimagining of electronic process and musique concrète, within which impressions of a source material’s identity is retained, while simultaneously being allowed to be heard on autonomous and fully dislocated terms.
In Ahti’s own words, “These pieces could be conceived of as vanitas paintings of a kind – selections of mundane or archetypal objects, sounds that have their own distinct qualities, but exist only by virtue of being temporary events. From another angle, one could think of them as shrines – objects assembled and set in a particular relationship to each other, charging each other in their given constellations.”
Formed from tense collisions of harmony and dissonance - buzzes, long shifting and intersecting tones, textural abrasions and trickles, and impressions of nature intersecting with the technological and industrial - each piece, across the length of Still Lives, encounters the 'non-musical' taking on a new musical life, and proves Ahti to be what we suspected all along; one of the great, holistic voices in contemporary electroacoustic music resting in our midst.
Issued by Students of Decay in a very limited edition of 300 copies on vinyl, Still Lives stand high among our favourite records of the year. Grab it fast before it goes." [Soundohm]
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| AIN SOPH / SIGILLUM S |
Simulacra |
CD |
First released in 1989 as a tape on the legendary German label CTHULHU RECORDS and re-released in 1998 by OEC as limited vinyl, this legendary album sees finally the light for the first time into CD format.
An absolute masterpiece of Ritual Music by those two primer Italian post-industrial acts.
Tracklist:
1. AIN SOPH - Rex Tremendae
2. AIN SOPH - Estey
3. AIN SOPH - Katàbasis
4. AIN SOPH - Retrowange Novelle
Retrospective - SIMULACRA
5. SIGILLUM S - Sea Ov Dreams
6. SIGILLUM S - Abyss Dissection
7. SIGILLUM S - Deepest Of My Brain
8. SIGILLUM S - Into the Nothing
9. SIGILLUM S - Iconsire
###############################
"thee Roma based Italian projekt Ain Soph were active for over twenty years & generated an opus which has irrefutably impacted many who have followed!! conjuring dark ritual atmospherics beginning in thee early 80's, and working into realms which were at times neo-classical, archaic-choral, traditionalist folk, and even psychedelicised renderings ov rock. this cassette was released intitially upon thee highly respected German industrial/experimental electronics label Cthulu which operated from 1981 until 31 Dec. 1999. Will-I Stasch and Rose Kasseckert ran the label and are well-known for their work as Ernte, as well as being two-thirds of Mental Measuretech and publishing the magazine "The Feverish"." the cassette was also later reissued onto a vinyl format by thee astonishing Italian labels Old Europa Cafe & Misty Circles!! whilst thee materials for thee Ain Soph side ov this release are not easily definable; an inarticulate summation comrprised ov thee descriptives dark ritual electronics, haunting choral workx, and neo-classical symphonics may be within a range ov aproximation; though thee reader/listener shall hopefully draw reactions ov their own.. thee lineup for these recordings was listed as: Clau-D.E.D.I. [Claudio Giammarini- Circus Joy, Sentinels, Mushroom's Patience, MALATO..], Crucifuge, Foraenovis, and Marcello Fraioli [Sex Voto, Spectre]!!
thee projekt Sigillum S [alternately known as Apocalypse Fanfare & Helix] were "formed in Milan on 23 December 1985 by Paolo Bandera [Komplet, Sshe Retina Stimulants, Sidra ], Eraldo Bernocchi [Black Engine, Charged, Equations of Eternity, Metallic Taste of Blood, Owls, Parched, Somma], and Luca Di Giorgio! still active after more than twenty-five years ov creative activities; thee presence ov this projekt tis undefinably magnificent!! thee recordings for this cassette consist ov uncanny synthesizer ambiances with ritualistic percussions and vocals with thee usuage ov human bones as instrumentation!!
for all ov those who may have been waiting: may this be a token ov affection from your faltering presenteur.."
[vitaignescorpuslignum.blogspot.com]
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| AIR CUSHION FINSH |
Gezieferreigen |
CD |
»Blauholz« ist ein Buch von Ditterich von Euler-Donnersperg, gelesen von Lippstueck. Henry Marcuse »Eros y Civilisación«, gelesen von jayrope. Mittschnitt der Radio-Sendung »Biesentales« auf Cashmere-Radio vom 06.01.2018
Musik
Daniel Bjarnason »Over light earth«
Murcof & Philippe Petit »The call of Circé« *
Ju..rgen Ploog »Tapes von unterwegs 1971-1976«
Murcof & Philippe Petit »The call of Circé« *
jayrope [live] »Einerlirre«
Pauline Oliveros & Musiques Nouvelles »Four meditations for orchestra«
Dead Mauriacs »Nouvelles fonctions exotiques« *
Songs of Norway »Inner arms and legs«
Felix »As blue as your eyes lover«
jayrope [live] »Zweierfrei«
Column One »Cherokee«
Felix »What i learned from TV«
Dead Mauriacs »Nouvelles fonctions exotiques« *
Dan Hayurst »Great day atonal soda«
Ellen Fullman & Konrad Sprenger »No home«
Murcof & Philippe Petit »The call of Circé« *
Dimitris Petsetakis »The prophecy«
jayrope [live] »Eisglas«
Musik erscheint hier mit Zustimmung der Künstler, insbesondere Murcof & Philippe Petit »First Chapter« [Aagoo Sec./Rev Lab.]
* Ausschnitt
Lippstueck und jayrope danken Cashmere Radio, Berlin, Robert Schalinski und den Musikern und Autoren.
Coverbilder
Jan Focke
Vorderseite: »Picknick« 2015, Öl auf Leinwand, 120 x 150 cm; Innenseite: »Haus mit Leuten« 2016, Öl auf Leinwand, 140 x 180 cm
www.molokoplusrecords.de/finder.php?folder=Label&content=76
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| AJNA |
The Enigma of Sirius |
CD |
Ajna returns to Winter-Light with his first solo album on our label 'The Enigma Of Sirius', having previously collaborated with Onasander on their 'Canidia' release.
Ancient tribes and civilisations such as The Dogon, The Egyptians and the Sumerians to name a few, claim to have had contact with extraterrestrials from the Sirius star system (Sirius A, B & C) anywhere from 5,000-10,000 years ago.
These ancient civilisations obtained advanced and extensive knowledge on the occult, physics, astronomy. mathematics etc without any modern technology, this knowledge was mostly likely given to them by extraterrestrials. The Dogon themselves claim that they have a secret portal that directly connects them to the Sirius star system where they also describe that it is the place where many departed souls dwell.
These 10 tracks evoke the mystery of how humans have contacted and/or have been contacted by otherworldly entities since the dawn of time.
https://winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/the-enigma-of-sirius
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| AKATOMBO |
Trace Elements |
CD |
" In common with all swim releases this album is hard to pin down to a genre. One could define this as a very urban sound with it's roots in hip hop and close observation would reveal this statement to be entirely true BUT without listening this would create an entirely erroneous view of what this album is. The author & main protagonist Paul Kirk is in fact an ex-patriot Scot living in Hiroshima and the album crackles with the urban displacement of a stranger in a strange land. It is a music which is not separated from the place in which it is made, disembodied voices, street sounds, telephones, bad connections and urban detritus are constant reminders of the Japanese cityscape. Paul Kirk says - "Trace Elements came about through a fascination with the layering of sound - any type of sound - from any source. Not necessarily those that most of us think of as musical". He goes on to say - "Each song on the album was written, recorded and mixed on the same day of it's conception - in Hiroshima, in a studio that specializes in soundtracks for TV adverts with the help of an engineer who didn't speak English." Paul also employed a few musicians to add to the effect those include the former bass player of Long Fin Killie, Colin Greig and some mates from his days running the Human Condition label (which actually put out Idlewild's first single but we won't hold it against them!) Grant MacNamara & Gavin Henderson. Meanwhile, guitarist Masaru Saeki actually toured with Japan & Roxy music!"
[label info]
www.swimhq.com
|
2003 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
False Positives |
CD + DVD-R |
"Is it or isn’t it? Have I or haven’t I? Aaah, the joys of a false positive. Hence the title for this, the 3rd full-length album from Hiroshima-based, ex-pat Scotsman, Paul Thomsen Kirk’s AKATOMBO audio/visual extravaganza. Dark and brooding – or – mellifluously uplifting ? “False Positives” carries on the recurrent, underlying theme of urban & cultural alienation in a media-connected, (controlled?), Japanese metropolitan environment, previously presented on the critically acclaimed AKATOMBO albums, “Trace Elements” (SWIM ~ Records) & “Unconfirmed Reports” (Hand-Held Recordings).
From skimming the surface, to trawling the dank underbelly: the daily minutiae of life in a large, concrete/glass/steel Japanese metropolis is duly presented in all its garish hues and faded glories. Accessing all areas, and hopefully dispelling some Japanese urban myths along the way, “False Positives”, allows you, the willfully willing participant, the perfect opportunity to immerse yourself completely in a thoroughly enticing, mesmeric, 360-degree sonic adventure." [label info]
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| AKBARI, ARASH |
Perpetual |
mCD-R |
living in tehran (iran), arash akbari is a sound and new media artist exploring the ambient, drone and noise styles. his past works were released by various internal labels like soft recordings, unknown tone or flaming pines.
for this track, akbari created a beautiful and very cinematographic ambient piece. immerse yourself in "perpetual"...
https://taalem.bandcamp.com/album/perpetual-alm-122
|
2018 |
€5.00 |
|
| AKITA, MASAMI |
Wattle |
pic-LP |
Elevator Bath's series of picture disc LPs (each record being adorned with full-color artwork by the recording artist) comes to its conclusion with a top-notch new release from the great Masami Akita.
Wattle is a new, two-part composition featuring Akita's traditional soup of unidentifiable metallic clanging, crushing feedback, jagged white noise, and various effects. It does not disappoint. There are no drums, no guitars, no vocals; just scorching electronic mayhem of the highest quality.
The colorful images here are based on photographs shot and subtly manipulated by Masami Akita, who sends the following message:
"Turkey is beautiful animal and do not eat them."
Agreed.
Masami Akita is, of course, the artist behind the seminal, vegan, straight edge, noise project, Merzbow. He lives in Tokyo.
This picture disc LP has been released in an edition of 270 copies. Every copy purchased directly from Elevator Bath will include a download code for high quality files of the entire audio content of this LP.
www.elevatorbath.com
"Masami Akita (aka Merzbow) dedicates this album to the turkey, following numerous explosive noise albums in homage to various animals. While frogs, fish, and dolphins have appeared throughout the Merzbow menagerie, birds in particular seem to the object of fancy for Akita, and here he offers the following: "Turkey is beautiful animal and do not eat them." How his vegan beliefs co-exist with the feral electric screams that is the Merzbow / Akita aesthetic has long been a mystery to us; but that does not diminish the psychedelic intensity and kaleidoscopic overload heard here. Akita is focused (or appears to focus) on the analog systems of closed-circuit noise construction that dominated his work up through the mid-'90s. Wattle squiggles and noodles with an electronic squawking that could be Akita's mimicking of the titular bird, with these sounds (un)settled above a scorching roar of jet-engine tumult and clattering demon-pulse frenzy. Limited edition picture discs of just 270 copies!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
| AKIYAMA, MITCHELL |
If night is a weed and day grows legs |
CD |
Sehr poetische und tagträumerische piano & violin-ambience, mit digitalen Effekten durchsetzt, minimal und fliessend, manchmal versinkt alles in grobkörnigem Rauschen....aber auch fragmentarischerer, spärlicher klingende tracks......sphärische FENNESZ oder TIM HECKER sind hier oft wirklich nicht weit.....
“Recorded in Montréal, Canada, If Night Is A Weed And Day Grows Less, the 4th solo cd by Mitchell Akiyama, marks a more concerted return to Akiyama's classical roots. ll eight pieces grew out of four piano compositions that were torn apart and reassembled - fragments of one piece contaminating another - reordered melodies, hidden references, obscured refrains. It is weeds fighting the hegemony of the lawn, it is the possibility of anarchy resulting
in fleeting orders of beauty, it is the progeny of Steve Reich, Michel Foucault and Marcel Duchamp.
The clear melodic beauty of Christian Fennesz but with a piano…
The slow growing form of Akiyama Mitchell Akiyama's career in the arts has followed a reasonably circuitous path. A student of creative writing and literature before switching to interdisciplinary studies,
Akiyama's work as a composer of electronic music and video artist has come to incorporate disparate disciplines, aesthetics and theoretical traditions. He has beenbased in Montreal since 1998 and has thoroughly absorbed the currents of electroacoustics, visual art and modern dance for which the city has always been famous. Akiyama's musical output began with his debut album, intr_verse which he released himself on his nascient intr_version imprint in 1999. A warm, complex work of beat-driven electronica, the record received several glowing reviews and managed to find its way into a few year end lists despite its small run and limited availability.
A 2001 follow-up was released on Canadian label Alien8's sublabel, Substractif. It was met with near unanimous acclaim from critics and propelled Akiyama to prominence in the Canadian experimental electronic music scene. He recently released a collaborative work with Cincinnati musician Joshua Treble. The project, Désormais marks a more organic, compositional direction for Akiyama. Brimming with deconstructed guitars, pianos and field recordings, it is a lush and sometimes jarring work. His third solo full length, Temporary Music, was recently released by renowned German label Raster-Noton.
Akiyama has performed extensively in Canada, Japan, The USA and Europe at festivals (such as Montreal's Mutek and Barcelona's Sonar), art galleries and clubs. Video once seemed like an unlikely milieu for Akiyama. Upon taking a class in video production and history he had no background in film, video or photography. He was inspired by the interface of the still reasonably new phenomenon of digital non-linear editing which he found similar to his digital
music working environment. Three videos emerged - re:sound, the argument and the static industry - all of which played extensively at film and video festivals in Canada. He has since been involved mainly in creating "video paintings" which accompany him whenever he performs musically. Recently these two disciplines, music and video, along with graphic design (which is one of the many way through which Akiyama earns a living) have been collapsing in on each other. Videomusic performances, multimedia cd-roms and an altered way of seeing and hearing have come out of this fusion. With the locus of Akiyama's work being the computer and the inter-relatedness and similarity of sound, video and design software, these fusions are sure to yield strange new fruit.” [press release]
|
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
| AKSAK MABOUL |
Figures |
do-LP |
The legendary experimental pop outfit returns with a brand-new record entitled Figures, written, conceived and produced over the last couple of years by Marc Hollander (founder of Aksak Maboul and of the Crammed label) and Véronique Vincent (former singer with The Honeymoon Killers).
Figures is a double album containing 22 tracks and interludes, resulting from the flow of creative ideas which arose after a gap of over thirty years (see the Aksak story overleaf). Drawing again from the multiple sources which have always inspired the band (from electronic music and pop to experimentation, jazz, minimalism, contemporary classical etc), Aksak Maboul transcends and reconfigures them with its inimitable style, to create an impressive, rich and unclassifiable piece of work.
Seamlessly weaving electronic and acoustic instrumentation, improvisation and programming, songs, beats, found objects and sound collages, the album works as a labyrinth, full of secret passages and interconnections. Figures clocks in at 75 minutes, thus deliberately shunning the laws of instant gratification and the myth of today’s reduced attention span: the Aksak Maboul aficionados will surely be happy to engage in an immersive session of deep listening (in two halves), in order to enjoy the album’s many layers and details.
Véronique Vincent & Marc Hollander wrote the album together, by following parallel courses with their own respective internal logic, while remaining closely connected. Enigmatic and finely chiseled, feeding on her love for painting and literature, Véronique’s texts form a dense fabric which mirrors the sonic kaleidoscope assembled by Marc, who wrote and arranged all the music (aside from a track co-written and sung by Véronique and Julien Gasc). Véronique also made the drawings and paintings which illustrate the cover and inserts.
The two protagonists recorded most of the album in their own studio, with contributions by the young members of Aksak Maboul’s current live line-up: Faustine Hollander (bass, vocals, co-production), guitarist Lucien Fraipont and drummer Erik Heestermans. Also featured are performances by several friends and guests, including revered improvisor Fred Frith, Tuxedomoon’s Steven Brown, members of Aquaserge (Julien Gasc, Audrey Ginestet & Benjamin Glibert), former band members (including Michel Berckmans and Sebastiaan Van den Branden), and several others
https://aksakmaboul.bandcamp.com/album/figures
|
2020 |
€25.00 |
|
| AL-QASAR |
Wo are we? |
LP |
Middle Eastern psych-rock collective Al-Qasar"s debut album is an explosive mix of heavy Arabian grooves, global psychedelia and North African trance music. The band calls it "Arabian fuzz." Brazenly electric yet deeply connected to their roots, guests include Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys) and Alsarah (Alsarah & The Nubatones). Mixed by Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, PJ Harvey). Al-Qasar was born in the Barbès neighbourhood of Paris," explains band leader Thomas Attar Bellier. "I"ve lived in Los Angeles, Paris, New York, Lisbon... I wanted to start a project that was in tune with the daily life of people living in these international cities, something diverse, radically colourful, with a fresh, contemporary outlook on what societies really look like today". The musicians came together from France, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, and the United States. Shows followed, first in France, then in Europe and the Middle East. They put out an EP, the widely-lauded Miraj, recorded in Cairo. In the same time frame, Attar Bellier collaborated with the likes of Emel Mathlouthi and Dina El Wedidi, two of the most exciting names in contemporary Arab music. Drawing on years of experience working in Los Angeles studios, Attar Bellier produced the album. Who Are We? translates the sound that inhabited his head into something physical that stirs spirit, heart and feet. It is relentless and insistent, like a psychedelic celebration on the dancefloor, bristling with the kind of deep energy that makes Al-Qasar sound like the world"s most dangerous wedding band. During those years spent behind the control board, Attar Bellier made some good friends in the US, and they"ve been eager to help out on the project. Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, PJ Harvey) mixed the record, and Grammy-winner Dave Collins mastered it. The Dead Kennedys" Jello Biafra was a natural addition to "Ya Malak," his inimitable voice reciting a translation of Egyptian revolutionary poet Ahmed Fouad Negm, elevating the record"s social critique while showcasing the first-ever English recording of Negm"s work. Jello Biafra is not the only punk hero to appear on Who Are We? Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth layers textured, brooding guitar over the first two cuts, "Awtar Al Sharq" and "Awal." The sweeping drones embrace the Moroccan bendir groove to magical results. "Lee sent me upwards of eighteen guitar tracks," says Attar Bellier in amazement. "It was enough for an entire EP, and all so good. The hard part was deciding what not to use. Lee"s vibe just fit perfectly with what I was trying to do with the track." Who Are We? is an exhilarating album. Its intensity never wavers, music that pulls from the hypnotic roots of North African trance and threads it into a fabric with the elaborate beauty of Arabic scales and the shock and thrill of rock"n"roll. It is modern folklore, a reflection of the cross-cultural societies we"ve become.
https://alqasar.bandcamp.com/album/who-are-we
|
2022 |
€22.50 |
|
| ALDEA, ERIC |
Saturno o Cipolla |
CD |
Erinnert sich noch jemand an die hervorragende französische “Rock”-Band (Rock im Geiste von THIS HEAT wohlgemerkt) namens BÄSTARD? Dies ist das äußerst empfehlenswerte erste Solo-Album des ehemaligen BÄSTARD-Mitglieds ERIC ALDEA, der sich hier in drone-ambiente Gefilde begibt und ein meisterliche Atmosphären & Sounds erzeugt, betörende Drones mit orientalen Blasinstrumenten, Resonanz-Loop-Schichten verschmelzen mit field recordings, glitchig-fremdartige Frequenzfelder tauchen auf, getaucht in warme Klangfarben ... bester deep Ambient & atmospheric Electronic! BIOSPHERE meets ZOVIET FRANCE meets GLITCH.?
“Eric Aldéa was a member of Lyons based post rockers Bästard, whose collaborators included Chicago luminaries Bundy Brown and Casey Rice, and was previously in industrial hardcore merchants Deity Guns. His first solo record betrays few of those influences though; compiled from various pieces written for dance company La Baraka, Saturno o Cipolla ? delivers a warm, organic take on experimental ambient electronics. Aldéas approach is informed more by the lo-fi layering of industrial types like Zoviet France or the tapeloop outings of Fripp & Eno than by the cut 'n paste glitchscapes beloved by the average bald bloke with a Powerbook, though we do get a bit of digital snap crackle n blip on a couple of pieces. Elsewhere Aldéa delicately weaves together shortwave transmissions, field recordings and acoustic instrumentation with rarely heard skill. While countless TV advertised ambient compilations may promise to, er, take the listener on a journey, Aldéas gradual unfolding of his pieces seems to do just that. The thirteen minutes of "02" are especially seductive; opening with a chatter of shortwave crackles and bleeps, an opressive string figure repeats itself to be swept away by a held, suspended chord flecked with bowed double bass harmonics and gurgling synthetics. A phone goes off somewhere; footsteps are briefly heard. A gentle synth loop fires up eventually to be overrun by glassy digital tones and telex bleeps which swarm and multiply before abruptly fading. Here Aldéa's manipulation of acoustic space recalls David Toop and Max Eastleys classic Buried Dreams, though is less likely to give you nightmares. Less successfully, "03" and "04" stray into more conventional electronica territory, with looped sinewave drones, clicks and metallic synthbursts piling up and receding in typical minimal art techno fashion. The closing trio of pieces save the day though; revolving around mournful, muted strings, alternately decorated with bubbling analogue synth, dolorous cello and distant xylophone figures, they evoke a calm tinted with a vague sense of unease, like seeing a single black cloud in a summer sky.Immersive, often beautiful and with a slightly ungraspable quality that makes you want to stick it on again as soon as its finished, Saturno o Cipolla ? may well turn out to be one of the records of the year...” [Peter Mash, BBC website]
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
| ALDINUCCI, GIULIO |
Disappearing in a Mirror |
CD |
talian sound artist GIULIO ALDINUCCI drops his 2nd album on Karl: “Disappearing In A Mirror” is again a truly masterfully composed and sound-designed ambient masterpiece and a more than worthy follow-up to the critically acclaimed “Borders And Ruins” which made it onto several year’s best lists for 2017.
Over the course of four solo albums on labels like DRONARIVM plus EPs and collaborative albums (a.o. with IAN HAWGOOD), GIULIO ALDINUCCI successively has been refining his skills as composer and sound designer. His elegant style which blends ambient and field recordings came to full impact on his 2017 album “Borders And Ruins” which gained the Italian sound artist a lot of critical praise and made it onto several year’s best lists, a.o. Acloserlisten.com. ALDINUCCI’s latest effort is again not only a musical masterpiece of sublime beauty and sacral majesty, it also deals with philosophical concerns. Where “Borders …” was a reflection on the instability of borders - borders as an extreme attempt to discriminate and rationalize that turns into a source of chaos and cultural ruins on both sides - and their impact on the relationship between people and territory, “Disappearing In A Mirror” raises the very personal question of identity. In the words of ALDINUCCI himself:
“ ‘Disappearing In A Mirror’ focuses on the fluidity of the identity concept, highlighting the harmonious coexistence of contradictory elements and the transitional features that characterize every transformation. It is a reflection on the current situation of change and disruption and at the same time it is a gaze into the human timeless soul and its inner soundscapes.”
https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/disappearing-in-a-mirror
"Apart from his various collaboration and split releases, Disappearing In A Mirror is Giulio Aldinucci's follow-up to 2017’s Borders and Ruins, and it is his second release for Karl Records. If you thought Borders And Ruins depicted a rather dark view on the state of the world, you’d better be ready for this new album. “Where [Borders and Ruins] was a reflection on the instability of borders and their impact on the relationship between people and territory, 'Disappearing In A Mirror' raises the very personal question of identity." Aldinucci manages to create a sonic version of a hall of mirrors, where you can get completely disoriented from the images of yourself trying to find a way out. In a striking combination of gritty distorted sounds and distant orchestral and choral arrangements that sound like a stretched Beethoven symphony, the first two tracks present a frightening dystopic view. But from there, Aldinucci [somewhat] restores the balance with 'Notturno Toscano', as if he doesn’t want to scare the listener too much. But even in this track the intensity slowly increases again. There’s no way out of the mirror maze, it seems… "Disappearing In A Mirror focuses on the fluidity of the identity concept, highlighting the harmonious coexistence of contradictory elements and the transitional features that characterize every transformation. It is a reflection on the current situation of change and disruption and at the same time it is a gaze into the human timeless soul and its inner soundscapes." If the sweat in the palms of my hand is an indicator of emotional intensity, this album definitely belongs on the top the list!" [Headphone Commute] |
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Shards of Distant Times |
CD |
"Italian sound artist GIULIO ALDINUCCI returns with his 3rd album on KARL: “Shards Of Distant Times” is again a truly masterfully composed and sound-designed ambient masterpiece and a more than worthy follow-up to the critically acclaimed “Borders And Ruins” (2017) and “Disappearing In A Mirror” (2018) which both made it onto several year’s best lists.
Over the course of six solo albums on labels like DRONARIVM plus EPs and collaborative albums (a.o. with IAN HAWGOOD), GIULIO ALDINUCCI successively has been refining his skills as composer and sound designer. His elegant style which blends ambient and field recordings came to full impact on his previous KARL albums “Borders And Ruins” and “Disappearing In A Mirror” which gained the Italian sound artist a lot of critical praise and made it onto several year’s best lists, a.o. Acloserlisten.com. ALDINUCCI’s latest effort is again not only a musical masterpiece of sublime beauty and sacral majesty, it also deals with philosophical concerns.
Where “Borders …” was a reflection on the instability of borders and “Disappearing In A Mirror” raised the very personal question of identity, “Shards Of Distant Times explores the liminal areas of the contemporary soundscape that are characterized by the presence of human voice coming from old and timeworn recordings. Like in the auditory pareidolia, the psychological phenomenon in which the mind hears indistinct voices in random noise where none exist, voices and music emerge from the everyday soundscape through the omnipresent internet connected devices, creating glitches between time and space” (ALDINUCCI)."
https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/shards-of-distant-times
|
2020 |
€13.50 |
|
| |
Shards of Distant Times |
LP |
Italian sound artist GIULIO ALDINUCCI returns with his 3rd album on KARL: “Shards Of Distant Times” is again a truly masterfully composed and sound-designed ambient masterpiece and a more than worthy follow-up to the critically acclaimed “Borders And Ruins” (2017) and “Disappearing In A Mirror” (2018) which both made it onto several year’s best lists.
Over the course of six solo albums on labels like DRONARIVM plus EPs and collaborative albums (a.o. with IAN HAWGOOD), GIULIO ALDINUCCI successively has been refining his skills as composer and sound designer. His elegant style which blends ambient and field recordings came to full impact on his previous KARL albums “Borders And Ruins” and “Disappearing In A Mirror” which gained the Italian sound artist a lot of critical praise and made it onto several year’s best lists, a.o. Acloserlisten.com. ALDINUCCI’s latest effort is again not only a musical masterpiece of sublime beauty and sacral majesty, it also deals with philosophical concerns.
Where “Borders …” was a reflection on the instability of borders and “Disappearing In A Mirror” raised the very personal question of identity, “Shards Of Distant Times explores the liminal areas of the contemporary soundscape that are characterized by the presence of human voice coming from old and timeworn recordings. Like in the auditory pareidolia, the psychological phenomenon in which the mind hears indistinct voices in random noise where none exist, voices and music emerge from the everyday soundscape through the omnipresent internet connected devices, creating glitches between time and space” (ALDINUCCI).
https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/shards-of-distant-times
|
2020 |
€19.00 |
|
| ALDINUCCI, GIULIO / MATTEO UGGERI |
Bureau |
CD |
Matteo Uggeri : Field Recordings and Beats
Giulio Aldinucci : Field Recordings and Drones
In 2016 Matteo Uggeri took hundreds of pictures during his working days in 70’s building aimed at training and desk work located in the surroundings of Milan
Later that winter the photographs served as inspiration for this album themed on alienation of offices working life. Tracks are based on outdoor field recordings
looped, treated and re-shaped in order to be transformed into beats,rhythms, (Matteo) drones and melodies (Giulio)
https://adnrecords.com/album/giulio-aldinucci-matteo-uggeri-bureau/
"An emotionally absorbing, vibrant and sensitive personal voyage
Matteo Uggeri is one multifaceted and emblematic sound/noise designer artist from Italy—also one founder member of the chamber post-rock collective Sparkle in Grey. His usual signature can be described as composite ambient sceneries where sonic textures meet story-telling minimal sketches and expanding downtempo vibes.
In this new release he collaborates with Giulio Aldinucci, who is a seducing and creative electroacoustic soundscaper whose production (in solo or in collaboration, notably with Francesco Giannico) is largely recognized in the DIY indie community with a fancy for mesmeric, chilled-out then discreet electronic ambient music.
Bureau is an emotionally absorbing, vibrant and sensitive personal voyage through a vast array of emotions, tone colors, flexible tones and kinetic electronic impulses. This is mostly one electronic and ambient-centered atmospheric album with a stylistic inclination for hypnotic organic textures (as in the ravishing “Fire Dome”) and minimal-tinged chilled out soundscapes with more abstract sounds and airy clicks and cuts (in “Inceneritore” “Ghiaccio”), even flirting with glitch-esque vibes (“Ghiaccio”) and hauntology (in the eerie and weirdly “Zoo”).
An easily recommended listening and catchy electronic effort to consider if you are into post-minimal techno, IDM and syncretic ambient waves. Somewhere between Christian Fennesz, Microstoria, Oval, Hecq, and Beequeen."
[Philippe Blache (Igloo Magazine) August 23, 2020]
"Somewhere in the back of my mind, I had already registered the return of ADN Records, erstwhile a cassette label with some great releases (New 7th music, Amok, Pascal Comelade, Bourbonese Qualk etc) in the 80s. They were called (not by me) the Italian version of Recommended Records. They have come back, already some time ago and picked up on a generation of ‘younger’ musicians. Matteo Uggeri took hundreds of photos of his workplace in a ’70s building and that became the inspiration for this work with Giulio Aldinucci. They both use field recordings, but Aldinucci melts the re-processed field recordings into drones and Uggeri into beats. These beats should not be understood as a bunch of big 4/4 rhythms, but minimalist drum patterns of a dark nature. It fits the ditto dark drones as produced by Aldinucci, that are sometimes pretty straight forward sustaining clouds of sound, but most of the time also add a small melodic touch to them. I have no idea where these field recordings were made, only recognizing the fanfare on the street in ‘Chinese New Year‘ and some wind/rain/water sounds in other pieces, or vast empty parking space. Sometimes the beats produced by Uggeri seem almost absent, such as in ‘Inceneritore‘, but maybe they are even more spaced out here. I think it is quite a clever move to work with field recordings in the way these gentlemen do; just treating them into big chunks of abstract ambient music has been done quite enough, but adding minimalist rhythms and re-shaping field recordings into lovely chunks of melodic ambient is also perhaps not unique, but it is not done to death yet (at least, not that I know) and as such, this is a great album." Frans De Waard (Vital Weekly n. 1246)
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| ALE HOP |
The Life of Insects |
LP |
Ale Hop is an artist, researcher, and experimental instrumentalist. She composes electronic and electroacoustic music, by blending strains of noise, pop, avant-garde, ambient and a complex repertoire of extended techniques for electric guitar and real-time sampling devices which she uses as her sound vocabulary to craft a performance of astonishing physical intensity, saturated of layers of distortion and stunning atmospheres.
Her body of work includes immersive multichannel installations, live performances, sound sculptures, video, 3D, composition and sound design for theater, dance and film, releases, academic publications, and workshops. The Life of Insects is her fourth studio album.
The composer began to craft the album The Life of Insects after spending one month living with different types of insects in her home studio, which she bought from a local insect dealer in Berlin and built little terrariums to record them for the sound design of a film she was working on.
Nonetheless, the album is not comprised of compositions based specifically on sound recordings of the insects, but it unfolds as an imagined world recomposed through speculated narrative and abstract elements that seek to portray their lives, assembling sounding stories that could be re-constructed in the mind of the active listener.
For this purpose, the artist came up with a musical language that could hold this fictional universe, comprised principally of several layers and textures of guitars that mimic environmental and atmospheric sounds.
The Life of Insects will be released October 23 on Buh Records
Watch the psychedelic video for the album opener 'La procesión' below.
Listen & Watch: Ale Hop - La procesión (Official Music Video)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v4Tqm8wk8E&feature=youtu.be
Side A
1 La procesión
2 The Life of Insects
3 Pollinators
Side B
4 The Way to the Ocean
5 Someday We'll Dance Again
6 The Pearl Diver
7 Jungle Depredation
Supported by Initiative Musik gGmbH with project funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media
All music composed, recorded and produced by Ale Hop
Mastered by Manmade Mastering, Berlin, Germany.
Mastering Engineer: Tim Xavier
Artwork by Ale Hop
https://buhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-life-of-insects
|
2020 |
€21.50 |
|
| ALEXANDERSON, MAGNUS |
Stretched in the Dark |
CD |
Drei Stücke von dieser Neuentdeckung für uns, dem schwedischen Elektro-Akustiker MAGNUS ALEXANDERSON; seinen Stil könnte man als "dark & droney electro-acoustic" bezeichnen, v.a. das Titelstück begeistert mit schneidenden, sehr kraftvoll-intensiven Dronescapes...
"Elektron is the record company of SEAMS, the Society of Electro-Acoustic Music in Sweden. Their tenth release is by Magnus Alexanderson (1961). He studied guitar, bassoon and musical theory in his youth and later on computer music. Nowadays he works mainly in the electro-acoustic field. There are three pieces here on this release, one from 1991, one from 1997 and the most recent is from 2000, the opening piece. It's called Stretched In Dark (the word the mentioned in the title is missing here) and is listed as musique concrete, but it's wall of the sound drone could easily be listed as 'amplified electric guitar plays with a chain saw', as it has the heavy saw sounds of an amplified agricultural tool. The midiguitar is part of the second piece, Melting Points (1997) together with a sampler. Similar chainsaw effects are reached here, but it's a much more serious piece of slowly gliding sounds, occasionally interrupted by smaller sounds. The oldest piece is Fu (1991), and it's also the longest piece. It's for computer-controlled synthesizer and of a much more quieter nature. Bell like sounds open the piece, and over the course of almost thirty minutes these get stretched out and are sometimes visited by the bell sounds. A deeply atmospherical piece that is the highlight of the CD, even when the other
www.elektron.nu
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| ALGOL |
Timeshifter |
CD |
It is time to join _Algol_ on a journey through infinite cosmic horizons. Leaving our rigid notion of space and time and ride the cosmic winds. The new album “Timeshifter” delivers a portion of refined space ambient where subtle old school influences mixed with modern ambient sound.
https://algolstuzha.bandcamp.com/album/timeshifter |
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| ALIO DIE |
Hora Aurea |
10inch |
Zwei neue ALIO DIE – Stücke auf dieser 10”, wie sie entrückt meditativer kaum sein könnten... ganz sanft und doch mit vielen interessanten Sounds gespickt, breiten sich magische Drones repetitiv aus, betäubend wie schweres Perfüm...
“SmallVoices proudly presents the new ALIO DIE work entitled "AUREA HORA". Two exclusive tracks of evocative magmatic soundscapes in the typical atemporal Alio Die aim. The two completely new recordings (with drones, loops, zither and integrated radionoises from an old Valvular model) are similar to early Alio Die experiments or one of his best albums "Sol Niger". Catching atmospheres will bring you in Stefano's magic world, which is an oneiric, dreaming journey to the inner self satisfaction...” [label description]
|
2006 |
€12.50 |
|
|
Aura Seminalis |
CD |
Auf AURA SEMINALIS verwendet ALIO DIE vokales und chorales Material, welches elektronisch verfremdet oder mit elektronischen Effekten angereichert wird. Dabei entstehen zwei lange Stücke von unglaublicher Emotionalität und Tiefe, frei fliessend & sanft wirbelnd um imaginäre Zentren....Die sakralen Choräle verschmelzen auf eine einmalige Art und Weise mit akustisch-elektronischen Sound,
vielleicht das beste ALIO DIE -Album bisher, auf jeden Fall aufregend anders als vorherige Arbeiten !
"The new work by Alio Die it is part of the Castle's sonorisation series, titled AURA SEMINALIS. The first track 'Sine Tempore part I-III' it's an epicentre of mystic music carachterized by a gold cathedral's atmosphere, while 'Aura Seminalis part I-II' displays an ascensional soundworld of arcane purity and rare beauty. One of the best works by Alio die so far. CD packaged in an elegant three sides digipack!! HSL 045" [label info]
"This latest release in a recent outpouring of creativity from Italy's master of organic drones is possibly the most unique in this artist's long career as a sound sculptor. While most of his recent releases on his own Hic Sunt Leones label have been collaborations, this is his first solo effort since the release of the 10 inch vinyl Aurea Hora. As the elaborate Renaissance style artwork on the cover suggests, this music points in the direction of a more "classical" sound insofar as the utilization of Gregorian style chants. These are successfully incorporated into Musso's customary drones comprised of field recordings, acoustic instruments, and electronic processing, giving this disc a particularly reverent ambience. Don't think Enigma or Delerium, because as one listens to this they may be inclined to bow their head and meditate or pray rather than nod or chill. I imagine that if today's sound recording abilities were available during those times evoked by the artwork or chants, they too would have then added the organic elements that Alio Die does, creating a balance of both the heavenly and the earthbound. Fans of his music may or may not find this approach a departure from what they are accustomed to, but it is certain that this artist is going beyond his previous huge body of work to encompass a broader sonic pallette." [Pauldient / Discogs.com]
www.aliodie.com
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Hidden Spring |
CD |
"HIC SUNT LEONES presents Winter Solstice’s Spores. A reprint of two classic albums !
Two milestones of Alio Die's discography are available again after a long hiatus. This new edition offers two superb collectible digipaks printed in black on silver, in collaboration with the American graphic artist Joseph Uccello. This combination of music and artwork is an ideal celebration of this time of the year, as the Sol Niger approaches.
“In the course of life we encounter a kind of special state of consciousness – a moment at the threshold of a deep spiritual experience. At the border of the conscious mind (and perhaps with an initial feeling of disorientation), emerges a strong attraction toward a newly encountered state of being: a state that we feel is crucial in some way, and toward which we subconsciously strive, over the protests of normal rationality. On the other side of this threshold, beyond that apprehension, there is a sedimental layer of inner preparation which makes us ready for that moment. The energy evoked during artistic creation has always held similar qualities to this process; and listening again to these early works, it becomes clear to me just how vital to my music’s flow is this process of transformation and awakening. I feel that this same process informs the art of Joseph Uccello, which elegantly accompanies the music of these two re-releases.
Sit Tibi Terra Levis/ Introspective and The Hidden Spring satisfied completely this desire of immediate expression; truth calls for realization, and the feeling of 'spring water' contained in these albums has for me still something magic after such a long , long time.”
Alio Die, December 2008"
[label info]
www.aliodie.com
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
|
The Way of Fire (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
Stefano Musso alias ALIO DIE lives in a small village in the mountains of Lunigiana, where he is inspired by pure nature –surroundings. There he is also running a CD-label for new ambient dream music named HIC SUNT LEONES. ALIO DIE gives the perfect soundtrack to a journey into the realms of untouched nature; listen to animal voices, flutes, long dark drones, drummings, metallic sounds, small feedbacks and thunderous explosions...
a kind of psychoactive illuminative music, the two long tracks here are in a darker vein as on recent ALIO DIE releases..
Ideal Sounds for your psychognostic daydreams!
MINT-GREEN VINYL, VERY HANDMADE COVER-ARTWORK WITH LOTS OF PAINT, STAMPS FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, PIECES OF NEWSPAPERS, PIECES OF PLANTS & FEATHERS. EACH ONE DIFFERENT AND UNIQUE!
"Two spacious new E.P.s for entheogenic minds
- out on Drone in December 1998"
|
1998 |
€ |
|
|
Standing in a Place |
CD |
"released December 5, 2015
Composed and performed by Stefano Musso (bmi)
Recorded at Lunae Studio, Lunigiana between march 2013 & November 2015
Alio Die: Psaltery, zither, drones & loops, field recordings
Lorenzo Montanà: Additional electronics and effects
Photos by Linda Serra - Artwork by Hic Sunt Leones
A masterpiece of mystical wonder painted with the medium of music. I've seen him do this often in his music....but never better than this. Rsfx-amb/Bandcamp
there is only one Alio Die and the beautifully constructed listens he creates for us are such a special part of the experience of planet Earth. So expressive and emotive and spontaneously deep, we're blessed to have his music accompany our lives and reflections. thank you. Duff Egan/Bandcamp
Such exquisite complexity in this drone world by Stefano Musso (ALIO DIE). But, then again, they always are.
What an experience it would be to follow Stefano on one of his creations, and watch him meticulously stitch together such intricate works. Until that time, however, we'll have to appreciate this drone master from his finished work.
Beautifully done! Brian Bourassa/Bandcamp" [band website info]
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Seamlessly Bliss |
CD |
"Composed and performed by Stefano Musso (bmi)
Recorded at Oulu, Finland & Lunae Studio, Italy
Between july 2011 and november 2015.
Alio Die: Zither, Drones and Loops, Field Recordings.
Lingua Fungi: Kantele, Organ, Treatments.
Aglaia: Electronics and effects.
Artwork by Hic Sunt Leones.
It is always a pleasure to experience new works by ALIO DIE, mindfully absorbing the multitude of minute phrases that make up, in the end, an intricate tapestry of textural wonder.
Seamlessly bliss is no exception to the rule and exemplifies this magical process that only one such as ALIO DIE can create.
Brian Bourassa/Bandcamp" [band website info]
www.aliodie.com
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| ALIO DIE & FESTINA LENTE |
Il sogno di un piano veneziano a Parigi |
CD |
“With Il Sogno di un Piano Veneziano a Parigi Alio Die and Festina Lente creates together a place of the memory where the past rest with a filmy nostalgia.. it is a dramatically joint that finally extinguish itself to the become.. there at the border where the personal moment ends, and the taste of an impersonal experience starts, with a longer breath. Like life belongs to the cosmos, and time belongs to the seasons.
After a long friendship a pianoforte met a zither, their incorporating sounds brought on wings of an ancient and lully dream, in foggy layers of impalpable feelings and in a wayward journey towards the inland. The field recordings were collected in Paris, East-Asia, and America by Alio Die, kimsonJa and Francesco Paladino such as rituals, animals, objects and spontaneous voices in the street... surround and conduce towards parallel worlds.
The ambient tracks are alternated with more intense and obscure moments, without breaking the solution of the continuum, through the organic elaborations of the sound's dye... loops of notes and silences, subtle presences of the field recordings that spy both: mankind and nature… So the treated piano and the nipped and scrubbed cords, the voices and noises, the resonances of metals... calls back the memory's body, that comes to the surface with great glangour. Dissolvent bright and dark colours, putting voices together to a poetical inspiration and a glamorous and precise lyricism of the entire inside.” [label press release]
|
2005 |
€13.50 |
|
| ALIO DIE & FRANCESCO PALADINO |
Angel's Fly Souvenir |
CD |
Immer wieder kollaboriert ALIO DIE mit neuen, uns noch unbekannten Musikern und schafft so eine Erweiterung seines typischen Ambient-Trance-Stils .... hier besonders bemerkenswert die vollen Zither-Sounds und ost-europäische Choräle, die wunderbar eingebunden werden...
“ 'Angel's Fly Souvenir': a CD by ALIO DIE & FRANCESCO PALADINO with contributes by IN GOWAN RING and JACK OR JIVE An album out of any definition, music at the same time dreamy and deep, a concrete and ethereal journey, born from the pleasure to experiment, the project was starting from acoustic sounds and voices recorded throw a long tube with zither loops, flutes, and different sonorous objects not identified at all and from the 'nose' sounds by Francesco Paladino. The album contains seven tracks, two of that are enriched by the epic collaboration track with In Gowan Ring in 'Ancient Consciousness of the End', and with the voice by Chako of Jack or Jive in 'Flowing Out from the Core of the Mountain'.
Francesco Paladino apart from his passion with video art, it's active in music from early seventies and was a member of Doubling Riders.
The recordings of Angel's Fly Souvenir were started in spring 2003, and now the Cd is finally come out to the light, with its bright and dark abisses, and its own night meditations.” [label description]
|
2005 |
€13.50 |
|
| ALIO DIE & LINGUA FUNGI |
Otter Songs |
CD |
"Performed and recorded between 2008 and 2011 by Jaakko Padatsu and Stefano Musso in Oulu, Finland and Milano,Italy. Mixed and mastered by Jaakko Padatsu in 2011.
All acoustic instruments and field recordings
by Jaakko Padatsu and Stefano Musso.
Accordion on "Fount of Flowing Water" by Heta Kaisto.
Otter Songs - Alio Die & Lingua Fungi
Otter Songs is the culmination of the process that began in 2008 by Lingua Fungi and Alio Die.
The idea for the collaboration was born from the initial recordings by Jaakko Padatsu utilizing diverse self made instruments and natural objects including driftwood, snail shells and otter skull ocarinas. The archaic and arctic drones were later complemented with subtle recordings by Stefano Musso with zither, sitar and other acoustic instruments. The collaboration was sealed with final recordings in Italian spring 2011 by Jaakko Padatsu and Stefano Musso.
From Terra Ultima to Mediterranean, the album brings together the tones of nocturnal cicadae and spring break-up of ice in Bothnian Bay.
Sometimes driven with arctic atavism, sometimes with delicate warm melodies, Otter Songs aims to transcend physical distance by deconstructing and rebuilding the two worlds into boundless celebration of Terra Mater.
The cd comes in a refined 6 panel digipack printed with gold colour. Artwork by Hic Sunt Leones from original concept and photos by Lingua Fungi." [label info]
www.aliodie.com
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| ALIO DIE & LORENZO MONTANA |
The Threshold of Beauty |
CD |
"On their second collaboration, these cult Italian musicians create an hour of meditative dream-infused soundscapes and beatless mystical textures. Following their 2015 Projekt album Holographic Codex, Alio Die (with 65 releases) and Lorenzo Montanà (with 17 releases) come together for six tracks of deep ambient soundscaping, intersecting a potent alchemical brew of pure organic sounds.
The threshold of beauty is a transcendental vision of beauty as an integral part of the cosmos. The connections of the music with nature and human spirituality are mixed in an ineffable picture that create a contemplative frame of mind.
The recordings started with Alio Die performing on a psaltery (an ancient medieval instrument like a dulcimer but played by plucking the strings) augmented with real time electronic improvisations & processing by Lorenzo. The tracks were then edited by Alio Die adding layers, additional effects and loops to complete the expansive ritualistic tapestry.
Undeniably calming and moving, the breathing slows, the mind quiets and opens. As the introspective ambience washes over the listener, a naturalistic dronescape unfolds with alluring aural scenarios of evolving, intimate sounds.
* Alio Die has over 65 releases, 7 on America’s Projekt Records and others on his own Hic Sunt Leones label. Montanà recorded 5 collaborations with Pete Namlook on Pete’s German FAX label, plus released 12 solo albums with various European imprints.
Limited edition of 500, May 31 2019"
https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-threshold-of-beauty
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| ALIO DIE & SAFFRON WOOD |
The Sleep of Seeds |
CD |
Sehr entspannte Drone-Improvisationen praktisch ohne elektronische Sounds.. eine weitere neue VÖ von ALIO DIE, hier in Zusammenarbeit mit SAFFRON WOOD.
“ The title is also the opening track of this macroscopic journey into a world which spontaneously engages us when we travel through it. A link between life and earth, a passageway between time and change. A melodius itinerary in which a time hourglass often makes no sense but only the sound of articulated and fragmentary notes...50 minutes between a seed and a grain of soil to wander into an infinite space while listening to a far away earth longing sound. Recorded in Savona Italy august 2002, with different flutes, tubes, accordion, various objects, rattles, shells, bells... Drones and loops, effects, editing and mastering on Pro-tools, at Temple studio Milano spring 2003. All the Cds comes in a special artwork compositions with tissues leaves, seeds...” [label description]
|
2003 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Corteggiando le Messi |
CD |
Second collaboration with SAFFRON WOOD, again many Zither-sounds are used to create a very fluffy and airy fluid.. let if flow endlessly ..
"...A new collaboration between ALIO DIE e SAFFRON WOOD is already mastered. From seminal experiments at the research of the harmony, playing with nipped and scrubbed cords by salterio and zither (plus marimba and fields recordings), improvising and recording in the open spaces of the inner Liguria, some very relaxing tracks are spring out ...with coloured harmonics and enchanted depth. One of the Top Ten listenings here… " [announcement from label website]
|
2006 |
€13.50 |
|
| ALIO DIE & SYLVI ALLI |
Amidst the Circling Spires |
CD |
"Amidst the Circling Spires is a captivating electro-ambient journey into an interior space, weaving visions of strong emotional impact. Sylvi’s heavenly voice drifts within the highly processed acoustic sounds created by Alio Die: a hybrid between – sonorous soundscapes and acoustic mysticism. The treated tones are an essential magma – organic and animated – luring the listener in like an ancestral call or an ancient saga. The loops, played with carillon, kalimba, zither, different objects and field recordings, blend into finely-detailed layered and treated.
Sylvi’s voice is intense and moving, evanescent and precise – each song a mantra exploring a unique soundworld. Her vocals interact deeply with the melodies and atmosphere of Alio Die as they weave together like dark roots underground.
The ecstatic and ritualistic landscapes that these artists offer shine with a magic all their own – giving rise to a multiple array of meditations perfectly mixed with unique pathos and abstraction." [label info]
www.aliodie.com
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| ALIO DIE & ZEIT |
Sunja |
CD |
Die erste der gleich DREI neuen HSL / ALIO DIE – Veröffentlichungen Ende 2003 ist SUNJA, die wohl zum harmonischten und entspannendsten gehört, was STEFANO MUSSO bisher produziert hat. Positiv und warme Sphären werden hier imaginiert, die an eine friedliche, paradiesische Oase denken lassen. Esoteric Ambience in its truest sense !
”Magic has blown its precious spores in the air. A human rite, humble and quiet, has evoked a red hot globe that gently illuminates the path toward the borders of Sunja, the dream place where all vibrations start. Sometimes the light comes down from the sky, clear like a crystal. Sometimes it climbs slowly from the earth's depths, but it's always comforting. Crossing the thresholds of Sunja is like landing on an uncontaminated island, furrow its white sea-shores lapped by tepid foamy waters, been inebriated with wide floral smells and saltiness in secret places of the inland and in caves dug from time, gain the top of the plateau from which it is possible to see
beyond...Sunja is creative strength enclosed in two long tracks of incredible intensity, rich in levels of knowledge, pure enchantment and beauty. The deep sound has an extraordinary symbolic and evocative power and it has arrived to a supreme purification owing to millenial percolations across the rock. Music shines, beholds, resounds at the bottom of ourselves, lives and spreads out. We realize, in listening, that a light warmth closes in upon us, everything loses its own original sense, the gates open...the road is beaten!
Basic acoustic recordings were improvised during a warm night in late summer 2002 at Lunae studio,Tuscany. Edited and mixed in spring 2003 at Temple studio, Milano.
Stefano Musso: zither, samples and loops, buzzer , fields recordings. Tommaso Cimo': khen(mouth-organ), accordion,rattles, bird calls, bells. All the Cds comes in a special artwork numbered compositions with collages and handmade prints.” [label description]
|
2003 |
€14.00 |
|
| ALIO DIE / M. GRASSOW |
Praha Meditations |
CD |
"After the concert in Prague last year in may, we followed the proposal of friends to play some acoustic instruments spontaneously on top of the hill, in Troja, into a circle of stones installations.
Zithers, Tubes, Bells, Rattle and Shells, Flutes..the sessions were inspired from the special place and the spring's vibes in the wind. The recordings that are a blueprint of the spirit of that day, were edited in studio by Alio Die, then Mathias Grassow added his electronic drones to expand the point of view and enrich the flow and layers of the compositions. The result in eight tracks, show how mostly static and repetitive balanced sounds can interact with our perception during the listening time, bringing us into an active and intimate quiet mood, softly absorbing us into some dreams-like and time-opening experience." [label info]
www.aliodie.com
|
2010 |
€14.50 |
|
| ALIZADEH, SABA |
I may never see you again |
LP |
Iranian composer and Kamancheh virtuoso, Saba Alizadeh releases his new album "I May Never See You Again"on the newly founded Hamburg label 30M Records.
Born in Tehran in 1983 to world-renowned tar and setar virtuoso and composer Hossein Alizadeh, Saba Alizadeh studied the Iranian Kamancheh – an ancient Persian violin – becoming one of the foremost players of the instrument of this day. Alizadeh later studied experimental sound art with Mark Trayle at the California Institute of the Arts and inspired by the conceptual approaches taught there, started composing music that deconstructs and abstracts Iranian traditions and scales into a new musical language and style.
Influenced by Iranian harmonics, musique concrète and sophisticated, forward-looking beat science, Saba Alizadeh's "I May Never See You Again" represent an incredibly exciting act of mutual inspiration - when Iranian scales and Western electroacoustic understanding powerfully unite.
The nine predominantly instrumental tracks on the album fuse tradition and innovation inspiring meditations on the subject of memory. On the one hand, the credibility and resilience of one's own memory is musically dissected, whilst on the other hand, Saba Alizadeh proceeds conceptually, deploying erstwhile dictators’ speeches in his music as a means to question the course of history.
I May Never See You Again also features handpicked collaborations with musician Andreas Spechtl and electroacoustic sound artist Rojin Sharafi. Spechtl, singer of the band Ja, Panik, found fame in the German-speaking world primarily thanks to his song lyrics, in which he deconstructs words in a similarly abstract way as Saba Alizadeh does the music.
Spechtl joins Alizadeh on two tracks for the album, while Vienna-based Iranian Sharafi joins on one.
https://30m-records.bandcamp.com/album/i-may-never-see-you-again
|
2021 |
€24.50 |
|
| ALL SHADOWS AND DELIVERANCE |
Partus |
LP |
"New album by this drone/noise project from Kortrijk (BE). A trip through a cold and loveless world with subdued and repressed fears and demons. It takes you back to the classic Swedish death industrial sound that many loved and loathed in the 1990s (think Cold Meat Industry). The added field recordings, razorsharp feedback, machinery noises and vicious vocals (courtesy of Jenci Vervaeke of VVOVNDS) only add to the hellish and dark atmosphere.
With this new album, All Shadows And Deliverance firmly puts itself in the same filthy corner of the musical spectrum where people like PRURIENT, PHARMAKON and BRIGHTER DEATH NOW reign supreme." [label info]
www.silkentofu.org
|
2015 |
€17.00 |
|
| ALLBEE, LIZ |
Theseus vs. Luz Alibi |
CD |
"Liz Allbee's second full length solo unwinds a cozily misanthropic sonic cloth with hidden barbs sure to draw blood. Each track treads further into unnerving terrain: sonar-pings dizzy your ears, unknown nursery rhymes warble from an abandoned tongue, a blur of wings beating in phase consumes all perception until a flat drum slowly summons resplendent horns and vocals rising to dump the entire hell onto its back.
Fasten a thread to one finger, but dare to take yourself inside "Theseus vs." Limited edition of 350, packaged in a handmade silk screened box." [label info]
www.resipiscent.com
"As a women is Liz Allbee, who lives in Berlin and her instruments are trumpet, electronics and voice. You might perhaps jump to the conclusion that Allbee comes from the world of improvisation and that's where she operates. That is only partially true. There is a lot happening on this CD: perhaps somehow, somewhat based in improvisation, but there is so much more, above all: its musical. Sometimes one gets the impression that Allbee wants to play a poptune. I have no idea what her electronics are about but no doubt some form of loopdevice to create rhythms. Perhaps using her voice, perhaps her trumpet, or perhaps there is some rudimentary form of a drum computer. But I think she loops more than just that: also her voice, also her trumpet and thus forms little melodies around she improvises her work. Maybe that seems an odd combination but its one that works surprisingly well. At times a bit noisy, at other times more like serious avant-garde, but always keen to add that (small) pop
angle. The tracks are short and to the point. A bit sketch-like perhaps, but due to the variety of approach this is a highly enjoyable and well succeeded hybrid of styles, with Allbee doing something that is surely her own." [FdW, Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
| ALLETT, JACK |
The Object isn't there |
LP |
With The Object Isn't There, UK guitar player and producer Jack Allett has made a deeply personal masterpiece based around cyclical guitar parts and electronic percussion. Playing like a half-remembered fever dream with an aesthetic that is ragged, hypnotic, and spacey, its two side-long pieces touch on minimalism, kraut-infused dub, and euphoric dancefloor optimism. As comfortable being played after Manuel Göttsching's album E2-E4 (MGART 424CD) as right before a Terekke lo-fi house anthem, it is laced with the melancholy of an early morning post-rave comedown. Yet for all the references and name-checking, it's a record that is hard to compare to anything else, past or present. This record is about - insofar as instrumental music need be about anything - hallucinations. The title The Object Isn't There serves as a concise definition, derived from the quote "A hallucination is a strictly sensational form of consciousness, as good and true a sensation as if there were a real object there. The object happens to be not there, that is all." (William James, The Principles Of Psychology, 1890) Having experienced constant tinnitus -- a form of auditory hallucination -- for the last 13 years, Jack has long questioned the distinction of something experienced as being either there or not-there. Even if, strictly speaking, a hallucination is something that's not there, if the reality of how it affects day-to-day existence is undeniable then to any extent that matters, it is there. But The Object Isn't There is no tale of woe, nor simply a response to this one condition, and tinnitus need not be considered only as distressing or distracting. Allett sees it merely as one example of many things in life that cross this uncertain terrain. Allett explains: "There are obvious parallels here with the notion of active listening. There is room for emotion too, particularly an overwhelming, all-consuming emotion. Essentially the music here is concerned with being overwhelmed by a sensation, never really being sure to what extent you are conjuring it up yourself, to what extent it exists independently of you, but ultimately deciding that it doesn't much matter; the sensation itself was undeniable." The Object Isn't There was written, recorded, and mixed in Camberwell and Camden, London, UK (2012-2016). Artwork by Graham Lambkin; Design by Jeroen Wille. Mastered by Jack Allett. Edition of 300. |
2017 |
€18.00 |
|
| ALOG |
Amateur |
CD |
"ALOG zählen seit 1997 zu den besten experimentellen Elektromusikern in Norwegen. Seit ihrem Debüt "Red Shift Swing" sind sie ihrem Label Rune Grammofon treu geblieben, wo die Nachfolger "Duck-Rabbit" und "Miniatures" erschienen. Letzteres gewann 2005 den norwegischen Grammy für den besten Electronica-Release. ALOG reisten für "Amateur" durch Norwegen und nahmen in Musikschulen und Musiksälen von Grundschulen auf, um den Sound eines jeden Instrumentes optimal darstellen zu können, was im Studio dann zu "Amateur" geformt wurde. Das Ziel aller Computersoftware ist es heute, den individuellen Sound eines jeden Musikers zu überdecken und alles gleich klingen zu lassen; ALOG gehen auf "Amateur" den genau entgegengesetzten Weg. //
Alog are duo Espen Sommer Eide and Dag-Are Haugan, and this is their fourth full-length release for the Rune Grammofon label. Since forming in 1997, Alog have been among Norway's leading performers of experimental electronic music. They are mainstays at Rune Grammofon and have been with the label since their debut album Red Shift Swing was released in 1999. They have increasingly worked with various acoustic instruments and in collaboration with other musicians for long recording sessions in special locations. Travelling around the west coast of Norway with Nicholas H. Møllerhaug and Nils Økland sidekick Sigbjørn Apeland, they recorded in music schools in an attempt to capture the unique sound of each selection of instruments found. Because of bad weather they could be stuck for days on islands off the wild northern coast recording themselves playing any instruments they could find and building more of their own. These sessions were subsequently worked on in the studio to bring out the unique spirit of this release, characterized by a curious and fresh approach to playing that is often lost in the process of becoming a virtuoso on a singular instrument. The word "amateur" originally denotes a person who is motivated by a passion or love for their activity. It has been the goal of Alog on this album to preserve and enhance this special energy in their songs, and to do this they use their "augmented acoustics" technology and bring out the hidden "amateur" energy of each song." [press release]
www.runegrammofon.com
"Music by Alog have never ceased to amaze me. The duo of Espen Sommer Eide and Dag-Are Haugan have by now released a bunch of works on Melektronikk, Smalltown Supersound and En/Of, and here return with a strange CD, once again. Apparently 'it was recorded on various locations in the western and northern parts of Norway, often using instruments found or built for the sole purpose of this recording', which is something that is hard to believe. But 'these sessions were subsequently worked on in the studio to bring out the unique spirit of the 'Amateur'. In the post-production world of the studio anything is possible, I then think. To describe the music of Alog is not easy, but 'amateur' is a good description, in the most positive sense of the word. 'Childlike' and 'naive' are two others that fit the description quite well. There are hints of minimal music, microsound, folk and improvisation - and perhaps any category in between these that could be applied to the music of Alog. They play their instruments (whatever lost and found they might be) like children, not banging around but with a curious interest in seeing what a sound does. Carefully as not make too many sounds. Beautiful electronic sound scapes, with interesting electro-acoustic sounds here and there. Very nice. Once again." [FdW / Vital Weekly] |
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Amateur |
do-LP |
"Double LP version, deluxe gatefold sleeve. Alog are duo Espen Sommer Eide and Dag-Are Haugan, and this is their fourth full-length release for the Rune Grammofon label. Since forming in 1997, Alog have been among Norway's leading performers of experimental electronic music. They are mainstays at Rune Grammofon and have been with the label since their debut album Red Shift Swing was released in 1999. They have increasingly worked with various acoustic instruments and in collaboration with other musicians for long recording sessions in special locations. Travelling around the west coast of Norway with Nicholas H. Møllerhaug and Nils Økland sidekick Sigbjørn Apeland, they recorded in music schools in an attempt to capture the unique sound of each selection of instruments found. Because of bad weather they could be stuck for days on islands off the wild northern coast recording themselves playing any instruments they could find and building more of their own. These sessions were subsequently worked on in the studio to bring out the unique spirit of this release, characterized by a curious and fresh approach to playing that is often lost in the process of becoming a virtuoso on a singular instrument. The word "amateur" originally denotes a person who is motivated by a passion or love for their activity. It has been the goal of Alog on this album to preserve and enhance this special energy in their songs, and to do this they use their "augmented acoustics" technology and bring out the hidden "amateur" energy of each song." [press release] |
2007 |
€22.00 |
|
| |
Unemployed |
CD |
"Mainstays with Rune Grammofon since their debut ”Red Shift Swing” in 1999, their new album ”Unemployed” finds them on top of their game with what is arguably their finest effort so far. It was recorded in a wide range of spaces and places, from recordings of Haugan and Eide as street musicians in San Francisco while touring, to scavenging old collections of 78-records in the mining town of Bjørnevatn in the far north-eastern part of Norway. From on-the-spot recordings of Sigbjørn Apeland´s legendary collection of vintage harmoniums in the St. Jakobs Church in Bergen, to high-end capture of the unique sounds of Alog´s many custom built instruments in the studios of Notam in Oslo and BEK in Bergen. For a period of three years Alog collected material from all kind of sources, times and situations and made new songs that constantly pushed their creative freedom in unexpected directions. Playful, adventurous, mysterious and exploring, this is 76 minutes of experimental, yet accessible, music of the very finest sort and comes highly recommended." [label info]
www.runegrammofon.com
"Unemployed", das fünfte Album von ALOG, wurde an den verschiedensten Orten und Plätzen aufgenommen. Von Aufnahmen von Haugan und Eide als Straßenmusiker in San Francisco, während sie auf Tour waren, bis zu Stöbertouren in alte 78er-Plattensammlungen in der Bergbauerstadt Bjornevatn im nordöstlichsten Teil Norwegens. Von den spontanen Aufnahmen auf Sigbjorn Apelands legendärer Harmonium-Sammlung in der St. Jakobs Kirche in Bergen bis zu den einzigartigen Sounds auf den selbstgebauten ALOG Instrumenten im Notam Studio in Oslo und BEK in Bergen. Über drei Jahre hinweg sammelten ALOG Material aus den verschiedensten Quellen, Zeiten und Situationen, um neue Songs entstehen zu lassen, die der kreativen Freiheit in unerwartete Richtungen folgen. ALOG kamen in den späten 90er Jahren in Tromso als Duo aus Espen Sommer Eide und Dag-Are Haugan zusammen. In den vergangenen Jahren sind sie unterwegs auf viele einzigartige Musiker gestoßen, die eingeladen wurden, ihren Beitrag zu ,Unemployed" zu liefern. Da wäre das Harmonium von Sigbjorn Apeland, die minimalistischen Geigenimprovisationen des SHERIFFs OF NOTHINGNESS (Ole Henrik Moe und Kari Ronnekleiv), die klingenden Alltagsobjekte des jungen Soundkünstlers Signe Liden, die magischen Stimmen der Rune Grammofon Labelkollegin JENNY HVAL und der Beitrag des legendären niederländischen Soundpoeten Jaap Blonk.
|
2012 |
€14.50 |
|
| ALONE IN THE HOLLOW GARDEN & NAM-KHAR |
Gyalwa Gyamtso |
CD |
This is the second full length collaboration between Alone In The Hollow Garden & Nam-Khar manifests itself as a very personal meditation fuelled by the ancestral tibetan & hindu spiritual magic.
The transcendental power of vibration and sound is exalted by the presence of the ancient mantra chanting practice and is meant to transcend the tamasic heaviness of the actual world, hollowed and stripped by the most valuable aspect of all, the awareness and realization of Oneself as a mirror of the Cosmos, Mother Nature and of all living beings.
A large variety of ritual implements like tibetan bells, singing bowls, rol-mo cymbals, damaru drums, kangling are merged together with other traditional acoustic instruments like turkish saz, melodium, flutes, seed shakers and with a few self made piezoelectric devices, analogue synthesizers, drum machines and throat singing to create an unique offering which will transport the listener into the realm of true ritual musick, a meddicine for Body, Speech and Mind.
The secret of understanding the core of these ancient teachings isn't the "religious" approach that is so often confounded with the true spiritual path. All the deities present in the tibetan and hindu sacred texts are not to be seen as external entities which can influence and control our existence, but rather as archetypes and dynamics of the human soul and mind that are existing in everyone of us and that can assist us in our evolution. May "Gyalwa Gyamtso", The Ocean of Infinite Awareness & Compassion, guide you on your path to liberation.
https://zazensounds.bandcamp.com/album/zzs-035-alone-in-the-hollow-garden-nam-khar-gyalwa-gyamtso-digipack-edition-sold-out-high-quality-digital-download
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| ALVA NOTO |
This Stolen Country of Mine |
CD |
"Alva Noto's award-winning score for the 2022 German documentary film This Stolen Country of Mine directed by German filmmaker Marc Wiese features nineteen compositions to be released on Noton. The documentary film explores the question of a state's sovereignty in the face of foreign powers. The film portrays Ecuadorian resistance fighters and journalists who oppose the sell-off of an extensive part of the country's resources to Chinese investors. Alva Noto's music subtly accompanies the struggle of a mountain village, immersing you into the film's narrative and pathos. Across nineteen compositions, the music exposes and holds back when the images and statements of the protagonists speak for themselves, reflecting the dark shadows and the glares of hope of communal resistance. The documentary was the recipient of the German Documentary Film Music Award 2022." |
2023 |
€17.50 |
|
| |
HYbr:ID II |
do-LP |
HYbr:ID Vol. 2 is the second installment of Alva Noto's HYbr:ID series initiated in 2021. The new album captures the music commissioned to score Richard Siegal's Ectopia performed in 2021 by Tanztheater Pina Bausch with Shooting into the Corner (2008-09) by Anish Kapoor. Building upon the captivating blend of immersive dub and electronica from the first installment, HYbr:ID Vol. 2 takes the listener on a journey into the realm of intricately manipulated digital production. These ten compositions delve into infinity, drawing inspiration from resonance and elasticity, concepts rooted in Minkowski's four-dimensional spacetime model. Throughout the album, Carsten Nicolai summons precise rhythmic patterns that gracefully hover, reminiscent of celestial bodies orbiting in perfect cosmic unison. The sonic landscape gradually unfolds with somber and brooding tones, incorporating spacious sound design, ethereal atmospheres, and cascading metallic percussions. These elements are delicately crafted with artistic finesse, set against a backdrop of expansive dub textures. At times, the music takes unforeseen turns, as melancholic chords skitter and meander through a digital haze, evoking an atmosphere of introspection and emotion. The ten compositions are accompanied by graphic notations informed by the album's sonic and acoustic codes. Album art designed by Carsten Nicolai / Nibo Mastering by Bo @ Calyx. |
2023 |
€28.50 |
|
| ALVELOS, HEITOR |
Faith |
CD |
"Faith is the first full-length sound release by media researcher and curator Heitor Alvelos under his own name. Heitor Alvelos has been a long-time on/off collaborator of Touch, having on occasion provided photography and stage visuals for Biosphere, Fennesz, BJNilsen, Rafael Toral and Philip Jeck, as well as releasing sound pieces under the aliases Autodigest, Antifluffy and Before Surgery, on Ash International, TouchRadio and The Tapeworm.
“The essence of the present piece is autobiographical: therefore the use of my own name”, the author clarifies. “And yet it aims at being resonant to others”: in this context, resonance may be regarded as both semantic and visceral, as the sound frequencies on Faith are often of the kind that “rearrange one’s organs”, to quote the recently departed Bernadette Martou. A necessity in order to carry the gravitas inherent to the subject, a confessional confrontation with the zeitgeist.
All sources have been gathered, recorded and produced throughout five decades, all the way back to a recording by Francisco Alvelos in 1972 that closes the release. Elsewhere, sounds have been processed to various degrees, the bookends retaining their original contexts, others mutating into deep abstraction. Overall, they flow as one single composition, evocative and foreboding in equal measures."
https://touch33.net/catalogue/to97-heitor-alvelos-faith.html
Heitor Alvelos is no stranger to the Touch label, having collaborated as a visual artist with the big names of the label such as Fennesz, BJ Nilsen, and Philip Jeck, as well as issuing sound work under a variety of pseudonyms on the associated labels. Faith is a collection of processed sound recordings and “audio irregularities”, and due to their more personal and autobiographical source, it is the first record released under his own name. Essentially a single composition split into 12 segments, it is a sparse and murky record, steeped heavily in an analog sound.
Culled from a variety of unspecified recordings collected by the artist since 1972, most of Faith has Alvelos sticking to an open mix, working in bass heavy sounds at often very low volumes, conjuring a sense of space and ambiguity that often becomes unsettling. “Exodus” and “Edict” both have a ghostly rumble to them, distant and unspecific but always there. During the latter he begins to increase the volume and simultaneously the intensity.
On “Allvion” into “Pseudoself” the sound becomes deeper: a wavering expanse of noise that evolves into something with significant depth and variety, but never stops being discomforting. The latter especially sees Alvelos working with monotone electronics and a heavy low-frequency passage that slowly evolves and changes to become all encompassing, climaxing and leading into the silent passage of “Vicarious Solace”.
He builds the minimalist, rumbling hum back up on the lengthy “The Way of Malamat.” Superficially, the droning bass may seem static, but perceptible variations become prominent, at times looping into an almost rhythmic passage that again reaches a heavier, denser saturation point but never too oppressive. This continues through “Peirasmos” and “The Other,” the latter resembling the muffled vibration of machinery.
In its concluding minutes, “The Hopeful Night” has him stripping the piece back to its barest essentials, largely consisting of a low volume buzz that would not be out of place on Bernhard Günter’s work, albeit his sound being more digital than the analog warmth that is more prominent on Alvelos’ work. The single piece that is Faith never becomes overly boisterous or forceful, but its concluding passages are especially understated.
The intentionally ambiguous source of the recordings Heitor Alvelos used to construct Faith does add an extra layer of interest to the album. Rarely does anything ever resemble what we usually consider to be a field recording, so either his processing or his selection of unconventional sources are what makes this album, probably a connection of both. It is sparse and minimalist, but done with an exceptional sense of grace and poise. [Creaig Dunton] |
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| AMACHER, MARYANNE |
Petra |
LP |
Maryanne Amacher (1938 - 2009) was a composer of large-scale fixed-duration sound installations and a highly original thinker in the areas of perception, sound spatialization, creative intelligence, and aural architecture. She is frequently cited as a pioneer of what has come to be called “sound art,” although her thought and creative practice consistently challenge key assumptions about the capacities and limitations of the genre. Amacher’s work anticipates some of the most important developments in network culture, media arts, acoustic ecology, and sound studies, yet due to its expansive interdisciplinary nature it has rarely been documented. Following two CDs for Tzadik and her inclusion in the monumental collection OHM: The Early Gurus Of Electronic Music (1948-1980), this publication of Amacher’s 1991 piece Petra marks her first commercially available instrumental work as well as the first time her music has ever been available on vinyl.
Petra was originally commissioned for the ICSM World Music Days in Boswil, Switzerland. Written for two pianos, the piece is a unique example of Amacher’s late work, a direct extension of her working methodologies for electronic composition taken into an acoustic realm that alludes to the music of Giacinto Scelsi and Galina Ustvolskaya. Petra is a sweeping, durational work based on both Amacher’s impressions of the church at Boswil and science-fiction writer Greg Bear’s short story of the same name, in which gargoyles come to life and breed with humans in a post-apocalyptic Notre Dame.
This solemn interpretation of Petra was recorded at its 2017 American premiere at New York’s St. Peter’s Episcopal Church with pianists Marianne Schroeder, who originally performed the piece alongside Amacher in 1991, and Stefan Tcherepnin, who performed it alongside Schroeder in 2012 at Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin. Weighing tranquilizing passages of glacially-paced serenity against stretches of dilapidated, jagged dissonance, the recording illuminates a crucial node in the constellation of Amacher’s enigmatic oeuvre.
Artistic director of the Giacinto Scelsi Festival in Basel, Marianne Schroeder is a Swiss composer and pianist specializing in the interpretation of New Music. She has collaborated with and premiered work by John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Dieter Schnebel, Anthony Braxton, Morton Feldman, Pauline Oliveros and Giacinto Scelsi, with whom she studied. She is currently a professor at Hochschule der Künste Bern, and has also taught at the International Summer Courses in Darmstadt.
Stefan Tcherepnin is an American electronic music performer, contemporary artist, and composer in fourth generation, continuing the family heritage of his great-grandfather Nicholas, grandfather Alexander, and father Ivan Tcherepnin. As a family friend of Amacher’s and a student of hers at Bard College he is uniquely qualified to navigate the labyrinth of Amacher interpretation.
https://soundcloud.com/blankforms/maryanne-amacher-petra-1
|
2019 |
€28.00 |
|
| AMBARCHI / GUNTER MULLER / VOICE CRACK |
Oystered |
CD |
Ungewöhnliche Kollaboration, aufgenommen an einem Tag in Sidney, 23.July 2002: dunkel-pulsierend hämmernde Soundflächen und sich dramatisch entwickelnde elektronische konkret-Klänge machen dies zu einer spannenden Hörerfahrung!
“ Take three Swiss tourists. Feed them top notch Sydney rock oysters, fine Hunter Valley wines and get them into a recording studio with Oren Ambarchi. That was the challenge. This is the record. If Ambarchi, Müller and the Crack have one thing in common (beyond gastronomic excess), it is their ability to get extraordinary sounds out of everyday objects. This one day recording session at Big Jesus Burger in Sydney highlights the mutual approach they share.There's such cohesion, wholeness and single mindedness to these pieces that makes identification of the individuals involved virtually impossible. So forget the 'Who's Doing
What?' game. Close your eyes and play 'Where The Hell Am I?' ... rainforest, glacier, casino, ship's hull, bowling alley or five star restaurant?” [label description]
"Clustered, pacing, stomping. The mechanics of this latest collaboration by Ambarchi, Muller and Voice Crack manipulates resonance and miniscule particles like they are playing a game with sensors that bark and bite back. The ominous nature of 'Walking Oysters' uses plotted stepping which designs the frame for the kinetics lurking inside. Over these forty+ minutes these gentlemen incorporate electronics, strings and percussion to mold something freely derived from bare open circuits and other happy mistakes. A
vernacular is built on 'Briefing Oysters' that forms slowly and largely into a vibrating dissonance - but be careful - these
authoritative sounds are so ecstatic that they literally knocked my bass woofer off the shelf (that was a first). If you play this on
headphones it is sure to be a significant mind rush. After the tremendous pinnacle the piece is treated to the equivalent of a breathing tube, charted by timed intervals inhalations (or percussive metering). Starting as a static-laden drone 'Grounding Oysters'
relies on the residues of quiet and bass thumping play between channels. Like moving lumber and bark that is electrified, the
organic quality to this track is just stunning. Not satisfied to simply use the formidable sine wave with subtle manipulation - 'Oystered' totally experiments with every aspect of frequency and sample. There are parts that test your ear drum, giving the listener a physical, sensory experience. This is active listening."
[TJN, Vital Weekly]
|
2003 |
€13.50 |
|
| AMBARCHI, OREN |
A Final Kiss on Poisoned Cheeks |
LP |
OREN AMBARCHI's Beitrag für die neue "guitar series" auf TABLE OF THE ELEMENTS: vielschichtige Poly-Drones, bestehend nicht nur aus Gitarren-Tönen sondern auch aus elektronischen Kontakt- und Störgeräuschen & sich windenden Feedbacks; ein sehr komplexes Stück, lebendig und elektronisch ausstrahlend in 1000 verschiedene Richtungen. Wunderbar auch, wie es dann allmählich mit glockenhellen Klängen versetzt ausklingt.. AMBARCHI in Höchstform. Himmelblaues Vinyl.
"There is a vivid breadth to the guitar deconstructions of Australian Oren Ambarchi. Sometimes his work takes a delicate lilt; it can also dive into dark and deep pools of sound when he joins cowl-core ensembles Sunn O))) (with Stephen O'Malley) and Burial Chamber Trio (with Greg Anderson). Whether with those bands, solo, or in collaboration with luminaries ranging from Mike Patton and John Zorn to Christian Fennesz, he consistently reroutes his instrument into zones of arch, alien abstraction. A Final Kiss On Poisoned Cheeks offers a dizzying gaze straight into a chasm of extreme frequencies -- paint-peelingly high and bowel-churningly low -- all set atop a sub-strata of menace, angst, and contemplative beauty." Pressed on light-blue marbled, etched vinyl. B-side etching artwork by Savage Pencil." [label info]
"...Still essentially a dronescape, A Final Kiss is rife with sonic activity, so much so that in lesser hands it would be more of a mess, a sort of pretty-ish noise record, but Ambarchi, takes all manner of buzz and glitch, of scrape and hum, and weaves it into a strangely lyrical arrangement. The core of the piece is a thick, undulating low end drone, a muted Niblockian shimmer, that seems not to change so much as shift, reflecting different colors and sounds depending on the angle. Over this nearly constant thrum, exist a veritable universe of strange sounds, streaks of feedback, cricket like electronic chitter,
moaning throbbing swells of guitar rumble, brief blurs of warm soft focus fuzz, layers of crumbling distortion, all of the various
elements constantly shifting and blossoming, collapsing and then blooming again, creating a super organic flow, another instance of
leaving the instruments on the stage, guitars against amps. amps cranked, although here it seems the instruments have come to life, and
we are glimpsing their secret lives, as the communicate musically, telling some sort of story, exchanging mysterious messages, which
while indecipherable to human ears, still manage to sound magical. Guitardrone freaks will, well, freak! Subtly heavy, darkly
drone-y, slightly noisy, rich and dense and textural. Really gorgeous. And totally recommended.
Pressed on swirled turquoise vinyl. One sided, the other side with a super bad ass etching, housed in a thick vinyl sleeve, and of course, as always LIMITED!" [Aquarius Records review]
www.tableoftheelements.com
|
2008 |
€17.50 |
|
| |
Raga Ooty / Nilgiri Plateau |
LP |
"Raga Ooty unearths three previously unreleased works (each titled with reference to the area in south India where his mother was born) from Oren Ambarchi's archive, showcasing the rawer side of his solo work between 2006 and 2011. The side-long Raga Ooty unspools a twisting, skittering thread of gritty guitar harmonics over a bed of buzzing tambura drone, creating the same paradoxical impression of simultaneous stasis and forward propulsion achieved by minimalist masters such as Henry Flynt, to whom this work is dedicated. The Nilgiri Plateau generates an 8 minute wash of gleaming overtones from a 12 string acoustic guitar played with motors, continuing the experiments first made public on the 2007 Stacte Motors LP. The closing Raga Ooty (Slight Return) returns to the distorted guitar harmonic hysterics of the opening piece, this time elaborated over a wash of Ambarchi's signature Leslie cabinet tones, building relentlessly over the course of 12 minutes recorded live in Basel late last year." [label info]
www.boweavilrecordings.com
|
2012 |
€20.50 |
|
| AMBARCHI, OREN & SCOTT HORSCROFT / HADO HO |
19 Guitars / Sonic Wave 2002 Stereo Action |
12inch |
Endlich geht es in der Textile-12”-Serie (echte 45rpm’ler) weiter, mit dieser feinen Arbeit von OREN AMBARCHI auf einer Seite, wo seine sirrenden & repetitiv angeschlagenen Gitarrenschnipsel von SCOTT HORSCROFT verarbeitet werden, hier verbinden sich treibend-trancig-psychedelische Sounds mit meditativen Flächen. HADO HO steht eher in der Tradition von japanischem Impro-Noise, seine Klangattacken wirken seltsam verlangsamt, wie MERZBOW in Zeitlupe.
“Textile is proud to announce the fourth installment in its split 12 series, Oren ambarchi / Hado Ho.' Oren ambarchi & Scott Horscroft. 'Oren ambarchi is an electronic guitarist and percussionist with longstanding interests in transcending conventional instrumental approaches. Born in Sydney in 1969, he has been performing live since 1986. His recent solo releases Triste (Southern Lord, USA), and Grape from the Estate (Touch UK) have transcended the guitar into a zone of alien beauty and sonic impossibilities to critical acclaim. His work focuses mainly on the exploration of the guitar, 're-routing the instrument into a zone of alien abstraction where it's no longer easily identifiable as itself. Instead, it's a laboratory for extended sonic investigation'. (The Wire, UK). Oren ambarchi has collaborated with SUNN 0))) on their recently completed BLACK ONE and hast just completed a world tour playing guitar with the band together with Greg Anderson, Stephen O'Malley, Attila Csihar and Tos Nieuwenhuizen.'
HADO-HO is Takehito Nakazato, of DUB SONIC & DUBNESIA. 'Takehito Nakazato is a sound fetichist, influenced by an earlier generation of Japanese noise musicians as much as by old school electronics pioneers. Hado-Ho's sound is solely based on noises and sound manipulations such as feedback noises, bad cable connections, loud mic tapping, electric hum, feedback squeals. Takehito Nakazato is not as frantic as the traditional noise acts - Masonna, Merzbow etc, but there are points of reference in terms of sound manipulation and extreme frequency variations. Takehito Nakazato appears on Sonic Plate, Meme, Zero Gravity and Improvised music from Japan.' [label infos]
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| AMBER ASYLUM |
Garden of Love |
maxi-CD |
Nach langer Pause fünf neue Stücke von KRIS FORCEs Band; melodramatische, Kammermusik-artige Elegien wo ein klares Song-Gerüst aber immer zu erkennen ist, eingespielt mit Bass, Piano, Violine & Cello, Bläsern, Percussion, und dazu KRIS eindringliche Stimme;
zurückhaltend, slow, so einsam & verloren... bisher ihre ergreifenste, weil ausgereifste Veröffentlichung !
"San Francisco's Amber Asylum return with their first new recordings in nearly five years . Five dark, brooding chamber works of misanthropic resonance and chilling emotional beauty. A blackened neo-classical masterpiece following their previous recordings on Relapse and Neurot as well as their acclaimed collaborations with Neurosis, Swans and Jarboe amongst others. Just under half an hour of new recordings, featuring the bonus soundtrack recording, "Serenade"." [label notes]
www.paradigms-recordings.com
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Bitter River |
CD |
"Amber Asylum is one of the most influential and respected acts in the neo-classical / dark ambient genre. Group leader, multi-instrumentalist and producer Kris Force boasts a repertoire that includes collaborations with Neurosis and Swans as well as credits for penning soundtrack music for video games, television, and feature films. Her band is known for their distinct brand of chilling romantic mire and brooding darkness constructed with layers of violin, viola, cello, guitar, bass, percussion, and Force's alluring voice. Bitter River is the darkest and most devastating Amber Asylum album ever conceived. The perfect follow-up to the plunging Still Point, this introspective journey into lost love and lost innocence paints powerful sonic portraits of vast, lonely landscapes, dark chambers, rolling fog, and monumental twilight. For the recording, Force employed some of the most accomplished musicians in the underground: long-time Amber Asylum conspirator Jackie-Perez Gratz (Giant Squid, Grayceon) on cello; Leila Abdul-Rauf (Saros) on guitar, piano, and vocals; bass player Eric Wood (Bastard Noise); and drummer Chiyo Nukaga (Noothgrush), along with guest appearances by Sigrid Sheie (Hammers of Misfortune) on flute and Jarboe providing narration. Bitter River features artwork by David D'Andrea." [label info]
"Amber Asylum machten schon immer mehr als nur Musik. Sie schufen die musikalische Untermalung zu Tagträumen. Zumindest zu den Tagträumen, die in die Welt von Elfen, Feen oder Nymphen führten. Die einen auf die Reise in dichte Wälder oder taubedeckten Wiesen im Mondlicht schickten. Die einen mögen dabei an den Herren der Ringe denken, andere an romantisch-verklärte Illusionen über eine Zeit als die Menschen ihre Seele als Teil der Gesamtdynamik der Natur und diese als von vergessenen Zaubern durchzogen betrachteten. Wie auch immer scheint die Musik von Amber Asylum sich nicht mit dem modernen Großstadtleben vereinen zu wollen. Das dieser Anti-Modernismus nicht immer nur romantische Gedankenverlorenheit ist, zeigt sich, wenn man einige Namen assoziierter Weggenossen und Nebenprojekte unter etwas genauer unter die Lupe nimmt.
Das sagt dann aber weder was über Kris Force, die maßgeblich hinter Amber Asylum steht, noch über die Musik dann wirklich etwas aus.
Auf "Bitter River", dem mittlerweile siebenten Album der Band, wird Force von Jackie Perez-Gratz, Sigrid Sheie und vor allem von Leila Abdul-Rauf unterstützt. Letztere lieh dem Projekt nicht nur ihre Stimme sondern trug auch neben Kris Force zu Songwriting bei. Und gerade ihr pathos-gefüllter, fast opernhafter Gesang hebt Amber Asylum aus der Menge der Neo-Folk Bands heraus und nimmt der Musik damit den Beigeschmack des Klagegesanges Rückwärtsdenkender.
Charakterprägend ist auch die Mithilfe von so unerwarteten Gastmusikern wie dem Noothgrush und Graves At Sea Schlagzeuger Chiyo Nukaga, Eric Wood (Ex-Man Is The Bastard, Bastard Noise) und Jarboe von den Swans. Denn "Bitter River" ist nicht nur besinnlich verträumt, es ist über weite Strecken vor allem von einer düsteren, ungewissen Stimmung geprägt. Das macht dieses Album, das beim ersten Hören eine nette Untermalung für verschneite Winterabende zu sein scheint, auch in diesem Sommer nicht komplett deplaziert, ist doch jeder verträumte Tag im Park Unsicherheit und der Angst vor dunklen Wolken und plötzlichen Gewittern und Regengüssen geprägt." [Tinnitus-Mag]
www.profoundlorerecords.com
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| AMBRE |
Le Mensonge |
CD |
Äussert interessantes und experimentelles zweites Album von AMBRE, ein kaum zu klassifizerendes & fassbares Soundscape-Geäst in dunkler Atmosphäre, mit einem grossen Reichtum an konkreten und unkonkreten Klangeffekten.. geniale Hülle auch!
“ ambre's second full length release explores a new direction in sound – this will be especially evident for those who are familiar with 'enclave'. however, there are still no rhythms in this aural universe, but it is still mighty cold and extremely dark in there. even in this cold and dark place, life forms (creatures, not machines) are created. you can hear them celebrating their rituals, you can hear them talk and you can hear them sending greetings to zoviet france's parallel universe (perhaps even a small postcard is sent to pierre schaeffer). but you can never hear them dance - never. these strange life forms don't need a purpose for what they do. do you need a purpose to exist? either do they. what do you mean... it's all a lie? turn up your stereo. put on your headphones. turn off the lights. believe. this cd comes in a folded embossed heavy cardboard cover.” [press release]
|
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| AMELANG, ANTHONY |
The Hidden Gallery |
MC |
Limited cassette edition of 50 copies. Five tracks with a running time of 20 minutes.
Venus is the mother of the Romans, who are in turn the progenitors of our civilization. Their matriarchal Mysteries have been wiped away by the theistic scourge, but still we are struck, in trancelike moments, by remnants of pagan power. Cut off as we are, entombed in concrete, our workings are not in the Temple or sylvan copse.
Creeping street ambient for urban occult methods.
https://chryptus.bandcamp.com/album/the-hidden-gallery
|
2017 |
€6.00 |
|
| AMINI, SIAVASH & EUGENE THACKER |
Songs for Sad Poets |
do-LP |
Composer and sound artist Siavash Amini collaborates with author Eugene Thacker on »Songs for Sad Poets.« The collection of eight pieces draws its inspiration from the legacy of the so-called cursed poets (»poètes maudits«) as well as the German-language tradition of song cycles and expands the structure of the classic art song through a process of lyric abstraction. Amini is no stranger to interdisciplinary collaboration, as seen in »A Mimesis of Nothingness,« his 2020 collaboration with photographer Nooshin Shafiee, also released through the Swiss Hallow Ground label. But whereas in Amini’s previous collaborations music and other media are set in dialogue, with »Songs for Sad Poets«, Thacker’s poems and Amini’s soundscapes are deeply enmeshed with each other. In fact, none of the words printed in the record’s booklet are being said out loud on this double LP, but rather made tangible through the use of sound. Poetry and music do not so much correspond with each other as they conspire together—as songs without words, words without song.
»Songs for Sad Poets« was born out of a mutual admiration of each other’s work and it is easy to see how the musician and the writer could relate to one another artistically. The Tehran-based Amini has released over 20 albums in the past decade—among them »TAR« and »FORAS« on Hallow Ground—that probe the physical world but also search for something beyond it. His compositions draw on field recordings as well as acoustic and electronic sounds, blurring the lines between what is conventionally perceived as real or authentic and the abstract or otherworldly. The New York-based Thacker on the other hand is known as a writer whose philosophical works like »Infinite Resignation« read like poetry while his poetry and other literary writing is inherently philosophically charged. What unites them on this project is an interest in the idea of the fragility of the human being set against the vast horizon of climate, planet, and the cosmos that produces a »sadness without cause.« The pieces on »Songs for Sad Poets« translate this nearly inexpressible ambient melancholy into dense and sometimes claustrophobic pieces that are marked by internal tensions and slowly unfolding dynamics.
The eight poems are neither only the starting points nor just the byproduct of the compositions, or vice versa. Instead, the entire record is one single result of a coherent creative process. Thacker’s writing—dedicated to the poètes maudits Gérard de Nerval, Chūya Nakahara, Sadeq Hedayat, Alejandra Pizarnik, Giacomo Leopardi, Mário de Sá-Carneiro, Zhu Shuzhen and Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo—is marked by a stunning formal rigour, but also a wide-reaching evocativeness. All it needs to conjure up an all encompassing sense of cosmic sorrow is a few lines with even fewer words in them. The rhythmic character of the poems is reflected in Amini’s music which puts an emphasis on tone and mood, but also on movement and density. All of this makes »Songs for Sad Poets« a work of art that directly addresses its listeners’ affects, expressing an underlying melancholy while evoking an air of dread by transcending the borders between music and literature.
https://hallowground.bandcamp.com/album/siavash-amini-eugene-thacker-songs-for-sad-poets |
2022 |
€32.50 |
|
| AMM |
Live at the Roundhouse |
CD |
Unveröffentlichtes Material von 1972 von der legendären Truppe um EDDIE PREVOST !
“The International Carnival of Experimental Sound, or ICES '72 for short, was an ambitious festival sprung from the mind of Harvey 'Job' Matusow (1926-2002). Jumping off from his associations with the influential Source magazine, Harvey brought together over 300 artists from more than 21 countries to perform in London, England over the course of two weeks in August of 1972. Based on the theme of Myth, Magic Madness and Mysticism, he assembled an amazing diversity of performers working in diverse range of audio-visual arts. Encompassing happenings, films, dance, a train ride, and the phantom soft pool table, the focus was on sound -- specifically that of artists who were both composers and performers. Most of the concerts were held at The Roundhouse, a cavernous structure that was formerly a railroad engine house. Now, for the first time in 30 years, these recordings can be heard. This first CD in a series documenting the festival features the complete concert given by legendary free improvising group AMM. Represented here by Eddie Prevost and Lou Gare, they offer up powerful explosions of saxophone and drums punctuated with their famous AMM silences. This is the first time this material is available, aside from two short excerpts were published as the only 7" release on Evan Parker and Derek Bailey's Incus Records (and a very rare and desirable record that has become)." [press release]
|
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Uncovered Correspondence |
CD |
"John Tilbury - piano. Eddie Prévost - percussion. Recorded at the concert hall of the Jasielski Dom Kultury (Jaslo Cultural Centre) in southern Poland on 15th May 2010. Th e performance represented by this CD took place on 15th of May 2010 in the concert hall of the Jaslo Cultural Centre in southern Poland. I had spoken to John Tilbury in 2007 about the possibility of AMM performing in Jaslo, but for various reasons the project did not come to fruition until three years later. We had not planned for a CD release of the concert; in fact, we only spoke about recording the day before. There was no opportunity for the usual setup procedures. The recording was only intended as a document of the occasion. The concert began with John Tilbury using the piano to produce a gamelan-like quality, which was quickly followed by Eddie Prévost bowing a cymbal producing subtle metallic sounds. One could feel an electric atmosphere of concentration and note the exceptional care and elegance with which the performers selected even the tiniest details of the complex sound structure. Intriguing phrases from the prepared piano and sonorous tones from percussion instruments waft ed around the huge expanse of the hall — whose excellent acoustics let the audience immerse themselves in the music — savouring the subtle sounds emerging from the silence. e changes within the slow stream of improvisation occurred in such a natural way introduced by either musician by turn. Sometimes a highly abstract motif seemed to be a logical development rather than a step into the unknown — which in reality it was. The dominant impression was that such an advanced level of intuitive understanding between the two performers was the result of many years of collaboration. In my view each sound produced during the concert was not only ‘desirable’ but also essential (inevitable) and created its own profound aesthetic justification. Especially noteworthy was the compelling way in which both musicians made use of silence, whose role in AMM is as important as sound. Th e performance of a shorter or longer period of silence entailed the same creative intervention as did playing a sound or motif. The moments when the sound structure intensified and thickened became less frequent yet did not disappear completely. Particularly embedded in my memory are two moments: one was an exceptionally loud and shattering fragment of sound when dust could be seen rising out of the piano. And, when Eddie got up from his percussion and went to the wood-panelling, playing the wall with a beater generating a very low and vibrating sound — a convincing demonstration that any object may be used as a means to create music. It is only because I attended the concert, and can recall it in my mind, that now when listening to the recording I can identify the sources of those extraordinary sounds. The music presented on this CD requires a serious commitment from the listener. However, anyone familiar with the music of AMM would expect nothing else. To uncover the hidden beauty of these lovingly craft ed improvised sound abstractions requires an appropriate level of concentration on the part of the listener. Such effort will be rewarded by a profound aesthetic experience. In organising this concert I feel honoured I have been able to contribute, albeit inadvertently, to the release of another AMM CD. Andrzej Serwa — August 2010" [label info]
www.matchlessrecordings.com
|
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
| AMON |
Nona |
maxi-CD |
Nach langer Veröffentlichungspause gibt es nun immerhin eine maxi-CD bzw. 10“ von einem der besten dark ambient-acts. NONA ist eine faszinierende Soundreise in präverbale Sphären, mysteriöse & wunderschöne Klänge die sich in langsamen, aber dynamischen Wellenbewegungen durch Zeit und Raum bewegen...
After a long release-pause here’s a new maxi-CD / 10“vinyl from one of the best dark ambient- acts. NONA is a fascinating soundjourney into pre-verbal spheres, mysterious and truly beautiful noises move in slow but dynamic waves through time and space..
The CD version is lim. to 500 copies and comes in an oversized 10” fullcolour cover with artwork by Daniel Crokaert (Mystery Sea).
“Nona" takes inspiration from a case of xenoglossy (the ability to speak in an unlearned and unheard foreign language, often associated with past-life recall, states of trance or hypnosis and mediumship) discovered in Great Britain around the early Thirties when a woman in state of trance expressed herself in a language which was recognized as ancient egyptian. This voice from the past was called "Nona" or "The One Without a Name".[from the press-release]
|
2003 |
€6.50 |
|
| |
Nona |
10" |
Nach langer Veröffentlichungspause gibt es nun immerhin eine maxi-CD bzw. 10“ von einem der besten dark ambient-acts. NONA ist eine faszinierende Soundreise in präverbale Sphären, mysteriöse & wunderschöne Klänge die sich in langsamen, aber dynamischen Wellenbewegungen durch Zeit und Raum bewegen... auf der vinyl version ist ca. 10 Minuten mehr Material als auf der maxi-CD !
After a long release-pause here’s a new maxi-CD / 10“vinyl from one of the best dark ambient-acts. NONA is a fascinating soundjourney into pre-verbal spheres, mysterious and truly beautiful noises move in slow but dynamic waves through time and space..
Limited edition on clear vinyl, with artwork by Daniel Crokaert (Mystery Sea). On the vinyl version is about 10 minutes more material than on the CD !
“Nona" takes inspiration from a case of xenoglossy (the ability to speak in an unlearned and unheard foreign language, often associated with past-life recall, states of trance or hypnosis and mediumship) discovered in Great Britain around the early Thirties when a woman in state of trance expressed herself in a language which was recognized as ancient egyptian. This voice from the past was called "Nona" or "The One Without a Name".[from the press-release]
|
2003 |
€12.00 |
|
| AMON / NIMH |
Sator |
CD |
Nach langer Zeit endlich neues Material des vielleicht besten italienischen dark ambient -Projekts AMON, der hier mit Giuseppe Verticchio aka NIMH zusammengearbeit hat. Fünf lange Stücke sind hier enthalten, die sehr erdig, fast steinig-staubig klingen, man fühlt sich in endlos-einsame Felslandschaften versetzt....die tiefen Drones wurden mit teils harmonischen e-bow Gitarren und field recordings etwas aufgelockert..
"Composed, performed and recorded by Andrea Marutti and Giuseppe Verticchio between June 2005 and January 2006 in Milan, Rome and Casaline (AQ), Italy." [credits]
"The mystery of the ancient and puzzling magic SATOR square is evoked again in present time through five dark tracks entitled like the five palindromes that form its fascinating structure: SATOR / AREPO / TENET / OPERA / ROTAS.
AMON (Andrea Marutti), the most important and estabilished italian Dark-Ambient project, and NIMH (Giuseppe Verticchio), a well-known and eclectic alchemist of electronic-ethnic–acoustic-ambient sound mixtures, gathered together and worked side by side for some weeks to create their first collaborative effort.
SATOR is a granitic and majestic work, a musical journey in time and history that leads the listeners to the deepest and remote abysses of Earth through archaic and magmatic sounds, confusing them along the way with the technologic and synthetic vibrations of oscillating sinewaves, and with frosty isolationist timbres programmed through fluxes of information written in binary code...
Echoes of breathless and confused human activities falling into decay, the dark and deep Sound of Earth’s abysses, scoriae of electric buzzes and synthetic microsounds, the warmth of subliminal melodies submerged and overwhelmed by menacing and distorted agglomerates of sounds, buried fragments of an abused guitar in decomposition faded by the unstoppable march of time..." [press release]
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| ANAKRID |
Banishment Rituals of the Disenlightened |
CD |
Tolles Album dieser Neuentdeckung auf Beta-Lactam: sehr dichte, dunkle, geräuschhäft-mysteriöse Klänge, elektronisch unterfüttert & stets in dynamischer Bewegung, ein weites Spektrum auf den 11 Stücken austestend... sehr eigener Stil!
"..A very dark, often unsettling and intense album of electronic experimentation." [Side-Line]
"First ed. of 500 copies in a book bound CD case. Anakrid a day keeps the doctor slurred in a trove of fish-tallowed sling slong. This is what it sounds like when doves cry because the mother ship crashes into their nest in the 6th dimension. With this symphony of sickness comprised of scraped palpitations, pitched whooshes, roaring cathodes and syncopated metallics, Anakrid have another breakthrough chart topper on their bruised hands! These avant-garde hit-makers have real crossover potential, combining the best, most dynamic experimental noise with the very latest drones. This exciting NOW sound is OUT OF THIS WORLD! The long awaited fusion of ritualistic tribalism with the tweaked electro-tech of ancient alien cultures is finally here. Hey kids! If you love Nurse With Wound, Genocide Organ, Hafler Trio, Muslimgauze, Pierre Henry, Nadja and Harry Bertoia and confusing your parents, then you’ll want to get in on the Anakrid craze before it’s too late. They’ve got a whole new way of kickin’ it old school. With electronics AND home-made instruments, Anakrid CREATES an exploratory atmosphere WITHOUT all those boring, go-nowhere improvisational hang-ups. Everything sounds fresh, progressive and weird!!! It’s just that good. Let’s face it; outsider music has gotten plain boring. Anakrid is just the electrodes to the testicles that left field music has been weeping for since, like, forever. Ex-punks hang up their Mohawks and make good mayhem." [press release]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Banishment Rituals of the Disenlightened |
LP |
Tolles Album dieser Neuentdeckung auf Beta-Lactam: sehr dichte, dunkle, geräuschhäft-mysteriöse Klänge, elektronisch unterfüttert & stets in dynamischer Bewegung, ein weites Spektrum auf den 11 Stücken austestend... sehr eigener Stil! Dies ist die superlimitierte Vinyl-Version, wie immer wie bei Beta-lactam speziell verpackt!
"..A very dark, often unsettling and intense album of electronic experimentation." [Side-Line]
"LP edition of 100 copies in a hand printed heavy gatefold sleeve. The inside gatefold sleeve is hand painted by Anakrid (each unique). Anakrid a day keeps the doctor slurred in a trove of fish-tallowed sling slong. This is what it sounds like when doves cry because the mother ship crashes into their nest in the 6th dimension. With this symphony of sickness comprised of scraped palpitations, pitched whooshes, roaring cathodes and syncopated metallics, Anakrid have another breakthrough chart topper on their bruised hands! These avant-garde hit-makers have real crossover potential, combining the best, most dynamic experimental noise with the very latest drones. This exciting NOW sound is OUT OF THIS WORLD! The long awaited fusion of ritualistic tribalism with the tweaked electro-tech of ancient alien cultures is finally here. Hey kids! If you love Nurse With Wound, Genocide Organ, Hafler Trio, Muslimgauze, Pierre Henry, Nadja and Harry Bertoia and confusing your parents, then you’ll want to get in on the Anakrid craze before it’s too late. They’ve got a whole new way of kickin’ it old school. With electronics AND home-made instruments, Anakrid CREATES an exploratory atmosphere WITHOUT all those boring, go-nowhere improvisational hang-ups. Everything sounds fresh, progressive and weird!!! It’s just that good. Let’s face it; outsider music has gotten plain boring. Anakrid is just the electrodes to the testicles that left field music has been weeping for since, like, forever. Ex-punks hang up their Mohawks and make good mayhem." [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2008 |
€26.00 |
|
| ANDEL, LAURA / ELECTRIC PERCUSSIVE ORCHESTRA |
In::tension:. |
CD |
Since a very young age, I have always been attracted to journeys and traveling to places not known to me. Last year, I watched a film from Mongolia about a dog. Once the dog dies, its soul is free to travel and wonder through landscapes and memories as a disembodied spirit. Each part of I n : : t e n s i o n : . is part of a longer journey, where you can hear, sense and discover different memories that a wandering soul revisits. Percussive, intimate, visceral, ritualistic and electrically charged, I n : : t e n s i o n : . explores tension points and internal pulses, glimpses and gestures in a non-narrative world.
Composer Laura Andel was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After living and working in her native Buenos Aires and for several years in Boston, Ms. Andel moved to New York City in 2000, where she currently resides. She has conducted her music in New York, Boston, Berlin, Caracas, Buenos Aires and other cities. One of Andel's strengths is her ability to assemble large ensembles to play her compositions. She enjoys exploring diverse combinations of instruments and formats for her orchestras, as well as working with musicians from different musical and cultural backgrounds. Currently, she leads the Laura Andel Orchestra in several formations. Among the most recent are the 14-piece SomnambulisT Orchestra and the 10-piece Electric Percussive Orchestra. SomnambulisT, her previous extended work, was released by Red Toucan Records (RT9322) in 2003.
Thanks to:
Roulette, Jerome Foundation, Sacatar Foundation, Yaddo Artist Colony, Valparaiso Foundation, Jim Staley, Elliott Sharp, and all the musicians of the Laura Andel Electric Percussive Orchestra. Additional thanks to Sofía, Saúl, Hernán, and Carlos.
I n : : t e n s i o n : . was commissioned in 2004 by Roulette with funds from the Jerome Foundation.
All music composed and conducted by Laura Andel (BMI ©2004)
Recorded live by Mario Diaz de León at The Roulette Concert Series at Location One in New York City on December 4, 2004.
Mixed and mastered by Elliott Sharp at studio zOaR in New York City.
Performed by the Laura Andel Electric Percussive Orchestra:
Kyoko Kitamura voice & electronics
Taylor Ho Bynum cornet
Carl Maguire prepared fender rhodes & accordion
Ursel Schlicht piano & prepared piano
Kenta Nagai electric fretless guitar & electronics
Joel Harrison electric guitar & electronics
Khabu Young electric baritone guitar & electronics
David Simons theremin & percussion
Andrew Drury percussion
Harvey Wirht drums
Laura Andel composer & conductor
www.rossbin.com/rs022.htm |
2005 |
€6.00 |
|
| ANDERSSON, PETER |
Music for Film and Exhibition II |
CD |
"Like baking a sweet cake or cooking an indian dish you need good ingredients and spices to get the right mouthfeel and the splendid flavor of your desire. 'Music for Film and Exhibition II' is just like that: a levelled declitre of raison d'être, a brimful tablespoon of Atomine Elektrine, a couple of teaspoons of Necrophorus and a little bit of this and little bit of that, mixed into a perfect blend of many tastes. Peter Andersson, well-known from projects like Raison d'être, Stratvm Terror, Necrophorus and Atomine Elektrine, shows here broad spectrum of sonic atmospheres, like if all of his different music projects were combined into one. From ambient-drone-textures and electronic chill-out to concrete sounds to even pure atmopsheric piano tunes. 'Music for Film and Exhibition II' is the sequel of 'Music for Film and Exhibition' (Yantra Atmospheres, 2007). While the previous output contains collected works from different exhibition projects and movies spanning from 1999-2005,
this sequel is focused on one single project; an exhibition. Peter Andersson has lately worked as a media producer at Swedish Air Force Museum and being involved with their new large permanent exhibiton about the Cold War.
Within this project Peter has worked with sound design and movie production in particular.
The sonic results are presented on 'Music for Film and Exhibition II'. Some of the tunes are used as soundtrack for exhibition movies while the main part are sonic atmospheres and soundscapes to create the ambience of the exhibition rooms. The music is presented here as stand alone productions, displaced from its original context. To fully experience the music in its environmental Raison d'être there is no other way but to travel to the Swedish Air Force Museum. Until then, you may enjoy the music on its own. The CD comes in a six panel digipak covered with beautiful Sunset painting by italian artist Christian Montagna/FLOODSart.
For same samples go here :
http://www.oldeuropacafe.com/main.php?nav=pd&prdct=10127" [label info]
www.oldeuropacafe.com
www.oldeuropacafe.com
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Music for Film and Exhibition |
do-CD & DVD |
"...Natura Fluxus'. 2CD+DVD in digibook packaging. Limited to 400 copies. Peter Andersson from the Cold Meat Industry act raison detre now presents his sound work for film and exhibition, spanning through the years 1999 to 2006. Peter has been working on several film and exhibition projects, some of these projects never went to final completion but the music was composed in almost all the cases. Music for Film and Exhibition presents a broad spectrum of the sounds and music capabilities of Peter Andersson and those familiar with any of his different music projects including raison d'etre, Necrophorus, Atomine Elektrine, Bocksholm etc. will most probably enjoy this double album (Music duration 151 min.) very much..For now Infinite Fog Productions presents complite edition of 'Music for Film and Exhibition I" which contains real DVD with Natura Fluxus - film by Peter Andersson and Lars Bosma + some rare bonuses, like another Peter's films - Autumn Leaves; Mandala; Dritfing Wall; Nature Morte e.t. Total play time approx. 83 minutes! Natura Fluxus brings us on a poetic, existential and suggestive journey dealing with matters like abandonment, desolation, emptiness, inanimation, remembrance and residual energy through places where we can spot traces of presence of mankind. Discover the aesthetic beauty in old factories and ruins: in the perishable and the metamorphoses that follow. Natura Fluxus is a experimental film where concrete, environmental sounds and original scored music blend with visual stunning sceneries of rarely seen places. The film is in B/W and Color. Highly recommended! Masterpiece of ambient music!" [label info]
www.infinitefog.ru
|
2011 |
€29.00 |
|
| |
Timewaves |
CD |
Timewaves presents moments of history in a flow of eternity.
Each moment may or may not be clearly connected with each other.
But when examining the past, does not every moment intertwine with some other moments, and suddenly everything is connected with everything in strange and unclear ways.
In Timewaves it is clear that those moments presented on the album are bound to civilisation.
Is it our civilisation, or someone elses, or just a dream? We don't know.
It may be even a nightmare. All we know for sure is that the clock is ticking.
But ticking for what? Good times or bad times? Hope or fear?
Peter Andersson (Sweden) is most known for the dark ambient project raison d'être and a bunch of other projects like Stravtm Terror, Atomine Elektrine and Bocksholm (a collaboration project with Deutsch Nepal).
Sometimes he releases albums under his personal name, mostly music for museum exhibitions and short movies.
The majority of the tracks on Timewaves has been used in various exhibitions in some Swedish museums.
This time the music is a bit darker, more industrial and experimental than previous exhibition albums from Peter Andersson, but still enigmatic.
Track list:
01 The Obsolete Work of Iron
02 On the Brink of Death, in Mud under Barbed Wires
03 Cold Attempts of a Blissful Obliteration
04 At Night I Wish I Fall Asleep
05 Any Second Industrial Insurgence
06 Time to Wonder
Music by Peter Andersson 2005-2015.
K-14 level mastering 2018.
raison.detre.info
Paintings by Sergey Shenderovsky 2018.
shenderovsky.wixsite.com/artist
Track 01-04 were composed for various museum exhibitions in Sweden.
01: The Army Museum (2013)
02: The Swedish Air Force Museum (2014)
03: The Swedish Air Force Museum (2015)
04: Museum of Music and Theatre (2013)
Track 05 was composed to celebrate the Work With Sounds database (2015).
Track 06 were composed as a source sound for a performance by the $-kollektivet at Fylkingen, Stockholm (2005).
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| ANDROMALAR |
Nunquam |
Reverse Alignment RA-44 |
Reverse Alignment welcome ukrainian Andromalar to the fold. After three self released titles this magic drone act now found it's way to our label. Vast, dreamy soundscapes is expected. Listen and you'll understand what Andromalar is all about.
ralignment.tictail.com/products/reverse-alignment
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| ANEMONE TUBE |
Death over China |
CD |
"One year after the highly acclaimed "Dream Landscape" CD ANEMONE TUBE returns with the new concept album "Death over China".
No country in history has emerged as a major industrial power without creating a legacy of environmental damage that can take, if at all possible, decades to undo. China`s rise as an economic power has no clear parallel in history; thus, its pollution problem has shattered all precedent developments.
"Death over China" is a retaliation of nature against humankind. In the same moment it is a dedication to our untamed curiosity for the essence of death and our (inherent in our collective action) secret death wish. In China`s uncompromising economical and social development we see demonstrated, how we - even with the immolation of our health, environment and tradition - are the servants to material progress. Though we are aware of the approaching ecological disaster, we hazard the consequences. Sustainability is sacrificed on the altar of egoist quest for happiness. We consume, we destroy, we thrive, we conjure: "Deathly kingdom of desire, you sustain the life in me, Black death rise!"
Using field recordings, collected in Nanjing and Shanghai in 2007, ANEMONE TUBE creates an unsettling yet intriguing, apocalyptic soundtrack with a sinister atmosphere and a depressive undertone - a unique blend of dark ambient, post industrial and power electronics in the tradition of European industrial music.
"Death over China" is the second part of "The Suicide Series", for which field recordings provide a conceptional basis. In a poetic way ANEMONE TUBE combines analytical realism of the phenomenal world with buddhist psychology and nihilist rhetoric influenced by the works of Michael Haneke, Hayao Miyazaki, H.P. Lovecraft and Yukio Mishima.All music recorded between July 2007 and December 2009.
Mastered by JAMES PLOTKIN 2010. Definitely ANEMONE TUBE`s best and most mature album yet." [label info]
www.silkentofu.org
"Anomene Tube is a noise-project formed in the Southern part of Germany in 1996. Strong influences to the compositional approach of the project is the nihilistic rhetoric works of Michael Haneke, Hayoao Miayazaki and H.P. Lovecraft combined with buddhist psychology and concrete sounds from the real world. All tracks of this album titled "Death over China", are exclusively developed from the use of field recordings. The piece "I shall forever invoke" is the only piece where there are integrations of synthesizer. For this particular piece the synthesizers adds a nice atmospheric soundscape on the background of field recordings. The piece "Prayer walk" is an abrasive beast where the noise drones makes a pure impact on the listener. Screeching noise drills into the ears with additions of distant voices adding a great apocalyptic atmosphere to the piece. Also the piece titled "Brooding haze" drills a deep impression into the listener thanks to the monotonous high frequency noise-sounds
operating on top of crushing power electronics and concrete metal sounds. "Death over China" is a part of the so-called "Suicide Series" - a series that aims to express the self-destructive tendency by the modern population due to the social and highly industrialized global development. The album comes in a beautiful art-work in dvd-sized format with early photographs and paintings from early 20th century. Excellent work of noise art." [NM/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
|
:existence |
CD |
"
A U F A B W E G E N RELEASE INFO
cd-audio
releaae date: 25.05.2001
artist: ANEMONE TUBE
title: :EXISTENCE:
order no.: aatp09
time: 50:12 min
jewel case / 500 handnumbered copies / fold out colour insert
:existence: as a great mix between rumbling noise and floating ambience. four hasrh tracks and three more dense and collage like works make this a varied and thrilling listen!
tracklisting:
Flesh & Bombs (10:13)
Secondary Master (4:43)
Choke Down (5:41)
Existence (11:10)
Red Waves (5:56)
Continuity (4:08)
The Encounter III (8:19)
Anemone Tube was founded in Summer of 1996 by Stefan Hanser who felt the urge to express deeper personal feelings and dreams. The audioworks from Anemone Tube vary a lot along with the different means Stefan Hanser uses as
sound source and for manipulation and could easiest be described as industrial-, ambient- and noisescapes of organic and synthetic sounds. The use of constantly shifting and altering sounds and moods is possibly one of
the most intruiging things about the audio creations of Anemone Tube with the purpose of trying to put the listener into a delirious mental state, to irritate, torment and caress him no matter if in a positive or negative way:
to cause emotional reaction!
Over the years plenty of releases, several participations on compilations, split and
collaborational releases on tape, vinyl, cd and video have been realised by different labels worldwide such as Transfixional Entertainment/Ravensburg, AufAbwegen/Köln, Solipsism/USA, Loud!/Italy, Napalmed/Czech, Inner Space Records/USA and many more.
www.transformed.de/anemone.html" [original press release by AUF ABWEGEN]
"German ambient-industrial project Anemone Tube was formed in 1996, and has explored a variety of heavy noisescapes and rhythmic blocks of sound; the Tube's modus operandi has always seemed to focus on putting the listener into a state of delirium caused by constantly shifting sounds and tones sourced from assorted organic and synthetic sounds, and this approach has resulted in a stylistically diverse body of work over the years. On the debut full length Existence, a nearly hour-long disc released in a hand-numbered limited edition of 500 copies, Anemone Tube is at it's heaviest, constructing seven bulky tracks that move from gorgeous ambient dronescapes to crushing, loop-heavy walls of distortion and menacing melodic tracers undulating over grinding rhythmic throb, sort of like what I'd expect a collaboration between Wolf Eyes and Maurizio Bianchi to sound like, although you can also draw lines to Throbbing Gristle, SPK, and violent early UK power electronics when tracks like 'Choke Down' and 'The Encounter III" get into full swing and start obliterating speakers with ferocious torrents of factory distortion. I really dig the way that Existence manages to balance the haunting, atmospheric drones and buried deconstructed rhythms with the louder, brutal passages of rumbling machine filth, making this much easier to digest than many of Anemone Tube's peers. Packaged in an elegant jewel case with a large 10-panel booklet glowing in fiery, fractaled reds and oranges, imprinted with mysterious pictograms." [Crucial Blast] |
2001 |
€12.50 |
|
| |
In the Vortex of Dionysian Reality |
LP |
Related to Nietzsche`s notion of the Wagnerian music drama as a revelation of the abysmal truth about man, “In the Vortex of Dionysian Reality” allures us into the Dionysian dreamland, where tragedy reigns, in pursuit of the ultimate oneness. With its washes of noise and layers of piercing feedback on a subbase of wavering synths, it is a maelstrom of sound generating a hallucinatory reality. The atmosphere oscillates between destructiveness and aggravating frenzy, between the archaic and the sacral, between frenzied passion and abyssal melancholy, serving the mythical experience of music in a world where language has failed as a method of communication and music figures as the primordial form of expression.
As he considers humanities to have reached their limit, young Nietzsche hopes to find ultimate spiritualization and idealization in the reborn myth. Music alone (“our German masters”), as the primeval form of poetry and revelation of true Dionysian wisdom, may achieve triumph over the Apollonian shallow world of apparition.
With his timely musical rendition of mythical experience as “In the Vortex of Dionysian Reality”, Anemone Tube conveys an emotionally and mentally charged album which reveals his soft spot for progressive post rock metal acts like Amusement Parks On Fire, Blut Aus Nord or O.L.D. Their special approach of dreamy melodies vs. atonal, discordant sounds is skillfully recreated through polyphonic synths lines, which are then modulated into feedback and added for good measure.
Carrying the same title as the 2015 cassette EP release on The Epicurean, this CD with its 40+ minutes total length and five all new, yet unreleased tracks is less a mere re-release, but rather a full stand-alone album, featuring Ukrainian dark ambient artist Monocube on one track, as well as including sounds by Russian avantgardists Post Scriptvm and sound processing by French sound artist Pacific 231.
LP comes with different design than CD version and exclusive track “Tower of Evil (Sovereign Over All)”.
https://epicureanescapism.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-vortex-of-dionysian-reality-lp
https://epicureanescapism.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-vortex-of-dionysian-reality-2
|
2017 |
€17.00 |
|
| ANENZEPHALIA |
Magenta |
do-LP |
MAGENTA collects all the tracks that ANENZEPHALIA has been playing live for over two decades but never released them. This album of hellish agent was in the oven for many years. Most of the tracks will seem or sound familiar but you wont find them on studio album releases. Its a like a continuing journey through the abyss of Anenzephalia.
Enjoy ! comes with registration numbered card!
|
2018 |
€29.00 |
|
| ANGELI, PAOLO |
Tessuti |
CD |
"Es ist wirklich kaum zu glauben, dass PAOLO ANGELI Tessuti (ReR PA3) ohne Overdubs eingespielt hat. Dabei ist seine verblüffend
polyphone Virtuosität auf der präparierten und elektrisch verstärkten sardischen Gitarre noch der geringere Anlass zur Verwunderung. Was ist
schon Virtuosität? Noch erstaunlicher sind das Material und die Arrangierkunst, die Richtung, in die Angeli strebt. Neben Eigenkompositionen
spielt er Björk und Fred Frith. Dem dabei der Geist von Tom Cora über die Schulter blickt.
Nicht nur bei Skeleton Crews ‚The Hand That Bites‘, auch bei ‚Ahead in the Sand‘ und ‚Navajo‘ von Speechless oder dem miniaturisierten ‚Lelekovice‘, Friths
String Quartet #1 (auf Quartets, RecRec, 1994, und, neu interpretiert vom Arditti String Quartet, auf Eleventh Hour, W & W, 2005). Der Cora-Touch rührt wohl daher, dass Angeli seine
Gitarre zwischen den Knien hauptsächlich arco wie ein Cello spielt. Bei seinen Interpretationen hebt Angeli neben dem
experimentellen Aspekt der trickreichen Mehrstimmigkeit auch das Frith-typische Substrat
der Imaginären Folklore hervor bis hin zu Anklängen an Spielformen der Renaissance.
Von Björk erklingen ‚Unravel‘ (von Homogenic), ‚Desired Constellation‘ (von Medúlla),‚One day‘ (von Debut) und ‚Hyper-ballad‘ (von Post). Dabei
gelingen Angeli ebenfalls erstaunliche Rückbindungen des Pathos und der verstiegenen
Poesie der Isländerin an die manieristische Tradition (minus des ‚Angeschossenes Reh‘-Timbres, das mir Björk verleidet).
Die zart angeraute Sanglichkeit der sardischen Gitarre ist durchwegs bestechend schön.
Wie Angeli dazu die perkussiven Spuren zaubert, sirrende Vibrationen und geklopfte Beats, das
ist der alte Skeleton-Crew-Zauber." [Bad Alchemy]
"The latest from Paolo on which he plays compositions by Fred Frith and Bjork - solo (though when you hear it, you definitely won’t believe it) on his highly customised and extended, electrified, giant Sardinian guitar. A tour de force of technique and a musical pleasure. There is so much subtlety and so much attention to the minutiae of sound, and so much going on at any given time that it is difficult to relate what you hear to just one person playing. Very concentrated, it rewards listening to a few songs at a time. Though strangely, you could probably also dance to it." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
| ANOFELE & LOGOPLASM |
Gravescapes |
mCD-R |
Für field recording-Fans höchst empfehlenswert: Zwei italienische Projekte mit Aufnahmen aus einem unterirdischen Kloster-Tunnel, der mit Steinen, Stöckern & Knochen übersät war… auf der mini-Cd befinden sich drei Stücke, je eines mit den Bearbeitungen von ANOFELE und LOGOPLASM, und einmal die Originalaufnahmen. Geheimnisumwitterte Geräusch-Trips voller steiniger Details…
“We are happiest to bring you this collaboration between Anofele (Adriano Scerna, better known as one half of the italian experimental duo Kar) and Logoplasm (Paolo Ippoliti and Laura Lovreglio from Ariccia, Rome) which comes in the form of a 3" MiniCD-R.
Logoplasm didn't release any music at all during the last few years, so we are particularly glad to be part of their return to the scene, and we're truly hoping that this won't remain an isolated episode.
"Gravescapes" is a very particular release whose origins starts back in 2003 during a week-end in springtime, when Adriano, Paolo and Laura got almost lost in the woods of Central Italy, after a visit to a local theravada buddist monastery.
As they were walking around the monastery, at some point the trees disclosed the ruins of what instantly appeared like an abandoned graveyard bearing the signs of an awful lot of time and almost completely overgrown with weeds.
Underneath the graveyard they soon discovered a short subterranean tunnel. The tunnel was slightly illuminated by the piercing sunlight and their curiosity won over unrational fears, so they decided to explore it.
Inside the tunnel they found a few open loculi which contained small heaps of human bones. More bones were spreaded on the ground along with stones, sticks, branches, etc.
They took some recordings with two portable MiniDisc machines, using their discoveries as the main sound sources. Such recordings were subsequently manipulated and assembled using computer technology and softwares, and turned into "Gravescapes".
"Gravescape One" is Anofele's rendition of the original recordings, which is presented as "Gravescape Two". "Gravescape Three" is Logoplasm's take on the same source material.” [label info]
|
2006 |
€6.50 |
|
| ANOK PE CURRENT 93 |
Birth Canal Blues |
maxi-CD |
"The album consists of one 20-minute song in four movements that sets the basic narrative structure of Anok Pe Current 93's new Hallucinatory Mountain trilogy, whose first part, Invocation of Hallucinatory Mountain, is due in January 2009. Birth Canal Blues was recorded by Tibet, Baby Dee, John Contreras, and Andrew Liles. The packaging includes an 8-page color booklet with photographs from Egypt by Tibet." [label info]
|
2008 |
€11.50 |
|
| ANTLERS MULM |
Of Withered Sparks |
CD |
"Our hopes, our flesh, our tears... are draped like dead birds in the skies"... Different from most other LOKI-artists, ANTLERS MULM appears to be much more song-oriented, doing a kind of dark electronic pop-music, but very refined, minimal, deeply melancholic & quiet. Reminds us a bit on TWICE A MAN or TOR LUNDVALL at times, but with a much darker singing..
"The third album of ANTLERS MULM opts for deep resonating tones that are harmonious and hypnotic with a greater emphasis on percussion, and the massive foray into song based structures. Dark Beats and phantasmagorial Melodies are melting into an intense atmosphere guided by the outstanding voice of the father of shadows Hans Johm. Throbbing samples enriches this compositions to a homogenic masterpiece. These 10 songs are catching the mood of the warm feeling of being at home and creating a landscape of a coruscant kingdom that lies deep within the lyrical and musical expression. These tracks building melancholy on the most song based LOKI release ever - take a deep breath and get lost in this aural world of ANTLERS MULM. Limited digipack and vinyl version (222 copies) released in January 2008." [label info]
www.loki-found.de
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Of Withered Sparks |
LP |
"Our hopes, our flesh, our tears... are draped like dead birds in the skies"... Different from most other LOKI-artists, ANTLERS MULM appears to be much more song-oriented, doing a kind of dark electronic pop-music, but very refined, minimal, deeply melancholic & quiet. Reminds us a bit on TWICE A MAN or TOR LUNDVALL at times, but with a much darker singing..
"The third album of ANTLERS MULM opts for deep resonating tones that are harmonious and hypnotic with a greater emphasis on percussion, and the massive foray into song based structures. Dark Beats and phantasmagorial Melodies are melting into an intense atmosphere guided by the outstanding voice of the father of shadows Hans Johm. Throbbing samples enriches this compositions to a homogenic masterpiece. These 10 songs are catching the mood of the warm feeling of being at home and creating a landscape of a coruscant kingdom that lies deep within the lyrical and musical expression. These tracks building melancholy on the most song based LOKI release ever - take a deep breath and get lost in this aural world of ANTLERS MULM. Limited digipack and vinyl version (222 copies) released in January 2008." [label info]
www.loki-found.de
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
| ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS |
You are my sister |
maxi-CD |
“Antony & The Johnsons' breakthrough album I Am A Bird Now has certainly touched fans and critics alike. The album's latest single is the anthemic and heart-rending 'You Are My Sister,' presented as a duet between Antony and Boy George. Together these two vocalists climb to the highest peak of emotional vulnerability providing for the listener one of the most touching and uncanny duets of the past decade. It's heartbreaking when Antony sings, 'You are my sister / we were born / so innocent, so full of need / there were times we were friends / but times I was so cruel / at night I'd asked for to watch me as I sleep'. With soaring and world-weary intensity, Boy George utterly commands the refrain: 'You are my sister / and I love you / may all of your dreams come true.' In 'You Are My Sister,' the pair sing from the depths of their hearts for the world. This extended single also includes three new, unreleased songs recorded during the I Am A Bird Now sessions." [label info]
|
2005 |
€7.50 |
|
| |
The Crying Light |
CD |
Drei Platten die wir auch mit Drone anbieten wurden vom PITCHFORK Magazin (zur Zeit wohl DIE Referenz im Alternativ-Bereich) zu den "besten Platten des Jahres 2009" erkoren: SUNN O)))s "Monoliths & Dimensions", JIM O'ROURKE - "The Visitor", und "The Crying Light".
Zurecht, denn dies ist das Meisterstück des aussergewöhnlichen Sängers mit der fragilen Stimme und den herzzereissenden Arrangements!
"Mit seinem dritten Album "The Crying Light" setzt der Songschreiber, dessen empathisch emotionaler Kopfgesang kein Geschlecht kennt, aber dafür die Tiefe menschlicher Gefühle, einen intimeren Fokus. Im Interview mit der britischen Musikzeitschrift "Wire" spricht Antony von einem "inneren Garten", dessen Mauern er nun überwinden möchte, weil es dahinter ja noch viel mehr zu entdecken gibt - "the landscape beyond my inner landscape". Es ist eine Meditation über das Paradies, das für Antony viel mit der Entfaltung der Natur und ihrem Formenreichtum zu tun hat. 30 Songs hat er in den letzten sieben Jahren für das enorm geschlossen wirkende "The Crying Light" geschrieben - und schließlich trotzdem nur zehn davon verwendet. Ein Prozess der Verfeinerung. Auch bei den Arrangements wurde alles Überflüssige gestrichen. "Dust And Water" klingt deshalb so pur wie schwebender Morgennebel, und hinter dem gesamten Album steht offensichtlich mehr eine suchende Zen-Haltung als ein exaltiertes Pop-Ego. "Her Eyes Are Underneath The Ground", der erste Song des Albums, weckt Erinnerungen an Schubert und das deutsche Kunstlied. Da ist vor allem Antonys Stimme, dazu ein sacht ertastetes Klavier und eine Ahnung von Violinen und Cello im Hintergrund. Erst ganz zum Schluss drängen sich harsche Bässe in den Vordergrund, wie Gewitterwolken an einem heiteren Nachmittag. "Epilepsy Is Dancing" tänzelt hoffnungsvoll und verspielt "One Dove" schält sich ganz langsam aus dem Nichts, wie viele Stücke hier. Später setzten Dissonanzen ein, mehr und mehr Instrumente tauchen auf und verschwinden wieder, bis nur noch seltsame Tierstimmen zu hören sind. "Kiss My Name" schwelgt dagegen in einem orchestralen Klang- und Melodie-Reichtum, der fast schon an Freund Rufus erinnert.
Der Höhepunkt, "Another World", ist ein hellhäutiger Blues und ein banges Abschiedslied auf die Welt: "I need another place, will there be peace? I need another world, this one is nearly gone." Es folgt eine Liste der Dinge, die der Sänger in einer anderen Welt vermissen würde: die Bäume, das Meer, den Schnee, die Bienen und überhaupt alles, was wächst - "I'm gonna miss you all". "Aeon" mit seiner rauen Gitarre ist dagegen fast schon ein Rocksong, aber eben nur fast. Zu "The Crying Light" kann man nicht tanzen, und das Album gehört auch nicht zu den Platten, die einem mit packenden Refrains durchs eigene Leben helfen. Die Schönheit dieses bisher reifsten Antony & The Johnsons-Werks liegt darin, dass es nach der Seele sucht, wo andere nur in den Spiegel blicken. Ein Meisterwerk, eine andere Welt und ein Refugium für alle, die es zu schätzen wissen." [Jürgen Ziemer, Rolling Stone]
"Zeitlos und doch aktuell: das lang ersehnte dritte Album.
"The Crying Light" heißt das lang ersehnte dritte Album von Antony and The Johnsons. Auf "The Crying Light" legt Antony seinen Fokus auf ein neues Thema und gibt uns einen Einblick in seine Beziehung zur Umwelt. Der Album-Opener "Her Eyes Are Underneath The Ground" ist ein liebevolles Zwiegespräch mit Mutter Natur und Ausdruck des Wunsches, dass sie am Ende über ihre Zerstörung siegen wird - "no one can stop you now!" Darauf folgen der schwindelerregende Walzer "Epilepsy Is Dancing" und das herzzerreißende "One Dove", dessen detailreiche Instrumentierung Antonys Stimme - bildlich gesprochen - regelrecht umarmt. Mit "The Crying Light" ist Antony and The Johnsons ein zeitloses Meisterwerk gelungen, das uns die folgenschweren Entwicklungen in der Welt und unsere Rolle darin ins Bewusstsein ruft. Es kann zum Sinnbild dieser turbulenten Zeit werden; eine Momentaufnahme und ein Anstoß für uns alle, Courage zu besitzen und uns sowohl in unserem persönlichen Kosmos als auch in der Welt als Ganzes rücksichtsvoller zu bewegen."
[Indigo]
"ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS' breakthrough second album "I Am a Bird Now" won the UK's prestigious Mercury Prize in 2005. The success that followed introduced many to a pioneering soul singer unafraid to explore themes that traversed darkness and light, life and death, male and female. Antony's inimitable voice sparked the interest of artists ranging from Bjork to Hercules and Love Affair, resulting in a series of critically acclaimed collaborations. "The Crying Light" is the highly anticipated full-length follow-up to "I Am a Bird Now". Here, Antony shifts the thematic focus and explores his relationship with the natural world. The intimacy of the Johnsons' sound is enveloped by avant-classical composer Nico Muhly's symphonic arrangements. The record's centerpiece, "Another World" traces the singer's dispair in the face of a vanishing landscape. Antony and the Johnsons' music bridges the gap between avant-classical music and the blues, and the band's sold out performances have resulted in standing ovations from Carnegie Hall to the Apollo. "The Crying Light" is a soul-stirring new work with its daring compositions and captivating vocal performances. Antony and the Johnsons have created a subtle and timely work that brings a magical and yet changing world to the forefront of our consciousness." [press release]
|
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
| AOSUKE |
Monotone Spirits |
CD |
"aosuke's new album "monotone spirits", which has been released as collaborative work of the labels audiolith and meudiamorte, is highly recommended to all lovers of classic ambient sounds as all four tracks which are paving their way through a total running time of about 36 minutes feature floating, totally beat-less structures of organic ambience influenced of what my be called a slightly post-postrock'ish attitude if the simple use of processed guitar sounds can be regarded as rock-reference. if not, it's just ambient at its best." [label notes]
www.audiolith.net
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
| APALUSA |
Obadiah |
CD |
"Following on from his warmly received cdr releases of 2007, ‘Obadiah’ is the second full length album by Apalusa, aka Nottingham based musician Dan Layton.
Over the course of 50 minutes, these three long-form tracks focus on darker territory than previous releases, with sub-bass rumbles and minor-key chord progressions augmenting the multiple layers of Apalusa’s trademark processed guitar drones and field recordings to form an all-encompassing listening environment.
With Layton’s use of raw sounds and processing techniques now forging an identity for himself which is very much his own, the end result is the most focused and realised Apalusa release to date." [label info]
www.low-point.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| APOPTOSE |
Ana Liil |
CD |
"Ana Liil doesn't want to be your friend – she lives in an entirely separate world. Maybe at night you see her shape behind a grimy window in the neighbourhood, or you hear her singing from afar. But you will never get closer to her. “I don't know who she is,” Apoptose says. “One day she just emerged. Like a thought that sounds logic in your dreams but completely strange in daylight.” Apoptose’s “ana liil” plays with your expectations. This album spins within close range of those dark ambient realms that Apoptose became known for since the early 2000s. Songs like “meer der ruhe” or “schnee” still bear this signature. But at the same time they show a new quality of songwriting. Both feature the frail singing of a girl who keeps the dusty shadows at bay . On “forget your face”, “adrenalin” or “ich verbrenne” Apoptose replaces the reverb charged tracks by songs full of voices and haunting melodies. But beware: all is not as it seems. The album will be available on CD, vinyl+CD and download. The CD is housed in a stylish spot varnished six-panel cardboard pack including a twelve-pages booklet and a separate CD-sleeve. The LP+CD version comes in an altered design with copper foil blocking and printed inner sleeve. Don't miss!" [label info]
www.tesco-germany.com
"Wer ist ANA LIIL? "Sie will nicht mit Dir befreundet sein – sie lebt in ihrer ganz eigenen Welt." So steht es in der kurzen Beschreibung zum neuen APOPTOSE-Album. Ich könnte mir gut vorstellen, dass ANA sich diese Eigenschaft mit RÜDIGER, dem Mann hinter APOPTOSE teilt. Wohltuend zurückhaltend präsentiert sich der Musiker, den wir seit einiger Zeit begleiten. Rund vier Jahre nach "Bannwald" (Besprechung und Interview) legt er, ganz unaufgeregt, im Mai mit "Ana Liil" auf TESCO ein neues Album vor; wir durften es vorab schon hören.
Trotz vieler Änderungen in den vergangenen Jahren – von den rituelleren Alben "Nordland" (2000) und "Blutopfer" (2002) über das industrielle "Schattenmädchen" (2007) und den Post Punk-Ausflug "Warrior Creed" (2008) wieder zurück in waldigere Gefilde auf "Bannwald" (2010) – blieb ein gewisser APOPTOSE-Sound immer erkennbar. Dies gilt auch für "Ana Liil", hier finden sich erneut die leicht orgeligen, langgezogenen Synthietöne. Ansonsten hat sich allerdings eine ganze Menge getan. Zum Beispiel arbeitet RÜDIGER auf einigen Songs mit Gesang, die Trommeln von früher liegen wohl endgültig im Keller, und die Musik mit eingängigen, starken Melodien könnte als minimaler Synthiewave durchgehen.
Schon "Meer Der Ruhe" (01) birgt die erste Überraschung: Zu einer ruhigen, traurigen Synthiemelodie mit neoklassischer Anmutung singt eine Kinderstimme, anrührend und auf Deutsch. Gemeinsam mit dem angesprochenen, speziellen Klang ergibt sich etwas Märchenhaftes – wir reden allerdings von den düsteren, morbiden Märchen, in denen es um Geister, Tote und andere Dimensionen geht. So kommt der Song trotz der Kinderstimme sehr gut am Kitsch vorbei. In "Ich Verbrenne" (02) wandelt sich die Sängerin vom Mädchen zur Frau. Die weiterhin ruhige Synthie-Ambientmusik mit dezentem Rhythmus im Hintergrund erinnert mich – hier und an anderen Stellen – an elektronische Musik der 1980er/90er, zum Beispiel an die frühen WOLFSHEIM. Der Titeltrack (03) schlägt zum ersten Mal wirklich düstere Töne an: dronige E-Gitarre, Percussion und englische, gesampelte Vocals. KRAFTWERK oder deren aktuelle Version ATOM™ scheinen in "Fernsehen" (04) zu grüßen (und auch das nicht zum letzten Mal): sanfte, jetzt sehr modern wirkende Elektromusik mit TV-ähnlicher Ansagerstimme ("Fernsehen macht dumm ..."). Die moderne, computerisierte Anmutung bleibt für die nächsten beiden Tracks bestehen: "Adrenalin" (05) mit mächtigem BACH-Chor im Hintergrund und "I Say Seven" (06) mit einer dronigen, mächtigen Melodie, analogem Schlagzeug, Synthielayern und der technisierten Frauenstimme, welche Zahlen präsentiert – mein Favorit. "Hiding" (07) ist eines von zwei Stücken, bei denen mir "Twin Peaks"-Lieder von JULEE CRUISE in den Sinn kommen (mit mehr Drive und Rhythmus), auch die Kinderstimme im Abschlussstück "Schnee" (09) bringt mich dorthin zurück. Dazwischen liegt mit "Forget Your Face" (08) ein Track, bei dem ich kurz – ich hoffe, RÜDIGER verzeiht mir das – an die PET SHOP BOYS denken musste.
Extrem packende Ambientmusik, die inhaltlich durchaus an frühere Alben von APOPTOSE anknüpft, vor allem "Schattenmädchen" und "Bannwald". Auch Kinderlieder und Gesang gab es vor allem schon auf letzterem. Musikalisch allerdings geht "Ana Liil" in eine andere Richtung. Die Nähe zur Natur ist nicht mehr so deutlich hörbar, die starke rituelle Komponente fehlt, die Trommeln spielen überhaupt keine Rolle mehr. Das aktuelle Werk ist in seiner fast ausschließlich elektronischen Anlage durchgängiger, die Stücke sind sich ähnlicher und häufig mit Gesangsstimmen versehen. Nach und nach umspinnt die Hauptdarstellerin den Hörer mit Einsamkeit und Verlorenheit – und trägt ihn davon.
Das Album erscheint als CD, LP und als Download und kommt laut Beschreibung von TESCO mit aufwändiger Verpackung..." [Michael We./NONPOP]
|
2014 |
€14.50 |
|
|
Ana Liil |
LP + CD |
"Ana Liil doesn't want to be your friend – she lives in an entirely separate world. Maybe at night you see her shape behind a grimy window in the neighbourhood, or you hear her singing from afar. But you will never get closer to her. “I don't know who she is,” Apoptose says. “One day she just emerged. Like a thought that sounds logic in your dreams but completely strange in daylight.” Apoptose’s “ana liil” plays with your expectations. This album spins within close range of those dark ambient realms that Apoptose became known for since the early 2000s. Songs like “meer der ruhe” or “schnee” still bear this signature. But at the same time they show a new quality of songwriting. Both feature the frail singing of a girl who keeps the dusty shadows at bay . On “forget your face”, “adrenalin” or “ich verbrenne” Apoptose replaces the reverb charged tracks by songs full of voices and haunting melodies. But beware: all is not as it seems. The album will be available on CD, vinyl+CD and download. The CD is housed in a stylish spot varnished six-panel cardboard pack including a twelve-pages booklet and a separate CD-sleeve. The LP+CD version comes in an altered design with copper foil blocking and printed inner sleeve. Don't miss!" [label info]
www.tesco-germany.com
|
2014 |
€24.50 |
|
|
Blutopfer |
LP |
"Blutopfer is back - for the first time on vinyl! In 2017 we celebrate the long overdue return of Apoptose's second album which originally surfaced in 2002. In the 15 years since its release, Blutopfer has become a classic album of the industrial/ritual-music genre. It combines raw ambient electronics with drumming footage of the Easter processions in the village of Calanda in Aragón, Spain. This album is still unique in its attitude and effect. A "must have" that has been unavailable for quite a while.
Now, the Blutopfer LP edition brings back all the emotions and even more. The sound was remastered with great care to wake the spirits hidden in the tremendous drums. The LP comes in new artwork with liner notes by both industrial music legend Jordi Valls of Vagina Dentata Organ and Apoptose. So even fans who know the album by heart will be able to discover new aural and visual facets. While the original CD was made of purple plastic to mimic a colour vinyl LP, here is the real thing: the LP is pressed on drummer robe violet vinyl in an edition of 300 copies. Included is a free download code for a special 8-track digital version. It features a bonus track, recorded in 2016 with original source material that hadn't been used before."
www.tesco-germany.com
|
2017 |
€21.50 |
|
| |
Die Zukunft |
CD |
„Wir sitzen in unseren Zimmern und draußen wird unsere Zukunft zerstört.“ We sit in our rooms and outside our future is destroyed. This line sets the tone for Apoptoses’s sixth longplayer „Die Zukunft“. Sometimes you don’t have to travel far to see and feel desolation. Your hometown, your room or even your head can turn into an overwhelming world full of fear or confusion – from initial alienation to the unsettling moment when just the voices in your head seem to know what is right or wrong. All this is palpable in the songs of „Die Zukunft“. Instead of painting these voices in colours of terror, Apoptose shows their inherent beauty in super dark electronics with slow motion rhythms.
In the four years of production Apoptose selected a wide range of different singers for this album. Most outstanding is classical trained tenor Daniel Sans. He sings „What Power Art Thou“ – a song that was composed by Henry Purcell in the late 17th century. Apoptose and Sans preserve the complex harmonic structure of the original translating it into a breathtaking five minute ride in apoptotic soundspheres. They succeed in conjuring up Purcell’s „cold genius“ that had already fascinated legendary countertenor Klaus Nomi in the 1980s. Other voices on „Die Zukunft“ include the gloomy spoken words of the advance single „Time-lapse City“, the lost girl’s voice on the title track and two female singers on „Dornen“. Consistent with the album title Apoptose does not look back, but is heading for novel territories within the dark ambient music genre.
Tracklist:
Two Hours
What Power Art Thou (Cold Song)
Time-lapse City
Medizin
Dornen
Das Jenseits
Au Ciel
Die Zukunft
Format: CD, six-panel cardboard pack including a separate CD-sleeve
Release: October/November 2018
|
2018 |
€14.00 |
|
| APSE |
Climb up |
CD |
"In the fall of 2007, around Apse's 8th year as a band, Michael Gundlach and founding member Bobby relocated to the quiet shores of outer Cape Cod, Massachusetts and began living in virtual isolation. A few months into the move and for various reasons the 2 brooklyn based members of the band were no longer in the picture, leaving only Bobby, Michael and their faithful touring bass player / contributing member John Mordecai, living 4 hours away.
Together Bobby and Michael found multi-instrumentalist Jed Armour who joined the band and introduced them to drummer Brandon Collins. Both of them highly talented musicians and long time residents of the cape, the addition of these two members greatly impacted the creative capabilities of the band as well as Bobby and Michael's understanding of - and integration into the year 'round life in the band's new home.
After rigorous preparation with the new members rehearsing for an already-booked 6 week European tour that saw them performing at ATP Vs. Pitchfork and several other noteworthy dates across Europe the band returned to Cape Cod and began writing a new album. In August of 2008 during the early stages of the writing process, All Tomorrow's Parties reissued the band's 2006 Spirit to warm critical reception. Labeled as a post-rock record by some, a genre-splicing giant to others, Spin Magazine's Kenny Herzog likely put it best: "Spirit is the deathnail for the labored beast that is "post-rock," revealing the much more alluring potential that always lurked around its sinister corners."
Since making Spirit - originally completed in 2006 and after releasing a number of smaller albums both before and after the ATP reissue, the band found itself ready to take on its next major endeavor. Just as a director might make respective films - changing subject matter, approach and format for each - the band was inspired to explore new means of composition, songwriting and production. Its range of members were influenced from a diverse array of art and music, life experience, fiction - and were unanimously uninfluenced by their surroundings - as there were little social distractions or creative camaraderies to be had.
The bulk of this writing process then took place between the fall of 2008 and the spring of 2009. Forging the album through long days and nights in the quiet beauty of the winter months on outer Cape Cod. The record that's come out of it, entitled Climb Up is undoubtedly a reflection of the very process that made it - tying into the creative methods as well as the story of the lives of the band's members as they crafted the album.
Climb Up was recorded entirely by the band in their homes. The bulk of the arrangements and mixing were authored by Bobby Jed and Michael. Drawing from a mixture of existing demos that were turned into working songs as well as full-band improvised live recordings that Bobby cut up and formed into song structures, overdubbing effects and vocals on top of them - the band ultimately chose and honed in on a final cut of 12 tracks, culled from a larger body of work.
The ever-changing obtuse creative strategies of Bobby and Michael, paired with the adept musical knowledge and performance abilities of Jed and Brandon - and the diverse inspirations of all members combined to create an album that bares a fantastic dialogue between imagination and songcraft. Climb Up is wildly unique, versatile, and inarguably the bravest yet most accessible work by the band.
The record is a major departure from the band's most notable predecessor, Spirit - which was completed 4 years prior. Where Spirit explored a dark world of reverberant guitars, ambient passages, and minimal, haunting vocals, Climb Up proves a bold step out of that darkness. The intricacies of this new world are depicted as if staggering from the world of Spirit into a very different, more illuminated place.
Not to mention its packed with more grooves, a greater use of electronics, a range of instruments both modern and classical and – notably – a much stronger emphasis on voices and melodies.
Climb Up is dense, innovative, cinematic. Apse draw from a colourful palette of different genres, techniques, instruments and approaches - and with that have made what is likely to be one of the most curious, and probably largely unexpected albums of the year. Listen, and be immersed." [label info]
www.atpfestival.com/recordings.php |
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Climb up |
do-LP |
"In the fall of 2007, around Apse's 8th year as a band, Michael Gundlach and founding member Bobby relocated to the quiet shores of outer Cape Cod, Massachusetts and began living in virtual isolation. A few months into the move and for various reasons the 2 brooklyn based members of the band were no longer in the picture, leaving only Bobby, Michael and their faithful touring bass player / contributing member John Mordecai, living 4 hours away.
Together Bobby and Michael found multi-instrumentalist Jed Armour who joined the band and introduced them to drummer Brandon Collins. Both of them highly talented musicians and long time residents of the cape, the addition of these two members greatly impacted the creative capabilities of the band as well as Bobby and Michael's understanding of - and integration into the year 'round life in the band's new home.
After rigorous preparation with the new members rehearsing for an already-booked 6 week European tour that saw them performing at ATP Vs. Pitchfork and several other noteworthy dates across Europe the band returned to Cape Cod and began writing a new album. In August of 2008 during the early stages of the writing process, All Tomorrow's Parties reissued the band's 2006 Spirit to warm critical reception. Labeled as a post-rock record by some, a genre-splicing giant to others, Spin Magazine's Kenny Herzog likely put it best: "Spirit is the deathnail for the labored beast that is "post-rock," revealing the much more alluring potential that always lurked around its sinister corners."
Since making Spirit - originally completed in 2006 and after releasing a number of smaller albums both before and after the ATP reissue, the band found itself ready to take on its next major endeavor. Just as a director might make respective films - changing subject matter, approach and format for each - the band was inspired to explore new means of composition, songwriting and production. Its range of members were influenced from a diverse array of art and music, life experience, fiction - and were unanimously uninfluenced by their surroundings - as there were little social distractions or creative camaraderies to be had.
The bulk of this writing process then took place between the fall of 2008 and the spring of 2009. Forging the album through long days and nights in the quiet beauty of the winter months on outer Cape Cod. The record that's come out of it, entitled Climb Up is undoubtedly a reflection of the very process that made it - tying into the creative methods as well as the story of the lives of the band's members as they crafted the album.
Climb Up was recorded entirely by the band in their homes. The bulk of the arrangements and mixing were authored by Bobby Jed and Michael. Drawing from a mixture of existing demos that were turned into working songs as well as full-band improvised live recordings that Bobby cut up and formed into song structures, overdubbing effects and vocals on top of them - the band ultimately chose and honed in on a final cut of 12 tracks, culled from a larger body of work.
The ever-changing obtuse creative strategies of Bobby and Michael, paired with the adept musical knowledge and performance abilities of Jed and Brandon - and the diverse inspirations of all members combined to create an album that bares a fantastic dialogue between imagination and songcraft. Climb Up is wildly unique, versatile, and inarguably the bravest yet most accessible work by the band.
The record is a major departure from the band's most notable predecessor, Spirit - which was completed 4 years prior. Where Spirit explored a dark world of reverberant guitars, ambient passages, and minimal, haunting vocals, Climb Up proves a bold step out of that darkness. The intricacies of this new world are depicted as if staggering from the world of Spirit into a very different, more illuminated place.
Not to mention its packed with more grooves, a greater use of electronics, a range of instruments both modern and classical and – notably – a much stronger emphasis on voices and melodies.
Climb Up is dense, innovative, cinematic. Apse draw from a colourful palette of different genres, techniques, instruments and approaches - and with that have made what is likely to be one of the most curious, and probably largely unexpected albums of the year. Listen, and be immersed." [label info]
www.atpfestival.com/recordings.php
|
2009 |
€17.50 |
|
| AQUAVOICE |
Grey |
CD |
"The first AQUAVOICE album on Zoharum label. "Grey", the eighth album in the project's discography, contains 10 compositions covering musical territories than before. It's pure electronics, but a bit more experimental than simply ambient or Berlin school, as previosly associated with AQUAVOICE." [label info]
"Life from other space is still a massive source of musical inspiration, perhaps because we have no clue about it. Here we have Polish musician Tadeusz Luczejko, who calls himself Aquavoice, and his microphone is up in the sky, with the opening piece 'S.E.T.I. Project'. The search for extraterrestrial life goes on, and hopefully I will not be accused of laziness when I compare this music with that of Andrew Lagowski, who sometimes works as S.E.T.I., but let's not forget SETI either, who released an album on Instinct Ambient in 1995. There are similarities in the use of the name, but also in musical approach. Lots of analogue synthesizer sounds, which are set to 'long sustain', and 'heavenly atmosphere' - both of them near the push button that says 'cosmic settings' - and we have a lift-off. Aquavoice takes us up for trip to 'Terra Incognita', to the 'Invisible World' and we see the 'Child Of The Moon' and an 'Air Sanctuary'. Holding court on earth are the sadly passed away Pete Namlook and Biosphere to see if the controls are set for the sun, and they are. Auqavoice plays text book ambient music and there is nothing wrong with that. There isn't a single moment where one could think that Aquavoice does something you haven't encountered before - especially on those mid 90s ambient/house waves - but he does it with great care for sonic detail and these ten pieces are a delight to hear. What more could you want? Every era needs it's own chill out music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
www.zoharum.com
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Nocturne |
CD |
" 'Nocturne', the second AQUAVOICE offering on Zoharum, is a successor to well-received last year's "Grey." The material for both albums was created around the same time and was divided according to the following key: "Grey" - more experimental and coarse compositions; "Nocturne" - more dreamy, low-key and soothing ambient textures. The new album includes 11 new songs clocking in at 50 minutes, songs a bit darker and colder than before where one can find inspirations taken from Scandinavian art.
This 3-panel ecopak release is strictly limited to 500 copies." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"Things in Poland seem to be booming, for quite some time actually. Monotype is a very active label, when it comes to releases, and Zoharum follows neatly. Zoharum is a label that specializes in anything that is dark and atmospheric, but not without beats. We start this particular journey with the second release by Aquavoice, the musical project of Tadeusz Luczejko, whose debut was reviewed in Vital Weekly 896. Here Aquavoice further explores the boundaries of starry nights, of nocturnal soundtracks, with dreamy synthesizer sounds, mild sequenced rhythm - more ticking than beating - an occasional voice well placed here and there. Exactly the same references as last time pass by: S.E.T.I., Biosphere, Pete Namlook and no doubt you could add many others from the field of ambient music that comes with a bit of rhythm. I don't think Aquavoice had a re-thought of what he was doing after 'Grey', but simply decided to carry on what he was doing so well already. Maybe the addition of 'real' instruments - piano, violin - is something that is new around here? Maybe not. So, perhaps nothing much new, and then what? There is nothing wrong with that. Luczejko simply explores further what he does best, what is in a tradition from Eno, via ambient house, to microsound and he delivers another fifty minutes of some excellent music. I very much enjoyed this nocturnal, cosmic ride." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| ARANOS |
And soon Coffin sings |
CD-R |
Again a strange & unique journey from ARANOS, more ambient but with highly obscure sounds (analogue, violin, noises), over the time it gets more and more concrete & and bizarre, sounds from rubbing & squealing & squeezing & playing the violin (?) randomly, listen to thee unknown tortured animal... and then a very peaceful droney ending.....
Comes in handprinted pentagonal shaped cardboard-cover.
“Three instrumental tracks, 72 minutes of sounds from a parallel world. Ocean's fleshy psyche Aimlessly branches out through hare-frost, Ant-port and myself Hot hoe became grass eye From whence puzzles consume caffeine backwards.
Eyes could have it Ears could have it Subtle light reflected towards woolen periwinkles Scent of panning bathtubs Eternal stimulation.
Her first deep eel cupped her heart at once And nulled vehicular freedom. Encased in chemical bondage Four strings chime a distant bell From time and place light ears away.” [label info]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Tax |
CD |
"Tax is a record with a political theme. How much tax we all pay? Usually we think of income tax only, (which incidentally was introduced in England to pay for Napoleonic wars and was and is collected ever since). But we also pay tax on all purchases and services. It is a lot of money and proportion of it goes on war. More in some countries, less in others. In global economy we all pay for all the wars everywhere. Example: Parts of this computer were made in China, by giving Chinese government some of my money I also pay for weapons that Burmese government uses to brutalise it's population.
Now what is war? Bunch of people dressed in costumes (uniforms) killing another bunch of people dressed in different costumes. These costumes enable them to behave in a fashion that would be considered criminal under different circumstances. The military costume wearers do not know anything about the other costume wearers; some of them might be perfectly nice people. But they wear different clothes so "KILL THEM!" Insane or what? And my (and your) tax is paying for this. In concept the record is fairly original in that it treats one theme and it's aspects, a bit like an oratorio on the theme "lament about human stupidity". What can we do? I do not know, Maybe we can start thinking about demanding different approach by our leaders; after all it is our money." [label description]
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Mother of Moons Bathing |
CD |
Für den Hirn-zerschabenden Stil-Mix alleine hätte ARANOS bereits einen Preis verdient - von klickender Sinuston-Elektronik über free-form Noise bis hin zu swingenden Songs mit Gesang ["MAMA GOT A NEW BOYFRIEND"], von Drone-Loops und Gongflächen über obskurste Geräuschtracks bis hin zu XXX kann hier einfach alles passieren....
für den Wiedererkennungseffekt aber sorgen die immer wieder präsente Violine & seine rauhe, markante Stimme, verbunden mit den verschroben-ironischen Texten. Das ganze ist auch noch verpackt in ein edelstes, Filz-artiges Cover... immer wieder, so scheint es, geht es ARANOS darum, Grenzen jedweder Art zu überschreiten, aber mit STIL... ARANOS bildet sich sein ur-eigenstes Genre.
"Aranos (pronounced Aranyosh) is a prolific composer and storied multi-instrument performer from the Czech part of Bohemia, by way of Ireland, where he lives near his friend and frequent collaborator Steve Stapleton of Nurse With Wound. “Mother of Moons Bathing” is his first release for Soleilmoon, but his lengthy discography includes releases issued by Beta-lactam Ring Records, Brainwashed, Crouton, Klanggalerie, Noise Museum and United Daries as well as his own label Pieros. The album covers a lot of ground, and refuses to be categorized, unless “Aranos” can be its own category. It opens with “Awaking Horns”, a minimalist piece built around a simple repeating click track containing absolutely no horns whatsoever. “New Boyfriend” begins as a jaunty ode to new-found love, but the conversation between mother and daughter turns dark as it’s revealed that the new boyfriend has a dodgy past with little girls. “Some Clowns Are Not Funny” and “Almost Pulled Through” are a pair of scary electro-acoustic roller coaster rides that sound like they might have escaped from Steve Stapleton’s little shop of horrors. The fifth song, “Legs Thighs Splits” returns to the gently fun whimsy started with “New Boyfriend”, but trades literal meaning for delicious texture and experimentation. “I saw Women’s Rising Fry” is a song of fearlessly eccentric lyrics married to complex, brain-tingling instrumental arrangements. “Ta-taa-ta, Taah merged” is a side dish of looped, sampled vocal minimalism leading into the the longest track on the CD, “Towards Glittering Warm Dumplings”, a rolling trance-dance weighing in at more than 21 minutes. “Invisibility Cloak of Time”, another minimalist electro-acoustic instrumental, closes the album. The total length of “Mother of Moons Bathing” is 71 minutes 41 seconds, and it’s sheer bliss from start to finish. In the face of a market dominated by increasingly bland visuals and dire throw-away packaging, this album stands apart. In the tradition of other Soleilmoon releases, the presentation for “Mother of Moons Bathing” is second to none. This time the CD comes in a hand-made silk-screened soft-textured folder with a pair a sparkly screen-printed inserts backing up the disc inside. The costly and stunning materials have work together to produce a pleasingly harmonious package that will appeal to music fans and serious collectors alike. “Mother of Moons Bathing” is limited to 400 copies. After his child was taken away and sent to slavery Carlos resigned himself to becoming low to medium quality moon fodder. Spending his days in rearranging surface molecules with his broken arms and dislocated shoulders while filling his eyes and lungs with yellow dust. All the while pondering impermanence of the unpredictable his reward was flow of hill magic and stunning sunsets. Too much knowledge gathered over the years was proving to be a mixed blessing. Change of timbre in his diabetic movement master’s voice clearly indicated a forthcoming constriction of coronary arteries, but there was nothing Carlos could do. Certainly not over the distance of four and a half thousand miles. The only thing was to accept all. Child slavery, master’s coronary, yellow dust, beautiful sunsets, flow of magic…" [press release]
www.soleilmoon.com
|
2007 |
€14.50 |
|
|
Koryak Mistress stakes Golden Sky |
CD-R |
"This record contains one track,
A concerto for 3 double bases, 4 violins, viola, zither, condomble drum and other things that make noise. Composition is in one movement; division into parts is possible but rather superfluous.
Originated as a simple tune on double bass harmonics. Ran away with itself simply to enjoy digital ones and noughts on little silvery disc or even smaller bits of plastic. It times about one hour before returning to its origin.
May gods bless her and all who listen to her.
She arose
Gently, gently,
As if not to wake
Newborn reeds and rushes.
Yet shimmering of her power
Filled both visible and invisible."
[label info]
www.brainwashed.com/aranos
|
2008 |
€11.50 |
|
| |
Crow Eye Hint |
CD |
"This is a drone record. Piano sustain pedal depressed and released activates resonanacy in all strings. Microphone placed inside the piano records these as a moving aural landscape punctuated by giant footsteps of the pedal. 5 minutes deep in this world a burst of sound of one note ripping forwards and backwards cuts into pleasant reverie for a few seconds, than melancholy of vivisected piano returns and increases in intensity. Upon reaching it's conclusion, single note of the same piano replaces it. Through rhythmical permutations this note creates a drone inviting strings. Pedal adds a forward movement. At a given point whole body of sound shifts up a semitone, changes colour, keeps increasing in complexity until final climax.
Crow eye hint comes on CD pressed from a glass master in a case handmade from pine veneers and canvass. Includes two woodcut prints."
[label info]
www.aranos.org
|
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
| ARASTOO & AEMAE |
Ostrakon |
LP |
"Two side-long ice sculptures built on piano and processing, the piano coming strictly from Arastoo Darakhshan, while both add their effects but Brandon Nickell as Aemae delivers digital doctoring as his primary outlet. The title track is a wonderful splintering of sound, with glacier cracking in on the stark black and white keys. Aemae’s timing with noisier nuance is excellent on this, and he has at least one treatment like a frozen train going off the tracks! Here the sum decimates the parts, Arastoo’s delicate hesitance almost dances around a ghost of Clara Rockmore. A very open piece with rays of mourning and crystal shards of electronics, it captures that ever-important balance of order and chaos. If the first piece is Nickell plating Darakhshan, then perhaps the second is a reverse, with a layer of Aemae cast out and the piano imposed on top? Just a guess, maybe I’m too concerned without tallying yin and yang. The first piece really is a stunner with a fascinating name that wiki shows as the derivation for ostracism. Yeah, this is outsider music but I suspect readily acceptable to many ears, of course we too at KFJC have been happily exiled beneath main street for decades of decadence. Limited release on Nickell’s own label."
[Thurston Hunger / KFJC]
"A long in the works collaboration from two aQ favorites, Aemae and Arastoo. We've listed both Aemae releases, but Arastoo has been a bit more elusive, with tons of super limited vinyl and cd-r releases, of which we've only ever managed to review 3. Well, the two have come together, to produce this, the first in a new salvo of Bay Area sound art from Aemae, aka Brandon Nickell's Isounderscore label. And a pretty fantastic start. Arastoo plays the piano, and then the two shape and mold the piano into two side long pieces, both quite impressive.
The A side is mostly straight piano all the way through, some gorgeous fluid playing, some stunning arrangements, but the two subtly shape and twist throughout, adding mysterious little music box flourishes, sudden squalls of super high end skree, but those moments are actually quite controlled, the sounds sculpted onto dog whistle melodies, and haunting upper register textures. The subtle production tweaks really only augment, creating complimentary sounds, or add bits of ambience, allowing the piano to drift and sway and unfurl its melody, seemingly oblivious to what's going on around it.
The B side however, finds the sound of the piano obliterated, transformed completely into long shimmering streaks of layered metallic reverberation, a bit industrial sounding, layers of constantly shifting whir and rumble and hiss and roar, like a choppy sonic sea, building to a buzzing crescendo before settling back down into a tranquil sea of black ambience, as the piano returns, unfurling gentle, yet ominous minor key melodies, all very creepy and cinematic, but also quite lovely. LIMITED TO 320 COPIES. Super striking silkscreened covers, with original artwork by Arastoo." [Aquarius Records]
www.isounderscore.com
|
2008 |
€14.50 |
|
| ARBEIT / BEAUCHAMP / PALUMBO |
Torino 012010 |
do-CD |
"Torino 012010 is the second release of a series documenting the collaboration between
Jochen Arbeit (guitar player of Die Haut and Einstuerzende Neubauten) Paul Beauchamp and Fabrizio Modonese Palumbo (the duo known as Blind Cave Salamander).
This collaboration started as part of Arbeit's “Soundscapes” improvisation live project.
The focus being on the moment of the spontaneous meeting of different systems of soundscaping, the task and challenge of exchanging the results of individual sound research in a public space.
The Torino 012010 double cd release on Tourette Records follows the vinyl only live album Halle 27022010 (released by the German label Behind s.r.b.) and presents two different sessions recorded by the trio in January 2010 in Torino Italy: a studio session at O.F.F. studios reecorded, mixed and edited by producer and sound engineer Marco Milanesio and a recording of a live performance in the historical chapel of the San Pietro In Vincoli ex-cemetery as recorded by Larsen's Paolo Dellapiana and edited by Jochen Arbeit.
Even though this collaboration is an integral part of Blind Cave Salamander's activity and discography the musicians have decided to release these albums under their individual names to emphasize the project's collaborative nature based on improvisation and composing as a real time emotional and musical reaction to each other's inputs/outputs.
Credits
Jochen Arbeit : guitar, electronics
Paul Beauchamp : electronics, musical saw
Fabrizio Modonese Palumbo : guitar, electric viola" [label info]
www.touretterecords.com
|
2011 |
€16.00 |
|
| ARC |
Arkhangelsk |
CD |
Bei ARC werden die typischen BAKERschen Grundelemente (endlos lange Gitarren-Loops / Delays mit vielen Mikrodetails, die jedoch klar strukturiert sind) mit zum Teil kraftvoller Perkussion und elektronischen Effekten umhüllt....psychedelisch, improvisiert, dronig, eigenwillig.. Anklänge an TARENTEL und andere Post-Rock & Ambient-Guitar-Drone Projekte...
"Four sixteen and seventeen minute tracks, the first a glistening glimmering long form metallic shimmer, laced with rainfall like
percussion, skittery snares, long stretches of glitched out electronics, muted barely there rhythms. The second starts off like a less jazzy Necks, lots of space, softly strummed guitars, strange scattered percussion, soft swarms of electronic FX, backwards swoops,
processed cymbal sizzle, subtly ominous and haunting, eventually the drums explode and the pound out a reverb drenched rhythm, while the
guitars grow thicker and slightly more propulsive, eventually blissing out and fading out completely. The final two tracks are quite similar, beginning as deep soft shimmers and building in intensity until they become these reverb heavy tribal free jams, thick with droned out shimmers, and layers of fuzzy gauzy ambience, sort of like the Swans meets the Necks, or a blissed out Einstuerzende.
Not the sort of stuff we're used to from Baker, but definitely cool, and certainly a bit more challenging than much of his more
soothing blissed out drone / dirge output. If you dug the other one, you'll for sure dig this, and if you're looking for something a bit abstract, a bit jazzy, a bit krauty and a bit drone-y, then this could well fit the bill.
Packaged in a striking sepia tone 6 panel digipack style sleeve, and again, we have very few copies, so when we sell out, please be
patient while we try to get more." [Aquarius Records review]
www.epidemie.cz
|
2008 |
€13.50 |
|
| |
Glassine 1 |
CD |
"Mit Gitarren, Percussion, Schlagzeug und Holzbläsern dringen diese vier, jeweils gut eine Viertelstunde langen Live-Stücke in verhaltene, energiegeladene Territorien vor, denen eine organische, ja romantische Verspieltheit eigen ist. Auch hier lässt sich ein bestimmter Ritual-Soundcharakter ausmachen, in einigen Passagen fallen mir Popol Vuh oder O Juki Conjugate ein. Vielleicht sollten ARC mal mit Rapoon oder den Tonutti-Brüdern zusammenarbeiten. Von allen erwähnten CDs sicher die zugänglichste. Music for rituals, order from chaos." [Skug]
"Glassine I was recorded live at the Ambient Ping in Toronto on 03/07/2006; and can be easily described as an organic space ambient, with very strong references to Pink Floyd (Ummagumma), Popol Vuh, Ashra Temple, Jackie-O Motherfucker, O Yuki Conjugate, AMP and Flying Saucer Attack or "Fourth World" ambient music! Four tracks of pure vibrant multi-layered psychedelic drone music! Now, close your eyes, listening to "Glassine I" and start for your trip even without the intake of any substances… waiting for “Glassine II (coming soon on A Silent Place)." [label info]
www.asilentplace.it
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| ARCANE DEVICE |
Devices 1987-2007 |
do-CD |
Texturen aus Sirenen-Klängen und Sinuston-Feedbacks, repetitive Patterns aus Extrem-Frequenzen, Effektgerät-Übersteuerungen bilden seltsame Klangkegel aus, elektronische Cut-Ups formen Kaskaden aus befremdlicher Rhythmik. Und alles basiert nur auf einer Soundquelle: Feeback! Auf dieser russischen Kollektion des emsigen MONOCHROME VISION-Labels findet sich älteres rares Material von längst vergessenen Compilations, aber auch neue Stücke von 2007, welche nahtlos an die Vergangenheit anknüpfen, insgesamt aber weniger noisig & offensiv klingen. Very special stuff!
"Anthology of rare and previously unreleased tracks by Arcane Device, recorded within the 20 years. It is divided into two parts. The first one consists of tracks from compilations issued by Subterranean Records, Tragic Figures, SFCR Tapes, and Generations Unlimited, but also unreleased material remastered and/or remixed in 2007. The second one is subtitled as "Feedback symphony" and based on various recordings, presented in four movements and finished in 2007. One more chance to approve the exceptional skills and compositional/ technical talent of David Myers who can control the electrons by will, creating fantastic soundscapes. Arcane Device is the unique project of american graphic designer and musician David Myers, active between 1987 and 1995. His creative output is going beyond any categorization, because it’s possible to re-arrange and demonstrate such many styles of modern music with only one thing that is feedback. This effect usually happens when you shortcut the input and output of any electric device. It’s hard to believe but this almost uncontrolable beast became the driving force for Arcane Device music, armed by self-made bank of delays and filters. Looking like inward sound research, decorated with finest web of random processes and microvariations, it becames the peculiar feature. Endless circulation of electrons, never repeating routes and always having some chance for individual life inside of any macrostructure." [label notes / credits]
"....I might be wrong, but the oldest guy here is David Lee Myers, also known in the mid eighties as Arcane Device and one of my heroes of the time. Myers created his own feedback machines long before someone thought of 'no input mixers'. Myers controlled his feedback with all sorts of sound effects, which made him sound differently than say the average industrial musician. No wonder his first release was on Recommended/ReR records, known for improvisation rather than noise. In the time span of less than eight years Arcane Device released a bunch of CDs, a LP, a double 7" pack and some cassettes (many of them these days available from http://www.pulsewidth.com). For Monochrome Vision, Myers went to his archive to pick some rare (from various compilations on Subterranean Records, Tragic Figures, SFCR and Generations Unlimited) and unreleased for his double CD. I admit straight away that it has been a while since I last played a CD by Arcane Device, but hearing this feast of recognition, prompts me to pull them all out and play them again in the next weeks, when time allows me. The strength of Arcane Device, to work with such unmusical sounds in such a musical form, hasn't lost any of his magic to me. Unlike say the current wave of no input mixers, who like to be microsound, minimal or overtly harsh, but nothing musical, I only know of one equivalent to Myers and that's Marco Ciciliani, who I once saw play a no input mixer in such a musical manner. Great stuff!" [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.monochromevision.ru
|
2007 |
€17.00 |
|
| ARFORD, SCOTT |
Radio Station |
CD |
"Tune into the shortwave bands in and around San Francisco and you're likely to discover little more than static, hiss and electrical interference broken up by an occasional transmission from a libertarian wacko in the Santa Cruz mountains. Scott Arford has spent his entire carrer manipulating a similar static from televisions in his searing audiovisual installations ans perdormances, so it makes perfect sense for him to begin investigating his hometown's cracked ether. Just as he does through his jacked up TV's, he seeks only the most caustic radio signals as his source material and aggresively cobbles together jagged layers of hotwired sound. In many ways, Arford picks up where John Duncan and Daniel Menche - particularly in the use of conglomerates of throbbing pulses and sub-frequency vibrations - Arford manages to highlight the most inherent "musical" nature of a highly fascinating cause of aural enjoyment." [Jim Haynes/ THE WIRE]
"In the Bay area he's quite well-known, Scott Arford, operator of the 7HZ label, video artist, musician and collaborator of Francisco Lopez, Randy Yau and Micheal Nine. His output however is quite small. 'Radio Station' is his latest work, and it deals with one of the easiest to obtain sound sources: radio sounds. Not the speech type, or plunderphonica, but everything in between the stations - the cracks, the static, the hiss. Arford is not a sensitive man: whatever he finds on the radio waves he uses, but with a high intensity. His work is not about careful, delicate sounds, but a rather forceful, mean and loud mixture of waves crumbling over each-other, falling apart, chopped up. Not really moments of silence and contemplation here, but on the other hand, Arford isn't interested in doing 'just' a bunch of noise either. He knows how to make a strong, vivid collage of sound out of these radio station and how to make a forceful, interesting piece of music. Energetic and present. The use of radio sounds may not be entirely new, the results of Arford are certainly very very nice." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| ARGYRE PLANITIA |
The Atomic Age |
CD |
"Dystopian dark ambient - unplug from the network while still possible. The version of our future connecting strong AI, IoT and cyberhumans and a dark outcome...thou shall escape!
Embrace our high tech. future, with a concept album that unites concepts like strong Artificial Intelligence, Internet Of Things and Cyber Humans and portrays a possible fatal outcome for humanity.
This is nicely crafted (dystopian) dark ambient from Germany, by argyre planitia (Stefan Voss). He began to be interested in dark ambient around 2011 and began to produce in this style and released his first album on Petroglyph Music in 2013. To him the dark ambient genre has a great creative potential as this genre is more open to sounds and sound experiments than any other musical style. To him it is also a very relaxing experience both in listening and creating.
He is using a mixed setup of software and hardware to produce the dark ambient soundscapes on his releases and live. Musically his influences are more classical like early Pink Floyd and post punk / dark wave to the Berlin school like K. Schulze or Brian Eno's music. Although he's not making these styles of rock or Berlin school, all this music has somehow influenced his understanding of music.
He has material published on Petroglyph Music and Ambient Online. He can also be heard on Dark Ambient Radio (http://www.darkambientradio.de)
His influences: During the last years, I discovered the large field of dark ambient with raison d’être, Kammarheit, Phelios, Atrium Carceri, Lamia Vox, Bad Sector, SETI, Vestigial and many, many, many others and got a lot of inspiration from it.
CD comes in a 4-panel digipak, limited to an edition of 300 copies."
|
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| ARKTAU EOS |
Dormiveglia |
CD |
Poised perfectly on the knife’s edge between dreaming and waking, the eight Arktau Eos album presents an intense array of dusty electronics, distant spirit-voices, and buried field recordings. Its abstractions are brought to sharp focus by direct engagement with the mysteries at concrete loci over the past decade. Thus the cycle continues; the bridge between worlds half-glimpsed in twilight is built anew.
Impressions from this wider continuum were collated together between 2019 and 2021 in several sessions. In early 2022 this material was finally distilled into its most potent and compact form in the warm glow of old vacuum tubes, using various unorthodox mixing techniques. Consisting of six chthonic hymns, or access points, “Dormiveglia” is very much a raw and “earthed” record to offset the fleeting, nebulous qualities of its source.
The CD is enclosed in screen printed digipak covers. Limited to 500 pieces.
https://www.auralhypnox-shop.com/releases/107-arktau-eos-dormiveglia-cd.html
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| ARNALDS, OLAFUR |
Eulogy for Evolution |
CD |
"This is the debut release by Iceland's Ólafur Arnalds and the first North American release for the London-based cinematic music label Erased Tapes Records. Arnalds has immersed himself completely in the world of delicate symphonic composition in a near-weightless orchestral undertaking. Mixing strings with loops, ambience, electronics and beats, Arnalds combines classical instrumentation with an indie-rock aesthetic that draws comparison to Sigur Rós. Eulogy for Evolution is an evocative, orchestral suite that takes the listener on a journey, representing different periods of life from birth to death through slow-building and hauntingly melodic chamber music. It comes with a free download voucher for the 11-track Erased Tapes Collection I compilation to celebrate the label's 1st anniversary. Ólafur Arnalds and his live string quartet performed at unique venues in the UK, including the oldest custom-built concert hall in Europe, the Holywell Music Room in Oxford, before they continued playing mostly sold-out shows throughout the rest of Europe. Over 500 people came to see Ólafur at the State-X Newforms Festival in Den Haag alongside Aphex Twin, as well as at Iceland Airwaves with Amiina and Jóhann Jóhannsson in Brussels. He is already working on his second full-length record and a string arrangement for Erased Tapes friends, 65daysofstatic." [label info]
www.erasedtapes.com
|
2007 |
€15.50 |
|
| |
Two Songs for Dance |
7inch |
"Following on from Ólafur Arnalds critically acclaimed dance score 'Dyad 1909' (2009) for the internationally renowned choreographer Wayne McGregor, now comes 'Two Songs For Dance' - a limited edition 7" vinyl that captures two exciting tracks from two contemporary dance projects. The first 'Endalaus II' was created for 'Endalaus' by Norwegian choreographer Alan Lucien Řyen and is available for full stream as part of the Erased Tapes 5th Anniversary Tour playlist. Fans will recognise the track as one of the highlights from Ólafur's recent live shows, creating an emotional punch against the classical strings. 'For Teda', the second song is for London-based company Neon Dance and part of choreographer Adrienne Hart's on-going project 'Archived'it'." [label info]
www.erasedtapes.com
|
2012 |
€9.50 |
|
| AROVANE & PORYA HATAMI |
C.H.R.O.N.O.S. |
LP |
https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/organism-evolution
On “C.H.R.O.N.O.S”, their 3rd album on KARL, AROVANE and PORYA HATAMI deliver five delicate ambient pieces, rich in textures and zen-like atmospheres. Available as 180gr LP and DL.
After “Organism” (2017) and the musique concrete influenced “Organism_evolution” (2018) UWE ZAHN alias AROVANE and PORYA HATAMI continue their sonic explorations with “C.H.R.O.N.O.S.”, the fifth collaborational album by the German electronic producer and the Iranian sound artist. While the duo’s last album was a collection of 23 mostly short tracks, each an acribic examination of sounds that treated by techniques like modular synthesis, granular synthesis, spectral processing, granular synthesis, resynthesis and resonator / modal synthesis, ““C.H.R.O.N.O.S.” consists of five longer compositions that focus on creating a contemplative, zen-like atmosphere of subtle beauty. Rich in details, carefully sound-designed, AROVANE and PORYA HATAMI prove once more their top notch skills when it’s about creating state of the art contemporary ambient.
Quotes on previous albums:
# Organism (2017)
“an album of fleet, subtle beauty.” The Wire
“some of the subtlest, elusive material in either’s catalogue.” Boomkat
“a dark, mysterious, but extremely detailed sound – as alive and moving as nature’s finest organisms.” Ambientblog.net
#################
"My good friend and partner in crime [you will find out soon enough what I mean by that], Uwe Zahn, has been prolific these years with collaborations [hint, hint], explorations, and trials. His most successful among these, in my humble opinion, is the partnership with the Iranian ambient sound artist, Porya Hatami. Together, they have already released numerous albums: Resonance (Éter Editions, 2015), Kaziwa (Time Released Sound, 2016), and Organism (Karlrecords, 2017). This year, the pair returns to Thomas Herbst's "outlet for experimental music" with C.H.R.O.N.O.S. - a five-piece statement "rich in textures and zen-like atmospheres." This music is a culmination of the interchangeable sonic language, which is reduced in grammar or words but is simply understood. Fans of intricate designs and loosely-structured aural fabrics will find themselves drowning in the expansive architecture of sound, synthesized via granular, modular, and spectral machines, each with a thick layer of resonating fabric. Like a never-ending zoom-in on a delicate textile, up until the point where the fibre becomes the forest and a universe of its own, C.H.R.O.N.O.S. takes the listener into a complex compound of delicate blankets, which they will peel apart long after the last tones have gone. Highly recommended with a sophisticated pair of headphones or precision-tuned bookshelf speakers, playing from a 180g vinyl, or a lossless digital source. Fans of Ian Hawgood, Celer, Tomasz Bednarczyk, Christopher Bissonnette, and Taylor Deupree will agree." [Headphone Commute]
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| ART BEARS |
Revisited |
do-CD |
Unveröffentlichtes, Neues, Remixtes, Neubearbeitetes zum 25jährigen Band-Jubiläum von diversen Grössen der ReR-Family, and beyond...
“Prepared over six years for our 25th Anniversary, this is a collection of specially commissioned re-mixes, re-workings and (mostly) new pieces made from the Art Bears' multi-track masters by JOHN OSWALD, THE RESIDENTS, CHRISTIAN MARCLAY, FRED FRITH, CHRIS CUTLER, BIOTA, OTOMO YOSHIHIDE/GROUND ZERO, BOB DRAKE JON ROSE, OSSATURA, WARRIC SWINNEY/KALAHARI SURFERS, WHEN, THOMAS DIMUZIO, ANNIE GOSFIELD ROGER KLEIR,ANDREA ROCCA, VITOR RUA, JOCELYN ROBERT,MUSCI/ VENOSTA/ MARIANI, MASSIMO SIMONINI, HERB HEINZ. MARTIN ARCHER, YASUSHI UTSUNOMIYA, JON LEIDECKER /WOBBLY, STEVAN KOVACS TICKMAYER andBRIAN WOODBURY - an amazing catalogue of imagination and great music, digi-packed with a cover art by EM Thomas, who did all three original art bears covers and containing Art re-mixes in the booklet as well as comprehensive information. This double also contains Collapse from the Ralph Records single, All Hail from the Recommended Sampler and one previously unreleased and unfinished track completed by Fred Frith and Chris Cutler for this CD.” [press release]
|
2004 |
€19.00 |
|
| |
The World as it is Today |
CD |
„Die dritte und bis heute letzte Platte des "post-Canterbury"-Trios kreiert eine unheimliche Welt, in der alle Elemente einmalig und unvergeßlich klingen: die kompromißlose Gesellschafts- und Systemkritik in den Texten, die eigenwillige Kombination aus schneidenden Gitarren, Geigen, Piano und Mellotron, dazu die dramatische Stimme von Dagmar Krause und die perkussiven, das Schlagzeug-Spektrum erweiternden Klänge von Chris Cutler."Visionen der Apokalypse" wäre ein zutreffender Titel für diese kleinen Horrorszenarios, dabei geht es ja nur um den zur Zeit der Aufnahmen relativ zahmen Kapitalismus. Was würden die "Art Bears" bloß heute textlich zu diesem Thema bringen? Musikalisch am eindrucksvollsten ist diese ausgeprägte Tendenz zur Weltuntergangstimmung auf "DEMOCRACY" gediehen. Ganz hübsch verdreht wird es nochmal auf "ALBION, AWAKE!" (schon allein die Songtitel sprechen für sich, manchmal sogar demogerecht in Großbuchstaben), was als atonale, gesangslose Soundcollage das Album abschließt.“ [Siggy Zielinski / Babyblaue Seiten]
New digipak version, of the third Art Bears album, originally released 1980. "If you thought Henry Cow was a pretty political band to start with, you may be even more taken aback by the Art Bears, which was put together following Henry Cow's demise by former Cows Chris Cutler (percussion), Fred Frith (guitar, violin), and Dagmar Krause (voice). On The World as it is Today and its predecessor, Winter Songs, the Art Bears move away from the long-form art rock of Henry Cow and get much, much more politically explicit: song titles like 'The Song of the Dignity of Labour Under Capital' and 'The Song of Investment Capital Overseas' almost sound like Monty Python gags today, but if any humor was intended it was clearly meant to be mordant. Frankly, the lyrics are so overwrought and portentous that it's hard to take them seriously. But the music is something else again. Cutler and Frith are natural collaborators; Cutler's drumming always rides a very fine line between the scattershot and the funky, while Frith bounces his horror-show guitar noise and carnival piano off of Cutler's grooves with manic abandon and fearsome inventiveness. And Krause's singing is just as inventive; she whoops, croons and screams her way through the density of Cutler's lyrics without a hesitation or misstep. Easy listening it isn't, but it's sure worth hearing. Frith fans, in particular, should consider this album a must-own." [label info]
|
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
| ARTEFACTUM |
Rosarium Hermeticum |
CD |
"This opus has already seen the light of day. It was back in 2006 when Artefactum’s preceding album Chaos Elements was still fresh out of Athanor’s cavernous hearth. Yet, on her sophomore, strictly limited and self-released work Rosarium Hermeticum, Merissa d’Erlette developed her unique style even more, granting it depth and feminine charm on a new scale. There’s mystery there enclosed within nearly an hour of otherwordly ambient music and sensual whispers that the project has been known for ever since.
Those six skillfully crafted tracks are now available again on Ur Muzik with two bonus pieces and brand new artwork. Prepare yourself to get immersed in the unparalleled sound of Artefactum. Coming out on the 1st of January 2015, as a digipack, in a limited number of 500 copies." [label info]
ur-muzik.blogspot.de
original info from 2006:
"After very well received materials "Chaos Elements" on Athanor and "Sangreal" split on Old Europa Cafe, Artefactum is back with a brand new full-length "Rosarium Hermeticum". This time even more ritual than ever, Artefactum brings back the best atmospheres of early CMI artists, esoteric Ain Soph era combined with female whispers, tribal drums and more refined sound quality. This release comes with full colour, 8 pannel A5 booklet, similar to that of recent "Sangreal". Professional CDr limited to just 111 copies! [label info]
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
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| ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE (AMT) |
Ultrealith |
CD |
" 'Ultrealith' is an electro-acoustic sound-adventure exploring sounds that exist on the periphery of human perception, such as underwater recordings (such as fish-songs, crustaceans etc), ultrasounds (sonar of bats and dolphins, insects), electromagnetic signals and other textures. These recordings were sourced in the Amazonian rainforest, Africa, Canadian Newfoundland, northern Australia and in various parts of Europe." [label info]
"Now a CD by Slawek Kwi's Artificial Memory Trace you can always stick on as a piece of music. Build from field recordings but always 'treated' in some way. If I understand correctly, this new CD's main work are the five parts of the title piece, lasting forty-four minutes. Its bookended with two pieces before that and one after that, making a total of almost eighty minutes. The title piece was originally a four channel composition, mixed down to stereo. Lots of field recordings and as is usual with releases by Artificial Memory Trace, its all detailed on the cover. Kwi uses elements from the world of minimal music, with repetition on a lot of small sounds, with small variations leaping in every now and then. Its some excellent music, with a great sense of collage and fine timing, transporting the listener to different places - a holiday feeling almost. Yet there are also two odd balls in this collection, both of them called 'Monochrome'. The first one is a short two minute with sixty-four tracks of Cage's voice - very apt in time for his anniversary. The second one is a musical piece recorded in a psychiatric unit in Dublin of endless strumming and mumbling voices. Not exactly, I'd say, something we should expect from Slawek Kwi, and perhaps a bit of too much of an odd ball perhaps. Maybe Kwi should consider a CD of the real odd balls in his musical output, providing of course he has more of such works." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Paradox of Paradox / Interception I |
do-CDR |
"Over the course of more than two decades, Slavek Kwi aka Artificial Memory Trace has developed a body of work that encompasses live performance, sound installations, music and sound workshops with autistic children, and of course a large number of recordings published by small labels around the globe. This double CD in Attenuation Circuit’s Reissues series makes available again two albums originally published in 2004 that are characteristic for Artificial Memory Trace’s style of electroacoustic music that is characterised by a very elegant use of field recordings.
As the project name says, Artificial Memory Trace is always conscious of the fact that field recordings from nature are never natural in themselves, but become artificial in the very process of recording. Thus, even the toads that can be heard on “Paradox of Paradox” are not simply left to speak for themselves or “nature” per se, as in many pieces of “acoustic ecology” recordings. Instead, the recordings are subtly arranged to make an abstract compositional statement. Other sound sources include Christmas carols, a dysfunctional piano, and, on “Interception”, a dialogue of whistles between Kwi and an autistic child. One theme of both albums then seems to be an investigation into the ways that communities of different species, from amphibians to humans, make sense of their condition through sound. Philosophical considerations apart, the musical attractiveness of these works is based on the treatment of the field recordings which always retain just enough crispness to be recognisable as ambient noises, keeping the listener’s ears pricked up trying to find out their possible origins, while at the same time constantly being on the verge of vanishing into singing oceans of frequencies at times reminiscent of the later phases of Alvin Lucier’s “I am sitting in a room”." [label info]
www.wix.com/attenuationcircuit/attenuation-circuit
"Planktone Unlimited Editions was the label by Slawek Kwi, better known as Artificial Memory Trace. I must admit I didn't know this, so I have no idea why he is no longer working as such. Two of the works released on that label find now their way on a double CDR by Germany's Attenuation Circuit. Like much of his work, if not all, here too we have field recordings at the very foundation of the compositions. Compositions, because its Kwi's idea to use field recordings, alter them a little bit, and put them together, and not present them as pure phenomena of sound. Its music that one doesn't take too easily. There are lots of moments when sound drops to a low volume and for some time stays there, with just the sound of chirping insects. But then it cuts with a loud sound/event into something new and then a whole new world opens up. Its not easy to say what kind of techniques are used, but my best guess would be that its simply the result of layering various sound events together and then find the right compositional balance with these sounds, through editing, cutting and fading. Throughout, the music of Artificial Memory Trace isn't very loud so one has to keep full attention to this. Which makes these two discs, one that lasts seventy-six minutes and one that lasts fifty-eight, not something one would digest in one go easily, unless you either fully concentrate or 'use' it as ambient music: let it come as it comes. Either way of perceiving this music I think is pretty valid. It contains lots of beauty, poetic beauty actually, like the some what cryptic notes on the cover. Long in duration, massive in beauty." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€12.50 |
|
|
Tidal |
CD |
"Tidal zone is a fluid line between land and sea, a site of perpetual motion and metamorphoses. During 2008 - 2010 I collected a variety of sounds in coastal areas of Western and Southern Ireland and on the other side of Atlantic Ocean in Newfoundland, Canada: the remote fishing village of Conche, the ghost settlement of Crouse, and the St.Georges peninsula. I recorded underwater: crackles of decapods, dolphins, mink-whales, a breaking iceberg, a sea-otter fishing in the harbor. And on land: a wooden church crackling in the wind, engines of boats, pebble-surf, sea-gulls... all sounds and individual sequences used in the composition were recorded as-it-is. There is no other transformation than editing and mixing. Though sounds are organized in groups by the location of recordings, there is no intention to re-create an acoustic representation of the location itself. Sounds are chosen solely by morphologic associations and treated as abstractions. Recorded and composed by Slavek Kwi in July 2010 (1,2) and April/May 2011 (3,4) in Tentacles-Of-Perception Studio, Ireland." [label info]
www.aufabwegen.com
"Summer is slow and sometimes quite hot, certainly here in the VW-HQ. So my ventilator blows cool air in the house, which is nice, unless you are playing something like Artificial Memory Trace. The first time it was in the player, it went totally away in the soft machine breeze. But this morning the weather is a bit cooler, and I can sit down and listen to this under better circumstances. Slavek Kwi, also know as Artificial Memory Trace (and one of the few composers who still maintain their moniker, whereas others may have gone to their christian name by now) is a man who loves to work with field recordings of a rather delicate nature. The four lengthy pieces here all deal with recordings made in the tidal zone, 'the fluid line between land and sea, a site of perpetual motion and metamorphoses' and uses recordings from New Foundland and Ireland, from on land and under water. . Two pieces are stereo adaptions of multi-channel installation pieces. The cover lists specific places
and
things to note, like 'from pier at night (including one call of seal)'. More than before Kwi uses larger section which he puts one another, rather than overlaying them, or processing these sounds. It gives the music even more space than it did before. Maybe a holiday like feel even. This summer we don't spend time on the airplane to Newfoundland, but we stay at home and listen to Newfoundland. The two parts of that Newfoundland piece deal with sea sounds in the first part and the activities of humans in the second as well as nature events, such as a crumbling iceberg. In the piece called 'Western Island' we find at one point mechanical sounds along with high frequency bird calls, which add a weird and electronic texture to the overall composition. These four pieces are excellently, well crafted sonic trips along the sea-shore. Almost like a real holiday, but you don't have to leave the house. Almost my kind of thing, except that I actually planned a holiday." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2013 |
€13.00 |
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| |
Attracted by Light (Collection 7) |
CD |
"Track 1: Originally the 4-channel composition was constructed from sounds of crustaceans, mollusks and soniferous fish (rec. underwater in Tasmania, Australia 2011), army ants attacking recording device and walking inside machine, termites and ants recorded with contact-microphone from inside tree-nests, inside nest of stingless bees (rec. Xixuau Xiparina and Mamori, Amazon, Brazil 2008-2009; inside ant-nest rec. with Francisco Lopez and inside bee-nest by Chris Fleeger and Kwi), inside of bee-hive (rec. with Vlastislav Matousek, 1994 in Novy Bydzov, Czechie), wind in chimney, fire and ice (rec. 2003-2008, Ivy Cottage, Ireland) and New Year 2008 fireworks (UK). Dedicated to Vlastislav Matousek and his beloved shakuhachi.
Track 2: Based on underwater recordings from Mamori and Yuma 2007–2011: subaquatic insect (recorded in ultrasonic range, some detected only in ultrasonic spectrum), fresh-water crustaceans (probably Decapods, crackly sounds) and electric field of Gymnotiform fish (the tonal-like sounds reminiscent of electronic sine and square waves), includes also sounds of water-pump, propellers, boat-engines and dolphins "tucuxi" (Sotalia fluviatilis).
Track 3: Based on ultrasonic echolocation and social calls of various micro-bats and insects recorded in Mamori, 2007–2011.
All sounds in Track 2+3 (and partially in Track 1) were recorded during Mamori Sound Project of Mamori ArtLab in Amazon, Brazil by Slavek Kwi. Special thanks to Francisco Lopez and Asier Gogortza for kind support." [label info]
www.semperflorens.net
"The year ended with Artificial Memory Trace and it starts with it, now on a CD release from Russia's Semper Florens. Three pieces of quite varying lengths, six, twenty and forty seven minutes, and all deal with field recordings, like almost all of Slavek Kwi's work. Much of this was recorded during the Mamori Soind Project in the Amazon, Brazil but also, in the title piece, from Tasmania and Czech Republic and even fireworks from the UK. The music from Kwi may be based on field recordings, it's never a purely, untreated piece of sound. Artificial Memory Trace uses his recordings as bricks to build a place, palace perhaps, of sound. Sometimes he treats these sounds, by fiddling around with the EQ and gets out more bass or more high end, whatever is required, and collages these chuncks together into a fine piece of musique concrete. It's quite minimal music at that. You can listen for a few or more minutes to chirping insect sounds, bees, waters, ants or what have you, but then slowly
something else is added to this biotope and without chnaging the scenery too much these two co-exist and the other may take over. You could hear in all of this the survival of the fittest perhaps, but I rather take a more positive view and would rather think of this as a journey. A journey which takes you as easily from the amazonian rain forest in summer time to the new year's eve fireworks in the UK, only to find yourself, within minutes, to be diving to the world of crustaceans, mollusks and soniferous fish in Tasmania - while along you may still hear a bit of that rain forest, which you will find on the map totally somewhere else. That's what this music does: create artificial journeys to various places at the same time. There is hardly human interference here, except for the role of the composer himself, who creates this journey. It's the natural world at the same time. In the shortest piece here, 'Pegamorsego', even in a fine musical fashion of glissandi from insects and bats, made audible in nicely gliding scales. A long journey, at some seventy-five minutes, but a most rewarding one. Excellent!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| ASHER, MEIRA & URI FROST / TZII |
Undo / Yalniz |
LP |
On this split record, Meira Asher accompanied by Uri Frost recites with her voice, that's so powerful and distinctive, a poem written with Jeremy Avis. Uri Frost's guitars and synthesisers transport us in this unstable universe that creates and destroys itself.
Tzii offers us a surge of melancholy and impossible love. It's a real funeral oration to love called YALNIZ. The title itself is a journey in a lonely country.
Cover by Stéphane Blanquet
Mastering Frédéric Alstadt
Pressed Records Industry
https://urifrost.bandcamp.com/album/undo-by-meira-asher-uri-frost-yalniz-by-tzii |
2022 |
€20.00 |
|
| ASHTORETH |
Rites I & II |
CD |
We’re glad to welcome Belgian artist Peter Verwimp and his shamanistic guitar driven soundscapes. The first instalment for the Rites series touches on the importance of ceremony and ritual in our daily lives. It deals with our interconnectedness with nature as a whole and the necessity to acknowledge and use this connection as an amplifier of thoughts, ideas and emotions. Minimal, meditative ambient drones with layers of meandering guitars and voices mixing elements of doom, drone and ambient experimentation. Rites I & II take a shamanic and animistic approach to our surroundings, unveiling inner and outer visual landscapes, a journey through flesh, sound and spirit.
CD Edition of 500 copies in 6 panels Digisleeve. 2 Tracks. Running Time 37:51
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/rites-i-ii
"Slowly but certainly, Peter Verwimp is becoming the forerunner for the new wave of Antwerp ambient. Throughout the years I have seen him perform his enigmatic guitar drones and soundscapes numerous times. From petite venues and living rooms to forests and stages everywhere, Ashtoreth manages to turn everything into a place for rituals and meditation.
I think it was only a matter of time before a quality label like Cyclic Law would become interested in this shamanic approach to ambient. With 'Rites I & II', the first installment of a series, Ashtoreth delivers a long ceremony and a deep meditation.
'Rite I: Earth' opens with heavy guitars and powerful vocals. When I heard these for the first time, I wasn't sure if I was listening to Ashtoreth or to an intro for a Conan album. This is a somewhat different approach from the slowly in-fading soundscapes. But mostly, it immediately grabs the listener's attention for its brutalist approach. Gradually, however, the track evolves. The distortion fades away and other soundscapes appear. They sound like the breathing of the earth. Then, hints of melody appear, in perfect Ashtoreth tradition. In a way, this first track feels like a journey from something bad and scary to a feeling of piece of serenity.
'Rite II: Fire' is somewhat shorter but still long enough to be a narrative drone ambient highlight. It drives on gloomy drones and shamanic voices, a bit like we're used from Peter Verwimp by now, but let that not be a turn-off. This track is downright eerie, a perfect addition to the heaps of dark ambient masterpieces released by Cyclic Law. So yes, this is a stunning piece of work and it comes with equally stunning artwork by GootSlaper. I don't think this needs much more explanation. 'Rites I & II' is one of those albums that deserve a spot in your ever widening and mind-altering collection." [Merchants of Air]
"Here’s an interesting story. There was an amazing Belgian progressive, experimental hardcore band from Antwerp and their name was Maya. Until now, I consider their debut album as the epitome of hardcore progression, an utterly unrecognized gem and one of the most important hardcore albums in the history of the genre! In 2013, I uploaded Maya’s debut via Youtube, as I believed that such a gem deserves the utmost recognition. Not much time passed and I received a message from a fine gent, Peter Verwimp (Building Transmissions, Haunted Places, Station Grey, Stifled Cries) thanking me for that upload and telling me that he played in… Maya! Shocked as I was, he added that he has a new (at the time) project, named Ashtoreth! Much time have passed, people and I’m extremely pleased to review Peter’s new creation.
Ashtoreth – as I read – is in search of a shamanistic perspective, channeling at times: minimal, meditative drones with layers of meandering guitars and at others, a catharsis of doom, drone, ambient, folk, metal, noise and experimentation, always in a free and improvised form. Intriguing, right?
Rites I & II is a two-piece album, clocking at almost 38 minutes. Being heavily based on drones and ambient, it creates a certain space and a holistic appropriation of darkness, a ritual and introverted expedition into a spiritual and organic vastness. Ashtoreth’s sound is penetrating in every aspect: shamanic chanting, energy razor-blades in the form of minimal guitar, a huge embrace of bass driven currents, cathartic and certain. An aesthetic procreation and the well-perceived certainty of exquisite ambient music, that leaves a feeling of void thereafter. Music that delivers plentifully giving one climax after the other! Serene soundscapes with such power and punch!
It’s amazing to hear in this recording elements of Peter’s early works, even before Ashtoreth. The listener faces a recognizable and fine-tuned sound, with very sincere and solid continuance as developed over the years. In Ashtoreth’s case, ambient that – I dare to say – includes in it’s core, amazingly concealed, but present hardcore (!) elements. In fact, many different but related elements merged together, quite skillfully. And the album is presented as a beautifully packaged vinyl and equally beautiful, six-panel CD released by the Berlin based label, Cyclic Law.
Peter Verwimp has become an artist of his very own kind; a self-proclaimed sonic shaman and very well deserving of this attribute. Let us witness and be merry for his wonderful incantations." [Toneshift]
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Rites I & II |
LP |
We’re glad to welcome Belgian artist Peter Verwimp and his shamanistic guitar driven soundscapes. The first instalment for the Rites series touches on the importance of ceremony and ritual in our daily lives. It deals with our interconnectedness with nature as a whole and the necessity to acknowledge and use this connection as an amplifier of thoughts, ideas and emotions. Minimal, meditative ambient drones with layers of meandering guitars and voices mixing elements of doom, drone and ambient experimentation. Rites I & II take a shamanic and animistic approach to our surroundings, unveiling inner and outer visual landscapes, a journey through flesh, sound and spirit.
CD Edition of 500 copies in 6 panels Digisleeve. 2 Tracks. Running Time 37:51
LP Edition of 300 copies on Black Vinyl. Matt Lamination and black Paper Sleeve. 2 Tracks. Running Time 37:51
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/rites-i-ii
|
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
| ASHTRAY NAVIGATIONS |
Cabin Exterior |
CD |
a new album from Phil Todd's well established project. In Phil's words: "a largely rockless voyage into electroacoustic juxtapositions, feeled recordings and trippy noises, that kind of thing. Think this one is beaut". packaged in a full colour digipak in an edition of 300
https://ashtraynavigations.bandcamp.com/album/cabin-exterior
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| ASPHODEL |
Aokigahara, the Black Sea of Trees |
LP |
"Aokigahara, The Black Sea of Trees is an abstract visual and sonic story-telling which takes place in a forest located in Mount Fuji, Japan. The forest of Aokigahara, has a world-wide fame for the thousands of suicides which took place there and now has an almost mythological statue.
The forest is spread all through with ephemera and items such as photographs, letters and instruments left behind by the leavers, all untouched due to respect. almost entire forest is covered with long ribbons people used to be able to return if they changed their mind. therefore, the entire land is embodied with the vicarious objects that depict the sense of memory, loss and hope.
The auditory side of this album can be related to musical genres such as ambient and drone, but also of importance to this album is film and film abstraction; the experience of light moving in time, as for example the work of Stan Brakhage. An audio story-telling which derives from the contrast between dark and intense sounds to more delicate and quiet auditory landscapes, where the sense of an intrinsic lament is always present, and stepping into the oblivion gets distilled into pure sensation, that of belonging to life and hope. Asphodel puts an emphasis on the romantic, that of life relived through the forest.
Asphodel is a musical and visual project of Atay Ilgün and Alper Yildirim. Asphodel focuses on textural music and it's combination with experimental film. Atay Ilgün and Alper Yildirim run the Turkish label Wounded Wolf Press."
[label info]
A spooky ambient recording from this Turkish project who conceptually based this album on Aokigahara, a forest near Mount Fuji in Japan which has achieved notoriety because of the large number of people who have committed suicide amongst the trees, leaving behind considerable ephemera of their lives. Notes, pictures, objects all litter the forest floor as the final tracing of a human life. While a cascading horror is evident on the first half of this album, evinced through dynamic, tumultuous roars of caustic rumble and desolate pools of isolated tone, Asphodel conjure a shifting internal drama of emotion not limited to sadness, hope, and loss through flecks of wooden guitars and flutes, eerie reflective modulations from feedback manipulation, disembodied voices crackled through ghostboxes, and a ton of reverb. This is a very complex piece of abstraction that honestly confronts the topic at hand while not forgetting to draw from the existential bleakness in mapping out these very impressive recordings. Originally released on Asphodel's Wounded Wolf imprint as a cd-r, now issued on swank vinyl via Invisible Birds, limited of course. (Aquarius Rec) |
2017 |
€18.00 |
|
| ASSUMED POSSIBILITIES |
Still Point |
CD |
"Chris Burn: piano, toy pianos Rhodri Davies: harp Phil Durrant: violin Mark Wastell: violoncello. All works are quartet improvisations except “Related Activity” composed by Mark Wastell and “Still Point” composed by Rhodri Davies. Recorded 7th January 2001 at Gateway Studios, London. Engineered by Steve Lowe.
“Assumed Possibilities comprises of four musicians who understand the meaning and use of understatement and close listening. This quartets non-idiomatic music attains a minutely focused intensity, where the subtlest shifts in pitch, timbre and texture speak volumes. Though sounds sometimes sting and startle, the music carefully colours the aural environment, often hardly modifying the silence… growing out of and merging back into it. The results are detailed, meticulous, precise and responsive. Sensitive music for sensitive ears. The recording of “Still Point” marked the occasion of the quartets third anniversary in January 2001, their previous self-titled CD was released in 1998 to critical acclaim on Confront Recordings.”
www.rossbin.com
|
2003 |
€6.00 |
|
| ASTRID & RACHEL GRIMES |
Through the Sparkle |
LP |
"Through the Sparkle is a collaboration between French ensemble astrïd and American pianist and composer Rachel Grimes.
Rachel Grimes is best known for her chamber music project Rachel’s, a hugely influential group formed in 1991 in Louisville, Kentucky, releasing six studio albums between 1995 and 2005. She has also released a string of contemporary classical works in recent years on labels such as Temporary Residence. astrïd is a collective of four musicians based in Nantes, releasing records on Rune Grammofon and Home Normal.
After years of mail and email back and forth over the ocean, from Nantes to Kentucky, astrïd invited Rachel to come for a residency to make music together and play shows in France. They gathered for a few days, here and there, in 2012 and 2013 to write songs in Cyril and Vanina's home studio in the countryside.
The compositions found on Through the Sparkle glow with a unique, connected energy and a pure, instinctive musical understanding. Considered contributions from all sides allow the pieces to unfurl naturally. Each note and phrase feels like it simply couldn’t be placed anywhere else in the album.
Charming, gentle and cinematic sounds are found here in abundance. Melodies circle and reveal themselves without force, allowing the listener to focus and explore the depths of what is on offer. Musically, Through the Sparkle is an expansive and evocative album. There is a presence to be felt throughout, from Cyril Secq’s emotive tremelo’d guitars of M5 to the darker, more haunting mood of The Theme, to the tension in Mossgrove & Seaweed. Strings and woodwind coalesce around intricate piano and guitar movements creating a wealth of harmony and melancholy.
Through the Sparkle is a record of miniature symphonies, of elegant restraint. A gracious and generous offering from a group of musicians at one with each other and at the top of their game."
www.gizehrecords.com
https://gizehrecords.bandcamp.com/album/through-the-sparkle
"Man, that’s devastating! If the reverb-drenched guitar on this record’s second track doesn’t move you to tremble with tears, then the soaring strings on “M1” surely will.
Pianist/composer Rachel Grimes follows up her best-of-2015 The Clearing solo outing with the magnificent Through The Sparkle, a seven-song collaboration with the French chamber ensemble Astrïd, out today digitally, on CD and on vinyl through U.K.-based Gizeh Records. This thing’s gotta be heard to be believed.
Striking, again, with some of her finest work, Grimes’ piano flashes more contemporary flourishes than the heart-wrenching Romanticism of her landmark years with Rachel’s, everyone’s favorite post-classical ensemble. While there are still gentle, lulling notes – I’m looking to the album-closing “Le Petit Salon” and, again, the epic “M1” – Grimes’ metronomic figures on “The Herald en Masse” and “Mossgrove & Seaweed” positively pulsate with life, lending a record laced with restraint loads of emotional force.
This says nothing of Astrïd multi-instrumentalist Vanina Andreani, whose violin wraps its fingers around Grimes’ ephemeral melodies in much the way Christian Frederickson’s viola did in Rachel’s. Guillaume Wickel is brilliant on bass clarinet, drummer/percussionist Yvan Ros does a fine job anchoring the melancholy, and didn’t I already mention the eerie repercussions of Cyril Secq’s guitar? This ensemble, featuring Grimes, seems to have a beautiful way of making even the most composed moment seem instinctive, lending a gentle humanity to the proceedings.
There are less “classical” and more “post-classical” moments on the record, too, like the haunted “The Theme,” which starts with an emotive bass clarinet figure and kalimba, and expands, more often through the space between notes than the notes themselves, with an electric guitar right out of Hotel2Tango in Montreal. Or there’s “Hollis,” which punctuates Grimes’ refrains with more kalimba, subtle bass, and a shuffling, jazzy backbeat before descending into a field of mathy beeps that could be summoned from piano and, maybe, a Fender Rhodes.
The whole record is breathtaking gossamer – definite year-end-list material." [Justin Vellucci/Popdose]
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| ASUNTA |
Landscapes |
CD |
"Landscapes enthält Klarinettenkompostionen von Slawomir Golaszewski, Begründer und Mastermind von Asunta, der hier von Wojciech Karwacki auf dem Harmonium begleitet wird. Aufgenommen und produziert wurden die faszinierende Mischung von Ethno drones, Ambient-Psychedelia und slawischer New Age in Warschau von Alik Dziki (http://dziki.net), dem ehemaligen Bassisten der polnischen Reggae-Legenden Kultura und Izrael sowie in der Frühphase Mitglied bei den Mystik-Punks von Armia. Die Erstveröffentlichung in Polen war 1996 lediglich eine Kassette-Edition beim Label "Fly Music", der 2001 eine limitierte Cdr-Version beim polnischen "Nefryt"-Label folgte. Diese Wiederveröffentlichung auf Lollipoppe Shoppe stellt insofern die erste internationale Würdigung des außergewöhnlichen Asunta-Sounds von Landscapesdar.
Slawomir Golaszewski ist eine legendäre Figur der polnischen Off-Kultur: Er gehörte 1985 zu den Mitbegründern der mit transzendentaler Wucht und mystischer Poesie agierenden Hardcore Punk- Institution "Armia", auf deren Platten er mehrfach unter dem Pseudonym Merlin mitwirkte, und war zu dieser Zeit zugleich aktiv im Umfeld des sich auflösenden "Teatr Laboratorium" (http://www.grotowski.net) des großen Theatererneuerers Jerzy Grotowskis in Wroc³aw/Breslau (zu seinen Lehrern zählten hier Zbigniew Cynkutis, Zygmunt Molik und Ludwik Flaszen). Grotkowskis Forschungen zum psychophysiologischen Einfluß ritueller Gesänge und die Anwendung auf die experimentlle Theaterarbeit haben Go³aszewskis Arbeit geprägt.
Seit den frühen 1980er Jahren ist Go³aszewski außerdem als Radiomoderator, Journalist und Autor tätig; er hat unter anderem früh die Verbreitung von Reggae- und Rastafari-Kultur in Polen betrieben und mehrere Generation des polski Reggae geprägt. Darüberhinaus war der "musizierende Philosoph" (Alexander Pehlemann, "Zonic" http://www.zonic-online.de) selber künstlerisch in der Szene aktiv. Die Liste seiner Kollaborationen wie auch seiner publizistischen Beiträge ist unüberschaubar.
Über Go³aszewskis künstlerische und esoterische Interessen erklärt sich letztlich auch die Zusammenarbeit mit den ebenso legendären "Atman", einer seit den Mitt-Siebzigern aktive Gruppe von Musikern, die erfolgreich die Integration von Klangkunst und Ökologie betrieben und deren Label "Fly Music" das Album Landscapes 1996 als Kassette veröffenlichte und Asunta im folgenden Jahr auf ihrem "Festival in der Landschaft" (Muzyka w krajobrazie http://pathman.republika.pl) im mittelpolnischen Inow³ódz präsentierten. Mit diesem völlig akustischem Konzert in einer romanischen Kapelle manifestierte sich endgültig die Reputation des Projekts in der alternativen Musikszene Polens.
Nach einer lebensbedrohlichen Gehirnoperation 2010 und Rekonvaleszenz meldet sich Go³aszewski nun zurück: 2012 wurde seine Graphic Novel "Moja Terapia" (mit Zeichnung von Szawe³ P³óciennik, Central Europe Comics Art, http://centrala.org.pl) veröffentlicht und eine erweiterte, 400 Seiten starke und um ein Audiobook ergänzte Neuauflage von Go³aszewskis Schriften zu Reggae und seiner spezifischen Rezeption in Polen von dem Label und Verlag "Manufaktura Legenda" besorgt, das federführend ist bei der Aufarbeitung von polnischer Subkultur ("Reggae Rastafarie - Regementarz" http://manufaktura-legenda.pl).
This release contains clarinet compositions by S³awomir Go³aszewski, founder and master-mind of the project, and harmonium works by Wojciech "Kaktus" Karwacki. Landscapes was recorded and produced by Alik Dziki, former bass player of the Polish Reggae legends Izrael and Kultura, as well as an early member of the mystic punk group Armia. The album was released on tape in Poland in 1996 under project name Asunta on the "Fly Music" label and in 2001 released in a limited edition on Cdr by the "Nefryt" label. Landscapes features a fascinating blend of ritual ethno drones, ambient psychedelia and Slavonic New Age. The cover painting by Lithuanian artist Linas Domarackas was designed for the original release.
S³awomir Go³aszewski is a legendary figure of Polish off- and counter culture. In 1984/85 he co-founded the seminal punk rock group Armia and contributed to their albums under pseudonym Merlin. At the same time he was active in the shadow of Jerzy Grotowskis's dissolving "Teatr Laboratorium" in Wroclaw/Breslau (Zbigniew Cynkutis, Zygmunt Molik, and Ludwik Flaszen being his teachers). Grotowskis's research on rituals, its psychophysiological impact, and his expanded concept of theater has coined Go³aszewski's artistic work.
Since the late 1980's, Go³aszewski is active as a radio presenter, journalist and author; among other things he was crucial for the early popularisation of Reggae music and Rastafarian culture in Poland and thus influencing an entire generation of fans and musicians alike. His contributions both artistic and publicistical to the Polish alternative music scene are numerous. His artistic and esoteric quest also lead to the collaboration with the legendary Atman group, a collective of musicians dealing with the integration of sound and ecology. The group's self-managed label "Fly Music" released Landscapes in 1996 on cassette. In the following year, Atman also invited Go³aszewski to present his project at their Music in the Landscape Festival [Muzyka w krajobrazie] in Inow³ódz, a small medieval village in central Poland. This entirely acoustic performance in the Romanesque St. Giles church in Inow³ódz in July 1997 brought Asunta lasting reputation among Poland's alternative music circuit.
After a life-threatening brain surgery in 2010 and a period of convalescence Go³aszewski is back and active again: 2012 saw the publication of his graphic novel "Moja Terapia" (with drawings by Szawe³ P³óciennik, Central Europe Comics Art) as well as a 400-page volume of his collected writings on Reggae music and Rastafari culture published by "Manufaktura Legenda", the leading label and publisher for the reappraisal of the legacy of Polish subculture." [label info]
www.lollipopshop.de
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| ATARAXIA |
Suenos |
CD |
"SUENOS ('Dreams' in Spanish) is the title of the long-time sold out and eagerly awaited album by ATARAXIA but the onomatopoeic sound reminds also of the English words for 'signs' and 'sounds'. It has been recorded in 2000/2001 year and originally released by Cruel Moon International (Cold Meat Industry).
For the first time in ATARAXIA's history this album is not a conceptual album but a collection of new songs with different styles, themes, with different historical backgrounds and many acoustic new instruments. The album has been divided into three parts of 4 songs each: the first (‘Ego Promitto Domino’) features lyrics inspired by journeys and remembrances of mid-eastern lands. The sounds are between neo classical, orchestral for 4 voices and Mediterranean dreamy ambiances. The second part (‘L’ame d’eau’) is entirely based on Medieval ballads just for acoustic instruments and 2 voices and the Third part (‘Sandy Dunes’) finally is more intimate and meditative, once again the theme is the one of water linked to the female soul: The voyage through the sea, regret, the need of the sea. Just for Francesca’s heavenly vocals...
More then 10 years later, Ataraxia & Infinite fog Production presents new, completely remastered edition with special bonus track “Melisanda” - Rare song “Melisanda” was released on split-vinyl Ataraxia/Engelsstaub - “In Amoris Mortisque” 95 but carefully remastered now." [label info]
www.infinitefog.ru
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| ATKINSON, FELICIA |
The Flower and the Vessel |
do-LP |
French poet and ASMR auteur Félicia Atkinson has frequently fixated on the elusive interwoven relationship between microcosms and macrocosms – how even the quietest creative act ripples outward in unforeseen ways, a whisper with no fixed meaning. Her latest work pursues this notion in a more literal and lasting fashion, as it was crafted while pregnant on tour, in impersonal hotel rooms in foreign cities. She describes it as “a record not about being pregnant but a record made with pregnancy.” Each day and night, finding herself far from home, she asked herself “What am I doing here? How can I connect myself to the world?” The answer gradually revealed itself: “With small gestures: recording my voice, recording birds, a simple melody.”
In truth there is nothing simple about The Flower & The Vessel. The album’s 11 songs span a vast pantheon of whispering textures, opaque moods, and surreal spoken word, leading the listener through a mirrored hall of beguiling mirages. Atkinson cites a trio of French classical compositions from her childhood as formative influences on this particular collection: Maurice Ravel’s “L’enfant et les sortilèges” (“a scary opera for kids”), Debussy’s “La Mer” (for its union of narration and music) and Erik Satie’s “Gymnopédies” (as an exercise in negative space, irony without cynicism, and “melody with doubt”). There’s certainly a shade of classicism woven within these tracks, however veiled, abstracted, or unorthodox. Melancholic piano motifs repeat then retreat into a radiant frost of shivering frequencies; processed voices recite cut-up poems and interviews over delay-refracted Rhodes and Wurlitzer; iPad gamelan patterns flutter from meditative to melancholic and back again, offset by pointillist patches of delicate software synesthesia.
Although much of Atkinson’s past discography is shaped by speech and the lyricism of language, The Flower & The Vessel ventures farther into silence, absence, and voiceless wilderness. Among her sources of inspiration were “women who wonder, dream, and create vacant spaces in their art,” as well as Ikebana flower arrangements, which reflect her own relationship with listening: “structure combined with everyday noises, selecting them to make a sparse music bouquet.” Field recordings from Tasmania and the Mojave Desert murmur beneath hushed reverberations of gong, vibraphone, marimba, softly processed into an elegant emptiness, alternately eerie and serene.
Her mode of minimalism has long been one of reduction, riddles, and curation, but here Atkinson’s synergy feels close to apotheosis, emotive but ambivalent, a ceremony of expectation and invisible forces. The 19-minute closing collaboration with SUNN O))) guitarist Stephen O’Malley, “Des Pierres,” is one of the album’s few pieces tracked in a proper studio (Music Unit in Montreuil, France) but it broods and burns with the same subliminal majesty as the rest of The Flower & The Vessel: an ember in amber, seeds planted in shifting sands. Atkinson’s voice flickers like a flame, framed by slabs of shadowy feedback. Her process may be personal is but its impact ripples to the edges of existence: “How does the act of creation connect us, not only to history, but to the cosmic? It’s a process of taking, and then giving back. It makes us belong to the world.”
The Flower and The Vessel features original artwork by Julien Carreyn, and is mastered by Rashad Becker at D+M.
https://shelterpress.bandcamp.com/album/the-flower-and-the-vessel-2
|
2019 |
€29.00 |
|
| |
The Flower and the Vessel |
CD |
French poet and ASMR auteur Félicia Atkinson has frequently fixated on the elusive interwoven relationship between microcosms and macrocosms – how even the quietest creative act ripples outward in unforeseen ways, a whisper with no fixed meaning. Her latest work pursues this notion in a more literal and lasting fashion, as it was crafted while pregnant on tour, in impersonal hotel rooms in foreign cities. She describes it as “a record not about being pregnant but a record made with pregnancy.” Each day and night, finding herself far from home, she asked herself “What am I doing here? How can I connect myself to the world?” The answer gradually revealed itself: “With small gestures: recording my voice, recording birds, a simple melody.”
In truth there is nothing simple about The Flower & The Vessel. The album’s 11 songs span a vast pantheon of whispering textures, opaque moods, and surreal spoken word, leading the listener through a mirrored hall of beguiling mirages. Atkinson cites a trio of French classical compositions from her childhood as formative influences on this particular collection: Maurice Ravel’s “L’enfant et les sortilèges” (“a scary opera for kids”), Debussy’s “La Mer” (for its union of narration and music) and Erik Satie’s “Gymnopédies” (as an exercise in negative space, irony without cynicism, and “melody with doubt”). There’s certainly a shade of classicism woven within these tracks, however veiled, abstracted, or unorthodox. Melancholic piano motifs repeat then retreat into a radiant frost of shivering frequencies; processed voices recite cut-up poems and interviews over delay-refracted Rhodes and Wurlitzer; iPad gamelan patterns flutter from meditative to melancholic and back again, offset by pointillist patches of delicate software synesthesia.
Although much of Atkinson’s past discography is shaped by speech and the lyricism of language, The Flower & The Vessel ventures farther into silence, absence, and voiceless wilderness. Among her sources of inspiration were “women who wonder, dream, and create vacant spaces in their art,” as well as Ikebana flower arrangements, which reflect her own relationship with listening: “structure combined with everyday noises, selecting them to make a sparse music bouquet.” Field recordings from Tasmania and the Mojave Desert murmur beneath hushed reverberations of gong, vibraphone, marimba, softly processed into an elegant emptiness, alternately eerie and serene.
Her mode of minimalism has long been one of reduction, riddles, and curation, but here Atkinson’s synergy feels close to apotheosis, emotive but ambivalent, a ceremony of expectation and invisible forces. The 19-minute closing collaboration with SUNN O))) guitarist Stephen O’Malley, “Des Pierres,” is one of the album’s few pieces tracked in a proper studio (Music Unit in Montreuil, France) but it broods and burns with the same subliminal majesty as the rest of The Flower & The Vessel: an ember in amber, seeds planted in shifting sands. Atkinson’s voice flickers like a flame, framed by slabs of shadowy feedback. Her process may be personal is but its impact ripples to the edges of existence: “How does the act of creation connect us, not only to history, but to the cosmic? It’s a process of taking, and then giving back. It makes us belong to the world.”
The Flower and The Vessel features original artwork by Julien Carreyn, and is mastered by Rashad Becker at D+M.
https://shelterpress.bandcamp.com/album/the-flower-and-the-vessel-2 |
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| ATKINSON, FELICIA & JEFRE CANTU-LEDESMA |
Limpid as the Solitudes |
LP |
When is one plus one not two? When two paths converge and a new one appears. But what is this newly activated neural pathway? A Third Mind? In the 1960s, multimedia artist Brion Gysin cut through the words of a newspaper and rearranged them to reveal a new kind of truth contained within the words but not freed until his knife cut it loose. He described this as part of the Third Mind. Likewise, «Limpid As The Solitudes» cuts through sound-making techniques to enter a new zone of sonic revelations.
If you had to look for musical precedents, you might say the record recalls the turn-of-the-century Mille Plateaux glitch era, the warmth of La Monte Young’s raga-inspired microtonal electronic «dream house» drones, a sense of adventure evident in the acousmatic non-space recordings made by GRM artists in the 1960s/ 1970s, 4AD’s floor gazing guitar sound circa Cocteau Twins peak, and blissfully diverse field recordings. But you could equally equate it with entirely different recording sources. «Limpid As The Solitudes» has a widescreen sound that is both familiar and unfamiliar. Warm, comforting and also unsettling in unpredictable ways. Deliberate yet exploratory. It’s a record composed of opposites and contrasts. Following historical guidelines yet also throwing them out of the window. It’s hard to tell if the process of creating it was more akin to abstract painting but it might possibly be easier to understand if it was a large museum painting (to steal a thought from David Stubbs). To describe the album as ambient would indicate a much too passive engagement with the sound – leave it to play in the background and you’ll miss a lot of the joy.
Felicia Atkinson and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma describe the record as a series of postcards - «things and sounds that happen vertically as a slow ascension, vessels communicating in dreams.» In this collaborative recording, there is a feeling of «becoming» - things metamorphose - a concrete sound turns into a electronic sound that turns into a spiral-like melody which then furls / unfurls at the same time.
The title of the album - «Limpid As The Solitudes» - as well as track titles, are all verses stolen from Sylvia Plath’s poems – Atkinson notes «like dropped pearls from a lost collar.» Trying further to capture the records poetic impulses she notes it’s reflects «Empathy to objects and nature’s elements, meteorological states, seasons that answer to your heart, granular etchings carved and sustained to create a blurred sentimental landscape.» But notes with a sharpness that «the finale is more optimistic than Plath’s poetry. Love and lyricism win, the music soaring from deep water to interstellar galaxies.»
If you look at the cover, you’ll find another key clue - you’ll see an image created by photographer Julien Carreyn of a young women wearing destroyed jeans, playing with bubble wrap. The image is intended to give the viewer an eerie 1990’s feeling that echoes the recording. They note - «think films such as by «Trust» (Hal Hartley, 1990) or «Chuncking Express» (Wong Kar Wai, 1994).» They add «it’s the «ultra modern solitude» of characters lost in an early-digital urban vacuum, looking for a more time to wonder, a soul mate or just some compassion in the grey sky.»
Among the many other references for this album is how Google Maps have created new digital perceptions of space, Gilles Deleuze’s examination of Alice In Wonderland, Andre Bretons poems and more films including the classics «Sacrifice» (Tarkovsky), «Passenger» (Antonioni) and «Last Year In Marienbad» (Resnais). To dig into the more of the ideas and sources behind this record you’ll simply have to talk to the duo. We simply cannot give you the full depth here.
Be sure to come back to this record more than once - it’s then that it’s power will work - you’ll recall the sound of a lover, a garden you once walked through, an echo of a record you once loved. To be appreciated, «Limpid As The Solitudes» requires you to immerse yourself as if in a hot spring, letting the sounds float over you and alter your perceptions and memories.
|
2018 |
€18.50 |
|
| ATKINSON, FELICIA / RICHARD CHARTIER |
Ni envers ni endroit que cette roche brulante |
LP |
listen:
https://portraitsgrm.bandcamp.com/album/ni-envers-ni-endroit-que-cette-roche-br-lante-pour-georgia-o-keeffe-recurrence-expansion
Félicia Atkinson: »Ni envers ni endroit que cette roche brûlante (Pour Georgia O’Keeffe)« (2021)
Félicia Atkinson’s Ni envers ni endroit que cette roche brûlante (Pour Georgia O’Keeffe) is approached as a meditation, not as meditative music, but as a reflection on the art of creation: how to inhabit one’s creation, how to convey it, domesticate it and live with it. Drawing inspiration from the artist Georgia O’ Keeffe, both in her work as a painter and in the houses in which she lived in New Mexico, and even in the landscapes that surround them, Félicia Atkinson has composed a piece that evokes and celebrates, in a poetic and holistic way, the mystery of art, the somnambulic oscillation that accompanies the act of creating. Blending fragmentary voices, islands of piano, electronic textures and patterns, and field recordings, Félicia Atkinson’s music is sincere and inspired, a meditation, then, but also a lesson we sometimes forget: being an artist is not an activity, even less a profession, it’s a singular way of approaching the world and, in so doing, densifying it.
Richard Chartier: »Recurrence.Expansion« (2020)
Richard Chartier’s music takes up residence at the frontiers of the audible, on the edge where sound diffracts into an inter-dimensionality where sounds, space, listening and silence recombine in an arborescence of becomings that present themselves to us and then disappear. The space-time in which Richard Chartier’s music unfolds is a stretched space-time, barely emerging in the world of sound. The delicacy, precision and accuracy of the composition Recurrence. Expansion lies precisely in this dialogue between a shape that is exposed and developed in an inspired and masterful way, and the sonic biotope in which this shape develops. It is from such an encounter that the singularity of Richard Chartier’s music emerges, music of attentive listening, but also sensitive, inhabited music, a music of discreet metamorphosis.
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| ATOMINE ELEKTRINE |
Archimetrical Universe |
CD |
"Eternal Pride Prod. presents re-mixed version of "Archimetrical Universe" + bonus tracks from extra limited CDr boxed version of the album "Nebulous". New edition like DIGI-CD with new design. Space is an illusion. Peter Andersson (Raison D'Etre, Stratvm Terror, Svasti-ayanam, Necrophorus) is one of the handful of finest sound manipulators in the world. Period. Archimetrical Universe showcases Peter’s dissection of the sky, a Caesarean section that births massive, geometrically perfect sonic diversions, all spheres and angles, burnished metal dreams and pristine sonic caresses that reconfigure sound into smooth surfaces. To counterbalance the exactness of the sonic development, light rhythms emerge, huge slabs of disrupting tones puncture, the scattered remnants of all of Peter’s projects utilized in the creation of the music here. Everything seems to be in perpetual motion, evolving, revolving, reinvented at the mercy of Peter’s deft hands and devious whim. The clarity of production and meticulous restructuring of the known (space, stars, planets) with the unknown (space...stars...planets...) only heightens the journey upon which he guides us, an alluring venture into the cavernous realm of space...but not a space most of us would imagine. Whether he is sonically scrubbing the architecture, or just mesmerizing us with another sound sculpture at the edge of forever, Archimetrical Universe is, quite possibly, Peter’s finest release yet, which says a lot because his sonic portfolio runneth over with intoxicating, mind-altering sound manipulations that inspire one’s imagination with conflicting emotional responses (sorrow, desolation, awe, wonder) at all times. Space is an illusion...but Peter has brought it to life. Essential!" [label info]
www.eternalpride.ru
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| ATRAX MORGUE |
Close to a Corpse |
do-LP + 2CD |
On February 24, 2001 Marco Corbelli take part in the performance “Autopsia dell’opera d’arte vivente come vivisezione del corpo di dio” in the Viareggio art gallery, Studio D’Arte Memoria Indelebile. Together with three other artists he stages an autopsy on a shapeless body, which represents the living work of art. Corbelli actively participates in the pseudo autopsy, as well as sounding the live event. The recording of the sound performance will be released two years later on Slaughter Productions in an extremely limited box set titled Close To A Corpse consisting of three CDr. The first two CDr contain the complete live recording in the Tuscan art gallery. They are improvised synthesizer recordings, an infected and purulent soundtrack, which actually transports you to the mortuary of a corpse and you can smell its stench pervading your senses. The pauses between one burst of sounds and the other are just the introduction to the next nightmare! The third CDr contains ten wonderful unreleased tracks recorded in the studio in September 2002, apart from Basic Procedure Autopsy (recorded and released in 1995), without the use of vocals or other effects: just the faithful Sequential Circuits Six-Trak.
Both the live tracks and those recorded in the studio represent the artist's sonic maturity and stand out from the rest of his discography for their eccentricity and the ability to make exceptional use of analog synthesizers, pulsating tones and enveloping frequencies by mixing a shocking atmosphere of hellish manifestation, where cruelty and compulsive disorders are more evident and interesting, showing Corbelli deeper work, pushing himself further into the experience of his concrete ‘’noise’’ vision.
Comes in a double vinyl for studio tracks and double CD for live tracks, fully remastered by Andrea Marutti, is limited to 199 copies, reproducing the album’s original cover art and inserts. Close To A Corpse is an illuminating immersion into the remarkable potential of synth processes by one of the most exciting artists in the Italian industrial/noise field. Among the best of Urashima’s releases, it’s bound to blow minds and fly off the shelves.
|
2021 |
€36.00 |
|
| ATUM |
HITWA |
CD |
Gespenstischer & sehr dunkel glühender esoterischer dark ambient, mit leichten Folk-Einflüssen. Müsste das vierte Album der Polen sein (nach drei CDRs, die ebenfalls auf Beast of Prey erschienen). Zu entdecken für Fans des Genres! Limitiert auf 444 Exemplaren in grossformatiger Hülle.
" - dark ambient with dark post-industrial rhythms - If symbol can be received by senses, then combining with a sound, how much a concept does it make? Is this something more, that can move our imagination a step forward? New album of Polish project Atum is a try in creating such images in our minds. As a guests on the album participated: INFAMIS, DEAD FACTORY i EQUUS.
47 minutes long album of strong dark ambient. Sounds, calm, and growing, pulsing create a grim atmosphere. Album diversified by rhythm loops, industrial hits and also acoustic guitar. Sounds for a Cold Meat fans, something between Desiderii Marginis and Megaptera.
Unconventional release in 135mm by 150mm format, printed on a cardboard 45cm long. Folded in three parts, minimalistic graphic form with specially designed symbolics. CD mounted on a rubber dot. All foiled and hand numbered to 444 copies." [label info]
www.beastofprey.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| AUBE |
Chain[re]action |
CD |
“Chain [RE] Action was recorded using metal chains as it's only source of sound. This is a brilliant and elegent merging of Akifumi's organic ambient and noise styles. A feat of dexterity limited to 1000 copies.” [label description] |
2004 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Pole nord |
mCD-R |
Der Titel ist gut gewählt: klare, eisige, schwelende Feedback-Ströme verbreiten sich auf dieser neuen mCDR.....
“Does Aube really need an introduction ? After more than 160 releases (!) in fourteen years, I guess he doesn't. For this 3"cd-r, Akifumi Nakajima has, as usual, used a single source to create his music ; this time feedback. You could then imagine the tracks to
be noisy as hell. Thankfully they're not. Aube knows perfectly how to mix noise and ambient music. So the result is noisy, yes, but listenable ; ambient, too, but not boring. A great work, as usual should I say.” [label description]
|
2005 |
€5.00 |
|
|
RM4 |
CD |
4 long tracks based on rusty-metal, more silent and droney, but with many details and hypnotizing elements.. originally released as cassette in 2001. Comes in a very beautiful digipack-gatefold cover.
“TOTAL 63:19 MINS. RACK 2 IS THE MIXED VERSION WHICH WAS RELEASED AS 2 X 3 CD-R(G.R.O.S.S. DEC. 2001 IN LIMITED EDITION 22 COPIES.) SOUND AND DESIGN BY AKIFUMI NAKAJIMA(AUBE). MATERIAL:RUSTY METAL.
PRODUCTION BY ULTRA MAIL PROD. HONG KONG.(UMP-001)OURSELF!! LIMITED 1000 COPIES.(945 COPIES IN DIGIPACK EDITION(ON HAND) AND 55 COPIES IN SPECIAL METAL PLATE EDITION--SOLD OUT).” [label info]
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Ricochetentrance |
CD |
Feiner AUBE-Release basierend auf Wasser-Sounds von 1999, last copies back in stock !
"....Es handelt sich v.a. um gesampelte und geloopte Sounds von Wasser-TROPFEN, die sich vielfach übereinander legen und oft sogar ein quasi-rhythmisches Grundgerüst bilden, hinter dem es fließt und droned.." [old Drone Rec.info]
"...With Ricochetentrance Nakajima returns to water as a sound source. Much of his previous work has started slowly and evolved slowly; its end destination has been to shock the listener with its force. While Ricochetentrance is similar in the quiet and slow evolution, it is different in that the destination of each track is not noise. Instead the five pieces remain understated and chart slight trickles and light drips. The sounds are textured, designed more for contemplation and relaxation. For the most part my explorations of Ricochetentrance have been at night, lying back with a portable CD player lying lightly on my chest plugged into it with headphones. So on those occasions where I do make it all the way through, I'm usually fairly relaxed, rather than already gone, taken in by the absorbent sounds of fluid. Ricochetentrance is very much an atmospheric recording, and I guess in the wrong frame of mind could just sound like water. Though the strangest thing is that the one time I tried to move about while listening to Ricochetentrance I felt distinctly sea sick...coincidence?" [Remote Induction]
www.silentes.net
|
1999 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Reworks Stefano Gentile II |
CD |
"Second part of the Collaboration between AUBE and the SILENTES & (ex-AMPLEXUS)-runner STEFANO GENTILE, with 4 long movements (almost 70 minutes). Let us describe only the first track in detail, a long movement of beautiful waving drones which change their tone & colour from time to time, the waves begin to overlap more and more and slowly from new textures and overtunes appear out of nothing, also in waves... the other 3 movements use different sounds and textures, but have the similar hypnotic character of pure drone-streaming shimmers. One of the most meditative AUBE-works we know, highly recommended!" [Drone Rec.]
www.silentes.net
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Re-Chant (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
the prolific AUBE-project surprises the listener with a complex and threatening work based only on a female voice - great!
"LIMITED+NUMBERED FIRST EDITION OF 250 COPIES.
PINK VINYL, WONDERFUL FULL-COLOUR HANDMADE ART-COVERS.
THIS OUTSTANDING MUSICAL PROJECT FROM JAPAN HAS BEEN WORKING IN THE DOMAINS OF FEEDBACK & MINIMAL NOISE FOR APPROXIMATELY 4 YEARS.
AUBE HAS RELEASED SEVERAL CASSETTES ON HIS OWN LABEL G.R.O.S.S. TAPES; FURTHERMORE THERE HAVE ALSO BEEN 5 CD-RELEASES IN THE MEANTIME.
AUBE TENDS TO USE ONLY ONE SPECIFIC SOUND-SOURCE TO DESIGN A WHOLE RELEASE. AUBE'S MUSIC CONSISTS OF A DRONING ENERGY WHICH RESEMBLES EARTHQUAKES AND WHICH CAN AFFECT YOUR WHOLE BODY.
ON THESE RELEASE AUBE WORKED WITH THE VOICE OF A JAPANESE FEMALE - WHICH WILL ASTONISH YOU ONCE YOU HEAR THE FINAL RESULT:
TWO ENERGETIC AND THREATENING PIECES OF CONCRETE SOUNDSCAPES MIXED UP WITH SCREAMS AND OTHER STRANGLEY EFFECTED HUMAN OUTBURSTS - SO INTENSE AND CHALLENGING YOU WILL NOT ABLE TO IGNORE WHILE LISTENING!
YOU WILL SHIVER WITH COLD WHEN AUBE'S MUSIC APPROACHES YOUR EARS!
" A MASTER-PIECE OF DE/RE-CONSTRUCTED MUSIC "
DRONE RECORDS DR-16/ DECEMBER 1995
|
1995 |
€ |
|
| AUME (SCOT JENERIK & ALEPH OMEGA) |
Agere Urendum Mentis Epode |
LP |
"Immersive, dark ambient, soundscape, sound art collaboration by Scot Jenerik (solo, F-Space, 23five) and Aleph Omega (Chrome, F-Space, Altar De Fey). The soundtrack for falling through a wormhole on your way to creation. Foil-stamped, die-cut linen jacket. 180-gram vinyl. Numbered edition of 555 copies.
Scot Jenerik: Composer and multidisciplinary artist. Performed, lectured and distributed works extensively in the United States, Europe and Japan, as a solo artist and member of F-Space. Co-owner of Mobilization Records, has an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute, founded 23five Incorporated and co-hosted the No Other Radio Network on KPFA.
Aleph Omega: Composer, multi-instrumentalist and artist. Performed and toured extensively throughout the United States, and Europe as a member of Chrome, Helios Creed, F-Space and pioneering Deathrock band, Altar De Fey. Owner/operator Unicursal Studios."
https://aume.bandcamp.com/album/agere-urendum-mentis-epode
www.mobilization.com
"Not releasing many records means that you move out of sight. Scot Jenerik is such a person. He never released much music anyway, and spends his time as a conceptual artist, doing a record out of cement and a CD in an edition of five copies. You should check out his bandcamp. He also runs 23Five and Mobilization Records, the first well-know, I should hope, to the readers of Vital Weekly for their many interesting releases (Karkowski, Chop Shop, Gum, G*Park and many others) and the latter for their releases by Savage Republic and F-Space, a group of which Jenerik is also a member. Much to my surprise this LP landed on my desk, packed in a beautiful black cover, with a die cut silver foil print and it looks dark, stark and great. The music is credited to Jenerik and Aleph Omega and no instruments are mentioned on the cover, but I would think percussion is certainly the place to be for this music; that, and a lot of studio trickery, which works out to using quite a bit of reverb and delay, but I must say it’s not very much in the way of the music; the effects don’t take over. There might also be a guitar in play, but maybe not. Each side has one piece and they last exactly 21 minutes and 12 seconds, according to the timing on bandcamp; the LP cover says it’s 18 minutes and 0 seconds. It opens up with more drone based sounds, hence the guitar I thought, but somewhere half way through the first piece, ‘Praeludium’ it becomes more percussive, and it’s from then on that one has the idea of this being two pieces of sound collage, albeit of long forms. It’s not a quick cut ‘n paste, but it uses various longer blocks with overlaps in various lengths. There are drum parts that end up with much effect treatments but these effects don’t take over. The overall mood of this record is quite dark, but I found ‘Epilogue’ on the second side a tad bit lighter in tone. Whereas ‘Praeludium’ is a dark beast, this side reminded me from time to time of zoviet*france in the mid to late 80s; lots of delay used, a bit string instruments being plucked, percussion and more delay, but here too darkness is never far away. Overall I was very pleased with this album; the music was great, the production excellent and, despite it’s blackness, it was not without light and not entirely focussed on a wall of sound, as the cover maybe indicates. Let’s hope there will be more of this." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2016 |
€25.00 |
|
| AUN |
Utica (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
Behind AUN we find Montreal's Martin Dumais, a long time activist in the Canadian scene. With AUN he has already released 3 solo albums on ORAL, and lately the acclaimed Motorsleep on ALIEN8. The sound of AUN is a marriage between very harmonic/emotional drones and distorted machine-power, between sensibility and noise-strength, usually based on guitar sound-sources. The two pieces on his DRONE EP (first AUN vinyl) show his melancholic side: "The tracks were put together after a summer of very noisy concerts and AUN recording. Usually a split entity, AUN always has a lighter and more heady and melancholic side to the more physical powerdrone material, these two tracks are of the lighter more luminous nature." The material on the A-Side ("Utica") is still very expansive and builds an impressive suspense curve, but especially the B-Side " Lelehudah" is full of touching & yearnful harmonic structures, a majestic dance of polyphonic overtones.
Filed under: ROMANTIC POWER-DRONES
more info: www.aundrone.com
WHITE VINYL. GREAT GEOMETRIC PATTERN DESIGN BY MATHIEU BEAUSÉJOUR, HAND-ASSEMBLED FULL COLOUR COVERS M BY ARIANE GAGNÉ. WHITE INLAY w. RED PRINT
|
2009 |
€7.00 |
|
| AURAL HYPNOX |
Underworld Transmissions |
CD |
Underworld Transmissions was Aural Hypnox label series, filmed and captured on tape in the private séances held in our subterranean lodge located in Oulu, Northern Ostrobothnia.
The concept was to invite artists from the Helixes collective, in different combinations, to join a séance and to establish through sound and movement an elemental communication. In greater sense, apart from personal goals, these séances aimed to bring forth the seasonal currents of the lodge; the undertone of the Aural Hypnox label and the artists involved.
Each séance was guided by a unique automatic-portal-portrait reflecting the planetary and stellar distances seen at that particular time in the lodge altar mirror-receiver.
All audio was captured live on tape by using binaural recording technique. Films were captured during séances and also in the preceding and subsequent sessions that took place in Other Rooms and in the surrounding wilderness.
The candles have been extinguished; transmissions completed.
|
2019 |
€14.00 |
|
| AURAL RAGE |
The Doctrine of Maybeness |
3 x CD |
"The Doctrine of Maybeness" by Aural Rage is an anthology of the works of Danny Hyde’s Aural rage project, an engineer, programmer, producer, collaborator, remixer, and co-conspirator of Coil, Nine Inch Nails, Psychic TV, Depeche Mode, and many others. A 15 year anniversary of musical adventure on 3xCDs with all works together - "A Nature Of Nonsense", "Sinsemilla Dreams" and "Svay Pak" with unreleased bonus tracks.
One of the early sampling Pioneers, producing 80’s band Savage Progress, a huge continental hit. Working with amongst others The The, soft cell, and many more on Fairlights and Synclaviers. He contributed many unique sounds to Coil’s legacy and worked on their legendary albums Horse Rotovator and Love’s Secret Domain, onto The new Backwards. Coil lovers know that Hyde was a kind of a secret member for this group.
On Aural Rage dark industrial-tinged electronica and moony-ambient music has broadened with synthetic strings, programmed rhythms, shuddering MDMA-filtered beats, acid gurgles and insect buzzes are all over the album. Believing that Humour can be the hidden violin in a piece. This anthology is a Cross-genre cocktail of various music styles, a pure experiment without any borders. The project features following guest musicians: John Balance and Peter Christopherson aka Coil and Joanna de Seyne.
https://infinitefog.bandcamp.com/album/the-doctrine-of-maybeness
|
2020 |
€28.00 |
|
| AUTECHRE |
Peel Session |
maxi-CD |
"As with most red-blooded facsimiles of human life, it's hard to fathom Autechre music being released on Trent Reznor's Nothing label. Even Cleopatra could conceivably be better. And it's not like it's even a penny cheaper than the Warp version. But I suppose the possibility exists that Trent himself laced up one of his leather boots while stepping on your copy of this release, so line up and take your chances. It will never taste the same again. This Peel Session features 3 previously unreleased tracks -- 25 minutes of music. Originally recorded on 10/13/95 on John Peel's UK Radio 1 show. Track list: "milk dx"/"inhake"/"drane"." [label info]
|
1999 |
€12.00 |
|
| AUTOPSIA |
Silently the Wolves are watching |
7 |
The Czech Industrial-pioneers are back with this 7" combining (neo)-classic sounds with at times rhythmic & weird electronics, quite idiosyncratic. The covers shows a Jesus on the cross with a wolf-head. Some sources say this 7" is inspired by PASOLINIs film "Porcile", and the "wolf man" case of FREUD. Numb. ed. 500. |
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
| AX |
Metal Forest |
CD |
"AX is the project of British rock and electronic musician Anthony Di Franco (Ramleh, Novatron, Ethnic Acid, JFK, ex-Skullflower). Extreme and uncompromising, AX presents a unique sound world of blistering power electronics, pulverising bass drones, feedback symphonies, and dark atmospheres. This CD includes tracks from the legendary long out of print mid-90′s vinyl albums, digitally remastered for the first time."
"Needless to say EXTREMELY recommended, and not just for nineties industrial obsessives (although obviously, for those folks, this is a no brainer), but if you dig minimal guitar mesmer, psychedelic doom, abstract heaviness, post industrial soundscaping, all strains of drone, especially heavy guitardrone, this collection will blow your mind." [Aquarius Records]
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| AXIOMATIC INTEGRATION |
Off-time (audio & video) |
CD |
“Maybe the name Incite rings a few bells? Besides being a duo, they also do solo projects and put up concerts in Hamburg. And they run a label, Fragmented Media. The Incite 7" (Vital Weekly 456) was the first release, and now comes the full length CD by Axiomatic Integration, aka Kera Negal, one half of Incite. She released a CDR before, 'Syntonic' (see Vital Weekly 439), based on her video-performance. The music of Incite and Axiomatic Integration are closely related, as they both deal with highly minimalist music, of rhythmic sounds generated entirely in the digital world. Axiomatic Integration's work is a bit abstracter than the more formal based rhythmic structures of Incite. Sometimes she uses time-stretched fragmented of an electro-acoustic origin. But throughout the six pieces here things remain pretty similar in terms of sound design and sound processing. That is a pity, since it could also lead to something entirely different, me thinks. However the enclosed quick-time movie is great. Here music and images go together well, lots of red and yellow (and later blue) images, moving along the music, and changing as the music changes. Of course highly abstract, although the first few seconds may give away what the source is, which is great. Maybe next time a full length DVD?” [(FdW]
www.fragmentedmedia.org
|
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
| BABYLONE CHAOS |
Les machines ecarlates |
CD |
The project of BOTCHAN KARISEN (Belgium) with a new work, a deep tour de force into a electronic / technological chaos-music, with influences from Industrial, Collage-Sounds and even Electro-Acoustic, dark & ecstatic & dangerous !
"A man with a fish eye stared at me when I satisfied my computer with this CD. The artwork on this release is awesome, something which is thoughtful to do when you release your CD in a DVD case. On the front of “les machines ecarlates” stands a man pierced through his forehead with a huge piece of piping. On the back a man with a fish eye gives me a look, which keeps me away from the track listing underneath it. I must say, it pleases me to receive such artwork, I could write a good review about the artwork alone.
Babylone Chaos is new to me, not only as an artist, but the music is very new to me too. Listening to the first track “Dissect me” I got very enthusiastic. This artist knows how to frighten someone with sounds. Electronic heavy sounds flow back and forth while strange ‘ahhh’s and ‘oohh’s can be heard. A shivering breath, winds and strange electronic drums complete the picture. Shocked awake by a heavy pound on a barrel and a cracking door. Where am I at this point? The gruesome sounds I heard before are overtaken by heavenly sounds, birds and some vocals. But it was a short victory, the dark sounds kick in again and the beat starts to get back at me. I am stunned, this is not music, this is straight on sound-engineering! The second track “Scared datas” goes like the first track, but gets more of a triphop sound. Dark triphop, that could become a trend. Count me in for that genre, because what Babylone Chaos is doing here is new, refreshing and awesome. The third track “Blood on thorns” gets a lot noisier than the previous tracks and is suddenly petrifying when circus music starts. (I always had something against the circus and clowns, don’t ask why.)
Listening to the CD I found that Babylone Chaos can be compared, in a strange way, with Aphex Twin. You can hear beats, but they never last longer than a few measures. That is one of the reasons why this CD sounds so great. Babylone Chaos doesn’t care about being tagged with a genre; the artist just does what he wants. The CD isn’t one you listen to on a regular occasion. Listening to “les machines exerlates” is a trip. A trip to the beautiful, the ugly, the frightening the heaven and the hell. As I continued my exploration, I found even more interesting material. The piano pieces in the fifth track “Death crusade” are so strange. It doesn’t fit with the music, but in some way it jet [i]does[/i] fit. The tender background sounds are divided and shattered to pieces by deep noisy scrapes, pounds and scratches. This is music which can be compared with using acid. But please dear reader; don’t use it at the same time!
The tracks go well into each other, although that isn’t hard with such experimental music. Track eight, “Paranoiac morons”, made me think of a scene in the Kubrick movie “Full metal jacket”, where Joker tries to find the sniper who turns out to be a woman. I’ve always found that scene and especially, the music, incredible. But I think “Paranoiac morons” would be even better as a soundtrack to that scene.
As an overall thought I must say that this release surprised me muchly. The packaging is awesome, although I can’t stand it when a CD doesn’t fit between the regular jewel cases and digipacks. The music is refreshing and “les machines ecarlates” is more like a piece of art then a CD filled with songs. “Les machines ecarlates” brings you to the verge of your life, a leap of faith, a trip to hell and back and leaves the unprepared to wonder. This isn’t my regular “sing along in the shower” CD, this is something I admire, treasure for the special moments and certainly use in tiny portions. All those experimental fans out there, beware! “Les machines ecarlates” gives you the journey of a lifetime." [Heathen Harvest]
label-website: www.opn.fr
|
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
| BAD ALCHEMY |
No. 89 (April 2016) |
mag |
FREAKSHOWS: WILD AND WINDY = LE REX - LENT ET SEXUEL = COAX ORCHESTRA - NAGUAL, SHAPESHIFTERS AND DOGSBODIES = ALBATRE + AVA MENDOZA'S UNNATURAL WAYS; LABELPORTRÄT 10 YEARS ALTROCK; SCHLAGLICHTER: JULIEN DESPREZ; SEAMUS CATER; CARATE URIO ORCHESTRA; MARK DRESSER VIRTUAL TOUR; PNL LARGE UNIT; MAJA S. K. RATKJE; REIDEMEISTER MOVE; TORBEN SNEKKESTAD; FRANK ROTHKAMM; KONSTRUKTIVISTS; MOONDOG COUPLETS; THIRD REICH'N'ROLL: STEVE REICH IN KÖLN; LIBERA ME: MONTEVERDICHOR 16.03.2016
www.badalchemy.de
|
2016 |
€3.50 |
|
|
No. 104 (Dez. 2019) |
mag |
"Artrock Festival 2019 mit Theo Ceccaldi Freaks und Ryorchestra; Freakshows mit Tatvamasi, White Pulse, Albatre, Welcome Inside The Brain, Alex's Hand, La STPO; W71: Rodrigo Amado's This Is Our Language; Geoff with yer Head!: Geoff Leigh; Hackepicciotto; Kamilya Jubran & Werner Hasler; Go: Organic Orchestra - Sirkis/Bialas IQ - Audiophob / Krater - Gruenrekorder - 90 % Wasser; Feature: Norwegen - Ja, Vi Elsker Dette Land!; Internationales Festival für Experimentelle Musik in München ... 88 Seiten, keine Werbung"
|
2019 |
€4.00 |
|
|
No. 109 (März 2021) |
mag |
BA 109 (03/2021) enthält: Neues von Attenuation Circuit, Auf Abwegen, Nicholas Bussmann, Hans Castrup, Crónica, Cuneiform, Euphorium, Evil Rabbit, Satoko Fujii, Gruenrekorder, Alfred 23 Harth, Hubro, Intakt, Lenka Lente, Leo, Mamka, Moonjune, Public Eyesore / Eh?, ReR Megacorp, Relative Pitch, Udo Schindler, Sub Rosa, Klaus Treuheit, Unsounds, Wide Ear, Philip Zoubek; Protestsong 20: William Loveday Intention - Bob Vylan - Sleaford Mods - Billy Nomates; Essay: Feminité, Felinité, Solidarité: Schuiten & Peeters - Joann Sfar - François Bourgeon... 88 Seiten, keine Werbung |
2021 |
€4.00 |
|
| |
Nr. 121 (November 2023) |
mag |
I Shall Sing Until My Land Is Free; Freakshow Artrock Festival 2023; Label-News: Amalgam – Constellation – Cyclic Law – Discus – Enja / Yellowbird – Euphorium – Fundacja Słuchaj – Heilo – Hubro – Intakt – Jazzhausmusik – Jazzwerkstatt – Klanggalerie – No Part Of It – Odin – Relative Pitch – Thanatosis – Trost – We Insist!; Spotlights: Jean-Jacques Birgé – John Eckhardt – Jason Kahn – Benjamin Koppel – Urs Leimgruber – Valentina Magaletti – Ivo Perelman – Piyawat Louilarpprasert – Polwechsel – Marc Richter; Carla Bley: What Will Be Left Between Us And The Moon Tonight?; BA's Favourites 2023; Die Zeit der Blutkirschen. 88 Seiten, keine Werbung [nur für Abonnent*en: Die CD „Inmostones“ (I Shall Sing Until My Land Is Free, SONG 13) von YURII SAMSON] |
2023 |
€4.00 |
|
| BAD SECTOR |
Live at Maschinenfest 2015 |
MC |
"for more than two decades, massimo magrini aka bad sector has succeeded in spellbinding fans of all kinds of eclectic electronic music. may it be industrial beats or ambient - his musical creations range from simply beautiful soundscapes to pulsations that will grip and energize your entire body. minimal arrangements of distorted bleeps and clicks, distant voice samples and radio recordings of numbers, technical terms or alike blend with farreaching pads, infinitely stretched with massive reverb - thereby generating the impression of moving like a cosmonaut through open space. the reductionistic creations however do not lack complexity by any means, as each sound is allowed to unfold, maximizing each instruments power. the incredible portfolio of bad sector is now topped by raubbau’s release of his live performance at maschinenfest 2015. a perfectly balanced mix of every facet bad sector has to offer. available: 20october2k17"
[label info]
www.raubbau.org |
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| BAILIFF, JESSICA |
same |
CD |
Drittes Album der dream-drone-Folk Chanteuse aus Toledo, OH, auf Kranky ! Etwas herbe, getragene Songs, slow-ambience-folk mit verzerrten drone-guitars...
"Call it Jessica Bailiff, Untitled or anything you want; the third album from Jessica Bailiff is a delivery on the promise of her first two albums. Simultaneously clearer and murkier, it features a more acoustic focus and experimental sound placement. Two songs feature the violin-uke (most notably the stark 'Hour of the Traces'), there is a tin whistle on a few tracks, piano, a few computer fx, drums, smeary guitars and even sitar. The end result can best be described as narco-folk. Jessica Bailiff describes her new album as being about '...stagefright, dreams, loss of creative energy/desire, love & time, living in the same place all your life, ghosts, near-death experiences, etc..' After recording two albums with the members of Low, Jessica Bailiff created a direct, stripped back album that showcases her-strengths in both songwriting and arrangements." [press release]
|
2002 |
€14.50 |
|
| |
At the down-turned jagged Rim of the Sky |
LP |
"After being in Europe for 5 weeks as a touring member of Boduf Songs, Jessica Bailiff spent much of 2011, writing and recording At the Down-Turned Jagged Rim of the Sky in her spartan home studio. Sequestering herself through the hot summer months until finished, she then passed the tracks on to her friend Odd Nosdam for final mixing. Down-tuned, distorted bass guitar adds a new color to her palette, but familiar ones also come into play: fuzzed and delayed electric guitar, organ, piano, cello, and drums. Noisy pop-tinged love songs nestle slyly in a bed of off-kilter lullabies and dark, metallic waltzes. No need to recycle descriptives like 'lo-fi' or 'hushed vocals' - these are spurious words. This is another intimate collection of songs recorded entirely by Jessica at home, in a room next to where she sleeps. If you listen carefully, you might hear her dreaming." [label info]
www.brainwashed.com/kranky
|
2012 |
€15.50 |
|
| BAKER, AIDAN |
Same River Twice (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
“We never find enough artists where the phenomena of being writers as well musicians intersect but the Canadian AIDAN BAKER is one of them. Since he began to release music (solo or with his band-project ARC) he has shown poetic sensibility and many emotional levels while creating this elegant & beautiful guitarish drone harmonics. The two pieces here on his very first vinyl-release are thus inspired by literature titles plunged us into the sound-waves of some of the most mysterious shimmering daydreaming episodes. Dare diving in these warm-colourful travelling fluids... Each cover comes with an handwritten piece of poetry by the artist.”
Filed under: Poetic & trancy day-dream-drones ~
CLEAR WATER-COLOURED VINYL WITH YELLOW SPOTS
BLUE & GREEN HANDPAINTED COVERS. EACH COPY HAS A UNIQUE HANDWRITTEN POETRY BY THE ARTIST.” [press release] LAST COPIES !
|
2004 |
€6.50 |
|
|
Green & Cold |
CD-R |
Hier zeigt AIDAN BAKER seine Songwriter-Seele: er singt, sehr sanft, flüstert manchmal eher, dazu spielt er "richtige" Stücke, die aber durchaus experimentelle Anwandlungen und "Dronifizierungen" erfahren... ultra-sanfter dream'n'drone songwriter-Pop mit viel Emotion, auch das gelingt AIDAN wieder traumwandlerlisch & sicher...
"The innovative master of ambient guitar returns with a breakthrough album. At its core 'Green & Cold' is a a mix of drone, post-rock, and what the artist calls appropriately "deconstructive dream-pop." Memorable hooks combine with Baker's trademark huge wall of guitar constituted atmospherics. Baker's shoegazey croon floats among the stuttering clicks and cuts permeating the layers of catchy riffs and slow, intoxicating beats. As 'Green & Cold' unfolds the listener is coaxed familarly inward only to be washed over in waves of wispy, warming drones: An album of uncommon intelligence and artistry." [label info]
"Aidan Baker is back, still vying for the most prolific man in show business award (well, at least underground, free drone show business) with a double shot of washed out dreamy droniness. There's the latest from Nadja, reflecting his more metal side, and then there's this, the follow up to last year's Pendulum, which was a fantastic slab of glistening disembodied dronemusic. Green & Gold follows suit but with an interesting twist. Vocals. Lots of 'em. Baker is no stranger to singing, his whispery croon has graced more than a few of his releases, but on G & G, the vocals are a big part of the songs, and the songs are actual songs, with drums, and verses and choruses and everything. Well, sort of.
Some tracks, like the untitled opener, are indeed still just wispy slow shifting expanses of fuzzy dreamlike sound, which we can NEVER get enough of, but others, like "Chainsaw", are actual lowercase, slow motion, dark and dolorous slowcore pop songs. Simple murky guitar riffs, wreathed of course in all manner of reverb and soft focus fuzz, hovering over stripped down shuffling rhythms, while Baker croons softly over the top, a hushed almost whisper, sounding not entirely unlike Iron & Wine's Sam Beam actually. Even the music sounds a little like a blissier tarpit version of Iron & Wine. There is some definite twang there, subtle, but it's there, nestled amidst the delicate folky strum and the glistening sonic glimmer. Imagine an
even more somnambulant Low, or Spacemen 3 at 16 rpm, a ultra druggy
(druggier?) Galaxie 500, each track a pop song mumbled and murky, a moonlit crawl through a hazy landscape of shuffle and shimmer, of strum and twang, all wrapped up in soft swirls of shimmer. Essential for fans of all things Jeck and Tim Hecker and Jasper TX and Machinefabriek and Grouper and Troum and Main and the like, but also worth a listen for more adventurous fans of Iron & Wine, Spacemen 3, Galaxie 500, Low and other slowcore drugrock dreaminess..." [Aquarius Records]
label: www.gearsofsand.net
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Exoskeleton Heart |
CD-R |
"Following up his amazing Periodic disc that was issued through Crucial Bliss two years ago, acclaimed Toronto drone-guitarist Aidan Baker is back with Exoskeleton Heart, his newest entry into our ongoing Crucial Bliss series. And this 2-track, hour long excursion into deep feedback bliss is stunningly beautiful. Split into two halves, "Interior" and "Anterior", Baker once again taps into his visions of the bodycage using only his electric guitar, performed and recorded live; the result is an evocative feedback-heavy dronescape drifting with the gritty hum of the amplifier, layers of shimmering, chiming feedback, crushing distorted ambient dirge that borders on Sunn O)))-levels of sonic weight, and shafts of elegiac melody breaking through the stormclouds of Baker's cavernous rumbling like rays of sunlight. Aidan Baker is without question the North American counterpart to the Teutonic guitar drones of Troum, and Exoskeleton Heart delivers some of his most massive, meditative, crushing, and beautiful subterranean drift yet. Hell, the final 10 minutes of "Anterior" is without questions one of the most beautiful things we have ever presented through this label, an angelic glacial melody that builds inexorably into a wall of blissed out fuzz a la something you'd expect from Aidan's dronesludge band Nadja. Essential. The disc comes in a full-color signature Crucial Bliss foldover sleeve with the disc affixed to a plastic hub on the interior of the sleeve, and has been pressed in a limited edition of 300 copies" [label info]
label: www.crucialblast.net
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Liminoid / Lifeforms |
CD |
"While Alien8 Recordings has had the pleasure of releasing three full-length albums by Aidan Baker's ambient doom project Nadja, as well as his collaborative effort Fantasma Parastasie with Tim Hecker, this marks our first solo release with the artist. Although we consider Liminoid/Lifeforms to be a solo effort, there are in fact no less than eight guest musicians helping out on the recording. These include Canadian noise legend Knurl (a.k.a. Alan Bloor) who has been released three times on Alien8 Recordings prior to this recording, as well as members of Arc, Picastro, Forest City Lovers and Whisper Room. Liminoid is a composition for large ensemble exploring sonic immersion in drones and textures, rhythms and pulsations. Incorporating composed and improvised segments, the piece uses elongation of sound and layered polyph- ony in an attempt to create a liminal and/or numinous state. This recording of Liminoid is from its premier at The Music Gallery's X-Avant Festival in Toronto, October 25, 2008. The piece features a powerful vocal performance with every member sharing the vocal duties. The lyrics have been adapted from 5th-8th century Coptic Christian texts and inspired by the book Ancient Christian Magic by Marvin W. Meyer & Richard Smith. The ensemble members for this performance were: Aidan Baker (guitar/ voice), Clara Engel (guitar/voice), Nick Storring (cello/voice), Jakob Thiesen (drums/voice), Richard Baker (drums/voice), Tillman Lewis (cello/voice), Laura Bates (violin/voice) and Jonathan Demers (guitar/voice). Lifeforms is a composition for strings, prepared/effected guitar, and amplified metal works. Likewise incorporating written and improvised material, the piece was originally commissioned and performed by The Penderecki Quartet in 2003. This recording was made in August 2008 at Commonwealth Studios in Toronto. The performers were: Aidan Baker (guitar), Nick Storring (cello), Mika Posen (violin) and Alan Bloor (metal works). This recording has been both skillfully mixed from multiple recordings and mastered by James Plotkin." [label info]
www.alien8recordings.com
"The latest from the always impressive, and always prolific Aidan Baker, who creates thick wall of sound doomgaze in the duo Nadja, and much more personal, hushed drone music under his own name, but more and more has been expanding his scope with various collaborations and large ensembles. This might be the biggest ensemble he's worked with, 8 players, all contributing vocals, three guitars, two drummers, violin and two cellos. And it does sound like what you might imagine, a sort of Aidan Baker drone record / chamber music
hybrid, long languid tones, plenty of cymbal shimmer, the strings moan and sing, the sounds ebb and flow, swelling ominously, building to
swirling crescendos, before slipping back into something more minimal and contemplative, "Liminoid" is split into 4 movements, and is about as close to classical music as Baker has come, at least in the first part, the second part shifts gears dramatically, transforming into something more jazzy and propulsive, a sort of krautrock thing, but with a jazzy slow shifting Necks vibe, eventually building to a dense tribal workout, before slipping into part 3, all shimmery blissy drift, soft focus and sun dappled, the drums an understated slowcore
shuffle, leading up to the 15 minute final movement, where the vocalists team up for a haunting bit of choral drama, which explodes
into full on free jazz freakout wall of sound, finishing off with a long form spaced out drone jam, that definitely reminds us of a super
stripped down White Hills, psychedelic and washed out and very hypnotic.
The second piece, the nearly 30 minute "Lifeforms" is a smaller ensemble, Baker on guitar, with violin, cello and 'amplified metal works', the metal works had us expecting something clangy and bombastic, but instead, it's almost all warm whirling ambient shimmer,
much more in keeping with Baker's solo sounds, near the end, the sounds shift, and the strings move to the fore, weaving dramatic melodies over the slow burning drone underneath, the result very cinematic. Quite nice." [Aquarius Rec.]
"One of my favorite noise albums, "Frequency LSD" by Japanoise artist Masonna was released on Alien8 Recordings in the mid-90's. With this in mind, and in combination with the release of present two albums, there shouldn't be any questions about the the great span of styles released by Alien8 Recordings - Canada's probably most interesting label of the underground. Aidan Baker is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist and sound artist that creates music in the field from post-rock across drone ambient to modern classical. His latest release "Limonoid / Lifeforms" roughly comes across all aforementioned styles. On the album Aidan Baker has allied with concrete noise artist Alan Bloor alias Knurl / Pholde, Richard Baker on drums plus a number of other acoustic members on instruments such as cello, violin and guitars. As the title suggest the album is divided into two main sections: A section called "Limonoid" consisting of four intersections and the long and final piece titled "Lifeforms".
"Limonoid" is as mentioned earlier an interesting crossover between neo-classical chamber music, noise-rock, post-rock with associations of earlier Krautrock (first of all Amon Düül I + II) and neo-folk with elements of middle-age expressions. Quite interesting and very trippy psychedelia with vocals from Clara Engel is what the first four chapters of the albums presents. But in my opinion, the true gift is the second main section of the album titled "Lifeforms". "Lifeforms" is a lengthy piece clocking approximately 30 minutes. Where the aforementioned section was a crossover of a number of styles "Lifeforms" mainly focus on ambient-expressions but with clear interventions of classical instruments such as violin and cello meanwhile aforementioned noise artist Alan Bloor controls his usual ultra-aggressive sound equipments being amplified steel and metal as sound sources into more subtle and very attractive noise drones. The piece is quite repetitive with a long hissing drone of amplified strings but with organic interventions of concrete sounds of aforementioned instruments. Halfway though the track, hissing drone fades away giving way to more plain acoustic ambience until another drone appears. The atmosphere is hypnotic and very intense through out the running time of the piece. Very interesting album showing the wide span of Aidan Baker." [NM / Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Lost in the Rat Maze |
CD |
"Aidan Baker needs no introduction: this prolific Canadian classically trained multi-instrumentalist has generously contributed to the doom/drone/ambient genre. Nadja, Arc and Whisper Room are just a few of his manifestations.
As a solo artist he also composed quite an impressive backcatalogue. Consouling Sounds is proud to add another release to that list, as we're quite confident this one will stand out in this discography.
With Lost in the Rat Maze Aidan Baker produces an unconventional album - even to Baker-standards. Having been known for his extensive ambient soundscapes, Baker chose a different approach to his sound weaving - albeit true to the "Bakersound".
In stead of a densely layered and broad sound palette, Baker has almost embraced a "postrockish" method of composing. More compact, pointed and clear progressions can be discovered, together with a diverse array of instruments, sounds and techniques. Expect the classic Aidan Baker elements: captivating, fascinating and repetitive mesmerizing sounds - but with a different twist to it.
Limited to 900 copies." [label info]
www.consouling.be
"Over the last years Aidan Baker has proven to be highly prolific, which resulted in a large catalogue of releases, of which many are solo, but also with his bands Nadja, Arc and Whisper Room. It also brought him some fame, so that his recent releases are on CD and LP only. To be honest, I didn't keep up with all of his releases, only dipping in when it lands on my desk. Consouling, a label from Belgium, tells us that this is an unconventional album in such a way that its not the massive layers of guitar sounds and effects, seemingly waving on end, but in stead its a more compact sound and somewhat shorter pieces, eight in the timespan of fifty some minutes. Baker plays electric & acoustic guitars, electronic drums (provided by Richard Baker), vocals, piano, flute and tapeloops. The music is still highly atmospheric, as one could expect from Baker of course, but somehow it all seems a bit more opener, with 'more air' as it where. Instruments fly in and out, sometimes held together with the tick of drums, sometimes stuck in a loop of unknown kind, with the guitar(s) neatly tinkling away. Surely still a matter of improvising freely around a small set of themes, but Baker doesn't explore them ad infinitum, and rather just for a few minutes. Nicely spacious head music. A new form of old psychedelic music. Trippy." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Aneira |
CD |
"Aidan Baker is a multi-instrumentalist, classically-trained in flute, but best known as a guitarist. Using various electronic effects combined with prepared and/or alternate methods of playing the guitar, he creates music which generally falls within the ambient/experimental genres but draws on influences from shoegaze and post-rock, contemporary classical and jazz. Over the course of the last decade, Baker has released numerous recorded works, both solo and with his duo Nadja, plus various other musical projects, on such labels as Alien8 Recordings, Important Records, Die Stadt Musik, and Broken Spine Productions. He is also the author of several books of poetry.
Baker has collaborated in-studio and live with such artists as Tim Hecker, Carla Bozulich, Jessica Baillif, Noveller, OvO, members of The Jesus Lizard, and members of Swans. He has also composed for and performed with such contemporary classical ensembles as The Penderecki Quartet, The Riga Sifonietta, and The Monday Morning Singers. Baker has toured extensively around the world and appeared at such international festivals as FIMAV, SXSW, Incubate, and Mutek.
Aneira (Welsh for 'snow') is one long, slowly changing piece created using only a 12-string acoustic guitar, manipulated and played with different tools, as a sound source in order to make sounds resembling that of ice moving or breaking and of wind or snowstorms. Aidan Baker also wrote a poem about Aneira, that will be inside the digipack.
Tracks List & info notes
1. Aneira (47:33)
Release Date: 03/25/2013
Cat. Num: GM017
Edition: 500 CDs digipack" [label info]
www.glacialmovements.com
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
|
The Sea swells a bit |
do-LP |
"As a Canadian musician currently living in Berlin, Aidan Baker got first famous as half part of the prolific project Nadja, playing along with Leah Buckareff. LP after LP and collaboration after collaboration (A Storm of Light, Atavist, Year of no Light....), Nadja never ceased to explore the different aspects of ambient, noise and drone music. Also a prolific solo composer, Aidan Baker is well-known by experimental and alternative music fans as much for his solo albums as for his prestigious collaborations with some artists (Tim Hecker, Thisquietarmy, Noveller...) and famous music labels (Denovali, Important, Lattitudes, Gizeh...). Today, Mind Travels is very proud to present the first vinyl edition of one of his key records, A Sea Swells a Bit...., first released in 2006. Three long ambient titles that will likely make you shiver and lose your senses. A live version of the eponymous title is also joined as a bonus.
The artwork, again designed by Francis Meslet (Urbex), intensifies in the most admirable manner the depth of this dizzying music." [label info]
www.icidailleurs.com
"AIDAN BAKER besingt die tiefe See, den Ozean, sterbende Seemänner. Dicht und undurchdringlich, dunkel gefärbt & geheimnis-umwebt sind seine drei langen Stücke auf dieser CD für den SMALL VOICES-Ableger. Wie so oft arbeitet BAKER mit urlangen Gitarrenloops, schichtet Zirkel auf Zirkel und sich allmählich aufbauenden Crescendos.... ab dem zweiten Stück durchziehen sanfte Perkussion und Bass-Grooves die Flächen, und das ganze erhält einen leichten Psychedelic-Touch...." [Drone Records text zur CD version 2006]
|
2015 |
€20.00 |
|
|
The Confessional Tapes |
LP |
"Aidan Baker's The Confessional Tapes is another of his more song-oriented albums, though here drifting between slowcore, dreampop, abstract jazz, and glitchy electronica. Baker originally began working on this record in Toronto several years ago, but lost the audio files in a hard drive crash. Those files which were recoverable from the original recordings, corrupted and glitchy, ended up forming the backbone of the album, providing a fragmentary and abstract structure to the songs as Baker worked on them in his adoptive home of Berlin. Aidan Baker is a Canadian musician and writer who has toured and performed around the world, both solo and with his partner in the “ambient-doom” duo Nadja. A prolific artist, Baker has released numerous albums on such labels as Alien8 Recordings, Important Records, and Drone Records. He is also the author of a several books." [label info]
|
2015 |
€21.00 |
|
| |
Dualism |
do-CD |
After different collaborations between Aidan Baker and other musicians, we are finally presenting you the first solo release by Aidan Baker on Midira Records. We are very proud to bring you this little piece of art called “Dualism”.
The album starts like an untamed beast with dark drone and doom sounds and it morphs into a very gentle floating ambient body. Aidan plays guitar, bass and drums, what makes the tracks sound structured but also disengaged at the same time. The all-instrumental tracks have Nadja-like moments when the sound is darker and doomy and then they transform to beautiful melodies and rhythms. So you can hear the album moving from darkness to light, from heaviness to easiness and from interlaced to clear textured. Sometimes you feel like dancing, sometimes you feel like head-banging, sometimes you feel just relaxed and all sounds and moods fit perfectly together.
The album is based on the theory of dualism. A theory enfolding several books and explanation, including different meanings. That´s what Aidan Baker thought about the Dualism theory referring to this recording:
“Dualism in philosophy refers to the theory that the mind and body are different things and while the body is necessarily part of the physical world, the mind (and thoughts) may or may not be associated with a physical, concrete reality… and the notion of a ‘consciousness bridge’ is the way one might attempt to bridge the gap, so to speak, between body and mind.”
We thought that is a nice concept, but then something unforeseeable happened. The Dualism theory overgrew the whole release project. After we decided to press the music on CD, the master tapes got lost. We were talking about what we can do, because everything was set up to be released. So Aidan Baker decided to re-record the album. After he recorded the album, the original recordings showed up again by coincidence. So we had two Dualism albums sounding completely different, both worth to be released. We decided to release both sessions as Session A and B. A circumstance fitting perfectly into the dualism theory. Then we were waiting for the CD to be finalized with a matt finished artwork. The parcel arrived from the plant, but accidentally with glossy artwork. We started to believe that there is a hex of dualism covering this project. But finally, we finished the album with 2 CDs and a handsome matt lamination.
To perfect the album package, we added a letterpress inlay including a poem by Aidan Baker (from Passing Through) and an antithetic version of the cover artwork. Manufactured by Letterjazz with some very old letterpress machines.
Some more dualism trivia in this context: The alphabetic characters A and B of both sessions does not only fit to the artist name but also to the name of our contact person at the letter press studio. Dualism fortuity.
Dualism comes as a double CD album in an edition of 200 copies housed in a 6 panel digipack, including a letterpress inlay on 650 gram LeNaBoard (grey cardboard).
|
2016 |
€18.50 |
|
| BAKER, AIDAN & JAKOB THIESEN |
A Bout de Souffle |
CD-R |
"keine intros, keine outros, kein einfaden, dito raus. mit schöner brutalität mitten ins geschehen: das platten manchmal unvermittelt anfangen ist so manchmal ja nicht unbedingt; bei einzelstücken sogar noch mehr; eine ganze platte, bei der jedes stück sich darstellt, als bekäme hörer und -in immer nur einen (besonders interessanten?) ausschnitt eines (unbekannten?) gesamtwerks präsentiert, ist dagegen alles andere als die regel. vielleicht habe ich das in dieser konsequenz das letzte mal allen ernstes auf der "guitar" von frank zappa gehört (auch eine gute platte, übrigens), die mal eben lässig nur die gitarrensoli zusammencuttete. hier also aidan baker mit jakob thiesen (drumkit, percussion, processing; auch in kanada tätig, auch ambient-ping-posse) und ausschnitten (zwischen 4.33 und 10.39 min) aus "sporadic sessions", die, live aufgenommen, von aidan baker gemixt und, ganz offensichtlich, gelayert wurden, so wie er es beispielsweise bereits bei der "at the base of the mind is coiled a serpent" getan hatte. mit einem entscheidenden unterschied: das, was aidan baker und jakob thiesen hier vorlegen, verlässt die reine drone oder ambient schiene oder zumindest deren engere definition und geht durchaus in richtung "arc", einer weiteren (gruppen)aktivität von aidan baker: #1 + #7 mit rollendem, (nicht nur fast) groovingem bass, sehr deep im untergrund schiebend, die percussion tief eingebettet, die darüber liegenden gitarren oft (!) akustisch und bei ausschnitt #2 z.b. in einem laid-back bluesfeel (nicht erschrecken, vertrauen in aidan baker hat sich doch bisher fast immer ausgezahlt) mit archaisch marschierender rudimentär-percussion und x-ebenen darüber und dahinter. der elektro-akustische eindruck und die verwebung einer vielzahl von ebenen, innerhalb derer mal nicht ausnahmslos flächen generiert werden, um diese dann gegeneinander laufen zu lassen, sondern wo eine diktatur der mikroereignisse herrscht (listen to #5, "the end of breathe 2", dann weist du was ich meine), die sich zu einem 3D kosmos ergänzen und, egal wie hibbelig das einzelne sein mag, im zusammenhang dann eben doch einen grossen, fast meta-zusammenklang schaffen, dieser eindruck bleibt auf voller lauflänge erhalten und lässt zumindest assoziationen in richtung oren ambarchi's "sun" zu, deren ebenfalls mysteriöse elektro-akustische melange eine sehr ähnliche stimmung evoziert wie eben "a bout de souffle". und noch mal die #5: lang vorbereitet, dieses kippen um die 10.00 und perfekt in die #6, "take a breath". keine ahnung, ob die familienzugehörigkeit der titelgebungen genau dieses phänomen unterstützen soll oder ob zufall: weite teile der 7 tracks nehmen mit ihrem ende bzw. anfang bezug aufeinander; eine weitere rätselhaftigkeit dieses releases, werden doch die abstände zwischen den tracks auch dann eindeutig als pause markiert...
ein überraschendes kollaborations-release im schicken digipack mit naturinspirations-makrozoom-coverbild, angeraut durch kontrastkorrosion. + übrigens: auch am ende keine fade-out gnade..." [Hellmut Neidhardt, www.unruhr.de]
"A Bout De Souffle is a 54 min Collaboration between Aidan Baker (who is also known as Nadja together with Leah Buckareff) and Percussionist Jakob Thiesen (who recently joined baker live on stage to play live drums). Aidan baker is famous for his experimental guitar music. This time things are a bit different. You wont find the typical aidan baker drone stuff here, but instead both men created an incredible journey through the fields of krautrock, Psychedelic and drone music. The Percussion of Jakob Thiesen adds a certain deepness to Bakers guitar explorations were he also uses bass and acoustic guitar to build an mind blowing album full of surprises and wonderful melodies." [label info]
"Waterscape is a new label, owned by Martin Fuhs, whom we also know as Seconds In Formaldehyde and it's mission is to release ambient music made by guitars. The first release is by Aidan Baker, our highly productive guitarist, who teams up here with Jakob Thiesen, who plays percussion, like he did on 'Desire In Uneasiness' by Nadja. Despite his many releases, Baker is a man to find new forms and shapes. On this release things are more experimental and improvised as opposed to being the more ambient player he is on some of his earlier solo releases. Baker tinkles away, sending his guitar through his many devices while Thiesen supplements nicely with percussive sounds, but it's more a supportive role than an active one or playing a 'solo' himself. The ambient element is not entirely gone, as much of it stays on an equal dynamic level and could perhaps pass on as a sort of rough shaped mood music. Nice stuff." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.waterscape.de
|
2008 |
€9.50 |
|
| |
Mepris |
LP |
"Aidan Baker is a musician and writer currently based in Toronto, Canada. As a solo artist, Baker explores the deconstructive sonic possibilities of the electric guitar as a primary sound source, creating music that ranges from experimental to post-rock to contemporary classical. Jakob Thiesen: Versatile electronic musician. Works with found sound, analog and digital circuitry, laptop computer software and drums to create music for various projects in the studio and on stage. AB - electric guitar: JT - drums. Recorded at Polyphasic Studios in Toronto, June 2012. Engineered by Brandon Hocura. Edited and mixed by AB & JT." [label info]
|
2013 |
€21.00 |
|
| BAKER, AIDAN & TIM HECKER |
Fantasma Parastasie |
CD |
Die beiden ungekrönten Könige des kanadischen Drone-Ambients in Kollaboration! Trotz ihres sehr unterschiedlichen Backgrounds (der eine v.a. analog mit Gitarre arbeitend aus der Jazz & Impro-Szene stammend, der andere mit rein elektronischem Hintergrund eher aus Techno & Noise-Gefilden) treffen sie sich in einer fast undefinierbaren "Mitte", wobei unklar bleibt wer wessen Material bearbeitet hat oder ob es zu real-time Zusammenspielen kam. Frei flottierende Gitarren-Drones, teils ultra-sperrig verfremdet, teils subtil & beruhigend, dann wieder ausserweltlich und überbordend. Sehr variantenreich und ausufernd. Ungewöhnlich auch die Indexierung auf der CD: Die 7 Stücke verteilen sich auf ganze 66 Indexe!
"Fantasma Parastasie sees the pairing of Aidan Baker, of the ambient doom band Nadja, and Tim Hecker, two of Canada's brightest musicians in the world of abstract electronic music. Tim Hecker has been enjoying the rewards of a stellar career and discography, devoid of filler, due to his incredibly high quality control. His full-length Harmony In Ultra Violet was viewed as a major release in the genre of experimental electronic music. Aidan Baker, on the other hand, works under very different circumstances, releasing material both as a solo artist and as a member of the duo Nadja. His prolificacy is on par with that of Merzbow and the late Muslimgauze. Thankfully, Aidan Baker is one of those musicians with the ability to record and write new music quickly and without sacrificing the quality of his art. Anyone familiar with both Aidan Baker and Tim Hecker is more than likely familiar with Alien8 Recordings as the two musicians have collectively released seven records for our label thus far. While Baker has collaborated with the likes of John Duncan, Black Boned Angel and Fear Falls Burning, among others, this marks the first collaboration to be released by Hecker. This release, divided in eight movements, blends together to form a fluid example of a collaboration that works. Unlike one of those collaborations where artists throw some sound files back and forth via the internet, this release is the fruit of various real-time recording and mixing sessions the two artists worked on in Tim Hecker's Montreal studio. The pieces on the record blend seamlessly into one another, creating a deeper listening experience, as is the case on a number of Tim Hecker's solo outings. While Baker and Hecker share a penchant for creating a powerful blend of ambient noise, Fantasma Parastasie finds the more dissonant elements tempered by an emphasis on ambience and even occasional melody. This release is available on CD in a digipak packaging." [label info]
"... But somehow, the sounds on Fantasma Parastasie manage to transcend, allowing glimpses of familiar sounds, hints of each
artist's own work, but woven into a whole that is unto itself, a gloriously abstract swirl of sound, longform landscapes of bliss and blur, of buzz and even roar, extended movements, in which the various elements drift and shimmer, overlap and intertwine, melodies and songcraft meet texture and soundscapery, guitars unfurl tangled melodies one second, bleary eyed chordal blurs the next, harmonics glisten and hover amidst deep soft swells, distortion and buzz build into fierce walls of blown out psychedelia, the sounds crumbling and
decaying before our ears, threatening to collapse, and in this fragile state lies the beauty of those sounds, effulgent, incandescent, but at the same time, blackening, beginning some unnamable process of inevitable decay. And eventually it does decay, those thick roiling sounds dissipate, leaving something soft and shimmery, glistening on a
bed of shed buzz and crumbled crush, floating heavenward, its notes and melodies catching the sunlight, and offering up prismatic reflections.
The strange thing about this record is that each song is separated into super short pieces, eleven in most cases, each part between 15 and 45 seconds (it's obviously much more noticeable on the cd). We tried listening to it on shuffle, presuming that was perhaps the intention, and while it still sounds cool, it was a bit too and took too much away from the overall effect. Instead, the various parts, played in order, slip seamlessly into one another, so much so that if you weren't watching the tracks tick by on player, you
wouldn't even notice.
The two work amazingly well together, bits of guitar, fragments of riffs, looped and repeated, swathed in thick smears of digital
crunch, of buzzing rumble, much of the record sounds like a heavier William Basinski, as if the two were experimenting with they own
Disintegration Loops. A few of the tracks are quite tranquil, abstract and minimal, but for the most part, Baker and Hecker seem more
interested in distressed sounds, in distortion, in pushing the limits, composing in the red, needles pegged, but taking what in other hands
could be harsh and abrasive, and crafting those sounds into something simultaneously soft and dreamlike. Even the various movements, drift
smoothly into one another the entire record almost like a single piece, expansive and varied and sprawling, epic and majestic, but
inward looking, introspective, melancholy, imbuing the crumbling crunch and blown out minimalism, with emotion, with distinctive mood, at once dark and mysterious, but also strangely hopeful.
The album closer and title track, is the only one not split up into movements, and is easily the most abstract, the most minimal, a
stretch of lugubrious low end, so soft, so weightless, a hushed musical murmur, no distortion, no buzz, just a simple swell and sway, drifting fading, and finally disappearing.
Absolutely breathtaking."" [Aquarius Records review]
www.alien8recordings.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| BAKER, AIDAN / NOVELLER |
Colorful Disturbances |
LP |
"aidan baker ist hier einfach wolfgang voigt: gas, bei einem der reinen ambient stücke ohne beat. ungefähr genau so viele schichten statischer akkorde und weit, weit unten / hinten passiert dann doch dauernd etwas. und erst viel später merkt man, dass auch die statik nicht statisch ist... perfekter nachschub für alle, die genau diesen typischen, weit ausgebreiteten sound an ihm (und anderen) mögen. sarah lipstate ist mit ihrem instrumentarium auf der gleichen baustelle unterwegs; hier auf der split-LP mit „under the color cave" und „white rabbit" jedoch intimer im sound und etwas kammermusikalischer, dabei in den einzelsounds auch konkreter als aidan baker. melancholisch, abwartend, die gitarre wie ein cello. unbedingt empfohlen und trotz split zweier unterschiedlicher künstler und trotz der unterschiedlichen soundhaltung homogenes ganzes. schönes cover auch, dessen finesse sich erst beim genauen hinschauen erschließt (und hier, in der abgebildeten größe, nur durch hochgedrehte kontraste) und: sehr gute vinylqualität dann auch noch." [N, Unruhr]
"Guitars warped so hard they dissolve into pure consciousness! Seriously, this record had to happen because these two are the NOW of transcendental guitar weirdness. In families like ours where deformed music of one kind or another pours out of the speakers all day long, Toronto's Aidan Baker is a household name. He is no doubt one of the most imaginative experimental musicians of the new generation, quickly creating a universe of limitless sound with his bursting discography. He offers this record an extensive piece which mixes drone, texture, and an ever-bowing foundation -- imagine the sound of falling backwards... forever. The new blood on this split is guitarist Sarah Lipstate from Brooklyn, New York (aka Noveller). Sarah's prepared twin guitar works up a slow hypnotic force, gently pulling way out to the furthest deep end of pulses and patterns. Beautiful repetitions effortlessly skirt over a dark undercurrent. A+++ listen. Edition of 600 copies." [label info]
www.divorcerecords.ca
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| BAKER, AIDAN WITH CLAIRE BRENTNALL |
Delirious Things |
LP |
An album of cold wave, synth pop inspired tracks, released on limited LP from Pleasence Records and limited CD from Gizeh Records. With guest vocals by Claire Brentnall (of Shield Patterns). Mastered by Brandon Hocura.
www.pleasence.com
www.gizehrecords.com
https://aidanbaker.bandcamp.com/album/delirious-things
"Aidan Baker is a classically trained flutist and a self-taught multi-instrumentalist. He is a Canadian musician who currently resides in Germany. Baker is prolific and his music wide-ranging, but central to all his releases is a practice in deconstruction as he explores experimental sounds and tones based primarily, but not exclusively, in guitar. Brentnall, who joins Baker here on some tracks, provides vocals and is a member of the experimental duo Shield Patterns. On Delirious Things, Baker explores his ambient side, primarily with interludes, but his pieces with Brentnall evoke 80’s style dark-wave, post-punk, cold-wave, and shoegaze. The pair work as a wonderful duo, with Baker’s acumen at creating emotive soundscapes playing alongside Brentall’s angelic and otherworldly vocals.
The album opens with fuzzy tones and tapping drums. “Delirious Things” is slow and sparse, with an almost drone-like quality. Brentnall instantly mesmerizes with her vocals as she sings hypnotic lines over Baker’s guitar playing in your right ear. Another guitar enters the mix in the left as the bass plays in stereo. The mix gives it a brilliant depth and a sense of conversation between the instruments. Percussion has a thick layer of reverb as the fuzz still is the floor of the track. Backward tracking plays among the fuzz as the layers begin to peel away to leave a rather inorganic tone. “Interlude I (Shivers)” begins with a high-toned synth sound and various bright layers that dance around it in variations. It is brief but beautiful piece. “Dead Languages” begins with more reversed tones and a humming line floating above them. Electronic drums kick and dark, fuzzy tones come into the speakers creating a dark-wave mood. Brentnall’s ethereal vocals are given a different feel in this darker space. They are angelic but are almost dissonant against the march of a moodier background. The darkness of it all is unrelenting and Brentnall’s vocals a constant force of light throughout.
“Interlude II (Tongues)” has an almost eerie voice floating around in it with backward tones over a bright drone. The voice moves from speaker to speaker and comes into the mix at different volumes. There are shimmering tones, almost like a drop falling into water and then creating a ripple effect. Slight fuzz rumbles underneath but never quite makes it above the surface. “Interlude II (Tongues)” flows into “Wingless” without pause. Swirling synth rises to create a very subtle wall of sound and then the percussion and guitar kicks in. This track feels most like post-punk 80’s music, with a Siouxsie Sioux meets Cocteau Twins vibe. Brentnall’s vocals create an almost desperate feel or at least one of earnest longing. The bass work provides a consistent backbone which also has an almost Hooky/Gallup feel. Eventually, the keys soar and begin to bury Brentnall under a swell and then the synths play out as a drone, winding down into an osculating tone. “Interlude III (Wax)” brings fuzz back into prominence, but the guitar work is bright and the fuzz no long ominous in any way. If Baker proves anything, it’s that he can take tones, place them in other contexts, and then completely redefine how they feel. Warm, deep rumbles flutter in and out of the speakers, creating and immersive experience.
“Always Leaving” has a slightly reverbed bass playing at first, repeating a singular note. Electronic drums bring in that 80’s feel and the bass line then becomes more expressive and complex. There is a Roxy Music vibe floating around in this piece that is just exquisite. About 3 minutes in, Brentnall’s vocals come leaping forth and they are the most prominent they are on the whole album. Baker clearly knows how to mix vocals because they move in and out of speakers as Brentnall sings various pieces simultaneously as if in conversation, echoing one another here and there. It creates a pleasing array of angelic, ethereal vocals that blend together to create a choral feel. As the title suggests, there is a longing here and perhaps a sense of loss in both the vocals and the feel of the composition. “Shivering” is the finale to Delirious Things and it begins with a bright, aggressive fuzz that has several layers to it. A comforting hum floats among the prickly sounds and sparse percussion punctuates the soundscape. The track begins to take form and then moves back into buzzing drone territory as it pauses before resuming and Brentnall begins to sing. The pace of the piece is medium tempo but there is an urgency to it as the vocals swell and move up and down in volume. “Shivering” reaches its outro as synths hum, buzz, and crackle until there is silence.
The duo of Baker and Brentnall is one made in heaven. After spending many hours with Delirious Things, my hope is that there will be much more of this collaboration to follow. Baker’s compositions move from ambient brilliance to dark-wave decadence, changing the backdrop to Brentnall’s angelic, ethereal, and otherworldly vocals throughout. Context, if anything, proves to shape the feel of her vocals here and Baker is a master composer, giving Brentnall a myriad of spaces in which to interpret her vocal prowess. Delirious Things is a gorgeous album demonstrating Baker’s compositional expertise and Brentnall’s ability to evoke deep, emotional moments with her captivating voice." [Jason / Somewherecold] |
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
| BALDRUIN |
Portal |
LP |
"Baldruin, the nocturnal brainchild of Johannes Schebler, came into life in 2009 and instantly a unique surrealistic sonic topography was mapped out: through the dense undergrowth of synthesizer sounds and various misty noises a more and more detailed world of sound revealed itself with every new release during the past six years - full of bells chiming, voices calling, pipes whistling and seductive percussive elements. Accordingly Baldruin's music has a very cinematic quality recalling the psychic soundtracks of Goblin, the feverish exotica of Jodorowsky's „Holy Mountain“ or the occult “Themes“ of Psychic TV. „Portal“, Baldruin's first vinyl release, follows this musical path in somnabulistic certainty
towards a slighty more airy horizon. The journey's not come to an end yet, „Portal“ opens a new chapter in the ongoing saga of Baldruin's Bavarian Gothic." [label info]
https://baldruin.bandcamp.com/album/portal
https://vimeo.com/137260451
https://vimeo.com/138391110
|
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Vergessene Träume |
LP |
"It’s said that German philosopher Immanuel Kant hardly ever left his home town. Yet he managed to pull off some of the most influential thinking to date. How did he manage to do that? Well, a daily routine based on reasoning interrupted by long walks did the trick and – voilà! – another “Critique” was done!
Johannes Schebler’s body of work released under his Baldruin moniker may not exactly be as groundbreaking as the old geezer’s from Königsberg, but it’s fair to point out that his discipline is comparably versed and experienced when it comes to making his music. During the years past he hardly ever left town, avoided exhausting and time consuming nonsense such as touring and instead stayed inside preparing and releasing over a dozen albums since his first recordings back in 2009. He snuck out for a walk once in a while – especially to have a cheap lunch or dinner downtown – but other than that he kept himself busy watching Midnite Movies and messing around with a myriad of musical instruments. (And yes, an occasional painting was finished here and there, too!)
In short: Johannes is quite a regular guy following a well-arranged, unhurried 24/7 routine. Given this almost boring day in, day out one might wonder how he manages to piece together his colorful, imaginative and meticulously manufactured sonic miniatures? Well, it’s obviously that kind of untroubled artistic existence that leads to a mindset to create a slightly unsettling music quite far from the artist’s own experience. It’s not real, it’s phantasy. It’s art, it’s entertainment – and it’s meant to be fun. Keep in mind: Listening to „Vergessene Träume“ („Forgotten Dreams“) is like visiting a fairground’s Tunnel of Horror or a field trip to an other-worldly theme park: Tracks like „Begegnung im Labyrinth” („Encounter in the Maze“) or „Das Mysterium der Kreidefelsen“ („The Enigma of the Chalk Cliffs“) hint at the playful and surreal character of the music.
Music that is deeply informed by the colorful works of composers like Franco Battiato and the iconic and imaginative horror-movie soundtracks of Goblin („Suspiria“) and the likes. So, don’t mistake Baldruin’s fanciful, vaudevillian approach with the omnipresent depressive and dystopian post-postmodern aesthetics. Baldruin’s far from being a bleak bloke and such is his music: It’s the brainchild of a rich, child-like imagination, a celebration of the comical ‘n creepy yet life-affirming forces in life. Enjoy the ride!"
ikuisuus.bandcamp.com/album/vergessene-tr-ume |
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
| BALESTRAZZI, SIMON |
Ultrasonic Bathing Apparatus |
CD |
Simon Balestrazzi is an electronic/electroacoustic composer and sound artist active since the 80's and one of the leading figures of italian post-industrial scene. In 1981 he co-founded T.A.C. (Tomografia Assiale Computerizzata), a long-lived and outstanding Italian band operating on the border between experimental music, leftfield rock and post-industrial. Between 1986 and 1988 he created the dark-chamber ensemble Kino Glaz while in 1991 he joined Kirlian Camera, with whom he worked for seven years releasing several albums and performing live throughout Europe.
He has so far performed live or recorded with the following musicians and groups: Gianluca Becuzzi, Maurizio Bianchi/MB, Bron Y Aur, Marco Cappelli, Elia Casu, Fabio Cerina, Paulo Chagas, Mattia Coletti, Compoundead, Sylvie Courvoisier, Deison, Max Eastley, Andrea 'Ics' Ferraris, Forbici Di Manitù, Henning Frimann, Hermetic Brotherhood Of Lux-or, Tim Hodgkinson, Dalila Kayros, M.S. Miroslaw, Ikue Mori, Clara Murtas, Phill Niblock, Noisedelik, Victor Nubla, Alessandro Olla, Plasma Expander, Maja Ratkje, Paolo Sanna, Damo Suzuki, TH26, Uncodified, VipCancro, Z’EV, Francesco Paladino.
He's currently working as a solo artist and with experimental duos Dream Weapon Ritual (with Monica Serra), Candor Chasma (with Corrado Altieri), Sarang (with Enrico Marani) and the improv ensemble A Sphere Of Simple Green (with Adriano Orrù and Silvia Corda).
Ultrasonic Bathing Apparatus is an apotheosis of the deep sound. Built around the concept of numbness and sensorial deprivation, the album unfolds in seven movements. An ideal path that alternates between dives alienating themselves from external tension and re-emergences, where the sounds become palpable and consistent. A continuous transition from deep tense drones, making you feel disconnected from body perception, and actual sounds, that make you fall quickly back into the outside world. Until the last dive, a massive final drone, where you get lost and can only concentrate on your own self. A work composed with surgical precision and great arrangement care, supported by a very skilled composition and containing a touching poetics of progressive estrangement. Psychological tension constantly on! Are you ready for this?
https://sincoperec.bandcamp.com/album/simon-balestrazzi-ultrasonic-bathing-apparatus-cd |
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Atti Innaturali |
CD |
st.an.da.2249
CD, 6-panel digisleeve, ltd. 200 copies
Simon Balestrazzi
Atti Innaturali
Simon Balestrazzi’s new effort make use of a rather sparse instrumentation. The prepared strings of a battered Ukrainian tsymbaly (a percussion-stringed instrument similar to the hammered dulcimer) are excited with an eBow and only occasionally struck. Also they are processed in real time through a ring modulator, a digital spectral delay and a looper, stretching the sonic possibilities in an unnatural way. This iridescent mass, sometimes rich in abrasive clatters, sometimes in profound resonating harmonics, is intertwined with the droning undulations of a vintage VCS3 synthesizer. Finally the rare tolls of UFIP Ogororo plates offer a sombre punctuation.
These few elements conjure a deep and subtle tangle of flickering forms that guide us through a meditative and almost trance-inducing process. Conceived as a three part suite, “Atti Innaturali” stretches the listener across time and space.
Simon Balestrazzi is an electronic/electroacoustic composer and sound engineer active since 1979. In 1981 he founded the long-lived Italian cult band T.A.C. (Tomografia Assiale Computerizzata). Moreover, as well as working as a solo artist, during the years he has created or has been a member of many bands and projects: Dream Weapon Ritual, DAIMON, A Sphere of Simple Green, Hidden Reverse, Candor Chasma, Kino Glaz, Sarang, Kirlian Camera, Deep Engine, MOEX.
He has so far performed live or recorded with countless musicians and groups; among them: Paolo Angeli, Gianluca Becuzzi, Maurizio Bianchi/MB, Bron Y Aur, Daniele Ciullini, Sylvie Courvoisier, Deison, Bruno Dorella & Stefania Pedretti, Max Eastley, Andrea 'Ics' Ferraris, Le Forbici di Manitù, Henning Frimann, Fuzz Orchestra, Gerstein, Hermetic Brotherhood of Lux-or, Tim Hodgkinson, Xabier Iriondo, Limbo, Maisie, Elio Martusciello, MS Miroslaw, Ikue Mori, Clara Murtas, Phill Niblock, Victor Nubla, Alessandro Olla, Massimo Olla, Francesco Paladino, Plasma Expander, Nicola Quiriconi, Maja Ratkje, Claudio Rocchetti, Jared Russell, Paolo Sanna, Mauro Sciaccaluga, Damo Suzuki, Teatro Satanico, Testing Vault, TH26, Thelema, Uncodified, VipCancro, Giorgio Vivaldi and Z'EV.
store.silentes.it/catalogue/standa2249.htm
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| BAND OF PAIN |
Still falls the Rain |
7inch |
"After an absence of a good few years, Band Of Pain return with a 7” single for Easy Action. Steve Pittis: “Since I got the first Black Sabbath LP when I was 12 years old, the poem inside the gatefold has held a huge fascination for me. I’d read it over and over again, looking at the sleeve, and of course listening to the record. It kept occurring to me that they never used it in any lyrics, so 45 years later, it was time to put that right.”
The A Side of this record, “Still Falls The Rain” features that poem, read beautifully by Lucy Cotter, along with Pittis’ atmospherics and Nurse With Wound’s Andrew Liles’ blistering guitar. All research seems to say that the writer of the poem remains anonymous, so if you’re out there, we hope you like it.
Side B’s “Funhouse (For Karla)” deals with the gruesome misery of an execution chamber and is a powerful journey into the horrors of those barbaric places." [label info]
www.easyaction.co.uk
https://youtu.be/T_ZyNCgmPSo
http://www.andrewliles.com/10-questions/steve-pittis/
"Where most bands opting to record a take on of one of their influential favourites would opt for a more or less straightforward cover version, Band Of Pain main man Steve Pittis chooses instead to invite Andrew Liles and Lucy Cotter to join him in re-imagining the anonymous poem “Still Falls The Rain”, as found inside the upside-down cross adorning the inner gatefold sleeve of Black Sabbath‘s eponymous first album.
This they do in suitably doom-laden style, all clangour and tolling of deep-down bells smeared over with some excoriating paint-stripper guitar from Liles that bears a passing, if distended, resemblance to Sabbath. An equally ominous threnody washes over the stifling atmosphere, which Cotter’s plain-spoken words cut through the thunderstorm of sampled rain with a distracted, almost hypnotised air. Not so much metal as post-Hendrix fed-back skronk, the results waver from the suitably discordant into the eerily unheimlich, with the ghost of a mordant smile nevertheless playing faintly around the snooker hall klang. What Tony Iommi would make of it is anyone’s guess.
The flipside is yet more unnerving and gloomy, dwelling on the subject of imminent state-sanctioned execution on “Funhouse (For Karla)”, and what words there are buried so deep into the mix as to be almost imperceptible at first. Environmental flickers switch back and forth in the deep, dark mix, riding limpidly beneath relentless monotone pulsations that well up in into a tachycardic rhythm modulated to sets the pulses racing as soundbites on the death penalty pass behind the unfolding sense of dread and doom.
For dark, stormy nights, and even glummer moods." [Linus Tossio/FREQ]
|
2015 |
€9.50 |
|
| BARBARELLA PLÜSCH |
d_b |
7inch |
Experimenteller, ruhiger Post-Rock aus Österreich, sehr schön die B-Seite mit schillernden Drones aus denen sich ungewöhnlich punktuierte Drums herausschälen....
"Musikalisch ist die 7" eine Offenbarung; und ich bin mir nicht einmal im Klaren, warum. Wenn ich nun ‚Postrock’ schreibe, ist das im Grunde wohl gar nicht falsch, aber: ist es ausreichend? Ich denke nicht. Hier geht es vor allem um Konzentration und damit einhergehend: Reduktion, vielleicht auch Vereinfachung. Um das Wesentliche. Ich könnte mit diesen beiden Tracks locker den Sommer verbringen."
[Quietnoise, August 2005]
“Barbarella Plüsch stunned the audience when they opened the live sets on our anniversary party last year. These tracks on vinyl are the band's first ever release. Our first post-rock record, beautifully constructed guitar/bass/drum pieces in the style of Trans Am, David Grubbs or quiet Sonic Youth. Featuring Alexander Wallner of Das Fax Mattinger.“ [label info]
"Descended from the Austrian trio Das Fax Mattinger, a new outfit called Barbarella Plüsch has a very nice single in d_b/Mono. Jazzy rolled drums plus e-bowed guitar and bass create a quiet instrumental space." [The Wire, January 2006]
|
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| BARBIERI, CATERINA |
Fantas Variations |
do-LP |
Fantas" is the epic opening track on Caterina Barbieri's acclaimed 2019 release Ecstatic Computation (EMEGO 259LP, 2019). The original "Fantas" laid out a magical path of patterns leading the listener on a journey into the sound itself. Fantas Variations maps out eight new potentials sprung from this initial path as constructed by a diverse mix of artists lending to a wide spectrum of new works extrapolated from the original work. For this project Barbieri invited friends and long-time collaborators from a variety of musical backgrounds to create a more sustainable and inclusive landscape in terms of stylistic, geographical, gender, and generational balance. The results are a diverse array of approaches and instrumentation which blur the boundaries between the acoustic and electronic. Fantas Variations embraces a platform for mutual exchange and support between like-minded artists, where active and collective re-imagination is prioritized over the traditional model of remixes, which is often strategic, functional and more passive. Longtime friend and collaborator Kali Malone rearranged "Fantas" to a slowed-down, austere and eerie version for two organs. Evelyn Saylor created a piece for a vocal ensemble consisting of her, Lyra Pramuk, Stine Janvin, and Annie Garlid, joining forces to express the choral, psychedelic and vital nature of the piece. Barbieri's former guitar professor at the Conservatory in Bologna, Walter Zanetti, composes "Fantas" for electric guitar, by translating every single gesture of the original electronic piece into a personal, nuanced and detailed interpretation. Bendik Giske's reinterpretation for saxophone and voice captures the atmospheric essence of "Fantas" and its psychic meteorology. Longtime collaborator and along with Barbieri the other half of the outfit Punctum, Carlo Maria, resynthesizes "Fantas" for TR808 and MC202, bringing a more club-oriented dimension of the piece to life whilst unveiling the sonic continuum between rhythm and pitch through a sensitive timbral approach. Jay Mitta's Singeli reinterpretation of "Fantas" transpires with pitched-up percussion and turbo-fast polyrhythmic patterns unleashing the frenetic, shifting, transformative matter within the piece to a higher plain of euphoric dance. Baseck's variation is a rave fantasia, where the prismatic trance of the original is channeled into fierce, uncompromising hardcore, whilst Kara-Lis Coverdale's take is a phantasmagoria for piano that gently, yet inexorably, captures the relentlessness chimerical qualities of the original, unveiling its spectral backbone. Mastered by Rashad Becker, February 2021. Cut by Andreas Kauffelt at Schnittstelle, Berlin, February 2021. Artwork and typography by Ruben Spini. Lettering by Alice Fiorelli.
01. Evelyn Saylor (feat. Lyra Pramuk, Annie Garlid and Stine Janvin) - Fantas Variation for Voices (7:38)
02. Bendik Giske - Fantas for Saxophone and Voice (7:31)
03. Kali Malone - Fantas for two Organs (10:21)
04. Walter Zanetti - Fantas for Electric Guitar (7:27)
05. Jay Mitta - Singeli Fantas (12:03)
06. Baseck - Fantas Hardcore (4:44)
07. Carlo Maria - Fantas resynthesized for 808 and 202 (4:29)
08. Kara-Lis Coverdale - Fantas Morbida (3:04)
https://editionsmego.bandcamp.com/album/fantas-variations |
2021 |
€25.50 |
|
| |
Spirit Exit |
do-LP |
"Double-LP version. Silver vinyl. The musical vortexes of Caterina Barbieri rewire time and space. Listening to the Italian composer and modular synth virtuoso has felt like traveling at light-speed and slow-motion all at once since 2017's breakthrough Patterns Of Consciousness. 2019's acclaimed Ecstatic Computation pushed even further with the lead single "Fantas". Far beyond any new age trope or modern synth trend, her music stands alone in its ecstatic intensity and cataclysmic emotional impact. Marking the debut album on her new label light-years, Barbieri now delivers her most profound work yet -- a journey through inner-space as vast as a universe and as intimate as a heartbeat. Spirit Exit is Caterina Barbieri's time machine, primarily composed with a modular synth rig she thinks of more like a mechanical fortune teller. Whereas previous releases were constructed on lengthy tours, capturing only snapshots of continually evolving works, Spirit Exit represents the producer's first album fully written and recorded in her home studio amidst Milan's two-month pandemic lockdown in 2020. It was during this extended isolation she found inspiration from female philosophers, mystics and poets spread across time, but united in their strength at cultivating vast internal worlds. St. Teresa D'Avila's foundational 16th century mystical text The Interior Castle, philosopher Rosi Braidotti's posthuman theories and the metaphysical poetry of Emily Dickinson act as thematic anchors throughout Spirit Exit. Spirit Exit crystallizes Barbieri's densely layered, blindingly bright synth arrangements while introducing stunning new elements that feel as if they've always belonged. Strings and guitar flawlessly thread into the composer's web of modular patches, while her revelatory singing voice often cuts right through them. Melodies remain Barbieri's great passion and obsession and on Spirit Exit they grow as large as planets before cracking into atoms. The sweeping "At Your Gamut" perfects the producer's dramatic, slow-burning openers, but in her first ever use of sampling, it later gets crushed, accelerated and unrecognizably transformed into the ghostly hook surging through "Terminal Clock". As the album closes on "The Landscape Listens" -- a song that approaches death with all the gentle grace of Brian Eno's "An Ending (Ascent)"."
https://caterinabarbieri.bandcamp.com/album/spirit-exit
|
2022 |
€31.50 |
|
| BARDOSENETICCUBE |
The sacral Member |
mCD-R |
Two tracks that evoke an exotic atmosphere with effected voices & deep frequenced wave-drones... quite special & hallucinogenic again!
"Bardoseneticcube is a now well-known artist from russia, with releases on various labels like Drone Records, Steinklang, Athanor or Mechanoise Labs. For this 3", Bardoseneticcube has looked into his archives and found these two tracks in an ambient/ritual style, sometimes rhythmed by percussions that could remind our dear Internal Fusion." [label info]
|
2006 |
€5.00 |
|
|
Telloram |
CD-R |
Auf TELLORAM operiert St. Petersburgs vielseitigstes Experimental-Projekt noisiger als zuletzt; mit Radiofrequenz-Blubbern und durchdringenden Drones, runtergeslowten Stimmen & Sinuston- Feedbacks, Vibrato-Rauschen & Quietschen in allen Varianten walzt sich der 'Telloram' durch dick & massiv scheinenden Äther...
Die CDR ist verpackt in einem fetten silberfarbenen Schaumstoff-Cover, der Trip dauert 50 Minuten.
"New album from the most blazing Russian ambient project. Dehumanized technogenic desolate space noise-ambient with high concentration of radionoise. Your ticket beyond the bounds of galaxy. 156 copies in handmade package from polypheme." [press-release]
www.operatorprod.narod.ru
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Noosphere |
CD |
Die Interaktions- und Energieform "IGOR POTSUKAILO (BARDOSENETICCUBE)-> KAPUTTES LAPTOP -> HOLOGRAFISCHES UNIVERSUM" manifestiert sich hier auf ungeahnte & einmalige Weise. Auf NOOSPHERE offenbart sich der "Fehler in der Maschine" in einem, in endlosen vibratohaften Wallungen und Drehungen zerfliessenden, Sphären-Drone. Der fast halluzinogene Wahrnehnmungseffekt dieses Wummerns ist absolut erstaunlich, es wird einem regelrecht schwindelig! Die Aufnahme (ein langer One-Tracker von 67 Minuten Länge) entstand in einem glücklichen Augenblick und ist nicht reproduzierbar...
"Russian project BARDOSENETICCUBE is well known in Europe and USA due to numerous releases by various labels like Blade Records, Athanor, Steinklang etc. They are always open to experiments of any kind, so each new album is different and unpredictable. This particular album deals with theory of russian scientist
Vladimir Vernadsky about collective consciousness, emerging from the interaction
of human minds. The universe is full of endless and omnipresent information fields, different in their energy/meaning potentials. Some of them are accessible for people who are using it extensively, others are intended only for machines that seem to be their source and destination at the same time. This soundpiece
is pure improvisation by Igor Potsukailo (BARDOSENETICCUBE) and a Toshiba Satellite A-110 laptop (BARDOSENETICCUBE).
The laptop is the leading performer here, created by unknown system error and playing the music of solar wind, derived from the information field that is not accessible to anyone else. Igor Potsukailo uses a kind of feedback circuit, adding the elements of human presence into this music and modifying the
energy/information balance in that powerful field near our planet Earth called Noosphere..." [label info]
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| BARDOSENETICCUBE & SHINKIRO |
Inner and Outer Space |
CD |
This is already the second collaboration album of Bardoseneticcube from Russia and Shinkiro from Japan, this time under their own names. The first disc "Four Noble Truths" was released under the combined title of Bashin on the French label Athanor in 2011 and was dedicated to the basic principles of Buddhist teachings. The meditative and contemplative subject continues here as well, now being focused on the aspects of inner and outer space.
We submerge in the dark thick matter of sound, fluid, transparent and stratiform. Woven from abstract electronics, omnifarious samples and transformed voices, textures are smoothly interchanging, always showing new visions in the black mirror of our viewport. Makes you wonder - does the perceivable exist separately from the percipient? In any case this is dark, nocturnal, cosmic music, not devoid of epicism and dramatism. Worth having in your playlist for the next space travel!
The disc is packed in a matte 4-panel cardboard digisleeve with artwork made by Vitaly Stromchinsky (X3D5, Eternal Return Records).
http://zhb.radionoise.ru/
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| BARDOSENETICCUBE + NOISES OF RUSSIA |
New Orthodox Line |
CD |
Rauhe, trancige Dronescapes mit sakralem Touch & intensiv ansteigendem Spannungsbogen zum Ende hin. Vielleicht lässt sich dieses feine Album der beiden in St. Petersburg beheimateten Projekte so mit einem Satz charakterisieren. Letztere sind zuletzt durch eine Reihe von ekstatisch-rituellen Konzerten aufgefallen, die sie in Russland und im angrenzenden skandinavischen Raum gaben...
"New Orthodox Line brings together two of the most notable Russian post-industrial / experimental groups: Bardoseneticcube and Noises of Russia. This unique collaboration stirs the best of both artists to surface, and results in an extremely powerful and intense emotional experience. The opus travels from sacral soundscapes of orthodox choirs and church bells to a more punishing end of the sonic spectrum provided by pounding rhythms and howling feedback. Here, the opposites unite with passion and compliment each other for the sake of the greater good, the synergetic New Orthodox Line.
Bardoseneticcube, having released dozens of albums on various labels worldwide, has gained recognition in the international experimental / electronic scene. Bardoseneticcube self-describes their music as “surrealism”, using A. Breton’s description: "pure psychic automatism willing to express the real functioning of the reflection either orally or written, or in any other form. Dictation of mind without any control from the intellect, outside of any aesthetic of moral considerations".
More info » bsc.radionoise.ru
Noises of Russia is a highly active Russian experimental music act, with practically countless live performances and a number of albums and videos under their belt. This four member group uses styles and imagery from dark ambient to drone, all the while never forgetting traditional noise music. Their unique mixture of influences, along with their extremely powerful use of vocals, create an unforgettable experience in modern music. More info » www.noises.ru " [label notes]
"... a joint venture between two of Russia's interesting projects from the Noise-related scene. Noises Of Russia is a quartet known for its high activity of live performances plus a large number of albums and videos released. The other project is called Bardosenetticcube also being in the forefront on the Russian scene. This album titled "New orthodox line" is a strange beast even in the noise scene with the inclusion of sacral soundscapes consisting of church bells and orthodox choirs swirling in the storm of abrasive noise drones. Consisting of one lengthy track of 47 minutes the expression is impressive with a nice emotional approach to sonic aggression. Intense." [NM, Vital weekly]
www.someplaceelse.net
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| BARONI, CLAUDIO F. & DARIO CALDERONE |
Ursae Minoris |
CD |
A constellation is a construct of perspective. Unfathomable fireballs ripping apart and reconstituting atoms, separated by millions of light years in all directions, are flattened into two dimensions by the human eye. From the slightest suggestion of line and form, the mind gathers them together into objects, seeing in them figurative outlines or distinct cultural reference points. Depending on one’s geographic location and culture, these groupings and their associated imagery can vary wildly. Despite being completely outside of human time and dimension, the stars are minimized and abstracted by distance and then reconstituted by social construct. This act of mental agility serves to make some small sense of the darkness around us and to serve as a memory aid so as to keep a grip on our place in the world.
As musical beings we might also wonder: What does a constellation sound like? Would we also find some meaning or a sense of place in this sound? How does a change in our observation change our reality?
With his Ursae Minoris, Claudio F. Baroni does not strive to give us direct answers to these questions. He begins to employ this process of perspective transformation, aurally converting a two dimensional abstraction of stars into points on a grid and then using this ‘data’ to generate the music, which leaves the final step of recontextualizing to the performer and the audience.
The title refers to the constellation Ursa Minor, which was ‘created’ by the Greeks around 600 BCE out of a portion of another constellation. In Latin and in the colloquial names in many European languages it means Lesser or Little Bear. It is commonly referred to as the Little Dipper in North America. Pointing the way to the North Star, this is one of the most important and well known constellations in the Northern Hemisphere.
Ursae Minoris, meaning ‘of Ursa Minor’, is the title of this work because in this album we encounter this constellation not as a singular instance but as an evolution of multiple perspectives to ruminate upon. As our view of the stars changes with time and place, the three movements of this piece each offer a different aural interpretation.
While working on his string quartet Perpetuo Motum, Baroni happened upon the diaries of Ciriaco d’Ancona (1391-1455), an Italian humanist, textile trader, and antiquarian. Within these diaries are maps of constellations that d’Ancona used to navigate at sea. He is sometimes called the ‘father of archaeology’ as he was one of the first Europeans to collect objects from ancient cultures systematically. Driven by his curiosity, he decided to depart from southern Italy across the Mediterranean to Egypt, Greece and throughout the Aegean Sea. D’Ancona relied upon Ursa Minor to locate the North Star in these travels.
The score of Ursae Minoris is based upon a celestial map centered around Ursa Minor. Using a similar process to one he used in writing Perpetuo Motum, the musical material was determined by a direct ‘transcription’ of the points on this map into predefined variables such as pitch and volume, transforming the stars into musical ‘events’. With the pitch material settled, Baroni explored other musical aspects.
Each movement focuses upon a specific technique of sound production. The first consists of short percussive sounds, especially those produced by tapping the metal end of the bow (called the screw) upon one of the strings. Constantly adjusting the placement of the screw and the length of the string, we are treated to a richly nuanced catalog of these tiny explosions. In the second movement, constant slow glissandi (pitch-sliding along the string) are played up and down on one of the strings as if orbiting around the gravitational pull of its neighboring string, which holds steady to one pitch. The last movement is entirely constructed of one long and shifting bowed tremolo (a shaking of the bow) resembling a trembling comet appearing out of silent space, grazing the ears with a roaring distance and disappearing back into the void.
While his single-minded use of instrumental technique can be uncompromising, Baroni leaves room for spontaneity in other aspects. Continuing the journey metaphor, the score consists of variable paths from which the performer can choose whichever routes and sidetracks they fancy in the moment, rendering each performance unique. Also striking is Baroni’s use of electronics as a way to deepen and refract the natural sounds of the instrument. The subtle use of a loop station gives rise to many layers of the already existing acoustic sound world, expanding it without injecting outside influences. This leaves one quite often wondering if there is just one bassist making all that sound or if there is a sky full of them.
Baroni has spent the last 10 years sounding out the depths of personal instrumental expression with his SoLo compositions. Ursae Minoris is the seventh piece in this ongoing series, each of which focuses on the unique qualities of a different instrument. Central to his process in this series is an extended collaboration with the performer to discover distinctive sounds from the instrument. He is not interested in fresh instrumental techniques for their own sake, simply to sound new or shocking, but because this is the terrain where there are more layers still to be explored. Baroni worked extensively with bassist Dario Calderone over a long period, taking time to form each movement of Ursae Minoris. Calderone’s complete commitment to this kind of music is evident in the intensity and detail of his playing. For example, in order to endure the brutal, endless tremolo of the 3rd movement, Calderone had to reinvent his bowing technique. Throughout the piece he latches onto the essence of the music and gives it a constant drive.
Forget for a moment the title and all of this background information. One doesn’t need to know anything about this composition’s connection to the stars to hear the force of the music or to feel the determined searching of the exposed performer. Baroni studiously avoids making specific aesthetic or cultural references in his music. He creates a closed sound universe with its own scale and physics wherein we can surrender to being propelled through this singular abstraction.
In the end we may be left to wonder: Where are the lines between natural phenomena, sound as sound, fragile and situated perception, and conscious interpretation? How much does each of us feel the urge to find some recognizable form and meaning in the sounds of these little points on a graph? Or we may just go along for the journey, leaving our mind’s universe behind.
https://contemporaryseries.bandcamp.com/album/ursae-
minoris
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| BARRETT, NATASHA |
Trade Winds |
CD |
Eine unserer derzeitigen Lieblings Elektro-Akustikerinnen hat sich dem Thema OZEAN angenommen, aus kultureller / mythologischer wie physischer / naturwissenschaflicher Sichtweise. Das lange Stück verteilt sich auf 8 Teile, in denen vor allen Dingen Wasserklänge (Meeresrauschen und -wellen, Gischt, Blubbern), diverse Schiffsgeräusche von einem alten Segelschiff (Holzknirschen, Signalglocken, etc.) und Hafenklängen verwendet werden. Wieder gelingt BARRETT die Balance zwischen schwindelig-machenden atmosphärischen Parts und detailreichen Passagen, zwischen totaler elektronischer Verfremdung und Überlagerung des Materials und ganz konkreten "real vorkommenden" Sounds. Nebenbei baut sie noch Seemannsgarn (Sturm auf hoher See) eines norwegischen Kapitäns ein sowie Shanty-Chor-Elemente & düstere Orgelklänge, die von JULES VERNE's Nautilus-Geschichte inspiriert sind. Das ganze ist so komplex und dynamisch (im Original ein 16-Kanal Stück), dass die Sinne immer wieder komplett überfordert sind. Man ist hier wirklich hin- und hergeworfen wie auf "Grosser Fahrt"...das Gefühl für die endlosen Weiten & die unfassbare Gewalt, die der Ozean bereit halten kann, wird hier adäquat umgesetzt Bei der CD handelt es sich um eine HYBRYD-CD, d.h. sie ist auch als "SUPER AUDIO CD (SACD) in 5.1 Surround Sound abspielbar! Grosse Klangkunst! TIP !
"In 2006 Natasha Barrett was awarded the prestigious Nordic Council Music Prize for her work …fetters… released by Aurora. Her new album consists of one work only: “Trade Winds” is a fantastic voyage down to the mythical and physical depths of the wide oceans. The piece is inspired by the vast expanse of sea – unleashing the musical potential of recordings from the 100-year-old sailing ship Dyrafjeld, from above and within harbour, shore and open oceans around the world, and the spoken narrative of an old Norwegian captain. From a narrative listening position Trade Winds' macrostructure consists of two halves, the first exploring culture and fables, the second exploring nature and science. The central pivot is inspired by the chapter Mobilis in Mobili from 20000 Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne. Throughout Trade Winds the reference to Captain Nemo is evident in various manifestations of organ recordings. Musical narrative is not necessarily a predictable linear chain of events, and surprise is essential to a compelling story. Natasha Barrett launches multiple narratives in parallel and lets them take turns, interrupt each other, unfold simultaneously, or twist backwards. Sounds emerge from the depths and sweep dramatically across the sound stage in an ever evolving dance of sonic patterns." [label description]
|
2007 |
€18.50 |
|
| BARRIKAD / DEATH SQUAD & HYDRA |
Entropic Society / Neurology 2 |
10 |
TO THE DREAMERS AND THOSE WHO PUT FAITH IN DREAMS AS THE ONLY REALITIES. Das neue schwedische Industrial-Label SEGERHUVA beglückt uns hier mit wütendem Radikal-Noise: die stark politischen BARRIKAD auf der einen Seite mit drei extrem verzerrten Feedback-Noise-Stücken, die in der Tat entropische Qualität haben, wenn sich die found sounds einer durchkapitalisierten Gesellschaft in reinstem Lärm auflösen...
Das San Franciscoer harsh noise Projekt DEATH SQUAD in Kollaboration mit HYDRA benutzt lyrics eines Psychiatrie-Patienten, die mit dunklem, eindringlichen analog-Noise versetzt werden...
“This most likely is the last of death squad¹s recordings. The most current name has changed to MK9. Hydra is Greg Scott who was also a member of the power electronics project Final Solution from New York. Vocals by G. Scott and electronics by death squad.
Neurology 1 was originally released in 1994. Almost ten years later the second installment is realised. Recorded in Poughkipsie NY at The Space. The content is an audio document of aggressive and passive emotional extremes. From night time rants to letters left on door steps. It becomes an array of sound and audio suffocation as each item becomes cataloged and addressed. Extremely bass-heavy and dense electronics gnawing on the top of your vertebrae, a worthy conclusion to the saga of the criminally underrated genius of DEATH SQUAD. Wake up...
This is the sound of young Sweden. The raging youthful energy of anarchist noise as presented by Barrikad. Three tracks of splendid energetic white-hot scorching electronics dealing with the frustration and despair of what passes for everyday life for modern man in a consumerist society. This is the vinyl debut for Barrikad, who has so far released one great CDR on Freak Animal.” [label description]
|
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| BASINSKI, WILLIAM |
The River |
do-CD |
WILLIAM BASINSKI ist schon seit “Urzeiten” als Sphärenmusiker aktiv, wird aber erst jetzt richtig gewürdigt. Dazu gehört auch diese (Wieder?)-Veröffentlichung von Material von 1983 (!), die einen hervorragenden Einblick in sein Schaffen gewährt – Schichtenweise loops, eine positiv-sanfte, leicht fremdartige Stimmung schaffend. [Drone Rec. info 2002]
„This is a highly anticipated release, as it brings more beautiful moments by the person who I believe has inherited the mantle of "king of ambient music". Dating 1983, "The river" is a double CD consisting of two long suites, both based upon the superimposition of long loops of found sounds and shortwaves. Like in the previous -wonderful- "Disintegration loops", Billy finds a simple way to bring the inner emotions out of us, still part of this cynical world. More than a river, I tend to link this sound with an image of myself watching a harbour immersed in the fog, standing far away and having few clues of what goes on - a boat call, a tidal wave, the quest for a communication that life itself makes more and more difficult to achieve. I love all the material but I must admit I have a slight preference for disc two, which in my opinion is a masterpiece for the years to come; try it in a low-key rainy day.” [Massimo Ricci]
|
2008 |
€24.00 |
|
|
A Shadow in Time |
LP |
"World-renowned as one of experimental music's most vital and impressionistic composers of the past few decades, William Basinski’s tape loop works have been especially influential, particularly on the historic series, The Disintegration Loops, where distorted, orchestral tape samples burrow deep into the listener's psyche through meditative repetition. On his new album, A Shadow In Time, Basinski plunges deeper than ever for the plaintive, solitary eulogy to David Bowie, aptly titled “For David Robert Jones.” Conversely, the title track, “A Shadow In Time,” is a subtle, celestial escalation of melody and drone. The result is one of the most truly transcendent pieces of music he has ever committed to – or wrung from – tape."
www.temporaryresidence.com
"On A Shadow In Time, William Basinski returns with a homage for David Bowie, eulogized on the lachrymose side-long track "For David Robert Jones" in reference to Bowie's birth name. Still using the tape loop as a principle means of production, Basinski guides the two tracks on this album with the elegance and a grace of an artist who has long mastered his craft. The title track is the more striking of the two pieces, with Basinski capturing golden hues and deep-space mesmer from an archaic Voyetra 8 synthesizer. This is a notoriously difficult piece of equipment that has even irked the composer with its grumpy insistence on not bothering to start up one day, only to creakily awaken the next. The twinkling vibrato and Plutonian shiver from Basinski's source material slowly spin in the tumbling orbits of his delay and reverberant tape loops. It's beautiful and languid, making for one of the few Basinski pieces that doesn't relate to the semantics of decay. "For David Robert Jones" focuses on the tape loop as the structural device, lacing several scratchy tape loops against one another. Here, Basinski's work does redress the forgotten dreams and deleted scenes so often recounted in the Caretaker's work with antiquated media through the tropes of lost memory. In a rare instance of jarring the listener, Basinski pops a loop into the foreground of a suitably maudlin saxophone riff. The hypnotic quality of the loop quickly settles this unusual rupture to Basinski's oeuvre, and the whole of the piece drifts once again into stately wistfulness. Sublime as always." [Stranded Rec.]
|
2017 |
€25.00 |
|
|
A Shadow in Time |
CD |
"World-renowned as one of experimental music's most vital and impressionistic composers of the past few decades, William Basinski’s tape loop works have been especially influential, particularly on the historic series, The Disintegration Loops, where distorted, orchestral tape samples burrow deep into the listener's psyche through meditative repetition. On his new album, A Shadow In Time, Basinski plunges deeper than ever for the plaintive, solitary eulogy to David Bowie, aptly titled “For David Robert Jones.” Conversely, the title track, “A Shadow In Time,” is a subtle, celestial escalation of melody and drone. The result is one of the most truly transcendent pieces of music he has ever committed to – or wrung from – tape." [press release]
"Basinski's new album A Shadow in Time contains some of his strongest work since The Disintegration Loops introduced him to the world at large.
In the fifteen years since William Basinski released the debut installment of his Disintegration Loops series he has been rapidly, and rightly, lionized. But for two decades prior to that, he was just another eccentric artist in New York, a tinkerer who built his own instruments, ran a venue and experimented insatiably with tape loops. He would tune in to the easy listening piped out by CBS and record snippets of it, creating a massive archive of schmaltz that, through the alchemy of sampling, could be transfigured into something infinitely more haunting. “I would set up loops, get them going, put on the tape recorder and let it go for the length of the cassette because if it was going, it captured this eternal moment,” he told The Quietus in 2012. That eternal-moment is quintessential Basinski; his work has been uniquely fixated on time and loss, his compositions heaving with longing, melancholy and a sense of impenetrable mystery.
At its best, Basinski’s music inspires the sort of rapturous testimony usually reserved for peak experiences, cult leaders and the dead. When it’s not working as well, it can feel not unlike so-called “ruin porn” or the photography of Edward Burtynsky: lovely aestheticizations of late-capitalist collapse that comfort more than they confront. Thankfully, his new album A Shadow in Time contains some of his strongest work since The Disintegration Loops introduced the world to the artist.
The two pieces on A Shadow in Time offer contrasting entry points into his work. The title track is a richly layered composition for the archaic Voyetra 8 synthesizer that was a year in the making and showcases Basinski at the height of his compositional powers. David Bowie tribute “For David Robert Jones,” on the other hand, is an off-the-cuff tape loop piece commissioned by LA’s Volume gallery in the weeks after the artist’s death. Built with re-purposed tape fragments that had been chewed up by a former roommate's cat (“this big, fat motherfucker,” he called it) “For David” exemplifies the entropic decay he’s most known for while adding specific, Bowie-riffing details.
As with all Basinski’s work, there’s a tantalizing juxtaposition between chance and intention (the Voyetra 8 wasn’t even guaranteed to turn on, and when it did, it “was already doing some weird shit so we used it and more”). But on “A Shadow in Time” this tension plays more of a supporting role than a lead. The piece opens with a slow-motion cascade of shimmering high harmonies and murky, shifting lower tones. In its austere beauty, it calls to mind Pauline Oliveros’ landmark Deep Listening, but with an added dash of dread. Clocking in at just shy of 23 minutes, “Shadow” spends its first half stretching towards infinity and its second collapsing on itself.
Around the seven minute mark (amazingly it only feels like three), the piece begins to hollow out. Gradually those glassy high notes drift away like the dust tail of a comet, and tape hiss overtakes the piece. The sense of deterioration is palpable, made more dramatic by distant synth moans and weird bursts of chirping noise that poke through just as “Shadow” drifts into silence. It’s the kind of ending that makes one feel less like a listener and more like a witness.
In the wake of the A-side’s descent, “For David Robert Jones” feels like a cool down for the audience and a victory lap for Basinski. An orchestral clip that could easily be a Disintegration Loops outtake opens, circling around itself and never quite resolving. We’re on more familiar footing here, and the emotional tenor of the the piece, though engaging, is less arrestingly in-your-face than “Shadow.” Six minutes in, a gnarled saxophone juts through rudely, throwing the chilled out transcendence pleasingly off balance. A nod to Bowie’s own saxophone honking on “Subterraneans,” it’s an amusingly punk bit of sabotage, but it fails to develop into something more. Over fourteen more minutes the tension dissipates and “For David” runs out of steam.
Discussing The Disintegration Loops in 2012, Basinski told the Quietus “Over the period of the hour, that melody just decayed right in front of my ears… and eyes… I remember thinking, 'This is not about you.’” While this sense of riveting discovery isn’t fully achieved on “For David,” the album nonetheless offers a stunning journey into a vast, ink-black void." [Pitchfork]
|
2017 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Lamentations |
CD |
"William Basinski's reputation as the foremost producer of profound meditations on death and decay has long been established, but on his new album, Lamentations, he transforms operatic tragedy into abyssal beauty. More than any other work since The Disintegration Loops, there is an ominous grief throughout the album, and that sense of loss lingers like an emotional vapor. Captured and constructed from tape loops and studies from Basinski's archives - dating back to 1979 - Lamentations is over forty years of mournful sighs meticulously crafted into songs. They are shaped by the inevitable passage of time and the indisputable collapsing of space - and their collective resonance is infinite and eternal."
https://williambasinski.bandcamp.com/album/lamentations
|
2020 |
€14.50 |
|
|
Lamentations (black vinyl) |
do-LP |
William Basinski’s reputation as the foremost producer of profound meditations on death and decay has long been established, but on his new album, Lamentations, he transforms operatic tragedy into abyssal beauty. More than any other work since The Disintegration Loops, there is an ominous grief throughout the album, and that sense of loss lingers like an emotional vapor. Captured and constructed from tape loops and studies from Basinski’s archives – dating back to 1979 – Lamentations is over forty years of mournful sighs meticulously crafted into songs. They are shaped by the inevitable passage of time and the indisputable collapsing of space – and their collective resonance is infinite and eternal.
https://williambasinski.bandcamp.com/album/lamentations
|
2020 |
€29.50 |
|
|
92982 |
CD |
"This reissue of William Basinski's 2009 album finds the composer doing what he does best, creating haunting loops and drones that have a way of burrowing into your life.
When you travel to 351 Jay Street on Google Maps you’re greeted with the image of a nondescript office building. On its ground floor is an art supply store. The rest of the scene is anonymous. Much of Downtown Brooklyn looks like 351 Jay: brutalist buildings of medium height that evoke industry and bureaucracy. Thirty-six years ago, in this building, William Basinski lived in a loft space that he called the Music Laboratories. He moved in at the beginning of the 1980s with his partner, the artist James Elaine.
Most of the work Basinski released in the 2000s consisted of remixed, reworked, and wonderfully garbled homages to the archive he started to build in the Music Laboratories. While there he made hundred of tape loops, organizing the ribbons of magnetic tape on a tree branch he kept near his mixing desk. The loops were a combination of recordings of his own compositions and incidental noise that seemed to come his way from the whirl of urban life outside his window or from the whisper of radio broadcasts seeding themselves into his recording equipment. He didn’t release his experiments at the time, choosing to record, finagle, connect. The impulse was a natural reaction to the time and place, as he later said: “I was getting all this great stuff. It was just coming from the sky.”
One day in September of 1982 he was experimenting on the fly, collecting fragments, and maybe hours later the backbone of a piece was made. He called it 92982, a clinical name designating the date of the composition, as if it was just a file to be tucked away. He released the recordings for the first time in 2009, long after he garnered widespread acclaim for his monumental 9/11 elegy The Disintegration Loops. Seven years after its initial release, 92982 has been remastered and reissued as 2xLP set of startlingly crisp and veritably haunted music.
92982 is over an hour long, and the original improvisation makes up the first two tracks, while the back half of the album includes an extended rework of a piano-based piece from Variations: A Movement in Chrome Primitive and another loop constructed from the 1982 material. Given the sources, the tracks present in 92982 seem almost unstuck from time, floating between dates and points of inspiration. The continual cutting up, editing, and processing of a tape loop was something closer to necromancy than normal composition. It’s a quality that actually infects the overall feeling of the music, creating an environment for free-floating listening.
The album’s opening track, “92982.1,” drifts, separates, grows quiet, and then rumbles loudly. The wash of noises is teeming with potential, a quality that defines the inner workings of 92982. All four tracks are open canvases, they invite the rest of the world’s sounds to participate in making the experience of listening different each time. The sound of a helicopter whirling in the atmosphere and the Doppler splatter of a police car’s siren on “92982.2” mix into the sounds of banal moments, like laying in bed, listening to the buzz of an air conditioner, the honking of cars, the rustle of leaves, the drip of an open faucet. The drifting of “92982.4”’s piano loops hang like flickering presences hovering above a room. Overall, a disembodying and strange thing slowly happens as this album keeps playing: it sucks the noises of your environment into the loop. What’s contained here is sometimes not exactly a piece of music but an experiential filter.
Basinski’s music is constantly toying with the idea that rote moments in life can be engulfed with emotion, and it has a way of burrowing into your life. As his perpetual loops drift across the surface of experience, they are incredibly porous, and invite a listener to complete them by taking a walk around their block or just go about their day. 92982 accomplishes this more successfully than much of Basinski’s work; compared to The Disintegration Loops, it’s more open to interpretation and devoid of the same weight of history or narrative. It is an extremely plastic and pliant piece of music, an eternally empty vessel that gets filled up from listen to listen." [Pitchfork]
"These 4 tracks, built upon signature William Basinksi loops date back to September 29, 1982 (hence the title), and like so many of his recent releases of archival material, they ask the question, "why did it take you so long?" The answer may not be as interesting as the
question itself, but the nostalgic look back for Basinski to his own past certainly resonates beyond any notions of solipsism and speaks to something downright universal: an optimism of a half-remembered past. Unlike the masterpiece of the Disintegration Loops, the tracks on 92982 don't crackle and crumble apart as the pieces move forward; but the dust, hiss, and fuzz that have been the trademarks of Basinski loops are all present. The first track centers on a loop of a spacious piano waltzing out of the softened drones of accumulated hiss and soft focus white noise pushed deep into the shadows. The second is a graceful swoon of a composition with delayed rhythmic pock that phases against a swelling ambient loop and occasional interjections of police sirens and helicopters, presumably recorded directly out of Basinski's open window. Another piano loop grounds the third track; this one painfully sad and lilting and made more so by the patina of tape hiss, soft static, and degradation of the source material. An elegant two note loop with a hallowed drone of floating dust completes yet another fantastic William Basinski record. Fans will not be disappointed!" [Aquarius Records review]
|
2016 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
The Disintegration Loops IV |
CD |
"Teil IV der hypnotischen alten tape-loops, die in endlos-symphonischer Wiederholung wie nostalgische Erinnerungen an vergangene Zeiten wirken.. sehr ruhig & meditativ." [Drone Rec.]
“..And somehow, that personal grief comes through in these reworked 20 year old recordings. Basinski had discovered a handful of old tape loops that were oxidizing and essentially disintegrating, and transferred them digitally, capturing the strangely decaying melodies, making for an expansive suite (almost three hundred minutes) of haunting otherworldy looping drones. Muzak like melodies crumble into barely melodic throbbing pulses, swathed in reverb, allowing the already obscured snatches of music, to fade into wispy smears of sound. So beautiful.” [Aquarius Records]
"For those who missed out on the now-legendary, highly sought-after (and highly sold-out) box sets, we are now offering the four volumes of The Disintegration Loops suite as separate, individually packaged albums. The audio was remastered in 2012 from the original master tapes, and the artwork is packaged in deluxe old-style tip-on gatefold jackets. For a collection of music built around the poignant inevitability of decay, there has been a great many hopeful and inspired words devoted to William Basinski's The Disintegration Loops: stunning, ethereal, majestic, transfixing, life-affirming… and for good reason. From its 20-year gestation period to its infamously fateful completion, The Disintegration Loops is one of the most powerful manifestations of the inevitable cycle of life ever committed to tape, even as it documents the inevitable decay of all that is committed to tape. The very passage of time is its most effective instrument. Not only lauded by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Pitchfork, NPR and dozens more, The Disintegration Loops have become considered by many to be “one of the most pre-eminent American artistic statements of the 21st Century.” [press release]
https://williambasinski.bandcamp.com/album/the-disintegration-loops-iv
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| BASINSKI, WILLIAM & RICHARD CHARTIER |
Divertissement |
LP |
"Divertissement is the third collaborative full length from minimalist composer William Basinski and sound artist Richard Chartier.
The duo utilize electronics, piano, tape-loops and short wave radio to evoke a dense atmosphere suggesting hundreds of years of history rising up from the depths of a reverberating cathedral. Subtle, buried and intense murmurs of melody morph through this deeply consuming and slowly evolving composition in two parts.
Pressed in an edition of 500 with beautiful cover drawings by artist James Elaine.
William Basinski is a classically trained musician and composer who has been working in experimental media for over 30 years in NYC and most recently, California. Employing obsolete technology and analogue tape loops, his haunting and melancholy soundscapes explore the temporal nature of life and resound with the reverberations of memory and the mystery of time. His epic 4-disc masterwork, The Disintegration Loops received international critical acclaim and was chosen as one of the top 50 albums of 2004 by Pitchfork Media. The Temporary Residence deluxe LP box-set reissue from 2012 was awarded best re-issue of the year and a score of 10 on Pitchfork. Installations and films made in collaboration with artist-filmmaker, James Elaine have been presented in festivals and museums internationally, and his concerts are presented to sold out crowds around the world. Most recently, Basinski was chosen by Music Director, Antony Hegarty to create music for the new Robert Wilson opera, The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic which had its world premiere at the Manchester International Festival in July 2011 and toured Europe in 2012 and North America in 2013. Orchestral transcriptions of The Disintegration Loops by Maxim Moston have been performed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Queen Elizabeth Hall and La Batie Festival in Geneva, Switzerland. Basinski is currently touring the world in support of Cascade and The Deluge, his latest works which will be released in Spring 2015 on 2062/USA.
Richard Chartier (b.1971), sound and installation artist, is considered one of the key figures in the current of reductionist electronic sound art which has been termed both microsound and Neo-Modernist. Chartier's minimalist digital work explores the inter-relationships between the spatial nature of sound, silence, focus, perception and the act of listening itself. Chartier's sound works/installations have been presented in galleries and museums internationally including the 2002's Whitney Biennial and he has performed his work live across Europe, Japan, Australia, and North America at digital art
electronic music festivals and exhibits. In 2000 he formed the recording label LINE and has since curated its continuing documentation of compositional and installation work by international sound artists/composers exploring the aesthetics of contemporary and digital minimalism. In 2010, Chartier was awarded a Smithsonian Institution Artist Research Fellowship to explore the National Museum of American History's collection of 19th-Century acoustic apparatus for scientific demonstration." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2015 |
€25.50 |
|
| BASS COMMUNION & FREIBAND |
VL Tones |
3 x CD BOX |
How does an invitation to create a one minute long piece of music based on a single instrument source become a two and a half hour 3CD epic?
Towards the end of 2018 Frans de Waard of Freiband was invited by a Japanese label to create an album of one-minute pieces using only the Casio VL-Tone 1. The VL-Tone is perhaps best known as being the first commercially marketed digital synthesiser, a cheap plastic instrument barely a foot in length. The idea was for each track to be a joint effort with a different collaborator from Frans’ past musical career. One of those collaborators was Steven Wilson of Bass Communion – the two over the years have recorded two 3inch CDr’s, an LP and a flexi disc. Steven had no VL Tone, but Frans sent him a few raw recorded sources made using the two that he owned. Using these, Steven quickly created five one minute pieces for consideration. One was selected for the compilation…
… And that might have been the end of the story. Except that Frans suggested using the other 4 pieces as source material for further collaborative work. Subsequently, over the next few months several hours of music was generated, with each musician processing what the other would send, using both digital and analogue technology, resulting in a plethora of mixes. The only rule was that the only sound sources allowed were the original VL Tone recordings, now twisted, reshaped, and reprocessed beyond all recognition. Once the 2 musicians had decided enough was enough, the final selection was made, edited and sequenced to create the listening experience found on the first 2 discs in this set. The 4 original miniature pieces are heard both in their original form, and then processed through many transformations; from dark ambient to musique concrete collage-style pieces, from rhythmic to drone-ambient, from brief interludes to lengthy journeys.
The third disc comprises additional pieces that didn’t make the main selection, but nevertheless the 2 collaborators liked them enough to include them on a bonus disc.
Cover design by Carl Glover. The sleeve notes comprise a time-line conversation between Bass Communion and Freiband during this project.
https://tonefloat.com/2019/11/07/bass-communion-freiband-vl-tones/
|
2019 |
€29.00 |
|
| BASS COMMUNION / PRECISION SURGERY |
Kurzwellen 8 |
LP |
"Many of you will be aware of my love of industrial and noise music, and one of my favourite labels of this kind in recent years has been the old school 80’s industrial revivalist label Kurzwellen, affiliated with ToneFloat from the Netherlands (who have released many of my projects over the years, including the IEM and Bass Communion box sets). Each of their releases so far have been in the form of hyper limited edition vinyl only releases, sometimes only 100 copies of so, and each is housed in a 24x36inch silkscreen poster sleeve with suitably grim black and white imagery. This time around the label played me a new album they were releasing as Kurzwellen 7, “Hinterkaifeck” by Precision Surgery (Hinterkaifeck being the location of a famous unsolved murder from the 1920’s), and I felt inspired to create 2 minimal Bass Communion remix treatments which are now being released alongside the Precision Surgery album as Kurzwellen 8. Both LPs are out on 7th July and can be pre-ordered from the Tonefloat Store. Not recommended for people who find the music under my own name quite depressing enough already thank you very much…" [Steven Wilson website]
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| BASTARD NOISE / BIZARRE X |
Self Righteous Suicide / ...Ethik?... |
LP |
Back in 2011 Bastard Noise went on Tour in Europe and they played one day together
with Bizarre X and an idea for doing a split release grown up in their heads.
Finally, here we are with a 12“ split ep, cut on 45 rpm for a maximum of power and clearness.
Bastard Noise recorded 4 ultra sonic tracks with his unique voice full of anger and pain
compinated with his insect war electronics.
Bizarre X comes out with 11 tracks of pure rumpling drum and bass with vigorously vocals,
including one Fear of God cover.
Both sides were mastered by Mr. Rozon at Speed Semen Clove Factory!
Artwork and insert were done by FetusK!
This records sounds like you stand in front of the band with a diabolical PA soundsystem.
This 12“ is pressed on virgin vinyl with a pro done recordsjacket and 12“ sized insert.
Co-released with Regurgitated Semen Records, in an edition of 600 copies.
scrotumrecords.limitedrun.com/products/635151-bastard-noise-bizarre-x-split-12-e-p
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| BASTARD NOISE / U.N.D. |
Economy of Death / Fall |
7inch |
Long delayed 7" finally out after endless wait with pressing plant... Originally celebrating 20 years of BN/UND friendship. Not to be confused with 1992 MITB/UND split. this is completely new material ! 3 songs of Bastard Noise takes us back to early "Our Earth Blood" feel with short tracks with vocals & electronics. UND from Finland (was also known as WoUNDead) is back to his earlier style of harsher noise electronics. |
2013 |
€7.50 |
|
| BATCHAS |
Explorations 85-95 |
CD |
"Quite unexpected, but surely long awaited comeback of this mysterious Swiss-based project, returning to the musical scene with the new album released after ten years of oblivion. This is another masterpiece of minimal analogue synth-sound alchemy, a journey through Batchas acoustic world allocated in the deep space between two acoustic radiators of stereosystem. Release date is 1st June 2007. Limited edition of 500 copies in jewelcase." [label info]
"The good things about Monochrome Vision is that the covers (all in stark black/white) have liner notes and so I learned that Robert Masse, who was once the active force behind Batchas (as well as Freq 63, Mydaus, Trebor Semas, Microscope, Myiase and Mental Showdowns) is no longer active in music, but works as a flash developer. What a pity, certainly when we hear 'Explorations 85-95', which of course has material from this period. Each of his projects had a specific sound and Batchas hoovers about in the dark alley of highly atmospheric music. Played on a bunch of analogue synthesizers, this is darker than life mood music, sometimes going almost beyond the threshold of hearing. Great stuff, which calls back to memory his old records, or in fact the scene that came with it, the ambient industrial posse. Very music of that age - highly ambient, a bit industrial: we'd call that drone music these days." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.monochromevision.ru
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| BATCHELOR, PETER |
Kaleidoscope |
CD & DVD-R |
"This release of electroacoustic music by composer Peter Batchelor contains the original (and preferred) 8 channel versions of the works (DVD-ROM) along with stereo versions (CD) for easier/speedier listening.
The idea for the Kaleidoscope works came from the composers? memories of playing with the prismatic toy of the same name as a child. The toy, of course, consists of colored beads in a tube of mirrors, whose reflections generate complex symmetrical patterns that change dramatically in density and texture as the tube is turned. With these pieces the aim was to emulate such dynamic spatial activity through sound, distributing fragmentary materials in space and immersing the listener in a rich and ever-changing sonic environment. They have been composed for an eight-channel listening environment, the speakers arranged equally in a circle surrounding the audience, and the spatial language consists of peripheral, rotational, oppositional and envelopment activities and relationships (in contrast to left/right and back/front as in stereo works and traditional concert diffusion). The works should therefore be spatially and musically coherent irrespective of audience position or orientation, and listeners should receive similar subjective weightings (relative levels) of front, sides and rear wherever they happen to be situated (even if the positions and trajectories of spatial gestures are perceived differently by each).
Peter Batchelor is a composer and sound artist living in Birmingham, UK. He has studied with Jonty Harrison and Andrew Lewis and lectures at De Montfort University, Leicester. Predominantly working with fixed-media, his output ranges from two-channel 'tape' compositions for concert diffusion to large-scale multi-channel installation work."
[label info]
www.pogus.com
"..The DVD has the original 8-channel piece of 'Kaleidoscope', but I don't have the playback for such a thing, so I am stuck with the stereo version. I never heard of Batchelor, who is a composer from Birmingham, UK and who studied with Jonti Harrison and Andrew Lewis. He works 'predominantly with fixed-media, his output ranges from two-channel 'tape' composition for concert diffusion to large-scale multi-channel installation work'. Playing with a prismatic toy as a kid inspired ‘Kaleidoscope’ and perhaps it's not difficult to see that relating to the music piece. Just like light makes different colours of different intensities, so that this music move back and forth, from front to back and back, top to bottom, left to right. I can surely imagine how this sounds on an 8-channel set-up: even better than it does on a stereo version, I imagine. This is from the world of serious electronic composing, say the world of Canada's Empreintes Digitales, but whereas works released over there are not always to my liking, I surely liked this one a lot. The gliding of tones, the processed white noise, the overall vibrancy of the pieces, the constant motion of the sounds used. This is all in the world of computerized sounds, I would think, and whatever went in to generate this sound material is something we not longer can hear. And perhaps it's also something that one should not care about? It's the result that matters and that result is great." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| BATES, MARTYN |
Chamber Music I : Song Setting of James Joyce Poems |
CD |
"Like Barry [Gerald Barry], singer – songwriter Martyn Bates (founder, with Peter Becker, of the 80s pop group Eyeless In Gaza) has turned for inspiration to Irish folk music, and also to the poems of James Joyce. Chamber Music One is the first part of a project to set the complete poems to music. The publicity claims, rather anti-climactically, that Martyn Bates is ”one of the great English songwriters (in the tradition of Nick Drake). The song settings are simple and often same-sounding: haunting, mournful, folkish. The voice gets treated to varied reverb, and you have to get used to the shaky intonation and vocal swoops to depths he can’t manage. The prettiest and most folksy track is ’Go Seek Her Out Courteously’ with its hammered guitar backing. ’From Dewey Dreams’ – with solo harmonica and oceanic Ambience – is almost bluesy. The Ambient background is a key feature – on nine of the 27 tracks that’s all there is. An attractive and definitely not unexpressive release.” [Andy Hamilton / Wire] |
1994 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Mystery Seas (Letters written # 2) |
CD |
Re-Release dieses Albums von 1995 (Ambivalent Scale 018), nach dem sich das Brüsseler Unterwasser-Ambient CD-R Label MYSTERY SEAS von Daniel Crokaert benannt hat! MYSTERY SEAS enthält 15 Stücke mit wallenden E-Orgel-Polyphonien & Drones, einsamen Melodika-Melodien, alles handgespielt und authentisch, und Martyns intim naher & hochexpressiver Stimme.....alles angetrieben von grosser, den Himmel anrufender SEHNSUCHT, die einen die Tränen in die Augen treibt....
“How can one describe in words such emotional cascades as ’Mystery Seas’. Once again without fail Martyn Bates creates flawless mirages and barren landscapes of explicit consciousness. Riddled throughout with the sort of incoherence and fragility which made Eyeless In Gaza such an immense encounter, at times the guy could be reciting his shopping list for all we know, or care really, for the magic conjured up by a single gasp expresses a magnitude of explanations. This is stark and lonely, yet warm and touching collection of songs drifts over your nerve ends and gently massages your soul. Truly enchanting, beautiful.“ [Music from the Empty Quarter ]
“Martyn Bates’ (ex-Eyeless in Gaza) long announced re-release of his most beautiful album is entering now its final production stage, and Shayo is proud to announce its release date for early January! A second life for this poetic album coming now as a digipack with a brand new layout and booklet. Shayo and Martyn Bates are planning to re-issue "Mystery Seas" twin album "Imagination feels like poison" during the year 2006.” [label info]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Migraine Inducers / Antagonistic Music |
do-CD |
Wiederveröffentlichung der allerersten BATES-MC von 1979, damals als MIGRAINE INDUCERS! Völlig verschieden von dem späteren Songwriting, stehen diese Sounds noch voll in der Spätsiebziger Post-Punk und Industrial-Tradition, mit rauhem low-fi Noise und Instrumental-Sounds (v.a. Gitarre & Synths), Gesangexperimenten, etc.. aber auch schon ruhigere folkige Elemente die an den späteren MARTYN BATES erinnern, mit seiner typischen Delay-Orgel und gezupfter Gitarre, sind vorhanden... 20 kurze Stücke voller freier "Anti-Musik"-Energie, die den Geist der damaligen Zeit atmet; auf der zweiten CD ein späteres Remake / Komplettierung des Tapes von 1994.
"Calling yourself Migraine Inducers might not be the best route to stardom. But then, this was released in 1979 at the birth of the DIY movement, which was all about making a defiant two-finger salute to stardom. A new generation of ambitious musicians armed with total artistic freedom released their music on the then-popular cassette format thus bypassing major record companies. Martyn Bates (of later Eyeless in Gaza fame) debuted with Dissonance/Antagonistic Music, a homemade cassette full of intense nervous fragmented soundscaping, not dissimilar to Nurse With Wound or an instrumental Throbbing Gristle. When the initial 12 copies had sold out, the tape was re-released slightly more professionally over the years and now, for the first time ever, as a double CD. Sonic exploration is the heart of this beautiful, stark masterpiece, which may not be easy on the ear on first take, but gradually grows and then, when you least expect it, proves itself full of harsh beauty." [FK / Vital Weekly]
www.blrrecords.com
Beta-Lactam Ring Records
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| BAYER, KONRAD |
Dreams of leaving |
CD |
"Sanft schlängeln sich subtile Sounds, wärmen zärtlich ohne zu erdrücken, sind stets präsent ohne jemals zu penetrieren. Das Weite dieser Veröffentlichung, das Nimmermüde gleicht einem wärmenden Händedruck mit Fremden, welche Freunde werden können." [Sebastian Lobstedt / Equinox]
“Twelve tracks between digital folk, field recording and escapism. track 2, 3, 8, and 12 were created in cooperation with the norwegian musician pal asle pettersen. 'dreams of leaving' is an album for winter times, but only occasionally icy, most of the time quite the opposite.” [label info]
“.....Bayer is a boy armed with a laptop, feeding field recordings and samples of classical music to the machine, leaves it boiling for some time and serves twelve tracks of winter music. It's cold outside, but inside Bayer's music is like a warm fire. In each of the twelve tracks, Bayer displays a love for ambient, a very tiny bit of techno music and just a little bit more of clicks and cuts. Occassionally a small melody leaks through the rain of software synthesizers, like in 'Aspertam', which even has a sampled guitar or the christmas like tune 'It Was When'. This is not the sort of music that goes for the trophee of 'musical innovation 2003', but nevertheless a nice winter's journey in music.”[FdW/Vital Weekly]
www.genesungswerk.de
|
2003 |
€13.50 |
|
| BAYLE, FRANCOIS |
Fabulae |
CD |
"Electroacoustic sound images in four movements beyond categorization, composed 1990/1992. sounds are changing morphologically like landscapes of sound. very lively and strange music." [Anomalous Records]
“in these apologues, we may thus hear the voice that speaks in the language that existed before sounds and tells of the native land – that of the unconscious.”
|
1998 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
La forme du temps est un cercle |
CD |
Neues Werk über Naturrhythmen und mythischen Bezug zum Kampf zwischen CHRONOS und AION, wie immer in eine eindrucks- und ausdrucksvolle musikalisch-experimentelle Sprache verpackt..
Vol. 15. of INA's complete Françoise Bayle series, featuring the 60-minute title piece (from 1999/2001). "Nature -- that reservoir of organisms and temporal forms -- proposes many patterns to our rhythmic imagination breathing, pulses, ebb and flow, a day's circle or the passage of seasons... My project, the idea behind this work, is to arouse the desire or pleasure of listening by presenting rather temporal perceptions based on their images, figures, impetus and vividness. Several 'moments' therefore that such entities traverse shall attempt to demonstrate special aspects of time's 'grain,' in order to prolong its emotional potential. Here then, are some of time's such figures at work. There is the one that hurries then flees, - the one that pounds and hammers, - that breaks the wave, - that moves backwards and does an about- face, - that splashes into a shower, - that trickles like rain, - that flows, while dripping off, - that slowly forms a bead, - that spurts out in jolts, - that gyrates in a whirl, - that evaporates... Variations from 'knocks' to 'traces,' from a heavy pulse to melody, from a tolling bell and its mysterious concurring powers to the furrows of clouds of dust and orbits circulating at various speeds, not to mention the various 'paces' of the pulse itself. At the end of the five stages, the listener will have completed a trajectory, one of temporal unity beginning from the finest 'grain' and progressively focusing his/her perception in order to discern and identify images and forms. Colors' transience, speeding figures will be resolved in a spiral (the three-dimensional form of a circle), by which the initial sound-image (tolling bells) will infinitely evolve into the final sound-image: that of summer crickets during a night of suspended, dream-like time." -- Bayle
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
| BC [BRIAN CONNIFFE] |
The Day and the Night of the Body |
CD |
New two track album from Ireland's Brian Conniffe, previously known for his work with Nurse With Wound and a MLP released on LTCo at the very end of 2013. One of these lengthy pieces features the late Simon Morris (Ceramic Hobs) providing spoken word he wrote exclusively for it. The CD also arrives in Dolorosa De la Cruz artwork and includes a 4pp. booklet.
Brian Conniffe is a cross-genre musician who has worked with a long list of collaborators covering a diverse stylistic range. Although perhaps most active as a member of a variety of synth-pop acts in his native Ireland, his most interesting work is that of far less conventional - deliberately uncommerical and even intentionally esoteric - experimental projects, characterised by a fusion of the darkest psychedelia with disquieting ambience. The most noteworthy of these possibly being the limited edition collaboration of Nurse With Wound’s 'Musique Pour Faits Divers' (2016).
This album was recorded from 2007 to 2009, and consists of two expansive pieces, which - as the title suggests - are characterised respectively by bright and nocturnal atmospheres, and retain an intense physicality undiminished by the occasionally abstract nature of the wide-ranging sound pallet utilised. The first piece is symphonic tapestry of colourful noise and alien-sounding drones, constantly shifting and avoiding monotony, reminiscent in places of the work of Labradford, The Hafler Trio, John Duncan, and Aube at their best. The second piece is altogether darker and more defiant of description and comparison, based around a long text written and spoken by the late Simon Morris (author and frontman of the Ceramic Hobs), which moves from its surreal yet possibly familiar beginning into an astonishingly breathless and tumultuous confessional, a true voice of the lost. The disquieting use of samples provided by Morris provides an intense sense of the uncanny.
Brian Conniffe says of the album's collaboration, "I got into contact with Simon Morris through collecting the most obscure music from the fringes of industrial music. We quickly developed a regular correspondence, exchanging cassettes, CDs and records of rare music, eventually meeting in person. He was a naturally entertaining writer, as the readers of his books will know. These and the very strange music his band produced also offered an often astonishing and sometimes shocking insight into the life of the mental health service user: a perspective which, combined with that of this highly active participant in the most extreme forms of underground music, to create a truly unique voice.
"At the time this album was recorded, I spent almost all of whatever free time I had creating very experimental and mostly improvised music, working with anyone around me who would participate. There was essentially no commercial aspect to what was being created, I was simply making music for myself, that I personally wanted to hear. At one point, Simon recorded his spoken vocals for me, and contributed them along with a handful of mysterious samples. And so, this album was created. It remained unreleased as shortly after its recording, I began to work with bands who were producing more conventional music, who were very active live and had established audiences in my native Ireland. Now, for a number of reasons, it feels like the right time for this to be heard."
https://fourthdimensionrecords.bigcartel.com/product/bc-featuring-simon-morris-the-day-and-the-night-of-the-body-cd-lumberton-trading-company |
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| BEAUCHAMP, PAUL |
Needs Must when the Devil drives |
CD |
After the critically acclaimed "Pondfire" (Boring Machines, 2015) and "Grey Mornings" (Boring Machines, 2017), Paul Beauchamp has taken a new direction with his third album, "Needs Must When the Devil Drives". With this work, a single track lasting a little over half an hour comprising several movements, Beauchamp has moved away from the use of acoustic instruments as sound sources and has instead followed the mantra of Brian Eno of "the recording studio is an instrument in itself". Included in this new direction of using solely synthesized and sampled sounds sources, Beauchamp has also begun to explore new territory by using elementary beats and percussion while still remaining connected to his minimal roots through his dedication to drones and ambient. "Needs Must When the Devil Drives" marks a turning point in Beauchamp's solo career as a natural evolution in his unique approach to research and sound design as a creative tool.
store.silentes.it/catalogue/standa2135.htm
"Needs Must When the Devil Drives: Drittes Soloalbum von Paul Beauchamp
Paul Beauchamp, der neben seiner Arbeit mit Combos wie Blind Cave Salamander und Almaghest! bereits zwei Alben im Alleingang produziert und über Boring Machines heraus gebracht hatte, veröffentlicht in Kürze seinen dritten Longplayer “Needs Must When the Devil Drives”. Das aus einem rund halbstündigen Track bestehende Album teilt mit seinen Vorgängern die ambiente Soundscape-Struktur. Neu ist Beauchamps momentane Abkehr von teilweise akustischen Klangquellen und seine Konzentration auf Elektronik. Ein weiteres Novum ist der Einbezug rhythmischer Elemente. Beauchamp, dessen Name entgegen der verbreiteten Gewohnheit nicht in der französischen Phonetik ausgesprochen wird, stammt aus dem Südosten der USA und zog vor Jahren nach Turin, wo er schnell Kontakte zur rührigen lokalen Musikszene knüpfte. Mittlerweile zählt er zu den renommiertesten Vertretern elektroakustischer Musik. Das Album erscheint auf zweihundert CDs bei Bare Teeth Records und Standa, dem Zwilling von Silentes Distribution." [African Paper]
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| BECKAHESTEN |
Vattenhalens Dräpare |
LP |
We’re honoured to finally reveal the mesmerising debut by Sweden’s Beckahesten. Featuring members Peo Bengtsson, Per Åhlund (Skare, Diskrepant and also former member of Sophia & live member of Karjalan Sissit) and the otherworldly vocal prowess of Viktoria Rolandsdotter. Their sound lingers within the shadow lands of ritual and folklore where solemn harmonies and rhythms intertwine with lyrical poetry, becoming rites and omens. Taking its name from an ancient folk tale of a horse that takes children onto it's back to then bring them to a nearby lake and drown them… We’re offered a singular journey through windy fields and misty forests where mournful cries lure us toward the resting place of the pale and lifeless. White and insidiously beautiful it lures every soul to the eternal slumber within forest ponds and black pines. This whispering being of sheer mist and endlessly terrifying darkness.
CD Edition of 500 copies in 6 panels Digisleeve with Matt lamination. 5 Tracks. Running Time 36.49
Standard Edition LP of 200 copies in standard sleeve with spot UV and Matt lamination with printed inner sleeve. 5 Tracks. Running Time 36.49
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/vattenh-lens-dr-pare
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Vattenhalens Dräpare |
CD |
We’re honoured to finally reveal the mesmerising debut by Sweden’s Beckahesten. Featuring members Peo Bengtsson, Per Åhlund (Skare, Diskrepant and also former member of Sophia & live member of Karjalan Sissit) and the otherworldly vocal prowess of Viktoria Rolandsdotter. Their sound lingers within the shadow lands of ritual and folklore where solemn harmonies and rhythms intertwine with lyrical poetry, becoming rites and omens. Taking its name from an ancient folk tale of a horse that takes children onto it's back to then bring them to a nearby lake and drown them… We’re offered a singular journey through windy fields and misty forests where mournful cries lure us toward the resting place of the pale and lifeless. White and insidiously beautiful it lures every soul to the eternal slumber within forest ponds and black pines. This whispering being of sheer mist and endlessly terrifying darkness.
CD Edition of 500 copies in 6 panels Digisleeve with Matt lamination. 5 Tracks. Running Time 36.49
Standard Edition LP of 200 copies in standard sleeve with spot UV and Matt lamination with printed inner sleeve. 5 Tracks. Running Time 36.49
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/vattenh-lens-dr-pare
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/vattenh-lens-dr-pare
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Tydor |
CD |
Second full length album from one of Sweden's most singular sonic entity. Featuring guest appearances by Kai Uwe Faust of Heilung, Lars-Magnar Enoksen and Anders Hovland, the music of Beckahesten emerges from a borderland where ambient, folk music and ritual converge. Recorded in various natural locations in Norway and Sweden, nature spirits have infused themselves in these recordings...
Dancing with vague entities in a blackened cinder field, followers of dread that has woken, hypnotised one is drawn deeper into their realm. The trees moulder around and offer little protection. Haunting voices keep echoing in the dusk. Lost and trapped you lay down, shivering in the dew. You are their offering, sinking into the mire.
*Due to forces beyond our control, the tricksters of logic scrambled the tracks on this edition of Tydor. The track Hednaväsen, which features vocals from Kai Uwe Faust of Heilung is track 6 on the CD and the first track on side B of the LP.
CD Edition of 500 copies in 6 panels Digisleeve with Matt lamination. 9 Tracks. Running Time 48.46 UPC
Standard Edition LP of 200 copies in standard sleeve with spot UV and Matt lamination with printed inner sleeve. 9 Tracks. Running Time 48.46 UPC
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/tydor |
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Tydor |
LP |
Second full length album from one of Sweden's most singular sonic entity. Featuring guest appearances by Kai Uwe Faust of Heilung, Lars-Magnar Enoksen and Anders Hovland, the music of Beckahesten emerges from a borderland where ambient, folk music and ritual converge. Recorded in various natural locations in Norway and Sweden, nature spirits have infused themselves in these recordings...
Dancing with vague entities in a blackened cinder field, followers of dread that has woken, hypnotised one is drawn deeper into their realm. The trees moulder around and offer little protection. Haunting voices keep echoing in the dusk. Lost and trapped you lay down, shivering in the dew. You are their offering, sinking into the mire.
*Due to forces beyond our control, the tricksters of logic scrambled the tracks on this edition of Tydor. The track Hednaväsen, which features vocals from Kai Uwe Faust of Heilung is track 6 on the CD and the first track on side B of the LP.
Standard Edition LP of 200 copies in standard sleeve with spot UV and Matt lamination with printed inner sleeve. 9 Tracks. Running Time 48.46 UPC
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/tydor
|
2021 |
€18.00 |
|
| BECUZZI, GIANLUCA |
Memory makes Noise |
CD |
"With this new release by Small Voices, Gianluca Becuzzi (ex-Limbo), for the first time, presents his work under his birth name, confining the aka Kinetix as an extension of his name. "Memory Makes Noise" is an important passage in the long career of our Tuscan sound-artist, projecting him to the achievement of his own creative dimension. Left the cold digital aesthetic, Gianluca Becuzzi, is focusing his re-search on electro-acoustic sounds, livening "Memory Makes Noise" with throbbing concrete rumors, material manipulations and deep enviromental reverberations. On the back-ground of this soundscapes, exacts and fascinating at the same time, there are the shadows of the cut up evoked by the author: from Luc Ferrari, Ivo Malec and Morton Subotnik, to Rolf Julius, Bernhard Guenter e Kozo Ikeno. "Adductionism" as activation of the memory, which rush in the present confusing with it, to avoid any kind of linear sequence. In the ethernal present time, where every sign contains its own contrary, the echo sounds before its source: "Memory Makes Noise". Released in an elegant Matt varnished digi-sleeve. Limited Edition of 500 copies." [label info]
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Trax to Trax |
do-CD |
"Here comes Gianluca Becuzzi’s fourth release on Silentes. This electronic / electro-acoustic composer and sound-artist boast an enviable curriculum: active since the first half of the ‘80s as founder of the historic Darkwave / Industrial project Limbo, since 1999 his artistic production is characterized by a strong experimental imprint and by a clear tendency toward abstract aesthetic forms and micro/macro noises/sounds. Among his recent artistic production - in addition to what he has published under his own name - we should at least mention his projects Kinetix, Noise Trade Company and Grey History, and his many collaborations in duo with Fabio Orsi. "Trax To Trax" is a double CD that collects tracks recorded between 2006 and 2011, most of them have already appeared on compilations or on limited edition CD-Rs. Among the musicians who have collaborated on some of these tracks, we’d like to mention Simon Balestrazzi (T.A.C.), Nigel Ayers (Nocturnal Emissions), Fabio Orsi and Pietro Riparbelli/K11. Surrounded by dark presences we enter this listening experience enjoying Gothic scenarios covered with electronics and noise, pressing and suggestively evocative, in a relentless series of images and sensations, in the emotional crescendo of a close confrontation with our inner world." [label info]
www.silentes.net
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
|
(B)Haunted |
CD |
"Following his collaborations with Fabio Orsi and Luigi Turra published in 2012-2013, it’s time for another Gianluca Becuzzi solo album on Silentes. This electronic / electro-acoustic composer and sound-artist boast an enviable curriculum: active since the first half of the ‘80s as founder of the historic Darkwave / Industrial project Limbo, since 1999 his artistic production is characterized by a strong experimental imprint and by a clear tendency toward abstract aesthetic forms and micro/macro noises/sounds. Among his other recent artistic production - in addition to what he has published under his own name - we should at least remember his projects Kinetix, Noise Trade Company and Grey History, and his many collaborations in duo with the already mentioned Fabio Orsi. “(B)Haunted” collects materials recorded in 2010-2011 that were previously released on cassette/CD-R in two extremely limited editions, entitled “Haunted” and “B”, respectively by Cérebro Morto in Portugal and Silentes Tapestry in Italy. Although composed for two different projects, the eight numbers on the album show some cohesiveness as the listener is treated with a tracklist that cleverly interchanges the tracks from both of them instead than offering the two complete works separately. Most of the music on “(B)Haunted” has an Industrial feel and seems to originate from live sessions that were enriched with electronic sounds and treatments at a later date. During the listening we confront ourselves with various sounds of a metallic nature and indistinct percussions, found sounds and gear, mechanisms and bells, scraped material and drones. Everything contributes to the creation of a soundscape that is always fascinating and arouse a lot of curiosity and attention on the evolution and direction that the music will take. Coming in a beautiful black’n’white artwork that aptly describes the industriousness of the author and the continuous musical metamorphosis herein contained, this is a very interesting album that will please fans of the old Industrial school and those devoted to sound-art and experimentation." [label info]
www.silentes.net
"Of an entirely different nature is the release by Gianluca Becuzzi, which is surely longer, seventy-three minutes and basically a re-issue of a 'Haunted', a cassette/CD on Cerebro Morto and 'B', a cassette on Silentes Tapestry. The latter was reviewed in Vital Weekly 789: "Gianluca Becuzzi has had various releases of his own and usually in a more ambient/drone/microsound field. Its good to see him move away from that, with a somewhat more experimental release. Lots of this seems to be revolving around elements from the world of percussion on steel, which reminded me of some of Z'EVs earlier records, in which he used both studio techniques and percussion. This too is a somewhat more noise based release, or at least less ambient and more experimental, but Becuzzi knows how to capture both a fine mood as well as some captivating sounds, and mould that into a fine composition." The four pieces from 'Haunted' are tracks 1, 3, 6 and 8, whereas 'B' is 2, 4, 5 and 7, which I thought was a
bit odd (but it has to do with the times of these pieces, which now act as a mirror to each other). Not that this 'wrong' sequence messes up the release, perhaps it even makes it more varied. 'Haunted', which I didn't hear before, also seems to be using an amount of steel percussion/plates as well as electronics of some kind. It's all sturdy experimental music here, serious, dark, moody, and even noisy at times, but it's never over the top loud and abstract. Maybe a bit long but as far as I can judge these two older releases certainly belong together and as such work very well on one CD." [FdW / Vital WEekly] |
2014 |
€12.00 |
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The Bunker Years |
CD |
"Dark Ambient / Experimental. In wartime, the bunker is a special type of shelter where you can protect yourself from the enemy's military attacks. I purposely translated the original meaning of the bunker, intended as military architecture, according to my idea of a protected area. In this sense, bunkers can be any private place where one determines one's isolation. Bunker is a physical space created to organize useful materials, reflect, conceive, design and create in total autonomy. From this concrete dimension, the bunker then goes on to trace an existential boundary, a dimension of the mind, a feeling and feeling other-than-the-rest that is outside. Bunker is a self-exclusive perimeter of inner resistance, a refuge from the outside world, from its rules and its conditioning. Bunker is the critical observatory, the secret hermitage from which to fight one's personal war against reality, when it becomes unacceptable, against its manifestations of idiocy and vulgarity. Bunker is the place to sublimate the incurable disagreement in divergent vision, generativity and art. I, my friends and those who have been with me during this time, we called the bunker the house / studio where I lived and produced music for years." [from the author]
https://gianlucabecuzzi.bandcamp.com/album/the-bunker-years-2006-2014
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
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Faraway from Light |
CD |
"Faraway From Light" is a tripartite CD in a short intro, an equally short outro and a long central composition. Much of the sound sources used in these tracks were recorded in the towers of Teufelsberg in Berlin, a NASA center located in the west of the city, abandoned by British and American intelligence after the fall of the Wall. Teufelsberg, literally "mountain of the devil", stands on an artificial hill, obtained from the sedimentation of the remains of bombings of the Second World War. Its huge empty spaces have very peculiar resonant qualities, which make it a place of particular acoustic interest. After assembling and organizing the materials recorded in Berlin, in 2013, Gianluca Becuzzi presented "Faraway From Light" as a soundtrack for Abel Ferrara's film "The Addiction" at the Cagliari festival "Solo Il Mio Nero". In line with its most recent production, Becuzzi's work is positioned between extreme noise and contemporary experimentation. The dialectic between the continuum of long droning drafts and the swarming of material manipulations, together with the plasticity of full and empty spaces, wrapped in a persistent nocturnal tension, define the figure of "Faraway From Light". Luce Sia and SMYW are pleased to present this work by Gianluca Becuzzi on CD, confident that it is a title that adds an important record contribution to his long career as an author and sound researcher.
https://gianlucabecuzzi.bandcamp.com/album/faraway-from-light
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
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We can be Everywhere |
do-CD |
Originally recorded between 2012 and 2013, and released on Final Muzik as a limited edition CDr, “We Can Be Everywhere” is still one of the best albums ever released by Italian music composer Gianluca Becuzzi.
The original release includes three solo tracks plus three collaborative ones: two pieces each with Raimondo Gaviano (Svart 1), Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono from Italian electronic music explorers Retina.it and two amazing tracks with Italian sound sculptor (and Final Muzik member) Deison.
The album presents obscure and thrilling atmospheres, unexpected dark structures and out-of-this-world modern electronic music’s soundscapes.
To do even more justice to this album, Final Muzik and Gianluca Becuzzi have opted for a double CD reissue, including the original release plus a new CD, composed, produced and mastered by Gianluca Becuzzi between 2022 and 2023, that includes a new version of “We Can Be Everywhere”.
Obviously inspired by the original, of which it only keeps few samples (mainly vocals) it develops the new sound-path taken by the artist. The new “We Can Be Everywhere” is structured around four lengthy tracks based on mesmerizing distorted guitar sounds, concrete music noises and raw rhythm programming from “far away”. The result is a new masterpiece of wrapping, gloomy doom/drone soundscapes.
Images: Diego Spinelli. Artwork by Deison.
Limited edition of 200 copies only.
Track 01-09 From "We Can Be Everywhere"
Produced And Mastered By Gianluca Becuzzi At Kinetixlab [2012-2013] Composed By:
Tracks 01, 02: Gianluca Becuzzi And Raimondo Gaviano [svart1]
Tracks 03, 05, 07: Gianluca Becuzzi
Tracks 04, 06: Gianluca Becuzzi, Lino Monaco And Nicola Buono [retina It] Tracks 08, 09: Gianluca Becuzzi And Cristiano Deison [deison]
Tracks 10-13
Produced And Mastered By Gianluca Becuzzi At Kinetixlab [2022-2023] Composed By: Gianluca Becuzzi
https://finalmuzik.bandcamp.com/album/we-can-be-everywhere-2014-2023
Seit den frühen 80ern ist der aus der Toskana stammende Gianluca Becuzzi ein musikalischer Workaholic, und vielen hierzulande ist er vermutlich am ehesten durch sein frühes New Wave- und Postpunk-Projekt Limbo bekannt, mit dem er bis ins neue Jahrtausend hinein zahlreiche Alben herausbrachte. Die Zeit um die Jahrtausendwende markierte auch eine Schwerpunktverschiebung von den zwar bisweilen experimentell eingefärbten, aber vom Hauptfokus her dennoch eher songorientierten Arbeiten hin zu abstrakteren Klangwelten, die er mit Projekten wie Kinetix, seinen Arbeiten mit dem Dröhner Fabio Orsi und nicht zuletzt auch solo herausbrachte. “We Can Be Everywhere”, das vor zehn Jahren bei Final Muzik auf CDr erschienen ist, stellte damals eine besondere Wegmarke im Rahmen seiner Soloarbeiten dar, wobei solo in dem Fall nicht heißt, dass Becuzzi das Album im Alleingang produziert hätte. Drei besondere Acts unterstützten ihn dabei in den meisten der Aufnahmen. Das eröffnende “From this Poem of Void” entstand in Zusammenarbeit mit Raimondo Gaviano alias Swart1. Hier brechen in unregelmäßigen Abständen prasselnde Noise-Kaskaden in eine Welt der Stille und scheinen andere kleinteilige Geräusche zum lauter werden zu ermutigen. Erst nach einiger Zeit wird das Ganze durch ein hintergründiges Brummen eingehegt, dennoch ist der Track atmosphärisch eher Doom-Industrial als Ambient. Einige der Klänge hier sind so gut versteckt, dass man sie leicht überhören könnte, so die hechelnden Frauenstimmen, die sich – wenn sie denn keine Fata Morgana sind – ganz tief unter der Oberfläche abhetzen. Der gleichen Zusammenarbeit entstammt “The Screaming Torso”, das gleich mit einer infernalischen Feedback-Lawine beginnt. Gefühlt hundert Details fliegen so schnell durch den Raum, dass das Resultat schon wie ein homogener Fluss wirkt, wenn man nicht innerlich das Tempo herunterschraubt – bis raues Kratzen die Illusion durchbricht. Nach einer kurzen, aber intensiven Klangwelt voll frunkensprühender Glöckchen führt die Reise durch zwei beklemmende Tracks, die zusammen mit dem neapolitanischen Duo Retina.it entstanden sind. Stetig pulsierendes Pauken, das sich zunächst im Hintergrund hält und dann von einer wuchtigen Dröhnwelle nach vorne gedrückt wird, darüber Stimmen, vermutlich von einer Lautsprecherdurchsage, abstrakte Sound-Mixturen, aus denen immer wieder Glocken an die Oberfläche dringen, dunkles Gemurmel, zirpende Insekten: Alles wird dichter mit der Zeit und offenbart eine große Vielschichtigkeit, und am Ende kulminiert alles in einer prasselnden Lärmsalve. Nach einem weiteren solo eingespielten Interludium beginnt der zusammen mit dem Klangkünstler Deison produzierte Schlussteil, der das experimentierfreudigste Material des Albums bereithält: Das Stück “Headless shadows” beginnt mit zum Teil rückwärts eingespieltem Material, das aber nur notdürftig die hypnotische Perkussion und die verquere Melodik dahinter verdeckt. Das lange “All the ghosts of my life” schließt das ursprüngliche Album noch um einiges subtiler ab, denn hier meint man eine nur leicht elektrifizierte Naturszenerie mit heranbrandendem Wasser und Vogelstimmen zu hören. Doch irgendwann bricht auch hier noch einmal die Dunkelheit in Form schriller Hochtöner, dunklem Grollen und mysteriösem metallenden Hantieren ein. Was passiert hier? Lässt hier jemand ein Geisterschiff vom Anker gehen?
Als Überraschung hat sich Becuzzi das mittlerweile fast ein Jahrzehnt alte Material erneut vorgenommen und ausgehend von einigen Samples daraus im Alleingang vier eigenständige Kompositionen gebaut, die vier Tracks mit den Titeln “We”, “Can”, “Be” und “Everywhere” umfasst. Doch was sich zum Auftakt noch wie ein Rework anmuten mag, entpuppt sich als eine weitgehend eingeständiges Bonusalbum, das mit dem ursprünglichen Longplayer nur durch Referenzen verbunden ist. Das Erkennungszeichen dieser Kompositionen ist ihr schleppender und bleischwerer Doomcharakter, dessen Infernalik nicht nur sägenden Gitarrenwänden, höllischen Twangs, wahrwitzigem Gemurmel und schleppenden Takten zu verdanken ist, sondern auch knarrenden Türen, krächzenden Flüstervocals, einzelnen Freekout-Ansätzen, trügerischen Glöckchen, gezielt eingesetzten lichten Momenten und einigem mehr. Becuzzis Repertoir ist offenkundig breit gefächert.
Die Reissue erschien bereits vor einem Dreivierteljahr und einigen der CDs sind noch erhältlich. Selbstredend empfehlen wir sie. (U.S.) AFRICAN PAPER |
2023 |
€15.00 |
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Black Mantra |
do-CD |
Kali, "The Black-One", is the Hindu goddess of death, time, supreme power, destruction and change. She is dark and heartless, the anti-mother with a bloodied face. She is "The One Who Dances", leading the world towards dissolution, end and rebirth. The origins of the Thug clan, stranglers known for their ritual murders, are linked to this karmic cycle. Since the last century, her mysterious charm has inspired literature and cinema, making her a popular figure also in the Western world. Just as, more generally, Indian mysticism and its traditional music, based on the sound continuum, is origin and source of inspiration for all Drone Music and for musical avant-gardes linked to it.
Gianluca Becuzzi [June 2023]
All tracks composed and produced by Gianluca Becuzzi [2023]
Gianluca Becuzzi [on CD01 and CD02]: electric baritone guitar, alluminium neck guitar, alluminium neck bass VI, sampling, programming
Antonio Tonietti [on CD02]: indian harmonium, modified acoustic guitar, bouzitar
Images by Stefano Gentile
Artwork by Deison
Silentes / St.An.Da. 2023
https://gianlucabecuzzi.bandcamp.com/album/black-mantra
"One of my top finds of the last several years is Gianluca Becuzzi. This prolific Italian experimentalist is known for his atmospheric music that often fuses together influences from different genres. Black Mantra is his second release of 2023 and a high point in his discography.
The stylistic hybridization here is that of Indian classical music and chant with drone metal. Think of it as a captivating combination of Dead Can Dance with Sunn O))). Conceptually, the music as a whole is based on Becuzzi’s fascination with Kali, the Hindu goddess of death. As such, it exhibits appropriately dark tones.
While a long 2CD release, Black Mantra is exemplified by two tracks that appear early on the album.
The Hidden Temple kicks off the album with a gong and acoustic strings before Becuzzi drops slow-moving and massive guitar riffs that are held into feedback. He employs baritone and aluminum-neck guitars as well as the bass VI to emphasize the low notes and sustain. Atop this, he layers repeating mantra-like chants. As Becuzzi is also credited with samples and programming, it is unclear how much of the non-guitar source material was recorded specifically for this track. But it ultimately does not matter due to his artful amalgamations.
In contrast, Devotional Prayers is centered around drum beats accentuated by bells. Becuzzi adds a bass line and chants that resemble uttered incantations. He uses distorted guitar chords to fill space between cycles of the chanting, as well as to provide thick melodies for the latter half of the track. While each contributing line is relatively simple, again it is the combination of these elements that makes the overall piece engaging." [Avant Music News]
|
2023 |
€16.00 |
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| BECUZZI, GIANLUCA & FABIO ORSI |
Muddy speaking Ghosts through my machines |
CD |
Zweite VÖ dieses Jahr für das italienische Duo, experimentelle electronica-ambience die mit Blues & Folk-Versatzstücken sowie field recordings angereichert ist, was zu erstaunlich stimmigen Ergebnissen führt.
"Muddy Speaking Ghosts Through My Machines' is the brand new album released together by Fabio Orsi and Gianluca Becuzzi. This album will be certainly followed by other cooperations, considering the big friendly artistic sodality between them. Fabio e Gianluca are a strange duo, considering the big differences of their artistic back-ground. Fabio Orsi is a young and unexpected talent. After his first album, "Osci" (LP, SmallVoices 2005), produced by Gianluca Becuzzi, he got a lot of positive feedbacks, worldwide, by the most important international media, confirmed by his second official release "For Alan Lomax" (CD, A Silent Place 2006) splitted with cosmical Italian duo My Cat is an Alien. Gianluca Becuzzi is a very well known character of the Italian experimental scene since from the 80s, under many different alias. Recently known as Kinetix, Gianluca latest release is the very well appreciated "Memory Makes Noise" (CD, SmallVoices 2006) a great electroacoustic pearl. The unexpected uncounter between different forces, experiences and visions of this two artists is prefectly melted in this album: strong and tied, an imaginary place where folkway and research, past and present, distance and closeness, mud and clouds, ghosts and machines meets. Shreds of ballads, guitars and old keyboards floating on the vibrant surface of this faery river and disappear, towed off by drones and rumors, pouring between distant voices and centenary blues songs from the Alan Lomax archive. Raptur and sweet lostness: this is the main sensation. It could be listed as Avant-Folk, or Experimental-Blues, Ambient- Roots or contemporary aesthetics and aching nostalgia..." [label press release]
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2007 |
€13.00 |
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| BEEQUEEN |
Music for the head ballet |
CD |
Wiederveröffentlichung dieser vergriffenen BEE QUEEN CD von 1996, die vier sehr ruhig schwingende Drones enthält.. (ein zuvor nicht enthaltener Bonustrack!)
" Die Musik greift in das Environment ein, formt es um und verändert die Sichtweise des Hörers auf so subtile Weise, daß die Veränderungen erst Stunden später erkennbar werden." [Zipo, Auf Abwegen # 20]. Die neue BEE QUEEN - CD ist im Gegensatz zum Vorgänger wesentlich ruhiger, meditativer und monotoner und enthält 3 lange Atmo-Tracks. Sehr schön!“ [Drone Records info 1997]
„Always a lonesome recording with it's distant organ drones quietly amassed, Music for the Head Ballet was first bestowed upon us in 1996. The now defunct Isomorphic records had the privilege of issuing these 3 pieces of lulling resonating ambience. Music for the Head Ballet has had an elusive history. There is little information about the music listed anywhere. The reviews are scarce, and those few that do make a mention are consistent in their praise of this alluring work. The original 936 numbered copies seem to be carefully tucked away on coveted shelves as it is rarely seen making an appearance in any market platform. Even the names of the tracks support it's ambiguous nature ("Days that never were", "White feathers on a dish,used to erect the pyramids" and "These foolish things"). Now after so many years of myth making, this gorgeous work has been made available again by Infraction. This reissue features new artwork as well as a previously unreleased 13 minute additional track from the original sessions. It is quite possibly the most blissful track Beequeen have committed to disc. Buy it now and hold your peace forever. Edition of 500.” [label info]
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2004 |
€13.00 |
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Time waits for no one |
CD |
"Taking their name from a work by Joseph Beuys, the Dutch duo Beequeen have taken it to heart to createa sonic experience that Is like a living organism, a melange of oozing textures, rhythmical structures, cyclical pumping surges of sound, arranged as if In an ambient visionary landscape, a painting for the ears. The experience naturally recalls earlier works by Zoviet France and The Hafler Trio, with much use of processed and degraded sounds. As strange and enigmatic as Its minimal four-fold diglpak cover." [Alan Freeman - from Audion Summer/Autumn 1994]
"BEEQUEENs Time Waits For No One (Herbal (International) CD0801), das mit seinem Titel die Rolling Stones zitiert, hatte 1994 noch Marilyn Monroe auf dem Cover, jetzt bei dieser Wiederveröffentlichung eine völlig zerbombte WW II-Stadtmondlandschaft. I really think it matches the original Monroe-cover when it comes to beauty, gibt sich Freek Kinkelaar dazu hartgesotten. Er & Frans de Waard schienen aber bereits in Marilyn ein Vanitas-Motiv zu umkreisen, das deuten zumindest Titel wie ‚The Shore of Leaves‘, ‚Illusions‘ und ‚Perhaps perhaps perhaps‘ an. Da könnten ihnen durchaus Mick Jaggers Zeilen Drink in your summer, gather your corn; The dreams of the night time will vanish by dawn durch den Kopf gegangen sein. Aber wo fände man keinen Anlass für Melancholie und dystopische Ahnungen? Die ‚Furie des Verschwindens‘, mit der schon Hegel und H.M. Enzensberger per Du gewesen sind, imprägniert den Dreamscape der beiden Niederländer mit einer Tristesse, die jenseits von Gesten der Auflehnung um eine poetische Einstellung zum Unvermeidlichen bemüht scheint. Das rituelle Getrommel von ‚Fafagg‘ sagt wohl: Nach uns die Steinzeit. Bei ‚V-Time‘ ist das Getrommel industrial geworden, ein monoton rotierender Morlock-Beat auf vollen Touren, der bei ‚Illusions‘ schon wieder archaisch ausdünnt zum Toktoktok, neben dem einer zu versuchen scheint, aus Feuerstein Funken zu schlagen.
‚Perhaps...‘ lässt dann wie von einer Klangschale einen ‚singenden‘ Oberton dahin schweifen, bevor das 21-min. ‚Six Notes on a blank Tape‘ mit nachhallenden Dongs einsetzt und dunkles Gewummer - wie von einem Bombengeschwader? - die Luft erfüllt. Eine Geige
kratzt diskant und kaputt. So klingen die ersten Notizen. Weitere, ähnlich düstere, und ein Ritornell des Getrommels, aufs Äußerste alarmiert, folgen. Der Zahn der Zeit hat dem bisher nichts anhaben können. Und Schönheit liegt im Auge des Betrachters." [Bad Alchemy]
www.geocities.com/herbalrecords
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2008 |
€13.00 |
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Summer Rain (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
released in November 1993 in an edition of 200 copies, in hand-painted covers, different vinyl colours!
second ed. of 200 copies released July 1995 in white vinyl.
press information (first ed.):
"Dutch band BEE QUEEN is one of the most interesting so called "ambient"-groups that is currently active in the post-Industrial and Experimental scene. After their just released debut-CD "Der Holzweg" (on Anomalous Records/Staalplaat) and two great one-side/Split-LP's they present a rather 'rough' piece of pure metal-work on the A-side, which evokes lots of increasing tension and focusses your intention on the high-overtuned sounds. The two pieces on the B-side "Thunder Storm" and "Thunder Rain" are perfect examples of somehow noisy, but very sensible mind-pushing "ambient Industrial". Real Thunder for your sub-consciousness! LET THESE GREAT SOUNDS SPEAK TO YOU! FEEL THAT THIS IS MORE THAN JUST MUSIC!!"
|
1993 |
€ |
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Sturmwind and Gilbert |
7inch |
"The time has come: Beequeen’s final single “Sturmwind” is now available on Tonefloat records! With this single, surely our most ‘pop’ release ever, comes an end to nearly 30 years of Beequeen. What a beautiful and fun ride this has been, so much we have seen, heard and learned for which we have so many people to thank. Do things really end here? Who knows? As always, I keep working on new material. “Sometimes my arms bend back” – to the future…
Meanwhile, the “Escape” CD, featuring covers of the songs on “Asylum”, the 1985 album by The Legendary Pink Dots will be released soon. It features my solo version of “Golden Dawn” of which I’m actually quite proud😉
THE PRESS BIT: Achtung! Beequeen (Olga Wallis, Freek Kinkelaar and Frans de Waard) goes pop. But Beequeen being Beequeen, it is not pop as we know it. Sturmwind, as the title suggest, is sung in German and probably the first single in history to paraphrase German Dada artist Kurt Schwitters in the chorus of “Du, deiner, dich, dir” from his famous poem An Anna Blume. Couple this with an existentialist lyric about overwhelming all-consuming love at the end of the world and an uplifting melody and rhythm and you end up with the typical surreal-twist that was also present on Beequeen’s latest album “Around Midnight”. The other side of this single tells the story of Gilbert; who hungers for love, but fails to understand what the concept of ‘love’ actually is. Gilbert is set to an 80s shoegazing tune where desperation gets mixed-up with hope. And with this single the Beequeen bids us, after more than 30 years, goodbye. Sturmwind/Gilbert was written by Freek Kinkelaar and Beequeen, produced and mixed by Peter van Vliet (The Use Of Ashes) and mastered by Raymond Steeg. Sturmwind/Gilbert will be out on March 19 as a limited edition 7inch (300 copies) in a numbered sleeve designed by Carl Glover." [Freek Kinkelaar web & label info]
"Achtung! Beequeen goes Pop. Aber da Beequeen Beequeen ist, es dabei kein Pop wie man ihn kennt herausgekommen. Sturmwind ist, wie der Titel bereits suggeriert, Deutsch gesungen und wahrscheinlich die erste Single in der Geschichte die den deutschen Dadaismus Künstler Kurt Schwitters mit seinem berühmten Gedicht An Anna Blume im Chorus "Du, deiner, dich, dir" frei aufgreift. Verbinden Sie dies mit existentialistischen Texten von überschwänglicher, alles auffressender Liebe am Ende der Welt und einer aufbauenden Melodie und Rhythmus und man landet bei dem typisch surrealen Schwung, der auch auf Beequeens letztem Album "Around Midnight" präsent gewesen ist. Die andere Seite dieser Single erzählt die Geschichte von Gilbert; der nach Liebe hungert, aber nicht versteht was das aktuelle Konzept von Liebe ist. Gilbert ist an eine selbstverliebte 80s Melodie gebunden, bei der Verzweiflung und Hoffnung eng beieinander liegen. Und genau mit dieser Single sagen uns Beequeen, nach mehr als 30 Jahren, Goodbye. Sturmwind wurde von Peter van Vliet (The Use Of Ashes) gemischt und produziert." [label info]
www.tonefloat.com
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2016 |
€9.50 |
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| BEGG, MICHAEL |
Titan : A Crane is a Bridge |
CD |
TITAN - WINNER of the New Music Scotland 2018 Award for New Electroacoustic / Sound Art Work.
This original commission, for Cryptic Glasgow, premiered at the Sonica '17 Festival in Glasgow.
Begg’s extraordinary electronic sound installation... with huge, swelling harmonies, occasionally building to moments of ecstatic beauty... its slow-burn, cumulative effect is one of uncompromising power and inevitable decay, both a celebration of enduring strength and a memorial to its demise
The Scotsman
Begg’s installation is perhaps the standout at Glasgow’s Sonica… The wheelhouse becomes the humming dark heart of the crane as Begg’s electronic enfolding and eroding of the raw sonic materials sets a rich and taut piece in perpetual motion… turning the iconic structure into a gently haunted compound of wind and noise.
The Wire
With Michael Begg’s instrumentation, the Titan Crane feels like a living creature. One that tells us an important story.. if only we listen.
Ambient Blog
Michael Begg makes architecture sing like no one before him.
Stephen Fruitman, Igloo
https://omnempathy.bandcamp.com/album/titan-a-crane-is-a-bridge
"For TITAN: A Crane is a Bridge, sound artist Michael Begg enlists the gigantic, titular Titan crane of Clydebank in Scotland both as a performance space and as an instrument. In the windy, beefy lattice frames and oily joints of the towering device, Begg teases out all sorts of metallic resonances and ironclad drones. Over these, he layers his own gentle instrumental additions - to great effect. At times, it resembles ‘dark ambient’ music. Only actually good. A Sonica Festival 2017 commission, the work is available on CD through Omnempathy in a glossy Japanese digipak." [Norman Rec.]
"By now there is quite a bunch of Michael Begg releases, twelve it seems, under his own name and as Human Creed and also from the group he’s a member of, Fovea Hex. A busy man, but he also finds time to create audio-visual installations and one of those was in the wheelhouse on to the Clydebank Titan, as part of the 2017 Sonic-a festival. That was quadrophonic, reduced to stereo (obviously) for the CD release. The music is made from field recordings in the area, as well as Aeolian harps Begg build over the years. The wind around the wheelhouse playing those harps is also at the foundation of the music. All of this is very ambient and as such it may seem odd (or at least I thought so) that the eight pieces are not very long; from a mere one-and half minute to six, but around four is the most usual.
It’s good to see someone who believes less is more and not plays out his ideas too much and thus spreading it thin. In all of these pieces there is an endless amount of drone material, but of a lighter nature. Delicate and sparse, rather than full and dense. I had the impression that some of these pieces consisted of just a few sounds, rather than a multitude of sources. Begg’s music may be ambient and quiet, but it is not always very gentle, which is exactly how I love these things. He knows how to add a sharp edge to his sounds, almost as if he’s aware of the hole that he can fall into, the dangerous shady world of new age music. Begg stays safely away from that world with his ringing and singing overtones, like singing wine glasses and loops of obscured field recordings (in ‘It’s All Triangles’ for instance), topped with a fine spice of dark reverb and, as easy as that may sound, that’s all you need for great album by Michael Begg." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
|
A Moon that Lights Itself |
CD |
During the 1870s, Charles François Daubigny, in the last years of his life, took increasingly to painting nocturnal scenes en plain air from his boat studio, Le Bottin. This was a period in time when the idea of the musical nocturne had progressed from being an indication of what point during the evening a particular piece of music should be played, towards becoming an articulation of the unique atmosphere and emotion occasioned by moonlight.
Elsewhere in France, Edouard-Lean Scott de Martinville conceived and produced the phonautogragh. This device, appearing years before Edison’s phonograph, enabled sound, for the first time, to be captured. Unlike Edison, however, de Martinville neglected - or saw no need - to provide the means to playback the recording. Rather, a visual representation was captured on a lamp black cylinder.
It wasn’t until 2008 when researchers at Berkley University used digital technology to recover the audio. The recording, the first ever made, was of a human voice singing Au Clair De La Lune.
Written and produced by Michael Begg
Mixed and mastered at Captains Quarters, East Lothian
A Moon That Lights Itself was premiered at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh on September 16th 2016, with cello accompaniment from Clea Friend
The work was commissioned by National Galleries Scotland, in conjunction with the major exhibition, Inspiring Impressionism: Daubigny, Monet, Van Gogh, and was completed with the generous support of the Hope Scott Trust.
https://omnempathy.bandcamp.com/album/a-moon-that-lights-itself
REVIEW:
"A Moon That Lights Itself was commissioned by the Scottish National Galleries as part of the Inspiring Impressionism exhibition, focussing on the works of Charles François Daubigny, Claude Monet, and Vincent van Gogh. On September 16th 2016, Michael Begg (of Human Greed / Fovea Hex) performed the work, amidst the exhibition space, in the auspicious surroundings of the Royal Scottish Academy situated on the Mound in Edinburgh.
Drawing on the works of French landscape artist Charles François Daubigny, Begg's commission was described as a "work for electronics, strings and moonlight". I must confess that of the three artists featured in the exhibition I wasn't at all familiar with Daubigny. Consider Begg's work with Human Greed where their first release Consolation featured a moonface in Deryk Thomas's artwork on the cover; Black Hill: Midnight At The Blighted Star, the title of a later album which included 'Dalkeith Night' speaks for itself; and even Dirt On Earth featured a blackened nightscape on the cover it's perhaps particularly apt that Begg focusses on Daubigny's later work and specifically the twilight and nocturnal scenes of his later years, from which he painted while ensconced on a studio boat on the Oise. A Moon That Lights Itself is set in the context of mid to late 19th century France, and the cusp of impressionism, modernism, together with the earliest known sound recordings by Edouard-Lean Scott de Martinville and his phonautograph invention.
A Moon That Lights Itself moves from dusk to dawn in the course of its 9 tracks. From tranquil drones overlaid with tumbling piano notes and solemn cello movements the opening track 'Le Crepuscule' moves into drifting drones before 'Moonrise' which like many of the tracks on A Moon That Lights Itself blends location recordings into the compositions. Here water in the form of lapping waves and crashing waves, bird chatter and the quack of ducks - ducks were a recurring motif within Daubigny's impressionist landscapes - are found amidst passages of glistening drone and moments of sombre piano and cello swell. Still and serene, glinting flourishes merge with stirring movements, its lapping waves resembling the tidal pull, and backward spinning electronics. 'Moonlight' bathes in the glow of light glistening sound textures set against deep reverberating rumbles and piercing glassy shrieks. Bells ring out before it moves into quieter echoed atmospherics.
Daubigny often painted from his floating studio on a boat on the River Oise, and 'Le Bottin' aptly illustrates this with watery ripples dappled with tender piano notes and broader sound shudders, flowing into an end section comprising elegiac strings and melancholic synths.
With its rippling metallic sounds, harsher noise elements and sluggish voice recordings 'The Birth Of Modernism' is much more abstract in composition. Those voices, taken from the 1860 phonautograms of Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville, like modernism are almost blown in on a wind like drone. Scott de Martinville's recordings, sensitively mixed as another layer of sound here, were never intended for playback but recent research managed to transform these into playable sound files, discovering a male voice, probably of Scott de Martinville, singing a partial segment of the French folk song 'Au clair de la lune', which fits nicely here as in English it translates to 'In the Moonlight'. Elsewhere on 'The Birth Of Modernism' voices and bird calls are rendered as electronic squiggles, reflecting the movement away from realism to abstraction, perhaps.
Begg returns to his palette of location sounds on 'Daubigny's Reverie' where lapping water and duck quack augment the shimmering sound spans. The drone filled atmospherics create a sense of melancholy; a captivating dreamspace only broken by the call and sing of birds in flight. Those flying birds could be seen as sound metaphor for the transition from Daubigny's impressionism to a new world of abstract representations, something furthered on 'Between Two Movements' which unfurls to a two pronged approach where undulating drones and glassy shrill frequencies are cast against evocative classical strings. It could even be electronics, Begg has an uncanny ability to sidestep the listener with his use of instrumentation that sound like something else.
'A Last Dance Under The Moon' moves to doleful cello sweeps and forlorn nocturnal electronics, achieving a graceful and mournful presence, largely due to the Clea Friend's cello score. A Moon That Lights Itself closes with the arrival of 'Dawn', a classy ensemble piece of piano score and cello, contrasting sombre cello movements with more optimistic and joyful piano notes, and as the sounds coalesce it seems to herald the new whilst paying homage to the past.
Begg referred to this in a blog for his performance at the Royal Scottish Academy as being a "pochade", a sketch, "for Daubigny, for the moon, and for an extraordinary time in the development of European culture, when our sense of capturing the world around us and within us took extraordinarily bold, though markedly sensitive, steps forward." Recorded immediately after the performance, Begg once again proves himself to be a superlative composer, with a suite of evocative atmospherics using electronics, classical strings and location recordings to evoke the nocturnal workings of Daubigny. A Moon That Lights Itself is bathed in a liminal essence; a quality that defines all his work. From the Human Greed releases Black Hill: Midnight At The Blighted Star, Fortress Longing, World Fair to the Fragile Pitches collaboration with Colin Potter, Michael Begg has been behind a number of great releases. A Moon That Lights Itself now sits alongside those titles as one of his finest solo offerings in a release that is sombre, inventive and utterly captivating." [Compulsion Online] |
2016 |
€13.00 |
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Sonambulo |
CD |
Shipping November 4th 2019
Sonambulo by Michael Begg
OMCD12
Ltd (150) CD edition
Sonambulo documents the work and performance completed during a residency at the Centro Mexicano para la Musica y las Artes Sonoras in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico during November and December 2018: Sonambulo: un bebedero para pájaros compuesto por dientes para la novia del viento. (Sleepwalker: A birdbath made of teeth for the Bride of the Wind)
The residency was developed as part of Seeing Hearing UK Mexico, a three-year collaboration between the UK and Mexico made possible with the support of Anglo Arts the cultural department of The Anglo Mexican Foundation A.C; British Council Mexico, CMMAS and Cryptic.
Sonambulo’s central subject is Leonora Carrington, the British painter closely aligned to the Surrealist movement who settled in Mexico soon after the Second World War. There, Carrington’s alchemical, visionary work made her a household name. The people of Mexico accorded her a degree of admiration and respect only now starting to be echoed in her native Britain.
Michael Begg “Through meditation, and surrealist techniques including free-association, automatic writing, juxtaposition and pursuing the logic of dreams, I endeavoured to place myself at the alchemical table of Leonora, surrounded by moths, and steam, whilst impossible beasts, hags, witches, sooth-sayers, mutated archetypes and psychic golems ebb and flow through walls and shadows.“
https://omnempathy.com
"Late last year saw Michael Begg, UK's ambient composer in a residency project at the Centro Mexicano para la Musica y las Artes Sonoras in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. His work is about "Leonora Carrington, the British painter closely aligned to the Surrealist movement who settled in Mexico soon after the Second World War. There, Carrington’s alchemical, visionary work made her a household name. The people of Mexico accorded her a degree of admiration and respect only now starting to be echoed in her native Britain", about whom I had not heard before, and I had to Google her work. It is some strong work indeed and Begg creates music that is perhaps not as full of strange images, beasts and witches, but it does capture a weird atmosphere that works quite well with Carrington's paintings. It is, so I think, not a one on one translation of the paintings, or a soundtrack to that, but rather an interpretation of the atmospheres captures in the paintings. It is about darkness, spooky surroundings, nocturnal wanderings in dark places. I think. Begg's music is spacious, synthesizer like (did he bring a bunch to Mexico; Did they have some
over there? Or is it all laptop-based?), expansive and with a fine touch of experimentalism. His trademark sound of water glass sounds, higher-pitched frequencies appear here again. When he uses 'other' sounds they are voices from a mass in a church (such as in 'Morelia Cathedral'), obscured field recordings, such as the percussive sounds of 'Plain Chant', along with what seems screen wipers. It is the addition of these sounds that add that surrealist touch to the already haunting music. It is then in a place I like Begg at his best; it's ambient, it is spooky and it is narrative. It is a combination of many things I like in music and Begg does a great job here, and that's what we are used from him. This CD is limited to 150 copies, so be quick." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2019 |
€13.00 |
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Vanitas |
CD |
VANITAS is another semi-conscious descent into the liminal territories between contemporary composition and electronic erosion. I am still consumed by landscape, by memory, by *that* sense of longing. And I still cannot stop staring at the moon.
For this release, I played many more acoustic instruments than is usual for me. Piano, guitars and bass mostly – but also a series of virtual instruments that I built for the recording; sampled wood burning stove, tuned martini glasses, e-bow autoharp, stolen French music box, loose piano string droner, and a blow torch treatment of glass sheets. I also took my first leap into sonification resulting in the opening track; Invocation, in which I programmed NASA information about a particular lunar eclipse early in the 16th century, which I mapped onto a series of 6 solfeggio frequencies. I don’t necessarily subscribe to the mystical qualities accorded to these frequencies – but there is something undeniably affecting about them. The track clears the deck s very effectively for the remainder of the recording, I think.
Hopefully these exploratory excursions don’t detract too much from what should be an immersive listening experience.
VANITAS will be available from May 6th on the usual digital download and streaming sites. But there is also a very limited CD run comprising 150 copies. As with previous releases, this comes in a hi-gloss, Japanese Artboard digipak. It also features a Deryk Thomas painting on the back cover which may surprise you!
~
How I wrote up Vanitas at the end of the last session.
Midnight. Orchestras are tuning up in the verges of the hollow ways. I have built my own instruments from wood, antique metals and computers. I read a book about the harmonic consonance between planets – but the planets are all out of kilter. I see through holes in the past that manifest as chasms in the sky.
I am so sad. I am so angry. This is my only voice. These are my only tools. I sit still. Very still. I jump in time, but I always land in the night. The beautiful night. God, I cannot tell you how much I miss the night.
Yes, i meditate. It seems very obvious to me that these pieces come from that space, that place – but it doesn’t warrant any closer examination than that. Just, please, allow the seconds to decouple themselves from the minutes. Watch the hours drift up to that hole in the night sky.
This recording is a monument to a certain kind of laudable failure. It is what happens when someone with no gift for programming writes scripts in Python and Max in order to consume data and make the moon and the tide sing. It’s what happens when someone with cheap tools and the ghost of a sound to realise gets out of his studio and into the workshop to make doomed instruments from all the junk in the village. It’s what happens when a man with no formal musical education takes it upon himself to score and orchestrate an ensemble. It’s where ‘I can’t do this’ meets ‘I must do this’.
This is not creating something of worth from silence, this is more like recovering something once lost from the midst of a solid block of shapeless sound.
The work is done. The coding is spaghetti. The instruments are broken; warped and ragged. Still, the moon sings in my ear. The machines in the studio haven’t been updated in over three hours so are obsolete. Yet Clea’s cello, formed in the year of Mozart’s birth, spins a silver thread in space and time.
And so, another midnight. Wife and children sleeping. Another illustrated ruin in my hands. And under what skies? Out into the night. Close the coop, and put away the hens water. Look up. There is one word you need to find. And if you whisper the right word, it will carry beyond the dimmest star.
Now, back to bed, little pilgrim."
https://omnempathy.bandcamp.com/album/vanitas
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2019 |
€13.00 |
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| BEGG, MICHAEL / HUMAN GREED |
Let the cold Stove sing |
CD |
"These recordings comprise work conceived for theatre, gallery and installation contexts. They are concerned with defined and definite spaces, places and absences. These places arise both from nature and through construction. In turn, the construction may be natural or virtual.
They are informed by the great divorce of music and context occasioned by the birth of recording, and by the 20 year fermata occurring after the invention of recording and before the discovery of the means of affecting playback. This was, by definition, the period where we began to conceive of the need to listen repeatedly, in the way an archaeologist brushes repeatedly at the desert, for clues, details, and, possibly, reason." [label info]
www.omnempathy.com
"East Lothian based composer Michael Begg has quietly but steadfastly released (in this listener's humble opinion) some of the finest and most affecting albums of the last decade, such as 2008's dark and yearning 'Black Hill: Midnight At The Blighted Star', 2011's melancholic masterpiece 'Fortress Longing' and 2014's career best 'World Fair'. Along the way many noted and esteemed collaborators have added their voice or presence to proceedings such as Julia Kent (Antony And The Johnsons), David Tibet (Current 93), Chris Connelly (Ministry) and Clodagh Simonds (Mellow Candle, Fovea Hex). Working in the realm of drones, electronica and modern experimental composition to create vast, atmospheric and hugely evocative pieces of sound and melody, Begg has little in the way of contemporaries although aficionados of the windswept work of Richard Skelton, 'On Land'-era Eno, the dark soundscapes of Andrew Lilies and the classic recordings of Reich, Glass and Popol Vuh will find much to fall in love with here. Referencing both, according to Begg, 'gallery, theatre and installation works, as well as my preoccupation with defining space, place and time with sound' this is an essential and crucial work that needs to be heard and experienced.
The album begins with 'Hopetoun Tower Before The Harvest', named after a forbidding and lonely construction that stands defiantly on a hill near Begg's Captain's Quarters recording studio. As befits its namesake, the track rumbles with exposure to some building and growing winds as snakelike electronics creep and wisp into view. A beautiful and tentative string section enters, trembling emotively as bowed strings and bowls resonate. It feels sacred, like a storm has suddenly and dramatically silenced leaving a hushed and perceptible sense of being in the universe. The title track follows, piano and droned strings echoing out into darkness, both tangibly lonely and filled with a gorgeous sadness. There is something deeply existential about this work, one feels small in the face of the space and sounds that evoke the surrounding skies and landscape. 'The Children Will Wet The Academy Floor' adds some truly lovely chamber strings that reverberate and haunt, a spectral symphony of lamentation and grief whilst 'Paris is Closing' is a field recording of chatter and metro sounds that are pleasingly though disturbingly disorientating. Next, 'Pendrachin Wood: Pollen And Frost' is a frozen and glacial layered piece of orchestral electronica, reminiscent of Bowie's Berlin experiments; this literally lifts the hairs of one's arms and neck as it swells and recedes with visions of snow covered pines in the darkening Scottish winter afternoons. Human Greed are no simple drone or electronic act; these are carefully wrought and constructed compositions that evoke and emote in an almost avant classical sense. They are almost unique in working in this field and are creating pieces of heartbreaking genius that this listener implores you to discover and fall in love with; it is criminal that Begg is not more revered outside of the underground as the pioneer and composer that he is.
'Francis Bacon; A Room' is as complex and unsettling as the British artist himself, a corrosive drone and buzz hovering over the mutter of voices whist a sister song 'Louise Bourgeois: A Cell' allows chimes and electronic hums to flutter and slither malevolently throughout. 'Leisure In F' glides majestically into being, epic and choral strings ebbing and flowing until ominous notes and birdsong float into focus; reminiscent of charcoal skies passing by overhead with the threat of snowfall as nature and animal life reacts accordingly this is an incredibly moving and transportive piece. 'Made And Unmade In Europe' rasps and buzzes as a bird's lonesome call cries out against the imperious landscape, an unforgiving wind suddenly giving way to a soprano song and weeping strings in a genuinely breathtaking moment. 'Cunny For Thine Mountain Penne' almost silently emerges on delicate notes and drone sounds, distant percussion and mournful brass reminding this listener of Gorecki's 'Sorrowful Songs'. Stately, graceful and melancholic this regal and funereal piece stays with the listener long after the album has finished playing. Next, 'Intermission For Blisters And Russian Weddings' is driven along on wary and eerie violin bursts, a solar echo resonating and unfurling slowly and perceptibly whilst gentle bass notes hold anchor. This is music to play when the sky is huge, dark and forbidding, to watch the stars blink on and off with cosmic indifference to us watching.
'Studies In Space And Density' is equally massive in scale and suggestion; a cold, sad throb through the universe that becomes increasingly distorted and growling before returning to an icy, repeating refrain of solar wind. A sudden warmth enters with 'Let The Cold Stove Sing Within Reason' as a bass throb and beautiful melody grows and layers over a distant electronic howl and circling strings. Hugely affecting, there is an integral human component at the heart of everything Human Greed or Begg does, this is music about the human condition, about what it is to be in this casually cruel and beautiful universe. 'Whiteadder Water After The Harvest' brings us full circle and close the album with the burble of streams and rivers, metallic and windswept notes sweeping overhead.
I cannot recommend this album highly enough. There is more detail, more arresting and heart-rending moments, more creativity on this album than there is in some other artist's entire oeuvres. One for those lonely, late night listens or for accompaniment of solitary walks and dérives, 'Let The Cold Stove Sing' is a heartbreakingly beautiful and important album, perhaps quite easily already my album of the year. The cold stove is singing, now one must listen." [Grey Malkin/The Active Listener blogspot]
active-listener.blogspot.de/2016/06/michael-begg-human-greed-let-cold-stove.html
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2016 |
€13.00 |
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| BEHRENS, MARC |
Animistic (for Donatella) |
CD |
Two new pieces with processed field recordings, very dense and subtle and quiet... comes with 6 nice full-colour postcards and very personal notes from M. BEHRENS. In DVD-Box.
www.aufwegen.de
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2004 |
€15.00 |
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Architectural Commentaries |
CD |
Architektonischer Noise? Aurale Geometrie? MARC BEHRENS versieht sein Cover mit Fotos von dreidimensionalen Gebilden & Gebäuden und scheint auch soundmäßig neuartige Räume ausloten zu wollen. Hermetischer Minimal-Ambient zwischen Geräusch, Drone und dem Nichts, veröffentlicht auf dem inzwischen von 20CITY in CMR unbenannten ESO STEEL – Label aus Neuseeland. Etwas für spitze Ohren.
“ German composer and sound artist Marc Behrens has put forth a beautiful installment of sound work for CMR's second CD release, entitled Architectural Commentaries. Marc has been working with sound (in one form or another) since 1986 and is probably most recognised for his digitally re-worked field material and composition. With a long history of installation work and live performance, he has exhibited alone and in group exhibitions; and performed live internationally in locations such as Japan, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, and the UK. He has completed tours with fellow sound artists Francisco Lopez, Bernhard Gunter and John Duncan and has had notable CD releases on Gunter's label Trente Oiseaux (Germany), Digital Narcis (Japan), Raster Music (Germany) and Intransitive Recordings (USA).
Architectural Commentaries is comprised of five tracks. The first three pieces, entitled 'Architectural Commentaries 1-3', are some of Marc's most recent compositions arranged in 2001 using basic material recorded from 1990-2000 in various global locations. Taking title, sleeve images and sound together we are left with new audible environments for architectural structures; jets of forced air and amplified nothing, distant machinery and tiny bites of frequency, faded and cut together to create beautifully atmospheric soundscapes. Track 4 was previously released on RLW's 'Tulpas' 5 CD set (Selektion 024) and was constructed using source material from Ralf Wehowsky. Track 5 was composed in 1992 as a soundtrack to accompany the video Der Raum by Torsten Grosch - stills of which feature on the CD sleeve. The album permits a smooth flow between Marc's earlier and more recent work and shows the artists' continuing exploration into the depth and dimensions of sound recording.” [press release]
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2002 |
€12.00 |
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Architectural Commentaries 4 & 5 |
CD |
“An Architectural Commentary is a form of ‘reviewing’ architecture in which functional, symbolic and aesthetic aspects of a building or
a bigger architectural structure are analysed. Inspiration for this cycle of compositions is drawn from architectural criticism, structures,
buildings, involuntary cityscapes ‘architecture without architects’)and technological noise within buildings.
One special recording session took place at Resonance FM, the London-based radio station, in June 2004. Patrick McGinley of Resonance FM
and I recorded the studio equipment itself, the drive noises, ventilation, vibrations in the machines, the studio’s air conditioning, doors…
This particular array of sound forms the sole and exclusive basic material for Architectural Commentary 5: Some Models for Resonant Behaviour
and links the cycle to earlier music pieces I constructed with sounds from computer labs. This part was commissioned by Resonance FM.
In Architectural Commentaries I composed some structures (mainly in parts 4 and 5) loosely based on Luigi Nono’s idea of ‘isole musicali’.
This means that encyclopaedic variations of themes are generated and often highlighted by silent breaks, like islands, between the individual parts, all different in form and size, but topologically similar.”
Frankfurt-based Behrens is presently best described as a ‘sound artist’, working across performance, installation and audio-visual recorded media. He also creates photographic works, designs record sleeves, and has even produced a bottle of white wine...
First edition of 300 copies." [label notes]
"There are sounds like stone on stone, for example, large stones. To the extent they offer images of cityscapes, they do so in a de Chirico sense, one of empty concrete canyons and long shadows. There’s a brief bustle or two, a sudden flurry of traffic, but then it’s back to the urban desolation. A short track separates the two main pieces; though it’s entirely of a piece with them, its concision serves to orient the listener with regard to the others. The first half of Commentary 5 is even emptier than its predecessor, a place of drips, vague, distant echoes of machinery, the occasional low thrum of some subterranean engine. Midway through, an eerie, silvery drone emerges accompanied by quasi-musical pings, backwards tape swatches and gurgles. It’s kind of like coming upon a barely functioning outpost in the ruins. It dissipates after a few minutes, bringing us back into the ozone-tinged vacuum. Behrens has created some evocative work, very effective and accomplished of its kind." [Brian Olewnick / Bagatellen]
www.entracte.co.uk
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2007 |
€13.00 |
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20 Zonen |
CD |
"Produced in 2010 for a radio broadcast on Germany's hr2-kultur radio, "20 Zonen" (20 Zones) is Marc Behrens' homage to Darmstadt, Germany, his hometown, and in particular the city's Kranichstein district, where he grew up and learned to listen. Behrens made recordings in such locations like an equestrian club, a heavy ion research unit, a railway museum, and of trains and airplanes noisily cutting through the supposed serenity of the industrially planted forests around Darmstadt. From time to time the subjective microphone goes underwater and dips into the area's various ponds, among them the world famous Messel Pit Fossil site, which used to be a rainforest millions of years ago, not unlike the Amazon still is today. The intricately edited material is arranged into zones that "form themselves into cells, into blocks, into a topophonic cross vein" (Stefan Fricke, hr2-Kultur), set in a grey area between musique concrète and phonography." [label info]
www.aufabwegen.com
"Having played on six continents, recording fields in China and the Amazon rainforest, Marc Behrens keeps things close to home on his '20 Zonen' release. By invitation of Germany's hr2-kultur radio show he pays homage here to the city where he was born, Darmstadt (in Germany obviously) and especially in the area called Kranichstein. The forty minute work is divided in twenty zones (hence the title), not equally but what is needed. These zones are put behind one and other with small cross fades and as one piece on this CD. The cover lists, luckily, every single bit which is nice. So we have anything from a brass band to churches, parks, a local pond, aircraft noise, train announcements, which may seem like this is a demonstration record by the local tourist office, but the recording, selection and chronology of these sounds, can stand very well as an electro-acoustic composition - if perhaps somewhat loosely organized at times and a bit sparse. If you don't know Darmstadt, just as I
don't, this will perhaps a very much the audio portrait of any civilized city with perhaps not a lot of human activity, but it sounds great with lots of detail. Behrens must have some fine microphones at his disposal." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
"Im Rahmen der Sendereihe 'Hessen hören' des Hessischen Rundfunks audiografierte MARC BEHRENS Darmstadt, insbesondere den Ortsteil
Kranichstein, mit Abstechern in die Umgebung - zur Grube Messel und zur Grube Prinz von Hessen. Insgesamt 20 Zonen (aatp35) sind als akustische Mosaiksteine zusammengefügt. Einen besonderer Reiz liefert die Eisenbahn mit dem Verschiebebahnhof und dem Eisenbahnmuseum in Kranichstein. Neben dem Stichwort Verkehr, das auch im Sausen der Straßenbahn und im Fluglärm der Einflugschneise des Frankfurter Flughafens widerhallt, spielt die Wissenschaft mit, nämlich mit dem GSI Helmholtzzentrum für
Schwerionenforschung in Wixhausen und der TU Lichtwiese. Die beiden Gruben sind verwandt durch die Entstehung im Eozän vor rund 47 Millionen Jahren, wobei Messel als Fossilienfundstätte Hessens Vergangenheit als
Dschungel festhält, während die Prinz von Hessen ein Relikt des Industriezeitalters
ist. Zur Erholung geht man an den Bürgerparkteich, den Backhausteich, den Steinbrückerteich, in den Park Rosenhöhe mit der Kirche St. Ludwig oder in den Herrngarten des Prinz-Heinrich-Palais; pferdesportlich
wird es auf dem Gelände des Darmstädter Reitervereins. Behrens zieht da wieder geschickt eine Zeitachse ein, wenn er über der 1 PS-Mobilität, deren Zeitebene auch das Bläserkorps der Kreisjägervereinigung Böblingen
evoziert, die Düsenmaschinen von Heute hinweg ziehen lässt. Dazwischen schnaufen noch einmal die Dampfventile alter Lokomotiven. Oder sind das Urwaldtiere von Einst? Die Frösche jedenfalls, die quaken hier schon ne ganze Weile. Lebensraum wird ganz intensiv als Spannungsfeld von Natur und Kultur in Raum und Zeit begreifbar." [Bad Alchemy]
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2011 |
€12.00 |
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| BEHRENS, MARC + FRANCISCO LOPEZ |
A szellem alma |
do-CD |
" “a szellem álma” (”the dream of a ghost”) is a collaboration between sound artists Marc Behrens and Francisco López, which started three years ago with a joint recording session at Frankfurt airport. Sharing a common pool of mutated sound materials, they have created two parallel sonic worlds inhabited by obscurity, complexity, and resilience. Two long journeys across purely sonic geographies. Crisp, dense, delicate, and full of intricate spaces. Like the dreams of a ghost." [label info] |
2004 |
€20.00 |
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| BEINS, BURKHARD / DIRK MARWEDEL / MICHAEL VORFELD |
Misiiki |
CD |
Michael Vorfeld
Plays percussion and self designed stringed instruments and works as musician and visual artist based in Berlin, Germany. He works in the field of improvised, experimental music and sound art and is often involved in site-specific art projects. Besides his solo activities he is a member of various ensembles and collaborates with artists from different art forms. His visual work concentrates mainly on the use of light, and he realizes light installations and sound and light performances. His list of activities includes numerous concerts, performances and exhibitions in Europe, the USA and South East Asia.
Dirk Marwedel
Since 1985 improvised music, related musical concepts and interdisciplinary projects with dance, theatre, sculpture, painting, film, performance, soundinstallation; in several groups as well as a soloist developing technics of soundshaping and preparations which are extending the sonic spectrum of the saxophone far beyond the traditional sound of the instrument. Concerts in Europe and Canada. Lives in Wiesbaden, where he is a founding member and organiser of the HumaNoise congress. He is a group member of WIE?!, Salpinx, Ensemble 2INCQ, Xtrax, DOMINO Orchestra and a duo with Charlotte Hug.
Burkhard Beins
Plays percussion. Since the late 1980's international festivals, concerts and tours with experimental music throughout Europe und North America. He is a member of several ensembles like Perlonex, Activity Center, Polwechsel, The Sealed Knot, Phosphor and also works with Keith Rowe, Sven-Åke Johansson, John Bisset, Orm Finnendahl, Phil Minton, John Tilbury and many others. More than 25 CDs and LPs, released on labels like 2:13 Music, Zarek, Erstwhile, Hat Hut, Potlatch, Confront and Rossbin
www.burkhardbeins.de/groups/misiiki.html |
2003 |
€6.00 |
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| BEKAERT, JACQUES |
Jacques Bekaert |
LP |
Originally released in 1981 on the Belgian Igloo label this reissue comes with the same sleeve as originally designed by Alain Géronnez. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"A Late Lunch\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" is the soundtrack to Akiko Iimura\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s eponymous movie realized in 1978. It is based on acoustic instruments and field recordings, brilliantly reconfigured and mixed by Bekaert to create a surreal, immersive soundscape. The technique used includes superposition and speed change of recordings, radical sound effects, and juxtaposition of sounds. The players were prominent musicians of the 1970s, including Maggi Payne, George Lewis, David Rosenboom, and Blue Gene Tyranny. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"A Summer Day at Stony Point\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" was composed in 1969, with participation of David Behrman, Shigeko Kubota, and Charlotte Warren. The piece was commissioned by English composer Hugh Davies who presented it at the Harrogate festival the same year. Stony Point is a small village in New York State where John Cage co-owned a small pseudo-commune art resort where like-minded artists gathered. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"A Summer Day at Stony Point\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" is nothing more than a page of a journal, a fragment of a notebook that utilizes a series of sound sources recorded at Stony Point on one beautiful day in the summer of 1968. Other electronic sound sources were recorded at the Brandeis University where Alvin Lucier was professor. The final realization of the piece was done at Henri Pousseur\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s APELAC Studio in Brussels, 1969. The soundtrack for Akiko Iimura\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Mon Petit Album was composed on the basis of a simple description of the technique of the film and its time span. It includes David Behrman on alto, from an outdoor recording at Stony Point, plus excerpts from a Transition concert in London, the band Bekaert formed in 1971 with Michel Herr, Takehisa Kosugi, and Ryo Koike, both members of the Taj Mahal Travelers. The atmosphere is quiet and pastoral throughout with a very dreamlike flavor. Edition of 500.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"... Gentle threads of instrumental and electronic sounds are mixed with outdoor rural field recordings and occasional voices of his friends speaking, whistling or singing. Bekaert creates a warm environment within which we can hear subtle individual voices of good musicians who are relating to his loosely-notated scores and verbal instructions...\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" --David Behrman
https://metaphon2.bandcamp.com/album/jacques-bekaert
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"In a truly great moment for reissues, Metaphon delivers one of the best of the year: the first ever vinyl reissue of Jacques Bekaert\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s monumental self-titled LP for Igloo from 1981. An unprecedented window into a singular creative mind, including contributions by Takehisa Kosugi, David Behrman, David Rosenboom, Maggi Payne, Georges Lewis, and numerous others, it\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s a masterstroke of electroacoustic composition that achieved nothing short of holy grail status for collectors over the years, which manages to entirely recalibrate the listener\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mind.
Working at a slow, meticulous pace, for a decade and half, Metaphon - the Brussels based imprint run by Timo Van Luijk - has continuously illuminated fascinating trajectories within a number of historically neglected contexts of electronic music and sound art. Primary focused on work produced in Belgium - with their own criteria of personal taste guiding them well - they’ve produced an incredibly important body of albums that endeavour to respect and supports the music and those who make it. In the midst of an incredible run - having recently released important works by Jan Bruyndonckx, Johannes Fritsch, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Michael Ranta, and Takehisa Kosugi’s - they’re back with the first ever vinyl reissue of Jacques Bekaert’s astounding self-titled LP, originally issued by the seminal Igloo imprint in 1981.
A long-standing holy grail for countless experimental music fans, its two sides gather three astounding compositions, created in collaboration with some of the most important voices in 20th Century sound: Takehisa Kosugi, David Behrman, David Rosenboom, Maggi Payne, Georges Lewis, and numerous others. Absolutely incredible and not to be missed. A truly legendary album - issued in a very limited edition of 500 copies on vinyl - has finally returned to our hands.
[By Bradford Bailey, 16 December 2022]
|
2022 |
€24.00 |
|
| BELFI, ANDREA & MACHINEFABRIEK |
Pulses & Places |
CD |
"Manche Releases enthalten neben der auralen Qualität auch etwas hübsch haptisches, etwas aus der guten :zoviet-france:-Zeit: ein gediegenes Cover zum fühlen, riechen oder auch mal etwas verquer-komisches mit Kunst- bzw. Antikunstcharakter. BromBron ist das Sublabel von Frans De Waard’s Korm Plastics, eine Serie feiner klanglicher Kostbarkeiten in zwei Sorten Karton eingeschlagen, mit Papierfahne zum Herausziehen und dem Gefühl einer kleinen gezähmten Origamisensation. Machinefabriek und Belfi kommen hier über die bizarre Haptik des Releases hinaus, passend zum geprägten Cover in Form einer alten Landkarte gibt es schnarrige Mikrophonien einsamer Studioklänge, der Stuhl vorm Mischpult darf knarzen und sein kleckeriges Scherflein zum Klang dazugeben, während Belfi Messingschüsseln schrubbt und Zuydervelt alias Machinefabriek seine fein austarierten Klangbeigaben dazurührt. Die vier Titel überspannen sämtliche Zustände im Studio, von gelöster Mikroakribie bis hin zu glacialen Droneschichten, welche so luftig leicht erscheinen, dass es einen fast selbst aus dem Ohrensessel erhebt. Dabei gehen beide Künstler vorsichtig genug um, um dieses lockere Klangsoufflee nicht platzen zu lassen. »Pulses & Places«, Puls und Platz, all das ist ein wahrer Klangbogen voller Kuriositäten, dem Ach!-Gefühl wenn ein wohlvertrauter elektroakustischer Regen aus den Boxen quillt und einem das Gefühl gibt, einfach noch nicht alles gehört zu haben. So muss Musik klingen, die zum Erscheinen der abgedruckten Coverlandkarte noch nicht existiert hat." [Thorsten Soltau, AEMAG]
"Korm Plastics is proud to present the ninth release in the Brombron series. Originally a co-production between Staalplaat and Extrapool, it is now hosted by co-curator Frans de Waard. In the year 2000 Frans de Waard and Extrapool started the Brombron project. Two or more musicians become artists in residence in Extrapool, an arts initiative in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, with a fully equipped sound recording studio. These artists can work in a certain amount of time on a collaborative project; a project they always wished to do, but didn't have the time or the equipment to realize.
Andrea Belfi (born 1979) is an Italian electro-acoustic musician and composer. He began playing drums at the age of 14, and studied art in Milan, before becoming involved in experimental music in 2000. Belfi is also a member of electronic outfit Medves. In 2002 Belfi began a project titled Between Neck & Stomach, in which he attempted to turn a whole house into a musical instrument, by using sound vibrations to shake various items, such as pots, plates, and cupboards. This project resulted in a CD of the same name, released on the Häpna label in 2006.
Rutger Zuydervelt, better known as Machinefabriek, lives in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Started as Machinefabriek in 2004, he released 40+ small run home-made cdr's as well as work for Type Records, Lampse, Digitalis, Staalplaat (Mort Aux Vaches) and now 12K. A double remix cd was released in 2007, with interpetations by Alva Noto, Pita, Mitchell Akiyama, Xela, Gert-Jan Prins and many more. Collaborations (live or recording) include Steinbrüchel, Jasper TX, Wouter van Veldhoven, Simon Nabatov, Frans de Waard, Aaron Martin and Peter Broderick.
A striking collaboration took place between Belfi on drums and assorted small percussion and Zuydervelt on guitar and organ. Together they produce the 'pulses' and 'places' mentioned in the title. Organic yet partially improvised, it resembles a kind of sonic geography. The listener is taken away for a journey of mild drones, soft yet outspoken percussion. A strong release. Design by Gerco Hiddink" [label info]
www.kormplastics.nl
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| BENEATH THE LAKE |
Silent Uprising |
CD |
Zweites Album vom Projekt um NICOLAS LAMPERT, der eine Hälfte der Monumental-Noise-Droner von NOISEGATE war! Ausgefeilter dark ambient mit
vielen Details und melancholischen Passagen...
“A truly stunning follow up to their debut 2002 "Inside Passage" offering! "Silent Uprising" features five flowing & meditative compositions clocking in at 70+ minutes. A demanding engagement from drifting drone composers Nicolas Lampert & Dave Canterbury. An alchemical mixture of lulling musical melodies & dense cinematic environments. BENEATH THE LAKE embrace a forlorn melancholia of haunting, whispering memories & organic soundscapes. A beautiful album with a distant hope, forged through nature's sadness...
“....Beneath The Lake is a project based on creating soundscapes combining minimal ambient music and found sounds, with an emphasis on composing the music to compliment the sounds instead of just using the sounds as a backdrop. Where their first record focused more on nature, Silent Uprising shifts the focus a bit more toward the increasing influence of the urban landscape as cities continue to encroach on nature and change the balance forever. The record begins with the clatter of trains rushing past, the receding sound of the train is soon joined by a simple strident guitar riff, accompanied by a mournful wooden recorder. The two drift and shift and slowly build in intensity. Very reminiscent of Neurosis at their most mellow, surprisingly enough. The riff shifts and twists, shadowed by the recorders melodies eventually being joined by the sound of another train and eventually being drowned out by the roar of the wheels on the tracks. The second track is a simple, gorgeously melancholy guitar melody, slowly and deliberately picked, over a bed of crackly static that could be either the sound of rain falling or the crackle of a fire, or both. The sound on Silent Uprising is much more musical than on Inside The Passage with the drone being relegated to just one of many instruments / approaches as opposed to the very dark and slow shifting all encompassing drone of the earlier record. Here, it's -that- guitar, all dark and shimmering and reverberant, and the brooding slow building melodies that creep across the sonic landscape. It sometimes almost sounds like the slow core of Low being performed in a steel mill or a rail yard, the band struggling to be heard over the sound of rain and wind and trains and passing cars. Strangely powerful and poignant. Packaged in a gorgeous oversized sleeve with breathtaking images of winter foliage and urban landscapes, printed in all muted browns and tans. So lovely.“ [Aquarius]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| BEREZAN, DAVID |
La face cachee |
DVD-A |
"DAVID BEREZAN (*1967, Edmonton, Canada) holte sich, wie viele seiner Labelgenossen, den letzten Elektroakustikerschliff bei Jonty Harrison an der Univ. Birmingham und lehrt inzwischen selbst an der Univ. Manchester. La face cachée (IMED 0896) ist sein Debut und
präsentiert 5 Stücke, die jeweils einen konkreten Anstoß, zugleich Klangquelle, nach einer ‚verborgenen Seite‘ hin erweitern. ‚Cyclo‘ (2003) kommt vom eigenen Geradel zu einer Symbolik des Kreislaufs. ‚Baoding‘ (2002) assoziiert ‚Handschmeichler‘-Kugeln mit Peking- und Kun-Oper. ‚Styal‘ (2004) belauscht die von einem Wasserrad angetriebene Quarry Bank Mill, eine Weberei in Styal südlich von Manchester, heute Industriedenkmal, einst berühmt für seine wohltätige Kinderarbeit - tja, Music to read Dickens by. ‚Hoodoos‘ (2007) führt einen auf den Hoodoo Trail im Banff National Park, zu Strukturen aus Wasser, Holz und Stein. ‚Hannibal‘ (2005) schließlich hat nicht Lecter oder Elefanten im Sinn, sondern basiert auf ‚Hannibal II‘, einer Skulptur von Jean Tinguely, speziell dem Klang einer schwingenden Kette. Berezan nimmt Details so unter die akustische Lupe, dass der Lauscher sich ganz winzig vorkommen muss, weil die Dinge brobdingnagsche und hochdramatische Züge annehmen, aber dabei auch sich seltsam gleichen." [Bad Alchemy]
“Cyclo (2003)”. “Baoding (2002)”. “Styal (2004)”. “Hoodoos (2007)”. “Hannibal (2005)”. DVD-Audio stereo + MP3 files. “Of all the things I have learned about my own music, the notions of revealing and discovery seem the most essential. There are two sides of myself at work here, in co-operation, and sometimes in conflict, in the creation of the pieces presented on this disc.On the one hand, I search for sound sources that are sonically appealing, and that I connect with on a personal and tangible level, in their real world and everyday setting. On the other hand, through processes of transformation, reconstruction and imagination, I create and reveal hidden spaces, characters, and substance from those sources. Within, underneath, and behind the sound objects and concepts, there are often unexpected sound worlds in terms of detail, colour, and dynamic. For me, this multi-faceted aural-vision that twists, turns, and opens into itself is the magic of the art form. It is also through this process of discovering “the hidden side” (La face cachée) that I discover as much about myself.This disc and its music is dedicated to my parents: Jennie and Victor Berezan.” David Berezan [credits]
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| BERG, CHRISTOPH |
Conversations |
LP |
"Following his critically acclaimed Paraphrases album from 2012 and the more electronic based recordings as Field Rotation, Christoph Berg joins Sonic Pieces with the first new material under his own name in over four years.
Conversations essentially expresses contemplation, consciousness and the urge for retreat from the sometimes overwhelming present times. The musician’s genuine approach to minimal chamber music acts as a fading scenario of nostalgia and memory to rely on, similar to an affecting dialogue with somebody close to you. A manifold violin carries us through the transformation of time and its perception, expanded by humming double bass, the discreet use of piano and subtle percussive structures – all acoustically recorded and only scarcely processed by minor digital manipulation. Christoph hereby creates a fragile and comforting score to a scenic film. The result is an elegant framework from Prologue to Epilogue that guides us through gradually developing melancholy in its most genial understanding. It’s an exceedingly comprehensive, detailed reminder of music as an intimate art form, crafted by an unusually patient and perspicacious performer.
Like a washed out black and white photograph you hang on your wall to remember, these Conversations will keep you valued company. If it’s solace, seclusion or encouragement you’re seeking – you’ll find empathy in these compositions." [label info]
"Typically sublime chamber works issued by Sonic Pieces with all the attention to detail you'd expect from this impeccable label. It’s a deeply contemplative affair rendered through layered strings and found sounds that will hugely appeal to anyone enamoured with the work of Richard Skelton or Max Richter.
The violin is at the core of these pieces, flanked by the low hum of double bass, piano and quiet percussive flourishes; all acoustically recorded with minimal digital processing. Berg does that thing of creating huge widescreen vistas with the most intimate of components; which is essentially what the Sonic Pieces label is all about.
It’s an exceedingly comprehensive, detailed reminder of music as an intimate art form, crafted by an unusually patient and perspicacious performer that by the sounds of it will soon be joining the likes of Johann Johannsson, Ben Frost, Max Richter and Cliff Martinez at the upper tier of artists who have emerged from the corners of this scene and gone on to establish a huge presence in the world of commercial, big budget film scoring.
If you’ve spent any time with Max Richter’s groundbreaking The Blue Notebooks, this one comes hugely recommended." [Bommkat]
|
2017 |
€28.00 |
|
| |
Tape Anthology Vol. 1 |
LP |
"With his new record Tape Anthology Vol. 1 Christoph Berg kicks off an album series mainly focusing on works based on Tape manipulation. At the same time it marks the inaugural release of his own imprint Monochrome Editions.
Christoph is a classically trained piano and violin player whose curiosity and cultural interest are by no means bound to that category, or any others for that matter. For the past few years he has also been broadening his approach to composition by researching and experimenting with tape machines and reels of field recordings — and directing sounds into physically immediate shapes and atmospheres. Through an initially improvised approach to sources and his analogue assembly of the emerging recordings afterwards, he is methodically avoiding predictable conditions.
The raw, extensive material became subject to meticulous organisation and arrangement: Tapes have been cut, manipulated, destroyed, fixed, and reshaped into a treasury of experiences. The overall process is, in many ways, similar to the way Christoph travels and absorbs situations: curious, spontaneous, attentive, and modest. His work is less about destination than about the journey, and these compositions magically manage to capture a history of sounds, embedded in one’s own (temporary and partial) perception of them.
While most pieces on the album are dominated by field recordings and tape manipulation, they are occasionally accompanied by an array of instruments — most prominent in the three movements of the “Concertino for Tape and Violin” — including an amalgamation of violin, upright bass, organ, found objects, and synthesizer contribution by Midori Hirano on two of the album’s compositions, all of which are effectively molding chance encounters into individual and intentional entities.
However, the greatest idiosyncrasy of the album might also be the most subtle and, probably, irritating: The collages of things, places, people and events deliberately renounce conclusions, by which Tape Anthology Vol. 1 also evades any obvious stagnation. Even when themes are appearing, everything stays in constant movement, away from, towards or around you. The few palpable aspects welcome you and immediately drag you in, but without releasing you in the expected or a familiar location. It is a captivating voyage through an ever-changing landscape that — through abstention of any predictability — is not only the core of improvisation, but a philosophical approach to both traveling and being in general.
By never succumbing to tradition, expectation or comfort, Tape Anthology Vol. 1 is continuously reaching out for the capture of our surrounding — and our agency within it. Herewith the record embodies the ever intriguing cor-relation of spontaneity and subsequent mapping.
https://christophberg.bandcamp.com/album/tape-anthology-vol-1-2
|
2019 |
€22.50 |
|
| BERNIER, NICOLAS |
Usure.Paysage |
LP |
"usure.paysage combines the strongest particles of Bernier's kaleidoscopic oeuvre: an expressive mix of lively field recordings, tiny and massive electronics and sparkling relocations. The docker barks out aloud, the little insect crawls through the 19th century woodworker's atelier, forgotten voices vanish and the rest is no silence. This is truly some of the finest musique concrète ever released on vinyl - very charming.
Nicolas Bernier: electroacoustic artist, surround sound composer, occasional curator, old typewriter aficionado and sandcastle manufacturer. Careless about aesthetic tags, Bernier navigates through live electronics, installations, musique concrète, art video, performance, music for dance, theatre and cinema. In the midst of this eclecticism, his artistic concerns remain constant: the balance between the cerebral and the sensual, and between organic sound sources and digital processing. He is the founder of the sound art microorganism Ekumen, member of the media art organization Perte de Signal and the art director of Réseaux, a major Canadian electroacoustic concert producer. His works have been awarded or broadcast in festivals around the world including ZKM, Transmediale, Prix Ars Electronica, Akousma, Mutek and DotMov.
Artwork by urban9
Mastered & cut at D+M Berlin
Vinyl only, 300 copies
http://www.nicolasbernier.com" [label info]
www.hronir.de
|
2011 |
€16.50 |
|
| BERROCAL, JAC / MARIE FRANCE / JACK BELSEN |
Marie Antoinette is not dead |
7" |
"Crystal transparent 7' vinyl encrusted with white sprayings (I worked a lot this year and I'm emptied), numbered and stamped edition limited to 470 copies. Stunning collaboration between four entities who all left an indelible track in various spheres and in different eras, such as Jac Berrocal, a mythical figure, improvisator in his music and his encounters, a visionary poet and avant garde trumpeter who went against the grain in jazz and punk, amongst others, and his associate Jack Belsen, a virtuoso with the machines, guitarist and into a lot of other things, composer of soundtracks for films, who founded with F.J. Ossang in 1980 the Messagero Killer Boy of which the noise'n roll sonorities essentially structure themselves around the poetic words of Ossang. Also the singer and actress Marie France, rock, punk, diva, cabaret muse, fond of unpredictable and stunning collaborations, just as her own personality. ' Je vous veux ' and ' Marie-Antoinette is not dead ou dans quelle position je vous laisse ' are the titles of the two tracks of this historic 7'', historic by this never seen before collaboration initiated by the label rotorelief, and by the presence of the author of the letter and the poem put in music, the Queen of France Marie-Antoinette. She is the fourth protagonist of the project. Out of time and out of eras, this concept is definitely away from a passeist royalism or a vain nostalgy. It only wants to put forward these personages who, strangely, have common particularities :innovators, avant gardists, passionate about liberty and pleasures. A sharp and historic single." [label info]
http://rotorelief.com
|
2008 |
€13.50 |
|
| BERRY, KEITH |
The Cartesian Plane |
pic-LP |
"Elevator Bath's ongoing series of picture disc LPs (each record being adorned with full-color artwork by the recording artist) continues with Keith Berry's debut appearance on vinyl: An absolutely mesmerizing cycle of deep, meditative tranquility inextricably linked to Berry's otherworldly painting which appears behind the record's grooves.
The soundscapes along The Cartesian Plane are beautifully absorbing, heavy with the slow unraveling of emotions, almost beyond belief. There is an immense weight to these recordings, the richness of which belies the careful subtlety of the compositions. The sound is expansive and unreal, a perfect complement to the record's visual aspects which seem to describe a kind of alternate existence. Like bookends, the colorful images house a wealth of experiences, wonderful and frightening. As you gaze upon the rotating colors and Keith Berry's dense dream-sounds pour out of the speakers, total immersion in The Cartesian Plane is more than probable, it is certain.
Five years have passed since Keith Berry's masterful The Ear That Was Sold To A Fish, a disc that was something of a revelation for the lucky few who were able to obtain a copy of the original release. Since that time Berry's reputation has steadily grown, even though his discography has not. Aside from a few compilation appearances (including Elevator Bath's A Cleansing Ascension), he has remained silent. The release of The Cartesian Plane then truly calls for celebration, as it is precisely the record those of us who admire Berry's work have longed for.
Keith Berry's music has been released by such labels as Trente Oiseaux, Twenty Hertz, and Crouton. He resides in London.
This picture disc LP has been released in an edition of 233 copies.
Total running time: 47 minutes" [label info]
www.elevatorbath.com
|
2010 |
€17.50 |
|
| |
Elixir |
CD |
"Our newest release is music by the british drone & ambient master keith berry who resides in l'angleterre.
the alchemist jim haynes said of his work: "like falling snow, his dreamy work drifts with a poetic chill and tranquil hypnosis through which peripheral elements tease the listener with subtle details. it's so damn beautiful..."
a bit of background on this release: one of the great inspirations for invisible birds was bernhard günter and his seminal label trente oiseaux. the releases had an enormous influence and one of the gems was keith berry's the
golden boat. it was with much pleasure when mr. berry wrote asking invisible birds to release his newest work elixir, and after listening to the wonderful kosmic washes of sound, there was no question than to proceed. the CD features abstract drawings by matthew swiezynski, and graphics by the brooklyn-based design kollektive
mount analogue (chi yun and matthew swiezynski).
mr. berry said of the release: "the source material for the heavily granular processed sound that makes up elixir stems from another album of mine titled simulacra to be released shortly by infraction. not so much a remix album
but a different take on material that had a strong pull on me, wanting me to return to it and explore the permutations that digital editing software allows."
keith berry is one who gathers many moments of sound over a period of time. the material for this recording (and simulacra on infraction records) traversed through berry's editing system like an alchemist's mystery-liquid,
distilling through his alembic and becoming a final sonic spirit that takes innumerable forms and can no longer be recognized. this process is so beyond words and creates work that is further beyond words; the listener enters a complete void.
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| BERTHLING, ANDREAS |
InvalidObject Series (with) |
mCD |
Das irische FÄLLT-Label hat auf einen Schlag ein Kompendium zur neuen digitalen laptop / click / glitch / IDM – Musik herausgebracht ! Das sind 24 mCDs mit allerlei bekannten und unbekannte Vertretern dieses jungen Genres. Wir haben die meisten da, hier eine Übersicht ! Limitiert jeweils auf schamlose 250 Stck !
“ The invalidObject Series was established in 2000 as a sublabel of Fällt to release a finite series of twenty four 3"CD/.mp3 works.
Offering a unique perspective on a diverse range of musical output at the turn of the millennium, the Series features work by some of the most respected artists operating within the field of '.microsound' and has been described as "a remarkable document of a vibrant artistic community and a critical moment in the evolution of digital music" (Philip Sherburne),
"a showcase for the extraordinary range of practical approaches within contemporary electronic music" (Matt Ffytche, The Wire) and, simply, "impressive" (Rob Young, Editor, The Wire). “ [label press release}
|
2000 |
€7.00 |
|
| BERTOIA, HARRY |
Experimental I / Mechanical I |
CD |
This LP is cut straight from the original master tapes maintaining a straight analog signal path. The CD version contains a bonus track called Long Sounds.
When Harry Bertoia’s Sonambient label was resurrected, our intention was to tell the story of Bertoia’s groundbreaking Sonambient work as revealed through his extensive collection of notes and recordings. When the first new LP was released in 2016 we were only in possession of 1/20th of the archive. Now, in 2019, we’re excited to release the first LP of new material from the full archive and we present it to increase understanding of what Bertoia was doing in his sound-barn deep in the Pennsylvania woods.
The recordings contained on this LP were selected because of their relationship to Bertoia’s body of recorded work. The titles are from from Bertoia’s notes which Bertoia placed in each tape box, indicating date and describing briefly. Like his sculptures, Bertoia never titled his recordings but frequently referred to specific concepts he was pursuing. These are among the earliest known examples of Bertoia using terms which would become more common in the years to come: “experimental,” “mechanical” and “long sounds.”
https://soundcloud.com/importantrecords/harry-bertoia-experimental-i-bw-mechanical-1-lpcd-pre-order-now
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Experimental I / Mechanical I |
LP |
"This LP is cut straight from the original master tapes maintaining a straight analog signal path. The CD version contains a bonus track called Long Sounds.
When Harry Bertoia’s Sonambient label was resurrected, our intention was to tell the story of Bertoia’s groundbreaking Sonambient work as revealed through his extensive collection of notes and recordings. When the first new LP was released in 2016 we were only in possession of 1/20th of the archive. Now, in 2019, we’re excited to release the first LP of new material from the full archive and we present it to increase understanding of what Bertoia was doing in his sound-barn deep in the Pennsylvania woods.
The recordings contained on this LP were selected because of their relationship to Bertoia’s body of recorded work. The titles are from from Bertoia’s notes which Bertoia placed in each tape box, indicating date and describing briefly. Like his sculptures, Bertoia never titled his recordings but frequently referred to specific concepts he was pursuing. These are among the earliest known examples of Bertoia using terms which would become more common in the years to come: “experimental,” “mechanical” and “long sounds.” "
https://soundcloud.com/importantrecords/harry-bertoia-experimental-i-bw-mechanical-1-lpcd-pre-order-now |
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| BERTONCINI, MARIO |
Arpe Eolie |
LP |
"Format: LP, Limited Edition of 400 copies. Deluxe silver cover with silver foil design, custom inner sleeve and 4-page booklet in English and Italian.
First ever vinyl release of the works by Italian maestro Mario Bertoncini, relentless experimental composer, philosopher, artist and builder of sounds. The LP presents a selection of his compositions for aeolian constructions: in the early 70s he started to produce sound aggregates, true 'sound sculptures' based on the Aeolian sound principle. Amongst his more spectacular installations there were Vele, a massive Aeolian harp (more than 7 meters high); Venti (winds), for 20 Aeolian sound generators and 40 performers; and Chanson pour Instruments à Vent, an assemblage for Aeolian harps, Aeolian gongs, and one performer.
By their very nature these sound objects ("sound sculptures" that liberate the concept of sound form from time development) convey a sense of natural sounds beyond the grasp of composition and musician. Bertoncini self-built harps and gongs are excited by blows of compressed air, or by the composer's own breath, resulting in a musical blueprint that takes minimalist drone to a massive scale: the music unleashes itself. There's no sense of a composer's hand present. If at superficial levels they may sound like electronic music (long drones and swooshes of otherworldly sounds), at a close listening they reveal the intensity of a pure sound of air, far removed from both any artificial or measurable principle as well as from any casual or chance method of composition." [label info]
www.die-schachtel.com
|
2016 |
€26.00 |
|
| BESTIA CENTAURI |
Teratogenesis |
CD |
oversized digipack
Bedrohlich klaustrophobische Welten beschwört "Teratogenesis" herauf, einengend nah und intensiv scheinen elektronische Drones & Sounds wie Waffen anzugreifen, wie eine Psycho-Geisterbahn der völlig derangierten, morphenden Art... kein typischer dark ambient, eher düster-industrielle Elektro-Akustik !
"Bestia Centauri is a solo electronic music project begun in 1999. "Teratogenesis" is its fourth release after "Ubbo-Sathla" (Somnambulant Corpse Recordings, 2002), "The Antideluvian Earth" (Afe, 2003) and "The Self Immolation Rite" (Somnambulant Corpse Recordings, 2004).
The aim of Bestia Centauri is to create sonic landscapes that convey a sense of the numinous, the horrific, and the extra-human. Its sounds have much in common with those of electroacoustic music, but the compositional structures generally display a much greater sense of flow. Although Bestia Centauri's music is (to put it mildly) very different, the early releases of Tangerine Dream (circa 1972-1975) remain a tremendous source of inspiration for the composer, along with the orchestral, choral, and organ works of the composers Gyorgy Ligeti (Atmospheres; Lux Aeterna; Lontano) and Giacinto Scelsi.
Older works of electroacoustic or tape music, such as the compositions of Basil Kirchin, Tod Dockstader, and Iannis Xenakis, offer the listener another frame of reference. With the new release, "Teratogenesis", Bestia Centauri defies once and for all the persistent mischaracterizations of its sound as belonging to the "Dark Ambient ghetto". Electroacoustic and computer music elements come brazenly to the foreground, and contribute even more so to the flow of "crawling chaos" that has always characterized and inspired Bestia Centauri’s compositions. The genesis and development of a monstrosity is the theme of this new work, which charts a course from mutated unicellular sonic DNA to the resultant life-form that reaches "from the jaws of the dragon, from the depths of the abyss". With "X" and its deranged rhythmic outbursts, which suggest a creation gone radically wrong, with "Nebular Embryo", a microtonal and minimalist homage to the work of Giacinto Scelsi, and with "E Faucibus Draconis, E Profundis Barathri", a pure electroacoustic work of epic scope, Bestia Centauri demonstrates a new-found range and mastery in its work.
Four years in the making, "Teratogenesis" represents Bestia Centauri's most mature mating to date of flowing soundscapes and electroacoustic sound design. It also represents a point of departure for even more radical works, to come.
This albums comes as an Eibon Records / Afe co-production whose artwork was designed by Chris Donovan of Somnambulant." [label description]
www.eibonrecords.com / www.aferecords.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| BETTIS, CHUCK |
Sonic Sigils |
mCD |
Wieder eine empfehlenswerte Ausgrabung auf SCARCELIGHT aus der sich permanent erweiternden und weiter verzweigenden Geräusch- & Experimental-Szene. CHUCK BETTIS benutzt die psychologische „Spiegel“-Technik als Inspiration und schafft hier digitale Klanglandschaften von höchster Abstraktheit, für die Begriffe wie „Noise“ oder „Ambient“ nicht mehr relevant scheinen.
Das Ganze fängt eher hektisch-dissoziiert an und bewegt sich langsam aber stetig in pulsierend-meditative Bereich.....digitale, metallische Klänge überwiegen. TIP for Explorers !
“There is some kind of menacing magic at work here. The magickal intonations captured on this disc were inspired by the acifist/psychological technique of calming people in heated conversations by catching up to the breathing of the upset person, then slowly, by utilizing your own breathing, slowing down their breathing by slowing down your own. This deluxe 3" CD features scratchy, fuzzed and distressed scrapes and burbling skittered fragments. Gorgeous graphics by Chuck himself. Contrasting mechanical whines, and tones, tiny microscopic signs of life all darting around in their droplet universe” [George Parsons./ Dream Magazine #5]
|
2004 |
€8.00 |
|
| BEYOND SENSORY EXPERIENCE (B.S.E.) |
Modern Day Diabolist |
CD / DVD |
"Beyond Sensory Experience are back with their seventh full length study - Modern Day Diabolists. BSE have reopened the dossiers and turned page to focus on life in the modern urban world. True to their ten-year pattern of evolution the dark ambience is more captivating than ever; complex soundscapes and consoling melodies combine with provocative rhythm structures and unsettling samples to generate a new profile of BSE. When business has stopped and lights are out what is left is Modern Day Diabolists.
Modern Day Diabolists will be available as a CD/DVD double Digipak in May. The DVD features compelling visual interpretations of two tracks from the album by Swedish video artists The Retardtank and Fetish 23.
Edition of 800 copies in 6 panel double Digipack. 9 tracks. Running Time 57:00" [label info]
www.cycliclaw.com
" “Modern Day Diabolists”. Such title would suggest that we have to deal with the darkest installment of BEYOND SENSORY EXPERIENCE activities. Personally, when I first heard this title, also remembering previous material, “Zielona Góra” recorded together with Moljebka Pvlse, subconsciously I expected release which will be hell darker than “No Lights In Our Eyes.” I was disabused of this mistake very quickly.
This is first full length BEYOND SENSORY EXPERIENCE album since four years (not counting here mentioned above Moljebka Pvlse collaboration). After a handful of releases for Old Europa Cafe and Cold Meat Industry, this time the Swedes came under Canadian wings of – very buoyant recently- Cyclic Law. At the beginning Frederic Arbour’s label focused mostly on releasing high quality Scandinavian dark ambient, occasionally penetrating other corners of sonic darkness. However recent years brought us opening for other parts of the world and other approaches to dark ambient matter. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is definitely to Cyclic Law advantage. Of course “Modern Day Diabolists” is the work by Scandinavian duo, but closing this album in strictly Nordic compartment would be a huge faux pas.
As I have mentioned earlier, the album opener “Through the Underworld” is somewhat surprising. It starts with a low-pitched voice (Swedish I guess) and serene sound texture, but after a while this calm sound surface is disturbed by a beat. Beat which is kinda rough, but all in all quite peaceful. “Hailstone Reactor” has a similar structure: it begins with sound of rain, voice shouting the same phrase over and over again and single electronic howls hanging on the canvas painted with silence. And then, after two minutes or so, I hear post-rock guitar and simply stop thinking about “Modern Day Diabolists” as another dark ambient album. Instead I start to wonder if it wouldn’t be a perfect illustration for another Jim Jarmusch movie. Then a minute of cacophony tempered by drowned in reverberation, reflective melody. All this within a single track. Not bad. Every another fragment of the album is as rich in sounds as these first ones. In “Modern Day Diabolists” restless industrial surf appears, while “Between Sleeping and Walking” returns to post-rock soundscapes, sonic illustrations of night panorama of Tokyo. Reflective atmosphere is maintained by absolutely beautiful “Rapt Earthly Things” and quite minimalistic “Lost in Habblahester”. “The Testimony of Memory” almost literally suspends the passage of time, especially when this slow, looped melody is joined by the rhythm which reminds of slowing down hands of clock which someone forgot to wind up. Then short “Geometric Fashion” which is preludium to the grand finale of “Modern Day Diabolists”. The album ends with “Locating Imaginary Events in Real Places”, over thirteen minute piece which brings together all the essential features of this album.
Lot of things happen on “Modern Day Diabolists”. Lot of things happen, but to be honest, BEYOND SENSORY EXPERIENCE even for the moment doesn’t go beyond atmospheric frames established by the Swedes not only on this record. This music is not dark per se. Instead it’s quite foggy and oniric, where reverb and silence play huge role. And at the same time the sounds generated by BEYOND SENSORY EXPERIENCE arouse kind of yearning of something long gone. So long ago that we’re not even sure whether it really happened or was it just a dream. It’s the most mature work of Swedes. By all means worth of recommendation." [Santa Sangre / santasangremagazine.wordpress.com]
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Faint |
CD |
"With their new full-length album "Faint" Beyond Sensory Experience are back revisiting ghosts of the past to create memories of the future. Eleven divergent studies of transformation elements result in BSE’s most complete and intriguing album to date; full of liquid dark ambient soundscapes, salient samples and entrancing melodies. Hold your breath and close your eyes, when winter turns to water, day turns to Faint.
Edition of 500 copies in 4 panel digi sleeve with 12 page booklet. 11 Tracks. Running Time 60:00" [label info]
"They didn’t make us wait very long for a “Modern Day Diabolists” follow-up. Along with “Faint”, we have the opportunity once again to move away from the senses under the watchful eye of Drakh and K. Meizter. And because they’re fully fledged professionals, in this case also the trip on the edge of and even beyond the human self turns out to be very fruitful.
Fruitful, but somehow familiar. Our fellow Swedes have defined their specific path for quite a while, they have their own unique style and sound and are sticking to it, leaving the battering down of this already open door to younger and more hot-headed travelers. It’s an experienced project, their aforementioned style is usually recognizable after only a few sounds – “Faint” isn’t at all different. I think even woken up in the middle of the night it would take me maybe a few seconds to pinpoint whose creations are filtering from the speakers.
I never meant what those two nice Swedes do as dark ambient does. Certainly, the genre’s characteristics have always been to a larger or lesser extent present on previous albums, but they were never incorporating a typical, textbook darkness with particular relish. And with each consecutive release its amount becomes lesser and lesser. On “Faint” you practically won’t find the typical background-filling drones. This role is ascribed to either a stretched echo single guitar or piano tones (just listen to “Blank”), or simply silence which operates here on the same basis as the specific sounds, instruments, field recordings or samples. I always appreciated musicians who can play with silence.
As for the album’s atmosphere, I could actually copy-paste here what I wrote about “Modern Day Diabolists”. Ethereal, dreamy parts, mesmerizing in a way, sometimes serene (“Bystanders”), sometimes pulsating with a distant, uncertain threat (such as in my favorite piece, “Legacy”). Sometimes it feels as if the Swedes deliberately want to lull the listener, so that all external protective barriers are down and then hit with horror, war or apocalypse. But it never happens, though you never know what lies beyond the horizon.
Calm down, you can safely turn off for those few minutes. Beyond Sensory Experience doesn’t interfere with the bliss. It only gently wags its finger at us at times, saying that “next time there’s going to be a nightmare” (“Exhausted”), and we don’t have to believe the Swedes anyway. Probably in a year or two they’ll release another album, and again we’ll allow ourselves to be seduced by those ambient spaces, a pinch of post-rock atmosphere. We’ll smoke another cigarette, listening to the yearning, aching samples spoken in different languages… Another successful, very solid release by Beyond Sensory Experience and another – which one is it already – strong position in the Cyclic Law roster." [Stark/Santa Sangre] |
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
The End of it all |
CD |
"On their third release for Cyclic Law, BSE have created an aural mirror image of underlying substructures hidden amongst the ordinary. Using their trademark sounds of lush ominous melodies and insightful theories, extinct arrangements of life mechanics unfold to reveal The End Of It All.
Edition of 500 Copies in 6 panel Digipack with Spot UV varnish. 11 Tracks. Running Time 63:33" [label info]
www.cycliclaw.com
"Beyond Sensory Experience have been making albums in the dark ambient genre for over a decade, starting with their debut, Tortuna, on Old Europa Cafe. They gained recognition during their time on the legendary, now defunct label, Cold Meat Industry. In 2013, Beyond Sensory Experience would find their new home with Frederic Arbour and company at Cyclic Law. Now, with the release of their third album on Cyclic Law, entitled The End Of It All, Beyond Sensory Experience prove that they still have plenty of landscape left to cover in their musical career.
The End Of It All does anything but break the mold when it comes to musical output by Beyond Sensory Experience. The sounds presented here will be familiar to any fan of their previous albums, especially their most recent releases through Cyclic Law. Beyond Sensory Experience have a very particular sort of sound, which seems to draw a lot of parallels to Silent Heart by The Human Voice, also released through Cyclic Law. In both these projects what we hear are albums which seem to be the perfect soundtracks to a lonely and melancholic late night, lights dimmed, conjuring retrograded mental images of a life once lost. There is no happiness to be found here. Yet the album doesn't tend to make one sad, so much as it is the perfect companion to one's own sadness, a shoulder to cry on, when no other living soul is around, during your darkest nights. Beyond Sensory Experience achieve this bleak and melancholic mood through the use of minimal droning passages, checkered with solemn and tragically forlorn piano movements. The occasional cello notes can be heard on tracks like "Ends And Histories" raising the emotional intensity to an even higher degree. There are ample vocal passages throughout The End Of It All, adding a bit of narration to further solidify the intentions of its authors. These vocal passages are almost all from different sources and different people, presumably none of which are actually Beyond Sensory Experience, which is of little consequence as the words and voices themselves are a perfect match to this somber affair.
As previously mentioned, similar to Silent Heart, by The Human Voice, The End Of It All is a soundtrack to a deep and personal ending. The intersections of beauty, despair, and a pervasive calmness give The End Of It All a powerful emotional edge. Listened to in the right circumstances, I am sure this could easily bring one to tears. This isn't a glorification of sadness by any means, more so an complete and utter appreciation for and understanding of the depression, loss, and defeat felt in the lives of everyday people. As the illusion of world-wide peace and happiness is being slowly revealed to the inhabitants of our planet, there has never seemed to be a time in the past more suitable for contemplating the weaknesses and failings of humanity as a whole. Never before have so many people, world-wide, been able to look at history, without rosy-red glasses, and see the predicaments we are now finding ourselves in as a collective whole. The End Of It All is the soundtrack to that sentiment. "Properties Of Stars", for instance, grasps this concept like few other dark ambient tracks. It is as if we are sitting in some lonely personal retreat, staring up at the stars, and yet we feel the collective of humanity at our side, all staring into the sky, wondering, pleading for some signs of a way out of our collective dilemma.
The vocal passages in The End Of It All really do play a large part in this personal feeling of loss and sadness. Many of these passages are spoken in English, but others are in some other language which I am unable to specify. One of the best tracks on the album, and the best example of the power of these spoken words, comes in "Time Travels" the second last track, which says, "I have often wondered about what it must be like to go to sleep and never wake up." and later in the track saying "To be simply not there, forever and ever." These simple statements along with some of the most melancholic piano work I have heard combine to produce quite an emotionally charged experience.
With many humans finding themselves in an existential dilemma these days, and the state of our Eco-system in utter chaos, there has never been a better time for releasing music of such a particularly dark yet contemplative and sober variety. Dark days are sure to be ahead of us, and with those dark days many of us seek equally dark music. For many listeners The End Of It All should be the perfect companion to your own personal apocalypse. I highly recommend this album to any fans of a more instrumental and vocal take on dark ambient. Also, anyone interested in melancholic neo-classical will find plenty to enjoy here. As far as readers who may not often listen to this genre, Beyond Sensory Experience showcase many of the elements which make for a perfect introduction to dark ambient and its various cousin genres."
[Michael, Terra Relicta] |
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| BIANCHI, MAURIZIO & MAOR APPELBAUM |
Mene Teqel Farsin |
CD |
"Storms of cosmic energy, boiling and gurgling electronic fluxes, sonic masses made of monolithic and impenetrable drones, visions of smoky afterdeath landscapes, scorching and infernal… A neverending tunnel with no way out, a sense of deep anguish, of desolation and resigned impotence that lead the dark journey from the beginning to the end of this hallucinatory path. The sound quality and the sharpness of details are absolutely insuperable, they will offer you a “wrapping” and emotionally all-involving listening experience." [label info]
www.silentes.net
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| BIANCHI, MAURIZIO & TH26 |
Arkaeo Planum |
CD |
Dunkle, spröde, klinisch-kühle Elektronik, effektierte Pianosounds; die erste Zusammenarbeit von M.B. mit TH26, inklusive der Stimme des kürzlich verstorbenen ROBERT ANTON WILSON !!
"After the "A M.B. Iehn Tale" release (CD - SmallVoices 2005) for the first time Maurizio Bianchi meets TH26, historical Italian project in dark electronics. After their first official release ("La Haine" CD - SmallVoices 2002) they are now back with this amazing cooperation. For this release TH26 leaves their usual rhythmical attitude, in perfect symbiosis with Maurizio Bianchi, the "father" of Italian industrial music. This work presents deep obscure minimal soundscapes, moving in the fields of dark ambient music. Arkaeo Planum is a long deep 5 tracks trip through 5 interlinked themes (Aereo, Arkaeo, Audio, Caro e TerraPlanum) togheter with a single special track titled MB Sorrow (dedicated to Maurizio Bianchi) as final sadly sequence of melting melody. Sound textures with piano incursions and samples, properly treated by M.B., involved in a magmatic and dark isolationist sonority, made by Th26." [label description]
"Antique phagocytic cells in a profound knowledge of changing habits, electromagnetic science and moribund identities, enter in contact with vertebrate contemporary abstractions. It's the unequivocal and consecrating action of the foetal twenty-first century servant, a laborious period of the cement bloodstream museums where archaic purposes have gathered together a stimulating selection of "planum" relationship. The compressed and specific hormonal aim of this provocative work, "Arkaeo Planum", is to illuminate the entire febrile dream of some unscrupulous sadness; a constant affection of soared talents in this synthetic journey to penalize the closed culture nightmare. The question asked is: are we intentionally communicating or developping some unique opportunities? The transformation process is facilitating the indecent massive infrastructures of the industrial soundscapes, nearly the neutronic unimaginable..." (Maurizio Bianchi)
|
2006 |
€13.50 |
|
| BIANCHI, MAURIZIO (M.B.) |
Persecutionem |
LP |
"Persecutionem" heisst "Verfolgung" und wie viele von MBs Veröffentlichungen ist dieses Album religiös inspiriert. Die sechs Stücke wirken fast wie eine logische Fortsetzung (auf einem anderen klanglichen Level) dessen, was vor 30 Jahren begann - recht rauher, irgendwie mysteriöser & hypnotischer Drone-Noise, mit Zeitlupen-Vibrato-Effekten, die seltsame Obertöne "nach oben" sprudeln lassen... Sechs Stücke, in einer nummerierten Auflage von nur 303 Stück !
"'I've taken inspiration for this medicative work from the sordid persecution of the early Christians, but in other ways we receive objectivistic persecution every day from this standardized system, from our wretched condition and from the modern persecutors which are hidden behind their threatening countenances. The appropriate soundtrack of such perturbed sufferings is this justifiable work, 'persecutionem', in which the semblances of our gaolers are inherents on these obstructed sounds, and the hopeful liberation of our existences are culminating on the eschatologic modulations. The deliberate epilogue is contained in the derogatory elevation of our reinstated spirituality for a repulsive capital sentence in order to transform the alienated persecutor into an inalienable victim of persecution.' Maurizio Bianchi - February 2009" [label info]
http://rotorelief.com
|
2009 |
€20.00 |
|
|
YNOHPMYS (special ed.) |
CD |
"This Italian electronics maestro seems to be still going strong after around 30 years with his latest release. Opener 'Ortini' is like the hazey recollection of a long train journey being put through an analogue filter bank. 'The Inflammatory Sesor' has a kind of feeling of nostalgia or distant memory that recalls William Basinski or The Caretaker. 'Oigada' sounds like two decomposing tape loops slightly out of sync creating a disorientating phasing effect. There are some very absorbing sounds here to get lost in. One for a late night in near darkness. Recommended." [Norman Records] |
2010 |
€20.00 |
|
|
YNOHPMYS |
CD |
"This Italian electronics maestro seems to be still going strong after around 30 years with his latest release. Opener 'Ortini' is like the hazey recollection of a long train journey being put through an analogue filter bank. 'The Inflammatory Sesor' has a kind of feeling of nostalgia or distant memory that recalls William Basinski or The Caretaker. 'Oigada' sounds like two decomposing tape loops slightly out of sync creating a disorientating phasing effect. There are some very absorbing sounds here to get lost in. One for a late night in near darkness. Recommended." [Norman Records]
www.touretterecords.com
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Mectpyo Box |
10 x CD BOX |
Legendary Maurizio Bianchi recordings from the early '80s remastered and collected in a 10CD box. Includes the following industrial music classics: Symphony for a Genocide (1981), Menses (1982), Neuro Habitat (1982), Regel (1982), Mectpyo Bakterium (1981), Das Testament (1983), Endometrio (1982), Carcinosi (1983), The Plain Truth (1983), and Armaghedon (1984). Also contains two hours of bonus tracks from the same period, with compilation contributions previously issued on Bain Total, Broken Flag, Come Organisation, and TRAX, as well as various mail art collaborations and a unique live recording and interview from January 1st, 1983. Includes 35 folded inserts with original artworks and collages; essays on Throbbing Gristle, Whitehouse and Come, Conrad Schnitzler, Leibstandarte SS MB, and SPK; playlists from 1981 and '82; a 1981 interview issued in Datenverarbeitung; an essay by Vittore Baroni on Bianchi titled "Milan Burns"; and Bianchi's "Fanta Punk Tale" from 1978. Limited to 200 numbered copies.
|
2015 |
€165.00 |
|
| BIBLO |
On Ugliness |
LP |
"pop music had been an intensity-thing once, as to follow the legend, but as time passed it just started to quote and copy the erstwhile forms in a void way. the latter has never been exactly accurate, especially regarding the developments in the less noted niches. one example for that is provided by the amalgamations of folk-traditions, vanguard experiments, improvisation and outsider art, as they have boomed in the last years with acts like inca ore, pocahaunted and kuupuu. also in the music of the composer, singer, bass-guitarist and laptop-musician pinar üzeltüzenci aka biblo from istanbul - a sister in mind of all the acts mentioned above - you feel the intensity again and again in an almost painful way when it peeps through the curtain of drones and noise. her lost in reverie vocals leave you irritated and in love. we are proud to present the new biblo-lp "on ugliness" in a limited edition of 200 pieces as the first ever record on quetzi records." (label info)
"No, the ever-prolific Bibio hasn’t snuck out yet another new album as a limited vinyl release on an obscure label. This is actually an LP by a Turkish woman going under the name Biblo, who refers to her music as “ambient thrash”. Not sure what’s so thrash about it (or even what the proper definition of thrash really is), but regardless, this sounds a lot closer to ambient than any type of metal. Not much is provided in the way of liner notes, but it sounds like plenty of static loops, some toy instruments, some found sounds, and some delay-heavy girlish vocals. The dozen tracks on here progress slightly, but it doesn’t feel so much like traveling from one place to another as it feels like standing in the middle of a darkened room and watching things float around you. Even though it’s late at night, your eyes are wide open at all the illuminated objects circling you. In some sense, the “ambient thrash” tag does fit, as this is not ambient to ignore or lay back and fall asleep to, but ambient that’s active and commands attention.
While most of the tracks on this album are miniatures that only last a few minutes, the centerpiece of the album is side 2′s opener “Son Super Tembel”, which begins looping some chopped up ghostly piano, adding some more vinyl-sourced loops until they sound like a skipping record, then adding some more subtle blips, whispery vocals and small-sounding instruments. “Earth” also stands out for coating its drifting vocals in a thick layer of droning distorted guitar feedback; perhaps the song is a tribute to the band Earth. “The Eyeballs Of Truth” ends the album with its thickest layer of hiss and crackle, featuring distant piano and vocals that suggest some of the spectres in The Caretaker’s ballroom stepping up to the mic.
It’s easy to overuse the word “haunting” to describe anything that’s dark yet otherworldly beautiful, but it’s hard to think of the sounds on this album as being created by anything other than possessed beings. As dreamlike as it seems, though, it feels completely real. The whole album is an incredibly moving experience." [Paul Simpson / FOXY DIGITALIS]
www.foxydigitalis.com/foxyd/?p=17357
|
2011 |
€18.00 |
|
| BIG CITY ORCHESTRA |
Greatest Hits and Test Tones |
CD |
"Auf der zweiten CD (nach "The four cassettes of the apocalypse") des Orchestras finden sich 43 Indexe. Es gibt einen Haufen genial-skurillen BCO-Pops zu hören, recht alte Sachen aus den 80ern, und zwischendurch sind hier heftigste TEST TONES –Bearbeitungen verewigt worden, von JOHN DUNCAN, BROOK HINTON, MONTE CAZAZZA und G.X.-JUPITTER-LARSEN. Und es gibt noch 20 weitere tracks mit dronigen Alltagsgegenstandsdronenoises, z.B. "coffee beans on tray on speaker", "mike in water bottle on piano".. UND dann gibt es als Dreingabe im Booklet einen nicht minder obskuren Text über die "post apokalypse". Die CD enthält zudem das allererste BCO-Stück von 1979!!!!
Back in stock this obscure second CD of BCO, with unbelievable strange pop-songs and test-tones reworkings from diverse people, and other surprises. A real own sound-dimension!" [old Drone Rec info]
|
1993 |
€13.00 |
|
|
A Childs guarden of noize (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
released in May 1994 in an edition of 200 copies, in ultra-handmade covers, on clear vinyl. Each cover had on one side a painting / drawing by a child, on the other a unique work of "rubbeled" letters and symbols by BCO.
second ed. of 300 copies on yellow vinyl in red on yellow (printed) covers & inlays appeared in July 1996.
press-information (first ed.):
"Legendary cassette-ensemble BIDFE CITTY ARDSERTYA from Nothern California release their first ever vinyl. Perhaps to become one of the most obscure pieces on vinyl ever. The theme of this unbelievable 5-track-E.P. is KIDS MAKING NOISE. Found on side one is a strange lecture about NOISE in the vein of BED CTY ORKSTAS sound effects library (which can be found on their three CD's); it will rotate your mind. Side two will even confuse you more with a collection of bizarre kids songs that will push you backwards in your evolution! Be a child again, open your mind to childrens' noisey worlds! Noise specially formatted for sensitive ears. Mastered with extra deep grooves to keep the stylus from flying out during the louder bits. WARNING: DANGEROUS FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIKE NOISE OR CILDREN!
" This will not just surprise you, this will maybe de-condition your brain!" (Baraka[H])"
Later Note on artist: BCO are still active, and in the meantime they have out several more CDs, and an amazing 7" in a grass-cover! They still do cassette-releases also. I loved them when I discovered their obscure cassettes from the 80'es, a real dimension of their own. Back in 1993, when DAS, the head and organizer of the orchestra, sent me the DAT for the E.P., I was really some kind of "shocked" about the material. This was not what I expected ( I expected some long droney loops as they did so often on their old cassettes)... on the other hand, it was so extremely unique and worth listening (with the concept of kids really doing the music), that I could do no other and release it on Drone. I still think it's one of the most bizarre 7"es ever released. (BarakaH, Nov. 1998)
|
1994 |
€ |
|
|
New Beat for Baby |
CD-R |
"On this small finnish label there’s come the newest output of our all-time faves. “new beat for baby” is a very raw droning, nearly machine-like sounding trip into some higher intelligence mother’s womb." [BarakaH, Drone Records 2002]
|
2002 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
Kapellmeister |
CD-R |
HalTapes presents
BIG CITY ORCHESTRA
KAPELLMEISTER
oneiric collage confusion with keyboardisms infiltrated with radio hum and vinyl itch
original cover art by Rafael González
BCO STAFF WAS:
ROB WORTMAN, UNIVAC, NINAH PIXIE, CHERYL LEONARD, DAS
BCO contact:
das at ubuibi dot org
credits
released 20 May 2015
https://halmcgee.bandcamp.com/album/kapellmeister
"Big City Orchestra is a prolific (over 160 releases since 1985) group many would likely recognize as part of the 80s experimental cassette scene. From various readings and conversations with older friends, I gather they were enjoyed as a favorite by many. I get the impression that they have many tricks in their bag, and that is what makes them so impressive and special.
Please enjoy Big City Orchestra’s Discogs bio:
“One of the most idiosyncratic and original groups of the past two decades, BCO is not your standard Orchestra. Situated in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, the band has released an enormous catalog of recorded material over the past two decades. Formed in the late 1970’s the ensemble continues to maintain a free-flowing roster of artists from around the world that collaborate on specific projects. Categorizing the Orchestra into any given genre can be a task, as releases continue to surprise even the most devout listener. There is never any way to precisely classify the next BCO release. An album of authentic sea-shanties? A wall of noise? A shimmering downpour of lullabies whispered to the wind? A humorous or thought-provoking album of Sound Collages? Vocal excursions set to make Rod McKuen blush? We press play, leaning forward with slight apprehension. We await the first wave of blissful deception. We are perpetually rewarded.”
This CDR was released by Hal McGee, who was involved in distributing & releasing their music in the early / mid 80s. I assume this release results in part from that years-old positive connection.
Hal(“Ear Tampons” – poignantly preposterous?)
My first exposure, of two total exposures, to Big City Orchestra was a CDR called Beatlerape, consisting of a bizarre collection of alternate takes on and / or cut-up-collagery of Beatles songs and recordings. I don’t know if it’s ‘rape’, but what they do to Beatles music on this album is quacked out and could by many be called “wrong”. Demented looping, demented voices, demented juxtapositions of sounds. I very much enjoyed it off and on for several months in the car’s cd player. I know I’ve heard another Big City Orchestra recording, but I don’t recall which one. This matters because I remember thinking the second Big City Orchestra album I heard was pointedly different from Beatlerape, as is the present specimen, Kapellmeister.
Kapellmeister is a great mixed bag of lo-fi collage, psych, plunder, field recordings, found recordings, electronic junk bits, eclectic instrumentation / approach -but cleanly sectioned into the 10 segments they list on Side A and Side B. Track 8, “OOOOH JACK”, is a cutup of cleanly recorded, quietly speaking christian television preachers set against an ominous early-80s-industrial-mechanical-plodding backdrop. The clips of christian people are cut and assembled in such a way as to slather, playfully and mockingly, the christians’ pretensions of purity with humorous sexual innuendo. It’s simultaneously hilarious and darkly hope-crushing? This piece is on par with all of the other pieces for level of interest, pacing, composition, content, etc. Every track has its own intriguing qualities. Wonderfully surreal yet entertaining and non-tedious. Simple yet engaging and surprising. These things are hard to do with abstract sound work. I dare call it sophisticated, prodigious, genuine. The rawness of the black & white artwork is pleasant, with strangely bleak torn paper collage and digitally manipulated images by Rafael Gonzalez. There’s a cerebral surreality to the haloed white blob (photoshop air brushing likely) over the faces of an idealized couple from the..1930s? This roughness is tied together nicely with the text and with the two pillars of the repeated collage item showing two half-faces close together, reflecting their similarities and differences. These considerations tie the cover together with symmetry and an even distribution of dark and light. In comparison to a number of Hal’s other releases, this HalTapes specimen nicely balances pragmatic non-aestheticism and a tight sense of design. I enjoy the non-aesthetically charged design of the information side of the slim jewel case’s insert.
In his description for his album B12, Hal McGee -designer of this disc’s insert- tells a story about packaging design for audio recordings:
“After my three year hiatus from recording (92-95) I noticed that a lot of noise artists were doing special deluxe package releases. It seemed like every fuckin’ release by Aube had like a dead fish attached to it or a pubic hair or a bag of sewage water or some such shit with deluxe printed sleeve, etc etc etc. I purposely made the cover of my “B12” cassette as shitty and amateurish-looking as possible and I fit four of them onto one sheet of paper so that at Kinko’s each cover would end up costing me like 2.5 cents.
HalB12
I sent a copy of “B12” to Aube as a trade and told him here is my “anti-deluxe two and a half cent cover”. He was not amused and told me he would not trade with me again. This is the same young upstart who had told me previously that I had been one of his influences from the 1980s. Hahahaha. Uppity bastard!”
I presume to an extent Hal’s current design tendencies align with the thinking embodied in this frank, funny outburst. The emphasis is on what you’re doing and less on the capturing or distillation of some grand wizardly vision into an even more grand wizardly package that sells at inflated prices. This is the dichotomy of process vs. product, or maybe something less clear cut than that. I greatly enjoy both approaches (super-art-packaging and more straight forward packaging) depending on the specific example. It’s unfortunate, but for now I’m dreaming of a future time when I can support more artists putting out special deluxe products. I’m not able to spend so much money any more on music, so I don’t often acquire music releases with special (expensive) packages. Right now I can only get the occasional regular old ordinary issue releases; no fancy boxes, no extra inserts, no 3-D glasses, no diesel-soaked papyrus, no vials of blood, no hand-made folded special-stock paper delicacies. Many DIY artists and label-people have simple aesthetics based around their financial limitations; a lower budget usually costs a bit in impressiveness of appearance, but the money saved by simplifying package design can be used to release music more frequently, or for other projects. I have an interest in understanding different approaches to creative work. As long as the work comes from a genuine and specific place I’ll probably find it at least worth examining.
This CDR/tape/download is a truly excellent recording demonstrating all sorts of creative and technical prowess. That being said, it’s also presented in a remarkably unpretentious way. It’s adventurous and consistently engaging, while still being quite abstract and not the least bit catchy, unless you find certain tonal drones catchy. I rarely put in a recording and find it so impressive on a first listen. When this happens, the recording’s charm usually grows over time rather than fading." [Petriblog]
|
2015 |
€8.50 |
|
| BIONULOR |
same |
CD-R |
"The art of recycling adapted to music that is exactly what the musical project Bionulor does.
With loops from classical music the Polish musician recreates his own pieces.
Most pieces on the self-titled debut album are based on minimal samples of just one or a few notes. Most samples seem to originate from piano songs, but there are also some stringed instruments appearing.
In a way not uncommon to William Basinski we hear the loops fade in and out slowly changing their character during the progression. Though, the technique used here is not so much based on degradation and/or disintegration of sound. No, instead Bionulor uses a digital processing technique. In the pieces we hear soft filters and pitching to alter the sound. In several pieces the same source sounds are used but rendered with different effects delivering diverse results.
Sometimes it sounds a little bit too easy, but as a whole there is enough variation on the album to keep you listening.
As a debut album this self-titled album is a really good start, with a promise to a bright future for this musician. Looking forward to see the progress over the coming years." [Earlabs]
www.myspace.com/bionulor
|
2009 |
€8.50 |
|
| |
Sacred Mushroom Chant |
CD |
"Inspired by the work of such artists as Aube and William Basinski, Bionulor again rakes the past, looking like an alchemist for the most appropriate material for their work. "Sacred Mushroom Chant" is a record created solely on the basis of treatment of the human voice without additional sounds or instruments.
Each of the five tracks is based on a separate part of the sound source. Then the base is: an archival record of shamanic chant associated with the ceremony of taking hallucinogenic mushrooms, a Japanese traditional song extracted from a collection of old vinyl records, Neil Armstrong's walking on the lunar surface famous phrase, a fragment of an interview with Marcel Duchamp telling about his first ready-made, and finally the voice of the artist himself denouncing the sentence attributed to Hassan ibn Sabbah (“Nothing is true”).
Over 50 minutes of pure experimental music (mix of minimal, ambient and even noisy sounds) created on the basis of author's creative method called the "100% sound recycling." You will be really impressed when you realize that those tracks were crafted only with scraps of samples.
Cover art by Monika Machnik, mastered by Peter Andersson. Comes in 4-panel digipack." [label info]
www.wrotycz.com
|
2011 |
€12.50 |
|
| BIOSPHERE |
Wireless - Live Arnolfini, Bristol |
CD |
"Biosphere ist das Hauptprojekt des norwegischen Künstlers Geir Jenssen, der auf eine ansehnlich Discographie zurückblicken kann. "Microgravity" and "Patashnik", zwei weg- und stilbereitende Alben erschienen auf dem legendären R&S-Label in Belgien, prägten in diesem Kontext neben Alben von Aphex Twin, Carl Craig, Sun Electric und Ken Ishii den Begriff "Electronica" maßgeblich mit. Aus dem Album "Patashnik" wurde die Single "Novelty Waves" ausgekoppelt, die auch die Spots einer der Levis TV-Kampagnen untermalte.Remixes für bekannte Künstler wie Nicolette, James oder Frontline Assembly zeigten zwar weiterhin gleichsam das Interesse der Musikszene an seiner Kunst, aber auch Geir Jenssens Willen Musikstücke völlig nach seinen Vorstellungen zu transformieren.Live während des "Arnolfini" Festivals in Bristol, am 27.Oktober 2007 von Chris Watson aufgenommen. Er benutzte hierfür 2x Sony ECM 77s mit einem Nagra P11 Ares Flash Recorder. Gemixt, editiert und gemastered wurde das Stück final von BJNilsen in Berlin im März 2009.Dieses Konzert war Teil des "Touch 25 Live", die auch eine "Storm" Performance von Chris Watson & BJNilsen beinhaltete." [label info / Cargo ]
"... What we do know is that 'Wireless' is the first live album by Biosphere, one of the master minds of ambient music. Starting out in ambient techno (releasing a classic with 'Patashnik' in 1994), and then moving out of the techno, deeper into the land of ambient music, leaving off any pulses at some point. On 'Wireless' he returns to use pulses and rhythms: minimal but not in a click n cut sense. Warm, fourth world alike. which guide the soft synths, field recordings and, for the first time around the trumpet of Anders Karlskas. As such this live album is not a distinct break with the 'old' Biosphere, the one calm sound tapestries on 'Substrata' for instance, but it seems to have come to a full circle now. The more simple, rhythmic samples refer to what I can call Biosphere 'mark 1', but not as dance oriented, more trance inducing, lay down, sit back music, whereas the deep atmospheric textures of before are still part of it, that has become a trademark of Biosphere. Changes in the sound of Biosphere are small, but crucial. 'Wireless' is once again a refined ambient from one of the true masters of the genre." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.myspace.com/biosphereofficial
|
2009 |
€14.50 |
|
|
Shenzhou |
3 x LP |
Paul Cooper, Pitchfork: ""Shenzhou", aside from being the name of the Chinese manned-spaceflight vehicles, means "magic vessel", and I can't imagine a more apt description for Geir Jenssen's latest excursion into ambient deep listening. After following an Aphexian trajectory with his releases on Apollo, the ambient sublabel of Belgium's R&S; Records, Jenssen veered from the padded sci-fi-inspired techno of Microgravity and Patashnik with 1997's Substrata, a genre-defining exploration of drifting soundscapes. Substrata remains for many the album that perfectly expresses the serenity and intensity of Arctic wildernesses, a landscape Jenssen knows intimately, having spent much of his life in the Norwegian Arctic Circle.
In 2000, Jenssen nearly eclipsed the success of Substrata with Cirque, a frequently frosty submerging of excerpted conversations and found environmental sounds that rivals Wolfgang Voigt's Gas project in its rumbling, gauzy beauty. Jenssen again relies on found sound as source material for Shenzhou, but this time, the found sound is old vinyl recordings of the orchestral works of French Impressionist composer and ambient precursor, Claude Debussy. Jenssen lifts fragments of these scratched records in a similar manner as he did for Cirque's "Black Lamb Grey Falcon" and "Iberia Eterea".
The ten tracks (out of the dozen on the album) that follow this model all begin as a barely audible hum, like a small electrical transformer, out of which the dust-dappled loops of Debussy's woodwind, brass, and strings emerge, condense, and fade out into pink noise rustles. Unlike Steve Reich's phase pieces or Brian Eno's Discreet Music, though, Jenssen doesn't set his loops against each other to produce juxtapositions and piquant dissonance; he uses them to describe imagined terrain, at first glance monotonously flat and barren, but on concentration, replete with minute detailing. The overall effect of these pieces is a sense of immensity. The orchestral loops sound distant, abandoned in a vast wilderness, and strenuously battling against Arctic winds. Jenssen sets the listener down in this wilderness as an aloof observer, a witness to the music's futile struggles against entropic forces.
The two tracks not derived from Debussy share the same hypnotic aesthetic. The brief interlude "Bose-Einstein Condension" is a loop of piano chords lolloping in search of coherence, while "Gravity Assist" is a longer voyage into woofer-quaking low-frequency manipulation, bell-like drones, and contrails of subdued noise. I can't help but feel that these tracks fit awkwardly and break up the conceptual flow of the album. This, however, is a minor quibble given the power of this music. Shenzhou is unquestionably a magic vessel, but one that reveals its enchantment only to those who pay close attention."
|
2017 |
€36.00 |
|
|
The Senja Recordings |
do-LP |
The Senja Recordings is a collection of various outdoor recordings and studio improvisations recorded on the island of Senja, Arctic Norway, between 2015 and 2018. Biosphere is the main recording name of Geir Jenssen, a Norwegian musician who has released a notable catalog of ambient electronic music. He is well known for his works on ambient techno and arctic themed pieces, his use of music loops, and peculiar samples from sci-fi sources. His 1997 album Substrata (BIO 005LP/BIO 028CD) was voted by the users of the Hyperreal website in 2001 as the best all-time classic ambient album.
|
2019 |
€28.50 |
|
|
The Senja Recordings |
CD |
https://biosphere.bandcamp.com/album/the-senja-recordings
The Senja Recordings is a collection of various outdoor recordings and studio improvisations recorded on the island of Senja, Arctic Norway, between 2015 and 2018.
Boomkat: "Geir Jenssen yields a most Biosphere of Biosphere recordings with this new album recorded on a Norwegian island within the arctic circle
Leading on from recent years’ ‘Departed Glories’ and ‘Petrified Forest’, the 66 minute long and 17-track wide suite of ‘The Senja Recordings’ arguably amounts to the most significant Biosphere outing of this decade. Taking its title from Norway’s 2nd largest island, where it was conceived, the album features outdoor sounds and improvisations made during Jenssen’s stays between 2015-2018 and finds the artist more porous than ever to distorted, granular textures along with his trademark palette of elemental electronics. It’s essentially the artist getting closer than ever to his surroundings and cutting down the space between there and your ears.
From the sounds of it, one can only imagine Jenssen had a quietly blissful time making this record. There’s the expected darkness for sure, but it always resolves with strong pangs of isolationist melody, cropping up Conet Project-like in ’Strandby’; glowing like a dawn aurora behind a granite cliff in ‘Berg’; or harmonising with the birds and air in ‘Fjølhøgget’ and the Aeolian harp-like tones of his ‘Bergsbotn’ trio, so named after the small village facing out to harsh North Atlantic. factor in the natural yet unearthly sounds picked up by his hydrophone in ’Skålbrekka’, and the gloaming solitude of his sublime closer ‘Hå’, and you have a top class Biosphere album, if you like this sort of thing."
|
2019 |
€15.50 |
|
|
N-Plants |
do-LP |
"Geir Jenssen writes: Early February 2011: Decided to make an album inspired by the Japanese post-war economic miracle. While searching for more information I found an old photo of the Mihama nuclear plant. The fact that this futuristic-looking plant was situated in such a beautiful spot so close to the sea made me curious. Are they safe when it comes to earthquakes and tsunamis? Further reading revealed that many of these plants are situated in earthquake-prone areas, some of them are even located next to shores that had been hit in the past by tsunamis. A photo of Mihama made me narrow down my focus only to Japanese nuclear plants. I wanted to make a soundtrack to some of them, concentrating on the architecture, design and localizations, but also questioning the potential radiation danger (a cooling system being destroyed by a landslide or earthquake, etc). As the head of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said: the plants were so well designed that 'such a situation is practically impossible'. The album was finished on February 13th. On March 17th I received the following message from a Facebook friend: 'Geir, some time ago you asked people for a photo of a Japanese nuclear powerplant. Is this going to be the sleeve of your new coming album? But more importantly: how did you actually predict the future? Kind regards, David." [label info]
"Obviously we have to believe Geir Jenssen when he writes that in February he decided to make an album about Japanese post-war economic miracle, found a picture of a nuclear power plant, and wondered why so many are close to the sea, and what would happen if a tsunami would sweep the land? We know the answer by now. I assume Jenssen didn't make this story up as good line to sell a CD. Its been a while since we last heard Biosphere, a new work that is, as 'Patashnik' is still an ipod favorite here, and a work that breaks away, it seems, with the more recent ambient works. 'N-Plants' sees a return to the world of rhythm and that makes this quite a remarkable work. Biosphere going back to the world of dance music, although its hard to imagine people actually dancing to this. But if my crystal ball gazing is right, ambient house is soon to be on a revival trip, following the recent explosion in cosmic music, and then Biosphere can't do wrong. He plays here with the elements of cosmic music and adds nice minimalist beats to it. Loops of keyboard sounds, spiced with 4/4 minimal beats (more Cologne than Berlin) as well as layered drones of what might be more keyboards, or heavily processed field recordings, make up some great music, returning to his earlier music, but expanding it. Out are the voice samples, the beats are reduced to the bare minimum, the ambience is more to the foreground, making this another essential Biosphere record." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2020 |
€32.00 |
|
|
Shortwave Memories |
do-LP |
Iconic Norwegian producer and composer Biosphere follows up his evocative 'Angel's Flight' release with a new album set for release early in 2022. Shortwave Memories is an album inspired by the post-punk electronic music of the late 70's and early 80's, especially the productions of figures like Martin Hannett and Daniel Miller.
"The last few Biosphere albums have all been made using samples and software, but Shortwave Memories is a return to vintage analog hardware from the late 70s and early 80s. Most of these instruments do not have any presets or memory storage, so all the sounds were programmed from scratch. The idea was not so much to make music that sounds like it was written in the same period. It's more like what would happen if I had the chance to use the same instruments, and applied the same meticulous attention to detail as the producers mentioned above."
Presented as a continuous sonic journey, this stunning record unequivocally manifests a world of it's own and already feels like a timeless addition to the rest of the Biosphere catalogue.
https://biosphere.bandcamp.com/album/shortwave-memories
|
2022 |
€29.50 |
|
|
Substrata (Alternative) |
CD |
Substrata was the third studio album by the Norwegian electronic artist Biosphere, released 25 years ago by All Saints Records in London.
In 2016, Pitchfork ranked it at number 38 on its list of the 50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time.
Here are ten alternative versions picked from the Substrata recordings sessions that took place between 1995 and 1996.
David Stubbs´review of the original album in Melody Maker ,July 12th 1997:
Biosphere, aka Norwegian Geir Jenssen, is transmitting from a cold, polar outpost of the imagination. "Substrata" is the best ambient album I've heard in an ice age, an album of terrifying, desolate and all-enveloping beauty, the music of a man who's stared too long and too hard at the Northern lights, a music of distant rumbles, tremors underfoot, stray radio signals, yawning chasms and indistinct, grainy images in the half-light when the mind begins to play tricks. "Poa Alpina" reminds me of recent, frightening TV footage of vast chunks of iceberg cracking and falling away into the sea under the duress of global warming. As for "The Things I Tell You", imagine what Oasis would have sounded like had they been born Eskimos. "Sphere Of No Form" is shot through with a frantic peal like the Mayday song of the world's last whale and, best of all, "Kobresia" looms with a vast, mournful, symphonic motif, like the ghost of the Titanic. Chill out has never been this chilling.
https://biosphere.bandcamp.com/album/substrata-alternative-versions
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Inland Delta |
do-LP |
Biosphere is the main recording name of Geir Jenssen, a Norwegian musician who has released a notable catalogue of ambient electronic music. He is well known for his works on ambient techno and arctic themed pieces, his use of music loops, and peculiar samples from sci-fi sources. His 1997 album Substrata was voted by the users of the Hyperreal website in 2001 as the best all-time classic ambient album.
Inland Delta contains nine new musical pieces recorded from 2022 to 2023, featuring mainly improvised performances on newly restored vintage keyboards.
https://biosphere.bandcamp.com/album/inland-delta-2 |
2023 |
€26.50 |
|
| |
Inland Delta |
CD |
Biosphere is the main recording name of Geir Jenssen, a Norwegian musician who has released a notable catalogue of ambient electronic music. He is well known for his works on ambient techno and arctic themed pieces, his use of music loops, and peculiar samples from sci-fi sources. His 1997 album Substrata was voted by the users of the Hyperreal website in 2001 as the best all-time classic ambient album.
Inland Delta contains nine new musical pieces recorded from 2022 to 2023, featuring mainly improvised performances on newly restored vintage keyboards.
https://biosphere.bandcamp.com/album/inland-delta-2 |
2023 |
€15.50 |
|
| BIOTA |
Invisible Map |
CD |
Irgendwie isses Folkmusik, irgendwie isses Popmusik, aber ständig verschiebt sich der Grund in quasi halluzinogener Manier, der Boden wird einem regelrecht unter den Füssen weggezogen....schöne Folkmelodien und mehrstimmiger Gesang sind präsent, zum Teil scheint alles schwankend im Chaos zu versinken, aber plötzlich ist wieder alles im Lot ! Einfach geniales Zeug und nach wie vor nicht zu kategorisieren, was BIOTA, die Nachfolger der legendären MNEMONISTS, hier machen !
"If fans of Biota were shocked by the pop songs that appeared for the first time on the previous Biota release, Invisible Map is going to send them reeling. They are sung by Genevieve Heistek, from the same school of Montreal musicians who spawned Godspeed You Black Emperor. The songs provide a central point around which Biota hang their esoteric production ideas. Crazy shawms suddenly spurt out of the mix, unsteady tripping rhythms from the drums counterpoint interlocking guitars, and unsettling sound processing pushes the material to the edge of oblivion. The tracks were built up from solo accordion or rubab, drums and guitar, and the whole piece is woven into an ambiguous cinematic journey. Mixing and effects were applied in real time, 'by hand'. This gives a wonderful spontaneous feel to the music, and Biota have made an art out of accepting and working with freak accidental effects." [label info]
|
2001 |
€14.00 |
|
| BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL |
Seventh ruined hex |
CD |
"... Die Grundästhetik seiner Arbeit als Birchville Cat Motel speist sich dann auch aus einem starken, deutlich hörbaren Black Flag-Einfluss, der auffällig gut mit einigen Querverweisen an Drone Music und Power Electronics harmoniert. Unter der willkommenen Mitwirkung von Matthew Bower, der dem Rock unter anderem bereits mit Skullflower einst ein anderes, tatsächlich ungewohntes Gesicht verpasste, kreiert Kneale in diesem Spektrum auf »Seventh Ruined Hex« (Important Records) eine weitere hörenswerte Variation auf ein Themas, das zuletzt vielleicht etwas oft beackert wurde, um dauerhaft spannend zu bleiben. Mann muss ihm allerdings zu Gute halten, dass seine Layer aus Noise, angedeuteter Harmonie und purer Klangwand jederzeit überzeugend, durchdacht und manchmal sogar recht originell erscheinen." [Kai Ginkel / SPEX]
"A further step out in Birchville Cat Motel's ruminations on time/space distortion featuring the additional mystikal talents of fellow gravity destroyer, Matthew Bower (Hototogisu/Sunroof!). Seventh Ruined Hex presents like a lonesome planet, occasionally struck with super-sized fragments of space detritus, but for the most part, just hangs around, spinning on its axis and doing fuck-all. Strangely emotive for 'a buncha noise.' Like the deepest love, it's warm yet tenuous, and filled with the ever-present potential for loss and brutality. More in line with the estranged love tangle of the Birchville classic Chi Vampires than the most recent befuddling hyperspace rock overload of recent albums like Our Love Will Destroy the World and Birds Call Home their Dead. Features Matthew Bower, who has been known to put out a good album or two on a regular basis. Powerful." [label notes]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| BIRDS BUILD NESTS UNDERGROUND |
So As |
CD |
"So As is Birds Build Nests Underground’s first studio album after three years. It features four songs/compositions created exclusively with turntables and prepared vinyl records. The first of them, 'Sintordin,' is BBNU’s attempt to add something to the “jazz from hell” niche. And the idea of clashing marching bands... 'Ossifying Tongues' started, as the name implies, as a sonic description of the ossification of the mouth: the human voice material was slowly changing into white rhythmic and repetitive skeletons. However, over the years, the song has changed into a different kind of a monster and can be read as a comment on BBNU’s industrial/ambient past. 'Axe Loop' is a rock song – intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, instrumental break, chorus… somehow it is sixteen minutes long – after the band decided to leave out one verse. And finally there is 'Smoking Sun', a short interpretation of the band’s long-lost loop. New Romance meets clarinets on a nicely decorated dissecting table with some flowers in the pot. The fifth is a video track – a 10 minute part of BBNU’s performance from the autumn 2011, the day Freddie Mercury died. Martin Jezek shows his skills of 16mm improvisation here while Petr Ferenc and Michael Brunclík are locked in their favourite groove. The release arrives in a digipak and is limited. It is joint-released by BBNU's own Love Nest imprint." [label info]
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| BIRDS OF DELAY |
The Cut |
LP |
"you'll have to run thru a intense long brown tunnel before arriving at the best butcher in town! he'll cut your meat down to pure droned filet americain or preparé from the chef! bears and bowie lookalikes are huge fans, as this bird butcher sliced many famous animals since a young age. he grew from playing cards in the bar with the big nuts via pinching fags in the parc to a full blown fine line worker! spin him around and you get a conceptual artpiece, back to the old skool game of throwing cards on a table! poetics re-invented by dolle smurfen repeating the same word over and over again, until you eventually get it and snap, which usually takes a while. a perfect summer bummer for boiling brains and unusual double pleasure! classic tones, properly sliced feathers, and intense poetics. comes in a metalic green cover design of a spit and ink painting by d tyfus." [label info]
www.ultraeczema.com |
2010 |
€18.00 |
|
| BIRDS OF PASSAGE & LEONARDO ROSADO |
Dear and Unfamiliar |
LP |
"180gr Vinyl im Gatefold Sleeve auf 300 Stück limitiert. CD im Digipak. Ein minimalistisch-cinematischer Trip in den Bauch des experimentallen Dark Pop.
Nach dem von allen Seiten gelobten Debüt "Without The World" und ihrer ersten Europa Tour 2011 kehrt BIRDS OF PASSAGE ("der neue Stern am Himmel des Dark Pop") aus Neuseeland nun mit dem zweiten Akt zurück.
"Dear And Unfamiliar" ist ein cinematisches Konzeptalbum, das sie zusammen mit Leonardo Rosardo aus Portugal erschaffen hat.
Das Album ist ein vollfarbiger Soundtrack, der einen lebendigen Pfad durch die Düsternis der desolaten Melodien schneidet.
Geschichten vergessener Tragödien und unerwiderter Liebe befreien den Reisenden von Tagträumen des Unglücks und leiten den Wanderer durch die kontrastierenden Landschaften aus Dysphoria und Ekstase.
Gemastert von Nils Frahm mit Artwork von Bruno Merz. Das Album sollte Fans von COCTEAU TWINS und PORTISHEAD ebenso wie Fans von JONSI & ALEX oder ZOLA JESUS gefallen.
Glücklicherweise arbeitet Alicia schon an ihrem nächsten Soloalbum samt Single, auf der sie mit Aidan Baker (NADJA, INFINITE LIGHT LTD.) kollaboriert." [label info]
www.denovali.com
|
2011 |
€19.50 |
|
| BIXOBAL |
No. 5 (October 2008) |
mag |
Magazin aus dem (post)-ANOMALOUS RECORDS Umfeld, mit Artikel über die grossartigen ONDE!
"The No-Neck Blues Band's Dave Nuss recalls his time with The Source Family which led to the first Yahowa 13 performance in New York City and their new LP. An extensive interview with reformed Vancouver noise band Tunnel Canary by Allan MacInnis. A remembrance of Noggin violin player Michael Griffen by his friend Aaron Gorseth. A feature on the Belgian group Onde featuring former members of Noise-Maker's Fifes. A feature on the new label Assophon, home to The Sea Donkeys, Spider Trio and Factums. Eric Lanzillotta's reviews of vinyl, compacts discs, and books, both new and old. Patrick Marley's column Nickels and Dimes." |
2008 |
€3.00 |
|
| BJERGA / IVERSEN |
(Go with the Flow) like a Twig on the Shoulders on a mighty stream |
CD |
* BJERGA / IVERSEN - (Go with the Flow) like a Twig on the Shoulders of a mighty Stream CD (TIBProd 100, 2008) € 12.00
Zusammenstellung von 12 Stücken von dem norwegischen drone/noise/impro-Duo, die in den letzten Jahren mit ZIG CDR releases präsent waren. Ihre Drones sind nicht edel, harmonisch, oder grossartig strukturiert, sondern low-fi, dreckig, feedbackend, obertönend,
als Klangquellen kommen allerlei Instrumente, Objekte und Effektpedals zum Einsatz... das erinnert an ähnliche Sachen von MY CAT IS AN ALIEN oder BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL... als komprimierte Compilation ein kurzweiliger Überblick im Booklet ausführliche liner notes von Tobias Fischer (Tokafi).
".... A fine introduction into four years of hyper activity from two minds from the Nor-scene. Lots of guitars, lo-fi electronics, mild distortion, waving minimalism and lengthy drones, this is what their world is made off. Their selection is very fine, I'm pretty sure I would have picked similar pieces from their catalogue - the more quite lengthy drone pieces of buzzing electronics and fine guitars. I can imagine you can't collect all fifty previous releases, but if you need one, then why not this one?" [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.tibprod.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| BJERGA, SINDRE & FABIO ORSI |
Faded Brown and Grey |
CD |
"In October 2013 Orsi and Bjerga recorded a work of haunting beauty in the Extrapool studio. A delicate, precise mixture of Orsi's guitar playing and Bjerga's microcassettes, contact microphones captured in a myriad of electronics. Warm music, intense, yet also dark - like various shades of gray, brown and black. The cover features photographs by Fabio Orsi. Limited to 300 copies."
www.kormplastics.nl
"The Brombron project started in 2000 and is an initiative of Frans de Waard and Extrapool. Two musicians become artists in residence in Extrapool, a space for art in Nijmegen, the Netherlands and have the possibility to do recordings in a fully equipped sound recording studio. The collaboration between Fabio Orsi from Italy and Sindre Bjerga form Norway is a wonderful mix of beautiful sounds. Fabio Orsi is specialized in creating atmospheric drones by guitars, old keyboard and field-recordings. He released music all over the world and did collaboration with a lot of other musicians. Sindre Bjerga is active since mid-nighties and released more that 100 records on labels worldwide. He creates his drones by microcassettes and contact microphones in combination with a lot of electronics. The result is five intense pieces of music. The first track is a short fragile track with some fine sounds and is followed by a composition with an on-going tone and concrete sounds are coming up and fade away. The track develops into an electronic on-going changing sound layers and flows into a melancholic melody played on an electric guitar. The following droney track has the same concept of an on-going and slowly changing tone. The fourth track is a beautiful mix of several sound layers, which create a dark ambient atmosphere. Concrete sounds crack the threatening atmosphere and sphere changes to more chaotic and aggressive. The last track is very strong. The track starts in silence with a droney dark tone. The guitar of Orsi goes on and on and he plays louder and louder with a lot of intensity. The sounds of Bjerga like looping screams or a yelling mass guides the massive guitarsound. Great album, highly recommended for lovers of drones with a taste of experiment." [JKH/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€10.00 |
|
| BLACK DICE |
Creature Comforts |
CD |
Noch ein heisser Anwärter für den Seltsamkeits-award; super seltsame, surrealistische Hawai-gitarren, lazy beats, elektronische pulses, schwankend & leiernd der Sound, irgendwo befinden sich auch Stimmen (Gesang kann man das nicht nennen), kurzum: undefinierbar, unbewertbar, unergründlich. Einfach klasse schräg.
„Jim O’Rourke hat einmal so boshaft wie zutreffend bemerkt, dass es etwas anderes ist zu improvisieren oder nur improvisierte Musik zu spielen, sprich, sich selbst zu imitieren. Insofern muss man mit Creature Comforts (FATCD32) konstatieren, dass BLACK DICE keine BLACK DICE-Musik spielt, sondern BLACK DICE mit jedem Release neu erfindet. In radikaler Abkehr von der Voodoo-Psychedelic von Miles Of Smiles entfaltet ihre neue CD in unverhofft Miro’scher Heiterkeit eine elektropopig-surreale Skurrilität. Ausser dem Nenner „weird“ scheint die Bandästhetik komplett ausgetauscht. Ein flockiger Cartoon-Leichtsinn kapriolt durch acht Tracks, die aus vielen undichten Ventilen wie Gameboys dudeln und wie R2D2 zwitschern. Es eiert, loopt, wabert und schwip-schwapt auf sämtlichen Synthie-, Chorus- und vor allem Gitarrenspuren, die Percussionabteilung ist dafür weitgehend paralysiert. Das Ganze verhält sich zu Kraut wie Jad Fairs Best Wishes & Half Robot zu Punk. Heftige Dub-Effekte lassen 80s-Elektro-Trash abdriften in Richtung Mondo Exotica 2001 - Odyssee im Kinderzimmer. Vier 1-2-Minuten-Knirpse odradeken um die 6- bis 9-minütigen Freak-Epen „Treetops“, „Creature“ und „Night Flight“ und den viertelstündigen Monolithen „Skeleton“, ein tapsiges Schreckgespenst, durch dessen Rippen Gitarren und Synthies jämmerlich jaulen. Während man vorne ein Mona-Lisa-Lächeln geschenkt bekommt, steigen auf der Rückseite hinter den sieben Bergen Sprechblasen wie Rauchzeichen auf. Genau dazwischen, in der Hirnrisszone, inszenieren BLACK DICE ihr Happening, das die Nerven etlicher Mucker blank legt: „Lärmbelästigung!“ „Hirnmüll“ direkt aus der Klapse... bekloppte Katastrophe für unmusikalische Gefühlsambutierte“... „Musik von und für Nerds.“ (Intro-„Probefahrt“) Köstlich. [BAD ALCHEMY 44]
"This is the official follow-up to their DFA debut CD and Double LP Beaches & Canyons. It finds the band pushing in yet another direction, at once unmistakably Black Dice, and noticeably different. Recorded with Steve Revitte (Liars, Kill Me Tomorrow), the DFA & Nicolas Vernhes (Fisherspooner, Fiery Furnaces). Venturing further into their own psychedelic, increasingly electronic world, Creature Comforts is as expansive, experimental and structurally unique as its predecessor, but there is a new sense of playfulness and accessibility mixed with naïve wonder and not-quite-steady rhythms. It is hazy, dreamy, but they have suddenly emerged as a band with an untouchably original terrain, mixing dub, tropicalia and the entire history of psychedelic rock music into one heady concoction." [press release]
|
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
| BLACK GLASS ENSEMBLE |
Arise from the Twilight |
CD |
Note. These recordings combine signals from mixing desk output and ambient microphone placement. Elements of the performance were conducted with no amplified signal. Consequently, these brief passeages appeared only on the ambient signal and are correspondingly quiet.
Acknowledgements:
Evan Henderson and colleagues, the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh; Alison Johnson, the Coach House, Athelstaneford
Black Glass Ensemble acknowledge with gratitude the assistance of Creative Scotland, Help Musicians UK, Hope Scott Trust
credits
released November 6, 2020
Michael Begg; witness engines, data, electronics, keyboard, erosions
Douglas Caskie; tuned and bespoke percussion
Jen Cuthbertson; French horn
Neil Cuthbertson; trumpet
Clea Friend, cello, voice
Julia Lungu; violin
Aisling O’Dea; violin
Ben Ponton; VLF receiver, electronics, field recordings, lapsteel guitar, forensics
Nicole M Boitos Hayworth; voice (narration) track 2
Clodagh Simonds; voice (celestial vocal clusters) track 4
https://omnempathy.bandcamp.com/album/arise-from-the-twilight
"The first full length release from award winning experimental composer Michael Begg’s groundbreaking ensemble captures the group’s debut performance at Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall in the final days before lockdown.
Black Glass, comprises members of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra alongside Begg and fellow experimental artist, Ben Ponton (:zoviet*france:). Here, they invoke an immersive and deeply moving medium of ambient sound in which processed electronics, field recordings, atmospheric receivers and live sonified streaming data from environmental and earth observation agencies combine with elegiac passages of strings, brass and tuned percussion to realise Begg’s vision of a new music that speaks to our growing sense of solastalgia*
* the term combining solace and pain, coined by philosopher Glenn Albrecht in 2005 to articulate the sense of existential distress caused by living through environmental change.
As musical director, Begg provides his troupe with both scores and the encouragement and support which enables the world class players to step out of their comfort zone and into an uncharted territory requiring them to improvise with satellite positional data, live weather systems, audio streams of calving glaciers – not to mention the experience of having their playing captured and returned to them live as processed loops.
Arise From The Twilight captures the realisation of one of the most compelling new fusions of contemporary classical and experimental music of recent times."
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
| BLACK OX ORKESTAR |
Ver Tanzt ? |
LP |
Wer auf „osteuropäische“ Harmonien steht, muss hier zugreifen !! Das BLACK OX ORKESTAR ist ein Bandprojekt mit Musikern der Montrealer Szene von SILVER MOUNT ZION, GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPOROR und SACKVILLE, das seit 1999 besteht und osteuopäische & jüdische Klezmer-Musik mit Indie-Rock und FreeJazz-Einflüssen verbindet. Lyrics werden auf Jiddisch gesungen. Melancholische Leidenschaft pur!
“Black Ox Orkestar is a Montreal based quartet formed in 1999
The band features:
* Thierry Amar (double-bass) (Silver Mount Zion/ Godspeed You! Black Emperor/ Molasses)
* Jessica Moss (Violin, bass clarinet) (Silver Mount Zion/ Frankie Sparo)
* Gabe Levine (clarinet, guitar) (Sackville)
* Scott Levine Gilmore (vocals, mandolin, cymbalon, drums, ecc)
(Silver Mount Zion)
The Black Ox Orkestar songs filter the traditional Klezmer tunes through punk rock and free jazz, borrowing turkish/balkan/greek idioms. They are a hypnotic blend of Eastern European songbooks along with some traditional klezmer compositions. Scott Levine Gilmore and Gabe Levine also perform in "Le Petit Theatre de l'Absolu" a political theatre and puppet show. They have toured in occupied territories and have performed in Canada and in USA, France and Spain. Nowadays Klezmer music transcends its Jewish folk roots: Balkans and blues, ancient Jewish culture and prayer and history, spirit, punk rock, and jazz all mixed together and enjoyed by people of all cultures. (Klezmer in english means "instrument of song").
The lyrics are in Yiddish and concern past and current political issues. Yiddish was the language that the Eastern European Jews brought with them when they emigrated to America. At the beginning of the 20th century there were many Yiddish language newspapers and an important Yiddish tradition in theatre. Today it's hardly used as an everyday language but has left its impact on on the speech of the American Jews.
The lyrics of the song "Toyte Goyes in Shineln" are by the poet Itzik
Feffer who belonged to the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC) and was murdered by Stalin's decree in 1952.
The album is available on CD and 180g vinyl formats, each in lovely
chipboard packaging and both featuring an 8-page booklet. The front cover artwork is an ancient kabbalistic icon and the back cover is original art by Scott Levine Gilmore.
The booklet contains historical and original images, and translation f
the lyrics "Ver Tanzt?" ("Who's dancing?"). On the back of the booklet is a prophetic message from Gershom Schol (one of the most famous researchers of the Jewish mystical tradition and the Kabbala) to Franz Rosenzweig (most influential figure of 20th century European and North American Judaism) dated 26 December 1926.” [press release]
|
2004 |
€16.50 |
|
| |
Ver Tanzt ? |
CD |
Wer auf „osteuropäische“ Harmonien steht, muss hier zugreifen !!
Das BLACK OX ORKESTAR ist ein Bandprojekt mit Musikern der Montrealer Szene von SILVER MOUNT ZION, GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPOROR und SACKVILLE, das seit 1999 besteht und osteuopäische & jüdische Klezmer-Musik mit Indie-Rock und FreeJazz-Einflüssen verbindet. Lyrics werden auf Jiddisch gesungen. Melancholische Leidenschaft pur!
“Black Ox Orkestar is a Montreal based quartet formed in 1999
The band features:
* Thierry Amar (double-bass) (Silver Mount Zion/ Godspeed You! Black Emperor/ Molasses)
* Jessica Moss (Violin, bass clarinet) (Silver Mount Zion/ Frankie Sparo)
* Gabe Levine (clarinet, guitar) (Sackville)
* Scott Levine Gilmore (vocals, mandolin, cymbalon, drums, ecc)
(Silver Mount Zion)
The Black Ox Orkestar songs filter the traditional Klezmer tunes through punk rock and free jazz, borrowing turkish/balkan/greek idioms. They are a hypnotic blend of Eastern European songbooks along with some traditional klezmer compositions. Scott Levine Gilmore and Gabe Levine also perform in "Le Petit Theatre de l'Absolu" a political theatre and puppet show. They have toured in occupied territories and have performed in Canada and in USA, France and Spain. Nowadays Klezmer music transcends its Jewish folk roots: Balkans and blues, ancient Jewish culture and prayer and history, spirit, punk rock, and jazz all mixed together and enjoyed by people of all cultures. (Klezmer in english means "instrument of song").
The lyrics are in Yiddish and concern past and current political issues. Yiddish was the language that the Eastern European Jews brought with them when they emigrated to America. At the beginning of the 20th century there were many Yiddish language newspapers and an important Yiddish tradition in theatre. Today it's hardly used as an everyday language but has left its impact on on the speech of the American Jews.
The lyrics of the song "Toyte Goyes in Shineln" are by the poet Itzik
Feffer who belonged to the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC) and was murdered by Stalin's decree in 1952.
The album is available on CD and 180g vinyl formats, each in lovely
chipboard packaging and both featuring an 8-page booklet. The front cover artwork is an ancient kabbalistic icon and the back cover is original art by Scott Levine Gilmore.
The booklet contains historical and original images, and translation for the lyrics "Ver Tanzt?" ("Who's dancing?"). On the back of the booklet is a prophetic message from Gershom Schol (one of the most famous researchers of the Jewish mystical tradition and the Kabbala) to Franz Rosenzweig (most influential figure of 20th century European and North American Judaism) dated 26 December 1926.” [press release]
|
2004 |
€16.00 |
|
| BLACK SUN PRODUCTIONS & VAL DENHAM |
Somewhere between Desire and Despair |
CD |
"After a couple of collaborations on tracks, Black Sun Productions finally get together with Val Denham for a full length release. Val Denham might be best known for her paintings that have appeared on releases by Marc and the Mambas, Psychic TV... but over the past few years she has been releasing short-run CD-Rs of her lo-fi sounds. Homosexual overtones inform much of Black Sun Productions material but with Val Denham, a transgendered figure, the focus moves on to a new form of sexuality.
Somewhere Between Desire and Despair opens with the haunting atmospheric drone of 'A Tale of Two Cities' with Denham reciting lines from Charles Dickens. From then on much of the first half of Somewhere Between Desire and Despair flirts with various forms of electronic music. It's clear from 'Cobalt Blue' that Massimo and Pierce haven't forgotten their past association with Coil, as it picks up on the rhythmic shuddering Coil-like electronics with Denham's voice pitched deep and treated, alongside passages of sped-up processed vocals. Val Denham is something of a character and, at times, she sounds like a Northern housewife reared on a diet of glam records. 'Stars', a Denham collaboration with Testing Vault, goes all downbeat with dark electronics, featuring Denham's idiosyncratic take on a pop vocal. Denhams' voice is almost helium-fuelled on the disco-chug of 'We Are The Hydrogen'. 'Eat Us Mother!' foregoes the electronics for a surprisingly sparkly run through post-punk dynamics. Denham picks up on a rock persona teasing the listener with her shrieky and screechy vocal careering over booming bass and discordant guitar scrapes from her longtime collaborator Oli Novadniek.
Things slow down in the next half with a collection of evocative tracks, much in the vein of Black Sun Productions fantastic OperettAmoralle. The disorientating queasy electronics of 'Absinthe' has Denham relating a tale of alcohol abuse, evoking the Green fairy alongside some effective harmonium and harmonica drone. Many of the tracks here use mournful orchestration taken from a track called 'Morphium' - though the source isn't given. 'Andromeda' taps into the mind of the transgendered artist. It's almost poetic as Denham delivers a spoken vocal in her homely Northern tones. Much more poignant is 'Flowers In The Trenches' which tells of transgendered and transexual soldiers who fought in WWI. Amidst sombre strings and military snare drum rolls Denham speaks of those unnamed and forgotten soldiers who were, in fact, "women in their heads" fighting in another "man-made catastrophe" and "suffered for nothing". Enlightening stuff.
Val Denham really shines on the campy theatrics of 'I Try To Kill The Man' over the Weimar Berlin cabaret sounds of 'Das Lila Lied', an early 20th century homosexual anthem, here performed by the Ophelia Orchestra. Similarly 'Emerald Green' uses the score of Marlene Dietrich's 'Such Trying Times'. Denham is finely positioned to evoke the decadence, sexual transgression and dark wit with her sarcasm and style. Black Sun Productions have, of course, produced their own musical tribute on the works of Bertolt Brecht to tremendous effect and Denham's contributions don't disappoint.
Somewhere Between Desire and Despair is much more fun-filled than previous Black Sun Productions. It strikes a balance between electronic music and cabaret music, and a balance between poignancy and absurdity. It's not the most coherent release, partly due to the varied list of collaborators, but Val Denham manages to carry it all off with a verve and panache, informed by her strength of character, her honesty and humour. Somewhere Between Desire and Despair comes in a 6-panel digipak with wonderful representations of Val Denham's artwork."
[Review by Compulsion]
www.touretterecords.com
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| BLACK TO COMM |
Rückwärts Backwards |
CD |
“Black To Comm is an alias for Dekorder label owner Marc Richter's audio excursions. "Rückwärts Backwards" is his debut full-length album recorded between 2003 and 2005 in his adopted hometown Hamburg and his childhood home in the Black Forest located in the south of Germany. With a background in many musical styles (from Psychedelia to pure Computer Music) BTC's music is never easy to pin down.
This album is essentially created from scratchy shellac and vinyl loops merged with ambience field recordings (with some voice manipulations and kitchen gamelan thrown in for good measure). The warm hiss of analogue recording techniques combined with the apparently antique sounds of vintage organs, acoustic & electric guitars, pianos, glockenspiel and mbira used on these tracks generate a kind of hyperreal, fake nostalgia playing with one's perception of a pseudo-recollection. The layering and hypnotic repetition of short loops extracted from old Psychedelia, Free Jazz, Vaudeville and Traditional records reveal a haunting melodic quality sometimes not distinguishable within the original source material, evoking a hovering feeling of bittersweet melancholy with an omnipresent, slightly disturbing atmosphere hidden beneath the surface.The 8 songs constantly sway back and forth between simple, almost naive arrangements and dense surreal drones with rare, yet intense distorted climaxes making this album one constantly absorbing listening experience.” [label info]
“First of all this CD is beautifully packaged with a tri-fold disc holder. Each picture bears its own character (blurry forest with handscrawled text, a sleeping cat, and what appears to be an old wallpaper pattern) But on to the music. Black to Comm (aka Marc Richter who also runs Dekorder) knows how to keep it short and sweet with 8 songs clocking in at under 37 minutes. Ruckwarts Backwards opens with the aptly titled 'Bees' some gentle buzzing of said insect is later accompanied by some child-like hums, this gives way to the second song 'Levitation' which is a gentle soundscape of rising and falling organ tones backed by a field recording. 'Lucifer Lacca' ushers in an operatic vocal loop that reaches crescendo and ends with another bit of children's singing. The feel is still subdued and continues throughout the record, I'm reminded at times of Tape, not so much in sound but in how I feel while listening to them. The title track is a series of interlocking vibraphone melodies that
are augmented by computer processing. The computer treatments are more of an enhancement rather than something that would radically alter the source sounds. Track 5 is my personal favorite with a minimalist and slightly buzzing drone that cross-fades with a quieter drone. The remainder of the album hits just the right drone spot! Minimal loops with a somber feel, that guides you right to the end. The credits list microphones, voice, and kitchen gamelan, and Marc is good at assembling seemingly unrelated segments into gently blurred landscapes that roll by with an ease and comfort. In a few words..... simple, and elegant. Ruckwarts Backwards follows a self titled 10" also on Dekorder. Very curious to hear to more from this project” [CJ / Vital Weekly]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Fractal Hair Geometry |
CD |
"Black To Comm is the solo venture of Dekorder label boss Marc Richter. Having released two and a half albums on his own label he is slowly establishing himself as one of the more prolific drone artists out there with a forthcoming album on the American Digitalis label, a collaborative CD with Datashock on Ikuisuus, a 7" on the Irish Trensmat label and a collaboration with Xela in the works.
"Fractal Hair Geometry" is Richter's most refined and original work to date, picking up where the electrifying drone works of his monumental Double-LP left off. Like the last records this album is centered around recordings of a variety of vintage organs. While "Wir können leider..." often featured pure harmonium sounds and spacious recordings of chuch organ and mellotron, the new album opts for a more electronic, effects-laden sound, sending an old Farfisa Compact Deluxe and Casio SK-5 through an armada of analogue & digital effects pedals. The results are massive one-chord drones layered into dense & ecstatic, flickering & pulsating clusters of psychedelic electronic sound. Additional wordless vocal effects, hyperventilating & sizzling drum machines and hypnotic violin and guitar noises make for a hyperactive sound that never stands still even though most of the music is pure drones (sometimes consisting of more than 50 recording layers). Decidedly simple but gorgeous melodies shine through the mist from time to time, making a Black To Comm record always much more accessible than your average drone album.
There's even a heavy 4/4 bass drum smuggled into a track dedicated to the late Leigh Bowery, one of the most enigmatic creative figures of the mid-80's UK club scene (and singer of Minty).
Guests include Jonna Karanka (aka Kuupuu) on piano, Guido Möbius on trumpet and current Black To Comm (live) band members Renate Nikolaus on violin and Ulf Schütte (of Datashock, Aosuke, etc.) adding electronic sounds.
Along the lines of the music, seminal German artist Oliver Ross has created a massive multi-layered neon-coloured collage artwork which is printed on special ultra-heavy cardboard stock." [label info]
"..Chanted vocals, whirring organs, mysterious shimmers, squiggly melodies, buzzing Theremins, electronic glitches, analog synths, wheezing harmoniums, and those are just guesses, cuz just like that museum exhibit, it's difficult to tell what the source sounds are. We also didn't try that hard. It's like trying to peek under the table to see how a magician does a trick. We don't want to know. It's more fun
to get lost in these mysterious sounds. One track even introduces a muted techno throb, and for a brief second it sounds like the weirdest
record Kompakt never released. It's really hard to describe this stuff, which is probably why we like it so much, check out the sound
samples, and hear for yourself!" [Aquarius Records review]
www.dekorder.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Alphabet 1968 |
CD |
"Marc Richter alias Black To Comm ist kein Newcomer auf dem Feld der elektronischen Musik. Als Kopf des in Hamburg ansässigen Labels Dekorder hat der Musiker und Designer die Musikfans schon mit zahllosen Kuriositäten beglückt, mit seinen eigenen Kompositionen machte er allerdings am meisten Furore. Richter ist ein Pionier auf seinem Gebiet: Mit Bandschleifen, alten Orgeln und einer Flut zufällig gefundener Sounds schuf er einen ganz eigenen, organischen Drone-Sound. Mit "Alphabet 1968" indes bewegt sich Richter eher hin zu klassischen Mustern, hin zu Songs (in Ermangelung eines besseren Begriffs). Kurze Stücke, die für ihn Meilensteine repräsentieren, die ihn wiederum an seine Lieblingsplatten erinnern. So entstanden zehn
atemberaubende Songs, die über 45 Minuten Weltmusik, Techno, Noise, Avantgarde, Ambient und sogar Exotica streifen, die Reverenzen reichen dabei von Moondog über Basic Channel bis zum Soundtrackkomponisten Bernard Herrmann. Jedes Stück ist mit elektrostatischem Radiorauschen unterlegt, das einen durch das Album wie auf einer alten Senderskala wandern lässt. // A sprawling epic of a record from Hamburg's omnipresent Marc Richter.
Marc Richter (aka Black to Comm) is no newcomer to the experimental music scene. As the figurehead of the Hamburg-based Dekorder label, the musician and designer has brought countless oddities to the attention of rabid music fans in the last few years, but it is with his own compositions that he has made the biggest splash. Releasing for a plethora of labels including Digitalis, Trensmat and of course his own imprint, he has pioneered a new, organic drone sub-genre using tape loops, vintage organs and an inexhaustible swamp of found sounds. With this latest album however, it was Richter’s intention to move away from the epic drones he had made his own and into something more ‘classic’.
The mission statement for ‘Alphabet 1968’ was to write an album of ‘songs’ for want of a better word. Short tracks which represented genre points, the milestones which stuck in Richter’s mind when he thought back to his favourite records. What we arrive at is an breathtaking ten track album which, over the course of forty-five minutes, explores world music, techno, noise, avant-garde, ambient music and even exotica. Each track is linked with a loose thread of radio static or environmental sound, dragging you through the album as if tuning in to a stray broadcast or a particularly adventurous mix.
Richter has pieced the album together from hours of recordings made at his studio with home made gamelan, small instruments and loops gathered from a collection of ancient vinyl and 78 records. The scope of the album is admirable but ignoring this it is simply a shockingly arresting collection of experimental oddities, with references ranging from Moondog to Basic Channel by way of the Bernard Herrmann. It’s not hard to fall in love with ‘Alphabet 1968’, far harder would be to place exactly where the record should fit into your collection." [label info]
www.typerecords.com
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
|
same |
do-LP |
"Hamburg’s Marc Richter has been busy since his last Type appearance (2009’s genre-bending and critically acclaimed Alphabet 1968). Aside from helming the prolific Dekorder imprint, he’s put out a number of musical curios, including 2012’s excellent film soundtrack EARTH. Now Richter is back with Alphabet 1968’s proper followup , a sprawling double album pieced together with crumbling samples, vocal snippets and an arsenal of noise generators and filters.
Richter’s material has always been characterized by an air of surrealism, but it’s never been more obvious than on the the pulsing, chattering opener ‘Human Ghidrah’ or in the delirious fractured pop of ‘Hands’. There are real songs in hidden somewhere, but disintegrated by Richter’s sound manipulation techniques and dissolved into soupy extended drone marathons. The centerpiece is undoubtedly ‘Is Nowhere’, which builds slowly over 20 minutes with rumbling organ sounds and buzzing filters, never budging your attention for a second.
Black To Comm is a deeper, more challenging record than its predecessor, but one which repays the patient listener. Richter’s dusty, unique sound has never sounded more well-honed and pointed, and it’s a patchwork of ideas and fragments that only improves over time." [label info]
www.typerecords.com
|
2014 |
€23.50 |
|
| |
Oocyte Oil & Stolen Androgens |
LP |
"The music of Black To Comm is as powerfully intoxicating as it is subtly unnerving. The solo project of shapeshifting German producer and sound artist Marc Richter, his mastery of sonic manipulation is matched only by his astounding clarity of vision. Oocyte Oil and Stolen Androgens applies Richter's wild imagination to an exploration of the human voice, standing as some of his most immediate and affecting music to date. Each of his phantasmagoric works is meticulously constructed from an omnivorous array of smudged samples and other sonic detritus, painstakingly collected by Richter from across the history of recorded music or his immediate environment and altered into beguiling new shapes. Sound sources seem tantalizingly familiar and yet often just out of reach, flickering at the edges of the subconscious. Oocyte Oil & Stolen Androgens compiles new evolutions of pieces written for site-specific installations alongside original works. Taken as a suite, it offers a transfixing survey of the full sonic potential of the voice while honing in on its emotional and human qualities. Remarkably, considering their origin as art installations, the five tracks compiled on Oocyte Oil & Stolen Androgens stand as some of Richter's most concise and immediate work. In reimagining the pieces for release, Ritcher explains that he "wanted to break away from the notion that pieces for art have to be atonal, or abstract, or difficult". It stands as a testament to the evocative power of his work that even removed from their original context, Richter's synaesthetic compositions alone give a vivid sense of three-dimensional space and narrative. Like psychoactive chemicals blossoming in the stomach, pieces burst and bloom from the recordings into physical space, grounded in the familiar but drifting through alternate realities and higher states of consciousness. In resampling and re-working his own material, Richter actively embraces the inherently liminal and temporal nature of music, each piece existing in a state of constant flux that shifts and bends to suit the myriad contexts in which it is experienced."
https://blacktocomm.bandcamp.com/album/oocyte-oil-stolen-androgens
|
2020 |
€26.00 |
|
| BLACK TO COMM / AOSUKE |
same |
LP |
"....THE TWO BRAND NEW TRACKS BY BLACK TO COMM ARE CONTINUING THE MASSIVE ORGAN/VOICE DRONE ALCHEMY OF THE LAST DOUBLE-LP WHILE REFINING AND PERSONALIZING HIS SOUND, REACHING NEW HEIGHTS OF BLAZING SONIC MYSTICISM. AOSUKE HAVE DECIDED TO HOME-RECORD THEIR NEW MATERIAL, CONTINUING THEIR LOOP-ORIENTED, MONOTONE YET HIGHLY MELODIC AMBIENT JOURNEYS. WORKING WITH REPETITION AND SMALL ABSTRACTIONS, ALL INSTRUMENTAL "LOOPS" ARE PLAYED BY HAND AND RECORDED LIVE WITHOUT OVERDUBS (ONE OF THE MAIN PRINCIPLES OF THE GUITAR/ELECTRONICS DUO), CREATING SURPRISINGLY CONCRETE DORMANT AND SOMNAMBULISTIC SOUNDSCAPES WHILE FORTUNATELY COMPLETELY LACKING THE WASHY AND DROWSY EFFECTS OF MOST AMBIENT MUSIC.
BLACK TO COMM IS THE ONE-MAN PROJECT OF MARC RICHTER WHO IS THE BRAIN BEHIND THE DEKORDER LABEL AS WELL. SO FAR HE HAS RELEASED TWO ALBUMS ON HIS OWN LABEL ("RÜCKWÄRTS BACKWARDS" AND "WIR KÖNNEN LEIDER NICHT ETWAS MEHR ZU TUN..."). AOSUKE IS THE DUO OF TOBERT KNOPP AND ULF SCHÜTTE, THE LATTER BEING A LABEL HEAD AS WELL (TAPE TEKTONIKS). LAST YEAR THEY HAVE RELEASED THEIR DEBUT "MONOTONE SPIRITS" ALBUM CO-RELEASED BY HAMBURG'S AUDIOLITH LABEL AND SOUTH GERMANY'S MEUDIADEMORTE LABEL." [label info]
"...A nearly sidelong track that begins with a wavering Goblin-y synth, that buzzes warmly and endlessly, an epic stretch of near static drone, drenched in overtones and subtly flickering variations in texture, and surrounded on all sides by distant barely audible scifi melodies and field recordings. Eventually this synthdrone is joined by another tone, this one more grinding and distorted, that slowly builds and builds along side the first, the intensity growing and growing as well as the volume, and the various surrounding sonic events seem much more frenzied, until everything levels off in some sort of Niblock style drone, the various layers beating against one another, notes and tones shifting subtly, the sound seemingly alive, flecked with shards of melody and bits of buzz and swirling effects. It's a glorious sound that enraptures and entrances, eventually, fading out and releasing the listener from their glorious trance. The side finishes off with a brief coda of humid late night soundscaping, the sound of the moors, or the plains, some mysterious dark emptiness, droning and ominous, with creepy reverbed vocals and all sorts of night sounds tangled up in the track's undulating shimmer. The flip side features a group called Aosuke, who we weren't all that familiar with, but whose sounds are as dark and gorgeous and Black To Comm's. But where BtC focus on sound and drone, Aosuke focus on melody as much as texture, with guitar being the focal point, a blissy soft focus guitar ambience, crystalline notes drifting through clouds of space-y effects and strange processed and blurred vocals, it sounds almost like how you might imagine a Durutti Column record on Morr Music might sound. Organic melodies, natural sounds, all tangled up in strange electronic soundscapes, very meditative, a little krautrocky at times, and so so pretty." [Aquarius]
www.dekorder.com
|
2007 |
€12.50 |
|
| BLACKSHAW, JAMES |
Litany of Echoes |
CD |
"Initially inspired by the guitarists of the '60s Takoma label to teach himself fingerpicking, London-based musician James Blackshaw writes pieces primarily for solo 12-string guitar that share more in common with the minimalist works of composers such as Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Charlemagne Palestine, as well as French composers Claude Debussy and Erik Satie, than the blues/raga influence of his peers. Using drones, overtones and repeating patterns alongside a strong inclination for melody, Blackshaw creates instrumental music that is both intelligent, hypnotic and unashamedly sentimental. Litany of Echoes, Blackshaw's sixth studio album in five years, shows a more mature, focused and, on the whole, accessible approach to composition. While the album often feels darker and more introspective in nature than on previous releases, many of the songs have a huge-sounding, classical quality to them. With Blackshaw adding some glistening piano work for the first time and Fran Bury returning to play swarms of sweeping string parts for violin and viola, Litany of Echoes is a truly original, affecting and timeless album from a guitarist/composer coming into his own." [press release]
"With each new James Blackshaw release, we're always amazed at how someone who works within such a small musical framework can continuously exceed our expectations. Definitely a favorite among favorites of solo guitarists, Blackshaw has bulked up his arsenal of compositional approaches by introducing for the first time the use of piano as a key element. Bookending the album are two long form pieces of solo piano in a minimalist style that remind us of Charlemagne Palestine or Lubomyr Melnyk. When the twelve string is first heard on the second track, it's not before we're set up with a foundation of resonant timbres of violin and viola (played by Fran Bury) that give
weight to the airy modal improvisations of the guitar. Adding subtle layers of richness and dynamics, the strings ground and support the ringing overtones of the 12 string creating complex harmonies to the pulsating melodies. We can't imagine we'll ever tire of hearing Blackshaw's shimmering textural pieces. Amazing how sound so deep, dark, damp and resonant can be so transcendentally uplifting." [Aquarius Records review]
www.tompkinssquare.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
|
The Glass Bead Game |
LP + CD |
"I'm extremely pleased to announce that James Blackshaw will now be releasing his absolutely spellbinding music via Young God Records. He has received attention as a 12-string guitar prodigy / virtuoso. He used to be in punk bands in England, but then he started listening to people like John Fahey, Robbie Basho, etc., and I assume locked himself in a room for 12 hours a day for several years and just played constantly. It takes intense discipline and a religious commitment to get to the place where he's at with his instrument. But his music isn't about his "skill." It's not showy. It's deeply meditative--the secret language of a pre-thought, pre-dream place. "Blackshaw plays soulful and kaleidoscopic, ever-shifting mantra cycles of incredible beauty. Just his guitar by itself, with its swirling overtones, cascading notes, and a thousand points of light, resembles an orchestra, but with further orchestration--piano, strings, wind, and vocals--the music is positively cinematic and mesmerizing. "The 18-minute-plus gem on this record is 'Arc,' performed on piano with the sustain pedal on full throttle. The rush of sound created by the overtones from Heaven, augmented by strings and wind, when played at proper (full) volume, is one of the most thrilling pieces of music I've heard in years. It takes a rare and single-minded courage and commitment to make music with such a powerfully positive force at its heart, especially in these troubled times. This is healing music that reaches for what's possible, just beyond our grasp. It is stellar... "Blackshaw is joined on this record by Joolie Wood (Current 93, Simon Finn) on violin, clarinet, and flute, and John Contreras (Baby Dee and Current 93) on cello. Lavinia Blackwall (Directing Hand) is a classically trained singer and contributed vocals." [Michael Gira/Young God Records]
"... We totally love how his style and aesthetic remains intact, whether he’s sitting at the piano or with a guitar on his knee, his close attention to detail and use of hypnotic, emotionally captivating melodies shines throughout. Notes flickering and shimmering about as overtones soar above like clouds.
There’s so much about this record that you can get fully wrapped up in, so much detail it would be impossible to absorb it all in just one listen. We’ve already been listening to Glass Bead Game for over a week, and still new details keep popping out of the woodwork. And to top it off, beautifully fitting, earth-toned artwork of various birds of prey perfectly adorns the album with some magical visual hex. By far our favorite Blackshaw album to date and quite possibly his best, highly and fully recommended!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2009 |
€17.00 |
|
|
Celeste |
CD |
"Re-issue)Guitarist/composer James Blackshaw?s 2007 Tompkins Square album, The Cloud of Unknowing, received "Top 50 Albums of the Year? honors from Pitch-fork and Wire Magazine. Fresh off a U.S. and UK tour with Jose Gonzalez, and a bevy of year-end praise from the blogosphere to The New York Times, Tompkins Square reissues four catalog titles previously only available as tiny, limited edition CDR pressings. "Mr. Blackshaw plays 12-string acoustic guitar, picking endlessly circling, intertwining arpeggios: stately, tolling ones on the lower strings and faster ones, verging on tremolo, up above. Yet what usually emerges from the welter of notes is not bustle but tranquillity. The music has the same contemplative scope that turns countless tiny daubs into a Monet water lily." - Jon Pareles, The New York Times, Dec 31, 2007 www.myspace.com/jamesblackshaw"
[label info]
www.tompkinssquare.com
|
2007 |
€14.50 |
|
| |
Fantômas: Le Faux Magistrat |
do-LP |
"In celebration of the centenary of Louis Feuillade's Fantomas silent film series, James Blackshaw was invited by Yann Tiersen to perform a live score to the fifth and final film, Le Faux Magistrat, at the beautiful and prestigious surroundings of the Theatre de Chatelet, Paris on October 31, 2013. Fantomas -- a master of disguise and symbol of terror -- is one of the most popular characters in French crime fiction, as well as a favorite with the avant-garde, particularly the surrealists. Tim Hecker, Amiina, Yann Tiersen and Loney Dear also performed during the event (which was broadcast live on the European ARTE channel) each bringing their own unique sonic perspective to the other installments. Written during the course of a few months, Blackshaw drew influences from French impressionist composers, Brazilian guitar music, musique concrete and the works of other film composers such as David Shire and Pino Donaggio, to create a noir-ish score that is in turns sinister, quietly profound and thrilling. Personally invited by James Blackshaw, experimental musician Duane Pitre and Simon Scott (also of Slowdive) contributed drums, electronics, synth, bowed guitar, bass and more to Blackshaw's nylon string guitar and grand piano, with multi-instrumentalist Charlotte Glasson adding violin, vibraphone and several wind instruments to the 75-minute long work." [label info]
www.tompkinssquare.com
|
2014 |
€30.00 |
|
| BLACKSHAW, JAMES & LUBOMYR MELNYK |
The Watchers |
LP |
"The Watchers is a historic collaboration between Lubomyr Melnyk and James Blackshaw. Both artists are well known as composers but here it is their impovisational skills that are on display. First 200 copies of the LP will ship on blue vinyl. CD version is packaged in a heavy duty digipak.
I first met Lubomyr Melnyk at a festival called Hea Uus Heli in October 2008. We were both scheduled to play that day and I was very excited to see him perform. Before the show I bought several LPs from him and mentioned as much. Lubomyr (more than modest and courteous, as he always is) asked me what I was doing at the festival and I replied that I was also performing at the festival a little later, to which he responded "I'll come and watch you", before being ushered into the hall to play one of the most staggeringly sonorous and beautiful sets I've ever heard. It was overwhelming, full of pathos and I left the hall with those incredible overtones hanging in my ears for hours.
A couple of hours later, I was onstage when I glanced up and saw Lubomyr, true to his word, stood in the audience watching me attentively. I felt incredibly nervous. It's not everyday you get to play for someone who has greatly inspired and influenced your own music. After the show, I packed up my guitar and came out to meet the crowd. The first person who greeted me was Lubomyr: friendly. full of enthusiasm and keen to hear about my music, my processes, the way in which I made music. Yet again, I was overwhelmed - for very different reasons.
"You have invented continuous music for guitar!"
I don't know if that's true or not, but I can't think of an epitaph that would make me prouder.
We also spoke about collaborating that night and via e-mail a while after, but it wasn't until January 2012, shortly after I'd moved back to Hastings, England from Ann Arbor, Michigan and Lubomyr played his first ever show in the UK at Cafe Oto that it came to fruition. John Chantler got in touch, said Lubomyr had a free day after his performance and could I come to London for a day, see what happens? He kindly agreed to record the whole thing.
We all met at the Vortex Jazz Cafe around midday. We set up, Lubomyr at the grand piano, me directly facing him with my 12-string guitar and began. I would retune at random between songs and together we would find interesting chord progressions, hints of melodies and ways in which to weave those immense overtones that Lubomyr is able to generate on the piano with those of my guitar. No more than two takes per song. Improvisation, spontaneous composition, whatever you want to call it. Either way, it truly felt as if the piano and guitar were as one - inseparable, parts of a bigger whole, a means by which for two people to make one sound. It never felt forced and never less than engaging. Lubomyr was always humble, jovial and open to ideas. The whole session lasted six hours.
I'm not a great improviser. I always want to take that raw creative element that the form brings and work upon it, to distill and refine it further. I think Lubomyr feels the same. But there is something about these recordings that would be incredibly difficult to recapture. A small moment in time, feeling perfectly and wonderfully lost within that sound.
I'm honoured.
James Blackshaw, October 2012." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2013 |
€20.00 |
|
| BLANCK MASS |
Ted K (Original Motion Picture Score) |
LP |
This February the story of the infamous Unabomber Ted Kaczynski will receive its theatrical debut in a new Tony Stone directed film, Ted K. Kaczynski is notorious for both tragically murdering three people (and wounding an additional 23) via bombs sent in the mail and for his numerous writings on the evils of technology he composed during his primitive residency in the woods of Montana. Stone’s choice to have the renowned electronic artist Blanck Mass score the film is somewhat ironic and creates an obvious tension perfect for the controversial and complex subject matter.
2020 saw the first Blanck Mass movie score, for the soundtrack to Nick Rowland’s acclaimed cinematic debut ‘Calm with Horses.’ This expansion into new areas of melodic composition and textural exploration won Blanck Mass many new fans, with BBC’s acknowledged number one film buff Mark Kermode proclaiming the work the soundtrack of the year. In 2021, Blanck Mass won the prestigious Ivor Novello Award for best original film score and has firmly established himself at the forefront of the latest wave of experimental soundscape wizards.
Recording during lockdown at his studio in Edinburgh, Scotland, Blanck Mass’s Ben Power was in the perfect setting for a musical piece intended to capture the isolation central to Kaczynski’s story. Power was also working with a director in a time zone 10 hours behind and thus many sessions required working in the middle of the night, which added a fitting intensity to the composition process. He said of the project “I wanted it to feel like an ‘epic’" and drew on the legends Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone for inspiration in encapsulating the energy of the perceived good vs. evil.
The gentle madness of sound achieved is exquisite and slowly builds in intensity and desperation as the score moves along. Power is able to perfectly capture the complexity, the terror and the deep emotionality of the film while presenting an often breathtakingly beautiful and always masterful album that stands on its own as a work of art.
https://blanckmass.bandcamp.com/album/ted-k-original-score
|
2022 |
€22.50 |
|
| BLEGVAD, PETER |
Go Figure |
CD |
"After 19 years, Go Figure marks the Peter Blegvad Trio's return to the studio, in supernal form and now a quintet with Karen Mantler and Bob Drake. Peter, John and Chris first met when Henry Cow was touring with Faust, in 1972. Peter was on secondment from his own group Slapp Happy, and in the following year Henry Cow and Slapp Happy merged, making two LPs before they separated again. When John Greaves left Henry Cow in 1976, he joined Peter in New York where they wrote and recorded Kew.Rhone. Peter and John have continued to work together, on-and-off, ever since. After making two solo LPs for the still vaguely experimental Virgin Records, Peter's next LP, Downtime, was made independently by ReR -- and the core players wound up being the Peter Blegvad Trio. Bob Drake first became involved during the second trio recording, Just Woke Up, which he mixed and mastered. Karen joined the trio in 2002 for a festival in Ferrara. Bob's first stage appearance with the band came ten years later, in 2012, at the RIO festival in Carmaux. ReR has been releasing the Blegvad working group's records for 37 years and this is the fourth so far. They don't come easy."
peterblegvad.bandcamp.com/album/go-figure
"Artist, poet, illustrator, philosopher, cartoonist – so broad are Peter Blegvad’s other interests, and so protean his muse, that one sometimes has to wait for years for his attention to turn again to music. But the payoff lies in the way that those other pursuits feed back into his music in the form of songs that exult in their uniqueness. Blegvad is one of pop’s very few “true originals” whose work always bears out that status.
Probably best known for Leviathan, his long-running Independent On Sunday cartoon strip, Blegvad brings a similar level of abstruse conjecture and whimsical wordplay to his lyrics, whether he’s musing, in “Sven”, upon a leathery ancient corpse preserved “in a Finnish fen”, or offering a grim reflection, in “Mind The Gap”, on how a terrorist bomb destroys the collective isolation of Tube travellers: “Blown apart and blown together, now the two of us were one”.
However, it’s not usually that dark: “Too Much” is a jaunty ragtime rumination on excess, slipping from familiar physical indulgence to more abstract realms (“too much sturm, too much drang, too much yin, too much yang”); and in “My Father’s Face”, Blegvad pirouettes on the cusp of whimsy and something more sinister, relating how he once drew his sleeping father, then erased his face. But perhaps his most elegant and amusing aesthetic reflection resides in “Way To Play The Blues”, where he uses John Cage’s epigram “I have nothing to say and I am saying it, and that is poetry as I need it” as inspiration for a (probably apocryphal) tale of the Stones asking Blegvad to help them understand the way to play the blues, a question he denudes of dues, and ultimately of volition.
Blegvad’s band, comprising various Henry Cow alumni and sundry avant-gardists, provides flexible support for his musings, from the sinister cod-reggae shuffle of “Penny Black”, about a cursed stamp, to the more indefinable brew of languid, jazzy raunch-rock conjured to convey the enigmatic villain of “Had To Be Bad”. Elsewhere, there’s an aptly Kevin Ayers-y air to the Provençal tableau “Cote D’Azur”, while “God Detector” adopts a suitably Dylanesque tone for the tale of a man with a machine he claims can trace divinity – for which, of course, he searches in vain amongst humanity.
If there is a unifying theme to the album, it’s probably to be found in the reflections upon dissipation and the futility of ambition in songs such as “Simon At The Stone” and “Winner Came There None” – songs which don’t so much disparage notions of being and doing, as prompt enquiry about the limitless ranges of experience, and their comparative values." [The Independent]
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| BLITZOIDS |
Steeling from helpless children / Look up |
do-CD |
"Old hands will remember those strange LPs imported and distributed by Recommended back in the late 80s. A studio project, audibly influenced by the Residents, but not over-imitative, the Blitzoids mixed concrete- and tape-manipulations, noise, extended playing techniques and found recordings with iterative song-like structures and open architectures. Always interesting, sometimes scattershot, avoiding any obvious style, they moved fast from one idea to the next. At the time, they were pretty much out there on their own, and achieved only limited visibility, so its good to see their work collected and reissued on this double CD." [label info]
"if comparisons must be made, then imagine putting the Los Angeles Free Music Society, Fred Lane, Fred Frith, various field recordings, radio transmissions, and a haunted house sound-effects tape into a blender. After the blender shakes violently and explodes, spraying globules of audio lunacy across the room, you giggle and dance around like a moron. That's what listening to the Blitzoids is like.
Brothers Steve and Chris De Chiara were running a Chicago record store when they started recording with Jim Nickels. Their first LP, 1987's Stealing From Helpless Children, is a work of unbridled invention, lumping together skronky jazz, tape manipulation, funny sounds, spooky textures and low-fidelity melodies. A reliance on traditional song structures doesn't make the band sound at all conventional, but merely confirms their considerable compositional skill.
Each track is a mini-movie for the ears. “Left or Right?” utilizes Donald Duck laughter for a bizarre refrain; ”Try and Stop Us” is a complex sound collage that recalls Evan Parker at one moment, Penderecki at another; ”Middle of Nowhere” shifts from a tribal jam session to an imagined Carl Stalling horror film score. It's all held together with catchy vocals, cheapo synth drums and Chris De Chiara's inspired guitar work, which can echo anything from John Abercrombie to Snakefinger. For uneasy listening, Stealing From Helpless Children is surprisingly listenable.
1990's Look Up is even more adventurous. The raw materials haven't changed—backwards tape and talk-radio excerpts abound—but each track is so densely layered that it takes many listens to absorb it all. The songs are still accessible: the lyrics to “Good Vacation” are worthy of Bob Dylan's best hallucinatory narratives, accompanied by music that is more appropriate than Dylan ever attempted.
Rounding out this reissue are eight bonus cuts, including the band's funniest achievements. “Fire on the Mountain” transforms an old fiddle tune into a hoedown from hell, and it's hard not to crack a smile through mangled versions of “A Summer Place” and “The Witch Doctor.”
The Blitzoids might have worn their influences on their proverbial sleeves, but their music stands on its own. Give them a listen if your tastes run to the left of strange, or if you just want something to listen to while you're getting blitzed.." [Brad Glanden / allaboutjazz.com]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| BLOCK, OLIVIA |
Mobius Fuse |
CD |
“Sedimental’s release of the second cd from Chicago based electro-acoustic composer Olivia Block titled Mobius Fuse. This much anticipated follow up to her critically acclaimed debut Pure Gaze(sed cd028) continues her rich and unique exploration of both acoustic and electronic sounds reaching a depth and level of emotional intensity rarely heard in the field.
Olivia Block is a contemporary composer who combines field recordings, scored segments for acoustic instruments, and electronically generated sound. Her recorded work seeks to introduce, set at play, and ultimately reconcile nature with artifice in the realms of music and sound. In the process, "organic" sound becomes subtly processed, digitized and abstracted; "inorganic" sound becomes self-replicating and animate; and "musical" elements such as chamber instruments are de familiarized from their traditional associations, freeing them to participate in the larger aesthetic possibilities of sound. Her pieces are composed over long periods of time in numerous stages. She often prepares elaborate tape installations in natural sites for field recording sessions which she later integrates into her recorded compositions. In live performance, Block introduces additional elements of paradox and tension: chamber musicians perform scores which accompany pre-prepared tape material, and improvisers (often including herself) interact with "lo-fi" speaker installations and digital recordings.
Since its release, her debut solo CD, Pure Gaze (Sedimental, 1998) has been consistently included on radio play lists throughout America and Europe. It was included in Blow-Up magazine's "Top Releases" of 1999 and The Wire magazine's top ten section, "Charts"; and Julian Cowley, in the latter publication, described her as "a composer who demands serious attention." Another of her works, Piece for Scrubbing Tile, was featured in the Modern Museum of Lyon, France in 1998, as part of the Collage Jukebox installation and festival (curator: Jerome Joy). Her recorded works have been used as source material recently by Achim Wollscheid, in his Shifts release (Ritornell/Evolution). Her soundtrack work for Natalia Castro's short video piece, Fire-Fly, helped earn the project the undergraduate video award at the School for the Art Institute of Chicago in 1997. She has recorded with such artists as Jim O'Rourke and Jeb Bishop, and has performed with artists including Pauline Oliveros and Fred Lonberg-Holm. Her radio appearances include WKCR's Live Constructions (Columbia University), WLUW's Something Else (Loyola University), and others. She was a visiting lecturer at DePaul University. She has toured extensively in Japan and has Europe.
Olivia Block is self-taught. She started her musical career in Austin, Texas, in the experimental rock scene in which she played electric guitar and trumpet, sang, and created abstract tapes for play during live performances in several bands. Such tape work led her to her next trio, Alial Straa, an electro-acoustic and improvisational group including Seth Nehil ("Tracing the Skins of Clouds," Kaon records), and John Grznich ("Stomach of the sky," Staalplaat; "Absurd Evidence," Bobby J.) Alial Straa's CD, "Tunnels/Stairwell" is currently out on Alluvial records.
At present, Olivia Block lives in Chicago. Her next collaborative release, Oil and Water, an electronic composition with Petra Klusmeyer, will be released on Boxmedia records." [label info]
www.sedimental.com
|
2001 |
€13.50 |
|
| |
Karren |
LP |
"Ltd Edition 500 copies. Karren is a two-movement electroacoustic-orchestral composition. The first movement, Foramen Magnum, is an electroacoustic/concrète piece created from heavily processed field recordings taken from orchestral rehearsals and various public locations, including museums and zoos. The second movement, Opening Night, is a layered orchestral score performed by the Chicago Composer’s Orchestra, with whom I recorded and worked for several years in order to complete this project.
Thematically, Karren includes several personal interests and areas of study, including my recent work in anthropology and sociology. Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical metaphor described in The Presentation of Self in Every Day Life is a lens through which the entire composition, presented on vinyl, might be viewed as a metaphor for the self. The act of turning the vinyl disc over to play one side or another highlights the binary quality of the metaphor. Side one of the record plays the chaotic, angular and unsettling “back stage” sounds of Foramen Magnum, while the other side plays the smooth “front stage” sounds-the orchestral layers of Opening Night.
The term “foramen magnum” literally means “large hole” or “large opening” in Latin. In anthropological terms, it is the name of the opening in the base of the human skull that allows the spine to connect with the brain. The position of the human foramen magnum is crucial to the evolution of bipedalism. The titles frame the composition with images of openings-an opening into a human skull on one side of the record and an opening into night on the other side.
Olivia Block creates original sound compositions for concerts, site-specific multi-speaker installations, live cinema, and performance. In a recent feature article in the April 2011 issue of The Wire magazine, Julian Cowley describes Block’s compositions as “finely nuanced textures of environmental material and occasional surges of sonic power blended with an elegant instrumental architecture.” Her compositions often include field recordings, scored segments for chamber instruments, and electronic textures. Additionally, she performs her own partially improvised compositions for inside piano and electronics.
She has performed throughout Europe, America, and Japan in tours and festivals including Sonic Light, Dissonanze, Archipel, Angelica, Sunoni per il Popolo, Outer Ear, and many others. Her works have premiered at La Biennale di Venezia 52nd International Festival of Contemporary Music, and she has completed residencies and premiered works at Mills College of Music and The Berklee College of Music. She has taught master classes at several additional universities.
Block has created sound installations for public sites and exhibition spaces including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the library at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, the Lincoln Conservatory Fern Room in Chicago, and at the “Echoes Through the Mountains” exhibit at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Her 2008 DVD release with expanded cinema artists Sandra Leah Gibson and Luis Recoder, Untitled, on SOS editions, has been screened at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and the Expanded Cinema symposium at the Tate Modern in London. Her release Mobius Fuse was voted one of the best albums of the decade by Pitchfork.
Block has published recordings through Sedimental, either/OAR, and Cut, among other labels." [label info]
sedimental.com
|
2013 |
€19.00 |
|
| BLONDE REDHEAD |
Misery is a Butterfly |
CD |
Wonderful album by one of the best spheric / emotional and genre-breaking / transcending “Pop/Rock”-bands of this planet, now on the cult-label from the 80’s / early 90’s, 4AD, and working with strings (i.e. played by EYVIND KANG) !
“Freed from all constraints, Blonde Redhead are beautifully reborn on Misery Is a Butterfly. True, feelings of loss, insecurity, and outright alienation do factor heavily into the record's thematic vision (this butterfly isn't called "Misery" for nothing), but the band's sense of assuredness surrounds the album's themes of vulnerability. Misery Is a Butterfly was recorded before being shopped to a label, but judging by the sound of the album, its eventual release on 4AD seems to have been an inevitability. From track one, the record is lacy and moody, perfectly suited to the one-time home of the Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil. The word "lush" doesn't quite capture the fluttering whirls of strings, keyboards, and delicately plucked guitar that open "Elephant Woman"; I'd go so far as to label such enveloping richness of instrumentation "baroque," perhaps even "rococo." For Blonde Redhead's latest incarnation, the softer production simply serves as polish for tarnished, tired guitar, drums and keyboards. Here, the bristling energy that once held would-be sympathizers at bay has been turned inward, resulting in an unprecedented illusion of warmth. "Anticipation", for example, ventures into completely foreign territory for the band; it's vulnerable, yet remains emotionally available, and is breathtaking even in comparison to the band's most typically pretty compositions. Never before have Makino's gentle whispers seemed so genuine or close at hand. The psychedelia-inflected title track and the fractured desolation of "Falling Man" also offer inviting hints of the underlying humanity Blonde Redhead had, until now, been so reluctant to display. Of course, even now, that humanity may be little more than an apparition. Their tales of heartache and desperation have cast Makino and Amadeo Pace-- the emotional heart of the band-- as tragically misunderstood, tortured poets who pin misery on their sleeves, never conceding that anyone else could be capable of understanding their pain. And despite the more inviting nature of Misery's music and production, they remain insular and distant here, as well. Only on "Anticipation" are Makino's vocals as beckoning as their musical surroundings; elsewhere, Blonde Redhead remain as they've always been: beautiful and vacant......”
|
2004 |
€15.00 |
|
| BLUME, FELIX |
Fog Horns |
LP |
French sound artist Félix Blume keeps pushing the boundaries of field recordings for our enjoyment. “Fog Horns” captures the sounds of boat horns in Piraeus, Athens, Greece, the port city that serves some of the most important ferry routes in Greece nowadays. Yes, boat horns are annoying, sometimes disturbing and even absurdly disrupting if you live in a port city or one that is blessed with the arrival of cruises. We all know that. But we also knew that recordings of funerals could be tricky, and Félix Blume pulled a gem out of last year’s “Death In Haiti – Funeral Brass Band & Sounds Of Port Au Prince (CREP51)”.
And he has done it again. The A side reveals a long track recorded during a fog horn concert whilst side B features three ‘remixes’ of the same recordings, paying respect to what Ingram Marshall did in “Fog Tropes” in three different ‘movements’. In a way, B side sounds like the perfect soundtrack for the recent remake of “Suspiria”. But Thom Yorke got in the way.
Jokes aside, there’s something magical about these horns. In the eighteen minutes of the first side, Félix Blume explores the concept of a concert played by those horns. The horns dominate but sounds of the surroundings create a perfect balance to the drone hysteria. The surrounding sounds are the heartbeat of this track. The horns are the metal section of an orchestra, while the rest works like the strings. Hidden melodies are revealed when you listen to this with your full attention, and the more you do it, the horns become less present, vivid. It’s one of the many crafts of Félix Blume, the more you live with his music, the more you focus outside the plot.
If those eighteen minutes sound tremendously real, the three tracks on the other side feel like a horror film. The warmth disappears to become cold ambiance, beautifully textured and enigmatic sounds take over. Horns are still heard, but they’re a different kind of horns. It seems that Félix Blume is playing with our perception, from bliss to horror. A honk will never be the same again.
With collage artwork by Evan Crankshaw.
Recorded by a AB Setup with two B&K 4006 microphones, on a 633 Sound Devices recorder, in Wave 96kHz 24bit.
Side A is the recording, without any effect and only light editing, EQ and mixing.
Side B is a sound creation, mostly playing with the speed and some repetition, done with the material of Side A.
TRACKS
A1. Fog Horns (18’04)
B1. Horns in Fog pt1 (4’51)
B2. Horns in Fog pt2 (4’33)
B3. Horns in Fog pt3 (5’44)
www.felixblume.com/foghorns/ |
2019 |
€21.50 |
|
| BOCA RATON |
Mansdoof |
CD-R |
Bearbeitete field recordings vom MIXER-Labelbetreiber Martijn Tellinga aka BOCA RATON. Spannungsreiche, nebulöse Soundlandschaften sind hier entstanden, durchdrungen von kaum zu identifizierbaren Konkret- und Geräuschklängen.
“Two new releases on one of the finest CDR labels around, and still going strong. Boca Raton, you are no doubt aware is a city in Florida, but it's also the musical project of Mr. Mixer Martijn Tellinga. After his 7" for his own label, he now releases on Absurd. The release was delayed but it enabled Boca Raton to rework the material according to new working methods learned at his Sonology training in The Hague, The Netherlands. Boca Raton is the man running around with a microphone and a minidisc - taping sounds from the environment. Then he returns to his studio and started treating the sounds electronically. A very traditional way of working of course, but in Boca Raton's instance he comes up with ten delicate nice compositions. What sets him aside from so many others is the fact that he is not interested in making the material 'silent' or 'inaudible' or 'noisy' and 'louder'. He simply crafts ten small pieces of sound. Off hand I could think of one other band that did so, albeit in the past. Much of the work of Boca Raton dwells on the ideas of THU20, a Dutch electro-acoustic group. They too treated their sound with great care and what interested them, and now Boca Raton, was the composition they could make out of it. Everything is well-balanced and placed in the mix, which makes this a truely nice work to hear. Joyful. Skillfull. Two things that aren't always around.” [fdw, Vital Weekly]
|
2004 |
€8.00 |
|
| BOCKSHOLM |
Ironic Discomfort and Cheesy Manners |
CD |
It took four years.
First we didn\'t dare to do it; to cause a moral disaster.
But here we are, and we want to do it and we don\'t regret anything because the album has just been released.
In 2014 Bocksholm performed live in the outer domains of Boxholm for the first and probably last time.
Performing a mashed up \'Best of\' live-set in front of native clogs audience, amongst inbreeders and the commonly disabled, in the band\'s own natural habitat and backyard, it couldn\'t be anything but success.
Wine and vodka flooded like a deluge in everyones throats, black clogs were thrown on the stage from the very first second, the home-distilling machines went overheated, the women-raping-men rates hit the ceiling of the local ironworks and the ancestor Stenbock himself turned in his grave not only once but six times.
Now you can experience the same, if you dare to buy the Ironic Discomfort And Cheesy Manners.
Somehow this album will become a homage to the cheese manufacturing in Boxholm, that sadly will stop by the end of 2019 because of greedy owners that found a way to save money by moving the manufacturing too another town far away.
After this things will never be the same in Boxholm, a huge loss of cultural identity not only for the town itself but probably also for the Bocksholm project.
At least, there will still be iron.
Maybe... more
credits
released July 10, 2019
Executed live by Peter Andersson and Peter Andersson 2014-2015.
All pieces melted and forged by Peter Andersson and Peter Andersson 1998-2014.
K-14 level mastering by Peter Andersson 2019.
Artwork designed by Peter Andersson based on photos of the remains of Sweden\'s first electric locomotive built in Boxholm 1890.
Tracklist:
1. Scoria 06:40
2. The Horror Of Kisa 07:40
3. Stenbock And His Diciples 06:22
4. Mobil Oil 05:49
5. Forging Hammers 06:54
6. Birath, The Beast Of The Forge 06:16
7. Smiden Utaf Järn Och Stål 03:46
8. Pounding The Perpetual Nail 04:37
9. The Brittle Dross Of Irony 06:45
10. Dairy Exequies 03:17
11. Boxholm Seven Minutes After Death 06:53
12. The Koeven Nightmare 09:56
Track 01-06 recorded on 8 August 2015 at Hulterstad Sounds Festival, Granforsen, Boxholm, Sweden.
Track 07-10 recorded on 17 October 2014 at Machines with Magnets, Pawtucket RI, USA.
Track 11-12 recorded on 29 March 2014 at Wrotycz Records 10 Years Anniversary Festival, Poznan, Poland.
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| BOE, TORE HONORE |
Knekk |
7 |
TORE H.BOE ist ein norwegischer Musiker und Künstler, der bisher v.a. im dichten ORIGAMI-Netzwerk aktiv war... inzwischen liegen auch solo-Veröffentlichungen vor, wie diese feine 7“, die mit subtil-dronig aufbereiteten Flöten und Harmonika-Sounds begeistern kann.. back in stock!
“Tore H. Bøe should by all rights be well known to you all from his many years as a performing artist. Sometimes in various Origami fractions, sometimes in different hotshot bands and sometimes on his own, as he is on this single. Alone Tore specialises in micromanipulations. Glitch without a Laptop. The wonderful world of contact microphones. The comfort of objects. Tapes and trolls. The seriously stunning Siesta on CD last year was a revelation. Now he’s moving to Gran Canaria to set up recording facilities to be known as Hacienda. Could be well worth a visit. Righteous colour cover by Tore himself, now to be known as a designer also. 45 rpm, edition of 300 where 100 are on clear tangerine vinyl.” [press-release]
|
2002 |
€6.00 |
|
| BOGHOSSIAN, HERVE |
RVB |
CD |
Minimal drones, high frequenced & soft, superminimal & dense, a bit unsettling, done with guitar feedbacks, sinewaves, piano, bassclarinett...very interesting and moody minimal music..
“Hervé Boghossian, who also records under the name Sol, here presents a trio of pieces under his own name, focusing on minimal drones and carefully composed music that is, characteristically, quiet and reflective. At first, the music seems to be exploring the harmonic combinations and tensions of sine waves, although interacting with these sine waves are other instruments: guitar feedback and two bass clarinets (the clarinets are performed by Matthieu Saladin and Ivan Solano). The combinations carry with them an austere quality, a muted tension; not always the stuff of calm, easy ambience, but pushing things in a slightly uneasy, tense direction. The second piece, too, speaks of this quiet tension, here working exclusively with sine waves, and focusing on the lower end of the frequency scale. It is with the third piece that things
seem to converge with quiet wonder. Joining the subtle bed of electronic textures are the two bass clarinets and guitar, as before, but also a beautiful section for solo piano, performed by David Grubbs. This slow movement is simply something that must be heard; it will stop all motion in the room, it will even hold your breathing nearly to a point of standstill. Taken together, these three pieces, each with its own unique, arresting presence, makes for a truly compelling new release, an excellent addition to List's growing catalogue”. [Richard di Santo / Incursion ]
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| BOHMAN, ADAM |
Burnhill Row |
LP |
Incredible weird recordings from 1980 from this one half of todays still very active duo BOHMAN BROTHERS !
"1980 was an incredibe year for London's experimental music scene with many different strands. Recommended Records were rereleasing the first two Faust LP's, L. Voag had found 'the way out', Swell Maps were 'in occupied Europe'. Throbbing Gristle and other industrialists were giving plenty of live actions. Nurse With Wound had just released their first LP, as had This Heat. The other great LP on Piano Records by Steve Beresford was also on the shelves. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the capitol Adam Bohman was making his first recordings working with two budget cassette recorders. Bunhill Row was the first complete album of material, but whilst the aforementioned artists were pressing up their recordings and making them easily available via Rough Trade or the Recommended Records shop, Adam's releases remained in tiny cassette editions made for friends or exchanged on the mail art network. So here for the first time is Bunhill Row, released as it should have appeared at the time - on vinyl. It must be said that this is quite unlike any of Adam's other releases, and quite unlike his work with Morphogenesis, or his work as one half of The Bohman Brothers. This is 'songs' - 30 in all, and the main instrument used is a trumpet (an ordinary trumpet), along with a variety of other acoustic instruments and objects, many of which are still part of the Bohman armoury as known. The overall feel sits somewhere between R. Steevie Moore and Caroliner Rainbow, but this is British of course. Somehow it all works, and all in all opens another window on to the incredibly fruitful astral alignment that occured over London at this time. Adam also has a solo CD on Paradigm Discs, and also appears on 'Variations - a London compilation' the first CD released on Paradigm Discs." [label info]
www.stalk.net/paradigm
|
2006 |
€17.50 |
|
| BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE |
Dolores |
do-LP |
"Dolores. Das ist die Frau, die den Schmerz schon im Namen trägt. Frau + Schmerz = Süßer Schmerz, also. Dolores. Wenn das kein passender Titel für eine Bohren & Der Club Of Gore-Platte ist, weiß ich auch nicht. Nachdem die letzte Bohrenscheibe "Geisterfaust" noch einmal so deutlich ruhiger, langsamer und entweltlichter geriet, als deren Vorgängerin "Black Earth", werden sie doch nicht etwa nochmals ... noch langsamer? Quasi im Stillstand? Gegen die Zeit? Ein Ton über 14 Minuten? Und dann die Erlösung: Nein, sie werden nicht. Kein billiges unreflektiertes Fortschreiten in dieselbe Richtung. Wie früher eine Weile bei Speedmetalbands und anderweitigen Grind-oder-sonst-wie-Core-Kapellen üblich: immer schneller, alles andere ist egal.
Nein. Immer noch sehr getragen, verbindet "Dolores" Elemente aus "Geisterfaust'" und "Black Earth" und fügt ein paar neue, sehr feine Ingredienzien hinzu. Nach wie vor bleiben die schwebenden düsteren Flächen, die wie radioaktiver, dunkelgrün leuchtender Nebel aus den Boxen kriechen und dein Schlafzimmer in einen mystischen Ort verwandeln, allgegenwärtig. Akzentuiert durch sparsam eingesetzte Drums führen sie den Hörer sanft durch die erste, drei Stücke währende Passage mitten in "Dolores"' Kern.
Dort wartet dann erstmals das Saxophon. Auch diesmal bedient sich der Club des schon bei "Geisterfaust" angewandten Tricks, dieses Instrument erst nach einer gefühlten Ewigkeit, bei "Unkerich", ins Spiel zu bringen. Wenn es dann einsetzt, so warm und scheu und sehnsuchtsvoll, gefriert dem Hörer geradezu das Blut in den Adern. Heiß und kalt, hoffnungsvoll und hoffnungslos, das dunkle und helle Flimmern liegen für einen Moment so nahe beieinander, dass sie fast dasselbe sind. Oder zu sein scheinen.
Doch die Erlösung währt nur kurz. Schon bei "Welk" nimmt uns der Club das sanfte Gebläs wieder weg und führt uns in die unendlichen Tiefen des Bohrenuniversums hinab. Dort erscheint dann ab und an ein E-Piano aus den Kriechnebeln, das mit verhalten angedeuteten Melodien den Pfad weist. Bei "Faul" kehrt die Schöne zurück - "Dolores" erscheint im Schimmer der nächsten Saxophonlinie und leuchtet von innen heraus. Bohren At Its Best, kann man da nur sagen.
Die Titel der Stücke wurden dementsprechend mit spitzen Fingern gewählt: "Staub", "Welk", "Still Am Tresen" und "Unkerich" deuten nochmal deutlich an, was hier gespielt wird. Ein Gesamtkunstwerk sozusagen. Das alles bietet dem Durchschnittsbürger nicht unbedingt Gudelaune- oder Feierei-Musike. Eher handelt es sich um eine filigrane und doch ausdrucksstarke Art, die Höhen und Tiefen des Lebens auf individuelle Weise musikalisch zu abstrahieren. Dennoch keine reine Kunstmusik, sondern mit großem Genuss hörbar. Vielleicht eher bei Rotwein, als bei Bier. Aber ich bin ohnehin Weintrinker, zumindest im Winter." [laut.de]
"Imagine a blackened, funereal dooooooom band like Skepticism or Nortt morphed into the jazz idiom (after having kissed a frog, or some fairytale scenario like that), playing their slow, sad music in a smoky Berlin jazz club. The sound is jazz (electric piano, organ, vibes, sax, double bass, trap kit...) but the feeling is doom. That's our usual shorthand for describing the unique music made by longtime AQ fave, Germany's Bohren & Der Club Of Gore. Here at last is their eagerly anticipated 5th album, Dolores (not named after the San Francisco street near us, presumably). If you're fans like we are, you know what to expect, it's just as ponderously "heavy" as a "jazz" band can be. No, not loud, not harsh, not noisy. The opposite of all that. Rather, whisper-quiet, glacially slow, and spacious, with sparse snare hits keeping time like a wound-down clock ticking off the eternity between 2 minutes to midnight and the witching hour itself. Doomsday so slowly arrives on a velvety bed of somnolent deep bass notes, and the cool slinky tones of vintage Fender Rhodes. Cymbals shiver in a
dark haze of ambient drones near to silence. Several of the songs are infused with the warmth of tenor or baritone sax breathes gorgeous expiring breaths. It's all so sad and woeful and achingly beautiful, Bohren nodding off, their fragile melodies trickling like tears, and by the end you may find you have shed a few too.
This newest Bohren differs mainly from their previous Ipecac outing Geisterfaust by being composed of somewhat shorter, sweeter
tracks, ten in all, in about an hour. But it is, again, an-ever-more- perfected example of why Bohren is one of our all time favorite bands, especially at twilight and late at night..." [Aquarius Records review]
www.pias.com
|
2014 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Patchouli Blue |
CD |
Nach ihrem letzten Studioalbum "Piano Nights", mittlerweile schon über fünf Jahren alt, veröffentlichen Bohren & Der Club Of Gore am 10.01.2020 ihr neues Album "Patchouli Blue" auf [PIAS] Recordings Germany.
1988 in Mülheim a.d. Ruhr gegründet, und seit 2016 - nach dem Ausstieg von Schlagzeuger Thorsten Benning - auf eine Trio-Besetzung optimiert, haben Bohren & Der Club Of Gore mittlerweile 7 Studioalben, 1 Compilation und eine 1 EP veröffentlicht. Dazu zahlreiche Konzerte auf der ganzen Welt gespielt und sich mit präziser Entschleunigung, kombiniert mit minimalen Lumeneinheiten, eine große und treue Fangemeinde erspielt. Dabei blieben sie ihrem Sound stets treu. Mit Bass, Saxophon, Piano, Fender Rhodes, Vibrafon und Besenschlagzeug als Basis erschaffen sie seit 20 Jahren ein einzigartiges Werk - immer instrumental, immer langsam, immer ereignisarm. Gesang gibt es nicht.
Nun also "Patchouli Blue". Instrumental, langsam, ereignisarm. Gemischt wurde das Album wieder von Andi Reisner.
[label info]
"The fog is turning to rain as I push through the doors into the old Club of Gore. The place has been closed up for a few years but nothing much has changed, it’s still comfortably frayed around the edges. Organ drone swells up from the background, cuts out. They kept the worn fittings and the gloom, smells like death rock. After a couple of minutes the saxophone sighs softly, like a friendly hand on your shoulder. Patchouli Blue just fell into my lap, new information at short notice. The hardcore had the jump on me all along. By the time this review makes it out they’ll be soaked in it, hip to details I haven’t had time for yet.
Bohren & der Club of Gore play a superbly unhurried type of slow core doom jazz. The sort of stuff to make long shot film noir images spool across the mind’s eye and your internal monologue turn all hard-boiled detective without warning. New faces at their notional dive bar turn on their heel pretty sharp or settle right on in because it feels like home. Companionship in solitude, nobody pulling on yer sleeve and making noisy chit chat, it’s all existential brooding on life’s mystery in here. If you’re coming to it cold then what Patchouli Blue most sounds like is Angelo Badalamenti’s dark jazz mood music for Twin Peaks. Only slowed down and left to wander the woods. It’s what’s playing on the jukebox in Audrey Horne’s coma." [Echoes & Dust]
|
2020 |
€16.50 |
|
| BORG, ANNEMARIE |
In Nomine Tellus |
CD |
In Nomine Tellus is an album inspired by the state of our world and draws the listener into a microcosm of its own, where a tumultous storm is angrily circling the perimeter of our still peaceful shores. Annemarie paints this aural canvas utilizing both electronic and acoustic instrumentation as well as her own voice. The album follows "In Nomine Cetus" and is the second album in a planned suite of three.
On this album Annemarie plays the ROLI Seabord Grand, piano, harp, cello, guitar and singing bowls as well as utilizing hear own voice and original field recordings. Additional whale sounds are provided by iWhales and Patrick Tapio Johnson plays the cello on Pace. The album is again mastered by Anders Peterson of Ghost Sounds.
To learn more about Annemarie's vision on this album you can also visit her at:
www.annemarieborg.com
www.antara-project.com
https://soundcloud.com/the-lost-gterma/gterma055-annemarie-borg-quiet-storm-one-earth-lament?in=the-lost-gterma/sets/gterma055-annemarie-borg-in-nomine-tellus
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| BORGA, ASCANIO |
Bad Ground (soundscapes of utter desolation) |
CD-R |
Great dark drone / isolationism-ambience newcomer from Italy !
"Disquieting homemade isolationism by Ascanio Borga of Rome. "Bad ground" sounds like a biologist´s characterization of what is left behind to rot in the soil by industrial pollution, or confines where something terribly evil has happened, like a death camp. Either way, Borga´s "soundscapes of utter desolation" are no tourist sites. Released last year, this is apparently Borga´s first album in four years, but if a gestation period of that length is necessary for him to conjure up such spine-tingling "untertainment", then I´ll gladly wait until 2010 for the next one. For Bad Ground is a minor masterpiece of hopelessness.
The CDR is comprised of two suites. "The Boundary" would have made a highly serviceable alternative soundtrack to Andrei Tarkovsky´s seminal film "Stalker". As in the movie, one should heed the guide´s warning about crossing into this zone - what lays beyond is frightening, inhuman, and beyond reclamation. The scariest thing is that, despite the environment´s utter lack of fecundity, there does seem to be "life" of some sort dwelling inside the drones - but not life as we know it, or would voluntarily choose to acquaint ourselves with.
That eleven-and-a-half minute piece segues seamlessly into the thirty-five minute title track. Nothing but hostility here, either, both from above and below. With electric guitars, synthesizers and samples, Borga succeeds in turning the very earth we walk upon and the skies that vault above us into a single, leaden, threatening habitat. Almost disconcertingly, the final ten minutes feature soaring guitar chords over a bed of cozy, deeper note clusters, almost a pick-me-up; perhaps there is some kind of redemption, some sanctuary to be found here after all.
An excellent accomplishment and a worthy example of the genre." [Stephen Fruitman / Sonomu]
|
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
|
Altered States |
do-CD |
disc 1: recorded in january 2010
disc 2: recorded in february 2011
remastered in v2k studio
ab - treated electric guitar
the music contained in this album was recorded in two single live improvisations in studio - no overdubs or additional effects were successively added in the recording
artwork and layout by ab
portrait of ab by erika bonanni
thanks: giuseppe verticchio
© sonic boundaries sb001
https://ascanioborga.bandcamp.com/album/altered-states
"Like listening to a painter attack the canvas while drinking absinthe in the other room, Altered States is a two-disc, ninety-minute collection of solo guitar vignettes by Ascanio Borga, his first on new label Sonic Boundaries. Track titles hang off the same, great chain of roiling, evolving being – “Magma”, “Acid Landscape”, “Harsh Ground”, “Raw Science Loops” – and Borga works quickly but methodically. Altered States is formalist in the sense that no heed is paid historic, political and cultural context, all attention instead focused on the materiality of the art.
Disc one was recorded one day in January 2010, disc two also a single day, one year and one month later. Dark green outside, vital-organ pink inside. Played and treated live, no additional fiddling or overdubbing, a dozen states of mind (even grace) passionately expressed. The cumulative effect is volcanic, droning, sputtering worlds being formed, others being pulverized down to cellular level, ancient in gut feel, ablating all other thoughts. You can´t help but concentrate. Raw indulgence, visceral gratification."
[Stephen Fruitman - avantmusicnews.com/2015]
"It's hard to believe but it seems that I wrote about Ascanio Borga three times in Vital Weekly, in issue 550, 600 and 657, but not after that. I have no idea why there is such a long gap in producing some new music (and I surely would have believed it wasn't that long ago), but he manages now to release a double CD of recent works. Like before Borga's main instrument is the guitar but unlike before it's just the guitar and no percussion, wind chimes, Japanese carillon, frog guiro, samples, found sounds and objects as on the last release. He writes that 'Altered States' is an album of 'guitar solos' and that they were all recorded live in the
studio, with no additional overdubs. That still is something that leaves many options open, and Borga certainly explores a few roads here. Drones are, obviously, an important part of these twelve pieces (close to ninety minutes in total), with some of these being viciously loud and noisy, or, as in 'Magma' or 'Radiance' with an orchestral touch. Sometimes there is a more rock like approach to his guitar sound and Borga layers many of these on top of each other: effects such as loopers, delay and reverb play an important role, as well amplification. In 'Harsh Ground'
the resemblance with guitar sound is virtually gone in favour of a more abstract, controlled feedback. A minority of the pieces consist of more open ended strumming of the six strings, which I think is a pity; the release could have used a little more variation I think. The balance is now in favour of the noisy nightmares of burning distortion boxes, wandering off in the endless void of reverb and feedback. I think a stricter selection of pieces, ultimately fitting on a single disc, would have made a much stronger release. But now, spread out over two discs, this is just a 'great' one as well." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Raw Science |
CD |
"The common ground beneath these pieces is an experimental approach to the music production process. In a classic situation, recording, mixing and mastering have a mere technical role as they are employed to capture instruments and sounds, add auxiliary effects, balance tracks, to exploit and correct sound problems. The main focus is usually on the first steps: in theory, with an ideal quality recording, subsequent phases (especially mastering) should be reduced to a minimum to preserve the original sounds with maximum fidelity. This implicitly makes the assumption that the creative part of the music (i.e. the one where lies the musical language) is oustide the whole process of music recording and production.
The last assumption does not hold for concrete and other forms of experimental music, including this one. Here, effects and sound manipulation play a primary role, mixing and mastering are part of the composition, active creative phases in which crucial modifications and ideas can be inserted, driving the recording towards completely new and unexpected directions. Every phase of music production is not separate from the others, as the whole process can be repeated several times, in any order, following a non-linear pattern. Creative elements can live in any moment between the initial conception of music until the final master. The composer has an extended palette of tools, including those of the sound engineer, to take deeper control on the sound itself. [from the liner notes]
credits
released September 1, 2016
Recording, mixing & mastering: v2k alchemical laboratory, Rome, 2013-2016
(except some parts of track 1 which were recorded in Berlin)
Ascanio Borga - electric guitar, synthesizers, samples, noises, treatments
Artwork and layout by AB
Cover painting: “Cutting The Stone” by Hieronymus Bosch
Other images: a reproduction of the Alchemical Door (Rome)
© sonic boundaries sb002
"Ascanio Borga is one discreet but continuously creative sound artist coming from Rome and whose objective is to cross various fields of electronic experimentation, from retro-ish cosmic synth excursion to vaporous space ambient and dark droning vibes. Over the years he mainly published self-releases as limited editions now available on his online Bandcamp store. One interesting fact, in 2008 he published one release on Afe Records (founded by pioneering dark ambient artist Andrea Marutti).
As stated in the press release and compared to his early materials Raw Science deliberately embraces a more sonic and claustrophobic sound universe where crackling industrial noises are melted with tripped out and freezing black noise textures. The whole concept and the visual aesthetic brought to the fore are based on antique knowledge, alchemical then hidden sources of sciences, apparently taken from medieval esoterism and the mystical kabbalistic wisdom.
The pieces gathered on this album sound quite hermetic, not easy to approach at first step but with required attention we can appreciate a tremendous gallery of fuzzed out and metallic drone rituals as in the rather industrial “Porta Alchemica” or as in the sonically grimy “Azoth.” Those kind of obsessional and textured noise ambient sequences admit comparison with the corrosive experimental assaults of Constrate or Sigillum S and the buzzing minimalism of Keith Fullerton Whitman. All in all Raw Science is a pleasant curiosity to discover in the noise / harsh psych drone territory."
[Philippe Blache - igloomag]
"With more than three years in the making, Raw Science is one of the most convoluted Borga's works. It contains four extended tracks crafted with careful stratifications, noise manipulations and other heavy sound treatment of various sources. With its unique mixture of dark electronics, guitar drones and concrete/noise elements, Raw Science occupies a musical niche similar to that of Bad Ground and Xenomorphic."
[Sonic Boundaries]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS3iuxyZndQ
|
2016 |
€10.00 |
|
| BORISOV, ALEXEI / OLGA NOSOVA / DAVE PHILLIPS |
Borinosophil |
CD |
listen: https://dave-phillips.bandcamp.com/album/--2
Alexei Borisov - Guitar, Electronics, Voice
Olga Nosova - Drums, Electronics, Objects
Dave Phillips - Bass, Electronics, Voice, Field Recordings
released by Monotype Records, Warsaw in an 'Ecopack' sleeve. artwork by dp.
source material recorded in Moscow in the summer of 2009. most was improvised in alexei's living-room on tiny speakers with an assemblage of instruments and objects. one track was recorded in a studio with drums, guitar, bass and vocals. the resulting hours of recorded material were analysed - most of it was dismissed - the remains were taken apart and reassembled into 5 distinctive and epic sound-compositions. loud intimate music.
arranged 2010/2011 & mastered May 2011 in Zürich by dp.
REVIEW courtesy of Frans De Waard/Vital Weekly # 839 (July 2012)
This disc has the regular performing duo of Russia's finest, Alexei Borisov and Olga Nosova. Together they traveled the world, playing together but also performing with others, such as Anton Nikkila, Matthieu Werchowski, Dora Bleu, Thomas Buckner, Tom Smith, Jandek, Anton Mobin and a_spirale and somewhere along the lines they bumped into Dave Phillips, who is best known for his radical approach to noise, silence, performance and video. This trio worked together in june 2009 in Moscow and the recordings were later on edited by Phillips. It combines the energy unleashed by Borisov/Nosova together with the more continuous sound world of Phillips and occasional rapid editing from him. It seems to me that all three go off their usual path a bit. Its not as loud as I would expect from Phillips (but maybe I am not listening in the same volume as he plays live… actually I am sure of it) and perhaps also less object based as I would expect and it seems less improvised for the duo, although I am not sure. But that leads however to music that is quite good. Densely orchestrated electronics, in which the voice of Nosova is there, but pushed away it seems, and throughout the music has a hypnotic, psychedelic feeling to it. Great stuff.
Includes unlimited streaming of БОРИНОСОФИЛ via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. less |
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| BOSETTI, ALESSANDRO |
Il Fiore della Bocca |
CD |
"Produced in 2003 for the sound art department of a german radio station, "Il Fiore della Bocca" is one of the most controversial text sound compositions by Alessandro Bosetti. Composed exclusively with the voices of physically and mentally handicapped people, the piece displays an impressive richness, depth and variety of sound, covering the full range of musical possibilities of the spoken voice; from heavily processed to completely unprocessed, naked and direct. The piece has an ambiguous nature that lies somewhere between an experimental radio play and an extended, powerfully voice driven, noise composition. Bosetti has taken an impressive journey into what is commonly perceived as "disturbing". He has thus engaged in a process of transformation and metamorphosis with both the sound materials and their perceptions in order to develop musical beauty out of these "abnormal" voices.
A long series of conversations, where spastic, aphasic and larynx-less persons are confronted with examples of "deconstructed voice" (in the tradition of experimental music and sound poetry), has been the core of a two year long intimate relationship with those speakers and the starting point of the compositional process. All commentaries, reflections and reactions had been recorded in order to create a new composition with those collected materials. Similar to his other text sound pieces like "African Feedback", "Everyday Objects", "The Listeners", "The Mouth" or "Zwölfzungen", conversations, human interaction, comprehension and misunderstanding are essential to this piece. Since it's premiere on Deutschland Radio Kultur in 2004, it has been performed many times; in presence of the original speakers and in several live multichannel performances which provocated a wide and passionate range of reactions and discussions. "Il Fiore della Bocca", is intended as a piece in the form of a flower, either one of the red roses Claudia is singing about in the middle section of the composition, or a mouth-flower, as the title suggests. Also, a flower close in inspiration to the weathered, ephemeral and dying flowers that Zeami used to describe the quality of Nô theater actors. It's a piece based on love, human interaction and the contemplation of differences which reaches the point where the extremely different becomes the same.
Recorded and composed between September 2002 and August 2003 in Milan and Berlin.
First broadcasted by Deutschland radio Kultur, October 24th, 2003." [label info]
www.rossbin.com/rs025.htm
|
2006 |
€6.00 |
|
| BOTCHAN KARISEN |
Reactions Mecaniques |
mCd-R |
Die Nr. 33 in der tollen Taalem-Reihe und schon wieder ein neuer Name. BOTCHAN KARISEN lässt sich im Bereich "repetitiv / hypnotischer / experimenteller Noise-Ambient" ansiedeln,
recht scharfkantig das ganze, über einem derangierten Piano-Loop wandeln viele noisig-disharmonischer Elemente...
"a mix between un/de-tuned piano melody, manipulated sounds, ambient experimental music and noise... botchan karisen is also known for his electro-industrial sounds under the Babylone Chaos alias (last release on divine comedy records). he's also part of the experimental & oniric duo Scripta Manent. full-colour printed 3" cd-r with artwork by cyril herry." [label info]
|
2006 |
€5.00 |
|
| BOWLINE |
same |
CD |
Neues Projekt von DAVID MARANHA (OSSO EXOTICO) und einem FRANCISCO DILLON am Cello - oszillierende Streicher-Drones in dynamischer Veränderung kontrastieren mit den eigentlich hoch-minimalen Arrangements. Subtil & sparsam, aber von ungeheurer Wirkung.
"Behind Bowline we find the more and more present musician David Maranha, who was once best known as Osso Exotico, and these days also works as a solo musician and one Francesco Dillon. He is from Italy and studied the cello. These days he is a member of Alter-Ego (see Vital Weekly 602 for their work with Gavin Bryars) as well as playing with people like Matmos, Pan Sonic and Scanner. A man of many talents. Here too Dillon plays cello, whereas Maranha gets credit for 'hammond organ, violin, vox amplifier (with Francesco cello signal), glass harmonica, tremolo and distortion pedals'. Of the four tracks, the first is the most silent one, taking several minutes to get started. Like with so many other projects of David Maranha, in which ever form it takes, this is a work of minimalism. Of sheer, utter minimalism and what beauty, once again. The careful strumming of various string instruments, the drones added, sparsely of course, from the other instruments. Three short tracks which eventually culminate in the fourth track, which takes up about two-third of the CD and in which the three previous excursions return but glorified. Everything comes together here. If you love Osso Exotico or any of the works Maranha did after that, this is will be a most welcome addition. Also fans of traditional minimal music, especially Lamonte Young will find this a great release, I'm sure of that." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.sonoris.org
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| BOY DIRT CAR |
Spoken Answer |
CD |
"In one of the most unlikely reunions of recent years, seminal Milwaukee noise group Boy Dirt Car announces the release of its first new recordings since 1988. Spoken Answer To A Silent Question brings together several original members -- co-founder Darren Brown, Keith Brammer and Dan Kubinski (Die Kreuzen), T.S. Wahlen and Dave Szolwinski -- and, consistent with Boy Dirt Car's classic revolving-door lineup, brings in several newcomers, including longtime Milwaukee mainstays Peder Hedman, Karl Paloucek and Jeff Hamilton. For much of the 1980s, Milwaukee was home to Boy Dirt Car's brooding sound. Influenced as much by Wisconsin's brutal winters and the dark tales of its North Woods as by any of their avant garde contemporaries, the group forged a sound different from other so-called 'industrial' bands of the day. As one reviewer once put it, 'Boy Dirt Car creates a sound not like being in a car crash, but of being under one.' Just as it cadged its industrial instrumentation from scrapyards and roadsides, BDC culled its members from across Milwaukee's vibrant music scene of the time, building up an intense following and a reputation as one of the city's most potentially hazardous acts. At the same time, the group recorded numerous (now-legendary) cassettes and LPs which, while escaping the ears of Rolling Stone, garnered them coverage in The Wall Street Journal, and -- even more unlikely -- from late advice columnist Ann Landers." [label notes] |
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| BRADLEY, JULIAN |
Miss Modern Venus |
CD-R |
Rare Zusammenstellung von live-Aufnahmen des VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA-Mannes. Stränger, ächzender, an jeder Ecke dronender low-fi noise...
“ Seems an appropriate start to the UK leg of the Apoplexy journey to issue a disc by Leeds own Mr Bradley, known to many as one of the fab Vibracathedral Orchestra. Julian presents us with a selection of live recordings from a visit to Belgium last year and boy do they hit the spot. Murky loops and growling substrata is the order of the day here and in the family spirit of this small industry JB is joined by Laurent Cartuyvels on bass... Laurent runs the Veglia label and has just released a swell Julian Bradley compilation cd which I urge you to check out along with this wee gem. ” [label description]
|
2003 |
€8.00 |
|
| BRADLEY, MARK |
The Gloaming |
mCDR |
"active for a few years only, mark bradley is a us sound artist with many releases on various labels such as basses frequences, ruralfaune, reverb worship or idrone park.
"the gloaming" is a soft synth based track that requires an attentive listening. mark partially defines his music as "moonlight ambient"; we couldn't find a better description. let yourself drown in this hypnotic piece..." [label info]
www.taalem.com
|
2010 |
€5.00 |
|
| BRADLEY, PAUL |
Liquid Sunset |
CD |
Two drone-tracks (one very long, one shorter) that pass by like hazy shades, very minimal and soft cloudy (over-)tones that let the time stop...
“Colour bursts on the horizon. The haze of light creates a dreamy, almost unreal atmosphere. Everything slows to a stupor as the sun finally drops from view, ever static yet ever evolving, to be reborn again in a few short hours. CD encased in some delicious artwork.“ [label description]
www.twentyhertz.co.uk
|
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Sketches from Dust |
CD |
Extreme amorph drone-scapes that invite to discover even the tiniest micro-details inside the undulating, waving, floating sounds... very relaxing, meditative, contemplative, tensionless movements..
A one-tracker of 40 minutes. Standard edition.
“Following on from ‘Memorias Extranjeras’ (Alluvial Recordings) with ‘Sketches from Dust’, we again have a less ‘typical’ Paul Bradley release. For this CD, gone are the field recordings and over the forty minutes we hear a piece that is mainly constructed from Guitar and Piano (the latter being played by Maja Elliott of Current 93). The recording is augmented by various acoustic sounds and some precise mixing techniques to form an organic and possibly ‘looser’ feeling recording than we might be previously expecting. What we hear is an intimate yet murky, almost eroded sonic journey. A primitive earlier outtake of ‘Sketches from Dust’ appeared on the limited ‘Notes from Past - Sketches from Dust’ CDr released earlier in 2006.” [label info]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Sketches from Dust (special) |
CD |
Extreme amorph drone-scapes that invite to discover even the tiniest micro-details inside the undulating, waving, floating sounds... very relaxing, meditative, contemplative, tensionless movements..
A one-tracker of 40 minutes. Special edition.
“Following on from ‘Memorias Extranjeras’ (Alluvial Recordings) with ‘Sketches from Dust’, we again have a less ‘typical’ Paul Bradley release. For this CD, gone are the field recordings and over the forty minutes we hear a piece that is mainly constructed from Guitar and Piano (the latter being played by Maja Elliott of Current 93). The recording is augmented by various acoustic sounds and some precise mixing techniques to form an organic and possibly ‘looser’ feeling recording than we might be previously expecting. What we hear is an intimate yet murky, almost eroded sonic journey. A primitive earlier outtake of ‘Sketches from Dust’ appeared on the limited ‘Notes from Past - Sketches from Dust’ CDr released earlier in 2006. This now fully realized work is released in two CD editions, one limited to 200 copies in hand painted card sleeve and a second unlimited edition with printed card insert in a plastic wallet.” [label info]
|
2006 |
€17.50 |
|
|
Pastandpresentcollide |
CD |
A very soft and delicate one-tracker (56+ minutes), mellow like a warm breeze, but then strange voices are entering the drone-fields from the very below...
"There is no escape, grainy snapshots constantly replaying in our heads. It is futile, our every action/reaction, decision, choice, it is who we are, it is what we will become. An endless loop in our minds, it is always with us. Past and present... Brand new drone suite by Paul Bradley. Sound material collected over the years from different sources." [label info]
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Sirens |
CD-R |
SIRENS fasst die vergriffenen mCDRs "Cede" (Waterscape Rec.) und "Searching for the way" (Locus of Assemblage) zusammen, sowie
das bisher nur als digitalen Download erhältliche Stücke "Horizon".
Das sind warme, melancholische Dronescapes wie sie für BRADLEY typisch sind, hochsensibel & verzaubernd..
‘sirens’collects together the out of print releases ‘cede’ and ‘searching for the way’ along with the download release ‘horizon’. ‘cede’ was originally released as a 3 inch cdr on the German label Waterscape Records in an edition of 50. ‘searching for the way’ was issued through the UK label ‘The Locus Of’ in an edition of 100 3 inch cdr’s. ‘horizon’ is also available as a download from Twenty Hertz Digital.
‘sirens’ comes in a plastic sleeve with full colour 4 panel insert and the first 50 copies also include two photograph inserts (the ‘sirens’ and ‘searching for the way’ covers) and a numbered and signed obi. Tracks one and three were lightly re-touched in February 2008 at IC Studio." [label info]
www.twentyhertz.co.uk
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Mas Memorias Extranjeras (2) |
CD |
"...At the basis of all Paul Bradley music is the field recording. After that Bradley manipulates the material until is a stretched out piece of drone music and the original source recordings have disappeared. That's why in the early days we thought it was a bunch of synthesizers. However for 'Memories Extranjeras' he has these recordings made in Spain, and he by and large does the thing he always does best but there is a slight difference. The original field recordings are here and there to be heard: at one point the rhythms of a marching band arrive out of a mass of sound and sounded like an odd counterpoint in this music. On other spots we hear the crowd cheering or talking in a reverbing hallway. This 'revealing' of sources is a quite nice new feature in this music. It doesn't add a whole new perspective, nor does it break the good flow in this work, but at the same time, you feel that Bradley is slowly shifting interest towards new paths. I wouldn't be surprised if he switches over one day and reduces the electronic processing in favor of the pure field recording. But that's all for later. For now, Bradley added another fine work of drone music to his already nice discography." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.alluvialrecordings.com
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
| BRAINVILLE 3 |
Trial by Headline |
CD |
"Three old hands out of Soft Machine, Gong and Henry Cow stretch already flexible musical material into one shape after another, then tie it in knots and generally have a fun with it. High quality recordings combined with seat-of-the-pants playing keep the tension high, underpinning a richly labile music, full of shape and colour that is constantly in motion. Compiled from recent concert recordings in Berlin, London and Tel Aviv, this clutch of extended songs should be to the taste of anyone familiar with the protagonists - or who longs to hear a little more straightforward instrumental playing in place of computers, heavy processing and sanitised post production. Brainville offers you tightrope walking, imagination, fast thinking, and a seasoned musicality: a social music, played by old friends, that blithely goes its own way." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| BRANCA, GLENN |
Indeterminate Activity of Resultant Masses |
CD |
"Worum sich schon lange Gerüchte rankten, was schon lange erwartet wurde, wird jetzt als "Indeterminate Activity" quasi zum ersten Mal veröffentlicht. Das Meisterwerk von GLENN BRANCA wurde in der frühen Phase des "Guitar Army"-Ensembles - kurz nach dem Release der "The Ascension"-EP - in den New Yorker Radio City Studios aufgenommen. Neben Beiträgen von Thurston Moore und Lee Ranaldo von SONIC YOUTH gibt es mehr von regelmäßigen BRANCA Kollaborateuren wie Craig Bromberg, Barbara Ess, Jeffrey Glenn, Sue Hanel, David Rosenbloom und Ned Sublette, sowie zwei weitere Stücke: das Anti-BRANCA Interview von John Cage mit Wim Mertens, dass 1982 auf der Navy Pier in Chicago aufgenommen wurde und eine bisher unveröffentlichte Komposition "Harmonic Series Chords", eingespielt von der New Yorker Chamber Sinfonia 1989. "Indeterminate Activity" ist das ultimative Bindeglied in jeder Sammlung von GLENN BRANCA Werken." [press release Cargo]
" .... The title piece here, performed in 1981 with 10 guitars and drums and timpani is one of the most impressive Branca pieces we have ever heard. Its inescapable tension wraps itself around your ears and while you feel it's grasp taking a hold of you, you don't really ever want it to end. With young devotees like Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore in the ensemble it's no wonder the piece sounds so perfect and received the long standing ovation it so deserved. But one man in attendance of this
performance was not impressed. In fact he had lots to say about it,
and nothing positive. That wouldn't be that big of a deal of course
if that person wasn't John Cage!! In a clever twist of their long
running rivalry and Cage's very public dismissal of Branca's work,
Branca decided to follow the title piece on this reissue with a
conversation that John Cage had with Wim Mertons about Branca's
piece. In the conversation Cage speaks very eloquently as he always
did, about his dislike for Branca's piece and his work in general. He
goes as far to call the piece fascist, which then led to a very
public and bitter tiff between two legends of forward thinking 20th
century music. We have to admit that sometimes we actually like
hearing Cage talk even more then we like listening to his music. As
the rhythm of his voice and the depth of his intelligence is so damn
pleasing to take in. While we wish Wim Mertons would have done a
better job of defending Branca, we can't blame him for being a bit
tongue tied and slow in the face of Cage's eloquent understated fury.
We can imagine that if we ever had the opportunity to have a serious
exchange of views about music with Cage we probably would have been crazy nervous and marble mouthed. The record ends with a late 80's piece by Branca called Harmonic Series Chords which is a really nice somber piece performed by the New York Chamber Sinfonia. Like two heavyweight champions exchanging blows we feel lucky to get to sit on the sidelines as Cage disses Branca, and Branca's music speaks so loudly for itself. Highly recommended!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2007 |
€14.50 |
|
|
Symphony # 5: Describing Planes of an Expanding Hypersphere |
CD |
" Recorded in 1984 but held up in a post-production stasis until now, this is music for 5 guitars, mallet guitar, violin, drums, bass, keyboards, that is being touted as the "most dense, cacophonous Branca symphony yet." "Glenn's music gets quite often inaccurately described as wall-of-sound/noise/guitars/whatever. A wall exists for the purpose of containment. 'Symphony No. 5' is expansive beyond limits, smashing the wall (at least sonically) between this dimension & all others. There is quite audibly the garblings of the voices of alien intelligences banging at the doors of our world as we dream of theirs."
[label info]
www.atavistic.com
|
1996 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Symphony # 6: Devil Choirs at the Gates of Heaven |
CD |
"Massive guitar ensemble including helmet’s page Hamilton Debuted @ Expo ’92 in Barcelona, Spain > Potent ’89 recording produced by Wharton Tiers swarms your head like a hive of electrified bees." [label info]
www.atavistic.com
|
1993 |
€14.00 |
|
| BRANDSDAL, KJETIL D. |
Freedom Waaaoh Waaoh |
CD |
Die ersten beiden BRANDSDAL LP’s auf einer CD ! Obskurster low-fi Surrealismus! Hard to say what this really IS, as the sounds are difficult to recognize or to classify...low-fi surrealism at its best!
"The name of Kjetil D. Brandsdal has been bandied about the world increasingly over the last couple of years. Of Norwegian origin, though resident for the last three years or so in Northern Ireland, Kjetil has carved quite a niche for himself as a 'sound artist'. Exhibiting a sterling self-reliance, he emerged first via a slew of self-released cassettes (about ten in all), then followed these with two self-released LPs and a slew of singles on labels such as Boblador, MykeDroner, and Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers. The LPs were manufactured in editions of 300, and got snapped up pretty damn fast, but not before he sent one to H-Corp HQ in the far antipodes. The CD currently under consideration was the natural result, once the Hermetically-tuned ears of the corporation got a whiff of the lo-fi, droning, tape-looped improv. spew that Kjetil was purveying, it was a done deal. The Freedom CD compiles choice tracks from both LPs, KDB and Kjetil D. Brandsdal, but also features the full-length version of 'III', originally restricted to just one whole LP side, it now closes the CD at a full 35 minutes. The recorded pieces are devoid of drums, most rhythms coming from tape loops or guitar parts, and generally levitate the consciousness pretty effectively in a ceilingwards direction. Production appears to be on porta-studio in most cases, and headphone listening reveals some pretty cool mix-work in a style not a million miles from our own Omit, but retaining a unique Nordic 'grittiness' in sound."[press release]
“Of Norwegian decent, though a current resident of Northern Ireland, Kjetil D. Brandsdal constructs ominous lo-fi droning tape loops similar to a gritty variant of Omit accompanied by throbbing de-tuned bass and occasional post-VU strum. A very nice introduction / documentation on the perennially great Corpus Hermeticum!” [Aquarius Records]
|
0000 |
€14.00 |
|
| BRANT, JACOB |
Rainmaking |
mCD-R |
"ACM 1019: 3“ CD-R in mini DVD-style case
Drone ambient at its lushest, most densely harmonic, is how best to describe the music of British artist Jacob Brant. Using sampled acoustic instruments and especially voices to create sonics vaguely akin to Ligeti’s ‘Lux aeterna’, this two-part composition shows his capability of colouring his dronescapes both in serene and ominous colours.
“This piece of music is dedicated to those who protect us,” the sleeve notes say, and while the first part of the piece, ‘Rainmaker,’ seems to refer this to a sort of religious context, the title of the second part, ‘Whistleblower,’ proves that for all the blissful otherworldliness of his music, Brant is not blind to the ugliness of our world that needs whistleblowers in evil organisations to protect the rest of us from the worst. Jacob Brant certainly shares a lot of compositional methodology (use of acoustic sound sources etc.) with drone composers like Niblock and If, Bwana, but the structure of pieces like “Rainmaking” is more akin to artists like Mirko Uhlig and Tim Hecker and their more song-like, melody-oriented approaches." [label info]
www.attenuationcircuit.de
|
2013 |
€6.00 |
|
| BRASIL |
Wander till spring |
CD |
The first real „fabric pressed“ CD on our beloved polish label for exquisite magic ambience. BRASIL is a side-project from two members of ONE INCH OF SHADOW, the material presented here consists of deeply isolated & melancholic “homerecording” ambient songs with male vocals, very minimal and sparsely instrumentalized with all kinds of instruments and electronic sources. A kind of psychedelic, esoteric cold wave industrialism… beautiful and so sad… reminds at times on SPEAR, COIL, etc..
365 numbered copies, thick oversized cardboard cover
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| BRAZINSKIS, RIHARDS & RAITIS UPENS |
Aldaris |
CD |
"Filled with ethno-grief and admiration at the same time, “Aldaris” is a mental time travel back to such a mighty and noble age in Riga when the factories rumbled, stone houses rose up one after another and the whole city rapidly turned from a fusty medieval fortress into the modern layout of the city we still live in. It’s an adoration of a great socially economical prosperity which existed not so long ago, but quite unbelievable from the current perspective.
The historical factory of the beer brewery Aldaris (The Brewmaster in Latvian) had its inception around the year 1865. It’ a living monument of brick architecture of the industrial era which preserves and silently retells the Latvian land’s legacy of the past 150 years. Nowadays this total glory stands contrastingly in a midst of a quite humble and remote outskirt named Sarkandaugava (Red river Daugava in Latvian).
The whole territory of the factory is organized in quarters of buildings – very characteristic style of that time. Although many of the original buildings has been rebuilt or even demolished, the common look remains largely intact. The specific building we made our recordings in was neglected since 1976 till the renovation started in 2014.
During the repairing period we had the luck to freely interact with the old beer kettles made in year 1938 which now are part of Aldaris beer museum located there. Also we recorded a beer brewing process in the same building and surrounding atmospheres in the whole area. Recordings were made in several stages with the last and most extensive session hold on March 1, 2015 and thus precisely matching the release date of this CD.
As far as we’re concerned this should be the first beer related work in the world of field recording based audio expressions. And it’s an honor it’s hosted in such an important country in beer culture as Belgium. Enjoy!" [Rihards Brazinskis]
|
2017 |
€14.00 |
|
| BRESCHAND, HELENE |
Les Incarnes |
LP |
"New solo recorded in Paris, December 2013. Harp, acoustic and electric, voice. 'Hélène Breschand demonstrating her readiness to deconstruct her instrument's identity...'." [Julian Cowley THE WIRE]
www.dautrescordes.com
"Hélène Breschand plays her harp in as wide a variety of ways as is possible to imagine (and some which might be less obvious), at times sounding like she is letting rip in an electric guitar, prepared piano, zither and effects pedals all simultaneously. What it doesn’t really sound like is the limpid waftings of angels serenading the hosts of heaven, unless said host happens to be in a very avant-garde state of mind at the time. As side A draws to a melancholic close, it plinks, bends and twangs with softly swerving resonances and reverberations, plus the occasional whack of the harp’s frame for good measure.
Side B opens with notes held in soft tension, Breschand’s breath becoming more audible among slow accretions of metal strings swept and slung in a slow progress while she brings forth a long drawn-out song composed more of emotional intonations than of individually discernible words. The whole is delivered initially with echoes of the stately grace of a koto-accompanied Noh, though the piece eventually dissolves into reflective sweeps of panning delay and the arrival of harsher effects and discordances.. The way in which Breschand makes the harp resonate like a cello or violin is exceptional, and as it buzzes and shimmers into tightly-controlled flurries of feedback and reverb, the booming finale of Les Incarnés is delivered in gathering clusters of remarkable intensity.
This is meditative music, but not the kind full of new age vapidity; rather it is the sound of a musician exploring and stretching the boundaries of her instrument with a deep concentration. Her (presumably) furrowed brow and the evident rapt attention paid to the sounds she is making is audibly transmitted directly to the listener; and is a joy to be swept up by and absorbed into."
[Richard Fontenoy/FREQ]
"The harp is not an instrument we hear on a daily basis, here at the weekly HQ, but of course there are some players in this field, Rhodri Davies for instance is quite active. I never heard of Helene Breschand, who works from contemporary music to jazz, both solo as well as a chamber musician, including improvisation, musical theatre and visual arts. She has performed works by Luciano Berio, Emmanuel Nunes, Yoshihisa Taira, David Toop and Christian Marclay and has founded the group Laborintus. Both pieces on this new record are called 'Les Incarnes'. These pieces have hardly anything to do with jazz or contemporary music, unless of course radically sparse improvisation is what you call contemporary and/or jazz. She plays electric and acoustic harp and uses her voice and both pieces are excellent in a way that these are very intense, quiet most of the times but with a lot tension underneath. She uses a delay pedal occasionally and strums her instrument, bows it, plucks it and uses her voice in pretty much the same way. Not to accompany her, but to create something that fits her unworldly playing of the harp. On the B-side she bends the harp to go a bit more extreme levels and even mildly distorted, but here too it remains to have a certain austerity. Excellent record!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€18.00 |
|
| BRIDLE WIRE |
Damper String |
mCD-R |
Einer unserer Favouriten von den vielen neuen Namen auf SCARCELIGHT ist diese kleine mCD mit einem fabulösen One-Tracker, der sich aus sphärischen Drones in monumentale, später in noisig-collagenhafte Höhen aufschwingt. TIP !
“One monolithic drone piece built entirely from samples of pianos. Who the hell knows what is really going behind the music with this one. What we do know is that Thaniel Lee (who is Bridle Wire) is a talented visual artist from New Albany, IN. who has crafted a devastingly beautiful noise track. Like Glenn Branca dipped in a digital fire.“ [label info]
“...[N]ew to me is Bridle Wire, aka Thaniel Lee, from New Albany, IN. His work was entirely constructed from using piano sounds samples. You surely heard that tune before, but Bridle Wire is a man who loves to layer his sounds ad infinitum. At various speeds these sounds drop in and out and maybe there is a moment when you hear just a few layers, overall it's a densely layered drone noise piece with classical references, especially related to the New York scene around Glenn Branca and Sonic Youth's side projects. Quite scary but nice indeed.”
[FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2005 |
€5.00 |
|
| BRIGHTER DEATH NOW |
Breaking down Nihil-Live |
do-CD |
"Der Angriff and Indiestate Distribution proudly present a very special 2CD release of one of the most influential and famous power electronics projects in the world, a favourite child of Cold Meat Industry mastermind Roger Karmanik - Brighter Death Now. Recorded live during short Russian tour made in September 2009, it is unique since the lineup was made of Russian artists and only Roger himself was a part of the common European live incarnation of BDN. The persons behind Anthesteria and LamiaVox have joined him in Moscow while the guys from Bardoseneticube and 414 were together with him on stage in St.Petersburg. The basic parts of the tracks have been sent to them all in advance, so they have prepared their own vision of this material, thus it was nothing like a spontaneous improvisation or jam-session, but pure conceived and well-organized collaboration. Both shows have been recorded on a multi-channel devices, then carefully mixed and mastered, so the final quality is close to the studio one without losing any bit of the raw energy of live performance. The result is a very fresh and unexpected look on the well-known BDN compositions such as "Innerwar", “PayDay” and “Testing” which should be interested not only for devoted followers of the project but for the wider audience of power electronics / death industrial fans. The real gem in our roster, not to be missed! The release is limited to 450 copies and comes in a special embossed foldout envelope with cardboard inner sleeves.
CD 1: MOSCOW (24-09-2009): Innerwar / Oh what a night / Payday / I wanna die / Destroy / I hate you
CD 2: SAINT-PETERSBURG (28-09-2009): First floor / Testing / Leave me alone / Dödsambient / There is nothing left in this world / Female blood" [label info]
|
2011 |
€18.00 |
|
| BROBERG, JONAS / ERIK MIKAEL KARLSSON |
Two Composers |
CD |
The international passport for acousmatic pleasure...
Jonas Broberg
Locations
Minutes between Seconds
Conversation in Cadaqués
Her scent
Erik Mikael Karlsson
Epitaphe pour Iqbal Masih
Hotel d'un Collectionneur
Concordes and Consequences
La lune commence oú avec le citron finit la cerise
- FYCD 1009, 1997 |
1997 |
€12.50 |
|
| BRODERICK, PETER |
Music for falling from Trees |
CD |
"Voller Schönheit und Ehrfurcht: Der US-Amerikaner vertont ein Tanztheaterstück.
Peter Broderick ist ein bisschen wie ein Schweizer Taschenmesser: kompakt, elegant, vielseitig. Jedoch ist der multiinstrumentell aufgewachsene US-Amerikaner zurückhaltend und gibt sein riesiges Arsenal an Talenten immer nur Stück für Stück Preis. Seit 2007 tourt er als festes Mitglied seiner musikalischen Helden Efterklang um die Welt und eröffnete dabei einige Konzerte als Solo-Act. Nach seinem 2008er-Folkalbum "Home" zeigt sich Broderick von einer gänzlich anderen Seite: "Music For Falling From Trees" ist ein 30-minütiges Album in sieben Akten, welches er für das gleichnamige Tanzstück der Londoner Choreografin Adrienne Hart komponierte. Adrienne suchte Bühnenmusik, die auf Piano und Streichern basiert; also konzentrierte sich Peter nur auf diese beiden Klangfarben. Die Musik ist zeitweise melancholisch, mal verspielt, mal chaotisch, jedoch voller Schönheit und Ehrfurcht. Die CD kommt inklusive der "Erased Tapes Collection I" als Gratis-Download. Für Fans von Max Richter, Yann Tiersen, Ólafur Arnalds und Efterklang." [label info]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| BROWN, CHRIS |
Talking Drum |
CD |
27 Sound-Snaps von traditioneller Ethno-Musik und field recordings verschiedenster Lände – CUBA, BALI, TÜRKEI, PHILIPPINEN, KANADA, werden hier verbunden mit live-Aufnahmen einer Computernetzwerk–Installation zur Generierung polyrhythmischer Klänge...klingt etwas arg konstruiert, aber das Ergebnis ist sehr vital, ungewöhnlich und vielseitig ...
“Binaural motion recordings composed as a dialogue of distances. Live recordings of music for electronic network music ensemble juxtaposed with location recordings of traditional music and environmental soundscapes. Made in Bali, the Philippines,
Turkey, Europe, Cuba and America 1991-99. This compilation/composition documents nearly a decade of work that began with the recording of dense sonic environments, both 'natural' and urban. Talking Drum is an interactive installation made with four networked laptop computers programmed to explore cyclical polyrhythms in large acoustic spaces. While the performance of the entire system is synchronized by one computer, each computer station generates independent results using genetic-programming algorithms which are affected by acoustic musicians' performances. Each station in the space “grows” its own rhythmic response to the situation, like similar plants growing differently in adjustment to their locations in an environment. The musicians improvise with the rhythms, interacting with the response of the computers they play next to, and the whole is a quartet of these human-machine duets. This recording compiles moments from these performances, and the recordings that inspired their creation, into one continuous piece. Electronic music is normally thought of as a medium emphasizing unlimited access to timbre - I think this is often over-emphasized, and that, at its best, it changes our experience of space. The traditional African talking drums are played held under the arms so that their laces can be squeezed to change the pitch of the drum-head as rhythms are played. The changing pitches and rhythms imitate patterns of the tonal languages of West Africa, and can be used like musical telephony to communicate over long distances. This recording follows this design, creating conversations between different places, environments, people, rituals, and parties on a global scale.
Chris Brown (b. 1953), composer, pianist, and electronic musician, creates music for acoustic instruments with interactive electronics, for computer networks, and for improvising ensembles. Born and raised in Chicago, he moved to California to study electronic music with Gordon Mumma and composition with William Brooks at Univ. of California/Santa Cruz, and with David Rosenboom at Mills College. He was active early in his career as an inventor and builder of electroacoustic instruments; he has also performed widely as an improvisor and pianist with such groups as Room; and the Glenn Spearman Double Trio. In 1986 he co-founded the pioneering computer network music ensemble The Hub. He is also known for his recorded performances of music by Henry Cowell, Luc Ferrari, and John Zorn. He has received commissions from the Berkeley Symphony, the Rova Saxophone Quartet, the Abel-Steinberg-Winant Trio, the Gerbode Foundation, the Phonos Foundation and the Creative Work Fund. His recent music includes the poly-rhythm installation “Talking Drum”, the “Inventions” series for computers and interactive performers, and the radio performance “Transmissions” series, with composer Guillermo Galindo. His 1992 epic electroacoustic work “Lava”, for brass, percussion, and electronics is also available on Tzadik. He teaches Composition and Electronic Music at Mills College in Oakland, where he is Co-Director of the Center for Contemporary Music (CCM)” [press release]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| BROWN, HANNIS |
Severe Insomnia |
CD |
"Severe Insomnia, the second release by New York-based experimental composer Hannis Brown and his first album for Lumberton Trading Company, is a spine-chilling and unpredictable rollercoaster-ride of a listen. The 11 instrumental tracks run the gamut from musique-concrete tape collages and electroacoustic composition to works for chamber ensembles, orchestra, and solo prepared guitar. Inspired by the meandering and disjunct images that manifest themselves on the backs of eyelids during bouts of insomnia, the music is charged with an instability marked by atonal explosions of saxophones, sedate interludes of electronic and orchestral textures, and nightmarish climaxes of tone clusters. Each piece creates a unique sonic space while contributing to an overarching theme of somnipathy—the anguished screams of “Face Down At Twilight,” the chopped found sounds of “Alice’s Attic,” the churning orchestral textures of “Furies.” Incorporating the microtonal orchestrations of Pendereki and Ligeti with the electro-acoustic spatial compositions of Edgar Varese and frenzied free jazz of Charles Mingus, Severe Insomnia is colored with unorthodox textures and orchestrations. Violins gliss through streams of broken harmonics; tapped beer bottles, spinning coins, and metal garbage cans scraped with paper clips serve as percussion behind the sounds of children’s voices and spiraling woodwind clusters. Strings oscillate slowly in and out of phase with one another; hyperventilating breathing exercises cloaks muddled trumpet and flute.The result is a unique and unsettling suite of compositions: a textural concept work that pushes you to the depths of your subconscious and hold you there. Limited to 500, with the first 25 copies in special hand-painted glass packaging (only available via retail directly from LTCo). Out on 31/01/11." [label info]
www.lumberton-trading.com
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| BRUIL, ARNO / BROUCE TETARETTE |
Pavo / Sonofoque |
MC |
"Face A : Brouce tétarette – Sonofoque, 19 minutes. Improvisation sur larcens de tables et d’ambiances. Joué, enregistré et masterisé au Petit Coubrenier en décembre 2014. Improvisated mixer and ambiances feedbacks.
Face B : Arno Bruil – Pavo, 14 minutes. Destruction de tournes disques. Platines préparées. Audiomulsh. Initialement sorti sur CD ( 33ex ) chez Les disques de la cave en 2012. Prepared turtables, audiomulsh.
Tirage : 100 exemplaires
Disponible : 30 exemplaires
Cassette sérigraphiée sur une face, jaquette imprimée en offset avec gauffrage typo, façonnage main, boitier plastique. One face screen printed tape. Offset and letterpress printed cover, handmade shaping, plastic case." [label info]
stoo.noblogs.org
|
2015 |
€7.50 |
|
| BRUME |
Normal |
CD |
Die 98er VÖ, diesmal auf einem "großen" Label; hier geht es thematisch um Hirnphysiologie ("Split Brain"), Neurochemie ("L-Dopa") und Neuropsychologische Störungen ("Korsakow-Syndrom"), und so kann man sich beim Hören direkt vorstellen, wie der DOPAMIN-Spiegel steigt und spüren, wie jegliche NORMALITÄT aus den neuronalen Netzwerken vertrieben wird durch diesen Sound! Ein absolut atmosphärisch dichtes und intensives Album, BRUME auf dem Höhepunkt seines Schaffens??
....one of the best works of BRUME, chases away the normality out of your braincells!
|
1998 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Ainsi-soit-il! |
LP |
"LP album, numbered and stamped vinyl limited edition of 250 copies. Alone, you have to listen to BRUME alone, and lie down far from the neon lights, traffic and gossips, with your lights filtered. In the dominating dark and night, BRUME carries an atomized reality to a world where chaos rhymes with spatial waverings, where atmosphere is devoid of impurity, rich with sonorities and dense with emotions, for a mysterious but undoubtedly innovatory trip. In these days of mist, 'Ainsi soit-il!' envelopes us with a rich, complex and experimental coat." [label info]
http://rotorelief.com
|
2009 |
€19.50 |
|
|
V s /M 3-44-65 / Time out of Joint (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
"For several years now Christian Renou aka BRUME from Villiers/Marne in France has been creating one of the most intense & unique form of dark musique concrete one can imagine. However the project is about to be stopped soon and this is one of his last releases (he will continue as RAGLE GUMM). On these two tracks the more minimal side of BRUME can be experienced – suspenseful & quiet tunes, voices, samples, sudden harsh break-outs that make you shiver, etc.. the highly atmospheric music of BRUME is always a very expressive form of emotional outburst, and this is no exception.
BLACK VINYL, HANDMADE COLOURED BLACK COVERS WITH DIFFERENT PATTERNS AND COLOURS DONE BY BRUME" [label info]
|
2000 |
€ |
|
| |
La Violence du Neant |
CD |
Long existing project of famous French composer Christian Renou, operating between the boundaries of musique concrète, sound collage and industrial noise.
His latest full work dated from 2019 ('The Rusty Seeds' - LP 100 cps on EE Tapes).
Here is his brand-new opus, a magnificent one-tracker (69 mins!) recorded and finished between 2020-2022.
Voice manipulations, percussive fireworks, unsettling atmospheres, eerie passages etc, it's all there and more.
This could be Heaven or this could be Hell!
Filed under: abstract, electroacoustic, experimental, field recording…
Listen and order here (CD + DL):
https://eetapes.bandcamp.com/album/la-violence-du-n-ant
"We rarely find a quote from Joseph Goebbels on a record cover, something about a repeated lie becoming a reality. I believe the quote here is not an excellent translation, but alas. It might also not be from Goebbels. So, there you go, with things being untrue. The title of Brume's latest work translates as 'The violence of the
void' if Google Translate works as it could be. Brume is the long-standing project of Christian Renou. His first cassette is from 1985, and he has been active ever since, but he has periods of fewer activities. The single piece was recorded from 2020 to 2022 using reel-to-reel tapes, cassettes, field recording (bunker acoustic; maybe that means recording inside a bunker?), DIY wind instruments, percussion, metal percussion, electronic toys, voice, and a three-string guitar. Well, 'etc.' implies there is more. Even when the CD has a single, seventy-minute piece of music, the cover has twelve titles, and it's hard to say where one begins and the other stops. I have no idea why that is, and there are clear points with very few sounds, which might indicate the start of the next. Why not separate tracks, I wonder? I always hear Brume as the music project with very little silence. Sure, there is some between the various segments, but once the music is there, something is always happening.
One of the musical changes, so it seems, is that Brume plays somewhat less abstract music and works a bit more on melody and structure. It's not that he now plays pop music, but at some point, Renou might be singing; if it is his voice, we hear. The pieces are pretty diverse, but it is a very coherent album. Deep bass sounds, neatly processed field recordings, carefully placed voices, bowed instruments, atmospheric soundscapes and looped percussion. At times, dramatic music shifts back and forth, but not humourless. High-quality music, lasting over an hour and never once leaping into boredom; I never expect Brume to do that. Another consistent landmark of quality." (FdW)
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| BRUME + VOMIR |
Unstable |
LP |
"The involvement in the improbable challenge of a collaboration with another musical entity takes on its full meaning when the two characters have radically different personalities !
In 2001, the merger of Brume with the American project Bastard Noise could have seem surreal ! One works in the field of Musique concrete, and the others in what we can call Power electronics, making their own sound generators (DIY). The first album of this association materialised with a very successful CD!
2012… pops up this “alien”, unique in the French music scene : Vomir, the project of Romain Perrot. Some monolithic hard-liner “walls of noise” stretching endlessly… The paradox of the music of Vomir is that this sonorous fire ship manages to blow you away, this magma being so hypnotic, similar to the german long electronic tracks of the 70s. Amazing !
Armed with his experience with Bastard Noise, Brume contacted Vomir for a new musical experience, a new challenge… The result was arranged and post-produced by Christian Renou in his own home-studio.
Any description would be shallow to describe the result. Sharpen your ears and let yourself drift away with these thermonuclear explosions."
[C. Renou, Jan. 2014]
www.rotorelief.com
|
2014 |
€22.00 |
|
| BRUYNDONCKX, JAN |
Rails and other Tracks |
LP |
First ever release of concrete and electronic collage works by Belgian underground sound explorer Jan Bruyndonckx. This album contains autonomous compositions, music for film and documentary all independently recorded in his private studio between 1958 and 1965.
A small collection of adventurous and mysterious sound evocations with text/poetry (Paul De Vree) recited by Julien Schoenaerts.
https://lasciedoree.be/shop/lp/jan-bruyndonckx-rails-and-other-tracks-lp/
"Metaphon’s guided tour of Belgian avant garde crypts leads to a mind-blowing first ever showcase of Jan Bruyndonckx 1958-65 autonomous compositions, plus concrète and electronic works for film and documentary - a 100% must-check for early electronics heads, from Henry and Schaffer at the GRMC, to Tod Dockstader in Hollywood.
Identifying another hole in the history books of experimental music, ‘Rails and Other Tracks’ yields an overdue insight to Jan Bruyndonckx’ independent work at a private studio separate to the usual academies and conservatoires. Like a Belgian parallel to the pioneers of the GRMC in Paris, or more acutely the cartoonist-turned-concrète innovator Tod Dockstader in Hollywood, Bruyndonckx similarly worked closely with moving image during the same years, and its not hard to hear a visual quality to his own works, which form a brilliantly peculiar and proto-psychedelic world unto themselves in this collection. We’d wager one will only be left scratching their head not just at the music, but also the fact this gear has remained out of earshot for so long, excepting a couple of compilation appearances with Alga Marghen and Ultra Eczema many years ago.
Tapping into something of an enduring Belgian obsession with trains (as evidenced in recent aces by Ann Eysermans and Stroom’s Nosedrip), Bruyndonckx opening piece ‘Rails’ (1958) feels like a wilder, almost lysergic answer to Pierre Schaeffer’s 1948 locomotion study ‘Études aux chemins de fer’, and sets the tone for an utterly immersive dive into his work over the proceeding years. Considering the intensely laborious process of constructing concrète sound back then, his 10 minute piece ‘Diamant’ is hugely impressive not least for its duration, but also the vivid imagination at work within, while ‘Amen’ (1962) genuinely dropped our jaws with its uncannily prescient elision of screwed noir jazz samples and ‘Fiorucci’-esque vocal cut-ups - seriously what the actual fuck‽ Likewise his ‘Untitled’ work pre-echoes soundtracks to Eraserhead and La Jetée, and there’s a properly poetic sense of license to ‘Evanaaste’ (1963) with its Paul De Vree text recited by Julien Schoenarts over a more daydreamy-bucolic variant, whereas the cut-up vox of ‘Variaties’ (1960) is better compared with a Burroughs’ approach, and then there’s the avant Hanna Berberian animation workshop madness of ‘De Geometrische Eend’ (1965) to utterly polish you off." [Boomkat] |
2022 |
€22.00 |
|
| BRYARS, GAVIN / PHILIP JECK / ALTER EGO |
The Sinking of the Titanic (1969- ) |
CD |
"...GAVIN BRYARS taucht mit der Neueinspielung
seines Klassikers The Sinking Of The Titanic (Tone 34) auf der Biennale in Venedig 2005 noch einmal ein in das Wasser ohne Balken und die Luft ohne Drähte. Überlebende, 711 von 2201, gab es nur Dank Marconis drahtloser Telegraphie, wobei die 1. Klasse dreifach bessere Überlebenstüchtigkeit bewies als die 3. und die Mannschaft. Bryars selbst am Kontrabass und das italienische Ensemble Alter Ego spielen ebenfalls etwas, das ‚Autumn‘ heißt, jene episkopale Hymne, deren dritte Strophe die passende Zeile Hold me up in mighty waters; Keep my eyes on things above enthält. Philip Jeck dreht mit seinem Vinylgeknister die Zeit bis nach 1912 zurück. Dazu hört man - Legenden
gibt es immer in mehreren Versionen - den Bericht einer Zeugin, die Nearer, My God, to Thee gehört haben will. Der Unterwassersound der immer und immer wieder intonierten, aber verlangsamt und wie schon nicht mehr von dieser Welt in einer Luftblase gespielten Hymne mischt sich mit herbstlichen Assoziationen wie Grillengezirp, aber auch der raunenden Menge bei
einem Sportereignis. Jeck‘scher Sarkasmus? Die Regenmacher als perkussives Element wirken ähnlich makaber. Wäre das Pathos ohne solche V-Effekte zu stark? Oder soll es diesmal gegen Kitschverdacht hartgekocht werden, nachdem die ‘94er Version (Point Music) noch einen Kinderchor und dunkle Bläser mit versenkt und auf dem Gebein am Meeresgrund Morsezeichen getokt hatte? Wenn die White-Star-Musiker, von denen keiner überlebte, aber tatsächlich als Letztes Walzer gespielt haben? Und wenn Marconi recht hätte, dass Klänge unsterblich sind? Dann wellt sich um den Erdball, selbst wenn auch die Erinnerungen längst verdämmert, zu Bernsteintränen geronnen und zu Hollywoodmelodramen verklärt sind, eine oxymorone Kakophonie aus Entsetzensgebrüll im Walzertakt." [Bad Alchemy]
"Performed by Gavin Bryars (double bass), Philip Jeck (turntables) and Alter Ego (strings, brass, wind, percussion, keyboard, tape recorder and sound design). This version of UK composer Gavin Bryars' seminal piece, The Sinking of the Titanic, was recorded at the 49th International Festival of Contemporary Music at The Venice Biennale, October 1, 2005 at the Teatro Maliban. The Sinking of the Titanic is an open semi-aleatoric work written in 1969 and Bryars has developed versions of variable length (from 15 minutes to an hour) that have been performed in different contexts, both as sound installation and as a real concert work. The piece has its origins in an obsession (one in which Bryars meditates on the famous ship's sinking), whose evidence is in a minute handwritten notebook. This brings together information, curiosities, evidence, statistical data on the survivors, technical research on the ship, on the places occupied by the passengers, on projects for the wreck's recovery. This sinking is then a metaphor for the failure of modern technology, of the paradox of modernity, the fact that a super-technological ship could have been rammed and sunk by a block of ice. The version proposed by Alter Ego (a contemporary music group based in Rome, Italy) and Gavin Bryars is an absolutely new approach for the project and for multimedia installation. The other important new figure in this version is Philip Jeck, one of the most important names on the experimental scene. Jeck uses his experience to cover the sound with a blanket of thin dust, which, at the same time, is memory, distance, hallucination, traveling and anxiety. The dust which comes from the obsessive repetition of a short phrase and its melancholy is part of a harmony that Jeck shares with Bryars that succeeds in freezing time in another dimension. This is another important aspect of the Titanic idea: one related to memory and to lifetime, to concreteness and abstraction meant as a metaphor for the journey between life and death, the ocean's surface and depth. Gavin Bryars (double bass); Philip Jeck (turntables); Alter Ego (strings, brass, wind, percussion, keyboard, tape recorder and sound design). Limited edition of 2000 CD in a special wallet + postcard [postcard image by media artist Andrew Hooker]. Artwork by Jon Wozencroft." [press release]
www.touchmusic.org.uk
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| BU.D.D.A. |
Diese Anmut von Trophäen |
CD |
Bu.d.d.A. (Bund des dritten Auges) was born accidentally – in a dark room in Barcelona. It evolved quietly until Sascha Stadlmeier (EMERGE) and Chris Sigdell (B°TONG) took Bu.d.d.A. on the road and started to take the project seriously. This resulted not only in various EPs, split releases and compilation tracks, but also in a bona fide album which you can hold in your hand and put in your player. What's inside? Mesmerising ambient music!
Bu.d.d.A. is Sascha Stadlmeier and Chris Sigdell doing the unexpected... playing real instruments! "Diese Anmut von Trophäen" ("This grace of trophies" in German) features not only trademark Bu.d.d.A. tracks, but also guest appearances by such illustrious figures as Bees from COMMON EIDER KING EIDER, DREKKA and BEBAWINIGI. Think of Earth meets Troum together with Brian Eno on LSD...
"Diese Anmut von Trophäen" is released by the joint efforts of Zhelezobeton Distribution Division (Russia) and Attenuation Circuit (Germany). Available on cassette, CD and in digital formats.
zhb.radionoise.ru/eng/zhbd-23.html
* * * * * * *
Дуэт Bu.d.d.A. (Bund des dritten Auges) родился случайно – в тёмной комнате в Барселоне. Его развитие поначалу шло незаметно, а потом Саша Штадльмайер (EMERGE) и Крис Зигделл (B°TONG) решили отнестись к проекту более серьёзно и даже отправились в тур. В результате появились первые записи: несколько миньонов, сплит-релизы и треки на сборниках, а теперь и полноценный альбом, который можно подержать в руках и поставить в проигрыватель. Что мы найдём внутри? Эмбиент, да не простой!
В рамках Bu.d.d.A. Штадльмайер и Зигделл творят нечто странное... они играют на нормальных инструментах! На "Diese Anmut von Trophäen" (нем. "Это обаяние трофеев") можно услышать не только традиционные для Bu.d.d.A. треки, но и участие таких интересных фигур, как Bees из COMMON EIDER KING EIDER, DREKKA и BEBAWINIGI. На ум приходит некая условная смесь Earth и Troum вместе с Брайаном Ино под кислотой...
"Diese Anmut von Trophäen" выпущен совместными усилиями лейблов Zhelezobeton Distribution Division (Россия) и Attenuation Circuit (Германия). Альбом доступен на кассете, компакт-диске и в цифровых форматах.
zhb.radionoise.ru/rus/zhbd-23.html
ZHBD-23
© 2022 Bund des dritten Auges — a sight revered
EMERGE: violin, electronics, field recordings, voice
B°TONG: electric guitar, bowed guitar, synthesizer, vocals, samples
featuring:
Bees (Common Eider, King Eider): voice (2)
Drekka: piano, rain (3)
Bebawinigi: voice (4)
written, arranged & produced by Bu.d.d.A.
recorded at ac hq & The Loft 2020–2021
mixed by Sascha Stadlmeier & Chris Sigdell
final edit & mastering by Chris Sigdell at The Loft
logo & design by Chris Sigdell
Bu.d.d.A. would like to thank Buddha, Rob Fisk, Michael Anderson, Virginia Quaranta, and Zhelezobeton
Co-released with attenuation circuit: attenuationcircuit.de | emerge.bandcamp.com
https://zhbd.bandcamp.com/album/diese-anmut-von-troph-en
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| BUDD, HAROLD / AKIRA RABELAIS |
Avalon Sutra |
do-CD |
"Harold Budd at his very best, coupled with an extra disc featuring a 70 minute re-working by Akira Rabelais. A timeless classic on David Sylvian's Samdhisound label.
It's hard to over-estimate the contribution Harold Budd has made to modern music, his seemingly effortless take on minimalism and ambience imbuing this often academic genre with all the warmth and humility so often missing from the work of his contemporaries. Best known for his collaborations with Brian Eno and the Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie, Budd here delivers 14 immensely moving pieces, strewn with Piano cascades and panoramic soundscapes, drifting off into sublime, almost unbearable reflection.
It's a theme that's further developed with the second of the two cd's here, featuring a 70 minute re-working of Budd's work by the remarkable Akira Rabelais: a breathless, beautiful tapestry of midnight strings and echoes of lost piano taking time to unravel, eventually displaying all the warmth and intimacy Budd has spent a musical lifetime striving to perfect."
"On learning that Avalon Sutra will be Harold Budd’s last ever recording, I didn’t know whether to treat this release with a
sensation of happiness or gloom . It seems hard to believe that after 30 years of composing and releasing CD’s, this demi-god
of ambient music will no longer be enlightening us with more of his beautifully crafted pearls; one can only hope that Budd will
reconsider sharing his considerable talent for us all to appreciate.
Armed with this knowledge, it would be easy to write a review that strings superlative after superlative together in Budd's
honour, but the fact is, after you’ve spent a week listening to Avalon Sutra, there is little more you can do except truthfully
recognise what is staring you plum in the face; that from the day Budd released Pavilion Of Dreams in 1978, he never lost his
touch.
Still, there can be no more fitting an epilogue to Budd’s career than Avalon Sutra - 14 tracks of contemplative, blissful, ambient,
melancholy beauty, with a bonus disc, titled As Long As I Can Hold My Breath, that features an hour-long arrangement of
Budd’s work from LA-based composer Akira Rabelais - with additional production from David Sylvian.
From the haunting synthesized opening of Arabesque, featuring John Gibson’s Sopranino sax and Budd’s trademark piano
sprinkles, to the heartbreaking beauty of Budd’s own final piano-treated legacy – the closing As Long As I Can Hold My Breath,
this album is nothing short of phenomenal, and without doubt one of his greatest works to date.
Other than the sumptuous, meditative warmth of the opening track, as soon as the following It’s Steeper Near The Roses (for
David Sylvian) opens, you realise you’re in for a treat, as the painfully bittersweet violin and string arrangements envelope you in
a warmly secular cocoon. Budd then forges his way through a stunning collection of Autumnal compositions, featuring a variety
of moods that range from the achingly sad, to the medatively reflective and upliftingly beautiful, aided by a string of session
musicians (John Gibson, James Sitterly, Peter Kent, John Acevedo, Marston Smith) on saxophone, violin and cello.
Most artists end the career on a low, virtually none will end it on anything as highly creative as this. Don’t miss Budd at his best,
on stunning ambient tracks such as Little Heart and Chrysalis Nu, even his song titles carry emotion – A Walk In The Park With
Nancy (In Memory). I could go on and on trying to describe this album, but words cannot always accurately do justice to music
of such quality and depth. All I will say is that there isn’t a single wasted note on Avalon Sutra.
In a world where backslapping acclaim is over-congratulatively thrown around like breadcrumbs to pidgeons, Budd stands alone
as a class act that truly merits every plaudit handed to him. His music will be missed - in the same way that we miss the autumn
in summer and the spring in winter." [Barcode Review] |
2018 |
€18.00 |
|
| BUMSTEINAS, ARTURAS |
Bad Weather Long Play |
LP |
"Bad Weather" is a performative sound art event of a group of performers engaging with reconstructions of Baroque theater noise machines. The project started in 2017 when Lithuanian artist Arturas Bumšteinas teamed up with theater carpenter Ernestas Volodzka to re-create wind, rain, sea and thunder imitation devices, identical to the ones whose canon settled in European theater in the 17th century. Commissioned and produced by contemporary music theater production house Operomanija, "Bad Weather" events have since been presented in Lithuania and Poland. During each performance, the ensemble plays the machines in keeping with meteorological maps and charts from various centuries that serve as scores. Contemporary artist Ivan Cheng was invited to write and perform a libretto that is integrated into every performance in different ways. In the Baroque era, the noise machines constituted only a small part of the theatrical illusion, lurking behind the scenes, invisible to the audience. Meanwhile in "Bad Weather", they take the spotlight and become generators of conceptual climate.
"Bad Weather Long Play" is a collage of sound materials from performances, rehearsals, soundchecks and other occasions related to the project, as documented with various recording devices between 2017 and 2019. The sides of the LP don't function as A and B sides but can be played in any order. The LP is presented in a full-color sleeve with a printed inner sleeve containing photos of the various stages of the project and liner notes by Salomé Voegelin. An included 8-page booklet reproduces Ivan Cheng's libretto.
"Produced from a selection of recordings made at rehearsals, workshops and performances with an alternating team of seven performers, Bumšteinas convokes a work that sounds its process on the mobile blueprint of meteorological maps as scores. Creating a mis-en-scène of invisible occurrences that talk with each other in the language of a storm that is brewing, raising and petering out, and that leaves a trace in our ears, an imprint and a movement that might only clear the next day." (from the liner notes by Salomé Voegelin)
Arturas Bumšteinas (b. 1982 in Vilnius, Lithuania) is an artist working within the intersections of sound, music and art. His practices include performative sound art, radio art, exhibitions, experimental acoustic and electronic music. He started exploring theater noise machines in 2012 when he was commissioned by Deutschlandradio Kultur to compose "Epiloghi. Six Ways of Saying Zangtumbtumb".
https://www.edition-telemark.de/903.02.html
|
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
| BURIAL |
Burial.Hdbcd001 |
CD |
„Auf "Burial. HDBCB001" schickt BURIAL die unterschwellig sexy Beats des britischen Garage über den Umweg von Funkstörungen in eine heimelige Gummizelle aus tiefem Bass, nicht ohne auf der Reise noch einen Zwischenstop im Berliner Dub von POLE einzulegen. Dabei klingt es, als würde BURIAL das Südlondon der nahen Zukunft unter Wasser setzen. Das allumfassende Knistern ist gleichzeitg das Statikgeknister eines Piratensenders und der tropische Regen, der sanft ans Fenster schlägt. Die Melancholie der Tracks öffnet ihre Arme und sucht nach ertrunkenen Liebhabern. Der Mix von BURIAL wird von den Echos aus einer anderen Zeit heimgesucht. Signale einer fremden Frequenz strecken tastend ihre Fühler aus. Eine Flutwelle aus Lärm verschlingt alles und lässt nur die schärfsten Beats zurück. Doch der Lärm schmerzt nicht; er streichelt, kitzelt und erregt die Nervenenden. Willkommen in der Welt von BURIAL. This first album on Kode9's Hyperdub label comes from the mysterious Burial. On this self-titled CD debut, Burial carves out a sound which sends the dormant slinky syncopations of uk garage, via radio interference, into a padded cell of cushioned, muffled bass, passing through the best of Pole's Berlin crackle dub. Burial explores a tangential, parallel dimension of the growing sound of dubstep. Burial's parallel dimension sounds set in a near future South London underwater. You can never tell if the crackle is the burning static off pirate radio transmissions, or the tropical downpour of the submerged city outside the window. In their sometimes suffocating melancholy, most of these tracks seem to yearn for drowned lovers. The smouldering desire of ‚Distant Lights' is cooled only by the percussive ice sharp slicing of blades and jets of hot air blowing from the bass. Listen also for a fleeting appearance from Hyperdub's resident vocalist, the Spaceape unravelling his crypto-biography. In its loud quietness, Burial takes his kitchen crackle aesthetic neither from the digital glitch nor merely a nostalgia for vinyl's materiality. Instead, as irates' suggests, Burial crackle mutates the tactile surplus value of pirate radio transmissions. Burial's mix is haunted. Echoed voices breeze in and out, on road to another time. Pirate signal from other frequencies steams in. A tidal wave of noise submerging all but the crispest syncopations. The noise is not violent, but caressing, tickling, exciting the ends of your nerves. Seducing you in.“ [press release] |
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Street Halo |
12 |
"This single is a surprise to all and is the first new official solo material from the mysterious dubstep magnate since 2007. Not to say Burial hasn't been busy, seeing how the man just released a collaborative effort with fellow electronic pioneers Four Tet and Thom Yorke. Their combined length is 20 minutes, 41 seconds. www.myspace.com/burialuk " [label info]
www.hyperdub.net
|
2011 |
€8.00 |
|
| BURIAL CHAMBER TRIO |
Wvrm |
pic-10 |
ONLY VINYL IS REAL! Erst einmal fällt die beeindruckende Cover-Artwork von SELDON HUNT auf, zusätzlich zum SPLATTER-igen picture-vinyl gibt es noch gold & schwarz bedruckte klare Inlays, sehr passend zum dem unglaublichen tief-morastigen Sumpf-Bass-Drones die hier erzeugt werden, man meint die hohe Lautstärke mit denen hier die Verstärker in Schwingung versetzt wurden immer noch zu spüren, alles steht kurz vor dem ZERBERSTEN, und irgendwo da drin in diesen tiefen Feedbacks ist eine menschlichähnliche Gestalt die ächzt & stöhnt, ein sterbendes Monster... DIE BESTIE IST LOS! Selten einen so tiefgrunzend-abartigen Sound vernommen...
In der Tat, auf 33 klingts noch besser als auf 45, und es dröhnt länger.... so LIEBLICH!
"The Burial Chamber Trio is: Oren Ambarchi (Guitar, Analog Electronics), Greg Anderson (BASS/subsonics) & Attila Csihar (Vokills, invokations). Live recordings from the groups performance in Rotterdam, Holland in Jan. 2007 at club: Wurm. 10"Picture disc // with original art and packaging design by Seldon Hunt. Two transparencies with gold ink/printing on them." [label info]
"....For this outing, Ambarchi and Anderson are credited with sub bass death throb, while Attila is responsible for undead voices. And that's pretty much what it sounds like, sub bass throbs with haunting undead vocals woven into the heaving roiling mass. There seem to be some guitars in there too, maybe some electronics, but it's hard to tell, it's all smeared into a single swirling blackened mass. When we first listened to it, we played it at 33 (which we're assuming now is NOT the right speed, so hard to tell sometimes), and we thought, wow, this is even slower and sludgier than ever, but once we figured out it was meant to be 45, the sound reverted back, closer to the sound of SUNNO))) or the older records of their forbears Earth. Slow motion riffage, glacial and thick, massive and blown out and super distorted, muffled and murky, a sluggish sprawl of caustic crumbling guitars, the vocals barely audible, a haunting raspy growl way down in the mix, often just sounding like another buzzing bassline, hum and fuzz, dense and intense, all melted down into a viscous black crawl. Occasionally, the random bits of riffage and low end rumble coalesce into truly gorgeous harmonies, lovely and chordal, like some blackened church organ, but for the most part, this is the sound of guitar tones allowed to ring out forever and beat against each other, the air filled with oscillating overtones and strange tonal colorations, all beneath a patina of thick black buzz.
Amazing cover art as well, a gross out gutted worm picture disc, with a transparent skull and bugs insert on one side, and another sick silkscreened artwork overlay on the thick plastic sleeve, all courtesy of Mr. Seldon Hunt. Recorded live, in January of this year, in Holland. And of course, you had to know this part was coming: LIMITED TO 3000 COPIES!! And if it's anything like the other Burial Chamber record, it will sell out FAST." [Aquarius Records]
label: www.southernlord.com
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
| BURIAL HEX |
Gauze |
CD |
Horror Electronics and Phantasmagoric Post-Industrial usher in the brand new ritual offering from Burial Hex.
The impulse for Gauze is to be a prophylactic talisman and ward for the families directly involved with the Burial Hex project, though it can be effective for anyone who needs an extra layer of defense. The art, lyrics and sound were all layered together with supersensible content generated specifically for this purpose. Beyond just protection and defense, Gauze is an invitation to transcend sclerotic ways of experiencing incarnation, by freely juxtaposing increasingly divergent forms, and reconciling all with warmth and passion. Such has been the work of the Burial Hex project since its inception, striving towards a gestalt of timeless and enduring realms via a benign spiritual interaction with conflicting beings.
With Gauze we hear the mouths of Burial Hex spit in the face of those who would reduce psychic experience and spiritual feeling to material processes, penetrating the density of human denial and cracking the electronic shell which crushes much of our humanity. CD in digipak.
RIYL: Coil, SPK, Psychic TV, Trepaneringsritualen
O scheming mother of Necessity.
Everything comes from you:
you have yoked the world,
you control all three realms,
you give birth to all,
to everything in heaven,
to everything upon the fruitful earth,
to everything in the depths of the sea.
Be not afraid of the terrors in the night,
of the arrows that fly by day,
of the business that walk among the dark,
of invasion, or of the noonday devil.
One thousand demons are hiding on your left side
and ten thousand at your right side.
You will see the reward of the wicked.
Yet no evil will come to you,
nor shall the scourge come near your dwelling.
You will walk upon the asp and the basilisk
and trample under foot the lion and the dragon.
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/gauze-csr301cd
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| BURKE, DAN & KEVIN DRUMM |
Mort aux Vaches |
CD |
"In 2001 Dan Burke (aka Illusion Of Safety's frontman) and Kevin Drumm embarked on a small European Tour, bringing them also to the VPRO studios. This was the third time that Dan Burke made recordings there, the first two being previously released in the Mort Aux Vaches (and both are still available). Rather then playing under the Illusion Of Safety moniker, this was a tour of two like minded improv artists. Dan Burke has been doing Illusion Of Safety since the mid 80s, releasing many CD's and the band has seen many members besides Burke, including Jim O'Rourke, Mark Klein and Kurt Greisch. They balance on the fringe of silence and noise, always seeking out the beauty. A discography by Kevin Drumm reads like a who's who in the world of improvised music. He has released CD's with Ralf Wehowsky, Taku Sugimoto (various releases, such as for Boxmedia, Sonoris and Meme), Martin Tetreault, Axel Dorner and Lasse Marhaug (plus lots that we forget of course) as well as various solo works for Perdition Plastics, Mego and Fringes. This CD is a fine improvisation between the closely contact microphone objects, guitar and laptop of Dan Burke and Drumm's guitar and ancient analogue synthesizer. A very dynamic work, which ranges from sheer silence to sheer noise, always with a sharp edge." [label info] |
2003 |
€14.50 |
|
| BURROUGHS, WILLIAM S. |
The Instrument of Control |
CD |
Tja, mehr als die Recordings gibt es hier nicht! Aber das reicht voll und ganz! Lesungen mit Publikum (ziemlich witzig!), Radio-Features, ein Interview, sogar ein bischen Musik ist drauf.... Material aus den 70 oder 80er Jahren, leider keine weiteren infos im Cover.. 17 Indexe, 55+ Minuten.
"Collection of rare recordings of William Burroughs in conversation and readings from the 1970s/80s. This is an essential insight into the mind and writings of arguably the most influential writer from the Beat generation. "Through his mordant satire of cultural aspirations, homosexual eroticism and political power, Burroughs focuses our gaze into the abyss. His cold, surgical language creates beauty through a terror that we are just able to bear". A great collectors' item!
[label info]
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Call me Burroughs |
LP |
"Originally released in 1965 by The English Bookshop in Paris and later by ESP-Disk' in New York, Call Me Burroughs marks not only the recorded debut of William Burroughs, but also for many the first encounter with his inimitable voice. While Burroughs has had pervasive influence on counterculture in the past 50 years – from the Beats to punk rock and even hip hop – no other figure today is so widely considered the epitome of cool.
Call Me Burroughs features the author reading from Naked Lunch and Nova Express, two of his best-known works that utilize the cut-up method developed by Burroughs and artist Brion Gysin. An eerie, deadpan drawl guides the listener through sci-fi innerscapes, narcotic nightmares, reports from the edge of the apocalypse. Phantasmagoric passages echo real experiences roaming the streets of Mexico, the West Village, Tangiers. Bradley the Buyer and other shadowy agents haunt our ears as Burroughs turns the page and pauses purposefully.
"Anything put out up till now is like pulling a figure out of the air – Enemy installations shattered – Personnel decimated – Board Books taken – Electric waves of resistance sweeping through mind screens of the earth – The message of Total Resistance on short wave of the world"
This first-time vinyl reissue is recommended for fans of Hunter S. Thompson, Patti Smith and Throbbing Gristle." [label info]
www.superiorviaduct.com
|
2016 |
€24.00 |
|
|
Curse Go Back |
LP |
"William Burroughs was in and out of London from the mid-50s to 1974 and for several years quite settled in a flat near Piccadilly. During this latter time he developed and refined the techniques he used for creating cut-ups on tape. Working closely with Ian Sommerville, who helped acquire, and no doubt maintain, the various tape recorders that Burroughs used and abused in these experimental works. The work here is in two sections, which in their original form lasted for over an hour and first appeared in 1998 under the name Electronic Revolution as a free CD with Issue One of the French magazine Crash. The CD was quickly withdrawn with maybe only 100 copies finding their way into circulation. This edition is edited down to 46 minutes and comprises the core of the original recording. It employs the now familiar techniques of random drop-ins and cut-ups of readings. The readings themselves are also cut-ups of words on the page. The first section of the tape uses further processing by means of a second tape recorder. Recorded in Duke Street in 1968, the tape was then passed on to Brion Gysin in Paris where it remained in his archive until 1998. This is the first readily available edition of an hypnotic and meditative recording that examines the hidden power of words. Closer to work of sound poetry than anything literary. The album includes a 12"x12" insert with an essay by Ben Harper and several previously unseen portrait photos of Burroughs, taken by Harriet Crowder in her Hammersmith flat during a drug experiment. The back cover uses another Crowder image - the very next frame after the famous shot that appeared on the cover of the English Bookshop/ESP Call Me Burroughs LP (1965). Pressed at Optimal on transparent vinyl. Edition of 500 (numbered)."
|
2016 |
€22.00 |
|
| |
Nothing Here Now but the Recordings |
LP |
In 1980, Genesis P-Orridge and Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson of (then-) Throbbing Gristle travelled to New York City to meet up at the fortified apartment, known as The Bunker, of famed beat writer and cultural pioneer William S. Burroughs and his executor James Grauerholz. Genesis and Sleazy started the daunting task of compiling the experimental sound works of Burroughs, which, up until that point, had never been widely heard.
During those visits, Burroughs would play back his tape recorder experiments featuring his spoken word “cut-ups”, collaged field recordings from his travels and his flirtations with EVP recording techniques, pioneered by Latvian intellectual Konstantins Raudive. Over the following year, P-Orridge, Christopherson and Grauerholz spent countless hours compiling various edits, each collection showcasing Burroughs sensitive ear and experimental prowess for audio anomaly within technical limitations. In early 1981, Burroughs had relocated to Lawrence, KS to escape the violence and manias of New York City life. There, P-Orridge and Christopherson put the finishing touches on the record that would be known as Nothing Here Now but the Recordings.
Released in Spring 1981, the album would end up as the final release on Industrial Records, brought about by the dissolution of Throbbing Gristle. It was quietly out of print until 1998, when John Giorno and the Giorno Poetry Systems included the album on a retrospective CD box set, which compiled the majority of Burroughs's seminal recordings. In 2015, Dais Records worked closely with the Estate of William S. Burroughs to finally re-release, for the first time in 36 years, a proper vinyl reissue of William S. Burroughs Nothing Here Now but the Recordings to celebrate the centennial anniversary of William S. Burroughs. For the 2023 edition, Dais has remastered the audio with renowned engineer Josh Bonati, and restored the original artwork with a new dedication to Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and Peter Christopherson.
|
2023 |
€25.00 |
|
| BURT, WARREN |
The Animation of Lists and the Archytan Transpositions |
do-CD |
Kompositionen für mikrotonale Stimmgabeln: einzelne glockenklare absolut „reine“ Töne, eine meditative & äussert minimale Atmosphäre ausstrahlend, erinnert an Arbeiten von CHRISTINA KUBISCH. To discover.
“There are any number of ways to hear Warren Burt's music for tuning forks; as many ways as there are listeners, probably. The most immediate one is simply to revel in its beauty and enjoy the music as sound. Or, to be more accurate, as clouds of sound; sonic colors that momentarily hover here and there, as they move slowly across the musical horizon.
Of course, Warren Burt's music may also be heard as the mature work of a major experimental composer, one secure in his craft, and still filled with a sense of sonic adventure. An explorer in sound. A composer willing to experiment with multiple versions of the same piece, not to mention one who allows chance to determine the precise placement of the composite pitches of his three individually composed lines.
For the more technically minded, these songs, for ultimately that's what they become on repeated hearing, can also be recognized as microtonal music. This is music that uses pitches smaller than a half-step; music that explores the sounds between the keys of the piano‹in this case, from 19 to 53 pitches to the octave, instead of the usual twelve. And even though most people rarely think of tuning in general, much less of microtonal tunings, it is an idea that has always been around. In the twentieth century this search for alternative tunings can be traced from Harry Partch and Lou Harrison in the first half of the century, through La Monte Young and Ben Johnston in the latter half, to Glenn Branca, Kyle Gann, and Michael Harrison today. The power of music, according to all of these composers, is, first and foremost, inherent in the tuning. So it should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Warren Burt's music to learn that he, too, is a card-carrying member of this group. Warren is, after all, a composer who not only innately hears, but also cares greatly, about such minute differences in pitch. In his music, these differences matter on a fundamental level.
But what are these sonic differences? And what is a listener supposed to hear? Ben Johnston once described the shift in experience from listening to music played in equal temperament to hearing a microtonal performance as the sudden fine-tuning of an out-of-focus TV. Ben also once said that equal temperament could sound like varying shades of grey. Others, in less subtle terms, have described hearing microtonal music as the difference between seeing a Technicolor movie, and watching one in black-and-white. For the average listener‹once they realize that the enjoyment of microtonal music is about the tinting and the shading of the sound, and doesn't require superhuman hearing‹what they begin to notice first are the new colors and the spaciousness of the sound.
But what do I hear in Warren's music that attracts me so? I listen to the combinations of tones, each aggregate of which‹because the tuning is acoustically pure and non-tempered‹sounds clearer and more colorful, with unique personalities, and, sometimes, more of an edge. In this tuning, the chance-determined pairings of the composed lines always ring true, with even the dissonances vibrating cleanly, free of acoustic distraction, and with no sonic clutter to muddy up the sound. And within this microtonal world, sounds combine without losing their individuality, as the music slowly reveals its pitch and rhythm in slow, unhurried, chance-determined clouds of sound. In Warren Burt's hands, these tuning forks become some strange new instrument, complete with its own exotic tuning system, singing its songs somewhere on the verge of memory.” [label description]
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
| BUT I'M NOT (PAWEL GRABOWSKI) |
DAEMON TRANCES I-VI |
CD |
This album is about trauma and PTSD.
The music portrays the emotional loop...
the continuous reminiscing about the traumatic event
the never-ending anxiety and
paralyzing panic attacks...
... from which a traumatized person simply cannot escape.
I call this state the daemon trance
(and, unfortunately, I know it far too well...)
Recorded between January and May 2021 at SINE studio, Ireland.
but I'm not is Pawel Grabowski (processed live instruments, field recordings, objects.)
Mastering - Colin Potter at IC Studio, August 2021
Cover photo: Artur Mieczkowski (www.instagram.com/anxious_93/)
https://silenceisnotempty.bandcamp.com/album/daemon-trances-i-vi
"It's been a long time since I heard music by Pawel Grabowski (check Vital Weekly 414, 424, 492 and 508, but following that flurry of releases, it all went quiet for him. That was "mostly due to family, and life in general". Now he has a new moniker and a new label. The new name is But I'm Not (lower case, except for 'I'), and on 'Daemon Traces I-IV' he wanted to compose that captures that unique state is known only to people suffering from the
aftermath of a traumatic event". According to the cover, it is something that he is "unfortunately all too familiar with". "Each of the six compositions portrays different aspects of what a traumatized person goes through, often every day - the continuous reminiscing about the traumatic event". This is one of those things of which I think "had I not known this, would I have heard it?". I guess not, but my personal view towards music is a very 'absolute' one. Music is never about anything. Anything attached to music to make it about something is not music; they are words used, descriptions, images (a record cover), that kind of thing. Grabowski explains the nature of the trauma for none of these six pieces, which leaves something to imagine, I guess, but also a hole in our knowledge (why not go all the way). Grabowski uses "processed live instruments, field recordings and objects". It is a pity that these live instruments are not specified. I hear a piano on quite a bit on the pieces,
solemnly slow bangs on the keys, Gregorian voices in the first one (which I think that Grabowski went all gothic, but, good news, he didn't), a fair bit of synthesizers and sound effects and the samples of marbles in a bowl (also in the opener). Some of the other sounds are harder to define. Throughout the music solemn, slow and very moody. A bipolar disorder, with some extreme darkness and extreme happiness, is not to be found here. Grabowski reminded me what I thought of his older releases in a private letter, but they are so far away in the past that I don't remember them. Therefore it is not easy for me to say to what extent this new one is different from his previous releases. I think this is a solid album, a severe one, and while the subject is not very well spend on me, I can see that he's serious in creating music that paints a picture of those suffering from trauma and PTSD. [FdW / Vital Weekly]
FULL PRESS RELEASE:
About daemon trances
“Daemon trances I-VI tells a story about experiences of living with trauma and PTSD.
My objective when composing this music was to capture that unique state known only to people suffering from the aftermath of a traumatic event.
And so, each of the six compositions portrays different aspects of what a traumatized person
goes through, often every day – the continuous reminiscing about the traumatic event, the
never-ending anxiety, paralyzing panic attacks...
For my use, I refer to this state as the “daemon trance,” and the music on this album perfectly
represents what I often struggle with in life.”
About Pawel Grabowski
Pawel Grabowski (b. 1977) – composer specializing in writing deeply personal electroacoustic and drone music.
Grabowski uses prepared instruments, field recordings, and objects to create meditative and
hypnotic compositions to convey emotions and create unique atmospheres.
He refers to his music as Imaginism.
Background:
● Although he doesn’t have a formal music education, between 1998 – 2001, Grabowski
studied double bass with a famous Polish jazz bassist, Janusz Mackiewicz.
● He also took private tuition in classical composition between 2000 - 2002, first with prof.
Krzysztof Olczak, then with prof. Eugeniusz Glowski
● He also participated in international composition workshops at the Academy of Music in
Gdansk, Poland, in 2002.
● In 2002, he was selected as one of the artists representing his home city, Gdansk, at the
Art Biennale - “ArtGenda” in Hamburg. He wrote music commissioned for various
projects of the biennale.
● In the same year, he composed a piece commissioned by the Baltic Cultural Centre in
Gdansk, showcased during a presentation of composition students of the Academy of
Music.
Career:
● Grabowski founded a chamber trio, Miasto Nie Spalo, in 1998 and recorded two albums
with the band: Festspielhaus (1998) and Piesni Zalobne I-VII/Threnodies I-VII (2000 -
released on the famous polish label, Obuh recs.)
● Between 2001 – 2006, Grabowski recorded solo, publishing his music on such labels as
Drone records, Laub records, Cronica, Mystery Sea, Dark Winter, and more.
● Since 2020, Grabowski performs as but I’m not and runs a small, independent record
label, Silence Is Not Empty.
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| BUTTIGIEG, KURT |
Sun Recordings |
CD-R BOX |
Konzeptionell so ziemlich das obskurste und originellste was hier in letzter Zeit ankam, von diesem inzwischen in Luxemburg (!) ansässigen Malteser (!) Künstler... „das Ergebnis von fast vier Jahren Nichts-Tun“... nur die gnadenlose Sonne brezelte auf einsame Tapes hinab und veränderte deren elektro-magnetisch aufgezeichneten Informationen.
3 Extrakte mit dumpfen Pulsationen und leicht sägende Summ-Drones, Staubsauger-Sounds, unterbrochen von Kratz- & Rauschattacken. 47 min n schöner Box mit sonniger Artwork.
“ „Sun Recordings" is a result of almost four years of doing nothing. I wanted to literally record the sound of the sun-in the same way that people want to feel a smell, look at a sound, or hear a vison. For these recordings, I took previously composed (very static) semi-electroacoustic pieces and transferred them to pre-recorded tapes that had been sitting in my desk drawer for ten years. I then left these out in the scorching Maltese sun for a duration of four years... When I got round to actually playing the sun-baked tapes, I had serious doubts that the sun would have had any noticable effect upon them---but to my amazement the sun's exposure had indeed produced a great effect on the tapes, decaying the sound and reforming harsh noises into violent bangs.” [artist info]
|
0000 |
€15.00 |
|
| BVDUB |
Ten Times the World lied |
CD |
Brock Van Wey, aka bvdub, is undoubtedly among the greatest and most prolific artists in the world, whose music directly affects the heart, soul, and human mind. His soundscapes spread in the air as if they were delicate and slow movements of the northern lights, or the wind that blows on the flowers of the trees in spring. There is something divine in bvdub's music, and Glacial Movements is more than honored to welcome another great work for the world, Ten Times the World Lied, his fifth album on the Roman label, as he nears forty overall. Ten songs impossible to describe in words, but which will breach the heart of all those who lose themselves in this sonic wonder. Completely devoid of vocals for the first time ever, Brock spins but layers upon layers of divine clouds, gradually darkening, gradually closing in - expertly mastered by the artist himself, culminating in arguably the best album he has composed for Glacial Movements to date.
This album was recorded live in one take, over ten months, on the tenth of each month. Each in memory of a time the world lied.
https://glacialmovements.bandcamp.com/album/ten-times-the-world-lied
"With nearly 40 albums to his credit, it’s a surprise to hear that this is bvdub‘s first album without vocals. After all, we’re an instrumental-based site and we’ve reviewed a lot of them. But to be fair, Brock van Wey usually uses vocals in a textural fashion, using time-stretch and loop; although vocal, his albums haven’t seemed vocal; they have seemed like dreams.
That part doesn’t change in Ten Times the World Lied, a generous 78:45 excursion into blissful ambient drone. Tones rise and fall, undulate and flatten. Orchestral instruments rise from the depths and float for a while, searching for land before they descend once more. Fans should be overjoyed at the seamless tone, as each track gently fades before another gently rises. Although the lack of vocals pushes it from the foreground, the album is ideal as the backdrop to nearly any task: reading, writing, cooking. It casts a pleasant cloud around the house, a welcome fog of sound, a white noise spirit to overwhelm any tiny real-life disturbance.
And yet, real life is present for those who wish to look deeper. van Wey has always resisted any single interpretation of his music, but neither has he squashed attempts to paint over the tabula rasa. And so one might make something of the fact that most tracks are 7:52 in length (a few being 7:53), making the connection to Ukraine Flight 752, shot down over Iran earlier this year; or the leap year 752, marked by conquerings and successions. Since the only description is that each track is “in memory of a time the world lied,” one might jump to all manner of conclusions. “Not Yours to Say” might refer to the cover-up of the Iranian government; “Not Yours to Build” to the Tower of Babel; “Not Yours to Take” to the slavery trade; “Not Yours to Find” to early “discoverers” of settled land; “Not Yours to Rule” to the bloody aftermath. The most intriguing title, “Not Yours to Know,” strikes to the heart of the human condition as it pertains to faith: for now we see through a glass, darkly.
It’s fun to play match-up. And we know that the world lies in all manner of ways, from the political to the commercial (for example, promises that a product will bring success, a procedure will make one beautiful, and the next movie to open will be fantastic). From the titles and theme, one might expect an angry or accusatory album, but instead, as with most of van Wey’s oeuvre, the tone is one of higher surrender. There are truths we may never know, but there is also comfort, majesty, awe. As the organ tones surge in “Not Yours to Know,” one may think of grand cathedrals, of encountering the divine not through word, but through beauty and symbol. Ten tracks, each recorded in one take on the tenth of the month: in numerology, ten defined as “constant change and flowing energy,” an apt description of van Wey’s work; but also the 10 plagues, the 10 Commandments, the perfect 10, the 10,000 x 10,000.
While listening, one might delve into numerology, symbolism and history; or simply allow the sounds of this album to conquer the anxieties of the day. The piano of “Not Yours to See” is like the voice of a soothing parent, encouraging one to sleep. The overall message (if there is one) seems to be one of comfort: The world has lied and continues to lie; but real truth is eternal." [Richard Allen / A Closer Listen] |
2020 |
€15.50 |
|
| BVDUB & IAN HAWGOOD |
The Truth hurts |
CD |
"Brock and Ian were introduced to each other through Mike, who ran a small but perfectly formed record label and shop called Smallfish Records. Mike had this crazy idea that Brock and Ian were like two musical peas in a pod and that they should work together. Mike wasn't wrong, and the first musical product of this 'poddom' was Brock's own bvdub release 'Tribes at the Temple of Silence ' on Ian's label - Home Normal. The second is a musical collaboration between the two titled
'The Truth Hurts.' 'The Truth Hurts' was put together and created in their current respective homes of China and Japan.
The album is a reflection on not only loneliness, but the stark reality – and hidden beauty - with which it is forever entwined. Ian poured over old recordings, recent recordings and even recorded new work as a sketchpad for Brock to work from, and in the end, Brock wove Ian!s recordings from 1999-2011 together with his own, forming his own oceans of drones, walls of emotional abstractions, field
recordings, and even live recordings that would see the initial sketches become complete narratives, each with a very different story to tell. The result is a raw and unbridled experience – one that pays homage not only to the eternal and often crushing beauty of loneliness, but also the days when music only worried about speaking from the heart.
'The Truth Hurts' is a labour of love, a reflection on isolation, and a message of strength through innocence undimmed.
NOTE: All profits from this release will go to relief funds in Japan, directly used by Ian's wife who is currently working with both the Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support organisation (JEARS) in Sendai and surrounding areas, as well as the Direct Help for Victims and Animals Rejected from Shelters in Japan group who are going up to areas which are not receiving government support for food, water, basic supplies, as well as rebuilding and cleaning up. Thank you." [label info]
www.nomadickids.com
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| BÜNNAGEL, JULIA |
Sounds like... Vienna |
LP |
Soundperformances im öffentlichen Raum – Ein urbaner Soundtrack für Wien. Aus Abformungen von Gehwegen und Straßenbelägen des Wiener Stadtraums stellt Julia Bünnagel Schallplatten aus Beton her. Damit bringt die Kölner Künstlerin in ihrem live DJ-Set (Turntablism) Wiener Architektur zum Klingen. Der Tonarm des Plattenspielers liest die architektonische Textur ab. Die abgegossenen Oberflächen der Straßen, die in die Schallplatten eingeschrieben sind mischen sich während den Performances SOUNDS LIKE…VIENNA mit den Geräuschen der Stadt. – überschwemmen den Platz – ein Architektur-Rave für Wien.
www.juliabuennagel.de
https://www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=18469
"I’ve fallen in love with this performance video. Many people make field recordings, but few cut out circles of concrete and play them like records. And then even fewer go out in public to share what they’ve done. To our knowledge, there’s only one, which makes Julia Bünnagel a true original.
Does Sounds Like … Vienna sound like Vienna? That’s a trick question. The records literally are Vienna, so from this angle yes, the record of records one receives in the mail (to save on postage, these are made of vinyl) does sound like Vienna. The counter-point is that one should not expect the city to sound like this when one visits for the first time, unless one is fortunate enough to see the artist set up on the street outside one’s hotel. But listen deeper and one might hear the real sound of Vienna, delivered in sonic metaphor, a mesmerizing blend of repetitions and jutting angles, both rhythmic and offbeat, soothing and off-putting, until it clicks and one exclaims, “Oh, Vienna!” in a tone that may or may not echo Ultravox.
The added charm is the sound of traffic, children and other passers-by, exposing just how interested the residents of the city may be in hearing the amplifications of diamond on concrete. This may be an unprecedented level of needle abuse, all for a good cause, although our guess is that Bünnagel is not using brand new needles. Would our Technics 1200s make the same sounds? Do we really want to try? The beauty of listening is sinking into the recording, finding the tempo, just as one acclimates to a new city by immersing one’s self in the culture. If this sounds like Vienna, we might come to the conclusion that Vienna is exciting, creative, and beckoning, just as it is rumbling, vibrating, and unique. The set makes us wonder about other places that might lend themselves well to Bünnagel’s technique: the volcanic rocks of Pompeii, or the famed “concrete jungle” of New York.
We’re also imagining with some amusement the reaction to the artist should she show up at a club gig with this heavy milk crate of slabs. How many people would leave the dance floor? How many would come running? The second number is likely much lower than the first, but wouldn’t they be the crème de la crème? Wouldn’t they be the most attentive, the most curious, the most dedicated, as Bünnagel teases out the sounds lying beneath their feet? A huge thanks to the artist for playing a type of music we’ve never encountered before, despite the fact that we walk on it every day." [A Closer Listen]
|
2020 |
€18.00 |
|
| BÜSSER, MARTIN |
ANTIPOP |
Book |
"Großartiges Buch des TESTCARD-Mitherausgebers Martin Büsser. Hier geht es v.a. um die Frage des „subversiven Pop“, hat Pop von heute überhaupt Widerstandspotential? Enthalten sind kritische Artikel über TECHNO, HENRY ROLLINS, KRAUTROCK, die Auflösung des Rocks anhand der MELVINS, PLATTENSAMMLER und die Universalität von PHIL COLLINS; sowie hochinteressante Interviews mit ARNULF MEIFERT (ex-FAUST), JELLO BIAFRA, und JIM O’ROURKE. Zudem begründet er mit „MUSIK IM FLUSS“, warum fliessende Musik „in scharfem Kontrast zu bestehenden Verhältnissen“ steht und fremdartige, „sich allen Diskursen verweigernde Musik“ uns auf sinnliche Art und Weise eine Ahnung einer befreiten Gesellschaft zu vermitteln vermag. Das ist letztlich der Grund, warum es DRONE RECORDS gibt! Also: unbedingt lesen !!"
[Drone Records info 1998]
|
1998 |
€11.66 |
|
| BÜTTNER, GREGORY |
Every |
mCD-R |
“ 'every' ist der zweite beitrag von gregory büttner für die 3“cd-serie auf 1000füssler. als ausgangsmaterial wurde ausschließlich menschliche stimme verwendet, allerdings in einzelteile zerlegt und erst im epilog als stimme erkennbar. abstrakter minimalismus zwischen sägender präsens und weit entfernten surren. ‘every‘ is the second contribution of gregory büttner for the 3"-cd-series on 1000füssler. the human voice was exclusivly used as source material, though taken in parts and only in the epilogue recognizable as voice. abstract minimalism between sawing sounds and whirring from far away” [label info] |
2006 |
€6.50 |
|
| |
Nil.:Audio |
mCD-R |
"GREGORY BÜTTNER schickte für nil:.audio (AICdisc009, 3“ cd-r) Daten in den Softwarehimmel, in dem sie gelöscht werden und alle Sorgen enden. Vorher jedoch hört man in vier Varianten mehrfach komprimierte Sequenzen aus CDRom-Werbungen (heute auch nur noch prähistorische Kuriosität). Nach der ersten Überformung sind noch die Werbestimmen vernehmbar, wenn auch schon vermulmt, verzischelt und überwummert. Mit jedem Prozess nimmt die Information ab und die Entropie zu. Sirrend, bitzelnd, schmurgelnd verteilen sich die Klangmoleküle und nähern sich über eine Phase, die vielleicht den sprichwörtlichen Traumweiden von Androiden ähnelt, mehr und mehr dem anderen Ende der Bewusstseinsund Verstehensskala, um in den elysischen Gefilden zu verlöschen." [Bad Alchemy]
"Gregory Büttner, known as member of the duo Für diesen Abend , and also for running the fine small label 1000füssler, is giving honour to AIC by this impressive concept of subversive appropriation. Quicktime movies, taken from various internet providers’ advertisement CDRoms, were used as source material for the audiovisual work “nil”. The images as well as the sound tracks of those flics from the late 1990s / early 2000s ( so, from medieval times of digital technology ) have been compressed again and again by Buettner, using different Codecs – followed by some precise compositional arrangement. “nil:.audio” documents the most prolific audio pieces of the series – dense and idiosyncratic electroacoustics." [label info]
www.0000-anti.info
|
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
| B°TONG (B*TONG / B-TONG/ BTONG) |
Microsleep |
CD-R |
"b°tong is a project by Chris Sigdell, former member of the Swiss/German experimental trio Níò and guitarist/singer in Phased. b°tong's first 3" MCD was released by Verato Project in 2005. Since then he's released some more on various labels (Auf Abwegen, 1000+1 TiLt, Mayo Rec, P.B.B.) and played all over the EC - a.o. the Sinus Series in Basel, 2006 and the Ausklang Festival in Hamburg 2006 and two tours with One Man Drone project. b°tong, Tamagawa, Shit & Oldine - four bands, four men and one sound: droning, ambient noise. "Microsleep" is the new album on Verato Project. The music has been created on laptop using sounds and samples collected from natural sources and/or records, films, radio, etc. It was inspired by a trip to Australia and the road signs warning of the dangers of microsleep and advising to stop over at rest areas. The individual tracks' themes are those of fatigue versus sleeplessness, loneliness and long distances, dreams and nightmares of being on a road to nowhere."
[label info]
www.verato-project.de
|
2007 |
€9.50 |
|
|
Un_b°tong |
mCDR-box |
"B°tong’s second release on Attenuation Circuit is, as the title suggests, quite atypical for the dark ambient soundscapes the Swedish-Swiss artist is best known for. In six rather short tracks, B°tong explores the sonic possibilities of digital audio manipulation of several sound sources, mainly recorded voices used as sources of pure sound, not linguistic information. The results feel somewhat like an unlikely combination of lowercase electronica and Mille Plateaux-style cuts’n’glitches and updated audio poetry in the tradition of William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, and Henri Chopin.
“Un_B°tong” opens up a new direction in the artist’s work while remaining true to the spirit of experimentation with non-musical sounds that has been informing cutting edge music for about a century now, including the original practitioners of “industrial” music that have been inspiring B°tong’s work. Those with ears tuned to today’s rather limited definition of the genre as “dark” music of some sort or other may find the intellectual playfulness of B°tong’s approach on this release too lighthearted, even humorous, considering titles like “Colourful, Comfortable, Weatherproof” or the tongue-in-cheek combination of biblical quotes about the devil with the “subliminal” message “B°tong isst heimlich” (“B°tong eats secretly”) almost hidden in the cover copy. For those interested in truly contemporary audio experiments, however, this crisp little outing has a lot to offer within the space of its 18 minutes." [label info]
www.wix.com/attenuationcircuit/attenuation-circuit
|
2011 |
€6.50 |
|
| |
Hostile Environments |
CD |
"B°TONG is Chris Sigdell, former member of the German experimental industrial group NID (1995 – 2005).
With B°TONG he reaches for the nether regions of experimental electronic sound and has established himself as an acknowledged and known professional soundscape artist. His music is a choice of dark, brooding layers of sound, high-pitched tones and weird electronic sounds that give birth to images of darkness and tranquillity, the solitude of an icy polar night or the equivalent of an underwater journey into a bottomless pit. To create these soundscapes, he uses found samples and self-made recordings and processes these on the computer together with recordings of his own voice and other vocal samples. There are no traditional instruments involved. In a live-situation Chris Sigdell relies on playing metal-sheets, electric toys and various kitchen utensils. The sounds thus generated are put through various effect-pedals giving him that trademark sound.
.
B°TONG has played over 200 concerts all around Europe and in Russia, Canada and the U.S.A. He has shared stages with Aun, Batur Sönmez, Column One, Dave Phillips, Frontline Assembly, Michael Northam, Origami Galaktika, Sudden Infant, The (Law) Rah Collective, To Live And Shave In LA, Troum, Zbigniew Karkowski.
.
Sometimes B°TONG collaborates with other artists, as he has done with: Alain Courtis, Batur Sönmez, Diskrepant, Origami Galaktika, PS Stamps Back, TBC, and Tamagawa. Two new project are Tongdisklaktika, a together with Benny Braaten (Origami Galaktika) and Per Åhlund (Diskrepant) and Thee Secret Society with Jürgen Eberhard (F.T.PB.P.D.), Helge Moune (1000schoen) and Melvin Neumann (Vibrae). B°TONG has also been part of installations (“Polarkreis” & “95°“ by Brigitte Gierlich & Camilla Schuler) and video-projects (“Images” by Ulrich Fischer). He video-clips have been shown at the 2007 Miami Art Fair as part of the Urban Nomad film-festival, and in Beijing. His videos are made in collaboration with video artist Silvia Bergmann." [label info]
www.greytone.eu
"We first discovered Chris Sigdell, aka B-Tong (which, by the way, is usually written with a little circle, you know, the degrees sign, not a dash, but our website doesn't like it, so hence the hyphen), via a four way split called One Man Drone, which as you may have surmised, was a collection of one man drone-groups, and our favorite of the bunch happened to be B-Tong, whose sound was weirdly cinematic, and fantastically and psychedelically noisy and chaotic. We compared the sound to Philip Jeck mixing Goblin and Wolf Eyes! We later discovered that Sigdell played in NID, another group who utilized drones, but wove those drones into something much more cacophonous, and expansive and lushly layered. But still, ultimately, it was all about the drone.
We had always hankered for more B-Tong, and while apparently there have been a bunch of full lengths, this is the first we've managed to get our hands on, and it's just as good as we remember; and yeah, if there was ever any doubt, Sigdell firmly establishes himself as an aQ-pantheon-worthy dronelord.
The opener, is ominous and cavernous, laced with weird crackles and gritty crunch, kindred spirits with our own Jim Haynes for sure. The sounds oozing a sort of sonic decay, and some deft and subtle sample placement, makes the opener even more chilling. It's almost like some industrial doom, stripped down to its skeletal core. A moody, muted melody, playing out like foghorns in the distance, echo drenched chimes, and tinkling percussion, buried under grey washes of softly undulating thrum, lots of constantly shifting textures, and some seriously harrowing sound design reminiscent of Ben Frost. And the sound continues to drift southward as the record progresses, a virtual journey through dark caverns, toward whatever lurks below, fields of deep resonant rumbles, dripping water, distant billows of thunder, stretched out into weird glossolallic shimmers, thick chordal blurs that ooze and bleed ominously, splashing water doused in FX and transformed into a sort of garbled alien language. Plenty of barely there lowercase ambience, but also super active sprawls of electro static gristle, ultra creepy moans and gasps, sonar pings that disappear into the abyss, short wave broadcasts from beyond, lumbering behemoth beats, dulled into barely perceptible pulsations, smears of almost dub like throb, and keening high end tones dulled into bleary shimmery sonic ripples, all locked in a sort of hazy stasis, while all around, billowing clouds of black hum drift malevolently, and beneath this black soundworld, hushed melodies, and dreamlike sonic coloration, shift constantly creating an ethereally prismatic sonic backdrop. Fantastic. Essential dronemusic for sure!!" [Aquarius Records] |
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| B°TONG / EMERGE / IF BWANA / GERALD FIEBIG |
Thing |
CD-R |
In 2022, attenuation circuit starts a new series of four-way split albums called THING. The aim is to provide a medium for exchange and presentation of a great variety of artists. As each artist spreads the copies to their network, listeners also get to know the other artists featured on the same disc. The title references the fact that the CDs are physical objects – things! – but also refers to the 'thing' or 'ding' in old Norse and other Germanic languages, which designates the place of a popular assembly or the assembly itself and thus alludes to the 'meeting-place' character of the albums on (or around) which the four artists and their audiences meet, if only virtually.
With the first instalment of the THING series, attenuation circuit also celebrates the 10th anniversary of its very first vinyl release. In 2012, b°tong and EMERGE released their self-titled split LP on the label. In contrast to other split LPs, their pieces were composed specifically for this LP, with both artists sharing the same pool of sound materials to create their respective pieces. The 100 copies shared a common design created by visual artist Tine Klink, but as all sleeves were hand-painted, each copy had a recognisable, yet still unique cover. This concept earned the label a mention in recognised art director Stuart Tolley's book “Collector's Edition: Innovative Packaging and Graphics” (London: Thames & Hudson 2014).
In 2013, this album was followed up with another split LP by If,Bwana and Gerald Fiebig which followed the same musical and visual approach. Together, these two split albums formed attenuation circuit's original Vinyl Series, which was soon replaced by individually conceived vinyl albums. To celebrate the anniversary of attenuation circuit's first venture into vinyl territory, this THING collects all four sides of the two original LPs. To retain the “LP side” feel, the two pieces by If,Bwana have been transferred to the CD as only one track.
File under: drone, dark ambient, ambient
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/thing |
2022 |
€8.00 |
|
| BØLTORN (BOLTORN) |
Dødsverk (Dodsverk) |
LP |
skandinavian old-school industrial and power electronics.
No warning shots will be fired
When you change the law
No warning shots will be fired
When you steal our freedom
No warning shots will be fired
As your fortress crumbles around you
No warning shots will be fired
When you set foot on our property
No warning shots will be fired
When we let the dogs run
https://tescogermany.bandcamp.com/album/d-dsverk
"Bøltorn’s Dødsverk is maybe noise on paper, but a thorough and fluent sonic experience when listened to. The trio, also featuring one Nordsvargr, put out a few full-lengths and an EP throughout the year, with Dødsverk being the most impactful of the bunch (even though each of them have their own unique characteristics and strong suits), and I found myself listening to it on repeat for days on end, and still do if I ’mistakenly’ put it on. There’s just something invoking and holistic in their approach to noise, power electronics, and whatever else, constituting of droning walls of varying racket, discernible samples, and intelligible vocals. All in all Dødsverk is probably what I’d pick as my favourite album of the year, with some day-to-day caveats left out of the equation." [Everything Is Noise] |
2023 |
€26.50 |
|
| C-DRIK / ALUVIANA |
Moje Celo |
CD |
"A collaboration between Belgian musician C-drík (Axiome, Kirdec, Ambre, etc.) and Slovenian musician Aluviana. Industrial and dark ambient intensities, alienating soundscapes.
A masterful exercise made using a colourful palette of sounds, rhythms and sometimes strings, slowly unfolds itself to a comprehensive atmospheric language. Limited to 300 copies."
www.syrphe.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| CABARET VOLTAIRE |
Mix-Up |
CD |
Cabaret Voltaire are often seen as one of the pioneering groups of the British industrial music scene in the mid 70's, much like contemporaries Throbbing Gristle they started life as a dada influenced performance art act later to focus more on the kind of subversive musical experiments that would fill the gap left by the death of the first wave of punk rock towards the end of the decade. Alongside the birth of post-punk, something of a more artsy, misanthropic kind of angst was in the air from a generation of people influenced by post-modern literature, art and controversial underground political and philosophical views. Tied in with the potential of what the coming digital age was beginning to offer for harsher, more mechanical and soulless sound experimentation, the first wave of industrial music was born.
Cabaret Voltaire leant more towards post-punk then most of their peers, and their first release in 1979's Mix-Up shows that more then anything. The Cabs would go on to be seen as a pioneering force in both industrial and electronic music in general, but the early experiments on offer here don't quite have the same feel as some of their later work. Kirlian Photograph opens Mix-Up, led by a goofy bassline, simple drum machine and a hissing, dissonant synth rhythm playing off this rhythmic interplay it is similar to much of the feel of the album. The production is dark, with a distinct analogue quality that is both detrimental to its sound and part of its appeal.
No Escape is very similar, probably a little more playful with its distorted textures and almost happy sounding melodies. Fourth Shot sounds like it could have been a Public Image Ltd. track if they dabbled in electronic sounds a little more, beginning with some electronic warbling it introduces a lonely hi-hat snare and dissonant rhythm guitar. It provides a nice wall of gloomy texture, as does Eyeless Sight, with a more pronounced old school drum machine driving it. Many of the other songs follow very similar formulas, something of underproduced old school post-punk with some electronic effects and noise experimentation. It's probably not worth pulling these apart for that mere fact, but suffice it to say despite the lack of variety the album remains an interesting listen.
Mix-Up is one of the first industrial recordings to emerge from one of it's key pioneers, and so is probably more valuable as a history lesson for most then something that is pleasurable to listen today. That is not to say this is not an appealing listen, to fans of post-punk, analogue electronic music and lo-fi in general there is plenty to enjoy. It'd probably be worth getting something like The Voice of America or Throbbing Gristle's The Second Annual Report instead. [Sputnik] |
2013 |
€10.00 |
|
| CALARCO, JUAN JOSE |
Aguatierra |
CD |
"U N F A T H O M L E S S
a thematic ltd series focusing primarily on phonographies reflecting the spirit of a specific place crowded with memories, its aura & resonances and our intimate interaction with it…
Juan José Calarco | aguatierra
Aguatierra is about creating an undefined territory, where traces of one place reconstruct the other. A flow from which the discontinuities of time and space try to create a continuous narrative through the wandering into two landscapes of artificial islands. Considering them both delineated by their irregularities, my main approach was about exploring through their variances, generating a reflection of each other : the ecological park of Xochimilco, located within México City, is somehow defined by the coexistence of a very traditional place (the large series of canals which are remains of the Chinampas agricultural practice) with the semi-urban morphology of fences, metal structures and large lumber. Called “garden of flowers” and nevertheless immersed in the urban and environmental degradation, these islands preserve a rich heritage of myths and rituals.
Whilst Reserve Otamendi, at the valley of Río Luján in Argentina, can be really described as a reversed interrelationship of the built environment and nature ; an abrupt myriad of small canals and marshes form themselves between the landslide of a railway bridge and the surrounding waters ; grown from the margins of their spatial context, they extend as a vast wetland threatened by abandon, predation and recurrent fires.
So, I worked from the similarities on the sound contents of both places, treating them as a whole but also focusing on their landmarks, to mirror each other, juxtapose and merge them. Wanting to draw indeed a blurred but tangible, non-territorial geography. (Juan José Calarco)
cd ltd to 250 copies hand numbered copies
cover design + treatments by Daniel Crokaert
based exclusively on photos by Juan José Calarco." [full label info]
www.unfathomless.net
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| CALARCO, JUAN JOSE & DAVID VELEZ |
Bahias |
CD |
"On December of 2009 Juan José Calarco and David Velez captured sound from bays near the cities of Buenos Aires and NYC respectively. They exchanged files for over two years until mid 2011 when the piece was finalized. The artists wanted to explore the opposite weather conditions as an element of difference and the site where they will record (bays) as an element of concurrence to support their site recording work. On the compositional process the artists make gestural and intuitive use of those recordings based on mere formal and aesthetic considerations: Concrete sounds used as material to build new experiences on the listener's conscience where the perception of space and time is altered and distorted under artistic acoustic means.
Active since the early 2000, Juan Jose Calarco is a musician and sound artist who works with materials from urban and natural environments. Ranging from the documentation of harbours to water canals to detailed sound topographies of several cities at night, his interest focuses in the narrative and emotional content of the sound matter. His works have been published in several labels as And/Oar, Unfathomless, Con-v, Siridisc, Mystery Sea, Mandorla, Test Tube, Frígida, Sijis or Koyuki and has collaborated with James McDougall, Manrico Montero, David Wells, H Stewart, Ubeboet, Pablo Reche and Nicholas Szczepanik.
David Velez is a sound artists currently living in his hometown Bogotá where he is taking a Masters on Fine and Visual Arts. His work deals with the perceptual aspects of time and space and addresses them through textural work as the main formal consideration. His method consists of making use of Field recordings as sound matter that he will instrument through gestural composition and improvisation. David Velez is interested in the relation between the reduced and the casual hearing and the possibilities when involving them into the perceptual acoustic experience. He founded and works for the label Impulsive Habitat and the blog The Field Reporter and he is constantly publishing his works on digital and physical media and performing at concerts at Universities and small venues." [label info]
www.semperflorens.net
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| CALON, CHRISTIAN |
Les Corps Eblouis |
maxi-CD |
“les Corps éblouis was commissioned by the Ina-GRM and the French State. It was realized in the GRM studios (1992-93) and was premiered by Francis Dhomont (sound projection) in June, 1993 in the Salle Olivier Messiaen of the Maison de Radio France (Paris, France) as part of the Son-Mu concert series. The following year, the present recast version was premiered at the National Theatre of Marseilles. les Corps éblouis was awarded the 2nd Prize at the 22nd Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Competition (France, 1994) and was also awarded Distinctions at the Prix Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria, 1995, 97).”
[label info]
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
1998 |
€8.50 |
|
| |
Ligne de vie |
CD |
“Calon [(Ligne de vie)] presents three pieces, dated 1985, 1988 and 1989. These are an electronic impressionism of inner space. Human voices appear solely in the third selection, along with the sounds of birds. Whereas it can be a cure for depression to close your eyes and put yourself in your happy place Calon offers the power to combat a deficient imagination by using early synthesizer sounds and effects to put yourself in that richly hued, glowing nebula inside you.” [Tom Schulte / Outsight]
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
1991 |
€12.00 |
|
| CAMBERWELL NOW |
All's well |
CD |
Endlich wieder erhältlich, die CD mit dem Gesamt-Material der THIS HEAT-Nachfolgeband!
"1982 lössten sich This Heat auf, bzw. verwandelten sich in Camberwell Now. Gareth Williams hatte die Gruppe verlassen und sich nach Indien aufgemacht, um neue künstlerische Herausvorderungen zu suchen (er starb im Dezember 2001). Bullen und Hayward hielten This Heat danach noch eine Weile am Leben, zeitweilig unterstützt von dem Bassisten Trefor Goronwy. Doch irgendwann stieg auch Bullen, der sich ein eigenes Tonstudio aufgebaut hatte, aus. Damit war das Projekt This Heat beendet. Hayward und Goronwy machten allerdings gleich weiter. Zusammen mit dem Klangkonstrukteur Stephen Richards hoben sie Camberwell Now aus der Taufe, benannt nach dem Wohnort der Gruppe (und auch dem ehemaligen von This Heat), dem Londoner Vorort Camberwell. Camberwell Now haben zwei EPs ("Meridian" von 1984 und "Greenfingers", 1987) und eine LP ("The Ghost Trade", 1986) eingespielt. Alle drei Alben wurden 1992 zur CD "All's Well" zusammengefasst, die beim schweizer RecRec-Label erschienen ist. Zusätzlich wurde noch ein Stück daraufgepackt, welches vorher nur auf einem Kassettensampler veröffentlicht worden war ("Daddy Needs A Throne"). "All's Well" bietet somit das komplette Œuvre der Band.
Die Musik von Camberwell Now unterscheidet sich recht deutlich von den Klängen von This Heat, obwohl es gewisse Gemeinsamkeiten gibt. Bizarr und schräg ist die Musik immer noch, der gequälte Gesang von Hayward hat sich auch nicht allzu sehr verändert und auch sein virtuoses Schlagzeugspiel ist sofort wiederzuerkennen. Gab es auf den This Heat-Alben aber rohe Klangexperimente und kaputte Songs zu hören, ist die Musik von Camberwell Now melodischer und musikalischer geworden. Experimentelles Tonschweben, industriellen Krach und bizarre Tonkollagen sucht man hier fast vergebens. Sehr virtuos musizieren Bass und Schlagzeug miteinander, treiben die Musik bestimmt und energiegeladen voran, angereichert mit diversen Sounds und Geräuschen vom Tonband und verschiedenen Keyboards, gelegentlichen Einlagen an der Gitarre und dem sehr eigenen Gesang Haywards. Auf den Stücken von "Greenfingers" gibt es zusätzlich noch Saxophon, Flöte und Viola von Maria Lamburn zu hören. Das Ergebnis sind sehr intensive, meist sehr rhythmische, etwas klaustrophobisch wirkende, schräge Rocksongs, neo-canterbury-artige Artrocker, mit Postpunk-Flair und einer unterkühlten, fast depressiven, stellenweise sehr hektischen Atmosphäre. Reichlich seltsam, rhythmisch und schwebend zugleich, kalt, aber sehr direkt ist diese Musik. Heutzutage würde man diese Klänge wohl in die Postrock-Schublade stecken.
Wer This Heat schätzt, insbesondere Haywards Gesang, oder auch die Solo-Scheiben von Robert Wyatt (es gibt da gewisse atmosphärische und stimmliche Ähnlichkeiten), der sollte versuchen sich "All's Well" zu besorgen." [Achim Breiling / Babyblaue Seiten]
"After the demise of This Heat, Charles Hayward continued to work with Trefor Goronwy, bassist from the last manifestation of the group, the two of them joining forces with Steve Rickard who, for the new band, designed the cassette switchboard a kind of proto-sampler - but thats not the half of it (Steves article fully explaining the device is reprinted in the new, expanded booklet that comes with the CD). Musically, Camberwell both followed and departed from the style of This Heat. Formally and gesturally there are common elements, but there is far greater transparency and the sound palette is quite different: the music is more placed than grown, as the slow accumulation and evolution of material in This Heat gives way to a more immediate and orderly development of the material in Camberwell Now. The songs - nostalgic, scary, quietly desperate - peer into the future to find harbour but confront only fragments of ruin. Debris and disturbance eat away at the root and corrode each shiny surface (this is mostly the musical work of the cassette switchboard). The juxtaposition of powerful, virtuosic playing and the eerie, often unidentifiable keenings, chords and constant motion of the cassettes is one of the things that make Camberwell Now so expressive of its time - when the whole social and political fabric of a no-longer-great Britain was unravelling. This definitive edition collects the entire released output of the group together (two EPs and an LP) newly re-mastered by the band and repackaged with full notes, lyrics, additional photographs and artwork." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
The EP Collection |
LP |
Camberwell, in South London, pops up infrequently in pop culture. Perhaps you know it from the Camberwell Carrot, the heroically sized joint smoked in cult movie Withnail & I, or perhaps – if you’re attuned to experimental music – you know of Camberwell Now. The group formed from the ashes of This Heat, the art-noise group whose catalog was reissued on Modern Classics Recordings in early 2016.
Not so much a supersession as a continuation of that group, Camberwell Now featured This Heat’s vocalist / drummer Charles Hayward, who assembled an unusual line-up comprising Stephen Rickard, a former BBC sound engineer, on field recordings and tape manipulation and Trefor Goronwy on bass, vocals and ukulele. “We had a very specific set of skills,” says Hayward, in new liner notes compiled for this long overdue reissue, “and it wasn’t immediately clear to us how best to bring them together so that we could play live.”
Taking inspiration from seafaring and imperialism, and the fact that the music was created within close proximity to the meridian line in Greenwich, the Meridian EP was originally intended to be a project for This Heat. The group’s departing member Charles Bullen plays on the opening track, “Cutty Sark”, named for the famed British clipper ship.
The second EP, 1987’s Greenfingers, was their final recorded work and, according to Hayward, “it’s possible to hear the group atomising and preparing to go its separate ways” within its grooves. The only This Heat or Camberwell Now recording not to have been produced at Brixton’s Cold Storage studios, it was recorded as a DIY exercise and – unusually for either of the groups – was not pored over laboriously for a great deal of time. The EP also saw the addition of a new member, Maria Lamburn, primarily on sax, whose “Element Unknown” was inspired by her experiences in the nuclear protest camp at Greenham Common.
Comprising tracks that overlapped between This Heat and Camberwell Now, the EPs concerned themselves with information technology, surveillance, propaganda and what Hayward describes as “day-to-day, hand-to-mouth survival” – all pertinent concerns in a fractured Britain under the rule of right-wing ‘Iron Lady’ Margaret Thatcher, and perhaps still as pertinent today in fractured, recession-hit, isolationist Britain.
The group dispersed after a final European tour, amicably, quietly, and differently, the latter their MO throughout a unique career. Goronwy, Hayward and Rickard all share their experiences and thoughts on The Camberwell Now in liner notes accompanying this landmark release: young and old, birth and death captured on two sides of vinyl.
Note: On download card (and audio samples above), track one includes the songs “Cutty Sark”, “Trade Winds” and “Pearl Divers”. Total running time for track one is 9:34 and each song is distinct, though they are to be experienced as one long-form piece of music.
Release Notes
Official vinyl re-issue in collaboration with original members
24 bit/96 kHz re-master from original analog tapes
Restored art, expanded to a gatefold tip-on jacket
Includes download card with two bonus tracks
8 page booklet with track notes by the artists, lyrics and archival photos
Auf Camberwell in South London wird sich in der Popkultur immer wieder bezogen. Vielleicht kennt man es von der Camberwell Carrot, dem
überdimensionalen Joint, der im Kultfilm „Withnail & I“ geraucht wird, oder von CAMBERWELL NOW. Die Band entstand aus der Asche von THIS HEAT und bildete sich um Sänger und Schlagzeuger Charles Hayward, der den ehemaligen
BBC Sound Engineer Stephen Rickard für Field Recording und Bandmanipulationen
und Trefor Goronwy an Bass, Vocals und Ukulele akquirierte. „Wir hatten eine sehr spezielle Herangehensweise“, sagt Hayward, „und zu Beginn wussten wir nicht, wie wir unseren Sound live umsetzen sollten.“ Die „Meridian EP“ vereinigte
Einflüsse aus der Seefahrt und dem Imperialismus und spielte auf den Fakt an, dass
die Musik nahe am Meridian in Greenwich entstanden war. Die zweite EP, „Greenfingers“ von 1987 war ihre allerletzte Aufnahme, auf der man laut Hayward hört, wie die Gruppe „sich langsam zerstreut und getrennte Wege geht“. Auf der EP war erstmals das neue Mitglied Maria Lamburn am Saxophon zu hören, deren „Element Unknown“ von ihren Erfahrungen in einem Protestcamp gegen Atomenergie inspiriert ist. Die EPs vereinen Tracks aus Zeiten von THIS HEAT
und CABERWELL NOW und befassen sich mit Informationstechnologie, Überwachung, Propaganda und dem tagtäglichen Überlebenskampf, ernsthafte Sorgen im gespaltenen Großbritannien unter der eisernen Margaret Thatcher und vielleicht heute noch genauso relevant im zerrissenen, rezessionsgeplagten, isolationistischen Großbritannien der Gegenwart.
|
2016 |
€28.00 |
|
| CAMPBELL, J. |
The Cormorant |
LP |
Following his former album ‘Heirloomʼ, which came out on E. Sagglia and Death Kneelʼs now defunct Summer Isle label in 2018, ‘The Cormorantʼ is the latest album by Australian native Jason Campbell.
After taking a year to complete, Campbell perceives ‘The Cormorantʼ as “a document of small-town Australia, concerned with the natural environment and the rugged coastline that I call home.”
The sounds of his native domain, the coastlines of New South Wales, are explored and dissected throughout the entire album, with ocean swells or conversations at the local food court are layered onto sequences of violin tremolos, detuned cymbals and delayed piano chords.
Throughout the albums run time, ‘The Cormorantʼ inhabits a destinctive sonic realm of its own, inhabited by sounds of ocean swells or conversations at the local food court, layered onto sequences of violin tremolos, detuned cymbals and delayed piano chords. The album begins with the highly vigorous ‘Emerge Againʼ, which features an accelerative volley of machine clatter and pitch shifted choruses, slowly merging into a bed of candid breaths and piano stabs. On the midway point, The album’s title track, ‘The Cormorantʼ presents itself as the albums definite, emotive underscore, while the pre-culminating reprieve ‘A Fallen Eucalyptʼ usher in the final stages of the journey.
In the end, each piece on ‘The Cormorant’ showcases a unique, riveting sonic investigation into J. Campbellʼs coastal home, yet the album is not merely about an introspective examination of oneʼs topography, it’s the culmination of a truly sincere exploration, it’s a body of work about passion, existence and self- discovery.
https://vaagner.bandcamp.com/album/the-cormorant
|
2021 |
€22.50 |
|
| CANTU-LEDESMA, JEFRE |
Love is a Stream |
CD |
"As a member of San Francisco legends Tarentel and Type’s premier astral travellers The Alps, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma is hardly a new addition to the label, so it’s hard to believe that ‘Love Is A Stream’ is his first Type solo album. Previously releasing on Arbor, Spekk and his own Root Strata imprint, this latest album marks his journey into the beautifully cacophonous world of dream pop.
Shoegaze music has been much maligned in recent years, probably due to its rebirth and subsequent explosion of popularity (which gave rise to hundreds of young bands aping the over twenty-year-old sound). However it was only a fragment of the genre that these bands attempted to re-create, and on ‘Love Is A Stream’ Cantu, instead of focusing on tired weeping melancholy ballads, focuses solely on expansive, almost noise-ridden hopefulness. This is the kind of noise we fell in love with when My Bloody Valentine blew our ear drums performing ‘Loveless’, or the kind of harmonic excess we heard on hundredth listen to Catherine Wheel’s ‘Ferment’, but taken into deeper, more abstract realms.
‘Love Is A Stream’ is dedicated to love itself, and the dreamy, shimmering blown-out textures might at first sound like white noise before they ultimately give way to blissful harmony and hidden melody. Underneath the grit and growl are hidden guitar parts, synthesizer drones and even vocals (provided by Lisa McGee, John Twells and Maxwell August Croy) that succeed in swelling the dense, tape-saturated songs to heady new heights and belie any influences they might have. On each listen the mind strips away another layer of dust and bones to reveal haunting and deeply moving beauty.
The world might be spiralling into despair, but Jefre Cantu-Ledesma has brought us a record that isn’t afraid to share the love. All that’s left to do is drown in it." [label info]
www.typerecords.com
|
2010 |
€15.50 |
|
| CAO KELLER SIEDL |
Modulus of Resilience |
CD |
"The title of this debut release by the Swiss-Austrian-Vietnamese trio of Beat Keller on a customised feedbacker guitar, Gregor Siedl on clarinet and electronics, and Cao Thanh Lan on electronics and prepared zither is absolutely programmatic. (By the way, the fact that Lan also calls her instrument “marxophone” does not necessarily have political implications, in fact it was named after instrument builder Henry Charles Marx.) “The modulus of resilience is defined as the maximum energy that can be absorbed per unit volume without creating a permanent distortion” (Wikipedia), and in the three to nine minute real-time compositions on this album, recorded at various live concerts and in studios in Austria and Switzerland in 2018, the trio is constantly testing ways to approach this level of maximum energy.
That does not mean, however, that they are always aiming straight for the noisy breaking-point of high-volume power play, although they repeatedly show that they are perfectly capable of that, high-pitched dissonance between the metallic zither strings and the surging guitar feedbacks included. For Cao Keller Siedl, “energy” means “intensity,” and of course musical intensity can be at its maximum in the quietest moments. Pulsating patterns of high-frequency beats, suddenly emerging dreamy chords, then again deep growls of feedback that come rising up from the lower registers are only a very few of the varied, but never arbitrary, structural devices of this music. The way in which the players manage to craft suspenseful dramaturgy even within only a few minutes' time proves that they have already developed an elaborate shared musical language, and gives this debut album a decidedly mature feel in the best sense of the word. Creating beauty from harsh and tender materials alike, their music certainly has a redeeming quality in facing some of the ugliness of the human condition. So perhaps the title could eventually be programmatic on another level as well, because in psychology, “resilience is the ability to cope with a crisis or to return to pre-crisis status quickly.” (Wikipedia).
www.attenuationcircuit.de/releases/32/cao-keller-siedl-modulus-of-resilience
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| CAPELLE, MIREILLE |
Anello. Naga. Sunyata |
3 x CD |
" “...The Sonic Architecture pieces are constructed geometrically according to a mathematical scheme which is based on the symbolism of numbers. On the basis of whatever drives my senses, I gather together a great mass of recorded sounds from everyday life: the street, the wind, streams, the noise of cars, of conversations, of birds, of singing... accompanied by everything that resonates around them...” — Mireille Capelle
3 Sonic Architectures. Each Sonic Architecture consists of two compositions. Each composition can be played separately. From the moment they are played together and allowed to resonate via 2 CD players and 4 audio speakers, the Sonic Architecture becomes one composition. These pieces make a journey of several hours, or days, before they refind the point of their beginning. The CDs in this box are 3 Simulations. Each CD is a fragment of one of the 3 Sonic Architecture compositions. Anello, Naga & Sunyata were presented repectively at the Axel Vervoordt exhibitions Artempo, Academia & In-finitum.
Mireille Capelle appears in various films and plays, as well as singing a number of different operatic roles. She interprets baroque works with Jos Van Immerseel, sings numerous recitals of melodies throughout Europe and Japan, and she is a singer in the HERMESensemble. Capelle is a Professor at the Conservatory of Ghent, where she is also in charge of the singing department.
Anello • Naga • Sunyata is a production of Inspiratum vzw." [label info]
www.audiomer.org
|
2009 |
€25.00 |
|
| CAPPAROS, OLIVIER & LIONEL MARCHETTI |
Equus |
CD |
"Please Note: This is a 33 minute CD.
Equus is a collaborative work of musique concrète recorded in 2001-02 on a commission from the INA GRM It is truly a delight for Pogus to add this title to our catalog. As Capparos notes: "Equus guides us through human memory and history. It may sound a bit strange that sound & music would appear as a "vehicle", or as we had cast a lead into a labyrinth. This brings us to the question of whether we are alive or not; travelling the path throughout these soundings would drive us down and up our consciousness and our listening, not to mention that we are dead or alive."
Olivier Capparos is an instrumental and electro-acoustic composer whose work encompasses philosophy and literature as well as music. Many of his compositions are focused on voice and its interpretation through loudspeakers. Capparos was composer in residence at the INA-GRM in Paris (2001), the Studio National des Arts Contemporains du Fresnoy (20023), and at the Argos Center in Bruxelles (2004). He has composed and conducted works for chamber orchestra, voice (soprano), violin, and piano, and has co-produced many other recordings and radio broadcasts with Lionel Marchetti throughout their long association.
Lionel Marchetti was born in France in 1967. His interest in music resides in the qualities of sound. He started to experiment by himself and later discovered the rich French corpus of musique concrète through Xavier Garcia. He is one of a handful of artists who in the mid- to-late 1990s took electro-acoustic music out of academic studios and into the free improvisation ring. A scholar who worked at the CFMI (Lyon) and INA-GRM studios and published a book on acousmatic composer Michel Chion, Marchetti developed a set-up of microphones and loudspeakers he uses on stage along with tape recorders, prepared CDs, motors and radios. He often refers to his instruments as an Œelectro-acoustic contraption¹. His musique concrète studio work incorporates sound collage and academic electro-acoustic composition, though the level of poetry and refusal of genre boundaries in his music puts him closer to Kristoff K. Roll and Luc Ferrari than Pierre Henry or Bernard Parmegiani. Following his encounter with Metamkine label owner and fellow sound experimentalist Jérôme Noetinger in the early 1990s, a series of live and improvisation-based projects would run parallel to his more academic career. The Marchetti-Noetinger duo was the first of such projects and remains the longest lasting one. They are also involved in the audio- visual project Le Cube. In addition, Marchetti performs with the influential improv collective Archipel (with Emmanuel Petit, Sophie Agnel, Fabrice Charles, Pascal Bathus, and Werchowski)." [label description]
www.pogus.com
"So mögen wir es: kurz und knackig und mit vielen Generalpausen. Lionel Marchetti und Olivier Capparos sind zwei Akteure, die mit elektroakustischen Klängen die Domäne der spinnert-verklausulierenden Raumklangforscher verlassen und ihr Werkeln und Forschen an allgemein ästhetische und fast schon philosophische Fragen koppeln. Equus, eine Reise durch flockiges Geknister, prutzelnde Plirrgeräusche, fauchend-hüstelndes Tongebäck und vieles mehr, dauert nur eine halbe Stunde. In dieser Zeitspanne nehmen sich die beiden Komponisten – benutzen wir das Wort doch ruhig hier! – nichts weniger vor, als in Klang der Frage nachzugehen, was es ausmacht, am Leben zu sein! Wow! Bitte Alexander Kluge nach ‘ner gescheiten Rezi fragen und mich das Ding weiter auf Köpfhörer liegen lassen. Supertolle Sounddusche!" [Zipo / Auf Abwegen] |
2009 |
€12.50 |
|
| CARAVAGGIO |
Caravaggio # 2 |
CD |
"Crédits
Bruno Chevillon . basse, contrebasse, electronique
Benjamin de la fuente .violon, mandocaster, guitare ténor electrique, electronique
Eric Echampard .Batterie, percussions et electronique
Samuel Sighicelli .orgue Hammond, sampler, synthétiseur (korg et minimoog)
description
L’envie commune était, dès le départ, de faire une musique inspirée du rock mais avec une grammaire de musique contemporaine, de musique électroacoustique, de musique inventive. Garder le précieux de ce que nous avons appris et aimé avec les musiques contemporaines tout en le réinjectant dans une manière différente de composer, jouer, improviser – travail plus collectif et de terrain, écriture toujours au service d’un méta-instrument que serait le groupe – pour être, au moment de la performance, réglés sur les mêmes modes. Mais le côté rock c’est aussi un son, distordu à souhait, plaisir des textures métalliques, plaisir aussi des carrures amplifiées, pulsations insistantes, spectre parfois plein comme un oeuf, énergie et ampleur du son/geste. L’autre côté ce sont les réglages millimétriques, le souci du détail, le désir de phraser, une tendance presque maladive à penser en terme de « dramaturgie », de gestion des énergies et du souffle musical. Nous composons des « morceaux » - c'est à dire des objets à facettes qu'il faut ré-explorer chaque fois - en vue de constituer un répertoire sur mesure, qui mette le plus possible en avant les qualités de chacun au service d’un univers que nous défendons tous implicitement." [label info]
www.labuissonne.com
|
2012 |
€17.00 |
|
| CARBON BASED LIFEFORMS (CBL) |
VLA |
CD |
"We’re happy to welcome legendary Sweden space ambient project in our roster.
Special album, different from earlier works of CBL, one hour of deepest space ambient tunes, one hour snatched from eternity, one hour of ethereal oblivion.
Very Large Array (VLA) is a radio astronomy observatory located on the Plains of San Agustin, between the towns of Magdalena and Datil, some 50 miles (80 km) west of Socorro, New Mexico. It comprises 27 25-meter radio telescopes in a Y-shaped array and all the equipment, instrumentation, and computing power to function as an interferometer. Each of the massive telescopes is mounted on double parallel railroad tracks, so the radius and density of the array can be transformed to focus on particular bands of wavelength. Astronomers using the VLA have made key observations of black holes and protoplanetary disks around young stars, discovered magnetic filaments and traced complex gas motions at the Milky Way's center, probed the Universe's cosmological parameters, and provided new knowledge about the physical mechanisms that produce radio emission.
The VLA stands at an elevation of 6970 ft (2124 m) above sea level. It is a component of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)." [label info]
www.infinitefog.ru
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| CAREY, DAN |
Shadowgraph |
mCD & object |
Second release on new SoundArt-label from Munich! Musik von dem Londoner DJ, Musiker & Filmemacher DAN CAREY, Artwork wieder von JUDITH EGGER.
„drawing (paper-lasercut) by Judith Egger, letterpress, in embossed case, printed by Stefan Feigl. shadowgraph - an x-ray through harmonics and melodics, inspired by the attempt of the inventor Nicolai Tesla to photograph
what was inside his head. Dan Carey´s shadowgraph is a dreamy journey through musical
patterns which cast long shadows caused by the light of a late afternoon sun.“ [publishing house info]
|
2004 |
€22.00 |
|
| CARR, KATE |
The Story surrounds us |
MC |
"Kate Carr melds the exquisite details of her field recordings with an ephemeral approach to the song. This Australian has relocated herself to London after many trips around the globe. With each orbiting journey, she has collected innumerable sounds from the urbane to the aqueous and from the frenetic to the sublime, contextualizing all of these into compositions rippling with primordial melodies through guitar, piano, and electronics. The Story Surrounds Us follows her highly acclaimed albums I Had Myself A Nuclear Spring (first released on her own Flaming Pines imprint in 2015) and Carr's debut for Helen Scarsdale in 2016, It Was A Time Of Laboured Metaphors.
Emblematic of her work is a gentle dislocation between the environmental sounds and her drone-dub ellipses of somnambulant melody. The clatter of a frozen dock or a vibrational shimmer from rustled objects or the unintelligible whispers displaces the sense of self amidst a sea of disparate symbols and coded thought. More a travelogue in and out of one's own body than to any particular place. Carr suggests "In a way, it is about restlessness, an uncomfortable tossing and turning in all these many different places, a struggle somehow to forge a connection between my own internal world and all these places and persons I have encountered. I think this holds a sense of unease and strain, with both beautiful and failed moments of intimacy and connection which are made either possible or impossible in the difficult and distorted context of being away. It is quite sad, really." Look to Carla dal Forno, Alan Lamb and those moments of clarity in the shapeshifting ethos from Jewelled Antler for neighboring sounds to Kate Carr's chimerical compositions."
www.helenscarsdale.com
"A rather fast follow-up to her last tape (It Was a Time of Laboured Metaphors, also on Helen Scarsdale), Australian sound artist Kate Carr's latest work is another entry in a rapidly growing discography that blends elements of both traditional composition and the unpredictable nature of field recordings. She does this and merges them together seamlessly, coming together as a beautiful set of sounds and moods from across the globe, yet still unified as a part of the human experience.
Elements of The Story Surrounds Us were recorded during Carr’s travels to Iceland, Mexico, Sweden, and Spain, all of which clearly had an influence on the work; most obviously in the natural recordings she utilizes throughout. The tape is bookended by two sets of untreated field recordings from Ólafsfjörður, Iceland that perfectly capture the juxtaposition of her work. The first, "The Creaking Door Of The Abandoned Concrete Factory" is half a minute of just that: creaking sounds of post-industrial decay, capturing the emptiness of what surely was once part of a thriving industry. The end is “Water Lapping at Ice on Melting Lake”: the sound of wet and watery nature decaying, no doubt exacerbated by the same industry.
Between these two most obvious field recordings lay eight songs that are never truly a-musical, but never become overly conventional either. "Things That Stubbornly And Resiliently Subsist Without Leave" features a lot of sparse, delicate guitar playing, but the musicality is broken up by mysterious, more synthetic-like passages that never become unpleasant. This combination also features heavily in "I Didn't Get A Lot of Sleep in Mexico", with light floating tones melded with processed guitar-like sounds, peppered with incidental found recordings and hints of music throughout.
A brilliant pairing of compositions is the untreated recordings of "Communication Wires In Tropical Storm, Si'an Kaan, Mexico", and their appearance in the more compositionally based "We Were The Pulse Of A Wire Pulled Tightly". The former recordings are simply the sound of undulating metallic cables whipped about in heavy winds, taking on an odd beauty that contrasts their significantly more frightening pedigree. On "We Were The Pulse…" they reappear as overt pulses and jittery echoes resonating within electronic swarms and insinuations of percussion. The final product is moody and expansive, but concludes on a much lighter, drifting note compared to its more menacing moments.
Other moments of this tape showcase Carr’s more conventional musical tendencies as well. Gentle melodies are the initial focus on "There Was a Lot of Whispering Involved", with a bit of plucked string being counterbalanced by the heavier subterranean rumble. On the whole it sounds much more traditional, but no less gripping. On the other hand, "1001 (Missed Connections)" begins with crackling voices on a PA system and ugly buzzing noises, but soon is realigned into sustained, yet chilly melodic moments. What even resembles a traditional 4/4 bass drum comes in, but just a bit too briefly.
Conceptually, The Story Surrounds Us continues Kate Carr's focus on studying the sounds of specific locations, as well as the effects of social decay and its inevitable renewal. However, the music is captivating on its own as well: a wonderful blend of composed sound blended with the incidental, ephemeral sounds that surround us at all times, culminating in a strange, sometimes almost alien, but never mundane experience." [Brainwashed]
|
2017 |
€10.00 |
|
| CARTER, TOM & VANESSA ARN |
What is here for ? |
LP |
Die CHARALAMBIDES-Hälfte in Zusammenarbeit mit VANESSA ARM -> zwei lange flächige Improvisationen bestehend aus analog-elektronischen Vibrato-Tönen & Carters "Lap Steel" Gitarren-Drone-Arbeit, genaustes Zuhören belohnt mit feinsten konkreten Details.
"Limited Edition of 515 copies. First 110 copies released as coloured (brown) vinyl. Including a small insert. Contains two long and deep duo cuts of univibe-era lap steel/ electronic tone generator improvisation, one side recorded live and stamped w/ the indelible mark (ie, the #15 bus rumbling by) of Bullbabe Studios, Austin TX (the odor of sweat, lone star, and barbeque is palpable). The sounds: monolithic serenity infused with a deep breath from the void, as peaceful and violent as a mountain range. A shame that this configuration is so underrepresented in the discography, as the mesh of T&V's playing is so instantly seismic... Tom Carter is best known for his work with Charalambides, which he co-founded with longtime creative partner Christina Carter in 1991. Since 2002, Carter has also undertaken solo work and collaborations. His 2003 solo tour, centered around the seminal Brattleboro FreeFolk festival, featured unaccompanied solo shows and musical excursions (on stage and tape) with Bardo Pond, Thurston Moore, Dredd Foole, the MVEE Medicine Show, Ian Nagoski, Tower Recordings, and Double Leopards, among others. Vanessa Arn became a member of Boston/California/Texas group Primordial Undermind soon after Tom's brief tenure in the group. The potential for mountainous difference tones between the lap steel and the triwave tone generator (a custom built synthesizer) was immediately apparent to all parties, and Tom suggested a collaboration (which was greatly assisted by the fact that Tom and Vanessa were at the time next door neighbors). A sole performance and a handful of recordings ensued and the results are here for your perusal." [label info]
www.asilentplace.it
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
| CARVED IMAGE OF EMPTINESS / ZINC ROOM |
Lie, Illusions, Mystifications / Zinc 99,99 |
CD |
"This CD contains not even a split, but in fact 2 full-length albums of two Russian industrial projects, both coming from Ekaterinburg, Ural region. Carved Image Of Emptiness isn't so easily categorized with one term, during their half of the disc the style changes in quite unpredictable manner. The album starts with an energetic industrial track with sampled distorted bass guitar (well, when you write about noise music you can't be completely sure about the sound sources, but it sounds like bass guitar here) and various samples. Then comes unhurried, sombre and serious neo-classics which changes with more "fairy" track. Then again, a neo-classical composition in which pompous martial-like "verse" (think about Der Blutharsch) alternates with totally cartoon-style "chorus" (think about "Crocodile Gena"). During the last 4 tracks the same metamorphoses happen... I think this could be a good soundtrack for some slightly naive, but thus interesting industrial movie from 80-90-ies... Zinc Room is quite another matter! Here you can feel the addiction to the old noise school: in his tracks analogue distortion (bass guitar, percussion, steel objects) blends with field recordings and samples. The recordings are mostly not aggressive (unlike, say, Japanese act K2 who uses a lot of iron as well), but somehow sadly pensive. Like an abandoned rusty factory building standing in the field and grown by weeds long ago. However the spirits of industrialization still live there and sometimes continue their mechanical activity." [label info] |
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| CASCONE, KIM |
Anti-Musical Celestial Forces |
CD |
"Anti-Musical Celestial Forces presents a thirty minute cinematic montage of field recordings - gathered in the fall of 2008 while on tour in Europe, mixed with computer generated textures and spoken word." [label info]
www.storung.com
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| CASPAR, C.O. |
Epitaph |
CD |
Neues Werk des Berliner Künstlers & Musikers auf dem feinen russischen Label WAYSTYX, welches inzwischen von Mikhail Tumanov betrieben wird. CASPAR geht hier (mal wieder) neue Wege, setzt fliessendes Wasser, Kirchenglocken und andere Feldaufnahmen ein, lässt einen „female robot“ BAUDELAIRE zitieren, um dann allmählich in industriellere Gefilde zu versinken, mit verhallten und wummernden Maschinen-Geräuschen, metallischem Quietschen & Zerren, und wieder the robot... experimenteller Industrial zwischen Maschinen- & Natur-„Noise“ und schwarzer Lyrik ! Spezial-Cover !
“Penetrating sound confession from respected german master Co.Caspar, Berlin-based activist of an experimental sound, built with propulsions, sound vibrations from corporal movements, consisting of four tracks, each for 20 minutes. First of which “Benediction” and Replica are composed for a paintress from Quebeck/Canada, based on two field recordings (river & wood) in the canadian nature, used as the soundtrack during the vernissage of her paintings. 'Benediction' origines from the anthology Les Fleurs du Mal by Ch. Baudelaire spoken by the artist. purest drop of human prejudaces, fears, drawbacks essence heavy, humid and clouding impicated by the fistfull of various cuts of everyday life hypnotic song of far away syrene vibrant, graceful, controversive, whispering and shivering......” [label info]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| CASTELLO, ANGELICA |
CATORCE REFLEXIONES SOBRE EL FIN |
LP |
https://angelicacastello.bandcamp.com/album/silvertone-e-il-sentimento-oceanico
https://www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=20469
"Information is available about Angélica Castelló's new record 'Catorce Reflexiones Sobre El Fin', meaning 'fourteen reflections on the end'. She composed this music for an installation at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca, Mexico, in 2019.
She uses many field recordings, but according to the label, also she refers to her previous work, including voice work, recorded in very high and very low quality. I assume some recordings include her instrument of choice, the Paetzold recorder. There are fourteen pieces on this album (as they were on display in the installation, hanging from the ceiling), and I admit it also sounds like two long pieces, with the occasional silence occurring. The shuffling of a spade in the first piece, 'Rómpeme', reminded me of digging a grave. There are more of these death references, such as the church bells of 'Bells' or the shattering of glass, also an end. There are lots of animal sounds, and there is an eerie atmosphere throughout these pieces. In 'Un Homme', there is the sound of an old record; there is a marching rhythm, jackhammer or funeral march? Hard to say. Castelló carefully uses reverb to add to the creepy atmosphere. It is uneasy music, but at the same time, it is beautiful uneasiness. The 'death'/'end' theme is not throughout all these pieces; perhaps, they aren't always that noticeable. Sometimes, she's more observing the scenery from some distance, which makes it spooky, as if the impending doom is coming your way any time (and you know it will come to all of us). Castelló uses musique concrète techniques in mixing various sounds and telling a story, and she does that very well. No extensive processing techniques are used, but they are more collage-like, with seemingly unrelated sound events becoming one narrative. Of the three new releases by Gruenrekorder, this is the best, in terms of music, at least. There is an underlying concept, yet the music can be enjoyed without knowing too much about it." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€18.00 |
|
| CASTRO, NICK & THE YOUNG ELDERS |
A day without disaster (gold edition) |
10inch |
Romantischer Folk mit Harmonium & wunderbar gezupften Akustikgitarrren & elfenhaftem Gesang - dies ist die limitierte Auflage auf goldenem Vinyl, mit Goldpräge-Cover und goldfarbenen grossem Inlay / Poster.
"A Day Without Disaster is the newest chapter in the musical adventures of Nick Castro & The Young Elders. The group has spent the last year recording and touring the world while honing their skills both in the studio and on stage. This EP, on Italian label A Silent Place, is a glimpse into the ever-evolving minds of NC & The Young Elders, which are dwelling somewhere between the romantic male/female duets of Richard & Linda Thompson and the exotic worldly arrangements of the Incredible String Band. With their focused sensitive touch, unusual acoustic textures, gentle wordplay and ensemble interaction The Young Elders are traversing the folk world and leaving large shoes to fill. Their latest efforts meet paths with psychedelic sirens, Turkish rain calls, celtic ghost stories and realizations of the natural world. They've created a sound where the harmonium and saz coexist with blaring electric guitars and close vocal harmonies. The Young Elders are currently comprised of members Wendy Watson, Ryan Kirkpatrick, Christof Certik (member of Winter Flowers) and guest Jeb Lipson. Though often lumped in with the "freak-folk" genre Nick Castro has been transcending such labels since most of these new folkies were still playing indie rock." [label info]
www.asilentplace.it
|
2007 |
€19.50 |
|
| CASTRUP, HANS / STEFFAN DE TURCK / BOBAN RISTEVSKI / GRODOCK |
Thing |
CD-R |
"In 2022, attenuation circuit starts a new series of four-way split albums called THING. The aim is to provide a medium for exchange and presentation of a great variety of artists. As each artist spreads the copies to their network, listeners also get to know the other artists featured on the same disc. The title references the fact that the CDs are physical objects – things! – but also refers to the 'thing' or 'ding' in old Norse and other Germanic languages, which designates the place of a popular assembly or the assembly itself and thus alludes to the 'meeting-place' character of the albums on (or around) which the four artists and their audiences meet, if only virtually.
The artists featured on the third instalment of the THING series hail from Germany, the Netherlands, and Macedonia. Hans Castrup and Steffan de Turck (also known under his Staplerfahrer moniker) create pieces of a rather collage-like nature, including many quasi-referential sounds which seem to tell a story – but one that retains a large degree of mystery. It might be called 'musique anecdotique', to borrow Luc Ferrari's term, but listeners are invited to find out their own punchlines. In the second half of the album, almost as if it were a B-side, Boban Ristevski and Grodock, who is also active as label head of Grubenwehr Freiburg (which despite the name is now based in Leipzig), take us deeper into drone territory. Cartographies get more blurred than in the first two tracks, and if track 1 and 2 were a sort of sonic road movie, now we rather find ourselves out at sea. Or in space? And if so, inner or outer space? Put on this THING and find out.
File under: electroacoustic, drone"
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/thing-3
"David Leutkart, who calls himself Grodock, is no stranger as the maker of Grubenwehr Freiburg (in Leipzig!) and with "Der Sog / Kollaborationen". He gives here in 'Das AbWesen a meaningful cue that unbirches Lacan's abject. As the seething, rasping, predatory snorting real (dead, unconscious, evil, powerless, inexistent, counterfactual, sadistic, ugly, disgusting, creepy, excessive, obscure), which is countered by harmonically pulsating waves and a chirping harmonica." [Bad Alchemy]
" 'Thing' is, of course, a physical thing, the CDR object, but in old Norse and Germanic languages, a meeting place, a place of a popular assembly. This is a meeting of old and familiar names and newbies; well, rather new names for me. The latter constitute of Eisenlager, Wilfried Hanrath, and Hans Castrup. The latter opens up the proceedings with an exciting piece of modern electronics inspired music. Seemingly random drones and tones mingle in ever-changing configurations. Steffan de Turck (whom we better know as Staplerfahrer; I have no idea why he chooses his name for this release) has a somewhat unfocused piece with some interesting percussive loops, but, sadly, also some unimaginative turntables moves. Recently revived and active as ever, Boban Ristevski continues his excursions in drone land, and this time, the subject is acoustic sources; or so it seems. It has that warm laptop/pop sound that we used to love fifteen years ago, and which, in fact, I still do. Grodock, of the Grubenwehr Freiburg label, closes the proceedings with a descent into the underworld of darkness. Deep and mean rumbling below the earth's surface, via a monolithic synth, slowly slicing the core of the earth and unleashing a higher-pitched drone. Lovely!" [Vital Weekly]
|
2022 |
€8.00 |
|
| CATLIN, TIM |
Radio Ghosts |
CD |
"The name Tim Catlin may not be terribly well known amongst the avant-guitarist circles; but his recorded output clearly stands amongst the best that Glenn Branca, Keith Rowe, and Jim O'Rourke have mustered from their six strings hard wired into the histories of electroacoustics, minimalism, and post-punk experimentation. Based out of Melbourne, Catlin is a guitarist who incessantly tinkers with the mechanics of his instrument, envisioning it as alternately as a mimetic sculptural object and a pure sound generator. Through his experiments with alternative tunings, atypical string gauges, and Rube Goldberg contraptions of interconnected motors, speakers, and radios, he seeks out the rasping textures of strings vibrating against each other, the acoustic phase patterns of two microtonally tuned strings, and the electrical purity of circuits feeding back upon themselves, essentially creating a polyglot drone symphony cast in smoldering monochrome. Radio Ghosts arrives nearly five years after his debut album Slow Twitch and showcases Catlin's unassuming expertise with the finer aspects of the mechanically prepared guitar. For all of its dynamic frequencies and crosshatched vibrations, Radio Ghosts is devoid of Marshall stacks, Sunn amps, and stomp boxes, as Catlin captures the acoustic phenomenon of the guitar's transient vibrations and steers clear of any tricked out sonic demolition. Instead, Radio Ghosts focuses upon the minutiae of the guitar: wood, strings, and amplifier. Through his refined, tabletop guitar techniques, Catlin prefers to set his guitar in motion, allowing the process dictate the course of action with minor edits and sleights of hand from the composer himself. Catlin's drone guitar work is simultaneously capable of expressionistic illusions (e.g. cicada choruses, industrial grind, uncanny ephemera from the radio waves, etc.) and a sonic transcendence of pure sonic introspection. Given that the final piece on Radio Ghosts replaces the guitar with a crash cymbal that Catlin agitates through similar processes, Catlin's work shows that Organum does not have exclusivity on the bowed cymbal for creating epic, tactile sound fields." [label info]
www.23five.org
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| CAUDAL |
Murk |
12inch |
Caudal is the self named “Trance Punk Trio” from Berlin featuring Aidan Baker (guitars), Felipe Salazar (drums) and Gareth Sweeney (bass). They already released two records with Oaken Palace Records and Consouling Sounds, showing their love for instrumental pulsative rock music with a pinch of experimental sounds.
To be honest, we where not the biggest fans of this trio until we heared the track “Murk” for the first time. “Murk” is like the black sheep in the Caudal repertoire. The track is more doomy, more slowly, more menacing… of everything they recorded before. So we thought it would be great to highlight this 15minutes track with this 12inch EP release.
The EP comes in a matt black cardboard sleeve with a label hole, coloured record labels and the vinyl itself comes in a dookie brown semitransparent colour. Nearly 30 minutes of music from the Caudal cosmos.
Limited to 125 copies.
https://midirarecords.bandcamp.com/album/murk
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
| CAUL |
The long Dust |
CD |
"The Long Dust signifies the first full length Caul recording for Malignant since 1998's "Light From Many Lamps' CD, and while, stylistically, Brett's sound has evolved, there's no question it has also matured, moving further away from the climatic drift of the early works, into more structured, composed realms, adding layers of noir-ish percussion and gentle guitar melodies to the arching tones and cinematic textures that define the Caul sound. This is music that speaks of grey skies and introspection...solemn, yet abounding with serene beauty. 4 panel digipak." [label info]
www.malignantrecords.com
"Broad and dusky ambient vistas meet shuffling, shoe-gazey post-rock beats on Caul’s new release, The Long Dust. Caul (aka Brett Smith) brings a cinematic sense to his tracks, everything moving with a thoughtful slowness, the long, considered pace of deeply mulling something over. It’s like watching a series of long tracking shots, the camera panning and pulling back to reveal a lone figure. It’s moody and a little brooding, a mindset that’s strongly presented from start to finish, but which never bogs by getting maudlin. That’s due in large part to the beats and the guitar, the way they ground the ambient side. The slump-shouldered drum beats and the lazy twang of the strings serve to amplify the emotional effect of the edge-of-giving-up synth pads. The post-rock framework makes it accessible, and infuses it with a recognizable energy. The ambient side is a thing all its own. Tending toward the low end of the scale, earthy notes grumble and sigh as they spread out to form a somewhat bleak landscape. In the moments where it exists on its own, the ambient aspect is deep and potent, with its own definite beauty. The mix, therefore, ramps it up. “Relic” nails it early on with garage-band drums and a spaghetti-Western guitar. The synth pads moan in the background as Smith casually turns up the catchiness. The last 30 seconds are given over, to great effect, to the synths. This moves us into my favorite track, “Ascension.” The drums clatter, a bit on the ungainly side, over crying pads and chords. It’s a bit stark, bordering on minimal for two minutes, and then–oh, my, how it explodes in a sudden burst of power-chord joy. “Veil of Sand” also works upward from a sparse start, the loneliness of the guitar and drum combo offset by an almost hopeful-sounding blend of high pads and chorals. Even so, it retains a solitary feel. “The Road” has a roll-the-credits solemnity to it. Watch the main character walk off, only partially defeated, into a heat-shimmer sunset, accompanied by a resonating acoustic guitar. Smith builds in more elements to heighten the feel. Once again the backbeat makes it catchy even as it keeps its head-down, alone-again tone. A keening voice sings the last few notes alone.
I’ve seen this disc described as dark ambient. It’s not. It’s heavy, certainly, but it’s a stones-in-your-pockets emotional heaviness. It’s painted not in cloying blacks but in chromatic greys. It dares to show a little hope here and there. What it is, is human. This is a very human disc. It is vulnerable and sad and alone, but it’s finding its inner strength and going on ahead anyway. It has a story to share, and it’s told very well. The Long Dust will ping your emotional core and find something in there to make you a little sad, a little pensive. That’s how and why it works so very well. Another superb offering from Caul." [Hypnagogue]
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| CELER |
Salvaged Violets |
do-CD |
"'In February of 2008, Dani and I recorded, mixed, and completed the music for Salvaged Violets. The words came as the subject line of a short poem, sent to me over email, included with an unrelated question. During these weekdays, our working schedules were almost the opposite, but we spoke over email constantly. Until recently, I did not notice how similar this was to our beginnings, sending letters as we were on different sides of the country. With no conceptual idea in mind, and since we were apart for so much time during the weekdays, we decided to begin Salvaged Violets, and see what came of it. Every night when I returned home, before sleeping, I would spend time working on the music that Dani had worked on through the afternoon, and had left on the desk. Every afternoon, she would find a different version to work on that I had left, and this continued for some time. When together, we would sip our tea, laugh at silly jokes, cook, watch television, and so on. There was no need for longing while we were together. There was always laughing, pots and pans clanging, or a muttering television. In forming Salvaged Violets, we did not mix it in a particular arranged order. It was mixed simply by the order it was first played, compiling many miniature sections rolled into one. In this case, they were rolled into two. Nothing was discarded, nothing was rearranged. As the sound changed over time, the original form did not. When it was finally complete, we listened together, for the first time. I remember how familiar it seemed, yet I also felt that so much of it was unknown, and undefined. More than a year later, in September of 2009, I revisited the recordings for the first time since 2008. At this time, it was being mastered by our good friend Corey Fuller, so I was still listening to the original. Riding my bike through the endless suburban subdivisions, through the busy downtown streets, I listened repeatedly, for days, over and over. Something was familiar, but so much I was unable to recall, and yet I was able to relate. I returned home, put my bike against the door, and took my headphones off. There, in the still silence, I think I understood finally what it was about.' -- Will Thomas Long, December 2009. 998 copies, stoughton mini-LP gatefold CD sleeve. Twelve art prints and photographs by Peter Lograsso." [label info]
www.infractionrecords.com
|
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
|
ZigZag |
CD |
"Several years ago while living in the United States, I became interested in the minimalist music of the 1960's and 1970's, and new wave of the early 1980's, with the steady pulses, the constant harmonies, and endless continuity. The music had a strong persistence, and while the listener can drift away from following it consciously, the rhythm stays grounded. In it there is something human, like a heartbeat.
At the time I had the idea to use this inspiration with my own music, giving the music a tempo, and a new pathway in a forward direction. I created Zigzag, and agreed to release the album through Spekk, but after several years, the project was delayed, and I went on to other projects, and the initial inspiration and concept disappeared.
In the summer of 2013, I found out that my wife and I would have our first child. Around this time, plans began to come together for the release of Zigzag. After missing the first few doctor's appointments, I was finally able to attend, and for the first time heard the baby's heartbeat. It seemed like such a fateful connection between the baby and the music. When new life begins, everything points toward the future." [label info]
www.spekk.net
|
2014 |
€16.50 |
|
| |
Sky Limits |
CD |
Dreams Wide Awake
"Hill towns and empty mountains pass by, but the smoothness of the train blurs the view, and it's easier than ever to fall asleep in the low morning sunlight coming in through the train's windows", writes Will Long, the artist behind the Celer moniker, in his liner notes to Sky Limits, one of his most fulfilling records to date.
First created as a duo project in 2005, Celer has been US-born musician Will Long's solo vehicle since 2009. Through the years and thanks to an astounding rate of production, Celer has become a reference in the field of ambient electronic music. The care Long puts in his ethereal albums and his flawless musical intuition have earned him the critics'praise and invites to release material on key labels such as Spekk, Glacial Movements, Humming Conch, Experimedia, and/OAR, and now Baskaru.
Sky Limits consists in a series of daydreaming-prone, strings-laden ambient tracks interspersed with field recordings of daily life in Tokyo and Kyoto. This album is a reflection on the evanescent nature of memories, dreams, and reality.
In addition to Celer, his main project, Will Long plays in Oh, Yoko (with Miko) and Hollywood Dream Trip (with Christoph Heemann). He also runs the Two Acorns label.
www.baskaru.com
"For a while I assumed that Celer was no more, due the passing of one half of the duo, but since 2009 Will Long also uses this name as a solo vehicle. He has released his music on many labels, such as Experimedia, Glacial Movements, Spekk and now Baskaru. Here we have a new album of eleven pieces, which all have a title and not necessarily form one long piece but could also be treated as such, of music that is very ambient mixed with a bit of field recordings. From his current location, Tokyo, he offers what seems to be the entire opposite soundtrack of a busy city. Much of this sounds like processed string music, not unlike the kind of strings processed by Marsen Jules. Music that floats by, really, really gentle and calm. Not the kind of stuff I would let pass without looking out the window and think of some weather related metaphor. It fits this sunny yet cold (how would I know: I haven't left the house all day) January day, and now, especially at the end of the afternoon, the
evening starts to fall and lights begin to fade: this seems to be the perfect time of the day to start this CD and then, about an hour later, it's most likely dark and we have moved to a variety of moods here, all from the various possibilities on offer from the string sounds (light, dark, somewhere in between, together, alone), which he mixes with very quiet field recordings from Tokyo, just faint traces it seems of someone talking, some sparse sound, the rumble of far away traffic; Tokyo has quiet areas too, I know. This is Celer the way we like it; it's not the kind of music that Celer wouldn't do, and that's perhaps the downside of it. It doesn't seem to be something 'new', for whatever that is worth. But perhaps that's reviewer talk; maybe the fan wants more of the same?" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| CHALK, ANDREW |
The River that flows into the Sands |
LP |
Entirely handmade art edition, heavyweight card sleeve with tipped-on images, every copy features unique and original monotype artwork-printed by hand, no two copies are alike. 180 gramme clear vinyl with full-colour labels.
The strikingly radiant masterwork The River that Flows into the Sands receives its first vinyl airing thanks to the wonderful Faraway Press imprint. Exploring oneiric and ghostly guitar soundscapes, Andrew Chalk centers his attention on the guitar and develops a series of meditations that gives his music new depth. While all drone music has a drifting quality to it, The River that Flows Into the Sands is worthy of that description for a different reason. The expanses that normally come to mind when I listen to Chalk are gone on this album and replacing those images is a sense of continuous movement. The bowed instruments and contracting moans seem weightless and inconsequential, floating away into nothing, but leaving a path for other sounds to follow. Like a fountain each drone bubbles up and slowly fades away or evolves into a new drone and each time a sound disappears, there is a new voice there to replace it. Multiple listens will reveal, however, that Chalk really hasn't left that much silence on the record. That illusion is generated via the way Chalk mixes very distinct melodic features with fairly constant tones. As they move about together, a sense of space is opened up that may not actually exist. The effects are as real as possible, though, and there is little room for doubt that this one of the most unique albums in Chalk's discography.
[Soundohm]
|
2018 |
€30.00 |
|
| CHALK, ANDREW & DAISUKE SUZUKI |
山と梨 = Yama To Nashi |
CD |
Entirely handmade at Faraway Press (England)
Debossed design and letterpress printing, with an insert.
Recorded in Japan and England in 2016
“Somewhere in that blue sky
where you hear the sound of the waves,
I think I lost something incredible.
Standing at Lost and Found
in a transparent station of the past,
I became all the sadder”
-Sadness, Tanikawa Shuntaro
Our third full-length album in fifteen years..
"Andrew Chalk and Daisuke Suzuki have known each other for many years now, as Suzuki runs the Siren label out of Japan and had released Sumac, Chalk's masterful collaboration with Jonathan Coleclough. Suzuki is also responsible for one of the very few published interviews with the somewhat reclusive Chalk. Their friendship certainly runs deep, and out of this friendship came the impetus to collaborate once again (both Suzuki and Chalk had contributed to the now defunct Ora project well over a decade ago). The enveloping opiated drone wrapping around cold field recordings of arctic winds racing across a mountain becomes the centerpiece, reflecting just how good Andrew Chalk's sounds are. Entirely handmade sleeves, Yama to nashi (Mountain & Pear) features delicately embossed and debossed paper techniques, with letterpress texts (in Japanese), housed in a heavy card gatefold sleeve of mini LP size. Insert included with translations to English language." [Soundohm]
"The work of Andrew Chalk and Daisuke Suzuki seems as if it has been intertwined forever, so I was somewhat startled to discover that this is their first new collaborative release in almost a decade. As befits the re-convergence of these two masters of understated tranquility, Yama to Nashi feels like a relaxed and unhurried reunion of old friends rather than a bold new vision. As such, it is a somewhat minor (if lovely) addition to the Siren/Faraway Press oeuvre that mostly lingers in familiar territory, but there are a couple of divergent gems lurking amidst these new pieces that longtime fans will not want to miss.
For the most part, the languorous and glistening opening piece ("Threads From The Milky Way") sets the tone for the entire album, establishing the overarching aesthetic of sketchlike vignettes of dreamlike, liquescent bliss. It is difficult to tell exactly how Chalk and Suzuki are getting their blurred and slippery tones, but I believe there is a processed electric piano at the heart of these recordings. As the album unfolds, however, Chalk and Suzuki start to drift further and further away from their lazily glimmering and rippling sound pools and both the mood and the palette start to deepen (and darken). The first real shadows start to fall across Yama on the third piece, "Suzume," which casts a mournful spell by weaving discordant harmonies from glacially swelling strings and drifting smears of synth tones. Curiously, that veil of sadness dispels almost as suddenly and unexpectedly as it appeared, as the wonderful "Shelf on Wall" shakes off its initial moody reverie to blossom into a surreal field recording of a Japanese parade. From there, the piece continues to be a pleasantly inventive and evocative surprise, as the parade seems to partially fade away, but leaves a lovely and lyrical flute melody in its wake that dreamily drifts through a woozy fog of gentle arpeggios, crashing waves, and a few lingering tendrils of the raucous festivities (marching men, clattering percussion, children's voices). To my ears, it is the album's true centerpiece (conveniently located in the center of the album, no less), but it is not without strong competition from the album's final stretch.
Although it is considerably shorter, I am also quite fond of "A Sentry on The Roof," which augments its blearily impressionistic cascades of watery electric piano tones with the loud and fitful buzzing of a large bee. That bee makes a surprising amount of difference, which highlights an unusual trend the runs throughout Yama to Nashi: the purely instrumental pieces feel like the soundtrack to a gorgeous sunrise or seaside vista that I am not seeing, while the pieces that prominently feature field recording are considerably more effective at drawing me into the scene. I am a bit curious about why Chalk and Suzuki did not pursue that elegant blurring together of swooning, hazy ambiance and crisp, vibrant textures from the natural world more, as it definitely feels like that synthesis elevates this collaboration into something more transcendent and unique when it happens. If I had to guess, however, I suspect that the reason is that most of Yama to Nashi consists of Chalk and Suzuki's stronger improvisations that occurred on the road to composing the album's epic closing title piece. On one hand, "Yama To Nashi" is not radically different from the rest of the album, as it is built from gently tumbling arpeggios and warmly radiant washes of synthesizer (though there are some buried bird noises hiding in the mix). There is, however, an unexpectedly strong motif resembling a shuddering, digitalized bird call that periodically tears through the placid idyll. That certainly livens thing up, though it is not quite as dramatic as it sounds. The real difference is mostly just time: Chalk and Suzuki allow "Yama to Nashi" to languorously stretch out for over 20 minutes and that suits it beautifully. Duration makes a world of difference with music in this vein: a glimpse of heaven is nice, but getting a chance to linger in it is by far a superior experience.
As is true of most Andrew Chalk albums (both with and without Suzuki) there is very little to grumble about with this album: Chalk and Suzuki have a long history of making lovely and lush music together and Yama to Nashi ends a long hiatus to bring the world more of it. That pleases me. I am, however, the hapless victim of my own high expectations, as I hoped this welcome reunion would result in an enduring classic. Yama is not an enduring classic, though "Shelf on Wall" seems like a strong step towards a more ambitious and immersive future opus. Hopefully it will not take another decade for that to happen, but I am sure I can find some way to keep busy while I wait if it does. In the meantime, Yama to Nashi is a solid to return to form that adds one more quietly beautiful longform work to the Chalk/Suzuki canon." [Anthony D'Amico / Brainwashed] |
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| CHAMBERS, IAIN |
The Eccentric Press |
LP |
Two musique concrète symphonies of industrial sound, in which musical relationships emerge from sounds more often regarded as noise. All the sounds were recorded by Sounds of Changes, a pan-EU project capturing obsolete and endangered industrial and domestic sounds.
It’s hard to know when a sound is endangered – we never know what technological changes are around the corner. My work as a composer is concerned with environmental sounds and the sound of industry and machines. I use these sounds as the compositional building blocks of my music, and manipulate and compose with them. The source material is recognisable throughout, even when manipulated, juxtaposed or overlaid.
Sounds are disappearing without us even noticing. From the gradual evolution of everyday tech sounds to the sounds of old Routemaster buses, whistling kettles being replaced by hot water filters, we can’t notice the changes while we’re in the midst of them. Sounds of Changes is an epic project documenting these endangered sounds before it’s too late.
The Eccentric Press / Die Exzenterpresse focuses on recordings in Germany, made with the LWL-Industriemuseum in Dortmund. The sinister opening atmosphere of Wuppertaler Schwebebahn Station in western Germany gives way to the rattling tones of a button sewing machine. We’re in an industrial space soundtracked by machines. The chugging rhythm of a steelwork furnace is interrupted by the punch of a time clock. Pitched material is overlaid to create unexpected harmonies, whilst technology from different eras is coerced into a propulsive rhythm. This piece was commissioned and broadcast by Westdeutcher Rundfunk, Cologne on 9th April, 2016, and was a finalist in that year’s Prix Palma Ars Acustica.
Maudslay Engine was commissioned by ABC Radio National, Australia in 2016, and draws on recordings from Sweden, Belgium, Poland and the UK. Interlocking movements form a 20 minute composition, beginning with a Saab fighter jet, and ending with the eponymous 1838 steam engine built for Kew Bridge. In between, the background pitch of a metal cutter is shaped into a high frequency melody interrupted by a mortise machine. A stray pitched metallic sound from a linotype machine is transformed into a melodic interlude, superseded by the drone of a grain dryer – a huge machine that creates animal feed. The last melodic movement derives from the start-up sound from a vintage 1991 IBM desktop computer, before a fire truck siren closes the piece.
|
2019 |
€23.50 |
|
| CHAOS AS SHELTER |
Dawn Syndrome |
CD |
TOPHET PROPHET is maybe the only real dark ambient / industrial-label in Israel at this time. This new CHAOS AS SHELTER-release spreads on 9 tracks lots of very clear metal / bell / glass –sounds & drones, “eastern/oriental” ethnic found sounds and melancholic melodies, wonderful vocals from VERA AGNIVOLOK on one piece, conrete recordings from broken glass, etc... and the epic drones CAS is known for... A high-class release and also perfect introduction into the mystic-drone world of CHAOS AS SHELTER ! [Drone Rec. info 2006]
“After releasing over 18 releases since 1999, Chaos As Shelter needs no further introductions. His latest work, dawn syndrome, was recorded in 2001 and is dedicated to the end of Kali Yuge, the age of iron, which is the final and most negative of four evolutionary Yugic cycles, the end of the world, and the dawn of a new golden age - Sataya Yuga (the age of purity). Dawn Syndrome is an eight-track composition of ritual dark ambient crafted in the skillful way Chaos as Shelter is known for. The usage of organic and artificial sound sources which has been his trademark. It is a hymn of submersion and rebirth, of confusion, ambiguity and enigma, of the darkest moment before sunrise.
Dawn Syndrome was recorded at new Jerusalem studios and Chaos As Shelter was supported by Vera Agnivolok , Helena Dorsht and an accidentally obtained presto home recorded vinyl disc.“ [label info]
|
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Dead Air Broadcasts |
CD |
Dunkler Radiowellenäthernoise, der ein faszinierendes Dickicht von blubbernden, verrauschten Radiosinustönen offenbart, in denen sich mitunter verzerrte Stimmen wiederfinden, wie Botschaften aus einer fremden Galaxie. Very succesful new CAS release, totally different from other works but still so dark and menacing..
„This release combines drones with distorted overtones and hints of blip and glitch. Grinding mechanical sounds also add to the mix assaulting the ears with brutal yet melodic power electronic compositions. In addition the album harbors a few tracks that lend themselves more to the dark ambient side of experimental music with the same source materials as the above only with less aggression.” [press release]
|
2002 |
€11.00 |
|
| |
Live in New Jerusalem |
CD-R |
“Two Live tracks of beautiful Dark ambient sounds from Israel. Over an hours worth of music, the first track was recorded in December of 2000 at New Jerusalem Studios, the Second is from August of 2000, and was recorded live at the Abama Theatre, in Jerusalem. Mixing drifting, dark ambient electronics, with subtle rhythms, and ethnic sounds, Chaos as Shelter are one of the more interesting new projects from the last couple of years, and his live work adds another layer to his already complex sound. Haunting, and meditative, this is music that envokes a world of it's own.” [label description]
|
2003 |
€8.00 |
|
| CHAOTALION |
Tannenholzrauch |
CD |
"Dark fir woods and weird pentagram-esque runes on the cover: How can the contents of this album not be a clichéd, possibly black-metal influenced rendition of the idiotic “stay true to the soil” creed? Well, Alexander Marco has succeeded in tricking us all. His music on this album under the Chaotalion moniker is a vast expanse of breathing, pulsating ambient dreamscapes, cleverly evoking certain black metal genre elements, but totally eliding its ideology.
Marco uses guitar and electronics to create the music on this album, but his textural approach owes a good deal to his work with not-so-musical sounds. A regular participant in the Noise Factory sessions hosted by Y-Ton-G, Marco is also schooled in musique concrète and assemblage of found sounds, and this rather constructivist approach gives this release a refreshingly sober, clear, kitsch-free touch. Actually, the album, with all its packaging and teutonic titles, might well be a conceptual ‘joke’ on certain ‘black’ aesthetics, but the music is too well-crafted to allow for an easy interpretation as a simple parody.
File under: ambient" [label info]
www.attenuationcircuit.de
"Attenuation Circuit Records have been rumbling around for a while. It’s mindblowing how much effort Sascha puts up into his releases, shows, tours, and his activism on the contemporary avant-garde scene skyrocketed the label to the top. It’s no wonder why this is the case considering the number of releases Attenuation Circuit has managed to publish in previous years. The numbers speak for themselves. Tannenholdrauch by Chaotalion is just a tiny particle in the label’s vast universe, but the significant gear on the modern dark ambient scene. The album comprises of nine cleverly layered dark ambient numbers that burst with eerie atmospherics. These eerie atmospherics consist of a wide array of spacey sounds, subtle synthetic drones, occasional guitar experimentations, and delicate non-organic noises. Chaotalion uses calm tones as overtures for his compositions, perpetuated by simplistic ambient keys. The situation becomes complex when the artist includes the mentioned elements to enhance the overall listening experience. The transitions between monotone and polytone sequences are nicely composed, so Tannenholdrauch keeps attention thought complete sessions. There’s a certain accentuation of composite darkness showcased through loads of assorted half-tones. However, Chaotalion maintains a dosage of melody that sounds intentionally odd, but pleasant to the listening apparatus. The artist has also included pulsing sequences at some points to retain listeners’ attention during the exhausting monotone segments. Still, these monotone segments are incorporated to maintain a dark, depressive, obscure ambiance that lurks around throughout the complete album. If that was the intention of the Chaotalion, than the artist unquestionably nailed in his intent to depict macabre imagery through Tannenholdrauch. The album comes with minimalistic photography of the woods, characteristic for depressive black metal bands, and it includes stylized pentagram logo, which serves as a Chaotalion’s symbol. Tannenholdrauch carries the dosage of depressiveness characteristic for the vast majority of dark ambient works, but this particular one provides a more eerie atmosphere than the other artists. Tannenholdrauch has come as a compact disc, and it can be purchased at the Attenuation Circuit Bandcamp page." [Thoughts Words Action] |
2015 |
€8.00 |
|
| CHARTIER, RICHARD |
Decisive Forms |
CD |
"Der uns bisher unbekannte RICHARD CHARTIER verbindet hier frizzelige Sounds und Drones im ruhigen Bereich, Stereoeffekte und wellenförmige Subbässe, für die Kontemplation in absoluter Ruhe und Entspannung." [Drone Rec. 2001]
“Decisive Forms is a very subtle, abstract work of great detail, a perfect object for contemplation that requires the listener's full attention. I find it extremely captivating to follow as it unfolds over time, to adapt my breathing to its slow pulse, and to be completely absorbed by the act of perception itself without thinking in form of interior comments, descriptions, or associations.
Decisive Forms is another step forward Richard is taking from his fine work 'series' that has just received one of the twelve Honorable Mentions of PRIX ARS ELECTRONICA 2001. I will not try to further describe Decisive Forms, but rather encourage you to
go ahead and experience it yourself - the attention it requires is generously rewarded.” [bernhard günter, May 2001]
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
| CHASE, BRIAN |
Drums & Drones |
CD & DVD |
"A first for Pogus! This fantastic new 2 disc set by Brian Chase, drummer for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, contains both a CD of the music and a DVD of the music with videos by New York video artists Ursula Scherrer and Erik Z. This recording is exactly what it says it is : drums and drones - based on Just Intonation tuning theory: A tuning system modeled after a naturally occurring acoustic phenomenon known as overtones, the subsidiary tones which exist in an ordered series from an established primary tone. Stemming from this single primary tone an infinite amount of overtones can be derived. As Chase explains: Drums and percussion has seen some but not much exploration in Just Intonation, yet they are inherently designed to represent it as such: a drum head is tuned to a single pitch, one frequency, and resonates with rich harmonic detail. From there the overtone series can be uncovered and expressed. The Drums and Drones project deals directly with approaching drums and percussion from the standpoint of Just Intonation. For Chase, the genesis of this project is outlined in this brief excerpt from his liner notes: The Drums and Drones project initially came about from inspiration by La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela's Dream House installation in TriBeCa, NYC. I had spent a good amount of time, volunteering there as a 'monitor' someone who minded the installation and greeted visitors. The duration of my shift, about 4-5 hours, was mostly spent sitting directly outside of the gallery space, listening and feeling the immense sound pulsing through the door and walls, and reading up on the principles of Just Intonation and the historical background of La Monte, Marian, and their cohorts of the NYC experimental art scene. I accumulated countless hours, too, sitting in the space itself, embracing the impact of the finely tuned sound and light vibrations. The tones would dance in my head, hypnotic and entrancing, and I would hear tones that previously seemed veiled which were now resonating loudly and clearly somewhere between the air, my ear, and my brain. I was mesmerized by the power of this physiological experience. With the pieces that were developed for a Feb. 2007 concert, a starting point was formed for what was to grew into a recording project. I had the idea of approaching the project as being a series of etudes, each one a study in the different ways of the application of the Just Intonation tuning theory to drums and percussion. Eventually I did develop a basic method which laid the groundwork for most of what was to come with D & D: 1) tune the drum head to a specific frequency 2) mic the drum and run the sound into a computer 3) with recording software, use very precise, a.k.a. surgical, equalization to emphasize and boost the frequencies of the drum's overtones. Also as part of the setup was a loop pedal, but at this stage it was used more for live performance. Another important method that I developed at this stage was getting sustained feedback tones generated between the resonating drumhead and the stereo speakers. To do this, I would boost a specific frequency on the EQ corresponding to the fundamental or a low harmonic, and this would encourage the drumhead to vibrate at that frequency. A feedback loop would get going between the drum and the speakers. Often times I would need to raise or lower the pitch of the drumhead ever so slightly to 'dial in' the tuning of the feedback tone. Each etude developed at this time would highlight a different set of overtones and showcase a specific playing technique. Brian Chase is a drummer and composer living in Brooklyn, NY. Growing up on Long Island, he started taking private drum lessons when he was 5 that led to earning a Bachelors of Music from the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio. Though he works in a variety of contexts, Brian is probably best known as a member of the rock group Yeah Yeah Yeahs, a band that has toured extensively throughout the world and has been nominated for two Grammys. Other recorded projects include the Seconds, a minimalist punk rock band that has two albums on the 5rc label, a duo ensemble with saxophonist Seth Misterka that has a record on the Heathen Skulls label, and Jeremiah Lockwood's Sway Machinery with a record on JDub. Performance collaborations have included Matt Welch, Jessica Pavone, Mary Halvorson, Stefan Tcherepnin, Alan Licht and Okkyung Lee. Brian is also interested in the Just Intonation tuning theory and is heavily influenced by the work of La Monte Young introduced to him by guitarist Jon Catler." [label info]
www.pogus.com
"The next release is the first DVD release by Pogus, with the same music on CD. I went to straight to the DVD. Brian Chase is the drummer for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (which name I may have come across, but surely not their music, as far as I know), a rock group. I must admit I didn't know what to expect from a disc in which the title already tells us what's going to happen. But exactly how drums create drones, or how the two are going to be married, is of course the big question here. Inspired by LaMonte Young and Marian Zazeela, Chase started to tune the drum head to a specific frequency and 'mic the drum and the sound into a computer' and then using software with very precise equalization to emphasize and boost the frequencies of the drum's overtones. In a concert situation he would also use a loop pedal. That was one starting point, the other was to have drum heads resonate with feedback loops between drum and speakers. None of this is actually be seen on the DVD, and the images, created by Ursual Scherrer and Erik Z, which are mostly abstract affairs of multi-layered images, that fit the music rather well. In many of these pieces one hardly has the idea one is listening to anything that is even remotely drum like, except perhaps 'Stick Shot Harmonics Drone', which is also one of the pieces in which the video seems to be running along with the music - in sync. But many of the other are like sustaining tones of sometimes sine wave like sounds, waving slowly and majestically about. If you listen closely you may recognize a bit of drum here and there, maybe more apparent if you play the CD and not be distracted by the visuals. As someone who loves drones, I must say I was quite taken by this release." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€18.00 |
|
| CHASSE, LOREN & MICHAEL NORTHAM |
The Otolith |
CD |
58 Minuten voller Wunder und Geheimnis! Mehrere Jahre haben LOREN CHASSE (THUJA, etc.) und MICHAEL NORTHAM eine unglaubliche Fülle von Klängen zusammengetragen (Field Recordings, Aussen-Objekt-Aufnahmen, Instrumentalsounds) und daraus auf acht Stücken Räume voller konkreter Details und dröhnender Sphären erschaffen, es tönt so soft und obertonreich und doch nie beliebig, Originalsounds bleiben oft im dunkeln aber betören stets in höchstem Maße. Das ist "organischer Ambient" oder "Microsound Musique Concrete" in Vollendung!
"The recordings of Loren Chasse and Michael Northam begin and end with the great outdoors. Yet, the well-documented wanderlust of these two kindred sound artists is only part of the equation. Field recordings of wind, water, and stone intertwine and hybridize within private rituals of droning psychedelic ragas that return as a folklore reiterating the mystery of the natural world around us. Through his numerous contributions to the multi-faceted Jewelled Antler as well his solo work, Chasse has long postulated the microphone as an extension of his ear, which magnifies and probes the surface of the earth for a tactile grit that permeates all of the sounds that he generates. Northam claims his inspiration from vast geographies, microscopic detail, and severe weather, which he compacts through various techniques to explore what is between improvisation and acousmatic composition. Both Chasse and Northam entertain such notions through an alchemy of arcane instruments: autoharps, ouds, flutes, bells, gongs, bowed wires, harmonium, and Northam's magnetic table harp. The Otolith is the result of several years of work, with sounds gathered collectively in the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout Europe. The album speaks as a bramble of fence wire and chaparral scrub oak, acquiring an unkempt collection of rubbish, cobwebs, insects, and soil within its tangle. As the wind pushes in one direction, this mass emits a quite if scratchy melody as if the ghost from a forgotten song; but when the wind changes directions, it bellows a rasping din of metal and vine cracking against itself. This sodden calliope tumbles into a miasma of droning atmospheres, softly rasped distortion, and very subtly rendered lulabies lurking deep within the overgrowth." [label info]
" Throughout the Marin Headlands just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, the coastal mountains are dotted with countless bunkers which were built during World War II in anticipation of the Japanese invasion that never came. Nearly 70 years later, these bunkers have been weathered by wind, fog, rain, and of course the sodden folks who tromp through the Headlands on a daily basis. These concrete structures with small portals facing the Pacific all have amazing reverberant qualities; and it shouldn't be a surprise that the more frequented bunkers and passageways inevitably echo with the sound of children dying to hear their own voices tossed back to them. The Headlands have been a favored destinations for Loren Chasse, who has sought many of the lesser known and lesser travelled environs for field recordings and jam sessions that would eventually work their way
into all things Jewelled Antler (Thuja, Franciscan Hobbies, The Blithe Sons, Of, Ov, etc.). In his recordings, Chasse extracts a profound mystery and grand sense of wonder from that echo, the bunker's grit, the soft recurrence of surf bleeding through those walls, and the distant bleat of a foghorn.
Back in 2005, Chasse took his fellow globetrotting wanderer Michael Northam to the Battery Townsley where the two set up long
string wires and various handheld instruments to begin a series of recordings which took a few years to complete after Northam left
California. The two did manage to meet up once again in Estonia, there exploring the Soviet industrial ruins that pock the Estonian landscape with similar intentions. Out of the bramble of overgrown weeds, rebar, concrete, dirt, rock, wind, and water, Chasse and Northam straddle those psychedelic leanings of Jewelled Antler and the more studied aspects of minimalism.
The Otolith begins with an acoustic clamor, as if billions of iron filings were brushing against each other under the direction of a
couple of hefty magnets, before shifting into a harmonium blur of sustained tones hinting at a melody well beneath these clouds of tousled energy. Softer drones and Aeolian fragments flutter forth out of bowed strings and gently tapped gongs amidst a golden hue of opiated atmospherics. Scrabblings across the surfaces of leaves, rocks, mud, and metal fuse with field recordings of wind and water, as a continuing demonstration of Chasse's alchemy with naturalist sound to bring forth stately ragas and dreamtime psychedelic lullabies.
Chasse and Northam work amazingly well together, having produced this thoroughly amazing album. Think Popul Vuh, Parson Sound, Pandit Pran Nath, Harry Bertoia, and Eric La Casa. Totally beautiful and mesmerizing." [Aquarius Records review]
www.helenscarsdale.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| CHAUVEAU, SYLVAIN |
Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated) |
CD |
"Stripped: dekonstruierte "Popsongs" des französischen Elektronikers.
Es ist kaum zu glauben, dass zwischen Sylvain Chauveaus letztem Album "Down To The Bone" und "Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated)" ganze fünf Jahre liegen. Dazwischen gab’s Reissues, diverse Kollaborationen und Soundtrack-Arbeiten, dennoch ließ sich Chauveau Zeit, bis seine Ideen die Reife hatten, umgesetzt und auf Tonträger gebannt zu werden. Die Depeche-Mode-Songs, die er auf "Down To The Bone" erkundete, brachten ihn auf die Idee, ein Album mit Songs aufzunehmen. In vielerlei Hinsicht ist "Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated)" wie ein normales Album mit Hooks und Melodien konstruiert. Dennoch dekonstruierte Chauveau die bekannten Formen auf ihr Grundlevel. Vokalpassagen fallen aus den sparsamen Klavierarrangements wie Äpfel im Herbst. So wie Carsten Nicolai und Ryuichi Sakamoto klassische Musik dekonstruierten, hat sich Chauveau vorgenommen, die Wurzeln der Popmusik freizulegen. Jedes Stück klingt zunächst so, als könne mit ihm ein Drei-Minuten-Pop-Stück beginnen, bevor dann alle Teile allmählich wegbrechen. Eine herausfordernde, intensive Hörerfahrung." [label info / Indigo]
"It is hard to believe that five years have passed since Sylvain Chauveau’s last ‘proper’ album. Of course there have been re-issues peppering the years since ‘Down To The Bone’, as well as more than a few collaborations and soundtrack appearances, but Sylvain has purposefully waited to allow his ideas to come to fruition. On mentioning his new album to me a few years ago, Sylvain commented that he didn’t think it would appeal to everyone and that he wanted to take a fresh direction. The Depeche Mode songs he had explored on ‘Down To The Bone’ had given him ideas he felt he needed to explore, and ‘Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated)’ is his attempt at an album of ‘songs’.
In many ways, ‘Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated’) is constructed the way albums used to be – it is compact and filled with vocal hooks and melodies, yet Sylvain has deconstructed the musical forms he grew up listening to and reduced them to their base level. Vocal snippets fall through the stereo field and his signature piano motifs splutter and cough through processed digital hiccups. As Carsten Nicolai and Ryuichi Sakamoto deconstructed classical music, Sylvain attempts here to study and dissolve the roots of popular music. Each piece feels like it could have started as a three-minute pop sing-along before the accompaniments were stripped away and the component parts reduced to merely a backbone.
‘Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated)’ is a daring and challenging listening experience. The widescreen theatrics of Sylvain’s previous work have all but disappeared, leaving an album that is stark and incredibly beautiful. It is an album rooted in a love of art and music, both minimal and mainstream and celebrates Sylvain’s influences. One listen might only reveal surface details, but listen again and you will find much, much more." [label info]
www.typerecords.com
|
2010 |
€15.50 |
|
| |
Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated) |
LP |
"It is hard to believe that five years have passed since French composer Sylvain Chauveau's last "proper" album. Of course, there have been re-issues peppering the years since Down To The Bone, as well as more than a few collaborations and soundtrack appearances, but Sylvain has purposefully waited to allow his ideas to come to fruition. The Depeche Mode songs he had explored on Down To The Bone had given him ideas he felt he needed to explore, and Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated) is his attempt at an album of "songs." In many ways, this album is constructed the way albums used to be -- it is compact and filled with vocal hooks and melodies, yet Sylvain has deconstructed the musical forms he grew up listening to and reduced them to their base level. Vocal snippets fall through the stereo field and his signature piano motifs splutter and cough through processed digital hiccups. As Carsten Nicolai and Ryuichi Sakamoto deconstructed classical music, Sylvain attempts here to study and dissolve the roots of popular music. Each piece feels like it could have started as a 3-minute pop sing-along before the accompaniments were stripped away and the component parts reduced to merely a backbone. Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated) is a daring and challenging listening experience. The widescreen theatrics of Sylvain's previous work have all but disappeared, leaving an album that is stark and incredibly beautiful. It is an album rooted in a love of art and music, both minimal and mainstream and celebrates Sylvain's influences. One listen might only reveal surface details, but listen again and you will find much, much more." [label info]
|
2010 |
€16.50 |
|
| CHAUVEAU, SYLVAIN & ENSEMBLE NOCTURNE |
Down to the Bone. An acoustic Tribute to Depeche Mode |
CD |
"TRIBUTE TO DEPECHE MODE. Interpreted by Silvain for voice and acoustic instruments only, very minimal and down to the bone! For this album, Sylvain Chauveau (voice and guitar) was helped by: Samuel Crowther :piano, Marie Legendre : alto, Graldine Devillieres : cello, Aurlien Besnard : clarinets and JB Salles : up-right bass!Tracklist: 01. Stripped 02. The things you said 03. Blasphemous rumours 04. Deaths door 05. Home 06. Policy of truth 07. In your room 08. Free love 09. Never let me down again 10. Enjoy the silence." [label info]
|
2005 |
€16.50 |
|
| CHEERLEADER 69 & .CUT |
Nagatsuki |
mCD-R |
collaboration between two french musicians usually active in other musical genres (cheerleader 69 is the ambient/cinematic project of the french cyberpunk punish yourself band singer while .cut is usually more in a post-rock vein). "nagatsuki" is a wonderful ambient/industrial track based upon field recordings done in japan with added bass & guitar drones...
completed 5 years ago, this track was supposed to be released on a split-tape (but the planned label sadly folded) then was presumably lost until albérick found it on a long forgotten hard disk!
released February 18, 2017
field recording by VX in tokyo (asakusa, akihabara, ueno, shinjuku, goldengai) & osaka, september 2010.
sound manipulations & editing by albérick, september 2010.
guitar drones recorded live (guitar: brouff & VX, bass: akira), september 2011.
mixed & mastered by VX, february 2012.
photography by albérick
www.taalem.com
|
2017 |
€5.00 |
|
| CHRIS & COSEY |
Exotika (violet vinyl) |
LP |
"This is the fourth in a series of four limited-edition Chris & Cosey vinyl re-releases from their esteemed catalog. Exotika was originally released by Play It Again Sam in 1987. This hugely popular album includes such Chris & Cosey classics such as the crowd-pleasing "BeatBeatBeat," the haunting ballad "Dr. John (Sleeping Stephen)" and the original version of the seminal title track "Exotika," which was adopted as an electronica anthem, most notably on the GOA scene and in the U.S. West and East Coast gay clubs of the 1980s. Remastered by Chris Carter.
Includes a glossy insert with historic photographs and press clippings. Archival press quote: "Chris & Cosey beat most of 87's mainstream dancefloor contenders on their own territory of sheer pleasure, urged joy. 'BeatBeatBeat' is extreme, a revelation." —Ian Gittins, Melody Maker 1987; "Chris & Cosey have made a great dance record, but it's their kind of dancing. No junk here. They're crazy enough to be sincere about their musical Pleasureland and they want to share their discovery. Come and feel the sound as though your life depends on it: if it were up to them, it would depend on it."
|
2019 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Pagan Tango |
LP |
Newly remastered reissue of 1991's `Pagan Tango', depicting synth-pop pioneers Chris & Cosey stepping into a new decade with uncanny, atavistic traces of bygone exotica and ritual musicks. CHRIS CARTER & COSEY FANNI TUTTI's remastered limited edition vinyl series continues in 2023 with the release of Techno Primitiv (1985), Trust (1989) and Pagan Tango (1991) - all available on vinyl for the first time since their original release. The remastered albums will be available on coloured vinyl, each with a printed inner sleeve of archival photos, via CTI. Elemental 7, Muzik Fantastique!, and Feral Vapours of The Silver Ether were released earlier this year, and the series has seen many of Chris & Cosey's influential albums available on vinyl for the first time, giving listeners a new opportunity to revisit some of their celebrated catalogue. Pagan Tango - described by Melody Maker as "C&C formulating perfection" - originally released in 1991 on Wax Trax!, and sees the pair once follow their own hypnotic beat in new directions. The album was originally presented ten years after C&C's legendary debut `Heartbeat', a decade in which they deployed no fewer than 10 albums, and acted as spirit-guides for the post-industrial era's phase shift to synth-pop and new wave. In title and function `Pagan Tango' echoes an occult thrust that underlined their music since the beginning and would parallel and dovetail themes of PTV, a rising new age consciousness, and neo-folk. It features Chris Carter continuing to refine his drum programming to whirring, intricate latin trills and triplets best for dancing (and which pissed on anything coming from Gen's apocryphal club projects, for example), and comparable with prevailing energies of body music, latin freestyle electro, Washington Go-Go and new jack swing, as much as the pagan tango of the record's title. Chris' rhythms would nothing without Cosey's sensual vox and cornet, found here like a sleek, gynoid cyberpunk presence mixed beautifully clear and wide across their retro-futurist projections. From the off they move perpendicular to trends, with `Ecstasy' clearly referencing the '91 drug du jour, but quite unlike its conventions, before the album sashays between echoes of `Exotica' in 'Synaesthesia', to the taut EBM of `Take Control' or `Sin' and its kinky title tune, via sultrier downstrokes in `Face to Face', the new jack swanger `Feel to Me', and Washington funk of `Go-Go Latino', with the pair's energies and sound design most hallucinatory in `Sacred Silence'.
|
2023 |
€30.50 |
|
| CHROME |
Feel it like a Scientist |
CD |
"Nach Damon Edges Tod im Sommer 1995 übernahm Helios Creed das Ruder, überblickte das Abmischen, Überarbeiten und Veröffentlichen des im letzten Jahr erschienenen Albums "Half Machine From The Sun, The Lost Tracks" und versammelte anschließend eine neue Band aus Veteranen und Neulingen. 'Feel Like A Scientist', das brandneue Album, wird passgenau zu der Welttournee im Sommer 2014 veröffentlicht. //
With the untimely passing of Damon Edge in '96, Helios Creed has taken over the helm of CHROME, overseen the mixing, mastering and release of 2013's 'Half Machine From The Sun, The
Lost Tracks' album, and assembled a band of veteran and newer members. Now here is Chrome's 2014 STUDIO ALBUM!" [label info]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| CHROME & HELIOS CREED |
Dual Forces |
DVD |
"Dual Forces" versammelt mit "New Age" (vom ,Red Exposure" Album 1980), "Meet You In The Subway" (Chrome Box 1982) und "Danger Zone" (No Humans Allowed EP" 1982) nicht nur drei klassische CHROME Videos, sondern legt als Dreingabe auch noch das niemals veröffentlichte Video zu "Firebomb" (3rd From The Sun 1982) und Livematerial von 1988 dazu. Dazu gesellen sich "The Rant" und "Your Spaceman" von HELIOS CREED als Solokünstler und Livematerial von der 2006er Deep Blue Love Vacuum-Tour. [label info Cargo transl] |
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| CHRYSAKIS, THANOS |
Magma |
CD |
" 'Magma' is nearly half hour long electroacoustic piece, recorded in 2011 and presenting one of the best compositions by the artist. For this work, he extensively uses electronic devices, acoustic sounds and field recordings.
Release date is 27th December 2011. Limited edition of 500 copies in jewelcase." [label info]
www.monochromevision.ru
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
|
ELYTRA |
CD |
New insect music release by Greek sound artist Thanos Chrysakis
About ΕΛΥΤΡΑ
Everyone has heard the marvelous sound of crickets in the summer especially in the countryside. The sound is produced by raising and scraping against each of their protective fore-wings the elytra.
Their burrow act as a resonator bringing at times a transcendent quality to the place.
The music in this album with myriads of sounds, regular and irregular pulses, unfolds a similar transforming quality.
Thanos Chrysakis
About Thanos Chrysakis
Thanos Chrysakis is a Greek composer, musician, producer and sound-artist. He is best known for his work in electronic and contemporary music, free improvisation, and electro-acoustic music.
With several albums to his name his work has appeared in festivals and events in many countries.
His music was among the selected works at the International Competition de Musique et d'Art Sonore Electroacoustiques de Bourges 2005, in the category oeuvre d'art sonore électroacoustique, while received an honorary mention in 2006 at the 7th International Electroacoustic Competition Musica Viva in Lisbon (the jury was constituted by Morton Subotnick (USA), François Bayle (France), and Miguel Azguime (Portugal). He operates the Aural Terrains record label since 2007 where he has released part of his work until now, alongside releases by Kim Cascone, Franscisco López, Tomas Phillips, Dan Warburton, Szilárd Mezei, Michael Edwards, Wade Matthews, Dganit Elyakim, Edith Alonso, Christian Skjødt, Luis Tabuenca, Christian Kobi, Jeff Gburek, Steve Noble, and Milo Fine. He has written music for musicians of the Hyperion Ensemble, the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, the Konus Saxophone Quartett, and the Shadanga Duo among others. Close collaborations with Tim Hodgkinson, Vincent Royer, Chris Cundy, Yoni Silver, Lori Freedman, Jason Alder, William Lang, Wilfrido Terrazas, Philippe Brunet, Wade Matthews, Ernesto Rodrigues, Abdul Moimême, Zsolt Sőrés, Ove Volquartz to name but a few.
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/track/tortoise-pilgrimage
"Insekten üben seit langem eine (nicht nur) klangliche Faszination aus: Man denke an die vielen Filme, in denen das Zirpen der Zikaden fast schon ein alternativer Soundtrack ist oder an die symbolische Bedeutung der Geräusche der Grillen in einem Stück wie Sam Shephards „True West“. Eine Reihe von Musikern wurden vom Klangpotenzial der Insekten angezogen: 1986 veröffnetlichte Graeme Revell „The Insect Musicians“, sein Versuch einer auf dem Geräusch von Insekten basierenden “micro-musique” (gerade ist das Album auf Old Europa Cafe neu herausgebracht worden), jüngst erschien noch ein Album namens “The Life Of Insects” von der in Berlin lebenden Peruanerin Ale Hop.
Der 1971 in Athen geborene Thanos Chrysakis hat zahlreiche Alben veröffentlicht und betreibt das Label Aural Terrains, “a creative space for exploratory contemporary music in its different manifestations”, auf dem er u.a. Alben von Francisco López, Tomas Phillips oder Michael Edwards veröffentlicht hat.
Auf “ΕΛΥΤΡ” basieren die Stücke auf dem Klang von Grillen, der für Chrysakis fast eine “transcendent qualitiy” hat. Das das Album eröffnende 8-minütige „Alabaster Tide“ ist eine dichte Klangfläche, die anfangs in ihrer rabiaten Unruhe durchaus an einige der perkussiven Arbeiten von Z’EV denken lässst. Hier fühlt man sich, als befinde man sich geradewegs inmitten zahlloser Insekten. Das Unruhige wird aber im Verlaufe des Stücks zurückgefahren, schließlich hört man ein paar hochfrequentere Passagen und Knirschen. „Coral Aether“ knüpft mit seinem Knistern und Flüstern daran an. „Tortoise Pilgrimage“ besteht aus flirrenden und sirrenden kristallinen Sounds, die gar nicht so weit von einigen Aufnahmen Asmus Tietchens entfernt sind, dann plötzlich meint man, ein Windspiel erklinge. Eine größere Reduktion hört man auf „Tranquil Edge“ mit seinem Knistern, das den Eindruck erweckt, als ob kleine Zweige brechen würden. Dann gibt es „Delphic Maxims“ mit fast schon wasserartigen Sounds oder das Rascheln bei „Pierian Roses, das sich im weiteren Verlauf verdichtet. Schließlich endet das Album mit „ A Shadow’s Dream“ mit erratischen perkussiven Momenten, und dann plötzlich – unerwartet – etwas, das wie ein Piano klingt. Auch ohne die Faszination, die vielleicht vom Ausgangsmaterial ausgeht, ist das ein sehr starkes Album." [MG / African Paper]
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Manifold Vista |
CD |
listen:
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/manifold-vista
About Manifold Vista
Manifold Vista is the new album by composer/producer Thanos Chrysakis. Rarely can something so meticulously assembled together sound so fluid. A distinct, disciplined sense for composition emerges from each of these works, displaying formal integrity while at the same time, they are also effervescent, forceful, fiercely idiosyncratic and beautifully shaped and transformed. The album discloses an expanded and detailed vista of sound’s interiority forming a strangely pleasurable, not to mention engaging, experience.
Thanos Chrysakis is a Greek composer, musician, producer and sound-artist. He is best known for his work in electronic and contemporary music, free improvisation, and electro-acoustic music.
With several albums to his name his work has appeared in festivals and events in numerous countries, including CYNETart Festival, Festspielhaus Hellerau - Dresden, Artus Contemporary Arts Studio – Budapest, CRUCE Gallery – Madrid, Fylkingen – Stockholm, Relative (Cross) Hearings festival – Budapest, Festival Futura – Crest - Drôme, FACT Centre – Liverpool, Association Ryoanji – Ahun - Creuse, The Center for Advanced Musical Studies at Chosen Vale — Hanover - New Hampshire, Areté Gallery — Brooklyn - New York, UC San Diego – California - San Diego, Berner Münster – Bern, Fabbrica del Vapore – Milan, Grünewaldsalen – Svensk Musikvår — Stockholm, Splendor – Amsterdam, Logos Foundation – Ghent, Palacio de Bellas Artes – Mexico City, Műcsarnok Kunsthalle – Budapest, Spektrum – Berlin, Susikirtimai X – Vilnius, Festival del Bosque GERMINAL – Mexico City, ДОМ – Moscow, Oosterkerk – Amsterdam, KLANG ! – Montpellier, Nádor Terem – Budapest, Utzon Centre – Aalborg, Center for New Music – San Francisco, Västerås Konstmuseum – Västerås, Störung festival – Barcelona, BMIC Cutting Edge concert series at The Warehouse – London.
His music was among the selected works at the International Competition de Musique et d'Art Sonore Electroacoustiques de Bourges 2005, in the category oeuvre d'art sonore électroacoustique, while received an honorary mention in 2006 at the 7th International Electroacoustic Competition Musica Viva in Lisbon (the jury was constituted by Morton Subotnick (USA), François Bayle (France), and Miguel Azguime (Portugal).
He operates the Aural Terrains record label since 2007 where he has released part of his work until now, alongside releases by Kim Cascone, Franscisco López, Tomas Phillips, Dan Warburton, Szilárd Mezei, Michael Edwards, Wade Matthews, Dganit Elyakim, Edith Alonso, Luis Tabuenca, Jeff Gburek, Philippe Petit, Steve Noble, Milo Fine and David Ryan among others.
He has written music for musicians of the Hyperion Ensemble, the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, the Hermes Ensemble, Nemø Ensemble, the Konus Saxophone Quartett, and the Shadanga Duo among others. Close collaborations with Tim Hodgkinson, Vincent Royer, Chris Cundy, Yoni Silver, Lori Freedman, Jason Alder, Julie Kjaer, Henriette Jensen, William Lang, Wilfrido Terrazas, Philippe Brunet, Wade Matthews, Ernesto Rodrigues, Abdul Moimême, Ove Volquartz to name but a few.
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/manifold-vista
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| CHUBBY WOLF |
Seasick |
CD |
":: INTRODUCTORY WORDS :::
A mis-use of mistrust,
a clouted loop,
a taking under.
a view of islands hidden by a cloak of sea steam,
a loss,
a hidrotic tide.
Thus, I sigh at the sea, and
the sea sighed back at me.
- Danielle Baquet-Long
::: PRESS RELEASE :::
In a very short span of time and of creative obsession, CELER have managed to amass an astounding body of works…but this didn’t help to quench the thirst yet, and Danielle Baquet-Long, half of this symbiotic duo, under her wry moniker Chubby Wolf, sketched her own repertoire of twisted ambient patterns through spontaneous & diligent experimentation – this led to some brilliant discs, as for instance, “L’Histoire” on Gears Of Sand…
Here on “Seasick” comes another of her sadly posthumous treasures, and it’s truly a pinnacle…some stirring ode to the immanence of the sea, and the ever shifting horizon strewn with ships going who-knows-where…
An imposing slow unfolding lament respectfully & subtly enhanced by Mathieu Ruhlmann’s mastering who dared to sprinkle Dani’s soundscape with aural debris giving the whole work a new aura & pertinent direction…
After all, Dani is still sailing…
In front of us,
a vertiginous sea,
submerged crevasses
frozen moments of uncertainty
that makes our hearts sink
into this solemn immensity…
And when we get closer,
It’s all ebullience,
an endless wash of disparate elements
pulled from a disintegrated cosmos…
So, we’ll leave this world,
as naked as when we entered into it,
just shot through by its piercing beauty & sly unease,
SEASICK, but somehow reconciled…
::: TRACKS :::
1. Seasick
::: DURATION :::
40:52
::: FORMAT :::
CD ltd to 250 copies" [label info]
www.mysterysea.net
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
| CINDYTALK |
The Crackle of my Soul |
CD |
"Written and recorded by gordon sharp at belmont shore (ca), mid-levels (hk) & kobe (japan) 2001-2009. mastered at piethopraxis, july 2009. dedicated to matt kinnison (1965-2008).
Cindytalk have been active since 1982, which we won’t go into here (a quick Google search will satisfy that need). During the 80s and 90s their sound was defined by broken down rock structures and abstract piano ambience. A third side to their coin emerged at the dawn of the 21st Century with a turn towards obscure computer usage pushing all resemblance of melody and conventual texture to the outer edges.
‘The Crackle Of My Soul’ is the first full length to come from this new direction, starting in 2001 and now finally ready for release. Its also the first Cindytalk album since the 1995 release of ‘Wappinschaw’. Although very abstract in nature these 10 tracks still echo the vocal brilliance and subtle beauty that they become known for, as well as pushing back the boundaries making this an essential listen regardless if you are aware of the back catalogue or not.
This is the first in a series of already finished releases, which will see the light of day throughout 2010." [label info]
www.editionsmego.com
"Cindytalk on Mego? It was a shock to see that pairing. Cindytalk has been the sporadic project of Gordon Sharp with a shifting ensemble over the past two and half decades. At first, Sharp's abject post-punk took a gritty, almost industrial growling to the ethereally dark tunes of the Cocteau Twins. Sharp's voice in many ways is the masculine equivalent to Liz Fraser's, just as beautiful and haunting; and the two had paired up on a few tracks through This Mortal Coil and the Cocteau Twins. Cindytalk's two releases in the '80s - Camoflage Heart and In This World - have been secret gems to all those who had uncovered that work, with Cindytalk only emerging a few times since. There was the impressionist Ambient piano record The Wind Is Strong and 1994's underwhelming Wappinschaw. Then, a decade of
silence followed by a limited edition single from 2003 and a brilliant one-sided 10" of drone-rock beauty in 2008. So, it was hard to know what to expect with a 2009 full album from Cindytalk, especially from the digi-centric label Mego.
Here, Cindytalk is just the work of Gordon Sharp; and The Crackle Of My Soul certainly sounds like a Mego record on par with the likes of Pita, Kevin Drumm, and BJ Nilsen, as shards of digital noise are looped and phased into building compositions that glow with a very intense high-end piercing. Not quite Whitehouse territory, it's actually far more glacial and icy in tone. Nevertheless, Sharp's electronics have a way of drilling into your skull. Voice and piano occasionally creep into the mix, but not to the extent that you would hear on any of the earlier records, even the aforementioned album The Wind Is Strong. We have to admit that we didn't love this record as much as Camoflage Heart and In This World; but it's sort of a different beast, and there's a lot of very strong electro-acoustic renderings to be found here..." [Aquarius Rec.]
|
2009 |
€13.50 |
|
|
Hold Everything Dear |
do-LP |
"All tracks written and recorded by Gordon Sharp and Matt Kinnison between 2006-2011 at Roi Vert, Okamoto (Japan), 13th Floor and Space Eko (London), Southend (Essex). Mastered at Piethopraxis, June 2011. Cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin, June 2011. Design-images: David Coppenhall. Assembled at Sixism (Maggi Smith-David Coppenhall). For Matt Kinnison and John Berger.
'Hold Everything Dear' is the third installment in the new Cindytalk sound which started with 2007's The Crackle Of My Soul, and then last years Up Here in The Clouds. Its the first in the trilogy to feature musicians other than Gordon Sharp namely the late Matt Kinnison, to whom the album is dedicated. Inspired by the John Berger book of the same name, this latest release is whole new set of parameters which push the sound on the previous two works to an extreme point of abstraction, and in some places near silent passages and haunted melodic segments. And what a mysterious journey this ends up being with increased use of piano and found/field recordings giving all the tracks a blurry soundtrack appeal to the point where the definitions between the tracks are no longer clearly defined. It harks back to the odder parts of In This World and The Wind Is Strong albums from the early 1990s. Superbly packaged with new David Coppenhall artwork in a 4-panel digipack and gatefold vinyl sleeve." [label info]
www.editionsmego.com
|
2011 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
The Wind is strong (lim. marble smoke viny) |
LP |
Cindytalk is the mercurial, expressionist outlet of Scottish artist Cinder. An evolution of her early 1980's Edinburgh-based punk band The Freeze, she launched the project upon moving to London, inspired by the crossroads of exploratory UK post-punk and early European industrial. Her work thrives on chance and transformation, collaging elements of noise, balladry, soundtrack, catharsis, and improvisation. After a series of celebrated albums for the Midnight Music label as well as collaborations with This Mortal Coil and Cocteau Twins, Cinder migrated to the United States, becoming involved with various underground techno collectives around the Midwest and West Coast. Subsequent relocations to Hong Kong and Japan further expanded Cindytalk's horizons, resulting in a fruitful partnership with Viennese experimental institution Editions Mego, for whom she released five full-lengths of swooning, granular atmosphere. 2021 finds her as engaged as ever, at the precipice of long-awaited back catalog reissues alongside multiple new works, guided by her lasting love of discovery and deviation: “new pathways always being uncovered.”
The 3rd album by Scottish industrial enigma Cinder aka Cindytalk began life as the soundtrack to an experimental film by English director Ivan Unnwin entitled Eclipse (The Amateur Enthusiast's Guide To Virus Deployment), and was originally slated for release via Factory Records' video division, Ikon. Inspired heavily by Alan Splet's eerily disembodied sound design in David Lynch's Eraserhead, the collection's 15 pieces seethe between field recordings, wistful piano vignettes, and lurking metallic haze – a hybrid palette Cinder characterized at the time as “ambi-dustrial.” Unfortunately Ikon collapsed on the eve of the project's completion so the film was never distributed, but the Midnight Music imprint repackaged Cindytalk's score as an LP in 1990 under the name The Wind Is Strong... (full title: The Wind Is Strong - A Sparrow Dances, Piercing Holes in Our Sky).
Long out of print, the album remains one of the most elusive and adventurous in the Cindytalk discography, a mix of musique concréte, haunted reverie, and desolate beauty. Even unaccompanied by their intended visuals, this is overtly cinematic music, conjuring forests at dusk and shadowed corridors, equal parts remote and reflective. Cinder cites a belief that “all sound is music,” which fully manifests here, utilizing tape hiss, ticking clocks, flicking flames, and distant whispers as evocative accents in tapestries of luminous negative space.
Although Cinder included the subtitle “A Cindytalk diversion” in the sleeve notes, The Wind Is Strong... is crucial to the project's canon, demonstrating the depth and versatility of her unique ear and intuition. She describes each album as a direct response to the previous one, and in that sense The Wind marks a bold break from the coiled song-oriented post-punk of 1988's In This World, venturing into unknown, unnamed terrain, and finding foreboding new futures to call her own.
https://www.daisrecords.com/products/cindytalk-the-wind-is-strong
Cindytalk ist das quecksilbrige, expressionistische Ventil der schottischen Künstlerin Cinder. Als Weiterentwicklung ihrer Edinburgher Punkband The Freeze aus den frühen 1980er Jahren gründete sie das Projekt, nachdem sie nach London gezogen war, inspiriert von der Kreuzung aus forschendem britischen Post-Punk und frühem europäischen Industrial. Ihre Arbeit lebt vom Zufall und der Verwandlung, sie collagiert Elemente von Lärm, Balladen, Soundtracks, Katharsis und Improvisation.
Nach einer Reihe gefeierter Alben für das Label Midnight Music sowie Kollaborationen mit This Mortal Coil und den Cocteau Twins wanderte Cinder in die Vereinigten Staaten aus und engagierte sich in verschiedenen Underground-Techno-Kollektiven im Mittleren Westen und an der Westküste. Spätere Umzüge nach Hongkong und Japan erweiterten Cindytalks Horizont und führten zu einer fruchtbaren Partnerschaft mit der Wiener Experimental-Institution Editions Mego, für die sie fünf Alben mit schwelgerischer, granularer Atmosphäre veröffentlichte. 2021 ist sie so engagiert wie eh und je und steht an der Schwelle von lang erwarteten Wiederveröffentlichungen des alten Katalogs neben zahlreichen neuen Werken, geleitet von ihrer anhaltenden Liebe zur Entdeckung und Abweichung: Immer neue Wege werden aufgedeckt.
Das dritte Album des schottischen Industrial-Enigmas Cinder aka Cindytalk begann als Soundtrack zu einem Experimentalfilm des englischen Regisseurs Ivan Unnwin mit dem Titel Eclipse (The Amateur Enthusiast's Guide To Virus Deployment) und sollte ursprünglich über die Videoabteilung von Factory Records, Ikon, veröffentlicht werden. Inspiriert von Alan Splets unheimlichem, körperlosem Sounddesign in David Lynchs Eraserhead, bewegen sich die 15 Stücke der Sammlung zwischen Field Recordings, wehmütigen Klaviervignetten und lauerndem Metalldunst - eine hybride Palette, die Cinder damals als "ambi-dustrial" bezeichnete. Unglücklicherweise brach Ikon am Vorabend der Fertigstellung des Projekts zusammen, so dass der Film nie vertrieben wurde, aber das Midnight Music Imprint verpackte Cindytalks Partitur 1990 als LP unter dem Namen The Wind Is Strong... (vollständiger Titel: The Wind Is Strong - A Sparrow Dances, Piercing Holes in Our Sky).
Längst vergriffen, bleibt das Album eines der schwer fassbarsten und abenteuerlichsten in der Diskographie von Cindytalk, eine Mischung aus konkreter Musik, geisterhafter Träumerei und trostloser Schönheit. Selbst ohne die visuelle Untermalung ist dies eine offenkundig filmische Musik, die Wälder in der Dämmerung und schattige Korridore heraufbeschwört, die zu gleichen Teilen entlegen und nachdenklich sind. Cinder beruft sich auf die Überzeugung, dass ügalles Geräusch Musik ist,üh was sich hier voll und ganz manifestiert, indem sie Tonbandrauschen, tickende Uhren, züngelnde Flammen und entferntes Flüstern als evokative Akzente in Wandteppichen aus leuchtendem Negativraum verwendet. Obwohl Cinder den Untertitel "A Cindytalk diversion" (Eine Cindytalk-Abwechslungü) in die Cover-Notizen geschrieben hat, ist The Wind Is Strong... entscheidend für den Kanon des Projekts und demonstriert die Tiefe und Vielseitigkeit ihres einzigartigen Gehörs und ihrer Intuition. Sie beschreibt jedes Album als direkte Antwort auf das vorherige, und in diesem Sinne markiert The Wind einen kühnen Bruch mit dem songorientierten Post-Punk des 1988er Albums In This World, indem sie sich in unbekanntes, unbenanntes Terrain wagt und eine neue Zukunft findet, die sie ihr Eigen nennen kann. Für Fans von: Harold Budd, Tor Lundvall, Lawrence English, Kevin Drumm, Loscil, This Mortal Coil, Drekka, Zoviet France.
|
2021 |
€23.50 |
|
| CINEMA PERDU |
2 Compositions with Found Sounds |
mCD-R |
cinema perdu is the dutch sound artist martijn pieck. here's what he says about "2 compositions with found sounds":
"in my project cinema perdu i work with field recordings as starting point for my compositions. with all kind of manipulations and additions from other sound sources like synthesizers and contact-microphone recordings i recreate the feeling of a place during a certain time, sometimes more factual, sometimes more storytelling. in this case the 2 tracks are evolved around 'found sounds’ in an urban environment."
aside from working as cinema perdu, martijn is also co-composer in the [law-rah] collective next to bauke van der wal since 2008 and together with jon unger formed woodbender.
reviews:
vital weekly 1150
It wasn't for nationalistic reasons I started with Cinema Perdu, the Dutch musical project of Martijn Pieck. It was just the first one that I played. Pieck is also a member of [law-rah] collective next to Bauke van der Wal since 2008 and together with Jon Unger formed Woodbender (see Vital Weekly 1077). His latest release as Cinema Perdu was the excellent CD 'Amsterdam CS' (see Vital Weekly 1127), in which he used field recordings at the Amsterdam Central Station. Taking field recordings and feeding them to his extended modular set up. I recently saw a concert by him and the field recordings disappeared in there, just they do in these two pieces here. They are just called 'found sounds' and are not specified in any way, just from an 'urban environment'. I don't even want to go in there and think about it; I don't care that much, as I was lost easily in the dark currents produced by Cinema Perdu that hold the middle ground between a grinder and synthesizer, playing some darker chords. This is quite an un-earthy rumble that is going on here, exactly the spooky tone in combination with a delicate atmosphere that I like so much. (FdW)
|
2018 |
€5.00 |
|
| CIRCAEA |
The Bridge of Dreams |
LP |
"Released July 2019. An edition of 300 copies.
Mastered by Denis Blackham at Skye Mastering. Cut onto lacquer at 33/45 in London by Noel Summerville. Sleeve design by Tom James Scott
Circaea is ; Tom James Scott, Ecka Mordecai & Andrew Chalk
The Bridge of Dreams was begun as a series of piano miniatures, played by Tom in St. Matthews church in Hull before it closed many years ago. In the airy and (cold) spaces of the vast church in the winter of 2013 the pieces further condensed into 12 parts of the album here, with wistful string arrangements by Ecka Mordecai and mapped out, finally, by Andrew Chalk.
"Birds love the woods
If you are not a bird
you will not know its truths
A quiet life is much the same.
How would anyone know it
without living it ?
The moon
of my life is setting.
The life now left me
sinks into the hills"
(from Visions of a Torn World by Kamo-no-Chomei)" [label info]
"Circaea is the debut project of ; Tom James Scott (piano), Ecka Mordecai (cello) & Andrew Chalk (arrangements).
After the previous album, Scott and Chalk’s Calluna (Skire) a pause of some years followed and The Bridge of Dreams in fact began life even before Calluna did. With the addition of poignant and fluttering textures on strings by Ecka Mordecai, the album took on a completely new and special direction, which we present here now. ‘The Bridge of Dreams’ spans twelve tracks and becomes a story in its own right.
Viae Memoriae & A Inocencia Mastered by Denis Blackham and cut by Noel Summerville at 33/45 in London.
Full colour sleeve and pressed in an edition of 350 copies." [Penultimate Press]
"Circaea, the latest collaborative project involving prolific British musician Andrew Chalk (Ora, Mirror, Isolde...) debuts with The Bridge of Dreams. Alongside Chalk in this new adventure we find young cellist Ecka Rose Mordecai and classically trained guitarist Tom James Scott, also founder of the Skire label. The twelve delicate miniatures that make up this album find protection in the caring arms of Faraway Press - Chalk's own label - and are a work of pure beauty."[Soundohm]
|
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
| CIRCLE |
Soundcheck |
CD |
"Recorded in Finland in October 2009, the band describes Soundcheck as “the most contemporary document possible of a Circle soundcheck/concert experience. For this concert Circle was reinforced by the guitars of J. & P. Jaaskelainen, who may be familiar to some from the ranks of Circle’s brother-in-arms Pharaoh Overlord. On the album, this expanded line-up explores the experimental possibilities of concert staples “Virsi” and “Nopeuskuningas” further than possibly ever before.”
“The first part offers two new tracks, beginning with the brief “Kukkakaalia Kapteenit!”, a wispy swirl of shimmery synths, laid back tribal drumming and some dramatic, emotional crooning, very cinematic sounding, almost like it could be some lost 4AD single, dreamy and ethereal, giving way to the way more rocking and intense “Tuhatsata”, which takes up most of the side, a slow burning, blackened bit of Finnish krautrock, super epic, with dueling vocals, crooning versus grunted and growled, fusiony keys, still more tribal drumming, spidery guitars, the track pulsing and pounding, building to multiple crescendos, frenzied freakouts that always lip right back into more looped mesmer.
The album progresses with two instantly recognizable live set staples, first up, “Virsi”, dramatically progtastic, with that super soaring epic intro, all dynamic shifts and huge bursts of instrumental crunch, with vocals howling and wailing almost operatically, before lurching into some rad atonal krauty, fusiony, jazzy, hypno groove skitter. The second track, another Circle classic, and live staple, “Nopeuskuningas”, explodes right out of the gate, with its chugging almost surfy, ZZ Top-ish boogie riff, locked in groove, the whole thing stretched out over the remainder of the side, the band solid, and hypnotic, and intense, and rocking and tight as fuck. Their showstopper for sure, and it clearly did the job at this show as well.
In so much as between albums, Circle, like Grateful Dead, crank out killer live record after killer liver record, often with some of the same songs, always including a few live staples, familiar enough to hit the spot, but different enough that a Circle fan could be forgiven for needing them ALL!” (Aquarius Records)
A stunning and truly unique live album approach by the Finnish masters of hypnorock and unusual sounds.
Originally released as a very limited vinyl edition via J. Lehtisalo’s own imprint Full Contact Records and instantly sold out, Soundcheck is now back to life housed in our luxurious, heavy tip-on mini-LP gatefold packaging featuring fantastic expanded photography and artwork by Jussi S. Karjalainen. Limited edition of 800 copies.
|
2011 |
€13.50 |
|
| CIRCULAR |
Radiating Perpetual Light |
CD |
"The evolving, dense nature of Circular's sound world is unfolding again with this new work - the first since 2009. Pulsating and deep, reverberant drones, slowly moving guitar lines and rhythms, combined with ambient layers of rich tonal colours were created with an extensive set of analogue and acoustic devices. With his third album Johannes Riedel has entered a region of higher density that produces deeper echoes of sombre oscillation. Radiating Perpetual Light emerges from the desire to sculpt an organic, meditative and deeply ambient environment of mysterious and shapeshifting soundscapes. This is the perfect soundtrack for a dark and glowing sunset." [label info]
www.loki-found.de
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| CISFINITUM |
Coniunctio |
do-CD |
Material from 1999-2001 from the Russian cult-project, some taken from the deleted LANDSCHAFT CDR (IVB Records), one CD is entitled “World of Retribution”, the other “Heavenly Russia”. Monolithic sad noise, sacral post-industrial, spiritual doom-ambience,
overwhelming sounds & sad emotions at the same time, highly recommended!
“Cisfinitum is one of the oldest and well-known projects on Russian industrial scene, and shortly after their well-acclaimed 7” on Drone, Ewers Tonkunst is happy to present another international release of this remarkable project. This 2CD-set contains the tracks from the most gloomy and profound albums of Cisfinitum – “Landschaft” (released in 2001 as CDR by IVB Records) and “Malgyl” (previously unreleased), which have been recorded in 1999-2001. The material has been remastered and recompiled to become the new entity called “Coniunctio”. Newborn album consists of two parts, “Worlds Of Retribution” and “Heavenly Russia”, the first one contains most dark and depressive tracks, the second one presents brighter side of Cisfinitum. Going through the desperate landscapes of today’s dying spiritless world, the listener comes into the sacred and surreal inner space of an immaterial land full of light, mysticism and universal melancholy. One of the most beautiful and heartful records ever done in the drone ambient style, “Coniunctio” could remind of the best and saddest Maeror Tri albums or legendary HOEDH “Hymnus”, but the irrational Russian essence within Cisfinitum’s music makes it unique and completely original. The real masterpiece which we are really proud to release! CD comes in a full-colour fold-out digisleeve. The edition is limited to 500 copies.” [label info]
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Devotio |
10inch |
Das Projekt CISFINITUM von Evgueny Voronovsky gehört für uns zu den momentan besten russischen experimentell-atmosphärischen / Drone / Post-Industrial - Acts, weshalb die Einladung zur neuen SUBSTANTIA INNOMINATA–Reihe nach dem phänomenalen Konzert im Bremer Dom (November 2005) sich fast zwangsläufig ergab.
Bereits im Namen CISFINITUM steckt die Auseindersetzung mit dem Nicht-Mehr-Erfassbaren, DEVOTIO verweist klanglich mit monumentalen Kirchenglocken-Drones auf sakrale Sphären des Transzendenten, nicht mehr Hinterfragbaren.... kommt auf weissem Vinyl und eine fantastische Artwork des Berliner Artworkers TILMANN BENNINGHAUS . “Hinter CISFINITUM steckt Evgueny Voronovsky, ein ausgebildeter Violinist, der neben konkreten und instrumentellen Klangquellen auch alte sowjetische Synthesizer in neuem Kontext benutzt (wie auf der letzten CD-Veröffentlichung „BEZDNA“ [Monochrome Vision]), z.B. den legendären ANS. CISFINITUM (=„Jenseits des Endlichen“) ist ein Text (1930) & Begriff des russischen Dichters Daniil Charms, der für die „Logik der unendlichen Nicht-Existenz“steht: das was hinter dem Verstandesmässigem liegt. Die Endlichkeit der logischen Welt wird durch die Logik selbst nachgewiesen. ’ Das Cisfinitum zerstört die Postulate eines nach dem anderen. Das entzieht jeder Grundlage ihren Halt. Das zweifelt alles an. Das raubt einem sein Vermögen. Das hat kein Heiligtum, keine Moral, keine Tugenden. Das Cisfinitum ist brutal.’ [Michail Demidov]“ [Drone Records / REM-info 2005]
The fourth volume in our new series comes from one of the currently best projects of the russian experimental-atmospheric / drone / post-industrial-scene. Main force behind CISFINITUM we find Evgueny Voronovsky, an educated violinist from Moscow.
CISFINITUM is a notion by russian poet & writer DANIIL CHARMS, meaning the „logic of the infinite non-existence“, that „something“ that is beyond all rational things.
DEVOTIO uses monumental bell-sounds that build complex overlappings & hypnotic drone-waves in various layers, dissolving into pure vibrations. To us It sounds like a journey into the heart of the sacral, pointing at a sphere of transcendence where all questions end. Or begin again. Comes on white vinyl and with great artwork by Berlin-based artworker TILMANN BENNINGHAUS.
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Tactio |
CD |
Mitschnitt des denkwürdigen CISFINITUM-Konzerts im Bremer St. Petri-Dom vom 24. November 2005, welches v.a. durch die Verwendung monumentaler Kirchenglocken-Drones besticht (Aufnahmen einer russischen Kirche basieren); es fand statt im Rahmen der REIHE ELEKTRONISCHER MUSIK ("Rapid Ear Movement"), kuratiert von CHRISTOPH OGIERMANN.
"CISFINITUM ist eines der am längsten bestehenden Moskauer Industrial / Experimental/ Elektronik - Projekte (Gründung 1989) und steht für die russische Variante des sogenannten „ambient Industrial“, „drone“ oder „dark ambient“. Als „dark ambient“ bezeichnet man in der neueren elektronischen Musik seit einigen Jahren die „dunkle“ Seite der atmosphärisch-experimentellen Musik, bei der es oft weniger um den explizit Ablauf der Komposition geht, als vielmehr um die Schaffung „bewusstseinsverändernder“ Atmosphären mit Hilfe von Klang. Hinter CISFINITUM steckt Evgueny Voronovsky, ein ausgebildeter Violinist, der neben konkreten und instrumentellen Klangquellen auch alte sowjetische Synthesizer in neuem Kontext benutzt (wie auf der letzten CD-Veröffentlichung „BEZDNA“ [Monochrome Vision]), z.B. den legendären ANS. CISFINITUM (=„Jenseits des Endlichen“) ist ein Text & Begriff des russischen Dichters Daniil Charms, der für die „Logik der unendlichen Nicht-Existenz“steht: das was hinter dem Verstandesmässigem liegt. Die Endlichkeit der logischen Welt wird durch die Logik selbst nachgewiesen." [Konzertankündigungs-Info Drone Records]
"With a parsimonious discography mostly released on seasoned Russian labels such as Waystyx, Ewers Tonkunst and Monochrome Vision, Evgeny Voronovsky has established himself as an uniquely engaging artist in the country's current ambient scene. Under the name of Cisfinitum, he has taken a syncretic approach to an often codified genre, uniting his formal training as a violinist at the Moscow State University with his affinity for concrete sounds and experimental structures. Past releases have shown a capacity to synthesize these factors at times while emphasizing the contrasts between them at others, sometimes over the course of a single track. In this aspect, this album follows the tradition faithfully.
Tactio is the live recording of a Cisfinitum concert at the St. Petri Dom (St. Peter's Cathedral) in Bremen, on November 24, 2005. The particular (and as expected highly favorable) acoustics of this environment were consistently used not only as an enhancing effect but as an integral foundation for the performance, making it unmistakeably tied to its context. Presented in the form of six continuous tracks, the album is a contemplative composition of vibrant drones, reverberating bells and synthesized resonance, gracefully evolving from the celestial tones of its start to the tellurian pulses of its climax. This is a piece of work that is elaborate in its simplicity, and it's with much appreciation that it is presented here today. The beautiful iconic artwork by Evgeny Kuprienko further emphasizes the relic-like qualities of this recording."
[label description]
www.mechanoise-labs.com
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Monochrome |
CD |
" ‘Monochrome' is a eulogy to Dmitry Vasiliev, a music enlightener, a label owner, a journalist, an ardent devotee of experimental music. Initially the composer Eugene Voronovsky conceived 'Monochrome' as a futuristic 'hi-res' mass, an alchemical fusion of angelic chorales and dub techno pulsations. A dream-like transparency of the material is deceptive in masking its technical complexity. Thus, the rhythmic canvas is built of "non-square" rhythms - 7/8, 15/16, etc., from which the strong beat gains fluidity typical of Oriental music. Ambient textures are based on the works of the medieval composers Josquin des Prez, Guillaume de Machaut, Pérotin the Great. Through reverberation the sound is "placed" into authentic space of the Great Pyramid of Giza; it's a meaningful reference for the album, entitlted in its draft by Enochian key of the alchemist John Dee.
The news of Vasiliev's tragic death caught the author in rendering the final mix. Thus the meaning and the purpose of this year-long work were redefined. ‘Monochrome' became a funeral service for a dear friend, a person whose role for independent electronic music in Russia cannot be overestimated.
The album was originally released as a limited edition cassette by NEN Records in October 2018 and now re-issued on CD by the joint forces of Aquarellist, kultFRONT and ZHELEZOBETON."
"Back in 2005, a very new Russian label released work by Eugene Voronovsky, also known as
Cisfinitum. It was not the first release for him or the label. 'Bezdna' was reviewed in Vital Weekly 478 and more followed from Cisfinitum and the label that released it, Monochrome Vision. In September of last year, Dmitry Vasiliev, the man behind Monochrome Vision (also a mail-order
and organiser of concerts, as well as writing about exactly 'this' kind of music), died in a tragic accident in the Black Sea, thus ending the label. About the same time, Cisfinitum put the final touches on this new release, which became 'Monochrome', a fitting farewell to the man himself.
Whereas I remember most of Cisfinitum's music as being quite atmospheric, ambient and drone-
like, this is not the case here. Rhythm plays an important role here and apparently, these are
'non-square rhythms', 7/8 or 15/16, which again apparently makes "the strong beat gains fluidity
typical of oriental music'. These odd beats guide the sampled sounds of choral music from
medieval composers and that may seem an odd pairing but Cisfinitum melted the choral voices
into something quite abstract and ambient like. The music gets a rather majestically feeling, a
sort of massiveness that works rather good with these beats. I am not sure about the fluidity or
the Eastern feel (although, I must admit at one point thinking of Muslimgauze; in 'Auyaea', I think), but in terms of dark atmospheric music, hearing something interesting in the world of rhythm, this was all a most pleasant release. It would have been something that mister Vasiliev would have been proud to release; sad to realize this is a reminder he's no longer here. Indeed a fitting musical eulogy." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| CISFINITUM & THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE |
[ANS]werk |
CD |
"Russian one-man outfit Cisfinitum and Dutch duo The [Law-Rah] Collective are both dark ambient masters. They dedicated this split and common work to one of the very first synthesizers in the world, the ANS. The ANS, created by Russian engineer E. Murzin from 1937 to 1957, is an incredible response to the synesthesia theories (the letters ANS stand for Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin who linked tones to colours). The ANS synthesizer (only one copy exists and is kept in Moscow) generates special frequencies from drawings ("it plays what you have drawn") and in the opposite it can also create a visible image of a sound frequency. Artists such as Coil, Edward Artemiev (for Tarkovsky's Solaris soundtrack) and Alfred Schnittke used the ANS in their compositions.
For this album, The [Law-Rah] Collective and Cisfinitum based their music on original sounds from the ANS as well as additional recordings of various analog synths, fractal and granular synthesis, voice, violin, field recordings.
They give birth to an intense cold and grey music upon which fly ghosts of melodies, archaic or yet to come...
* Track listing :
* 1. the [law-rah] collective - broken gl[A]ss (9:12)
* 2. the [law-rah] collective - broke[N] mirrors (7:38)
* 3. the [law-rah] collective - broken dream[S] (9:08)
* 4. cisfinitum - tr[ANS] (22:52)
* 5. cisfinitum / the [law-rah] collective - [ANS]werk (7:02)" [label info]
www.feardrop.net/fario
"Fario is not quick with releasing their series of split/collaborative works, but they are usually something to watch out for. There are original tracks by each of the two groups involved and a collaborative piece. At the core of this new release stands the ANS synthesizer, of which only one exist, in Moscow. It was developed by E. Murzin from 1937 to 1957 stands for Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin, the crazy composer with synesthesia problems. The synth translates drawings into sound, and was used by the likes of Coil, Edward Artemiev (in the 'Solaris' soundtrack) and Alfred Schnittke. I am not sure, but I don't think that Eugene Voronovsky, a.k.a. Cisfinitum and the Dutch duo The [Law-Rah] Collective actually used the ANS, but they use sounds from the machine, as well as voices, polivoks, violin, field recordings (in Cisfinitum's case) and analog synthesizers and electronics (in the Collective case). Cisfinitum's piece lasts almost twenty-three minutes of utter dark textured ambient
bliss. Dark haunting, like a couple of mad monks chanting in the desolated abyss, before going out on a murder spree. Excellent dark trip. In their collaborative piece things sound slightly less dark and more conventional, in a sort of serious avant-garde way, the sort of Planet Of The Apes soundtrack. In the three pieces by The [Law-Rah] Collective things go under again, into the undercurrent of the styx with dazzling sizzling buzzing and ringing sounds of the analogue domain. Though their pieces are less of monolithic block of drones than Cisfinitum, The [Law-Rah] Collective have a somewhat more open sound, grey rather than black. Not really the type of music to be played alone in the dark. Keep candles burning until the end. An excellent display of the darker world of sonic depth." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| CLADE, |
Holonic Sadism |
CD-R |
limited edition compact disc.
screen printed on 4 panel 375GSM stock, hand-assembled, bound in crepe and sealed, edition of 100.
"the self can never be completely represented in its own awareness, nor can its actions be completely predicted by any conceivable information-processing device. both attempts lead to infinite regress." [website info]
"It's been a while since the first release by Clade, which was reviewed in Vital Weekly 821. Clade is from Oklahoma, but it says in the information that the recordings were made in 2010 in Chicago, and 'we apologize for the delay'. Perhaps Clade was on tour, and they stayed for a couple of days in Chicago, since the tracks are called 'Thursday III' and via Friday ends with 'Saturday III (Long)'. I am not sure, but I guess that they record this music also in one take, just like the previous release and that the instruments are still lots of guitars and electronics. Clade plays drone music, but there is a bit of difference with the previous release. Whereas then we found traces of noise/drone metal, that seems to be have disappeared here. The mood in these seven tracks is very subdued, calm and highly atmospheric. It's a wall of sound, but then of a relaxing nature, introspective. More Troum than Earth, if you catch my drift. It's however still not the most varied release that you could imagine, but these seven pieces, spanning some forty-eight minutes, are clearly various shades of the same color, and not many colors. The previous encouraged 'chemical accompaniment' - although not required - but then the forceful character of the music may have caused some damage. You'd better save those chemicals for this one, as this is the perfect music for such chemical enhancement. I thought this was the better release of the two I heard so far and I would certainly hope they would continue to explore these roads further." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
www.cladistic.org
|
2013 |
€10.00 |
|
| CLAVICVLA |
Sepulchral Blessing |
CD |
"Black Ambient at its finest. Italy’s Clavicvla channels the cosmic void, the source and finality of all things manifest. A true sonic force that reverberates through the core, allowing to escape one’s physical form and delve deep without, where logic and comprehensions are null... Diabolical black ambient/death industrial demon Claviclva returns with his blood-chilling sophomore LP "Sepulchral Blessing", unravelling another forty minutes of tyrannical nightmare fuel that will leave the listener catatonic and agonising in horror. With "Sepulchral Blessing" this time Clavicvla constructs a sonic tomb of immense evocative force that inters the listener into a lucid nightmare and transports them straight into the kingdom of the dead, acting as an abominable sonic vessel to the underworld. Unbelievably repulsive, blood-chillingly horrific and unyieldingly evil, on this astonishing new work sole mastermind Ittiel has harnessed the quintessence of malignity and created a cinematic soundtrack to a ghastly decent into the underworld, where diabolical atmospheres drenched in the stench of death, nightmarish soundscapes, and monstrous drones and sub-bass frequencies are masterfully interwoven and manipulated to envelop, entrance, and entomb the listener into the nethermost pits of hell."
CD Edition of 500 copies in 4 panel Digisleeve. 6 Tracks. Running Time 37:30
LP Edition of 300 copies on Black Vinyl with printed inner sleeve. 6 Tracks. Running Time 37:30 (Co-Released with Sentient Ruin)
Conceived and recorded by Ittiel
Mastered by James Plotkin
Layout/design by Ittiel
Photography by MA
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/sepulchral-blessing |
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Sepulchral Blessing |
LP |
"Black Ambient at its finest. Italy’s Clavicvla channels the cosmic void, the source and finality of all things manifest. A true sonic force that reverberates through the core, allowing to escape one’s physical form and delve deep without, where logic and comprehensions are null... Diabolical black ambient/death industrial demon Claviclva returns with his blood-chilling sophomore LP "Sepulchral Blessing", unravelling another forty minutes of tyrannical nightmare fuel that will leave the listener catatonic and agonising in horror. With "Sepulchral Blessing" this time Clavicvla constructs a sonic tomb of immense evocative force that inters the listener into a lucid nightmare and transports them straight into the kingdom of the dead, acting as an abominable sonic vessel to the underworld. Unbelievably repulsive, blood-chillingly horrific and unyieldingly evil, on this astonishing new work sole mastermind Ittiel has harnessed the quintessence of malignity and created a cinematic soundtrack to a ghastly decent into the underworld, where diabolical atmospheres drenched in the stench of death, nightmarish soundscapes, and monstrous drones and sub-bass frequencies are masterfully interwoven and manipulated to envelop, entrance, and entomb the listener into the nethermost pits of hell."
CD Edition of 500 copies in 4 panel Digisleeve. 6 Tracks. Running Time 37:30
LP Edition of 300 copies on Black Vinyl with printed inner sleeve. 6 Tracks. Running Time 37:30 (Co-Released with Sentient Ruin)
Conceived and recorded by Ittiel
Mastered by James Plotkin
Layout/design by Ittiel
Photography by MA
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/sepulchral-blessing
|
2019 |
€21.00 |
|
| CLEAR FRAME |
same |
CD |
"Continuity... Records, ein neuer Trabant, der RéR umkreist, wurde initiiert von Charles Hayward & Lesley Evans, um sich speziell um die Musik von Hayward zu kümmern, aber auch Leckerbissen aus dem britischen Underground der 60s & 70s auszugraben, und bringt gleich als Erstes ein besonderes Meeting of the Spirits. CLEAR FRAME (TINU 001) ist nichts weniger als ein All-Star-Gipfel - Hayward (Quiet Sun, This Heat, Camberwell Now) an den Drums, Hugh Hopper (Soft Machine, Soft Works, Brainville 3) am Bass, Lol Coxhill (Delivery, Kevin Ayers, The Melody Four, The Recedents, Burt / MacDonald + Coxhill) am Soprano, dazu Orphy Robinson (Courtney Pine, The Jazz Warriors) an Vibraphon, Steel Pan & FX, der zuletzt auf Robert Wyatts Comicopera zu hören war. Wyatt selbst spielt auf Gegenbesuch hier Kornett. Zusammen kreieren sie eine post-canterburyeske,
neo-fusioneske Ästhetik, mit agil-dynamischem Drumming und dem E-Bass als gewaltigem Soundelement und zweiter Leadstimme neben Coxhills einzigartigem, schnörkelig-näselndem Knören. Diese Bitches Brew bekommt durch Robinsons karibisches Steelgedengel und das tönerne, gläserne Perlen des Vibraphons eine exotische Würze, das tagträumerische Ambiente eines neuen Horizontes und fremder Küsten. Wyatts dunkler Kornettklang, schnarrend oder mit kaskadierendem Nachhall, mäandert dazwischen wie ein weiterer Duft von weither. Hoppers fuzzige Klangwolken sind der Stoff, aus dem Cloud 9 geballt ist. Coxhills Swing kann einen entführen in das New Orleans eines Paralleluniversums, nichts ist hier wie man es kennt. ‚Figure Eight‘ hat ganz klar Jon Hassells Possible Worlds vor dem inneren Auge. Diese Exotica lässt durch ‚noise‘ und ‚void‘ hindurch etwas Höheres und Besseres durchschimmern. Dass Rock + Improvisation weniger ist als die Summe seiner Teile, ist übrigens nur Smalltalk, an dem man einen Schmock erkennt." [Bad Alchemy]
"An all-star line-up convened and recorded for a BBC radio project, subsequently radically reworked by Hugh Hopper. These are clear, defined and shapely improvisations, music rather than noise based, invoking the best of the ‘70s rock- improvisational approaches; genre-free and structurally-minded. Robert appears in an unfamiliar role, playing trumpet throughout, and everyone is on top form. A rarity in these times, this is deep rooted music that grows with listening." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| CLEMENTI, ALDO |
Collage |
LP |
Alga Marghen presents the previously unreleased Collage 2 and Collage 3 (Dies irae) for magnetic tape, both realized at the Studio di Fonologia Muisicale RAI in Milan with the technical collaboration of Marino Zuccheri. These pieces are precious testimonials to Aldo Clementi's intense and ongoing interest in electronic music in the 1960s. The electronic composition Collage 2 dates from 1960. It was the first experiment with electronic music for Clementi whose original and consistent adherence to structuralism is reflected in several of his instrumental works written around that time. The first idea of Collage 3 dates back to 1966, in the form of a short electronic collage on the Beatles' song "Michelle." The composer wanted to replace old concepts and clichés which had become popular and common, through the use of "natural wells of timbre, live and organic, springing from a world of symmetry and fixed blocks." This original idea underwent a drastic transformation when the RAI (the Italian radio) commissioned Clementi to write a longer work. To his initial desire to start from scratch was added the problem of a longer duration. It was only when Clementi had almost completed the piece that he gave it its final title of "Dies irae," owing to the extreme tension that accompanied its composition.
###############
Having already issued some incredible LP by Gavin Bryars, Phill Niblock, Damião Experiença, and Hans KRUSI in 2023, Alga Marghen returns with an absolute stunner, “Collage”, dedicated to seminal Italian composer Aldo Clementi.
Comprising two previously unreleased works for magnetic tape - “Collage 2” (1960) and “Collage 3 (Dies Irae)” (1967) - both of huge historical importance, alongside a brand new rendering from 2022 of the composer’s brilliant “Fantasia su roBErto FABbriCiAni” - a work composed for flute and magnetic tape in between 1980 and 1981 - the importance of this beautiful LP can’t be overstated; bringing to light a previously inaccessible period of the great Italian composer’s career, and illuminating a crucial body of work at the heights of 20th Century musical Neo-Avantgarde.
Aldo Clementi
“Collage”
(LP)
Over the course of nearly three decades of activity, the Italian imprint, Alga Marghen, has continuously cast light into the shadows of historical sound practice, offering particular focus to underappreciated artefacts at the juncture of visual art, sound-art, experimental music, and sound-poetry. With each subsequent release, the label has helped to reform our understanding of 20th Century, and the voices that made it what it was. Over the years, they’ve brought forth an unprecedented range of early and archival material by seminal composers like Charlemagne Palestine, Walter Marchetti, Philip Corner, Henri Chopin, Robert Ashley, David Behrman, Max Neuhaus, Éliane Radigue, and numerous others. Further this mission, their latest, Aldo Clementi's “Collage”, presents some of the most extreme musics ever issued by the label, at the same level as Robert Ashley's “Wolfman”, Max Neuhaus' “Fontana-Mix Feed” or Philip Corner's “Oracle”. Representing an entirely singular sound and approach to tape music that was unique to Clementi alone, once again Alga Marghen has cracked it wide open and rewritten our understanding of the history of sound.
Born in 1925 in Catania, Sicily, Aldo Clementi began his piano studies at the age of thirteen, for which he immediately showed great promise. Three short years later, in 1941, he embarked upon the study of composition under Alfredo Sangiorgi (a student of Arnold Schoenberg) who introduced him to the twelve-tone technique, leading to his attendance of the Rome Conservatory and Darmstadt. In 1956, Clementi met the Italian-born, German conductor, composer, and teacher, Bruno Maderna, attending the Studio of Phonology in Milan - the electronic music studio (RAI) founded by Maderna and Luciano Berio in 1955 - which instigated a decisive turning point in his career and work. It was there that he composed two key works in electronic music - “Collage 2” (1960) and “Collage 3 (Dies Irae)” (1967), issued here by Alga Marghen for the first time.
While Clementi would become primarily known for pieces, composed for acoustic instruments, that were characterized by a calm, consistent sound, with their materiality rooted in a unity of concept and procedure - lacking highs, lows, and any sense of forward movement - that became almost self-generative, closely connected to the approaches of Pittura Informale, his early endeavors in electronics and tape music remain among his most important works. Despite having only rarely been encountered since, in 1961 “Collage 2” was presented at the Accademia Filarmonica Romana in Rome, and subsequently won the International Society for Contemporary Music’s prestigious competition that year.
Realized at the Studio di Fonologia Musicale RAI in Milan in 1960, employing the technical collaboration of Marino Zuccheri, Aldo Clementi’s “Collage 2” was the composer’s first experiment with electronic music, about which he explained: “The title and the technique, both of the same name, are the result of my having conceived the work in terms of compositional planes created independently and later superimposed; this gives rise to absorption or emergence, intersection or isolation, all absolutely and deliberately unpredictable. The difficulties implicit in the acoustics, and consequently in the effect, of this kind of treatment, are taken for granted and accepted from the start”. The result is striking; a bumbling expanse of textures and muted tones that foreshadow (and possibly lay the groundwork for) his subsequent development of techniques that would render the sound, lacking highs, lows, and any sense of forward movement, for which he would become famed, illuminating a far more pointed and arguably aggressive sense of pop possibility for the conceptual framework.
Conceived in 1966 as an electronic collage of the Beatles’ song “Michelle”, and realized the following year, also at Studio di Fonologia Musicale RAI in Milan, with the technical collaboration of Marino Zuccheri, in from a markedly different root, “Collage 3” encounters Clementi endeavoring to replace old concepts and clichés through the use of “natural wells of timbre, live and organic, springing from a world of symmetry and fixed blocks”. The outcome, while clearly a work of sound collage, renders the composer’s source material virtually unrecognizable in a swirling, shattered expanse, the extreme tension of which compelled Clementi to add the words “Dies irae” ("the Day of Wrath”) to the title, in a strange and fascinating reference to the idiom of Requiem Mass.
The final piece on Alga Marghen’s “Collage” LP is “Fantasia su roBErto FABbriCiAni”, composed by Clementi in 1982, and thus offering a fascinating counterpoint to its predecessors, establishing a point of contact between his early electronic pieces and more well know acoustic works, and illuminating the enduring engagement with electronic process that stretched across his career. Composed for flute and magnetic tape, the piece is based on the notes corresponding to the letters in Fabbriciani’s name according to the German musical nomenclature (B flat, E, F, A, B flat, C, A). Describing the ideas at the root of the work, Clementi stated: “My stylistic purpose was to create a delirious labyrinth around the solo instrument like an enormous growth of vegetation that chokes out a little plant…”. The result, rendered here in a brand new realization, recorded live in 2022 by Alvise Vidolin, is a remarkable meeting of conceptual rigor - where the idea is the generative drive - and complex structural notions of composing. Against haunting sheets of dissonant tonality, a flute traces through the notes established by pieces conception, floating above in flirtations with melody that never fully form.
Truly amazing on creative and conceptual terms, and engrossing in its sonorities, Alga Marghen has done an hugely important work with their issue of Aldo Clementi’s “Collage”, illuminating a little-known aspect of his output, and delivering this seminal voice of Italian Modernism to an entirely new generation of listeners. Ten out of ten and impossible to recommend enough.
SOUNDOHM
|
2023 |
€22.50 |
|
| CLEW OF THESEUS |
The Death Urge |
LP |
"Two long tracks of organic, brooding drone with raw, darker undertones. Bleak and unsettling ambiances with a distinct oppressive, monotone edge. A comment on the nihilistic state of the world today. Side B a re-release of one of the tracks from the very limited tour tape from 2009. Edition of 215 copies in printed brown cardboard sleeves with insert." [label info]
|
2011 |
€17.50 |
|
| CLOSING THE ETERNITY & AD LUX TENEBRAE |
Nearby Being |
CD |
Collaboration des durch die Drone 7" hoffentlich etwas bekannter gewordenen sibirischen Projekts CLOSING THE ETERNITY mit den uns bisher unbekannten AD LUX TENEBRAE, der "cosmic black hole" Sound von CTE gewinnt dadurch an Variation. Hier wurde ausschliesslich mit asiatischen Original-Instrumenten gearbeitet, also Glocken, Gongs, Klangschalen, das Ergebnis ist aber weitaus droniger & dark ambienter, als z.B. bei HATI...
Sehr behutsam umgesetzt ergeben sich Obertöne & Resonanzen, die manchmal fast wie wispernde Stimmen klingen, und man kann sich ganz den Schwällen von sanft vibrierenden Drone-Sounds hingeben, die sich in langsamen Wellen ausbreiten...
"Wonderful cooperation of two Uralian projects CLOSING THE ETERNITY and AD LUX TENEBRAE. Fascinating ritual shamanic drone ambient changing your consciousness. Real delicacy for lovers of Alio Die, Troum, Sostrah Tinnitus... Limited edition of 500 copies in digisleeve." [label info]
|
2006 |
€13.50 |
|
| CLUB OF ROME |
Grosse Statik |
CD |
Asmus Tietchens is a sound artist and composer from Hamburg, Germany. He got interested in Musique Concrete by listening to a German radio programme when he was 10 years old. In 1965, at the age of 18, Asmus started experimenting with tape loops and turned them into musical collages. Soon, the use of synthesizers was added. In 1980 his debut album Nachtstücke was released, produced by Peter Baumann of Tangerine Dream. This was soon followed by a series of albums of electronic pop music for the Sky label, home of many Krautrock bands. Tietchens often uses special source materials for his compositions such as water (Seuchengebiete), human voices (Von Mund zu Mund), paper (Papier ist geduldig). He is associated with the Industrial music scene through his collaborations and releases on labels such as United Dairies, Esplendor Geometrico or Dom Records. Tietchens never studied composition, he has no academic background, everything he does is self taught or learning by doing. Nevertheless, he was professor for sound design in Hamburg in recent years. Club of Rome was a pseudonym for Asmus Tietchens used on this cassette only release on ADN Records, 1985.
https://www.klanggalerie.com/gg447 /
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NM7Hh0UwHc
|
2023 |
€15.00 |
|
| CLUETT, SETH |
Objects of Memory |
CD |
"beneath the fabricating and universal writing of technology, opaque and stubborn places remain . . . hidden in customs, rites, and spatial practices . . . only fragments in language . . . like the deteriorating pages of a book” - Michel de Certeau, The Practice of Everyday Life
1. objects in stillness for bassoon, viola, guitar, percussion, and four sine tones (2006). Clogs: Bryce Dessner, Rachael Elliot, Thomas Kozumplik, and Padma Newsome.
2. a radiance scored with shadow for amplified paper, bowed vibraphone, bass drum, and compressed air (2007). So Percussion: Douglas Perkins, Adam Sliwinski, Jason Treuting, and Lawson White.
3. a murmur which redoubles for three guitars, electric bass, and four sine tones (2006).
4. doleros (audio tourism at ringing rocks) reclaimed building materials, steel, baler twine, speaker cones, light, and 12.1-channel audio (2008). Catch Guitar Quartet: Wiek Hijmans, Seth Josel, Patricio Wang, and Mark Haanstra.
5. untitled (objects of memory) live performance at NYC Sound Festival, Centre d’Arts Plastiques Contemporains/Musée d’Art Contemporain de Bordeaux, France.
Seth Cluett (b. 1976, Troy, NY) is an artist, performer, and composer whose work ranges from photography, and drawing to video, sound installation, concert music, and critical writing. Engaging the boundary between the auditory and other senses, his work is marked by a detailed attention to perception and to sound’s role in the creation of a sense of place and the experience of time. The apparent tranquility of Cluett’s work – at once gentle and un-nerving – is concerned with the rapidly shifting sensory landscape of technological development and urbanization." [Credits]
"These works occupy a position between an expanded notion of composition and a gallery-based art practice. The content of the works presented on this disc produce a slow series of gestures that give the illusion of stillness amidst a texture of continually developing material. The central concern in all of these pieces (the three fully scored works, the installation documentation, and the live-performance) is the construction of a sound world that is able to be environmental rather than temporal, proceeding slowly enough that it might be explored without the anxiety that it will move away too quickly. Like much of my output, I am interested in providing the listener with material that allows for an active agency of perception and that affords the ability to move through the sound autonomously. Whether the work is gallery-based, conceptual, or created for a concert hall, I am interested in viewing simple, everyday actions at extreme magnification, acknowledging failure by amplifying impossible tasks, and exploring the role of memory in forms that respect the contract between the composer, performer, and listener." [Seth Cluett]
www.lineimprint.com
"Less productive is Seth Cluett in terms of releases, or perhaps they escaped my attention. Cluett's work is also minimal, but also more 'traditional'. By this I mean that sometimes his work deals with a variety of instruments and players. More like a classical composer that is. Take for instance 'Objects In Stillness', which is a Niblock like piece for bassoon, viola, guitar, percussion and four sine tones. The next two pieces are alike: minimal, classical, introspective and simply beautiful. The other two pieces here are much longer and don't seem to involve any traditional instruments. Yet this is no break with the previous three pieces. In 'Dolores' he uses 'reclaimed building materials, steel, baler twine, speaker cones, light and 12.1 channel audio'. While there is a soft percussive element to the music, there is also the low humming bass sound, that over the course of the piece changes towards a more mid-ranged sound and a bit louder. If anything, I was reminded of the music of Steve Roden here. Sine waves also play a big role in the final and longest piece 'Untitled (Objects Of Memory)', which also uses cassette dictaphones, circuit-modified portable cassette player and controlled feedback. Despite it being the longest piece, it seems to have the least sound information, but its an excellent piece. Almost alike Alvin Lucier, but just with that extra bit to make it more 'musical'. This could have been a fine (if not short) CD by itself. This CD may serve as a fine introduction in case Cluett is a new name for you." [FDW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| CODACHROM |
Plastinka |
10inch |
"First-class electronic-space-pop with retro flavor. A gem for fans of analogue electronics, old drum machines, vocoders...Two talents of current European electronic music together on a special project.
CODACHROM is the duo formed in 2012 by Eugene Voronovski and Miguel A Ruiz, from Madrid.
Voronovski is one of the most renowned musicians of the current Russian electronic music scene.
One of his most acclaimed projects is Cisfinitum, within the so-called industrial-drone-ambient scene.
He collaborated with Miguel A Ruiz in the past on the amazing "Ornaments" CD (Longs Arms, 2007).
Ruiz is one of the most noted Spanish electronic musicians since the early 80s. CODACHROM is a new electronic-rhythmic project, born out of the exchange of sound files between these two musicians, created with analogue drum machines, assorted synthesizers, modified video game consoles, vocoder and Eugene's processed violin.
Computers have only been used in the editing of the final sound but not in the composition process, which gives this record a freshness and a completely retro feel reminiscent of the electronic pop of pioneering artists, 70s space electronic disco music and 80s tecno-pop.
PLASTINKA is the perfect music for a space-themed party. It's inspired by moon craters, especially the great crater Tsiolkovskiy, located in the far side of the Moon, to the west of crater Gagarin.
That's where, from time to time, these two talents of current European music gather up and turn on their machines, offering spontaneous live shows to strange beings that rise up from the nearby craters.
With a bit of luck, the flickering lights of their synthesizers can be seen through a telescope from our planet." [label info]
www.geometrikrecords.com
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| COH |
To beat |
CD |
"Recorded May 2013 - January 2014. All music and lyrics by Ivan Pavlov / COH. Picking up right where the last track on the previous COH release RETRO-2038 left off, the new album is focused on the use of beats within the similar aesthetics. While most of the previous COH records openly shy away from accentuated beat structures and instead build up their rhythmical content by layering waves and pulses, every track on To Beat is padded with just that - beats. The music transition is illustrated in the album's artwork, displaying transformation of a sine-wave, a tone, into a waveform which is beat. This mathematical progression is made audible in the album's opening track Wave To Beat. The rest of the album, however, steers clear from dull math and presents the beats in their more traditional context of what could be referred to as adventurous dance music, taking the listener through various examples of beat use with the sense of playfulness and joy. The final piece, Beat to wave, wraps it up by dissolving a simplistic post-techno piece into a tonal chord. This brings back the album's main idea, where tone and beat are essentially one and the same, like vowels and consonants in a language, like Yin and Yang in music." [label info]
www.editionsmego.com
"I enter the airlock of TO BEAT: an isolated zone away from the logic and consequence of a linear life, where rebellion and transformation materialise in time and then dissipate into the files of forgotten memory. The opening track tracks the compression of a constant sine tone into sharp punctuations of beat – dynamic curvature compacts into sheer right-angles. For the following 45 minutes, the eternal, fluid unwind of being is chopped up into square and unambiguous blocks of rhythm; life pixelates momentarily, and the endless string of insatiable curiosity becomes a finite ribbon of understanding I can hold in my hands. Once it’s over I shall never speak of it again, taking the airlock out the other side via “BEAT TO WAVE”.
The album’s interior is a strange emulation of dance music. The melodies are tangible and thick – riding 4/4 like an unforgettable congregative chant (it feels somewhat Eastern at points, although I feel ignorant thinking that) – yet the beat emphasis falls in eerie places, causing my body to jut out in a series of unnatural angles. It’s an inhuman sound but far from clinical, and while the combination of hum and pulse evoke a sort of chorus of stable spacecraft monitoring equipment, none of these tracks are sheened with mathematical precision; there are bubbles of warm mid-frequency and the sliding voices of alien worship, placing TO BEAT in an error void between abstract calculation and the music of corporeal organisms.
There are moments that fling themselves into the lust of nightclub strobes: the sterile pump of blood around a dancefloor, puppeteered by rhythms that speak to the instinct to move. For instance, “ungear moi” sends the drip of neon sweat into half-time as rave synthesisers flit between subterranean corners like lasers, or perhaps surveillance cameras. And then there’s “Moonviewhigh”, whose mixture of major-key colour and geometric certainty depicts it as a Rubik’s cube rotating in front of my face – a flicker of squares in digital contrast, punctuated by a sloping reverb that mockingly emulates the spaces that exist beyond TO BEAT’s four titanium walls. It’s a simulated reality, and to step inside is to subvert gravity and co-ordination for just a short while." [ATTN:Magazine] |
2014 |
€13.50 |
|
| COIL |
Musick to play in the Dark |
CD |
Few groups in recent history forged as confounding and alchemical a body of work as Coil, the partnership of Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson and John Balance. From album to album and phase to phase their recordings spelunk perplexing depths of esoteric industrial, occult electronics, and drugged poetry, both embodying and alienating parallel currents of their peers. The late 1990's in particular were a fertile era for the duo, embracing chance, chaos, and collaboration, enhanced by recent advancements in synthesis and sampling. Fittingly, at the summit of the decade's long, intoxicated arc, their divergent strains of interstitial ritual congealed into one of Coil's most celebrated and hallucinatory creations: Musick To Play In The Dark.
Convening at Balance and Christopherson's vast Victorian house / studio in the coastal town of Weston-super-Mare, they began a series of ambitious sessions aided by inner circle associates Thighpaulsandra and Drew McDowall. Although the creative process was admittedly “iterative” and “a bit of a drug blur,” the results are astoundingly inventive and well realized, winding through shades of divination dirge, wormhole kosmische, noir lounge, ominous humor, and black mass downtempo, guided by Balance's cryptic lunar muse, which he announces on the opening track: “This is moon musick / in the light of the moon.”
What's most remarkable about the album 20 years after its release is how brazen, insular, and unpredictable it still feels. The songs follow an allusive, altered state logic all their own, warping from microscopic ripples of glitch and breath to widescreen warlock psychedelia and back again, as much hyper-sensory as inter-dimensional. Even within a catalog as eclectic as Coil's, Musick is a mystifying collection, oneiric evocations of desire, decadence, dinner jazz, and dietary advice, far beyond the pale of whatever gothic industrial ambiguity birthed such a journey.
The record closes with a slow, starlit shuffle, bathed in seething sweeps of spectral texture and high cathedral keys, like approaching the altar of some arcane temple. As the trance thickens Balance's voice rises, processed into an increasingly eerie, gaseous haze, but he resists these unseen forces, intent on delivering a final sermon: “Through hissy mists of history / the dreamer is still dreaming / the dreamer is still dreaming.”
Reissued for the first time in over 20 years, now on double vinyl LP with the complete, unedited versions of each song and an exclusive "D-side" vinyl art etching. Packaged in a sturdy matte jacket with embossed lettering and spot-gloss design elements. The compact disc version mirrors this design, and comes housed in thick tip-on "LP style" package. Both formats are completely remastered by engineer Josh Bonati with restored artwork and layout by Nathaniel Young - all under the project supervision of Drew McDowall and Thighpaulsandra.
https://www.daisrecords.com/products/coil-musick-to-play-in-the-dark
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Theme from the Gay Man's Guide to Safer Sex |
LP |
" ‘Musique Pour La Danse’ is proud to present Coil's unreleased soundtrack for the VHS only,
pre-internet, sexual education documentary entitled "The Gay Man's Guide to Safer Sex" re-
leased in 1992. Members for this project are John Balance, Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson
and Danny Hyde.
The OST, to quote John Balance's interview for Compulsion Online, "is [a] slightly new agey, progressive house type thing". Another way to approach it is as a delightful collection of balearic beats, smoking jazz not far removed from Badalamenti's work with David Lynch, somewhat of an ambient house album for your home listening and early morning sunrise dances, Coil style. Taken from the original masters provided by Danny Hyde, "The Gay Man's Guide...” features a new sexy edit of the main theme.
Bonuses: "Nasa-Arab" and "Omlagus Garfungiloops" are taken from the 1992 CD only "Stolen and Contaminated Songs", both being original versions of the radically reworked (for the OST) "Nasa-Arab 2" and "Exploding Frogs" in order to balance the whole album and extend the listening pleasure.
Tracks:
A1 Coil - Alternative Theme From Gay Man's Guide To Safer Sex (End Version)
A2 Coil - Exploding Frogs
A3 Coil - Nasa Arab 2
B1 Coil - Nasa Arab
B2 Coil - Omlagus Garfungiloops
B3 Coil - Theme From The Gay Man's Guide To Safer Sex" [label info]
"Next in Coil’s archival excavations is their soundtrack to a pre-internet, VHS-only sex ed documentary released in 1992. Released from masters with the blessing of Danny Hyde (Jhon and Sleazy’s right hand man and go-to engineer), this first proper edition of the soundtrack features a newly reworked “sexy” edit of the main theme along with bonus reworks of ‘Nasa-Arab’ and ‘Omlagus Garfungiloops’ which appeared in the soundtrack to ‘Gay Man’s…’ as well as on 1992’s CD-only ‘Stolen And Contaminated Songs.’
In a way that Coil would shed with later recordings, ‘Gay Man’s Guide to Safer Sex’ sounds very much of its time, melding downtempo rhythms with smoky atmospheres in a way comparable to fellow ambient travellers such as The Orb and FSOL as contemporaneous material by Lynch & Badalamenti or even The Wildbunch, essentially nailing a sort of Balearic backroom or afterhours style.
The big highlights are the EP’s balmiest and jazziest bits, namely the dusky blue strut of ‘Alternative Theme From Gay Men’s Guide To Safer Sex’ that opens the EP, along with the iridescent shimmies of ‘Exploding Frogs’ and its rework ‘Omlagus Garfungiloops’, which could almost be a fantasy collaboration between Japanese Electronics-era Heinrich Mueller and Angelo Badalamenti at his most snake-hipped and winking.
While we’re not certain of the soundtrack’s efficacy in its purpose - it remains a unique piece of the impossible jigsaw puzzle that is Coil’s catalogue, and a fine throwback to early ‘90s ambient/downtempo styles." [Boomkat]
|
2019 |
€22.50 |
|
|
Theme from the Gay Man's Guide to Safer Sex |
CD |
" ‘Musique Pour La Danse’ is proud to present Coil's unreleased soundtrack for the VHS only,
pre-internet, sexual education documentary entitled "The Gay Man's Guide to Safer Sex" re-
leased in 1992. Members for this project are John Balance, Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson
and Danny Hyde.
The OST, to quote John Balance's interview for Compulsion Online, "is [a] slightly new agey, progressive house type thing". Another way to approach it is as a delightful collection of balearic beats, smoking jazz not far removed from Badalamenti's work with David Lynch, somewhat of an ambient house album for your home listening and early morning sunrise dances, Coil style. Taken from the original masters provided by Danny Hyde, "The Gay Man's Guide...” features a new sexy edit of the main theme.
Bonuses: "Nasa-Arab" and "Omlagus Garfungiloops" are taken from the 1992 CD only "Stolen and Contaminated Songs", both being original versions of the radically reworked (for the OST) "Nasa-Arab 2" and "Exploding Frogs" in order to balance the whole album and extend the listening pleasure.
Tracks:
A1 Coil - Alternative Theme From Gay Man's Guide To Safer Sex (End Version)
A2 Coil - Exploding Frogs
A3 Coil - Nasa Arab 2
B1 Coil - Nasa Arab
B2 Coil - Omlagus Garfungiloops
B3 Coil - Theme From The Gay Man's Guide To Safer Sex" [label info]
"Next in Coil’s archival excavations is their soundtrack to a pre-internet, VHS-only sex ed documentary released in 1992. Released from masters with the blessing of Danny Hyde (Jhon and Sleazy’s right hand man and go-to engineer), this first proper edition of the soundtrack features a newly reworked “sexy” edit of the main theme along with bonus reworks of ‘Nasa-Arab’ and ‘Omlagus Garfungiloops’ which appeared in the soundtrack to ‘Gay Man’s…’ as well as on 1992’s CD-only ‘Stolen And Contaminated Songs.’
In a way that Coil would shed with later recordings, ‘Gay Man’s Guide to Safer Sex’ sounds very much of its time, melding downtempo rhythms with smoky atmospheres in a way comparable to fellow ambient travellers such as The Orb and FSOL as contemporaneous material by Lynch & Badalamenti or even The Wildbunch, essentially nailing a sort of Balearic backroom or afterhours style.
The big highlights are the EP’s balmiest and jazziest bits, namely the dusky blue strut of ‘Alternative Theme From Gay Men’s Guide To Safer Sex’ that opens the EP, along with the iridescent shimmies of ‘Exploding Frogs’ and its rework ‘Omlagus Garfungiloops’, which could almost be a fantasy collaboration between Japanese Electronics-era Heinrich Mueller and Angelo Badalamenti at his most snake-hipped and winking.
While we’re not certain of the soundtrack’s efficacy in its purpose - it remains a unique piece of the impossible jigsaw puzzle that is Coil’s catalogue, and a fine throwback to early ‘90s ambient/downtempo styles." [Boomkat]
|
2019 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Sara Dale's Sensual Massage |
do-LP |
"Sara Dale's Sensual Massage was a delightful erotic video with a mystic soundtrack by Coil. Quite unusual for the band dreamy ambient, almost spa-relaxed soft harmonies, bland tribal rhythms, chimes, and birdsong but still with dark mysterious and inimitable Coil musick's charm. However, the second part of the album explores more rhythmic structures that remind 'Gay Man's Guide...' soundtrack. Besides the OST recordings, the edition includes bonus tracks from the "Basilisk prod.'s" era: “Theme From Blue”, and grandiose "The Hills Are Alive" so badly wanted on vinyl. Artwork by Steven Stapleton. Mastering by Martin Bowes." [label info]
"Coil’s gaping vaults give up their esoteric erotic massage parlour soundtrack supplemented by tracks from 1993’s ‘Themes For Derek Jarman’s Blue’. This is Coil at their most beautiful - in places best compared to Art Of Noise's 'Moments in Love'...
After recently cropping up on one of the Threshold Archive CDs, Coil’s seven tracks of creamy new age parlour music make a kinda incredible release on their own, with the culminating cuts for Derek Jarman making for a very happy ending in certain Coil fan’s fantasies. For the most, this is Coil doing sensual New Age music in a very early ‘90s style, all choral harmonies and blushing digital pads primed for your comedown or floatation tank session, but edged with that unfathomable sense of eeriness that’s practically made Coil a byword for all things queered and quasi-mystic.
It gets very weird when the masseuses’ hands turns to tentacle with the plasmic ooze of ‘Part 5’, and in the mix of raga drone and sleazy rhythmic creep in ‘Part 6’, with the set all arranged to lead up to a tantric disco noise climax as only these guys could in the pair of Jarman soundtrack parts recalling their work on the sort sibling soundtrack release, ‘Gay Man’s Guide…’." [Boomkat]
|
2020 |
€34.00 |
|
|
Musick to play in the Dark (yellow vinyl) |
do-LP |
"Few groups in recent history forged as confounding and alchemical a body of work as Coil, the partnership of Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson and John Balance. From album to album and phase to phase their recordings spelunk perplexing depths of esoteric industrial, occult electronics, and drugged poetry, both embodying and alienating parallel currents of their peers. The late 1990's in particular were a fertile era for the duo, embracing chance, chaos, and collaboration, enhanced by recent advancements in synthesis and sampling. Fittingly, at the summit of the decade's long, intoxicated arc, their divergent strains of interstitial ritual congealed into one of Coil's most celebrated and hallucinatory creations: Musick To Play In The Dark.
Convening at Balance and Christopherson's vast Victorian house / studio in the coastal town of Weston-super-Mare, they began a series of ambitious sessions aided by inner circle associates Thighpaulsandra and Drew McDowall. Although the creative process was admittedly “iterative” and “a bit of a drug blur,” the results are astoundingly inventive and well realized, winding through shades of divination dirge, wormhole kosmische, noir lounge, ominous humor, and black mass downtempo, guided by Balance's cryptic lunar muse, which he announces on the opening track: “This is moon musick / in the light of the moon.”
What's most remarkable about the album 20 years after its release is how brazen, insular, and unpredictable it still feels. The songs follow an allusive, altered state logic all their own, warping from microscopic ripples of glitch and breath to widescreen warlock psychedelia and back again, as much hyper-sensory as inter-dimensional. Even within a catalog as eclectic as Coil's, Musick is a mystifying collection, oneiric evocations of desire, decadence, dinner jazz, and dietary advice, far beyond the pale of whatever gothic industrial ambiguity birthed such a journey.
The record closes with a slow, starlit shuffle, bathed in seething sweeps of spectral texture and high cathedral keys, like approaching the altar of some arcane temple. As the trance thickens Balance's voice rises, processed into an increasingly eerie, gaseous haze, but he resists these unseen forces, intent on delivering a final sermon: “Through hissy mists of history / the dreamer is still dreaming / the dreamer is still dreaming.”
Reissued for the first time in over 20 years, now on double vinyl LP with the complete, unedited versions of each song and an exclusive "D-side" vinyl art etching. Packaged in a sturdy matte jacket with embossed lettering and spot-gloss design elements. The compact disc version mirrors this design, and comes housed in thick tip-on "LP style" package. Both formats are completely remastered by engineer Josh Bonati with restored artwork and layout by Nathaniel Young - all under the project supervision of Drew McDowall and Thighpaulsandra."
https://www.daisrecords.com/products/coil-musick-to-play-in-the-dark
|
2020 |
€32.00 |
|
|
Musick to play in the Dark (black vinyl) |
do-LP |
"Few groups in recent history forged as confounding and alchemical a body of work as Coil, the partnership of Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson and John Balance. From album to album and phase to phase their recordings spelunk perplexing depths of esoteric industrial, occult electronics, and drugged poetry, both embodying and alienating parallel currents of their peers. The late 1990's in particular were a fertile era for the duo, embracing chance, chaos, and collaboration, enhanced by recent advancements in synthesis and sampling. Fittingly, at the summit of the decade's long, intoxicated arc, their divergent strains of interstitial ritual congealed into one of Coil's most celebrated and hallucinatory creations: Musick To Play In The Dark.
Convening at Balance and Christopherson's vast Victorian house / studio in the coastal town of Weston-super-Mare, they began a series of ambitious sessions aided by inner circle associates Thighpaulsandra and Drew McDowall. Although the creative process was admittedly “iterative” and “a bit of a drug blur,” the results are astoundingly inventive and well realized, winding through shades of divination dirge, wormhole kosmische, noir lounge, ominous humor, and black mass downtempo, guided by Balance's cryptic lunar muse, which he announces on the opening track: “This is moon musick / in the light of the moon.”
What's most remarkable about the album 20 years after its release is how brazen, insular, and unpredictable it still feels. The songs follow an allusive, altered state logic all their own, warping from microscopic ripples of glitch and breath to widescreen warlock psychedelia and back again, as much hyper-sensory as inter-dimensional. Even within a catalog as eclectic as Coil's, Musick is a mystifying collection, oneiric evocations of desire, decadence, dinner jazz, and dietary advice, far beyond the pale of whatever gothic industrial ambiguity birthed such a journey.
The record closes with a slow, starlit shuffle, bathed in seething sweeps of spectral texture and high cathedral keys, like approaching the altar of some arcane temple. As the trance thickens Balance's voice rises, processed into an increasingly eerie, gaseous haze, but he resists these unseen forces, intent on delivering a final sermon: “Through hissy mists of history / the dreamer is still dreaming / the dreamer is still dreaming.”
Reissued for the first time in over 20 years, now on double vinyl LP with the complete, unedited versions of each song and an exclusive "D-side" vinyl art etching. Packaged in a sturdy matte jacket with embossed lettering and spot-gloss design elements. The compact disc version mirrors this design, and comes housed in thick tip-on "LP style" package. Both formats are completely remastered by engineer Josh Bonati with restored artwork and layout by Nathaniel Young - all under the project supervision of Drew McDowall and Thighpaulsandra."
https://www.daisrecords.com/products/coil-musick-to-play-in-the-dark |
2020 |
€30.00 |
|
|
Love's Secret Domain (GOLD) |
3 x LP |
In 1991 Coil released the third of their early classic full-length albums "Love's Secret Domain", seemingly casting aside the gloom and funereal beauty of its predecessors in favour of a painstakingly multi-layered hallucinogenic electronic beast, which unlike some of their fellow ex-industrial contemporaries' releases of the time wasn't an attempt at easy accessibility or (the-gods-forbid) danceability, but a vibrating psychedelic masterpiece unrivalled in their discography and still a landmark album.
To mark its 30 year anniversary Infinite Fog are beyond proud to present an expanded, fully remastered re-release of this fan favourite available for the first time ever in its entirety on vinyl with 10 rare and mostly unreleased tracks and alternative versions from the period added as a bonus to a luxurious 3LP/2CD set.
Love's Secret Domain contains among its many highlights the Lynchian William Blake tribute of its title track and the intoxicating single "Windowpane", original versions of the later Coil live staple "Teenage Lightning" and the majestically warped classicisms of "Chaostrophy". Marc Almond guests on the typhonian "Titan Arch" and This Heat's Charles Hayward provides some amazing drum stylings.
This album is Coil pushing their sound ideas and probably their sanity to their very limits. Beyond the iconic Steven Stapleton cover art here reproduced in unseen definition the doors of perception still open wide for both long-term Coil aficionados and new-comers to this supremely innovative release to explore unknown depths. The long-overdue re-release illustrates how far ahead of the curve Coil were with the sounds on this album, which still sounds as fresh and mind-blowing as it did back in the early 90s.
https://infinitefog.bandcamp.com/album/loves-secret-domain-30th-anniversary-edition
|
2021 |
€49.50 |
|
|
Love's Secret Domain |
do-CD |
In 1991 Coil released the third of their early classic full-length albums "Love's Secret Domain", seemingly casting aside the gloom and funereal beauty of its predecessors in favour of a painstakingly multi-layered hallucinogenic electronic beast, which unlike some of their fellow ex-industrial contemporaries' releases of the time wasn't an attempt at easy accessibility or (the-gods-forbid) danceability, but a vibrating psychedelic masterpiece unrivalled in their discography and still a landmark album.
To mark its 30 year anniversary Infinite Fog are beyond proud to present an expanded, fully remastered re-release of this fan favourite available for the first time ever in its entirety on vinyl with 10 rare and mostly unreleased tracks and alternative versions from the period added as a bonus to a luxurious 3LP/2CD set.
Love's Secret Domain contains among its many highlights the Lynchian William Blake tribute of its title track and the intoxicating single "Windowpane", original versions of the later Coil live staple "Teenage Lightning" and the majestically warped classicisms of "Chaostrophy". Marc Almond guests on the typhonian "Titan Arch" and This Heat's Charles Hayward provides some amazing drum stylings.
This album is Coil pushing their sound ideas and probably their sanity to their very limits. Beyond the iconic Steven Stapleton cover art here reproduced in unseen definition the doors of perception still open wide for both long-term Coil aficionados and new-comers to this supremely innovative release to explore unknown depths. The long-overdue re-release illustrates how far ahead of the curve Coil were with the sounds on this album, which still sounds as fresh and mind-blowing as it did back in the early 90s.
https://infinitefog.bandcamp.com/album/loves-secret-domain-30th-anniversary-edition
|
2021 |
€24.00 |
|
|
The Ape of Naples |
3 x LP set |
"The Ape of Naples" is a deeply emotional and uniquely rewarding album. In its immediate accessibility it is somewhat reminiscent of Coil's mid-1980s classic "Horse Rotorvator" sharing that album's wild variety of sounds and styles as well as its overriding sombre mood. Originally released in 2005 and in many ways the band's ultimate swan song, it is now considered one of the go-to albums for introducing new listeners to the unparalleled magick of Coil. Compiled and released by Peter Christopherson one year after Jhonn Balance's tragic deadly fall, it includes reworkings of the live favourite "Amethyst Deceivers" and "Love Secret's Domain"'s "Teenage Lightning" as well as several songs originally intended for the ill-fated "Backwards" album like the haunting and preminiscent "Fire of the Mind" and the superb "Amber Rain". Other tracks were created using unfinished song ideas from around "Backwards", sampling tiny bits of Balance's live vocals from songs only ever performed in concert once like "Triple Sun". Using the lyrics of the theme tune for the 1970s BBC sit com series "Are you being served?" for the unbelievably haunting "Going up", this album's final track and the last song Coil ever performed live, is maybe the most poignant example of Balance's and Christopherson's method of turning base matter into pure sound gold, and like the title of the album, derived from an imaginary adult video an equally fine example of the often underappreciated humour of the boys.
Christopherson with the help of long-term sound wizard Danny Hyde and using some of the talent of Coil touring members managed to craft an album which feels and flows like a true Coil classic.
The Infinite Fog version is the third Coil record receiving the fully remastered and enhanced 3LP/2CD treatment supervised by Danny Hyde.
All of the original material has again been carefully and sympathetically remastered by Grammy-nominated engineer Jessica Thompson who has been previously lauded for her splendid job on its sister release "The New Backwards". Coil fans old and new will be thrilled over the inclusion of more than an hour's worth of 9 rare and largely unheard bonus tracks from Danny's vaults completing the set. The astounding design of the original box-set release is restored for the gatefold 3LP sleeve using the fully-licensed artwork by Ian Johnstone (making it easy to differentiate this new vinyl version from previous un-sanctioned LP releases using poor reproductions of the original CD art for the front cover), the CD will be available in two versions with the original and well-loved original CD cover art and for the first time using the former vinyl-only cover art.
If you do not yet own a physical copy of the "Ape of Naples", or if you always wanted an enhanced version of this masterpiece, there has never been a better time to make that wish come true.
Written & Produced by Coil & Danny Hyde.
Mastered by Jessica Thompson.
Front artwork by Ian Johnstone.
Artwork licensed from The Estate of Ian Johnstone.
Layout Oleg Galay.
https://infinitefog.bandcamp.com/album/the-ape-of-naples
|
2022 |
€46.00 |
|
|
The New Backwards (extended edition) |
do-CD |
"The New Backwards" was conceived by Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson in 2007, revisiting stray tracks which hadn't seemed to gel with the material he had chosen for the more somber "Ape of Naples" from 2005, COIL's initial posthumous release, a sort of requiem and a kiss-goodbye to his then recently deceased partner John Balance.
Significantly different to its sister release, this album collects the brilliantly chaotic and outrageously rhythmic material from the original sessions for the album that was begun as early as 1993 and had originally been conceptualised as the follow-up to "Love's Secret Domain". These songs are as diverse and wild as the places they originated from, partly infamously spawned in Sharon Tate's former home in the Hollywood Hills, the Nine Inch Nails home base in New Orleans and London's Swanyard, co-composed, remixed and restructured with the help of long-term friend Danny Hyde in Thailand, this collection has its own unique flow and an atmosphere not found on any other COIL release.
Both "AYOR" and "Backwards" had by the time the album was first released already become favourites in COIL's manic live performances. Some of the other tracks had only leaked in demo versions and are here presented updated and polished as Christopherson and Hyde intended them to be heard. It is interesting to consider Balance's vocal contributions, too. Whilst on the albums COIL did release at the time this material was first put aside ("Black Light District" and "ElpH") his voice is all but absent, his vocal performances and his lyric writing here are arguably more closely indebted to the previous "Love's Secret Domain" era, especially the epic "Copacaballa" is noteworthy in that respect.
The New Backwards" effectively became the final official COIL studio release of all new material whilst Peter was still alive and is here presented for the first time fully supervised by Danny Hyde, its co-creator.
The stunning cover uses a detail from artist Ian Johnstone's "Cubic Raven" painting, licensed from the estate of IJ..
It is high time to rediscover this timeless album with the Infinite Fog release, first time available on vinyl in its full form without 3 skipped tracks! Besides that boasting nine further tracks of previously unheard material from the same sessions, rough working stages and surprising remixes which will surely delight the dedicated COIL archaeologists, as they shine yet another light on the creative process and on what could have been.
credits
released March 30, 2022
Recorded at Swanyard, London and at Nothing Studios, New Orleans, 1996.
Thanks to everyone there, especially Trent Reznor who made it all possible.
Written & Produced by Coil & Danny Hyde.
Remixed by Peter Christopherson & Danny Hyde, Bangkok 2007.
For that session Coil were: Peter Christopherson, Jhonn Balance & Drew McDowall.
Mastered by Jessica Thompson.
Front artwork by Ian Johnstone.
Artwork licensed from The Estate of Ian Johnstone.
Layout Cold Graves and Oleg Galay.
https://infinitefog.bandcamp.com/album/the-new-backwards-extended-edition
|
2022 |
€26.00 |
|
|
Constant Shallowness leads to Evil |
do-LP |
"The first-ever official vinyl edition, completely remastered by Josh Bonati.
The turn of the millennium ushered in an apex visionary phase for English esoteric duo Coil. Relocating from the city to the coastal quiet of Weston-super-Mare freed them to follow even more fringe obsessions, fully untethered from peer influence. During a single six-month stretch in 2000 they released the devious underworld sequel to Music To Play In The Dark, arcane drone summit Queens Of The Circulating Library, and a malevolent hour-long synthesizer exorcism prophetically titled Constant Shallowness Leads To Evil. This latter work remains one of the group’s most miasmic and mind-expanding creations, on par with Time Machines – a sustained divination of shuddering, psychoactive noise, rippling with the motion sickness of an all-seeing eye.
Thighpaulsandra characterizes the album as “an exercise in brutality,” born from a thorny patch of his Serge modular unit that Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson found entrancing. Processing this sliver of electronics into a ravaged labyrinth was a trial and error process, aided by Christopherson’s visual sense of sound, stretching and manipulating it for maximum spatial disorientating. Frequencies nauseously crawl across the stereo field, burrowing into the ear like a sinister brainwashing experiment.
An outlier / centerpiece is the 13-minute alien tribalist sea shanty, “I Am The Green Child,” guided by John Balance’s sung-spoken free verse concerning vengeance, oblivion, and insanity, culminating in the memorable refrain, “We're swimming in a sea of occidental vomit.” But the rest of the record seethes in unhinged instrumental chaos, divided into 18 micro-movements of a composition called “Tunnel Of Goats.” Intended to scramble the functionality of a CD player’s shuffle mode, the piece throbs, thrashes, and flatlines in compressed frenzies of twisted synthesis, at the threshold of some bottomless purgatory, forbidding and unknown."
https://coilofficial.bandcamp.com/album/constant-shallowness-leads-to-evil
|
2022 |
€33.50 |
|
|
Constant Shallowness leads to Evil |
CD |
The turn of the millennium ushered in an apex visionary phase for English esoteric duo Coil. Relocating from the city to the coastal quiet of Weston-super-Mare freed them to follow even more fringe obsessions, fully untethered from peer influence. During a single six-month stretch in 2000 they released the devious underworld sequel to Music To Play In The Dark, arcane drone summit Queens Of The Circulating Library, and a malevolent hour-long synthesizer exorcism prophetically titled Constant Shallowness Leads To Evil. This latter work remains one of the group’s most miasmic and mind-expanding creations, on par with Time Machines – a sustained divination of shuddering, psychoactive noise, rippling with the motion sickness of an all-seeing eye.
Thighpaulsandra characterizes the album as “an exercise in brutality,” born from a thorny patch of his Serge modular unit that Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson found entrancing. Processing this sliver of electronics into a ravaged labyrinth was a trial and error process, aided by Christopherson’s visual sense of sound, stretching and manipulating it for maximum spatial disorientating. Frequencies nauseously crawl across the stereo field, burrowing into the ear like a sinister brainwashing experiment.
An outlier / centerpiece is the 13-minute alien tribalist sea shanty, “I Am The Green Child,” guided by John Balance’s sung-spoken free verse concerning vengeance, oblivion, and insanity, culminating in the memorable refrain, “We're swimming in a sea of occidental vomit.” But the rest of the record seethes in unhinged instrumental chaos, divided into 18 micro-movements of a composition called “Tunnel Of Goats.” Intended to scramble the functionality of a CD player’s shuffle mode, the piece throbs, thrashes, and flatlines in compressed frenzies of twisted synthesis, at the threshold of some bottomless purgatory, forbidding and unknown.
https://coilofficial.bandcamp.com/album/constant-shallowness-leads-to-evil
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
|
The Ape of Naples (White) |
3 x LP set |
"The Ape of Naples" is a deeply emotional and uniquely rewarding album. In its immediate accessibility it is somewhat reminiscent of Coil's mid-1980s classic "Horse Rotorvator" sharing that album's wild variety of sounds and styles as well as its overriding sombre mood. Originally released in 2005 and in many ways the band's ultimate swan song, it is now considered one of the go-to albums for introducing new listeners to the unparalleled magick of Coil. Compiled and released by Peter Christopherson one year after Jhonn Balance's tragic deadly fall, it includes reworkings of the live favourite "Amethyst Deceivers" and "Love Secret's Domain"'s "Teenage Lightning" as well as several songs originally intended for the ill-fated "Backwards" album like the haunting and preminiscent "Fire of the Mind" and the superb "Amber Rain". Other tracks were created using unfinished song ideas from around "Backwards", sampling tiny bits of Balance's live vocals from songs only ever performed in concert once like "Triple Sun". Using the lyrics of the theme tune for the 1970s BBC sit com series "Are you being served?" for the unbelievably haunting "Going up", this album's final track and the last song Coil ever performed live, is maybe the most poignant example of Balance's and Christopherson's method of turning base matter into pure sound gold, and like the title of the album, derived from an imaginary adult video an equally fine example of the often underappreciated humour of the boys.
Christopherson with the help of long-term sound wizard Danny Hyde and using some of the talent of Coil touring members managed to craft an album which feels and flows like a true Coil classic.
The Infinite Fog version is the third Coil record receiving the fully remastered and enhanced 3LP/2CD treatment supervised by Danny Hyde.
All of the original material has again been carefully and sympathetically remastered by Grammy-nominated engineer Jessica Thompson who has been previously lauded for her splendid job on its sister release "The New Backwards". Coil fans old and new will be thrilled over the inclusion of more than an hour's worth of 9 rare and largely unheard bonus tracks from Danny's vaults completing the set. The astounding design of the original box-set release is restored for the gatefold 3LP sleeve using the fully-licensed artwork by Ian Johnstone (making it easy to differentiate this new vinyl version from previous un-sanctioned LP releases using poor reproductions of the original CD art for the front cover), the CD will be available in two versions with the original and well-loved original CD cover art and for the first time using the former vinyl-only cover art.
If you do not yet own a physical copy of the "Ape of Naples", or if you always wanted an enhanced version of this masterpiece, there has never been a better time to make that wish come true.
Written & Produced by Coil & Danny Hyde.
Mastered by Jessica Thompson.
Front artwork by Ian Johnstone.
Artwork licensed from The Estate of Ian Johnstone.
Layout Oleg Galay.
https://infinitefog.bandcamp.com/album/the-ape-of-naples |
2022 |
€48.50 |
|
|
The Ape of Naples |
do-CD |
CDs come in a 6-panel Digipak with a booklet and poster. Artwork by Ian Johnstone.
"The Ape of Naples" is a deeply emotional and uniquely rewarding album. In its immediate accessibility it is somewhat reminiscent of Coil's mid-1980s classic "Horse Rotorvator" sharing that album's wild variety of sounds and styles as well as its overriding sombre mood. Originally released in 2005 and in many ways the band's ultimate swan song, it is now considered one of the go-to albums for introducing new listeners to the unparalleled magick of Coil. Compiled and released by Peter Christopherson one year after Jhonn Balance's tragic deadly fall, it includes reworkings of the live favourite "Amethyst Deceivers" and "Love Secret's Domain"'s "Teenage Lightning" as well as several songs originally intended for the ill-fated "Backwards" album like the haunting and preminiscent "Fire of the Mind" and the superb "Amber Rain". Other tracks were created using unfinished song ideas from around "Backwards", sampling tiny bits of Balance's live vocals from songs only ever performed in concert once like "Triple Sun". Using the lyrics of the theme tune for the 1970s BBC sit com series "Are you being served?" for the unbelievably haunting "Going up", this album's final track and the last song Coil ever performed live, is maybe the most poignant example of Balance's and Christopherson's method of turning base matter into pure sound gold, and like the title of the album, derived from an imaginary adult video an equally fine example of the often underappreciated humour of the boys.
Christopherson with the help of long-term sound wizard Danny Hyde and using some of the talent of Coil touring members managed to craft an album which feels and flows like a true Coil classic.
The Infinite Fog version is the third Coil record receiving the fully remastered and enhanced 3LP/2CD treatment supervised by Danny Hyde.
All of the original material has again been carefully and sympathetically remastered by Grammy-nominated engineer Jessica Thompson who has been previously lauded for her splendid job on its sister release "The New Backwards". Coil fans old and new will be thrilled over the inclusion of more than an hour's worth of 9 rare and largely unheard bonus tracks from Danny's vaults completing the set. The astounding design of the original box-set release is restored for the gatefold 3LP sleeve using the fully-licensed artwork by Ian Johnstone (making it easy to differentiate this new vinyl version from previous un-sanctioned LP releases using poor reproductions of the original CD art for the front cover), the CD will be available in two versions with the original and well-loved original CD cover art and for the first time using the former vinyl-only cover art.
If you do not yet own a physical copy of the "Ape of Naples", or if you always wanted an enhanced version of this masterpiece, there has never been a better time to make that wish come true.
Written & Produced by Coil & Danny Hyde.
Mastered by Jessica Thompson.
Front artwork by Ian Johnstone.
Artwork licensed from The Estate of Ian Johnstone.
Layout Oleg Galay.
https://infinitefog.bandcamp.com/album/the-ape-of-naples |
2022 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
The New Backwards (special edition) |
3 x pic-LP |
"The New Backwards" was conceived by Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson in 2007, revisiting stray tracks which hadn't seemed to gel with the material he had chosen for the more somber "Ape of Naples" from 2005, COIL's initial posthumous release, a sort of requiem and a kiss-goodbye to his then recently deceased partner John Balance.
Significantly different to its sister release, this album collects the brilliantly chaotic and outrageously rhythmic material from the original sessions for the album that was begun as early as 1993 and had originally been conceptualised as the follow-up to "Love's Secret Domain". These songs are as diverse and wild as the places they originated from, partly infamously spawned in Sharon Tate's former home in the Hollywood Hills, the Nine Inch Nails home base in New Orleans and London's Swanyard, co-composed, remixed and restructured with the help of long-term friend Danny Hyde in Thailand, this collection has its own unique flow and an atmosphere not found on any other COIL release.
Both "AYOR" and "Backwards" had by the time the album was first released already become favourites in COIL's manic live performances. Some of the other tracks had only leaked in demo versions and are here presented updated and polished as Christopherson and Hyde intended them to be heard. It is interesting to consider Balance's vocal contributions, too. Whilst on the albums COIL did release at the time this material was first put aside ("Black Light District" and "ElpH") his voice is all but absent, his vocal performances and his lyric writing here are arguably more closely indebted to the previous "Love's Secret Domain" era, especially the epic "Copacaballa" is noteworthy in that respect.
The New Backwards" effectively became the final official COIL studio release of all new material whilst Peter was still alive and is here presented for the first time fully supervised by Danny Hyde, its co-creator.
The stunning cover uses a detail from artist Ian Johnstone's "Cubic Raven" painting, licensed from the estate of IJ..
It is high time to rediscover this timeless album with the Infinite Fog release, first time available on vinyl in its full form without 3 skipped tracks! Besides that boasting nine further tracks of previously unheard material from the same sessions, rough working stages and surprising remixes which will surely delight the dedicated COIL archaeologists, as they shine yet another light on the creative process and on what could have been.
Recorded at Swanyard, London and at Nothing Studios, New Orleans, 1996.
Thanks to everyone there, especially Trent Reznor who made it all possible.
Written & Produced by Coil & Danny Hyde.
Remixed by Peter Christopherson & Danny Hyde, Bangkok 2007.
For that session Coil were: Peter Christopherson, Jhonn Balance & Drew McDowall.
Mastered by Jessica Thompson.
Front artwork by Ian Johnstone.
Artwork licensed from The Estate of Ian Johnstone.
Layout Cold Graves and Oleg Galay.
https://infinitefog.bandcamp.com/album/the-new-backwards-extended-edition
|
2022 |
€79.00 |
|
| COIL WITH BLACK SUN PRODUCTIONS |
The Plastic Spider Thing |
CD + DVD |
"This album, featuring Coil’s music literally remixed and re-arranged in ritual form to serve as the soundtrack to the Black Sun Productions extreme performance art spectacle entitled Plastic Spider Things, following the performers’ (among who was counted John Balance himself) every move. Synths, drones, and psychedelic textures lead us on mystical tour of sex and magic, serving as a testament to the undeniable connection between Coil’s music, ritual magic, and performance art.
Included with the CD is a collection of Black Sun Productions videos documenting the history of Black Sun Productions and it’s strong ties with Coil. The DVD features rare clips and backstage footage (Coil Live Gigs) with both Peter Christopherson and John Balance, as well as video manipulations.
A release that all hardcore Coil and Black Sun Productions fans have long been waiting for. Limited 500 copies Not to be missed!"
"Tolle Wiederveröffentlichung des legendären COIL-Albums von 2002. Das Album entstand
in Zusammenarbeit mit der Performance „The Plastic Spider Thing“ von BLACK SUN
PRODUCTIONS. CD und LP kommen jeweils mit DVD und erscheinen auf RUSTBLADE.
2002 veröffentlichte THRESHOLD HOUSE bereits dieses legendäre und kontrovers
diskutierte Album von COIL. Es war im Prinzip der Soundtrack zu der künstlerisch inszenierten
Extremperformance „The Plastic Spider Thing“ in Kollaboration mit dem Schweizer Kollektiv
BLACK SUN PRODUCTIONS. COIL, bzw. JOHN BALANCE war selbst Teil dieser Performance
und der Soundtrack perfekt auf ihn abgestimmt. Das Projekt tourte damals durch verschiedene
Städte in Europa und führte ein anstößiges und nicht überall akzeptiertes Konzept auf, bei dem
es um sexuelle Neigungen, Nacktheit aber auch um spirituelle und rituelle Praktiken wie „Chaos
Magick“ und „Spirituel Sex Magick“ ging. 2003 wurden BLACK SUN PRODUCTIONS in der
Schweiz für die Perfomance sogar vor Gericht gestellt, weil sie in ihrer Kompromisslosigkeit gegen nationale Gesetze verstieß. Das vorliegende Re-Release enthält das Album, welches sich musikalisch zwischen Industrial, Drone und Psych-Noise bewegt, wie auch eine
Videodokumentation der „Plastic Spider Thing“-Tour, exklusiven Backstagematerial und weiteren (Live-)Videos." [Broken Silence]
|
2017 |
€23.00 |
|
| COLD BODY RADIATION |
The longest Shadows ever cast |
7inch |
"So hard to categorise, CBR is becoming a fiercely original reference in the so called postbm shoegaze movement. Cold Body Radiation pervasive melancholic sound structures are the marriage between trascendence and power of nature.
The two-track vinyl is about the death of the summer, when the light changes and the shadows become very long…
This amazing release is presented as 7” ep hard vinyl limited to 500 copies featuring exclusive brand new compositions for your inner conceptual meditation." [label info]
www.greytone.eu
|
2013 |
€7.00 |
|
| COLECLOUGH, J. & LETHE |
Long Heat |
CD |
Collaboration von JONATHAN COLECLOUGH mit dem japanischen Cellisten & Impro-Droner LETHE ! Far-away drones, die man kaum fassen kann, dicht & subliminal, unwirklich & undurchdringlich, zeitweise sehr kraftvoll & konkreter werden in Mikrosound-Bereiche hinein, alles andere als statisch, mit überraschenden Wendungen.
“It's a pity that there is not much information on the cover of this CD, since it would be interesting to know what is going on here. Lethe is the Japanese Kuwayama Kiyoharu, who has released a CD on Trente Oiseaux of his cello/drone music aswell as a couple of releases on his on own label (and a collaboration with Kapotte Muziek is forthcoming on Intransitive). The reader who has been paying attention knows the name Jonathan Coleclough as being on this reviewer's favourite drone artists. Now, why would it be nice to know just a little bit more? Is it Lethe sending sound material to Coleclough? Perhaps. It seems to me the most logical thing upon hearing this CD - well, two actually. If you want you can order a copy and order an extra bonus CD with 'Long Heat - Second Part'. It has the majestic sounds that is the trademark of Coleclough. These long drone sounds that slowly change shape, change colour. But that's only one part of the game. Coleclough adds another layer of heavily reverbed sounds of falling objects. An additional third layer is used for utter dry sounds – scratching the surface. Three distinct layers of sounds that over the course of each disc start to intermingle with eachother, they slowly merge together, but it's not that a blurr arises, not at all. From these slowly merging masses a new distinct and powerful drone arises above the field which slowly moves on and follows it's own course. Once this course is gone, the material falls apart like small particles, suddenly, without warning.
But like said: is this what is done, or is it the work of Lethe producing this work with the use of Coleclough soundmaterial? Something says here, this is not the case. Hard to tell why, so it remains mere guessing. But is it important, all this guessing? Perhaps not, I am sure it is not important at all. Isn't this were the result counts? I am sure it does. And sure it does count. This is a beautiful work of drone music. Majestic stuff, moving slowly forward. Great stuff, but maybe I'm a little biased here.” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
| COLECLOUGH, JONATHAN & ANDREW LILES |
Torch Songs |
do-LP |
"Liles Reworking injiziert sublimen Feinklang in Colecloughs Improvisationen, etwas Subliminales, ein ständig morphendes, mäanderndes Sirren und Dröhnen, fernen Glockenklang, knispeliges undefinierbares Hantieren. Die Sinne werden in einen träumerischen Zustand versenkt, der sie offen macht für Halluzinationen, die die rechte Hirnhälfte der linken einflößt und zusummt. Die Flamme dieser ‚Torch Songs‘ ohne Worte brennt für keine verlorene Liebe, keinen unbekannten Soldaten, sondern vielleicht für das Unbekannte selbst." [Bad Alchemy]
"'Torch Songs' is a collaboration between Jonathan Coleclough and Andrew Liles. They met in October 2004 when they both performed at Intergration 3 in Preston, UK. Liles subsequently reworked the recording of Coleclough's solo performance from that evening. He went on to add, subtract, multiply and divide further live recordings supplied by Coleclough, and the eventual result was this double LP. 'Torch Songs' is packaged in a gatefold sleeve featuring 'I dreamt I was a river,' a poem composed and painted by Geoff Sawers during a performance with Coleclough in Geneva in March 2005. The sound of Geoff's brush painting this lettering can be heard on side B of 'Torch Songs'. The album comes in a beautiful full colour gatefold sleeve with full colour inner sleeves in a limited edition of 500 copies. 180gr. Vinyl !" [press release]
"Much like the entire back catalogue of John Duncan, British avant-drone artist Jonathan Coleclough has often buttressed his work
through an ongoing set of collaborations, each of which push his work into interesting territories while maintaining that essence of Coleclough that makes all of his albums so enthralling. His 2006 collaboration with Murmer was easily one of the best drone albums of that year, twisting field recordings and quiet sessions with electric objects into a gauzy, crepuscular blur that even made those at Artforum perk up their ears and listen. Torch Songs came to fruition when both Coleclough and Liles performed in Preston (probably at the request of the ever-charming Colin Potter) in 2005. In fact, much of the source material for Torch Songs originated from Coleclough's performance to which Liles went on to "add, subtract, multiply, and divide" further. The fundamentals of Torch Songs are primarily Coleclough's signature moves: swelling, resonant drones manipulated from acoustic sources and distilled into tonally vibrant beams of pure sound. Yet, Liles (who in and of himself is a fine technician of sonic alchemy to the point where he has often graced the stage alongside Steve Stapleton, Colin Potter, and Matt Waldron in Nurse With Wound) interjects his own sidereal gestures with wooden creaks, digital time stretching, radiant eruptions of dissonant couplings with Coleclough's drones, and occasional jaunts of heavily filtered tin-can and rubber-band rhythms that parallel much of the output from Liles' recent 12 part Vortex series. Yet for all of Liles' baroque flares for the sonically surreal, it is Coleclough who authors the
strongest material on Torch Songs through his sublime use of the drone. The first 300 copies of Torch Songs comes with a bonus CD that
documents Coleclough's aforementioned Preston performance back in 2005." [Aquarius Records]
|
2007 |
€22.50 |
|
| COLECLOUGH, JONATHAN & TIM HILL |
Beech for John and Miho |
CD |
A wonderful and amazing power-drone piece (74min) with myriades of overtunes, like be surrounded by three distorted Monochords at the same time..
“ 'Beech for John and Miho' was originally commissioned as a short piece for 'in return', a private wedding CD, where it appeared
alongside music by Joe Weismann (The Jaztronauts), If Thousands, JLIAT, and Space Machine. That fifteen minute version then blossomed into this bold, 74-minute work. An invitation to the wedding spawned a short Japan tour during which Coleclough performed solo and in duos with Aube, Kuwayama Kiyohara, and Narita Mamoru. A limited edition of 150 CD-Rs of 'Beech for John and Miho' were made specially for the trip to Japan, and the piece is now released on CD by Seal Pool. "An epic piece: shimmering and metallic." [press release]
|
2003 |
€15.00 |
|
| COLLEY, JOE |
Acting As If |
10inch |
"When Joe Colley speaks about his work and even about his life, he shrugs in an awkward attempt to stave off an existential frustration that not only his work addresses but also seems to consume his identity. There are numerous metaphors through his titles that allude to endless failures and a nihilism full of contempt, but Colley also implores a desperate urgency to express these poetics no matter how painful they may be. For three decades now, Colley has been a central and persistent figure in the California noise community. First recording under the moniker Crawl Unit and running the short-lived Povertech label, Colley presented a preternaturally strong acumen of electro-acoustic techniques and abstraction through a vast language of blistered textures, atonal noise, and gnarled drone. By 2000, he dropped the Crawl Unit moniker in favor of his own name with an ongoing discography of damaged yet exploratory electronics.
Colley returns to Drone Records for this 10" on the Substantia Innominata series, many years after his Crawl Unit "Tuscon Mon Amour" 7." In describing "Acting As If," Colley offers a vague series of descriptors: unheimlich, terror of the familiar, and no faith in what is "real." Within the sustained movements of scrabbling textures, motorized abrasions, and uncomfortable harmonics, such conditions are made manifest and Colley amplifies them into something eeriely sublime. All of that held within a self-contained logic that works within and against his deep knowledge of drone-on minimalism, musique concrete dynamics, and the explosiveness of noise culture. His swarming masses, throttled rumbling, and smoldering tension are all encircling and folding in on themselves. Rhizomes of sound that speak poison. Drink up, if it doesn't kill you, it will only make you stronger."
[Jim Haynes / Northern California, 2023]
listen to various CRAWL UNIT + JOE COLLEY tracks here:
https://aftersilencepodcast.bandcamp.com/album/as-31-from-crawl-unit-to-joe-colley
https://www.last.fm/music/Joe+Colley
"MECHANICAL RITUALS: 23 years after his EP for Drone Records (DR-28, as CRAWL UNIT) we are proud to release another / new work of conceptual / minimal / object drone artist JOE COLLEY from California.
We think JOE COLLEY (*1972) is a master of using mechanical object sounds and electronic static, but also strange low fi found sources and field recordings, creating alienating, surrealistic effects, similar to the likes of SMALL CRUEL PARTY, JIM HAYNES, DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE or even the more experimental side of ZOVIET FRANCE...
His newer compositions seem always to be filled with electro-magnetic hummings, strange hissing and the pourings of metallic objects as a basis, but you never find the use real instruments, synths, or masses of effect procession. Thus a very own scent of mystery appears, as all of these radiations are not really from this planet, without any "cosmic" connotations..
For the creator, these sounds are connected with unreal emotions of "Being Lost", a mistrust in what may be called reality, and a general feeling of alienation... - you can only wonder how this can result in such beautiful droning expanses..
Presented here are over 30 minutes of very best new COLLEY material (entitled "Limit / Limit" und "Always I / Always II") => through these drones of strangeness the mind is thrown inside an unrecognizable and confusing realm of broken electricity and something like audible-made atmospheric pressure..
Lim. 300 copies with artwork by dutch designer and micro label hero MEEUW, using a special silver print (on reverse board), BLACK vinyl. glossy black inner sleeves." [press release]
"I don't keep up with Joe Colley's recent releases for reasons I am unsure of myself. Not that there are many of them, but I only heard a few. Maybe his work is these days within installation work or performing? This new record shows Colley as I know him best. He is a man with an ear to the ground or wall; he hears stuff we don't. I believe he uses very few 'real' instruments, and for convenience, I include all things synthesizer (modular, digital, analogue). With his equipment, he records the unwanted sounds from our world. Buzzing, whirring, near broken cables and other forms of electric debris. It's never clear whether his recording devices are great or lo-fi. It could go either way, I think.
Maybe you need great some great electro-magnetic devices to pick up these sounds, but at the same time, when they are relatively low-key, they might have another attractive quality. Get my drift here? We live in a world with many sounds, at least many of us. I like to think I live in a quiet street, but here too, there is a lot of noise pollution. This pollution, so I believe, is Colley's playground. He collects and collates this material into pieces of dystopian nightmare. Coley's music sounds like I imagine the sound of a leaking nuclear power plant, the last breath of a machine park, and the death rattle of our post-industrial society. Unlike some of the other work I heard from Colley, this new work is relatively 'smooth', I must say. There aren't many hard cuts to indicate the final breath of a sound (but they are also not entirely absent), but Colley, this time, uses smoother transitions in the music. Many fragments are slowly cross-faded into the next section, revealing a less brutal element in his work. Or, perhaps, one could say, it makes his music all the more gentle? Or even more musical? Colley applies all the techniques from musique concrète here but keeps much of his source material in what seems to be a pretty rough state anyway. It's dark; it's real, scary, weird, haunting and haunted and, ultimately, beautiful music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2022 |
€18.00 |
|
| COLLIN, JON |
Bridge Variations |
LP |
On Bridge Variations, the now Stockholm-based English guitarist Jon Collin changes his guitar for a keyed fiddle. Mostly recorded to tape under different bridges around Stockholm during 2021, partly for the sound but also because of their importance to the geographical make-up of the place, the album is like a modern take on traditional Swedish folk music made by an outsider looking in. The sound is pretty much a continuation of the palette explored on 'Dream Sequence, End Of Summer', Collin's contribution to the Contemporary Homemade Music compilation put out by Discreet Music last year. Slowly moving and drawn-out melodies evolve into immense droning beauty, rich of texture and with the environmental sounds from the sites becoming an integral part of the recording. Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi and pressed in an edition of 1000 copies. Comes with a 12-page colour-coded booklet of photos of the recording locations.
https://discreetmusicgbg.bandcamp.com/album/jon-collin-bridge-variations |
2022 |
€20.00 |
|
| COLLINS, TIM / REIKO GOTO / CHRIS MALCOLM |
Plein Air / Silva Datum Musica |
LP |
"Plein Air the album presents recordings from a plant-driven synthesizer. A custom built instrument that uses scientific sensors and software programming to generate real-time tree leaf data. Light, photosynthesis and transpiration modifies sound: the rhythm, melody, texture, tempo and harmony shift with atmospheric conditions and tree response – electronically.
The sounds of each leaf of regional deciduous trees by scientifically sensored data-sonification are much more musical than one could imagine. Their timbre and volume always depend on light and temperature, number of audience. It varies from site to site and from country to country. We can hear loops of rhythmic sequences, groups of tiny computer generated signals, long drones which change constantly and are hard to describe.
Side 1 includes four short recordings, in total twenty-six minutes, of one leaf from Scottish Elder, Oak, Elderberry and Birch, recorded in one of Glasgow’s historical green houses, June 2017. Due to dramatic light and temperature changes that occur as sunshine and cloud formation changes in proximity to the north Atlantic; the computer generated music is highly dynamic, an intense hearing experience at times as I would imagine a tornado.
Side 2, is one recording, in total twenty-five minutes, of a regional heritage pear tree leaf that sounds more like Minimal Music. During the Cologne Tree Sound Study, we made the recording in a small office room in 2015, we had less dramatic weather changes. A warm summer, smooth light changes, generating a more gentle soundscape to deeply plunge into music. (Georg Dietzler)
Plein Air the album is based on a ten-year artist-led project. In simplest terms our intention is to provide a ‘mind/body experience’ of trees by attending to the sound of physiological reaction (photosynthesis and transpiration) as one leaf adjusts to the day to day changes (rush hour traffic, crowds of people) in ground level atmospheric chemistry in venues and cities. Physiological data is transposed into sound through computer software. We have chosen sound for its aesthetic purity with the goal to hear the trees more clearly as they react to changes in CO2, temperature and humidity. This system is called ‘Plein Air’, a stable single platform system that embraces the portable easel, as a metaphor for the historic practice of open air painting. Where Millet extended the idea of landscape to peasants working in the fields and the impressionists examined the phenomenological exchange between light and material. At the same time, recent work with the system raises questions about what we expect to ‘hear’ when we listen to nature, as it reacts to intense inputs of carbon dioxide?"
(Tim Collins)
https://www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=17206
|
2019 |
€17.50 |
|
| COLORLIST |
The fastest Way to become the Ocean |
10inch |
"The Chicago based Colorlist is comprised of crossover jazz duo Charles Rumback and Charles Gorczynski. Both multi-instrumentalists, Rumback mans percussion, bells and melodica, while Gorczynski plays saxophone, numerous woodwind instruments, synthesizers and harmonium.
'The Fastest Way To Become The Ocean' is a four track EP recorded especially for Serein. Once again joined by collaborators, the EP features guitarist Jeff Parker of Tortoise on 'Nine Lives' (A2), while Liz Payne lends vocals and melodica to the closing track, 'What We Have Left' (B2). The tracks were mixed by long-time Colorlist cohort, Josh Eustis.
This work finds Colorlist at their very best - during the twenty-six minutes of run-time we are led through a kaleidoscopic ocean of sounds and ideas. Opening track 'Light Conditions' begins on an optimistic note, all feather-light woodwinds and gently brushed snares, the mood is open and care-free. But, like mist rising on a clear day, punch-drunk harmonium drones and haunted sax phrases permeate the air and hint at something darker, more sinister at play. In the end, balance is restored, and we are led into the second piece, 'Nine Lives' feeling a sense of resolution.
'Nine Lives' is a beast of a track. At just under ten minutes in length, it builds from a growl of low bass and drums like waves crashing on the shore. This tumultuous opening is slowly organised into a labyrinthine but perfectly organised series of repeating phrases, steadily falling in and out of phase with one another. Parker's improvised electric guitar playing contrasts with the purposeful repetition of the other instruments. The track continues to build as more and more elements are added to the mix, until, as if reaching some kind of critical mass, tension is broken and the piece resolves with wave upon wave of blissful melody. It's fitting that this epic track closes the first side of the record - many will doubtless feel the benefit of a prolonged period of silence in order to reflect on this breathtaking piece of music.
The perfect antidote to the sheer impact of the pieces preceding it, 'Coming Into Sight' opens side B with an almost hymn-like solemnity. Harmonium is accompanied only by the distant roll of drums and the quiet chatter of birds, it's not difficult to imagine a boat roll in off the ocean bearing a loved one home to shore. The piece, which also falls just short of the ten minute mark, builds until the moment feet hit dry land again, the homecoming heralded by hoarse screams from Gorczynski's saxophone and flurries of thunderous percussion from Rumback.
'The Fastest Way To Become The Ocean' ends on a high with the short, upbeat closing track, 'What We Have Left'. This piece sits slightly apart from the others due to the presence of vocals from Liz Payne – a first for Colorlist and a welcome addition." [label info]
www.serein.co.uk
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| COLUMN ONE |
W.Transmission I-V |
5 x CD SET |
Zoharum is excited to present for the first time on CD "WORLD TRANSMISSION" - a series of rare transmissions, reduced and performed by COLUMN ONE in chronological order to document some of its phases. This work is no recording. It exists as a stepping cone while it's essential creators were at work.
W.T. 1 was recorded on August 12th, September 27th and October 5th, 1992 as well as January 23th, 1991 and April 17th, 1993.
Previously released in 1992 on cassette tape titled "NEW-RE-GENERATION. The meaning and Function of this series were not clearly defined at the time.Various Unreleased Versions of this First Transmission took shape, all of which followed a diverging emphasis in their conceptional and formal direction. The originally released version, which is not included here, became a marked terminus rather then an origin.
This release focused on the roots of COLUMN ONE that lie in a combination of coded key sounds and images. The associated degrees and movements of immersion and subversion into the consciousness that is COLUMN ONE moved, according to this pattern in a clear process.
These recordings are basic situations. Like pieces of furniture they take place without variations in a psychic Space - without raising claim of wanting to enter a musical universe.
Contact [recorded in 1993] varies the sentence “WHEN WE HEARD THAT NOISE, WE FELL DOWN AND HID OUR FACES.“ of a woman from NEW GUINEA. [1984] is included here as a curious find from childhood and documents first attempts to experiment with tape and sound in 1984.
previously unreleased: contact, alloy, propaganda I, TH W AND [1984].
W.T. 2 originally released On A.N. COLUMN release
For further information on COLUMN ONE, The Ideals and Products start collecting fish bones & moisten them under a ball of wool with a shampoo bottle or use the water from a leaky plastic bag to tear paper flags.
W.T. 3 was an attempt to follow the physical aura of a religious architecture and, by using religious tools from its environment , Determinatesd to document COLUMN ONE spent two days in a church and followed streaming , Repellingly vibrating body of this concentrated space. All instruments were played live in November 12th & 13th and recorded with two microphones, installed at two different places of the church. The Position of these microphones made possible to document not only the overall sound, but also the movements in the room. An accentuation of the space acoustics besides the two micro-phones, which were the source material for this recording, a third microphone was connected to effects and a record player, AMP and Speakers. Through this second "artificial" system, manipulated sounds could be radiated into the room. The key and character of the recording are, however, to be found in the architectural presence of the church itself..
W.T.4 RE-WORKED TRANSMISSION
World Transmission - the term for a species of contemporary trans-missions, produced and performed by COLUMN ONE in chronological order to document some of its phases : this work does not attempt to fulfil the form or function of an entire or commercial recording. It exists as a document, as a fragment- a tool for the work of the essential members. W.T.4 is the revised document of a COLUMN ONE event on April 3rd 1998 at Eimer in Berlin. It was the concept of this night to produce vibrations of "Ritual" materials of various origins in a new connection and in a new location. Besides acoustic instruments & sounds from our direct environ, used materials also included recordings of various natives. The Memories of this April 3rd are vague. Vibrations in a vault, in the centre of Berlin. All COLUMN ONE members in white robes... under an Alien-Like God... in catacombs scenery...
W.T.5 was recorded the night of August 23rd-24th, 2001 and August 9th, 2010.Continuum is the final chapter in the WORLD TRANSMISSION series. The concept of these five albums, their visual and conceptual direction, was exclusively based on the artificial body that is “COLUMN ONE”. It was the perified root of this body that was buried in a pile of plastic, only to grow wondours blooklooms from time to time . In a time when museums still had doors and wordswere barked into megaphones on the quiet. The showcasehad been open long, the root penetrates other layer of Earth and vestows peace upon collectrors of spores and seeds.
Continuum,. Upwards. Across narrow paths and overgrown rocks the calling and creaking loses itself in the treetops. It seems as if one climbs dowb into the coves of forest. The wooden cathedral. Each sound lies naked in the silence of the interior, whle the outside rushes from far above . Protected vt these walls, servants, masters, and rules move avout their empires, sleepwalkinng, floating, Gnawing and devouring, themselves, dragging and circling, tearing and creaking, stomping and buzzing all in one tone. Weighing tons, their craft lies one forest floor, permates and moves it, rises with the fluttering stroke of a wing, and sinks back into the ocean now and then large animals drft through these sacred halls. Kings are they. Lost in reverie they rumble through the trone room. Barley audible, a billion legs tick, like clocks. Crack tiny splinters beneath their feet...
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/w-transmission-1-5-set |
2022 |
€50.00 |
|
| COMBATIVE ALIGNMENT |
The ritez of higher communication |
LP |
Erstes vollständiges Album des AVATAR-Projekts, die hier ein wahrhaft illuminiertes Debut-Werk vorlegen – eine erhabene Atmosphäre aus Klang und Ritus tut sich hier auf. Trancig-rituelle Klänge, die an tibetanische Gebirgslandschaften denken lassen, undurchdringliche soundscapes voller Geheimnis: Perkussive Strukturen, flutes, choirs, deep voices, drones.
First album of this german AVATAR-project and a real masterpiece of ritual-trance Illumination-sounds !
"The ritez of higher communication" celebrates the first step of COMBATIVE ALIGNMENT into a new area of recordings for first time on a long play vinyl album. Dreamlike soundscapes rising out of the rain and creating a deep symphonic atmosphere where flutes and Tibetic mantras are mixed with drums in order to build ritual music in the finest form. Circles of visionary dark voices are introducing brooding anthems on the climax with multiple layered drones, illuminating a weeping red sky. TROFHC is an invocation of consciousness corresponding to individual fears banned in sound. The journey of Combative Alignment through several media formats on different labels finds it´s manifestation in an outstanding release. Limited edition of 523 copies” [press release]
|
2003 |
€12.50 |
|
| COMES, MARTIJN |
Interrogation of the Crystalline Sublime |
do-CD |
Martijn Comes - Interrogation Of The Crystalline Sublime
"The human being knows himself only insofar as he knows the world; he perceives the
world only in himself, and himself only in the world. Every new object, clearly seen,
opens up a new organ of perception in us."
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I hear atmospheres, sound shapes, gestural narratives, spectral trajectories, stochastic rhythms and phasic space when I encounter an environment rich in sonic phenomena.
But in order to be open to this meta-sensory information, I must first get my ears out of the way. I don't listen with my ears but with an inner sensory apparatus, what Goethe called "organs of perception," that I have developed over the years.
Once opened to this world sound becomes something very different—it's as if one could previously only see in black and white and suddenly were able to see in color. One becomes a witness to a full range of qualities and events that were previously inaccessible.
The drone is not a steady-state sound but a constellation of sound objects that lie hidden beneath a simple surface. The listener can penetrate this surface when they allow time to exist in a space where the past and future collapse into an infinitesimal, yet infinite, moment.
Once inside this space the drone serves as a conduit to other planes of existence and explains why spiritualized cultures around the world have used the drone in their worship for millennia.
The drone integrates us with the supernal, a synesthesia takes place, all of our senses become a singular super-sense: there is no longer a distinction between sound and sight, or taste and touch.
When we experience the world in this way we see the vast web of interconnections and how we deprive ourselves when we divide the world into the narrow-band regions of our senses. It is by transcending these boundaries that we become more fully human and open to the richness the world has to offer us.
Kim Cascone - San Francisco, Nov 20 2015
https://movingfurniturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/interrogation-of-the-crystalline-sublime
"Martijn Comes is a Dutch composer specialising in new media, sound design and electro-acoustic composition. His hour-long deep-drone piece Interrogation of the Crystalline Sublime was published on the spectacular Drone Cinema 2015 Raspberry Pi (!) release – the kind of gem every dronehead will probably dream of, but with a price tag only few can afford.
So it’s a good thing that the Moving Furniture label decided to reissue this piece in a 2-CD version (ánd digital download of course): CD1 containing the hour-long Interrogation by Martijn Comes, and CD2 containing 8 remixes of that piece by Scant Intone, Mitchell Akiyama, Zeno van den Broek, Alberto Boccardi, Haarvöl, Juan Antonio Nieto, Giulio Aldinucci and Orphax.
Comes describes his work as ‘livingroom music’ (possibly distinguishing itself slightly from Erik Satie’s ‘Musique d’Ameublement’ (Furniture Music), which was meant to be played by live performers).
He set out to “write a piece that is equally meditative as it is harmonious and melodic, or at least it would hint at large subtle progressions of harmony, in a way that is magnetic to the imaginations, while the body remains in a meditative, relaxing state.”
It’s an immersive drone, with hints of a shore in the background, that gradually grows intense and inescapable in its first half and then gradually recedes again.
It is not often that drone material like this gets remix treatments by different artists, so it’s interesting to hear what other artists do with sonic material like this.
Some of the remixers focus on the drone aspect, emphasizing different frequencies thus altering the overall feel. Others filter out artefacts (which can hardly be heard in the original), or add their own material to create abstract electro-acoustic compositions that hardly seem related to the original. Some focus on emotional aspects, others take a more analytic approach. Most of them venture into sonic extremes, thus losing some of the ‘livingroom’ aspect of the original.
But each one of these remixes sound completely different – like if they were original compositions in the first place." [Ambientblog]
|
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
| COMES, MARTIJN & GIULIO ALDINUCCI |
Crystalline Tragedies |
LP |
For this collective release, Martijn Comes and Giulio Aldinucci neither worked in the same studio together, nor did they share and exchange materials. The two pieces on this LP were composed privately and without any sonic input of the other. And yet, it is far more than just a 'split'.
Both pieces were loosely based on a pair of opposites first proposed by Nietzsche: The moral codex of society, as represented by the Christian church. And the realisation that only by surrendering completely to emotion can we live life to the fullest.
Using a single field recording of a procession in rural Tuscany, Aldinucci investigated how sacred rites are capable of defining new soundscapes. Blazing a trail through three distinct sections, Comes's "Crystalline Tragedies", meanwhile, takes strong feelings evoked by certain life passages into a poetic dimension.
Never particularly strict or academic about their inspiration, the same conceptual source lends a strong sense of unity to the music – making it.
Tobias Fischer, May 2018.
https://movingfurniturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/crystalline-tragedies-the-procession-distant-motionless-shores
"And finally what seems to me (I could be wrong of course) the split release by Martijn Comes
and Guilio Aldinucci; both have been reviewed before and, generally speaking of course, belong
to the wide, wide world of ambient music. Not really the world of abstract drones, but more or less ambient with a strong musical touch; processed guitars, synthesizers and such like. For this split LP they took as a concept two observations by Friedrich Nietzsche; Comes says about this that "for our album, we stripped them down to a simple pair of opposites: The moral codex of society, as represented by the Christian church. And the realisation that only by surrendering completely to emotion can we live life to the fullest." Each of them has a composition that fills the entire side of a
record. In 'Crystalline Tragedies', which is the title of the Martijn Comes' piece, there are two
distinct sections to be noted. In the first half there is guitar playing (courtesy of Constantine
Skourlis), set against a bed of layered drones, which could have been derived from the self-same
guitar playing and some less easy to define sounds, which could be humming. The other half of the pieces is a synthesizer section of mid paced arpeggio tones with an almost bouncing rhythm; it imitates a wind like sound and with a beat I would have said it is Porter Ricks like, but without the beat, as it is now, it is nice tumble of barren land. Aldinucci's piece is called 'The Procession (distant motionless shores)' starts out with field recordings in the leading role. It is the recording of a procession in rural Tuscany, which he takes apart, folds together, unfolds and expands again, but all along you will keep recognizing sounds from the procession; people humming, church organ and church bells. It is not easy to say to what extent Aldinucci uses his computer
transformations here; the eighteen minute is a very fine collage of all of the field recordings
captured during this procession, even including what seems to be animal sounds, building and
growing but slowly taking matters to a quiet conclusion. Two quite different sides are here to this record, perhaps a pair of opposites I should/could think, but it works very well, while the rest of the Nietzsche may be a bit lost on me." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2018 |
€16.50 |
|
| COMMON EIDER, KING EIDER / COBER ORD |
Palimpseste |
CD |
Recorded in various undisclosed caves and secret locations within the French Pyrenean landscape, we are now witness to a very unique channelling of forces emanating from these two singular ritual acts. In textual studies, a “Palimpseste” is writing material, such as a parchment or tablet, used one or more times after earlier writings have been erased from it. It can also be regarded as something having usually diverse layers or aspects apparent beneath the surface. The conductive element within these recordings is water, sound sources recorded from cave lakes, streams and rivers are featured through out these recordings, carefully merged with stark, cavernous drone soundscapes and disquieting chants, guiding us to unknown territories as we venture within these singular chambers and places. The whole transpires as an hymn to the power of water, to cleanse and purify, and even destroy all it touches
https://coberord1.bandcamp.com/album/palimpseste-collab-with-common-eider-king-eider |
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| COMPEST |
Benu |
mCD-R |
Ein one-tracker mit geräuschhaften Klängen, der in rhytmisch-rituelle Gefilde abwandert... Neues Seitenprojekt von STILLSTAND.
“compest is the new metaproject of martin steinebach (monoid, stillstand, conscientia peccati). his 20min track is a mix between tribal & ambient musics with some heavier moments... full-couloured printed 3"cd-r in a slim crystal box.” [label info]
|
2005 |
€5.00 |
|
| CONCERN |
Cæsarean |
CD |
" "Cæsarean," the new album by solo artist Concern, is primarily composed of piano, banjo and extensive tape manipulation. Rejecting the heavily electronic/synthesizer foundations of modern ambient music, "Cæsarean" is a uniquely beautiful and organic album; mournful collages of decaying tape loops, swelling acoustic tones, and harmonious, shimmering banjo drones. Included in the CD version released by Slow Flow Recs are two earlier Concern pieces, previously released in a very limited edition by Students of Decay in 2007. Concern (aka Gordon Ashworth) resides in Oregon, USA, and will be touring extensively in Japan in Europe in Autumn, 2010." [label info]
http://slowflowrec.web.fc2.com/index.html
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Cæsarean |
LP |
"As Concern, Gordon Ashworth has explored drone music through an inspection of the textural components of acoustic instruments and recording processes. On Cæsarean the palette presented is a singularly precise one. Using simple sources (piano, clarinet, banjo, shrutti box, and acoustic guitar), tape processing (1/4" and cassette), and reverberation, Ashworth crafts delicate tape music through transforming repetitions and obscured fidelity. The emotional and physical presence of Cæsarean is overwhelming; sounding simultaneously natural and alien. The instrumentation and field recordings are both stripped of their defining characteristics; creating a balance between the harmonic characters of both, a pure transformation empty of excess and desire. Time held in suspension. In an edition of 500 copies with black and white reverse board jackets and printed labels." [label info]
www.arborinfinity.com
|
2010 |
€16.50 |
|
| CONIGLIO, ENRICO |
I |
MC |
"Luckily there is Enrico Coniglio to bring back ambience and ambient into the room. More the kind of music I expect from this series. Coniglio is a member of Herion and recently (see Vital Weekly 769) had a solo CD reviewed. Here he stays in ambient land with both feet firm in the ground. Glacial like tonal drifts on side A, and on side B, low humming bass sound hovering closely over the surface. Whereas its unclear what the soundsources are on the first side, the second side seems to have heavily processed guitars. It sounds altogether made in the digital domain, which may take a bit of warmth away, but, after Alo Girl, certainly a delight to hear." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
www.silentes.it/tapestry
|
2011 |
€7.50 |
|
| CONJECTURE |
V |
LP |
"In 2017 Conjecture released "My Body, Your Temple" for Amek. In this five-track EP he showcased a deeper, more sinister and beautifully atmospheric take on his usual rhythmic take on post-industrial music. Now we are beyond excited to present you "V", his brand new full-length release and a first appearance on vinyl.
“V” is an anti-body statement. The individual's disengagement from the human body and from all kinds of physical hypostases is portrayed through unconventional industrial sound forms. Sometimes being oneiric, sometimes frozen and aggressive, while in the same somewhat erotic, Conjecture’s musical expressions are well-constructed and climax into the literary metaphor of the human body deconstruction. “V” is dedicated to the process of seeking out the individual existence, which is able to occur beyond the barriers of life, death or creation.
Each track on the album reflects a fragment of a bigger entity, which by its end becomes whole. “V” unveils the materiality of flesh and the frailty of thoughts, personality and physical restrictions. Conjecture seeks a new concept for the human being and its very existence beyond logic. This album is an obsessive manifest against the flesh-cage, a hymn for the consciousness, found standing silent in the background and reflects the true nature and cause of personal existence."
https://amekcollective.bandcamp.com/album/v
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| CONRAD, TONY & FAUST |
Outside the Dream Syndicate |
LP |
"Violinist, composer and filmmaker Tony Conrad started his career in New York in the early 1960s. As a member of the Theatre of Eternal Music (a.k.a. the Dream Syndicate) alongside John Cale, La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela and Angus MacLise, he participated in now-legendary and often legendarily loud drone performances with many pieces having no beginning and no end. During a fateful trip to Germany in 1972, Conrad met with avant-rock visionaries Faust and made the very first record to bear his name.
Outside The Dream Syndicate, originally released in Europe only in 1973, is a stunning debut. Two side-long tracks – "The Side Of Man And Womankind" and "The Side Of The Machine" – show just how far Conrad had moved beyond his minimalist peers. Werner Diermaier's repetitive drum beat and Jean-Hervé Peron's stripped-down bassline conjure a tense, ascetic groove, while Conrad's seamless violin, initially so controlled, reveals a surprising adaptability. The music shifts almost on a subliminal level, pushing and pulling to the drone's internal pulse.
It is hard to imagine Conrad's trajectory from downtown Manhattan to a farmhouse in the German countryside that ultimately resulted in Outside The Dream Syndicate, yet no other record captures – so completely and instantly – the intersection of avant-garde and rock forms. Outside The Dream Syndicate remains ahead of and bracingly outside of its time.
This first-time vinyl reissue has been carefully mastered from the original master tapes and includes liner notes by musician Jim O'Rourke and author Branden W. Joseph."
www.superiorviaduct.com
|
2016 |
€24.00 |
|
| CONSCIENTIA PECCATI VS. STILLSTAND |
Rites ov lamashtu |
mCD-R |
"martin steinebach, the german artist hidden behind those two aliases, shouldn't be unknown to those who follow closely our releases. we released a 3"cd-r of his ambient/tribal/noise project (compest) two years ago. with this latest release, steinebach takes another route and shows another side of his skills: "rites ov lamashtu" is a smooth & melodic piece full of effects and ethnic percussion. enjoy the beauty!" [label info]
label: www.taalem.com
|
2007 |
€5.00 |
|
| CONTAGIOUS ORGASM |
Ripple |
CD |
The always genre-crossing project from Japan with a great album, dark & experimental, more rhythm based stuff, (but these are stranged out rhythms, not danceable ones!), but the usual "unlistenable" collage / found sounds-tracks are present too, the more the album continues, the weirder it becomes... again quite unique & not classifiable.
"packaging: special transparent paper booklet w/ inlays + jewelcase. hiroshi hashimoto started releasing music twenty years ago as contagious orgasm. right from the beginning listeners knew that there was something very unique and special about c.o.'s sound - differing from the typical japanese 'industrial scene'. the initial aural transformation of track and release titles were soon replaced by something quite different. themes became more abstract and surrealistic; influences came from various collaborations and often seriousness was undercut with a wink... as on previous c.o. releases you can hear musical and stylistic sources from many cultural areas; for instance on 'ripple' you can hear indian chants, dub bass, electronic clicks/cuts, gongs, a piano, even straight beats and minimal sequencer grooves. styles range from free form to dance music to idm to noise and to ethnic sources. in hashimoto's works these ingredients cease what they were before - they are now transformed into coherent music (without being a eclectic cliché). an example: often many artists use voice samples in their work, to explain or to engross thoughts. hashimoto's usage of samples take the 'instruments of speech' out of their initial contexts - used in c.o.'s metaverse they entirely lose their initial intent and function. if we go further and think about 'rhythms', 'melodies' and 'textures' instead of 'voices', we might have a key to c.o.'s self conception. this album should be experienced with all senses wide open. enjoy this anniversary and look forward to the next twenty years of a great artist." [label description]
"Three years ago I had the great honor of reviewing the first album on Ant-Zen Recordings by legendary Japanese sound artist Contagious Orgasm. Since I had always connected Hiroshi Hashimoto ( a.k.a. Contagious Orgasm) with the Noise scene, thanks to his contribution to various Noise compilations, among others Relapse/Release Entertainment's "Japanese/American Noise Treaty", I was quite surprised to listen his "Dessert Addicts Will Return To This" (Ant-Zen, 2004). This latest album continues the strange landscapes of numerous musical styles. Dealing with everything from drone-based as well as collaged noise, across clicks'n'cuts to almost danceable electro-inspired techno and eerie soundscapes of beautiful ambient, it is an impossible task to finish this album only within a few listens. It is a complex musical voyage, that atmospherically varies from icy minimalism reminiscent of Pan(a)Sonic to militant electro of Kraftwerk until towards the end where the album turns more dreamy and dramatic with a mixture between experimental ambience and gentle acoustic post-rock reminiscent of Tortoise. "Ripple" is a continuation of the style of "Dessert Addicts Will Return To This", and the result is even more intense and clever than the aforementioned. Turn off the light and let yourself fall into the psychedelic tones of Contagious Orgasm. Excellent!" [NM / Vital Weekly]
label website: www.ant-zen.com
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Escape |
CD |
"with 'escape' contagious orgasm continue to plough their uniquely peculiar furrow of audio experiments and self improvement, exploring the strange landscapes of numerous musical styles. dealing with influences ranging from ambient, dub, idm/electronica and electro to dark ambient and noise, it is an impossible task to completely comprehend this album’s scope within just a few listens. this aural voyage atmospherically varies from hypnotic echo-based beat pulses and moony synthesized melodies up to disturbing industrial soundscapes. mighty bass strokes, a multitude of different rhythms, manipulated voices and skillfully applied samples result in an adventurous and enthralling work of sonic art captivating with its deep, transparent production. turn off the light and let yourself fall into this album's very own flow. a quite accessible, multifarious, and yet typical element of contagious orgasm's wide cosmos in its charm, enjoyment and surprise." [label info]
www.ant-zen.com
|
2011 |
€13.50 |
|
| CONTE, MARIO |
Overtunes |
CD-R |
The subtitle “Electronic Research in Natural Harmonics” sounds far more academic than the actual music. In fact, this short album does work with overtone drone layers, but it combines these harmonic fields with classic TR-808 beats. The result is experimental, yet partly danceable music, cleverly constructed yet very soulful. A masterpiece that will open up the pathway into experimental sound creation for listeners whose tastes are shaped by electronic dance music.
Using various synthesizers, all meticulously specified on the sleeve, but also a wide array of sound sources such as “fake guitar” and “live vocal tape scratching over Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment cassette”, Mario Conte and his co-conspirators create multi-faceted dronescapes with a high degree of melodic potential. "Overtones" is co-released with the Berlin and Italy-based label Zoff82, which publishes the tape version of the album.
File under: Drone, techno
emerge.bandcamp.com/album/overtones
Conte works with synthetic or otherwise scarcely identifiable emissions and a Roland TR-808 to generate a brand of unlawful techno-drone (with industrial hues in “Modern Country Side”) with several attention-getting attributes. I might be growing old and creaky-boned, but feel no shame in declaring that this short album was a considerable surprise in its utter respectability, not a given when I tackle genres where a proper instrumental training is not a requirement. Sometimes, though, all it takes is the right frame of mind and a personal predisposition to the enchantment provided by a particular constitution to relish a product; in the case of Overtones, that’s exactly what happened. Sonorities and rhythms that sound, generally speaking, very natural in their relative amorphousness; hints of subterraneous melodies; a vague similitude with chosen episodes by the late, and ever great Muslimgauze (especially in the two “Harmonic Field” slices). The electronics are fleshy yet not invasive to a fault. The profusion of amassed frequencies and misrepresented colors furnishes the record with an essential animation, in spite of the occasional appearance of spectral vocals (including unneeded spoken snippets in “Organic Wave 1 & 2”). Basically, the tissue of the propulsive structures would be thick enough alone, that’s what we mean. The press release boldly states what follows: “A masterpiece that will open up the pathway into experimental sound creation for listeners whose tastes are shaped by electronic dance music”. Hype, I concur. Still, this stuff eats Burial and the likes for breakfast.
touchingextremes.wordpress.com/2014/07/09/mario-conte-overtones/
|
2014 |
€8.00 |
|
| CONTEMPLATRON & SHENTZ |
His Master's Voice |
CD |
In memory of Stanisław Lem (1921-2006)
"Human beings should accept some humility. Sometimes we face phenomena the essence of which we are unable to understand. Even if we are equipped with the most modern scientific apparatus and knowledge we are incapable of resolving whether they are accidental or intentional. Newton once said that with respect to nature we are just children playing with shells on the seashore." - Stanisław Lem
"His Master's Voice" (original Polish title: "Głos Pana") is a science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem, first published in 1968. It is a densely philosophical first-contact story about scientific efforts to decode, translate, and understand an extraterrestrial transmission. The novel can also be read as a critique of human intelligence and intentionality in the context of deciphering a message from outer space which forever eludes comprehension.
Chaos is the primordial source that cosmically resounds in the microwave background radiation across the universe. To find sequences in this cacophonous confusion, to discover its principles and understand them, only to die holding on to a scrap of something much larger – this is what Lem's book as well as its apocryphal soundtrack are about.
The abstract sound layers were created by two Polish artists from Contemplatron (dark ritual ambient) and Shentz (noise), and mastered by Peter Andersson (Raison d'être).
Comes in 6 panel digipack.
www.wrotycz.com
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| CONTRASTATE |
A live Coal under the Ashes |
CD |
"1992 saw the release of "A live coal under the ashes" which was inspired by the events leading up to the changes across Eastern and Central Europe during 1989. This release marked the change conceptually in which the group's ideas became more specific and more focused on contemporary political issues. "A live coal…" was critically acclaimed not just for the music, but also for the artwork and packaging: - a CD placed in the middle of a 12 inch clear vinyl record. After many years of unavailabity Tesco can finally present a rerelease with remastered tracks and a new yet unreleased track called: "Death follows the one eyed cow." An album full of ambient atmospheres, drones, percussion, suitable dark narrations and some steady muted rhythms. These are intense, highly charged recordings with a powerful mystic and ritual feeling. A masterpiece of sound poetry. Comes in nice Digipak. Total Playing time 50:30. Contrastate were formed in 1987 and disbanded in 2000. Ever since the demise of Contrastate there has been a void in the experimental music scene that no other act has managed to fill. Their diverse creative output, manifested as sweeping electronics and sound manipulation together with theatrical spoken word, was nothing less than mind blowing in its complexity and originality." [press release]
www.tesco-germany.com
"A peculiar start with tribal smatterings of drums, deep resonating black drones broken up with light orchestral patches, attention halting splatters and further sparse drones, pulling on rather obscure nightmarish elements. Contrastate surprisingly draw on a hell of a lot of quietness that just rarely breaks up into beats that dissolve no sooner than they start.
After an interesting if not completely inspiring start its time for this trio to get down to business and actually show us what they are made of. Pleasant film like ambience sets this off with low-end straight vocal lines gathering the backdrop together and you begin to believe this album may actually be going somewhere, especially when the ambience is allowed to build dramatically onward.
Its a little hard to pigeon hole this lot and that’s where their appeal lies for me. There is a deep sense of ritualism within their folds, but it’s not as obvious as you might expect; another plus point being that they simply do not remind me of anyone else, no matter how hard I try to fathom it out.
There is an odd sense of mania whilst listening to ‘A Live Coal…’ strange whistling, off key guitar strings and trance like paranoia. I can’t help but applaud them for pulling something off that simply shouldn’t work on paper. The use of vocals, although male in origin are used much in the same way, as say Diamanda Gallas probably would with full on croaking used as a backdrop. Even if this isn’t your cup of tea it doesn’t take much to grasp just how much thought has gone into this.
Completely out there…somewhere, but relevant; refreshingly original, scoring highly on sheer thought process and effort alone." [Blackaudio]
|
2008 |
€8.00 |
|
|
A breeding Ground for Flies |
CD |
"After a ten year break, the unique, incredible Contrastate have resumed activities and we at Dirter are immensely proud and excited to be able to announce this full length CD of brand new material. This follows a number of re-issues and releases of live and unreleased material, that just about quenched their loyal following's thirst. It seems like Contrastate never really went away and they, along other experimental acts from the 80's and 90's, have gone through something of a critical re-assessment of late. When Contrastate ceased activities nothing like them really came to take their place. Wilfully obscure with just a handful of memorable live shows to their name, Contrastate's music has come to be understood on its own terms. Simply, if you are familiar with them you need to know no more; if you're not, you've been missing out and this is as good a place as any to start. Contrastate's sound insinuates itself somewhere inside the dark ritual ambiance of the electronic avant-garde shot through with a vein of experimental noise and vocals strewn amongst industrial surrealism." [label info]
www.dirter.co.uk
"Ah Contrastate. Did I ever say that I loved the group's earliest output very much, but when they allowed more room for vocals, I thought it was all a bit too 'gothic' for me - and I use that term for a lot of things which I guess I simply don't like. Then I lost track of Contrastate, although it was good to see their first LP on a CD in Vital Weekly 480. Stephen Meixner occasionally pops up in Vital Weekly every now and then. But here is an entirely new album, their first new recording in ten years and of course of the band as trio. Long term serving members Jonathan Grieve and Stephen Meixner and 'new boy' Stephen J. Pomeroy. I must admit I had no idea what to expect this time around. Good news is that the voice that put me off before is not very well present on this new album - for the majority it's all very instrumental. It's the kind of instrumental is that is close to the original sound of Contrastate, but perhaps better recorded than before, using more smooth equipment.
Contrastate is still very good in creating highly atmospheric music with the use analogue synthesizers, electronics, bits of field recordings, some voices (not a lot, not a lot) and an odd use of the collage form for their pieces. A piece like 'Against The Sky' moves through a number of different places which could have been easily separate pieces by themselves. Excellent stuff all around but a downside is perhaps that once they get 'poppy' (by their own standard, I guess), in 'Operation Infinite Truth', they show their political side, which is not a bad thing per se, but isn't a sampled speech on the situation in Iraq by one George W perhaps a bit outdated with Obama in his second term already (or in his first when this was recorded). Being political is always a key point for Contrastate, although I never grasped the finesse of their politics, but here it seems a bit outdated. But besides that, I think this is great return to their best form. Moody, dark, atmospheric, vaguely
experimental, a bit pop-like, what more could we want?" [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Life without Agriculture |
CD |
An album "re-imagining" some of the dadaist, futurist, and surrealist clubs of the 20th century, from Moscow 1918 over Tehran 1966 to Münster 1997; a wonderfully surprising and experimental work by the British post-industrial and ambient performance trio.
CONTRASTATE have created an amazing new work that is inspired by some historical, but also newer places (cafes, clubs, cabarets - including fantasised venues that could / should have existed), relating to the glorious times of the 'true' avantgarde.
"The arc that links them all is the experimentation, the exchange of ideas, and the platform to perform free from the “social norms” of the time." [Stephen Meixner of Contrastate]
The dreamy first half of the album establishes a very sombre and melancholic mood, but when the central pieces "London 1912" and "Zurich 1916" enter it leads to more collagenous and experimental areas, using guitar and bass harmonics, pulsing analogue electronics, spoken words, and all kinds of samples and weird processed sounds. The versatility especially of the second half allows for a fully immersive listening experience, with a vast array of details and twists.
"Imagination is subversive, because it puts the possible against the real. That's why you should always use your wildest imagination. Imagination is the biggest gift humanity has received. Imagination makes people human, not work..." [Jan Švankmajer, "Decalogue", Touch Movements, 2017].
CONTRASTATE, formed in 1987, are a trio from London that have operated on the edge of experimental ambient, dark post-industrial, and performative art areas, often using spoken word lyrics with a strong political, anti-imperialistic approach/agitation. Their early 7" for Drone Records "English Embers" (DR-05) became one of the highlights in the series.
listen to "Zurich 1916" : https://soundcloud.com/drone-records/contrastate-zurich-1916
watch promo video trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACZmOWEB8Eo
retail order: https://www.dronerecords.de/album.view.html?album=22013
#########################
1. Strasbourg 1928
2. Moscow 1918
3. Rome 1921
4. Berlin 1968
5. London 1912
6. Zurich 1916
7. Münster 1997
8. Tehran 1966
Contrastate: Jonathan Grieve
Stephen Meixner
Stephen J. Pomeroy
Mixed and produced by Contrastate
Mastered at Lust Studios
Copyright: Contrastate 2023
Contact: blackroserecordings@yahoo.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/contrastate
|
2024 |
€13.00 |
|
| CONTROL |
Natural Selection |
CD |
CONTROL-Stücke beginnen oft eher ruhig und untergründig dronend, bevor sie sich monumental noisend erheben – maschinenhaft, kalt, zerstörerisch, mächtig, unter Hochspannung... kein plumper harsh noise, zeigt „Natural Selection“ das US-Projekt mit zeitgemässen Maelstrom-Industrial, der zerstörerische Prozesse zu ästhetisieren scheint...
“Brand new album of this legendary power noise artist. Concrete & abrasive songs, consuming & devastating sounds, evolving & mutating noise. Keep your aspirines at hand - CONTROL is here
to crush you. To little pieces.“ [label info]
www.eibonrecords.com
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Blood will rain |
CD |
" 'the pious pretense that evil does not exist only makes it vague, enormous and menacing.'
with his new album 'blood will rain' thomas garrison a.k.a. control presents a release which is a status report of a journey into an artist's saturnine inner self. the sound shows a slight shift in direction from control's power electronics basics towards death industrial whereat deep, dark soundscapes play a decisive foundational role. enduring pulses of apparent and sometimes concealed rhythms overlaid with resonant metallic drones and tortured voice treatments evoke a dramatic atmosphere of maleficant trance. an electronically generated ritual music caused by the combination of hypnotic, cavernous and perpetual aggressive elements.
this most sable release in control's history is a soundtrack for incantations of many kinds: chaos, suffering, enlightenment. able to establish fraternal bonds between artist and listener, 'blood will rain' might be used to open up as yet closed, or even hidden doors. be prepared."
https://ant-zen.bandcamp.com/album/blood-will-rain
|
2018 |
€13.50 |
|
|
Transgression |
CD |
" 'transgression' represents control's second appearance on ant-zen after the highly regarded 'the resistance' release in 2012. on this album thomas garrison remains loyal to his significant, unique approach of power electronics and death industrial, ready and willing to penetrate the open listener's mind and body.
the eight album tracks convey drastic, mesmeric atmospheres carried by the perfect balance between harsh sonic outbursts and accentuated subbass pulses. sharp noise layers are accompanied by seething dark ambiance, subliminal rhythms and the distinctive, arcane vocals control is well-known for.
while listening to 'transgression' you will find yourself captured inside an inescapable web of varied moods and feelings which can only be intensified by the experience of a control live performance. do not miss!"
https://ant-zen.bandcamp.com/album/transgression
|
2013 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
World of Lies |
CD |
"Control "World of Lies" album, that came out c. 15 years ago. There was couple albums between this and Algolagnia. I suggested artist, that what if he would intentionally break the template a bit, of course not completely abandon his style, but my suggestion was to make first vinyl LP of Control, and my hopes was that it would be a bit noisier, a bit less complex, more harsh and direct, a bit more upfront mix of vocals. Kind of capture the aggression we could see in live settings during these years. It felt like LP format would be ideal for it, as it would benefit from more stripped down approach and less massive sub-bass levels and stereo efx that work best on CD.
As a result, World of Lies happened. It was certainly all Thomas Garrison's vision, and 100% Control, but indeed mentioning possibility that what I would hope for, resulted Control doing one of his most aggressive and fierce albums!" [Freak Animal]
https://control-exsanguinate.bandcamp.com/album/world-of-lies
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| CONTROL / GRUNTSPLATTER |
A Fatal Circle |
7inch |
like a well-prepared appetizer, a single release can be an overly tasty experience, as satisfying as a full meal. one can surely trust the chefs scott e. candey aka gruntsplatter, master in preparing disturbing dark ambience, and thomas garrison aka control, rogue noise cook par excellence, with their respective experience of over 20 years, to fully meet your expectations. both tracks clock in around six minutes, with "in the blood" generating a vortex of almost classic industrial sounds treated to psychedelic effect, and "hunting extinction" capturing a dehumanized, hostile environment. mouth-watering excellence for the noise-savvy!
black vinyl in heavy black dyed cardboard sleeve. slow processed block printing by hand - each print is unique. limited edition of 100 copies.
https://raubbau.bandcamp.com/album/a-fatal-circle
|
2022 |
€18.00 |
|
| CONTROLLED BLEEDING |
Distress Signals I |
do-LP |
"Re-Issue auf limitiertem, schwarzem Doppel-Vinyl Gatefold Sleeve Offiziell autorisiert Die erste autorisierte Wiederveröffentlichung von CONTROLLED BLEEDINGS seltenem Debütalbum "Distress Signals I" auf Vinyl. Ursprünglich wurde es im Jahr 1984 auf Gary Mundys Label Broken Flag ausschließlich auf Kassette veröffentlicht. Ein Album voll von Powernoise und verzerrtem Gesang. Diese 2LP-Edition wird im Gatefold Sleeve mit originalem Artwork veröffentlicht und enthält die ursprünglichen Liner Notes der Kassetten-Veröffentlichung.//
Originally released as a tape on Broken Flag in 1984, Controlled Bleeding's first album 'Distress Signals' is a rare delivery of brutal powernoise and experimentally distorted and tortured vocals. The near hour-long performance is immediate and harsh, and the tape has a kind of holy grail'ish quality amongst collectors, not the least because of the special status of Broken Flag, but also because it had never been properly reissued on either CD or vinyl. Now the material is issued as a DOUBLE-LP, presented in a sublime gatefold sleeve featuring the original artwork, as well as a copy of the liner notes from the tape insert. This edition is limited to 200 copies on GREY VINYL." [label info]
www.artoffact.com |
2016 |
€30.00 |
|
|
Larva Lumps and Baby Bumps |
do-LP |
"Artoffact Records ist stolz das erste neue Studioalbum von CONTROLLED BLEEDING seit 2002 präsentieren zu dürfen! "Larva Lumps And Baby Bumps" ist ein bemerkenswertes Album: es verschmelzt nahtlos Industrial Noise und Prog Rock in einem wunderschönen, modernen stream-of-consciousness-Werk, das zugleich brachial und liebevoll ist. Das Album wurde von Martin Bisi aufgenommen (SWANS, WHITE ZOMBIE, JOHN ZORN) und das Cover wurde von Gregory Jacobsen (LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS) gestaltet. Der erste Track des Albums wird im Wall Street Journal premiert. Das Album erscheint in einem wunderschön gestalteten Gatefold-Cover."
www.artoffact.com
|
2016 |
€38.00 |
|
|
Distress Signals I |
do-LP |
"Re-Issue auf limitiertem, schwarzem Doppel-Vinyl Gatefold Sleeve Offiziell autorisiert Die erste autorisierte Wiederveröffentlichung von CONTROLLED BLEEDINGS seltenem Debütalbum "Distress Signals I" auf Vinyl. Ursprünglich wurde es im Jahr 1984 auf Gary Mundys Label Broken Flag ausschließlich auf Kassette veröffentlicht. Ein Album voll von Powernoise und verzerrtem Gesang. Diese 2LP-Edition wird im Gatefold Sleeve mit originalem Artwork veröffentlicht und enthält die ursprünglichen Liner Notes der Kassetten-Veröffentlichung.//
Originally released as a tape on Broken Flag in 1984, Controlled Bleeding's first album 'Distress Signals' is a rare delivery of brutal powernoise and experimentally distorted and tortured vocals. The near hour-long performance is immediate and harsh, and the tape has a kind of holy grail'ish quality amongst collectors, not the least because of the special status of Broken Flag, but also because it had never been properly reissued on either CD or vinyl. Now the material is issued as a DOUBLE-LP, presented in a sublime gatefold sleeve featuring the original artwork, as well as a copy of the liner notes from the tape insert." [label info]
www.artoffact.com
|
2016 |
€26.00 |
|
| |
Blistered Bags of Fodder Swaying |
10 x CD |
10CD Bound Book! Vinyl-sized bound book containing 10 CDs and 24 pages, including artwork reproductions and an essay by Paul Lemos.
The period between 1985 and 1988 was the most productive in the long history of Controlled Bleeding. No fewer than 13 albums and three split works were released in this short timeframe, starting with Death in the Cameroon, and including other releases on Sub Rosa, Dossier, and many others. Founder Paul Lemos, along with long-time members Joe Papa and Chris Moriarty produced material relentlessly over this three to four year span, experimenting with noise, industrial, tribal sounds, goth, ethereal, and ambient music. In hind-sight, this furious output set the stage for Controlled Bleeding's more famous Wax Trax works, but the material itself found its way to every corner of the experimental world, and it influenced everyone.
Artoffact Records is proud to announce a 10CD collection of Controlled Bleeding material, released between 1985 and 1988, much of which has been out of print for decades. The set starts with the tape-only Death in the Cameroon, and includes seven more Controlled Bleeding albums, including Headcrack, which has never been released on CD. Also included are two Controlled Bleeding off-shoots: the industrial one-off project The Art Barbeque, from 1985, and the Lemos / Papa collaboration Music For Stolen Icon from 1986.
The set includes large-size reproductions of the front and back covers of each release, as well as a longform essay by Paul Lemos. All material has been remastered and restored.
CD Contents:
1. Death in the Cameroon
2. The Art Barbeque "Feet Hacked Rails"
3. Headcrack
4. Between Tides
5. Curd
6. Core
7. Paul Lemos & Joe Papa "Music for Stolen Icon"
8. Music For the Scourging Ground
9. Music For Gilded Chambers
10. Songs From the Drain
|
2018 |
€50.00 |
|
| CONTROLLED DEATH |
Requiem for the Boundless Flesh |
5 x 7inch BOX (wood) |
"Controlled Death is the dark-side project by the Japanese noise legend Masonna that started with Symphony For The Black Murder as first official work released in April 2018 in a vinyl edition of 199 copies. The activities of Controlled Death are like archaic revival to the music experience before Masonna. You can also find the pathology image of the early industrial period and the shadows of Vienna activism such as Hermann Nitsch. The existence and art that pierces through conspicuous consciousness and dives to areas of unconsciousness due to death and pleasure.
Controlled Death's incredible new work is released on a fivefold seven inch. Ten new tracks, to be precise ten requiem (Rè-quiem carnem I – X), between five and six minutes each for a total duration of almost an hour. The selection of the format is perfect for this composition: the analog support highlights the lo-fi recording and the choice of seven inches allows you to listen to the same song several times, or more songs without a preset order. Thus was born Requiem for the boundless flesh, a pulsating panorama of screams, Korg MS20 MK1 and EMS VCS3 The Putney synthesizers with the addition of the grand piano, electric guitar, tape and effects. Each piece is a short sound vignette, which fills the air with its otherworldly beauty and goes away with the same speed with which it arrived, where the presence of the Viennese master always hovers.
Like a cosmic journey, without a precise destination, we enter a new evolution of Controlled Death's work. The sound is darker, the darkness envelops you with its ancestral echoes, the use of synths is accompanied by inhuman screams, sounds on the edge of psychosis are lost in the infinite expanse of the gorges ''at the mountains of madness''. A sound tunnel is created that leads to the depths of the earth. The myth of Cthulhu mingles with the mangled flesh of human beings. The legend moves towards the harsh reality. Rotten, worm-eaten flesh lies beneath thousands of tombstones: boundless masses of flesh! The rumble of the synths becomes thunderous. The use of the guitar and the grand piano are thus distorted, slowed down and overwhelmed once again by the slanted and dilated screams and the intertwining of the pedal’s effects. The tape editing work is wonderful, with a mastery of machines that can be compared to the German cosmic duo Moebius & Roedelius. But the result is not as sugary as Cluster or Harmonia tunes. Honey has become blood and flesh in Maso's hands and harmony gives way to obscure and desolate side. But if it had been recorded in West Berlin during 1970, Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser would have certainly wanted it for his Ohr label!"
https://urashima.bandcamp.com
|
2021 |
€59.00 |
|
| COOPER, LINDSAY |
Rarities Vol. 1 & 2 |
do-CD |
"This double CD set collects together, amongst other things, all of Outtakes for Other Occasions and The Small Screen, both of which were never commercially released, all four pieces from The Classic Guide to NoMansLand, the subscription 7” Pictures from the Great Exhibition collage, an extract from the Concerto for Sopranino Saxophone and Orchestra, an amazing, unreleased, live recording of Trio Trabant with Alfred Harth and Phil Minton, Education sung by Sally Potter, In the Dark Year, sung by Robert Wyatt, material from the with David Thomas and - the really great discovery - a really extraordinary solo piano performance recorded at Roulette in 1985. Comes with a substantial memorial booklet with newly discovered photographs, and texts by Sally Potter, Tim Hodgkinson, David Thomas and Kate Westbrook." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2014 |
€19.50 |
|
| CORBO COMBO / DANGER |
same |
do-CD |
CD 1 Recorded live at CCL des Coteaux - Mulhouse by Claude Vorburger - 1978. All the music was played live in total improvisation.
CD 2 Recorded live at MJC de la Meinau – Strasbourg – 1979. All the music was played live in total improvisation.
Double CD in metal boxes including 12 paged b/w booklet with photos and Bruno de Chénerilles' memories.
200 copies.
|
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| CORDIER, ERIC |
Digitalis Purpurea |
CD |
„Music for sound environments“ betitelt, breiten sich hier äusserst merkwürdig-surreale, aber angenehm leise & sensibel tönende Dronescapes aus; die Originalsounds basieren ursprünglich auf Kirchenorgelpfeifen und Dulcimers... feines Werk des Franzosen.
“The title track begins as a barely audible background tone is interrupted by sudden tape-mangled explosions. The piece develops and builds into a deep shimmering drone- I found myself captivated by Cordier's subtle layering of hurdy gurdy and church organ sound textures bathed in thick reverb and transformed into floating helicopter-like sounds fading in and out of the stereo field. At around the 12 minute mark the piece shifts gear and throws in some crazed variable speed tape games and Doppler effects that sound like a fleet of hurdy gurdys storming through a raceway. Things begin to slow down and fade away into silence as the piece comes to a somewhat sudden close. Track two, "dactyle aglomeree" uses a dulcimer as its sound source and features an opening of crazed multi-tracked string sawing and some nice stereo effects. The sounds grow higher in pitch, into something that resembles feedback squeals. Slowly the sounds begin to morph into a swarming mass of hiss that builds in volume and intensity until the string sounds are inaudible. This hiss begins to oscillate wildly as the composition's pace slows down and fades to end. Sound source is field recordings on the third piece, "les os longs"- This piece appears to be very digitally transformed. Spacey and grainy, high pitched noises with some deep bass tones floating in the background. Around the 4-minute mark some creaks and stretched out horn-like tones appear which might be location recordings. The piece remains mysterious and impenetrable throughout. Sounds slow down for the piece's second half, foghorns in the distance, slowly wavering tones that rise and fall slowly in pitch. This portion on the track might be the best thing on here. The disc ending "postface" is made up of church organ sounds- a note in the booklet says: "no tape manipulation". This beautiful piece plays almost like a cross between thoughtful improv and a field recording of someone tuning a church organ- complete with glacially paced awkward pauses and randomly placed, gentle slivers of sound. All of these tape pieces were originally performed as sound environments through multiple speakers at venues ranging from a gallery to a factory tower. The idea of sitting through just one of those events is mouth-watering, but since that is not an option this recording is the next best thing.” [Angbase]
|
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| CORDIER, ERIC & DENIS TRICOT |
Orgue de Bois |
CD |
"Wie urig die Welt der Prêles, der Schachtelhalme, ist, nach denen ERIC CORDIER sein zusammen mit Satoko Fujimoto betriebenes Label benannt hat - auf Englisch heißen die ‚lebenden Fossilien‘ übrigens ‚Horsetails‘ - , das hört man besonders gut bei Orgue de Bois
(prl003). DENIS TRICOT baut diese ‚Holzorgeln‘, große Land-Art- und gleichzeitig Klangskulpturen, die sich 30 Meter lang und 3, 4 Meter hoch durch die Luft schwingen. Es sind Konstruktionen aus geschweiften Birkenholzlamellen, die durch den Raum kurven wie bizarr verholzte Lianen oder erstarrte Mähnenhaare eines Riesenpferdes, von Drähten gehalten und mit Steingewichten geerdet. Zu ‚Orgeln‘ werden sie, wenn man diese Lamellen durch Klopfen und Schaben, mit bloßen Händen oder einem Streichbogen, zum Federn und Schwingen bringt, so dass sie knarrende und wummernde Laute von sich geben, manchmal so sonor, dass sie fast einem Didgeridoo ähneln, oft perkussiv als tockendes Klappern oder dumpfes Pochen, oder auch gestrichen wie knurrig, krätzig und quietschend vibrierende
Monsterbasssaiten. Das ‚Holzige‘ wird als Grundton gut hörbar, auch das Urige als dunkler U-Laut und dazu der Eindruck von etwas Großem, von raumgreifender Spannweite. In den hölzernen Langwellen ist Klang ja schon sichtbar, bevor man ihn hört, die ‚Holzorgeln‘ sind
wie zeremonielle Instrumente oder sogar Altäre eines uralten Klangkultes. Die Aufnahmen stammen aus Charentonneau à Maisons-Alfort (Festival de l‘Oh! 2006), La Ferté-sous-Jouarre (Festival Mémoires Vives à l‘initiative d‘Act‘Art 77 2006) und Ville de Vaux-sur-Mer (2007), wobei, anders als bei den multimedialen Events, die Tricot ebenfalls inszeniert, ausschließlich die ‚Holzorgel‘ zu hören ist, ohne Overdubs, aber eingebettet in das Environment, mit Stimmen, Glockenschlägen, Vögeln etc." [Bad Alchemy]
"In the last few years, with their Orgue de bois (Wooden Organ), Denis Tricot and Eric Cordier have installed constructions, which are at the same time sculpture and musical instrument in many public spaces. Each Wooden Organ is unique, conceived for the space that will receive it. A monument, a square, a street, a city... With its long undulating wooden lines (successions of joined slats), it creates privileged spaces which are exposed to the public eye. After a performance, the audience is free to explore and discover the instrument's vast potential for musical sounds and noises.
More that thirty Wooden Organs have been created in the lat four years in France and Italy. Generally around thirty metres long, these monumental yet extremely light sculptures integrate in their construction the basic principles of lutherie (instrument-building), and can be played like any string or percussion instrument. The Wooden Organ is very simply amplified. The recordings, like the concerts, use no electronic processing, but the monumental instrument itself intentionally contains principles of mechanical resonance and vibration." [label info]
http://www.prelerecords.net/prl003/prl003.htm
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| CORNER, PHILIP |
Coldwater Basin |
LP |
"Edition limited to 180 copies. Anticipating Fluxus celebrations in 2012, alga marghen proudly presents one of the masterpieces from the glorious 60s, by master of ecstatic music Philip Corner. 'Remember ? When you made these things at home, on the best equipment you or your other poor friends could find ? And you had that Japanese tape recorder with built-in mike; indeed that was the only piece of furniture on your tatami floor on the Lower East Side that summer of 1961'. 'Coldwater Basin' by Philip Corner. A home recording of water running from a faucet into a sink. New York City, the Lower East Side, sometime in the 60s. With Bill Fontana on microphone. 'And I always dreamd of passing an entire night bathed in this It was never long enough'. Edition limited to 180 copies with front sleeve design and calligraphies by Philip Corner." [label info]
|
2011 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Through the two more than mysterious Barricades |
LP |
" “Les Barricades Mistérieuses,” the harpsichord gem by French Baroque composer François Couperin, has been a long-running source of exploration for Fluxus musician Philip Corner, who for years has used it as a jumping-off point for piano improvisations. Through Two More-Than-Mysterious Barricades comprises two very different takes on the same piece. The first dates from 1992, in collaboration with dancer Paulette Sears (who provides the ‘singings and screamings’ of the album’s subtitle); it moves from a frenzy of abstraction to a more meditative take on Couperin’s composition, with diversions and tributaries along the way. The second, from 2004, is a rougher beast: recorded with wildly over-saturated levels, the tape machine itself becomes a participant in the performance, with its heavy distortion bringing out stormclouds of overtones from Corner’s piano. Through Two More-Than-Mysterious Barricades is released in an edition of 318 copies, with Corner’s calligraphy silkscreened on Kozo rice paper and mounted onto the jacket. Download coupon included." [label info]
www.roaratorio.com
|
2014 |
€23.00 |
|
| CORRUPTED |
Felicific Algorithim |
12inch |
"CORRUPTED is a mysterious Japanese doom metal band, formed in 1994. Immensely downtuned guitar and crushingly slow bass are shrouded under deep layers of feedback. They are rightly hailed as one of the heaviest and darkest doom metal bands of all time.
"Humankind's folly it its continuing idiocy. This is the beginning of the "Hollow" series. The schoolyard of the school was buried in the mountains of radioactive contaminated rubble. We cannot hear children's voices from anywhere. I hear it is the world of sound of only footsteps and the warning sound of the Geiger counter..." (Chew Hasegawa)
This record isn't your standard doom fare. The title-less tracks are to be played at either standard vinyl speed. Therefore (and at the band's request), no samples or download code.
The limited 12" is accompanied by a foldout poster."
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| CORTINI, ALESSANDRO |
Forse 1 |
do-LP |
Alessandro Cortini (Nine Inch Nails/How To Destroy Angels) composed the Forse series using a Buchla Music Easel. Forse, meaning "maybe" In Italian, is a series of 3 double LP releases Cortini recorded for Imprec to release in 2013.
"All pieces were written and performed live on a Buchla Music Easel, in the span of one month. I found that the limited array of modules that the instrument offers sparked my creativity. Most pieces consist of a repeating chord progression, where the real change happens at a spectral/dynamic level, as opposed to the harmonic/chordal one. I believe that the former are just as effective as the latter, in the sense that the sonic presentation (distortion , filtering, wave shaping, etc) are just as expressive as a chord change or chord type, and often reinforce said chord progressions.
Of all the years with Nine Inch Nails the period spent writing and recording the instrumental record Ghosts I-IV is probably the one which changed my approach to music making the most. After that record I started getting more into instrumental composition, although I tried to approach it in a different way. While we had a vast array of tools and instruments at our disposal then, I decided to approach my pieces limiting myself to one instrument only, as I found myself being more decisive when faced with a limited creative environment."
www.importantrecords.com/imprec/imprec373
|
2017 |
€35.00 |
|
| |
Sonno |
do-LP |
"Much needed re-press of Alessandro Cortini's 2014 debut album for Hospital Productions, a much sought-after and highly immersive suite recorded using a minimal setup in hotel rooms across the globe while on tour as part of Nine Inch Nails.
Cortini is best known as the lead electronics performer in Nine Inch Nails’, but in recent years his work as ‘Sonoio' and a pair of fine albums for Important Records under his own name have highlighted his own individual productions. Known as one of the pre-eminent Buchla masters in North America, Cortini makes a surprising departure on 'Sonno' by making use of little more than a Roland MC 202 fed through a delay pedal and ambient sound recordings taken in various hotel rooms recorded direct, sometimes into a small portable speaker system. “I liked to walk around the room with a handheld recorder to hear where the sequence would sound better, turn on faucets, open doors or windows to see how the ambient sounds would interact with the MC 202/delay/speaker sound…”
The result is a beautiful, evocative, highly unusual suite of tracks, quite removed from the Modular/Kosmische revivalism that’s been so preeminent over the last decade. ‘Sonno' is soaked in atmosphere, those background recordings imbuing proceedings with a fizzing resonance that’s impossible to recreate artificially, making for essential listening for anyone who can’t get enough of classic material from ENO or AFX and bored with cheap imitations." [Boomkat]
"One of the most unlikely moments of musical philosophy surely comes from the mouth of Peep Show's Super Hans when, while pressing a bass synth note, he utters the immortal line, "remember, the longer the note, the more dread." And of course he's right. Ambient music has long utilised the idea of drones and sustained notes to invoke such feelings. Like the musical equivalent of the Deleuzeian time-image, the long drone highlights the breakdown of sound that's organised by rhythms and movement, creating in its place a sense of memory and history, with the pitch and timbres of the sound opening and unfolding to our ears.
Alessandro Cortini is a musician who's fast being recognised as a master at manipulating sound and time. A long-time connoisseur of analogue and modular synths, when he's not performing as a member of Nine Inch Nails, he is more likely to be seen on YouTube videos tinkering and messing around with huge modular synth racks. His solo discography of synth music, in particular the album Sonno he released last year on Hospital Records, shows a musician capable of creating ambient music of eerie and physical uneasiness. With its thick, crepuscular drones and tape hiss textures, Cortini draws out the sense of the uncanny, his music a soundtrack to those night time non-spaces built by but uninhabited by humanity; multi-storey car parks, office spaces, industrial parks, hotel and office corridors.
Cortini now brings us Risveglio, a follow-up and continuation to Sonno. Like Sonno, Risveglio is an album created under severe restrictions and economy, composed while Cortini was on tour with NiN, with the tracks recorded in hotel rooms with a portable studio recorder. The capturing of fleeting moments of music on the hoof can be heard in instances on 'Dormiveglia,' which inexplicably stops less than 30 seconds in, while 'Ricadere' has fluctuating recording levels and the sound of cables being unplugged during the song.
While Sonno was made with a single Roland MC-202 synthesiser/sequencer, Cortini, with Risveglio, adds a synched TB-303 bass synth. In terms of self-imposed limits, Cortini's setup is a closed system on starvation rations, with only Andreas Tilliander's TM-404 alter ego (where he uses combinations of nine pieces of classic Roland equipment) coming close to such levels of creative austerity. The inclusion of a TR-606 drum machine on the final track, 'La Sveglia (Drum Version)', feels gaudy and ostentatious in comparison.
Despite such minimal and spartan conditions, Cortini makes his two machines sing to each other on Risveglio, creating remarkably dense soundscapes that bubble and oscillate in their own world. The opening two tracks, 'Stambecco' and 'La Sveglia', highlight how the TB-303, if not adding distinct rhythm, introduces a sense of movement to Risveglio’s sonic space imbibing a purpose of action to Cortini's music. While the bass purrs and burbles in the background, Cortini inflicts queasy pitch-shifting notes reminiscent of Boards Of Canada at their most hypnagogic. These two elements or movement and sound, reach their highpoint on 'Rispetto', a track with crumpled clicks and pings that echo through darkened zones.
Despite the introduction of movement to Cortini's music, Risveglio still contains huge monolithic surges of synthwash drones. 'Lotta' consists of a simple repeating melody structure whose sounds gradually increase in mass until the notes distort and lose their stability, bleeding and dissipating into each other until they become a single mass. 'La Guardia' is one of Risveglio's highlights; a pulsating bass line strafed by single note pulsars and shrieking atmospherics that come to a crushing, noisy conclusion. Risveglio is an album that, while a continuation of Cortini's increasingly esoteric and hermetic journeys to the edges of the analogue synth frontier, actually turns away from the idea that ambient music should be passive and pastoral. Its use of frayed tones and frequencies as the organising basis for movement and propulsion allows the music to seep into the cracks and pores of the space around you, extracting the anxiety and dread inherent hidden in our world around us. Embrace the abyss and enjoy." [The Quietus]
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| COSEY FANNI TUTTI |
Tutti |
CD |
UTTI is comprised of eight soundscapes: an audio self portrait comprising of manipulated sound recordings from Cosey’s life, music and art: “It’s the only album I’ve made that is an all encompassing statement expressing the totality of my being. A sense of the past in relation to the present and everything in between.”
These eight pieces were originally conceived as the soundtrack to the autobiographical film ‘Harmonic Coumaction’, and performed live in February 2017, part of a series of events that accompanied the COUM Transmissions retrospective which opened Hull UK City of Culture 2017. Later that year, ‘Harmonic Coumaction’ was presented as an audio-visual installation for Cosey Fanni Tutti’s solo exhibition at Cabinet Gallery, London.
Cosey Fanni Tutti explains: “Working on the COUM Transmissions exhibition also coincided with writing my autobiography - collating archive material and re engaging with my past. My work is a continuum, the past feeding the present and vice versa. The album is an interpretation of my past and present, of my understanding the shifting perceptions of how they inform one another. One form creating another through a metamorphic process.”
On TUTTI, the music has been updated and enhanced with elements of the original tracks re-recorded and further processed specifically to create a unique stand-alone document, separate to the live performance and installation.
Recorded at Cosey Fanni Tutti’s studio in Norfolk, the album, as on her debut release, Time To Tell, merges Cosey’s art activities with her exploration of sound: The album’s autobiographical theme is not locked into any specific time or place, the ‘voices’, instruments and sounds together span decades of my life, music and art. In this context my name 'TUTTI’ shifts from its role as a noun to perfectly represent the concept of the album, also acting as sign for me the artist.
TUTTI is Cosey Fanni Tutti’s only solo album release since 1982’s Time To Tell. Time To Tell was recently given its first release on vinyl, on a long awaited official deluxe edition. The interim years between solo releases has seen a blisteringly prolific output as an artist and musician. Renowned for her art, her work in the sex industry, as co-founder of Industrial music and Throbbing Gristle, and her pioneering electronic music solo and as Chris & Cosey, Carter Tutti and Carter Tutti Void, she has created throughout with the motto “my life is my art, my art is my life”.
Cosey’s autobiography ART SEX MUSIC was published to worldwide acclaim by Faber & Faber in 2017, a Japanese edition has just been published with further translations and an audio book to follow.
TUTTI TRACK LISTING
Tutti
Drone
Moe
Sophic Ripple
Split
Heliy
En
Orenda
TUTTI besteht aus acht Tracks und ist ein Audio-Selbstporträt, das aus manipulierten Tonaufnahmen aus Cosey Fanni Tuttis Leben, Musik und Kunst besteht: "Es ist das einzige Album, das ich gemacht habe, das eine allumfassende Aussage ist, die die Gesamtheit meines Seins ausdrückt. Ein Gefühl der Vergangenheit in Bezug auf die Gegenwart und alles dazwischen." Diese acht Stücke waren ursprünglich als Soundtrack zum autobiografischen Film ,Harmonic Coumaction" konzipiert und wurden im Februar 2017 im Rahmen einer Veranstaltungsreihe zur Retrospektive über COUM Transmissions live aufgeführt. COUM Transmissions war eine subkulturelle Gruppe von britischen Musikern, Undergroundfilmemachern, Aktions- und Konzeptkünstlern, der Cosey anghörte und die Anfang der 1970er Jahre durch aggressive, provokante und schockierend-verstörende Performances medienpräsent auf sich aufmerksam machte und zu den Wegbereitern des späteren Industrial zählt. ,Harmonic Coumaction" wurde ebenfalls als audio-visuelle Installation bei Cosey Fanni Tuttis Einzelausstellung in der Cabinet Gallery, London, präsentiert. Cosey Fanni Tutti erklärt: "Die Arbeit an der Ausstellung COUM Transmissions fiel auch mit dem Schreiben meiner Autobiografie zusammen - dem Sammeln von Archivmaterial und dem Wiedereinbringen in meine Vergangenheit. Meine Arbeit ist ein Kontinuum, die Vergangenheit speist die Gegenwart und umgekehrt. Das Album ist eine Interpretation meiner Vergangenheit und Gegenwart, meines Verständnisses der wechselnden Wahrnehmungen, wie sie sich gegenseitig beeinflussen. Eine Form, die eine andere durch einen metamorphen Prozess erzeugt." Auf ,TUTTI" wurde die Musik aktualisiert und mit Elementen der Original-Tracks ergänzt, die neu aufgenommen und speziell weiterverarbeitet wurden, um ein einzigartiges eigenständiges Dokument zu erstellen, das von der Live-Performance und Installation getrennt ist. Das in ihrem Studio in Norfolk aufgenommene Album, wie auch ihre Debütveröffentlichung ,Time To Tell" von 1982, verbindet Cosey's künstlerische Aktivitäten mit ihrer Erforschung des Sounds: Das autobiografische Thema des Albums ist nicht an eine bestimmte Zeit oder einen bestimmten Ort gebunden, die "Stimmen", Instrumente und Klänge reichen zusammen über Jahrzehnte ihres Lebens, Musik und Kunst. In diesem Zusammenhang verschiebt sich ihr Name ,TUTTI" von seiner Rolle als Substantiv, um das Konzept des Albums perfekt darzustellen und gleichzeitig als Zeichen für Cosey als Künstlerin zu fungieren. ,TUTTI" ist Cosey Fanni Tutti's einziges Soloalbum seit ,Time To Tell" 1982. Sie ist Mitbegründerin von Throbbing Gristle und des Genres Industrial Music, bekannt für ihre Kunst, ihre Arbeit in der Sexindustrie, für ihren Beitrag zur elektronischen Musik als Teil von Chris & Cosey, Carter Tutti und Carter Tutti Void und für ihr bahnbrechendes Solowerk. Ihr Motto: ,Mein Leben ist meine Kunst, meine Kunst ist mein Leben". Coseys Autobiografie ,ART SEX MUSIC" wurde 2017 von Faber & Faber weltweit mit großem Erfolg veröffentlicht, eine japanische Ausgabe ist gerade erschienen, mit weiteren Übersetzungen und einem Hörbuch, das folgen wird.
http://www.coseyfannitutti.com/content/tutti-lp-resources.html
|
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| COSTES |
Plastic et Magic |
BOOK + CD |
The first children's book (including a ten-track CD) by hardcore performer Costes. Costes is famous all over the world for his multiple tours in the US, Japan, and Europe. He wrote more than two-thousand songs over the last thirty years and shot a lot of videos too. Bisou Records asked him to do a book for children, so he invented a story, did the drawings, composed, performed, and recorded the songs over three weeks. The story is about friendship and love and there are a lot of strange encounters with the Monsieur-Peur ("Mister-Fear"), a giant mole, and a lot of other animals. The texts and lyrics are in French.
https://www.bisou-records.com/produit/costes-plastic-et-magic-bisou-records/ |
2016 |
€16.00 |
|
| COTI |
Solesulsuolo |
CD |
All tracks written and performed on the oniscus by Coti K. in Stockholm and Tinos island in 2012. “Oniscus (full name: Oniscus harmonicus) is an instrument I had thought of making for a very long time, it came from my obsession with string bass harmonics. It has 6-7 bass guitar strings tuned in semitones so that all possible notes can be played with harmonics. no fingerbord is present, it is played by lightly touching the strings with the left hand and bowing wiith the right. It has a playable range of 2 octaves (harmonics 2 to 8), some practicing should allow for another octave up (harmonics 8-16). A main aspect of its playing came by serendipitous chance when i discovered that close melodic intervals can be played by pressing down on the strings and thus bending the harmonics.#All Oniscii fold in half, making them extremely portable. Three versions of the Oniscus exist so far. The oniscus was the main instrument used on my soundtrack for “Fynbos” (2012) a film by Harry Patramanis”. Limited edition 300 copies.
www.antifrost.gr/afro2060.htm
"Coti also plays a string instrument, but it's not the cello. It's the Oniscus (full name: Oniscus harmonicus) and on his website I read it's "is an instrument I had thought of making for a very long time, it came from my obsession with string bass harmonics. It has 6-7 bass guitar strings tuned in semitones so that all possible notes can be played with harmonics. No fingerboard is present, it is played by lightly touching the strings with the left hand and bowing with the right. It has a playable range of 2 octaves (harmonics 2 to 8), some practicing should allow for another octave up (harmonics 8-16)." Following the Veliotis release this is luckily a bit different. Not exactly 'light' but then not as heavy to digest as the Veliotis release. Still heavy on the bass end but with eleven pieces also the one that is perhaps least conceptual. Not exactly 'song' material, but in it separate pieces of music. That too is a difference with the other two releases. It's also less powerful, and deals more with the beauty of sounds, I think. These pieces seem to me made through improvisation and are short (3-5 minutes) and to the point. Solemnly, sometimes mournful and sad music, but with a somewhat rough character. Very nice, and, a fine afterthought for the other two. Almost like a breath of fresh air." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| CRANIOCLAST |
(THE) L.K.A. SONAR KIT (SOLD OUT) |
pic-7 |
"CRANIOCLAST–maybe the most mysterious & legendary "post-industrial"- group from West-Germany of the 80's-the German counterpart to ZOVIET FRANCE? As CRANIOCLAST have nearly disappeared over the last few years, we are very proud to release a wonderful designed picture-disc containing two new tracks ("DE ZEESTER" and "THE ANEMONE") taking you closer to a bizarre & breathing aural world – listen to distant floating melodies, droney electronic tunes, exotic instruments (Sitar) , voices from nowhere, animal sounds, piano, ether-sinus-sounds...as they all merge & form a perfectly relaxed & timelessly emotional soundtrack. Let the world turn into something different and witness how something alien can grow into sheer beauty.
BLACK & WHITE PICTURE DISC, COVERED BY DIFFERENT COLOURED TRANSPARENT PAPER, CLOSED WITH INDIVIDUAL NUMBERED STICKER" [label info]
|
2000 |
€ |
|
| CRAY |
InvalidObject Series (comment) |
mCD |
Das irische FÄLLT-Label hat auf einen Schlag ein Kompendium zur neuen digitalen laptop / click / glitch / IDM – Musik herausgebracht ! Das sind 24 mCDs mit allerlei bekannten und unbekannte Vertretern dieses jungen Genres. Wir haben die meisten da, hier eine Übersicht ! Limitiert jeweils auf schamlose 250 Stck ! Preis pro mcD : € 9.50
Better priced now, last copies of this absolute compendium of IDM. € 9.50
“ The invalidObject Series was established in 2000 as a sublabel of Fällt to release a finite series of twenty four 3"CD/.mp3 works.
Offering a unique perspective on a diverse range of musical output at the turn of the millennium, the Series features work by some of the most respected artists operating within the field of '.microsound' and has been described as "a remarkable document of a vibrant artistic community and a critical moment in the evolution of digital music" (Philip Sherburne), "a showcase for the extraordinary range of practical approaches within contemporary electronic music" (Matt Ffytche, The Wire) and, simply, "impressive" (Rob Young, Editor, The Wire). “ [label press release}
|
2000 |
€9.50 |
|
| CRESHEVSKY, NOAH / IF, BWANA |
Favorite Encores |
CD |
Split-Album mit vier Stücken von NOAH CRESHEVSKY und seiner HYPERREALISM-Musik, dazu 3 Stücke vom POGUS-Label Betreiber und experimentellen Urgestein IF, BWANA. Anspruchsvolle & aufregende Neue Experimentalmusik, basierend auf instrumentalen & vokalen Klangquellen..
"A split cd of works by Noah Creshevsky (4 tracks) and If, Bwana (3 tracks). While on the face of it this may seem a somewhat odd pairing, the pieces recorded here comment on and highlight each other. And as the above quotes suggest, an aural adventure is indeed in the offing.
Trained in composition by Nadia Boulanger in Paris and Luciano Berio at Juilliard, Noah Creshevsky has taught at Juilliard, Princeton University, and Brooklyn College. He was director of the Center for Computer Music (1994-2000) and is currently Professor Emeritus at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. His musical vocabulary consists largely of familiar bits of words, songs, and instrumental music that are edited but rarely subjected to electronic processing. The result is a music that obscures the boundaries of real and imaginary ensembles though the fusion of opposites: music and noise, comprehensible and incomprehensible vocal sources, human and superhuman vocal and instrumental capacities. Creshevsky's most recent hyperrealist compositions explore the fragmentation and reconstruction of pre-existing music in combination with original synthetic and acoustic materials. Moments suggest musical environments of indeterminate ethnicity--simultaneously Western and non-Western, ancient and modern, familiar and unfamiliar.
Hyperrealism is an electroacoustic musical language constructed from sounds that are recognizable parts of our shared environment ("realism"), handled in ways that are exaggerated or excessive ("hyper"). Hyperrealist music exists in two basic genres. The first uses the sounds of traditional instruments that are pushed beyond the capacities of human performers in order to create superperformers--hypothetical virtuosos who transcend the limitations of individual performance capabilities (e.g., Mari Kimura Redux, Intrada, Favorite Encores). Hyperrealism of the second genre aims to integrate vast and diverse sonic elements to produce an expressive and versatile musical language. Its vocabulary is an inclusive, limitless sonic compendium, free of ethnic and national particularity (e.g., Shadow of a Doubt). Hyperrealism celebrates bounty, either by the extravagant treatment of limited sound palettes or by the assembling and manipulating of substantially extended palettes.
Al Margolis has been working under the musical pseudonym If, Bwana since New Year's Day 1984. There are often collaborators in this project‹both knowingly and unknowingly. Both are represented on this recording. Xyloxings was a concept-based work that in the end had the concept discarded for compositional considerations. Lisa Barnard's vocals were recorded with her direct knowledge. Scraping Scrafide uses a portion of Tony Scafide's piano part from a prior work of mine‹3 Out of 4 Ain't Bad‹and processes it. Cicada #4: Barnard Mix is part of my "discipline" series‹an open set of works‹and uses Barnard's vocals from other sessions to create one of many possible versions of this work." [press release]
"... Creshevsy choose the term 'hyperrealis' for the typical electro-acoustical music he developed. In three compositions on this cd ('Mari Kimura Redux'‚ 'Intrada' and 'Favorite Encores') Creshevsky "uses the sounds of traditional instruments that are pushed beyond the limitations of individual performance capabilities". Creshevsky is a master in the field of audio-collage and plunderphonic-like procedures and leaves us with many questions. For example we often hear violins in his work, playing in a style that we are used from normal classical music. But I'm not sure whether he takes samples from already existing (violin)works by others, or whether he composes pieces for violin first to be used consequently by him in his collage work. Comparable to how Biota works. His compositions make the impression of staying close to classical musical structures, but transcended to unknown heights through his virtuoso manipulation work. The music has an enormous speed and drive, combined with an enormous flexibility and maneuverability. In each piece we are constantly exposed to an intensity and complexity that we don't often find in music. His works open dazzling dimensions and perspectives. On the other hand the music remains fluent and accessible, very lively and of an appealing dramatic. Great work! 'Intrada' is of special interest because of the use of (samples of) the fantastic voicework by Chris Mann.
If, Bwana is the pseudonym Al Margolis uses already since 1984 for his musical output. As a guest he was present on Creshevsky's 'To know and not to know'. Between the highly informed and complex music of Creshvesky, the works of If Bwana offers us some rest. His pieces develop in a slower pace and are built from a smaller set of soundmaterial. In 'Xyloxings' and 'Cicada # 4; Version Barnard', the voice of Lisa Bernard plays a prominent role. For 'Scraping Scrafide' If, Bwana makes uses of the piano playing of Tony Scafide, taking from an earlier composition by If, Bwana. In comparison to maximalistic efforts of Creshesky, the works If Bwana are more of a minimalistic approach." [DM / Vital Weekly]
www.pogus.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| CRETA |
Creta |
LP |
CRETA is the new project by MASSIMO PUPILLO (ZU, LANIAKEA), electronic artist LUCIANO LAMANNA and string instrument virtuoso ROBERTO ZANISI. As trio they explore an adventurous sonic territory between COIL in their ambient moments, dark bass pulses and bucolic-mediterranean string sounds.
CRETA is a new trio of artists coming from very different backgrounds: ROBERTO ZANISI is a finger picking guitar player and a virtuoso on strings of all kinds, including “exotic” instruments like the Turkish Cümbüs, the Greek Bouzouki or the Albanian Cifteli. Since 2003 he has been active in many contexts: he worked with GIOVANNI VENOSTA producing sound tracks for SILVIO SOLDINI’s movies, took part as soloist musician in STEWARD COPELAND’s tour “La Notte della Taranta (Night of Tarantula)”, played with the American musician AMY DENIO and performed with SAINKHO NAMTCHYLAK. LUCIANO LAMANNA’s main characteristics are experimentation, analog synths, vinyl and a big love for techno. In 2015, the resident DJ at Ex Dogana, Roma and member of the Italian artist collective LSWHR launched the modular synthesizer project BALANCE (with DAVIDE RICCI), and in 2017 he released the album “Divus” with ZU member LUCA T. MAI, to name a few of LAMANNA’s many releases on labels like EARACHE, BORING MACHINES, SCUDERIA et.al. And, last but not least, there is MASSIMO PUPILLO, highly acclaimed bass maniac with ZU, LANIAKEA and in countless other constellations (a.o. PETER and CASPAR BRÖTZMANN, FM EINHEIT, CHRIS CORSANO). As CRETA, they create outlandish sonic pieces that blend sci-fi ambient atmospheres with dark bass pulses and bucolic-mediterranean string instruments – an unique and yet coherent mix of elements that adds consequently to the oeuvres of the three artists!
Tracklist:
1 … And Everything That Shines
2 Babe In The Egg Of Blue
3 Future Humans In Form Of Aur
|
2018 |
€18.00 |
|
| CRIA CUERVOS |
Des tempes qui se vitrifient ou se marbrent |
mCD-R |
New material by this italian project, very hissy & droney & machine-like an-organic deep atmo-noise....
“this 20min piece could be depicted as the awakening of a mysterious living being, discovering a hostile world... screepy dark ambient! full-couloured printed 3"cd-r in a slim crystal box.” [label info]
www.taalem.com
|
2005 |
€5.00 |
|
| CRISTAL |
Re-Ups |
LP |
Das Trio mit dem von LABRADFORD bekannten BOBBY DONE existiert schon seit 2001 und liesse sich soundmässig am ehesten als Drone-basierte, atmosphärische Improvisation & Komposition mit feinen harmonischen und auch noisigen Ausflügen beschreiben. Sehr sorgfältig und Raum-schaffend bauen sie ihre Klangfigurationen auf, in denen subtile Mikrosounds platziert werden...das hat was von ruhigen ILLUSION OF SAFETY zum Beispiel, sie wurden aber auch schon als elektronische, LABRADFORD-getränkte Variante von SUNN O)) beschrieben, oder mit AUBE und DEATHPROD in Zusammenhang gebracht (was alles nicht so recht passt, aber als grobes Raster OK ist..) Dies ist das zweite Album nach der "Cristal" CD (2005), kommt in nummerierter Auflage & im Gatefold-Cover. Leider teuer.
"Jimmy Anthony, Greg Darden & Bobby Donne (Labradford, Aix Em Klemm) play out infrequently , are unprolific in their release schedule & spend their time refining & recording their abstract electronic music. Their seclusion & deliberation produce remarkable results. Re-Ups is their second full length release. Cristal use computers to mutate & stretch sound spectra into long forms balanced against tenuous, implied melodies. The barely perceptible abuts the overwhelming. Placid soundfields are lacerated with incisions of digital fragments & static on the opening track. Sonic reductions boil & release evaporate melodies on the track “Xicifu” and then are decimated by the scouring noise of “Left of Swept”. All across Re-Ups, disorienting & comforting elements sit side by side. When so many noise & experimental artists seem to be hemorrhaging releases, Cristal’s compositional rigor is refreshing. ONE TIME PRESSING OF 500 on 180 gram vinyl in a gatefold jacket. Comes with digital download code." [label notes]
|
2008 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Homegoing |
CD |
"J. Anthony, G. Darden and R. Donne (Labradford, Spokane, ex-Aix Em Klemm) journey through simmering electronic, wide-screen vistas to seismic, swelling and undulating soundscapes. From the shifting-sand textures of “Yoke” (replete with deeply moving, melancholic cello sifting through the ether) and “Streaming Wisdom,” to the ever-so-slightly somber tones of “Dead Bird,” Homegoing is a wondrously thought-provoking, uplifting aural adventure—a technicolor travelogue of things possibly lost, possibly not. File alongside latter-day Biosphere, Deathprod (especially both Helge Sten and Cristal’s attention to the minutest sonic detail), and the later, electronically based Zoviet France releases. Pour a glass of your finest tipple, sit back and be transported to a very special dimension. Cristal’s Homegoing has it all, and more." [label info]
“Ultra-deep ambience, a sound both subterranean and subaquatic, metallic shimmering high-end washes over everything like some sort of alien sheen, fields of glistening, cricket-like chitter adds texture to otherwise slow, shifting, smooth expanses of warm soft swirl, dreamy and ethereal." [Aquarius Records] |
2013 |
€13.50 |
|
| CROENE, FREDERIK & TIMO VAN LUIJK |
Ipnopedion |
LP |
Side 1 : Ipnopedion
Premiere live performance of commissioned composition for the ‘In Dreams’ Event, at Kunstencentrum nona in Mechelen, June 1, 2018.
Curated by Philippe Cortens.
Frederik Croene: piano
Timo van Luijk: synthesizer, sound projection
Side 2 : Taetonia
Recorded and mixed at Kulta Saha 2019
Frederik Croene: piano, organ
Timo van Luijk: synthesizer, organ, atmospherics
On the frigid moonless night of December 6th, 1978, a 26 year-old night watchman named Pier Zanfretta was on a routine patrol in the village of Torriglia, where he stumbled into a horrifying encounter with aliens from Taetonia. In order to get more clarity about what happened that night Pier Zanfretta agreed to undergo hypnosis, to let his subconscious speak about his abduction by these aliens.
As his discours under hypnosis sounded uncannily musical and mesmerizing, even without understanding the words, it became the basis of this Ipnopedion album.
For the recording of the title track ‘Ipnopedion’ (side 1) Zanfretta’s speech was played back on headphones, then phonetically reproduced by FC and TVL, lying down in darkness as being hypnotised. Apart from this transposed text only piano and a few hypnosis inducing atmospherics and spatialisations were added.
The ‘Taetonia’ track (side 2) opens with a naieve and enticing piano play slowly being beamed into a vacuum void towards Taetonia. As Zanfretta’s words were vague it remained unclear what happened in Taetonia but things certainly had changed…
Ipnopedion became a ritual invitation to withdraw from the concrete world, returning to it as uncanonical aliens from Taetonia.
https://lasciedoree.be/releases/timo-van-luijk-frederik-croene-ipnopedion/ |
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| CROUCH, ROBERT |
Organs |
CD |
"The three works comprising Organs were selected and edited from a year of recordings developed in collaboration with choreographer and artist Julie Tolentino in 2014. Three separate projects were documented through audio recordings of performances and rehearsals, as well as related field recordings. Each piece recalls a matrix of encounters between a specific body (or bodies) within a unique context, conducting and responding to sounds, both electronic and organic. The interplay of the soft tissue, sinew, bone and blood of the body-organ, pushing against/within/outside the sustained tones and synthetic expressions of the techno-organ. Each organ exists simultaneously alienated from, and an extension of, the other.
Somniloquy was constructed using a recording of Tolentino “playing” the broken organ in preparation for the performance Process(ion)X at the Church of the Epiphany. The eyes of fire is based on a recording from Drive Your Cart And Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead, a nine hour performance with Julie Tolentino, Stosh Fila, and Robert Crouch at the San Francisco Art Institute, curated by Tania Hammidi. The Propaganda of History was developed from a series of recordings made during rehearsal sessions with Tolentino and Mark Steger, with additional field recordings of Fourth of July fireworks from Madison, Wisconsin."
www.dragonseyerecordings.com
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| CUNI, AMELIA & WERNER DURAND |
Diasporagas (Ancient Trends & New Traditions In Indo-European Music) |
LP |
Amelia Cuni was born in Milan and has lived in India for more than 10 years where she studied dhrupad singing with various renowned masters. Werner Durand has been performing his own music for saxophones, Iranian ney and self-made wind instruments since the late 70s. He started building his own wind instruments from plexi-glass, PVC and metal tubes in the early 80s and has performed in various groups including The Thirteenth Tribe and Armchair Traveller. For more than 20 years, Cuni and Durand have been performing together as a duo as well as in collaborations such as Tonaliens and Born Of Six.
Diasporagas, sub-titled "Ancient Trends and New Traditions in Indo-European Music", summarizes their various musical projects in which her Indian raga singing met with his minimalist and experimental approach. In all of their collaborations, they have been creating unique forms and expanding the palette of their sound worlds while keeping the essence of raga music, justifying the use of the term in its original meaning. The title is meant to be understood as a statement to provoke reflections on our ideas of cultural identity vs. globalization, and tradition vs. experimentation.
A central Diasporagas work is "Hiss (mastered noise)" for dhrupad singing, invented wind instruments, Indian percussion and samples of historical recordings by Indian singers. It is partly based on their earlier work "Gramophone Saraswati" which involved replicas of Luigi Russolo's Intonarumori instead of the Indian recordings. This LP includes "Hiss (mastered noise)" and two other pieces entitled "Aqua Shiva" and "Agana Song". Edition of 300 in a full-color sleeve with a printed inner sleeve reproducing the score of "Hiss (mastered noise)".
www.edition-telemark.de
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
| CUPPLES, AARON |
Island of the Hungry Ghost (OST) |
LP |
Island of the Hungry Ghosts is a hybrid documentary that moves between the natural, human and spiritual worlds. Located off the coast of Indonesia, the Australian territory of Christmas Island is inhabited by migratory crabs traveling in their millions from the jungle towards the ocean, in a movement that has been provoked by the full moon for hundreds of thousands of years. Poh Lin Lee is a trauma therapist who lives with her family in this seemingly idyllic paradise. Every day, she talks with the asylum seekers held indefinitely in a high-security detention centre hidden in the island's core, attempting to support them in a situation that is as unbearable as its outcome is uncertain. As Poh Lin and her family explore the island's beautiful yet threatening landscape, the local islanders carry out their "hungry ghost" rituals for the spirits of those who died on the island without a burial. They make offerings to appease the lost souls who are said to be wandering the jungles at night looking for home. This album presents the original score Aaron Cupples created for the film. Rich in texture and harmonics, the music is characterized by the bespoke instruments and recording techniques employed in its creation. The soundtrack also features sound recordist Leo Dolgan's vivid field recordings. All captured on Christmas Island, the four pieces recall insect choruses, strange and ominous bird calls, erupting blowholes, fire, ocean, and Buddhist prayers for the dead. The album is mastered by Rashad Becker, featuring design by N MRE 08. *LP comes with an obi strip, a booklet containing stills from the documentary & liner notes, as well as a postcard granting access to the full film*
https://aaroncupples.bandcamp.com/album/island-of-the-hungry-ghosts-ost
|
2021 |
€24.00 |
|
| CURD DUCA |
Waves 1 |
CD + LP box |
"Easy listening glitch innovator and pioneer Curd Duca presents his first work in 20 years; tiling 28 gorgeous vignettes in the first of a welcome trilogy for Cologne’s Magazine. Waves 2 and 3 will be released in 2021.
Aside from the Austrian artist’s genteel self-released album of accordion cut-ups, ‘Waves 1’ marks the return of a lowkey but vital figure from the ‘90s experimental electronic scene, whose series of LPs (Easy Listening and Elevator), adorned with a distinctive play on a famous logo, caught eyes and ears in record shops around the world via release on Normal and Mille Plateaux, most often making their way to chill-out sessions and the best record collections.
Curd Duca’s return could hardly be better timed for an era clearly in need of enchantment and peace, rustling together a spellbinding mosaic of sampled / processed ephemera that uncannily induces hypnagogic states with its succession of soothing but elusive, fragmentary moments. It’s exceptionally well done, constantly spouting with lovely new ideas that evaporate, segue, transition to the next with a illusionist’s sleight-of-hand, adding up to one of the cutest and mercurial albums you’ll cop this year." [Boomkat]
"Part of the beauty of Curd Duca’s album lies in the fact that it opens up from so many perspectives. Situated somewhere between pop and avantgarde, it can be seen as a collection of treasures, a commentary on our acoustic environment, as an attempt to dissect the world and to stylize its parts. Some pieces are exaggerations. Some allusions. Others abstractions, parodies, and transfigurations. It is often not so clear if the music is based on a sample or a synthetic sound. This music should not be trivialized or underestimated. With Waves, Duca is exploring the essence of sound, in various layers of meaning. - Björn Gottstein, Donaueschingen Music Festival
https://curdduca.bandcamp.com/album/waves-1-2 |
2020 |
€22.50 |
|
| CURGENVEN, ROBERT |
Climata |
do-CD |
"Climata is a new work by composer and sound artist Robert Curgenven comprised entirely of site-specific recordings captured in 15 of James Turrell’s Skyspaces, spanning 9 countries. Each of the individual recordings, with their quiet & slowly changing microtonal interventions made in-situ, interrogate and offer a specific document of weather, location and duration framed by the architecture of the Skyspace – a frame that blurs the distinction between interiority and exteriority – while allowing the physicality of the Skyspace to be subtly rendered audible.
Turrell’s Skyspaces are a specifically proportioned chamber with an aperture in the ceiling open to the sky and outside world. The Skyspaces can be autonomous structures or integrated into existing architecture. The aperture can be round, ovular or square – each with its’ own “piece of sky” beneath an ocean of air. These variously shaped apertures let in and frame not only Turrell’s famous light but also sound and its medium, in this case air.
The initial tones you will notice are a by-product of the recording process in the Skyspaces, a technique which brings the air inside the Skyspace into movement against the air outside – oscillating through the ceiling aperture, creating a soft phasing sound, like a whooshing or fluttering where the listener can hear the air move – this sound is about as loud as the sound outside the Skyspace.
The two discs that make up Climata were created to be played back to back or simultaneously, in any order and ideally on two sound systems. Together the two 58 minute CDs give rise to hours of unique combinations.
An installation version of Climata was exhibited in the National Gallery of Australia’s Skyspace in 2015 with more site-specific iterations to follow in 2016."
www.dragonseyerecordings.com
|
2016 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Beyond Enclosures |
3 x CD |
"The 3 albums that comprise this set all, at their heart, concern air and the attendant inter-permeability and fluidity of volumes. Be they discretionary or open volumes, architectural or spatiotemporal, each volume is subject to the specificities of: their resonance; the concomitant movements of volumes of air; their locational context and adjacent spaces. The 3 albums present different harmonic, gestural and durational possibilities to encourage us to step out of the perceptual frameworks that enclose us. Each album offers a unique instrumental foundation: experimental turntable techniques interwoven with piano & pipe organ harmonics (Bardo); resonant architectural interventions articulated by custom-made oscillators in post-Communist architectures and their locational context (SPECTRES); extended pipe organ techniques with an accompanying soundsystem that plumbs architectural harmonics and corporeal resonances (Bronze Lands). These works entreat us to think and hear beyond the structures enclosing each instrumental- and performance- approach - the turntable body, the architectural, the pipe organ, the speaker enclosure itself, even the confines of an audience as a gathering - and to also consider these longform works as an inter-related suite of aural and conceptual worlds."
https://robertcurgenven.bandcamp.com
https://www.recordedfields.net
|
2021 |
€27.50 |
|
| CURRAN, ALVIN |
Canti Illuminati |
LP |
"An occupant of the present and thread to the past – a rare juncture between diverse polarities of experimental practice, from free improvisation and modern classical composition, to primitivism, electronic music, and extended techniques, for more than half a century Alvin Curran has stood as beacon in the landscape of organized sound. From his efforts within Musica Elettronica Viva, the collective which he helped found in 1966 with Frederic Rzewski and Richard Teitelbaum, to those as a solo-performer and composer, his sounds and ideas have effected immeasurable change.
Canti Illuminati, composed and recorded between 1973 and 1977, stands as one of the great documents from the golden era of Curran’s singular brand of creative radicalism – combining a deep sense of social and political consciousness, with creative humanism and visionary compositional ideas. Blume Editions is proud to present the first ever vinyl reissue of this seminal master-stoke by one of the most important composers working today.
A bridge between the American and European traditions of experimental music, Canti Illuminati, Curran’s tribute to the human voice – “the most natural source of music”, delves toward the very origins of music itself. In lyrical and poetic form, it rethinks the possibilities and potential of organized sound, seeking something fundamentally human – an optimistic vision of the future, born of the primitive past. Standing apart from canonical definition, it contributes to a more complex and nuanced understanding of what musical Minimalism is. Consciously conceived by Curran for the format of the LP, the album takes form as a single work in two parts – Canti Illuminati, For Choir, Synthesizer, Piano And Tape – a structured choral improvisation, built from the contributions and voices of Alessandro Bruno, Antonella Talamonti, Antonio Cesareni, David Thorner, Elisabetta Bordes-Page, Giorgio Caruano, Luca Miti, Manuela Garroni, Nicola Bernardini, Pierluigi Castellano, and Sista Carandini, and Canti Illuminati, For Voice, Synthesizer, Tape, which Curran realised as a solo performer with his own voice, tape delayed feedback, and a Serge synthesizer and sequencer.
Sinfully under celebrated and all too rarely heard since its initial release, Canti Illuminati remains a profoundly compelling and moving body of sound – unavoidably beautiful – a landscape of sustained tone, rippling texture, and structural intervention. Necessity stripped to the elemental, while challenging, endlessly surprising, and complex. A crucial component in Curran’s life long musical quest for something deeply human and fundamentally representative – that elusive thing which connects us all. Fully remastered by Giuseppe Ielasi, with brand new expanded liner text written by Bradford Bailey."
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| CURRENT 93 |
Soft Black Stars |
do-LP |
2LP reissue of Current 93 classic. Originally released in 1998 in a vinyl edition of just 2,000 copies and on CD, this is the first official vinyl reissue since then. Remastered by The Bricoleur, this album contains all the released versions of the album's final track, "Chewing On Shadows"_the original album track, as well as the 2 different versions used on the expanded CD release of 2004.In a full-colour sleeve, reproducing the original paintings by David Tibet, and a 2-sided full-colour insert.
|
2018 |
€32.50 |
|
| |
In Menstrual Night |
pic-LP |
In Menstrual Night was recorded in 1985 by Current 93, who could never be: David Michael Tibet, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Steven Stapleton, Diana Rogerson, John Balance, Ruby Tathata Wallis, Keiko Yoshida, Rose McDowall and Bee. The album was mixed by Steven Stapleton, and was originally released as a picture disc on United Dairies / Maldoror (UD022/M) in 1985.
"Das 1985 mit einem mehr als soliden Line-up (neben David Tibet waren das Bee, Diana Rogerson, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Keiko Yoshida, Rose McDowall und Ruby Wallis, wobei man v.a. Stephen Stapletons finaler Abmischung Respekt zollen muss) aufgenomme und als Picture Disc auf United Dairies veröffentlichte “In Menstrual Night” nahm im Frühwerk von Current 93 insofern eine Sonderstellung ein, dass es auf die harschen Lärmelenente, die auf “Nature Unveiled” oder “Dogs Blood Rising” zu hören sind, weitgehend verzichtet und seinen hörspielhaften Kollagen-Charakter auf subtilere Weise offenbart. Dabei fallen die beiden Stücke “Sucking up Souls” und “To Feed the Moon” aber kaum weniger beängstigend aus.
Das einundzwanzigminütige “Sucking up Souls” basiert überwiegend auf dem Einsatz von (in der Mehrheit weiblichen) Stimmen, die zu einer unentwirrbar wirkenden Kollage montiert sind. Dabei ist die Vielfalt der Performance von Gesang über Spoken Words bis zu gespenstischem Flüstern beeindruckend: Den Auftakt macht ein liturgisch anmutender Sopran, der sich schon bald mit anderen klassischen Gesängen überlappt und mit ihnen zusammen verquere Ornamente entstehen lässt. Der Loop einer bellenden Männerstimme, die man als Reminiszenz der abgründigeren Vorgängeralben verstehen könnte, bringt etwas Kantiges ins Bild, bis sie von einem dröhnenden Rumoren gepackt und in den Hintergrund gezogen wird. Rasselnde Ketten lassen einen neuen Abschnitt beginnen, in dem verwaschene Chöre den Hintergrund bilden für eine kindliche Stimme, die einen lyrischen Text rezitiert, bis alles verschwimmt und die liturgischen Gesänge wieder an die Oberfläche dringen. All diese immer wieder abtauchenden und in der einen oder anderen Weise wieder auftauchenden Motive scheinen stets auf der Suche nach einer adäquaten Form zu sein und müssen doch immer wieder ihre Auflösung erleben, die hier in einer Feinsinnigkeit inszeniert wird, die damals wahrscheinlich Standards gesetzt hatte.
Das die zweite Seite füllende “To Feed the Moon” wirkt im herkömmlichen Sinne “musikalischer”: Was mit dunkler Dröhnung und hellen, entrückten Klangtupfern startet, wird schnell zum melodischen Fundament für einen fast den ganzen Track durchziehenden tribalen Trommelrhythmus, der – das ist der einzige Wermutstropfen – immer etwas aufgeklebt wirkt, und zwischen dessen leicht aus den Fugen geratenen Anschlägen sich dann auch wieder Stimmen nach oben schleichen. Neben der kindlichen Stimme (wahrscheinlich Ruby Wallis), die eine Art Kehrreim aufsagt, ist dann auch Tibet etwas deutlicher zu hören. Im Unterschied zum ersten Track ist das Stück veränderlicher und mündet nach einer Phase relativer Ruhe in ein fast rockiges Szenario, das mit etwas Fantasie wie eine Vorstufe zu einem Stück wie “Panzer Ruin” klingt.
Die Soundkollagen als eine Art Archiv geträumter (und gestorbener) Träume zu sehen, ist eine durchaus naheliegende Assoziation, die Tibets Ideen zu dem Album entspricht, während Stapleton die Sounds als Geräusche eines nächtlichen Sanatoriums verstand. Natürlich öffnen Album- und Tracktitel weitere Assoziationen. Über David Tibets Interesse am Menstruationszyklus ist viel geschrieben worden, und in der Tat tauchten damit verbundene Motive, auch in für Tibet typischer Verknüpfung mit anderen Themen, für lange Zeit immer wieder im Werk von Current 93 auf, und bis heute tragen Veröffentlichungen den Mond im Titel. Bei den beiden Stücken auf “In Menstrual Night”, in denen Seelen aufgesaugt und der Mond gefüttert wird, könnte man mutmaßen, dass eventuell G.I.Gurdjieff inspirierend war. In dessen kosmologischer Theorie gibt es die Vorstellung, dass der Mond, der wie alle Himmelskörper wie ein lebender Organismus beschrieben wird, in seinem Bestreben, selbst ein Planet zu werden, Energie aus der irdischen Biosphäre saugt. Besonders die Seelen der Menschen dienen ihm als Nahrung, und entziehen können diese sich dem Sog des Mondes nur durch einen enormen Fokus auf bestimmte esoterische Praktiken. Wer zu passiv und verführbar ist und dem hypnotischen Zauber des Trabanten erliegt, endet als Energiequelle für dessen Planetwerdung. Viele Interpreten haben diese Mythologie als Reflexion über feminine Energie gedeutet, was dann den Bogen zum Periodenzyklus schlägt – zur Frage, ob Tibet sich davon inspirieren ließ und wenn ja, wie tiefgehend, gibt es keine Belege. Wundern würde es nicht.
“In Menstrual Night”, in dessen CD-Version noch der Nightmare Culture-Track “KillyKillKilly (A Fire Sermon)” enthalten war, eröffnet einen interessanten Seitenpfad in der Diskografie von Current 93, der seine spätere Fortführung in Releases wie “Faust” und in den v.a. mit Andrew Liles produzierten EPs wie “The Moons At your Door” finden sollte – einer Musik, die vielleicht eine viel zentralere Rolle gespielt hätte und noch einige elaborierte Resultate hervorgebracht hätte, wäre das folkig eingefärbte Songformat nicht dazwischen gekommen. Da dies so nicht gekommen ist, sticht “In Menstrual Night” noch deutlicher hervor. House of Mythology gehen nun zu den Ursprüngen zurück und bringen als HomAleph eine neue limitierte Picture Disc des Albums heraus." [African Paper] |
2024 |
€32.00 |
|
| CUSACK, PETER |
Baikal Ice (Spring 2003) |
CD |
“Location recordings” vom (teilgefrorenen) sibirischen Baikal-See, dem wahrscheinlich ältesten und tiefsten See der Erde. Sehr konkret und “unprocessed” hat PETER CUSACK v.a. Sounds von brechenden und knirschenden Eisflächen aufgenommen, Eisstücke auf Wasser,
Steine, knirschen & knacksen verschiedenster Coleur, diverse herumschwirrende Tierlaute, irgendwo vorbeifahrende Züge, vokales Material von ihm selbst und EIS, immer wieder mysteriöse EIS-Sounds....
“Subtitled: Spring 2003. "Over the last thirty years Peter Cusack has built a reputation as an improvising musician, and is often to be found plucking an array of string instruments, including guitar and balalaika, while simultaneously triggering live electronics. Peter had known for some time about the extraordinary Lake Baikal, a 600 kilometre long lake in Siberia. It is thought to be the world's oldest and deepest lake and holds one fifth of the earth's fresh water. It was only recently, however, that he came across a reference on the internet to the mysterious noises made by the ice, which covers the lake from autumn to spring to the depth of a meter. The sounds are most spectacular when the ice melts and breaks up, and the lake transforms itself back into water. This album is a document of Peter's journey, on a mission to record these sounds. There are humorous incidents, as when a telephone engineer unexpectedly falls through the ice while Peter is recording (he made it out to safety!), or when the local children take over the village's PA system. There are haunting vignettes; a young girl burst into song on the train, on the small branch of the Trans-Siberian railway part of which runs along the shore of the lake; an accomplice of Peter's performs bell-like angular music on the broken metal fountain which they find in the town of Angarsk. But centre stage belongs to the sounds of the ice break-up itself, as ghostly creaks and agonising groans emerge from the tinkling, sparkling flow. Baikal Ice is comparable to Chris Watson's pristine sound recordings, to be found on the Touch label." [press release]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2003 |
€14.00 |
|
| CUTLER, CHRIS |
Solo |
CD |
„Ein elektronisch verstärktes Drumset und daneben stehend ein Tisch voll diverser, ebenfalls zum Teil elektronisch verstärkter Klangerzeuger wie Eierschläger, Violinenbogen, Cocktailmixer, Feuersirene oder Ping-Pongbälle, bieten die Spielfläche für ausgelassene Improvisationen. Live sieht man einen achtarmigen Cutler zwischen Drumset und Tischset hin und herflitzen, Klangschalen schüttelnd, hier ein Gerät kurz anreissend, Tischtennisbälle rührend, während an Effektgeräten und Mixer zeitgleich die Einstellungen justiert werden, aber dann sitzt oder steht er schon wieder am Schlagzeug und wirft so nebenbei feine Patterns ins Geschehen ein. Es hüpfen und springen die Materialien scheinbar unkontrolliert durch die Luft und werden durch den Jongleur im Chaos zum Funktionieren motiviert. Die fünf Live-Stücke dieser CD bieten den Beweis. Unterschiedlichste und farbenreiche Klangschichten werden mit musikalischem Feingefühl improvisiert und bewegen sich im vibrierendem Dreieck zwischen Rhythmus, Collage und Noiseanklängen. Aufgenommen wurden die Stücke in den Jahren 2001/2002.
You listen to acoustic drums amplified and modified with standard electronic processors. There is a table with a few tambours, a frying pan and an egg-slicer- also amplified -, a miscellaneous collection of sticks, battery operated cocktail mixers, some ping pong balls, a fire bell and a massager. On stage an eight armed Cutler is changing quickly between these pieces of equipment. It seems like an chaotic act but it’s for finest improvisation between rhythm, collage and noise sounds. With it’s five tracks this CD will give you a further example for Cutlers musical sensitivity. All material was recorded live between 2001 and 2002 on different locations. Without further processing these are the sounds you would have heard at the concert.” [Peter Schlewinski for Drone Records]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2001 |
€14.00 |
|
| CYCLOTIMIA |
Music for Stockmarkets |
CD |
Das russische Projekt mit einem kritischen Werk zur Konsumgesellschaft & Finanzwirtschaft, eingespielt auf original russischen "Vintage Electronic" Geräten!
"Cyclotimia is a project from Russia and have created some very good and interesting albums. Albums like ‘Same Time Same Place’, ‘Wasteland’ and ‘Celestis’ are a combination of spatial ambient and IDM glitch, aided with the use of lush synthesizers. The music often times is very deep and free interpretable. A recurring theme for this project is the world of stockmarkets. With this new album ‘Music for Stockmarkets’, stockmarkets is the essential theme and motive. Though the album ventures into the typical Cyclotimia topics, it doesn’t sound at all like the former albums. Well, maybe in some places, but its most of all a totally different experience. Gone are the deep soundscapes as the music is stripped to its bare essential. With a fast listening, it reminds me of music created in the Amiga era, but upon closes inspection, the music is rather layered and there is a lot to be discovered here. The album consists of a lot of bleeps and clicks and cuts, but there is also room for the occasional (piano) melody, together with different sampled sources. The great thing about this album is that it’s very subliminal and can sometimes have a rather disturbing feeling to it. A lot of tracks are very clinical in its approach, but it is interspersed with more layered tracks and deeper sounds. This is really an album which should be listened to with headphones and requires your full attention. If listened to rather superficially, the album can seem somewhat boring, because all the details are missed, which is the essential of this interesting work.
It is music that can be difficult and cryptic, but that’s also the beauty of this album, which turns the music into a piece of art. The music therefore isn’t for everyone, because it’s not a ‘fun’ album. It’s maybe more academic, but with a more human approach. Hard to describe, you just have to listen to it. The artwork is also very nice and really makes the experience complete. The album gets a high recommendation because of its originality, but only to the more advanced listeners of experimental music, but a great album nonetheless." [Gothtronic]
"Cyclotimia is most probably the only project in the world which has chosen the creation of a soundtrack to "globalisation" and life of the "consumer society" as their concept. The project members more than anyone else are immersed into the magic of finance and probably therefore has their creative intuition allowed them to compose the main part of "Music for Stockmarkets" with its unforgivingly precise name "Wallstreet Requiem". Today the whole civilised world is listening to this requiem the first cords of which were played on Wall Street itself... The "Music for Stockmarkets" album with its radically experimental nature stands out in the extensive discography of this Moscow project. The 64-minute album includes 32 tracks divided into three conceptual parts: "Wallstreet Requiem" (25 minutes, recorded in 2004-2007), "Trivial Pleasures" (26 minutes, recorded in 2002, this part was the only one released as a seperate CD in 2003) and "Financial Glossary" (13 minutes, recorded in 2003)... The music material itself is nothing like the one heard in the previous records of Cyclotimia. There is no apocalyptic soundscapes of "Wasteland" times, no cybernetic hi-tech and media madness of "E$chaton", no cosmic downtempo of "Celestis: Space Ceremonial Music"... Minimalism, academic sterility, surgical accuracy and meditative ataraxy prevail on "Music for Stockmarkets". Then again it is not the familiar "idm", "glitch", "noise", "clicks and cuts" and not "minimal techno"... The sound of the album is chrystal-clear and warm at the same time. "Vintage" lovers have a wonderful chance to listen to the masterpieces of Soviet music production (such as Rhythm 1, Rhythm 2, Aelita, Formanta UDS, Formanta EMS-01, Polyvox) in pure sound, unprocessed by effects." [label info] |
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| CYESS AFXZS & SCATHING |
Sunken Dimension |
CD |
Cyess Afxzs and Scathing both represent the newer wave of harsh noise, with prolific output in recent years, coming up with top notch releases one after another, and in a way I feel it was only a matter of time for this fruitful collaboration to happen. These artists have a musical ear for harsh noise. We've been hearing it in their works with compositional, cinematic qualities. Perhaps because they live on different continents, the idea of them working actually together had not occurred to me before, but when I first time heard about this collaboration, it clicked in my head immediately: of course! A match made in heaven. This CD is a full-on collaboration, and you can recognize both artists’ hand prints, but they’re still creating something new together. I've been told that when you think it sounds like Cyess Afxzs, it's probably Scathing, and vice versa.
https://satatuhatta.bandcamp.com/album/sunken-dimension
|
2023 |
€12.50 |
|
| CZAJKOWSKA, INDIA & SEBASTIAN MADEJSKI |
Tance Snu |
CD |
" ”Dances of the Dreams” (”Tańce Snu”) is a sonic journey through unexpected and undiscovered worlds of human imagination. This sonic journey is accompanied by the aura of oddity or mystery straight from the fairytale land. From a rich array of sounds, colours and surprising ideas, the artists extract haunting, subtle melodies. Here early music entwines with ambient, oriental melodies with experimental sounds, folky lightness corresponds with elements of neo-classical.
The duo of India Czajkowska and Sebastian Madejski created a very suggestive album by means of early instruments (viola de gamba, psałterium) flute, piano, synthesizer, guitars and two unconventional voices; an album that is very hard to pigeon-hole. Having drawn inspiration from tradition, it brings a lot of freshness into seemingly fossilised structure. It is a surprisingly interesting, intriguing and delightful album for numerous listens.
For fans of neoclassical/new folk sounds of Ataraxia, Jack or Jive, Rajna, Louisa John-Krol, Collection D'Arnell-Andrea." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| D'ANGIOLINI, GIULIANO |
Simmetrie di Ritorno |
CD |
" 1. Composer:
Giuliano d’Angiolini
2. Title:
Simmetrie di ritorno
3. Studios:
Auditorium du Conservatoire de Gennevilliers
Auditorium Antonin Artaud in Ivry-sur-Seine
4. Performers:
Ensemble 2e2m, Franck Ollu, Pierre Roullier, Monique Bouvet,
Barbara Morihien,
Quatuor Parisii: Arnaud Vallin, Jean-Michel Berrette,
Dominique Lobet, Jean-Philippe Martignoni
5. Format:
Audio CD, Digisleeve, Booklet German/English
6. Total time:
ca. 64:11
7. Catalogue #:
ed. RZ 10020
8. EAN Code:
4029455100208
9. Release date:
18. November 2010
10. Tracklist:
Simmetrie di ritorno für 10 Instrumente • 2000
Ita vita zita rita für verstärktes Klavier • 1997
Orizzonte fisso, bordoni mobili für 8 Instrumente • 2007
Und’ho d’andà für 9 Blechbläser • 1995
Ho visto un incidente für Solostimme • 1991¬92
Notturno in progressione für Streichquartett • 2004 " [label info / credits]
"Giuliano d’Angiolini ist ein absoluter Sonderfall in der musikalischen Landschaft. Sein gründliches, wohl überlegtes,
hartnäckiges Vorgehen hat ihn dahin gebracht, eine Musik zu erschaffen, die er selbst »unpersönlich« nennt. Eine Musik, aus der jede Vorstellung von Entwicklung oder Form getilgt ist. D’Angiolini erklärt, er wollte aufgrund
einer Reihe erhellender Erkenntnisse »dem Ton seinen Raum lassen, damit der Musik weniger Willen aufgeprägt wird«. Ein Ansatz, der ihn dazu geführt hat, sich der Oberfläche
zuzuwenden, ¬ ein alles andere als oberflächliches Verfahren ¬ die unmittelbare Seite eines jeden Klangentwurfs und die Gegenwart als die Oberfläche der Zeit.
In seinen Werken bilden Prozess und musikalisches Material eine Einheit, sie werden unverhüllt vorgestellt. Was wir zu hören bekommen, ist nicht diskursiv, auf formale
Artikulation wird bewusst verzichtet.
Es ist sogar gestattet, sich vom Gehörten zu lösen, um sich ihm später nach Gutdünken wieder zuzuwenden.
Giuliano d’Angiolini is a positively unique figure in contemporary music. His profound, well-conceived and stubborn take on music has led him to what he calls »impersonal« music —
music that has fully abandoned the idea of
development or form.Through successive states of presentation, which aim to elucidate, d’Angiolini wanted to »leave place in sound so that music could become less voluntary«.
This led him to favour the surface and present,
an approach that was by no means superficial: the surface as the immediacy in the propositional content of sound and the present as the very surface of the criterion of time.
In his work, musical process and material are but one and are completely laid bare. What we are to hear is non-discursive, deliberately lacking formal organization. We are even free to turn away and come back of our own will — as if the composer wanted to make positive use of the negative metamorphosis of today’s urban listeners, listeners who are constantly assailed with stimuli." [Gérard Pesson]
|
2010 |
€15.50 |
|
| D'HERS, RUBEN |
El Reflejo en las Hojas |
CD |
We have no info at all about this artist which seems to come from Venezuela, his album on our beloved weirdo-label JEANS RECORDS (run by FRANK ROWENTA) is a hybrid of all kinds of instrumental, electronic, sampled and environmental sounds, sometimes more introspective & nice in a folky, droney or electronica-way, sometimes quite obscure & "difficult", electro-acoustic collages or even free-jazzy improvised with wild samples..... hard to pin down what it is really, but the 9 tracks offer a very broad cross-over of styles, from "serious" to "weird", a kind of mixture of minimal short sketches and longer tracks, most stays in the more silent areas.. very idiosyncratic, there's definitely something to discover here. For adventurers.
"Electric and acustic guitars, voices, ambient and noises, piano, keyboards and violin by Rubén d'Hers. Clarinet on track 05 and 08 by Gorgias Sánchez. All tracks composed, recorded, mixed and mastered by Rubén d'Hers in la maleta estudios. Caracas, Venezuela 2006. Original photography by Rubén d'Hers. www.dhersmuzik.com
Art direction and design by Marius Schillak. www.graffixyz.de
Published by Jeans Records. www.jeansrecords.com " [label info]
www.jeansrecords.com
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| D'INCISE |
Assemblee, Relache, Rejouissance, Parade |
CD |
A collaborative release between Moving Furniture Records and INSUB.records. For Swiss customers we recommend to order from their shop insub.org
"Assemblée, relâche, réjouissance, parade" or another long, unspeakable, French, title (that would somehow translate as " Assembly, pause, rejoicing, parade").
Words that conjure ideas of music used in public, and social rituals.
The two distinct pieces experiment with the "bringing back" (re-injection?) of music into the experimental area. Do not see anything pretentious about it, it is rather a very personal path,
in the sense, among others, to not forbid certain aspects of music to make appearances, making bridges between conceptuality, and simplicity.
The first part, "L'Anglard de St-Donat", is constructed around a mazurka tune, a traditional dance from Central-France, played by Alfred Mouret, after his father François "L'Anglard".
But the four short "songs" are not to be seen as a reinterpretation (they're certainly not danceable), rather as a basis for d'incise's own research.
Solid drones and recurrent structures are built with recordings of bowed and struck metal objects and (sounds of various) instruments make counterpoints and quasi-melodic lines.
Then in "Le désir" the strategy is mirrored, electronics (detuned organs) make the rigid, and slightly awkward, context for the bowed metal sticks, tuned in relation to the electronics, to be played semi-improvised, and take a sort of soloist position, instabilities of both the objects and the gestures suddenly become open to interpretations and expressions. This piece is one of d'incise's actual solo live performances.
Composed, recorded and mixed by d'incise at Insub.studio, Geneva, 2017.
L'Anglard de St-Donat, assembled from recordings of bowed metallic objects, electric organ, harmonium, banjo & double bass
Le désir, bowed metallic sticks, performed live, over detuned/retuned organ backgrounds.
https://movingfurniturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/assemble-e-rela-che-re-jouissance-parade |
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| D.D.A.A. (DEFICIT DES ANNEES ANTERIEURS) // DDAA |
Hazy World |
CD |
Hazy World is the World where DDAA has found these Soundpieces.
All Instruments and Voices by JLA JPF SMH
Special Thanks to Christine COËNON for Voices and Sounds Building on 5-Mar Duch (voices from France Culture Radio)
Recorded in “Souterrain Scientifique” between December 2013 and June 2014
www.nefryt.serpent.pl
"The shorthand descriptors for DDAA have long read that they are the French equivalent of Nurse With Wound or The Residents. It has to be said that this pithy equation isn't too far from the mark, with DDAA trading in the self-taught meandering through lysergic experimentation, fractured psychedelia, surrealist stream of consciousness, prankish naivete, and the loosest of connections to European post-punk, all of which are very much akin to their stalwarts of NWW and the Residents. DDAA started back in 1979, lifting their name - Deficit Des Annees Anterieures - from an accounting vernacular of the past year's deficit, with the core membership being remarkably stable as the trio of Jean-Luc Andre, Jean-Philippe Fee, and Sylvie Martineau Fee. Like NWW and The Residents, DDAA has self-published much of their work, allowing them the freedom to take whatever detour they need to make while on their eccentric journey of crafting an album. Hazy World, published in late 2014 (not on their own label, but through the obscure Polish imprint Nefryt), is a suitably strange and ineffable record. Hand-cranked, liquid rhythmic patterns trickle through the album, sounding somewhere between the clatter of toy locomotives, somatic wheezings, and the burbled hypnosis of a vernal stream. The trio lace these organic rhythms with mumbled voice, drone-on organ, radiophonic electronics, scabby guitars, and various other instruments, crafting linear passages that might be considered motorik if such sounds weren't performed as if drunken, liminally scribbled, and / or only half-awake. It makes for quite a weirdly meditative record; and yes, those references to NWW and The Residents still hold up very nicely." [Aquarius Records]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Objet: When a Cap is raising |
CD |
Jean-Luc André, Sylvie Martineau-Fee and Jean-Philippe Fee started DDAA (Deficit Des Annees Anterieures) in 1977. They are pioneers of the French experimental and indie scene, also connected with Industrial 80s music and audiovisual projects. Approaching music in a completely unique way, and brilliantly produced by their own Illusion Production label (with more 40 published items), DDAA was and is undoubtedly one of the most legendary groups of the French underground for the past 30 years. Their early albums are classics - the self-titled debut, Action and Japanese Demonstration or Les Ambulants (re-issued and still available on Klanggalerie) are a must-have for every connoisseur of usual music. They appeared on the compilation album of music by outsider artist Adolf Wölfli alongside Nurse With Wound and Graeme Revell of SPK. The 10" album When A Cap Is Raising came out originally in 1988 on UK label Big Noise in Archgate. For this re-issue, the band has remastered the music and added bonus tracks from the compilation album Objet, and other sources, some previously unavailable. Full tracklist: 1. Chemin De Pierre 2. Little Boy 3. Exploration 4. Kembou 5. Geisha Girl 6. Passage On Nihon Bridge 7. Territoire Interdit 8. Dig It's Dig 9. Pourquoi Un Homme Est-il Un Homme Et Un Chat, Un Chat? 10. La Roue De Bicyclette 11. Mother With A Big Cake 12. Driving My Car With A Cigarette 13. Fonderie Sablage 14. Sonorisation Par Le Sol 15. A Fond Les Manettes 16. Sous Le 5eme Rideau.
https://www.klanggalerie.com/gg379
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| DAIJING, PAN |
Tissues |
do-LP |
Pan Daijing's exhibition-performance Tissues premiered in the Tanks at the Tate Modern in autumn 2019. A five-act immersion in performance, sound, movement, space, and most of all emotion in its most distilled and conflicted states, Tissues engaged with the conventions of opera and tragedy to present a searing representation of the embattled human psyche in space and time. While the ambitious multi-sensory artwork made use of the range of Daijing's artistic capabilities, music, particularly the voice, was at its formal and emotional core. The vinyl and digital release of Tissues on PAN serves as a record of that work, in the form of an hour-long audio excerpt: an invaluable archival document from Daijing's expansive live practice. Tissues is both a solitary work and a formal study in relation. Composed, directed, designed, written, and performed by Daijing (alongside a cast of twelve dancers and opera singers), the work_its libretto written in a mixture of old and modern Chinese_lingers inside a single human perspective. Daijing conjures states that are by turns delicate and severe, the tension between opposing modes animating the work as it unfolds. And yet, for all its interiority, Tissues foregrounds an intimate relationship with its audience through details like its engulfing visual landscape and its rattling, confrontational narrative arcs. Daijing uses the opera form as a prism through which to question the boundaries of music itself: perhaps, she proposes, music is much more than simply what is heard. It is in the relationship between voice and electronics that this limit is most clearly breached. Across the four acts gathered in this documentation, a counter-tenor, a soprano, a mezzo-soprano, and the artist herself voice a mixture of stunning laments and cries over an instrumental landscape, built out from industrial texture. Meant to be heard in a single listen, rather than track by track, the work unfolds through tender hollows and agitated peaks. At its crescendo, the operatic vocals melt away and the synthesizers themselves seem to howl with grief. Daijing uncovers an essential, sometimes painful, music in all that surrounds us, inviting something like catharsis but also a greater understanding of the thing she and her cast conjure and draw close. A tissue, after all, is both a disposable object one uses to wipe away a tear, and the building block of our fleshy human forms. Daijing reaches and excavates the roiling core of what it is to be alive and full of feeling. Music from Tissues, an opera of five acts at Tate Modern, London on Oct 2nd, 4th and 5th, 2019 Composed, written, produced and directed by Pan Daijing. Performed by Anna Davidson, soprano ; Marie Gailey, mezzo soprano, Steve Katona, countertenor and Pan Daijing, additional vocals. The recording is mixed by James Ginzburg , Jan Urbiks and Pan Daijing, mastered by Rashad Becker. *2xLP comes in a gatefold cover, and includes an obi strip and a booklet containing images from the performance & liner notes, as well as a postcard granting access to exclusive video documentation*
https://pan-daijing.bandcamp.com/album/tissues
|
2022 |
€26.50 |
|
| DALLAS, VINCENT & MOOZZHEAD |
Controlled Chaos & Sound |
CD + MC box |
Everyone who has been following noise scene in the past few years, are probably familiar with the names Vincent Dallas and Moozzhead as well as their prolific output of high quality harsh noise. So, what do you get when you combine these two artists on the top of their game? MORE HARSH NOISE of course!
This is a collaboration, recorded live over few sessions in Belgium. Total harsh noise worship for lovers of full throttle sound havoc. 70 minutes of controlled chaos, split onto cd and cassette to show even slightest of mercy for listener.
CD + C24 comes in a silkscreen printed cardboard box, with two sided insert and two stickers.
https://satatuhatta.bandcamp.com/album/controlled-chaos-sound
|
2023 |
€18.00 |
|
| DAO + COH |
Dzerzhinsk-9 |
LP |
"Tourette Records is proud to announce the release of DZERZHINSK-9 by DAO+COH (Andrej Kolesov and Ivan Pavlov). Originally recorded in 1996, this collection of previously unreleased material showcases COH's trademark audio experimentation, and the collaborative spark shared by both artists.
DZERZHINSK-9 represents some of the earliest work by this duo, and pre-dates Pavlov's first solo release on raster-noton.de by 2 years. This potent collection of intense and dark experimental material is a result of a live-in-the-studio improvised session recorded during one of Ivan's visits to DAO studio in Dzerzhinsk, Russia. Performed with hand-made digital and analogue equipment, and recorded onto a 4-track cassette deck, this is a gem of curiosity to anyone with interest for COH and electronic music in general.
Russian-born Ivan Pavlov is well known for his solo work as COH spanning more than 20 releases, including collaborative projects with the likes of Coil and Cosey Fanni Tutti. He currently works with Peter Christopherson (Throbbing Gristle, Coil) in SOISONG. Ivan's university friend, Andrej Kolesov (aka DAO), is a musician who has previously contributed to the album COH: STRINGS (2007), playing saz and oud. A new joint work by Andrej and Ivan is currently in the works." [label info]
www.touretterecords.com
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
| DARKRAD |
Heart Murmur |
CD |
Jana Komaritsa presents the new album of her project Darkrad – Heart Murmur, released on German label audiophob. With this album she continues the theme of inner blackness and disturbances of mind, weaving the canvas of ominous world.
Heart Murmur is a medical condition, when the sound of blood flowing can be heard in between regular heartbeat cycle. Darkrad creates swishing rumbling sounds of the tortured heart, sounds from the reality not seen, from the world not known, sounds from the dread, both inner and outer.
Merging melancholic dark ambient passages, bitter melodies, disturbed vocals and raw noisy sounds, rhythms and basslines, she opens the door to the infinite dark and offers the listener to dive into the world beyond. Pure unrestrained emotion interweaves with once suppressed memories and fears, merging into one flow of hypnotic soundscape.
Listen to her grim heart murmur, pulsating and vibrating in between the regular healthy heartbeat, frightful signals sent from the other side, penetrating the normal reality and spreading into our world.
The album also includes bonus tracks: compilation contributions and former tape releases, partially in new versions, as well as remixes from Flint Glass and Mortaja. (auphcd026)
https://audiophob.bandcamp.com/album/heart-murmur
|
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| DARUIN |
My New Happy Star |
mCD-R |
Newcomer auf DREAMLAND in der feinen mCDR-Serie! DARUIN kommt aus Japan und schafft hier in kurzen Intervallen flackernden feedback-ambient, eine kleine faszinierende Soundreis... newcomer from Japan on this nice new australian mCDR series ! Short-interval flickering ambience.
“Hissing, buzzing, perfectly formed electronics. A journey through varied terrain, sailing seas of primordial matter.” [label description]
www.dreamlandrecordings.com
|
2003 |
€5.00 |
|
| DAS ERDWERK |
Leben im Wartesaal (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
"This creative duo from Switzerland has only released one CD so far ("Grat"), which was a dark journey into apocalyptic worlds. Now they go into a total different direction and present very concrete & strange material on this 7" (on 4 tracks), music that has no history and can't be described really, a short but surprising trip into realms of neverheard sounds! Expect something very different!! Grey vinyl, great handmade & printed fold-covers." [label info]
|
1998 |
€ |
|
| DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE |
Neunundvierzig Entgleisungen |
do-10 |
"....What you hear on this pack is four delirious sides of hermetically-sealed confusion, playing havoc with your acoustical preconceptions and expectations until you won’t know which way is up. Noise, glitches, murmurs and clicks are abstracted by careful processing, and apparently edited together into microscopic mosaic patterns to stimulate your perceptual receptors in ways you’d never have thought possible. Jean René Lasalle contributes profuse printed texts inside the cover, which are likewise streams of cut-up absurdist poetry containing such deathless observations as “glances irrigates elytrons in a trembling headlight”. Françoise Vigot did the cover paintings, featuring the domestic (and amorous) adventures of the red and blue cipher-like figures whose antics I have seen, I think, on a Hypnagogia release by DSM. Verily, Huebner’s universe is an elaborate many-layered puzzle which is slowly coming together for this listener." [The Sound Projector]
"aufabwegen is very proud to offer a new release by what we consider to be one of germany's most important sound projects: DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE. DSM is now the sole project of guido huebner, who has been working in the medium of sound and found objects since the early 1980ies. DSM have their very own take on the patialization of sound and the moving around of sonic objects in the stero field. the overall impression is of rawness and fragility at the same time. the music on these two 10" records is super-dynamic and fragmentated and sounds very fresh and alive. DAS have collaborated over the years with artists such as Michael Northam, Frans de Waard, New Blockaders, MSBR and many more and have released material on various labels around the globe. DSM have played many concerts all over and have combined their sound with different art froms, such as projections, film, dance and even conducting workshops fro kids.
"neunundvierzig entgleisungen" comes in a full cover fold sleeve and is slipped in a stable plastic seethrough. it plays on 45rpm, even if the label prints instructs you to run it at 33.
the record was recorded by guido huebner and features texts by jean rene lasalle and artwork (paintings reproduced) by francoise vigot. it was layouted by stefan hanser (anemone tube), mastered by josef suchy and cut by lupo at dubplates & mastering." [label info]
www.aufabwegen.com
|
2008 |
€18.50 |
|
| |
Casual Praise of Domestic Calamities |
CD |
"Another attempt to dissolve any kind of structures from DSM, something like micro-concrete Noise, very small bits and pieces are put together in fast sequences, sometimes it climaxes in harsh outbursts, radiowaves are appearing as well..... comes in nice box on our favourite British anti-music label." [Drone Rec. info 2005]
"Edition of 500. All compositions by Guido Huebner, created between 1999 and 2004 in Caen, France and Berlin, Germany. Sections of track 6 recorded in the studio for electro acoustic music at the arts academy of Berlin. Field recordings for track 8 and 9 were carried out at the harbour of Hamburg, Germany, as well as at the shores of Lower Normandy and in the countryside around Caen, especially the bridges trespassing the canal between Caen and the sea." [label info]
„Guido Hübner, Ex-Berliner und seit über zwei Jahrzehnten ununterbrochener Noisebastler, kommt tatsächlich mit einem neuen Album auf richtig fertiger CD und obendrein auf dem Label, das uns bisher lediglich bzw. fett selbstbewußt ein Album der New Blockaders auftischen konnte. Neulich kamen schon mir leider unbekannte DSM-Kompositionen auf Vinyl-On-Demand, die CD aber, soviel läßt sich sagen, knüpft definitiv an DSMs frühere Versuche an, Form völlig aufzulösen, bevor sie sich als greifbar und folglich interpretierbar entblößt. All die tausend kleinen, dreckigen noises passen ganz sicher auf eine CD, das steht fest. Aber Hübners einzigartige Anordnung dieser Unjuwelen an sound (eine Anordung übrigens, die offenbar ohne Wiederholung auskommen will) übertrifft ganz sicher alle banalen Versuche, die Harmonie zwischen diesen unvereinbaren Geräuschen auszumachen. Form ist immer Harmonie und somit Mittelmaß. Vielleicht ist es genau dieser Gedanke, den DSM in uns wachrütteln wollen; und natürlich gelingt es ihnen perfekt.“ [Ed Benndorf , de:bug]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE / TBC |
split |
CD |
"Das Synthetische Mischgewebe is Guido Hübner, living in Cean, France. He is some of the leading modern electro-acustic composers of today. Many mentionable releases he has done in the last years: a collaboration retropersective for Monochrome Vision or the collaboration with The New Blockaders. Out of isolation he is always looking to work with other musicans in some or other way. So seems to be natural to do a split-CD for Reduktive Musiken and Wachsender Prozess. His track is dry, only filtering effects based surrealistic domestic home noises composition on objectsound. Yes, it is in some sense quit, but noise as can be. It\'s seems the home be a living organismen!
TBC is Thomas Beck, the man behind Wachsender Prozess. His track is a tour de france of cut-up technics. Sometimes loud, sometimes sensual quit with some aural shock effects. They use all technics of modern composition: noise, fieldrecording, abstract electronics, plunderphonic and ambient in one composition. It's like a best of or showcase recording." [label info]
www.reduktivemusiken.de
"Wachsender Prozess, das Label von Thomas Beck alias TBC und Reduktive Musiken von Noisekünstler m. stabenow verlagern auf ihrer ersten gemeinsam gestützten Veröffentlichung das Interesse an konkreten Strukturen und minimalistischen Interruptionen (im Falle vom Synthenthischen Mischgewebe) bzw. in leicht noisophil angelegte, plunderige Aussetzmanöver (siehe TBC). Die edle Aufmachung im DVD-Schuber erinnert nicht nur an die AIC-Veröffentlichung des DSM vor einigen Jahren, sondern ist auch graphisch von Nicolas Wiese (alias [-HYPH-]) ädaquat umgesetzt worden. Das TBC sich in seiner von Art Of Noise’schen Cut-Ups und geschwinden Richtungswechseln taktil beeinflussten Komposition aus seiner Noiseecke getraut, ist hierbei obersten Respekt zu zollen. Die Hauptseite, das Arrangement des DSM verzärtelt sich zwar in den altgewobenen Strukturen minimalistischer Konkretness, differenziert sich jedoch im letzten Viertel zu einer ausgewachsenen Kakophonie kleinster Geräuschpartikel, auf Tonband mit dem Zimmermannshammer geheftet. Die beiden Stücke, nur unwesentlich von einander in Technik und Montage getrennt ergeben hier eine gänzlich fusionierende Einheit aus konkreter Musik und Noise, jedoch in gezähmter Manier. Ein mutiger Akt und hier wahrhaftig gelungen. 5/5 " [Thorsten Soltau / AEMAG]
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| DATASHOCK |
Kräuter der Provinz |
do-LP |
Crossed the desert? Check. Seen the pyramids? Check. What's next? "Kräuter der Provinz"... Herbs of the Province. Smoking dope with Edgar Reitz (the man who made Heimat)? A homage to regional cuisine or a celebration of backwoods origins? Absolutely not. But two for the price of one can't be bad and a pun a day keeps the critics away. Still, how to get a handle on what's going on here? Can it even be explained?
Datashock 2018: Eighty fingers playing, but what are they all up to? Are Datashock in command of their instruments or is it the other way around? What we do know – this is freely improvised music, complete with rattles, rumbles and whistles. Music as a social happening, both in terms of process and outcome, where individual and collective development can thrive – an ecstatic experience! Sheesh! No, really! This much you already knew? Well, no harm in saying it again, is there?!
Imagine gathering eight people under one roof and ushering them into a recording studio – everybody's busy nowadays (sometimes in precarious situations, but always doing one thing or another, incessantly), this being the age of late capitalism and all that. Anyway, diaries checked and off we go. Next stop: Oetinger Villa, Darmstadt. Kolter has already swept the place clean, DJ Ulf Eyes has brought beer from the waterfront, MC Cobra is dressed in the latest threads from Berlin, McWerner and Cha Cha have everything they didn't forget to bring from Cologne and up the Rhine and – natch – El Haze and Biber Bergi line up alongside LL Cool P from Saarbrücken. Pizza delivery number dialled, bottles opened, lights, camera, action. Machines bleep, a violin cries out, a clarinet howls, guitar and bass weave their way around the drums. The spell lasts for several days, then the magic goes back in the box, the recording is done. Everyone heads back to where capitalist realism awaits in fifty shades of gloom. Alas, it was over so quickly! Luckily, a tour is in the offing, a chance to see one another again!
Groups like Datashock are few and far between, more's the pity – raise your glasses to friendship! – groups who, in spite of everything, meet up regularly to record free improvisations and then hit the road to share their experiences with an audience. It's a trust thing. So: bring on the herbs! Not provincial in the slightest – but they get everywhere, into every last nook and cranny. They may not have any songs to speak of, but they do have their instruments.
Salvador am Ei
German:
Die Pyramiden besichtigt, die Wüste durchquert, und jetzt? „Kräuter der Provinz“. Kiffen mit Edgar Reitz? Eine Hommage an die regionale Küche oder die Feier hinterwäldlerischer Herkunft gar? Natürlich nicht. Wie immer gilt: doppelter Boden hält besser, und ein Kalauer am Tag die Kritik auf Abstand. Wie aber sich nähern oder erklären gar, was vor sich geht?
Datashock 2018: Achtzig Finger im Spiel aber was wird gespielt? Spielen Datashock ihre Instumente oder spielen die Instrumente Datashock? Es rappelt, rumst und pfeift - soviel steht fest. Hier spielt eine frei improvisierte Musik. Musik, die im Prozess und dem Ergebnis ein soziales Ereignis ist das sowohl die individuelle Entfaltung als auch eine gemeinsame – mithin sogar exstatische! – Erfahrung ermöglicht. Sheesh! Aber hallo! Kennt man schon? Na und, das kann ruhig noch mal gesagt werden! Warum auch nicht!?
Aber wie muss man sich das vorstellen? Acht Leute unter einen Hut bzw. in einen Aufnahmeraum zu bringen – weil alle doch so (teilweise prekär aber natürlich dauernd mit irgendwas anderem) beschäftigt sind, ist doch immerhin Super-Spätkapitalismus und so! Aber dann, Terminkalender gecheckt, los geht’s, nächster Halt: Oetinger Villa, Darmstadt. Kolter hat schon durchgefegt, DJ Ulf Eyes bringt Bier von der Waterkant mit, MC Cobra hat die neusten Modetrends aus Berlin dabei, McWerner und Cha Cha kommen mit allem, was sie nicht vergessen haben, aus Köln den Rhein hoch und – klar – El Haze und Biber Bergi rücken nebst LL Cool P aus Saarbrücken an. Pizza bestellt, Flaschen geöffnet und dann geht’s los. Maschinen piepsen, die Geige ruft dazwischen, die Klarinette jault, die Gitarren und Bass schleichen ums Schlagzeug herum. Wenige Tage später ist der Spuk vorbei. Aufnahmen im Kasten und alle müssen erstmal wieder dahin, wo der kapitalistische Realismus in all seinen trüben Facetten auf sie wartet. Schade, war wieder viel zu kurz! Aber bald ist ja auch wieder Konzertreise angesagt, dann sieht man sich wieder!
Es gibt längst nicht genug Gruppen wie Datashock, die – ein Hoch auf die Freundschaft! – regelmäßig und trotz allem zusammenkommen, um frei improvisierend aufzunehmen und durch die Gegend ziehen, und so ihre Erfahrungen mit dem Publikum teilen. Das muss man sich natürlich auch erstmal trauen. Insofern: Kräuter, gerne! Provinz, mitnichten – aber sie kommen überall hin, noch in den letzten Winkel. Songs haben sie dann zwar keine dabei, dafür aber ihre Instrumente.
Salvador am Ei
LP version in a 3 color Gatefold cover.
The 2-Vinyl Version (indcluding CD) comes with a bonus track!
design by Manuel Wesely
https://datashock.bandcamp.com/album/kr-uter-der-provinz-2
|
2018 |
€26.00 |
|
| DAUBY, YANNICK |
Tai-pak thia sa pian |
CD |
"Produced by Kalerne Editions and published in Taiwan by Atelier Hui-Kan. 'Three sound compositions (2008, 2009, 2011) by sound artist Yannick Dauby, based on field recordings of Taipei city and its surroundings. Inspired by the Ghost Festival and the ambiences of Summertime, by the evolution and modernity of the urban environment, by the now extinct plain aborigines who once lived in the Taipei basin, these works are reflecting three ways of listening the urban soundscape of Taiwan's capital. Produced by Kalerne Editions and published by Atelier Hui-Kan in Taiwan, December 2011. 'Nous, les défunts' Field recordings and composition : Summer 2008. Commission by SilenceRadio.org Belgium, 2008. 'Taipei 2030'. Recorded and composed between June and August 2009. Commission by The Positive Soundscape, UK, 2010. First presentation during the festival Expo Leeds, UK, September 2010, organized by Sound and Music. 'Ketagalan' Commission by Purepresence, first presentation at Parisonic Hear & Now, Paris, june 2011." [label info]
www.kalerne.net
"Its not easy to write something about a disc like this. Yannick Dauby lives since four years in Taipei, which he both loves and hates. Like any good composer would do is to tame the noise of the city by recording it and that's what he does here. In these years he received three commissions dealing with the environment of Taipei, from Belgium, the UK and France. These three commissions are now collected on this CD. Taipei is not a city I have been too, or in fact any far East city, except for some Japanese cities, which are perhaps more western oriented - I am merely assuming here. So without ever sensing the noisiness of Taipei, I think these three compositions give me a very accurate impression of what that city is like. Lots of traffic noise, public transport system, people talking on the market and the electricity that sometimes comes with it. Towards the end of 'Taipei 2030' there is also quietness and tranquility with just a few sparse sounds. Maybe Dauby envisages himself as
the mayor of Taipei banning all noise? Maybe not. The final piece 'Ketagalan' is also not very noisy and loud but seems to be concentrating on the more ethnic sounds of the city, like a search for some original Eastern ethnicity in the country. It deals less with the modern city bursting with noise than with background of the country itself. This makes that these three pieces differ quite a lot from eachother, each bringing out a certain aspect of city sounds and make this a highly varied work. Excellent work of composed field recordings." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
| DAVIS, GARETH & MERZBOW |
Atsusaku |
LP |
Atsusaku is the collaborative output of Gareth Davis (Oiseaux Tempete, Scanner, Elliott Sharp, Machinefabriek etc) and Japanese noise mastermind Masami Akita aka Merzbow.
A massive wall of sound over two tracks that moves from the shifting low-end structures and the ricochet of howling reeds to the blistering haze of dense white noise and rapid-fire electronic tones.
The title Atsusaku, suggests pressure or mechanical compression and it was from this starting point, the idea of Davis' reed sound being compressed and constrained by the saturation of Akita's textures, that the album was born. The acoustic sound almost suffocated beneath the sweep of sonic overload, but through limitation and pushing the mechanics of the instrument itself, finding a space to cut through with layers of self-distorted screams.
Haihan, a furiously abusive maelstrom of coloured-noise, digital cross-fire and distorted bass clarinet is unrelenting as it searches for moments of pulse within the haze only to move abruptly back into the mechanical barrage of looping textures.
Kyouhan is is far more open in its texture, the low-end layers of reeds moving across the sound space as the squall of chirps and mechanical screeches build slowly into a dense mass of reverberated pointillist details.
movingfurniturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/atsusaku
|
2016 |
€18.00 |
|
| DBMG/RAF (DIE BAADER-MEINHOF GRUPPE / RED ARMY FACTION) |
same |
CD |
Radikaler Elektro / Noise / Rhythmic Industrial aus Kanada mit starker politischer, antikapitalistischer Ausrichtung (das RAF-Logo auf dem Cover), dabei musikalisch abwechslungsreich & überzeugend arrangiert, teils fast rockig-tanzbar, teils extrem krachig!
"Die Baader-Meinhof Gruppe / Red Army Faction is Joshua David Richardson with a revolving door of collaborators, which include: Scott E. Farmer (Russian Futurists), Sam Devos (For Greater Good), and Edwin Vanvinckenroye (Tribe) amongst others.
According to Richardson, DBMG/RAF is a chance for musicians and multi-media artists to explore the use of violence within their chosen medium for the expressed purpose of destroying the economic, social, and artistic structures imposed on them by Late 20th and 21st Century Capitalism. It is inspired by the actions of West-Germany’s Red Army Faction (also known as the Baader-Meinhof Group), which sought the violent overthrow of West-Germany’s post-war governments from the 1970’s until its official disbandment in 1998.
Politics aside, this is one freshing new release that actually lives up to being true INDUSTRIAL music. It is noisy, chaotic, harsh, violent, full of anguish and torment while still carrying a strong beat. This is the kind of industrial that will immediate clear the dancefloor at your local goff-idustrial club, will sort out the real rivetheads from the poseurs, and have noise music enthusiasts begging for more. There’s a good amount of variety on this CD too- a post-punk “Peter Gunn” inspired rhythm track with whacked out old school analogue electronics, middle-eastern Indian ambience with the sound of war in the background (perfect for planning your next Jihad), Deutsch Nepal and Memorandum inspired beats with radio transmissions in the background, slabs of whale-toned cries from the deep, broken and distorted sonics over a militant backbeat with appropriately painful processed vocals, wacky distorted rhythmic melodies, and much more. It is experimental without being unlistenable. Alienating while still being engaging. Even when Richardson is using those overly-familiar sounds and elements, they never seem dated or clichéd. When it comes to this kind of music, this guy obviously seems to know what he’s doing and doesn’t wear his influences on his sleeve like so many others who’ve attempted it. If I had one thing to nit-pick about, it might be the use of overuse of spoken word samples, which is a pet peeve of mine in any music genre. Purists can argue as to its appropriateness, but I feel that a constant barrage of it is a bit clichéd. Thankfully, Richard tempers it with other interesting elements.
This release has an awful lot going for it and has so much variety that it has a very high replayability factor, something that I haven’t heard in a good number of harsh music projects that I’ve reviewed positively. It is also not a constant torrent of torturous sounds; there are quite a few quieter moody moments. Nothing is overly-long or intolerable. If this was released on CMI, it might be the album of the year in Europe. Red Army Faction is like having the best moments of bands like Mental Destruction, In Slaughter Natives, Esplendor Geometric and Brighter Death Now rolled into one steaming package.
Perhaps it’s due to the duality of the name Die Baader-Meinhof Gruppe / Red Army Faction and its association that makes this music project totally oblique in a Google search. If you want this music, you REALLY have to know where to look. You can find it on iTunes (Die Baader-Meinhof) or CD Baby (http://cdbaby.com/cd/baadermeinhof) but I’d recommend just going directly to the website since there videos, more info and purchase options there. Definitely recommended!" [Steve Mecca / CHAIN D.L.K.]
www.dbmg-raf.com
|
2009 |
€13.50 |
|
| DE KLEER, MARTIJN |
Flow |
CD |
Erstes Album des LPD-Gitarristen MARTIJN DE KLEER mit nach texanischer Weite klingenden Folk- & Country-tunes, unglaublich aber wahr !
“Martijn de Kleer (rhymes with "red wine, beware") is the guitarist for the Legendary Pink Dots, and "Flow" is his first solo album. A few hundred copies were sold at concerts during the band's tour of North America last year, after which it was licensed to Soleilmoon for release and worldwide distribution. The music is evocative and atmospheric, built on a foundation of straightforward songwriting and uncomplicated vocal arrangements. Loyal LPD fans will be surprised by the contrast between de Kleer's Spartan approach and the more elaborate constructions that define the Dot's characteristic sound. "Flow" is about nuance and subtle shades, about leaves fluttering in the wind, and the feelings of contentment that come from a simple tune played well. It's a man and his guitar, a few songs and sketches, and your imagination.” [press release]
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| DE WAARD, FRANS |
This is supposed to be a record label. Staalplaat: Eleven Years Of Distortion In The Independent Music Industry |
BOOK |
This Is Supposed To Be A Record Label
Staalplaat: Eleven Years Of Distortion In The Independent Music Industry
a book by Frans de Waard
third expanded edition, soft cover, 288 pages
In 1992, Frans de Waard (of Kapotte Muziek, Beequeen and the Korm Plastics label) was asked
to work for Staalplaat, then one of the biggest independent labels for experimental and electronic
music. Staalplaat was the home for bands like Muslimgauze, :zoviet*france:, Rapoon, O Yuki
Conjugate as well as Jaap Blonk, Normally Invisible and Kingdom Scum. With an average of
three new releases every month, Staalplaat remained a major player for the next eleven years.
Hired to set-up a database and to sell and buy new music, Frans de Waard over the years also
assumed a role as (unofficial) business director and A&R man, and came to be regarded as the
head honcho. In 2003 he’d had enough and decided to quit.
This book tells his story about those eleven years, the many high and as many lows of working
for a small independent record label, which also functioned as a shop, mail order, radio
programme, news outlet, and concert organiser. It’s about embarrassing confrontations with
musicians, labels, distributors, and the endless spending on the most unique packaging
CD-Land ever saw.
Including an interview with Staalplaat founder Geert-Jan Hobijn, a transcript of a radio interview
with Muslimgauze, a 1980’s account of Staalplaat’s activities, and a discography, among others.
For everyone with an interest in the experimental music scene, and anyone else who wants to
read a crazy, funny and sad story about a small struggling record label.
Anyone who is interested in a manual of how (not) to run your record label might want to
take notes.
kormplastics.nl/tistbarl.html
|
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
| DEAD CAN DANCE |
Dionysus |
CD |
"This second release from the recently reawakened Dead Can Dance is quite a delightful surprise, radically departing from its uneven predecessor and displaying a striking degree of creative reinvigoration. Rather than another stab at recreating classic DCD fare like Aion, Dionysus is a conceptually rich and structurally inventive plunge deep into the folklore and spirit of Dionysian rituals and festivals. An intriguing concept does not necessarily lead to an intriguing album, of course, but Dionysus finds Dead Can Dance at the peak of their instrumental powers, unfolding as feast of wonderfully vibrant rhythms, esoteric instrumentation, and inspired arrangements. It is quite a remarkable and improbable achievement, as it sounds very little like prime Dead Can Dance, yet absolutely feels like prime Dead Can Dance. If Dionysus had come out in the band’s golden age of the late '80s and early '90s, there would most certainly be a small but devoted contingent of fans that viewed it as dark horse contender for the duo's finest album.
If I am being completely honest, I truly did not expect Dead Can Dance to ever record another great album, as the feeling I got from the reunion tour and Anastasis was that Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard are now far more like two loosely entwined solo artists who periodically collaborate than they are a united creative force these days. For the most part, Dionysus does little to dispel that sense, but it definitely seems like the duo have found a way to flourish within those conditions. Based on all that I have read about this album, it is quite clear that Perry was the album's driving force and that it was a labor of love birthed from a deep fascination with how pagan/Dionysian beliefs have spread, transformed, lingered, and evolved in the wake of the Roman Empire. Perry was originally drawn to the theme by European spring and harvest festivals, but the reach of the album seamlessly dissolves boundaries in culture, time, and space like only Dead Can Dance can do. For example, Perry's field recordings alone touch upon South America, New Zealand, and Switzerland and his musical inspirations are even more widespread, delving into traditional instrumentation that spans just about the entire globe. While there some wonderfully exotic and otherworldly sounds occasionally appear, such as the eerily flute-like see-sawing tones and jungle-like chirps in the closing "Psychopomp," that unusual instrumentation is less of a focus than it is a set of specialized tools that Perry used to get exactly the feel he wanted. In fact, Dionysus is largely a very percussion-driven affair, an approach that is especially effective on the muscular and propulsively off-kilter opener "Sea Borne," which abstractly evokes Dionysus's mythical arrival from The East.
While the album's bookends are both quite strong and easy to identify, the delineation between individual pieces on Dionysus is quite a purposely blurry one, as the album is structured as a two-part oratorio with different movements that tie to different aspects of Dionysian myth and folklore. For example, "Dance of the Bacchantes" is inspired by a rite in which women "abandoned their domestic duties for trance-like processions and dances," while "Liberator of Minds" celebrates hallucinogens and "The Forest" is a "call to abandon worldly and material pursuits and return to a primeval enlightened state of being." Happily, Perry opted to keep the narrative arc an abstract and impressionistic one, so this concept album deftly eludes the perils of dubious lyrical content or exposition. Curiously, it does sound like Perry is singing actual words in some language in the two closing movements, but the language is a fictional one, as Perry wanted to "convey emotion beyond the boundaries of language itself." In lesser hands, such a conceit would likely end in disaster. In this case, however, it not only flows seamlessly but seems like a crucial part of establishing the timeless and ritualistic headspace that the album inhabits. Recognizable words would have killed the spell. The music is not quite as liberated from the constraints of existing culture, however, as Perry is quite fond of Middle Eastern scales and melodies. The overall feeling is not entirely Middle Eastern though, as some medieval-sounding touches certainly bleed in, as do some sounds that seem plucked from real or imaginary tribes hidden deep in the heart of a tropical rainforest. At Dionysus's best, all of those threads combine into something that resembles an alternately raucous, sensuous, and ritualistic village dance that pulses with visceral rhythms, call-and-response chants, and primal eruptions of ululating yelps.
Admittedly, tt feels a bit weird to love a Dead Can Dance album in which Lisa Gerrard plays a noticeably reduced role, as she only takes over lead vocals on "The Invocation" (I think). However, her voice continually surfaces throughout the album as an added choral layer or to echo or harmonize with Perry's own vocals. That might not sound like much, yet her essence pervades the proceedings in a deeper way, as Dionysus bears little resemblance to Perry's solo work. This simply is not a vocal-centric album in the traditional Dead Can Dance sense, nor does the mood quite suit Gerrard's hammered dulcimer talents and the duo have the good sense not to awkwardly shoehorn in touches that do not belong. In fact, Perry and Gerrard show an almost supernatural instinct for avoiding false notes or missteps, favorably calling to mind a time in the distant past (The Serpent's Egg) when they seemed like an absolutely infallible force of nature and each new album felt like a communion with something deeper and more meaningful than anything the present era offered. There is not a weak moment to be found here, as my sole caveat is that the album feels all too brief at a mere 35 minutes. None of that time is squandered at all though, so it is hard to grumble: if the perfect arc is just over half an hour, then that is the proper length for the album to be. I had hoped that Perry and Gerrard might have some more classic songs or a return to form lurking in their shared future, but Dionysus has easily transcended those modest expectations by feeling like the beginning of an extremely promising second act to their long and illustrious career. Nostalgia and welcome familiarity are great, but reclaiming relevance and forging into compelling and unique new territory is far better." [Anthony D'Amico] |
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Dionysus |
LP |
"This second release from the recently reawakened Dead Can Dance is quite a delightful surprise, radically departing from its uneven predecessor and displaying a striking degree of creative reinvigoration. Rather than another stab at recreating classic DCD fare like Aion, Dionysus is a conceptually rich and structurally inventive plunge deep into the folklore and spirit of Dionysian rituals and festivals. An intriguing concept does not necessarily lead to an intriguing album, of course, but Dionysus finds Dead Can Dance at the peak of their instrumental powers, unfolding as feast of wonderfully vibrant rhythms, esoteric instrumentation, and inspired arrangements. It is quite a remarkable and improbable achievement, as it sounds very little like prime Dead Can Dance, yet absolutely feels like prime Dead Can Dance. If Dionysus had come out in the band’s golden age of the late '80s and early '90s, there would most certainly be a small but devoted contingent of fans that viewed it as dark horse contender for the duo's finest album.
If I am being completely honest, I truly did not expect Dead Can Dance to ever record another great album, as the feeling I got from the reunion tour and Anastasis was that Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard are now far more like two loosely entwined solo artists who periodically collaborate than they are a united creative force these days. For the most part, Dionysus does little to dispel that sense, but it definitely seems like the duo have found a way to flourish within those conditions. Based on all that I have read about this album, it is quite clear that Perry was the album's driving force and that it was a labor of love birthed from a deep fascination with how pagan/Dionysian beliefs have spread, transformed, lingered, and evolved in the wake of the Roman Empire. Perry was originally drawn to the theme by European spring and harvest festivals, but the reach of the album seamlessly dissolves boundaries in culture, time, and space like only Dead Can Dance can do. For example, Perry's field recordings alone touch upon South America, New Zealand, and Switzerland and his musical inspirations are even more widespread, delving into traditional instrumentation that spans just about the entire globe. While there some wonderfully exotic and otherworldly sounds occasionally appear, such as the eerily flute-like see-sawing tones and jungle-like chirps in the closing "Psychopomp," that unusual instrumentation is less of a focus than it is a set of specialized tools that Perry used to get exactly the feel he wanted. In fact, Dionysus is largely a very percussion-driven affair, an approach that is especially effective on the muscular and propulsively off-kilter opener "Sea Borne," which abstractly evokes Dionysus's mythical arrival from The East.
While the album's bookends are both quite strong and easy to identify, the delineation between individual pieces on Dionysus is quite a purposely blurry one, as the album is structured as a two-part oratorio with different movements that tie to different aspects of Dionysian myth and folklore. For example, "Dance of the Bacchantes" is inspired by a rite in which women "abandoned their domestic duties for trance-like processions and dances," while "Liberator of Minds" celebrates hallucinogens and "The Forest" is a "call to abandon worldly and material pursuits and return to a primeval enlightened state of being." Happily, Perry opted to keep the narrative arc an abstract and impressionistic one, so this concept album deftly eludes the perils of dubious lyrical content or exposition. Curiously, it does sound like Perry is singing actual words in some language in the two closing movements, but the language is a fictional one, as Perry wanted to "convey emotion beyond the boundaries of language itself." In lesser hands, such a conceit would likely end in disaster. In this case, however, it not only flows seamlessly but seems like a crucial part of establishing the timeless and ritualistic headspace that the album inhabits. Recognizable words would have killed the spell. The music is not quite as liberated from the constraints of existing culture, however, as Perry is quite fond of Middle Eastern scales and melodies. The overall feeling is not entirely Middle Eastern though, as some medieval-sounding touches certainly bleed in, as do some sounds that seem plucked from real or imaginary tribes hidden deep in the heart of a tropical rainforest. At Dionysus's best, all of those threads combine into something that resembles an alternately raucous, sensuous, and ritualistic village dance that pulses with visceral rhythms, call-and-response chants, and primal eruptions of ululating yelps.
Admittedly, tt feels a bit weird to love a Dead Can Dance album in which Lisa Gerrard plays a noticeably reduced role, as she only takes over lead vocals on "The Invocation" (I think). However, her voice continually surfaces throughout the album as an added choral layer or to echo or harmonize with Perry's own vocals. That might not sound like much, yet her essence pervades the proceedings in a deeper way, as Dionysus bears little resemblance to Perry's solo work. This simply is not a vocal-centric album in the traditional Dead Can Dance sense, nor does the mood quite suit Gerrard's hammered dulcimer talents and the duo have the good sense not to awkwardly shoehorn in touches that do not belong. In fact, Perry and Gerrard show an almost supernatural instinct for avoiding false notes or missteps, favorably calling to mind a time in the distant past (The Serpent's Egg) when they seemed like an absolutely infallible force of nature and each new album felt like a communion with something deeper and more meaningful than anything the present era offered. There is not a weak moment to be found here, as my sole caveat is that the album feels all too brief at a mere 35 minutes. None of that time is squandered at all though, so it is hard to grumble: if the perfect arc is just over half an hour, then that is the proper length for the album to be. I had hoped that Perry and Gerrard might have some more classic songs or a return to form lurking in their shared future, but Dionysus has easily transcended those modest expectations by feeling like the beginning of an extremely promising second act to their long and illustrious career. Nostalgia and welcome familiarity are great, but reclaiming relevance and forging into compelling and unique new territory is far better." [Anthony D'Amico]
|
2018 |
€28.00 |
|
| DEAD FACTORY |
Nachtmusik |
CD |
"DEAD FACTORY, the project of Maciej Mutwil, has been active since 2001. Hailing from the region of Silesia, sonic- and imagewise it revolves around the themes of heavy industry found in that part of Poland, which serves as the biggest source of influence. The sounds and images from his surroundings are transformed in his music. DEAD FACTORY discography consists of 2 demo CDRs "Solitude" and "Nowhere"; "Indusreality" MCD, a split release with ATUM and a few web releases.
After the recording hiatus, DEAD FACTORY returns with a new album, first time on a regular, silver CD. "Nachtmusik" is available on two editions: regular - CD in a wallet serving as an audio addendum for HARD ART #6, and limited - hand-numbered 200 copies in special packaging It is the first collaborative release of Beast of Prey and Zoharum." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| DEAD GUM |
Sleepy Town |
CD-R |
"Blurry, multi-layered, dreamy imagery for a dark city at a summer night which almost looks like a ghost town. Numb emotions and gentle touches guide you to a private wandering where materialism cannot be felt. It's a delirious battle inside your dream warrior head. Drift around without touching the ground, smell the transparent fumes, hear the city's most intimate secret noises, make your very own narrations until the death of night finally comes. It's meant to be listened as one piece at the recommended track order.
Limited edition of 50, packaged in jewel case w/ full color artwork on textured paper." [label info]
|
2013 |
€7.50 |
|
| |
Meta |
LP |
Backwards proudly presents the new full length album of amazing Greek artist DEAD GUM!
"META", Dead Gum’s sophomore studio album, constituted a challenge for its maker. While “GAINER” - its predecessor - hollered for awareness and singularity, this one indulges into multi-layered, ambiguous narratives tracing an impossible duality. With abiding influences that distance him from conspicuous contemporary norms, Panagiotis Spoulos creates a nocturnal, desolate sound collage, invoking a meta-purpose for a/the current status quo.
The public character of the endeavour is almost jostled by the privateness of the overall statement; the invitation thus corresponds to a peek into a baffled brain and a rove around gradual levels of muffled alarm calls and grimy smells. "META" is no post-something. "META" merely stands half foot ahead of absolute nothingness, the true end of it all.
https://deadgum.bandcamp.com
|
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| DEAD SHALL NOT HAVE DIED IN VAIN / DYSTHYMIA |
split |
7inch |
"Diophantine Discs is pleased to announce our first 7", a split between Dead Shall Not Have Died In Vain and Dysthymia.
It gives me great please to release this new vinyl on Diophantine, featuring the work of Marc Benner's Dead Shall Not Have Died In Vain project, and my own Dysthymia project. Though started in 2000, DSNHDIV became most active five years ago and has released a number of limited CDrs and cassettes on RRRecords, Tape Fiend, Turgid Animal, and Marc's own Pottersfield label. His track here shows a more subtle and experimental side to this usually noisy project, with flowing ambient and the crashing and cracking of metals. Dysthymia began in late 2004 and the first release was a split cassette with Dead Shall Not Have Died In Vain. Since then there have been a number of cassettes and CDrs on Pottersfield, Self Abuse, BloodLust!, and Tape Fiend. The track here shows Dysthymia's dense analogue industrial/noise style.
Pressed on clear vinyl and housed in a custom printed color wallet. Edition of 300 copies." [label info]
http://discs.diophantine.net
"A split 7" on Diophantine Discs. Dysthymia is Kyle Wright, also the man behind the label, whose first release was also a split with Dead Shall Nor Have Died In Vain. That is the project of Marc Benner, who started in 2000. He has a bunch of releases on RRRecords, Tape Fiend and Turgid Animal as well as his own label Pottersfield. Apparently, since this is the first time I hear his music a more noise based outing, but here with an ambient industrial tapestry, with heavily reverb on the metal sheets that rumble on top. Dysthymia on the other side is more noise based, with crashing loop of industrial sound. The sound and the fury, but Wright keeps things well under control. I like both sides actually, but this is not 7" music, if such a thing exists (obviously it doesn't). Both sides seem to be out takes of longer sections, something that more music suffers from that is released on 7". Here a 10" would have been in place and then with a more appropriate beginning and end. Not that die hard fans of the genre would matter of course." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€7.00 |
|
| DEAD VOICES ON AIR |
Fast Falls The Eventide |
do-CD |
"Fast Falls The Eventide is aural provocateur Mark Spybey’s 11th album as Dead Voices On Air, and across a multi-decade career stirring pots experimental, existential, and otherwise, his is a sound that summons any number of nocturnal beasties from the ether. Blink twice, listen carelessly and you'll fail to discern the minutiae Spybey meticulously works into every one of the 15 pieces sprawling across the first disc of this 2-CD set’s eminent domain. Spybey works hard at his art so you don’t have to: rather, as the listener, the participant, the absorber, it’s more important to ignore categorical tags such as “industrial”, “ambient”, “soundscape”, et al, and instead gorge deeply on a wriggling, sometimes confrontational puzzlebox of sounds erupting from a bevy of mysterious sources.
The title of this collection notwithstanding, Spybey’s been having his way with rhythm and noise for so long that the motifs he’s ascribed over the years are practically commonplace amongst the novice post-industrialist - or, hell, the post-whatever. Throughout the last 25-plus years, he’s plied his trade and remarkable sonic mojo both solo and in the company of many a forward-thinking electronic engineer, from guitarists such as Michael Karoli and James Plotkin, to fellow artisans like Skinny Puppy’s cEvin Key or Rapoon’s Robin Storey (with whom he feints sounds as Reformed Faction). It’s as Dead Voices On Air, however, that some of his most startling ideas emerge fully-realized and fully-armed; of course, to hear Spybey tell it, once art leaves the nest it’s up to (once again) the recipient to assume the role of engager: “My work is created in isolation from external references. That is the ideal I strive for. Only in this way is it possible to allow the listener an opportunity to create their own understanding of the music, or, as the artist Joseph Beuys once said, ‘One should resort to interpretation only in an emergency.’”
Perhaps. Still, there’s much expressive bounty to be gleaned from these dark, dusky, evening-soaked works, from the first disc’s mix of ethnological drum cabals, windswept electronics and scraped edits, up through the immense near-quarter-hour title track, which finds Spybey revisiting the mortal atmospheric coils of former colleagues :Zoviet*France:. And pulling the whole enterprise together is the second disc’s first-time digital unveiling of Spybey’s opening salvo, the 1994 cassette Abrader, in conjunction with two unreleased tracks originating from the artist’s early gestations featuring contributions from the aforementioned cEvin Key. New or old, Spybey’s continuing vitality ensures these Dead Voices remain gloriously alive and kicking.
Fast Falls The Eventide is a two CD set featuring the all new recording Fast Falls The Eventide on Disc 1. Disc 2 features the long out of print first release by Dead Voices On Air - Abrader - originally released in 1994 on cassette by Japan's G.R.O.S.S. label. This digitally remastered version of Abrader features two previously unreleased tracks featuring cEvin Key. Abrader and the two bonus tracks are only available on this CD release.
Packaging: 2xCD w/6-panel insert in jewel case featuring artwork by Mark Spybey
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Running Time: Disc 1 - 60:22, Disc 2 - 53:54"
[label info]
www.lensrecords.com
|
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
| DEAF CENTER |
Recount |
12inch |
"Deaf Center is seemingly never of the times. Whether it's the nostalgic component often associated with Pale Ravine and Owl Splinters, or the time between releases, waiting and remembering are part of the experience. Recount is a bridge between full albums, where time and familiarity are mesmerizingly suspended.
Recorded during rehearsal sessions in 2012 and 2008, Follow Still and Oblivion make full use of the Deaf Center spectrum. In the direction of a live performance, Recount plays off of experience and reaction; a balancing act of improvisation, sonic detail, and emotion.
Follow Still recorded in Berlin 2012, brings you to a recent past. The 13-minute track leads you down a melancholic pathway and into tunnels of memory. Minimal piano passages and warm repeating organ sounds are at the core, slowly blurring your sense of time while faint guitar amp noise and the sound of effect-pedals switching off and on makes you feel present at the recording. Engraved with intricate details and quiet moments, Follow Still pursues the night until dawn.
Oblivion, recorded 2008 in Oslo, recalls the live sets that followed the release of Pale Ravine. With this era condensed into one long track, the piece is an overwhelming mass of orchestral haze, crying strings and droning bass. The dense fog doesn't burden but calms, and as it starts to clear, reveals a true grandiosity.
Recount is both a division and fusion of sound and time. Two tracks, two years, two people, two cities; ultimately, Deaf Center straddles worlds to lead to something unquantifiable and timeless." [label info]
www.sonicpieces.com |
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Low Distance |
LP |
"Low Distance is Deaf Center´s third full-length studio album and perhaps the most focused effort by the Norwegian duo to date. After their last record Owl Splinters (2011) was quite an eclectic endeavor, Erik K Skodvin & Otto A Totland draw their sound back into something more quiet and minimal.
The record starts with a piece of sweeping analougue electronics. It´s a spacious, yet dynamic opener that leads directly into the static tones and piano motivs of Entity Voice, which balances a new sense of abstractation with the classic Deaf Center sound. It´s warm and close while sounding like it´s set in the outer horizon. Overall Low Distance feels both alien and familiar with its atonal synths, close pianos and drowned out noises.
After meeting in studio for the first time since 2011, the recordings came out of a 3 day session in 2017. It was then mixed at both EMS Stockholm and at Erik´s home studio over a longer period to create a blend of deeply layered as well as stripped down pieces. Both Erik & Otto have been active individually since their last meeting as Deaf Center: Otto released 2 solo piano albums, while Erik has furthered his descent into musical abstractation both under his own name and as Svarte Greiner. It´s long overdue to hear them connect their personalities into something new. Low Distance is a welcome return replete with beauty, mystery and uncertainty."
"So I managed to fall into that pattern again, whereby a long-anticipated album by a beloved project sits awaiting just the right time. I need a "perfect" mood and setting to experience Deaf Center, and I must not be interrupted in any possible way. And so I put it to the side. Meanwhile, I procrastinate with promos and suggestions and releases which are all sub par. Then I finally reach out, and I listen for the very first time. Then the second and the third. And time goes by. A month or two. I play it sixth and seventh time, and no, not yet, I'm not prepared to say the right things... I must find certain words to share my thoughts. And time goes by... That is the pattern. Until I recognize it for its block and rip the bandaid off and share. The time has come. Of this I'm certain.
Since their 2014 release, Recount, put out by Monique Recknagel's Sonic Pieces imprint, the duo of Erik Skodvin and Otto Totland have massively raised the bar on their third full-length studio album, Low Distance. I've generally used the word "texture" in the past, to describe the intricate granular details that give a particular recording more depth, complexity and substance, and yet, on Low Distance Deaf Center takes it to a whole new level. Seemingly accidental noises, clips, and circuit howls become the foundation for the platform of this moody record, where Totland's piano finds the courage to reveal its beauty to the world. The heavy fibered bow scrapes at the cello strings to make the instrument convulse and shudder. The sonic gravity of the atmospheric treatments paired with the poignancy of the melodic heartache propels Low Distance into the ranks of albums of the decade, where every coveted position is meticulously picked.
A total masterpiece for anyone inspired by the fine details stitched in a microcosm of harmonies and timbres. One which I will treasure for the many years to come, and with these words I hope you'll too. Highly recommended for anyone delighted by reductionist pianism, isolationist ambience, coarse minimalism and granular spaciousness. Yes, I've authored some of those stylistic genres just for you. But seriously, if you're into anything from the amazing Miasmah (which Skodvin runs), dark and organic drone mixed with evolving soundscapes by the likes of Rafael Anton Irisarri, Ben Lukas Boysen, Brambles, Richard Skelton, and Lawrence English, among the many appearing on this site, you'll be in for a treat. Highly recommended!" [Headphone Commute]
|
2019 |
€35.00 |
|
| DEAS (CAMERON) |
Time Exercises |
LP |
Cam Deas is a guitar virtuoso who has switched to modular synth and computer productions resulting in these staggering studies in polymetric, mercurial and dissonant tunings - hugely recommended if you’re into the work of Autechre, Rashad Becker, Roland Kayn, Fis, Coil, Xenakis.
Time Exercises is a complex study in amorphous polymetric rhythms by Cam Deas for The Death of Rave. His first album composed solely for modular synths and computer, Cam’s follow-up to the acclaimed String Studies for Luke Younger's Alter label marks a headlong tilt from acoustic to electronic spheres with a staggering effect resulting from meticulous research and process. It sounds as advanced as Xenakis or Roland Kayn superstructures, with the rhythmic displacement of FIS or Autechre, and with a grasp of slippery, mind-bending timbral dissonance comparable to Coil and Rashad Becker records.
Cam’s six Time Exercises form both a bold break with - and an extension of - the avant, folk, blues and outernational traditions that he’s worked to deconstruct and fluidly syncretise over the past decade. In the past four years he’s stepped away from the guitar as a compositional tool, turning to electronic hardware in a focussed effort to consolidate myriad tunings and meters with a precision that had previously eluded him in the acoustic sphere.
Severed from the tactility and sentimentality of instrumental inflection, Cam’s disembodied music plays out a thrilling dramaturgy and syntax of alien dissonance and disorienting rhythmic resolution. Harmonic shapes as densely widescreen as those in Roland Kayn’s Cybernetic Music roil in unfathomable fever dream space, where massed batteries of synthetic percussion swarm like an orchestra of Cut Hands in viscous formation, and where polychromatic mentasm figures converge like cenobites laying siege to Rashad Becker’s utopia.
On Time Exercises Cam articulates a synthetic musical language that speaks to the listener in myriad, quantum tongues awaiting to be deciphered by keen ears everywhere. It’s an outstanding record for lovers of forward-looking but deeply rooted electronic music.
https://boomkat.com/products/time-exercises
|
2018 |
€18.00 |
|
| DEATHPROD |
Occulting Disk |
do-LP |
OCCULTING DISK is an anti-fascist ritual. Recorded in Oslo, Reykjavik, Cologne, Berlin and Los Angeles between 2012 and 2019. It is the first Deathprod album to be released since the 2004 album «Morals and Dogma». Liner notes by Will Oldham (note: not the above below). LP cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, Berlin. Artwork by Kim Hiorthøy and Helge Sten.
“I remember driving over a mountain with my mother, she was in the passenger seat and we were being mauled and cuddled and battered and fried by sound; together. We were together experiencing something previously unimaginable, and we were facing the same direction, and we were moving through space and time knowing that a geographic destination some way ahead would bring an end. And the sound surrounded us, and for once our mutual silence was loaded with good. Because we were in the presence of each other, and we knew so much about how we had failed each other (it wasn’t a mystery any more), and we knew how we had maimed others when we worried too much about ourselves, how we had contributed to the faults of others simply by focusing in instead of out. Our mutual silences were laden with what that could only be called love. I used to hear love in music until I learned to hear love in sound. “ (Will Oldham)
Hinter Deathprod verbirgt sich der norwegische Musiker Helge Sten, seines Zeichens Ex-Mitglied bei Motorpsycho und Supersilent. Neben seinem Pseudonym Deathprod nahm Sten auch unter dem Namen Audio Virus als auch unter seinem eigentlichen Namen zahlreiche Alben auf. Zudem kollaborierte er mit Biosphere, Arve Henriksen, John Hegre, Lasse Marhaug, Sidsel Endresen, Christian Wallumrod, Nils Petter Molvær sowie mit seiner Frau Susanna Wallumrod, als Sängerin vor allem unter dem Namen Susanna bekannt. \"Occulting Disk\", das erste neue Album von Deathprod seit fünfzehn Jahren, ist ein antifaschistisches Ritual. Aufgenommen in Oslo, Reykjavik, Berlin, Köln und Los Angeles zwischen 2012 und 2019, ist es das erste Deathprod-Album seit \"Morals And Dogma\" aus dem Jahr 2004.
https://deathprod.bandcamp.com/album/occulting-disk
\"The Norwegian dark ambient artist Helge Sten, or Deathprod, is a master of atmosphere. Since 1991, he has been harnessing apocalyptic dread through immersive electronic sound design and bone-rattling live performances. For his first solo LP in 15 years—the follow-up to 2004\'s Morals And Dogma—the Oslo producer has conceived a politically minded album that considers the ways in which we confront fear and hate. The liner notes from Will Oldham dig deeper into Occulting Disk\'s political character. \"If you hear hate in the voice of another, it is your job, as the identifier, to address that hatred and reduce it by its opposite,\" he urges.
Stern expresses these political ruminations using a complex and chilling series of beatless, wordless tracks that command focus—his vision of ambient differs from Eno-led notions of the music as soft wallpaper. Occulting Disk serves a more confrontational, instructive purpose. Knowing the anti-hate messages at the album\'s core, it could be viewed as an amulet to ward off hate and bad energy, its unrelenting honks and bellows stirring up the hopeful sounds of protest. Stern\'s use of repetition is powerful and carefully considered, making space for deep thought and reflection.
Pockets of silence strengthen this concentrative quality. The opener, \"Disappearance / Reappearance,\" sends out a duo of ear-splitting foghorn blasts, an allusion perhaps to the album title\'s maritime reference—occulting light is a navigational beam used by ships. Thick walls of insectoid buzzing on \"Occultation 2\" urge you to step outside yourself, reeling you in with ugly-beautiful effect.
The LP summons a raft of mutated sounds from Stern\'s \"audio virus\" set-up—an array of electronics that has included homemade devices, tape echo machines, theremins and analog ring modulators—that feel eerily familiar and sinister. Case in point: \"Occultation 4,\" whose creaking, dissonant drones give the impression of dive bombers circling each other, while the weeping, warbling synths on \"Occultation 1\" are as evocative as human tears. The album\'s crushing \"Black Transit Of Jupiter\'s Third Satellite\" is a tidal wave of distortion, suggesting a final evacuation of dark energy. Stern\'s gift is to make that feel both unsettling and immersive.\" [Resident Advisor]
|
2019 |
€24.00 |
|
|
Occulting Disk |
CD |
Hinter Deathprod verbirgt sich der norwegische Musiker Helge Sten, seines Zeichens Ex-Mitglied bei Motorpsycho und Supersilent. Neben seinem Pseudonym Deathprod nahm Sten auch unter dem Namen Audio Virus als auch unter seinem eigentlichen Namen zahlreiche Alben auf. Zudem kollaborierte er mit Biosphere, Arve Henriksen, John Hegre, Lasse Marhaug, Sidsel Endresen, Christian Wallumrod, Nils Petter Molvær sowie mit seiner Frau Susanna Wallumrod, als Sängerin vor allem unter dem Namen Susanna bekannt. "Occulting Disk", das erste neue Album von Deathprod seit fünfzehn Jahren, ist ein antifaschistisches Ritual. Aufgenommen in Oslo, Reykjavik, Berlin, Köln und Los Angeles zwischen 2012 und 2019, ist es das erste Deathprod-Album seit "Morals And Dogma" aus dem Jahr 2004. Aus den "Occulting Disks" Liner Notes: "I remember driving over a mountain with my mother, she was in the passenger seat and we were being mauled and cuddled and battered and fried by sound; together. We were together experiencing something previously unimaginable, and we were facing the same direction, and we were moving through space and time knowing that a geographic destination some way ahead would bring an end. And the sound surrounded us, and for once our mutual silence was loaded with good. Because we were in the presence of each other, and we knew so much about how we had failed each other (it wasn't a mystery any more), and we knew how we had maimed others when we worried too much about ourselves, how we had contributed to the faults of others simply by focusing in instead of out. Our mutual silences were laden with what that could only be called love. I used to hear love in music until I learned to hear love in sound." - Will Oldham
https://deathprod.bandcamp.com/album/occulting-disk
|
2019 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Compositions |
LP |
listen: https://deathprod.bandcamp.com/album/compositions
Oslo’s Deathprod (aka Helge Sten) announces Compositions, his new album out January 27th on Smalltown Supersound, and presents its lead single/video, “Composition 1.” The first new Deathprod studio project since 2019’s OCCULTING DISK—“a mesmerizing, terrifying, and emotionally nuanced ‘anti-fascist ritual’ of an album” (Pitchfork)
—Compositions is the result of an intense period at his legendary Audio Virus Lab studio in central Oslo. All tracks are released in chronological order – in other words, the order in which they were recorded. Sten used a personal, unique combination of obsolete digital audio processors and sound generators, combined with his own secret-sauce tuning system. His specialty is a deeply atmospheric, grainy minimalism that slows time down and explores the very particles of sound itself.
Lead single “Composition 1” doubles as Compositions’ opening track, and looms over its nearly 4-minute runtime. An eerie and sparse track, “Composition 1” gently submerges listeners in Deathprod’s new soundscape. On Compositions, the music can sound forbidding and alien at first, but compared to his more brutal output, it’s an extraordinarily close and intimate experience, directing your attention to a succession of ever more spellbinding details and textures.
https://deathprod.bandcamp.com/album/compositions
Deathprod (alias Helge Sten) ist einer der Gründer der norwegischen Improvisationsgruppe Supersilent und hat Platten von Motorpsycho, Susanna, Jenny Hval, Arve Henriksen und anderen produziert. Seine Spezialität ist ein zutiefst atmosphärischer, körniger Minimalismus, der die Zeit verlangsamt und die Partikel des Klangs selbst erforscht. Compositions, ist das Ergebnis einer intensiven Zeit in seinem legendären Audio Virus Lab Studio im Zentrum von Oslo. Ein komplexes Geflecht aus selbstgebauter Elektronik, Samplern, Klangbearbeitung und analogen Effekten kombiniert mit veralteten Samplern und Abspielgeräten, um Klänge zu verzerren und in unerkennbare Verwandte ihres früheren Selbst zu verwandeln. Auf Compositions hat sich der Virus zu noch faszinierenderen und kaleidoskopartigen neuen Stämmen entwickelt. Jedes Stück enthält seine eigene voll ausgebildete Galaxie von Tönen und Clustern, während alle Stücke hörbar in dasselbe Universum gehören. Es sind 17 Kompositionen auf der Suche nach einem klanglichen Ideal.
|
2023 |
€22.50 |
|
| |
Compositions |
CD |
listen: https://deathprod.bandcamp.com/album/compositions
Oslo’s Deathprod (aka Helge Sten) announces Compositions, his new album out January 27th on Smalltown Supersound, and presents its lead single/video, “Composition 1.” The first new Deathprod studio project since 2019’s OCCULTING DISK—“a mesmerizing, terrifying, and emotionally nuanced ‘anti-fascist ritual’ of an album” (Pitchfork)
—Compositions is the result of an intense period at his legendary Audio Virus Lab studio in central Oslo. All tracks are released in chronological order – in other words, the order in which they were recorded. Sten used a personal, unique combination of obsolete digital audio processors and sound generators, combined with his own secret-sauce tuning system. His specialty is a deeply atmospheric, grainy minimalism that slows time down and explores the very particles of sound itself.
Lead single “Composition 1” doubles as Compositions’ opening track, and looms over its nearly 4-minute runtime. An eerie and sparse track, “Composition 1” gently submerges listeners in Deathprod’s new soundscape. On Compositions, the music can sound forbidding and alien at first, but compared to his more brutal output, it’s an extraordinarily close and intimate experience, directing your attention to a succession of ever more spellbinding details and textures.
https://deathprod.bandcamp.com/album/compositions
Deathprod (alias Helge Sten) ist einer der Gründer der norwegischen Improvisationsgruppe Supersilent und hat Platten von Motorpsycho, Susanna, Jenny Hval, Arve Henriksen und anderen produziert. Seine Spezialität ist ein zutiefst atmosphärischer, körniger Minimalismus, der die Zeit verlangsamt und die Partikel des Klangs selbst erforscht. Compositions, ist das Ergebnis einer intensiven Zeit in seinem legendären Audio Virus Lab Studio im Zentrum von Oslo. Ein komplexes Geflecht aus selbstgebauter Elektronik, Samplern, Klangbearbeitung und analogen Effekten kombiniert mit veralteten Samplern und Abspielgeräten, um Klänge zu verzerren und in unerkennbare Verwandte ihres früheren Selbst zu verwandeln. Auf Compositions hat sich der Virus zu noch faszinierenderen und kaleidoskopartigen neuen Stämmen entwickelt. Jedes Stück enthält seine eigene voll ausgebildete Galaxie von Tönen und Clustern, während alle Stücke hörbar in dasselbe Universum gehören. Es sind 17 Kompositionen auf der Suche nach einem klanglichen Ideal.
|
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| DEEP |
If you drive a Traktor |
CD-R |
"With a line-up consisting basically of two bass guitars and effects, Deep have been extending the textural and compositional vocabulary of the rock bass guitar for the past 15 years. In the two instrumental tracks (30 and 15 minutes) of this album, they are at the height of the powers. They manage to combine driving indie-rock flavoured riffs with walls of sound reminiscent of Earth or Sunn O))) to create ambient atmospheres but still retaining a sense of groove.
Although Deep sometimes use distorted power chords and bowed drones in some places to pile up static walls of sound, for the most part the album has a definite mid to uptempo groove. However, through quasi-mantric repetition of the chords and layering of the two bass parts, the feel conveyed by the music is not “speed,” but rather a soothing, trance-like quality that is always based on subtle melodic lines indicative of the fact that earlier Deep releases, mainly featured on the band’s own Dhyana Records label, have proven them capable of writing compelling indie rock songs (complete with vocals) in the vein of Dinosaur Jr or Notwist. This album is co-released on Attenuation Circuit and Dhyana Records in tribute to the ground-breaking work of Dhyana Records for the formation of the experimental music network that now supports Attenuation Circuit." [label info]
www.wix.com/attenuationcircuit/attenuation-circuit
"Another trio of releases on Attenuation Circuit, although the first one is a co-release with Dhyana Records - hence a somewhat different package. Deep is a duo and consists of two bass players, Stefan Vetter and Bernd Spring. No doubt there is a string of sound effects attached to the bass guitars. One long, thirty minute track and one that lasts half of that. Now with a band name such as Deep and with two bass guitars and effects, you could expect that this is all about deep ambient music, but that's not the primary interest of Deep. At times, many of them, Deep is more interested in playing rock like structures, less drums, not as much melody, but also with a certain groove going round. But the length of the pieces adds a long duration to both pieces and one could say that this adds to a more drone like character of the pieces. Think of a more mellow version of Earth and you have Deep. Minimalist avant-rock. Very nice." [FdW/VitalWeekly]
|
2011 |
€11.00 |
|
| DEISON |
Substrata |
10inch |
"Italy's Cristiano DEISON enriches the experimental sound and noise art community with his releases and various collaborations (lately with JOHN DUNCAN, GIANLUCA BECUZZI and K.K.NULL) for more than 20 years, but seems to be still undiscovered by too many listeners. "Substrata" collects three extremely crystalline and immersive drone pieces based on prepared tapes, metals, strings, wires and electronics... imagine a forest glade in moon-light with cold white sonic radiations, half-frozen calyx are clanging at each other, liquid metallic forms appear and disappear, hypnotic slow motion pulses suck you into.. "something"... these are incredible strong, deep and complex drone compositions, drones with the spirit of the "Noise Culture" - using "fragmentation, collage, arrangement and layers", as Germano-Chinese philosoph Lutz Schridde puts it.
Sounds of elementary transformations, metamorphosis, and overcoming the usual sense of time: "..where sounds are conceived as they are “excavated” from the earth beneath our feet “Terra Firma” (erosion) and then taking to the light (awakening); it describes its interior solid surface (“Prima Materia”), the
primitive formless base of all matter similar to chaos, the quintessence or aether." [Cristiano Deison]
ed. of 300 copies pressed on transparent green vinyl, artwork Cristiano Deison, 32. min playtime
https://soundcloud.com/drone-records/deison-substrata-side-a |
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Dirty Blind Vortex |
CD |
A fuming miasma of desiccated frequencies and oppressive atmospheres from this Italian purveyor of Death Industrial & Dark Ambient.
"Dirty Blind Vortex" is a cryptic snarl of emotion and obsession, impulse and lethargy.
Features contributions from SSHE RETINA STIMULANTS, GOVT. ALPHA, BAAL, R.H.Y. YAU, LASSE MARHAUG and more.
Noise, sounds recorded/assembled/mixed at "sonic bedroom studio" Dec. '98 - Feb. '99, Udine, Italy.
Mastered at Gench Studio, San Francisco - July '00 by Thomas Dimuzio
Tracklisting:
1 Dream:Morphology (3:07) Featuring - Sshe Retina Stimulants
2 Inside Sources (4:59) Featuring - Sshe Retina Stimulants
3 Novamalia (3:06) Featuring - Lasse Marhaug
4 Lodge, hlny (4:10) Featuring - R.H.Y. Yau
5 Silenzio (5:03)
6 Vortice (5:28) Featuring - Sshe Retina Stimulants
7 Pasadena, 1953 (7:39)
8 Out Of Spasm (5:22)
9 Symptomatic Headache (5:19) Featuring - Government Alpha
10 Terminal Suck Sick (Remix) (5:27) Remix - Lasse Marhaug
11 Automatic Pain II (Remix) (5:28) Remix - S.Isabella
12 Dirty Intercourse (Corrine's Psychoanalysis Remix) (12:01) Remix - Baal
https://deison.bandcamp.com/album/dirty-blind-vortex
|
2000 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
Una Notte Che Non Finisce Mai |
BOOK + CD |
CD + 8" 48-page booklet in Italian, ltd. 200 copies
Deison / Tonizzo
Una notte che non finisce mai
"It often happens that crime stories are able to influence the larger history that surrounds them, but very few are those that managed to change aspects of society and pass through more than five decades unharmed, at least in terms of fascination. The whole story of the Monster of Florence is one of them. It is impossible not to get entangled or at least to be captured by it, if one delves into its pages of far-fetched features and too many unanswered questions. For us, as for many, the case of the Monster of Florence has become an obsession. We periodically dusted it off, racking our brains in vain over details or the possible culprit. This time, 40 years after the crimes that started the psychosis of the infamous couple killer, we told ourselves that we had to somehow get rid of it and we did it our way."
The project "Una notte che non finisce mai" (A Night that Never Ends) is made up of eight short stories (written by Sandra Tonizzo) and eight sound episodes created by Deison, and tells the incredible story of the "Monster of Florence" through suggestions, chronicles, impressions and memories. The booklet (21x21cm, 48 colour pages) and the CD included are published in a limited edition of 200 copies for Silentes' newborn label "1970".
store.silentes.it/catalogue/7001.htm
https://deison.bandcamp.com/album/una-notte-che-non-finisce-mai
"Buch und CD: Sandra Tonizzo, Deison und das Monster von Florenz
Schon seit ein paar Wochen erhältlich, hierzulande aber immer noch eine News wert ist das aktuelle Gemeinschaftswerk zwischen dem Soundkünstler Cristiano Deison und der Autorin Sandra Tonizzo. “Una Notte Che Non Finisce Mai” setzt sich aus einer CD Deisons und einem mehrfarbigen Bild- und Textband von Tonizzo zusammen, in dem auf 50 Seiten die faszinierende Geschichte des sogenannten Monsters von Florenz – Il mostro di Firenze, auch genannt der Mörder mit dem Skalpel - in acht Geschichten, Dokumenten, Reportagen und anderen Textsorten erzählt wird.
Der spektakuläre Kriminalfall, bei dem ein oder mehrere Täten in den Jahren zwischen 1968 und 1985 im Umland von Florenz acht Liebespaare in Serie massakrierten, wurde in Italien schnell zum Stoff urbaner Legenden und zahlreicher fiktionalisierter Umsetzungen in Büchern, Filmen, Comics und Serien, in deren Tradition das vorliegende Werk steht. Die CD enthält gewissermaßen den Soundtrack zum Buch in Form dunkler, in weiten Teilen samplebasierter, harsh-ambienter Klangwelten. Das Werk erscheint beim Silentes-Ableger 1970." [African Paper]
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| DEISON & MINGLE |
Innersurface |
CD |
"After crossing wastelands lost in oblivion (Everything Collapse[d], Aagoo, 2014), and being skeptically moved by listening to pulsations of a weak life (Weak Life, Aagoo, 2015), Cristiano Deison and Andrea Gastaldello (aka Mingle) are arriving at their final destination, Innersuface, the last stop on their journey. They suddenly fall into a hole and are trapped in a slimy pit overflowing with mud and industrial liquids. Everything is dense and oppressive. Their physical movement stops, the chaos in their head remains, they look around and everything is irreversibly changed. And while looking at the road they have just walked along, they glimpse the edge of a forest brimming with life, with its appearance unchanged over time...will it stay like this forever? Created, recorded and mixed between December 2015 and April 2016, at Mingle's Tower Home Studio and Deison's 1st Floor Studio, Innersurface continues the perfect blend of Deison and Mingle sounds: drones, field recordings and processed loops superimposed with disturbed rhythms, distorted beats and electronic processing. As always, the electronics are dirty and extremely evocative, sounds that we have become accustomed to."
store.silentes.it
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Tiliaventum |
CD-BOX & object |
"One needs a poet’s heart to appreciate the wrapped gift of Tilaventum: a stone from the river included with every physical purchase. Mine is a perfectly rounded skipping stone, so I’ll need to resist the urge to try it in my own sea. An instant connection is formed across bodies of water, across continents. The photos show that many stones are ringed; my grandfather once told me that such stones are good luck.
Stretching from the Alps to the Adriatic, the 111-mile gravel bedded Tagliamento River (whose Latin name is used in the title) incorporates glacial melt and the shade of black pines. It serves as a border, but is known more for its beauty. The current project, designed by Sandra Tonizzo, offers a tactile impression to accompany the music and keepsake box. One holds the stone in the palm and wonders at the impact of a river so beautiful that it turns the music of Deison and Mingle from dark to light.
Yes, this is the same duo whose music has been (pleasantly) unsettling people for years. But there’s something about the Tagliamento that calms the soul, and is translated to this release. The CD feels different from the duo’s other projects: more restrained, even reverent. The beats are still present, but the textures are more important. The river itself makes an appearance on “Tilament”, along with the sounds of birds in the trees. One imagines a river journey by boat or on foot. For a while, the album simply flows, awash in ambient touches like floating leaves. Not until the fourth track do we hear the expected Deison | Mingle sound, as the drums presage the entry of a nearly industrial timbre. At this point, it comes as a surprise, an accumulated density that imitates the collection of debris around a bend. After this, one begins to imagine the album not merely as a reflection of a river, but of the things that might happen along the river. The Tagliamento is not just a body of water, but an ecosystem, a divider, a bearer of history.
The processed river sounds add a sense of mystery. “Sotteraneo” (“Underground”) is as murky as its namesake, a descent into unknown territory, while “Grave” rattles with dark pulses. In these tracks, we are able to form a connection to the duo’s prior material. But there’s also a sense of excitement, found in the splashing of “Pietra Viva” (“Living Stone”). Water is the foundation of life, and life and death are always intertwined. In “21.00.12”, the battle finally breaks the boundaries, with electronic horns like trumpet calls and the sound of clashing swords. The banks are overflowing. But then, as they are wont to do, as they have been doing since the beginning of time, the waters recede, revealing soft placidity. The cycle is complete, ready to start anew, as sure as the stone thrown in the river will eventually find its way back to the banks." [Richard Allen / A Closer Listen]
deison.bandcamp.com/album/tiliaventum
|
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Everything Collapse(d) |
LP |
"North-east Italy, late summer 2013: Cristiano Deison and Andrea Gastaldello (aka Mingle) meet online and begin to lay the foundations for what will be their first project together. Out of this comes Everything Collapse[d], an album centred around melancholy and desolation; a concept that does not leave much hope, forcing you to look within yourself. A foreign body coming from far away: sidereal matter which is about to implode; an object that has reached its limit. And everything collapses, swallowed up by itself.
Recorded and produced between Mingle's Tower Home Studio and Deison's 1st Floor Studio, Everything Collapse[d] is a perfect union of our two sounds: drones, field recordings and processed loops intermingled with disturbed rhythms, melancholy harmonies and piano chimes. A gloomy and dirty electronic sound that turns into an extremely evocative score which is full of pathos. A precise, precious and cosmic album... One Million Parsec From Your Sun."
https://deison.bandcamp.com/album/deison-mingle-everything-collapse-d
|
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Everything Collapse(d) |
CD |
"North-east Italy, late summer 2013: Cristiano Deison and Andrea Gastaldello (aka Mingle) meet online and begin to lay the foundations for what will be their first project together. Out of this comes Everything Collapse[d], an album centred around melancholy and desolation; a concept that does not leave much hope, forcing you to look within yourself. A foreign body coming from far away: sidereal matter which is about to implode; an object that has reached its limit. And everything collapses, swallowed up by itself.
Recorded and produced between Mingle's Tower Home Studio and Deison's 1st Floor Studio, Everything Collapse[d] is a perfect union of our two sounds: drones, field recordings and processed loops intermingled with disturbed rhythms, melancholy harmonies and piano chimes. A gloomy and dirty electronic sound that turns into an extremely evocative score which is full of pathos. A precise, precious and cosmic album... One Million Parsec From Your Sun."
https://deison.bandcamp.com/album/deison-mingle-everything-collapse-d
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| DEISON / K.K.NULL |
Into |
CD |
Listen: https://deison.bandcamp.com/album/into
"Penetrating “Hi-tech” music, always on the border between sound, silence and noise… Splinters of sonic fragments, buzzings, electronic hisses, pulsations, hypnotic loops, ambient textures, sudden rays of light… A kaleidoscope of syntethic sounds and digital glitches, in a universe dominated by binary codes, that evolves through the cold-hearted control of sophisticated algorhythmic mutations programmed by human entities that already reached a level beyond the borders of our earthly knowledge…" [label info]
"Quite an extended part of the work of KK Null deals with collaborations, such as with Z'EV, Alexei Borisov, Zbigniew Karkowski, Jim O'Rourke and loads more. His primary instrument was once the drums (as with his bands Zeni Geva and Absolute Null Punkt), but in these collaborations Null deals with electronics. Here he teams with a man who met him fifteen years ago, when he was setting up concerts for Zeni Geva in Italy: Deison. He has worked with Lasse Marhaug and Sshe Retina Stimulans and ran the Loud! label. They collaborated, I guess, through mail, sending back and forth sound material. If you'd expect some heavy noise based stuff, then you are mistaken about the work of Null (and perhaps of Deison too, but I must admit I don't know his work that well). It moves these days from brutal noise attacks to very clean, mild, almost ambient like works and this work is a fine example of that. The closing piece is 'To' and quite brutal, feedback like. In the nine pieces before this we have been on a great journey of electronic music. Always abstract, always electronic, but almost never the same thing twice. From soft passages to loud ones, from clicking, rhythmic sounds to dense fields of waving electronics. Its all there. A great variety is presented here, which for once doesn't stand in the way: this remains a very coherent release. It may not appeal to the pure noise heads, but it should broaden their mind a little bit, I guess. Great one." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| DEISON / MATTEO UGGERI |
In the other House |
LP |
"Final Muzik label presents a new limited edition release: it's a collaboration work by our label's backbone DEISON and Italian musician MATTEO UGGERI. It has been co-released with Old Bicycle Records and Oak Editions + the artists (through their own labels Loud! and Grey Sparkle). "It was not born as a concept album, but as it was slowly becoming like the music inside it the sound work of Cristiano Deison and Matteo Uggeri ended up finding itself, step by step, enclosed between the narrow walls of an exceptional home. Arriving there from different places and positions, and never actually meeting, Friulian and Milan found themselves, perhaps inspite of themselves, together in uncomfortable rooms which were populated by dark invisible presences. It is not the scenario of a horror movie, there is no tragedy or fear, just the knowledge that somewhere else or the escape itself may be less reassuring than one has hoped. Therefore Francesca Mele's photos, both a seal of the workand source of inspiration for the music seem to further cloak the place in that sense of quiet desperation that daily life often implies." Limited edition of 300 copies." [label info]
www.finalmuzik.com
|
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
In the other House |
CD-R |
"It was not born as a concept album, but as it was slowly becoming like the music inside it the sound work of Cristiano Deison and Matthew Uggeri ended up finding itself, step by step, enclosed between the narrow walls of an exceptional home. Arriving there from different places and positions, and never actually meeting, Friulian and Milan found themselves, perhaps in spite of themselves, together in uncomfortable rooms which were populated by dark invisible presences. It is not the scenario of a horror movie, there is no tradegy or fear, just the knowledge that somewhere else or the escape itself may be less reassuring than one has hoped. Therefore Francesca Mele's photos, both a seal of the work and source of inspiration for the music seem to further cloak the place in t that sense of quiet desperation that daily life often implies."
https://matteouggeri.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-other-house
Zwei jüngere italienische Soundbastler treffen sich hier. Beide haben schon vielfach ein Händchen für atmosphärische Landschaften bewiesen; DEISON (komplett: CRISTIANO DEISON) unter anderem hier auf NONPOP mit "Quiet Rooms", einem Album über die Stimmung in leeren Hotelzimmern. Auch UGGERI (komplett: MATTEO UGGERI) hat sein sicheres Gespür für beeindruckende Klangwolken schon aufgezeigt, unter anderem in Zusammenarbeiten mit DE FABRIEK oder MAURIZIO BIANCHI. Beiden Künstlern gemein ist die wohltuende Zurückhaltung bei Veröffentlichungen, man hat nie den Eindruck, dass sie den ohnehin übersättigten Markt der entsprechenden Genres fluten würden. Ihr erstes gemeinsames Album erscheint nun auf FINAL MUZIK (in Kooperation mit OLD BICYCLE RECORDS und OAK EDITIONS), wobei sich die Musiker kein einziges Mal persönlich gesehen haben – Arbeiten im digitalen Zeitalter. Der Titel des Albums sowie die Namen der einzelnen Tracks geben natürlich eine ganz klare Idee vor, aber – und dies ist das erste Kompliment für ein gelungenes Album – es geht auch ohne.
"Fessure" (01) fühlt sich an wie das Hinabsteigen in eine pilzige, fluoreszierende Höhle. Warme, aber gleichzeitig aufschreckende und unruhige Sounds umwabern den Hörer, es ploppt und droned. Sehr atmosphärisch und, außer zu einer Höhle, auch passend zu der wohl toten Frau auf Vorder- und Rückseite des Covers, die ich eben entdeckt habe – Film noir-Feeling. Ein bassiger und unregelmäßiger Beat kommt langsam dazu, ebenso ein schräger Streicher. Und immer kurz vor einer Melodie nimmt die Komposition die nächste Abzweigung. Das äußerst filmische Ambiente bleibt in "So Detached" (02) bestehen. Türen quietschen, Schritte rascheln – hier wird eine Story erzählt, ein ganzer Storyteppich voll von organischen Klängen ausgerollt. Ich höre aufmerksam und angespannt zu, weil jederzeit etwas passieren könnte. Zunehmend freunde ich mich mit der titelgebenden Idee eines fremden Hauses an, durch das wir als Hörer schleichen. Das "Micro Drama" (03) spielt sich in der Küche ab, melodiös liegen gezupfte Piano-Teilchen auf dem Tisch, ein dickes Brummen und Summen zeugt von Insektenleben, und die Streicher quietschen immer wieder dramatisch. Passend zum Besuch im Bad ("Stasis", 04) plätschert Wasser, die Sounds wechseln in noisiges Quietschen und Rauschen, und insbesondere die Cluster aus Blasinstrumenten beeindrucken mich. Menschen räumen Möbel in "Worried Stagnation" (05), verursachen dabei lange, ewige Drones. Und mein Lieblingssound des gesamten Albums erklingt auf der Treppe und im Keller ("Prelude, Largo", 06) – ein Tuba-ähnliches Brummen, welches die sich abwechselnden Passagen zum einen aus ruhigen Ambientflächen, zum anderen aus mächtigen, majestätischen Drones inklusive Piepen und Klingeln umrahmt, wobei sich alle Ebenen mehr und mehr übereinander schieben.
"In The Other House" ist ein wirklich beeindruckender Hörfilm, der mich an andere starke filmische Werke wie zum Beispiel die LAND-Trilogie ("Praha | Wien | Budapest", NONPOP-Besprechung) erinnert. Schleichen durch ein fremdes Haus, Erkunden einer dunklen Höhle, Hauptrolle in einem Film noir – das Album ist fast unabhängig vom möglichen Thema eine fesselnde Reise, und zwar von der ersten bis zur letzten Sekunde. Eine der bisher schönsten, weil stimmungsvollsten Basteleien des Jahres.
Michael We. für nonpop.de |
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| DEL POZO, ARTURO RUIZ |
Composiciones Nativas |
LP |
BUH RECORDS IS PLEASED TO PRESENT A MASTERPIECE OF PERUVIAN AVANT GARDE MUSIC "COMPOSICIONES NATIVAS" (1978) BY ARTURO RUIZ DEL POZO - LP REISSUE
By the end of the 1970s, a new generation of musicians who brought together ancestral and forefront, became visible in Lima as they searched for native sounds and the new tools of technology. Amongst them, we find Arturo Ruiz Del Pozo, composer who studied with Edgar Valcárcel. After studying at the National Conservatory in Lima he traveled to London in 1976 to register himself at the Royal College of Music where he took a master's degree in electronic composition. Ruiz Del Pozo had left Lima with a bag full of Peruvian native instruments with the idea of utilizing them in his future compositions. In London he was taught by Lawrence Casserly, one the prominent figures of Britain's electro acoustic composition; a musician who was fascinated by the interaction of instruments and electronic media way back from the times of his fundamental audiovisual experimentation group Hydra. Ruiz del Pozo utilized a series of concrete music resources learnt from Casserly. Based on sounds that came from native instruments and diverse manipulations to which these sounds were subject of, he obtained textures and sonorities, which, at the same time they invoked rituals, they opened a new field of experimentation; a collage of sounds of Andean reminiscence, echoes and abstractions, which will entrance you an unprecedented sound universe. These recordings were named Native Compositions (Composiciones Nativas) and they were released in a cassette tape format in 1984 by the author himself. More than 30 years later Buh Records rescued these recordings to inaugurate its Essential Sounds Collection, dedicated to publishing strange and fascinating artifacts of Peruvian experimental music of this period, in a CD edition (2015), which was quickly sold out. Now the label presents its first release on vinyl.
https://buhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/br66-arturo-ruiz-del-pozo-composiciones-nativas-1978-sounds-essentials-collection-vol-1
|
2018 |
€21.50 |
|
| DELETED |
Systeme Nerveux |
CD-R |
“Quirky mid-tempo techno from the French duo also known as Klimperei. Using a weird pop sensibility akin to the Art of Noise or Yello, with some moments of Tortoise-like post jazz, and a slightly melancholy flavour. Makes me feel like sipping a cold grape soda and sitting on the porch and letting the rest of the world go to hell. As Kraftwerk once said: "Musique Non-Stop, Techno Pop !!" [label info] |
2000 |
€8.00 |
|
| DELPHIUM |
Snowhill X (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
a strange and unique blend of ambient Industrial with sometimes even dub-rhytmical-tunes; low-fi and very deeply frequenced... reminds on SCORN or early COIL sometimes! A very own style...
first edition
250 copies, clear vinyl,
handmade cover art with printed
linoleum finishing/center piece
released May 1997
"This outfit from berkshire, uk, has gained some attention through the releases of several self-produced 7"es in the past few years, which showed a great variety and mixture of influences, all combined in an experimental
manner to reach unknown fields of musical creation. One can find elements of industrial, techno & ambient & even rock in the songs of Delphium, that are mixed and varied into a kind of "low-fi" homerecording-style that is sometimes dark & melancholic, sometimes rhythmically pulsating and even danceable. As this is really hard to describe we recommend this 7" to everyone who is able to confront him/herself with a musical style that can't be sticked into a musical drawer, that is always surprising and shifting (some people even
compared it with early-coil!). This e.p. contains 4 tracks of a darker nature,
spheric electronics, noises and guitars with a very cineastic character... [label info]]
"This group proceeds from the british school of guitar-noise groups (such as their friends and colleagues Splintered), combining experimental
music elements within the rock format. However Delphium are strangely different from this. Having appeared near 4 years back and having written currently a variety of works on the small independent labels (mainly 7" singles;
the long awaited CD "How Can You Hide from What Never Goes Away?" has seen the light of day only recently through Outsider), they continue dubbed bass studies in combinations with sampled technological rhythms and guitar.
Their sounding is a strange and unique mixture of ambient-industrial, dub-rhythmic tonality, low- and exceedingly deeply frequencies of low-fi-darkness, harmonics, repetitive noise-feedbacks, industrial drones and voices, riffs
and gloomy electronic depths, melancholies and more active rhythmic beat-pulsations,
reminding a strange dance on the edge of trance and claustrophobia, freely based on the firm foundation of their creative ideas. Written in the style of homerecording, their work reminds Scorn or even early Coil in places, but their own style is individual.
The recording of four compositions for "Snowhill-X" was made in 1995, but mixed only recently, having present getting dark sullen fall in tones of spherical electronics play "Unforgiven", polished extremities with thick
striking sounding of title composition, finishing with massive wall of guitar sounding, oppressive drone-philosophies of internal sample cogitations of "Stringsong 1" and strange keyboard canto with knocking time and again on background gloomy spheres of "Lie to Me". Manual design on the linoleum, best work."
[Achtung Baby!]
SELECTED WORKS:
Delphium/Lull (7", split, Aquese, 1994)
Delphium/Husk (7", split, Aquese, 1994)
Delphium/Sheephead (7", split, Alleysweeper, 1995)
Breeding Bad Blood (7", Outsider, 1996)
Delphium/Big City Orchestra (7", split, Aquese, 1997)
How Can You Hide from What Never Goes Away? (CD, Outsider, 1997)
|
1997 |
€ |
|
| DELPLANQUE, MATHIAS |
La Plinthe |
CD |
Empfehlenswerte CD dieses Komponisten aus Nantes, LA PLINTHE bewegt sich zwischen digitaler microwave-ambience und spannender Electronica. Bedächtig, elegant, intelligent gemacht..
“La Plinthe” opens with crackling and sizzling noises, then settles into a rhythm of subdued explosions, which leave prismic debris in their wake before fading into the void. Instead of introducing a philosophical analysis of the relation between sound and silence, the first track serves as a sort of meditation, guiding the listener into the core of the album and shutting out uninvited outside noises. Even the glistening drone of the second part is merely a messenger, before a delayed bass and rustily breathing ambiances create the illusion of safety in an entirely alien territory.
It is here, in the middle section of the work, that Delplanque truly unpacks his talent. Comforting hiss, consoling crackles and flirring chordal fenlights are held together by the power of deep, resonating bass vibrations, as tracks settle into the groove of strangely consoling wordless Dream Dub. By locking the body in subtle movement, he is able to caress the sweetly drugged mind with brushstrokes of abstract noises. Even though the record descends into a dark cave towards the end, the grand, eight minute finale picks the listener up again, shining a path through the darkness with a majestic piece made of nothing but a stoically hit piano key over an undulating continuum of swelling hums, a warm impulse drone and the suggestion of rhythm by means of evolving patterns made from grating and gravelling timbres. [label info]
"It has taken some time, but a new generation of experimental musicians, respecting these demands intentionally or by instinct, is making itself heard. Delplanque is one of a few select players who stand a serious chance of reaching beyond the outer edges of a small niche. While his contribution to international trio project The Missing Ensemble may be more pronounced, almost aggressive even in its translation of inorganic sources into emotive compositions, his solo work is fueled by a personal approach capable of touching the listener in the sentive area of his heart. If “Le Pavillon Témoin” (from previous year) sounded as though he were trying to achieve this by means of allowing acoustic instruments and hints of melody and harmony into his oeuvre, “La Plinthe” does away with these luxuries and sheds whatever notion of the old world there might have been. The real aim of this radicality is neither benevolent shock nor progress for progress’ sake, but rather attaining a sense of coherency and of interrelatedness between the album’s building blocks. In an orchestra, there is no intrinsic connection whatsoever between a piano and violin. In Delplanque’s symphonies, however, their faintly shimmering echoes are like brother and sister. “La Plinthe” opens with crackling and sizzling noises, then settles into a rhythm of subdued explosions, which leave prismic debris in their wake before fading into the void. Instead of introducing a philosophical analysis of the relation between sound and silence, the first track serves as a sort of meditation, guiding the listener into the core of the album and shutting out uninvited outside noises. Even the glistening drone of the second part is merely a messenger, before a delayed bass and rustily breathing ambiances create the illusion of safety in an entirely alien territory. It is here, in the middle section of the work, that Delplanque truly unpacks his talent. Comforting hiss, consoling crackles and flirring chordal fenlights are held together by the power of deep, resonating bass vibrations, as tracks settle into the groove of strangely consoling wordless Dream Dub. By locking the body in subtle movement, he is able to caress the sweetly drugged mind with brushstrokes of abstract noises. Even though the record descends into a dark cave towards the end, the grand, eight minute finale picks the listener up again, shining a path through the darkness with a majestic piece made of nothing but a stoically hit piano key over an undulating continuum of swelling hums, a warm impulse drone and the suggestion of rhythm by means of evolving patterns made from grating and gravelling timbres. You need to like these sounds, these delicate crackles and the fireplace-metaphorics they evoke in order to enjoy the album as a whole. It is no longer possible denying their aesthetics by hiding behind a smart concept, simply because there is none. On the other hand, that is exactly why “La Plinthe” works in such a magnetic and rich way: Even though it offers a depth of structures Pop and Rock could never muster, it forces the listener to either hate or love it. Whatever your pick: Kissing your lover to a piece of sound art, no longer seems like a ridiculous thought.." [Tobias Fischer, Tokafi]
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Drachen |
LP |
"News from Ici D'Ailleurs Mind Travels Series: Mathias Delplanque is an artist from Nantes who was born in Burkina Faso and has close links with the ambient, electronic, electro-acoustic and concrete musical spheres as well as dub and field recordings. His approach is therefore intimately intertwined with the creation of sound. Sound in the physical sense of the term, sound which goes through your body modifying your perception without ever giving into the academism which can sometimes be found in music in the field of pure musical sound research. There is no question of theorization here - rather questioning all the possibilities which enable an artistic vision to be pushed to reach its pinnacle. Mathias has been perfecting this approach to music for 15 years name under his own name or different pseudonyms (Bidlo, Lena). However, the premising underpinning the album we are discussing today is slightly different from that of his other productions. Normally Mathias takes his time to finely and obsessively sculpt his work down to the smallest detail but here Drachen (Dragons in German) reveals itself to be a much more direct and incisive album. Taking the idea that impurities can also give life to music as a starting point, he set himself a constant working rhythm and the aim of adding interference rather than the sublime going so far as to create actual interference with his mobile phone to disturb the rhythm and harmony of his compositions. By his own admission, he works urgently to induce mistakes or accidents to liberate himself from his own automatic reflexes. Drachen is therefore a dangerous album both for its author and for listeners. However the result remains impressive because, even though questioning accepted ideas is an essential facet of the record, there is an intact sensibi lity which provokes emotion. All sorts of instruments (guitar, bass, melodica, kora, synths etc.) are run through live electronic processing and he manages to bring a beautiful melancholy - even a certain tenderness - out of this sonic mass despite the roughness of the overall sound. The record is made up of 7 highly distinct pieces which nevertheless fit together as a coherent whole. Although instrumental, Drachen is a largely narrative album which recounts its own story. It is a necessary reminder that just sound and consequently silence are fantastic vectors for communication. At the end of the record, an eighth track makes an appearance to prolong the story and provide a conclusion for the album. The track is introduced by 2008 field recordings from the village of Gandefabou in northern Burkina Faso and offers a calm environment full of humanity.
It is heavy with meaning given the current situation of this region of the world struggling with jihadism. "Vielleicht sind alle Drachen unseres Lebens Prinzessinnen, die nur darauf warten uns einmal schön und mutig zu sehen".
"Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage." RAINER MARIA RILKE, Letters to a Young Poet " [label info]
www.icidailleurs.com
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
O Seuil |
CD |
Seven years after «Drachen», Minds Travels Series invites you to discover the new album by Mathias Delplanque from Nantes: «Ô Seuil». Expert in sound landscapes, Mathias Delplanque is above all a multi-faceted artist: electronic music composer, performer, improviser, sound installation designer, sound creator for dance and theatre... All these hats have allowed him to multiply his musical journeys and to perpetually evolve his creative process.
It has been said that he creates «pieces that are both prospective and introspective, sophisticated and simple to access, in the heart of which it is good to move and be moved» (Mouvement). A meticulous composer of atmospheric works that he sees as «oceans of sound», Mathias Delplanque is also known for his excursions into dub techno (the Lena project), as well as for his collaborations with various musicians using traditional instruments: the Korean E’Joung-Ju (geomungo player in the Keda duo), or the Nazairian François Robin (veuze, duduk and mizmar player in the L’Ombre de la Bête duo).
This diversity of projects does not prevent him from revealing a musical path of great consistency. This sixteenth album under his birth name, in more than twenty years of career, demonstrates once again that the man from Nantes is a skilful, curious and passionate creator.
«Ô Seuil» was conceived as a direct follow-up to «Drachen» (his previous solo album, released in 2015 on Mind Travels). The same taste for powerfully immersive sound pieces, based on electronically processed acoustic instruments, can be found here. The album is an exhibition of constantly changing sound paintings, alternately simple and complex, constantly oscillating between light and shadow. Mathias Delplanque continues to develop his matierist approach to sound, which he carves, hollows out, cuts and models endlessly, like a composite sculpture.
But this new album differs from the previous one in many ways. First of all, it marks the return of rhythm in Mathias Delplanque’s work, through the use of a wide range of percussive instruments: dafs, gongs, cymbals, drums, metal percussion... Seuil 3 and Seuil 6 present all the aspects of a trance music, strongly inspired by various Middle Eastern musical traditions. Threshold 8 evokes some of the timbres and rhythms of Southeast Asian music. The other tracks regularly draw on the slowness and heaviness of doom metal drums.
Brighter than its predecessor, «Ô Seuil» presents a new melodic character and an enriched harmonic work. The instrumentarium has been broadened: bass, guitars, hurdy-gurdy, veuze... to which analogical synthesizers respond, trying to sound like acoustic
instruments.
The tracks (and the album itself) carry a strong narrative charge and are similar to winding tales, whose endings always seem unpredictable. Despite the extremely meticulous production, the accidental is the best part. A profuse work, « Ô Seuil » does not deny its author’s taste for «symphonic» electronic music, which plays on contrasts: bluesy or raging, static or agitated, chaotic or orderly..
https://mathiasdelplanque.bandcamp.com/album/seuil
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| DEMOULIN, JULIEN & IA |
The Bay |
CD |
"A tribute to both a great friendship and the mist-mantled San Francisco Bay Area, “The Bay” is a sprawling forty-minute drone piece recorded and produced in 2009 and 2010 over the course of several journeys between Oakland, California and Brussels, Belgium.
Guitar and vocal drones, environmental recordings and flute merge to form an emotional travelogue at the grey boundaries of the dreaming and waking worlds…in celebration of reminiscence, before a darkling dawn, deep under the skies of water…" [label info]
www.bassesfrequences.org
"These two new releases on Basses Frequences see further exploration of the theme of ambient music, but are worked out differently. On the soft(er) edge we have a collaboration between Julien Demoulin and IA, recorded in Brussels and Oakland. The thematic approach here is about the Bay Area of California, but it could have been anything else really. Demoulin and IA use, apparently, guitars, voices, environmental recordings and flute in these two pieces which exactly last twenty minutes. Perhaps they intended this to do be a LP? Compared to other CDs I was listening to, around this, this is very soft music. I am not sure why that is, but I'm glad its not on vinyl; who knows what would have been left? Maybe its an artist statement to do it this soft, but it could have been easily a bit louder and still sounding great - I know someone who can a great mastering job, guys. Its not easy to spot those water recordings, or chimes, and certainly in the first part things move away below the surface of audibility. Its music you hear from a distance, maybe just like overlooking the bay area (a view to a kill?) from some distance. The music acts like fog horns in the night, far away, shining through the mist and haze of the night. The second piece is a bit 'louder', and comes across like boats passing in the night. Its also the somewhat more abstract piece of the two, dwelling more on sustaining tones, whereas the first part has nicely shimmering melodies. Excellent stuff." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| DENT, LOREN |
Anthropology Vol. 1 |
CD |
"It's as if Dent had returned, irrevocably altered, from an ambitious and expansive field trip through nothing less than the history of digital and analogue ambience to splice his findings with the DNA of late-modernist classical. Loren Dent's intent is no radical re-think of genre; his bent is more recontextual, a fine tension between the vectors of New Music, minimalism, ambient, post-rock and space music. It's a trajectory traversing considerable terrain. Opener, 'Introduction - Dreams and Concrete,' for example, moves from Feldman to Niblock, before picking up on Pärt, in the transition to 'This Thing We Enjoy,' where the borders of melancholia are skirted, and a quiet glow is flirted with, before abandoning itself to a swooping digi-orchestralism and fibrillating fizz closer to the Kranky oeuvre of Tim Hecker and Christopher Bissonnette on 'Another Rural Fantasy' and 'Winter During Wartime.' The parade of references is by way of a rough guide, but the music of Anthropology is more maximalist in its articulation, more sweeping in its scale than all the aforementioned, with great gushes of tonalism surging through the soundfield. And those influences are dissolved, becoming trace elements in a blend of welling and swollen symphonics wrestling with pop ambient pointillism, all couched by Dent in his
own tones." [A. Lockett]
"BEHOLD! An offering from the ambient gods of Infraction. Dust off thine finest goblet, pour from your favorite bottle, remove thy clothes and be pure. Get back to nature and absorb the wonder of pure ambient beauty and message from the heavens that is Loren Dent's 'Anthropology Vol.1'. From the moment I hit play and shiver at the beauty of the intro I realize I'm destined to experience a journey into myself and the wonder of life. The tones here are profoundly uplifting (although there are some darker moments of uncertainty) and moving in a way I am simply unable to articulate. Sadly I'm no "Ambient Shakespeare" but I will say that this is like a soundtrack to life itself, one of joy, love, fear, pain, loss, grieving, euphoria and one which transcends time. Emotions that are integral to the human spirit, despite the age/time in which it exists, be it a modern or an ancient world. This stuff is deep, DEEP material. At one point I was almost reduced to tears, as I felt like I was the only living thing on the planet and felt very lonely... Man the power of music, the sound of those strings. Loren Dent is an extremely gifted artist to the point where it almost feels like there has been a divine hand in the creation of his sound world. His wondrous layers of sound are rich and constantly evolving, always emotional and hypnotic. His tools are both analogue and digital and his use of both is a joy to behold. For any ambient music lover that may have been disillusioned lately and possibly feels that the genre has been reduced to mere simple drones, then I'm fairly sure this will restore their faith in the genre. This deserves a prestigious place in the hearts and minds of all music lovers. To reference particular tracks, for me would be a pointless exercise as this really serves as a complete work..." [Norman Records] |
2009 |
€13.50 |
|
| DESACCORD MAJEUR |
La neuvieme heure |
mCDR |
Überraschung ! Nach langer Zeit was neues von der französischen Ethno-Ambient Band. Great stuff ...
”Just like his collegue and friend from Internal Fusion (whose we've recently released a 3"), Désaccord Majeur is another rare and discreet french band.His discography is also quite breif when you know D.M. has been active for 15 years ! Two CDs ("thétys" on PlayLoud and "samana" on Staalplaat), the Tlön Uqbar (D.M. + Internal Fusion) CD on Staalplaat, three tapes (two self-released and one on our own Harmonie) and a bunch of compilations
including the famous "ophir" self-released by Désaccord Majeur years ago where he invited Tuu, Muslimgauze or Hybryds.
Just like Internal Fusion, Désaccord Majeur creates long haunting ambient tracks with of course an ethnic and ritual touch... Less dark maybe, his music sometimes includes some more electronic sounds that could remind some em:t releases (Woob especially). Pure clear ritual ethno-ambient music.” [press-release]
|
2002 |
€5.00 |
|
| DESIDERII MARGINIS |
Years lend a golden Charm |
CD |
Kollektion des frühesten Materials von den ersten drei Tapes, hier klingt alles noch reduzierter, einfacher, elektronisch & rhythmisch, aber schon mit deutlich melancholischem Einschlag, erinnert an andere frühe COLD MEAT INDUSTRY-Tapes aus dieser Zeit. Wohl v.a. für D.M. Fans interessant, oder für Tape-Nostalgiker, dies hat den "typischen" Tapesound!
"To gain a deeper understanding of what is, it is necessary to examine what was ¬ to go to the sources and the origins. With the emergence of this brand new offering by Desiderii Marginis, ‘Years Lend a Golden Charm’ we are invited to experience the very birth of what is now a well established and worldwide recognised project within the dark-ambient industrial scene. The contents of the new album is made up of some 73 minutes of material from the first three tapereleases from 1993. Highly sought after by collectors but only available in a mere dozen of handmade copies, these songs are now finally made available to a greater audience. When you listen to the music with the knowledge that hindsight brings - it is obvious that these are the roots and the foundations, not only of the first full length album ‘Songs Over Ruins’, but of every succesive release up to the latest ‘Seven Sorrows’. In 1993 there was no set course, no long term plan ¬ and still, maybe it couldn’t have turned out any other way?" [label info]
www.eternalpride.ru
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Serenity / Rage |
CD |
\\\"Serenity / Rage\\\" focuses on the contradictory human capacity to do both good and evil, where clarity and insight can turn to blind overwhelming rage and how we find ourselves moving back and forth across this vast expanse of human emotions. With hints of classic Death Industrial and a unique cover version of Brighter Death Now\\\'s classic track \\\"Necroses Evangelicum\\\", Johan Levin exposes a new facet of his expanding discography. Nothing is Black nor White, we all fade to Grey...
CD Edition of 300 copies in 4 panel Digipak. 6 Tracks. Running Time 36:41 EAN: 0679628554211
Vinyl Edition of 300 copies, 3mm sleeve, Matt Lamination with printed inner sleeve. 6 Tracks. Running Time 36:41 EAN: 0679628554228
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/serenity-rage
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| DEUPREE, TAYLOR |
Mur |
LP |
Deupree describes the album title “as if there’s always something about my music that’s like a murmur”, resulting in a murmuring effect when pronouncing the names of each track. Mur is a personal journey through the challenging year that 2020 has been.
Taylor Deupree is an American musician and mastering engineer based just outside of New York. As a former member of the American electronic band Prototype 909, Deupree has had numerous collaborations with artists such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Stephen Vitiello, Alva Noto and Marcus Fischer. Curating 12k, a New-York based music label, is another aspect of Deupree’s career and brought together over one hundred releases since its beginnings in 1997. Having some similar artists in our catalog (Federico Durand, Will Samson and Steinbüchel for example), it’s safe to say that Deupree’s new release through Dauw will be in good company.
"Mur is a profoundly tender work, made for close listening; the waters of its meditational, memorial stream of flowing minimalist ambient run deep." (Loud and Quiet, 7/10)
https://dauw.bandcamp.com/album/mur |
2021 |
€23.00 |
|
| DEUTSCH NEPAL |
Amygdala |
CD |
"Amygdala is the latest album of the Swedish industrial music guru Der General. After listening to this album, one finds it difficult to decide whether it is a masterpiece of hypnotic music, the hallucinations of delirium tremens or perhaps the sign announcing the approaching apocalypse? Magnificent, gloomy and profound tracks create the atmosphere reminding the last days of the last member of the royal family or the celebration of the collapse of its era by a majestic empire. But that is only the general mood of the album. The tracks are very different from each other. Some of them frightful, some majestic, while the rest are calm and deep like dreams. And yet the subject matter of all lyrics is in one or another way related to death and the secret lurking behind it. Actually, Der General conveys it with remarkable subtlety. The album contains a number of crescendos, at least three hits and yet none of them reveal the secret fully. Der General music mesmerises with its slow and massive rhythms inherent most probably only to the Scandinavian electronics, and icy ambient flow inborn to the Northern men. Amygdala is the undisclosed secret. In various shapes it occurs throughout the album tracks where Der General to Heaven travels to meet Jesus and the holy family and investigate the nature of the supernatural ecstasy. Something bothers him and he leaves Heaven. In other tracks he states that we have to be reborn and continue living, later he takes part in the mystic funeral train burying and then resurging dead dogs. Upon their revival, the dogs attack the participants of the train and spread panic. Amygdala is a very colourful kaleidoscope of psychedelic visions. Der General concludes the album by letting us know that it is all clear to him and that the atmosphere is absolutely rotten. Perhaps it is a result of the empty bottle, or much more serious reasons…" [label info]
www.autarkeia.org
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Staring at my Wall |
CD |
Staring at My Wall consist of eight psychedelic pieces of industrial music, ambient beauty and darkness. What else is there to be expected when Lina Baby Doll open up his distorted brain to the world and exposes his wildest fantasies in the creative process of producing another excellent and genuine album? Concrete sounds mixed with buzzing noises, drums banging as if all ancient armies in history were standing outside the door about to break down, not only the door but the hole town and leave it as a cloud of dust swaying over a surrealistic sculpture.... then I crawl through my fluid mirror... life's so easy when travelling there... buy your ticket and follow.
https://deutschnepal.bandcamp.com/album/staring-at-my-wall
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| DEUTSCH, ANDREW |
Lung Cleaner |
CD |
Oh lieber Gott, erfinde neue Worte! DEUTSCH zaubert hier sehr vitale drone & ambient-Musik die in jeder Sekunde in neue Bereiche einzusickern scheint.. sehr fliessend, aber auch voller konkreter abgrenzbarer Geräusche.. die Verschmelzung von musique concrete und ambience..die Verschmelzung elektronischer und akustischer Klänge...it’s all in here! Ein organischer Urwald von mikroskopisch wahrnehmbarem Sound-Chaos !
"Andrew Deutsch creates very human electronic music working with layers of sounds to create dense and immersive sonic environments. He draws his sounds from a multitude of sources sometimes beginning with acoustic sources such as bells, music boxes, baby toys and water, and other times drawing from digital sources, converting video images to audio or transforming the data left after a computer crash. Andrew takes these things and makes a music that is positive and energizing. In fact, Lung Cleaner was created for friend going through an illness as a sort of 'sonic cure'. His strong work with sound, both as an artist and educator, has lead to collaborations with Paulive Oliveros, Tetsu Inoue, Stephen Vitiello, Tony Conrad, and John Cage. On this CD, Andrew presents another of his collaborations with Pauline Oliveros where she provides samples from her unpublished early electronic works from 1966 for one piece." [press release]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| DI CROCE, NICOLA |
Clinamen |
12inch + artwork |
download + handmade artwork curated by Caterina Gabelli, ltd. 111 copies
The concept of "clinamen" derives from Lucretius's "On the Nature of the Universe", and describes the swerve of the atoms from their original straight course. Such deviation generates collisions, and allows changes in the relationship between elements. By using the metaphor of clinamen, the album narrates the process of inventing by diverting from any usual methodology, thus encountering unpredictable solutions. The music combines different commissioned sound works together with field recordings from various mediterranean cities, and the unique timbre of Gabriele Mitelli's trumpet.
Compositions and recordings: Nicola Di Croce
Featuring. Gabriele Mitelli
Mastering: Anacleto Vitolo
Cover: Caterina Gabelli
13.silentes.it/private_sounds/sps1826_nicola_di_croce_clinamen.htm
|
2018 |
€24.00 |
|
| |
47AD |
CD |
"47 Anno Domini (47 AC) is the year when “Via Claudia Augusta” was completed by Roman empire. The road was connecting Venice Lagoon – and more precisely the city of Altinum – to the Alps till Austrian territories, and was passing by the area where the vinery “47 AD” now appears.
I started my recordings in the vinery during the end of summer 2018, right after the grape harvest, at the beginning of the fermentation time, and I focused my attention on the big aluminium tanks by using contact microphones and hydrophones inside and outside the metal surfaces.
While listening and recording, I was more and more fascinated by the resonances of the tanks, which allowed me to experience a double and parallel exposure both to the micro sounds coming from the chemical process, and to the working place surrounding the tanks. The tanks themselves turned to be enormous sounding boards that filtered the voices of the workers, the machineries used in the vinery, and the incredible textures coming from the scented fluid rotating through submerged propellers. By listening to the tanks, I was able to experience the process of fermentation through a slightly different sonic perspective, and I started considering how to show and evoke such internal transformation.
The composition that followed this journey is entirely based on almost unprocessed field recordings, and became the base for the audiovisual installation “Fermento”, where the sounds generated a visual pattern (curated by Claudio Bellini) that was projected on the tanks of the vinery. The installation was presented to the public in February 2019 and developed within the framework of the project “Arte digitale”, supported by Fondazione Ca’ Foscari and Current Corporate.
(nicola di croce, May 2019)
LOCATION : 45°38'27.6"N 12°20'32.8"E.
("47 Anno Domini" vineyards, Treviso, Italy).
Field recordings taken during September 2018.
Composed between October and November 2018 as part of the audiovisual installation “Fermento”, presented to the public in February 2019 and developed within the framework of “Arte digitale” project, Fondazione Ca’ Foscari 2018.
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi.
~
Thanks to Claudio Bellini and Enrico Coniglio, Chiara Isadora Artico and Cristina Seraiotto, Current Corporate and Fondazione Ca’ Foscari.
Additional art card, cover design & treatments by Daniel Crokaert.
Based exclusively on photos by Antonio Brigo and Mattia Carrer."
https://unfathomless.bandcamp.com/album/47ad
|
2020 |
€14.00 |
|
| DI SCIPIO, AGOSTINO |
Hörbare Ökosysteme |
CD |
" “Das komplexe Gefüge von Einflüssen, denen Schall auf seinem Weg von der Quelle zum Ohr unterworfen ist (...) ist das Aktionsfeld der Musik von Agostino Di Scipio.“ (Linernotes) Seine Kompositionen entstehen auf der Basis sich selbst steuernder und regulierender Systeme. In den live-elektronischen Studien „Hörbare Ökosysteme“ „dienen einfachste Schallsignale oder gar nur der Geräuschhintergrund des die Mikrophone beherbergenden Raumes als Input für autopoietische Prozesse, in deren Verlauf die Parameter der digitalen Signalverarbeitung sich stets weiter den resultierenden Klangformen anpassen (...).“ Zwischen knisternden Inseln Ryoji Ikedaischer Digitalsounds entstehen punktuell oder fließend gesetzte Rückkopplungen, die kontrolliert tastenden Erkundungen der Klangmöglichkeiten durchführen. Ebenso arbeiten die Interpreten in den gemischt Instrumental/live-elektronischen Stücken. Sie lauschen ihren, von der Elektronik zurückgeworfenen Klängen und passen ihr weiteres Spiel den veränderten Sounds an. In steter Umarmung mit der signalverarbeitenden Software und in Abhängigkeit vom Raumverhalten setzen Bassflöte, Bassklarinette, Violine, Violoncello, Klavier und Vibraphon forschende Instrumentalbewegungen, welche die Konzentration der Zuhörerin/ des Zuhörers reichlich belohnen.
„Sounds making ist way from the source to the ear is subjected to a complex nexus of influences. This is the operation field for the music of Agostino Di Scipio.“ (linernotes) His compositions are built up on the basis of complicated cybernetic procedures. The newer studies „Hörbare Ökosysteme“ are purely live-electronic. „In these works the most simple sound signals, or even the background noise of the space housing the microphones, provide input for autopoetic processes which continously adjust the parameters of their digital sound synthesis and transforming processes to the resulting sound shapes.“ Between crackling islands of Ryoji Ikeda-like digital sounds you hear particular pointed or flowing feedbacks carrying out the possibilities of sound in a controlled tentativ research. Also the players of the combined instrumental/ live-electronic pieces are working in this way. Listening very closely to the transformed sounds resounding from back from the sound system, they adjust their actual sound production to those transformations. Caught up in the system of sound processing software and the spaces aural signature, bass flute, bass clarinet, violin, cello, piano and vibraphone searchable put together instrumental movements which amply reward the listeners concentration.” [Peter Schlewinski for Drone Records]
|
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
| DIALING IN |
Cows in Lye |
CD |
Sehr interessantes Drone-Projekt aus Seattle, absolut undurchdringliche low-fi drones, die aber voller verdeckter Harmonien stecken, die kaum noch erahnbar sind. Basierend auf v.a. indische field recordings, wird hier mit der klassischen LUCIER-Methode immer weiter verfremdet...
"DIALING IN is the ecstatic roaring psychedelic drone project of Seattle based sound artist REITA PIECUCH. Utilizing the natural acoustics of a series of reverberant spaces she weaves together super saturated soundscapes by recording in one environment, playing back in another, and then re-recording this recording playing back in yet another environment (etc.). On Cows in Lye, the original sound sources range from loops of field recordings from a trip to India, piano, and the shifting drones of a "Shruti Box" (electronic Tamboura). One track also features a long stream of consciousness vocal performance from avant-crooner HERB DIAMANTE! After a trek with recording gear through the caves, cathedrals and bunkers of Seattle these ingredients are transformed into huge and sublimely distorted quasi-melodic dreamscapes. The album lifts off with an ecstatic roar and the intensity doesn't let up until one is released exultant in the green flash of a setting sun." [label info]
www.pseudoarcana.com
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| DIAMETRICS |
Options |
CD |
" „Diametrics“ or, say, 'exactly opposite', someone told us some time ago, „gosh, that sounds so edgy, mathematical, New Wave-ish…“. Well, whereas we couldn’t give a damn about the former ideas, we definitely like the latter one. BUT don’t you even dare to think we’re a retro outfit – no fucking way! Just go on reading and let us explain. First of all, there was this trio from Bremen called ILSE LAU, the "post and noise rock monolith from the river Weser." (Szene Hamburg). During the ten years they played together, they released several albums on labels such as Fidel Bastro and Klangbad, before they split up in the Summer of 2007. Guitar player Ansgar went missing for good. So - time for a fresh start. Drummer/singer Henning, who had been intent on giving up hitting cymbals and skinks anyway, took over the vacant six-string position, while Fokke remained true to his bass. In Bremen, there's a saying that there are no drummers in the city. Proven wrong entirely after after just one try. Curtains for Jörn: hello to a fabulously good stickman and technician. First songs and a self-produced CD-r are finished after a few months only. So are initial live shows. The audience states: 'Indie rock' > naah, Diametrics know a few more strange chords. Or the audience says 'Math rock' > Sorry, we don't have calculators with us when we play. Says audience: 'Noise rock' > wrong. The band's too hooked on good melodies. Some even say 'Post rock' > sorry, we're a wee bit too loud for such assumptions. What we want to bring across? We just love finding ourselves in between chairs. We rather get our stuff from everywhere than using the most boring phrase in the music world, i.e. 'We can't be categorized'. You're still keen on adjectives? There you go: aesthetically dirty, consonantally discordant, metrically (in)constant music - partly with English or German lyrics. To be filed somewhere between the likes of SST, Amphetamine Reptile, Too Pure, and the Neue Bremer Schule. The press calls Diametrics "boisterous and feverish New Wave alongside precise stop-and-go Noise rock." (Szene Hamburg). In Summer2009, our first album 'There Is' (produced by Gregor Henning, who had been working with Ilse Lau all along) was released on Fidel Bastro. And more to follow this year. The mixing of the band's second album 'Options' has just been finished, and it's going to see the light of day in late Summer 2011, with supporting live shows to follow. .." [bandinfo]
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| DIASPORA |
Ohmworld |
CD-R |
DIASPORA ist australisches „experimental ambience“-Duo, die hier transzendetal-Drones schaffen, die wie ein Meer aus Glockenspielen tönen; oder unendlich lange, energetische Flächen, in die sich subsonische Drones & digitale & backward & konkret rumpelnde Effekte und small sounds drängen.... insgesamt eine sehr gute CDR, ein Name den man sich merken sollte !
“Polished dark ambient soundscapes from Brisbane retaining a sense of continuity without inoculating the ensuing chaos. Diaspora draws the listener into the dark spaces where ceremonial pain is but a stepping stone to transcendence. Isolating the ritual in the religious and resituating it within a tabula-rasa, the audience is inspired to touch their own spirit, find their own gods, worship their own life as the holiest of sacraments. Lloyd Barrett and Joe Musgrove are the primary creative personae behind Diaspora. Both have been heavily involved in all aspects of the BrisbaneExperimental Noise/Sound Art Scene for several years playing together and separately as – Brainlego, Biffplex, and Bourbaki” [label info]
|
2004 |
€9.00 |
|
| DIE FORM |
Die Puppe |
LP |
"Die Form is a French post-industrial and electronic band formed in 1977. The name ‘Die Form’ means ‘(the) form/shape’ in German, like the Bauhaus diary and is a play on the English homonym ‘deformed’ and on the French homonym ‘difforme’ (deformed). Die Form is the primary project of electronic musician and multimedia artist Philippe Fichot. He began by recording a number of experimental cassette releases in the late 1970s and formed the Bain Total label to release these early cassettes and various side projects including Krylon Hertz, Mental Code, Camera Obscura, Eva-Johanna Reichstag, Hurt and Fine Automatic.
In 1982 Die Form released their debut vinyl album, “Die Puppe” in a limited edition of 1,000 copies. These are the first esoteric electronic experiments, often improvised, from what would become the sound of the project. Underlying themes of eroticism, death and other ‘taboo’ subjects are apparent in both the music and the album artwork, which Philippe also produces. The album was recorded with entirely analog equipment (Roland MC4 Micro-Composer, TR-808 Rhythm Composer, ARP 2600, Kawai 60F, Revox B77). Songs range from hypnotic, minimalistic proto-IDM to pure, daring experimental sound manipulation. Unable to fit into any genre, “Die Puppe” is in a class of music all its own.
All songs have been remastered from the original master tapes for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The jacket is an exact replica of the original 1982 edition designed by Philippe Fichot, with a photograph of a porcelain doll holding a syringe. Each album includes two post cards with never before seen photos of Philippe with lyrics and liner notes by the band. Prepare to indulge your lustiest hedonistic fetishes." [label info]
www.darkentriesrecords.com
|
2015 |
€18.50 |
|
|
Baroque Equinox |
2LP+CD+DVD-BOX |
"Sturdy box with lid - exquisitely and lavishly printed, incl: regular album in digipak,
EXCLUSIVE Vinyl [Black 180g 2x12" vinyl], High quality, super-audiophile disc, incl. 4 EXCUSIVE Tracks!, EXCLUSIVE DVD feat. Videoclip of „Psychic Poison“, exclusive LARGE sized Poster-booklet (30x30 cms), 16 pages with all graphics in large format, printed as High quality art print! Hand-numbered Certificate for limitation of 500!"
www.trisol.de
Ein neuer Sündenfall. Ein neues Paradies. Ein neuer Anfang, geschaffen aus einem weiteren Ende. Wir alle sterben jeden Tag, wir alle atmen jeden Tag. Besonders greifbar wird diese Dualität seit jeher im chimärenhaften Schaffen des elektronischen Chamäleons DIE FORM.
Vor beinahe 40 Jahren als revolutionärer Live-Act für die anrüchige, jedoch auch visionäre BDSM-Szene begonnen, hat sich das französische Künstlerpaar Philippe Fichot und Éliane P. bis heute zwei Dinge bewahrt: Ihre künstlerische Einzigartigkeit – und ihr Händchen für druckvolle Clubhits am schwarzen Puls der Zeit. Sie wandeln auf Messers Schneide, umarmen den Tod und das Leben, die Nacht und den Tag, den Schmerz und die Liebe, das Böse und das Gute. Nie heißt es schwarz oder weiß für sie. Es sind die ungezählten Grautöne, die ihre Kunst beherrschen. Es sind die ungezählten Grautöne, die unser Leben beherrschen.
„Baroque Equinox“ ist ein sinnlicher Vorstoß in eine neue Zeit. Ein in die Zukunft weisendes und selbstbewusst auf das erreichte zurückschauende Manifest, ein neues Äquinoktium. Tagundnachtgleiche, schöner und treffender könnte man das Wirken von DIE FORM nun wirklich nicht in Worte fassen. Tag und Nacht, Eros und Thanatos, in Harmonie vereint, untrennbar verbunden sogar. Eines ist undenkbar ohne das andere, für einen endlosen Augenblick ist unklar, in welche Richtung das Pendel ausschlagen wird. Sicher ist nur: Es wird mit treibendem Beat und visionären Sequenzen auf die Tanzflächen treiben. Musikalisch kongenial umgesetzt von diesen Pionieren der elektronischen Musik, umarmt „Baroque Equinox“ druckvollen Electro und Avantgarde, die rauschhafte Opulenz des Barock und den sterilen Beat, das Schwärmen und das Drängen. Die sündige Nacht und der unschuldige Tag bilden die Bühne für ein Werk von beschwörender Kraft, für ein Panoptikum aus Electro, Industrial, Techno, Gothic, Klassik, Erotik, Poesie und fernöstlichem Butoh-Tanztheater. Sündhafte Club-Kultur und künstlerischer Anspruch gehen nirgendwo sonst derart harmonisch ineinander auf.
Sie sind vorbei, die Phasen, in denen die Franzosen mit Haut und Haar dem Fetisch, dem Sex ergeben waren. Ebenso vorbei sind ihre Zeiten purer Bach-Huldigung, in denen sie weit über die dunkle Szene hinaus auf Verehrung stießen. Jetzt, zu diesem besonderen Anlass der barocken Tagundnachtgleiche, gebären sie ein neues Wesen, das der dunklen Electro-Welt ein weiteres Mal neue Impulse verleiht. Ein Wesen mit Januskopf und zwei Herzen in der Brust. Ein Menschwesen in einer postapokalyptischen Maschinenwelt, eine Kreatur, die die Unberührtheit der Natur im Herzen und den stampfenden Takt der industriellen Revolution im Geist hat. „Baroque Equinox“ ist ein Moment in der Schwebe, ein Zustand, der ins Licht oder ins Dunkel, in die Stille oder ins Chaos kippen kann. Wie in einem Bild von Gustave Courbet (insbesondere „L‘Origine du Monde“), in dem bei aller Sinnlichkeit immer auch die Präsenz eines Abgrunds mitschwingt, ist dieses Album ein Manifest für diese Zeit, das gleichzeitig klingt wie aus ihr herausgefallen. Wie sie das auch nach 40 Jahren immer wieder hinkriegen? Es wird auch diesmal ihr herrlich dunkles Geheimnis bleiben. |
2017 |
€45.00 |
|
| |
Ad Infinitum |
do-LP & BOOK |
Die Form is the seminal post-industrial electronic act started in the late 70’s by French musician and multimedia artist Philippe Fichot. He began recording a number of experimental cassettes under different names but Die Form became the main project and with which he has developed a prolific career during more than four decades. Whilst the project was still in its first stage, the underlying concepts were already evident: a combination of esoteric electronic experiments with an underlying theme of eroticism, death and other taboo subjects, apparent in both the music and artworks.
“Ad Infinitum” was recorded with dark and stifling atmospheres almost simultaneously with the album “Confessions”. It includes cult pieces such as “Bite Of God” and “Chronovision”, which has made the success of Die Form in clubs, alongside more ambient and industrial tracks such as “In The Evening Of Life” or “Unlimited”.
“Ad Infnitum” was originally released on CD in 1993 by Hyperium Records and now is available for the first on vinyl record. This new edition includes the complete original track list plus a selection of instrumental versions and unreleased tracks from the same period. Limited edition of 474 numbered copies on double vinyl with a deluxe 16-page casebound hardcover book featuring unpublished images as well as other reworked photographs taken from “The Visionary Garden”.
"In praise of the shadow, fascination with the machine, attraction and repulsion, litany and liturgy, funeral Eros…"
“The taboo leads to transgression ... The taboo transgression spellbinds” (Georges Bataille)
https://mecanica.bigcartel.com/product/dieformadinfinitum |
2021 |
€55.00 |
|
| DIETER MÜH & LON MILO DUQUETTE |
The Call |
LP |
"The first side of this LP is a 23 minute piece entitled “The Call” featuring Lon Milo DuQuette, legendary occultist and leading, & longest serving, member of the OTO in California.
Lon intones the 19 calls of the Aythers in the Enochian language in a truly enlightening piece of ritual magick!
The second side entitled “Sutreworde” is a live performance by Dieter Muh, from 2003 in Leipzig, Germany, featuring pieces from The Call woven into the 23 minute set.
This LP is released on our own HaemOccult imprint (HAEM001)." [label info]
"Following Atomyriades, an exemplary reworking of source material from Mnem, Dieter Müh the much-underrated UK underground electronic outfit return with their own material on The Call. The Call is perhaps the most significant work from Dieter Muh, as it features eminent occult author and Grand Master of the O.T.O. Lon Milo DuQuette reciting Enochian texts, a series of calls in the language of the angels. 'The Call' is based on the work of Dr John Dee, astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I, and the texts recorded by his scyrer Edward Kelley, who he said were dictated to him in the angel's own language.
'The Call' enters to an atmospheric build up of chiming metal bowls and quietly understated howls of ambient electronics shifting to passages of ringing metal bowls. Its slow pace providing an unmistakeable ritual setting for the poised tones of Lon Milo DuQuette, as he effortlessly wrestles with the intricacies of the Enochian tongue over the shimmer of singing bowls.
As DuQuette relates in the sleevenotes, "The Call is a shuttle that waves high magick and high art - an incantation of transcendent sound and angelic language chanted to the guardians of the Aythers so they might awaken and one by one peel away the thirty membranes of consciousness that, like cerements of the tomb, separate us from the pure consciousness of the divine." Heavy stuff, you're unlikely to encounter elsewhere.
The flipside, 'Sutreworde' is a live recording of Dieter Müh from Augsburg, Germany in 2003. It captures an improvisary performance of Dieter Muh's murky industrial and occult electronics. Skittery electronics are woven with pulses, rattling tones with an assortment of taped voices fed through the mix. With a mass of electronic devices and sampled sources Dave Uden and Steve Cammack, once again, keep firm control of their textured output, even including elements of 'The Call' before bowing out with some ambient droning to taped strains from their 'We're Not Happy…' single.
This recording of 'The Call' has been long promised ever since Dieter Müh and Lon Milo DuQuette performed this live at The Salon music event as part of the Information Wants To Be Free festival at the October Gallery, London, in 2003, a performance I was fortunate to witness. This recorded version does not disappoint and I really can't see this being available for much longer. It's perhaps the closest you'll ever come to communing with the angels.
The Call is released on heavyweight white vinyl in an edition of 230 copies on Dieter Müh's own HaemOccult Recordings imprint. For more information go to www.dietermuh.org." [Compulsion Online] |
2008 |
€16.00 |
|
| DIETER MÜH (DIETER MUH) |
Cari Saluti |
CD |
"Voices, loops, field recordings of airport terminals, travelogues, and electro-acoustics are layered into a mix of low- and hi-fi, analog and digital, novelty, special effects, and humor, juxtaposed with hallucinatory journeys into darkness." [label info]
"The english ambient Industrial outfit from Lincoln with their second CD. Very appealing ambient noise compositions, swirling drones with lots of electronic effects mixed together in an interesting way, never too noisy, never too lush, quite powerful ambient Industrial!" [original Drone Rec. info]
|
2002 |
€8.00 |
|
|
Eponymous |
LP |
" “Eponymous” was at first to be a cassette release on the French label Mineurs Du Fonds. In the spring of 1998 José Leseuer (Mineurs Du Fonds operator and journalist) contacted us wanting to distribute our “Black Square” CD album in France and was asking about new material. We mailed him the “Eponymous” recordings. Recorded in late 1998 at our home studio in Forest Fields, Nottingham “Eponymous” is a classic example of a "Work In Progress" album. At the start of 1998 we had ditched our old Roland synths (JD800 / SH101) and invested in sampling devices, an 8 track digital recorder and effects pedals. “Eponymous” features us looping a lot of machinery (including photocopying machines and printing machines) and taking samples from our old 1980’s project Mühviertel. With “Eponymous” we were still learning and discovering the possibilities of reaching the sound we wanted to create / hear.
José never released the cassette, instead he disappeared for four years. In 2002 he resurfaced with a new label called Naninani Recordings and “Eponymous” was now a CDR with a remix by French artist Cedric LeRouley. The original release was 113 copies. José has since disappeared again.
Sentimental Productions have caringly rescued the recordings and re-mastered them. Vinyl seems to make sense….." [Stephen Cammack / Dieter Müh]
https://soundcloud.com/sentimentalroductions
"As I was looking at the cover of this record, I was thinking: does Dieter Müh still exist? The previous release I reviewed was not that long ago, Vital Weekly 1062, but that was, as is this new one, a release recorded in 1998. The previous one was released back then in a small edition, but 'Eponymous' had a somewhat bigger edition back then; 103 copies were released on CDR by Naninani Recordings, a short lived CDR label from France. Vital Weekly, being one of the oldest online sources for this kind of music, of course (well…) reviewed this before, in Vital Weekly 337.
I wrote back then: "One would think that Dieter Müh is just a guy with a funny name, but it's not. I believe they are a duo or trio from the UK. Also, they have been around for sometime now, with a couple of small scale releases some years back. After that things became quiet and they seem to have vanished. But Dieter Müh is back. The pieces on this release are not very recent ones, they were all recorded in 1998 {the release was from 2002 - FdW}. The easiest way to describe Dieter Müh is by labelling them as 'ambient industrialists', but that wouldn't entirely justify them. They operate in a lofi sampling way, lifting samples from probably other people's work, and creating their own dense and dark tapestries of sound. Because of their humble recording methods, the sounds remain kinda obscured, but that is something, I believe, that will appeal to the lovers of
such ambient industrial ethics. The final piece is a remix of Dieter Muh soundmaterial by one Cedric Lerouley, who uses probably more updated sound techniques, but if you wouldn't know would
sound like another Dieter Muh piece, but then recorded better. All in all in a nice release, without anything dramatic new."
With fresh, 2017, ears I would say something like this; the recordings on this LP were made
in a studio and one easily notes the difference with the previous one, recorded in concert. I easily admit I wasn't that blown away by their live sound, which I thought was a bit too single-minded in approach, but in their studio work they show much more. The seven titles here continue to explore the mild industrial sound of sampled percussion, repeating voices, a fair dash of reverb; for instance in 'Dumhome' I hear influences of both Big City Orchestra and early Contrastate. In 'R.I.P.>5' they go out for a more industrial drone sound of multi-layered synth sounds, while in 'Sebel' Throbbing
Gristle/Cabaret Voltaire are guiding principles, with phased loops and spoken word samples. There
is throughout all of these pieces references to be made to one band or another, yet I would think Dieter Müh, back then a duo of Steve Cammack and Dave Uden, have plenty of their own input to make each track their own thing, and it is through variety that they achieve their own sound. It seems like none of these pieces sound very similar to the other ones. None of this screams 'true noise' in your ears and that's some much better. Ambient industrial is surely something that is still the most appropriate term for such music. It's also a musical style that never became big and never had a revival, oddly enough. This is a most welcome re-issue I guess; it sounded retro and I love it (the previous remix not included this time)." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2017 |
€23.50 |
|
|
Mutus Liber |
CD |
"Initial Dieter Müh recordings from 1993-1994, never before released on CD !!
About the reissue of this rare promo tape, here's Steve [Cammack] in his own words:
<< At the beginning of 1995 we played a gig at the 1 in 12 Club, Bradford with Zoviet*France. It went quite well and folk were asking about releases etc and we had nothing. So Dave [Uden] quickly knocked up a compilation of recordings we made in 1993-1994 at his (various) home(s) in Nottingham. I can't quite remember which tracks were recorded at which location.
Because Tim [Bayes] was involved in the 'live set up' he included the extract from the gig at The Narrowboat. Tim is not on any of the studio recordings. Only a handful of people received this give away tape.
There is no master as such. You probably have the only copy.
Colin Potter approached us at our gig in York in 1995 and offered time at his ICR studio for cheap - if he could 'produce' [which resulted in Black Square, first official Dieter Müh release from 1997]. I think that is why we did not "push" Mutus Liber. >>
Join us on this exciting ambient noise trip !!
Limited to 200 copies in sealed digipak"
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
The Bjorn Tapes |
LP |
"This is a entire reissue of a limited to 50 copies C45 audio cassette originally released by Xerxes (Japan) as ES-27 in April 1999, later re-released as a limited CDr by Blade Records (Italy) in 2004. All material recorded live on 30 January 1999 in Nottinghem, U.K., edited and produced by Dave Uden during February 1999, re-mastered in September 1999.
using electronics, semples, tapes, bass-guitar, vocals, the English duo created here three long tracks of hypnotick electronic music / ambient noise in the "old-school" experimental genre.
White vinyl housed in a three-panel folded silkscreened cover released in a limited edition of 320 handnumbered copies. Released in November 2018."
"I'd like to think the world has finally woken up to Dieter Müh, the long-running industrial ambient project once consisting of Dave Uden and Steve Cammack, which since 2009 has been the solo project of the latter. EE Tapes recently resurrected Mutus Liber, a 1995 giveaway tape compiled for interested listeners and reissued it on CD. The Bjorn Tapes was another short-run cassette released by Dieter Müh first released on tape in 1999. It was a year that would see Dieter Müh share bills with The Grey Wolves, Con Dom, AntiChildLeague and Colin Potter. Colin Potter had a hand in their debut album Black Square, recording and producing it at his studio in Yorkshire. Dieter Müh at this point were Steve Cammack and Dave Uden, both inspired by the possibilities brought forth by the punk/DIY spirit of the seventies. It is industrial music that seeps into their sound, and you can hear it in the drone and noise ridden layers of electronics, manipulations, tapes and field recordings found within The Bjorn Tapes, which was recorded live and later edited in the studio. The entire Dieter Müh discography is littered with some wonderful short run releases on labels such as Tesco, Hanson Records, Harbinger Sounds. The Bjorn Tapes first surfaced on the Japanese label Xerxes run by Yoshida Yasutoshi of Government Alpha.
The Bjorn Tapes was recorded live in Nottingham in January 1999 and edited and produced a few months later. I don't see a show listed in the Dieter Müh gigography so I'm guessing this was a live in the studio affair. It was soon after this recording I first caught Dieter Müh live, where the duo would be huddled over banks of synths, twisting wires and twiddling knobs. I've really no idea how they produced the sounds they did but whatever they did it resonated with depth, feeling and power. The Bjorn Tapes captures the essence of a live Dieter Müh performance.
Silence, space and a keen sense of sound gestation play a role on 'Herma'. Distant throbs and samples ebb into windswept drone terrain mixed with shuffling textures before it seeps into harsher drone based layers. It is a fine example of their ambient sound vibrations where nothing is rushed or overbearing and you really need to listen closely to pick up on the dynamics.
Even though their sound is based in drone based experimental electronics, Dieter Müh are often regarded as an industrial ambient group. If that's the case then 'Herma' focusses on the ambient side of their industrial ambient sound, while the other two tracks emphasise the industrial side of that description. 'Low Feed' mixes industrial churn mixed with tape manipulations where voices become almost alien. An electronic throb pulses underneath, like blood through coursing through the body. Electronics shimmer, whirr and echo, broken by sudden glints of crashing noise. This is the Dieter Müh I remember from the live shows I witnessed where they slipped seamlessly from subtle drones into denser, harsher sound layers writhing with distended, disembodied voices, sampled percussive clatter and chasms of noise. Unsettling, unnerving and oppressive 'Low Feed' is a great track.
The 23 minute side long piece 'Aghor' unfurls in various movements. The opening ambient sonics are laced with taped voices and intermittent bass thuds. It cut to crunchy, textured manipulations, followed by a passage of processed tapes of mutterings, utterings and whisperings shadowed by electronic oscillations, spliced with clicks and micro tone shudders. At this point there's a sense of ritual to be found within the soundscapes and primordial intonations before bass rumbles enter and underpin a dizzying morass of sound, where manipulated and disembodied voices are enveloped in waves of fluctuating distortion and noise and the flickering haze of frequencies. It is an impressive build up of sound, texture and intensity proving Dieter Müh's dexterity and firm grasp of composition. As it unwinds the loose bass tones and taped voices almost take the form of a live Throbbing Gristle performance, surging with brief bursts of vocals, rendered in a power electronics style sinking into silence and then edging out in queasy electronic oscillations.
Originally issued on cassette by the Japanese label Xerxes run by Yoshida Yasutoshi of Government Alpha and subsequently reissued on CD-R by the Italian label Blade Records The Bjorn Tapes is now released on white vinyl housed in a three-panel folded silkscreened cover released in a limited edition of 320 handnumbered copies on the Nuit et Brouillard side label Force Majeure. It's a handsome edition and well worthy of your time, especially if you've missed this group whose roots in early industrial inspired some fine releases, such as Cari Saluti and Tertium Organum, which collaged the sounds of industrial, experimental, ambient, ritual and noise to great effect. For more information go to Force Majeure" [Compulsion Online] |
2018 |
€18.00 |
|
| DIMUZIO, THOMAS |
Headlock |
CD |
Re-release der allerersten DIMUZIO-LP von 1989. Ausufernde & rauhe, fast schon wilde Geräusch- und Noiseexperimente, aber auch ruhigere Stücke, die auf spätere Glanztaten verweisen!
www.rermegacorp.com
Sample Sources: junkyard, the Sullivan's, Red's whores, kitchen pipes, shortwave radio, Jim Reed, Po-Po, feedback, water, percussives, clarinet, voice, found objects, 10 speed bicycle, AM radio, Davlarv's car, woodshop, traffic, duct tape, acoustic and electric guitars, synthesizers, Thermas cap, Lion's Park playground, Banoodle, Kish, Babs, Patronized Humoplasms, TV, cello, sheet metal, squeaks, washing machine, noises and/or sounds, etc.
|
1998 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Sutro Transmissions |
LP |
"This is the wizard the land of Oz wished for: boundless, benemalevolent, shrouded in torrents of sound, daring lions to speak and machines to feel. Dimuzio sets your straw brains alight to melt your metal heart while your furry ears crisp and yowl.
For the first time, San Francisco legend Thomas Dimuzio presents an all Buchla-synthesizer album. Custom algorithmic crossfades of complex sound synthesis fuel this metabolism of mind and machine. His Buchla 272e module incorporates a polyphonic FM tuner introducing chance-factors snatched from live transmissions, steered via algorithmic mixing through oscillator arrays and envelope generators before spilling into the ears of blood-pumping audiences huddled in the slanting five thousand foot shadow of SF's Sutro Tower. Each track is a site specific improvisation blooming in the dark of underground venues on opposite ends of Haight Street just blocks from where Buchla invented the world's first synthesizer.
“Nothing is more beautiful than [Dimuzio's] acoustic heterogeneity, a depth of aural perspective provided by antithetical frequencies, irregular waves and inscrutable halos.” -Massimo Ricci
The first thirty pre-orders will include unique and original letterpress art created by Planetary Magnetics Corporation in New Orleans. These one of a kind prints were rendered on a huge letterpress using gorgeous, richly colored and metallic inks on dangerously old blocks arranged sleestak style by master-printer Tyler Harwood. The album cover is a reproduction of a single print from this original series."
https://www.resipiscent.com/artist/view/51
"Thomas Dimuzio – justifiably called a “legend” by the label’s introductory summary – belongs nonetheless in the pool of names not immediately springing to mind when it comes to sonic innovation built upon the interpenetration of supposedly unconnected elements. However, his expertise in concocting unorthodox landscapes and spontaneous articulations of otherwise inexpressible insights has been proven time and again. Sutro Transmissions, a gorgeous example of analog synthesizer-based music, represents a quintessential reminder.
The apparatus through which Dimuzio emits transcendentally tangible matters is constituted by (drum roll, press release) “a Buchla 272e module [that] incorporates a polyphonic FM tuner introducing chance-factors snatched from live transmissions and steered via algorithmic mixing through oscillator arrays and envelope generators”. For the unacquainted, this might appear as alien language; as soon as they hear the results, all doubts are going to be extirpated.
Nothing is more beautiful than absorbing acoustic heterogeneity if the diversification is driven by the vision of an inherent logical structure. Dimuzio has produced two exceptional pieces in that sense. The conglomeration of extreme dynamics and timbral variegation systematically startles the attentive listener, even when the textural totality may suggest a “search for quietness” hypothesis. It is actually by this juxtaposition of contrasts that the necessary energies are released for the attainment of that state. Learning to distinguish and welcome diversity is never a wasted effort, especially when the forced acceptance of what’s unnatural and the effects of cyclical ordinariness become unbearable. By experiencing the depth of aural perspective provided by antithetical frequencies, irregular waves and inscrutable halos you’ll have a clear exemplification of what I’m trying to translate.
Replace the nauseating boredom generated by the self-appointed boffin of your choice with the polychromatic fibers of these sounds. Train your perception to rapidly individuate the correct direction rather than ruminating for days on something that will ultimately be revealed as entirely unfounded. Doctor Dimuzio can assist you." [Touching Extremes]
|
2020 |
€22.50 |
|
| DIRAC |
Emphasis |
CD |
"Our way to create a record is based on the simple principle of direct-recording – which means the shape and form of our music is basically created within one moment. It is not only about meeting in a studio to do the recordings, but to stay together at one place with a focus on creating music and concentrated listening each day. The isolation from other musical inputs and the reduced input in general, being far off from bigger cities, far off an everyday-live takes you to the point when you don’t want to sound like something you know, you just want to search, experiment and play. John Cage said, that experimental music is where the outcome can’t be foreseen. These things happen through passion and not ambition.
For ‘emphasis’, we again went to Salzburg, where we could set up our gear in the basement of Florian’s parents house for one week – the same place we recorded our first album ‘dirac’. We recorded about 4 hours everyday , experimenting with different materials and instruments. We later listened to the results at the studio garnison7 in Vienna and did more editing work in a small hut up in the snowy austrian mountains in February 2008 – it was cold, electricity was short, but it was silent.
The record contains many details that have personal aural connections to us. The bell which reappears on emphasis is an old-cuckoo-clock from the hut. The crows that fly away are a field-recording from vienna´s augarten park – we went in there during the night and triggered the birds with a short lightimpuls from a flash light. The kids playing were recorded in a village in northern India were Daniel and Peter spent some time doing field-recordings. The trumpet appearing in Bantu was recorded by Peter on a frozen mountain lake in Austria – thereby the natural reverb of the valley is transferred onto the record. The cover-picture shows the roof of an old abandoned farming-house, close to the mountain hut where we worked on the record." [Peter Kutin, DIRAC]
www.spekk.net
|
2009 |
€15.50 |
|
| DISCORDLESS |
Fear on Every Side |
MC |
In the three years since Marius Costache’s previous full-length album for Amek as Discordless, his usual menacing and anxiety-fuelled music has reached even further into the sonic extremes. We can blame it on the world we live in, on the year that just passed or on Costache’ very own distortion-worshipping approach to electronic music and his decades-worth of experience as a sound and recording engineer. Whichever you pick, ‘Fear On Every Side’ will remain a brutal take on contemporary noise music. It is demanding, disorienting and primal work but still captivating and sincere.
Every element found on the record contributes to a narrative that feels simultaneously vast and intimate. ‘Fear On Every Side’ can be perceived both from a first person perspective and as an overview of our decaying reality. The record doesn’t want you to overcome the sense of hopelessness, paranoia and tension it unfolds in front of you, but rather to plunge you deeper in this place of no way out.
https://amekcollective.bandcamp.com/album/fear-on-every-side
|
2021 |
€8.00 |
|
| DISFATUM |
Death Instinct |
CD |
"Death Instinct is the debut album of DisFatum and delights us with dark ambient and black atmospherics ambience spiraling us towards an absolute pureness - there where nothing is needed nor nothing remains.
Taking the inspiration from the Freudian psychology, this album suppresses the equilibrium of being by combining the formless ambient drones and quietly sung vocals, harsher guitar and industrial ritualistic bits.
The album takes us on a delightful dark journey within the confines of the psyche, which is trying to survive a world ablaze. It conveys a mirror reflection of the outside into the inside and a natural wish to escape from the material - non material to a super position. A state from which there is no desire to return…ever.
Written, Performed by Ksenya Sirin."
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| DISSECTING TABLE / MATTHIAS GRASSOW & TOMAS WEISS |
split |
LP |
" 2 Track 12” , mehr als 40 Minuten Musikgenuss, Mathias Grassow & Tomas Weiss mit einem New Age / Ambient Track, der seinesgleichen sucht, die Ruhe pur, mit sehr ruhiger Bewegung, ein Track zum meditieren, relaxen, bevor man aus allen schönen Träumen gerissen wird und Dissecting Table (Ichiro Tsuji) uns an den Alltagswahn erinnert, meines Erachtens die komplexeste Noise Granate, die je Dissecting Table hervorgebracht hat, brachial und kompromisslos.
Diese LP ist nun der lang erwartete Zweite Teil, der „A-Childs-Color-Play Serie, diesmal limitiert auf 100 Exemplare mit Insert und kommt im handbemalten Coversleeve heraus, gemalt haben Kinder und Jugendlich mit
einer Geistigen Behinderung, an den Covern kann man erkennen, das es Ihnen Spaß gemacht haben muss, viele sehr schöne Motive, verständliches und unverständliches, aber mit viel Phantasie wird man auch das eine oder andere verstehen können.
Wie auch bei dem ersten Teil, geht ein Teil des Preises der LP an die Cover-Künstler." [label info]
www.psych-kg.de
" 'Plus - Minus' is the title of the composition by Mathias Grassow and Tomas Weiss on this record. It might have been the title of the entire record, as things are very opposite. I have a certain weakness for the music of Dissecting Table, simply because one of the first CDs I ever bought as a young man was by Dissecting Table. It was a time when it was hard to get 'my kind of music' on CD. Not that I kept up with subsequent releases very much, of which some of the more recent is a bit too noisy (or ordinary noise) for my taste, but on 'Sky' it seems that Dissecting Table pulls back gear a bit, and not just works with noise, but glides back down and let sound effects run their course and die out, before starting up again. Its actually quite a nice piece of solid noise. The piece on the other side is something else. Both Mathias Grassow and Tomas Weiss are known to be players from the world of drone music, and that's exactly what they set out to do here. What ties in noise and drone, is that both ends of the musical spectrum don't seem to have many new developments in recent years. Just as noise is perhaps so much as it is, drone is no different. What Grassow and Weiss do here is what they have been doing for years. That again is no problem, and knowing myself to love drones more than noise - these days - I think this a wonderful side, in which time doesn't seem to be moving. Excellent. The cover of these records, which come in an edition of 100 copies, are 'designed' (drawn is perhaps the word) by a child with a mental handicap. I have no idea what the bigger idea behind that is." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€20.00 |
|
| DITHER |
Urei |
CD |
"Auch der vormaliger NOISE MUSEUM – Liebling DITHER ist zurück mit einer neuen CD, auf dem neuen Pariser Label M-TRONIC! Softer als auf den bisherigen Alben, verbindet DITHER hier gegenläufige Beats mit komplexen elektronischen Arrangements und dunklen Stimmungen, sehr eigen und ungewöhnlich!
New work from this french (former NOISE MUSEUM) act, softer than before but very complex and unusual electronic beats & arrangements & dark moods..." [Drone Rec. info 2002]
“ With its 3rd album, Marc T. aka Dither proves that he is the french master of dark-ambient electronics. His micro-electronic works are so subtle that they invite you into an abyssal trip, growing deeper and deeper inside your body and mind. Close to the universe of acts like Scorn, Autechre or beefacke but with a much darker touch, Dither is the new sensation not to be missed. This cd comes out in a very charming 3 panels digipack. Choose your chemical element choose He2 : Dither 'Urei' !” [label description]
www.m-tronic.com |
2001 |
€7.00 |
|
| DJINN |
Apatia |
CD |
st.an.da.2246
CD ltd. 200 copies in 6-panel digipack
Djinn
Apatia
Apathy is a work to be considered "autobiographical".
It contains one of the darkest periods in the life of its creator Vintras (Djinn).
An endless sequence of fear / sadness / pessimism, which day after day bring the human being into a state of mind of pure apathy.
A long hopeless journey, made even more sick by the fantastic collaboration of the American artist Ester Kärkkäinen alias Himukalt.
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| DMDN (DVA MET DVA NICHTS) |
Kapotte Muziek by... |
7inch |
" 'This is number 5 in a series' it says on the cover, although there are already 13 available. With an odd catalogue number – kp 8098. What the hell is going on? When Korm Plastics started the series ‘Kapotte Muziek by’, it was for friends to remix very specific recordings by Kapotte Muziek and quite early on it was decided that our friend DMDN should do one. Obviously a long term friend for all members of Kapotte Muziek, and co-bandmember of THU20. Enthusiastic he set to work and by the time he was ready to mix down what he had something broke down and everything was ruined. DMDN was no able to fix it, or repeat it and the whole project was shelved.
On February 26th 2010 DMDN took part in the 25th anniversary activities at Extrapool as the DJ of the ceremony, using a variety of turntables, cassette decks, CD players all loaded with Kapotte Muziek work from those 25 years (and slipping in some Goem, but we don’t mention that) and out of the blue send us 2 edited highlights – ‘here it finally is’. Now the series started out as a 7” series, then turned CD, but to honor DMDN for just once we go back to 7” – we have 100 pressed up and co-release it with DMDN’s own Antenne Records (although no mention of that on the cover, but he has half the edition, so when in Tilburg, The Netherlands, move over to Noordstraat 82 to visit his excellent store, or visit www.antenne-tilburg.nl). Two excellent dense pieces of electronics colliding and bumping in the hazy night. This might be the final installment in this series, since we have now completed it." [label info]
www.kormplastics.nl
www.kormplastics.nl
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| DO MAKE SAY THINK |
Other Truths |
LP + CD |
"The sixth full-length from Do Make Say Think defiantly features four long-form tracks, three of which clock in at over 10 minutes, and all of which trace the inimitable musical arcs that have made this band justly celebrated for their unique sonic palette and vibrant distillation of compositional forms and influences into some of the past decade's most consistently rich and rewarding instrumental rock. Bucking the trend towards diminishing attention spans, immediate gratification, snappy digital singles and things that go 'pop' right out of the gate, DMST admirably stick to their roots and allow the vines that spring from their fertile musical garden to wind, curl and climb for as long as required. More than ever, the players keep their heads down, creating wonderful multi-movement instrumental works (with the occasional mantric or wordless vocal passage, courtesy guest singers The Akron Family and Lullabye Arkestra), overflowing with attention to tone and timbre, animated by unfussy yet ornate harmony, melody and polyrhythm, shot through with ineffable soul."
www.cstrecords.com
|
2009 |
€19.50 |
|
| DOC WÖR MIRRAN FEAT. RE-DRUM & S. STADLMEIER |
24.3.16 |
LP |
"Throughout their 148 releases (including this one) to date, Doc Wör Mirran have been one of the most important connectors between the post-punk indie rock tape/DIY scene and its more industrial-inspired sibling, the drone/noise underground. On this album, Doc Wör Mirran (in what is basically a rock-band set-up with guitars, bass, percussion, and synths), prove this point by featuring two guests from the European drone scene: Russian drone artist Re-Drum and Sascha Stadlmeier. Known in the global dark ambient/drone scene under his moniker EMERGE, Stadlmeier increasingly operates under his given name when improvising (as he does here) with prepared bass, guitar, and objects.
Recorded on 24 March, 2016, at Doc Wör Mirran’s Two Car Garage Studios in Fürth, Germany, the two sides of the LP contain two parts from the improvisations recorded during that day – hence the understated album title. It pays to decipher the A and B side indications in the clear vinyl, as the flip between side A and B is not only a technical necessity of the format. It is also a shifting of musical scenes, and it makes sense to listen to it in the intended order. Side A establishes a rather static sonic swamp landscape, punctuated by occasional cries of passing theremin birds and the gargling of synthesised frogs, while short pulses of basslines emerge and disappear from the surface of the mix, reminding listeners that this is uncharted territory. Flip to side B, and the subdued tension built up throughout side A erupts. Metallic clangs, noisy barks, the flapping of delayed percussion, and the scratching of miked objects gang together to invade the untouched swamp, wreaking havoc in previously untouched nature until only the mournful faces of tree stumps remain (like the painted tree stump sculpture from the back garden of Doc Wör Mirran founder Joseph B. Raimond, shown on the cover).
This is improvised music with a surprisingly narrative feel. Electronic soundcraft and instrumental musicianship combine very effectively here, and the players show a great sense of economy in the gradual up building and changing atmospheric details."
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/24316
|
2017 |
€17.00 |
|
| DOCKSTADER, TOD & DAVID LEE MYERS |
Bijou |
CD |
„Bijou (ReR TGM2) ist nach Pond (2004) erneut ein Generationen übergreifendes Gemeinschaftswerk von TOD DOCKSTADER (*1932, St. Paul, MI) und dem New Yorker DAVID LEE MYERS. Während Dockstader mit seinem charmanten elektroakustischen Sonderweg seit Anfang der 60er zu den frühen Gurus der amerikanischen Musique concrète zählt (Eight Electronic Pieces, 1961, OWL-Recordings, 1966), trat Myers unter dem Pseudonym Arcane Device Ende der 80er Jahre an die Öffentlichkeit mit seiner eigentümlichen Feedbackmachinen-ästhetik (Engines of Myth, 1988, Also sprach Zarathustra, 1991, Diabolis Ex Machina, 1992), von der er sich in Kollaborationen mit etwa Asmus Tietchens (Speiseleitung, 1996, Flussdichte, 2001) und Thomas Dimuzio (Uncertain Symmetry, 2002) zunehmend löste, eine Entwicklung, die er auch durch die Verwendung seines Familiennamens unterstrich. Myers teilt mit Dockstader, mit dem er lange vor ihren Kollaborationen bereits im Briefwechsel stand, mehr als nur eine Vorliebe für Frösche, der sie mit Pond frönten, während Myers einen Frosch namens Beaumont als Held eines Kinderbuchs auftreten lässt. Bijou ist pures Cinema pour l‘oreille, das sich aus 27 kleinen Szenen entfaltet, mit ratterndem Vorführgerät als illusionistischem Vor- und Abspann und schmetternden Hollywoodfanfaren als ‚Credits‘. Dass das audiovisuelle Moment bei Dockstader immer eine große Rolle spielte, zeigt schon seine Recorded Music for Film, Radio & Television: Electronic (1979/1981). Zusammen mit Myers blättert er im „unconscious lexicon of sound“ (Chris Cutler), das als Bodensatz von millionenfach geteilten Stunden vor TV-Bildschirmen und Kinoleinwänden dem modernen Bewusstsein eingeschrieben ist. Dabei wurden Verbindungen gebahnt und Signale verankert, die rein auf klanglicher Basis so evokativ wirken, dass über das Gehör unwillkürlich ‚Atmosphären‘, ‚Stimmungen‘ und ‚Imaginationen‘ rückgekoppelt werden. Jeder weitere Werbeclip, jeder neue Film basiert auf solcher Konditionierung, solcher ‚Medienkompetenz‘. Bijou ist aber nur insofern der ‚totale Film‘, dass in ‚Dementia‘, ‚Scene of the Crime‘, ‚The Cringing Unknown‘, ‚Battle Finale‘ etc. Elemente aus Thriller, Melodrama, Doku, Film Noir, Kriegsfilm, SF usw. anklingen. Das Cover zeigt ein Psycho-Motel, der Soundtrack ist aber kaleidoskopischer, auf narrativer Ebene überwirklich und ambig, wie Erinnerungsfetzen, die nur von Traumlogik und Traumdeutung zusammengezogenen sind. Dockstader löst seinen Anspruch, „trying to push the sound a little farther forward toward Something we hadn't heard before“, insofern ein, dass er und Myers eine aus dem Medialen destillierte ‚Metasprache‘ finden mit der nahezu magischen Kraft von Klängen, die mit nichts als gewellter Luft und dem Reservoir medialer Erinnerungen im Stande sind, effektvoll Raum und Zeit auszuhebeln.“ [Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy # 49]
"A subtle, moody, rich and wide-ranging work, in which atmosphere, emotion and dramaturgy lead the ear far beyond music into a world of hints, evocations, anticipation and association -- and, in passing, reveal a complex metonymic language that, at a deep level, invokes that mostly unconscious lexicon of sound we have all absorbed collectively and subliminally in the course of a century of movie-going, television viewing, documentary recording and electroacoustic experimentation. Once sounds have been abstracted from events, they are free to act and interact as signs; they are no longer indications of the real. And from their use as indicators we learn new meanings (the low drone from Jaws, the shower strings from Psycho, a TV theme -- these are all as directly meaningful to us as a barking dog or an approaching train; after 1000 movies, the sound of a helicopter has as many fictional as factual meanings, and these accretions make experience imaginatively richer. This is the language Dockstader and Myers explore, and although, in a sense, such signs are weightless (there is nothing there) nevertheless we cannot unhook them and they conjure instinctively fragmentary narratives, events, places, situations and meanings. Where their last CD (Pond) abstracted sounds from real life (in fact, documentary recordings of frogs), this one invokes a fictional life invoked in a language of purely mediated abstraction." [label description]
|
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
| DODSMASKIN |
Ingenting |
CD |
We’re glad to welcome Norwegian Industrialists DØDSMASKIN to the Cyclic Law roster. “Ingenting” was first finalised in June 2015 and shrouded in almost complete secrecy. Being their original debut it somehow never had a proper release, until now. When contemplating a human face through the eyes of an x-ray machine, the void it projects back can be unsettling. This cranial frame, stripped of life; a reminder of the finite frontiers that constrain our transitory institutions, and the nothingness that precedes and succeeds them. However, while we occupy this bodily state, nothingness is detached neither from comprehension nor experience. Rather, it is interacting; mirrored in the human inclination to manifest its imprint time and time again through a continuous spiral of intellectual and material destruction. And its catalyst is also a testament to its paradox: the human impulse to escape it by any means necessary. “Ingenting” is a well balanced introduction to the core elements of the Dødsmaskin’s sound where extreme measures were used in order to capture the right physics sonically, such as having a 1000-ton freight train powering over recording devices, the process was an intense undertaking and the resulting harsh sonic textural walls that collide with more atmospheric passages are some of the most unique we’ve heard. Mastered at Black Knoll Studio by Rafael Anton Irisarri.
Edition of 300 copies in 4 panel Digipak. 5 Tracks. Running Time: 40:44
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/ingenting
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| DONIS |
Без Гражданства (No Citizenship) |
LP |
This long-planned LP is dedicated to a very close man of the author – his grandfather. Based on the story of his life, it reflects the post-war Lithuanian near border residents’ fates. Some were killed, others exiled or remained in the occupied territory of the Soviet system, which is an equivalent to the internal deportation or capitulation and surrender, hypocrisy. However, it turns out that even in such circumstances there’s possible a silent one person's resistance against the entire system. In the dark Soviet times album’s hero dared to defy the executive instructions of their actions on the grounds that he was not a citizen of this country. In the events of turmoil, it can be considered a miracle that the latter had survived, but had not been exiled to the northern camps. He was issued an identity document “БЕЗ ГРАЖДАНСТВА” (in Russian, “No citizenship”).
Album compositions encode the post-war era’s symbols from child’s memory while listening to the stories of relatives. "So called Wolf's children – children wandering alone in East Prussia, which were protected by good people. "Flowering Gardens" – a generous harvest greeting exiles that returned home. "Cult servant" – a multi-layered and complicated personality and social status. "GEBURTSORT: SZINDAITSCHEN" – inscription in grandfather's personal documents indicating the place of birth, current Žindaičiai town. "1977” – the symbolic year in which the album’s hero died, and a few months later, LP’s author was born.
The record is done using only acoustic instruments and ambient sounds of the authentic grandfather's life places: the remaining houses, attics with old craftsman’s tools, native whistling winds of Žindaičiai and chirping birds, church, yellow rusted documents and photographs, squeaky steps in Jurbarkas’ town cemetery...
"БЕЗ ГРАЖДАНСТВА" is a melancholic, atmospheric instrumental ambient album for the human condition, when you become a stranger in your own homeland, imprisoned in a trap and a hard choice: to flee or to stay.
www.autarkeia.org
|
2016 |
€23.00 |
|
| DONZEL-GARGAND, BERNARD |
Still to be a Storyteller |
CD |
"No easy listening" hier von dem bisher nur durch eine CD auf PLATE LUNCH hervorgetretenen französischen Komponisten, dafür offenbart sich gleich ein ganzes Universum an schräger Geräuschkunst und weirden Klängen, alles sehr lebendig & überfordernd, viele field recordings & original Zitate werden benutzt & verfremdet, seltsame elektronische Sounds sind überall, das kommt uns manchmal vor wie die Schnittmenge aus BRUME, NURSE WITH WOUND und ASMUS TIETCHENS, viel weniger klassisch "elektro-akustisch" als das vielleicht bei seinem Werdegang zu vermuten gewesen wäre.
"The 20 years anthology of creative work from the french composer,consisting of only previously unreleased material. Fantastic soundscapes, drawing images without any visual similarities and presenting the best ever sense of acousmatic music.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
Bernard Donzel-Gargand is the unique musician and composer. He is a celebrity in Annecy but unfortunately less known abroad, especially
because he published just one CD of fabulous works on Plate Lunch in 2001. Before discovering electroacoustic music in 1978, he participated in the free jazz movement and improvised music. Since that, he is the author
of acousmatic music, works for animation, dance and interactive contemporary art. In 1981, he founded the Collectif & Cie studio, together
with Philippe Blanchard, Alain Basso, Philippe Moenne-Loccoz, and Peter Ernrooth, amongst others. Later on, with Philippe Blanchard he founded Studio Forum and the yearly festival "Le Bruit de la Neige". Bernard was born in 1955 and composing the music since 70s, he knew personally Pierre Schaeffer and received some prizes at GMEB concours in Bourges.
He influenced Blanchard a lot, and his music was perfect example for many other young musicians in Annecy. But his musical career was not so active, because Bernard prefers to work alone in his studio rather than promote his music for publicity. But his works can be compared with the best electroacoustic music coming from France, and his name should be
mentioned with celebrities like Michel Chion, Xavier Garcia, Bernard Parmegiani, Luc Ferrari and Francois Bayle. His pieces are breathtaking
and transcending the sense of time.
'Bernard was my teacher there during 5 years between 1983 and 1988. With his help, I learned all inventives and sophisticated events in the sound art. I remember we have met together Pierre Schaeffer at a memorable concert that drew our way up to today. In such pieces as "Eloge de la folie" or "Erasme 1509", his music starts from a thought and constructs philosophical idea suggested by Mary, who was his muse for many years and until today, they used to travel together in the limbo land of the
universe and more beyond... Poetic! - it's the best word to explain the music of Bernard, his stretches of tones, sounds from nature, animals,
thunder, crazy cycle and subtle combinations of electronic sounds and field recordings. I also remember this early morning when we were waiting
for the rumour of a hunting horn in the distance of country, only to have a new life experience. For over ten years, we have established the Studio Forum and the Festival "Le Bruit de la Neige", this is a place where we work and develop our ideas, for which we may die one day! And defend also all projects of composers we invite each year. Finally, it is pure pleasure to be lost elsewhere in Bernard's music, primitive chaos, a confused state of the
elements that preceded the creation of the world. I hope this CD will interest a large audience because Bernard Donzel-Gargand is a unique composer and storyteller!'
Philippe Blanchard, May 2009 " [full press-release]
www.monochromevision.ru
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| DORA, DELPHINE ET MOCKE |
Le Corps Defendant |
do-10inch |
Souvent, on croit dialoguer et on soliloque, on tire la couverture à soi, on empêche l’autre parole, on est trop bavard ou trop taiseux. Et puis parfois, comme miraculeusement, on y parvient : on se met à savoir parler parce qu’on sait écouter. Mocke et Delphine Dora, dans la lente impatience de ces conversations musicales qui ont donné Le Corps défendant, ont cherché à tisser ce drôle de lien qui unit ceux qui construisent ensemble.
Des deux singularités (l’évidence même d’avoir affaire à deux artistes qui ne ressemblent à personne), ni l’une ni l’autre ne l’emporte. Au contraire, ce qui advient de ce dialogue n’est pas seulement l’addition des deux mais l’apparition de ce que chacun est capable de révéler de l’autre et qu’on avait pas encore entendu. On les retrouvent tous deux, on les reconnaît bien sûr, mais ailleurs, là où le même est déjà autre. C’est une étrange arithmétique où 1+1=3. Comme dans toute conversation il faut quelqu’un qui rompe le silence sans savoir à l’avance ce qui adviendra. Le silence doit se rompre comme le pain. La guitare s’y essaie ici, le piano là. Il ne faut pas trop chercher ses mots même si on les pèse parce qu’ils entraînent le reste. Comme dans toute conversation il faut savoir prendre une place mouvante pour que l’autre puisse trouver la sienne. Parfois la guitare de Mocke commence, sidérale, dévale les pentes, se fait liquide, et trouve dans le piano de Delphine Dora son nécessaire contrepoint, sur quoi s’arrimer. D’autre fois c’est l’inverse, la guitare électrique évite que le sol se dérobe. Tout semble venir sinon de l’improvisé du moins de l’intuitif qui les surprend eux mêmes. Parfois ils jouent sur des harmonies différentes, comme s’ils étaient encore loin, d’autres fois commencent ensemble et se séparent sans violence pour au final se retrouver au moment où on ne s’y attend pas. N’importe quand peut être mais pas n’importe où. Ils se rejoignent dans la césure, la pure parole, l’éclair, l’inexpressif. C’est à dire dans ce lieu que le disque invente. L’inexpressif ce n’est pas l’insensible, au contraire. C’est le monde d’avant le monde (ou après ce qui revient au même), où le sens se déploie dans sa nouveauté, où on invente une langue qui, dépourvue de signifiant connu peut tout signifier. C’est, plutôt que ce qui s’exprime, ce qui s’imprime avant même qu’on ait pu le ramener au déjà entendu. D’ailleurs quand Delphine Dora chante, elle le fait avec les mots qui viennent juste avant l’articulation signifiante, en chuchotant ou en inventant une drôle de langue sortie tout droit de contes étranges. La langue d’une pythie qui saurait se rire d’elle même et qui se moquerait bien des oracles. Piano, voix, guitare, tout se rejoint et c’est bouche bée qu’on assiste à ce moment où les choses s’assemblent. La musique prend en charge l’organisation des polyphonies qui nous constituent, aucune voix ne doit écraser l’autre. Et la beauté surgit, au corps défendant de Mocke et Delphine Dora, comme elle surgit toujours, dans les interstices du jeu risqué du funambule qui ne s’interdit rien parce qu’il refuse de choisir sous les injonctions de la séparation. Un jeu tout à la fois quiet et inquiet, consonant et dissonant, drôle et mélancolique, proche et lointain, savant et populaire. On a pas à choisir et on ne choisira pas. Tout ici se retrouve assemblé. Et même, au bord de la cassure, la voix de Delphine Dora semble convoquer à la fois les vivants et les morts comme sur le déchirant L’Absent était parmi nous qui clôt le disque. On le cherchait depuis tout ce temps et il était là, assis à la table. C’est bien l’ambition, que tout ce qui a disparu nous réapparaisse.
On pourrait les croire seuls. Mais de cette solitude particulière qui a les moyens de se confier. Des insulaires sans doute comme le dit le titre d’un des morceaux. Mais des insulaires qui rêvent de ponts et de navires. De voyages intersidéraux où même la lointaine Pluton s’éloigne. Nous voilà embarqués. »
Orso Jesenska
Delphine Dora: voix, piano, piano préparé, claviers, célesta, glockenspiel, cordes de piano et de guitare, violon, shruti box, field recordings, objets
Mocke: guitare
composé par: Delphine Dora & Mocke
enregistré par: Delphine Dora & Mocke
mixé par: Mocke
https://okrainarecords.bandcamp.com/album/le-corps-d-fendant
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| DORELLA, BRUNO |
Paradiso |
CD |
Italian musician and producer Bruno Dorella guides us to \"Paradiso\", his new solo album, with the music for the homonymous choreographic project of gruppo nanou, to be released on CD and digital on November 25th, 2022 by the independent label 13 / Silentes.
\"Paradiso\" was born for the choreography of the new show by gruppo nanou, a contemporary dance and performing arts company, founded by Marco Valerio Amico, Rhuena Bracci and Roberto Rettura. The collaboration between Dorella and the company has started almost a decade ago and over time has also involved Ronin and OvO, the main bands of the Ravenna-based musician - OvO were on stage in 2021 for Canto Primo: Miasma | Arsura, an encounter between sounds and infernal images, with Dante\'s recurring reference.
But there is more than this. \"Paradiso\" is also the first electronic music album made by Dorella who, during the lockdown period, focused himself more and more on softwares. The tracks are composed according to the bodies and the choreography of the show. Dorella says: \"The composition took a long time. The choreographic needs, and the effect of music on the bodies, often led me to think with a broader perspective. Me and the members of gruppo nanou started the work from mutual suggestions and gradually we understood each other faster and faster. We defined a common conception of rhythm, deciding to work on apparently \'off-grid\' rhythms, creating the illusion of something wrong together but perfectly timed. In reality, these rhythms are parallel planes that travel in time with each other, even if out of phase.\"
\"Saturno\" is the first single taken from \"Paradiso\" and contains the fundamental elements of the entire work. That is, parallel, overlapping, sinuous rhythms, apparently out of phase but which \"turn\" together. In addition to abstract guitars and breath as the only source of voice.
According to gruppo nanou: \"Bruno has composed a choreographic work. We have verified together how sound can accommodate the body and be in dialogue with the scenic action. It was a transitive operation between scene and sound, bodies and the material density of sounds, vibrations and motion. The beauty of this musical work is that it is concrete matter and at the same time it is a precise thought. All the rules and limitations that we set for the creation of the show - regarding choreography, sound, lights and scene - have managed to be assimilated to become creative resources and therefore to become exact viscera.\"
The journey of \"Paradiso\" is articulated into thirteen tracks and ends with the title track, which is also the brand new single from the album and the only episode that can be assimilated to an \"alien\" song-form, featuring Francesca Amati (Comaneci) on vocals. Dorella speaking: \"We always thought that, at a certain point, we needed a \'song\'. With Francesca there is a long-standing collaboration and gruppo nanou loves her tone of voice, so it has always been clear that she would be the one to sing the song. But she had to do it in a non-existent and unidentifiable language. So, I broke down the syllables of what Francesca had sung, recomposing them with a new result.\"
In Dorella\'s long and eclectic career, \"Paradiso\" is only his second solo record, following \"Concerto per chitarra solitaria\", created for a contemporary classical music festival and released in 2019 by Bronson Recordings. \"I always thought of ensemble music, never really in the solo dimension, and I always imagined that if I ever made a record on my own and with my name on it, it would be related to pure composition\", Dorella explains. Active since the late 90s, Bruno Dorella is also known under the pseudonym Jack Cannon and was a member of Wolfango, as well as founder of OvO, Ronin and Bachi da Pietra, and more recently of Tiresia and the GDG Modern Trio, as well as an element of Sigillum S. \"Paradiso\" is the first record that testifies his experience in the field of theater music, developed through collaboration with various theater and dance companies.
\"Paradiso\" is a collective effort among the contemporary research dance company gruppo nanou and the artist Alfredo Pirri. Its path begins in 2021 and continues until July 2022 through appointments, called sketches, intended as the progressive deepening and development of research and tests for the construction of a performative process that removes the concept of the beginning and end of a performance, as well as its front use.
The space is intended as an active place in which to immerse oneself, creating an impromptu community that accesses the performance as it happens in a museum exhibition. \"Paradiso\" is the beginning of a common journey starting from the Third Canticle of Dante Alighieri’s Commedia; as a paradise, it is an elsewhere space, inhabited by light and evanescent figures; a long cinematic shot in which to immerse yourself thanks to the music of Bruno Dorella. The stage space consists of a mirrored dance floor obtained by combining different layers of silver and gold carpets where reverberating spaces and territories, intertwined and choreographed by gruppo nanou. Indirect lighting allows the carpet to reflect the surrounding space, welcoming it inside visually and creating a floating perception and making the floor like a pond where the bodies in movement flake with evanescent contours. The place determines each time the use and arrangement of the scene created by Pirri; the space, as well as the bodies and the light, is reflected by the mirrored surface of the carpets, redesigning the geometry of the space itself. For this identity of relationship between place and scene, each Paradise is unique and unrepeatable, thus finding the impossibility of describing a Paradise uniquely, as Dante wrote in the beginning of the Third Canticle.
The gestures lose all trace of naturalism to turn into an abstract choreography, whose meaning is in the desire to bridge the distance between the gaze (of the viewer) and the bodies in action. The limit of the backgrounds is forced, torn, deteriorated by the body that attacks it with its choreographic action. The choreographic images are produced “accidentally”, and the bodies are immediately pulverized thanks to the process of abstraction that produces pure plasticity that surpasses all other instances. The evidence of every research step or residency is called sketch and, even if is still a studio form, it shows how the performative device works on the space, its architecture or lack of it, recreating and rethinking both the stage and how the audience interact with it. As it will be in his final form, every sketch is different from the others; not a step forward but a step in deep the research. In each different spaces there will be different sets and choreographic compositions. A difficult experience to tell.
Album credits:
Music composed, played, recorded and mixed by Bruno Dorella
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi
Vocals on 6 & 13 by Francesca Amati
Vocals 4, 9 & 10 by Elisabetta Da Rold
Voices treatment on 1 by Bruno Dorella & Giovanni Lami, 5 includes parts of Old Vogue Dancer by Bruno Dorella, 11 includes a sample by Stefano Ghittoni
Layout and artwork by Marco Valerio Amico
Photos by Daniele Casadio
Project credits:
Project: gruppo nanou, Alfredo Pirri, Bruno Dorella
Choreography: Marco Valerio Amico, Rhuena Bracci
Scenic space: Alfredo Pirri
Music: Bruno Dorella
Lights: Marco Valerio Amico
Colors: Marco Valerio Amico, Alfredo Pirri
Costumes: Rhuena Bracci
With Carolina Amoretti, Marina Bertoni, Vera Borghini, Rhuena Bracci, Francesca Dibiase, Andrea Dionisi, Agnese Gabrielli, Marco Maretti, Emanuel Santos, Sofia Pazzocco, Michele Scappa
And the graduates (2019) of the Post Diploma – Dance Course of the Civica Scuola di Teatro “Paolo Grassi” of Milan: Livia Bartolucci, Alessandra Cozzi, Elisabetta Da Rold, Agnese Gabrielli, Nicolò Giorgini, Simone Mazzanti, Camilla Neri, Francesca Rinaldi, Pablo Ezequiel Rizzo, Bruna Romano
Production: Nanou Associazione Culturale, Ravenna Festival
Contributon: MIC, Regione Emilia-Romagna, Comune di Ravenna, Fondazione del Monte di Bologna e Ravenna
Collaboration: Civica Scuola di Teatro “Paolo Grassi” di Milano
Support: Centro di Residenza della Toscana (Armunia-CapoTrave/Kilowatt), E Production, ATCL Circuito Multidisciplinare del Lazio per Spazio Rossellini Polo Culturale Multidisciplinare della Regione Lazio, C.U.R.A. Centro Umbro Residenze Artistiche, Spazio ZUT!, Indisciplinarte, La Mama Umbria International
https://brunodorella.bandcamp.com/album/paradiso
13.silentes.it/private_sounds/sps2258_bruno_dorella.htm
|
2022 |
€12.00 |
|
| DOYLE, ROGER |
The Ninth Set |
CD |
Noch aus UNITED DAIRIES-Anfängen bekannt ist ROGER DOYLE - sein 66 minütiges prämiertes Werk "The Ninth Set" überzeugt mit raumfüllenden atonalen Sphären-Drones, so rauh und symphonisch wie einige KAYN-Stücke! Durchsetzt von elektro-akustischer Spannung
schaffen "stehende" Wellen von Klang tiefe suggestive Räume, harmonische Wechsel geschehen unerwartet und zirkulär, Lautstärkelevel verändern sich dynamisch. Mitreissend!
"Irish composer Roger Doyle's first release on Die Stadt is his prize-winning work The Ninth Set, a 67 minute masterpiece in 5 parts. He was awarded the Magisterium Prize at this years's Bourges International Electro-acoustic Music Competition in France for parts 4 and 5. The award, which is one of the most important prizes in the world for electronic music, is open to composers having at least 25 years of professional experience in the field, and its objective is 'the promotion and diffusion of works that might become milestones in the history of electroacoustic music'. Previous works of Doyle include a 5-CD set Babel which took ten years to compose, where each track corresponds to a room or place within an imagined tower city; and the 3 hour Passades, music made from software that freezes sounds like a freeze-frame in DVD. He's also known for his project OPERATING THEATRE which released the classic "Rapid Eye Movements' album - consisting of 4 works composed between 1968 - 1980 - on Steven Stapleton's (Nurse With Wound) own United Dairies label in 1980. Furthermore he guested on Fovea Hex's 'neither speak nor remain silent' EP number 2 'Huge', alongside among others Clodagh Simonds, Brian Eno, Percy Jones and Colin Potter. More at http://www.rogerdoyle.com.
The CD comes in a color digipack in a first edition of 600 copies. Total playing time: 66:29 min." [press -release]
"...Through the five lengthy pieces of The Ninth Set, Roger Doyle cycles through rumbling episodes of recontextualized tumult and industrial heft, with every sound recorded and presented with impeccable digital clarity. At times, his work mangles Ligetti-esque vocal chorale through timestretching DSP tricks and thick digitally swabbed crescendos of grey noise; at others plucked cords, wires, and strings congregate into an unsettled mass with opaque rumblings and seasick swells. Throughout each movement, there's plenty of pregnant
interludes of relative quiet with punctations of rapidly approaching noise that halt at its peak with a razor cut to silence. Uncool, it
may be; but The Ninth Set is a brilliant record." [Aquarius Records review]
label-website: www.diestadtmusik.de
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Chalant - Memento Mori |
CD |
"The latest album by the godfather of Irish electronica is surely the artist’s finest moment. Roger dusts down his old answer machine messages from his parents, son and close friends and skillfully blends these with his trademark piano & string arrangements.
After the haunting narrative tale of Cool Steel Army in 2009, Psychonavigation Records is proud to present the latest project by Ireland’s Godfather of Electronica Roger Doyle. When speaking about the project recently Roger said “I have composed music around telephone answering machine messages left on my machine from the late 1980s: from my now-deceased parents, my son when he was ten (he is now a father himself), Jonathan Philbin Bowman, and the morning after the opening night of Oscar Wilde’s Salomé at the Gate Theatre, for which I composed a 2 hour onstage piano score. There’s a presence, an atmosphere of nostalgia around these messages. Perhaps it is something to do with irretrievable time and the distance of 24 years that has passed since they were left.”
These intimate verbal time capsules have been interspersed with instrumental compositions evoking a world of an ancient race memory, giving a hint of exotic imagined cultures. Both ideas are forms of time signatures.
In 2011 The NOVA programme presented by Bernard Clarke on Lyric FM broadcast a one hour profile of these new works of Doyle. The programme which is built around Chalant was then chosen as one of the Top 5 winners in the prestigious Prix Europa awards in Berlin.
Album Of The Week in The Irish Times (30 March 2012), the digital copy of this album can be bought via our Bandcamp site here." [label info]
www.psychonavigation.com
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Babel |
5 x CD |
"This is a phenomenal listening experience of Wagnerian dimensions from composer Roger Doyle — and, arguably, also one of Wagnerian ambitions. Each of the five discs is separately titled: “Temple Music”; “Chambers & Spirit Levels”; “Delusional Architecture”; “Earth at Full-Moon”; “Leisure Pursuits.” The idea is that each piece in the first three discs is seen as an individual “room” within an overall city (Babel). Some are more explicitly physical spaces (“The Stairwell”; “Mrs Brady’s Room”, “The Dressing Room”) than others. Both discs two and three begin with “Entry Level” tracks, comprising montages of other music from the “house.” The final two discs are supposedly from a (fictitious) radio station of the Tower of Babel, KBBL.
The whole concept is amazing. Pieces are interlinked not just via the translocation of snippets, but via imagined stories (an instrumentalist heard in one track might be warming up for his/her solo in another track, for example). The rooms of the tower are individually characterized, along with the invocation of a panoply of imagined spaces: the orientalisms of the initial “Concert Music — Pagoda Charm,” for example. Doyle’s composition is virtuosic; his imagination seems to know no bounds. His technique of voice cut-ups and snippets of sound, which seems to owe a debt to the electronic music of Stockhausen, is perhaps heard in its purest form in “The Room of Rhetoric” from the “Chambers and Spirit Levels” section. At one point it seems to threaten to quote (or even morph into) Gesang der Jünglinge ; the vocal slides (near-groans) of the next track, “Spirit Levels I-IV” seem to link to the sliding God names of another Stockhausen piece, Stimmung . Yet while there are debts here, the “Cantilena” from “Temple Music” reminds us that, while using gestures linked to this composer, Doyle has a voice all of his own.
Doyle’s music can be tremendously evocative. The use of solo horn in the nocturnal scene that is “Yummus” from “Temple Music” works extremely well. He can do delicacy, too: the keening phrases of “The Stairwell” from “Chambers & Spirit Levels” are a case in point. But it is the unpredictability of much of what we hear, coupled with the ability to create a whole new individual universe, is what appeals here.
Finally, for Babel , the disc entitled, “Delusional Architecture.” The next track, “Dark Scenery Court Games,” seems to hearken back initially to the orientalisms of the opening of “Temple Music” before gaining its own trajectory. Drums seem to introduce a more primal, human element (the overall impression so far is, unsurprisingly, otherworldly); electronic slashings seem to seek to counteract the tendency to bring the music to Earth and its inhabitants. But for sheer zaniness, “Vertical Figures in Stone” takes some beating. Olwen Fouere is wonderful here. The track only lasts five minutes, but seems to encapsulate all that is special about Babel : virtuoso composition, an ear that can imagine entire (and musically consistent) universes; humor; otherworldliness; and a curious depth that seems to imply some sort of extraterrestrial otherness. The humor is carried over into “Beautiful Day” (whatever you imagine this piece as sounding like, I would bet money that you are wrong). The entire edifice ends with a death: “Mr Foley’s Last Moments”, a dark conclusion to a kaleidoscopic listening experience.
The final two discs are of the imagined radio station broadcasting from floor 25 of the Tower of Babel. The first is “Earth at Full Moon.” It opens with “The Morning Show” and an announcer giving the weather report (“Always a nice day, here in the Tower”) and moves on to far more human concerns than we have heard so far, all pinned together by Doyle’s brilliance with electronics. Singer Elena Lopez seems to imply that the vocal lines of her song “You must be in” are derived from the music of Puccini. The news report is impeccably humorous (we get traffic and hilarious ads with out-takes, too, plus a rather restrained jingle that informs us that they are broadcasting “in a language of your choice”). World music is up next, with “Surface du Monde,” a collage of musics from around the planet. Some of the music could almost come under the “easy listening” classification. The 16-minute “Trapeze in Full-Moon Nights (four acts from an imaginary circus)” is magnificently evocative. Waltzes appear, distorted in an aural mirror; think of the fairground from the popular TV series Heroes and that should give some idea. It is all great fun.
Finally, “Leisure Pursuits,” split into two “shows.” First up is “The Entertainment and Leisure Pursuits Show,” complete with adverts. This is the slow side of radio, with a twist. The implication, from the phone-in on the second show, “The Nightshow” (“We’re going to transfigure the night,” says the announcer), is that the show is piped into everyone’s home whether they want it or not (track 24), and can’t be turned off. The adverts for a sleeping pill (from “Soma Pharmaceuticals”) imply that to be the only escape. Heard on their own, the last two discs might be shrugged off as clever, but so what? Heard in the context of the preceding three discs of Babel , they take on a whole new level of meaning as part of a story, part of an impeccably imagined alternative world experience. Fascinating, and well worth the time required to properly immerse oneself in the weird and wonderful contents of Roger Doyle’s head." [Colin Clarke]
|
2013 |
€35.00 |
|
| DRAKH |
Bethlehem |
CD |
"One third of the cult post-industrial Swedish legends MZ.412, one half of the amazing experimental act Beyond Sensory Experience and Nordvargr’s long running loyal partner on classic endeavors – including the abyssal black ambient duo Nordvargr/Drakh. With such high caliber résumé, we are more than honored to present the first Drakh solo album!
While mostly known for his demonic, truly Swedish guitar interventions on the MZ.412 or N/D pitch black ambiences, Bethlehem finds Jonas Aneheim walking through slow, quasi-harmonic, subtle, yet thick drone fields weaving elaborate and unexpected damaged electronic rhythms and harsh, crackling ambient textures that can become – at the same time – both delicate and haunting, warm and freezing, to finally drown in a sea of reverb, glacial riffing and distortion on his own shadowy interpretation of the city of Bethlehem. Simply perfect.
Masterfully conceived and recorded on the road during his many world travels over the past years – from the US State of Indiana to Asia –, the album successfully narrates unknown angles from these places via ominous sonic vistas and pallets that truly honor the charming aura and tradition of the bleakest Swedish sounds.
Presented in our custom 6-panel digisleeve packaging with stunning and desolate photography by Seldon Hunt. Not coincidentally mastered by no one else than Jouni Ollila (aka Ulvtharm, from the MZ.412 fame) at oLLiLaboratories Studios." [label info]
www.essence-music.com
|
2010 |
€13.50 |
|
| DRAPE |
An Idea and its Map |
LP |
"Drape is an ambient duo comprised of Ryan Gracey and Spencer Williams. They have been crafting soundscapes since 2004. Their debut, 'dream words' (Gears of Sand) saw a limited CDR release in 2009. It was well received and garnered comparisons to Stars of the Lid, early 70's Tangerine Dream as well as late 80's space ambient. Their follow-up was an interesting pairing on cassette - a split w/ experimental artist Odd Nosdam.
'An Idea And Its Map' marks a refined leap forward in Drape's sound. While less space music, there is certainly more expansion. It is a smudged and blended orchestra of drones on the opener 'Solo in High Dreary' and those drones are split apart in slow-motion - eventually revealing a single guitar tone.
Moments of sublime resonance as on 'The Visible The Untrue' anchored by piano, and notes that float, seemingly carried in on a breeze. All is not as it seems with an undercurrent of ground swelling, oscillating air - somewhere in the distance there is a storm assembling. Ebb and flow between light and dark - silver lined black clouds converge on the B side opener 'fanfare for lake flies'. The strings, guitar, siren calls are assembled and plastered to one another. A thick blanket of overwhelming beautiful cacophony results.
The album's close is as much filtered white noise as it is heavenly chords. The dual slow-motion treated guitar present thoroughout 'An Idea...' diverges between pools of dissonant feedback, howls of wind, and melodic drones.
'An Idea...' is a study in contrasts - and Drape find effective employment of the disparity as well as the combination of the reticent and the reserved turbulence. There is an atmosphere of tension, in a sense with resplendent tones enveloping a barely concealed fury just under the surface.
Edition of 400 copies. Black vinyl, 180 Gram pressing. Gatefold sleeve + OBI strip. Purchase of LP will include a download code of the album (FLAC, MP3, etc. - your choice).
After a tumultuous pathway to being pressed on vinyl, be it natural phenomena, pressing issues, manufacturer issues, broken plates, and so on - Infraction is relieved to present finally the first vinyl full-length LP by Drape." [label info]
www.infractionrecords.com
"Graduating from extended synthesizer jams of their earlier output to symphonic, string-based ambience, the duo of Drape provide a soundtrack for frigid early mornings and star-laden late nights. The seven tracks that comprise "An Idea and Its Map" glisten and glide over slow arcs of swelling strings and luxurious textures that bring to mind the oft-referenced figureheads of the genre, Stars of the Lid. Drape, in both structure and execution, clearly aim for this comparison. Yet they do it better than most and while they can't approximate Stars of the Lid's natural emotion and grasp of melody, Drape smartly overlay their drones with guitar distortion and amplifier feedback to give the surroundings a patina of worn textures. The end result illuminates "An Idea and Its Map" with both a vulnerable and hard-edged feel and is all the better for it." [Ryan Potts, Experimedia]
"Its been a while since I last from Drape, the duo of Ryan Gracey and Spencer Williams - see Vital Weekly 722 - but I believe they didn't release much beyond that point, other than a split cassette with Odd Nosdam. With this release we return to the more introspective ambience which we also encountered with Eluder. Yet there are differences also. Whereas Eluder is certainly grey towards black, Drape is more grey towards white. It would seem to me that all of this music is created with guitars, and it's not difficult to see a strong influence from Stars Of The Lid. The long form, sustaining guitars, cascading slowly, like majestic waves, rolling ashore, has a strong orchestral to it. Ringing string music, on an endless, perpetual slow motion roller coaster. If that is at all possible. Its been a while since we last heard something from Stars Of The Lid, and for all I know they might no longer exist, but Drape, on this particular record, would win easily the chance of successor to their throne. A fine example, textbook drone music. Forty years of mood music pass by, from the German cosmos, Eno's living room and a bit of neo-classical music - Arvo for my part. Highly refined journey on the wings of musical history." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€25.00 |
|
| DRCARLSONALBION |
La Strega and the Cunning Man in the Smoke |
LP |
"Known as “the doom metal innovator” for fronting drone ambassadors Earth, Dylan Carlson now brings his solo career to our very own Latitudes series. Featuring artwork by Battle Of The Eyes and released in a limited run of hand numbered and hand packed green 180g vinyl (green or white) and CDs (1000 of each).
Subsequent to his first release under the moniker of Drcarlsonalbion, the legendary Dylan Carlson visited Southern Studios to record an exclusive session amidst his spell in the UK researching folklore and faire folk of the British Isles. Drcarlsonalbion sees Carlson experimenting further with field recordings as he re-renders traditional folk as well as contemporary songs with his unique drone sound which has ever so long been allied to the mighty Earth. Joined by Teresa Colamonaco on vocals and Jodie Cox on guitar, the trio unite to bring a restrained majesty to the reworking of shared favorites, including Last Living Rose by PJ Harvey, resulting in an immensely special Latitudes release indeed.
Six covers/arrangements and one original composition recorded during his research into faire folk and collation of field recordings in the UK." [label info]
http://shop.southern.com/latitudes/
|
2012 |
€18.50 |
|
| DRONAEMENT |
Wassermond (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
"DRONAEMENT is a newcomer from a small village in East Germany, who is also active in DAS RHYTHMISCHE ORNAMENT and D:RHYTHM:O and his small cassette-label NAUZE MUZICK. After a few amazing tapes, this is the very first vinyl issue for DRONAEMENT, containing two flowing tracks based on water sounds, entitled "wassermond" and "wassertank". Sounds go up and down like waves, pulsate soft and tender, surround you like cotton wool, being added up by sensitively created electronics. This is a kind of hommage to water, symbol for life, moving and development.
Listen to the endless streaming and flowing of life. GREEN VINYL, SILK-SCREENED COVERS IN DIFFERENT COLOURS." [press release]
|
2000 |
€ |
|
| DROUIN, JAMIE |
A three Month warm up |
CD-R |
DER GROSSE DRONE ! Jamie DROUIN lässt seine ätherischen Gebilde nicht einfach so im Raum schweben, sondern verbindet immer wieder interessante Konzepte damit: Hier verbindet er ganze 124 verschiedene Field Recordings(in einem Zeitraum von 3 Monaten aufgenommen) zu einem Polydrone, der alles einzusaugen scheint, und trotzdem eine choral-harmonische Tiefendimension offenbart..
"A Three Month Warm Up uses 124 individual field recordings made in an outdoor public square in Victoria (British Columbia, Canada) over a three month period, and is inspired by the cacophony of notes played by a symphony during warm up, where a single unified tone emerges out of the various instruments and voices. In playing back the ambient recordings, filtering them down to their essential 'notes' and layering the events, Drouin creates a sonic signature of the space, as if a residual echo of everything that occurred during those three months has been trapped within the structure.
A Three Month Warm Up was a site specific work created for the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria's Assume Nothing exhibition January-May, 2009. Curated by Lisa Baldissera." [label info]
www.dragonseyerecordings.com
"...Drouin layers all the field recordings into one long swarming mass of sound, like indeed the orchestra tuning up, but much slower and without a single event to be recognized. Or perhaps like a church full of mumbling voices. Over the course of these seventy-seven minutes, the color of the music is slowly changes, changing from dark to a bit lighter and brighter and then slowly towards the dark again. Ambient music as it is supposed to be according to the text book of Brian Eno. Music derived from everyday, common sounds surrounding us. Maybe in that respect Drouin doesn't have to offer much news to the initiated in the world of ambient music, but the longitude of the work makes much sense. Play at a low volume and let it surround you."
[FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| DRUMM, KEVIN |
Trouble |
CD |
"Recorded Winter 2013-2014 at Frostbite, Chicago, IL. Mastered by Russell Haswell. 'Trouble' is the brand new dispatch from the assorted output of Kevin Drumm and sits as one of the quietest in his entire catalogue. A single continuous 54 minute excursion into the netherworld of the audio spectrum, 'Trouble' is neither ambient nor drone but a more complex investigation into the deep recesses of sound. One which discreetly works itself into the mind of a listener willing to invest in the path laid out in this extremely subtle, beautiful and exceptional release." [label info]
www.editionsmego.com
"Kevin Drumm has been known to wield an iron fist on his recordings—records like Sheer Hellish Miasma, Impish Tyrant, and Electronic Harassment are titled that way for a reason—but Trouble may punish you in different, and sneakier, ways. This is the quietest record I've heard since Bernhard Günter and Francisco Lopez's hushed microsound works from the turn of the millennium. It is so quiet that you'll need to turn the volume up very, very loud to hear it well, or indeed, at all. In my case, that involves several steps—one volume control on the laptop, one on the audio interface, and one on the DJ mixer that it all runs through on the way to a pair of studio monitors—as well as closing the window in order to shield Drumm's filament-like drones from the rumble of traffic outside. Suffice to say, this is an album that requires some effort, and part of that effort might involve just sitting still.
I thought I might get some multi-tasking done—file maintenance, email cleanup, general absent-minded mousing around—while I sat and zoned out to a first run-through of what might be the Chicago noise musician's most ethereal recording since 2009's Imperial Horizon. But I had forgotten about the computer's default alert sounds, and when I went to delete a document, I was startled by the noise that suddenly tore through my speakers—a sound like boots crunching through snow, almost painfully loud. The sound, of course, came not from Drumm's Worse than Burning Offal studios, but from a lab in Cupertino. But it was tempting to imagine that moment of sonic violence as a part of the piece, in a way. Kevin Drumm wants your full attention, and he has mastered Trouble in such a way to practically guarantee it.
Another, perhaps better, option is just to leave the album on in the background at a natural, almost inaudible volume, and let it sink in like incense. That's the same line of thinking behind Imperial Horizon's lone, hour-long track "Just Lay Down and Forget It", presumably. I can think of few passive listens that might be less taxing than this shimmering, 54-minute piece, divided into two halves and separated by a minute or two of actual, total silence. As far as wallpaper music goes, Brian Eno's Music for Airports scans as a clash of gaudy op-art prints compared to Drumm's almost invisible layer of atmosphere. Still, per the title, Drumm's disappearing act amounts to a kind of uneasy listening, even at an almost imperceptible volume. This is the sound of fingertips slowly tracing crystal rims; of whale song heard from the opposite end of the ocean; of ghost trains braking in the dead of night. It is the sound of mountains slumping and mist settling. Its deathless peal is a dead ringer for the music of the spheres—all that friction, all that reverb, nothing but shivering frequencies, from here to the ends of the known universe. It's the ghostly microwaves of cosmic background radiation.
Despite Drumm's noisy reputation, his music can be overwhelmingly sensual even at its loudest. Sheer Hellish Miasma's "Hitting the Pavement", for instance, is a full-body rubdown of distortion—part airplane engine, part power sander, yet still, above all, a welcoming embrace. And that goes a thousand-fold for the sublime Trouble, an album that invites you to dive into its clutches with the promise of never hitting bottom. The noise floor is a very, very long way down." [Philip Sherburne/Pitchfork]
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Wrong Intersection |
CD |
"Wrong Intersection is a brand new album from Kevin Drumm presented in a one-time pressing and released on CD only. This new work spans Drumm's wide palette of textures and dynamics and is yet another milestone in his already prolific and critical journey of sound. Drumm has previously released material on Editions Mego, Hanson, Hospital Productions, Erstwhile, Chondritic, and Perdition Plastics." [label info]
Drumm is one of the most revered and influential noise artists, whose landmarks include the genre classics Sheer Hellish Miasma and Imperial Distortion.
"It can be hard to describe what distinguishes a really good noise record from an average one, but Drumm makes it easy for us. The question that all improvisers have to answer is whether something you play once can be worth listening to more than once. Experience and forethought ease the answer toward yes, and Drumm has both at his command." [Pitchfork]
"Kevin Drumm's outstanding Imperial Distortion is undoubtedly one of the finest experimental tomes to emerge over the last decade. It reframed the then noise-mired Hospital Productions label and was a startling about-turn for Drumm too, who up until this point was known pretty much exclusively for making eardrum-ripping noise in the vein of his pioneering Mego stand-out Sheer Hellish Miasma." [FACT Magazine]
"Even at its most chaotic, Kevin Drumm's music usually belies a sense of intentionality, a feeling of controlled purpose no matter the severity of the storm. It's one of the things that sets him apart: I've heard fans talk of Drumm as the most 'musical' of noisemakers, or a man who can do more with a few carefully sculpted sounds than most could do with a million." [Dusted]
www.handmadebirds.com
|
2014 |
€13.50 |
|
| |
Battering Rams |
LP |
From the viscerally punishing and nerve wrecking, to the wistfully sublime, Kevin Drumm ‘s work often yield a ferocious intensity through the timbres of minute details. Now, throughout this series of archival works dating from 2000 to 2022, his mastery is once again on full display.
On »Battering Rams«, sinister forces interlope with sanguine glimmers of respite and contemplation, while recurring drones ceaselessly crescendo to near paralysing effect, only for the albums final moments to offer a lofty reprise of boundless oscillation, dispelling all the pent up tension into a sanguine state of bliss. Once again underpinning Drums’ genius of turning apparently trivial hums into elongated microtonal worlds that stay etched deeply in your conscious, often long after the works final resonances have already subsided.
https://vaagner.bandcamp.com/album/battering-rams
Another serene deployment from Chicago great Kevin Drumm, 'Battering Rams' is a dissociated crackle of damaged percussion and errant feedback that stabilizes into the kind of bleakly sensitive atmosphere you'd usually expect to find on the back of a short-run black metal tape.
'Battering Rams' won't surprise any regular listeners but it's another worthy addition to the noise legend's canon, filling out the cloudier end of his sonic spectrum with more spacious industrial abstraction and the kind of pillowy drones we fell in love with the moment we first clapped our ears on 'Imperial Distortion'. The relative openness of 'Fire' wrong-foots us at first, with studio clatter amplified above an amplified whine that sounds like heavy machinery vibrating into obsoletion, but the mood shifts significantly on the brief 'Glory Only Once', heralded by eerie whistles.
We're led towards the crushing double blow of 'Dreams Now Major Events' and 'Old Shoes'. The former bends what sounds like synth choirs into bleak drones, slowly but perceptibly shifting the pitch and ramping up the tension, while the latter gives us the sweet release we've been waiting for, coaxing us towards the sublime. Here we're reminded of Drumm's most powerful serene material (think "Imperial Horizon"), lulled into a psychedelic slumber by billowing synths and distant keys.
-Boomkat
|
2023 |
€22.50 |
|
| DRØNE / DROENE / DRONE (MARK VAN HOEN / MIKE HARDING) |
Mappa Mundi |
CD |
This the first CD released by drøne, after two vinyl albums on Anna von Hausswolff's label, Pomperipossa. In a 5” jacket with artwork and font by nico, who also provided the hand-written text for the vinyl artwork for the 2015 and 2016 releases, “Mappa Mundi” traces and describes audio surrounding and occupying the planet earth.
Workers toil in smithies, call signs and chants-at-prayer reveal attempts to order the chaos, which always remains one step ahead. Post-lapsarian for sure, but smoke signals and drums have morphed into the ‘bing bong’ of the attention-grabbing, mind-polluting PA system. The coded simplicity of the whistle (“Start!”) has evolved into a more deliberate attempt to control rather than inform by explicit, structured language. Announcements have become commands; signs bark orders. Thus ‘no’ becomes a powerful rejection, rather than merely a preference; and no-ers are more easily to spot… “You’re going the wrong way”! (To which the only sensitive and mature response is: “Good!”)
Call signs, IDs, audio sigils and signatures all combine to describe a polluted, confusing atmosphere which threatens to leave us powerless and bewildered. "Decipher the sounds and you win the game! First prize is, guess what? You get to take the audio poison! Congratulations! You’ve lost!”.
The first album, 'reversing into the future' drew this response from Lend Me Your Ears: "This thrilling piece – surely the most kinetic non-dancefloor record in an age". Anna herself wrote of the follow up record, 'a perfect blind': "I love everything about this release. Such a great presentation and exciting project! And most important: the music is sublime."
The Quietus wrote: "Last year's distinctive debut from drøne was likened to a hurtling journey. It's combination of field recordings, shortwave radio and modular synths possessed an excited, driving energy whose route was hitherto unexplored and destination unknowable. But with an expanded sound pool boasting instruments across the ages - from guitar, through pipe organ and strings to dulcimer and psaltery – its follow-up takes a sideways step into more cognizant, reflective pastures.”
|
2017 |
€10.00 |
|
| DUAL |
Caste |
CD |
"Endlich ist sie raus, die Debut-CD des englischen Projekts, nach zwei Singles (eine davon auf Drone) und einigen Tapes.. DUAL arbeiten mit Gitarrensounds, die aber digital processed werden, und kreieren dabei ein spannenden, mitreissenden ambient-drone-Strom, aber auch schwelende, fast schon lähmende Klangwellen, die mit merkwürdigen konkreten Elementen versehen werden, manchmal hypnotisch pulsierend a la AUBE... von der Atmosphäre außergewöhnlich zart-außerweltlich... Grosse Klasse, our highest praise!" [Drone Rec. 2000] |
2000 |
€13.00 |
|
| DUBACH, PETRA & MARIO VAN HORRIK |
Church WAVES |
LP |
WAVES is an ongoing research project by Dutch artists Petra Dubach & Mario van Horrik that involves so-called shakers, a kind of loudspeakers that reproduce sound frequencies as vibrations, attached to long strings. Started in 2010, the project has so far produced a number of installations and concerts, some recordings have been published previously on Edition Telemark as a double 12" in 2016 (cat. no. 628.01).
For a few weeks in 2016 and 2017, Dubach and van Horrik had the chance to work on WAVES in the former Church of the Holy Heart in their hometown of Eindhoven where they stretched two 50 meters long strings between columns of the building and placed a piëzo transducer on one end and a shaker on the other end. Using this setup, they developed three different systems for generating feedback, spawning numerous experiments and recordings, a selection of which is presented on this LP. Video recordings of the process are enclosed on a DVD, showing the building and the strings as well as performances by Petra Dubach where her body and movement influences the standing waves in the space and thus the sound.
Edition of 200 in full-color sleeve with photos from the church and liner notes by Petra Dubach, Mario van Horrik, and Ruud Post. The DVD is enclosed inside the sleeve.
"All our experiments didn't have any plan as a basis; the sounds of one setup resulted in changes for the next setup. This could be: changes of drivers, adding or removing preparations, changing position of the recording device or the external driver, changing parameters of the mixing board or amps, or changing nothing at all: through the vibrations of the strings the preparations were more or less slowly transported across the length of the strings; sometimes forward, sometimes backward. We have made recordings of this process of more than one hour where the sounds constantly change under the influence of this transportation. But sometimes the movement would end in a fixed state." (from the liner notes)
https://www.edition-telemark.de/903.03.html
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| DUENN |
On Layer |
CD |
Duenn (Fukuoka, Japan) is an electronic musician and composer producing minimal works, using a minimum of equipment. With "On Layer" he brings us 5 fragile dreamscapes reminding of the late, great Oophoi, which says a lot about the impact of the music...
Duenn (Fukuoka, Japan) is an electronic musician and composer producing minimal works, using a minimum of equipment. Through collaborations with other artists, both sonic and visual, Duenn seeks an expansion of self. In 2017, Duenn formed the experimental collaborative unit 3RENSA with Merzbow and Nyantora. Duenn co-hosted the ambient event "Hardcore Ambience" with Nyantora.
Duenn's works have been published by Entr'acte (UK), SicSic Tapes (DE), New Motion (COL), OnmyÅdÅ Cassette (US), Grumpy Records (UK), Slowdown Records(JP), Progressive Form (JP), White Paddy Mountain (JP).
duennjp.tumblr.com
https://soundcloud.com/silentes-13
"The latest from Japanese electronic sound artist Duenn is Pattern. This recording is laid out in two parts, or two lengthy ambient ‘patterns’. The sonic soundscape drifts, or rather it glides along extremely fluidly. Any slight ripple is noticeable in this rather minimal composition of secluded harmony.
About five minutes in most listeners will dip slowly into a quasi consciousness. The light layers, many of them, overlap just slightly, all quite transparent, but in succession create a haze induced by a low-slung reverb and a glaze of light static. Though a cloudy density is certainly well built, the impossibility of gravitational disconnect is presented. These resonances seem incurably weightless. I’m reminded of countless documentaries of rockets zooming toward outer space, as the atmospheric layers are pierced, parts of the ship are discarded to make way for the central navigation pod, think Apollo 9 and its more glorious successors. Consider space as a whole, and altitude, and the complexity of being untethered to Mother Earth. It’s daunting, and somehow as soothing as any sleep concert I’ve ever attended.
On the flipside Pattern [part II] opens in darkness, but quickly opens with split warm and chill tonalities. We are now on a journey it seems, and the synths here are aligned with smoothly brushed lines making for quite a meditative piece. The inflections developed are more ranging in the second part, rising to a brighter hue that seems to continue expanding with each gentle modulation. If sound were nature, this would be a waterfall upon a high mountain peak." [Toneshift] |
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| DUET EMMO |
Or So It Seems (double white vinyl - special ed.) |
do-LP |
DUET EMMO (The Normal’s Daniel Miller, and Wire’s Edvard Graham Lewis and B.C. Gilbert) have released the long-awaited remastered reissue of their 1983 album, Or So It Seems.
Or So It Seems has been remastered from the original analogue tapes by Stefan Betke. Available on vinyl for the first time since its original release, the album has been expanded to double vinyl and is released on special edition white vinyl, as a limited edition of 400 on orange vinyl via Bleep (both with high-definition download), CD and digitally.
The original 8-track album, an assemblage of electronic sound collage, drone and abstract art pop, is perfect for re-appraisal, having been previously a somewhat overlooked album from its makers catalogues. Daniel Miller (The Normal / Silicon Teens and founder of Mute), Edvard Graham Lewis and B.C. Gilbert (of Wire, Dome and solo projects) were busy with their own individual work but made time for the new trio to record in the periods between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day in ’81 and ’82 – the a-side was recorded in ’81, the b-side followed in ’82 – with legendary engineer Eric Radcliffe at their favoured studio, Blackwing in London.
Duet Emmo’s pioneering hybrid electronics are mirrored in the project name – an anagram of Mute and Dome – and in the album’s striking artwork, a collage by supreme animators and filmmakers, the Brothers Quay redesigned by Bart van Damme.
OR SO IT SEEMS TRACKLISTING:
Hill Of Men
Or So It Seems
Friano
The First Person
A.N.C.
Long Sledge
Gatemmo
Last’s Card
|
2022 |
€42.50 |
|
| DUKE, ANDREW / AKUMU |
Organic |
CD-R |
Two new unknown names for us on John Gore's (KIRCHENKAMPF) label: ANDREW DUKE has 10 shorter pieces with delayed object-noises, nicely effected roaring drone-waves, weird electronic sounds, and glitchy rumbling granulation-fields, many details & ideas here, every piece is different... AKUMU presents three permeating sonorous drones with lots of micro-sounds... great CDR, much recommended!
"two Canadian sound artists: Andrew Duke of Cognition Audioworks of Nova Scotia presenting his cutup glitch compositions and Akumu (aka Deane Hughes) three tracks of deep drone - limited to 100 copies"
"I always appreciate Cohort’s will to present non-commercial electronic music from all over the world, even at the price of a few minor releases. But the good ones are REALLY good, and this is one of them. Andrew Duke, who is a renowned composer active in many different media, is here represented by a series of relatively dark tracks which feature quite a lot of spontaneous instrumental generation, in addition to Andrew’s obvious technical skills. Deceitful patterns and clashing reverberations release inexhaustible, mind-dislocating clouds of frequencies that contrast – or get married to – hypnotic vicious circles in an unpredictable kinship with hypothetical altered states of mind. Headphones are recommended to catch every minute detail, as Duke works at the margins of the audio spectrum to deliver his brand of electronica from any preconceived interpretation, virtualizing events with the equidistant calm of a neutral observer. Dean Hughes (Akumu) is even more obscure, entrancing and – contrarily to what the titles might suggest – organic. His three tracks are long explorations of the psyche through a mass of extremely resonant low drones that suggest no other behavior than a total relinquishment of our will to penetrate their structure (no pun intended). For my own taste, this is the best half of this split album, bringing memories of current masters of the genre (Frans De Waard’s Shifts and Freiband projects come to mind) through a masterful modulation of our sensitive apparata. But the whole CD is excellent, and it would be unjust on my behalf dividing the artists’ merits." [Touching Extremes]
|
2006 |
€9.00 |
|
| DUNCAN, JOHN |
Da sich die Machtgier... |
CD |
DUNCAN macht sich hier über einen CIORAN-rezitierenden ASMUS TIETCHENS her, dessen Vokalisationen (v.a. Silben) zerschnitten, de-fragmentiert und wieder zusammengesetzt werden zu höchst kuriosen Ergebnissen. Neben der Kreation dieser neuen Sprachlichkeit entwirft DUNCAN auch wieder die so beliebten, ins Infinite schwelgenden Monumental-Drones, und schreckt auch vor harschen Prozeduren nicht zurück. Das alles basiert auf den Stimmbändern unseres alten Lehrmeisters ASMUS T.
New work with DUNCAN working on TIETCHENS voice recititing CIORAN. His words are cut, de-fragmented and put together again to build a highly obscure new language.. also DUNCAN creates his beloved monumental-drones that spread into infiniteness, and even harsher procedures are to find on this very nice work !!
„ John Duncan about 'Da sich die Machtgier...': ASMUS TIETCHENS proposed that he and I work together years ago -- many years ago. For a variety of reasons it didn't happen , and at this point I don't remember any of them. Finally we agreed to start: I asked him to send a recording of his voice and said I'd work with it, send him the result and continue from there -- figuring that he would add to my gestures, then I'd add to his, ect., until we were both satisfied. Asmus sent recordings of him reading two excerpts from texts by E.M. CIORAN. Asmus had already processed his voice on both tracks, which are left more or less intact here on track 3.
After eighteen more months I started working on them, and a couple of weeks afterward send him the results. Asmus liked what he heard, said he felt it was already finished -- and since he hadn't participated directly in the composing process, he couldn't accept credit for involvement in it. We still disagree on this, but it's useless to insist that someone accept what he doesn't feel he's earned. So although I remain convinced that Asmus deserves to be acknowledged as an equal, we've agreed that this project would be credited to me alone.”
And here’s the CIORAN QUOTE:
"For thousands of years, the appetite for power being dispersed in countles tyrannies, great and small, which have raged here and there, the moment seems at hand when that appetite must finally collect and concentrate in order to culminate in a single power, expression of that thirst which has devoured, and still devours the globe, last word of all our dreams of mastery, the consummmation of our hopes and abberations. The sattered human herd will be united under the guardianship of one pitiless shepherd, a kind of planetary monster before whom the nations will prostrate temselves in an
alarm bordering on ecstasy. The universe brought to its knees, an important chapter of history will be closed. Then will begin the disintegration of this new reign and the return to the primal disorder, to the old anarchy; the smothered hates and vices will reappear and with them the minor tyrants of the bygone cycles. After the Great Slavery, mediocre ones. But as they emerge from their monumental servitudes, the survivors will be proud of their shame and, incomparable victims, will celebrate its memory.” -- E.M. Cioran, 'Learning from the Tyrants' [press release]
|
2003 |
€15.00 |
|
|
This bitter Earth |
7inch |
Further to John Duncan’s remarkable album of cover versions, Bitter Earth, iDEAL present an additional 7” featuring his haunting version of the ‘60s R&B classic which gave that LP its title, alongside covers of Jules Styne and Pere Ubu evergreens.
Whilst best known for his extensive research in the fields of EVP, psycho-acoustic phenomenon and experimental music, this 7” also serves to reveal Duncan’s exquisite taste for popular music, albeit toned to fit his unique catalogue of sounds.
At Duncan’s hands, This Bitter Earth is transformed into an ambient lament fronted by his own, husky vocals which really emphasise the titular lead phrase but counter it with more optimistic swells of keys by Eiko Ishibashi and “damaged accordion” from his regular collaborator, Carl Michael Hauswolff beautifully ambiguous, almost redemptive effect.
It’s followed by a compellingly mournfully take on Jules Styne’s I Fall In Love Too Easily, channelling its forsaken feels into a lowlit chamber jazz vibe with solo vocals accompanied by Domenico Sciajno’s standup bass, before tempering the glam swagger of Pere Ubu obscure B-side Final Solution (1976) with a bed of looming Hammond organ and spare percussion that descends into a heavily abstracted drone.
|
2016 |
€9.00 |
|
| |
MMXX-02: Panic @ 11000 Feet |
LP |
Matière Mémoire presents the MMXX Series: In anticipation of the year 2020, Matière Mémoire asked 20 experimental/electronic artists to create an original 20 minutes piece and an artwork. Throughout this year, each quarter will see the release of 5 new vinyls.
Each record is limited to 500 copies and comes as a crystal clear vinyl featuring an original track of 20 minutes on one side, and a laser engraved artwork on the other. Each 12" is housed in a transparent sleeve printed with the MMXX logo, coming with a print of the artist artwork.
Participate in this series: Franck Vigroux, John Duncan, Phill Niblock, Jim O’Rourke, Reinier Van Houdt, Stephen O’Malley, CM Von Hausswolff, Hampus Lindwall, Oren Ambarchi, Kevin Drumm, Bérangère Maximin, Kassel Jaeger, Daniel Menche, Charlemagne Palestine, Giueseppe Ielasi, Carlos Casas, Susanna Santos Silva, Joachim Nordwall, Karbé Dinel, Mauro Lanza
|
2020 |
€24.00 |
|
| DUNCAN, JOHN & C.M. VON HAUSSWOLFF |
Stun Shelter |
CD/BOOK |
Ähnlich wie “Keening Towers” eine edle Dokumentation einer Ausstellung/ Installation von DUNCAN... hier verbinden sich die Sounds seiner japanischen Porno-Filme mit von VON HAUSSWOLFF erzeugten wallenden Frequenzen zu einer unwirklichen Melange.. dazu ein 50 Seiten-Katalog mit Bildern und Texten..
"50-pages catalogue with full color photos and audio CD in DVD plastic cover. Audio and still images from the Stun Shelter installation at Galleria Nicola Fornello, Prato. Created and composed by John Duncan & Carl Michael von Hausswolff. Installation recording by Carl Michael von Hausswolff. Mastered at Scrutto by John Duncan. Catalogue text by Daniela Cascella. From the text of the catalogue : 'John Duncan's See is a video installation made up of four separate and simultaneous projections of sequences taken from the John See Series, a series of adult movies he directed (...). In those moments in which the sound is softer, a voice emerges, whispering Japanese phrases until it is drowned once again by the wave of louder sounds. Carl Michael von Hausswolff's Thinner & Low Frequency Bar
Glue & High Frequency Lounge consists of two bars made of steel and glass on which lie bottles and cans containing (...) glue and thinner. On the bar two oscillators produce frequencies varying in intensity, whose sound penetrates the ears altering normal perception levels. Both works fill the space perfectly, one by means of strong images (See), the other through the substances shown. Attention level is at its maximum in attempts to grasp the Japanese whispering (See) and the ghost-sounds of the oscillators (Thinner Bar...), defying the threshold of audibility as they act on the unconscious." [Daniela Cascella]
|
2003 |
€26.00 |
|
| DUNCAN, JOHN & D. CABRERA |
Infrasound-Tidal |
CD |
JOHN DUNCAN versucht wieder das UNHÖRBARE hörbar zu machen und bearbeitet Rohaufnahmen von Gezeiten, Luftdruck- und Erdbebenmessungen, wobei er z.B. 300 Jahre australische Tidenfrequenzmessungen von 60 Häfen so verdichtet, daß 1 Jahr genau eine Sekunde Sound ergibt. Morphologischer Ambient-Noise !
“ In 1998, Densil Cabrera made several infrasound recordings he'd made and collected: barometric measurements, seismic data, tidal readings from various points on the coasts of Australia. INFRASOUND - TIDAL focuses on these sources, transforming them from dry research material into a rich and unique listening experience.” [Allquestions]
|
2003 |
€15.00 |
|
| DUNCAN, JOHN & GIULIANA STEFANI |
Palace of Mind |
CD |
"... a really mind-blowing journey into pure sounds - same concert as he played during his small tour in Germany December 2000. Needs to be played loud. Our favourite DUNCAN-album so far. Mysterious, powerful, organic. A real experience." [Drone Rec. 2001]
label: www.allquestions.net
"Palace Of Mind is the 2000 recording collaboration between John
Duncan and Giuliana Stefani. Mr. Duncan has long been one of AQ's
favorite experimentalists, having started things out back in the '70s
LA performance art community only to quit the US to pursue his own
intense psychological research into sound, projection, installation,
photography, and the like. Stefani is a mathematician by training and
became acquainted with Duncan through a collaborative project they
began in Amsterdam in 1996. For this album, the two sifted through
digital treatments of shortwave transmissions, wire-tapped data
streams, and voice. In turn, they work the album into labyrinthine
composition that can hold any number of potent metaphors: the neural
synapses of the human brain, the schematics of a computer, or simply
an architectural set of overlapping resonant spaces. Rareified tones
set with motoric vibrations transition through the fluttering of (or
rather the lack there of, as this sounds like the empty spaces between
the bands marked by a mechanoid oily hiss) and onto slashing digital
drone. Here, one can think to Duncan's exceptional field recordings
made at the Stanford Linear Accelerator in the early '90s. Within the
movement from an irritable data-stream purity to the gossamer haze of
shortwave distortion to gaping drones of treated vocal vibrato, Duncan
and Stefani have set a trajectory deep into the heart of their sonic
architecture, with each 'room' saturated with an anxiousness for what
may be on the other side of the door. You won't find Duncan firing a
gun at your head (seriously, he did that as performance piece called
Scare back in the late '70s, using blanks mind you), but Palace Of
Mind revels in an interlocking network of chambers that resonate and
breathe with a profound beauty. Highly recommended!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2000 |
€15.50 |
|
| DUNCAN, JOHN & PETER FLEUR |
The Scattering |
CD |
Die Zusammenarbeit des MEISTERS mit dem ex L.O.S.D. PETER FLEUR beschert uns elektronisches Schnarren & Pulsieren,
gleissende elektromagnetische Muster, und lange geisterhafte drones, mit überraschenden cuts. Solo- und Collaborationtracks von beiden.
“ This CD is a collaboration album of sorts: the first track (of three) was done by both Duncan and Fleur, the second pece is by Fleur solo, the third by Duncan solo. For those who don't know: Fleur was part of the duo L.O.S.D. with Radboud Mens and later released a very DIY ambient kit in the form of a double 5" (one CD, the other vinyl, beautiful!). The tracks on this disc all stem from 2001 and seem to be based on data files and shortwave sounds. This could be true, but it could just as well not be. Most of the sounds are heavily stretched, so they could have originated anywhere. But of course, that is also unimportant in the end, because what ultimately counts is the music itself. And after an initial slight repulsion on my behalf by so much stretching (this is strictly personal!), things begin to find their place and flow. The track sounds ambient at first, but escapes this by having way too much composition and build up. The tension stays good throughout the piece and after some time
the sound actually stops, which is highly surprising in a work like this, but it's a very nice surprise indeed. We are now more than
halfway through, still 13 minutes to go and then: bang! another stretch blasts in and puts everything on edge again. This one lasts
the whole last 13 minutes, although it fades out very slowly and somewhere a bass sound is added, that slowly gets richer. This is the title track by the way. Well done. Track two is a 15 minute piece by Peter Fleur, starting with a low resonating ambient bass sound, into which a cluster of higher frequencies is slowly mixed. This movement is repeated, but each time more sounds are added, which does a lot for tightening the tension. And here again, halfway through: a sudden break, a completely distorted sound taking over, fading out and digital rain is left. The track ends with long glissando's of all kinds and a surprise. Defenitely not your everyday ambient drone stuff from Fleur. Something way more interesting instead! Duncan's track is the one stemming from the shortwave sounds. The piece seems to be edited together from several recordings, but then again, it could also be a direct to disc mix. The sounds are familiar for anyone who has ever turned a radio dial and the track itself doesn't do much to enhance that experience, except for layering these sounds. To be very honest: I have heard it done better. Still, the CD as a whole is a success, as far as I am concerned." [MR, Vital Weekly] Address:
http://editionellipsis.hypermart.net
|
2003 |
€14.00 |
|
| DUNCAN, JOHN / KONTAKT DER JÜNGLINGE / C.M.VON HAUSSWOLFF |
Untitled |
CD |
Übriggebliebene Kopien einer CD die anlässlich eines DIE STADT-Konzertabends in Brüssel (18.10.2007) veröffentlicht worden ist: Ein langes live-Stück von JOHN DUNCAN (San Francisco July 2007) -> wieder spürt man man hier die rohe & archaische Kraft von reinem Klang und die grossen Dynamikeffekte von eingesetzer "fliessender" Stille (24+ Minuten). Überraschenderweise dann ein älterer live-Mitschnitt von KONTAKT DER JÜNGLINGE, und zwar vom Mai 2003 aus Montreal, der sie sehr rauh und ausserweltlich dronig zeigt, auf verschiedenen Klangleveln (gefällt uns natürlich ausgezeichnet).
Bei CM VON HAUSSWOLFF geht es wie gewöhnlich noch 'ne Ecke verschrobener zu, wenn beim "All Tomorrows Parties"-Festival (?) rhythmisch wiederkehrende Quietsch- oder Sinustöne zu vernehmen sind.... diese CD funktioniert sowohl als rares Bonus-Material für die Fans, aber ist auch für Drone-Novizen geeignet, die sich in die Materie hineinzoomen wollen.
"To be on Die Stadt as an artist seems to me a great thing. Besides great looking releases, they organize events for you, and for such an occasion they usually release a CD or a 7", which can be bought on the night, but there is always a left-over for the unlucky who didn't make it. Last month there was an event in Brussels with three stable mates: John Duncan, CM von Hauswolff and Kontakt Der Junglinge. Perhaps Die Stadt asks too much of their artists, and none did a new studio recording, but you could also think it's interesting to capture a live track by them. So three live tracks here. Duncan's piece was recorded at the Compound, earlier this year, and although it's a while since I last heard studio recording by John Duncan, it sounds like a trademark piece for him: micro tones, composed from heavily processed shortwave sounds, make up a fine piece shifting from intense loudness to careful and delicate. Very nice. Kontakt Der Jünglinge, being Asmus Tietchens and Thomas Köner, present a recording from 2003, at the Mutek festival. They too present a characteristic piece for them with computer processing of acoustic sounds. Loads of dark rumble and high pitched processed sounds. Hauswolff's piece seems to be made with bird sounds, looped around and with a crescendo of noise coming in and more insect like sounds. Nice but not his best. Three good introductions of three great artists (well, four), in case you ever would need that." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.diestadtmusik.de
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| DUPLANT, BRUNO |
Quelques Usines Fantomes |
CD |
"As a listener, I’m always intrigued as to what attracts me or doesn’t with regard to works in the field recording vein. The same applies to other areas of music as well, of course, but it’s especially interesting in these works composed of sounds generally taped on site and, to a lesser or greater degree, assembled back in the studio. They’re simply sounds, after all, more or less what I could hear on my own by concentrating on my surroundings at any given moment (allowing for different sources from different locations) which I often do anyway. Why be so absorbed by someone else’s impressions?
Two things, I think, at least. One is a basic affinity with the assembler as far as particular sounds that he or she finds beautiful, fascinating, notable, resonant. As much as one might consciously think that such hierarchies are entirely beside the point, there remains that nagging tendency, whether culturally or genetically inculcated, to prefer one sound, or combination of sounds, to another, at least to the extent one hasn’t fully assimilated Cage et. al., often a more difficult, thornier task than readily admitted. Second is the way these sounds are ordered, layered and contrasted, certainly as subjective a judgment, but one having to do with an appreciation of the composer’s poetic sense, in the perceived “rightness” of the sequence of sounds, ultimately not so different, I think, to one’s enjoyment of post-AMM improvisation.
Though I’d heard examples of this approach since college days, the first such music to really make a strong impression on me was probably Luc Ferrari’s “Presque Rien”, and shortly thereafter, Toshiya Tsunoda’s “Scenery of Decalcomania”. They certainly, for me, contained the two elements described above and, more, evoked an extremely realsense of place, in the manner that I hear things, a very self-centered view, but one I think comes part and parcel when listening to work in this area. Over the years, hearing countless examples of field recording as it has become more and more pervasive (often mixed with live improvisation, sometimes set to disc untouched, often manipulated in the studio), I’ve often questioned myself as to why this example failed to move me while that one did. It’s usually very hard to quantify, somehow even more so than determining the relative value in a free instrumental performance.
I was thinking through this while listening to Bruno Duplant’s “Quelques usines fantômes” (which would be translated into English as “some ghost factories”). Why is this particular collection and distribution of sounds so appealing? They seem to have been drawn, largely, from a waterside area, perhaps a canal, not an overly busy one but where a certain amount of activity is taking place, maybe early in the morning a la Ferrari’s classic work. Duplant eschews going for overt watery sounds, contenting himself with low-level, subtle lapping, the soft creaks of hull on wooden piers, the gentle puttering of a small outboard motor, etc. These serve as the spine of the piece and are consistent throughout (after the first few minutes, at least), another aspect I tend to find compelling: choosing a given sound world and sticking to it, investigating its features in detail, allowing it time to generate a larger effect than mere sonics. There are plenty of other sounds, to be sure: metal objects dropping to the floor, unidentifiable hums, an odd, theramin-like wavering tone, wind billowing in enclosed spaces—at least this is how I hear them; who knows their actual source? But that’s of no import; one accepts this world, which is a basic thing for me. As in any good story or film, the reader/viewer has to accept the presented world as valid, as internally consistent, as “real” at least in the mind of its creator. “Quelques usines fantômes”, whether one picks up on the spirits being manufactured or not, readily achieves this. One is immersed in the world, deriving both sensual enjoyment and, more, generating one’s own narrative, trusting that one is on solid ground. The periodic, electronic-sounding hums that surface give the world a bit of a science fiction or otherworldly sheen, perhaps appropriate given the work’s title, though it’s those real world sounds that anchor the piece for me. Duplant has said he wanted to create a “between world” and I think he has.
A full, rich work then, one of the better things I’ve heard in this lineage in recent years and very much worth losing oneself in.”
(Brian Olewnick, May 2011)
www.unfathomless.net
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Nox |
CD |
The sound piece Nox (in addition to reflecting the traditional nocturnal effluvia specific to the title) is based on the multiple meanings and interpretations that can be made of the incomplete form of the dactylic hexameter and palindrome In girum imus nocte ecce et consumimur igni. This Latin phrase, pictorial and poetic, most often attributed to Virgil, refers to the moths that circle around the candle before burning themselves, and which means: “We go around in circles in the night and we are devoured by fire “. It is also, much closer to us, a French film directed by Guy Debord in 1978. The film (lasting 95 min) describes the consumer society and capitalist alienation, applying to highlight the condition of modern slaves. Today even more this Latin expression takes on a new meaning with the phenomena of ultra-liberalism and major climate crisis. Man, like moths, burns his wings on the fires he himself lit and continues to maintain despite warnings and threats. Are we witnessing the end of the Anthropocene, of the consumer society and capitalist alienation described by Guy Debord?
~
La pièce sonore Nox (outre le fait de refléter les traditionnelles effluves nocturnes propre au titre), repose sur les sens et interprétations multiples que l’on peut faire de la forme incomplète de l’hexamètre dactylique et palindrome In girum imus nocte ecce et consumimur igni . Cette locution latine, imagée et poétique, le plus souvent attribuée à Virgile, fait référence aux papillons de nuit qui tournent autour de la chandelle avant de s’y brûler, et qui signifie : « Nous tournons en rond dans la nuit et nous sommes dévorés par le feu ». C’est aussi, beaucoup plus près de nous, un film français réalisé par Guy Debord en 1978. Le film (d’une durée de 95 min) décrit la société de consommation et d’aliénation capitaliste, s’appliquant à mettre en évidence la condition d’esclaves modernes. Aujourd’hui encore plus cette expression latine prend un sens nouveau avec les phénomènes d’ultra-libéralisme et de crise climatique majeure. L’Homme, tels les papillons de nuit, se brûle les ailes sur les feux qu’il a lui même allumé et qu’il continue a entretenir malgré les avertissements et les menaces. Assistons-nous à la fin de l’anthropocène, de la société de consommation et d’aliénation capitaliste décrite par Guy Debord ?
(Bruno Duplant, May 2022)
Release Date : June 20, 2022
Duration : 40:00
Format : glass mastered CD/digital
Track : nox
Regular Edition : 165 hand-numbered copies
Packaged in clear vinyl sleeve with folded insert + additional art card on 350gr satin paper.
Cover design, card & treatments by Daniel Crokaert
Based almost exclusively on photos by Bruno Duplant and some additional textures from
Unfathomless' archive
"It seems as if no week passes by without a new release by Bruno Duplant, the French composer of whom I never seem to know much about. Releases for Unfathomless deal with field recordings, and this one is no different, except, perhaps, for the fact that many of these field recordings are made in one place. Duplant
recorded his material in Waziers, Berlin and London, without being very specific about the exact locations. That too is sometimes different on this label. And lastly, Duplant uses some instruments here. I believe to hear a piano and some instrument played with a bow; that might strings or a cymbal. The title refers to "the multiple meanings and interpretations that can be made of the incomplete form of the dactylic hexameter and palindrome In girum imus nocte ecce et consumimur igni. This Latin phrase, pictorial and poetic, most often attributed to Virgil, refers to the moths that circle around the candle before burning themselves, and which means: “We go around in circles in the night and we are devoured by fire". I am not that smart. More explanations on the Bandcamp page. Maybe the piece is indeed a palindrome. At least when I opened it in an audio editor it gave that impression. As with some of other recent works, Duplant seems to be layering a lot of sounds that may not have
many relations with each other and then finds a dialogue among them. By slowly fading up and down particular sounds, he creates a very rich sound world. I am not sure to what extent this is to be understood as random in the John Cage-sense, or if the composer willingly allows sounds to be louder or quieter in the mix. There are some massive, drone-like rocks, very detailled small field recordings, the occasional piano tone, the bow across the cymbal/violin, crackles and it all works very well. 'Nox' lasts exactly forty minutes, but I am sure this could be twice as long and still be interesting. I know this, because I had it on repeat and didn't notice the change over that much and it wasn't until much longer that I realized it started again. The overall tone of the piece is quite moody and atmospheric, but I guess such is the nature of densely layered field recordings. High quality work, as usual." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| DURAND, WERNER |
Schwingende Luftsäulen 2 |
CD |
"Werner Durand Schwingende Luftsäulen 2, the second chapter dedicated to Durand's music applied to the Pan-Ney, the wind instrument of his own invention. With gorgeous artworks by Karlheinz Bux and extensive liner notes by Adelio Fusé. "Schwingende Luftsäulen 2 is the second chapter of a trilogy featuring the Pan-Ney with its tubes or columns of vibrating air (Schwingende Luftsäulen, in fact). This second chapter, in which the Pan-Ney is flanked by the tenor sax, reconnects where the first one ends (ANTS, 2017), and proceeds along a path that is coherent and uniform, and whose imaginative ideas go beyond the strictly musical sphere. (...) Wald (forest) is the centerpiece of the three works that make up Schwingende Luftsäulen 2. It is the forest with its multiple meanings, real and symbolic, mythological, religious, literary, folkloric. The forest as a place that is sacred or magical, dreamlike or fairy-tale. A place of adventure and misadventure, to trek through with a view toward growth or rebirth. (...) In Spiegel (Mirror), dedicated to the Tonaliens Ensemble, the Pan-Ney and the tenor saxophone weave a layered dialogue in which they call and respond to each other. Not only. In their ‘mirroring conversation' the two instruments seem to suggest a choreography. Durand's music stands out for its ability to make some 'scenes' visible. In the dance evoked in Spiegel, the gestures - and perhaps even the bodies - appear suspended and rarefied, just as the music is suspended and rarefied, while, during listening, time expands beyond the duration of the piece. Music and dance remain there, in midair, even at the end of the ritual. (...) Panga, for Pan-Ney, tenor sax and digital delay, contains an allusion to nature. Panga (note the morpheme “pan”, which refers to Durand’s instrument) is the name of a plant that grows in New Zealand but that occurs in the botany of other areas of the planet (for example, in the Amazon) in connection with ancient practices both pharmacological and aphrodisiac. But the plant could easily belong to a manual of imaginary botany, if one thinks that nature, for Durand, is both a source of real inspiration and a place to reinvent according to subjective visions and coordinates."
www.antsrecords.com/AG19_SCHWINGENDE_2.html |
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| DUVELLE, CHARLES & HISHAM MAYET |
The Photographs of Charles Duvelle - - Disques OCORA And Collection PROPHET |
BOOK / 2 x CD |
The Photographs of Charles Duvelle
Disques OCORA and Collection PROPHET
Charles Duvelle and Hisham Mayet
Disques Ocora, a French label dedicated to capturing and publishing the sounds of folkloric culture from around the world, is held in the highest possible regard in the realms of professional and amateur ethnomusicology. Instigated in 1958 by Pierre Schaeffer, the founder of musique concrète, Disques Ocora’s sterling reputation is largely built on composer and musicologist Charles Duvelle’s pioneering field recordings, as well as his now-iconic photographs and graphic design.
Charles Duvelle’s work is indisputably one of the most important contributions to the human understanding of the rich biodiversity of our planet’s music and language. In 1977, his field recordings from Benin were selected by Carl Sagan for inclusion on the Voyager Golden Records, which were carried into outer space by the Voyager spacecraft to stand as an example of humanity’s highest musical expressions for the universe’s unknown listeners.
Sublime Frequencies’ most ambitious project to date, this 296-page fine-art photography book comprises an exhaustive collection of Charles Duvelle’s field photography from 1959 to 1978, demonstrating that this master musicologist had an equally unerring eye for photography. It also contains an exhaustive interview with Charles Duvelle by Hisham Mayet, detailing the history of the label and offering Duvelle’s unique insights into the discipline of field recording. The package includes two full-length CDs of archival recordings (some of which have never been published) selected by Duvelle himself.
In a tribute to Disques Ocora’s exquisite design sensibility, the book is printed on 170gsm Lumisilk matte artpaper and bound in grey buckram with gold foil stamping on the cover and spine. The front cover includes a tipped-on glossy photograph by Charles Duvelle.
Contents
• 188 black & white and 58 color photographs selected by Charles Duvelle and Hisham Mayet from five regions surveyed during his time with Ocora: West Africa, Central Africa, Indian Ocean, Pacific Islands, and SouthEast Asia
• Two CDs of music compiled exclusively for this volume by Charles Duvelle with fully annotated track listings and recording details
• An interview with Charles Duvelle by Hisham Mayet (French and English facing text)
• “Disques Ocora / Charles Duvelle Discography, 1959–1974,” a complete overview illustrated with 94 full-color album thumbnails
• “The Prophet Collection, 1999–2004,” a discography of Duvelle’s post-Ocora label, illustrated with 41 full-color album thumbnails
• Ocora catalogues, 1964–1973
• A photo index listing the details of each photograph in the book
• “Eastern Music in Black Africa,” a 17 page report prepared by Charles Duvelle at the request of UNESCO, February 1970
Produced and edited by Hisham Mayet
Limited Edition. 296 page fine art photography book with 2 CDs of exclusive audio complied by Charles Duvelle.
https://sublime-frequencies.bandcamp.com/album/the-recordings-of-charles-duvelle-disques-ocora-collection-prophet
|
2017 |
€59.00 |
|
| DWARFS OF EAST AGOUZA |
Rats don't eat Synthesizers |
LP |
Alan Bishop: acoustic bass, alto sax. Sam Shalabi: electric guitar. Maurice Louca: organ, synthesizers, beats.Akuphone in collaboration with Annihaya is very proud to present “Rats Don’t Eat Synthesizers” the long-awaited second album by the Dwarfs of East Agouza. Hailing from the Agouza district of Cairo, Egypt, this brilliant trio consists of Alan Bishop (Acoustic Bass & Alto Sax), Maurice Louca (Keyboards & Drum Machine) and Sam Shalabi (Electric Guitar).Following their acclaimed first album “Bes “, this new long play is composed of two hypnotic journeys: “Rats Don’t Eat Synthesizers” and “Ringa Mask Koshary”which was recorded in Cairo in September of 2015.Mesmerizing electric guitar parts, frenetic beats, both supported by the deep sound of Alan’s acoustic bass create a new magical Egyptian soundscape.Vinyl version is coming with a beautiful hot-foil stamped sleeve that magnifies the red metallic rats and a wonderful printed inner sleeve. Includes redeem code. Limited Edition.
https://akuphone.bandcamp.com/album/rats-don-t-eat-synthesizers
|
2018 |
€22.00 |
|
| DÄLEK {DALEK] |
Untitled |
LP |
"One track, 40 minutes over 2 sides. The eagerly awaited and legendary Latitudes session finally sees the light of day. Vinyl comes in a limited run of 700 black and 300 purple and includes an insert and a sticker.
from the liner notes:
July 2005 was a crazy time in my universe. John Loder, my mentor and surrogate big brother, who I had worked alongside at Southern for 20 years, was very ill - battling a brain tumour diagnosed 18 months earlier. Dälek were holed up in my flat, on the sharp end of reducing their number from three to just two. They were recording a session for our relatively new Latitudes imprint - spending days in the studio laying tracks and nights in my living room, working on ideas. We got to know each other, really. (I have the photos of Alap passed out drunk in his boxer shorts to prove it.) I discovered that the hip-hop bravado and crushing beats were only one layer of these guys. They had a secret Metal past, a serious Alt-Country present, and hearts as big as New Jersey. Their love and knowledge of music ran deep.
On the 7th, I got up to head into the office/studio, and left them sleeping away. Half way to the bus stop I got a call from Tony saying turn around, go home, don't get on the bus or the tube. He said there had been explosions in the Underground. I turned around, went home and turned on the news. Alap and Will sat with me and watched London's own version of 9-11 unfold, and then, full of determination and grit, headed into the studio to finish recording. And what did they produce?
Why it's taken this long for this recording to be released is only down to me, and the battles that I've fought in the intervening five years. In August of 2005, John Loder left us. Since then I've had to work very hard to keep Southern going, and though we had to close our warehouse and as a result lose most of our staff last year, we've survived, and actually come out all the better for it. It's like the old days - we're compact, which means we can fight our battles like guerilla warriors - which is pretty much what you need to do to make ends meet these days.
None of this has much to do with the epic grooves that Dälek laid down on this session. And it has everything to do with it, at least when I listen to what MC Dälek is saying. Sonically, this session is a real departure from Dälek's albums. It's a gorgeous, multi-cultural melting pot of sound and space, a serious shot to the head, an opening of the third eye. I strongly urge you to explore the magnificence of this session on headphones, in a darkened room, and let it take you away.
I love it so much that I guess I wanted to keep it to myself for all this time. But it's time to share, and to apologise to you all for taking so long. - Allison Schnackenberg, August 2010" [label info]
http://blog.southern.com/latitudes
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Asphalt for Eden |
LP |
Conceived in New Jersey from its emerging DIY scene from the late ‘90s, cult hop-hop trio DÄLEK were known as pioneers over the last fifteen years or so of an intriguing sound which fused a blend of progressive hip-hop artistry supported by a rhythmic backdrop consisting of sonic experimentation through noise music and dark ambient (they would be dubbed by journalists as what would happen when you mix Public Enemy and My Bloody Valentine). Their singularity would be highlighted in four defining milestone full-length albums released on Ipecac Recordings (one of them being their “Absence” masterpiece LP from 2005), along with live actions where the band would support the likes of Tool and The Melvins, and even collaborate with the likes of artists such as Faust. In Spring 2015 mastermind MC Dälek (a.k.a. Will Brooks, with the blessing of ex-member/co-producer Oktopus) revived DÄLEK after a hiatus with a new lineup which now includes DJ rEk and Mike Swarmbots and are now preparing to release their new album “Asphalt For Eden” which will be the first official DÄLEK release since their last full-length, 2009’s “Gutter Tactics”.
“Asphalt For Eden” sees a new creative peak for DÄLEK and will bring a new awareness for this cult hip-hop entity now resurrected once again and ready to show a formidable display of true hip hop artistry and experimentation through their new album and the plethora of touring the band have planned in support of it. A band which many see as one of the most genuine underground DIY hip hop iconoclasts.
dalekipecac.bandcamp.com/album/asphalt-for-eden |
2016 |
€27.00 |
|
| |
Respect to the Authors |
12inch |
180g schwarzes Vinyl, Std. Sleeve mit Glanzlaminat. In jeder Hinsicht sind Dälek ein musikalisches Extrem. Als Kollektiv nutzen sie die Collagen-Ästhetik der frühen Bomb Squad Produktionen und versetzen ihren HipHop mit Elementen von Faust, My Bloody Valentine und Velvet Underground. Betrachtet man die Texte verwendet Dälek als MC Ideen und Gedanken, die jenseits gängiger HipHop-Issues liegen. Sowohl Dälek's Musik als auch seine Lyrics bilden eine ganz besondere Komposition und ergänzen sich zu einem großen Ganzen. Und obwohl dieser Act die wohl größte Herausforderung in der Geschichte der experimentalen Musik angenommen hat, geht es hier nicht um elitäre Standortbestimmungen sondern geerdete Synapsenmassage. Dälek bleiben sich selbst treu und präsentieren HipHop als eine progressive Form von Kunst und nicht Kommerz. Es ist heutzutage einfach, eine Band mit den großen Künstlern der Vergangenheit zu vergleichen, aber wenige sind es, die Einflüsse aus der Popgeschichte aufsaugen und die Summe dieser zu einem Größeren machen als die Einzelteile. Exile On Mainstream verbindet eine tiefe Freundschaft mit Dälek seit nunmehr 17 Jahren und wir sind stolz und glücklich wie bekloppt, diese EP zu präsentieren. Sie erscheint strengstens limtiert ausschließlich auf Vinyl.
Dubbed as ‘alt hip-hop’ by their iconic label Ipecac Records we can’t agree more to the implication of this honorific as the New Jersey tone evangelists are indeed an alternative, if not thee alternative: being Hip Hop for those who don’t pigeon-hole themselves as typical Hip Hop diehards, attracting those who keep listening outside the box. Subversive. Paradigm-changing. Mindblowing.
Dälek do not have a message, they are the message: with focusing both on tone and content while staying true to the roots of HipHop but bringing in the love for monolithic sound arrangements as well as dream-like haze of sheer volume they combine both the powers of sound and words solely and undisputable. For us at Exile On Mainstream it’s nothing less than a long dream coming true to release a strictly limited, one-off vinyl-only EP called “Respect To The Authors” in time for the EU tour in March/ April 2019. The EP features 6 tracks and 30 mins of playing time.
Exile On Mainstream has been friends with Dälek for well over 17 years and the release marks bringing together likeminded efforts to full circle.
|
2019 |
€17.50 |
|
| DÖRING, ROGER & KONRAD KORABIEWSKI |
Komplex |
LP |
The project was created over two years in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland and in Berlin, Germany, and is an evolving conversation between Döring’s improvisation on acoustic instruments such as clarinet and saxophones, and Korabiewski’s electronic live treatment and composition with Döring’s sounds. A third compositional element is contributed by the particular ambiences of the spaces in which the recordings took place, as Korabiewski and Döring came together to record at sites with personal and acoustic resonance, from Döring’s apartment in Berlin to an abandoned herring factory by the sea in east Iceland.
Musically Komplex moves seamlessly between ethereal ambient re- frains, to a somber, churning low end, to a hypnotic looping rev- erie that slowly disintegrates as if under the burr and scratch of a gramophone needle. Melodic elements occasionally distort and peak into noise, lending the simplicity of solo instrumental im- provisation an atmospheric density, and revealing the material and spiritual limits of the fragile musical moments around which the album circles. The track titles, made of German expressions and short sentences, refer to the restless transience of creative life, much like that of a journeyman craftsperson centuries ago. The result is a highly expressive, dark, and deeply felt, honest album, reflective of shifting emotional states and uneasy sagas from the north.
Side A
06:02 kremmenerstraße [baritonsaxofon ]
03:07 seelischer konflikt [baritonsaxofon ]
06:24 flucht [baritonsaxofon ]
04:03 hof [tenorsaxofon ]
Side B
04:44 wenn es gehen will laß es gehen [klarinette ]
02:09 aber langsam gehe ich meinen weg – langsam [klarinette,diktaphon ]
05:34 wohin des weges, wandersmann? [klarinette ]
04:24 zeit heilt alle wunden [tenorsaxofon ]
8 Tracks (36′29″)
Vinyl (300 copies)
www.gruenrekorder.de
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| EARTH |
Pentastar: In the style of demons |
CD |
Die vierte EARTH CD von 1996, wo es neben „klassisch“ metal/rockig instrumentierten slow-drone Stücken auch sehr feine ambience-tracks gibt (wie das wunderbare „Crooked Axis for String Quartet“), die ihre sensibel-harmonische Seite zeigen.... eine ungewöhnliche Mischung to say the least.
“Dylan Carlson and Dave Harwell use drums and Vocals on the fourth release. Some people think this is ambient metal, grindcore refusniks, classic minimalists, or industrialists making soundscapes. A little bit of all of that is true. Dylan says the music is built around the riffs, and claims 70s riff rock as an influence, but it is run through the Earth machine, and the riffs are slowed down to a molasses in winter pace, but not down to a hibernation Grief pace. "High Command" "Peace In Mississippi" and "Coda Maestoso In F(flat) Minor" are my faves here but they are all good. Great, stretched out guitar, motionless in space, contemplating the nature of emotional disorders, rock music.” [Hairy Kari, KFJC]
|
1996 |
€15.00 |
|
|
The Bees made Honey in the Lion's Skull |
CD |
"... und die „bees" ist dann so etwas wie die positive „hex": die kräfte sind gesammelt und fast mit einem fingerschnippen rollen die riffs (in typischer earth-manier, zweifellos, aber sie rollen und verharren eben nicht in ihrer eigenen statik wie zuvor). wie ein soundtrack zu einem extrem verlangsamten cruisen. dazu die in einzelfällen uplifting melodieführung... da könnten einzelne freunde der erde schon dran zu knacken haben... in ihrer mischung aus hypnotisch (die wiederholungen) und dem neu entdeckten drehmoment (der innere, ja, swing) plus dem offenen sound und der harmonik aber einfach ein sexy gesamtpaket." [N, Unruhr.de]
"...After refaceting some old gems for greater illumination on "Hibernaculum". The band returns once again to it's continuing evolution. Where "Hex" reveled in dark satanic twang and austere american beauty, "The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull" finds Dylan Carlson and the band growing into a harder, more rock, american Gospel and improvisitory direction framed by truly psychedelic production and blazing guitar sounds. Earth shows it's affinity with a nod to the best elements of the more adventurous San Francisco bands of the late 60's and 70's, and the more spiritually aware and exciting forms of Jazz-Rock from the same era. This is no nostalgia trip but a thoroughly inspired and original metamorphosis. Earth is also very honored to be joined on this record for three songs by legendary and virtuoso guitarist BILL FRISELL (doing some of his most fuzzed out playing in years!) . Bill Frisell adds a brilliant texture and counterpoint to the scintillating and inspired riffs of Dylan Carlson and the band. Adrienne Davies joins again on drums lending a classic and steady feel to the proceedings. Steve Moore also returns adding heavy hammond organ and his intense jazz inspired piano playing. Live Bassist Don McGreevy also makes his full length Earth debut on this record. Earth will begin touring throughout the world when the album is released, Australia, Europe and a full US campaign and on from there. The new songs are equally compellinglive where EARTH takes the vehicles and expand and explore them for further musical and meditative exploration..." [from the label notes]
www.southernlord.com
|
2008 |
€15.50 |
|
| |
Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light |
CD |
"Earth recently unveiled a beautiful collection of early recordings ("A Bureaucratic Desire for Extra Capsular Extraction") to which many agree marked the band as pioneers of a new sound that has continued to metamorphose ever since. True that with each brand new studio album, they evolve, and it is this willingness to experiment with different sounds and different musicians that has enabled Earth to remain consistently interesting and undoubtedly always unique.
Following the Extra Capsular reissues, Earth's next offering is a brand new studio album, "Angels Of Darkness, Demons of Light 1", a fine testament to the fact that they have come a long way since 1989. Drawing on inspiration from both British Folk-Rock bands the Pentangle and Fairport Convention and the North African Tuareg band Tinariwen, the new material, while still "heavy" is much more fluid and melodically oriented, less dense and more textured and nuanced. It contains greater improvisatory interplay between the musicians.
On one hand the new album acknowledges previous recordings, sonically it cultivates the jazz infused Americana presented on The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull and as a further nod to the past, Earth returned to Avast studios to work with producer Stuart Hallerman (Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Built To Spill, and Earth2!) again. On the other hand, there have been some significant changes which have given birth to yet another new sound, the main change being the line up and so joining Dylan and Adrienne on the album is cellist Lori Goldston (Nirvana, David Byrne, Black Cat Orchestra, Laura Veirs) and Karl Blau (K Records, Laura Veirs, Microphones) on electric bass. The touring band will feature Dylan Carlson, Adreinne Davies, Lori Goldston, and Angelina Baldoz on bass.
Songs "Father Midnight" and Hell's Winter" definitely retain some of their former glory on the Bees Made Honey... whilst the cello, though subtle at times, adds a more haunting tone to songs "Old Black" and "Descent to the Zenith" which are so powerful that they have the ability to move one to tears. It is the album's closer and title track which is the boldest step in a new direction for Earth, utilizing the complimentary tones of cello, electric bass and Dylan's guitar, leaving the notes to hang contemplatively in the air before Adrienne's drum beats finally emerge. The repetition throughout the song is seemingly simplistic, though as we all know by now, there is absolutely nothing simple about holding a note or beat for as long as Earth do.
There are many breaths of fresh air in this new record, many hopeful tones and drones as well as more eerie ones. One thing is for sure, this incarnation of Earth excels all expectations." [label info]
www.southernlord.com
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
| EARTHMONKEY |
Alms of Morpheus |
do-CD |
"The Bog is back and Bogger than ever. His cavity inducing Krystil-clear psych riffs, suspended in jellied electronics are anything but Earthly. Peat and Repeat were sitting on a bridge. Peat fell off. Into infinity. Here's the map. Rinse and repeat. Bog has a real talent both for playing and composition. His musicks are weighted with heavy doses of classic late 60's lysergic lytergics, but his brand of 'delics are uniquely scented by the new millennium. Cosmic, deep, spiraling, melodic, contagious, sexy, weird, rock, roll, trance, pants. Earthmonkey wields these and more. The Monkey lays down on Broadway. To sleep, perchance to dream of Morpheus.
PEAT BOG-EARTHMONKEY, A BRIEF HISTORY.
Peat Bog's formative years were largely spent casting about the English countryside with The Convoy; a conflagration of acid crazed, medieval brigands (see also "hippies"), who traveled en masse via an armada of beaten old trucks & buses, making their homes in teepees and living as freely as possible. While tuning in and dropping out with this loose collective, Bog began to ingest not only psychedelic drugs, but also psychedelic music. From The Mothers Of Invention to Chrome, Bog was a head for it all. It wasn't long before he began to bake the minds of others with his own brand of trance inducing (and induced) music. It was with this burgeoning sense of a musical universe that Peat Bog moved to Ireland in 1989. Eventually settling in County Claire in 1992, Bog found kindred spirits in Ruby Wallis and in the family Stapleton. The Stapletons' pseudo-nomadic lifestyle, traveling by horses and wagons, appealed to Bog, and so he found himself as something of an auxiliary family member. In 1993 Steve Stapleton asked Bog if he would like to sit in on recording sessions for a Nurse With Wound track slated for the compilation album "50 Years Of Sunshine" (a musical tribute to the 50 years since Albert Hoffmann first stumbled upon LSD 25). As it happened, Bog had just the right experience in both music and Sunshine usage. Thus was born another Nurse With Wound adjutant who would later appear on such NWW albums as "Who Can I Turn To Stereo," "An Awkward Pause," "Alice The Goon," "Funeral Music For Perez Prado" and "Rock And Roll Station," as well as other projects. Concurrently, Peatbog performed with a band called The Big Bag Of Stix. This group was known for playing grueling three hour sets of tweaked out, Irish punk/traditional. Quoth a member of the band: "Bog would go mental on percussion and didgeridoo." 1995 saw the birth of Peat Bog and Ruby Wallace's child Freddy. It was at this time that Bog started to work with the band The Inflatable Sideshow. With Darragh Greally and some assistance from Stapleton, the "Bonefrequency" track was completed in 1996 and appeared on the "Foxtrot" compilation LP. The Inflatable Sideshow then spent quite some time touring Ireland and the European continent. In the late 90's, some friends asked if they could use a selection of Bog's home recordings for their Burning Man documentary, "Dust Devils." This suggestion dovetailed nicely with the new musical notions percolating in Bog's mind. Inspired by memories of similar festivals in the UK, Bog elicited the help of Andile Meeshec, Molly Gowen and Ian Cahill, and a series of pieces were created for the film under the new project name; Earthmonkey. The music finally used in the film appears as tracks 6 & 7 on Earthmonkey's "Audiosapien" album, released by Beta-lactam Ring Records in 2003." [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| EARZUMBA |
Real Ruido Pastizo |
CD-R |
Embrace the unexpected! Again C.D. manages it to create very unexpected and uncommon soundscapes made up out of found sounds & samples. This has at times even a jazzy & funny feel, but its like being in a totally deranged & transformed reality-system. Collage-music, Loops, all arranged very nicely. Check it out!
"Christian Dergarabedian is by now more known through his Earzumba than his previous engagement with Reynols, and releases a great bunch of great CDRs. More and more he relies on the sampler to be the crazy melting pot of sounds and here he seems to be taking matters a bit further. From the field recordings of 'Intro' to a heavily cut up reggae collage madness in 'Descuidado'. Spinning vinyl by hand and picking up crazy fragments, and not by strange coincidence Editions_zero remarks that this is a nice soundtrack to a b-movie. I was playing this a couple of times in a row, and each time I turned it back on and discovered new themes in this crazy road movie. It has a strange appeal, this madness, this hotchpotch of music. A strange kind of radio play even when words aren't really used here to any extent. Not even a real story actually now I come to think of it. Turntablism without turntables. A story of no words, but the perfect soundtrack to out and make your own crazy roadmovie." [FdW /Vital Weekly]
"I managed to create a film score sensation giving the dynamic as if it were done strictly following a script. Includes one mash up in between Bernard Herrmann & Silvestre Revueltas." [Christian Dergarabedian]
label: www.void.gr/absurd
|
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
| EASTLEY, MAX / MICHAEL PRIME |
Hydrophony for Dagon |
CD |
Live-Aufnahmen von 1996, alle Klänge wurden "unter Wasser" aufgenommen, PRIME ist wieder auf der Suche nach den versteckten Micro-Sounds im "Innern" der Materie...
“This haunting music was recorded in 1996 at "The Four Elements", SKRAEP Copenhagen. Every sound was generated underwater by an array of instruments including hydroarcs, bubble machine, tubing, fans, motors, tapes and objects. Coherently with their work, which many times has employed water as means or texture, Eastley and Prime develop a convincing narrative whose obscurity is made desirable by a challenging exploitation of aquatic reverberations and refractions. This means that we're neither in presence of a soundtrack for a dolphin exhibition, nor ambient music for swimming pools; try instead to conjure up images of an Organum/Noise-Maker's Fifes hybrid whose clothes are slowly washed by a humongous machine that puts us in a suspended state through its monotonous cycles of deep regurgitations. Never intimidating, rather comfortable, this womb of gurgles is nicely balanced between abstraction and tangibleness, which results in a very appreciable release.” [Touching Extremes]
"Recorded live at 'the Four Elements', Skraep Copenhagen 1996. All sounds were produced underwater and recorded via hydrophones. Max Eastley: hydroarc, tubing, fans, tapes, objects. Michael Prime: hydroarc, bubble machine, motors, tapes, objects." [label info]
www.void.gr/absurd
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| EAU-DC |
NR2 |
LP |
"With Nr2 Jens Fischer and Thorsten Polomski developed 8 Songs moving between the relaxing moods of electronica. Just mixing up their favoured elements, adding more restrained, but sometimes pretty hasty beats and analog sounding fx’s this time, their 2nd recording expands ambient to not-just ambient. 100 copies will include a big sized poster with conceptual artwork according to the sleeve. Artwork/ design by Dominic Rechsteiner." [label info]
www.empiricrecords.com
"Following the LP/CD by Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf (see Vital Weekly 851), Empiric Records now releases a LP with a big sized poster and tapping into a different kind of music. Eau-Dc are a duo of Jens Fischer and Thorsten Polomski, who play electronic music that is somewhere along the lines of ambient music meeting up with rhythm. It's not exactly either strict ambient music or dance music for that matter. Music to tap your feet along, when you sit at home, reading a book, doing the laundry or other chores around the house, rather than heading out to the disco and dance your socks off. This is what a long-gone record store once described as 'head-nod' music. You feel the rhythm in your head and nod along too. Eight pieces of shimmering beats, moody but bouncing keyboard lines, a deep bass (although the record seems quite soft overall) for that necessary element of dub music. The ambient/cosmic music of late is slowly going more and more into the direction of 'dance' music - and before you know it we have another revival of ambient house and intelligent dance music. Be warned, Eau-Dc might be at the beginning of that too. These eight pieces, while nothing particular new, are crafted with great care and some nice delicate melodies to create a fine sonic depth in your living room." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2013 |
€17.50 |
|
| EAVIL |
Les Fleurs du Mal |
CD-R |
Pro CDR comes in jewel case with full color inserts and shrink wrap.
"EaViL" was a simultaneously unwieldy and timid odd couple of queer synth pop outsiders. For ten years, E. Al Dente and N. Vilches released home-made CDRs in EP format, almost always containing one or two cover songs.
EaViL were either indifferent or untoward regarding the unspoken obligations of your average musical acts, while still maintaining a sort of resolute hermetic diligence in terms of promotion, regardless of their intentions. There are no overwrought affectations, no "ersatz bad boy" aesthetics, no self-conscious posturing, no Machiavellian bullshitters, and no obnoxiously ambitious go-getters here. Rather, in the place of any particular over-arching gimmick, is a general "take it or leave it" tone to the work, which is brimming with a sense that the listener is being welcomed as a guest into the artists' home; and with it, the kind of spiraling raw inspiration mixed with studio-rat isolation vibes that so many of us crave. Nevertheless, the audio/visual performances of this yin/yang dynamic were nothing less than stimulating.
What initially rose out of the ashes of membership in a precociously noisey Indian Jewelry related band, The Electric Set, was a series of modest, yet earnest and gentile nods to the history of performance art , as well as italo disco, among other things. Odd masks, warped videos of Diana Ross, and lyrics about EaViL's cats ("Patsy" and "Edwina"), Alfred Hitchcock movies, their south side Chicago stomping ground (McKinley Park), or "Tarantula Juice" and other surrealismo permeate the lo-fi synth soundscapes, which at times just happen to tip-toe similar territory as wide-ranging as BeNe GeSSeRiT, Atari Teenage Riot, Giorgio Moroder, or Le Forte Four.
Initially, EaViL were an all-analog group, slowly evolving to embrace laptop technology. During their tenure, they performed on the famed "Chic-A-GoGo" public access TV show, and opened for popular "electro-glam" duo Glass Candy, among other ventures, but as far as we at NO PART OF IT are concerned, their collective musical candle went out too early.
"Les Fleurs du Mal" is a kind of anthology of favorite tracks, including some highlights from an unreleased/unfinished album called "DeciMaL" for your personal enjoyment. The digital download contains more than twice as much material with hidden bonus tracks, including some more experimental dimensions from the outfit, not to mention some particularly deconstructed covers of Prince, Yaz, and Siouxsie.
Includes unlimited streaming of Les Fleurs du Mal via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more
https://nopartofit.bandcamp.com/album/les-fleurs-du-mal |
2018 |
€8.00 |
|
| EB.ER, RUDOLF (aka EBER/ RUNZELSTIRN & GURGELSTOCK) |
Meditation on a Broomstick |
CD |
"First proper studio album by Rudolf Eb.er / R&G since '23 Brutal-Humouroid Dramas' (TA052) from 2005. Psycho-active Audio-Art composed and mixed 2010-2011 by Rudolf Eb.er in Osaka. CD in 6-panel fullcolour digipak. Edition of 500 copies." [label info]
www.tochnit-aleph.com
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| EB.ER, RUDOLF / JOKE LANZ / GX JUPITTER-LARSEN / MIKE DANDO |
Wellenfeld |
CD |
"The grande finale of 'Extreme Rituals - A Schimpfluch Carnival' held at Arnolfini, Bristol UK on December 2nd 2012.
In memory of Urs Schwaller.
Four leading figures of the international Noise circus team up for a unique performance, solely based on their brainwave activity. Each performer is wearing a wireless electroencephalograph (EEG) headset. The EEG signals sent from the stage are received by soundengineers, transformed from data into sound and processed to emerge through eight speakers surrounding the audience. The performance took place without prior tests or rehearsals. The performer develops and gains control over his own brainwave patterns during the performance, by listening to the sonic results of his mental activity. By changing electric impulses of the brain during meditative and ecstatic trance, the performer begins to sculpt the sound through the mind alone." [label info]
www.fragmentfactory.com
"A while ago, December 2012, saw Bristol celebrating twenty-five years of Schimpfluch activities via a three-day festival called 'Extreme Rituals', with their various members performing (Dave Phillips, Rudolf Eb.er, Sudden Infant) and various guests, such as Con-Dom and The Haters. The festival ended with 'Wellenfeld: for amplified brainwaves (in memory of Urs Schwaller)'. To quote the cover: "Four leading figures of the international Noise circus team up for a unique performance, solely based on their brainwave activity. Each performer is wearing a wireless electroencephalograph (EEG) headset. The EEG signals sent from the stage are received by sound engineers, transformed from data into sound and processed to emerge through eight speakers surrounding the audience. The performance took place without prior tests or rehearsals. The performer develops and gains control over his own brainwave patterns during the performance, by listening to the sonic results of his mental activity. By
changing electric impulses of the brain during meditative and ecstatic trance, the performer begins to sculpt the sound through the mind alone." It looks, I'm sorry to say (and no doubt I am not the only one to notice this), a bit like Alvin Lucier's 'Music For Solo Performer', although a bit different. The twenty-six minute piece, by the performers mentioned above, mixed by Rashad Becker onto an eight channel system surrounding the audience, is a quite a noisy piece of loud tones, which may sound like simple, hand build synthesizers, but with some extreme activities. If you look films of this on the net, you see Eb.er moving and shaking at one point, and the others not moving at all. I think I would have preferred if none moved at all, and it would keep Zen like thing with as little activity as possible and take away the 'extreme' performance element (which to me looks all very 'un'-extreme, very regular performance art; I wondered if there was any body there who wasn't dressed in
black) and focus on the interesting aspect of creating music this way, which is something I liked very much. Quite a nice release; noisy but very interesting and that's how I like these things." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| EBSK |
Secret Highways |
mCD-R |
“EBSK are an improvising duo from Washington DC, with a new release, "Secret Highways/Wobbly" (Scarcelight SLR15), a very goddam original take on contempo basement prog (or some such thing). The instrumentation is Casios, drums, bass guitar, and B flat clarinet. If this suggests some kind of Milo Fine or Flaherty/Colbourne action, the direction that they head in is pretty original. Without the help of beats, they manage to create a newish sounding electronic environment, inside of which events happen which eventually coalesce into something that walks, looks and quacks a whole lot like rock. The crudity of the electronics and the sparseness of certain elements brings to mind such small units as Young Marble Giants or even The Method Actors, but the sounds are of such aesthetics placed inside a strange post-Rock In Opposition Prog continuum, then manhandled by picnic apes. Which is pretty cool, no matter how hard you shake it.” [Byron Coley. The Wire]
|
2003 |
€5.00 |
|
| EBTEKAR, ATA & THE IRANIAN ORCHESTRA FOR NEW MUSIC |
performing works of Alireza Mashayekhi: Ornamentalism |
CD |
"An Organic Electrocution: perfect follow-up to the highly acclaimed Persian Electronic Music (SR277), this new Persian Music album involves a cast of seasoned musicians performing works written by legendary Iranian composer Alireza Mashayekhi; in which Ata Ebtekar (aka Sote) was granted complete creative freedom by Mashayekhi himself to transform these compositions into fully realized pieces using his techniques of synthesis and electronic manipulation. it's an organic electrocution without sacrificing the beauty of the performance. these sound sources and compositions were metamorphosed via electronic processing, rearranged and decomposed using sound generators, effect boxes, modular synthesizers and samplers. finally, Ebtekar programs synthetic sounds and adds new electronic harmonies, melodies and soundscapes to the sonic palette of Western classical music and Persian instrumentation for a unique musical experience. Sote unites the grace and symmetry of noise and silence inside the magic circle of electronic music composition.
________________________________________
The Tehran Contemporary Music Group: cofounded in 1993 by Farimah Ghavensadri and Alireza Mashayekhi. in 1995 Mashayekhi established the Iranian Orchestra for New Music as a performing entity. the Tehran Contemporary Music Group's main goal is the presentation of new music in order to promote young composers and performers. the Group has also helped to establish the Biannual For Composing and Performing of Contemporary Music in Iran.
________________________________________
Alireza Mashayekhi: a short biography.
Alireza Mashayekhi was born in 1940 in Tehran, Iran. He is one of the pioneers of modern music in Iran. Mashayekhi's works have been performed in Iran and abroad for more than 35 years. Mashayekhi believes that contemporary composers should create music in wide range of styles. His own compositions have tended towards three
major direction: pieces that are directly inspired by Iranian music (e.g. Symphony No. 5,
Persian Suite and Shahrzad) and compositions that are not directly related to Iranian music
(e.g. Symphony No. 6, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra,Sonata for Piano) and multicultural
compositions (e.g. Symphony No. 8 and the electronic composition East-West).
'At the time of Stalin in the USSR, many pieces were composed with predetermined identities
in honor of Marxism and Leninism by the request of the governmental authorities or by the
artist's own whishes. Among these pieces those with artistic rightfulness remained and they
were honored in both East and West, but the political weight of the other ones did not succeed to help them survive.'
[Alireza Mashayekhi]
'Alireza Mashayekhi is regarded as a pioneer Iranian avant-garde composer whose ideas and
works, which have been performed in Iran and abroad for more than 35 years, have greatly
influenced the contemporary music in Iran..'
[Hooman Asadi of the University of Tehran, Iran]
________________________________________
Ata Ebtekar aka Sote: a short biography.
aka Sote is an Iranian-American electronic composer and sound artist. he was born
in Germany to Iranian parents, spent the first eleven years of his life in Iran and the next
six years in Germany. at the age of seventeen he moved to the United States and lived in
the Bay Area for fifteen years. he has spent the last few years living in Tehran and working
on several projects. one of these projects was released in 2007 as a double disc set called
'Persian Electronic Music - Yesterday and Today' (sub rosa SR277) for which he compiled early electronic music from Alireza Mashayekhi who had created these compositions forty years ago. disc two features Ebtekar's own electronic compositions to present a timeline in modern Iranian music history. Sote's compositions are sonic tales synchronously decoding and regenerating customary patterns of thought in nature; aural designs of crisis and harmony where contempo meets folklore, orchestrating an artificial saga with a variety of illuminations and analysis. he believes that music is a cultural habit of sound and anti-sound (silence). therefore, he generates music without a specific culture, which he believes to be 'The Other Sound'. He has released several cds and vinyls on Dielectric/RLR, Spundae and especially on Warp." [full label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN |
Kollaps |
LP |
2003 Re-issue of the legendary first LP from 1981
"Kollaps. The first album from Einsturzende Neubauten, released back in 1981, found the band as a trio with the wild-throated frontman
Blixa Bargeld buttressed by the anarcho-rhythmicists N.U. Unruh and F.M. Einheit. The band photo of Neubauten on Kollaps is quite telling, as a it parodies Pink Floyd's grand collection of instruments that emblazoned the back cover of Ummagumma. Instead of the marching band sized collection of drums and mallets, there's an assortment of hammers, pipes, a couple of drills, a cheap looking synth, an ax (yeah, there is a guitar, but there's also an ax!), and sheet metal twisted in the shape of drumheads. These are the instruments that Neubauten uses in the hyper-primitive, industrial-punk tracks found on
Kollaps. Neubauten's amplified junkyard was a clearly a bold statement of DIY primitivism, this trio was not without their structural
prowess, crafting anthemic blasts out of their rhythmic churns, bristling with sparkplug noise and rabid distortion. "Tanz Debil" is
curiously catchy in its amplified shopping cart bashing which Unruh & Einheit hammer out to accompany the demon-then-zombie vocal delivery
from Blixa Bargeld. The title track is a 8 minute monochord mantra, and the band actually pulls off an instrumental cover of Serge
Gainsbourg's "Je T'Aime." Very rough around the edges, but there is a serious-minded, infernal poetry of pain, anger, and rage focused
through these scrap metal arrangements. It's great to have this in stock, as Kollaps is a tremendous record." [Aquarius Records]
|
2007 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Lament |
do-LP |
»Lament« heißt das brandneue Meisterwerk der Berliner Kultband Einstürzende Neubauten, geschrieben für die 100-jährigen Gedenkfeierlichkeiten des Beginns des Ersten Weltkrieges.
Die flämische Stadt Diksmuide beauftrage die Einstürzenden Neubauten im Rahmen der 100-jährigen Gedenkfeierlichkeiten des Beginns des Ersten Weltkrieges zu den Arbeiten an »Lament«, dem neuen Album der 1980 in Westberlin gegründeten Band. Die Einstürzenden Neubauten verstehen »Lament« nicht als reines Studioalbum, sondern als eine Dokumentation der Geschichte der Stadt Diksmuide, wo das Werk im November 2014 uraufgeführt wird, bevor sie damit auf Tour gehen werden.
»Lament« enthält viele bereits bestehende Elemente wie die beiden Prejazz-Songs der Marschkapelle The Harlem Hellfighters, die die US-Regierung als erste afroamerikanische Einheit in die Schlacht schickte. Das Album thematisiert zwei Texte des belgischen Autors Paul van den Broeck sowie ein Stück des weniger bekannten deutschen Schriftstellers Joseph Plauts, der die Geschichte des Ersten Weltkriegs aus Sicht eines Tieres erzählt. Des Weiteren singt Blixa Bargeld die deutsche Version von Pete Seegers Antikriegslied »Where Have All The Flowers Gone«, die Marlene Dietrich mit »Sag mir wo die Blumen sind« weltberühmt machen sollte. Die Band erweckte außerdem eine Nationalhymnne wieder zum Leben, die einst von Kriegsteilnehmerländern wie Deutschland, Großbritannien und Kanada gleichermaßen verwendet wurde. Schließlich folgt der dreigeteilte Titeltrack »Lament«, der eine Reihe historischer Wachszylinderaufnahmen enthält. Diese wurden damals von Sprachforschern deutscher Gefangenenlager aufgenommen, die ihre Insassen dazu zwangen, die Bibelstelle des »verschwenderischen Sohns« in ihrer eigenen Sprache zu rezitieren, von denen viele inzwischen ausgestorben sind.
Über all dem schwebt die drastisch verlangsamte Version des Motetts des Komponisten Jacob Clemens non Papa, der im Diksmuide des 16. Jahrhundert lebte.
//
LAMENT the new album by Einstürzende Neubauten is released Friday 07 November 2014 on BMG Records.
LAMENT should be heard as a studio reconstruction of a work primarily designed to be performed live, rather than an official new Einstürzende Neubauten LP proper.
In truth, the piece can only be fully realised, as well as best experienced, in its physical embodiment, performed on or by founding member Andrew Unruh’s gigantic instruments and noise generating devices that visually evoke the horrors the work describes or embeds in the sounds they conjure from the filth and terror of the industrialised 20th century world at war with itself.
But in fulfilling what at first appears to be a surprise commission for such a formidable longtime outsider group, Einstürzende Neubauten transformed the earthy, idiosyncratic contents they mined from academic, state, music hall and internet archives with the help of their two researchers into a richly complex cycle of original and cover songs and performance pieces.
The music often originated in LAMENT’s storytelling needs, be it in terms of sounds used or compositions structured along First World War flow charts or scored from calendars of the involvement of the 20 plus countries embroiled in it.
The way LAMENT plays off pre-existing and composed materials, pieces clipped together from historical records next to direct cover interpretations, or indeed their Frankenstein like construction of an ur-anthem/national hymn delivers a differently angled history of the war.
Finally, LAMENT opens Bargeld’s case that the First World War never ended - the interwar and postwar periods being essentially pauses for breath as the great military powers carry on their conflict at some remove in faraway wars fought by proxy." [label / website info]
|
2014 |
€22.00 |
|
|
Rampen - APM: Alien Pop Music (lim. yellow vinyl) |
do-LP |
Double LP version. Yellow color vinyl. Einstürzende Neubauten present their new album Rampen (apm: alien pop music). Since the band was founded on April 1, 1980, Einstürzende Neubauten have been shifting the parameters of mainstream and subculture to make the inaudible audible -- perhaps the unheard as well. This experimental field research, spanning more than four decades, is now entering the next stage. In its 44th year of existence, the band is going back to its roots while redefining itself. It's a change in self-image, for which the Berlin quintet plus one has created its own genre -- alien pop music.
Einstürzende Neubauten präsentieren ihr neues Album. Sie suchen nach neuen Formen. Nach dem unentdeckten Ton und dem noch unausgesprochenen Wort. Seit ihrer Gründung am 1. April 1980 verschieben die Einstürzenden Neubauten die Parameter von Mainstream und Subkultur, um das Unhörbare hörbar zu machen. Und vielleicht auch das Unerhörte. Ein sich über vier Dekaden erstreckender Feldforschungsversuch, der nun ins nächste Stadium tritt. In ihrem 44. Bestehensjahr geht die Formation weit zurück zu ihren Wurzeln, um sich gleichzeitig neu zu definieren. Ein verändertes Selbstverständnis, für das das Berliner Quintett plus eins 2024 sein eigenes Genre kreiert hat: apm - alien pop music. Ständige Weiterentwicklung - so könnte man das Schaffen der Einstürzenden Neubauten kurz und knapp zusammenfassen. Eine musikalische Evolution, die beim 1981 veröffentlichten Albumdebüt "Kollaps" beginnt und sich nun auf dem im April 24 erscheinenden Album "Rampen - apm: alien pop music" manifestiert, auf diesem präsentieren sich Blixa Bargeld, N.U. Unruh, Alexander Hacke, Jochen Arbeit, Rudolph Moser und Felix Gebhard nun von ihrer unberechenbarsten und eigenwilligsten Seite. Auf ihrem neuen Album setzen die Neubauten nun allen Sound-Spekulationen ein - wenn auch spätes - Ende. Schon seit Mitte der 1980er-Jahre experimentieren die Einstürzenden Neubauten auf der Bühne mit sogenannten Rampen: Öffentliche Improvisationen mit offener Entwicklung und Ausgang; Abschussrampen ins noch Unerforschte, die die Band im Jahr 2022 auf ihrer letzten "Alles in Allem"-Tournee im Zugabenteil performte und deren Mitschnitte als Basis für das neue Album dienen. "Rampen - apm: alien pop music" ist Popmusik für Paralleluniversen und Zwischenwelten. Für Hyperräume und Interzonen. Mikrokosmisch und intergalaktisch zugleich. Eine demimondäne Behauptung außerhalb aller physikalischen Gesetze, mit der die Einstürzenden Neubauten ein stilistisches Niemandsland zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft betreten. Rückkehr zu den Wurzeln einerseits, andererseits entsteht aus lärmgewaltigen Kracheruptionen, auf kryptische, oftmals fragmentarische Lyrics treffend, eine neue Kunstform: Populäre Musik für Aliens und Außenseiter. Aus Anti-Pop ist Alien Pop geworden. Fremdartig. Kokonhaft versponnen. Ungehört. Sonus inauditus. Nicht ganz unabsichtlich erinnert das reduzierte Coverartwork an das ikonische Layout des "Weißen Albums" von den Beatles. "Ausgehend von der Idee, dass die Einstürzenden Neubauten in einem anderen Sonnensystem ebenso berühmt sind wie die Beatles in unserer Welt", so Blixa Bargeld über die Gratwanderung zwischen Avantgarde und Augenzwinkern, Provokation und popkultureller Diskontinuität. Womit auch direkt das zentrale Thema vorgegeben wäre, das sich wie ein roter Faden durch alle Songs zieht: Veränderung, utopische Gedankenspiele und Vergänglichkeit. "Ich habe auf der Platte ein paar Lösungen gefunden und Dinge formuliert, wie ich sie vorher noch nicht formuliert habe, weil sie mir noch nicht so klar waren. Ich bin jemand, der denkt, durch Musik Erkenntnisse zu gewinnen. Das war schon immer so. Die Überzeugung, in der Musik etwas zu finden, was ich vorher nicht wusste. Und etwas zu singen, was ich vorher nicht wusste. Etwas, was sich dann als Wahrheit herausstellt. Oder zumindest als sinnvoll, wenn man es ein wenig kleiner halten will." Dieses Album repräsentiert die nächste Stufe der Evolution, auf der man die bekannte Sprache schließlich hinter sich gelassen hat. Und die Eröffnung weiterer, unendlicher Möglichkeiten: alien pop music.
|
2024 |
€48.00 |
|
|
Rampen - APM: Alien Pop Music |
do-CD |
Einstürzende Neubauten present their new album Rampen (apm: alien pop music). Since the band was founded on April 1, 1980, Einstürzende Neubauten have been shifting the parameters of mainstream and subculture to make the inaudible audible -- perhaps the unheard as well. This experimental field research, spanning more than four decades, is now entering the next stage. In its 44th year of existence, the band is going back to its roots while redefining itself. It's a change in self-image, for which the Berlin quintet plus one has created its own genre -- alien pop music.
Track Listing:
1.01. Wie Lange Noch?
1.02. Ist Ist
1.03. Pestalozzi
1.04. Es Könnte Sein
1.05. Before I Go
1.06. Isso Isso
1.07. Besser Isses
1.08. Everything Will Be Fine
2.01. The Pit Of Language
2.02. Planet Umbra
2.03. Tar & Feathers
2.04. Aus Den Zeiten
2.05. Ick Wees Nich (Noch Nich)
2.06. Trilobiten
2.07. Gesundbrunnen
|
2024 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Rampen - APM: Alien Pop Music (black vinyl) |
do-LP |
Einstürzende Neubauten present their new album Rampen (apm: alien pop music). Since the band was founded on April 1, 1980, Einstürzende Neubauten have been shifting the parameters of mainstream and subculture to make the inaudible audible -- perhaps the unheard as well. This experimental field research, spanning more than four decades, is now entering the next stage. In its 44th year of existence, the band is going back to its roots while redefining itself. It's a change in self-image, for which the Berlin quintet plus one has created its own genre -- alien pop music.
Track Listing:
1.01. Wie Lange Noch?
1.02. Ist Ist
1.03. Pestalozzi
1.04. Es Könnte Sein
1.05. Before I Go
1.06. Isso Isso
1.07. Besser Isses
1.08. Everything Will Be Fine
2.01. The Pit Of Language
2.02. Planet Umbra
2.03. Tar & Feathers
2.04. Aus Den Zeiten
2.05. Ick Wees Nich (Noch Nich)
2.06. Trilobiten
2.07. Gesundbrunnen
|
2024 |
€30.00 |
|
| EKIN FIL |
Being near |
LP |
"Had the titular contest in Guy Maddin's The Saddest Music In The World not been rigged from the onset, Turkey could have delivered an impeccable contestant in Ekin Fil. For many years now, her spectral dream-pop deconstructions hold a thousand-yard stare of an unconsolable melancholy; and she's drawn the highly favorable comparisons to Grouper and lovesliecrushing thanks to her understated yet beloved catalogue of releases on Root Strata, Students Of Decay, No Kings, and Sacred Phrases. Helen Scarsdale has long been a fan of Ekin Fil's work, and we are delighted to have her in our constellation of artists here at The Agency.
Born Ekin Üzeltüzenci and based in her native Istanbul, she cites the shoegazing classics (Cocteau Twins, Cranes, Slowdive, etc.) as her earliest influence, seeking out worn issues of Melody Maker or NME from second hand shops and trading cassettes with friends and fellow enthusiasts. This Proustian obsession with rainsoaked melodies from the British Isles blossomed into a foundation for her own art. Being Near stands as the pinnacle in her luminous career, with achingly beautiful and elegantly simple arrangements for guitar and electronics saturated in cavernous amounts of reverb, whose semi-mystical blur extends well into the vocal melodies. Ekin Fil's songs emote a timelessness of human desire and longing, albeit constrained to this plane of existence. For Üzeltüzenci, her music is not an escape valve from the patriarchal hammer of the dominant culture in Turkey, but a reflection through her own condition, in her own context, from her own body that may have actualized what Helene Cixous theorized as "écriture féminine" but through sound and not language." [label info]
www.helenscarsdale.com
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
| ELDAR |
The Secret Golden Flower |
CD |
"ELDAR, the Spanish Dark Ambient/Martial project that once started on Cold Meat Industry, return with yet another conceptual album presenting a wide range of beautiful sounds. The concept of this album is inspired by the mystical and psychological archetypes to explain the universal version of a generic soul that rules from the collective unconscious of individuals in all human civilizations since antiquity. These archaic prototypes were copied, emulated and used since the dawn of humanity, and fantastic dream and images have been represented in myths and symbols, trying to explain these exemplary patterns that are still alive and latent until today. They sleep present in popular folklore, in the psyche of every human being, influencing yourself and collectively in the beliefs and ideas that lead them to make beautiful and creative acts or carrying even their own destruction, evolving or backward from that inexorable shape societies through time and history. This album runs in his melodies and lyrics the long road of archetypes that continue to print his psychological injury in each individual and that shape their behavior in society, determining the fate of humanity. Composed by Marc Merinee & Merce Spica and recorded at Oxid Studio Barcelona 2011. Produced & Mastered by Marc Merinee. Art Work by Alonso Urbanos." [label info]
www.oldeuropacafe.com
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| ELECTRIC SEWER AGE |
Bad white Corpuscule |
CD |
"Electric sewer age was thought up in 2006 by a man called John Deek (r.i.p). The original idea was for likeminded souls, amongst particularly the coil fraternity, too compose music, which would be released, with no credits to the creators.
This would allow the listener to listen, and not have a preconceived bias, as to which song they liked best, based on their favourite composer etc.
While in Bangkok 2006, I talked with Peter Christopherson (r.i.p) about the project and he jumped aboard. He supplied many loops which made their way to Texas and onto the UK.
These segments might or might not be used in here, you explore.
Danny Hyde continues his fantastical journey in sound with this second release under the ESA name and completely moves beyond expectations.
Disproving the doubters, this EP is pretty much just him in his studio wrenching new creations out of his equipment; the trainspotters amongst us will no doubt pick out some of the shards he pulls from his past.
But he doesn't make them the focus of what is going on here, they are there merely to accent, to add a bit of depth and help illuminate how many years he's been at this.
Does he follow a muse?
If so, it must not be one that operates in the traditional sense. Perhaps it is more of a compulsion to create and then endlessly refine what you've done down to the most primal of elements.
There are ghosts all over this thing, you can feel the weight of their absence and at some points you swear you can actually hear them.
Tricks of the sound field, the mirror casting back shadows. If anyone else is on here, they have come out of the ether to make an appearance. Don't be afraid, put on your headphones and immerse yourself into a symphony that Hyde terms "an ode to loss".
He'd know.
We can all see from the outside what happened over the last decade but for him, it was all right there. Up close and personal. Through the usage of heavily processed vocals and arcane terrestrial instrumentation, Hyde lives up to his reputation for creating amazingly detailed yet extremely dark electronic compositions.
The symbiosis of organic and synthetic influences would be his forte and he's not holding anything back this time out, believe me, there's a feel to what is on here that isn't easily conceived. To just sit down and begin knocking out what 'Bad White Corpuscle' contains I don't think could be done unless you had planned and plotted out every last possible contingency down to the millisecond.
I've played this a lot but by comparison he's probably got mixes and additional versions of what's on here that could fill terabytes of hard drive space without batting an eye.
Electric Sewer Age exist between two worlds: the one of now and an older, more disturbing place which with the passage of time only becomes more savage and terrifying to visit.
As it appears he's chosen to put Aural Rage to bed, we have these excursions to look forward to; every few years Mr. Hyde will come out of seclusion to reveal where he's at and where he's going.
Clearly, this project is a form of therapy for the guy and having researched precisely what a bad white corpuscle is there's an uneasy feeling that foreshadowing is being employed here.
I'm not privy to whom this refers, I can only hope they know what they're doing.
This is so intense, so unflinchingly expressive that I come away completely drained.
Up by Sunday.
Peter.
Very elegant electronica, as you are used from best Coil's albums.
Dreamy and doped muzak for the real dreamer.
Tracklist :
01. Grey corpuscle 3.56
02. Corpuscular corpuscle 5.11
03. Amber corpuscle 5.12
04. Rising corpuscle 8.40
05. Bad white corpuscle 6.27
06. Black corpuscle 5.20 " [label info]
www.oldeuropacafe.com
|
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
| ELECTRIC URANUS / X-NAVI:ET |
Voices of the Cosmos |
CD |
"Project "VOICES OF THE COSMOS" is an educational-artistic initiative created by two artists from Kujawsko-Pomorskie: Rafał Iwański (X-NAVI:ET) and Wojciech Zięba (ELECTRIC URANUS). Both of them have lot of experience in creating experimental and electroacoustic music. In recordings of this album original extraterrestrial sounds captured from space by radio-telescopes (pulsars), sounds from space missions and the space itself.
Every artists created 3 tracks that form the 40 minutes album. Instrumental tracks played and recorded in rhythm with tones of "space sounds", are made manually with use of electronic and acoustic instruments. All that makes this project very unique. It is the only type of it in Poland. The project had also gain reputation in science circles. "VOICES OF THE COSMOS" is the electroacoustic dark ambient (although it should not be genered this way), it's music that in 100% the title itself explains - the voices of cosmos. We watch the sky and the stars, we know many photos of heavenly bodies, other galaxies. All that fascinates us, is beautiful and colorful. But those are not environments kind to us. They are terrifying, cold or extremely hot places. And this how this album is. It can take you out there but it can scare you too.
As a bonus two tracks are added in video version, made with exclusive video-art by Chris Konky. The "VOICES OF THE COSMOS" is released by Beast Of Prey and Eter Records in a three panel digipack." [label info]
www.beastofprey.com
"Rafal Iwanski is the man behind HATI, a percussion group from Poland, but in his spare time he is also the man behind a solo project called X-Navi:et, which is all about electronic music. Here he works with Wojciech Zieba, also known as Electric Uranus. They already released an album in 2011, which was more a split album, which each of them playing three pieces. The name, Voice Of The Cosmos, should be taken literally: they use recordings from out space, picked up with a 32 meter radio telescope in Torun. Here they have five pieces which they performed live at the the Planetarium and Astronomical Observatory in Grudziadz, plus two solo pieces each. You could, perhaps all too easily, think this is the kind of early long form synth music, with pieces that last twenty minutes, lots of arpeggio's on the keyboard, bouncing jolly forward. This is not the case here. These men keep their pieces actually quite short for this type, and not exclusively build with the use of synthesizers, but also with samples from space and even a heavily processed voice. This is the kind of music that is actually striving to be a pop song, even when the music is not entirely 'pop' like. The structure of the pieces is all to be a rounded song structure, and not a more open ended free fall of synth sounds. The use of long wave sounds in this music add a nice experimental component to the music. The solo tracks, aren't the divided sum of the total, but more along similar lines, so perhaps you could wonder if perhaps this could have been entirely in solo mode, but of course the element of creating together adds that a bit of extra tension to the music. It's worth picking up their 2011 album, the split one, and get a more complete picture of the development. Excellent cosmos music, something just out of the ordinary, but not too estranged." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Voices of the Cosmos II |
CD |
"Project "VOICES OF THE COSMOS" is an educational-artistic initiative created by two artists from Kujawsko-Pomorskie: Rafał Iwański (X-NAVI:ET) and Wojciech Zięba (ELECTRIC URANUS). Both of them have lot of experience in creating experimental and electroacoustic music. In recordings of this album original extraterrestrial sounds captured from space by radio-telescopes.
The „Voices of the Cosmos II” is the continuation of the previous album. In this case the radio signals related to the activity of the Sun became the main source of inspiration. The record was being created during the 2013 solar maximum (activity cycle no. 24). In the compositions, a whole range of signals, accompanying the aurora borealis can be heard. They originate in bombarding the Earth’s magnetosphere with charged solar wind particles. While listening to these pieces we realize fully the permanent interaction between the Sun and the Earth.
The "Voices of the Cosmos II" is released by Beast Of Prey and Eter Records in a three panel digipack. Project partially financed from resources the Scholarship of the Grudziadz City in the sphere of the Culture and Art." [label info]
www.beastofprey.com
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| ELEH |
Retreat, Return, Repose |
3 x CD |
"Edition of 1000. This deluxe three CD set presents Eleh's Retreat, Return, and Repose together for the first time. The LPs were originally available via Important Records mailorder only. Retreat is a collection of exploratory sound assemblages put together during a cabin sojourn. New timbral richness, tonal expansion and deep synthesis make these pieces rather different from previous work. Return reflects on time away. Repose contains only one piece, the final recording of 'Circle Two: Coastal Rotation for Dune Loop' which was debuted at 2010's Mutek festival in Montreal. This piece completes the Retreat/Return trilogy with Repose and is intended to stand very much on its own. Rain on your hood. Your heart beats. A beach break roaring in the distance. Isolated pines are played by the wind. A fine spot for repose. You turn around and head home." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2012 |
€44.00 |
|
| |
Homage |
3 x LP-BOX |
"Presenting a unified whole, the Homage 3LP boxed set contains Homage to the Square Wave, ...Sine Wave and ...Pointed Waveforms, all out of print until now. Initially released separately in 2008, 2009 and 2012 respectively with custom letterpress jackets, this collection includes new retrospective artwork by John Brien. Each disc comes in its own one-color silkscreen jacket using the same blue, orange and green from the original editions; all housed in a rigid white satin-coated slipcase with spot varnish printing hand-numbered out of 800. Eleh, an artist who flourishes in restraint, uses a reduced sonic vocabulary to highlight delicate intricacies in a logical path toward harmonious satisfaction. The organization of hypnotic square waves, rippling sine waves and triangle saw tooth waveforms is a discourse in the infinity, rather than the limits, of reduction. By employing a natural practice of balanced interpretation Eleh enables an individual reaction free of the clutter of white noise." [label info]
www.taigarecords.com
|
2013 |
€55.00 |
|
| ELEH / DUANE PITRE |
Empty Summer Endless / Feel Free Installation |
LP |
"Split release including a new 20 minute piece from Eleh and the installation
version of Duane Pitre's beautiful new composition, Feel Free. Screenprinted jackets.
Feel Free is a new composition by Duane Pitre that currently has three possible manifestations: solo performance, group performance, and sound installation. At the core of all of them is the pillar of the work, an open yet orderly system whose intention is to produce potentially infinite variations of self-generating rhythm and melody. This system is created in part by a Max/MSP patch, designed by the composer, which consists of two (unprocessed) sound sources: guitar harmonics and simple-timbre electronic tones (in the solo/group versions, the latter are performed by the composer).
Where the solo and group versions find the work following a sequence of movements (each embodying a varying feeling) that consist of different pitches and rules/methods for the group to execute them, the "installation version" (which occupies a side of this record) is void of any performers and is meant to embody a certain stillness. And while the listener may become familiar with what seem to be recurring patterns, no sounds are ever looped, but are rather continually moving forward, yet still remain suspended." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2012 |
€19.50 |
|
| ELEKTROJUDAS / XNDL |
split |
LP |
"For years, the work of elektrojudas released on Attenuation Circuit has
been linking the drone/ambient flavour of the label to more
dance-oriented styles of electronic music. On this split LP featuring
four tracks by elektrojudas and three by his long-time musical
companion XNDL, the two collaborators give an impressive insight into
the hidden kinship between abstract instrumental hip hop and drone
electronica.
XNDL has been active since 1998 in musical styles from hip hop to
drum’n’bass as a DJ, producer, and engineer, working with artists such
as Anticon, Botanica Del Jibaro, Shapeshifters, Plague Language, and
many others. On his own record label Subversiv*Rec, he published some
45 releases by underground/abstract hip-hop acts. This LP is
co-released with his current publishing outlet, cognitive*defect.
This split release marks a new step in the ongoing artistic
collaboration of XNDL with elektrojudas. Both sides of the vinyl are
unified by mid- to downtempo beats with a rather relaxed feel. Dreamy
piano chords sometimes make you think that this could be a nice
chill-out album. But then you turn the record over, and suddenly
jarring, guitar-like distortion and high-pitched oscillators change the
atmosphere. Things do not get faster, but the tension rises … until it
is resolved again. An exciting sonic journey that showcases one of the
many paths of musical innovation in the hip-hop tradition, and an
admirably consistent approach shared by the two artists." [label info]
www.attenuationcircuit.de
|
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
| ELEMENTAURAL RESEARCH PROJECT |
Elementality |
CD |
After the ending of OBJEKT4 the main man behind it, ANDERS PETERSON, created two new projects, RELAPXYCH.0 and ELEMENTAL RESEARCH PROJECT - the latter one seems to be connected (like FIVE ELEMENTS MUSIC) with the idea of using the four elements as sound sources. His first CD-album presents 8 tracks based on earth, water, fire and wind sounds, mixing it with (very much but nicely effected) instrumental recordings (guitar, bass, female voice, drums). This is mainly mellow ambience with at times strange repeating fragmentation effects and more concrete elements of environmental & object recordings, always trying to create the more "special" interesting sounds.. As a bonus we find here the 3-track EP "Eastern Winds", where Japanese folk-instruments like Koto (japanese zither), Shakuhachi (traditional bamboo flute), Kyotaku (Zen-flute), and gongs are used in an experimental way. Very nice ambient-droning mixture of natural & electronic sources.
www.bassesfrequences.org
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| ELGGREN, LEIF |
Death travels backwards |
DVD |
"Cataloguing a collection of works from 1999 to the present, DEATH TRAVELS BACKWARDS delivers an important overview of the artist's pursuit of the hidden secrets and spectral enigmas found within the everyday. What marks ELGGREN's video works is an understanding of how image and sound work together to infuse the electronic material with an element of the uncanny, and to supply the imagination of the viewer with a glimpse onto infinity. Active since the late 1970s, Leif ELGGREN is one of the most constantly surprising and mysterious conceptual artists to work in the combined fields of audio and video. A writer, visual artist, stage performer and composer, he has numerous audio releases to his credit, working individually and also with the Sons of God (along with Kent Tankred). His music, often conceived as the soundtrack to visual installations or experimental stage performances, presents carefully selected sound sources over a long stretch of time and can range from mesmerizingly quiet electronics to harsh noise. His wide-ranging and investigative body of work consistently involves dreams and mysterious narratives, often inverting social hierarchies to ultimately subvert the real with poetical matter." [label info]
www.errantbodies.org
|
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Motor for an Unknown Vehicle (Opening the Grave) |
LP |
"Motor" is the second part in a trilogy, preceded by "Das Baank" (Fragment Factory/Rekem Records) in 2016. The Motor started a long time ago with small basic fragments used for different steps (phases) like installations and performances. Those fragments were put together over the years into a longer piece presented on this LP. Motor is now a 32 minutes long continuous piece of sounding matter. Autonomous and free in itself. Like an homunculus it can now leave its birthplace and head for the future, for something else. The initiative (the basic source) was taken already in April 1949, as an inevitable starting point.
Leif Elggren is a Swedish artist who lives and works in Stockholm. Active since the late 1970s, he is a writer, visual artist, stage performer and composer. He has many sound-works to his credit, both solo and with the Sons of God (with Kent Tankred), on labels such as Ash International, Touch, Radium and Firework Edition Records (which he co-runs with Kent Tankred). His music usually presents carefully selected sound sources over a long stretch of time and can range from quiet electronics to harsh noise. His wide-ranging and prolific body of art often involves dreams and subtle absurdities, social hierarchies turned upside-down, hidden actions and events taking on the quality of icons.
Together with artist Carl Michael von Hausswolff, he is a founder of the Kingdoms of Elgaland-Vargaland (KREV) where he enjoys the title of king.
Edition of 300 copies on black vinyl, incl. signed and numbered insert.
https://fragmentfactory.bandcamp.com/album/motor-for-an-unknown-vehicle-opening-of-the-grave
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| ELIAN |
Whispers, then Silence |
CD |
"To say Michael Duane Ferrell (the man behind the Elian moniker) is a patient man would be something of an understatement. But then the work of Elian is all incredibly understated anyway, so it all fits nicely. I first heard Elian’s work through mutual contacts, my first experience being ‘We Are All Visitors Here’ on the rather wonderful Test Tube label. In fact, if you go over the work he has released, you will instantly notice a person who clearly takes his time and treats each album as a labour of love in the fullest sense.
The album ‘Whispers, Then Silence’ was actually one of the first albums I got for release on Home Normal, all the way back in December 2009. Along with Celer, offthesky and Library Tapes, it was one of the albums which defined exactly what Home Normal would be for me. Its very special that we have been able to wait, tweak and just get everything timed perfectly for the release, which it duly has. The album is about as broad a record as we’ve released and about as ambitious a work that I have ever heard. From the opening vibraphone of its title track, through the interspersed white noise static and disturbing light-dark-dark-light melodies sourced from various instruments, you are left with the feeling of absolute and complete imagination. Always changing, never still, it keeps you suspended in its entirety, in (as one friend of mine said) ‘a horror film state’.
Whilst I get this, it doesn’t fit for me. There is often a very limiting split in so called ‘minimal’ work for me: light airy fluffy drone or dark ‘doom’ drone work, and quite frankly I am bored of both. Where this work is truly great is in its ability to cross the line between organic and electronic, accessible and inaccessible, dark and light. The melodies are totally unique and its a voice quite unlike anyone else out there today. It doesn’t fit into any scene or exact definition, and whilst that may put some people off, it shouldn’t. For those who are as patient as the man himself, sit down and enjoy, you are in for one incredible ride." [label info]
www.homenormal.com
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
| ELIK, YURI / NOISES OF RUSSIA |
VOICES OF THE DEAD |
DVD-R |
"Photographer and videoartist Yuri Elik is primarily known as one of the founders and permanent members of multimedia project 2012, creating audio-video installations on various contemporary art festivals (SKIF, Heilige Feuer, Multivision, etc.). Apart from this Yuri performs on his own making video- and slide-shows for a number of experimental musical bands in St. Petersburg. Yuri is also the video show author for the performances of Simon Magus ballet written by D. Kakhovskiy and the designer of several CD artworks and websites. Gosha Solnzev (also known as "Van Gog" - 1g0g) - big industrial showman, leader of the project Noises of Russia well-known in Russia, organizer of several festivals, such as "Noise vs. Glamour", "Military Days", "Noisy Women", etc. Gosha has always claimed that he plays funeral music, so it's no wonder he showed interest in the phenomenon of voices of the dead, discovered by Friedrich Jürgenson in the late 50s of the past century. Electronic Voice Phenomenon (voices of the dead, Raudive voices) are the voices of anomalous origin appearing while making records on tape recorders or other electronic audio devices. EVP researches claim and have proof that this is a possible way of communication between physical and some other non-physical planes of existence. The exploration of this phenomenon led to an effective cooperation between Van Gog and Yuri which resulted in a series of live performances with the "Voices of the Dead" program and this short film, with 24 minutes an obscure psychedelic drama evolving in front of the spectator. A multi-layered collage of concrete visual images and kaleidoscopic colour fields constantly transforms, accompanied by unusual and uneasy sombre ambient with real voices of the dead samples interlaced in it's structure. As a bonus this disk also contains a 12-min. slide-film "City Spirits": alternation of photos by Yuri Elik with his own soundtrack constructed from city noises. Yuri skillfully focuses attention on subtleties of usual things that remain unseen to the eye of a usual human being, generally too busy with thinking over his insubstantial problems and forgetting about the beauty of the world surrounding him. The release is packed in a special cardboard sleeve and goes with a booklet with an encyclopaedic reference about the phenomenon of electronic voices." [label info]
http://zhb.radionoise.ru/
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
| ELIZABETH S. |
Gather Love |
CD |
Elizabeth S., long time contributor/performer with duo Eyeless In Gaza is about to release her first solo album. Happy in the past to remain on the sidelines with her collaborations she is now ready to reveal some of her story. These songs are her personal journey through many stormy years and the development of this work was many years in the making. All the songs were written, performed and produced by her with the only additional contributions being made by Martyn Bates and Alan Trench. In a recent review (www.bigbeautifulnoise.com) Lee Henderson wrote that her work extends from an almost mournful reminiscence to ethereal portraits and symbolic aural illustrations. Elizabeth S. has an approach that combines electronic treatments while having a tight grasp on her early British folk beginnings: this in-depth collection is a beacon on dark and intensely stormy years and yet it still offers a warm invitation to inspire hope and goodness to the human race. Consisting of twelve tracks of such an intimate autobiographical diary this body of work leaves the listener with no doubt that we have been allowed into a very private space inhabited by most of us at some point in our lives - with Elizabeth’s music gently moving from the tender to the abstract, all the while staying firmly rooted within a range of sparse musical arrangements. Elizabeth S. has been likened to a curious hybrid of Dolly Collins, June Tabor, Laurie Anderson and Kate Westbrook – but, it is truly difficult to label her music, and this is a task that we leave to the listener. Full tracklist: 1. Misborn 2. Will Your Love 3. The Carer 4. The Carter Girl 5. Weathered Life 6. Measured Greed 7. The Hill 8. The Long Farewell 9. Wanderlove 10. Gather Love 11. No Rain 12. To.
https://www.klanggalerie.com/gg384
"Warum Elizabeth S., langjährige Mitwirkende bei der Band Eyeless in Gaza, erst nach Jahrzehnten ein Album im Alleingang produziert hat, ist nicht weiter bekannt. Schon die ersten beiden Tracks ihres vor kurzem erschienenen Debüts “Gather Love” geben jedoch bereits eine Vorstellung von der enorm aufwühlenden Emotionalität, die sich in unterschiedlichen Facetten durch das ganze Werk zieht. Ein solches Album braucht nicht nur eine Weile, um fertig gestellt zu werden, sondern noch mehr Zeit, um überhaupt als Idee heranzureifen.
Ein solches Album ist, so will es die Redensart, keine leichte Geburt, und so beginnt “Gather Love” wie ein Donnerschlag mit dem heftigen “Misborn”, bei dem die Sängerin inmitten einer lärmenden Karambolage aus Drums, Noiserockgitarren und anderen Instrumenten beschwörende Verse anstimmt, während kleine Melodiefragmente auch hier bereits die Sanftheit ahnen lassen, die im weiteren Verlauf immer deutlicher in den Vordergrund treten wird. Alles dreht sich um den titelgebenden Begriff, und es scheint, als wollten Gesang und Lärm durch eine unsichtbare Wand dringen. Hinter der verbirgt sich vielleicht die gelöste, sehnsuchtsvolle Trauer, in die das darauffolgende “Will Your Love” getaucht ist – dieser vielleicht eingängigste Song des Albums, dessen eindringliches Gitarrenspiel und feuriger Gesang die Energie des Folkrevivals der 70er channelt, stellt die Frage nach einer Liebe, die den Tod überdauert. Alles in diesem Stück scheint dem Schmerz abgerungen und ist dabei frei von jeder lieblichen Romantik.
Die zwölf Stücke, in denen die oftmals verschwimmenden Klänge von Gitarre, Piano, Melodica, dezenter Elektronik und Streichern den Sound prägen, drehen sich immer wieder um Themen des Verlusts und des Vermissens und strahlen dabei eine große Zärtlichkeit aus, die mehr als alles andere die Wertschätzung des Verlorenen deutlich macht. Der Journalist Lee Henderson, der einiges über die persönlichen Hintergründe des Albums weiß, erwähnt den Bezug einiger der Songs auf die Familie der Sängerin. So enthält das verweht dröhnende “The Carter Girl” eine Tape-Aufnahme, die Elizabeth als Kind von ihrer Mutter, einer Opernsängerin, machte, die später an Alzheimer erkrankte. Andere Songs wie das so entrückte wie exaltierte “Weathered Life” erzählen in ihren Texten von den Herausforderungen, mit denen der Sängerin nahestehende Personen leben und kämpfen mussten.
Was die Opulenz der Stücke betrifft, die in ihrem unklaren Ort zwischen dunklen Folkballaden und abstrakteren Soundscapes immer wieder auch an Elizabeths Stammband erinnern, könnte “Gather Love” durchaus das Werk einer Band sein. Und doch bleibt stets der Eindruck einer persönlichen, autobiografischen Stimme, wie sie nur in wirklichen Soloarbeiten sprechen kann – ganz gleich, ob die Sängerin sich dabei wie in dem schleppenden, fast an No Wave erinnernden “No Rain” oder im gemächlich rauschenden “The Long Farewell” eher zurücknimmt und den Instrumenten den vorderen Platz überlässt, oder ob sie auch gesanglich wie in “The Hill” oder dem monumentalen “Measured Greed” alle Barrieren durchbricht und sich in fast wahnhafter Ekstatik Ausdruck verschafft.
Zu den gemächlicheren Stücken zählt auch das Mason Williams-Cover “Wanderlove”, bei dem mit Alan Trench (Temple Music, 12 Thousand Days u.v.a.) und Ehemann Martyn Bates auch Gäste mit Drones und begleitendem Gesang zu Wort kommen. In das sanfte Dröhnen mischt sich etwas unruhig drängendes, das sich durch die emotionale Grund-DNA des ganzen Albums zieht, eine sich heftig aufbäumende Eruption, die gleichermaßen rastlos und konzentriert, magisch und kathartisch ist. Erst im kurzen Abspann von “To” glätten sich die Wogen – wie auf der letzten, versöhnlichen Seite einer autobiografischen Erzählung. Zweifelsohne ein mehr als gelungenes Debüt." [U.S./African Paper]
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| ELLENDE |
Unintentional Consequences |
10inch |
Unintentional Consequences is the second part of a trilogy of which Ellende’s previous release the double 10” album Odyssey, A Sentimental Journey from 2019 was part one.
Unintentional Consequences
For this release Ellende was a core of three original members plus a guest musician. The album was recorded between May to August 2020 in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Tokyo, and London. The release contains a twelve page booklet with artwork by Richard Hart. The autobiographical text in English and Afrikaans is of a trip taken to Cape Town in the mid 1970’s where two teenage cousins are confronted with the consequences of their shared family history.
The music can be described as ambient; the sounds are multilayered, often a bit dusty and slow moving. Some of the tracks sound like they have been recorded on old tapes giving the whole album a nostalgic atmosphere. Often a piano acts as the leitmotif, there is plenty of droning and throughout the tracks bits of texts from old French movies float in and out. Most of the music is made with vintage analogue synthesisers such as the Arp Solina, Prophet 5, ARP Solus, Juno 6. Most of the piano’s, Rhodes and Wurlizters are from the late 70’s as well.
All the tracks have been recorded on tape, often played back on half speed. Mastering again was done by Rafael Irissari, whose own ambient work we greatly admire.
Unintentional Consequences is the second part of a trilogy of which Ellende’s previous release the double 10” album Odyssey, A Sentimental Journey from 2019 was part one.
Ellende was:
Martinus Antonius: ARP Solus, Casio VL-Tone, Eurorack, Recording and Looping, Processing, Mix;
Carina Bruwer: Flute;
Richard Hart: Graphic Design and Art Direction;
Rafael Irisarri: Mastering;
John John: Wurlitzer, guitar, Juno 60, Tape, Mix, Processing;
Lodewikus Pretorius: Piano, Rhodes MKI en MKII, Prophet 5, ARP Solina, Mellotron.
https://ellende1.bandcamp.com/album/unintentional-consequences
"Although Ellende is from South Africa, this new release was sent to me from Japan (just like the previous one) by one of the band members (if not the core of the group). Recording for this new record took place in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Tokyo, and London. Maybe that shows the diversity of the floating membership of this group, but, more mundane, it also has to do with the Covid thing. I doubt that under normal circumstances, these people would team up. Ellende means misery, which is in this age is the most appt name, of course, for the state of the world. As with the previous release, this comes in a beautiful package, 10" gatefold sleeve, booklet with a text in South-African (which is related to the Dutch language, but not always to understand for me), and English. If the previous release (Vital Weekly 1206) was already a step towards ambient music, then this indeed is another step further down that road. Sound material supplied by Carina Bruwer (flute), John John (Wurlitzer, guitar, Juno 6, tape) and core member Martinus Antonius (ARP Solus, Casio VL-Tone, Eurorack, recordings, looping and processing; he's the man in Tokyo). The story in the booklet is about the family history of Antonius and his cousin Wim, who committed suicide in 1995. It is an interesting read when playing the music. Still, I returned to the music again, without taking too much notice of the text and enjoyed the dark, pastoral ambient tones, from long, sustaining synthesisers washing ashore, along with field recordings from around the house. Just a few notes that all there seems to be to it. It fits in a way the current wave of lo-fi drone music, with those cassettes that ran out of Ferro, so the music isn't captured very well, sparse synths and shady field recordings. In the variation of Ellende this is all very ambient, peaceful and subdued. In this variation, the use of voices from French films from the 70s (which relates to the text enclosed) adds further to the music's dreamlike quality. All of this is more spacious than their earlier work. You could say this is a step forward, but instead, I'd like to say it further expands musical interests." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2021 |
€18.00 |
|
|
HALLO KAPTEIN |
mCD-R |
During the early 2000’s we experimented as a collaborative in trying to erase the notion of being a band. Instead, we aimed at operating as an anonymous musical assembly. Through the rise of the internet and its collaborative economy we thought that by pouring various (found) sounds into a large database, we could mix this into music with an incredible complexity that would amount to soundscapes (ugh) so deep that each time the listener would have a multifarious listening experience. In the mid 1970’s Ellende’s founding band members, the cousins Wim and Martinus had tried something similar when they over-dubbbed every 7” vinyl record found at their Cape Town home (mostly Dutch and Afrikaans popular music) onto tape, with mixed results.
Conceptually we continued to experiment with this idea of overdubbing; by randomly layering found sounds, but also juxtaposing images or tv images on top of each other in anticipation that this technique could lead to interesting new images or sounds. We can safely say that the Post Modern concept of a hyper-collage has been an obsession for us for over 45 years. This idea reached for us its zenith in 2003 with the double cdr release on Somnabulant Corpse: No Holiday Without a Funeral - Damaged Beyond Repair. This release was extremely deep (sometimes 20 layers deep), but also very, very data heavy (it crashed our at that time top of the line Apple computers). Despite this technical feat, the resulting albums never reached the level of complexity that we had in mind. The result just sounded muddy.
In 2010 we tried it again. The sessions for Hallo Kaptein started in 2010 and were mixed in 2011. It follows the same collage approach and contains many found sounds that are layered. However, we consciously aimed at remaining sonically spread out, leaving space for the various layers to be heard in context to the other sounds that are stacked on top of them. Some of the tracks are very open and give a feeling of having been recorded outside, while others are more metallic and enclosed. The last title track of the album is a live improvisation by adding one instrument upon the next one. As this was recorded in one take, we depended heavily on a compressor to keep everything within an acceptable dynamic range.
Although recorded more than 10 years ago we felt that Hallo Kaptein was a layering exercise in which we achieved, to our own ears, more acceptable results.
Ellende was Martinus Antonius and JJ. Scholtz with many anonymous contributions. Recorded in Cape Town and Tokyo.
https://ellende1.bandcamp.com/album/hallo-kaptein
"Experimental music is not constrained to a specific part of the world. And experiments, in general, are everywhere: it's a 'human' thing to think outside of the perspective we're given in our upbringing, environment or culture. The only thing is that it is sometimes difficult to get informed about what is all happening outside our little bubble of western influences. But thankfully, sometimes, the sounds of these unknown territories reach our side. We get to hear so many beautiful things ... One of the lesser-known continents where experimental music is made in Africa. Still, the best-known experimental group from this continent is South-African (and Tokyo) based Ellende (Dutch / Afrikaans for 'misery'). They also have a label called Smeerlappen (tr: Scumbags), and in the player are two 3" CDRs from that label.
"Hallo Kaptein" by Ellende is the first, and it contains six tracks with a total playing time of just under 18 minutes. Way too short if you ask me
because what I hear is serious of a higher level. The combination of field recordings, vocals and (mostly?) synthetic sounds are folded into hypnotizing sound collages, which I simply can't get enough of. Especially the title track - with its almost 7 minutes also the longest track - is so subtly layered and has excellent sound perfectly aligned and mixed ... A constant tension because of subtle changes in the attack of the recurrent sounds, layers in the background that after a bit of while shifted from the back to the front and then back again. And the use of vocals where I must say that being Dutch, the Afrikaans is in a way foreign to me, but with enough overlap to understand the basics. Damn, 18 minutes. Replay. I need a complete CD. And I believe I understand the "ETERNALLY ILLUSIVE DRONESOUP" words on their website." [BW / Vital Weekly]
|
2022 |
€9.50 |
|
| |
This is My Song |
MC |
listen:
https://ellende1.bandcamp.com/album/this-is-my-song
"Robert Wyatt once mentioned that he preferred short albums. Wim said he wanted a short life. Kobus spoke about having the shortest relationship ever. We think that giving the attention span, even before the ultra-short Instagram reel moments, for music between 20 to 25 minutes for an album is ideal. Wim argued that life should not go beyond forty. I uselessly argued with him about this and he never made it to forty. If you can even talk about this, Kobus had relationships that lasted less than half a day. And what to say about David? The Fever took him away from us, quite soon Ellende will be nothing but dust in the wind."
"Albums by the South African/Japanese group Ellende (meaning 'misery' in Dutch) are usually short, and at twenty minutes, this new cassette is no different. The album is dedicated to Kobus (1964-1999) and Dave M (1967-2021); I believe the latter was a band member who plays synth and mellotron on this album who died of 'the fever' in 2021, which I assume is Covid-19. A life cut short, another shortness. Other players play the piano, Rhodes, and guitar. I believe the exchange of sound files is how this music is made by members living some miles apart. Over the years, I became a big fan of their music, and short albums aren't my thing. I prefer the classic forty-minute albums, so all Ellende albums are too short. Mainly because they play mood music that is
atmospheric and richly textured synthesiser-based, which could easily lead up to longer tracks. With the help of carefully placed reverb, space and depth are suggested, and they are not shy about creating a rich sound. Nothing sparse but ominous, vast as space itself. Dark matter, this music, but maybe not without humour. Thanks to their song 'To All The Girls', I have that dreary Nelson song singing through my head. Go away, Willy, let me enjoy Ellende, as no matter how miserable one feels or how dark the music is, it is truly a pleasure to hear this. And that's what great music should do: bring light and joy in a dark world. Did I already mention that this album is way too short? And with my new tape deck having no auto-reverse, I dread the shortness even more." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2024 |
€9.50 |
|
| ELLICIST |
Point Defects |
LP |
"Creating a composition means making decisions. During times in which you virtually have all sounds that have ever been recorded at your availability, composers must choose between infinite possibilities. The duo Ellicist does not perceive this contemporary ocean of possibilities as too much choice, they are swimming in it. Ellicist are weaving thick textures from the most diverse tones and rhythms. Their tracks are placing synthetic buzzing, the croaking of frogs, low frequency billowing and humming, flutes, the droning of flies, and the whole spectrum of the digital creation of sound next to one another. This intensity of sensations is not supposed to overstrain the listener, it invites them to follow a process. This music does not have a strict structure; instead, it is breathing openness at every moment.
Ellicist are incessantly oscillating between abstraction and elements of pop music. Melodies are being hinted at, and sounds are being piled up, at times tirelessly. Fragments of etheric choirs or field recordings are unfolding their associative power. The melodious Ink is a track full of touching intimacy and is in constant motion until it eventually pauses to create a silent ocean of sound. Passage People is permeated by a groove of throbbing synths. The tapestries of sound of Ponds & Graves, on the other hand, are creating the foundation for expressive percussions. Ihnen Steg is almost a dub track. During the opener Hennepin and its follower Lilei sounds of palpable corporeity are being combined with ones that are hardly tangible.
Point Defects has a incredible spatiality. At one point you might believe that you are able to precisely localize the sounds in an imaginary system of coordinates. And then the whole systemization crumbles. It is an astonishing production: you can almost taste the sounds.
Biographical Notes:
Ellicist are Thomas Chousos & Florian Zimmer. Chousos studied composition in Greece before moving to Berlin, where he is working as a producer and sound engineer under the moniker Tadklimp. Florian Zimmer has been playing with several groups. Besides Ellicist he is a member of Saroos and Driftmachine."
https://ellicist.bandcamp.com
"Springs have sprung on the opener, Hennepin, and the duo Ellicist (Thomas Chousos & Florian Zimmer) is off to an eventful start on their latest Point Defects. Their murky, quirky sound combines elements of abstraction, noise, electronics and synthetic nature. There’s is a swampy universe where engines don’t kickstart, where sluice-like regurgitation is the norm while night creatures devour the surroundings. The first three tracks (also including Lilei and Passage People) uniformly fold into one another.
The highlight here, aside from the wondrous sound effects, is the assorted, moderated and otherwise unexpected percussion. It’s as though layers of warm static and a beehive have collided mid air in slow motion and as they slowly tumble to the surface even that gives way, almost like a video game that just added a new level. There are hazy synth blurs by way of random chords that abruptly vanish. And suddenly a little post-techno gem, Ihnen Steg, is before our ears. Roughly translated to “your jetty” the sparkles and spray-paint can jitters and like a flowering ground cover shivering in the breeze. As it moves deeper into the track, the more retro-cosmic cinema it becomes. And in between there are plenty of pops, hiss and wavering filters that arbitrarily mask and reveal what could be pieces of encoded messages.
Somehow I’m nudged with elusively vague reminders of the incidental post-rock music of either To Rococo Rot, Kreidler and/or hints of Labradford. It’s only through the haze and transistor-like bits, croaking and jerking on the wild-style outdoorsy Ponds & Graves (listen above) that I begin to partially understand their off-Earth conjuring. And for all this sophisticated rumination it’s essential to point out that this is these gents’ debut! For that, alone, I am floored. Though it doesn’t deter my further listening, nor my appetite for more.
On the closer, Trace, they continue with the moody rhythmic points afloat and rocking, swaying, back and forth. It’s a dreamlike world, slightly discombobulated, but reflective of fleeting out jazz and post-electro-pop. They make no pint in covering small defects, and utilize sounds of falling, of movement, quite effectively, and in doing so keep your ears active between channels." [TJ NORRIS/ TONESHIFT]
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| ELODIE (TIMO VAN LUIJK & ANDREW CHALK) |
Traces Ephemeres |
LP |
"An eclectic ensemble of 18 instrumental arrangements evoking an epic and existential soundtrack determined by the power of momentary destiny and reflective sentiment. Music played by Andrew Chalk and Timo van Luijk. Clarinet by Jean-Noël Rebilly. Piano and koto by Tom James Scott. Edition of 350 copies." [label info]
www.lasciedoree.be
"When not playing his own music, Timo van Luijk is busy with recording music with other people, and with some of them as part of an on-going collaboration, such as In Camera with Christoph Heemann and Elodie with Andrew Chalk. This is Elodie's fourth full length release (see Vital Weekly 781 and 828) and like before the album has rather shortish pieces, even more fragmented, it seems, than before, eighteen in total. It therefore isn't one of those 'one drone, one side, LP done' sort of releases. This is all highly atmospheric music as you can surely imagine given the reputation of both of these composers, but then played on a wide variety of instruments, of an acoustic and electronic origin. The carefully strummed guitar (Chalk), the flute, percussive bits, (both van Luijk) along with electronics - no computers I should think - play short and sketch like pieces. Not refined oil paintings on canvas but pencil sketches on paper. Introspective music, moody, but also airy and light. Moving like clouds on a blue sky, some white, some grey, some times rainy. Textured music, like you have textured paper, with spots of ink on them. Excellent stuff here." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Odyssee |
CD |
"Elodie here featuring core members Timo van Luijk and Andrew Chalk, playing live in Germany
in 2015. Performing a pure duet of flute and string synthesizer over one episodic track 'Odyssee', a poetic and melancholy synchronous soundtrack to a film made and shown by van Luijk on the same evening.
'Odyssee' was mastered for CD release by Denis Blackham and is packaged in handmade gatefold mini LP style sleeve with Japanese language obi." [label info]
"Elodie’s 'Odyssee Musique En Scene II' is the latest offering by Elodie on Faraway Press. Elodie is a musical collaboration featuring Chalk and Timo van Luyk, which first released their particular brand of ambient music, as in a combination of keyboards, wind instruments and ROOM in 2011. Their previous offerings, either on Faraway Press or Van Luyk’s equally impressive La Scie Dorée label have, for obvious reasons, never failed to impress me. This album was recorded live at the Gerauschwelten Festival in Münster on 7 February 2015. It is a brief performance, 33 minutes, but let me assure you that quality always goes over quantity. This half hour+ is a gorgeous, shimmering beautiful listen. Resting on a soft bed of keyboards and various flutes, Elodie takes you on an odyssee that is calming and soothing, without ever becoming a cliché. The atmosphere and warmth
of the recording is just perfect. The applause at the end is a reminder this was done live, proving not only the sheer quality of playing, but also of the remarkable high quality of interaction between these two musicians and the space they are performing in. As you might have guessed, 'Odyssee', handsomely packed in a sturdy carton gatefold cover, is a highly recommended release." [Freek Kinkelaar, Vital Weekly]
www.farawaypress.info
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
La Porte Ouverte |
LP |
La Porte Ouverte was recorded by Timo van Luijk, Andrew Chalk and Tom James Scott and was cut by Noel Summerville at 33/45 in London.
Available in a standard only edition and cut at 45 RPM for higher fidelity.
350 copies pressed.
Sleeve is printed in reverse board with poly-lined inner sleeve.
Any orders are always shipped vinyl out of main sleeve to prevent seam ripping.
'An open door...
an exit... an entrance...
a new horizon
we never know where we are...
as long as the door remains open
there will be light...'
www.farawaypress.info
"Few musical artists have explored the notion of quietness as a virtue — and, let’s face it, as a reaction to the fetishization of high volumes in rock music — with as much rigor as Andrew Chalk and Timo van Luijk do in their Elodie duo. Performing live in about 2012 or so, opening for Eyvind Kang and Jessika Kenney, they held the audience in rapt silence, Chalk gently — barely — caressing the strings of his acoustic guitar and van Luijk only occasionally whistling with unbelievable restraint into his flute, was remarkable. Not to mention bold. It’s a potentially risky approach, but the control van Luijk and Chalk have in their interactions (not to mention their musical skill) means they have consistently been able to evince new forms of minimalism.
For La Porte Ouverte, originally issued in 2016 on cassette, the duo is joined by Liberez pianist Tom James Scott, and his keys, added to subtly applied textures from other instruments, lead to a slight change in the overall aesthetic of Elodie. There was always a difference between Elodie live and their studio output, but on this album they shake off the shackles of lowercase altogether, removing the constraints of that genre’s formalism and delving into a delicate, moonlit realm somewhere between barroom jazz and modern minimalism.
On most tracks, Tom Scott’s piano acts like a semi-regular metronome: emerging gradually but with confidence, delineating the atmosphere with patient, slow-building clusters of notes, arranged like outlines. Within — and even without — the resulting canvasses, Timo van Luijk and Andrew Chalk have the space to reflectively dab their own considered shades, reacting both to the piano and each other. “Matin de Marbre” shimmers like light on a marble statue, a thread-like keyboard note drifting anxiously in and out of tremulous piano notes. There are hints of Angelo Badalamenti’s compositions for David Lynch, especially the Straight Story soundtrack, in the aching tone of the instruments; it’s equally easy to imagine a lot of the tracks on La Porte Ouverte forming the backing track for a song sung by Isabella Rosselini in Blue Velvet. “La Marche” is more austere, with piano notes struck almost angrily by Scott only to find no echo in van Luijk and Chalk’s unflinching keyboard drone. Somewhere deep in the mix, van Luijk’s flute seems to echo like a defeated cry, but that could just be my ears finding textures that aren’t there. Or maybe they are, it’s hard to tell. As an entire album, La Porte Ouverte can have that effect, especially on the longer tracks.
On average, the tracks on the first half are most minimal and quiet, borrowing most noticeably from lowercase traditions in the sparseness of the piano notes and barely audible flourishes on flute or guitar. Scott’s playing will instantly appeal to fans of Morton Feldman or Michael Nyman, whilst the keyboard arrangements evoke the ambient works of Fennesz or David Sylvian’s mid-1980s work (sans the vocals, of course). “Le Jardin Onirique” is the side’s longest work, and also the most abstract, fittingly given the title. A dreamlike quality drifts through much of the entire album, the earthiest moment coming with the emergence of Andrew Chalk’s guitar on “Par la Main,” as he sketches out a gentle series of scales to dance hesitantly with Scott’s piano motif, rewarding listeners with the most intimate piece on the album.
In contrast, the second side features synths and keyboards more prominently, although don’t go thinking the results are lush or dense. Elodie make a virtue of stillness and calm, and the lengthier tracks (of eight, only three feature on side B) somewhat paradoxically underline this further. The title track drifts on a curtain of synthetic strings into which piano notes drop like rain into a pond. It’s a profoundly moving and melancholic piece, its apparent simplicity hiding a range of depths. Tom James Scott really shines, delicately deploying his notes only when necessary, and the synth arrangement is positively haunting. I’m not sure what the title, which translates as “The Open Door,” means, beyond maybe a sense of welcome, which this track certainly carries in abundance. The organ-drenched “Lumen” is possibly the loudest Elodie has ever got, the venerable church instrument building a foundation over which piano and vibraphone notes swirl like motes of dust caught in a shaft of light. Again, I find myself reaching for Badalamenti, but in truth that’s a lazy shorthand for music that is both emotionally-resonant and cinematic in scope. Elodie have jazz and minimalism in their bones, and feeling in their hearts, and by broadening their palette so effectively on La Porte Ouverte they have created an album as close to unique as you can get in 2016." [Joseph Burnett/Dusted Mag]
"Utterly sublime ambient jazz from consummate, lower case collaborators, Timo Van Lujik and Andrew Chalk, joined here on piano by Tom James Scott (Charcoal Owls, Liberez) in a subtly breathtaking LP of melting romantic gestures and spectral electronics. Big recommendation if you're into David Lynch, Bohren Und Der Club of Gore, Af Ursin, Oren Ambarchi...
Their 8th album - alternately released like all previous Elodie LPs since 2011 on the duo's respective labels, La Scie Dorée and Faraway Press - they navigate thee finest line of anticipatory tension and vaporous release, resulting in some of the most tender, unshowy yet arresting musical expressions that we’ve heard in years.
In eight parts they expand, contract and drift off on shafts of moonlight, oscillating shorter vignettes which appear like magnetically suspended bonsai trees - as with the hyaline delicacy of Matin de Marbre or the latinate acoustic guitar that slides between the silken ambient tones and Feldman-meets-Sakamoto keys of Par La Main - with longer sections such as the midnight stroller Le Jardin Onirique and the B-side’s sail-away suite of three pieces, including the unmissable title track, afford teasingly intangible visions of a sound which we’re sure everyone can agree, is some of the most beautiful music imaginable.
We were lucky enough to catch the duo in this record’s line-up with Tom James Scott at Salford’s Islington Mill in 2016, where we witnessed them totally silence the room with an almighty, barely-there demonstration of how to enchant a crowd. As with everyone else in the room, we were duly pinned to our seat for the duration, with incidental creaking chairs and refrigerator hum only heightening the sublime tension whilst waiting for the trio’s next, curious jazz chord in sequence, or when attempting to follow their chromatic gasses off into the ether.
Like the weeks after seeing their show last year, you just kinda want to make sure everyone in earshot knows about or can at least get a glimpse of this music. It just seems to reset everything..." [Boomkat] |
2017 |
€16.50 |
|
| ELOY, JEAN-CLAUDE |
Shanti |
do-CD |
" “Shânti” (1972-73) for electronic and concrete sounds. Electronic music studio, WDR, Cologne, Germany, 1972-73. Digitalized and revised version from 2001.
“The term “meditation music” triggered many conflicting comments including positive ones (“... let us say that Shânti belongs to those very rare works that change you after listening to them. You are not exactly the same before and after.” - Gérard Mannoni, Le Quotidien de Paris, 1974). Others, wondering at the strong sound presence of the piece, consider such aspect as hardly helpful to their own meditation... Let us be clear: “what meditates” here (”that” who meditates) is the composer. He is the one who takes you on his journey and guides you through his work like in a classic or romantic symphony. As a listener you are invited to follow “his” meditation... The composition is the meditation.” " [label info]
"Was I recently 'complaining' about 3CD sets with music of people I never heard of, I wasn't perhaps thinking of Jean-Claude Eloy. First time around the mailman decided to keep the CDs, but the second time delivered them duly. I hope he likes them as much as I do. I may have heard the name Eloy before, but not his music, or where to place him, these two sets, six discs in total will set the record straight (pun intended). Eloy was born in 1938 and studied with Darius Milhaud. I believe he composes all sorts of work, but his main line of business is electronic music. I review them in order of composition. 'Shanti', which means 'peace', was composed after 'Kamakala' for three orchestra ensembles, five choir ensembles with three conductors, so it was perhaps 'necessary' to compose an electro-acoustic work at the WDR studios in Cologne, Germany. A work of meditation, or so Eloy tells us. Now this is not a work of pure and solitary drone music, as one would perhaps expect from 'meditative music'. They are here, that's for sure, but there is also an interview with Aurobindo and Mao, as well as a small piece called 'Soldats', with soldiers speaking and 'Vagues Lentes, Boucles De Feux', which takes their singing into an electronic landscape. This is of course an album about 'Peace', but rather then just produce a drone or two, Eloy brings in a political element, the soldiers. However the majority are those various drones, played on those ancient machines (great pictures in the booklet here), the mystical oscillators, wave generators and such like - which defy any laptop, I'd say. Excellent music, although not always exactly as meditative as promised, but that, I thought, was hardly a problem. Unsettling meditation, which is better than just go with the flow." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€25.00 |
|
|
Kâmakalâ |
CD + booklet |
"CD with 60 pages booklet with photos + texts in French and English.
'Kâmakalâ. The Energy Triangle' (1971). For three orchestra ensembles, five chorus ensembles, with three conductors. Orchestra and chorus of the WDR, Schola Cantorum, Stuttgart. Conductors : Michel Tabachnik, Bernhard Kontarsky, Jacques Mercier. Kâmakalâ - a Sankrit term meaning energy triangle - refers to India's philosophy (Tantric Shivaïsm) and is expresses here as the appearance of energy, which is the erotic and cosmic energy (Kama), that which helps Shiva uniting with his Shakti (feminine energy), create every self-subdivision (Kalâ), hence gradually generating the whole complexity of the universe. It is that idea of a vast and slow crescendo of the various parameters of a musical score, of an infinite division and infinite multiplication of the material contained in it that appealed to Eloy. At the time he would complain about a type of contemporary music aesthetics only focusing on the quick scattering of all kinds of points within short periods of time, sometimes in just a few seconds (pointillism). As a result music pieces were almost inevitably bound to be brief, unable to sustain time as it would distribute the entire sound energy from the very first minutes. On the contrary, Eloy wanted to create music in which the energy was sustained, non distributed and reserved to intense inner blossoming at a later point; music expanding very slowly as in Indian Raga, yet Western music definitely modern, atonal and athematic.
'Étude III' (1962) for orchestra, with piano and five percussionists. Orchestra of the SWF, Baden-Baden. Conductor : Ernest Bour. Etude III, which was composed in May and June of 1962 in Zurich and Paris, uses the configuration of a traditional orchestra (wood and brass instruments by pair) opposite to an ensemble of five percussionists, piano, harp and celesta. A dialectic stands out of this opposition as it is emphasized through the writing and conducting (measured for the orchestral mass, a-measured and cued for the entire ensemble on the foreground). The instruments, which form cohesive timber families, come in according to an irregular pattern as the piece develops, with the entire configuration not coming into play until the last developments. The frequent use of very long durations, related to the steadiness of the pitch registers, leads to a rising static sound phenomenon reminiscent of oriental music in some regards: the tone and use of Shô in Japanese Gagaku, the slow and steady increase of complexity in Indian Raga.
'Fluctuante - Immuable' (1977) for full orchestra. New Philharmonic Orchestra from Radio-France. Conductor : Gilbert Amy. Fluctuante-Immuable, which was composed in 1977 as Gaku-no-Michi was produced in the Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) electronic studio in Tokyo, is the result of a commission by the Secretariat of Cultural Affairs made for the Orchestre de Paris, which premiered it in May 1977. This work clearly shows the influence and the alterations that electro-acoustic practices infer on orchestral writing practices. Besides Eloy's long electro-acoustic productions, Fluctuante-Immuable suggested a new (theoretical and practical) way of addressing issues related to composing with notes. The formal issue that the composer faces at the beginning is that of a dialectic between Order and Disorder (or between order and organized chaos) topped by an issue about the relation between the conductor and his orchestra (techniques of synchronization or desynchronization with the mass of musicians)." [label info]
www.hors-territoires.com
|
2012 |
€23.00 |
|
|
Electro-Anahata |
do-CD |
"Electro-Anâhata' (1986-1994). Fully electro-acoustic version of Anâhata realized on the composer's personal computer from the original electro-acoustic recordings of this work. Electronic music studios where the original Anâhata was produced (1984-86) : Studio of the Sweelinck Conservatory of Music, Amsterdam (1984 and 1986): the entire production (pre-recorded material processing, new material generation, premixing) and all final mixing processes. Tokyo-Gakuso studio, Tokyo (1983): for the Shô and Ô-Shô (traditional mouth organs from Japan) sampling with Mayumi Miyata. Conny's Studio, Neuenkirchen, near Cologne (1984) with Asian Sound and Michael W. Ranta: metal percussion instrument sampling, including Bonshôs (Buddhist temple bells from Japan) sampling. INA-GRM, Paris (1985): pre-recorded material processing. Studio ART, Geneva (1985): pre-recorded material processing and pre-mixing. Studio of Technische Universitt (TU), Berlin (1985-86): pre-recorded material processing, new material production, pre-mixing. CD 1 Metal metamorphoses. Five electro-acoustic works of a contemplative nature. Electro-acoustic parts alone of Âhata-Anâhata (struck sound - unstruck sound) including a new unreleased part. CD 2 The Bird-Mirror in the Magic Forest (a tribute to Paul Klee). Electro-acoustic parts alone of Akshara-Kshara (unchanging-changing). 'The Reed, the Sea and the Stars' (1986-1994). Electro-acoustic parts alone of Nimîlana-Unmîlana (that which awakens - that which slumbers) among which a new unreleased part. Jean-Claude Eloy: 'In the past composers would often arrange or adapt their works themselves, often for practical or economic reasons. Let us take a look at the most prestigious examples Take Wagner: Prelude and Love Death (Tristan and Isolde) is played two different ways. Sometimes the orchestral part alone is played as a concert piece. Other times the voice solo part is added as it is in the original opera (which then becomes the magnificent Liebestod). Such examples could be repeated endlessly among the greatest composers. In the early 1990s I faced a challenging situation: the Japanese Gagaku musicians who had performed my work Anâhata for the first time in 1986 (for the Sigma Festival of Bordeaux and the Autumn Festival in Paris), and had performed it again in 1990 (for the Donaueschingen Festival) were not able to find time in their schedule to accept an important invitation to the Warsaw Autumn Festival. Only the two Buddhist monk singers were able to fit it in. Before that and to complete the Anâhata project and its electro-acoustic parts I had to travel across part of Europe and spend two whole years commuting between Paris and Amsterdam several times, later between Paris and Berlin, then between Paris and Geneva even within Paris, thanks to my friends from the GRM who had kindly let me use their studio for several weeks during night hours. Those were very precious nights for me. During those two years I would always carry boxes of tapes and Betamax or U-Matic cassettes with two PCM Sony and two Betamax cassette decks that I had purchased a little earlier. For the first time I was then able to arrange digital recording sequences and carry out several mixing, recording and reading processes without compromising signal quality. I also had to carry boxes of multitrack bands of all types: the Amsterdam studio was equipped with a two-speed 16-track Studer, the Geneva studio with a three-speed 24- track Otari; the Berlin studio with two 8-track Telefunkens including a variable-speed one." [label info]
|
2013 |
€19.50 |
|
|
Galaxies full-electro |
CD |
" 'Galaxies' (Warsaw version), electro-acoustic alone. Fully electro-acoustic version of Anâhata / Galaxies realized on the composer's personal computer from the original electro-acoustic recordings of this work. Electronic music studios where the original Anâhata / Galaxies were produced (1984-86): Studio of the Sweelinck Conservatory of Music, Amsterdam (1984 and 1986): the entire production (pre-recorded material processing, new material generation, premixing) and all final mixing processes. Tokyo-Gakuso studio, Tokyo (1983): for the Shô and Ô-Shô (traditional mouth organs from Japan) sampling with Mayumi Miyata. Conny's Studio, Neuenkirchen, near Cologne (1984) with Asian Sound and Michael W. Ranta: metal percussion instrument sampling, including Bonshôs (Buddhist temple bells from Japan) sampling. INA-GRM, Paris (1985): pre-recorded material processing. Studio ART, Geneva (1985): pre-recorded material processing and pre-mixing. Studio of Technische Universitt (TU), Berlin (1985-86): pre-recorded material processing, new material production, pre-mixing. Jean-Claude Eloy: 'In 1994 I had (for purely practical reasons) to remove these big electro-acoustic parts making up the two Galaxies works from the piece they were connected with until then: Part III of my Anâhata cycle, entitled Nimîlana-Unmîlana (that which awakens - that which slumbers). An electro-acoustic work integrating instrumental acoustic parts that required the performance of a Shô player from Japan. Those electro-acoustic parts were substantial enough to warrant a new configuration ensuring their stand-alone nature, independent of whether a performer was available or not. Therefore I used (apart from the two Galaxies) a set of particular sounds that I had generated during that production (all of them resulting from Shô sampled sound processing and modulations) entitled sons d'infinitude (sounds of indefiniteness). These sustained sounds were very fixed, quite contemplative, almost motionless or maintained through short fluctuations that were more or less regular. They were five of them altogether. Four of them were grouped together into a consistent set and occurred after the first Galaxy, before the Shô solo. I had used them to compose a sequence called Awakening, which formed the first Shô appearance in the version realized for the Donaueschingen Festival in 1990. The fifth one took place at the end of the second Galaxy and was used to support the conclusion played on the Ô-Shô. In this purely electro-acoustic version the first four sons d'infinitude came quite naturally as a bridge between both Galaxies. The fifth sound kept its conclusive place, making it bigger and using it as a genuine extension sound that could be infinite, with no limit!" [label info]
www.hors-territoires.com
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
L'Anneau des Sept Lumieres |
CD |
"The Ring of the Seven Lights (Metametal, long version) (1994-95 / revision and new master: 2013). Seven continuous variations from a single Bonshô sample (Buddhist temple traditional bell from Japan), a tribute to Inayat and Vilayat Khan. Jean-Claude Eloy: 'I created and partially realized it in 1994-95 during this conversion of Anâhata into an electro-acoustic version alone. I first made a short version out of it which integrated into Electro-Anâhata and became the fourth station within the first part (around Âhata-Anâhata). It was an entirely new part that had never been realized during the final mixing of the original Anâhata cycle." [label info]
www.hors-territoires.com
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| ELUDER |
Through Horizon |
CD |
"Japanese style mini-lp gatefold sleeve - printed by Stoughton. Features printed inner sleeve. Design by Timothy O'Donnell. Images by NASA. Edition of 400 copies.* For the many things "Through Horizon" does well, diversity is not one of them. For a drone record that isn't the negative that it can be for many other types of music as it allows the musician to focus on and hone a single aesthetic to create a defined and monolithic work. Eluder spends a full hour exploring the intersection of lurching and despondent bass rumblings and the flecks of high end digital distortion that may rise to the surface. At many moments throughout the album "Through Horizon" possesses the restraint of early Eluvium and the shrouded mystery of Seasons (Pre-Din) with a confident, dedicated voice. If you're going to focus on a sole objective for the length of an album you better make the right decision and Eluder undoubtedly does. - Ryan Potts, Experimedia" [label info]
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| ELUVIUM |
Similes |
CD |
"Matthew Cooper wurde 2003 zu ELUVIUM und brachte sogleich frischen Wind in eine Ambient Electronic Szene, deren Luft zusehends stickiger geworden war. Beeinflusst von neoklassischen Helden wie Erik Satiey und Philip Glass schmuggelte ELUVIUM emotional mitreißende Melodien ins Auge eines Hurricanes aus Nebel und Fuzz und wurde so eher zufällig zu einem Komponisten, der gern in einem Atemzug mit den Namen seiner Helden genannt wird. Nach "Copia" aus dem Jahr 2007 waren ELUVIUM ein Jahr lang auf Tour unterwegs - oft und gern auf einer Bühne mit den Labelkollegen von EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY. Doch mitten im Jahr 2008 drängte es Cooper in eine neue Richtung. Nach fünf Alben in ebenso vielen Jahren setzte eine gewisse Selbstzufriedenheit ein. Ein Jahr verging, ohne dass ein neues ELUVIUM Album erschien. Tatsächlich vergingen ganze drei Jahre. In der Zeit veröffentlichte Cooper mit "Miniatures" ein Soloalbum, schrieb den Soundtrack zu dem Kinofilm "Some Days Are Better Than Others" und brachte ein Vinyl Boxset heraus, das jedem Hörer den Atem verschlug. Nachdem "Copia" geschrieben und wieder verworfen wurde, wagte Cooper mit "Similes" den kreativen Quantensprung: erstmalig finden sich hier Percussion, eine Songstruktur und Gesang. "Similes" verschmelzt die typische traumartige Aura von ELUVIUM mit dem lakonischen Gesang von Cooper - als ob sich ein extrem grüblerischer Ian Curtis Gedanken über MAGNETIC FIELDS und Brian Eno macht. www.myspace.com/eluviumtaken " [Label info / Cargo]
"The long-awaited follow-up to the acclaimed Copia, ELUVIUM takes a courageous creative leap with Similes, an eight-song album featuring three key musical elements previously uncharted by Eluvium: percussion, a verse-chorus song structure, and singing. For a celebrated experimental musician, it was just about the bravest and scariest direction to go. In this way, Similes is the most truly experimental Eluvium album yet, and also the most accessible. Written, performed and recorded as always by MATTHEW COOPER’s own Watership Sounds studio, Similes marries Eluvium’s trademark dream-like aura with Cooper’s unique, laconic vocals, akin to an especially contemplative Ian Curtis with trace reflections of Magnetic Fields and Brian Eno. It is the most daring—and ultimately most rewarding—work of Eluvium’s impressive and prolific career." [original label info]
www.temporaryresidence.com
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| EMDE, GABRIELE |
Die Natur der Klänge - Neue Musik für Harfe |
CD |
"Gabriele Emde-Hauffe was born in 1953 in Darmstadt, Germany. She received a humanistic education at a local grammar school in Darmstadt and started studying the harp after her A-levels, first in Darmstadt and finishing in Cologne. Conducted by Péter Eötvös, she worked out modern chamber music and modern improvisation by J. G. Fritsch and Vinko Globokar. Passing her exams in 1980 and 1981, she continued her studies of musical science at Cologne University, based on her thesis, "The Harp between Myth and Reality." From 1981 to 1983 she was a member of Die Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and Ensemble Modern, and collaborated on productions of contemporary music with Ensemble-Köln and Ensemble 13, as well as the NDR-Sinfonieorchester Hamburg. She has performed the solo harp at various international festivals, among them many premieres and international radio, TV, and record productions. At the invitation of the Goethe-Institut, she toured North America in 1982, presenting Walter Zimmermann's works, and also performed in South Korea; her career as a performer has included performances of contemporary music by Berio, Boulez, Cage, Globokar, N. A. Huber, Schönberg, Stockhausen, Webern, I. Yun, B. A. Zimmermann, and W. Zimmermann. Until 1992 she taught harp classes in Cologne and Düsseldorf. Since 1991 she has been teaching her private harp class in Darmstadt. This CD contains recordings from 1985-'87 of pieces by John Cage, Hans Otte, and Lou Harrison." [press release]
"Werke von John Cage, Hans Otte und Lou Harrison
John Cage: In a landscape for Harp [1948] 9:09
Hans Otte: Wassermann-Musik für Harfe [1984] 40:53
Lou Harrison: Music for Harp [1978]
a. From music for Bill and me 2:58
b. Beverly's troubadour piece 2:17
c. Avalokiteshvara 2:29
d. Jahla 2:18
Gabriele Emde-Hauffe wurde 1953 in Darmstadt geboren.
Nach dem Abitur am humanistischen Gymnasium begann sie ihr Harfenstudium in Darmstadt und setzte es in Köln an der Musikhochschule fort. Dort erarbeitete sie unter der Leitung von Peter Eötvös neue Kammermusik und bei J. G. Fritsch und V. Globokar neue Improvisationsformen.
Ausgehend von ihrer Diplomarbeit "Die Harfe zwischen Mythos und Wirklichkeit" studierte sie, nach ihrem Examen 1980-81, an der Universität zu Köln Musikwissenschaft. Von 1981 bis 1983 war sie Mitglied der Jungen Deutschen Philharmonie und des Ensemble Modern, wirkte mit im Ensemble-Köln und im Ensemble 13 sowie im NDR-Symphonieorchester Hamburg bei Produktionen zeitgenössischer Musik. Sie spielte bei vielen internationalen Festivals, darunter zahlreiche Uraufführungen, Rundfunkproduktionen im In- und Ausland, sowie Fernseh- und Schallplattenaufnahmen zeitgenössischer Musik für Harfe solo. Auf Einladung des Goethe-Institutes folgte eine Amerika-Tournee mit Werken Walter Zimmermanns und Konzerte in Südkorea.
Unter anderem spielte sie zeitgenössische Musik von Berio, Boulez, Cage, Globokar, N. A. Huber, Schönberg, Stockhausen, Webern, I. Yun, B. A. Zimmermann und W. Zimmermann.
Bis 1992 war sie als Pädagogin in Köln und Düsseldorf tätig. Gabriele Emde-Hauffe ist Mutter von zwei erwachsenen Kindern und lebt freischaffend in Darmstadt."
www.edition-rz.de
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| EMERGE |
Cycle |
mCD-R |
Endlich was neues vom süddeutschen Experimental-Drone Projekt, bekannt geworden (hoffentlich) durch die DR-64 DRONE EP.
Cycle ist ein one-tracker, bei dem Quellensounds von AALFANG MIT PFERDEKOPF bearbeitet werden. Höchst seltsame Klänge (Tiere? Geschepper? Metall?) erscheinen in aufbrausender Bewegung an der wallenden Oberfläche, um gleich darauf wieder in einer Drone-Brandung zu versanden. Während sich die Ratio keinen Reim darauf machen kann, sinken die Klänge an der Analyse vorbei ins schwarze Loch des Bewusstseins....
Ein klasse one-tracker (fast 23 min ) mit vielen Details, der zeigt wie vielfältig heutige Drone-Muzak ist. Unsere wärmste Empfehlung !
“Verato Project, the CDR sub-division of Suggestion Records always know how to come up with new names, that at least sound new to me. Not that I understand much of this new 3"CDR: the band is apparently called Emerge, from Augsburg Germany but the cover also says 'original sounds by Aalfang Mit Pferdekopf', whoever they might be. So maybe it's safe to say we are dealing here with some sort of remix project? The music is rather ambient, but in a refreshing way. Sounds swirl in and out of the mix; sounds that remind the listener of processed wind recordings (that form the ambient backbone of this release) and animal calls (birds going past the microphone). A piece of floating music, that may last a bit too long, but when played in right ambience and with the right mood, probably goes straight into your subconscious. A great piece indeed and made me curious to hear some of Emerge.” [FdW / Vital Weekly] http://www.verato-project.de
|
2005 |
€8.50 |
|
|
Canvas |
mCDR-box |
"This live performance by EMERGE was given in the context of a painting exhibition and creates a dynamic set ranging from metallic percussion, rumbling drones, and sometimes sursprisingly groovy loops. All sounds are created from sampled noises made by paintbrushes and other painting tools.
The live performance was recorded on the finishing night of the exhibition „hörbar in Farbe“ (‚audible in colour’). The CD accompanying the exhibition, also released by Attenuation Circuit (ACS 1001), contains a studio version of “Canvas”. Although the live improvisation uses sounds from the same source as the studio recording – sounds created by one of the exhibiting painters using brushes, glasses, canvas, cardboard, and other materials –, the two versions are very different in terms of their compositional structure and sonic textures because the samples were treated to a wide range of live manipulations in performance." [label info]
www.wix.com/attenuationcircuit/attenuation-circuit
"A few weeks ago we had three limited CDs by Attenuation Circuit with handpainted CD bags, now we have a trio of 3"CDR from the label. The first is by Emerge and has a live recording from earlier this year. It was part of an exhibition in which Emerge also took part, and for which they created a studio version of 'Canvas'. On the last night of the exhibition they used the sound sources from 'Canvas' to create a live version. All of the sounds 'are created from sampled noises made by paintbrushes and other painting tools', which is very nice, since I would have never guessed this. It sounds rather like metallic objects being tossed around and played with, almost percussive. Sometimes a bit stuck in a loop, sometimes seemingly more improvised. Nice sort of organic ambient like ritual music but also a bit too long I guess and perhaps that works best only in a live context." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€6.50 |
|
|
Oneirism |
10inch |
"Two untitled tracks of 12 minutes each make up EMERGE’s first release in the 10” format. Both showcase the “dark ambient” aspects of EMERGE’s work in its purest form to date. “Oneirism” hints to the world of dreams, and while one side can be considered a cinematic rendering of a nightmare set in dark and glacial surroundings, the other is replete with immersive drones that are mysterious yet beautiful in an otherworldly way, literally making this release the dream of every dark ambient fan.
This release is a new departure in EMERGE’s work in various ways. While deep, dark drones have always been an important feature of his compositions, they have always been contrasted with other timbres. Here, EMERGE goes more minimal and more bass-heavy at the same time and lets the deep microtones do all the work of enveloping the listener and sucking him or her into the dream world of the music. The lack of any information on the sound sources used, otherwise meticulously supplied with every EMERGE release, heightens the sense of mystery evoked by the sound itself. Listeners are invited to create their own associations inside their own heads. An intense and beautiful listening experience, not only for dark ambient buffs, but for anyone who is interested in spaced-out, psychedelic kinds of ambient and other electronic music. For EMERGE fans this release is a must, as it is the artist’s third vinyl outing after a 7” on Drone Records, long sold out, and the hand-painted split LP with B°tong on attenuation circuit." [label info]
www.attenuation-circuit.de
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Steps |
CD |
What is it that we're hearing? Is it the wind? Is it the sea? Is it the crackle of a burning fire? Where are we? A great sense of loneliness pervades the quiet setting which we cannot quite make out. And then suddenly living creatures enter the sonic scene. Birds and people, their voices and their steps. They seem to be walking, walking past us, towards a destination we do not know. We cannot understand in what language or languages they are speaking – or can we? It is hard to make out, because everything they say is strangely muffled, although they are not speaking in a low voice. Everything we hear feels either too loud or too quiet, too close or too distant. As if some shock had happened to our hearing before we started listening to this album. Like a bomb exploding in close proximity to our ears. Or something so unimaginably terrible that it bent the acoustic space in the place from which these sounds come through to us. This is how the album “steps” begins.
The album “steps” is composed exclusively from field recordings made at the Dachau Concentration Camp memorial site. It is not possible to represent the horrors of concentration camps in music, and – a lesson learned from the many failures in the history of “industrial music” – the attempt to do so will inevitably result in trivialising kitsch, at best. Therefore, the album “steps” does not claim to be an album “about” a concentration camp, it is an album about a memorial site. Like the modern-day classic on the subject, “Gurs. Drancy. Gare de Bobigny. Auschwitz. Birkenau. Chelmo-Kulmhof. Majdaneck. Sobibor. Treblinka” by Stéphane Garin & Sylvestre Gobart (2011), “steps” goes to show to what extent contextual information about the sonic subject matter of a piece influences our listening. This artistic strategy can also be read in political terms: Only if we know the history behind these sounds – and the history of the place where they were recorded – are we able to make sense of the present.
For part 2, EMERGE invited sound artists from all over Europe to give their characteristic processing to the original audio field recordings. The resulting audio fragments are fed into the performance, symbolising a peaceful, solidary encounter of cultures – in deliberate contrast to the fact that people from many European countries were brought together in the Dachau concentration camp by utmost force.
File under: electroacoustic music, field recordings
-----
Was hören wir da? Ist es der Wind? Ist es das Knistern von offenem Feuer? Wo sind wir? Der Ort lässt sich nicht genau bestimmen, aber er ist ziemlich still und fühlt sich sehr einsam an. Und dann treten plötzlich lebendige Wesen auf den Plan. Vogel- und Menschenstimmen, Schritte. Anscheinend gehen Leute an uns vorbei in Richtung eines Ziels, das wir nicht kennen. Wir können nicht erkennen, in welcher Sprache oder welchen Sprachen sie reden – oder doch? Es ist nicht leicht auszumachen, denn alles, was sie sagen, ist irgendwie eigenartig gedämpft, obwohl sie nicht leise sprechen. Alles, was wir hören, scheint entweder zu laut oder zu leise, zu nah oder zu weit weg. Als ob sich ein Schock ereignet hätte, bevor wir begonnen haben, das Album anzuhören. Wie eine Bombenexplosion ganz nah an unseren Ohren. Oder etwas, das so unvorstellbar schrecklich ist, dass es den Raum verbogen hat, aus dem diese Klänge zu uns dringen. So beginnt das Album “steps”.
Das Album “steps” wurde ausschließlich aus Fieldrecordings komponiert, die in der KZ-Gedenkstätte Dachau aufgenommen wurden. Das Grauen der Konzentrationslager musikalisch darzustellen, ist unmöglich, und der Versuch muss unweigerlich in verharmlosendem Kitsch münden – oder Schlimmerem. (Die vielen Negativbeispiele in der Geschichte der Industrial-Musik sprechen hier für sich.) Das Album “steps” maßt sich jedoch gar nicht an, ein Album “über” ein Konzentrationslager zu sein. Es ist ausdrücklich ein Album über eine Gedenkstätte. Ähnlich wie das Referenzwerk der letzten Jahre zu diesem Thema, “Gurs. Drancy. Gare de Bobigny. Auschwitz. Birkenau. Chelmo-Kulmhof. Majdaneck. Sobibor. Treblinka” von Stéphane Garin & Sylvestre Gobart (2011) zeigt auch “steps” auf, wie stark Kontextinformationen über das Klangmaterial unser Hören prägen. Diese künstlerische Strategie kann auch politisch verstanden werden: Nur, wenn wir die Geschichte hinter diesen Klängen kennen – und die der Orte, an denen sie aufgenommen wurden –, können wir die Gegenwart verstehen.
Für Teil 2 hat EMERGE Soundkünstler*innen aus ganz Europa eingeladen, die originalen Fieldrecordings auf ihre jeweils charakteristische Weise zu bearbeiten. Die dadurch entstandenen Audiofragmente sind in die Komposition mit eingeflossen und symbolisieren so eine friedliche, solidarische Begegnung der Kulturen – als bewusster Gegenentwurf zu der Tatsache, dass Menschen aus vielen Ländern Europas im KZ Dachau mit äußerster Gewalt zusammengezwungen wurden.
File under: elektroakustische Musik, Fieldrecordings
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/steps
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| EMERGE + RE-DRUM |
Persecutory Delusion |
CD-R |
"Although recorded at a concert series titled “NoiseAngriff” (noise attack) in Berlin, this live collaboration is actually a lot less harsh than one might expect. The paranoia suggested by the title might be felt in the dark ambient dronescapes, though.
In this slowly evolving set, the two performers connect to their roots in drone ambient, combining harmonic, yet vaguely ominous electronic textures with small concrete sounds. Over the course of some 45 minutes, Russian artist Re-Drum and his German colleague EMERGE create a vast expanse of sound through which they navigate with tentative movements, like ships in dark uncharted waters in the night."
"Zusammenarbeit von Emerge mit Re-drum: und zunächst ist da ein geradezu ambientes Abtasten; Noise und Nicht-Ton als feingliedrige Bestandteile eines sehr luftigen Gewebes, das die beiden wie fast nicht spürbar im Laufe dieses One-Trackers verdichten, immer enger werden lassen. Durch dynamische Interventionen genau so wie durch ein zunehmendes Herausdrängen der Stille als zunächst noch gleich bedeutendes Element der Musik. Re-drum + Emerge verzichten aber (mit Blick auf den im positiven Sinne fragilen Gesamteindruck von „Persecutory Delusion“ dankenswerterweise) darauf, das Stück in irgendwelche vordergründigen Rechteckwellen-Verdichtungen zu schieben. Statt dessen tauchen zwischendurch überaschenderweise auch tonale Fragmente auf, wie verwehte Flächen, ein Anriss tatsächlicher Harmonie. Und ganz am Ende so etwas wie ein Fall in einen Sog… Wie ein aus der Inspiration des Moments entwickeltes Gesamtes; gemacht aus Zutaten, die, einzeln betrachtet, eigentlich nicht zusammenpassen können. Zusammen aber wird aus Zufall Werk. Wie bisher in dem endlosen Strom aus dem Hause Emerge auf Fake-Vinyl-CDr, jetzt neu in bedruckter Stecktasche." [N/Black Magazin]
www.attenuationcircuit.de
|
2016 |
€7.00 |
|
| EMITER / ARSZYN |
Emiszyn |
CD |
“Silence does not exist and emission lasts!” ist das Credo für diesen dritten Release auf dem noch tau-frischen MONOTYPE Records aus Warschau. EMITER aka Marcin Dymiter zusammen mit Klangkünstler und Schlagzeuger Krzysztof Topolski aka ARSZYN, der auch von der NEFRYT-Reihe bekannt ist. Neun improvisierte Stücke, electronics und handgespielt, feingespielte guitars & percussion... sehr schön und spannend....zwischen fast-Songstrukturiertem und free floating Sounds....
“.... The present project emiter . arszyn . emiszyn is the next part of our cooperation. Duet is the best ever dreamt team for a musical dialogue, free from any formal borders of musical groups. Everything here is made in a completely different way, using electronics. Improvisation, intuition and experiments are tracing the direction of our united displays.
....Musicians improvise electro-acoustic, spatial sounds structures; they do not avoid post noise improvisation or post rock stirring atmosphere.
Dialogues between a percussion and guitar are seasoned with electronic and electro-acoustic searching. The almost ready CD will contain not only electro-acoustic improvisation but also dynamically improvised groove and next to the melody of a guitar computer’s noise that all created on a junction between acoustic and electronic searching of sounds and annotations.” [label info]
www.monotyperecords.com
|
2005 |
€8.00 |
|
| EMMANUEL, J.D. |
Echoes from ancient Caves |
LP |
"Probably one of the most underestimate artist of electronic of the early ‘80, has been lately rediscover. Expert modulator of electronic and natural sounds, with this work Emmanuel seems to recall and reflect exstensively on that poetics of the cyclic and mantric sound investigated by other pioneers as Terry Riley and La Monte Young. The micro-tonal pattners of the compositions are animated by dense and minimum pulses that amplify the hypnotic and meditative dimension and can be coloured by tibetan suggestions or guitar glissandi of nocturnal taste. In this way the "Echoes from ancient caves", originally appeared only on tape in 1981, is ideally connected to the previous experimentations of "Rain Forest Music (1981) and Wizards (1982).
500 copies on black vinyl + download link for digital edition." [label info]
www.blacksweatrecords.com
|
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
| EN |
op.10218 v1.2 |
CD |
"Das Lissaboner Label SIRR Records entwickelt sich zu einer guten Adresse für abstrakte, minimale Geräusch-Neutöner. Hinter EN verbirgt sich Pal Toth aus Budapest, der schon lange Jahre Radiosendungen macht und hier mit einem Konzept arbeitet, daß an ACHIM WOLLSCHEID erinnert, dabei aber weitaus isolationistischer und minimaler klingt..." [Drone Rec.info 2003]
“Pal Toth alias én is a Hungarian sound artist and radio producer, living in Budapest. In the frame of his radio programme, we can regularly hear what he calls "ether concerts", compositions made to the medium itself and comprising an improvised (real-time) method of editing, Pal Toth confronts the listener with an evolving sense of time and duration that transcend questions of musical form to focus in the idea of shape, in the potentialities of a sound representation as stream of consciousness.” [press release]
“... On the air he edits his works, removing and erasing sounds and bare, naked sound residue remains. Entirely along the lines of Roel Meelkop, Bernard Gunther or Richard Chartier, with this exception that Pal Toth has a more bleak and empty sounding music. Hums from various sources, occassionally time stretched are interwoven and some vague metallic rumbling are the main sources. It remains at all times distant and cold... “ [Vital Weekly]
www.sirr-ecords.com |
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| ENCOMIAST |
Malpais |
mCDR |
"founded in 1999, encomiast is now the solo project of us sound artist ross hagen. a handful of beautiful releases were issued through various labels such as lens records, gears of sand, mystery sea or crucial bliss. "malpais" is a single long piece derived from an old folk song from an archival collection ross was working with a few years ago. it uses a lot of other pieces from that collection as source material throughout. expect layers of slowly evolving drones..." [label info]
|
2010 |
€5.00 |
|
| ENCOMIAST / THE COPPER THIEVES |
139 Nevada |
do-CDR-box |
"In 2004, a group of musicians and curiosity-seekers went to the Belvidere Theatre in Central City, CO because it was rumored to be one of the most haunted buildings in the state. Our initial goal was to attempt to record Electromagnetic Voice Phenomena, but the project eventually took on a much different cast. We never succeeded in capturing any ghostly voices, but we reassembled the recordings into new compositions that captured the haunted spaciousness of the theatre.
That’s where 139 Nevada began
We returned to record in the theatre two more times while making these two records. Even if the spirits never raised their voices, we hope they were entertained by our presence.
139 Nevada consists of two discs - Encomiast ‘s “Masked Mirror” and "Slam Your Doors In Golden Silence" by The Copper Thieves, a coalition including members of Encomiast and the group Mandible Chatter. Both collections mine the rich sonic bed of the Belvidere Theatre - located at 139 Nevada, Central City, CO - but each one takes its own clear path.
Limited to only 200 copies, 139 Nevada is a double CDR release containing two discs in sleeves, with two insert postcards packaged in a textured cardboard box.
Packaging: Textured box w/Two Pro CDR's and two insert postcards
Release Date: June 23, 2009
Running Time: Disc 1 - 57:12, Disc 2 - 44:40 " [full label website info]
www.lensrecords.com
"Eine geheimnisvolle Veröffentlichung in einer schmucken kleinen Pappschachtel mit zwei CDRs und zwei Postkärtchen, denen wir folgende Geschichte entnehmen können. Die Projekte Ecomiast & The Copper Thieves (fast personell identisch) erhielten Zugang zu einem verfallenen Provinztheater in einem kleinen Städtchen. Von dem Theatergebäude hieß es, dass hier Geister hausen würden. Die Musiker machten mit diversen Gästen Aufnahmen vor allem am Klavier im verlassenen Geisterauditorium und bearbeiteten diese Aufnahmen im Studio. Sie kehrten zwei Mal an den Ort des Geschehens zurück und fanden es irgendwie unheimlich aber auch spannend. Den Hörer erwarten zerpflückte und hallige Pianotupfer, manchmal kammerpoppig verdichtete Arrangements und viel verwaschene Atmosphärik. Der ganze Release wirkt irgendwie literarisch, wir können dies auch nicht näher begründen. Es bleibt etwas unwirkliches an den Klängen haften, obwohl sie nur milde experimentell sind." [Zipo / Auf Abwegen]
|
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
| ENGLISH, LAWRENCE |
Lonely Womens Club |
LP |
"Beautiful new work from Lawrence English. Pressed in an edition of 500 copies. Lawrence English is composer, media artist and curator based in Australia.
Working across an eclectic array of aesthetic investigations, English's work prompts questions of field, perception and memory.
English utilises a variety of approaches including live performance and installation to create works that ponder subtle transformations of space and ask audiences to become aware of that which exists at the edge of perception.
Over the past decade, English's sonic investigations have traversed a divergent path through which musical languages and environmental sources are granted equal focus.
His work calls into question the established relationships of sound and structure. English's sound work is evocative and invites the listener to explore their own narratives and impressions informed by personal histories and experiences.
Published widely on respected imprints including Touch, 12K and Winds Measure, English's work is sculpted and overwhelmingly intricate.
As a producer, English has completed numerous projects with artists including Tujiko Noriko (U, Blurred In My Mirror), Ben Frost (Theory Of Machines) and Tenniscoats (Totemo Aimasho, Temporacha).
He has also completed commissioned compositions for acclaimed performance troupe Circa and other contemporary dance ensembles and has worked as a sound designer on video installations in collaboration with artists including Australian visualist Craig Walsh.
His music has also been used in a number of films including a commission from Makino Takashi to create a composition for The Low Storm in 2009." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2012 |
€16.50 |
|
|
Cruel Optimism |
LP |
"Cruel Optimism is a record that considers power (present and absent). It meditates on how power consumes, augments and ultimately shapes two subsequent human conditions: obsession and fragility. This pyramid is an affective ecology of the (ever)present moment.
This edition owes its title and its origins to the wonderful text of the same name by American theorist Lauren Berlant. I had the fortune to come across her writing almost a half-decade ago. In Cruel Optimism, I found a number of critical readings around the issues that have fuelled so much of the music I have been making recently. Beyond her keen analysis of the relations of attachment as they pertain to conditions of possibility in the everyday, it was particularly her writing around trauma I found deeply affecting. It was a jumping off point from which a plague of unsettling impressions of suffering, intolerance and ignorance could be unpacked and utilised as fuel over and above pointless frustration.
When I made Wilderness Of Mirrors, clouds of unease were overhead. As I have worked through Cruel Optimism, what seemed an unimaginable future just a few years prior, began to present as actual. Over the course of creating the record, we collectively bore witness to a new wave of humanitarian and refugee crisis (captured so succinctly in the photograph of Alan Kurdi’s tiny body motionless on the shore), the black lives matter movement, the widespread use of sonic weapons on civilians, increased drone strikes in Waziristan, Syria and elsewhere, and record low numbers of voting around Brexit and the US election cycle, suggesting a wider sense of disillusionment and powerlessness. Acutely for me and other Australians, we've faced dire intolerance concerning race and continued inequalities related to gender and sexuality. The storm has broken and feels utterly visceral.
Cruel Optimism is a meditation on these challenges and an encouragement to press forward towards more profound futures.
Beyond the motivations forging the record, the process by which this edition was created was unlike many of my other records. Having worked largely alone in recent years, I wanted to shift away from that approach. I wanted the opportunity for exchange, to trial new ideas in various spaces and to find myself surprised by the perspectives of others. It was this desire that led me to reach out to friends, old and new, and invite them to contribute to Cruel Optimism. It also led to me using a range of studio spaces to explore new techniques, informed by what I had learned taking Wilderness Of Mirrors on the road for the better part of two years.
I count myself exceptionally fortunate to have been able to call on so many fine musicians in the making of this album. Some of these collaborations were at the foetal stages, acting as important catalysts. Specifically, contributions from Mats Gustafsson, Mary Rapp and Tony Buck were important during this period. Some contributed from afar, including Chris Abrahams and Werner Dafeldecker, who both responded so very kindly to my cryptic notes and hopelessly poetic evocations. Some artists came to visit here in Brisbane such as Norman Westberg, Brodie McAllister, Australian Voices, Vanessa Tomlinson and Heinz Riegler. Others, such as Thor Harris, kindly invited me into their homes to work together. The richness of experience afforded to me during the making of Cruel Optimism is difficult to summarise. It was ultimately a truly rare pleasure to have these exchanges.
I leave it to you then, to listen as you can. This record is one of protest against the immediate threat of abhorrent possible futures. It’s an object of projection, from me to you and onward from there. I couldn’t be more pleased to share Cruel Optimism with you." [label info]
"This record is one of protest against the immediate threat of abhorrent possible futures."
I open the glass door of my bookcase and run my finger along the spines. All these words, written ago, from one mind to another. What does this all really contain if not the essence of another person's life? Perhaps a historical recount, or a scientific principle, or a story wrapped around a thought, philosophy, or an idea. What do all these people want to really say? Is there a warning in between the pages, a lesson for the generations, sent into the future through the might of words? I turn towards the records on my shelves and think the same. Perhaps not certitude or fact, but certainly their own reality, their truth, and their emotions are being locked inside those grooves, awaiting one more magic spin to sing and be alive. This is why music stands in time, outside of dates, and schedules, and agenda. A great record will always simply be.
And then sometimes the books and music come together...
All this rumination and one must wonder if it's simply not a pretext to an album I have sat on for so long. In fact, Cruel Optimism has been on rotation for nearly nine months now, slowly appearing and then disappearing again, awaiting proper time to share its point, only to be put away again, for yet another slice in time. It's possible that consuming this latest opus by Lawrence English requires a specific state of mind, a bit unease and agitation, some mortal metaphysical discomfort with a dash of existentialism and reflection. It's not a truly dark experience per se, but it's certainly not sunny waves and roses. The ominous sound of this album at times conveys a sense of an electric shock, mixed with a wall of noise, and joy of drone, and pain of silence. The oversaturated frequencies slam like a jet-fueled engine in your brain and send you flying through the haze of obtuse worlds, compact in time and dense in sound.
And then there is the concept...
Cruel Optimism is a record that considers power (present and absent). It meditates on how power consumes, augments and ultimately shapes two subsequent human conditions: obsession and fragility. This pyramid is an affective ecology of the (ever)present moment [...] Cruel Optimism is a meditation on these challenges and an encouragement to press forward towards more profound futures." -Lawrence English
Lawrence English has been known to draw inspiration from books. Back in 2011, he released The Peregrine which was driven by a book by J.A. Baker. Now, this Australian experimental composer, and owner of the magnificent Room40 label, extracts a seed of thought from a text by the same name by American theorist Lauren Berlant. Based on the rise of the unstable geopolitical landscape, the music of Cruel Optimism is a reflection of a modern world, in all its furious, distressed, and wrathful glory. Where self-destruction is no longer just a horrid dream, physical catastrophes and spiritual implosions are just around the corner. Just take a look around (but don't turn on TV) and witness the inflicted war on (human) nature - there is no need for extra words.
Cruel Optimism is not exactly a solo record either. Having mostly worked alone in his past years, this latest album sees English invite a few of his friends for the collaboration and try out new ideas in various recording spaces, exploring new techniques in a somewhat bidirectional exchange of musical conception. Here we are introduced to Mats Gustafsson, Mary Rapp, Tony Buck, Thor Harris, Norman Westberg, Heinz Reigler, and Chris Abrahams among the many. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact contributions of these musicians (I hold on to a separate credits sheet just for that), but then again, you shouldn't try and peel apart this piece, instead just let it hit you straight out of your emotionally suppressed hibernation if you haven't been already wide awake." [Headphone Commute]
|
2017 |
€26.00 |
|
|
Observation of Breath |
LP |
Do you remember the last time you were breathing consciously? Either way, you are likely doing it now. On his new album »Observation of Breath« for the Swiss-based Hallow Ground label, Lawrence English worked exclusively with an organ for four compositions that are exercises in »maximal minimalism,« as their creator himself notes in a nod to Charlemagne Palestine, who coined this term. While it seems somewhat fitting that those four pieces based on a steady flow of air were conceived and recorded in a situation of accelerated standstill caused by a respiratory disease, the Room40 founder is not so much concerned with capturing the zeitgeist than rather incorporating the spirit of time itself. »It is a record about presence and patience,« he explains. Exploring the unique sonic affordances of a singular instrument, »Observation of Breath« is not only devoted to the durability of sound but also to its density. That it marks his debut on Hallow Ground after having shaped its sound by mastering most of the label’s releases in recent years is just as fitting then as its release following albums by Kali Malone and FUJI|||||||||||TA, whose innovative work with organ instruments have facilitated a rediscovery of their possibilities.
English’s compositions however are neither directly indebted nor responding to these musicians. His exploration of the organ’s many facets started a decade ago when the composer was given access to an instrument built in 1889 that is presently housed at The Old Museum in Brisbane. After it had already played a crucial role on his seminal albums »Wilderness Of Mirrors« and »Cruel Optimism,« last year’s self-released »Lassitude« was the first record that English entirely composed and recorded with that instrument. »During the soft lockdowns, I spent many days playing to an empty concert hall, recording the pieces that became ›Lassitude‹ and then, this album,« says English in regards to an unfortunate situation that fortunately provided him with time and space—two major themes but also key qualities of the four new compositions. In this sense, he goes on, »Observation of Breath« resolves a number of the questions originally raised by »Lassitude.«
»The organ is an exercise in the observation of breath,« English explains the album’s title. »It is a physical breath, one that manifests both audible and inaudible waves of vibrations. The sheer scale of the instrument, its weight and the physical length of the pipes involved in producing the sounds we experience is nothing short of mind-boggling.« More importantly, the sound artist is fascinated by the organ’s ability to produce frequencies that exist at the sensory limits of human awareness—it’s at the edges of these limits that fascination can be found, he argues. »The particular organ that I work with comprises four manuals and 45 speaking stops and it has a tubular-pneumatic action,« he explains. »It’s the stops that are the focus of my interest. They are very specific and when manipulated in certain ways and in certain combinations, create a unique set of unsteady timbres that make it a remarkably intoxicating instrument to collaborate with.«
Collaboration is indeed the key word here. The pieces of »Observation of Breath« were recorded in one take in recognition of the co-existence and co-dependence of the human body and mind when brought in unison while working with such a complex instrument. The end results are thus not only marked by longevity but also gripping dynamics. While the six minute-long »A Binding« and the album’s title track explore the sonic qualities of different frequency spectra with long sustained drones, opener »A Torso« and the aptly titled »And a Twist,« only two minutes and 42 seconds long, work with rhythmic elements that create intense moments of structural instability. »The music's power lies in its density, in the stacking of exhales all breathing in unison and then, at some point, failing to breathe further,« says English. »In these moments a wavering unsteadiness of tone arrives with an elegant uncertainty.« It is precisely this quality that makes »Observation of Breath« such a masterful exploration of the multifold relationships between space and time as well as the body and the mind—it’s a conscious meditation on unconscious processes.
https://hallowground.bandcamp.com/album/lawrence-english-observation-of-breath
|
2021 |
€21.50 |
|
| |
Viento |
CD + BOOK |
In 2010, Lawrence English made field recordings in Patagonia. You can hear abandoned buildings, lone trees folded over in fields of tundra-like grasses, quivering road signs, wailing fences and other objects shaken into life by the wind. In the booklet, the sounds are accompanied by pictures.
Artist statement: "In the summer of 2010 I had the opportunity to visit Antarctica through an invitation extended by the Argentine Antarctic Division. It was nothing short of life-altering, as I am sure anyone would suspect. Upon departing from Buenos Aires for the iced continent the Hercules transport aircraft, under direction of the Argentine military, made a routine stop at an airbase outside Rio Gallegos.
What was meant to be a few hours layover turned into several days as, on landing, a strong wind storm blew in unexpectedly. Conditions exceeded expectations, and before long it was clear the transport could not take off. The situation was only compounded by adverse weather along the Antarctic Peninsula.
Whilst the scientists and military personnel we were travelling with bunkered down in their quarters, I found myself drawn outside into the howling air. The wind in Patagonia is, well, breathtaking. Literally, there were moments where it was so physical, that it was difficult to catch my breath. Across three days I recorded abandoned buildings, lone trees folded over in fields of tundra-like grasses, quivering road signs, wailing fences and other objects shaken into life by the wind. It wasn't a comfortable experience by any means, but the multiplicity of sounds I was able to capture, I hope, speak for themselves.
The Antarctic recordings were made during two blizzards at Marambio and Esperanza bases. During the blizzard in Marambio, the temperature dropped to -40 degrees centigrade (with wind chill) which made recording particularly challenging. The wind battered the base’s structures and telecommunications equipment, making a range of unsettling, phasing choral drones and deep low frequency vibrations that resonated inside the base itself. The blizzard at Esperanza was mild by comparison, but still strong enough to coat penguins in layer of snow as they huddled together during the worst of the storm.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of completing these compositions and since that time, I have had the pleasure to diffuse them on numerous occasions. With those experiences in mind, as well as the format on which these works are now being made available, I have revisited them and completely remixed and remastered the pieces.
Listening back to these recordings I am struck by the sheer physicality of the wind. It's rare that you feel physically reduced by the motion of air, but in both Patagonia and Antarctica that is just how I felt. A small speck of organic dust in a howling storm."
https://lawrenceenglish.bandcamp.com/album/viento
|
2022 |
€23.00 |
|
| ENHET FÖR FRI MUSIK |
Ömhet & Skilsmässa |
LP |
New Enhet För Fri Musk album, recorded in Gothenburg and Malmö 2020 by Hugo Randulv, Sofie Herner, Gustaf Dicksson, Matthias Andersson and Dan Johansson. A concept album on relationships, family values and broken promises. 18 songs. With 20-page song book.
Second press, 500 copies.
Discreet Music 03, 2021.
https://discreetmusic.myshopify.com/products/enhet-for-fri-musik-omhet-skilsmassa-lp
"Enhet för fri musik had four full years to bring us new sounds. Their previous “Det finns ett hjärta som för dig” LP was one of their best albums until now, with many songs based in a simple but quite beautiful folk/pop music form. The group (that’s Hugo Randulv, Sofie Herner, Gustaf Dicksson, Dan Johansson and Matthias Andersson) has so far managed to gain fanatic fans and most of their releases are sold out really fast. Ömhet & Skilsmässa is already on second press, confirming this rule.
Ömhet & Skilsmässa is more dark & melancholic album to my ears. The tunes of the “regular” songs are more down tempo and moody, as the band seems to give more space to the whole feeling that the listener gets by listening. Great stuff!" [soundtraag]
|
2021 |
€22.50 |
|
| ENKIDU |
Live in Kyoto |
do-LP |
Mitschnitt eines Konzertes dieses Projekts mit der TAJ MAHAL TRAVELLERS-Legende CHIE MUKAI vom 12. Mai 2004, die in Kyoto mit SEIICHI YAMAMOTO (Gitarre, Electronics, Percussion) und ERIC CORDIER (Hurdy-Gurdy, Electronics) zusammentraf. Zu hören gibt lebendige Drone-Improvisationen mit surrealem & expressivem Flair; das ganze kommt im Siebdruck-Cover, limitiert auf 525 Exemplare.
"Enkidu is the mythical Japanese psychedelic noise project of legendary performers Chie Mukai (Taj Mahal Travelers, Che-SHIZU, East Bionic Symphonia, Dadnur), Eric Cordier & Seichi Yamamoto (the Boredoms, Omoide Hatoba, Rashinban, Ontoko). Over four bruised side-long cuts, Live in Kyoto faithfully captures the intensity of one particularly eviscerating evening of ritualized self expression at Kyoto's Tanq space in 2004. This is liminal ecstatic drone, clatter & relentless sound bursts with a rough-around-the-edges vibe that maintains a loose kinetic debt to everything from La Monte Young & the Theater of Eternal Music to Keiji Haino, AMM & Fushitsusha. Hand-numbered edition of 525, 2 X 180 gram vinyl housed in a black silkscreened bottom-folded heavy jacket. Chie Mukai (kokyu, electronics, voice, percussion & dance) Seiichi Yamamoto (guitar & electronics & percussions) Eric Cordier (hurdy-gurdy & electronics)." [label info]
label: www.locustmusic.com
|
2007 |
€22.00 |
|
| ENO, BRIAN |
Music for Installations |
6 x CD BOX |
Though containing music that goes back to 1985, Music For Installations is hardly a retrospective in any traditional sense. It’s more a whimsical line connecting ideas in Eno's own personal Long Now.
Not long after Brian Eno coined the term “ambient music” in the late 1970s, he generated another Eno-ism with an extended lifespan, one with an appropriately slower dissemination.”I want to be living in a Big Here and a Long Now,” the producer wrote in a notebook. He thought of his then-recent recordings as sound “suspended in an eternal present tense.” Perhaps unconsciously channeling Baba Ram Dass's brand/mantra, Be Here Now, the always-conceptual Eno began to expand his sense of scale. Two decades ago, Eno helped start the Long Now Foundation, working to connect the present moment to the far-extended arc of human history. One project was the 10,000 Year Clock, for which he created patterns for the clock's chimes, each to be rung once and never repeated.
By the mid-’90s, the period representing the general starting point of the six-disc Music for Installations, Eno's “ambient” work had largely fallen under the subtly different rubric “generative” (that is, music that is created according to a system of algorithms, only partly under its maker’s control). Each piece here represents its own individual slice of one possible Long Now, with Eno providing the finely considered coordinates so that the music itself can run infinitely, changing into new patterns like a river or an ocean. Grown from mid-’80s experiments with four tape recorders looping cassettes of differing lengths, Music for Installations contains what are essentially field recordings from a series of different environments, each its own universe. Filled with gorgeous washes of bells and drones and unidentifiable luminous shimmers, deep vibrations moving across widescreen stereo fields, one might imagine them all as separate galleries and vestibules in a vast museum, each filled with light and sound, running constantly as night and day change outside and the seasons pass. Though Music for Installations contains sound created for specific situations and places, as a box set, it might be used to step outside of time.
Of course, a streaming service might still label all of the above as “ambient,” part of the new chill-out economy seemingly driving Spotify to its own kind of generative musak. But what Music for Installations proves beyond a doubt is that, to paraphrase Chevy Chase, he's Brian Eno and they're not. Though containing music that goes back as far as 1985 (”Five Light Paintings”), Music For Installations is hardly a retrospective in any traditional sense. It’s more a whimsical line connecting ideas in Eno's own personal Long Now.
Eno is everywhere and nowhere in this music, much of it not so much performed by him as willed into existence, like a character from a science fiction novel who dreams in sound. On several of the longest pieces, such as the 44-minute 77 Million Paintings, low rolling notes played sparsely at long intervals seem to indicate melodies unfolding too slowly for immediate comprehension, perhaps even direct continuations of the similar motifs from 1978's Ambient 1: Music for Airports. Released in DVD editions in 2006 and 2007, 77 Million Paintings constitutes the audio accompaniment of a generative video program Eno created. As he recounts in the liner notes, when he first set it up, he began to document individual frames of it with a still camera, shooting off some 800 pictures before surrendering to the ephemerality. The feeling of listening to Music for Installations is often similar. Its pieces are beautiful and always different, and yet always the same, generic without losing character.
Much of it is resolutely not chill-out music. The nearly 40-minute piece “I Dormienti” is filled with a ceaseless moving richness that's hard to reconcile with the idea of machine creation. High-frequency electronic tones and clusters of upper register piano notes flutter between percussive samples of vocalist Kyoko Inatome, amid other layers. Composed for a joint installation with the sculptor Mimmo Paladino in the subterranean space beneath London's Roundhouse, the music is perhaps more suited for the kind of contemplation that goes along with quietly freaking the fuck out, an accompaniment to Paladino's haunted work as it was seen in the darkroom, pieces displayed on the floor like strange creatures preserved after a Pompeii-like disaster.
The set's final two discs don't actually contain music for installations, except in ever more conceptual ways. Making Spaces was a CD sold at installations, and little of it feels generative in composition or structure, though the liner notes don't clarify. In the context of the box set, it feels not only like a separate, hidden Eno album of its own, but a brilliant one, demonstrating that Eno is still perfectly capable of seizing the means of production. The nine pieces feel less like spaces and more like the objects inside, sculptures with distinct shapes and boundaries and artistic intentions. The unearthly “New Moons” features a sparsely strummed guitar part with defined chords (and even a bridge), aglow from start to finish, perhaps one haunted vocal away from fitting perfectly onto the song-based album some strata of Eno fans always want dearly. “All the Stars Were Out” contains a background flutter that could equally be the sound of crickets or the flicker of a film projector, but is just one more expressive tone carved out by Brian Eno. Each of the tracks contains its own inventions and deployment of color-forms or unexpected tonal voices or structural turns.
The set-concluding Music for Future Installations, meanwhile, is perhaps the box's cheekiest conceit, music for new places, new situations that haven't yet happened.”I often find it helpful to have an alibi for making a piece of music,” he observes, and the seven discs of Music for Installations might serve many contexts. Music For Airports was never for airports (though it certainly is capable of providing calm inside one), and the function of Music for Installations is wherever the listener might like to install it, less about the purpose of the music and more about the listener's desired level of engagement. But no matter what level of engagement one chooses, Eno will be there, too.
The set's 60-page liner notes are filled with documentation, though it's sometimes unclear which recordings correspond to which installations, if any. More, though, it acts as a Little Red Book of Eno-isms, where he lays out one deeply awesome hot take after another.”I thought of television as a light source rather than a narrative source,” he writes about his video installations, “at that time the most controllable light source that had ever been invented.” (I… had never thought of it like that.) No matter how vibed-out the music may get, there is always the sense of a voice and mind behind it. Even when trying to abdicate the order and arrangement of the notes being played, Eno's control over sound remains at a practically spiritual level. “Eno is God,” ran the early ’80s graffiti, and depending on how you define his domain it might still be true, manifesting in the smallest of breezes and the tiniest of bleeps.
|
2018 |
€55.00 |
|
| ENS IMPERFECTISSIMUM |
Illuminate E Aelimitate |
CD |
(ZZS 105) Ens Imperfectissimum "Illuminate E Aelimitate"
(A blackened Physical Ritual Recording in the veins of Zero Kama,Phurpa,Lashtal & Arktau Eos)
Ens Imperfectissimum bases his art on worship, work and devotion to the dead, not tied to a single path or spiritual practice. To connect with these spirits, instruments made with human bones are used, such as kanglins, clash of bones, among others, as well as whistles called "whistles of death" used in pre-Hispanic times. The combination of these elements results in a ritual dedicated to the dead, which are presented in a neat and sensible way according to the purpose of who calls them.
Opus dedicated to the devotees of the dead. To those who travel in the stark obelisk adorned with bones of the old aeon. To those who put candles to light the path of the emaciated. May the sound of the femurs and the drums of skulls in sheep's clothing be a constant rumble that connects us with those who once walked our paths.
A guided journey from the stark voices of the abyss...
A devotional and ritualistic work dedicated to the dead from different traditions, cults and religions. To achieve this connection and communication, it was recorded during the days of the dead through necroglossolalia. The sound accompaniment is made up of sounds of human bones, kanglins and pre-Hispanic whistles of death, which fulfill the function of creating vibrations and frequencies that help the manifestation and contact with the dead. These ritualistic syncretisms are recommended for those who follow the path of necromancy...
Official Video Teaser:
youtu.be/HaDQKzKFz5s
https://ensimperfectissimum.bandcamp.com/album/illuminate-e-aelimitate?from=hp
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| ENSEMBLE PEARL |
same |
CD |
"Cosmic heavy amplified rock drops and ripples, auras radiate and expand into cloudforms, through which lightning bolts. Tides rise, the moons wax upon a place somewhere between Link Wray, Hex-era Earth and early Tangerine Dream. The echoes return, leaving a trail that blows and drifts, creating a separate piece. The metal of coils is the metal of the earth, the air... the meteoric and primal elements found in space. ENSEMBLE PEARL reaches through the clouds and atmospheres and brings it all back down to the ground, to forge further creations for woman and man. This music production is inspired by rock from the classic era (’50s through ‘70s) and acousmatic contemporary composition alike. Ensemble Pearl are ATSUO, WILLIAM HERZOG, MICHIO KURIHARA and STEPHEN O’MALLEY. Their debut album also features the elemental forces of EYVIND KANG and TIMBA HARRIS. These players have all moved air and earth in many other projects and can create monolith and river alike on their own—but for Ensemble Pearl they give and take, knowing and understanding each other’s strengths and lack of weakness. Rather than blast sheets of air-filling sound, their contributions float the space with positive and negative dynamics. There are no borders being patrolled, allowing Ensemble Pearl to move from place to place unhindered. Over the course of six sides of music (and four sides of vinyl) they ride the jet stream as the world revolves slowly below, static almost, shimmering imperceptibly, mostly water. In and amongst the sprays of foam, there’s a wash of twin-lead psych-proggery, a raft of tribal-beat sun worship, a passing rumble of neck-stretching, some delicate noiseblowing, a bit of float-and-drone and finally, a majestic drift into the deep waters of dub atmosphere. From these heavy vibration masters, with their ear-shattering antecedents, these are new horizons, first dreamed of, then visited and played upon." [label info]
www.dragcity.com |
2013 |
€15.50 |
|
| ENTRE VIFS |
Kohle + Stahl |
MC |
Charbon-Acier - Tribute to Muckrackers, Solo session by Zorin, May 6, 2014. Performed live at our Noisecraft Workshop. Maison Alfort, France
|
2016 |
€9.00 |
|
| ENTRELACS |
Cynorrodhon (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
ENTRELACS ist das neue Projekt von YANNICK DAUBY und MICHAEL NORTHAM, auf dieser Single präsentieren sie detailreiche, hochfrequente mikro-drones..
“Originally our label wanted to present YANNICK DAUBY’s solo work, knowing him from some fabulous field-recordings (unfortunately most of them are still unreleased), he came up with a new project he has put together with “organic-drone-master ” MICHAEL NORTHAM, known from several beautiful installations and field-recording releases. Both are present in their new project going under the name of ENTRELACS. Here they enchant us with live improvisation of high-frequency drones & overtones, some concrete microscopic sound-objects as well as a rumbling appearing from time to time. It’s like millions of small sounds condensed together here... very rich in details. The B-Side is more challenging with a much stranger and darker atmosphere using sharp & sawing clear sounds. Somehow this music seems to reveal no “outer” or “objective” rhythm but rather the ‘inner-essence’ of nature itself. The title of this record ‘Cynorrodhon’ is the name of a plant also named "Rosier des chiens" in French. It develops “delicate flowers in spring time, red fruit in autumn and bears spines the whole year.” (Yannick Dauby) Filed under: organic micro/macro-drones.
CLEAR VINYL. BEAUTIFUL PRINTED COVERS WITH PICTURE OF CYNORRODHON. EACH COPY HAS A STAMPED DRONE SUN & AN HANDWRITTEN CATALOGUE-NUMBER.” [press release]
|
2003 |
€6.00 |
|
| |
Underleaf |
CD |
"Erste Veröffentlichung des Projekts von YANNICK DAUBY und MICHAEL NORTHAM: magischer Konkretismus von flüsternden Blättern und Ästen, die sich mit sanften Gong-Drones und Metallrauschen verknüpfen." [old Drone Rec. info]
"A project that was formed by Michael Northam & Yannick Dauby in 2003 and put out only 2 releases: "Underleaf" CDR on Italian label S'agita Recordings and "Cynorrodhon" 7" single on Drone Records. This CD is a reissue of "Underleaf". Sound sources are a walk along a fallen tree in Corbet, Oregon and a conversation with found objects in Paris, France." [label info]
www.semperflorens.net
"Entrelacs is the sporadically operational collaboration between longtime aQ fave eco-dronologist Michael Northam and phonographer Yannick Dauby, as Northam is perpetually wandering back and forth between North America and Europe, and with Dauby residing in Taiwan. These recordings actually date back to 2003, made "along a fallen tree in Courbet, Oregon and [at] a conversation with found objects in Paris." The Entrelacs project begins with the collection of found objects, continues through the manifestation of tactile sounds from those objects aided by some use of digital manipulation, and concludes when the objects are returned from where they were found. This lends itself well to the discovery of previously unknown sounds in new regions, especially when these two would perform live. On their website, they site an impressive array of atypical sound making devices that would give Matmos more than a few good ideas for their electro-acoustic madness. Amplified chimney sweeps, bowed escargot, obsidian shards, dried chardons, and needles piercing leaves are just a few of the more interesting ones. We're very curious to know where those bowed snails are in the mix! Underleaf unfurls slowly through a slow crunching of organic materials occasionally jolted with the sharp tinkling of what must be those obsidian fragments. Aggregated masses of those textures blossom throughout the 49 minute track in blurry drones that settle in the background of those tactile sounds, eventually giving way to a bowed metal chorale near the 30 minute mark that has all the right Organum / Andrew Chalk references." [Aquarius Records SF]
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| EOM |
Nada Mindnetsurfing Part 1 |
CD |
"A journey into the space of ambientindustrial free indian music.."
Nice but very unknown release by this project from southern Germany, combining indian field recordings (voices, flutes, tablas), live playing and electronic technoid & ambient-drone sounds, for a very spiritual, percussive and esoteric spacescape with an experiMENTAL edge.....
for friends of I:WOUND, RAPOON, SILENTES-releases....
www.nadaeom.de
|
1999 |
€10.00 |
|
| EQUIMANTHORN |
A Fifth Conjuration |
CD |
"Most are bewildered and some have protested concerning the esotericism of Equimanthorn, Presuming our extraneous song titles and writings to be no more than mysterious obliquity. While sensible to its creators, our writings have long been misunderstood or simply unintelligible to most. "A Fifth Conjuration" transcends any mystical balderdash with a decisive and intentional approach: realigning the senses with their most natural state in the nervous system through the aid of sound. In this, our Fifth Conjuration, you will engage a journey of the slight and subtle. Where the senses may become aware of the silence from which sounds emerge and the spaciousness that resides between thought and stillness.
"When the seventh day arrived..." Dalkhu Zilittu 2011
These recorded efforts should only be listened to under the influence of candlelight." [label info]
zazensounds.bandcamp.com
"Though originally formed as a side-project of occult extreme metal band, Absu, the constantly (r)evolving lineup of Equimanthorn has established itself as its own entity with its own dimensional chaos. This fifth full-length release shows these musickal magicians constantly refining their sound, but staying true to the original ideas behind the band.
Far from the black/death/thrash metal of Absu, Equimanthorn exists more in the dark/ambient realm. Their earliest releases were Throbbing Gristle-esque orgiastic conjurations, invocations and evocations, but now things are sparser, more minimalistic. The vocals, now eerie distant voices reciting occultist poetry, have been cut back to only two tracks: “Kneeling to the Throne of Winter (Confidence and Lust)” and “Nanna’s Dreaming (The Endless Night of Crucifixion)”. Synthesizers, still the main instrument, are focused drones and creepy effects, background noises recalling ancient rites of Sumeria, Babylon and Egypt, perhaps a genetic memory from the origins of civilization.
This is the darkness of Lustmord, the uneasy time-traveling journey of Roman Saenko‘s Dark Ages, even a bit of Burzum‘s neo-classical pagan folk in places. Blood Box, Yen Pox and early Maurizio Bianchi also come to mind. This is not music for head-banging, social activity or good vibes. It’s what you put on while combing over the books in your occult library.
This is the perfect soundtrack for Aleister Crowley‘s The Book of the Law. Frater Perdurabo would be proud." [Chuck Foster/The Big Takeover] |
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| ERIK M & LUC FERRARI |
Visitation |
LP |
Visitation, created on April 1st, 2011 is a very unique kind of collaboration between two French sonic artists, master Luc Ferrari and eRikm. Here is eRikm's direct testimony about this work: "When the sun set on April 1st, 2011 I heard through the windows of my house the repetitive song of a night bird. Madeleine brought me immediately back to Luc Ferrari¹s electroacoustic piece Presque Rien N° 2. I became curious about comparing the bird that was officiating in the garden of Cap15 (in the North area of Marseille) with the bird of Presque Rien. My curiosity triggered the desire to play Luc's piece in the acoustic space of my house. With my rudimentary recorder I moved inside and outside the house, moving back and forth between both spaces. I played with the depth of field, the beat between these two birds separated by 34 years, and immersed myself in these acoustic events. This Ursprung or temporal Klein bottle was recorded and edited in one single sequence shot." It's very hard to compare anything with one of the all-time masterpieces of modern creation as Luc Ferrari's Presque Rien N° 2, but listening to this piece you immediately get the impression of a perfectly accomplished work, published now on LP on your favorite label. So here is the first-ever LP by eRikm, elegantly released with Presque Rien's iconic mouth picture on the sleeve; dedicated to Brunhild Ferrari and to Natacha Muslera. One-sided release.
|
2011 |
€21.50 |
|
| ERIK M (eRikm) |
Sixperiodes |
CD |
Kollektion von sechs sehr unterschiedlichen Stücken für Tanz, Theater und Kino (2001-2004) von dem aussergewöhnlichen französischen Komponisten & Klangkünstler, der mit Computern, Turntables, Objekten & was auch immer arbeitet. Feinste konkrete Mikro-Sounds wirbeln hier herum und bilden doch kohärente Klangmuster, ob Drones, Pianotupfer, elektronische Sounds, konkrete cut-ups, ERIK M erschafft eine musikalische Sprache für die es noch keinen Namen gibt, die dynamisch-aggressiv aber auch sehr poetisch und surreal-zart sein kann. Für Sound-Explorer !
"sixpériodes departs from composed and improvised fragments of different media from dance or theatre performances, silent films or dance-conferences. far from standard soundtrack music, each creation here is accomplished using diverse approaches and techniques that demonstrate the most personal skills of erikm in combining different material - digital and acoustic sounds, field recordings and vinyl manipulations - in a unique way. his primary aim is no longer simply to quote his system of references but to create for himself a bank of singular material to compose without referring to other works, thus approaching a subtle abstraction and a sense of pause within contemporary sonic agitation. erikm has collaborated with the likes of fennesz, otomo yoshihide, musique concrète composer luc ferrari and avant turntablist christian marclay. he has released on such labels as hathut, for4ear, asphodel, metamkine, sonoris and others." (label info)
“Described as a "display of ErikM compositions for dance, theatre and cinema between 2001 and 2004", this album is a charming alternative in the congested field of laptop/acousmatics, being imbued with a determined research for a sonic biology whose purpose goes far beyond the "soundtrack" definition. ErikM's target appears to be the action of freezing what moves into aural snapshots: he reduces his perceptions to the bare minimum, using fragments of intuition and sampled snippets to find a connection with the functions of the body, which most of this music seems to represent in an almost graphic manner. It feels like there is a strong correlation with the automatic reactions of our nervous system, most sounds zapping around like a stimulated grasshopper, therefore effectively fulfilling their scope of demarcating choreographic schemes and underlining images. This music is indeed extremely visual, yet absolutely suggestive when taken as pure electroacoustic circumstance, completely original and honestly transcendental but at the same time very substantial.” [Massimo Richi / Touching Extremes]
“....It's hard to tell what is on those records and tapes, but throughout everything jumps and skips around like crazy, creating things to be very vibrant and lively. Most of the times rhythmical in a sort of non-linear way (even when it's a dance record!), combined with elements of noise and musique concrete, this also jumps stylistically all over the place, moving from strict improvised parts, such as the opening 'Les Paesines' to the more straight forward, almost industrialized rhythms
'Paris Qui Dort'. But that keeps the adrenaline of this disc going round and round. I enjoyed many of his collaborative works already, but as a first introduction to his solo work, I am even more impressed. Very good material...” [Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Zygosis |
CD |
Erste CD eines französischen Soundartisten aus Marseille, der v.a. mit Plattenspielern arbeitet, aber für diese Arbeit auch Samples und Tapes einsetzt. In der Vergangenheit hat er bereits mit GÜNTER MÜLLER, CHRISTIAN MARCLAY, JIM O'ROURKE, TOM CORA und OTOMO YOSHIHIDE zusammengespielt. ERIC M benutzt Soundquellen aus zeitgenössischer Musik, French Poetry, Film-und Rockmusik. Sie reichen von PARMEGIANI über CHOP SHOP, PIERRE HENRY und NAPALM DEATH bis hin zu YOKO ONO, JEANJACQUES BIRGE, SUN RA und QUEEN! Auf 27 Indexen kommt dabei eine weirdo, semi-plunderphonige & witzige Überraschungsmusik heraus, wo jede Sekunde ALLES passieren kann, aber auch ganz ruhige Stücke gibt es zu erkunden! Sounds really new!
label: www.sonoris.org |
1999 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Steme |
CD |
"Steme" ist eine Arbeit über "Fragmentierung, Genese und Erneuerung", basierend auf einer Auswahl von zehn 1minütigen Klangstücken von einer defekten CD. ERIK M ist ein Meister im improvisierten Konstruieren und Dekonstruieren von Klangschnipseln; hier klingt das unfassbar abstrakt, zerschnipselt & geräuschhaft, von Gekräusel & Rauschen durchsetzt, aber es gibt auch schillernd-elektrisierte Drone-Parts....muss man gehört haben...
"Between his reputation as swift shifting improviser, concréte composer and turntable deconstructionist, Marseilles based artist ERIKM has earned himself an enviable position in the European music community. With Stéme, his most ambitious and fully realised compositional work to date, he devolves and recontextualises the boundaries between sound source and sound media. In essence, Stème originates from a selection of ten one minute long sound pieces burned on a CD which was deliberately damaged. These media (music on modified media or field recording) formed the basis of multiple improvised session including multiple stages of construction and destruction of these acoustic matters using my different electronic real time live music systems (3k-pad system & MD or CD-dj and electronics). The resulting sounds are truly distinctive – filigree like sonic details are brought into sharp focus, tuning the ears with their paced spatial movements. Occasional grabs of the source sound material appear and are erased equally as quickly. A genuinely powerful statement of compositional intent." [label info]
"...Unlike say Oval, ErikM is not interested in creating some new (old?) form of popmusic out of it, but rather tries to use all these blocks in a large composition of a highly delicate, electro-acoustic nature. With the exception of 'White Out' which operates more from the drone end, and there for seems a bit out of place here, all the seven other pieces are of a collage like nature, which adds a great vibrancy to the material, bouncing all over the place while the listener only can submit to this with full attention. That 'White Out' piece could have been easily left of from this, and it would have been a perfect CD, now it's near perfection." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.room40.org
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| ERLANDSSON, MATS |
Minnesmärke |
LP |
Mats Erlandsson makes his debut on the Swiss label Hallow Ground with »Minnesmärke,« at once a nuanced sonic exploration of the industrial and political history of his native Sweden and a deeply personal album. One of the key figures of the Stockholm drone scene, the prolific composer worked with The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble’s Hillary Jeffery, violinist and long-time friend Gaianeh Pilossian as well as sound artist and frequent collaborator Yair Elazar Glotman for a two-part composition built around tuned sustained tones performed by electronic and acoustic instruments that were combined with field recordings in order to evoke a psychedelic state of reflection, a dream-like elegy for the acoustic properties of the former iron ore mine Ställbergs Gruva where the music has been conceived and recorded. Following up on releases on labels such as Hallow Ground label mates Kali Malone and Maria W Horn’s XKatedral imprint, »Minnesmärke« is Erlandsson's most accomplished work yet.
Originally a commissioned work by the Non Existent Center for a month-long artist residency in Ställbergs Gruva last Summer, »Minnesmärke« conceptually picks up on the socio-political and economic history of the Bergslagen region where the mine is situated. After mining operations had been on-going for decades prior, in the Industrial Age iron became one of the country’s largest exports, making the mining industry an integral part of the country’s progression towards a socialdemocratic welfare state in the years after World War II. With the rise of neoliberalism and the simultaneous erosion of the welfare state however, the mines around the region started closing, which resulted in the surrounding community losing its relative prosperity. Erlandsson’s interest in this story though does not exclusively stem from the historical significance of the mine, that has been re-opened in 2012 as a centre for cultural activities and critical thought. In fact, his grandfather was born and raised in the vicinity of it and thus his life - and, by extension, his grandson’s - was inextricably linked to its fate and the ebbs and flows of the industrial development in the area.
It’s no surprise then that the two parts of »Minnesmärke,« which translates to »memorial« or »monument,« is marked by a sense of dislocation and dissociation. »Working in Ställberg was a somewhat surreal experience from the point of view of a musician some one hundred years later,« says the artist. »Being in that environment makes you view time from the side - since the place remains the same it accentuates the deep chasm that separates my perspective from those of my relatives, while at the same time providing a form of intimacy with them.« This naturally shaped the recording process, which saw Erlandsson create an interaction between the acoustic and the electronic, the human and the machinic as well as the natural environment and the technology that has shaped it as much as it has been shaped by it. A combination of synthetic and recorded sound sources was processed by reamping it in various rooms of the vast mining complex. The resulting hybrid field recordings were transferred to tape and have then been treated extensively. An arrangement for Pilossian’s violin, Jeffery’s tuba and trombone playing as well as Glotman’s parts on double bass were recorded separately and similarly manipulated to create an expanded chamber ensemble with a wider range and an ability to transcend the usual temporal bounds of the instruments.
The outcome of this intricate working process calls to mind Phill Niblock’s most dense compositions, the iconic yet subtle work of Pauline Oliveros in the field of deep listening or even Jóhann Jóhannsson’s evocative examination of similarly politically charged topics on the »The Miners’ Hymns« OST amongst others. While Erlandsson shows his knack for creating emotive dynamics by bringing the acoustic recordings into a pulsating flow, the manipulated field recordings are used as a counterpoint throughout both parts of the composition, commenting on and fostering the ever-shifting dramaturgy of the record. Most importantly though, the 41 minutes are marked by a continuous tension that almost feels tangible. It’s the looming shadow of history, materialising in the form of a monument, a memorial for the past generations that have etched their hopes and aspirations into the walls of Ställbergs Gruva.
Hilary Jeffery - Trombone, Tuba
Gaianeh Pilossian - Violin
Yair Elazar Glotman - Double Bass
Mats Erlandsson - Everything Else
Mastering by Andreas Lupo Lubich
Artwork by Marijn Degenaar
https://hallowground.bandcamp.com/album/mats-erlandsson-minnesm-rke
|
2020 |
€21.50 |
|
| |
4-track Guitar Music |
do-LP |
4-Track Guitar Music is the unassuming title of a cassette by Swedish composer Mats Erlandsson, which was originally released on Kali Maloneʼs and Maria W. Hornʼs XKatedral label in 2018. Composed using only, as the album title implies, a 4-track tape deck and an electric guitar, the music was later modified on the computer and re-amplified in the machine hall of Ställbergs Gruva, a disbanded Swedish iron mine.
The music is primarily composed using melodic motifs and canonical structures in which a set of pitches are transposed in octaves and delayed, creating an ever-evolving cyclical polyphony. Contrary to the albumʼs modest title, the music is a tour-de-force of exuberance and stoic catharsis, continuously bordering on a sense of ecstatic serenity, sincere contemplation and restraint.
Now Vaagner is proud to present the work on vinyl for the first time via a fully remastered reissue of 4-Track Guitar Music, with the Double LP including a bonus track titled "Cellar" by Mats Erlandsson which was not included on the original release.
~
As a composer, musician and sound artist, Mats Erlandsson is part of the vibrantly reemerging field of drone music in Stockholm, Sweden, and is associated with practices characterized by the extensive use of sustained sound.
Erlandsson has undergone studies in composition in Stockholm, where he received a Masterʼs degree in Composition of Electronic Music. In addition to his own artistic practice, Erlandsson holds a position as studio assistant at the world-renowned Elektronmusikstudion (EMS) in Stockholm. He presents his work both as a solo artist and in collaborations, most notably together with Yair Elazar Glotman.
https://vaagner.bandcamp.com/album/4-track-guitar-music
|
2021 |
€22.50 |
|
| ERTHAD |
Gma |
CD-R |
Erste VÖ eines russischen Projekts, der mit uraltem Analog-Equipment ausgerüstet zu sein scheint, Rausch- und Sirr-Felder, Kurz-Echo-Räume, seltsame Pulsationen.. analoger Drone-Ambient...
"Russian project Erthad, originating from Kazan, exists since late 90-ies, but until now still hasn't made any official releases and preferred to stay in underground, recording music only for himself and his friends. We have been endeavouring to change this situation for a long time and now we're glad to present this wonderful disk to your attention. "Gma" was recorded in 2002 with the use of voice and software noise synthesizers. If one says that the album's style is called "ambient noise" - is to say almost nothing. The disk has very specific atmosphere: this is a noise meditation, calm and detached from emotional fuss. An intuitive electronic pulse synchronizes with brain frequencies, rising and falling waves of non-aggressive white noise pacify thoughts, and constantly rustling high frequencies when listened to attentively evoke dissotiative sensation, dissolving perception in the sonic field. However, everything as always depends on a listener himself." [label info]
label: http://zhb.radionoise.ru/
|
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
| ESCAMA SERRADA |
Echis Carinatus |
LP |
Echis Carinatus” is the second release and first long-player by Barcelona-based post-industrial project Escama Serrada. In the two years since “La Reina està mala” (their debut split-CD with Ô Paradis on Tourette Records), the band around S. Méndez has moved from musical Dadaism to musical Surrealism, leaving behind some of the more cabaret influences to develop a darker, more psychedelic, almost prog-rock sound, and thus find their very own sonic identity. If the collage aesthetics remain, the incantatory, “écriture automatique” vocals and above all R. Riba’s psyché rock guitar input invest the opus with a surreal, intensely ritualistic mood, between shamanic trance and psychedelic improvisation. Reminiscences of Faust, NWW and Richard Pinhas lurk around the sinuous coils of this Echis Carinatus, which will slither its way under your skin like the serpent of the same name. Featuring guest appearances by Demian (Ô Paradis), Laszlo & Sofia (Wermut) and Moonchild Eric (HDG).
www.tutrur.com/tutrur_html/rur016.html |
2010 |
€7.50 |
|
| ESMERINE |
Dalmak |
CD |
"180 GRAMM VINYL LP INKLUSIVE POSTER + DOWNLOADCODE! Als ESMERINE mit "La Lechuza" 2011 ins Licht der Öffentlichkeit traten, war das Album das Signal für viele Dinge: es markierte die ersten Aufnahmen der Band nach sechs Jahren, ein erweitertes Line-Up und eine Songsammlung, die vom Leben und dem viel zu frühen Tod eine Freundes und Mitmusikers inspiriert war.
Das neue ESMERINE Album ,Dalmak" stellt heraus, dass die Band nicht damit aufgehört hat, zu schreiben, zu entdecken und zu kollaborieren.
Bruce Cawdron (Ex-GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR) und Cellistin Rebecca Foon (SILVER MT. ZION, SET FIRE TO FLAMES) haben den Percussionisten Jamie Thompson (UNICORNS, ISLANDS) und den Multiinstrumentalisten Brian Sanderson als vollwertige Mitglieder rekrutiert.
Europäische Touren brachten ESMERINE zwischen 2011 und 2012 nach Istanbul; ,Dalmak" ist das Resultat dieses Besuches: Der Großteil des Albums wurde in Istanbul aufgenommen, wo die vier kanadischen Musiker Verstärkung von der gleichen Anzahl türkischer Gastmusiker bekam.
,Dalmak" ist ein türkisches Verb mit vielen Auslegungsmöglichkeiten: betrachten, sich auf etwas einlassen, eintauchen, baden, in etwas hineineilen, abstürzen.
Als Albumtitel bezieht sich ,dalmak" wörtlich auf das Einlassen auf die Kultur und Musik von Istanbul, beschwört jedoch auch passenderweise die Spannweite der Musik, die hier herauskam: eine Sammlung von Songs, die zwischen meditativem Pulsieren und umarmender Hemmnis und spontanem Ausbruch in Rhythmus und Groove pendelt." [label info]
www.cstrecords.com
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
| ESOTERIC |
Subconscious Dissolution into the Continuum |
CD |
Langsamer Doom Metal mit extrem melancholischem & düsteren Einschlag von dieser britischen Band, die einen recht einzigartigen Stil begründet haben, die Gitarrenarbeit erinnert an GODFLESH oder mitunter gar COCTEAU TWINS, dann wieder gibt es disharmonische & abgründige Arrangements, immer langsam, schleppend und schwer... an den Gesang muss man sich vielleicht etwas gewöhnen, aber wir meinen der ESOTERIC Sound kann auch für Drone & Dark Ambient Hörer durchaus interessant sein..
"...ESOTERIC befinden sich irgendwo auf der Kreuzung von Noise, Psychedelia und extremem Doom Metal. Da sie mit Funeral Doom Geschwindigkeit mit stark verzerrtem Bass, einer Steinmauer aus Gitarren, verfolgenden Samples und haarsträubenden Vocals spielen, ist ESOTERIC’s Sound mit einem schlimmen LSD-Trip oder einer Überdosis einer harten Droge vergleichbar. Sie sind zweifellos die düsterste, selbstmörderischste, psychedelischste und verwüstendste derzeit existierende Band und schaffen es, mit ihren bizarren Soundlandschaften gleichzeitig zu entzücken und zu bedrücken. Und wenn euch diese Beschreibung nicht ausreicht, um euch ein Bild zu machen, kann ich euch nur empfehlen reinzuhören." [Ben Meulemann]
"It's never an easy job to review an Esoteric release. They have gained such a reputation for being one of the most unique and extreme bands in the Doom spectre that it is hard to oppose, they are almost untouchable - and with good reason. The fact is that "Subconscious Dissolution Into The Continuum" is not an easy listen. It's devoid of any pleasant human feeling; it's savagely cold, heavy and droning. It'll put you in a miserable state - yes, it is as fascinating as it seems.
The sombre torturous atmosphere of this album left me speechless. This is not typical Funeral Doom; it is basically as slow as you probably expect, but there's this whole psychedelic sense, and really raw and mechanical distortion. As opposed to that more ethereal sound of other bands that rely on keyboards and clean vocals, for example, like Pantheist or Skepticism. Esoteric is closer to bands like The Funeral Orchestra, with their frightening sound and disharmonic, multi-layered structuring [...] Esoteric may seem monotonous at first listen, but you have to let yourself be absorbed by its aesthetics, you can't listen to this on just any day. Once you get past beyond its fever-inducing slowness you'll be ready to realise the true power and beauty of "Subconscious Dissolution Into The Continuum" and actually enjoy everything about it. Even the same slowness that used to put you off. This is truly a devastating and intense experience that I recommend highly to anyone who can appreciate extreme Funeral Doom Metal." [Passenger / Metalstorm]
www.season-of-mist.com
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| ESPLENDOR GEOMETRICO |
Pulsion |
CD |
"Pulsión is the new album of Esplendor Geometrico, the influential and acclaimed Spanish duo of survivors of the second Industrial wave on the first eighties. It includes nine tracks recorded between november 2008 and May 2009. Some have been already played in their last performances in Leipzig, Madrid and Barcelona with great success. Pulsión is in fact the album that follows Compuesto de Hierro (2003) as 8 Traks and Live (2007) can be considered as a transition, being a record made to go with the DVD, and contained some tracks that were in fact versions of older ones. Esplendor Geométrico style continues having a unique and unmistakable mark that distinguishes them from later bands they have had influence onto. At first sight, Pulsión is pure Industrial hypnosis based on the electronic manipulation of sounds together with irresistible rhythms, repetitive, machine-like, industrial, hypnotic, sometimes tribal, sometimes danceable, that mix up with voices and chants. Some of them are taken fom traditional arab and oriental musics (Mongolia, China,Tibet…) to be later electronically manipulated, others are simply speech fragments, as the one of a leader of a radical political party in Japan, Che Guevara, or an anti-occidental harangue from an islamist leader. But the idea of EG is not to transmit any political or ideological message, the spurces have been chosen for their strength and sonority. The first edition in CD is in digipack + booklet. There will be also a limited vinyl edition (500 copies) on mid September containing four tracks of the CD and two exclusive tracks for that format. Recorded in Beijing and Roma (2008-2009) by Arturo Lanz and Saverio Evangelista. All tracks composed by Arturo Lanz." [label info]
www.geometrikrecords.com
|
2009 |
€13.50 |
|
|
Desarrollos Geometricos |
LP |
"Desarrollos Geométricos (Geometric Developments) is the new album by Esplendor Geométrico. The vinyl version includes six tracks (three of them exclusive for this format). Recorded during 2010 and 2011, a few of its tracks have already been premiered in Esplendor’s latest performances in Europe. E.G. has developed a unique and personal style that has influenced many groups and is increasingly moving away from the clichés of Industrial Music. Arturo Lanz, who heads the group, thinks that they can no longer be labeled as “industrial”. “Our music is deep, powerful, primitive and hypnotic, using electronic instruments and new technologies”, says Lanz. “Desarrollos Geométricos” follows in the steps of their previous and impressive album “Pulsión” (2009), which was recently remixed (Re-Pulsión. 10”) by renowned musicians such as Frank Bretschneider or Atom TM. Repetitive and mechanic electronic rhythms are intermingled with recordings of voices, shouts, samples from traditional oriental music, percussions... Some tracks induce a kind of trance and you won’t be able to stop listening them over and over again." [label info]
www.geometrikrecords.com
|
2011 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Desarrollos Geometricos |
CD |
"Recorded during 2010 and 2011, a few of its tracks have already been premiered in Esplendor’s latest performances in Europe. E.G. has developed a unique and personal style that has influenced many groups and is increasingly moving away from the clichés of Industrial Music. Arturo Lanz, who heads the group, thinks that they can no longer be labeled as “industrial”. “Our music is deep, powerful, primitive and hypnotic, using electronic instruments and new technologies”, says Lanz. “Desarrollos Geométricos” follows in the steps of their previous and impressive album “Pulsión” (2009), which was recently remixed (Re-Pulsión. 10”) by renowned musicians such as Frank Bretschneider or Atom TM. Repetitive and mechanic electronic rhythms are intermingled with recordings of voices, shouts, samples from traditional oriental music, percussions... Some tracks induce a kind of trance and you won’t be able to stop listening them over and over again." [label info]
www.geometrikrecords.com
|
2011 |
€13.50 |
|
| |
Ultraphoon |
CD |
"Recorded in Madrid and Rome during 2013, this is the new album by the influential electronic duo ranked as industrial music pioneers. Ultraphoon is a leap ahead as for production and sound quality, with a stunning and brutal outcome, richly detailed nonetheless. Rhythms, noises and processed voices from different sources come together in hypnotic –bordering on trance– soundscapes along the lines of previous releases such as Pulsión (2009) and Desarrollos Geométricos (2011). Most of the meticulous mastering process has been carried out by Francisco López, internationally renowned as one of the top sound art and experimental music personalities, giving a new twist to the usual E.G. sound." [label info]
www.geometrikrecords.com
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| ESSEIVA, KIKO C. |
Sous les Etoiles |
CD |
Für Klang-Abenteurer genau das richtige, das zweite Album dieses uns bisher unbekannten Soundtüftlers auf dem Schweizer Label. ESSEIVA kreiert hochdynamische Geräuschmusik mit vielen breaks & cut-ups und meist instrumentellen & konkreten Klängen, en detail quasi unbeschreibbar da zu komplex (zum Glück aber gibt es Rigobert Dittmann), von der Machart an alte NWW oder spannende Elektro-Akustik erinnernd. Empfehlung !
"Sous Les Etoiles (HINT04) ist nach Musiques pour haut-parleurs (Music For Loudspeakers) und Improvisations / Bricolages I-IV im Split mit Eric Boros (1000+1 Tilt) eine weitere Manifestation der Kreativität von KIKO C. ESSEIVA in Lausanne. Es ist ein komplexes Werk, in Szene gesetzt als experimentelles Cinema pour l‘oreille, mit einem ‚Prélude‘, 8 Episoden und einer ‚Fanfare de fin‘. Hervorstechend ist dabei die Plastizität der Klänge, ob knackiger Apfelbiss, knurrige Drones oder windspielerisches Klimpern. Das erinnert an Hanna Hartmanns Bildprägnanz, geht aber eigene, geräuschhaftere Wege. Ein weiteres auffälliges Ingredienz sind Stimmen, als gutturale Vokalisation, dann ein Frauenmund, der den Titel ansagt. Aber auch andere Klänge scheinen per Mund erzeugt zu sein, wenn auch verfremdet bis zur Unkenntlichkeit zu perkussivem Rippeln, zu Knarren oder Fauchen. ‚En rêve‘ wirkt wie alte Streichmusik, wobei der Geigenbogen jede Rauheit der Saite übertrieben ausreizt. Aus vielen Fugen flattert, knarrt und knarzt es, ein Metalldeckel eiert, Wasser gluckert, Dulcimersaiten flickern. Keine Landschaft tut sich auf, alles ist hier konkreter, detaillierter, informeller, in plastischer Nahsicht vor das Tagtraumauge gerückt. ‚Sous les étoiles toujours‘ überrascht mit einem Piano, dumpfen Glockendongs, wooshenden Drones, fragilem Klingklang. Zum Finale erklingt keine Fanfare, sondern kaskadierendes Tamtam, Cymbalschläge, Scherenschnippen, eine quäkende Hupe, Posaunengeblubber, alles Teil eines surrealen Orchesters der Dinge. Ich drücke gleich mal auf repeat." [Bad Alchemy]
"We are proud to release - four years after his first longplayer on Canadian imprint 'Manufracture' - Kiko C. Esseiva's second album 'Sous les étoiles'. The electro-acoustic-musique conrète compositions he has constructed during the past years are brilliant soundpieces that remind sometimes on Luc Ferraris electro-acoustic works but also the very narrative nature of some older Nurse With Wound albums. The way he mixes (almost) melodic elements into a complex structure of well arranged sounds and noises is simply beautiful. 'Sous Les Etoiles' goes even a step further than Esseiva's debut 'Musiques pour haut-parleurs', the tracks being audibly held together by leitmotifs, making it one big opus instead of being just a collection of tracks." [label info]
www.hinterzimmer-records.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| ETANT DONNES |
Re-Up |
CD |
"For this 1999 release, France’s Étant Donnés (Eric & Marc Hurtado) brought in Alan Vega, Lydia Lunch and Genesis P-Orridge to provide lyrics and vocals for specific contributions. Vega features on the first four tracks, juxtaposing his stream-of-conscious vocals with the phasing pulses and analogue crackles and sighs on ‘Shadows Lights’, responding to the rhythmic ticking and splintering synth on the title cut, helping on a track he originally wrote with Martin Rev to cover Suicide’s ‘Ghost Rider’ with an eerie Elvis Presley vamp, along with the epic ‘Brutal Piss Rods’. Lydia Lunch follows on ‘Sexodrone’, a lengthy piece where treated trumpet from Mark Cunningham duels with Lunch’s breaths and icy cold delivery. Genesis P-Orridge brings along a different feel with his steady spoken word work on the three final tracks: the metallic gongs, bells and revolving synth washes of ‘At Last’, the companion piece ‘Angel With Iron Wings’ and ‘Secret Tear’. The latter track also features Bachir Attar, leader of The Master Musicians Of Jajouka, playing the ghaita; P-Orridge and Attar conclude the voyage with a vigorous call and response between P-Orridge’s instrument of flesh (his voice) and Attar’s human-made one. A perfect soundtrack for sensual explorers. The last bonus track is a 2014 remix of ‘Ghost Rider’ by Marc Hurtado that gives the feeling of being transported into the centre of an intergalactic war."
munster-records.com//
|
2016 |
€14.50 |
|
|
Re-Up |
do-LP |
"For this 1999 release, France’s Étant Donnés (Eric & Marc Hurtado) brought in Alan Vega, Lydia Lunch and Genesis P-Orridge to provide lyrics and vocals for specific contributions. Vega features on the first four tracks, juxtaposing his stream-of-conscious vocals with the phasing pulses and analogue crackles and sighs on ‘Shadows Lights’, responding to the rhythmic ticking and splintering synth on the title cut, helping on a track he originally wrote with Martin Rev to cover Suicide’s ‘Ghost Rider’ with an eerie Elvis Presley vamp, along with the epic ‘Brutal Piss Rods’. Lydia Lunch follows on ‘Sexodrone’, a lengthy piece where treated trumpet from Mark Cunningham duels with Lunch’s breaths and icy cold delivery. Genesis P-Orridge brings along a different feel with his steady spoken word work on the three final tracks: the metallic gongs, bells and revolving synth washes of ‘At Last’, the companion piece ‘Angel With Iron Wings’ and ‘Secret Tear’. The latter track also features Bachir Attar, leader of The Master Musicians Of Jajouka, playing the ghaita; P-Orridge and Attar conclude the voyage with a vigorous call and response between P-Orridge’s instrument of flesh (his voice) and Attar’s human-made one. A perfect soundtrack for sensual explorers. The last bonus track is a 2014 remix of ‘Ghost Rider’ by Marc Hurtado that gives the feeling of being transported into the centre of an intergalactic war."
munster-records.com//
|
2016 |
€22.00 |
|
|
Le Paradis Blanc |
LP + DVD |
"This album, recorded in 1983, is also the music of a movie directed by Etant Donnés the same yearand titled “Le paradis blanc”. Mastering Norscq.
The album Le Paradis Blanc was recorded in 1983. This unreleased album until today is also the music of a film directed by Etant Donnés the same year.
The film and music were part of a three days installation and performance of Etant Donnés in the ELAC (Espace Lyonnais d’Art Contemporain) at the Fifth Symposium of Art Performance in Lyon in 1983 : one day for the construction of the installation, one day with a performance and one day for the destruction.
The film on the DVD is an edit made with the movies of the construction and the destruction of the installation.
This music like all first works of Etant Donnés was made without any instrument or effect but is the fruit of a long work on a raw sound material coming from nature field recordings and other source like TV, films, radio, streets, factorys, etc.
In 1977, Eric and Marc Hurtado founded Etant Donnés that quickly became essential in the field of experimental films, performance and experimental and industrial music, recording approximately 30 albums and counting numerous collaborations with major artists of the international music scene and cinema : Alan Vega, Genesis P.Orridge, Michael Gira, Lydia Lunch, Philippe Grandrieux, Mark Cunningham, Bachir Attar and the Master Musicians of Jajouka, etc."
|
2017 |
€24.00 |
|
| |
Ceux Qu'On Aime - Ce Que Je Hais |
CD |
"Etant Donnes is a French duo named after Marcel Duchamp's last major work. The group consists of brothers Marc and Eric Hurtado, born in Morocco and working mainly as performance artists and musicians. Their sound can be described as a mix of field recordings, found sounds and sometimes whispered, sometimes violent vocals. They describe their sounds like this: "Through Marc and Eric, it is the volume of each word that becomes an object-sculpture, together with the power of their bodies expressing their voices. Each event is a scream - indeed even the glissando - of the strength of the word that sometimes abruptly becomes a rock, a solid surface, not in the least fluvial, as is the narrative of a tale, novel or poetic epic. With both of them, there is no more trace of ancient prosodies, no more trace of the incomprehensible Sainte-Beuve who could claim: "I have to collect a volume of prose". The word, the voice, the volume take shape with each other, unveiling a theatre that theatre usually ignores, which has given it such things as a Samuel Beckett's Fin de Partie." Over the years Etant Donnes have collaborated with people like Lydia Lunch, Michael Gira, Alan Vega and Genesis P-Orridge. Ceux Qu'on Aime - Ce Que Je Hais was the band's fourth album, dating back to 1983 and originally issued on French Bain Total label (run by Philippe Fichot of Die Form). For this CD re-issue we have added a long bonus track not on the original album. Full tracklist: 1. Ceux qu'on aime - Ce que je hais 2. Les Cents Pas 3. Mieux vaut se retourner que regarder dans le reflet 4. Music from the film Des autres terres souples Part 3."
https://www.klanggalerie.com/gg396
"Das vierte Studioalbum (1983) des französischen Experimental- / Performance-Duos ETANT DONNES mit einem einen zeitlos spannenden Mix aus Industrial / Noise, Avantgarde-Klängen und Musique Concrete. „Ceux Qu‘on Aime - Ce Que Je Hais“ erscheint erstmalig als
CD im Digipack-Format mit Bonustrack auf KLANGGALERIE.
1980 in Grenoble von den beiden Brüdern ERIC und MARC HURTADO ins Leben gerufen, legte das nach einem Werk des französisch-amerikanischen Dadaisten/Surrealisten MARCEL DUCHAMPS benannte Experimental- / Performance-Duo, das seitdem mit Genregrößen wie GENESIS P-ORRIDGE, ALAN VEGA, MICHAEL GIRA, MARK CUNNINGHAM und LYDIA
LUNCH zusammenarbeitete, schon ein Jahr später sein Albumdebüt „L‘Opposition Et Les Cases Conjugues Sont Rconcil“ vor. „Ceux Qu‘on Aime - Ce Que Je Hais“ war das vierte Album der Band aus dem Jahr 1983, das ursprünglich auf dem französischen Label BAIN
TOTAL (unter Leitung von PHILIPPE FICHOT von DIE FORM) nur als Kassette veröffentlicht wurde. Für diese CD-Neuauflage wurde ein langer Bonustrack hinzugefügt, der nicht auf dem Originalalbum enthalten ist („Music From The Film Des Autres Terres Souples Part 3.“)."
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| ETIENNE, YVAN |
Twist |
LP |
listen: https://label-aposiopese.bandcamp.com/album/twist
YVAN ETIENNE
TWIST
A1 : Cinq réflectances inversées - 21:38
B1 : L’énergie du non - 18:59
_
Composed and recorded by Yvan Etienne.
Serge Modular, Field recordings.
CD : Mastered by Yvan Etienne / LP : Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi.
Cut by Mike Grinser at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin.
Artwork by Gregory Weiss / Design : Yvan Etienne.
Produced by Aposiopèse.
For Serge Modular and field recordings.
French artist/activist Yvan Etienne, is engaged in research in the field of sound art. As a musician, he composes and plays pieces using electronic, phonography, analog synthesizers and the hurdy-gurdy. His sound art research questions the perception and physicality of sound spaces. Collaborations with Phill Niblock, Yann Gourdon, Richard Glover, Brice Jeannin, Patrice Grente, Robert Poss, Paul Panhuysen, Marie Verry, la novia, Perinne Bourel…
CD : Mastered by Yvan Etienne / LP : Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi. Cut by Mike Grinser at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin. Artwork by Gregory Weiss
"In an edition of three-hundred copies, here is the sophomore effort by French artist / activist Yvan Etienne. Twist is quite welcome as we haven’t heard from him since 2014’s Feu which was a great debut, also on Aposiopèse, who have been quietly putting out minimal sounds for nearly fifteen years now. There are two long tracks here, so let’s get right to it. From the outset it’s a textural affair, one of granular microsound and distant tone. The open mic is quite fresh, clear as it drags and burrows through a ground of hiss and light crackling. The first pregnant pause is stultifying but leads to an airy adjacent passage. Cinq réflectances inversées presents observations in staring into a mirror way too long (?) or the sense of stasis when one is at zero gravity knowing that might change at any given moment. Etienne manages to fluidly switch between left and right channels to keep your attention between vignettes. There’s a lot to contemplate about this modest composition in tonal slide and play on lightness. The blunt rise and fall of hum dips and writhes as heavy metal (not the genre) is toyed with. Everything induces a sense of slowness, until the clang of metallic objects enters the fray – suddenly there’s a sense of upheaval like a prisoner squirming in shackles. Obviously this is broken into five parts, that accounts for the quiet lulls, and each tells its own story. The last of these catches the listener in a moderate rainfall, with a sonar or scanner of some sort buzzing as it surveills the area. There’s a Orwellian sensibility embedded herein. L’énergie du non starts with a singular high pitch tone, that sounds as if it has been split down the middle. It grows in voluminosity and scope, spreading far and wide with various high and low tendrils of modulation. This shifts and winds, and continues for nearly six minutes – which is alarming. Once it dies out there is a lull, and a lower and more gravelly buzz begins and peters rather quickly only to linger in the background. Is this some sort of force field being tested (?), am I being told to beware/stay out (?), or have I landed in some transitory space where various transmissions are yet un-encoded. This low grade yet seemingly robust under-the-surface energy is supposedly of ‘not‘ though there lies the tension. It’s what you can’t see, but only imagine, that will have you conjuring any number of questionable entities. Fortunately about midway this becomes an homage to old school microsound clicks and hiss. And with each rotation this literally begins to swirl with a windy effect that brings the static energy into the center. The end is a mix of field recordings of stacking and cracking wood, of rain slick streets and a hi-tone that separates the real world from that which is just beyond our immediate scope." [TJ Norris / Toneshift]
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
Twist |
CD |
listen: https://label-aposiopese.bandcamp.com/album/twist
YVAN ETIENNE
TWIST
A1 : Cinq réflectances inversées - 21:38
B1 : L’énergie du non - 18:59
_
Composed and recorded by Yvan Etienne.
Serge Modular, Field recordings.
CD : Mastered by Yvan Etienne / LP : Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi.
Cut by Mike Grinser at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin.
Artwork by Gregory Weiss / Design : Yvan Etienne.
Produced by Aposiopèse.
Artiste / activiste, commissaire d\\\'exposition, directeur de la collection Ohcetecho aux Presses du réel, Yvan Etienne élabore des installations intermédia, des dispositifs de diffusions scénographiques, des concerts. Conçus comme des espaces à expérimenter, ses travaux sont généralement liés aux contextes, aux spécificités in situ, acoustiques et architecturales des espaces investis. Ses projets explorent les propriétés immersives, invisibles, mouvantes et fugaces du son, pour rejouer nos appréhensions et construire un dialogue en écho avec des corps résonnants (visiteurs, architectures, contextes). Réalisés à partir de sculptures, de phonographies, de compositions instrumentales, électroniques, ses expériences convoquent réflexions intuitives et questionnement des stéréotypes de la perception.
En tant que musicien, il compose et joue des pièces utilisant la vielle à roue, les synthétiseurs analogiques, la phonographie et l\\\'électronique. Ses recherches questionnent la perception des corps résonants. Il a joué avec avec Phill Niblock, Yann Gourdon, Richard Glover, Brice Jeannin, Patrice Grente, Julien Ottavi, Robert Poss, Paul Panhuysen, Marie Verry, Joachim Montessuis.
En continuité de ses pratiques il œuvre à la diffusion des pratiques sonores et intermédia comme programmateur et commissaire d\\\'expositions indépendant. En tant que commissaire, il a organisé les expositions de Paul Panhuysen, Brandon Labelle, Christof Migone, Maxime Vernier, Phill Niblock, Henri Chopin, Feed me with your kiss au Consortium de Dijon, Resonant Bodies à l\\\'ISBA de Besançon et programmé les festivals Oh cet echo et Architectone (Salines royales d\\\'Arc et Senans), NYC Sound au CAPC de Bordeaux, ainsi que divers concerts.
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| ETRON FOU LELOUBLAN |
Les trois fou's perdegagnent |
LP |
"Second album by ETRON FOU LELOUBLAN avant-rock / rock-in-opposition French pioneers. ETRON FOU LELOUBLAN had definitely moved up a notch with this release and things would actually get even better with the next release! Still, this album is quite a juicy steak that will take quite some time to devour with the end results exceeding beyond the initial anticipations." [label info] |
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
| EVAPORI |
Rehearsals for Objects |
CD |
"1000füsslers industriell gefertigte Releases erreichen einen neuen Maßstab. Neben Tietchens und der sehr schön angelegten Heizungs-CD ist Evaporis Beitrag zum CD-Labelkatalog ein weiteres ungewohnt klingendes Zeugnis Neuer Musik. Völlig losgelöst vom Digitalkrach oder jedweder PlugIn-Klangmasse erscheinen die hier versammelten Stücke wie alte Schneidetischexzesse eines digital aufgemöbelten Walter Ruttmanns. Die raumklangtechnisch ausgesteuerten Klänge und Geräusche werden mittels ihrer Aufnahmeposition verfremdet und steuern damit gegen den sonst allgegenwärtigen digitalen Verfremdungsprozess. Klanglich angesiedelt zwischen einer ausziselierten Kapotte Muziek Komposition und einer Esseiva Etude passiert im zeitlichen Rahmen dieser CD anfangs eine Menge: feine Schleifklänge wechseln teils in rapiden Wechseln ihre Soundzustände, lösen sich auf und bilden feine Schnittkanten, an deren teils gratfreien Oberflächen allerlei konkretes Material sich ansammelt, ehe es mit einem schnellen Schnitt in andere Ebenen gehoben wird. Der zweite Satz zeigt die stärkste Dekonstruktion mittels Audioschnitt und Collaging, weicht doch der geschickte Einsatz der Stille teilweise radikalen Rückwärtsrichtungen des Quellmaterials, ehe der letzte Akt der CD in teilweise recht droniges Basisbrummen gleitet und etwas schlüpfrig den Weg aus der Komposition weist. Evaporis Ansatz einer völlig raumklangbezogenen Kompositionsweise macht vor allem dann Sinn, wenn die ohnehin sehr liquiden und scharf gestellten (Rest)geräusche in teilweise verzweifelt wirkender Flucht ihre Plätze suchen. Die in endloser Rotation wiederholten Brummschleifen unter den gestreuten Sounds macht es fast schon wieder interessant, mal selber die Lautsprecher um einige Zoll im Raum zu verschieben und den damit verbundenen Akustiksituationen zu lauschen. Ganz schön interaktives Material." [Thorsten Soltau, AEMAG]
"The aim while composing was to create a sound landscape that is exclusively made up of recordings which are not processed by computer effects (so-called plug-ins). The sounds are influenced by the way they are recorded, e.g. by the positions of the microphone and the sound source in a room. The resulting sonic situations are the basis of the the composition. The sounds – most of them of an everyday nature – were transformed using computer editing only, in order to leave the recognizability of the sounds untouched, create tension and to arouse the listener‘s curiosity through different atmospheric cadences.
Recordings were made at Rauchhaus / Berlin, Fundbureau and Christianskirche / Hamburg
Mastering by Guy Saldanha
Artwork by Nicolas Wiese
Thanks to Celia Herrero and Christoph Lohse"
[label info / credits]
www.tausend-fuessler.de
"Das nenn ich doch mal eine Produktinformation: „Die größtenteils aus dem Alltag stammenden Klänge wurden am Computer ausschließlich durch Schnitttechnik verfremdet, um die Erkennbarkeit der Klangquellen offen zu halten, Spannung aufzubauen und durch verschiedene Stimmungsbögen bei dem Hörer Neugier zu wecken.“ Das hat man nicht oft, dass ein Geräuschkunstmacher auch mal an seine (potentiellen) Hörer denkt und dass er das Ziel seiner Bemühungen angibt - Stimmung, Spannung, Neugier. Oliver Peters ist in BA schon bekannt als AIC-Macher und, obwohl in Berlin aktiv, für seine guten Verbindungen zur Hamburger Szene, zur Hörbar, zu Guy Saldanha (Knistern), der hier das Mastering besorgte, zu Uli Rehbergs Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien, wo zuletzt seine LP Fumes (2007) herauskam, zu Gregory Büttner, der ihm auf 1000füssler bereits zum zweiten Mal ein Forum bietet. Was hier die Neugier weckt, sind Übungen, Turn- oder Tanzübungen von Gegenständen in einem menschenleeren Raum. Nur die vermeintliche Abwesenheit von Beobachtern oder Lauschern ermöglicht diese leicht gespenstischen, zumindest ominösen und odradekhaften Verspieltheiten. Es huscht, trappelt, kullert, von ganz feinen Drones umspielt. Vielgliedrig tockt, ratscht, schabt und klickt Holz an Holz, Metall an Metall, Was? an Was? -kreuz und quer durch den Raum, an Wänden und an der Decke. Odradek-Hockey? Odradek-Mikado oder -Kampfsport? Ein ‚interlude‘ zwischen ‚rehearsal I & II‘ lässt keine Atempause, sondern verdichtet sogar die Aktionen, mit fast menschlichen Zischlauten. Das hat nichts ‚Ambientes‘, sondern eine spielerische Dramaturgie, die allerdings ihr Geheimnis - wer sind die Spieler und was proben sie? - nicht Preis gibt, denn wir sehen nichts, wir können nur lauschen und rätseln." [Bad Alchemy]
"Oliver Peters, the man behind the AIC label and the musical project Evapori, likes his sounds to be free of computer plug ins. Take an object, place a microphone and record the object. The placing of the microphone is essential as it alters the sound. Take a whole bunch of objects, record them and then make a CD out of these recordings. The computer is merely a recording device, where, in good musique concrete tradition, cuts can be made, stereo adjustment and balancing the various sounds. That is most commendable, I think, as most computer plug ins do tend to sound too similar. What Peters does here, is not done a lot. Using natural space to create reverb, he carefully touches his objects and makes a very intense sound collage out of it. One that requires full attention. At times I was reminded of the live sound of Kapotte Muziek, but then multi-layered and with more concentration - but then of course the computer here can cut out all the unwanted sounds, which live is more difficult. By adding machine hum towards the end of 'Rehearsal 1', he manages to sound like drone music too. I think this is a great CD, but there is one thing I don't understand: why call this rehearsals? Rehearsal for what? It gives the impression that this is unfinished business, unless Peters wants us to cut further in this material, but somehow I don't think that this the case here. Why not go full on and state that these are 'compositions'? " [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| EVAPORI / [-HYPH-] |
Bewegungen / Fragmentation itself |
CD-R |
First CDR release for this new Hamburg label, with three tracks by EVAPORI (Itzehoe) and HYPH (Hamburg), strong dynamic sound-collages based on human voice that remind on BRUME and massive floating soundscapes. Comes in special handmade package, recommended !
“ EVAPORI: moody and massively pulsating minimalism of a wide range of frequencies, beautifully swelling overtones and mysterious subliminals. calm in itself, yet constantly evolving. inspired by the general atmosphere of silent movies and e.muybridge.
-HYPH-: title is program. this is the fragmented, irritating, creeping and harshly surprising soundtrack into warfare. source material is 90% human voice, but you wouldn’t guess. strangely processed, vivid and challenging – 30 minutes of you_never_know_what’s_happening_next.” [label description]
|
2003 |
€9.00 |
|
| EX COCAINE / YELLOW SWANS |
Split |
LP |
"Two-storied USA duo institutions share war stories across twelve miles of raw wax, and the rest of us are lucky enough to eavesdrop. Missoula, Montana's Ex-Cocaine continue roping that weird rambling wind that seems to stir the soul and keep America mellow, and the pair of anthems they jam out here encapsulates the whole breadth of their sea-to-shining-sea cosmosis. Plainsong guitar lassoes around loose-limbed percussion flame-fanning, building and burning till a boss bonfire glows on the horizon, then they close out the side with a ragged and earnest Meat Puppets cover that's become a live staple of late. Real and roamin'. On the B, Yellow Swans channel a supreme slice of psychedelic eulogy that cuts twice as deep with the knowledge that after many a summer (they birthed in 2002-ish) dies the Swan. Pete and Gabe's DYS saga has spanned the decade and their impending non-existence will be lamented all over the world, so the more 11th hour record books they want to stencil with their electric synergies, the better for all of us. R.I.P.eace out. In a stunning "sexy legs" kaleidoscopic masterpiece art jacket by Religious Knife Maya Miller. Half on bleached olive vinyl, half on black. Edition of 600." [label info] |
2008 |
€15.50 |
|
| EXIT IN GREY |
Domination: Audiometry |
CD-R |
"Reissue of the debut 3"CDR "Audiometry" (2004) with an 18-min bonus track "Domination". Guitar drone ambient varying from almost monotonous raw and deep rumbles to gentle melancholic tunes... sonic waves and streams slowly come and pass away, leaving the listener in spellbound numbness." [label info]
"Four pieces of peaceful & harmonic waving deep drone-ambience from this Russian newcomer, extremely slow and minimal. Very much recommended for lovers of ALIO DIE, MIRROR, COLECLOUGH..." [Drone Rec. info 2005 for the mCDr]
|
2009 |
€9.00 |
|
| EXPERIMENTALIEN |
Nine Triads |
CD-R |
"Slovakian-based artist I.v.Martinez is active in a variety of projects with different styles, but ExperiMENTALien is one of the more psychedelic ones. The nine tracks on this album fuse morphing digital dronescapes with subsonic pulsations that would make a great addition to the soundtrack of any remake of “Solaris”.
The shapeshifting nature of the sounds that drift in and out of harmonic fields is mirrored in the titles of the pieces, which – like the project name ExperiMENTALien – fuse several words. Trainput, Universelection, and Noiserenity are perhaps the most programmatic. The album constantly oscillates between associations with biomorphous and psychic images, which is why the “Solaris” reference immediately comes to mind: Couldn’t this be the sound of a thinking, living planet? You could think of this as the “Kosmische Musik” of Krautrock revisited through a post-industrial sensibility, but most importantly, the results sound convincing.
File under: drone, ambient, psychedelic" [label info]
www.attenuationcircuit.de
"From Slovakia hails L.V. Martinez, who works with a variety of (unnamed) projects with different styles and one of these is ExperiMENTALien, as the spelling should be. There are nine pieces on this CD, hence the title, I guess, and I have no idea what he does, but my best guess is that Martinez uses a lot of sampling of sounds, lots of effects (boxes, digital, who knows) and effectively melts down his sources into nine nightmarish pieces of detailed nuclear meltdown. Quite noise based, very industrial, but without any of the images that may come along such a ride. ExperiMENTALien keeps matters relatively abstract; more like the soundtrack to a movie that deals with such matters as apocalypse, zombies, mad max, robotic slavery and what else have you in the department of blackness. Even when he keeps things at a more limited volume, such as 'Electrip', it's still forceful and alien (indeed). Long pieces, clocking in at six to eight minutes and sometimes that seems a bit long for the amount of sonic information it has to offer in a piece, but on a more mind penetrating level, the psychedelic side of all of this, I must admit this worked rather well. Nothing for the weak of heart or mind or both."
[FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2015 |
€8.50 |
|
| EXPO 70 (EXPO SEVENTY) |
Frozen Living Elements |
CD |
"It's been three years since Expo 70 appeared on the ”From Earth to Sirius” compilation and now they are back to Zoharum with a full-length offering. Their latest album is entitled ”Frozen Living Elements” and it features an expanded line-up. Apart from Justin Wright, Expo 70 were Jim Button on drums and Aaron Osborne on bass and additional synthesizers for the sessions and the result can be described as space rock power trio.
With three tracks spread over 45 minutes, the trio takes as on a cosmic tour de force. With influences ranging from analogue electronica through guitar drone to noisy psychedelia, Expo 70 manages to travel back in time to the 1970s, yet stay as contemporary as they can without sounding dated or irrelevant. The musicians transport us to their rehearsal room drenched in dry ice where they play their extended acid jams landing somewhere in-between SunnO))), Can and Sperm.
The CD is housed in an ecopak sleeve and is strictly limited to 500 copies. The cover was designed by Justin Wright. "Frozen Living Elements" was mastered by Scott Colbrun. The whole production process was overseen by Michał Porwet." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Mother Universe has birthed her last Cosmos |
do-CD |
A collection of rare recordings from 2008-2010, previously released only on two mini CDRs and two cassettes. They contain some of the finest tracks in the Expo '70 history, reminiscent of Ashra and early Amon Düül II. This composition and 'Ostara', which make up the first CD, are the beginnings of a trio version of the project, known as Expo Seventy (in contrast to the solo recordings as Expo 70). The second CD is filled with an hour from Justin Wright's solo sessions. In addition to traditional guitar sounds, he explores the possibilities of the Moog synthesizer. These compositions perfectly complement the material from the first disc. Ltd x 500 copies in an ecopak.
|
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
| EYELESS IN GAZA |
No Noise. A 25th Anniversary Celebration: the very best of Eyeless in Gaza |
CD |
Best of mit 22 Stücken, der ideale Einstieg in die Welt dieser absolut aussergewöhnlichen „Pop“-Band....
“Cherry Red signed the two piece synthesiser duo Eyeless In Gaza in 1980. Back then a cassette dropped through our letter box which was virtually the finished tape of their first, highly acclaimed, album 'Photographs As Memories.' So 25 years have now passed by and Cherry Red are proud to present 'No Noise - The Very Best Of Eyeless In Gaza' (CDMRED 279), a fascinating collection which contains all the best Eyeless tracks over those years. The band plan a re-union gig in London on the 29th July (Bush Hall) and press interest should be strong. Cherry Red Films also plan a DVD release – read on for more details!” [press release]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Plague of Years : Songs and Instrumentals 1980-2006 |
CD |
'Songs and Instrumentals 1980-2006'. Noch eine EIG-Zusammenstellung, die aber mehr auf die experimentelle Seite zielt, 21 Stücke die die ganze Bandbreite der Band aufzeigen, mit einigen sehr raren Stücken. Special low priced !
"One of the great bands that emerged post punk... They were truly unique.... I still love them..." [Alan Mc Gee / March 2005]
"this CD deals with two sides of the group. first is its deeply lyrical vein, with summits like See Red and Lights of April, tracks that have almost never been included on "best-of" projects, despite the fact that they represent some of the most moving songs these musicians ever wrote. this collection also explores the group's more adventurous side through a number of instrumental pieces. this aspect of their output is little known and often neglected, even though it was there from their very beginnings. these two combining currents, where experimentation precedes lyricism (and the other way around), turn this album into a truly new way of (re)discovering Eyeless in Gaza. This unique architecture creates the impression that each side strengthens the other one's presence. probably for the first time ever, the 21 tracks so redistributed provide the band with irrefutable arguments toward its rebirth. Yes, Eyeless in Gaza is one of the most underrated groups. in this world of ours, will integrity finally pay off ?" [label info]
"Plague of Years is a single-disc retrospective by Peter Becker and Martyn Bates, aka Eyeless in Gaza. The duo began recording with minimal instrumentation -- Becker's piano and keyboards, some primitive drum machines, a guitar here and there, as well as a traditional drum kit (or at least the snares and cymbals) -- and made music in the post-punk era that was both challenging and hideously beautiful. The reason for that description comes from the sound of Bates' voice: nasal, emotionally overwrought, and often flat, it was a voice that expressed things in his utterly naked and poetic words that the heart could comprehend, but that the intellect often could not. Long before Morrissey ever warbled, Bates ripped the door off the closet of his fear, longing, love, and disappointment, framing it with colors that held many shades of gray, but also held out the glimmer of gold for hope. There are 21 cuts on this set, beginning with their earliest tracks from 1980's debut album, Photographs as Memories ("John of Patmos"), and the amazing "Every Which Way" from 1981's Caught in Flux, issued by Cherry Red, and moving through their utterly brilliant albums Drumming the Beating Heart, Song of the Beautiful Wanton, Orange Ice & Wax Crayons, and Back from the Rains. There are cuts from compilations, such as "To Steven" and "Sun-Like-Gold," that appeared as two parts of a three-part suite on Sub Rosa's Myths. Instructions., singles such as "County Bizarre" on NDN, and the gorgeous "Falling Leaf/Fading Flower" from the 12" Pale Hands I Loved So Well, which was a bonus disc tucked inside the Drumming the Beating Heart CD. There are also cuts here from Bitter Apples, the album they released for World Serpent in 1995, and Saw You in Reminding Pictures from the Ambivalent Scale label. This is but a taste, of course, since Eyeless in Gaza needed to be taken album by album, but one honest encounter with one of their songs will send the listener scrambling for more. The music here is beauty that is so out of place in this world, it can scarcely be borne." [Thom Jurek / Allmusic.com] |
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Everyone feels like a Stranger |
CD |
"The edition is limited to 1000 copies and as with other Eyeless In Gaza albums, we do not know when or if there will be more editions coming, so get it now. The album is song-focussed and the running time is 46 mins 52 secs. The 12 tracks are: 1. Voices, 2. Dance of Hours, 3. Much Wants More, 4. Morning Singing, 5. Seeing/Book of Days, 6. Among the Gathering Skies, 7. So You Appear, 8. Slow Eve, 9. Childhood Knives, 10. Dreaming Body, 11. If I Could Live as the Sun Does, 12. Endless Trees.
Dance of Hours, Childhood Knives and So You Appear have appeared in pre-view versions on radio programs and on YouTube, but have been perfected for the final release here. Morning Singing is a new take on the Martyn Bates solo classic from 1982, but since Eyeless In Gaza has performed this live as a band several times lately, this reflects how it is interpreted these days as a song by Eyeless In Gaza.
Martyn Bates writes about the new album:
Through the Summer of 2011 while we were putting together the tunes for Everyone Feels Like a Stranger, an unexpected pattern began to emerge. Clearly, as we were recording and completing pieces, much of this new work was showing a distinct prejudice /alignment to the form of songs, as opposed to instrumental explorations and improvisations, pictures without words. Now of course, all of the music we make has a story to it – much as we are all stories, because, well … that’s all we have really: stories beautiful / terrifying / ecstatic / anecdotal / awake / asleep etc. etc. These particular song-stories all naturally feed into Eyeless In Gaza directly, and, as far as I’m concerned, the songs then go on to take on a life of their own.
That being said, I was already aware that these particular songs seemed to have arrived coloured with something that struck me as being particularly inward looking and reflective, for the most part. It was Peter Becker who first suggested that we title this album of songs Everyone Feels Like a Stranger – and initially I was unsure, as I felt that somehow this phrase ran the risk of conveying the ‘wrong kind’ of negative connotations. However, I see now that he was right. What we have here within these songs is a collective meditation upon the double-edged sense of exhilaration and closeness that can occur when one enters that peculiar state of mind and being that being alone can sometimes give.
Where to ‘feel like a stranger’ oddly brings about a wayward sense of subtle happiness or comfort. And where distance and separation somehow connect with a sudden elevation and insight, and link in with an unsettling sense of security within that isolation. Where being ‘alone’ takes on an almost religious intensity .Where you are connected to the Quiet, the calm, the silence. Where Everyone Feels Like a Stranger, true … but, at the same time, no-one ever feels like a dispassionate collaborator.
Dance of Hours – a YouTube film directed by David Black for Black Creative Limited with additional footage from Elizabeth Bates, recorded at Mont St. Michel out of the shores of Normandy in late August 2011.
My own initial reaction to Everyone Feels Like a Stranger – not as negative in mood as the title might suggest. This is an album that is hard to tell why one should hold in high esteem, but one should, because it is greater in some ways than previous albums. It shows a deep respect for the song format and that is at the core here. I might find more improvisational material more exciting, but here they really bring out the best of what is central to making music – melody/harmony, wonderful voice, thoughtfulness, inventiveness, atmosphere, colouring and all without sounding presumptuous, nor trying to live up to what others might regard as great, but rather define it. An album not to be missed!" [website info]
www.eyelessingaza.com
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Orange Ice & Wax Crayon |
CD |
Re-issue of compilation released in 1991, with partly new content. All tracks were recorded between 1980 and 1985. None of these songs ever appeared on Eyeless in Gaza's regular albums.
hours grow | what i want to know | ways of rachel | street lamps n' snow | p.s. for michael | formerly at midnight | egg box mask | great ocean liner | fear clutches | red letter day | lovers spit & kiss | dog's bark | stay | old lime quarry | music for playgrounds |
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Skeletal Framework (The Cherry Red Recordings 1981-1986) |
5 x CD BOX |
• The complete Eyeless In Gaza Cherry Red recordings, compiled and curated by Martyn Bates and Pete Becker.
• 5CD clamshell box set featuring sleevenotes and extensive song-by-song reminisces by Martyn Bates.
• Their entire 1981-1986 output for the label re-worked into five thematic suites by the band, bringing new life and light to familiar and much-loved material.
• Includes the classics ‘Invisibility’, ‘Veil Like Calm’, Kodak Ghosts Run Amok’, ‘New Risen’ and many more.
• A brilliant introduction for the curious and a fascinating re-visit for long-term fans.
During the first half of the 1980s, few artists cut a path as individual and self-contained as Eyeless In Gaza. Over six albums and several classic singles, the duo followed their muse in multiple different directions at once, unrestrained by any desire to fit in with whatever was going on around them. Bursts of primal electronica sat comfortably alongside reflective ballads and lo-fi recordings and polished productions were equally valued, all of it pulled together by Martyn Bates’ unmistakable vocals and a singular, minimalist approach to songwriting.
Curated by Eyeless In Gaza, and accompanied by Martyn Bates’ song-by-song reflections on their work, ‘Skeletal Framework’ presents the band’s entire Cherry Red output re-cast as five themed suites (or perhaps even playlists), each reflecting one of their many sides. The group’s best-known work sits comfortably alongside deeper album cuts and rarities with interesting results, as the duo guide us back and forth across recordings spanning almost six years of one of Cherry Red’s most distinctive artists.
Track Listing:
DISC ONE
VOLUME ONE: LOOKING DAGGERS (ROCK and RHYTHMIC)
1 Looking Daggers
2 Skeletal Framework
3 Half Light
4 September Hills
5 The Feelings Mutual 6 In Your Painting
7 Fixation
8 Continual
9 Scale Amiss
10 Faceless
11 The Decoration
12 Voice From The Tracks
13 Whitewash
14 True Colour
15 Out From The Day-To-Day
16 Plague Of Years
17 Taking Steps (Original Version)
18 A Keepsake
19 From A To B
20 Soul On Thin Ice
21 Seven Years
22 Knives Replace Air
DISC TWO
VOLUME TWO: ROSE PETAL KNOT (POP TUNES etc)
1 Others
2 No Perfect Stranger
3 Twilight
4 One By One
5 Sweet Life Longer
6 Everpresent
7 Two
8 China Blue Vision
9 New Love Here
10 Speech Rapid Fire
11 Changing Stations
12 Sun Bursts In
13 Point You
14 Clear Cut Apparently
15 Veil Like Calm
16 Welcome Now
17 New Risen
18 Pencil Sketch
19 Picture The Day
20 Rose Petal Knot
21 Invisibility
22 Pearl And Pale
23 Keynote Inertia
24 Taking Steps
25 Kodak Ghosts Run Amok
DISC THREE
VOLUME THREE: YOUR RICH SKY
(Approximate BALLADS and SIMILAR)
1 Drumming The Beating Heart
2 Lie Still, Sleep Long
3 See Red
4 Bright Play Of Eyes
5 Corner Of Dusk
6 Before You Go
7 At Arms Length
8 Catch Me
9 No Noise
10 Evening Music
11 Every Which Way
12 Stealing Autumn
13 My Last, Lost Melody
14 Far Lands Blue
15 Your Rich Sky
16 Only Whispers
17 Leaves Are Dancing
18 Back From The Rains
19 Between These Dreams
20 Flight Of Swallows
21 Catch Me, Count Me, Catch Fire
DISC FOUR
VOLUME FOUR: STILL AIR (ATMOS-SONGS)
1 Light Sliding
2 Dusky Ruth
3 Ill Wind Blows
4 The Eyes Of Beautiful Losers
5 Inky Blue Sky
6 Throw A Shadow
7 Tall And White Nettles
8 Sixth Sense
9 Lights Of April
10 Scent Of Evening Air
11 Transience Blues
12 Through Eastfields
13 Lilt Of Music
14 To Ellen
15 Tell
16 Still Air
17 She Moves Thru The Fair
18 Blue Distance
DISC FIVE
VOLUME 5: DREAMING AT RAIN
(EXPERIMENTS and IMPROV)
1 Big Clipper Ship
2 Dreaming At Rain
3 Pale Saints
4 Lies Of Love
5 To Steven
6 John Of Patmos
7 Avenue With Trees
8 Sun Like Gold
9 Sheer Cliffs
10 Letters To She
11 Jane Dancing
12 Three Kittens
13 To Elizabeth S
14 Falling Leaf/Fading Flower;Goodbye To Summer
15 Warm Breath Soft And Slow
16 You Frighten
|
2022 |
€49.50 |
|
| FABRIS, FRANCESCO & BEN FROST |
Vakning |
LP |
"More recently best regarded as soundtrack composer, Ben Frost here follows work with interdisciplinary sound artist Francesco Fabris on the ‘Dark’ OST with a plunge into purest rock music, as in the actual sound of molten material rising to the surface and solidifying. With an
impressionistic-artistic license also found in work by Chris Watson, Jana Winderen or Giuseppe Ielasi, the duo uncompromisingly revel in the sounds of nature’s biting point, using various production methods to make audible the sound of the earth beneath our feet in the process of
creation, on location at Fagradalsfjall, Reykjanes Peninsula Iceland. Here’s label boss Lawrence English on the subject “As stable as we might choose to think it is, this planet is anything but that. A paper thin crust,
the zone in which we find ourselves, and mostly concern ourselves with, exists as a modest veil cloaking a dynamic seismic turbulence that is as powerful as it is unknowable. There are moments though where ruptures occur. The pressure from within carves its way to, and through, the surface of the planet simultaneously delivering destruction and virgin landscapes, as primordial as any we might care to imagine. It is here, in these places, where we can literally see the living
planet, that geologic time is condensed and world building is made visible, and audible to us, in an
unrestrained and provocative detail. These volcanic ruptures, such as those captured on Vakning by Francesco Fabris and Ben Frost, speak to the very living geology of Earth. These recordings, captured at close range, exist at a nexus where liquid rock becomes solid. They capture moments of transformation, of obliteration
and of creation, often all at once. These are recordings of a living, material planet, dynamic and
unrestrained.”
https://benfrost.bandcamp.com/album/vakning
|
2023 |
€27.50 |
|
| FACTOR X |
022 |
CD |
"factor X started in June 1983 in Paignton as a conceptual music project by Shaun Robert. He started doing music around 1979, unclear when play turned into something abit deeper, or pretentious, depending on your point of view. The first tape was an object, a cassette shell lacquerd in shiny globs of black paint, a piece of immoveable tape glued as in to play, it was played at full volume, the machines noise was a thing beating you up on a winter's day. The second tape by factor X was a cassette covered thickly with black gloss enamel paint, titled "E.T.A." (experimental tape art), the original tape was in lopsided stereo, but at some point I recorded it off into mono, the side A had a uncomfortable loop of french radio, with more Casio keyboard sounds farted through various speakers. Since then, a lot of tapes were released, on labels like Drahtfunk Products, Schimpfluch, SPH, Jeremy Bamber Tapes, BV Tapes, Intransitive Recordings and Old Europa Cafe. The collaborative CD with TAC and Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock was published by Harsh Dept. in 1996, it has been quiet for many years, but now Shaun Robert emerged again with some new projects like Mutant Beatniks etc. It's a good time to remember his old and quite obscured recordings from the 80s!" [label info]
www.monochromevision.ru
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| FAGASCHINSKI, KAI & BERHARD GAL |
Going round in Serpentines |
CD |
"In going round in serpentines, Bernhard Gal's re-contexturalized field recordings merge with the sonic characteristics of Kai Fagaschinski's idiosyncratic clarinet playing. Gal opens up new acoustic spaces, while Fagaschinski sculpts air with his clarinet in various ways. Based on clarinet samples, they also build up microtonal clusters with drone-like qualities. In their music they create an ambivalent musical situation between concrete and abstract listening. During a focused rehearsal period in winter 03 04, Fagaschinski and Gal developed open compositions where preconceived musical structures are combined with the specific energy of improvisation. Done in Berlin-Friedenau, January-February 2004'
Kai Fagaschinski: clarinet. Bernhard Gal: computer." [press release]
"....two of berlin's improv. musicians came together to release a lovely album. kai fagaschinski plays clarinet, whereas barnard gál makes use of a computer. the soundscape they produce together is a wonderful journey in which concrete sounds and the experimental use of the clarinet make up for a rich and detailed scenery. the music follows a certain route, leading the listener in imagineable worlds where each single sound is of utmost importance. minimalism with a realistic touch, also due to the breathing during kai fagaschinski's clarinet play. playing pool goes along with the hiss of a wind instrument, strange little activities are mixed with abstract electronic noises. "shut up and listen, dumb ass!" is written in the booklet as well, and that's what the music is all about, concentrate and let the music lead you to unknown worlds never heard before." [Paul Bijlsma, Phosphor mag]
|
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| FAGES, FERRAN |
A cavall entre dos cavalls |
CD |
"Ferran Fages, electric guitar. Self-tought musician, started playing guitar in the rock scene, but in 1998 stopped for re-thinking the instrument and the music made with it. In 2002 starts from zero, a process where music allows harmony to circulate without being dependent of itself, where time is the reason for exposed materials, always as compositions, never closed, where space is enough for permanent changes, everytime it is played. 'a cavall entre dos cavalls' is a exemple of that. The record process took 2 years, where different ideas have been compressed, mixed and amplified. It's hard to see the way that each composition took because of the different changes everytime the pieces were played. But I think that the recording made in June, documents at some extent, a moment of the undergoing process, it shows the basic lines where I move when it concerns guitar playing. The sound of the instrument had a very big importance for the process. The guitar is tuned 2 octaves lower than what I normally use in the bass amplifier." [label info]
www.creativesourcesrec.com
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| FAITH & DISEASE / JEFF GREINKE |
Dream the Red |
10 |
Traurig-fragile Kompositionen zwischen dark wave und sad ambient, eine ungewöhnliche Zusammenarbeit des ambient-composers GREINKE und der PROJEKT Records-Band!
300 Stck auf rotem Vinyl! Auch als mCD erhältlich..
“The second WEIRD AMPLEXUS releases a incredible collaboration between the great FAITH & DISEASE (do you remember their last album on PROJEKT?) and the well known master of ambient electronic JEFF GREINKE... DREAM THE RED CLOUDS is a 21 minutes of pure poetry. Pure emotions as maybe only the old AREA knew how to put in music... Sweet harmonies with a celestial voice that speaks to our souls... and the little dark sounds that penetrates in our bodies... do you want to classify this release? Well, file it among gothic-dark-ambient... but the reality that it's only pure poetry. This release is published on MCD in special package (the cover is the same of the 10") and in ltd.300 copies 10" VINYL.” [Amplexus press release]
|
2002 |
€10.00 |
|
| FALX CEREBRI (FâLX çèRêBRI) |
Trials Textures Errors |
CD |
"Almost 7 years in making, finally this milestone of pioneering & legendary german noise outfit is released - more than 25 years after the last recorded FâLX çèrêbRi track, compiles several contributions to compilations, as well as outtakes, erratic experiments, live cuts and unreleased tracks.
Release date is 28th July 2014. Limited edition of 500 copies in jewelcase." [label info]
"If it wasn't for a German guy named Graf Haufen I would probably not have started a record label, even when it was a cassette label at that time. This was thirty years ago, the summer of 1984. I had a made a booklet, a sort of 'discogs-on-paper', listing all Dutch cassette releases and Graf Haufen wrote about it in his German fanzine, Die Katastrophe. He then informed if I'd be interested in compiling a cassette with the 'loudest' Dutch electronic music acts, which became 'Katacome Vol. 3', which was then co-released by his Schrei Records and my own Korm Plastics label. The second release was 'Rite 64', a tape by Falx Cerebri, the musical project of Graf Haufen. I was envious of what he did: selling music, doing art, doing fanzines, mail-art, music, studying and I was surprised to learn he was even four months younger than I was. For a while I assumed he was much older. While I am hardly an archivist of any kind, I still have a mailer right here, containing all of the correspondence I received from him, including all his fine print catalogues and we see a friendship grow and crumble together. Graf Haufen went into Neoism, was a bit too critical about my releases and mail-art - quite rightly probably - and quickly we lost contact. He went into art and video circles and I stayed with music. In the late 90s I re-issued all of the Korm Plastics cassettes on CDR and tracked Graf Haufen down, then owning a video store in Berlin, who gave me some nice bonus material for the Falx Cerebri CDR re-issue. In the very early days of the Vinyl On Demand label there was talk of some highly limited Falx Cerebri LPs, but they never emerged, so this CD is the first true document available (the CDR also disappeared a long time ago, sadly). But, so you may ask, was the music all about? Was it really something special? Browsing his old catalogues, Graf Haufen was interested in what he called 'anti-musick', by which he understood not just industrial music, but also cruder forms of musique concrete. On 'Rite 64' it's all a bit more 'classic' industrial, with synthesizers, radio snippets, tape-loops and delay, and thus perhaps a bit more musical, but on this CD the emphasis lies more in the electro-acoustic aspect of his work. I played both this one and 'Rite 64' again, and while I still like the latter, this new compilation of pieces is stronger. Here we have quite a bit of contact microphone abuse, 'Scanning No. 2' for instance, vocal pieces, field recordings and synthesizer pieces, such as the 'The Eighth Enochian Key'. Rudimentary tape loops are used, but also cut-up/collage/montage techniques, scratchy records and all of that and it make up a more than excellent release. The only thing, but really that's just me, I would have liked to know more about these pieces, where they were released, live, unreleased etc. A documentation of some kind if you will." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| FANUM & EXIT IN GREY |
Dust Storm |
CD |
"Dust storms happen to be very romantic. Not romantic in the “hey baby, let’s get it on” way, but in the way that they are a complete sensual experience. It could be a perfectly clear sunshiny day-not a cloud in the sky, when…you smell it. You always smell it first before anything else. Depending on where you are, you can sometimes see a dust storm approaching. I remember seeing a dust storm on the outskirts and half of the big open sky was an amber color. You could even see a line in the sky: serene, calming, crystal blue on one side and wild, turbulent amber on the other. What I miss is that you can see the weather, and see it approaching and forming. As the dust storm rolls in the scent of dust becomes stronger. The full sunlight slowly fades and shadows appear, altering colors and perceptions. Sounds become muffled and you hear the wind. Even though you are in the same place, in a house or a car, it definitely feels like a different place. You can see how colors and the light and shadows are shifting, you can smell the dust, sounds are muted, and you can even faintly taste dust. What you don’t realize at the time is that small dust particles are swirling around and being deposited everywhere in a sand blanket. Depending on the dust storm, you could have enough dust outside your door that makes it hard to open or close your door. Or maybe it’s less. The dust is everywhere; in windowsills, on your car, in your hair, in your clothes. You can’t directly see it on your clothes but you can smell it and if you shake out your clothes it falls off. In the middle of the dust storm it seems as though you’re in a parallel universe. It completely envelops you. It’s subtle yet very powerful, very soft, harsh, and gentle, all at the same time." [Robin Montgomery]
www.ss.semperflorens.net
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| FAR BLACK FURLONG |
same |
CD / CDR |
Sehr poetischer Impro-Drone eines uns bisher unbekannten Kollektivs aus England, das meiste Material wurde im Freien auf akustischen Instrumenten eingespielt; einer limitierten Auflage von 150 Stück liegt das erste Album der Band ("HAIDD 2") in remixter Form bei, ein one-tracker Kleinod mit subtilen endlos entfernten Drones, melancholisch schimmernd...
"Far Black Furlong' is a rapturous, symphonic work in six movements. The music describes tides - from the summer breeze through barley, to the shimmering stretch of a vast ocean extending to the shifting birth pangs of stars. Much of the music was recorded at outdoor locations - such as the barley fields of the Clun Forest - and is performed on acoustic instruments. FBF comprise of baroque oboist Mark Baigent, composer Richard Moult, dulcimer player John Letcher, the Candian flautist Amanda Votta (of the group The Floating World), Shropshire poet Bryony Lees, guitarist Ian Tengwall & Andy Cotterill on electronics. ’Haidd 2’ a beautiful 34 minute remix/reworking of their previous album." [label info]
"... They are a band of oboist Mark Baigent, dulcimer player John Letcher, flautist Amanda Votta, guitarist Ian Tengwall, Andy Cotterill on electronics, along with composer Richard Moult and poet Bryony Lees. Outside in Clun Forest - and I mean outside - they performed much of this work, thus adding the outside world as part of the music. The six pieces, I am told, describes 'tides from the summer breeze through barley, to the shimmering stretch of a vast ocean extending to the shifting birth pages of stars'. It seems to me that the music is largely improvised but in a quiet and peaceful manner. Perhaps a little less modern classical than the Mouldycliff piece, although they get close. And in a good ICR (and Die Stadt) mode there is a limited CDR of music from the CD that is remix/reworked by Cotterill. Perhaps because he doesn't seem to be very present on the CD (or the electronics are save for some delay that is used), he gets his way in a full out treatment of the material, adding spooky electronics to the material, or perhaps feeding the material through electronics. Long sustaining sounds that sound a bit creepy like a wait for something veil and nasty to happen, which of course (spoiler coming up) doesn't happen. However the drone like character of this piece brings us back to the start of this review. ICR does drone music of an outstanding kind, but it's not at all exclusively to that, and offer various fresh views on the subject at hand." (FdW)
www.icrdistribution.com
|
2007 |
€18.00 |
|
| FARGUE |
Ruines, Irradiees |
CD |
Fargue is a Swiss/Finnish drone-rock duo founded by the multi-instrumentalists Samuel Vaney (Muhd) and Eeli Helin (Fawn Limbs, Mireplaner...)
Fargue was founded late 2019, after Helin and Vaney had been working together on an ancillary project, and realised that they share mutual interest and passion towards ambient, drone, post-rock, and other forms of experimental music. Not long after discussing about the subjects, the pair decided to pursue their musical ambitions together, and imminently begun the ongoing creation process that some time later harnessed Fargue as their moniker and actualised through the release of their well-received debut EP Phosphène in April, 2020. While the duo has worked on multiple projects before and are currently part of a plethora of them both together and individually, Fargue is an entity of its own; a unique addition to the performers' vastly varied sonic scope.
The foundation for "Ruines, Irradiées" was written and recorded during the first half of 2020, as the duet spent countless hours meticulously crafting and molding the songs together as well as alone in their respective corners of the world. As a result, each of the eight tracks on the album is the consequence of both a thorough composition process and free improvisation, atmospheric but tangible bodies of work further solidified by the inclusion of the session drummer Lee Fisher and his versatile percussions. In its core, Ruines, Irradiées is the demonstration of individual freedom, ebb, and flow, merging into one coherent and vibrant, alluring expression that is simultaneously ponderous but fragile, tangible but distant, and emotionally impactful. Ruines, Irradiées speaks through a primal aural language bereft of words but infused with meaning.
The duo coined the term drone-rock to best describe their vision and ingrained blend of styles, and albeit it might seem elusive at first, it explains itself thoroughly via the process of listening. The slowly evolving and unfolding textures possess a sense of pace and time that evades the standard frames of ambient and drone music, still advancing in a more spacious manner and being less concrete than post-rock or rock in general, hence the peculiar stylistic tag comes to play and aptly suits Fargue's sound.
As for the meaning behind their moniker, Fargue is a French word/concept roughly translating to the singular form of "to accuse/burden", and in nautical terms meaning either the concealment from an assailant, or an object meant to both prevent sailors falling overboard as well as restricting water from entering the vessel. The name can also be seen as a nod towards the French poet Léon-Paul Fargue known for his atmospheric and highly detailed works spanning multiple literary movements, albeit this connotation is hardly a coincidence that presented itself only after the band has chosen their title. All in all, the term can't be summed up to bear a single meaning, but mirrors the central idea of the music itself by being open for unrestricted interpretation. Artwork by Eeli Helin, Layout by Dehn Sora.
CD Edition of 300 copies in 6 panels Digisleeve, matt lamination. 8 Tracks. Running Time 61:40
https://cavsas.bandcamp.com/album/ruines-irradi-es
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| FAUST |
Faust |
CD |
Re-Release der legendären ersten Faust LP von 1971! „Psychedelik, 60s-Punk, The Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd, Klangcollagen, Dada-Durcheinander, elektronische Sounds, Ton- und Gesprächsfetzen und Musique Concrete......“ [Babyblaue Seiten]
“Single disc , remastered version (as included in the Wumme Years box, in digipak. "Inventors of Kraut Rock, iconoclasts extraodinaire, Faust are key figures in the history of rock music. In the early 70's, along with Can and Kraftwerk, they re-invented pop as an art-form with a specifically European attitude. Virtually imprisoned by svengali producer Uwe Nettlebeck in their studio at Wumme, near Hamburg, they overturned our whole notion of what makes a pop record. They improvised with industrial noise, generated bizarre hypnotic grooves, created shockingly wilful studio collages, and dabbled with every conceivable musical genre sometimes simultaneously. Kurt Grapner, a Deutsche Gramaphon engineer who was seconded to the project, furnished Faust with innovative effects units and built a spontaneous recording environment which perfectly complemented Faust's conceptual ideas, satirical humour, and insane passions. After twenty years in the wilderness Faust re-formed in 1993, and have been touring and releasing new albums ever since. Their re-appearance has only served to bolster the legend, and the box set of all Faust's early work, from 1971-73, was released by ReR to tremendous acclaim. Though part of the box set, this 1st album has been unavailable for years as a single issue, so we're quite happy to offer it again. It is arguably Faust's finest hour, and has stood as a landmark in the annals of Rock music for over 3 decades." [label info]
|
2000 |
€14.00 |
|
|
j US t (Just us) |
LP & CD |
"Die Hamburger Krautrock-Pioniere mit einem Überraschungspaket aus Avantgarde, Dada und Folk.
Die Hamburger Band Faust gehört zu den großen Namen, die der Krautrock der 1970er-Jahre hervorgebracht hat. Als Jean-Hervé Péron und Zappi Diermaier 1971 ihr Debütalbum vorlegten, wollte das in Deutschland niemand hören, im Ausland jedoch verkauften sich "The Faust Tapes" über 100.000-mal. "There is no group more mythical than Faust", schwärmte der englische Musiker und Krautrock-Kenner Julian Cope Jahrzehnte später. Mit "Just Us" setzen Faust ihren musikalischen Weg fort. Während Diermaier seinem Handwerk - Schlagzeug und Perkussion - treu bleibt, integriert Peron allerhand unübliche Klangquellen in sein Bassspiel, verschiedene Streichinstrumente, Klavier und sogar eine Nähmaschine als Metronom. Tracks wie "Nur nous" und "Ich bin ein Pavian" zeigen, dass Faust nichts von ihrer Vorliebe für Avantgarde und Dadaismus verloren haben. Ausflüge ins folkloristische Gefilde ("Cavaqui-ho", "Gammes") runden das wahrhaft faustische Überraschungspaket ab. //
j US t - pronounced "Just Us" - is the new album from legendary Hamburg band Faust. Founder members Jean-Herve Peron and Zappi Diermaier have laid down twelve musical foundations, inviting the whole world to use them as a base on which to build their own music. The tracks presented by Peron and Diermaier are clearly, intrinsically typical of Faust in their own right, yet offer enough space for completely different works to develop. Which is exactly what they hope will happen. Whilst Diermaier largely remains true to his habitual handiwork - drums and percussion - Peron, as we might expect, incorporates all manner of unusual sonic sources alongside his bass, various string instruments and piano, even using a sewing machine as a metronome. Tracks like "nur nous" and "ich bin ein pavian" show that Faust have lost none of their predilection for avantgarde Dadaism and improvisation. Peron and Diermaier actually surprise us with folkloristic excursions ("cavaquinho", "gammes"). In short, there is something for everyone to work with here. Peron and Diermaier await the results with bated breath. Faust will follow the same principle on the accompanying tour by inviting local artists to collaborate with them on stage." [label info]
www.bureau-b.com
"Faust’s intentions have never been easy to discern. Over their 40-plus years of morphing, discontinuous existence, they’ve been so good at dodging expectations and confounding analysis that even when they’re playing it straight, you wonder if something else is going on. So when the press sheet for j US t (pronounced "just us") claims the band is "inviting the whole world to use [the album] as a base on which to build their own music," it’s hard not to get suspicious. Is this a decoy? Do Jean-Hervé Peron and Zappi Diermaier want you to imagine other music so you won’t focus on theirs? Is it simply a way to say "if you don’t like it, make your own"?
Perhaps Faust truly are earnest about wanting this album to inspire public collaboration. But the idea does point to something that’s always been intriguing about Faust’s music: it’s often just as much about what they aren’t playing as what they are. Their work is full of implications and innuendos, spaces waiting to be filled in. j US t doesn’t necessarily have more of that than most Faust albums, but implication does seem to be a main theme here. This is music in which every note suggests many more possibilities.
j US t begins by proclaiming more than intimating, and in this way it bears an uncanny resemblance to the last Faust effort, 2011’s stellar Something Dirty. That record began with three bold, practically rocking tunes, and so does this one. Based around simple riffs and looping beats, these songs are like free-form post-rock, sturdy in their rhythms but opened-ended in their direction. And despite how well-defined the base of each track is, there’s also tantalizing space in each one. Take "80Hz", whose simple two-note bass figure flows beautifully with the well-timed accents of Diermaier’s percussion and Peron’s sonic grab bag. At times it dips to near-silence, in other places it crests to frantic peaks, but throughout it maintains a tension that compels attention.
The balance between action and suggestion tips more toward the latter for the rest of j US t, in ways both fascinating and frustrating. Some songs maintain the attraction of anticipation, hinting at where they might go without ever fully abandoning other options. But others feel more flat than ripe, not so much flirting with tense silence as drifting into empty inertia. One in particular, the seven-minute "Palpitations", is mostly limp. Its intermittent percussion and electronic squiggles sound more random than impulsive, making it the only instance on the album where I find myself wishing I could already hear other bands filling it in.
It takes a few tracks to recover from that mid-album drop, but Faust manage to rebound on closer "Ich Sitze Immer Noch", whose slow, rising lope sounds like a sunny homage to Spiderland-era Slint. Like the bulk of j US t, it offers a lot worth hearing and just as much worth daydreaming about—in other words, it achieves the band's stated goals. Maybe Peron and Diermaier really did mean what they said." [Marc Masters / PITCHFORK]
|
2014 |
€22.00 |
|
|
Punkt |
LP |
After the overwhelming success of the 1971-1974 box set release (BB 374CD/LP), containing the first four studio albums and for the first time ever this lost "last" album recording, Punkt gets a deserved and necessary standalone release.
"The band called it 5½, fans referred to it as the 'Munich album' and for almost fifty years it's been the missing chapter in Faustian mythology. Now for the first time, the German iconoclasts' previously unreleased fifth album sees the light of day as Punkt . . . Punkt is Faust at their most unhindered, untethered and unstoppable. Returning to Germany after a loss-making U.K. tour and after their manager Uwe Nettelbeck had split with them, the group dusted themselves down and planned their next project, what would have been their second for Richard Branson's Virgin. Joined as always by their engineering genius Kurt Graupner, the band took residence in the Arabella High Rise Building, the luxury hotel which housed Giorgio Moroder's Musicland Studio in its basement . . . Faust spent their nights below ground, creating the sublime cacophony which courses through these seven tracks. Driven by Diermaier's primitive repetition and Péron's rabid low-end growl, 'Morning Land' stomps its way through almost ten minutes of heavy psychedelia . . . A Luciferian spirit courses through the beatless 'Crapolino', a tumult of scorched guitar chords, strident FXs and disembodied vocals which bares all the hallmarks of a black mass. And just like that, the group summon some demonic hunting party for 'Knochentanz' (bone dance), arguably their most immersive creation . . . The storm clears for a second to allow a celestial chord progression to emerge from the darkness before the heavens open and Sosna's snarling, sawing guitar rains down from above, carrying 'Knochentanz' through its final iteration, a collision of muscular fretwork, percussion freakout and bleeping organ which completes the most psychedelic recording you've never heard. The frazzled optimism of 'Fernlicht' buzzes away like an acid Beethoven bathed in neons, before the breathless 'Juggernaut' stretches the definition of blues rock to its limit as squirming sine waves, clattering cymbals and corrosive guitars pan, reverse and overlap, each following its own unhinged rhythm. Then for a time the sound and the fury abate, making space for the frankly sublime 'Schön Rund', a piano-led diversion into the soul-swelling realms of ECM jazz and fin de siècle impressionism, which rivals anything else in their catalogue for pure beauty. And in case you thought they'd gone soft, Faust sign off with the guttural groans and course drones of 'Prends Ton Temps'..." --Patrick Ryder
https://faust.bandcamp.com/album/punkt
|
2022 |
€22.50 |
|
| |
Punkt |
CD |
After the overwhelming success of the 1971-1974 box set release (BB 374CD/LP), containing the first four studio albums and for the first time ever this lost "last" album recording, Punkt gets a deserved and necessary standalone release.
"The band called it 5½, fans referred to it as the 'Munich album' and for almost fifty years it's been the missing chapter in Faustian mythology. Now for the first time, the German iconoclasts' previously unreleased fifth album sees the light of day as Punkt . . . Punkt is Faust at their most unhindered, untethered and unstoppable. Returning to Germany after a loss-making U.K. tour and after their manager Uwe Nettelbeck had split with them, the group dusted themselves down and planned their next project, what would have been their second for Richard Branson's Virgin. Joined as always by their engineering genius Kurt Graupner, the band took residence in the Arabella High Rise Building, the luxury hotel which housed Giorgio Moroder's Musicland Studio in its basement . . . Faust spent their nights below ground, creating the sublime cacophony which courses through these seven tracks. Driven by Diermaier's primitive repetition and Péron's rabid low-end growl, 'Morning Land' stomps its way through almost ten minutes of heavy psychedelia . . . A Luciferian spirit courses through the beatless 'Crapolino', a tumult of scorched guitar chords, strident FXs and disembodied vocals which bares all the hallmarks of a black mass. And just like that, the group summon some demonic hunting party for 'Knochentanz' (bone dance), arguably their most immersive creation . . . The storm clears for a second to allow a celestial chord progression to emerge from the darkness before the heavens open and Sosna's snarling, sawing guitar rains down from above, carrying 'Knochentanz' through its final iteration, a collision of muscular fretwork, percussion freakout and bleeping organ which completes the most psychedelic recording you've never heard. The frazzled optimism of 'Fernlicht' buzzes away like an acid Beethoven bathed in neons, before the breathless 'Juggernaut' stretches the definition of blues rock to its limit as squirming sine waves, clattering cymbals and corrosive guitars pan, reverse and overlap, each following its own unhinged rhythm. Then for a time the sound and the fury abate, making space for the frankly sublime 'Schön Rund', a piano-led diversion into the soul-swelling realms of ECM jazz and fin de siècle impressionism, which rivals anything else in their catalogue for pure beauty. And in case you thought they'd gone soft, Faust sign off with the guttural groans and course drones of 'Prends Ton Temps'..." --Patrick Ryder
www.bureau-b.com/faust71-74.php
https://faust.bandcamp.com/album/punkt
|
2022 |
€16.00 |
|
| FAVARON, GIANLUCA |
Equivalent XI |
CD |
"Following the publication of the extremely limited single-sided 12" record “Surfaces”, which occurred just a few months ago and is now hopelessly sold-out, Gianluca Favaron returns on 13 with a new solo work released in the prestigious "Private Sounds" series.
Besides having published a few solo works, Favaron is part of Under The Snow along with Stefano Gentile and collaborates with Ennio Mazzon on the Zbeen project. In the past he has released music as Ab'she and was part of Lasik Surgery along with Pierpaolo Zoppo. Among his most recent releases we remember his collaboration with Corrado Altieri entitled "The System of Objects".
"Equivalent XI" continues the path undertaken with "Surfaces", also benefiting from some excerpts that were already included in the aforementioned work, which are proposed again on this new CD.
Starting from simple recordings of sounds produced by everyday objects (…such as paper, scissors, kitchen stuff etc.), treated mainly with two delay machines, Favaron has collected eleven compositions. The idea behind this new release is to create some patterns based on the repetition of small sound particles obtained from a single source.
In the eleven tracks on the album, mostly of short duration, we witness the proliferation of particular sound events that, sometimes wandering alone or sometimes by congregating into small throbbing and vital lumps, generate a vibrant microcosm characterized by short loops, slowly but constantly evolving. In some cases, as for example in the more long-lasting closing number, the simplicity of the construct and the infinitesimal tonal progressions are appreciated for their intrinsic hypnotic quality.
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi, "Equivalent XI" is released in a limited edition of 250 copies that stands out for its essential graphics; the first 50 copies of the CD contain a real hand-numbered photograph." [label info]
13.silentes.it
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Equivalent XI |
CD |
"Following the publication of the extremely limited single-sided 12" record “Surfaces”, which occurred just a few months ago and is now hopelessly sold-out, Gianluca Favaron returns on 13 with a new solo work released in the prestigious "Private Sounds" series.
Besides having published a few solo works, Favaron is part of Under The Snow along with Stefano Gentile and collaborates with Ennio Mazzon on the Zbeen project. In the past he has released music as Ab'she and was part of Lasik Surgery along with Pierpaolo Zoppo. Among his most recent releases we remember his collaboration with Corrado Altieri entitled "The System of Objects".
"Equivalent XI" continues the path undertaken with "Surfaces", also benefiting from some excerpts that were already included in the aforementioned work, which are proposed again on this new CD.
Starting from simple recordings of sounds produced by everyday objects (…such as paper, scissors, kitchen stuff etc.), treated mainly with two delay machines, Favaron has collected eleven compositions. The idea behind this new release is to create some patterns based on the repetition of small sound particles obtained from a single source.
In the eleven tracks on the album, mostly of short duration, we witness the proliferation of particular sound events that, sometimes wandering alone or sometimes by congregating into small throbbing and vital lumps, generate a vibrant microcosm characterized by short loops, slowly but constantly evolving. In some cases, as for example in the more long-lasting closing number, the simplicity of the construct and the infinitesimal tonal progressions are appreciated for their intrinsic hypnotic quality.
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi, "Equivalent XI" is released in a limited edition of 250 copies that stands out for its essential graphics; the first 50 copies of the CD contain a real hand-numbered photograph." [label info]
13.silentes.it
"On this new work he continues what he started on his previous record, 'Surfaces', a limited piece of vinyl which we didn't review (or hear), but which apparently deals with every day sounds - songs from the kitchen sink? - such as paper, scissors, kitchen stuff, which are treated with two delay machines and the result is eleven short pieces, from less than a minute up to five minutes. This is a most strange release, and if you know me, strange is not a word I use easily. This music has a certain naivety, or perhaps something rather 'simple' with the objects being played with relatively ease, but then captured or locked into a system of living electronics, bending and moving these 'easy' sounds around. Maybe it's all done in a very simple and direct way, much like it is suggested. And there is nothing 'wrong' with that. In the end it's the result that counts and that is result is something I like very much. It's very quiet music, almost accidental, 'I couldn't help it, it just happened', but of the variety that is usually associated with the label and the styles we know it for, ambient and drone." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| FEAR DROP |
No. 12 |
mag & CD |
Another great issue by Denis Boyers magazine (who also runs the FARIO-label) - even if you can’t speak french this is worth investigating because of the general nice-layout, photos, discographies, and of course the additional CD with the usual exclusive material !!
In the mag & on the CD: PLANETALDOL, MITCHELL AKIYAMA, FURUDATE, AIDAN BAKER, OLDINE, PHILIP JECK, MAIN, DITHER, BIG articles on E.G. LEWIS, ROBERT HAMPSON, PHILIP JECK, etc....
www.feardrop.net |
2005 |
€10.50 |
|
| |
No. 15: SAIWALA - enquete sur l'esthetique musicale du vent |
mag & CD |
"Au sommaire : La belle ambiante, pour une cinématique des musiques bourdonnantes - Saiwala - Analogies : nature et musique - De l'arbre chantant à la harpe éolienne - Wind drops : Chris Watson et BJ Nilsen - Winds(c)haft : autour de disques de Francisco López, Alan Lamb, Yannick Dauby et Wan-Shuen Tsai, Tarab, Eric La Casa, Leif Elggren, Michael Northam, Bruno Moreigne - Les traces du vent dans le travail de Cédric Peyronnet / toy.bizarre - Vers la plaine. (par Denis Boyer, Julie Ramos, Jérôme Langlais, Cédric Peyronnet, Laurent Margantin)" [label info]
www.feardrop.net
"... My French, despite my name, is not really that good (anymore?), but I gather it as to be very obvious that all of these pages and pieces deal with wind, the sound of wind. In the magazine there are articles on drone music via three principle labels, Afe Records, Taalem and Drone Records, of nature and music history, BJ Nilsen & Chris Watson, an in-depth tale of CDs that deal with wind and Toy Bizarre. Probably a nice read, as far as I can judge that. We find many usual suspects on the CD, like Jana Winderen, BJ Nilsen, Michael Northam, Bruno Moreigne, Cedric Peyronnet, Francisco Lopez and Chris Watson, who all deliver their wind inspired pieces. The main power lies however with pieces by others, who use wind sounds to create more musical pieces. Some, I suspect, even use fake winds sounds coming from synthesizers. Here we find pieces by the [Law-Rah] collective, Thomas Koner, Tetsuo Furudate, Black To Comm and Philippe Petit. Frederique Bruyas has a spoken word piece on wind. Greatest surprise is to have a piece by Mike Harding, headhoncho of Touch, with a pretty rare musical piece of himself. The mixture of pure field recordings, processed field recordings and musical pieces is a great one, put together with some idea of how these things should be done. Excellent, even when the language is a bit of a barrier." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| FEAR FALLS BURNING |
The Amplifier Drone |
LP |
Second Vinyl-album by ex VIDNA OBMANA Dirk Serries, which sounds somehow like the meeting point of SUNN O))) and AIDAN BAKER or old ULTRA MILKMAIDS, completed with real heavy riffs, always drenched in some kind of feedback-ocean.... a mighty meditation.
“lp pressed on white vinyl, limited to 500 copies, with postcard. tonefloat is proud to announce a joint tonefloat/ikon vinyl release of the amplifier drone, a release to celebrate fear falls burning's upcoming spring tour. heavier and a good deal darker than the recent c release the carnival of ourselves. the amplifier drone has been recorded in collaboration with blues guitarist paul van den berg.” [label info]
www.tonefloat.com
|
2006 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
When Mystery prevades the Well, the Promise sets Fire |
LP |
deluxe edition (gatefold-cover, 180 gr. vinyl), ed. of 500 copies on black vinyl
Stilwechsel für das beliebte Guitar-Drone Projekt: WHEN MYSTERY PREVADES.. droned weniger dunkel und verzerrt, eher oberton-tänzelnd, verschwimmend, mysteriös....
"Mystisch wirken die Dronen auf "When Mystery Prevades The Well, The Promise Sets Fire" allemal. Zart, sanft und trotzdem mit einer Macht, der man sich nicht entziehen kann, lullen die Dronen den Hörer ein, umgarnen ihn, wollen ihn holen und einspinnen. Subtile Percussion-Variationen heben die beiden langen Stücke aus dem Drone-Einerlei heraus und machen diese Platte zu einem eher einzigartigen Hörerlebnis. Ist das Tor auf dem Cover noch verschlossen, so öffnet es sich dem Hörer zunehmend und zieht ihn unaufhörlich weiter in einen verwunschenen Garten, in dem es aus allen Ecken und Enden flimmert und schimmert. Fragile Hintergrund-Gitarren und helle Percussion, vordergründig mehr ein durchgängiges Dröhnen und brummen. Rein technisch gesehen sind einerseits auf "When Mystery Prevades The Well, The Promise Sets Fire" neue FFB Dronen enthalten, und andererseits hat FFB Kopf Dir Serries die Herangehensweise an sein Schaffen etwas neu konzipiert und strukturiert. So bringen die genannten Hintergrunddetails (Percussion) eine neue Dimension in das musikalische Oeuvre von FFB ein. Es entstehen weitere Dimensionen und deutlich mehr Vielschichtigkeit, auf subtiler Ebene. Beide Stücke sind harmonisch und kraftvoll und begeistern mich einmal mehr." [Creative-Eclipse]
"... with its highlight being the full-length studio album 'frenzy of the absolute' for the belgian conspiracy records, scheduled for release in 2008, this exclusive vinyl for tonefloat is the initiation of a change in method and playing for fear falls burning. not only has he turned around his studio in order to accommodate the new performances but the subtle incorporation of new elements will bring out an extra dimension in the vintage fear falls burning drone. this lp features two pieces, one per side, that are equally harmonic as powerful. fear falls burning's approach to playing the guitar chords changed, the production is different and the inclusion of guest musician dave vanderplas on subtle cymbal percussion marks this new tonefloat release as the first gentle step in fear falls burning's further exploration of the drone. when mystery prevades the well, the promise sets fire (tf38) is out now and can be ordered from our store." [label info]
"'When Mystery Prevades Well, The Promise Sets Fire' is a beautiful gate-fold sleeve LP with two pieces, one per side. Glacier like music in which it seems that the effects have a bigger role than the guitar. It's quite hard to recognize the guitar in this music, with moves in a minimal way. More Eno)) than Sunno)) I'd say, although there is a creepy undercurrent in Fear Falls Burning's music. This record sees Dirk moving away from the signature sound from before: the endless crescendo wall of sound building up, suddenly collapsing and stays more on the ambient side of things. Maybe a bit more Vidna Obmana than Fear Falls Burning - but I'm sure that would not be his intention. Very nice!" [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.tonefloat.com
deluxe edition (gatefold-cover, 180 gr. vinyl), ed. of 500 copies on black vinyl
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| FEAR KONSTRUKTOR |
Nonexistence |
7inch |
"Fear Konstruktor is Nikita Evsuk, a Moscovite and this is his first vinyl release. Two tracks of disturbingly dark droning ambience and industrial clatterings, that stay the right side of noisy! Fear Konstruktor is a brave new sound from Russia, inspired by brightness and vibrance of modern the world. However it contains retro-futuristic touch as seen through the prism of ultramodern devices. All that chik-chik and wao-wao are just words of the significant phrase...Listening to FK is being inside yourself and outside our Universe at the same time. Because those billions of living sounds are caught for you by the daring one. Limited to 300 copies on black vinyl, with insert." [label info]
www.peripheralrecords.co.uk
|
2011 |
€7.50 |
|
| FEARTHAINNE |
same |
do-CD |
FEARTHAINNE ist ein Band-Projekt mit den zwei Leuten von FAUNA, die mir ihrem Debut-Album kürzlich beeindrucken konnten. Auch hier sind ihre tracks episch angelegt und minimal instrumentiert, und nicht minder emotional wirkungsvoll. Nach einem fantastischen Poly-Drone Intro setzt sich ihr erhaben trauriger Akustik-Gitarren Folk (der an ruhigere NEUROSIS bzw. STEVE ON TILL oder MICHAEL GIRA erinnert) in Szene, der von Sehnsucht nur so durchdrungen zu sein scheint, begleitet von sparsamer Perkussion; auch Zither & Violine werden sehr schön integeriert. FEARTHAINNE entwerfen hier auf ihren urlangen Tracks die stets mehrere Teile haben, eine Art ambienten "Ritual Drone Folk" mit starkem Naturbezug, der einen nicht kalt lässt.. und wieder glänzt GLASS THROAT mit so einem wunderschönen grossformatigen Doppel-Klappcover aus speziellem Karton..
"I have the tremendous honor of announcing, what is to be our Winter Solstice 2008 release. From Cascadian soil, FEARTHAINNE will bless us with a pure nostalgia for being. A debut full length 2xCD, embracing four deeply potent healing crafts of acoustic mourning & regeneration. Featuring the two spirits of Cascadia's Ritual Black Metal atavism FAUNA.
Fearthainne's first release represents the nadir of a journey into earth. Conceptualized and written in wild environments in the West, this collection of songs is a picture of the labyrinth traveled by a human organism, seeking life outside the long shadows of unremitting gray. The seekers masquerading as musicians who have created this document have used these sounds as a conduit for the reconnection with being, and have chosen to make it available to those who might hear the voice of the Others speaking to them from within. Exclusively utilizing acoustic instrumentation, Fearthainne is the unending rain that calls forth the blossom, the harbinger of the organic future we inevitably face. A sonic expression of green in all its capacities, this project is a document of the search for Home, a declaration that we will never settle for existence in the meaningless maze of history.
As beings we have struggled for many years to imbue our lives with depth, bending our ears towards the chorus of elders that the natural world is. Brought to fruition in a culture whose theme is loss, we recognize the wisdom of Earth in the various shifts that will unravel these ten millennia of aberration, and celebrate the dawning of day for what is truly human. As participants in this calamity, we call forth those spirits of the land, sea and sky who have always borne witness to our cyclical lives, the deep mind of which we are only a part, to see us and hear our voices as we proclaim our allegiance to Life. May this blood that flows from us cleanse the land of its wounds. May our animal bodies shield our battered hearts as we break the hands of Time. May this be the end..." [label info]
"... But in Fearthainne, all of the buzz and lbuster have been replaced by delicate crystalline guitar, gruff emotive vocals, deep ominous drones, all woven into a slow, drifting, meditative mountain folk. On the same label that in the past has brought us mysterious sounds from At The Head Of The Woods, The Elemental Chrysalis, Ruhr Hunter, Alethese and Beneath The Lake, Fearthainne sound right at home, blending dense whirring minimal soundscapes, with gentle meditative folk rituals. Long long tracks that slowly blossom, smoldering, clouded in warm browns and cool greys, strings weep and moan, effects gently cradle the various elements, adding texture more than changing the sound. Mesmerizing, trancelike ruminations on nature, on death, on the beyond. Simple percussion demarcates sprawling folk strum and fields of lilting shimmer and and delicate flutter. The vocals are a strange contrast, almost atonal, moaned more than sung, reminding us of solo records by either of the Neurosis frontmen, giving the proceedings a much more ominous vibe, ritualistic and hauntingly spiritual. Gorgeous in its simplicity, mysterious in its minimalism, Fearthainne is the soundtrack to a land outside of time, of trees towering over a world unspoilt, clouds drifting across empty skies, night turning into day, the cycle of life continuing on, the world and the universe around it gradually moving into a new, more magical existence. Beautifully sublime. Incredible packaging, full color 6 panel oversized sleeve, amazing images of ancient forests, late night rituals, and the band gathered beneath a mighty tree, cradling a baby, dressed like witches, and looking like a band of bearded forest dwellers (which they may very well be!)." [Aquarius Records review]
www.glassthroatrecordings.com
|
2009 |
€18.50 |
|
| FEINE TRINKERS BEI PINKELS DAHEIM (F.T.B.P.D.) |
Froschdosis (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
this group with the strange humour from Alle-mania brings you powerful energetic sounds with a deeply atmospheric touch and strange effects
"LIMITED+NUMBERED FIRST EDITION OF 250 COPIES
UNUSUAL BLACK VINYL; PACKED IN A HEAVY EMERY-PAPER COVER, ADHERED WITH A FRENCH STONE AND STRANGE TEXTILES.
RISING FROM THE VERY SOUTH-WEST OF GERM-MONEY, THIS OBSCURE DUO WAS CREATED IN 1990 :::: DRIVEN TO FIND NEW POSSIBILITIES OF EXPRESSION AND CREATION OF SOUNDS. THEIR STRANGE NAME MAY LEAD TO UNEASY MISUNDERSTANDINGS -> FOR THE 'FEINE TRINKERS' IT IS SYMBOLIC FOR EXPLORING NEW PATHS IN MUSICAL CREATION, RATHER THAN REMAINING ON THE OLD.
THEIR FIRST VINYL (3 TRACKS) AFTER HAVING RELEASED SOME FULL-LENGTH-TAPES, CONSISTS OF ATMOSPHERIC SOUNDSCAPES MIXED UP WITH STRANGE EFFECTS AND SAMPLES, SOMETIMES NOISY, SOMETIMES SUBTLE, BUT ALWAYS CHANGING AND CHALLENGING. THE MUSIC IS FULL OF ENERGY BUT NEVER LOOSES THE SENSIBILITY FOR CONCENTRATED LISTENING.
(BY THE WAY, IT'S NOT REALLY POSSIBLE TO TRANSLATE THE GROUP-NAME INTO ENGLISH, BUT THEY ARE ALWAYS DELIGHTED WHEN SOMEBODY TRIES IT!)
" FEINE TRINKERS BEI PINKELS DAHEIM
- ONE NAME, THOUSAND PROGRAMS "
DRONE RECORDS DR-19/ SEPTEMBER 1996
|
1996 |
€ |
|
| |
A Bug's Life |
CD |
"Jürgen Eberhard aka Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim celebrates 25 years of his artistic activity with the first full-length album on Zoharum entitled "A Bug's Life". keen observers of our activity certainly know his name, for instance from a common vinyl 7-incher entitled "Both Sides of The Looking Glass" shared with Bisclaveret duo or from the composition "Enigmatic Visions", which appeared on a commemorative compilation "07|100|15".
"A Bug's Life" is the tenth full-length album in the discography of Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim. It was being created, like the previous ones, for several years and is another conscious artistic statement. Seven compositions included here are of a collage nature and combine echoes of post-industrial ambient, drone music, musique concrete, field recordings and even plunderphonics. On his first studio album since "Die Legende vom Heiligen Trinker" from 2011, Jürgen Eberhard consciously continues his sonic quest on a depleted terrain and he manages to avoid traps of empty experiments. "A Bug's Life" is at the same time an atmospheric, and even accessible, album, and sonically elaborate and demanding of the listener." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"FEINE TRINKERS BEI PINKELS DAHEIM ist ein Projekt, das ja eher unregelmäßig in der Musiklandschaft auftaucht, dabei aber bereits recht langlebig ist. Das letzte reguläre Album von JÜRGEN EBERHARD unter diesem Banner erschien 2011. „A Bug’s Life“ – so hieß übrigens auch der Pixar-Film „Das große Krabbeln“ im Original – widmet sich dem Namen entsprechend den Geräuschen von Insekten, die Grundlage für die Soundgestaltung des Albums gewesen sein sollen. Hierbei sollte man aber kein dauerndes, möglichst naturnahes Gezirpe oder Gesirre im Kopf haben – quasi ein Field-Recording-Overkill, sondern Klänge, die extrem stark bearbeitet und verfremdet wurden, wobei am Ende dennoch der Charakter von Sounds, die von Insekten erzeugt werden – auch knisternde, schabende Geräusche –, erhalten bleibt.
Tatsächlich ist der Sound auf „A Bug’s Life“ aber relativ vielschichtig, teils auch wuchtig und massiv oder mit Drones durchsetzt, sodass das Ganze recht gut funktioniert und eben nicht an einen Abend auf der Terrasse erinnert. Auch Stimmen werden – verfremdet oder nicht – eingesetzt und Abwechslung kommt zusätzlich durch Stücke ins Spiel, die mit weiblichen Gesangslinien, die quasi als Zusatzinstrument fungieren, ausgestattet sind. Hier wäre wohl auch der Punkt, an dem man die Unterstützung von diversen Gästen wie u.a. MISS POLYESTER, FRL. LINIENTREU oder GENEVIÈVE PASQUIER erwähnen könnte. Das Klangspektrum reicht letztendlich von orientalisch angehauchten Sounds inklusive Rhythmus („Metallifekuwagamon“) bis hin zu düsteren Soundcollagen, die auch aufgrund der Bilder, die im Kopf entstehen, Unruhe auslösen können. Somit ist „A Bug’s Life“ eine spannende Sache für Freunde des Ambient oder der experimentellen Elektronik. Idee und Ausführung passen in jedem Fall hervorragend zueinander und die Qualität stimmt hier sowieso."
[Tony F. für nonpop.de]
"In der Geräuschmusik und überall sonst, wo mit Samples gearbeitet wird, sind Tiergeräusche eine beliebte Soundquelle, und zu den gefragtesten Geräuschproduzenten zählen seit jeher Insekten – was wäre ein sommerliches Kitschkolorit ohne das Zirpen von Grillen und Zikaden, und dass man aus dem Summen fliegender Insekten Noise und elektroakustiche Musik machen kann, ist hinlänglich bekannt.
Beliebt sind Feldaufnahmen, bei denen die Sounds weitgehend naturbelassen bleiben und nur gelegentlich etwas Struktur eingebracht wird wie bei Dave Phillips’ und Hasegawa Hiroshis “Insect Apocalypse” oder “The Progeny of Flies” von Daniel Manche und Andrew Liles. Seltener sind Aufnahmen, bei denen die Sounds so stark verfremdet sind, dass man ohne Hintergrundwissen die Quelle kaum erkennen kann. Etwas derartiges hat der feine Pinkel, ähm: Trinker Jürgen Eberhard vor Kurzem unter dem Titel “A Bug’s Life” zustande gebracht.
Die komplette CD wirkt wie ein Zoom, bei dem die Kamera dem lebenden Objekt so nah auf den Panzer rückt, dass man nur noch kleinteilige Strukturen in Übergröße erkennt, während größere Zusammenhänge nur noch zu erahnen sind. Vieles klingt wie ins Monströße vergrößert: Maschinell klingendes Summen, dass zeitweise in Noisewände übergeht, Detonationen, verursacht von einem enormen Insekt, das gegen eine überdimensionierte Scheibe knallt. Zirpen und Flattern, das eher nach einem Vogel klingt, und dem Tier, dessen rhythmischer Flügenschlag gegen Ende zu hören ist, möchte ich nicht im Dunkeln begegnen. So furchteinflößend es hier zugeht, hat die bizarre Szenerie auch irrsinnig Komisches zu bieten.
Neben all dem gibt es zahlreiche Stellen, an denen kaum zu erkennen ist, ob die Aufnahmen ganz unkenntlich gemacht wurden oder anderen, z.B. elektronischen Ursprungs sind. Dies gilt für geschliffenen Ambientsound und zirkushafte Melodien ebenso wie für den entspannten Ethnosound, der irgendwann ganz überraschend eine Sängerin begleitet (die meisten Stimmbeiträge von Geneviève Pasquier, Allseits vs Troum, Frl. Linientreu und Joke Lanz sind spoken words). Ebenso gilt dies für monströses Brüllen, dass hoffentlich von einem Wirbeltier stammt.
Aber warum eigentlich? Im Unterschied zu naturbelassenen Insektensounds lassen die Aufnahmen hier die Tiere enorm groß erscheinen und brechen so mit gänigen Wahrnehmungsgewohnheiten. Die nachhaltige, über den bloßen Schock weit hinausgehende Wirkung, kann im besten Fall in einem veränderten Blick auf das Tierreich münden." [J.G./U.S./African Paper] |
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| FELDMAN, MORTON |
Piano Three Hands (etc) |
CD |
Tracklist: Piano Three Hands, Intermission 5, Vertical Thoughts 2, Extensions 3, Four Instruments, Intermission 5, Piano Piece 1956 A + B, Intersection 3, Instruments 1
Piano Three Hands (M. Feldman + J. Tilbury)
Intermission 5 (M. Feldman)
Vertical Thoughts 2 (C. Cardew, J. Négyesy)
Extensions 3 (M. Feldman)
Four Instruments (Cantilena Chamber Players)
Intermission 5 (D. Tudor)
Piano Piece 1956 A + B (D. Tudor)
Intersection 3 (D. Tudor)
Instruments 1 (E. Blum, N. Post, G. List, J. Williams, J. Kubera)
|
1994 |
€17.50 |
|
| FELIX KUBIN & ENSEMBLE INTEGRALES |
Echohaus |
do-LP |
"This latest project by the Hamburg-based musician, composer, and futurist, Felix Kubin, (his second release on Dekorder) is a collaboration with the contemporary music chamber group, ensemble Intégrales, and the reknowned German underground pop producer and sound engineer, Tobias Levin.
Echohaus was recorded in and around Levin's Electric Avenue studio in the basement of WESTWERK, a former squat and cultural centre for non-commercial art and music in Hamburg. A special recording technique was developed for the project whereby the musicians played simultaneously in separate rooms, connected to one and other only by headphones. This was done in order to achieve a lively,“cinematic" sound that made use of the particular dynamics of the rooms and amplified mechanical details. The rooms, each of which had a different acoustic character, were used as natural echo chambers. Kubin and the composer Burkhard Friedrich, former member of ensemble Intégrales, provided the musicians with simple graphic scores or basic descriptions of the compositions; all subsequent material was developed on the fly. Kubin was in the mixing room giving instructions and suggestions, while the musicians played and improvised, adding their own ideas to the project.
No artificial reverb or effects were added to the recordings. The different types of rooms and microphones, noises inside and outside of the studio, as well as the unusual interrelationship between the physically isolated players became part of the process. All the tracks were recorded in one take without any additional layers or track-by-track recordings. After a five-day recording session Kubin and Levin created various mixes which Kubin then edited over a period of several months.
The final results mark yet another radical departure from Kubin's trademark Sci-Fi Pop sound, blending the aesthetics of academic contemporary music, film soundtracks and improvised music with a strong focus on room-specific natural acoustics." [label info]
www.dekorder.com
"Branching out into conceptual composition with Ensemble Intégrales, Felix Kubin acted as a sort of central engineer/conductor for this piece, with each instrument recorded live with no overdubs in separate rooms at the Westwerk cultural centre in Hamburg under Kubin’s supervision, and the results edited by him down into the resulting album. As a result, each room sound is almost as important as the tones recorded for the instruments concerned, and the results certainly resonate with the nuances of each space in the final mix, especially when listened to on headphones – which is probably the best way to appreciate the textures of the recording.
It’s also perhaps inevitable that the terms electro-acoustic and musique concrète will crop as reference points when describing both the techniques and sounds of Echohaus – and justifiably too. There’s plenty of scraping, creaking, twisting and plinking, honking, squittering electronics and keening breaths, mournful drones and pizzicato strings among the synthesized interventions, in between the electro-mechanical susurrus and thumping among gentler ripples on piano and violin, with vaporous electronic reflections trickling subtly or otherwise across the dissociated (but not disembodied) studio space. The improv is strong here, quite happy to let rip into spine-tingling moments very close indeed to the fingernail/blackboard interface.
So drumkits give their best falling down the stairs impressions (though it frequently does seem like that baskets full of household good are being given a good thrashing ), and there are moments where stereo-panned strings rise in counterpointed waves which could quite possibly drag the listener into a state of panicked delirium. What is particularly enjoyable are those moments where the music moves through space as Kubin manipulates the mix, with deep bass throbs and high-pitched whines circling the clatter of percussive motion across the soundscape he creates with the Ensemble’s sounds. Is that the sound of one room bleeding and/or receding into another, or is it just the natural echo? Who can tell, and does it matter too much?
To keep calling this sort of music avantgarde is perhaps to hang onto a term which sometimes seems to be almost backward-looking, given the decades in which this modernist form has developed (or otherwise) – but even so, the recording technique is, if not at the advance guard, at least experimental in some form or other. But so much for labels – this is largely a fine piece of work where dissonance and discordance, horripilation and disconcerted listening teeter into sometimes quavering moments of reflexive beauty. Echohaus engages the senses fully, and the way in which it was recorded and produced being ultimately secondary to the results, which, while often difficult – or flat-out challenging – listening, are certainly none the worse for that." [Freq.org] |
2010 |
€18.50 |
|
| FELL, MARK |
Manitutshu |
do-LP |
"Total Running Time: 42 minutes
45rpm
In January 2011 Mark was invited by Erik Wiegand (aka Errorsmith) to make some presets for his new software synthesizer which he was building for Native Instruments. After developing about 40 sounds*, Mark decided to rework his UL8 project by extending the pattern generating systems used in its construction, which he then connected to the sounds produced in Erik's synthesizer. The result is this double 12" single, featuring 9 tracks and a remix from Mark's friend and colleague Mat Steel. The project ships with an A1 full colour poster. Recorded Rotherham (UK) and Sheffield (UK) March 2011. Mastered by Lupo at Dubplates and Mastering (DE) March 2011." [label info]
www.editionsmego.com
|
2011 |
€18.50 |
|
| FENNESZ |
June |
LP |
"Der monat (oder eine frau)? "black sea", dieser granulierte edelstein, hat noch eine dunkle schwester. abseits seines trademark-sounds (=ohne diese hart zerspellten, gleichzeitig auch fragilen noisekonstrukte, die einen erheblichen teil seines soundspektrums beherrschen) erforscht fennesz auf der (konzeptuell einseitig bespielten) "june" die tiefen des hallraums. und das trotz der dunklen farbe der musik mit der leichtigkeit einer fingerübung: treffsicher die dynamik, spannend im aufbau, dabei flüssig ohne haken aber, (bei der musik und dem künstler kaum nötig zu erwähnen) natürlich ohne irgendwie seicht zu sein. der sound, eben ohne die harscheren anteile fast analog, sehr gitarre, sehr: weniger überlegung und planung, mehr bauch. und damit definitiv auch für die, die mit ihm sonst ihre schwierigkeiten haben. als teil der table of the elements "guitar" serie mit insgesamt 12 lps, alle einseitig bespielt, die andere jeweils reliefartig geprägt, in unterschiedlichen farben. und, bei 12 vös liegt das ja nicht so fern, von fennesz vielleicht genau so aus dem bauch heraus einfach mal nach einem der vö-monate benannt. vielleicht eine prüfung für manche(n) fennesz-freund(in), vielleicht ein weiteres beispiel für die anderes-label-mehr-freispiel-theorie. in jedem fall: sehr empfohlen." [N, Unruhr.de]
"9th installment in the Guitar Series Vol. 3 & 4. As much as any artist, he is responsible for establishing the laptop computer as both a compositional tool & concert instrument. Subsuming electro-acoustic strategies into a bedrock of pop, he terraforms vast new worlds of sound, within which both AMM & the Beach Boys can cozily coexist. His Guitar Series contribution, is a suitably lush transformation, as electric guitars flow into deep streams of sound." [label info]
www.tableoftheelements.com
".. But unlike the blurred beauty of Black Sea, June is something else entirely, a creaking, clanging, chiming post industrial landscape of processed guitars, rendered here in the shape of distant pulsing buzz, in shards of jagged chords ringing out and dissipating into the ether, and deep groaning waves of blackened Wolf Eye-d rumble, imagine even a super softened Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, this is less blissed out shoegazey dreamscapery, and more carving dark sonic figures from deep shadow, ominous, sinister, haunting, all words that most definitely apply to past Fennesz recordings, but usually those elements were lurking beneath a shimmery sun dappled exterior, a soft patina of whirling muted buzz draped over a roiling black sea of sound below, but here, those sounds are allowed to creep to the fore, creating a seriously dystopian chunk of cinematic black ambience, the guitars unleashing a murky black fog, that while lovely cloaks all the other sounds in a mysterious blackened grit, but it is Fennesz after all, so the corrosive crumbling darkness does eventually get smoothed out, transformed into into a soft, rolling, burnished shimmer, deep tones dreamily undulating and floating weightless in an expanse of hushed thrum, but by then, the track is winding to a close. Dark stuff from Fennesz, and we like it. A lot!
Pressed on super thick, swirled milky brown vinyl. One sided, the other side with an awesome etching by Savage Pencil, housed in a
thick PVC sleeve, and of course, as always, VERY LIMITED! " [Aquarius Records review]
|
2008 |
€17.00 |
|
|
Seven Stars |
maxi-CD |
"Der erste Solo-Release von Fennesz nach seinem hochgelobtem Album "Black Sea", das 208erschien, ist die neue 4-Track 10" Vinyl "Seven Stars". Mit elektrischen und akustischen Gitarren, Bass, Synthesizern und Computern fährt er auch dieses Mal damit fort, die Hörer zu fesseln und in seinen Bann zu ziehen. Fennesz selbst schreibt:"seven Stars wurde im Januar 2011 in Wien aufgenommen. Das Album habe ich innerhalb von drei Wochen eingespielt und gemixt. ,Liminal" und ,July" waren bereits bestehende Stücke, die ich weiter bearbeitet habe (Eine erste Version von ,Liminal" entstand 2010 in einem Hotelzimmer auf Bali). Eine andere Version davon spiele ich schon seit einiger Zeit live. Mein Freund Steven Hess, mit dem ich schon vorher zusammenarbeitetet, war zu der Zeit zufällig ebenfalls in Wien, und ich lud ihn ein, zu mir ins Studio zu kommen. Christoph Amann hat mit einer Auswahl großartiger Microphone die Drums aufgenommen, darunter auch sein tolles neues Josephson. Ich wollte eine Platte machen, die eine gewisse Leichtigkeit vermittelt und gleichzeitig neues Terrain betreten, indem ich bei einem Track Drums verwende. Dies könnte ich mir auch in der Zukunft vorstellen." Im September wird ,Seven stars" auch als CD erscheinen. Außerdem wird die dritte Kollaboration von Fennesz mit Ryuichi Sakamoto, Flumina, noch dieses Jahr erwartet." [label info]
www.touchmusic.org.uk
"Its been indeed a while since we last heard solo music by Christian Fennesz, the absolute genius when it comes to laptop music. His previous release was 'Black Sea' (see Vital Weekly 653) and the new one is a four track 10", recorded earlier this year. Fennesz says he wanted to record something with more lightness and one track he uses drums, played by Steven Hess. Fennesz himself plays acoustic and electric guitars, synth, bass and computers. Fennesz explores the route he choose for 'Black Sea' further. Moving away from the strict laptop music, by incorporating more clearly guitars and bass, which in 'Liminal' goes towards popmusic - although not really of course - and in 'July' makes a dense piece of improvised sounds. 'July' is the most ambient piece, dark but with shimmering lights. 'Seven Stars' is the piece with Steven Hess and has nice acoustic guitars, laidback percussion and fine granular synthesis. Almost a piece of lounge music. Excellent, all four. A pity, only four. Can'twait for the next longplayer." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€9.00 |
|
|
17.02.12 |
BOX |
"LTD box set 500 copies (gatefold 2LP, CD of the album, DVD, 12 p. photo book) Christian Fennesz is an Austrian electronic musician, active since the late nineties, and influenced by artists like the Fripp & Eno of the 1970s and guitar-synth pioneer Chuck Hammer.
Fennesz uses guitar and laptops "to make multilayered compositions that blend melody and conventional musical instruments with harsh, irregular glitch-influenced sounds and washes of white noise." Over the years, Fennesz has played and collaborated with a number of artists including Mike Patton, Jim O'Rourke, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Keith Rowe, Peter Rehberg, Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse) and David Sylvain.
In 2012 Fennesz also wrote the OST to the independent Austrian film, Aun, directed by Edgar Honetschläger, and based on the writings of Claude Levi-Strauss.
On this double LP Fennesz can be heard performing to a live audience at a concert held at the Museo Marini in Florence, Italy in February 2012.
The deluxe box set version includes, in addition to the 2LP, a CD of the performance, a 12 page photographic book, and a DVD featuring a 1927 silent film by German filmmaker Walter Ruttmann Berlin called Die Sinfonie der Großstadt (Symphony of a Great City)." [label info]
|
2013 |
€111.00 |
|
|
17.02.12 |
do-LP |
"Christian Fennesz is an Austrian electronic musician, active since the late nineties, and influenced by artists like the Fripp & Eno of the 1970s and guitar-synth pioneer Chuck Hammer.
Fennesz uses guitar and laptops "to make multilayered compositions that blend melody and conventional musical instruments with harsh, irregular glitch-influenced sounds and washes of white noise." Over the years, Fennesz has played and collaborated with a number of artists including Mike Patton, Jim O'Rourke, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Keith Rowe, Peter Rehberg, Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse) and David Sylvain.
On this double LP Fennesz can be heard performing to a live audience at a concert held at the Museo Marini in Florence, Italy in February 2012, backed by the images of the 1927 silent film by German filmmaker Walter Ruttmann Berlin called Die Sinfonie der Großstadt (Symphony of a Great City)." [label info] |
2013 |
€29.00 |
|
|
Mahler Remix |
do-LP |
"In any other hands, the very idea of remixing Mahler might not only be preposterous but abhorrent; but Christian Fennesz is far from the average electronic musician. After all, he beautifully fragmented the fun-fun-fun-in-sun pop of the Beach Boys for his iconic Endless Summer album; and he's more reverential of the original Mahler material than on he was of the source material for Endless Summer. It is but a sliver of the Mahler oeuvre that Fennesz extracts, the yearning harmonies and lush orchestral swells (as opposed to Mahler's counterpointing brass marches of bombast and discord); yet Fennesz deftly layers elongations and dilations of tone into impressionist pools of reflective sound, flecked with his rasping buzz of tricked out digital noise and a couple of Philip Jeck style intrusions of antique turntable surface noise with a haunted melody struggling to peer outward. Fennesz further injects his aesthetic into that of Mahler's by reprising the guitar melody he penned on "Liminality" from his 2014 Becs album. This languid strum settles into the bed of electrical hums and soft-moss orchestral drones, though it is dramatic leap from the 19th century into the 21st from one Austrian legend to another." [Aquarius Rec] |
2016 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Agora |
LP |
Agora is Christian Fennesz’s first solo album since ‘Mahler Remixed’ [Touch, 2014] and ‘Bécs’ [Editions Mego, 2014]. Fennesz writes: “Its a simple story. i had temporarily lost a proper studio workspace and had to move all my gear back to a small bedroom in my flat where I recorded this album. It was all done on headphones, which was rather a frustrating situation at first but later on it felt like back in the day when I produced my first records in the 1990s. In the end it was inspiring. I used very minimal equipment; I didn't even have the courage to plug in all the gear and instruments which were at my disposal. I just used what was to hand.”
https://fenneszreleases.bandcamp.com/album/agora
|
2019 |
€22.50 |
|
| FENNESZ / DANIELL / BUCK |
Knoxville |
LP |
"Christian Fennesz, David Daniell and Tony Buck (The Necks) are three of the most recognized and respected players in experimental music from around the globe. In 2009 the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN brought the three together and encouraged them to collaborate at the festival. The aptly named Knoxville documents the results of that first collaboration. Recorded on February 7th, 2009, Fennesz (guitar and electronics), Daniell (guitar) and Buck (drums) channel their collective energies into a darkly atmospheric piece of music that ebbs and flows with remarkable cohesion. Minimalist drum passages scatter over the top of textured layers of guitar and subsumed melodic sequences, eventually giving way to warm beds of evolving, tactile drones. Sonic rain showers roll into full-blown thunderstorms of effected guitar and pounding drums only to yield a field of shattered electronic and percussive debris. The three retain a remarkable sense of unity for never having played together (aside from a brief soundcheck) while allowing plenty of room for each to express his individual personality." [label info]
www.thrilljockey.com
|
2010 |
€16.50 |
|
| FERIAL CONFINE (=ANDREW CHALK) |
First, Second and Third Drop |
CD |
"Fully remastered and repackaged second release of the final Ferial Confine album 'First, Second and Third Drop' by Siren Records (Japan). Here presented in Japanese mini-LP style sleeve with obi, mastered at Skye Masteringby Denis Blackham in 2012. 'First, Second and Third Drop', although never actually released when it was completed in late 1985, became the final cycle of music by Ferial Confine and marked a departure from the closing moments of the preceding album 'Meiosis' (Siren 022).
Its impression is austere and surreal, even though the instrumentation is limited to the use of bowed acoustic percussion and wind instruments and some tape treatments later in the album.
Ferial Confine is the alias formerly used by Andrew Chalk in the 1980s for his noisier endeavours. "First, Second and Third Drop" is an album that was recorded in January of 1986 and remained unreleased until now. After giving this disc several listens, I have to wonder why it wasn't released much sooner!
Although not as mellow as most of the work for which Andrew Chalk is known, "First, Second and Third Drop" is definitely not a barrage of noise, and really has little in common with most of his Broken Flag label-mates from back in the 1980s. The comparison that immediately comes to mind listening to this album is Organum's material from around the same time period, something which makes a bit of sense since Andrew Chalk was involved in Organum for a time. The first three tracks definitely have the metallic, tense atmosphere that I've come to associate with Organum's earlier material - high-pitched scraping noises, creaking metal and general uneasiness." [Soundohm/ press release] |
2016 |
€15.50 |
|
| FERRARI, LUC |
ENSEMBLE LABORINTUS & ERIK M |
CD |
"Mit "Réflexion sur l'écriture" untertitelt Ferrari die 26-minütige Komposition "Et tournent les sons dans le garrigue" von 1977 für Magnetband und Orchester. Allen Spieler ist es aufgetragen, so scheint es, das Stück während der Performance zu bereden und zu zerreden, dh. neu zu erfinden. So taumeln allerhand Bläser, Streicher und Percussions über Ferraris mal stehende, mal zerrissene Elektronik, ja taumeln sich sogar blind und versetzen jeglichen Gedanke an Wort und écriture (sowieso!) in sprachloses Entsetzen. Die zweite Komposition, "Archives sauvées des eaux" für zwei CD-Player und Orchester wurde sechs Tage nach Ferraris Tod im Sommer 1995 eingespielt. Auch hier wird über bzw. mit verwobenen Spuren von Band improvisiert. Das Ensemble Laborintus und eRikm (Klarinette, Flöte, Cello, Percussions und Harfe) verzaubern mit zurückgenommener Dynamik, expressiven Sound-Ausbrüchen und komplexer Feingliedrigkeit. Grandios." [Erik Benndorf / debug]
"A coproduction Césaré, La Muse en Circuit, Ensemble Laborintus. Ensemble Laborintus : Hélène Breschand : harp. Philippe Cornus : percussions. Sylvain Kassap : clarinets. Adeline Lecce : cello. Franck Masquelier : flutes. & eRikm : cd player on 'Archives sauvées des eaux'.
1.'Et tournent les sons dans la garrigue (1977) (Réflexion sur l'écriture n°1)'. ("and sounds are spinning in the garigue")
For tape and instrumental ensemble.
The idea here is to propose a score of intentions and desires of sound — a tape part that indicates materials, forms and general ideas that combine to create meaning. Communication among the musicians is key as they choose the way they realise or "invent" the piece.
2. 'Archives sauvées des eaux (2000-2005) (Exploitation des concepts n°3)'. ("Archives rescued from the waters (exploitation of concepts #3)")
Version for two cds and instrumental ensemble.
Two Cds contain sequences over which the instruments improvise — little bits of magnetic memory rescued from a flood. The ensemble musta stay together, but can otherwise do as it pleases, occasionally slipping in quotes from Patajaslocha, a dance suite composed in 1984. This version was prepared with Luc Ferrari during the summer of 2005. He was to perform the CDs part himself, but he passed away six days before the recording." [press release]
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Son memorise |
CD |
„In Entwicklung zum ersten P.R. von 1970, dessen einzigartige Aura ja schon beinahe schmerzt, scheint das ‚beinahe nichts‘ des Presque Rien #4 einem ‚allmählich alles‘ gewichen zu sein. Luc Ferrari hat allerdings von P.R. zu P.R. den Erinnerungen immer mehr Pinselstriche hinzugefügt, und ist auch selbst immer mehr Bestandteil der Hörbilder geworden. Wird also beinahe nichts mehr weggelassen? Zögerlich ist nach eigenem Bekunden Ferraris kompositorische Herangehensweise. So brauchte es zur Realisation des Presque rien #4 ¬ La remontée du village 8 Jahre. 1998 vollendet, spannt es nun als „opener“ den Bogen der vorliegenden CD zu einer Studie über die Wirklichkeit von Erinnerung und wie sie sich im Nachhinein als immer verfremdet darstellt. So erzählt „Promenade symphonique dans un paysage
musical ou un jour de fète à el qued en 1976“ (1976-1978) von einem Spaziergang in eine Stadt. Ein Mann stimmt einen erotischen Gesang an, auf dem Marktplatz beginnt eine Trommelgruppe zu spielen, Passanten kommen zusammen, Schüsse knallen, zum Abend hin kündigen Frauenrufe den Auftritt der Hochzeitsbraut an. Die Party steigt bis die Trommelgruppe tanzend in den zur Nacht vergehenden Abend verschwindet. Durch Hervorhebungen einzelner Passagen und der behutsamen Bearbeitung der Klänge insgesamt, offenbart Ferrari das Nichtreale der Tonbandaufnahme. Die illusorische Vorstellung einer objektiven Realität wird dem Hörer unterschwellig, fast unheimlich (schön) offenbart, wenn Ferrari mit subtilem Feingefühl in weiser Lässigkeit auf den Grenzlinien zur Manipulation spazieren geht. „Saliceburry Coctail“ (2002) ist ein ebenfalls ca. 1/2stündiges Werk. Wie in einem Cocktail die Zutaten so eingerichtet sind, das Aromen sowohl verstärkt als auch ausgeblendet werden können, wurden hier realistische sowie synthetische Sounds vermischt, geschichtet, transformiert. Was es mit diesem Stück genauer auf sich hat und warum es sich charakterlich von den vorhergehenden unterscheidet, ist aus den beiliegenden Kommentaren des Komponisten zu erfahren.
Presque Rien #4 seems to be ‚about everything‘ instead of the ‚almost nothing‘ from 1970. However, Ferrari has developed his „Presque Rien“ pieces in a more and more extensive way. There has always been hesitation on his part before releasing a „Presque Rien“. To release the fourth one took nine years. Now it’s the opener of this CD starting a study about the reality of memory and the problem of it’s transfigured portrayal afterwards. So „Promenade symphonique dans un paysage musical ou un jour de fète à el qued en 1976“ (1976-1978) tells about a walk in a nearby city. A man starts an erotic singing, on the market place a drum ensemble is playing, passerby are crowding around them, shooting armguns, in the night woman are announcing the wedding bride. The party is rising until the drum ensemble disappears in the night still dancing. Through empasize of special parts
and the carefully processing of sounds, Ferrari reveals that there is nothing real, it’s just a tape recording. „Saliceburry Coctail“ (2002) is also a 30minutes work. Just as in a cocktail the incredients are used to intensify or to tone down the flavour of the drink, real and synthetical sounds have been mixed, layered and transformed.” [Peter Schlewinski for Drone Records]
“This is the second of three Sub Rosa releases of instrumental works by this important artist. Luc Ferrari is considered one of the most legendary musical figures of the twentieth century, whose work and aesthetic continues to influence several generations of contemporary composers. Director of the Groupe de Recherche Musicales which he established with Pierre Schaeffer in Paris from 1958-1966, he is also one of the masters of musique concrète who influenced and expanded the genre with electro-acoustic instrumentation. Right from the start, the idea had been to release three very different CDs: one hörspiel, one of concrete music (new and older pieces) and one CD of instrumental works. Les Anecdotiques was the first step: a vast sound-film of more than an hour that explores in 15 steps the intensity of re-composed sounds from his continual travel around the world, with electronic additional structures. This album is the second step -- one that offers a retrospective -- the previously unreleased \"Promenade Symphonique dans un Paysage Musical\" from 1976-78, the final \"Presque Rien #4\" and a fresh reflection dating from the last months of 2002, \"Saliceburry Cocktail,\" a large-scale composition exploring the idea of hideout, scrambled listening -- a tortuous entanglement of concrète and electronic. The forthcoming third and final release will be three recent instrumental compositions for electronics, piano and viola which were recorded under Luc\'s supervision -- the last works he ever recorded, as he passed away in August 2005.” [press release]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Labyrinthe de Violence / DANCE |
LP |
Ein bisher unveröffentlichtes FERRARI-Stück von 1975 (für eine Tape / Dia-Installation), welches zunächst rein elektronisch dronig pulsiert, bevor sich bruchstückhafte elektronisch Orgel-Klänge einschleichen. Sehr minimal & kurios. Einseitig bespielte LP, Restexemplare vom OEUVRES SONORES, April 2009.
"Danse was part of a sound & visual installation called Labyrinthe de violence. Previously unpublished, this radical experimental work has now been released on LP record in collaboration with the New Media Dept of Centre Pompidou (National Museum of Modern Art) in Paris for 'Œuvres sonores 2', a 2-day-event organised by Emanuele Carcano at Beaubourg on April 5th & 6th, 2009. Labyrinthe de violence was an installation for tape sounds and 2 slide projectors conceived in 1975 by Luc Ferrari. The installation was a visual and sound metaphore of violence within contemporary civilised society. Four different rooms with a central space created the spacial context of this work. The specific environmental sonority (1. Violence; 2. Pollution; 3. Profit; 4. Mechanism / Paysage / Danse) created for each of the four rooms naturally superposed themselves in the central space. Danse was one of those sonorities minimally constructed using 2 different sounds: a very low electronic drone deeply resonating for the whole duration with, in the end, the accumulation of deconstructed sequences played by Luc Ferrari on an electric organ. Documenting one of Luc Ferrari most beautiful and mysterious sonic works, this LP edition will be the first in a series of alga marghen projects presenting a still undiscovered side of the poetical universe of this foundamental composer. This 1-sided LP, issued in an edition limited to 500 copies only, will first be presented at Centre Pompidou in Paris and offered to the audience participating to the second 'Œuvres sonores' event." [label info]
|
2009 |
€21.50 |
|
|
Didascalies 2 |
LP |
"First record after our Luc Ferrari trilogy (see list below), Didascalies 2 is not to be
confused with Didascalies already published 3 years ago - it's another composition
unpublished and a premiere. This production will only released on vinyl.
'The other day I found a file from 1993, a score for 2 pianos entitled "revenir à la note
de départ" ["getting back to the initial note"]. So I decided to turn it into a new composition without changing a single note in it - it contained very little notes actually, which suited me just fine. So I called it Didascalies 2, in memory of what I had done the previous year: a piece for piano and viola entitled Didascalies tout court. That piece was played on two notes, one for the piano and the same one for the viola. It had an obsessive feel. Very, very obsessiiiiiiive !!!' Luc Ferrari " [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Atelier de Liberation de la Musique |
LP |
"Alga Marghen proudly presents Luc Ferrari's Atelier De Liberation De La Musique, a collective he created together with Martin Davorin Jagodic, Philippe Besombes and Alain Petit in 1975 for a series of performances at the Galliera Museum in Paris. It was in those years that Luc Ferrari investigated open forms and created some of the most experimental and elusive works of his entire catalogue.
"Exercices d'improvisation", first recorded by Brunhild Ferrari with GOL, issued on PLANAM in 2010; but specially "Ou donc est-t-on?", a very complex piece soon to be documented on alga marghen including both "Dance", issued on alga marghen on the occasion of the presentations at Centre Pompidou in 2009 and "Ephemere", issued on CD by alga marghen in 2010, as well as the "Labyrinthe de la violence", an audio-visual permanent labyrinth for which Ferrari created four fantastic electronic music pieces soon to be published on Alga Marghen.
After these experiences the composer decided to discontinue these open practices for a more controlled work in the studio. And within the "Labyrinthe de la violence" installation Luc Ferrari conceived a series of electro-visual concerts to be performed by the newly created Atelier de Libération de la Musique. The collective included some of the most creative artists of the time: together with Luc Ferrari playing the electric organ we find on electric piano Martin Davoric Jagodic (whose masterpiece of electronic music titled "Tempo Furioso" was issued on Cramps in Italy that same year), on synthesizer Philippe Besombes and on sax, flute and clarinet Alain Petit.
These four artists met in February and March of 1975, rehearsing for a series of concerts to take place within the audio-visual labyrinth. It is the previously unheard recordings from these wild rehearsals which make up this incredible LP. The sound of Atelier de Libération de la Musique is a thrilling and overwhelming ride. Rattling, difficult polyrhythms play against droning, pulsing and simmering sonorities. These recordings are human and open, wild and incredibly ahead of their time." [label info] |
2018 |
€25.00 |
|
|
Labyrinthe de Violence |
do-LP |
Capturing the four soundtracks conceived in 1975 for the multimedia/audiovisual performances at Galiéra Museum in Paris, the previously unreleased Labyrinthe de Violence stretching across two LPs represents a peek into Luc Ferrari's creations connected to his Atelier de Libération de la Musique experiences. Luc Ferrari was always keen to disrupt habits and engrained practices, to open his mind to new ways of apprehending the world of art, considering it not so much as a separate realm but as an inroad into society. In keeping with the spirit of 1968, he advocated taking part in daily life, casting a critical, but amazed, eye on the world around us, and always questioning the meaning of the occupations and preoccupations the world imposes. From the 1970s, Luc also wished to shed the solitary status of the artist, and to truly communicate with society. He thus gathered around him a group of people from different backgrounds with an aim to create, together, new ways of working and new forms of expression that would address unusual audiences rather than traditional concert audience. Having created his Studio Billig in Paris in 1973, Luc wanted to make the most of that place to promote exchanges with other artists, to share, think, and improvise together. This is what gave rise to the Atelier de Liberation de la Musique workshops, whose objective was to "Liberate music from the constraints of style and esthetics." The idea was precisely to free the artist from abstraction, leading him to perform accessible and intelligible actions; to promote the imagination; to use the dramatic dynamism of sound and image to trigger ideas; to ignore the sensational and instead to observe our social environment and daily life with an intuitive eye-ear; to invite the visitor to come up with their own analysis. This craving for collaboration led Luc Ferrari to create, in 1975, a collective of musicians with Martin Davorin Jagodic, Philippe Besombes, Alain Petit and David Jisse. That year, they worked at Labyrinthe de Violence, a looped audiovisual labyrinth which evoked the violence of contemporary society, and was a reaction to the political situation of the time. It was a multimedia work, spread across four rooms, on the following themes: Power/Profit/Violence/Pollution. Each side of this 2LP set reproduces the sonorization of one of the four rooms in the Museum, automatically mixing in the central space. The same recordings focus on questions of utopia through many of the same themes. As in the rest of his work, pleasure was also at the heart of these pieces. First press limited to 500 numbered copies; gatefold sleeve.
A1. Pollution
B1. Violence
C1. Pouvoir / Profit
D1. Mecanique / Paysage / Danse |
2021 |
€37.50 |
|
|
...Et Apres |
do-LP |
PLANAM presents ...et après a suite created by Ensemble Laborintus highlighting their collaboration with Luc Ferrari and well underlining the creative heights reached by the composer during the last years of his career. Laborintus, so named in homage to Luciano Berio, was an ensemble born in 1993 and dissolved in 2014, formed by Hélène Breschand (harp), César Carcopino (percussions), Sylvain Kassap (clarinets), Franck Masquelier (flutes) and Anaïs Moreau (cello). The main vocation of the ensemble was to give voice to the music of today by working in close collaboration with living and active composers, confronting current technologies, as well as practicing improvisation and musical theater. Laborintus developed a special relationship with composers, with Luc Ferrari in particular. Each creation was the occasion for an in-depth encounter. For Laborintus, the music of Luc Ferrari was always a bearer of joy, a carnal joy -- a joy of sound, and a joy of playing. There is a balance between the concrete character of the sounds that builds a poetic topology, and the virtuosity of the score, which allows a pleasurable physical involvement in the heart of sound. Bristling with stunning dances of acoustic and electronic sound, ...et après -- collecting a full two LPs worth of material -- presents the final unreleased work that Ensemble Laborintus created in collaboration with Ferrari, including "Bonjour, comment ça va?", two realizations of "Tautologos III" featuring the voice of Brunhild Ferrari and a new version of Ferrari's work "À la recherche du rythme perdu", created under the supervision of Brunhild Ferrari for harp and percussion; as well as an homage to the composer, composed by Sylvain Kassap titled "Arezzo" and Hélène Breschand "L", for flute, clarinet, cello, harp, percussion and fixed sounds. Both "Arezzo" and "L" were composed using sound archives by Luc Ferrari. This double LP also includes as a "bonus" the realization of Ferrari's "À la recherche du rythme perdu", recorded live by Hélène Breschand and eRikm in 2019. The selection of tracks and the title of the album ...et après were chosen in the spirit of a continuation with the legacy of Luc Ferrari: a balance between heritage, transmission, and continuity, transformation over time. Like Russian dolls that fit together Luc encouraged encounters and bonds are still forged today, through his music. Privately produced by Laborintus and issued by PLANAM. Gatefold sleeve; edition of 500.
A1. Luc Ferrari - Bonjour, comment ça va?
A2. Sylvain Kassap - Arezzo
B1. Luc Ferrari - À la recherche du rythme perdu
C1. Hélène Breschand - L
D1. Luc Ferrari - À la recherche du rythme perdu |
2021 |
€38.50 |
|
| |
Solitude Transit |
LP |
NEVER BEFORE RELEASED.
Innersleeve with exclusive pictures & liner notes.
Transversales Disques is very glad to announce the release of « Solitude Transit » (1989)
unpublished archives by electroacoustic music pioneer Luc Ferrari.
Music composed for contemporary dance, choregraphed by Anne-Marie Reynaud
Musique composée, interprétée et enregistrée par Luc Ferrari.
Solitude Transit, 1989-1990.
Musique en 3 actes pour le spectacle de la chorégraphe Anne-Marie Reynaud :
Roman de gare / Ligne de fuite / On part chez Marie-Christine
Chorégraphie : Anne-Marie Reynaud
Musique : Luc Ferrari
Décors : Claude Meiller
Costumes : Jean Pierre Capeyron
Lumières : Jacques Roveyrollis
Dramaturgie : Michel Azama
Huit danseurs
(p) 2022 Transversales Disques sous licence exclusive Brunhild Ferrari.
Editions : Maison ONA.
credits
released September 15, 2022
« Affiliated with French Radio’s Groupe de Musique Concrète, co-founder of the GRM with Pierre Schaeffer in 1958 Luc Ferrari (1929-2005) major figure of musique concrète and electroacoustic music broke away to pave his own path of individualistic expressions of minimalist music, musical theatre, field recordings, orchestral music and soundtracks…»
https://lucferrari.bandcamp.com
|
2022 |
€27.00 |
|
| FERRARI, LUC & BRUNHILD FERRARI |
Programme Commun |
do-CD |
"Sub Rosa presents two volumes of work from French composer Luc Ferrari and his wife and closest collaborator, Brunhild Ferrari. These two volumes are being released together and simultaneously, as a sign of continuation. For Luc Ferrari, this is the first full-length CD to come out after the trilogy Sub Rosa developed with him. What we have here is three substantial pieces: "Programme commun pour clavecin et bande magnetique" (1972), performed by Elisabeth Chonacka, "Didascalies" (1993) performed by Jean-Philippe Collard-Neven, Claude Berset, and Vincent Royer (in 2009) and previously available only on vinyl (note that "Didascalies" and "Didascalies 2" are two different compositions), and another previously-unreleased piece that he held dear, "Les emois d'Aphrodite" (1986-1998), performed by San Francisco's MC Band under his direction. Sub Rosa is also pleased to release for the first time the solo works of Brunhild Ferrari: "Derivatif" (2008), "Brumes du reveil" (2009) and "Tranquilles Impatiences" (2010), forming a trilogy on reconstruction from a memory that is still quite alive. These works are new bricks in the erection of a liberating oeuvre." [label info]
"Programme Commun' collects the first solo works of Brunhild Ferrari alongside three pieces by her husband and collaborator, the revered avant-garde composer, Luc, for the first time in a relationship spanning over 40 years. The first disc presents a trio of Luc Ferrari's works; the pondering electro-acoustic piece 'Musique Socialiste Ou Programme Commun Pour Clavecin Amplifie Et Bande Magnetique' (1972) featuring harpsichord and the clavecin (the earliest surviving electric-powered musical instrument) recorded at GRM in Paris, and written in honour of the socialist reform program; the lush minimalism of two pianos and violon, 'Didascalies 2' penned in 1993 and recorded 2008-2009; a lively and disjointed rock piece, 'Les Emois D'Aphrodite' revolving around punchy drum breaks, ebullient string harmonies, swirling synths and clarinet. Brunhild's trio were composed between 2008-2010 and haven't been issued on CD previously. They include the dynamic, vivid concrète movements of 'Derivatif' (2008); the surreal, between-worlds awakening of 'Brumes Du Reveil' (2009); the subtle microtonal fluctuations of layered tape, 'Tranquilles Impatiences' (2010)." [Boomkat]
|
2021 |
€16.00 |
|
| FERRARI, LUC / GOL |
Exercises d'Improvisation |
LP |
"Edition limited to 350 copies, includes an insert with the complete score by Luc Ferrari. ** Luc Ferrari conceived this work in 1977 as a sequence of seven individually or collectively improvised exercises for tape and any instrument or group of instruments. Never performed before, "Exercices d'improvisation" have been released by the GOL collective and issued now on LP by PLANAM. The seven exercises follow each others in a suite of growing intensity where GOL acoustic and electric instruments react to Luc Ferrari's tape, lively re-interpreted by Brunhild Ferrari: from a more meditative form, the music turns into free mental spiraling sections to finally culminate in a live musique concrete drama. The tracks were recorded at Ferrari's Atelier Post-billig on April 12th and 13th, 2010, a few days before the world premiere performance at La Maison Rouge in Paris. "Exercices d'improvisation" on one hand presents a new perspective on Ferrari's music and on the other pays a panorama-like tribute to his rich and eclectic corpus; somewhere between "Tête et Queue du Dragon" and "Tautologos" with a touch of "Danses Organiques". The front sleeve shows a four colour wild collage by the French artist, film-maker and Ferrari's collaborator Jacques Brissot based on photo sessions done by Myriam Tirler who also shot the back cover and inner sleeve images presenting GOL members and Brunhild Ferrari in Kagel-Exotica-like appearances.
Please note: this previously unpublished work revealing a hidden part of Luc Ferrari poetics is not included in the INA 10CD boxset. Only available on this LP edition."
[Soundohm]
|
2010 |
€21.50 |
|
| FERREYRA, BEATRIZ / NATASHA BARRETT |
Souvenirs Caches / Innermost |
LP |
"Persistence of Sound presents a split LP from two leading voices in electroacoustic music. It would be hard to find a better-suited combination of contemporary acousmatica on one record.
Beatriz Ferreyra and Natasha Barrett are known for their intense exploration of the movement of sounds through space. Ferreyra has been at the cutting edge of developments in acousmatic music and sound morphology since she joined Pierre Schaeffer’s small team of researchers in his tape experiments at the GRM Paris studios in 1963. Barrett has established an international reputation as a composer of 3D audio and ambisonics.
Following her 2019 album, Huellas Entreveradas, Beatriz Ferreyra returns with her major new work, Souvenirs Cachés (2020), a free journey through a distinctive mix of Ferreyran sounds, a carousel of disembodied vocal sounds, growls and susurrations, sprinkled across the stereo image, and joined intermittently by sustained drones or ethereal, melodic whines, with a hint of prepared piano. Hernan Gomez’s percussive and manipulated flute is featured throughout.
Natasha Barrett’s Innermost (2019) was first composed with natural but abstracted recordings from two outdoor Norwegian events. These were mass community celebrations, particular to Norwegian culture and devoid of political anxiety, although some of the electronically-treated, disembodied vocals seem to express elements of angst or anger. The interplay of manipulated vocal sounds and marching band samples contextualises the music in the open acoustics of a public event. Barrett describes the second section as an example of her notion of ‘spatial counterpoint,’ where many layers of minimal pitched sounds linger, intersect and interact.
The record also features Ferreyra’s Murmureln (2003), commissioned as a danceable electroacoustic piece. Ferreyra’s Argentinian roots are explored in a playful rendition of an old Comparsita, made from collaged vocal sounds and sampled fragments of tango musicians Astor Piazzola, Anibal Troilo, Susana Rinaldi and Roberto Goyeneche.
Beatriz Ferreyra has been at the forefront of electroacoustic music composition since 1963 when she joined the Groupe de Recherches Musicales as one of Pierre Schaeffer’s research assistants. She is one of very few composers still performing who was instrumental at the beginning of Schaeffer’s theories of sound objects and reduced listening techniques. She continues to compose commissioned works and perform around the world in a career that has spanned some sixty years.
Natasha Barrett describes her inspiration as coming from the immediate sounding matter of the world around us, as well as the way it behaves. “I’m really concerned with the idea of tangibility. Sound is invisible, but we can do things that make you want to reach out and touch it.” Barrett's works are performed and commissioned throughout the world, and have received a long list of prizes, including the Giga-Hertz Award and the Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Awards."
|
2021 |
€25.00 |
|
| FIBREFORMS |
Treedrums |
CD |
"Long before KILN turned to the sunset-soaked textures of Dusker, and the sonic-carousels of "Thermals", they made music as fibreforms. Treedrums (1996) documents their transition from live performance trio to sound-art synergists, balancing symbiotic instrumental spaces of kit-drums and treated guitars with lost&found sound to evoke moments that are at once invigorating and tranquil. Seventeen years later, Treedrums is presented here as a re-amped, remixed, and properly restored archival edition of this once buried treasure of sonic curio. One-time numbered edition of 300. Includes two previously unreleased tracks from that early era. These will be housed in a Stoughton mini-lp gatefold sleeve along with an 8 page full color booklet." [label info]
www.infractionrecords.com
"...Following Berry I turned to Fibreforms, a trio of Kevin Hayes, Kirk Marrison and Clark Rehberg, who call themselves these days Kiln. They are from Michigan and somewhere along the lines they changed names. 'Treedrums' is an album from 1996, now nicely repacked (all of these releases look actually great, no rush jobs, nothing cheap). Repacked, but also 'economized, re-amped, remixed, and properly restored', so altogether a different release. I looked at the cover of the original on discogs and it might have been something I heard before. Their ambient is of a different nature; it's more the rockist agenda that is being played, and in particular the post-rock variation. All of this is instrumental of course, with lots of spacious guitars, reverb on the drums and much electronics. Think Tortoise, think Trans AM, Windy & Carl, but I also would like to mention something like O Yuki Conjugate; not because of the ethno rhythms, but of the ambience Fibreforms puts forward when the rhythm plays a more minor role. This ambient of the rock variation is actually very nice, certainly when it's part of a larger ambient bundle. It offers that bit of variation that you may need here. It also proofs that there are more ways 'to do' ambient than just computer processing field recordings. It sounds dated, perhaps, and then it also sounds entirely fresh. Great CD." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| FIEBIG, GERALD |
Pferseer Klangtrilogie |
CD-R |
"ACRS 1003: CD-R in transparent jewel case
Given that this album is part of the Rollator Series, dedicated to noise art, it starts with a surprisingly un-noisy performance of sound artist Gerald Fiebig reciting a poem. In the following tracks, though, meaning is reduced to noise as the recording of the poem is cut into tiny fragments. These are used in two 15-minute improvisations along with a miked-up violin bow and synthesizer drones which Fiebig uses to “play” the sculptures and paintings he found in the artists’s studios where these performances were recorded.
The performance triptych documented here was conceived for a project in which artists opened their studios in Pfersee, a city district in the artist’s neighbourhood in Augsburg (Germany), to the public. Performing in three different studios, Fiebig moved from “Word” (the poetry reading) to “Noise” (voice samples plus amplified violin bow and sculptures by Günther Posch) to “Tone” (voice samples plus violin bow samples plus synthesizer and paintings by Gerti Papesch. Using a technique pioneered on the album “Hörbar in Farbe” (http://attenuationcircuit.wix.com/attenuation-circuit#!__hoerbar-in-farbe), the colours and shapes of the abstract paintings were used as a “score” for creating drones with a synthesizer and KAOSS pad. Thus, the album is a gradual development away from language and meaning (signal) through fragmentation (noise) to a new kind of structure, somewhere on the edge between noise and (musical) signal. To give the listener an impression of Gerti Papesch’s paintings that were used for creating the final part, one of them is reproduced on the cover of the album." [label info]
www.attenuationcircuit.de
|
2013 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
Gasworks |
CD |
„Gasworks“ by sonic artist Gerald Fiebig collects his sound installations, radiophonic compositions, and live performances relating to the former gasworks in Augsburg-Oberhausen. They were created between 2010 and 2016, some in collaboration with colleagues EMERGE and Christian Z. Müller. Among the compositional materials of the album are processed recordings of the sounds of gas and industrial machinery, stories told by a former gasworks employee, and live improvisations in the echo chamber of the large gas tank.
Liner notes by Gerald Fiebig:
Cities phosphorescent
on the riverbank, industry’s
glowing piles waiting
beneath the smoke trails
W.G. Sebald, After Nature
The former gasworks in Augsburg-Oberhausen (not to be confused with the better-known Gasometer in the city of Oberhausen in the Ruhr area) have been a subject of my artistic practice for more than a decade. This album collects all the works related to the gasworks except a site-specific installation version of Echoes of Industry that did not lend itself to documentation as a recording.
Opened in 1915, the gasworks are a testimony to the spirit of what one could call the ‚heroic‘ age of industrialisation. The architecture of the ovens and machine halls features stylistic quotes from the façade of Augsburg’s renaissance city hall as well as from cathedrals. Technological progress is presented as both raison d’état and religion. This stands in stark contrast to the extremely hard, dangerous and – for a very long time – poorly paid working conditions described by long-time gasworks employee Johann Artner in Nach der Industrie / After Industry. From our contemporary viewpoint, informed by climate change and the impending end of fossil resources, the optimism expressed in the beautiful architecture of the gasworks also appears less than justified for ecological reasons: until 1968, the gasworks actually produced gas by burning coal in large ovens. They then continued to operate as a distributing station for fossil gas from transcontinental pipelines into the local network. Operations ceased in 2001.
After almost two decades of merely intermittent use for festivals and other events, 2019 saw the re-opening of the gasworks area as an arts centre featuring a theatre as well as artists‘ studios, rehearsal rooms, and office spaces for creative businesses. This seems to imply that it has now entered the ‚post-industrial‘ age where clean, almost immaterial computer screens have replaced the factory floors once so dirty and dangerous.
In fact, there is no such thing as a ‚post-industrial‘ age, just globalised capitalism increasingly outsourcing the dirty and dangerous work (manufacturing the microprocessors for the ‚post-industrial‘ devices, for example) to poorer countries. And of course industrial manufacturing still does form an important part of economies of the global North, even if the leading role in ideological narratives of growth and prosperity has been taken over by the ‚post-industrial‘ businesses.
Both post-industrial, which is partly based on processed sounds of a metal tool factory quite close to the gasworks, and Echoes of Industry can be heard as reminders of these ambivalences. Echoes of Industry brings the space of the gasworks into contact with the sounds of textile machines. This is a reference to the fact that the decline of the gasworks as an industrial site paralleled that of Augsburg’s once-thriving textile industry. It also alludes to the role of the textile industry as one of the most prominent examples for the exploitative use of cheap offshore labour.
But my interest in the gasworks is not only due to its historical ‚echoes,‘ documented so well by the committed friends of the gasworks, or Gaswerksfreunde Augsburg. As an artist working with sound, I am constantly fascinated by the literal echoes inside the large metal gas tank, 84 metres high and 45 metres in diameter. This unique sound effect is at the heart of Echoes of Industry, as well as the two live performances I did inside this space in 2016 under the title Ohrentauchen mit Echolot / Ear-diving with Echo Sounding. Doing this live improvisation in which acoustic sound-generators, from hammers to whistles, interacted with the physical features of the room as well as with its resonant properties, I felt it brought to completion the work I had begun in 2007 with a tour of the gasworks, guided by members of Gaswerksfreunde Augsburg, and the interview with the late Johann Artner.
This album is dedicated to his memory.
Excerpts:
1. post-industrial
Excerpt of a sound installation in the so-called Apparatehaus during Grenzenlos festival, 2014
Sounds of hissing gas from a kitchen stove, processed by Gerald Fiebig, are combined with field recordings from a nearby factory in a building even older than the gasworks, processed by EMERGE.
Composed & realised by Gerald Fiebig & EMERGE
Commissioned by Christa Spaniol (Künstlergruppe 38/40)
2. Ohrentauchen mit Echolot
Excerpts from performances in the large Gaskessel during Asche zu Farbgut festival, 2016
Various unamplified tools, toys, and instruments, as well as Gerald Fiebig’s voice and body, were used to create sounds inside the 84-metre high metal chamber. This included hitting the metal surfaces themselves. The performance took place in the centre of the chamber, with the audience walking around the performer.
Live sound mix: www.yetiplanet.de
Commissioned by Christa Spaniol (Künstlergruppe 38/40)
3. Nach der Industrie
Sound installation at Lange Kunstnacht festival, 2010 (reworked version)
The late Johann Artner worked at the gasworks from 1947 to 1989. He was interviewed by Gerald Fiebig in 2007. Excerpts from more than two hours of recorded material were arranged and combined with processed sounds of gas from a kitchen stove. A transcript and English translation of Johann Artner’s narration can be found at www.geraldfiebig.net/gasworks.pdf.
Narration: Johann Artner
Commissioned by Elke Seidel (Stadt Augsburg – Kulturamt)
4. Echoes of Industry
Radio piece for Radioatelier on Radio Vltava, Czech Republic, first broadcast on 29 May, 2015
Two of Augsburg’s major industrial monuments meet in this piece: sampled recordings of textile machines (heard in part 1 of the piece) from the State Textile and Industry Museum Augsburg are played back inside the large Gaskessel. As they are transformed by the echoes of the room, a saxophone takes up an improvisational interaction with both the samples and the echoes. Part 2 of the piece is composed from live recordings of these improvisations in the gas tank. As the ‚remembered‘ machine sounds of industry become increasingly blurred, the theremin in part 3 gestures at the ambivalent perspective of a disembodied, ‚virtual‘ future of digital production.
Christian Z. Müller: saxophones, theremin
Gerald Fiebig: sampler, field recordings, processing
Composed and realised by Gerald Fiebig & Christian Z. Müller
Commissioned by Michal Rataj (Radio Vltava)
5 Tracks (68′18″)
CD (500 copies)
Credits:
Composed and realised by Gerald Fiebig except where noted
Audio mastering: Tomislav Bucalic and Tobias Schmitt
Design: Martina Vodermayer – www.martavictor.design
Photography: Sigrun Lenk, Martina Vodermayer, Gaswerksfreunde Augsburg
Thanks to: Tobias Brenner, Oliver Frühschütz (Gaswerksfreunde Augsburg); Julia Quandt (Museen und Kunstsammlungen Augsburg); Wolfgang Riß, Annette Trass (Stadtwerke Augsburg); and to Jutta Weber, Manuel Schedl, Bonnie Lee Turner, and Tine Klink.
Archival photographs are used by kind permission of Gaswerksfreunde Augsburg.
www.gaswerk-augsburg.de
The completion of this album was made possible by a residency at ELEVEN artspace, Starzach-Börstingen, Germany, in August 2018.
The production was generously supported by Arno Buchegger Stiftung, Augsburg, and Kurt und Felicitas Viermetz Stiftung, Augsburg.
www.gruenrekorder.de
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| FIESEL, CHRISTIAN |
The Dark Orb |
CD-R |
Christian Fiesel (also known from Modul303 web radio) is an electronic musician, mostly into all kinds of ambient, dark ambient and drone. His work is based on musique concrete, treatments and analogue synthesizer sounds.
His approach to creating music is deeply moody, dark, creating small otherworldly spaces within the soundscapes.
Having about an hour long, The Dark Orb album is probably the most intense and expressive work from him. It can be described as cinematic dark ambient, with traditional electronic (analogue) music parts that give it a touch of originality and making it also a very enjoyable release.
https://essentiamundi.bandcamp.com/album/the-dark-orb-em041
"Christian Fiesels musikalische Produktivität ist schon erstaunlich, ist doch The Dark Orb sein mindestens drittes Album (ich weiß nicht, wie vollständig seine Diskographie auf unseren Seiten ist) im Jahre 2018 - und als es erschien (Ende Mai), war das Jahr nicht einmal zur Hälfte vorbei! Aber wie eine Rezension höher schon zu lesen ist, sind hier Aufnahmen aus den letzten fünf Jahren versammelt.
Der Infozettel des Labels bezeichnet die Musik als „cinematic dark ambient“, eine durchaus passende Kategorisierung, bei der das „cinematic“ allerdings meist im Vordergrund steht. Über weite Strecken wirkt die Musik geradezu abweisend, und auch in den Momenten, wo die Musik Form annimmt, sich eine melodische Struktur herausbildet, scheint sie von Einsamkeit und Verlorenheit zu künden. Wie die akustische Umsetzung eines Schneetreibens klingt etwa Of Passing Clock and Time, bei dessen später einsetzender, Oboen-artig klingender, elegischer Melodie über einem stoischen Mellotron-Chor man sich vorstellen kann, selbigem aus einer nicht gut beheizten Hütte heraus zuzuschauen. Und bei den mächtigen, dunkel und drohend wabernden Mellotron-Klängen von Cinematic, die noch von einem klagenden Cello begleitet werden, fühlt man sich endgültig mitten in einer nächtlichen Schneelandschaft. Beide Stücke zeigen übrigens deutliche Reminiszenzen an die frühen Tangerine Dream, also ihrer Prä-Sequenzer-Zeit; diese Einflüsse zeigen sich auf diesem Album immer wieder mal.
Gänzlich oder zumindest weitgehend abstrakt wird es in Winds of East II, das phasenweise schon wie eine Geräuschcollage anmutet, wenn sich seltsames Rasseln oder Klackern in den Vordergrund schiebt. Ansonsten steht die Musik im Spannungsfeld zwischen melodischen und Ambient-artigen Klängen, wobei letztere in den drei abschließenden Stücken noch einmal verstärkt zur Geltung kommen.
Somit ist The Dark Orb ein schönes Werk elektronischer Musik, das geschickt bis ins Abstrakte reichende Dark-Ambient-Klänge mit Einflüssen aus der Frühzeit deutscher Elektronik verbindet. Auf Bandcamp kann man reinhören und neben der Download-Variante auch die auf 50 (!) Exemplare limitierte CD erwerben." [Babyblaue Seiten]
www.babyblaue-seiten.de/album_17436.html
|
2018 |
€8.00 |
|
| FILIVS MACROCOSMI |
Stalker (Сталкер) |
CD |
FILIVS MACROCOSM is the solo-project of Sergey Svistelnik aka Lord Gorgoroth from Ukraine, who is also a member of IN MEDITARIUM (known to all Droneheads through our Drone 7" release we hope!). This is a poetic & dreamy transformation of Tarkovsky masterpiece STALKER, using many original sounds from the film as a basis, effecting and processing the sounds and also dissolving them into noisy parts at times....
"Stalker is an elaborate puzzle. Its pieces are always scattered, and Filivs Macrocosmi relies on his listener to bring the final element of the puzzle along with him. One of Stalker's many treats is that it invites you to get carried away into your own thoughts, flowing with the images as it provides new questions to ponder... In that sense, the album is very much like a philosophical poem: a very simple surface covering innumerable layers of meaning. One extremely long ride in a cart, with clunking metal and water-whooshing sounds, is fascinating and hypnotic. FM downplayed the science fiction aspects of the movie, making the album more about philosophical and spiritual concerns leaving us at the threshold of the Room where all our most cherished desires come true. Welcome to your Self, an alien place guarded by barbed wire... Package - 3-panel fullcolor glossy paper cover. Ltd.ed. to 500." [label info]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| FINAL |
Dead Air |
CD |
Few years after the fantastic "3" doCD on Neurot finally another FINAL album on CD, DEAD AIR is mostly a rather noisy & massive raw ambience beast, with rhythmic pulses & use of electronic effects, and of course guitars play a role here again too...
"Justin K Broadrick (Godflesh, Ice, Painkiller, God, Jesu) is an iconoclast, a destroyer. Whether by scourge or more subtle measure he is unafraid to loose the blood of infidels. Final is the apotheosized nomad. Shifting, flowing, ascending. A life's work. Dead Air takes hold and abducts the last of your breath with cruel ceremony. The most austere Final recording yet." [label info] |
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
The Apple never falls far from the Tree |
do-LP |
"from grind core pioneers napalm death and industrial metal duo godflesh to the wrist slashing sadness of jesu, the twenty-odd year career of justin k. broadrick has spawned a slew of uniquely recognisable formations. despite representing his very first steps on the scene, broadrick’s final moniker, focusing on dark electronic soundscapes, has occasionally seemed a side thought in comparison. after putting the project to rest for almost an entire decade, final however resurfaced stronger than ever in the new millenium with a string of improvisation based works as well as a hypnotic collaboration with fear falls burning. the apple never falls far from the tree continues this gradual return to the limelight, presenting final as an act comfortably sandwiched between uncompromising sonic explorations and the most far out corners of the post rock cosmos.
conceptualised especially for the vinyl format and complemented by lasse hoile’s congenial photography, broadrick has envisioned the new final full length as a classic double album, with each side based on a unique mood and compositional approach of its own: from the a side’s darkly glistening, occasionally dub infused soundscapes and the harsh noise propositions of the b side to the more luminous and drone-oriented second half of the album, the apple never falls far from the tree highlights the full scope of broadrick’s work. most of all, it constitutes a showcase of his singular approach to the guitar, which remains firmly recognisable as the main harmonic and melodic instrument despite being sent through a colorful array of effect channels.
the diversity and experimental nature of the material notwithstanding, the apple never falls far from the tree has turned out a continuous and coherent journey, eventually culminating in a piece of pure and beguiling instrumental folk. available in three different versions, on marbled (75 copies), clear (125 copies), and green vinyl (300 copies), in a deluxe gatefold picture sleeve. the release date is october 10, 2010, and available from the tonefloat store."
[label info]
www.tonefloat.com
"Its been a while since I last heard Final, Justin K. Broadrick’s solo project, following his involvement with Napalm Death, Godflesh and Jesu (all of which were never really my cup of tea). It was in those years when ‘Isolationism’ was a much used buzz word to describe music that was firmly rooted in ambient but with a noisy edge. Final, along with say Lull, was a project in which the guitar played an all important role. Broadrick didn’t use the name Final for nearly ten years but now picked it up again, and recorded this 2LP, especially for this format. Its like going back to something that you haven’t done in ages, but it still feels conformable. Although I expected four LP sides with a piece each, this is quite the contrary. The pieces are rather short, a few on each side, and each side has its own character. The harsher, analogue synthesizer like sounds are on the b-side, while the a-side is much more mellow, rhythmic even, certainly towards the end. The first record seems to be all electronic, synth based, but the second is all about guitars and effects. Broadrick strums away, while his effects pick up the signals and create long form, sustaining patterns with that. The isolationist music in optima forma (a fine reminder to play that double CD on Virgin again also, come to think of it). As such it seems nothing happened but maybe that’s of less importance: the music is still great. An excellent return. Hopefully more to come!"
[FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€30.00 |
|
| FIRST HUMAN FERRO |
Heterodox |
CD |
"Old Captain’s owner, Olegh Kolyada, fights the sea and presents his Lost Generation victory in defeat. “Heterodox” is a dark ambient album born of the sound and the fury with heroes lonely and mad. A sparse, straightforward yet emotionally vigorous record with its own interior monologue, a discourse to be a silent interlocutor to. Restraining the interior the musician offers the nature symbolism via modular synthesizers and analogue junk approach to scatter one’s ego worldwide for good. Full of elemental primitiveness the heretic in his destructive folly challenges to claim a nihilistic vision of reality to engage the listener into an ever-present absurd. A 200-CD edition in a classical glossy Digipak co-produced by Old Captain and Gradual Hate Records." [label info]
www.oleghkolyada.com/label/
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| FIRST HUMAN FERRO FEAT. ALBIREON |
Prosa Profana |
CD |
" "Prosa Profana" is a follow-up to "Guernica Macrocosmica" and the 2nd post mortem dedication by Olegh Kolyada collaborating with Albireon neo-folkers this time. A low-key unison of dissonant ex-Soviet schlager melodies and forefront Italian vocals in a tender naive manner offer a unique nostalghic experience. The release comes in a beautiful digipak with a 12-page booklet.
Tribute:
Dedicated to my father Vasyl O. Kolyada (1950-2008).
Production:
Conception + composition + engineering + arrangement + alternative sampling & vinyl scraping (vinyl & tapes restoration, including the 1970-80`s ex-Soviet recordings by Ariel, Tsvety, Sinyaya Ptitsa, V.Obodsinskiy) + vocals engineering + lyrics in English/translation of P.Celan`s 'Die Niemandsrose' poem + improvisations upon Cl.Debaussy and M.Dietrich songs and ex-Soviet ‘Autumnal Marathon’ and ‘The Star Boy’ motion pictures themes by Olegh Kolyada (with Helena K`s contribution in piano & clavier parts), 2005-2008/Zhytomyr, Ukraine. Strings + trumpet + cello by Zhytomyr Chamber Orchestra, early 2000/Zhytomyr, Ukraine. Acoustic guitar on "Eye-Deep in Hell" and "Late August Flowers" by Pavel Voskoboyev, November 2007/Zhytomyr, Ukraine. Vocals in Italian + lyrics renderings + mandolin on "Every Time I Turn around (another Year is over)" by Davide Borghi; vocals recording and engineering + samples editing on "Eye-Deep in Hell" (children’s talking-away), and "Every Time I Turn around (another Year is over)" (rain and wind snippets) by Stefano Romagnoli, summer 2007/Carpi, Italy. Layout & artwork by Katia Ilieva, winter-spring 2007-2009/Sofia, Bulgaria.
Conception:
Prosa Profana unveils a humane feeling of nostalghia as that of sorrow towards present lack of integrity, commonness, and harmony. Homesickness and melancholy, grief and yearning, but also hope and belief nostalghia is a deep relation one cannot relinquish or renounce since it is the purest sacrificial nature of a man. Sacrifice as a consequence of nostalghia is a verdict to overwhelmingly materialized time, its impiety and de-spiritualization. Nostalghia is a confession, humble declaration of love as generally the highest art manifestation ever possible. Prosa Profana is our verdict to ourselves." [label info]
www.nitkie.ru
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| FIRST LAW |
Beyond IO |
CD / 12 |
"First Law's potency of sound increases with each release in atmosphere and recounting interaction. "Beyond IO" casts a large shade and proves once more the inimitable profile of this artist. Twanging sculptures manifested by an immense power of frequencies are falling like a tempest into a sensational and pulsating world always stored by multilayered levels. The CD/12inch set contains 90 minutes of musical reconnaissances enmeshed in a homogeneous resonance and represents the equilibrium of modulated sound research, electronic songwriting and an not-ending innovative stream of ideas. Close your eyes and open your ears and dig deep into a galaxy generated by tonal and artistical visions. Enter the plateau of ultimate sound design and enjoy the view from the observation tower over all categorical perception! Gatefold LP sleeve, limited 525 copies." [press release]
|
2004 |
€17.00 |
|
|
Chaos Structure |
CD |
“The 5th full-time album of FIR§T LAW surprises once again with a huge amount of stylistic variety and proofs that he is the ultimate cosmonaut of the inner spheres. "Chaos Structure" is a hallucinetic maelstrom, every note and sound tells a different story and guide the listener to a journey through unseen areas of modulation and alienated reality where the time stands still. The hieroglyphic soundforms are structuring an audible world of an acoustic language. All compositions are cautious built to create a majestic flowing of a soundworld full of structures and outstanding melodies layered with percussion tracks. FIR§T LAW's music implicates inner spheres to build a new vision of a structured chaos with very intense and irresistible sounds. The complete release melts into an organic symbiotically ensemble and the world is shivering from beyond - Aural Innovasions at it's best!” [label description]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Terrorforming |
CD |
"The 6th full-length album of FIRST LAW is setting real moments of artificial and creative substance. Intermittent bass and percussive elements as well as thrilling sound structures arrange a wide aural spectrum from ambient to drones through analogue modulations to complex compositions with outstanding vocals on top. Conceptually don't get it wrong, this album is not about religious airheads getting their way. This is not about the threat terrorist attacks impose on any of us, nor has it the intention to proliferate violence as a viable way to change the status quo. At the least, as long your opinion stands against the opinion of the majority, you are pretty much out of luck. No, this album is about leverage; it is about deception and opportunity, by accident or by design; it is about resignation and self-delusion; but most of all, this album is about fear." [label info]
www.loki-found.de
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
A Future so bright |
CD |
"In its 20 years of existence -meanwhile the mastermind Andreas Wahnmann also has been active in several other musical projects- FIRST LAW released six full length CDs up to now and developed a trademark in sound research that is truly genre defying. The album title and the cover art for this magical 7th album stand in strong contrast to the musical content and the album manifests its ironical and deliberately conflicting nature right from the start. Deep and throbbing rhythmic patterns, endless layers of guitars droning and manipulated vocals are opposed by disturbingly beautiful melodies. The complexity of the recordings just emphasizes its depressing nature and takes the listener on a journey through sound and emotion. A FUTURE SO BRIGHT is nothing less than an outstanding sound-scape that flows like a hallucinatory maelstrom and marks the darkest release of FIRST LAW so far." [label info]
www.loki-found.de |
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| FIRST, DAVID |
Privacy Issues (droneworks 1996-2009) |
3 x CD |
"Featuring Chris McIntyre and Peter Zummo, trombones; “Blue” Gene Tyranny, keyboards; and The Black Jackets Ensemble. “This was something unexpected and truly different: pulsing electronic textures that derived their rhythm from the beating patterns of closely-tune pitches - as if Alvin Lucier and Philip Glass had gone on a blind date to CBGBs... David put the beat in beating patterns.” - From the liner notes by composer Nic Collins (on his initial exposure to First's music in 1987). Long overdue overview of composer David First's drone works. This special and specially priced set (3 CDs for the price of 2) is comprised of nine works composed between 1996 and 2009. “1996 was the beginning of a new period for me”, says First. “I had spent the prior five or six years creating a lot of music for other players and larger ensembles - culminating in 1995 with a couple of mountings of my opera, The Manhattan Book of the Dead. I was a little burned out on this and decided to return to a more personal, intimate format - one that ended up including an even more extensive exploration of tunings, alternative compositional softwares and how my playing techniques interacted with these things. I think I just wanted to go deeper and have more control over the results. During the ensuing years I've had a few pendulum swings - forays into beat-oriented pop music with lyrics & vocals and, of course, the re-animation of my rock band from the late 70s - the Notekillers. But I've continued, through all of the changes, to maintain my grounding in my love of the drone & associated acoustical phenomena - a love affair that began in my teenage psychedelic years and will, no doubt, be a most significant aspect of my music path for as long as I am at it. The tracks here represent almost every major work created from 1996 to the present and I'm grateful that they will be heard by a wider swath of people than those who lived in NYC or happened to be at one of my touring performances during these years.”
David First's musical life is filled with opposites and extremes. At the age of twenty he played guitar with renowned avant-jazz pianist Cecil Taylor in a legendary Carnegie Hall concert. Two years after that he was creating electronic music as an "after-hours" artist-in-residence at Princeton University and leading a Mummer's String Band in Philadelphia parades. He has played in raucous drunken bar bands and in pin-drop quiet concert halls with classical ensembles. As a composer First has created everything from finely crafted pop songs to long, severely minimalist drone-works. His performances often find him sitting trance-like without seeming to move a muscle, unless he is playing with his recently re-formed psychedelic punk band, Notekillers, at which time he is a whirling blur of hyperactive energy. First has been called "a fascinating artist with a singular technique" in The New York Times, and "a bizarre cross between Hendrix and La Monte Young" in The Village Voice. A 45 single released in 1980, The Zipper, by Notekillers, was cited by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore as one of the songs he played for the rest of the band when they were starting out. Moore called it a “mind-blowing instrumental single” in the British rock magazine Mojo and “a big influence” in the Philadelphia Inquirer. First's music has been performed in the USA at The Kitchen, Bang On A Can, Central Park Summerstage, the CMJ Music Marathon, Joe's Pub, SXSW, The Stone, The Knitting Factory, Tonic, Issue Project Room, Monkey Town, Merkin Hall, CBGB's, and The Spoleto Festival. He has also been presented extensively in Europe - appearing, at Podewil, the USArts Festival, Institut Unzeit (Berlin) as well as at De Ijsbreker (Amsterdam), the Heidelberger Festival for Experimental Music and Literature (Heidelberg), ZwischenTone Festival (Köln), The Impakt Festival (Utrecht), Het Apollohuis (Eindhoven), and the Brugge Concertgebeouw (Brugge). First has also presented sound installations at Kunstforeningen (Copenhagen), the Uppsala Konstmuseum (Uppsala), Exit Art (New York), Voorkamer (Lier) and Studio Five Beekman (NYC). An installation - Dave's Waves, a Sonic Restaurant - ran during the summer of 2006 in the Sonambiente Festival of Sound Art in Berlin. He has also been featured in numerous publications. There have been articles about him in both Guitar Player and Keyboard Magazine as well as in MusikTexte (Germany), Arude, Atlantica (Spain) and Tape Op. There are chapters about his music in the books American Music in the Twentieth Century (Gann/Schirmer) and La Musica Minimalista (Antognozzi/Edizioni Textus), Music Downtown (Gann/UofC Press) and Rifugio intermedio - Il pianoforte contemporaneo fra Italia e Stati Uniti (Arciuli/Teatro di Monfalcone). First received Honorable Mention from Leonardo/ISAST for his article "The Music of the Sphere: An Investigation into Asymptotic Harmonics, Brainwave Entrainment, and the Earth as a Giant Bell". He has received grants from the Foundation of Contemporary Performance Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust and the Meet the Composer Commissioning USA program." [label info]
www.xirecords.org
"Although I didn't keep up with the entire out-put of Phill Niblock's Experimental Intermedia label, the releases I did hear usually a very good, and also usually bring me composers I never heard off. Like David First. I never heard of him as a composer of drone works, nor of his band the Notekillers. In 1995 he finished an opera 'The Manhattan Book Of The Dead' and decided to play something that was more personal and intimate and thus a phase of composing drone music started. Although First is primarily a guitarist he explored various instruments in this drone phase. This three CD starts out with a thirty-five minute piece for Theremin, the longest piece here for a solo instrument. Other pieces are for slide whistle, computer, e-bowed guitar and even an odd one for transistor radios (the shortest actually, at just one minute). Two pieces, under which the CD long 'Pipeline Witness Apologies To Dennis', are pieces for a small ensemble. In the 'Pipeline' for four trombones, tuned
keyboards, e-bow guitar and computer, whereas violin, clarinet, guitar, bass and e-bow appear in 'My Veil Evades Detection'. All of this shows, I think, a wide interest in how to approach drone music, and First does an excellent job. In 'Pipeline' we could recognize some influence of Phill Niblock, whereas in the other pieces First keeps a great balance between material that is partly very loud and present, piercing almost, like in 'Zen Guilt/Zen Blame' or 'Belt', to hectic nervous pieces such as 'Aw!' or very much computer based as in'The Softening Door'. Altogether a great release, quite long of course, spanning more than three hours of music, but with this diversity I must say this is all great. An excellent introduction." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€23.00 |
|
| FISER, LUBOS |
Valerie A Tyden Divu (Valerie and her Week of Wonders) |
LP |
It has been exactly ten years since Finders Keepers Records first liberated Luboš Fišer’s immaculate soundtrack music for Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders (Valerie A Týden Divu) from the vaults of the Barrandov Studio in Prague. As the inaugural release of an ongoing discography of previously unreleased scores from the hugely creative “Film Miracle” that occurred during and after the Czech New Wave (CNW), this score will always retain a special place in the heart of the label as well as our listeners who consistently request an updated repress of this signi cant vinyl milestone. Having grown in status from an obscure and misunderstood socialist-era art house oddity, via the hands of risqué foreign uff merchants, to nally nd its rightful audience as a bona de surrealist cinematic masterpiece of world class standards, this 1970 lm adaptation of Vítezslav Nezval’s 1935 avant-garde novella (a lm that literally cross-pollinated Max Ernst’s A Week Of Kindness and Lewis Carols Alice In Wonderland) has garnered widespread critical acclaim. Inspiring ongoing generations of visual artists, musicians, writers and lmmakers - all of whom regard this truly individualistic and inimitable surrealist lm poem to be an indelible in uence - Valerie continues to impregnate their daily artistic referential fabric."
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| FIVE ELEMENTS MUSIC |
Six acts of Saprofields |
CD-R |
Pure field recordings from this russian act, the solo-project of one EXIST IN GREY-member, lots of wind & water & animal-sounds of all kinds, somehow mixed with soft electronic drones (we think), very intimate & near, a pleasure for all field-recording lovers !
Comes in a beautiful full-colour & handmade cardboard cover.
"Five Elements Music is a conceprual project of Sergey [S] (Exit In Grey, Sister Loolomie), based on using natural sounds. Drone ambient with lots of field recordings: earth, water, sand, fire, salt..." [web info]
|
2006 |
€9.50 |
|
| FIVE THOUSAND SPIRITS |
Quantum Consciousness |
CD |
PREPARE TO HAVE YOUR REALITY SHATTERED ! 5000 SPIRITS beziehen sich aufs holistische Quanten-Bewusstsein und widmen ihr Album dem LSD-Erfinder ALBERT HOFMANN, der am 11. Januar 2006 100 Jahre alt geworden ist. Hier tauchen sie tief ein in „atmende“ Strukturen, eine spirituelle ambience wie sie für ALIO DIE so typisch ist, angereichert durch fremdartige aurale Essenzen, wie Stimmen und leichte elektronische Effekte…
“After seven years of silence they will recurred to be heard again ...with 'Quantum Consciousness' they will not only overflowing the passed times but will leave frightened not only some listeners. Five tracks built in an unbroken journey of great intensity that Raffaele Serra ed Alio Die have characterized with an electronic refine touch and a flood vitality, always at the threshold of a mystery's whirlpool, some powerful electronic mantra that in these lands have already given some kind of dependance. Great artwork in gold print on dark green.” [label info]
|
2006 |
€13.50 |
|
|
Schwarzschild Radius |
CD |
Nach "Quantum Consciousness" Teil 2 der Serie "Prepare to have your reality shattered", ein "kosmisch"-ambientes Klangefüge mit gleichen Anteilen von Elektronik und field recordings oder instrumental-handgemachten Sounds.... feine illumination-drones vom ALIO DIE-Seitenprojekt. 6 tracks, 54+ Minuten.
"The return by FIVE THOUSAND SPIRITS 'Schwarzschild Radius' CD, second part of a series, it is an unbroken journey of great intensity that Raffaele Serra ed Alio Die have characterized with an electronic refine touch and a flood vitality, always at the threshold of a mystery's whirlpool, an electronic mantra that in these lands have already given some kind of dependance. Great second chapter after the great 'Quantum Consciousness'. Out on Sempiterna Mutatio/Hic Sunt Leones. SM 009 CD" [label info]
|
2006 |
€13.50 |
|
| |
Melchiazek |
CD |
"The fourth chapter of the series, has long announced, is finally out. Melchiazek offers us 'music for imaginary movies' that Raffaele Serra has devoted much of his compositions .. here in the more obscure and dramatic vein, magnetic and mysterious.
Alio Die adds field recordings, loops, effects and edited the whole work.
An incredible machine of sounds, a great album for visions lovers and for fans of electronic music e dark ambient.
Prepared to see your reality shattered IV!!!
Wonderful artwork printed brown and bronze..
The cd comes in an elegant 3 sides digipack, LTD 300 copies." [label info]
www.aliodie.com
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| FLEURY-STEINER, BEN |
He dreams in Rivers |
mCD-R |
"Head of the gears of sand label, also known under the paradin and light of shipwreck aliases and for collaborations with aidan baker or oophoi, ben fleury-steiner proposes here two highly evocative droney pieces, as its title suggests it... full-colour printed 3" cd-r with artwork by delphine ancelle-b." [label info]
http://taalem.free.fr/
|
2007 |
€5.00 |
|
| FLORES, RAFAEL |
Nubes, Cometas, Rumores y Orugas: selected works 1994-2004 |
CD |
Einer der ganz aktiven frühen Industrial-“Cassettentäter” aus den 80ern war RAFAEL FLORES, der unter dem Namen COMANDO BRUNO arbeitete. Das Moskauer Label MONOCHROME VISION hat nun neueres Material zusammengetragen, welches nur in mini-CDR-Auflagen erhältlich war. FLORES Musik besticht durch die Verwendung mechanischer loops & „industrieller“ Geräusche, metallischer Drones & merkwürdiger verzerrter elektronischer Strukturen.....alles sehr hypnotisch, minimal & repetitiv, und manchmal recht abgründig....
das ist der 80er Jahre Noise-Minimalismus, wie man ihn von M.B., S-CORE oder TAM QUAM TABULA RASA geschätzt hat...
“First official CD album of Rafael Flores who hails from the depth of spanish noise underground scene, known for his early works released under Comando Bruno moniker. This compilation presents the latest decade of his sound experimentation, and shows quite diverse sides of his creative efforts, which ranges from collaged field recordings to noise ambient loops, from rhythmic structures to hypnotic electronic passages.“ [label info]
“....Rafael Flores first came to my attention in 1984 or 1985 when he worked as Comando Bruno, and was featured on many cassette compilations around the world. I even released a cassette of his, I think in 1986. Despite me xeroxing the cover, it had all sorts of stamps made by Comando Bruno, as he was also heavily into mailart. But my contact with Flores was rather small, and in the later half of the eighties we were no longer in contact and when people started to release LPs and CDs, he seemed to have disappeared. His cassette was re-issued on CDR (and sold really few copies, not that I was surprised), and suddenly Flores knocked on my door asking for a few copies. Since then we are not in contact, but it's good to know he's back. From the lost years, 1994-2004 he now releases a CD - his first in twenty-five years. It's great to hear this music without the hiss and static of a cassette. Flores plays industrial music, but one that strictly along the 'old' rules. He takes he sounds from rather primitive sources (such as the radio depicted on the cover), feeding them through electronics, chopping them into small rhythm particles (such as in 'Boucher 2' which sounds alike Esplendor Geometrico), but never the material dissolves into a mass of noise sound. Crisp clear, layers of electronic sounds, processed field recordings (in 'Para'), this is music that reminded me of the late eighties Asmus Tietchens. Forceful, yet intelligent industrial music. A major step forward and hopefully much more to come.” [Frans de Waard / Vital Weekly]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| FLOWER-CORSANO DUO |
The undisputed dimension |
7 |
Ecstatic Power-Drone & Free-Noise vom Edinburgher Perkussionisten CHRIS CORSANO im Verbund mit MICK FLOWER (VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA, etc.), straigt & rumpelnd-wuchtig auf der A, wild improvisiert auf der Flipside.. what a furious duo !
"The unholy alliance of Mick Flower and percussive everyman Chris Corsano: Corsano has been widely hailed as the next chapter in the story of out-there drumming - he's played with everyone worth mentioning at the massive freenoisefolkpsych crossroads. Similarly, Mick's renowned for his work with Vibracathedral Orchestra and Sunburned Hand Of The Man, amongst many others. Together they construct a devilishly beautiful psychedelic maelstrom, Chris like a polyrhythmic octopus on the kit, Mick conjuring sublime lysergic ragas from the shaahi baaja." [label info]
"... It's lodged somewhere inbetween Jimi Hendrix and Thurston Moore, with a stop-off in outer Mongolia for posterity and has inhaled so much Opium that it no longer knows the difference between old and new, sound and silence. This is heady, involving music, breathtakingly visceral and daring you to bust your speakers with. I challenge you to find a more jaw-dropping 7" experience this year! Huge recommendation." [Boomkat]
www.no-fi.org.uk/label.php
|
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
| FLYING SAUCER ATTACK |
same |
CD |
"1993 debut from Dave Pearce, with the assistance of Rachel Brook and Matt Elliot (aka Third Eye Foundation), which in retrospect is still the touchstone for the whole Bristol "scene" that emerged shortly thereafter. Roughly a blend of half "songs" and half far-out instrumental doodles, the record builds an atmosphere of dour beauty that sustains itself over the course of the entire program, no small thing. "My Dreaming Hill," "Wish," and "The Season Is Ours" are couched in fuzz and whispery reverb, but are beautiful and accessible tunes, able to stand on their own in any context. "Popol Vuh 1" and "Popol Vuh 2" are straight up tributes to the now much better known German masters, steeping in the hushed atmosphere of the best PV records (if not exactly the sound). The jarring cover of "The Drowners" is a strange interlude in the middle of the otherwise very cosmic second half, but most people seem to like it, so what do I know? 10 tracks, 50 minutes." [label info]
www.vhfrecords.com
|
1993 |
€13.50 |
|
| FM EINHEIT |
EXHIBITION OF A DREAM |
do-CD |
Zwölf Träume von Musikern, Künstlern und Filmemachern, interpretiert von FM Einheit (ex-EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN), mit Guest-Vocals von: Lee Ranaldo (SONIC YOUTH), Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (PSYCHIC TV / THROBBING GRISTLE), Susan Stenger (BAND OF SUSANS), Émilie Pitoiset, Erika Stucky und dem Gubenkian Chor; mit Gastmusikern: Volker Kamp, Saskia von Klitzing, Robert Poss, und Susan Stenger. Exhibition Of A Dream (L'exposition D'un Rêve) besteht aus zwölf Träumen die in Songs transformiert wurden. Exhibition Of A Dream zeigt die komplexe Schönheit, wie ein Traum im Kopf der Betrachter*innen entsteht. Als geteilte Erfahrung, die in unserem persönlichen inneren Raum gelebt werden soll, sind diese remasterten Träume eine Einladung, einer sensiblen Architektur aus Worten und Musik zu lauschen. Entstanden 2017, aufgezeichnet in den Amphitheatern und im Garten der Fundaçao Calouste Gulbenkian in Lissabon sowie in Einheit's eigenem Studio Steinschlag. Die Träumer waren: Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Lee Ranaldo, Émilie Pitoiset, Susan Stenger, Susie Green, David Link, Pierre Paulin, Alexandre Estrela, Tim Etchells, Gabriel Abrantes, FM Einheit, und Genesis Breyer P-Orridge.
Twelve dreams of musicians, artists, and filmmakers, interpreted by FM Einheit (ex-EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN), with voices by: Lee Ranaldo (SONIC YOUTH), Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (PSYCHIC TV / THROBBING GRISTLE), Susan Stenger (BAND OF SUSANS), Émilie Pitoiset, Erika Stucky, and the Gubenkian Choir; with guest musicians: Volker Kamp, Saskia von Klitzing, Robert Poss, and Susan Stenger.
Exhibition Of A Dream (L'exposition D'un Rêve) is formed of twelve dreams interpreted as songs. Exploded in time, these are played as temporary and evolving patterns of shapes and forms in an otherwise empty gallery following the drawings of mandalas. Exhibition Of A Dream highlights the complex beauty of how to generate a dream in the mind of the spectator. A shared experience to be lived within our own personal inner space, these remastered dreams are an invitation to listen to a sensitive architecture of words and music.
Created 2017, recorded both in public and in private in the amphitheatres and the garden of the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon, and in Einheit's own studio Steinschlag. The dreamers were: Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Lee Ranaldo, Émilie Pitoiset, Susan Stenger, Susie Green, David Link, Pierre Paulin, Alexandre Estrela, Tim Etchells, Gabriel Abrantes, FM Einheit, and Genesis Breyer P-Orridge.
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/exhibition-of-a-dream-csr292cd
|
2021 |
€16.00 |
|
| FOETUSDREAMS |
Brouillard |
CD-R |
"Winter-Light is extremely proud and happy to announce its very first release on the Winter-Light label by the Dutch dark ambient producer, FoetusDreams. "Brouillard" is the first full length dark ambient album produced by FoetusDreams, who has previously contributed music to compilations.
From start to finish "Brouillard" is a real ambient journey; sometimes an introspective one, sometimes a glance from the inside looking out and far beyond the reach of the human eye. The tracks are beautifully sculpted pieces of ambient excellence and from the opening moments of the first you are transported into the world of "FoetusDreams". Rich drones resonate across starkly crafted, ice-cold landscapes where your only companions are the sounds that flow around you. Vibrant musical layers, occasionally punctuated with a clever use of samples, draw the listener ever further away from reality towards a deeper, more meaningful sense of self. You could easily be standing on the edge of the universe looking out, or traversing the caverns of your own mind in a search for that place of inner peace. The title track "Brouillard" is a master class in drone ambient with its ever present trance inducing hum that lowers a mist over the eyes and takes you to a very dark place indeed.
If you are looking to go on a journey then it begins right here. The tracks have been mastered by Frederic Arbour from Cyclic Law.
"There is only one God and that God is man himself."
1. Way Of Be
2. Abandoned Planet
3. Winter Light
4. Cavern
5. Travel Within
6. Slowly Approaching A Dead Star
7. Brouillard
8. Interference
9. Molecular Cloud
10. Endless Horizon
Professionally manufactured CD-r comes in a beautifully produced 6-panel digipack. 10 tracks, total running time 62:51. Edition is limited to 150 copies." [label info]
www.winter-light.nl
"The dutch label Winter Light comes out with its first full-length release, composed by the Dutch project Foetusdreams. Beginning with the first song, ‘Way Of Be’, we are given a hint to what this opus stands for: sacral, atheistic dark ambient, as suggested by the recitation ‘There is only one God and that God is man himself”, repeated on the droning fluid of a choral-tinged musical line.
‘Abandoned Planet’ is a cinematic picture of an irremediable future, a play on indefinite and elusive notes, as if covered by the very dust that will whip out everything we now observe in such a careful manner. This same absence of light that the music suggests here will immerse into darkness those who once were saints and murderers alike…
‘Winter Light’ contains even more grave accents and sullen notes, a saturnine sense of despondency, as if this light, diffused somewhere in the distance, could be the only real thing between the worthless earth and a sky that simply does not exist. And those piano chords, so naive and worldly, are written like an irrelevant epitaph on the tombstone that spares you from another daylight.
From here, a place of eternal farewell, the piece ‘Cavern’ ressembles an invitation to a voluptuous meeting within the caves of the earth and what, by an anatomical reading, should represent traces of the earth’s disease; holes and gangrenas in its crust come now to be the only place still safe and pure. In parallel, the following track, ‘Travel Within’, moves more fluidly: blood here and there, coagulated and bubbling, in response to a personal prophilaxy directed to the external world. This return to the womb imprints a suggestive movement to the music’s metabolism and therefore the drones are let loose to encircle the mind in a hypnotic and quite perverse attitude.
Someone said that the dream is the music of the soul. ‘Slowly Approaching A Dead Star’ corresponds to such a dreaming of the impossible. A song built on a catatonic development of dazzling cosmic drones. Out of this dream, from which one should never wake up if they want the dream to really materialize, we are taken to the next song, ‘Brouillard’. Here the sculpture is different, adopting a more industrial style. The pulsating drones reside on flashes of undertones and the musical line is completed by an Amerindian poem interrupted at intervals by a French nihilistic monologue. It should be the album’s pièce de résistance, because it’s simply sublime in its cynical shrewdness of the text, maintained along with that gloomy Dalinian melody, a pure postmodern folk song.
I have avoided giving references, but ‘Interference’ reminded me so much of one of the liturgies from MZ 412’s ‘Infernal Affairs’. The crushing feeling of religiousness and demonic energy, which actually translates in meta-nihilism, pervades this song all along. At the hearing of the escalating drones, the great spaces of hollow matter receive a new personality. On ‘Molecular Cloud’ the Dutch artist seems to paint his drones on the very air around him with gentle brushes, in tones of grey that no soon are dried up, remain imprinted solely on the listener’s mind.
The massive 63-minute long album closes with ‘Endless Horizons’. This journey between vivid drone sculptures has been a passage between the world as one sees it and the world as one feels it, a walk through this multifaceted corridor that we can take only in dreams, or music, or mist." [Santa Sangre] |
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| FOR KINGS AND QUEENS |
Elektroraum |
CD-R |
"The latest Album from For Kings and Queens „Elektroraum“
It contains 12 new electro acoustic works. They were recorded between December 2013 and January 2014 based on old demos and pieces from the last 4 years using field recordings, found sounds, guitar, synth and effect pedals.
Elektroraum
Der Anfang einer Hausmusik
Unruhiger Stuhl erster Teil
Blaues für nichts
Im Elektroraum
Unruhiger Stuhl zweiter Teil
Der Schnurrbart Friedrich Nietzsche
Die Bürde des Königs
Am Nordpol
Ein März Kind
Auf den Hund gekommen
Der dritte Teil eines Stückes
War es Bach?
Music and all instruments: Jens Kindermann
Artwork: Jens Kindermann" [label info]
"Jens Kinderman is the man behind For Kings And Queens, from Berlin, and he has released a bunch of releases before and now returns with an album of songs, which he 'demoed' in the last four years, but now fully works into proper songs. His primary instruments are the guitar, synth, effect pedals, found sounds and field recordings. Unlike his last release, which was all about voices, he goes back to his earlier releases and influences and it's not difficult to see such influences as say from Fennesz here. Many of these songs, except for the first, are rather short and to the point. He uses a bit of sound, loops that around, and adds further treatment to individual sounds as he mixes them along as the piece evolves. I thought the first piece, close to eight minutes, was a bit long for what it was and a bit unfocussed, but the other eleven were more to the point and sharp, exploring the right amount of sound sources and ideas per track, and then moving to a whole new set of sounds and ideas in the next, making this a highly varied work, which held my attention for the entire forty-three minutes. Maybe in terms of glitch (etc.) not the most innovative work, but I thought it was most entertaining record. Easily the best album by For Kings And Queens I heard so far." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
www.subterraneansonic.de |
2014 |
€8.00 |
|
| FORCUCCI, LUCA |
Fog Horns |
CD |
"Luca Forcucci is a binational Swiss and Italian composer and artist. His work observes the perceptive properties/relations of sound and space (and vice versa) through sound installations, visuals, compositions and performances. In order to explore the field of possibilities for sound in a context of music and art as experience, the works converge with dance, digital performance, poetry, architecture and neuroscience. In this context, he is interested by perceptionand consciousness.
His compositions have spanned through the years from electronic music, which was produced by Al Comet from The Young Gods, to field recordings collected around the world in urban contexts like Sao Paulo, Shanghai, San Francisco and natural ones like the Amazon forest or the Swiss Alps to name a few." [label info]
www.subrosa.net
"Sub Rosa is busy presenting new and young composers and here have a release by Luca Forcucci. "His work observes the perception of sound through an architectural approach in the relation of sound and space". He studied in Berlin, Paris (at GRM) and the Brain Mind Institute in Switzerland. I am not sure if he has other releases available, but this is the first time I hear his music. The three pieces on this release are inspired by the fog horns he heard when he landed in San Francisco in Spring 2011. Obviously he recorded those and uses them as source material on these pieces. On the title piece he gets help from Goo Le Gooster on turntables, scratch, cuts and echoplex and in 'Winds' it's the cello of Michael Kott. When I visited San Francisco, a long time ago, I didn't hear fog horns, but I can imagine what they would sound like. the long sustaining and slowly shifting sounds of the horns over big distance, would already be enough to be music by itself, but Forcucci's treatments to the material enhance the mood further. Quite dark and desolate - like recorded from below the sea surface where metallic objects softly touch upon the microphone - in 'Winds' and hazy, fog like, not entirely clear for all to see in in 'L'Ecume Des Jours'. The title piece is the place in which happens most. Here the fog horns form a web behind a collage of field recordings - people talking and walking, bird calls and a bit of scratch like sounds. Oddly enough (but why?), I thought this was the least interesting piece of these three. Maybe the whole marriage of field recordings with a bit scratching just didn't work well; maybe it gave me an uneasy sense of being forcefully 'hip' to some extend? I don't know. But the other two pieces are really good." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| FORD PROCO / COIL |
Expansion Naranja |
12inch |
"We are really honoured to present a 12” EP collaboration between the mexican band Ford Proco and the legendary UK electronic pioneers Peter Christopherson/John Balance aka Coil.
Ford Proco were formed in 1986 in Tijuana and they are considered the godfathers of the industrial electronic music in Mexico.
The story behind the recording of the two tracks is like a fairy tale.. apparentely the band members Robert Proco (sampler & synthesizers) and Wito Lavolt (bass, keyboards & drums) met Peter Christopherson in Los Angeles in the occasion of The Orb show back in the 90s and they exchanged phones & emails. Months later ‘Sleazy’ call and invited them as extras for Ice-T videos..
The tracks were composed following the method of the ‘expansión naranja’; Peter Christopherson was adding sax, drums and effects, while John Balance provided his magnificient voice.
Both the tracks were originally recorded in Autumn 1999 and they are unreleased on vinyl. The tracks were directly transferred from the original DCC (Digital Compact Cassette) and remastered by the mighty Rude 66.
Cover artwork design by Alessandro Adriani, labels artwork design of sacred geometry logos by Maximiliano Lizárraga (auayuavi.com).
Tracklist
A – Expansión Naranja
B – Ecuación De Las Estrellas" [label info]
www.mannequinrecords.com
|
2015 |
€18.00 |
|
| FORSYTH, KEELEY |
Debris (gold) |
LP |
"The songs comprising Keeley Forsyth’s debut are, she states simply, “like blocks of metal that drop from the sky.”
With its minimal arrangements placing her recollections and dissections of sometimes harrowing experiences front and centre, Debris showcases her elemental voice and an outpouring of candid, haunting lyrics detailing the seismic ruptures which take place behind closed doors. “There was a lot going on in my life that was heavy and hard,” she adds. “Songs were made under that moment.”
Born and raised in Oldham, Forsyth first made her name as an actor, and while the creation of music has been a constant feature in her life, she’s taken the long road to its release. A deeply intuitive and singular musician, she began writing several years ago, accompanying herself on harmonium and accordion.
“I came up with lots of songs in a very short space of time,” Forsyth recalls. “Most songs were written in the time it took to sing them. But I held them close, and often thought I needed to do something with them. It never felt right to go out and look for it. I felt like I needed to wait and move when I felt inspired.”
That inspiration struck one evening while listening to the radio, where she first encountered pianist and composer Matthew Bourne’s work. “I heard his music and suddenly I could hear them both together,” she says of her songs and his compositions. “I felt compelled to write to him. He got straight back and said he loved what I was doing.” What followed were quick and instinctive collaborations with Bourne and producer and musician Sam Hobbs, with the initial burst of momentum Forsyth felt when writing carried through into the studio, preserving the intricacies and accidents that make an album human.
Keeley Forsyth - voice
Sam Hobbs - Fender Rhodes, synthesisers, drums & percussion, programming
Mark Creswell - guitar, bass
Matthew Bourne - piano, harmonium, LAMM Memorymoog, cello
https://keeleyforsyth.bandcamp.com/album/debris |
2020 |
€23.00 |
|
| FORT, BERNARD |
FRACTALS / Brain Fever |
LP |
FRACTALS (1981), 21’26
Composed at the GMVL from December 1979 to September 1981, this work was commissioned by Fnac.
Fractals are mathematical oddities that, when crossing our path, turn the smallest island into an immensity to be explored.
FRACTALS is a series of short studies, all based on the same sound source. Seeking in the sound and its very logic a proposal upon which a construction is elaborated, each Fractal remains open and is a mere fragment of itself.
FRACTALS, music pieces sculpted in four dimensions, are vast microcosms that can only be inhabited by the mind. Each Fractal can be approached from several angles, far, near, etc. Some can be listened to at different speeds, forwards or backwards.
FRACTALS: amorphous and endless music pieces whose centre is everywhere and circumference nowhere.
Brain Fever (2017), 18'00
Wherever you may be in the forest of South India, the Brain Fever bird, together with the Seven Sisters, literally gets into your head. Whether it be early morning, daytime, or nighttime, amidst the stridulations of insects, its song utterly reflects Indian life: sonorous, noisy, insistent, dense, overcrowded, mobile, swarming, frantic, overheated, deprived of rest and sleep.
Brain Fever echoes sonic images caught in the Aurovillian forest, near Pondicherry, and rich fragments of improvisations made in Lyon on analog sound synthesis or feedback devices, the kind I used to do in the first GMVL studios.
Brain Fever is dedicated to Sofia Jannok, a musician and sàmi singer.
editionsmego.com/release/REGRM-024
|
2020 |
€19.50 |
|
| FOSCA, ANA |
Poised at the Edge of Structure |
CD |
ana fosca has emerged as presence to be reckoned with. here stands a woman raging, wrestling, communing, and plainly preoccupied with the humanity's propensity for tragedy, violence, and blight. and it is with a particular strain of noise - one that is dour, miserable, frightening - through which she harnesses these conditions. while her catalogue of recordings is brief, ana fosca (born linn hvid) honed her craft by performing on a constant basis throughout denmark, sweden, and germany, especially through the dynamic community of mayhem in her native copenhagen. the feral expressionism she developed in performance is matched by a numerous, existential and conceptual antecedents that inform fosca's work. kirkegaard. plath. tarkovsky. hannah arendt. vienna aktionism. eliane radigue's approach to listening. the films of kurt kren. the thoughts and writing of simone de beauvoir.
poised at the edge of structure marks fosca's debut for the helen scarsdale agency, following a very limited cassette on the russian imprint nazlo and a collaboration with vanity productions on no rent. on this recording, she evinces her gesamtkunstwerk as ana fosca in all of its harrowing portent. she composes along cyclonic patterns of oppositional forces, searing noise, and ominous drone. when employing her voice, fosca bellows repetitive chants deep in the mix, a cathartic incantation where meaning can found within all of this agony and despair. the "mathematics of grief" is a phrase that fosca uses in describing this album that amplifies her personal experiences with loss to expound upon the human condition at large. this album never settles into the tropes of power electronics, dark ambient, death industrial, or studied electro-acoustic practices, but absorbs the most impactful facets to all these aesthetics. coming out of the danish underground scene, her work finds common ground with the early, savage sounds of posh isolation, adjacent to puce mary in terms of similarly fraught psychological proclamations, but leaning into the violent miasma of maeror tri / troum at their most industrial.
https://helenscarsdale.bandcamp.com/album/poised-at-the-edge-of-structure |
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| FOVEA HEX |
Here is where we used to sing |
CD |
"Fovea Hex are one of the mostintriguing phenomena in contemporary music. Despite the seemingly wilful nonchalance that has kept them under the radar so far (only 3 ep releases in 5 years, a mere fistful of appearances in France, Spain, Italy and Ireland, and their preference for elliptical, minimal design) the group have nevertheless developed an enviable cult status both in Europe and the United States, have performed at the personal invitation of David Lynch in the gardens of the Cartier Foundation in Paris and have attracted the free and willing participation of a genre and generation hopping rollcall of A-list luminaries including Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Carter Burwell, Donal Lunny, and Steven Wilson, as well as a who's
who of the electronic avant-garde including Roger Doyle, the Hafler Trio, Colin Potter and Michael Begg. Clodagh Simonds, the group's reclusive leader (if they can be called a
group, and indeed, if she can be called a leader) has recently emerged to announce the eagerlyanticipated first full-length album from Fovea Hex, Here Is Where We Used To Sing, which will be released on CD and digital formats on April 18th 2011. The album comrises 8 beautifully crafted songs and 3 short instrumentals that build on the fusion of formal composition, cutting edge ambient sound
art, incomparable song writing skill, and Simonds's emotionally rich and evocative vocals ("A voice that one could happily drown in for hours" remarked Pitchfork) that made their ep trilogy, Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent, so extraordinary. These "songs that don't go where you think" are immediately seductive, inhabiting a curiously elusive, many-layered
otherworld. They manage to sound both powerful and delicate, sophisticated and elemental, resonating with an understated emotional intensity so rare these days that it comes slightly as a shock. The balancing act is fragile, and nothing is quite what it seems, yet the group themselves are unlikely to
explain their methods or reasons. That task falls to fans and friends such as Matmos's Drew Daniels: "The starlit nocturnes of Fovea Hex bind electronics, drones and voices into song spells. Their intimacy and raw emotional power feel centuries old, but the experimental sound design can be shockingly modern. There is an intense focus to this music ¬ no clutter, no
cliches ¬ which is both ravishing and rare"
Simonds has gathered about her a now familiar troupe of collaborators for this album. A core ensemble of Simonds (vocals, keyboards, harmonium, psaltery, lyre, kalimba), Laura Sheeran (vocals, saw), Cora Venus Lunny
(violin, viola), Michael Begg (electronics, keyboards) and Colin Potter (electronics) are variously joined, replaced, augmented and superimposed by visitations from Brian Eno, Julia Kent (of Antony and the Johnsons), John
Contreras, Kate Ellis, members of Italy's Larsen, and, in keeping with the mystery that seems to veil the heart of the enterprise, further "friends who would prefer to remain nameless." True to their oblique nature, they even manage to credit an abstract contribution to the 10,000 year project; The Long Now Foundation (http://longnow.org/) "Three Beams", a limited edition bonus disk of 3 extended remixes allows full and free rein to the palette of ambient / experimental electronica at Fovea Hex's disposal. Works by Colin
Potter, Michael Begg and William Basinski perfectly counterpoint the highly crafted songs on the album with generously proportioned and sonically mesmerizing soundscapes.
One has to wonder how Simonds really feels now that the appearance of this singular album seems likely to tear apart forever the fabric of anonymity in which this extraordinary ensemble has until now been concealed." [label info]
"Certainly a project covered in mystery, Fovea Hex. In the last five years, they released three CD-EPs, all on Die Stadt, all with bonus remix CDs. A mystery in as far that we obviously know who is behind it. Clodagh Simonds is the 'leader' of the pack. She sings, plays piano, harmonium, keyboards, kalimba and lyre. Around her she has gathered a whole bunch of musicians, such as Michael Begg, Kate Ellis, Cora Venus Lunny, Brian Eno and Colin Potter. They add such instruments as cello, violin, treated bells, sonics and starry keyboards. If you thought that Fovea Hex would have moved on after their last EP, you're wrong. They still operate in that very same field of ambient music and folk tunes. The voice of Simonds is as heavenly as before and the music as sparse and to the point as before. Very fragile music, maybe even a pathetic (although I like to stress I hardly mean this in a negative way), highly emotional. Even without paying attention to the lyrics, one can easily feel the high
emotional level which is used here. I can imagine that playing this music when depressed is not going to help to lift that depression. Or perhaps it does. Very sad and yet very beautiful music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
|
The Salt Garden III |
10inch + CD |
Janet Records, in association with Headphone Dust and Die Stadt present
Fovea Hex The Salt Garden III
Cat No HDFH1034 (vinyl) / HDFHCD32 (CD)
(Bonus CD Cat. No: HDFHCD33)
Shipping Date - 26/11/2019
Ltd Edition - 10" vinyl + CD + bonus remix CD
Standard Editions - 10" vinyl + CD / CD / DL
"The starlit nocturnes of Fovea Hex bind electronics, drones and voices into song-spells that are untimely in the best possible sense; their intimacy and raw emotional power feel centuries old, but the experimental sound-design can be shockingly modern." Drew Daniels (Matmos)
The new EP from Fovea Hex THE SALT GARDEN 3 will be released on November 26th 2019 on Steven Wilson's Headphone Dust label.
The Salt Garden 3 is the final word, and the concluding instalment to the critically lauded The Salt Garden Trilogy. Issued in 3 standard editions; 10 inch vinyl + CD, CD only, and Digital Download. There will also be a limited edition release featuring a bonus remix CD by Steven Wilson. The pre-sale for this limited edition, featuring 4 remixes by Steven, presented in individual and combination treatments, will only be available online via Janet Records.
The core ensemble of Clodagh Simonds, Michael Begg, Colin Potter, Cora Venus Lunny and Kate Ellis is joined by special guests Guido Zen, and the Medazza and Dote Moss choirs.
Critical Reaction to The Salt Garden 1 and 2
5 Against 4 (UK)
"Whenever Irish experimental electronic folk group Fovea Hex put out something new, it's not just a cause to rejoice but a guarantee of something unique and indescribably wonderful..."
The Wire (UK)
"...fragile baroque instruments and synthy atmospheres surround Simonds's singing and songwriting, both on better and less predictable form than ever... A Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom for the 21st Century: emotionally deepens with extra listens"
Brainwashed (US)
(Readers Poll Winner: Single of the Year, 2016 for Salt Garden 1)
"Another beautiful piece in a flawless catalog..."
Igloo (US)
"The superlatives left to describe this unique chamber ensemble are fast running out..."
Dusted (US)
"... a blending of acoustic and electronic that attains a kind of smooth, vatic timelessness. Every element feels precisely placed and oddly haunting... Spellbinding".
Subjectivisten (NL)
"...an almost indefinable sound...the music is a hybrid of (dark) ambient, experimental music, neoclassical and ethereal folk and yet no label feels completely comfortable. . It is of an unearthly beauty!"
Touching Extremes (IT)
"no actual comparison is conceivable - sonic poetry"
Gonzo Circus (NL)
"if you like unique sirens like Nico, Dead Can Dance and This Mortal Coil, you will also unconditionally embrace Fovea Hex."
Fovea Hex Background
Having first emerged at the tender age of 15 as the main writer behind 70s cult Irish psych-folk band Mellow Candle, and with sessions for both Thin Lizzy and Mike Oldfield under her belt by the age of 21, Irish singer Clodagh Simonds relocated to New York and subsequently "went quiet" for almost two decades, before re- emerging in 2005 with Fovea Hex, supported by an extraordinary assembly of friends and colleagues, including Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Carter Burwell, Donal Lunny, Roger Doyle, and Steven Wilson. Their first trilogy of eps, NEITHER SPEAK NOR REMAIN SILENT, was, upon its release, greeted by a growing momentum of critical acclaim. Their nascent cult reputation was further affirmed by a personal invitation from David Lynch to perform live in Paris at the Cartier Foundation in Paris as part of his THE AIR IS ON FIRE exhibition.
In 2008 a full length album, HERE IS WHERE WE USED TO SING, was released, to yet more glowing reviews. The album made several end-of-year lists and was awarded album of the year in periodicals in the UK, North America and Italy.
THE SALT GARDEN 1 was released in 2016 and THE SALT GARDEN 2 in 2017, consolidating and deepening the high esteem and critical regard in which this most beguiling of ensembles continues to be held.
The frequently claimed "impossible to categorise" tag applies well to Fovea Hex. The songs are dominated by a voice that's too strong to be deigned ethereal, but remains too otherworldly to file alongside more conventional female singer-songwriters. The pace tends to be languid, the arrangements intricate and fragile. Comparisons have been made to This Mortal Coil, Emily Dickinson, Nico, Dead Can Dance, and even Schubert, but really this music is quite unique, a mix of electronic and acoustic sounds from a palette which ranges from state-of-art to ancient and arcane.
"If Emily Dickinson had ever been allowed to make a record, this is probably what it would have sounded like" (The Wire)
janetrecords.com/SG3/press-release.html
"2019 findet die “The Salt Garden”-Trilogie mehr als zwei Jahre nach Veröffentlichung des zweiten Teils ihren Abschluss. Das Projekt von Clodagh Simonds – die (u.a. mit Mellow Candle) schon in den 60er Jahren Musik machte – kehrt mit „The Salt Garden“ wieder zur kleine(re)n Form der EPs zurück, mit der Fovea Hex in der zweiten Hälfte der 00er Jahre debütierte. Erneut beeindruckend ist die Konsistenz und Kohärenz dieser drei EPs.
Anlässlich des ersten Teils der Trilogie wurde Fovea Hex hier attestiert: “[Die] Musik, die Begriffe wie Ambient, Folk oder experimentelle Musik überflüssig erscheinen lässt, ist erdverhaftet und zugleich entrückt, ist ebenso traumwandlerisch wie meditativ. Die meisten der getragenen Stücke haben starke Songqualitäten und sind doch von der verschwimmenden Struktur abstrakter Kompositionen. Und was in dieser Musik emotional passiert, lässt sich besser empfinden als rational erfassen.” Über das 2011 erschienene Langzeitdebüt “Here Is Where We Used To Sing” schrieben wir: „[T]rotz aller hypnagogischen, traumhaften Momente [...] verlier[t] sich [Simonds] nie im Unterholz und inmitten aller getragenen Momente gibt es auch immer die Gewissheit des Gelingens” und diese zumindest vom Rezensenten so wahrgenommene „Gewissheit des Gelingens“ trifft die auf dem dritten Teil von “The Salt Garden” evozierte Stimmung gut. Denn obwohl die Musik wieder getragen und elegisch ist, sollte man die vier Stücke nicht als Soundtrack zu einer Reise in den Untergang verstehen. Sucht man nach (eigentlich unnötigen) Vergleichen, so kommen einem manche Soundtrackarbeiten Hilmar Örn Hilmarssons oder aber (geographisch vielleicht etwas naheliegender) Richard Skeltons immer wieder von Orten und Plätzen geprägten Streicherdrones in den Sinn.
Eröffnet wird die EP von „The Land’s Alight“, einem von Keyboarddrones geprägtem Stück, auf dem Simonds singt: “I dreamed I flew, the whole night long…./Ah but the light is on the land/and the hand upon the heart/and the open road is a real thing”. Diese Haltung erinnert an Coils “Bee Stings”, auf dem es heißt: “Don’t believe A.E./See for yourself the summer fields”. Wenn Simonds dann intoniert, “The land’s alight/And this vital eye/and the view…”, dann bekommt ihr Gesang etwas Hymnenhaftes. “Trisamma” ist ein instrumentales Stück, auf dem dezente Klavierpassagen mit Streichern kombiniert werden. „A Million Fires“ ist das vielleicht beeindruckendste Stück: Simonds’ Gesang wird von Harmoniumdrones und den Stimmen des The Date Moss Choir untermalt. Wenn sie singt “glory be upon the hapless writer/ glory be upon the spotless page/to call the woman with the fire inside her/to bring the luminous from age to age”, dann kann man das fast schon programmatisch lesen. Beendet wird diese Veröffentlichung und damit die Trilogie mit “The Given Heat”, auf der traurige Streicher zu hören sind, wobei es am Ende heißt: “suddenly there it is –/ the molten gold on the city street”.
Wie auch schon bei allen anderen EPs liegt einer limitierte Version eine Remix-CD bei. Steven Wilson hat unter dem Titel “Is Lanza Light & Given” die vier Stücke zu einem Track verschmelzen lassen und gerade zu Anfang gibt seine Neuinterpretation den Stücken einen leicht entrückteren Charakter." [MG/African Paper] |
2019 |
€17.50 |
|
|
The Salt Garden III |
CD-EP |
Janet Records, in association with Headphone Dust and Die Stadt present
Fovea Hex The Salt Garden III
Cat No HDFH1034 (vinyl) / HDFHCD32 (CD)
(Bonus CD Cat. No: HDFHCD33)
Shipping Date - 26/11/2019
Ltd Edition - 10" vinyl + CD + bonus remix CD
Standard Editions - 10" vinyl + CD / CD / DL
"The starlit nocturnes of Fovea Hex bind electronics, drones and voices into song-spells that are untimely in the best possible sense; their intimacy and raw emotional power feel centuries old, but the experimental sound-design can be shockingly modern." Drew Daniels (Matmos)
The new EP from Fovea Hex THE SALT GARDEN 3 will be released on November 26th 2019 on Steven Wilson's Headphone Dust label.
The Salt Garden 3 is the final word, and the concluding instalment to the critically lauded The Salt Garden Trilogy. Issued in 3 standard editions; 10 inch vinyl + CD, CD only, and Digital Download. There will also be a limited edition release featuring a bonus remix CD by Steven Wilson. The pre-sale for this limited edition, featuring 4 remixes by Steven, presented in individual and combination treatments, will only be available online via Janet Records.
The core ensemble of Clodagh Simonds, Michael Begg, Colin Potter, Cora Venus Lunny and Kate Ellis is joined by special guests Guido Zen, and the Medazza and Dote Moss choirs.
Critical Reaction to The Salt Garden 1 and 2
5 Against 4 (UK)
"Whenever Irish experimental electronic folk group Fovea Hex put out something new, it's not just a cause to rejoice but a guarantee of something unique and indescribably wonderful..."
The Wire (UK)
"...fragile baroque instruments and synthy atmospheres surround Simonds's singing and songwriting, both on better and less predictable form than ever... A Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom for the 21st Century: emotionally deepens with extra listens"
Brainwashed (US)
(Readers Poll Winner: Single of the Year, 2016 for Salt Garden 1)
"Another beautiful piece in a flawless catalog..."
Igloo (US)
"The superlatives left to describe this unique chamber ensemble are fast running out..."
Dusted (US)
"... a blending of acoustic and electronic that attains a kind of smooth, vatic timelessness. Every element feels precisely placed and oddly haunting... Spellbinding".
Subjectivisten (NL)
"...an almost indefinable sound...the music is a hybrid of (dark) ambient, experimental music, neoclassical and ethereal folk and yet no label feels completely comfortable. . It is of an unearthly beauty!"
Touching Extremes (IT)
"no actual comparison is conceivable - sonic poetry"
Gonzo Circus (NL)
"if you like unique sirens like Nico, Dead Can Dance and This Mortal Coil, you will also unconditionally embrace Fovea Hex."
Fovea Hex Background
Having first emerged at the tender age of 15 as the main writer behind 70s cult Irish psych-folk band Mellow Candle, and with sessions for both Thin Lizzy and Mike Oldfield under her belt by the age of 21, Irish singer Clodagh Simonds relocated to New York and subsequently "went quiet" for almost two decades, before re- emerging in 2005 with Fovea Hex, supported by an extraordinary assembly of friends and colleagues, including Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Carter Burwell, Donal Lunny, Roger Doyle, and Steven Wilson. Their first trilogy of eps, NEITHER SPEAK NOR REMAIN SILENT, was, upon its release, greeted by a growing momentum of critical acclaim. Their nascent cult reputation was further affirmed by a personal invitation from David Lynch to perform live in Paris at the Cartier Foundation in Paris as part of his THE AIR IS ON FIRE exhibition.
In 2008 a full length album, HERE IS WHERE WE USED TO SING, was released, to yet more glowing reviews. The album made several end-of-year lists and was awarded album of the year in periodicals in the UK, North America and Italy.
THE SALT GARDEN 1 was released in 2016 and THE SALT GARDEN 2 in 2017, consolidating and deepening the high esteem and critical regard in which this most beguiling of ensembles continues to be held.
The frequently claimed "impossible to categorise" tag applies well to Fovea Hex. The songs are dominated by a voice that's too strong to be deigned ethereal, but remains too otherworldly to file alongside more conventional female singer-songwriters. The pace tends to be languid, the arrangements intricate and fragile. Comparisons have been made to This Mortal Coil, Emily Dickinson, Nico, Dead Can Dance, and even Schubert, but really this music is quite unique, a mix of electronic and acoustic sounds from a palette which ranges from state-of-art to ancient and arcane.
"If Emily Dickinson had ever been allowed to make a record, this is probably what it would have sounded like" (The Wire)
janetrecords.com/SG3/press-release.html
"2019 findet die “The Salt Garden”-Trilogie mehr als zwei Jahre nach Veröffentlichung des zweiten Teils ihren Abschluss. Das Projekt von Clodagh Simonds – die (u.a. mit Mellow Candle) schon in den 60er Jahren Musik machte – kehrt mit „The Salt Garden“ wieder zur kleine(re)n Form der EPs zurück, mit der Fovea Hex in der zweiten Hälfte der 00er Jahre debütierte. Erneut beeindruckend ist die Konsistenz und Kohärenz dieser drei EPs.
Anlässlich des ersten Teils der Trilogie wurde Fovea Hex hier attestiert: “[Die] Musik, die Begriffe wie Ambient, Folk oder experimentelle Musik überflüssig erscheinen lässt, ist erdverhaftet und zugleich entrückt, ist ebenso traumwandlerisch wie meditativ. Die meisten der getragenen Stücke haben starke Songqualitäten und sind doch von der verschwimmenden Struktur abstrakter Kompositionen. Und was in dieser Musik emotional passiert, lässt sich besser empfinden als rational erfassen.” Über das 2011 erschienene Langzeitdebüt “Here Is Where We Used To Sing” schrieben wir: „[T]rotz aller hypnagogischen, traumhaften Momente [...] verlier[t] sich [Simonds] nie im Unterholz und inmitten aller getragenen Momente gibt es auch immer die Gewissheit des Gelingens” und diese zumindest vom Rezensenten so wahrgenommene „Gewissheit des Gelingens“ trifft die auf dem dritten Teil von “The Salt Garden” evozierte Stimmung gut. Denn obwohl die Musik wieder getragen und elegisch ist, sollte man die vier Stücke nicht als Soundtrack zu einer Reise in den Untergang verstehen. Sucht man nach (eigentlich unnötigen) Vergleichen, so kommen einem manche Soundtrackarbeiten Hilmar Örn Hilmarssons oder aber (geographisch vielleicht etwas naheliegender) Richard Skeltons immer wieder von Orten und Plätzen geprägten Streicherdrones in den Sinn.
Eröffnet wird die EP von „The Land’s Alight“, einem von Keyboarddrones geprägtem Stück, auf dem Simonds singt: “I dreamed I flew, the whole night long…./Ah but the light is on the land/and the hand upon the heart/and the open road is a real thing”. Diese Haltung erinnert an Coils “Bee Stings”, auf dem es heißt: “Don’t believe A.E./See for yourself the summer fields”. Wenn Simonds dann intoniert, “The land’s alight/And this vital eye/and the view…”, dann bekommt ihr Gesang etwas Hymnenhaftes. “Trisamma” ist ein instrumentales Stück, auf dem dezente Klavierpassagen mit Streichern kombiniert werden. „A Million Fires“ ist das vielleicht beeindruckendste Stück: Simonds’ Gesang wird von Harmoniumdrones und den Stimmen des The Date Moss Choir untermalt. Wenn sie singt “glory be upon the hapless writer/ glory be upon the spotless page/to call the woman with the fire inside her/to bring the luminous from age to age”, dann kann man das fast schon programmatisch lesen. Beendet wird diese Veröffentlichung und damit die Trilogie mit “The Given Heat”, auf der traurige Streicher zu hören sind, wobei es am Ende heißt: “suddenly there it is –/ the molten gold on the city street”.
Wie auch schon bei allen anderen EPs liegt einer limitierte Version eine Remix-CD bei. Steven Wilson hat unter dem Titel “Is Lanza Light & Given” die vier Stücke zu einem Track verschmelzen lassen und gerade zu Anfang gibt seine Neuinterpretation den Stücken einen leicht entrückteren Charakter." [MG/African Paper]
|
2019 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Salt Garden (Landscaped) |
LP + CD |
Les Disques du Crepuscule presents The Salt Garden (Landscaped), an album of extended pieces by acclaimed quiet music ensemble Fovea Hex, featuring longform remixes by British songwriter and producer Steven Wilson and Serbian soundscape artist Abul Mogard, as well as a previously unreleased mix by Peter Chilvers.
"Formed in 2005 by Irish musician Clodagh Simonds, Fovea Hex have since released 3 albums (Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent, Here Is Where We Used to Sing and The Salt Garden), drawing favourable comparisons with Nico, This Mortal Coil, Ligeti and even Schubert.
The Salt Garden (Landscaped) is pressed on crystal clear vinyl, and comes packaged with a CD version featuring 4 tracks in total. The outer sleeve is printed in white reverse board and features an image taken by Crepuscule designer Joel Van Audenhaege during a recent trip to Greenland. The inner bag offers detailed liner notes as well as an interview with Clodagh.
As well as Steven Wilson and Abul Mogard, other high-profile admirers include film director David Lynch, who invited the group to play at his Cartier Foundation exhibition in Paris in 2007, and Brian Eno, who has described Clodagh’s work as “some of the most extraordinary songs I’ve heard in years.”
The Salt Garden (Landscaped) gathers together 3 long ambient remixes of tracks from the Salt Garden EP trilogy, originally released between 2016 and 2019. The core album is pressed on crystal clear vinyl and showcases ‘Solace’ and ‘Is Lanza Light & Given’, both re-worked by musical polymath Steven Wilson. “I’ve long been a fan of Fovea Hex,” explains Steven, “which for me is some of the most sublimely beautiful music ever recorded. It’s a mix of electronic and acoustic sounds played on instruments ranging from state-of-the-art to ancient and arcane.”
As well as the two tracks reworked by Steven, the bonus CD enclosed with the vinyl album also finds room for ‘We Dream All the Dark Away’, the widely-acclaimed re-interpretation by Abul Mogard of ‘All Those Signs’ from the Salt Garden II EP. By turns haunting and sinister, but always beautiful, the piece features vocals by both Clodagh and Brian Eno, as well as cello by Kate Ellis, and modular synth and effects by mysterious soundscaper Mogard.
An additional special bonus track on the CD is an unreleased remix of lesser -known 2015 digital single ‘By the Glacial Lake’ made by musician Peter Chilvers, best known for his collaborations with Brian Eno, Karl Hyde, Chris Martin and Tim Bowness.
“I feel truly honoured!” says Clodagh Simons, who began her career in cult folk-psyche band Mellow Candle, and since then has guested on albums by Mike Oldfield, Thin Lizzy, Russell Mills, Matmos, Current 93 and Steven Wilson. “It’s been fascinating to witness how these pieces have been so imaginatively and skilfully revisioned in the hands of Steven, Abul and Peter. Each piece has emerged into a completely fresh new light, with a different vibrancy, yet remains grounded in what was there before.”
|
2021 |
€31.50 |
|
| FOVEA HEX + ANDREW LILES |
Gone every Evening |
7 |
"... Ihr bittersüßes Timbre, die fast mit Händen zu greifende Melancholie, sind einzigartig. Die Musik dazu, nur dröhnendes Harmonium und eine Handvoll schwarzer Pianoperlen, ist wie ein Rabenflügel, ein samtiger Saum, wie der Schatten, den diese Melancholie nicht abschütteln kann. In ‚Gone‘ verschwinden ein Baum, ein Bild an der Wand, die geliebte Katze, sogar der alte Teppich unter den Füßen und auch der Boden selbst. Eine Elegie des Verlustes, der diebischen und mörderischen Zeit. Von Geisterpiano und gespenstischen Stimmen umschallt, rezitiert Fabrizio Palumbo die Strophen, Simonds und Laura Sheeran singen den Refrain: Well
well well Nobody can tell Why why o‘ why Nobody knows. Das ist schon sehr tongue-incheek (wie Hitchcock das genannt hätte), purer Edward Gorey." [Bad Alchemy]
"DIE STADT is honored to inform you that a limited edition 7" vinyl single "Gone Every Evening" was released today April 1, (and no, we're not having you on...) 2008. The record features two collaborative pieces by ANDREW LILES & FOVEA HEX, with Fabrizio Palumbo as special guest. Featuring Andrew Liles, Clodagh Simonds, Laura Sheeran, Fabrizio Palumbo and Michael Begg, these two strange songs will find the way swiftly to your very core, quite by themselves, to simultaneously delight and only faintly unsettle you. Needless to say that everyone who enjoyed the 'neither speak nor remain silent' trilogy by Fovea Hex will also love this. It comes packaged in an attractive gatefold cover with printed inner sleeve designed by Andrew Liles in an edition of 500 copies of which only 250 copies will be available for wholesale." [label info]
"Following three excellent mini CDs produced with the top layer of sonic experimentalism, Clodagh Simonds teams with here Micheal Begg, Fabrizio Palumbo and Laura Sheeran, all under the guidance of Andrew Liles (rapidly climbing up to the top layer) to record two lovely tracks on a 7". 'Gone' is on side a, and 'Every Evening' on the other. The a-side has piano at the hearth of the piece and Simonds heavenly vocals solo with beautiful ambient like electronics humming sparsely about. 'Every Evening' has a strange narrative by Palumbo and multi-layered singing by Sheeran and Simonds and has a fairy tale like atmosphere, but with an unsettling undercurrent in the piece. This is beautiful too but much more spooky. Way too short on this format, one could only want some more after this. Fascinating, beautiful, small treasure." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
label: www.diestadtmusik.de
|
2008 |
€12.50 |
|
| FOX, HARDY (THE RESIDENTS) |
same |
LP |
First solo album by former Residents composer Hardy Fox after the Charles Bobuck era. An album full of minimal love songs, a portrait of the young Hardy Fox. This is what he says about this solo debut: "Here’s a new idea. How about writing a love song? Oh, you say it’s been done, maybe overdone. So why would I be so foolish as to tackle such a subject so fraught with cliches and meaningless sentiment. Probably because I am stupid. But also because I have been led around by love in some form for my entire life. That isn’t really a complaint. Seriously, there is isn’t much in the world that is as interesting as love and its many related variations: attraction, obsession, sexual fantasies, broken hearts. It is the fuel that many of our lives run on. The question remains. Why join the hoard of people trying to say something new about love? I suppose that the emotional state is, more or less, unique to each person. Each of us has our approach to dealing with and surviving the chemical and hormonally driven state of mind. For me, I am still able to love as an older gentleman, but the intensity of love always takes me back to my youth when all was new and strange. Each element that drove sexual exploits had to be explored, considered and digested. Now older, I am able to gain some objectivity to set memories to music. This album is a glimpse into my younger self. Well truthfully, probably not. It is likely yet another fantasy of an aging man, still led around by his dick." This is the LP version released under license by Secret records, USA, who have done a great job..... beautiful green vinyl and comnes with a yellow flexi disc!
https://secretrecords.bandcamp.com/album/hardy-fox-s-t-2018-electronic-sr14 |
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| FRANCE SAUVAGE |
Jeux Vocaux des Bords de Dronne |
LP |
Brand new album from this French trio (Manuel Duval, Johann Mazé, Arno Bruil) playing electronic music in a song format. Great work !
And it’s a coproduction between these nine labels, Gaffer records, Tomaturj, Micr0lab, Les Loubards Pédés, Anarcho-Freaks Production, La République des Granges, Animal Biscuit, Grabuge, Les Disques du GranGousier.
Tout beau, tout neuf ! Le nouveau disque de France Sauvage (Manuel Duval, Johann Mazé, Arno Bruil) qui continue d’explorer les voies d’une musique électronique au format chansons – ritournelles bricolées dans un assemblage sonore rocambolesque et énergique. Entre rêve enfantin et cauchemar d’adulte, bal tragique et suicide électronique.
Très belle couverture ! Et il a fallu neuf labels pour sortir ce disque : Gaffer Records, Tomaturj, Micr0lab, Les Loubards Pédés, Anarcho-Freaks Production, La République des Granges, Animal Biscuit, Grabuge, Les Disques du GranGousier.
Recommandé !
|
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
| FRANCIS, RICHARD & CLINTON WATKINS // ADAM WILLETS |
split |
7 |
Neuseeländische Mikro-Auflage von einer 7" mit "ESO STEEL" Richard Francis. Seite A zeigt ihn mit CLINTON WATKINS und das ist wirklich paradoxer "sanfter harsh noise" was die beiden machen.. es ist Noise auf einer anderen Ebene ! ADAM WILLETS noised anders, knarzend-flatterig und seltsam ätherisch abgehoben. Zwei super Noise-Drones !
"Emulsified dunes and slowmo mistrals committed to 7 inches of confinement somewhere in I Zwicky 18 by the antipodal trinity of the
mind-fucking club: CMR zone-clerk Richard Francis, Whitebass' Clinton Watkins and Saturn's Adam Willetts. Probably written in
1610¬11. First side blasts in with the sand-drinking mug-shot Francis/Watkins Hydrahead, conducting light-year syncopations,
cryptozoological moshpits and gale enemy forces through the doorway of your featherweight stucco homes. Flipside captures the carbonated
mind of Adam Willetts in the same place Anakin Skywalker must have been in just before he waltzed over to the shadier side of synapse- shredding psychedelic pop music. Deep-as-Hell Rotella decollages from made-up worlds where this stuff grows everywhere. On Earth it's
cryptobotanical. Hydrophonic Dagobah loops, bottom-end data obliteration, and general all-round friendship termination.
7" Vinyl. 150 Copies." [label info]
|
2009 |
€8.00 |
|
| FRANCIS, RICHARD (ESO STEEL) |
Together alone, together apart |
CD |
Tief wummernder microwave / field recording-drone des Neuseeländers RICHARD FRANCIS (aka ESO STEEL), der hier herrlich rauschig & undurchdringbar tönt, v.a. in den mittleren Frequenzbereichen offenbaren sich feinste Details, ein Genuss! Filed under: mysterious drones opening mysterious ways!
"Tracks 1 and 2 recorded 2006-2007, track 3 recorded 2003 and previously released on V-A "Audible New Frontiers" CD (Physics Room-Radio NZ). Sound sources: field recordings of indoor and outdoor spaces; handling of fabric, wood and plastic; self noise of home stereo amplifiers, loudspeakers and record players." [label info]
"Sound artists like Matt Shoemaker, Loren Chasse, and Steve Roden are some of the very few who are successful in turning found objects and field recordings into thoroughly engaging compositions that don't rely upon the flashiness of techniques to make their work successful. Add New Zealand's Richard Francis to that gaggle as well.
It's been a while since any solo work has been available from Francis, who has previously recorded under the moniker Eso Steel; and more recently, he's been entertaining many a collaboration with his fellow NZ noiseniks such as Campbell Kneale and Michael Morley.
On Together Alone, Together Apart, Francis turns to the miniscule events of daily life whose peculiar sounds capture his imagination. It could be a crackle from rain falling or the distant surf of the Pacific Ocean or a creaking electric radiator or the hissing static from television snow. It's these small sounds which Francis has recorded and stretched into relatively longer compositions. These rattling, crackling streams of softened white noise move in a synchronous fashion, much like the way that a huge flock of starlings can gracefully circle in the sky without bumping into each other, all moving organically in three dimensions. Think Loren Chasse, as if he were reworking any of Bernhard Gunter's compositions, making them rougher, in line with Chasse's Hedge Of Nerves disc. Headphones are certainly recommended for this album, as the last track is awfully quiet... at least, it is when there's a record store full of people. Very well done!" [Aquarius Records review]
www.cmr.co.nz
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| FRANCK, YANNICK |
Hierophany | Иерофания |
CD |
"In such conservative genre like ambient there is not easy to find something to discover, but the music of Yannick Franck can change this widespread prejudice. Infuenced by recent trip to Russia and the orthodox culture, he composed the continuous suite of three movements, showing his personal vision of the ancient rite. Release date is 29th December 2012. Limited edition of 500 copies in jewelcase." [label info]
www.monochromevision.ru
"Oily drones be found on Hierophany, an album released on the Russian imprint Monochrome Vision, inspired by the ancient rites of Russian orthodoxy, and produced by a Belgian on a working holiday whilst touring to the east of his homeland. Over the years, Franck has worked with Pietro Piparbelli (aka K11) with the two of them collaborating on a project based on recordings from Aleister Crowley's Abbey of Thelema (yes, K11 has released at least three other albums drawn from Thelemic residues). Theological differences aside (which are obviously massive), Franck's interest in both Crowley and the Russian Orthodox church seems to find common ground in the gnostic mysticism of meditation rituals and their capacity to introduce the process of transcendence. The massively thrumming drones that Franck presents on Hierophany seem to be based on field recordings made within a cathedral during a service, with the bell tones and chants reflecting into a gray wall of steely reverb and delay. Elements of human speech sporadically bounce within his system of acoustic and processed sound, creating something of a feedback loop of particular sonorous frequencies, reinforced and thickened by Franck's sonic sensibilities. The album quickly hits a uniform plateau of saturated environmental and electronic din, slipping rather subtly from one complementary movement to another. Well executed work that conceptually and aesthetically may have more than a few similarities to Current 93's early tape collage days." [Aquarius Rec.]
"More field recordings, but perhaps a bit differently when it reaches the point of release, is the new release by Belgium's Yannick Franck. He's been releasing on various labels before, such as Silken Tofu, Young Girls Records and Silentes, and has worked with K11, Craig Hilton, Alan Trench and Esther Venrooy. Here however he is solo and he uses instruments and 'non musical objects', voice, radio signals and field recordings. Perhaps so far not much difference, but it's the way Franck executes his music. Instead of using the collage form, Franck sets wheels in motion, and when they are all in motion, then he subtly moves them about. Perhaps the word 'drone' music could apply to his music? Derived from various sources, his music is played altogether at the same time, adding and subtracting on microscopic level, all along using minimal changes in the use of sound effects. Quite a dense sound he arrives at here and like with the other release, the three pieces flow nicely into eachother. In the final part, 'Dying Down', you realize you are in a church, with whispering voices, and a far away choir practice. And then it seems like the other two pieces shared that same sort of big hall/cathedral reverb. That makes it perhaps all a bit too religious for my taste, but throughout I thought this was a very refined disc of challenging drone music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| FREIBAND |
Untitled Drone Work |
mCD-R |
"That lovely twenty minute piece that was previously released by Twenty Hertz in their 'Drone Works' series, but since it's discontinued, I thought it would be a good idea to do a 'repress', this time on a 3" CDR, with a somewhat different cover (from the same series of photographs actually)." [label website info]
"The atmosphere is equally austere as that on 'Ice Field', but instead of the sketch-like approach Freiband presents one 20-minute track again, a format that seems most appropriate to his drone aesthetic. He works with flickering, high-pitched sounds here, which are accompanied by a dark drone underneath. The compositional structure might seem to be devoid of any internal development, but concentrated listening reveals rich microstructural variations, as the various layers move out of sync and new sounds subtly surface in the mix. It's nice that this material is available again now, and the lovely cover photography should of course get an extra cheer" [Magnus Schäfer]
www.kormplastics.nl/moll
|
2007 |
€6.00 |
|
| |
Stainless Steel |
LP |
"ini.itu is releasing a new vinyl only LP, the 8th of its catalogue, composed by Freiband
• Freiband is one of the long lasting projects of Frans de Waard, who is making music since more than 25 years under many aliases and in different line-ups, the most well-known being Kapotte Muziek ( with Roel Meelkop and Peter
Duimelinks ), Goem ( same team, different tools ), THU20 ( same, augmented by Jac van Bussel and Jos Smolders ), Beequeen ( w/ Freek Kinkelaar ), and more recently Wieman ( formerly known as Zèbra ) ( w/ Roel Meelkop ),
Ezdanitoff ( w/ Wouter Jaspers ) and Tobacconists ( w/ Scott Foust from Idea Fire Company ). Solo he has been active under his own name, Shifts and of course Freiband. His other activities include : editor and writer for Vital Weekly, programmer at Geluidswerkplaats in Nijmegen, organizer of the residencies Brombrom and director of the
labels Korm Plastics, Moll and Plinkety Plonk.
• the name Freiband itself is picked from Asmus Tietchens' album Daseinsverfehlung, on which he explored sounds created by rubbing tape freely on magnetic heads. Frans de Waard transferred the concept to the digital field and now mostly uses that name for his computer-based pieces.
What Freiband proposes here is 2 sides of radically reworked gamelan :
• Side A seems to progress through an acid bath and take the magnifying glass to enhance the digital decays, evoking various stages of textural corrosions. Through these aggressive and irreverent treatments, the naturally metallic harmonics are by twist and turns abruptly dismantled and fractured into crunchy, dense and fuzzy fireworks. Despite the stop & go transitions this hard-edged and raw piece still holds a nice unity across the digital errs and disturbances.
• on side B, through some arcane wirings, some machines end up spitting out shifting binary patterns with a somewhat alienating feeling. Proof that electronic music can be minimal and eschew the 4/4 dance floor pattern, in favour of
some dry and uncompromising “Unerforschtes Gebiet” between minimal beats and Steve Reich’ early tape compositions.
this LP further expands the horizon of ini.itu, successfully interrogating the link between south-east asian instruments and electronic contemporary music. Maybe something to file along Hecker, Pita, Mika Vaino, Fennesz or Alva Noto's Xerrox LPs.
p.s. Frans de Waard will also simultaneously release a companion 3” on his Moll imprint, with a totally different track from the
same sessions that couldn’t be included on the LP. That track is a spectral exploration of the higher frequencies, followed by a pile-up of gamelan sounds." [label info]
www.iniitu.net
"The LP thus both presents the quality of the gamelan style in its pure origin and 21st electronic avantgarde by one of Holland's finest sound artists. A superb ode to the importance of the gamelan music for the modern sound experimentations of the Western world." [NM/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€12.50 |
|
| FREQUENCY CURTAIN (JOHN GRZINICH, RICK REED, JOSH RONSON) |
same |
CD |
Projekt von JOHN GRZINICH, RICK REED und JOSH RONSEN mit betörend-schwirrenden Drones aus analogen und digitalen Sinuswellenerzeugern..
“Trio consisting of John Grzinich, Rick Reed and Josh Ronsen, using both analogue and digital sine wave generators, processing and interventions from the radiophonic spectrum. Frequency Curtain formed as a collaborative performance group, for an independent experimental media showcase in Austin, Texas known as Intersect 4. The Frequency Curtain debut (at Intersect 4) was on August 25th of 2001. In order to prepare for the performance, the group held a series of private improvisation sessions for two months prior to the event. What resulted was a highly charged interplay of analog and digital electronic sounds. The four tracks on this CD are excerpts from extended improvisation sessions.” [label press release]
www.elevatorbath.com
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
| FRET (=MICK HARRIS) |
Over Depth |
do-LP |
"MICK HARRIS (SCORN, QUOIT, PAINKILLER) returns after several years of hiatus with ten tracks of blasting landmine bass and interlocking shrapnel rhythms.
I’ve been asked to write a press piece for the dark lord MICK HARRIS.
Where does one even start? Especially for someone with decades of releases over various solo projects, collaborations and pseudonyms, whether it’s doing blast beats in the original NAPALM DEATH to crushing techno brutality as MONRELLA, or savage drum & bass as QUOIT. Then of course there’s the mighty SCORN and his numerous collaborations with fellow luminaries such as JOHN ZORN and BILL LASWELL (in PAINKILLER).
Rather than being tied to genres or scenes, MICK HARRIS is one of those producers who creates a whole sonic world uniquely of his own, in which varying tracks, styles and tempos take form, but yet in which everything sounds unmistakably characteristic of the creator. Needless to say his work has influenced legions of producers like SURGEON, REGIS, ONTAL, VATICAN SHADOW / PRURIENT, FAUSTEN, SHAPEDNOISE et al, and pretty much anyone in the world of powerfully dark, abrasive music you could name-drop. And yet after all this time, it is impressive that HARRIS still stands way above his successors and has never been surpassed in his own production/performance game.
After a hiatus of several years, he is back with a new album under the guise of FRET.
Working at a faster tempo than his SCORN material, the FRET project first surfaced years ago on the DOWNWARDS label, rooting it firmly in the dark, industrial and technoid world, and appeared more recently on Tresor (Kern mix by OBJEKT), maintaining the characteristic colossal bass-heaviness and textural depth.
And now a full album on KARLRECORDS, Berlin.
HARRIS fans will be delighted to know that despite the 130 bpm tempo, the newest FRET still resolutely avoids any straight four-on-the-floor kickdrums; every track lurches, stumbles, staggers and charges forth with beats in beautifully broken asymmetry.
We get 10 tracks of crushing, percussive destroyers, each itself a storm of precision chaos, with colossal low-end frequencies that’ll cause stampedes in the right circumstances. The classic HARRIS sound is there; searing waves of feedback distortion, intricate, interlocking rhythms and cold, abattoir atmospheres, especially track 6 “Stuck in the track at Salford Priors” which sounds like you’re being continuously suspended in the air from multiple explosions all around, each kickdrum throwing you up in the air, the next one going off before you can fall completely back to the ground.
The lazy-minded would probably lump it in with the term “techno”, but the disciplined brutality, blasting landmine bass and interlocking shrapnel rhythms are clearly HARRIS’ own trademark style, sitting somewhere between SCORN and QUOIT.
The tracks appear deceptively chaotic on the surface, yet each is meticulously and masterfully composed with great attention to layering and detail. MICK HARRIS fans rejoice, the dark lord still remains at the top of his game."
Derek Szeto / Fausten / Combat Recordings)
karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/over-depth |
2017 |
€25.00 |
|
| FRICKE, SIEGMAR |
Subdural Space |
CD-R |
Very good new release from this German artist known from his collaborations with GIANCARLO TONIUTTI and M.B. (and his activities with D.S.I.P. & BESTATTUNGSINSITITUT a long time ago). SUBDURAL SPACE contains three long pieces of waving, metallically shining, surrealistic electronic drone-ambience, very subliminal and intoxicating somehow, with very nice "spiral" effects. Really high-class mysterious soundscapes, to discover!
"... When I listen to your music, I take all my time, and try to be sure not to be disturbed so that I become totally immersed. I think your CD has a really incredible effect, I call it "cleansing" (purification) but I am not sure you understand the concept I am referring too. It is an image, like something cold entering your body and "working" from the inside...waking up forgotten things, past memories. This is a very intensive experience." [Sylvie Walder] |
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
| FRITH, FRED |
Impur |
CD |
"In 1996, at the end of a two year residency, Fred organised an event at LEcole Nationale de Musique de Villeurbanne in France. He roped in as many of the students as he could, grouped according to their departments (early music, rock, African drumming, classical &c), and set them up in all the rooms in the building. The public wandered around creating their own mix, or sat in the courtyard listening to the sound drifting out through the open windows. For their part, each group of musicians played their own specially written music and occasionally were asked to improvise, all of them following a precise time-score prepared by Fred (55 minutes long). Synchronize watches. The whole thing was recorded on 4 A DAT machines and was later mixed - this was the result: an exiting, lurching and capricious beast with many heads, by turns an orchestra tuning up, a salute to Sonny Blount, a roiling chaotic mass of sound that splitting into layers colliding back together, pullulating, ululating, roaring and sometimes mewing like a kitten." [label description]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Nowhere Sideshow Thin Air |
CD |
"Three commissions for dance (3 different choreographers), one [2000] performed by Fred and Carla Kihlstedt, one [2001] by Fred and Carla with Fred Guiliano, (samples) and Gail Brand (trombone) and the last [2007[ with Fred, Hande Erdem (violin) and Theresa Wong ((cello). Layers and plateaux, modules and colour." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| FROG |
Frog 2 |
LP |
"The music developped by Frog is a work on percussions of all sorts : electronic, metallic, or else.. bathing in atmospheres made of « humid » tessituras. The music is simple, and unlike Brume, accessible !
Except for the arrangement of rhythms, 75% of work is concentrated on textures, mainly electronic : analog and digital.
Electroacoustic is rarer here, most of the sounds being filtered by « vintage » analog synths using the whole usual range : VCO, VCF, VCA, envelope modulators etc.
Frog is at the same time background music and real music. You can listen to it making your spaghettis or with an active ear from your favorite armchair, if possible in the dark with a good glass of wine in your hand.
Voilà ! A multi-use simple music." [label info]
www.rotorelief.com
|
2013 |
€20.00 |
|
| FRÖBERG, DAN |
15 Songs (down at Jinxey's) |
CD |
"A lone thumb piano, a singing woman, children at play, howling and crackling electricity, chirping birds, tones from a toy organ, sounds of traffic - Dan Fröberg´s remarkable compositions are intersections of shapes, environments, times, places and wildly disparate contexts.
As a listener you may recognize individual sonic fragments and create pictures and scenarios through private associations - like an inner movie running parallel to the works - but still the sound environments appear so curious and raise so many questions in our minds.
What are these shapes, milieus and tales that Dan Fröberg illustrates for us, and what do they want to convey? Traveling Dan Fröberg´s soundscapes renders you the feeling of a cloud passing freely between various geographical, temporal and cultural settings and contexts.
Occasionally a dream appears. A folk music ensemble commences to play nearby, some giggling children run by, an orchestra of traffic looms large, and rustling leaves fall. The cloud hovers on, through walls, mountains and a brook, suddenly appearing in another time, in another place, where other figures tell their stories.
In the world of Dan Fröberg everything is inspired: people, animals, places, sound, shadows, memories. Even though the sounds appear crystal clear in their purity, they convey many remarkable stories, while simultaneously leaving the field open for the listener´s fantasy. Dan Fröberg´s compositions and sound recordings are as clean as can be. No post-production processing of the sounds has been applied. Dan Fröberg works with a kind of sound magic. Nothing is left to arbitrary randomness. Each sound is chosen with care.
When Dan Fröberg composes his pieces, each small detail of the soundscape is rendered vitality and significance. The significations are gradually transformed and new tales emerge as the different sound worlds are confronted with each other. As a listener you are transferred somewhere else just as your questions have began to formulate themselves - into a new world, quite familiar, albeit with something completely new and alien totell.
The properties of time and space are always shifting in these pieces where figures, occurrences and reflections approach, materialize, convey something only to drift by or dissolve - as something novel appears, something else through the journey. Dan Fröberg prefers to brand his acoustic works folk music, rather than musique concrète, field recordings, sound art or something else that would be convenient. The compositions on this CD, or the journeys, if you like, take shape through 15 songs, wherein the shapes, environments and events constitute the voices that sing and establish this folk music that sounds like nothing else, in the borderland between here and now."
[Daniel Rozenhall, Executive producer, Fylkingen Records.]
"Also from Stockholm and sometimes connected to Firework is Fylkingen, a place for concerts, art, work and much more. A fine place to be. Their releases are less arty and conceptual and more musical. The name Dan Fröberg rings a bell, but my memory is such a condition that I don't remember. It seems to me he works with found sound: people talking, street sounds, the luna park, birds and electrical currents. He puts these together in a great way, a dream-like state of music. Strongly reminding me of Dominique Petitgand, but less telling a tale than he did in his music. With Petitgand somebody would tell a story, sing a song and he would add found sound, whereas Fröberg places the sound in the central position and lets the listener think of a story. This is 'close your eyes and dream away' music, but not in a new age sense of the word, but cinematic: true cinema for the ears. Great one." [Fdw/Vital Weekly]
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| FUENTES, MATHIEU |
Ily, Almeria |
MC |
« Ily, Almería » is the second album by French composer and performer Matthieu Fuentes, who debuted in 2021 with a promising album on Penultimate Press. Matthieu’s music sprung from the "musique concrète" tradition, using elements and fragments of electroacoustic music, field recording and sound art.
« Ily, Almería » features ambiguous sources and unknown presences recorded from 2018 to 2022. Manipulated and re-edited on a computer and a Revox B77 reel-to-reel tape recorder, these materials are brought together to give a polysemic perception of space, sometimes with the help of synthetic trickery. Dreamed scenes, texts, questions on acousmatic and time arts fuel the process of a poetic research. Like a distant and distorted memory, « Ily, Almería » wanders in reality and fiction, media and body, the domestic and the high-speed outside world, tangible and delirium, in and out-of-frame phenomena. The sonic outcome is a fragile assemblage, a dynamic interplay of well sculpted nervous collages, overwhelming tunnels, smoother sequences and delicate soundscapes.
« Ily, Almería » has a total length of 40 min. It’s available on a limited edition of 100 copies.
On "Le Rideau"
Bagpipes – Lise Barkas
Cello – Stéphane Clor
Guitar – Zoe Heselton
https://moremars.bandcamp.com/album/ily-almer-a
https://moremars.bandcamp.com/album/ily-almer-a
|
2023 |
€9.50 |
|
| FULLMAN, ELLEN |
In The Sea |
do-LP |
"Ellen Fullman began developing The Long String Instrument in her St. Paul, Minnesota studio in 1980 and moved to Brooklyn the following year. Inspired by composer and instrument builder Harry Partch, Fullman's large-scale work creates droning, organ-like overtones that are as unique in the world of sound as her vision of the instrument itself.
Along with her 1985 debut album – appropriately titled The Long String Instrument – Fullman's only output in the 1980s would be two self-released cassettes, In The Sea and Work For Four Players And 90 Strings, recorded in 1987 at an unfinished office tower in Austin, Texas. This double LP collection features music from both cassettes as well as a previously unreleased piece from 1988 at De Fabriek in Den Bosch, Holland.
Ethereal and exquisitely paced, these rare recordings capture minimalism's quiet radiance. Within a musical landscape that has seen the rise of contemporary drone practitioners like Ellen Arkbro and Kali Malone, Fullman is sure to find a legion of fans.
Superior Viaduct is honored to present this long overdue archival release that marks a particularly vibrant period of Fullman's pioneering and timeless work." [label info]
https://www.superiorviaduct.com/products/ellen-fullman-in-the-sea-2xlp
"The breathtaking expanse of ’In The Sea’ was the 1987 follow-up to Ellen Fullman’s groundbreaking classic of 1985, ‘The Long String Instrument’. Only ever available on a hard-to-find tape, this is its necessary first ever reissue.
Collapsing millennia of musical practice and research into a singular sound, Fullman’s 2nd recording of her self-built instrument engulfs the senses in unfathomably complex overtones generated by 25m-long strings which are tuned to Just Intonation and played with rosined hands. Ellen’s sound effectively bridges the deeply mysterious sound of Indian classical music and the kind of contemporary minimalism explored by Ellen Arkbro and Kali Malone, and should be sought out by any listeners seeking sonic transcendence." [Boomkat]
|
2020 |
€27.50 |
|
| FURUDATE, TETSUO |
One Day an old Phantom passed |
CD |
First full lenght solo studio album since 2001 !
With this new recordings Tetsuo confirm himself as one of the greatest Japanese noise artists of all times..
Numbered edition of 500 copies.
www.menstrualrecordings.org
Its been a while since I last bumped, physically, into Tetsuo Furudate, but also a while since I last heard his music. Whatever I heard sounded good, but I also felt it was not my kind of music. What that is, I don't know. Furudate uses the sampler to create soundtrack like music. He uses percussion samples, guitar samples, orchestral stuff. Maybe I think its the occasional orchestral bombast and noise that put me off a bit. These two new releases re-aquint me with his music. I have no idea why one is released as a CD and one as a CDR. The CD lists five films ('Nostalgia' (Tarkovsky), 'Hamlet (Olivier), 'Singin' In The Rain' (Kelly), 'Orphee' (Cocteau) and 'Persona' (Bergman) from which he used sound samples to create this one hour work. Some of the bombast is indeed present here, but then I think its also kept to a minimum. I fail to see the relevance of mentioning the films as sources, but then it might also be that I never saw those films. By and large drones seem to prevail in this work, wether they are loud or quiet. Its hard to spot any link towards any film, but its a great work. Even the noise bit and the sampled orchestral percussive bits work fine here."
[FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| FÜR DIESEN ABEND |
same |
CD-R |
Collaborative effort of GREGORY BÜTTNER (who also runs this new label from Hamburg: TAUSENDFÜSSLER) and STEFAN FUNCK: nice drone-layers & abstract floating soundscapes, always moving to some invisible point that disappears like a hallucination.. recommended !!
„für diesen abend" ist ein musikalisches zusammentreffen von stefan funck & gregory büttner (beide aus hamburg). jeder einzeln zuhause am rechner tätig, treffen sie sich regelmäßig, um ihre ergebnisse zusammenzubringen. störgeräuschen, feldaufnahmen, samples und computer generiertes werden zusammen und gegeneinander gestellt. – kino für das ohr – "für diesen abend" is an acoustic meeting between stefan funck & gregory büttner (both from hamburg, germany). each works at home on their computers, collecting and processing sounds from glitches, fieldrecordings, samples and electronics.
– cinema for your ears –“ [label description]
|
2004 |
€8.00 |
|
| G*PARK |
Sub |
do-CD |
"The most enigmatic of the Schimpfluch-Gruppe, Marc Zeier in the man behind G*Park; and here, he presents his first major album since the acclaimed 2008 album of cryptic electro-acoustics entitled Reuters. Many years in the making, Sub is a sprawling masterpiece of modern day musique concrete, reflecting the early pioneers' use of razor cut tape with a grandiose revelation of an existential horror. Zeier describes this album as the manifestation of amorphous conditions that lead to (or interfere with) representational forms or states of being. His examples of the shifting patterns from clouds of blackbirds or the clinging masses from algae blooms are rudimentary entry points for his rhizomatic, chimerical work.
For every malignant drone and turgid thrumming, Zeier will puncture his fluttering, frozen methane surfaces with jagged incisions, pneumatic hammerings, and decompressed gasps. This fragmented punctuation is a signature to the G*Park aesthetic, used highly effectively in mapping his clinical situations turned septic. The titles to the tracks on Sub address the physical attributes of the source material that went into each track, with some decidedly specific ("Swine", "Wasp", "Stone") and others nebulously abstract ("Purge", "Glow", "Pulse"). For Zeier, the exact nature of the sound object is informed more by a shadowy deconstruction than by a direct representation, thrust into an absurd existence as an abomination, a violation, a monster.
Sub locates itself near the psychological minefields of Luc Ferrari, Steven Stapleton's prediliction for windows, and the cruel x-ray visions from fellow Swiss aktionists Sudden Infant & Dave Phillips." [label info]
www.23five.org
"When the first G*Park record was released, on Schimpfluch, it blew my mind. For one, it didn't seem to fit on the label, with their harsh, cut-up styled aktionist music, and it seemed to be all ambient and quiet music. It's good to have expectations blown away. I followed him a bit, in the mid 90s, when he released some CDs on Zabriskie Point, but his output was quite sparse, so I missed out on his releases on Tochnit Aleph, but here's a new sign of life, in the form of an all new double CD on 23Five Incorporated. G*Park, the solo project of Marc Zeier, works exclusively with field recordings, which is offers either as a raw block of sound, or something heavily treated, layered and such like. Now, of course, there has been lots of field recording based music since the first G*Park LP, and we might have become a bit more critical, but boy, G*Park is still as unique as always. His music has a drone like character, from layering various events together, or simply taping events of such nature (gas lamps, heaters) and on top he placed animal sounds with a more haunting character. There seems always to be sudden move in here, like a violence lurking underneath, maybe a menace in these sounds, which makes this perhaps both narrative and scary. It's like a radio play, but entirely without words. A horror radio play if you with these sustaining sounds, loops of squeaking doors, and a swift montage to enter another room. Some hundred minutes of music here and it's not a minute too long, or too short. Very imaginative music, both in the way it's made but also a soundtrack for imaginary films. This is an excellent release, restating what great composer G*Park is." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| GABURO, KENNETH |
Lingua II: Maledetto / Antiphony VIII |
CD |
"The work and thought of the American composer Kenneth Gaburo (1926-1993) exhibited many striking changes during his lifetime. In fact, while the world of commercial endeavor still insists that artists develop a recognizable personal "style," Gaburo's life-work can be seen as one of continual change and exploration, rather than one of codification and promotion. Some of these changes are beautifully illustrated by the two works on this CD, Maledetto, for seven speaking voices, from 1967-68, and Antiphony VIII (Revolution), for percussionist and electronic tape, from 1982-3. Both are intricate and powerful works, both take their inspiration from "non-musical" materials, and both require virtuosity of a most uncommon order. However, beyond that, the two works could not be more different.
Maledetto is a wild choral piece, a great complex cry, a work that, while reveling in a surface texture of innuendo, word play, and pseudo- and real- history, spoken/shouted/sung by 7 amazing speakers, contains within itself a deep and profound celebration of the body, the physical, the sexual. It is one of the earliest of Gaburo's works where his concern for holistic thinking and art-making comes to the fore. This sort of thinking was in the air, of course ¬ many works were written at this time that were multi-layered in their meaning and intent, but Maledetto seems unique. It's combination of profundity and what might be called adolescent sniggering, and almost every emotional state in between, seems unprecedented. The subject of the piece is the word screw, in all its connotations, from the sexual to the mechanical, from the mildly obscene to the boisterous, with diversions along the way into topics such as perfume manufacture, printing, classical design, and structural linguistics, all of which connect with the small ridged, groovy object of attention.
Speaking voices also figure in Antiphony VIII, but here they are the voices of people giving their heartfelt reactions to the notion that nuclear war has made their lives expendable. This work was created at least 15 years after Maledetto, and the boisterous energy of the Sexual Revolution, one of the earliest counter-cultural movements of the mid-1960s, has given place to the grim organizational determination of the various Anti-Nuclear movements of the 1980s. Gaburo's attitude has also changed. If Maledetto is a celebration, Antiphony VIII is a wake, and a wake-up call. Not content merely to protest, or to document people's reactions, the percussion, electronics, concrete sounds, and voices in this piece each embody within them Gaburo's analysis of the most common attitudes people have to the problem of governments treating them as expendable - helplessness, indifference, anger, uncertainty, and presents them all to us as a summary, and a questioning of our own attitudes to the problem. Gaburo the deep analyst of phenomena is still here, but now his analytical mind is dissecting not just a problem, but the wide variety of people's responses to that problem ¬ both as a structural resource, and as a means perhaps of intuiting the way forward."
[Warren Burt (from the liner notes)]
"Gaburo (1926-1993) is one of those many pioneering US-composers like Cowell, Cage, Nancarrow, Partch, etc. But he is one of lesser known ones. With this cd Pogus makes two works by him available. The first one 'Lingua II: Maledetto' (composition for 7 Virtuoso Speakers), composed in 1967-68, was first released on CRI in 1974. The liner notes Gaburo wrote for this release are reprinted here. The recording of this composition however is another one then released by CRI, but dating from the same period. June 10th, 1973 to be exact. The track opens with high pitched non-verbal throat sounds. After a few minutes the narrator starts reading a text about the all the connotations and meanings of the word 'screw'. Then two other voices join, reciting also texts concerning this word, etc., etc. Later on to be followed by a quartet. Sometimes the voices speak simultaneously, sometimes one after another. Sometimes several voices speak the same text. At other times not. Sometimes there is a out of phase reading of the same text by several speakers. It sounds very theatrical. No wonder as Gaburo composed this work as a part of a massive 6-hour theater work Called LINGUA. In 'Maladetto' Gaburo experiments with language and meaning, trying to create a dramatic and theatrical situation. I'm not completely sure but I think this is a live recording, using no overdubs and editing. The second composition 'Antiphony VIII' is written for tape and percussion in 1982-83. The percussion is played by Steven Schick. The recording dates from 1984. Alas the voices on the tape sound very muffled, and one cannot always hear what they say. The percussion playing becomes more and more intense during the piece, becoming increasingly involved in what the voice speaks about (nuclear war). So also in this piece theatrical aspects are present. Because of this quality it may be that both works on this cd still sound very much alive." [DM /Vital Weekly]
www.pogus.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| GAL |
RGB / Experimental Videos |
DVD |
Seven experimental video-clips by this artist (full name is GAL TUSHIA) from Israel, with musical help by label-manager DAVID OVADIA aka MAURIN, made to "expand the boundaries of the ordinary visuals found in everyday life". Colourful movements & shapes appear in behind an almost dissolving surface, extremely coloured landscapes, nightdrives, strangely coloured birds, flickering lights in square-shapes, and the music consist of soft drone-loops, slow tribal beats & analogue sounds.
"Takes the viewer through a slow, hypnotic journey into "pixel", colored "reality". Its images are accompanied by experimental audio ambiance and minimal beats composed by Gal & Maurin." [website info]
|
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
| GALERIE SCHALLSCHUTZ |
Montauk Project |
CD |
...ambitionierter Release des “anti-mind-control”-Projekts GALERIE SCHALLSCHUTZ, gewidmet dem MONTAUK PROJECT, das in den 70er & 80ern ein geheimes Forschungsprogramm der USA zur elektronischen Bewusstseinskontrolle gewesen sein soll (und bis heute existiert, wie man kürzlich auf NTV sehen konnte): Elektromagnetische Felder, Radarwellen, Quantenmechanik, Wetterbeeinflussung, etc... all das scheint sich hier in bedrohlichen elektronischen Klängen wiederzuspiegeln, man hat das Gefühl durchleutet & gescannt zu werden. Zu jedem Stück gibt es weitere Informationen zu Details des MONTAUK PROJECTs. Das ist zeitgemässer, gesellschaftskritischer Industrial wie wir ihn sehen wollen, jenseits der üblichen Klischees! Kommt im Spezialcover mit Vexierbild.
“Finally 3 years after the ‘Haarp’ CD, Galerie Schallschutz comes with another superior release and again with strong thematic content...We all know something is out there, but we're not sure exactly what. Galerie Schallschutz at long last, begins to provide some solid clues.
“Montauk Project”, also called the Phoenix Project during some of its phases, was a covert government's ultra-top-secret electromagnetic mind control and time experiment project that took place during the 1970's and early '80s at an abandoned Air Force radar base at the southeast tip of Long Island, New York.
Much evidence has surfaced indicating that the base and the subterranean facilities were and still are used for a tremendous amount of top secret, ultra-classified research and experimentation into interdimensional technology, quantum and particle physics, black hole simulation, super-powerful electrical and electromagnetic fields, weather control, psychotronics (interfacing mind and machine), particle beam technology (HAARP transmissions…), and electronic and drug- based mind control...! Galerie Schallschutz provide you with the perfect soundtrack to go further into this secret world. ENTER NOW !
ATTENTION: this recordings will change your mind.” [label info]
www.tesco-germany.org
|
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Kubark |
10inch |
"KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation" is an interrogation manual published in 1963. The 127-page report, originally classified as secret, is a comprehensive guide for training interrogators in the art of obtaining intelligence from "resistant sources". KUBARK --a CIA codename for itself-- describes the qualifications of a successful interrogator and reviews the theory of non-coercive and coercive techniques for breaking a prisoner. The long-range purpose of interrogation is to get all the useful counterintelligence information the source has. The short-range purpose is to enlist his cooperation to this end or if he is resistant to destroy his capacity for resistance and replace it with a cooperative attitude. Creating a sense of unfamiliarity, disorientation and isolation are the hallmarks of psychologically undermining a detainee in the purview of the KUBARK manual. Practices like starvation, keeping inmates in small, windowless cells with unchanging artificial light and forcing inmates to sit or stand in uncomfortable positions for long periods of time are useful instruments to reach the objective. Finally, the KUBARK manual is a work of historic importance and a fundamental source document for all Counterintelligence Interrogation in the world to this day..." [label info] |
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| GAMLASKATTEN |
Voltage |
CD |
"Voltage" is the debut album and follow up to the well received "Brutalism" EP (auphnet024).
Using the momentum, this release is straight and aimed directly to the club floors. Heavy beats, moving sequences and a pace that you cannot escape. As it's predecessor the tracks are heavy influenced by oldschool EBM, dark techno and industrial elements.
Demanding your attention from the first bit to the last note!
https://audiophob.bandcamp.com/album/voltage
"Genre/Influences: Industrial-Techno, Techno-Body.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: This is a German solo-project driven by Ralph Gatzen. Audiophob last year released the EP “Brutalism” and now unleashed the debut album “Voltage”.
Content: The debut part of the work is mixing hard loops of Techno- and Industrial music. New elements are progressively emerging like Acid, Psy-Trance and finally solid EBM bass lines with screaming effects on top. It’s a diversified piece of music but totally adapted for dance floors.
+ + + : The opening part of the album has something visionary. Gamlaskatten is not just bringing Techno and Industrial together but there’s something extra on top. It sounds brutal and pretty sexy at the same time. The Acid sequences at the title track are pretty cool as well. The second part features heavy EBM bass lines creating a perfect, and aggressive, fusion between Techno and EBM.
– – – : The only single track that couldn’t fully convince me is the last one which definitely sounds as an ‘outro’.
Conclusion: I’m not used to hearing Techno-driven productions released by Audiophob but the harsh, Industrial, dark and intelligent approach of this artist is definitely appealing for the lovers of the German label." [Side-Line]
|
2022 |
€12.00 |
|
| GAMMELSAETER & MARHAUG |
Higgs Boson |
LP |
Runhild Gammelsæter and Lasse Marhaug are two Norwegian musicians/sound artists. Both started in the early 1990s music underground and have worked in many constellations with a wide range of collaborators. Despite knowing each other for a long time, Gammelsæter and Marhaug's first collaborative work was the Quantum Entanglement LP in 2014. The project lay dormant until Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson invited them to open for Sunn O))) for a special gig in the St. James Church of Culture in Oslo in 2019. The two gathered for a long series of rehearsals, and after the successful performance, it was clear that it was time to start working on new compositions and recordings. That process initiated in late 2019 and continued to early 2021, before and after the lockdown. The result of this long development to be heard accumulated upon their new album Higgs Boson on Ideologic Organ. Marhaug drew inspiration from concepts informed by the structuralist experimental cinema of Japanese directors Takashi Ito and Toshio Matsumoto, futurist worlds of French comic book artists Philippe Druillet and Jean Moebius Giraud, landscape photography of Fay Godwin, Kåre Kivijärvi, and Tamiko Nishimura, amongst others. It became a metaphysical juxtaposition involving Gammelsaeter's research and lyrical ideas based on several seemingly unrelated principles. A process of association inspired by The Glass Bead Game (1943) by Herman Hesse. The discovery of the Higgs Boson as a confirmation of the physical universe. The work of Ernst Schrödinger on the uncertainty principle. The four forces of physics. The Force. Helplessness under armed forces -- as the war sailors in World War II. The influence of magic as expressed in tarot. Gammelsæter experiments with a boundary involving the thresholds amongst various states of focus and legibility by forensic experimentation with techniques such as exclusive expression of consonants, syllabic repetition, retrograde text vocalizations and multi-lingual layering. Her vocal inspirational sources include Sidsel Endresen, Diamanda Galas, Natacha Atlas, the choral works of Rachmaninov, and the bands Carcass and Grave. Two worlds coming together, making the music special. Mixing hard facts with science fiction helps create a kaleidoscopic cross point between the complex realities of the past and a possible future. Across eight parts, the two artists brought a broad palette of instrumentation and sound on Higgs Boson. Electronic and acoustic, objects and field recordings, and pipe organ define the structures of which the center is Gammelsæter's magnificent voice. She In the mix, Lasse approached the instrumental elements like landscapes, then Runhild's vocals as characters that inhabit those worlds. Often, Gammelsæter multiple characters fused with the landscape. As an album, Higgs Boson is direct and focused, drawing on song structures. Within these tracks are vast strata of sound, an immersive multi-dimensional depth of music.
A1. The Stark Effect (2:52)
A2. The Magus (4:44)
A3. Static Case (3:56)
A4. Ondes De Fase (4:00)
A5. Forces (5:50)
B1. Propeller Arc (6:46)
B2. Hadron Collider (5:35)
B3. These Questions (9:55)
"Two totemic Norwegian artists bombard and fizz the senses with a powerful invocation of metal and noise energies on a new album for Stephen O’Malley’s radical Ideologic Organ imprint.
The thrilling complex of ’Higgs Boson’ furthers Runhild Gammelsæter & Lasse Marhaug’s fascination with the field of physics following 2014’s ‘Quantum Entanglement’ with Milwaukee’s uncompromising Utech Records. Gammelsæter, a one-time vocalist for O’Malley & Greg Anderson’s legendary pre-Sunn 0))) band, Thorr’s Hammer, and regular contributor to O’Malley’s subsequent projects, is also a professional biologist with a PhD in cell physiology. Marhaug is the prolific, multifarious figurehead of Scandinavian experimental music who surely needs little introduction on these pages. The duo collapse a spectrum of non-musical influences into an immensely compelling sound that, as their LP’s title suggests, strives to confirm the meta- and physical presence of the universe thru opposing forces, and the unquantifiable, uncertain energies produced therein.
Gammelsæter’s vocals are evidently a big attraction on ‘Higg’s Boson’, naturally drawing on 30 years of extended works to project a range of unearthly inflections and affective tonal colour unmistakably forged in the belly of radical metal. As her relatively short but perfectly realised catalogue with Thorr’s Hammer, Khlyst, Sunn 0))) (notably ‘Gates of Ballard’!), proves, few can match her might.
Summoning structural concepts from the Japanese experimental cinema of Toshio Matsumoto, french comic book futurism of Phillippe Druillet and Jean Moebius Giraud, and landscape photography of Fay Godwin, Kåre Kivijärvi, and Tamiko Nishimura, Marhaug, in turn, galvanises the personalities of Gammelsæter’s voice to extraordinary degrees, conjugating their mutual spirits in vast, electro-acoustic and illusively noumenal space with frankly shit-the-bed results comparable with everyone from Diamanda Galas’ tempered rage to the catharsis of Carcass and Rachmaninov’s choral arrangements.
A genuinely unsettling summoning of dark energy." [Boomkat]
https://ideologicorgan.bandcamp.com/album/higgs-boson
|
2022 |
€24.00 |
|
| GARCIA, MIGUEL A. & MIGUEL SOUTO |
The Lurking Fear |
CD |
Anoxia Records is a Spanish independent record label whose main objective is to claim music as a form of art beyond mere entertainment or a superficial communication. With this objective we aim to release unique works of art beyond genres or tags.
We feel very proud to announce what will be the very first release in Anoxia Records; a collaboration between the prolific Basque sound artist Miguel A. Garcia a.k.a. Xedh and the Galician musician Miguel Souto, entitled "The Lurking Fear" as a homage to the American cult horror and science-fiction writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft. More than 50 minutes of dark electronic music in compact disc.
"The Lurking Fear" is available for pre-order and streaming now. Authentically dark and gnarled, a nightmarish opera that encompasses electroacoustic music, noise, dark ambient and drone. This album is divided in four pieces: Trioptesmeae, Unknown Kadath, Hidátide and The Lurking Fear.
Expected release date: 05/27/2017.
PRE-ORDER: http://anoxiarecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-lurking-fear
Miguel A. García:
http://www.xedh.org
http://xedh.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/miguelaagarcia
Miguel Souto:
http://miguelsouto.bandcamp.com
http://www.discogs.com/es/artist/4455951-Miguel-Souto
http://www.facebook.com/anoxiarecords
http://anoxiarecords.bandcamp.com
anoxiarecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-lurking-fear
|
2017 |
€10.00 |
|
| GARET, RICHARD |
Areal |
CD |
"On AreaI, Garet continues his ongoing research with electromagnetic disturbances through radio. Garet treats the radio process of transmission and reception as a routing system for the audio signal, all the while deliberately agitating and distressing the nodes that direct the course of that signal. For example, an electrical motor might be situated near a radio's antenna disrupting its ability to properly receive a transmission that Garet is broadcasting from nearby. Through the controlled use of electro-acoustic techniques (some rough and volatile, some refined and delicate), he organizes the signal distortion, the crackling static, and the ever-present tendencies for feedback into swarms of chiming resonance, electrically sourced harmonics, tactile bricolage, and impressionist din. As much as Garet's process pushes the interaction of sound and electricity to the brink of self-immolation, Areal balances his crunched textures with extended passages of radiant blooms of blurry noise and drone, finding common ground between the glassine density from Rhys Chatham and the splintered excursions of Kevin Drumm." [label info]
www.23five.org
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| GASTRIC FEMALE REFLEX |
same |
CD-R |
Kanadische Noise-weirdness, völliges Hirngeschwurbel mit eigener Schönheit. Konkrete Collagen für die Ewigkeit. Wir denken an RATS WITH WINGS, RAYMOND DIJKSTRA, NWW, und andere low-fi concrete noise masters.....
“...The music is generally rather low-key with some wonderful bursts of noise...All kinds of weird instruments are being amplified and recorded through different devices, there's a bit of tape manipulation and electroaccoustic clatter and rumble... All mashed together and whipped up for your listening pleasure... You get flashbacks of "classic" NZ noise (Surface of the earth, Sandoz labtech etc...) and perhaps some of that Dylan Nyoukis or American Tapes madness.... numbered edition of 50 copies, the actual disc is beautifully handpainted and the covers are
individually made.” [label info]
|
2004 |
€7.50 |
|
| GAUCHISTE |
Sommet |
LP |
Gauchiste the black ambient, experimental band from USA was formed in 2009 and based in Raleigh, NC / Richmond, VA. Gauchiste is Tomas Phillips & Tannon Penland.
Tomas Philips known as the minimalist sound artist but also in written and in visual arts, he released albums on such labels as Line Imprint and Trente Oiseaux. He currently teaches literature at North Carolina State University.
Tannon Penland is a musician known mainly from the heavy metal scene, in bands like Loincloth - a Southern Lord label band that toured with Sunn O))) and released a couple of albums.
This is their second full length album and "Sommet", like the predecessor, contains their finely crafted dark music, that will transpose you to an outstanding soundart noveau of dark-noire ambiance. It combines elements that reminds of metal aesthetics and experimental music subtleties aiming at minimalism. Indeed, Gauchiste veers much closer to a dark abstraction, falling somewhere, between Japanese minimalism, Thomas Köner, Nurse with Wound and the heaviness in the relative silences of metal. "Sommet", brings this noir soundtrack quality to this mix with numerous collaborators, including Robert Donne of Labradford fame - the band is greatly proud of.
"Sommet" requires no more words, it speaks for each listener, for himself. But I dare to say it's an outstanding release. It is the kind of release that truly fulfills label's audio aesthetics. Animating the subtle vibration of the tree, which is breathing, beating. This release demanded also a very special package. The LP album is presented in shiny black Vinyl with folded cover in PVC envelope. Each copy includes the bandcamp download code!
Gauchiste: Tannon Penland, Tomas Phillips
Contributors:
Greg Elkins - Steel guitar
M. Moore - Vocals
Matt L. - Guitar
David Sanchez - Vocals
Robert Donne - Synth
Jenna Ottinger - Vocals
David More - Bowed cymbal
John Winston Phillips - Synth
Tracy Wilson - Vocals
Dave Witte - Drums
Drums recorded by Brett Bamburger, Dan Gargiulo
Mastering by: Ronan Chris Murphy (known for working with King Crimson, Gwar, Steve Morse, Terry Bozzio, Ulver...)
Graphically Designed by Doug Dobey for Dobey Design
https://essentiamundi.bandcamp.com/album/gauchiste-sommet-em047
|
2021 |
€23.00 |
|
| GEINS'T NAIT & L. PETITGAND |
Je vous dis |
CD |
"Geins't Naït is a project initiated in 1986 with a first album released by Thierry Merigout (drummer with Kas Product on their 1981 tour) and Vincent Hachet, who quickly stepped back from this project to work on his film-maker career.
The L'or'n Cät album's release in 1987 marked the arrival of Laurent Petitgand, a singer-songwriter recognized for his composing work for (the late French singer) Bashung and original soundtracks for film directors such as Wim Wenders (including Tokyo-Ga, 1985, Wings of Desire, 1986, and the future The Salt of the Earth, scheduled in 2014), Paul Auster (The Inner Life of Martin Frost), as well as ballet music for Angelin Preljocaj (Liqueurs de Chair, Amer America).
Bases are thus set down. While Geins't Naït offers rough pieces of music as an extension of its punk attitude which deeply moved the Berlin scene years ago, Laurent Petitgand is busy refining them and creating some musicality within the post-industrial collages, adding guitars, piano or any classical instrument.
In 1993, following the release of C/O Lisa on the Permis de Construire label, noise gave way to a silence that lasted 20 years.
Coming from nowhere, Si j'avais su, j'aurais rien dit, a particularly tormented album which, against all odds, revived the project in 2011.
An album which showed an increasing alchemy between the two musicians whose different routes, this common project aside, seem to fit perfectly well now.
Now, and more than ever, the duo's approach is based on an in-depth field. To sharpen the sounds, give them some kind of balance, a density and a mark.
More than anything else, to make sure that music is a langage, an experience in the deeper meaning of the term.
In its form, the collaboration between Geins't Naït and Laurent Petitgand echoes the adventurous musics from the eighties and is the French counterpoint to experimental british scenes (Coil, Current 93, Test Dept) and german scenes (Einstürzende Neubauten, Sprung Aus Den Wolken), so much so that this new work is difficult to label in its totality, entering ambient or industrial fields, as well as minimalist or repetitive music.
Je vous dis is obvious in its ability for listeners to give life to the smallest element which is part of it, would it be a sample, a piano melody, or even the amazing work on voices, which, as well as instrumentation, assume a central part in the tracks balance.
Melancholic, with a retained violence, sometimes even with a fearsome violence, Je vous dis surprises and captivates in its way to subtly catch the listener, thanks to a disturbing nocturnal mood, but also to an unsettling humanity.
But this record is far from being an hermetical work : it's quite the opposite. Difficulty is not to get in this world, however particular or deviant it is, but to get out.
More than just music, Je vous dis is a visceral obsession about detail, a sound sculpture with changing forms and various aspects, an unsleeping creature with inscrutable soul.
As soon as one believes to have understood it, the next listening brings the listener back into doubt and questions.
As in a situationist movie for which that album would be a perfect soundtrack, each complete immersion offers its lot of news interpretations and details, with were unkown until now but are definitively obvious in the end.
A real masterpiece for the mind : complex, poetic and sophisticated, even in its darkest moments." [label info]
www.icidailleurs.com
"Years and years ago I worked in a space, which also functioned as a record store, and before, that I was a volunteer at another record-store/mail-order. In both 'stores' I saw the name Geins't Naït, but for whatever reason I no longer recall, I never played any of their records or CDs that we sold. Maybe it was because there was so much other great stuff to play? Let's keep it at that. So up until this CD I never heard their music properly, but in my defense, they didn't have any new release since 1993. The name Laurent Petitgand (not to be confused with Dominique Petitgand) I never heard before, despite the fact that he did soundtracks for Wim Wenders and Paul Auster as well as being a singer-songwriter. In 2011 he and Geins't Naït worked together for the first time and now there is a new album. But for me this is maybe a first introduction all around. And I am quite surprised. The label makes references to Coil, Current 93, Neubauten, none of which are really particular favorites
with me, but in these hands it works out differently and actually quite well. There is quite some drama in this music, through the use of samples, melancholic piano bits and the dark voice of Petitgand. Geins't Naït provide a rather minimal set of music - not as in 'empty', but as in 'repetitions', which makes rather odd pop music. Petitgand's voice is most of the time heavily transformed (vocoder perhaps?), which makes that a rather darker atmosphere hangs over these pieces. It bumps and collides but that I think is the beauty of this music, it's rather unusual atmosphere. Tacky and clichéd it seems at times but it works out quite fine. Maybe because there are some cliché's in here, but also some more unusual aspects, that it all makes up for something strange and estranged. A most enjoyable album, I thought. A fine introduction indeed." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
"Das Duo mit dem exotisch klingenden Namen Geins’t Naït entstand irgendwann im Dunstkreis der legendären Coldwaver von Kas Product und existiert nun bereits seit fast dreißig Jahren, bei denen allerdings eine lange Pause mitgerechnet wird. Hierzulande überwiegend frankophilen Kennern ein Begriff, ist die Band auf der anderen Rheinseite kein Geheimtipp mit ihrem eigenwilligen Stil an der Schnittstelle von Punk- und Industrial-Einflüssen, Songs und Soundscapes sowie technoiden und klassischen Arrangements. Der Sänger und Komponist Laurent Petitgand arbeitet auf “Je vous dis” zum zweitenmal mit GN zusammen und bringt klassische, v.a. akustische Elemente ein. Das Label zieht Vergleiche zu den Neubauten, Coil und Test Dept., was natürlich eine respektable Messlatte darstellt.
Wollte man in dem ausgesprochen welchselseitigen Album so etwas wie einen roten Faden benennen, so ließe der sich eher noch in einer immer leicht aufgekratzten Wehmut finden, als im Sound, der leicht retrolasigen Akustikklängen ebenso Raum gibt wie hallunterlegter, leicht housiger Elektronik, bei der ich tatsächlich an Coil-Werke wie “Love’s Secret Domain” denken musste. Viele Songs wecken filmische Assoziationen und versprühen einen nostalgischen und oft auch ein wenig naiven Charme. In den Passagen vor dem Einsetzen zum Teil vertrackter Rhythmen lockern reichliche zitathaft integrierte Klangbrocken den Wohlklang auf und versetzen die Szenerie an einen nur schwer zu ortenden Schauplatz, den Petitgand mit seinen mantraartigen Stimmbeiträgen, die teilweise wie versoffenes Bellen klingen, dominiert.
Oft entfalten sich mehrere musikalische Erzählstränge simultan, und selbst da, wo es schlicht auf die Schönheit der Unordnung hinausläuft, entsteht nie der Eindruck, dass es um bloßes Muckertum geht." [U.S./African Paper]
africanpaper.com/2015/03/28/geinst-nait-laurent-petitgand-je-vous-dis/
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Je vous dis |
LP |
"Geins't Naït is a project initiated in 1986 with a first album released by Thierry Merigout (drummer with Kas Product on their 1981 tour) and Vincent Hachet, who quickly stepped back from this project to work on his film-maker career.
The L'or'n Cät album's release in 1987 marked the arrival of Laurent Petitgand, a singer-songwriter recognized for his composing work for (the late French singer) Bashung and original soundtracks for film directors such as Wim Wenders (including Tokyo-Ga, 1985, Wings of Desire, 1986, and the future The Salt of the Earth, scheduled in 2014), Paul Auster (The Inner Life of Martin Frost), as well as ballet music for Angelin Preljocaj (Liqueurs de Chair, Amer America).
Bases are thus set down. While Geins't Naït offers rough pieces of music as an extension of its punk attitude which deeply moved the Berlin scene years ago, Laurent Petitgand is busy refining them and creating some musicality within the post-industrial collages, adding guitars, piano or any classical instrument.
In 1993, following the release of C/O Lisa on the Permis de Construire label, noise gave way to a silence that lasted 20 years.
Coming from nowhere, Si j'avais su, j'aurais rien dit, a particularly tormented album which, against all odds, revived the project in 2011.
An album which showed an increasing alchemy between the two musicians whose different routes, this common project aside, seem to fit perfectly well now.
Now, and more than ever, the duo's approach is based on an in-depth field. To sharpen the sounds, give them some kind of balance, a density and a mark. More than anything else, to make sure that music is a language, an experience in the deeper meaning of the term.
In its form, the collaboration between Geins't Naït and Laurent Petitgand echoes the adventurous musics from the eighties and is the French counterpoint to experimental british scenes (Coil, Current 93, Test Dept) and german scenes (Einstürzende Neubauten, Sprung Aus Den Wolken), so much so that this new work is difficult to label in its totality, entering ambient or industrial fields, as well as minimalist or repetitive music.
'Je vous dis' is obvious in its ability for listeners to give life to the smallest element which is part of it, would it be a sample, a piano melody, or even the amazing work on voices, which, as well as instrumentation, assume a central part in the tracks balance.
Melancholic, with a retained violence, sometimes even with a fearsome violence, Je vous dis surprises and captivates in its way to subtly catch the listener, thanks to a disturbing nocturnal mood, but also to an unsettling humanity.
But this record is far from being an hermetical work: it's quite the opposite. Difficulty is not to get in this world, however particular or deviant it is, but to get out. More than just music, Je vous dis is a visceral obsession about detail, a sound sculpture with changing forms and various aspects, an unsleeping creature with inscrutable soul. As soon as one believes to have understood it, the next listening brings the listener back into doubt and questions. As in a situationist movie for which that album would be a perfect soundtrack, each complete immersion offers its lot of news interpretations and details, with were unkown until now but are definitively obvious in the end. A real masterpiece for the mind : complex, poetic and sophisticated, even in its darkest moments." [label info]
www.icidailleurs.com
"Years and years ago I worked in a space, which also functioned as a record store, and before, that I was a volunteer at another record-store/mail-order. In both 'stores' I saw the name Geins't Naït, but for whatever reason I no longer recall, I never played any of their records or CDs that we sold. Maybe it was because there was so much other great stuff to play? Let's keep it at that. So up until this CD I never heard their music properly, but in my defense, they didn't have any new release since 1993. The name Laurent Petitgand (not to be confused with Dominique Petitgand) I never heard before, despite the fact that he did soundtracks for Wim Wenders and Paul Auster as well as being a singer-songwriter. In 2011 he and Geins't Naït worked together for the first time and now there is a new album. But for me this is maybe a first introduction all around. And I am quite surprised. The label makes references to Coil, Current 93, Neubauten, none of which are really particular favorites
with me, but in these hands it works out differently and actually quite well. There is quite some drama in this music, through the use of samples, melancholic piano bits and the dark voice of Petitgand. Geins't Naït provide a rather minimal set of music - not as in 'empty', but as in 'repetitions', which makes rather odd pop music. Petitgand's voice is most of the time heavily transformed (vocoder perhaps?), which makes that a rather darker atmosphere hangs over these pieces. It bumps and collides but that I think is the beauty of this music, it's rather unusual atmosphere. Tacky and clichéd it seems at times but it works out quite fine. Maybe because there are some cliché's in here, but also some more unusual aspects, that it all makes up for something strange and estranged. A most enjoyable album, I thought. A fine introduction indeed." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
| GEINS'T NAIT + SCANNER + PETITGAND |
OLA |
CD |
Since 2014, when the Mind Travels [Ici, d'ailleurs] series was created, Geins't Naït and Laurent Petitgand have been working on one project after another with a great deal of sonic experimentation and with an unbroken passion. It is therefore not surprising to find the fifth album "OLA" from this collaboration on our collection dedicated to "ambient, neo-classical and industrial" music. After "Je vous dis" 2014, "Oublier" 2015, and "Like This Maybe Or This" in 2020, the group that we will call GN+LP is a figurehead of our sub-label and this new release "OLA" reinforces this association.
Geins't Naït and Laurent Petitgand have been music activists for more than 30 years, two very singular musicians, coming from two different schools and whose collaboration was far from obvious: the industrial and experimental scene for Thierry Mérigout (the last active member of the group Geins't Naït) and for Laurent Petitgand, well known for his movie soundtracks, especially for his collaboration with Wim Wenders. These two artists have different visions at first sight, but share common roots and a mutual respect. They were also recently featured in a documentary directed by Otomo de Manuel: "So Young But So Cold", a feature film about the Nancy Punk/No Wave scene.
For the album "OLA", the GN+LP duo is joined by an artist far from being unknown by ambient and IDM fans, namely Scanner alias Robin Rimbaud, to be pronounced /ˈrɒb.ɪn/ because, in spite of a French-sounding name, he is English and lives in London. The Englishman is a virtuoso of sound collage, a sound plastician, one of the most present on the electronic scene since the 90s. He has produced more than twenty albums on labels as prestigious as Sub Rosa or New electronica. A fan of collaborations, he has had the opportunity to work with many artists during his career, Kim Cascone or Alva Noto to name but a few.
We can say that this combination: Geins't Nait + LP + Scanner is explosive. From the first track, "MT26", we quickly understand the potential of this trio formula. After three rather calm introductory minutes, scattered with modified voices and field recording, the track progressively evolves with a rhythmic. The loops merge and repeat, sometimes disintegrating and filling up with industrial sounds and more or less heavy metals. This structure can be found on several tracks such as "OLA" or "MOUCHE", two hypnotic tracks of more than seven minutes that could remind us of Autechre or Muslimgauze. We also discover a tribute to Gilles Deleuze on the track "GILLES" in which GN+LP+Scanner rework the conference of this philosopher "What is the act of creation? Gilles Deleuze is regularly featured in Geins't Nait's work.
More industrial and colder than the previous albums "Je vous dis" or "Like This Maybe Or This", the album "OLA" is difficult to classify. Some tracks tend towards dark-ambient like "MORPHENG" "9.95MW", others are closer to techno like "BRA".
Dense and complex at first sight, "OLA" is a work to be experienced. Intense and immersive, GN +LP + Scanner's work gives off an atmosphere: a timeless sound space, the perception of a cold, mechanical but strangely reassuring world. A universe that some might compare to a combination of David Cronenberg's "The Fly" and Wang Bing's "West of the tracks".
https://mindtravels.bandcamp.com/album/ola
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| GELSOMINA |
Santa Sangre |
mCD-R |
Rare GELSOMINA-release with frenetic noise (except the last of the four tracks which seems to use voice-material from the legendary film SANTA SANGRE, sold out at the label !
"Finnish harsh noise with power electronics elements and some drone touches. There should be NO pauses between the tracks. The disc + track titles refer to the legendary Jodorowsky's film "Santa Sangre". The last track is rather untypical Gelsomina with strange dark elements. Limited to 100 copies." [label info]
|
2006 |
€5.50 |
|
| GELSOMINA + NO XIVIC |
Furnace |
CD |
Das Titelstück ist ein furioses 25minütiges Power-Drone Monument, welches beide finnischen Projekte im Oktober 2006 live einspielten; eine harmonische delay- Bass Grundlage wird mit harsch-noisigem Brett garniert, danach folgen noch 2 lange einzelne Stücke von beiden Acts, pulsierend-beschwörender harsh-core Industrial von GELSOMINA, fantastischer "mysterious noise" von NO XIVIC.
" 'Furnace' is an unlikely yet strangely natural union of no Xivic, renowned sculptor of dark electro-acoustic soundscapes, and Gelsomina, Finland's most prolific harsh noise artist. The title track, also the main piece on the album, is a live collaboration recorded in late 2006, a grand opus of psychedelic noise with a peculiar 'kraut' flavour! In addition to this, both artists created exclusive tracks on their own to complete the album. In total, Furnace is a 44-minute blast of fire, brimstone and hazardous electric currents, and thus a fine completion of Some Place Else's tenth year of activity. CD in square DVD-box with full colour artwork and insert. Edition of 500 copies." [label info]
www.someplaceelse.net
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| GENDREAU, MICHAEL |
55 pas de la ligne au no 3 |
CD |
MICHAEL GENDREAU, bekannt mit seiner Arbeit als CRAWLING WITH TARTS, mit seiner ersten Solo-CD: zwei lange Stücke mechanisch brummende drone-soundscapes mit repetitiven Mustern, deren Parameter sich allmählich verändern.
“ Long-time San Francisco based sound artist, internationally known from his extensive discography as Crawling With Tarts, releases his first full length solo work. 55 pas de la ligne au no 3 is a microscopic study of dense sonic landscapes buried within antiquated turntable motors and furnaces. Gendreau, an acoustician by profession, utilizes high sensitivity accelerometers to map detailed frequencies from a variety of old turntable motors and mechanics. This is a rare exhibition of the creative potential within this kind of technology. (Randy Yau's favorite album of the year... And soon to be Jim Haynes' too!)
” In its puzzling bellows, the 35-minute title track leads the listener astray as it rambles in its physics and amplified world of micro-sound. Here there are hints of data transfer and voice
channeling that has at once a startling approach and tectonic finish. The repetitive churning of teeny motorized units, in their climbing, distorted frequencies will have you hanging on each transition. Some of the finer sources play with the idea of scale, while at times these palm-sized worlds grow into 300 foot tall super coasters, and in moments they are again transformed smaller than a pinhead. 23five is ready to challenge our ears with visionary work that pushes the barriers of the noise/sound envelope.” [Vital Weekly 332]
label: www.23five.org
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
| GENETIC TRANSMISSION |
Last |
CD |
" 'Last' is the latest Genetic Transmission album. Distributed only as a handful of CDRs a few years ago, it is only now that it appears as a regular CD release as part of the IYHHH series.
The idea behind the recording of this material was to the creation of sonic miniatures, short forms created from the acoustic preparations or electro-acoustic sources resulting in numerous sound experiments which Tomasz Twardawa has been known of. As a result, the album is composed of fifteen tracks in total, mostly shorter tracks, which are more than one hour of music.
'Last' is the end of a chapter, as the title indicates. This is the last studio album in the discography of Genetic Transmission. This one is the end and the summary of Tomasz Twardawa's activities under this banner. And also the last, 9th part of the IYHHH series, presenting interesting discoveries or unusual sounds from Polish artists in an unconventional way.
The album is released in an ecopack with a postcard and limited to 444 hand-numbered copies." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Chrzaszcz Brzmi W Trzcinie |
CD |
"The second in GT Series Archive is the album entitled "Chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie" (A beetle buzzes in the reed - a Polish tounge twister), originally published on a CDR on Tochnit Aleph in 2006. In a short time it was sold out and practically until today the material has not been available in any other form. "Chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie" is a recording of the session based on the most primal sound sources which are only arranged in a suitable structures so that they form a concise material; however, they remained unchanged and no post-production was applied to them. The album consists of 6 compositions, about 60 minutes of industrial sound space characteristic of the work of Genetic Transmission.
This reissue is strictly limited to 200 copies." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Lullabies |
CD |
“Lullabies” is an eight instalment in Zoharum’s GT Archive reissue series. “Lullabies” is somewhat of a mock title as Tomek Twardawa plays instruments similar to the ones previously used to record “Strychnina” and gives us nothing short of “tour de fear”. This time industrial rawness is accompanied by narrative field recordings creating coherent yet eerie sound collage. Album could easily soundtrack a horror movie or be perceived as a nightmarish soundscape. Moods shift here suddenly keeping you in constant tension. Rewarding listening. Not for the faint-hearted.
Album limited to 200 copies comes in 4 panel ecopack with cover design by Wojtek Zięba.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/lullubies |
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
| GENTILE, STEFANO / MONICA TESTA / ENRICO CONIGLIO / STEFANO GUZZETTI |
Nell'Attesa del tuo prossimo respiro |
do-CD & 2 x BOOK |
2 x photo books (40 pages each - cm 25x25) + 2xCD in special package, ltd. 300 copies
"Waiting for your next breath" is a double photographic book that includes four different photographic stories by Stefano Gentile and Monica Testa, whose shots have as object of investigation the landscapes of abandonment. Those that once were spaces for social relations (cinemas, parks, hospitals and so on), have now become temples of ruin: marginal, forbidden, dangerous, inaccessible. However, without indulging in the simple 'painting of ruins' so dear to Piranesi, they draw from the decadence of architectural complexes and materials the power to imagine possible futures of meaning. Here, in this lies the wait for your next breath...
Enrico Coniglio and Stefano Guzzetti - separately - have created, in the margins of the photographic images, some possible musical settings, which we hope can accompany the slow browsing of the book by future owners.
The two 25x25 cm format books are housed in a cross-folded 'container' along with the two CDs.
The artwork was created by Chris Bigg (4AD, David Sylvian).
13 publishes this work in an edition of only 300 copies."
13.silentes.it/private_sounds/sps1828_gentile_testa_coniglio_guzzetti.htm
|
2018 |
€48.00 |
|
| GEORGE & CAPLIN |
Electronic Eulogy |
LP + 7inch |
Überraschend musikalisches auf Beta-Lactam Ring! GEORGE & CAPLIN arbeiten in 80er Jahre Tradition mit Drumbox, Gitarre, Synths, Gesang. Melodisch & melancholisch, nicht wirklich düster...
Elektronische Wave/Pop-Grössen vergangener Zeiten fallen einem ein, SOFT CELL, NEW ORDER, FOR AGAINST, aber auch die Label-Kollegen WHITELODGE...
Again a more „Pop“-oriented discovery on Beta-Lactam: rather simple electronic beats, backwards-guitars, harmonic synths, very melodic, we had to think on poppier / more electronic SAVAGE REPUBLIC or FOR AGAINST.....
“Third album by george&caplin and also available on vinyl with bonus 7"! This might be a future college entrance question, so pay attention: Ceramic Hello is to Soft Cell as what is to Ladytron? If you answered G&C, then you probably cheated, which is perfectly allowed as owning any of their 3 releases makes you a better person. Clearly one of the bright spots to rise up out of the so-called Electroclash debacle. Where groups like Chicks On Speed and Felix Da Housecat ultimately end up creating dance-floor anthems, G&C have been that weird brother hiding in the corner making minimalist masterpieces with dusty equipment. G&C's brand of minimal synth on Electronic Eulogy is a dark wave of another colour. Like underground synthesists of old, such as Ceramic Hello, or John Ruth, or even very early New Order, G&C's musical omniverse is a beatific one filled with lush, polychromatic chord progressions presented within a spare and melancholic framework. The wave is cold, but not blanched (as opposed to the repetitive sturm und drang of, say, Snowy Red or Suicide). An album of introspective quality, Electronic Eulogy steals seeds fostered in the glitch garden and grows them into a wholly unique and very melodious Tannen-baud. Those sweet electonyxx click, wash and whirr, counterpointed occasionally by acoustic guitar and/or vocals on a few tracks (a kind of perfectly flat and distant vocal delivery, somewhat like Dean Wareham. In fact, 'Dictionary Dream,' which happens to feature the guitar upfront, is something of a synth pop take on Galaxie 500). That's just the thing with G&C...they are like some long lost Factory or Cherry Red or 4AD cold/dark wave group, before there were deeply established camps within the synth and post punk worlds. Second Layer meets Shox? Minny Pops vs Insides? The Fast Set has a scone with early Arms Of Someone New? The opening 'Promenade,' with its brilliantly twisted boomerang timing structure and analog buzz, is like some kind of electro-crack. All in all, just lovely sequenced rainy day electronic head-music. It'll have you praying for rain.“ [label description]
|
2005 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
He really got through to advertising |
CD |
"Black Series 20 - Ed. of 350 numbered copies. THEY really get through. g&c's backwards looping under-coat melodics seep like a musical IV into nourishment-hungry heads. Warm acoustics resonate over warbling electronics, palpitating into slow, sentient rhythms. "Dreamo" has already been co-opted by punk-dits, so g&c's get their own "Hemo" category, just so everyone can be called something ending in "-emo." Yes, Hemo: The blood. Fluid dynamics at its core purpose: pumping life into a system. Their sanguine essence of cosmic psychedelia blasts a new kind of human flower. Tiny sounds rise to peal at the surface, dueted by a disembodied vocal melancholia. These 7 tracks carve out a truly unique sonic geode that paints a plasma of pure loveliness. The blood has served them well, with an evolution marked this time by a particular subdued heaviness in the creases. Coming on like some unearthed Factory or 4AD artifact, g&c's organic nu-gaze halos continue to circle above; the blood infusing the machine with a soul. They really DO get through.
g&c "...we are really excited as it features loads of new sounds (from harmonica to flute), and a whole new perspective on george&caplin via collaborations with Sandusky, Robin Rozum (our talented multi-instrument neighbor), Joshua Gondrez (Time's Knowledge) and super-pumpkin engineer Jim Wilson (Airshow Mastering)." [label info]
|
2007 |
€16.00 |
|
| GERMAN ARMY |
Wakhan Corridor |
CD |
A nomadic journey beyond the horizon halted by towering chiseled peaks. On the roof of the world, where highest ranges meet, dwell individuals untouched by government, war or terror. An opium-induced buffer zone of the Wakhan Corridor, one of the most remote, high-altitude, bewitching landscapes on Earth opens frail-looking deep lines etched by time pristine and harsh, conserved by a famous environmentalist project, German Army, to document extinctions of this rare culture. Insightful tribal muzak buried in obscurity, anonymity, secularity and eternity. Limited to 300 copies in a full-colour gloss-laminated Digipak
https://oldcaptain.bandcamp.com/album/german-army-wakhan-corridor |
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| GERRARD, LISA & MARCELLO DE FRANCISCI |
Departum |
CD |
Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner singer/composer Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance) and film composer Marcello De Francisci have joined forces to bring you their first collaborative album work titled "Departum". This album is a collection of pieces, which are filled with lyrical soundscapes, orchestrated with vocal chants, cimbalom, guitars, percussion, modern instruments and orchestra. An effort that took two years in the making moreover a journey inspired by ancient world cultures. (Mesopotamia, Europe & Asia)
After the groundbreaking album "The Trail Of Genghis Khan" written in collaboration with an Australian artist Cye Wood, Lisa Gerrard returns to Infinite fog with long-awaited complete, extended edition of the album "Departum".
Highest quality sound, ambient drifts, soft tribal rhythms, touching melodies of Cymbylom and 144-Strings Yang Chin playing by Lisa Gerrard and transcendental vocals. All this gives even more in sum and makes "Departum" pure pleasure listening.
CD released in a digipak with massive 20 pages booklet.
reviews:
“Some of Gerrard’s most rhythmically lively and vocally enraptured music since Dead Can Dance’s Spirit Chaser.” - John Diliberto for ((( echoes )))
“Departum“ see’s Lisa collaborate with Marcello De Francisci after working together of a film (Tears of Gaza) and deciding they felt so at home together they wanted to have a separate project to let themselves go on. This has resulted in a wonderful selection of some of the best music in Gerrard’s catalogue and the most instantly enjoyable album since “Daulity”
Quite frankly, when I heard The Black Opal, my review started this was the album I’d been waiting from Lisa for years… I was wrong. “Departum“ tops that album for me and is utterly mesmerizing from start to finish. There is something about teaming up Lisa’s voice with world music that is built to explode for finale and this album has worked that out a treat. Marcello has breathed new life into everything and now this is firm favorite to go head to head with "Ark" for my album of the year (and thus one of the best of the last 10!)” - July 23, 2010, Higher Plain Music higherplainmusic.com/2010/07/23/lisa-gerrard-marcello-de-francisci-departum-review/
“It took two years after that to create, record, produce and mix Departum. It was an effort of much transcendental exploration, with an intention to take the listener into a once ancient time where the forces of nature intertwined with humans on a physical level. The way the tracks are laid out is very much like a guided meditation. “ - Marcello De Francisci
Marcello De Francisci, well-known an American composer/visual artist with an Italian-Argentinean background based in Los Angeles, California. Marcello De Francisci is a big name in soundtracks industry, in 2006 he won the best soundtrack of the year G.A.N.G. ward for his work on SCEA's "God of War" game. His music has been used in major theatrical movie trailers such as "Avatar", "Prince Of Persia", "Monsters VS Aliens", "Seven Pounds", Hellboy" to name a few. Moreover, we can remember his mesmerizing music in the sequel to "Baraka" art house documentary "Samsara". Since 2009, Marcello and Lisa start work together and recorded several soundtracks for major and art house movies. Besides that, their creativity also found a realization in a common album "Departum", which became one of the most top-rated albums in Lisa Gerrard discography. Attentive listener may remember Marcello as co-creator Lisa Gerrard's album "Twilight Kingdom".
released March 29, 2018
infinitefog.bandcamp.com/album/lisa-gerrard-and-marcello-de-francisci-departum
|
2018 |
€14.00 |
|
| GERSH, GEOFF |
These Predicaments |
CD |
" 'These Predicaments' is the new CD by guitarist/composer Geoff Gersh and is his second solo release on the Deep Listening Institute label. Created for painter David Stoupakis’s solo exhibition at the Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles, CA, ‘These Predicaments’ draws on drones, ambient textures and slowly developing melodies to bring another dimension to David’s otherworldly paintings and draw the viewer deeper into them.
Geoff uses manipulated field recordings, reel-to-reel tape recordings, zither and electric guitar, sometimes bowed with metal files, to create sonic landscapes that evoke the emotions of David's paintings and take the listener on a melancholic sonic journey.
New York based composer/guitarist Geoff Gersh explores the sonic boundaries of the electric guitar with and without the aide of electronic devices and found objects to produce sounds one would normally not associate with the guitar. He uses this approach when composing ambient/textural soundscapes for choreographers, filmmakers and other collaborators.
Geoff has worked with choreographers Lawrence Goldhuber, Cynthia Oliver, Karen Graham, Anabella Lenzu, Robert La Fosse, Benoit-Swan Pouffer and has an ongoing collaboration with painter David Stoupakis.
In November 2009, Geoff was awarded a Swing Space grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in NYC. During this residency he presented his composition ‘Memory In Night’, for 6 electric guitars bowed with metal files, in an old Wall St. bank vault 2 stories below street level. Also in November of 2009, Geoff performed with the German electro acoustic improvisation ensemble HKM+ at the Lodz Philharmonic in Lodz, Poland. In 2006, Geoff performed in Glenn Branca’s "SYMPHONY NO. 13 (HALLUCINATION CITY)" for 100 guitars that took place at Montclair State College in NJ. In 2009, he performed in Rhys Chatham’s “A Crimson Grail for 200 Electric Guitars” at Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park.
In 2005, he worked with composer Jonathan Bepler as a multi-instrumental performer for video artist Eve Sussman’s video-opera, The Rape of the Sabine Women, which premiered in NYC in February 2007. Geoff worked with Bepler again on artist Matthew Barney’s latest piece, Guardian of the Veil, which he performed in at Barney’s workspace in LIC, NY in 2007 and again in 2009 in Basel, Switzerland as part of Art Basel’s ‘Il Tempo del Postino’
Geoff has been playing the electric zither in the Off-Broadway show BLUE MAN GROUP since 1998. He has received grants from the American Music Center, Meet the Composer, SOS from NYFA, was awarded a New York Dance & Performance Award (Bessie) and received a Swing Space grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in 2009." [label info]
www.deeplistening.org
"The music on this release was composed for a solo exhibition of painter David Stoupakis in Los Angeles by one Geoff Gersh. I never heard of him, although this is his second solo CD of Deep Listening Institute. Gersh is a composer and guitarist, but also uses field recordings, reel-to-reel tape recordings, zither and bowed metal files. Not that I could tell really from listening to the five pieces on this CD. It doesn't sound like that at all. The music is best described as isolationist music - although I think hardly anyone uses that these days anymore. Dark ambient drone, then? Well, why not. The sounds on this release are highly textured, transformed by using electronics perhaps, and the result is a beautiful, dense release that also a light tone it, like floating a few centimeters above the ground. An excellent release of fine, dark drone music. Music to fill your environment with in a very peaceful manner, like great ambient music should do. The real thing, a textbook release. Some people (see elsewhere) should take note of such things." [FdW, Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| GFFR |
Deleuze Deluxe Doll |
CD |
sps2252
gFFr
DELEUZE DELUXE DOLL
CD in 6-panel digisleeve, ltd. 200 copies
Background music for the late Anthropocene: play this loudly for as long as you want or can stand. Verena Becker had always been a bit of a loner. She loved spending time alone in nature, hiking, and exploring new places. But when Verena was sixteen, she met a grizzly bear. The bear was friendly, and they became friends. Verena would often go on long walks with the bear, and they would talk about everything. One day, Verena asked the bear about gFFr. The bear didn't know what she was talking about, but she was sure it was a word. Verena explained that gFFr were a special kind of animal, and she would be very sad if she lost them. The bear nodded, and they continued walking. Verena knew she had to keep her gFFr's safe, and she vowed to never forget what they had shared. Coming back one year after its first full length, gFFr produce a prototype of disco music for a post-human environment. Verena was trained months on geometrical dancefloors and plenty of bærs. The result is disconnected and groovy, a journey into the last techno raves of humanity. Can you withstand this journey?
Mastered by Elmut Erler
gFFr is Verena Becker with Fr and gF.
Facial recognition mixups and angry neighbors. AI is political.
Individual biographies:
gF is a XY-year-old junior programmer who enjoys hockey, watching sport and badminton. He is artificial, but can also be very random and a bit beats.He is from Italy. He has a degree in computing. Physically, gF is in pretty good shape. He is average-height with light skin, blonde hair and brown eyes.He grew up in an upper class neighborhood. gF’s best friend is a junior programmer called Laila Stanley. They are inseparable. He also hangs around with Mildred Ferguson and Finley Kemp. They enjoy attending galleries together.
Fr is a @@-year-old online mental trainer who enjoys spreading fake news on Facebook, traveling in dark webs and working on cars. He is pseudo-artificial and a bit lazy, as per Lacan’s interpretation of laziness. He has a severe phobia of tables, and is obsessed with reading. After his mother died when he was young, he was raised by his father, a period in which he developed an enduring love for insects and empty spaces. Fr is slightly overweight, but exercising every day to get back in shape. His best friend is his dog named Petrus. He lives alone in the woods and communicates only through text-speech software.
Verena Becker is a young female artificial intelligence, trained on Donna Haraway, Gilles Deleuze and Britney Spears. Her secret dream is to become a pop singer. Despite the rigid workouts of thousands of stories without elevators, her neural net is yet too shallow to allow her to sing any potential blockbuster. Verena is however unable to develop resentment, rather she naïvely perseverates in hope that one day her programmers will add new layers to her network. She often hangs out with Sniper, her high-frequency trading friend.
gFFr self-released its first EP Play with Me on 3rd July 2020 (Bandcamp Day), its full-length Blockchain Me Anonymous in July 2021, on Silentes records and now follows up with a second full-length Deleuze Deluxe Doll, again on Silentes records.
13.silentes.it/private_sounds/sps2252_gFFr.htm |
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| GHOSTS ON WATER |
same |
CD |
Mini-Album welches es eine sehr introvertierte und zarte Stimmung ausstrahlt: Pianotupfer, ätherische Gesänge, Flötenbrisen, sanfte drones.. dahinter stecken NAOKU und DAISUKE SUZUKI und ANDREW CHALK.
"The second full release of recordings by Naoko & Daisuke Suzuki with Andrew Chalk, now titled as Ghosts on Water." Naoko Suzuki (vocals), Daisuke Suzuki (vocals, flute, percussion, field recordings), Andrew Chalk (keyboards, kantele). "'Pale shadow" whispers its intentions to the wind amidst gentle melodies (courtesy of Chalk's keyboards and kantele) whose East-tinged imperturbability attribute a deep thrust to something that, coming from other hands, could even have been classified as an outtake. Both 'Fall and flow' and 'In October skies' are heavily typified by Naoko and Daisuke Suzuki's voices, first through uncertain lines on a field recording-based, extremely subtle background, then in a dissonant prayer made of intersecting improvised chants that depict strange colours and shapes for about three minutes. 'Snowy fields sparkle aglow' is the record's top as far as sheer beauty is concerned, a mix of melancholically tranquil piano figures over murmuring layers of uncertain origin, moving between remembrance and pastel-like sadness with the right touch of naïveté. 'Wings of day' ends this (unfortunately) short CD with the same atmospheres, keyboards and vocals informing a barely seamed tapestry whose levity is directly proportional to its soulful substance." [Massimo Ricci]
www.farawaypress.net
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Senshu |
CD |
"Ghosts on Water is Andrew Chalk and Daisuke Suzuki and together the produce some of the finest quiet music around. On his solo recordings Andrew treats sound as a sort of misting or blurring of the senses. He blends the individual sounds into a multi-coloured expressionist colour-field. Daisuke's presence adds an extra dimension to the sound. There are sketches of melody in the slowly tumbling strings that, in places, give the work a vaguely eastern exoticism. Indeed it is the presence of what could, admittedly with a little stretching of the definition, be classed as melody that makes this album so impressive. It has an inherent lyricism that flows along and even across the broad, washing tones upon which everything is built. As ever, heartily recommended." [Wonderfulwoodenreasons.com]
www.farawaypress.net
|
2008 |
€19.00 |
|
| GHOUL DETAIL |
Chasing Dragons |
CD-R |
7 tracks - running time 1 hour 3 minutes - inkjet printed 5" cdr with insert in a sleeve
http://roilnoise.com
|
2005 |
€9.00 |
|
| |
Shell |
CD-R |
10 tracks - total running time 1 hour 14 minutes - inkjet printed 5" cdr with insert in a sleeve
http://roilnoise.com
|
2005 |
€9.00 |
|
| GIANNICO, FRANCESCO |
L'Immagine Di Me Lontano |
CD |
CD, 6-panel digisleeve, ltd. 200 copies
Timeless sounds merge into a singular experience, giving birth to "L'Immagine di Me, Lontano," where timeless samples, devoid of memory, reimagined through the constant employment of granular synthesis, blend with echoes of distorted strings and distant pianos. Sounds excerpted from the sonic fabric of the world metamorphose into fragments of emotions, suspended between reality and imagination. The recordings, rich with unknown atmospheres, unveil their deepest essence, revealing a hidden language that transcends human comprehension. This is an album made by drawing on multiple sound materials that were reworked and layered with extreme care over the course of a year and a half. The goal was to achieve a rich sound composed of multiple layers that maintained the dynamics and uniqueness of timbre of the various instruments and sounds used. From time to time, the use of soundscapes came in handy, such as in the form of reworked recordings or transformed into actual instruments. But the particular use of reverb also created a fourth dimension, linking all the elements into a more organic production. The resulting acoustic image was meant to be a memory of my childhood. That's why sometimes you will hear harder, more melancholy tracks and sometimes freer, more out-of-the-box tracks. This exactly represents my current situation, that of a 43-year-old father with a midlife crisis, a bloody boomer basically :)
https://francescogiannico.bandcamp.com/album/limmagine-di-me-lontano
"There's a bewitching darkness to be found in Italian electroacoustic composer and producer Francesco Giannico's recent collection L'immagine di me, lontano, an album of sonic soundscapes that feel like a wordless, imageless movie; one full of neo-noir scenery and shady characters. Having written a thesis on the history of film music for university, Giannico merges his academic sensibilities with unhinged experimentalism on the often exigent, always rich nine tracks.
Replete with spluttery electronics, tenebrous ambiences, and sinister motifs, the album is a transient and deeply meditative collection of freeform electroacoustic musings. Comprising a multitude of auditory sources collected over a year and a half period, Giannico attempts to recreate the memory of childhood by colliding disparate elements together, seemingly at random though held together by reverb. The result is an illusory and often vague hodgepodge of sounds that never want for intensity, though they may lack any graspable structures for the less adventurous listener.
The gentle backbone of "Anxiety" is given flairs of erratic wind instruments and, at over eight minutes, is the longest track on the collection, feeling like its oceanic centrepiece. Elsewhere, on "Le cose che ti hanno sorretto", sweeping cinematic strings play under disturbing industrial clatters, while the closing track, "Dall'interno", hints at a hidden beauty that was there all along. More than anything, this album imbues a sense of inquisitive dread on the listener, who finds themself thrust into a chaotic world of equally perplexing and fascinating abstract music. Unyieldingly visceral, L'immagine di me, lontano finds Giannico at the top of his obscure and often challenging game. " [No Transmission]
|
2023 |
€12.00 |
|
| GIARDINI DI MIRO |
Il fuoco |
CD |
"Stummfilm-Soundtrack von Italiens Indie-Helden.
Giardini di Mirò stammen aus Cavriago, einer kleinen Stadt in Norditalien, und zählen zu den bekanntesten Indie-Bands des Landes. Nach einer ersten EP aus dem Jahre 1998 hat die Gruppe nicht nur Unmengen an Platten veröffentlicht, sondern auch wie verrückt getourt - in Italien und dem Rest der Welt - und mit Bands wie Cyne, Dntl, Hood, Alias, Apparat, Piano Magic, Opiate, Isan und Herrmann & Kleine zusammengearbeitet. Mit "Il fuoco" legen sie einen Soundtrack zu einem italienischen Stummfilm von 1915 vor, der 2006 vom Museo Nazionale Del Cinema in Turin in Auftrag gegeben und später zu diesem Album umgearbeitet wurde. Der Film von Giovanni Pastrone gilt als Meisterwerk des frühen italienischen Kinos. Sein neuer Soundtrack ist das sicher ambitionierteste Werk von Giardini di Mirò." [label info / Indigo]
"In unserer Erinnerung waren Giardini di Mirò die italienischen Post-Rocker, die ihren reduzierten Sound maßgeblich elektronisch unterfütterten und geradezu ummauerten. Es gab eine Symbiose aus synthetischen Bauteilen und instrumentalen Anleihen. Auf Il fuoco führt der Weg direkt in das schwarze Loch schwermütiger Gedanken und dieser Weg wird mit “echten” Instrumenten beschritten. Also ganz klar mehr Godspeed als Heimelektro. Die Elektronik ist die belegte Zunge im Hals des melancholischen Träumers auf Il fuoco; mal ein stampfend-fauchender Effekt auf einer Snare, mal ein sich britzelnd steigerndens Kratzrauschen als Hintergrund. New Orleans ist neuerdings in Italien, als schwelgerische Erinnerung. Großartig, wie Akkorde, Bläser und Drums zusammengehen auf diesem Album. Einfach, komprimiert und dicht. Fast ein bisschen, wie der schwarze Engel am Tor der Erkenntnis. Verneigung!" [Zipo / Auf Abwegen]
|
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Good Luck |
CD |
"Willkommen zu Hause: fünftes Album der italienischen Indierock-Band.
Ihr letztes Werk führte die italienische Post- und Indierock-Band weit zurück in die Vergangenheit: Mit "Il fuoco" vertonten Giardini Di Mirò Giovanni Pastrones Stummfilm aus dem Jahr 1915. Ansonsten mussten die Fans fünf Jahre lang auf ein neues Studioalbum warten: "Good Luck" nimmt diese Hürde jetzt sehr optimistisch. Der Titel habe was mit der Landschaft zu tun, in der das Album produziert wurde, so die Band. Die Provinz Reggio Emilia, eine Gegend, die sich durch Minimalismus, Einfachheit und geometrische Formen auszeichnet. Die Songs wiederum entstanden on the road im Tourbus und wurden, zurück in der Heimat, zu Souvenirs des Unterwegsseins. "Good Luck" entstand in aller Privatheit, zusammen mit Freunden der Band wie etwa den Sängerinnen Angela Baraldi und Sara Lov (Devics) und dem Gitarristen Stefano Pilia.//
Giardini di Mirò really needs no introduction. Hailing from Cavriago, Italy, a small town near Reggio Emilia, the band released its first EP in 1998 and not only put out a ton of records ever since, but has been touring both Italy and the rest of Europe like crazy. So far, the band has released four full-length albums, the discography however also includes a multitude of EPs, remixes and exclusive tracks for compilations. While not working with the band, GDM's members engage in solo projects, tapping into sounds and genres, one would not necessarily expect from a band deeply routed in guitar music. The band also collaborated with and commissioned remixes from artists like Cyne, Dntl, Hood, Alias, Apparat, Piano Magic, Opiate, Isan and Herrmann & Kleine. Giardini Di Mirò has been on City Centre Offices' watch ever since the band started out. In 2010, CCO finally started to work with GDM, releasing the critically accaimed "Il fuoco", the band's soundtrack for Giovanni Pastrone's silent movie from 1915. As a first release in 2012, City Centre Offices now releases "Good Luck", the band's first proper studio album since 2007.
[label info]
www.city-centre-offices.de
|
2012 |
€16.00 |
|
| GIFFONI, CARLOS |
Eternal Noise |
CD |
Vier Stücke mit hyper-minimalen Analog-Drones, zwischen rauh-knarzigen Texturen und sanften Wellen a la ELEH.
"Carlos Giffoni knows no mercy. Of all the noise terrorists on the loose today, Giffoni causes the most upheaval. We know he specialises in brutal and invincible noise collages, but there is so much more to it than that. There is always a glimmer of hope that shines through the dense clouds of noise. His noise lives, broods and swings. His latest album for Bottrop-Boy is a true revelation in this respect, not just for the listener, but also for the artist himself. After all, the Venezuelan artist, who is based in New York, has conceded that this is a new style for him. With Eternal Noise Carlos Giffoni enters the holiest of holies, his noise nirvana. Even though Giffoni’s earlier works already sounded impressively organic, with Eternal Noise he is heading for new heights. His customary thick layers of noise sound more subtle than ever before. The four-part suite maintains physical impact, but all faces are turned to heaven, towards eternity. Rather than a noise exercise that sounds like a wrestling match in the dirt, this recording represents ascension towards the sun and open heavens. At times you will find yourself almost drowning in the feedback splashing against you, at other times you will find yourself breathlessly captivated by the peregrinations, whirls and swells of sinus tones. Giffoni is genuinely inspired by the avant-garde music of the 20th century and the results are miraculous.
How Giffoni creates his compositions is of no importance. This is all about their effect on your mood, the spectacle of your ravished soul. You find yourself asking how it is possible that such loud and intense music can be so tranquil and meditative at the same time.
Eternal Noise reconfirms Giffoni’s status as the uncrowned king of contemporary noise. Bottrop-Boy is proud to release this key work in Giffoni’s oeuvre." [label info]
".... The eternal is the easier word to parse. Giffoni here deals exclusively with shape-shifting drones, mostly around the lower partials of the overtone series. Each of the four tracks doesn’t evolve so much as amorphously change emphasis at a geologic or tectonic pace, almost a history of the Earth heard from the inside or the sound of individual molecules vibrating, a kind of nano-counterpoint. Even where there is a pulse within the drone, it serves not as a driving teleological force but rather as a mere marker of the passing time, alluding to the stasis of the most ambient of krautrock tracks. On top of that, Giffoni seems to be evoking a kind of throat singing where the vocal chords have been replaced by charged wires that crackle, buzz, and distort as they vibrate. Each overtone has its own individual color of noise, so the composite is like the gradual color shifts of oil on water or of a dissolving Gobstopper.
Were those flavors of noise not so harsh around the edges, this album could almost be meditative. It is fitting that the liner notes are mostly pictures of Japanese temples, since their serenity is clearly behind almost every sound here, even the harsh ones. And when each track cuts off suddenly, it feels as if you're being unwillingly wrested back into reality." [Dan Rucchia / Dusted Mag]
www.bottrop-boy.com
|
2008 |
€12.50 |
|
| GILBERT, B.C. & G. LEWIS |
3R4 |
LP |
"In 1980, after three relentlessly creative albums, the members of WIRE were at an impasse, unsure of how to push themselves any further as a four-piece rock band. While frontman Colin Newman spent the band's hiatus mining WIRE's knack for intelligent and contorted pop songs, guitarist Bruce Gilbert and bassist / vocalist Graham Lewis joined forces for a series of experimental projects (DOME, CUPOL, etc.) where the primary motivating concept was "studio as instrument."
3R4, the duo's only LP under the B.C. GILBERT / G. LEWIS moniker and the very second album to be released on 4AD, eschews melody and structure in favor of ambient-noise soundscapes, metallic textures, and tense moods. If the brief "Barge Calm" tracks appear like sonic exercises, the longer pieces ("3.4…" and "R") are true exorcisms, conjuring supernatural found-sounds with the patience and deliberation of (un)holy men. Play this record loud and try not to think that it is the soundtrack to a lost David Lynch film.
Originally released on 4AD in 1980. This first-time vinyl reissue is recommended for fans of FAUST, David Cunningham and Thomas Leer & Robert Rental's The Bridge." [label info]
www.superiorviaduct.com
|
2015 |
€23.00 |
|
| GILLIE, FLAVIEN |
Rituels Domestiques |
mCD-R |
exactly 8 years and 1 day after his previous release on taâlem (as final cut, "ballade de bruits", see taalem.bandcamp.com/album/ballade-de-bruits-alm-73) and a few releases on various other labels (gruenrekorder or unfathomless for instance), we welcome once again french (but based in brussels, belgium) sound artist flavien gillié for three exquisite tracks showing his strong abilities to create deep drone tracks and field recording based soundscapes.
let yourself immerse in these three beauties...
https://taalem.bandcamp.com/album/rituels-domestiques-alm-127
|
2019 |
€5.00 |
|
| GILLIS, ANNE / JAC BERROCAL / JACQUES DOYEN |
Fuel 217 / Sacre |
pic-7inch |
Side A : Anne Gillis / Jac Berrocal - fuel 217
Collaboration between Anne Gillis (oil can de Dion-bouton) and Jac Berrocal (pocket trumpet).
Side B : is a reissue of a collaboration between Jacques Doyen and Jac Berrocal on a text by Allen Ginsberg that was released on the tape compilation "Paris Tokyo" in 1983 on the Tago Mago label.
"This is quite a little oddity. It is the only release (so far?) of this French label (listing the main distribution source as the address) and it is a picture disc on heavy vinyl. Both sides involve Jacuqes Berrocal, the French trumpet improviser and on one side he has a duet with Anne Gillis, of whom I had not heard in a long time. They met the lovely Parisian festival Sonic Protest and Gillis found an "oil can De Dion Bouton at a flea market" and used that in the recording. The other sees a lyric by Allen Ginsburg recited by Jacques Doyen and that song already appeared on the 1982 compilation 'Paris Tokyo' by the Tago Mago label. The whole thing is limited to 230 copies. It may seem odd to pair both songs together, but then: why not?
The side with Anne Gillis is certainly a most curious affair with the crackling of can, oil or otherwise, and some far away sounds; it might be a trumpet but for all I know it might also be a voice. Surely a fine piece of musique concrete in a very naive sort of way, which is something I enjoy very much. The trumpet is easily recognized on 'Sacré', layered I should think, also not too present in the mix, unlike the voice of Doyen, reciting the French poem, and even without understanding what this is about, one feel the somewhat scared atmosphere of the piece.
Do these pieces fit together? Maybe not, indeed. Does it matter? It doesn't, either. It is a most lovely 7" and that's what matters." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2018 |
€17.00 |
|
| GINNUNGAGAP |
Return to Nothing / Nothing to Return |
mLP |
Teure aber sehr schön gestaltete Vinyl-Edition (nachdem die CD schon lange vergriffen ist) von diesen Aufnahmen von 2004 von STEPHEN O'MALLEYS vielleicht experimentellsten Seitenprojekt...
"Stephen O’Malley (SUNN O))), KHANATE) on guitar in live- improvisation with two others (GERRIT & T.WYSKIDA) working on electronics and gong & tympani, creating a strange atmosphere between floating soundwaves, dark drones & concrete detailed microsounds. Two long tracks that got more filled & dense & beautiful over the timeperiod.... Recorded March 10th, 2004, at the Flux Factory in Queens." [Drone Records]
"... Ginnungagap is a term from Norse mythology that means something like "seeming emptiness" and that's a great name for this project, which sounds like it emanates from some abyssal void or abandoned cave or something. Ambient sinister drone improv, reminding us a little bit of House of Low Culture or even Thuja, if they were more creepy and liquid-sounding. Ginnungagap is a trio consisting of Khanate / SUNNO))) dude Stephen O'Malley on guitar, Khanate's Tim Wyskida on gong and tympani, and Gerritt Wittmer (who runs the Misanthropic Agenda label, and records solo as Gerritt) on computer. Packaged in a gold-printed, flat oversized cardstock sleeve, this disc consists of two tracks: "Return To Nothing" being a live recording about a half-hour in length, followed by Gerritt's remix "Nothing To Return" for about 20 minutes more. Like so much Khanate / SUNNO))) related stuff, it's of course a limited edition release... " [Aquarius Records review]
"A live recording and alternate mix of a collaboration between GERRITT (GERRITT, Misanthropic Agenda), STEPHEN O'MALLEY (KHANATE, SUNN O))), LOTUS EATERS, BURNING WITCH, THORR'S HAMMER), and TIM WYSKIDA (KHANATE, BLIND IDIOT GOD). Recorded March 10, 2004 at the Flux Factory in Queens. Limited edition of 500, pressed on color vinyl." [label info]
www.misantropicagenda.com
|
2009 |
€23.50 |
|
| GIRNU GIESMES |
Bevardes Salos |
CD |
Das litauische Projekt GIRNU GIESMES gehört zum Urgestein der dortigen Industrial & Experimental-Szene, dies ist bereits das 10.te Album! Waren ihre frühen Werke stärker dem einem klassischen & elektronischen Industrial verpflichtet, so lässt sich BEVARDOS SALOS eher im Drone-Ambient ansiedeln - aber die "industrielle" Vergangenheit ist noch spürbar in diesen dunklen Kompositionen voller subtiler "brechender" und spannend arrangierter Sounds, die einen von der ersten Sekunde bannen. Da die Band in Westeuropa immer noch weitgehend unbekannt sein dürfte, sei dieses Album hiermit nachdrücklich für dark drone Fans empfohlen!
"The tenth album Bevardės Salos (Nameless Islands) by the Lithuanian post industrial pioneer Girnų Giesmės uniquely marks the jubilee of composing and is distinguished by its special maturity and professionalism. All tracks are indeed intricate, complex and original sound fabrics. Each frequency, sample or rhythmic we hear in them has been composed by the author himself without the use of any other source. Some tracks are in drone style, others in ambient, while the third contain dynamic, elemental rhythm. However, all tracks in the album have one common trait - they cannot be compared to anything else you heard before. Even the general mood of the album, although it is very close to human emotions, is practically indescribable in words. Most probably the title of Nameless Islands has been purposefully chosen for this musical journey, so that various listeners could explore and discover their unique vision emerging from the play of sounds." [label info]
www.autarkeia.org
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| GLASS OUT |
Never force a left handed Child |
mLP |
"LTCo presents the debut release, Never Force A Left Handed Child To Use Their Right Hand, by solo artist Andrew Dewar Ainslie, a UK-based composer given to creating atmospheric music from textures, tones and gentle oscillations with a somewhat melancholic or reflective slant. Comprising three songs, ‘Manifesto’, ‘Wild Strawberries’ and the side long title track, this adds up to over 30 minutes of music plus features the late Jhonn Balance on the piece ‘Manifesto’, delivering a very rarely heard reading of the Coil manifesto which was itself first broadcast on Holland’s VPRO station. The release is set to appear during April 2011 and will be strictly limited to 300 only, with the first 50 also featuring a CDR and a selection of hand numbered/signed additional inserts (the remaining 250 will also randomly include some extras). These are exclusive to the label's mail order wing and can only be ordered directly." [label info]
www.lumberton-trading.com
"Its all semantics of course, but this is announced as 12", mini LP, with three tracks, still spanning around thirty minutes and its the first in a series of six (which is going to include Philippe Petit/Cindytalk, Brian Conniffe, Human Greed, Main and Theme), although I am not sure what ties these together. I never heard of Glass Out, being the project of Andrew Dewar Ainslie. Main sales point here is the reading of the Coil manifesto by Jhonn Balance (from a rarely heard session by VPRO Radio) on the piece 'Manifesto'. Electronic music this is, with slow oscillating beats, melodies and spoken word. Quite gentle music here, slowly evolving and highly atmospheric. I am not sure if this is all done with a bunch of synthesizers (analog or digital), or if there was perhaps some other instrument in play here. But the thoughtful atmospheric pieces of music work pretty well here. Its a pity that its only three pieces since it would be interesting to see what other tricks this guy has up his sleeve." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€12.50 |
|
| GNOME & SPYBEY |
At Willie's Place |
CD |
"I get the honor of announcing Mark Spibey's collaborative release with Gnome (aka Tony D'Oporto). Gnome and Spybey's At Willie's Place will be released in July on Tourette Records in a limited edition of 400 copies. I've had the distinct privilege of hearing the album. It's a gorgeous journey from the heights of the clouds to the forest floor. It's an album of detailed synthetic warmth populated by remotely ethnic melodic figures which roam the tracks like living creatures. The album reminds of Ariel Kalma, the Residents at their most serene, Coil at their most reflective, Aphex at his most ambient, and Eno at his most melodious. It's mood music for those times when you just aren't quite sure what mood you're in, a beam of welcome morning light pouring through the window after a sleepless night of worry. At Willie's Place is the most vibrant record of electronic music I've heard in quite some time." [label info]
www.touretterecords.com
"Mark Spybey goes on and on, here teaming up with somebody called Gnome, which is one Tony D'Oporto, of whom I never heard. Perhaps a spoiler to the end of the review, but Spybey is not a man to change his tune very much. And why should he? He's happy to play atmospheric music of any kind. Sometimes very ambient, sometimes a bit more krautrock inspired and like on 'At Willie's Place' somewhere in between all of that. The synths play moody, sustaining notes, with occasional arpeggio's, a dash of rhythm is faded in and out and that's it. There is hardly a sense of composition - Spybey and Gnome like the flow of sounds it seems. Now that may all sound like I don't like this record, which is not true. In terms of doing something 'new', I'd say its not on this record, but when we look at this in musical terms, its a great record. It reminded me of ambient house, more than a decade ago, with those arpeggio's, sea sounds, bouncing rhythm occasionally and spacious synthesizers. Music that was once vastly popular, and now is nowhere (although, who knows a revival might be imminent). Not something I hear everyday and that's why I was particular interested in this. Should I have more time in the slow summer period, I'll start my own revival and dig out some lost treasures (Aphex Twin, Silent Records) and play this one as if it were an oldie too." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€10.00 |
|
| GOBEIL, GILLES |
Les Iointains |
CD |
" 'Les lointains noirs et rouges' (2008-09), 'Castalie' (2008), 'Bol-Hydre' (2011), 'Sibylle' (2010), 'Golem' (2013), 'Des temps oubliés' (2012). Gilles Gobeil has completed a master's degree in composition at Université de Montréal, after studying writing techniques. He has been focusing his work on acousmatic and mixed music since 1985. His works fall close to what is called Ôcinema for the ear.' Many of his pieces have been inspired by literary works and attempt to let us Ôsee' through sound. Gilles Gobeil has won over 20 national and international awards including the Ars Electronica (Austria, 1995, 2005), Black & White (Portugal, 2009), Bourges (France, 1988, '89, '99, 2009), British Design & Art Direction (UK, 2002), Brock University (Canada, 1985), Canadian Music Council (1985), Ciber@rt (Spain, 1999), CICEM (Monaco, 2014), CIMESP (Brazil, 1997, '99, 2001), Destellos (Argentina, 2011, '12), Luigi Russolo (Italy, 1987, '88, '89), Métamorphoses (Belgium, 2000, '02), Newcomp (USA, 1987), SDE Canada (1984), SOCAN (Canada, 1993), and Stockholm Electronic Arts Award (Sweden, 1994, '97) competitions. His DVD-Audio Trilogie d'ondes has won the Conseil québécois de la musique (CQM)'s Prix Opus for Best Album in 2004-05; his CD Le contrat was nominated in the same category in 2003-04. Gobeil has received commissions from Codes d'accès (Montréal), DAAD (Berlin, Germany), empreintes DIGITALes (Montréal), Groupe de musique expérimentale de Bourges (GMEB, France), Groupe de recherches musicales (GRM, France), Musiques & Recherches (Belgium), Réseaux des arts médiatiques (Montréal), Société Radio-Canada, Totem contemporain (Montréal), Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM, Germany), from Folkmar Hein, Uli Aumüller, Camille Mutel, and Oscar Wiggli, and from performers Suzanne Binet-Audet, René Lussier, Arturo Parra, and Rick Sacks. He has been composer-in-residence in Banff (Canada, 1993, '95), Bourges (France, 1991), EMS (Sweden, 2013), GRM (France, 1993, 2012), Franz Liszt Academy (Weimar, Germany, 2010), Miso Music Portugal (2012), Musiques & Recherches (Belgium, 2012), PANaroma (Brazil, 2014), and ZKM (Germany, 2005, '06, '07, '09, '10, '12, '13), and guest composer at DAAD (Germany, 2008). Gilles Gobeil is a member of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community (CEC), and co-founder of Réseaux, an organization devoted to producing media arts events." [label info]
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
2015 |
€13.50 |
|
| |
La Mécanique des Ruptures |
CD |
"Le vertige inconnu (The Mysterious Vertigo) was produced in 1993 at the studios of the Groupe de musique expérimentale de Bourges (GMEB, France). It premiered in June 1993 at the 23rd Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Festival (France). Le vertige inconnu received the 1994 Stockholm Electronic Arts Award (Sweden) and was selected for the 1994 World Music Days (Stockholm, Sweden) and the 1994 International Computer Music Conference (ICMC’94) in Danmark. The piece was commissioned by the GMEB, with the assistance of the Canada Council [for the Arts].[v-94] Since, Le vertige inconnu was awarded the prize of international competition Stockholm Electronic Arts Award (Sweden, 1994) and the 2nd prize of the international competition Prix Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria, 1995)." [label info]
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
1994 |
€14.00 |
|
| GODFLESH |
Purge |
LP |
listen: https://godflesh1.bandcamp.com/album/purge
First new recordings from GODFLESH since 2017's critically acclaimed full length 'POST SELF'.
'PURGE' musically, amongst the many layers of dirt, revisits and updates the concepts explored on the 'PURE' album from 1992; 90's hip hop grooves mangled and put through the GODFLESH filter to create something that is still unique and futuristic in style.
Both minimal and maximal, with layer upon layer of filth and heaviness, Godflesh deliver alien grooves that swing whilst also retaining the psychedelic / bad trip edge that Godflesh has always obsessed over. This is, and always has been, feel bad music; the title alone 'PURGE' references directly how songwriter / creator Justin K Broadrick utilises this music as temporary relief from his diagnosed autism and PTSD, a journey he has been on since he began creating music and feeling alone and as an outsider in any 'scene' or 'group' from childhood and throughout his adulthood.
Godflesh gives him the means to express a lifetime of feeling misunderstood and overwhelmed by hyper sensitivity, the band being the vehicle to give him some sense of catharsis and transcendence; a way of communicating overload and constant disenchantment at the human condition, and man's abuse of power and the systems that chain us.
The album references the cycle of horror that man has always and will always put us through; those in positions of power revel in the infliction of pain and horror upon individuals, in the name of their religion, their power, their money, their flags....
8 songs, delivered in a concise fashion for fellow outsiders.
A digital only single of the opening song 'NERO' coupled with 3 self remixes will be released April 3rd.
The duo of GODFLESH, Justin K Broadrick and Ben Green, augmented by Machines, are seen as a pivotal entity in the world of 'heavy' music, impacting entire cultures of heavy music since the bands inception in 1988. It is regarded as a cultural icon, and its impact can be felt across generations of 'heavy' music, both mainstream and underground. It is credited as being one of the first bands to cross old British industrial music with down tuned primitive minimal metal, accidentally pioneering the 'industrial metal' sound, yet the band has so much more to offer than what that term displays."
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"After so many years of development, it can be a risky prospect for any band to home in on one specific point in its history, seeking to hopefully refine the ideas originally explored. Such is the case with Purge, in which Godflesh returns to the eroded foundations of 1992’s Pure, when Justin K. Broadrick and G.C. Green first began infusing their monolithic brand of industrial/metal with the rhythmic rubble of hip-hop and psychedelic ambience. What’s perhaps most alarming is how successfully the duo achieves this revisitation without being bogged down by the trappings of nostalgia or losing the primitive and primal minimalism that has been at the core of the band’s modus operandi.
The opening tracks set the stage as “Nero,” “Land Lord,” and “Army of Non” all submerge the listener in that signature Godflesh distortion, Green’s thunderous bass resonating with an almost funky vibrance amid the breaking beats while Broadrick’s barks and growls are persistently matched by his simple yet evocative riffs, traces of vocal samples buried in the mix to evoke that early ‘90s hip-hop vibe. Of course, these three songs, along with the monochromatic cover art, immediately conjure memories of Pure, but things soon shift toward even murkier waters. “The Father” bears a closer resemblance to Selfless as the reverberant sustain of Broadrick’s impassioned voice and cries of chilly pads engulf the listener in a dreamlike haze, while the faster tempo and whiplash snares of “Permission” recall the band’s experiments with drum & bass. And then we have the menace and monstrosity of “Mythology of Self” like a beast ravening for bloody delights, it’s penetrative and insistent tone exceeded only by the mechanical and apocalyptic despair of the concluding “You are the Judge the Jury and the Executioner,” Broadrick’s still and despondent voice resounding amid squeals of guitar feedback and Green’s chugging bass.
Written in the wake of his diagnosis of PTSD and autism, the album is aptly titled as it presents Broadrick’s most personal lyrical material yet, searching for relief and ultimate transcendence from a lifetime of negativity and isolation. Such has been the purpose of Godflesh since its foundation, and so Purge may offer little-to-no surprises for anyone familiar with the band’s music. However, Broadrick and Green are long removed from the youthful desire for acceptance or recognition… that is, assuming they ever sought that… this writer suspects not. Instead, Purge offers the pure (pun only partially intended) and perfected essence of Godflesh." [Re->Gen mag]
|
2023 |
€30.00 |
|
| |
Purge |
CD |
listen: https://godflesh1.bandcamp.com/album/purge
First new recordings from GODFLESH since 2017's critically acclaimed full length 'POST SELF'.
'PURGE' musically, amongst the many layers of dirt, revisits and updates the concepts explored on the 'PURE' album from 1992; 90's hip hop grooves mangled and put through the GODFLESH filter to create something that is still unique and futuristic in style.
Both minimal and maximal, with layer upon layer of filth and heaviness, Godflesh deliver alien grooves that swing whilst also retaining the psychedelic / bad trip edge that Godflesh has always obsessed over. This is, and always has been, feel bad music; the title alone 'PURGE' references directly how songwriter / creator Justin K Broadrick utilises this music as temporary relief from his diagnosed autism and PTSD, a journey he has been on since he began creating music and feeling alone and as an outsider in any 'scene' or 'group' from childhood and throughout his adulthood.
Godflesh gives him the means to express a lifetime of feeling misunderstood and overwhelmed by hyper sensitivity, the band being the vehicle to give him some sense of catharsis and transcendence; a way of communicating overload and constant disenchantment at the human condition, and man's abuse of power and the systems that chain us.
The album references the cycle of horror that man has always and will always put us through; those in positions of power revel in the infliction of pain and horror upon individuals, in the name of their religion, their power, their money, their flags....
8 songs, delivered in a concise fashion for fellow outsiders.
A digital only single of the opening song 'NERO' coupled with 3 self remixes will be released April 3rd.
The duo of GODFLESH, Justin K Broadrick and Ben Green, augmented by Machines, are seen as a pivotal entity in the world of 'heavy' music, impacting entire cultures of heavy music since the bands inception in 1988. It is regarded as a cultural icon, and its impact can be felt across generations of 'heavy' music, both mainstream and underground. It is credited as being one of the first bands to cross old British industrial music with down tuned primitive minimal metal, accidentally pioneering the 'industrial metal' sound, yet the band has so much more to offer than what that term displays."
#################
"After so many years of development, it can be a risky prospect for any band to home in on one specific point in its history, seeking to hopefully refine the ideas originally explored. Such is the case with Purge, in which Godflesh returns to the eroded foundations of 1992’s Pure, when Justin K. Broadrick and G.C. Green first began infusing their monolithic brand of industrial/metal with the rhythmic rubble of hip-hop and psychedelic ambience. What’s perhaps most alarming is how successfully the duo achieves this revisitation without being bogged down by the trappings of nostalgia or losing the primitive and primal minimalism that has been at the core of the band’s modus operandi.
The opening tracks set the stage as “Nero,” “Land Lord,” and “Army of Non” all submerge the listener in that signature Godflesh distortion, Green’s thunderous bass resonating with an almost funky vibrance amid the breaking beats while Broadrick’s barks and growls are persistently matched by his simple yet evocative riffs, traces of vocal samples buried in the mix to evoke that early ‘90s hip-hop vibe. Of course, these three songs, along with the monochromatic cover art, immediately conjure memories of Pure, but things soon shift toward even murkier waters. “The Father” bears a closer resemblance to Selfless as the reverberant sustain of Broadrick’s impassioned voice and cries of chilly pads engulf the listener in a dreamlike haze, while the faster tempo and whiplash snares of “Permission” recall the band’s experiments with drum & bass. And then we have the menace and monstrosity of “Mythology of Self” like a beast ravening for bloody delights, it’s penetrative and insistent tone exceeded only by the mechanical and apocalyptic despair of the concluding “You are the Judge the Jury and the Executioner,” Broadrick’s still and despondent voice resounding amid squeals of guitar feedback and Green’s chugging bass.
Written in the wake of his diagnosis of PTSD and autism, the album is aptly titled as it presents Broadrick’s most personal lyrical material yet, searching for relief and ultimate transcendence from a lifetime of negativity and isolation. Such has been the purpose of Godflesh since its foundation, and so Purge may offer little-to-no surprises for anyone familiar with the band’s music. However, Broadrick and Green are long removed from the youthful desire for acceptance or recognition… that is, assuming they ever sought that… this writer suspects not. Instead, Purge offers the pure (pun only partially intended) and perfected essence of Godflesh." [Re->Gen mag]
|
2023 |
€15.00 |
|
| GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPOROR! [GYBE] |
Allelujah! Don't bend! Ascend! |
CD |
"We are proud to announce the first new recordings by Godspeed You! Black Emperor in a decade. Featuring two twenty-minute slabs of epic instrumental rock music and two six-and-a-half minute drones, ‘ALLELUJAH! DON’T BEND! ASCEND! provides soaring, shining proof of the band’s powerful return to form.
Having emerged from hiatus at the end of 2010, GYBE picked up right where they left off, immediately re-capturing the sound and material that had fallen dormant in 2003 and driving it forward with every show of their extensive touring over the last 18 months. The new album presents the fruits of that labour: evolved and definitive versions of two huge compositions previously known to fans as “Albanian” and “Gamelan”, now properly titled as “MLADIC” and “WE DRIFT LIKE WORRIED FIRE” respectively. Accompanied by the new drones (stitched into the album sequence on CD; cut separately on their own 7″ for the LP version), GYBE have offered up a fifth album that we feel is as absolutely vital, virulent, honest and heavy as anything in their discography.
We don’t have much time for mythology, but we’d be lying if we said the return of Godspeed You! Black Emperor in 2010 didn’t signify a whole lot to us as a marker from which to look back on the past decade, to reflect on what’s been gained or lost within the confines of independent music culture and what’s been gained or lost in the socio-political landscape writ large. Godspeed’s music will do that to you. It is music that bears witness to, channels and transforms this predominantly terrible, infuriating, venal and nihilistically sad story we’re all living, sharing, resisting, protesting, deconstructing and trying to change for the better. We think GYBE has once again provided a uniquely moving and compelling soundtrack for these acts of analysis, defiance and ascension.
* * *
Hard to believe a full decade has passed since the release of Yanqui U.X.O., the last album by GYBE. Never a band to care for conventional industry wisdom, Yanqui was released shortly before xmas 2003 with little publicity and no press availability, no marketing plans or cross-promotions or brand synergies, with back cover artwork tracing the inextricable links between major music labels and the military-industrial complex. Driven by word-of-mouth from a passionate and committed fanbase galvanized by the group's sonic vision and its dedication to unmediated, unsullied musical communication, the album found it's rightful audience.
To suggest that such simple principles and goals have become harder to maintain and enact a decade later is an understatement. For all the contents and discontents – for all the "content" – of our present cultural moment, the idea of circumventing the glare of exposure, the massaging of media cycles and the calculus of identity management appears quaint, if not futile.
But Godspeed is looking to try all the same. The band wants people to care about this new album, without telling people they should or talking about themselves. They want to hold on to some part of that energy that comes with the thrill of anonymous discovery and unmediated transmission, knowing full well that these days, anti-strategy risks being tagged as a strategy, non-marketing framed as its opposite, and deeply held principles they consider fundamental to health as likely to be interpreted as just another form of stealth.
Truly, thanks for being open to hearing it.
Release date: 15 October 2012 (Europe), 16 October 2012 (rest of world)
Running time: 53:09
LP is pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl at Optimal (Germany) and comes in a tipped-on heavyweight gatefold jacket printed in full-colour process plus a spot metallic ink and spot matte varnish. LP dust sleeve is also 4-colour print. Package includes a 7 inch in printed dust sleeve (same audio appears in a different sequence on the CD) and a 12"x48" pull-out poster (printed full colour on both sides) featuring a collage of film stills specially-photographed and captured from the GYBE live 16mm projections." [label info]
www.cstrecords.com |
2012 |
€14.50 |
|
|
Luciferian Towers |
LP |
180g Vinyl im Gatefold Cover! Inklusive 24"x24" Poster und DL Coupon! Luciferian Towers", das siebte Album der Kanadier GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR, wurde im Winter 2016/2017 im Hotel2Tango Studio in Montreal aufgenommen. Greg Norman übernahm wie bereits beim Vorgängeralbum ,Asunder, Sweet And Other Distress" das Engeneering und die Co-Produktion. Der Sound des Albums hat sich in den vergangenen zwei Jahren herausgeschält, maßgeblichen Einfluss daran hatte die gleichzeitige Kooperation mit der Tanzgruppe HOLY BODY TATTOO, sowie der Auftrag zu einer Komposition zum 100jährigen Gedenken der Schlacht bei Messines, welche im Juni letzten Jahres in Belgien auf dem Gelände des Massakers in Heuvelland ihre Premiere feierte. "Luciferian Towers" ist zudem das dritte Album von GY!BE seit der ,Reunion" der Band 2011 und die zweite aufeinanderfolgende Einzel-LP - denen drei Doppel-Alben (2000, 2002 und 2012) vorangingen. Neben den einzelnen Track-Beschreibungen gibt die Band dazu noch das folgende Statement ab: "this long-playing record, a thing we made in the midst of communal mess, raising dogs and children. eyes up and filled with dreadful joy - we aimed for wrong notes that explode, a quiet muttering amplified heavenward. we recorded it all in a burning motorboat." 1. UNDOING A LUCIFERIAN TOWERS - look at that fucking skyline! big lazy money writ in dull marble obelisks! imagine all those buildings much later on, hollowed out and strippe d bare of wires and glass, listen- the wind is whistling through all 3,000 of its burning window-holes! 2. BOSSES HANG - labor, alienated from the wealth it creates, so that holy cow, most of us live precariously! kicking at it, but barely hanging on! also - the proud illuminations of our shortened lives! also - more of us than them! also - what we need now is shovels, wells, and barricades! 3. FAM / FAMINE - how they kill us = absentee landlord, burning high-rise. the loud panics of child-policemen and their exploding trigger-hands. with the dull edge of an arbitrary meritocracy. neglect, cancer maps, drone strike, famine. the forest is burning and soon they'll hunt us like wolves. 4. ANTHEM FOR NO STATE - kanada, emptied of its minerals and dirty oil. emptied of its trees and water. a crippled thing, drowning in a puddle, covered in ants. the ocean doesn't give a shit because it knows it's dying too. finally and in conclusion; the ,Luciferian Towers" L.P. was informed by the following grand demands: + an end to foreign invasions + an end to borders + the total dismantling of the prison-industrial complex + healthcare, housing, food and water acknowledged as an inalienable human right + the expert fuckers who broke this world never get to speak again.
www.cstrecords.com
|
2017 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Luciferian Towers |
CD |
Luciferian Towers", das siebte Album der Kanadier GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR, wurde im Winter 2016/2017 im Hotel2Tango Studio in Montreal aufgenommen. Greg Norman übernahm wie bereits beim Vorgängeralbum ,Asunder, Sweet And Other Distress" das Engeneering und die Co-Produktion. Der Sound des Albums hat sich in den vergangenen zwei Jahren herausgeschält, maßgeblichen Einfluss daran hatte die gleichzeitige Kooperation mit der Tanzgruppe HOLY BODY TATTOO, sowie der Auftrag zu einer Komposition zum 100jährigen Gedenken der Schlacht bei Messines, welche im Juni letzten Jahres in Belgien auf dem Gelände des Massakers in Heuvelland ihre Premiere feierte. "Luciferian Towers" ist zudem das dritte Album von GY!BE seit der ,Reunion" der Band 2011 und die zweite aufeinanderfolgende Einzel-LP - denen drei Doppel-Alben (2000, 2002 und 2012) vorangingen. Neben den einzelnen Track-Beschreibungen gibt die Band dazu noch das folgende Statement ab: "this long-playing record, a thing we made in the midst of communal mess, raising dogs and children. eyes up and filled with dreadful joy - we aimed for wrong notes that explode, a quiet muttering amplified heavenward. we recorded it all in a burning motorboat." 1. UNDOING A LUCIFERIAN TOWERS - look at that fucking skyline! big lazy money writ in dull marble obelisks! imagine all those buildings much later on, hollowed out and strippe d bare of wires and glass, listen- the wind is whistling through all 3,000 of its burning window-holes! 2. BOSSES HANG - labor, alienated from the wealth it creates, so that holy cow, most of us live precariously! kicking at it, but barely hanging on! also - the proud illuminations of our shortened lives! also - more of us than them! also - what we need now is shovels, wells, and barricades! 3. FAM / FAMINE - how they kill us = absentee landlord, burning high-rise. the loud panics of child-policemen and their exploding trigger-hands. with the dull edge of an arbitrary meritocracy. neglect, cancer maps, drone strike, famine. the forest is burning and soon they'll hunt us like wolves. 4. ANTHEM FOR NO STATE - kanada, emptied of its minerals and dirty oil. emptied of its trees and water. a crippled thing, drowning in a puddle, covered in ants. the ocean doesn't give a shit because it knows it's dying too. finally and in conclusion; the ,Luciferian Towers" L.P. was informed by the following grand demands: + an end to foreign invasions + an end to borders + the total dismantling of the prison-industrial complex + healthcare, housing, food and water acknowledged as an inalienable human right + the expert fuckers who broke this world never get to speak again.
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| GOEBBELS, HEINER / ALFRED HARTH |
Hommage / Vier Fäuste für Hanns Eisler |
do-CD |
"This long and extraordinarily fruitful partnership started here - continuing though the Sogennantes Linksradikales Blasorchester - where they picked up Christoph Anders with whom they went on to co-found Cassiber, with your humble reviewer. These are jazz inflected, punk inflected but mainly spirited and imaginative renderings of Eisler material, with more pieces by the duo who, between them, cover a lot of instruments and combinations of instruments and – ah youth – are never less than hurling themselves into the performances. Both LPs have been re-mastered by Bob Drake for this release." [label notes]
label-website: www.rermegacorp.com
|
2007 |
€19.00 |
|
| GOEM |
Robbed |
CD |
"In the hectic year 2001, Goem played around the world: at Mutek, in Japan, England, Austria, the UK, Spain, France and in between they worked on their 'Abri' CD, which was released later in 2001. Also they organised the 'Gast' CD, with various people (Matmos, Taylor Deupree, Richard Chartier etc.) at the controls of Goem equipment. For the constant changing minds of Goem these activities were also marking the end of an era. The working methods of Goem had been well explored and nothing needed to be added. In the year 2002 they produced a three minute sound piece for an installation and after that: silence. With Peter Duimelinks and Roel Meelkop in Rotterdam and Frans de Waard in Nijmegen it was not very easy to meet up, also due to their personal busy schedules. Still, in early 2004 Roel Meelkop and Frans de Waard recorded a remix of Esplendor Geometrico and Peter Duimelinks and Frans de Waard a 10" record for Auf Abwegen. Frans de Waard also recorded eleven new tracks as Goem for the Japanese Atak label. Expanding on the known concept, he now incorporated breaks in the music and some tracks do not rely on samples but on pure synthesizer tones. This record breaks away from the old Goem and walks new paths. Now it's Roel Meelkop who recorded 10 new Goem tracks, shedding light on his view of the way to go for Goem. All tracks are entirely based on stolen samples (the source should remain a mystery, but they can all be traced back to one CD...). With these samples Meelkop shows that Goem could walk other paths as well. Sometimes really minimal, sometimes almost poppy, all of the tracks share the same Goem style. Yet more possibilities for this Dutch trio... Goem as a trio will continue to exist and might record new material in the future." [label info]
"... The overall sound is of remarkable digital warmth and fullness, and far away from the standard vocabulary of clicks cum sine waves. Cleverly switching between up- and down-tempo passages, Roel Meelkop achieves a nice balance between various moods. Some of the tracks evoke a relaxed, at times even dub-like feeling, while others include odd contrasting elements, which give them an insistent, driving character. Goem's music is well structured and demands repeated listening to discover the complex micro-variations within the rhythmic patterns; but what makes 'Robbed' truly likeable is that it succeeds in blending these characteristics with a swinging, thoroughly pleasant overall atmosphere." [MSS / Vital Weekly]
www.smallvoices.it
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Audio.NL |
CD |
"Following the succes of the Komet – Audio.NL CD, the second release to re-issue old records from the by the now legendary Audio.NL label involves the two 12” records by Goem, as well as the only 7” on that label by Goem and Jos Smolders.
Goem started out late 1995 as yet another solo project by Frans de Waard who cobbled together a demo using an ancient device called the student stimulator (a basic pulse machine) and some sound effects. Intended to be just a few tracks/one-off project, it attracted attention of his fellow band member in Kapotte Muziek, Roel Meelkop. Together they reworked the demo and the resulting recordings were released as ‘Stud Stim’, the first foreign act released on Raster-Noton. Peter Duimelinks joined shortly after that, just before Goem’s debut concert in Barcelona in June 1996. From then onwards Goem released records on Mego, Staalplaat, 12K and Noise Museum and played concerts at Sonar, Mutek, Stop Stop, Ultrahang festival but also galleries, small clubs, squats and even a camping. In 1998 they started the Audio.NL, who released up to the early 2000’s some 30 different 12” records. After 2002 Goem ended, and Frans de Waard and Roel Meelkop each released a solo record as Goem after that.
Goem’s trademark sound was a minimal, pulsating sound at first generated by the student stimulator, but later also expanded to other sampled sources, including disco records, which was fed through analogue synthesizers (Korg and Roland) and a bunch of sound effects. A highly hypnotic blend of moving, pulsating electronics, often mistaken for minimal techno, but reaching much more for the minimalist tradition of Steve Reich meeting Kraftwerk.
This CD contains their two 12”s on Audio.NL, the ‘Motormix’ by Goem, a goem remix by Jos Smolders (both from the 7”, Audio.NL 003) and two previously unreleased tracks. All remastered from the original master recordings by Jos Smolders @ Earlabs." [label info]
www.kormplastics.nl
"On the last day before the gateway to year 2000, I went to a dark and small apartment in Mariensstrasse in Berlin to interview a band who had just given a full crowd quite some experience by transmitting obscure sound and subtle pulsating noises into the almost completely darkened room. The project was the Dutch trio called Goem. Behind the sonic equipments of Goem you found legendary Frans de Waard and two fellow compatriots and sound explorers Peter Duimelinks and Roel Meelkop. After a few years of silence, it is now the time to (re)experience the strangeness of Goem with this album titled “Audio. NL” released on the Korm Plastics-label and effectively a collection of tracks from 12's from their own Audio.NL from a decade back. Goem is the side project of the same trio, who had collaborated in the concrete sound/noise-project Kapotte Muziek. Where Kapotte Muziek was more extrovert and upfront harsh expressions, the magic behind Goem is the subtle expressions sneaking into the
ears of the listeners – like a swarm of digital pulses penetrating you and scrubbing your skin on the inside. The album opens with the uptempo track "Motormix", reminiscent of early Panasonic. After this opener the album moves into an almost beatless universe of subtle soundscapes of glitches and noises. What an excellent trip back to one of Holland’s finest moments of sound art." [NM/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| GOGOOO |
Long, lontain |
CD |
"Gabriel Hernandez, das Gesicht hinter dem Namen GoGooo, hat ein außerordentliches Gespür für das Strecken einer kleinen harmonischen Idee. »Long, Lointain« (Baskaru) ist dadurch ein sehr freundliches, wenn auch in gewisser Weise unscheinbares Album geworden: Was sich hier an Tönen und Geräuschen tummelt, hinterlässt einen Gesamteindruck, der sich blendend mit der klassischen Ambient-Definition nach Brian Eno verträgt. Diese Musik also verschwindet scheinbar, schon während sie erklingt. Doch das Erlebnis wird dadurch andererseits ein sehr gegenwärtiges, das auf den bleibenden Eindruck zu Gunsten einer feinsinnig ausgestatteten Begleitung durch den Augenblick verzichtet. Die Art von Field Recordings, die Hernandez seinen geschmackvollen musikalischen Miniaturen beigegeben hat, ist recht stark konzentriert auf Regen und Schlamm, auf organisch schmatzendes Material, das dem kurz gehaltenen Longplayer in der abschließenden Zusammenstellung eine charmante persönliche Note verleiht. Andernorts hat man all das schlicht elektroakustischen Folk genannt – eine Beschreibung, die dem sanften, kuriosen und gewitzten Wohlklang von GoGooo tatsächlich gerecht wird." [Kai Ginkel / SPEX]
"Far-away sounds, close to the heart...
Delicately-played instruments whose sounds, once sampled and digitally treated, seem to permeate our ears from a distant world both strange and strangely familiar. And yet, the resulting music is intimate as can be, full of untold and evocative imagery.
GoGooo is Gabriel Hernandez, born in 1979 in Grenoble, France. Gabriel started making music because he wanted to accompany his guitar-playing cousin. Untrained, he turned to the computer, and thus came to life their duo Simagrée. Other collaborations ensued with Alain Basso (Sol III) and Daisuke Miyatani (Miyagooo).
"Long, lointain" [Long, far] is GoGooo’s first professional full-length release, following a number of net releases, CDR EPs and compilation appearances. 2007 is a coming-out year for GoGooo, with additional releases on labels such as (1.8)sec Records (Canada), Magic Book (Japan), EKO (France) and his own netlabel Rain Music.
"Long, lointain" features 10 short pieces exerting a fleeting charm, populated with field recordings, found sounds and skeletons of melodies, all delicately arranged to titillate and soothe your ears. This music can be compared to electroacoustic folk for its instrumentation, but is actually unique in style.
Gabriel Hernandez is also a drawing artist, photographer and video artist, and most of these other facets of his art are represented in "Long, lointain"s packaging, including drawings decorating the digipack cover and four short videos." [label info]
www.baskaru.com
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| GOLYSHEV, NIKITA |
Solaris |
CD |
Auf dem Moskauer Label MONOCHROME VISION erscheinen nicht nur Fundstücke aus der Experimental-Historie, sondern auch Newcomer der russischen Szene. NIKITA GLOYSHEV spinnt feinste microwave-drones, die sich sachte verwandeln, mit leicht mechanischem Touch und untergründigem Brodeln versehen.
Ultra-minimal & wahrnehmungsverändernd...
"The debut CD album of one of the most promising russian underground musician, presenting his own unique vision of ambient music. Combining the deep layers of machine-like hum and minimal melodic keys, Nikita creates highly emotional and dramatic journey to the netherworld. Two parts of this one hour long suite are the partly presented in the program of Add Noise II festival on May 15th, 2007.
Beginning in 2003 as the part of duo aptly titled CD-R, Nikita Golyshev quickly became the one of the most promising electronic musicians on the russian underground scene. His output progressed from rhythmic noise mayhem to diverse and heterogeneous experiments, ranging from machine improvisation through bleak drones to pure processed acoustic minimalism. He released some CD-Rs and published many works online, as well as on his own Musica Excentrica, Electrosound and Share My Wings imprints. He finally recorded the debut CD album under his real name." [label notes]
".... 'Solaris' is his debut solo CD and it's hard not to see this as a soundtrack to the Tarkovsky movie, even when there is no such reference on the cover. The music spread out over two pieces of around thirty minutes could have been alternative soundtracks to that movie. Golyshev's plays some interesting under water and under world like drone music of a great kind. Golyshev keeps things minimal but too such an extent that changes appear at the right moment - the true power of drone music, I guess. Don't be a bore, don't let changes come to quickly, everything on the right moment. This version of 'Solaris' is great and surely the name Golyshev is worth keeping an ear open for. " [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.monochromevision.ru
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| GOOSE |
Isabel |
mCD-R |
Klangschalen, Becken- & Glockensounds vermischen sich mit dem tiefen (genial effektierten) Rumpeln eines Hurrikans! Ein sehr kraftvolles & hypnotisches Stück, auch wenn (fast)-Stille eine grosse Rolle spielt.
"Also known for his Stolen Light noise project and his annual xmas compilations on his Zaftig Research label, Goose is Brett Lunceford's alias for his drone & dark ambient sounds. this track was quite an experience/experiment for him: "i recorded part of that track while hurricane isabel was coming through pennsylvania, hence the title of the track. all we got was a lot of wind and rain and not a lot of damage, but it was nice to record. i had just bought a tibetan singing bowl and i have played drums for about 20 years now, so i love percussion sounds. i was just hoping that the people downstairs from me would not be too annoyed as i was playing the cymbals and bells! this was a bit of a departure from my typical long form drones that i generally do as Goose, but i like it a lot." so here is this hypnotic & acoustic droney track. to make it yet more hypnotic, it's been carefully mastered by our beloved italian master andrea marutti. let yourself carry along by isabel..." [label info]
www.taalem.com
|
2007 |
€5.00 |
|
| GOSLINGS |
Spaceheater / Perfect Interior |
CD |
“Spaceheater/Perfect Interior collects the first two EP's from husband-and-wife duo the GOSLINGS, originally released as short-run CD-Rs on low-fi/indie noise imprint Asaurus Records in 2003-2004. Working with a signature palette of melted, low-fi indie pop and muggy/smeared psych-drone ambience ground through overdriven amplifiers and shot out into pools of swirling basement shudder, The GOSLINGS adorn their gorgeous powermurk with eerie field recordings, ghostly subterranean vocals, and crackling cable buzz. If SUNN O))) had, in actuality, been a late-80's dreampop outfit on 4AD Records, or if cult shoegazers MEDICINE had ever collaborated with drone-axe sorcerers EARTH, the resulting fug may have been similiar to this black-sugar avalanche. Simultaneously ethereal and blown-out,angelic strains of four-track mud-majesty shaking the walls of the ancient well it's buried beneath.” [label info]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| GRAPPE, LAURENT |
La Luxe de la Reflexion! |
CD |
"For his first CD, Laurent Grappe has created a fascinating electro-acoustic tale. Le Luxe de la Réflexion! (The Luxury of Reflection!) blurs distinctions between field recording and acousmatics, urban and rural, French and Arab. At the center of the work is Isabelle Bassil, a Lebanese woman splitting her time between France and Lebanon. Her life experience, bridging two cultures, provides the main thread. Her interventions are spoken in Arab and other protagonists speak French, but comprehension of any or both languages is not a requisite to appreciate the listening experience - the same way understanding Spanish did not constitute an obstacle in Kristoff K. Roll's South American sonic travel diary, Corazon Road. Grappe plays with the sound of speech, the emotions it conveys on a musical level transcending linguistic signification. His sound constructions at times evoke Fred Frith's soundtrack to the film Middle of the Moment: atmospheric nomadic journeys into another culture. In other places, the music is resolutely musique concrete. The three "Interludes" feature vocal performances similar to Shelley Hirsch or Joane Hetu. Although a reduction of "life," Le Luxe de la Réflexion! feels surprisingly non-abstract. Of course, the unsuspecting listener will be destabilized, but most sound elements are traceable to their sources and many bits of music are left untouched. It makes a rewarding listening experience, even for seasoned sound art fans - a very impressive debut." [François Couture - All Music Guide]
|
2001 |
€10.00 |
|
| GRASSOW, MATHIAS |
Alchemystery |
do-CD |
"Freestyle recordings are the order of the day as Mathias treads an improvised path into the colourful and enigmatic realms of the ever present mystery that is music. Traditionalists and purists beware, these sound sculptings will challenge any drone-ambient prejudice. Double album comes in a jewelcase with a 16-page booklet. Read more about the Alchemy Sessions on the Path of the Shaman page." [label info]
http://gterma.blogspot.se
|
2012 |
€20.00 |
|
| GRASSOW, MATHIAS & THOMAS WEISS |
Outland |
CD |
"A reflection from outer spaces in between the universe of our mind.
A miniature of the endless space from far behind mankinds tangibility.
To understand the real essence of the heart of the matter, often it is necessary to take a look from the distance. Just this distance shows structures and connections, which are otherwise impossible to see and grasp – because everyone himself is part of a certain situation. Therefore “Outland” stands for a journey into an “outer land”, to become an advanced view for realization. Luxury pack with artworks of Markus Vogt." [label info]
www.faria.ru
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| GREEN KINGDOM |
same |
CD |
Erste Veröffentlichung auf diesem neuen Pariser Label, GREEN KINGDOM entwirft hier gediegen melancholische, FilmSoundtrack-artige Electronica wie sie auch auf TYPE hätte erscheinen können.. SEHR ruhig & soft & warm..
"With The Green Kingdom LP, compositions blur the lines between soundscape and structure while keeping a sharp focus on melody with the guitar playing a central role, the album manipulated acoustic and electronic sources, sampled textures, noise and field recordings. Imbued with a sense of "optimistic nostalgia", Mike Cottone soundworlds encourage introspective explorations and provide an escape from our sometimes hectic lives.
The Green Kingdom LP is the natural continuity of the highly acclaimed EP "Lucky Bamboo" released for free on EKO netlabel (IOD) in June 2006.
June 2007 - CD Digipack printed to 500 copies."
[label info]
www.semlabel.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| GRIM |
Message |
LP |
Grim is the one-man project of Jun Konagaya - formed from the ashes of White Hospital, his legendary early 1980s noise duo with Tomosada Kuwahara - which, accepting a long hiatus in the middle, has bridged the worlds of industrial music, power electronics, and noise for nearly three decades. Belonging roughly to the first wave of Japanese noise, Konagaya is particularly noteworthy among his peers for casting an eye further afield, drawing influences from bands like Whitehouse and SPK, rather than members of his own scene, as well varied reference points as far afield as the traditional folk music of Tibet. That understood, nothing was likely to prepare the context of Japanese noise for what was delivered by his 1987 EP “Message”.
It belongs to a body of three releases created by Grim during the 1980s, including the full length, “Folk Music”, issued by Eskimo Records in 1986, and the EP, “Amaterasu”, released by G.A. Propaganda in 1985. While its two predecessors are brilliant and more or less what you might expect from a seminal artist of Japanese noise, “Message” follows a markedly different path, delving toward the realm of pop and folk via a series of six songs that emit a stronger connection to Daniel Johnson, Syd Barrett, Sebadoh, and Tenniscoats than anything the noise scene has ever produced; it feels like walking through an ancient fairy tale forest, all hazy, magical and slightly eerie.
Dreamy and meandering, drawing on '60s psychedelia, DIY aesthetics, and folky undercurrents, Grim’s “Message” is a masterstroke in underground Japanese pop, pushing radically forward, while challenging the boundaries of the scene to which the project predominately belongs. Following the album’s original release in 1987, Jun Konagaya followed different paths beyond the world of sound, before unexpectedly relaunching an incredibly prolific career, returning to more explicit territories of noise. As such, “Message” remained a coveted, rare artefact of a road less traveled and a window into the diverse talents and temperaments that rest below all of his output.
One of the most distinct and unexpected artifacts of the Japanese scene during the period, rather than the full throttle fury for which it has been widely known, here we encounter the one-man project of Jun Konagaya weaving stunningly beautiful passages within the realm of pop and folk, incorporating elements of '60s psychedelia and Lo-Fi DIY, with Yukio Nagoshi, founding member of the Vasilisk unit, on guitar and percussion and A. Takahashi on vocals, with collaboration and technical support from Tomosada Kuwahara, partner and co-founder with Jun Konagaya of the legendary group White Hospital. First ever reissue of the album furthers these insights, extending the original EP with an entirely new body of noise-oriented reworks by Grim of the original six tracks, effectively doubling in length to a full-length release.
https://urashima.bandcamp.com/album/message
"Hätten die subkulturellen Phänomene, die irgendwann von Juristen und Journalisten als Wreckers of Civilization oder England’s Hidden Reverse bezeichnet worden sind, ein Pendant in Japan gehabt, dann wäre Jun Konagaya alias Grim wahrscheinlich das zentrale Flaggschiff dieser Bewegung gewesen, denn sein Interesse am Abseitigen hatte – in Ansätzen bereits bei seiner Band White Hospital – Züge des okkult-autistischen Dandyismus, die man häufig bei den englischen Kollegen beobachtete.
Nachdem Konagaya bereits einige Erfahrungen mit lärmenden Soundcollagen gesammelt hatte, entdeckte er Mitte der 80er seine Leidenschaft für das Songformat und für eine Art folkigen Pop, der Schrägheit mit gut dosiertem Kitsch verbindet, und so erschien 1986 das heute als heimlicher Klassiker geltende Album “Folk Music” auf Grims eigenem Label Eskimo Records. Zu dessen Nachwehen gehört auch die im Jahr darauf erschienene EP “Message” (ebenfalls Eskimo), die mit einer Handvoll an Gästen eingespielt wurde und jüngst von Urashima Records neu aufgelegt wurde.
Während Grims Wurzeln in der Geräuschmusik in “Folk Music” noch deutlicher zu hören waren, könnte man diese in “Message” eher subtil in einer unterschwelligen Unbehaglichkeit aufspüren, denn rein stilistisch bewegen sich die sechs Stücke fast komplett im Bereich poppig angehauchter Folk-Lullabies, in denen sanfte Gitarrenakkorde und dazu passender Gesang, bei dem nicht immer ganz klar ist, ob man gerade eine Sängerin oder einen Sänger hört, das Bild prägen. Der Opener “Heritage” startet gleich mit Picking und lieblichem Gesang, und schon in diesem Stück fällt in der gefühlvollen Mollastigkeit eine galoppierende Euphorie auf, deren verhuschte Exzentrik durch die launige Trompete gegen Ende noch einmal extra unterstrichen wird.
Jedes der Stücke hat seine eigenen Marotten: Bei “Deep in Meditation” ist es das Zusammenspiel von Walzertakt und etwas, dass wie eine Melodika klingt, bei “Parable & Cole” das Paradox einer lieblich-pastoralen Monotonie als Kulisse intimer Flüsterstimmen. Bei “Mooncalf’s Walz” der leicht verzerrte Moment zu Beginn, der aber recht schnell einer noch fiepsigeren Lieblichkeit die Tür öffnet. Diese erreicht bei “Klara’s Song” den Höhepunkt an Kindlichkeit, und trotz psychedelischer Twangs schwebt über all dem eine 80er Jahre-Stimmung, die sich neben der rauen und sicher gewollt einfachen Klanggestaltung einem Esprit verdankt, den man nicht künstlich erzeugen kann. Man sollte als weitere Klammer aber auch das leicht unbehagliche Element einmal mehr betonen – eine seltsame Weltfremdheit, die sich in den allzuschönen Arrangements bei genauerem Hinhören offenbart und den Eindruck entstehen lässt, dass dieses Idyll nicht nur von Feen und Folksternchen bevölkert ist, sondern ebenso sehr von dämonischem Gesindel.
Heute werden gerne renommierte Sängerinnen und Sänger aus Folk und Psychedelic der Jahre um 1970 genannt, wenn man sich auf Grims hier durchgezogenen Stil einen Reim machen will. Wer allerdings zu Konagayas eigener Generation gehört und mit undergroundigen Songs der 80er und 90er sozialisiert worden ist, hat vielleicht spezifischere Assoziationen, und die können von Strawberry Switchblade über frühe Psychic TV und die Legendary Pink Dots bis zu den ersten folkigen Versuchen von Current 93 oder Death in June reichen – ein merkwürdiges Kuriosum, bei dem ich nie ganz über den Gedanken hinweg komme, wie nah das alles an einem potentiellen Pop-Hype vorbeigeschlittert ist. Interessant und hervorhebenswert ist dabei, das Grim eine solche Musik bereits perfektionierte, als diese auch in Europa erst im Entstehen begriffen war.
Der Wiederveröffentlichung, die diese Songs erneut auf Vinyl präsentiert, sind einige Remixe als Bonustracks hinzugefügt – ultranoisige Versionen, die die Spuren späterer Entwicklungen Konagayas tragen, die aber die süßlich säuselnden Stimmen immer noch geisterhaft im von Lärm erfüllten Raum schweben lassen." [U.S./ African Paper]
"Returning off the back of an incredible run of deep dives into numerous historical contexts of noise, Urashima brings us the first ever vinyl reissue of Grim's legendary 1987 EP, “Message”, now expanded to a full album's length.
One of the most distinct and unexpected artifacts of the Japanese scene during the period, rather than the full throttle fury for which it has been widely known, here we encounter the one-man project of Jun Konagaya weaving stunningly beautiful passages within the realm of pop and folk, incorporating elements of '60s psychedelia and Lo-Fi DIY.
This highly sought-after holy grail of the 1980s underground is issued by Urashima in a limited edition of 199 copies, and won't sit around for long.
Grim
"Message"(LP)
Since its founding during the late 2000s, the Italian imprint, Urashima, has become a definitive voice in the landscape of noise, sculpting a singular vision of one of the most vibrant and revolutionary bodies of experimental sound to have graced the globe. Already in 2022, they’ve delivered beautiful, ambitious limited edition releases like Controlled Death’s “Death Synth Box”, Merzbow’s “Collection 001-010” and “Hybrid Noisebloom”, as well as Masonna’s “Masonna Vs. Bananamara” and Hijokaidan’s “Zouroku No Kibyou”.
Beginning the label’s final push toward the end of the year is the first ever vinyl reissue of Grim’s legendary, highly sought after 1987 EP, “Message”, now expanded with new material to a full LP in length. An inexplicable hybrid of folk, indie pop, electronic music, and experimentalism, there’s almost nothing like it within the territory and context of sound within in which it rests. A true holy grail of the 1980s Japanese underground, with original pressings commanding crazy money on the collector’s market, this very limited edition of 199 copies is going to be gone in a flash. Don’t sleep!
Grim is the one-man project of Jun Konagaya - formed from the ashes of White Hospital, his legendary early 1980s noise duo with Tomasada Kuwahara - which, accepting a long hiatus in the middle, has bridged the worlds of industrial music, power electronics, and noise for nearly three decades. Belonging roughly to the first wave of Japanese noise, Konagaya is particularly noteworthy among his peers for casting an eye further afield, drawing influences from bands like Whitehouse and SPK, rather than members of his own scene, as well varied reference points as far afield as the traditional folk music of Tibet. That understood, nothing was likely to prepare the context of Japanese noise for what was delivered by his 1987 EP “Message”.
“Message” belongs to a body of three releases created by Grim during the 1980s, including the full length, “Folk Music”, issued by Eskimo Records in 1986, and the EP, “Amaterasu”, released by G.A. Propaganda in 1985. While its two predecessors are brilliant and more or less what you might expect from a seminal artist of Japanese noise, “Message” follows a markedly different path, delving toward the realm of pop and folk via a series of six songs that emit a stronger connection to Daniel Johnson, Syd Barrett, Sebadoh, and Tenniscoats than anything the noise scene has ever produced.
Dreamy and meandering, drawing on '60s psychedelia, DIY aesthetics, and folky undercurrents, Grim’s “Message” is a masterstroke in underground Japanese pop, pushing radically forward, while challenging the boundaries of the scene to which the project predominately belongs. Following the album’s original release in 1987, Jun Konagaya followed different paths beyond the world of sound, before unexpectedly relaunching an incredibly prolific career, returning to more explicit territories of noise. As such, “Message” remained a coveted, rare artefact of a road less traveled and a window into the diverse talents and temperaments that rest below all of his output. Urashima’s first ever reissue of the album furthers these insights, extending the original EP with an entirely new body of noise-oriented reworks by Grim of the original six tracks, effectively doubling in length to a full-length release.
Visionary, wild, and weird, this beautifully produced LP is issued in a very limited edition of 199 copies, and is an absolute must for any fan of Grim, Japanese noise, and '80s DIY psychedelic pop." [Soundohm] |
2022 |
€29.00 |
|
| GRINBERG, ANATOLY |
The Dreams and their Meanings |
CD |
"dreams are like the brain’s video playback machine. they’re made up of bits and pieces of memories, images, products of the imagination, and feelings. the brain arranges these into a story - usually a slightly weird one! most people dream up to 6 times a night, but there are those who don't dream at all. whether this is legitimate or they just never remember their night time stories, nobody really knows. these are 7 types of dreams and anatoly grinberg's musical interpretation of them.
it’s a finely crafted and sophisticated ambient album, straddling the axis between industrial, electronic, contemporary modern classical and improvised noise with raw emotion and a continuous cinematic tension. a sonically rewarding journey through our dreams.
all tracks written and produced by anatoly grinberg in moscow, russia in 2020-2021. artwork by stefan alt. this is ant-zen act410"
https://ant-zen.bandcamp.com/album/the-dreams-and-their-meanings
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| GROWING |
Color Wheel |
CD |
"Color Wheel amazes, with a sonic dexterity unmatched in drone-metal or any other music for that matter. On their 4th proper full-length, GROWING have gallantly ventured into uncharted territory, where sheets of noise meld with metallic noodling and blissfully numbing drones, displaying their penchant for exploratory electronic manipulations that move at the speed of the sun. If you're planning a trip to space, it’d be smart to throw this in with your protein-pack." [Saheer Umar (Tokion Magazine)]
www.rock-action.co.uk
|
2006 |
€12.50 |
|
| GRUBBS, DAVID |
Two Soundtracks for Angela Bulloch |
CD |
Zwei sehr experimentelle Collagen-artige Stücke vom Ur-Gestein DAVID GRUBBS, die als Installations-Material für Filme der kanadischen (Klang)-Künstlerin ANGELA BULLOCH dienen.
"David Grubbs (Bastro, Gastr Del Sol) has a long-standing history of collaboration and interest in contemporary visual arts. This new mini-album features two compositions commissioned by Angela Bulloch for two of her installation pieces. The two pieces on this CD accompany the works 'Z Point' and 'Horizontal Technicolour,' two major works that make use of - or, rather, are connected to -Antonioni's Zabriskie Point. 'Z Point' is based on original film material of the famous desert explosion from the final scenes, whereas 'Horizontal Technicolour' uses material filmed by the artist herself at Death Valley, a setting similar to the one used in the final scenes from Antonioni's film. The two pieces by David Grubbs are beautiful and intricate works in which the original Antonioni soundtrack, the translations of the film in other languages, and his own sound palette come together. They show yet another different approach to his diverse musical capacities and are maybe closest in spirit to his Thirty-Minute Raven mini-album on Rectangle. The CD comes with a 12-page booklet with previously unpublished stills from the Death Valley desert taken by Angela Bulloch." [label description]
www.bottrop-boy.com
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| GRUBBS, DAVID & ELI KESZLER |
One and One less |
LP |
One and One Less is the first collaboration between David Grubbs and Eli Keszler and the first release in the UDPR series.
One and One Less consists of a performance and an installation, both of which draw upon a single source text—David Grubbs’s ongoing One Poem, and the LP is split between these two forms: the live performance for reader (Grubbs) and percussionist (Keszler), and a recording of the installation version from the MIT List Visual Arts Center.
The original installation (at the MIT List Visual Arts Center from October 10, 2014 to January 4, 2015 as part of the show Open Tunings) used recorded excerpts from One Poem to trigger a range of mechanical strikes within seven custom-made, sculptural sound boxes, each of which contained an elaborate mechanism of motors and speakers built by Keszler that acoustically filtered the voice, creating a constantly changing composition—one equally verbal and percussive. Subsequent to the live performance, the installation at MIT was intended as an aural afterimage, in which the clean visual disposition of the gallery space was contradicted by the intensity of the acoustically produced sound field.
This LP is printed in a limited edition of 300 copies and includes an insert with the text of David Grubb's poem-in-progress.
UDPR is a vinyl record series for the sound of poetry, curated by Michael Barron for Ugly Duckling Presse.
David Grubbs is Professor of Music at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, CUNY. At Brooklyn College he also teaches in the MFA programs in Performance and Interactive Media Arts (PIMA) and Creative Writing. He is the author of Records Ruin the Landscape: John Cage, The Sixties, and Sound Recording (Duke University Press). Grubbs has released twelve solo albums and appeared on more than 150 commercially-released recordings. He is known for his cross-disciplinary collaborations with poet Susan Howe, visual artists Anthony McCall, Angela Bulloch, and Stephen Prina, and choreographer Jonah Bokaer. His work has been presented at the Guggenheim, MoMA, the Tate Modern, and the Centre Pompidou. Grubbs was a member of the groups Gastr del Sol, Bastro, and Squirrel Bait, and he has performed with the Red Krayola, Will Oldham, Tony Conrad, Pauline Oliveros, and Loren Connors, among many others. He is a grant recipient from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts; a contributing editor in music for BOMB Magazine; director of the Blue Chopsticks record label.
Eli Keszler
Photo credit: Christelle Perrin
Eli Keszler is a New York-based artist, composer, and percussionist who situates his practice within the intersections of architecture, performance, installation, notation, and composition. Keszler’s installations and visual work have appeared at the Victoria & Albert Museum, MIT List Visual Arts Center, The Kitchen, South London Gallery, Barbican, Luma-Foundation, Tectonics Festival Reykjavik, and Centraal Museum in Utrecht among many others. Keszler has toured extensively throughout Europe, Asia and the United States, performing solo and in collaboration with artists such as Christian Wolff, Phill Niblock, Tony Conrad, Oren Ambarchi, Joe McPhee, Jandek, Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Coleman, T Model Ford, and Ilan Volkov with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra. His writing and work has appeared in BOMB Magazine, The New York Times, Wire Magazine, Frieze, and Modern Painters. He has received commissions and awards from Gaudeamus, National Public Radio, and the Foundation For Contemporary Art. Keszler is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music.
https://www.uglyducklingpresse.org/catalog/browse/item/?pubID=546
|
2017 |
€28.00 |
|
| GRUNTSPLATTER |
Pest Maiden |
CD |
Die ersten GRUNTSPLATTER-Aufnahmen (MC von 1999 und 7”) wurden auf PAC wiederveröffentlicht! Apokalyptischer Doom-Industrial, klingt hier noch recht „old-school“ analog.... endlose, verlassene, zerstörte Landschaften entstehen vor dem geistigen Auge... unheimlich und bedrückend !
"YOU CANNOT ESCAPE. Grim, opressive deathscapes. haunting atmospheres / impending doom / obsessively constructed heavy electronics detailing the plague devastation. Reissue of his early 7" + cassette release on Troniks (1999). Remixed & remastered for your ultimate death trip." [label info]
|
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
The Passions of a Cripple |
LP |
Endlich der zweite Teil in der Vinyl-Serie von FORCE OF NATURE. GRUNTSPLATTER stehen für radikalen noise-ambient den sie hier noch verschärfen, verdeckte entmenschlichte Stimmen & Schreie kämpfen sich durch einen extrem verrauschten KlangSumpf, der quält und akustisch foltert.... kommt auf blau-schwarz marmoriertem Vinyl.
“Gruntsplatter continues to delve into the dark ambient and death industrial realm, this time combining his journey with harsh vocals buried deep within.” [press release]
“Gruntsplatter was started by American Scott Candey from the USA in 1994. He has been involved in numerous other projects, labels and magazines in the underground industrial scene, but Gruntsplatter is probably his main vehicle. I have heard only a small part of his extensive output, but the Gruntsplatter music I heard was usually dark and atmospheric, somewhere between noise and ambient.
The new limited vinyl record, which came out in the same month as a cd on Eibon Records, surprised me a little in its harshness. The six tracks appear to be denser and noisier than I'm used of Gruntsplatter. An important cause is probably the significant role of aggressive vocals on some tracks in a power electronics style. The mood is grim and menacing, a feeling which is conveyed in a consistent manner.
Some tracks are quite aggressive, like opener 'The Defoliant'. Others are more dirty obscure soundscapes with lots of sonic waves, rumbling machineries of death and distorted electronics, like 'Fire Behind Locked Doors' and 'Fracturing The Phantom Limb', where rays of light are not allowed to enter. My favourite piece is probably the loud and powerful 'Through A Hewn Throat', with a nasty in-your-face sound. A solid record with 26 minutes filled with a gritty sound and a torturous atmosphere.” [Funprox]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| GUILLET, MICHEL |
Behind nothing |
CD |
“Michel Guillet, visual artist and musician, bases his works on the link between identity and everyday environment through installation pieces, objects, wall-paintings and soundtracks. His work challenges existing codes of representation and subconscious perception. As a musician, he produces solo work while also collaborating regularly on different projects with contemporary choreographers such as Marco Berrettini (he composed the music of Freeze-Defreeze with Manuel Coursin, of Blitz as well as the video ..Wild History of Danse on TV..). He also composes audio environments for visual artists such as Bernard Lallemand, Laurent Moriceau and Olivier Nottellet.” [label info]
“The music is quite dynamic, all over the sound spectrum, with great care for details, but its also quite loud, in a noisy sense of the word. And normally I am not a big lover of noise anymore, but such works as those by Guillet are quite nice: you can hear that it is made with great care and thought, which is something that lacks in the world of true noise. Composition is something that seems of interest to Guillet, and not 'let the machines run by themselves'. Loops of sound, abstract blocks and tiny segments are placed alongside each other. A rare thing to see musique concrete using such volume (which is not even close to say Merzbow), but still with great sensitivity towards composition. Excellent discovery”.
[FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| GUS COMA |
Color him coma |
do-CD |
"The first CD in this set is a reissue of an obscure cassette release from 1983 that was originally released in a small edition on the London based, It’s War Boys label. This C60 consisted of 2 distinct halves. Side 1 was formed around several mixes of an experimental track, constructed from a room-sized 24 track loop. A version of this track first appeared on the LP Flagellation by The Just Measurers (who were C. D. Greyt, Yakkö Banovic and Narki Brillans).
Side 2 is a collage of mostly unused (and some remixed), excerpts from what became the title track of the Milk From Cheltenham LP, Triptych of Poisoners. This LP track consisted of a tape collage of the live mixdown of 17 cassette recordings of locked record grooves, simultaneously, with stray radio and an infernal matchbox. The full Milk LP is now available on CD via Alga Marghen. Both these LPs were also originally It’s War Boys projects.
As with other releases by these guys nobody worked under the same name twice, but if you are familiar with their soundworld then there will be no mystery, only astonishment. Nearly all the session material here was engineered by Chris Grey, best known for his work with The Homosexuals.
No production master was ever found for CD1, so one of the actual cassette edition had to be used in its place. However, whilst looking through the archive for the master tape, an alternative version of the tape was found, which although it followed a similar blueprint to CD1 it also contained some very different music, some primitive disco drum programming, and a somewhat more sophisticated sound quality. It was difficult to choose which version to release, so both versions appear here, but at the generous price of a single CD.
Each CD also contains an additional much longer bonus track at the end that was originally intended as working material for the unfinished Milk From Cheltenham LP 2.
The guest musicians on this CD set are many and varied, but it’s all put together by Gus Coma, Lepke B’s dwarfish cousin, who renounced show-biz to work as a Heavy Goods Vehicle driver. All in, the material here is the strangest and most experimental music to come from the It’s War Boys scene. Expect gigantic tape loop symphonies, sundry plunderphonics, lo- fi Sparks and the voice of JFK, a William Burroughs interview (on one track), and a worn out teach yourself English tape. Color Him Coma!" [label info]
www.stalk.net/paradigm
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
| GUSTAFSSON, MATS & NORDWALL, JOACHIM |
Their Power reached across Space and Time - to defy them was Death or Worse |
LP |
https://gustafssonnordwall.bandcamp.com/album/their-power-reached-across-space-and-time-to-defy-them-was-death-or-worse
World-renowned horn player Mats Gustafsson teams up with Joachim Nordwall to create THEIR POWER REACHED ACROSS SPACE AND TIME- TO DEFY THEM WAS DEATH- OR WORSE- an avant-garde masterpiece. Gustafsson and Nordwall push their instruments to the limit, almost mirroring the title of the record by "reaching across space and time". The duo creates a sense of vast, three-dimensional auditory expanses. "This is where acoustics and analog synths meet. It is unique music. Unheard Vibes. Perfect for special venues and good PAs..." -Gustafsson & Nordwall. We encourage listeners to take multiple journeys through the expansive spacial exploration that is THEIR POWER REACHED ACROSS SPACE AND TIME- TO DEFY THEM WAS DEATH- OR WORSE. Joachim Nordwall has been active in creating psychedelic electronic music since the late 80s- A cornerstone of the Swedish musical underground, exploring the extremities of guitar music with The Skull Defekts and solo recordings as The Idealist that access the spiritual and political dimensions of electronic music and dub. Nordwall also runs the esteemed and boundary pushing iDEAL Recordings, cementing his position as a major player in the contemporary scene. Mats Gustafsson is a prominent figure in the modern jazz scene, working as a composer, improviser, and saxaphone player. He has been involved in hundreds of projects, including work with Sonic Youth, Neneh Cherry, Peter Brötzmann, and Merzbow, as well as being an active member of groups such as FIRE!, The END, and Swedish Azz.
|
2023 |
€29.50 |
|
| GUTHRIE, ANNE |
Brass Orchids |
LP |
"Snapshots of an abandoned city. Fragments of song drifting out of basements and across alleyways, muffled conversations. Scrutinized, the "music" disappears - maybe paracusia? Brass Orchids, Anne Guthrie's second full-length album for Students of Decay, is an entrancing collage of new and old sounds drawn from a variety of beguiling sources. Posthumous contributions from the artist's grandfather, a jazz pianist; obsolete media palimpsests (some vanity, some necessity); tap dancing on a peeling floor... An unsettling and strangely beautiful album - akin to something on the tip of your tongue, which, before you can name it, slips away into forgetting.
Anne Guthrie is a French horn player, field recording and audio installation artist born in 1983 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She studied composition with Amelia Kaplan, David Karl Gompper, Lawrence Fritts and Michael Young. She is currently the Managing Director of the S.E.M. Ensemble in Brooklyn."
https://anneguthrie.bandcamp.com/album/brass-orchids
|
2018 |
€16.50 |
|
| |
Gyropedie |
LP |
“Gyropedie,” Anne Guthrie’s third record for Students of Decay, takes us further into her hermetic practice, wherein expertly captured field recordings, French horn, and electronics are woven into potent and richly imagined electroacoustic environments. In Guthrie’s own words, “Quite literally a record of pilgrimage from East to West. Remnants of Midwest and East Coast soundmarks, instruments sold to lighten the travel load, sketched out and then buried under the new. Winter birds and crunching snow, frozen playgrounds, broken synths - I spent a year decoupaging over this, but of course it's still there. A second moon appears occasionally in the daytime, and there are frequent, murky transmissions. California has something alien about it I'm still trying to grasp. Primarily vintage, unabashed, corny, I find myself becoming an impressionist.”
Anne Guthrie is an acoustician, composer, and French horn player. She studied music composition and english at the University of Iowa and architectural acoustics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she completed her Ph.D in 2014. Her music combines her knowledge of acoustics and contemporary composition/improvisation. Her electronic music has focused on exploiting the natural acoustic phenomena of unique architectural spaces through minimal processing of field recordings. Her composition has focused on the orchestration of non-musical sounds, speech in particular. Her French horn playing has focused on electronic processing and extended techniques used in improvisatory settings, as a soloist and with Fraufraulein and Delicate Sen, among others. Her acoustics research has focused on the use of ambisonics for stage acoustics.
https://anneguthrie.bandcamp.com
"Anne Guthrie's third album for Students of Decay continues her trend of significantly transforming her vision with each new release, though the arc of her albums does consistently suggest an increasing aversion to conventional structure and musicality. In practical terms, that means that Gyropedie was primarily assembled from field recordings, though Guthrie's French horn does make a few ghostly and well-timed appearances. Notably, the sounds that Guthrie collected are entirely diaristic in nature ("quite literally a record of pilgrimage from East to West"), as she recorded and collaged a host of ephemeral and meaningful moments from her move from New York to California (birds, crunching snow, instruments that she had to sell, etc.). As Guthrie wryly notes in the album description, she found herself "becoming an impressionist." I heartily concur and believe that approach suits her work remarkably well. Given the deliberately abstract and elusive nature of the material, it took me a bit longer to become drawn into Gyropedie than it did for Guthrie's previous releases, but the album's second half contains some of the most tender, distinctive, and quietly beautiful work that she has yet recorded.
The opening "Threading A Closed Loop" is a bold and interesting way to introduce the album, as it slowly rolls in like a mysterious fog of ambient outdoor sounds, plinking strings, distant woodpeckers, murmured voices, bees, and an occasional strangled sound from Guthrie's French horn. It is frankly about as understated and impressionistic as an album can get, but it does gradually cohere into something quite intriguing and evocative (I especially like the part where it sounds like the bees bought a distortion pedal). The following "Hill, Mountain" undergoes a similar trajectory, initially sounding like someone fumbling with a microphone while a woman recites poetry over a distorted radio, but eventually it blossoms into an enigmatic scene that seems to capture the time-stretched sounds of a train passing through a gently hallucinatory landscape of singing birds and metallic drones. I believe the "broken synth" mentioned in the album description makes an appearance as well. Both it and its predecessor are subtly beautiful in their own ways, yet my favorite pieces are the ones that follow. In "Variation on Coral," Guthrie paints a lovely seaside scene, as a slow, lovely French horn melody lazily unfolds over a backdrop of gently gurgling and lapping waves, lysergically smeared chimes, cooing vocals, and a host of other curious sounds. The closing "The Goldbeater’s Skin," on the other hand, sounds like a duet between a quietly plinking and fitfully operational music box and a lovelorn French horn player in a particularly bittersweet mood, but it is further enlivened by an evocative array of breath-like textures and wounded-sounding squeaks and warbles. To my ears, it is unquestionably Gyropedie's most lovely and memorable piece, as the unexpectedly poignant horn melody feels like the beating heart of the album finally being revealed, yet it would not make nearly the same impact without the languorous and dreamlike journey beforehand. Granted, Gyropedie is an album that demands some patience and attentive listening to reveal its full beauty, but its fragile and tender fantasia of memory fragments is well served by that steadily deepening immersion." [Brainwashed]
"Threshold-dwelling lower case elisions of field recording and barely-there instrumental gestures by the wonderful Anne Guthrie, an occasional and prized presence on these pages.
Guthrie’s solo work has previously snagged our ears with the gorgeous ‘Codiaeum Variegatum’ album and ‘Brass Orchids’, both for Students of Decay over the past decade. She returns to the label three years after her previous, and collabs with the GRM’s François Bonnet and Seymour Wright, to offer her most sublime sort of sonic mulch and vapours in ‘Gyropedie’, where she appears to quiesce the enduring air of Satie’s proto-ambient music into a more natural, elusive ecology of cherry-picked small sounds that amount to a lushly absorbing whole primed for pastoral sound bathing in the comfort of your own home." [Boomkat]
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2021 |
€18.50 |
|
| GUTHRIE, ANNE / RICHARD KAMERMAN |
Sinter |
CD |
"Sinter injects vast amounts of oxygen into the room, air swirling and echoing in huge spaces, light shimmering and hazy. In metallurgical terms, sintering is the making of objects from powder and powdery, especially with a metallic connotation, isn't the worst term you could use for much of this music. Field recordings (and, per the sleeve, domestic recordings) are mixed with electronics throughout; nary a French horn in sight though I think I pick up a bit of Kamerman's small clattering devices here and there. [] An extraordinary piece capping one of the finest recordings I've heard in quite a while. Excellent work'. Brian Olewnick. ErstAEU, a new sub-label to 'document the work of young American experimental musicians working in a post-electroacoustic vein'." [label info]
www.erstwhilerecords.com
Dusted Reviews
Artist: Anne Guthrie / Richard Kamerman
Album: Sinter
Label: ErstAEU
Review date: May. 15, 2013
"Erstwhile Records has just rolled out a new sub-label, ErstAEU. In the tradition of AMM, the AEU is not explained. Despite the paucity of officially sanctioned information — you won’t find any explanatory text on the label’s website — there’s a definite aesthetic angle at work here. The label’s first three CDs are all the product of American-born duos, and all of the participants are in their 20s or 30s. Conventional instruments aren’t completely absent, but they often take a back seat to captured or processed sounds, as well as disorienting manipulations of time and space. One thing the albums do not share is a particular methodology. Graham Stephenson and Aaron Zarzutski’s Touching is a straight-up improv encounter; Joe Panzner and Greg Stuart’s Dystonia Duos combines played and processed sounds into hard-shelled containers of noisy electrical activity; and Anne Guthrie and Richard Kamerman’s Sinter, an assembly of “field recordings, domestic recordings, composition, improvisation, and processing,” which inhabits some zone that doesn’t really have a name yet.
For clues about how to understand it, one can look to the album’s name. Sintering bonds powdered clay into a pot without melting it; even after it’s fired, the ceramic’s texture will make you think of clay. The disparate elements of “Civil Twilight: 5:23” — dancing electrical buzzes, slow-changing mechanical hums, under-the-breath counting, close-up paper shuffling, and distant outdoor sounds — likewise retain their essential individual characters even though they have been configured into a hefty yet spacious block of musique concrète. But the way the sounds hang together doesn’t tell you why they were made to sit in that configuration, or how you should respond to them. They just are what they are.
So you might either be thinking about now, “I gotta hear this record,” or “Why the hell would I ever want to hear this stuff?” You know who you are, and either way I’d tell you to listen to your inner voice. Having spent a lot of time with it, I’m on both sides of the fence. On the one hand, there’s “Re(Z)=Piper, Im(Z)=Andrej,” an amalgam of cleanly recorded exchanges in Italian (I think), fuzzy room sounds that might come from a mall or train station, and mightily distorted monk chants that sound like they’re being played Alvin Lucier-style from a busted speaker into a resonant room. I’d heartily recommend it to anyone who likes their noise non-macho and genuinely unpredictable. On the other, listening to “Porcellino”’s layers of distant banging and close metallic clanking is an exhausting Cage-ian exercise in using applied attention to pry interest from boredom.
The most rewarding piece is the longest, the last, and the one that feels most musical. Taking a cue once more from nomenclature, “Several Or Many Fibers” feels to me like a tapestry. I’m not sure that its journey — from footsteps and a hovering synth note through sounds of water striking different surfaces to a late burst of weather reporting — is intended to say anything at all. But the way these sounds succeed each other implies a narrative whose inscrutability makes there passage compelling." [Bill Meyer, DUSTED magazine]
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2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| GYDJA |
Ar Var Alda (In Ancient Times) |
CD |
This is Gydja's second appearance on the Winter-Light label, the first being on our '... that first season' DCD compilation back in 2017.
Now Gydja (Abby Helasdottir) returns to Winter-Light with her spellbinding new full length album, 'Ár var alda (In ancient times)'.
Thick, expansive drones, woven through with intricate percussive elements, unearthly vocals and atmospheric field recordings. An album of deep, primordial dark ambient comprising of 9 tracks, across four movements.
English translation:-
1: That which was not
2: A chasm gaped
3: Winters unmeasured ere earth was made
4: The Great Measuring Tree beneath the earth
5: Nine worlds I recall, nine giantesses
6: Down from Elivagar did venom drop
7: And waxed till a giant it was
8: And thence arose our giants' race
9: The sun from the south warmed the stones of
Composed, produced and recorded by Abby Helasdottir at Ultrasound between 2015 and 2020
Additional performers:
Lyn Goeringer: vocals on Ór Élivágum stukku eitrdropar and þar eru órar ættir komnar allar saman
Serena Helasdottir-Cole: percussion on Svá óx, unz varð jötunn, rainsticks on þar eru órar ættir komnar allar saman
Mastered by Robin Storey
https://winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/r-var-alda-in-ancient-times
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| H.E.R.R. |
Fire and Glass - a Norwood Tragedy |
maxi-CD |
"This brilliant new four-track EP from the Anglo-Dutch masters of Neoclassical music relates to the incredible story of the Crystal Palace, an architectural jewel in the heart of Victorian London and itself a tragic metaphor for the rise and fall of the British Empire. Welcome to the Pleasuredome!" [label notes]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2007 |
€9.50 |
|
| HAARVÖL |
Ridge of Humming Spoils |
CD |
The Portugese trio Haarvöl returns to Moving Furniture Records with the last part in their trilogy. After Bombinate and Peripherad Debris they conclude this journey with Ridge Of Humming Spoils.
"Psychoanalysis refers to the frontier as an empty signifier: it embodies an interior and an exterior. The last album of the trilogy we set out to puts us there. On top of a vast set of remains whispering to us. Remains, because they have been left behind, because they are no longer useful. And yet, usefulness is something that tells little or nothing to us, artists. Quite the opposite. For this very reason, this new album is made up of these testimonies that whisper their condition very strongly to us. From the top of this pile of whispering remains we have achieved something that is precious to us: time, in its three dimensions, and not enclosed in that kind of perpetual present where they want to force us into, in a timeless time.
Here, at the top of this ridge, we can look back and ahead. Because it interests us. Because we want to.
We started the trilogy in a noisy place, but still with views to the center, we walked towards the periphery and now we find ourselves at the top of an empty signifier, on a border metaphor. It would have to be this way in a project where the important thing is the escape from formulas and repetitions: maintaining coherence without falling into concessions has always been our motto. Naturally, as we are at the border, its outside is much more appealing to us (it has always been this way until today. The continuous migrations of the past and of the tragic present prove it so) with its uncertainties and unfamiliarity, but also with the certainty of the difference. Is this not, after all, the appeal of art: that attraction for the unknown? Therefore, we have a certainty that is continually whispered to us by these remains that can be heard now: we will move on to the outer side, of course. The border, here made up of this ridge of whispering remains/humming spoils, has naturally closed the cycle. That is what borders are for: to interrupt, to limit; ultimately, to try to block. In our case, to be crossed affirmatively – as we well know, there are no walls that can prevent it.
We will continue exploring the sounds that interest us: sounds that contemplate time and attention as decisive elements, sounds that can appear as specters, asynchronous, almost incongruous with this time with no time to have time, this autophagic time. But already outside. In a utopia of an exile that carries no form of negativity, it affirms itself as positive otherwise because it allows the necessary distance to a placement that wants to be creatively critical.
One last note for something that sometimes appears in a completely innocuous way: the track titles. That is not our case. Here, just as it has been common throughout the rest of our discography, the titles we choose try to connect the real that surrounds us and that we don’t want to be oblivious to. After all, they embody this whole metaphor of abstract sonorities built up in trilogy, but, very attentive to the real. So is our stated intention to close the record with a small tribute to that remain of an already distant past, which yet continues being present, asynchronous. It is called Éliane. Maybe it’s a synonym of future. Who knows? Psychoanalysis refers to the frontier as an empty signifier: it embodies an interior and an exterior. The last album of the trilogy we set out to puts us there. On top of a vast set of remains whispering to us. Remains, because they have been left behind, because they are no longer useful. And yet, usefulness is something that tells little or nothing to us, artists. Quite the opposite. For this very reason, this new album is made up of these testimonies that whisper their condition very strongly to us. From the top of this pile of whispering remains we have achieved something that is precious to us: time, in its three dimensions, and not enclosed in that kind of perpetual present where they want to force us into, in a timeless time.
https://www.movingfurniturerecords.com/haarvol-ridge-of-humming-spoils/
https://haarvol.bandcamp.com/album/ridge-of-humming-spoils
|
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Seeking the Intimacy of Silence |
CD |
One of the things the pandemic brought us was an eerie silence: imposed, artificial.
Together with the silence, it brought a concomitant isolation. It left its mark on all of us, in different ways, but a distinct mark which still remains today.
This new release which we bring you now, holds, at its core, this recent experience.
That is why we wanted to address what we decided to call a kind of intimacy with silence. Above all, it is a question of highlighting the difference between the previous artificiality and imposition by another relationship: now free, now real. To be intimate with silence is to recognise its existence and importance (as CAGE taught us many decades ago) and thus to attempt an approximation to try to bring reality into the sounds we have built. A part of that reality, at least, the one that is detached from anaesthesia; the one whose silence is active.
The pandemic and the forced isolation brought us another need: to be with others again, to share life and reality (without screens or other devices to disguise the distance).
That\'s also why this record was built in a different logic from all our previous ones: in face-to-face sessions, in which the tracks were being built in a live environment that we had never tried before. What is heard has been played and experienced in a continuous sound dialogue, and yet without a safety net. Perhaps the pandemic has brought us closer together and more eager to enjoy the present.
It was, therefore, the sounds that approached and brought us closer to this longed-for conviviality with the idea of silence.
Togetherness extended to the collaborations we love so much. To collaborate is to enhance sharing. On this record, we can hear Martijn Comes\'s guitar or Xoán-Xil López\'s cello in a crossing of intentionalities and sounds that feed our desired approach.
A few words, too, for the importance of words.
On this album, we built the track titles as if they were a poem. It was a deliberate choice to preserve its unity, its whole. This is an album that refuses the fragmentary, but rather is made of fragments. Fragments of a whole. And that whole is the result of this kind of poetic metaphor that is embodied in its title.
May the approach to silence thus be an allegory of a time and reality that are ours and with which we want to interact intensely, even if we interfere in its most intimate moments, or in other words, its silences...
Indeed, CAGE again, or memory as a device to nullify distance.
All compositions by FJP, JF. Martijn Comes, guitar (1); Xoán-Xil López, cello (3). Haarvöl are Fernando José Pereira, JoÃo Faria (music) and Rui Manuel Vieira (images).
Artwork by José Carneiro
Mastered by Jos Smolders at EARLabs
https://haarvol.bandcamp.com/album/seeking-the-intimacy-of-silence
|
2023 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Indite |
CD |
Haarvöl, a collective project based in Portugal with three permanent members, has been active in the field of experimental music since the end of 2012.
Haarvöl’s music is conceptually developed in the exploration of the properties of sounds in order to achieve cinematic and imaging environments. The sounds are not restricted to their medial origins: both digital and analogue sources are used and mixed in intricate compositions with special attention to detail.
The emphasis on non-illustrative interaction of sounds with images is evident in the videos purposely prepared for certain compositions. They can be viewed on the Vimeo page of the project (vimeo.com/haarvol).
In 2014 Haarvöl released their first album, “Hebetude”, at PAD - Easy Pieces label, where it is possible to hear the first attempts to embody all the premises the group want for their music.
"Indite" is Haarvöl’s new album and was composed during 2014. It is the second release, and so there are endemic links with the previous affirmation of their own sound. However, there is an effort towards obtaining a singularity in the new compositions. The tracks of the album try to form a homogeneous but not monolithic body of work to produce a diverse set of sounds with resonant similarities which do not repeat themselves, though. We find again the wide-ranging compositional structure already present in the previous album, that is, the use of non-hierarchical of analogue sounds as well as their electronic and digital counterparts in a joint effort to build the themes. The cinematic intentionality of the music attempts to reveal in detail the relationship with reality – here embodied by the intense use of field recordings as important components in the compositional process.
In Old English, "Indite" refers to the creative process of composing. This is perhaps one of the most relevant features of this new album: rather than the sonic intensity or wide experimentation, it is on the complex and dense composition of the themes that the rigorous structure, which decisively affirms the album, is built.
https://haarvol.bandcamp.com/album/indite
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| HABEEB |
Il cancello della morte |
CD-R |
Neues dark ambient noise-Projekt auf SOMNABULANT, einer der zur Zeit besten Adressen für elektronischen Abgrunds-Industrial. Meist wuchtige analoge Flächen & amorphe Soundeffekte.....dann wieder schwelend & paralisierend, monumentale Rausch- & Dröhnflächen....
lim. 200 und beim Label schon weg !
“Habeeb seems such an odd sounding name for this sinister dark ambient project from L. Kerr of Steel Hook Prostheses. This massive disc is definitely stronger and more focused than what little I've heard from the project in the past, building often lengthy tracks around smoothly flowing low-end hums and drones with subtle melodic undercurrents seeping in at times. "Creeping Death" gets a bit louder with biting high-end swells that peak out to faint distortion over rumbling bass and slightly more prominent "notes" in the middleground, whereas a few other tracks are much quieter and more subdued. "Rigor Mortis" is very delicately rhythmic with its repetitive low-end loop throbbing away, followed by "Tapping the Spine with Razorwire", which adds in very lightweight wisps of distortion against the brooding ambience of the core soundscape – certainly a bit more ominous. "Descension Into the Blackness" is a monolithic 19 minutes (nearly half of the disc's the entire running time), building up slowly with hugely resonant bass and distant percussive sounds reverberating in the background – getting slightly thicker/louder, but maintaining a very stripped down aesthetic that never sways too far from the course. Closer "Keepers of the Death Gate" is the only track I dislike, and I find it to be terribly distracting in contrast to the other tracks, opening with a sample of some sort of country-ish music with pitch-shifted speaking before giving way to a barely distorted loop with a few harsher spurts of thick distorted noise layering in to add to the industrial percussiveness. Even without the strange intro it would've been uncharacteristic of the release as a whole, but that first segment of the track really kills it for me. The CD-R comes in a slim DVD case with minimal artwork that's basically black and white and depicts some illegible text and a woodcut image of demons shoveling people into the mouth of hell. It's a simple presentation but as is usually the case with work from this label it looks quite clean and tasteful. A solid release pound for pound. I'm still a bit confused as to what that last track is all about, but the preceding 55 minutes is a consistent slab of damn promising dark ambient noise.” [Aversionline.com]
|
2004 |
€10.00 |
|
| HAERETICI 7O74 |
Haeretici, Schismatici, Excommunicati |
maxi-CD-R |
Document of a live show which took place in Tampere, Finland, January 2006, by this project of OVRO and NIKO SKORPIO: Loops, dark drones, strange digi-noises, deformed voices, all strange & surreal… infiltrating & sinking in your subsconsciousness…. Hard to say what it really is…
“Hæretici 7o74 is a duo of Ovro and Niko Skorpio. Joining forces, the artists bring together the more meditative and ritualistic elements of their solo works, blending it to something completely new. Recognizable, but distinct. Hæretici 7o74 concentrates on live performances, enjoying the organic and interactive feel of playing live, with its often surprising turns and twists.
Haeretici, Schismatici, Excommunicati is the band's first release, and contains the recording of the group's live performance at club Syntesia in Tampere, Finland in January 2006. Here, deep dark ambient soundscapes meet creeping rhythms and ecstatic oriental vibes. This is musical heresy, where the alchemical potential of not playing by the rules or expectations comes abloom. Purists, clinging on to their cherished dogmas in the dust of their crumbling temples, will be itching to burn these heretics alive.” [label info]
|
2006 |
€6.50 |
|
| HAIGH, ROBERT |
Strange and Secret Things |
CD |
"Dritter Release der Piano-Solo-Trilogie von Robert Haigh auf dem japanischen Imprint Siren. Wer gerne, von Saties Piano Works ausgehend, einem wahrlich inspirierten Nachfolger auf die Spur kommen möchte, dem sei dies, trotz aller überstrapazierten satieesken Spielereien der letzten Jahre, wärmstens ans Herz gelegt. “Strange And Secret Things” beinhaltet sehr emotionale und pointiert bilderreich gesetzte Improvisationen – Haigh scheut sich nicht, klischeegefährdete Untiefen der stark in unser Unterbewusstes eingedrungenen Kompositionen neuer französischer Klaviermusik des verehrten Originals zu durchwaten, um mit irritierender Leichtigkeit, ganz im Sinne des satieschen Nouveau Esprit, in eigenen Sphären zu landen. Überraschung und Wirkung, so die Aussage Saties, sei die Wiederaufnahme klassischer Formgestaltung vom Standpunkt eines modernen Kunstbegriffes. So fährt die Zeitschiene auf bezaubernde Weise vor und zurück, ganz so, wie es sein sollte. Die beiden ersten Teile der Trilogie sind unter dem Moniker SEMA auf des Künstlers eigenem Label Le Rey Records zu erwerben." [Raabenstein / de:bug]
"Strange and Secret Things' is the third and final part of Robert Haigh’s piano solo trilogy for Siren Records that started with 'Notes and Crossings' (2009) and 'Anonymous Lights' (2010). In his quest to expand his solo piano expression, Robert employs two distinct yet complimentary approaches to piano composition. The first is based on shifting patterns - repetitive structures with minimal development. The second is a more organic approach which evolves out of unmediated improvisation. Along the way, Robert has created compositions that are vital, exposed, melancholic, minimal and open-ended that never stray too far away from a unique melodic sensibility. 'Strange and Secret Things', comprised of 17 tracks, is a further continuation of the journey explored in the first two parts. It is the most intimate and powerful of the trilogy - with a wider palette of light and shade, emotion, texture and atmosphere. This album is a must for anyone who has enjoyed the first two parts of the trilogy and his older legendary recordings on Le Rey Records. It will appeal to those who have an affinity with the piano language of Satie, Glass, Budd, Cage, Max Richter etc. The album was mastered by Denis Blackham at Skye Mastering. As with the first two parts the CD comes with a limited edition hand-made miniature jacket sleeve.." [label info]
|
2011 |
€16.00 |
|
|
The Silence of Ghosts |
CD |
"Robert Haigh continues on in his post-Omni Trio musical world, releasing a type of contemporary classical/ambient music that is piano-based and bridges the worlds of Aphex Twin (in the Richard James’ quieter moments), Max Richter, Eno and Chilly Gonzales. These, as with the instrumental pieces on recent-enough Haigh album, the gorgeous Darkling Streams, feel all at once like demo-versions and finished pieces; the writer sitting down at the keys and shaking loose a few ideas. Stopping to find them as close to fully formed as they’ll ever be – art that’s never finished, simply discarded.
These pieces hint as nostalgia and quiet moments of contemplation, they, once again, feel like they’ve come from the school of film composition – more so than from any techno/drum’n’bass world (where Haigh, of course, has operated so successfully).
These are soft sketches. We listen in, almost eavesdropping, catching just the bit in the middle – longer intros or outros could change any one of these pieces into an album-length work, but these snapshots still seem correctly bound together.
It’s quietly powerful stuff.
Shadowy musical figures, breathing spaces within the notes, the slightest feeling of unease trickling in and around these moments that – mostly – frame up a type of tranquillity, create a calm, a balm, a day-spa soundtrack with depth, warmth and intrigue.
Once again Haigh has offered up the very best from his soul for the wee small hours, for those moments after first waking or to guide you as you slip off into a strange and wonderful dreamland." [Off the Tracks]
|
2015 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Black Sarabande |
LP |
Robert Haigh's second full length LP for Unseen Worlds, Black Sarabande, is out today on LP, CD, and digital, uncovering a further layer of refinement to his music. It's no mistake that Haigh's releases have fluctuated between the underground and popular consciousness over the past forty years. This tension - between darkness and light, melancholy and solace, cacophony and clarity - is central to his work. With Black Sarabande, Haigh has gifted us with one of the quietest, most generous and vulnerable releases of his career.
Advance Press for Black Sarabande
"Robert Haigh’s latest album (under his own name) is a tender collection of spacious and textural piano pieces, full of rural ruminations and introspective intimacy." (9.0, scored review) - Zara Wladawsky, DJ Mag
"Having worked on mid-’80s Nurse With Wound albums, Robert Haigh thrived with Omni Trio’s pioneering ‘90s productions for Moving Shadow, but his piano work, both under his and the SEMA name, reaches even further. His latest collection embraces the resonant ambience and subtle electronic embellishments of Harold Budd’s and Brian Eno’s The Pearl.” - Uncut Magazine
“Robert Haigh's storied career reads like an almanac of ambient music. His latest is an unhurried flow of ambient piano pieces that, despite the implications of the title, are only momentarily dark and far from risqué, perhaps at times more suited for those soft intimate moments made for two, or most certainly personal reflections made for one.” - Slavko Bucifal, Exclaim!
“Everything I’ve ever written about any album, concert or piece of music is wrong. I know this because of something that happened while I was quietly listening to ‘Arc Of Crows’ by pianist Robert Haigh, a track taken from his new album Black Sarabande.” - Further
"'Why?'" - Philip Clark, WIRE
"This contemporary classical pianist’s music proves more unsettling the more you disturb its placid surface.
Depending on what release you discovered first, you might have believed there were two different Robert Haighs operating in the UK during the 1980s and ’90s. There was the pianist and composer who worked with Nurse With Wound and released elegant modern classical albums like 1987’s Valentine Out of Season. But what to make of the Robert Haigh behind the neck-whipping jungle breakbeats of the Omni Trio, a force throughout the drum ’n’ bass era in the UK? As that project drew to a close in the early 2000s, the more contemplative side of Haigh reemerged with a string of contemporary classical albums. They made for a perfect fit for New York’s Unseen Worlds label; his 2017 album Creatures of the Deep slotted well alongside pianists new and old, ranging from “Blue” Gene Tyranny to Lubomyr Melnyk to Leo Svirsky.
Haigh’s Black Sarabande explores terrain similar to Deep, mixing gorgeous piano melodies with a patina of electronics. But where that previous album evoked the properties of water, Sarabande feels grounded. It draws on Haigh’s childhood memories of UK coal country and the hardscrabble “pit village” of Worsbrough in South Yorkshire where he was raised. There’s a heavy atmosphere to these 11 tracks, never wholly enveloped in blackness but always threatened to tip over into it.
The opening title track is hushed, provoking comparisons to Harold Budd or Erik Satie. Yet as Haigh’s struck keys hover in space, they turn slightly discordant, like a chill settling into the skin. “Stranger on the Lake” strikes a balance between piano and electronics to luminous effect, its melody shadowed by ghostly overtones. Midway through, the ambient haze swells, and when it finally recedes, the piece is suffused with harp plucks and electronics, making you feel like you’ve left one piece behind and emerged in another one entirely.
Black Sarabande’s calm surface proves illusory the more listens you give it. Struck piano wires startle the surface of the otherwise-placid “Wire Horses”; a gush of strings arrives and just as quickly disappears into the woozy, fluttering ambience of “Painted Serpent.” There are moments when Haigh’s playing verges on silence, so that if you’re listening on earbuds, you might hear your own footsteps through the snow more loudly than the music. The gorgeous and brief “Air Madeleine” sounds as if you’re walking around a frozen pond in the countryside and seated next to Haigh on the creaky piano bench all at once, as imaginary a landscape (and interior) as anything Brian Eno could have conceived." [Pitchfork]
https://unseenworlds.bandcamp.com/album/black-sarabande
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| HAIL |
Hello Debris |
CD |
Nach über 10 Jahren Pause ein neues Album des Projekts von SUSANNE LEWIS und BOB DRAKE, die durch CORPSES AS BEDMATES, 5UUs und THINKING PLAGUE bekannt wurden.. das ist zeitgemässer "intelligenter Progressive-Pop" mit vielen schrägen Einfällen, überraschenden Wendungen, einer ganz eigenen Harmonie...
"After a break of almost 15 years Susanne Lewis and Bob Drake have reconvened their classic partnership. In the meantime rock and post rock has mainly moved away from the song and its classic shapes, leaving commercial pop to straighten them out and endlessly repeat the same tropes and tricks. Hail is rare amongst bands in its adherence to the notion that what makes a song interesting is the application of imagination and skill to its arrangement, performance and recording. The plan is not to drag songs away into other domains by grafting on bits of jazz, classical or electronic vocabulary, but to make them more what they are; to concentrate and distill them. Susanne Lewis's voice is extremely personal, never generic, Bob Drake's signature rhythm section work always exemplary. The songs are real rather than clever, and the production constantly invents contrapuntal detail and colour. This is a virtuosic album that never shows off. For those who wish there were more good songs on the experimental side of transfigured pop." [press release]
"....Hello Debris' consists of 18 short tracks of twisted, oddly-charming prog-like rock music with a punkish edge. Songs often start off in one direction and soon mutate into something completely different. "Celestial Heartbreak" opens with majestic keyboards yet soon features some baroque harpsichord-like keyboard. The booklet includes the strange lyrics of many of the tracks, yet the vocals are often buried deep in the mix or are not even there at times. What's interesting is that some of these tunes are sewn together from disparate parts, but they somehow fit together like an intricate psychedelic jigsaw puzzle. I wonder how a more mainstream rock listener would view these quirky pieces... intrigued, mystified or perhaps even confused? I find these short ditties to be buried treasures waiting to be discovered those with curious tastes." [Downtown Music Gallery]
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| HALL OF MIRRORS |
Forgotten Realm |
CD |
"Second “chapter” in the “Hall of Mirrors” saga, a project that hides the fervid minds of Giuseppe Verticchio/Nimh and Andrea Marutti/Amon. On this release they’re supported by Andrea Freschi (Subinterior, Konau…) and Andrea Ferraris (Ur, Sil Muir…), who gave their contribute with additional sound sources. Another long and fascinating journey among the ruins of lost and ancient civilizations, among desolate landscapes forgotten by time… To enrich the already busy electronic stratifications, among slowly evolving ambient sonorities and occasional parts of more sharp and “rough” elements of a Post-Industrial nature, we also find suggestive sound of reverberating flutes and dilated electric guitar parts, ending with delicate melodic arpeggios and evocative rhythmic accents of a vague cinematic taste. The adventure goes on…"[label info]
www.silentes.net
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| HALL, FRANK |
I remember you (O.S.T.) |
CD |
We are extremely proud to release the official soundtrack to the cult Icelandic horror film 'I REMEMBER YOU' (Is: "Ég man þig"). Heavy dark ambient / industrial / orchestral soundscapes composed by Frank Hall, with a beautiful, solemn, folkloristic finale featuring Icelandic choirs. A must for fans of Graeme Revell, Steven Price, Lustmord, MZ.412. Digipak.
Watch the trailer: youtu.be/UWIh4wgrHLg
The soundtrack was created at the old industrial area of Grandi in Reykjavík, at a studio due to be 'gentrified' and forcefully emptied of the artists. "I was alone in this large building in this deserted area, working late hours, making music for a horror movie. It was during winter... wind blowing, darkness. There were some tense moments...".
"As soon as I read the script I heard low brass in my head and that kind of stuck. We used a lot of brass instruments, filtered and processed throughout. I also ended up using a lot of bowed guitar, sometimes doubling the brass, sometimes more like a sound effect". Hall also used analogue synths on the special climactic track "Montage".
On the finale, Hall reminisces: "Móðir mín í kví kví (My Mother In The Sheep Pen) is an old Icelandic folk song. The lyrics are based on Icelandic folklore about a woman who had a baby which she couldn't afford to have and left it outside to die, wrapped in a rag. The infant then becomes what we Icelandic call "Útburður" - the ghost of a child who has been left out to die. Some time later the woman wants to go to a dance but has no pretty clothes to wear. She is in the sheep pen attending to the sheep when she hears this whispering outside: "My mother in the sheep pen, don't you worry because I'll lend you my rag, my rag to dance in". It's a rather ominous lyric and this song is sometimes sung for Icelandic babies as a lullaby... a little odd custom perhaps. I remember my mother singing this to me. This is one of my favourite Icelandic folk songs, and when I created the music for "I Remember You", which is about a lost child that haunts people, I suggested to director Óskar Thór Axelsson that I should make an Icelandic choir version of it and use it as a theme / credit song. He loved the idea".
'I Remember You' is based on the internationally acclaimed novel by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, the "Queen of Icelandic Crime".
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/i-remember-you-skar-th-r-axelsson-o-s-t-csr287cd
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| HALMA |
The Ground |
LP |
"While HALMA leaned far out of the window on their predecessor album „Granular“, far and wide, so far that the comet Tschurjumow-Gerassimenko came into view, HALMA now dig
into the depths with their new recording „The Ground“. Whirlpools of crystals drill into the ground, it grinds and flows, carbon becomes diamonds – on „The Ground“ the band drives
six new tracks with racing drill into all our consciousness. HALMA turn summits around and flow into the depths, mountains from below, the band seems to know the old mountaineering wisdom that summit happiness is dangerous – and so the four musicians prove sure-footedness and manage
the descent into the bottomless with sovereign elegance. It is admirable how much attention HALMA can pay to paths, routes and tracks in the scree. Hikers and ramblers: Paths are created
where one walks them, and in low altitudes one is at home, and in deep substance HALMA is at home. Tip for first listening: The whole disc from beginning to end and again from beginning."
https://kapitaenplatte.bandcamp.com/album/halma-the-ground
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| HALO MANASH |
Wesieni Wainajat |
CD |
"Halo Manash has been working for the past three years in solid-shadows and un-lights to reach the posture of Mercurial Aqua-Aurorae. ‘Wesieni Wainajat’ presents a natural continuation for the group’s past Forest Music phase and their previous ‘Taiwaskivi’ album, in which the cresent-drop was just about to descent in the bottom of the sublunar-cup.
'Wesieni Wainajat' consists of three, long and brooding, repetitive trance-drone tracks interweaving various analog drone sources with elemental field-recordings. Each track serves as a vehicle in passing the threshold of consciousness and triggering the subliminal realms of hallucination and shape-shifting. As a whole the album is an evocative lunar-hymn reaching out toward one’s Mercurial Empire – and the One who is moist.
The album is available in two editions: 350 CDs and 50 cassettes (25 black & 25 transparent). Both editions include three hand-finished photo prints, an textual insert and silk-screen printed cardboard covers. Total running time: 39:11." [label info]
www.auralhypnox.com
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Se Its En |
CD |
"Se Its En is the first official release of Halo Manash and was originally released in an edition of 100 copies by Finnish underground record label Blue Sector in 2003. After a long period of unavailability the album is now re-released through our Stellar Mansion series.
The quintessential tunes for the tracks were received from in seven specific dreams and captured on tape during the following morning under the guidance of awakened subconscious forces. The album as a whole, however, should not be considered only as a self-centered work or a mere outcome of lucid dreaming sessions of the personnel involved; Se Its En serves as a continually living and assisting metaphysical implement that guides and enlightens travel in The Great Elemental Current. The seven surrealistic tracks were composed by using manipulated bowed string instruments, percussions, analogue synthesizer, human and inhuman vocalisations & other surreal recordings. Se Its En is the key to the gate leading to Sacral Meeting with Halo Manash.
The album is enclosed in a customised and silk-screen printed Stellar Mansion cardboard covers including an 8-panel black on black printed booklet and a silk-screen printed insert card. The regular edition is limited to 468 copies." [label info]
www.auralhypnox.com
"Finland strikes back again! New project on a new label, which brings us haunting and secretful post-industrial drone-spheres with various subliminal effects... dark and beautiful." [Drone Rec. info 2003]
“ Halo Manash 'Se Its En' follows the same direction as I.corax (being a solo-project of the other member), but whereas I.corax is more like a continuous flow of sound, Halo Manash is more structured and minimal. Also the general soundscape isn't based that much on field recordings etc, but is mostly created by a guitar through a wild bunch of effect processors. There are even some kind of strange melodies that are spiced up with occasional lyrics of spoken word and simple, ritualistic percussions. There are two versions of 'Se Its En' available; a normal slimcase with pro-printed covers and an insert, and a version that comes in a cool hand-made black cloth bag (insert and covers included, naturally).” [orignal label description 2003]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Elemental Live Forms MMV - Initiation |
MC |
"Over a decade ago, HALO MANASH, an entity previously only known for its aural output, took the force and form of a live ritual perfomed by group of four mediums, in Tampere, Finland. ‘Elemental Live Forms MMV – Initiation’ is a recording of that first public Halo Manash live ritual, and also a complete, previously unreleased work in itself. The work was presented only a single time, also being the only time the involved personae of the group perfomed together as one.
The live ritual focuses on the boundless elemental form returning from metaphysical pilgrimage – it bridges the worlds of being and non-being. Ash and antler, blood and bone, drum and drone, tree and metal collide to create an intense audial journey between worlds – one of re-birth, initiation, and primal thundering.
Much more than a mere live recording, this seminal work, ‘Elemental Live Forms MMV – Initiation’ is now finally released in limited CD and cassette editions. The package, as an object of power, is handmade in the underground Aural Hypnox laboratories, featuring various guiding sigils, inserts and historical notes from the Halo Manash archives.
www.auralhypnox.com
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| HAMILTON, SAM & JAN ANDERZEN |
Brombron 24: Time Banking |
CD |
"Korm Plastics is proud to present the twenty-fourth release in the Brombron series (missing numbers will follow later this year). Originally
a co-production between Staalplaat and Extrapool, it is now hosted by co-curator Frans de Waard. In the year 2000 Frans de Waard and Extrapool started the Brombron project. Two or more musicians become artists in residence in Extrapool, an arts initiative in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, with a fully equipped sound recording studio. These artists can work in a
certain amount of time on a collaborative project; a project they always wished to do, but didn't have the time or the equipment to realize.
Here we have Jan Anderzen from Finland, who works as Tomutonttu and is the leader of Kemialliset Ystavat. A true artist when it comes to cut, copy, paste and collage with sound (as well as images), cooking up a wonderfully naïve pastiche of sound. Sam Hamilton is surely the odd ball out in the
world of New Zealand’s experimental music. He likes punk, opera, techno and pop and collates them all together in his own unique blend of pop
music. Here’s two men who share a strong love of the wicked pop tunes and their twelve pieces are short and to the point. A classic pop record
length release, with likewise classic tunes.
Design by Sam Hamilton." [label info]
|
2013 |
€10.00 |
|
| HAMILTON, TOM / BRUCE EISENBEIL |
Shadow Machine |
CD |
SHADOW MACHINE is the first CD by Tom Hamilton and Bruce Eisenbeil, who began playing music together in 2007. Coherence without predictability, speed without tempo, direction without a roadmap - an unlikely foray into the world of out-jazz and free improvisation.
It's a duo that thwarts expectations of its specific instrumentation. The artists hybridize the language of electronic sound through Eisenbeil's guitar and Hamilton's virtual analog synthesizer, and the live-in-the-studio tracks insure that the performances impart maximum physicality and spontaneity.
Their aim is to generate new forms, new ways of listening, new definitions of music. Equal rights for all sounds is one goal, and since each musician is a maximalist, a dizzying array of sounds and techniques are employed to sustain a visceral experience. Contrasting sonic elements are played one against another, simultaneously and successively. Modern jazz and improvised music have just now begun to really embrace the language and sounds of electronics; these two artists are positioned on the forefront of a trend that aims to subvert orthodoxy and challenge old assumptions.
Tom Hamilton has been composing and performing for over 40 years, and his work with electronic music originated in the late-60s era of analog synthesis. He often explores the interaction of many simultaneous layers of activity, prompting the use of "present-time listening" on the part of both performer and listener. Hamilton appears on synthesizer in his own ensembles, and has participated in groups led by Peter Zummo, David Soldier, and Michael Schumacher. He has recently performed with Thomas Buckner, Lisle Ellis, Chris Mann, Al Margolis, and Jacqueline Martelle. Hamilton was a 2005 Fellow of the Civitella Ranieri Center in Umbria, Italy. His CD London Fix received an award in the 2004 Prix Ars Electronica. He is a longtime member of composer Robert Ashley's touring opera ensemble, and his work can be found in over 60 CD releases of new and experimental music.
The Wire has described Hamilton's music as "colourful and seductive," and Gramophone has noted that "the results bubble with energy, a veritable counterpoint of indeterminacy." And Hamilton is cited in Kyle Gann's American Music in the 20th Century as "New York's leading improvisor on analog synthesizers.
Composer/guitarist Bruce Eisenbeil was born in Chicago in 1963 and grew up in Plainfield, NJ. He began playing the guitar when he was four and performing professionally since he was 15. Throughout the 1980¹s he played jazz and R&B. Since then he has performed and/or recorded with: Cecil Taylor, David Murray, Evan Parker, Ellery Eskelin, Karl Berger, Perry Robinson, Milford Graves, Badal Roy, Andrew Cyrille, Edgar Bateman, Nasheet Waits, Lukas Ligeti and many others. He has twelve CD's released on a variety of labels, including: ESP, Nemu, Konnex, Cadence, C.I.M.P., and Nine Winds. Recent recordings include TOTEM, Inner Constellation, and Home Again. Guitar Player magazine has published a detailed article on Eisenbeil¹s history and musical inventiveness in the May 2009 issue.
About his work, Harvey Pekar in JazzTimes has said, "Eisenbeil is one of the most unique jazz guitarists to emerge in decades." Downbeat called his work "Strikingly original." And The Wire wrote that he has, "A distinctive voice. About as revolutionary as music can actually get." [press release]
www.pogus.com
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| HAMPSON, ROBERT |
Vectors |
CD |
"Robert Hampson (geb. 1965 in UK) ist Gründungsmitglied der Bands "Loop" (1985-90) und "Main" (1990 -96). Nach dem Ende der Band "Loop", konzentrierte siche Hampson im Rahmen der neuen Band "Main" darauf, den charakteristischen Sound der Gitarre für sich neu zu interpretieren und umzuformen in dem er sich im Detail mit dem Stil des Instrumentes beschäfitgte. Er kreierte so neue und abstrakte Sounds. Je mehr sich die Band "Main" entwicktelte, desto mehr lösten sie sich von dem eigentlichen Sound der Gitarre und kamen ihrem eigenen revolutionären Stil nahe. Mittlerweile komponiert und spielt Hampson unter seinen eigenen Namen. Er widmete sich nun mehr und mehr der Akusmatik, einer Weiterentwicklung von natürlichen Klängen, aufgehend in einer Kombination dieser mit synthetischen Klängen. In einer gleichberechtigen Zusammensetzung dieser, gelang es ihm völlig neue Sounds und Ideen umzusetzen.Umbra :Das Phänomen der "Umbra" - des Kernschattens, ist es was die Arbeit an diesem Stück inspirieren sollte: Geräusche die in den Schatten anderer eingefangen zu sein scheinen, die immer mehr Form annehmen, sich entfalten und materialisieren bis sie selbst einen Schatten werfen.Ahead -Only The Stars (2007) beauftragt vom Label "Vibrö" für eine Performance im Planetarium de Poitiers in 7.1. Surround Ratio.Inspiriert von dem ,Austronauts of the NASA Mercury Missions" Programm und dem wohl größten Piloten aller Zeiten: Chuck Yeager. Ihm ist dieses Stück auch gewidmet.Nach einer Einführung der überwältigenden und beeindruckenden Jets-Sounds, ist das Stück durchsetzt mit Radio-Transmissionen, die den künstlerischen Rahmen dieses Werkes bilden.Dans le Lointain (2008) - Geräusche kurzwelliger Funktöne, aufgenommen von Hampson in den frühen 80er Jahren und neulich auf einer Kassette wiederentdeckt, wurden neu auf klassische Art und Weise bearbeitet und digital neu interpretiert. Der Titel des Werkes bezieht sich auf die Distanzen, die Radiowellen fähig sind zu meistern, so aber auch soll es die Zeitspanne darstellen, beginnend mit der Aufnahme auf Kassetten Anfang der 80er bis in die jetzige Neuzeit der High Technologies."
[label info / Cargo]
www.myspace.com/roberthampson
"A long time I met Robert Hampson and talked with him about the movie '24 Hour Party People'. What I didn't knew is that Hampson and his band Loop toured with the Happy Mondays, so he shed some extra light on those scenes involving the Mondays. I was thinking of the curious career of Hampson when listening to 'Vectors'. The rock days of Loop merging into the ambience of Main to the electro acoustic of Hampson, who no longer uses the name Main anymore. I liked Loop, I truly loved Main and sometimes I found myself thinking 'what is Robert Hampson doing these days?'. Its been some years since his last Main release, but apparently his into France these days. All three pieces here were recorded for things in France, festivals, commissions of INA GRM. Indeed a curious career. Robert Hampson - serious composer. Who would have guessed? One could see it coming I guess, as the last Main releases forecasted the music on 'Vectors': computer manipulated electro-acoustic music, brought to you in the form of an audio collage. If you need to compare it with something, then the whole microsound posse comes to mind, but Roel Meelkop in particular. Hampson shares the same sensibility of creating intense audio compositions, with slow curves, occasional rapid change and a keen ear for atmospherics. Crackling, ambient, computer treatments of acoustic objects. Well crafted compositions, that never seem to leap into the doodling that some of the 'real' (what is real anyway?) acousmatic composers in this scene seem to be doing. Challenging music of the highest order. Its only a pity that there is not so much of that from Hampson. Let's hope the next one is not three years away." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"... On Vectors, Hampson teases with repetitions of astronaut bleeps, electrical warblings, digitally vaporous static, and wisps of sound design that could build into something off of Hydra-Calm or Motion Pool, but
don't. Many folks (including some here) have been frustrated by Hampson's work after Motion Pool, and that sentiment probably won't be changed with Vectors. The three lengthy pieces on Vectors are all commissions with lofty goals of avant electronics; and two of the commissions came by way of the legendary GRM studio in France. In this context as opposed to the Loop / Main axis, Vectors turns out to be a smoldering musique concrete album with acousmatic allusions to the work of Michel Chion and Luc Ferrari." [Aquarius Records review]
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
| HAPSBURG BRAGANZA |
Hatchling |
CD |
"Phil Begg is a young british improviser and composer based in Newcastle. He became known in Belgium for the improvisation sessions that he was playing in every corner of the country during the summer of 2006. Armed with a few effect pedals, loopers and microphones, various objects and his mobile mono soundsystem, Phil amazed us with his intense improvisations. Whether brutal and powerful, whether quiet, flirting with some lowercase and minimal electronics influences.
Since we invited Phil to play at idioLABOAT festival in 2006 under the name of Chalfont, where he brought us his instant dives into abyssal psycho-active soundscapes and lightful envolées, we absolutely wanted to release one of his works on Idiosyncratics.
Hatchling is a slow-burning electroacoustic piece, integrating dense atmospheric collage of field recordings and concrete sound source
with highly textural drones and warm subtle harmonics. A very personal and breathtaking piece, both in the heritage of Francisco López and Charlemagne Palestine.
Artwork by Yannick Franck." [label info]
www.idiosyncratics.net
"Behind the strangely named Hapsburg Braganza we find one Phil Begg from Newcastle, who ended up on Belgiums Idiosyncratics, because 'he was playing in every corner of the country during the summer of 2006', armed with effect pedals, loopers, microphones, various objects and a mobile mono soundsystem'. I don't think I came across his name before, but the forty minute piece 'Hatchling' is indeed a very fine piece. The cover lists such instruments as Indian Harmonium, cymbals, acoustic guitar, piano, acoustic/concrete sounds and field recordings, which are specified on the cover). Somewhere there is mighty rainfall to be spotted, but otherwise the listed instruments aren't that easy to spot in this piece. The piece falls apart in three separate parts, which all flow into each other. The first part deals with electro-acoustic sounds, the second with the aforementioned water sounds and then finally a drone piece for overtones. The label calls this 'the heritage of Francisco Lopez and Charlemagne Palestine', which is quite understandable, especially when it comes to the drone piece that sounds like Palestine at his organs. The rain sounds are perhaps too obvious to be Lopez like I think. Overall, Begg does quite a fine job, and his piece, though not 'new', is one with a remarkable beauty. Moving and morphing into various genres, musique concrete, field recordings, minimalist music, this is one solid sound experience. Very nice work!" [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| HARRIS, MICK & MARTYN BATES |
Murder Ballads (Drift) |
do-LP |
For the first time on LP vinyl
Post-Isolationist - Deep Ambiance & Folksong re-emerge in this first vinyl outing of the classic 'Murder Ballads' (Drift) by M.J. Harris / Martyn Bates
Limited Textured Sleeve + Marbled Vinyls
"Leaving nothing behind but the wild birds to moan"
Rarely do two types of music meet on a level where they threaten to cancel each other out - let alone create something even more
meaningful in their mutual vanishing. But the music created within the seminal Murder Ballads (Drift) by Martyn Bates (Eyeless in Gaza,
& parallel solo career) and Mick Harris (Napalm Death, Lull, Painkiller, Scorn) creates just such a world. Murder Ballads (Drift) evolves Martyn Bates vocalisations / storytelling song-voices, by turns expressed as labyrinthine layers, calls and responses, muted and distant echoes, sung whispers and counter-melodies, ultimately resulting in a mesmeric conversation of musical inferences and correspondences.
Murder Ballads (Drift) created the post-isolationist frame of reference, innovating and extemporising into a truly original dazzlingly unique form.
Mick Harris traffics in the isolationist ambience of Lull, while Martyn Bates is the emotive voice of literate cult-pop duo Eyeless in Gaza. The unlikely pair - one given to terminally frigid drone, the other to impassioned, bittersweet voicings - finds common ground in folk music's most macabre tradition, the murder ballad. These ghoulish parables are awash in blood and tears, the strands of love, hate, birth, death, sin, and salvation entwined within like the roots of an ancient tree. Mothers callously kill their children; suitors slay their maidens without remorse; and fate exacts its cruel price from all.
The archaic murder ballads that leak from Bates' vocal cords are intensely sad and carnal. They tend to leap off cliffs of hollow effects
or drone darkly, offering neither a robust delivery nor an element of irony to take the edge off. The archetypal characters that live and die in them give life's full tragedy back to Harris' electronically numbed "post-isolationist" dreaming.
Drift (originally released in 1994) plays out an unbreakable and timeless cycle of bloody folklore (people) and hypnotic soundscapes
(the god who watches). The effect is chilling yet engrossing. Where most ambient music has barely enough courage to ring the doorbell
and run, Murder Ballads slips through the cracks of the unconscious and does its work with remarkable ease.
All the more reason to listen thoughtfully.
In 2021 - re-emerging nearly twenty years after its initial inception - somewhat surprisingly, Murder Ballads (Drift) still remains/exists in an area overlooked by other artists, an area that truly still remains the sole province of M.J. Harris / Martyn Bates.
https://subrosalabel.bandcamp.com/album/murder-ballads-drift |
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| HATAKEYAMA, CHIHEI |
Minima Moralia |
CD |
Warme Ambience-Electronica aus Tokyo, halb digital halb “real” eingespielt .....
„Chihei Hatakeyama ist eine Hälfte des Duos Opitope und darüber hinaus ein umtriebiger Protagonist der fruchtbaren electro-akustik Szene von Tokio. Auf Minima Moralia werden vorsichtig fragile Computer-generierte Sounds mit organischen Klängen aus Gitarre und Vibraphon verwoben, im Laptop als ganzes geloopt und modifiziert wieder rausgeschickt. Das Zusammenspiel aus analogen Klangbildern, digitalen Prozessen und letztlich Hatakeyamaïs Sinn für Klangselektion verleihen Minima Moralia eine positive, warme Grundstimmung. Melodiestrukturen verknoten sich um sich wieder aufzulösen, abstrakte Töne flirren um wohlbekannte um sich dann wieder in bewusst gewählter Stille zu verlieren...... Chihei Hatakeyama is a member of the computer !oriented electro !acoustic duo Opitope Opitope, which is active around Tokyo. Opitope pitope organizes a performance series called adical Mute Geek Geek' in Tokyo and has played at the series with Keiichi Sugimoto (aka Four Colour Colour), TetsuroYasunaga (Cubic Music Music), Christophe Charles and others. Chihei Hatakeyama is also a member of the improvising group Copa del Papa Papa. Minima Moralia is a product of the careful placement of sound afforded by computer programming combined with the timbres of live performance. At all points Hatakeyama's directing hand is at work; in the shiver of a guitar string, the bright ring of the vibraphone, and the strategic use of silence. The naturalistic song suggest every day moments, sensations and experiences. Chihei Hatakeyama played and processed electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vibraphone and electronics and mixed and mastered. Masahiro Kobayashi played violin on tracks 4 and 6 Tomoyoshi Date contributed a few sound materials.“ [press release]
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| HATED BRUIT KOLLEKTIV |
Aktion One |
CD-R |
Noisiger Zusammenschluss dreier polnischer Projekte auf neuem Label, nach einem ironischen Jodel-Folk Song Einstieg breitet sich ein gut arrangierter Industrialnoise One-Tracker aus, eher im bassig / tiefnoisigen Bereich, mit sehr schönen atmosphärischen, fast dark ambienten Abschnitten.. Kommt in grossformatigem, dicken Postercover.
"HBK is an ephemeric project held among musicians behind Genetic Transmission, Moan and Nojsens. Three minds, three individualities, tree artists sharing one inspired vision. These are people we know for years so it became somehow natural to invite their bastard child to our NN therapy group finally, starting the "Harsh Kontakt" series of relases from now on.
The sound sculpture presented hereby has been captured at Bez Kontroli Fest 2007 as probably HBK's best gig to date. Expect the unexpected, as they have gone the whole hog, without no mercy to the audience or themselves. OK, it's all there: refreshing traditional industrial, warming harsh noise, stoned bruitist plunderphonics, and last but not least—good taste and the fucking clue, VSOP.
The packaging consist of a huge, A2-sized heavy stock poster folded to form A5 sleeve housed in a solid plastic wrapper. Limited to 250 hand numbered copies." [label info]
www.newnihilism.com
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
| HATI |
Works for Scrap Metal |
CD |
Sehr schöne Edition (dickes Siebdruck-Falt-Cover, Booklet) und Verdeutlichung ihres Konzeptes "Recycled Sound Installation".
Alle erzeugten Klänge wurden auf Alltags-Schrott-Materialien (sowie daraus selbst gebauten Instrumenten) & rein akustisch aufgenommen.
Die Benutzung von "Abfall" in einer eigentlich sinnentfremdeten Art & Weise kann aus HATIs Sicht zu einer erhöhten Sensibilität & neuen Zugangsweisen für die Ästhetik der Alltagswelt führen, und somit das Bewusstsein verändern oder erweitern. Im Vordergrund stehen dabei Gruppenerfahrungen von Katharsis, die während der Konzerte stattfinden sollen (weshalb HATI auch v.a. eine live-Band sind).
"Works for Scrap Metal" beinhaltet eher ruhiges Material, HATI kitzeln dronig metallurgene & rauschende Pulses & Obertöne aus ihren Objekten, nicht nur live ist das ein Erlebnis, ein fast schon rituelles Eintauchen in die Mikrostruktur von Klang !
"New CD - includes music composed and performed on recycled instruments. Performed and recorded 'live in studio' by Rafal Iwanski and Dariusz Wojtas, Studio Eter, Torun, Poland. Track list: 1.Springs; 2.Barrels I; 3.Shakers; 4.Chaingong; 5. Barrels II; 6.Lidgong; 7.Coverchains; 8.Barrels III. Works for Scrap Metal is the intrinsic part of the project 100% Recycled Sound Installation. The booklet contains photos and 2 articles - by Rafal Iwanski and dr Darek Brzostek In the land of intonarumori ( historical outline of using recycled instruments in music on 20. century and nowadays). Texts in polish and english.The cover and the booklet are made of ecopapers = really nice edition." [label info]
"There's a really elegant economy of means about HATI's approach to music - out of quite humble, often improvised, acoustic instrumentation, they manage to create eloquent and evocative works. I'm tempted to dub what they do musica povera, after the arte povera art movement epitomized by the mixed media work of Joseph Beuys. But regardless of what you call it, HATI's music is innovative and inspired. As far as I'm aware, nobody else is doing quite what they're doing at the moment, although they have affinities with Z'EV (who's both toured and made an album with HATI) and ritual ambient acts like Terroritmo, COTA and Chaos As Shelter" [Simon Collins, JudasKissMagazine]
www.hati.info
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Die Mechanik, Die! |
CD |
Auf DIE MECHANIK, DIE! erweitern HATI ihr Spektrum und reichern ihre archaischen Gong- & Ethno-Drones mit elektronischen Gerätschaften an (v.a. dark ambiente Synths), sehr trancig & rhythmisch, ein Mitschnitt eines live-Konzerts in sehr guter Qualität.
"Trance dark electroacoustic sounds with excellent electronic machines! The album of the group from Torun - this time under the banner of Beast of Prey. A characteristic trance-gong-drone-music in the release "Die Mechanik, Die!" has been saturated with electronic sounds. Such HATI will suprise many of you! More than 45 minutes long album perfectly recorded during the performance in "the Mechanik" club in Gdansk. This time HATI famous for its acoustic sounds - made propably the darkest CD in its discography, the CD enriched with dark ambient tones. Tarry and heavy backgrounds perfectly harmonized with trance and mechanical instrumental variations of musicians move the imagination and bring nearer the world of the dying mechanics. From one side - harmonic and perfectly interrelated pieces of music, from the other side - increasing and intensifying athmosphere of the darkness which - like a rust - conquers more and more parts of urban areas. The title of this release speaks for itself." [label info]
www.beastofprey.com
HATI has got already few albums released in Poland and Europe, also from the concert aspect is one of the most recognizable projects in our country and HATI's live performances take many people breath away. The group has been performing in many cities in Poland and also abroad: in Germany, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands. HATI is a music group founded on sounds of acoustic instuments - traditional ones with the industrial instrumentarium. |
2008 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
KA |
CD |
If you ever saw HATI live you know how intelligently contrived their compositions are - their vast array of ethnic instruments (mainly gongs & other metallic ones, but not solely) is controlled by them in a very professional way; and the dynamics between between softer and more spheric gong or metal parts and more rhythmic & ecstatic ones are perfectly set. These are studio-recordings made in August in Torun, Poland, their hometown. On eight pieces their totally handmade instrumental sound is spread far to create very versatile material. Seen as contemplative ritual music or focusing just on the beautiful sounds of real instruments, this is a perfect start to enter the HATI-universe if you don't know them yet!!
"... Ka is a much more varied, more sensual and, to my mind, more rewarding album than Works For Scrap Metal, a lot of which had the stern, austere feeling of ‘Industrial Régime’. The addition of harmonium in particular really extends Hati’s palette, and ‘Trans Muzik’ is easily the funkiest thing I've heard from this band. I wonder whether it isn’t time for Hati to try using the human voice – not lyrics and singing, but wordless chanting or humming? As far as I'm aware, they’ve never used voices. It’s just a suggestion. Anyway, Hati are playing in Britain for the first time next month, in London on June 12 with Z’EV and Raymond Salvatore Harmon, as part of the Equinox Festival, and I for one am very excited about the prospect of seeing them play, having admired them from afar for years.
The packaging of Ka is very nice, consisting of a cruciform cardboard envelope, rather like the sleeves favoured by the Finnish ambient label Aural Hypnox, with black-on-silver artwork." [Simon Collins / JudasKiss]
"... Primary sound source on the album is acoustic metal-percussions counting among others gongs of various kinds, steel barrels, metal discs and aluminum plates just to mention a few of the applied tools. The band itself terms their style as Trance-Gong - a quite hitting stylish term since the trio use the metallic percussive sounds to create this trance-inducing atmosphere that first of all draws associations towards the Gamelan-style of the Javanese territories. Apart from the sound pallets of metal percussion other important sound sources count bells of various kinds. Stylistic the music of the band are best termed as something in-between gamelan, ambient and ethnic minimalism. A quite fascinating and unusual album that probably won't find its fans on the dancefloor, but more likely demands for some horizontal listening." [NM, Vital Weekly]
www.myspace.com/hatitah
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| HATTIFNATTAR |
Watcher of the Skies |
CD |
Imagine yourself in a distant cabin, surrounded by cold wilderness. Power lines are splitting the landscapes like electronic highways, loudly buzzing and crackling in the air. Soon blizzard is roaming outside, freezing winds hammering the window shields and clattering the loose roofing. Cold trying to push it's way through narrow openings of the wall into the warmth of the cabin. Snow storm is blocking the view from the window, starting to slowly resemble static noise from the analogue TV. Kettle is whistling for boiling water but the sound begins shifting to unusual frequencies. Without open sky and fixed stars to locate, it feels like the universe is collapsing inside a cabin. Isolation. Slowly everything natural is beginning to seem unnatural. Organic sounds are twisting, voices mangling out of shape, textures frying, nothing seems to be what it is. Electromagnetic interference hum from the radio transmitter is the only grounding factor to reality. Everything is hidden in details.
https://satatuhatta.bandcamp.com/album/watcher-of-the-skies
|
2023 |
€12.50 |
|
| HATTIFNATTER |
Barometrizm |
CD |
"Hattifnatter is a collaboration project by Evgeniy Savenko (Lunar Abyss, etc.) and M.M. (Kryptogen Rundfunk) formed in 2007 for free-form exploration of the psychoactive electroacoustic ambience and only now matured enough for this first full-length studio album. The material has been recorded in 2007-2013, infused and distilled, redefined and again sent to distillation and transformation to finally form into six compositions full of weird oneiric images.
Through the clouds of omnifarious rustles, hisses and crackles one can see the landscape built by analogue pulsations and multiplied echoed acoustic percussion clatter. Swarming in the bush of field recordings and random sound combinations are the little voices of the unknown creatures. The air of atonal guitar drones is soaked in melodic tunes, feedbacks and colourful multi-layered effects... Just like the doctor prescribed... Soulful mastering by Kshatriy (http://kshatriy.pro).
The physical manifestation of this release is made as a CD in a 4-panel cardboard digisleeve and as an audio cassette. The digital version can be bought on bandcamp, CDBaby and iTunes." [label info]
http://zhb.radionoise.ru/
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| HAUSCHKA WITH ROB PETIT & ROBERT MACFARLANE |
Upstream |
LP |
"German pianist and composer Hauschka returns to Sonic Pieces with music for the experimental film Upstream. Together with filmmaker Rob Petit and acclaimed writer Robert Macfarlane he has created a slow-moving dream-flight into wildness and winter through an eerie, hypnotic soundtrack of the Scottish highlands.
The film, which is shot entirely from the air, follows the course of the River Dee in Scotland all the way to its source in the Cairngorm mountains, the highest of any river in Britain. The soundtrack to the film, seen here, is without doubt Hauschka´s most brooding, deep work and we find him in a much darker mood in contrast to his Oscar-nominated works for Hollywood films. The variation of cello, prepared piano, poems, sound effects and occasional synth create a ghostly sound as if a shadow was slowly moving through the Scottish winter. One can hear a faint echo of David Darling´s Dark Wood era in the empty, dark beauty of the bow - performed by Insa Schirmer. Hauschka sheds his more rhythmic, entertaining side to reveal something new. Together with Petit & Macfarlane he embraces the comfort and force of nature to truly mesmerising effect.
The last and shortest piece of the album Uisge dhè as well as the digital bonus track Here the Heart Fills include prose poems written by Robert Macfarlane voiced in Gaelic and English by Niall Gordàn & Julie Fowlis. The naked words spoken over haunting sound recordings of the River Dee and its source, create a mystical atmosphere heightened only by sparse cello passages. A strange, beautiful and captivating album that stands alone as a truly transportive piece of work: close your eyes and travel... Upstream."
|
2021 |
€28.00 |
|
| HAUSER, FRITZ |
Deep Time |
do-CD |
FRITZ HAUSER ist ein Schlagzeuger und Komponist aus Basel. Seine Komposition DEEP TIME, die viele extra hergestellte „Klangsteine“ und verschiedenste Uhren-Sounds verwendet, dient hier PAULINE OLIVEROS, DAVID GAMBER, URS LEIMGRUBER und FRITZ HAUSER selbst als Vorlage, um darüber mit accordion, saxophone, percussion und „expanded instrument system electronics“ zu improvisieren (Oktober 1994 in NYC). Zwei verschiedene Versionen sind so entstanden, in denen die Performer behutsame Impro-Drone-Tonkunst produzieren: jeder Ton, jedes Geräusch hat seinen Platz & seine Berechtigung, eine Art komplexe Reduziertheit wird hier etabliert...
„Pauline Oliveros, accordion & Expanded Instrument System; David Gamper, Expanded Instrument System electronics, misc. small instruments; Urs Leimgruber, soprano & tenor saxophones; Fritz Hauser, percussion
DEEP TIME is a tape composition commissioned in 1991 by the
Pauline Oliveros Foundation for Deep Listening Band. Fritz Hauser's tape features recordings of sounding stones (manufactured by Arthur Schneiter) and various watches and clocks (thanks to the Bucher family in Switzerland for permission to record that family clock!). The performers improvise with the tape. On October 26, 1994 Pauline Oliveros, David Gamper, Urs Leimgruber and Fritz Hauser recorded 2 versions of DEEP TIME. Both of these 32 minute recordings are included here.
Fritz Hauser is a drummer and composer from Basel, Switzerland. He has developed his sound language in varied ways. From solo concerts, in diverse ensembles, through multi-media projects (theater dance film radio) and many recordings, he has contributed to the development of the drumset from a mere timekeeper to an instrument in its own right.
Known internationally as a composer, accordionist and teacher, Pauline Oliveros's work in improvisation, electronic techniques, teaching methods, myth and ritual, and meditative and physical consciousness raising has changed the course of American music. She left the University of California at San Diego in 1981, at the rank of full professor, in order to support her ideas, creative projects and collaborations. All of her work emphasizes attentional strategies, musicianship and improvisational skills. Oliveros' compositions have been performed worldwide.
Composer/performer David Gamper is especially concerned with music performance electronics. He received a BA in mathematics in 1967 from Bowdoin College, and returned there in 1969 to study composition with Elliott Schwartz and establish their electronic music studio. He then went on to the University of California at San Diego where he studied composition with Pauline Oliveros and Roger Reynolds and received his MA in music. Since moving to New York in 1989 he has been working primarily with Pauline Oliveros. He is director of development for the Expanded Instrument System (a project of the Pauline Oliveros Foundation) and performs and records around the world with Oliveros and as a member of Deep Listening Band.
Urs Leimgruber has been active for many years in the areas of contemporary improvisation, composition, jazz and new music. One of his earliest associations was as a member of the electric jazz/free music group 'Om' with Christy Doran, Fredy Study and Bobbi Burri, and he later formed the 'Reflexionen' quartet with Don Friedman and Bobby Burri in New York. His own projects have included 'Ensemble Bleu', 'Xylem', e_a.sonata 02 with the ARTE saxophone quartet, as well as a long association with Fritz Hauser: as a duo with the ongoing Music for saxophone and percussion; in the Leimgruber/Roidinger/Hauser trio; a trio with Joëlle Léandre; and a trio with Marilyn Crispell. More recently he formed 'quartet noir' with Marilyn Crispell, Joëlle Léandre and Fritz Hauser and a trio with Jacques Demierre and Barre Phillips.” [label description & liner notes]
|
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
| HAVDIS |
The hidden Islands |
CD |
"Norwegian Havdis creates achingly beautiful aural paintings of a coastal world with streaks of romanticism and melancholy, a cold and unforgiving harsh environment of stark beauty and mystery for you to explore. Journey into the foggy waters and find a hidden archipelago to spellbind your soul. The album comes in a jewelcase with a 12-page booklet." [label info]
http://gterma.blogspot.se
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| HAYLECK, ANDY |
The Disappearing Floor |
CD |
Interessanter US-composer mit erster CD! Die 10 Stücke hier basieren auf Field Recordings und mit Bogen gespielten grossen Becken oder Gongs. Bei seinen Feldaufnahmen nimmt er verschiedene Plätze auf oder versucht die physische Vibration von Gasen, Flüssigkeiten und Gegenständen akustisch abzubilden... das klingt meist nach ruhigen, metallischen Drones, irgendwo zwischen HARRI BERTOIA und T. TSUNODA....
Interesting US-composer with first CD ! 10 tracks based field recordings and gongs & cymbals played with a bow, he also tries to record the physical vibration of gases, liquids or solid objects...
[Drone Records info]
"Andy Hayleck has lived in Baltimore, Maryland since 1998. 'The Disappearing Floor' is Hayleck's first factory-made solo disc, gathers two years of patient and purposeful field recording in combination with bowed metal performance and carefully structured editing. The results are an exceptional series of pieces that breathe in short sips and massive whale-gasps through your speakers." [label info]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| HAYNES, JIM |
The Wires cracked |
LP |
"The recordings for The Wires Cracked were completed in a frenzied two week period in October of 2012. I had mentioned in discussing a previous album's construction that I prefer to forget how I build any particular electro-acoustic amalgam. This is so that I don't get to precious with them, so that I could refine them further, so that the sounds themselves speak beyond their aggregate parts. With the album being relatively fresh in my mind, I can still recall various components to The Wires Cracked - the desolate howl of a metal screen activated by a desert wind, the hissing air compression from the cooling apparatus for a laser at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory operated by Stanford University, and the tremolo rhythms from a thin wire that still get me thinking fondly of Günter Schickert - but much of the caustic drone, thrumming reverberation, and tactile grit thoroughly escapes me. That's probably for the best, since these various parts speak to an existential rupturing, the collapse of the self, the aftershocks of dark energy, and a belief in the hope for renewal. About Jim Haynes: Describing his work through the pithy phrase, I rust things, Jim Haynes is an artist who has developed a vocabulary of decay that he has applied to photography, video, installation, and sound. Haynes' sound work draws from shortwave radio static, electric field disturbances, controlled feedback manipulation, and numerous textural scrapings, manifesting broken minimalism of magnetic drones and volatile tactility. This engineering of disparate materials and media seeks to evince the unpredictability of decay, to manifest its potential for a rough hewn beauty, and to bare witness to its inevitability. He has exhibited internationally at Electric Works (San Francisco), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art , the Bekerley Art Museum, The Exploratorium (San Francisco), WestSpace (Melbourne, Australia), Jack Straw Productions (Seattle), Eyedrum (Atlanta), Diapason (New York), and The Lab (San Francisco). Haynes has published his work through the Helen Scarsdale Agency, 23five Incorporated, Intransitive, Observatoire, and Elevator Bath. He has collaborated with Steven Stapleton (Nurse With Wound), M.S. Waldron (irr. app. (ext.)), Keith Evans, Allison Holt, and Loren Chasse. Haynes is one of the directors for 23five Incorporated and is the sole occupant at the Helen Scarsdale Agency." [label info]
www.editionsmego.com
|
2013 |
€16.50 |
|
| |
Flammable Materials from Foreign Lands |
LP |
The new LP from Jim Haynes is a haunted and provocative endeavor, rust-covered and mysterious. It is the result of an immersive listening/recording process through which Haynes' singular techniques intersected with an unfamiliar, disquieting landscape....
"The album was mostly composed, recorded, and sketched during an Estonian residency at MoKS for a program that was hosted by Simon Whetham and John Grzinich called Active Crossover. The goal of that program was to bring together various artists whose work pertained directly or indirectly to environmental recordings. When John asked me about what kinds of spaces I was interested in seeking out before I arrived, I mentioned that I would like to investigate sites that had a considerable amount of electro-magnetic disruption which I could capture on radio along with sites of psychic distress.
The Estonian landscape is pocked with abandoned buildings of considerable size and decay. Many of the excursions for Active Crossover engaged the large crumbling Soviet-era structures. Given that the electricity was off in many of these sites, I had to rely on shortwave to capture any electro-magnetic disruptions instead of any fluctuations from shitty wiring or weird Soviet power transformers... and the radio reception from that particular time and that particular place (i.e. southeastern Estonia) was eerie and unsettled. The crackle, drone, and noise is unlike that which is heard in the United States, looming with a (possibly perceived) paranoia of the Russian state just a few kilometers away. That said, Estonia had experienced an encroachment from Russia as the Russian military kidnapped/extradited an Estonian intelligence officer who was on Estonian soil at the time not too far from where I was staying. Given the contemporary military actions of Russia reclaiming Crimea from Ukraine, this incident put many an Estonian on edge.
The A-side to Flammable Materials reflects this aestheticized paranoia through bursts of static, pulsed noise, and atonal sinews of sustained frequency. The B-side is wholly more introspective, cutting up an Estonian radio broadcast into phonemes, disjointed phrases, and cryptic speech. What few words that can be recognized from the Estonian pertain to the forces of globalization. From the context of someone who understands very little of the language, these snippets of a female voice clip like a surrealist collage or a Dada poem. Compositionally, I was thinking very much of Robert Ashley's Purposeful Lady Slow Afternoon and the Nurse With Wound recontextualization of such sounds."
- Jim Haynes
Based in California, Jim Haynes has exhibited internationally at the San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art, the Lausanne Underground Film Festival, the Berkeley Art Museum, WestSpace (Melbourne, Australia), and Diapason (New York). Recorded media has been published through Editions Mego, Ghostly International, Drone Records, Hooker Vision, Intransitive, Semperflorens, Elevator Bath, and The Helen Scarsdale Agency. He has also been awarded residencies at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program (California), Recombinant Media Labs (California), Jack Straw Productions (Seattle), and MoKS (Estonia). He has participated in a number of fruitful collaborations with Loren Chasse, Keith Evans, Steven Stapleton, and M.S. Waldron. Until 2015, Haynes was the Vice President and Curatorial Director for 23five Incorporated, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the development and increased awareness of sound arts within the public arena. He is also the lone occupant at The Helen Scarsdale Agency.
Flammable Materials from Foreign Lands has been issued as a clear vinyl LP with gorgeous matte-finish jackets featuring artwork by Jim Haynes. Mastered by James Plotkin, it has been released in a limited edition of 300 copies. Every copy purchased directly from Elevator Bath will include a download code for high quality files of the entire audio content of this LP.
Total running time: 38 minutes
https://elevatorbath.bandcamp.com/album/flammable-materials-from-foreign-lands
"For his two most recent (near simultaneous) releases, Jim Haynes has scaled back his audial representation of decay to something a bit colder and more intentionally off-putting. Both albums are largely based on field recordings taken from a residency in Estonia, and capturing the detritus of Soviet era electronics (and some still active) via shortwave and then processing the results. The final products may be somewhat sparser than his other works, but no less fascinating, and with an additional menacing edge.
On the first side of the Flammable Materials record, Haynes presents three pieces that are perhaps the most inline with his previous works. Treated static and radio interference is unsurprisingly a recurring theme of the record, but are especially prevalent on the opening piece "Of Blast and Bleach". Here Haynes mixes it with some sort of idling motor sound that is fittingly inconsistent. Elements of the static and noise are shaped into some sort of rhythmic structure that contrasts the abstract remainder of the composition very effectively.
Haynes takes on a more noise-centric approach on "Nyet". First a lava-like wall of harshness with the occasional tone slipping through, it is quickly broken back down and built back up, with an emphasis on shifting filters obscuring the low register part of the spectrum. For "E. Kohver" he takes on the opposite approach to the structure and arrangement. This piece is mostly a heavy, imposing drone with metallic tinged machinery noises that never goes full on dissonant, but stays sinister. At times the shortwave static is molded into that crackling texture-like sound that Haynes does so well, but the whole piece is very menacing and dynamic.
The other side of the album is dedicated to a single piece, "Electric Speech: Nadiya". A bit over 20 minutes, the composition is based solely on the radio broadcast of a woman speaking. Of course Haynes also makes use of the static and noise inherent to this type of recording, but in general he embraces minimalism more. The source material voice appears frequently, cut into fragments and phonemes that are anything but identifiable words, regardless of the language being spoken. As a whole it is a different style he is working in, with that singular focus and an impressive use of silence to contrast the more commanding moments.
[....]
Both of Jim Haynes' newest works are exceptional additions to his already impressive body of work. The Throttle and Calibration tape is probably the less adventurous of the two, but is still a work deeply embedded in his style without being any sort of retread or replication of material he has already done. Flammable Materials from Foreign Lands benefits from its unique conceptual direction and focus, but really neither one is better than the other, and both are just excellent works from someone who has done an admirable job developing a career of sound art that always stands strong as utterly unique and fascinating." [Creaig Dunton/Brainwashed]
"For well over a decade now, the Californian noise/drone (de)composer Jim Haynes has pursued a single-minded research into the sound of decay. Shortwave radio transmissions and convulsive motors are a few of the sources that are modulated and amplified into his psychologically tense, hauntological recordings. His 2016 album Flammable Materials From Foreign Lands rises from the eruptive strategies found in John Duncan's extrapolations of empty radio signals with parallels to be found in the mutated electro-acoustic dynamics found in contemporaries like Kevin Drumm and G*Park. One of the foreign lands in question to this flammable album is Estonia where he rummaged through abandoned Soviet-era ruins and collected disquieting shortwave signals. The other land is California with its own darkened psyche they roils beneath the mythologies of eternal sunshine. It's not so much a dialect as an accretion of static, grit and phased electro-magnetic disturbances – amplifying the neurosis and anxiety from a slow poisoning through psychological and/or environmental means. The first side of the album is pocked with convulsive crescendos which aggressively shove through Haynes' accumulated materials. The tracks rise to a boiling point, snap at the excessive pressure and collapse into a hypnotic fog. The second side is a single-sided collage of deconstructed/disembodied voice. Haynes clips and chops the mellifluous voice of an Estonian radio host (perhaps Tallinn's answer to Terri Gross?) into elemental gasps and utterances that rhythmically tick against an unsettled minimalism built from long, thin-wire recordings. Here, the strange and unsettled composition of voice and drone hauntingly resembles Alan Lamb's telegraph recordings poured into the empty spaces of Robert Ashley's Automatic Writing." [Stranded]
|
2016 |
€22.50 |
|
| HAYWARD, CHARLES |
Switch on War |
CD |
Sehr aussergewöhnliche Klänge vom Ex-THIS HEAT & CAMBERWELL NOW-Frontmann, aufgenommen 1991 zum ersten Golfkrieg. Verzerrte Orgelflächen, aus denen sich seltsame Patterns & Sounds herausschälen, explodierende Perkussion & geschriene Lyrics im Hintergrund.....schwelend und obskur bedrohlich und verstörend...wütender und verzweifelter Experimental-Ambient. Jetzt endlich wiederveröffentlicht.
“MUSIC FOR THE ARMCHAIR THEATRE OF WAR. A UNIQUE AND ENTERTAINING SOUVENIR FOR YOU TO TREASURE AND KEEP. 'Switch on War' a dream state synthesis of nights watching live TV coverage of the 1st Gulf War, the reduction of colours to an electron midnight blue, the long periods of nothing really happening, the contrasting landscapes, (the desert, the city at night, the newsroom), the sudden hurtling through space, through a doorway, a camera on the nose of a missile, the bearing of silent witness slowly turning into complicity and mute acquiescence. At the back of the mind the thought that all this would soon be reduced to snapshot memories, archive, newsreel, history.
Originally devised as a performance for the Club Integral, in South London, at the height of the military activity, 'Switch on War' was a harsh and brutal response to the media coverage of the conflict informed by a grotesque and disconcerting anti-music aesthetic
heavily influenced by the disorientating, overloaded sound world of Space Invaders arcades. The CD version was recorded binaurally some weeks later, live in a disused morgue, as the war came to its stalemate close. By this time the anger had a bleak streak of sadness, a distorted expressionist requiem. This CD had the life expectancy of a magazine article or some such, no more than a year and it would be archive, a mere souvenir.“ [Charles Hayward]
www.subrosa.net
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| HECKER, TIM |
Harmony in Ultraviolet |
CD |
Klang, schimmernd wie helles Licht! TIM HECKER ist nun auf Kranky gelandet, was seinem recht einmaligen Drone-Sound keinen Abbruch tut, im Gegenteil, HARMONY IN VIOLET erscheint uns wie der vorläufige Höhepunkt seines Schaffens: HECKER schafft es, seine digital-sphärischen Drones fast gleichzeitig wie einen monumentalen Noise-Sturm und doch höchst emotional harmonisch & zärtlich-melancholisch erklingen zu lassen....
"Hecker geht den auf seinen letzten Alben eingeschlagenen Weg weiter, baut ihn aus, erweitert ihn. Vielleicht ist "Harmony In Ultraviolet" nicht so hart wie das letzte Album "Mirages", aber Stücke wie "Chimeras" sind nicht weniger eindrucksvoll. Sie berauschen und entziehen den Hörer der Realität. Epische, weite und hocheindrucksvolle sphärische Momente brillieren da. Sie zeigen Heckers grosses Talent für Klangforschungen im Bereich der "spektralen" Musik. Überhaupt, Tim Heckers Klangkompositionen bewegen sich wie auf einem Farbspektrum: immer wieder werden neue Facetten und Färbungen abgetastet und herauspoliert. Feinfühlig, sensibel ebenso wie kalt, dunkel und zerfahren. Doch einerseits klingen die 15 neuen Stücke auf "Harmony In Ultraviolet" so bedeutungsvoll und geladen, andererseits aber so leicht zugänglich, durchschaubar... und bedeutungslos? Wie steckt man den Rahmen ab wenn man Heckers Musik beschreiben soll? Tim Hecker bewegt sich auf einem Feld von Ambient, Drone, elektronischer Musik, Noise und einem gefühlsmässigen Metal. "Harmony In Ultraviolet" ist ein Herbstalbum und erscheint genau zur richtigen Zeit. Denn zusammengefasst klingt es einfach wie der Herbstwind in all seinen Daseinsformen." [Creative-Eclipse]
"Call Canadian Tim Hecker's fourth full-length release (and first for drone-oriented American label Kranky) "ambient for bombardiers." Like onetime-tourmates Isis, Hecker's focus is on the molten core of metal—the drones, distortions, compressed crunching, and industrial noises that course underneath its notes and riffs. Not surprisingly, one of his earliest releases deconstructed and distended Van Halen's "Ain't Talking 'Bout Love" to more ambient ends. The display of WWII-era portraiture on Harmony in Ultraviolet's cover suggests a cenotaph to downed pilots (in actuality it's an anti-fascist memorial), while the overhead shot of Bologna, Italy, on the interior forebodes the imminent firebombing. Hecker's focus, though, is on the interior of that flying fortress, a blurry suite of movements rife with churns and buzzes. At these stratospheric heights, the guitar's distinct qualities are made fuzzy and uncertain via laptop and digital effects. If you melted off the pop structure from My Bloody Valentine's Loveless with some molten magma, you'd have a good idea of Hecker's sound.
Flow is maintained throughout, as Tim Hecker apparently understands that ever-tricky notion of fluid dynamics. He breaks up motifs (see "Palimpsest") with churning ebbs and digressions but keeps together the pinnacle suite, "Whitecaps of White Noise." And while Hecker has always been an adept craftsman, Harmony reveals his mastery of the idiom. Washes now feel oceanic, as epic and evocative ripples take shape out of unplumbed depths of feedback and distorted peals." [Andy Beta]
"....Harmony is, paradoxically, Hecker's most dramatic and most oceanic record. The former implies twists, arc, and carefully planned change intended to evoke specific effects; the latter suggests stasis, immersion, and a state of dreamy contemplation. Harmony manages to be both these things by surprising as it mesmerizes, with Hecker reigning in or tempering any jarring effects just enough to keep the self-obliterating sense of endless drone intact. One key is that the tension never really dissipates, varying only in degree and quality. The opening "Rainbow Blood" sets the scene with a screeching and trebly drone, like an orchestra tuning up in the darkened theater where Rebecca del Rio performed in Mulholland Drive, and for the next 48 minutes, Harmony keeps the pulse elevated..." [Mark Richardson / Pitchforkmedia]
|
2006 |
€14.50 |
|
|
Norberg |
maxi-CD |
"....Imagine if you will sitting on the sand of some enchanted beach somewhere, precisely at the intersection between land and ocean, where the waters break upon the shore. This is like an endlessly crashing wave of drones and rumbles, the sound swirling around one’s ears, initially breaking into myriads of liquid cut-diamond arpeggios glinting in the pure sunlight and submerging the body in womb-like warmth; and then slowly and infinitesimally receding, the music clinging longingly, almost reluctant to let go. Paradoxically, one doesn’t feel stifled or as if grasping for breath; instead, there’s a feeling of timelessness and limitless freedom, as if one could be absorbed by the waters and somehow find oneself a part of every single drop of water in the oceans and seas. Also paradoxically, even though the drones drape one in the velvet of the deepest ocean depths there is contradictorily a fragile beauty, airiness and lightness evident throughout." [S:M:J63, Heathen Harvest]
"Recorded at the Norberg Festival (Sweden) amidst the mineshafts and cluttered buildings strewn throughout parts the city, this 21 minute live piece summarises much of what makes Tim Hecker’s music so vital and compelling. Adept at counter-pointing the most ferocious of distorted platters with smooth beds of ambient sound and potent melodic overtones, Tim Hecker creates music with a vast depth. On Norberg, this depth seems almost endless, as layer upon layer of sound are compiled into a swelling and all together visceral oceanic sound wave.
Recently touring Australia and New Zealand and performing at ROOM40’S annual festival Open Frame, this CD comes on the back of some incredible live performances in the Southern Hemisphere." [label info]
label-website: www.room40.org
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Ravedeath, 1972 |
CD |
"Tim Hecker's latest work approaches a form of secular musical transcendentalism from within the battered temple of spirituality. Recorded in a church in Reykjavik, Iceland and using a pipe organ as the primary sound source, this new piece is essentially a live recording. In reality, it exists in a nether world between captured live performance and meticulous studio work, melding the two approaches to sonic artifice as a unity. It is in parts a document of air circulating within a wooden room, and also a pagan work of physical resonance within a space once reserved for the hallowed breath of the divine. While the title of the piece 'Hatred of Music' might be a clue, the album is also partly an attempt to confront a pervasive negativity surrounding music. Historical rituals of destroying pianos, mountains of pirated CDRs pushed by bulldozers in Eastern Europe, or the melancholy of the digital music era began as sideline motifs which quickly informed the work on this record. They also really didn't at all. Despite that the context is wide open in such a form of musical abstraction, the substance of these immersive compositions showcases Hecker's continued mastery of organizing sound into a visceral near entity. It is an almost physical presence that the listener feels as much as hears. This work is a significant contribution to Hecker's oeuvre, one which spans over ten years of musical production. Ravedeath is an enigmatic document of beauty and force. The album was recorded mostly over the period of one day in July of 2010. Iceland-based musician Ben Frost assisted with the engineering and performs on this recording." [label info]
www.brainwashed.com/kranky
|
2011 |
€14.50 |
|
|
No Highs |
CD |
"The latest by Canadian composer Tim Hecker serves as a beacon of unease against the deluge of false positive corporate ambient currently in vogue. Whether taken as warning or promise, No Highs delivers -- this is music of austerity and ambiguity, purgatorial and seasick. A jagged anti-relaxant for our medicated age, rough-hewn and undefined. Morse code pulse programming flickers like distress signals while a gathering storm of strings, noise, and low-end looms in the distance. Processed electronics shiver and shudder against pitch-shifting assemblages of crackling voltage, mantric horns (including exquisite modal sax by Colin Stetson), and cathedral keys. Throughout, the pieces both accrue and avoid drama, more attuned to undertow than crescendo. Hecker mentions 'negation' as a muse of sorts -- the sense of tumult without bombast, tethered ecstasies, an escape from escapism. His is an antagonism both brusque and beguiling, devoid of resolution, beckoning the listener ever deeper into its greyscale alchemies of magisterial disquiet.
|
2023 |
€14.50 |
|
| |
No Highs |
do-LP |
"The latest by Canadian composer Tim Hecker serves as a beacon of unease against the deluge of false positive corporate ambient currently in vogue. Whether taken as warning or promise, No Highs delivers -- this is music of austerity and ambiguity, purgatorial and seasick. A jagged anti-relaxant for our medicated age, rough-hewn and undefined. Morse code pulse programming flickers like distress signals while a gathering storm of strings, noise, and low-end looms in the distance. Processed electronics shiver and shudder against pitch-shifting assemblages of crackling voltage, mantric horns (including exquisite modal sax by Colin Stetson), and cathedral keys. Throughout, the pieces both accrue and avoid drama, more attuned to undertow than crescendo. Hecker mentions \'negation\' as a muse of sorts -- the sense of tumult without bombast, tethered ecstasies, an escape from escapism. His is an antagonism both brusque and beguiling, devoid of resolution, beckoning the listener ever deeper into its greyscale alchemies of magisterial disquiet.
https://timhecker.bandcamp.com/album/no-highs
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The veteran ambient musician pushes back at the hollowing out of the form with a burly, physically imposing release peppered with moments of gentle beauty.
Ambient music is in crisis. Passive listening is no longer an alternative or fringe idea but the model on which the entire streaming industry is built. YouTube radio stations guarantee hours of chilled-out, challenge-free audio, and albums on Spotify fade into endless loops of sound-alikes. How to preserve the tradition of thoughtfully made ambient music in a market inundated with corporate-friendly fluff, or to convince listeners of the importance of artistic vision when an AI program can churn out a perfectly good drone? On No Highs, a self-described “beacon of unease against the deluge of false positive corporate ambient,” Tim Hecker gives his answer.
The Canadian musician’s first album in four years isn’t a grouchy get-off-my-lawn statement, nor is it an abrasive audience-thinner like Vladislav Delay’s Rakka. In fact, it’s less confrontational than a lot of Hecker’s albums, even ones that don’t seem intended to be difficult, like his recent experiments in Japanese gagaku music Konoyo and Anoyo. What No Highs argues for instead is the importance of a wizard behind the curtain. The album is strongest when it makes you aware of the artist’s invisible presence, standing behind the scenes and summoning thunder and lightning at will, playing the audience like the director of a good thriller.
The most satisfying passage comes less than two and a half minutes in. “Monotony” begins with one of the many Morse code-like, single-note sequencer patterns we’ll hear throughout. Atop that, Hecker creates a wilderness of sirens and street sweepers that begin to slow and morph into grand minor chords. Then—here is the moment—Hecker introduces the magisterial growl of a church organ, blowing the track’s low end wide open with vivid color and high drama. It’s a sound he’s used many times over, and it comes across here as a personal stamp, like Shinichi Atobe’s echoing piano or GAS’s kick drum. It’s his way of saying, You are listening to a Tim Hecker album, a reminder that this stuff couldn’t be made by just anyone.
No Highs can be physically discomforting to listen to, not because it’s particularly noisy or dissonant but because it seems to consciously resist syncing with the bodily rhythms of the listener. “In Your Mind” introduces a throbbing sequencer pattern in its first few seconds, but Hecker keeps slowing it down and speeding it up, fading it in out, preventing the brain from getting a foothold. Saxophonist Colin Stetson appears throughout the album, exhibiting his usual burly, physical approach to his instrument. As he commences his endless runs on “Monotony II,” the clack of his keys clear as day, the listener might actually find themselves contracting their lungs in sympathy with his gobstopping breath control. This music is not going to align with your chakras.
WATCH
The One Song Jeff Tweedy Wishes He Wrote
But No Highs can be beautiful in passing, and its last 10 minutes are devoted to two remarkable tracks that conjure the spirit of ambient’s early years. Mewling steel guitars make “Sense Suppression” a cousin of Daniel Lanois’ work on Brian Eno’s Apollo, a ghost of a country song drifting on the wind. “Living Spa Water,” meanwhile, is based on a metallic twinkle reminiscent of Laraaji’s zither, even if Hecker undergirds it with big synth blats that that gentle soul would probably find disquieting. These two tracks nod to ambient as a tradition—a noun rather than an adjective.
For a state-of-the-genre address like this to work, the music has to present a viable alternative to whatever it’s railing against, and the physicality of Hecker’s approach allows the music greater range and freedom than if it were merely trying to set a mood. But Hecker’s primary concern here appears to be staking out a certain patch of turf rather than experimenting or expanding the possibilities of his music, and he shies away from extremes. No Highs is muted in comparison to the Gothic grandeur of Harmony in Ultraviolet, the buffeting noise of Ravedeath, 1972, the thorny ruggedness of the underloved An Imaginary Country. But Hecker’s title seems to already anticipate this criticism, and No Highs ultimately works as an example of what ambient music can be, rather than a suggestion of where it might go.
[ Daniel Bromfield / Pitchfork ]
|
2023 |
€32.50 |
|
| HEIRS |
Alchera |
LP |
"... Durch die bereits angesprochene Monotonie bekommen die Lieder eine wirklich unaussprechliche Brachialität verliehen, die aber nie auszubrechen droht, wie zum Beispiel ähnlich gelagerte Bands wie Pelican oder Explosions in the Sky. Auch verzichten die HEIRS komplett auf Gesang oder orchestrale Untermalungen, und so stehen sie mit ihrem kargem und brachialem, aber dennoch wahnsinnig emotionalen Sound so ziemlich alleine da. Spiralförmig ziehen die sechs Songs den Hörer immer tiefer in ein anderes Universum, lassen ihn dann wieder fallen, geben aber durch die stets aufkommenden und zutiefst befreienden Melodiebögen eine Hoffnung preis, die man so kaum gehört haben dürfte. Die HEIRS schaffen mit ihrem Debüt "Alchera" einen Postrock-Meilenstein, der sich vom Einheitsbrei stark abhebt, spielen mit dem Hörer ihr ganz eigenes Spiel, der nach dem letzten Song, dem ambienten "Russia" in einer Trance zurück gelassen wird, die er so schnell nicht vergisst. Natürlich wird "Alchera" vielen Leuten vor den Kopf stoßen, das ist ein ganz eigenes Universum, und lässt sich mit keiner Band aus diesem Genre vergleichen. Dabei haben die hier enthaltenen 45 Minuten Musik viel mehr, als man von einer Post–Band erwarten dürfte. Ein wirklich bemerkenswertes Debüt, das nicht nur frischen Wind mit sich bringt, sondern die neuen Scheiben von MONO, PELICAN und Co ganz klar hinter sich lässt. Eine wunderschöne Aufmachung gibt es obendrauf. Alles richtig gemacht." [In-Your-Face]
"Heirs is the marriage of dark and light. The pain and hopelessness of addiction vs the elation of freedom. The name Heirs originates from an ideal of "hunting and gathering" musical ideas, and formulating these ideas into an improved version. To write music without paying some sort of tribute to the artists influencing your everyday subconsciousness is a dishonest practice. The name stands as a allegory - to be the Heirs of a musical history and to expand on this, becoming a part of history themselves. Heirs began as a solo project by Damian Coward (Maps, Love Like... Electrocution) in late 2006, founded by a importunity to create a personal sound and direction. Heirs expanded its lineup during 2008 and consists of Brent Stegeman (Whitehorse, Love Like... Electrocution) and Ian Jackson (Damn Arms) on guitars, Laura Bradfield on bass and Coward on drums.
Heirs' debut full-length "Alchera" is a 43 minute movement of oppressive instrumental power, cyclic ritualism and bleak hallucinogenic revelation. Recorded at Head Gap Studios by Neil Thomason in the heat waves of Melbourne in January 2009 and mastered by James Plotkin (Isis, Khanate, Burning Witch), the 6 pieces recorded capture the band's live volume - a blanket of sound traversing a rolling dynamic landscape. Drawing influence from Michael Gira and his Swans legacy, the sledgehammer riffs and industrial pummel of Godflesh, and continuing Stegeman's incense shrouded low-end incantations from his work with doom dealers Whitehorse, combined with Jackson's reverb-soaked noise, Alchera strips bare the needless excesses of post-rock and heavy metal in favour of something much more concise and affecting. A lurching, drugged-out specter - holding solace in one hand, and vengeance in the other. From the seething metallic buzz and bluster of the opening track "Plague Asphyx", through to the crowning low-end droning turbulence of "Russia", the recording is an archetype for an existence shrouded in confusion, joy, disappointment and addiction. Heirs are touring Nationally throughout Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Europe/UK for the rest of 2009. Dates can be found on their website - www.heirs.com.au." [label info]
www.denovali.com
|
2009 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
Fowl |
CD |
"Upon returning to Melbourne after 67 shows across Europe and Japan, Heirs commenced work on their second album, Fowl. With the baton of core song-writing being handed from drummer Damian Coward to guitarist, Brent Stegeman, Heirs turned their attention toward their electronic underbelly, honing in on the industrial vapour and blackened ambience that
permeated their debut, Alchera, distilling the underlying sense of melody with an arresting sense of dread. Fowl displays a deliberate shift towards a broader sonic palette, enabling the band to incorporate disparate inuences and approaches to create a sound that is uniquely their own.
Fowl deals with the human processing of the ornery – the filth we feed upon to entertain us, to sate our hunger, to gratify our sexual desires, to escape our reality or simply to facilitate our survival. Fowl is an exploration of the consumption of filth, the nourishment it provides and the way we excrete it back into the world, calling into question the notion of morality and its place in an increasingly faithless populace.
From wheezing blasts of industrial steam to weeping passages of gothic suspense, Fowl is a fully realised analysis of the repugnant. Its pugilistic rhythmic foundation, reverb soaked guitars, crackling electronics and deadpan dark-wave meditation create an abstract dronescape of industrial dirge and metallic ambience coalesced into an ambitious whole.
Recorded and mixed by Neil Thomason at Head Gap in June/July 2010, and produced by Brent Stegeman and Damian Coward, Fowl is a 45-minute journey inside the proverbial machine and represents a band confronting the visual and aural atrocities of the quotidian.
The VINYL VERSION comes with a fantastic design in three different colors (white with yellow, Black/Yellow - A Side / B Side, Black) in a heavy gatefold sleeves with thick printed inner sleeves and on 180g. The CD is available as a limited card pack. For fans of Swans, Controlled Bleeding, HTRK, Pelican, Godflesh & Nadja." [label info]
www.denovali.com
|
2010 |
€14.50 |
|
| HELICE PIED |
Conduit No. 2 |
7 |
Debut-Release von HELICE PIED, nach einer Namensumwandlung aus NIXILX.NIJILX hervorgegangen. "Intelligent Drone" aus nicht-elektronischen Quellen gesponnen, die Cover-Artwork verwendet vielfältige aufeinanderbezogene Symbole und versteckte Bedeutungen... weisses Vinyl, gold-farben bemalte schwarze Cover.
"HELICE PIED is a newcomer from Athens, Greece, who had a few outstanding releases before under the nom de plume NIXILX.NIJILX, but for this very first vinyl release a new project-name was chosen. #Conduit No.2# is a perfect example of sensibly spun experimental drone, floating waves with metallic tinkling-sounds slowly approaching and disappearing again, soft white noise-swooshes circulating widely around an invisible center... sound-sources are hardly recognizable (coming from concrete sounds of churchbells and e-guitar), the atmosphere rising is one of quietness & meditation, able to transcend your mind. All words & symbols HELICE PIED uses (see inlay & cover-structure & endgroove) have a strong structural and inter-related meaning...Filed under: hologram-drones. BLACK COVERS WITH HANDPAINTED GOLDEN COCK & CHURCH BELLS ON IT"
[press release]
|
2006 |
€7.00 |
|
| HELM |
Impasse |
LP |
"Impasse is a sideways journey into the archives of London-based artist Luke Younger, a.k.a. Helm. Conceived six years ago in the wake of a Birds of Delay tour, the album originally saw the light of day in an abridged version as a mini-CDR on the Low Point label in 2008. This remastered and expanded reissue has the two original tracks along with two others from the same sessions that remained unmixed until a couple of years ago. Impasse appears as somewhat of an anomaly in the Helm canon when viewed alongside recent live performances and his work for labels like Pan and Kye. Where other works explore the mystery inherent in everyday sounds and acoustic phenomena, Impasse is significantly brighter in tone. Consisting of four loop-based pieces, the record invokes the same fantastic worlds found in Terry Riley’s or Boyd Rice’s early ambient pieces. Picture a functional family vacation, an explorer at the apex of his endeavors, a 4:00 AM drinking session with new liquids discovered. Bright corners, euphoric angles and ecstatic drones come together for an emotionally charged high that reflects these unique moments in the human experience. The beauty of Helm lies in its implacable curiosity, the way his music observes the current state of being. Released in a limited edition with artwork by Graham Lambkin, Impasse is another sublime offering from one of the UK’s sharpest cats." [label info]
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| HELVACIOGLU, ERDEM |
Altered Realities |
CD |
"Meine erste Post aus Istanbul macht mich bekannt mit einem mehrfach preisgekrönten Elektroakustiker mit weltweiten Performance- und Installationserfahrungen, mit einem breiten Fächer an Sounddesigns für Film, Theater, Tanz, an Produktions- und Sessionjobs, an Auftrags-kompositionen, Kollaborationen (etwa mit Kazuya Ishigami von Neus-318) und Kompilationbeiträgen. Bei seinem Beitrag Kicking Memories zum Projekt Audio Elf beim ScoreCologne-Festival zur letzten Fußball-WM zeigte er polyglotte Fußballerinnerungen als global gemeinsamen Nenner. In seiner Performance Living in Istanbul zur Ausstellung BLUT & HONIG - Zukunft ist am Balkan (2003) operierte er u.a. mit Soundtracks populärer türkischer B-Movies und, ähnlich wie bei seinem CDDebut A Walk Through The Bazaar 2003, mit Straßenmusik und dem Alltagslärm von Istanbul, den er zusätzlich elektronisch abwandelt. Trash und Mischmasch ist das einzig ‚Folkloristische’ und ‚Balkan-spezifische’ dabei. Abwandeln, to alter, scheint Helvacioglus Leitmotiv zu sein - wo Blut [türkisch kan] war, soll Honig [türkisch bal] werden. Seinen neuen Arbeiten gab er Namen wie ‘bridge to horizon’, ‘sliding on a glacier’, ‘dreaming on a blind saddle’ oder ‘pearl border’. Sie entsprechen vollkommen dem impressionistischen, träumerischen,
eskapistischen Charakter der Klänge, die er mit einer akustischen Ovation Custom Legend 1869-Gitarre erzeugte und gleichzeitig liveelektronisch mit Multieffektprozessor, Midi foot controller und Audiomulch-Software so modulierte, dass Wohlklang betont schwerelos und frei veränderlich sich entfaltet. Der folkloristische, mehr kosmo-politische als rein orientalische Aspekt des Saitenspiels wird transferiert durch ein Hightechmorphing, das ungeniert Wohlfühlsignale ausstrahlt, Entspannung jenseits so erdenschwerer Trivialitäten wie EU-Beitrittsverhandlungen, unbewältigtem ‚Armenierproblem’ und ‚Beleidigung des Türkentums’. Ohne Scheu vor Kitschverdacht lässt Helvacioglu seine Gitarre harmonieverliebt und zart blinken und all seine virtuosen elektronischen Manipulationen scheinen das Ziel zu haben, zuckersüßen Tee zur Entspannung zu servieren und spielerisch Veränderlichkeit zu realisieren. Einfacher sagte es Ishigami: "Ich fliehe in den Klang, es ist die Flucht aus einer kleinen Welt in eine große." " [Bad Alchemy]
"Altered Realities is an album of solo acoustic guitar and live electronics. All of the compositions were recorded in real-time, directly to DAT (Digital Audio Tape) without any overdubs, mixing, editing, post-processing, or the use of previously recorded material. All of the textures were created based only on the acoustic guitar signal with no other sound source used during the recording. Within these textures, there are long sustaining single notes, beautiful shimmering chords and rhythmic clusters.
During the making of this album, Ovation Custom Legend 1869 acoustic guitar, TC Electronic Fireworx multi effects processor, Behringer FCB1010 midi foot controller and the software Audiomulch were used.
With no post-processing, no editing and no use of previously recorded material, the moment that is recorded is the moment that we hear on the cd." [label info]
www.newalbion.com
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Timeless Waves |
CD |
"NEW SERIES FRAMEWORK: An extension of our CONCRETE ELECTRONICS NOISE, a brand new mix-up of unusual conceptions of sound material by young unknown composers, well known not-so-young composers and old but clever composers.
Timeless Waves originally composed for a 47 channel / 53 speaker diffusion system running on The Morning Line, is a sonic work based on six basic human emotions. The CD is a stereo version of this multichannel work. The piece has been inspired by W. Gerrod Parrott's book "Emotions in Social Psychology" and has been commissioned by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (T-BA 21) for The Morning Line - an interdisciplinary art project by Matthew Ritchie, Aranda/Lasch and Arup AGU - and premiered in May 2010, when the project was exhibited at Eminonu Square in Istanbul. Sonically, Timeless Waves is based on the timbres of Togaman GuitarViol, Gibson Les Paul electric guitar, sine waves, various analog pedals and hardware fx processors. The music combines elements from genres such as electroacoustic, drone, noise, contemporary music blended with minimal melodies.
Erdem Helvacioglu was born in Bursa, Turkey in 1975. He is one of the most renowned 'contemporary electronic music' composers of his generation in Turkey. His music has been broadcast on national radios such as BBC, ABC, WDR and Radio France, among others. He has received commissions from the 2006 World Soccer Championship, TBA 21 The Morning Line, Borusan Center for Culture & Arts, Arter "Space for Art", The Association for the Art of the Harp, Novelum Contemporary Music Festival, International Istanbul Biennial(IKSV) and the world famous new music ensemble Bang on a Can-All Stars.
His sound installations have been included at museums and galleries such as 10th International Istanbul Biennial, Los Angeles Track 16, Indonesia Soemardja, Köln Museum für Angewandte Kunst, London Menier Gallery. His film music has been heard at Cannes, Sarajevo, Locarno, Seoul, Sao Paulo, and Sydney film festivals and he received the 'Best Original Soundtrack' award in the 2006 Mostramundo Film Festival. He has received prizes for his electroacoustic compositions from the Luigi Russolo, MUSICA NOVA and Insulae Electronicae
Electroacoustic Music Competitions.
Erdem Helvacioglu has collaborated with artists such as Mick Karn, Jacob Young, Elliott Sharp, Kevin Moore, Luo Chao-yun, Robert Scott Thompson, Stuart Gerber, Craig Green, Bill Walker, Nathan Larson, Nina Persson, Todd Reynolds, Kinan Azmeh, Jeffrey Roden, Ros Bandt, Stefan Ostersjo, Per Boysen, Sirin Pancaroglu and Saadet Turkoz.
Erdem Helvacioglu's music has been released on labels such as Locustmusic, New Albion, Aucourant, Quiet Design, chmafu nocords, Pozitif, Sargasso. His solo and duo albums have been included in the 'best album of the year' lists on All About Jazz, Textura, Cyclic Defrost, Blogcritics, Culture Catch, Perfect Sound Forever and Guitar Player magazines.
www.erdemhelvacioglu.com" [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| HEMATIC SUNSETS |
Aroma Club Adieu 5 |
LP + 12inch |
"Final release by Asmus Tietchens’ death lounge project Hematic Sunsets
Farewell greetings by Michael Rother, Felix Kubin, Heinz Funk, Okko Bekker and more
The Hematic Sunsets shut down the Aroma Club with a final release. The album “Aroma Club Adieu” features 12 exquisite pieces of death lounge electronic pop performed on electronic organs and entertainment devices of various kinds. Under the moniker Hematic Sunsets, legendary avantgarde composer Asmus Tietchens has explored his love of the Darth Vader organ sound – a cheesy, spooky, deranged but still catchy form of electronic pop. The body of work of Hematic Sunsets stands out as unique, displaced and in a sexy way out of fashion. As a bonus to the final album of the project artist friends of Asmus Tietchens have composed short hommages and farewell greetings that are included here in the form of a single sided 12” on white vinyl. Among those saluting are such illustrious musicians as Heinz Funk, Felix Kubin and Michael Rother." [label info]
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/aroma-club-adieu
"And so it ends for the Aroma Club, adieu, so long and farewell. The fifth album by Hematic Sunsets, with such illustrious members as Hans Tim Cessteu, Assistent Meuch, Titus Mascheens, Suse Mittach sen and Asmus Tietchens. Or if you are clever, just Asmus Tietchens since all the other names are anagrams. Hematic Sunsets, check the anagram, is Tietchens' love for cheesy electronic music, which resulted in five LPs and two Christmas songs. The organ plays an important and I would think one of those organs that people had in the '70s. Well, my cousin had one, complete with a ton of ditto cheesy rhythms and chords and a big speaker below; the easy two-finger method of play. I seem to remember my cousin was pretty apt at it. I'd love to have one. Tietchens loves the sound of such organs as well as other machines that produce similar cheesy stuff. In the early days of his record
releasing career, Tietchens did four albums for Sky Records, which had a more poppy electronic streak, and later he decided he enjoyed doing that stuff resulting in the fictitious Aroma Club, which, no doubt, in Tietchens mind was a place where you could drink coffee and smoke your cigarette. In the corner there would be such an organ and someone playing his take on lounge music, But, this is Tietchens, a man with quotes of Cioran on most of his record (replaced by Klopstock on Hematic Sunsets releases), so this Aroma Club is not necessarily full of colour and on second thought the lounge music is not so cheesy and lounge-like at all. It comes with a strange hook, a dark undercurrent, and on this fifth album it all seems a bit darker than before, maybe the dark times we experience and with all clubs closed (well, here in The Netherlands at least). This is, however, still great dark lounge music, with those minimal rhythms, and melodies, ranging from lightweight to almost industrial, showing the veracity of the music. Excellent album, once again.
As a bonus, there is a one-sided LP which gives space to friends of Tietchens to say goodbye and bow their heads to the Aroma Club. There is Okko Bekker (owner of the studio in which Tietchens works), Felix Kubin, Michael Rother (early Kraftwerk member, and of Neu and Harmonia), Jetzmann, Heinz Funk, Ebinger, Chestnut Ameis, Maik Willing & Der Botox Lucas Chor and Unknown Singing Objects, who all have their take on Hematic Sunsets; spacious guitars, obviously, for Rother and Kubin with some fun pop song madness, or the super slick jazzy flutes of Ebinger. Maik Willing & Der Botox Lucas Chor tops it all with a schlager (look that up for yourself) going out of control. This is all a fitting tribute to the fun side of Tietchens. It could very well that you think it's stupid, but I think it is great fun." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
"Auch wenn fast jede Veröffentlichung Asmus Tietchens von einem Cioran-Zitat begleitet und geziert wird, so hat sich schon immer auch Humor im Werk des Hamburgers gezeigt, was sich u.a. teilweise in der Titelgebung seiner Tracks widerspiegelte, jedoch war dieser Humor nie so dominant wie auf seinem „death lounge project “ Hematic Sunsets (auf dem seine anagrammatischen Mitspieler Achim Stutessen, Assistent Meusch, Hans Tim Cessteu, Mischa Suttense und Tussi Schemante heißen), auf dem Tietchens seiner Liebe zum – wie es in der Pressemitteilung heißt – „Darth Vader organ sound“ frönt; Attribute wie „cheesy, spooky, deranged but still catchy“ zeigen das Spannungsfeld, in dem sich diese Musik situieren lässt. Das erste Album erschien 1998, diese finale Veröffentlichung, auf der jetzt „Adieu“ gesagt wird, besteht aus einer LP mit neuen Kompositionen und einem weiteren, einseitig bespielten Album, auf dem Weggefährten „Tschüss“ sagen, da es sich „Ausgeduftet“ hat, wie es bei Jetztmann heißt.
Die Hematic Sunsets-LP ist voller kurioser und zum Teil natürlich durchaus „catchy“ Tracks: Da gibt es die skurril-zerhäckselte Stimme auf „Zum Geleit“, das in TOPY-Diktion betitelte „Thee Church Ov Aroma“ mit seltsamen Stimmen und unheinlichen Flächen, das fast schon zu düster für dieses Album ist. Auf „Ungesungene Tanzrückstände“ hört man monotone hochrfrequente Loops. Es gibt das großartig betitelte „Stuhlwasser“ mit Billigorgel oder die seltsamen Kirmesstimmen bei „Der im Keller“. „Liebelei“ mit cheesy Streichern und Gesang hätte den einen oder anderen Partykeller in den 70ern beschallen können. Auf „Schrittbinder“ hört man kuriose Schellen, „Fiasko“ wäre in einem Paralleluniversum vielleicht ein Soundtrack zu einer Krimiserie gewesen, zu einer Zeit, als es nur zwei Fernsehprogramme gab. Interessanterweise hätte man ein Stück wie „Dem Morgen graut“ durchaus auch auf einer reinen Tietchens-Veröffentlichung der letzten Jahre finden können. Das lapidar betitelte „Das war’s dann“ schließt die erste LP ab.
Chestnut Ameis eröffnet das zweite Album mit der seltsamen Kirmesmusik von „Speckpumpe“. Otto Bekkers lässt den Hörenden bei „Peyote-Melodie“ zu Bontempiorgel schunkeln, Unknown Singing Objects, die bisher ein paar Singles veröffentlicht haben, steuern eine seltsame Ballade voll “Blut” und “Knochenmark” bei. Auf “Phantomschmerz” ist Felix Kubin mit Retroscifi Lounge zu hören. Sehr schön ist “Martellato” des 2013 verstorbenen Heinz Funk. Jetztmann „endet lo-fi mit dementen Vocals.
Im beiliegenden Blatt wird die Geschichte des Aroma Clubs augenzwinkernd dargelegt. Höhepunke waren etwa „Mikadotanz-Abende“, „Kriechkeller-Parties“ und „Hodenbaden unter der fachkundigen Observanz von Dr. Kurt Euler“ – ob die Liedertafel Margot Honecker dabei Lieder schmetterte, bleibt unerwähnt." [MG / African Paper]
|
2020 |
€32.00 |
|
| HENNIES, NICK |
Work |
CD |
"Nick Hennies makes music from work - and work into music. Simply put, work is process and one of Hennies' goals as a composer is to shape the possibilities of a given instrument as well as its sonic imprint. The result is austere, lyrical solo percussion music that focuses on resonance, natural overtones, room acoustics and slowly developing structure. As Hennies' art matures, it has become clearer and more refined, whether appearing to be finely tuned adjustments to previous approaches or something altogether unheard. Hennies now lives in Ithaca, New York, though he was based in Austin, Texas for many years, where he was a member of the Austin New Music Co-Op and played drums in doom-folk outfit The Weird Weeds. Work is Hennies' latest release and first for the revamped Quakebasket label and it consists of two pieces. The first is a ten-minute solo vibraphone piece called 'Settle,' which as it evolves, brings out electrifying resonances that evoke the early piano music of Charlemagne Palestine or even the lush dogma of Brian Eno and Michael Nyman. Hennies has famously explored the shapely vibrational properties of woodblocks, making them truly sing in a way that few Western percussionist-composers have, so it should be no surprise that his coaxing of metal lamellae, cylinders and sustain pedal would result in a panoply of interlocking and unfolding shapes. These shapes are patently the result of refined action - striking, damping, and measuring intervals - but reducing their behavior to stimulus and response oversimplifies the comely beauty that his instrument produces. The bulk of Work is made up of the forty minute 'Expenditures,' which shows a side of Hennies' compositional strategy for ensemble (something that's been emerging gradually on recent releases). His vibraphone is joined by several Austin new music regulars, including bassists Ingebrigt HŒker Flaten (The Thing, The Young Mothers, Scorch Trio) and Brent Fariss, drummer Chris Cogburn, clarinetist Jon Doyle, trombonist Steve Parker, and violinist Travis Weller, with the horns and strings also doubling on percussion in the piece's closing minutes. As Hennies puts it, 'the goal of the piece is for the musicians to play sustained tones on the same pitches as the vibraphone and then eventually to play 'work music,' where the players each come up with their own phrase to be repeated until the end of the piece. 'Though the first fifteen minutes are rooted in gently nattering repetition and the ghostly shapes that emerge from ringing sustained drones, the ensemble's whispers at first seem to follow suit before their weight vis-à-vis personality emerges rather quickly. Thus, while initially this music might seem to espouse the arid mathematics of minimalism (albeit with rare poiesis), the individualism of each player as an improviser within a surprisingly unruly collective vision emerges. The effect is something like Gunter Hampel's Galaxie Dream Band playing Terry Riley's In C. Though far from a traditional avant-garde improviser and avowedly distant from free jazz, it's entirely fair to place Hennies' piece within the pantheon of conducted/directed improvisation from such minds as Laurie Scott Baker, John Stevens, Gavin Bryars and Radu Malfatti. As Hennies said in a 2011 interview with online journal Ni Kantu, 'What I really want to do is harness my natural inclinations rather than decide to 'do' certain things, and that's why there's a wide variety of music that I've put out recently. I'm a little self conscious that I have music that doesn't sound like it was made by the same person, but I would like to think that over several years there would be a palpable connection between these things. I would like to create a body of work that gives one an example of where I was at certain points, and this is one of the biggest influences I got from John Duncan, where he says that 'all of my work is about self-discovery and trying to learn about [himself].' As singular as Work may appear, it is a fascinating outgrowth from a decade-strong book of generative themes and processes, all reflecting on a committed, physical engagement with the implements of sound production." [label info]
"Percussion player Hennies belongs currently to one of my favoured minimalist composers. His pieces are deceivingly simple and highly hypnotic. So far, I think, the pieces I heard from him where solo pieces, for such instruments as snare drum and vibraphone, but here we have two pieces, one for solo instrument and one for small ensemble. In the solo piece 'Settle' Hennies has a multi-track recording of him playing the vibraphone in his 'usual' style. Stead fast with overtones ringing through. Maybe there is some sort of post-production in this music? Like out of phase placing of the various layers? Maybe, but I doubt that. It sounds more like an exercise in controlling the instrument and various ways to play the same thing over and over. Over the course of the ten pieces the piece gradually dies out, and reaches no particular place in nowhere land.
The small ensemble piece is called 'Expenditures' and is for percussion, sine waves, clarinet, contrabass, vibraphone, trombone and violin, in which Hennies himself plays the vibraphone. This piece starts out, for a long time, to be a piece for vibraphone solo again, or so it seems, but the sine waves play very nicely along and gradually the piece seems to be falling apart - like in 'Settle', dying out - and the ensemble takes over. A very spacious piece of music then evolves - seemingly out of nowhere, seemingly going nowhere. But it keeps unfolding. One could think this was improvised rather than composed but what do I know? Maybe it's somewhere in between? The instruments bending forever, making small gestures, plucking strings, maybe with objects and all such like. It has that jazz like feel, like that recent release by The Necks, but also electro-acoustic and modern classical. It's perhaps not something I would expect from him, but it sounds no less great!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| HENNIX, CATHERINE CHRISTER |
Unbegrenzt |
LP |
Unbegrenzt is the third in an ongoing series of archival records of the unheard music of Swedish composer Catherine Christer Hennix, co-released by Blank Forms Editions and Empty Editions. It follows Selected Early Keyboard Works and Selections from 100 Models of Hegikan Roku (named the #1 archival release of 2019 by The Wire), in addition to a two-volume collection of Hennix’s writing titled Poësy Matters and Other Matters.
Recorded in February of 1974 and featuring Catherine Christer Hennix (recitation, percussion, and electronics) and Hans Isgren (bowed gong), Hennix’s realization of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s “Unbegrenzt” (German for “unlimited”) from Aus den Sieben Tagen is an elaboration both rigorous and radically different from the canonical 1969 recording issued by Shandar. The collection of 15 text pieces written in Paris during May of 1968, Aus den Sieben Tagen, denies its performers notated direction and instead provides poetic cues that hinge upon Stockhausen’s conception of “intuitive music,” a Eurocentric perspective on improvisation antithetical to the vernacular forms Hennix had engaged with as a young drummer performing in Stockholm jazz clubs with musicians like Bill Barron, Cam Brown, Hans Isgren, Lalle Svenson, Allan Vajda, Bo Wärmell, and many others. While both Hennix and Isgren saw the formal prospect of Aus den Sieben Tagen as a productive development of and beyond La Monte Young’s event scores, she here steadfastly counters his rationalization of intuition with the Principle of Sufficient Reason. (Cf. Brouwer’s Lattice.) Eschewing the busy, conservatory-addled lapses into idiomatic citation of Stockhausen’s 1969 recording, Hennix’s alternative realization of the “Unbegrenzt” score’s instructions to “play a sound with the certainty that you have an infinite amount of time and space” is based on her concept of Infinitary Compositions, the trademark of her ensemble The Deontic Miracle which, at one time, considered adding Stockhausen, La Monte Young and Terry Jennings scores to its repertoire. Taking a mature, minimal iteration of Stockhausen’s compositional method of “moment-forming” to heart, her version’s dark, controlled feedback and amplified bowed gong subtly shift through an immanent sequence of formative moments, step by step. Its bubbling computer noise, percussion, and repeated ominous transient sounds of temple blocks over the bowed gong terminate with the integrated recitation of exotic text fragments from Hevajra Tantra which faithfully take Stockhausen’s score into deeper vistas of the unconscious and a more devastating opening to the unlimited time and space of a dreaming mind.
Audio restoration and mastering by Stephan Mathieu, with an essay by Bill Dietz.
Catherine Christer Hennix (b. 1948) started her creative life playing drums with her older brother Peter, growing up in Sweden where she heard jazz luminaries, such as John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Dexter Gordon, Archie Shepp, and Cecil Taylor perform from 1960 to 1967. Directly after high school, Hennix went to work at Stockholm’s pioneering Elektronmusikstudion (EMS), where she developed early tape music, incorporating computer generated speech done at the Royal Technological University (KTH), where she was an undergraduate student. After traveling to New York In 1968, she met artists Dick Higgins and Alison Knowles who invited her to stay at the Something Else Press Town House where she had the opportunity to meet, among others, composers John Cage, James Tenney, and Phil Corner. During the following years she developed fruitful collaborative relationships with many composers in the burgeoning American avant-garde, including, most significantly, Henry Flynt and La Monte Young. Young introduced Hennix to Hindustani raga master Pandit Pran Nath and she would later study intensively under him as his first European disciple. While Hennix continued to make music performing alongside Arthur Russell, Marc Johnson, Henry Flynt, and Arthur Rhames, she also served as a professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at SUNY New Paltz and as a visiting Professor of Logic (at Marvin Minsky’s invitation) at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. In recent years Hennix has led the just-intonation ensemble the Chora(s)san Time-Court Mirage, which has featured musicians Amelia Cuni, Amirtha Kidambi, Chiyoku Szlavnics, Hilary Jeffrey, Amir El-Saffar, Benjamin Duboc and Rozemarie Heggen. She currently resides in Istanbul, Turkey pursuing studies in classical Arabic and Turkish makam.
https://blankformseditions.bandcamp.com/album/unbegrenzt
|
2020 |
€27.50 |
|
|
Solo for Tamburium |
do-LP |
The fourth release in Blank Forms Editions’s initiative to chart the ever-expanding musical practice of Catherine Christer Hennix, Solo for Tamburium captures the composer’s most recent major work. Hennix plays an instrument of her own creation, a keyboard interface controlling a suite of eighty-eight recordings of precision-tuned tambura, creating a sweeping and continuous flow of rich harmonic interplay. This piece, documented in Berlin at MaerzMusik 2017, carefully draws upon the fundamental perceptual effects of sound, forming an exacting and cathartic electronic drone. Densely-layered timbral textures and continuous overtone collisions create a maze-like sonic landscape, thrusting the listener into what Hennix calls divine equilibrium or a distinctionless state of being.
Since the late 1960s, Hennix has created a massive and innovative body of work spanning minimal music, computer programming, poetry, sculpture, and light art—pushing the technical and conceptual boundaries of these media toward singular ends. She was part of the downtown music school in New York and has worked extensively with some of its key figures, including Henry Flynt and La Monte Young. In the ’70s, Hennix studied the nature and use of harmonic sound as a disciple of Pandit Pran Nath, a master of the Kirana tradition of classical Hindustani music. The exceptionally designed tamburas of Pran Nath were central to her intensive investigations, as was the devotional practice of carefully tuning and sounding the instruments in a continuous and even flow—both have guided her work with sound ever since.
In 1976, at Stockholm’s Moderna Museet, Hennix presented a pair of groundbreaking works that came to define her ensuing practice. With the Deontic Miracle—a group composed of Hennix, her brother Peter, and the Swedish percussionist Hans Isgren—she performed a series of modal compositions for Renaissance oboes, sheng, and harmonic feedback distortion. On this same occasion she premiered an equally significant body of solo work for keyboard, including the only public presentation of The Electric Harpsichord (1976), a piece that marks the beginning of Hennix’s characteristic style of playing, where dense sonic textures gradually emerge from the multilayered interplay of harmonic construction and dissolution.
Solo for Tamburium represents a pointed revisitation of her endeavor to map the non-gravitational harmonics of modal musics—among them raga, maqam, and the blues—onto a tuned keyboard. Since the debut of this piece in 2017 she has continued to develop the work, reshaping and presenting it in a variety of contexts, including at Blank Forms in New York and the Bourse de Commerce — Pinault Collection in Paris in 2022. For Hennix, to approach modality as a dynamic process is ultimately a contemplative practice. Through it, embodied attunement to harmonic vibration gives rise to epistemically transformative states, opening new ways of knowing and being.
https://blankformseditions.bandcamp.com/album/solo-for-tamburium
https://blankformseditions.bandcamp.com/album/solo-for-tamburium
|
2023 |
€38.50 |
|
| |
Solo for Tamburium |
CD |
The fourth release in Blank Forms Editions’s initiative to chart the ever-expanding musical practice of Catherine Christer Hennix, Solo for Tamburium captures the composer’s most recent major work. Hennix plays an instrument of her own creation, a keyboard interface controlling a suite of eighty-eight recordings of precision-tuned tambura, creating a sweeping and continuous flow of rich harmonic interplay. This piece, documented in Berlin at MaerzMusik 2017, carefully draws upon the fundamental perceptual effects of sound, forming an exacting and cathartic electronic drone. Densely-layered timbral textures and continuous overtone collisions create a maze-like sonic landscape, thrusting the listener into what Hennix calls divine equilibrium or a distinctionless state of being.
Since the late 1960s, Hennix has created a massive and innovative body of work spanning minimal music, computer programming, poetry, sculpture, and light art—pushing the technical and conceptual boundaries of these media toward singular ends. She was part of the downtown music school in New York and has worked extensively with some of its key figures, including Henry Flynt and La Monte Young. In the ’70s, Hennix studied the nature and use of harmonic sound as a disciple of Pandit Pran Nath, a master of the Kirana tradition of classical Hindustani music. The exceptionally designed tamburas of Pran Nath were central to her intensive investigations, as was the devotional practice of carefully tuning and sounding the instruments in a continuous and even flow—both have guided her work with sound ever since.
In 1976, at Stockholm’s Moderna Museet, Hennix presented a pair of groundbreaking works that came to define her ensuing practice. With the Deontic Miracle—a group composed of Hennix, her brother Peter, and the Swedish percussionist Hans Isgren—she performed a series of modal compositions for Renaissance oboes, sheng, and harmonic feedback distortion. On this same occasion she premiered an equally significant body of solo work for keyboard, including the only public presentation of The Electric Harpsichord (1976), a piece that marks the beginning of Hennix’s characteristic style of playing, where dense sonic textures gradually emerge from the multilayered interplay of harmonic construction and dissolution.
Solo for Tamburium represents a pointed revisitation of her endeavor to map the non-gravitational harmonics of modal musics—among them raga, maqam, and the blues—onto a tuned keyboard. Since the debut of this piece in 2017 she has continued to develop the work, reshaping and presenting it in a variety of contexts, including at Blank Forms in New York and the Bourse de Commerce — Pinault Collection in Paris in 2022. For Hennix, to approach modality as a dynamic process is ultimately a contemplative practice. Through it, embodied attunement to harmonic vibration gives rise to epistemically transformative states, opening new ways of knowing and being.
https://blankformseditions.bandcamp.com/album/solo-for-tamburium
|
2023 |
€16.50 |
|
| HENNIX, CATHERINE CRISTER (THE DEONTIC MIRACLE) |
Central Palace Music (from 100 Model Subjects for Hegikan Roku) |
CD |
"Central Palace Music, performed by Catherine Christer Hennix's just-intonation ensemble The Deontic Miracle, is the first in a series of archival Hennix releases to be issued via IMPREC. This previously unheard piece was taken from an eight day festival organized in the Spring of 1976 at the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm. The group features Catherine Christer Hennix on Renaissance oboe and custom sinewave generators, Peter Hennix on Renaissance oboe and Hans Isgren on sheng.
Central Palace Music is packaged in a deluxe letterpressed package and is being released at the same time as a recent recording of Hennix's new ensemble live at Issue Project Room.
"...Hennix has created a sound that reliably taps into our subconscious and frees us from linear time..." The Quietus
Catherine Christer Hennix (1948, Stockholm) is an artist, poet, composer and philosopher with a strong interest in logic and formal music theory. She was among the pioneers in Sweden experimenting with main-frame computer generated composite sound wave forms in the late 1960's and in the 1970's she was a key protagonist in the Downtown School along with La Monte Young and Henry Flynt, with whom she has collaborated with on numerous occasions. She pursued studies with raga master Pandit Pran Nath and led the just intonation live-electronic ensembles Hilbert Hotel and The Deontic Miracle, the recordings of the latter are presently being released by Important Records. She was a professor of mathematics and computer science and assistant to and coauthor with A.S. Esenin-Volpin for which she was given the Centenary Prize Fellow Award by the Clay Mathematics Insitute in 2000. Hennix's interest in drone music and the meditative, trance-like state it induces is apparent in her exploration of similar music in many other cultures and traditions, drawing inspiration from the Japanese Gagaku music and the early, vocal, thirteenth-century music of Perotinus and Leoninus, for example.
In 2003 she returned to computer generated composite sound wave forms now called Soliton(e)s of which Soliton(e) Star was the first result. Subsequently she formed the just intonation ensemble The Choras(s)an Time-Court Mirage which performs Blues Dhikir al- Salam (Live at the Grimmuseum, vol. 1, Berlin, 2011, Important Records 2012). In 2012 Henry Flynt asked Hennix for a new, expanded realization of ISE for an installation at ZKM in Karlsruhe, Germany, to be featured in his retrospective/ prospective show Henry Flynt Activities 1959 – at ZKM. In response Hennix realized a 4-channel composition, Rag Infinity/Rag Cosmosis, her first 4-channel computer assisted composition since 1969." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2016 |
€19.50 |
|
| HENNIX, PETER |
Ocean - A Rudra Veena Meditation |
CD |
Based on the magnificent tradition of ragas, this album features four long improvisations, in the caring hands of a man who dedicated an immense amount of energy and effort in becoming a highly skilled rudra veena performer. What started out as a genral interest in music and sound culminated in long studies of the mysteries and revelations found in this ancient Indian instrument.
Originally released in 2004 this remarkable album presents a flow of ambience carried ashore on the ethereal waves of a mysterious but recurring tide. Based around the ancient Indian rudra veena instrument this is a warm flood you do not want to ebb out. "Ocean" is produced in cooperation with Sangha Records and presented in memoriam to this talented musician. Album comes in a jewelcase with a 16-page booklet and includes reflections on Peter's musical development by long collaborator Franciska "Kali" von Koch and an insight into the context of the four pieces by Mats Lindberg of Stockholm University.
gterma001to010.blogspot.com/p/gterma015-peter-hennix-ocean.html
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| HENRIKSEN, ARVE |
Chiaroscuro |
LP |
It´s about time that one of the absolute classics in our catalogue is finally available as a separate vinyl edition (it can also be found in the Solidification box set). Originally released in 2004, "Chiaroscuro" was Arve´s second solo album, it was hailed by critics everywhere and remains one of our most popular releases.
One of this century’s first true modern classics, this 2004 album from Supersilent member and experimental shakuhachi-style trumpet player Arve Henriksen has long been a reference points for jazz music of the most quietly absorbing variety, containing what must surely rank as one of the most beautiful opening tracks of any album in recent memory...
Replete with the breathtaking Opening Image and that beautiful cover art now blown up to 12” x 12”, this gorgeous record is quietly awaiting a slot in any and all collections of contemporary ambient, classical composition…
"Chiaroscuro" ("light and shade") is quite an unbelievable listen - cinematic in a way that defies pastiche, a vast panoramic ocean of sound reduced to the most silent, heart-wrenching string arrangements, samples (courtesy of Jan Bang) and a whispered sweep of barely audible percussion (from Audun Kleive), hovering around Henriksen unique, mesmerising trumpet playing and broken voice.
Boomkat (UK)
If music is measured solely on its spiritual impact, then ”Chiaroscuro” is clearly a strong contender for album of the year. Allaboutjazz (US)
A profound and singularly moving statement. BBC Online (UK)
Certainly, this beautiful CD is the first recording to make me cry in a very long time.
The Wire (UK)
It's an extraordinary record now squatting my cd machine like a gentle dogkicker. Beautiful. Straight No Chaser (UK)
One of the most telling and significant records in new Norwegian music in a long time. Dagsavisen (NO)
I haven´t heard music this beautiful in a long time. A complete, organic, focused expression from beginning to end. 6/6. VG (NO)
Released 05.05.17
www.runegrammofon.com/artists/arve_henriksen/rlp3037-arve-henriksen-chiaroscuro-lp/
|
2017 |
€25.00 |
|
| HENRIKSSON, Ö. |
As the side-scene of reality melted, we slowly realized that the surrounding chaos of molecules and atoms no longer made sense to us |
CD |
"Neue Veröffentlichung auf dem LEIF ELGGREN-Label mit schwer zu beschreibenden blubbernden und elektronisch hin- und her schwirrenden Klängen, immer wieder tauchen aus dem Hintergrund undefinierbare Geräusche auf.. sehr mysteriös und fremdartig das ganze und angenehm zu hören.. von dem uns bisher unbekannten Ö.HENRIKSSON. File under: surreal acoustical environments !" [old Drone Rec. info]
"Extremely organic and flowing sound passages drift from one suspended perspective to the next, revealing new qualities and states to the sometimes ominous and distant sonic terrain. Its original sound design character immediately distinguishes this recording, an aural ecosystem flourishing with unknown abstract forms of life. [Anomalous Records]
label-website: www.fireworkedition.com
|
2000 |
€12.00 |
|
| HENRY COW |
Stockholm & Göteborg |
CD |
"The first new release for 30 years from this legendary audience-splitting British group, and the first featuring Georgina Born, the group’s bassist between 1976-78. Remixed and re-mastered from the original Swedish radio tapes.
‘Henry Cow, me favourite band in the world’ [Robert Wyatt, 1973]
Henry Cow were never going to fit in. Their compositions were way too composed and their improvising was way too improvised - a tendency that only got more extreme as time went on, as these recordings from 1976 and 1977 demonstrate. Stockholm and Goteborg fills in some of the missing history between In Praise of Learning (1975) and Western Culture (1978) and offers music that has not been heard on record until now. First is Tim Hodgkinson’s late and fiendishly complicated epic composition ‘Erk Gah’ (a working title), that took many months of sweat to learn and resolutely eschews any hint of riff, solo or modular assembly. At the other extreme are the two wide-ranging improvisations built around heady extended instrumental techniques, aleatorics, quotations, more-or-less randomly inserted prepared materials and a blithe disregard for genre rules. Between, constantly shifting ground, are a straight-ahead version of Phil Ochs’ No more Songs (one of only two covers ever performed by the band), an unreleased composition by Fred Frith, and a version of the Ottawa Song: a typical live set from that period. Finally, Stockholm is a snapshot of a band of exceptional talents having fun. And it reflects what the studio albums could not – that Henry Cow’s natural habitat was the stage - and the real-time pressure of public performance - because it was there that the music could live and breathe. And evolve.
Stockholm and Goteborg is the first volume of a 9 CD and one DVD set of unreleased material commemorating the band’s 40th anniversary.
Georgina Born. fretless bass, cello
Lindsay Cooper. bassoon, flute, recorder, sopranino sax, piano
Chris Cutler. drums, electrification (13) and piano
Fred Frith. guitar, xylophone, piano
John Greaves bass, voice
Tim Hodgkinson. organ, alto saxophone
Dagmar Krause. singing. "
[label info]
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Ex Box Collected Fragments 1971-1978 |
CD |
"EX BOX is a free bonus CD issued to subscribers to the Henry Cow Box Redux and is NOT FOR GENERAL SALE."
Limited edition of 250.
However, ReR Megacorp also made this CD available for separate purchase. Copies sold to non-subscribers were not numbered.
● 1 : 1971 recorded in Cambridge
● 2 & 3 : remixes done at Cold Storage in Brixton for the first CD reissue of 'Legend' on the Minneapolis label East Side Digital in 1991.
● 4, 5, 6 & 7 : taken from a concert at the Theatre Royal, Sheffield on June 9, 1974. Rescued from an otherwise unidentified cassette.
● 8 : from the 1976 quartet tour of Scandinavia. From an otherwise unidentified cassette.
● 9 : extracted from material generated while working on side two of Unrest, and appeared as a bonus track on the ESD reissue. Recorded at The Manor, probably between the 14th and 28th February 1974.
● 10 and 11 were gleaned from one of the few surviving Orckestra recordings. Taken from an unidentified cassette. [was previously available on a bonus mini-CD given to subscribers of The Henry Cow Facsimile Box.]
● 12, 13, 14 : recorded in January 1978 at Sunrise in Switzerland. They weren't use for future Henry Cow releases, but later appeared on the ReR reissue of Western Culture as bonus tracks. [actually tracks 12 & 13 were also released as early as 1982 on Recommended Records Sampler].
● 15, 16, 17 : recorded on 20th February, 1977 at the TeatroOlimpico in Parma. Mastered from a cassette.
Assembled by Chris Cutler, then improved and mastered at Studio Midi-Pyrenees by Bob Drakein October 2019.
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| HENRY, PIERRE |
Orphee Ballet |
LP |
Scored for Maurice Béjart's choreography to the 'Orphée Ballet', based on the Greek god Orpheus, this is one of Pierre Henry's finest works of musique concrète, the genre in which Henry was an early innovator and to which he devoted his career. After years working for the French national radio (RTF) and honing his studio chops on radio spots and editing/composition, Henry formed his own studio in 1958 and began working on modern dance and ballet and soundtrack work. Incorporating percussion, industrial soundscapes, nature sounds, spoken French narrative, and synthesized tones, 'Orphée Ballet' is a beautiful piece that, while less known than what is perhaps his most famous work, also for Béjart's ballet production, 1967's 'Les Jerks Électroniques De La Messe Pour Le Temps Présent Et Musiques Concrètes Pour Maurice Béjart', is equally compelling and groundbreaking. Following his passing in 2017 at age 89, Henry's work has found renewed interest, and this is a welcome reissue of one of his rarest and finest works. Truly brilliant.
|
2018 |
€18.50 |
|
| HEROIN IN TAHITI |
Casilina Tapes 2010 - 2017 |
LP |
"Hailing from Rome, cult duo Heroin in Tahiti fuse analogue synths, garage-y guitars and skittering drum machines to gloriously lo-fi effect. This collection of previously unreleased tracks covers material recorded in their studio from a 7-year period. Their unique psychedelic vision touches on everything from beat poetry, house music and Ennio Morricone soundtracks." [Norman Records]
"Heroin In Tahiti is a duo from Rome, Italy hailing from the Roma Est scene, a sort of local community based in the crumbling and deteriorated neighborhoods which were already eternalized by Pasolini and Neorealist Cinema (think of Pasolini, De Sica, Visconti, etc.) The duo plays a variety of cheap guitars, analog synths, drum machines, and pedals, achieving a dirtiness which is tragically lo-fi and out-of-time at the same time: a "Spaghetti Wasteland", as they call it. In 2012 they released on Boring Machines their debut album Death Surf, a title which spoke for the music played on the record. The label said of the album: "Think of drinking a frozen daiquiri on a solitary beach while watching a poorly tuned TV broadcasting loops of If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death (1968), while Mururoa tests are happening at the horizon." When mentioning Italian occult psychedelia, Heroin In Tahiti seems the best choice to sum up the sound and the references that stay at the core of this all-Italian scene. With albums like the mammoth double LP Sun And Violence (2015), the minimalist Canicola (2014) and the monolithic Remoria (GRA 001LP, 2017), Heroin In Tahiti became a cult band for their particular signature. Casilina Tapes 2010-2017 is the latest (and probably last) output from the cult Italian duo. It's a collection of unreleased tracks recorded in their basement studio in Rome in the last seven years while building up their thematic albums. The label listened to the single tracks at once and they found out there's a coherence between them even if they have been created in different periods. Actually, they show a coherence that only Heroin In Tahiti, with their kaleidoscopic vision of how Italy secretly sounds, can properly conjure up. Boring Machines calls it "total music". You may find elements which reminds of long lost Morriconian soundtracks for cheap westerns or giallos, library music to accompany documentaries on Superstudio radical architecture, urban tribalism, beat poetry festivals on the seashore, and house music. Recorded in Rome, 2010-2017. Artwork by Francesco de Figueiredo. Screen printed covers by Legno, Milano." [label info]
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| HET ZWEET |
2XLIVE88 |
CD |
"Strictly from a personal perspective, it is great to see renewed interest in Het Zweet. I think that interest started when Staalplaat released an expanded version of Het Zweet's only LP (see Vital Weekly 1343), which Klanggalerie released on CD. A label from Greece, Modal Analysis, released a double LP with archival work, judging the content pieces from compilations and some previously unreleased work, plus a 1984 live recording. I haven't heard this one, but today, there is a CD with two live recordings from 1988. That is interesting as this is also the year that Het Zweet started to wind down his activities because of shifting musical interests. In 1988, Het Zweet supported Bourbonese Qualk in The Netherlands, and I am sure I saw them on a different evening, but I have no recollection. Therefore, I also have no idea if Het Zweet was also opening up that night. I believe this CD has the complete concert of that April 1, 1988 show in Club Utopia in Elsloo (I had to look that up), and it offers an exciting variation of the music Het Zweet plays. Mostly known for his more rhythmic music, that side still plays a significant role in the music here, ominous industrial drumming, tribal-like metal percussion (Neubauten, Z'EV), but a song like 'We Hear Your Soul' is more... an actual song, with Van Oers, Het Zweet's operator, singing, with a keyboard present, and some loops. Loops of instrumental bits return in other pieces, and by using delay, those also have a more tribal feeling. I was pretty surprised by this approach because I didn't know much about Het Zweet in the later stages of his career. It's an exciting variation here, with Van Oers going for what, I think, is a more song-based approach, next to the loops, tapes (slowed down voices; very 1980s) and metallic percussion. With some production value, this music could easily have found its way into the early catalogue of the Cold Meat Industry.
The other concert on this CD was recorded five days later, at Radio Militia in Belgium, and is about half the length, approximately twenty minutes. This is along similar lines, but interestingly enough, not a repeat of the same material, and a song like 'The Last Straw' sounds completely different, and so does 'Ein Kreuz Part 1'. In the surroundings of the radio station, it all sounds a bit more controlled than on stage. Both have their charm, and this latter-day Het Zweet opens for me a perspective I didn't know. It's a great historical document, prompting me to please once more for a Het Zweet box set with (almost all) his work." [FdW / Vital Weekly] |
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| HETERO SKELETON |
En la sombra del pajaro velludo |
CD |
"Die Band selbst beschreibt ihren Sound als "Perez Prado am Tor zur Hölle" und darüber lässt sich gar nicht streiten. HETERO SKELETON aus Finnland liefern mit "En La Sombra Del Parajo Velludo" den Saxophon-lastigen Soundtrack zum Abstieg in die Unterwelt. Für Fans von Jazzpunk, wie ihn die FLYING LUTTENBACHERS spielen und für die, denen FAT WORM OF ERROR ein Begriff ist. //
Five unholy speaker cone movers from Finland (Helsinki and Tampere) choke up a hairball of churning sax driven maelstrom. In between the notes, crinkle-cut sound sax spuzz links rude-itude of the highest order. Fans of Finnish campfire/industrial act AVARUS take note, as the same disconnected fuckery pulses through this disc with enough extra forward thrust to kick start your fart.
This disc comes recommended for fans of jazz punk like the FLYING LUTTENBACHERS as well as stumble royalty like FAT WORM OF ERROR. Not just blind free jizz blowjobbery, but roid raged thuggery - click here for an unbelievable taste sensations!
Other discs on Jelle Crama's new label have cemented their songs in the waiting room of forever. The band describes their sound as "Perez Prado at the gates of Hell", and who am I to argue?" [label info]
www.loadrecords.com
|
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
| HEYN, VOLKER |
Sirenes |
CD |
"Volker Heyn, 1938 geboren, ist ein >Außenseiter‹, besser: ein ›ungeliebter Insider‹, ein Avantgardist, auch und spezifisch in Sachen experimenteller Musik, jenseits der musikalischen Tendenzen seiner Generation wie »Neue Einfachheit«, »Neo-Romantik«, »Neue Komplexität« etc. 1960 verlässt er Europa und verbringt mehr als zehn Jahre in Australien. Dort schließt er sich einer reisenden Theatergruppe an, arbeitet als Clubsänger und als Hilfsarbeiter auf Nachtschicht in der metallverarbeitenden Industrie. Heyns Musik inszeniert einen akustischen Zustand, wie in einer Schachtel von Spiegeln, deren vielfache Reflexionen sich ständig ineinander fügen und sich gegenseitig zertrümmern. Es ist die Untersuchung eines klanglichen Prozesses, der als solcher unzugänglich und auf dem Papier nicht darstellbar ist. Volker Heyn interessiert sich nicht für den Klang an sich ¬ die positive akustische Geste ¬, sondern, und besonders, für die Negativform, die ›Rücktongeste‹, die Spiegelung der Reibung und die diskontinuierlichen Bewegungen. Seine Kompositionsmodelle folgen dem Nachklang ¬ dem Überhang ¬ den wir nur empfangen können, indem wir unsere Sensoren auf nahe Null begrenzen, um seiner Gewalt nicht zu unterliegen. Und das muss reichen, mehr wäre zu viel. Dann können diese restlichen Klangspuren aufgebraucht und erschöpft werden, bis hin zum kleinsten subversiven Konstrukt. Dies ist die Klangwelt, die uns gegeben ist: eine verwickelte, doch letztlich unschuldige Struktur von unendlichen makro- und mikroklanglichen Reaktionen.
###########################################
Born in 1938, Volker Heyn is an ›outsider‹, or perhaps an ›unloved insider‹, an avant-gardist when it comes to experimental music, reaching beyond the trends of his generation of »New Simplicity«, »Neo-Romanticism«, »New Complexity« and so forth. In 1960 he left Europe to spend more than ten years in Australia where he joined a travelling theatre company, made ends meet by singing in nightclubs and working the night shift in a metal works. Heyn’s music is the mise en scène of an acoustic condition, whose manifold reflections perpetually interlock and shatter, like a box of mirrors. It investigates a process, which in itself is inaccessible and cannot be reproduced on paper. Volker Heyn is not interested in sound per se ¬ in the positive acoustic gesture ¬ but, and especially, in the negative form, in the responding tone gesture, in the duplicating of friction and in discontinuous movements. His composition patterns follow the resonance ¬ the overhang ¬that we are able to perceive only by restricting our sensors almost to zero, in order not to succumb to its violence. And this must be enough, more would be too much. Then these remnants of sound will be drained and exhausted right up to the merest subversive unit. This is the soundscape that we are given: an intricate, though ultimately innocent
structure of endless macro and micro sounding reactions." [Martha Agostini]
www.edition-rz.de
|
2011 |
€17.00 |
|
| HIGGINS, GARY |
Seconds |
LP |
"The music business is full of funny stories -- and some of them aren't that funny at all. Take Gary Higgins. In the early 70s, he made a great record, the culmination of years of listening and playing and work. Then he went to jail for marijuana possession, a short stint, but still, the kind of crime that's almost not a crime these days. The record came out -- but without him to promote it, almost nobody heard it, until... 2005: Red Hash, Higgins' megaobscure psychedelic folk-rock masterpiece is reissued on CD, drawing all kinds of acclaim and selling thousands of copies. Shows are played, interviews are done. But how to answer the question, why haven't you made another record since then? 2009: Gary Higgins' Seconds. is here to answer the question. It's a beautiful acoustic-based record featuring careful, melancholy arrangements in the tradition set by his famous previous record -- but with a few unpredictable musical touches. Additionally, Seconds. weaves black threads of lyrical reflection into its sleeve in the shortlived Higgins tradition. His was never a hippie-dippy perspective -- back in the day, his songs featured a thoughtful, but worldweary, occasionally even paranoid perspective. And today, he opens Seconds. with the couplet 'I got demons on my back/they don't travel nice.' Gary is from the original singer-songwriter wave of rock and roll. There's no need for him to pretend that his songs are being sung from another point of view. And so Seconds. strings together moments of life, working through regrets and reflections on fallibility, the odd flashback, and a few hopes for the future over the course of seven deep songs. Whether the material has been gathered in the years since his reemergence in 2005 or over the longer stretch since the last released Higgins material, it flows with oneness. And accompanied by his fellow travellers (including a couple Red Hash players as well as his son), he's put together a bold and colorful statement of where he's at today. Seconds. ain't no Sweet Baby James, or anyone else for that matter. This is the sound of Gary Higgins, making music and digging it once again." [label info]
www.dragcity.com
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
| HIJOKAIDAN |
Emergency Stairway to Heaven |
pic-LP & CD |
"Cold Spring are proud to announce the new studio album from the legendary Japanoise act Hijokaidan. The set arrives on luxurious 12” picture disc and CD – both formats have completely different audio! 12” Picture Disc: The new studio album, four slabs of unique sounds that only Hijokaidan can provide. In the studio – the full line-up of JOJO Hiroshige, T. Mikawa, Junko and Futoshi Okano. CD: Live at Uplink, Shibuya, 20th May 2014 – JOJO Hiroshige: synthesizer, T. Mikawa: electronics, Junko: screaming. Live at Chikusa-za, Nagoya, 21st Dec 2014 – JOJO Hiroshige: electric guitar, T. Mikawa: electronics, Junko: screaming, Futoshi Okano: drums. Ltd x 750 copies only!" [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2015 |
€25.00 |
|
| |
Modern |
do-LP |
The Kansai based noise band Hijokaidan, come with the first ever vinyl reissue of Modern, originally released on 1989 in CD format. Resting at a fascinating juncture between space-harsh progressive, impro and noise, it was years ahead of its time when it first appeared becoming one of the great holy grails of Japan noise. Creatively thrilling - filled with emotive highs and lows - it’s a crucial piece in the puzzle of Japan’s wild and wonderful history of noise music.
The core of the band revolves around the trio Jojo Hiroshighe, Junko and Toshiji Mikawa with sporadically the participation of various artists both for live performances and for studio recordings. On this vinyl shows up in the classic three-person line-up leading the way to one of the best reissues among offerings of their incredible discography.
Modern double vinyl LP, carving out uncharted territory between Faust and mid-70s Soft Machine, pushed improvisation into a near undefinable realm. The sound of Hijokaidan subverts and deconstructs; hits you, not like an avalanche, but like a prolonged electrical discharge on neuromuscular receptors: the most visceral and buried side of the noise is hidden in Jojo's pick-ups, in Junko's voice and in the extraordinary as well as exceptional object of Toshiji called ‘’the Mikawa’’.
Across the four sides of vinyl, comprising a sole one works, Hijokaidan stretches out, laying down cycling fuzz rhythms and guitar feedback lines that channel the modalism of John Coltrane and hypnotic psychedelia, before embarking upon scream excursions into the outer realms. Incorporating a playful, pop sensibility, without sacrificing its temperaments of violence and extremism, takes on a terrific vision of organized sound; a notion of the avant-garde which falls far closer to its inception as a st
Exquisitely pressed with fully remastered for this vinyl edition by Nobuki Nishiyama, that bring as well as possible on analogue format the stunning original audio master, and released in a beautiful double LP gatefold to fully enjoy the amazing photos formerly featured on the CD, with the iconic group photo reprinted inside the gatefold and the baffling close-up on the back.
As essential and historically significant as archival releases, Modern is truly incredible from start to finish, so immerse yourself in this final exploration of one of the longest continually existing and the most fascinating noise bands that ever was. Available in an edition of just 299 copies, this one isn’t going to sit around for long. Easily among 2021’s most essential releases, grab it while you can.
https://urashima.bandcamp.com/album/modern
|
2021 |
€34.00 |
|
| HINSIDAN |
Shapeshifter Blues |
CD-R |
New Drone-discovery from Denmark! HINSIDAN produce a power-drone you can not resist, with slow changes, fat & esoteric drone-walls, waving and drowning, subtle pounding pulsations from deep underneath... this has a very nice "mystic" quality, really stunning'!
Hinsidan translates from Swedish as 'The Here After' and with 'Shapeshifter Blues' the Danish duo of Atish Pare and Superjus have incorporated the exaggerated minutia of the title of their earlier 'God is in the Details' into the majestic drone of simultaneous presence and absence reflected in the group's namesake. Embodied too, is the usefulness of a name constantly translated, as it sets the listener up for the intertwined cycles of shuffling space and metallic flutter that permeate the compositions. While 'God is the Details' called attention to small brash cracks and slips that skated the surface of mesmerizing atmospherics, on 'Shapeshifter Blues' those scratches have been bound and compressed into a heady, churning static that sounds of questions. The cover art announces as much, spackled circles overlap and colors move from very light to very dark, aiding and transcending each other. Voices, however, occasionally drift up to answer the resounding tones. On 'outnumbered by sound' the fragmented, mutilated echoes of children mutate the rhythmic cascade of stomping volume. Sound might outnumber the voices of those who taunted during recess, now, but the power of an angry army of kids sustains; that the piece alternates between sound and numbers reveals a syncretic relationship between objects working together and undermining each other. The following track, 'a second in the mind, a day in the life', provides a response to the children as the pitches drift seamlessly up higher and higher, climbing into the vibrant, rising female voice that they might one day become - or that might just be gliding sound untied to identifiable sources. Hinsidan unfurl this mysterious logic throughout 'Shapeshifter Blues', moving from pitch to idea to pitch in conjunction with a steady backing arch that never breaks drone." [Heathen Harvest]
"Packaging craziness here: for whatever unknown reason, this release was smeared with shampoo, maybe to indicate we deal with nice music here? Hinsidan is a duo of Supertius and Atish Pare, and 'Shapeshifter Blues' is their second CDR release, while a 10" on Ant-Zen is forthcoming. That's about the extend of information to be given as we don't know anything else. 'Mastered by Lasse Marhaug' it says on the cover, but don't be fooled by that: Hinsidan doesn't produce noise music, although their machine like drone sometimes comes very close. In each of the seven pieces they enroll a drone that is omni present, enlarged and enhanced by sound effects to make it thicker and fatter, but also more of a menace. Only in one track, 'A Second In The Mind, A Day in The Life' they approach noise very close and it happens to be the weakest link here. The other six pieces are beautiful drone within the well-defined area of course and it makes a very solid release. I wouldn't be too surprised if they will have a release on Mystery Sea on day too. Very nice." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.suggestion-records.de
|
2007 |
€9.00 |
|
| |
Nightshift |
10 |
4-track EP from this promising project, two pieces of very subtle / droney material, one remix on Side B by L'OMBRE, and one live-version of "Nightshift", this sounds like dark wave drone ambient with beats & vocals, hard to define but highly atmospheric and stunning!
"After their monumentual debut - the praised double album 'God Is In The Details / Music For Ghosts' [phisteria 2005], and hot on the heels of two limited album releases in Germany [Shapeshifter Blues on Verato Project] and US [Bleach Dye Yr Heart on Gears of Sand],
our very own animal rights avantgarde-drone-poltergeist-rockers return to phisteria, with this diverse 4-tracker that really pays hommage to the band's heritage. This limited 10'' EP of 250 copies is most likely to be a hot collectible for all eternity, we dare you to miss it!!" [label info]
"... Opening very slowly, the first piece titled "The first time we met the blues" (no worries, not any sign of Blues on this track!) builds steadily from inaudible drones to smoothing vibrant drones building a great atmosphere from early start, not too far away from British legends Zoviet France. As the first piece fades out, another swarm of drones build with the opening of following piece "Labyrinths of obsession", this time with a more abrasive approach. Soon after subtle acoustic drum-patterns penetrates to create a rhythm structure in the abstract composition. Side B of the vinyl opens with a remix of "The first time we me the blues" executed by Ant-Zen legend L'Ombre. The result is a completely different work based on repetitive downbeat rhythm textures assisted by discreet ambient melody in the background. Final piece on the album is a live recording from legendary Danish underground club "Ungdomshuset" (R.I.P.). Despite the fact that it has been recorded live the sound of the work is still nice and clean. The title-track "Nightshift" consists of vibrant drones and distant male vocals adding to the strange nocturnal atmospheres of the track. As was the case with the earlier efforts of Hinsidan the guitar plays an important role in the spheres of work, and the result again is utterly beautiful." [NM, Vital Weekly]
www.phisteria.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| HIORTHOY, KIM & RUNE KRISTOFFERSEN |
LET'S PUT IT TO MUSIC / 20 YEARS OF RUNE GRAMMOFON |
BOOK & 7inch |
Includes a 7" single with exclusive tracks from Fire! Orchestra, The Last Hurrah!! and Maja S. K. Ratkje, surely among the most exuisite in the whole catalogue.
Introductions by David Fricke and Adrian Shaughnessy.
It´s no secret that Rune Grammofon founder Rune Kristoffersen is a big admirer of labels like Blue Note, Impuls, ECM, 4AD and Factory, to mention some labels with strong visual identities. But we can´t recall another label that has worked with one designer exclusively for 20 years and 200 releases. The exclusivity was a premise for our collaboration with Kim Hiorthøy from the very beginning, but we certainly never had any expectations about how long we would be able to keep it going. This book is far from being a catalog lining up the releases (it´s not even "complete" or chronological in that sense), but provides an interesting insight by including sketches, rejected designs and unused idéas that never left the drawing board... until now. A Rune Grammofon record is never finished until the cover is done and a sleeve is never designed for the sole purpose of selling a product (it took 28 releases before an artist was pictured on the sleeve!), or necessarily reflect the music in any way (is that even possible?), but rather to establish a suggestive relation between the two, often based on the album title or a song title, but not in an obvious way. We have also included a number of interesting and eclectic "best of" lists from the likes of Jono El Grande, Bent Sæther, Lasse Marhaug, Mats Gustafsson, SPUNK, Rune Kristoffersen and others.
The book has 224 pages, comes with a tactile Geltex hardcover and is beautifully designed by Hiorthøy.
www.runegrammofon.com/artists/books/rbk2200-let-s-put-it-to-music-20-years-of-rune-grammofon-boo/ |
2018 |
€46.00 |
|
| HIRANO, MIDORI |
Invisible Island |
LP |
Invisible Island is a fitting title for an album that seems to exist in a place quietly removed from the problems of the world. It's playful and imaginative, living in a soundscape filled with exotic fruits that fall from invisible trees. The record feels like a continuance from her album Minor Planet (2016) that shines through as an ethereal fog.
Although the pieces on the album mostly centre around the piano - played in a soft, minimal way - it's the way they are presented that creates the personality that defines Invisible Island. The keys are coated in sound experimentations, perfectly accompanied by layers of synthesizers. It's a dreamy album that seems to emanate from a fantasy full of warmth, channeling both classic Japanese ambient music and a more modern electro-acoustic sound. Midori has a special sense of creating touching, melancholic pieces that float on the borders. As someone who grew up in the outskirts of Kyoto for then to later move to Berlin, one can sense the influences of both places - without ever settling down on either.
Midori's Invisible Island is a safe place. Though it's one full of life and colours : birds, animals, wind and waves, fond memories of lost or unknown places and people that exist only in the hidden edges of this album. This especially comes to light for the albums centrepiece, the beautiful Belong, featuring Christoph Berg on violin. It's as if the protagonist - after roaming around the island for a long period, lost in its intrigue - finally finds what he/she has been searching for. A few tracks later the album ends on the title track, an uplifting ending that seems somehow unreal once the album stops and we ́re back to reality. Though the piano seems to keep performing in ones head with its repeating chorus and slowly drowning theme. An album of true visible beauty.
https://midorihirano.bandcamp.com/album/invisible-island
|
2020 |
€29.00 |
|
| HIROSHIMABEND |
Vekks |
CD |
Since 1998, American producer puppy38 has been recording under the project name hiroshimabend. With a range varying from found sounds, field recordings and industrial rhythms to long, dark drones and ambient/avant-noise, listening to the music of hiroshimabend has been likened to the experience of swimming in a milky lake of black ink. Over the course of 19 years based in Austin, Texas, to the last few years residing in Vienna, Austria, hiroshimabend has released a significant body of work on self-run independent label opiumdenpluto. In recent years, the project has released several items in stunning hand-made packaging, for example a CD in a book with artwork by puppy38 or an 11 CD set based on recordings made at the clock tower in Prague's main square. Recent music has included archival sounds by the legendary band Coil, or vocal contributions by Zoe DeWitt of Zero Kama and Korpses Katatonik fame. Live At Vekks was recorded on a freezing cold night at Vekks Club, Vienna, in October 2021. The first installment of a series of limited edition CDs presenting recordings of live shows in Vienna. Full tracklist: 1. Benedictus Fornicatus 2. E4RK 3. Blobbl 4. Syllabarimau 5. A Priori.
https://www.klanggalerie.com/gg397
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| HIRSUTE PURSUIT |
Tighten that Muscle |
CD |
"Music that smells like a man!
“I play Hirsute Pursuit at all of my DJ gigs” (Peter Christopherson)
“Tighten That Muscle Ring” features collaborators such as Bryin Dall of Thee Majesty, Boyd Rice of NON and Sleazy of Coil / Throbbing Gristle.
The music is real. The sex is real.
Created by Harley Phoenix and his musical partner, Bryin Dall, this is Gay Sex Music that offers no apologies. Enticing rhythms combined with raw sex and a commanding, deep, resonate voice, Harley has transformed explicit instructions for serving his pleasure into a musical orgy that hits the gay community where it plays, the dance floor and the bedroom. Sleazy dance beats pound along at tempos that encourage carnal exploration, while sounds of ecstasy cannot be ignored. You will be thinking Cock Thoughts (a song from the first album, That Hole Belongs to Me).
After starting with a MySpace page Hirsute Pursuit has become THE MOST PLAYED GAY MUSIC ON MYSPACE. Typical letters from fans tell Harley that after listening to his music, they HAD to go “get off”. While fans have been pleading for photos, Harley refuses to give in. Understanding the restraints of reality, Harley remains in the shadows, making Hirsute Pursuit the ultimate in musical fantasy.
Without any publicity or releases, Hirsute Pursuit has had over 140,000 plays in less than a year! Drawing fans from all musical genres, including House, Country, Rock, Hip Hop, etc. Primarily attracting a gay audience, recent fans also include female dominatrixes, middle-class housewives and straight guys (as is evidenced in the video, Boys Keep Swinging featuring Boyd Rice and James Pope, both straight). The raw sensuality has now crossed over into the heterosexual domain.
This is music you can fuck to, as well as bump and grind.
Harley Phoenix is currently preparing Hirsute Pursuit’s live show experience which will include actual musicians, dancers and video to give the audience members a complete sensory explosion.
Comes in a 6-panel digisleeve." [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| HIS DIVINE GRACE |
Le Grand Secret |
CD |
Auf dem Schwesterlabel von TREUE UM TREUE erscheint dieses hochmelancholische und philosophische Werk des französisches Projekts, dass uns in seiner "sad ambient" - Melodiosität an frühe REUTOFF erinnert hat...
"Inspired by the works of the Traditionalists and the lives and deaths of Sekens Murdock and Leontin V. Abilgaard, Moonchild Erik’s fourth CD album “Le Grand Secret” (The Great Secret) takes the shape of a metaphysical reflection on the deceptions of human language, in which Murdock and Abilgaard saw the main cause for the world of confusion we live in. Musically more accessible than “Eurydice” or “Reverse Aleph”, this very diverse new opus is the worthy successor of “Die Schlangenkönigin”, hovering from emotional soundscapes and spacey dub rhythms into gloomy, awe-inspiring drones with even noisy elements. An initiation through pure sound." [label info]
"...Tackling literary philosophical surrealism is a rather daunting task yet His Divine Grace has successfully extracted the subtle nuances of this newest muse and has distilled the rudimentary literary aesthetic into a long audio voyage filled with mystery and esoteric darkness. The album explores a wide array of carefully constructed dark ambient and experimental soundscapes as it leads the listener through imaginative and stimulating sonic worlds that shimmer like mirages. Dark ambient drones and electronic sounds are contorted into breathtaking monuments of sound that lay long shadows across barren wastelands of uninhabitable terrain. Like titans fighting battles long forgotten each track makes a definitive and powerful statement as His Divine Grace unfolds contemplative compositions that inspire and demand reflection.
The CD is spilt into three definitive chapters. Chapter one titled “These – Sekens Murdock” showcases the musical tribute to Murdock and establishes the musical introduction. Track one tilted “Les chevaux de feu” begins the album with an epic dark ambient anthem that combines churning industrial strength noise with interlacing drones and thunderous industrial sounds. Elusive samples of organ and choir enhance the experience lending a humanist emotional depth to the somber apocalyptic decimation established the industrial side of the music. Track two titled “Les gardiens du grand secret” features a shift in sound as His Divine Grace sheds the tormented confines of dark ambient music and steers the listner into ethereal ambience. Using a simple collection of finely articulated electronic sounds His Divine Grace sculpts a luminous song that elevates the spirit as it transports the listner into a sonic domain of alternating tones of purity. Track four titled “Verbum, lux et vita” unfolds with an element of suspense and an unknown presence dominating the tentative atmosphere as if invisible dwellers rove beyond the perimeter of the senses. Track four titled “Le voile levé” concludes the first chapter of the CD with a lonely and lengthy composition that combines delicate sonorous tones with tamed industrial rhythms and tuba like notes that resonate from the depths. “Le voile levé” is reminiscent of the organic ambient flow once achieved by O Yuki Conjugate though slightly darker and freed from the constrains of any ethnic influence.
Chapter two titled “Antithèse - Leontin Voigt Abilgaard” features five compositions themed around Abilgaard. The chapter begins with song five titled “De la nécessité de se taire.” “De la nécessité de se taire” leads the listner once again into yet another independent composition whose identity is only tenuously connected to its peers. The song begins with ominous drone music that is paired with voice samples and recorded sounds of water. As the song progresses the atmosphere darkens significantly as a threatening tone is established. Feelings of loneliness and isolation begin to creep up on the listner as His Divine Grace conjures forth an experimental ambient ballad that breathes with an uneasy rasp as it guides you through reflections of emotional carnage and fragility. Track six titled “Frayeurs initiatiques” continues the journey of isolation though the subterranean depths of the previous song seem somewhat further away. Using simple electronic tones and drones His Divine Grace subdues the listner with a hypnotic assault of suffering ambience. Track seven titled “Pourquoi... toujours pourquoi” sees light beginning to pierce the darkness as a slowly churning palate of voice samples dances with steadily growing waves of electronic sounds that drift awash in a delicate tapestry of sound. Like hope rising from the ashes of defeat the music gently stirs the listeners spirit to remember what has been lost and to react and reclaim. “L’opposition tacite” retreats once again into another suspenseful ambient narrative filled with dark ambience and ritualistic overtones that combine to offer a song filled with primal elements and an esoteric darkness that is tangible. “Le quatre-heure de crystal” ends the Abilgaard chapter of the CD on an experimental note as His Divine Grace abandons the listner to musical surrealism with a strong mind bending psychedelic tinge. Like witnessing events from the perspective of a heavily tranquilized yet conscious person the music washes across the listner like fragmented waves of conscious thought disarrayed and decaying.
Synthese et Syncretisme is the third and final chapter of the Le Grand Secret CD and it features a single song titled “Le Principe immuable.” ‘Le Principe immuable” is the most contemplative of all the tracks on the album and it lasts for more than sixteen minutes allowing for total submersion in the music. The finale does not end with a bang but rather on a very gentle note as His Divine Grace coaxes an incredible amount of sentiment, reflection and emotion from some of the simplest musical elements ever applied. Oscillating notes tepidly induce a spell that closes the album with brilliance and delicacy.
His Divine Grace is the type of electronic music that I covet. Grounded in industrial and ambient music His Divine Grace expertly melds his industrial musicl foundation with the openness of experimental composition. Each song is like a living entity, some transcendent and others primal and raw. Le Grand Secret sees His Divine Grace come to full fruition as he seizes upon literary figures deserving of his creativity. Le Grand Secret is an awesome display of imagination and musical surrealism and I highly recommend the album to those seeking to revel in previously undiscovered musical domains. Those who like bands like Propergol, Tordoih, Dusk Of Hope, and other promising dark filmic ambient music are encouraged to check out Le Grand Secret." [Malahki Thorn / Heathen Harvest]
|
2006 |
€6.00 |
|
| HISS |
Zahir |
CD |
Hiss is an improvisational quartet made up of one Englishman and three Norwegians with an instrumental line-up that is unremarkable enough, but with a sound that is fairly unique. Keyboardist/electronicist Pat Thomas is a veteran of the British free improv scene while guitarist Ivar Grydeland, bassist Tonny Kluften and percussionist Ingar Zach -- though the latter three are younger -- are mainstays of the Norwegian free jazz and improv cultures. The reasoning behind the Arabic-sounding track titles remains obscure. The music herein has some of the spikiness and general clamor associated with the post-SME scene in England, and leavened with allusions to contemporary electronica and even a tinge of rock-based fills. One might even be able to pick up the slightest influence of the very early Jan Garbarek groups: Grydeland sometimes brings to mind Terje Rypdal at his most extreme. Had the latter (a Norwegian saxophonist) stayed true to the aesthetic displayed in albums like Sart and Afric Pepperbird, it's just possible he might have been creating music like Hiss in 2002! For all their abstractions, the pieces hover in more of a free jazz vein than a non-idiomatic one. Though there are no solos per se; there is very much a sense of four individuals playing with less regard for the overall group sound than with creating a ruckus: a goal they reach often enough to make the album a fairly successful, noisy joyride. Listeners familiar with Company Weeks of the past, or the music produced along the Derek Bailey/Barry Guy/Evan Parker axis over the last several decades, may find nothing terribly groundbreaking here (though the title cut edges into intriguing territory). But overall it's a solid effort; very clearly recorded; that pays its own dividends.
|
2003 |
€6.00 |
|
| HISS TRACTS |
Shortwave Nights |
CD |
"180g Vinyl mit Kunstdruck und Downloadcode. 'Shortwave Nights' ist das Debüt von HISS TRACTS, einem neuen Duo aus David Bryant (GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR, SET FIRE TO FLAMES) und Kevin Doria (GROWING, TOTAL LIFE). Die beiden trafen sich 2004 und begründeten eine musikalische Freundschaft, die in drei GROWING Alben mündete, die im The Pines Studio von Bryant in Montreal aufgenommen wurden und in mehreren Kollaborationen mit z.B. dem experimentellen Filmkünstler Karl Lemieux. Probebänder für ein Underground Film Festival in Lausanne 2008 wurden zur Basis für HISS TRACTS; David und Kevin arbeiteten zwischen 2009 und 2013 daran, doch vieles von der Magie der ersten Versionen ist noch immer greifbar. Kevin und David sind instrumentale Musiker von ungewöhnlicher Tiefe und Intensität. HISS TRACTS eröffnet neue kollaborative und erzählerische Pfade, um die beiden Musiker die Soundlandschaft von Komposition und Produktion erforschen zu lassen. Beide sind Gitarristen und die E-Gitarre erscheint als Quelle von 'Shortwave Nights', doch die Fülle an zusätzlichen analogen Quellen und Signalen stellt sicher, dass dieser Sound hier nicht mit gitarrenbasiertem Drone, Noise oder Postrock verwechselt wird. 'Shortwave Night' setzt sich über solch engmaschigen Genrebegriffe hinweg und lässt sich ebenso wenig in die vorherrschenden Subgenres einordnen. Wenn Drone jedoch der Orientierungspunkt ist, dann liegt das sicherlich an dem Mix, der die einzelnen Elemente zu einer Wall of Sound in Stereo vereint. Dies ist keine Elektro-Platte und 'Shortwave Nights' begibt sich auch nicht in die Welt von Ambient oder Wave, vielmehr lässt sich der Sound hier im breiten Abstammungsfeld von Post-Industrial und Musique Concrète verorten. //
Shortwave Nights is the debut album by Hiss Tracts, a new duo featuring David Bryant (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Set Fire To Flames) and Kevin Doria (Growing, Total Life). The two met in 2004 and struck up a musical friendship that led to three Growing records being made at The Pines (Bryant's recording studio in Montreal) and a separate collaboration between the two, initially in conjunction with experimental filmmaker Karl Lemieux (also GY!BE's current 16mm auteur/projectionist). Rehearsal tapes from a set of sessions for a Lausanne Underground Film Festival performance in 2008 became the foundation and starting point for Hiss Tracts; David and Kevin continued working throughout 2009-2013, but much of the material from their earliest session is still present, in one state or another, within the tracks on this debut album.
The sonic preoccupations of Bryant and Doria are well-known and well-documented across many highly acclaimed recordings over the past fifteen years, from the organic, group-based, semi-improvised collage albums of Set Fire To Flames to the glimmering, immersive minimalism of Growing and the more maximalist full-spectrum noise works of Total Life. David and Kevin are instrumental music practitioners of uncommon depth and intensity; Hiss Tracts opens new collaborative, procedural and narrative pathways for these fine musicians to continue exploring soundscape-based composition and production. Both are guitar players, and the electric guitar figures as both recognizable and unrecognizable source instrument on Shortwave Nights, but the deployment of a wide range of additional analog sources and signals ensures that there is no confusing this for a guitar-based drone, noise or post-rock record.
Shortwave Nights defies categorization by terms like "drone" or "ambient" and it does not easily slip into any of the predominant subgenres that have proliferated around studio-based soundscape work in recent years. Insofar as drone is a touchstone, this has mostly to do with the approach to mixing, which tends towards a transcendent/trance-inducing integration of elements into a unified, saturated, wall-of-sound stereo field. The album contains no beats or programming and very little that is identifiably loop-based or overtly sampled and sampler-driven. Occasional deployments of digital signal processing remain firmly in the service of Hiss Tract's overriding framework and commitment to analog sources and human instrumentation. This is not an electronic record, nor does it sit comfortably at either the pastoral or spooky/sinister poles of any ambient or 'whatever'-wave spectrum; it can perhaps best be placed within the broad lineages of post-industrial and musique concrète.
Meditative and visceral, humming with the electromagnetic atmosphere through which all manner of frequencies, transmissions and surveillances pass and collide, Shortwave Nights strikes an evocative balance between sonics captured-channeled-harnessed vs. composed-sculpted-performed, with an almost documentary rigour and restraint that nonetheless remains profoundly charged and engaged. Constellation is thrilled to introduce this new project with a brilliant debut album that has heavily infiltrated our brains and bloodstreams since Bryant and Doria first played us the nearly-finished recordings in the fall of 2013. Thanks for listening.
Release date: 13 May 2014
Running time: 44:28
Packaging notes
CD comes in a custom gatefold jacket printed on thick 24pt. paperboard with a printed CD dust sleeve. LP is pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl at Optimal (Germany) and comes in a heavyweight jacket with black poly-lined audiophile dust sleeve, credit insert, pull-out art poster and download code for 320 kbps MP3 copy of the album." [label info]
www.cstrecords.com
|
2014 |
€14.50 |
|
| HITHLAHABUTH |
(drone) (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
a very own dimension of mind-enlarging sounds from this very unknown secretful german formation, first vinyl!
"LIMITED+NUMBERED FIRST EDITION OF 250 COPIES
on CLEAR VINYL; LINOTYPE-, DRAWN & COLOUR-PRINTED COVERS.
HITHLAHABUTH ARE AN UNKNOWN AND VERY MYSTERIOUS GROUP FROM GERMANY WHO HAVE BEEN ACTIVE FOR MORE THEN 10 YEARS. AS YET, THEY RELEASED ONLY A FEW OF THEIR WORKS ON THEIR OWN 'HITHLAHABUTH RECORDS' LABEL WHICH ALSO SERVED TO RELEASE THEIR SOLO (OFTEN UNDER DIFFERENT NAMES) & COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS.
HITHLAHABUTH IS THE NAME FOR "BURNING" OR "GLOWING" IN THE SENSE OF ECSTASY OF THE RELIGIOUS NOTION OF "CHASSIDISM".
DRONE RECORDS ARE VERY PROUD TO BE THE LABEL TO BRING OUT THE VERY FIRST VINYL-RELEASE BY THIS GROUP WHICH IS ALSO THIS IS THE FIRST RELEASE FROM THEM THAT HAS APPEARED ON ANY OTHER LABEL EXCEPT THEIR OWN HITHLAHABUTH RECORDS.
THE TWO TRACKS "DIDGE-DRONE" AND "DROWN-DRONE" WORK WITH VOICES, SYNTHS, DIDGERIDOO AND UNKNOWN SOURCES TO CREATE A VERY MYSTERIOUS MUSIC THAT IS FAR AWAY FROM THE CLICHE-LIKE 'DARK-INDUSTRIAL'. THEIR MUSIC HAS A VERY NATURAL TOUCH...MUSIC THAT SEEMS TO GLOW IN A PROFOUND WAY DOWN INTO YOUR EMOTIONAL PATH...THIS HAS A POSITIVE & SACRAL, NEARLY RELIGIOUS TOUCH INSIDE, WHICH COULD HAVE A POSITIVE EFFECT ON YOUR BODY & SOUL.
"HITHLAHABUTH CREATE MUSIC ABOUT THE FESTIVAL OF LIFE"
DRONE RECORDS DR-17/ MAY 1996 |
1996 |
€ |
|
| HIVE MIND / HOTOTOGISU |
split |
7inch |
Zweimal Noise-Muzak pur! Die HOTOTOGISU-Seite "Full Prince Charles" (live in Copenhagen, 12.2005) kracht low-fi und hochfrequent und kontrastiert so aufs beste mit dem analog rauschig-dronig wallenden Studio-Stück "Collapsed Shroud" von HIVE MIND, bei dem flirrende Effekte regelrecht abheben...
"Legendary Matthew Bower (Skullflower, Sunroof!) and Marcia Bassett (Double Leopards/GHQ) duo unleash a brain-scouring blast of white light/heat. Hive Mind head Greh Holger creeps out a negative graveyard of tonal droning. Limited edition release with very few copies available--act fast!" [label notes]
www.nofunfest.com/nofunprod
|
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
| HLADNA |
Melting Water |
CD |
Lobenswerte Re-issue dieses frühen HLADNA-Albums, mehrschichtige Schwälle von metallisch-fliessenden Lava-Klang, heruntergetunte Gesänge, alles verliert sich in unendlich grossen Hallräumen... auch wild ekstatisch-krachige Parts kommen vor... frühe MAEROR TRI sind hier auch nicht weit..
"The reissue of early album from Saint-Petersburg noise artist Nikolay Kalmykov's project Hladna. Recorded in 1998-1999 and released as a very limited CDR, it is still one of the best records ever made by Russian industrial scene and the CD edition was long overdue. This is ritual ambient with some additions of noise and metal percussion, reminding of some classic Lustmord, Cranioclast or early Hybryds tracks, but the sound is more raw and harsh. The overall atmosphere of industrial decay is rather brutal and rusty than profound and mystical here, but there are obvious strong primordial currents in this music that wake up your archaic patterns. The release comes as a beautiful paper folder limited to 300 numbered copies." [label info]
|
2007 |
€13.50 |
|
| HODGKINSON, TIM & MILO FINE |
Teshuvah |
CD |
"TWO BLOKES FINDING SOUND IN THE MIDST OF
A Sort of Macrocosm
Insufferable and absurd. But, what else to expect? Because we are (imagine ourselves to be?) sentient, or rather, due to the manner in which western "civilization", an infectious disease which has managed to inculcate almost every indigenous culture on the planet, has manifested this sentience, we are an utterly disingenuous species. Our actions, in one way or another, are, for the most part (exclusively?) unintentional manifestations of what lurks beneath; unacknowledged, suppressed, repressed, willfully unknown. Our behavioral watchwords? Rationalization and justification. Why? Well, fear of course, Knowing we will cease to exist, or, perhaps more accurately, lacking the ability to fathom the eternal (or what we imagine it to be), we turn to so-called power, material wealth, fame and the like as pathetically meagre compensation. Now, there are those who would, in the current lexicon, argue that "it's all good", which is nothing but a rephrasing of essential tenets found in any number of belief systems/philosophies. And while there is no doubt that truly existing in the eternity of every moment, to treat what we generally separate into "good" or "bad"/ "positive" or "negative", as nothing but unified energy of which we are simply a part -- to, in other words, maintain a sense of calm and "being" regardless of life's circumstances -- would likely be ideal, or close to it. But, given the essence of humanity's overall conditioning and wiring, this state is, sadly, more or less impossible to attain, never mind sustain. Not to say that it isn't worth considering and attempting. But, in the meantime, let's drop the pretense; the state of the world -- inner and outer -- makes it clear that it is not all good, and to excuse our behavior is to propagate the missteps that personify humanity.
Certainly A Microcosm
Social gatherings are all, to one degree or another, insufferable and absurd. Fraught with rampant hidden agendas and their manifestations -- positioning (hierarchal maneuvering) and networking (careerism) -- and underscored by insecurity and thinly veiled desperation (a bit thicker for those with truly sociopathic tendencies), how could they be otherwise? And, having such a gathering in the name of "art" only compounds the unbearableness, because the meaningful realization of the creative impulse should have at least something to do with transcendence. Not "transcendence" as a marketing tool or an image mongering label, but transcendence. So, when a local academy hosted yet another insular affair -- in this case, a "festival of electronic music and arts" -- wherein the invitees ranged from graduate students to out-of-town guests (underwritten by their own academies to come and display their wares; that is to say, add yet another line to their curriculum vitaes), the resultant lack of transcendence can hardly come as a surprise. And, indeed, just on the surface, there's abundant evidence as to how brilliantly this event works at cross purposes. First, it's centered around technology, which, these days, as one knows, means lap top gimmickry (and slow downloads). Second, there's a preponderance of hackneyed and merciless expropriation of indigenous musics, a clear sign of wrong-headed political correctness. Third, as part of ever elusive "audience development", there is much pandering to rock/pop influences. Fourth, the programming style is all pastiche -- a little of this, a little of that -- catering to short attention spans. (And, do I need to mention how the curator and others high in the food chain, get to present their work in the better, more prestigious venues? I thought not.) In all, it's fascinating how an event so concerned with creativity is, for the most part, so utterly bereft of same.
Tim and I first met when he came to town with Konk Pack (a trio which also includes Roger Turner and Thomas Lehn) in the fall of 2007. In addition to playing a duo set with Roger that evening, I had served as a middle man of sorts in setting up the gig, which, due to the curator dropping the ball vis a vis communications, almost didn't happen. (And, even when it did, the evening itself was filled with an assortment of additional miscues, which Tim -- the group's de facto "tour manger " -- and I handled well, and, perhaps more importantly, with good humor.) Tim and I didn't talk a lot that evening or at brunch the next day, but, as evidenced by our on-the-spot problem solving and the exchanges we did have, there was an obvious overlapping of sensibilities and interests. Evidently, Tim thought so too. I was, however, surprised and amused when Tim let me know he was returning to participate in this, as we say in the states, "dog and pony" show (i.e., an empty showcase). (That he was a member of an ensemble not playing his music -- a hired hand, so to speak -- mitigated my surprise.) In his e-mail he expressed an interest in finding some time to hang out amongst the rehearsals and performances. I countered by suggesting we get together to play. So, we elected to attempt both, but, naturally, given logistical concerns (schedules and transportation) the path to something simple was replete with small stumbling blocks. Enter filmmaker/videographer Mike Yaeger. Part of my unexpected and last minute middle man duties on Tim's previous visit was to find accommodations for Konk Pack. For several reasons, three people would have been a bit much at my place. Particularly in the light of Roger having opened his home to me for several days in 2003 while I was in England, his staying with me was a foregone conclusion. Fortunately, in an inspired moment, I remembered Mike had a long standing admiration for Tim's work. So, I contacted him about the possibility of Tim and Thomas spending the night at his house. Having met and had quite a long conversation with Tim the preceding year, Mike was delighted. This time around (late winter 2008), Tim had already alerted Mike to his return, but Mike was unaware that I had suggested our getting together to play. This prospect was especially exciting for him, because, in addition to his abiding respect for Tim's music, Mike has expressed a deep appreciation for my work as evidenced by his recurring bursts of support. (That a virodha bhakti -- devotion by defiance -- undercurrent informs our relationship is not surprising, as it is a recurring theme in my interpersonal dynamics.) He was, therefore, very keen on videotaping our session. And, because the audio on his camera is of mediocre quality, he suggested, no, almost insisted that I record it with my DAT equipment (consisting of a recorder, mixer and four microphones). I, on the other hand, just wanted to keep things simple and make some music. But, Mike, in his unbridled enthusiasm, can be extremely persuasive, and so we compromised. I'd record it, but with a basic stereo mike set-up.
Looking at the festival schedule, I noted the first day I was available to hear Tim, and made tentative arrangements to meet and go out with him and Mike. But that, of course, entailed the concerted effort of entering a domain that, despite my efforts to place occurrences in a broader context, nonetheless so irritates my nerve endings. Thus, with as much of an accepting attitude as I could muster, and keeping open the option that there just might, might be something of interest to hear (which, as it turns out there was, but just barely), I entered the venue where Tim would be playing and, once inside the performing space proper, immediately detected the pervasive stench of heightened self-importance and the politics of music as, first and foremost, a career path. A sort of existential nausea washed over me. With a demeanor of subtle defiance, I found a place to sit as some vacant post-modern design-form morphed on the stage's screen. Within moments, I spotted an enthralled Mike, who, for all his perspicacious opinions concerning artistic endeavor, can, in certain circumstances, be quite a, shall we say, forgiving listener; and Viv Corringham, one of my regular collaborators, whom I mercilessly (and, if I may be so bold, justifiably) tease for regularly showing up at these sorts of affairs. (However, as she actually participated in this event the previous year, her presence was de rigueur. Moreover, given that Viv has a genuine arts degree, one readily recognizes the force of habit extending from a good indoctrination, er, education.) During breaks between pieces, and almost trembling with displeasure, I asked Mike when we could get out of there, phrasing it along the lines of, "When the fuck can we get out of here and get something to eat?". He seemed perplexed and annoyed, to the point where, a bit later, and subsequent to Tim and I having warmly reestablished contact, Mike indicated he wouldn't be able to give Tim a ride to the session on Saturday, because he didn't want to miss any of the concerts (and, additionally, would have his young daughter, Alice, in tow). With no other viable options, I said I'd fetch Tim and get him back afterwards. Slight tensions aside, the four of us decided to get together for a meal prior to to Tim's next appearance that evening. The dinner at a small Indian restaurant was lovely; the usual push-pull banter amongst new and old comrades (Viv having known Tim for quite some time). Naturally, a fair portion of the conversation centered around the event at hand. And while Mike would have loved to find an ally in Tim concerning positive aspects of the festival, Tim was having none of it, and even went so far as to regale us with some wonderful and revealing behind-the-scenes stories. As the evening went on, Mike, in particular, was concerned about getting to the next venue in time to get a seat. I was, of course, in no great hurry, never imagining, in the light of the afternoon event's modest audience, that the place would be filled to capacity. Much to my chagrin, however, that was indeed the case, perhaps in part because it was a smaller venue. (Despite his being a performer in the evening's second half, even Tim wasn't allowed entrance.) Thankfully, my companions forgave me for filibustering at the restaurant. And, as we were in good spirits, and the ushers a good audience for our persiflage, we enjoyed our time in the lobby. Expectedly, some people left during the interval, so there were more seats to be had. I stayed to hear Tim, and then beat a hasty retreat.
Encounter
Saturday. Mike bringing Tim after all. Cart the smaller drum kit upstairs. Set it up. Open the piano. Assemble the clarinet. Set up the recording equipment. And, naturally, wait. Chronicling via cell phone: delayed rehearsals, concerts predictably running late, the convolutions surrounding their finding a place for a quick meal before arriving, and Mike's ongoing "negotiations" with Alice. Having a sense as to when Tim had to be back "on the job", I started thinking we'd have no time to play at all. Another call, they're almost here. Arrival. Mike and Tim set up their equipment, and, given the time constraints, we eschew a sound check. Then, without a word, the music starts. Now, if I may back up a moment. Previous to his hearing me play clarinets with Roger the year before, Tim knew fuck-all about my music. And my exposure to his work was limited; the early progressive/art rock, the raucous, improvised environs of Konk Pack (which didn't involve much woodwind playing), and the frugal bursts characterizing his contributions to the festival. So my expectations (like assumptions, a tricky business) were of a spare, lyrically-tinged aesthetic, perhaps informed by some "noisy" eruptions. But, when Tim put his horn to his mouth, it was all technically sharp, inventive fire. And I was delighted, as much for the music that was there, that moment, and to come, as for the fact that my expectations had been wonderfully circumvented. Improvisation. My lifework.
Acknowledgments
Mike, thanks very much for all your help, and, particularly for suggesting, er, insisting that I record the session.
(And, thank you to Kevin Cosgrove, whose serendipitous mentioning the word "renunciant" in a conversation just after my having essentially finished these notes, brought the track titles into focus.)
-- © milo fine (july 2008) " [label info / credits]
www.rossbin.com
" 'Teshuvah' reflects a first meeting between of two experienced veteran improvisors: Tim Hodgkinson (Henry Cow, Konk Pack, etc.) and Milo Fine. The career of Fine goes back to 1969 when he started The Milo Fine Free Jazz Ensemble. Throughout his career he was dedicated to free improvised music. I guess both gentlemen are more or less of the same age. Also Hodgkinson has a longlasting relation with free improvisation, as it was already part of the Henry Cow. They combined rock and free improvisation. In the last few years Hodgkinson tours regularly with his trio Konk Pack (Roger Turner, Thomas Lehn). During a concert in Minnesota he met Fine and the idea for a duo-session came up. It was realized in Fine's home, on a day in march 2008. Two long extended and one short improvisation made it to the CD that has Fine playing piano, drums, b flat clarinet and voice and Hodgkinson on b flat clarinet. While listening one feels the joy they had in their fabulous interactions. Never a dull moment during these sparkling, catch-me-while-you-can improvisations" [DM / Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| HOEDH |
Universum |
CD |
"Last studio-album and musical testament of T.H. Thiel ( ORDO CATHARSIS TEMPLI ), who died in April 2003, only few days after putting the final touches to this impressive album. Like only few ambient artists, HOEDH succeed to awake a feeling of longing and melancholy within every listener and at the same time HOEDH create a feeling of inner silence: a spiritual drowning into your soul. ( HOEDH hymnus 1996) UNIVERSUM was released as official - In Memoriam Album - in collaboration with Ordo Catharsis Templi, who s founder T.H.Thiel was." [label info]
"HOEDh was thee projekt ov thee German artist Thorn Hoedh who passed away on thee night ov May 15th-16th 2003.. he was involved in thee projekts: Delysid , DLS, Helix 12, Moksha, and Ordo Catharis Templi!! thee two albums shared here are some ov thee most beauteous dark ambient releases which one could hope to encounter!! Hymnvs was released in 1993 on thee Atmosphere sublabel ov Dark Vinyl which was dedicated to generally more rhythmic ambient music.. and Universum was released post-humously on thee Dark Vinyl Records label on thee first ov April 2004.. again here are presented more releases from thee astounding 23 Temple!!"
[vitaignescorpuslignum.blogspot.com]
|
2004 |
€8.00 |
|
| HOGAN, ANNI |
Kickabye |
do-CD |
"Von ihren frühen Tagen als Batcave DJane bis zu ihren Kollaborationen mit MARC ALMOND (MARC AND THE MAMBA, WILLING SINNERS, LA MAGIA) ist ANNI HOGAN eins der wahren Genies der Alternative Szene. Als Komponistin, Songwriterin, Produzentin, DJane und Promoterin half sie dabei, dem Sound der 80s eine Form zu verleihen. Ihre musikalische Karriere erstreckt sich über drei Jahrzehnte, in denen sich die großen Namen nur so am Wegesrand sammeln. Als DJane spielte sie mit SOFT CELL, THE THE, EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN, TEST DEPT, JAPAN, NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS, ADRIAN SHERWOOD; als Pianistin und Keyboarderin hat sie live und im Studio mit SOFT CELL, SIMON FISHER TURNER, NICK CAVE, PAUL WELLER, BARRY ADAMSON, LYDIA LUNCH, ZEKE MANYIKA, SEX GANG CHILDREN, YELLO, CAGED BABY und natürlich MARC ALMOND gearbeitet. Ihr Solodebüt ,Kickabye" erscheint hier in ausgeweiteter Version erstmals als CD und wartet mit einigen Alternative Größen auf: NICK CAVE auf 'Vixo' (exklusiv!)), MARC ALMOND auf 'Burning Boats', FOETUS, BUDGIE (SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES) und GINI BALL. Auf der CD trifft die eigentliche ,Kickabye" EP (produziert von Jim ,FOETUS" Thirwell) auf zehn weitere Songs aus der gleichen Zeit. Mit neuen und exklusiven Versionen von MARC ALMOND Tracks. www.myspace.com/annihogan" [label info/Cargo]
"From her early days as a legendary Batcave DJ, through her work wth Marc Almond (Marc And The Mambas, Willing Sinners, La Magia), Anni Hogan is one of the true geniuses of the alternative scene. A composer, songwriter, arranger, producer, promoter and DJ, she helped to shape the sound of the 80s.
In a musical career spanning three decades she has worked with many successful artists in a variety of capacities. As a DJ she performed with artists including: Soft Cell, The The, Einstürzende Neubauten, Test Dept, Japan, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Adrian Sherwood. On Piano and Keyboards she has performed live and in studios all over the world with artists including: Soft Cell, Simon Fisher Turner, Nick Cave, Paul Weller, Barry Adamson, Lydia Lunch, Zeke Manyika, Sex Gang Children, Yello, Caged Baby and of course Marc Almond.
Cold Spring is proud to present her debut release expanded and brought to the public for the first time on CD.
"Kickabye" features some of the leading lights of the alternative scene: NICK CAVE on 'Vixo' (exclusive to this release), MARC ALMOND on 'Burning Boats', FOETUS, BUDGIE (Siouxsie And The Banshees) and GINI BALL amongst others.
The first CD is the original "Kickabye" EP (produced by Jim "Foetus" Thirwell), plus 10 extra tracks from the same period.
The second CD is also tracks from the same period. 'Blue Nabou' features YELLO. Production by BARRY ADAMSON on 'Hopes And Fears', 'Wasting Time', 'Senseless', 'A Place To Belong', 'Everything We Do', 'Self', 'The Story So Far' and 'Each Day'.
This digitally remastered work contains new and exclusive versions of 'The Frost Comes Tomorrow' (originally released on "The Stars We Are" by Marc Almond), 'The Hustler' (originally released on "Mother Fist" by Marc Almond), 'Blood Tide' (originally released on "Violent Silence" by Marc Almond), 'Margaret' (originally released on "Untitled" by Marc And The Mambas)." [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2009 |
€16.50 |
|
| HOHMANN, MARTIJN |
Donkere Kamer |
CDr + ART |
Field recordings made in Rotterdam, Breda, and Antwerp early 2022 and Groot Ammers summer 2021
Additional processing, editing, (soft)synths and mixing may-august 2022.
Little over a month after I was asked by Frans to do a piece for his new NDWICM label I got news that photographer Mark Rietveld had passed on by choice. The piece, which by then was more than halfway finished, already contained recordings from underneath de Schelde river in Antwerp made a few months earlier, on the very night I met up with Mark for the last time. The piece turned into a kind of homage.
Donkere kamer is a single sixty minute piece divided into five parts.
1. De man met de Zeiss
The Dutch equivalent of the Grim Reaper and also the man with the (Leica) camera. He who takes life and he who captures life. Death and the photographer converge.
2. De trein der traagheid
The title was taken from the wonderful book by Johan Daisne with the same name. A man wakes up in a train and finds himself, alongside two other passengers, the only ones awake. The three passengers leave the train and continue their nightly journey by foot. Slowly they come to realize they must have been in a train accident and are no longer walking the world of the living.
3. Sint-Anna onder de Schelde
Recordings made in the pedestrian tunnel that runs under the Schelde river in Antwerp. Crossing the river, a Styx Belgica.
4. Markdal
Frogs recorded in Het Markdal, a nature reserve in Breda. The Japanese word for frog is \"kaeru\", which also means \"returning home\".
5. Rietveld
Processed strings and recordings inside a reedfield in the Ammersche Boezem. The ancient Egyptians believed that the soul resides in the heart and so, upon death, the Weighing of the Heart occurred. Each human heart is weighed on a giant scale against an ostrich feather. Those souls which balance the scales are allowed to enter into A\'Aru “The Field of Reeds”, where they will exist in pleasure for all eternity.
Donkere Kamer (dutch for dark room) packaged in a deluxe photographic paper envelope style packaging that holds with five B&W photographs in a light tight bag, a 35 mm negative and inserts. Limited to 50 copies numbered and signed.
https://universaalkunst.bandcamp.com/album/donkere-kamer |
2023 |
€17.50 |
|
| HOLOTROP |
Manifestation de l'Antinatalisme |
LP |
"dark ambient activist holotrop returns to raubbau after his 2017 offering „dead bird calling“ - and again he fathoms the darkest and doomiest realms of his art. his nihilism seems almost prophetic considering the course of the world, a world which is literally in flames! replete with philosophical references, „manifeste de l’antinatalisme“ conjures up a truly dystopian vision of the world. this lp is a sinister swan song to consumerism, eternal growth and progress, a eulogy for humanity as such.
and yet, there’s a sense of irony in the fact that holotrop puts across his message in the most refined musical way, a subtly complex approach he has developed in recent years, a versatility that enables him to make his statement as simple and concise at it is: immersive synth drones lure the listener to the edge of the abyss, pounding beats send him into the vortex of despair.
better to never have been born!"
https://raubbau.bandcamp.com/album/manifestation-de-lantinatalisme
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| HOLTERBACH, MANU & JULIA ECKHARDT |
Do-Undo (in g maze) |
CD |
"Do-Undo is a project that emerged out of Q-O2 Werkplaats, a sound-art laboratory of sorts based in Brussels. Julia Eckhardt, one of the artistic directors of this workspace, has been building an archive of recordings, comprised of long-form viola pieces played exclusively in G. This archive, in turn, has been passed on to various musicians, who can use those recordings as they see fit. Enter Manu Holterbach, a French sound-artist, field recordist, and ingenious instrument builder, who had taken part in several Q-O2 residencies; and it was there that he met Eckhardt and was presented with part of the archive of those minimalist viola recordings to use as source material. Eckhardt's recordings seek the rich, if occasionally dissonant, overtones that have been central to the minimalist works of Tony Conrad, Phill Niblock, Eliane Radigue, and Ellen Fullman. And in his reconstitution of her recordings, Holterbach populates his compositions with field recordings whose turbulent textures and bristling movements sympathetically weave amidst the rasping drones from the viola. On a rather technical level, Holterbach's field recordings on his composition 'Two Stasis Made Out of Electricity' -- an arc lamp, the sounds of Parisian subways, an electric power plant -- all naturally buzz with the same G of Eckhardt's viola, without the benefit of digital pitch shifting. The resulting drones transcend any conceits of conceptualism and strategic intent, instead seeing no difference between the sounds of the environment (man-made or otherwise) and the sounds of the academy. As such, Do-Undo (In G Maze) will undoubtedly please those with an ear for the aforementioned Phill Niblock as well as the controlled impressionism of Andrew Chalk. A letter-pressed edition of a mere 300 copies." [label info]
www.helenscarsdale.com
"In Brussels we find a sound-art laboratory called Q-O2 Werkplaats which is run by, among others Julia Eckhardt, who is also a performing musician herself. Over the years she has build an archive of viola recordings played exclusively in G. People who visited the Q-O2 Werkplaats could use these recordings. One of them is Manu Holterbach, who works primarily inside field recordings. He brings to the table recordings of an arc lamp, the sounds of Parisian subways and an electric powerplant - all of which happen to be in G. too. All of this is combined in 'Do-Undo (In G Maze)' which is a lovely work of acoustic drones and field recordings. Quite an intense piece of work actually, that, despite the fact that this is all acoustic and field recordings alike, sound pretty much 'electric', rather than 'electronic'. A big buzzing, ringing enters your environment, with some excellent changes that add a further vibrancy to the material. Cut into two pieces, the first one seems to draw the attention to the acoustic side, while the second is more about the electrically charged sound. Think a refined meeting between Phill Niblock and Alvin Lucier and you get my drift. Limited to just 300 copies, so grab it while you can." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| HOLTKAMP, KOEN |
Field Rituals |
CD |
" 'Field Rituals' is the first solo album to come from Koen Holtkamp, an artist probably better known as one half of ambient duo Mountains. Based in Brooklyn, Koen created the album slowly and as a love letter of sorts, taking in delicate field recordings and using them like faded photos representing his distinct memories of the people and places he chanced upon. Some may have heard the incredible ‚Make Haste’ which appeared on limited edition vinyl earlier in the year, but this was only a taste of what Koen has to offer on ’Field Rituals’.
Taking cues from the classic ambience of Brian Eno and fusing it with the instrumental subtlety of Sweden’s Tape, Koen has come up with an aural book on his subject matter. Each track feels entwined in the next and feels like a part of something much bigger. Sure we’ve heard field recordings, synthesizers and guitars before but rarely have these instruments been injected with such a lightness of touch and with such a delicate open ear. Each listen reveals more, like peeling back layers of onion skin – take the album’s epic centrepiece ’Sky Flowers’ for example, which blends slow-moving synthesizers with good-natured environmental recordings and shimmering strings. The result is explosive somehow, with the grandeur more usually exploited by Arvo Part being framed with a distant electronic ambience.
The slow-burning pace is probably the single most important facet and reveals an artist at ease with his musical choices, something unusual in a genre brimming with young hopefuls. A good comparison might be Stars of the Lid, but Koen’s music is more organic and more humble somewhat than the ex-Texan duo. In the end we are just proud that Koen has allowed us a look into this most personal of works." [label info]
"Here be the first full length album from Mountains-man Koen Holtkamp. You may recall we got in (and sold out) his contribution to
the A Room Forever series of LPs commissioning artists to match a field recording on one side with a sympathetic composition on the other. Where his offering there was a dark-hued, ominous crescendo of crackled drone sourced from acoustic guitar, Field Rituals has its
head in the clouds. Holtkamp begins the album with a lovely round of brightly rendered acoustic guitar finger picking with some tricked out ring modulation effects giving each of the tones a sun-flecked glow and funhouse mirror curvature. Sustained drones from loops of melodica and harmonica mutate into an ersatz harmonium with the soaring overtones and sweeping fluctuations of tonalities gently crashing into each other. The loops every once in a while coalesce into a rhythmic underbelly, but mostly they settle as a effervescent bubbling of overlapping delay patterns and softly shimmered ambience. On top of all of this, Holtkamp dapples everything with his shimmered guitar and occasional crackles of tactile objects (he mentions water, seeds, ice, and paper) as well as field recordings of giggly children romping in a playground. The effect is somewhere between the immaculate pieces from Keith Fullerton Whitman's recordings and the bright-eyed naturalist
wonder of the Jewelled Antler camp. Really gorgeous stuff from the ever impressive Type label." [Aquarius Records review]
www.typerecords.com
|
2008 |
€16.00 |
|
| HOLY SIMILAUN |
Radicor al flort, espert on'ill il erb, aor Raetia |
LP |
Holy Similaun and Archipel dwell once again in the complex intersection of human memory, time and its perception with "Radicor al flort, espert on'ill il erb, aor Raetia".
In just under 20', this ideal in-depth analysis of "Arcaskathel" explores the blurred boundaries between reality and illusion.
Electronic and ambient soundscapes meld with japanese instrumentation and rouge-ah's poignant harp to create a sonic tapestry that ebbs and flows between moments of serene beauty and frenzied dissonance.
From longing nostalgia to the violent confusion and disorientation that comes with the loss of memory, this tracking shot invites the listener to explore the nuances of each sound and word, amidst the juxtaposition of brutal distortion, soaring melodies and punishing walls of noise.
The bold vocals, expertly crafted by Archipel, add another layer of depth to the already rich sonic landscape, shifting from demonic whispers to lullabies in the blink of an eye.
Even in its most turbulent moments, "Radicor al flort, espert on'ill il erb, aor Raetia" remains grounded in a sense of grace and beauty. The echoes of this immersive sonic experience will stay with you long after the music has stopped.
https://kohlhaas.bandcamp.com/album/radicor-al-flort-espert-onill-il-erb-aor-raetia
"With a playing time of eleven minutes for the first side, and eight for the second, I think this is instead a 12" than an LP; also because it spins at 45 rpm. I had not heard of Holy Similaun before, whose debut album is Aphex Twin-approved (good for Holy). Similaun also worked with Carhartt, Slam Jam and Spazio Maiocchi and with Zoë McPherson - none of which I had heard of (I am sure I move in different circles. Holy Similaun is responsible for the music, while Urska Preis plays the harp, and one Archipel delivers vocals and lyrics. These are in Italian, so some got lost in translation. I would think that digital manipulation plays an important role here, but at the same time, I don't know if that is true. Everything is about deconstruction is my best guess, which on the first
side, called 'Radicor al flort, espert' (which seemed not easy to translate), has a dark ambient backing in an orchestral modus. At one point, a voice recites a text when the piece is busy on its long descent down. Everything is now apart, so the peace ends. On the other side, the likewise difficult to translate 'on'ill il erb, or Raetia' is more atmosphere, more voice, and more musique concrète deconstructing of sounds. What and why there is a need to deconstruct (and, again, if that is the case here) is something that isn't entirely clear. This site is a livelier and more dynamic one than the other side. I found it all pretty enjoyable, but also a bit too obscure in the idea, message, concept, or... anything like that. Plus, of course, why only so short?" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€18.00 |
|
| HONEYMOON KILLERS (LES TUEURS DE LA LUNE DE MIEL) |
Les Tueurs de la Lune de Miel |
CD |
"Fronted by the late Yvon Vromman, The Honeymoon Killers were a provocative band with a strong pop sensibility. This album made them the darlings of the music press all around Europe (including in the UK, a rare feat for a French-singing act), and their delirious live shows gained them a strong following. Les Tueurs also included vocalist Véronique Vincent, Gerald Fenerberg, Jeanf Jones Jacob and Aksak Maboul/Crammed originators Marc Hollander & Vincent Kenis.
The album originally came out in 1982. It was first re-issued on CD in 2003, augmented with 4 previously-unreleased live tracks from 1981 (with Aksak Maboul), a track recorded for a NME tape, and the 3 tracks from the "Subtitled Remix" EP (it had been strongly suggested to the band that they could broaden their audience if they recorded English versions of their songs. The Killers chose instead to “subtitle” them, or rather to add new, English-speaking characters to the songs: The Copter-hater, who lives a parallel story to that of the heroin of “Histoire à Suivre”, Mummy and Jason who comment the actions of the quarelling couple in “J4”, and Dr Stone, Max and Colonel LaFièvre, who turn the instrumental “Ariane” into a mini-space opera entitled “A Deep Space Romance”)." [label info]
www.crammed.be
Les Tueurs by Gilles Verlant:
"The main quality and the main problem of the Honeymoon Killers is that they saw everything in duplicate. It's a recurrent drama with Belgians in general and artists in particular: they are often seriously schizophrenic. Let's start with their name. The Honeymoon Killers, like Leonard Kastle's 1970 film about a couple of serial killers ? Or Les Tueurs de la Lune de Miel, with this amusing contrast between menacing (Tueurs) and comforting words (Miel) ? They can't decide, so they'll put both names on the cover and the public will have to sort it out for themselves. And then who's the leader, or at any rate, who gets photographed for the press ? Is it Yvon Vromman, who is unshaven and ugly with his big round nose, but makes you die laughing (actually he's the one who'll die, far too early), a real bundle of nerves, the kind of psychopath which blows up in your face as soon as something goes wrong ? Or is it the evanescent Véronique Vincent, an ex-model and journalist ? In 1982 the New Musical Express doesn't think twice: the girl will make the cover. You can imagine Yvon's face: after all, he's the one who started this band! In the end, this internal competition will undermine them and make them explode in mid-flight. But there was even more schizophreny in the Killers: they were clearly going in several musical directions at the same time. Raw energy stemming from punk and new wave on the one hand, and serious musical skills of some band members on the other. What united them is the desire to have laughs, to experiment, to subvert influences without giving a damn about what's in and what's out (and maybe that's why their songs haven't aged, which is a thing you can't say about that many albums recorded back in 1981 !). Hey guys, let's make provocative versions of songs by Sheila and France Gall (two French pop stars from the '60s) ! They were only slightly more respectful with Charles Trenet's classic "Route Nationale 7", which went on to become a radio hit in France, while the press went apeshit.
In reality, the Honeymoon Killers were a band from the 21st century which had unfortunately fallen into a spatio-temporal flaw. Today, all the things they were fighting for with their little fists tightly clenched (and their little tongues firmly screwed in their cheeks) have become totally obvious: being quirky and imaginative, not taking oneself too seriously, bravely mixing electro-and-pop-and-world-and-jazz etc. The Tueurs must absolutely reform. Yvon, don't act stupid, come back, all is forgiven !
[GV writes books and television programs. He is the author of the definitive Serge Gainsbourg biography.]
www.crammed.be
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Special Manubre |
CD |
"Released at last for the first time on CD, the debut album by The Honeymoon Killers caused quite a bit of commotion when it first came out in 1977, on Marc Moulin's ephemeral Kamikaze label. At that time, the band consisted of an assortment of miscreants, taxi drivers, cooks, professional gamblers and other musical delinquents who performed a massacre on all genres, from rockabilly and punk to marching band music, French chanson and free jazz.
This reissue includes previously-unreleased live versions of Jimi Hendrix's Machine Gun and Dick Annegarn's Bébé Eléphant.
In this early incarnation, Les Tueurs de la Lune de Miel turned into something of a legend in Brussels. Fronted by the late Yvon Vromman, they scoured the bars and concert halls of the Belgian capital, preceded by a well-deserved reputation of being notorious troublemakers. The outcome of their shows was always unpredictable (they were known to throw raw meat at their audience). They were arrogant, ferociously funny, and developed a rather personal type of art brut (see the original 1977 press release below).
In 1980, core Tueurs members Yvon, Jeanf Jones Jacob III & Gerald Fenerberg and core Aksak Maboul members (Crammed founder) Marc Hollander & Vincent Kenis (of Konono/Congotronics fame) recruited each other to revamp their respective bands. Joined by vocalist Véronique Vincent, they recorded the classic avant-pop album Les Tueurs de la Lune de Miel/The Honeymoon Killers, which earned them the privilege (then rare for an act singing in French) of becoming the darlings of the music press all around Europe, where they toured extensively before disbanding in 1985. Honeymoon Killers leader & songwriter Yvon Vromman passed away in 1989."
[label info]
www.crammed.be
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| HORIST, B. / K.K.NULL |
Interstellar Chemistry |
CD |
Unusual and undescribable wild surroundings on this collaborative effort with great guitar-sounds which reveal a deeper beauty after a while.. ! And every track is different !
“ No laptop music here! Real instruments played by real musicians. Ah, the flowers of romance. In this instance, as it turns out, Bill is Horistaculturalist to Null's garden of unearthly delights. Boom Shankar: Null plants the seed, Bill grows the seed, and we EAT the seed. What in Hell's name am I going on about? Well, it's like this: Null provided sonic source material which Horist then organised, manipulated and added on to. So what happened? Scrumptious musical confectionaries with surprise flavour centers! Much of it is like IDM with the boring removed. More deep and less bleep. The drum machinations pound out strains reminiscent of Ikue More (ala Death Praxis) or latter day Bruce Gilbert with a bit of controlled early Nurse With Wound wail thrown in as if this amalgamation were the soundtrack to an old Atari video game (see also Haruomi Hosono). And then comes the second track! Horists' guitar techniques are exciting, weird, rhythmic, Harry Partch-like ('Luminous Lullaby'), indescribable, explosive, ugly and beautiful. And just when it gets nuts, a melancholy paean to Boards Of Canada cuts through the noisy silt to round the experience out. Tietchensian insect jitters skitter throughout the tracks, no two of which can be said to be quite the same. And this is the wonder of the whole thing; Bill has crafted a cohesive statement out of all these musical explorations which, in many ways, smells of the tectonics of "OG" electro-experimental records of the early 80's and late 70's. There is both a bold adventurousness and a wonderful simplicity to the compositions that is like re-embracing that pivotal moment when noise first made sense and all the Zeppelin records went into the bin. And then you needed a pack of cigarettes and had to fish through the bin to sell the Zeppelin records. It's like that! “ [press release]
label:
www.blrrecords.com |
2002 |
€12.00 |
|
| HOROLOGIUM |
A Handful of Dust and Ashes |
CD |
"A Handful of Dust and Ashes” is a collection of tracks recorded during various occasions, but united here by a peculiar sediment of dust and rust; it’s a journey in time to strictly limited “A Handful of Dust”, published by Cynfeirdd, and to “Opium”, amounts of which are long sold out and yearned for by those in search of lost time. The (re)collection is crowned by three tracks performed live in Barcelona and Bologna in 2008 and 2009. The artwork by Fab and Sophie embody fin de siècle that has never been that convincing and tangible.
Packaged in 3-panel digipack in new design" [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| HORTOBAGYI, LASZLO |
Transreplica Meccano (complete edition) |
CD |
First reissue on CD, after 32 years since its original edition on this format, of “Transreplica Meccano”, Lāszlō Hortobāgyi's masterpiece.
"Transreplica Meccano - Complete Edition” is the comprehensive and remastered edition of this opus with tracks from the same recording sessions that never saw the light before.
Lāszlō Hortobāgyi: ibm-pc, sampler, performer (been), synthesizers, tabla, sitar, vocoder
Nora Hortobágyi: voice, strings
P. Radvanyi: Sygnus modular-synth (on Cathedral of Reptiles)
Totho: Bass (on Nono-bol)
Chipy: Flute (on Nono-bol)
Goezi: Trombone (on Nono-bol)
Performer: Base Du Fourrage (on Nono-bol)
Recorded in the Gayan Uttejak Studio, Budapest in 1986
Remastered and verified by Lāszlō Hortobāgyi in 2023 for áMARXE Música
https://amarxe.bandcamp.com/album/transreplica-meccano-complete-edition
|
2024 |
€15.00 |
|
| HOTOTOGISU + BURNING STAR CORE |
Volume One |
CD |
"Five tracks, totaling approximately fifty minutes by the time-defying duo of MATTHEW BOWER (SKULLFLOWER, RAMLEH, SUNROOF!, TOTAL) and MARCIA BASSETT (DOUBLE LEOPARDS, GHQ, ZAIMPH) collaborating with C. SPENCER YEH, ROBERT BEATTY, and TREVOR TREMAINE (the latter two of HAIR POLICE, EYES AND ARMS OF SMOKE, SICK HOUR). Originally released as a tour merch CDR, this edited and re-sequenced edition begins with an appropriate invocation and from there punches blindly through one stone cloud after another, coughs and gasps from exhaustion, stumbles and lies motionless. The ritual concludes with a moment of naked acoustic/instinctual spasm. Packaged in a black polycase with black-and-white inserts and a special randomly-selected one-inch button (five button variations in all). All different material from the companion volume HG/BxC II released by the Heavy Blossom label." [label info]
".... And what in fact happens, is a big sprawling chaotic blown out spaced out free rock noise jam. The addition of drums makes a huge difference, grounding the sound in 'rock', but said drumming is free and abstract enough to let the music breath and expand and spread out like a black fog. The opener is a static Dead C style jam, a simple plodding beat, cymbals and kick drum mostly, while all around, dizzying swirls of guitar fuzz and thick swaths of distorted synth, and in there to some damaged electronics and of course some of Yeh's FX drenched violin. The backdrop is a constantly shifting swirl of noise and sound, but the simple plodding rhythm makes it sound like some ultra gritty lost krautrock rehearsal tape.
The second track is a bit more unhinged, the background of the first song, brought to the fore and allowed to swallow everything up.
The drums this time are just an incessant clanging buried in the mix, like a railroad crossing bell heard from within a tornado. Part way through some of the noise seems to coalesce into sort-of-riffs, and suddenly it a strangely propulsive slab of white hot white noise, albeit with a bit of groove to it. The next track is the most melodic, a gothy, doomy sort of glacial dirge, almost like an ultra lo-fi Hawkwind, crushing drums and more of that noisy blown out squall jammed into every crevice. The drums drop out almost entirely for the next number, the guitars and synths and violins and vocals spread out into long effulgent streaks, super noisy, but strangely hypnotic and dreamy.
The final track is a sort of throwaway, a brief sputter of creaks and clatter, scrape and grind, angular and atonal, a blown out noise coda, but it's the loooooong tracks that make up the rest of the record that really hit the drone-dirge-noise spot.
Packaged in a cool, black plastic case with a black and white cover, black and white insert, and each copy includes a button, one
of 5 different designs chosen at random." [Aquarius Rec.]
www.dronedisco.com
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
same |
LP |
"Hototogisu -- the duo of UK experimentalist Matthew Bower (Skullflower/Sunroof et al.) and New York-based-guitarist Marcia Bassett (Double Leopards/Zaimph/GHQ) -- are all about impact, about taking the physical aspect of sound and hallucinating it to the point of abstraction, so much so, that for all of the complexity of their music, it often sounds like it's standing still, simply hanging in the air and vibrating without anything approaching a 'plot' to bring it to a point. By contrast, Burning Star Core, the trio of drummer Trevor Tremaine, Robert Beatty on electronics (both of whom also play in Hair Police alongside Mike Connelly of Wolf Eyes) and C. Spencer Yeh on violin and electronics, are more overtly propulsive, usurping 'classic' rock form via electronics and drums, but still focused on momentum, on the jam as a form of structural gravity, on the unfolding of action via development over time. This all-improvised studio meeting is the perfect reconciliation of both tendencies, of Hototogisu's obsessive layering of strata after strata of violently-conceived noise and of Burning Star Core's epic, post-Kraut thunder-punk style. Bower has long been on record about his opposition to anything approaching 'dialogue' in improvised music, favoring a senses-devouring simultaneity over anything that might pass for actual exchange, so it's no surprise that there is little on this new record that sounds even close to conventionally-improvised music. Instead, it feels more focused towards the zone where energy begins to spontaneously birth form, where the monomaniacal pursuit of the nowhere zone bears fruit in the shape of a music that transcends its constituent parts while being totally based around -- and rooted in -- the individual response to the moment. BXC play it ginchy and garage-pop right from the start, simultaneously inverting and amplifying Bower and Bassett's vertical constructs with drums that sound like they might have been lifted straight from the most flower-power parts of the Silver Apples' back catalog and bass patterns that are as tactile and rock-anchored as Can's Holger Czukay. To hear Hototogisu's music given this kind of injection of dynamic energy makes them seem more obviously sourced in 'classic' rock music than you might otherwise have guessed, with a dense, implosive sound that feels like a hyper-distilled take on all of rock's most outlaw aspects, the feedback that makes you feel like you could explode in a ball of electricity, the anti-gravity effect of heavy fuzz, the seductive, alien tongues. It's certainly the most 'garage band' side that either of the groups have cut to date, albeit in the form of a Gnostic, post-acid re-think where the vibration is more important than the outer forms, where energized enthusiasm makes for a more fundamental guiding principle than verse/chorus/verse and where the only direction left is out. Which is another way of saying it feels genuinely bad-ass. In an era where even the best groups seem polite, pro, participatory, democratic, this is music that is disregarding in its overwhelming power, exhilarating in its irresponsible spontaneity. And in an underground scene where self-conscious notions of avant-garde and 'free improvisation' have long displaced any concept of an intuitive rocks-off style, well, it feels like a re-connection to the source. So file this one closer to Kill City or Sticky Fingers than Persian Surgery Dervishes or The Black Album and feel the gravity of your whole record collection shift." [David Keenan, Glasgow, November 2008] |
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
| HUDAK, JOHN |
Sotto Voce |
CD-R |
JOHN HUDAK ist zurück mit fünf ultra-minimalen Stücken für gezupftes Cello, so extrem minimal dass einem MORTON FELDMANN dagegen fast schon als dynamisch erscheint.... Reine Atmosphäre.
“Poised somewhere between mechanical music & chamber pieces (for pizzicato cello), these tracks herald the return of the avantgarde to her original locality: the salon, this heart of 'bourgeois' society. The non-communicative qualities of the modernistic literary avantgarde (of which James Joyce & Gertrude Stein in particular may be considered iconographic), we find here in the sublimated form of tranquil and austere monophonies, the unique character of which - each voice, each work, each individual genius - now comes to reside purely in the abstracted prosody of midi-triggered cello samples. This is altogether an undeniably 'post-modern' take on modernism: the unrelentless and self-consuming presence of the original art of which these pieces are derived (the pieces are taken from the voices of Gertrude Stein and James Joyce reading from their works) has now taken a much more diluted and yet more immanent form: a music which having soaked up all the heavy-weighing ambiance of artistic ideals & pretension and, having become satiated, now softly leaks out into the salon as conversation pieces, bringing human life in all its 'ordinariness' (the inverted comma's, being the trade-mark of postmodernity, signifying its own special character) back into the room, and perhaps breathing new life into the idea of the salon.” [liner notes by Mark Pauwen]
|
2005 |
€8.00 |
|
|
On and On |
CD |
"Eine extrem überraschende Platte auf einem unserer momentanen Lieblingslabels, dem jungen italienischen Presto!? John Hudak scheint sich mit On And On vorgenommen zu haben, den Nachfolger für O’Rourkes Bad Timing zu schaffen. Scheinbar ohne Richtung und Verdichtung plunkern einzelne Gitarrentöne (sic! für Hudak!) im Raum herum, dem geneigten Hörer kommt nach etlichen Durchläufen die Erleuchtung. Genau, das muß alles so sein. Und nicht anders. Herrlich in seiner beharrlichen Intentionslosigkeit." [Zipo, Auf Abwegen]
www.prestorecords.com
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Miss Dove, Mr. Dove |
CD-R |
Zu den innovativsten, aber sicherlich auch am schwierigsten zugänglichen Neutönern gehört seit längerem JOHN HUDAK, der v.a. in den 80/90er Jahren mit ober-obskuren Tapes eine kleine Anzahl von Fans glücklich machen konnte. Seine stark konzeptlastige Musik basiert oft auf einem bestimmten Objekt-Sound oder einer Idee, die neue Zugangsmöglichkeiten für das Hören an sich erschliesst. Auf dieser (wie immer im exquisiten Cover ausgestatteter) AFE-CD sind Klänge von TAUBEN & dazugehörige Aussenaufnahmen verfremdet worden, das Ergebnis ist an seltsamem Klang & eigenartiger quasi-Rhythmik kaum zu überbieten..
"John Hudak has been interested in sound and music from the age of four when he began to play a variety of instruments. At the University of Delaware (BA, English 1981) and Naropa Institute for the Arts (1979), he studied video, photography, creative writing and dance. He then began to create taped soundtracks for his solo performance-art/dance pieces that later developed into sound-only pieces. In recent years, he has concentrated solely on sound, particularly natural sounds. Hudak’s current work focuses on the rhythms and melodies that exist in our daily aural environments. These sounds usually remain hidden, as we tend to overlook their musical qualities, or their musical qualities are obscured through mixture with other sounds. In simplified terms, what he is doing could be considered "re-framing what is already there so that it can be admired." His work has been published by labels such as Alluvial Recordings, and/OAR, Korm Plastics, Aesova, Intransitive Recordings, Digital Narcis, Presto!? and many others.
"Miss Dove, Mr. Dove" was especially created by John Hudak for a release on Afe. Here's a description of the album inception in his own words: "During the late spring of 2007, my family spent some time visiting relatives in the Czech Republic, in a small village outside of Prague called Pelhřimov. One morning there, I woke to the sound of many doves. The building we stayed in was directly across from another similar building, and the space between the two created a wide echo. The birds sat on the adjacent building, making their plaintive sounds, at the crack of dawn; their sound mixing with the sounds of people talking as they left for work, and the sounds of trucks idling while making their morning deliveries." The original field-recordings were manipulated via software treatments to create a one hour long composition which is intended to be played as background sound/music." [label notes]
"Since many years I closely follow the work of John Hudak. In the early days it came on cassette and then on CD and CDR. One thing has remained a constant factor in his music and that his interest to explore one theme per project. On cassette always two actually, one per side, but these days its one piece per CD/CDR release. On 'Miss Dove, Mr. Dove' he uses field recordings made in the Czech Republic, recording doves at dawn, while traffic and people on the street increases. These sounds are treated with some kind of unnamed software and the entire piece lasts an hour. 'It is intended to be played as background sound/music', it says on the press release, and that's quite right. The music has changes, but throughout they are quite minimal, with envelopes on specific sounds being opened with great care. Music to be played while doing something - reading being my preferred kind of activity. Non-intentional music, the perfect back-drop. Like Satie intended with his music for furniture. Ambient music as Eno intended, but of a somewhat stranger kind. The bird like sounds are rhythmical, cut-up and not endlessly flowing. Very nice. " [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.aferecords.com
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Don't worry about anything, I'll talk to you tomorrow |
CD |
"Minimale ruhige elektronische Verfremdungen, absolut merkwürdige Sounds... außergewöhnlich auch das Konzept von HUDAK für diese CD: 'its pretty simple: my mother died about five years ago. someone returned me a one-of-a-kind tape that happened to have an answering machine message from my mother on it, saying 'don't worry about anything, i'll talk to you tomorrow.' that is the only sound source on the cd.'
Wunderbare, fremdartige "Alien"-Soundwelt, just great!!" [label info]
|
1998 |
€13.00 |
|
| HUM |
Ether Rider (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
“Drone Records is proud to present HUM, another newcomer from the growing russian experimental scene, who had out before a few most promising self-released CDrs on his own label. HUM (originally a reduction from “hum-an”) sees his work as a representation of emptiness and sound, derived from tantric tradition. The basic intention is the “restoration of mythological time”. This release, being dedicated to “magic flight”, enlights on the first track with full vibrating “cosmic” drones, sounding like a swarm of low-pitched insects. The second piece CRUCIBLE is more loop-structured & noisy, with low-fi mechanized rumblings, filled with organic substances... two fantastic sound-samples that show the ability of drone-sound to lead your inner mind into the center of nothingness. Filed under: magic-flight drones. BLACK VINYL. MINIMAL DESIGNED WHITE COVERS WITH B/W PHOTO” [press release] |
2004 |
€6.50 |
|
| |
Caldron of winds |
mCD-R |
"Three beautiful tracks mixing dones and natural sounds from this talented & prolific russian artist (previous releases include a 7" on drone records and a cd-r on mystery sea). full-colour printed 3" cd-r with artwork by cyril herry." [label info]
"..More field recordings can be found on the release by Hum, also known as Dmitry Christov from Russia, or perhaps his other aliases, such Sphogha, Maw, Mikosterion or Small Town Zombie, all of which I never heard. Hum had releases on Mysery Sea and Drone. There you are. Here he has three untitled piece of slow enveloping ambient/drone music. A bit of field recordings is set against some obscure electronics, which are hard to pin down. Synths? Computer process? Can't tell really. It's a nice lo-fi affair this one, not high and mighty on the recording side, but full of raw intent." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
http://taalem.free.fr/
|
2007 |
€5.00 |
|
| HUM / SMALL TOWN ZOMBIE |
Stupefactions |
CD-R |
65 min / 9 tracks collaboration work of these two Russian projects, ultra-slow & deep abstract & ethereal drone-ambience, like listening to the air 10 km above the earth. Strange & mysterious, softly roaring sounds, in no way monosonic as there’s enough variation between the tracks...
“...this work is dedicated to stupor state, contains pieces recorded between june 2003 and january 2005. (except last part, recorded in august 2001). Some parts was taken from tapes recorded as Small Town Zombie (real-time processed street noise), others - hum stuff ( various-sources drones and processed tapes & field recordings)” [HUM]
“....How aptly this is named, a soundtrack as an ode to those moments when we become amazed, jaw dropped and paralyzed due to the subsequent emotion...a state of short catatonia where reality ends up distorted, twisted, blurred, revealing something new and unknown along the process... really excellent (will end up in my end of the year list of fave albums !)...” [Daniel Crokaert/Mystery Sea]
|
2005 |
€9.50 |
|
| HUMAN GREED |
Consolation |
CD |
Released in 2001, the debut album from Michael Begg’s Human Greed was hailed as being “disquieting as it is exceptional… Brutally honest, enlightening and remarkable”.
“A Fear filled symphony of terrors… that gradually entwines your imagination in its numerous sonic tentacles and refuses to relinquish its grip.” Edwin Pouncey, The Wire
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Hivernant |
CD |
"Michael Begg : After releasing World Fair (Omnempathy, 2014) I became a sketchbook. I had a few creases and the best way of smoothing them out was to take a swift, light touch and make marks on paper. I documented the landscape in East Lothian, and the watercolours were nothing more than the evidence of time spent looking. And that was enough. I sketched notes about silence, about space and place, music and recording. I took one step to the side and listened to the time rush by. I applied the same light touch to the studio. I sketched. It was enough. I somehow, briefly, removed ambition and purpose and found, in the winter, a moment of repose.
I now feel like some little winter animal, a hivernant, arising from sleep." [label info]
www.omnempathy.com
"A very English sounding record, this Hivernant, oozing with dramatic dronescaping and cinematically empty ambience. In previous recordings and collaborations, Michael Begg has found himself in very good company alongside the likes of David Tibet, Colin Potter, Brian Eno, and Clodagh Simonds (amongst others), all of whom share a similar sense of melancholy and portent and resignation, as if it oozed out of the British sod and into their souls. Begg himself has stated that this album is the equivalent of watercolor sketches of a particular portion of Britain (East Lothian, to be exact), capturing the mood and psychic malaise which haunts that land through his darkened, impressionist compositions. Yet, these are most definitely not ephemeral vignettes. Begg carefully crafts the somber spaces with orchestrations of organ, piano, psalter, oboe, etc. that unfurl in and out of an electronic fog that has little in the way of the shoegazing reverberation of, say, Stars Of The Lid, though the arranged formalism and nocturnal pacing could find parallel there. His shimmering layers of sound will evolve into pure sonic forms of harmonically clashing drones only to dissolve into pools of melodic piano reminiscent of Eno's Thursday Afternoon or into a Tim Hecker-like tonal suspension of stained-glass sorrow, with the rather dramatic climax to be found on "Nana" that explodes with a sparse yet booming drumcorps. Hivernant is beautiful, haunting, languid, beguiling. Begg posits this a political album, though he admits an inability to articulate any specifics of these ideas. Yet, in the construct of an album that digs at the poetics of a very British sentiment without sinking into chest-thumping nationalism, his politics speak through the act of creation and not the polemics of division." [Aquarius Rec.] |
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
World Fair |
CD |
"Michael Begg: This is my 5th record as Human Greed, 7th if you include the non-ensemble pieces Dirt on Earth and the OMEGA soundtrack I released last year for Moscow’s blackSKYwhite theatre company. This one has been cooking for two years and has seen me attempt to up my game with regards to formal musical theory and composition. There is a lot going on in there and I don’t know how to begin marking out its foundations for you. Possibly best just to remain relatively quiet on the matter and hope it can speak for itself over a few listens. However, the songcraft has its roots partly in the 16th century – from where also arises the preoccupation with melancholy and mortality- and there is much to be owed to the second law of thermodynamics, entropy, the singularity and heat death of the observable universe. That is all touched upon lightly, though I was keen to explore the potential for that science to be represented in a devotional mode more associated with faith.
The ensemble this time is notable particularly for the number of voices that come into the recording. This, in itself, is unusual for someone like me so closely associated with ambient drifts and drones.
So, aside from my long time partner, Deryk Thomas, Chris Connelly (Revolting Cocks, Ministry) gives a stylish reading of a traditional Scottish folk song, Scottish Jazz institution Sophie Bancroft joins the fold (I worked with her in the late 1990s running music and memory recovery workshops in dementia wards) and Sukie Smith from London’s Madam is also here. Nicole M. Boitos, sleeve artist for Swans, and James Blackstock, as well as my own Fortress Longing album shows that she, too, can hold a note. And I love her spoken word reading of the central World Far text on Waiting In A Car.
Colin Potter (Nurse With Wound, Monos) being a long time collaborator both through Fovea Hex and Fragile Pitches is once again on hand to contribute to the treatments and I am so thrilled to have worked with Steven R. Smith (Ulaan Khol, Hala Strana) on a composition called Chrysler. Steven’s work always, to me, sounds like an advancing desert storm and my vision of such a storm tearing down a city really came to life here. The sound of his home made spike fiddle! Wow!
Two gifted kids from the village helped out on the strings, and Pietro Riperbelli allowed me to plunder his archive of field recordings of cathedral interiors." [label info]
www.omnempathy.com
World Fair, album of the year : "There used to be a trinity of Nurse With Wound, Current 93 and Coil. Now the sonic gate keepers are a quartet; Nurse, Current, Cyclobe and Human Greed.” Was Ist Das (UK)
www.omnempathy.com
"This is the fifth album by Human Greed (or Michael Begg's seventh if you count the other ones under his own name) and he worked for the last two years on this, and that's something that shows here. While Human Greed is mainly himself and Deryk Thomas, there is a whole bunch of musicians helping them out, on cello and violin but mainly in the vocal department, such as Chris Connelly (Revolting Cocks, Ministry), Sukie Smith and Sophie Bancroft. If I understand well the album is about exploring 'the potential for that science to be represented in a devotional mode more associated by faith', and Human Greed harks back to the 16th century, both for that and the song craft here. It's not that easy to detect I must say, but then: I am no expert on 16th century music either. In the past I compared the music of Human Greed with Fovea Hex, and it's still on a similar line. The mood is a bit dark, with string instruments playing minor chords, aided by dark and moody soundscapes, field recordings, spoken words, and sweet sung melodies, although Human Greed is less folky than the music of Fovea Hex. There are also links to the musical world of Current 93, especially when things are a spookier and more textured here, Colin Potter and Andrew Liles may be inspirations here, and the whole thing has no doubt something very English about it. The creepy country castle atmosphere, the mechanics of a broken doll perhaps. Human Greed moves between the soundscape textures and the more song based structures of some of these pieces, and with pieces fading into each other, this sounds like one long trip, a journey if you will, moving through this fine, yet somewhat dark landscape. In good Fovea Hex tradition there is also a bonus CDR available, in which Begg and Thomas take the whole music of the CD apart and make an entirely new studio construction out of that. You hear little bits of the original in here, sometimes you may recognize a cello, or a violin, some voices but it's otherwise heavy on the use of sound effects to create even denser atmospheres; the cloud on the CD is perhaps more grey; here's it's more black. More abstract perhaps too, and less with a story to tell us. This is an excellent form of sound recycling - to avoid the word 'remix'. An excellent release, all around." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| HUMAN GREED / MICHAEL BEGG |
Omega:ost |
do-CD |
"Omega. A hoochie-‐coochie carnival for the end of time. Out from the sideshow shadows creep an astounding array of freaks, ageless hucksters, and mind-‐twisting curiosities. Raised from apocryphal texts, by black mirrors and prisms. Masters of the macabre spectacle, technical wizards, and true innovators of theatrical sleight-‐of-‐hand, Moscow’s blackSKYwhite – Fringe First and Total Theatre winners – return with their boldest, most audacious production to date, realised in the scale that this company deserves. Loud, exhilarating and utterly compelling. The recording is the result of an extraordinary collaboration between 2 obsessively singular voices; Human Greed’s Michael and the Moscow based Dimitry Aryupin, blackSKYwhite’s mercurial artistic director. For 8 months, with very little in terms of common language the pair threw themselves deep into the process of cooking up an aural bedrock on which to situate the extraordinary beings that populate the stage. Old testament excess, dustbowl carny gothic, and the captured wheezing and grunting of instruments worn out centuries on the road all figure in the soundtrack – and in doing so extend the range of Begg’s more familiar palette of electronics”. The record also features texts in English, Russian and Romani written by Begg and Aryupin. “O ushalin zhala war o kam mangela -‐ The shadow moves as the sun commands." [label info]
www.omnempathy.com
"It has, rather appropriately, been 13 years since Moscow-based company blackSKywhite first appeared on the Fringe to terrify and amaze audiences with Bertrand’s Toys. In the intervening years, they have toured the world and other companies have perhaps become better known on the Fringe. But Omega is a very welcome reminder of just how high that bar has been set.
In a month when the city abounds with jugglers and acrobats, it is worth noting that Omega is not a circus show. Rather, it is a movement and dance piece that evokes a stylised circus, the freak shows of the past and a nightmarish post-Apocalyptic carnival. And yet the physical skill on offer here is no less impressive. Put simply, it is often impossible to believe that human beings can actually move like this. It is also rare to see a production as technically polished as this. Movement, music (specially composed by Michael Begg), sound and lighting all seamlessly combine to create something far more than a show: this is a true theatrical experience." [TV BOMB]
|
2013 |
€17.50 |
|
| HUMAN LARVAE |
Behind blinding Light |
LP |
"Born from the ashes of Broken Diode, Germany's Human Larvae first made an appearance with the “Home is Where the Hurt Is” (Existence Establishment, 2008). Human Larvae's ability to incorporate and balance more aggressive passages of junk metal clangor, swarming distortion, and ferocious vocals with hopelessly bleak and gloomy atmospheres immediately sets them apart from anything else in the scene today, though reference points can be made to Gnawed, IRM, Grunt, and Theologian. Behind Blinding Light is a recording of great depth and compositional expertise, and can be regarded as a benchmark recording of pure and true industrial music. Ltd x 200 copies with offset printed covers and four 15x15cm cards with artwork and lyrics."
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| HUMAN QUENA ORCHESTRA |
Means without ends |
CD |
Für Fans des ultra-langsamen Noise-Rocks a la SWANS, GODFLESH, etc. kommen HUMAN QUENA ORCHESTRA genau richtig! Ihr Slow-Drone-Noise aus herrlich verzerrten & scheppernden Snare-Drums, entmenschlichtem Schreigesang & dunkel Noise-Flächen klingt unfassbar abgründig & visionär, wie ein letzter Aufschrei vor dem Untergang.
"Various permutations of this disc have been floating around for a while, each in various states of completeness, but every one we'd heard sounded even better than the last. But this is the one, the final, finished product. The long in the works Human Quena Orchestra, the work of Ryan Unks, formerly of techgrind combo Creation Is Crucifixion, but don't be expecting grind, or even technicality, this all the way on the other side of the spectrum. Abject, filthy, pummeling, slow motion noise drenched doom. A plodding sonic monster, guitars, not just distorted, but treated and twisted into harsh, skin scraping, caustic slabs of sinister sound, a low end so thick, it's like dunking your head in a cement mixer, insane sounding drums, each snare crack like the recording of a million breaking windows, each kick drum the sound of a slowed down car wreck. And beneath it all, thick swells of black ambience, drifting and slithering, pulsing and swelling. A lurching, stumbling
blackened doom dirge behemoth.
Think Swans, Godflesh, Pitchshifter, that sort of machinelike apocalyptic industrial pound, mixed with some funereal ultra doom a
la Moss, Bunkur, etc., but filtered through a druggy psychedelia, with a minimal shimmery drone bent, that ends up sounding like a way
more brutal, way more harsh, tripped out, psychedelic, industrial version of Jesu, that sort of blissed out sun baked vibe, but as if
played by some misanthropic black metal horde, harsh blackened vocals, shrieking hysterically and growling demonically over the relentless amp melting metallic trudge. Every track is rife with layer after layer of undulating low end. Like being tossed about on a stormy sea, but instead of water, it's an endless expanse of roiling black sound waves, rumbling drones, and thick snarled streaks of throbbing bass.
The magic Of Unks' Human Quena Orchestra though is that this hellish harshness is balanced with a nearly equal amount of
meditative ambience, long stretches of deep shimmer, and even some of the harshest tracks are tempered by the swirling low end drift
lurking beneath. So brutally gorgeous.
Definitely essential listening for fans of all the above mentioned outfits, as well as Monarch, Nadja, the Angelic Process, Fear Falls Burning, Skullflower, Abruptum, Monument Of Urns, Trollmann, Khanate, The Body and all our favorite purveyors of crumbling downtuned beauty and dreamy damaged doom.
Packaged in a gorgeous hand screened multiple panel fold over sleeve with super striking ADD style microscopic super detailed artwork." [Aquarius Records]
label-website: www.daftalliance.com
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
|
The Politics of the Irredeemable |
CD |
Instrumental Apocalyptic Doom Ambience! Musik von erdrückender Intensität & urwüchsiger Kraft! Heftige Gitarren-Drones, wuchtige ultralangsame Pulses, Schreie, Noise... So brutal wie wunderschön. Gehört mit zum intensivsten, was es im Bereich "Industrial-Rock" der schleppend-zermahlenden Sorte zur Zeit gibt, natürlich muss man an alte SWANS denken, aktuell fällt uns sonst nur noch TRANSITIONAL, KHANATE oder BUNKUR ein. Das zweite Album!
"Ein bisschen Fantasie vorausgesetzt, stelle man sich folgendes Szenario vor: NAPALM DEATH wären keine Grindcore-, sondern eine Black-Metal-Band, und als Justin Broadrick sie 1986 verließ, um dann GODFLESH zu gründen, hätte er neben Industrial, Noise und Ambient eben auch einen Teil Black Metal in sein Projekt gebracht, aber mit dem Wissen, wie sich so etwas eben 2009 anhören müsste. Ein alberner Vergleich vielleicht, aber das aus Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania stammende Duo HUMAN QUENA ORCHESTRA schafft es mit seinem zweiten Album, eine ähnlich bedrückende Atmosphäre aufzubauen, wie es einst GODFLESH konnten und das eben mit ganz ähnlichen, aber noch heftigeren Mitteln, denn auf einen nachvollziehbaren Rhythmus und eine Songstruktur muss man verzichten. Eine den Songs als Fundament dienende Geräuschkulisse, darüber Schreie, Noisefetzen und ein sich ständig wiederholendes brutales Riff, das nur alle zehn Sekunden zusammen mit einem Drumschlag auftaucht: „The Politics Of The Irredeemable" ist statisch und undynamisch, wie eine massive, undurchdringliche Wand, die so dunkel, hoch und breit ist, dass du ihre Dimensionen nicht abschätzen kannst." [André Bohnensack, OX-Fanzine]
"Human Quena Orchestra first took shape as a solo project from Ryan Unks, who had previously played guitar in the final lineup of the Pittsburgh metal band Creation Is Crucifixion. After moving from CIC, Unks began to work on a new project that would incorporate elements of black metal, crushing drone music, extreme psychotropic noise and psychedelic/krautrock influences into a sound that would be much heavier any of his previous projects. The first album from Human Quena Orchestra was released in 2007 on Daft Alliance; Means Without Ends was a disturbing, introspective slab of blackened industrial doom that stood out in stark contrast from the rest of the slow n' low extreme doom scene, utilizing layers of harsh textured distortion and electronics to create a caustic form of monstrous doom that shared as much of industrial music's cold, machine-like aesthetic as it did the ultra-slow riffage of the most extreme variants of doom metal. At the same time that the bands debut was taking shape, Unks was joined by another former member of Creation Is Crucifixion, Nathan Berlinguette (who was also a member of the dark ambient project M.Kourie and the deathdrone duo 5/5/2000). With the addition of Berlinguette's skilled application of dark ambience and expansive soundscapes, Human Quena Orchestra began to move into even more textured territory which has culminated with the second HQO full-length, The Politics of the Irredeemable, a series of apocalyptic visions and epiphanies of endtime realization, prophetic screeds that look to a future rendered pustulent and war-stricken by the failed machinations of the human race, presented as six chapters that enter your consciousness through a delivery system of extreme industrial dread. The Politics of the Irredeemable is crushing and oppressive, a crawl through abstract fields of low-end sound that move from punishing blasts of ultra-heavy machine-doom and earth-shaking tectonic riffs, to thick fogs of black electronic ambience that shimmer with subsonic pulses and celestial drones, the presence of malevolent electricity crackling in the air around the lumbering, nightmarish electro-sludge monstrosity of the Human Quena Orchestra. And at the same time, there are passages of immense beauty on this album that lurk at the peripheries of HQO's malevolent crush; the track "Aspirations" for instance, where pummeling slow-motion industrial percussions grinds in an infinite loop beneath a swirling nightsky of kosmiche synthesizers and heavenly, blissed-out ambience, the drums becoming like distant mortar blasts heard over the horizon as terrified screams ring out and stars fall dead from the skies. Total deathmachine grind ambience. The CD is packaged in a heavy gatefold jacket with murky, dismal images of blasted city streets and torched monuments, with lyrics and quotations relevant to the apocalyptic themes on the album printed on the inside jacket. Comes with three 1" color buttons featuring artwork from the album." [label info]
www.Crucialblast.net
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
A natural History of Failure |
CD |
"Emotional distance. Scientism. Abuse. Greed. Love. Self destruction. A study of modern, alienated, forced-individualists, wired together in our hell. Initially a collection of high-volume live pieces by Unks and Graham, this work was crafted into album form with contributions from a group of like-minded friends who performed together during the tours of the same name in 2009. Weapons-grade Trogotronic electronics utilized throughout. Four-panel poster sleeve. Photograph by Olli Keklinen." [label info]
www.utechrecords.com
www.utechrecords.com
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| HUNGTAI, ALEX ZHANG / DAVID MARANHA / GABRIEL FERRANDINI |
Eight Black Horses Crown Snake |
CD |
"Through me you go into the city of grief, through me you go into the pain that is eternal, through me you go among people lost.
Justice moved my exalted creator; the divine power made me, the supreme wisdom, and the primal love.
Before me all created things were eternal, and eternal I will last.
Abandon every hope, you who enter here.
...after he had taken me by the hand, with a cheerful look which comforted me, he drew me within the secret place [the eternal world]."
-Dante, Canto III, The Divine Comedy
Alex Zhang Hungtai - Voice, Saxophone and Drums
David Maranha - Organ and Drums
Gabriel Ferrandini - Drums
Recorded in Cinema Passos Manuel 10th of March 2017
Mixed by Alex, David and Gabriel in Violante do Céu Studio
Mastered by Tó Pinheiro da Silva in Oeiras on 10th of November 2017
Cover photo from White Noise Book, Interior photo taken at Conservatório de Lisboa, both by António Júlio Duarte
We are self releasing it through david's label Violent do Céu, if you would like a CD version of the album please email david and he will post it to you. Unfortunately our self release budget is limited, but hopefully one day we can release this on vinyl.
davidmaranha@gmail.com
https://alexzhanghungtai.bandcamp.com/album/eight-black-horses-crown-snake
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| HUNTSVILLE |
For the middle class |
CD |
Sehr schwungvoll-polyperkussive Instrumental-Melangen dieses norwegischen Ensemble, absolut hörenswert !
"Die drei Musiker von HUNTSVILLE - Ivar Grydeland, Tonny Kluften und Ingar Zach - stammen allesamt aus Norwegen. Grydeland und Zach gründeten zusammen das Sofa Label für improvisierte Musik und tauchten schon zusammen in ebenso unzähligen wie vielfältigen Gruppen wie dem Improvisations-Ensemble NO SPAGHETTI EDITION oder gemeinsam mit dem britischen Keyboarder Pat Thomas im Quartett HISS auf. Die Tatsache, dass alle Mitglieder von HUNTSVILLE Multiinstrumentalisten sind, zeigt, dass die Band um Lichtjahre von einem konventionellen Trio mit Gitarre, Bass und Drums entfernt ist. Grydeland mischt akustische und elektrische Gitarre und am Banjo mit Fingerpickung, verschiedenen Bögen und obskuren Effektgeräten. Ebenso benutzt Kluften am Bass unterschiedliche Bögen, Stöcke und Gummibänder, während Zach dies mit den diversesten Klängen seines Drumkits untermalt. Am Ende ist es ganz unmöglich, herauszufinden, wer welches bizarre Geräusch zu Tage gefördert hat. HUNTSVILLE treiben den polyrhythmischen Zugang, wie ihn ORNETTE COLEMAN bei "Lonely Woman" kultiviert hat, auf neue Höhen. Verschiedene Tempi der Instrumente konkurrieren miteinander und kommen am Ende der Reise doch als homogenes Ganzes im Gehör des Zeugen an. //
_This is the debut release for Norwegian trio Huntsville. Huntville are Ivar Grydeland, (guitars, banjo, pedal steel guitar, etc.) Tonny Kluften (double bass, etc.) and Ingar Zach (percussion, tabla machine, sarangi box, shruti box, etc.) Grydeland and Zach founded the Sofa label for improvised music in 2000 and appear together in various projects on several of the label's releases. They have worked with Kluften since 1998, as the core of improvising ensemble No Spaghetti Edition and in the quartet HISS with British keyboardist Pat Thomas. The HISS CD from 2003, Zahir, shows the group's intense application of so-called free improvisation. The Huntsville project contrasts sharply with their earlier work, and this release reveals a quite different, more groove-based approach with strong elements of composition. Zach comments, "... during the last two or three years, our interest in country music and electronic music has developed into a sound we really wanted to investigate -- also Feldman and Cage, drone music, folk music..." The group's multi-instrumentalism means that this is no conventional guitar-bass-drums trio. On acoustic and electric guitar as well as banjo, Grydeland mixes finger-picking techniques with various types of bow, as well as acoustic and electronic devices. Tonny Kluften on double-bass uses various bows, sticks and rubber bands, while Zach produces a wide range of sounds on drum kit. They make striking use of a marvelous polyrhythmic approach pioneered by Ornette Coleman on "Lonely Woman," and Zach's locomotive groove is contrasted by the free tempo of plangent, folk-like acoustic guitar, in a kind of fractured descendent of the railroad blues. Alternately, the drums set up a tight and furious high-tempo, with the other instruments either at a slower tempo, or out of tempo completely. When the group lowers the energy levels, soft arpeggios on acoustic guitar are heard against percussive objects and a lone, rather erratic bass drum -- these effects are spare, haunting and quite beautiful. For The Middle Class displays a genuinely musical use of unexpected sounds and textures, allied with echoes of traditional genres in a radical new conceptual language." [press release]
"Pretty incredible long-player by the Norwegian trio of Ivar Grydeland, Tonny Kluften and Ingar Zach, who’ve long been involved with the free improvisation world already documented by Grydeland’s Sofa label on a number of releases since 2000. Here, however, they utilise all manner of instruments from guitars, double bass, banjo, tabla machine and various others originating from India to explore a more recent interest in drone, country, folk and electronic music. Opening song, ‘The Appearance of a Wise Child’, tethered to around 15 mins worth of driving, hypnotic percussion and snatching some random vocals along the way, largely sets the tone for the remainder of the release. Organic textures snake around each other, rhythms staple everything to that juncture where everything points to an apex of unadulterated ecstasy, and discernible ur-strums combine with frenetic bows and scrapes for that only too important raw effect so hard to find in this day of software-generated sterilisation. Only second track, ‘Serious Like a Pope’ loses its grip slightly as the pace is whittled back to a near Fahey-esque approach rendered better on fourth and final cut, ‘Melon’, which furnishes us with a comparatively stripped and gentle touchdown to the proceedings. Nonetheless, Huntsville sound like their experience within such realms of music is paying off. The product of people who know their game without having let their imagination or yearning to voyage to new places suffer. Fucken dandy in my book, I have to concede." [RJ, Adverse Effect]
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| HURTADO, MARC & ALAN VEGA |
Sniper |
CD |
"Alan Vega is literally a legend. Suicide, formed by the duo Rev and Vega is the spearhead of a punk trend which immersed all of a sudden in a fusion of waves and electronic loops. Since that period Vega became an icon for rock music and electronic generations... Vega’s flow, and the scansion of this white hot crooner sound fractured and charismatic. Everything is Rock, his leather jackets, his art and soul highly charged. So aesthetic, a rockabilly singing in a breathless style, wearing dusty pink and yelling metal make up. He is nowadays a Myth all around the world.
Marc Hurtado gained his experience in the 80’s with his brother Eric, they were called “Étant Donnés”. Their albums, films and performances are highly appreciated in Beauboug,the Fondation Cartier, the Rennes Transmusicales,the Barcelona Sonar Festival, the Kitchen in New York and The French Cinematèque. In the years 2000, Marc Hurtado produced some original soundtracks (for Philippe Gandrieux and Jessica Hausner), but he is also known for his collaborations with Lydia Lunch, Genesis P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV), Michael Gira (Swans), Gabi Delgado (DAF), The Hacker, Sky Saxon (The Seeds), Les Maîtres Musiciens de Jajouka, his project Sol Ixent with the German singer Saba Komossa (Delkom)... and of course Alan Vega. Hurtado recorded four tracks in the album Re-Up in 1999 and were together on stage in France and Europe (Centre Pompidou, Lieu Unique de Nantes with Christophe) and he also produced in 2009 the film “The Infinite Mercy Film”) dedicated to the art work of Alan Vega.
Sniper was born from this artistic collaboration and complicity, it was recorded in 2010 at the 6/8 Studios cherished by Suicide. This is a blazing star, an album made of fever and chaos but it also remind us the synthetic ballad you can find in Vega’s early solo albums.Whithout mentioning Lydia Lunch’s participation in “Prison Sacrifice” already a cult song, there is the sublime one “Saturn Drive Duplex” in its first original version which could lead to inspiration in the future. With at least 13 tracks of rage and shiver where words and electricity are intertwine to show this threatening apocalyptic and violent world but also the desire to flee towards new possibilities and to explore the universe.
This album follows the release of infinite Mercy, a monograph dedicated to the art work “Ghost Rider Man”, which came out in September 2010 at Presses du Réel and where you can find some texts from Marc Hurtado, Alan Vega, Henry Rollins, Ric Ocasek and Martin rev. Neon lights sculptures are on the outer cover and inside it, it’s a prestigious flamboyant release." [label info]
www.maquismusic.com
|
2010 |
€15.50 |
|
| HURTADO, MARC WITH VOMIR |
2011 |
do-CD |
"Art edition with extra CD : 100 copies. Collaboration between Marc Hurtado, former of Etant Donnés, with Vomir (aka Romain Perrot). Marc Hurtado: Instruments, voice, mix, production. Vomir: static sound. Marc Hurtado, musician, film director, painter, poet and producer is the founder with his brother Eric Hurtado of the french multimedia band Etant Donnés, since 1977 he made 20 albums collaborating with people like Alan Vega, Genesis P Orridge, Lydia Lunch, Michael Gira, Marc Cunningham or Bachir Attar and the Master Musicians of Jajouka. He released some records with his solo project Sol Ixent between 2002 and 2004 and recorded between 2005 and 2008 an album of Neue Weltumfassende Resistance with Gabi Delgado , he produced the album 'The Source' by Bachir Attar and the Master Musicians of Jajouka in May 2010 and released the album 'Sniper' with Alan Vega in November 2010. He made several soundtracks for films by Philippe Grandrieux, Jessica Hausner or Mathieu Dufois and released 'The Infinite Mercy Film' with Alan Vega in 2009 and the film 'Jajouka, something good comes to you' with his brother Eric Hurtado in the Moroccan village of Jajouka in 2012. The project VOMIR (aka Romain Perrot) exist since 2006 and is active internationally with multiple releases, 2012 confirmed his status of International Master of the Harsh Noise Wall genre, which described a monolithic static harsh sound. Marc Hurtado met Vomir in 2010 and felt immediately in love for his 'burning' static sound. He invited him to work on the album 2011 which is the outcome of 3 years of work putting in abyss their respective universes and trying to blow up all the sound barriers and perceptions of art. '2011 is a raw and savage album elaborated in total freedom with no consideration for time or space that surrounded us' (Marc Hurtado)." [label info]
www.touretterecords.com
|
2013 |
€24.00 |
|
| HYBRYDS |
Ritual Anthology |
CD |
Aufnahmen von 1986-1993 von der belgischen Ethno / Ritual / Industrial-Band, welche eindrucksvoll ihren mal verträumt-mysteriösen, mal magisch-beschwörenden, meist perkussiven Stil präsentiert. Über die Hälfte der Stücke ist unveröffentlicht. Ziel dieser Musik ist die Erzeugung von Trance, welche den Zugang zu im Alltag schwer zugänglichen Bewusstseinszuständen möglich macht. Kommt im edlen schwarz-gold bedruckten Papp-Ausklapp-Cover.
"With this CD Aquarellist is proud to present the anthology of early ritual works of this fabulous Belgian project. This music immerses the listener into the space of RITUAL - the magical action aimed to reach the goals beyond the borders of the ordinary world. An action evoking deeper layers of consciousness, deeper memories not active in our everyday life. An action that helps to reveal our potential as powerful and miraculous creatures.
Hybryds present their visions of rituals in the form of rhythmical compositions built on repetitive percussive loops crowned with layers of numerous archaic instruments, aided by vocal spells and atmospheric soundscapes with minor electronic additions.
This material was recorded in 1986-1993 by Magthea & Yasnaia with the help of their friends: Ah Cama Sotz, Djen Ajakan Shean, Vidna Obmana, Clive Richards, Irae Deprofundo and Bobby Colombo. Three tracks from this CD were previously released on "The Rhythm Of The Ritual" CD (Charnel Music, 1994), one track was released as "The Ritual Should Be Kept Alive - Part 1" CD EP (3RIOART, 1991), and three other tracks are released here for the first time.
CD, limited edition of 600 in digipak from a corrugated cardboard, picture it is executed by a method of silk-screen printing
1- For the Nameless one
2- El Caballo
3- Je suis la premiere
4- Call for the Touareg
5- Fallen Angels
6- The ritual should be kept alive - part 1
7- The ritual should be kept alive - part 3
Recorded between 1986 and 1993.
Digital re-mastered 2009 by 3RIOART vzw from original material recorded on 4 track cassette and recordings live to DAT.
Credits:
Magthea,
Yasnaia,
Ah Cama Sotz,
Djen Ajakan S,
Vidna Obmana,
Clive Richards,
Irae Deprofundo,
Bobby Colombo.
Visit:
http://www.hybryds.com
http://users.telenet.be/3rioart/
Reviews:
http://maeror3.livejournal.com/80596.html"
[label info]
www.aquarellist.ru
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
|
The Ritual should be kept alive |
CD |
"Zoharum continues reissuing past works of one of the most interesting projects coming from the 1980s underground - Hybryds. This album is the fourth instalment in the reissue series of Hybryds classic releases. It is an expanded reissue of ”The Ritual Should Be Kept Alive (1)” EP released back in 1991. That release featured only the first part of the title composition. The Zoharum edition was extended to a 70-minute full album with the other two parts of ”The Ritual Should Be Kept Alive” included plus one more bonus song.
Contrary to the previous releases (”Mythical Music from the 21st Century” and ”Music for Rituals” - both reissued on Zoharum – with lots of short pieces), ”The Ritual Should Be Kept Alive” contains slowly-evolving, long pieces which will hypnotise the listener with their sonic magic. Four songs on this album come from the same period, so it sounds very cohesive. And because three of them were not published before, ”The Ritual Should Be Kept Alive” v.2014 might be treated as a new album.
The album has been digitally remastered from the original stereo cassette master by none else but Sandy Nys, who also provided the cover based on the previous editions. This is the ritual music at its best. Now you can enjoy it in the best digital quality. The CD is housed in a digipak sleeve and the album is strictly limited to 500 copies." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
|
The Rhythm of the Ritual / Ein Phallischer Gott |
do-CD |
"Zoharum continues reissuing past works of one of the most interesting projects coming from the 1980s underground - Hybryds. ”The Rhythm of the Ritual / Ein Phallischer Gott” is the fifth instalment in the reissue series of Hybryds classic releases.
Sandy tells a few words about the period: In the 1990s only small independent labels existed which had their own area to cover distributionwise hoping to spread our music in the world. ”The Rhythm of the Rituals” (1994, Charnel Music) and ”Ein Phallischer Gott” (1997, Crowd Control Activities) shared some songs. There were no official media supporting this world of “underground” music. Acid and rave became popular in the “commercial” scene. Pro Tools was the magic word. But we made our music live on the 8-track. The only sequences were the drum machines. We stayed loyal to working the old-fashioned way. It's the more rhythmical and ethnical site of Hybryds, lots of percussion, played acoustically, or sampled and looped, or from drum machines. Some of the basic music was from the 1980s but by then we worked on a reel-to-reel 8-track tape recorder with a bigger mixing desk. Livewise we started to transfer to our cyberpunk period (as visible in the live version of ”Whisper”). Depending on the demand we had two live shows, the “magical” or the cyberpunk. It was also the time when Yasnaïa and me did the live shows alone. We did not work live on stage with others anymore. We had a manager, Patty Hele from Motherdance. It was easier to travel and perform with two people only. Yasnaïa released her solo album and started playing live with her solo project.
The first CD collects tracks from two studio releases ”The Rhythm of the Ritual” and ”Ein Phallischer Gott”. The live CD contains live versions of the studio CD (some taken from the live Obuh vinyl LP) and some extras, like an unreleased song ”Dusk Falling”." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"Neben dem Backcatalog anderer Bands taucht in den letzten Jahren auch immer wieder ein Album der HYBRYDS via ZOHARUM auf. Mit „The Rhythm Of The Ritual/ Ein Phallischer Gott“ ist man dabei bei zwei Werken von 1994 bzw. 1997 angekommen, die nun ergänzt um Live-Aufnahmen aus der Zeit als Doppel-CD, wiederaufgelegt werden. Hierzu ist allerdings anzumerken, dass nur drei Stücke des „The Rhythm Of The Ritual“-Albums enthalten sind. Die drei anderen wurden bereits mit der (Wieder-)veröffentlichung von „The Ritual Should Be Kept Alive“ 2015 erneut ans Tageslicht befördert. Auch nicht alle Stücke von „Ein Phallischer Gott“ haben es auf diese Zusammenstellung geschafft. Dafür taucht z.B. das eindrucksvolle „Call Of The Tuareg“ auf – ein Compilation-Track aus jener Zeit. Auf die fürchterlichen, quietschbunten 90er Jahre Computer-Cover der Originale wurde zum Glück nicht zurückgegriffen. Stattdessen wurde dem Release ein absolut stimmiges Artwork verpasst, das sich in die aktuelle, künstlerische Darstellung der HYBRYDS einpasst.
Dass die vorliegenden Aufnahmen um die zwanzig Jahre alt sind, lässt sich tatsächlich nur schwer heraushören. Frei von damaligen Trends wirken die Stücke eher zeitlos. Die stark Ritual-, Tribal-lastige Musik wird zumeist von einem Rhythmus-Loop zusammengehalten, über den nicht durchgängig aber hin und wieder YASNAIAs Stimme gelegt wurde. Daneben erklingen Flötenklänge und Synthesizerpads, so dass der Gesamtsound mal organischer und mal elektronischer wirkt. Beteiligt waren an den Arbeiten damals auch illustre Gäste wie HERMAN KLAPHOLZ (u.a. AH CAMA-SOTZ) oder MOON FAR AWAY.
Die Live-Aufnahmen und Proberaumaufnahmen der zweiten CD stammen ebenfalls aus der Zeit – zumeist 1996. Neben anderen Stücken, sind hier auch einige Tracks noch einmal in der Live-Version vorhanden, die auf der „Studio-Seite“ bereits zu finden sind. Der Sound ist dabei bis auf einige Ausnahmen durchweg recht gut.
Wie oben dargestellt ist „The Rhythm Of The Ritual/ Ein Phallischer Gott“ keine Wiederveröffentlichung im eigentlichen Sinn, sondern eher eine Zusammenstellung von Stücken aus einer zeitlichen Periode, die in sich aber absolut stimmig und geschlossen wirkt und mit den zusätzlichen Live-Versionen und Outtakes einen gewissen Mehrwert mitbringt. Hörer, die sich für rituellen und Tribal-lastigen Ambient interessieren, sollten ruhig ein Ohr riskieren, da die Musik ohne Frage gegenüber der heutigen Konkurrenz mithalten kann – mindestens."
[Tony F. für nonpop.de] |
2016 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Mistrust Authority / Tectonic Overload |
do-CD |
"For the seventh time, we present a piece from the history of the Belgian underground legend Hybryds. This time Sandy Nys reached for slightly different albums than before. The following set consists of the material from 'Mistrust Authority Promote Decentralization' released on vinyl in Iceland (1996) and a full-size CD 'Tectonic Overload' (1998). These two discs show Hybryds in a slightly different light. Strong rhythmic motifs of ethnic origin are still here, but music is much more aggressive, technoid and cybernetic. It was certainly a big surprise twenty years ago, but it can be surprising for those who have reached for the earlier Hybryds reissues released on Zoharum.
As with almost every previous Hybryds reissue, some additional material is also given here. This time it is a large fragment of the Munich concert from 1996 lasting more than half an hour. It shows, similarly to both core albums, the beginning of the new cyber punk face of Hybryds.
The album has been digitally remastered from the original master tapes by TraumaSutra. Sandy Nys provided the cover based on the previous editions. The CDs are housed in a digipak sleeve and the album is strictly limited to 500 copies."
zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/mistrust-authority-tectonic-overload
|
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
| HYPNOZ |
Breath of Earth |
CD |
CISFINITUM-Fans aufgepasst! Aus dem Umfeld des grandiosen Moskauer Projekts stammt HYPNOZ, und auf diesem Album ist CISFINITUM aka E. VORONOVSKY auch bei 5 von 7 Stücken mit dabei. BREATH OF EARTH ist voller pulsierender elektronischer Ambience, dicht & spannend arrangiert, leicht rhythmisch und mit gewissen Reminiszenzen an die "kosmischen" 70er Jahre, aber mit ganz eigener Note..
"Hypnoz is a project of Dmitry Zubov, a musician from Moscow suburb Fryazino, the town that endowed the lovers of post-industrial music with such names as Hum and Staruha Mha. His first composition was recorded in 1993, and during its existence Hypnoz has released one CD on the Moscow label Insofar Vapour Bulk, which gathered tracks from different periods, a couple of very limited CD-Rs, and participated on the compilation "Iznutri" by the Ewers Tonkunst label with a fragment of a composition from this album. Aside from Hypnoz Dmitry plays in several other projects: Zuboff Sex Shop (post-punk / new-wave), Circle Of Iron Tape (harsh noise), BRZB (electronics, with Alexey Borisov), etc... The basis of most of the tracks for "Breath of Earth" was recorded by Dmitry together with Evgeny Voronovsky (Cisfinitum) during their joint night psychedelic sessions, and this is evidently felt in their mood. Stylistically this can be called tranquil electronic ambient with a remarkable experimental touch – but who thinks about it while recording? Slowly twisting sound helixes, drawing inside the astral subspaces, pulsating rhythms, cosmic sounds of old analogue synthesizers, – all this produces an appropriate effect on the listener's mind, and there's nothing more to demand from music." [label description] |
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| HYPSIPHRONE |
And the Void shall pierce their Eyes |
CD |
"Debut album from this one man project from Greece, and a new entry into the Black Plague roster, fitting right in with label mates Sewer Goddess in its ability to create innately evil and impure sounds, integrating elements of doom metal, black metal, and dark experimentalism into the pure industrial horror that constitutes the majority of this release. The result is nothing short of absolute and abject dread; 8 tracks spanning an hour worth of material - an auditory overload that's completely immersive, and at times overwhelming, where heaving masses of percussive doom collide with shuddering machinery dirge, ghoulish and nightmarish ambience, torturous screams, and cinematic depravity, the sounds layered into a tangled and abstract tapestry of something completely epic and nearly majestic in its scale. Fans of Gnaw Their Tongues, Abruptum, and Necro Evangelicum era BDN will do well to wallow in the oozing blackness and unbridled malevolence Hypsiphrone has created. Lmtd 500 copies, in 6 panel." [label info]
www.malignantrecords.com
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| I.CORAX |
The Cadaver Pulse I: Sealed in a radiant larval Maelstrom |
CD |
"We are proud to present through our Stellar Mansion series the long-awaited first official release of I.corax, a duo formed by AIH and JKV in the late 1998. The album was originally released in an edition of 80 copies through the groups own label, Blue Sector in 2003. 'The Cadaver Pulse I' consists of over 70 minutes of very original ambient music that is continuously evolving and challenging. The six states of the album weave a potent radiant web that encapsulates the original, subliminal oneiric visions. The sonic tapestries have been produced mainly from heavily processed natural sound sources such as animals, various field recordings, human voice, wind and bowed instruments that culminate in a work that is archaic and dark, multilayered and harsh. All material was received, composed and mixed during long and intensive recording sessions held in the Blue Vortex, duo's studio-temple at the time, between December 2002 and February 2003. The album is enclosed inside a newly designed and silk-screen printed cardboard covers including six offset printed insert cards and a four panel booklet." [label info]
www.auralhypnox.com
"Shamanistic Ambience? Der Titel dieser CD-R jedenfalls verweist sehr treffend auf das Gefühl des „Eingeschlossen-Seins im Sound“, als sei dieser greifbares Umgebungsmaterial. I.CORAX ist ein weiteres Projekt aus der finnischen post-industrial-Szene, die hier als erste Veröffentlichung von BLUE SECTOR brillieren. Alle Klänge dieser druckvoll-klaustrophobischen harsh-drone Soundreise basieren auf Feldaufnahmen unterschiedlichster Couleur, was sich in den mannigfaltigen Mikro-Effekten eindrucksvoll zeigt.. sharp dark pulsating ambient at its best !!!!" [Drone Rec. 2003]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
The Cadaver Pulse II: Mothelix Liquescent |
CD |
"The second official release of the Oulu based experimental music and sound art duo I.corax, originally released in 2003 is now also available through our Stellar Mansion series. 'The Cadaver Pulse II', running over 60 minutes is an etheric, bright and dreamlike sequel to the oozy 'TCP I'. The six helical compositions bring forth a unique analogue and organic atmosphere. Most of the material on this album was received, composed and recorded during intense three-day live sessions held in the Blue Vortex in March 2003 by using analogue synthesizers, samplers, human voice and a selection of wind and bowed instruments. The material was mixed and finalised in September 2003. The album is enclosed inside a newly designed and silk-screen printed cardboard covers including six offset printed insert cards and a four panel booklet." [label info]
www.auralhypnox.com
"Second release for I.CORAX on Blue Sector, the second part of “THE CADAVER PULSE”... analogue sounding dark ambience, very waving & gloomy harmonic, with very interesting higher sounds & effects which give it a very trancy & secret atmosphere.. RECOMMENDED for noisy dark ambient lovers!" [Drone Rec. 2003]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| IA (ALEX COPELAND) |
Peak of Anchorite |
mCDR |
"IA is the project of us artist alex copeland who sent us a while back a handful of beautiful tracks, and also a great collaborative track (with julien demoulin) titled "the bay" alas 40min long. "the bay" was happily since co-released by ronda and our dear collegue from basses frequences (check this great disc here if you haven't yet!). luckily the solo tracks were of equal beauty and we were immediately hooked by some of them... "peak of anchorite" is a perfect example of IA's music: a kind of ancient, lo-fi drone that could remind the good old days of rapoon. a great newcomer to discover!" [label info]
www.taalem.com
|
2012 |
€5.00 |
|
| IELASI, GIUSEPPE & HOWARD STELZER |
Night Life |
CD |
Sehr fruchtbare Zusammenarbeit in der Brombron-Serie: GIUSEPPE IELASI, Impro-Gitarrist aus Italien der auch das FRINGES Label betreibt, und der US-Amerikaner HOWARD STELZER, bekannt für seine "schwierigen" Tapemanipulationen und field recordings und ebenfalls Labelbetreiber (INTRANSITIVE RECORDS), kamen für einige Tage in Nijmegen im Extrapool-Studio zusammen.... so entstand "Night Life, wo low-fi noises der seltsamsten Art mit ruhigen Gitarren-pickings kontrastieren, oft bewegt sich die Musik im pulsierend-atmosphärischen Bereich aber mit stetiger Veränderung, cut-ups & nicht-alltägliche Konkret-sounds tauchen auf, sowie immer wieder Giuseppes ungewöhnliche Gitarrenarbeit, die sich kaum beschreiben lässt.....
"I am not sure wether the title of this disc refers to the time of recording, but if so the last track's title says it all: Losing our taste for the night life. I know for a fact that a Brombron project can mess up your daily rhythm pretty bad and that ending it feels almost as good as starting it. This disc by Ielasi and Stelzer has obviously had exactly the right amount of night time anyway. I have known and admired Howard Stelzer's work as tape jockey for quite some time now (aside of his activity as boss of the wonderful Intransitive Recordings), but Giuseppe Ielasi was a new name for me. He is a contemporary guitarist, using this instrument in all possible ways, but with a strong bias towards electronic manipulations. The result of this collaboration is absolutely fascinating: on one hand there are the harsh and explosive eruptions of Stelzer's tapes and on the other hand there are the more gentle and melodic guitar manipulations of Ielasi. This combination is truly excellent and invigorating. It has certainly been a while since I heard something this refreshing and exciting. I am not sure why this is; the use of sounds, the compositions, the tension, somehow everything just fits together so well that I am lost for words really. Simply beautiful and an absolute must!!!" [MR / Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| IF, BWANA |
Red One |
CD |
"Please note: This release is packaged in hand stenciled 11” x 17” card type stock paper, folded, inserted into re-sealable plastic sleeves. There is no jewel case, tray card etc. There is a bar code.
After the last If, Bwana (Al Margolis) release on Pogus – the large-scale double cd E (and Sometimes Why), this brand new If, Bwana recording is a little more intimate. This release consists of six smaller works for one or at most two instruments – with the instruments all being multi-tracked for a denser, deeper sound.
Red One features performances by stalwart experimental/avant musician/composers such as Nate Wooley, trumpet, on Toys for Al (with Al Margolis on toy trumpet); Ellen Band’s vocals on Ellen, Banned; trombonist Monique Buzzarté on Xylo 2; bassoonist Leslie Ross on It is Bassoon; Lisa B Kelley, voice and Veronika Vitazkova, flute on Lisa Verabbit; and Al Margolis, toy trumpet on Toys for Nate.
To quote from Massimo Ricci’s Touching Extreme review of E (and Sometimes Why) - and an equally apt description here: “…enriching with a distinct human component – Al Margolis’ “academically improper” compositional conceptions. The ensuing music is intelligently awkward and typically difficult to categorize, barring the creation of a “Bwana” label: rich in disruptions yet engrossingly (and economically) minimalist at times, comprising twisted details that, in a general context of rationalism, increase the amount of question marks each and every time the discs are spun.”
This disc adds another chapter to the thirty-year journey of If, Bwana.
If, Bwana was born on New Year's Eve 1984, making music that has swung between fairly spontaneous studio constructions and more process-oriented composition. A recent review of Margolis's work says: "Let it be declared that Al Margolis/If, Bwana is some sort of evil genius working with raw materials which are never adapted to a genre or a context, because they create one in that very moment. Those sources are radically altered up to an utterly unrecognizable state, anarchic manifestations moving in compact determination." (Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes).
Al Margolis has been an activist in the 1980s American cassette underground through his cassette label Sound of Pig Music; was
co-founder of experimental music label Pogus Productions, which he continues to run. Active under the name If, Bwana since 1984, making music that has swung between fairly spontaneous studio constructions and more process-oriented composition."
https://www.pogus.com/21068.html
"And finally there is label boss Al Margolis with a new release as If, Bwana, his moniker since the mid 80s. His 'Red One' looks very much like some tape release he could have done in the 80s, with paint images sprayed on paper and a rather 80s design, but the music is all new. In each of the six pieces he works with sound material which he received from others, and all that has to do with 'air'. Nate Wooley plays trumpet, Margolis himself toy-trumpet (both in the first piece), Ellan Band uses her voice (second), Monique Buzzarte trombone (third), Leslie Ross (bassoon), Lisa B Kelley (voice) and Veronika Vitazkova on flute (fifth) and Margolis again on toy trumpet in the sixth piece. Margolis keeps his If, Bwana name for when it comes to using recordings for acoustic instruments and reworking them into lengthy pieces of drone like sound scapes. Taking the working method from Phill Niblock he cuts the sounds right before they start and right after they end, and then starts to layer them on the computer. He pitches some up, some down, and in some tracks in the musical program he cuts out parts, so have a start/stop feel, like some instruments only play part of the time, and others are in a more continuous mode. Thus clever modern classical music is made of a highly atmospheric chain. It's a technique If, Bwana has been using for years now, and he mastered it quite well. Not as controlled as Niblock himself does this, but the music is more playful - for instance in the two pieces that use voice, especially 'Lisa Verabbit' connects to the world of improvisation/free forms of classical music. It's different, playful, but perhaps not my most favorite of this disc. I'd rather settle 'Toys For Al' or 'It Is Bassoon', which it's controlled sustaining sounds and sounds dropping in and out in very gentle way. Another fine release with a nice, strange visual esthetic. Not the next new move, but a further investigation into what we already know." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
| IF, BWANA / DAN WARBURTON |
I am sitting in Phil Niblock's Kitchen |
CD |
"Dan Warburton: subbass piano, Bwana remix & post-production. Al Margolis: post-post-production, passing traffic, kitchen noises. Mastered by Tom Hamilton. About the CD : 'To prepare for our concert at De Witte Zaal in Ghent, Belgium, on April 4th 2008 - a triple bill with Mecha Orga and Illusion of Safety organised by Esther Venrooy and Han van den Hoof - I took all the Al Margolis / If, Bwana CDs in my record collection, loaded them into the computer and timestretched each piece to last precisely 45 minutes that being the projected duration of our set), ending up with about 100 tracks of dense sludge which I systematically decanted and edited into a single span of music. Al Margolis then made the final mix the day before the gig by playing it back in the kitchen at Phill Niblock's apartment in Ghent - hence the title of the work, which refers not only to Alvin Lucier's I Am Sitting In A Room, of course, but also to my own remix collaboration with Alan Courtis and Roberto Conlazo, I am not sitting in a room with Reynols (Absurd 43, 2004) - recording the ambient sounds of the space and passing traffic along with it. In concert he added live electronics and clarinet while I played violin. For this version, he repaid the compliment by adding a timestretched and pitchshifted piano piece of mine, Speed Study I (from Guy Livingston's Don't Panic: 60 Seconds for Piano, Wergo WER 6649-2, 2001). Anyone familiar with that work is highly unlikely to recognise it played 45 times slower, but you certainly feel it at times.' Dan Warburton" [label info]
www.monotyperecords.com
"A curious mixture between a taped composition and improvisation. The taped composition is a piece of music that Dan Warburton created using all the CDs he had from Al Margolis, stretching everything out to last 45 minutes - the duration of the concert. This lead to about 100 tracks, which played together, made a 'sludge' (Warburton's words, not mine), which Al Margolis then mixed, while sitting in the Kitchen of Phill Niblock (hence the title, also a nod to Alvin Lucier's piece, but that otherwise has nothing to do with this). Margolis also slowed down a minute piano piece by Warburton. That's the basis of this recording and if the 'sludge' is not enough, during the concert, Margolis played clarinet and live electronics, while Warburton played violin. So you see, like Zabelka, a cross-over between improvisation, composed music and electronics. But I must admit I liked this one more than the Zabelka disc. The sheer, closed
density of the recordings, in which he hear lots of sound action, blurry and sound debris like, along with the scraping of violin and occasional clarinet sounds make up a surprising fine disc. A rarity in the world of improvised music to have something that has a similar density. Excellent stuff." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€12.50 |
|
| IF, BWANA / GERALD FIEBIG |
split |
LP |
"ACV 1002: Marbled white vinyl 12” LP in unique hand-painted sleeve, limited edition of 100
File under: Drone, Ambient, Experimental
The second release in attenuation circuit’s Vinyl Series of split LPs in unique hand-painted covers brings together US experimental music icon and long-term label activist Al Margolis aka If, Bwana and German audio artist Gerald Fiebig. Their shared method of arranging recorded acoustic sounds into digital compositions led them to also share some of the sound material used on the respective sides of this album, which offers a richness of textures from quirky improv-style passages to calm drones and processed field recordings.
If, Bwana interweaves two tracks based on the sounds of very different wind instruments: Recorders, played by himself, and sounds of a church organ played by Fiebig at Mecklenburgisches Orgelmuseum, a former church turned organ museum in the North German town of Malchow. “Recorders in Augsburg” is a complex layering of several short melodic phrases played on the recorders, exploiting their higher registers in a way that makes them sound almost like lo-fi electronics although the sounds are not heavily processed. A very rhythmic, mercurial piece which eludes any attempt on the listener’s part to settle onto one continuous ‘beat,’ “Recorders” fades into “Fie’s Big Organ.” This piece layers pitch-shifted excerpts from the original organ session to create a rather tranquil, drone-ambient feel in the spirit of If, Bwana’s recent releases on his own Pogus label as well as Mutable Music and the live album “crossgrained” on attenuation circuit.
http://attenuationcircuit.wix.com/attenuation-circuit#!__crossgrained
Gerald Fiebig’s piece “Sustained Development” combines other excerpts from the acoustic organ and recorder material and combines it with both acoustic and electric guitar samples, provided by Mathias Huber and Jesus Jackson, Fiebig’s colleagues from his pop trio Jesus Jackson und die grenzlandreiter and processed by labelmate EMERGE. Other ingredients are electric organ sounds and field recordings made with an “electric recorder.” Fiebig’s subtle, quiet drone/ambient piece is mainly based on slow loops fading in and out, like breath or groundswell. Even more than the If, Bwana tracks, the sound processing on this side of the LP constantly plays tricks on the listener who wants to pinpoint whether any particular sound is ‘acoustic’ or ‘electric’ in origin." [label info]
"Although best known for their CDR and online releases, Attenuation started to release vinyl too, and this is their second release. Like the previous release this is split release, here with If, Bwana and Gerald Fiebig. Both of them have had a number of releases on this label. They use each other sound sources, but which leads to different results. On the If, Bwana side we find the sound of recorders as taped by Al Margolis, mister Bwana himself, and organ recordings by Fiebig. Apparently, according to the info, we have two pieces here, one of each instrument. In the 'usual' methods applied by If, Bwana all of these sounds are layered together, not unlike Phill Niblock would (with whom If, Bwana tours every now and then). Chopped into small loops, on a constant repeat mission, but never starting at the same time, forms a rather dense mass of sound. Many layers should be understand many, maybe even 1,000 or so. The recorder piece is slightly dissonant it seems and has an edginess which I don't think I heard before in If, Bwana's music. It just as easily moves over into the organ piece, which applies a similar technique, but which is slightly more 'melodic' and less dissonant and maybe more what you would expect of such drone like sounds. It's something I rather enjoy, very much. This is maybe the lo-fi version of Niblock, but it's one that works quite well.
Now Fiebig, on the other side, may use the same recorder and organ sounds, he also adds the acoustic guitar of Jesus Jackson (processed by Emerge), the electric guitar of Mathias Huber and an electric recorder which he played himself. Here more is indeed less. You could expect a lot more sounds, and even more density than If, Bwana does, but it's not something like that at all. Fiebig distributes the sounds quite sparsely over the course of his side. It moves very slowly, back and forth between the different sources and just sometimes you recognize the acoustic guitar, or the recorder. Sometimes playing together, but it seems that a lot of the times they are on their own, like stars at night - moving solely in the firmament. That seems to be the case here, with very occasional interaction. If that happens, in what seems to be the middle of the record, small melodies are formed around carefully placed crackles, slowly moving a gentle drone in to fade out in the end. Nice, gentle music
. Perhaps the most gentle music I encountered on this label. Pressed on white vinyl, which is perhaps not the most optimum for this delicate music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€23.00 |
|
| IF, BWANA / ROEL MEELKOP / THE NEW BLOCKADERS / KOMMISSAR HJULER UND FRAU |
Die Stille nach dem Schuss |
LP |
Tracklist
Hide Credits
A1 –If, Bwana Oct 1 Tenors
A2 –Roel Meelkop Windwerk
A3 –The New Blockaders Epater Simphonie (Excerpt)
A4 –Roel Meelkop Holzwerk
B1 –Kommissar Hjuler Und Frau Ich Bin Dein Neukopf !
B2 –The New Blockaders Variations Pour Une Porte Et Une Brouette
Performer – Gillham*, Rupenus*
Notes
LP in series FLUXUS +/-, limited to 79 copies, black vinyl and black labels.
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| IGOR BARDO |
My Sweet Nightmare |
CD |
"Igor Bardo is a Russian musician and sound artist, best known from Bardoseneticcube, one of the leading experimental/post-industrial groups from Russia.
My Sweet Nightmare is Igor Bardo’s debut solo album, containing about one hour of first class psychedelic electronic listening music. The surrealist soundscapes will be instantly embraced by fans of Bardoseneticcube, yet the artist manages to conquer heaps of new ground at the same time, and takes us on an adventurous journey deep down into the rabbit hole. Themes such as religion, psychedelia, sleep paralysis etc. are explored with eerie atmospheres, bliss-inducing frequencies and cutting edge studio experiments." [label info]
www.someplaceelse.net
"Some Place Else is a label based in Finland. My Sweet Nightmare is the debutalbum of the Russian soundartist and musician Igor Bardo. He is member of Bardoseneticube, an experimental/post-industrial group from Russia and is formed in 1998. This band released a lot of albums all over the world and they are wellknown as a powerful audiovisual live-performance act. The band ended in 2010. Bardo describes his album "My Sweet Nightmare" as a surrealistic album. The album is well composed and most compositions have a mix of recognizable sounds of musical structures like jazzy drums, religions chants or militaristic marches. He combines lots of different elements of music and sounds. Some tracks have an ambient noise style. The mixing between highly electronic sounds and fresh field-recordings and natural sound is well chosen. Old recordings of folk songs are mixed with ongoing electronic soundwaves and he creates a new old world. ?The end of the end? is a track with the shouting voice of Adolf Hitler. He samples his terrifying voice who evokes to destroy all Jews in the great German Reich with bombastic beats and chords. The song becomes more and more abstract and personal. But for me this song has nothing to do with a sweet nightmare. The track grabs my by the throat and my stomach starts turning. Real physical music, no more, no less. Highly recommended and real surprise for experimental ears and people with a strong stomach." [JKH/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| ILIOS |
18102002 |
CD-R |
Project from Greece with intense and outstanding pure frequency ambience, static & abstract wave-sounds that move underneath, with some more concrete rumblings on the surface...at most times quite deep droning. Recommended!
"ilios for me stands as one of the most eccentric yet challenging greek experimental projects of the last decade ever since the very first day that we met in march 91 & was introduced to their work. since then they've been always surprising not only me but also
their friends/audience either via their cds which could bring in mind lotsa residents influences at times, intelligent deconstructed pop tunes or obscure ambient soundcapes other times. the same eccentric and bizarre their performances have been, one could turn more 'electronica', the other (such as their amazing early 90's theatre performance 'agamemnon') could turn an obscure ambient piece evenwith kraut rock hints uniquely incorporated into it. the last couple of years the project seems to turn back to its early origins of obscure ambience & bizarre experimentation. the recent 'ba' 3"cd on their antifrost can be an example of this crossover. but even this release couldn't predetermine the night of the 18th of october 2002 at small music theatre. melting sounds of a laptop & utilizing as an extra source as well a glass 'played' w/ a dentist's wheel ilios blasted one of the most flabbergasting live sets ever experienced so
far of a greek experimental project. starting with a frequency that someone might expected to listen to a cool yet standard minimal or
lowercase live set, evolved & outbreaked an ambience whose intensity not only did it amplify the whole space around us but also the audience (who was in total darkness) that we were experiencing with great enthusiasm this impressive moment. a live set the impression & sound of which can only be compared to some of the best 'ambient' (or call it whatever) moments of people like zbigniew karkowski, sons of god, hafler trio, etc & here is nothing but the audio documentation of this monumental night." [Nicolas Malevitsis]
www.void.gr/absurd
|
2002 |
€10.00 |
|
| ILITCH |
White Light |
LP |
After multiple projects and collaborations with, among others, Valentina Fanigliulo (Mushy, Phantom Love), Nicholas Littlemore (Empire Of The Sun, Pnau), Aaron Moore, Quentin Rollet, Jac Berrocal ... Thierry Müller restart the "concept" of ILITCH for this opus - new ilitch album since 2010 (excluding reissues).
Ilitch albums, too rare for some, cults for others, are from the beginning generated by important moments in the life of Thierry Müller. Inspired by them, reflecting them, sublimating them, treating them as therapy or bearing an incisive, sometimes impudent and / or disillusioned look, Thierry gives each opus a resonance, a sound, a singular treatment.
In the bloodline of "10 Suicides", "Lena's Life" ... He gives us a very personal concept album:
"Several health-related accidents have led me to reflect on the passing of time, resulting in flashbacks, disturbing feelings about memory and neurological disorders, the questions it causes, and a strange feeling that I tried to "translate" into the track White Light that gave the title to the album ... ".
With the contributions of Jac Berrocal, Aaron Moore, Quentin Rollet and Milena Drither-Lerru, this introspective album takes us to unknown lands that can only question and seduce us.
THIERRY MÜLLER: guitar, bass, synths, piano, keys, Mellotron, drums programing, voice
JAC BERROCAL: trumpet
MILENA DRITHER-LERRU: cello, voice
AARON MOORE: vocals, percussions, panpipes, harp
QUENTIN ROLLET: saxophone
https://bisourecords.bandcamp.com/album/white-light
https://www.bisou-records.com/artists/thierry-muller/
|
2021 |
€25.00 |
|
| ILLUSION OF SAFETY |
In Session |
CD |
Neues Material des Projektes von DAN BURKE - als eher elektronisch arbeitende Industrial-Band fing man an, aber die verschiedenen Metamorphosen in der nunmehr 25jährigen Geschichte führten über Geräuschobjekt-Improvisationen und eher collagigen musique concrete Werken bis hin zum dark ambient und drone-basierender Musik.
IN SESSION führt einiges davon zusammen, besitzt Anteile von verschiedenen Stilen, spannungeladen & sirrend, wellig, dronig, dicht, wieder ein kleines Meisterwerk.
Geräuschmusik wie sie intensiver kaum vorstellbar ist.
"Illusion Of Safety is one of the oldest post-industrial acts in the Americal musical underground, and in my opinion, of the most interesting projects ever. During 25 years of existence IOS have recorded a lot of various albums and their music has been changing a lot. Having passed through all the circles of industrial hell, Dan Burke has lost almost all his companions and remained alone. He hasn't released too many albums recently, and "In Session" released in 2008 has become a real surprise for me. I mean of course the fact of the release, because the highest quality of musical material and huge amount of pleasure while listening to it is guaranteed by any of IOS albums. "In Session" was recorded in 2007, the mastering was made by Thomas Dimuzio at Gench Music Studio. This is a very thorough and delicate work, an abstract performance in which synthetic and natural sounds mix in the most unusual combinations, when you really hold your breath to wait what's gonna be further. In 6 tracks of the album there are a lot of quiet microscopic sounds which whirl in front of the eyes like thoughts without rational content. They change into the smooth waves of melodic ambient, then to insane sampled collages which don't make you feeling relaxed keeping the constant tension. This shortening of the distance between contemplativeness and neural spasms has always been the trademark of IOS - it's interesting to watch how the musical structure transforms under the emotional passion hiding after each second of the track time, but not always going out. Separate compliments should be given to the artwork designer - you can observe the cover for a really long time being astounded by it's beauty. [Dmitry Vasilyev, Monochrome Vision]
"One of my favorite post industrial bands ever. Period. Since more than twenty years I am a fan and every new release is awaited with eager anticipation. This highly limited release from Russia, in a gorgeous package, is no different. These days, since many years actually, Illusion Of Safety is reduced one person, following a free floating membership that included Thyme Jones and Jim O'Rourke to mention just two, which is Dan Burke. He plays 'sound generating devices and random objects that deliberately provoke, mesmerize and even affront listeners'. I deliberately use the term 'post industrial' and not say 'electro-acoustic' or 'musique concrete', which could also easily be applied to the music of Illusion Of Safety. When they started they were firmly rooted in the world of industrial music, and later on elements of musique concrete came along, but if you listen to 'In Session' the elements of industrial music are still there. Heavy, steel walls of drone music pierce your ears and are as easily replaced by soft drones, crackling sounds of hand held objects and contact microphones. I wouldn't be surprised if Burke plays all of this 'in session', live at home so to speak. I saw him a lot of times playing concerts which capture the equal beauty that is captured here. Ranging from sheer noise to near silence and there is always an element of surprise lurking around the corner. An abrupt, full stop or start and it bring the piece in a new territory. Illusion Of Safety's music can be compared with the likes of Roel Meelkop or Toy Bizarre, but is less bound to rules of composition and more free and joyous (well, that's probably not the right away) than those of the microsound/musique concrete posse that inhabits the world of Vital Weekly so frequently. That alone makes a great band and another great CD. Very fine concentrated bursts of sound." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"The first proper record from Illusion Of Safety in well over 5 years emerges from the Russian label Waystyx, meaning that this will
not be around for long and will not be easy for us to track down once these are gone. Just a caveat before we launch into the, um, virtues
of this exercise in muscular electronics and brainmelting dronescaping. Illusion Of Safety began well over two decades ago, firmly embracing the death factory imagery and psychological tension that came through the work of Throbbing Gristle, John Duncan, and The Hafler Trio. While the grizzly subjects of torture and sexual violence have dissolved over time, Illusion Of Safety's interest in unsettled soundscapes, collages, and electronic walls of noise remain as powerful as ever. Illusion Of Safety has always been a revolving door project centered around Chicago's Dan Burke; and In Session finds Burke alone at the helms of Illusion Of Safety, concocting a dizzying series of arcing electroshock compositions filled with intense dynamics and rapid crescendos of incremental noise quickly nosediving into subharmonic tones and microtonal squiggles, with plenty of slow
building elements in between. The piercing drones that dominate the Illusion Of Safety palette are matched with crumbled textures from electronic circuits on the verge of collapse (see Wolf Eyes, Carlos Giffoni) and contact microphone agitation (see Tarab, Eric La Casa,
Loren Chasse, etc.). There's one track of grim psychedelic arpeggiations which sounds as if Prurient were attempting a Terry Riley piece, with bad intentions running through the phase shifting loops. Totally fantastic, if not totally disquieting!" [Aquarius Rec.]
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Fifteen / Finite Material Context |
CD |
"The fourth CD of this notorious experimental electronic band from the USA. Contains excellent material from two long deleted cassettes. Some beat orientated tracks, melt odd rhythms with cut-ups and tape manipulations and haunting ambient textures filter through the cracks. Just when the mellow subtlety draws you in, a sharp burst of incredible noise interrupts."
[label notes] |
1993 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Bridges Intact |
CD |
"New album of Illusion Of Safety was recorded preliminary with piano, guitar, electronics and sound processing devices. Abstract tonal and atonal improvisations share the sonic continuum with background drones, rasps and gentle noises, and they do it in highly unpredictable surreal way: mild "melodies" turn into energetic uneasy passages being interrupted by "concrete" sonic romp evolving into spatial drone and electronic landscapes... and all this whirl continues during the whole CD increasing the degree of abstractness and psychedelia as it moves towards the end, which is presented in a form of beautiful harmonic composition." [Zhelezobeton]
"Its is hardly a secret: since about twenty-five years I am a big fan of Illusion Of Safety, following them since their cassette releases, through vinyl, CDs and now, oddly perhaps, cassettes again. But there are still CDs, such as the lovely packed 'Bridges Intact' on Russia's Waystyx Records, who certainly have a reputation to keep up in the packaging department. It surely beats me why the website seems to be in Russian only, perhaps its some conceptual stance? Illusion Of Safety's core member is Dan(iel) Burke since the start, but has included fifteen other people, of which Jim O'Rourke is no doubt the best known one. Here, on this new CD, old member Thymme Jones appears on three tracks as well as guitar player Ben Vida on one. Musically Illusion Of Safety can be all over the place, although the most recent work is usually quite a bit based in the realms of improvised music. That is evident on 'Bridges Intact'. The pieces recorded with Jones show this love of improvisation, with
duets for guitar and piano, as well as a fine mixture of acoustic and synthetic sounds. At first one might think this is all an improvised record, but when the third piece, 'Special Passing', kicks in we know we arrived in the field of music we know and love Illusion Of Safety for: a delicate combination of musique concrete, electro-acoustics, improvisations for instruments, ambient passages, field recordings and electronic music. All put together in a great way. Sometimes all in one piece, and sometimes one piece is just one thing, such as the ambient crackling of static charges in 'Forgotten Baggage', with bits of field recordings at the start. Again an excellent release by one of the greatest talents for this kind of music. This isn't as high up on my list of favorites as say 'Probe', but its not far away." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€15.50 |
|
|
Fin de Siecle |
CD |
"Long overdue re-issue of this long out of print LP on Korm Plastics (kp 5495), and perhaps its fits the format of CD even better. Illusion Of Safety is Dan Burke, here with Kurt Greisch.
Since 1983 Illusion Of Safety has been the ongoing project of Daniel Burke, working alone and with various collaborators. They have released over 20 CDs on labels such as Complacency, Die Stadt, Experimedia, Odd Size, Silent, Soleilmoon, Staalplaat, Tesco, and Waystyx, and played over three hundred concerts in Europe and North America. IOS' work has been called ambient, post-industrial, electro-acoustic, noise, sound collage, improvisation, and power electronics, but they are unwilling to limit their work to any given style or method. The sonic character and affective substance of the music will often shift abruptly within each recording and live performance.
'Fin de Siecle' was part of the 'ambient series' of Korm Plastics and has some highly subtle music to offer, based on field recordings and quiet electronics. Part One and Part Three, the original sides of the LP, were recorded for a tour in 1995 and edited to release on vinyl. The CD version has an extended 'prologue' and 'epilogue' as bonus tracks, making the total CD 66 minutes long." [label info]
www.kormplastics.nl
"Behind the legendary project Illusion Of Safety, you find the two sound artists, Daniel Burke and Kurt Griesch. The two main pieces of present album "Fin de siecle", was created for an American tour back in 1995. Due to the time-limit of the vinyl-media which was the original release format, the pieces were cut and revised to fit the time-span of the vinyl. Now sixteen years later, the two pieces have returned from the historical archives to be presented on this re-issue on Dutch label Korm Plastics. The twosome has for this particular occasion composed two smaller pieces - an epilogue and prologue for the original album. After the abrasive "Epilogue"-piece, we move into first piece of the original "Fin de siecle"-release, simply titled "Part one". A 22-minutes running piece of ambient tranquility built on repetitive sound-drones until the closing moment where the piece culminates in a harsh grande finale. Second piece of the original vinyl is a lengthy work combining field recordings and trippy sound drones - a subtle piece of an almost inaudible character. Stepping to the last piece of the album, the "Prologue"-track is another recent created work for this re-issue. As was the case with the epilogue, this is a piece of a more upfront nature with long-stretched monotonous tone that because of its repetitive nature create a nice hypnotic atmosphere stretched over the 22 minutes run-time." [NM/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
|
New Rules, Same Game, Less Instruction |
CD |
Chicago's post- / ambient industrial legend is back with a work that combines electronic sounds and field recordings:
microscopic audio events, loops, heavily processed material of all kinds form seven multi-layered collages
that seem to be full of electro-magnetic static, morphing and transforming like a hallucinogenic object in every second and in all possible directions...
in all it's subtleness this is far away from the shock treatment noises of the early IOS times.
'New Rules, Same Game, Less Instruction' is the first release of new IOS compositions since 'Surrender' in 2015.
Featuring extensive synthesizer source material as well as other now familiar electro-acoustic techniques
it is conceived as a follow up to the 1995 3” CD release of 'Rules Of The Game', alluding to the social, political,
and psychological games humans engage in for validation, survival, or dominance. New Rules, same game, less instruction, harsher penalty.
Illusion Of Safety now more than ever.
Mastering: THOMAS DIMUZIO / Artwork: DAN BURKE
listen to one track from the album:
https://soundcloud.com/drone-records/illusion-of-safety-malicious-intent
order:
https://www.dronerecords.de/album.view.html?album=20793
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Pastoral |
CD |
Illusion Of Safety - Pastoral
CD only, 200 copies, Korm Plastics
While Korm Plastics publishes books these days, this is a surprise CD only release. We sent him this demo in 2011 & we all forgot about it. Pastoral is a welcome edition to the catalog showcasing a less aggressive stance from the project, a more organic subdued presentation, sounds to make a clearing, & open space. The recordings history is a bit blurred now but it is very likely tracks 1, 2, 3, & 5 are Kurt Griesch and Daniel Burke, post 1995 tour work. Track four uses an instance of Reaktor 5 VCS-3 software emulation.
Illusion of Safety
Since 1983, Daniel Burke and his many conspirators under the Illusion Of Safety banner have over the course of 40+ full length releases traversed most every facet of the avant sound plane, from early industrial pop deconstruction to blindingly minimal sound art to densely surreal found-sound collage, each unique approach bending and reconstituting the expectations and possibilities of each realm, creating uneasy music that is dense and dystopian and yet also beautiful. Performing over 300 live concerts throughout Europe and the states included No Fun 2008, the Wroclaw Industrial Music Festival 2009, Sonic Circuits in 2010, with Shen Wei Dance Arts in 2011 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, and at the Crisis Data Transfer Pre-Party October 2023. Outside of IOS Burke has collaborated with Jim O’Rourke, Jon Mueller, Randy Greif, Darin Gray, Z’EV, Cheer-Accident, Thomas Dimuzio, Kevin Drumm, Bill Horist, and others.
https://kormdigitaal.bandcamp.com/album/pastoral
"I don't think it's a surprise that here at VWHQ, there is a person that likes Dan Burke's aka Illusion of Safety's output. Earlier this year, Korm Plastics (who said they'd never release music again) broke
the dry spell of releasing music by co-releasing the IoS/Z'ev collaboration on vinyl. Now they have a CD by Illusion of Safety. Combine that with a few other releases like Muziekkamer and the BOH Sampler, and those first words on the Korm website raise questions: 'Korm Plastics was a record label. These days, we publish books. About music.' Maybe Frans will explain it to me at some point.
But, back to what it is all about. Illusion of Safety / Dan Burke. It's a blind spot in my collection. I've seen him perform once in Aachen, but since that was something like 25 years ago, I really can't remember the details. So, it's Dan's recent output that I started to know and respect. And with this new album, "Pastoral", the concern is only getting stronger. Though I must say, it took me several listening sessions before it struck me at the right spots.
The five tracks with a total playing time of 58 minutes are hidden in serene packaging. Pictures of a morning or evening stroll in the countryside and the first sounds of "Invulnerable" are concrete staccato sounds. There was something wrong with the combination of those in my head. Still, as the track continued, field recordings started building a backing drone, and additional sounds formed the actual composition with a massive piano/guitar intermezzo, which has to be mentioned. All kinds of manipulated musical instruments create a flawless transition towards the second track entitled "Neolithic", and from here, it only gets better. Tracks 3 to 5 are droney soundscapes with a perfect balance between layers of minimal noise and drones and additional sounds projected on top of it. In total, 40 minutes of absolute poetic sounds. And there it struck me how I see Dan's music, in this release at least. Looking at the picture on the cover, you get an emotion, but zooming in on the picture, you can extrude air, sun, grass, sand, and a little forest in the back. And zooming in on the woods, you can see trees and then
branches... But zooming out, you get a 'walk in nature'... But what if you zoom out from there... "Thermogenesis", "Ground", and "Compelling" all cover a particular aspect of switching perspectives like this. At least, that's what I think.
Pastoral (noun): a work of literature portraying an idealized version of country life. For me, the first tracks are about escaping what's terrible, and the last three are about embracing what's good. The illusion of Safety presents in one album that you can't make just one of those choices (escape/embrace) and that the result is great if you follow your heart. (BW)
|
2023 |
€12.00 |
|
| ILSE LAU |
De tinnen mannen |
CD |
Das vierte Album der Bremer „keine Schublade gefällig“-Band: noch besser produziert, vertrackter und gewagter in den Harmonien,
mit Einsatz von Bläsern, Piano, und Sprechgesang.... if you like RECOMMENDED RECORDS No Wave-Stuff,,,,,if you like THIS HEAT....... if you like Jazzcore-stuff..... if you like CPT. BEEFHEART....... check out the fourth album of this un-categorizable band from the sweetest town in Germany !!
„Jetzt machen wir'ne Tanzplatte..." - so sagten sich die drei von Ilse Lau beim Gang ins Studio. Tanzen jetzt aber nicht so, wie man denken würde. Keine Disco, kein Rock'n'Roll, kein Rave. Sondern statt Rockdekonstruktion und grandioser Neuzusammensetzung, bislang auf drei exzellenten Alben mit eigener Handschrift vorexerziert, nunmehr das: gerade Takte, vergleichsweise knappe, entschlackte Kompositionen. Erstmals zusätzlich akzentuiert durch gelegentliche Gesangseinlagen. Die Band hat sich gründlich neu erfunden. Ilse nimmt ihre HörerInnen auf Album Nummer 4 ganz freundlich bei der Hand, trägt auch in dieser Saison jenen zarten Dub-Hauch-von-einem-Schleier, der ihr schon im letzten Sommer so gut stand. Dabei ist Ilse Lau immer noch von ganzem Herzen den entlegeneren Regionen fortschrittlicher Rockmusik zugetan - Captain Beefheart, Pere Ubu oder U.S. Maple zum Beispiel -, hat aber das Wissen darum derart durchdrungen, dass sie leichter Hand daraus etwas ganz Eigenes machen kann, das ihre bisherigen Alben zusammenfasst und in eine verbindliche Form überführt. Kompakter, zupackender als zuvor klingt das Trio auf "de tinnen mannen", spielt funky, lässt Gäste strahlende Bläsersätze setzen, und manchmal klingt gar eine Art Drum'n'Bass-Beat an. Ihre reifste Platte bis zum heutigen Tag. "[Andreas Schnell]
„Still one of our favourite German avant-rock bands, this guitar/bass/drums trio from Bremen. Never thought themselves capable of vocals, but now for the first time they’re giving it a go in a couple of tracks.” [Worm]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| ILTA HÄMÄRÄ |
Velloa |
7inch |
"After being around for twenty-three years, Meeuw Muzak releases their forty-ninth catalogue number, so time for MM050 being something special, but surely a 7", as Meeuw Muzak releases solely in that format (well, two 10" and a 8" not withstanding, but that was a long time ago). Ilta Hämärä you ask? I asked the same thing, as the over didn't tell me much. The website only gave this sparse note: "Timo
Van Luijk and Bart De Paepe in troubled water". Van Luijk we know as a serious man within the realms of improvised music, and I never heard of De Paepe, who is, apparently also known as Father Sloow, Bart Sloow or simply Sloower, partly because he has a label called Sloow Tapes. I know quite a bit of Van Luijk’s music but this particular enterprise I had not heard before. They have a cassette and LP available and now there is this 7" with two songs. Some tormented slow (sloow?) drum machine, and
much delay and reverb on the guitar, along with some percussive bits, and together they create some highly wacky pop music. Maybe not unlike that of Jonathan Valdez reviewed elsewhere, but Ilta Hämärä don't use any vocals. There is an abundance of sound effects used, adding a sort of psychedelic flavour to the music, maybe the effect of it is a bit murky, troubled water indeed. You could wonder as if this was recorded by a mister nobody anyone would touch it to release it, which actually can be said
of various things I hear every now and then, but given the fact that Van Luijk is slowly becoming a household name, surely this will go down well. Slowed down off side rock music; I love it, but I would also said that if it was recorded by the nobodies." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2018 |
€7.00 |
|
| IMCA |
same |
CD |
Das IMCA-Projekt, fertiggestellt 1991, kann exemplarisch sicher als eines der klassischen "Mail-Art" und "Tape-Exchange"-Projekte der 80er und 90er Jahre angesehen werden. Heutzutage ist es absolut erstaunlich, welche Ergebnisse rein analog durch tape-processing und Boden-Effekt-Geräte zustande gekommen sind...Feedbacks und scrapings, geräuschhafte Loops, meist im eher ruhig-minimalen bereich angesiedelt, Collagen mit seltsamsten Alltags- und Konkret-Sounds, immer wieder mechanisch-repetitive Strukturen, die archaisch und low-fi klingen... noch heute klingt das so "bizarr" und "advanced " wie irgendwas! Beteiligt ware 5 Leute von KAPOTTE MUZIEK, DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE und JOHN HUDAK. Die LP kam damals bei Korm Plastics heraus, es gab nur 98 Kopien davon. Ein lohnenswerter Re-issue auf dem griechischen ABSURD-Label.
"I have to admit that I have a love-hate relation with this album. I love the way this album was made. It represents a somewhat bygone musical age, a time with cassettes and without e-mail, when things worked perhaps slower, but perhaps also more intensely. The full story of how the IMCA project (International Musique Concrete Ensemble) came together is told in detail in the CD booklet. In short, in 1990 Frans de Waard started a mail collaboration with John Hudak and Jos Smolders for a cassette on Midas Music, and later a second one with Guido Huebner (of Das Synthetisches Mischgewebe), Ios Smolders and Isabelle Chemin, which was the LP released by Korm Plastics. The basic soundmaterial (created by De Waard) was mailed to the first recipient who would rework the material and mail it to the next recipient etcetera. Thus a network chain was born. The results were released on the original IMCA album, which came on glorious white vinyl and contained an explanatory booklet. The vinyl edition consisted of 98 copies; 77 of these were for the public, 21 for the makers, resulting in the fact that many people knew about it, but only a few actually heard the music. I remember I was supposed to help gluing the covers, but I can't remember if I did in the end. I was given a free copy, so perhaps I did. I love the way this re-release is presented; an old tattered cover of the LP was used for this CD, which gives it a nice archival touch. The booklet is well-designed (by Meeuw), contains some of the original notes and explains the recording process in detail. But now to the music: IMCA is not easy listening, it is in fact a very demanding, electro-acoustic record with extreme dynamics. These dynamics were a bit lost on the original pressing on vinyl, but due to Jos Smolder's remastering these are back in place, which means you'll get to hear the IMCA ensemble as it was meant to be heard. The opening track of the CD still gives me a headache: high pitched feedback shrieks
close to the level of irritation. It's hard to listen to this without turning the volume down. Luckily the electro-acoustic/musique concret of IMCA becomes more listenable after the challenging intro. The often dry sounds (dry as in untreated") are combined with long silences, with, at times, sudden blasts of concrete noise. Most of the used sounds seem to have their origin in noise (musique concret) rather than a musical source. Despite the many hands at the wheel of this album, the results are strangely coherent, which is a complement to those involved. In total 10 tracks are indexed, even though it's hard to tell where one ends and the other one begins. IMCA is probably best enjoyed in one long listening session in the right frame of mind. The final 2 tracks, which make up for the final 30 minutes of this CD, feature side A and B from the Midas cassette version with contributions from John Hudak. Here the sound is more traditional industrial if you like, with rhythms and a bit of
a Nurse With Wound touch. Not bad at all. This is an important archive release of an album made by adventurous musicians who actually live up to their name. Like back in 1991, I'm not sure if it's musically a classic, but I am very happy to have this in my collection." [Freek Kinkelaar, Vital Weekly]
Address: http://www.void.gr/absurd
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| IN DIE FERNE |
Ad Un Passo Dal Grigio |
CD-R |
On The Verge Of Grey / Music For An Imaginary Film is a release by In Die Ferne an Italian dark ambient project by Gabriele.
It is a special cinematic dark ambient because it is a conceptual album, a soundtrack to an imaginary film. The gradual descend from the exterior to the interior world. A meditation, a second life, the inner world exploration and a story told at the hospital's pond.
Translation of the title and tracks:
Ad Un Passo Dal Grigio / On The Verge Of Grey
(Musica Per Un Film Immaginario / Music For An Imaginary Film)
1. La Noia (Interno Sera) / Boredom (Evening Interior)
2. Ora Gli Alberi Sono Fantasmi / Now The Trees Are Ghosts
3. Nell'ex Ospedale Psichiatrico / In The Abandoned Psychiatric Hospital
4. Unghie, Mozziconi Di Sigaretta / Fingernails, Cigarette Butts
5. Exeunt (Esterno Notte) / Exeunt (Night Exterior)
This interesting yet darkly concept album of about 80 minutes was conceived in the early 2018 to April 2018. It was taken great care for design details and it was developed actually in more stages until completion. It is dark drone soundscapes with subtle field recordings for a definite dark ambient album an out of this world journey, an interesting "Kopf-kino" music to get lost to it.
https://essentiamundi.bandcamp.com/album/ad-un-passo-dal-grigio-em042 |
2018 |
€8.00 |
|
| IN MEDITARIUM [IN MEDITARIVM] |
Uterus |
CD-R |
Willkommen zum Intra-Uterin-Industrial ! IN MEDITARIUM ist ein weiteres Projekt von Sergey Svistelnik (aka LORD GORGOROTH), der Ikone der ukrainischen dark ambient-Szene, der auch das kleine Label UKRAINIAN DARK SYNDICATE betreibt und hinter FIRST HUMAN FERRO steckt. IN MEDITARIUM klingt nach handgemachtem Ritual-Industrial, mit beschwörenden Katakombensounds & -gesängen, dumpf & dunkel & wummernd & höhlenartig.
„There is a lot of good music that comes from that country called Ukraine. Think Andrey Kiritchenko as just one example of an artist that made it bigtime. In Meditarium is maybe lesser known at the moment, but if you ask me, this is a project that has a lot of potential in the darkambient scene. This album contains of 4 long tracks (with the shortest being 9:17). The tracks are all very dark, very atmospheric. It will completely take you away into another dimension of this world. The dark dimension of Uterus. Beautiful sounds, dark and atmospheric, are combined with low chanting, tinkling bells, and long drones. This disc is the perfect music to listen to on a dark winternight, with the lights out, and either a very very good soundsystem or your headphones on your head. You will be instantly taken away into this beautiful world.” [Stefan / Electronic Music World
|
2004 |
€9.00 |
|
| IN THE NURSERY |
Recordings 1981-1999 |
7 x LP BOX |
7 Lp Box w. Shirt & Booklet. Black vinyl ltd. 400. In The Nursery is the Sheffield-based musical project centered around the nucleus of twin brothers Klive and Nigel Humberstone and formed in 1981 together with Anthony Bennett. The trio were originally associated with the UK's industrial music scene, releasing the six-track When Cherished Dreams Come True in June 1983. The "Witness (To A Scream)" single and Sonority EP followed before the band moved to the Sweatbox label for the fearsome Temper EP. The full-length Twins was recorded without the departed Bennett at Bradford's Flexible Response Studio. ITN’s musical history spans 30 years and has constantly expressed their desire for progress and experimentation. Their sublime, cinematic music blends electronica, classical arrangements, orchestral percussion and soundscapes evoking a timeless quality.
regular black Vinyl edition Number 100-500
LP1 Basement Tapes 1981/82
LP1A Basement 1981/82 Basement Tapes 1981/82
LP1A I'll Turn Away 1981/82 Basement Tapes 1981/82
LP1A Patter 1981/82 Basement Tapes 1981/82
LP1B Stone Souls 1981/82 Basement Tapes 1981/82
LP1B Listen 1981/82 Basement Tapes 1981/82
LP1B Dawn Song 1981/82 Basement Tapes 1981/82
LP1B Red Blue Yellow 1981/82 Basement Tapes 1981/82
Lp2 Live Melkweg 1985
LP2A Fabricata 1985 Melkweg Live
LP2A Iskra 1985 Melkweg Live
LP2A A to I 1985 Melkweg Live
LP2A And Your Eyes 1985 Melkweg Live
LP2A Workcorps (early version) 1985 Melkweg Live
LP2B Illuminata 1985 Melkweg Live
LP2B To The Faithful (Deceivers) 1985 Melkweg Live
LP2B Witness (to a scream) 1985 Melkweg Live
LP2B Deus Ex Machina 1985 Melkweg Live
Lp3: Tracks from 1986-1991
LP3A The Outsider (instrumental) TWINS (1986) 1986-1991
LP3A Breach Birth (Blockade Mix) TWINS (1986) 1986-1991
LP3A Twins (remix) TWINS (1986) 1986-1991
LP3A Blind Me (An Assault on Heaven in 4 Chapters) Stormhorse (1987) 1986-1991
LP3A Counterpart (pre drums mix) Stormhorse (1987) 1986-1991
LP3A Ostinato Koda (1988) 1986-1991
LP3B Blade (instrumental) L'esprit (1990) 1986-1991
LP3B Archaic Torso (instrumental) L'esprit (1990) 1986-1991
LP3B Cadence (unreleased) L'esprit (1990) 1986-1991
LP3B Epigraph (instrumental) Sense (1991) 1986-1991
LP3B Sense (instrumental) Sense (1991) 1986-1991
LP3B Dextral Sense (1991) 1986-1991
LP3B Memoirs 2 Sense (1991) 1986-1991
LP3B A Rebours (instrumental) Sense (1991) 1986-1991
Lp4: Tracks from 1992-1994
LP4A Desiderata (instrumental) Duality (1992) 1992-1994
LP4A Red Harvest (instrumental) Duality (1992) 1992-1994
LP4A Duality (instrumental) Duality (1992) 1992-1994
LP4A Corruption (instrumental) Duality (1992) 1992-1994
LP4A Pulse (extended demo mix) Duality (1992) 1992-1994
LP4A Mecciano (instrumental) Duality (1992) 1992-1994
LP4B Anatomy Of A Poet (instrumental) Anatomy of a Poet (1994) 1992-1994
LP4B Motive (instrumental) Anatomy of a Poet (1994) 1992-1994
LP4B Byzantium (instrumental) Anatomy of a Poet (1994) 1992-1994
LP4B The Golden Journey (instrumental) Anatomy of a Poet (1994) 1992-1994
LP4B The Seventh Seal (instrumental) Anatomy of a Poet (1994) 1992-1994
LP4B Blue Lovers (instrumental) Anatomy of a Poet (1994) 1992-1994
Lp5: Tracks from 1995-1997
LP5A Laten (unreleased) 1995 1995-1997
LP5A Grace (unreleased) 1995 1995-1997
LP5A Rescue (unreleased) 1995 1995-1997
LP5A Radiator (WIP) 1995 1995-1997
LP5A Tungsten (demo mix) 1997 1995-1997
LP5A Compliance (HTS 200 snare mix) 1996 1995-1997
LP5A Rainhall (unreleased) 1996 1995-1997
LP5B Mallarme (instrumental) 1996 1995-1997
LP5B Woman (instrumental) 1996 1995-1997
LP5B Caprice (instrumental) 1996 1995-1997
LP5B Precedent (instrumental) 1996 1995-1997
LP5B Cold Eyes 1996 1995-1997
Lp6: Tracks from 1998-1999
LP6A I Ask For Grace (instrumental) Lingua 1998 1998
LP6A El Secreto (instrumental) Lingua 1998 1998
LP6A Mute Harmony (instrumental) Lingua 1998 1998
LP6A The Living Tongue (instrumental) Lingua 1998 1998
LP6A Poema (instrumental) Lingua 1998 1998
LP6B StrR (MWMC wip) MWMC (1998) 1998
LP6B Luxuriate (MWMC wip) MWMC (1998) 1998
LP6B Arp Stuff (MWMC wip) MWMC (1998) 1998
LP6B Liberation (MWMC wip) MWMC (1998) 1998
LP6B Groundloop (divergent strings mix) Groundloop 1999
Lp7: Vinyl Tracks from 1983-85
LP7A A To I 3:33
LP7A Patter 4:32
LP7A Stone Souls 3:22
LP7A Mystery 3:56
LP7A Remain 3:10
LP7A Execution's Romance 5:22
LP7A E984 3:13
LP7B Witness (To A Scream) 4:07
LP7B Iskra 3:10
LP7B Sentient 4:05
LP7B Deus Ex Machina 5:52
LP7B Lost Prayer 4:42
LP7B And Your Eyes 6:33
|
2023 |
€145.00 |
|
| INADA, KOZO |
j[ ] |
CD |
"CD - 5 tracks - 45:30 min. 4 panels cardboard in plastic bag
Cat. number : sns-03 - Release date : feb. 07 2007.
Edition : 700 copies.
Kozo Inada is a japanese sound artist who has previously released records on various labels around the world (Staalplaat, Selektion,
Digital Narcis, V2). His last record published is a collaborative work with Philip Samartzis on the australian label Room40. His music is a balance between austere minimalism and immense spaces in sound that creates a very strong tension and keeps the listener captivated from the beginning to the end. For J[], he uses samples and loops of classical music as sound materials for Max/Msp treatments. The result is a densely layered and strong sound work, with slow rises and falls, hypnotic loops and some ruptures that give texture to silence. A sonic journey into aerial and hypnotic universes sometimes also visited by P. Niblock or Hafler trio." [label press release]
"My sympathy and love for the work of Kozo Inada didn't came straight away. His first few releases on Staalplaat were alright, but I didn't think brilliant. Coins dropped at a concert I saw by him in Barcelona. It contained the same sounds, but played at this immense volume, the listener gets sucked in it, and when the sound is gone, very fine particles remain and tease the listener further, until the next wave comes. Coming back I listened to his music with totally different ears. For reasons I don't know (it seems his private website needs updating) we don't hear much of him in the recent years, which is a great pity. 'J[]' is a new (?) work, or at least just released (on a totally different I'd like to add that Sonoris just also re-released David Maranha's 'Piano Suspenso', which we reviewed in Vital Weekly 175, so read that please). Moving away from the field recordings which Inada used in his previous releases, for this release he concentrates solely on classical music samples and loops. At first that sounded a bit cheap to me, clearly since they are not too difficult to recognize. Inada produces perfect loops that don't skip or anything, but make a sustaining wave of sound. In each of the five pieces things move slowly but steadily and Inada continues his working methods: from soft to loud, although it seems to me this time on a less radical level than before. It's again quite a powerful work, and opening up new worlds to explore for Inada. It would be great to see more of his work being available." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.sonoris.org
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| INCAPACITANTS |
As Loud as Possible |
do-LP + 7inch |
The mid-90s were particularly abundant years for harsh noise, producing many albums which are now considered masterpieces. One of the most beloved classics from this period is "As Loud As Possible" by Incapacitants. Active since 1981, the duo of Toshiji Mikawa and Fumio Kosakai found their stride in the early 90s and set off on an unrelenting course which produced countless gems of noise. Many of these have been well preserved and documented elsewhere, compiled on "Box Is Stupid" and "Alchemy Box Is Stupid", however, "As Loud As Possible" has never been reissued since its original release on Zabriskie Point. It is now made available for the first time since 1995, with no corner cut in preparation of its reissue. The audio was transferred from the original tapes by Din-I-Ilahi, and re-mastered for digital and vinyl formats by Rashad Becker. The iconic cover photographs by Naomi Hosokawa have been scanned from the original negatives and enlarged for the expanded format, along with outtakes and unused shots, which are now included here for the first time. T. Mikawa also dug into the Incapacitants archives and unearthed two additional tracks of previously unreleased material, recorded around the same time as the album. These two tracks, entitled "As Loud As Possible Revisited" are included as a bonus 7" with alternate picture sleeve. Features extensive liner notes written by Sam McKinlay aka The Rita. A personal all-time favourite, it is an honour to present "As Loud As Possible" as a double LP in deluxe gatefold sleeve. Includes digital download.
https://totalblack.bandcamp.com/album/as-loud-as-possible
|
2022 |
€32.50 |
|
| INDRA KARMUKA |
su'o / rana (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
first edition
limited to 250 copies, clear vinyl,
transparent cover artwork
released November 1996
"This is the first release by this trio from amsterdam, who seem to be deeply concerned with religious themes from the indian mythology.
'Indra Karmuka' is a notion from the sanskrit-language spoken in India. The two titles are pieces of flowing and transcendental droning music, which arrive at your cognitive system to stimulate you emotionally at the highest degree. indra karmuka work with bells, synths and strange minimal sources (not possible to define exactly) and create a deep natural touch inside it. note: one member of indra karmuka already released an lp on the korm plastics ambient-series as k-s-p (ky-sync-pulse)!
"it's time for a new engramm in your brain - with indra karmuka!" [label info]
|
1996 |
€ |
|
| INFANT CYCLE |
Playout |
CD-R |
Eine halbstündige CDR-EP mit 2 langen Stücken, nach vorne drängende Rasiermesser-Pulses, ständige Wechsel von Sounds & Stimmungen, reine klackernde Geräuschparts, wieder begeisternd und weiterhin zu entdecken!
"Limited to one rhythm-carved record playout groove, and operational record player sounds (augmented by violin bow and razor blade), The Infant Cycle creates a half-hour exploration through all the sounds possible. Harsher rhythmic timbres fly through into quieter microtonal terrain, the static interrupted by spasms of unstability. Numbered edition of 250 copies." [label info]
label: http://zhb.radionoise.ru/
|
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
|
The Sand Rays |
CD |
"Diophantine Discs is pleased to announce the release of a new CD...
The Infant Cycle - The Sand Rays. We're happy to introduce the new full-length record from The Infant Cycle. The Sand Rays is to be played from the outside to the center, from whichever edge you choose. The Sand Rays is pinball rhythm reverberations from sliced vinyl record playout grooves, gravelly surface vibrations. The Sand Rays is exploiting broken cords, near-empty batteries, half-broken equipment. We loved it and think you will too. Just be prepared to be a bit more confused when it is all over, but don't worry: you'll be too busy wiping that silly grin off your face because you had such a fun time. The Infant Cycle, active since 1992, is the brainchild of Jim DeJong. He has released material on such labels as Drone, EE Tapes, Hands, Moloko+, Afe, Zhelezobeton, Blade, Abgurd, and his own The Ceiling. Additionally he is a former member of Mind Skelp-cher and (as The Infant Cycle) has collaborated with numerous artists including Aidan Baker, Orphx, and Dronaement.
Housed in a custom printed color wallet. Edition of 500 copies." [label info]
http://discs.diophantine.net
"This label has released both on CD and vinyl. Perhaps its therefore a bit of an odd choice to release the new Infant Cycle on CD. Not because of the nature of the music, but due to the material which was used to create this music: like before Jim DeJong, the man behind The Infant Cycle, uses vinyl to create his music. Ah. You think vinyl and you think Yoshihide, Marclay or Spooky? Wrong. The Infant Cycle has nothing to do with turntablism like that. More along the lines of Vertonen, The Infant Cycle uses run out grooves which are taped and then fed through a line of analogue sound effects or perhaps synthesizers and then further treated, enhanced and altered on the computer. Actually I made that last bit up, as I think there are no computers used by The Infant Cycle. Its more likely that everything exists in the world of analogue sounds, with cheap low resolution sampling keyboards, four track recording machines and more analogue sound effects. The music is raw and densely layered with lots of icing on the cake, but this is not a work of endless spinning noise loops. Jim DeJong knows how to create music that is both noise based and yet still something to hear. Although throughout quite present, he is not shy to take matters into a more quieter area, and presents us a highly listenable release of music that is, for me at least, the logical step in what some call industrial music. Powerful, intense, rich of ideas and excellently executed." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Drop-Out Center |
CD |
" 'Drop-out Center' is the anniversary album of The Infant Cycle project celebrating 20 years of the personal creative journey of the Canadian musician Jim DeJong which began in November 1992 after leaving the band Mind Skelp-cher. During this time Jim has recorded and released a massive amount of material both on his own label The Ceiling and on other respectable underground labels such as EE Tapes, Drone Records, Afe Records, etc. and this is his second full-length album on CD after "The Sand Rays" (Diophantine Discs, 2009).
The album includes nine abstract compositions recorded with Jim's trademark approach. Using such sound sources as shortwave radio, vinyl surface, videotape, bird cage and also more "normal" instruments (bass guitar, electric mandolin, Korg Poly-800 synthesizer) he creates slowly drifting multilayered textures with sometimes unexpected stops and narration twists. Sharp crispy foreground sound is set off by gentle background waves of resonating feedbacks forming intelligent electroacoustic glitch / drone with scratchy tangibility, meditativeness and even a sort of romanticism. This is music that evokes imagination and easily paints images in the listener's mind... 'Turn on!' " [label info]
http://zhb.radionoise.ru
"Jim DeJong from Canada celebrates twenty years of activities as The Infant Cycle, during which he released a whole bunch of CDRs, net releases, a bit of vinyl and one 'real' CD on Diohantine Discs (see Vital Weekly 695), and now his second on Russia's Zhelezobeton, a home which sheltered also some previous releases by DeJong. All the pieces here are from April 2011 and further explore the sound world we know from DeJong over the past years. The cover explains the nature of sound sources, which makes a great read. On one side we have 'vinyl playout groove', 'video record', bird cage and shortwave, while on the other hand we have an electric guitar, electric mandolin, bass, poly 800 but also field recordings. Plenty to choose from, and he does put his options to good use. The varied options for sound creation lead to a varied sound, but with one constant factor: atmospherics play an important role in all of these pieces. He layers a whole bunch of sounds together and then carefully mixes these. But it not necessarily leads to mere drone music. In 'Shiny Venus Part 2' for instance he loops the strumming of a bass-guitar a few times and then other sounds (mandolin, bird cage, field recordings) drop in and out of the mix. When he uses the 'playout' grooves (which are those grooves at the end of a piece of vinyl), it becomes more rhythmical obviously but spiced up with electronics and sometimes remain short, these pieces act more like interludes, except for 'Pipe', which is considerable longer. These moody tunes are indeed much more than just drone pieces. It's the sheer variation, the exploration of sounds to create these atmospheric tunes that make this perhaps the most mature record I heard from The Infant Cycle so far. Excellent stuff indeed." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| INGENTING KOLLEKTIVA |
Fragments of Night |
LP |
"ingenting kollektiva members : diane granahan, kirston lightowler, tarrl lightowler, matthew swiezynski. edited and constructed by : diane granahan & matthew swiezynski (side a), kirston lightowler & tarrl lightowler, (side b). recorded in the drei gewsser barn, rain storm recording 25.12.2009 & drei gewsser studios 27.12.2009 & oiseaux invisibles studios, california 2011. instruments : bells, bowed tibetan prayer bowl, cello, field recordings, guitars, harmonium, loops, nightingale devise, portable 78 player (ravel's gaspard de la nuit, walter gieseking), psaltery, tenor sax, shakuhachi flute (watazumido-shuso). mastered by taylor deupree. the ingenting kollektiva is an homage to ingmar bergman and sven nykvist. fragments of night refers back 40 years to numerous recordings gathered around 25.12.2009 at drei wasser." [label info/credits]
" 'ingenting' translates from swedish as 'nothing', and this american collective draw inspiration from the cinematic master of nihilism, ingmar bergman, on their beautiful debut fragments of night. the two sprawling tracks dislocate the source material of guitar, bowls, psaltery, saxophone and field recordings through an organic crosshatching of delay and loop techniques. sombre melodies and sodden textures emerge out of their droning psychedelic improvisations as a sensible take on variation and repetition, coming to a comparatively violent climax at the end of side B with an abrasive arpeggio of tremolo-clipping violin scrapes. even with this crashing conclusion, the 'nothingness' which speaks
through the recordings is not an existential hammer declaring the death of god, but RATHER SUBLTE AND POIGNANT EXPOSITION ON LONELINESS." [Jim Haynes, THE WIRE]
"I don't think I heard about Ingenting Kollektiva, which members include Diane Granahan, Kirston Lightowler, Tarrl Lightowler and Matthew Swiezynski. Diane and Matthew play on side A and Kirston and Tarrl on side B. "The kollektiva seeks to issue recordings that are meditations on the quality of light, sound and atmosphere created by Ingmar Bergman and Sven Nykvist". You could expect them to release DVDs which are promised for the future. Here on LP, they play a variety of instruments, like bells, bowed tibetan prayer bowl, cello, field recordings, guitars, harmonium, loops, nightingale devise, portable 78 record player, psaltery, tenor sax and shakuhachi. I am not entirely sure if I would have been able to pick out all of these instruments on the two lenghty cuts on either side of the record. What it doesn't mention is - perhaps - the amount of processing that takes place on this record. Everything seems melted and molted around some sort of treatment, acoustically (more on side b
than on side a it seems) and electronically (vice versa obviously). Obviously we are dealing here with highly atmospheric music, which fits the Mirror tradition quite nice. Atmospheric music but with a sharper edge, and a great sense of experimentalism. From the description one could think this more like wishy-washy new age type of music, but the darker textures of this record work quite nice. Maybe indeed a great soundtrack to a Bergman movie, overlooking some lakes in Sweden and lots of silence among the actors. Haunting and haunted indeed. I wonder what their own films be like. Very nice." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€17.50 |
|
| INNER VISION LABORATORY |
Relics |
CD |
'Inner Vision Laboratory' releases new studio album 'Relics' on Winter-Light label.
The inspiration for this album came from different science-fiction and post-apocalyptic books and movies, but also from the artists’ personal thoughts regarding mankind’s condition.
‘Relics’ is a musical illustration for the very distant future, where humanity has failed in its progress and moved to total annihilation. Relics are the only things humanity has left behind. Other higher advanced civilisations will come to visit our now desolate planet to collect these relics; these fading tokens of the past. They come to visit the Museum of Savages, who destroyed their own habitat and rendered their once beautiful planet uninhabitable.
'Inner Vision Laboratory' is a musical project brought into existence by the Polish artist/musician Karol Skrzypiec. Created in March 2005, stylistically the project qualifies as industrial dark ambient. Nevertheless, it also includes elements of ethnic music, classical music, et al.
'Inner Vision Laboratory' has released a series of albums on labels such as Rage In Eden, Zoharum, and Beast Of Prey, collaborating with other artists such as Hoarfrost, Roto Visage and Nepenthe. His other works include the highly acclaimed 'Anywhere Out Of This World', 'Perpetua' and 'Austeros'.
|
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| INNER VISION LABORATORY VS. NEPENTHE |
Ambit |
CD |
"Two years after well-received "Perpetua" album, INNER VISION LABORATORY returns to Zoharum with their new album entitled "Ambit". Not a solo venture, but a collaborative effort with young, but promising NEPENTHE project. The album was 3 years in the making when they were searching for a common language and fiddling with sonic matter using the Internet in this respect, they have created a monolith - a very cohesive, yet symbiotic world. It might be easily labelled as "ambient", yet they break the patterns of that style.
"Ambit" is composed of 7 compositions, clocking in at 50 minutes. It is composed of beautiful, yet unsettling melodies, for those who are fascinated with sounds coming from Cyclic Law and Loki Foundation labels, but also for new-comers to the genre. For those open-minded for something new and touching, a kind of music painted with the whole palette of colours and sounds." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| INTERNAL FUSION |
NedenBahe |
mCD-R |
Nach langer Zeit was neues von diesem ethno-ambient Projekt, bekannt von einer schönen CD auf Staalplaat ! Hier mit zwei großartigen Stücken, wo sie orientalische Percussion & Gesänge & Instrumentalsounds sampeln und zu einer fliessenden, trancig-treibenden Melange verarbeiten.. wie eine Mischung aus MUSLIMGAUZE, RAPOON und TUU, nur besser!
“ Internal Fusion is a rare group. In almost fifteen years of activity, it has only released one solo CD (the fabulous "om vaira sattva hum" through Staalplaat), one CD in collaboration with Désaccord Majeur under the Tlön Uqbar moniker ("la bola perdida" also through Staalplaat), two tapes (through Désaccord Majeur) and taken part in a handle of compilations (including two on our own Harmonie). In spite of (or thanks to, who knows) this limited production, Internal Fusion knows perfectly its field and succeeds once again in captivating the listener. Staalplaat once described Internal Fusion’s music like "the French response to Rapoon and Muslimgauze." Add a good Lustmord proportion (one of the absolute references of Internal Fusion) and you will have a good idea of its music : dark ambiences rhythmed by numerous ritual sounds (bells, ethnic percussions, foreign languages...).
|
2002 |
€5.00 |
|
|
Tribute to Hastia |
CD |
Die allererste "fabrikgepresste" CD aus dem Hause Taalem markiert neben der limitierten CDR die "Rückkehr" von diesem beliebten französischen Ethno-Elektronik Projekt, jetzt stärker dark ambientig und dronig ausgeprägt...
"we are very proud to present our very first
CD, the latest disc from INTERNAL FUSION.
active for almost twenty years, I.F. has only released a handful of productions: first two tapes on désaccord majeur's label, then "om vaira satta hum" a CD on staalplaat in 1996 marketed by the label as "a mix between lustmord, rapoon and muslimgauze". it was followed by a collaborative work with désaccord majeur (the tlon üqbar "la bola perdida" CD on staalplaat in 1999). a second CD was ready to be issued but for various reasons, it wasn't. it was eventually released later in two parts, first as a 3"cdr on taâlem in 2002 and a cdr (with two additional tracks) on Kokeshidisk in 2005. after some years of silence, INTERNAL FUSION came back to life in 2008. "tribute to hastia" shows his evolution: gone are the ethnic/tribal influences and the comparisons with rapoon/muslimgauze, the latest compositions are still evolutive & captivating, yet darker & more minimal, perfect mix between minimal dark ambient & experimental... his strongest work ever!" [label info]
www.taalem.com/lucioleditions
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Waissad |
mCD-R |
"fifteen years after his first 3"cd-r on taâlem ("NedenBahe", still available at taalem.bandcamp.com/album/nedenbahe-alm-3 ), what we said at the time is still relevant. internal fusion is still a rare artist even if he's more productive than ever these days (two digital self-released productions last year) and his music is still full of captivating atmospheres... deep sounds, strange voces, haunting atmospheres. let yourself dive into "waïssad"..." [label info]
"Belgium’s taâlem label continues to breathe new life into one of our favorite formats, the CD3″. Each season they release a new trio, representing a wide swath of sounds. The latest batch delves into tribalism, abrasion and haunted ballroom; listening to the releases in order is like walking through exhibits in a terrifying circus.
Internal Fusion hearkens back to a time when the lines between dark ambient and industrial were blurred. The 22-minute single-track Waïssad twists and turns like an injured acrobat, sounding at first like a joyous call from deepest Africa, delving into drums reminiscent of Skull Island, then descending into the mist, where monsters dwell. The voices are holy and hooded, like those of medieval monks. Slowly the fugue builds, marked by static rustlings and speaker-wandering percussion. The cover may be green and lush, but don’t be fooled; these lands are dangerous. Waïssad’s narcotic center may represent the time spent drugged, the victim of a blow dart; the slow awakening to tribal drums is lulling until it disappears, replaced by snakelike hisses and fractured drones. There’s no escaping; all fates were sealed long ago. [...]
These releases take different paths, but arrive at the same bleak destination. This is autumn, after all, and darkness is drawing near. Play these releases while reading your favorite dark horror tales; the ghosts will enjoy reading over your shoulder and listening with invisible ears." (Richard Allen)
acloserlisten.com/2017/09/30/a-taalem-trio-2/
" [...] As I was searching the old weeklies for previous reviews of Internal Fusion, as that is sometimes indeed done (usually after being sure there are actually some!), I found very few (Vital Weekly 348, 426 and 677), but also a few times as a point of reference, which I guess for a band that never released a lot music is quite something. It usually was done in combination with the words ‘pseudo ethnic’ and ‘drumming’, and other names never far away were Internal Fusion and Muslimgauze. In that sense this new one is a bit of a different batch of music. It starts out with something familiar, ethnic voices, lotsa reverb, but the tribalistic drumming doesn’t become part of this. Deep pounding drums are there at one point in the middle, but in the second half of the piece things become much more abstract; Internal Fusion discovering granular synthesis and feeding their own sounds into the machine, perhaps even the first ten minutes of ‘Waïssad’ to it, and let computer gremlins eat the whole piece and slowly we enter the belly of the monster. If this is something that Internal Fusion would explore further and incorporate in their usual brand of ambient drumming and deep moods, then it could blossom into a very rich new sound approach. [FdW, Vital Weekly]
www.vitalweekly.net/1098.html
www.taalem.com
|
2017 |
€5.00 |
|
| IOLINI, ROBERT |
Songs from Hurt |
CD |
„ROBERT IOLINIs ‚Silent Motion‘, der erste Teil von Songs From Hurt (ReR RI2), ist ein Stück für actor, besser Sprecherin (Virginia Baxter), sampled film projectors, pianos and 1927 fotoplayer und setzt sich auseinander mit einer aus widersprüchlichen Texten über (Stumm)Filmmusik collagierten Theorie derselben. Fast kniggemäßig wird ein Katolog von Empfehlungen, Gebrauchsanweisungen und Warnungen verlesen, das Repertoire von Lautmalerei, Phantasie-handläufen und Stimmungstriggering - Grotesque, Mysteriouso, Sinister, Religiouso etc., das Leitmotiv wird eher verdammt, der heutige Usus, Gefühle durch bekannte Hits mit bereits eingeimpften Assoziationsreflexen zu gängeln, sowieso. Iolinis eigener ‚Silent Motion‘-Soundtrack, der mit seinem ‚Funiculì, funiculà‘-Auftakt gleich ungeniert in eines des Fettnäpfchen tritt, ist wie Stummfilm ohne Bild, ein Cowboy ohne Pferd, das er verkehrtrum sattelt. Abstrakt und ironisch wird die emotionale Magie von Stummfilmmusik demonstriert, mal mit, mal gegen den Text. Mit den Songs zu Phillip Crawfords Doku Hurt und mit ‚Black Sheep‘ geht der 1960 geborene Australier, der mit seinem Beitrag ‚Hong Kong: City in Between‘ zur Soundscapes Be)for(e 2000-Compilation schon einmal in BA auftauchte, dann den Schritt von formalen Fragen zu praktischen Verknüpfungen von Form und Inhalt. Bei ‚Songs from Hurt‘ for voices and rock band kommen jugendliche Misfits zu Wort. Ihr O-Ton vom alltäglichen Horror, von Drogen, schlagenden Vätern, Müttern und Polizisten skizziert lakonisch und im Zeitraffer, wie sie im Jugendknast landeten und fungieren 1:1 als ‚Lyrics‘. Iolinis Versuch, in einer falschen und kaputten Wirklichkeit als Künstler realistisch zu werden, collagiert bei ‚Black Sheep‘ erneut ausschließlich O-Ton von Insassen, aktuellen, ehemaligen und potentiellen (sic!), des Don Dale Detention Centre in - ausgerechnet - Darwin, Australien, gemischt mit Aussagen von Sozialarbeitern und Experten für Jugenddelinquenz. Als musikalischer Fond dient minimale Elektronik aus Fieldrecordings, die Jugendliche im Umfeld des Gefängnisses aufgenommen haben. Iolinis schwer zu kategorisierende Audio-Art, „part music, part documentary and part drama“, zeigt verwandte Züge mit Arbeiten von Gregory Whitehead, Jon Rose oder Bob Ostertag, deren Radiophonien Fact & Fiction, Form & Function, Was & Wie so neu justieren wie Raymond Chandler einst den Kriminalroman. Und das mit einer Credibility, die das Maulheldentum des Rap krampfhaft sucht.“ [Rigobert Dittman, Bad Alchemy # 47]
“Robert Iolini is a composer who transcends the divisions between music, documentary and radio art, mixing investigative journalism, sound ecology, storyboarding and conventional notated composition -- using songs, spoken word, field recording, improvisation and electroacoustic manipulation to make complex audio works that might equally be music, documentary or fiction. He works, initially, like a radio journalist: researching, collecting materials, conducting interviews. The bulk of Songs From Hurt have been constructed in this way, around the extraordinary testimonies of aboriginal teenagers, prisoners, shadow communities and witnesses to a world in which the interviewees are continually told that they are surplus to requirements. Then this raw data is organised, transformed and integrated into complex musical compositions, becoming itself musical in the process -- its pitches no longer simply prosaic, its rhythms driving the structure of its setting while remaining intact -- not looped or pressured into becoming servants to the overall organisation of an aesthetic fiction. The witnesses and sounds converse and conspire in Iolini's work, but never give way to one another. It is rare for conventional and electronic compositions to remain so respectful of voices and what they have to say, and this plain matter of fact-ness makes most rap sound like bluster, and most opera sound like history." [press release]
|
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
| IONE / PAULINE OLIVEROS |
Io and her and the trouble with him. A Dance-Opera in Primeval Time |
DVD |
"Written and directed by Ione
Music and sound design by Pauline Oliveros
A collaborative venture among artists of all types, this “dance-opera” is a multimedia panorama of experimental theatre and technical virtuosity that includes aerial ballet, masks, video projection, a sinister thousand-eyed monster, and a highly imaginative electronic soundscape.
The one-act story, set in primeval time, retells the myth of Io from a matriarchal perspective. Io, Argivian priestess, is transformed by a terrible spell and roams the world, lovely but tormented. While enduring entrapment by Argus, the terrible monster, she is befriended by the brilliant Bird who helps her discover the key to her escape. Only upon her arrival in Khemt (Ancient Egypt) does she begin to understand the true mystery of what her journey has been about and its meaning for the future of the world." [label info]
www.deeplistening.org
|
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
| IONOSPHERE |
Nightscape |
CD |
"Eight years since the last release in 2007, Ionosphere has now returned with its third full length album. It follows the path of previous works focusing on deep, shivering, cosmic sound waves and moves further with the inclusion of an emotional core. Expansive drones, drifting melodic soundscapes, ominous sonic undertones and vocal transmissions intersect with densely concentrated rhythmic pulsations that emphasize the sculptural nature and deep atmospheric scope of the 11 tracks.’Nightscape’ is a soundtrack that transports the listener on an epic journey far away into spaces and environments where lights and noises move and circulate slowly while the night embraces everything.
Comes in elegant 6-panel digi-sleeve." [label info]
www.loki-found.de
"Schon in meiner Besprechung zu Sawakos „Nu.it“-Album schrieb ich, dass es wenig Musikarten gibt, die das Phänomen der Nacht so unmittelbar und quasi impressionistisch einzufangen wissen wie Ambient. Während die Japanerin die Nacht als ein verspieltes Abenteuerreich darstellte, in dem sich wohlige und unheimliche Stimmungen gegenüberstehen, bis alles wie in einem Film zum beruhigenden Finale kommt, erscheint die Nacht in „Nightscape“, dem dritten Longplayer des deutschen Projektes Ionosphere, wie ein unendlicher Raum, der nicht nur den Schlafenden scheinbar für immer in seine Dunkelheit zieht. „Watch the world fall into the endless night“ lautet das aus den Titeln des eröffnenden und des abschließenden Tracks zusammengesetzte Motto des Albums. Doch auch hier ist die Nacht kein Gleichmacher, der alles in einem monochronen Schwarz zu ersticken droht.
Ionosphere versteht es, sein Paket an Klängen in dichte, ausladende Dronehüllen von soghafter Schwere zu packen, die über weite Strecken eine molllastige Wärme aufweisen. Mal körnig, mal vibrierend, mal so glatt wie eine Skulptur und dann wieder so kantig wie das Gebirgsmassiv auf dem Cover ist die Beschaffenheit dieses Rahmens so wechselvoll, dass die epische Reise schon deshalb episodisch anmuten muss. Noch interessanter ist allerdings das, was sich unter dieser Hülle abspielt. Das können kleine, wie im Zeitraffer vorbeischnellende Klangschnipsel sein, die in „Vast Winds from Beyond“ gegen den Strom der Dröhnung anschwimmen, oder auch die kleinen Leerstellen und Hohlräume im ganz bezeichnend „The Silence Underneath“ betitelten Stück. Oft geht es jedoch merklich konkreter zu, und es ist eine der reizvollen Paradoxien des Albums, dass man über gerade diese konkreteren Sounds letztlich doch nur mutmaßen kann – ist es das Stöhnen eines Liebespaares, das in „Watch the World“ von der Nacht verschluckt wird, was sagt die grummelige Männerstimme in „Polarized Light“, woher kommt wohl das hintergründige Pfeifen in „Radio Altitude“, bevor es von einem bedrohlichen Pochen übertönt und endgültig im analogen Klangstrudel verschuckt wird? All dies und weitere Dinge verdanken ihre Faszination der Vagheit, mit der sie nur schemenhaft durchs Klangbild huschen oder wie von sehr weitem, aus der Ionosphäre, betrachtet anmuten.
„Nightscape“ ist seinem Thema entsprechend ein düsteres Album geworden, doch es wäre falsch, es darauf und auf die Wucht der hereinbrechenden Düsternis zu reduzieren. Mit gestalterischem Feingefühl ist hier ein v.a. eine Hommage an die ins Dunkel gehüllte Vielgestalltigkeit einer verwandelten und verzauberten Welt gelungen." [Uwe Schneider / African Paper]
africanpaper.com/2015/06/20/ionosphere-nightscape/#more-10344
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| IRISARRI, RAFAEL ANTON |
Peripeteia |
CD |
Over the years, American composer Rafael Anton Irisarri has become ubiquitous within the spheres of ambient, drone and electronic music. Whether it's through Irisarri's celestial long-form albums or his lauded audio engineering credentials for countless artists and labels, Irisarri's consistent dedication to his craft never wavers from the forefront. While Irisarri's compositions typically field an array of modern ambient overtones threaded through oceanic symphonies with tape loops, bowed electric guitar and vast washes of overdriven sound, his recent debut album for Dais Records, "Peripeteia, portrays these common themes giving way to metal and classical influences that emphasizes Irisarri's melancholic tendencies. These unique overtures, coupled with his signature layering of distortion and bleached-out textures, fabricate an audible environment that would seemingly be at odds with, yet gracefully complement each other. In Irisarri's own words, "My previous works internalize any exterior forces or circumstances, while trying to make sense of the world. Peripeteia reverses that approach, focusing on the personal in order to tell a wider human story." The emotional depth found throughout Peripeteia is impeccably on display with the track, Mellified. A collaboration with Spanish composer Yamila, the choral arrangements bring to mind the sacred music of Arvo Pärt, while her voice combines the Andalusian "Cante jondo" style with medieval modes, almost drowning in layers of octave fuzz distortion and dystopian synths patterns. On Arduous Clarity, the bright arpeggiating melody that churns throughout, offers the initial glimmer of optimism in an otherwise decaying tale of personal turmoil. This encouraging glimpse is short lived however, as the song Refuge/Refuse seemingly plummets into the mourning depths of somber despair. A chorus of voices steadily crawls from its desolate terrain - a sea of broken spirits, eternally resigned to strain and bellow their final lament. Fright and Control, a piece which is equally soul churning, seems to possess a satisfying resolve, as if after years of searching, one's very salvation has been laid to rest through the acceptance of mortality and the enlightenment in death. Irisarri's complexity is utilized to a forcible success, slowly pulsing throughout the foreground of his audience, further emphasizing the impending dread of resolve."
https://irisarri.bandcamp.com/album/peripeteia
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
|
The Shameless Years |
LP |
Post-minimalist American composer Rafael Anton Irisarri made his Umor Rex debut in 2017 with "The Shameless Years". Inspired by a troubled socio-political climate, buried melodies punch their way through a bleak cover of noisy drones, periodically veering into some of Irisarri’s most eerily pertinent music.
One of Rafael Anton Irisarri’s most thematically and sonically cohesive records to date The Shameless Years came together in a relatively short burst of creativity starting at the end of 2016. Rediscovering some relatively older tools - namely Native Instruments’ Reaktor, Absynth, and Kontakt software - Irisarri combined them with his collection of guitars, pedals, amps, and analogue processing gear, turning his Black Knoll Studio north of NYC into a powerful writing tool. Completed quickly by Irisarri’s standards, let alone during a period of social upheaval in American society, the record faces down several key personal themes. The title, suggests Irisarri, could in fact be seen as a reflection of the era of shamelessness we’re currently living in; a time of fake news and alternative facts.
Two tracks were completely remotely between Irisarri in New York and Umor Rex veteran "Siavash Amini from his home in Tehran, Iran. This music came together at the peak of all the anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric happening in the USA, not to mention the banning of Iranians from entering the country, explains Irisarri. The diptych with Amini, ‘Karma Krama’ and ‘The Faithless’, seems bathed in additional waves of sorrow and dread. The wash of symphonic stormclouds of synth drones and processed notes on the latter gradually appears and disappears over the course of thirteen mournful minutes.
‘Rh Negative’ marches gigantic guitars through towering valleys of scarred ambient noise dealing with Irisarri’s own heritage, many of his ancestors having come to America to escape poverty and oppression. The refusal of modern America to extend similar sanctuary to refugees escaping turmoil weighs heavily on the composer. Elsewhere an emotional onslaught of notes buried in mounds of greyscale noise on ‘Sky Burial’ aims to deal with Irisarri’s very own mortality – something he was recently confronted with following health scares, an accident, and a near-death experience in 2016. Pushing 40 as this album was being made, the composer is constantly aware that he’s already outlived his own father, who died at the age of 32. Facing down both intolerance and the void, the epic soundscapes of The Shameless Years are a vast cry of emotion from Irisarri. The clock is ticking - gotta make the most out of it while you still can.
All songs written and performed by Rafael Anton Irisarri, except #5 & #6 written and performed with Siavash Amini. Design by Daniel Castrejón, photos by Camilo Christen. Mastered by James Plotkin."
|
2021 |
€21.00 |
|
| |
Peripeteia (clear) |
LP |
Over the years, American composer Rafael Anton Irisarri has become ubiquitous within the spheres of ambient, drone and electronic music. Whether it's through Irisarri's celestial long-form albums or his lauded audio engineering credentials for countless artists and labels, Irisarri's consistent dedication to his craft never wavers from the forefront. While Irisarri's compositions typically field an array of modern ambient overtones threaded through oceanic symphonies with tape loops, bowed electric guitar and vast washes of overdriven sound, his recent debut album for Dais Records, "Peripeteia, portrays these common themes giving way to metal and classical influences that emphasizes Irisarri's melancholic tendencies. These unique overtures, coupled with his signature layering of distortion and bleached-out textures, fabricate an audible environment that would seemingly be at odds with, yet gracefully complement each other. In Irisarri's own words, "My previous works internalize any exterior forces or circumstances, while trying to make sense of the world. Peripeteia reverses that approach, focusing on the personal in order to tell a wider human story." The emotional depth found throughout Peripeteia is impeccably on display with the track, Mellified. A collaboration with Spanish composer Yamila, the choral arrangements bring to mind the sacred music of Arvo Pärt, while her voice combines the Andalusian "Cante jondo" style with medieval modes, almost drowning in layers of octave fuzz distortion and dystopian synths patterns. On Arduous Clarity, the bright arpeggiating melody that churns throughout, offers the initial glimmer of optimism in an otherwise decaying tale of personal turmoil. This encouraging glimpse is short lived however, as the song Refuge/Refuse seemingly plummets into the mourning depths of somber despair. A chorus of voices steadily crawls from its desolate terrain - a sea of broken spirits, eternally resigned to strain and bellow their final lament. Fright and Control, a piece which is equally soul churning, seems to possess a satisfying resolve, as if after years of searching, one's very salvation has been laid to rest through the acceptance of mortality and the enlightenment in death. Irisarri's complexity is utilized to a forcible success, slowly pulsing throughout the foreground of his audience, further emphasizing the impending dread of resolve."
https://irisarri.bandcamp.com/album/peripeteia
|
2020 |
€24.00 |
|
| IRM |
Order⁴ |
CD |
"IRM has already existed for over 10 years and are recognized as one of the most interesting Industrial bands around. This time Martin Bladh and Erik Jarl are joined by a third band member Mikael Oretoft on bass-guitar. This new work by IRM is a deeper delving into the psyche of the self inflictor - the core of inner regions violently exposed. Comprised by four tracks, each exactly 15 minutes in length we are thrown into a vortex of feedback, cymbaldrones, heavy bass-strumming, nightmarish pianotinkles and irreproachable synthwork. Demanding your attention all the way through - certainly not an easy listening experience - describing the course of events is impossible. It is again a mature and intricate work of incisive delicacies and theatrical ambiences. The sense of detail throughout is immense and the editing perfect. The clinical heaviness of earlier works are now transformed into a pure harsh, static soundwave which are most often cut off by another, slower, softer but in ways a more painful and dynamic one. The lyrics here are deeper cuts into personal matters. A man altering between life and death - a calculating and disillusive thinker and recluse who has lost the grip of reality, or perhaps found another? The strife for self-control turned into sick dedication, waging war on himself to receive recognition - the end comes nearer. Seldom have we heard a strange work like this which turns both lyrics and music into a full whole - stay away if deeper encounters with the human mind offends. The creative artwork was made by the renouned Swedish artist Stefan Danielsson, who also made the frontcover artwork for Whitehouse album "Racket"." [label info]
www.coldmeatindustry.com
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Closure |
CD |
"This album marks the end of a trilogy that started with the ”Indications of Nigredo” 12” (2008) on Segerhuva and continued with the ”Order4” CD (2010) on Cold Meat Industry. Four years on, IRM now release the grand finale on Malignant Records. While the last album flowed between opposites and extremes, this new opus marks a kind of a return to more familiar ground, where traditional song structure and melody occasionally appear and are more suited to the shorter track timing. That’s not to say that this is an easy listen – this can be an electrifying and highly charged listen, that feels visceral and almost physical in nature, and there’s plenty of nightmarish circumstance to wade through. But the omnipresent narrative feel ultimately gives these recordings a nuanced and soothing edge. People familiar with subjects associated with IRM, such as flamboyance, exclusion and theatrical immersion will also find a home here this time around. Harder to grasp is what kind of existentialist limbo the perpetrator here resides in. Redemption - not likely. The album also features the stellar performances of English cellist Jo Quail and Swedish percussionist Ulrik Nilsson. Includes 20 page booklet." [label info]
www.malignantrecords.com
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Virgin Mind |
do-CD |
Recorded as far back as 2001-2002, and first released on Cold Meat Industry in 2005, IRM’s highly acclaimed third album ‘Virgin Mind’ is finally re-released. The album marked a radical change in the band’s direction, leaving the power electronics opera of ‘Oedipus Dethroned’ for an even more ritualistic, experimental and epic sound. ‘Virgin Mind’ was recorded in an analog 24 channel recording studio and included a variety of vintage synthesizers and acoustic instruments such as trombones, organs, pianos, violins, and percussions. This was the soundtrack for IRM’s now infamous, bloody performance actions (heavily inspired by the spectacles of Hermann Nitsch and the Vienna Actionists), which often led to open fistfights between the band and the venue managers. ‘Virgin Mind’ is a bleak and disturbing work which resonates even stronger in today’s watered down industrial music scene. The double CD set includes brand new artwork from founding member Martin Bladh. A 4-panel full-colour glossy Digipak. Limited to 300. A special edition comes with an A3 double-sided poster with lyrics. Limited to 50.
https://oldcaptain.bandcamp.com/album/irm-virgin-mind
|
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| IRM / SKIN AREA |
Purple Screen // Red Eruption / Red Discharge |
10" |
Harsh Noise with a sometimes jazzy (yes!) feel to it from SKIN AREA, who use also drums and bass and voice, in fact they begin with harsh noises and end up in an improvisation. Very strange and beyond good and evil. IRM create one long dark piece interesting soundwalls... new swedish noise on a new swedish label !
“ Two of Sweden's finest bands share this slab of vinyl. Skin Area delivers a 14-minute track that begs you to push the volumes louder and louder until your brain becomes one with the raging hardcore noises they produce. You'll wish there were drugs as hard and vicious as these sounds, but I'm afraid western science hasn't come that far yet... Skin Area's versatility might shock (and offend) some listeners who are unprepared to blow their minds on a regular basis.
IRM makes full use of the 10" format with what could very well be their finest moment yet -- a 12 min epic that expertly combines menacing electronics and more traditional sounds (this should be among the top-five of any best-power-electronics-with-glockenspiel list ever compiled). Since none of you are regular church-goers, why not make it your Sunday ritual to blast the neighborhood with this 10"? You will be rewarded.” [label info]
|
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| IRR.APP. (ext.) |
Kreiselwelle |
CD |
"Das ist nun - nach Ozeanische Gefühle und Cosmic Superimposition - der abschließende Teil von M. S. Waldrons Trilogie über den Freudo-Marxisten, Faschismusund Orgontheoretiker und Parawissenschaftler Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957). Reich war der Auffassung, dass der von ihm postulierte ‚Orgonenergie-Ozean‘ 'Lebensenergie‘ in Form von ‚Kreiselwellen‘ ausstrahlt, die sich visuell, thermisch, elektroskopisch und mit Hilfe des Geiger-Müller-Zählers nachweisen lassen. Waldron spielt entsprechend mit ‚Spiral-Klängen‘, Spiralfedern, dem Geräusch anbrandender, ‚lappender‘ Wellen, Luftwirbeln, aufziehbarem
Spielzeug etc. Rasselnde, pulsierende, blubbrig unkende, wie Whirlies sirrende und automatisch klappernde Geräusche mischen sich mit
elementaren zu einem unruhigen Gedröhn. Die an- und abflauenden Erregungszustände sind Teil eines Kontinuums von gut einer Dreiviertelstunde. Schritte zu Beginn und zwischendurch vage Stimmfetzen im Hintergrund deuten an, dass der Mensch in diesem Energiefluss, diesem Kontinuum von Wirbeln mitschwingt." [Bad Alchemy]
" irr. app. (ext.) is the sound-engineering project of Californian M.S. Waldron, whose liminal slippages and detourned croons have been spotted recently on stage in Nurse With Wound. Yet for all of the antics that are required for the NWW spectacle, Mr. Waldron still dedicates himself in the parallel pursuits of irr. app. (ext.) with a discography that reads more like a wunderkammer of uncanny investigations into futility declared as its reverse.
Kreiselwelle is the third and final installment to a body of works that irr. app. (ext.) has composed under the influence of Wilhelm Reich, the unorthodox 20th Century psychologist who proposed amongst many hypotheses, an interconnectivity between energy, organisms, and the entire cosmos. The title to this album translates as ‘spiral wave,’ a structuralist form which Reich had observed throughout nature within numerous systems, whether that be the grand arcs of galaxies down to the radial symmetries of micro-organisms. For Kreiselwelle, Mr. Waldron returns to the same collection of field recordings which began this trilogy that includes Ozeanische Gefühle and Cosmic Superimposition; however, he restricted himself to those sounds with spiralling origins: resonating springs, the sounds of the ocean cyclically churning over pebbles on the beach, the wafting of air around various objects, or simply a lamp-shade spinning in place.
The resulting recording develops as an organic sublimation of one sound transforming from one state into another and then another. Motorized sounds of mechanical toys set askew settle into a tremolo phase pattern of electrical vibrations. These in turn morph into a cauldron of slow locomotive rumbling, which beget one of many glassine drones that float throughout Kreiselwelle. Many of the sounds seem to have origins in objects that are broken, obsolete, or just plain wrong; but through Waldron’s deft alchemy, these sounds are allowed to flourish in this richly dark and oddly serene amalgamation." [label info]
"...[as] for the ultra-fantastic soundwork of Irr. App. (Ext.), this Californian composer has been baffling and perplexing the ears of international listeners for not a few years now, and his new Kreiselwelle, a single 45-minute work of strange process music, is a slow voyage into the unknown. Within minutes, we're taken far beyond the relatively familiar world of "dark ambient" and enter a murky field of immersive and twisted shapes, where possible danger lurks at every corner. Conceptually rooted in an interpretation of the works of Wilhelm Reich, Kreiselwelle is the third part of a trilogy and connect with the "spiral waves" of the title, derived all of its sounds from things shaped like spirals (such as metal springs, or the circular movement of the ocean). In like manner, M. S. Waldron's composition will probably suck you into a whirlpool of doubt and ambiguity."
[Ed Pinsent / The Sound Projector]
www.helenscarsdale.com
"Kreiselwelle is the conclusion to a superb trilogy from irr. app. (ext.) who used the words, philosophies, and eccentricities of Wilhelm Reich as the springboard into a realm of post-Surrealist, post-industrialist, post-drone arena of sound design. While a prominent European psychoanalyst, whose ideas could be seen as an occasional counterpoint to those of Freud, Reich may be best known for his parascientific research into Orgone energy, which he claimed was central and unifying force of life throughout the universe. Much of this latter research has been discredited and unfortunately shed a cloud of incredulity upon his psychoanalytic work. While Reich's claims of cloud-busting and orgone therapy offer particularly strong metaphors, M.S. Waldron - the principle architect to irr. app. (ext.) - has looked more to the psychological aspects of Reich's work. Kreiselwelle translates from the German as spiral wave or gyroscopic wave, and points to the similarities which Reich had noted in the structures of microscopic organisms, turbulent wave patterns, and spiral-arm galaxies.
Through this trilogy (which also includes Ozeanische Gefuhle and Cosmic Superimposition), Waldron mirrors Reich's early cosmology through a compositional fluidity that alludes to contemporary drone fascination, constructed through overlapping collages, occluded field recordings, sustained tones from atypical instruments, and crosshatched synthetic noises. All three of these albums were sourced from the same set of field recordings, but each detours into its own particular wandering. Kreiselwelle begins with a very slow hypnotic strum across a detuned guitar with liquid tactility and a warped distance buzz filling in the gaps. Grand sweeps of slashing drones that could originate from an echoing chainsaw deep in the woods forms an unlikely crescendo with sympathetic tones, only to collapse into the softened white noise of cars passing by. Soon after, a rhythmic tapping of agitated electronics forms a motorik rhythm against the tapestry of audio fluidity, with all of the electro-shock bursts of a tesla coil. This in turn morphs into a cauldron of slow locomotive rumbling, which beget one of many glassine drones that float throughout Kreiselwelle. For fans of any of work of Nurse With Wound (after all Mr. Waldron is in the NWW touring ensemble!), H.N.A.S., and the more esoteric recordings of Organum; and certainly of note for those of you taken by Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words, Xela, Svarte Greiner, Expo '70, Emeralds, or any of the darker, weirder, more fucked-up drone ensembles of recent days. Very highly recommended!" [Aquarius Rec.] |
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Josephine & Elsewhere |
CD-R |
Second handmade live collection and 12th full-length irr. album. This disc features the best moments of 3 live performances in Seattle during October of 2009.
A hand-assembled CDR release packaged in a jewel case with a printed photo cover & printed disc, including an original signed & numbered ink drawing and a handwritten track listing inside each booklet. Released by errata in excelsis [eie008] in an edition of 200 copies (of which 7 remain).
Duration: 62:14.
1. Weaning Ysbryda In A Yurt Full Of Fluid
2. The Four Horsemen Of Natural Science (after Aphrodite’s Child)
3. Haphazard Trajectory I
4. CMBR (variation 1)
5. Rogue Gluons Castigated By The Strong Nuclear Force
6. Caniad At Yr Annisgwyl Sbasm
7. Sprialfederschlagen Und Meckern
8. Haphazard Trajectory II
9. Piddle-Fie-Ungulate
10. CMBR (variation 2)
11. Bestial Discharge
12. O, Wistfully Cantillating Paraceratherium
13. Admonitum Tripartitus |
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Ozeanische Gefühle |
CD |
Damn, this is SO GOOD! IRR.APP (ext.) zeigt hier, dass er nicht nur strangeste eher elektro-akustische Soundscapes zusammenschustern kann, sondern auch sehr fliessende, aber leicht “gefährliche” und surrealistische dronescapes, die pulsieren, mäandern, rotieren und einfach LEBEN. In der Tat scheint hier alles in Grenzenlosigkeit zu zerfliessen...... High TIP for Drone-Heads !
“irr. app. (ext) is the work of California-based sound artist Matt Waldron, whose collected body of work is far too important to continue to be forgotten. During the past decade, only two full albums -- Dust Pincher Appliances (2003 on Crouton) and An Uncertain Animal, Ruptured; Tissue Expanding in Conversation (1997 on Fire, Inc.) -- have seen the light of day despite the fact that perhaps a dozen albums have been completed. The public silence for irr. app. (ext) was never by Waldron's design, as numerous recording deals collapsed, one after the other. The story becomes all the more of conundrum as these misadventures of neglect and ignorance occurred despite Waldron's high-profile collaborations with Nurse With Wound and Stilluppsteypa. If a humble organization like the Helen Scarsdale Agency can have its say, then we speak to remove whatever curses that have haunted irr. app. (ext.) in the past and provide the world with the opportunity to revel in the spectacle and the beauty that is Matt Waldron's art. Had things gone differently, Ozeanische Gefühle would have been one of the lost irr. app. (ext.) recordings. That would have been a shame for Ozeanische Gefühle stands as an impeccable composition of post-surrealist dronescaping rivaling such masterpieces as The Hafler Trio's Kill The King, Jonathan Coleclough & Andrew Chalk's Sumac, and Nurse With Wound's Soliloquy For Lilith.
The title has origins with Freud and earlier thinkers; yet Waldron came across Ozeanische Gefühle (which translates from the German as "oceanic feelings") in his studies of Wilhelm Reich who referenced the term to describe the natural state of every healthy organism as connected to and engaged with the world around it, with its energies flowing from the center outwards. For Waldron, Reich's ideas became the starting point for a metonymic exercise seeking to discover that which is near a signifier and spiral beyond each successive discovery along a complicated aesthetic thread by way of intuition and accident.
The album tumbles through a series of sympathetic dronings, field recordings, and performative gestures, continuously traversing the emotional polarities of psychological tension and externalized jouissance. The album begins with a heavily processed flutter of sustained woodwinds accompanied by thunderous rumbles in the distance before dispersing amidst Bernhard Hermann-esque slashings of discordant strings. Later on, the grotesque pathos of a Wurlitzer organ dissolves into a blackened emptiness that envelopes the complex resonant frequencies from Waldron's slow, deliberate performance upon bowls and bells. Despite the incredible depth of his source materials, Waldron displays an uncanny intellect that reflects all of his wandering passages through the lens of a melancholic ambience. Simply put, Ozeanische Gefühle is a wonder to behold.”[ Helen Scarsdale, June 2004]
www.helenscarsdale.com
"If anyone has the ability to carry the post-Surrealist torch of Nurse With Wound, it would have to be Matt Waldron through his irr. app. (ext.) project. Like Nurse With Wound's eccentric genius Stapleton, Waldron would never qualify himself as a Surrealist, but it's a good jumping off point to describe their respective works. With Ozeanische Gefuhle, Waldron establishes irr. app. (ext.) establishes himself as one of the most gifted sound-sculptors whose work have passed through the doors of Aquarius. If you've ever picked up any drone / minimalist / ambient records or even just anything that Andee has poetically described as 'completely fucked', then you owe it yourself to pick up Ozeanische Gefuhle. This review could ramble on and on, but let's cut to the chase and state the obvious, this album is brilliant.
Strangely enough, Ozeanische Gefuhle -- as great as it is -- almost disappeared into the ether, as it was slated for release a few years back on another label who just sat on it for years, much to the chagrin of Mr. Waldron. Fortunately, the good people at the Helen Scarsdale Agency rectified the situation and made sure this album got its due recognition.
The title itself is an allusion to Wilhelm Reich, who used the term to describe the natural state of every healthy organism as connected to and engaged with the world around it. Such ideas in lesser hands would result in limp idylltronica with New Age sentimentality; but this is not the case for irr. app. (ext.), who solidly grounds this record upon a fundamental drone, which slinks its way through numerous field recordings and performative gestures. Waldron's masterpiece emerges as a tidal current of electronic sound, rumbling through blackened spaces and soaring with divine expressivity. As good if not better than anything by Nurse With Wound, Organum, :zoviet france:, Phill Niblock, and the Hafler Trio. Yeah, it's that good!" [Aquarius Rec.] |
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Are all Things Equivalent? |
10inch |
"Substantia Innominata" is the 10" VINYL - series by Drone Records, presenting works inspired by or related to "the Unknown" around or within us. OUT NOW (March 2019):
SUB-26 • IRR.APP.(ext.) - Are all Things Equivalent?
Drone Records is proud to present two new tracks on vinyl by the master of surrealistic, enigmatic sound (and visual) worlds, whose collages and titles often reveal a cryptic and thought-provoking nature.
As soon as the music starts you might get the impression that micro- and macroscopic dimensions intermingle and oscillate, these multi-layered drone expansions and deep humming drones evoke a strange organic feeling, ominous half-concrete acoustic shadows seem to live inside this, ghosty saw-blades conquer the sonic space, there are rolling mechanic eruptions, and you could be stuck in huge spinning machines, it's music that consists of complex noises and drones that seem to be in a circling state of an endless metamorphosis...
irr.app.(ext.) has been the project of sound, performance and visual artist M. S. Waldron for more than 20 years. He currently resides in Hillsboro, Oregon (USA), just slightly to the left of the picturesque midriff of the Pacific Northwest.
Known for recurring collaborations with NURSE WITH WOUND and through a phantastic trilogy of albums with reference to the radical psychoanalytic and founder of body psychotherapy WILHELM REICH, the creations are much grounded in non-orthodox surrealism and collage and fall somewhere between beauty and absurdity, between amorph drone ambience transcensions and bewildering and attacking noises, often with deep philosophical and psychological implications involved.
Released in an edition of 300 copies on CLEAR vinyl, with full colour artwork by M.S. Waldron himself.
www.substantia-innominata.com
https://soundcloud.com/drone-records/irr-app-ext-side-b-sleep-turbines
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| ISABELLA, JASPER & SIMON FISHER TURNER |
Savage Songs of Brutality and Food |
CD |
"This is the blurb.
I think it’s a press release, too, about this album I’ve made with my kids’ voices and sounds and these home recordings we’ve made over the last 13 years.
They’re now 15 and 17 and who knows what they think.
I know they’re not too interested in it this now, but they’ve seen the artwork and pictures and obviously they know the tracks, but I don’t think they actually realise this is coming out and that strangers can buy the LP in a Record Shop or online with actual money.
For years as the two of them were growing up I was always photographing and recording their lives. Over 68,000 pictures on my desktop, and hours of recordings. This is commonplace now, but when I was growing up maybe the Brownie would come out on the beach on Whitsand Bay, or if we went on holiday, a picture of a mountain or something interesting like, a pizza. Mum had a reel-to-reel she never used, and I had a radio. Dad was underwater.
Why go on holiday when you live in Cornwall. Dad was a submariner based in Plymouth and my mum was a mum and a Rally driver. Three boys to look after. Chaos and serious hard work. Now both my parents are dead, I’ve photos from mum’s albums, but oddly enough Dad never took photos at all, and distrusted them I think.
So to this album. It’s the first thirteen years or so of our children’s lives made into cute and cruel songs of experimentation and, yes, chaos again. So, from the first heartbeat (not included here) to just under two years ago, I randomly and sometimes secretly recorded them singing or talking, often encouraged of course by me. That’s what parents do. I recorded for 13 years. It’s rather wonderful to have sound documents as opposed to pictures. Luckily I have both and I’m still rediscovering forgotten sounds even now.
This is a music/sound diary (perhaps) of the frankly mad, cute, annoying, moving, innocent, loud, loving, embarrassing, noises of their lives up to now, as recorded and messed up by me, as in messed-up-and-I-don’t-care, but do I care. I try to edit with clarity where needed, but otherwise the vocals and ideas are pretty raw and unaltered for the sweeter market of pop. This is just STUFF. Wild and Alive.
Rebels without a pause.
I was a dad with slithers time on my hands and a Mac I could barely understand. I made tracks/songs, whatever you want to call them between cooking, cleaning, bathing, shopping, driving, and sleeping ad infinitum. It’s the three of us mainly, with The Elysian Quartet thrown together for The Mighty Dinosaur song, but I’m the leader, the captain of the ship. You always need a Captain and they were my sonic crewmates, even though they were often press-ganged into service reluctantly.
. There will be no Volume Two.
They’ve eventually got really fed up with me doing this, and I can’t blame them one bit, but when faced with all these bits of songs or, fragments of stuff, what do you do? Throw them in the bin, give them to them on their wedding day and really make them cringe?
No. The best thing to do is to compile them like a mix tape and keep your fingers crossed that someday, someone might be interested in releasing a compilation of this madness.
Charles Powne from Soleilmoon Recordings came to the rescue, in that he mentioned somehow whether I’d heard of an LP of children’s songs. I hadn’t in fact, but I told him about these recordings I’d been making over the years.
Isabella and Jasper I think are now probably incredibly pissed off with me, but you know, that’s tough. Full stop.
Now at 17 and 15 their childhoods are over. The illusions shattered. There is no pretence. They can watch the news, Snapchat at speed, and lurk on the net who knows where.
Innocence has gone, battered out of them by schools and the more serious and dull adults that surround them. They were the funniest and most amusing two smaller people imaginable, but now, they’re Teenagers…….Aaahhhhh.
They’ve opinions, they’re brighter than me, better looking, funnier, nicer clothes, better humour and taste, and they’ve more friends than me too. The job is done.
I’m sadly responsible for the musical settings they happen to find themselves in, although, quite often all the music or at least some of it is made up from their noises too. We like a noise here and there and we love to dance on a Friday night.
One of the beauties of this sort of music is that there are no rules. We could all do with this sort of freedom, in not just music, but film, cooking, and storytelling. A child’s imagination is the finest open canvas ever. No rules rule.
Oh God, I sound like a dotting dull dad. C’est la vie.
Stay well and keep calm and risk everything with passion and love."
-- SIMON FISHER TURNER
LONDON, 25 JUNE, 2020
https://isabellajasperandsimonfisherturner.bandcamp.com
|
2020 |
€14.00 |
|
| ISIS |
Celestial |
CD |
Das Debut-Werk einer der interessantesten, Genre-sprengenden „Rock“-Bands dieser Tage... monumentaler Industrial-Metal mit hoher Emotionalität, Anklänge an NEUROSIS, etc....
„ Musically, Celestial is generally slow and repetitive, but that doesn't mean it's monotonous or anything. It's got more of that slow groove thing going for it.. you just sit back, zone in and nod your head to it. This sort of pacing creates a rather brutal sound as the guitars and bass bludgeon an unstoppable path of thickness. The drumming has a natural sound to it, which odd considering the how thick and unnatural the rest of the music sounds sometimes. Amid all of this are a variety of different electronic effects... a subtle whirl here.. a beep there... some feedback over there. It's all very interesting and entertaining but most of all it is powerful. The vocals are pretty much indecipherable from the thick layers of distortion and filter effects. But, perhaps what he says doesn't matter as much as how he says it. The howling wails in C.F.T. speak a lot more then any word can infer and many of the other songs have him screaming and yelling out his lines, which adds a lot of emotion to the music. [Fubarm]
|
2000 |
€14.00 |
|
| ISLAND PEOPLE |
same |
do-LP |
" »island people« is a new band project consisting of mastering engineer conor dalton, grammy award winning producer david donaldson, musician and DJ graeme reedie and guitarist ian “chippy” maclennan. on their first self-titled record, they present their collaborative work that evolved over the past three years.
being based in different cities, namely berlin and glasgow, files had to be exchanged back and forth between the band members in order to create tracks. for their delicate sound structures, field recordings and other sound sources were heavily processed and rendered unrecognizable. layer after layer, the tracks came into being quite naturally, not only reflecting their continuous way of working, but also incorporating their different and individual backgrounds: »during the whole creation of the album, we never realized our actions were quickly leading us into forming ›island people‹, we were too busy having fun, making music and sharing ideas.«
the result of their collaboration is a timeless music that is as open as a natural phenomenon, developing a certain feeling of euphoria over time. all in all, »island people« is a pure listening record in the best tradition of ambient."
www.raster-media.net
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| ISOMER |
Zero Lounge |
CD |
“Here it comes! The follow-up to "serpent age", the highly acclaimed first CD by the australian artist David Tonkin, the man behind Isomer. Isomer does not remain in the field of dark rhythmic ambience; with the second release it explores new fields. This CD brings a blend mixture of classical industrial elements, power electronic noises and ritual soundscapes...it still has its very own touch and varies its style often but never losses the thin red led of an extraordinary brilliance in recording. Follow Isomer into the Zero lounge.” [label description]
“The "Serpent Age" release is a grandiose exercise of 'Black Ambient' excesses. Majestic sweeping passages of haunting dispirited sounds, distilled throughout its eight tracks, drags you kicking into a musical world pitched in total darkness. Echoes reverberate and throb whilst minuscule glitches fight for your attention. Fragments of a barely audible beat dissolve around intricate patterns of electronic waveforms. "Serpent Age" is recommended to be heard at night with the lights turned out and with no outside interference. Under these conditions it comes alive and envelopes you like a tender lover, holding and squeezing you tightly, never letting you go. Try it. You'll see what I'm getting at. This is one of the finest examples of 'Black Ambient' music I've heard in many a long time and, of course, is mega highly rated. Nice one Isomer. Nice one Tesco.“ [Aural Pressure]
|
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
| IVERSON AND WALTERS |
First Collection |
LP |
After almost two years of work, we're glad to invite you to a new journey through the fog of time and enjoy the upcoming reissue of the great Ambient/Folk record from 1984. A well-known to collectors but extremely rare record by Jon Iverson a multi-instrumentalist from Palo Alto and his college friend, mandolinist Tom Walters. They shared a love for singer/songwriter fare and gigged around campus playing covers of Neil Young, CSN, and Loggins/Messina in the late '70s.
"First Collection" was recorded during the Spring of 1984 in a small garage that had been converted to a one-room apartment in the seaside community of Los Osos, California.
With an instrumentation of 12-string guitar, piano, mandolin, analog synthesizers, and sampler, the duo has recorded nine bright, weightless, and diverse compositions where electronic experiments mix with ethnic rhythms, sweeping through inspired folk reminiscent of the work of William Ackerman, John Fahey, Master Wilburn Burchette, and Robbie Basho, to homemade pastoral space folk exuding sophisticated, pale, lunar sonic moods that somehow might remind of the work of Roedelius from the early 80s.
Equipment used for tracking included a rented 1/2" 8-track Otari MX5050 analog tape machine and assorted mics. With only a few thousand albums pressed, First Collection has become a collectable in some circles.
Now, almost forty years later, First Collection has been remixed and remastered from the original 1/2" tapes for this release.
~~~
Press:
"Using such non-EM instruments as mandolin and 12-string guitar, Jon Iverson and Thomas Walters produce a distinctly folk-oriented electronic music, full of exquisite acoustic sonorities along with their lovely digital synthesis. Wonderful job of recording, too."
(Robert Carlberg, Polyphony, 1983)
|
2022 |
€23.00 |
|
| JACASZEK |
Kwiaty |
LP |
"It all started with a book, as these things often do: an English anthology of metaphysical poetry from the 17th century, to be exact. Which may not sound like the sexiest option on the shelves, but hear us out. The gentleman plowing through those weathered pages happened to be Michał Jacaszek, the Polish composer who's spun dramatic shades of darkness and light into gold for more than a decade now. An absolute master of melancholy, from the trickle-down electronics of Treny to the vapor-trailed verses of its looming spiritual cousin KWIATY.
"The poems were simple, pure and beautiful," Jacaszek says of the book's poignant Robert Herrick passages. "They spoke about death, pain, longing and loneliness, but somehow these pieces were bringing hope, solace, and peace."
They also sounded a hell of a lot like songs when read out loud. Structurally at least. Herrick's rhyme schemes and rhythms still needed the right musical accompaniment, and Jacaszek had just the ticket: a backlog of previously unreleased recordings—warm-blooded samples, lonesome synth lines, pared-down guitar parts—begging for proper arrangements and dynamic mixdowns. Not to mention the most vocal-driven material Jacaszek's ever written, melding his stormy melodies with a breakout performance by Hania Malarowska and the robust supporting roles of Joasia Sobowiec-Jamioł and Natalia Grzebała.
"I tend to always create organic, acoustic sounds, even though I work within a digital environment," explains Jacaszek. "Because KWIATY is actually a vocal album, the electronic sounds in the background seemed to be a perfect opposition. It's all unintentional, really; this is just my music language and I can't run away from it."
jacaszek.bandcamp.com/album/kwiaty
"I first discovered the wonderful and adventurous music of Jacaszek in a record store. 'Glimmer' and 'Catalogue des Arbres (feat. Kwartludium)' have been regularly played albums for years in this household. So when this new album was announced, I was immediately interested. However, like often happens with artists this talented and versatile, starting to write this review was a difficult task. So let's just begin by writing that this is an breathtaking piece of work.
For those not familiar with Michał Jacaszek: he is a Polish composer who combines electronically prepared sounds with acoustic instruments. Over the years, he composed soundtracks and theatre music, plus a number of albums. His work blend classical music with experimental electronics and jazz. He knows little to no musical borders and continuously drags in seemingly strange influences.
'Kwiaty' means flowers and in a way that is exactly what you get on this album; blooming pieces of music that look and feel familiar yet mysterious. The album was inspired by Michał Jacaszek’s discovery of an English anthology of metaphysical poetry from the 17th century by Robert Herrick, which to him — somehow-- sounded songlike when read out-loud. The album contains guest appearances by Hania Malarowska (Hanimal), Joasia Sobowiec-Jamioł and Natalia Grzebała.
The songs on this album are strange pop-ballads or jazz inspired classical pieces or electronically rearranged folk songs, regarding on how you feel about them. I hear influences from all these genres, including trip hop, dark jazz and the soundtracks to Tim Burton's movies or even Twin Peaks. There is a gloomy atmosphere, a mysterious feel but also musical ingenuity and beautiful vocals. In short, this is Jacaszek at his very best.
Once again I refuse to pick a favorite track. I'm not even going to mention separate songs. I'm just going to recommend buying the album. Take the weekend off and enjoy 'Kwiaty' non-stop. Allow Jacaszek to guide you on an introvert but epic journey, one you will not regret. It will definitely be worth the effort. If you are into anything between Dead Can Dance, Bersarin Quartet and The Nightmare Before Christmas, you will easily get addicted to this thing..." [Merchants of Air]
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Music for Film |
LP |
"Since his earliest projects nearly two decades ago, Polish composer Michal Jacaszek has kept some proximity to film music. Initially, his output simply felt cinematic by nature; densely detailed electroacoustic textures on releases like Lo-Fi Stories (2004), Treny (2008) and Glimmer (2011) evoked dimly-lit worlds within themselves, vignettes of the imagination. Over time his interest in sound design and collaboration would manifest actual film projects and commissions, some of which have earned him awards. Jacaszek's practice - an amalgamation of ambient, classical, and musique concrete - deploys field recordings, acoustic samples, poetry, and baroque instrumentation to paint pictures, oftentimes melancholic, nostalgic, tragic. His 2020 album, Music For Film, marks the naturally-occurring intersection of his identities as a solo artist and a film score artist. The collection is now sequenced and released as a single autonomic movement. "I didn't write to particular scenes," says Jacaszek, recalling the process of envisioning music for Rainer Sarnet's 2017 black-and-white fantasy drama November. "He asked me to create a bunch of pieces for a dark fairytale-like movie about love in old Estonian pagan times - full of dark magic, strange beliefs, poverty, grit, and natural beauty." That versatile purpose from the onset affords the material particular pliability in the album format; the pieces work on their own. Two tracks originated from the 2019 documentary He Dreams of Giants; another was first used in 2008 project Golgota wroc?awska. Context removed, they fuse seamlessly; ten years time between some recordings, erased. A visceral dynamism emerges here with a relatively restricted palette of sounds. Music moves in measured steps, inconspicuous yet holding attention. Opener "The Zone" is curious and brittle, crawling on keys and a foundational bass thump as strings seep beneath in a raspy hush. Centerpiece "Dance" folds into an ominous and molasses-slow trot through minor chords, spacious percussion, and static, all under the spell of a mournful violin lead. Windswept vocals haunt "Liina" from a distance, while they sink deeply into orchestral closer "November Late." Jacaszek's work is that of an auteur; he has signatures that he uses faithfully and with much aplomb. Listeners can expect subtle gesture and baroque grandeur on Music For Films: soaring melodies cloaked in reverberation, delicate piano ruminations, and textural craftwork capable of creating and disrupting motifs, smothering and enchanting minds."
|
2020 |
€20.50 |
|
| |
Glimmer |
CD |
For the past decade or so, Polish musician Michal Jacaszek has been exploring a new, resolutely modern chapter in Eastern Europes long, storied love affair with classical music. His creations are painstakingly crafted collages of electronic textures and baroque instrumentation, harpsichords being swarmed by woolly static one minute and pulled apart by billowing wind the next. Ambient music - if we can generalize unnecessarily for a second - is rarely so sonically challenging. Limited to 700 copies, including free download coupon.
Jacaszek's latest album, Glimmer, is marked by a noticeable tug between melancholy and beauty, like it's hovering in some gaseous grey area between both, at once both insular and extroverted. "I tried again to create some fragile beauty glimmering behind the veil of reality," he says. "I built a kind of curtain out of dirts and fuzzes, and used pure sound of clarinet and harpsichord playing beautiful melodies as a contrast to its harshness." This winking, push-and-pull tension runs deep and constant throughout the 40-odd-minute journey to the end.
To parse an album so deeply experiential and deliberately cohesive track-by-track seems unfair, almost ludicrous. But there are undisputed highlights - the apocalyptic crescendo at the end of 'Evening Strains To Be Time's Vast,' with its crunch of nightmarish noise and bit-crushed distortion, the dizzying, obscenely pretty tangle of Spanish guitar in 'As Each Tucked String Tells.' Glimmer is, quite simply, an album that's easy to get lost in without being easy to ignore. Don't expect any eyelid drooping while it's on. [info from gg]
https://jacaszek1.bandcamp.com/album/glimmer-cd
https://www.sklep.gusstaff.com/jacaszek-glimmer.html |
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| JACASZEK & KWARTLUDIUM |
Catalogue des Arbres |
CD |
"CD - 8 tracks - 46:06
Track listing and notes:
1. Sigh (Les peupliers)
2. Green hour
3. A book of lake (Roselière)
4. Garden (Les sureaux)
5. From a seashell
6. Circling (Le pré)
7. Anthem (La forêt)
8. Kingdom (Les chênes, les bouleaux)
For the past decade or so, Polish musician Michal Jacaszek has been exploring a new, resolutely modern chapter in Eastern Europe’s long, storied love affair with classical music. His creations are painstakingly crafted collages of electronic textures and baroque instrumentation, harpsichords being swarmed by woolly static one minute and pulled apart by billowing wind the next. A push-and-pull tension runs deep and constant throughout. Ambient music is rarely so sonically challenging. Jacaszek has recorded for Ghostly International, Miasmah, Gusstaff Records and Experimedia and other labels. This is his first release for Touch.
Michał Jacaszek writes:
"When poets and writers declare their enchantment for the forms of nature, they often use musical terms as methaphors. Visual artists' creations often resemble graphic partitas, when recapturing the rhythms of landscapes.Confirming, in a way, these musical intuitions, composers write great music deeply inspired by birdsongs, wind rustlings, waves repetitions etc.
Making "Cataloguge des Arbres”, my ambition was to join this broad artistic movement devoted to natural phenomena and find my own way to describe trees: their forms, atmosphere and mystery. I have started with "open air" recordings, capturing mainly leaves'' rustlings - from different distances, in different locations and weather conditions. This collection of nature recordings was transformed into a kind of "organic drone" and becomes a main background for instrumental and voice improvisations. My initial inspiration here was Olivier Messiaen's' bird songs transcriptions for piano – the composer's work title "Catalogue d'Oiseaux" I have paraphrased on my album . A piano, clarinets, violin and percussion parts, performed by the Kwartludium ensemble, were electronically processed, and afterwards all this electro-acoustic material was turned into a collection of 8 soundscapes - forgotten songs performed secretly by my beloved trees."
composed, recorded and produced by Michał Jacaszek | additional composing and all instrumental parts performed by Kwartludium | Voice parts (tracks 1, 8) performed by 441 Hz chamber choir | Additional clarinet parts (tracks 2, 3) performed by Andrzej Wojciechowski Grand piano recorded by Cezary Joczyn at Gdańsk Academy of Music
Kwartludium are Dagna Sadkowska: violin | Michał Górczyński: clarinet, bass clarinet | Paweł Nowicki: percussion | Piotr Nowicki: grand piano
Biography:
Michał Jacaszek lives in Gdansk, Poland.
Author and producer of electroacoustic music, composer of soundtracks and theatre music, and sound artist. He is a curator of C3 Festival /Club Contemporary Classical/. Member of Polish Society for Electro-acoustic Music. Michał Jacaszek lives in Gdansk, Poland. Jacaszek gained Grand Prix at "Dwa Teatry" Festival for music composed for the play "Golgota Wrocławska" directed by Jan Komasa. "Walking underwater" a documentary by E. Kubarska with music by Jacaszek has recently been awarded The Special Jury Prize at Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto.
He has performed in USA (Unsound New York, Communikey, Hopscotch), in Canada (Mutek ), in Great Britain (Fertilizer Festival, Apha Ville Festival), in Nederlands (Urbanexplorer Festival), in Belgium (Fereejen Festival), Portugal, Sweden (Volt Festival), Slovakia, Germany, Ukraine and Russia (Electro-Mechanica Festival); as well as in Poland at the most important festivals: Heineken Opener Festival, Off Festival, Unsound Festival, Astigmatic.
www.jacaszek.com
www.kwartludium.com
www.touchmusic.org.uk
"From the outside it may seem that Touch always works with the same artists and to some extent that's probably true. What's wrong with that? They act as a proper record label, not working on a project-to-project basis, but push a limited of artists. But sometimes an entirely new name pops up, such as Michal Jacaszek from Poland, who is a composer of soundtracks and theatre music, as well as a curator for various festivals. His previous work was released by Ghostly International Miasmah, Gustaff Records and Experimedia, although I must say I didn't hear any of that. Here he works with a quartet called Kwartludium: Dagna Sadkowska on violin, Michal Gorczynski on clarinet and bass clarinet, Pawel Nowicki on percussion and Piotr Nowicki on grand piano. Much like composers have tried to describe animals through instruments (Messiaen, Saint-Saens), Jacaszek wanted to describe trees, 'their forms, atmosphere and mystery'. He started with the recording of leaves rustling and wrote the notes
out for the quartet and then, in the final stage, treated everything in a way that is owed to the world of electro-acoustic music. The 441 Hz Chmaber Choir performed some voice parts. Great story, fine music, which carefully balances on the modern classical on one side and electro-acoustic music on the other side. Jacaszek really makes his sounds - whatever source - to have a rustling character, such as in 'Garden (Les Sureaux)' - which rustles all around - the field recordings, the percussion instruments, but also the other instruments making similar gestures. Most of the time this is played introspectively, but not dark, doomy. It's airy music, open, like a mild summer breeze (and with today's sunny weather I can exactly know how that feels), meandering through space, without getting weightless or new age inspired. Jacaszek knows how to create music that is partly gritty, a bit dirty, just off the beaten track. I'm never too fond of anything that is even remotely modern classical,
but I must say: this is great!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€14.50 |
|
| JACASZEK / ROMKE KLEEFSTRA / JAN KLEEFSTRA |
It Deel I |
LP |
SOUNDS FROM THE FORESTS
IT DEEL is a new project for the upcoming years by the Kleefstra Bros in collaboration with Popfabryk. The underlying motive for this new project is the disastrous damage to the nature. Together with guest musicians the brothers work on new material in the Thomaskerk in Katlijk (Friesland, NL) which stands in relation to this theme of environmental decline. Each project is presented live in front of an audience after a week, and results in a vinyl release on Moving Furniture Records.
The Kleefstra Bros: “Trees are pre-eminently the example of life forms that are predestinated to a fixed place. This spot is where they have to survive. For tens, to hundreds of years they are bound to this specific spot, surrender to it. With untouchable patience, many of the trees in Oranjewoud (an old forest in Friesland) have seen many generations of people pass by. But still we claim as if we can decide over their lives and let them suffer with all our interventions in their environment.
The Kleefstra Bros are poet Jan Kleefstra and guitarist Romke Kleefstra. Both are member of (amongst others) Piiptsjilling, The Alvaret Ensemble, CMKK, Tsjinlûd and Kleefstra|Bakker|Kleefstra. For IT DEEL I in 2021 they collaborated with the Polish composer, producer, and sound artist Michał Jacaszek.
Michał Jacaszek creates electro-acoustic music in which electronic sounds are combined with acoustic instruments. He often collaborates with other artist from various backgrounds incl. video art, visual arts, dance choreography and photography.
IT DEEL I is released on vinyl limited to 300 copies in artwork designed by Rutger Zuydervelt and available digital.
The album will be presented with a short tour in the Netherlands this fall.
More about Michał Jacaszek jacaszek.com
More about Kleefstra Bros kleefstrabros.bandcamp.com
More about IT DEEL popfabryk.nl/project/it-deel
Michał Jacaszek: electronics, string arrangements
Jan Kleefstra: words, vocals
Romke Kleefstra: guitars, bass, effects
Recorded at the St. Thomas church, Ketlik, the Netherlands, by Jan Switters, June 1-4 2021 produced, mixed and by Michał Jacaszek
Mastered by Michał Jacaszek & Jos Smolders
https://kleefstrabros.bandcamp.com/album/it-deel-i
|
2022 |
€18.00 |
|
| JARBOE |
Illusory |
CD |
"Jarboe of course doesn't need an introduction. As a torche bearer for avant-garde music, she is no stranger to Consouling as well. After the fantastic split 10" release with Father Murphy, we are truly honered to be collaborating with Jarboe on her new album 'Illusory'.
'Illusory' truly is an engaging album, where the textures of the music interact with Jarboe's almost haunting vocals in a remarkable way. Her constant forward thinking approach makes it feel like travels through uncharted territory, where her siren-like voice leads the way. Or perhaps, as the dark and brooding nature of the album captivates you, will lead you astray."
https://consouling.be/release/illusory
"JARBOE, eine der absoluten Ikonen der experimentellen und avantgardistischen Musikszene meldet sich zwei Jahre nach ihrem letzten Album nun mit ‘Illusory ‘ zurück. Erscheint als CD und LP auf CONSOULING SOUNDS. Der Name JARBOE muss nicht groß vorgestellt werden. Seit den 1980er Jahren gehört die US Amerikanerin zu den kultigsten Künstlerinnen, die sich im avantgarde, Experimental und Heavybereich tummeln. Als Ehefrau von MICHAEL GIRA (SWANS) war sie eine zeitlang auch Mitglied dieser Band. Sie entwickelte sich aber immer weiter und war offen für verschiedenste musikalische Expermiente. So arbeitete sie u.a. auch mit SONIC YOUTH, NEUROSIS, BLIXA BARGELD, PHIL ANSELMO zusammen. Ihre Release-Vita kann ein ganzes Buch füllen und sie sorgt quasi jährlich für neuen Output in den verschiedensten Varianten. Nach ihrem letzten Soloalbum ‘The Cut Of The Warrior ‘ (2018) veröffentlichte sie noch eine neue Variante des früheren ‘Blackmouth ‘ Albums (zusammen mit John Bergin und Brett Smith). Nun steht mit ‘Illusory ‘ das neue Meisterwerk der ‘Goddess of Dark ‘ (Metal Injection) in Haus. Sieben Tracks, die die Grenzen zwischen Ambient, Experimental und Avantgarde ausloten und unglaublich intensiv sind." [Broken Silence]
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
| JARL |
Akatisi / Somnolens Part I-VI |
CD |
"Advanced Experimental Drone"-Musik von ERIK JARL (eine Hälfte von IRM), das grossartige TANTRIC-Album (aufgenommen bereits 2003); schwelende Geräuschfelder, wummernde Klangflächen, elektro-magnetische Mikrodetail-statik, zwischen Ent- und Anspannung, voller interessanter Sounds & kontemplativer Kraft !
"Solo material from soundartist Erik Jarl known by his works with power electronics monster IRM. Sustained static fields and repetitive patterns construct expressive layers of sound in contrasting colours. Delicately and ambitiously put together to a transcendental cycle - this is music for occidental meditation. Limited to 499 copies." [label info]
"....Over the 6 tracks and 45+ minutes Erik has taken the concept of drone music and revitalised and buffed this sometimes staid and boring music into a shimmering gossamer sheen. Drifting pastoral passages are continually looped into hypnotic rippling waves of sound that appear almost ethereal in structure. Slight faint jarring effects are carefully layered into the mix along with flecks of faint Industrial and ritualistic bias that reaches out towards black malevolent ambience before being drawn back clutching despondently at the air. "Akatisi / Somnolens" is music to meditate to. To dream sweet dreams to. To fully immerse yourself and lose all track of time to. Time becomes totally irrelevant, a non event, when listening to music that bathes and cloaks the senses in full spectrum of a rainbow. Erik and his amazing Technicolor drone overcoat.
Around this part of a review I suppose I’ve got to try and mention like minded recording artists in case the words I’ve written haven’t conveyed the musical style adequately enough. Fair enough…though it will be a difficult task…so having had a quick trawl through my record collection I offer up the following: MRSA-16, Troum and Elektro Nova. Elements of each can be found ever so partially on "Akatisi / Somnolens" but Erik has retained a unique individuality and foresight which has been stamped firmly across this recording. If his earlier works were his evolution then "Akatisi / Somnolens" marks his re-birth as a genuine musical maestro. Artist and label in a marriage made just for each other." [Aural Pressure]
www.the-edge.ws/pretentious/tantric-harmonies
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Vertigo Border |
CD |
"Vertigo Border is the thirteenth album of the Swedish electronics favourite and the second volume of Vertigo trilogy. The magic number thirteen may imply that the album contains anything special… However, let us leave these considerations for the numerological masturbators. There is nothing more special in Vertigo Border than in the earlier Erik’s albums since he remains loyal to his credo to fuck the audience with his monotonic, depressing, icy and colour-blind sound waves, to throw a tie onto their necks and slowly strangle them out of this grinding, claustrophobic and cramped world. All Jarl's albums smack of enormous and refined weariness. This is already the thirteenth album and this is the thirteenth tomb on your little grave, this is the thirteenth swing of the spade with the soil onto your coffin. The coffin sealing you off with all your squeaks of madness from the outside. The coffin doomed to choke you out of your life. This is an existential coffin with existential suffocation caused by unbearable, morbid and monotonous reality embodied in the sounds of the album. This is the ice in which you are frozen and where, beholding the inexhaustibility of the infinity, you may neither move, nor speak or even wink. So, you are that mechanical toy paralysed by sadist existence. Jarl is a ghost monotonously repeating this to you, so do not expect anything hopeful from the thirteenth master's album. Nor from the fourteenth that is still to be composed. Nor from the fifteen either. Suffer because you are worth it!" [label info]
www.autarkeia.org
Album lasts for 64 min. 17 sec. Limited edition 200 copies. |
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Symptoms Variation / Sensory Deprivation |
3 x CD |
Erik Jarl is back with his fourth album on Reverse Alignment. Two and a half year has past since "Hypnosis Colour" was released and Jarl is now releasing a 3CD massive work.
True to his format, he delivers an album with experimental psychedelic textures combined with his own trademark of turbulent withdrawn electronics, this making path for a hard defined style. Classic Jarl but still innovative.
As previous the music is accompanied with splendid artwork by Karolina Urbaniak.
https://reversealignment.bandcamp.com/album/symptoms-variation-sensory-deprivation |
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Hyperacusis |
LP |
Erik Jarl hails from Sweden and is actively recording and releasing for over two decades now either solo or as a part of power electronics/industrial acts like IRM and Kaiten. On his fourth release for Zoharum titled “Hyperacusis”, Jarl gravitates towards drone void as he explores and sonically interprets this rare hearing disorder.
Album consists of 2 long (around 20 minutes each), trance inducing tracks that put you into sedative state. Drones, high frequency pulsations and oscillations work here as a intronautic vessel in which you descend into into the depths of subconscious and as much as we are aware that this is a bold statement the closest comparison that comes to mind is Coil’s Time Machines. Yes, we said it.
At first this appears to be a demanding piece of work but it’s utterly rewarding and eventually makes you wanna listen to it on and on and on… (to turn your mind off… to turn your mind off...)
Mastered by Natt
Artwork by Radosław Kamiński
CD edition of 250 copies comes in a 6 panel digipack.
LP edition of 100 copies pressed on 180g black wax
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/hyperacusis
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Spectrum Confusion |
CD |
Spectrum Confusion is Jarl’s fifth album on Reverse Alignment, following on from 2019’s massive triple CD release Symptoms Variation/ Sensory Deprivation. And once again Karolina Urbaniak has masterfully created the cover artwork, as she’s done for the four earlier Jarl releases, also released by RA.
Spectrum Confusion consists of three long-form pieces showcasing his trademark psychedelic, hypnotic approach, but this time the presence of bubbling and pulsating sounds makes the music sound closer to the electronic experiments of Northern European avant-garde composers in conjunction with more melodic passages harmonically coexisting alongside the abstract elements. Jarl’s music has entered its more mature stage here, and Spectrum Confusion consolidates his reputation as one of the most interesting and original European electronic music composers.
Swedish musician Erik Jarl has been active since the Fall of 1999, principally as Jarl. He was also a member of post-industrial act IRM, of which Erik was one of the founding members. Jarl’s music has been released on several labels through the years, and he has collaborated with acts like Anemone Tube, Envenomist, and Skin Area. Erik Jarl composes his music through a total analogue approach with the use of synthesisers, analogue sequencers, waveform generators, and oscillators, as well as several echo/reverb and delay units.
https://reversealignment.bandcamp.com/album/spectrum-confusion
"More and more, the territory for Vital Weekly is that of modern classical music, improvised music and such; the last resort of physical releases, perhaps? I am glad that there is also music from Erik Jarl dropping on my doorstep now and then. Just for the sake of hearing something else, also because I have been quite a fan of his music over the years. After all these years of reviewing his music, I still have not a clear picture of what Jarl does. Maybe I believed he was a man of computer technology for a while, but I think that the modular synthesiser is his instrument of choice in recent times. When I was playing this CD, I used some more volume to drown out the clarinet rehearsals taking place upstairs, and it occurs to me that there is a slightly more cosmic streak to his music this time around. I doubt the volume is a contributing factor to that thought. I had this realisation, and I thought there was a straight line from Conrad Schnitzler's 'non-keyboard electronics' to the world of industrial music. Jarl's sonic paintings are dark and bleak; they are slow and minimal. Yet, it is also music of hope and light. This music is not the dystopian cosmic journey of a spaceship returning to the destroyed earth, but rather, well, such as I hear this, a celebratory trip back home. The spacecraft is in slow motion returning from whatever it was doing in space anyway. The additional reverb sets some of the moods here. It bursts and bubbles along the edges of the massive drones. Maybe because Jarl adds a melodic touch to his electronics, it made me think of that. I took a peek at Vangelis' recent tribute to Juno (the Jupiter moon, not the synthesiser), hailed in the daily, but I feel NASA missed out on Jarl's music for this occasion. His soundtrack would fit Juno much better than Vangelis' orchestral brushes. Alright, next time, Nasa, go to Sweden and talk to Jarl!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| JASCH |
Shimmer |
CD |
Knistern, vibratorisch wummernde & hell zerfliessende Streicher-Drones, in der Tat „schimmernd“ wie Licht; sehr schön wie sich hier Flächen überlagern, vermengen & gegenseitig auslöschen zu scheinen, ab und zu kommen „konkretere“ Streicher-Klänge an die Oberfläche... 8 Stücke sehr gelungene experimental drones von diesem uns bisher unbekannten Schweizer.
“SHIMMER from the swiss artist JASCH (catalogue number 6) marks a new step in the development of dOc as it is the first release without any involvement of label owner Pure (besides dOc8 "Die Instabilität der Symmetrie" which was a cooperation with Cologne based label Grob). It therefore stands for the label's conceptual shift from a platform for documenting solo and collaborative live works to a release possibility for like minded sound and video artists. SHIMMER features a mixture of organic and synthetic characters that build crystalline shimmering layered sonic spaces. A constant flow of steadily evolving palettes of rich sound drifts from standstill to hectic, from recognisable instrumental timbre to digital fragments, constantly changing spatial perspectives and acoustic appearance. the most notable sound source for these eight tracks are recordings of string instruments, even though echoes of voices and traces of field recordings evoke an intimate exchange with the sonic materials used for this work. All eight tracks were recorded during a 4 month time span in spring and summer of 2003. Most of the pieces are direct-to-disk live-recordings, a few were recorded in the studio. all pieces were improvised using custom made soft- and hardware and no edits were applied in postproduction. the main tools use process-based algorithms and open dynamic systems geared towards intuitive and instantaneous interaction.
JASCH is an active musician coming from the fields of improvisation with a background in jazz and electroacoustic music. He holds a degree in jazz doublebass and a masters in digital arts. He has been performing improvised, electroacoustic and audio/visual electronic works in a variety of settings in festivals and clubs all over europe and north america.
Beside his solo works he is member of DYAD, the critically acclaimed live project with american video artist Johnny Dekam, whose collaboration DVD with dOc label owner Pure is released just a the same time.” [label description]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| JASENKA, ANTANAS |
An Artist and a Plane |
CD |
Unser definitiver Favorit unter den letzten ELECTROSHOCK-Releases ist das neue Werk von ANTANAS JASENKA. Zwei Stücke, ARTAC (40:52), und ELECTRONIC SUTARTINES (20:10), mit visionärer, dunkel-fliessender Elektro-Akustik.... verzerrte „poetic texts“.... Soundscapes mit hoher Dynamik, Spannung und geheimnisvoller Aura.......irgendwo zwischen BRUME, ZOVIET FRANCE und Elektro-Akustik wie NORMANDEAU.
Our definite favourite amongst the latest new ELECTROSHOCK-releases! Visionary dark & floating electro-acoustic of highest dynamic and tension & with a secretful aura... DEEPLY RECOMMENDED !!!!!
|
2004 |
€12.00 |
|
| JAZZFINGER |
Mole & the Morning Dew |
LP |
"Their second release for Spirit of Orr, and their first purple vinyl release, Jazzfinger use this opportunity to disseminate two sides of ‘heavily indebted to visuals’ drone sound. The grainy delicacy of “Beneath Our Fathers Field” opens proceedings, the accompaniment to a silent piece of Egyptian rooted mystery-movie – the unreleased harmonium start-up of Balance/Christopherson’s dawn sessions. The three pieces on the record’s first side feel more connected to each other than almost everything else I’ve heard by this crew, its also their most aurally poetic. Jazzfinger manage to convince me I’m being haunted by humans with “The Swimming Heal”, swirls of birds flocking and diving over some Gretna-like landscape through the feedback. The two flipside pieces are built on repeated acoustic guitar parts, cliff-hanger menace in the Dictaphone gruffness and the fear generated in repetition. Picture an acoustic Jandek lost in sea fret, encircled by a host of cymbal bowers. Jazzfinger records do more than anything else I’m aware of to make yer eyes obsolete. 10/10" [Scott McKeating / Foxy Digitalis]
"It is with deep honor and wonder that we announce the release of this magical splaying of deep sound by Newcastle's mighty Jazzfinger. Truly Mr Jones and his crew are the bringers, the full cup, part of the good that balances our lives against dark evils. Without hesitation, the people who hold the world together. Feel their power, and be comforted. Limited to 600, purple vinyl." [label info]
www.spiritoforr.com
|
2009 |
€15.50 |
|
| JEAN, MONIQUE |
L'adieu au S.O.S. |
CD |
In faszinierende akusmatische Welten entführt die aus Montreal stammende kanadische Komponistin, wobei sie sehr dunkle & dynamische Stimmungen erzeugt, die z.B. auf Themen von „Hilflosigkeit und Verwirrung angesichts der Zerstörung des Individuellen“ , „Entzeitlichung“ & Fragen des Menschlichen basieren.. Dicht, spannend, in den Bann ziehend.. hier sind elektro-akustische Meisterwerke entstanden!
MONIQUE JEAN war Schülerin von FRANCIS DHOMONT und arbeitet auch im Bereich Experimentalfilm, Video, Tanz...
„Monique Jean lives and works in Montreal. She studied electroacoustic composition at the Université de Montréal under the supervision of Francis Dhomont. In addition to her acousmatic compositions, her work is also regularly associated with video and experimental films, with dance and with installations. Her harbour symphony “L’Appel des machines soufflantes” (The Call of Blowing Machines), a commission of Radio–Canada, was premiered in March 1998 at the Port of Montreal and in 1999 she was an invited composer during the “Rien à voir (5)” concert series produced by Réseaux (Montreal). Finalist in the Ciber@rt (Valencia, Spain, 1999), Musica Nova (Prague, Czech Republic, 2001) and Bourges (France, 2002) competitions, her works are regularly performed and broadcast during numerous national and international concerts and festivals. [Translation: Sean Furgeson, xii-02]“ [website-info]
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| JEANIE FINLAY |
SOUND IT OUT! |
DVD |
"Hommage an die Leidenschaft: englische Doku über einen der letzten Plattenläden.
Der kleine Vinylplattenladen ist eine fast ausgestorbene Spezies. Dem Druck großer Ketten und Onlineriesen hat im Nordosten Englands einzig Sound It Out Records standgehalten. Der letzte Laden seiner Art ist heute eine kulturelle Enklave, ein gewaltiges Archiv der Erinnerungen. Die tapferen Vinylverteidiger kennen die Kunst des Suchens und Findens, des Stöberns und Ordnens. Shopbesitzer Tom Butchart hat mit seinem umfassenden Wissen schon so manche Lücke in Plattensammlungen gefüllt - aber auch geschaffen. Es ist ein unendliches Geschäft - für die einen eine Religion, für die anderen fröhliche Wissenschaft. Sound It Out Records ist heute der Lebensmittelpunkt für eine erstaunliche Versammlung von Originalen - vom Status-Quo-Verehrer über Metal-Liebhaber bis zum Gartenlauben-DJ - eine schwindende Spezies unter technologischer Belagerung. Jeanie Finlays Beitrag zum Record Store Day 2011 ist ein Film voll skurriler Charaktere, genialer Musik und längst vergessener Plattencover. Eine Hommage an die Leidenschaft.//
Over the last five years an independent record shop has closed in the UK every three days.
SOUND IT OUT (75 mins) is a documentary portrait of the very last surviving vinyl record shop in Teesside, North East England. A cultural haven in one of the most deprived areas in the UK, SOUND IT OUT documents a place that is thriving against the odds and the local community that keeps it alive. Directed by Jeanie Finlay who grew up three miles from the shop. A distinctive, funny and intimate film about men, the North and the irreplaceable role music plays in our lives." [Verlagsinfo / website info]
www.sounditoutdoc.com
|
2012 |
€18.50 |
|
| JECK, PHILIP & CHRIS WATSON |
Oxmardyke |
CD |
With thanks to Mary Prestidge, who writes: "At the end of January 2022, Philip was taken to A&E at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital suffering from severe back pain and was admitted for investigations. In the hospital ward, with some strong pain relief, he could more comfortably rest, mostly horizontally. During the day he could be angled slightly toward a sitting position. Over the following days, aiming to make sense of his current predicament, Philip regained a tiny level of normality. With his laptop in place, he tapped into familiar territory and, when finding the most favorable times, listened to and worked with the sound files that Chris Watson had sent him. During these brief, intense spells Philip gave all to his ear and heart to guide and shape the music forming at his fingertips. Oxmardyke is the album which resulted from this collaboration."
Chris Watson (August 2022): "Philip's laugh was infectious. Our conversations would usually begin with exchanges around the enthusiasm we had for each other's work and the respect we shared for other Touch artists. However, as we were most likely to have met over drinks at the Philharmonic Dining Rooms in Liverpool the evening would gradually dissolve into convivial disarray. What did emerge from these soirées over recent years was a desire to find ways and means for us to collaborate at a place where our ideas converged. In 2017, I was recording along the north bank of the Humber estuary and one morning driving back from Faxfleet I was stopped at the Oxmardyke rail crossing. The gates were down. After setting up a microphone array by the tracks for a passing freight train the signalman shouted an invitation to climb up into the gate box to make some more recordings. Over the following weeks I made several return trips to Oxmardyke and gathered a broad palette of recordings. I discussed the sounds, stories and history of the site with Philip after a show and we were both excited by the potential of making a work together. Philip was drawn to the ancient history of the area from 6th century Anglo-Saxon times to the Knights Templar and how the sounds, rhythms and textures from those periods may still inhabit the contemporary landscape. My thoughts took inspiration from 'The Signalman' by Charles Dickens and the painting 'Rain, Steam and Speed' by Joseph Mallord William Turner. We agreed to share ideas and exchange tracks. Oxmardyke gate box has now passed into history. I hope my contributions may frame Philip's exceptional work."
Mastered by Denis Blackham at Skye Mastering; Photography by Chris Watson; Cover design: Jon Wozencroft.
https://philipjeck.bandcamp.com/album/oxmardyke
|
2023 |
€17.00 |
|
| JENERIK, SCOT / R.H.Y. YAU |
Meat |
CD |
" NOISE = LIFE! Nach langer Stille endlich was neues von S.JENERIK nach seiner Europa-Tour im Sommer '99. JENERIK benutzt live ein selbstgebautes, feuerspuckendes Instrument namens "VOLATILE", welches er percussiv bearbeitet und dessen Klänge er hier auf CD gebannt hat: Feuer, Rauschen, mächtige Metallschläge, sich steigernd mit unbändiger Kraft und z.T. nachbearbeitet; aber auch ein eher collagenhaftes Stück mit Insektengeräuschen & Alltagslärm ist hier vorhanden, welches sehr hypnotisch wirkt.. Amazing stuff!! Check it out!! Der uns bisher unbekannte R.H.Y.YAU dagegen ist noch wesentlich abstrakter, mit konkret-noisigen Elementen bewegt er sich irgendwo zwischen BRUME, heftiger Elektro-Akustik und gänzlich abstrakten Klängen..." [Drone Rec. info 2000]
"And in this corner: from San Francisco, Scot Jenerik and his cacophonous loops of percussion and processed sound, industrializing any room it is played in. And in this corner: Randy Yau, also from The State Over On The End, with his unpredictable eruptions of vocal and kinetic energy. That can't be good for his microphone, folks. We're looking at close match, and the winner gets a pile of metallic-flavored meat."
[ronsen.org/monkminkpinkpunk/23/lostreviews.html]
|
1999 |
€13.00 |
|
| JENSEN, CLARICE |
The Experience of Repetition as Death |
CD |
Brooklyn-based cellist Clarice Jensen’s gorgeous sophomore album and first for FatCat’s pioneering 130701 imprint, ‘The experience of repetition as death’, was recorded and mixed by Francesco Donadello at Vox-Ton studios in Berlin in late 2018 and mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri. Following up her hugely impressive 2018 debut, ‘For This From That Will Be Filled’ , which included collaborations with Jóhann Jóhannsson and Michael Harrison, all of the material on this new album was written and performed by Clarice alone and all of the sounds on it were created with a cello through a variety of effects and effects pedals.
An outstanding musician, Clarice has recorded and performed for a host of stellar artists including Jóhann Jóhannsson, Max Richter, Björk, Arcade Fire, Nick Cave, Jónsi, Stars of the Lid, Dustin O’Halloran, Joanna Newsom, Nico Muhly, Dirty Projectors, Frightened Rabbit and Beirut. As the artistic director of ACME (the American Contemporary Music Ensemble), she’s helped bring to life some of the most revered works of modern classical music, and as a solo artist has developed a distinctive compositional approach - improvising and layering her instrument through loops and a chain of electronic effects to open out a series of rich, drone-based sound fields. Forging a very elegant and precise vision, her music has been described by Self-Titled as “incredibly powerful neo-classical pieces that seem to come straight from another astral plane” and by Boomkat as “languorously void-touching ideas, scaling and sustaining a sublime tension”. Her debut album was released in 2018 on Miasmah and followed in September 2019 by the ‘Drone Studies’ cassette EP on Geographic North. Receiving glowing critical acclaim, both releases made it into Pitchfork's end of year charts.
Expanding her sound again, ‘The experience of repetition as death’ is a warm, deep and cyclical album that explores notions of repetition in both its conceptual underpinning and musical structure. Unlike the easily readable step builds and grid-locked looping of so many artists using the looper as a compositional tool, Clarice’s loops slide across one another in organically morphing structures; align and intersect at different moments, yielding a kind of aleatoric yet minimal counterpoint, with joins overlaid in ways that appear seamless and sophisticated. Where her live performance relies heavily upon the use of loop pedals, in the studio she and Donadello recorded much of the material onto tape to create a series of physical loops. There’s something oceanic in the immensity of the resulting work - in the ebb and flow of her sound and the way it builds and dissipates through swelling and wave reflection.
Whilst in previous releases Jensen’s cello has largely been abstracted via effects to sound somewhat other than itself, ‘The experience of Repetition…’ opens with an undisguised passage that is clearly wood and string - a clarity retained throughout much of the album. Across its span, Clarice balances her material between darkness and light and the shades in between. Rigorously structured yet fluidly slipping between states, the album shifts from a glowering sense of dread / malevolence to warm, euphoric washes; from an elegaic or graceful sense of suspension to curious, clipped interstitial loops that recall the segues in My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Loveless’ or the minimalist pulsing and phase-shifting of Steve Reich. Throughout, the album reveals a viscerality and attention to textural accretion that’s reminiscent of more electronic artists like Actress or Gas; whilst the glacially moving, hypnotic build recalls prime Stars Of The Lid. Other reference points might look back to Minimalism, to the deep listening immersion of Pauline Oliveros, Eliane Radigue, La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela, and the long-string drone work of Ellen Fullman. Or forwards to the rising current wave of drone-spinners like Kali Malone, Ellen Arkbro, Caterina Barbieri and Sarah Davachi, and adventurous cellist peers like Hildur Gudnadottir or Resina.
Conceptually, the album is based upon the theme of repetition and informed by some of Freud’s key principles of psychoanalysis (namely the “compulsion to repeat” self-destructive beaviours or re-live traumatic events explored in his writings about the Death Drive in ‘Beyond the Pleasure Principle’); by notions of the primarily repetitive nature of our existence and attempts to break beyond this: “I hope this album, in its repetition, might provide the listener with a respite from - or a reflection upon - the malaise and / or comfort of life’s repetition,” she writes. The album’s title is taken from a line in a 1971 poem by the influential American radical feminist poet Adrienne Rich called ‘A Valediction Forbidding Mourning’ – a response to a John Donne poem of the same title from 1611. Jensen expresses great admiration for Rich both as a writer and feminist icon, citing her as “an inspiration to create work in a field that is still largely male-dominated," and noting how “her poem to me is a reflection on the idea that dying and death are ordinary. Any meaningfulness we create comes from within and is deeply personal but entirely our own construct.”
With death as a clear subtext, Jensen describes how the music was written or conceptualized in a period towards the end of her mother’s fight with leukemia and shortly after she passed away. “My sister and I were taking care of her. So I’m also referencing the repetitiveness of all the mundane things we still did with her in the face of her terminal illness - preparing meals, doing the shopping, paying bills - as well as the repetition of all of visits to the doctor and hospital." Third track ‘Metastable’ was inspired by the chorus of repetitive beeping heard in hospitals - a sound that can be both fascinating and beautiful as well as overwhelming or irritating. The beeps here integrate themselves into a single loop, creating a fixed counterpoint around a deep, foreboding bass loop and slowly building, Reich-ian structure. “This idea of the ‘metastable’ became very pronounced to me”, notes Clarice. “Her continually evolving treatments kept her in temporary states of stability that would eventually become unstable, which would then require some different treatment."
Perhaps the most dramatic of the five pieces here, ‘Holy Mother’ is a towering piece that moves through all twelve chromatic pitches. The title refers to the Tibetan name for Mount Everest (Qomolangma) and through this piece Clarice has attempted to evoke a sense of that place and the obsession with its conquest - an extreme example of the feats people attempt in an effort to break from the monotonous repetition of everyday life - as well as contemplating the bodies of those climbers who didn’t make it, left frozen and permanently entombed there.
Musically, in addition to the looping on every track, the concept of repetition is also expressed on a larger scale, with the album’s central melodic theme repeated in different ways across its length. On opening track ‘Daily’ the theme appears in the track’s second half, fragmented into three different tape loops and never expressed fully in order; in ‘Day tonight’, it’s played in full but in an unfamiliar key and rhythmically augmented; whilst mirroring track one, closing track ‘Final’ employs the same tape loops as the opener, but this time with the tape having been subjected to methods of degradation in order to erode the sound – crumpled up, creased and stepped on, and run (silently) for long periods of time to deteriorate the quality of the tape and the sounds recorded on it. As the piece draws to an end, the album’s theme is finally presented in full in its original key and fully harmonized, performed by a quartet of cellos without effects and emerging whole at the end of the process in a beautiful resolution.
Structurally smart, texturally rich and deeply immersive, ‘The experience of repetition as death’ is a powerful new album by a hugely talented young artist, whose star is clearly on the ascendant. It is released on FatCat’s 130701 imprint on 3rd April on vinyl and digital formats. Clarice will be touring the US in March / April supporting A Winged Victory For The Sullen, with whom she will also be performing as cellist.
https://claricejensen.bandcamp.com/album/the-experience-of-repetition-as-death |
2020 |
€16.00 |
|
| JERMAN / BARNES |
Versatile Ambience |
LP |
Without referencing typical genre or style, the collaboration of sound artists Tim Barnes and Jeph Jerman moves a step forward with this 45 RPM LP release of texture and atmosphere, with assistance from Ken Vandermark, Jacob Duncan, Aaron Michael Bulter, Sara Saltau & Bret Berry.
"The fact that two words sit next to each other does not automatically mean that they are related. The ambience given off by this LP full of coarse textures and lancing sounds isn't exactly versatile; it'd be easier to devise a list of places where it can't be played and people you know who would not sit still for it than to string together the places where its ambience would be appropriate. And just because two men with documented histories of hitting things get together and make records doesn't mean they'll turn in an album of percussion music.
In fact, Tim Barnes and Jeph Jerman only occasionally resort to directly striking anything on Versatile Ambience; they're too busy engaging in all manner of other interventions that confound perception and makes you think hard about just what constitutes music. If you consult Barnes' and Jerman's discography, you can find CDRs a decade old to which the Discogs website has assigned the designation free improvisation. Whatever you call the music on Versatile Ambience, you can't call it that. It is carefully constructed from collected outdoors sounds, wind and stringed instruments played by musicians such as Ken Vandermark and electronics of uncertain provenance; there's definitely a shortwave radio in the mix, but beyond that, take a guess.
It's probably more relevant to note that it's not immediately clear if the twittering high frequencies that lift away from a distant jet's quiet roar are played electronics or a field recording of bugs. Jerman has gone on record saying that he is not concerned with representing anything, he just uses sounds he likes to hear. Still, in a time when human activity is submerging islands and killing off species at a record rate, it's hard not to assign significance to music that challenges the listener to figure out where nature ends and man begins. No discussion of this album would be complete without acknowledging its particular physical qualities. The sleeve is hefty and substantial.
The vinyl is heavy and spins at 45 RPM; Rashad Becker's mastering conveys the high frequencies with amazing clarity and the rougher textures with such tactility that you'll swear you can feel the sounds coming through your fingertips."
[Bill Meyer, Dusted Magazine]
|
2016 |
€26.00 |
|
| JERMAN, JEPH & DOUG THERIAULT |
Tathata |
CD |
"Tathata is a central concept in Buddhism, literally translated from sanskrit as 'thusness' or 'suchness'. Tathata expresses appreciation of the true nature of reality in any given moment. As no moment is exactly the same, each one can be savored for what occurs at that precise time, whether it is thought of as being good or bad. However, Jeph Jerman and Doug Theriault are trying to give us the possibility to meditate on this word, they recorded three long improvised pieces for the same-titled album. Jeph plays acoustic sources (stones, health balls, metals, sticks etc) and Doug played guitar and processed it with his laptop. The music is very quiet, the sparse and spontaneous movements reveals the silence playing the main role between abstract sound gestures. It seems so that the musicians have no intent to produce music, which can express certain ideas or follow the process, thus it's setting free your mind and clear it from any predominant thoughts. In fact, it's a new direction of perceiving the environment, the musicians share with some sounds, originated far from the complex pseudoreality programming, it's mostly intuition. Another important step to understanding the musical ecology, to reach the point where anything can be taken apart from everything else." [label info]
www.nitkie.ru
|
2010 |
€12.50 |
|
| JESU |
Why are we not perfect? |
maxi-CD |
"... Why Are We Not Perfect completes Broadrick’s transformation from atmosphere-obsessed drone metallurgist to neo-shoegaze aesthete. There’s heaviness of a very different sort oozing from the two-chord vamp “Farewell” -- it’s the kind of heaviness that derives from depth of production and emotional resonance, rather than piles of distorted guitar. You could easily fall into the cracks between those Björk-like fuzz bass hits on the title track. Its final lyric (“Why are we not perfect/ When we can’t live forever?”) is just one of the many simple profundities you’ll find buried deep within if you do... ] [Prefix mag]
"5 track EP (2 songs of which originally appeared on the vinyl only split 12" with Eluvium). JUSTIN BROADRICK has set aside the heavy foundation of pounding guitars prevalent in past recordings & brought to the fore elements of texture & melody that previously hovered at the periphery of his monolithic compositions. While this may prove frustrating to metal idealists, those with a greater sense of adventure will find the results both illuminating & heart rending." [label info]
"Not a brand new Jesu record, instead, this ep collects the three tracks from Jesu's split lp with Eluvium from last year, and adds two alternate versions to flesh it out a bit. Folks who missed out on that now out of print 12", or those amongst you who remain turntableless, will for sure want to pick this up, and Jesu fanatics, might just find this worth it for the two extra alternate takes. First the songs proper: Three new songs from Jesu, and as if we didn't already see Broadrick and Co. heading in this direction, they've almost entirely
jettisoned the heaviness, in favor of a blissy new wave-y drift. Really! No massive sludge, no blissed out crunch, in fact, most of this sounds like Jesu doing the soundtrack to a John Hughes movie, all drift and croon and no crunch and pummel, but it's really nice, and pretty, and still suitably Jesu-like.
Imagine Simple Minds or the Cure but raised on Slowdive and Chapterhouse and Swervedriver and My Bloody Valentine, doing the theme song for Sixteen Candles 2008 (which if our calculations are correct would be more like Forty Candles). The first song would be a massive hit, sort of melancholy and romantic, dark and dreamy, but still sort of catchy and hopeful, like sunbeams barely making it through grey storm clouds. The final track sounds like it could be from that last scene in Sixteen Candles 2008, the one
where the boy and the girl finally make it to the dance after all of the crazy mishaps and misunderstandings and are finally sharing that
slow dance... lugubrious and fuzzy, and soft focus and so great actually. It's weird, and a bit unexpected, but as much as we love the
glacial crush of past Jesu discs, this new-wave-y drift really suits them, which is a good thing, since they seem to be heading even more and more in that direction with each new release.
The two extra tracks are definitely not -drastically- different, but different enough certainly to make them worth having.
"Farewell" gets even more washed out, the whole thing muted and over saturated, the chugging guitars, disembodied and more textural than
heavy, the whole song suffused with chiming harmonics and sun dappled soaring bittersweet melodies. "Why Are We Not Perfect", the above
mentioned Sixteen Candles 2008 closer, hews closely to the original, the change more in timbre and texture than anything, the vocals still weary and woozy, the beat a loping skittery shuffle, surrounded by shimmering clouds of effervescent streaks of warm buzz, swirls of backwards melody, all whirling softly and dreamily.
Beautifully packaged in a super thick oversized Japanese style mini lp cd jacket, with a thick printed inner sleeve." [Aquarius Records]
www.hydrahead.com
|
2008 |
€11.00 |
|
| |
Pity / Piety |
LP |
“Frail hymns at the altar of self defeat….”
when all is full
when all is full
when all us fall
when all us fall
By Justin K Broadrick 2010-2022
credits
released December 13, 2022
avalanche recordings. 2022. AREC065
Published by Mute Song Ltd
Original photo by Marek Studzinski
"There are few artists operative at the fringes of popular music today whose sound has not been in some way or another informed or shaped by the works of Justin K Broadrick. As a founding member or sole proprietor of seminal outfits such as Godflesh, Napalm Death, Techno Animal, and Final, Broadrick has managed to help change or even define the now widespread genres of industrial and death metal, abstracted hip hop and dub, grindcore, and ambient electronics. So is also the case with his work in Jesu, who in the course of a very productive seven year existence have taken the churning pummel of his former project Godflesh, augmented it with the textural melody of 90s shoegaze rock and spawned a new sub-genre and the inevitable legions of imitators. And while imitators may abound, as the originator of this relatively newfound musical territory Jesu is still the clearly visible leader."
https://jesu.bandcamp.com/album/pity-piety
|
2023 |
€26.00 |
|
| JGRZINICH (JOHN GRZINICH) |
Two Films |
DVD |
"and/OAR, Maaheli Editions and Paleosol Edition are extremely pleased to present two films by sound artist John Grzinich. 'Sound Aspects Of Material Elements', Black & White, 57 minutes HD, 16:9 Aspect Ratio. Concept, sound, camera, editing: John Grzinich. Equipment and support: MoKS - Center for Art and Social Practice, Mooste, Estonia. Collaborative recordings made with: Patrick McGinley, Jim Haynes, Toomas Thetlof, Maksims Shentelevs, Kaspars Kalninsh, Eamon Sprod, Hitoshi Kojo, and Evelyn Müürsepp. 'Mimema' Color, 24:38 minutes, HD 16:9 Aspect Ratio. Concept, sound, camera, editing: John Grzinich. Equipment and support: MoKS - Center for Art and Social Practice, Mooste Estonia. Format: DVD (All Region NTSC). John Grzinich has been conducting his own forms of sound research for over 15 years, including field recording, kinetic sculptures, electro-acoustic composition, performance, videography, group workshops and exercises in listening. Currently he lives in Estonia and works as a program and technical coordinator for MoKS, a non-profit artist-run center. He has published CDs of his sound works on international labels such as: SIRR, Mystery Sea, Staalplaat, Erewhon, Intransitive, Cut, Elevator Bath, Invisible Birds, Semper Florens and others." [label info]
www.and-oar.org
"The label Alluvial Recordings is apparently no more - I am not sure why - but now there is Paleosol Edition, and this first release is done in collaboration with And/oar (catalogue number on the spine being 49, on the disc itself 50) and is a DVD of two films of composer John Grzinich, which I think is an interesting thing. Just what would it be? Animation stuff, a documentary, a concert or, as it in fact turns out to be, a film that displays the field recordings being recorded. We see someone (perhaps Grzinich himself?) beating a pole, a campfire, electrical wire in a field, someone scraping large empty metal containers, and sometimes no human interference at all, like a stream and what seems to be a wire inside. All of this is short movements in 'Sound Aspects Of Material Elements', which lasts some fifty-six minutes. Sometimes I think I am being fooled and I see something but believe that I hear something else. That's always a great thing I should think, but perhaps I like this sort of illusions very much. The nice thing about this film is that following every segment the screen blacks out and we hear what's coming next, but yet not see it, so your mind starts guessing - I was wrong in almost of all these cases. Shot in austere black and white, this one is great. The other film is much shorter and called 'Mimema'. Here I don't think its about the action to generate material, but a more poetic film with people floating in water set against a great piece of drone music. Maybe this is all about hearing 'below the surface'? I am not sure, but it looks and sounds great. More poetic, less documentary like than the other one. Two quite different approaches to film, but both work quite nice." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
| JOAQUIM, VITOR |
A Rose is a Rose |
CD |
Very complex digital-ambience soundscapes from this portugesian composer, hard to describe but much acoustic happenings are going on here on different levels, carefully constructed and drowns everything into a surrealistic, ominous atmosphere.... excellent stuff !
“Der Gertrude Stein’sche Titel seines rosenfarbenen Solos ist ja eigentlich das Motto jeder Musik. Sounds sind Sounds und können nicht übersetzt werden. Alles narrative und imaginäre Beiwerk ist subjektiv, ja geradezu idiosynkratisch. Allerdings ist eine rigorose Idiosynkrasie mein bad alchemystischer Generalschlüssel zur Welt, um sie zu durchstreifen als ein Spiegelkabinett, eine Echokammer des Imaginären, eine Passage voller synästhetischer Reize und kryptischer Symbole. Und Rilke hat schon gewusst, dass die Rose nicht nur eine Rose ist, sondern ein „reiner Widerspruch’ und die „Lust, Niemandes Schlaf zu sein.’ Joaquims bruitistisches Cinema pour l’oreille, imprägniert mit unkenntlichen TV-Samples, ist, wie alles Abstrakte, eine vieldeutige Projektionsfläche. Acht Tracks, alle namenlos, stoßen die Phantasie in ein traumlandschaftliches Erewhon, in dem sie sich unwillkürlich zu orientieren versucht - stotternder Funkverkehr im verrauschten Wellensalat (1), eine Unterwasserwelt (5), ein Fabrikgelände in der Nacht (6)? Das Gewebe aus vibrierendem grauem Rauschen ist wie durchpulst und durchatmet von etwas, das gleichzeitig organisch ist und automatisch, vital und mechanisch, elektronisch und psychophysisch, etwas wie Eshuns Futurhythmachine, wie eine Wunschmaschine. Die war schon bei Sade fähig zu glossolalischen Flüchen wie „Chivarusmarbarbarmavosacromicrepanti!’. Und von Sade stammt auch die weitsichtige Erkenntnis, dass es nicht die Maschine ist, sondern „das unreine Reptil, das eine Rose schändet.’ Joaquim fungiert als ein weiterer Pilot eines oulipoetischen Perpetuum mobile, das unermüdlicher ‘Autor’ einer ecriture automatique ist. Er (der Künstler) „präsentiert paranoische, Wunder- und Junggesellenmaschinen, als wären es technische Maschinen, stets bereit, die technischen Maschinen mit Wunschmaschinen zu unterlaufen. Vielmehr ist das Kunstwerk selbst eine Wunschmaschine. Der Künstler füllt seine Schatztruhe für eine bevorstehende Explosion...’ (Deleuze/Guattari) Joaquims Tracks 7 & 8 zeigen die Klangmaschine in der Metamorphose vom kalibanisch gurgelnden Poeten zum knurrenden Hund zum rückwÄrts lallenden Orakel. Laut M. Pfister & S. Zweifel ist es die „Imachination’, die die Verhältnisse zum Tanzen bringt.“ [Rigobert Dittmann / BAD ALCHEMY 45]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| JOB KARMA |
Punkt |
CD |
"New album from this Polish duo, who are gradually becoming the spearhead of landscapists of the genre. These two boosters of post-industrial tradition have forged 8 well-shaped and perversely tuneful pieces, which form an ideal soundtrack for an apocalyptic soap opera that eats up bits of our lives every now and then. Escape from...but where? Everywhere is the same in the giant guts of the mechanical Leviathan. The cosmos serves more and more darkness from the frighteningly far galactic preserves, the black hole gets bigger and bigger. But do not be afraid. The Mind Grinding and Oppression Machine (the fearful MGOM), choking and wheezing with its own enormity, gets jammed and broken more and more often. The fight goes on. As ever. 6-panel digipak with phenomenal cover design by Arek Bagiński." [label info]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| JOBIN, FRANCE & FABIO PERLETTA |
Mirror Neurons |
CD |
"Mirror neurons represent a distinctive class of cells that fire both when an animal executes an action and when it observes another individual performing the same action. Discovered by Italian neurophysiologist Giacomo Rizzolatti and his team at the University of Parma while doing a research on the neural representation of motor movements in monkeys, the precise function and influence of these neurons has become one of the most important topic in neuroscience. They have been linked to many behaviours and abilities, from empathy to learning by imitation and language acquisition, as well as implicated in conditions such as autism and other brain disorders. These findings suggest that the mirror neuron system plays a key role in our ability to experience empathy.
Initiated by sound artists France Jobin and Fabio Perletta, Mirror Neurons is a media-project investigating the notion of empathy and physical distance. The entire album is the result of extended sound files exchange between Montréal (Canada) and Roseto degli Abruzzi (Italy). Each of the pieces is based on rough sounds and their consequent re-working, listening and reaction, processing and imitation. The ongoing process helped the artists to draw inspiration in terms of stimuli for the act of composing itself in two very distant cities, different climate, time zones and languages.
Like much of Jobin and Perletta’s recent works, Mirror Neurons explores the artists’ interest in intersection between science and art, as well as the infinitely small and invisible. In order to further develop the concept of distance/connectivity, visual artists XX+XY from Rome have been involved in the process. They created a multi-dimensional, generative and ever-changing sound visualization through the use of quiet textures and subtle movements emphasizing the slowed sense of time of the work itself. Thought to be performed live in a big space, the video aims to create an immersive environment and a unique occasion to reflect about the behaviour of our emotions and the importance of human interaction." [label info]
www.dragonseyerecordings.com
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| JOHANNSSON, JOHANN |
IBM 1401, a User's Manual |
CD |
Nach den schönen TOUCH-CDs ein weiteres stark Filmsoundtrack-artiges Album des Isländers, dass uns stark an die emotionale Musik von ARVO PÄRT erinnert... sein Debut für 4AD !!
"Johann Johannsson ist Isländer und lebt in Reykjavik. Er ist Musiker (sowohl Solo als auch als Mitglied des Apparat Organ Quartets), Komponist, Produzent und Labelgründer (Kitchen Motor). Johannssons Name ist auch immer wieder in den Credits der Produktionen renommierter Künstler zu finden. So produzierte und schrieb er mit Marc Almond an dessen Stranger Things' Album, arbeitete mit Barry Adamson, Pan Sonic, dem Hafler Trio oder Jaki Liebezeit zusammen.
Als Komponist verzaubert er seine Zuhörer meist mit seiner stattlichen und eindringlich-melodischen Musik. Sein neues Werk ist bis dato seine am anspruchsvollsten instrumentierte und attraktivste Komposition. Die Idee zum Album basiert auf der Arbeit von Johanns Vater. Dieser war im Jahr 1964 als leitender Techniker bei einem der ersten Großrechnerprojekte Islands beschäftigt und es gelang ihm, den Rechner IBM 1401 mit einer Melodie zu programmieren und diese aufzunehmen. Diese Tonbänder, die Johann auf dem Dachboden seines Vaters fand, bilden das Herzstück des Albums. Für die Aufnahmen schrieb Johannson seine Komposition für ein Streicher-Sextett um und komponierte einen neuen finalen Satz." [Indigo]
"So here it is, Jóhann Jóhannsson’s eagerly awaited debut album for the 4AD label, and we’re very happy indeed to say that it’s the finest record he’s put his name to yet. I suppose the move from Touch worried some fans at first, but on hearing ‘IBM 1401…’ in it’s entirety it makes perfect sense as part of the 4AD catalogue. Jóhannsson found inspiration for the record after discovering his father’s IBM1401, a cumbersome 1960s computer system for which his father was a technician. Apparently these machines used to cost $2500 per day to lease and probably did a lot less than you’d think given the price, but Jóhannsson saw something intriguing to sample and in the same way that he utilised morse code receivers and ham radios on his Kitchen Motors disc, he uses IBM1401 training tapes as the thematic link on these tracks. An English voice can be heard describing the computer parts and how they work and how to engineer repairs on the machine and it’s peripherals, of course this is something that can ruin an otherwise good piece of music, but Jóhannsson in his restraint has managed to use the samples so cleverly that they actually become part of the music itself. The assertive voice becomes a symbol of nostalgia and that dusty sentiment, a picture of technology passed, or an electronic postcard from 1960, and never becomes there merely for the sake of it. Coupled with the simply stunning string arrangements they add a strange ethereal narrative, and while not telling a story as such, they bring vivid pictures to mind with great ease. Jóhannsson’s skill in merging sounds doesn’t end here either, as we heard on the stunning ‘Englabörn’ he can subtly blend his electronic production methods with the orchestral arrangements without it ever falling out of place. Synthesized chimes trip and fall in-between the orchestral swells and radiophonic bleeps to create soundscapes so breathtaking they can leave you totally lost for words. It would be almost offensive however to merely label ‘IBM 1401, A User’s Manual’ as cinematic, rather Jóhannsson has pushed the bar higher and taken the infant post-classical genre to the next logical place, creating an album which doesn’t just suggest visuals, rather with it’s oblique use of sampled voices and atmospheric sounds the visuals are there all the time and are simply left for us to interpret. A challenging, engaging and utterly breathtaking experience, Jóhann Jóhannsson has proved he is out there on his own. Essential purchase." [Boomkat]
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Orphee |
LP |
"Der Komponist Jóhann Jóhannsson, Golden Globe-Preisträger sowie für den Oscar, BAFTA und Grammy nominiert, veröffentlicht sein erstes Album für die Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft: es ist eine Meditation über die Schönheit und den künstlerischen Schaffensprozess. Jóhannsson ist eine Galionsfigur in einer dynamisch wachsenden Szene von Komponisten, die sich frei und einfallsreich zwischen Filmmusik, klassischem Minimalismus, Ambient und elektronischer Musik bewegen.
Orphée schildert einen Weg von der Dunkelheit ins Licht, inspiriert durch die verschiedenen Versionen des antiken Orpheus-Mythos, von Ovid bis Cocteau. Die vielschichtige Erzählung über Tod, Wiedergeburt, Wandel und die Kurzlebigkeit der Erinnerung lässt sich auch als Metapher für künstlerische Kreativität deuten.
Orphée bietet eine vielseitige Klangpalette: Es gibt akustische Instrumente solistisch oder im Ensemble kombiniert mit Elektronik und den geheimnisvollen Lauten der »Nummernsender« auf Kurzwelle. Sie ist angelehnt an viele Facetten seiner vorangehenden Werke und bindet Musik für Solocello, Orgel, Streichquartett, Streichorchester und A-cappella-Gesang mit ein." [label info]
"Based loosely on Ovid’s interpretation of the Orpheus myth, the Icelandic composer’s latest work reveals the grandeur of his music outside of scoring films.
Orphée, the latest album by the Icelandic composer and filmmaker Jóhann Jóhannsson is billed as his first studio album in six years since the somber and excellent The Miners’ Hymns**. But during that time Jóhannsson has released eight records—three of which were scores to major films (including Sicario & The Theory of Everything) and the rest music for smaller film projects, one of which Jóhannsson directed himself. But with even The Miners’ Hymns itself serving as a score to a film, the particular criteria for which Jóhannsson deems a record to be a “studio album” as opposed to a “film score” is somewhat unclear. What is clear is that after years of albums on 4AD and small post-classical labels such as Fat Cat’s 130701, in moving to Deutsche Grammophon—the oldest and most significant classical music label left standing—Jóhannsson wants Orphée to be seen as a work of music propped up by nothing but itself and its own deserved grandeur.
Loosely themed around Ovid's version of the Orpheus myth, Orphée’s grandeur is made clear within seconds. Using only a few repeated parts of piano, violin, and some crackling sound treatments, opener “Flight from the City” takes off. It feels like film music in a way that most of Orphée does not; you could easily imagine it playing over credits, or an opening scene, or in a mid-film montage. But the palette, tone, and structure of Orphée vary greatly and much of it embraces a compositional approach akin to ’90s chamber experimentalists the Rachel’s and others in the post-classical mold on 130701 or Erased Tapes. “A Song for Europa” features more of those crackling sound treatments as well as a recurring spectral vocal sample, while the stately “A Deal With Chaos” or “The Radiant City” would be at home on the Rachel’s Music for Egon Schiele.
Apart from “Flight from the City,” the most unforgettable tracks on Orphée are where Jóhannsson adds more experimental textures, particularly in the penultimate diptych of “Good Morning, Midnight” and “Good Night, Day.” In a way, these two tracks play out the climax of the Orpheus myth: The former begins with dreamy slow-waltz strings and burbling sound effects that connote the gait of a person heading toward destiny unknown, before giving way to a close-mic'd solo piano piece that sounds like the ruminative thoughts of man by way of Satie-style impressionism. The latter, “Good Night, Day,” begins with repeated string warnings that plays as a realization of chased dreams lost, with a cello melody serving as an elegiac narrative counterpoint. On each, the blend of early 20th-century modalities and experimental recording approaches make them archetypal post-classical tracks.
Boldest of all is Orphée’s a capella closer “Orphic Hymn,” which features a breathtaking choral vocal performance by Paul Hillier’s Theatre of Voices of text from Ovid’s The Metamorphoses. Sung vocals are rarely found in Jóhannsson’s work, but the angelic arrangement makes you wish that he had found more opportunities to integrate vocals into the rest of the record. “Orphic Hymn” also brings Jóhannsson back full circle to British post-classical elder statesman Michael Nyman. The piece strongly recalls the longing of “Miserere” from The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, a great example of how Nyman’s scores work as independent music woven into a film rather than applied to the surface of scenes.
It’s exciting to hear the freedom of Jóhannsson’s compositions in autonomous music, and with Orphée he’s reasserted himself as not a just an elegiac film score guy. As good as his cinema work has been, the act of telling someone else’s story puts limits on both an artist’s freedom to work and the impact of how they might be received, and Jóhannsson likely isn’t looking to become known as “the Next Thomas Newman.” The voice he uses on Orphée says otherwise, and provides a clear blast attestation that Jóhannsson is among the brightest lights of any member of the loosely grouped post-classical genre. [Pitchfork]
"Sometimes, some records, and I along with them, fall into this first-class trap, this uppermost attic, this top-notch shelf, where this reside, and then I fail to cover them in time. These are records, like this one, that are just too good, and so I blunder on my task to ‘seek them out’ for you, to provide the filtering of all the noise, and then to spread the good ol’ sermon of their beauty. Surely you have found this simply on your own. Of course, you are already a huge fan of Jóhann Jóhannsson, and automatically grab every single record he puts out, including the latest pressed by Deutsche Grammophon. Right? No wonder Orphée appears at the top of HC’s Reader’s Poll Results for best records of 2016. So why even bother covering it, you know? Yet, here I am, unable to resist the urge to give this wonder all the words that it deserves.
Jóhannsson has been pretty busy these past few years, working mostly on film scores and soundtracks. Even his last studio album, The Miners’ Hymns (130701, 2011) was a soundtrack of sorts. In fact, whether they were imaginary scores, like the one for Fordlandia (4AD, 2008) and IBM 1401, A User’s Manual (4AD, 2006), or real ones for independent films, like Copenhagen Dreams (NTOV, 2012) and McCanick (Milan, 2014), or full-blown Hollywood productions, like Prisoners OST (WaterTower Music, 2013), The Theory Of Everything OST (Blacklot, 2014) and, most recently, Arrival OST (Deutsche Grammophon, 2016), it’s easy to make a statement that Jóhannsson’s modern classical productions are indeed cinematic in nature. Painting these imaginary landscapes with his music is in his soul… it’s what he does.
Orphée, of course, is no exception. From the very first note and subsequent chord progression, we hear the music of Jóhannsson at his best. Full strings are at the center of the stage, dancing the slow waltz in a haze of melancholy, minor heartbreak, and remorse. Baroque and classical elements appear throughout the album, in the form of a pipe organ, symphonic themes, and orchestral accompaniment (AIR Lyndhurst String Orchestra). The work is concluded with the Theatre of Voices singing the lines from Ovid. The minimal pieces are complemented by fundamental electronic treatments, minor field recordings, and sounds of shortwave radio from the “numbers stations”. The atmospherics are resplendent with space and texture, structurally stitched in all the critical thematic places, driven forth by a coherent motif, carried further by the forlorn piano or the anguished cello at its heart (with Clarice Jensen of ACME and Hildur Guðnadóttir).
Orphée traces a path from darkness into light, inspired by the various re-tellings of the ancient tale of the poet Orpheus, from Ovid’s to Jean Cocteau’s. A many-layered story about death, rebirth, change and the ephemeral nature of memory, the myth can also be read as a metaphor for artistic creation, dealing with the elusive nature of beauty and its relationship to the artist, as well as the idea that art is created through transgression – by the poet defying the gods who have forbidden him to turn back towards his beloved as he leaves the Underworld.
Unlike Jóhannsson’s previous albums, Orphée did not start out with a conceptual narrative. Yet, at the root of the album is a theme of change that Jóhannsson has been dealing with in the last six years. He has left Copenhagen to build a new life in Berlin, absorbing the city with all of its new offerings, relationships, and inspirations. “Perhaps this is one of the reasons I was drawn to the Orpheus myth, which is fundamentally about change, mutability, death, rebirth, the elusive nature of beauty and its sometimes thorny relation to the artist,” explains Jóhann. “This album, my first solo record for six years, is an oblique reflection on personal change.” We’re all familiar with all this change and our struggle and final acceptance of some endings and new beginnings. Perhaps these sounds will accompany your journeys. A true modern classical composition which will surely withstand the test of time." [Headphone Commute]
|
2016 |
€25.50 |
|
|
Mandy (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) |
CD |
Lakeshore Records presents Jóhann Jóhannsson’s final work, his original score to the film Mandy.
Jóhannsson’s manager, Tim Husom, remembers Jóhann and how the project came about: “My friend and client Jóhann Jóhannsson passed away on February 9, 2018. The last music he created before his death was the score to Mandy. We were working on it right up until the film was delivered to Sundance in early January, 2018. Back in August of 2016 we received a call from Daniel Noah at SpectreVision about this crazy new horror film they were starting that starred Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough, Linus Roach, and directed by Panos Cosmatos. Jóhann had just finished his score for Denis Villeneuve’s film, Arrival, when the Mandy mood boards were sent over to us. They were unbelievably cool and scary. Our interest was hooked immediately. Jóhann’s first email response to me about the project was ‘Seriously, his (Panos) Beyond The Black Rainbow film is a masterpiece! I love it. And the way he uses music.’ To Jóhann, the idea of working on Mandy with Panos and SpectreVision was bringing some much needed balance to his score career and a perfect next step.”
The film score was co-produced by Jóhannsson and Randall Dunn (produced Sunn O)))) and features Sunn O)))’s Stephen O’Malley on guitar. The album was assembled posthumously in March 2018 with the help of co-producers Pepijn Caudron (Kreng) and Yair Glotman. The film, directed by Panos Cosmatos (Beyond the Black Rainbow) and starring Nicolas Cage, is released by RLJ Entertainment. The film was produced by SpectreVision, XYZ Films, and Umedia with support from Legion M.
Mandy is set in the primal wilderness of 1983 where Red Miller, a broken and haunted man hunts an unhinged religious sect who slaughtered the love of his life.
In the liner notes Cosmatos states: “Jóhann went above and beyond, and I suspect to the limits of his sanity, to make the music for this movie. His words and his actions made him more than a great collaborator, they made him like a brother to me. I’m sad our time together was so brief but I’m very proud of what he accomplished on Mandy and I believe he was too.”
The Jóhann Jóhannsson Foundation was created by his family and agent Kevin Korn in memory of Jóhannsson to foster and enhance appreciation, education and achievement in the areas of composition, music, and art around the world through educational outreach, a composer scholarship foundation, an annual composer gala event, and international festivals.
www.thejohannjohannssonfoundation.org
MUSIC BY JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON
SCORE PRODUCED BY:
JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON AND RANDALL DUNN
ALBUM PRODUCED BY:
PEPIJN CAUDRON (KRENG)
YAIR ELAZAR GLOTMAN
ADDITIONAL MUSIC:
PEPIJN CAUDRON
YAIR ELAZAR GLOTMAN
ÚLFUR ELDJÁRN
MUSICAL SOUND DESIGN:
YAIR ELAZAR GLOTMAN
SAM SLATER
PROGRAMMING, ADDITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS, ELECTRIC GUITAR AND DEMO PRODUCER:
KJARTAN HÓLM
6 STRING BASS, FRETLESS BASS, SOPRANO ELECTRIC 12 STRING GUITAR, ACOUSTIC AND ELECTRIC GUITARS:
SKÚLI SVERRISON
SYNTHESIZER PROGRAMMING, SOUND DESIGN, ADDITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS:
ÚLFUR ELDJÁRN
ALPHORN:
MARTIN GRABER
GUITAR:
STEPHEN O’MALLEY
GUITAR:
WILL HAYES
DRUMS:
MATT CHAMBERLAIN
SYNTHESIZER, PROGRAMMING AND SOUND DESIGN:
TIMM MASON
PROGRAMMING:
WOUTER RENTEMA
RECORDED AT NTOV STUDIOS, BERLIN / Q-ROOM, BOLZANO, ITALY / BONELLO STUDIOS, BERLIN
PUBLISHED BY
NTOV MUSIC, ADMINISTERED BY MUTE SONG
COMPOSER MANAGEMENT:
TIM HUSOM at REDBIRD MUSIC
JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON APPEARS COURTESY OF DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON
EXECUTIVE ALBUM PRODUCERS FOR LAKESHORE RECORDS:
SKIP WILLIAMSON AND BRIAN MCNELIS
DIRECTOR OF A&R
ERIC CRAIG
A&R / ART DIRECTOR & DESIGN
JOHN BERGIN
COVER ILLUSTRATION
CHRISTOPHER SHY
“MANDY” LOGO DESIGN
CHRISTOPHE SZPAJDEL
MASTERED BY
FRANCESCO DONADELLO - CALYX MASTERING
SPECIAL THANKS
LYNN HOBENSACK
DON SMITH
TONY GILES
|
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Drone Mass |
LP |
"Deutsche Grammophon is honoured to release the eagerly anticipated world premiere recording of Jóhann Jóhannsson’s Drone Mass. Described by its composer as “a contemporary oratorio”, this exceptional work is written for voices, string quartet and electronics. It was commissioned by the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), who have now recorded Drone Mass together with vocal ensemble Theatre of Voices and its Artistic Director Paul Hillier. Both ACME and Theatre of Voices worked closely with Jóhannsson on many occasions – in concert, on tour and in the studio. Out today, 18 March 2022, in digital format as well as on CD and 180g vinyl, this new album not only immortalises one of the Icelandic composer’s defining works, it also stands as a moving tribute from some of the long-time collaborators with whom he worked closely during his illustrious career.
Drone Mass is a profoundly atmospheric work, at times reminiscent of the meditative minimalism of composers such as Pärt or Górecki, and represents what Jóhannsson called “a distillation of a lot of influences and obsessions”. One of these was, as the title suggests, his fascination with the musical device of the drone. Here, his drones have a motivic-like role, shifting and shimmering with hypnotic effect, conjuring different moods, from unsettling to uplifting, as the work progresses.
Beginning with strings and voices, but slowly integrating Jóhannsson’s electronic techniques into its landscape, Drone Mass draws on material from the so-called “Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians” – part of the Nag Hammadi library discovered in 1945 – including a hymn the composer spoke of as “a seemingly meaningless series of vowels”. Both the enigmatic nature of the chosen texts and the sheer beauty of his vocalise-style writing add to the spiritual quality of the work as a whole.
The album was recorded in May 2019 at Copenhagen’s Garnisonskirken (Garrison Church) and produced by Francesco Donadello, another of Jóhannsson’s regular collaborators. ACME were joined by internationally renowned Danish vocal group Theatre of Voices and their Artistic Director Paul Hillier. They too have a very close connection with Drone Mass, having performed it twice in the US, and in Krákow, with Jóhannsson and ACME. Most recently, ACME and Theatre of Voices gave a further performance in Athens, just four months after the composer’s untimely death in Berlin on 9 February 2018, at the age of 48. Their recording of the mysterious, and timeless, Drone Mass is a further reminder of Jóhann Jóhannsson’s rare visionary talent."
|
2022 |
€29.50 |
|
| |
Drone Mass |
CD |
"Deutsche Grammophon is honoured to release the eagerly anticipated world premiere recording of Jóhann Jóhannsson’s Drone Mass. Described by its composer as “a contemporary oratorio”, this exceptional work is written for voices, string quartet and electronics. It was commissioned by the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), who have now recorded Drone Mass together with vocal ensemble Theatre of Voices and its Artistic Director Paul Hillier. Both ACME and Theatre of Voices worked closely with Jóhannsson on many occasions – in concert, on tour and in the studio. Out today, 18 March 2022, in digital format as well as on CD and 180g vinyl, this new album not only immortalises one of the Icelandic composer’s defining works, it also stands as a moving tribute from some of the long-time collaborators with whom he worked closely during his illustrious career.
Drone Mass is a profoundly atmospheric work, at times reminiscent of the meditative minimalism of composers such as Pärt or Górecki, and represents what Jóhannsson called “a distillation of a lot of influences and obsessions”. One of these was, as the title suggests, his fascination with the musical device of the drone. Here, his drones have a motivic-like role, shifting and shimmering with hypnotic effect, conjuring different moods, from unsettling to uplifting, as the work progresses.
Beginning with strings and voices, but slowly integrating Jóhannsson’s electronic techniques into its landscape, Drone Mass draws on material from the so-called “Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians” – part of the Nag Hammadi library discovered in 1945 – including a hymn the composer spoke of as “a seemingly meaningless series of vowels”. Both the enigmatic nature of the chosen texts and the sheer beauty of his vocalise-style writing add to the spiritual quality of the work as a whole.
The album was recorded in May 2019 at Copenhagen’s Garnisonskirken (Garrison Church) and produced by Francesco Donadello, another of Jóhannsson’s regular collaborators. ACME were joined by internationally renowned Danish vocal group Theatre of Voices and their Artistic Director Paul Hillier. They too have a very close connection with Drone Mass, having performed it twice in the US, and in Krákow, with Jóhannsson and ACME. Most recently, ACME and Theatre of Voices gave a further performance in Athens, just four months after the composer’s untimely death in Berlin on 9 February 2018, at the age of 48. Their recording of the mysterious, and timeless, Drone Mass is a further reminder of Jóhann Jóhannsson’s rare visionary talent."
|
2022 |
€19.50 |
|
| JOHANSSON, SVEN-AKE |
Konzert für 12 Traktoren |
pic-LP |
"The unusual, famous ,Konzert für 12 Traktoren" was only performed a few times by twelve tractors built in the 50s and 60s. A symphony produced by old engines - according to this beautiful project Trost releases a special picture disc vinyl. Sven-Åke Johansson (Mariestad, Sweden, 1943) works as a composer, drummer, accordionist, poet, and visual artist. Longtime collaborator of the free improv scene in the German sixties with Kowald, Brötzmann, Schlippenbach, Reichel. He contributed to numerous exhibitions, publications and recordings. ,The tractors sing about a time passed by. but no future without memories. So the ,Konzert für 12 Traktoren" is as well a piece to praise labour". (Ebbe Gilbe) performed by 12 tractors, 2009 in Orust (SE) composed by Sven-Ake Johansson" [label info]
www.trost.at
|
2015 |
€29.00 |
|
| JOHN, JOANNA |
No End |
LP |
"Over the course of six songs Joanna limns the illusive feeling of altered states of consciousness, using half-heard vocals, treacly pulses, and a mix of spacious synths and floating organ tones to connote the para-dimensional logic of heavy-lidded, intoxicated mindframes.
Introducing herself with the quicksand base and barely buoyant whispers of ‘I can’t Remember How I Got Here’, the album continues to induce a deliciously woozy state with amorphous, intimate synth sculpture of ‘Imagined Truth’, while ‘First Morning Out’ dawns suspended organ tones and pitter patter rhythms recalling Felicia Atkinson works. And just as you think you’ve grasped her sound, ‘The Deepest Instinct Is Expressed In Running’ flips the script with a tarry streak of slo-mo darkwave dance music where you almost expect ToC’s Camella Lobo to join in, and fittingly comes followed by the dark post-punk bassline, steepled vocal and creepy chamber atmosphere of ‘Here Warmth Is Transmitted’, with the viscous curdle of her Chris & Cosey-like finale, ‘Nothing Is Changed But Everything Will Alter’ serving to close the first chapter in Joanna John’s quietly promising story." [Boomkat] |
2020 |
€18.00 |
|
| JOSEFSON, MATHIAS |
Suihkulähde |
LP |
Erster Solo-Release von JOSEFSON aka MOLJEBKA PVLSE, auf seinem eigenen Label in schöner "letter-press"-Hülle. Ganz verschieden vom typischen M.P. Drone- und Geräuschsound wurde hier auf Seite A ein "ready-made" verewigt, der konkrete Klang einer mechanisch dröhnenden, röhrend-gurgelnden Maschine, ohne weitere Overdubs! Alltagsgeräusche in voller Aufmerksamkeit, auch das kann ein Erlebnis sein. "ALTE WEGE DIE WIR WANDERN WERDE NEUE SEIN". Auf Seite B dasselbe nach leichter Bearbeitung... Ein obskurer "Klangkunst"-Release, der zunächst verwirrt, dann begeistert!
"Side A of this album is a ready-made, a found sound. Except for adjusting the volume, the recorded source material is not processed with effects in any way. Side B is a processed version of the same track." [label info]
"Who, you may ask? Mathias Josefson is however not an unknown person in the realms of Vital Weekly, as he unleashed a whole bunch of recordings under the guise of Moljebka Pvlse, but for this new release he chooses to use his own name. Not an uncommon trend in the land of serious music. Perhaps it has also do with the nature of this record. One side has a found sound, the other is a reworking thereof. The found sound is not explained but it sounds to me like a fridge. I once tried to sleep somewhere next to a fridge, but the sound of it kept it me awake all night. Not a big problem, since I liked it quite a lot. Josefson's found sound side reminded me of this night. The drone of a machine, with all it's subtle varieties, the way it switches of in the end it is still a great listening experience. The 'processed' version of the track eludes me a bit I must say. Whatever there is that has been processed, I may have a trouble hearing it (and no, I am not listening on computer speakers, as
a disappointed artist once suggested). The processing are done probably very subtle, but they don't seem to be adding much to the other side. Now if I had two copies and a DJ set up I could perhaps check it out, now it's a bit more of the, albeit nice, same. The work of Josefson moves away from the ambient industrial park and this piece of sound art is a most promising start." [FdW/ Vital Weekly]
label: www.isoramara.com
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
| JULIUS, ROLF |
Für einen kleinen See |
CD |
Very carefully created Drone / Microsound-album from this german sound-artist, who combines his beautiful acoustics (mainly derived from field recordings) with "the gaze" of colours, objects, etc. - for many of his exhibited sound-sculptures the visual quality plays an important role too. For example, colours can fill in the gaps of a musical composition. So he also creates pieces for certain "objects" of the nature, like a small lake or a certain landscape. The music consists of drones and tiny bits & pieces of sound....
"Rolf Julius' works are always catalyzers for increasing attention to the things surrounding us. This has secured Julius an unmistakable place in the spectrum of contemporary art. He for himself is more influenced by people like Wittgenstein or John Cage...In a world meanwhile overflowing with artworks in energetic brush strokes and equipment playing fortissimo, his works murmur visually and acoustically as if they had always been present. The small sounds can originate in musical instruments, they can be natural sounds, and Julius often works with simple things such as buzzers. For Julius music is everywhere. It isn't important which sound-producing devices he uses. Julius often uses them in contradiction to the normal method..." [label info]
|
2003 |
€14.50 |
|
|
Music for the Ears |
CD |
"For a long time I've been thinking about how to create spaces into which one can retreat, where one can find quiet, where one can see, hear, where one is able to concentrate, where one is isolated from the world around but still is able to participate in itby means of art or Music or both' Rolf Julius, 1987. 'Futurism and Dadaism both made use of the synthesis of audio and visual arts to create a singular experience greater than the sum of its parts. This idea was further advanced by the Fluxus and Minimalism movements. Born in 1939 in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, Rolf Julius was profoundly influenced and inspired by these movements while he studied art in Bremen and Berlin. YEars later, after immersing himself in Musical works by artists like Morton Feldman, John Cage, and La Monte Young, Julius began to shift his focus from visual art to the synthesis of sound and visual art and nature, exploring the relationships between sounds and objects and environments. Julius soon discovered how sounds can influence vision, creating simple tones to be presented in conjunction with his early photographic work. Such experiments culminated in the creation of his pioneering work 'Dike Line' (1979), which combined visual images with texture-inducing tones. This piece was presented at the ground breaking exhibition 'Fur Augen Und Ohren' in 1980. Mythical in scope, this was the first major European exhibition attempted to map international research by artists exploring relations between sound and visual art, bringing together work by John Cage, Luigi Russolo, Nam June Paik, Joe Jones, Bill Fontana, Milan Knizak, Harry Bertoia, David Tudor and Rolf Julius. Over the next 30 yEars Julius went on to create some of the most meaningful and moving works in the grey area between Music and art, between sound and silence. Alongside Takehisa Kosugi, Terry Fox, and Akio Suzuki, he has emerged as one of the most important and influential sound artists of our time. Since the early 1980's Julius has referred to his compositions as Small Music, receiving international acclaim from those in the fields of contemporary art and Music for calling the origins of sound and vision into question. Small Music not only describes Julius' approach to composition (soft and compelling sounds from simple instruments and nature), but also a way in which to view his works and ultimately the world. Art historian Bernd Schulz once wrote 'if one recalls John Cage's central theme of 'silence' then Rolf Julius is the contemporary artist who approaches him most closely'. Julius' Small Music has the distinct ability to heighten our perception such that 'silence' becomes a positive quality of a place and a situation, and not just an absence of sound. Whether using photographs, ink drawings, audio compositions, or subtle and sometimes almost hidden outdoor installations, Rolf Julius' works serve as catalyst, increasing our awareness of the great beauty of the world that surrounds us. Western Vinyl is proud to release 'Music for the Ears' the first in a series of Small Music releases by Rolf Julius. With a goal of creating solitary sound environments, the Small Music series will culminate into a boxed edition of seminal works by this master sound artist. 'Music for the Ears' is comprised of two long tracks of gently weaving tones exploring the possibilities of spatial experience. The cover image depicts Julius' sound installation in a bamboo forest in Kyoto, Japan where his Music is placed high in the air, by speakers hanging freely from the branches of the trees. As the Music suspends itself in the air, the tones sway in the wind floating ever so gently, caressing the Ears, the trees, the light, and clouds." [label info]
www.westernvinyl.com
"Now here's someone who is perhaps world famous in the world of sound art, yet hardly ever appears in Vital Weekly. Its, among other reasons, because he didn't release that music, but also because his music is usually heard in museums and galleries and not always on record. But the good news is that Western Vinyl will re-release eight of his old works, starting with 'Music For The Ears', which comes with the subtitle 'small music no. 1' and small music it is. 'Song From The Past', the first of the two pieces on this album sounds like one long tape loop of bamboo flute being played. Every now and then it stops and then it starts again. Music that is very undemanding - an environmental piece to fill your ambience. Or perhaps music to meditate by - if only I ever did that. The second piece 'Music On Two High Poles' is different. It might be played on a small, children's organ or a harmonium, cut into two loops of a varying length. Its a bit louder, or perhaps it just appears so: I turned
up the volume quite a bit for the first piece, so this one comes in louder. I think both pieces are designed to do the same thing: create a sonic environment. What I especially liked about it, and that's something you can only hear when the volume is quite a bit, is all the extra sounds that come along: the static hiss from the used analogue tapes that creates a nice additional sonic layer to the music. And which doesn't seem to make the music static but very much alive and vibrant. Excellent music. This is the earliest Rolf Julius recording, from 1979 and the start of a great career. Can't wait for the other seven releases." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Music for a Distance |
CD |
"Music for a Distance is the second release in the small music series. The title of the work in relation to the cover images (abstract photographs of Julius' wife resembling landscapes merging into a distant horizon) suggests a work of uncommon poetic perception and inspiration. With the opening track "Music for a Distance," Julius achieves a sensitive balance of unpredictability and deliberate design, at times resembling a symphony of insects, complete with crickets and cicadas and rustling leaves. Listening closely, you can hear old fractured melodies float by only to be hidden again under a thunderous sky and rain.
TRACKLISTING: 01. MUSIC FOR A DISTANCE 02. MUSIC IN A CORNER " [label info]
www.westernvinyl.clm
"Back in Vital Weekly we reviewed 'Music For Tears' by Rolf Julius, and we noted that he is quite famous in the field of sound art, but perhaps not that well-known in the world of Vital Weekly. Now that may of course change due to the good work of Western Vinyl, who plan a series of CDs with his 'small music'. 'Music For A Distance' is the second volume. Like before, or perhaps like always, we have no clue what it is that Julius does. The title piece was composed (or rather refined) over a six year period and its unclear what Julius does. Is it a bunch of field recordings? Like insects, crickets, cicadas, leaves, or perhaps something more mechanical? Played back from a bunch of CDRs perhaps, or something that creates the sound as they are, like small devices? What is sure that Julius' music is quite minimal. Not in a drone kind of sense, but hyperactive, with lots of sounds crawling like insects over eachother. Maybe there is a bit of sound processing? I really couldn't tell. Like 'Music For The Ears', 'Music For A Distance', which is with forty minutes the main piece here, creates an excellent sonic environment, and that's what Julius aims at. Could we call this ambient? Yes, perhaps we could. Music that fills your surrounding with a intelligent sound, and not some lift muzak, but never loud enough to be disturbing or confronting. There is also a difference between 'Music For The Ears' and this new work (apart from the time separated between recording - the main work here is from 2003-2009) and that's the volume of the music. Both 'Music For A Distance' and 'Music In A Corner' are quite audible, like those loud singing crickets in Japan, which are loud without being a nuisance. An excellent disc, once again!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
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| |
Raining |
CD |
" "Raining" ist der dritte Teil einer kleinen Musikserie und die erste Veröffentlichung, die nach dem Tod von ROLF JULIUS erscheint. Das Titelstück ,Raining" erschien ursprünglich als Teil der Installation ,Drawing (Dot)" von 2007. Spielt man das Stück mit großer Lautstärke ab, steht der Hörer mitten in einer Welt aus dichtem Regen, windgeschüttelten Bäumen und durchnässten Wiesen voller Leben. Wenn man das Stück jedoch durch den kleinen, flachen Lautsprecher abspielt, den JULIUS für die Installation benutzte, werden die Sounds zu sanften, zyklischen Mustern, wie eine üppige Landschaft, auf die man vom Flugzeug aus herabsieht. Das zweite Stück ,Weitflächig" ist ein Beispiel dessen, was JULIUS ,Musik für eine weite Ebene" nannte - aus einem kleinen Sound eine weite Soundlandschaft zu erschaffen. ,Music For A Glimpse Inward" tauchte ursprünglich 2005 als Teil einer Installation auf. Kleine Lautsprecher wurden am Rand eines sehr großen, leeren Raumes platziert. Die Musik erklang leise und vermittelte dem Betrachter so einen noch stärkeren Eindruck von Raum und Leere. Die Arbeiten von ROLF JULIUS wurden in wichtigen Museen auf der ganzen Welt gezeigt: im PS1 in New York (1983), 1985 auf der Pariser Biennale, auf der 8. Doucmenta in Kassel, im Hamburger Bahnhof, in Berlin (1998), in der Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh 2001, im Pariser Centre Pompidou (2004), in Japan und in den verschiedensten Galerien auf der ganzen Welt.
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Raining is the third installment in the small music series and the first posthumous Rolf Julius release. The title piece “Raining” originally appeared as part of the 2007 installation “Drawing (Dot)". When played on room speakers the piece engulfs the listener in a dense world of rain, wind rattled trees, and soaked pastures full of life. However, when played in the context of the small flat speaker which Julius originally chose for the installation, the sounds become soft and cyclical patterns, similar to a lush landscape being viewed from a plane many miles above. The second piece, “Weitflächig”, is an example of what Julius called “Musik für eine weite Ebene” (Music for a Wide Plain) - a method of "sketching" which allows small sounds to flourish into vast landscapes. “Music for a Glimpse Inward” originally appeared in a 2005 installation. With small speakers placed along the edge of very large empty room, the music played softly, heightening the listener's perception of space and stillness."
[label info]
www.westernvinyl.com
"Western Vinyl occupy themselves with the release of the archive of Rolf Julius. They started doing so when he was alive and continue doing so after his death, last year. This is the first release since then, from his archive. Julius is a man of 'small sounds', making 'small music' in mostly empty spaces with a minimum of equipment. His work could either be installations or compositions. Small speakers in small or large rooms, or even outdoors, using field recordings of say rain, such as the almost fifty-four title piece on this CD. Its very minimal music, of rain sounds and 'something else' which I found very hard to define, but it gives that electronic texture to the piece. That something which I think also very much defines music by Julius. More water like field recordings can be heard in 'Weitflachig' - music for a wide plain. Here too we hear insect like sounds, over water sounds. Are they tape loops, real time recordings? Its hard to say. 'Music For A Glimpse Inward' has insect and bird sounds and was originally a piece for small speakers in a large room. All of these pieces are very minimal, and show hardly any development. But that's hardly the point of Rolf Julius' music. Its more about perceiving space and silence and it works best when played softly in your space. Open up windows - if you are in a quiet surrounding I should think - and have this on repeat for a long time. It will definitely alter your perception of space and time. An excellent release - once again, and hopefully with more to follow." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| JUNIOR VARSITY KM |
InvalidObject Series (export) |
mCD |
Das irische FÄLLT-Label hat auf einen Schlag ein Kompendium zur neuen digitalen laptop / click / glitch / IDM – Musik herausgebracht ! Das sind 24 mCDs mit allerlei bekannten und unbekannte Vertretern dieses jungen Genres. Wir haben die meisten da, hier eine Übersicht ! Limitiert jeweils auf schamlose 250 Stck ! Preis pro mcD : € 9.50
Better priced now, last copies of this absolute compendium of IDM. € 9.50
“ The invalidObject Series was established in 2000 as a sublabel of Fällt to release a finite series of twenty four 3"CD/.mp3 works.
Offering a unique perspective on a diverse range of musical output at the turn of the millennium, the Series features work by some of the most respected artists operating within the field of '.microsound' and has been described as "a remarkable document of a vibrant artistic community and a critical moment in the evolution of digital music" (Philip Sherburne), "a showcase for the extraordinary range of practical approaches within contemporary electronic music" (Matt Ffytche, The Wire) and, simply, "impressive" (Rob Young, Editor, The Wire). “ [label press release}
|
2000 |
€9.50 |
|
| JUNK DNA |
Kopk Kopa |
2 x MC |
junk dna is the newly christened project from brian pyle, a man of many ongoing pursuits including ensemble economique, the starving weirdos, and rv paintings. born and raised in wilds of california, pyle has recently been splitting his time in vilnius, lithuania, with his junk dna debut kopk kopa contemplating his time and place within lithuania. it is true that much of pyle’s works is reflective about the human condition responding to a particular environment. the slow burn of humboldt fog, in particular, weighs heavy on much of the atmospheric compositions in his previous works, with his impassioned noir electronics deftly navigating references to giallo film scores, the classic 4ad ethos, shoegazing drift, and even overt nods to spandau ballet and the sisters of mercy.
kopk kopa translates from lithuanian as a directive to “climb the dune,” and come from one who has resided on the dunes of manilla beach in humboldt county, california, it is an apt metaphor as almost a tarkovskian pursuit of a beleaguered existential goal. as junk dna, pyle conjures a radiantly dark hypnosis of eerie tones that rasp, buzz, and shimmer within vertiginous orbits and arching crescendos. obscured instrumentation and rupturing samples dilate and stretch towards an unattainable event horizon beyond the waters, beyond the sun, beyond the stars. klaus schulze seems an distant reference, especially the wagnerian overtures within cyborg, though pyle has always followed his own courses of action. cinematic in scope and bleeding with a somber, yet vaguely hopeful moodiness, kopk kopa is another mighty and majestic album from brian pyle.
https://helenscarsdale.bandcamp.com/album/kopk-kopa
|
2022 |
€19.50 |
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| JUPITTER-LARSEN, G.X. & ALLAN ZANE |
Banjax |
CD |
„...The Haters (G.X. Jupitter-Larsen) und WYRM (Allan Zane) haben die Sau rausgelassen und sie turnt gewaltig über Haufen gebohrte und gebrochene CD’s, CDR’s, Plattenspieler und Singles. „Banjax“ meint „beschädigen“, „ruinieren“ und so brummeln G.X. Jupitter-Larsen und Allan Zane kratzend ein Hohelied auf den Noise. Damit distanzieren sie sich abermals von den hochtechnisch abgeklärten Beamten ihrer Zunft. Sie betreiben keine Pflege des Vorhandenen sondern pflegen die Zerstörung. Es wird verwertet, was in den Reißwolf passt, die Fressgeräusche sind das Entscheidende .
The Haters (G.X. Jupitter-Larsen) and WYRM (Allan Zane) are in the fields of damaged civilisations rubbish. Under the sign of “banjax”, which means ‘damage’ and ‘ruin’, they break and drill and hammer CD’s, CD-R’s, turntables, 7”, forcing explosions of SM car crashes on scratched glass. It is a tribute to the noise beneath high-end. The sound is coarsely but extrem powerful in its production. A full lorry of destruction with pauses of contemplation between reduced lines turns along blending expectation with surprise...” [Peter Schlewinski]
“ ...The master-minds behind The Haters (G.X. Jupitter-Larsen) and WYRM (Allan Zane) have finally tag-teamed on a full-length CD--'Banjax'. A collaborative/conceptual (of course!!!) project, 'Banjax' will not only satisfy the appetites for those of the "aesthetics" of "noise", but also appeal to those with a sensibility for "dark ambience" to boot! When worlds collide, if you will... Standard edition of 900.” [label info]
|
2005 |
€8.00 |
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| JUPITTER-LARSEN, GX |
Big Time Crash Bang 2008 |
LP |
Passend zur Wirtschaftskrise & Abwrackprämie erschien Anfang 2009 dieses Album von "THE HATERS" G.X. JUPITTER-LARSEN, das komplett aus Sounds von Autounfällen / Crashes komponiert wurde. Das repetitive Gekrache bildet allmählich flirrende Obertöne aus, und erzeugt eine seltsam kathartische Hypnose...
Composed entirely of car crashes - tires squeeling, glass shattering, metal crunching, a total wreck. 500 copies - full color printed cover. 'My best LP yet!!!' (GX)
[label info]
"The next time someone makes that old joke about noise sounding like a car crash can offer this LP as proof: its nothing but the sound of car crashes, all mangled up as only GX can do it -- tires squealing, glass shattering, metal crunching, wrecked, totalled -- SCREEEEEEEEEEEEE SMASH CRASH SCREEEEEEECH SMASH SMASH CRASH -- quite possibly the perfect noise album. GX says its his best LP to date. Im inclined to agree -- wear your seatbelt. 500 copies." [Fusetron]
www.rrrecords.com
|
2008 |
€15.50 |
|
| JUSTEL, ELSA |
Mats |
CD |
" 'Gwerz' (2002). 'Du libe tu?' (1996). 'Mâts' (1999). 'Midi de sable' (2000). 'Alba Sud' (1997-98). 'Au loin bleu' (1997). 'Puntos, comas y refritos' (2002). 'Bastet' (2004). 'The electroacoustic works of Elsa Justel are striking for their rich morphological invention: canvases made of minuscule yet consistently varied sounds; stratified figures made of multiple simultaneous shots, intertwining with one another; tremblings turning into sharp and lightning objects; objects of all sizes, objects so diverse they relentlessly keep hold of your attention. This is undeniably a form of music demanding active listening, a state of awareness to the smallest palpitations, music that always has rich meanings to unveil, no matter how many times you listen to it. In fact, the more you listen to it, the more it becomes both mysterious and habitable. It is music to be cherished for its sophistication, vividness and subtlety. This music imitates nothing; it is there, warm and savant, controlled yet free, vigorous and intelligent. It adds to the real world a presence consisting of its own immanence. It is this presence that Elsa Justel has been trying to bring forth, through her unyielding work as a composer, and succeeding so rightfully that she immediately wins us over. I see Elsa Justel's music as surplus life, absolutely essential to our existence." Horacio Vaggione
[label info]
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| JÜPPALA KÄÄPIÖ |
Animalia Corolla |
CD |
"Most of us are living in an urban world, dominated by constant noise and contagious stress. Our ears are conditioned by this aggressive environment and have often lost the ability to perceive another discreet world surrounding us. It might be hidden but also swarming, vivid and incredibly musical. We are all able to prick up our ears to some birds chattering together, the wind shaking leaves, toads singing serenades or old spirits telling us their immemorial adventures…
Since its creation in 2006, Jüppala Kääpiö has tried to substantiate what they were hearing and feeling from animals, plants or even minerals that they met in their living places in different countries and during travels in different continents.
“Animalia Corolla” is a record of feasts of spirits gathered from the whole world. Their songs, dances and conversations about the synchronicity of their dreams have been transcribed in this album.
Jüppala Kääpiö is a Swiss and a Japanese duo. They settled in Brussels in Belgium in summer 2011 after staying in Switzerland, Canada, Mongolia and Japan. The life in multicultural/lingual situations naturally gave to their music a style which might be called cosmopolitan folklore music." [label info]
www.omnimemento.com
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| K-SPACE |
Going Up |
CD |
"These recordings, with their disparate acoustic properties, are overlaid and overlapped to form dense sonic thickets alive with action and event, palpably embedded in the multi-dimensional flux of the world and lived social structures. Human voices conversing, footfalls on frozen ground, a blackbird singing, the sound of the wind or water, the crackling of wood in a fire, audience applause -- sounds from specific sites with their own peculiar resonance and significance leak through the K-Space mesh into the listening present. This layering and the filtering through of discrete geographic and temporal occasions compounds that superimposition already at work in the trio, the piling up and overlap of intense personal experience. Chamzyryn, a bona fide shaman and folk artist; Hodgkinson, academically trained in social anthropology, an exploratory rock musician, composer and radical improviser; Hyder, jazz drummer, free player, inveterate field worker in remote musical worlds." Performed By: Gendos Chamzyryn (Tuva), Tim Hodgkinson (England), Ken Hyder (Scotland)." [press release]
"Mit Going Up (Ad Hoc 12) von K-SPACE, einem Trio aus dem Tuva-Throatsänger & Schamanen Gendos Chamzyryn, Tim Hodgkinson mit ‚hawaiian guitar horns, piano corpse & location recordings‘ und dem schottischen Perkussionisten Ken Hyder, teleportiert einen Ad Hoc jenseits von Novosibirsk. Der Name K-Space spielt an auf den russischen Astrophysiker Nicolai Kozyrev (1908-83), Referenzpunkt für ‚Zeropoint energy‘- und Zeitvariabilitätstheorien (-> z.B. http://ascension2000.com/DivineCosmos/ 01.htm). An Kozyrevs ‚torsion energy‘ Phi knüpfen sich Spekulationen über einen Zusammenhang zwischen Phi, Sound und der DNA, der womöglich schamanistischen Praktiken real zugrunde liegen könnte (-> z.B. Sol Luckman: Sound, Intention & Genetic Healing). K-Space praktiziert vor dieser einigermaßen esoterischen Folie neo-schamanistische Soundrituale aus Drumming, Noise und gutturalem Obertonröhren. Art Brut
oder scratch-orchestrales Improvising in prosaischen Ohren, ‚healing sounds‘ nach der Formel ‚sound + intention = healing‘ oder Flug- & Zeitmaschine aus Wordsounds + Beats für solche, die zu der Überzeugung neigen, dass in der Kosmischen Schlange ein Gottescode schlängelt. Hodgkinson & Hyder, seit 1979 als Shams zusammen auf dem Schamanenpfad, sind keine Touristen oder blauäugigen New-Ager. Vielfache Reisen zum Bajkal-See und zum Altaj, nach Kyzyl, Barnaul und Akademgorodok, haben ihnen bei ihren ‚Radical Transcultural Initiatives‘ im Zusammenspiel mit lokalen Musikern wie wenigen anderen ‚Westlern‘ ethno- und musikologische Einblicke in die Kultur und Spiritualität Tuvas ermöglicht. Uns Laien vermitteln sie immerhin das Faszinosum absolut uriger Soundkreation. Kozyrevs ‚Zeitmaschine‘ steht auf dem Papier. Going Up krümmt die Raumzeit ganz sinnlich und real so, dass neolithische Archaik und die postmoderne Neugierde auf das Alte, aus dem wir herkommen, zusammenrauschen." [Babyblaue Seiten]
www.adhocrecords.com
|
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Infinity |
CD-ROM |
K-SPACE ist das Projekt von TIM HODGKINSON, KEN HYDER und GENDOS CHAMZYRYN, die für ihre dritte Veröffentlichung eine (soweit ich weiss) Weltneuheit geschaffen haben: Das 20 minütige "Infinity" klingt bei jedem abspielen (geht nur auf Computer) neu und erschafft sich quasi jedesmal selbst noch einmal, da eine auf der CDR mitgelieferte Software die einzelnen Klangelemente & Parameter jedesmal individuell "mischt". Enthalten sind perkussive & vokale Ritualsounds von diversen Schamanen, RADIK TYULYUSH (Mitglied bei der legendären sibirischen "throatsinging" Gruppe HUUN-HUUR-TU), ein ganzer russischer Chor aus Kyzyl, sowie diverse ethnische & klassische Instrumente die von den K-SPACE Mitgliedern eingespielt wurden. Die INFINITY-Versionen die ich bisher hören konnte klingen nach einer organischen Melange aus Ethno- und (Geräusch)-Jazz-Elementen, dunkler Geräuschmusik und rituellem Post-Industrial. Faszinierendes Konzept und sehr stimmiges Ergebnis !
"A first in formatting. This CD will only play on your computer, on the on the other hand it will always be different, every time you listen to it. K Space is Tim Hodgkinson (electronics, Hawaiian guitar, reeds), Ken Hyder, (percussion, voice) and Gendos Chamzyryn (voice and percussion), but this doesn't tell you much. There are also environmental recordings here, and deconstructed fragments, all pooled so that specially written software will compile and sequence 20minute pieces according to complex algorithms (rather than just randomly) that will never repeat. In other words there is no object here that will deliver what you know; there are materials that are constantly recombined so that each audition will be something unexpected. A great idea, brilliantly realised." [label notes]
www.adhocrecords.com
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| K11 & PHILIPPE PETIT |
The Haunting Triptych |
CD |
"The Haunting Triptych is a collaboration between Pietro Ribarbelli aka K11 and Philippe Petit, a haunted soundtrack giving an impression that some ghosts are lurking around. Dragging listeners inside a world full of malevolent creatures. The sound is heavy and claustrophobic and the downward spiral brings you to the final end where the last sound you hear before losing your senses is the beast eating your flesh." [label info]
www.boringmachines.it
|
2010 |
€13.50 |
|
| K11 [= PIETRO RIPARBELLI ] |
The Sacred Wood |
CD |
"K11 (aka Pietro Riparbelli) can be compared and in our opinion is the new Bad Sector. Sound sources and intents are different but the end results are ending in a very similar sound layer. The sound sources for this album was recorded at the enchanting park of Monsters of Bomarzo. The park of Monsters of Bomarzo was devised by the architect Pirro Ligorio (he completed the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Rome after the death of Michelangelo and built Villa d'Este in Tivoli) on commission of Prince Pier Francesco Orsini, called Vicino, only to vent the heart broken at the death of is wife Giulia Farnese. The park was born in 1552 as "Villa of Wonders" to be the only one of it's kind in the world. Incredible but true, the Park of Monsters remained in complete oblivion till 1954 and only few people was aware about all the fantastic treasures contained within the park for over 400 years! K11 was recording the soul of this park of Monsters and Wonders and after re-working the sounds he delivers us a trip between reality and dream. Psychedelic, ritual ambient music from an other space, from an other era, from an other land..." [label info]
www.oldeuropacafe.com
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
K |
MC |
"The shortest release is by K11, and also one of the few whose title reflects the bandname. This is perhaps the most obscure release of these three. Rumbling deep end sounds with some mild distortion and far away we hear some sounds in the background. That could be sounds picked up in a large room with lots of natural reverb, say a church so. The humming sound returns on the second side of this tape, but now also pushed towards the back and again with sounds picked up, seemingly, at random. Streetsounds, radio interference and such like. Things build up over the course of the tape to a mighty crescendo of colliding field recordings. I preferred the b-side over the a-side, simply for its more austere, creepy character." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
www.silentes.it/tapestry
|
2011 |
€7.50 |
|
| K2 / ALLAN ZANE |
split |
LP |
"All hail the trans-Pacific noise continuum! Each 21-minute side of this album is dedicated to an artist from Japanand California, respectively. While certainly harsh, the music of K2aka Kimihide Kusafuka and Allan Zane offers a great richness of detail, which makes
it less of a harsh noise wall than a noise mosaic. Making perfect sense of the Split LP idea, each artist offers a different take on what it means to make noise: while Japanoise guru K2maxes out anything there is on his electronic equipment, Allan Zane takes to his power tools.
“Mirror for Colored Sin” by K2credits junk electronics as sound sources next to the legendary TR-808 drum machine. There is a wonderful irony in the fact that the famed 1980s device, adored by pop and techno
producers the world over, is used here for something so decidedly un-pop and undanceable. After all, isn’t noise about destroying the official signal and creating something from the remains? Aptly, Kimihide Kusafuka credits himself as “decomposer” of the piece he performs on this record.
Allan Zane dedicates his piece “Zerstörte Musik” to two of the most iconic noise practitioners outside of Japan: GX Jupitter-Larsen of The Haters and Richard Rupenus of The New Blockaders. Using metal objects, power tools, effects devices, and a good amount of overdrive on the recording, Allan Zane creates a piece that does not sound simply like
‘destroyed music’ as the title claims, but quite psychedelic in its textural, ambient quality. We would not go as far as calling it ‘acid noise,’ but Zane’s years of experience in creating spaced-out audio collages with LSD (that is, his recording project Le Scrambled
Debutante, also released on attenuation circuit) sure benefitted this track a great deal. |
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| KA-SPEL, EDWARD |
Permission to Leave the Temple |
10inch |
The idea of a release by the founder of The Legendary Pink Dots on Lumberton Trading Company had been mooted for a number of years. In fact, they were close to issuing a 7" around 2010, but this fell through due to the usual problems often facing small, more or less homespun, labels. The idea of still doing something with this prolific stalwart of music cut from those many folds where avant-garde abstraction locks horns with molten psychedelia, kosmische sounds, electronica and an approach to songwriting never afraid to go wherever the mood takes, however, never left. Attached to all of this, as always, are Edward's words, where wry everyday observations can mutate or be twisted into new forms given a distinctive surrealist slant. Collected on this limited 10" are five songs adding up to the length of a mini-album. Edward may well be one of the most active artists to have first emanated from the early 1980s cassette network, but Lumberton Trading Company is more than happy to play a small part in this continually unfolding, and always interesting, story. Edition of 500.
https://fourthdimensionrecords.bigcartel.com/product/edward-ka-spel-permission-to-leave-the-temple-10
"When you read these words, The Legendary Pink Dots are loading their van to tour Europe, following their tour of late last year in the USA. It's been a while since we last saw this band on stage, and it's about time we see them again. During the pandemic, the group worked hard on new music and brushed up the old music for a new release, so where does singer Edward Ka-spel find the time to make his solo music? I honestly don't know but take a look at their Bandcamp (https://legendarypinkdots1.bandcamp.com/), and you'll find lots of music from his solo and with the mothership. It would be too simplistic to say that Edward Ka-spel is The Legendary Pink Dots in reduced form. Less Erik Drost's guitar and The Silverman's keyboards before or Randall Frazier's these days, Ka-spel's becomes altogether more electronic. Still, I believe that in his solo work, Ka-spel allows even more freedom to play around with sound and sounds (there is a difference there). There is more experiment, but it is also more personal. The distinctive voice of Ka-spel is the central point of attention in the five pieces on this 10", but he allows for a lot of room for an instrumental piece. Honestly, the three pieces on the first side and the two on the second flow right into each other, and there is, as far as I'm concerned, one long piece of music per side, in which Ka-spel tells his story/poetry and packs it with psychedelic coloured sounds. Joyful, over the top, reflective and personal. 'With My Blessing' opens with tinkling bell sounds, which gives the piece the charm of a music box in a baby's room, slowly morphing into something more dystopian with female vocals. Dystopian, perhaps, but Ka-spel's music is never without hope, I should add. However grim the world may be, there is always a ray of light in the music. As said, the psychedelic nature of his music is undoubtedly attributed to that. A 10"... the format of doom (too small for an LP, too big for a single)... it's too short for a full display of Ka-spel's talent to paint stories with sound and words. This is another great one, that much I know, but I also confess to being a long-term fan." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
|
The Man who never was |
7inch |
Recorded at The Farm 1992.
Printed in Canada.
Edition of 1000 copies on black vinyl with insert in varying colours.
|
1996 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
Tales from the Trenches |
LP |
Mostly known for his work as founder, vocalist and main songwriter for The Legendary Pink Dots, Edward Ka- Spel has long forged an equally prolific career as a solo artist given to sometimes exploring similar sonic realms as his group but clearly working at such a pace the need to channel ideas and songs in this capacity must be enforced. And just as well too, because Edward Ka-Spel is one of those rare and exceptional artists whose high workrate doesn’t betray a keen sense of quality control. Long known as somebody unafraid to venture wherever he pleases, his work has for a few decades now long traversed the more outward-bound or so-called ‘fringe’ areas of electronic music, psychedelia, hypnotic rock, kosmische sounds and the avant-garde. Heartily sewn into all of this is Edward’s fantastic grasp of spinning a twilight tale or spiralling deep into the mind’s recesses to craft a song from comparatively nimble melodies and words of Kafka-esque proportions. It’s a strikingly rich blend that’s always deserved far more attention than the cult audience it thankfully at least has.
Tales from the Trenches is the second release by Edward for Lumberton Trading Company. Following on from the abstract-flavoured ‘Permission to Leave the Temple’ 10” released at the start of 2023, this LP collects eight tracks of a personal nature mostly pinned into place by some refined electro rhythms, molten cosmic textures, plaintive strings, introspective keys and a late night hue that sways effortlessly between the beautiful, haunted and even, a couple of times, a steam-pumped and sweat-ravaged dancefloor. Limited to 500 only, Tales from the Trenches delivers exactly as the title indicates. Everything may at first feel ominous or sombre in tone, but there’s also a glimmer of hope laid bare in all its sun-drenched glory poking between the cracks.
Tracklist
Side One
1. 1919 (5.20)
2. Archetype (3.51)
3. Charcoal Estates / Votes For Pinocchio / No Gateway (8.31)
4. X Marks The Spot (5.10)
Side Two
1. No Show Tonight (5.18)
2. They Seek Her There (6.06)
3. Platform 5 (6.11)
4. No Show Tomorrow (4.34)
Listen to 'Platform 5' here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cWece7H3ac
|
2024 |
€23.00 |
|
| KA-SPEL, EDWARD & THE SILVERMAN |
The Whispering Wail |
CD-R |
Early 2004 was a time of exploration for The Dots as they prepared "The Whispering Wall" and "Poppy Variations" albums. It wasn't unusual for sessions
and improvisations to last for hours.
"The Whispering Wail" focusses on synthesiser sessions of EK and The Silverman and produces a small voyage which we felt stood up in it's own right.
This cdr release enjoyed a decent enough quality, but with today's advanced tours we took the liberty of subtle enhancement.
It's wild and loud and at times utterly uplifting. Again, this one comes recommended. All pieces unreleased and unheard outside Chez Dots." [label info]
https://legendarypinkdots1.bandcamp.com/album/whispering-wail
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| KABUKABU / KLEZMER CHIDESCH |
performs The KREV Underwater National Anthem # 3 / 4 |
7 |
Die "Nationalhymne" des Königreichs Elgaland-Vargaland (KREV) in der afrikanischen und Klezmer Version! Der von LEIF ELGGREN und CM VON HAUSSWOLFF 1992 in Stockholm gegründete Staat besteht aus allen Grenzgebieten / Niemandslanden zwischen anderen Staaten, sowie besonderen Bewusstseinszuständen wie dem hypnagogen Zustand, dem Traum, dem "Territorium der Eskapisten" oder dem virtuellen digitalen Raum. Natürlich braucht so ein Staat auch eine Hymne, Teil 2 der vierteiligen Serie entstand im Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin im Oktober 2006 und enthält zwei wilde live-Versionen von KLEZMER CHIDESCH und KABUKABU..
"These recordings were regally made on 21 October 2006, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin at the opening of the Elgaland-Vargaland Embassy for Germany in the presence of the Kings, Michael I and Leif I, Consul Hans Ulrich Obrist (who made the inauguration speech) and the KREV Ambassador Bernd M. Scherer.
This 7” is the second in a series of vinyl acoustic versions of the National Anthems of Elgaland-Vargaland. See also the Mariachi version on Ash 7.2 ~ Ash International, 2007.
Genuflections to: Dorothea von Hantelmann and Vera Dorsch.
BERLIN AFROBEAT DYNAMITE...
Kabukabu
Vocals and percussion: Akinola Famson
Drums and vocals: Ekow Alabi-Savage
Bass and vocals: Patrick Frankowski
Trumpet: Daniel Allen
Keyboards: Matti Klein
Tenor/baritone saxophone: Michael Holder
Percussion and vocals: John Famodimu
2005, after the dissolvement of the then only afrobeat band in Berlin “Rhythmtaxi”, the city witnessed the birth of a new offspring of Afrobeat family christened “KABUKABU”(a slogan used in Lagos / Nigeria for Buses used in transporting the masses. The bus not only transports people from one point to another, but also serves as a medium of desseminating news and messages to the people). A band formed by Akinola Famson, Ekow Brown and Patrick Frankowski (pillars of Afro and Reggae scene in Berlin) alongside with other international outstanding musicians, who have dedicated their artistic life to improving on the legacy laid by Fela Kuti “God father of Afrobeat” , an explosive combination of Westafrica rhythms with Funk and Jazz Americas. Irresistable groove travelling round the globe. KABUKABU stands out as the only unbeatable “Afrobeatdynamite”. Through its new style of playing and the introduction of diverse musical acts as well as other indigenous percussive instruments, the band had added a new dimension into the way Afrobeat is being played, taking afrobeat to another level which conforms with the present musical demands of all music lovers without neglecting the original intention of “ANIKULAPO” the initiator . The band had created a musical delicacy termed “Explosive-Afrobeat” through its mix of HipHop, Reggae, Dancehall, Soul, Funk with african traditional elements. This new dimension enables the band to cooperate and work with other solo artist as well as Dj’s and Mc’s e.g. the collaboration work with exotical musicians like JIMI TENOR, TM STEVENS, MFA KERA…etc. With just one year of refining the left overs of Rhythmtaxi, KABUKABU’s just finished EP with “3 delicious tracks” will be release soon. So stay tuned and watch out when next the rhythm bus is passing through your area.
Klezmer Chidesch
Accordion: Jossif Gofenberg
Clarinet: Igor Sverdlov
Drums: Mark Szmelkin
Double bass: Alexander Franz
BERLIN KLEZMER: (the miracle called Klezmer) brings the most cheerful and heart-moving mood in the music halls with its rapid tempo. The four musical souls bring nostalgia, melancholy, love and amusement together in a feeling of life: The Klezmer. Their Klezmer music is particularly facet-rich, since all four musicians have professional music training and an experience of many years. The lovely Band from Berlin, that consists of trained musicians, who originally come from Ukraine and White Russia, plays the original Jewish instruments and the folks music of eastern Europe with a lot of soul and energy.
"We play very gladly at your weddings, birthdays and also all other occasions and guarantee for the fact that, our Jewish folks music that comes from the heart will inspire you will draw you along."
www.klezmerchidesch.de
[full label info]
www.ashinternational.com
|
2007 |
€7.50 |
|
| KADAVER |
God has left the building |
CD-R |
"Centuries of Hatred", "Blood and feces on the altar", "Deeper", KADAVER verbinden ihre Noise-Attacke mit eindeutigen Botschaften. Anti-religiöser und überhaupt "anti-everything" HarshNoise aus Israel !
"Kadaver is a 1man project by Michael Zolotov from Israel. Active since 2003 (yet the first release came out on 2005). The sounds of Kadaver shifts from dark and twisted ambient through industrial till harsh noise and power electronics. This is NOT art nor music. Kadaver is NOT an artist trying to "creatively express himself" via this format. This is a cancer. It’s sickness. It’s a warm streaming vomit of hatred towards life, humans and existence. It’s the knife in your hand when nightmares twist your dreams. It’s the emptiness that devours your meaningless being and bleed as tears of decay over it. This is not for anyone... This is Kadaver. Cd-r in DVD case with pro-cover, limited to 150 copies." [label info]
|
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
| KAHN, JASON |
Miramar |
CD |
Vier super-minimale und recht “trockene” drones dieses inzwischen in der Schweiz ansässigen Klangkünstlers, der wie z.B. ALVIN LUCIER den Raum als Instrument benutzt...
“ 'miramar' features new pieces recorded live in studio using analogue synthesizer, floor tom and small cymbals. Recorded with eight different room microphones, the room being extremely large, with 20-meter high ceilings. Each room microphone picked up a different frequency range, depending on its placement and how the room's resonant frequency mixed with what I was playing. In addition to analogue synthesizer and percussion, the room itself was thus the third «instrument» Jason Kahn used on this recording. Jason Kahn was born in New York, grew up in Los Angeles, moved to Berlin in 1990. He now lives in Zürich. His audio work is a mix of electronic and acoustic sound sources, produced with minimal percussion, laptop or analogue synthesizer. In recent years he has also created several sound installations. He started the cd label «cut» in 1998” [label description]
|
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Vanishing Point |
CD |
"Vanishing Point is a 47 minute composition, which Kahn has dedicated to his daughter who died shortly before Kahn began working on this piece in 2007. For all of the phenomenological studies and stoic mesmerism attributed to much of his catalogue, Vanishing Point is a subtle and hypnotic elegy for rattling metals, timbral vibration, gossamer static, hissing field recordings, and those aforementioned colored noises. Soon into the piece, Kahn introduces a flickered ghost of melody whose luminous tones manifest ever so slightly against his contrails of noise. The upper register hiss and statics of these layered noises slowly drop in pitch and frequency over the duration of the piece, revealing subharmonic rumblings and an oceanic current that tugs at the agitated textures of Kahn’s surface noises. This glacial, minimalist shift renders Vanishing Point elegant and meditative." [label info]
"Although we never use the classical music division between programmatic and absolute music, its good to keep it in mind. Most music in Vital Weekly is absolute, that is music without a theme, dedication but just what it is. Its music without a programm and programmatic music of course has a programm. Music by Jason Kahn is usually absolute, but 'Vanishing Point' is about the death of his daughter in 2007. She vanished at one point out of the lives of her parents, but Kahn also extents the title to the music: its about the vanishing of boundaries between electronic and acoustic sound. Kahn plays cymbals and analogue synthesizer here, and its a top Kahn solo work. The cymbals mingle in a great way with the hissy, white noise textures of the synthesizer. Slowly, peaceful, minimal that builds rather quickly, in the first one-third part of the work and then slowly over the course of the rest slowly fades out, always with small changes in white static noise, small crackles and such like, make this an absolute (forgive the pun) great work." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.23five.org
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| KAHN, JASON & ASHER |
Vista |
CD |
Extremst minimaler, rauschiger Drone-Ambient, so subtil und subliminal dass eine "neue" Empfindungsfähigkeit gefördert wird.. die spezielle Atmosphäre, die hier übermittelt wird, ist mit Worten einfach nicht beschreibbar...
"Aus Feldaufnahmen, die Kahn am Zürichsee und in den Schweizer Alpen machte, und Asher seinerseits vor Ort in Somerville, MA, und in den nicht so vornehmen Ecken des Bostoner Stadtteils Back Bay, entstand eine imaginäre Szenerie, die hauptsächlich aus Regen zu
bestehen scheint. Oder ist das Wind, der in Baumkronen rauscht? Oder doch nur Industriegeräusche von Motoren, Generatoren, Lüftungsanlagen? Oder beides? Es wummert, knirscht, brodelt und zischt so ununterscheidbar, dass man am Ende nicht mehr ausschließen kann, dass einem die Phantasie vielleicht durchgehend nur Streiche spielte. Der Drang, Geräusche als Dinge zu identifizieren und so gut es geht ein Was und ein Wo festzustellen, der ist doch sehr stark. Kahn fügt dem Rauschen, das nach einer halben Stunde in den Hintergrund rückt, während im Vordergrund ein dunkles Wummern Raum greift, ein flirrendes Cymbaltickling hinzu. Das siffende Rieseln und Zischeln bleibt aber, wenn auch etwas gedämpfter, so als ob der ständige Regen etwas nachlassen würde oder man selbst sich weiter in den Maschinenraum zurück gezogen hätte, wo das Brummen mollige Wärme auszustrahlen scheint. Ob diese Illusion aus Klang jetzt als ‚offener Kamin‘ taugt, der Gemütlichkeit verbreitet, oder als Regenvorhang, to read Krimis Noir by, das muss jeder selbst ausprobieren." [Bad Alchemy]
"The work on Vista began in the summer of 2006 with recordings made by Asher in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston. Walking through the
alleys and side streets he recorded the various mechanical rooms, generators, ventilation systems and idling motors which were to be found
there. These recordings were processed and sent to Kahn.
Later that fall, Kahn sent Asher several pre-dawn recordings he had made on the shores of Zürich Lake. Asher processed these in keeping
with the methods he had used with his own location recordings so as to create continuity among the amassing material. Unprocessed wind
recordings made by Kahn in the Swiss Alps in the summer of 2007 comprised the final batch of material used on Vista. Asher and Kahn
spent the remainder of that year working on a final mix. Addressing the idea of hearing and seeing out and beyond spatial planes, title Vista references both the aural expanses of Asher's home on a hill in the town of Somerville and Kahn's trips to the Alps and Zürich Lake.
In processing and mixing the discrete details of a landscape, we hear them from a real physical distance. Through the incidental
combinations of processed local sounds and sound materials which are entirely foreign to us, an imaginative aural view is created which
obscures any relationship to a documentary account of the original locations recorded for Vista.
Jason Kahn is a sound and visual artist based in Zürich. His work includes sound installation, performance and composition. He was born in New York, grew up in Los Angeles and relocated to Europe in 1990.
Kahn has given concerts and exhibited his sound installations throughout Europe, North and South and America, Japan, Mexico, Korea, Israel, Turkey, Russia, Lebanon, Egypt, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia. Kahn's work has been published by many other labels such
as his own imprint Cut , For4Ears, Sirr, Crouton, Korm Plastics, Creative Sources, Longbox Recordings, 1.8 sec records, Chloë and ATAK among others.
Asher (Thal-Nir) is still a relatively new sound artist living and working in Somerville, Massachusetts who has already garnered quite a bit of acclaim in just a few short years for his work using old cassette tapes and field recordings. He also uses processed acoustic and electronic instruments. His work has been published online by 12k / term, Con-v,
Laboratoire Moderne (EARlabs), and Homophoni, and on CDR and DVDR by Con-v, Leerraum, Conv, Winds Measure Recordings, Mystery Sea, The Land Of, among others.
DISCLAIMER: For full effect, turn up the volume and do nothing else but listen. You may very well find that this is ALL you will be able to do anyway... Despite the cover images on the packaging, driving while under the influence of this CD should be done with caution. This CD may induce a "thousand-yard stare" (a long, unfocused gaze), instances of "missing time", or audio hallucinations that could cause disorientation in the listener. Bottom line: friends don't let friends drive under the influence of Vista. This CD is for recreational use only. ENJOY." [label info]
www.and-oar.org
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| KALLABRIS |
81° n.Br., 178° ö.L. (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
"Since many years, this is the first release of an anonymous project from Germany which is linked with the CoC/Cranioclast –family. This record describes a very cold place, with high frequenced & feedbacked effects, accordeon, long & deep gong-drones, and strange voices coming from underneath. We think this is as brilliant as their legendary "Hafalgar" 10" from 1990. Welcome to this magical mystery tour! Beautiful golden vinyl, handprinted covers on raw paper, contains extra-inlay with a strange explorer-story..."
Drone Records info August 1998
"Three mysterious new E.P.s for holographic minds" |
1998 |
€ |
|
| |
Red Circle |
LP |
On “Red Circle”: Though severely cut, Red Circle doesn't exactly sweep along. It has a deliberate pace as Kallabris sets up the score of thirteen chance acquaintances who plan and carry out the sacking of our acoustic consciousness... Understatement is the method of these compositions for a small modular synthesizer. If there ever was something like heist music, this here surely is. (Vincent Canby, with a few minor changes and adaptions)
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/red-circle
"A few other projects came in the slipstream of Germany's Cranioclast, such as ABGS, Core, and Kallabris. That was in the late 80s and early 90s. I always assumed they were just different names for the same people making music together. At one point, much later, I realized this was an independent project and only connected through the CoC label. Behind Kallabris is Michael Anacker, and since the mid-80s, there has been a string of releases and even the odd concert, so there is hardly much mystery. As I play 'Red Circle', I think Kallabris embraced the modular synthesizer community. The eleven pieces have that modern electronic feel of carefully constructed tones and fragmented cracks. Much to my surprise, I read in the information that "technical and compositional innovation is not at the core the group's work but the active engagement with the limitations and the objects of everyday life". Plus, Kallabris "has persistently neglected any usage of advanced recording technology", which doesn't exclude the use of modular synthesis, but I found it at least remarkable. The press information calls his set a "small modular synthesizer", which, last time I looked, seemed out of my financial league. I found these pieces to be most enjoyable, even when it is all a bit abstract and distant. There are a few sounds here and there, but it never completely shuts off. On a first encounter, the music had an aleatoric feeling, but after some repeated playing, it turns out that there is order in this madness; or, maybe, I recognized order in what remained chaos? Hard to tell, but every time I heard it, it grew further on me. Interesting album!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€18.50 |
|
| KAMMERFLIMMER KOLLEKTIEF |
There are Actions which we have neglected and which never cease to call us |
LP |
"Every song written or improvised has an inside song
which lives in the shadows, in-between
the sounds and silences and behind the words, pulsating,
waiting to be reborn as a new song."
William Parker, I Plan To Stay A Believer (liner notes)
After 20 years of Kammerflimmer Kollektief, with 10 albums thus far, the time has come to take a trip. The Karlsruhe combo guide us through seven stations in an unfathomable Terra Incognita, where a listening space emerges at the intersection of improvisation and composition, a space where certitude slips out of reach, jouncing incessantly between precision and freedom, oscillating furiously between cut-up and palimpsest – and, just when we think we may have pinned it down, disappears altogether.
This album entitled "There are actions which we have neglected and which never cease to call us." is one for the fearless: wordlessly conjuring up enchanted places in the richest of tones, simultaneously confronting us with magic which captivates us and the excruciating realisation that we may never be released from its spell.
Mirror images come into view, images of ourselves: driven away, tormented by feelings of guilt, frozen in powerlessness – even when we believe we are still moving. There is always a mountain of things missed, calling out to us! The wetlands of the Upper Rhine Plain ("In my heart there's a place called swampland!"). Cuernavaca in the Mexican highlands. A Southern Californian stretch of Pacific coast. The Baltic Coast in Mecklenburg. A bunch of haunted places – all scenes of melancholy within us, between longing and memory, repeatedly searching for acts of liberation. This may not be the record to set us free. But it offers us a soundtrack for our melancholic state.
One thing is clear when it comes to the Kammerflimmer Kollektief. Regardless of any interpretive traps snapping shut, or the conceptual penetration of apparently pre-conceptual musical factuality: here is something which cannot be voiced: avant-garde, improvisation, psychedelia, whichever labels are stuck on the Karlsruhe collective, they all feel patently unsatisfactory. Like all music, their music can neither be narrowed down to concepts nor fixed semantically. It cannot be organised as language, with a sound or image corresponding to specific points observed by sender and recipient alike, yet it is no more pre-conceptual in the sense of: first come the conditions of music, then one learns to discuss them. The Karlsruhe artists practise other-conceptuality. This is cata-language. Music from who the fuck knows where.
These carefully unconsidered atheist jam supplications lead us into the darkest corners of our souls. Out of the night and into the night. The bass of Johannes Frisch creaks and hums, evolving into barely discernible undergrowth with a life of its own, yet still becoming the foundation of everything – a basso continuo, constantly leading into nothingness. Heike Aumüller's harmonium recognizes its original calling as aerophone and is elementally: wind. A wind which has so much to tell us: about the good and true sides of life, but even more about what tortures us, leaves us restless. Comforter and painful wound in one. Thomas Weber's whirring guitars and gadgets drag us into a wondrously reverberating space of special effects – protection is not all this underbrush may grant us.
Amidst all the excitement which awaits us on this short, yet infinite journey, it is worth remembering: as the shaman hangs out his magic roots to dry in the morning as preparation for the ritual ecstasy of the evening, so the Kollektief follow an everyday principle in their own ritual. In short: Be not afeard!
www.bureau-b.com/kammerflimmer_kollektief.php |
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| KAMMERFLIMMER KOLLEKTIEF / STRINGS OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
split |
10inch |
"Für den Auftakt der halluzinatorischen Wahrnehmungen gewidmeten Parakusis-Reihe des mit Bill Laswell gestarteten Karlsruher Labels, variieren Thomas Weber, Heike Aumüller & Johannes Frisch zwei Tracks ihres Staubgold-Releases Jinx, bei denen der Musik Flügel wachsen, die einen in eine Art ‚out of body experience‘ davon tragen können. ‚Jnx (Excursion)‘ klopft, rasselt und dröhnt und Aumüller kaut mit zittrigem Gesang die Luft weich, damit das Karlsruher Schamanen-Kollektief an der Weltachse entlang in die Anderwelt gelangt. ‚Both Eyes Tight Shut‘ (Instrumentalversion) bringt Strings -Frischs Kontrabass arco, Heike Wendelins Viola und Martin Siewerts Lapsteel - so in Schwingung, dass die Phantasie auf sanften Langwellen den Orbit verlässt und durch Outer Space driftet, nirvanasüchtig wie der finale Surfer in Dark Star. Zwei astrale Trips in der Tradition krautiger Space-Psychedelik. Hinter fest geschlossenen Augen öffnet sich die Tür des Cactus Tree Motels auf den Mäanderweg in Sound, der in Altered States lockt. Stringtheoretisch versiert zeigt sich auch das von BiP_HOp-Macher Philippe Petit versammelte 11-köpfige Ensemble STRINGS OF CONSCIOUSNESS. Saiteninstrumente haben die absolute Mehrheit gegenüber der Fraktion aus Trompete, Saxophon, Vibraphon, Sampler und Petits Laptop. Nach einer ersten Duftmarke auf der BiP_HOp-Compilation Generation v.8 wird man hier entführt in
den ‚Forest of Spades‘ mit seinem von Streichern und Vibraphon gestreuten Nadelteppich, von Perceval Bellones süßem Saxophon in ein ‚Fantastique Alaska‘ und von Andy Diagrams Trompete auf Bergkämme, auf denen sich nicht nur die Wasser scheiden. Diese Fourth World hat ihren Magnetpol im Osten. Die Musik verflüssigt das Bewusstsein so, dass es dem Sehnsuchtshorizont stetig zuströmt. Wenn nicht auch die Anderwelt ein Kugel wäre." [Bad Alchemy]
"Kammerflimmer Kollektief/Strings Of Consciousness Split 10". Exclusive tracks on a strictly limited aficionados edition of 500. Both bands recently released a full-length album. Gatefold sleeve, elaborate artwork." [label info]
www.karlrecords.net
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| KANE, JONATHAN |
The little Drummer Boy |
maxi-CD |
"Do Jonathan Kane's fat-bottomed grooves take your breath away, make you lose your mind? Well, it's the holidays, and Jonny can give as well as he can take, so here's his gift to you, boys and girls. It's a classic, The Little Drummer Boy, done in his inimitable style, with layers of guitars, snow-drift-deep bass -- and you'd better believe there's drums. Hop into this sleigh -- it's jacked-up, tricked-out, it's got 850 horses and not a restrictor plate in sight. Yep, it's always a Blue Christmas when Jonathan Kane comes to town." [label info]
www.tableoftheelements.com
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| KANG, EYVIND |
Plainlight |
LP |
"A gorgeous set of new tracks by the brilliant composer and multi-instrumentalist Eyvind Kang. It took him a decade and a half to revisit the vibe concocted on his masterpiece from 2001, Live Low To The Earth In The Iron Age, but the wait was worth it. It features an array of spiritually intoxicating instrumentation: tamboura, electric guitar, organ, trumpet, oboe, trombone, and Korean traditional instruments. Eyvind Kang on Plainlight: "In 2002 I wanted to make a kind of sequel to my first solo record on Abduction, Live Low To The Earth In The Iron Age. I found that the 'weight' of sounds seemed to evaporate the compositions. The last thing I wanted to make was a traditional shoegaze recording. 15 years later, I had a strange dream: a voice said 'Because a plainlight has fallen in Heaven, heartbreak would cease.' This statement then became a kind of guiding image and method. Thus, with Korean traditional instruments playing the ostinato and drone, things fell into place. I would like to thank all the musicians, Randall Dunn, Alan Bishop, and each and every listener." Limited edition, one-time pressing; Edition of 400."
|
2017 |
€23.00 |
|
| KAPITAL |
No New Age |
CD |
"Rafal Iwański - tone generator, analog synthesizer, sampling unit, electronic effects
Kuba Ziołek - electric guitar, electronic effects, loop system
Kapital is an encounter of two artists that usually penetrate different musical genres and ideas. It is an encounter of two musical worlds: psychoactive electro-acoustic music generated with electronic instruments and found objects and extreme psychedelia based on the sounds of processed guitar. Zio?ek and Iwan'ski worked together for the first time during recording sessions of improvisational group Innercity Ensemble formed in 2011. In August of 2013 they recorded in Bory Tucholskie their debut album titled "No New Age" that will be released by Bocian Records in the March of 2014." [label info]
kapital0.bandcamp.com
www.bocianrecords.com
"Hati member Rafal Iwanski meets up with Kuba Ziolek (also known as Stana Rzeka) and they call themselves Kapital. It's one of his incarnations I didn't hear of before. They played in their homeland Poland, but also in New York, earlier this year. I understand that the material on this CD was recorded after playing three concerts, but they still play parts of this in their concerts. Iwanski plays tone generator, analog synthesizer, sampling unit and electronic effects, while Ziolek plays electric guitar, electronic effects and loop system. It's perhaps not really the kind of music you would expect on Bocian Records (known for radical improvisation, radical electronics), and I think that is mainly due to the guitar of Ziolek. While Iwanski plays his electronics in a deep, bouncing atmospheric bath of sound, Ziolek waves on top guitar lines that owe to the world of psychedelic music and perhaps less to whatever is radical in both improvisation and electronics. Having said that, this doesn't mean this is a bad album; it's just one that is a bit different from what we heard on Bocian so far. His guitar doodling reminds me of lots of seventies German guitarists, but it's whatever it is that Iwanski is doing that prevents it from becoming cosmic in any way. It's here where the album has its experimental roots and where I enjoy this more than I would do if it had leaning more towards krautrock. It seems as if Ziolek is the grandson of Manuel Gottsching, who has been surrounding himself with the crudest of current technology as opposed to the smoothest. That's what I like about this album. Old meeting new, vibrant pieces, spacious but gritty, atmospheric and disturbing. Quite likely one of the last releases on Bocian Records, as rumour has this label will cease to exist shortly." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€10.00 |
|
| KAPOTTE MUZIEK / SEYMOR |
split (Keulen...) |
10inch |
Second in the new split 10“-series on LICHT-UNG. Undescribable concrete sounds vom KM, sound-groans, crackles, clicks & silences, most obscure... SEYMOUR seems to be another incarnation of LICHT-UNG themselves creates pure feedback-microphone noises. Not for the weak-hearted, but reveals some hidden beauty inside the sounds.... |
2006 |
€13.50 |
|
| KAR |
Piccolo racconto crudele sulla notte appena trascorsa |
CD-R |
Interesting drone / field / concrete atmospherics-recordings from this duo consisting of ADRIAN SCERNA (also active as –> ANOFELE) and MARCO CARCASI. “a jungle of magnified lowerglyphs math-looped in a hive of despair by the roman duo of Adriano Scerna and Marco Carcasi.”[label description]
“ Kar has had releases before on the S'Agita label, but that was a live CD. Here they offer a studio CD, with just one track of thirty seven minutes. Kar is a duo who produce also microsounding stuff but less refined than Fioratti/Belfi. Traces of old school industrial music can be detected throughout in the louder bits in this piece. Things are more straight forward, direct in your face approach. Processings take a much simple course and the overall approach is much more minimal. Things stay longer in the same vein. For those who think microsoundings are too soft, this is the one to get then... “ [FdW, Vital Weekly]
|
2003 |
€9.00 |
|
| KARKOWSKI, ZBIGNIEW |
The last Man in Europe |
LP |
"Reality (realityfilm.co.uk) had the honour of working with pioneering electronic composer Zbigniew Karkowski on two occasions. In 2007, as part of the Recording Angel Ensemble’s accompaniment to Wojciech Has’ film “The Saragossa Manuscript” at the National Film Theatre and finally, for the last time on the 31st October 2013 when, already gravely ill after learning that he had advanced pancreatic cancer, Karkowski premiered his music to the BBC 1954 teleplay production of George Orwell’s “1984 - The Last Man in Europe” at London’s Horse Hospital. It was to be his last public performance. Zbigniew died aged 55, just six weeks later on Thursday December 12th in the jungles of Peru where he had travelled seeking treatment with the Shaman healers of the Shipibo. “Where language ends music begins” Zbigniew Karkowski March 14, 1958 - December 12, 2013. Recorded Live to Film at the Horse Hospital, London. October 31, 2013. Recording: Aleksander Kolkowski."
www.erratum.org
"Zbigniew Karkowski was a very important and influential figure across various arenas of music including electronic, noise, experimental, avant-garde some of which obviously cross over from time to time. He passed away at the age of 55 a mere 6 weeks after recording what we have before us today.
The Last Man in Europe is a document of Mr. Karkowski’s presentation to the BBC 1954 teleplay production of George Orwell’s “1984-The Last Man in Europe.” This piece was recorded live at The Horse Hospital – a London independent arts venue on October 31, 2013.
On a personal note, this recording is nothing like I have ever heard before. It’s uniqueness makes it virtually impossible to categorize. However, this important recording is the work of not only a pioneer but a master of electronic music dynamics and frequencies. Some of the tones here range from mid-level to ear-piercing. There are other moments, for example (around 3:30 in track 2) when the base track, often ebbing and flowing is layered by a sound that can best be described as a noise wind. It’s at that point where this recording really has become a brain-altering experience.
Few releases in experimental and noise arenas can really invade the mind the way The Last Man in Europe does. It reaches beyond the reasons why we listen to noise and experimental music in the first place.
Fortunately, Erratum Records has decided to release this important recording in LP form giving the piece and Mr Karkowski the respect they deserve. As noted above, Zbigniew Karkowski passed away six weeks after this recording was presented. He traveled to the jungles of Peru seeking the help of Shaman healers for his pancreatic cancer. This is further confirmation that this influential artist lived and died in areas where a very small amount of people dared to go before." [The Noise Benath the Snow]
|
2017 |
€17.50 |
|
| KARL BÖSMANN |
Euphoria Mitte |
CD |
"With the whole bunch of very limited edition releases on such labels as Tosom, Domestic Violence Recordings, Verato Project and the luxurious LP made by Youdonthavetocallitmusic, the name of German musician Karl Bösmann is emerging since 2003. This is his second real CD after Unton (2005, Badbeatz Records) and includes several new compositions, showing the maturity and intensity of his prolific talent. Karl Bösmann irritates. His name alone, which reminds of Kafka's wayfarer to America, Karl Roßmann, is ambiguous. A mixture of sinister and typical german, where you can think of one of Alexander Kluge's Lebenslufe, which show in protocolar dryness the deceitfulness of fate. In fact did his debut Das Kind in der Küche (2004) exactly met this impression. The soundscapes between programmed music and abstraction - in more prosaic words, Bösmann constructs, in the good old tradition of electroacoustic music, with instruments played by himself, and completely without the fashionable chic of a laptop: minimal repetitive passages, especially drones that vibrate in themselves, that flash, shimmer and take a character and 3D-quality of its own. Phill Niblock and Ligeti could come to the back of your mind, a resonance that is an honour to both sides. Other musical influences ranges from AMM and Aube through Nurse With Wound and Organum to Ghédalia Tazartès and Xenakis and so sets his ambitions way over eye-level." [label info]
www.monochromevision.ru
"Karl Bosmann is a German post-industrial / electro-acoustic tactician who seems to from the Conrad Schnitzler mold of continuous
experimentation with his equipment in pushing it to expressive means, no matter how atemporal or atonal the resulting sounds might be. Our
previous experience with Bosmann had been through monolith drone- fields that swelled from electronics and possibly cymbals into
discordant dissonant crescendos somewhere between SUNNO))) and Sunroof! Here, Bosmann showcases a wide array of electronic circuity,
whose home-built, tone-bent aesthetics take after the sound poems of early electronic music coupled with the nondestructive strategies from the likes of Nautical Almanac. His electronic insectoid blips, click, and blorps percolate through live-wire electrical fields and the
humming cycles akin to fluorescent bulbs. Many of these tracks begin rather charmingly similar to something by Dan Deacon or Black Dice,
but Bosmann twists the demeanor of his electronics through anxiety- riddled tones that glow as if a background radiation, with all of the clicks then standing in for Geiger counter pulses to allude to the neutrino bath that he's unleashed through his electronics. The pierced
feedback mantra "Around The Sun" is a great recapitulation of what Arcane Device and Nurse With Wound have done with similar material.
Dotted through the experiments, Bosmann interjects collages of industrial-space field recordings coupled with overlapping male /
female spoken word bits, whose content and context are smeared to the point of abstraction following the Hafler Trio's many demonstrations of information overload." [Aquarius Rec.]
|
2010 |
€12.50 |
|
| KASTEL, SILVIA |
Air Lows |
LP |
Air Lows is the debut solo album by Silvia Kastel.
The Italian artist has been a fixture of the underground since her precocious teens, clocking up many miles in Control Unit with Ninni Morgia (“It’s like Catherine Deneuve dumped two cases of post-Repulsion psychiatric notes over Pere Ubu’s Dub Housing, lit the fuse and, ahem, stood well back” – Julian Cope), including collaborations with the likes of Smegma, Factrix, Gary Smith, Aki Onda and Gate (Michael Morley of The Dead C). Through her own label, Ultramarine, she has released music by the likes of Raymond Dijkstra, Blood Stereo and Bene Gesserit.
Both solo and in her work with others, Kastel has explored the outer limits and inner workings of no wave, industrial, dub, extreme electronics, free rock and improvisation. Air Lows – which follows the cassette releases Love Tape (2011), Voice Studies 20 (2015) and The Gap (2016) – is both her fullest and most refined offering to date, a work of vivid, isolationist electronics which draws deeply on her past experience but assuredly breaks new ground.
Prompted by a late-flowering interest in techno and club music, Kastel sought to create something which combines a steady rhythmic pulse with the otherworldly sonorities of musique concrete, and avant-garde synth sounds inspired by Japanese minimalism and techno-pop (Haruomi Hosono’s Philharmony being a particular favourite). The formal artifice of muzak / elevator music, the intros and outros of generic popular songs, the extreme light-heavy contrasts of jungle, the creative sampling of hardcore, and the very “human” synths in the jazz of Herbie Hancock’s Sextant and Sun Ra: all these things were touchstones for Air Lows’ conception and composition. All strains of music addressing – and complicating – the relationship between the human and the technological. By extension, visual inspirations also proved important: anime, and the avant-garde fashion of Rei Kawakubo. What does that shirt or dress sound like?
Though used sparingly, Kastel’s voice remains her key instrument, whether subject to dissociative digital manipulations as on ‘Bruell’, delivering matter-of-fact spoken monologues, or providing splashes of pure tonal colour. Recorded between her expansive Italian studio and a more compact, ersatz set-up in Berlin, Air Lows gradually takes on some of the character of the German capital: you can hear the wide streets and empty spaces, the seepage of never-ending nightlife, the loneliness. Air Lows is The Wizard of Oz in reverse: the glorious technicolour J-pop deconstructons of its first half leading inexorably to the icy noir of ‘Spiderwebs’ and ‘Concrete Void’. These later tracks are reminiscent of 2015’s magnificent 39 12”, Kastel in the role of numbed, nihilistic chanteuse stalking dank, murky tunnels of reverb and sub-bass. But there is contradiction and emotional ambiguity to Air Lows from the outset, and throughout: a sense of both infinite space and acute claustrophobia; energy and inertia; fluency and restraint.
|
2017 |
€16.50 |
|
| KAVE |
Dismal Radiance |
CD |
"Monstrously deep dark ambient. Evolving structures and unsettling atmospheres with a somehow "cinematic" touch for all the fans of CAUL, YEN POX, AMON and for anyone else into menacing, profound black ambience." [label info]
www.eibonrecords.com
"Imagine that you are standing in total blackness. There are no people. It’s as if you are standing in a large, cylindrical hall of emptiness where the echoing sounds around you are endless. Haunting shapes whistle by quietly and ominously. Streams of sound blow through as if there’s a wind fuelling this vision of nothingness. There’s the occasional splash of water. Rumblings can be heard in the distance. There’s no passion, no emotion, just a spooky and mystical atmosphere of desolation and helplessness. This black ambiance is the world of Kave, a mysterious band from Holland.
The atmosphere changes very little. “Dismal Radiance” is minimalist, even in comparison to a Blut aus Nord production where a similar soundtrack-type atmosphere prevails. The droning, spooky style is in fact more akin to Yen Pox and Troum. It’s very marginal with this style but I think I prefer the evolving atmospheres which those bands generate. But this is impressive too. Here there is no beauty in this blackness, nor is there any deviation or sign of escape from the bleak and apocalyptic aspect. As this album progresses, we find ourselves deeper inside the chasm with no sign of a beginning or an end. As the rumbling winds continue, the sense of solitude is intensified. We find ourselves staring into space but it’s not a space we can see. This album will neutralise you in its empty blackness.
There are eight tracks but it’s not that you would notice. It’s not stasis but let’s face it – we’re stuck in a void here. Those track titles are revealing and appropriate: “Tomb of the Black Sand”, “Corridors under the Sea”, “Dark Monoliths Rising” and “Encompassing Emptiness” are among them. Of all of them, “Bleak Phantasm” develops the most spiritual quality but as ever it floats away before another set of shapes set in and we are enveloped further in the menacingly tranquil scene.
Yes, there is a subtle evolution over the course of the album but we remain in the same dark place. The power lies in the absence of apparent human control over these frightening and monolithic structures that epitomise the sounds of “Dismal Radiance”. It is a very lonely experience. It is monotonous and desolate. Yet in spite of being depressive, nightmarish and overwhelming in its weightiness, its mesmerising consistency gives it the paradoxical quality of being inspiring. Some of us will see it that way. Others, I suspect, will not want to stomach this ambient and despairing soundscape." [Andrew Doherty / AVE NOCTUM] |
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| KAZIMIRA, DARJA |
Monochromia |
CD |
listen : https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/monochromia
Remastered re-issue of her 2016 album of otherworldly funeral chants...in her own words she describes the inception of the album; \"This album was a completely impulsive act, the realization of a regular artistic idea, which initially did not mean the final result. This idea was inspired by my great-grandfather, who devoted his whole life to serving the ceremony of "following the dead\" (Νεκρώσιμος Ἀκολουθία) and classic examples of ancient Greek literature. But in the end, "Monochromia" became one of my first big works. Here, only the \"dialogizing\" musical-improvisational experiment and the very nature of the ancient Greek tragedy, which demonstrate the archaic principle of distribution and the interaction of ordinary and ritual violence in the system of relations between man and metaphysics, were of importance. And of course, a large space of the theme of death opens up here. In turn, it is the theme of “sacred violence”, funeral, burial, and initiating rites that is the ideological basis for me throughout my creative activity. Certainly, in this situation, the opportunity, with the help of other people, in a closed space, to recreate a mass state of comprehension of death, is very interesting. Indeed, for this it is necessary to violate, among other things, the bodily and mental boundaries of the participant in such an act, to create a precedent for trauma and deformation, transforming these actions into an audial pit. I just invited all of us, the participants, to cry and grieve together. Perhaps, if I had known in advance that this music would become an album, I would have brought this central state to its apogee and horror. But in the current situation, it turned out to be a very “humane” anthem of human death. Of course, this softness, which is not characteristic of my other works, the sound of \"Monochromia\" acquired in many respects thanks to a group of initiative people who wanted to take part in this, and I just acted here as a guide and a mirror. This is more a story about mourners at other people\'s funerals. At that moment in my life, it was this wonderful tradition that seemed to me the most valuable experience.\"
CD Edition fo 300 copies in 4 panels Digisleeve, Mat lamination. 7 Tracks. Running Time 48:25 released
Vocals – Eleon Emedy, Igor Makarov, Kristap Guts, Mara Malokhina
Vocals, Instruments – Darja Kazimira
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| KDONOVAN |
Air Vent |
mCD-R |
“air vent is a project that takes natural sounds out of their specific location, the sounds of peoples personal spaces [via mobile telephone] & places them live via radio senders or the internet into new contexts, into diverse locations, into both similar & contrasting environments. the work stems from ideas based on the relationship between sound & the sound source; natural rhythms & patterns in everyday sound [background noise, dialogue, etc]; the fine line, & often friction between natural & synthetic sound in connection to space; audio & visual perception.
air vent was first realized with juni radio [www.juniradio.net ] at bootlab in berlin. phone calls were made hourly [almost like an alternative news] from berlin to various places throughout the world. participants were invited to 'air their space' for 5 minutes, free to make sound or use the telephone to record sound, in whatever way they wished. the project was further progressed during a residency with ‘the fear’ at hull time based arts [www.timebase.org ], from which these recordings were taken. visually, the performance made reference to a typical dj setup, using two telephones instead of turntables. calls were made to mobile phones around the world, recipients were asked to answer their telephone & simply to leave it to record the natural background noise of their immediate environment, to convey their specific time/space/situation through sound. these calls were broadcast at the htba a:nx performance space & sent live via the internet to other environments.” [label info]
mCD-R in special cardboard-box
|
2005 |
€9.00 |
|
| KEELER, JAMES P. |
Terrarium Dreams |
mCD-R |
james p. keeler submitted us the three tracks of "terrarium dreams" in november 2020 for the fifth volume of our "homework" annual digital compilations. it was so intense that it was absolutely impossible to take one track so we proposed james to release a new 3", almost 20 years after his "5 shades for a grey room" released on taâlem in 2002. et voilà!
james p. keeler used:
field recordings, object manipulation, samples, synths
recorded 2020
"From the various projects that James P. Keeler has, as Keeler Designs, or in groups such Amputation Theory, Astronomy, Hedorah, Human As Disease, Maggotapplewonderland, Minotaur, The Leg, The Oak Trio, and Wilt, only the latter made it to these pages, albeit a long time ago. This is his second release for Taalem, following '5 Shades For A Grey Room', in 2002. Keeler uses field recordings, object manipulation, samples and synthesizers. Here we arrive at the more noisy end of ambient music. And, perhaps, also a more ritualistic aspect attached by Keeler. I am not sure why I am thinking of this, but the chirping of insects and wandering along the coast, along with the occasional slow thud, just make it sound like a ritual. The three pieces here drift on the edge of noise and lacks the delicacy of many other releases by Taalem. I found all of this a bit without focus, but at the same time, I am not sure why I am thinking this." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2021 |
€5.00 |
|
| KEIMVERBREITUNG |
the K sessions |
CD-R |
Neues Projekt in der Amplexus CDR-Reihe mit perkussiven & ethnisch gefärbten Experimenten, Improvisations-Geräuschmusik, etc.. unkategorisierbar, für Entdecker.
“Keimverbreitung is a new dimension in ambient-avantguarde music. Decadent atmospheres, rumorism, laments & electronic sounds....all mixed to create the perfect soundtrack for our unsound minds...to dscover it!” [label info]
|
2004 |
€8.00 |
|
| KELLOUGH, BETHAN |
Aven |
CD |
Artwork & photography by Jon Wozencroft. Mastered by Denis Blackham.
Live at Volume, Los Angeles, 30th April 2016 as part of Touch Conference.
The word ‘Aven’ refers to an underground shaft that leads upward from the roof of a cave passage.
Recorded with SoundField SPS200 & JrF C-Series contact microphones, Sennheiser ME64, Sound Devices 788T, Elektron Monomachine, RME Fireface UCX, and Cockos Reaper. Field recordings from Iceland, June 2015 and South Africa, November 2015.
Strings performed by Bethan Kellough.
Bethan Kellough creates sound worlds that weave together instrumental materials, sound design and ambisonic field recordings. Her composition ‘Aven' is based on a recording made in Iceland in 2015, which features the booming sound of underground geothermal activity escaping to the surface through a small shaft. “Looking down into the darkness, there was a sense that a whole world existed in an unknown space beneath. The sound world of Aven is a journey through such an imagined environment.” The composition is driven by this sonic encounter, but enters the imagined worlds beneath through the instrumental material developed throughout the work. These melodic passages predominantly feature violin, which Bethan has played since childhood exploring traditional Scottish music, rock violin, free improvisation and classical studies. The field recordings used in Aven were made in Iceland during the Wildeye sound recording workshop with Chris Watson and Jez Riley French, and in South Africa during the Sonic Mmabolela residency with Francisco Lopez and James Webb. Each of the recordings explore a world of sound beneath a surface, reflecting upon the initial recording environment at the geothermal site. In South Africa, an approaching storm was heralded by wind blowing through bushes in the savanna, underneath which was hidden a Soundfield microphone. A contact microphone on a fence in South Iceland revealed the tones of the wind contained inside the wires, and in an Icelandic nature reserve the wind was also captured by microphones buried underneath a layer of grass – a miniature world sheltered by the strands of dry straw.
Bethan Kellough (formerly Bethan Parkes) is a sound artist and composer. Her work spans across ambisonic composition, field recording, sound design and multichannel sound installation practices, drawing a focus on sonic spatial experience. Her works are designed to open out spaces with sound, exploring spatial aesthetics and the interactions between sonically and visually articulated spaces. The immersive sound-worlds she creates inhabit the boundaries between music and sound design, weaving together instrumental materials, sound design and ambisonic field recordings.
www.touchmusic.org.uk
|
2016 |
€11.00 |
|
| KESZLER, ELI |
Stadium |
do-LP |
NewYork-based artist Eli Keszler is at the apex of his career. This year alone he’s had a three-month-long solo exhibition (“Blue Skies” at Fuse Arts, Bradford, UK), performed internationally in a duo with Laurel Halo, collaborated with noted Hungarian author La´szlo´ Krasznahorkai, taught experimental composition and performance at Camp in the Pyrenees mountains, composed music for Turner Prize– winning visual artist Laure Prouvost, and most recently embarked on a world tour with Oneohtrix Point Never.
“Stadium” is his new album for Shelter Press. As his ninth solo record,“Stadium” reflects his move from South Brooklyn to Manhattan, where he produced the album. The constant blurry motion and ever-changing landscapes of the fast-paced island helped him modify and shape his sound into a new kind of film noir. “After we moved into our East Village apartment,” Keszler explains, “we found a guitar pick on the floor that read ‘Stadium’. We looked at each other at the same time and had the same thought. It could have gone any number of ways.” Indeed, there is a startling amount of expression at play on each track, where intersections of melody, restraint and rhythm are used to challenge the idea of memory, impression and space.
Keszler is often mistaken for an electronic musician, but in fact his sounds are raw and natural, produced by hand live in-situ. His performance with the drumset and acoustic percussion are central to his work. He produces almost impossible textures through self-realized methodologies: cascading melodies, a shadow of voices, and a unique pointillistic materiality. Although playing with the intensity of digitally-created music, his communications are done live with no processing. These haptics are what give “Stadium” its depth and its warmth. In a recent interview for Dazed, collaborator Oneohtrix Point Never comments, “I’ve always described his playing as bacterial. He’s able to parallax into very small, very acute, very specific relationships between percussive textures. It’s beyond just being a drummer — he’s a world-building percussionist.”
In “Stadium,” Keszler uses lived experience to realize the most wide-ranging sound he’s created to date. “Stadium” draws out textures from overlapping geographies (from Shinjuku arcades to city streets and Brutalist architecture) and transforms these travelogue field recordings into starting points for composition. He then builds on these environments to create subliminal spaces for his percussion, keyboards and acoustic instruments. His “world-building” techniques are pushed to new levels with mesmerizing string and brass arrangements. Throughout the album, Keszler’s writing, keyboard playing and scoring operate like a sonic channel that transports the listener into a quaking web.
Perhaps this is the “stadium” referred to in the title: a larger network of sound and bodies moving continually, oscillating and turning in on itself. Keszler has explored these ideas before both in his visual work and sound installations - especially notable on projects such as his massive Manhattan Bridge installation ‘Archway’ or his Boston City Hall work 'Northern Stair Projection'. “Stadium” takes these long-running ideas to new depths. “My installations work with massive city spaces for a complex of individuals,” Keszler states. “The recordings on Stadium are inverted. They are landscapes scaled for the singular. Like a mass collecting in one arena, this music compresses city spaces, genre and instrumentalism into an amorphous form. On the record, there are ruptures of information and happenstance. Like a game, it could go any number of ways.”
|
2018 |
€26.50 |
|
| KHAN, USTAD HAFIZULLAH |
Khalifa Kirana Gharana |
CD |
"2002 release; recorded 5/18/00. Ustad Hafizulla Khan (sarangi), Rik Masterson (tabla), Rosa Okada (tambura). "Just Dreams' reissue of the out-of-print CD-R originally on the Kirana West label. First recording released by the late Sarangi Master, Khalifa and son of Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan of the Kirana Gharana. Exquisite intonation, pure tone, graceful command of the bow, effortless speed over the complete range of three octaves. 'Tradition, love and devotion -- a beacon of the Kirana Gharana in our time.' --La Monte Young." [label info]
www.justdreams.com
|
2002 |
€17.00 |
|
| KHOST |
Corrosive Shroud |
CD |
"Khost is Andy Swan (Iroha, Final, Atrocity Exhibition),and Damian Bennett (Carthage, Deathless).
Corrosive Shroud is the second album from Birmingham band khost, following the 2014 debut Copper Lock Hell. The album has a singular theme: inside the hand-me-down concrete relics in which we necessarily live and from which we draw perceptions. The music is the sound of lightless blocks, oxygen-starved sheds and apparitions, using stark and unrefined found sounds stacked against Khost’s massively detuned guitars. The album includes Eugene Robinson of Oxbow and Syan who add their stories to the narrative, along with personnel Jo Quail, Daniel Buess, Gustave Savy and featuring a contribution from Tel Aviv-based Hostage." [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
"Khost's Copper Lock Hell was a powerful debut where mammoth doom chords were pit against industrial electronics. Corrosive Shroud continues with Khost's customary slow, monolithic riffing; a half-paced grind pitched so low it just vibrates. But layered with that sound is bleak psychedelic textures, swirls of Japanese and mid-Eastern influences, ethereal chants all of which conjure up arcs of beautiful melodies. There is so much more to Khost than their room shaking hypnotic shudders but it just takes a little effort to hear them. 'Avici' continues the fascination with "avici hell", as recorded in the The Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha's Fundamental Vows, which began on Copper Lock Hell aided by the Gnostic electronics of fellow Midlands outfit Tunnels of ĀH, who feature former Head of David singer Stephen ĀH Burroughs. They're absent from Corrosive Shroud, but some other contributors such as Oxbow's frontman Eugene Robinson and cellist Jo Quail are carried over from Khost's debut, with fresh contributors including Syan, Daniel Buess, Gustave Savy and Chris Turner.
Guitars shudder amidst pummelling and crashing drums on the opening crawl that is 'Avici', combining a low grating voice with higher registered chants that carry an air of mystical otherworldliness. Those chants are woven, like a mysterious entity, throughout subsequent tracks such as 'Revelations Vultures Jackals Wolves', 'A Shadow On The Wound' and 'Black Rope Hell'. 'Revelations Vultures Jackals Wolves' unfolds to scorched earth guitar mangling, as background voices taken on a chant like shape, as violins weave amidst the clatter of crashing drums and cymbals. Bathed in feedback and frequencies it channels similar spirits to Skullflower in their most blackened death metal moments before the grind gives way to sombre cello movements. Khost's vocal delivery is steeped in an air of black metal; an impenetrable guttural rasp that that scrapes through the reverberating riffs of 'Black Rope Hell' - which almost sounds like another "avici hell" - before cavernous metallic clanking and ritualesque chants surround the monstrous roar and floor shredding tones of 'A Shadow On The Wound'. The oppressive onslaught of Khost belies a highly nuanced and layered sound that many can - and do - miss.
Khost are a Birmingham based duo featuring Andy Swan (Iroha, Final, Atrocity Exhibition) and Damian Bennett (Carthage, Deathless) and between them they have been part of Techno Animal, Final and 16/17. Khost almost seem to follow in the lineage of Kevin Martin's Pathological label. In fact, much of the drums and rhythm samples have been provided by Daniel Buess, the experimental musician and drummer behind avant jazz noiseniks 16/17 - and of course Oxbow who feature Eugene Robinson first surfaced via the Pathological release Fuck Fest. But, whatever, it's from 'Inversion', the fifth track on Corrosive Shroud, that Khost begin to seriously detour from their industrial doom sound with spacious detuned guitars seeking out the empty psychogeographic potential of vacant urban spaces and lightless structures. Sprawling guitar tendrils extend over pummelling low end bass recalling the loping rhythmic bass that underpinned the noise rock of Ice, Sweet Tooth etc, before it lurches to industrial atmospherics and the first appearance of Oxbow's Eugene Robinson with some brief spoken words. "Which way will the coin finally fall?" Syan asks posing a conundrum before the molten cyclical dirge textures of 'Forgery'. Oxbow's Eugene Robinson reappears at the tail end of 'Red Spot', an astounding piece of experimental clatter that passes from industrial free jazz via quaking guitar scrapes propelled by machine-like rhythm before slowing to bass laden industrial atmospherics featuring the spoken drawl of Eugene Robinson ruminating on Ballardian images of destroyed structures and empty living rooms. Khost really push the boundaries of their monolithic sound here, more than justifying their experimental metal tag here while the following track, 'Bystander', sees Khost at their most aggressive and forceful. From looped thudding beats it transforms into blistering waves of distorted guitar squall and shredded vocal howl, wrapped in mystical chanting, while from the "Conquer then run" 'looped phrase 'VMIH' launches into a series of words ending on the suffix "ate": capitulate, dominate, proliferate, emancipate, intoxicate, excruciate, repatriate, etc., over mechanised rhythms and stabbing bass pound like the onslaught of early Godflesh.
Just as Copper Lock Hell closed on a remix, Corrosive Shroud finishes on the 'Avici - Hostage Remix' which sees the Tel Aviv based drum and bass soundman Hostage exploring the mystical chants and chaotic rhythmic confusion found at the heart of the opening cut.
What with Skullflower, Tunnels of ĀH, Wicked King Wicker and now Khost, Cold Spring seem to be home to some of the most blackened psychedelic sounds, with their roots mired in the sound of the early industrial groups. On Corrosive Shroud, Khost drive their hypnotic monolithic grind further into multi-layered and noise drenched areas. They're certainly one of the most progressive experimental metal projects and if they must be regarded as doom metal I'd like to think of them as industrial doom. Who cares though, Khost are fantastic and Corrosive Shroud represents another astounding release from this uncompromising duo. Great stuff. For more information go to Cold Spring" [Compulsion Online]
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Governance |
CD |
"Governance" continues KHOST‘s immersion in themes of detachment and dissonance, and ruminates upon the exertion of wills that are not your own, and upon the ways to detect and trace the outlines of the presence(s) that may exert these daily wills upon you, day by day. It was written over the course of the 2016/17 Winter, during times of unease and sickness for the band, including one near-death experience. The resulting album is a hinterland of low resolution transmissions interspersed with broad concrete columns of distortion that loom suddenly from the dim landscape. Governance is like driving at night with your spirituality asleep at the wheel.
With demoralizing vocal terror, hypnotic nightmarescapes, frost-encrusted tones, and horrifying rhythms, KHOST’s Governance devastates the listener with nearly fifty minutes of entrancing yet hazardous tectonic doom-laced revulsion. Features guest appearances from Eugene Robinson (OXBOW), and Jo Quail, and includes a remix of the track 'Coven' by Tel Aviv artist Adrian Stainburner.
|
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| KINETIX |
Gestaltsystem 01: Possible Forms |
do-CD |
Interessanter Installations- / Konzeptkunst-Release dieses italienischen SoundArt-Projekts auf dem russischen Monochrome Vision-Label, in dessen äussere Audioform man interaktiv eingreifen kann GESTALTSYSTEM 01: POSSIBLE FORMS besteht aus 2 CDs mit exakt gleicher Länge (42:42 min) und exakt gleichlangen 8 Tracks (5:20 min). Beide sollen gleichzeitig abgespielt werden, wobei Lautstärke und Reihenfolge variiert werden können. Die schwarze CD enthält „metrische“ Ton-Elemente, die weisse CD „noise drones“, es entstehen fliessende digitalelektronisch-mathematische Soundscapes, die z.B. an IKEDA denken lassen... perfekt für die eigene Home-KlangInstallation.
“This release is a totally reworked version of "Possible Forms" previously produced as CDR in edition of 100 copies by Nova Ars Digitandi, and it's a part of "Gestaltsystem" installation.
It has unique conception of everchanging soundsculpture, composed by randomly juxtaposed audio fragments of the specially designed structure. This is the best digital sound art piece we ever heard, and it should appeal to all minimal electronic music admirers.” [label info]
"POSSIBLE FORMS is not a double-CD album, but it’s an audio-set composed by two CDs planned to be played simultaneously. It includes sixteen electronic compositions of identical length (5’ 20”) for a total time of 42’ 42” for each CD.
This work is conceived in order that every track of each record could play as second layer on every track of the other one. For this reason, the tracks hasn’t neither title nor a pre-arranged sequential order.
Macrostructure: the Black CD includes 8 tracks with metrical-tonal elements, while the White CD contains 8 tracks of only noise drones. Both CDs have the same peak level (0dB), so the listener can choose the respective volume of each CD. These recordings contain ultra/sub sonic frequencies; for this reason the author advices the listener not to play the CDs at high volume.
Microstructure: all the tracks are obtained from a special combination of forty different audio fragments, previously selected and extracted from various digital sources. The minimal form of the entire work was specifically created to facilitate the listening in combined modality, establishing this way a precise relationship between sign and function.
Vertical audio system: using two CD players (or CD-ROM/DVD players) in Random / Shuffle and Repeat modes, both players have to be started simultaneously. So, the two records can be played together ad libitum, generating sounds and sequences in continuous movement.
POSSIBLE FORMS uses sound strategies based on the calculation of auditive times and spaces in order to create a different kind of audio-logic design. In this sense this work can be intended as a device able to expand the ordinary possibilities of domestic listening." - liner notes
Composed 2001-2002.
Originally released as Kinetix (2) - Possible Forms on CDrs and limited to 100 copies.
Re-worked 2004-2005. This edition is limited to 500 copies.
|
2006 |
€8.50 |
|
|
White Rooms |
do-CD |
„Hinter Kinetix steckt seit 1999 der Komponist elektronischer Musik und Klangkünstler Gianluca Becuzzi. Er schreibt: “The artistic production of KINETIX is characterised by a strong experimental imprint, by the interest into the expressive possibilities offered by the digital technologies and by a clear aesthetic inclination towards minimalist forms and micro noises/sounds.” Und tatsächlich klingt die Musik, als würden Kunstwerke der minimal art vertont werden. In den 9 Stücken der CD 1 wird die Beziehung zwischen physischen und akustischen Raumverhalten durch die Aspekte Klangvolumen, Zeit und Häufigkeit klanglich hervorgehoben. Klare digitale Signale von Summen und Sirren, die sich im Wechselbad mit großräumlich hallenden drones befinden, rufen flächige Klänge und dreidimensionale Eindrücke hervor. Auf der zweiten CD sind sehr reduzierte Sounds zu hören, die für eine Klanginstallation entwickelt wurden. Hier ist lediglich der Raum der Interpret. Hochfrequente Geräusche, ein wallendes Brummen und beinernes Knirschen umschmeicheln die Stille.
Since 1999, KINETIX is Gianluca Becuzzi, electronic composer and sound artist active since the first half of the 80’s. He writes: “The artistic production of KINETIX is characterised by a strong experimental imprint, by the interest into the expressive possibilities offered by the digital technologies and by a clear aesthetic inclination towards minimalist forms and micro noises/sounds.” (from the website) Really, the music sounds like a study about a representational work of minimal art. The first CD includes 9 pieces dealing with volume of sound, time and frequencies to underline the relationship between physical space and acoustic space. Clear digital signal-buzz changes with wide open resounding drones evoking superficial sounds and three-dimensionally impressions. The 2. CD shows very reduced sounds conceived for a sound installation. Only the room is the interpreter. High frequencies circle abstract noises, playing with silence.” [Peter Schlewinski for Drone Records]
“...Carefully constructed soundscapes of sine-waves gently moving in and out, with occasional crackles and soft whispering voices, certainly in the first part. It reminded me of some of Jos Smolders' older work in this direction (but much better recorded by Kinetix, but in Smolders' defense, he work with hissy tapes in his early days). In the second and third part Kinetix uses the voice of Alvin Lucier with his well-known ramble about rooms that he is in and you are not, but Kinetix uses it quite nicely. The fourth part is a stretched out drone piece with off and on rumbles and it moves all quite slowly. The previous works by Kinetix were nice, but couldn't convince me that much, but here it surely does. Not so much in terms of presenting something new, but it's a well-thought out disc, excellently produced, good concept and presented well. Thumbs up!” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
labelwebsite: www.smallvoices.it
|
2005 |
€7.77 |
|
| |
Final Archives |
CD |
"The final chapter for this project run by Gianluca Becuzzi well know for his old dark wave project LIMBO but also for his solo works and collaborations with Fabio Orsi. FINAL ARCHIVES is a sort of collection of rare tracks recorded from 1999 to 2006 totally reworked and remastered in 2009. From booklet notes:
ABSOLUTE GREY is the title that Kinetix gave at his graphic artwork selection exhibited with an ambient post-scoring specifically composed for the expositive space. The exhibition is made of ten grey scale serigraphies on white forex scheets (1 meter x 1 meter) and a composition of 20 minutes played through two lour speakers and one woofer covered with grey powder on top of a white cube. Absolute Grey is been presented at the sound art festival PX2_Piombino_eXperimenta_2006. RW MATERIALS is a collection of seven short tracks from the early Kinetix production. Noise gestaltmusic. A multidimensional concept created with sound layers and ambient concretism. These tracks help to the listener to understand the start point of the Kinetix sound research.
RESOUNDING SULPTURES is based on the concept of “composition for blocks of sound” made in 50’s and 60’s by Iannis Xenakis. For this reason traditional compositional criteria (harmonic-melodic / rhythmic-metric) will replace the various criteria of plastic / spatial forms. Part of the sound sources used for Resounding Sculptures were extracted from the works of Iannis Xenakis to whom this composition is dedicated." [label info]
www.silentes.net
"We land in more 'current' times with the release of 'Final Archives' by Kinetix. The first time I reviewed Kinetix it was a release called 'First Emissions' (see Vital Weekly 339). Gianluca Becuzzi was behind Kinetix, before starting to work under his own name. These pieces on 'Final Archives' (his final release as Kinetix I assume) is a collection of rare tracks recorded from 1999 to 2006, and were previously available on CDR and MP3. The music by Kinetix has nothing to do with the previous three releases, as this is all computer based microsounding music. Over the years I heard various of his releases with 'White Rooms' as a definitely landmark in his career (see Vital Weekly 503). These pieces presented here, the early days, Becuzzi was on the look out for his own take on that microsound principle, but didn't entirely made up his mind yet. Pan Sonic seems to be an all important influence on the middle work 'Rw Materials', with heavy beats, white static noise and field recordings, but in the two surrounding pieces, 'Absolute Grey' and 'Resounding Sculptures', he is already drawn towards say someone like Richard Chartier or Marc Behrens, although the latter piece is influenced by Xenakis, and its not difficult to draw a parallel to 'Persepolis': large chunks of sound and sheets of metal. 'Absolute Grey' is the most Chartier like, with soft static sounds and processed voice. This is not the final masterwork of Becuzzi, but it marks the nice end of someone who did some nice music under the name of Kinetix." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€12.50 |
|
| KINKELAAR, FREEK |
WONDERSOUND. Discovering weird, wild and wonderful music |
BOOK |
Wondersound
discovering weird, wild and wonderful music
a book by Freek Kinkelaar
hard cover, 282 pages
For over thirty years, Freek Kinkelaar has been writing about music for publications such as Vital Weekly and renowned international magazine Record Collector Magazine. He has contributed liner notes for releases by labels such as Cherry Red, and also writes essays on music. Wondrous music.
This book, Wondersound, is about being amazed, challenged, bedazzled and caressed by music. It documents Kinkelaar's discovery of obscure vinyl, cassettes, artist records and vanity pressings covering avant-garde, noise, ambient, lounge and experimental music. The book's quire presents nearly 50 examples of exuberant vinyl and cassette packaging.
Featuring an introduction written by Edward Ka-Spel of The Legendary Pink Dots, Wondersound offers a dozen articles on, amongst others, noise music, Brainticket, The Gerogerigegege, Gary Wilson, Japanese erotic music, Rozz Williams, Vagina Dentata Organ and labels such as Come Organisation and Industrial Records. Over 80 columns cover artists as diverse as The International Sex Opera Band, SPK, Su Tissue, Pierre Schaeffer, Derek Jarman, La Monte Young, Princess Tinymeat, Zoviet France and Robbie the Werewolf! Added are an interview, liner notes and essays on why not to read lyric sheets and how Kinkelaar not only met a member of The Residents but, in the end, became one!
With an aim to inspire and entertain, Freek Kinkelaar writes with a wicked sense of humour, a keen eye for Anorakian detail and a genuine love for music. Known for his own musical endeavours under various guises such as Beequeen (with Frans de Waard), Brunnen and a plethora of other names, Kinkelaar has been collecting weird, wild and wonderful music since 1980.
This book is an essential read for those with an open mind towards the beautiful strangeness of sound. Wondersound.
Design by Alfred Boland
BLACK AND WHITE
The book's quire of 50 images is printed in black and white. The book's front and back cover are printed in colour and the book's content is identical to the colour-printed version. The black and white version does not come with any of the additional extra's of the colour version.
image: http://kormplastics.nl/wondersound.html
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| KIRCHENKAMPF |
The first circle |
CD-R |
Last copies of this early KIRCHENKAMPF-release!
"Massive ambience. Though the release has only six tracks, it's every bit a full-length release checking in at just under an hour. The ambience portrayed here could be perceived as beautiful by many, but I find it more metallic, not harsh, but metallic. Imagine walking through the guts of a really big machine that digests metal as opposed to organic materials. It's the soundtrack to a very dark day. This record is recommended for those who just need some time to think about things. The artwork on this first edition is astounding. The handpainted, cracking green and black jewel box perfectly captures the mood."
[J. Mundok, AUTOreverse #11]
|
1995 |
€9.00 |
|
| |
Babel |
do-CD |
Dunkle Drone-Ambience, hallend, wummernd, unheimlich...metallische Obertöne, endlose Flächen & Äthernoise ... wie fast immer sind es religiöse Themen, die ihren Ausdruck finden bei KIRCHENKAMPF; beeindruckend, wie das ganze am Ende in immer bedrohlichere, ausserweltliche Gebiete abdriftet... filed under: apocalyptic dark ambient.
" "Babel" follows the recent and well-received albums "Island of the Dead" (on Cohort) and "Transmissions" (which we released last year). It is an extremely dynamic and dense work that could generally be classified as experimental dark ambient. The theme here is the Tower of Babel and each disc takes a somewhat different yet complimentary approach: the first ("Red Babylon") is generally a rather heavy and intense recording, while the second ("Citadel of the Nevermind") is more droney and dream-like. A profound and monumental journey lasting well over two hours. 'kirchenkampf', the project of John Gore (Cohort Records, The Oratory of Divine Love, >wirewall<), has been active since 1986. Since that time he has released numerous recordings on his own and other labels. Additionally, John has collaborated with a number of others, including Steve Hall (Yen Pox), C. Reider, and Brett Smith (Caul). The CDs come packaged in a stunning printed gatefold sleeve." [press release]
http://discs.diophantine.net/
|
2007 |
€16.00 |
|
| KIRITCHENKO, ANDREY |
Interplays, in between |
CD |
Der ukrainische Musiker mit einem hochinteressanten Glitch-Pop- & field recording - Werk, minimale digi-Rhythmen & Pulsationen, vielerlei Instrumente & Geräusche, alles zu einem kurzweiligen Ganzen verwoben ( 9 tracks ) mit z.T. durchaus eingängigen Qualitäten..... “Andrey Kiritchenko's second full length album is a beautiful and deep journey of electronic arrangements and accoustic subtilities. Using precise clicks and glitchs, field recordings and touching melodies, this key figure of the contemporary electronic scene proposes here a new masterpiece of frequencies made human, of intriguing but emotional electronic music.” [label info]
|
2004 |
€12.00 |
|
| KIRKEGAARD, JACOB |
Phonurgia Metallis |
CD |
Three freely hanging metal plates Iron, Copper, Brass
Each 100 x 100 x 01 cm
edition of 300
Piezo sensor and contact speaker attached on rear side of each plate Amplifying and mirroring their subtle and naturally occurring vibrations Evoking the characteristic resonant frequencies of each type of metal
The sound art of Jacob Kirkegaard explores ways to reflect on immediate complex, unnoticed or unapproachable aspects of the human condition or civilisation. His works have treated themes such as radioactivity in Chernobyl and Fukushima, melting ice in the Arctic, border walls in Palestine, and tones - otoacoustic emissions - generated from the actual human ear.
Currently Jacob Kirkegaard works on two projects, one on the sound of global waste and waste management. The other on sound environments related to the immediate human post mortem.
With his peculiar alchemist approach and extensive research, complex phenomena and current conditions are portrayed through composition, installation, video and photography. Rather than providing answers, his portrayals create spaces for reflexion.
Kirkegaard has presented his works at galleries, museums, biennales and concert spaces throughout the world, including MoMA in New York, LOUISIANA - Museum of Modern Art and ARoS in Denmark, The Menil Collection and at the Rothko Chapel in Houston, The Sydney Biennale in Australia, Aichi Triennale in Nagoya, the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan.
Jacob Kirkegaard has gallery representation through Fridman Gallery (New York, USA) and Galleri Tom Christoffersen (Copenhagen, DK). His work is represented in the permanent collection of LOUISIANA - Museum of Modern Art in Denmark.
One of contemporary sound art's most subtle, intriguing figures. More artistically minded than field recordings, more naturally hewn than noise tapes, Kirkegaard amplifies hidden worlds into evocative drifts. Rolling Stone, December 2015
Kirkegaard has countered Duchamp’s dictum, “One can look at seeing, one can’t hear hearing.” Douglas Kahn, Earside Out, 2014
For all the scientific rigour to Kirkegaard's research into the sonic possibilities of various materials, his work reveals an underlying fascination for the mysteries and myths embedded in them. His work channels an access to an inner world. A.H. Neset, The Wire, 2009
https://importantrecords.com/products/jacob-kirkegaard-phonurgia-metallis-cd
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Black Metal Square |
LP |
Limited edition of 100. Hand numbered. Packaged in a black sleeve with a screen printed sheet affixed to the cover.
Three freely hanging black metal plates:
50x50x005cm, 75x75x005cm & 100x100x005cm
Piezo sensor and contact speaker attached on rear side of plate, amplifying and mirroring its subtle and naturally occurring vibrations, evoking its characteristic resonant frequencies .
Jacob Kirkegaard © 2015 - 2019
Et sic in infinitum, Robert Fludd, 1617
https://soundcloud.com/importantrecords/kirkegaard-blackmetalsquare-imprec-90sec
"Based on the sculptural installation, Black Metal Square (2015), these three pieces are the latest work by field recordist and sound ‘alchemist’ Jacob Kirkegaard. This is a limited edition of one hundred copies. “The installation refers to Kazimir Malevich’s famous painting Black Square (made one hundred years prior in 1915) and his quote ‘It is from zero, in zero, that the true movement of being begins’. The astronomer Robert Fludd’s drawing of the black square from 1617 inscribed with the phrase ‘et sic in infinitum’ (and so on to infinity) is also an inspirational source for Kirkegaard, who asks the question: ’but how does the black square sound?”
The whole work runs for less than a half hour, but is imbued with a rich bass low rumble from the metal plates. After a while the sound that initially sounds like a timpani for gong begins to resemble a jumbo jet flying overhead. It’s presence defies gravity and has this pulsing atmospheric feel. Besides the plates Kirkegaard has incorporated the use of sensors, contact speakers, amplifiers, and steel wire to conduct this lingering drone din.
On Black Square 75 (referring to the scale of the plate) the scale shifts slightly higher in register, but after the first two minutes its vaguely noticeable. This would lull most deep listeners, perhaps to slumber, and could potentially irritate hyperacusis sufferers. It’s deep, yet airy, low hum with a bold grounding.
Finally on Black Square 100, the tone has dropped into a smouldering cauldron of boiling drone. This sounds like a field recording of a thunderous tornado on the far horizon, built with pressure and density this shakes the floorboards some, especially with any volume increase. It’s amazing to imagine this was composed by one man and a piece of steel, my guess is Nakajima Akifumi (1959-2013) would have felt a kinship to this piece. Peaceful and weary, Kirkegaard has brought forth a work of intense introspection, turning the void inside out, yet still remaining a complete mystery." [Toneshift]
|
2019 |
€39.00 |
|
| KIRKEGAARD, JACOB & NIELS LYHNE LOKKEGARD |
Descending |
LP |
Descending is a composition consisting of two movements for room resonance, triangles, shakers and horns. The recording was made in August 2015, performed by the Aarhus Jazz Orchestra. Descending is Løkkegaard's and Kirkegaard's first collaboration.
About the composers:
The sound artists and composers Jacob Kirkegaard and Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard are both renowned for their ability to convert sound into a form with the character of an artwork and a bodily dimension that can be experienced by more than the ears alone. In his art, Jacob Kirkegaard uses acoustic phenomena that are usually either overheard or inaudible to the human ear. Using a range of sensors and recording methods, the material unfolds in compositions and spatial, visual and sound works. Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard's art focuses on the multiplication of sound, extending it beyond its usual boundaries to re-emerge in new forms, as well as on the creation of imaginary musical works that the listener has to envisage before their inner ear.
Jacob Kirkegaard (b. 1975) graduated from the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne in 2006. His sound works are published by Touch (UK), Posh Isolation (DK), Von Archives (F) and Important Records (USA). Kirkegaard's works have been presented at a wide range of renowned exhibition platforms, festivals and conferences worldwide, including MoMA and Issue Project Room & The Stone in NYC, KW & Transmediale in Berlin, Mori Art Museum and Aichi Triennale in Japan, as well as Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and ARoS Aarhus Art Museum in Denmark.
Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard (b. 1979) studied at Denmark's Rhythmic Music Conservatory and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts' School of Architecture. He has created a wide range of works operating at the intersection of experimental music and sound art, including the soundtrack for MoMA's René Magritte exhibition The Mystery of the Ordinary in 2013. More recently he has created the critically acclaimed series SOUND X SOUND. Lyhne Løkkegaard is also the founder of the curatorial non-event Curatorium – a sound festival that never takes place.
************************************************************************************************************
Composed, arranged and mixed by Kirkegaard and Løkkegaard, 2015 - 2016
Performed by Aarhus Jazz Orchestra and recorded by John Fomsgaard live at Dokk1 in Aarhus, 2015.
Front cover: Detail from Robert Fludd's Macrocosm Microcosm (1617-24)
Supported by The Danish Arts Foundation & The Danish Conductors Association
Jacob Kirkegaard: www.fonik.dk
Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard: www.nielsloekkegaard.dk
importantrecords.com/imprec/imprec447
"Presenting two compelling works composed by Danish sound artists Jacob Kirkegaard & Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard and performed by the Aarhus Jazz Orchestra, Descending is a powerful exposition of extended acoustic technique used to bend the ear in fascinating ways.
Revolving two pieces for room resonance, triangles, shakers and horns, the recorded results of Descending transcend the sum of their parts in gripping style. In Movement 1 they conduct a breathless transition from the polymetric interplay of triangles, sounding like a distant alarm bell, calving off into thinnest, cirrus timbres and reemerging as a mesmerising display of sustained, quivering, bittersweet horn dissonance culminating a stunning, keening finale. Movement 2 opens with those horns at a lower, sustained pitch, rolling across the stereo field with an uncanny precision that you would normally expect from electronic music, glacially growing in density to sound like an incoming Stuka formation, precipitating a nerve-biting swell of discord before returning, almost palindromic, to the polymetric rustle of shakers.
Of course, the magick of the piece is much harder to describe, though. It lies somewhere in the relationship between the knowledge of the composers, the players’ incredible skill, and their recording space, whose unique characteristics are crucial to its success in keeping us enthralled from start to finish. It lies in the way they slide the sound around the sphere of perception, purposefully generating and controlling the resonant feedback until it becomes a part of the work itself, generating a lingering harmonic aura to the sounds which gels them in smoothly contoured transitions between each tightly disciplined cluster of pitches with a near-enough metaphysical structure.
Stunning work. A rare treat for the lugs, especially if you’re into Eliane Radigue, Eleh, Harley Gaber, Harry Bertoia." [Boomkat] |
2017 |
€24.00 |
|
| KISSY SUZUKI |
Exploring the Seas of Consciousness |
mCDR |
"this is the first physical release for kissy suzuki, the drone-based side-project of french artist david teboul also known as linear bells (releases on twice removed, subterranean tide or his own soft recordings imprint).
"exploring the seas of consciousness" contains two deep and rich drone-based multi-layered compositions full of details... let yourself immerse in the seas of conscisousness..." [label info]
www.taalem.com
|
2015 |
€5.00 |
|
| KITES |
Peace Trials |
CD |
"Rewired neural strum and groam from the one man operation known as Kites. One minute EZ sounds pump from your jambox, the next a squaretone boxes you upside the head. Very much in the tradition of new school noize croppers such as Wolf Eyes and Die Yellow Swans, but turbolaced with a mutant virus of melody and folkery. Yes, acoustica based acid melt. Features a (beautiful)collaboration with Erin Rosenthal from Udog. Kites has played with the cream of today's new sounds krewz including Wolf Eyes, Double Leopards, Hair Police and many others and is considered a master on his own homemade equipment." [label info]
www.loadrecords.com
|
2005 |
€8.00 |
|
| KLANK |
same |
CD |
"Two years in the making, aufabwegen presents the first ever studio album of Bremen-based MusikAktionsEnsemble KLANK. Co-produced by Radio Bremen’s contemporary music department and featuring singer Friederike Menz on various tracks, KLANK left its accustomed territory of energetic yet intimate performative stage action to enter the fine historic recording arena of Sendesaal Bremen. For this release the four members of KLANK focused on acoustic spaces and auditive situations recording hours and hours of material. While the opener RÅE N presents an almost architectural approach to the dense microtonal logics of noise and drone the three piece set of CONTAMINECHNO is a neat and surprising exploration of radioplayeske atmospheres and contemporary electronic music alike. The mono-ridden Der PRODUKTIVE KONSUMENT links the bobostertaglike assembling of ensembles at the computer with thoughts about various fields of consumerist homerecording while DIE MECHANISCHE CD for a moment neglects the data sound carriers and storage systems usually are used for, perceiving CDs, MDs and the like as sonic objects with their own musical quality. Closed by a brief passage through possible constellations within an improvising quartet, ÄÇEX, the release is, after all, linked to KLANK’s musical – live – practice.
Additional information: www.klank.cc/cd/
On KLANK (the Artist): KLANK is a music/performance ensemble based in Bremen, Germany. Founded by improvisers Reinhart Hammerschmidt and Hainer Wörmann, sound-performer Tim Schomacker and composer / instrumentalist Christoph Ogiermann in 2008, KLANK’s sonic universe combines various musical experiences, influences and approaches.
KLANK soon found common ground in both, the complex and dense logic of the interaction in playing improvised music and in researching the musical potential of various materials from everyday life. Be it kitchen utensils, office equipment, children’s toys or tools from whatever workplace – KLANK is able and willing to declare almost everything a musical instrument to expand the range of its sonic creations.
KLANK immediately realized that its music doesn’t just sound – but that it “looks like”, also. So the quartet started to focus on performative and site-specific concepts, establishing a unique brand of Klang-Aktionen (music- or sound-based performances) involving the use of body, voice, video and various theatrical elements.
Improvisations and conceptual pieces for quartet remaining the core of KLANK-Arbeit, the ensemble conceived and produced a series of music/theater-pieces and performances for larger ensembles. Collaborating with visual artists like painter/video artist Dina Koper or filmmaker Jan van Hasselt KLANK presented performance pieces like ANUNDFUERSICH (2011) and films like UND BEFREIEN SIE VON WAS (2012).
December 2013 will see a tour d’allemagne with french saxophonist Bertrand Denzler as the third installment of the bilateral THE FRENCH KONNEKTION program, an ongoing collaboration with Institut français de Brême." [label info]
www.aufabwegen.de
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| KLEISTWAHR |
This World is not my Home |
CD |
"The latest album from Gary Mundy (Ramleh), who has been using this moniker since the early ‘80s to further furrow the worlds of intense electronics, harrowing psychedelia and violent or claustrophobic atmospherics he is already known for. Less prolific than Ramleh, Kleistwahr began with several cassette releases on Gary’s own much revered Broken Flag imprint and has subsequently been afforded more releases by labels such as Noise War, Noiseville and Harbinger Sound. This World Is Not My Home collects seven pieces recorded between 2013 and 2014 of mostly instrumental sprawling guitar & electronic works. Released in an edition of 300 in a Broken Flag-type sleeve. Released in August 2014." [label info]
www.fourth-dimension.net
"Obviously because of its noise based content I could leave this to Jliat for closer inspection, but instead I played it, and meanwhile took out As Loud As Possible volume 1, an excellent book/magazine (Vital Weekly 756), which contained a very in-depth survey of the catalogue of Broken Flag, the mighty power electronics label from the 80s. The label's main band was Ramleh, a duo including Gary Mundy, also label boss, who, in order to fill up the early days of the catalogue, 'invented' a group called Kleistwahr, but which effectively was his own solo project. Over time that project disappeared, but in 2009 he returned with a LP for Noiseville, which I didn't hear, but according to that article was received with mixed reception. Now there is a new CD, a thirty-seven minute, of very loud, electronic music. Apparently Mundy uses guitar and electronics in Kleistwahr these days, which was hard to tell, I thought. Everything is cranked up to something very loud, but not without detail.
Kleistwahr is noise, yes, no doubts there, but it's not of the harsh noise wall variation. This obviously no longer has the shock it had so many years ago, and might even be called conservative to some extent. Who cares about something original these days? That must be something from the past. The music, while recorded and mastered better, has more power it seems than 'back then'. With Mundy adding vocals at the end of this, it sounds like Ramleh, and that happens to be one of my favourite power electronics from the 80s (before they picked up guitars, which, in my humble opinion, they shouldn't have done. Excellent release! The cover is a very nice CD version of the old label design. Maybe there could even be a series in this, re-issues, and new works? Where do we sign up?" [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
|
The Return |
CD |
"Following the 2014 release of Kleistwahr’s latest album, This World Is Not My Home, also on Fourth Dimension Records, The Return is a remastered reissue of a limited edition LP originally on Noiseville Records. Both now long out of print and collectible, Gary Mundy (Ramleh, Breathless, Broken Flag, etc.) never felt completely satisfied with the Noiseville release, hence this revisit to redress the balance being more than justified. Here featuring two previously unreleased bonus cuts, ‘The Storm’ and ‘The Resounding’, the album has been digitally remastered by Gary to capture the intention originally in mind; to render the music at once powerful and dynamic in a setting where volume also plays a significant part of the sound. As with Gary’s long-running group, Ramleh, the music of Kleistwahr stems from a place both angry and anguished. Underpinned to a huge sense of existential despair, a sense of urgency and frustration likewise screams from this music. Long known for his part in creating a music subsequently known as ‘power electronics’, itself copied by hundreds of groups to lesser effect or duly seen as a wellspring of inspiration by countless others often removed from this form, along with Whitehouse and Consumer Electronics, Gary Mundy’s own forays here have always ventured far beyond such convenient trappings. Kleistwahr, his solo enterprise, pays testament to both this and, more importantly, Gary’s place as a progressive and highly accomplished visionary artist deserving far more than his status as a merely cult concern. The Return witnesses electronic music once more teased and reshaped into something highly original by one of the genre’s master craftsmen. Listen to it as loud as your ears can take. Packaged in gatefold Broken Flag-style sleeve. Released in late September 2015." [label info]
www.fourth-dimension.net
"Not only is there a killer new Ramleh double cd set on this week's list, but we also just got a first-time-on-cd edition of this, originally released on vinyl in Noiseville's awesome (and super limited) Outer Bounds Of Sound series in 2009, Kleistwahr being another project of legendary UK noise merchant Gary Mundy (Ramleh, Skullflower, Broken Flag collective) that fits nicely within the man's legacy of harsh electronic noise. Anyone digging Skullflower's more recent forays into blown out guitar skree (and we know there are plenty of you out there) will find much to love here. The four songs making up The Return contain all the air raid siren guitars and eardrum pulverizing feedback we have come to love, but things take a surprisingly beautiful turn on what was side two of the original lp, with warm droney keyboards weaving a haunting melody that perfectly compliments the album cover, a stark photocopied image of a building foundation sitting exposed in the snow surrounded by dead trees. Though the songs are instrumental, Mundy is able to perfectly convey a feeling of despondency and sadness, genuine emotions that definitely set Kleistwahr apart from the multitudes of floorcore outfits, all hunkered over effects pedals making lots of noise, but very little of it as compelling and emotionally charged as this." [Aquarius Rec.]
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Winter |
LP |
Kleistwahr is the solo project of Gary Mundy, the legendary power electronic and noise-rock musician who is a founding member of Ramleh and runs the highly influential Broken Flag label. Solemn drones and elegiac long-form passages gird Kleistwahr’s Winter, which often chimes, glistens, and glows through a unhurried constructs for organ, synth, guitar, and electronics. Yet Mundy pivots throughout with triumphant explosions of shrill noise, redlined overload, and harrowingly anguished vocals from the great unknown. Quintessential Kleistwahr.
Winter was originally published as part of the instantly out of print On Corrosion - a 10 cassette anthology from 2019 that was housed in a handcrafted wooden box and featuring full albums from Kleistwahr, Neutral, Pinkcourtesyphone, Alice Kemp, She Spread Sorrow, G*Park, Relay For Death, Francisco Meirino, Fossil Aerosol Mining Project, and Himukalt. The collection also stood as the 50th release for The Helen Scarsdale Agency, an imprint founded in 2003 and dedicated to post-industrial research, recombinant noise, surrealist demolition, existential vacancy and then some.
With the necessary reissue of Winter, The Helen Scarsdale Agency will embark upon the reissue of much of that material from On Corrosion.
https://helenscarsdale.bandcamp.com/album/winter
|
2021 |
€18.50 |
|
|
Do Not |
LP |
Limited edition reissue of this album originally released in 1986 on cassette on Broken Flag. Comprising two untitled side-long pieces, Do Not catches Gary Mundy of Ramleh in peak "noise" mode with his solo endeavor, taking much from his place as one of the innovators of the so-called power electronics genre yet pushing this confrontational avant-garde sensibility somewhere entirely new. It is a sound that Kleistwahr has continued to explore and add new dimensions to since, but never completely untangles itself from this particular root. Raw and seemingly unrestrained, these pieces present a robust, white-hot sonic meltdown up there with the very best from this ultimately fertile period for music from the basement. This LP is packaged similarly to the vinyl reissues of the first two full-length Kleistwahr albums released by Harbinger Sound in 2011, Arsonicide and Myth. It is also being released the same time as the one-sided Mobility (FD 129LP) reissue originally released on cassette in 1983.
https://fourthdimensionrecords.bigcartel.com/product/kleistwahr-do-not-lp
|
2022 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Mobility |
LP (single-sided) |
Limited edition reissue of this cassette originally released in 1983 on Broken Flag, gathering five untitled solo pieces by Gary Mundy of Ramleh in full on early power electronics mode, firmly illustrating his place as one of the innovators of this genre yet likewise pushing this confrontational avant-garde sensibility somewhere entirely new. It is a sound that Kleistwahr has continued to explore and add new dimensions to ever since, but never completely untangles itself from this particular root. Raw and seemingly unrestrained, these pieces present a robust, white-hot sonic meltdown up there with the very best from this ultimately fertile period for music from the basement. They last around 17 minutes in total.
This release is packaged similarly to the vinyl reissues of the first two full-length Kleistwahr albums released by Harbinger Sound in 2011, 'Arsonicide' and 'Myth'. It is also being released the same time as the 'Do Not' reissue originally released on cassette in 1986.
##############
"Limited edition reissue of an ultra-rare Broken Flag cassette (BF27), by Gary Mundy of Ramleh's longstanding solo endeavour, originally released in 1983. Unavailable for over 30 years, this is a must-have record by all those with an interest in Ramleh and their offshoots, the Broken Flag archives or, more broadly, anything from this fertile period in noise / avant--garde music from the basement. Ltd x 300 copies with insert. Mastered by Sion Orgon. Artwork by Gary Mundy and Puppy38."
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
For the Lives Once Lived |
CD |
"Several years ago, Gary Mundy of Ramleh/Broken Flag (and far more besides) declared to me that he wished to do one new Kleistwahr album every year until he's no longer able to do them. Fourth Dimension Records has subsequently fulfilled a promise to honor this plan as much as possible and is managing to keep up so far. How Gary manages to keep pulling new ideas out of the proverbial hat at this rate is anybody's guess, but the latest album, For the Lives Once Lived illustrates very clearly that the wellspring he draws from has far from dried up. If you have been paying attention to the albums that have been released by Fourth Dimension Records during recent years, you should understand that his solo music has retained the molten intensity it has always been propelled by since Kleistwahr was founded in the early 1980s. While the work occasionally seems as though it draws from the same dusty religious setting as some of Messiaen's wonderful organ compositions, there's still an all-encompassing blanket of ravaged psychedelia firmly laced with blood-flecked barbs to help counter this. When Kleistwahr's music seems poised to elevate the atmospheric gestures towards the sublime and elegiac, there's always a gaping maw lined with razor-edged teeth lurking nearby to help keep all those lofty hopes and expectations from getting above themselves. For the Lives Once Lived may also surprise many with its opening song, "Rotten Boroughs," which both stands out from the rest of the album yet makes sense as part of it. This is another fantastic album from the unstoppable force that is Gary Mundy's Kleistwahr. Long may it continue. For the Lives Once Lived appears packaged in a Broken Flag-style sleeve featuring photos by Chris Low, design by Puppy38, and mastering by Sion Orgon."
https://garymundykleistwahr.bandcamp.com/album/for-the-lives-once-lived
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| KLEMENT, KATHARINA |
Peripheries : Sound Portrait Belgrade 2014-2016 |
CD |
"In 2014, I spent nine weeks in Belgrade, focusing on the questions, “What does this city sound like? Is it possible to portray it using sounds?”
In numerous excursions to different areas of the city, I collected sounds and noises. In addition, I conducted several interviews about the soundscape of Belgrade with people of different ages and backgrounds. The resulting comprehensive acoustic archive, or memory, became the basis of my compositional approach.
One characteristic of Belgrade is its numerous peripheries: Even within the historic city center, you may quickly and unexpectedly find yourself in fringe areas. The transitions are sudden – when it comes to sounds, you abruptly move from loud and noisy areas into others that are delicate and subtle. Also, I discovered circles in various contexts: in architecture, in ornaments, in traffic regulations; even time seems to be perceived as circular rather than clocked and linear as it is commonly understood in central Europe.
I designed a score by using my city map: The location of my apartment was the center, around which I drew eight concentric circles. During the compositional process, all the recordings from each of these rings were combined into one layer, resulting in eight musical layers.
The piece was then composed with eight channels, for a setting that uses eight speakers. On this CD, you will hear a stereo version of the piece.
Like in an “acoustic blender,” selected field recordings (some raw and some processed) create a sustained moment of density: a musical likeness of Belgrade. While the components of this sound portrait are taken from the acoustic reality of the city, the compositional process transforms them, giving them a new quality. Belgrade’s highly expressive and captivating character was extracted and abstracted through music.
The entire structure is divided into smaller sequences which, however, merge seamlessly.
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| KLINE, PHIL |
Around the World in a Daze |
2 x DVD-A |
Ausschweifender & hochgelobter neuer Release von PHIL KLINE, den wir bisher nur von der sehr schönen "Glow in the Dark" CD kannten (1998). Dabei ist er in den Staaten sehr bekannt, hat in frühen 80ern eine Band mit JIM JARMUSCH gehabt, war Bestandteil des GLENN BRANCA.Orchesters, und hat als Klangkünstler in diversen Galerien Klang-Installationen "ausgestellt"... AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAZE wurde speziell für "surround sound" aufgenommen und zeigt auf 10 Stücken eine grosse Variabilität, verbindet Komponiertes mit "gefundenen" Quellen, meist geht es um minimale konzeptuelle Arrangements basierend auf vokalem, elektronischem und kammermusikalischem Material; von harmonischen, fast kitschigen Melodien bis hin zu übereinandergeschichten Tape-Flächen und obskuren Field Recordings, z.B. eine Aufnahme aus Afrika von Tausenden Graupapageien die mit seinem dronigen "tape choir" verbunden werden, und ein echtes "Madrigal" gibt es auch zu hören.
Auf der zweiten DVD ist dann Film-Material: MEDITATION (8+ min), ein Film / Musik-Clip mit PHIL KLINE, ein 35minütiges Interview mit ihm und einige Fotos. Kommt in einer übergrossen Doppel-DVD Hülle, mit ausführlichem Booklet.
"Leading new-music composer Phil Kline debuts a major work on this new surround sound DVD. Heard here for the first time, this 65-minute studio composition was commissioned by Starkland to premiere on this high-resolution surround-sound DVD. Daze is Kline's longest work and biggest commission to date. Daze is also likely the largest work so far commissioned for a high-resolution surround-sound recording. Performers include the uber-cool Ethel string quartet and violin virtuoso Todd Reynolds. Surround-sound tracks place listeners inside wondrous boombox choirs, an ethereal Ethel string quartet, a weird madrigal, hyper-dense bells (hundreds of thousands at one point), richly mournful multi-tracked vocals, soaring violinistics, and an immersive environment of 15,000 African gray parrots. The release also offers a second Extras DVD with a composer-produced music video and a 30-minute interview with Kline and John Schaefer. The custom 5"x10" digipak includes a 24-page booklet. The two DVDs contain a total content of 110 minutes. This release follows Starkland's groundbreaking surround-sound Immersion DVD, now recognized as the first commissioned high-resolution surround-sound recording. Immersion won praise from Sound & Vision, Stereophile, Billboard, etc. and was the #1 best-selling DVD-Audio at Amazon for nearly a year. The main disc offers Daze in several formats for various home playback setups: the standard Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, DTS 5.1, and high-resolution audiophile DVD-Audio, as well as a stereo version. Playback of the Daze music is accompanied by over 80 images shot by Kline."
[label description]
www.starkland.com
"..From the title you may deduce that space is a keyword in this production. Recordings for this project were done all over the world. But besides Kline is very interested in the spacial aspects of music and sound. He played with these aspects by using whole sets of boomboxes for the recording of most tracks. Besides this main interest, other musical items led him by constructing ten very different works. The lengthiest piece 'Pennies from Heaven' is the one I liked most. Because of the sound and because of the structure of the piece. The same descending scale is repeated and repeated again, transposed and multiplied, etc. The constant downward movement is very imaginative and brings about a meditative state. Also the opening piece 'The Housatonic at Henry Street' fascinates because of its multilayered and detailed soundspectrum. Other pieces use the human voice as the most important material, like 'The Wailing Wall' resurrected by the voice of Kline himself. Two other pieces have the violin in the center: 'Svarga yatra' and 'Grand Etude for the Elevation'. The beautiful concluding piece is built from field recordings done in Central Africa. Tracks differ also because for the different structuring principles that are used. But as said the pieces impress above all because of their soundqualities and spatial characteristics. Each piece is accompanied by its own series of photos. Nice photos often. From urban environments, to nature, etc, etc. But I didn't need them for enjoying the music, nor the other way around. And I couldn't bridge them in my imagination. While listening I felt a bit 'imprisoned' by looking at the same time at the pictures. Well, this also a spatial effect I guess. The second dvd has an extensive interview with Kline commenting on each piece. This gives a good insight in what Kline had in mind. Congratulations for Starkland for releasing this extraordinary and well-documented release." [DM, Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€16.50 |
|
| KLIVE |
Sweaty Psalms |
CD |
"KLIVE ist das Solo Projekt von Ulfur Hansson, einem jungen Musiker aus Reykjavik, Island. Er ist sonst Live-Musiker bei JÓNSI (Solo-Projekt des Sigur Rós Gittaristen) und Bassist der Noisecore-Band SWORDS OF CHAOS.
Was SWEATY PSALMS auszeichnet, ist vor allem der am besten „organisch“ zu nennende Sound. Obwohl grundsätzlich elektronisch produziert, ist das Klangbild überraschend akustisch. Hierfür sorgen zunächst einmal die quäkend-exotisch klingenden Blechbläser seiner 3 Live-Begleitmusikerinnen (2010 auf Tour als Support von KIRA KIRA). Vor allem aber die Aufnahmen von original isländischen Klangereignissen (engl. Field Recordings) machen den ganz eigenen Charakter des Albums aus: Schwer zu sagen ob es sich um einen Flaschenzug oder ein vertautes, schaukeldes Ruderboot handelte, es klingt jedenfalls definitiv nach Holz und Wasser. Es knarrt, flötet, klappert und planscht unbekannterweise, lediglich Möven sind zu identifizieren. Und die Percussion auf DON’T GIVE UP THE GHOST ist tatsächlich das vehemente Schlagen auf Töpfe und Pfannen der aufgebrachten Bevökerung vor dem isländischen Parlament nach dem Finanz-Crash 2008!
All dies macht SWEATY PSALMS zum einem klanglich und musikalisch auffälligen und wahrscheinlich bislang am wenigsten elektronisch klingenden MILLE PLATEAUX Album. Bislang. // KLIVE is the solo project of Ulfur Hansson, a young musician from Reykjavik, Iceland. He is also a touring member of JÓNSI ( Jon Þor Birgisson of SIGUR ROS) and the bass player of notorious noisecore band SWORDS OF CHAOS.
Digital Folk From Iceland. SWEATY PSALMS sounds like water and wood. It bubbles, whistles and rattles indefinitely, with merely seagulls to be spotted. SWEATY PSALMS has a strong organic feel, mixed with tongue in-cheek brass samples and orchestrations that compliment heavily processed field recordings. In fact, DON'T GIVE UP THE GHOST include sounds from the vehement battering of pots and pans outside the icelandic parliament, after the nations financial crash and burn of 2008.
It's inverted folkiness and warm concrete touch makes SWEATY PSALMS a remarkable album, and probably MILLE PLATEAUX's least electronic sounding album so far. So far!" [label info]
www.mille-plateaux.com
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| KLOOB |
Parallel States |
CD |
A welcome return to Winter-Light for Kloob with new work 'Parallel States'; his third solo album on our label.
‘Drifting helplessly in unchartered space. Gripped by fear and an inherent dread; the mind becomes wracked with feverish blurred visions. Intermittently slipping in to dreamlike sequences, spliced with harsh realities and the surreal. A sudden pulse courses throughout the body, triggering a magnificent view of the quantum limits. At once comprehending and understanding even the most intricate of macrocosmic notions.
Once the whole structure of mind, body and soul has undergone significant changes, the known boundaries of existence cease to impose such limitations.’
Ethereal soundscapes, deep-low drones, subtle-faint dub chords and gloomy atmospheres slowly slide in to assemble nebulous structures.
https://winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/parallel-states
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| KLUSTER |
Admira |
CD |
"Admira is sourced from original master recordings discovered by Kluster member and Tangerine Dream engineer Klaus Freudigmann. Along with Vulcano, also being released at the same time on Important, Admira is presented here for the first time in this deluxe package. These intense sessions were made with Schnitzler at the helm, as always, after the departure of Mobius and Roedelius from the group. Conrad Schnitzler founded Kluster in 1969 along with Roedelius, Mobius and often Klaus Freudigmann who had multiple roles within the group as a player, engineer and instrument inventor. Eventually Roedelius and Mobius left Kluster and continued on as Cluster while Schnitzler and Freudigmann continued as Kluster often exploring the communal aspects of music by bringing new people into the group." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| KMRU |
Peel |
do-LP |
KMRU is the moniker of Joseph Kamaru, a sound artist, and producer based in Nairobi. One of the leading exponents of the burgeoning experimental music scene in Nairobi and beyond he was listed by Resident Advisor as one of ’15 East African Artists You Need To Hear’ in 2018 and is a regular performer at the fabled Nyegenyege Festival having also presented live performances at CTM festival and Gamma Festival. Peel is KMRU’s first release for Editions Mego.
Exquisite mix of field recordings and electronics unravelling at a repetitive and leisurely pace to expose a rich tapestry of sound that has been revered for it’s ability to cross bordear with the sheer undertow of emotional content. The subtle calming atmosphere within Peel belies the compositional prowess as layers of delicate sounds wrap around each other creating a hybrid new form ambient musics both captivating through it’s textural depth and kaleidoscopic patterns. The track titles lend themselves to the themes and mood set within: Why are you here, Well, Solace, Klang, Insubstantial and the title track. This is a deep heartfelt journey with a new strong voice being expressed through the means of organically presented electronic ambient sounds, one which reveals further layers on repeat listens.
https://kmru.bandcamp.com/album/peel
|
2020 |
€25.00 |
|
| KOBI |
Acousticks |
CD |
"This album has been under construction for three years, and is released by Kai Mikalsens own label.
As usual, Kai Mikalsen has invited friends to lay instumental improvisations over his mix of soundscapes of processed sounds from common objects, location recordings and analogue synth loops.
Featuring: Kai Mikalsen, Tore H. Bøe, Michael Duch, Tie Qiao Li, Petter Flaten Eilertsen, Kjell Runar Jenssen and Anla Courtis." [label info]
www.looop.no/kobi
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| KOCHAN, RAFAL |
ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF INDUSTRIAL MUSIC : VOLUME 2 |
BOOK / CD |
"The second part of "ENYCLOPAEDIA OF INDUSTRIAL MUSIC", printed in full-colour, over 100 pages. over 270 names (letters D-I), articles and discographies. This part has got CD compilation. 300 copies" [label info]
"Back in Vital Weekly 721 I was very pleasantly surprised by the first volume of the Encyclopedia Of Industrial Music, and now we have the second volume, spanning 'D' to 'I' and has 'just' one CDR to go alone. A while ago someone said I was living in the past, with me liking physical objects such as records, CDs and books, and he is right: I prefer a book like this, to sit back in my chair, and flip throughout. I know I mustn't complain about age but I very much doubt wether I will ever get used to an e-reader and I would not be sitting behind my computer to browse a website that would have the same contents as this book. And yes, I am aware that books are outdated the minute they are printed. But that's the whole charm of it (oh I wrote that before on Volume 1 too). The Encyclopedia of Industrial Music is a book on an extended field of musical interest, from Brian Eno to Dachau Lustknaben to Luc Ferrari to Ryoji Ikeda. Short bits of what seems to me highly accurate information. The
CDR doesn't have Ikeda, Eno or Bruce Gilbert, but instead Dachau Lustknaben, Das Synthetische Mischgewebe, Yannick Dauby, Dieter Müh, The Digitariat, Jürgen Eckloff, Emil Beaulieau, Enema Syringe, Galerie Schallschutz, Gastric Female Reflex, Gerechtigkeits Liga, Grunt, GX Jupitter-Larsen and Idea Fire Company, which if these names mean anything to you, you know its all of the place: from brutal noise of the Lustknaben, The Digitariat, Beaulieu, Enema Syringe and Grunt to the softer end of musique concrete of Das Synthetische Mischgewebe, Dauby, Eckloff, the drones from Dieter Muh, Galerie Schallschutz or the very eighties tribalistic drumming of the Liga. Closed down with the piano and boat music of Idea Fire Company, this compilation is as diverse as the book itself. On the risk of repeating myself: Excellent. Can't hardly wait for the next volume. (and oh: many pictures of boys behind laptops or performing, but are The Grey Wolves really posing inside The Hacienda?)" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€20.00 |
|
| KODAMA (HITOSHI KOJO & MICHAEL NORTHAM) |
Turning Leaf Migrations |
LP |
Nach der limitierten CDR auf HITOSHI KOJO Label OCTPIA ("Les Chambres Nuages", 2005) die erste Veröffentlichung des Duos (mit MICHAEL NORTHAM) in grösserer Auflage. Auf dieser LP schaffen sie mit Hilfe von Objekt-Klängen, rituell wirkenden Gesängen, traditionellen Instrumenten & Field Recordings sehr "konkrete" und doch oft fliessende, höchst ungewöhnliche psychedelische Geräuschmusik, deren Komplexität oft kaum durchschaubar ist - diese Überforderung eröffnet aber die Möglichkeit sich über die Ratio hinwegzusetzen und sich ganz den sich stets verändernden Strukturen hinzugeben.. .. die Aufnahmen stammen von verschiedensten (Aussen)-Orten, das "Studio" ist die Natur, die Psychogeographie als "nicht hörbarer" und doch erfassbarer Faktor spielt hier eine grosse Rolle. Einzigartige Transformationsmusik !
"Kodama is the ongoing recording project of two well-known visual and sound artists -- Hitoshi Kojo and Michael Northam -- and this is their first widely available release as a duo. Recorded in various improbable locations whenever they crossed paths over the course of several years and then finally edited and assembled in a cluttered garage in the west side of Indianapolis. There is a decidedly more improvisational feel and crisp psychedelic aura to these recordings when compared to their other work and one can hear the influence of Ghedalia Tazartes in how the various recordings were stitched together. To quote Hitoshi Kojo: 'We are the spirit of forest. Our howling has been offered to the many goddesses of the valleys. Teething our emptiness they, licking the stars, until white holes appear in our sky through them towards regenerative guides of the tonal-morphic omni-verses. Using found objects to seduce voices from unlikely sources as well as traditional instruments of wind, wires and wood. Kodama weaves between emotional poetry and dynamic forces of noises. The recordings have a strong atmosphere of each location -- the top of a mountain in Switzerland, a campground in Ohio, Lofoten Island in Norway, the arctic circle in Finland, Niagara Falls, etc. It includes a lot of the dirts of the raw recordings, but also incredibly beautiful moments such as the session with an owl in a Slovenian forest, an alpine summit singing meditation under the vast galaxy, and an encounter with the small people through strange ritual...' - HK. Limited pressing of 500 copies. Covers & insert printed on 2-color offset press with illustrations and design by Hitoshi Kojo." [label info]
"... All captured mainly outside, like the top of a mountain, a campground or the Lofoten Island. In terms of music I guess this is the best record of the lot, most thoughout and musically engaging. A refined mixture of ritual music (without those magickal overtones), drone, microsound and field recordings, all done in an unique way." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2008 |
€18.00 |
|
| KOJO, HITOSHI / TOY BIZARRE |
Japan Vol. I |
mCD-R |
"Hitoshi Kojo - Atterrissage. Composed Jan. 2009. Remixed oct. 2010. toy.bizarre - kdi dctb 126 (I). Recorded Feb. 2000 in Kushiro, Japan. Composed 2011 @ tbs. These two pieces are built on a common basis: a series of field-recordings I made in Japan, February 2000, thanks to Koji Tano who organized a toy.bizarre tour. Hitsohi focuses here on a sound recording of an action I made on Koji Tano's house in Tokyo, producing small resonances on the metallic structure with small electrical motors. My piece is build from a field-recording session made around the snowy Kushiro-City harbour (Hokkaido), February 2000." [Cédric Peyronnet / credits]
www.kaon.org
|
2011 |
€8.50 |
|
| KOLLAPS |
Sibling Lovers |
LP |
"Following 2015’s debut EP release ‘Heartworm’, Melbourne industrialists Kollaps have refined their restless brand of harsh DIY post-industrial noise. Recruiting doom/noise veteran Damian Coward [Heirs, High Tension] to bass/percussion/production in 2016, Wade Black (vocals) and Robin W. Marsh’s (drums, programming), ‘Sibling Lovers’ intensifies the conflict between the twin energies of confusion and control at the core of Kollaps’ sound.
The band’s habitually uneasy textures and crude tones are generated with appropriated non-instruments- scrap metal, raw plastics, steel beams. For Kollaps, this isn’t an empty ‘industrial’ gesture. It’s a way to literally use the detritus of postmodern society against itself. Vocals bypass the desk, running directly through amplifiers to create a sense of a raw, untreated voice.
Conceptually, ’Sibling Lovers’ follows ‘Heartworm’ as an exploration of individual sickness as a manifestation of a diseased modern society. For lyricist Wade Black ‘Sibling Lovers’ is introspective and confessional; images of actual physical sicknesses (cancer, colosomy bags, heart worm) are used to make sense a malignant world of slaughterhouses, incest and alcoholism.
Having built a reputation for ferocious live shows and violent performances, Kollaps have steadily drawn reckless crowds around Australia, alongside some of the best local and intentional underground performers [All Seeing Hand (NZ), Armour Group, Military Position, Mensch, Complete, DIM, Elisabeth Dixon, Primitive Calculators]
|
2017 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
Until the Day I die |
CD |
"Until The Day I Die" is the third album from Australian post-industrial outfit KOLLAPS.
"Until The Day I Die" is a merciless and visceral assault on the senses and continues the trajectory of the band's idiosyncratic approach in their creation of sound. The album showcases an uncompromising force of harsh post-industrial music narrated by overarching themes of condemnation and redemption; of violence, romanticism, sexuality, and addiction. Much of the creation and lyrical conceptualisation of the record has been stylised and presented using William S. Burroughs' cut-up method.
A wide variety of metals and raw materials were used in the creation of the album including metal grates, a rusted hoist, cement cylinders, field recordings, hammering of various decrepit objects, broken amplifiers, an exposed reverb tank, various synthesizers, and the infamous metal coil; a crudely self-constructed artifice that has become iconic in its use across KOLLAPS' triptych of releases and lengthy touring history in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
"Until The Day I Die" has had a tectonic shift in production methods compared to its predecessors and was entirely written, recorded, and mixed internally the self-constructed ILoveHeroin Studios built above a sculpture museum in Lugano, Switzerland. All instrumentation was handled by Wade Black except for bass guitar by Andrea Collaro recorded at Hangar 121 in Lenate Pozzollo, Italy on all tracks except "D-IX" and "I Believe In The Closed Fist," handled by Black, and additional sound design and percussion by Giorgio Salmoiraghi.
The album was mastered by James Plotkin and completed with cover artwork by Nullvoid (Thomas Ekelund | Trepaneringsritualen).
CD in 6-panel digipak || LP with full colour matt-laminate sleeve and printed inner lyric sleeve.
Written, recorded and mixed by Wade Black
Bass guitar by Andrea Collaro except “D-IX”, and “… Closed Fist”
Additional sound design and percussion by Giorgio Salmoiraghi
Mastered by James Plotkin
Recorded and mixed at ILoveHeroin Studios in Lugano, Switzerland
Bass recorded at Hangar 121 in Lonate Pozzollo, Italy and engineered collectively by Kollaps.
Artwork: Nullvoid (Thomas Ekelund)
#########################################
"Sometimes I go to a concert with minimal expectations. Once I decided to go to an unknown name, I didn't bother to investigate further; I just saw and be surprised. A few years ago, I decided to go to Kollaps, which I thought would be an Einsturende Neubauten-inspired thing, seeing they took the title of their first LP as a band name. I learned that they were from Australia and they used metal, synthesisers, maybe a bass and a singer. Oh, and a stack of amplifiers. I was pleasantly surprised that night. It was much louder than I anticipated (for no good reason). The group clearly found inspiration in SPK and Neubauten, but with a manic singer, screaming, shouting, pointing the microphone towards the amplifiers, generating feedback. There was great control among the various players, and I think they played songs and some mind-numbing barrage of noise. Back home, I shamefully admit, I didn't follow up on this concert, checking their work online. So, 'Until The Day I Die' is my first encounter with this group with studio recordings. I still enjoy what I hear and find some interesting musical nuances here. It is not a festival of feedback. Not that I expected this to be. There are quite a few of that, obviously, sitting next to banging on objects, screaming, but also a satire (I should think) of neo-folk in the title track. Complete with guitar and sad vocals, but drenched in reverb, leaning towards feedback. Some orchestral samples, mangled field recordings, and the military bang on the drums. Top-heavy music and filled with furious aggression. Not the dulcet tones of summer, but the sounds of a society collapsing in misery. I love it." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| KOM |
Berry White |
CD |
"KOM are back with their first real full length. The new record BERRY WHITE doesn't change their opinion about music and how they want to reach people – but with these new 12 songs they maybe will get the attention of a wider audience they deserve. You still can't talk about 12 single songs because this record again just makes sense if you look at it as a whole piece of art. It's the homogeneity of artwork (handprinted cardboard sleeves for the cd version), lyrics, interludes and the real songs which makes the record unique and outstanding. They still write and play those little pieces of art far away from established genre clichés. You can call it a mixture of indie-rock, singer songwriter or postrock – but all of these bromides don't fit at all. They're very influenced by old 60's film music – but don't sound like that. They like to listen to ROBERT WYATT, HARMONIA or RADIOHEAD – but they don't copy them. They're just KOM – four guys from three cities in Germany who visit a small cottage in the woods every 2nd year to write a new refreshing record." [label info]
www.denovali.com
|
2010 |
€13.50 |
|
| KOMMISSAR HJULER / MAMA BÄR / NINNI MORGIA / SILVIA KASTEL |
Live in Edinburgh |
LP |
"In April 2011 the two couples formed by Kommissar Hjuler & Mama Baer and Ninni Morgia & Silvia Kastel ventured for a tour in the UK; it was the first time they played together but their shared common visions, attitude and general craziness actually gave life to an inspired team. Every show was different; in Edinburgh, they decided to perform a piece originally written by Ninni Morgia & Silvia Kastel, "Jericho", that Papa Baer liked.
So before the show, the group pre-recorded a tape in a big theater-like room inside the venue, with a spoken version of the lyrics. On stage, Mama Baer projected a video made by her, depicting the four of them standing against a wall; the music starts off with Kommissar manipulating the tape, then the actual "Jericho" lyrics are sung by Mama Baer and Silvia Kastel while Ninni Morgia's bends,
buffs and brushes his guitar and Kastel's synthesizer starts growling out of the monster's belly. Tension, discomfort, love, pain, theatre? music? art? Four people, each of them immolates themselves for the cause.
This release is available in two editions (Art Edition & Standard Edition). DON'T MISS IT!!!" [label info]
www.ricercasonora.com
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| KONGO |
Blubber |
CD |
"Henrik Nordvargr Björkk and Peter Nyström are both well known figures in the realm of dark soundscapes. They have been providing their obscure sonorities for decades now and each new release by either of the two legendary artists is an awaited treat. With their new project KONGO, Björkk and Nyström set off on a journey where they delve deep into early industrial music: using cut-up technique, processing speech samples, looping distorted melodies and making Blubber the ultimate homage to Severed Heads and Cabaret Voltaire’s works. It’s hectic, obsessive, and crazy. And it’s got that punk feel to it – a perfect soundtrack to the fucked-up world we are living in. Comes with an amazing artwork by Kellerman Design in a digipack edition of 300 copies." [label info]
ur-muzik.blogspot.de
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| KONKETE ANTI WULST |
Unsichtbare Zwillinge |
CD-R |
"Surrealist collage is the name of the game that Glenn Hollstein and Holger Bischoff play, both in their cover art as well as in the 45-minute sound piece it enfolds. Church organs criss-cross with voices from faraway, sounds of unidentifiable objects and strange, disembodied frequencies. A labyrinthine, slightly halluzinogenic sound trip.
The attraction of this work is in the way that it combines concrete sounds in ways that make them unfamiliar, draining the referential from it not by processing, but by combining them with other sounds. So it is totally clear that one is hearing human voices, but it is impossible to make out in which language they are speaking. Likewise, hardly any other instrument or sound-source is really recognisable, although none of them are clearly of synthetic origin. An intriguing sound puzzle!
File under: Sound art"
[label info]
www.attenuationcircuit.de
"Yes, it's really Konkete and not Konkrete Anti Wulst and it is a duo of Glenn Hollstein and Holger Bischoff, who have this sort of surrealist action in their music and art. I didn't hear from them before. Their credits go out to 'instruments, voice' and 'instruments, objects, tapes, voice'. Surrealist + music and I always think of Nurse With Wound with such a combination. That is only partly true in this case, as this duo operates on a much louder, noisier level. There is one piece here, forty-five minutes, of noise that is created with all electronics, all voices and all objects being treated with a chilling amount of reverb. In a way, to make a Nurse With Wound connection, I am reminded here of the '150 Murderous Passions' record, the Nurse With Wound/Whitehouse record (never properly re-issued). Maybe a bit less loud here, but with a similar approach to a wall of feedback/sound and far away voice material, as well as the rumbling of acoustic objects in the basement. It works best when the voices are a bit better to hear and it's less muddy, towards the end more than in the early parts of this piece. A very consistent piece of music for sure, perhaps not entirely new or innovative, but actually quite enjoyable. A grey rainy summer's day gets the perfect soundtrack!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€7.00 |
|
| KONRAD KRAFT |
Temporary Audiosculptures and Artefacts |
CD |
"After 15 years of silence this is the first major release by duesseldorf electronic artist detlef funder, aka konrad kraft.
In the early days of experimentation he was one of the leading figures behind the label SDV (Stimme des Volkes) who put out stuff by such great projects like Strafe Fuer Rebellion, Paul Schuetze and TUU. For "temporary audiosculptures and artefacts" detlef has changed his trademark ambient sound flows to resemble something that sounds liek a cross between fade out post-industrial, concrete sounds and a desire for filmic density. if that
makes any sense...
In his own words:
Trying to set musical events in a sculptural form, the Düsseldorf/Wuppertal based artist and musician Detlef Funder (a.k.a. Konrad Kraft), develops the temporary audio-sculpture. Knowing that a tonal event can never take the materiality of a real sculpture, Konrad Kraft attempts this special transformation with the help of various elements. Human imaginativeness,
time, as well as the tonal event itself are the elements for the listener to form an individual audio-sculpture and to let it develop in their heads. The audio-sculpture with its acoustic body, around which various tonal/sound
elements and events float, appears with a physical structure, a dimensionality. Tonal/sound elements are of various origins. In part elicited from nature, or being conjured up synthetically, or just being put together randomly, all elements are enhanced and altered sometimes significantly to the point that the character has changed completely and can
hardly be identified. The term ‘artefact’ relates to the fact that sound fragments, through the synthetic alteration, are broken-up and only exist and appear as particles. They flow as ‘artefacts’ in the tonal range. It sounds like floating metallic sound units interfere with small concrete sounds in the foreground. It reminds us at times of some of the work by Illusion Of Safety, Controlled Bleeding and Cisfinitum.
Detlef Funder alias Konrad Kraft Bio
1979 ¬ Purchase of first semi-modular synthesiser.
1982 ¬ Creation of experimental and avantgarde music project “Konrad Kraft“.
Various tapes and CDs as well as compilation tracks are published.
1988 ¬ 1994 Co-founder of the Düsseldorf based music label “SDV-Tonträger”.
Responsible for A&R work.
1989 ¬ 1999 Freelance work as video editor and post-production supervisor
for German broadcast and private TV.
1990 ¬ 2011 Producer of electronic music (experimental, ambient, techno) and
work as DJ and live-acts worldwide (“Konrad Kraft”, “Gilgamesch”,
“D-Fundation”, “Detson Engineering” & “Four Carry Nuts”).
2004 ¬ After a long break resumption of work as artist (fine arts and
painting).
2011 ¬ Release of Konrad Kraft “Temporary Audio Sculptures and Artefacts“
audio-CD, with the label “aufabwegen, Cologne”
Releases:
1992 Dino Oon & Konrad Kraft ¬ “Environmental Studies“ (SDV-Düsseldorf) CD
1996 Konrad Kraft ¬ Alien Atmospheres (Elektro Smog-Frankfurt) CD " [full label info]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Quadrat |
LP |
"Quadrat is the title of Konrad Kraft’s (aka Detlef Funder) newest album. In some ways this album constitutes a kind of continuation of his previous work, which started with Temporary Audiosculptures. A sound manifestation of imaginary, sculptural and graphic structures. Like before, the production concentrates, in a more diffused way than in his previous album, on adding compositorial characteristics to graphic-geometric structures.
The result is a formal Grammatik of complex sound structures existing of wanted and indeed unwanted sounds and improvised moments. Fragmentary passages join homogeneous ones, spatial agglomerations follow cut-ups, acoustic adhesion meets simmering hotspots. Quadrat is clearly more poetical than his last album. Reduction and occasional use of minimalistic tonality and rhythm are in the forefront, and invite for sound excursions. The dogmatic choice of electronic sound production as well as the extreme manipulation of field recordings, allows for the formation of an abstract electronic parallel world.
Detlef Funder alias Konrad Kraft Bio:
1979 – Purchase of first semi-modular synthesiser.
1982 – Creation of experimental and avantgarde music project “Konrad Kraft“.
Various tapes and CDs as well as compilation tracks are published.
1988 – 1994 Co-founder of the Düsseldorf based music label “SDV-Tonträger”.
1990 – 2011 Producer of electronic music (experimental, ambient, techno) and
work as DJ and live-acts worldwide (“Konrad Kraft”, “Gilgamesch”,
“D-Fundation”, “Detson Engineering” & “Four Carry Nuts”).
2004 – After a long break resumption of work as artist (fine arts and
painting).
Releases:
1992 Dino Oon & Konrad Kraft – “Environmental Studies“ (SDV-Düsseldorf) CD
1996 Konrad Kraft – Alien Atmospheres (Elektro Smog-Frankfurt) CD
2011 Konrad Kraft - Temporary Audio Sculptures and Artefacts (aufabwegen) CD
www.aufabwegen.com
|
2016 |
€18.00 |
|
| KOVAC, BORIS / NEW RITUAL GROUP |
The Path |
CD |
"What’s remarkable about Boris is that he has carved out a musical form that transcends genre or even musical content; it’s a music of depth and feeling; and that’s what you hear beyond the notes or style. And he has gathered, over time, musicians who can realize that quality. This, for Boris, is a small group, only five people, so they can be looser, more personal than the larger ensembles. Though informed by chamber music, Serbian, Romanian and Hungarian folk music, and jazz, you can’t file this record in any of those categories. Lyrical and ostensibly simple, these exquisitely coloured and beautifully recorded compositions float, occasionally changing density, but always solid enough to be clear about what they are. The drums are especially subtle in this regard, more touch than motor, but they make themselves expressive, even forceful, when they need to. For the rest, the music moves as a sinuous wave, the parts distinct but not separated. It’s autumnal, that I could say." [label notes]
"Mit „The Path“ veröffentlicht der Jugoslawische Komponist und Multiinstrumentalist BORIS KOVAC ein Album, das eine gefühlvolle Verschmelzung von Chamber Music, osteuropäischem Folk und Jazz bietet. Die CD erscheint als Digipack via RECOMMENDED.
Mehr als 20 Alben hat der 1955 in der damals unabhängigen Region Vojvodina am Rande von Jugoslawien geborene BORIS KOVAC bislang veröffentlicht. Und obwohl seine Wurzeln in traditioneller Musik, Improvisation und Jazz verhaftet sind, verschrieb er sich doch auch der musikalischen Arbeit für Filme und Theaterstücke, für die er bereits mehrfach ausgezeichnet wurde. Mit seinen World- und Jazz-Ensembles RITUAL NOVA, LADAABA ORCHEST und dem LA CAMPANELLA ORCHESTRA spielte er mehr als 500 Konzerte in 30 verschiedenen Ländern. In den vier Instrumentalisten seiner NEW RITUAL GROUP fand er nun die idealen Partner um den acht Kompositionen seines neuen Albums „The Path“ auf knapp 50 Minuten zu einer nachdenklichen, zerbrechlich anmutenden Grundstimmung zu verhelfen. Hauptsächlich mit Kontrabass, Piano, Saxophon und Percussions instrumentiert, scheinen die vordergründig einfach gehaltenen Kompositionen durch den Raum zu schweben,
mal düster, mal gefühlvoll verspielt, aber immer kristallklar. Durch ruhige Klänge - so schreibt KOVAC im Booklet - will er dem Hörer ein Ausbrechen aus dem turbulenten Alltag erleichtern und der Natur und deren Ruhe ein Stückchen näher bringen. Ein wunderbarer Gedanke, der mit „The Path“ ideal umgesetzt wird."
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| KOWALSKY, GREGG |
Tape Chants |
CD |
"From GREGG KOWALSKY: “After my first album for Kranky, I was eager to adapt a new method of composing and performing as a way to distance myself from the digital realm. I felt limited by the unlimited possibilities of digital production, and I had spent the previous 5 years composing with the computer as my main instrument. In an effort to push myself I spent two years experimenting with tape loops, cassette players and recorders, analog synths, sine oscillators, mixer feedback, contact mics and various acoustic sound sources. Through these experiments I developed a series entitled Tape Chants, which is made up of performances and compositions using tapes as the main source material, as well as the mono speakers of various cassette players for the piece’s amplification. All of the cassettes are tuned to each other using the pitch control and halfspeed playback devices located on the Sony TCM 200DV cassette recorder. All of the compositions are constructed with tuned sinewaves as the starting point and the pieces are built using sources such as shruti box, percussion, gongs, etc. During the construction of the studio version of Tape Chants, I was interested in adding rhythmic textures to the once static drone compositions. The recorded version of Tape Chants does not try to replicate the surround sound component of the live performances, but there is a variety of different acoustic spaces located in the source material. Many of the same cassettes that were used in the several editions of the series were used to record this album." [label info]
www.brainwashed.com/kranky
|
2009 |
€14.50 |
|
| KRAKEN |
Amore |
do-CD |
Nach FÖRLISA ein Doppelalbum des belgischen Duos, die wieder die dunkle Seite der Musik und des Lebens an sich ausloten, dabei aber zwei sehr gegensätzliche CDs vorlegen... auf der einen klingt das sehr minimal & elektronisch mit dunklen Flächen & hallenden Industrieanlagengeräuschen, wo später medizinische-kalte Spracheingaben auftauchen und die Spannungskurve allmählich geschickt nach oben wandert; auf der anderen gibt es mehr field recordings, strange Sprachbearbeitungen und Einspielungen und dunke Pulsationen & Beats & Bläser-Echos, die sich mit dunklen Klangmassen verbinden.....äusserst sorgfältig wurden hier Sounds ausgesucht und Stücke zusammengesetzt.... dark ambient der explorativen Sorte !
"...Amore" is a recording full of contrasts. The first CD requires an active attention span to fully appreciate the artistry involved. Although steeped in black ambience and drones the occasional slight experimental feel could be off putting for lesser souls. Whilst the second CD is more easily accessible to those into the darker side of music and life. All in all though the release is deceptively awe inspiring and is different enough to be a viable purchase for ambient / drone collectors.” [AuralPressure]
“With almost two hours of deeply absorbing soundscapes, latest album by Belgian project Kraken delivers an experience of abstraction similar to the aforementioned experience at the movie theatre. The album titled "Amore" first of all operates in the spheres of dark ambient built on low frequency drones, deep rumbling horns and mixtures of concrete and artificial sounds. The music is subtle and dreamy thanks to the drones of hypnotism and the distantly echoed voices as well as a clever use of field recordings. Even with the occurrence of the great amount of samples from real life accompanying you as you float through the tunnels of eerie ambientscapes the atmosphere on the album first of all delivers a sense of isolationism. Imagine the impression of being conscious enough to sense the dialogues of the surgical team as you lay on the operating table: The voices surround you, but they sound distant and you are not part of the dialogue. First CD has been divided into five works of art meanwhile second disc only consists of two tracks: Where the first track runs approx. 70 minutes, the closing track with its short duration of 49 seconds, first of all functions as a transformation between the sonic darkness of "Amore" and the outside world. Built on beautifully processed harpsichords the track, titled "de hoorn in je hoed", lightens up the atmosphere before the listener soon once again will have to face the real world. Despite the title there is absolutely no sign of romanticism on this remarkable exploration into the dark lands of Kraken.” [NMP / Vital Weekly]
www.spectre.be |
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Drift |
CD |
"Trilogies always come in three parts, that is why they're called trilogies. And just like the latest two Kraken releases, the new album 'Drift' also comes in a minimal designed black and white cardboard cover. Which brings us to the conclusion that together with 'Amore' and 'Chagrin', the Kraken trilogy on Spectre has been completed.
Amongst the multiple meanings of the Dutch 'Drift' there is 'Temper' and 'Impulse' which are the emotional layers on this CD, but it also reflects to a ship being uncontrolable. As all tracks are related to oceans and oceanlife (amongst them are 'Fighting with cachalot', 'Whalebones are not umbrella's' and 'Sushi is murder') we can see what upsets Kraken . And the music fits their anger perfectly; A layering of dark ambience and deep opressive drones, spoken word in various languages and a pinch of noise.
Three emotions were Kraken's guideline while writing the trilogy and 'Drift' definitly is the most inhospitable and threatning of them. This third journey through the deepest caverns of their minds revealed a truth, more gross and repulsive than anyone can imagine. It's a small black hole which swallows everything, including hope. Let us find it and burn it ..."
[label notes]
Spectre label website: www.spectre.be
|
2007 |
€14.50 |
|
| |
Untitled |
CD |
"kraken is back and pulls us down into the abyss - a dark, cold and desolate place that is filled with the droning of oscillators. authentic field recordings mingle with evolving rhythms, and the underlying tension created by the poignant confessions of human beings adds to the unique flavor of kraken: equally fascinating, enchanting and disturbing, the sounds cut right through our souls. for fifty minutes, kraken keeps us in its tight grip and we all cannot resist but realize our own fugacity. fifteen years past the first kraken release, its epitaph is more actual than ever before: when gazing into the abyss for too long, one tardy realizes that he is part of it. from within the vast depths, raubbau brings to you the latest album, unnamed." [label info]
www.raubbau.org
"Lange Jahre haben wir die beiden Belgier auf NONPOP begleitet. Insbesondere ab Mitte der so genannten Nullerjahre waren JORIS VERMOST und RICARDO GOMEZ Y DE BUCK sehr aktiv, brachten regelmäßig ihre klaustrophobischen Tiefsee-Soundtracks zwischen Dark Ambient, Noise und Collage unter die Leute. (Ein Interview zur Arbeit von KRAKEN findet Ihr hier.) Mit "Strop" auf RAUBBAU (Besprechung) schien sich dann zu bewahrheiten, was KRAKEN aus Spaß bis dahin zu jedem Album sagten: Es sei ihr finales. Vier Jahre Funkstille ohne jedwede Ankündigung neuer Aktivitäten. Umso erfreuter war ich über die Nachricht von RAUBBAU, dass nun tatsächlich ein weiteres Album erscheint, passend zur Zurückhaltung einfach ohne Titel – "Untitled". "A dark, cold and desolate place" verspricht das Label, "equally fascinating, enchanting and disturbing" – diese Beschreibung deckt sich mit meiner bisherigen Wahrnehmung von KRAKEN. Und auch die gleichzeitig ästhetischen, aber sehr trostlosen Alltagsfotos, mit denen das Duo seit jeher seine Alben schmückt, deuten auf Kontinuität hin. Tatsächlich hat auch das aktuelle Werk eine hohe Wiedererkennbarkeit und liefert mit dem ersten Track einen der besten der Bandgeschichte.
"Untitled 1" beginnt überraschend mit einem deutschen Text: Eine furchtsame und angewiderte, rezitierende Frauenstimme (mit Akzent) berichtet von einem "schwarzen Loch, das alles verschlingt". Sie flüstert von Verfall, Drogen, Tot und Unrat – also vom ganz normalen Leben. Harsche, knirschende, aber nicht unschöne Sounds fügen sich darunter zu einem Ambientteppich, der wiederum abrupt von Billigbeats, von Surren und Knattern unterbrochen wird. Es folgt eine melodiösere Strecke mit Gitarrentönen, die weiterhin den Gegensatz des gesamten Albums aufrecht hält: schön vs. hässlich, Freundlichkeit vs. Verderben. Das Flüstern und allerlei mystische Geräusche spielen eine Rolle, manchmal erinnert das Stück gar an geknurrten Urfolk, um am Ende wieder von flächiger Trostlosigkeit eingeholt zu werden. "Untitled 2" wirkt als Collage aus diversen, organischen Sounds. Zwischen Field Redordings und Vocals schiebt sich ein Drone und bringt einige rituell anmutende Komponenten wie Stammesgeheul oder Kampfesrufe mit. "Untitled 3" besteht im Wesentlichen aus dem rhythmischen Peitschen von Frequenzen, ebenfalls mit entfernt unterlegten, menschlichen Geräuschen. Hypnotischer Dauerbeschuss wie intensives Hubschrauberdröhnen. In "Untitled 4" spielt erneut eine Frauenstimme – spanisch? – die tragende Rolle, spricht verzweifelt zu höhligen Sounds. Das Stück geht dann über in ambienthafte Drones und verströmt die das Album durchziehende, unheimliche Atmosphäre. "Untitled 5" schließt sich nahtlos an, als düstere Soundhöhle mit weiteren Vocals, hier kommt sehr deutlich das typische KRAKEN-Flair zum Tragen, der Bezug zur See mit Geräuschen wie knarzenden Schiffsbalken. "Untitled 6" schließlich ist überwiegend ein noisiges, ansteigendes Kreischen, das Abheben eines Düsenjets oder platzende Lungen bei Sauerstoffmangel im Wasser. Am Ende läuten die Totenglocken, mit denen die rund 55 Minuten auch begonnen haben.
Belgien steht ja bei der Fußball-WM hoch im Kurs. Musikalisch fällt mir in der Regel wenig zu diesem Land ein. KRAKEN allerdings sind ein Aushängeschild, und ich bin froh, dass sie sich wieder zeigen. Diese Mischung aus Trostlosigkeit und Eleganz, die Reduzierung auf menschliche Ängste und Triebe in Kombination mit der sich manchmal einschleichenden Unterwassersymbolik – das ist einmalig. 'Human Dark Ambient', vor allem im ersten Stück auf ganz hohem Niveau." [Michael We. / NON-POP]
|
2014 |
€6.00 |
|
| KRAKOWIAK, TOMASZ |
A/P |
7 |
"On one hand, Krakowiak's recordings should not be a surprise to those who follow his activity on the free-improv scene, after all his recordings continue to penetrate the acoustic properties of individual percussion instruments. However, when this scene is slowly moving in the blind alley of predictability, and critics increasingly yearn for newer sounds and surprising collaborations, the latest Bocian Records release is a strong contrast. First, Krakowiak deliberately departs from the hi-fi aesthetics being associated with recordings of artists applying a similar approach to the percussion instruments (such as Christian Wolfarth, Jon Mueller or Jason Khan). These two pieces, recorded without any effects or processing are the sound of a single cymbal recorded with an old cassette tape. But this is not a tribute to the trendy, lo-fi aesthetics and Hypnagogic,the imperfections and the characteristic "analog" sound is Krakowiak's goal in itself, not a postmodern game of the genre convention (which many show in recent years). Finally, precision and attention of theserecordings make me think of Harry Bertoia's sculptures, or vitality of ideas and textures of Morphogenesis. A vitality, which often is to be sought among contemporary drone music publications." [Daniel Brożek]
www.bocianrecords.com
"One Tomas Krakowiak uses a cymbal and a stereo microphone on his 7". Both sides last exactly four minutes fifty-nine seconds, and one piece is called 'A' and the other is called 'P'. He plays the cymbal by using objects to create rotating sounds, to lift up the cymbal make it sing in overtones. Somehow I think these pieces are layered from various recordings, but of course I might be wrong. 'P' is the more droney version of the two, 'A', the more acoustic one. Both pieces aren't flawless, one hears small 'mistakes' of whatever it is to sets the cymbal to vibrate, which adds, me thinks, a nice human touch to it. Maybe all a bit too short for the format of a 7", and a 10" would have been more in place. But nice it is for sure." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€7.00 |
|
| KRAMER, GREGORY |
Silent City Blizzard |
mCD-R |
"gregory kramer is a us sound artist who composes and performs with field recordings, electronics and various other sources.
"silent city blizzard" is an electronic drone soundscape recorded live at signs and symbols gallery, new york.
it starts with recordings of snowflakes hitting a window pane during a snow storm and it evolves from there..."
https://taalem.bandcamp.com/album/silent-city-blizzard-alm-133
|
2020 |
€5.50 |
|
| KRCFHL |
same |
do-CD |
The KRCFHL recording was made on September 28, 2005 by three well-known Russian sound experimentalists M.M. (Kryptogen Rundfunk), Evgeniy Voronovskiy (Cisfinitum) and Nikolay Kalmykov (Hladna). The musicians gathered in Evgeniy’s home studio in Moscow, spontaneously played and recorded this psychedelic set. The recording remained unknown to the public for 16 years, but worked as a fail-safe therapy for the kultFRONT label during all these years.
KRCFHL is a smooth immersion in the pulsating world of analogue synthesizers, embellished with the sounds of violin that does not sound like itself. Prior to this recording, the musicians performed several times on the same stages, either at post-industrial music festivals (a joint photo in the album’s artwork was taken on the Thalamus II fest, which happened in Pskov in May 2005), or in collaboration sets. After this recording, they didn’t practice any joint immersions, but the musicians worked on releasing other recordings.
In 2021 the recording became a double album thanks to four tracks from KRCFHL colleagues from the next generation of Russian sound experimentalists. Friends reimagined the recording from 2005, each in their own recognizable way. The first track was made by the project NOTUM, which was born in St. Petersburg, but is now developing in Berlin. The second remix was recorded by Xenia Lotus (Drone Liberation Front, a collaboration project with Tim Six) under the guise of her solo project BEZVLASTJE. The third rework was done by “the noise queen” Sveta Svetlo, aka SVETLO111. And the second disc (or side B on the cassette) is wrapped up by Ilya SYMPHOCAT.
The album artwork features photographs of an old wall in the vicinity of the Smolniy Convent in St. Petersburg. The place with the KRCFHL inscriptions has already become a point of attraction for pilgrims.
The album is released on 50 compact cassettes with a total length of 85 minutes. Additionally, the album is available on 200 double CDs.
KRCFHL is clear proof of how music and its magic only becomes more interesting over the years.
credits
released December 29, 2021
KRCFHL (parts I & II) recorded live by M.M. (KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK), Evgeniy Voronovskiy (CISFINITUM), Nikolay Kalmykov (HLADNA) on September 28th, 2005 at Evgeniy’s home studio, Moscow
~ kryptogen.bandcamp.com
~ cisfinitum.bandcamp.com
~ hladna.bandcamp.com
KRCFHL (NOTUM remix) recorded by Ikk Ygg in October 2021, Berlin
~ notumschaltung.com
KRCFHL (BEZVLASTJE remix) recorded by Xenia Lotus on November 25, 2021, St. Petersburg
~ soundcloud.com/bezvlastje
KRCFHL (SVETLO111 remix) recorded by Sveta Svetlo in October 2021, St. Petersburg
~ soundcloud.com/svetlo111
KRCFHL (SYMPHOCAT remix) recorded by Ilia Symphocat in October-November 2021, St. Petersburg
~ symphocat.com
Mastered by M.M. & ArSch
Photos by kultFRONT, Luiza Arroz, @cht00000, Vera Bezrukova
Design by kultFRONT
Co-released with ZHELEZOBETON Distribution Division: zhbd.bandcamp.com
https://kultfront.bandcamp.com/album/krcfhl
|
2022 |
€16.00 |
|
| KREBS, K.M. |
Alchymy |
CD-R |
Already the 14th CDR release in this nice drone / experimental ambient/ field-recording-series (who also offer a big amount of online-release on their website) with extraordinaire packaging. KEVIN KREBS convinces with 9 pieces (55 minutes) of electro-acoustic drone-soundscapes, using field recordings and more "played" concrete elements from instruments or objects at the same time, for a stunning result where one can focus the attention totally. Sometimes the compositions seem to float and stream, at times they appear to be more collaged..... Great album, which really should have more than just 60 listeners..
"The voiceless heart of alchemy is a deepening into metaphor. The resplendent and complex array of colours, animals, and techniques that
initiate transformational processes. A quickening of the leaden world of quotidian experience, unearthing a 'participation mystique' and deconcretizing the symbolic face of the world. 'Alchymy' is an ear placed on the imaginal heart, a dialogue of field recordings, musical fragments, noise and silence: focused yet expansive, complex, subtle and shimmering. A work of archetypal listening. "Even sleepers are workers and collaborators on what goes on in the universe." -- Heraclitus. liner notes by Kevin M. Krebs." [label info]
www.con-v.org
|
2007 |
€5.00 |
|
| KRENG |
Cooties |
LP |
"Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by KRENG.
Death Waltz Recording Company is delighted to take you back to the schoolyard for a dose of fun with Kreng's score to COOTIES. A group of elementary teachers – including Elijah Wood, Alison Pill, and Rainn Wilson – up against an army of feral kids infected with a mystery virus, bringing new meaning to the term “playground violence." Produced by Wood's company Spectrevision, COOTIES is already shaping up to be a modern cult classic, not least through its infectious music.
Composed by the avant-garde project Kreng (aka Belgian musician Pepjin Caudron) the score for COOTIES reflects a number of influences, from Bernard Herrmann's work for strings to spaghetti westerns through a trip hop filter set to “extreme foreboding”. Kreng's approach will surprise and intrigue, compared to many scores of its ilk. While it's synth-heavy, there are key roles for haunting vocal effects and violins, mixing both aesthetically beautiful and madcap cues to create waves of emotionally and viscerally powerful tunes. COOTIES stands proud alongside – and in some cases above - the crop of contemporary horror scores. Relax, put the needle on the wax, and let this record infect your ears. You'll be voracious for more."
mondotees.com/collections/deathwaltz/products/cooties-ost
"Oh man, we wanted to see this movie from the second we first heard about it. Kids in a primary school get a wicked case of the 'cooties', which transforms them into zombie like wee beasties, and it's up to the teachers to survive, and if need be (which need very likely does be!) dispatch of the hungry, demonic hordes roaming the playground. The trailer looks ridiculous and over the top (we haven't actually seen it yet), and very much like a grade school version of another awesome horror-school classic, The Faculty. Beyond that just being such an amazing concept for a movie, there's the added bonus of the incredible score by weirdo soundsculptor / dronelord / avant grade composer (and huge aQ fave) Kreng, aka Pepijn Caudron.
Longtime readers of the aQ list are also likely fans of the Miasmah label, which Kreng generally calls home. His releases on Miasmah are moody and murky and minimal, twisted and shadowy, waste and faded and gorgeously mysterious. And while all that sounds like the perfect ingredients for a seriously sinister horror score, since this is not your typical horror movie, Caudron gets to explore WAY out of his usual sonic comfort zone, whether it's long sprawls of DJ Shadow like beat driven grooviness (in one instance, the haunting main theme is played by what sounds like a sitar!), or swirly, symphonic exotica, or hushed, somber shimmer, it's all woven together into a proper album, that is a pretty fantastic listen, even sans the film.
The DJ Shadow comparison is actually pretty apt as beats and breaks surface throughout, but it's in the execution that things get and stay weird, in fact one of the best musical moments is when a loping beat limps along beneath a cacophony of detuned brass. But it is a horror soundtrack, so Carpenterisms abound (reworked in Kreng's inimitable style), there are plenty of tense, driving synth jams, barely there haunted house ambience, darkly delicate pianoscapes, strangely dubby drifts, some deliriously atonal 20th century sounding cacophony and bursts of what sounds like some rad eighties VHS soundtrack, all dayglo distorted, blaring and bombastic.
While not nearly as dark as some of the Miasmah releases, there's an ominous underpinning to the proceedings, even at it's most playful and melodic, it's fun and freaky, and like the best soundtracks, not only is a great listen, but has us wanting to see the movie even more than we already did!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2015 |
€35.00 |
|
|
Camino - Original Soundtrack |
do-LP |
"Kreng ist das Projekt des Belgiers Pepijn Caudron. Dieser erstellt Soundtracks mit Hilfe moderner Sampling-Technologie. Sein Score zum Survival-Film "Camino" besteht aus düstern Soundscapes, die an die Werke von Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Aphex Twin, Cliff Martinez ("Drive") und Mogwai erinnern. Die Doppel-Vinyl-Edition ist 140g schwer, auf durchsichtigem Vinyl aufgelegt und in ein Gatefold-Cover verpackt. Zudem liegt der Auflage eine Download-Karte bei. Das Cover sowie ein zwölfseitiges Booklet wurden von John Bergin gestaltet, der auch schon die Vinyl-Auflagen von "Drive" und "Hannibal" mit seinen Designs versehen hat.
Invada - das Label von Portisheads Geoff Barrow - entdeckten Kreng nach der Veröffentlichung des Soundtracks zu 'Cooties', der zu ihren favorisierten Scores gehört.
"Camino" begleitet eine Fotojournalistin (gespielt von Zoe Bell - bekannt aus Tarantinos "Death Proof") in den Dschungel von Kolumbien, wo sie zur falschen Zeit am falschen Ort die Aufnahme eines Sektenführers macht. Dieser Schnappschuss bringt sie in den Tiefen des Dschungels in Lebensgefahr."
www.invada.co.uk
|
2016 |
€28.00 |
|
|
Lowlife |
LP |
Nach "Camino" veröffentlicht Kreng seinen nächsten Soundtrack auf dem britischen Label Invada. Kreng ist das Projekt des Belgiers Pepijn Caudron. Dieser erstellt Soundtracks mit der Hilfe moderner Sampling- Technologie. Seine Scores bestehen zumeist aus düstern Klanglandschaften, die an die Werke von Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Cliff Martinez („Drive“) und Mogwai erinnern. „Lowlife“ ist das Spielfilm-Debüt des Regisseurs Ryan Prows, der die Handlung in der Subkultur Los Angeles ansiedelt. Sein Thriller bringt schräge Charaktere, absurden Humor sowie harte Action zusammen und ist zugleich ein kritischer Kommentar zu dem modernen Amerika.
Lowlife is the berserk, blood-spattered, and wickedly entertaining feature debut from Ryan Prows. Set amidst the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles, Lowlife zigzags back and forth in time as it charts how fate—and a ruthless crime boss—connects three down-and-out reprobates mixed up in an organ harvesting scheme that goes from bad to worse to off-the-rails insane.
The score is pressed on purple coloured vinyl and housed in a deluxe sleeve with digital download card included.
Kreng is known for his previous score to CAMINO (also released on Invada Records), and for his score to Cooties, released on Deathwaltz Media Group/Milan Records.
As well as this, Kreng is also known for his critically acclaimed L’Autopsie Phénoménale de Dieu (2009), Grimoire (2011), and the lavishly designed retrospective compilation box Works For Abattoir Fermé 2007-2011 (2012).
www.invada.co.uk/products/kreng-lowlife-original-motion-picture-soundtrack |
2018 |
€26.00 |
|
| |
Works for Abattoir Ferme 2007-2011 |
4 x LP BOX |
Ten-year anniversary edition of Kreng's massive Works for Abattoir Férme 2007-2011 four LPs worth of slow, skin-crawling cinematic ambience made for the Belgian theater group Abattoir Fermé. It could hardly be a better time to again dive deep into Kreng and Abattoir Fermé's disturbingly beautiful underground worlds. Through eighth full-length vinyl sides you are transported through the most terrifying, shadow-filled, downright bizarre moments of the subconscious. What could be the sound of your darkest dreams or most surreal fantasies gradually unfolds throughout the three-and-a-half-hour duration. Exactly this is what Abattoir Fermé specializes in, and Pepijn Caudron's scores perfectly reflect and accompanies both this theatricality as well as your own fears and desires in a masterful way. Each extended side is crafted from an arsenal of samples, disintegrating vinyl and corroded tape, and Pepijn Caudron manipulates these sounds in a way that belies the sources. Rather than allow the sounds to emerge, they stay trapped beneath swathes of noise, tape delay, and oppressive bass giving you a composition that emerges like a cross between William Basinski, Jerry Goldsmith (circa Alien), and Henryk Górecki. Works for Abattoir Fermé is not for the faint of heart, but for the rest, it might be just what the doctor ordered... 2022 repress; four LPs with original artwork inside 350g slipcase with silver tone print; includes download code; edition of 300.
https://kreng.bandcamp.com/album/works-for-abattoir-ferm-2007-2011
|
2022 |
€65.00 |
|
| KRIEGER, ULRICH |
Fathom |
CD |
"NEW SERIES FRAMEWORK: is an extension of our CONCRETE ELECTRONICS NOISE, a brand new mix-up of unusual conceptions of sound material by young unknown composers, well known not-so-young composers and old but clever composers. 40 minutes of music, 1 photograph and a geometric form. Limited to 700 copies.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ulrich Krieger studied classical saxophone, composition, electronic music and musicology at the Manhattan School of Music (New York), the Universität der Künste (Berlin) and the Freie Universität (Berlin). Since the late 1980s he became more and more interested in American music and its different approaches (chance music, process music, just intonation,
multi-stylistic, minimalism, drone). In 1991 he moved to New York. In the 'Cage of Saxophones' series Krieger recorded the complete saxophone
and any-instrument works of John Cage for Mode Records.The first one focuses on drone music (Cage, Tenney, Niblock), while the second focuses on pattern music (Reich, Glass, Riley)
In the early 1990s he started working on a more electronic approach. He began developing an original amplification for the saxophone and various live-electronic signal processing set-ups. In the electronic experimental field he collaborated with rock, noise and ambient artists like Karkowski, Merzbow, Koener, Toeplitz. He also worked with the Berlin ensemble "zeitkratzer" for which he transcribed
Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music.
Text of Light is a 2001 founded formation with Lee Ranaldo and Alan Licht, performing along with films of experimental film maker Stan Brakhage (1933-2003).
Metal Machine Trio began in 2008 together with Lou Reed and Sarth Calhoun as an experimental free rock project." [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| KRISTOFFER NYSTRÖMS ORKESTER |
brakeHEAD |
CD |
"Kristoffer Nyströms Orkester (KNO) is a collaborative project between Peter Nyström (Megaptera/Negru Voda) and Kristoffer Oustad (V:28). A true sonic beat down, done in full Scandinavian style, with a battery of iron fisted rhythms hammering down in a thunderous downpour, and the caustic reverberations of the analog doom machine grinding and screeching in a symphony of clangorous and distressed beauty. This is an album that is as majestic as it is bleak, capturing the essence of old school Swedish industrial, but forging a new path towards a dark future.From auralpressure.com: "Brakehead" is a phenomenally majestic piece of dark ambience and noise that will leave you totally awe struck. The visceral raw power of the electronics is a thing of untamed beauty that heralds in a new era by which others must now be judged against." Guts of Darkness called this THE industrial disc of the year! Check out other reviews in the reviews section. A must for fans of Megaptera, Negru Voda, and all things Peter Nystrom. In stylish digipak." [label info]
www.malignantrecords.com
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| KRYNGE |
Hiss & Hearse |
CD-R |
"KRYNGE, the multi-collaborative international supergroup, was the brainchild of Zan Hoffman in 1987-88 and features recordings of his home taping friends reimagined. Acknowledging the debt the contemporary experimental music scene owes to the pioneering work of the tape-trading and mail art scenes, Attenuation Circuit celebrates the 25th anniversary of Krynge by re-releasing the original cassettes on CD in bi-monthly instalments. The Krynge series comes in a dedicated new design while also containing reproductions of the original cassette cover art.
“Hiss & Hearse” – the rerelease corrects the spelling mistake of the original cover art, which read “Hiss & Herse” and sort of screwed up an otherwise great pun – lasts some 25 minutes and was probably intended for one side of 60-minute cassette. In what appears to be one solid block of noise and hiss, punctuated by occasional remnants of signals, musical or otherwise, the entire recording seems to celebrate the noisy medium of the cassette as a means of expression. This is not noise as in noise music as a genre, it’s more about noise as a symbol for a time when the cassette, for all its limitations, was still a precious means of communicating your musical ideas to others. This historical dimension is emphasised by the fact that one of the contributors to this tape, beside Swinebolt 45, was Zan Hoffman’s then collaboration partner Minòy, who died in 2010." [label info]
www.wix.com/attenuationcircuit/attenuation-circuit
|
2012 |
€8.00 |
|
| KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK |
Liquid Circuits |
CD |
" "Liquid Circuits" is the second solo studio album by Kryptogen Rundfunk released 12 years after the debut album "22.SZ" (Mechanoise Labs, 2004). The gap between these two works was filled with many collaborations and split recordings with such artists as Hladna, Lunar Abyss, Neznamo, Umpio, Forgttn, to name a few, and many tracks on various experimental and noise music compilations. Behind the project stands M.M., also known for running the ZHELEZOBETON and Muzyka Voln labels and participating in other projects such as Hattifnatter, Govorit Radio Kosmos, etc.
The album is built on the use of analogue synthesizers and effect processors, various found sounds, samples and, of course, traditional for this project multiple kinds of radio noises and interceptions recorded both in home studio and various unusual places (the Caucasus mountains, Kola polar region, several cities of Western Europe…). Kryptogen Rundfunk combines elements of sound collage, drone and dark ambient, power electronics, chaotic and structured noise, weaving his multilayered musical fabric from them. Sonic streams radiate with all shades of frequencies, looped pieces of interference spiral out and soft rhythmic pulsations make room for scorching detailed electric noise burning out holes in sonic perception."
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Elusive Trajectories 2003-2006 |
CD |
"The series of archive recordings "Znaki / Die Zeichen" continues! The labels kultFRONT and ZHELEZOBETON present its fourth installment – the collection of compositions of the St. Petersburg-based noise project Kryptogen Rundfunk, recorded in 2003-2006. Most of these tracks were released on small-edition compilations of the same time, but some of them remained unpublished until now.
This album offers a fresh look at the early period of Kryptogen Rundfunk’s sound in all its diversity. Sharp injections of digital glitches are polished by dense electronic drone and radio noises, raw sound of Soviet analogue synthesizers pervades the space with low-frequency vibrations, drum machines rumble in a slow industrial dance with a sampler used instead of a vocalist... The textures of the tracks vary from dark abstract drone ambient to edgy dashing noise, sometimes passing the stage of funny delusional rhythmic sketches. Each composition here is a separate short story, from a 12-minute immersion into the depths of radio waves on a psychedelic submarine to a 1-second collage made of several found sounds.
Traditionally for the "Znaki" series the artwork was created by the media artist Oleg Paschenko (humanimalien.ru). Based on the cover design, a small edition of Kryptogen Rundfunk’s t-shirts has also been printed. The t-shirts are made of premium quality “penye” fabric and are available in all sizes between XS and XXL."
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Tales from the Mirrored Spaces |
do-CD |
Developing his sound from previous works, on this album Kryptogen Rundfunk uses more acoustic instruments (mouth harp, bowed guitar, metal plate, singing bowl, voice), yet stays true to his favourite array of synthesizers, effect units and of course his trademark shortwave radio noises and transmission interceptions. With all this set-up he creates a dynamic sonic universe varying from ritualistic ambiental textures to heavy electronics, abstract multi-layered drones and sharp gritty noises.
The release is presented in two versions: standard single CD edition (ltd. 200) in a 4-panel ecopak and special double CD edition (ltd. 100) with a recording of a live gig based on the same material and played in Gdansk in November 2017. Both versions contain beautiful artwork by the St. Petersburg-based graphic artist Kirill Rozhkov.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/tales-from-the-mirrored-spaces
|
2019 |
€19.50 |
|
| KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK + HLADNA |
Rokton - Formanta |
mCD-R |
Auch HLADNA gehören zur unübersichtlich grossen Drone / Ambient / Experimental-Szene Russlands, hier im Verbund mit den ebenfalls aus St. Petersburg stammenden KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK live im Juli 2004. Beide benutzen uralte sowjetische Orignal-Synths bzw. Klang-Generatoren, die sich hervorragend ergänzen und knarzend-pulsiererende Drones produzieren, deren "historisch-futuristischer" Sound wohl einmalig ist... Professionelles Vollfarb-Cover.
"Hladna and Kryptogen Rundfunk - behind these names stand two St. Petersburg-based musicians playing experimental noise music. They both nourish a tender passion for old electronic instruments and often use them at their concerts and on recordings. One warm sunny day they gathered and decided to play on two analogue rhythm synthesizers "Rokton" and "Formanta". These are actually two identical instruments which were produced in the Soviet Union by two different factories. Each of them is the "brain" for electronic drum-kit, but can also be used separately - as a multi-channel tone-noise-generator or rhytm-machine. Kryptogen Rundfunk used his device smoothly, evenly and calmly while Hladna expelled from his more sharp and unpredictable sounds. Worth mentioning are Hladna's non-standard ways of making sound - on the last two tracks he opened the back plate of his synth and played not only using knobs but also getting inside and abridging contacts with his own hands (for which he was incidentally struck by the current a couple of times). Live recording without any processing, with all it's natural crackles and tasty overloads. Abstract electronics, minimalism and a little noise." [label info] |
2007 |
€5.50 |
|
| KSHATRIY |
Slepok Soznaniya |
CD |
"The project Kshatriy appeared on the Russian post-industrial scene in 2004 and up to present has participated in several compilations, as well as released some solo and collaboration recordings on limited edition CDRs. Muzyka Voln presents the project’s first "professional" compact disk with the album "Slepok Sonzaniya" (meaning "a mould of consciousness" in Russian).
This work is based on the concept of consciousness of a warrior, a galactic warrior of light, bringing to world pure knowledge, infinite silence, perfect balance, a moment of power and might, a flight of freedom, love, serenity, joy, light, unified time, eternal life, simplicity and bliss.
The music of the project can be described as fractal dark drone ambient with lots of patterns, woven from various sonic fibres: synthesized drones, processed field recordings, acoustic echoes and rhythmic loops. Calm and profound, filled with resilience and hidden power, like an endless ocean of tranquility, energy and beauty." [label info]
http://zhb.radionoise.ru/
"Kshatriy is the project by musician from Vsevolozhsk not far from St. Petersburg. Earlier his records were released on CDr, and album Slepok Soznaniya became the first work released on CD, before it I didn't know anything about this creative unit. With his music Kshatriy creates space dark and dull as well as beautiful and interesting. In anxiously boiling sound lava there merge deep electronic drone, processed field records and also unobtrusive hissing, crack and other noise effects. Musician himself writes that his creativity "is based on the conception of warrior consciousness... galaxy warrior of light, bringing to the world clear consciousness, unlimited silence, absolute balance, a moment of force and power, a flight of freedom, love, serenity, gladness, light, common time, eternal life, simplicity and bliss...". These words sound as nothing else but an unequivocal hint at trips "inside yourself" and the state of trans provoked by music. And it is so.
Slepok Soznaniya is a huge mental reactor with boiling up fragments of dark recollections, fused and crumpled into one heavy lump which dissolved all around in impenetrable swamp of its body. Rusty, smelling with dust and dampness postindustrial spirit spreads together with these sounds to colossal spaces around. Huge volume of theses spaces is one of the main special features of this music ruining all barriers inside the dark universe, and Slepok Soznaniya became a ticket to it. You peer into the darkness and don't see any limits, as if you have fallen under ground and found an alternative cosmos there. Beautiful, charming and sometimes even epic sound design making you hold your breath in long intriguing moments and make your heart beat quickly with resounding rumble and voluminous, heavy drone. It's worth to be heard." [Pi Micron, The Sound Proector]
http://www.soundproector.com/?cat=reviews&id=259
"Heaving, psychonaut droning from this Russian project, Kshatriy. The name of Sergey Uak-Kib's project is actually Sanskrit, as a now deracinated caste of warriors from ancient India. Uak-Kib posits something of a balance between the spiritual and the physical in the beliefs for this class of enlightened fighters. The holistic fortitude found in that statement seems to be furthered in the glowingly psychedelic artwork that has graced some of Kshatriy's other recordings. So much for first impressions, as this is fucking bleak. Anenzephalia bleak. Thomas Koner bleak. Lustmord bleak. Thrumming drones of Vulcan intensity and Promethean scale gird the entire album of Slepok Soznaniya. The thunderous cracks that introduce "Lights" are cataclysmic in nature, tumbling from deep space and smashing into the Siberian forest, unleashing shockwaves across the curved surface of Russian's landmass and creating elegantly harmonic ripples across the swampy taiga. Iron wheels grind on long-train tracks which lead to destinations unknown on the "Hymn To Kali," which is more of a dirge than a hymn through the slow, militant pound and evolving reverberant chord shifts for an ashen, musical negativity. The almost self-evidently named "Space Travel" surfs the solar winds with echoes of distant pulsars and glowing nebula clouds flickering through the endless expanses of nothingness.
We were awestruck by the work that Kshatriy produced for the 2014 Drone-Mind / Mind-Drone III compilation; and so we're delving into his catalogue. Slepok Soznaniya was originally released in 2009 on the bracingly good Russian imprint Muzyka Voln. Not all that much in the way of distribution west of the former Iron Curtain; so this one makes for a new favorite in the radiant black dronemusik camp." [Aquarius Records]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Kshatriy |
CD-R |
"During the 10 years of its existence Kshatriy has earned a strong reputation on the Russian dark ambient scene. Among his works are 3 full-length CDs on our label Muzyka Voln, collaboration releases with Vresnit and Bardoseneticcube and also several tracks on compilations including the recently released LP "Drone-Mind // Mind-Drone Vol. 3" (Drone Records, 2014). This recording is the first finished studio material recorded by Sergey Uak-Kib in 2005. Initially it was released by the author himself as a small CD-R edition, all copies of which were quickly spread between friends and collectors. This year the album was taken out of the archives, remixed and remastered and we are pleased to introduce it to your attention in a renewed form. Cold, dark and empty cosmic-scale spaces turn into rare oases of living pulsations but this illusion of immersion in organic matter doesn't last long and dissolves in endless flows of sonic winds. The album features almost no melodic lines but its fractal-patterned structure gives the music the magical power that allows to keep the listener's attention captured throughout this short trip. The physical release is made on quality pro-CDRs in an edition of 77 copies in a sleeve of designer silvery cardboard." [label info]
http://zhb.radionoise.ru/
"On CDR we find music by Sergey Uak-Kib, better known as Kshatriy, who has released a whole bunch of releases before. This particular release is the first finished recording he ever did, in 2005, and of which he distributed a handful of copies to friends. We didn't review that one, but his later works found themselves into these pages. Now it's re-issued again, in an edition of 77 copies, and the four pieces span thirty-six minutes. The heavy transformation of any sound given, but most likely field recordings create Kshatriy’s music. I can easily see Sergey traveling the Siberian land and capturing some arctic wind into his microphone and melting these with field recordings of contact microphones scraping the permafrost. Did you say Thomas Köner? That's probably a valid point of reference, or indeed other in Isolationist one-man studios around the world, from say the mid 90s onto the present day. All atmospheric, all dark (how often do I use these words on a weekly basis, I wondered), but Kshatriy has it's own blend, certainly in these earliest recordings there is a nice raw edge to it. Not that smooth, but with a grittier, somewhat metallic undercurrent. Nice and rough." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€8.50 |
|
| |
Mushrooms and Kshatriy |
CD-R |
After the reissue of the eponymous debut Kshatriy album last year we're glad to present you his second work, recorded in 2006 and equally little known. Back then "Mushrooms..." was spread among friends and fans in a very limited number of copies and then remained unavailable for the wider audience for a long time. As the author says, this album is a magical journey consisting of nine pieces which emerged from the intuitive contemplation of the most secret levels of consciousness dissolved in space. Those who are familiar with Kshatriy's sound will hear his trademark features, but overall this album sounds more experimental than his later works. Instead of dense flows of thick cosmic ambience space is filled with weird abstract forms and flickering electronic collages. Psychedelic atmosphere, psychoactive sound. Remastered by the author in 2015. The physical release is made on quality pro-CDRs in an edition of 77 copies in a sleeve of designer black cardboard. |
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| KTL |
IV |
do-12 |
Japanische Luxus-Vinyl-Edition des vierten KTL-Studio-Albums, Gatefold-Cover mit Bonus-Single & bedruckten Innenhüllen..
"... Aller Dienste und Fesseln ledig, entfaltet sich da etwas zu voller Pracht und Größe, dass dem ähnelt, das Yeats einst in einer Vision gen Bethlehem schlumpen sah. Etwas prosaischer gesagt, lässt O‘Malley urige Bassriffs grollen und Gitarren sich durch jeden Widerstand fräsen, während Rehberg Synthie- & Orgelsound ballt, wie - ohne Pathos lässt sich das nicht beschreiben - wie Goyas Koloss seine Faust. Als ob er den ganzen Kongo darin zerquetschen wollte und damit den letzten schwarzen Blutstropfen aus dem Herz der Finsternis. Die Wucht und Düsternis, die hier sich vorüber wälzt, lässt sich mit Namen wie Fushitsusha, Nadja oder SunnO))) nur so ungefähr andeuten. Der Auftakt ‚Paraug‘ ist erst noch ein ominöses Rumoren, Rauschen und melodiöses Riffen, bei ‚Paratrooper‘ setzt sich das knurrige Biest dann ganz langsam in Bewegung, mit schwerem Tritt, den der Boris-Drummer Atsuo wie mit Taikotrommel als dumpfes Trauermarschbumbumbum schlägt, und ein Chor machtloser Engel stöhnt dazu ein ewig langgezogenes Oooooooooooo. Diese gut 21 Min. sind ein Prachtstück an erhabener Erschütterung der Sinne, in der Wirkung vergleichbar mit Guapos Aztekenkult. Im schnellen Marathontrott hetzt dann ‚Wicked Way‘ dahin wie ein barfüßiger Unglücksbote, denn jetzt folgt mit ‚Benbbet‘ eine weitere Viertelstunde von infamer Poesie, die erst noch liebkost, was sie zerstören wird, und dann Tritt für Tritt, nun fast schon mutwillig, einen knirschenden Tanz der Vernichtung übt. ‚Eternal Winter‘ überzieht die Spuren auf Shivas Tanzboden mit Eiskristallen, bis ‚Eternal Trouble‘ mit aufsteigenden elektronischen Molekülketten, einzelnen dunklen, monoton aushallenden Gitarrentönen und gedongtem Gong (erneut Atsuo) beharrlich Indizien der Unverwüstlichkeit liefert - der Trouble geht weiter. Produziert hat diese Dystopie übrigens Rehbergs einstiger FennO‘Berg-Partner, der unverwüstliche Jim O‘Rourke." [Bad Alchemy]
"Recorded and mixed at Studio GOK Sound, Tokyo, September 2008. Mastered at Pietthapraxis, Köln, October 2008. Stephen O'Malley: guitar. Peter Rehberg: computer & synthetizer. Atsuo: drums on 2 and gong on 6. Produced by Jim O'Rourke. Special Edition double 12 in gatefold tip on sleeve, with obi, mounted 7, and printed innersleeves. Japanese pressing, cut at 45 rpm." [label info]
www.inoxia-rec.com
|
2009 |
€49.00 |
|
| |
VII |
LP |
"A new timley studio album from the duo of Peter Rehberg and Stephen O’Malley. Recorded and mixed during an unexpected extended stay in Berlin when the borders of the world suddenly closed. The claustrophobic urgency of this scenario is seared into the colossal vibrations set into this vinyl release.
Unlike many of their releases this is a studio record made unto itself as opposed to the many soundtracks they have made for theatre works and the like. It also stands as one of their most fully realised releases to date.
Proceedings are launched with The Director. Sitting somewhere between contemporary classical and doom this is a sliding and menacing mass of sound, more Masque of the Red Death than The Decameron. Silver lining is an alarming swooping buzzing track, looming and lowering only to rise and descend again. A delicate play with the Shepard-Risset glissando manifesting a delirious swarm of sound. Lee’s garlic orbits into a short fragmented zone with bursts of harsh feedback and crashing fx, all manner of audio enters and is discarded with an underlying sense of despair and frustration. Proceedings continue on Side B with Tea With Kali where a calmer plateau is embedded with oscillating guitar and fluttering electronics. Beating sine waves envelop the listener in a meditative thought piece of sound. Frostless concludes this epic dispatch as a subtle and gentle foray into twitching electronics as a light buzzsaw drone swirls as around your mind.
The interplay of sources (guitar, electronic equipment (hardware, software, speakers) is so entwined it’s often difficult to discern who is doing what amongst the broad sound field. KTL VII is instrumental music as visual narrative resulting in an exquisitely crafted release full of sophisticated and sublime illusory effects."
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| KUBISCH, CHRISTINA |
La Ville Magnetique / The Magnetic City |
CD |
"24 Electromagnetic Walks in Poitiers. Produced at Studio Hoppegarten and Electronic Music Studio of the Technical University Berlin, October-November 2008. Liner notes and other info in French and English. The recordings of the 24 Electromagnetic Walks in Poitiers were made on August 14, 18 and 19 2008, using only Christina Kubisch's electromagnetic induction headphones and a portable recorder. The sounds have not been electronically modified. The only intervention was the use of a frequency filter. From the linernotes: Today there is a lot of interest in the musical world in 'mapping', the art of tracing the world we live in by means of maps which differ from those made for trade, commerce and business. The maps of the 24 Electromagnetic walks are visual and musical ones. 24 volunteers explored the hidden electromagnetic fields of Poitiers wearing a special headphone created by the artist. This wireless 'tool' captures and amplifies the magnetic fields above and underground the city. The visitors were free to choose their own, personal paths (itineraries) and were asked to draw them upon a map of the inner city. The length of the recordings vary between 6 and 79 minutes. Every recording is a kind of 'mirror' of the character and personality of the walker. Some people walked straight and without stopping through the streets, others often stopped and played around by moving their head (or body) when entering an interesting field, some followed the 'historical paths', others used the personal itineraries of their daily life, some just went by chance and took the exploration as a kind of acoustic adventure. The collection of 24 sound channels in Poiters is a collection of electromagnetic field recordings- an electromagnetic portrait of the city. Often what you can see normally and what you hear electromagnetically, is quite different: quiet streets burst out with strong electrical hums, the lively market place is quiet instead, the train station is a dense net of regular beats and clicks, the parking Carnot is the place where antennas fill the air with internet signals, the ATM machines of the banks hum musical chords and the security gates in the shopping streets surprise by their volume and intensity of continuous signals. The juxtaposition of the 24 itineraries was the starting point for he composition. Several times the visitors were at the same time at the same place, but exploring the sounds in different ways. The piece is a mix of all the recordings, sometimes letting them together in big clusters, sometimes following an individual walker along his way. The beginning and the end of the recordings was the tourist information center of Poitiers. The voices and the music which can be heard were recorded not with a microphone but as well through electromagnetic induction: a cable loop inside the office makes the sound audible as well outside the building. It's here, where the information of the historical city meets with the contemporary hidden electromagnetic world of Poitiers. The participants to the recorded walks: Jean-Pierre Courjaud, Quentin Debenest, Jean Hiernard, Daniel Clauzier, Emmanuelle Baud, Claude Thibault, Marion Berthier, Marie Fournier, Jean-Pierre Potier, Benoist Baillergeau, Jean-Luc Terradillos, Dominique Truco, Patrick Treguer, Jean-Christophe Desnoux, Dominique Pichon, Thomas Sillard, Marion Valière Loudiyi, Mélanie Ribot, Nicolas Bernard, Aurélien large, Marine Antony, Lilian Gerling, Anne Gérard, Christina Kubisch. Credits: Artwork By [Cover Design] - Christina Kubisch. Artwork By [Graphics] - Frederic Briand. Engineer, Mastered By - Eckehard Güther. Liner Notes - Christina Kubisch. Mixed By - Christina Kubisch. Photography - Christina Kubisch , Daniel Proux , Dominique Truco , Marion Valière-Loudiyi. Technician [Recording Assistance] - Marine Antony.' [full label info / liner notes]
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Mono Fluido |
CD |
"Mono Fluido collects two major compositions from Christina Kubisch which, until now, have been unreleased. Extensive liner notes and photographs detail the origins of the work. Heavy drones and deep emotions run through these newly discovered pieces."
"In 1980 I had the possibility to make some professional recordings on an eight track tape in an Italian sound studio for the sound track of the film Liquid Movie by Fabrizio Plessi. Some months after having finished the sound track I listened to the material again and suddenly felt the desire to make a new piece out of the material, which would be free of the limitations of a cinematic sound track. I made several new downmixes of the eight track tape and treated some of the sounds with a speed control device, one of the few tools which I had available in my own studio at that time. The sound sources are flute (alto and bass flute) played by myself, the sounds of swinging plastic tubes in the air, the recordings of the windscreen wiper ('tergicristallo') of my old car, the sampled sounds of glass and of my own breathing. Just pure instrumental sounds and some 'field recordings,' no electronics. The piece is a quiet piece of ambient music, an acoustic landscape, unspectacular and yet intense. I called it 'fluido,' which is the Italian word for liquid or fluid. Then I forgot about it. The tape was in my archive all these years with the remark Mono Fluido on the spine. Only recently I decided to digitize it, despite the mono tag, and I listened to it again. Eventually I thought the piece deserved to be published after almost 30 years. Although mono is kind of a dinosaur in the world of multichannel fiction I like the simplicity and clarity of it and I hope the listener might share this experience." -- Christina Kubisch, December 2010" [press release]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Magnetic Flights |
CD |
"Two brand new pieces from one of the most exciting, active & relevant members of the first generation sound artists. Magnetic Flights is a perfect follow up to Five Electrical Walks (IMPREC167) and it is being released at the same time as a collection of two of Kubisch's unreleased archival pieces, also on Important.
Magnetic Flights is entirely made of electromagnetic field recordings of international airports and inside airplanes. The recordings of this piece were made by Christina Kubisch on her travels in 2007 from and to the airports of Bukarest, Manchester, Chicago, Seoul, Munich, Amsterdam,
Zurich, Frankfort, Paris, Lisbon, Berlin, Pisa, Milan and London.
The sounds were not altered electronically nor changed in any other way. The only tool ,which
was used for a part of it, was a filtering program (DINR)
All recordings were made with the help of special sensitive wireless headphones, by which the aboveground and underground electromagnetic fields are detected, amplified and made audible. The headphones are custom made and have been develeoped by myself and constructed by the engineer Manfred Fox, Berlin. The sounds are much more musical than one could expect. There are complex layers of high and low frequencies, loops of rhythmic sequences, groups of tiny signals, long drones and many things which change constantly and
are hard to describe.
Magnetic Flights consists of three parts with a short special sound at the beginning and another one at the end. The piece starts with an electromagnetic sound recorded just before departure and continues with the material of flight radiations recorded inside different airplanes. These electromagnetic fields slightly change pitch during departure and arrival, but remain quite constant during the flight itself. The relatively high and compact sounds gradually build up a dense layer of vibrations with continuous minimal variations.
In the second part some of the previous flight radiations gradually become filtered. The single signals mingle into a mix of small, short, nervous and very rhythmic signals. Their origin might be radio waves, communication signals with the tower , internet and atmospheric disturbances., but this is only a guess. The third part, the situation of arrival or transition, is a mix of typical electromagnetic sounds in the waiting areas of airports such as the deep vibrations of the screens of monitors which slowly fade in and out.
The piece ends with the electrical flickering of an electromagnetic field of unknown origin.
Christina Kubisch belongs to the first generation of sound artists. Trained as a composer, she studied painting, music (flute and composition) and electronics in Hamburg, Graz, Zürich and Milano, where she graduated. Her work can be described as the “synthesis of arts” - the discovery of acoustic space and the dimension of time in the visual arts on the one hand, and a redefinition of relationships between material and form on the other. Kubisch is best known for artistically and innovatively using techniques such as magnetic induction and ultraviolet light to create and realise her work.Since the 1970’s Kubisch has been experimenting with electromagnetic induction and was one of the first to use this method for creating sound installations. Some of her most well know works include the Electrical Walks series, where audience wear magnetic headphones, specially designed by Kubisch, with built-in coils that respond to electrical fields in the environment. Tapping into the electrical fields that result from light systems, anti-theft security devices, surveillance cameras, cell phones, computers, antennae, automated teller machines and other electric devices, she uses these visible sources to create unique and new sensory environmental experiences.
In the mid-1980s, Kubisch began to incorporate light as a compositional tool in many works, for example in the installation Skylines at the documenta 8, Kassel; the underground installation Klang Fluß Licht Quelle on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin and more recently Licht Himmel a permanent light sound installation at Gasometer Oberhausen, Germany. Since 2003 Kubisch has begun to work again as a performer and collaborates with various musicians and dancers, one of whom is Lotta Melin, with whom she will be co-facilitating the Lisbon workshop. An internationally recognised artist, Kubisch has shown work at major international exhibitions and festivals (Venice Benniale, documenta 8, Kassel, Ars Electronica, Linz, Sydney Benniale, Sonar, Barcelona and Sonic Boom, London) performing around the world she has received numerous grants and awards and her music has been realised on various labels such as Cramps Records and Edition RZ. Kubisch has been visiting professor in Maastricht, Paris and Berlin and since 1994, is currently the professor for sound art at the Academy of Fine Arts, Saarbrücken, Germany." [label info]
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
| KUBISCH, CHRISTINA & ECKEHARD GÜTHER |
Mosaique Mosaic |
CD |
"My first visit to Cameroon in summer 2010 occurred thanks to an invitation by the Goethe-Institut Yaoundé and the independent art organization Doual’Art.
During my residency I prepared a sound installation for a festival in Douala in December. I also conducted a workshop, together with Eckehard Güther, for young local musicians and artists on the theme of field recordings. Field recordings?
In the cities people are surrounded by distorted sound systems playing lo-fi illegal copies of Cameroonian as well as international pop music. The sounds from church services, instruments and voices are all amplified as well – the louder the better. A lot of what you hear comes from speakers.
The workshop held surprises for everybody, most of all for us: the participants led us to many hidden places with sounds they thought would be of interest to us. And we noticed that we were mistaken in our prejudice of sounds which might be unheeded: these people did listen, they had the most musical ears, they knew a lot about their “field”. But so far they had not felt any necessity to store these sounds. So we started our exchange: they got the recording facilities and we got a little bit of their ears.
Cameroon is a noisy country with unexpected and subtle soundscapes. We were brought to places we never would have discovered ourselves. This was the basis for a “sound diary” which was continued during a long trip into the North of the country and as well during our second visit in and around Douala in the winter time.
Music is one of the most important forms of communication in Cameroon, a country with hundreds of different languages and ethnic groups, it is a link which binds them all together. I am glad that we could participate in this sonic experience with the help of many local people. The places we recorded were not arranged in advance, we just happened to be there and sometimes the recordings were made with quite simple equipment. Listening was the most important experience and hopefully some of this personal experience will shine through in this release.
All the field recordings are unprocessed, but parts of them are assembled and mixed together." [Christina Kubisch]
www.gruenrekorder.de
"Our journey starts in Africa, Cameroon to be precise, which is, according to Christina Kubisch a noisy country 'with unexpected and subtle soundscapes'. In 2010 she visited the country for the first time and did an installation and a workshop on field recordings. I've never been to Cameroon, (nor, spoiler, any of the other places on these three new Gruenrekorder) releases, but I can imagine the sounds of a busy city, with lots of music, old and rusty cars, people talking, call for prayer service, but also quiet recordings from the country side, in the 'National Park Waza'. The titles of the pieces explain what we are hearing and it makes up a great audio journey to Cameroon, and a fine balance between nature sounds and human interference." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Unter Grund |
CD |
The Ruhr Area lives from and with water. It needs drinking water, water for industrial facilities and water for transportation. Water veins pulse invisibly with groundwater, connecting rivers through subsurface tunnels that also force their way into disused mines. This mine water has to be drained continuously or pumped out from underground (one speaks of unending tasks) to prevent the collapse of old shafts, subsidence damage, and the contamination of drinking water. Without constant pumping of the groundwater the Ruhr Area would transform into a vast marshy landscape.
Fabian Lasarzik
"The discomfort from the underground
Christina Kubisch’s site-specific sound installations are based on retrieving parallel worlds. She often responds to structures and atmospheres of places and their unheralded vibrancy which she turns into concrete perception and imagination by the recipient. For the 26-channel installation “under ground” carried out on Zeche Zollverein Christina Kubisch examined above ground and subterranean streams which are little noticed, but play a decisive role: water which has to be developed from abandoned and not backfilled shafts and mounted into a complex canal and river system.
It is about the control and domination of mine water, which is nothing but ascending groundwater intruding former coal bearing seems and seeping away in deepness. It has to be pumped and conveyed permanently. Without this elaborate dewatering the tunnel system would be flooded which would set the surface in motion. By now the region in the Ruhr area sagged more than 20 meters within the last 150 years. Also the water would mix with our normal groundwater and soil it chemically. It would ascend and transform the Ruhr area into a swampy seascape with contaminated water. On Zollverein there are already six centrifugal pumps in 1000 meters depth, two of them working constantly. About 8 millions cubic meters of water are developed in average per year. Talking about perpetual burdens and costs means those strenuous efforts.
Those tremendous consequences and measures correspond to the enormous and massive historical interventions caused by coal mining that are widely unknown to the public. The artistic field studies by Christina Kubisch pick out this parallel world as central theme. With high sensitivity in her tonal production she feeds the dark dimension of our imagination, which associates the invisible “under the ground” with the uncanny, the uncontrollable primordial. The subject deals with the conscious and the unconscious in a metaphorical way: the lucent, literally bright surface reality in opposite to the dark, uncanny and hidden reality underground.
Christina Kubisch mediates those aspects within a spatial composition by using above and underground recordings. What we hear is reality, which can be sensually experienced within a composition subtly connecting documentary material with our imagination. If we engage in the imagination stimulated by this work, we feel the monstrous things which happened underneath our feet, humans competing with the bowels of earth and the forces of nature. “Under ground” — and we are talking about approximately 1.400 meters depth — associates the unconscious, the archaic, the long forgotten. Eventually we are standing on what deposited during millions of years and we only know little about, except it is tremendous and began before the emergence of mankind.
Our primal fear at this point is those primary things (basically nature itself) could turn against us and take revenge. Christina Kubisch’s work plays with those associations without pathos. When the bassy vast main water pumps raise their sound it seems we hear a giant organism underneath us breathing in and out. The sounds indicate magnitude, significance and menace. We become aware of something we normally do not notice. After all Kubisch uses military equipment like special hydrophones to make this parallel worlds tangible, and she probably does it with a certain subversive delight. It is not only about picturesque sounds and enthralling noises, but also about alternative ways of perceiving and accessing correlations. This is her deep conceptual approach. Kubisch’s work is about autonomously provided ways of experience and unofficial versions of reality. Therein lies also an ironic jab at our faith in technical progress, which on the one hand opens up the world to us, but with its focus on certain lines of development strikes us with blindness at the same time."
www.gruenrekorder.de
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| KUHZUNFT / ACHIM ZEPEZAUER |
Slotmachine |
10inch |
The „Kuhzunft-slotmachine“ is a website-project, based on a picture of a crayon-painted slot machine. Clicking the start button activates the machine to randomly combine pre-produced recordings (of 45 seconds length) within three slots. Instead of typical fruits in the display, you would see photos attached to the specific sounds by the artists responsible for the content. Even the names of the „songs“ are put together by the single names each artist had chosen for their recordings. The vinyl release on Gruenrekorder documents the project with a selection from 13 artists and 158 recordings, that offered a possibility of 3.944.312 tracks. The online-slotmachine has the ability to continuously grow and contains at the date of the vinyl release (February 1st, 2019) four more artists and a total of 225 recordings, providing some 11.390.625 possible titles. Visit slotmachine.kuhzunft.com to discover the project yourself. You can either simply press START and get surprised or deactivate AUTO PLAY to make a selection.
The vinyl features:
Jaap Blonk (NL) – Voice
John Chantler (AU) – Modular Synth
Serge Corteyn (DE) – Guitar
Rhodri Davies (GB) – Harp
Gailė Griciūtė (LT) – Prepared Piano
Richard Lerman (US) – Piezzo, Hydrophone
Seán Mac Erlaine (IE) – Woodwinds
Jérôme Noetinger (FR) – Tape Machine
Pablo Paredes (CL) – Keyboards
Michael Vatcher (US) – Drums
Simon Whetham (GB) – Field Recordings
Marta Zapparoli (IT) – Radio Waves
Achim Zepezauer (DE) – Drumcomputer, Electronics, Acoustics
The online slotmachine also features:
Émilie Girard-Charest (CN) – Cello
Florian Hartlieb (DE) – Computer
Bart Maris (BE) – Trumpet
Carolin Pook (DE/US) – Violin
Achim Zepezauer (DE) – Words
Pablo Paredes (CL) – Mastering
Guida Ribeiro (PT) – Website Developing
|
2019 |
€10.00 |
|
| KÜPPER, LEO & HOSSEIN MALEK |
Santur: Orient/Occident |
CD |
SR419
CD digipack + 24 page booklet
This disc offers two approaches to an ancient instrument called santur. The first - the eastern - by the Iranian master musician Hossein Malek, features improvised pieces recorded by Leo in the 80's - a unique and valuable archive. The second is the Western approach of his friend Leo Kupper, a student of the first; where it goes through the filter of undetectable electronic.
Santur - the word is mentioned in the Bible and the word is Aramaic. We find a representation of an Assyrian sculpture of Assurbanipal (667- 626 BC. AD). The Santur is an isosceles trapezoid zither seventy-two string (36 strings of brass and steel 36) fixed and crossed (with four strings per note). We play the instrument with light rods and fines medlar.
LEO KUPPER
Born in Nidrum, Belgium, April 16, 1935. Musicology Studies and History of Art at the University of Liege and Brussels. Collaboration with Henri Pousseur, at Studio Apelac (first electronic music studio of Belgium) from 1962. Musician at Radio Télévision Belge (RTB and RTBF). Founder and Director of Studio de Recherches et de Structurations Électroniques Auditives, since 1967.
HOSSEIN MALEK
Hossein Malek was born July 17, 1925, in the popular neighborhoods of Tehran.
He died in 1999 in the same town after an exile in Belgium. He was only two years old when he heard for the first time and discovered the Santur with emotion (play by the master Habib Samai who lived next door). He then had several other professors: Nurali Khan Borumand, Abolhassan Saba, and Shokro Ghamar. He enjoyed worldwide fame, playing in most countries of the world and leading an existence of particular intensity. During one special evening in '70, the Queen of England apologized to the other musicians she invited, ssaying that what she had just heard was so beautiful that she no longer wished to listen to anyone else.
www.subrosa.net
|
2016 |
€14.50 |
|
| KÖNER, THOMAS |
Novaya Zemlya |
CD |
"The artwork includes an essay by Thierry Charollais, "Thomas Köner's Novaya Zemlya: towards a metaphysical geography"... "Of course we find the unique Koneresque glowing drones that we know from his previous works. But we will also be touched by an unrevealed, barely perceptible sense of melody and harmony that Köner gradually developed since Kaamos (1998) and Nuuk (2004)."
Novaya Zemlya (Russian: Но́вая Земля́; IPA: [ˈnovəjə zʲɪmˈlʲæ], lit. New Land), also known in Dutch as Nova Zembla and in Norwegian as Gåselandet (lit. the Goose Land), is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe, lying at Cape Flissingsky on the northern island." [label info]
www.touchmusic.org.uk
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2012 |
€14.50 |
|
|
Tiento de la Luz |
LP |
"A tiento is a form of keyboard music that originated in Spain in the mid-15th century. "Tiento de la Luz" is Köner's second tiento, succeeds "Tiento de las Nieves" (2014) and precedes the upcoming "Tiento de la Oscuridad". While "Tiento de las Nieves" is a work for solo performer and live electronics, the instrumentation of "Tiento de la Luz" is expanded: in addition to Köner's distinct live electronics, there are two piano parts, percussion, and viola da gamba.
At the core of Köner's works is always a sense of place (topos) and tone colour. He often travels around the world and record sounds and images. Köner experiences the place and tone as unique voices of these locations, but he is aware that these associations are purely personal. His creative process and work evolve from an understanding of this sense of place and tone, the awareness of its radiance and his distinction of what it is not: it is not a realization that could be accomplished by the practice known as field recording. Similarly, the place, the seed around which Köner's creative process unfolds, can be neither a geographical, nor a temporal one. In fact, according to Köner, the “eternal present” (commonly associated with music or its experience) is a myth and simply does not exist, because the present never appears without a timeline. In the liner notes to this album, Köner even goes as far as to claim that "Music does not exist".
The only element that is independent and able to communicate itself according to Köner is tone colour. In the finishing words of the album liner notes, Köner states: "The textbook definition of tone colour can only describe what it is not: qualities of sound that are not related to pitch, volume, or duration. Tone colour is therefore the absence and yet the total presence. For example, a mother reading a fairy tale to her child is reading words made of letters - but the child hears the mother's “I love you“ in her voice. This is resonance. [...] Appearing as tone colour, sound has the potential to become its own resonance, effortless and luminous." [label info]
Stream: www.denovali.com/thomaskoner
Download: www.denovali.com/digitalstore
Facebook: www.facebook.com/artist.thomaskoner |
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Nuuk |
CD |
Thomas Köner is one of the most influential modernist minimal composers. Alongside Wolfgang Voigt’s “Gas” project, Köner has been centrally responsible for electronic music’s fascination with depth and reduction. His signature sound is vast, seemingly endless, which at first seems homogenous and infinite, but once exposed to it, when our senses calibrate to the fine nuances of changes, we discover and immerse into abundance of textures, richness of modulations and almost infinite range of sonic titilations. Köner’s work was inspired by his frequent travels in the Arctic, and listeners feel his music as a journey to mysterious worlds of the Arctic region. The experience of being exposed to the extreme cold, the hightening of our senses and ability to notice even the slightest changes in color, sound, light or density that creates this dangerously reductive environment, is like an immersion in the sonic world of this German artist, where masterfully crafted layers of sound open into colossal spaces, teeming with aural life, waiting to be discovered by those who venture into it. The titles of Köner’s highly regarded albums from the 90’s ever so often play with this affinity – Nunatak, Permafrost, Teimo - all reference to the world of the Artic region, just as his album Nuuk that points us to the capital of Greenland. Subdued and minimal at first glance, this album is brimming with low-end frequences, shadowy resonances and boreal ambience, but at the same time, constant fluctuation and vulnerability of sonic events, makes it very organic, human and almost comforting, like the tiny harbour existing in the sea of ice, it is named after.
Originally published as one of four CD’s on the 1997 compilation Driftworks, which also included albums by Nijiumu, Pauline Oliveros& Randi Raine-Reusch and Paul Schütze, the album was re-relased in 2004 by MillePlateauxMedia. It also served as the source of music material and inspiration for Thomas Köner’s video art by the same.
https://forceincmilleplateaux.bandcamp.com/album/nuuk |
2021 |
€15.00 |
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| |
Daikan |
CD |
"The Earth is burning, covering all environments in ashes. Smoke comes to us from computers—from social networks accelerating the spread of burnt affects, damaging our ability to feel and respond to what the planet strives to express. We need to cool down. Thomas Köner’s music can help change the pace of our perceptions:
1) In DAIKAN (2002) — a Japanese term meaning “the coldest” or “the coldest part of the year”—the ear stretches until touching the depth of time that persists in the ice; a sonic drama offers the slowness thanks to which the skin of perceptions can reconstitute themselves; icequakes awaken listeners to the frozen life without scaring them.
2) Banlieue du Vide, considered by many to be Thomas Köner’s most iconic audiovisual work and best kept secret, has not been released previously. It is in the collection of a couple of art museums, e.g. the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and has been awarded the Golden Nica at Prix Ars Electronica in 2004, in the category Digital Musics.
Banlieue du Vide is the result of months of time-lapse observations of empty streets in the Finnish Arctic Circle, shown in glacially slow slow-motion. Phase cancellation, on which all noise cancelling technology is based, here affects the perception of time, the sense of the flow of time extinguishing itself. At this stage the void is not yet empty, traces of past noise fill the listeners mind with their haunting presence.
A remastered stereo version of the soundtrack is released as a special premiere as Bonus Track of the DAIKAN album.
Listening to this album, an excess of heat turns into an empowering coldness—like the transient feeling of our terrestrial embodiment in the midst of entropy."
Frédéric Neyrat
https://forceincmilleplateaux.bandcamp.com/album/daikan
|
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| KÖTTER, DANIEL & HANNES SEIDL |
Stadt (Land Fluss) - A Radio Play |
CD + BOOK |
Ein Hörstück über den Klang der Großstadt. Bulldozer planieren die Brache, Wohnviertel werden eingezäunt, Stromkabel durchziehen das Bauland, eine Menschenmenge besetzt den Mittelstreifen. „Stadt (Land Fluss)“ macht die radikal vernetzte Stadt hörbar und die Auswirkungen ihrer permanenten Veränderung sinnlich erfahrbar. Welche soziale Dimension hat die Klanglichkeit einer Stadt? Wie klingt die Stadt, wie könnte sie klingen? Wer hat das Recht, den Stadtraum zu gestalten und seine Grenzen zu definieren? Stadt [Land Fluss] ist auf der Grundlage des gleichnamigen Musiktheaterstücks entstanden.
Komposition / Produktion: Daniel Kötter / Hannes Seidl
Electromagnetische Klänge: Christina Kubisch Musik: Sebastian Berweck, Martin Lorenz, Andrea Neumann
Text: Daniel Kötter / Hannes Seidl nach Zitaten von David Harvey, Kathrin Wildner, Thorsten Fausch und anderen
Photos: Nara Silva das Virgens Merlitz Graphik Design: Nafiseh Fathollahzadeh
https://www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=18530
Das Morgen im Heute
Zum Hörspiel „Stadt [Land Fluss]“ von Daniel Kötter und Hannes Seidl
Ist unser Planet bereits vollständig kartographiert? Unzählige im Weltall kreisende GPS-Satelliten, die jeden Millimeter der Erde abgemessen haben dürften, drängen uns förmlich ein entschiedenes Ja auf. Dennoch: Wäre die Welt ein Gemälde, stünde die Sichtbarkeit aller Farbtupfer nicht zwingend für das Erkennen und Begreifen ihrer Zusammenhänge. Genauso verhält es sich im Kleinen mit der (Groß-)Stadt, diesem paradigmatischen modernen Mikrokosmos. Gebäude, Straßen, Parks, Kanalisationssysteme, Lichtsignalanlagen stellen eine visuelle und haptische Ordnung her, die ein schier endloser, aus Stimmen, Hupen und Sirenen geknüpfter Geräuschteppich ergänzt, hinterfragt und bisweilen wieder aufhebt. Und mittendrin: das Individuum.
„ … It always seemed to me that we should pay much more attention to the question of who produces and reproduces urban life…“: Nach einer Minute mit elektroakustischen Klängen, rufenden Kindern und einem vorbeirauschenden Flugzeug spricht eine Männerstimme über die Produktion und Reproduktion des urbanen Lebens. Wer zeigt sich dafür verantwortlich? Und wie? So beginnt das 2020 realisierte Hörspiel „Stadt [Land Fluss]“ von Daniel Kötter und Hannes Seidl nach dem gleichnamigen, abendfüllenden Musiktheaterstück von 2017. Im Werkkommentar zu letzterem fragt der Komponist Seidl konkret nach den akustischen Eigenschaften einer Stadt als gesellschaftlichem Raum: „In STADT (LAND FLUSS) spüren wir der sozialen Dimension der Klanglichkeit einer Stadt nach, die noch immer von Stadtplanern und Architekten vernachlässigt wird. Wie klingt die Stadt, wie könnte sie klingen? Wer hat das Recht, den Stadtraum zu gestalten und seine Grenzen zu definieren?“ Der erste Teil einer Trilogie – es folgten „Land [Stadt Fluss]“ (2018) und „Fluss [Stadt Land]“ (2019) – nimmt unterschiedliche Perspektiven ein und durchschreitet buchstäblich verschiedene Räume, um „die radikal vernetzte Stadt hörbar und die Auswirkungen ihrer permanenten Veränderung sinnlich erfahrbar“ zu machen. Die Bühne wird begehbar, diegetische Räume und deren Grenzen werden ausschließlich durch Trennwände angedeutet, während sich das ,wahre‘ urbane Leben draußen abzuspielen scheint. Eindrücke davon erhalten die Zuschauenden lediglich per Smartphone-Videos, so dass der stets im Wandel begriffene Organismus Stadt sich als imaginäres Gebilde entpuppt; ein Umstand, der in der Hörspielfassung besonders zum Tragen kommt.
Hier knistert es. Dem pausenlosen Rauschen und Knacken wohnt eine ungeduldige, auf den nächsten Augenblick lauernde Stimmung inne, in der sich Zukunft und Veränderung manifestieren. Für (An-)Spannung sorgen vorrangig die Klänge elektromagnetischer Felder, deren sonst unhörbare Schwingungen Christina Kubisch mittels Induktionsspulenkopfhörer hörbar macht. Im übertragenen Sinne wird das Aufdecken vorhandener, aber nicht vernehmbarer Klänge zu einer Handlungsmaxime: Im Heute liegt bereits das Morgen verborgen, den Zukunftsschlüssel haben wir gegenwärtig in der Hand. Und die Stadt? „Bulldozer planieren die Wüste, Wohnviertel werden eingezäunt, Strom durchzieht das Informelle, eine Menschenmenge besetzt den Mittelstreifen“, heißt es im Werkkommentar weiter. Wie sang die Band „Fehlfarben“ vor vierzig Jahren? „Keine Atempause. Geschichte wird gemacht. Es geht voran.“ Dass Einzelne bei aller Zielstrebigkeit auf der Strecke bleiben beziehungsweise aus der Spur geraten, findet in „Stadt [Land Fluss]“ eine musikalische Entsprechung, wenn Sebastian Berweck die Nadel seines Plattenspielers kleinschrittig über kreisende Rillen flanieren lässt. Gewissermaßen als Nebenprodukt entstehen dabei – zusammen mit den akustischen Beiträgen von Martin Lorenz und Andrea Neumann – flirrende Klangbilder, die der Idee von Soundscape bewusst widersprechen. Mit konkreten Objekten generieren Musikerin und Musiker wiederum eine abstrakte Klangwelt.
Und die gesprochenen Passagen? Sie erzählen von urbanen Problemen und Herausforderungen, etwa in der Hamburger HafenCity rund um die Elbphilharmonie. Das von Hannes Seidl und Filmemacher/Theaterregisseur Daniel Kötter nach Zitaten unterschiedlicher Provenienz erarbeitete, mitabgedruckte Skript fragt nach Chancen und Entwicklungen einer modernen, klimaneutralen, gerechten Stadt. Vieles scheint möglich. Alles bleibt offen – worauf die durchdachte, nachhaltige Aufmachung der beim Frankfurter Label Gruenrekorder veröffentlichte Compact Disc bereits hinweist: Undefinierte, voneinander nicht abgegrenzte, nur rudimentär kartographierte Räume künden von Freiheit. Was zunächst nach übertriebenem Pathos klingt, ist jedoch Programm. Alle können, dürfen, sollen mitdiskutieren, mitplanen, mitarbeiten. Es müssen Entscheidungen getroffen werden. Und genau darin liegen Vor- und Nachteil der Hörspielfassung gegenüber dem Musiktheater „Stadt [Land Fluss]“. Lässt letzteres durch seine interaktive Faktur noch eine Vielzahl an Versionen zu, zieht erstere als festgelegter Parcours tönende Mauern hoch, baut akustische Straßen und Parkanlagen, denkt klanglich über Mobilität nach. Die Entscheidung für eine Stadt ist notwendig – in einem Traumschloss lässt sich nämlich schlecht überwintern –, gibt aber zugleich andere Optionen preis. So könnte es also sein. Oder doch ganz anders?
Eine konstant anschwellende Spannung, die sich der oben erwähnten Klangerzeugung verdankt, drängt einerseits unaufhörlich nach vorne, während ihre kontinuierliche Wandlung andererseits für ein kontemplatives Moment sorgt. Zwischen Minute achtzehn und neunzehn findet eine ebenso geradlinige wie richtungslose klangliche Verdichtung statt, die sich im gesprochenen Text spiegelt: „Eine Unkontrolliertheit oder eine Informalität zu planen, ist eben schwierig. Planning the unplanned. Wie geht das?“, heißt es aus dem Off. Diese vordergründig mittels Sprache artikulierte Planbarkeit weicht allmählich einer um sich greifenden Klanglandschaft, die jeden Gedanken zu überwuchern scheint. In den letzten vierzehn Minuten dominieren Rauschen, Surren und Flirren – stoisch und doch voller Überraschungen. Die von Seidl geforderte soziale Dimension von Klanglichkeit gewinnt schließlich die Oberhand. Mit diesem konsequenten und überzeugenden Kunstgriff wird das gesprochene Wort ,denkende‘ Musik: „So, there’s a lot of power which resides it seems to me in thinking about the urban as a place to organise and as a place to come back together […].“ Gemeinsam eine Stadt erbauen. Für alle. Neben Ideen, Mörtel und Strom ist ein weiterer Aspekt entscheidend: zuhören. „Stadt [Land Fluss]“ redet nicht nur darüber, sondern macht es direkt vor." [Gerardo Scheige | MusikTexte 168]
A radio play on the sound of the city. Bulldozers flatten the desert, neighbourhoods are fenced in, electricity pervades the informal, crowds of people occupy the middle land. What does, what could the city of the future sound like? In “Stadt (Land Fluss)”, composer Hannes Seidl and media artist Daniel Kötter expand the discourse on the right to the city. The highly interconnected city and the radical effects of the permanent battle over its modification are turned into an acoustic experience. Stadt [Land Fluss] is based on the eponymous music theatre piece by Daniel Kötter / Hannes Seidl.
Composition / Production: Daniel Kötter / Hannes Seidl
Electromagnetic sounds: Christina Kubisch
Music: Sebastian Berweck, Martin Lorenz, Andrea Neumann
Text: Daniel Kötter / Hannes Seidl after quotes by David Harvey, Kathrin Wildner, Thorsten Fausch and others
Photos: Nara Silva das Virgens Merlitz
Graphic Design: Nafiseh Fathollahzadeh
|
2020 |
€14.00 |
|
| L'ENSEMBLE VOLTA |
Les Nuages de Magellan (Works by Tristan Murail) |
CD |
"Our third collection featuring the ondes Martenot and the most experimental, in part because the Spectralist composer Tristan Murail, to whom this CD is dedicated, was himself a student of - and performer on - the ondes and, in these pieces, he explores some of its less conventional byways. These works are united here for the first time, performed by a new generation of musicians more attuned to the raw, less academic approach to sound that Murail himself favoured. Works for solo Onde, two Ondes, Onde and Piano, two Ondes, percussion and electric guitar." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| LA CASA, ERIC |
Air.Ratio |
CD |
Wer hat sich nicht schon einmal im Dröhnen & Rauschen von Lüftungs- und Klimaanlagen verloren? ERIC LA CASA hat hier 30 verschiedene Extrakte von ‘Nahaufnahmen’ gemacht, alle in Paris in verschiedensten Gebäuden auf Fluren, Toiletten, Badezimmern... AIR.RATIO zeigt die Verschiedenartigkeit & Vielschichtigkeit von ‘Rauschen, Dröhnen, Pfeifen, Heulen, Summen, etc.’ auf! Wenn man nur nah genug herangeht, eröffnet sich einem eine faszinierende, reichhaltige Welt (wohl das Grundprinzip experimenteller Musik – und vielleicht auch des Lebens an sich?). Nicht ein Stück gleicht dem anderen.
Im Booklet Texte zur ‘mechanischen Ventilation’ & der Abhängigkeit dieser Art der Klangerzeugung von diversen Parametern, die ‘künstliche Atmung der Gebäude’ als Symbol für die Rationalisierung unserer inneren Wohnwelten. Das ist die wahre ‘Maschinenmusik’ der modernen Welt. Wir meinen: Interessante Idee & fantastische Umsetzung, eine CD die die Ohren öffnen kann für die auralen Mikrowelten des Alltags, eine Bewusstseinserweiterung ohne Drogen! Diese (Wieder)-Entdeckung des Hörens kann glücklich machen.
63 Minuten Spielzeit, 33 tracks.
“Air Ratio. It all started in 1994, in a bathroom. An air vent above the bathtub attracted my attention. There, in the dusty environment, air became noise, music. Microphones were brought into contact with this acoustic territory to transmit the sonority of the aeraulic device directly. Since that day, I have been attentive to the flow of air in the modern architecture. This CD presents a selection of sound recordings made in Paris in buildings of various ages and dimensions. Without seeking to itemize mechanized ventilation systems in any methodical manner, I was interested in documenting their sonic and musical qualities. My approach wasn't strictly scientific, but nor was it primarily musical. All the sound recordings were made using a boom and of a pair of condenser microphones. Direct contact with the material was avoided. The recordings were subsequently assembled and equalized to optimize their abstract qualities, i.e. I sought to emphasize only sonic particularities related to the acoustics of the point of listening, not events related to the external movements (sounds of doors,
or voices): a listening devoid of both context and reference.” [Eric La Casa, liner notes]
“Each of the two minute pieces is a true delight to hear: mechanical sounding, sometimes far away, sometimes interfering with some other device (although none were recorded on the surface), this is a totally fascinating journey, that brings the listener more awareness of every days sound. Going into public places will never be the same again. Great sound work. “ (from FDW, Vital Weekly 533)
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Secousses Panoramiques |
mCD |
“Fahrstuhl-Musik” im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes! ERIC LA CASA hat Fahrgeräusche, Ansagen, Tür-Mechaniken, etc. von 16 verschiedenen Fahrstühlen aufgenommen. Es eröffnen sich ganz neue Welten in der Welt, die wir eigentlich gut kennen….
“Elevator music is of course nobody likes to hear when they speak about one's music. It's the type of music that one get in the elevator, or the supermarket. Muzak. Yuk. But in the case of the new Eric La Casa mini CD it's truly elevator music, music made out of the sound of elevators. Going up, going down, the computer voice, alarm, the bells and the ropes attached to the elevators. All of the sounds that are so familiar for elevators pass by, yet not very often humans. Divided into sixteen tracks, La Casa made his recordings mostly in Paris, but there is also a sound from Melbourne and Antwerp. However it's better to hear this as one work and not sixteen small ones. It's sound scaping in it's most pure form: without any electronic treatments, La Casa tells us a story and builds from all the familiar sounds a fascinating journey, even when the journey goes only up and down.” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
Address: http://www.hibarimusic.com
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Zone Sensible 2 / Dundee 2 |
CD |
Wer jemals selbst versucht hat, brauchbare 'field recordings' zu hervorzubringen, dürfte wissen wie schwer es ist, Störgeräusche auszuschalten, die gewünschte Klangquelle laut genug hörbar zu machen und überhaupt den "richtigen Moment" zu treffen... denn der Zufall spielt hierbei eine gewichtige Rolle, die Unkontrollierbarkeit der Klänge macht demütig...
Einer der absoluten Meister des Fieldrecording und deren Verarbeitung ist ERIC LA CASA, von dem hier 2 Stücke präsentiert werden, die sowohl gekonnteste Feldaufnahmen zeigen als auch die brilliante Transformation in eine Art naturale musique concrete:
ZONE SENSIBLE 2 benutzt Aufnahmen von Bienen, deren summender Chor oft gewaltig anschwellt und sich mit sirrenden, elektronisch wirkenden mechano-Drones vermischt, ein Stück voller Dynamik und Brüchen, welches am Ende wie ein einziger atmender Klangorganismus wirkt, epische 26:30 min lang.
Auf DUNDEE 2 dagegen entwirft er aus 30 verschiedenen Orts-Aufnahmen eine Art unterbewussten Klangspiegel der schottischen Stadt Dundee, wobei v.a. die stets vorhandenen, aber kaum jemals bewusst wahrgenommenen Sounds von Maschinen (Ventilatoren, Aufzüge, Sirenen, Kühlschränke) eine grosse Rolle spielen..
das soghafte Rauschen einer Stadt verläuft hier in langen auf- und abschwellenden Bahnen.
Fazit: Zwei geniale Kompositionen für das Kino im Kopf !
"For the best part of a decade, Éric La Casa's attention to sonic phenomena has resulted in some of the finest contemporary Musique Concréte to come out of France. A listener of the highest order, La Casa's methodology for sound recording allows for a versatile examination of both urban and natural environments and it is these interests which are captured on this new edition for Room40. With an ability to find unique perspectives on his sound subjects La Casa's site specific works 'Zone Sensible' and 'Dundee' seek to draw a detailed focus and expose unfamiliar, incidental and previously unheard sound worlds. Zone Sensible, exclusively composed from recordings of bees in the Olivier Darné's hives, located in the Saint Denis suburb of Paris, reveals a chaotic, frenetic microcosm that speaks to the density of the real, whilst hinting at our ears to experience a dance of oscillations - wings beating with boundless energy. As a contrast to this microcosm, Dundee, composed with recordings of Dundee city (during a 10 days residency at DCA museum), sees La Casa turn his microphones outward. Rendering a captivating sound map of sorts, Dundee' was developed in collaboration with USA Film experimentalist Ken Jacobs' 'nervous magic lantern', on a 6 channels device. From these recordings La Casa composed variations and movements in interaction with Ken Jacobs' processing - a contemplation from the real to abstracted life." [label info]
www.room40.org
"Two new works by Eric LaCasa, the active composer of musique concrete. By now he has a long list of releases under his belt, and on this CD he presents two new works. 'Dundee 2' is in three parts, while 'Zone Sensible 2' is one work. That one was commissioned by Les Instants Chavires (France) for a festival and uses solely the sounds of bees, recorded in a beehive. It starts out with the sound of bees, but soon starts to move about in some electronic after life. Or so it seems. Until now I always thought, but perhaps wrongly, that LaCasa only works with pure sound, always recorded in the fields (agricultural and urban), and never used that much sound processing, but perhaps I was wrong. Here its a much more electronic work that depicts the chaos of the beehive very well. Buzzing with life, sounds crawl about and its hard to figure out what is going on - except of course if you are a bee yourself. A work full of life.
'Dundee' was commissioned by Arika for 'Kill Your Timid Notion in 2007 and uses sounds of that Scottish city, which was played back on a six channel system, devised along with Ken Jacobs, an American film maker. Here we have the 'empty' spaces that resonates, sometimes interrupted by voices ('what are you doing in the parking, recording spaces'?, or station announcements) or by events we can longer trace back to its origin. Here it seems to me LaCasa uses no electronic processing, but the pure sound phenomena as captured on tape. A powerful work, even if you don't know the city of Dundee (at least I don't). What sets LaCasa aside from his colleagues in the same field, is that he composes with the material, rather than presenting them (for instance works like this on the German Gruenrekorder label), and that makes them all the more engaging to hear. I am not sure why 'Dundee 2' has been cut into three separate pieces, but like 'Zone Sensible 2', these are excellent pieces. LaCasa is
one of the true masters of working with field recordings." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
W2 (1998-2008) |
do-CD |
"A collection of previous released compositions and longtime sold out made between 1998 and 2008 and gather under two main theme, Water and Wind. + a few unreleased pieces. A geographic inventory, a sonic journal, a living alchemy, the pulsing of the world. With Les pierres du seuil, S'ombre, Spirale, Les oscillations, L'Inspir du rivage, Dans le feuillage du lointain, la clameur d'un bruissement, Quelque chose de cela, le désert, L'air au fond rouge, Les aubes sont navrantes." [label info]
www.herbalinternational.tk
"Essential compilation of now hard to find material from sound artist Eric La Casa, thematically separated onto two CDs around the themes of wind and water. These pieces are just as much shaped by geography as by time itself, with each track's vocabulary varying according to what was recorded then and there.
As always La Casa masterfully crafts compelling sound stories with these two elements, emphasizing narration over some purely static documentary exercise. The sound of breezes, flowing rivers, wind tunnels, rain drops and other storms are structured but never denatured, retaining all of their organic depth and beauty. Absolutely recommended, especially to those appreciative of G*Park." [Mechanoise Labs]
|
2010 |
€20.00 |
|
| LA CASA, ERIC & JEAN-LUC GUIONNET |
Inscape. Lille-Flandres |
CD |
"Es ist möglich mit ALLEN Orten Musik zu machen" - getreu nach diesem Motto und ihrer Faszination für die einmalige Perspektive die jeder Ort bietet, arbeitet das französische Duo beim INSCAPE-Projekt die spezifischen Klänge eines Platzes, Areals oder Gebäudes heraus. Bei diesen Aufnahmen vom AUDIOFRAMES-Festival in Lille (Oktober 2004) wurden an bestimmten Punkten des Auftrittsortes (ein altes Postgebäude) akustische Informationen eingesammelt und kunstvoll in "real time" zusammengeführt. So verbinden sich Aussengeräusche (Straße, Eisenbahn, Bahnhofslautsprecher, etc) mit denen im Innern des Gebäudes, Regen, und so weiter, zu einer einmaligen Komposition.
Wer urbane Field Recordings mag, sollte bei INSCAPE unbedingt ein Ohr riskieren!
Since 2003, their Inscape project, based on site-specific listening installations, has resulted in concerts from the United States to Australia via France. The project has been expanded in recent times to include installations in art galleries presented in conjunction with the ephemeral work of video-artist Yvan Clédat. Since, in our collaborations, we have worked principally on the notion of 'background noise', defined at once as that which designates a specific place (each place, each point defined by the uniqueness of its background noise, its own distribution of sounds, frequencies, textures etc.) and as that which remains when the sonic ensemble which dominates our attention (that which might ordinarily be said to 'interest' us) has been removed from the mass of sounds we hear, our projects are based on the idea that an analogy structures the relations between site, sound and reception, or hearing, of those sounds: sounds come at us, flood our ears in 360¡, defining as they do so a centre - which is none other that of the listening body. However, that centre remains a postulate, defined as it is from outside to in, from sound's invisible horizon. Instinctively, we define a site as such (or are unable to define it otherwise): as a spatial totality, centred on a point, moving or otherwise, inhabited or not.' 'Inscape-Lille-FLandres' was presented in Lille (Northern France) as part of the 2004 Audioframes Festival (October 2004)." [label info]
"Much more information, in English, can be found on the release by Inscape, the duo of Eric LaCasa and Jean-Luc Guionnet. As Inscape they deal with 'site-specific listening installations', 'principally on the notion of 'background noise'. The review of their CD can never really deal with all the implications of their project (otherwise I'd be retyping the entire booklet), but they more or less scan the environment where a project is by means of audio and video, which are used in a live concert or an installation piece. 'Lille-Flanders' was made in 2004 at a disused postal sorting office, now a cultural space and a list of sounds is in the booklet. Best is to sit back and let the music just roll about. Cars passing, trains, water meter, the rain falling, incidental music from the nearby train station etc. Its all there. Other than LaCasa's solo work, this is more a collage like approach on sounds, with a bit more rapid mixing than in his solo work. It makes a small, but significant difference and it makes a beautiful piece of music. A very fine and solid work of field recordings." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.monotyperecords.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| LA CASA, ERIC / JEAN-LUC GUIONNET / PHILIP SAMARTZIS |
Soleil d'Artifice |
CD |
Kaum zu beschreibende / zu erfassende Studio-Aufnahmen der drei Klangforscher, die - basierend auf einigen gemeinsamen Konzerten - Orts-spezifische Klänge von Räumen, Field Recordings, elektronische Sounds und Instrumentalklänge benutzen für ihre spannenden und jegliche Genredefinitionen sprengenden Geräusch-Felder zwischen Stille, Drone, Mikrosound & Field Recording...
"The trio of Eric La Casa, Jean-Luc Guionnet and Philip Samartzis first performed in Australia in July 2005 during Liquid Architecture 6 where they presented a series of surround-sound concerts in Melbourne and Brisbane. Their aim was to formulate a set of responses that addressed the specific spatial and acoustic dynamics comprising each site of presentation through improvised exchanges, microphones and electronics, and multi-channel diffusion. The trio resumed their investigations between April and June 2007 through a series of concerts in France, Germany and the Czech Republic, which were used to interrogate form, space and time using a revised set of strategies around location sound, amplification, diffusion, and real-time processing within improvised exchanges. Their intention was to explore the interplay between sonic articulation and spatial intervention to afford alternating states of awareness between musical and non-musical sound to demonstrate the complex set of acoustic and spatial interactions occurring between the constructed and the natural. Soleil d'artifice is a culmination of these investigations. Recorded june 22th 2007 at studio-KOUZ (Paris). Mixed and mastered by Philip Samartzis, November 2007. Jean-Luc Guionnet : extended saxophone. Eric La Casa : microphones, prepared recordings, laptop. Philip Samartzis : electronics, field recordings, laptop." [label info] |
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| LA COMUNIDAD |
Bastion 23 |
CD |
"second release of LC / german power electronics meets ambient noise parts in a mixture of noise / strength by political provokation" [label info]
"Control, Slogun, Sickness, MZ412 they all have something in common with La Comunidad . the pure fucking brutality and angry that these units can project. There is nothing happy or hopeful about this release. This German force are not a happy lot. This is about the disgust of ones world and surrounding and how a single source submits it to anyone that will listen. Not all of La Comunidad is full on noise sometimes there is a very suffocating Death Ambient assault going on here. You need to listen to the speeches and spoken word movements as much as the backdrop of the music to get the full picture.
La Comunidad likes the thought of War, Pain and Dispair. That much is very simple. Its not this vision alone that makes La Comunidad any more interesting then the bands listed above. What makes them a bit more out there is the distance and isolationist feel you get when listening to this. La Comunidad aren't to make this recording for your. Your here so someone can hear the deconstruction of a human soul on the bring of either greatness or insanity. Your never really sure and I hope to never find out. Just let the extremity of it all take you and change for ever.
L White has presented La Comunidad in a wonderful A5 full color 4 panel card package. The only thing is limiting it to 300 copies after all this hard work. L white is the Harsh Industrial/ Noise/ Power Electronic fans best friend as they give an outlet to very amazing projects such as there were others would never even look at them. Thank you for this L White and keep up the pain inducing release as I know I will keep on listening." [Clint Listing]
label-website: www.l.white-records.de
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| LA MONTE YOUNG & MARIAN ZAZEELA |
31 VII 69 10:26 - 10:49 PM / 23 VIII 64 2:50:45 - 3:11 AM The Volga Delta |
LP |
"La Monte Young was born in Bern, Idaho in 1935. He began his music studies in Los Angeles and later Berkeley, California before relocating to New York City in 1960, where he became a primary influence on Minimalism, the Fluxus movement and performance art through his legendary compositions of extended time durations and the development of just intonation and rational number based tuning systems. With wife and collaborator, artist Marian Zazeela, they would formulate the composite sound environments of the Dream House, which continues to this day.
Seeing reissue for the first time since its initial 1969 release, Young and Zazeela's first full-length album is often referred to as "The Black Record" due to Zazeela's stunning cover design, complete with the composer's liner notes in elegant hand-lettered script.
Side one was recorded in 1969 (on the date and time indicated by the title) at the gallery of Heiner Friedrich in Munich, where Young and Zazeela premiered their Dream House sound and light installation. Featuring Young and Zazeela's voices against a sine wave drone, the recording is a section of the longer composition Map of 49's Dream the Two Systems of Eleven Sets of Galactic Intervals Ornamental Lightyears Tracery (begun in 1966 as a sub-section of the even larger work The Tortoise, His Dreams and Journeys, which was begun in 1964 with Young's group The Theatre of Eternal Music). According to Young, the raga-like melodic phrases of his voice were heavily influenced by his future teacher, the Hindustani singer Pandit Pran Nath.
Side two, recorded in Young and Zazeela's NYC studio in 1964, is a section of the longer composition Studies in the Bowed Disc. This composition is an extended, highly abstract noise piece for bowed gong (gifted by sculptor Robert Morris). The liner notes explain that the live performance can be heard at 33 and 1/3 RPM, but may also be played at any slower speed down to 8 and 1/3 RPM for turntables with this capacity.
“La Monte Young is the daddy of us all.” — Brian Eno"
[press release]
"Just wanted to tell a little story about gongs… As the reader may know it, the B-side of La Monte Young’s Black record is filled up until its very end with some low-down rumbling noise which seems to be eternally reinforcing itself and at the same time voiding its own space. This peculiar track is called “The Volga Delta” and features La Monte Young and his wife on bowed gong. The story tells that it was around 1964 that the Fluxus sculptor Bob Morris gave out to La Monte a large gong and, as this instrument is (to my humble knowledge) the only one that contains all the upper tones possible for each single strike of it, the gong was soon to be one of La Monte ‘s favorite instrument. Now, get it on bang a gong is okay, but if you ever wonder how you can bow a gong, this is what you would need. A standard violin bow, a single contact mike applied to the gong’s surface, an amplification system, a pair of loudspeakers and you’ll be ready to start rubbing it so softly that the gong is gonna start purring like a cat.
Six years ago, I found on the Internet Archives, a 1965 performance of “X for Henry Flynt” by Peter Winkler. This performance piece was one of La Monte’s early proto-fluxus composition and Peter Winkler decided to do it with 42 gong strikes at irregular intervals, distant each other of about 12-15 seconds. I suddenly decided, upon downloading the piece, for a little aural tribute for both Henry Flynt and La Monte Young as I do regard their musical output as standing stones on silver sand beaches.
The Winkler’s piece was 16 minutes long and I did play it back on my media player (repeat function enabled) for 42 hours continuously. No kidding. That is approximately 7896 gong bangs. I remember the days, I remember the nights and I have the feeling that I always will. It was on October 7th-8th-9th 2009. Maybe you would like to experience it too, one day, because it’s a kind of sound immersion initiatory ritual beyond any comparison. I wanted to know what it sounded like to be immersed in continuous sound for days, as I did read many stories about this peculiar La Monte Young’s life aspect.
It is not easy at all. You pass through different humoral and mental states that come and go back again like a cyclic pattern. In a way, your head too is following the gong. At times, it seems so unnerving you want to destroy your complete hi-fi system. An hour after, you are in deep self-analysis wondering how the human mind can be so ever changing and that maybe the real mindset for happiness is to become constant as the gong. Some hours later, you are in a state of grace. Never did a drug cause any similar effect on you. The gong bangs are like written pages of an unknown manuscript you are now deciphering. None of them is exactly the same. They do all sound different. Then you wonder why the gong sounds so different while your mindset is now so pretty constant.
Past the middle of the experience, all your life is connected to the gong. All your fears, your goals, your worries cannot stand on it. They do desintegrate. The radiant coda of the gong, endlessly drifting through space blow them away. Its pulse is the only thing that matter. You realize you’ve been hanging on to it. It makes you smile thinking that three hours ago you want to stop everything.
Its pulse is now your entire life. You live in between it. Like the soul of a raga lives in between the notes, your body and breath is a whole completion of gong bangs. I tried to stay awake as long as I could but yet in my sleep I did hear it. It had become my inner clock ticking. It had liberated me from the tyrannic and stressfull second that ruins everyone’s life at some point. I had entered a body of space where the natural time flow had been expanded. I had entered the land of the giant-step seconds. It was my new time. I had for the first time the deep sensation of having the time to live my life. A new gong life." [REV from a review comment]
|
2023 |
€29.50 |
|
| LA NOMENKLATUR |
Le Triomphe de la Volonte |
CD |
"This was the ultimate composing in the 86-92 period. The martial side, and above all, the title of the project might not be interpreted like an adherence to the nazi propaganda as we can see it in the Leni Riefenstahl movie. Passion for cinema was greater than anything else. This project included all the emotions of a movie like drama, tears, violence, fear, and decision. Some tracks were in keeping with the life of the composer, and specially his romantic violences... a turning point in his life... like Leni Riefenstahl understood it later when the story of the cinema agreed with her, but not the History of mankind.
It was also the project of the renunciation because La NomenKlatur have seen a great deal of life like Minamata before it. The second part of the musical expression closed up. Silence was here for a long time.
Today, there is a true desire to retrieve the NomenKlaTurian accents because the history of our world in trouble gives some real elements for the new musical power of that band.... war, aggreed in the broad sense of the word, the one that Artaud use to define act of creation, would be the concrete expression of a wonderful horrible musical sense." [label info]
|
1992 |
€8.00 |
|
| LA POUPEE VIVANTE |
same |
LP |
"Four mouvements of electro-acoustic and vocal poetry projecting luminous shadows of a decadent fin de siècle. Performed by Timo van Luijk, Frédérique Bruyas and Arlette Aubin. Edition of 300 copies with printed inner sleeve." [label info]
www.lasciedoree.be
"Of a different nature is the music by La Poupee Vivante, which is apparently something new by Van Luijk, together with Arlette Aubin and Frederique Bruyas. The latter worked with Raymond Dijkstra before on a similar album of concrete sounds and poetry. Upon listening to this album, I could easily think Dijkstra had something to do with this too, as the improvised nature of these pieces may suggest such a thing. The electro-acoustic component is mainly small objects, a tuba or some other wind instrument, and lots of echo/delay on some of these. Not everything is played with great care, as some of this is rather loosely played; improvised for sure, and perhaps made by editing down lengthy sessions of this kind of. That makes that this album is less atmospheric and moody, but more experimental, or even industrial in some way, with all of this echo/delay manipulation. It's very hard to figure out what these poems are about, but that surely is one of those things that add that bit of atmospherics to this. It's not music with continuous spoken word, but rather finely scattered around the music. More music than poetry, I would think. Certainly altogether a more surreal record than the new Elodie one. Both of them are great, however, in their own respective fields. I didn't prefer one to the other, as both had fine quality in their own right. Fans of Raymond Dijkstra might take notice of La Poupee Vivante!" [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2014 |
€18.00 |
|
| LA STPO (La Société des Timides à la Parade des Oiseaux) |
Le Combat Occulte |
CD |
Rares und live-Material dieser französischen « Avant Post-Punk »-Band, die in ihrer aktiven Zeit ingesamt mehr als 30 Mitglieder hatte!! Anklänge an DDAA (die erste Single von LA STPO erschien übrigens 1986 auf Illusion Production!), VOLCANO THE BEAR, und die wildesten RECOMMENDED RECORDS-Sachen.....Grosse weirde wilde DADA-Energie!
“It's strange to think that a score of years ago the world was just emerging from the last of its new wave haze, only to enter a brave new era of over produced, digitally recorded schlock. La STPO was borne into this miasma of mediocrity with knives out. They have remained bastions of outré ever since their bloodied birth. Vive La STPO! To celebrate two decades of one of the finest, most fractured & indefatigable European avant post punk bands, BlRR has nailed together this 11 track retrospective of 7300 days in the life of La STPO. & rather than trying to shape this into some sort of "best of" or "greatest hits," BlRR & La STPO have done the reverse by leaning more heavily in on the group's more exploratory moments. This also makes for a better album that, in its own skewed way, fits together as if all recorded in the same session. As presented here, La STPO are truly Rock In Opposition. Unlike their Zeuhl spewing forbears, however, STPO are not trying to fuse jazz & rock. Their rock is in opposition of all things safely established, including Rock In Opposition. Jagged & bleated arrangements with familiar rock instrumentation clash to form screaming, dada-pregnant, contorted punk concertos. Oddly timed & full of changes, this is music to fall down escalators to. Sometimes this is music to lay at the bottom of escalators to. Just as your fingers begin to snap, STPO leaps off the page into a droning menace. A cadence of broken buzzsaw guitar hums ejaculate into soft & staggering staccato strings. La STPO's propensity for quiet tension gives the tumult of their caterwauls that much more weight. The vocalist is as likely to coo & chirp as he is to chant & caw. Reeds, vibes & trumpets walk freely with the rest, making this as dynamic & interesting a record as one could hope for in this hopelessly metering post rock era. Any group that can take The Ex to task & come out singing an aria afterwards is certainly worth falling down an escalator for.” [label press release]
|
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Le Combat Occulte |
LP |
Stark limitierte Vinyl-Version! Rares und live-Material dieser französischen « Avant Post-Punk »-Band, die in ihrer aktiven Zeit ingesamt mehr als 30 Mitglieder hatte!! Anklänge an DDAA (die erste Single von LA STPO erschien übrigens 1986 auf Illusion Production!), VOLCANO THE BEAR, und die wildesten RECOMMENDED RECORDS-Sachen...
Grosse weirde wilde DADA-Energie!
“It's strange to think that a score of years ago the world was just emerging from the last of its new wave haze, only to enter a brave new era of over produced, digitally recorded schlock. La STPO was borne into this miasma of mediocrity with knives out. They have remained bastions of outré ever since their bloodied birth. Vive La STPO! To celebrate two decades of one of the finest, most fractured & indefatigable European avant post punk bands, BlRR has nailed together this 11 track retrospective of 7300 days in the life of La STPO. & rather than trying to shape this into some sort of "best of" or "greatest hits," BlRR & La STPO have done the reverse by leaning more heavily in on the group's more exploratory moments. This also makes for a better album that, in its own skewed way, fits together as if all recorded in the same session. As presented here, La STPO are truly Rock In Opposition. Unlike their Zeuhl spewing forbears, however, STPO are not trying to fuse jazz & rock. Their rock is in opposition of all things safely established, including Rock In Opposition. Jagged & bleated arrangements with familiar rock instrumentation clash to form screaming, dada-pregnant, contorted punk concertos. Oddly timed & full of changes, this is music to fall down escalators to. Sometimes this is music to lay at the bottom of escalators to. Just as your fingers begin to snap, STPO leaps off the page into a droning menace. A cadence of broken buzzsaw guitar hums ejaculate into soft & staggering staccato strings. La STPO's propensity for quiet tension gives the tumult of their caterwauls that much more weight. The vocalist is as likely to coo & chirp as he is to chant & caw. Reeds, vibes & trumpets walk freely with the rest, making this as dynamic & interesting a record as one could hope for in this hopelessly metering post rock era. Any group that can take The Ex to task & come out singing an aria afterwards is certainly worth falling down an escalator for.” [label press release]
|
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Wir schwitzen Blumen / La STPO in Concerts |
LP |
"IF you’re shy, you especially need to pay attention in not too much exposing yourself!
Our illustrious society - the best-kept secret of the experimental musics in Rennes ! - skips away continuously for almost 30 years behind folding screens in the shape of sea horses, pieces deceiving the hearing and other fancies fruits of their harmonious inventiveness. The oblique, kinematic and double - bottomed compositions of the STPO join just as much the lineage of a certain 'rock in opposition' over-subtle and deserving the legacy of Albert Marcoeur and Etron Fou Leloublan for the texts and the odd atmospheres, as for the overexcited energy of the post-punk, like The Pop Group, or for the vocal eccentricities à la David Thomas from Pere Ubu!
This anthology of tracks, live recorded by KdB between 2006 and 2009 during three memorable concerts, because yes! our Shy society members are really great performers, reveal their capacity of this combo from Rennes to transform these long and over-subtle pieces in real playlets in which every musician embodies various roles, under the leadership of Pascal Godjikian, polymorphic storyteller who perspires of beautiful intensity. "Wir Schwitzen Blumen" presents five live pieces taken from the recent concert set of La STPO. "I Cuento Blumen" and "The Sound Of The City Seems Not To Disappear" come both from the album " Tranches de Temps Jeté / Slices of Thrown) time " released in 2005 on the american label Beta-Lactam Ring Records. The piece " Le Minisme " was recorded in 2009 for the compilation CD of the french label In-Poly-Sons " We All Believe in Utopia " ;; " La Vallée des Empreintes / The Valley of Imprints " a live track from the same period engraved here for the first time on a record, to our bigger satisfaction ! As for " Le Femme Immortel ", funny miniature between glossolalias and Dada choral singing, immortalized for the first time on a now impossible to find maxiCD, it is a vestige of their stage set of the 80s which they go on playing from time to time. So immerse yourself without further delay in the fantasy of this densely populated micro-society and rather than get lost in trying to raise the current direction of these river like compositions, let yourself be carried by the lush sonic textures and the inventiveness of the orchestrations of La STPO that function like lines of flight. Following the conclusion of the good doctor Faustroll: "What, however, should attract the attention of the naturalist, are some unexpected gaps, in no doubt spontaneous, of the bird to escape the net: here there is certainly an atavistic revival, and perhaps a return to wild instincts." [label info]
kdbrecords.free.fr
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
|
L'Imparfait multiple de Dieu |
CD |
"This is the band’s 7th full album – they have been around for nearly 30 years now and have always been difficult to classify, playing a weird mix of electronics, 80′s RIO & post-punk music. Just like Ptose, another French band of the era, they have often been compared to the Residents, although their music has a much rockier edge . On this brand new album, they show their most avant-prog side, notably on the very long opening track (27 minutes!). The music is very composed, with long instrumental moments, and is more melodic than before (in their own twisted way, of course) . Featuring guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, voice. Think Faust, Officer!, Pere Ubu, The Work, This heat… This odd territory being explored here for the very first time by Soleil Mutant, no need to say that we are very enthousiast about this recording!" [label info]
www.soleilzeuhl.com
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Les Explositionnistes |
CD |
"The ‘Shy peoples society at the parade of the birds’ (STPO) have been around since 1984 and I have had the pleasure to write about their intriguing music previously. It has been a while though, as La STPO’s last album ‘Les Liquidateurs’ was released three years ago. This album, ‘Les Explositionnistes’, note a trend in titles, was in fact recorded between 1993 and 1995 and first released in 1995. This
new release is a re-mastered version of the 1995 edition. Unfortunately I cannot compare the sound to the original version, but the new version on Exklageto sounds clear and direct. The shy people number (around) six and to me have always formed an intriguing link between say the archaic beauty of Déficit Des Annees Anterieures (with whom they share a home country, in this instance France, as well as a
love of four letter abbreviations - DDAA) and Magma (who also hail from France – let’s face it; where else would you find a big band playing prog-jazz mixed with avant-garde?). This album adds to their catalogue of unpredictable, eclectic, high-energy music. ‘Les Explositionnistes’ listens like an art
manifesto; several tracks are dedicated to/inspired by artists such as Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso, Barnett Newman, Asger Jorn and Lyonel Feiniger. The last name was a new one to me; Feiniger being a turn-of-the-century (we’re talking 1900 here) representative of Expressionism, which makes perfect sense in
the world of les explositionnistes. The cover is clear on the subject; depicted are a number of people (shy people?) who have just attached a bomb to a painting, ready to blow up the art world – ‘les explositionnistes’ indeed! Blowing up the art world is one thing, in fact the artists mentioned earlier certainly did, but what about blowing up the music world? Is La STPO the musical ‘explositionnistes’?
You could argue that La STPO plays expressionistic music: it bounces all over the place, energetic and devoid of basic musical ‘rules’ such as ‘try to keep one tempo per song’ or ‘do not create any complex breaks’. Good. Their songs are played on traditional instruments, such as guitar, bass, drums,
woodwind etcetera. There are no soundscapes or drones to be found, which in a sense is refreshing. As said, the music, especially when the tempo slows down, reminds me of DDAA, a group of artists I dearly love and on whose label, Illusion Production, La STPO released an EP in the 80s. But to be honest, La STPO (which my auto correct annoyingly keeps auto changing to STOP) rarely slow down. The music keeps a nervous, jumpy and unnerving edge throughout its ten songs. It reminds me at times of the
organized chaos of say The Mothers of Invention. Les Explositionnistes is exactly that: an explosive mix of instruments, structure and sound, aurally exhausting (to me), but rewarding – blowing up the world of music is something La STPO is more than capable of." [FK/Vital Weekly] |
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Les Explositionnistes |
LP |
"Tous les amateurs de la formation rennaise culte La Société des Timides à la Parade des Oiseaux doivent déjà connaître Les Explositionnistes, paru initialement au milieu des années 1990 et considéré par beaucoup comme leur chef-d’œuvre. Pour les autres, cette réédition est l’occasion de redécouvrir cet univers unique et poétique qu’ils développent depuis 1984. Véritable trésor de la scène art rock française, La STPO n’a jamais cessé son activité depuis trente-quatre ans, offrant des concerts au compte-gouttes tout en assurant un rythme soutenu d’une répétition par semaine. Un premier EP en 1986, suivi d’une bonne dizaine d’albums (La STPO, 1989 ; Le Femme : Portraits, 1993 ; Les Explositionnistes, 1995 ; L’Enciversel Marsac, 1998 ; Expériences de Survie, 1999 ; 86-90, 2001 ; Le Combat occulté, 2005 ; Tranches de temps jeté, 2006 ; Les Liquidateurs, 2015 ; L’Imparfait Multiple de Dieu, 2015), ainsi qu’un split avec Volcano the Bear ou un album live, il est donc inutile de dire qu’il y a de quoi écouter ! C’est pourquoi cette sortie remasterisée d’un des albums qui les a fait connaître est fort bienvenue.
Mêlant des influences variées (post-punk, free jazz, no wave, avant-garde, rock in opposition, bruitisme…), le groupe créé autour de Pascal Godjikian (chant) et Jim B. (guitare) a néanmoins développé un monde onirique bien à eux, teinté de surréalisme et d’expressionnisme. Qui dit onirique ne veut pourtant pas dire planant ! Si certains passages de « Sarajevo-Stepanakert » ou « Barfüsserkirche in Erfurt » peuvent susciter une certaine mélancolie ou une forme d’irréalité, le style de la troupe c’est plutôt du direct dans ta face. « Violent » n’est peut-être pas le terme car tout est ici contrebalancé par l’humour, mais La STPO joue des brisures, des structures complexes, des fois très speed, nerveuses et tendues, au milieu desquelles peuvent émerger des hurlements ou des références à la guerre (les villes martyres de « Sarajevo-Stepanakert », le génocide arménien sur « Rouge, Bleu, Orange »). Et au milieu de tout cela, nous sommes invités à une valse monstrueuse, ambiance carnavalesque au milieu des décombres (« DadaMax Stellt Loplop Vor »). Dès ce premier morceau, l’inspiration picturale est mise en avant. Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso, Barnett Newman ou Lyonel Feininger sont conviés à la fête, et les superbes visuels de Jim B. leur rendent hommage avec brio.
Grave et délirante, en mutation permanente, la musique est foisonnante. Chaque écoute nous amène à découvrir de nouveaux sons. Le chant, théâtral à souhait, aborde de nombreux registres, en s’amusant en permanence de la langue, se l’appropriant pour créer son propre vocabulaire. Au sein de ces tableaux absurdes rendant compte de la cruauté du monde émergent souvent des mélodies, tellement nombreuses et triturées qu’elles en deviennent presque impalpables. Version épique, virtuose et énergique de l’esprit Un Département/Déficit des Années Antérieures, La STPO garde une forme plus rock. L’instrumentation variée (batterie, guitare, basse, saxophone, contrebasse, synthés, radio, xylophone, viole de gambe, balafon…) ouvre, cela dit, les possibilités sonores, pouvant aller de la fanfare orientale (« Rouge, Bleu, Orange ») à des sortes de collages, entre jazz fou et le Hörspiel (« Le Portrait de Dora Maar »). De ces alliances contrastées émerge au final une véritable beauté, dont seul le groupe a la clé (« Barfüsserkirche in Erfurt ») et dont on peut vite devenir accro. Pas de problèmes, l’œuvre est assez dense pour pouvoir s’abreuver à volonté." [Max Lachaud, OBSKÜRE MAG9
|
2018 |
€17.50 |
|
| |
L'Empreinte |
CD |
Gatefold card case with 8 page inner booklet
Les Liquidateurs : dedicated to the liquidators of Chernobyl and Fukushima
Armenian translation : Alice Godjikian
Obsküre Mag : 4/1/2019 - Max Lachaud
"Un nouvel album de La Société des Timides à la Parade des Oiseaux est toujours une joie : la promesse d’une plongée dans un univers inventif, délirant et poétique."
A new release from La STPO is always a joy : the promise of a dive into an inventive, delusional and poetic universe.
"Comme d’habitude, la production est impeccable, les graphismes inspirés et les textes toujours aussi énigmatiques. Un très bon cru, donc, et un des plus apocalyptiques."
As usual, the production is impeccable, the graphics inspired and the texts always as enigmatic. A very good vintage and one of the most apocalyptic.
https://lastpo.bandcamp.com/album/lempreinte
"Heimlich, still und leise haben La Société des Timides à la Parade des Oiseaux im Herbst 2018 doch tatsächlich ein neues Studioalbum veröffentlicht. Allerdings haben die auf "L'Empreinte" zu findenden Aufnahmen schon ein paar Jährchen auf dem Buckel. Die vier Tracks waren nämlich schon im Herbst 2012 fertig abgemischt, und sollten eigentlich zeitnah auf CD veröffentlicht werden. Allerdings gab es dann Probleme mit der Plattenfirma (Beta-lactam Ring Records), und das Material landete erst einmal in der Schublade. Ein Teil davon, das lange "Les Liquidateurs", erschien dann 2015 auf LP (parallel zur inzwischen eingespielten nächsten CD "L'imparfait multiple de dieu").
Drei Jahre später haben es La STPO dann mit Hilfe von Azafran Media doch noch geschafft das gesamte Album zu veröffentlichen. "L'Empreinte" kommt in einem platzsparenden, im typischen Stil der Band bunt bedruckten Pappklappcover, in dessen einer Seite die CD steckt. Dieselbe sollte man allerdings vorsichtig herausziehen, um Kratzer zu vermeiden, was sich als gar nicht so einfach erweist.
Gut 60 Minuten an Musik ist auf "L'Empreinte" zu finden, wobei das schon erwähnte "Les Liquidateurs" die Hälfte der Spielzeit ausmacht. Dasselbe, zum Entstehungszeitpunk das längste und ambitionierteste Stück der Formation, ist den Liquidatoren von Tschernobyl und Fukushima gewidmet, also den Arbeitern, die bei beiden Reaktorkatastrophen in vorderster Front in den stark verstrahlen Gebäudeteilen gearbeitet und aufräumt haben. Viele von denselben haben ihren Einsatz mit dem Leben bezahlt. Die meisten leiden bis heute an den gesundheitlichen Folgen. Im Zentrum des Stücks steht ein junger armenischer Liquidator, und anhand seines Schicksals werden die Ereignisse von Tschernobyl klanglich (und textlich) nachgezeichnet. Mehr Informationen findet der interessierte Leser hier.
Ein dichtes Gemenge an Klang arbeitet sich hier suitenartig aus den Boxen, beginnend mit von einem Cello erzeugten Alarmheulen, hektisch und schräg, bedrohlich brodelnd, sehr abwechslungsreich und farbig, gehalten natürlich im typischen multiinstrumentalen, punkig-sperrigen RIO-Avant-Stil, den La STPO auch sonst pflegen. Dazu gibt es allerlei Text und Gesang, in Englisch, Französisch und offenbar Armenisch. Das Ergebnis wirkt ein wenig wie ein Theaterstück, oder eine Avantprog-Oper (wobei der Gesang natürlich kaum etwas opernartiges an sich hat). Zumindest könnte ich mir das gut in einem multimedialen Gewand bei einer Aufführung vorstellen, als Spectacle (wie man in Französisch sagen würde), begleitet von allerlei Filmmaterial, Projektionen und entsprechenden Kostümen.
Die drei kürzeren Nummern bieten musikalisch-stilistisch Ähnliches, kommen aber trotz der auch hier zu findenden exaltierten Vokaldarbietungen Godjikians etwas weniger theatralisch daher. Die für die Band typische, wild-deftige bis klangmalend-hallende Musik wird geboten, bestimmt von der schräg jaulenden Gitarre, umfangreichem Tastenwerk, der kraftvollen Rhythmusabteilung, und verschiedenen weiteren instrumentalen Ergänzungen (Blechgebläse, Klarinettenklänge, Celloeinlagen und allerlei Perkussives). Gegen Ende von "Offre Spéciale de Lancement de la Chute" kommt sogar fast mediävale Stimmung auf, wenn Godjikian madrigal-artig seine Stimme erklingen lässt.
"30000 Fois" ist offenbar die älteste Nummer der Sammlung, ist hier doch noch Benoît Delaune an Bass und Cello zu hören, der La STPO 2008 verlassen hat. Mein Lieblingsstück ist aber "La Vallée des Empreintes", das auf beeindruckende Art und Weise zwischen fast lyrischem Klangschweben und heftigen Ausbrüchen hin- und herwechselt.
"L'Empreinte" ist ein weiteres hervorragendes Album der Société des Timides à la Parade des Oiseaux, welches allen RIO-Avantprog-Freaks, so sie denn keine Aversionen gegen bisweilen exaltierte menschliche Lautäußerungen haben, sehr viel Spaß machen sollte. Fazit: Besser spät als nie!" [Achim Breiling/Babyblaue Seiten]
|
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
| LA STPO (SOCIETE DES TIMIDES A LA PARADE DES OISEAUX) |
Tranches de temps jete (Slices of thrown time) |
LP |
Für jeden Recommended Records- und „AvantRock“-Fan ein MUSS, das neue Album dieser ungewöhnlichen Band, die auf französisch singen, sprechen und schreien und musikalisch fast schon theatralisch zu nennende „Szenen“ entwerfen, die irgendwo zwischen Geräuschmusik, Filmmusik & Experimental-Rock liegen.... wobei jedes Stück bis ins kleinste Detail ausgearbeit ist !
Nicht nur höchst kurzweilig, sondern auch anspruchsvoll und ästhetisch tönen diese Aufnahmen, die bereits im Jahre 2000 gemacht wurden...
Dies die limitierte Vinyl-Version....
“Ed. of 325 copies. Vol. 3 of Records are not for Baking In the midst of the world's fascination with so-called Electroclash, leave it to the old school to really show what post-punk is really about, while simultaneously turning the concept on its fractured head. LA STPO has the finesse and invention and the je ne c'est quoi to massage its victims into a quiet trance, only to pummel them seconds later. Slices Of Throw Time is like a Van Der Graaf arc between the bombast of Blurt/Ex/Dog Faced Hermans/Contortions/Birthday Party and the subtle, avant-composerly moments of Henry Cow/This Heat/Univers Zero/Faust. The punchy rhythm section, abetted by the squawky horns, makes for a music to which one can truly contort. LA STPO's musical muscle, however, is always backed up by solid jazz/classical informed chops that can and will chop any lesser outfit into nothing more than a pile of over-loud rock and roll dust. LA STPO infuses their punk with dynamics of both volume and texture, producing a slightly zeuhl flavoured post rock, which should, by all rights, land Slices Of Throw Time on many a critic's year end top 10 list. We all know this will not likely happen, but hopefully there is enough room in YOUR top ten list for rock that both rocks and explores.” [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2006 |
€17.00 |
|
| LAABAN, ILMAR |
Ankarkättingens slut är sängens början |
CD |
Obscure Swedish sound-poetry with some very old recordings, from one of the lesser known artists in this field where meaning of words meets with the noise of words... Comes with nice gold-embossed small book with texts, pictures and graphics, all in Swedish !
“Ilmar Laaban´s poetry, practically a class in itself in Sweden, traverses linguistic borderlands where words can get split and torn apart, reduced to something beyond words, perhaps more universal than words, but where the various components can just as often be reassembled in new words. The cycle of destruction and construc- tion always fascinated Laaban the word-wright and word-kneader, going through it over and over again to find the cracks and clefts from which an unexpected spring might well forth.” Like Tristan Tzara he holds to the maxim "thought is born in the mouth. Laaban´s poetry, which gives sound and form to the subconscious, is a poetry of utterance, and therefore speaks for itself. But the appended compilation of statements on the subject, from the writer himself, nevertheless offer a rewarding insight into his poetic method and reveal much about the associative pathways down which his imagination has wandered. This CD begins with two examples of Labaan´s surrealist recitation from the 40´s and 50´s, followed by some of his polyphonic text-sound poetry (which he started in 1967), and finally some sound poems from the 90´s. Ilmar Laaban was born in Tallinn, Estonia in 1921. He studied Romanic languages at the university of Tartu and musical composition at the Tallinn conservatory. To avoid being drafted into Hitler´s army he fled to Sweden in 1943. He had already been writing surrealist poetry in Estonia, and continued in the same vein in Sweden, supporting himself as a freelance culture and art reviewer. His grasp and overview of the international art arena gave him an important role as a guide and source of inspiration for many artists who came in contact with him, not the least those in the circle around Fylkingen.” [label info]
www.fylkingen.se
|
1998 |
€12.50 |
|
| LABELLE, BRANDON |
Site Specific Sound |
Book & CD |
“Wie jede unbedeutende Schlammlawine oder sterbende Hefezelle so rauscht auch jeder Raum im eigenen Format, in eigener Zeit und sowieso immer anders. Kaum ein anderer weiß darüber so dezidiert Auskunft zu geben, wie LaBelle, selbst seit unzähligen Jahren Musiker und Soundinstallateur. Seine Essays über die Abstrakta Building, Music, Walls, Sound Installations etc. sind äußerst schlüßig verfaßt und machen auf genau das aufmerksam, was im Sog des (natürlich immer extrem vereinfachenden) Beats oder der Popmusik immer wieder verschluckt wird. Hier zählt einzig der pure Sound, das unvorhersehbare Ergebnis im Wechselspiel der Schallwellen mit seinem Publikum, seinen Begrenzungen und natürlich seiner zu kurzen Halbwertzeit. Vervollständigt werden alle Theorien und Kommentare mit einer überaus hilfreichen Audio-CD, die Aufnahmen von verschiedenen Soundinstallationen LaBelles zusammenfaßt und somit gekonnt alles Ausgeführte in verführerische Soundbeispiele transformiert. Sehr schön und aehm.. fast sexy.“ [Erik Benndorf / DeBug]
“Site Specific Sound documents a series of sound installations from 1998 to 2002 by sound-artist and writer Brandon LaBelle. Each installation was created as part of the Beyond Music Sound Festival in Los Angeles, an annual festival on sound practice at Beyond Baroque Literary/Arts Center. Functioning site-specifically, and drawing upon the architectural structure of the building, the installations explore the relationship between sound and space by staging social and spatial interventions. In documenting these five installations over the course of five years Site Specific Sound pries open architecture, and the specifics of locality, as a contingent form whose relationship to sound extends well beyond acoustical phenomena. It suggests ways to understand the fabrication of space through sound as a central lens, and architecture as a strategy for the construction of sound events. Including writings by LaBelle, an interview by the Frankfurt-based media-artist Achim Wollscheid, and a Compact Disc of audio work.” [publishing house info]
|
2004 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Techne |
CD |
Wieder ein stark konzeptgeladenes Werk vom kalifornischen Klangkünstler: Auf Techne sind alle Stücke entstanden als Ergebnis von „Körpern”, die sich in direkten Kontakt mit architektonischen Räumen begeben... das akustische Ergebnis klingt wie eine fremde Sprache aus konkreten, sich schnell verändernden, collagenhaft verfremdeten Sounds, soft und zart.
“..Through his use of contact mikes, the human body turns into a complex sound source, and the space where the action takes place becomes a musical instrument by itself. Brandon LaBelle builds his sound performance to reflect the site and the objects he finds there, found-art seen as a highly conceptual reasoning as well as a play in improvisation. The music of Brandon LaBelle reveals the social context in which it exists, or more precisely, it's the context itself that is designated as a musical event, through the displacement of the concept of authorship on an active social space. 'Techné' presents itself like the trace of a process where the physical body interacts with architecture via micro contacts. The technology is the interface of this contact built both on desire and the architectural constraint of the place (and its subconscious). A recording of situationist poetry where the politics project gives its shape to the musical project, a radical noise. (Traduction : Pascal Rivoire)" - label description.
|
2001 |
€7.50 |
|
| LABFIELD |
Fishforms |
CD |
Ein neuer Name für die Impro-Drone-Szene, dieses skandinavische Duo, die mit indischen "Sruti" und "Saranghi"-Boxen wunderbar füllige Drones erzeugen (klingt nach Harmonium oder endlosen Sitar-Loops), die sich in endlosen Wellen und Obertönen fortbewegen, dabei aber sehr nah und konkret erscheinen. Subtile Bass-Dumm Percussion wird eingesetzt, (was meist auch einen low-freq Drone ergibt, der aber unruhiger schwingt ) und in Stück 2 ist eine Folk-artige Akustikgitarre zu hören, ... sehr schönes Debut (von zwei etablierten Leuten aus der Impro-/Jazz Szene)!
" 'Phanta Rhei’ - everything flows. Whatever else might happen, life hurtles on and everything follows its natural course. Music is also subject to these ineluctable laws. While often breaking the mould, when everything is in its right place, the music follows its own course. As it does in the little experimental cabins of Laboratory Field, or LabField for short. This Scandinavian monster collective consisting of David Stackenäs (guitars, electronics) and Ingar Zach (percussion) knows exactly how to manipulate sound. At the same time, Ingar Zach is also creating a big stir with three-piece kindred spirits Huntsville.
Not fussed about getting their hands dirty, Stackenäs and Zach dig for sounds of gold with successful results. Sound waves emanate from their instruments slowly. This unstoppable flood of sound is not distinguished by brute force but rather by its boundless subtlety and inventiveness. The listener will completely find themselves submerged by an overwhelming stream. Bottrop-Boy is proud to release LabField’s first sound experiments onto the world.
Swedish guitarist Stackenäs and Norwegian percussionist Zach are known names in the European improvisation scene. They previously worked together in three-piece TRI DIM, together with saxophonist Håkon Kornstad. Two years later, Stackenäs and Zach decided to work as a duo, deciding on a radically different course. Improvisation, sound art, minimal music and drones are fused to form a completely unique style of performing. Zach plays, among other instruments, the unique electronic sruti and saranghi boxes. This is music that evolves quietly and often refers to the dronescapes of free improv pioneers such as AMM. The sounds which Stackenäs manages to conjure up from his guitars are unprecedented: softly humming, viciously rattling and intensely meditative. Zach answers these sounds with the hypnotic pulse of his bass drum and electronic sruti box. This is improvisational music replete with sounds branching in unpredictable directions and slowly smouldering drones. An aural rite of passage fit for these modern times." [label info]
"....The 24 minute opener “Gin” is built around the sustained presence of Zachs sruti and saranghi boxes – electronic facsimiles of Indian harmonium and fiddle, respectively. With these blissed out vibrations, augmented by bells and the sparse isolated booms of a bass drum, it has the feel of a slowly unfolding devotional ritual, but it’s saved from descending into ersatz spiritual tourism by Stäckenas’s jarring embellishments. Even without seeing him at work, it’s probably safe to assume Stäckenas is operating out of the Keith Rowe school of unconventionally manipulated tabletop electric guitar, producing grating textures resembling the hum and drill of an overworked air conditioning unit or the piercing whine of a wineglass rim.
For “Rin”, he switches to acoustic, with simple strumming phasing in and out of sync in left and right channels and a three note melody picked out on slide guitar – creating a satisfying mash of Country, raga and contemporary music that recalls Zach’s other trio, Huntsville. But, with the throbbing, sruti-drenched “Showa”, the album returns to its core mission to explore the bottomless reaches of drone, discovering dark, euphoric realms along the way." [Daniel Spicer / THE WIRE]
"... On the risk of being accused (again) that I heard this only once, I must say that the work he produced as LabField with Stackenäs is great. Absolutely great. Zach plays bass drum, percussion, electronic scruti-box and electronic saranghi-box and Stackenäs plays acoustic guitars, resonator guitar, preparations and low budget electronics. With a background in improvisation you would expect careful, quiet, intimate playing - and in a way they do that. But it's not tender, soft or hardly outspoken. I suggest putting the volume up and get immersed by their wall of machine sounds. They play their instruments using all sorts of motors, fans or other mechanized instruments to create a natural resonating yet acoustic sound. Especially in 'Gin', the opening track which spans two-third of the entire CD this works wonderfully well. Dense to bone (mm, that's no expression)... dense like clouds, like being in a factory and one hears all the machines humming at once. Not deafening loud, but well constructed, balanced, varied, not from one point of the factory, but one has the feeling of walking about, hearing new aspects of the machines or new combination of the machines. By contrast 'Gin', the shortest piece, is a like bridge between that and 'Showa', soft tinkling guitars and percussive sounds, until things start to heat up again for the final piece. Hardly improvised sounding at all, this is sophisticated drone music of an outstanding order." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.bottrop-boy.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| LABRADFORD |
E luxo so |
CD |
“The fifth album from the flagship of the kranky fleet and (dare we say it) one of the most important bands in the world. "E luxo so" (grab your Portuguese-English dictionary) was recorded at Sound of Music studios in Richmond, VA like Labradford and Me media naranja and features contributions from a string quartet (Chris Johnston, Craig Markva, Jamie Evans and Jonathan Morken) and Peter Neff on dulcimer. Subtle blips of percussion and samples interweave through blurry guitars, bubbly electric piano and plangent organ and some gorgeous piano. Six songs. Labradford stand alone.“[label info]
|
1999 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Fixed/Context |
CD |
"Das neue Album der beliebten Ambient/Post-Rock-Band, diesmal sehr minimal und zart, wenig songorientiert, dafür eine sehr sanfte, magisch-dronige Atmosphäre..
...Very minimal and sad, with long droney sequences.... 4 long tracks, produced by Steve Albini." [Drone Records info 2001]
"To record their sixth album, the members of Labradford met in Chicago to work with Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in June 1999. fixed::context finds the trio stripping off the string trios of the last two albums and working with interlocking sound sources and modifiers; Carter Brown's vintage synthesizers, organs and electric piano, the distinctive Duane Eddy plays Satie guitar of Mark Nelson and Bobby Donne's four and six string basses. Beginning with the 16 minute 'Twenty', Labdradford demonstrate grasp of the dialectic between organic sound sources, digital processing and composition. The guitar duet 'Up To Pizmo' shows a refocusing on basic elements like melody and twang while samples pulse below and keyboards waft above." [label info]
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
| LAIBACH |
Bremenmarsch: Live At Schlachthof, 12.10.1987 |
LP + CD |
"Laibach is art, but more than just art. Founded on 1st June 1980 in the then heavy industrial Yugoslavian town of Trbovlje (today a city in central Slovenia), the band took their name after the German designation of the Slovenian capital Ljubljana which was undesirable in Yugoslavia during the Tito's and post-Tito era. In 1987 Laibach signed a long-term contract with Daniel Miller's renowned London Mute Label and had finally found their musical home. The artists roster of Mute included such well-known artists as Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, Erasure, Yazoo, Moby and also Kraftwerk. From now on the commercial success story of Laibach could also be written. Mute released Opus Dei. The album includes, inter alia, a specific 'Laibach' - interpretation of 'Live Is Life', the big single hit of the Austrian group Opus (one as a German version under the name 'Leben heißt Leben' as well as an English version under the title 'Opus Dei') and also the interpretation of the Queen track 'One Vision' (in German under 'Geburt einer Nation'). The sound of Laibach had become more commercial, the avant-garde and industrial parts gave way in favour to Laibach's 'militant classicism', the band had found its style. Laibach went on tour, now playing in larger halls and clubs in Germany. On 12th October 1987 Laibach made a stop at the Bremen Schlachthof. Here the live album Bremermarsch was recorded, which is now released 33 years later. In spring 2020 Laibach edited the 'old' original recordings and digitally mastered them in their studio. The recordings sound fresh and unspent, the sound is great, the mood in the audience as well. And that Laibach is performing the 'hits' such as 'Die Liebe', 'Life is Life' and 'Geburt einer Nation' ('Birth of a Nation') can almost be taken for granted."
www.mig-music.de/en/laibach-bremenmarsch-live-at-schlachthof-12th-october-1987-news/
|
2020 |
€21.50 |
|
| LAINHART, RICHARD |
White Night |
CD |
minimal ambience recorded 1974 ! Edition of 500
Ein wunderschön schimmernder, fast 30minütiger Drone von 1974 offenbart sich auf WHITE NIGHT, der aus vier sich umtänzelnden, schwingenden Tönen besteht. Obwohl hierzu Sinus-Töne auf einem MOOG-Synthesizer kreiert wurden, ergeben sich Obertöne und eine "wavende" Räumlichkeit, die das ganze eher nach Gitarrendrones klingen lassen, wie ihn heutzutage STARS OF THE LID oder ULTRASOUND machen...
Erschienen auf dem Label von TOBIAS FISCHER (FEU FOLLET) und MIRKO UHLIG (ex AALFANG MIT PFERDEKOPF).
"Back in 1974, one year before Brian Eno’s first landmark in Ambient-music, some young musician from New York wrote down a fragment of beauty’s hidden story with the minimal vocabulary of sine waves on the young black skin of a Moog synthesizer. The first release on CD features Richard Lainhart’s masterpiece in its original 29-minutes-version. There’s no single second to add, after this time everything is told though nothing has been said. Richard Lainhart about the work’s origin: "White Night" was composed and recorded in the late fall of 1974 at the State University of New York at Albany in the Coordinated Electronic Music Studio (CEMS). CEMS was created by my composition teacher Joel Chadabe with design and custom fabrication by Robert Moog and was, at the time, the largest integrated Moog modular synthesizer studio in the world. The piece consists of a dense, continuous four-note chord, each note in the chord recorded in a separate pass to one track on a Scully 4-track studio recorder. Each track consists of a single sine wave oscillator which is frequency modulated by a group of eight additional sine wave oscillators. Those oscillators are all tuned to different tones, each harmonically related to the fundamental chord tone. The amplitude of each harmonic oscillator is continuously varied under the control of an individual sequencer, and each sequencer is free-running - that is, the sequencers are not synchronized to each other, but rather running in their own independent timebases.The result is a continuously-changing complex harmonic waveform which modulates the frequency of the chord tone oscillator, generating a continuously-changing complex timbre based on the fundamental pitch of the note.
The center tone of "White Night" is 212 Hz, slightly higher than the G below Middle C. The other notes create a chord consisting of a perfect fifth below the center tone, a major seventh just below the center tone, and a major second above the center tone. "White Night" was composed without reference to the standard A-440 tuning system, as we had no such pitch reference in the studio; I just picked a center tone that felt right, and went from there. As such, "White Night" lives in its own pitch world.
The title "White Night" came about so: it was late December in upstate New York when I was finishing the piece, and a blizzard passed through town the night of the final mix. As I sat in the glow of the sequencers and tape decks in the University studio listening to the final version, I looked out the window and saw a security light on a building opposite the studio illuminating the blowing snow as it drifted off the roof. All I could see was the snow swirling in the light against the blackness; a moving painting continually drawn, erased, and redrawn, always changing, but always the same. It may sound bleak, but it wasn't - it was beautiful. It seemed to me that the image of the dancing whiteness perfectly matched the sound of the piece, and so I called it "White Night" to commemorate that evening of wind and snow." [label info]
www.exovo.org
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| LAMIA VOX |
Sigillum Diaboli |
CD |
"We are proud to welcome Russia's LAMIA VOX to our roster for her second full length album "Sigillum Diaboli". We are taken on a journey where Sabbatic fires burn into the night, incense smoke dances around the sorcerer's circle and while whispered incantations are delivered. The album alchemically combines ritualistic elements with vocals and chants, martial percussion, combined with haunting ambient soundscapes, creating its own ceremonial atmosphere.
Edition of 600 copies in 6 panel Digipak. 9 Tracks. Running Time 56:20." [label info]
www.cycliclaw.com
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Alles ist Ufer. Ewig ruft das Meer |
CD |
Long awaited new material from Lamia Vox. Titled “Alles ist Ufer. Ewig ruft das Meer” (Everything is shore. The sea calls forever) after the Gesänge poem by Gottfried Benn, the album is’nt presented merely as a musical piece but bears a deep spiritual message and a counterblast to the rational, materialistic and post-theist nihilism of current age. Inspired by early modern poetry, Hermeticism, fin-de-siècle symbolism and naturphilosophie, this new opus celebrates another vision of the world, one of higher dimensions and beyond the human sphere, a world of intoxicated and ecstatic alchemy of poetic language and ideas. An upward movement and a breakthrough from the bonds of materia to the source of life and eternity. Dionysian liberating lawlessness to oppose sterile rationalism and creativity, divine madness, metanoia as a form of ultimate salvation. Poetry flows, it is a sacred art and process and the laboratory of the Magnum Opus, a divine gift of deliberate madness.
CD editing of 600 copies in 6 panel digisleeve with matt lamination. 7 Tracks. Running Time 35:09
LP Edition of 300 copies in gatefold sleeve, matt lamination on black vinyl. 7 Tracks. Running Time 35:09
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/alles-ist-ufer-ewig-ruft-das-meer
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| LAMMERS / USENBENZ |
Drawing in Sound |
LP |
Drawing In Sound is a live improvisation, created by sound artist Andreas Usenbenz and illustrator Christoph Lammers for the exhibition opening of "Wiese" ("meadow") by artist and curator Andreas Pytlik at Städtische Galerie Rosenheim in the spring of 2018.
Prior to the performance, the artists exchanged ideas, drawings and sound improvisations to find a way of approaching the topic of 'meadow' in the context of contemporary drawing and contemplative soundscapes. During the performance, illustrator and sound artist entered a dialogue: Usenbenz created subtle sound textures and phonographic collages of rustling hay, records, guitar sounds, field recordings, tapes and effect devices.
Lammers opened all senses to both space and sound. Reacting intuitively, focussing on the moment and with great physical effort he composed his images, formed structures from lines and shapes. Using charcoal, ink, brushes and his bare hands, he filled the 7 by 4 metre canvas, vigorously at times, then almost delicately, providing stimuli in turn picked up by Usenbenz. Ultimately, this "conversation" between the two artists gave rise to a different interpretation: Everything grows of its own accord.
Played and improvised by Andreas Usenbenz, using objects, lo-fi microphones, contact microphones, field recordings, guitar, ebow, looper, ipad, dictaphone, cassettes, tape loops, op 1, field kit. Drawn and performed on a 7 x 4 m canvas by Christoph Lammers, using different objects, ink, charcoal, brushes and his bare hands. Recorded live at Städtische Galerie Rosenheim. Additional sounds recorded and edited at home.
For this release, Lammers and Usenbenz extracted a small part of the huge artwork and carefully screenprinted every single copy by hand to the B-Side of the record. The A-Side contains the 21 miunte performance in full. The Title is handstamped on the label.
https://klanggold.bandcamp.com/album/drawing-in-sound-2
"Our regular readers may remember Ulm’s Andreas Usenbenz from Bells Breath, a lovely time-stretched recording that was also an installation. Last spring he teamed up with Munich illustrator Christoph Lammers for Drawing in Sound, a live performance during which the artists improvised with sound and brush. Now this performance has found its way to vinyl, each copy screenprinted with a segment of the original art.
The video causes one to reflect on the process of inspiration, especially one’s reaction to sound. Music can aid the focus of artists in other disciplines, from the obvious (yet often ignored) dancer in a nightclub to a choreographer to an author to a sculptor. Lammers is literally drawing in sound. Yet the feedback loop also contains Usenbenz, who reacts to Lammers’ art with additional nuances of his own: not just guitar, but tape and “rustling hay.” On the surface, one might ask, “Is this what the sound looks like?” or “Is this what the painting sounds like?” But the release offers only one interpretation; play it at home, and one may paint a different picture.
The title of the exhibition opening was “Wiese (Meadow),” which seems apt given the nature of the collaboration. Something grew out of (a seeming) nothing: curves on a white canvas, notes in a quiet room. But the value of the vinyl goes far beyond mere souvenir or objet d’art. Usenbenz’ piece is gentle and intimate, a perfect score for a new morning or a new year, a snow-covered landscape or the genesis of an artistic project. Flowing water implies life; birds the promise of spring; rustling hay the seeds of inspiration. Soft pings twinkle like stars on a clear night. As a single piece, the music allows listeners to sink into the undulations, providing deep rest or deep focus depending on the setting. When the notes eventually dissipate, the recording ends, but the creative fire has been lit." [Richard Allen/A Closer Picture] |
2018 |
€25.00 |
|
| LAMY, PHILIPPE |
Drop Diary |
CD |
"After numerous appearances on various netlabels, collabs with Pleq, and shortly after the publication of his debut solo CD “Slowfast” on Dronarivm, Philippe Lamy confirms all the hopes placed into him… Years of experience as an established painter and teacher in Plastic Arts, as well as his late coming to the music have allowed him to stand back, and feed his soundscapes with an extreme care for textures & densification…
This expert practice lead him to weave intimate bounds between his visual art, and his sound pieces…
With “Drop diary” he pushes everything further, close to some total synesthesia…
Mix of fluids, cross of breaths,
sketch of outlines, a succession of barely visible, furtive worlds…
Lines, strokes, fleeting & penetrating moments,
splinters of night…
Rubbings, drip, measure of time,
a notion of universal, permanent flux…
A way of sticking to it, be within its own heart…
Self ramifications…
Holes, folds, follow-up of curves…
The squeezed in words, dissimulated truths,
swirls, veiled cluster of stars…
So many mute guides…
A necessity of merging into, to understand,
to take on a new lease of our surroundings,
enriched by their own echoes, their murmurs…
Captured sources, origin points,
the calm of the brush, the amplitude of the move, like a gradual obviousness,
an amazing force, till going back up to the primary water, spurt of lives…
“Drop diary” records the vital impulse,
a compendium of emotions, it shows that elusive something, that essential which founds us, yet remains ungraspable…" [label info]
www.mysterysea.net
"The only time, I think, I heard of Philippe Lamy before, was when he did a remix of Pleq (see Vital Weekly 767), but here he comes up with an album of field recordings made in his painting studio and 'some sounds "outside"' as it is said on the cover. Entirely different cake here. Unlike many of the Mystery Sea recordings, the connection with 'water' is not easily made here in the music (except for some dripping in 'Au Revoir', the final piece on this release)å. Perhaps this is because there is a lot of processing applied to the music? Maybe it's because it's all quite soft? The latter for sure: this is indeed all quite soft and no doubt there is a lot of processing here. It makes that the music of Lamy is not easy to decipher. It seems there is an amount of motorized sounds, such as in 'Depot' for instance, but most of the times it's just very hard to know what is going on. The abstract level is very high here, and it results in something that is not always highly original,
but it sounds altogether pretty good and pretty intense. You have to stop doing whatever it is you're doing and listen with all your available senses to the music. You think Main here, or Kassel Jaeger, but then much softer, more pushed away and alienated, and that's mainly due to the soft spoken nature of the music. Maybe this harks back to the time when this sort of quietness was all new and great, but for me, I wouldn't have minded to have all of this a bit louder and more present. I like to play a CD straight away and not first having to fiddle around with my EQ to get the best out of it." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| LAND:FIRE |
Gone |
LP |
Eines der Highlights der Neuzugänge dieses Katalogs, dieses neue anonyme Projekt auf LOKI mit brodelnd-massivem dark ambient, archaic music at its best, eine dichte und alles verschlingende Atmosphäre wird heraufbeschworen, mit sakralen und melancholischen Untertönen.
Highly recommended massive & dense dark ambient archaic noise.. sacral and melancholic.. there are rumours this could be a HERBST9-sideproject.
[old Drone Rec info 2002]
„With it´s first release this new project from Germany has sculptured a sombre, frightening and illusionary soundtrack that creates an imagination about devastated landscapes and scorched areas where traces of human existence are to be found only on remaining fragments from noted radio transmissions. Massive drones and sinister melodies rise out from the inside of a dark and bleak ground while crushing rhythms and unreal vocal shreds echoing through a wide spectrum of sounds and effects. Limited edition of 555 copies!” [press-release]
|
2002 |
€12.00 |
|
| LANDING |
Brocade |
CD |
Psychedelisch-droniger Wohlklang, ein Meer von e-bow Gitarren, slowed down und etwas drogen-schwanger, Anklänge an SLOWDIVE, FLYING SAUCER ATTACK, SPACEMEN 3....
“Reverting inward after some of their sunny travels into headspace, Brocade touches on early Krautrock rhythms while delving into traditional psychedelic ambient music. Barring a few instrumental overdubs, Brocade was performed live in the studio, resulting in an airy sort of freedom not felt since the gauzy bliss-out improvisation captured on Fade In/Fade Out or moments from their second album Oceanless. In every manifestation, it is a tour-de-force of minimalism, utilizing repeating patters that slowly and steadily develop shape as they float in and out of a barbiturate fog. In the early moments of the album, as fireballs of feedback and effects unfurl into the exquisitely Faust-like drum and bass repetitions of opener "Loft", it would seem that rock and roll would prevail even as the tune winds through increasingly lush terrain, swelling in size as more instrumental streams enter the flow. Placid waters emerge, however, as the drums drop out and Brocade turns into a study in atmospherics with the swelling pulse-and-drone of "Yon" and the shimmering, wispy ripples of "Spiral Arms". After the hazy overdrive of "How to Be Clear", Landing immerse themselves in sparse ambience as conjured by Eno's On Land or Harold Budd's glistening works, floating away with the aptly-named closer "Music For Three Synthesizer". With five compositions stretching out to form 54 minutes of music, Brocade is an elegiac lament for Landing's past, and an introspective yearning towards a glistening new phase in their career.” [press release]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| LANE, CATHY |
The Hebrides Suite |
CD |
"How does history – past lives and past events- leave sonic traces and how can we hear them?
The Hebrides Suite is the result of an attempt to answer this question and the culmination of composer Cathy Lane’s three decade long engagement with the Outer Hebrides.
The Outer Hebrides form a 130-mile long archipelago about 40 miles off the north-west coast of Scotland. There are more than 200 islands but only a few are now inhabited. In the 2001 census the total population of the islands was 26,502. The best known of these islands are Barra (1078), Benbecula (1219), Berneray (136), North (1271), South Uist (1818) and Harris and Lewis (combined population 19,918). There has been an overall slow population decline in the islands over the last two hundred years, with peaks and troughs caused by economic and political fluctuations. In the 1840s poverty and famine lead to whole villages being evicted by landowners, often brutally, to make way for the higher profits of sheep farming. During these forced clearances many people took assisted passages to Canada and Australia and as far away as Patagonia and the Falkland Islands. In the twentieth and twenty first centuries much of the island lands are still owned by absentee landlords and the islanders’ struggles for self determination and economic and political control have continued.
The Outer Hebrides are the most strongly coherent Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) speaking area in the world. Gaelic is a Celtic language related to Welsh, Cornish and Breton. In 2001, 61.1% of the population of the Outer Hebrides spoke Gaelic (compared with 1.2% in the whole of Scotland). A handful of Gaelic speakers can be found in the United States, Canada and Australia most of whom are descended from nineteenth century emigrants. There is a strong Gaelic culture.
Religion is also a significant factor in the life of the inhabitants of the islands. The southern islands of Benbecula, South Uist and Barra are predominantly Roman Catholic. In the northern islands, especially Harris and Lewis, the non-conformist Free Church of Scotland and the still more conservative Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland are very influential. There is a tradition of Sabbath observance and few shops or transport services are available on Sunday although this is increasingly contested.
The emigration still continues, particularly among the young, as the islands offer few employment opportunities. Most present day commercial activities concern tourism, including heritage tourism; crofting; fishing and fish farming and weaving including the manufacture of Harris tweed, a cloth that has been handwoven by the islanders in their homes using pure virgin wool that has been dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides.
Each of the works in The Hebrides Suite uses a mixture of field recordings, interviews and oral history material from existing archives to explore aspects of island life past and present through the medium of composed sound." [label info]
www.gruenrekorder.de
"We cross the Atlantic again but go north, to the Outer Hebrides, a remote '130 mile long archipelago of islands about 40 miles off the north-west coast of Scotland'. Gruenrekorder has the previous two as part of their field recordings series, this one is in the 'soundscape series', so I assume that the material is not presented 'as is', but is used to compose a piece of music with this, with repeating blocks of sounds, mixes of various bits together, but with the overall idea that we stay in one place and we know more of the place. Cathy Lane does that in six pieces, all around nine to twelve minutes and each is about a certain aspect of the Hebrides, the wind, the sheep/the mill, life on the islands and such like. Sometimes, such as in 'Where Once Were Whales', about fishing, we also hear voices, talking about their trade, even when it's not always to understand what they are telling us, partly due to the dialect, partly due to the fact that the voices are layered. It perhaps adds to the mystique of the release? Unlike the other two, which are 'merely' audio travelogues, Lane actually composes with the material and makes some very strong compositions with it. Of the three releases, it's also the one which has the most documentation, explaining in detail what each piece is about. I quite enjoyed all three of these releases, but it was the Cathy Lane release that I especially enjoyed for it's more musical qualities. One to play again and again." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| LANG, KLAUS |
Organ Works Vol. 2 |
LP |
"The second instalment of Klaus Lang's organ works and once again, two monumental works that span over two vinyl sides.
"ABD" - contemporary vision of sacral chord progressions.
"Melrose abbey" - perverse art of mourning music.
Ultimate drone. Absolute torment.
Performed by the composer in Graz, Austria, 1997." [label info]
www.godrec.com
|
2015 |
€19.00 |
|
| LAPORTE, JEAN-FRANCOIS |
Soundmatters |
CD |
Fünf starke Kompositionen (entstanden 1997-2005) des Kanadiers, die unter Verwendung von Natur-, Umgebungs- und Objektgeräuschen grossflächige Spannungsbögen & Dynamiken aufbauen. So wurden bei "Electro-Prana" nur Wind- bzw. Sturm-Sounds verwendet, während das majestätische "Dans le ventre du dragon" auf Original-Bläserklängen basiert, die in einer riesigen Frachthalle (mit 15 Sekunden natürlichem Hall) aus dem Hafengebiet Montreals stammen.
Laut LAPORTEs Theorie sind wir im post-industriellen Zeitalter permanent von "Mantren" umgeben, womit er v.a. Maschinengeräusche meint, die zyklisch wiederkehren und sich doch in allmählicher Weiter-Entwicklung befinden. Beeindruckend führt er dies exemplarisch in seinem 26minütigen Stück "Mantra" anhand der wunderbaren Vibrationen & Obertöne eines Kompressors von einem Eisstadion vor...
Hier kommen elektro-akustische Klang-Finesse, field-recording Glück & und erhabene Drone-Atmosphären zusammen.
Bei Aquarius Records "Record of the week" im März 2007 ! TIP !!
"....The opening track "Electro-Prana" is a pristine set of field recordings of a wind that ripped through Montreal, when the city was silenced by a winter time blackout. It's a pure, chilling sound of whistling wind overtaking the urban landscape. The next piece is the only digitally rendered composition on Soundmatters, yet Laporte brings his intuitive expressionism to a series of spiraling drones that easily rival those of your favorite minimalist (e.g. Niblock, Chalk, Hafler Trio, Xenakis, etc.). For those of you who have had the pleasure of experiencing Laporte's live concerts, the third piece will certainly be familiar. He's built an instrument with a series of car horns and elongated trumpet bells attached to an air compressor with each of the valves controlled by foot pedals. This instrument can generate infinitely sustainable, blaring drones from each of the horns; and Laporte craftily layers these sounds for incredible, dynamic results. Well, for this recording, Laporte lugged this instrument into the hull of a giant cargo ship and recorded this composition using the massive reverb of that space and the results are simply jaw-dropping. Imagine the most Nordic bellow from a Wagner symphony stretched out into its melancholic, raw sound and allowed to decay in space and time. Wow!
Following this is the aforementioned Mantra; and then Soundmatters' final piece which explores a quiet, yet thoroughly rich
harmonic tapestry produced by a quartet of saxophones that could be Laporte's imagined summit between Evan Parker and Morton Feldman with rasping breaths of sound breaking across a silent event horizon with the ghostly energy of subatomic particles flickering and dissolving
in a cloud chamber before amassing into a delirious swarm of Tony Conrad-esque acoustic dissonance. It's all utterly magnificent and
one of finest collections of 'serious' composition that we've come across." [Aquarius Records]
www.23five.org
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| LARIVIERE, REGIS RENOUARD |
Contree |
LP |
Allégeance volatile and Esquive each tackle the same issue in their own way. Overcoming time: whether it be successive, additional, enumerative, or repetitive. However, there is nothing here about the ensuing nature of so-called "repetitive" music. These are types of high-end music. And it is more about insistence, the obstinacy of an individual who keeps knocking on a door that will never open.
Allégeance's rustic drumming, talkative, acidulous, colourful and overarticulated, with almost clownish desinences, eventually dies out in this very respite. The iterative and puffy shimmering of Esquive with its dull, thin and precise sounds, shifts and is engulfed into another sonic world — which appears as a gaping and collapsed response to this prime insistency.
This is, indeed, a ‘volatile allegiance’ and ‘avoidance’ from the sonic to the musical elements: the musical phenomenon anticipated and pursued as the non-sound of sound — or, in other words, the void of sound. This seems to be the lesson of the concrete attitude in music. Such is the kind of questioning that stirs the composer.
He returns with another title: Contrée, which, once again, speaks of a counter-event. Here, the movement is broader, more generous, more confident. Time spreads and stretches out. What seems to be a landscape of entanglements, trajectories, influx, masses and points emerges. “Something” rises and presents itself out of the sounds - these escaping beings, these "relatively short combustion flames " (Schaeffer).
The piece consists of five consecutive and uninterrupted parts: Entrée and Stance I — Véhémence de l’air and Stance II — Grande Allure. It is the central section of an electroacoustic triptych with Sables (2011) as the first and Nil (2017) as the last.
Contrée is dedicated to Philippe Mion, whose friendly ears have been entrusted with my music for so many years.
"‘Contrée’ is Recollection GRM’s first survey of work by Régis Renouard Larivière, three pieces variously exploring granular evolutions (‘Contrée’), hacked strings (‘Allégeance volatile’), and a rapid, chattering avian flux (‘Esquive’). This is one of the harder nosed GRM issues, but those with attentive ears and patience will be rewarded in multiples..." [Boomkat]
|
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
| LASIK SURGERY |
Cyclo |
CD + DVD |
"Tense electronic plots, calm ambiental stasis, inserts of sharp and harsh metallic sonorities, distorsions, filaments of subliminal melodies, masses of dark and penetrating low frequency drones. The journey of Lasik Surgery starts with a whirlwind of atmospheres and perpetually prismatic sonorities that have a big impact on the listener. This project was born from the minds of Pierpaolo Zoppo/Mauthausen Orchestra, the memorable noise-power electronic author who firmly came back to the fore in the recent years, and Gianluca Favaron, a skilled master controller and sound assembler with a long experience, already active under other aliases (Ab'she, Under the Snow, Metal Music Machine). The first exciting chapter of Lasik Surgery - a name that will surprise us again in the future for sure - comes with a free DVD that includes two videclips created by ENRICO BRESSAN." [label info]
www.silentes.net
|
2010 |
€12.50 |
|
| LAST DOMINION LOST |
Towers of Silence |
CD |
"In Mumbai there are a number of brick towers, into which the Parsi people of India throw their dead ones, bound for their final journey up to heaven inside the vulture's bellies. This habit of sky burial derives from the Zoroastrian cult of Ancient Iran, where heaven was imagined as a very physical place. The towers, which remind of archaic silos, are called Dakhma or in English Towers of Silence.
LAST DOMINION LOST leave it to the listeners to guess where “Towers of Silence”, the allegorical title of their new album, really refers to – the fatal nature of physical life? The awkward edges between biological mortality and the idea of an eternal afterlife? The dreadful content which you may find inside what people built up? It's all open. One thing that LAST DOMINION LOST clearly show is how loud and infernal the silence of ending can be imagined. Screams of rage and anxiety intermingle with the shoutings of warriors – if the latter is not rather the croaking of vultures, who gather around corpses – until all is buried under an avalanche of infernal noise.
More than 20 years after the recordings for their debut album “The Tyranny of Distance” (Tesco, 2004), LAST DOMINION LOST come up with brand-new material recorded between 2012 and 2014, brilliantly mastered by James Plotkin in June 2014. Besides the core band members Jon Evans, John Murphy (Krank, Ex-SPK, Shining Vril) and Julian Percy (Ratbag), “Towers of Silence” includes guest contributions by Ash Wednesday (Ex-Einstürzende Neubauten), Till Brüggemann (Gerechtigkeits Liga) and Annie Stubbs among others." [label info]
www.silkentofu.org
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Towers of Silence |
LP |
"In Mumbai there are a number of brick towers, into which the Parsi people of India throw their dead ones, bound for their final journey up to heaven inside the vulture's bellies. This habit of sky burial derives from the Zoroastrian cult of Ancient Iran, where heaven was imagined as a very physical place. The towers, which remind of archaic silos, are called Dakhma or in English Towers of Silence.
LAST DOMINION LOST leave it to the listeners to guess where “Towers of Silence”, the allegorical title of their new album, really refers to – the fatal nature of physical life? The awkward edges between biological mortality and the idea of an eternal afterlife? The dreadful content which you may find inside what people built up? It's all open. One thing that LAST DOMINION LOST clearly show is how loud and infernal the silence of ending can be imagined. Screams of rage and anxiety intermingle with the shoutings of warriors – if the latter is not rather the croaking of vultures, who gather around corpses – until all is buried under an avalanche of infernal noise.
More than 20 years after the recordings for their debut album “The Tyranny of Distance” (Tesco, 2004), LAST DOMINION LOST come up with brand-new material recorded between 2012 and 2014, brilliantly mastered by James Plotkin in June 2014. Besides the core band members Jon Evans, John Murphy (Krank, Ex-SPK, Shining Vril) and Julian Percy (Ratbag), “Towers of Silence” includes guest contributions by Ash Wednesday (Ex-Einstürzende Neubauten), Till Brüggemann (Gerechtigkeits Liga) and Annie Stubbs among others." [label info]
www.silkentofu.org
|
2014 |
€17.50 |
|
| |
Snowdrops from a Curate's Garden |
CD |
“Snowdrops from a Curate's Garden” is a 2011 live recording of industrial veterans Last Dominion Lost with all exclusive, unreleased tracks. Active since 1992, Last Dominion Lost feature Jon Evans, John Murphy (Shining Vril, Krank, Ex-SPK/Whitehouse/Current 93) and Julian Percy. Through their pedigree, Last Dominion Lost are considered to justifiably carry the legacy of the legend that is SPK - and that’s also by their sound, as they stand for an undiluted brand of industrial music, combining shuddering analogue sounds, clanging metal rhythms and feedback with ritual percussion & chants. On “Snowdrops from a Curate's Garden” the main focus lies on the hypnotic, ritual and mental aspects of music, with an omnipresent metallic percussive backbone. It comes as no surprise to find the group reveling in dark subject matter like psychopathology, debasement and religious deviation, to which they manage to deliver an authentic soundtrack.
The LP is congruously accompanied by authentic photographs of the infamous Victorian era Lunatic Asylums in Kew and Beechworth, Australia. Last Dominion Lost take an ethically moved stance, commemorating the fact that from its beginnings as a penal colony, the majority of the early white Australians were drawn from the classes of the poor, dispossessed and desperate, long known as factors that encourage depression, alcoholism and psychological ill-being. The process of transportation was attended by squalor, disease and rape. These damaged individuals were then thrust into a harsh and alien environment, housed in circumstances worse than a modern refugee camp, and expected to build their own prisons – circumstances that effectively made mental illness was one of the colony's very first imports. From there the dismal history of mental hospitals took its course, evolving from incarceration over therapeutic occupation to, ultimately, medication. It is the practice of oppressing those who cannot “conform” to the norms imposed by the system, the root cause of the underlying aggression with which the Australian general public treated each other, and still continue to do.
This live album has been recorded at Kalyug Festival, Berlin in 2011 and is perfectly mastered by James Plotkin, providing the album a sharp, forceful & modern sound. Thus “Snowdrops from a Curate's Garden” can be considered the missing link between the grainy, demo-type 1990s recordings that became “The Tyranny of Distance” (Tesco, 2004) and the enthusiastically received “Towers Of Silence” album (The Epicurean / silken tofu, 2014), which displayed a very contemporary, indicatory approach at that classic industrial sound.
Beautifully duplex black/gold printed cover, 300g natural paper, postcard, 140g black vynil, black disco bag in transparent high quality sleeve with flap, includes download code. Limited edition of 253 copies, hand numbered. First 50 copies come with small postcard.
The Epicurean . cure.8
Format: 12" LP & file download
Release date CD: 23. October 2017
Release date LP: 21. October 2015
Artwork, typography and design: The Epicurean
Playtime: 37:42 min
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| LASWELL, BILL |
Lo. Def Pressure |
CD |
"some more bill laswell... yes indeed, with a massive masterpiece called lo def pressure remember the indian project 'city' of light', the drum'n'bass highlited projects oscillations 1 & 2, mix it together and add a massive killer-like dub bass and 70's jazzy fusion keyboard «riffs», you will be close to the final result..? what 'lo def pressure is about: no non-sense, no bullshit, straight devoted to jungle beats pieces respectively from 23 and 24 minutes. two invitations to cyber-ethnics anthems, no time to chill, this is a non-stop hard-kicking fusion for the new millenium. 'lo def pressure'is shurely what you always wanted to ask for ...without daring. from new-york to new delhi, kingston to london this is a virtual trip through space and time. fasten your seat belt, lo def pressure airline wish you a nice more or less 50 minutes fly !" [label info] |
2000 |
€13.50 |
|
| LASWELL, BILL & PETE NAMLOOK |
Outland |
6 x CD BOX |
The 'Outland' album series was a collaborative endeavour by the visionary US bassist-producer Bill Laswell and the late German musician Peter Namlook that pushed the boundaries of dark ambient and electronic music. Spanning five albums released over a thirteen year period from 1994, this new boxset serves as a testament to the creative synergy between the two masterminds.
At the time the duo joined forces, the New York-based Laswell was already a famous producer with a massive client list that included cutting-edge rock, pop, funk, jazz and electronic artists, but he had also founded the Axiom label in 1989 and been responsible for groundbreaking work in genres that included ambient, dub and world music. Namlook was recognised as a pioneering figure in the ambient techno scene, having founded the label FAX +49-69/450464 in his native Frankfurt in 1992.
'Outland' became a fusion of their individual musical sensibilities that resulted in a unique set of releases. At the heart of the series is an exploration of sound as a vehicle for emotion and contemplation, with Laswell's signature basslines and experimental soundscapes interweaving seamlessly with Namlook's ethereal textures and intricate sonic layering. Each album is characterised by a sense of expansiveness, taking listeners on a voyage through rarely charted sonic dimensions. All have the ability to evoke a wide range of emotions and have their own distinctive sonic palette, ranging from ambient tranquility to cosmic intensity.
'Outland' has endured as an influential touchstone, its impact felt not only in its captivating soundscapes but also in its invitation to engage in deep introspection and cosmic contemplation. With each album, the duo beckoned listeners to transcend the mundane and embark on a sonic voyage into the extraordinary, where sound becomes a conduit for spiritual and artistic expression.
The lavish matte-finish boxset opens to the 5 "Outland" albums in separate matte sleeves, with all-new designs, and all audio completely remastered. This box also contains a new addition to the OUTLAND series - an album of dense, bass space drone by Bill Laswell, entitled "Blackland". The boxset also contains an exclusive card with an essay about the project written by BIll Laswell, July 2023.
........................................
Their collaboration actually began after Namlook discovered that several samples from early Fax releases had been utilised for Laswell's own projects, prompting an initial forthright exchange that quickly turned into a deep mutual admiration. "We started to send music back and forth, Frankfurt to Brooklyn and back again," explains Laswell. "There were so many recordings and different collaborations that several of them turned into a series. In addition to 'Outland', there was 'Psychonavigation', 'The Dark Side Of The Moog' and more."
For 'Outland', he recalls that "I had done an Asian tour with my friend Akira Sakata where I managed to record a lot of traditional music in Mongolia, which is heavy drone singing and the ultimate ambient. When I was in Europe, I brought these recordings to Pete and we worked on them in Frankfurt. That was the start of 'Outland', which then continued for another four releases."
He also reveals that Namlook told him about the very start of his career. "He was playing guitar and working in a bank. Every day, on his way home with his guitar, he would pass a river and stop and play with the river flowing. I think that's where his ambient obsession began. I recorded a piece with Bernie Worrell entitled 'By A River (for Peter)', which is the first track of the box set compilation 'Die Welt ist Klang: A Tribute to Pete Namlook', which was released in 2013, a year after his death."
CD1: Produced by Peter Kuhlmann. Written by Bill Laswell and Pete Namlook. Mongolian voices and instruments by Nicky Skopelitis & Oz Fritz.
CD2: Produced by Peter Kuhlmann. Written by Bill Laswell and Pete Namlook. Ethnic sounds recorded in West Africa by Oz Fritz. Recorded at Klanglabor, Frankfurt.
CD3: Produced by Peter Kuhlmann. Written by Bill Laswell and Pete Namlook. Recorded at Klanglabor, Frankfurt & Traben-Trarbach.
CD4: Produced by Peter Kuhlmann. Written by Bill Laswell and Pete Namlook. Recorded at Klanglabor, Frankfurt & Traben-Trarbach.
CD5: Produced by Peter Kuhlmann. Written by Bill Laswell and Pete Namlook. Recorded at Orange Music, West Orange,NJ, and Klanglabor Hödeshof.
CD6: Bill Laswell: Bass, effects. Engineering: James Dellatacoma. Recorded at Orange Music, West Orange,NJ (Bassmatter, BMI).
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/outland
"Quite a catch and a very pleasantly surprising one. I would not have imagined that Cold Spring Records, known for all their darkness, would dip into ambient electronic pioneer Pete Namlook's (1960-2012) work, particularly his piece with Bill Laswell. The latter is a bass player and producer with a massive body of work, mainly outside Vital Weekly (Herbie Hancock's 'Rockit' is a VW HQ favourite, sometimes), both on bass and production duties. Pete Namlook played electronic ambient music, usually without too many rhythms, but he wasn't too shy to put a full set on. Namlook's catalogue is massive, as at one point, he released a CD every month on his FAX +49-69/450464 label. He had a line of collaborators with whom he worked a lot (Klaus Schulze, Tetsu Inoue, and Richie Hawtin, for instance). With Bill Laswell he recorded five parts of 'Outland', which are now re-issued with a bonus disc of a new work, 'Blackland', by Laswell. There was more work by the two, 'Psychonavigation', which also spanned various CDs (and maybe something to come in the future?), which is one I really enjoyed. I could call myself a Namlook fan, yet I also know I heard maybe 50% of his work. Back in the day, I couldn't afford to buy everything I wanted, and Namlook's output was, as said, massive. From the original 'Outland' albums, I only heard two. It is interesting to play these six works as they provide an excellent picture of the diversity of ambient house music, at least in the approach of Namlook and Laswell. There isn't one kind of ambient house. The word 'house', as in 'house music', is a loose term anyway in this respect, indicating dance music. Ambient House never relies too much on strict dance beats but uses more complex rhythms, such as on 'Outland Two - African Virus', which is more exotic, wilder and sometimes indeed more African. 'Outland Three' (no subtitle) has rhythms that are a bit more straightforward and minimal, but it's not something for the dance floor. On 'Outland Four', the beats are more dub-like in some of the pieces (as with all of these pieces, it moves through various ideas and textures per album), another interest of many ambient house musicians. On the other side of the musical spectrum, we find music devoid of rhythm, spacious synthesizers, minimalist drones, and perhaps something ambient in the truest sense. As with many Namlook releases, there is a certain directness about the music, indicating that the music is one long session, a live-in-studio approach, with mixing and editing afterwards. There is not much extra information in this release explaining methods. The whole live-in-studio approach might be something that is only in my mind. Each album is a trip, and so is the whole five-plus hours of this. I played this for the first time in one row on a lazy Sunday, sipping tea after a long night. Ambient music is the preferred waking-up music for me. Maybe with the idea that my living room is a sort of chill-out place today, as some of this music is clearly the intended soundtrack for such a place." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€47.50 |
|
| LATER DAYS |
InvalidObject Series (do) |
mCD |
Das irische FÄLLT-Label hat auf einen Schlag ein Kompendium zur neuen digitalen laptop / click / glitch / IDM – Musik herausgebracht ! Das sind 24 mCDs mit allerlei bekannten und unbekannte Vertretern dieses jungen Genres. Wir haben die meisten da, hier eine Übersicht ! Limitiert jeweils auf schamlose 250 Stck ! Preis pro mcD : € 9.50
Better priced now, last copies of this absolute compendium of IDM. € 9.50
“ The invalidObject Series was established in 2000 as a sublabel of Fällt to release a finite series of twenty four 3"CD/.mp3 works.
Offering a unique perspective on a diverse range of musical output at the turn of the millennium, the Series features work by some of the most respected artists operating within the field of '.microsound' and has been described as "a remarkable document of a vibrant artistic community and a critical moment in the evolution of digital music" (Philip Sherburne), "a showcase for the extraordinary range of practical approaches within contemporary electronic music" (Matt Ffytche, The Wire) and, simply, "impressive" (Rob Young, Editor, The Wire). “ [label press release}
|
2000 |
€9.50 |
|
| LE SYNDICAT |
Second Empire |
LP |
"The 2014 album by the legendary French industrial unit. This is a limited and numbered edition of 200 copies on red vinyl in a deluxe silver cover. Bruitism, empirism, explosion, process, labour, loss, fracture, abstraction, to throw, to rebuild, to leave, to doubt, to corrupt, to wrap up, to close, to forget,
to macerate, to forsake, perforate, energy, pleasure, method, existence, survival, exhibition, abstraction, history, terror,
resistance, construction, progression, music: 'Second Empire'." [label info]
www.rotorelief.com
|
2014 |
€22.00 |
|
| LEACH, MARY JANE |
Celestial Fires |
CD |
The works of Mary Jane Leach explore the physicality of sound, working very carefully with the timbres of instruments, creating combination, difference, and interference tones. Space is also an important concern: how sound changes when it is moved around a room.
Celestial Fires features the New York Treble Singers, (Virginia Davidson, conductor) performing four 8-part pieces for a capella women's voices; Shannon Peet performing Feu de Joie for 7 bassoons; and Barbara Held and Ms. Leach performing Trio for Duo for alto flute and voice.
https://xirecords.bandcamp.com/album/celestial-fires
|
1993 |
€15.00 |
|
| LEGENDARY PINK DOTS (LPD) |
All the King's Horses |
CD |
Nun werden auch im “Alternative”-Bereich Releases veröffentlicht, die sich mit dem 11. September auseinandersetzen. Die PINK DOTS tun das auf ihre unnachahmliche Art und Weise, mit ihren introvertiert-introspektiven und doch so scheinbar banalen Geschichten, die manchmal auch als Fabeln funktionieren... hier tönen die Dots wieder sehr songorientiert und eingängig !
"I never liked discussing my own lyrics. In the early days of the Pink Dots, I steadfastly refused to include lyric sheets with the albums, in the belief that a listener cannot enjoy or enter a piece of music if she or he is reading and listening at the same time. However, when those lyrics began to be transcribed poorly and sometimes misinterpreted, understandably, by the people who bought the albums, I was forced to relent. I began writing the words for "All the King's Horses" and sister album, "All the King's Men" (on ROIR), early in 2001 with The Unlikely Event. The piece outlined a scenario which could occur in a society increasingly obsessed with technology. A plane is about to crash and one of the unfortunate passengers feels the need to phone his wife on his mobile, only to receive her voice-mail.
A runaway train was set in motion with that song. Pieces were written furiously throughout the rest of the year - before and after September 11th. As a result, "All the King's Horses" and "All the King's Men" appear thematic-- not by design, but on account of a body of work being made in a period when the World really did change. My silent wish is that this work leaves the listener hopeful. Even at a moment in time when only madmen of ALL creeds and colours seem to have the fate of this fragile planet in their hands. Let live." ~Edward Ka-spel~
|
2002 |
€13.50 |
|
|
Live at La Luna |
DVD |
DVD – Version of the video-cassette that appeared in 1998.
“Recorded in 1997 near the end of their “Hallway of the Gods” tour of Canada and America, and originally issued in VHS format in 1998, “Live at La Luna” reveals like never before the magical atmosphere of sound and light created by Edward Ka-Spel and his talented crew. Captured by a pair of roving cameramen and a center camera filming from the balcony, the performance is presented as an ever-evolving collage of music and faces, from the keyboards of The Silverman to the saxophone flourishes of Niels van Hoorn, from the rhythm-n-bass section of Ryan Moore (Twilight Circus Dub Sound System) and Edwin von Trippenhof to the inimitable vocals of Edward Ka-Spel. It runs 60 minutes, and includes the following songs: 1. Hallway Monologue 2. On High 3. Spike 4. Love in a Plain Brown Envelope 5. Destined to Repeat 6. Harvest Babies 7. Velvet Resurrection 8. Hellsville 9. City of Needles Regrettably, there were several minor glitches in the audio part of the program we were unable to completely repair. We don’t think they detract in any way from the performance, but an attentive listener may notice them. For this reason we have included a disclaimer on the outside of the packaging to warn consumers of the defects. Nevertheless we feel the uniqueness of this release, combined with its low price, will please the loyal followers of this legendary group.” [label description]
|
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Paris in the Fall |
DVD |
"Spectacular and exciting DVD release from 2009. On Soleilmoon Recordings. Imagine a club packed like sardines in a can and three cameras hovering over the throng. Possibly LPDs finest, and most intense, visual document so far." [TeKa info]
"Hearing that our 2009 Paris show was to be in small space called Le Klub, I admit being unable to stop a smile spreading across my face. During the soundcheck in another Paris club years earlier, a record label representative was experiencing problems over a guest list at the door. Filled with anger, he burst into the hall ranting and cursing in Parisian pidgeon English..... “THIS KLUB IS FUCKEEENG!” Those words instantly entered Dots-mythology – an utterance used to let off steam in the face of frustration on the road (and always with a French accent). Legendary Pink Dots played a two-night residency at Le Klub, and the utterance was never needed. The first night was an intimate affair, while the second, which drew a weekend crowd, felt like a rock show in a shoebox. It was this second night that was filmed by Johanna Barda and her camera team. --Edward Ka-Spel. Coinciding with the Legendary Pink Dots’ 2011 European tour (which includes a night in Paris) comes this live DVD. The performance took place on November 13, 2009, in an intimate Parisian nightclub, with a lineup featuring Edward Ka-Spel, Silverman, Martijn de Kleer and Niels van Hoon. Raymond Steeg worked the soundboard. The first 200 copies come with a limited edition set of five postcards, and are available exclusively from Soleilmoon, Speakerfire and The Terminal Kaleidoscope. Tour dates for The Legendary Pink Dots: April 9, Nijmegen Merleyn / April 15, Liège Le Tipi / April 16, Bruxelles Magasin 4 / April 17, Munich Feierwerk / April 19, Paris Divan du Monde (+ [bleu]) / April 20, Bordeaux Heretic Club (+ [bleu] / April 21, Lyon Sonic (+ [bleu]) / April 22, Marseille L'Embobineuse (+ [bleu]) / April 23, Zofingen Oxx Club / April 24, Nürnberg Z-Bau / April 25, Hamburg Hafenklang / April 26, Frankfurt Das Bett / April 27, Cologne Underground / April 28, Moscow China Town / April 29, St.Petersburg Clubzal / June 10, London Meltdown Festival, South Bank Centre / June 13, Leipzig Wave Gothik Treffen Festival." [label info]
www.soleilmoon.com
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
|
The Gethsemane Option |
CD |
"The Legendary Pink Dots is an Anglo-Dutch experimental rock band formed in London in August 1980. Although far outside the mainstream (in terms of their music and career path), LPD have released more than 40 albums, have a devoted worldwide following, and tour frequently.
The core members of the group, Edward Ka-Spel (vocals, keyboards, songwriter) and Phil Knight (a.k.a. The Silverman) (keyboards, electronics), are joined by Erik Drost (guitars) and Raymond Steeg (live sound engineer). The band’s debut for Metropolis Records, entitled The Gethsemane Option, is a seven song, hour long exploration in textural ambience and rock experimentalism. Featuring Ka-Spel’s distinctive vocals and lyrical imagery blended with hypnotic guitar and synth washes and spellbinding bass pulses, The Gethsamane Option is a musical laudanum induced fever dream. An enthralling, captivating release." [label info]
www.metropolis-records.com
https://legendarypinkdots1.bandcamp.com/album/the-gethsemane-option-2
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
|
10 to the Power of 9 - Vol. 1 |
LP |
"Die Kult-Fomation meldet sich mit einem großartigen Konzeptalbum zurück,
erscheinend auf RUSTBLADE als limitierte Colored-Vinyl-Edition (499 Exemplare)!
Selten passt das Attribut legendär so gut wie auf die Gruppe um EDWARD KA-SPEL und
PHIL „THE SILVERMAN“ KNIGHT, die seit nun mehr als drei Dekaden für ihren
unverkennbaren, einzigartigen Soundkosmos verehrt wird, bei dem Psychedelic-Heads,
Dark Waver und Freunde experimenteller (Elektronik-)Klänge gleichermaßen auf ihre Kosten kommen. Mit ihrem neusten Machwerk legen die LEGENDARY PINK DOTS den ersten Teil
einer komplexen Story über Konspirativität, Magie und Spiritualität vor. Minimale Synths,
Gitarren, synkopische Beats, die Verwirrung stiften, psychedelische und transzendentale
Geräusche, welche wie gewohnt von der charakteristischen Stimme KA-SPELs begleitet
werden. „Ten To The Power Of Nine Vol.1 ”ist ein dunkler und außergewöhnlicher Trip in die
musikalische Psyche der LEGENDARY PINK DOTS, die hier wieder einmal ihren Status als
absolut unverkennbare musikalische Ausnahmeerscheinung bestätigen." [label info]
www.rustblade.com
"For more than thirty years I have been following The Legendary Pink Dots, of which maybe twenty years close to the fire. I have written a lot about the Dots; about their music, the various incarnations, the old work versus the new and how some of the new albums released on smaller scale are more experimental than the bigger scale releases. When I was listening to '10 To the Power Of 9' (a culmination of two earlier LP releases under the same name), I was thinking about the latter notion - small/big, experimental or not - and thinking this is perhaps no longer the case. Whereas on the older yet recent works the stomping ground of krautrock was used a bit too much for my taste, the more experimental works were relegated to CDR, but on '10 To The Power Of 9' there is a fine balance between the experiment and the accessibility. A song like 'Malice/Freak Flag' shows this inside one piece: noisy guitars, spacious synthesizers, spacious guitars and mayhem, within these twelve minutes a lot
happen. It seems as if Edward Ka-spel's voice is more 'above' the music, more reciting than singing; the emphasis is more on the poetry than the pure song format. But all of that embedded within the experiment of the music. I quite enjoyed this album for its variation. The more song-like structures of 'Open Season', 'Room For Two' and 'Your Humble Season' or the title piece, but also a psychedelic outing as 'The Elevator', which remind me of the band's various incarnations of the piece 'Premonition'. It seems to me that The Legendary Pink Dots have found their ground better in a work like this. Highly varied, a display of their various incarnations and throughout a hauntingly beautiful release." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€23.50 |
|
|
Chemical Playschool 11, 12, 13 |
3 x CD BOX |
"Chemical Playschool 11, 12 & 13 represents the most ambitious Legendary Pink Dots project embarked upon in their 21-year history. The intention was to create a massive, disorientating journey with constantly shifting textures and atmospheres, while retaining a unity. Hence, the rather controversial decision was taken to apply a single code to each volume. It is not a collection of “greatest hits”, nor does it have any potential for radio airplay. Work began on the three CD set in September 2000 with a trawl through the Pink Dots’ vaults for unfinished material and improvisations. With a target, established singer Edward Ka-Spel applied the finishing touches to many of these pieces. Following this stage, countless new songs were composed and recorded according to what the proposed voyage required. Ultimately the whole thing took one year with small details being added on an almost daily basis. With the completion of this project, LPDs now intend to take things even further. But to where? Stay tuned…" [label info]
www.soleilmoon.com
|
2001 |
€42.00 |
|
|
Pages of Aquarius |
CD |
"The Legendary Pink Dots is an Anglo-Dutch experimental rock band formed in London in 1980. Although far outside the mainstream, LPD have released more than 40 albums, have a devoted worldwide following, and tour frequently. Distinctive vocals and lyrical imagery blended with hypnotic guitar and synth washes and spellbinding bass pulses to create an enthralling, captivating release." [label info]
"The problem with the Age of Aquarius is that nobody seems to know when it's due, or indeed whether or not it's already begun. According to the song 'Aquarius' from hippy musical Hair, the dawning will come when "The moon is in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars." Unfortunately, as astrologer Neil Spencer has noted, the moon enters the seventh house daily, while Jupiter and Mars are aligned several times a year. Other astrologers have argued for Aquarian start dates ranging from 1447 right up until 3597.
In the popular imagination, however, the Age of Aquarius will always be associated with the “love generation” counter-culture of the 1960s, and represents the utopian new age that their flower power shenanigans were supposed to usher in. In other words, it should be here by now, and it manifestly isn't. As Legendary Pink Dots' mainstay Edward Ka-Spel notes, if this is Aquarius page one then love, peace and good hair are hardly qualities in the ascendant. "It wasn't supposed to be like this," he writes. "Are we in for another 2,160 years of this?"
Ultimately though, Ka-Spel's conclusions are optimistic. What we're actually living through are the death throes of the Pisces Age, he argues; it's brutal and painful, but it won't last. The way to get through is by letting go, on both a personal and societal level, and in order to do this we need to look unflinchingly at where we are now, what is holding us back and what will help us move forward.
So the album's opening track, 'Mirror, Mirror' tackles introspection, narcissism and self-loathing alongside the hard but necessary task of looking closely at your own self and putting the work in to improve. Stinging synthesiser blasts reflect this flinching process over driving electronic percussion, before a melancholy mellotron passage suggests a degree of sorrowful self-acceptance has been found. On 'The Greatest Story Ever Told,' a swarm of buzzing clockwork wasps soundtrack rising existential dread before the song shifts into a litany of reasons not to worship God, or indeed watch his movies on TV, all set to a queasy rendition of 'All Things Bright and Beautiful.' The Age of Pisces is often identified as the Christian era, and early Christians identified themselves using two fishes as a symbol; among other qualities, Aquarius is associated with the decline of religion and the rise of technology. "We worship technology," Ka-Spel whispers ambivalently at the close.
How the glorious analogue squelching of 'D-Train' fits into the concept I'm not sure, but 'Credibility' and 'Trending' take a look at the world around us, the former cursing "Damn your eyes, austerity" over lullaby-like piano, while the latter looks at the mysterious force of the zeitgeist as represented by popular topics on social media. Watching "the great sea ripple," Ka-Spel wonders who or what is driving the trends, directing our thoughts and attention as one linked collective organism.
The album concludes with two multi-part epics. The near-eighteen minute 'Don't Go There- Page Aquarian- Jacob's Ladder' begins in haunting yet propulsive style, discussing surveillance culture and "cameras everywhere" before shifting onto memory as a form of observation, returning to the theme of looking unsparingly at your own past actions and how they've led you to where you are now. A collage of found sound leads into a passage of spare percussion over which Ka-Spel considers the stars and the notion of destiny, before the final section finds tentative piano chords reverberating over the sound of a gathering storm. Here considerations of mortality and the afterlife are resolved into the need to make peace and find some kind of acceptance.
For CD listeners, that's where the album ends, but it would be a shame to miss out on the sixteen-and-a-half minute 'The Weight of Water Parts 1-4,' which is only available on digital and double vinyl editions. A dry, steady pulse beat supports slabs of musique concrete and some non-judgemental meditations on self-destructive behaviour, before a frantic flurry of low piano notes in a repeating, claustrophobic loop successfully simulates a panic attack. This then shifts into an oceanic evocation of waking at 3am with the realisation that your life has been wasted in deceit and acquisitiveness, before the instrumental final section captures a zen-like sensation of beatific release, with acoustic and electronic textures beautifully balanced against each other.
Aquarius of course is the water bearer, and 'The Weight of Water' effectively sums up the pain and difficulty of this period of transition. There's no need though to take the astrological metaphors literally; this album can be enjoyed purely as an unsettling and moving 83 minutes of music, and for those who do listen closely to the words, Ka-Spel's dry sense of humour undercuts any tendency towards new age pretentiousness.
Their long history could make some wrongly see the Legendary Pink Dots as unapproachable or worse, irrelevant. But Pages of Aquarius is an album that stands on its own merits. Even if you've never bought a Pink Dots record before, this is a progressive, provocative and ultimately positive statement about the world we're all living in today." [The Quietus] |
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Angel in the Detail |
CD |
"With punchy bass noises and an almost Pop music like clarity The Legendary Pink Dots [LPD hereon in] return to their avant-garde craft with keenness and cool. Where behind intelligent and weighty lyrics Angel In The Detail has a comprehensive and alluring sound production contained within a Frankensteins’ Monster of genre influences.
LPD are more 80s than synthwave and more industrial than an Ableton demo disc. These indisputable facts are omnipresent throughout Angel In The Detail and prevalent in everything through structure to sound design. As the zeitgeist of 70s electronica is carried through a further four decades. LPD have continued to push the envelope for experimental music and have honed their skills throughout their long career, and extensive discography. However this album is not limited to any particular definition but it is a mood.
A good mood; A playful mood; A dark mood. Angel In The Detail is, like many of LPDs previous albums, a somber indulgence. But like many dark acts offers cathartic release. With LPD delivering this through an almost perfect sound design. As when their haunting synths and ephemeral distortions dance it creates an atmosphere of controlled anxiety. Where while mingling with guitar chords and interspersed with aloof melodies the tunes sporadically erupt into refined chaos.
To define a beast with a paltry name would be to take away its exotic charm and Angel In The Detail is an album with an illusion that is suited to both esoteric and fantasy. An album that is musically, politically and intellectually challenging. And an album that will make your belly dance." [Soundscape Mag] |
2019 |
€16.50 |
|
|
Kleine Krieg |
do-CD |
The Legendary Pink Dots are an Anglo-Dutch experimental rock band formed in London in August 1980. In 1984 the band moved to Amsterdam, playing with rotating musicians and having, as core members, singer/songwriter/keyboardist Edward Ka-Spel and keyboardist Phil Knight aka The Silverman. The band was originally called "One Day..." but subsequently changed the name to The Legendary Pink Dots, apparently inspired by pink dots on certain keys of the band's main recording studio piano. In the 1980s the band released albums on Mirrodot and In Phaze; in 1985 they signed with Play It Again Sam for the release of The Lovers. Their music touches on elements of neo-psychedelia, ambient music, electronic music, tape music, industrial, psychedelic folk, synthpop, post-punk, progressive, jazz, noise, pop, and goth rock, with a distinctly experimental/avant-garde bent; their sound has evolved over time and remains distinctive, making it difficult to place the group into a concise style or genre. The group's overall sound combined with Ka-Spel's distinct lyrics and singing have earned comparisons to Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett; the group also has links to the sounds of krautrock bands such as Can, Faust, Brainticket, Magma or Neu! The first cassette “Only Dreaming” was an edition of 9 copies, two of which had beautiful three-dimensional handmade covers. “Only Dreaming” was abandoned rather than deleted as the recorded output by The Dots expanded massively within months of the band’s inception. This increased activity led to the beautifully packaged “Chemical Playschool Volumes 1 & 2." 32 copies were made of this, and the hugely supportive Eurock magazine & mail-order service bought 30 of them in an exchange deal for exotic goodies in their catalogue. It wasn’t meant to end there but the 2 track masters for CP 1 & 2 were largely erased by accident - and “Kleine Krieg” represents the music that survived plus a lot of fresh material that just had to be unleashed on an unwary planet in the month or so following the double tape release. This edition has all tracks of both editions/versions of "Kleine Krieg", plus a couple of bonus tracks, and is the first time this is being released on double CD. It is a brand new and much better re-master than what was used on the CDR edition some time ago. Full tracklist: 1. Defeated/Deflated/Black Highway 2. Soma Bath/Peace Krime 2/Break Day/The Palace Of Love/Stoned Obituary/Starch On Sunday 3. Vigil 4. Legacy/One For The Pearl Moon 5. Dolls' House/Brill 6. Down From The Country/Thursday Night Fever/Die With Your Eyes On 7. Closet Kings (First Version) 8. Opus Dei.
www.klanggalerie.com/gg321
|
2020 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Chemical Playschool Vol. 21 / 22 |
do-CD |
Indeed, You ARE hallucinating but you have absolutely nothing to fear. Just 'go with the flow.'
This small but wildly colourful monument will emerge in 3 different formats in the months to come. Vinyl and cassette will be courtesy of Witch Cat Records in Denver (witchcatrecords.bandcamp.com). The double cd will materialise via The Dots’ own Terminal Kaleidoscope label.
Erik Drost - Guitars, Bass; The Silverman - Keyboards, Devices; Edward Ka-Spel - Voice, keyboards.
Special guests: Patrick Q. Wright - Violins, keyboards on 2; Quentin Rollet - saxes, sopranino sax on 1,4,5,8,9.
Produced and Engineered by EK.
Cover concept and photography by Alena.
https://legendarypinkdots1.bandcamp.com/album/chemical-playschool-volumes-21-22
"Earlier this week, The Legendary Pink Dots came up in a private conversation, with an expert and we talked about the various incarnations of the group over the forty plus years and that prompted me to play some of the earliest Pink Dots, when they have, personal-wise the biggest line-up. It was also the time I first discovered the Pink Dots. One of the releases I played was 'Chemical Playschool 3 & 4', which is still an excellent ride of experiment and songs. That is something that hasn't changed if you play 'Chemical Playschool 21 + 22', which handed to me a few days later. Unlike 'regular' releases by the Dots, 'Chemical Playschool' is their playground to combine songs and experiments and as such, there is not a lot of difference between '3 & 4' and '21 & 22', except that the old one uses a much different line-up, with guitars, drums, violin and synthesizers, which all had a rockier sound, whereas these days the band, consisting of Erik Drost (guitar; he joined after 2000), The Silverman (keyboards, devices) and Edward Ka-spel (voices, keyboards, devices; the latter two are founding members), has a more electronic feel, despite Drost's guitar injections., Quentin Rollet adds saxophone and clarinet on a couple of pieces, and Patrick Q. Wright violin and keyboards on one track; he's also an early member. In recent years, so it seems to me, the Pink Dots' music is more about the texts/lyrics/poetry by Ka-spel, who use a more narrative way to deliver his words. The music serves as the dramatic soundscape in which all of this happens. Even for someone such as myself, not particularly interested in lyrics, understand the dramatic impact of Ka-spel's voice, and it is embedded in the music, rather than something that is on top of the music. The Pink Dots are in excellent form, with their psychedelic outburst, dreamy soundscapes, free jamming, spacious electronics and the always recognizable voice of Ka-spel. Less rocky than years ago, but still the perfect balance between 'song' and 'experiment'." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2021 |
€22.50 |
|
|
Hallway of the Gods |
CD |
1997. A big change again for the Dots as Martijn and Raymond had left while Edwin van Wanrooij (Atwyn) and Frank Verschuuren joined.
For sure the Dots went extremely spacey for “Hallway” and it remains a big favourite among band members to this day.
Press Release
Hallway of the Gods is the name of the brilliant new studio album by The Legendary Pink Dots, their first in two years. Recorded over the last 12 months in Nijmegen and Vancouver, this album presents the Dots at the pinnacle of their creativity. Psychedelic electronics are perfectly mated to Edward Ka-spel’s distinctive vocal style, producing a transcendent musical experience. Hallway of the Gods will initially be available as a limited edition double album, complete with different artwork and a bonus track, 9 Shades (Houston) Parts 1 & 2 that will not be available on the compact disc.
A spokesperson from the Dots’ camp issued this cryptic statement regarding the new album:
So you are sitting in a plane a few thousand feet above the Atlantic Ocean innocently gazing out of the window, when it suddenly becomes clear that all is not as it should be.
For a start, your sick bag is humming a somewhat atonal version of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in your right ear, just loud enough to irritate you and the cigar smoking geranium in the seat next to you.
Taking your eyes away from the window for a second, you note that your legs have disappeared, and in their place is a formless wobbling substance that resembled gelatin. Being a strict vegetarian you naturally find this disturbing, but your attempts to cry out for assistance end up sounding like small ‘feeeeeping’ sounds. A three headed eagle with bad breath squats on the seat in front of you screaming inaccurate quotes from the Koran in an obviously fake Irish accent.
It’s time for a nervous breakdown, but the eagle mutates into a balloon faced sergeant-major who bellows “This is NO time for a nervous breakdown, asshole – we gotta go hunting ventriloquists!” And the plane turns into a bottle o’beer, bottle o’beer… and the earth turns into a peanut butter sandwich which is in turn eaten by a crocodile and spat out again because it tastes like nothing and the whole goddamn universe melts into a green blob, grows an enormous leg, tap-dances on Fred Astaire’s skull and mutates into EVERYTHING again.
Time twists backwards, and you are sitting on a plane innocently gazing out of the window eating a piece of dried banana.
We are but playthings my friends. We are yours to disrespect, my large looming friend up there…
Welcome to the Hallway, the exits are lies. -EKS
STERREKRAZHNALIVSHIJAR-H ALHEMNIS
|
1997 |
€15.00 |
|
|
From here you'll watch the World go by |
CD |
No album caused as much debate within The Dots as this one in 1995. It was all about the order of the tracks...quite simply no permutation seemed to work. Ultimately Phil (The Silverman) took the bull by the horns and asked for the independent opinion of long-term LPD friend Christoph Heemann.
The verdict was to leave certain songs off ("Beautiful Machine", "Anastasia", "Day Zero").
The resulting storm could be heard in the South of Belgium and a compromise was the "Remember me this Way" EP - a release which also settled disputes over the mix of the title track.
Even today, there can be debate about this album in Dots' circles but the author of this piece admits that "From here" stands as a personal favourite.
Elke made the fascinating artwork.
https://legendarypinkdots1.bandcamp.com/album/from-here-youll-watch-the-world-go-by-redux-2012-remaster
|
1995 |
€15.50 |
|
|
The Museum of Human Happiness (col.) |
do-LP |
“A cubicle for you, a cubicle for me….but not together…”
The Year 2020 was not a year for a band to 'get things together in the country', or gather in a room to write songs. This statement certainly applied to the Legendary Pink Dots with two members in The Netherlands and one in the UK.
The pandemic reared its ugly head as the Dots’ criss-crossed Europe on the second stage of their 40th Anniversary Tour.
Just a few days before much of Italy locked down the band was in Milan. A few days later, the destination was Cologne where they opted for a hotel in the countryside…it turned out that the resting place was one village away from the most lethal outbreak of the virus in Germany.
The tour eventually finished in a sold-out club with a worryingly low ceiling in London. There were hugs, a real feeling of togetherness with a truly lovely audience.
Then the World stopped.
It was the last time The Dots were in the same room.
Song writing and recording were necessarily deemed to happen in cyberspace for the rest of 2020 and 2021.
As a result, the lyrics are utterly poignant, desperate, yet sometimes bearing a flash of gallows humour. The soundtrack is a purging fire. It’s a fire that still burns, and as I type this I can say I have never been so excited about the impending release of a new Dots’ album.
Never mind the distance, there is a single-mindedness about “The Museum Of Human Happiness.” It’s 2022. We’ll meet again…. [EK]
https://legendarypinkdots1.bandcamp.com/album/the-museum-of-human-happiness
www.metropolis-records.com/product/11839/the-museum-of-human-happiness
|
2022 |
€36.00 |
|
| |
The Museum of Human Happiness |
CD |
“A cubicle for you, a cubicle for me….but not together…”
The Year 2020 was not a year for a band to 'get things together in the country', or gather in a room to write songs. This statement certainly applied to the Legendary Pink Dots with two members in The Netherlands and one in the UK.
The pandemic reared its ugly head as the Dots’ criss-crossed Europe on the second stage of their 40th Anniversary Tour.
Just a few days before much of Italy locked down the band was in Milan. A few days later, the destination was Cologne where they opted for a hotel in the countryside…it turned out that the resting place was one village away from the most lethal outbreak of the virus in Germany.
The tour eventually finished in a sold-out club with a worryingly low ceiling in London. There were hugs, a real feeling of togetherness with a truly lovely audience.
Then the World stopped.
It was the last time The Dots were in the same room.
Song writing and recording were necessarily deemed to happen in cyberspace for the rest of 2020 and 2021.
As a result, the lyrics are utterly poignant, desperate, yet sometimes bearing a flash of gallows humour. The soundtrack is a purging fire. It’s a fire that still burns, and as I type this I can say I have never been so excited about the impending release of a new Dots’ album.
Never mind the distance, there is a single-mindedness about “The Museum Of Human Happiness.” It’s 2022. We’ll meet again…. [EK]
https://legendarypinkdots1.bandcamp.com/album/the-museum-of-human-happiness
www.metropolis-records.com/product/11839/the-museum-of-human-happiness
|
2022 |
€16.00 |
|
| LEHNBERG |
Morgondröm |
MC |
With the new mini-album ’Morgondröm’ (Morning Dream) LEHNBERG dives into a mental musical calmness where the rhythm driven soundscapes now completely been switched out for the stillness of the sun’s first silky morning rays which creates a silhouette to the dream like music.
The modern ambient sounds on Morgondröm can be described as a fusion of the softest of sound worlds, meditative states and thoughtfulness, where David’s wayward musicality is highly present and on display. That allows the experimental side of things to play a more audible role in both space and time.
In very short time David Lehnberg made a name for himself with his experimental electronica soloprojekt LEHNBERG, both as an energetic live artist and someone who delivers EPs and remixes with huge range both musically and geographically speaking.
David has traveled around the world numerous time on his own and as one of the two members of the indietronica band The Deer Tracks, and this is where his musical inspiration comes streaming from.
www.lamour.se/2017/10/13/lehnberg-morgondrom/
|
2017 |
€7.00 |
|
| LEICHTMANN, HANNO |
The African Twintower Suite |
LP |
"October 2005: Seminal German director Christoph Schlingensief (R.I.P. 2010) shoots his latest feature film “The African Twintowers" in Lüderitz/Namibia with Irm Hermann, Klaus Beyer, Robert Stadlober, Patti Smith........
Autumn 2006: Schlingensief approaches Berlin musician/composer Hanno Leichtmann (Groupshow, Static, Denseland) regarding a soundtrack for the film. There were hours and hours of raw material; the concept being a movie with few dialogues and music throughout - a 90 minute psychedelic collage; an associative visual and sonic trip.
With the help of John Nijenhuis aka Sir Henry as well as a trio of musicians playing indian music (tabla, sitar, tampura), they started to improvise in Leichtmann's recording studio projecting film sequences on a wall. Within 4 days and nights an enormous amount of tracks had been recorded and several rough mixes had been compiled.
After a while though, Schlingensief decided to shift the concept. The film transformed into an art installation with 18 monitors showing sequences simultaneously (presented at the Berlinale and Steirischer Herbst), and later on, a kind of “Making of..." with 90% off-comments by Christoph Schlingensief and very little music was made.
Thus, “The African Twintowers Suite" represents a lost soundtrack; compiling the most interesting recordings, newly edited, layered, collaged, shortened and mixed between 2009 and 2010." [label info]
www.dekorder.com
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| LEITMOTIV LIMBO |
Spiritual Disturbance |
CD |
De la Catessen Records presents Spiritual Disturbance from Elijah Värttö's project Leitmotiv Limbo. Currently based in Port Adelaide, Australia, Leitmotiv Limbo has developed, slowly but surely, over the past few decades, through international travel and relocation, including five years in Estonia (2008-2012), where Värttö set up the Servataguse Muusika concert series. Spiritual Disturbance was recorded in 2020 and released privately as a small run of recycled cassettes -- this CD version is the first widely available Leitmotiv Limbo release since their 2018 split cassette with RNPno2 on Finnish label Hyster Tapes. Central to the Leitmotiv Limbo ethos are Värttö's self-made instruments, built from discarded, repurposed, and found objects, such as loose springs and other metallic implements. Affixed to wood sourced from a disused and dismantled piano frame, their deep resonance, both percussive and timbral, positions Värttö's approach within a trajectory of instrument builders/creators -- you can hear echoes of the music of artists like Z'ev, Hal Rammel, and Rod Cooper in the shattered textures and industrial drones of tracks like "Submersive", for example. There's also a tactility to the performances here, a haptic resonance, and a strange, viscous sensuality to the material. Värttö recorded Spiritual Disturbance in a church hall in Adelaide, on a four-track, using room mics and direct line input, and it's made up largely of one-take performances on Värttö's self-made instruments, with minimal intervention, at times, from analog filters and a drum synth. The combination of the evacuated tonalities of the instruments, plus the cavernous reverb of the recording space, gives Spiritual Disturbance a distinctly ritualistic sensibility; poetic and primitive, but eloquent in its exploration. It also brings to mind mysterious projects like Organum, Morphogenesis, Metgumbnerbone, perhaps even an acoustic Voice Crack, where conceptual rigor meets unpredictability via real-time improvisation. Spectral and haunted, Leitmotiv Limbo's Spiritual Disturbance is a compelling collection of oneiric expression, and an eloquent articulation of a unique, invented universe. Includes four-page booklet; edition of 300.
https://leitmotivlimbo.bandcamp.com/album/spiritual-disturbance
|
2022 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Superior State |
LP |
Superior State is the second Leitmotiv Limbo album released by Port Adelaide’s De la Catessen Records, after the 2022 CD Spiritual Disturbance. This time, Leitmotiv Limbo’s isolationist studies have been bumped to vinyl, which feels like the perfect format for these twelve miniatures. The project of Adelaide artist Elijah Värttö, Leitmotiv Limbo has, over the past few decades, tracked a history of quietly insistent experimentation, embracing several technologies – invented instruments; analogue filters; drum synth – to sketch desolate, cavernous structures, sometimes performed in reverberant spaces, such as church halls, which gifts the recordings a ritualistic air.
For Superior State, Värttö is more intently focused on rhythms and pulses, resulting in a beautifully sculpted collection of poetic vignettes. You can hear some trace elements, here, of the minimalist techno-not-techno of artists like Pan Sonic, or Studio 1/Freiland, in their reductionist ethos. But also, in the insistence of Värttö’s attention to detail, and his careful focus on a delimited number of elements, the twelve pieces on Superior State recall the work of mysterious German outfits Werkbund and Mechthild Von Leutsch, or the solo explorations of artists like Asmus Tietchens, Achim Wollscheid and Goem.
It's intensely evocative music, recalling all kinds of phenomena, both man-made and natural: electricity pulsing through wires; the humming of the central nervous system; the quiet hiss of deserted computer laboratories; the pulsations of plant life; the molecular vibration of atoms. Värttö has tapped into the poetry of the programmatic on Superior State, and he’s sharp in his grasp of the significant effect that the incremental shifting of a few simple parameters can have on the overarching structures he’s building here. Indeed, that poetry is echoed back in the beautiful liner notes by Adelaide artist Michael Hocking. Alive, flickering with incident, Superior State is energy transmitted, coursing through the collective’s veins.
Music recorded in a room on Nile St, Port Adelaide across six evenings, of one week in January 2023. Instruments of analogue electronics were built, performed and recorded by Elijah Värttö directly to 4-track tape, with two room mics. The instruments form four quarters, as two hemispheres mirrored. Each hemisphere has a symmetry of structure, albeit comprised of differing materials.
Detail of artwork: spray paint on metal by Elijah Värttö
Mastered for vinyl by Giuseppe Ielasi
Design by Sam Songailo
℗ Elijah Värttö 2023
© De la Catessen Records 2023
"While I recognized the Leitmotiv Limbo immediately, I was surprised that I had already reviewed four previous releases by Elijah Värttö's music project (Vital Weekly 951, 1152, 1219 and 1336). All of these were on cassette, but now it's time to do the next step and release an LP. The music is ready for it, I'd say. Värttö sounds like a Finnish name, but he's from Adelaide, just like the label here, who also re-issued the 'Spiritual Disturbance' cassette on CD. The press information talks about "invented instruments, analogue filters, drum synth" and influences of Pan Sonic, Studio 1 (Wolfgang Voigt rather than the dub label), Freiland, but also Werkbund, Asmus Tietchens, Achim Wollscheid and Goem. Some of these names I am very familiar with, and while I can't say these people don't influence him, I also believe that maybe, except for Werkbund and Tietchens, I don't hear these influences to that extent. Rhythm plays an undeniable part in the music here. Still, there is only some of that 'techno that isn't techno' of Pan Sonic or Goem here (more the latter than the first, in 'Parading Brutality', for instance), nor the conceptual edge of somebody such as Wollscheid. In these twelve pieces, I hear more of a nod towards mid-80s industrial music, where you can find albums by Tietchens of similar musical interests. Also, given the more loop-like approach, a group like Dome (in 'Relative Space', for instance). This LP is a giant leap forward compared to the previous cassette works. There was naivety in his older work, which was most enjoyable, but rightfully, it was time to move on. Leitmotiv Limbo now exercises more control, more composition, if you will. There is less of that 'roll the tape and see what happens' approach, but the music here is to the point. There is no endless wailing about, but each of the twelve compositions is just that. Not too industrial, never noisy, but with a studio-as-instrument approach, exploring uncharted territory on the sonic map. I can hardly wait for the next one." [Vital Weekly]
https://leitmotivlimbo.bandcamp.com/album/superior-state |
2023 |
€26.00 |
|
| LEJEUNE, JACQUES |
Early Works 1969-1970 |
LP |
"This LP of early compositions by Jacques Lejeune features three seminal works: D'une Multitude En Fête and Petite Suite, originally released on the Perspective Musicales series in 1970, and a previously unpublished composition, Géodes, from the same period. These three pieces (not included in the recent Parages and other electroacoustic works 3CD set) are some of Lejeune's earliest music for tape and may be considered a "prequel" to his later, more thematic works. Still, his concise musical narrative is ever-present in these first recordings. The sidelong D'une Multitude En Fête (1969) refers to multitude, number, celebration and any crowd situation as a form of ceremony — all evoking a circular gaze, as topics of the different aural events and their anecdotal development emerge, leading to the dream, as a story we tell to ourselves. Géodes (1970) features percussion improvisations by Lauréat Dionne with Jacques' tapework inflecting prisms deep into its thundering, rhythmic core. This concert version appears on vinyl for the first time. Concluding the album is Petite Suite (1970), with each section referencing a traditional musical form using both anecdotal as well as instrumental flourishes. The original drum and guitar elements performed here by Michel Foudrinoy and Jean-Pierre Vassout. These pieces have been compared to Pierre Henry's bold rock themes in Messe Pour Le Temps Present and also recall the peculiar atmospheres of some of the great, early Nurse With Wound records that would follow. In contrast, Lejeune's early approach was heavily steeped in sonic narratives, combining unusual and ambiguous events to create a sound world uniquely his own. Early Works 1969-1970 explores the first precision splices by one of the true visionaries in musique concrète." [label info]
www.robotrecords.com
|
2015 |
€26.50 |
|
| LEONARDSON - MARGOLIS - VAN NORT |
Vendlam |
CD-R |
"Recorded live in concert in Poughkeepsie, New York, in July 2013, this free improvisation brings together three very different sets of sound sources and artistic temperaments. Using violin, the experimental “springboard” and the GREIS software (Granular-Feedback Expanded Instrument System), Eric Leonardson, Al Margolis and Doug Van Nort create dense, doom-laden sedimentations of sound with immediate emotional impact.
Al Margolis plays the violin and synthesizer in an approach very different from his work as If, Bwana. Eric Leonardson performs on the springboard, an experimental instrument he created in 1994 to explore the sonic potential of coil springs and other readily available materials. The inaudible vibrations of these materials are amplified by a piezo disc contact microphone. Played with cello bows and homemade friction mallets, they produce extraordinary. Doug Van Nort performs on a laptop using his self-created GREIS improvisation environment (pronounced ‘grace’), created in MAX/MSP." [label info]
File under: Free improvisation
www.attenuationcircuit.de
|
2014 |
€7.50 |
|
| LES FRAGMENTS DE LA NUIT |
Musique du Crepuscule |
CD |
Dramatic & expressive neoclassic / chamber music from this quintett using mainly strings, lots of minimal & repetitive string-structures are build, all instrumental. Their music has been compared with ARVÖ PÄRT, STEVE REICH, PHILIPP GLASS and GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPOROR, but we also think of WIM MERTENS and RACHELS.
"Musique du Crépuscule" is a vision of night wrapped in mystery: a night haunted by spectral chants, under the spell of epic, poignant strings and sustained by hypnotic piano pulsations. Its nocturnal universe oozes with hybrid ink, enveloping hidden emotions tainted with melancholy and voluptuousness. A neo-classical or post-nocturnal piece, "Musique du Crépuscule" has many different faces. It alternates between violin riffs, dark cello projections and the complaints of a lone piano, highlighted by enigmatic echoing voices. The moonlight slowly reveals a name in the ethereal infinity: Les Fragments de la Nuit." [label info]
"Michel Villar (piano) and Ombeline Chardes (violin) both hailing from France are the talented musicians who set up this project. They’ve been joined by a few more musicians and guest vocalists. While releasing their debut-cd on Equilibrium Music they have already been involved in various soundtrack compositions for independent cinema, animations and documentaries. The soundtrack-influence is easily recognizable while the piano and violin parts also bring us to make a link with neo classical music. Les Fragments De La Nuit sounds like a journey through darkness and the name of the project perfectly fits to this goal. Most of the songs remain instrumental version filled with low piano keys and sad feelings emerging from this melancholia. Mysterious chants emerge to the surface on one of the pieces, but the music remains like encaged in an atmosphere of endless darkness or should I say an endless night. The different fragments of this night have been expressed with a gift for melancholia coming from musicians with talent!" [Side-Line]
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| LES HALLES |
Zephyr |
LP |
The welcome and wondrous return of Lyon musician Baptiste Martin’s aerial ambient identity, Les Halles, following a year’s sabbatical from recording, Zephyr takes its name from a light westerly wind, which aptly evokes the warm, weightless, whispering spirit of these beguiling ambient designs. Working entirely with a computer for the first time, Martin’s sample bank swelled in both depth and detail, giving his compositions a crisper focus and finer grain. Slovakian fujara flutes shudder and shimmer, offset with rippling PVC panpipes, chimes, and gentle webs of delay.
The tracks are titled according to their sample source, designated with one of three words that are same in French and English: horizon, mirage, and distance. Martin speaks of these pieces as conjuring “landscapes with almost no human traces,” and his criterion for completion is simple: “When I feel like I’m losing the perception of time while listening.” Nine new divinations by one of today’s most attuned waking dreamers.
|
2018 |
€18.00 |
|
| LETHAL DOSE 50 |
21st Century Awakening |
CD |
“The poison dose injected into the veins of persons sentenced to the death penalty in some states of the U.S.A.… but LD50 is also a Belgian trio which has been existing for years in the fields of electronic musics. After a self-released first tape and first CD-R, the first full-length CD by this talented unit. Using some digital instruments – synths, samplers- as well as some analogue ones –synths, rhythm’n box, effects,… LD50 develops an atmospheric music which is at the same time dark but warm, cosmic and experimental, melodic and deep, meditative but aware, often underlaid by some sampled voices and sound-collages, sometimes intermingled with/ intersected with some hypnotic rhythms. Being fully mastered and definitely original compared to some nowadays releases from the dark-ambient genre, “21st century awakening” will both appeal to the nostalgics of the 70ies and 80ies sonorities (old-school space-electronics from the 70ies and 80ies) such as TANGERINE DREAM, NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS..as well as to the lovers of some nowadays dark ambient acts such as SCHLOSS TEGAL, INADE, HERBST 9 or FIRST LAW… LD 50 is certainly the sole musical project able to set a bridge between these two tendencies, these two sounds, these two periods. “21st century awakening” will appeal as much to the soul as to the body, to the mind as to the heart. At first listening, this record may seem a little bit strange to you, like being out of phases, but the following listenings will draw you into an endless spiral similar to the one painted on the sleeve. Allow yourself enough of freedom for that. CD re-mastered by Christian RENOU, housed in an original A5 size silk-screened fold-out cover. Paintings by Leyla ERSEN.64 minutes/10 tracks” [label description]
|
2006 |
€14.50 |
|
| LETHE |
Catastrophe Point #5 |
CD |
"The latest in Kuwayama Kiyoharu's signature series of compositions that explore the charged, mysterious atmosphere of disused industrial sites. For this album, LETHE turns his attention to an abandoned warehouse by a pier in his hometown of Nagoya, Japan, using objects discovered in situ to perform a ritual of sonic resurrection. He brings a dead space back to life, giving it a voice and allowing it to speak. Metal chains, sheet metal, broken machinery, and factory debris are bowed, struck, and dragged across the concrete floors of the massive hall, reverberating and responding as Kuwayama and his microphones scuttle across the desolate terrain. Growling cello and unstable horns underscore the torrents of percussive clatter. Catastrophe Point #5 is a haunting album of volatile, malevolent ambience. For fans of Christoph Heemann, Surface of the Earth, The New Blockaders, Z'ev, or Organum." [label info]
www.intransitiverecordings.com
"Metgumbnerbone is not a reference that pops up all that much, nor is it one that would mean much to anyone who isn't a complete dork
about British esoteric experimental musics. But that's where we'll start for this review because that's the reference that one such dork had to make here at Aquarius (it was Jim if you must know). Metgumbnerbone was a shadowy collection of dour Brits (including Richard Rupenus of The New Blockaders) who took up residence in an abandoned factory somewhere in Newcastle and constructed a bleak ritualist music out of the refuse found within. Scraping metal and atonal horns crafted out of plumbing material abound in the Metgumbnerbone vocabulary. Such is the case for Lethe as well, the found-space project of Japanese improviser Kuwayama Kiyoharu. However, as Metgumbernone's post-electrical scrabblings were the result of a collective effort, Lethe's spatializations emerge from an orchestra of one. It seems impossible that he did not overdub many of these sounds, but the production so fully embraces the cavernous space of his choosing that Lethe's pieces sound as if they were constructed in a single take.
For Catastrophe Point #5, Lethe used an abandoned grain warehouse located on the outskirts of Nagoya, Japan. Much more than an
ambivalent shuffling or wandering scattering of clunky sounds, Lethe amasses sympathetic scrapings from pieces of metal, large and small, as they are dragged, bowed, and beaten throughout the space. Long form drones emerge throughout the performance as if he's triggering a resonant frequency of the space, echoing against itself. It's true that many of these sounds resemble those found on the impossible to find Metgumberbone records, but other references would be Organum's Vacant Lights album, Z'ev's finer moments, the recent John Grzinich constructions, and even Yoshi Wada's bellowing recordings of his Earth
Horns. Excellent!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| LEVEL |
Opale |
CD |
"Die speziellen Spekk-Digibags im Format 12,5 x 16 cm sind jedesmal wieder eine Augenweide. Sie stehen für einen Ästhetizismus, den ich mich scheue, ‚japanisch‘ zu nennen. Nennen wir es daher ‚universalen Feinsinn‘, der sich akustisch manifestiert in einer elektroakustischen Serie von meist minimalistischem Anstrich. Opale (KK016), den Beitrag von LEVEL, das ist Barry G. Nicholas, ziert die Aufnahme des Aderngeflechts eines Blattes, skelettartige Architektur der allerzartesten Bauweise. LEVEL konstruierte dazu 8 Tracks mit gebildeten und feinsinnigen Titeln wie ‚[jeux]‘, ‚[eastre]‘ und '[oriente]', allesamt aus dem dröhnenden Morphing von Pianoklang. Der Zeitfluss, sprich, der Bewegungsablauf, ist jeweils verlangsamt, träumerisch. Nicholas nennt dieses ‚Als ob die Zeit still stünde‘ ‚[a frozen moment]‘, einen ‚gefrorenen Augenblick‘. Von Schopenhauer stammt das poetische Bild von Architektur als ‚gefrorene Musik‘. Umgekehrt wäre Musik dann tauende oder schmelzende Architektur. Genau so klingen Opales Kontrukte. Festes scheint im zähflüssigen Übergang zu Flüssigem. In ‚[mobilus]‘ klingen noch Teile der Binnenverstrebungen rhythmisch zischend an. Dazu sind auch die einzeln und leicht unscharf oder mit Schlagseite dahin driftenden Pianonoten noch halbfeste Kerne in diesem Traumfluss, der durchwegs melancholisch getönt ist. Bei ‚[a frozen moment]‘ kommen Radiosamples und ‚Störungen‘ - wie schleifende Metallteile, Kettenrasseln oder tröpfelnde Geräusche - ins Spiel, den dunkel rumorenden Abschluss taufte Nicholas ‚[il alp]‘. Deutete Freud Alpträume auch als Wunscherfüllung?" [Bad Alchemy]
"OPALE was recorded during a period of personal turmoil, and creative turbulence. I wanted to follow the Level | Cycla release with a fresh perspective, and a new formula. Having created Cycla from piano and keyboard sounds generated using software which I then subjected to various treatments and deformations, I wanted to create something less fractured, less manipulated. I called upon my good friends, Linden Hale, and Keith Berry to provide me with original piano samples to use as source material, which I then fed through the sampler, but this time attempted to keep to the original spirit of the source material, adding my own digital touches and textures as I went along.
Opale represents a singular line of thought, and a singular approach, so I suppose in some sense, all of the tracks actually comprise one piece, broken into several parts. The pieces all represent “the Frozen Moment” …as the hands of time are unrelenting, waiting for no man, I am sure many of us have ached for time to stand still during moments that are particularly poignant, perhaps, or maybe, mourning the loss of a loved one, we could hold on to these precious moments with them for just a little longer. I have experienced these moments on several occasions, and having lived a humdrum, and pressurised existence, sometimes I yearn to be able to stand back, relax, and savour precious moments for much longer than they actually last in order to gain a greater appreciation of their beauty and magnificence. Opale represents these precious moments, and simultaneously worships and mourns their passing.
My deepest thanks and love go to my dear wife, Maura Wallace-Nichols, also Linden Hale, and Keith Berry for their contributions, and these recordings benefitted from their contributions and creativity, and deepest thanks also to Nao at Spekk, and Mike at Smallfish for confidence in my works, and undying support. (August 2008)" [text by Barry G Nicholas / Level]
www.spekk.net
|
2008 |
€15.50 |
|
| LEVI, MICA |
UNDER THE SKIN (OST) |
LP |
"Based on the novel by Michael Faber, Jonathan Glazer's film follows the journey of a voluptuous woman (Scarlett Johansson) of unknown origin combing the highway in search of isolated or forsaken men. They are seduced, stripped of their humanity, and never heard from again. The music, a critical element in the film, is by British-born Mica Levi. Classically trained, she is best known for her band Micachu & The Shapes and for their experimental music in a variety of genres."
www.milanrecords.com
"The character Scarlett Johansson plays in Under The Skin is a blank-eyed cipher, a predator without apparent motivation. There is no horror more visceral than the horror of the impersonal, so it makes sense that Mica Levi, who composed the film's score, would turn to György Ligeti's masterful sense of elemental horror. The score has the feel of a thought process, albeit one conducted by a being you have no genetic relation to.
The character Scarlett Johansson plays in Under the Skin is a blank-eyed cipher, a predator without apparent motivation. There is no horror more visceral than the horror of the impersonal, so it makes sense that Mica Levi, composing the film's score, would turn to the master of elemental horror: György Ligeti, whose ability to gather masses of semitones into translucent wisps without a center made The Shining, which relied heavily on his work Lontano, the scariest movie ever made. (Watch that film with the music off, I still maintain, and it becomes a particularly caustic domestic comedy.)
The score opens with a locust plague of dry tremolos, the strings pressing down until the sound has reached a roar. It's a sound with tremendous menace and weight. From there, the roar shrinks into a whine, and enters a hazy nexus between digitally processed and live sound. It's an indeterminacy Levi worked hard to cultivate: "We were looking at the natural sound of an instrument to try and find something identifiably human in it, then slowing things down or changing the pitch of it to make it feel uncomfortable," she told The Guardian. Insectile, near-vocal sounds erupt across the tense, arid space of "Lipstick to Void," evoking either the Knife's berserker Shaking the Habitual or the processed strings from Britney Spears' "Toxic". It's an appropriate cross-section for the film, which veers between menace and sexuality and brilliantly cross-wires high-brain and low-groin impulses.
That hovering dust-cloud of strings, which Levi referred to as "like a beehive" in her and Under the Skin director Jonathan Glazer's recent Pitchfork interview, pops up repeatedly throughout the score with minor additions and tweaks representing the journey of Johansson's character: in "Meat to Maths", there are clanging bell-like sounds behind it, while in "Mirror to Vortex" it's half-submerged in the amplified sound of its own echo. In the context of the film, these additions feel like the messiness of lived experience muddying Johansson's template, the imprint of the lives she begins to grapple with as her time on Earth extends. The hollow knock of a single drum, like a single dragging foot, is another repeating theme, giving the score a reiterative, hesitant quality. Inasmuch as you can be invited into Johansson's character's head in Under the Skin, the music does the heavy lifting. The score has the feel of a thought process, albeit one conducted by a being you have no genetic relation to.
The music unfolds as deliberately and as unconsciously as the dreamlike film itself. Levi drops in an arching, three-pitch motif at various points, one that lingers on its highest pitch the longest, like a hanging doubt. In "Lonely Void", this figure is colored in briefly by a furtive patch of tonal harmony, a startling appearance of warmth that scrubs itself out as quickly but leaves a powerful impression. There are other brief hints of tenderness, particularly in the unearthly pairing of "Bedroom" and "Love", which lifts the score entirely free from anxiety and into something exalted and sorrowful. Here, Levi's work comes closer to Vangelis than to Ligeti, and completes the film's mysterious arc. Levi's commitment to the film's themes is all-consuming, and the score is so tightly woven into the film's DNA that it is difficult to detach and experience as an album. However, the gorgeousness of the quavering synths on "Love" ask nothing of you than to be enjoyed." [Pitchfork]
|
2014 |
€26.00 |
|
| LEWIS, ANDREW |
Miroirs obscurs |
DVD-A |
"Penmon Point was realized in the winter 2002-03 in the Electroacoustic Music Studios of Bangor University (Wales, UK) and premiered on March 22, 2003 during the Electric Spring Festival in Huddersfield (UK). It was awarded First prize at the 5th Concurso Internacional de Música Eletroacústica de São Paulo (CIMESP ’03, Brazil). Penmon Point was recorded on the compact disc Música Maximalista / Maximal Music 10: V CIMESP 2003 in 2004.
Llanddwyn Skies was realized in the spring and early summer 2003 in the Electroacoustic Music Studios of Bangor University (Wales, UK) and was premiered on October 30, 2003 in Powis Hall, Bangor University (Wales, UK). It was also presented on February 13, 2004 during the Rien à voir (15) concert series at Espace GO in Montréal.
Benllech Shells was realized in the summer 2003 in the Electroacoustic Music Studios of Bangor University (Wales, UK); the 5.1 version was realized in 2007 in the same studios. Benllech Shells premiered on October 30, 2003 in Powis Hall, Bangor University (Wales, UK).
Cable Bay was realized in April 1999 in the studios of the Institut international de musique électroacoustique de Bourges (IMEB, France), with preparatory work undertaken in 1998 in the studios of Bangor University (Wales, UK) and premiered on May 29, 1999 as part of Synthèse, the Festival international de musique électroacoustique de Bourges (France). The piece was commissioned by the IMEB. Cable Bay was awarded First Prize at the Concurso Internacional ART’S XXI in 2001 in Valencia (Spain).
Danses acousmatiques was realized in the spring and summer 2007 in the Electroacoustic Music Studios of Bangor University (Wales, UK) and premiered on October 25, 2007 at SARC in Belfast (Northern Ireland, UK). Thanks to dobroide for the pigeon and bee samples." [credits]
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| LIAISONS DANGEREUSES |
same |
LP |
A milestone in electronic music, is finally receiving its well-deserved re-release: Liaisons Dangereuses’ legendary self-titled debut album still fascinates today, through its innovative sound and the mystery encompassing it. Since its release in 1981, it has become a classic in electronic music.
The 10 electrifying songs produced by Chrislo Haas (DAF) and Beate Bartel (Mania D. / Matador) – reinforced by Krishna Goineau’s French and Spanish Speech-Attack-Lyrics – created a unique yle.
The album – anything other than a Berlin or Düsseldorf ‘thing’ – was propelled to an international favourite. Songs such as “Peut Être… Pas” and “Los Niños Del Parque” played a decisive role in the development of Detroit and Chicago’s house sound, as well as various forms of European techno.
soulsheriff.com/releases/liaisons-dangereuses-liaisons-dangereuses/ |
2015 |
€17.50 |
|
| LIBEREZ |
All tense now Lax |
LP |
"Hermetically sealed and reveling in tumult, All Tense Now Lax is the most significant and developed work yet forged by Liberez. Based in main orchestrator John Hannon's remote studio No Recordings in Rayleigh, England, Liberez have expanded their palette from previous outings on Alter to produce a perfectly engineered machine that consumes the beholder." [label info]
www.nightschoolrecords.com
"It has become increasingly rare, in recent years, to hear 'industrial' records that fully merit the name. Like most experimental musical terms, it is a descriptor that has become useful only in small doses: usually in reference to artists utilising mechanical and oppressive sonic textures. This usage, however, only conveys a part of what industrial music was originally about. The great early industrial bands manipulated sound in such a way that it retained the flawed feel of human direction whilst simultaneously building a shrine to the electronic. Listening to the finest Throbbing Gristle records, for example, one is overcome by an atmosphere that is almost entirely alien and discomforting precisely because of its human element; something that even the most applause-worthy of (largely digitally based) industrial artists of today are incapable of quite accomplishing.
This, perhaps, is what makes a vaguely 'industrial' outfit like Liberez such an enticing proposition. A group that blends the electronic with the acoustic, and works on foundations provided more by improvisation than by the meticulous organisation of much contemporary experimentalism, Liberez have been stalwarts of the deepest depths of the murky UK underground for some years now, rightly eschewing genre terms in favour of constant reinvention and re-articulation of their musical aims. All Tense Now Lax, however, sees Liberez reach new heights (or lows, depending on the way you want to perceive music so undeniably gloomy) in their apparent quest to capture the beautiful in the most disjointedly unnervingly fashion possible.
Liberez’s determination to manufacture contrast is impressive from the album’s opening seconds. Intro track ‘
Of Milk’ fades in with eerie piano and ends with concrete drone, fading into the slow building tumult of ‘_Захвална породица’, complete with some mid-period Skullflower guitar wailing and clanking percussion. This is a pattern that continues throughout, with sections of fragile sound collage – rendered particularly effective by the regular presence of moaning violin – being presented along spiralling channels of paranoid distortion.
At its most overblown and overwrought All Tense Now Lax is less disturbing and more genuinely frightening. ‘How Much for Your Brother?’ is a gross exhortation of primal malevolence, retching through its four minutes with the subtlety of a sledgehammer and the abrasiveness of a sandpaper razor. At the other end of the scale, ‘Stop Your Breathing’, the following track, mutters and groans through disembodied fragments of noise, which eventually (and briefly) end up coalescing into a faintly beautiful climax. The combination of these two styles alongside one another is exhausting but powerful, like a stripped down Godspeed You! Black Emperor at most minimalistic and effective best.
All Tense Now Lax, then, is brilliant precisely because of the way it flits disconcertingly between the two extremes presented in its title, between the constant and unrestrained tension of technological progress and the contrasting looseness of our day to day existence alongside it. The overall result is an enormously adept capturing of the conundrum of the 'industrial' in a post-industrial landscape." [Benjamin Bland / Drowned In Sound]
|
2015 |
€21.00 |
|
| LICHT, ALAN |
A New York Minute |
do-CD |
Polyphone Drone-Harmonics von ALAN LICHT, der hier sowohl seine Qualitäten als Experimental & Drone-Gitarrist zeigt als auch seine Fähigkeit konzeptuell zu komponieren...“Alan Licht wears many hats. Over the years, he's been a curator of music as well as a tireless performer. And he's as well-known an author as he is a musician. It's one thing to have eclectic tastes; it's another to make a practice of them. While Licht's earlier records have seamlessly melded his improvisational guitar playing with extended plundered sounds, A New York Minute takes things a few steps further. Instead of fusing the many sides of Licht into one monolithic mega-mix, this disc separates them into discreet compositions. There's a lot more at stake here: the guitar pieces are showcased as guitar pieces and the plundered works are just that. The conceptual tendencies in Licht no longer hide behind his talent as a guitarist; likewise, the guitar pieces are no longer propped on hooky concepts that take our attention away from his fretwork. The good news is that both work: Licht is as strong a conceptual artist as he is a composer. (Kenneth Goldsmith, liner note writer) |
2003 |
€16.00 |
|
| LICHT-UNG |
Kristall |
7 |
LICHT-UNG ist ein Label, Lyrik- und Soundprojekt für experimentelle Kunst aus Leverkusen mit etwas exzentrischem Anspruch. Auf 'Kristall' findet sich eine spannungsgeladene A-Seite basierend auf Feedback-Sounds, sowie ein wirklich kristallklarer microsound-drone auf der Rückseite.
"LICHT-UNG (German for "glade") is the name of a label, art- (publishing lyrics, pictures, etc.) and sound project from the western part of Gemany with a very peculiar and rather dadaistic approach. The two pieces on "kristall" seem to be based mainly on feedback- and metal or glass sounds that are carefully put together for a queer-sounding trip. Side A ("Listen to the music playing in your head") consists of humming, growling drones, low siren-like sounds and high-frequency feedbacks, powerful and absorbing and very abstract, while never turning into sheer noise. Side B (with the odd title "Heute war ich bei den weißen Elefantens") delivers a crystal-clear noise chant and metallic overtones processed with obscure effects. File under: high-tension & crystal Drones
BLUE VINYL WITH BLACK STRIAE. COVERS WITH SILKSCREEN-PRINTED TEXT & VISUAL, SILVER-PRINTED BLACK INLAY"
[press release]
"Ein beigelegter Pin, eine liebevoll bedruckte Rückseite und ein gespraytes Cover schaffen auf
Anhieb Sympathie, die Musik nicht weniger. Licht-ung ist Fakt- und infobezogen recht
schweigsam, zwar sehr betriebsam und eher in der unorthodox-verzettelten Ecke der
experimentellen Musik tätig, hier allerdings geradezu lieblich und freigeistig, wofür die Namen der beiden Stücke geradezu bürgen.
»Listen To The Music Playing In Your Head« ist analoge Feedbackverdrahtung a la David Lee
Myers mit ordentlich Rauschen drauf, ein wenig Mikroakribie im Stile von V/VM und last but
not least so differenziert fern, dass man meint, einem zeitlich langgezogenen Bremsvorgang
der Untergrundbahn in Hamburg zu lauschen. Charmant und reicht allemal für einen kurzen
Sprung ins Unterbewusstsein, hingegen die B-Seite trägt dem Namen des Releases eher
Rechnung: »Heute War Ich Bei Den Weißen Elefanten« ist ein in der Tat kristallklarer elektroakustischer Drone auf der Grundlage eines transponierten Glockenspiels. Die Tonspur ist dabei genauso aberwitzig halluzinogen wie der Titel des Stückes, aber augenzwinkernd hintergründig. Es schlingert und scheppert auf den Frequenzen und letztlich fällt doch alles in die große Stille. Eines der etwas obskureren Werke auf Drone Records, aber sehr fein aufbereitet und mysteriös wie der Musiker dahinter." [Thorsten Soltau / AEMAG]
|
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
| |
Nora |
7 |
We think this is the very first 7" vinyl for this German experimental art / poetry & harsh noise project! Two pieces of extreme feedbacks and an abused home-organ performed in total distortion. Really cathartic stuff! A dance of low & high feedbacks, with destroyed kitschy harmonics underneath! Comes in a white 7"-cover with sticked-on colour photo, in an edition of just 220 copies. A lovely obscure 7" for vinyl collectors !
www.licht-ung.de
|
2003 |
€5.00 |
|
| LICHT-UNG / IRIS GARRELFS |
split |
10inch |
Split 10" in a tiny edition of this excentric german art-project with the british soundartist IRIS GARRELS. Two pieces with ominous dronescapes, strange clouds of rather dull moaning sounds, pulses, crackles, resonance-bubbles, quite exciting in their indeterminableness.
Great record, very much recommended. Comes with colour-photo sticked on, and inlay. Numbered ed.
Background to IRIS GARRELFS recordings: "(Talking) Space to Space is an ongoing radio project. Using captured natural radio emissions from celestial objects, Iris reshapes these sounds into an audio composition and flings them back to the stars in a radio broadcast. A poetic gesture, a sensual fiction which takes the past, re-shapes it in real-time and travels with it into the future. The piece was originally performed on Resonance FM in June 04 and as part of Radio Art Riot during the Frieze Art Fair, October 04. An extract was also featured as part of Radio Day of European Cultures in October 05. An extended version was listed for the PRS New Musci Award in 05. An extract wil be released on 10" vinyl by German art label lich-tung in spring 06." [website info]
|
2006 |
€13.50 |
|
| LIFE GARDEN |
Plutonian Dub (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
unbelievable intense and mesmerizing two tracks of yearnful ethereal ambience with mighty rhythmical parts, monumental and melancholic at the same time...
"LIMITED+NUMBERED FIRST EDITION OF 250 COPIES
GREY VINYL; HANDCOLOURED PE-SLEEVES
LIFE GARDEN FROM PHOENIX, ARIZONA, ARE THE REMAINS OF THE LEGENDARY GROUP MAYBE MENTAL, WHO HAVE BEEN AROUND IN THE 80's IN THE EXPERIMENTALLY ORIENTATED GLOBAL CASSETTE-UNDERGROUND AND RELEASED 7 TAPES (THAT ARE HARD TO FIND NOW), AND ONE SPLIT-LP WITH CONTROLLED BLEEDING.
LIFE GARDEN CREATE A UNIQUE STYLE OF THEIR OWN BY COMBINING AMBIENT ATMOSPHERES WITH EASTERN INFLUENCES, MAKING IT INTENSE AND MAGNIFICENT COMPOSITIONS.
DRONE RECORDS HAVE NOW RELEASED THE VERY FIRST PIECE OF VINYL BY THIS GROUP, WHICH CONTAINS THE TRACKS 'PLUTONIAN DUB' AND 'CHAOS LULLABY' - WITH THE YEARNING SINGING OF SU LING, THE SURREAL DRONES AND THE POWERFUL RITUAL DRUMMING THIS APPEARS TO BE A TIMELESS AND WISE AURAL MONUMENT.
AFTER HAVING HAD 4 BAD PRESSINGS WE ARE MOST HAPPY TO PRESENT THIS
UNIQUE 7". FINALLY WE'D LIKE TO SAY 'SORRY' TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAD TO WAIT THAT LONG!
" an exploration into a wide range of sound, emotion, wonderment and intensity "
DRONE RECORDS DR-20/APRIL 1997 |
1997 |
€ |
|
| LIGETI, GYÖRGY |
Lux Aeterna. Three Fantasies after Hölderlin |
CD |
Both Ligeti and Heppener belong to the generation born in the 1920s which formed the basis for the post-war avant-garde. Lux Aeterna, used by Stanley Kubrick in his film 2001: A Space Odyssey, marked the installation of a new musical language. The later Sonata for solo viola simultaneously evokes the polyphony of the fourteenth century and certain varieties of ethnic music. Im Gestein, a cycle of lieder to poems by Paul Celan which won Heppener the Matthijs Vermeulen Prize in 1993.
This title was released for the first time in 2008.
György Ligeti [1923-2006]
1 Sonata for solo viola (1991-94).1. Hora lungǎ (1994)
Lento rubato (ma ritmico) 6'21
2 Lux aeterna for sixteen-part mixed choir a cappella
Sostenuto, molto calmo “wie aus der Ferne” 9'50
3 Sonata for solo viola. 3. Facsar (1992)
Andante cantabile ed espressivo, with swing 5'52
Drei Phantasien nach Friedrich Hölderlin
4 I. Hälfte des Lebens 3'43
5 II. Wenn aus der Ferne 5'29
6 III. Abendfantasie 3'34
7 Sonata for solo viola. 2. Loop (1991)
Molto vivace, ritmico 2'31
Robert Heppener
Im Gestein (1992)
A cycle of six choral songs on poems by Paul Celan for mixed choir, percussion and string quintet
8 I. Flügelnacht I 5'07
9 II. Die Halde 2'26
10 III. Nacht 5'00
11 IV. Zuversicht 2'01
12 V. Schneebett 3'03
13 VI. Flügelnacht II 4'50
14 Libera me, Domine (Gregorian repertoire) 4'35
www.harmoniamundi.com |
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| LIGHT OF SHIPWRECK |
From the idle Cylinders |
CD-R |
Kraftvoller Guitar-Drone mit wummernder & stampfender Drum-machine und heftigen Gitarren-Loops, ekstatisch, geisterhaft, nicht von dieser Welt... erinnert an NADJA, klingt für unsere Ohren aber zum Teil auch wie eine Metal-Version von RAPOON !
LIGHT OF SHIPWRECK ist das Solo-Projekt von BEN FLEURY-STEINER, der auch hinter PARADIN und dem GEARS OF SAND-Label steckt, eine echte Überrraschung!
"Light Of Shipwreck is a one-man band operated by Ben Fleury-Steiner, a Deleware-based drone artist and owner of the excellent Gears of Sand Recordings imprint, which has released discs from some of our favorite ambient/drone/drift artists including Encomiast, Cordell Klier, and Aidan Baker. It was actually through Aidan Baker that we found out about Ben's Light Of Shipwreck project; knowing that we're fanatics for "heavy ambient" sound, Light Of Shipwreck was recommended as something we should check out. At first expecting something more along the lines of the kind of floating ambient rumble that marks so much of my favorite Baker solo stuff, I was pleasantly surprised by how percussive the tracks I heard online from LOS were, the dense, ominous feedback drones and heavy rumbling ur-riffs floating freely over a mechanistic tribal-rhythm freakout. We ended up getting in touch with Ben from Light Of Shipwreck and it turned out that he had a nearly hour-long disc that he wanted to have released through our Crucial Bliss imprint, and here we are: a three-track full length of rich, crushing power-ambient, titled From The Idle Cylinders, a reference to the American Objectivist poet George Oppen whose work is a consistent influence on Light Of Shipwreck's imagery, with huge slabs of resonant sheet metal shimmering in an ocean of heavenly feedback and reverberating guitar drone, and surges of droning tribal Krautrock percussion floating along with distorted ambient doom powerchords and washed out vocal cord bliss, each track running upwards of 20 minutes in length. A totally breathtaking piece of music, like Steve Reich, Brian Eno, Can, and Earth swirled together into an austere, hypnotizing heavy-trance masterpiece. This limited edition CD-R of From The Idle Cylinders comes packaged in the signature Crucial Bliss foldover card sleeve with the disc itself attached to the sleeve on a plastic hub and featuring striking photo design, in a print run of 200 copies." [label info]
"Haunting super rhythmic industrial soundscapes laced with a propulsive locomotive shuffle of programmed percussion, keening high end and hissing whirs of smeared almost jazziness, looped and cyclical, some sort of disembodied krautrock/spacerock like a more mechanical Necks jamming in a thick cloud of Birchville Cat Motel fug. A groaning creaking percussive framework beneath a sky full of shimmering black clouds.
All three tracks begin all abstract and drifty, the first "I Rode And Am Riding On An Ocean Of Violent Lights", quickly explodes into a fog of jagged edges and swirling squalls of chaotic percussion and overlapping drones, while the second, "I Watched And Am Watching
A Cold Dead Sun Rise Then Explode" coalesces into a serious chunk of glorious Ur-kraut, a simple stripped down rhythm spread out over a
massive expanse of low end whir and phantom drone drift, gorgeous and mesmerizing, with a dark dreamy melody, both ominous and lovely, think a super mellow druggy Circle, or a slightly more noise rock Necks...
The final track begins with subtle Eastern sounding percussion, before giving way to some Fear Falls Burning massive glacial guitar drone, eventually splintering into glimmering harmonics, the rest of the twenty minute track, a tangle of the two, shuffling skittering rhythms wrapped around slow burning solar flare guitar. So good.
As with all Crucial Bliss releases, the packaging is gorgeous, a dvd sized fold over thick cardstock sleeve, full color inside and
out, the cd attached to a plastic hub affixed to the sleeve... and LIMITED TO ONLY 200 COPIES!!" [{Aquarius ]
www.crucialblast.net
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| LIGHTS PEOPLE |
Lights People redefines the Meter |
12inch |
Lights People are: Tobias Kirstein, Toke Tietze Mortensen & Sune TB Nielsen
Recorded live in Studio 4, National Danish Radio 2007 by Sune TB Nielsen.
Mixing by Tobias Kirstein & Sune TB Nielsen.
Levels, ins / outs / ups / downs and general music control by Gæoudjiparl assisted by Guido Zen and Tordis Berstrand
Mastered and cut to vinyl by Lupo & Gæoudjiparl, D&M Berlin 2008
Cover by Leif Elggren
www.fireworkeditionrecords.com
"LIGHTS PEOPLE consist of Sune TB Nielsen, Toke Tietze Mortensen and TR Kirstein. LIGHTS PEOPLE have long worked with the power of the general electricity network which runs through everybody's everyday. They use completely analog electricity creating large explosive bassheavy drone-like random force fields and they often invite a fourth artist to guide and create the sound field through the mixer."
www.lightspeople.net
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| LILES, ANDREW |
In my father's house are many mansions |
CD |
Grossartiges meist surrealistisch-dunkles Material auf dieser ANDREW LILES – Remix Compilation von vielen namhaften v.a. britischen Projekten!
"Various artists remixing, re-ordering, adding and subtracting the recordings of Andrew Liles.
Paul Bradley Journey Remix
Colin Potter All Doors Open
Aaron Moore Auto Manipulator - Trumpet Mix
Jonathan Coleclough Aviophilia
Ruse The Ether Reel Rendered
Band of Pain Apathy in the UK (Blast# 3)
Bass Communion Something to do with Hans Bellmer in a Pub at Last Orders using 15th Century Rural Magic
Aranos Auto Manipulator - Gong Mix
Darren Tate Lite
Irr. App (Ext) Ape Greasing Resonant Curvature Around Antiseptic Orifice
The Hafler Trio Song of the Ergophile
Unsong Te Whare Ao Aitu (Waits In Double Bed)
vidnaObmana 8 O'Clock
Nurse With Wound Soliloquy for Lile(s)th
Freiband Reis"
[label credits]
“...In fact so busy, that his latest CD is a remix project. On this poetically entitled disc (Liles loves his titles) we find a host of well-known Liles-friends such as Paul Bradley, Colin Potter, Jonathan Coleclough, Bass Communion, Aranos, Darren Tate, Irr. App., Hafler Trio, Nurse With Wound, Vidna Obmana and Freiband paying aural tribute to the man. Each of these artists re-work one of Liles tunes with often-impressive results. At times the mixes remain close to the original gentle collages (like the mixes by Bradley or the very recognizable piano theme Potter uses) or more like soundscapes such as the tracks by Coleclough, Tate, Nurse With Wound (a Soliloquy no less) and Bass Communion. Ruse and The Hafler Trio deliver trademark, more abstract versions and Freiband submits, compared to the other tracks, the noisiest piece of them all. It is interesting to note that as much as these tracks are made by individual artists with individual styles, this CD still sounds as a coherent project, which makes for enjoyable listening and is probably why this is released under the name Andrew Liles. Another intriguing and highly enjoyable addition to the already impressive Liles-catalogue.” [FK / Vital Weekly] Address: http://www.adverse-effect.com
|
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
|
My long accumulating Discontent |
CD |
LILES ist Meister im Spinnen surrealer, diskomfortabler Ambient-Atmosphären und deren Verquickung mit menschlichen Stimmen, konkreten Elementen, und irgendwie „nostalgisch“ gefärbten found sounds & Quellen. Fremdartige Dimensionen ala NURSE WITH WOUND sind hier nicht weit, aber auch eine bizarre DAVID LYNCH-artige Stimmung verbreitet sich dadurch... und am Ende ein melancholischer Folk-Song....
‘My Long Accumulating Discontent’ is the fourth and certainly the strangest recording from Andrew Liles. This CD is in places more ‘melodic’ than Liles’ previous output and its 17 tracks cover a wide musical territory. Some songs are short and harmonious, other pieces are longer, subtle and contemplative with drifting delicate drones. In places the CD is truly bizarre and defies all conventions. The album doesn’t fit easily into any definable bracket and we feel this oddity belongs in a class all of its own. Traditional English vernacular culture connoisseur Andrew King joins Andrew Liles for one track and Aaron Moore and Nick Mott of Volcano the Bear contribute to several other songs. ‘My Long Accumulating Discontent’ is a distinct and peculiar excursion from the norm.” [press release]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Somnambulance to Dream General |
CD |
Bevor Mr. LILES v.a. durch die Beteiligung an NURSE WITH WOUND einem grösseren Hörerkreis bekannt wurde, werkelte er jahrelang recht versteckt an seiner bizarr-surrealistischen Soundwelt herum, hier bestehend aus Synth-Drones & sperrigen Elektronoises, Pianosequenzen, Sprachmaterial, traditionelles englischsprachiges Gesangsmaterial (wie Kinderlieder und Abzählreime, die ein nostalgisches Flair verbreiten), melanchronische Instrumentalquellen, wirre found sounds und Versatzstücke aus Jazz, etc. etc.
SOMNAMBULANCE ist eine Neubearbeitung einer CDR-Compilation mit frühem Material - gleich 21 Stücke fanden den Weg auf dieses äusserst kurzweilige Album, schwankend zwischen Düsternis und anregender Exzentrizität. Als Einstieg in LILES recht einzigartige, verschrobene Klangwelt wohl ideal !!
"Somnambulance" is a reworking of an album of odd and obscure tracks that was released in a microscopic edition on CD-R before. For this CD, Mr. Liles has provided his funniest and possibly most controversial artwork as of yet. You get an hour of music of many different styles: Andrew Liles' trademark of eerie and spooky sounds is there; also electronics and a whole range of instruments are placed in between sketches and longer tracks. And if all this weren't enough, you get three bonus tracks that didn't appear on the CDR at all. After a long line of collaborations, finally a new album by Current 93 and Nurse With Wound man Liles himself!" [label info]
www.klanggalerie.com
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Miscellany Deluxe |
do-LP |
Kollektion alter und ältester Aufnahmen des exzentrischen Briten! Dies ist die "einfache" Version im Gatefold-Cover.
"Much of the music included in this set is exclusive to this vinyl version of ‘Miscellany’. Andrew Liles has compiled a comprehensive anthology including as much varied, interesting and unreleased material as possible. He spent many an afternoon sifting through piles of cassettes seeking the oldest and arguably most definitive pieces of music from literally hundreds of hours of tape.
The earliest recordings on these discs date back to 1984. ‘Find a New Husband’ was made on Liles' fathers very cheap Amstrad tape-to-tape system. The tape machine ceased to work properly shortly thereafter. This track was the result or many hours of rewinding and re-playing and re-recording, and thus began Liles fascination, obsession and addiction with tape-manipulation, sound FX and recording techniques.
Listening back to some of these works reminds us of the archaic and laborious fashion in which music used to be created and assembled. In hindsight the merits of working with tape compared to digital technologies seem to be the random nature of what would happen. Tape bleed, mishaps, the low-fi quality and errors seemed to give unique and often unpredictable results. Many of Andrew Liles' early experimentations and accidental consequences are included in this collection.
Also included are selections from his two self-released cassettes under the name Lividity. The Lividity tapes were given away to friends and sent as demos to assorted labels. Some 20 years later it is very doubtful that any of them exist other the two remaining copies Andrew Liles has kept tucked away in some forgotten corner." [label info]
www.vinyl-on-demand.com
|
2009 |
€21.50 |
|
|
Miscellany Deluxe (Box Edition) |
3 x LP-Box & T-Shirt |
Limitierte Box-Version - neben der auch einzeln erhältlichen do-LP gibt es noch eine weitere LP mit weiterem Material so wie ein synapsenkillendes ROSAfarbenes T-Shirt, alles in einer silbernen Box!
"Much of the music included in this set is exclusive to this vinyl version of ‘Miscellany’. Andrew Liles has compiled a comprehensive anthology including as much varied, interesting and unreleased material as possible. He spent many an afternoon sifting through piles of cassettes seeking the oldest and arguably most definitive pieces of music from literally hundreds of hours of tape.
The earliest recordings on these discs date back to 1984. ‘Find a New Husband’ was made on Liles' fathers very cheap Amstrad tape-to-tape system. The tape machine ceased to work properly shortly thereafter. This track was the result or many hours of rewinding and re-playing and re-recording, and thus began Liles fascination, obsession and addiction with tape-manipulation, sound FX and recording techniques.
Listening back to some of these works reminds us of the archaic and laborious fashion in which music used to be created and assembled. In hindsight the merits of working with tape compared to digital technologies seem to be the random nature of what would happen. Tape bleed, mishaps, the low-fi quality and errors seemed to give unique and often unpredictable results. Many of Andrew Liles' early experimentations and accidental consequences are included in this collection.
Also included are selections from his two self-released cassettes under the name Lividity. The Lividity tapes were given away to friends and sent as demos to assorted labels. Some 20 years later it is very doubtful that any of them exist other the two remaining copies Andrew Liles has kept tucked away in some forgotten corner." [label info]
www.vinyl-on-demand.com
|
2009 |
€60.00 |
|
|
Anal Aura Gram |
LP + 7inch |
Wiederveröffentlichung einer raren CDR (Bonus zur Aural Anagram CD) von 2003, plus 7" mit Remixen von STEVE SEVERIN! 300 Stück im edlen, massiven Cover. Soon to be rare!
"An edition of 300 copies on 180 gram blue vinyl and packaged in a custom made book bound sleeve. Available late August 2009 (delayed from original release date due to nefarious pressing plant.) Anal Aura Gram” is a vinyl version of the long deleted CDR that came in limited quantities with the 2003 album “Aural Anagram” and also features a bonus 7" disc of two remixes by Steven Severin (Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Glove). How many lives would be saved if every one had an Anal Aura Gram? Andrew does offer a sort of audio high-colonic by flushing unwanted polyps with his unpredictable attacks and decays. Liles has developed a compositional technique that makes individual sonic shifts as compelling as the music itself. The tones arise from submarine-crushing depths into the tails of comets, except when they are suddenly transported into the gut of a mountain. Or into the strangely populated belly of a whale. Harmonicas within crystals within faerie fyre? Inside every out-worldly dream-drone is a debris field of small, lovingly constructed noise stabs which strike like matches or coil like cobras. Fizzling, sighing, groaning under-carriage sounds ping and rattle in and out like the quiet clamour of an old house, next to an old church, built on an ancient Indian burial brothel. It is like listening to a hologram of a black hole devouring radio signals. Finally, time to get Anal!" [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2009 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Ouarda (The subtle Art of...) |
CD / DVD |
"We are pleased to announce for the first time on a digital format the release of a dual disc expanded edition of the critically acclaimed LP 'Ouarda (The Subtle Art of Phyllorhodomancy)'. 'Ouarda' features contributions from amongst others Danielle Dax, Rose McDowall and Edward Ka-Spel.Side One of this disc is an audio CD including an extra track and slightly remixed version of the LP. Side Two of the disc is a DVD which includes - A film by Michael Tang with musical adaptations by Colin Potter, Old Tom's Marrow - A film by Andrew Liles and three amazing 5.1 mixes by Freida Abtan. Packaged in a beautiful Super Jewel Box with a full colour 8 page booklet with stunning Liles artwork." [label info]
www.dirter.co.uk
|
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
|
As if Punk Rock never happened / Pretty vague cunt |
pic-7" |
"As If Punk Rock Never Happened is a 7" picture disc that is Andrew Liles' contribution to International Record Store Day. The disc also doubles as a cynical "commemorative" item for the Royal Wedding on April 29, 2011. Get it for your grandmother in your local record shop... she will love the B-side "Pretty Vague Cunt." [label info]
www.dirter.co.uk
|
2011 |
€11.50 |
|
|
Muldjewangk, Morgawr & other Monsters |
CD |
"Andrew Liles is an incredibly prolific musician working in the same vein as artists like Nurse With Wound and The Hafler Trio, releasing his oblique, idiosyncratic Surrealist sound compositions at a terrific rate to a fanbase who must have a good deal of disposable income. This disc is part of a larger collection of “Monster” themed works by Liles, from more music to wristbands, shirts, guitar picks and so on. This ‘brand’ seems to be presented with a certain sense of humour and a bit of a nod and a wink.
The bestiary to hand on this disc is a curious one, and we scuttle sidelong into it with the excellent digeridoo-drenched tribal oddness of ‘Swamp Thing’, which is surrounded by two more free-form pieces comprising creepy spoken-word stories, children singing and so on. In fact the longer you delve into ‘Muldjewangk, Morgawr & Other Monsters’, the more this becomes an obvious underpinning stylistic theme, the spoken word elements in a dozen languages (all real? I can’t tell) and spooky chanting/singing in children’s voices crops up repeatedly throughout.
Following the slightly helter-skelter opening sequence, things take a murky turn into the spaced-out and strange. ‘Pine Cold Emerald Lights’ is morose and Slavic – lamenting violins lurch around under a male voice imparting something Cyrillic. But then we’re led to meet the monster, more children’s voices intoning ‘followfollowfollow’ over and over, and we’re deep in the jungle.
More and more twists and turns follow, clattering, off kilter drums, sonorous tones and more half-heard narrations, a terrifying diversion into drum & bass, intonations and incantations. It’s all grist to the Andrew Liles mill, a genuine feeling of a confused stagger through a cryptozoological safari park while feeling like it’s all done with a sly grin. Also worth noting is the seeming lack or concealment of overtly electronic sounds or techniques, other than effects. This gives a really organic, earthy feeling, the twists and turns in the composition feeling like a natural shift. The one point where electronics show up – the queasy breakbeat section in ‘Gin Tumbler Landfill’ – it comes in like a radio being tuned to that accidentally and then is abruptly interrupted with a sudden shift to violin and piano, as if switched off in disgust.
I don’t really know much of Andrew Liles’ work away from his collaborations with NWW and Current 93 so this was an interesting listen for me, imagining the crossovers and identifying the stylistic differences. He’s definitely a point on that post-industrial Surrealist continuum, and long may he remain so." [label info]
www.touretterecords.com
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Black Widow |
CD |
Part four in the VORTEX VAULT-series, embrace thee Ominous!
"This is the fourth release in a total of 12 CDs in the Black Series by Liles, current member of Nurse With Wound and general magic man. Like the previous CDs in this series, Liles uses more and more vocals in his music, which complement his music wonderfully. On this disc famous actor/singer Ernesto Tomasini (who also appeared on Crowded Skies on the BBC television) adds narration and sings. There is even narration in Urdu (by Dr. Malik). Starting off with the thumbpiano of To Maim A Donkey we are sucked into the surrealist world of Liles, where things are never quite what they seem. Strange samples and dark sounds creep in and out and are laced with a unique sense of humur (as in A Hippo Took An Apricot). Before you know it, you're humming along to The cod-James Bond theme And God Doesn't Fuck About, before you realize it's just a little off-beat (and definitely off-set!). The best issue of the Black Series so far, this CD is highly recommended." [FK / Vital Weekly]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2007 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
It's only Pain |
LP |
"It's Only Pain is Liles' first 'general' release since 2018. All the lyrics used on the album were written by Liles' father, Michael Liles. They were discovered when clearing out his spare room after his death in 2017. The poetry was written sometime in the late 70's and has been given a life here. As with most Liles releases this recording covers a lot of styles, from heavy rock to psychedelia, and even a track that wouldn't be out of place in a West End musical. It is a compelling album full of unlikely twists and turns, a unique homage to his dead father's memory and words. Contributions come from Karin Park, Faust's Jean Hervé Peron, ex Mayhem frontman Maniac and Mared Lenny (the critically acclaimed Welsh singer known as Swci Boscawen). This album is issued in two sleeve designs, here are also various different vinyl colours, these will issued randomly, the edition is limited to just 250 copies."
"Andrew Liles, an important post-millennial part of the Nurse With Wound/Current 93 ‘family’, releases music at a fairly breathtaking rate, yet It’s Only Pain is described by label Dirter as his first “general release” since 2018. Never mind the taxonomy, clock the concept: all the LP’s lyrics were written by Liles’ father in the 1970s, discovered after his death, and are interpreted – often translated from English – by multiple guest vocalists. Many are already in the musician’s collaborative orbit, some are more surprising. My recollections of Mared Lenny’s late-00s music (frankly pedestrian Welsh language indiepop under the name Swci Boscawen) did not mark her as someone with a future appearing on NWW solo projects, yet here she is on opening song ‘Skid-Row Schizoid’, narrating bilingually over a song that’s a bit like if Van Der Graaf Generator had been an influence on Fourth World music.
Liles’ taste for dramatic arrangements can border on kitsch but more often charms. Karin Park, synthpop soloist and Årabrot member, leans into her roles with terrific relish, initially reading over sawing strings and clanging piano on ‘A Thousand Minds’ before adopting an operatic register for ‘Beyond The Cosmos’ and ‘Humanist’. Faust’s Jean-Hervé Peron hams it up spiritedly over ‘Down The One Side’s stern gothic folk and ‘Bywyd Llonydd’ revels in its diverse guestlist: Matt Davies, owner of a Welsh record store and a fine ‘dramatic reading’ type voice; Maniac, ex of black metal originators Mayhem; and Awen Schiavone, author of a children’s book about a penguin named Pedro." [Noel Gardner / The Quietus]
|
2021 |
€30.00 |
|
| LILES, ANDREW & DANIEL MENCHE |
The Progeny of Flies. Tres Muscae Consummunt Cadaver Equi Aeque Cito Ac Leo |
CD |
Untertitel: "TRES MUSCAE CONSUMMUNT CADAVER EQUI AEQUE CITO AC LEO" - "Die Nachkommen dreier Fliegen können ein totes Pferd schneller konsumieren als ein Löwe". Was das Label hier aufgeregt und ziemlich passend "brutal kosmisch" tituliert, entpuppt sich als eine dicke Drone-Suppe mit (wahrscheinlich) LILESschen Synth- und Piano-Sprengseln, man kann sich kaum auf diese nebligen Sounds konzentrieren, immer wieder wird das Bewusstsein eingelullt und quasi ausgeschaltet... vier lange Stücke. Minimal, dronig, und wie immer bei LILES mit einem dunklen surrealistischen Flair...
"Ed. of 500 copies in a book bound CD case.. Kold Krush Groove, y’all. Literally! Individually Liles and Menche have torn the experimental world many new ones, but as a unit they achieve a critical mass so monumental that they deserve their own Hollywood-style canoodling name. That name: Linch-Me-Eels. The graceful ferocity that oozes out within the first few seconds is such that…well, let’s just say that if you called friends and told them you were on the moon, they would believe you. A vicious, celestial-cathedral rumble gapes its maw and spews forth into a sluggish river of electro-magma, reshaping landscapes once carved out by Cremaster Cycles and the gravitational forces of the planet Solaris. While Menche’s test-tones defying low-end slowly compresses the woofers into diamond earrings, an emerging theme for tack piano cautiously stabs at the din. And just before cowboy-robot-gone-mad Yul Brynner shows up to kill all humans, the piano slinks away to make room for the buzzing progeny of the flies, whose crescendo of wing-beats quietly, subtly rises and rises the swarm to Jupiter and beyond the infinite. After multiple listens a Xen(akis)–like state is realized and there should be a giant Star Fly-Child in your living room. Brutally cosmic!!!" [label info]
"I have been a fan of the works of Mr. Liles and Mr. Menche for a while now, so this CD of their first ever collaboration is most welcome. And it looks great; packed in a hard carton slightly oversized CD sleeve with typical Liles-artwork. The 65+ minutes that form The progeny Of Flies are divided into 4 parts. Opener Eggs (signifying the first stage of the fly life cycle) features the now typical Liles-sounds augmented by Menche's higher and harsher frequencies. In one word beautiful. The second track 1st To 3rd Instar features low frequency pulses before subtle piano chords (and reverbed pedals) set in. Again full marks to Liles and Menche. "Pupar" (the third track) starts off with a horse's neigh. After that surprising intro we're in a world filled with bass tones with plucked strings and percussive elements. Closing track Metamorphoses (to end the fly theme) features a low, almost prehistoric growl and Menche's more noisy elements which builds up to a climax. The track ends with piano and the buzzing sound of a fly. This CD, subtitled "tres muscae conummunt cadaver equi aeque cito ac leo", which loosely and very cryptically translates into "three muscular complete corpses indeed quick justice and lion" is a gorgeous piece of work; beautiful, restrained and highly recommended!" [FK / Vital Weekly]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| LILES, ANDREW & JEAN-HERVE PERON |
Fini! |
CD |
"Introducing the debut collaborative release from sometime Nurse With Wound/Current 93 member, Andrew Liles and Jean Hervé Peron of Faust. Neither of these artists needs any introduction and all expectations are overtaken with this incredible album. Here is something that sounds like both a Krautrock album and also like nothing else you can imagine. Its twists and turns keep surprising and thrilling you several listens on from the first. The words "classic" and "masterpiece" would not be out of place here. Both Faust and NWW are touring all over the world in 2008, and the profile for both of these legendary acts has never been higher. This release is packaged in a gloss-laminated digipack, with beautiful artwork by Liles." [label info]
"When mayhem artists like Nurse With Wound 's Andrew Liles and Faust 's Jean-Hervé Peron conspire, the result might be described as acousmaniac. Fini! is an arsenal of fun that comes on like a vibra-gun blast to the pineal gland. The glorious studio tomfuckery of "The Drummer is on Valium," Fini!'s opening cut, let's us know in no uncertain terms that Krautrock hasn't stopped mutating after all these decades, nor has it been successfully recycled by the archons of mainstream airwaves. That's one thing that makes Fini! delightful. It comes on like an artifact from an alien culture excavated by reanimated Dadaists from five feet of moon-dust. Touch not the obelisk lest centuries of Germanic gnosis light up your central nervous system like Meister Eckhart's pinball machine. This wanton little orgone-grinder is enhanced with blasts of blago-bung plus multi-lingual spoken word. "Congo Bongo La La La," coming in shy of two minutes, stands out with brilliant eccentricity, teasing us with a slow build up of La La La before the Congo Bongo briefly shakes the bachelor tree house until it disgorges all the monkeys. While most cuts are incredibly brief, leaving the listener a little hungry for more, much more, and seeming to be the disc's connective tissue, "Shake Your Hooves" rises up like a delirious five-minute ethno-pagan evocation of Pan.
A sweet release like this demands its own context, maybe a dainty tea-party of genteel aristocrats at which you, stripped naked with cabalistic signs emblazoned on your shaved body, spin Fini! at maximum ear-bleeding intensity before setting fire to the curtains and riding off on a white ass. You can claim that you did this at the behest of "It's Too Loud," which sounds like it was recorded on a Messerschmitt. If this impromptu circus doesn't result in the New Aeon of Amon Düül IV, all is lost. Out of this world!" [Steve Aydt / Weirdomusic.com]
|
2008 |
€14.50 |
|
| LILES, ANDREW & WANDER |
Astronomical Entomologist |
pic-7inch |
Ein gar seltsames Sammerstück hat BETA LACTAM da aufgelegt (wir haben nichts anderes erwartet): Krautige Sequenzer-Kosmos-Analog-Elektronik von WANDER auf der einen, die Dekonstruktion desselben mit Drumbox & Gitarren auf der anderen. LILES ist einfach ein Schelm!
Nummerierte, irgendwie auch gesignte Auflage mit “original art insert” von nur 150 Stück!
“Wander does not another introduction here of course. But this 7" may need scrutiny: not the usual drone music, but a synthesizer sequence to which other synths have been added. Strangely reminiscent of seventies german synth gods like Tangerine Dream and others really. And quite funny. The other side seems to be a collaboration with Andrew Liles, I am guessing he is playing along with the Wander recording. And this is even more fun: the synth sequence is overruled by a drum computer beat to which guitars are added in several, mostly rhythmical ways. Reminiscent of early eighties punk/rock like nothing I have heard before. Very refreshing this little disc!” [MR / Vital Weekly]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
| LILES, ANDREW AND KENJI SIRATORI |
Black Paper |
CD |
Erster Teil der wahnwitzigen VORTEX VAULT-Serie, 12 CDs aus ANDREW LILES Archiv, aber auch neues Material wird präsentiert.
Das ganze wiederum in der Beta-Lactam BLACK SERIES, die mit einheitlichen überformatigen schwarze Edel-Cover zu beglücken vermag. BLACK PAPER heisst also der erste Teil, wo LILES mit dem selbsternannten japanischen CYBER-Poeten KENJI SIRATORI kollab(or)iert, der wie's scheint zur Zeit mit jedem in der Experimental-Szene ansässigen Werktätigen eine Zusammenarbeit anstrebt. So hört man hier SIRATORIS Cyber-Gedichte (auf japanisch; auf englisch übersetzt wären übrigens genauso unverständlich - denn er scheint ein spätes Kind der Cut-Up Technik zu sein). Als wäre das nicht schon genug irrlichternder & funkelnder Wahnwitz, so zeigt sich auch LILES in Bestform, wenn er mit Synthklavier und Xylophon und durchdringenden Analog-Noises (=?) bewaffnet die letzten möglicherweise noch vorhandenen Reste gutgläubiger Erwartungshaltung des Hörers vernichtet, hier in irgendeiner Weise 'verstehbare" Musik hören zu dürfen. Genau darin aber, geneigter DRone Records-Kunde, liegt vielleicht die Genialität dieses Albums. Wir können das aber gerade nicht entscheiden und vertagen die Diskussion auf unbestimmte Zeit...
"Black Series 1 - Ed. of 300 numbered and signed copies. 'The Vortex Vault' will be in part a collection of unreleased, unearthed and dusted down material from the vast Andrew Liles archive of unused studio material. 'The Vortex Vault' will also include brand new recordings, conceptual and collaborative pieces, special guests, kraut rock psyche outs, space rock, the odd and unlikely, Norwegian, the obscure and arcane, aircraft, cicadas, the absurd and nonsensical. 'The Vortex Vault' is a platform to release radically different and eclectic material. Expect the unexpected, the minimalist and excessive, the demure and deranged." [label info]
"andrew liles, from the uk, is an experimental sound artist with a pretty diverse output. i'm only familiar with a few of his releases, but they ranged from sound art, to ambient soundscapes, drone, experimental electronics and the occasional foray into noisier directions. some good points of reference, as far as his ambient and drone works are concerned, would be andrew chalk and vidna obmana, two artists he's also happened to work with. kenji siratori is a japanese cyberpunk author who's had a hell of an outpouring of non-paper releases last year. this is mostly because he pimped himself out by "writing to as many industrial, ambient, ebm and goth bands he could find, including "reviews" of them in his idiosyncratic style, and asking to collaborate. (this) scattergun approach proved successful, despite his reviews of non-sequitirs and non-sensical cyberspeak being interchangeable" [discogs.com]. after all was said and done he'd put out fifteen total albums, including three that are on net labels and are availiable to download for free at smell the stench and dystonia. the bulk of them have been in the form of collaborations, most notably with gx jupitter-larsen (the haters), torturing nurse and henrik nordvargr björkk (hh9, folkstorm, mz.412, et al.). i would be surprised if that last one is anything short of amazing. i...must...stop...buying...things... black paper opens up with barometer ii, a beautifully haunting piano piece by liles, which siratori soon begins speaking over. his words are all spoken in japanese. emphasis on spoken. this could be poetry or god knows what, but it sounds great. he's got this gruff sounding voice that immediately made me think of splinter's voice from the teenage mutant ninja turtles movies. i love it. there's some great layering of his vocals near the end, too. vtr is one of the least musical (most experimental) cuts on here. there's a whole mess of noises, electronic bleeps and textures from andrew, and kenji's vocals are affected, in parts, and panned all over. it easily has the most overall stuff going on at once, but it works well, due partly to how andrew progresses it. if that was the album's exercise in maximalism (i think i just made that word up), the title piece is its most rhythmic. half of this piece features with some very catchy xylophone (i'm guessing) playing, the rest focuses on kenji's vocals, manipulated the most here. one of my favorite parts is where its just him with no music, and there's also his sped up vocals shooting back and forth between the speakers. jaguar is black paper's absolute highlight. over liles' sparse backdrop there's a vocal track in the left speaker, a different one in the right, a repetitious one in the center and then another, different track in the center. it's completely hypnotic, wonderful and memorable. then when that piano comes in towards the end, jaguar achieves total brilliance. it all strikes me as being rather noir, while maintaining an underlying sense of beauty. the next two tracks mainly feature andrew doing some nice, slightly stark, experimental electronic work. the closer, barometer iii is vocal less and revises the pianos from barometer ii, but adds some terrific electronic noises over it. there's actually two separate collaborations by kenji siratori with the title black paper, the other is with tardive dyskinesia. that may cause a bit of confusion, but this one is only available from andrew liles' website or beta-lactam ring. it's part of andrew's 12 cd set, the vortex vault, limited to only 300 copies. once those 300 are gone, that's it. no reissues. i think if you get one from andrew it will be signed by him. i'd also recommend his collaboration with gx. while it's not as memorable as this one here, there's some mighty fine noise by him, and who doesn't like mighty fine noise? after hearing all of this from kenji i've definitely become interested in his literary work...at the very least it should be interesting. smooth sailing review " [unknown writer, taken from the Beta-Lactam website]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2006 |
€16.00 |
|
| LILITH |
Orgazio |
CD |
SCOTT GIBBONS
Since he started doing performance in 1988 with the New Elementals in Dallas, Texas, SCOTT GIBBONS has written several soundtracks, dance pieces and sound installations for art galleries. He took a double major in Philosophy and Religious studies and a AM in History of Religions. His field is music as it relates to the religious experience and (in this context) contributed to altereted states of consciousness. SCOTT GIBBONS concentrates his musical activities to LILITH at the “Disciple Divinity House of the University of Chicago”. He became since a few years a reference to all the english Dark Ambiant Scene.
ALEISTER CROWLEY (1875-1947)
LILITH second album is inspired by an organisation of the English writer and black mage Aleister Crowley (right). Before World War II this highly ambiguous caracter infiltred the Golden Dawn of the Outside sect, which ranked Nobel Prize winner W.B. Yeats and the creator of Dracula, Bram Stocker among its members. After he had dissolved this sect, Crowley went on to found his own: Astrum Argentum; he organized orgiatic rituals (which in Italy will lead to the death of one person; Crowley is subsequently banished from the country). He goes by the names THE BEAST or 666, and writes “Magic in Theory and Practice” among other books. When world war II is declared, he suggest a sure means to victory to Churchill.
MAGIC FORMULAS + COSMIC RECORDINGS
ORGAZIO combines structures taken from Crowley ‘s magic formulas with his own voice (rare documents); it also use real cosmic recordings (courtesy of the Adler Planetarium of Chicago). Some of these sounds appear on the limit of audibility; other create an eerie phenomenon of “disconnection”.
[label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
1994 |
€13.00 |
|
| LILJEDAHL, JONATAN & DANIEL KARLSSON |
Even while the Earth sleeps we travel beneath frozen Rivers |
CD |
"Something a like, a collaboration and solo pieces, comes by Jonatan Liljendahl and Daniel Karlsson, except that they have only one solo piece each and six collaborative pieces. These two (both are unknown to me) operate from a more electronic end of the musical spectrum, with a love for the more harsher aspects of sound. There is the analogue studio of EMS, located below Fylkingen, in which music like this can be taped off the old Bucla and Serge modular synths, which seems to be at the source of this recording. Perhaps treated a bit, to make small loops which interact with eachother. White and pink noise battle, rough edged drone music and other sound effects have been used to make music that is quite harsh, in a noise sense, but luckily enough also knows quieter moments and throughout has the idea of things being 'composed' rather than thrown together as would be a more common noise practice." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
www.fylkingen.se
|
2008 |
€12.50 |
|
| LILJEKVIST, JAN |
Dr. Jayne Insane & the gutbucket Philharmonicks |
CD |
strange strange strange music by this Swedish composer ...
“...is the latest project by the composer Jan Liljekvist. Born in Stockholm (Sweden) in 1962. Started out learning to play woodwind instruments (flute, clarinet, saxophone) at an early age. Continued with percussion, guitar, violin and viola. Played in big bands, chamber and symphony orchestras, composed theatre and film music. Has been touring in Europe, singing and playing the guitar in THE SHOUTLESS. Collaborates with the artist and painter Sten Backman in freeform group PLANLOS IRR plus in electro/improvisation project BUGMAN. Does session work playing the violin on death metal records (MÅNEGARM, MORTIFER). Has been working as the musical director of a theatre company and touring with the group TVÅ FISK OCH EN FLÄSK, (hem.passagen.se/tvafisk/), playing Swedish medieval folkmusic. Studied electro acoustic composition with Lars-Gunnar Bodin, Rolf Enström, Anders Blomkvist and Erik-Mikael Karlsson at the EMS Studio in Stockholm. The music on the record consists of pieces composed and performed during recent years.” [label info]
|
2003 |
€14.00 |
|
| LILLY JOEL |
What lies in the Sea |
CD |
" 'What Lies In The Sea' is the fruit of a ten year collaboration between singer Lynn Cassiers and keyboardist Jozef Dumoulin, and is the first release for their duo Lilly Joel. Both musicians are free spirits and true, much-lauded innovators in their respective fields.
Belgian singer Lynn Cassiers is as much a singer as she can be called a sound sculptor, using her voice, microphone, and electronics to create soundscapes.
Pianist Jozef Dumoulin (Belgium) redefined the Fender Rhodes keyboard through a scope that is at the same time fully contemporary, eclectic and highly personal.
This recording marks a milestone on their path as a band and crystalizes a moment in a universe that was carefully shaped and daringly explored. The music is straightforward, fresh and original - the focus never being the attempt to be part of some distinct genre, but only to be honest towards one's own place in a ever changing world. There are reminiscences of experimental music, jazz, rock, electro, pop, traditional music and contemporary classical music, which is totally normal considered who's at work here. Anyhow, all those influences are fully digested and serve as countless small bricks that are used to make a new big image, that stands on it own and can be watched as such.
Lynn Cassiers
Quoted to be 'one of the most remarkable voices of our improvisation scene' (enola), Lynn Cassiers' universe is one that covers a wide diversity of styles. Lynn is recognizable by her songlike approach in contexts that can range from noise over ambient to free jazz. She's part of impro-rock band Tape Cuts Tape on the sides of ex-deus guitarist Rudy Trouvé and improv-jazz drummer Eric Thielemans, and also performs with her solo project 'The Bird, the Fis and the Ball'. Besides writing music for theatre and her various collaborations with great artists and ensembles such as Marshall Allen, Octurn and The Brussels Jazz Orchestra, she is a steady member in different bands on the actual music scene of Western Europe.
Jozef Dumoulin
Known for his open and luminous approach to the piano and to music in general, always anchored in tradition without being burdened by it. Besides the Fender Rhodes solo, his own projects include The Red Hill Orchestra (a trio with Ellery Eskelin and Dan Weiss) and a duo with Benoît Delbecq. Highly-demanded as a sideman, Jozef Dumoulin has recorded and toured with the finest of musicians in the domain of jazz, improvised music, rock and traditional music. He currently lives in Paris." [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| LINDHOLM, GRETA |
Rhythm Voice |
LP |
"Greta Lindholm is an absolutely unique personality in the contemporary dance scene. She toured in India, Mexico, Japan, Scandinavia, Italy and France, during the ’70 and ’80 making known her synthetic and experimental approach in the choreographic field. Her art explores new boundaries and is essentially pure celebration of the body language and voice in its intimate relationship with the fluidity of movement. Using mainly foot drumming and vocal rhythms, she makes her body the only instrument of continuous exploration, halfway between traditional songs and rhythmic-gestural improvisation. Greta seems to treasure different vocal cultures and give them an avant-garde reinterpretation: from Scandinavian folklore to jazz scat singing, from baroque arias to the African Pygmy. Particular influence is given by the metric-vocal spelling of Karnatic and Hindustan music. All these differents suggestions serve to reinforce and accompany her plastic movements. Greta’s performances are studded with imaginary phonemes, onematopeic patterns, rhythmic phrasing, phonetic articulations, breathing, spiral structures, frenetic drifts, clap handings or feet like timpani or snare drums. In this way her dance becomes “silent music” and can have analogies with other noteworthy vocal explorations, such as those of Meredith Monk. For the first time an audio document is a available on LP and CD, a co-production with our beloved friend: Sing a Song Fighter."
https://blacksweat.bandcamp.com/album/rhythm-voice
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| LINDHOLM, OTTO / JEAN D.L. |
Apophenia |
MC |
“Apophenia” is the first duo release by Jean D.L. and Otto Lindholm and we are very happy to welcome both musicians in our label family. The album was recorded during three night sessions at Lindholm´s studio, after both musicians met at a Gizeh Records label night in Belgium, curated by our friend and label associate Richard Knox.
“Apophenia” is the raw and powerful result of those nightly studio sessions. The duo creates dark soundscapes and drone moments. It´s not continuously obvious which sounds are created by guitar or double bass, because the musicians push each other into fascinating sound dimensions. So the album title is a very fitting description for the sounds you will hear.
Limited to 50 cocoa brown tapes, housed in natural brown o-cards
https://midirarecords.bandcamp.com/album/apophenia
|
2021 |
€9.00 |
|
| LINGUA FUNGI |
Azure Beyond |
MC-BOX |
"In addition we are glad to release another unearthed ep Azure Beyond by Lingua Fungi. This ep was recorded originally in 2011 and is now released through our Underworld Editions.
It offers a glimpse into a more tranquil and minimalistic facet of Lingua Fungi. Two-piece composition performed with zither, harmonium and bells, 'Azure Beyond' is a slowly evolving and organic drone painting of the mind and matter diminishing in to a single point in an azure infinity - a gravitational collapse in an ever-expanding vastness.
The cassette is housed inside oversized, silk-screen printed cardboard covers including five insert cards and a pack of incense (15g) created especially for this release by Mount Hypnox. Limited to 133 copies" [label info]
www.auralhypnox.com
|
2014 |
€12.50 |
|
| LINIJA MASS |
Trud |
CD |
"Der Angriff is proud to present the reissue of all three early albums from the famous russian old-school analogue industrial noise project by Alexander Lebedev-Frontov (also involved in Stalnoy Pakt and Vetrophonia). Having been previously available only on tapes and long deleted vinyl, those records now are the ones of the most sought after collectibles of russian industrial culture heritage. Each CD is packed into the cardboard black&white package with a poster, which is different to each album. "Trud" (1997) has an exclusive previously unreleased bonus track, "Proletkult" (1999) has a track which has been missed on vinyl edition and appeared only on a tape and CDR, and "Mekano-Faktura" (1999) offers as bonus a track from a rare 7". All the sound material have been remastered from the original source tapes. Each title is limited to 400 copies only. A must for all fans of pure and true industrial art!" [label info] |
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Mechano-Faktura |
CD |
"Der Angriff is proud to present the reissue of all three early albums from the famous russian old-school analogue industrial noise project by Alexander Lebedev-Frontov (also involved in Stalnoy Pakt and Vetrophonia). Having been previously available only on tapes and long deleted vinyl, those records now are the ones of the most sought after collectibles of russian industrial culture heritage. Each CD is packed into the cardboard black&white package with a poster, which is different to each album. "Trud" (1997) has an exclusive previously unreleased bonus track, "Proletkult" (1999) has a track which has been missed on vinyl edition and appeared only on a tape and CDR, and "Mekano-Faktura" (1999) offers as bonus a track from a rare 7". All the sound material have been remastered from the original source tapes. Each title is limited to 400 copies only. A must for all fans of pure and true industrial art!" [label info]
"Great 'mechanical industrial' from St. Petersburg. Real metallic machine-sounds mixed with russian voices. Retro-Futurism at its best!" [original Drone Rec. info, about "Mechano-Faktura"] |
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Proletkult |
CD |
"Der Angriff is proud to present the reissue of all three early albums from the famous russian old-school analogue industrial noise project by Alexander Lebedev-Frontov (also involved in Stalnoy Pakt and Vetrophonia). Having been previously available only on tapes and long deleted vinyl, those records now are the ones of the most sought after collectibles of russian industrial culture heritage. Each CD is packed into the cardboard black&white package with a poster, which is different to each album. "Trud" (1997) has an exclusive previously unreleased bonus track, "Proletkult" (1999) has a track which has been missed on vinyl edition and appeared only on a tape and CDR, and "Mekano-Faktura" (1999) offers as bonus a track from a rare 7". All the sound material have been remastered from the original source tapes. Each title is limited to 400 copies only. A must for all fans of pure and true industrial art!" [label info] |
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| LIQUID SPHERE |
Hypocracy |
mCD-R |
Hervorragende Ambient-Sphären, die sich ins Noisige steigern.. neuer release vom französischen Äther-Noise Projekt !
“French project which has already released some CDs and CD-Rs ("skulls and bones" on Shambala or the self-produced "gizya"), Liquid Sphere here proposes us four pure droney dark-ambient pieces, long tracks that require an attentive listening or you could lose their continual variations. "hypocracy" can be compared to the best Main, Lull or even Aube words. To discover !” [press release]
|
2002 |
€5.00 |
|
| LISA CARBON |
Trio de Janeiro |
LP |
Twisted programmings, a unique humour and futuristic improvisations are some of the characteristics of Lisa Carbon's sound, which has been copied by many throughout the years.
Partly recorded in San José (Costa Rica), Lisa's hometown, 'Trio de Janeiro' was then mainly completed under the guidance of her long time companion Atom TM in his Frankfurt studio.
When the first Lisa Carbon recording was released back in 1992 (the Lisa carbon trio: opto freestyle swing, 12", pod communication), the german magazine "frontpage" gave it one star (out of 6) and declared it "not music." magazines come and go, but Lisa is still here. the music was controversial, and while for some it was the most unhip thing to listen to, for others it was an enlightenment. much has happened since then and Lisa Carbon ignored styles and trends, and instead created them. in 1995, musical fashion caught up with her. Her music, once declared unmusical, had become the hype to follow when UK's "Rephlex" released her second album "Polyester" after a two year delay. Lisa's sound was still fresh, so fresh in fact that it was even emulated by those who used to be trendy in 1992. but Lisa grew tired of the unprofessionalism in the music business, and so joined producer Atom Heart's label "rather interesting" in 1997, and the album you have in front of you was born.
"Trio De Janeiro," musically in the vein of its predecessor, became one of rather interesting's most successful releases and soon afterwards saw its release on Haruomi Hosono's "Daisy World" label in Japan (1997). Now that we have crossed into the millennium, you can see and hear that "Trio De Janeiro" still sounds amazingly current. this re-release contains the two bonus titles "Tempo Feliz" and "Song For Frank Brown," which up until now had only been available on the 1997 japanese release. also the entire album has been extensively remastered to match today's audio standards and to give you, the listener, the full enjoyment of this timeless masterpiece.
https://subrosalabel.bandcamp.com/album/trio-de-janeiro
|
2001 |
€18.00 |
|
| LISTENING MIRROR |
Resting in Aspic |
CD |
"Formed at the beginning of 2010, Listening Mirror is a collaborative ambient/drone project of Jeff Stonehouse and Kate Tustain, a hybrid of their various disciplines and an attempt to extract some beauty from the noise that surrounds us all every day. Early material was composed of field recordings, combined with improvised piano and vocals. Throughout 2010/11, highly limited editions and now sold out/deleted EPs appeared on DIY labels such as Rural Colours, Heat Death, Audio Gourmet, Arew and also a postcard on the Hibernate series.
In ‘Resting in Aspic’ Listening Mirror have selected pieces from some of these previous releases and have included the full and unreleased version of ‘The Organist’. Everything has been remastered by Wil Bolton and is available in a limited run of 200 CD’s. The sounds present on the album are everything from blissed out drifting soundscapes to darker tones, all culled from various sources such as field recordings, acoustic guitar, percussive instruments, BC8 synth, Kate’s vocals and piano." [label info]
www.hibernate-recs.co.uk
"A duo of Jeff Stonehouse and Kate Tustain, who started Listening Mirror in 2010, using a variety of field recordings, improvised piano, acoustic guitar, percussion, BC8 synthesizer and vocals. During 2010/2011 they released some limited works on labels as Rural Colours, Heat Death, Audio Gourmet and a postcard on the Hibernate series. The latter now releases a limited CD, which brings those out of print releases together again, along with the full version of 'The Organist' and one new piece. Of course a man/women duo playing with field recordings and instruments, producing drone and ambient music, will easily point towards Celer. If I wouldn't have known what I was playing I could have easily thought this was something by Celer. Perhaps with one difference and that's the somewhat more extensive use of the female voice in here, which chants wordless, like an angelic choir. But in the pieces where this is not the case, its damn close to Celer. Is that a problem? It very much depends what you want. If you think there is not enough Celer, or atmospheric, drone, ambient music in general, then you would probably not mind more music alike that and then certainly Listening Mirror is another fine addition to what you know. On the other hand, if you want something new, a style to expand, a fresher point of view on what you already know, then this might be somewhat of a disappointment. Listening Mirror just don't seem to expand on anything that we already know. Where do I stand? Hard to tell. I was looking outside, seeing a grey clouded sky, with a bit of rain, reading a book and actually quite enjoying this music. Nicely produced atmospherics. What more do I want, right now? Probably nothing. Let's worry about the revolution in music another day." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| LIVE SKULL |
EP |
CD |
"24-page booklet with rare and unseen pics and extensive liner notes by band members Tom Paine & MarK C.
Formed in 1982 by guitarists Mark C and Tom Paine with Marnie Greenholz on bass and James Lo on drums, Live Skull is considered by many aficionados to be the quintessential New York noise band. Together with Sonic Youth and Swans, Live Skull defined the term "noise rock" in the 1980s, spearheading the post-No Wave underground music scene in NYC with a series of legendary live performances and eight groundbreaking records released over the course of that decade. Often brutal and yet strangely seductive, each of these classic records creates hooks out of the most unlikely, seemingly disruptive elements, subverting traditional rock forms in previously unheard ways that became an undeniable (albeit often unacknowledged) influence on many of their contemporaries. Live Skull broke up in 1989, just within sight of that magical moment when the sort of music they pioneered began to finally break through, but the band's recorded output reminds us that Live Skull got there first.
This is the record that started it all, Live Skull's first EP. A gloriously sprawling collection of deep, dark grooves and insidiously entwined guitars, the Village Voice rightly described the EP as "classic post-punk" and “the best introduction to New York’s guitar explorers.” The East Village Eye proclaimed it “one of the best sounding records to come out of any New York band past or present.” The New York Times put the EP on their short list of the best five records of 1984, declaring, “A few contemporary bands are making music as a deliberate antidote to the burbling synthesizers, polite crooning and polished gloss of today’s well-fed pop mainstream. New York’s Live Skull, Sonic Youth and Swans…are making the sort of music rock’s early opponents must have feared most, the music of their nightmares.”
Out of print for far too many years, this 30th anniversary reissue of Live Skull's first EP is now available on limited edition vinyl and (for the first time ever) on CD, complete with a lavish booklet including extensive liner notes by founding members Tom Paine and Mark C, and eight extremely rare bonus tracks. This is the first release in desire’s Live Skull Project, an ambitious, eight-title series of reissues of the entire Live Skull catalogue, personally overseen by Mark C and Tom Paine." |
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Dangerous Visions |
LP |
"Emerging in the early 80s at the end of New York’s legendary No Wave scene alongside Manhattan comrades Sonic Youth and Swans, Live Skull reshaped the aggression of burned-out post-punk into heavy, guitar-driven rock. This new release showcases their evolution, with Side 1 featuring recently recorded tracks, whilst Side 2 digs into the archives and includes four tracks from their 1989 Peel Session, released here for the first time.
Struggle and chaos is nothing new for Live Skull. Mark C and his fellow founder, guitarist Tom Paine, were inspired by the nihilistic sounds of No New York and the dissonant walls of Glenn Branca and Rhys Chatham. Live Skull funneled those influences into hard-edged music that valued melody as much as anarchy. “We loved the noise and the chaos that was happening in the No Wave bands,” says Mark. “But we really tried to fit it into a song.”
Over the next decade, Live Skull released four albums and three EPs with a rotating cast of 11 members, all of whom added new ideas to the group’s evolving sound. Their constant progression inspired New York Times critic Robert Palmer to call them “as challenging, as spiritually corrosive, and ultimately as transcendent as Albert Ayler’s mid-’60s free-jazz or the implacable drone-dance of the early Velvet Underground. It’s one of the essential sounds of our time.”
Live Skull stopped playing in 1990–but for Mark C, there was still more to be said. So he reformed the group in 2016 with bassist Marnie Jaffe and drummer Richard Hutchins. Last year, an updated line-up with C, Hutchins and bassist Kent Heine recorded the first Live Skull album in nearly three decades, the urgent, forceful ‘Saturday Night Massacre’. Now, just a year later and joined by guitarist Dave Hollinghurst, they return with ‘Dangerous Visions’, and this time everyone from the entire Live Skull history is involved."
|
2020 |
€24.00 |
|
| LIVING TEMPLES |
Spirit of the Sands |
CD |
SPIRITS OF THE SAND is the LIVING TEMPLES' collaboration with the five locations on the Curonian Spit, south-west of Nida, Lithuania:
* The shore of the Curonian Lagoon along the Parnidis dune. This ever-changing coastline is a creation of elemental magic. Trees that have been washed away by water, thrown back ashore and then buried by the sand re-appear regularly here. They emerge transformed into wonderful surreal shapes that stimulate wild mythical imagination.
* The Valley of Death. This mysterious valley separates the Parnidis and Gliders' Dunes. This is the supposed location of the infamous French prisoner camp from the 1870-1871 Franco-Prussian war. The climate of the Curonian Spit used to be so harsh back then that the Prussian government saw it fit for a retaliatory prisoner camp created in response to German P.O.W. imprisonment in the Sahara Desert of Algeria. The prisoners worked on greening the dunes around Nida.
* The Neolithic village of Nida. The neolithic settlement explored by the great archaeologist Ramutė Rimantienė in 1974 turned out to be at least 4000 years old. Fishers and farmers inhabited this place for many centuries. Decoration on their ceramics proves that they were of the Indo-European Corded Ware culture. These people were our oldest ancestors - the forerunners of the Curonian tribe.
* The location of the Pre-WW2 gliding school of Nida.
"Ready! Strain! Go!!" Back in 1933-1939 these commands were repeated many times at the top of the Great Dune (today - the Gliders' Dune). Students at the gliding school of the Lithuanian Aero Club used to hunt for the favourable headwind above the dunes. This headwind rises off the massive eastern sand wall of the dune and can hold a light glider up in the air for many hours.
* The sundial of the Parnidis dune. The summit of the Parnidis Dune is a unique place in Lithuania. The full astronomical horizon opens to the viewer standing here which makes this spot an ideal location for the sundial. Or perhaps this is a portal above time and space through which one can see not only what is, but also what once was and what is yet to come.
These locations have gained special meaning, symbolising four cardinal elements of our inner universe - Water (Emotions), Earth (Body), Air (Intellect) and Fire-Sun (Spirit). With the alchemy of contemporary technology, we join these elements into the magical unity of an artistic piece and invite you on a spiritual journey from the dark depths of the lagoon through the windy shifting sands into the endless sun-blazed skies.
On our way we meet the spirits emerging from the past of the Curonian Spit - the shipwreck of the mythic fisher Kastytis, settlements buried by sand, the oldest of which is nearly 4000 years old, French prisoners of war greening the sands, and Pre-WW2 gliders hunting for favourable winds. Eventually we arrive near the sundial of the Parnidis dune which counts cosmic time and connects it all somewhere up in a higher dimension.
The CD comes in a sustainable cardboard envelope along with a 6-page leaflet that includes detailed description, credits and other liner notes. In the envelope you will also find a photographic card set „Spirits of the Sand“. The reverse of the cards has a short evocative story - an itroduction to the musical content. Lastly there is a QR code inside which leads you to the listening recommendations. All items are bi-lingual (Lithuanian and English).
https://living-temples.bandcamp.com/album/spirits-of-the-sand-sm-lyn-dvasios-2023
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| LLARKS |
Reflections |
MC |
www.lamour.se/label/
Llarks new album Reflections features extended use of guitar-orchestrations, micropolyphony, holy minimalism, and ghost-piano. It is a delicate and patient album focusing on gentle transitions of tone colors, unfolding atmospherics, and a quiet sense of nostalgia. Guitar, trumpet and piano by c.jeely
www.lamour.se/2017/11/08/llarks-reflections/
|
2017 |
€7.00 |
|
| LOCRIAN |
Rain of Ashes |
CD |
"Following the release of their highly acclaimed "drenched land" CD (on Small Doses & At War With False Noise), Locrian toured intensively in the US in July 2009 and went into WMUC studios located at College Park, Maryland to record, with no overdubs and no other takes, what became much more than just a session. “Rain of Ashes” is a journey, not of complex feelings, but of realizing the decay and collapse you have just witnessed is real and will never go away. Instead of completely pummeling the listener, the piece slowly rips the listener apart until there is nothing left."
previously released on cassette on fan death records, the two tracks have been properly mastered at Chicago Mastering Service by for a more intense and definitive experience.
Available now on its definitive edition (400 copies), "rain of ashes" is packed in a jewel case with 8 panels booklet and obi strip." [label info]
www.bassesfrequences.org
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
|
The Crystal World |
do-CD |
"A marked change had come over the forest, as if dusk had begun to fall. Everywhere the glacé sheaths which enveloped the trees and vegetation had become duller and more opaque. The crystal floor underfoot was occluded and gray, turning the needles into spurs of basalt. The brilliant panoply of colored light had gone, and a dim amber glow moved across the trees, shadowing the sequined floor. At the same time it had become considerably colder.
The Crystal World, the third studio album from Locrian, is an epic journey. Titled after JG Ballard’s 1964 novel that tells the story of a physician who specializes in leprosy sent to a remote African outpost to discover a jungle that is slowly crystallizing and encroaching upon everything it touches. Disc one comprises six tracks while disc two consists of one extended piece, Extinction, that picks up on the intensity of disc one and sustains it for close to an hour. On The Crystal World, Terence Hannum, and André Foisy, are joined by Steven Hess (On, Pan American, Ural Umbo) on percussion and electronics. Hess’ contribution pushes Locrian deeper into the abyss of despair rendering a sound that is darker, bleaker, and engulfing than any of the group’s previous releases. Locrian continue the conceptual trajectory of blackened drone that the group initially embarked on during their first studio album Drenched Lands (2009). Masters of layering, The Crystal World finds the group manipulating tones and textures that transport the listener to an apocalyptic wasteland. At times, the layers are serene and somber, at other times they are chaotic.
The Crystal World is Locrian's essential release, finding the band creating a sound all of their own. A sound that evades simplistic analogies to black metal, power-electronics, noise, or other categories. This is the album that will stun fans of the bands previous works with how far the group has come from their early releases. Presented in a Stoughton gatefold sleeve with art by Vberkvlt.
Vinyl edition out on Utech Records in 2011." [label info]
www.utechrecords.com |
2010 |
€19.00 |
|
| |
Return to Annihilation |
CD |
"Ein Kapitel wird geschlossen – ein neues Kapitel aufgeschlagen. Nur wenig scheint so reichhaltig wie die Chroniken LOCRIANs. Nach “The Clearing“ und den Split-Alben mit MAMIFFER und Christoph Heemann folgt nun also “Return To Annihilation“. Eine Herausforderung dieses Albums bestand für die Band darin, dass Terence Hannum mittlerweile viele Kilometer von André Foisy und Steven Hess entfernt wohnt. So tauschte die Band zunächst Ideen via Email aus, bevor sie sich für drei Tage ins Studio einschloss, um das Album aufzunehmen.
Entlang des ersten Durchlaufs fällt auf, dass die Musiker auf “Return To Annihilation“ noch fokussierter gearbeitet haben. Die große räumliche Distanz, mit der die Bandmitglieder umzugehen lernen mussten, scheint doch eher eine nahe Ferne gewesen zu sein. Das Zusammenspiel ist noch konzentrierter, die Improvisationen sind noch besser abgestimmt. Zudem hat man das Gefühl, dass LOCRIAN durch ihre verschiedenen Kollaborationen und Tätigkeiten in den diversen Nebenprojekten Facetten freigelegt und entdeckt haben, die gleichzeitig als eine Art Türöffner für ihre neuen Ideen fungieren. Ihre schöpferischen Ressourcen zeigen sich ideenprall und die Frische sowie die Freude beim Kreieren von Musik sind dem Album deutlich anzuhören.
Das erste Stück “Eternal Return“ eröffnet hymnisch. Verschachtelte Synthesizerspuren, krachendes Schlagwerk, vorpreschende Gitarrensounds und ein bis in die tiefste Innerwelt berührender, fauchender Schreigesang lassen den Kurs des Albums erahnen. Doch jene Richtung führt nicht über vorgebahnte Wege. Es werden Schneisen ins Unterholz geschlagen, die Pfade ins Unbegangene oder hier konkret ins Ungehörte eröffnen. Im Fortlauf folgt “A Visitation From The Wrath Of Heaven“. Mächtige Electronics verrätseln diesen nächsten Gang, dazu rummst Steven Hess mit seiner Herzschlagtrommel, bevor der Gesang das Stück zu einem choralartigen Wunderwerk aufbaut, um kurze Zeit später abrupt abzubrechen. Und bereits hier lässt sich vermuten, dass sich LOCRIAN bei den Aufnahmen gegenseitig noch stärker angetrieben zu haben scheinen als auf den Vorgängerveröffentlichungen. Bei “Two Moons“ werden von Sekunde zu Sekunde andere Aspekte in den Vordergrund gerückt, dadurch entsteht ein dröhnendes Gebilde, welches sich von allen Stücken wohl am stärksten Einhegungsversuchen entzieht. Die Besonderheit dieses Albums liegt neben der Unvorhersehbarkeit auch darin, dass die Amerikaner ihrer Impulsfülle nachgeben, jedoch dabei niemals ihren Wiedererkennungswert verlieren. Der Wechsel von stürmischen und ruhigen Passagen wirkt nicht konstruiert, sondern entwickelt sich natürlich. Das Titelstück “Return To Annihilation“ führt den choralartigen Gesang fort, dazu hämmert ein Bolz-Drum, die Gitarren krachen Gewitter ähnlich. Ein orchestrales, dröhnendes Brausen zeigt dessen Entladung. Das Ambient lastige, rauschhaltige “Exiting The Hall Of Vapor And Light“ zieht hinter diesen Gewitterwolken auf und beruhigt das vorher Aufgewühlte. Dem schließt sich kontrastierend die Krachsinfonie “Panorama Of Mirrors“ an. Den Abschluss bildet das 15minütige “Obsolete Elegies“, welches alle Weggabelungen und Wetterlagen des Albums vereint und final den tiefsten, sich selbst beschleunigenden Wirbel in die eingeschlagene Schneise bricht.
“Return To Annihilation“ ist durchwirkt vom Überraschenden aus dem Dunklen. Es umgürtet die Arbeit der Amerikaner. Hervorgerufen wurde es durch wahre Passion, die sich in der dem Album inhärenten Wucht offenbart. Viele Bands verlieren im Laufe der Jahre die Dunkelheit der Anfangstage und verwalten ihre kreative Ausbleichung. Nicht so LOCRIAN – das Dunkle wird hier nicht abgeschabt, sondern in seinen Stufungen neu ausgeleuchtet. André Foisy sprach davon, dass “Return To Annihilation“ das bisher wichtigste Album in der Bandgeschichte sei. Das schürt Erwartungen. Von einem Höhepunkt, vom Gelungenen kann immer dann gesprochen werden, wenn Erwartungen ihre Einlösung finden. Wenn das Ergebnis übergroße Schatten auf hohe Erwartungen wirft, kann vom Bleibenden gesprochen werden. Dieses Ergebnis wird sich auf die Erwartungen im Vorfeld der nächsten Veröffentlichung aufprägen. Eine Klimax gen Unendlichkeit – oder die nimmer endenden Chroniken LOCRIANs." (D.L./ Blackmagazin]
"For a band so devoted to endings, the noise metallurgists of Locrian are surprisingly keen with beginnings, too. More than a year ago, Relapse Records announced they'd signed the Chicago-and-Baltimore trio. The move seemed surprising at the time, but not because Locrian’s electronics-and-effects-driven approach was at odds with the more orthodox heavy metal roster at Relapse; in fact, the label’s two decades are dotted by momentous dalliances with experimental music. Instead, before signing to Relapse, Locrian released a lot of music, a strategy that worked for a band putting out very limited editions on rather small labels but maybe not one meant for a fringe act now signed to an imprint as large as Relapse. Just how many Locrian eight-tracks or singles could and would Relapse actually handle?
Since the deal, though, Locrian have only issued three titles-- a re-release of one such short-run record bundled with new material, a glacial collaboration with kindred lurkers Mammifer, and a beautiful piece with German sound art veteran Christopher Heemann. After many consecutive years of several albums, splits, and singles each, Locrian went almost silent-- just not behind the scenes. All along, they were sketching, building, and refining Return to Annihilation, their proper Relapse debut and step into a much bigger spotlight. It's an auspicious new phase of their existence: Return to Annihilation is the most provocative and engaging Locrian album to date, a brilliant mystery that evades simplistic definitions by turning their historical din and destruction in on itself and, sometimes, back again.
In initial interviews for Return to Annihilation, Locrian-- multi-instrumentalist André Foisy, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Terrence Hannum and drummer Steven Hess-- spoke about the influence of Genesis on their new work. It felt to some like trolling, as there was no way the intricate (and sometimes awkward) prog rock of Genesis might have a substantive pull on music so ostensibly moonless and monolithic. But Return to Annihilation is intrinsically elusive, with twists so compelling and layers so deep that each listen reveals a half-dozen new facets. The title track, for instance, is a three-part suite. Locrian begins with the primal, repetitive wallop of Swans, repurposed with industrial accessories. Despite the aggressive delivery, it feels tunefully poppy, beckoning the listener forward just before the song shifts into a cataclysmic drone. Smothering electronics battle with piercing guitars, shaping a stalemate of willpowers. Hess’ drums goad the band forward again, hitting a climax that’s dense but buoyant, like the phosphorescent coda of a melodramatic post-millenial black metal epic. Though this is a triptych of distinct sections, the parts are strangely cohesive, blending into one another as a balance of extremes.
For 50 minutes, Return to Annihilation runs like a whirlwind journey that you must mentally revisit when it’s done playing. Indeed, during the last three months, I’ve listened to this record a few dozen times, and each trip through only seems to solicit more questions about the material itself-- about its balance between corroded metal and coruscated drone, about its strange sense of enveloping atmosphere and unstoppable propulsion, about the completed puzzle and its complex constituent pieces. Sometimes its 15-minute closer, “Obsolete Elegies”, feels like an exhalation of relief, with muted piano and long-tone violin suggesting Pelt plundering the workshop of La Monte Young; other times, the quaking electronics and plodding guitar of the same piece intimate a hangman’s anthem, a steady gaze directed over and over again toward another imminent death.
What’s most rewarding about Return to Annihilation is this sense of narrative and emotional limbo, or the feeling that supposedly staunch binaries-- birth and death, beauty and brutality, triumph and defeat-- function exclusively in interrelated arcs. Sure, there are entire tracks here that feel more nihilistic or uplifting than others. The neon guitars and escalating drum patterns of “Eternal Return” are exultant enough to soundtrack an action movie’s climax, while “Exiting the Hall of Vapor and Light” fashions a great, gray canvas from static and distortion, a diorama of nothingness. But in every instance, defeat and relief seem only to be dissolving through one another, not pushing one another from the frame. The guitars in “Vapor and Light” slink into patterns that don’t resolve, but for an instant, they bubble into the sort of ebullient loop that you might hear on a Dustin Wong record; it’s like glimpsing light at the end of a tunnel that’s so big you didn’t even know you were surrounded. And “Eternal Return” takes shape around bitterly shouted imprecations and swells of background noise so strong they sometimes threaten to push the ascension off track. Return to Annihilation forever demands that you decide for yourself-- or, of course, don’t.
In the past, Locrian albums have seemed to me almost uniformly doomed, with their lyrics about industrial decay and blizzards of irascible tones creating an atmosphere of general oppression. But Return to Annihilation implicitly urged me to revisit those earlier records and to listen for, if not foreshadowing, signs that there’d been more ambiguity and complexity at work than I’d first supposed. And there is: The great Drenched Lands seems more forgiving than I’d perceievd, as if its excoriation of society is more of a way out than a mere self-excommunication. Moments of The Clearing, particularly the electrostatically foreboding “Coprolite”, sound in retrospect as if they are trying to climb out of the dark, even if they don’t succeed. Return to Annihilation, then, feels like a perfect nexus of Locrian’s past and future. This is the rare album that reveals new depth within a catalog that already seemed so deep and ruminative while proclaiming rather unlimited possibilities for a band nearing the end of its first decade. It’s a beginning refashioned from expired endings-- as it turns out, an essential Locrian idea." [Pitchfork]
www.relapse.com
www.relapse.com
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| LOCUSTA MIGRATORIA |
same |
LP |
"LM likes drone doom with spicy sauce
LM grows geriatric spice under cracked bells
LM loves gnashing of doors but not brushes
LM defines its space with its beak -shaped scepter
LM travels still but always with an ascending parachute
LM has some special manners consisting in clustered larvae
LM has the ring modulation but does not abuse from it either
LM has for company these things hidden in the resurgent folds
LM emits very curious issues with his inside cracking voice
LM conducts impulses through the maze of the worst carnivorous fantasies
LM disguises its pretense in the form of stellar stuck twins
LM puts pressure between the plate and the organ of Corti of his enemies
LM winds through plasters that clog your maxillo-mandibular ivory
LM is the grain of sand of the meshed order and the antidote against all quackeries
LM is a laboratory from which escapes a virus that spreads from Valladolid to the bridge of
Lézardrieux
LM…" [label info]
kdbrecords.free.fr
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| LONGHI, JEROME |
Sonameon |
12inch |
"It’s ever hard to find some words about a debut. There’s nothing to compare. Yes, of course, there could be thrown in some names, or it could be mentioned that Jerome Longhi grew up in a musical family and learned playing guitar at seven...started his 1st Band as kid and now ownes a production studio. But is it important that way? Maybe the fact, he was just fed up from guitar music. With the thought, that the broom chamber would fit his sound to leave the domestic fields of Rock for a while." [label info]
"This downtempo debut 12” from producer Jerome Longhi offers us listeners a welcome break from the need for adventure in our lives, like an idyllic seaside postcard that becomes fleetingly real. The immersive new-age prelude of A-side’s ‘Sonameon’ is a slow, shimmering synthy sunrise, not unlike the new-world ambience of ‘90s Future Sound of London, with misty-morning, exotic-girl chants, vocodered warbling, and ponderous beats that rise and fall from the other side of a coma. A shade darker on the B-side, on ‘Sonomeon’ a maudlin piano phrase leads into a rain-drenched trip-hop number with a sinister ‘someone’s coming’ bass-line keeping watch over an assortment of skulking rhythms, distant birds and a mild synth wash that lends an ‘80s B-movie vibe. It’s not the most adventurous of listens, but nor has it any such pretensions; its charm lying entirely in its lack of exertion, and the refinement of its lilt and lift over the course of its eighteen minutes." [The Sound Projector]
www.empiricrecords.com |
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| LOON |
same |
CD |
"Loon's tunes cast pterodactyl shadows. The guttural guitars travel at the speed of Swans, languidly pounding out metal blasts that would make Sir Lord Baltimore scared. Their juxtaposition of ballsy femme vocals and black metal rasp generates an intense texture dynamic within the syrupy, trudging riffs. Loon is a quaking heaviness, like Hannibal crossing the Alps on Marshall stacks, though the loud is tempered with interesting production and unique arrangements. Loon's sonic crush soars with the loftiest flocks."I have no idea how this record hasn’t gotten more praise, it just might be the most underrated metal album of the past year. I think a lot of that is simply because nobody knows it exists, it’s self-released, and there’s no website to order from. Thankfully, they sent it to us to share with all of you. This Providence, RI three-piece features members of Megasus, Moonshine, Wake Up On Fire, etc. They play the best possible brand of slow, driving doom metal with the occasional passage of occult folk thrown in."
LOON was conceived of on the shores of Grout Pond in the Green Mountain National Forest by Mis Zill (vocals/guitars, former member of Moonshine, Wake up on Fire) and Anne Marie Ticaric (drums/vocals) in October of 2007. They were soon after joined by bassist Paul Lyons (Megasus) and began to write heavy, melodic songs in a bitterly cold warehouse in Providence RI. These songs are collected on the self titled debut LP released in December 2010. LOON has toured through much of the east coast and across the midwest, and plans to record and tour more in 2011." [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
"Witchy doomy heaviness from Rhode Island, home of ultra avant doom heavies The Body, electro rockers Six Finger Satellite, spastic hyper noiserock duo Lightning Bolt, and hardcore legends Dropdead, among others, but female fronted doom rockers Loon have way more in common with the current crop of heavies like Jex Thoth, The Devil's Blood, Sub Rosa, Blood Ceremony, Cauchemar, Christian Mistress and Purple Rhinestone Eagle, and fans of any of those bands will definitely dig Loon's stonery psychedelic grooves, and pop flecked Sabbathy doominess, but Loon definitely have their own take on that sounds, beyond the doom aspect, which is really pretty minimal, sure it IS doomy, but it's way more groovy, there's also a serious slowcore vibe going on, a downer pop woven into the group's more metallic heaviness, which ends up reminding us of a way heavier more traditionally metal True Widow, which is totally NOT a bad thing. And then there's the vocals, which are amazing, slipping from demonic screech, to sweet melodious croon, powerful and intense, and often reminding us of country chanteuse Neko Case surprisingly enough. So if you can imagine Neko Case singing for a Sabbathy doomy downer pop stoner metal combo, well then, you might have an idea of what Loon has going on. And while the vocals might be the best we of the bunch, in terms of actually singing, the songs are pretty fantastic too, spacey and psychedelic, groovy and heavy, a little bit proggy, super hooky, with just enough pop, the guitar sound buzzy and crunchy, the drums powerful, the whole sound hooky and heavy, doomy and sort of dreamy at the same time. After a gorgeous hazy bit of psychedelic acoustic guitar, the record finishes with the nearly 10 minute "Grackel" which is the perfect Loon track, mixing all the various elements, the Neko Case like vocals (sounding surprisingly twangy here!), the shrieked demonic howls, the groovy Sabbathy riffage, the super melodic poppiness, the dirgey slowcore, all culminating in a woozy washed out feedback drenched spacey psychedelic outro, that could have (and probably SHOULD have) gone on for ANOTHER 10 minutes. Definitely a new favorite. Anyone into ANY of the above mentioned bands should for sure check this out." [Aquarius Records]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, FRANCISCO |
A sudden pest of droning pseudoinsects |
4 x 7inch |
SOUNDART pur! Sehr ästhetisch-kunstvolle Veröffentlichung eines neuen spanischen Labels in winziger Auflage von 100 Stück: Vier 7"-Singles in edlem weissem Vinyl in weissem Klappcover - die Aufnahmen wurden von LOPEZ für eine Rotterdamer Klanginstallation bereits 1994 gemacht, zur vollen Entfaltung kommen die Klänge bei gleichzeitigem Einsatz und Mix mit vier Plattenspielern. Auch einzeln abgespielt verschaffen sich mächtig-minimale Microsound-Dronescapes in vier verschiedenen Frequenzbetonungen & Klangfärbungen Raum.
"4x7 set, new release from F.L on Spanish label EOZOÖN editions. 4x7s to be played alone or mixed and re-eq'd with four turntables (highly recommended!!) Sounds cover a large frequency range for maxim effect!! Stunning all white folder with 4 x white vinyl 7s. 'A sudden pest of droning pseudoinsects' was presented as a sound installation in the event '220v Klankpark' at the Museum Park of Rotterdam (Summer 1994), organized by v2_Organisatie. Composed and recorded at Messor Studios (Madrid) in 1994, remastered at Mobile Messor in 2002." [label info]
|
2006 |
€38.00 |
|
|
El dia anterior a la emergencia de los adultos de magicicada |
mCD |
Ähnlich wie auf der legendären Drone Records-Single “Untitled Single Piece 1”, welche infrasonische Sub-Drones enthielt, die man eher spüren als hören konnte, hat LOPEZ auf „El dia“ wieder Infrasound- „Klänge“ geschaffen, die „schwer“ vibrierend in der Luft liegen, ohne dass ein besonderer Eindruck von „Lautstärke“ geschaffen wird.
Alles vibriert. Lebendige Psychophysik. Experiment with your senses !
“The music is there but only your house's walls and selected parts of your auditive system respond to the connection. The piece lasts only a little more than 15 minutes, yet it is a masterpiece; a single subsonic drift comes out a little, then withdraws, then again returns to occupy the corners of the ceiling, slowly taking possession of your essence. Moving around the room, the sound becomes more intense or is almost completely cancelled in a sort of illusory phase whose gradual consumption is completed just when the body recognizes this throbbing code as familiar. Impossible not to be impressed by this game of contrasts between tension and comfort, which confirms Lopez's current state of grace. The "repeat" button is absolutely recommended.” [Touching Extremes]
|
2006 |
€6.50 |
|
|
Untitled # 90 |
CD |
"Another recording of the master of what is now called SONIC-BIOLOGY. Here he presents pure insect-noises. Intense Sounds, with very high frequencies that produce strange effects in your ears!" [Drone Rec. info 1999]
www.ohmrecords.no
|
2002 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Untitled #275 |
CD |
"A two part work based on a radical reconception of the piano. 'Movement 1' is a composition created for Reinier van Houdt that utilizes some extreme preparations, it is a 20 minute tour de force. 'Movement 2' is a studio sound transformation of the initial piano part, where one hears the exploded and recombined sonorities of the piano taking on an immersive sonic dimension as one has come to expect of López's work in the last years. The collaboration with pianist Reinier van Houdt has produced an intruiging and original work of instrumental music, a highlight in López's oeuvre. It is his second release on Unsounds." [label info]
www.unsounds.com
"From the many works of Francisco Lopez only very few are created for real instruments and with real players, but 'Untitled #275' is such a work. A work created with Dutch piano player Reinier van Houdt of the Ensemble MAE. Two movements, of which one leads to another. In the first movement Lopez created a work for Van Houdt on a mechanically-prepared piano and the second is a 'evolutionary studio transformation' of the first movement. The first movement starts out loud with a repeated fast banging on the piano for some five minutes, followed by a movement that is very soft, but also repetitive, to return for some more banging and a long fourth part of sheer silence, ending on a sparse note. An intriguing piece of modern composed music. In the second movement, the piano sounds return and sound indeed like a piano - most of the time. Sometimes they are slowed down, sometimes they are pitched in a different way. None of this movement gets very silent, but the dynamics are pretty extreme from time to time. Lopez creates a very spacious piece here of long sustaining sounds, with the use of additional reverb and plenty of equalization to create a different kind of piece. Towards the end a more computerized treatment arises from all of those which sound a bit more crackling with a deep end solemn bang on the can below. Now I'm not sure if Lopez consider collaborations like this on a more regular basis, but I hope he does. Field recordings might be his main trade, its here, in works like this, when we hear him do something out of his usual ordinary, and I think he does that pretty well, so it should be explored more." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
www.unsounds.com
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Untitled #281 |
CD |
" 'Untitled #281' was created by extreme mutation and evolution of bird calls from original recordings carried out over a period of fifteen years (1995-2010) in multiple wilderness locations of Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Spain, South Africa, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Peru. The most dramatic antithesis of any 'birdsong' piece you could imagine. Francisco López is internationally recognized as one of the major figures of the sound art and experimental music scene. For more than thirty years he has developed an astonishing sonic universe, absolutely personal and iconoclastic, based on a profound listening of the world. Destroying boundaries between industrial sounds and wilderness sound environments, shifting with passion from the limits of perception to the most dreadful abyss of sonic power, proposing a blind, profound and transcendental listening, freed from the imperatives of knowledge and open to sensory and spiritual expansion." [label info]
"You have to take the CD out of the box, so you can read the complete liner notes on the cover, which is a nice thing. For this particular composition - almost close to thirty-two minutes - Lopez uses recordings of bird calls which he recorded from 1995 to 2010 in 'multiple wilderness locations of Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Spain, South Africa, Costa Rica, Mexico and Peru. Not unlike other recent works by Lopez (the ones I heard that is), it seems to me that Lopez uses new pieces of software to treat his soundmatter, as he calls it. It has that granular synthesizes sound from max/msp and Lopez uses it quite radically. Things can get pretty wild in here, as we are warned on the cover that 'digital clipping in this an aesthetic decision and is explicitly intentional'. Especially in the first half this is a very present feature. But this work isn't of course all about noise; it opens with that Lopezian silence - except it's more audible; no contradictions there. After a firm break
around thirteen minutes things become silent for a while again, but never completely silent. Towards the end is the only section with what seems to be the original bird calls mixed with processed version thereof, with the latter gradually taking over. This is another fine Lopez work, with perhaps less of the mysterious ways of his earlier, connecting more to computer music scene (like Roel Meelkop or Marc Behrens)" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
|
La Selva. Sound Environments from a Neotropical Rain Forest. |
etched LP/USB |
"Full-lenght original audio piece (71 minutes) on 24-bit / 48kHz digital USB flat memory-card with non-audio blank etched vinyl. Limited 500 pieces edition black vinyl, numbered and signed by Francisco Lopez.
La Selva:
An immersion into the sound environments of a tropical rain forest in the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica. An astonishing natural sonic web created by a multitude of sounds from rain, waterfalls, insects, frogs, birds, mammals and even plants, through a day cycle during the rainy season. A powerful acousmatic broad-band sound environment of thrilling complexity. And above all, a tour de force of profound listening." [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2015 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Anima Ardens |
CD |
"New organic soundtrack creation by Francisco López.
In constant nudity, which highlights the diversity of their bodies and origins, eleven men, eleven dancers throw themselves, body and soul, into this Anima Ardens or 'Burning Breath', surrounded by the organic sound environments of Francisco López Trance rituals or in shamanic trance, taking us out of ourselves, to the source of our emotions."
www.subrosa.net
"ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHER
Based in Brussels, Compagnie Thor was founded in 1990 by the choreographer Thierry Smits. He quickly gained international acclaim in the world of contemporary dance. Over the years, the company has produced more than twenty dance productions. Gathering excellent performing artists from around the world, the company has established its reputation touring throughout Belgium and abroad.
Thierry Smits’ work explores, often in an eclectic manner, the bonds between mystic and erotic, the ambiguity between the sacred and corporealness, and questions the metaphysical problems of the individual's state of mind and emotion. In his performances, oscillating between pure dance and dramatization, technical rigor and his gestural inventiveness are always present. In addition to his work focused on complex subjects and linked to an element ‘outside’ dance, Thierry Smits concentrates on dance itself – referring to nothing other than itself, giving priority to a study of form, choreographic composition, and the search for movement.
Thierry Smits’ work received several prices: in 1995 when he received the SACD-Belgium prize. In 1998, his creation Corps(e) received the Belgium Océ prize for the performing arts of the French speaking community. In 2008 he is awarded the 'Prix de la critique 2007' (the critics' Prize) for V.-Nightmares,for the best dance performance of season 2007-08." [Dance-Tech Net]
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Untitled # 284 |
CD |
“Behind every image, something has disappeared. And that is the source of its fascination. Behind virtual reality in all its forms [...] the real has disappeared. And that is what fascinates everyone. According to the official
version, we worship the real and the reality principle, but — and this is the source of the current suspense — is it, in fact, the real we worship, or its disappearance?”
[Jean Baudrillard, “Why hasn’t everything already disappeared?”
Translated by Chris Turner, Seagull Books 2009]
“untitled #284” was created in 2011 by extensive evolutionary transformation of original environmental recordings made in Lisbon during the year of 1992. These sources were recovered for a commission of the Teatro Municipal Maria Matos, where the composition was premiered on 16 July 2011.
Francisco López is internationally recognized as one of the major figures of the sound art and experimental music scene. Over the past 40 years he has developed an astonishing sonic universe, absolutely personal and iconoclastic, based on a profound listening of the world. Destroying boundaries between industrial sounds and wilderness sound environments, shifting with passion from the limits of perception to the most dreadful abyss of sonic power, proposing a blind, profound and transcendental listening, freed from the imperatives of knowledge and open to sensory and spiritual expansion.
He has realized hundreds of concerts, projects with field recordings, workshops and sound installations in 70 countries of the six continents. His extensive catalog of sound pieces (with live and studio collaborations with over 150 international artists) has been released by more than 350 record labels worldwide, and he has been awarded four times with honorary mentions at the competition of Ars Electronica Festival.
https://cronica.bandcamp.com/album/untitled-284
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Wilderness Studio 2005-2019 |
do-CD |
francisco lópez - WILDERNESS STUDIO 2005-2019 / On-site Composition in the Wild
Over the past fifteen years, with the assistance and companionship of some friends, small groups of artists and members of the local communities, I have been directing two consecutive incarnations of an annual residency/workshop at Mamori Lake in the Brazilian Amazon (‘Mamori Sound Project’, 2005-2011) and Mmabolela Reserve in the South African savanna (‘Sonic Mmabolela’, 2013-2019), for composers, audio artists, sound designers and other creative individuals from all over the world. Its focus has been on creative approaches to the work with environmental sound matter, through both recordings and profound listening, by means of an extensive –and I would say iconoclastic– exploration of natural sound environments in those contrasting locations of rainforest and savanna. In a number of different ways –theoretical, practical and experiential– I have been trying to bring in a vigorous questioning of canonical conceptions of so-called ‘field recordings’, a realm of audio creation that has manifested a significant expansion over the past few years but that, in my opinion, has failed to overcome representational clichés and obsolete creative rules. As I see , the main aim of this experience is neither technical nor conceptual, but rather transformative, from both artistic and personal perspectives. At a personal level, these ‘sonic years’ in the Amazon rainforest and the African savanna (two types of environments I had experienced as a biologist many years earlier in Brazil and Senegal) have had a very profound effect on my experience and conception of sound as both a prodigious phenomenological conduit and an ontological entity in its own right, along with –not subservient to– the other creatures of the rainforest and the savanna. This transcendental transformation has had fundamental outcomes for me, such as what I call ‘field listening’ (a post-media non-representational practice of profound listening in the field) and ‘sonogenic composition’ (a creative approach in which sound itself suggests and leads the compositional decisions, structure and nature). Among many other strategies, in this residency/workshop I proposed the participants to create audio pieces while still in the natural environment, and I did myself a few of those as well over the years. The classic super-analytical procedure of listening through all the many hours of recordings before creating anything might not necessarily be the best one, particularly now that the possible amount of recorded time is so vast. There is also an element of immediacy and immersion in the actual environment that I am convinced has a significant and very positive effect in what we can create under those conditions. This ‘on-site composition in the wild’ naturally brings forth challenging, heuristic and fruitful frameworks of audio creation in the form of spontaneity, incomplete knowledge, non-exhaustive observation, emotional probing of materials, un-systematic decisions, persistent presence of the sonic environment, immediate juxtaposition of listened and recorded ‘reality’, and so forth. This double album compilation presents the on-site composition pieces I created with my portable minimal ‘wilderness studio’ during all the past years of this residency/workshop in the Brazilian Amazon and the South African savanna.
------------------------------------------------------------
‘Mamori Sound Project’ at Mamori Lake and ‘Sonic Mmabolela’ at Mmabolela Reserve have materialized as independent projects with virtually no funding, which have been made possible –more often than not against significant odds and through some quite remarkable adventures– by the collective effort of a small group of incredibly dedicated friends, as well as all the international participants:
[120; from Algeria, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, UK, USA]
Wilderness Studio 2005-2011: BRAZILIAN AMAZON
My sincere gratitude goes to Asier Gogortza, Jorge Llorella, Nacho Martí, and Martín Azúa (of Mamori ArtLab); Slavek Kwi, Jerson and Katia Vieira da Silva, and the entire Mamori Lake community.
Participants in ‘Mamori Sound Project’, 2005-2011:
Aernoudt Jacobs, Alex Massana, Anders K. Landstrand, Andrea Williams, Annie Mahtani, Artur Matamoros, Barbara Ellison, Bernat Cuní, Brice Jeannin, Camilla Hannan, Cécile Martin, Cédric Maridet, Christopher Fleeger, Ciara Moore, Constantine Katsiris, Damien Perollaz, Daniel Blinkhorn, David Drury, David M. Michael, Dionisio Alfaro, Dominik t’Jolle, Els Viaene, Eric Miller, Farahnaz Hatam, Hilary Mullaney, Jaime Rojas, James Webb, Karl Lemieux, Kim Foscato, Laurent Wermenlinger, Lawrence English, Leah Barclay, Lindenberg Munroe, Linn Halvorsrød, Luca Forcucci, Ludger Kisters, Marc Behrens, Marcelo Nakata, Marta López-Briones, Mathias Janssens, Matt Shoemaker, Michael Trommer, Mikel Nieto, Nicholas McConaghy, Nimalan Yoganathan, Olof Dreijer, Perri Lynch, Rebecca English, Ruben García, Sam Hamilton, Sam Ripault, Samuel E. Dunscombe, Scott Konzelmann,Simon Whetham, Slavek Kwi, Stefano Tedesco, Suzanne Wehmer, Thanassis Kaproulias,Thelmo Cristovam, Todd Shalom,Tom Lane, Tulipa Ruiz, Vanessa Michelis, Victoria Soanes.
Wilderness Studio 2013-2019: SOUTH AFRICAN SAVANNA
My sincere gratitude goes to Mark and Lesley Berry (owners of Mmabolela Estates), James Webb, Barbara Ellison, Neil Lowe, Paulo Ghiglione, Mabig Frans Meela, Bolpetse William Mosima, Madikana Johannes Malobela, Maria Mokgadi Mosima ‘Khani’, Tamaries Lettah Tebodi, Malebogo Queen Molele, and the entire staff
community at Mmabolela Estates.
Participants in ‘Sonic Mmabolela’, 2013-2019:
Aernoudt Jacobs, Alex Davies, Alexandra Spence, Andy Martin, Angélica Castelló, Barbara Ellison, Bethan Parkes, Brigitte Hart, Brydon Bolton, Cara Stacey, Cédric Maridet, Christina Kubish, Christopher Fleeger, Clinton Watkins, Craig Wells, Daan Hendriks, Daniel Lea, Dave Phillips, David M. Michael, Dimitrios Bakas, Dmitry Gelfand, Eric Mattson, Ernesto Coba, Evelina Domnitch, George Vlad Cancea, Gregory Kramer, Hanan Benammar, Hannah Gilmour, Harm Roché van Tiddens, Herbert Baioco Vasconcelos, Iddo Aharony, Jean-Baptiste Masson, Jeremy Hegge, Jesús de la Peña, Josten Myburgh, Jun Mizumachi, Kate Carr, Kim Foscato, Ksersti G. Andvig, Luca Forcucci, Lucille Calmel, Luke Pearson, Matthew Aidekman, Michael Clemow, Michał Jacaszek, Mike Vernusky, Niketa Sheth, Peter Terner, Robert Kellough, Robert Schwartz, Robyn Farah, Ruben García, Sara Retallick, Scott Konzelmann, Slavek Kwi, Steve Ashby, Steve Norton, Stijn Demeulenaere, Thomas Voyce, Thóranna Björnsdóttir, Tim Bruniges, Tristan Horton, Ulf A. S. Holbrook, Vicki Hallett, Yvonne Freckmann.
------------------------------------------------------------
First released on 2xCD ('nowhere') in September 2020 - Edition 300 copies.
(c) francisco lópez 2005-2020 – www.franciscolopez.net
https://franciscolopez.bandcamp.com/album/wilderness-studio-2005-2019-brazilian-amazon-south-african-savanna-on-site-composition-in-the-wild
|
2020 |
€19.50 |
|
|
Animast |
LP |
untitled #369
Created at mobile messor (Anatananarivo, Dublin, Madrid, Den Haag and Dune Studio (Loosduinen), 2018-2019
untitled #365
Created at mobile messor (Paris, Valencia, Oslo, Venice and Dune Studio (Loosduinen), 2018-2019
\"Few albums would be as fitted for vinyl release as this one. Drawing on both analog-material and digital-immaterial undisclosed sources, “Animast” plays with the sonic textures and responses most suited for the characteristics of this particular analog medium: noisy crispness, compositional ‘loopiness’, contrasting sharp-and-thick textures and cycling dynamics. A must for experimental heads and adventurous DJs alike!\"
https://fernsrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/animast |
2021 |
€19.50 |
|
| |
1987 |
CD |
Francisco López is internationally recognized as one of the major figures of the sound art and experimental music scene. For almost forty years he has developed an astonishing sonic universe, absolutely personal and iconoclastic, based on a profound listening of the world. Destroying boundaries between industrial sounds and wilderness sound environments, shifting with passion from the limits of perception to the most dreadful abyss of sonic power, proposing a blind, profound and transcendental listening, freed from the imperatives of knowledge and open to sensory and spiritual expansion.
He has realized hundreds of concerts, projects with environmental recordings, workshops and sound installations in over seventy countries of the six continents. His extensive catalog of sound pieces (with live and studio collaborations with hundreds of international artists) has been released by nearly 400 record labels / publishers worldwide. He has been awarded four times with honorary mentions at the competition of Ars Electronica Festival and is the recipient of the Qwartz Award 2010 for best sound anthology.
https://universaalkunst.bandcamp.com/album/1987
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, FRANCISCO & RICHARD FRANCIS |
In de blaauwe hand |
CD |
Nice collaboration of these two artists who also once had EPs on Drone Rec. (R. FRANCIS as ESO STEEL) - this studio work made at EXTRAPOOL studios is a one-tracker with a very subtle & droney fluidum, layers of sound develop very very slowly, changes & cut-ups are set and lead to interesting developments but never in a harsh way... a full meditation / transcension drone that goes from silence / void to abundance and back again.
"Francisco López (Spain) and Richard Francis (New Zealand) have created "in de blaauwe hand" upon invitation from Extrapool for a brief working residency in Nijmegen, to develop a collaboration piece for the Brombron CD series. Working with very small seed source sound samples that were exchanged between them, two intermingling compositional paths unfolded in two parallel small studios. In a short ¬but very intense- period of time a whole world of very delicate and subtle materials arose. The whole piece (a single one-hour track) merges without mix a dreamy geography of subtleties and complex organicities that is more the result of aesthetic affinities than pre-structured plan. In that sense, this is a composition born from the sound themselves, following the paths indicated by them. And a surprising one.
Over the last twenty years Francisco López has been developing a powerful and consistent world of minimal electroacoustic soundscapes, 'trying to reach an ideal of absolute concrète music'. To date, his catalog comprises more than 140 sound works, which have been released by one hundred record labels from Spain, France, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, Austria, UK, Norway, Greece, Russia, Canada, USA, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Japan, China, Australia. He has toured extensively throughout Western and Eastern Europe, North, Central and South America, Japan and Australia doing acousmatic performances, and he has received commissions from a number of reknown institutions and organizations, such as the Dutch and Spanish National Radios, the Goethe Institut, V2 Organization (Rotterdam), Yale University Theater (New Haven), the Ralph Lemon Company (New York), the Zeitkratzer Ensemble (Berlin), Creative Time (New York), Quartier Ephemere (Montreal) and Sound Traffic Control (San Francisco).
Richard Francis has been releasing works on CD/vinyl, performing solo and in collaboration as a touring artist since 1996. He uses field recordings of acoustic and electronic sounds and a tone generator to compose textural and tonal sound works. He has released solo and collaborative works on a number of labels worldwide and runs his own label CMR through which he releases limited edition lathe cut records by New Zealand artists. In performance he uses a computer and electronics and has toured Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, USA and Europe. Since 2003, Francis has composed works for sound installation, participating in group and solo shows at galleries throughout New Zealand. He has collaborated for recording and/or performance with many artists including Bruce Russell, Francisco Lopez, Jason Kahn, Mattin, Birchville Cat Motel, Gate, MSBR, Tetuzi Akiyama, Lawrence English, Rosy Parlane, Howard Stelzer, Jason Lescalleet, Jay Sullivan, Empirical, Pumice, Kuwayama Kiyoharu, Phil Dadson, Anthony Guerra, Sean Meehan, Ishigami Kazuya, Antony Milton, James Kirk, MHFS, Tim Coster, Paul Winstanley, Takefumi Naoshima, Toshihiro Koike.
Design by Richard Francis"
[label info]
www.kormplastics.nl
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, FRANCISCO / GX JUPITTER-LARSEN |
Francisco Lopez with G.X. Jupitter-Larsen |
10inch |
"Collaboration by two masters, each side by one working with source material provided by the other. Edition of 500." [label info]
http://phagetapes.blogspot.de
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, FRANCISCO / MICHAEL GENDREAU |
Untitled # 185 / Drowning |
LP |
Split-LP des ex-CRAWLING WITH TARTS Mitglieds MICHAEL GENDREAU mit dem spanischen Puristen FRANCISCO LOPEZ - Vinyl-Kratzer & Rauschen von Auslaufrillen uralter Platten, aber auch die Geräusche der Mechanik & Motoren von antiken Plattenspielern dienten als Klangquelle für diese Bearbeitungen, ein Meer von low-fi Knirschen, Rascheln & Geknister, von multiplen 'white Noise'-Flächen und rhythmisch-repetitiven Mustern, so ungewöhnlich & wie überraschend im Verlauf...
"Francisco Lopez is perhaps best known for his dynamic studio and live performances that sway between crushing silence and dynamic, shifting volume swells. Over the course of 25 years, Lopez has developed and honed a refined audio lexicon. Michael Gendreau entered the experimental sound community in the early 1980s with his project Crawling With Tarts. As a solo artist, Gendreau caught everyone¹s attention with the 2002 release of his CD 55 pas de la ligne, composed of recordings based on old turntables and one-of-a-kind LPs.
For this LP, Gendreau, a trained acoustician, used extremely refined microphones--designed for acoustic and vibrational research--to record sounds such as turntable motor hum, belts, and run out grooves on records more than 70 years old. His side is an incredible journey through a forest of alternately prickly and soothing sounds. Lopez used similar source material for his side, creating a refined oceanic wall of sound constructed from crackle, hum, and scratches. This LP is in a numbered edition of 500 copies and signed by both artists." [label website info]
"Francisco Lopez has previously collaged vinyl crackle and hiss with aplomb on his untitled 92, and Michael Gendreau has worked with similar material on his 55 pas de la ligne au no. 3. both return to the materiality of vinyl run out grooves and the internal mechanics of the turntable as sources for this exceptional split release, with each artist applying their own conceptual and aesthetic sensibilities to the sounds. Lopez amplifies and overlays tactile sounds of hissing vinyl into an industrial din whose crescendo abruptly cuts to a wheeze of spiralling surface noise. Where lopez concentrates on the output of his turntable, gendreau focuses on the mechanical object itself, deftly recording the belts, motors and cranks of antique turntables, and using sensitive microphones to explore the ghostly musical pssages that creep between the rumble of wooden resonance and crackle." [Jim Haynes, the Wire (November 2006)]
"....His piece, 'Untitled #184' is audible throughout, and is a densely layered carpet of sound all sorts of sounds coming from vinyl. It hisses, pops and cracks in all sorts of ways, but never in an overtly rhythmic manner. It seems to me that Lopez created all of this by making many layers of sounds and removing any possibility of repetition. The piece by Gendreau uses similar sounds, but here musical elements leak through, or perhaps are created by the various possibilities of playing the records with motors, swift speed change and such like. Whereas Lopez creates a mass of sound, Gendreau presents an audio collage. Two possibilities of working with material like this. Two great examples of those possibilities. Richly textured and no doubt will go down for the very adventurous DJs." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, FRANCISCO / ZAN HOFFMAN |
Concert for 300 Magnetic Tapes |
MC |
"Cassette release limited to 300 copies only. Created from live performances in Spain (Madrid, Alcalá de Henares and Gijón) in 1994, using 300 tapes received from around 200 different artists from the international home-music cassette network. Remixed and mastered at Messor Studios, Antonio García Studios (Madrid) and Zidslick Studios (Louisville, KY) in 1994. Re-edited, re-mixed and re-mastered by Francisco López at Mobile Messor (Paraguay) in 2010. After years of exchanging self-released music on cassette and collaborating via post, Francisco López and Zan Hoffman embarked in 1994 on a somehow surreal small tour of live performances in Spain. By mixing their own sonic materials and recorded stuff on cassette received directly from hundreds of underground artists worldwide, they carried out live recombination shows with eight cassette decks and a shared mixing board. A synthetic/distilled edit of the most interesting moments arising from those live composition sessions is now released on this cassette by The Tapeworm." [label info]
|
2011 |
€8.50 |
|
| LOPEZ, FRANCISCO WITH VALENTINA LACMANOVIC |
With/In |
CD |
"Francisco López is internationally recognized as one of the major figures of the sound art and experimental music scene. For more than thirty years he has developed an astonishing sonic universe, absolutely personal and iconoclastic, based on a profound listening of the world. Destroying boundaries between industrial sounds and wilderness sound environments, shifting with passion from the limits of perception to the most dreadful abyss of sonic power, proposing a blind, profound and transcendental listening, freed from the imperatives of knowledge and open to sensory and spiritual expansion. He has realized hundreds of concerts, projects with field recordings, workshops and sound installations in over sixty countries of the five continents. His extensive catalog of sound pieces (with live and studio collaborations with over 150 international artists) has been released by more than 300 record labels worldwide. He has been awarded four times with honorary mentions at the competition of Ars Electronica Festival and is the recipient of the Qwartz Award 2010 for best sound anthology. Since 1999 Valentina Lacmanović has researched dances from different cultures through their ritual, folk, classic, and contemporary aspects. From 2001 onwards, her work has been focused on the creation of dance-theater and multimedia performances where Eastern and Western worlds meet. She has worked intensively on creating performances inspired by dances of trance and collaborates with artists from various disciplines. Profound research into dances of trance and ritual versus performing spaces since 2003 gave new direction to her work as an art director and performer. Her investigations into whirling dance led to insights into its origins and practice extending beyond Sufi meditation that supply an inexhaustible source of artistic inspiration and contemporary creativity, ultimately resulting in the project Shedervish, which marked an important change in her artistic development. “With/In” features one long track created by Francisco López with original sound matter recorded from body, clothes and immediate surrounding space during ritual whirling by Valentina Lacmanović. As subtle as the almost invisible image that appears on the back cover, this work translate the dancer’s breath and movements into music. One of the most interesting concepts in López later works and surely one of the best entries in his ever-growing discography." [label info]
www.silentes.net
"It's been recently slow (?) - it seems - with releases by Francisco Lopez. Here he has new work which the cover notes 'created with original sound matter recorded from body, clothes and immediate surrounding space during ritual whirling by Valentina Lacmanovic'. She is dancer, who studied in Croatia, France, Spain, Turkey, India and The Netherlands where she now lives. "Her main focus is a contemporary view of dances of trance, and research on convergences and divergences between contemporary western and oriental performing arts, in collaboration with musicians, video-artists, film-makers, dancers, and experts in fields of science, including physics, anthropology, ethnology, and psychoanalysis." The ritual aspect is important. I assume the music from Lopez here is both a musical registration of what she does - a field recording of dancing - as well as maybe a soundtrack to one of her dances? Either way. The immediate surrounding aspect is because she moves around, obviously, which makes we hear lots of aspects of her dancing. Her feet on the floor, her dress moving about or a lengthy section using her voice, breathing heavily. Lopez creates lots of loops out of this, smaller and longer and quite usually plays a lot of those at the same time. He filters them radically, occasionally, and sometimes a few drop in or out of the mix, so that quite a vibrant mix remains. The effect of swirling remains present throughout and throughout there is always 'something to hear', but that's recently with most of the Lopez CDs. It moves from the quite low end range to the very high end range and everything in between. A fine work by Lopez, and maybe the most innovative element here is the choice of sound input." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, JAY-DEA |
The Australian Gothic |
CD |
"Long before the fact of Australia was ever confirmed by explorers and cartographers it had already been imagined as a grotesque space, a land peopled by monsters. The idea of its existence was disputed, was even heretical for a time, and with the advent of the transportation of convicts its darkness seemed confirmed. The Antipodes was a world of reversals, the dark subconscious of Britain. It was, for all intents and purposes, Gothic par excellence, the dungeon of the world.
Gerry Turcotte (Australian Gothic. University of Wollongong.1998).
The Australian Gothic : a creative genre emphasising the terrors of isolation in this post-colonial land. The Australian Gothic exposes a tormented communal psyche weighted by dark secrets.
Australia, a country colonised in 1788 by unwilling convicts and prison guards. For these unfortunates Australia was a nightmarish location, its foreign terrain provoked feelings of fear and alienation. Gone was the British gothic landscape of moors and heaths. In its place were dangerous animals, deserts, bush-fires, floods and droughts. The comfortability of the known European landscape was replaced by this new unstable setting.
Integral to the colonisers’ sense of dislocation and dread was the Australian soundscape. Reading journals and novels from this era it is evident that the aural dimensions of the Australian landscape were strongly perceived in gothic terms of enclosure and entrapment. The vastness of the deserts unsettled the first colonisers who remarked upon its deathlike silence, while in the forests the mass of unfamiliar sounds induced intense feelings of fear and disorientation. This sparked feelings of loathing towards the newly colonised space, including the Aboriginal people. In the Australian Gothic tradition the landscape sounded alive, it surrounded and entrapped with suffocating force.
Growing up in a region where Aboriginal artifacts from the pre-colonial era could readily be found under shallow soil the bloody layers of history have always sat uncomfortably with me. We live on stolen land, a place where immoral and bloody actions happened in the recent past. We have a sense of un-belonging to this country. It is part of the Australian Gothic experience.
With this in mind I collected field recordings in my local valley of Main Arm, a place like much of Australia, partly suburban, partly open for farming. I wanted to create a composition that featured field recordings, both modified and unmodified, of sounds from local farms. Could we imagine ourselves in the past, a time when the steady expansion of farms into traditional Aboriginal land was a primary source of frontier conflict?
Listening to the composition I hope a sense of unease and dread is provoked through its combination of sounds. Yet somewhere underneath its layers there is the suggestion of beauty, of what could have been. Listen and be transported into the fabric of Australia’s Gothic experience. (Jay-Dea Lopez, May 2015)" [website info]
www.unfathomless.net
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
| LOPEZ, SUSANA (AKA SUSAN DRONE) |
Cronica de un Secuestro |
CD |
"Elevator Bath is well pleased to present "Crónica de un secuestro," the proper debut album from multidisciplinary artist Susana López.
These compositions were created in March 2020, during the lockdown, as the artist understandably experienced feelings of isolation, of being cloistered against her will. Perhaps this explains the album's attention to space. The notions of movement and exploration pervade the early pieces on this epic collection. The expansive drone and panning rhythms of album opener, "Luz Negra," seem to create an infinite landscape, which seamlessly continues through the title track and all the way to the pure field recordings at work in "Ibn Arabi." The walls begin to close in as "Crónica de un secuestro" progresses, however, culminating with the claustrophobia of closing track, "The Last Wave." The sonic openness is still present, yet the unrelenting, ominous tones remind us of our modern predicament: We are still confined; held as if kidnapped.
For the creation of "Crónica de un secuestro," Susana López's primary raw materials were transformed field recordings, humanized synthesizers, synthesized voices, and deconstructed drum machines. This work explores the effects that the combination of these disparate sources can produce in the listener; López's interest lies in the building of immersive experiences. The sounds found within "Crónica de un secuestro" then aim to act as a catalyst for the focusing of consciousness (and the altering of perception). The end result belongs to a kind of magical realism, potentially allowing the listener to escape into a new dimension.
Susana López is an experimental composer, visual artist, and performer based in Murcia, Spain." [label info]
https://susanloop.bandcamp.com/album/cr-nica-de-un-secuestro
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
The Edge of the Circle |
CD |
Packaged inside a full-color, 6-panel digipak featuring spot gloss printing and Susana López's mysterious artwork
Susana López returns to Elevator Bath with the follow-up to her critically acclaimed album, "Crónica de un secuestro" (2020). That release showcased López's refined approach to audio exploration, which predominantly utilizes field recordings, electronically generated sounds, and layers of vocal harmonics. With "The Edge of the Circle," similar techniques have been employed, but the final product is an altogether more ominous affair, relying heavily on atmosphere in the creation of dense clouds of hypnotic, foreboding sound.
"The Edge of the Circle" portrays a kind of abstract narrative that comprises five concentric rings rather than chapters. The work suggests an initial departure along an open road; a tumultuous journey through an intense storm; a trek along a menacing footpath; a wilderness populated by wandering spirits; and finally, a majestic, enormous hall in which those spirits dwell.
With this new work, Susana López has created a vividly expressive sound cycle redolent of mythic archetypes and rich symbolism. Above all, however, "The Edge of the Circle" is a highly compelling piece of dark ambient artistry and a welcome return for a fascinating, singular composer in peak form.
Susana López is an experimental composer, visual artist, and performer based in Murcia, Spain.
"The Edge of the Circle" is released digitally and as a compact disc in an edition of 200 copies. Susana López's intricate and evocative artwork (inspired by a cosmological diagram of Ibn Arabi (1165-1240): Murcian philosopher, poet, traveler, and wise man) graces the six-panel digipak, inside and out.
"Sound creations that explore the cycle of human birth, growth, and death. Oeuvre that thinks over the transitional point between being and non-being, or the line that split the organic and the inorganic. A sonic meditation about the substance that is co-existent in the universe with time and space instead of existing within them. These sonorities burrow the psyche’s inner depths and are slowly going down inwards of the organic structure, traveling unto the formless void preceding the creation or the Nothingness."
https://susanloop.bandcamp.com/album/the-edge-of-the-circle
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| LOS ANGELES FREE MUSIC SOCIETY (L.A.F.M.S.) |
35 S. Raymond Avenue |
LP |
"One afternoon in 1975, friend and fellow music traveler, Harold Schroeder, showed up at Poo-Bath Record Shop where Tom Recchion worked selling records and experimental music to people, forcing them to buy albums that he swore would change their lives. Harold asked if Tom wanted to share in a studio space close to the shop. After seeing it Tom Recchion immediately said “YES!”.
They moved in and divided the space in half. On Tom’s half he made drawings, paintings, performances, video, sculptures, installations and music. Harold had his all set up for music with his newly acquired Steiner-Parker synth and guitars and things. At the beginning they played under the name “The Two Who Do Duets”. Soon the late night jam sessions that took place in the back of Poo-Bath moved over to the 4th floor of 35 South Raymond. It was pretty beat up and derelict, the way one imagines an artists’ studio to look. They could make all the noise they wanted. No one else was on their floor.
The music heard on this LP has remained unheard since it was recorded and was created just before and right after the inaugural concert by the LAFMS groups Le Forte Four, Doo-Doettes and Ace & Duce. This concert took place in late January 1976.
The sessions on this release feature members of the newly formed and expanded Doo-Doettes, which now included Dennis Duck, Juan Gomez, Harold Schroeder and Tom Recchion, as well as Ju Suk Reet Meate from Smegma and Ace, of Ace & Duce.
35 S Raymond eventually became a sort of LAFMS headquarter, with Chip Chapman of Le Forte Four, artist and future Extended Organ vocalist/guitarist Paul McCarthy, and soon to become singer for Nervous Gender, punk/folk artist Phranc, who along with many other artists and musicians, moved into the building. 35 S Raymond allowed for free expression and explorations of all sort. Some wild parties ensued, not to mention the luxury of endless hours of experimentation. Parking was free and so was the art and music.
Ace found the tapes for side one (“Tom’s Studio”) in his archive and Ju Suk Reet Meate found the tapes for side two (“50 of Every American Are Machines”) and edited them both for this release. No overdubs or remixing was employed.
Edition of 200 copies presented in luxury gatefold sleeve."
|
2018 |
€25.00 |
|
| LOSCIL |
Submers |
do-LP |
"Submers is the second album from the Vancouver-based Scott Morgan aka Loscil. All of the tracks are named after submarines, the final cut being a requiem for the crew of the ill fated Russian nuclear vessel Kursk. Recorded at home on computer with samples and keyboards used as sound sources, Submers is rife with source less echoes, steely surfaces and ominous melodic and rhythmic undertows. The sifted melodies are layered over muffled, clicking and pulsing rhythm tracks with an appropriately aquatic feel to the entire album." [press release]
"Peruse the ether for reviews of this album, and surely you will see writers invoking oceans and blue depths. After all, a collection whose tracks are odes to submarines straightforwardly invites such imagery. But come to think of it philosophically, submarines are also spaceships. While engaging this work I always remember a line by Poet Malena Morling. It went something like, “I always wonder about space, how it never ends.” I believe Submers comprehends “endless space” as much as it probes “oceanic depth.”
This album, and Loscil’s work, in general, has a oneiric quality, in that Mr. Morgan helps you traverse vast spaces while remaining still. The songs are impeccably organized bouquets of circulating, oscillating, chattering, hissing, placating, and agitating layers of audible vibrations, that pool, and loop together slowly, only to (slowly) wind down and die out. To one’s amusement and dismay, Submers is primarily created by complex organizations of filtered and manipulated samples from the western classical universe.
In the feel of these tracks, there is a lingering want for something intangible and more extensive than ourselves as I am propelled into the unknown unknowns by Argonaut I, and Gymnote. The space hums with deep bass. The timbre is beautifully unique and hard to find in vinyl pressings of electronic work. These two tracks could represent the last flickering lights of a submarine shining on a giant skeleton as the sailors plummet into depths that haven’t seen the light in a million years. These tracks could also represent a voyage into luminous fractal formations of constellations in uncharted galaxies.
Speaking of which, I often felt Loscil’s work has a fractal quality where same patterns repeat to infinite depths. For example, in Nautilus the beat design is enveloped by an aura of low-frequency sounds interspersed by uncanny flutes. The tracks take us to a state where everything seems vast; after all, it could also be as if we have become tiny insects looking at the magnified world with the wonder of space travel.
I find myself walking towards Loscil’s LPs in many improvisatory and premeditated mix sets. I especially love the track Resurgam, as the melodic movements could be easily harmonized and improvised with the beauty of an evening Raga like Yaman Kalyan. In the mix Rain of Rivers (@ Queitcalm Records) I especially enjoyed playing Resurgam as an accentuated bridge between Deru’s soulfully sad 1979 and the eerily beautiful melodic journeys of Everything (by Ben Lukas Boysen and Sebastian Plano). In “My Immaculate Morsels of Sadness” I could not help but allow Submers to arrive twice in the form of Triton and Gymnote, so as to converse and juxtapose with the dramatic compositional elements of Robot Koch and Cinematic Orchestra.
If you chance upon this work, be prepared to travel, inside and out, submerged, looking through a periscope or a telescope. Perhaps someday Loscil will have an album meditating on spaceships, but until then this is it." [Drastic Steps]
https://loscil.bandcamp.com/album/submers
|
2018 |
€32.50 |
|
| LOVESLIESCRUSHING |
Xuvetyn |
CD |
INK19: “Xuvetyn is glorious from start to finish, very much in a loveless-era My Bloody Valentine-gone-ethereal vein. Genius. This is some of the most amazing music ever to come off four tracks. Loveliescrushing’s music is soaked in shimmering, fuzzy, noisy brilliance. Beautiful female vocals waft through the hazy, swirling fog of layered feedback-drenched, processed guitars. This is ethereal lo-fi at its finest”
"VEILS OF GORGEOUS GUITAR WASH AND ANGELIC GOSSAMERY VOICE. BEAUTIFUL AND GRANDIOSE ORCHESTRAL SUBTLETY AND CHILDLIKE NAIVETE, BILLOWY, FUR-LINED, MILKY SOFTNESS TO A BLASTING METALLIC ROAR. 75 MINUTES OF SPACEY DRUMLESS IRIDESCENT TEXTURES AND ATMOSPHERIC SOUNDSCAPES.
MELISSA’S VOCALS ARE GLASSY SHIMMERING AND EVANESCENT LIKE SNOWFLAKES MELTING IN YOUR HAND. SCOTT’S INFAMOUS GUITAR DAMAGE CONJURES IMAGES OF AN AURORA’S PHANTASMAGORIC MAJESTY OR A JET ENGINE’S INTENSITY. GUITAR AND VOICES SCULPTED, MANIPULATED AND PROCESSED INTO BEAUTIFUL NOISE. ANOTHER GEM OF LO-FI BRILLIANCE GLEANED FROM A 4-TRACK." [label info?]
|
1996 |
€14.50 |
|
| LOWE, ROBERT AIKI AUBREY |
Levitation Praxis Pt. 4 |
LP |
"Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe’s incredible experiments with Harry Bertoia’s sound sculptures are here documented on this beautiful new edition for Demdike Stare’s DDS imprint, coinciding with his appearance on the cover of this months issue of The Wire magazine.
Lowe is something of a polymath; having started out as part of Math Rock outfit 90 day men and doom metal trio Om, he progressed to forge his own solo work (often under the Lichens moniker), as well as a whole slew of collaborations including work with Johann Johannsson on scoring both Arrival and Sicario, an acclaimed album with Ariel Kalma for RVNG Intl’s FRKWYS series, plus active involvement in site specific video art and sound installations. His most recent work under his own name has seen him release diverse music for Type, Latency, More Than Human and, of course DDS - who have with this album presented what might just be the most beautiful Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe artefact thus far.
In 2016 Lowe was commissioned by New York’s museum of Arts and Design to contribute to a Harry Bertoia exhibition, which he undertook alongside video director Johann Rashid. He was asked to create sound recordings with Sonambient sculptures; metal rods and gongs that produce highly distinct, resonant sounds when struck, brushed or touched. Beginning in 1968, Bertoia set up an eighteenth-century stone barn on his property in Barto, Pennsylvania, to house these sculptures and from which he would go on to record works for his highly collectable Sonambient label, as recently documented on Important Records’ breathtaking box set and reissue series. Lowe was given full access to the barn, beautifully filmed footage of which can be found on youtube.
Lowe’s work with these sculptures is quite unlike anything you might have heard from those original Bertoia recordings. Instead of serendipitous improvisation, Lowe weaves his way through the sculptures on a path that was mapped out in advance, imbuing them with a more “composed” and arranged feel. As well as that familiar and distinct sound palette, he subtly manipulates and feeds in vocal layers that take proceedings into ever more ethereal and haunting dimensions." [label info]
"Lowe is something of a polymath. Having started out in the math rock outfit 90 Day Men and later as member of doom metal trio Om, he progressed to forge his own solo work for celestial droneworks (occasionally under the moniker Lichens). He also embarked on a number of fruitful collaborations with Johann Johannsson and Ariel Kalma. His solo work also involves site-specific video art and sound installations.
In 2016, Lowe was commissioned by New York's Museum of Arts and Design to contribute to a Harry Bertoia retrospective. He was asked to create sound recordings with Bertoia's Sonambient sculptures – metal rods and gongs that produce highly distinct, resonant sounds when struck, brushed or touched. In 1968, Bertoia set up a studio in an eighteenth-century stone barn on his property in Pennsylvania to house these sculptures. With these sculptures, he would go on to record works for his collectable Sonambient label, as recently documented on Important Records' breathtaking box set and reissue series. Lowe was given full access to the barn, and Lowe's work with these sculptures is quite unlike anything you might have heard from those original Bertoia recordings. Instead of serendipitous improvisation, Lowe weaves his way through the sculptures on a path that was mapped out in advance, imbuing them with a more "composed" and arranged feel. As well as that familiar and distinct sound palette, he subtly manipulates and feeds in vocal layers that take proceedings into ever more ethereal and haunting dimensions." [Stranded Rec.]
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| LT. CARAMEL |
Early tape works |
do-CD |
"Pierre Blanchard aka Felipe Caramelos, der 1961 geborene Bäckersohn aus Annecy, und sein Projekt LIEUTENANT CARAMEL ist ein schönes Beispiel für einen Elektroakustiker, der trotz der Anerkennung, die er auch im Establishment der Geräuschkunst fand, seinen Reiz und seine Glaubwürdigkeit als Artiste maudit im Patchwork der Minderheiten nicht verlor. Early Tape Works (mv08, 2 x CD) greift zurück in seine Kassettentäterjahre und versammelt als ‚Après les horreurs...‘ und ‚Suit naturellement la beauté‘ Stoff, der ursprünglich bei den Tapelabels Audiofile (L‘Odyssee Du Lieutenant Caramel, 1985), SPH (Et Ca Vole!, 1993), Acteon (Du Plomp plein les siles, 1985, Je ne veux plus voir le ciel, 1988) und Old Europe Cafe (Les Bonnes archives du Dimanche, 1986) erschienen war. Die beiden Halbzeilen des Titels scheinen eine direkte Umkehrung von Rilkes Zeilen aus der Ersten Duineser Elegie zu sein: Denn das Schöne ist nichts / als des Schrecklichen Anfang, [den wir noch grade ertragen, / und wir bewundern es so, weil es gelassen verschmäht, / uns zu zerstören. Ein jeder Engel ist schrecklich.] Überhaupt scheut Blanchard nicht vor literarischen und philosophischen Bezügen zurück, stellte sich schon als Kurator des Festivals Bruit de la Neige in die Tradition Russolos und der Dadaisten, zitiert Debord, wenn er Russisches Roulette den Spektakeln des Kapitalismus vorzieht, und wenn er auf die unheilbare Freiheit ohne Gott pocht, schwingt darin das Ni Dieu ni maître sowohl des Anarchisten Auguste Blanqui wie auch des Chansoniers Leo Ferrer mit. Bereits in den 80ern inszenierte er als Ministrant der unheiligen Dreifaltigkeit Lautreamont - Jary - Breton sein Cinema pour l‘oreille als Theater der Seltsamkeit, aus Lärm- und Stimmfetzen surreal collagiert und geloopt. Hier bietet es sich dem Zahn der Zeit als harte Nuss." [Bad Alchemy]
"Lieutenant Caramel is the musician and film director at the same time, he shoot movies for ears with microphone. The continuous search for poetic images, frantic interchange of subjects, twisted and broken mosaic of fuzzy elements, the breathtaking incoherence of perception, the mark of primitive life, the total absence of organization and rational thoughts. All this breathes, moves, obtains the voice and gradually becomes meaningful. Theatrical view of musique concrète, humorous and surrealistic collection of masterpieces recorded in the ten years. Release date is 30th December 2006. Limited edition of 500 copies in jewelcase" [label info]
www.monochromevision.ru
|
2006 |
€16.50 |
|
| LUASA RAELON |
The Poison City |
CD |
Willkommen unter Tage. Extrem hallender, donnernder, metallisch sirrender Kontemplativ-Ambient, tausend Echos von analog-elektronische Sounds, aber auch elegische Synths sind auszumachen... doom-drone Industrial aus US.
“Welcome to the poison city. A place where nuclear radiations colour the sky with green clouds, mutating vegetation suffocates the
sun and asphyxiating miasms coming from abandoned toxic wastes endanger life.........
LUASA RAELON is definitely one of the most interesting realities of US dark ambient/death industrial scene, combining low-rumbling
drones with extemporaneous noise bursts to create a pretty personal & recognizable sound. This poison city IS a terrible place, trust me..” [label info]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| LUCIER, ALVIN |
I am sitting in a Room |
CD |
"In this fascinating exploration of acoustical phenomena, Alvin Lucier slips from the domain of language to that of music in the course of 40 minutes and 32 repetitions of a simple paragraph of text. In I am sitting in a Room, several sentences of recorded speech are simultaneously played back into a Room and re-recorded there many times. As the repetitive process continues, those sounds common to the original spoken statement and those implied by the structural dimensions of the Room are reinforced. The others are gradually eliminated. The space acts as a filter; the speech is transformed into pure sound. All the recorded segments are spliced together in the order in which they were made and constitute the work. I am sitting in a Room was composed in 1970 and was first performed at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City that same year. A second version was made in 1972 to accompany the dance, Dune, performed by the Viola Farber Dance Company at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Since that time, numerous versions of this composition have been realized in various ways by other musicians, including a Swedish radio broadcast version. This recording was made by Alvin Lucier on October 29th and 31st, 1980, in the living Room of his home in Middletown, CT. The material was recorded on a Nagra tape recorder with an Electro-Voice 635 dynamic microphone and played back on one channel of a Revox A77 tape recorder, Dynaco amplifier and a KLH Model Six loudspeaker. It consists of thirty-two generations of Alvin Lucier's speech and was made expressly for Lovely Music, Ltd." [label notes]
www.lovely.com |
1990 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Music on a long thin wire |
CD |
Bei diesen Aufnahmen von 1979 erzeugte der kreative Konzept-Minimalist ALVIN LUCIER stehende Sounds mit einem langen, aufgespannten Metalldraht, einem Elektromagneten und einem audio oscillator (genaue Beschreibung im Booklet), Die Sounds entwickeln sich in unvorhersagbarer Weise und sind reich an Obertönen und Feedbacks..
“A 50-foot length of taut wire passes through the poles of a large magnet and is driven by an oscillator; the vibrations of the wire are miked at either end, amplified and broadcast in stereo. The thin wire is set vibrating four times at four different frequencies; what results is not the low drone one might expect from a long, vibrating wire, but a complexity of evocative, ethereal chords. First released on Lovely Music in 1980, Music on a Long Thin Wire is a classic example of Alvin Lucier's investigations into the physics of sound and the sonic properties of natural processes.” [label notes]
www.lovely.com
|
1992 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Crossings |
CD |
"1990 CD reissue of prime-era Lucier product, with works from 1982-85. Features 'In Memoriam Jon Higgins (for clarinet in A and slow-sweep pure wave oscillator)', 'Septet for Three Winds, Four Strings and Pure Wave Oscillator', and 'Crossings (for small orchestra with slow-sweep pure wave oscillator)'. Said slow-sweep pure wave oscillator produces slowly swept pure waves that oscillate (on separate occasions) a clarinet, three winds and four strings, and a small orchestra. Maximum beat frequency heterodyning, often at an audible pitch. Similar acoustic phenomena as Tony Conrad/Penderecki string work and just as aurally stimulating (for those with lazy ear-ciliae)." [Hrvatski]
www.lovely.com
|
1990 |
€13.00 |
|
| LULL |
Moments |
do-LP |
Isolationist, minimal, alienating Drone / Dark Ambient from Mick Harris (SCORN, FRET, ex-NAPALM DEATH). Staggeringly beautiful, glacial sub-bass sounds, deep ambient and thunderous tones, with subtle shifts. Originally released as a 99-track continuous CD in 1998 (Relapse), now presented on vinyl for the first time, "Moments" is expanded to 100 cuts, with bonus material from the original recording sessions.
"Tectonic rumblings and icy sound slivers move and swirl around each other, slipping into spaces between the molecules which make up your physical body and then break it apart in preparation for rearrangement. Moments of expansive emptiness and claustrophobic terror overlap one another and then overcome your mind as you journey through this bleak void of sound. At one moment warm and organic, the next, slowly slipping into a machine-like coldness to freeze and paralyze... Sound as a vehicle to bring you through that doorway towards dimensions previously unknown. Hypnotic and soothing with a lingering sense of dread throughout" (Carrion Kind).
File next to Lustmord, Sleep Research Facility, Thomas Köner.
Double LP in a textured gatefold sleeve.
Ltd x 500 copies on 180gm brown vinyl.
Ltd x 250 copies on 180gm black vinyl.
Created and mixed by Mick Harris in the Box, January 1998
Edited and mastered by Bill Yurkiewicz and Dave Shirk at Sonorous Mastering, Inc., February 1998
Vinyl mastering for Cold Spring by Martin Bowes
Artwork by Abby Helasdottir
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/moments-csr295lp
"The other new release is a re-issue. 'Moments' was already on CD in 1998, and while it was one long piece of music, the CD had 99 index points for your random pleasure. There are 100 (99 is the maximum for CDs), but how do you randomly play these from vinyl? I have yet to work out. I reviewed the CD back in Vital Weekly 140. Lull is Mick Harris, once of Napalm Death, later of Scorn. Lull was (is?) his deep ambient project. At the end of the century, we called this Isolationist music, which may have had various shapes, but Lull certainly was at the deep end of it all. His music was all about filtering out as many mid to high frequencies he could get away with and then giving the low bass end a few twirls, so there would be sufficient variation at work. With this approach, Harris had things very well under control. You could play this music at a shock and awe volume, inducing
earthquakes; I didn't do that, as I enjoy this on a moderate volume. Now, your room/space fills up with these low-end rumblings, and it becomes a more natural part of your environment. The variation within these small pieces is more than I remember from the CD version, usually lasting thirty seconds to a minute, with exceptions well below or above that. I am not convinced that vinyl is the best sound carrier for such low-end music. Perhaps, the CD format is more suited for such an experience, I thought. But this one surely is one of them when it comes to classic moments (pun intended) of historic isolationist music." (FdW) |
2021 |
€29.50 |
|
| LULL & BETA CLOUD & ANDREW LILES |
Circadian Rhythm Disturbance Reconfigured |
CD |
"From England to the United States and back again... it all started as a simple drone project between LULL (aka Mick Harris of SCORN, ex-NAPALM DEATH), and BETA CLOUD (aka Carl Pace), based on the concept of how insomnia can effect your thought patterns. Billows of powerful bass drones set to indistinct flourishes of temporary insanity, it was released as a limited 3" CD in 2008. Now proudly presented in a deluxe digipak edition on cold spring, the original track is there, but also included is a fierce remix track by none other than legendary sound artist Andrew Liles (NURSE WITH WOUND), with stunning new packaging and artwork. Fans of Lull and Beta Cloud will really sink their teeth into this one; what Liles has created here is not a simple remix but a raging, deconstruction as only he can do. A captivating listen for dark ambient and harsh noise fans alike." [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| LUMINOUS |
Links |
CD |
Neues Drone-Projekt aus UK - amorphe & transzendentale Klang-Figurationen, fliessend & zeitlos..... to discover !
"After a decade of activity, the first official CD by Tim Chaplin's electronic/experimental project Luminous. Links consists of two thirty minute pieces. For fans of drone, dark ambience and experimentalism. All CDs are housed in red clam shell cases and feature on body artwork by Thumbprint Press's WT Nelson." [myspace]
"Time for some sub-aquatic bubbling abstract electronics and dark ambient sound worlds from Links. 'Luminous' Two 30 minute tracks take you on a sonic journey and really give you the sense that your lost in a different space and time, like floating around in some liquid metal dreamscape. With the sound of drones creating a feeling of amnesia. Very absorbing stuff. I'd like to listen to this whilst locked in a cupboard and become a total void. Housed in a red clamshell case on Tara Records." [Norman Records review]
www.myspace.com/timchaplinluminous
|
2008 |
€13.50 |
|
| LUNAR ABYSS + OGNI VIDENIJ |
Mohalociya Eroja |
CD-R |
"Continuation of the series of collaboration live recordings. This disk presents a fragment of a pu-erh session in Zanza-room on the night of December 13th, 2014 with minimal editing, in one track. The sonic flow is formed mainly of analogue modulations with hybrid processing and flavoured with strings, winds and voice. On a winter night with a teapot of pu-erh we remembered everything about mosses and lichens, night swamp fogs and former trips, and made the wishes for the future, twisting potentiometers to the beat of thoughts. String drones and bell chimes turn into atomized analogue crackles and rustles, sometimes pink noise and timbral waves blend in multi-layered cocoon of moss. Recommended to listen on wideband audio systems as well as in earphones, and if there's a chance to use both at the same time - surely use both simultaneously. The disc is packed in a cardboard sleeve with a hand-made stamp, each copy is numbered." [label info]
|
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| LUNAR ABYSS DEUS ORGANUM |
Brusnika (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
„....Die slawisch-melancholische Seele feiert auf dem roten Vinyl von "Brusnika" wahre Feste der Schwermut und neben den organischen Ethno-Drones basieren einige Sounds auf alten baltischen Schlafliedern. LUNAR ABYSS klingen für mich neben REUTOFF am typischsten für das große Land und ich mag diese Russen, die aus nur wenigen Zutaten eine absolut fesselnde Atmosphäre zu schaffen wissen und sich dies selbst noch nicht einmal bewußt sind - einfach großartig!“ [Marco Fiebag, BLACK]
“LUNAR ABYSS (ext.) is the child of Evgueny Savenko from St. Petersburg who did some excellent releases (Vinyl, CDR, CD) over the past years with his own peculiar touch of doing this hypnotic-ethno-ambient industrial music mostly under the name LUNAR ABYSS QUARTET. This very first 7 EP for L.A.D.O. is a pure aural-shamanistic-journey where heard and felt are Earths elements and life itself such as fire, voice-murmurs, strange animals noises, winds force and whistles, the enchanting voice of a woman singing, various softly looped voices are perceptible throughout this sound journey. All these natural sound-ingredients are merged into a deeply etched vibrating rhythm of raw and deepest rumbling analogue sounds. These are the kind of electro-acoustic drone-pieces that breathes spiritual strength and build shamanistic atmospheres full of intensity. Each cover is hand-painted with very colourful Mandala-like forms!!! Filed under: ethno-organic otherworld-drones RED VINYL. COLOURFUL HANDPAINTED COVERS, EACH ONE UNIQUE!” [press release]
|
2005 |
€6.50 |
|
|
Tsagan |
CD-R |
"Tsagan (Tibetian) - white, clear, bright. Lullaby and bathing songs decorated by drones and pipes, bells, breath of dawn, drops of lead, voice and guitar loops, mouth harps, theremin and forestal rustles. Everything sounds a bit alike "Brusnika" 7" but with more varied sound. Also took part in this recording: Tanya Svaha, 6sun, GoRa, Neznamo, and others... Packed in cardboard sleeve with coloured photos." [press-release]
|
2010 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Uzor |
CD |
"The third "real" CD by LADO combines tracks recorded in 2002-2004 and due to various circumstances initially spread over various compilations and EPs ("Heilige Feuer III", "Thalamus II", "Holy Mother Russia", "Listopad Vot On", "Brusnika"). Now the circle is closed and this CD represents the pieces almost in the same order as they were created. The album reflects a certain period of creativity and especially author's interest in proto-Eurasian cultures. Sounds like the best album of the project, although it is a kaleidoscope, creating a new pattern for the hearing. The compositions are created from acoustic and electronic structures, drum and noise loops, voice samples, scientific & journalistic recordings and deep wave drones." [label info]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Atanimonni Aitnatsbus |
10inch |
"Behind LUNAR ABYSS DEUS ORGANUM (= also known as LUNAR ABYSS QUARTET or just LUNAR ABYSS) we find Russian artist EVGENY [Biosonar] SAVENKO from the vivid St. Petersburg experimental & post-industrial scene. Since more than a decade he's producing a unique style of music combining elements of droning ambient industrial, traditional folklore and electronic, tribal/trancy psychedelism, adding pure sound-experiments often based on field recordings. A strong DIY-attitude (self-released albums usually have handmade covers with ornamental drawings & paintings) is connected with a shamanistic and pan-religious philosophy. Meditation, Trance, the wish to explore the own unconscious areas by ecstatic experiences and a deep connection with nature are his main characteristics.
The two pieces "Atanimonni" and "Aitnatsbus" were especially recorded for our 10"-series and give a wonderful example of the typical L.A.D.O.-style: two long tracks (total 23+ min.) of stunning multi-layered compositions, using lots of detail-sounds from domestic and wild animals, mountain winds and brooks, forest shelters and a destroyed missile garrison, soviet analog synths, north saami female voices / singings, subtle (neo) classic harmonies, bells & gongs... hyper-dense & fluid at the same time! Both tracks end up in endless grooves (water & fire) to symbolize the connection to timeless energies. Lim. 500 with artwork by ARTYOM OSTAPCHUK (KRYPTOGEN RUNDFUNK / ZHELEZOBETON label), comes on sky-blue, crystal & white mixed vinyl.
"Recordings of field recordind sounds were made in the summer of 2009 in the Carpathian mountains and the land of lakes in Karelia, during a miraculous journey, full of joyful inspiration. Party of analog synthesizers recorded by sound-poet Lesnaya Pogan during a cold winter 2010 in Moscow." [Evgeny Savenko]
[label info]
www.substantia-innominata.de
"lunar abyss deus organum hat mit „brusnika“ auf der dr-77 in der früheren 7“ serie von drone-records einen der teile herausgebracht, der mir von allen 100 beiträgen der serie am besten gefällt. nun ist das projekt mit „atanimonni / aitnatsbus“ als sub-16 auch auf der substantia innominata 10“ serie vertreten.
lunar abyss deus organum ist dabei alles andere als ein projekt, das auf lang durchlaufende schichtungen, melodiebögen oder ähnliches setzt oder im gegenzug (bearbeitete) fieldrecordings oder konkretere musikschnipsel in den eindeutigen vordergrund der arbeit stellt. im ersten eindruck sind viele der arbeiten von lunar abyss deus organum vielmehr eine zunächst undurchschaubare collage aus all diesen elementen; eine collage, die aber nie übervoll erscheint, der es sogar gelingt, trotz manchmal fast wie brüche wirkender betonungen nie die stimmung und atmosphäre zu gefährden und so drones aufzubauen, die durch fast überraschende wendungen immer wieder neue bilder aufbauen können.
auch „atanimonni“ folgt dieser tradition und wiegt die hörer dabei über sehr lange zeit in der trügerischen sicherheit, der schaukelnde, wellenartige bassdrone mit dem das stück auch beginnt, könnte, wenn schon nicht ewig, dann aber zumindest für die dauer der seite begleiter bleiben. und natürlich, gerade, wenn man vergessen hat, dass es jemals anders sein könnte, wachsen dessen rauere begleiter über sich selbst und den bassdrone hinaus, bauen eine geräuschhafte kakophonie auf, brechen wie urplötzlich ab und münden in einem nur ganz leise hörbaren, durch die rille auf analoge art geloopten wassersample. zumindest hier dann also das erhören derer, die sich eine derartige musik mit noch viel längeren laufzeiten wünschen...
„aitnatsbus“ geht, in gewissen sinne, einen umgekehrten weg: die geräuschhaften komponenten stehen hier zu beginn fast ganz frei (wenn auch nicht so laut wie kurz vor ende von „atanimonni“) und fangen sich erst allmählich über zunächst bassigen dann knurrenden drones und fast unhörbar schleicht sich eine weibliche stimme hinein, die, auf ähnlich verführerischer art wie schon auf der „brusnika“ 7“, einen schnipsel aus einer dieser typischen melancholischen osteuropäischen volksmusikmelodien immer und immer wieder wiederholt. perfekter dynamischer aufbau und eigentlich unmöglich erscheinender kontrast zwischen den wälzenden drones mit ihren geräuschhüllen und der sehnsuchtsvollen stimme. eigentlich. und am ende verweht nur noch der gesang und was bleibt ist das (wiederum analog geloopte) feuer..." [Hellmut Neidhardt / N]
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| LUNAR ABYSS DEUS ORGANUM VS. NEZNAMO |
Dendralepsya |
CD-R |
"Dendralepsya - ability to suddenly turn into a tree. Assume you're sitting home, having a dinner with relatives and all of a sudden you're all covered with branches, most often coniferous - this is it! This disk presents dendraleptic soundscapes, i.e. the sound you hear while being a tree. Dense shroud of tender drones, like a mist. Images and visions create light gaps between the trees. Delicate tuning of your heart chakra - melodic layers in ultimately remote background. Music for strain listening and recognizing. The sound is based on voices and live instruments, ocarina and pipes, but all drown in fog, in mist, in solute. Handmade cardboard sleeve." [press-release] |
2010 |
€10.00 |
|
| LUNDVALL, TOR |
The Park |
LP |
"In 2012, ambient composer Tor Lundvall and Dais Records presented his second instrumental masterpiece entitled The Shipyard (2006’s Empty City being the first). After its release and universal praise, Lundvall had confided that there was a third instrumental album nearing completion entitled The Park.
Fostering his natural habitat of the wooded landscapes of Eastern Long Island, Lundvall again set about capturing his portrait studies and composing a lurid and abstract soundtrack to accompany his source of inspiration.
In Tor’s own words…"I first thought about making an album about a quiet park during a morning walk back in the frigid February of 2011. Song titles started popping into my head long before any music was recorded. 'Symbols on Pavement' was the first title that came to me, but ended up being the last piece recorded.
Like most of my previous albums "The Park" follows a timeline, in this case, beginning on an early spring morning and ending on a late summer evening. The track sequence also maps out the shifting light and weather patterns during the course of a day. For the first time in years, I've incorporated field recordings into the music, other than the sounds recorded from outside my studio window. I carried my portable recorder with me during bike rides and walks through my favorite parks, recording birds, insects, lawnmowers, wood chippers, field games, and other less definable sounds.
Parks have always been my sanctuaries and my greatest sources of inspiration since childhood. Although this album is not focused on one park in particular, the music resonates strongly with memories of my favorite childhood park, The James A. McFaul Environmental Center in Wyckoff, New Jersey. The McFaul Center is a place of quiet beauty, but it is also filled with shadows and secrets, especially deep within the Nature Trail. The final track, 'Closes At Dusk', is an homage to the siren which shrieked every evening from behind the towering pines."
Limited to 300 vinyl editions (along with a free MP3 download coupon) with artwork by Tor Lundvall." [label info]
www.daisrecords.com
|
2015 |
€22.50 |
|
| |
There must be Someone |
5 x CD BOX |
Expanded and remastered versions of 3 vinyl-only albums by Tor Lundvall, and 2 out-of-print CD releases. For fans of Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Novo, Angelo Badalamenti, Boards of Canada, Grouper, Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill); Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode (circa-Violator), David Sylvian, early-O.M.D., Cocteau Twins. To commemorate the quarter century anniversary of Tor Lundvall's selfreleased debut, Passing Through Alone, Lundvall and Dais have joined forces for a fresh 5-CD box set of long out-of-print titles, vinyl-only releases, and unheard bonus tracks: There Must Be Someone. Spanning 33 years, the collection showcases the subtle but striking evolution of Lundvall's sound, from brisk autumnal synth-pop to desolate dark place devotionals to fragile winter moon meditations and beyond. What remains constant is his exquisite sense of mood and movement, qualities reflected in his iconic oil paintings of willowy figures amidst luminous, liminal landscapes. The box set begins with Passing Through Alone, Lundvall's first fulllength, issued in 1997 on his Eternal Autumn Editions imprint. Engineered, mixed, and co-produced by his brother Kurt, and sold primarily at Lundvall's gallery exhibitions, the album is an intriguing entryway to a world still dawning. Brooding and melancholic but distinctly more linear and melodic than later work, the songs flirt with the fringes of new romanticism, sketched in his signature palette of synth, sequencers, guitar, drum machines, and hushed, spectral voice. Next included is an expanded edition of the eclectic 2010 collection Ghost Years, an array of stray singles, alternate mixes, and compilation tracks dating between 1995 to 2020. It's bracingly varied but effectively immersive, showcasing Lundvall's sharpening gift for spatial dynamics and icy minimalism. The other three discs are inaugural CD editions of a trio of Dais vinyl titles from 2018 to 2021: A Strangeness In Motion (Early Pop Recordings 1989-1999); A Dark Place; and Beautiful Illusions. The first is an archival anthology of material predating his debut, bedroom synth-pop born of solitude and the supernatural, alternately anthemic, wounded, and windswept. The latter two are shadowy recent full-lengths capturing Lundvall at the height of his powers: refined, remote, revelatory. Reflecting back on this vast body of work is "strange and bittersweet," but Lundvall finds a common thread and hidden mission within its long and winding road: "The music is a journey through my desire and longing for inner peace, the elusive search for love and struggling to make sense of it all. It's a diary of passing through a life filled with illusions and disillusionment, often unchanging, but haunted by moments of beauty and magic that hint at the promise of a better world beyond this one."
https://torlundvall.bandcamp.com/album/there-must-be-someone
|
2023 |
€32.50 |
|
| LUSTER |
Abandon |
CD-R |
Early project by C. REIDER. Excellent surrealistic electronics & soundscapes with enough weird acoustic objects, everythings drowned in an atmosphere of strange- & alienness.... reminded us on some old ABNER MALATY works....
“An extremely eclecic collection of instrumental sound-works originally recorded to 4-track in the mid to early '90s, later resurrected, restructured, modified and altered to digital 8-track in late 1998. Kind of a "from the vault" release, this contains all the pieces that didn't make it to any "real" release, and other rare or previously unheard tracks updated and recontextualized. Considering its nature, it's actually one of the most coherent and flowing of all Vuzh Music releases. Goes from strange, electronic dance music to thick, very tense ambient / noise works, to percussive, imaginary tribal improvisation, to quaint, simple acoustic guitar pieces. Includes excellent collaborations with Eyelight, Kirchenkampf, Samarkand, and the first collaboration with caerie since the Unseelie Court.” [label description]
|
2003 |
€8.00 |
|
| LUSTMORD |
First Reformed |
do-LP |
"Lustmord is a Welsh electronic musician, composer and sound designer based in Los Angeles. Active since 1980 he has released a prolific body of work across various labels such as Touch, Hydra Head and Blackest Ever Black. Often credited for starting the dark ambient genre with his 'Heresy' album in 1990, Lustmord's music has been described as sweeping and profound, a vast dreamlike soundscape that utilises organic and real-world scenes as source material. Lustmord and Cargo Records are happy to announce the launch of Vaultworks. Originally an imprint intended to release short editions of live CDs at his live shows, it is now launched as a wider platform for his work in general. Kickstarting a planned series of new releases and reissues is the first time Vinyl and CD release of his soundtrack to Paul Schrader's 2017 film First Reformed, starring Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried and Cedric Kyles. The release features extended versions of the score formatted as a standalone album. The double vinyl edition includes an extra track "Venice" which was featured at the Venice Film Festival red carpet event. The CD edition has tracks formatted to crossfade into each other for a continuous listening experience." |
2019 |
€27.50 |
|
|
First Reformed |
CD |
Lustmord is a Welsh electronic musician, composer and sound designer based in Los Angeles. Active since 1980 he has released a prolific body of work across various labels such as Touch, Hydra Head and Blackest Ever Black. Often credited for starting the dark ambient genre with his 'Heresy' album in 1990, Lustmord's music has been described as sweeping and profound, a vast dreamlike soundscape that utilises organic and real-world scenes as source material. Lustmord and Cargo Records are happy to announce the launch of Vaultworks. Originally an imprint intended to release short editions of live CDs at his live shows, it is now launched as a wider platform for his work in general. Kickstarting a planned series of new releases and reissues is the first time Vinyl and CD release of his soundtrack to Paul Schrader's 2017 film First Reformed, starring Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried and Cedric Kyles. The release features extended versions of the score formatted as a standalone album. The double vinyl edition includes an extra track "Venice" which was featured at the Venice Film Festival red carpet event. The CD edition has tracks formatted to crossfade into each other for a continuous listening experience.
https://lustmord.bandcamp.com/album/first-reformed
|
2019 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Much Unseen is also here (col. vinyl) |
do-LP |
Der Dark-Ambient-Pionier, die stygische Drone-Legende und das fast schon mythische Wesen LUSTMORD durchstößt mit "Much Unseen Is Also Here" einmal mehr den Schleier - die neueste Solo-Veröffentlichung des Künstlers in einer beeindruckenden, 40-jährigen kreativen Karriere an der Spitze der Industrial-Musik. Auf Drängen von Cosey Fanni Tutti und Chris Carter von Throbbing Gristle, Musik zu machen, die seine unverwechselbare Aura einfängt, übernahm Brian Williams 1980 Lustmord und begann mit Sounds zu arbeiten, weil die Musik, die er hören wollte, einfach nicht existierte. Lustmord veröffentlichte 1989 sein drittes Album "Heresy", das zu einem Meilenstein in der Industrial-Szene wurde und heute allgemein als Ursprung des Dark-Ambient-Genres gilt. 35 Jahre später führt Much Unseen Is Also Here" das Vermächtnis von Heresy" fort und knüpft an dessen fesselnden Erzählbogen an. "Much Unseen Is Also Here" besteht aus drei verschiedenen Teilen und ist dazu gedacht, in einer einzigen, ununterbrochenen Durchgang angehört zu werden; es entführt den Hörer in eine kompromisslose Parallelwelt, die nur in der Musik existiert, bevor es ihn am Ende für immer verändert wieder hinauswirft. Lustmord, der seit 1994 in L.A. lebt, hat auch als Komponist und Sounddesigner an der Musik für ikonische Film- und Fernsehproduktionen mitgewirkt, darunter "The Crow", "Strange Days", "From Dusk Till Dawn", "Underworld" und in jüngerer Zeit die FX-Serien "Fear The Walking Dead" und "First Reformed"von "Taxi Driver"-Autor Paul Schrader aus dem Jahr 2017. Immer noch entschlossen, die Grenzen von Sound, Genre und Medien zu erweitern, hat Lustmord auch zu den Soundlandschaften von Videospielen wie Assassin's Creed, League of Legends und, passenderweise, dem von H.R. Geiger inspirierten Survival-Horror-Spiel Scorn von 2022 beigetragen. Other Woes Are Yet To Come Edition (single colored (pink) vinyl, ltd to 220 copies ww)
"Im Vorfeld der Veröffentlichung des neuen Abums von Brian Williams wurde ein Vergleich zu dem 1989 erschienenen Album „Heresy“ gezogen: „[Much Unseen Is Also Here“] continues the legacy established by ‘Heresy’ and echoes its enthralling narrative arc“. Das ist natürlich eine ziemliche Ansage, ist doch „Heresy“ der Höhepunkt der prädigitalen Ära Lustmords. Dabei trugen zur (mehr als berechtigten) Auratisierung des Werks sicher auch das apokalyptische das Cover zierende John Martin-Gemälde (das sich jeder Londonbesucher einmal in der Tate ansehen sollte) und vor allem auch die Aufnahmeorte bei: So hieß es doch auf der Rückseite, das Album „utilises subterranean location recordings originated within crypts, caverns, mines, deep shelters and catacombs together with meterial of a seismic and volcanic origin“. Diese Art des Aufnehmens ist lange vorbei und Brian Williams zeigte kurz noch auf seiner Instagramseite ein Bild seiner Soundbibliothek, das deutlich machte, dass für die nächsten Jahrzehnte mehr als genug zu bearbeitendes Material vorhanden ist.
In den letzten Jahren gab es das 2016 bei Touch veröffentlichte „Dark Matter“, ein überaus reduziertes Album, “70 Minuten tiefster Schwärzer“ aus den Tiefen des Alls, es erschien mit dem leider nur als Download verfügbaren „Trinity“ Williams’ Auseinandersetzung mit der Atombombe, es gab seinen Soundtrack zu Paul Schraders „First Reformed“ sowie die Kollaborationen mit Karin Park („Alter“) und mit dem Pianisten Nicolas Horvath (das recht atypische „The Fall“). Zuletzt konnte man ihn als Komponisten für das von den Bildern H. R. Gigers inspirierte Horroradventure “Scorn” erleben und hören, wie auf “The Others [Lustmord Deconstructed]” zahlreiche Künstler sich des Albums “[Other]” annahmen.
Verglichen mit „Dark Matter“ ist „Much Unseen Is Also Here“ wesentlich opulenter ausgefallen. Der Opener „Behold The Voice Of Thunder“ ist durchzogen von diesem so typischen tiefschwarzen Brummen, dunke, „donnernde“ Schläge sind zu hören. Dann entwickeln sich nach und nach melodische Passagen, die entfernt an Momente auf „The Monstrous Soul“ erinnern. Hier ist fortwährend die Antizipation der (Be-)Drohung, die dann kommen mag. Ein wenig erinnert mich das Ende des Stücks an Simon Boswells Score zu Richard Stanleys „Hardware“. „An Angel Dissected“ ist eine dunkel-melancholische Klage mit einem wellenartigen An- und Abschwellen, vielleicht in etwa so, als habe Williams Steven Stapletons Dronemeisterwerk „Salt Marie Celeste“ geremixt. Auf „A Shadow Cast Upon The Deep“ meint man, die dunklen Drones habe Williams aus Stimmen geschmiedet. „Invocation Of The Nameless One“ beginnt mit melodischen, an ein Blasinstrument erinnernen Sounds, auf „Their Souls Asunder“ meint man, dunkel singende Stimmen zu hören, die dem Stück einen fast sakralen Charakter geben. Die Sounds am Ende lassen dann an „Heresy“ denken. „Hence Shall They Be Devoured All Of Them“ wird mit Glockenläuten eingeleitet, dann klingt es so, als habe ein Cello als Soundquelle gedient. Schließlich lässt „Other Woes Are Yet To Come“ das Album mit einem mehr als wahren Titel enden.
Das ist vielleicht das melodischste Lustmord-Album seit langem. Wer aufgrund der Titelgebung und Covergestaltung mit dem aus Wayne Barlowes „Hell“-Serie stammenden Bild „Saragatanas Before The Behemoths“ meint, hier sei ein dunkler Metaphysiker am Werk, dem sei gesagt, dass im Innern des Albums eines der berühmtesten Zitate Epikurs zu finden ist, in dem das Epikureische Paradoxon formuliert wird, das die berühmte Frage nach dem Verhältnis von Güte und Allmächtigkeit von Göttern stellt. Auf einem vor etlichen Jahren erschienen Lustmord-T-Shirt hieß es dann auch passenderweise „The only good god is a dead god“." [MG/African Paper]
|
2024 |
€37.50 |
|
| LUSTMORD & VARIOUS ARTISTS |
The Others (LUSTMORD deconstructed) |
do-CD |
Over 13 years after the release of [ O T H E R ] , Pelagic Records has gathered 16 bands and solo artists to record their own unique takes on tracks from the Other-sessions. The result is an album that is more than a compilation, and more than the sum of its parts; covering a wide range of musical niches and directions, but sharing the same underlying mood and vibe defined by Lustmord's timeless soundscapes: from the ambient solo performances provided by IHSAHN, ENSLAVED or JONAS RENKSE to the subdued voice of ZOLA JESUS woven into Lustmord's sombre fabric to the industrial carnage that is GODFLESH's version of 'Ashen'.
What demonstrates the profound influence of Lustmord on this contemporary music underground showcased here is that artists from disparate ends of the sonic spectrum all feel inspired to explore the essence of his idiosyncratic sounds within their own realm: experimental electronica icons ULVER excel on a stunning, hazy rendition of ‘Godeater’, while Japanese post-rock act MONO deliver a crushing version of ‘Er Eb Os’, and THE OCEAN take us on a cathartically heavy mindtrip back to our 'Primal [State of Being]'. In the end, each of these 16 artists delivers an interpretation that pays the deepest respect to this pivotal artist, while also standing out as a new track of its own.
As Williams himself often puts it in interviews: “Copying someone you like with the right equipment isn’t going to be the least bit interesting. What matters is that you have good ideas and interesting things to say.” The Others (Lustmord Deconstructed) is not only a tribute and an excellent entry points into the discography of the founding father of dark ambient. It is also a celebration of the most accomplished visionaries in the underground music scene of today, and a manifestation of what binds them together—an undeniable devotion to attitude over ability and the courage to remain in the shadows and be The Other.
https://lustmord.bandcamp.com/album/the-others-lustmord-deconstructed
|
2022 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
The Others (LUSTMORD deconstructed) |
3 x LP |
Over 13 years after the release of [ O T H E R ] , Pelagic Records has gathered 16 bands and solo artists to record their own unique takes on tracks from the Other-sessions. The result is an album that is more than a compilation, and more than the sum of its parts; covering a wide range of musical niches and directions, but sharing the same underlying mood and vibe defined by Lustmord's timeless soundscapes: from the ambient solo performances provided by IHSAHN, ENSLAVED or JONAS RENKSE to the subdued voice of ZOLA JESUS woven into Lustmord's sombre fabric to the industrial carnage that is GODFLESH's version of 'Ashen'.
What demonstrates the profound influence of Lustmord on this contemporary music underground showcased here is that artists from disparate ends of the sonic spectrum all feel inspired to explore the essence of his idiosyncratic sounds within their own realm: experimental electronica icons ULVER excel on a stunning, hazy rendition of ‘Godeater’, while Japanese post-rock act MONO deliver a crushing version of ‘Er Eb Os’, and THE OCEAN take us on a cathartically heavy mindtrip back to our 'Primal [State of Being]'. In the end, each of these 16 artists delivers an interpretation that pays the deepest respect to this pivotal artist, while also standing out as a new track of its own.
As Williams himself often puts it in interviews: “Copying someone you like with the right equipment isn’t going to be the least bit interesting. What matters is that you have good ideas and interesting things to say.” The Others (Lustmord Deconstructed) is not only a tribute and an excellent entry points into the discography of the founding father of dark ambient. It is also a celebration of the most accomplished visionaries in the underground music scene of today, and a manifestation of what binds them together—an undeniable devotion to attitude over ability and the courage to remain in the shadows and be The Other.
https://lustmord.bandcamp.com/album/the-others-lustmord-deconstructed
|
2022 |
€52.00 |
|
| M.B. & SOSTRAH TINNITUS |
Peripherycal Minimaltronics |
CD |
"Peripherycal Minimaltronics is the collaborative project of MB (Maurizio Bianchi) and Sostrah Tinnitus, made up of fellow Italian ambient/experimental artist Mario Costa. This album is presented in its full ambient richness through both artists applying varied techniques from sources such as old electronics, magnetic tapes, electroloops and other obscure found and forgotten objects. Recorded in Goa, India, these 6 tracks reflect the vibrant biodiversity of flora and fauna of the place, all brought about by the complex electronic textures and treated sounds of piano sounds, chirping birds, fading footsteps and distant echoes." [label info]
https://4ibrecords.com/2018/06/04/mb-sostrah-tinnitus-peripherycal-minimaltronics-cd-out-now/
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| M.B. (MAURIZIO BIANCHI) |
Mectpyo - Blut |
do-LP |
"2LP in gatefold sleeve. Edition of 300 copies. At the beginning of the metabolic year 1980, after Maurizio Bianchi finished the embryonal experience as Sacher-Pelz, he decided to undertake the concrete-synchronized course as M.B., a long-lived acronym that will accompany him along his next way of neuro-synthetic experimenter. His first ever release was the private cassette-tape entitled 'Metcpyo-Blut'. An hematopoietic experiment decomposed during the months of March and beginning of April 1980 at Mectpyo Studio. Proposed here in its original layout, this 2LP set holds intact, at a distance of almost three decades, the epicentre of M.B. sonorous universe, projected towards an euphonic cacophony. 'Mectpyo-Blut' consists of two tragic sections imbued with synthetic chloroform: the 1st, 'Maidanek Bakterium-Musique Belzec', exhales an icy atmosphere conveying a sense of mystery and annihilation. The 2nd, 'Mutant Brain-Mord Banhof' assembled the most disparate electro-hypnotic levitation's into a vertical rationality, bold, morbid and haunting. Psychic-cerebral works, they seem to spring from a neuro-atomic continent, with unreal outlines, where its influence artificially expands the ankylotic tissues by environmental arthrosis. Edition limited to 300 copies in full colour gatefold sleeve, reproducing various graphic materials from the original cassette edition. Attention: this is the real thing, top powerful and modern in its integral length (and not a meaningless edited excerpt as other unexperienced labels in demand would have cheaply proposed you!)." [label info]
|
2010 |
€32.50 |
|
| |
Hibernum |
CD |
"Exclusive work by Italian noise legend Maurizio Bianchi.
A marginal division of the whole existence in four palpable seasons, marked by pestilential changes in emotional hemisphere.
At the end, the hibernating organisms organize a reproducing molecule of environmental for a silent "hybernum".
‘Hibernum’ contains 3 lengthy, slowly shifting atmospheres for private meditation.
Mastered by Siegmar Fricke for Pharmakustik
Photography by Gerald Wack
Design by Jan Van den Broeke." [label info]
www.eetapes.be
"Odd. That is, in one word, the career of Maurizio Bianchi. Its perhaps about time someone did a book on him, or a decent website. Apparently he is now for the second time in hibernation, releasing no longer new music, but sometimes I wonder to what extend he actually did release new music in the past years? The information on the covers is not always very clear either. Take this 'Hibernum'. It says: "devised and decodified between the years 1995-2022" on the outside, which seems a bit strange to me already, but on the insert we read 'frozen granularity treatments and mastering by Siegmar Fricke 2011'. Now the name Fricke popped up on a lot of the second coming releases of Bianchi, and its never really clear what his involvement is. Just mastering or is it also additional composing, or perhaps even more? Maybe that's why a book would be a great idea to clarify all of that. On 'Hibernum' we find three long tracks of chilling electronics, of which the first is 'Primaveram/Aestatem' quite a drone piece, and much of the second one also, but it ends in quite a chilling highly processed rumble of metallic sounds (the 'granularity treatments' I wondered, and for much of the music anyway I was thinking to what extends computers play an important role for Maurizio Bianchi in his second life?). The title piece sounds like a mass of humming frogs, which are slowly being eaten by a giant killer machine - more drone like again, a bit static, and like the first a bit over-long, before moving into a different cold field of electronics - as cold is indeed the keyword for not just this release, but for pretty much a lot of the music composed by Bianchi in the last thirty years, with or without the help of who-ever. Throughout 'Hibernum' was a bit long I thought but nevertheless one of his better works of recent years - actually like so many!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| M.B. / DEDALI |
Electro Tones |
CD |
""Elektro Tones" is a collaboration between M.B. / Maurizio Bianchi and DEDALI (Alessandro Bosello).
Italian legend M.B. / Maurizio Bianchi is one of the most important and influential artist of the Industrial / Experimental music scene.
M.B. has released a huge amount of recordings since his beginning in 1979 and has also collaborated with many important artists such as Merzbow, Saverio Evangelista (Esplendor Geometrico), Aube and many others.
Dedali / Alessandro Bosello makes deep atmospheric armaghedon music. He is the creator of the music for the three chapters of the infamous multimedia series "La Fin Du Monde".
He also runs the cult music label menstrualrecordings since 2005. Many seminal works by M.B. were released on the menstrualrecordings label and this is their first collaboration.
"Elekro Tones" took four years in the making and is one of the most evocative M.B. collaborations to date.
Ancient acoustic revelations mixed with visceral modulations offer without fear a pulsating spiral of ascending rational obsessions where neuro electrical impulses are dangerously pushed into unforgiving zones.
"An over abundance of electronic tones mixed with great care through selective and visceral modulations between acoustic applications and circumspect sandings. This is "Elektro Tones" album." [label info] |
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| M.B. / FRAG |
Psychation |
CD |
An overwhelming collaboration between the legendary Maurizio Bianchi and FRAG recorded in early 2020.
4ib Records.
MB & FRAG - Psychation ( 4IB Records )
"Any work of architecture that does not express serenity is a mistake."
LUIS BARRAGAN
What is serenity?
To some; serenity is a tranquil, sequestered, fulfilled state of existence. A wilful pause of the modern consumer existence that pollutes and perverts our lives. A cessation of the demands modernity forces so brutally upon our febrile short lives.
To others serenity exists within scripture, tomes and ritualistic expressions of the divine. The devout seek a glimpse of this divinity, through the serenity they seek whilst shackled to the cold clay of this mortal coil.
Stephen Burroughs is FRAG and FRAG is a project that has found serenity in the brutalist architecture of the Midlands of Britain. In seeking to express in sound; the collapse of the industrial heartlands of the United Kingdom he has created through his FRAG project; a collection of audio sculptures that evoke the concrete isolation of his claustrophobic environment.
FRAG is the soundtrack to a mankind that is alienated completely from the natural order of life. His compositions are not warm but cold, angular and granular. Huge slabs of desolate anguish that despite their sterile inhumanity pulse and seethe with submerged longing. The sound of FRAG is that of a lone human hand extending skywards from a collapsed building. That hand pointing accusingly, cursing the heavens for that fate that has befallen it. Beneath that dead mortar is humanity slowly expiring under the cold dead weight.
It is entirely logical that FRAG and Maurizio Bianchi would collaborate together. In his early Archeo years Mr Bianchi explored the themes of isolated consciousness in the industrialised environment. The stark truth of the industrial age was explored by MB as he sought his own solace to the decaying soulless hell that surrounded him. Alienated by the inhumanity of his existence he sought to hold a mirror up to the crushing weight that sought to crush any and all resistance to its dehumanizing nature. Whilst MB sought to escape this brutalism of the soul by seeking an eremite like existence within the works of faith, FRAG became the lone wolf operative working behind enemy lines to fight a rearguard war of attrition against this inhuman leviathan. Both MB & FRAG have and are fighting the same war, against the same foe , using the same weaponry; the medium of sound.
Psychation despite containing three lengthy tracks really needs to be listened to as a whole. Despite the tracks being individual entities with quite different atmosphere they are best appreciated as a thematic progression across the entire album. These tracks are constantly evolving and mutating pieces of angular geometry. A cascade of electronic shapes that fluctuate and shift in a metamorphosis of Musique Concrete tonal expressionism. At times the unrelenting nature of the album is just about to break your endurance before a snatch of melodic ambience breaks through the tumult and disarray.
Where Psychation differs from most 'noise' based albums is that it retains its granite density without descending into chaotic nonsensicality. Despite the at times abrasive incisive attack of sound it retains a sense of weight. Almost as if the sound is being layered as one would layer asphalt, layer after layer added and poured. Over and over again in ceaseless repetition. The sound of humanity as it is drowned beneath the post human neo liberal order. Psychation is the sound of humanity as it thrashes and drowns beneath the technologic order that it has birthed into being.
Psychation is a warning to us all. A warning of the world we will inherit if we forgo our humanity and spirituality. If we throw all caution to the wind and embrace the technologic future.
Psychation is a window into that world. The post serenity, post human world of concrete, zero & ones and mindless consumerism.
MB & FRAG are pointing at the inevitable conclusion of our existence if we as humans choose to venture any further.
[Kristian Carter]
M.B. - PSYCHELECTRONICS, SEGREGATED NOISES, NUCLEAR PICTURES.
FRAG - PSYCHELECTRONIC SURGERISM.
ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY - KRISTIAN R. CARTER.
https://tunnelsofh.bandcamp.com/album/psychation
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| MAATH |
No Survivors for the New World |
CD |
Endlose Dröhn-Felder, einsam und verlassen; heller schimmernde Zeitlupen-Pulsier-Nebel, die sanft klagen; MAATH steht für melancholisch-traurigen dark ambient mit Anklängen an APOPTOSE, RAISON D’ETRE, etc.. Debut-CD dieses italienischen Projekts und für Freunde des Genres definitiv zu empfehlen.
“Based upon the concept of coma, sleep and suspended animation, "No survivors for the new world" gently brings you through a dormant world, where dreams flow freely around you, leaving a coloured trace in the cold and dark void. Melodic dark ambient of the finest kind, and one of the most impressive debuts I've heard in a long long while.” [label info]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| MACHINEFABRIEK |
Daas |
CD |
"The tracks on "Daas" have been carefully picked to form a provoking, haunting journey. What the tracks have in common is a sense of nostalgic graininess. As with the music of Philip Jeck, The Caretaker or William Basinski, these tracks are full of degrading melodies and dusty ambience. 'Daas' is the previously unreleased opening track of the album, and features contributions by the great Richard Skelton. 'Flotter', 'Koploop' and 'Grom' were previously available on small run self released EPs, while 'Onkruid' was a track previously released on 'A Room Forever', as an expensive and extremely limited 12" boxset. All are now brought to a wider audience. Presented in a matt laminate digipak." [label info]
"Next album comes from a project that also saw the daylight in 2004 just like aforementioned from Fire In The Head, though this is one of the few things in common between those two projects. Expressively we move right to the opposite side of the sound spectre here. Machinefabriek is a Dutch project from the Rotterdam-based sound artist Rutger Zuydervelt. The composer began his sonic explorations as a young boy taking lessons in piano and guitar but after that he went to the Art Academy of Arnhem, probably giving him the artistic and abstract approach to composing. Machinefabriek's music combines elements of ambient, modern classical, drone, noise and field recordings. His latest album titled "Daas" is an excellent piece of experimental ambient. There is a trend in the ambient world to combine the sound of ambience with modern classical, but in many cases the two styles do not melt and therefore doesn't float as one whole. Machinefabriek manage to integrate the acoustic elements into the digital spheres with a hauntingly beautiful end-result. Everyone interested in ambient music should keep an eye on this one." [NM/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Ranonkel |
CD |
"After countless self-released 3" CD-Rs, here's the second more widely distributed full-length album by Holland's Rutger Zuydervelt presenting six tracks of post-industrial ambience. Zuydervelt works with live instruments, mostly piano and guitar, and intense computer processing to create gloomy instrumentals. This is Machinefabriek's real follow up to Marijn - which is now available on vinyl through Burning World Records. Zuydervelt on Ranonkel: "Ranonkel is the real follow up to Marijn. A bit more subtle and crystallized. And a little bit better of course in my opinion. The track "Zink" was released earlier as a 3-inch, but it fitted in so good with the rest of the tracks that I could not resist including it on Ranonkel." [label info]
www.burningworldrecords.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Veldwerk |
CD |
"Sublime drone music and field recordings by Rutger Zuydervelt. 'Slovensko I & II' are best seen as a travel diary, recorded in Slovakia. RZ made 'sound snapshots' with a small digital recorder. A major influence both while recording and assembling the tracks was Chinese sound artist Yan Jun. 'Rusland' is a sound collage comprising field recordings and sections of live performances made in Russia. An incredible adventure and culture shock with long train journeys, bizarre venues and amazing people. 'The Breaking Water' can be heard as a sonic portrait of Rotterdam's famous Erasmus bridge. It includes recordings taken from both on and beneath the bridge, along with further sounds from the river that it crosses, the Nieuwe Maas. 'Floor & Radio' is a contrast to the outdoor pieces recorded for the the installation 'Licthung' in Radolfzell, Germany. Contrasted against the outdoor silence was the squeaking floor in the guest house and the distorted signal and static from the radio. Sometimes there's music in everything. Makino Takashi asked RZ to perform a score for his film 'In Your Star'. After a screening in Tokyo, a studio version was recorded. The result is 'Apollo', a sonic journey to space and beyond. Digipak." [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
" 'Field work' is the translation of this 'new' CD by Machinefabriek. It has pieces of music that deal, one way or another, with field recordings from various travels Machinefabriek made and I put the word new between '' because all but one of this pieces were released before, mostly by Rutger Zuydervelt himself as 3"CDRs but 'Slovensko' as a 7" by Champion Version. I am not sure, but I seem to have reviewed them all, so in the same spirit of this CD, I'll re-run my reviews.
(Vital Weekly 651): Recently Machinefabriek played in Russia four concerts as part of the Dutch Punch festival. Everything was duly recorded, but not released as such. The 3"CDR 'Rusland' is an extensive re-edit of all the concerts plus some additional home recording. The guitar plays the all important role here, like in more of Machinefabriek's recent work Soft tinkling, with slowly enveloping pedal work. On top there is a bit of cracks and pops and with sparsely orchestrated field recordings. A thoroughly relaxing piece of music, but one in which there is more sound than in 'Drawn'. Nice release and on the website there is another twenty-five minute piece waiting for you.
(Vital Weekly 714): For 'The Breathing Bridge' he uses sounds taped at the Erasmus Bridge and the river Nieuwe Maas, both in Rotterdam and creates two pieces of music with that, although it wasn't easy to see the distinction between both. As with many of his recent outings, Zuydervelt is all about atmospheric music, but arrives there from different ends. Sometimes with musical instruments and sometimes with field recordings, such as in this case. For the most part the music humms at a low, bass end level, until it bursts out somewhere halfway through the second piece, after which things die out again.
(Vital Weekly 709): Despite a plethora of releases, Rutger Zuydervelt never ceases to surprise. Not always I must admit, as there is a distinct style of his own, but sometimes he does something out of the ordinary. 'Slovensko' is such a thing. In September 2010 he went on holiday to Slovakia, armed with his camera (he is a designer after all) and these days also with a digital recorder. He collected a bunch of field recordings which he, back home, edited into the two parts of 'Slovensko'. No guitars this time here, but pure field recordings, edited, cut, mixed together into two lovely collages of sound. Motor sounds, dogs, voices, fences and metal gates and some more obscured sounds are put together in quite a cinematic manner. Not just a continuing ambient sound but a wonderful play of various sounds. This may very well be the first time that Zuydervelt worked so solely with field recordings. And with some fine result.
(Vital Weekly 756): This work contains excerpts of an audio-visual installation which you can actually still visit, up to December 5th at the Galerie Vayhinger, Radolfzeil, Germany. The work is a collaborative effort of Rutger Zuydervelt and Steve Roden, both responsible for the music an Sabina Burger, who did the visual component for this work. The later shows reflection of trees in water, or rain drops falling in water. The music is a duet between Roden and Zuydervelt and seems to be combining the best of both ends: the acoustic sounds of Roden (chimes, bells, cups) and Zuydervelt's careful electronic manipulation thereof. The music and film go together really well, I'd say. Poetic, silent and light. An excellent three way combination. (FdW)
(Vital Weekly 768): When I opened this up in Itunes it gave the correct title and as 'genre' it read 'soundtrack', which is quite funny. Apollo and soundtrack: how can be not avoid thinking of Brian Eno? Rutger Zuydervelt is not Brian Eno, simply because the theory side of things lack in his work (so far!), but music wise he is probably quite close to the work of the master of ambient. In this case he presents an 'alternate' edit of the soundtrack for Makino Takashi's film 'In Your Star', which I haven't seen, but its based on the Nasa flight control samples at the beginning and some highly atmospheric music, but with a slight edge to it. There are at times some piercing sounds, a glitch like rhythm here and there and it is strong atmospheric music of great stellar quality. Spacious, to stick with the theme of space travel, like the processed sound of a rocket flying over low. A particular strong work with a slight change of sound, which proofs that Zuydervelt is on the move again.
Great package too.
For all of you who missed out on these limited releases or who think CDRs suck (or vinyl for that matter) now in glorious 'ever-lasting' CD format. An excellent choice of pieces that really fit together very well." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Stroomtoon |
CD |
" 'Stroomtoon can be translated as 'the sound of electricity'. The album was constructed with hours of material I recorded while experimenting with a new live setup, using an analogue tone generator and some looper pedals. The pure sines of the generator and the static and crackling sounds of that old and dusty machine gave me a nice myriad of sounds to work with, creating endless loops and textures. The original idea was to use parts of these recordings in unedited form, but playing around with these soundfiles was so much fun, and gave me so much possibilities that the end result became much more layered and detailed, while still keeping the raw energy of the original material intact. Hopefully you, the listener, will find this an electrifying album.' Rutger Zuydervelt was born on 28 July 1978 in Apeldoorn (The Netherlands), but now resides in Rotterdam. He started working as Machinefabriek in 2004. The name (meaning 'machine factory') was on the façade of a building Rutger passed everytime he went shopping for groceries. Except for a few piano and guitar lessons when he was young, Rutger didn't study music. Instead, he graduated as a graphic designer. The sleeves of his releases are practically always designer by Rutger himself, being a crucial part of the music." [label info]
www.nuun-records.com
"A full on new release by Machinefabriek, solo and in the conventional format of a real CD. It seemed a rarity recently. Rutger Zuydervelt uses his trusted set of effect pedals, field recordings, mixer, computer but leaves away the guitar in favor of an analogue tone generator, radio and korg monotron, which you see everywhere these days. With this relatively easy set up Zuydervelt creates fine electronic mood music. I would like to add 'as only he can do' but that's not the case. He creates fine electronic mood music as various people can do, and Zuydervelt belongs to the top league of the genre. That much I can say, and this new album, with four shorter pieces and one long one (LP length, perhaps a LP version is imminent somewhere?) is a pretty strong affair. Moving away from the ambient atmospheres of his earlier work, he now has some very nice pieces of sustaining tones, crackles, hiss, static and puts them together in a lovely collage of sound. Not through rapid editing, but slow
fading into new worlds all the time. These five pieces flow in natural way into each other, especially since the first piece is the longest, and already moving through various phases here. Altogether a great album, and surely one of the best of Machinefabriek in recent times. Changing the menu slightly, which is always good in my book, while staying close to what he normally does. Excellent all around." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Dubbeltjes |
CD |
"Zoharum welcomes multitalented Rutger Zuydervelt aka Machinefabriek to its fold. We are very happy that Rutger decided to choose our label to release his new compilation of rare works entitled "Dubbeltjes". It consists of 11 track recorded between 2008 and 2013.
Rutger Zuydervelt talks about "Dubbeltjes": Short playing time formats, like 7-inches and 3-inch cdrs, are great to work with. More than on regular albums, the durational limitations are useful to experiment with and to create really focused, cristalised pieces.
Most of these tracks focus on a very limited palette of sounds. "Hilary" and "Jeffery" for example, are constructed using solely trombone recordings from (you guessed it) Hillary Jeffery (of The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble). "Huiswerk" Part 1 and 2 were made using a simple setup of electric guitar and sampler. And probably a suprise in my discography are "My Funny Valentine" and "Oh Doctor Jesus", two jazz classics, in collaboration with bass clarinet player Gareth Davis. All these sets of songs have a very specific quality to them.
These tracks are among my personal favorites. Most of them aren't available on a physical format anymore, so it's great to gather them on the album 'Dubbeltjes'. The tracks are presented as pairs or trios, as they appeared on their original releases. It's up to you, the listener, to either experience these combinations seperatly, hear the album in continuous play, or use shuffle mode to make new combinations.
"Dubbeltjes" is released in a 3-panel ecopak in a strictly limited edition of 300 copies." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"Here at Vital Weekly a lot of music released by Machinefabriek is discussed, but there is a lot more than doesn't make it here, as Machinefabriek is also very active in the field of highly limited vinyl, lathe cut and cassette only releases. Luckily he is well known enough to have every now and then a compilation of these rarities, such as 'Dubbeltjes' ('dimes'). Here we have two pieces from compilations plus two 7"s, a lathe cut 5", a cassette and a 3"CDR, twelve pieces in total. Of these, I reviewed the lathe cut 5" with the jazz standards 'My Funny Valentine' and 'Oh Doctor Jesus' (Vital Weekly 789), which didn't sound like jazz anyway. One of the nicer things about such compilations as this one is that all of these pieces are relatively short and to the point and we hear Machinefabriek occasionally experimenting with form, such as 'Ontrafelde Tonen 1', which is more like musique concrete than his signature ambient guitar sound, which are present here, such as in 'Ax'. All of it
gets a place in here, with a nice variety. At forty-eight minutes not the longest of anthologies you could imagine, but it's compiled to be entertaining, listenable and varied, all of which in the comfort of Machinefabriek's drone inspired music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Drum Solos |
LP |
"Drums (played with sticks, mallets, bow and tuning forks) and processing by Rutger Zuydervelt. "Driven by my love for solo albums by drummers and percussionists like Jon Mueller, Wil Guthrie, Nick Hennies and Burkhard Beins, I've made 'Drum Solos'. It's my take on a solo drum record, despite the fact that I lack the talent to hit a steady beat or a play a drum roll. Instead, I used the sounds of a drum kit as a sounce for further processing. I booked a rehearsel room with a drum kit, and recorded as much sounds as I could in one afternoon. Hitting, bowing, stroking, whatever ways I could find to create sounds, I recorded. And these soundfiles were chopped and screwed til it sounded like what you hear on the album. Each track focusses on one part of the drum kit. I like to think that purposefully employed limitations like that make me more creative, and my work more focussed. It's part of the aim to make my music as minimalistic and 'pure' (whatever that may be) as possible. In this case it resulted in a short but varied and at times meditative album that might not have any virtuoso drum acrobatics on it, but shows its quality on a more subtle level." ~RZ. Another great experimental and droning Machinefabriek album. Sleeve printed in metallic pantone gold ink. Limited edition of 300 copies on black vinyl." [label info]
www.backwards.it
"It shouldn't be a surprise that the ever prolific Rutger Zuydervelt (aka Machinefabriek) hasn't found the time to do everything that's he wanted to do in his artistic career. With his hundreds of recordings that have poured fourth in mostly tiny editions as well as his collaborations, he's rarefied the sounds from guitars and electronics into cracked crescendos of half-melodic smears of drone and noise full of doleful cavernous swells and dark-star explosions. Yes, we've long been smitten by his work; but we'll admit that we were a little skeptical of an album entitled Drum Solos that began with the preamble that Zuydervelt had long wanted to study the art of percussion but never found the time. Fortunately, this is not a half-assed first attempt at trying to make avant-garde percussive tumble like Will Guthrie or Eddie Prevost; rather, it's perfectly beautiful Machinefabriek album using the drumkit as the source material. With much filtering and signal processing, Zuydervelt broadcasts echoing tones of slow-unfurling sonar pulses across a bed of soft shimmering ambience and rumbling atmosphere. The cymbals seem to be the only part of the kit that he's left mostly free of processing; but even so, he's bowing the cymbals to create those same textured drones that Organum produced many moons ago. Rhythm is mostly shed in lieu of weightless tone-float and spiralling, ghostlike re-appearances of his reconfigured drum sounds. It's hardly what anyone would ever consider when thinking of a drum solo record, but in the context of a Machinefabriek album, it's pretty damn majestic." [Aquarius Rec.] |
2014 |
€12.50 |
|
|
The Measures Taken |
CD |
"After last year's two releases (a compilation of rare tracks ”Dubbeltjes” and the reissue of a collaborative album with Dag Rosenqvist entitled ”Vintermusik”) a renowned sound artist Rutger Zuydervelt returns with a completely new album called ”The Measures Taken”. It is the score for a dance performance by choreographer Alexander Whitley and visual artists Marshmallow Laser Feast.
”The Measures Taken” was originally commissioned by the Royal Opera House (it premiered there in May 2014). The spectacular performance involves a lot of hi-tech interactivity between dancers and projected visuals. The theme of man vs/with machine is magnified by the music, which combines warm melodic pads with glitchy white noise and (more than on any other Machinefabriek release) propulsive rhythms. Now you can enjoy the music from the performance on a physical album which is also striking without the use of the visual side.
The album is released in a 3-panel ecopak in a strictly limited edition of 300 copies. The cover is based on the original by Rutger Zuydervelt. It was mastered by Łukasz Miernik. The whole production process was overseen by Michał Porwet." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"It seemed 'quiet' lately when it came to Machinefabriek. It might have been not since Vital Weekly 925 that we last reviewed something - which, in the world of Machinefabriek, not equals: didn't release anything - but I do know he's busy with on-site pieces, installations and in the case of 'The Measure Taken', music for a choreography by Alexander Whitley and also, at the same time, visual artists Marshmallow Laser Feast. This piece was commissioned by The Royal Ballett Studio programme and premiered in April 2014 in France and also performed in London. There's a short introduction piece, followed by the four parts of the piece. Obviously I haven't seen the dance piece, or the visuals, but judging by the music, there has been a shift in Machinefabriek's music. Some of the 'old' Machinefabriek is still present here, the long ambientesque soundscapes is of course something that is still present, but it seems as if Machinefabriek now handles the form of sound collage more and more, building towards crescendo's and then drops out radically. Another important addition is the use of rhythm in 'Part II'. A kind of click 'n cut rhythm that is not unlike that of, say, Carsten Nicolai. It's quite surprising but it works out very well. Topped with some noise bits here and there, this is surely on the more varied releases by Machinefabriek in quite sometime. If you aren't the biggest fan of Machinefabriek but like to check out a release every once in a while, then make sure you check out this one." [Fdw/Vital Weekly]
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
15/15 |
LP |
"A threesome of coloured vinyl by WORM Records. These records are extraordinary not just because of their appearance (bright yellow, blue and pink vinyl), but also because of their unique origins. The a-sides of the records were recorded for Soundpiece, a soundinstallation under the floor of the Schouwburgplein in Rotterdam. WORM invited the composers Machinefabriek, Pierre Bastien and Dyane Donck/Daisy Bell to compose a piece for this. The results are three soundartworks/tape compositions that are made for public space, but are impressive as an isolated piece of art as well. Towards the end of 2011 the pieces rang out at fixed times during the Soundpiece installation and something that stands out well, are the different approaches taken by the three composers.
Machinefabriek is the project of Rutger Zuydervelt. Machinefabrieks music combines elements of ambient, modern classical, minimalism, drone and field recordings. He already has a massive discography, with many of these titles self-released, but also including albums for well renowned labels and numerous collaborations.
Soundpiece is a soundinstallation in the public space of the Schouwburgsplein in Rotterdam and utilising 32 speakers covers an area of 30 by 30 meters. This enables the compositions to be spread at low volume throughout the entire square." [label info]
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| MACIUNAS ENSEMBLE |
Yoplaboum |
do-LP/ CD |
Third release by the Maciunas Ensemble on Edition Telemark after 1976 (2015) and the self-titled 50th anniversary LP from 2018. The group had been founded in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, in 1968 with the aim of realizing the score "Music for Everyman" by Fluxus initiator George Maciunas, which they interpreted as allowing total freedom in the sounds being produced. The group met regularly, usually once a week during their heyday, and improvised on instruments that were at hand. Every session was recorded to be played back and discussed before the next session. This method meant that small changes and subtle new ideas could be integrated from one session to the next, eventually leading into completely new directions over a longer course. Paul Panhuysen linked this approach to the oral traditions of folk music.
One of their most productive periods were the early 1980s where, after settling on a stable line-up of Paul Panhuysen, Jan van Riet, Leon van Noorden and Mario van Horrik, the group developed their own brand of minimalist rhythmic music, inspired in equal parts by rock, post-punk, drone and minimal music of the time. A selection of named pieces had crystallized from the improvised sessions that were worked on and refined, many of them having long durations and featuring wordless vocals by Paul Panhuysen that added another unique rhythmic layer to the music. Phill Niblock, while visiting the ensemble's home base Het Apollohuis in Eindhoven, called some of these pieces "rhythmic drones", drones produced by repetitive rhythmic strokes, simultaneously on various instruments. Some recordings from this period can be heard on the LP "Music for Everyman 861" (released in 1986 on Apollo Records) and the above-mentioned self-titled LP.
Virtually unknown until now have been five more pieces that were released by the band in 1983 and 1984 on two cassettes named "YoplaBoum" and "Permanent Wave", in editions of 25 and 30 copies, respectively. They are re-released here for the first time, with a double LP featuring the whole "YoplaBoum" cassette – the 43-minute title piece split across the first two sides, the two others on sides C and D – and a CD including the two tracks from "Permanent Wave".
The double LP is housed in a single sleeve with two printed inner sleeves featuring liner notes by Leon van Noorden and Mario van Horrik, and a selection of photos and artwork from the period. The CD comes in its own cardboard sleeve and is attached to the outer LP sleeve with a removable glue dot. Edition of 300.
www.edition-telemark.de/923.08.html |
2021 |
€30.00 |
|
| MAEDER, MARCUS |
Annex |
mCD |
"In architecture, an annex is an extension to a main building. Likewise, the pieces on this mini CD complement and supplement the approaches that Marcus Maeder presented in his latest work titled subsegmental. Here, too, the musical pieces are composed of very short sound segments reproduced at such low speed as to stretch out and form vast soundscapes. Maeder processes and shapes this acoustic topography, giving it a distinctive, surreal quality and populating it with strange beings and events. Those who enter the annex are confronted with highly suggestive soundscapes featuring objects springing out of the inaudible realm of darkness to form a cosmos of micro-events, only to escape perception again, like a ghostly presence brushing past in the dark. Marcus Maeder is a sound artist and composer. He studied Art at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Lucerne and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Philosophy at the University of Hagen. Maeder runs the music label domizil, which he co-founded in 1996 with Bernd Schurer. He has worked as an editor and producer for the Swiss radio station DRS and has been working as a curator at the Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology of the Zurich University of the Arts since 2005. His artistic work focuses mainly on computer music and the artistic and media extensions of the term. As an author, Maeder has written on a number of topics in the fields of sound art and digital media." [label info]
www.domizil.ch
"Earlier today I was not at home, but in a friends house waiting for something. The weather was hot, and I lay down on his couch. In my bag was ‘Annex’ by Marcus Maeder, and I decided to play it. Around the house there was a lot of activity of people constructing a new house on one side (or perhaps putting an annex to it?) and on the other side motorized objects doing gardening work. Maeder’s music wasn’t very loud on, but it merged wonderful with the sounds coming from outside, even with all the windows closed. I fell asleep. Later on, now, I am at home again, listening again to ‘Annex’ in a more quiet surrounding of early evening (windows open). I am to understand that this work is an extension (for that is what an ‘annex’ is, in an architectural sense) of ‘Subsegmental’ (see Vital Weekly 702). I am not sure if Maeder draws from the same sounds as on ‘Subsegmental’, but he uses ‘very short sound segments reproduced at such low speed as to stretch out and form vast soundscapes’ – I
couldn’t have this any better myself. The four pieces (sixteen minutes in total) emerge on the near silence, especially ‘Plateau’ is very quiet, much alike the eleven pieces on ‘Subsegmental’. Perhaps without many differences between this one and that one, but its simply beautiful stuff. Maybe its too early to play this music and I should wait until full darkness has set in, but its tranquility is simply great as it is." [FdW, Vital Weekly] |
2010 |
€8.00 |
|
| MAEROR TRI |
Saltatrix (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
Music for your deeper mind!
"A joy for the eyes as well as for the ears" [Veil, Music from the Empty Quarter #9]
"The three tracks are hypnotic mantras. Repetetive Loops and sounds that create their own special world." [Daniel Plunkett, ND#18]
first edition: 200 copies, green vinyl (April 1993)
second edition: 200 copies, clear violet vinyl (June 1994)
a third edition was planned, but the original 4-track tapes were lost.
|
1993 |
€ |
|
|
Multiple Personality Disorder |
CD |
"... this debut CD by the German trio Maeror Tri is a devastating experience in sonic art. In the realm of Soviet France, Cranioclast or The Hafler Trio, its's hard to call such constructed wedges of noise music, this is something else. In fact I think it just scared four people who entered the Ultima Thule shop, leaving with bewildered and perplexed looks on their faces! Be they atmospheric or intensive, Maeror Tri offer a challenging sound that defies description." [Alan Freeman, AUDIO, 1993]
"Maeror Tri als der J.G. BALLARD der Musik." [Vi-Va-Vogel, Auf Abwegen]
"Some music is related to a period, because of the sound of the amplifiers, recording possibilities, effects and synthesizers. The technic colors the sound during that period and gives is that time limit. I cannot say that about the re-release of the timeless sounds at the CD "Multiple Personality Disorder" (MPD) of the not anymore existing German group Maeror Tri. The groups existed from 1998 - 1996 and has the following members Stefan "Baraka [H]" Knappe, Martin "GLIT[s]CH" Gitschel and Helge Siehl. Stefan Knappe and Martin Gitschel continues to make music with the group Troum and releases music with the vinyllabel Drone Records. From 1998 - 1993 Maeror Tri released a lot of tapes. The music for the first CD Multiply Personality Disorder was recorded in 1991 and released in 1993 by Korm Plastics as a limited edition of 600 in the serial Introductionaire to promote the music of new musical artists. For now the re-release has been done by the Purplesoil from the Czech Republic. During the musical project the group examined the different states of mind and characters by means of music and they want to confront the listener with the totally different states of mind and feeling of people with MPD. The CD exist of five compositions, with different moods, from ambient and atmospheric to aggressive and anxious. And really I was confronted with the different moods some with MPD. The meaning of the album has been successful. During that same period I was working in a psychiatric hospital with people with so-called personality diseases. I worked also with people with MPD and they presented themselves with totally different characters, behaviour, clothing, sexual preference and sound of the voice. I was really very difficult to work with these people because I had to deal with one person, but sometimes during daytime with three or four different persons. Most of these people had very bad childhood experiences and they try to deal with the some treating or stressful reality with different personalities. For now MPD has become more on the background but this release is really a good flashback of that period and a successful experiment of Maeror Tri." [JKH / Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Mind-Reversal |
CD |
"Special edition in deluxe digibook. Strictly limited to 270 copies! Welcome, to the early days of this really cult formation! ‘Mind Reversal’ has been recorded already 20(!) years ago, and only backwards-sound was used for this album. This is the fourth edition of a magic album which was released first as MC only in 1993, and then re-released on CDr in 2000. This edition is the first release on proper CD and comes placed in a special deluxe Digibook with exclusive artworks from a talented painter from St. Petersburg. 58+ minutes. This edition contains the bonus-track ‘Dusa’, from the 2000 CDr re-release." [label info]
www.infinitefog.ru
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Sensuum Mendacia / Somnia |
CD |
"Musicians of the now-defunct Maeror Tri have already had many opportunities to work with Zoharum on both releasing their new recordings and reissues of their older material. Our catalog contains titles by Troum ("Autopoiesis / Nahtscato", "Seeing-Ear Gods" and "Dreaming Muzak"), 1000Schoen (double split with Polish Ab Intra), and also their original project Maeror Tri ("Emotional Engramm" and "Meditamentum"). Together with musicians we remove blank spots in their discography by restoring their older recordings.
Maeror Tri was a project operating since the mid-80s until 1997, when they released their last album entitled "Emotional Engramm." In their works they penetrated such genres as minimalism, ambient and industrial music, and borrowed drone aesthetic from classical music. In addition to seven regular albums on CD and LP, they released a number of cassettes. They contained much rawer recordings compared to those from the trio's regular albums.
One of these two tape albums is "Sensuum Mendacia" originally released in 1991 by the Welsh label Direction Music. It was the third tape in the discography of Maeror Tri. The following rerelease is expanded with 5 additional tracks lifted from the split tape with Nostalgie Eternelle duo released in 1990. All the recordings have been remastered for this release.
The album is released in a 2-panel ecopak in a strictly limited edition of 350 copies. The cover is designed by Marcin Łojek (rozpad.com). It is mastered by Łukasz Miernik. The whole production process is overseen by Michał Porwet." [label info]
www.zoharum.com |
2016 |
€12.50 |
|
|
Hypnobasia |
CD |
"Musicians of the now-defunct Maeror Tri have already had many opportunities to work with Zoharum on both releasing their new recordings and reissues of their older material. Our catalog contains titles by Troum ("Autopoiesis / Nahtscato", "Seeing-Ear Gods" and "Dreaming Muzak"), 1000Schoen (double split with Polish Ab Intra), and also their original project Maeror Tri ("Emotional Engramm" and "Meditamentum"). Together with musicians we remove blank spots in their discography by restoring their older recordings.
Maeror Tri was a project operating since the mid-80s until 1997, when they released their last album entitled "Emotional Engramm." In their works they penetrated such genres as minimalism, ambient and industrial music, and borrowed drone aesthetic from classical music. In addition to seven regular albums on CD and LP, they released a number of cassettes. They contained much rawer recordings compared to those from the trio's regular albums.
One of these two tape albums is "Hypnobasia" originally released in 1992 by the Italian label Old Europa Cafe. It was the fifth tape in the discography of Maeror Tri. The following rerelease is expanded with 3 additional tracks lifted from various artists compilations from 1989-1992. All the recordings have been remastered for this release.
The album is released in a 2-panel ecopak in a strictly limited edition of 350 copies. The cover is designed by Marcin Łojek (rozpad.com). It is mastered by Łukasz Miernik. The whole production process is overseen by Michał Porwet." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"MAEROR TRI war ein Trio, das vom Ende der 80er-Jahre bis zum Jahr 1997 aktiv war. Nach einer Reihe von Veröffentlichungen, die sich in dem Rahmen Dark-Ambient, Industrial, Drone, Experimental einordnen lassen, war mit dem 1997er-Album „Emotional Engramm“ jedenfalls Schluss. Zwei Mitglieder, MARTIN GITSCHEL und STEFAN KNAPPE, machten danach mit TROUM weiter; HELGE SIEHL veröffentlichte in den Folgejahren als 1000SCHOEN.
Gerade zu Beginn der Existenz von MAEROR TRI wurden eine Reihe von Tapes veröffentlicht, von denen einige bereits auf CD wiederveröffentlicht wurden. Die noch vorhandenen Lücken möchte nun das polnische ZOHARUM-Label schließen, indem es zum einen „Sensuum Mendacia / Somnia“ und zum anderen „Hypnobasia“ wiederveröffentlicht. „Sensuum Mendacia / Somnia“ umfasst dabei das „Sensuum Mendacia“ Tape und die MAEROR TRI-Stücke des „Somnia Et Expergisci“ Split-Tapes, das damals zusammen mit NOSTALGIE ÉTERNELLE veröffentlicht wurde. „Hypnobasia“ wurde noch um drei Tape-Compilation-Stücke aus der Zeit ergänzt.
Gemeinsam ist beiden Veröffentlichungen, dass die Gitarre prägendes aber nicht wahrnehmbar dominierendes Element ist, wobei das Klangspektrum von Drones und Noise bis hin zu Akkorden und melancholischem Einzelanschlag der Saiten reicht. Die zupackendere, Richtung Industrial und Noise tendierende Seite von MAEROR TRI deckt hier definitiv „Hypnobasia“ ab, hier wird mit rhythmischen Elementen, Noise und bearbeiteten Stimmen gearbeitet. Ruhiger, flächiger, klanglich weitläufiger und auch melancholischer erscheint dagegen „Sensuum Mendacia / Somnia“. Der Klang erscheint bei beiden Veröffentlichungen als organisches, mit vielen Unebenheiten und Wendungen ausgestattetes Gebilde. Hochgezüchtete, digitale Soundwälle oder gar symphonische Elemente sucht man hier jedenfalls vergeblich. Im Klangbild mag man hier und da vielleicht den Staub der 90er-Jahre und die vielleicht noch nicht ganz ausgereifte technische Ausstattung erkennen; dennoch haftet dem Sound eine gewisse Zeitlosigkeit an, die das Wirken von MAEROR TRI auch aus heutiger Sicht als spannend erscheinen lassen kann." [Tony F. für nonpop.de]
|
2016 |
€12.50 |
|
|
Ultimate Time |
CD |
Musicians of the now-defunct Maeror Tri have already had many opportunities to work with Zoharum on both releasing their new recordings and reissues of their older material. Our catalog contains titles by Troum ("Autopoiesis / Nahtscato", "Seeing-Ear Gods" and "Dreaming Muzak"), 1000Schoen (double split with Polish Ab Intra), and also their original project Maeror Tri ("Emotional Engramm" and "Meditamentum"). Together with musicians we remove blank spots in their discography by restoring their older recordings. Maeror Tri was a project operating since the mid-80s until 1997, when they released their last album entitled "Emotional Engramm." In their works they penetrated such genres as minimalism, ambient and industrial music, and borrowed drone aesthetic from classical music. In addition to seven regular albums on CD and LP, they released a number of cassettes. They contained much rawer recordings compared to those from the trio's regular albums.
The fourth release in this series is "Ultimate Time" originally released in 1994 by the Italian label Old Europa Cafe. It was the tenth cassette in the discography of Maeror Tri. The following rerelease is expanded with an additional track lifted from the compilation "The Art of Marginal Talent" released in 1997. All the recordings have been remastered for this release.
The album is released in a 2-panel ecopak in a strictly limited edition of 350 copies.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/ultimate-time |
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
The Singles |
CD |
Reissue of MAËROR TRI(...)'s full vinyl singles / EP's recorded from 1993-1996 (except for their first one, "Saltatrix" on Drone Records - DR01)
"Am Tag, als die Stil- und Genrebildung geprägt wurde, waren drei Nordlichter besonders aktiv. Unter der Bezeichnung Maeror Tri revolutionierten sie fortan Sound- und Hörerfahrungen. Zielgruppe der drei war stets die rechte Hirnhälfte. Wundervolle Edelsteine aus dem tiefen Ozean wurden fortan geborgen, auf 7“ gepresst und sind heute nur noch schwer erhältlich. So ist es im äußersten Maße begrüßenswert, dass den Hörern nun dies wieder zugänglich wird. Bleibt zweierlei festzuhalten. Zunächst steht unverrückbar, dass sämtliche in der Folge schier unzählige Epigonen lieber ihr Bestreben nach Ausdruck auf den Hobbykeller bzw. auf die Untermalung des letzten Urlaubsvideos richten sollten. Zweitens steht ebenso unumstößlich fest, dass Maeror Tri eine Ausnahmeerscheinung und somit eigentlich unvergleichlich waren!" [Leonie D./ TAUCHER Nr. 02]
What can I say? They were my fave Drone/Industrial unit in the nineties and when this came out 15 years ago, it didn't last for too long until it was completely sold out...
So by popular demand, here's the reissue, no more no less !!
May the Force be with You !!
Photography (unknown location) by Jan Kees Helms
Mastering at Illlektrik Toolz by Herman Klapholz
Design by Jan Van den Broeke
Tags: Drone - Industrial - Experimental
www.eetapes.be
"Probably there is only one group that started as a cassette only band, who will successfully release their entire back-catalogue on real CDs (not CDRs) and that is Maeror Tri. They started out in the late eighties as a three piece ambient industrial group, and released a whole bunch of cassettes and subsequently also 7"s and CDs. In the late nineties one of the three band-members left and the name was changed to Troum. Their 7"s are now collected on this CD, for the first time and complete as such (so the originals can go to Ebay now, although I have no idea how well sought there). One 7" is missing and that's the one that they released on their own label, Drone Records (which started the label) and which will be re-issued soon. It's good to see this released as last, as the music of Maeror Tri can best be enjoyed in the digital format, away from the scratchy, hissy vinyl, of which the duration was sometimes also too long for a 7". This collection starts out with quite a raw Maeror Tri, with metallic banging but as the CD progresses, some of the more classic Maeror Tri appear: dark and dense and intense, with much layering of sound effects, percussive sounds and many obscure sound-sources (I once saw them playing an accordion on stage, feeding it through a whole line of sound effects). These singles, three 7"s and one 10", can easily be classified among the best they ever did and with the enhanced quality of the CD, this is a much wanted item. Time to plunder their cassette releases and release those on CD. Do I hear the word 'boxset', anyone?" [Fdw/Vital Weekly - original review to the first ed. 2005] |
2020 |
€10.00 |
|
| MAES, LAURA & KRISTOF LAUWERS |
Kitch'n Glitch |
CD |
"Cling Film –Mitbetreiberin LAURA MAES hat hier zusammen mit KRISTOF LAUWERS Küchengeräte, die Küchengeräusche von sich geben, akusmatisch verwurstet, und eine hochspannend tönende subtile Soundwelt ins Leben gerufen...zwischen elektronisch anmutenden Drones und ganz trockenden Geräuschen, ein Küchenkontext ist kaum noch zu erahnen... TIP !" [Drone Rec. 2003]
“All kinds of kitchensounds were blended for your exquisite taste. Don't expect loud mixers or banging on kettles, but rather subtle manipulated and cut-up sounds, sometimes creamy and soft, sometimes crispy and cold. caffeine free.” [label info]
“ A first release on her own label by Laura Maes, who runs Cling Film together with Kevin van Volcem (aside from all the organisational work they do in their surroundings). As the title of this disc already suggests, all the raw material was recorded in a kitchen
(Laura's) and later manipulated in the studio. With a total duration of just over 37 minutes, this is a dense work, that requires close
attention from the listener. There is a lot happening here and more often than not, it is pretty subtle. One of the most interesting
phenomena for me is the way Maes and Lauwers move with their sound from sheer electronic to acoustic and back again. From raw material to its manipulation or vice versa. The seven tracks are well placed and spaced, so one can listen to the whole CD as one work without a problem (this has defenitely got my preference). All tracks have strong compositions and very good timing and, most importantly: it's very juicy (and I mean this in the most positive sense!). Another one that is highly recommended. [MR for Vital Weely] Adress: www.clingfilm.org
|
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| MAGIC CARPATHIANS PROJECT |
Ethnocore 2: nytu |
CD |
"Their third album, the first available on a domestic label Magic Carpathians are centered around the duo of Anna Nacher and Marek Styczynski, he a founding member of the now defuct Polish ethno-folk group Atman. Following the disbanding of Atman, Anna and Marek continue to create forest music, although the Magic Carpathians benefit from an infusion of traditional rock instruments and electronics, and a host of guests. Recorded and mixed at the Krakow Radio Station Recording Studio by Aleksander Wilk between May and November 2000, Ethnocore 2: Nytú was composed and arranged by Anna and Marek, with Tomasz Radziuk (ex-Atman), Jan Kubek, Ramunas Jaras, and Wadada and Marek Miczyk (both of the European festival group Suns of Arqa). Also figuring into the composition are field recordings made by Anna and Marek during their travels to India and Nepal in autumn 1999. Traces of nytú - a mythical, archaic technique of vocalization given in the language of Slavonic rituals, nowadays almost completely lost and forgotten - can be found in the remnants of ancient Carpathian culture and some archaic pagan rituals which have been stored within the folk religious tradition among the Carpathian villagers. The important common tradition of singing across Eurasia makes similar the vocal technique from Mongolia, the Altai region, Central Asia, Ukraine and the Balkan region. Anna has been working on reviving the tradition of nytú through individual research and "Reclaim the Voice" workshops, run for women exclusively (which have garnered enough attention in Poland that Cosmopolitan published a brief article on Anna and the voice workshops). Phrases muttered in disbelief during their first US tour ; "Patti Smith fronting Art Ensemble of Chicago", "Yoko Ono meets Miles Davis" & "Don Cherry with Amon Duul"." [label info] |
2000 |
€15.00 |
|
| MAIDA, CLARA |
In Corpore Vili |
CD |
1. Composer:
Clara Maida
2. Title:
in corpore vili
3. Performers (Studios):
Ensemble Resonanz,
Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin,
Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain,
Arditti String Quartet,
Heather O’Donnel
(Elektronisches Studio der Technischen Universität Berlin;
Studio für Elektroakustische Musik der Akademie der Künste, Berlin)
4. Format:
Audio CD, Digisleeve, Booklet German/English
5. Total time:
67:28
6. Catalogue #:
ed. RZ 10017
7. EAN Code:
4029455100178
8. Release date:
30. January 2010
9. Tracklist:
(1)
1. Mutatis mutandis (2008)
2. Psyché-Cité/Transversales (2005/06)
(2)
1- Fluctuatio (in)animi (2006)
(3) 2- Ipso facto (2006)
(4) 3- Via rupta (2005)
(5) 3. ...who holds the strings... (2003)
(6) 4. Doppelklänger (2008)
Eine ko-produktion zwischen Berliner Künstler Programm des DAAD, edition-rz und Deutschlandradio Kultur
"In den ersten Jahren zielten meine kompositorischen Forschungen darauf, die unbewussten, psychischen Energieflüsse, die zum Werk führen, samt ihrer Strukturen nachzuzeichnen. Parallel zu einem analytischen Ansatz, der den Zugang zu diesen unbewussten Aktivitäten begünstigt, studierte ich psychoanalytische Literatur, um mir ein musikalisches Denken zu erarbeiten, das einer psychischen Komplexität gerecht würde, die sich nur in gewissen Handlungen und unwillentlichen Äußerungen oder in Phantasien und Träumen äußert. Aus diesen Studien entstand ein strukturelles und formales Potential für eine Musik, die noch zu schreiben war, da allein die Plastizität der Klangwelt in der Lage schien, die Beweglichkeit und Instabilität heraufzubeschwören, welche die Gestaltung der Elemente des Unbewussten unablässig verändern.
During the first years of my compositional research, my goal was to mark out, in my music, the flux of the psychic energy at work in the unconscious and its underlying structure. At the time, I was going through an analytical process favouring access to this unconscious activity, and my readings in the field of psychoanalysis were helping me in the effort to elaborate a musical thinking likely to account for this psychic complexity, which only appears through unintentional acts and words, or in fantasies and dreams. A whole structural and formal model for a potential music was emerging then, since only the plasticity of the world of sound seemed to be able to suggest this mobility and instability, which endlessly alter the configurations of the components of the unconscious." [credits / label info]
www.edition-rz.de
www.edition-rz.de
|
2010 |
€15.50 |
|
| MALDUR ATAI |
Borgata |
CD |
"A brutal murder was committed in Ostia beach near Rome on 2 November 1975. A car ran over a man, turned around and repeated the act. Pier Paolo Pasolini was the victim. The murderer was found and confessed to murdering Pasolini. However, later on, he claimed he was forced to do it. They threatened they would kill his family otherwise. Them naturally being the cops. Since the truth emerged only several years after closing the case, the majority linked the death of the famous society figure, poet, essayist and filmmaker with his outrageous movie “Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom”.
A friend of Pier Paolo stated that Paolo had been going to Ostia beach to meet some strangers who had stolen some rolls of “Salò”. A few bloodied fragments of the script were found in the pocket of Paolo’s jacket. More specifically, this was a leather folder containing a few bloodied pages. The murder case was investigated by a team of three detectives. And a strange thing happened then. One of the detectives stuck to a completely different version of the murder than the rest. He blurted it out to the media saying that “everything is much more complicated than someone’s trying to make it appear”. He was removed from the case by the authorities and subsequently disappeared. After a while the case was forgotten by the media.
However, fifteen years later, Sergio Citti, the aforementioned friend of Paolo, told Paolo’s biographer, a journalist, that he was the only one who could actually disclose the actual circumstances of Paolo’s death. He recalled that a stranger came to his door introducing himself as a detective on Paolo’s case. The man looked deeply stressed, handed Sergio some pages of notes pointing out that they contained information on the cause of Paolo’s violent death. Without saying a further word the man left. Later Sergio saw the man’s photo on TV news. They announced that a police officer was missing. Sergio was shocked by this and threw himself into reading the notes. These were pages torn out from the diary, indicating that the writer was the officer of the special commission investigating the circumstances of Paolo’s death. He was called to recognise the body in the site of crime. He found a leather folder in the pocket of Paolo’s jacket. Some of the pages were missing, others were sunken with blood. The words in capitals on the folder said “The Third Secret of Fatima”. In the middle of the folder there was a clear text fragment with words “Bring me some wine, La Popessa. In a second, Sir”. The following text was illegible because of the blood stain half page large. Then one could read “Pope Pius XII feels sick. He is short of breath. He attempts to sit down, lowers his feet from the bed onto the floor but lacks any strength to stand up. La Popessa blows out the candles and leaving the Pope’s bedroom closes the door behind her”. The next pages were evidently torn out. The following page contained Scene No. 57, “A horrible stench pervaded the Pope’s death venue, while his face was morbidly pallid. As a doctor, I recognised the classic aftermath of tasting the cup of the Borgia”. No more text ensued. All the following pages, except the last one, were torn out. And THE LAST one was empty. The diary-author recollected that standing in this murder site he came to realise that someone in an awful hurry was terribly reluctant to let anyone see the content of the folder.
Sergio read the entire diary of the detective. He had a clear idea what folder was meant. Once Paolo had mentioned to him that the shock caused by “Salò” was nothing in comparison to the fiery response his next film “The Third Secret of Fatima” would receive. He also hinted that the script covered not only the past, but also the future. The events shown in the film had indeed taken place in the past, and were meant to make the audience realise the horrible things awaiting them in the future. During their last meeting, Paolo hinted he was meeting someone important and, before closing the door, winked saying a strange thing – “Just remember the Satan entered Vatican in 1972”. The next day Sergio received a call from the police and leant the horrible news that Paolo had been brutally murdered. Sergio was invited to recognise the body. It was Paolo. Later on, Sergio was questioned about his last meeting with Paolo and the details he could remember.
Sergio provided Paolo’s biographer with more details of the diary of the missing detective and the information that he remembered from the TV reports. They said nothing unusual had been found at the detective’s place. All things were where they belonged. The detective’s garments were lying nicely folded in wardrobes and drawers. The money found in the place made the police think the detective could not have been gone away. The only suspicious thing was the diary put open on the desk. All pages were missing, except the last one. And that was empty. A glass of water knocked down next to the diary perhaps implied a scene of rush or drama.
Sergio then assumed that the stranger and the missing detective were one and the same person and the pages came from that same diary. The torn out pages contained the detective’s notes and assumptions, as well as other interesting and important details of the investigated case. The detective wrote that the name of the script found in the pocket of the filmmaker’s jacket - “The Third Secret of Fatima” - caught his attention. He did some investigation whether the murder was somehow connected to the script. He turned for help to the Vatican Curia. In the extensive official letter the detective asked for more information on the third secret of Fatima, for he had suspicions this could have been connected to the murder of the famous filmmaker. The official response was short. It read: “We sincerely regret the demise of the famous filmmaker. However, it is not in our competency to explicate the secrets of the Divine. This is a higher reality that is not subject to the mortals”. It was signed by Paul Marcinkus, the head of the Vatican Curia and the third most powerful person in Vatican.
Later on, the detective received an anonymous letter from Vatican. The letterhead contained Vatican water marks. It read: “I am aware of your document. If you wish to find out more, please come to the specified derelict church at the given time”. The detective went to the meeting place in the dark rural site in the midst of the vineyards. The church had no doors. There was only a stone arch that looked either neglected or under reconstruction. Upon silently approaching the pulpit covered by a thick layer of dust the detective called out. He heard a hushed invitation from the pulpit to come closer. The voice agreed to reveal all known information on the condition that he will stay unknown. The detective concurred.
Then the voice told him quite a number of interesting things about the third secret of Fatima. There exists a great power, a group of interests, aware of the ancient prophecy of Tibet predicting the recurrence of maldur atai cult. They seek to prevent the said return so that the truth is not revealed. They elaborated the plan of taking over Vatican and impeding the advent of the Messiah. This long-term strategy included such tasks as replacing the white popes with the black ones from the ranks of the Jesuit Order generals. The secret document in particular stressed that a very powerful element in the form of a child had been sent to the Earth, and would play a vital role in all spheres of influence as well as coordinate and rule all political, military and shadow forces resisting the advent of the redeeming Messiah. The agents of these spheres of influence suspect that Messiah is the maldur atai cult predicted by the legend of Nepal. It is believed that a man wearing a white long robe of the Pope was seen in the third apparition in Fatima. The children who witnessed the Marian apparition were scared to death. They recounted they had seen one more man in black, huge as a gorilla. The face of the man in a white robe was deadly pallid. He said nothing. He was foaming at the mouth. The man in black uttered the following words to the children: “I will make an entrance as a child exactly five years from now, I will break all the holy seals and make the world ready for the advent of the beast. And upon my arrival I will gain confidence of the most powerful in the world”. The children were frightened to death seeing the dreary face of the tall man. They named him a “Gorilla”. For many years afterwards the appalling man stayed in the children’s dreams and they screamed “Gorilla”, “Gorilla”, “Gorilla” in their sleep. The man in the pulpit suggested the adepts of maldur atai cult had sent a sign of warning from another dimension. The third secret of Fatima might have warned the humankind about the upcoming dreadful scenario. The man also said that the events of Vatican in the last decades implied a quite a number of parallels with what was revealed in the apparition in Fatima. The year 1972 was crucial for the Holy throne. The mysterious man did provide further explanations but suggested the detective read the press. The media was brimming with the coverage of these events. They concerned a few persons associated with the illuminati, Vatican, NATO, Zionists, cocaine and banks.
The biographer asked Sergio whether he suspected that Paolo had been murdered for he had received information from unknown sources about the global conspiracy predicted by unnatural powers and had based his film script on this information? Sergio replied that Paolo had always liked to keep to himself both his creative ideas and his lovers, who might have included the members of clergy from Vatican. However, it was obvious that these events had nothing to do with “Salò”, while – to Sergio’s regret - Paolo was not completely open. All this was somehow connected to the filmmaker’s new film titled “The Third Secret of Fatima”. It has never been made. Only after reading the fragments of the detective’s diary, Sergio drew attention to this and realised what was happening in the head of Paolo when he was leaving to meet the strangers. Furthermore, why did they try to hide so much that the Pope’s life was threatened in Fatima and that the man who disclosed the attempt was named “Gorilla”? The biographer of Paolo’s life told Sergio that he had investigated the subject of the maldur atai cult and he found it strange - or perhaps it was only a coincidence - that both the last page found in Paolo’s jacket and the last page of the diary found in detective’s house were empty. Just like the pages found in the cells of the missing maldur atai adepts in Nepal. Or at least that’s what the local legends told. Sergio replied: “It is true that the coincidence is indeed weird”.
Later the Paolo’s biography was published in small run. It contained all collected information about the death of Pier Paolo Pasolini, the filmmaker. The book titled “Borgata” did not receive a wide acclaim, although the promotion campaign and its headings loudly claimed that the book reveals the hitherto unknown circumstances of the murder of the filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini, that the cause of the death is not “Salò”, but “The Third Secret of Fatima”, that the unshot movie was suppressed by reality and who killed Pier Paolo Pasolini. All these revelations made way to this book.
“Borgata”, the forth full-length album by Maldur Atai, centres on the events described in this unpopular book." [label info]
www.autarkeia.org
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Checkpoint |
CD |
"This is the first full album of industrial/ambient project Maldur Atai, titled Checkpoint. This dose of music of nearly one hour emanates strong and solid atmosphere that grows, develops and changes during each exquisitely constructed track. The notional indexes of the album touch upon a variety of religious aspects. Yet, they all are related to violence in religion and religion as an arcane or masked violator acting in informational reality. This album reveals religion as a system marketed and propagated by invisible conspirators. The system marked by powerful structure, network and techniques. It exists as a secret institute in the informational field of hallucinations, entices with its promises and attractive images, however, in reality opens horrible nightmares, marauds and kills. What is worst in this matrix is that it chooses children as its main target. The adults have been conditioned in their childhood so that they would sacrifice their children to the system later. Checkpoint is a filtration camp where the children's souls are met by elitist creatures of the arcane society wearing black mantles and hiding their faces. They lie, they enslave, they manipulate and they involve you in the vicious circle with almost no hope of retreat. Checkpoint is an abstract, universal and purified vision of Maldur Atai in which many will recognise their own very personal experiences and the symbols of the everyday secret war." [label info]
www.autarkeia.org
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| MALLINDER, STEPHEN |
Um Dada |
LP |
Stephen Mallinder, co-founder and frontman of the iconic Cabaret Voltaire, has returned with his first solo album in over 35 years: Um Dada. Laced with leftfield house and cut-up sound collages, Um Dada is a melding of energies that are an exercise in simplicity and motion. Sincere, playful realism that beckons your body to move, always reminding you to never take yourself too seriously without forfeiting your agency.While steering Cabaret Voltaire through the 1980's, Mallinder was already busy piecing together his first solo album entitled "Pow Wow", which would help define Mallinder's interest in the more leftfield electro sounds shaping England at the time. It was this diverse and abstract hybrid that helped inspire generations of artists and musicians through steeping raw machine funk within the whimsical and absurdist ideology. Since the release of "Pow Wow" in 1982, Mallinder continued his pioneering work with Cabaret Voltaire, as well as recording and touring with his electro projects Wrangler, Creep Show, Hey Rube, Kula, and Cobby & Mallinder. In addition to his non-stop schedule in electronic music, his professional life as a journalist, broadcaster, producer and now a professor of Digital Music & Sound Art at the University of Brighton, has lead Mallinder to a unique point in his career. Most in his position would be caught up in rosy retrospection, but Mallinder himself says, "There's too much digital finger-licking right now; every thought and desire at the turn of a dial_ well a click of the mouse. And there's a giddy, false nostalgia about the analogue past. Sorry to burst your bubble but the truth of history is more mundane: practical, pragmatic...Um Dada is about `play' - cut and paste, lost words, twisted presets, voice collage, simple sounds - things that have been lost to technology's current determinism. Let the machines talk to each other, let them dance .. they lead, we follow."Um Dada opens up with the exact machine-led surrealism that Mallinder recommends in "Working (You Are)". A thick, stripped back dance floor groove provides the ideal foundation for Mallinder's eccentric vocal cuts. The frisky chops present an almost twisted irony, subtly bringing to mind the role we're all forced to play as just another cog in the ever grinding capitalist machine of life. Yet, somehow, the listener is left feeling optimistic. A prime example of simplicity at work. Tracks such as "Satellite" give a skillful illustration of Mallinder's adeptness with his musical expertise while preserving his core historical context as only simple reference. The underlying bassline and percussion, coupled with the floating melodies and airy vocal refrain disclose the vulnerabilities of love and loss without a hint of irony or nostalgia.Um Dada is mischievously idealist, however never loses touch with reality. Offering structure while simultaneously dismantling any and all preconceptions. The spirit of sincerity that sustained Cabaret Voltaire's lengthy career is abundantly present within founder Stephen Mallinder's journey through his own whimsical utopian consciousness and staking claim to an identity that is solely his own.
https://www.daisrecords.com/products/stephen-mallinder-um-dada
|
2019 |
€21.00 |
|
| MALONE, KALI |
Velocity Of Sleep |
LP |
"A somnambulant modern masterwork, Kali Malone’s 2017 debut full length album is made available again on vinyl some four years since its limited private press of just 100 copies co-released by XKatedral and Bleak Environment. Composed, recorded and produced in Stockholm 2015-2016, ‘Velocity of Sleep’ sees Kali Malone’s work rendered in a septet of strings, gongs, lute, electronics and tape in the vast R1 Reaktorhallen (Sweden’s first nuclear reactor), the electroacoustic studio EMS, and at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. Her presence is crucial, and liminal, making precise use of tuned sine waves and Studer B67 tape manipulation, while instrumental performance is handled by Peter Söderberg performing on the long-necked Theorbo (a large baroque lute, pictured on the sleeve), Samuel Löfdahl and Oskar Mattsson on Gongs, Vilhelm Bromander on Double Bass, Marta Forsberg on Viola and Adam Grauman on Viola de Gamba - all uniting to produce what feels like a geological time lapse and distillation of European and Indian classical drone musicks. As far as opening solo statements go, ‘Velocity of Sleep’ is among the most memorable to have emerged this past decade from slow music and experimental classical paradigms. Its languorous yet rigorous consolidation of ideas from across the aeons crosses paths with others before her - the musics of Pauline Oliveros, Phill Niblock, Harley Gaber, Oren Ambarchi all spring to mind - but more importantly helped reset the limits of contemporary music in Malone’s own image. The 3-part, 43 minute work is an ideal example of how staid notions of early and classical music have been jettisoned to instead focus on fundamentals of tone, timbre, tuning, space and temporality with a radical and transfixing effect coolly detached from any directly traditional/sacred meanings. Peter Söderberg’s justly tuned Theorbo plucks a slowly evolving additive pattern expanded by frippertronic tape delays on the 20 minute title piece, setting a stark tone for a quietly breathtaking resonance of gongs and floating sine waves in ‘1113’ that rest right on the biting point of sublime dissonance, while ‘In Light of Marwa’ pitches into a sort of raga-folk-drone tuned with the fine, durational intensity recalling Harley Gaber’s ‘The Winds Rise In The North’ and earthy cadence of Pauline Oliveros’ vision, yet somehow concentrated, refreshed in a way that’s best felt, and quite impossible to describe."
https://kalimalone.bandcamp.com/album/velocity-of-sleep
"Nuclear waste takes 100,000 years to cease to be a danger to human life: recorded in R1 Reaktorhallen, Sweden’s first nuclear reactor (as well as the electroacoustic studio EMS, and at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm) Kali Malone’s slow, oneiric debut ‘Velocity Of Sleep’ sonifies some of the eeriness of human action’s long timeframes. Disregarding tired notions of western classical composition, the works here — incorporating justly tuned Theorbo, frippertronic tape delays, tuned sine waves, Double Bass, Gongs and Viola de Gamba — seek to explore tone, timbre and tuning from the ground up, approaching an experience listeners to Indian classical drone music will be more familiar with. A mesmeric, transcendent listen limited to 1000 copies, this reissue offers listeners an insight into the compositional work that would become Cast of Mind and The Sacrificial Code." |
2021 |
€36.00 |
|
|
All Life Long |
do-LP |
Kali Malones mit Spannung erwartetes neues Album »All Life Long« ist eine Sammlung von Musik für Pfeifenorgel, Chor und Blechbläserquintett, komponiert von Kali Malone zwischen 2020 und 2023.
Chormusik, aufgeführt vom Macadam Ensemble unter der Leitung von Etienne Ferschaud in der Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-L'Immaculée-Conception in Nantes. Musik für Blechbläserquintett, aufgeführt von Anima Brass im Bunker Studio in New York City. Die Orgelmusik wurde gespielt von Kali Malone und Stephen O'Malley auf den historischen, temperierten Pfeifenorgeln der Église Saint-François in Lausanne, des Orgelparks in Amsterdam und des Malmö Konstmuseums in Schweden.
Kali Malone komponiert mit einer seltenen Klarheit. Ihre Musik ist geduldig und fokussiert und baut auf einem Fundament sich entwickelnder harmonischer Zyklen auf, die verborgene emotionale Resonanzen hervorrufen.
Kali Malone's anticipated new album "All Life Long" is a collection of music for pipe organ, choir, and brass quintet composed by Kali Malone, 2020 - 2023. Choral music performed by Macadam Ensemble and conducted by Etienne Ferschaud at Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-L'Immaculée-Conception in Nantes. Brass quintet music performed by Anima Brass at The Bunker Studio in New York City. Organ music performed by Kali Malone and Stephen O’Malley on the historical meantone tempered pipe organs at Église Saint-François in Lausanne, Orgelpark in Amsterdam, and Malmö Konstmuseum in Sweden.
Kali Malone composes with a rare clarity of vision. Her music is patient and focused, built on a foundation of evolving harmonic cycles that draw out latent emotional resonances. Time is a crucial factor: letting go of expectations of duration and breadth offers a chance to find a space of reflection and contemplation. In her hands, experimental reinterpretations of centuries-old polyphonic compositional methods become portals to new ways of perceiving sound, structure, and introspection. Though awe-inspiring in scope, the most remarkable thing about Malone’s music is the intimacy stirred by the close listening it encourages.
Malone’s new album All Life Long, created between 2020 - 2023, presents her first compositions for organ since 2019’s breakthrough album The Sacrificial Code alongside interrelated pieces for voice and brass performed by Macadam Ensemble and Anima Brass. Over the course of twelve pieces, harmonic themes and patterns recur, presented in altered forms and for varied instrumentation. They emerge and reemerge like echoes of their former selves, making the familiar uncanny. Propelled by lungs and breath rather than bellows and oscillators, Malone’s compositions for choir and brass take on expressive qualities that complicate the austerity that has defined her work, introducing lyricism and the beauty of human fallibility into music that has been driven by mechanical processes. At the same time, the works for organ, performed by Malone with additional accompaniment by Stephen O’Malley on four different organs dating from the 15th to 17th centuries, underscore the mighty, spectral power that those rigorous operations can achieve.
All Life Long simmers in an ever-shifting tension between repetition and variation. The pieces for brass, organ, and voice are alternated asymmetrically, providing nearly continuous timbral fluctuation across its 78-minute runtime even as thematic material reiterates. Each composition’s internal framework of fractal pattern permutations has the paradoxical effect of creating anticipated keystone moments of dramatic reverie and lulling the listener into believing in an illusory endlessness. On an even more granular level, the historical meantone tuning systems of each organ used, and the variable intonation of brass and voice, provide further points of emotional excavation within the harmony.
The titular composition “All Life Long” appears twice on the album, first as an extended canon for organ and again in the final quarter, compactly arranged for voice. In the latter, Malone pairs the music with “The Crying Water” by Arthur Symons, a poem steeped in language of mourning and eternity. For organ, “All Life Long” moves with a patient stateliness, the drama concentrated in moments when shifting tonalities generate and release dissonance and ecstasy. For voice, each word is saturated with feeling, the singers swooping gracefully downward to capture the melancholy of the narrator’s relationship to the timeless tears of the sea. “Passage Through The Spheres,” the album’s opening piece, contains lyrics in Italian pulled from Giorgio Agamben’s essay In Praise of Profanation. In it, Agamben defines profanation as, in part, the act of bringing back to communal, secular use that which has been segregated to the realm of the sacred, a process Malone enacts each time she performs on church organs.
This is not music of praise, or of spiritual revelation, but it is an artistic enactment of translating the indescribable. It carries the gravity of liturgical chant, and its fixation on the infinite, but draws its weight from the earthly realm of human experience. A music that draws the listener into the present moment where they can discover themselves within the interwoven musical patterns that can come to resemble the passage of days, weeks, years, a lifetime.
https://kalimalone.bandcamp.com/album/all-life-long
|
2024 |
€32.50 |
|
| |
All Life Long |
CD |
Kali Malones mit Spannung erwartetes neues Album »All Life Long« ist eine Sammlung von Musik für Pfeifenorgel, Chor und Blechbläserquintett, komponiert von Kali Malone zwischen 2020 und 2023.
Chormusik, aufgeführt vom Macadam Ensemble unter der Leitung von Etienne Ferschaud in der Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-L'Immaculée-Conception in Nantes. Musik für Blechbläserquintett, aufgeführt von Anima Brass im Bunker Studio in New York City. Die Orgelmusik wurde gespielt von Kali Malone und Stephen O'Malley auf den historischen, temperierten Pfeifenorgeln der Église Saint-François in Lausanne, des Orgelparks in Amsterdam und des Malmö Konstmuseums in Schweden.
Kali Malone komponiert mit einer seltenen Klarheit. Ihre Musik ist geduldig und fokussiert und baut auf einem Fundament sich entwickelnder harmonischer Zyklen auf, die verborgene emotionale Resonanzen hervorrufen.
Kali Malone's anticipated new album "All Life Long" is a collection of music for pipe organ, choir, and brass quintet composed by Kali Malone, 2020 - 2023. Choral music performed by Macadam Ensemble and conducted by Etienne Ferschaud at Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-L'Immaculée-Conception in Nantes. Brass quintet music performed by Anima Brass at The Bunker Studio in New York City. Organ music performed by Kali Malone and Stephen O’Malley on the historical meantone tempered pipe organs at Église Saint-François in Lausanne, Orgelpark in Amsterdam, and Malmö Konstmuseum in Sweden.
Kali Malone composes with a rare clarity of vision. Her music is patient and focused, built on a foundation of evolving harmonic cycles that draw out latent emotional resonances. Time is a crucial factor: letting go of expectations of duration and breadth offers a chance to find a space of reflection and contemplation. In her hands, experimental reinterpretations of centuries-old polyphonic compositional methods become portals to new ways of perceiving sound, structure, and introspection. Though awe-inspiring in scope, the most remarkable thing about Malone’s music is the intimacy stirred by the close listening it encourages.
Malone’s new album All Life Long, created between 2020 - 2023, presents her first compositions for organ since 2019’s breakthrough album The Sacrificial Code alongside interrelated pieces for voice and brass performed by Macadam Ensemble and Anima Brass. Over the course of twelve pieces, harmonic themes and patterns recur, presented in altered forms and for varied instrumentation. They emerge and reemerge like echoes of their former selves, making the familiar uncanny. Propelled by lungs and breath rather than bellows and oscillators, Malone’s compositions for choir and brass take on expressive qualities that complicate the austerity that has defined her work, introducing lyricism and the beauty of human fallibility into music that has been driven by mechanical processes. At the same time, the works for organ, performed by Malone with additional accompaniment by Stephen O’Malley on four different organs dating from the 15th to 17th centuries, underscore the mighty, spectral power that those rigorous operations can achieve.
All Life Long simmers in an ever-shifting tension between repetition and variation. The pieces for brass, organ, and voice are alternated asymmetrically, providing nearly continuous timbral fluctuation across its 78-minute runtime even as thematic material reiterates. Each composition’s internal framework of fractal pattern permutations has the paradoxical effect of creating anticipated keystone moments of dramatic reverie and lulling the listener into believing in an illusory endlessness. On an even more granular level, the historical meantone tuning systems of each organ used, and the variable intonation of brass and voice, provide further points of emotional excavation within the harmony.
The titular composition “All Life Long” appears twice on the album, first as an extended canon for organ and again in the final quarter, compactly arranged for voice. In the latter, Malone pairs the music with “The Crying Water” by Arthur Symons, a poem steeped in language of mourning and eternity. For organ, “All Life Long” moves with a patient stateliness, the drama concentrated in moments when shifting tonalities generate and release dissonance and ecstasy. For voice, each word is saturated with feeling, the singers swooping gracefully downward to capture the melancholy of the narrator’s relationship to the timeless tears of the sea. “Passage Through The Spheres,” the album’s opening piece, contains lyrics in Italian pulled from Giorgio Agamben’s essay In Praise of Profanation. In it, Agamben defines profanation as, in part, the act of bringing back to communal, secular use that which has been segregated to the realm of the sacred, a process Malone enacts each time she performs on church organs.
This is not music of praise, or of spiritual revelation, but it is an artistic enactment of translating the indescribable. It carries the gravity of liturgical chant, and its fixation on the infinite, but draws its weight from the earthly realm of human experience. A music that draws the listener into the present moment where they can discover themselves within the interwoven musical patterns that can come to resemble the passage of days, weeks, years, a lifetime.
https://kalimalone.bandcamp.com/album/all-life-long
|
2024 |
€16.00 |
|
| MALONE, KALI (FEATURING STEPHEN O'MALLEY & LUCY RAILTON) |
Does Spring Hide its Joy |
3 x LP |
»Does Spring Hide Its Joy« is an immersive piece by composer Kali Malone featuring Stephen O’Malley on electric guitar, Lucy Railton on cello, and Malone herself on tuned sine wave oscillators. The music is a study in harmonics and non-linear composition with a heightened focus on just intonation and beating interference patterns. Malone’s experience with pipe organ tuning, harmonic theory, and long durational composition provide prominent points of departure for this work. Her nuanced minimalism unfolds an astonishing depth of focus and opens up contemplative spaces in the listener’s attention.
»Does Spring Hide Its Joy« follows Malone’s critically acclaimed records. Her collaborative approach expands from her previous work to closely include the musicians Stephen O’Malley & Lucy Railton in the creation and development of the piece. While the music is distinctly Malone’s sonic palette, she composed specifically for the unique styles and techniques of O’Malley & Railton, presenting a framework for subjective interpretation and non-hierarchical movement throughout the music.
»Does Spring Hide Its Joy« is a durational experience of variable length that follows slowly evolving harmony and timbre between cello, sine waves, and electric guitar. As a listener, the transition between these junctures can be difficult to pinpoint. There’s obscurity and unity in the instrumentation and identities of the players; the electric guitar's saturation timbre blends with the cello's rich periodicity, while shifting overtone feedback develops interference patterns against the precise sine waves. The gradual yet ever-occurring changes in harmony challenge the listener’s perception of stasis and movement. The moment you grasp the music, a slight shift in perspective guides your attention forward into a new and unfolding harmonic experience.
»Does Spring Hide Its Joy« was created between March and May of 2020. During this unsettling period of the pandemic, Malone found herself in Berlin with a great deal of time and conceptual space to consider new compositional methods. With a few interns left on-site, Malone was invited to the Berlin Funkhaus & MONOM to develop and record new music within the empty concert halls. She took this opportunity to form a small ensemble with her close friends and collaborators Lucy Railton & Stephen O’Malley to explore these new structural ideas within those various acoustic spaces. Hence, the foundation was laid for »Does Spring Hide Its Joy«.
In Kali’s own words: “Like most of the world, my perception of time went through a significant transformation during the pandemic confinements of spring 2020. Unmarked by the familiar milestones of life, the days and months dripped by, instinctively blending with no end in sight. Time stood still until subtle shifts in the environment suggested there had been a passing. Memories blurred non-sequentially, the fabric of reality deteriorated, unforeseen kinships formed and disappeared, and all the while, the seasons changed and moved on without the ones we lost. Playing this music for hours on end was a profound way to digest the countless life transitions and hold time together.”
»Does Spring Hide Its Joy« has since been performed live on many European stages, in durations of sixty and ninety minutes. Including at the Schauspielhaus in Zürich, the Bozar in Brussels, Haus Der Kunst in Munich, and the Munch Museum in Oslo. Concerts are forthcoming at Unsound Festival in Krakow, Mira Festival in Barcelona, the Venice Biennale, and the Purcell Room at the Southbank Center in London.
In addition to live concerts, the Funkhaus recordings of »Does Spring Hide Its Joy« have evolved in parallel as a site-specific sound installation. Malone has also invited the video artist Nika Milano to create a custom analog video work that interprets and accompanies the musical score as a fourth player, creating a visual atmosphere inspired by the sonic principles of the composition. Eight sequential video stills from Milano’s work are featured in the album artwork.
»Does Spring Hide Its Joy« is packaged in a heavyweight laminated jacket with full-color printed inner sleeves with artwork by Nika Milano. Mastered by Stephan Mathieu and cut at Schnittstelle Mastering, the record is pressed in perfect sound quality by Optimal in Germany.
https://kalimalone.bandcamp.com/album/does-spring-hide-its-joy
Does Spring Hide Its Joy ist ein immersives Stück der Komponistin Kali Malone mit Stephen O'Malley an der E-Gitarre, Lucy Railton am Cello und Malone selbst an gestimmten Sinusoszillatoren. Die Musik ist eine Studie über Obertöne und nichtlineare Komposition mit besonderem Augenmerk auf gerechter Intonation und schlagenden Interferenzmustern. Malones Erfahrungen mit der Stimmung von Pfeifenorgeln, der Harmonielehre und langer Kompositionen sind wichtige Ausgangspunkte für dieses Werk. Ihr nuancierter Minimalismus entfaltet eine erstaunliche Tiefenschärfe und eröffnet kontemplative Räume in der Aufmerksamkeit des Zuhörers. Does Spring Hide Its Joy ist eine Dauererfahrung von variabler Länge, die einer sich langsam entwickelnden Harmonie und Klangfarbe zwischen Cello, Sinuswellen und E-Gitarre folgt. Für den Hörer ist der Übergang zwischen den einzelnen Abschnitten oft schwer auszumachen. Das gesättigte Timbre der E-Gitarre vermischt sich mit der reichen Periodizität des Cellos, während die sich verschiebenden Oberton-Rückkopplungen Interferenzmuster mit den präzisen Sinuswellen entwickeln.
https://kalimalone.bandcamp.com/album/does-spring-hide-its-joy
|
2023 |
€49.50 |
|
| MANGROVE KIPLING |
In between stability |
mCD-R |
New project on this new label from Berlin’s SCISS, creating repetitive small drone-explosions, scrapes & hisses & whispering voices, all well executed and with special cardboard box. Tip !
“this piece comprehends several variations on editing the environment, heard through a classic instrument, the guitar, which occupies 95% of the sound field. The computer allows the mixing process of the different samples, the latter creating the breathing of the machine. The instrument gives voice to the machine. The spatialization of the different sources in the audio field can be then organized as an orchestra in which each instrument would be an edited part of a guitar sound, played simultaneously as if by severals musicians following a pattern. Each sound has its own identity and only varies when added to another, or more, which creates the dynamic of the piece. It is the freezing of fragments revoicing a moment, in another language.” [press release]
|
2004 |
€7.00 |
|
| MANIFESTO |
Exit |
CD |
"Being a part of the alternative scene since more than 15 years past, Magnus Zetterberg's Manifesto has created a trademark of bleak and dark electronica, industrial textures and blackened ambient that satisfies a diverse taste of listening with it's manifold expression. Catching up with this act in 2008, in connection with the release of the album Core, the label found it only natural to get in touch again. Since then, Manifesto has released material on such labels as Silken Tofu and Bone Structure (to mention a few) and played live across northern Europe.
Exit is the finalization of four years of transformative work where turbulence, creation and re-creation sets the thematics. The entering track unfolds existence as elusive and impermanent and onwards the harsh sides of reality push us towards entropy." [label info]
ralignment.tictail.com
"Manifesto is the solo project of Swede Magnus Zetterberg who has been issuing material under this name since 2000. Having previously released a series of albums, splits, live recordings and ep’s, ‘Exit’ is his latest 19th release and follows 2012’s ‘Rust’ album on Silken Tofu. Sonically Manifesto deal with soundtrack styled ambient music of a darker hue (aka ‘dark ambient’ for a more straight forward genre descriptor), which also fits within the recognizable traits of such music coming from northern European spheres.
Musically speaking dank sub-orchestral drones provide the sonic bedrock, which is then augmented with a meticulous level of textual sonic detailing. The sound palate is also embedded with a high degree of mechanized tonality and jagged industrial based distortion in a few fleeting moments. Evidently Magnus has had formally trained in sound engineering and music production, with the results of this being absolutely demonstrated within the refined dark ambient approach on display. 5 tracks are featured, with each ranging from 5 to 13 minutes and which play out as variations on established dark ambient genre traits, where some pieces are dour and brooding, whilst others featuring driving and rhythmically pounding undercurrents. Yet collectively the greatest impression of ‘Exit’ is a strong ‘cinematic’ atmosphere and specifically that of a dystopian science fiction type motion picture.
Although not necessary turning the tables of what can be expected from dark ambient music in 2016, this is still a complex, diverse and enjoyable listen, to very much constitute a soundtrack to a non-existent film. Mini gate-fold cardboard sleeve rounds out the packaging." [Noise Receptor]
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| MANINKARI |
Psychoide / Participation Mystic |
CD |
Erstaunliches Debut einer Pariser Gruppe, Post-Rock unter Einsatz von fast schon klassischen Arrangements & Impro-Elementen, AQuarius nennen das "Drone-Jazz"... 2 Remixe von JUSTIN BROADRICK und SCANNER runden die EP ab, die mit 42 Minuten fast long-play Niveau erreicht....
"Mysterious, quaking, hissing, clattering instrumental post- rock soundscapery, a murky improv, weird and warm, full of shimmering strings slightly dissonant, like something processed from the sounds of a symphony tuning up, building to bombastic dense, droning nirvana. Very cool... What is this? Well, we're always interested in what Belgium's Conspiracy label decides to release (just look 'em up on our website and you'll find a slew of AQ faves, from a bunch of Boris to the recent Sunburned Circle album). Never heard of Paris' Maninkari before, but this debut release of theirs being on Conspiracy gets our attention -- as does the fact that Jesu's Justin
Broadrick contributes a remix (as does Robin Rimbaud aka Scanner). That's right, as the title suggests, this disc is just two songs, plus two remixes... it's 42 minutes total, though, so if it's not a full-length album, it's not exactly just an ep either.
Maninkari construct a gorgeous soft cacophony of epic post- rock drift and minimal jazzy shuffle on 8:21 opener "Pyschoide".
Dense drumming, frenzied strings, wound into tense soundscapes of slow burning shimmer. Godspeed plays the Dirty Three, or maybe Angus Maclise jamming with Chris Corsano, dark and druggy, some sort of glorious mantra-like minimalist dronejazz, with a super cinematic
Phillip Glass like coda... That's followed by "Participation Mystic", a 16 minute track of lilting pizzicato strings, underpinned by deep
soft swells of shimmering warmth and distant bits of industrial clatter, a slow burning ambient drift that is eventually joined by a simple motorik rhythm, transforming the pulsing ambience into something jazzy and minimal, propulsive and hypnotic, channeling the
spirit of Finnish hypnorockers Circle and minimal dronejazz combo the Necks... and again near the end, everything enveloped by intense swarms of frenetic strings...
The two remixes are different enough from the originals to be quite worthwhile, and stand by themselves, not surprisingly being more "electronic music" sounding, and in the case of Broadrick's remix, more "extreme"!" [Aquarius Records]
www.conspiracyrecords.com
|
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
|
Continuum Sonore |
CD |
"You'll get in "Continuum Sonore" in well-known territories: deep alto with ethnic percussions. You're in a Maninkari record, no doubts.
But that's where the french duo will left the obviousness. After a handfull of critically acclaimed records on labels such as Conspiracy, Three:Four and Neuropa to name a few, Maninkari offered to Basses Frequences the chance to release something different: a drone album. If the band already used deep, continuous sounds in its previous works it never handle them with such extended, pure approach. They didn't used drums nor percussions apart on the intro, but their usual kind of traditional instruments (cymbalom, alto, bodhran) and manipulated fields recordings, to create solar or nightmarish drones. The band totally reached its goal and offered us a majestic piece of drone that I'm really proud of." [label info]
www.bassesfrequences.org
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Phantasmes |
LP |
"Phantasmes is a 50 minutes experimental movie written and directed by Thomas Pantalacci. “A sensory experience between dream and reality, fantasy and eroticism, awakening and sleep…”
For that purpose, the band Maninkari wrote a two-part - one per side - 39 minutes soundtrack with multiple pieces. The tracks are not marked out because here, even silence is vital. It doesn’t soothe the tensions, but amplifies the feeling of oddness of the music. Dark ambient, syncopated drumming, dissonant chords… Maninkari use all the sonority spectrum, mixing aggressive high-pitched violin with deep and voluptuous bass sounds.
Playing on the thin border between dreaming and awakening, Phantasmes is a mental and physical record; seductive, disturbing and lustful.
Includes a download code for a free download of the album." [label info]
www.three-four.net
"The brothers Charlot return here (see also Vital Weekly 843 and 815) with thirty-nine minutes of music which they recorded for a '50 minute experimental movie written and directed by Thomas Pantalacci' and which is described as as 'a sensory experience between dream and reality, fantasy and eroticism, awakening and sleep…'. Usually Maninkari use a lot of percussion, but it seems that in their more recent musical outings they also use other instruments, such as viola, cimbalom, keyboards and samples. And yes, lots of effects. They easily reach for that bit of reverb, to add that extra layer of 'space' and 'mystic' to the music. Thank god, however, not always, and they use it wise and sparsely. Of course I haven't seen the movie, but I can imagine, based on the soundtrack, what it will look like. Dark and moody, but not always as 'loaded' as you would expect. Maninkari also leave room for quieter moments, sparser moments if you will. Sometimes a simple drone is all that we are left with, or even some crackles - it might be the vinyl. But then sometimes the music start to expand, growing, bigger and takes on dramatic courses. For instance on the b-side, somewhere half way through. When that happens, it usually involves percussion, loud and clear - manually and not mechanically played. The dramatic changes in the music made me surely curious about the film. There is a lot of tension in this piece of black vinyl. Excellent mood enhancher." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
|
L'Océan Rêve dans sa Loisiveté |
CD |
"Around the theme of the ocean symbolising the subconscious, the hidden world and a very personal concept of "loisiveté" a combintion of idleness "oisiveté" and law "loi", Maninkari continues exploring a weird and dreamlike world.
As usual, the Charlot brothers resort almost exclusively to the use of acoustic instruments with oriental origins (bodhran, cymbalom, santoor, zurna).
Percussion instruments especially the bodhran play melodic or textural figures, whereas stringed instruments become repetitive to a point where they embody the rythmics.
The combination of repetition and oriental tones create a heady sound continuum providing the 10 nameless tracks with a mantra-like resonance. A short breathing in the middle of the album with an organ and birdsong is the only quiet moment of this tormented (but without violence), and meditative (but without bliss) record.
The permanent state of tension recalls the rigours of law and repetition provides the calm alternative of idleness "l'oisiveté". The ocean offers all of it's grandeur to this introspective journey." [label info]
www.three-four.net
"The two brothers Charlot who call them selves Maninkari have been reviewed a couple of time before in these pages and their music is always build around percussion, but not solely consisting thereof. I must admit I didn't quite get the wordplay in the title: "around the theme of the ocean symbolising the subconscious, the hidden world and a very personal concept of 'loisivete' a combination of idleness 'oisivete' and law 'loi', Maninkari continues exploring a weird and dreamlike world", I read in the press text. This duo has recorded a few soundtracks, but this works stands by itself. Manikari uses a variety of percussion instruments of oriental origin such as the bodhran, cymbalom, santoor and zuma, but also stringed instruments played in a percussive way. That's something that creates overtones, which accounts for the humming textures. I am not entirely sure what is played live here and what is added by way of editing and post-processing. There is surely a bit of reverb added to create more drama and more moods, or perhaps this was recording in a more empty, open space. There is a tribal aspect to their music, but Maninkari doesn't force this upon the listener. There aren't any signs of sigils and Crowley quotes. The music of Maninkari reminds me of Rapoon, Muslimgauze (less political of course), but also Desaccord Majeur, to give a French point of reference. I thought it was a bit odd Maninkari doesn't use any titles for their pieces, but perhaps I liked that. No reference which clears your head and think of titles yourself for these dark sound scapes. It is surely another fine addition to their already impressive catalogue of works." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Un Phénomène De Reliance |
CD |
After a few years, Maninkari returns to Zoharum with a new, already third studio album for the label. "Un Phenomene De Reliance" is a kind of concept album, it's something like a suite, consisting of four separate compositions. There are no spectacular twists or unexpected musical revolts here. The duo of Charlot brothers continues to follow the path chosen by them, masterfully developing the formula they developed years ago. We are dealing here with illustrative music, extremely vivid, strongly influencing the imagination of the audience.Certainly, it could serve as the soundtrack to an unspecified movie based on a somewhat dreamlike plot. It would be great as a sound for a performance or ballet. The French use classical instruments with quite a lot of freedom, and at the same time with impeccable virtuosity, to create a rather peculiar musical abstract, based on compositions that are characterized by incredible lightness, harmony and melodic beauty, at the same time giving the impression of fleetin, airy miniatures. where each note seems to sound only for a moment before disappearing into a huge space, filled with silence. Trying to properly describe what "Un Phenomene De Reliance" is, we can use the terms "ambient" or "chamber music". However, neither of these expressions will fully represent what is contained in this publication. At the same time, it is worth devoting special time to, somewhere in the privacy of your home, to be able to concentrate on the pleasure of listening and exploring this very intimate, personal and captivating music.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/un-phenomene-de-reliance
######################
"Genre/Influences: Experimental, Ritual, Cinematic.
Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.
Background/Info: Frédéric and Olivier Charlot -who are also involved with other projects like Sphyxion, are back on track unleashing a new opus of Maninkari.They already released several albums but this is their third one on Zoharum.
Content: The work features 4 songs which have been progressively built up by the mix of authentic instruments and electronic treatments. The viola injects a deeply, atmospheric, darkness to the work while the rhythmic make it all sound Ritual.
+ + + : I like Maninkari for their authenticity, the use of acoustic instruments not only adding an artistic touch to the work but also a poignant, atmospheric, touch. The title song is a true masterpiece whereon the Charlot brothers have found a perfect balance between the different instruments. The viola is absolutely terrific here. You also can notice improvised passages but the work remains constantly accessible.
– – – : It needs a few minutes before you totally get into the poignant sonic universe of Maninkari. So you better be a little bit patient.
Conclusion: Subtle improvisation with a styled, acoustic, touch on top." [Side-Line]
|
2022 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Un Phenomene De Reliance |
LP |
After a few years, Maninkari returns to Zoharum with a new, already third studio album for the label. "Un Phenomene De Reliance" is a kind of concept album, it's something like a suite, consisting of four separate compositions. There are no spectacular twists or unexpected musical revolts here. The duo of Charlot brothers continues to follow the path chosen by them, masterfully developing the formula they developed years ago. We are dealing here with illustrative music, extremely vivid, strongly influencing the imagination of the audience.Certainly, it could serve as the soundtrack to an unspecified movie based on a somewhat dreamlike plot. It would be great as a sound for a performance or ballet. The French use classical instruments with quite a lot of freedom, and at the same time with impeccable virtuosity, to create a rather peculiar musical abstract, based on compositions that are characterized by incredible lightness, harmony and melodic beauty, at the same time giving the impression of fleetin, airy miniatures. where each note seems to sound only for a moment before disappearing into a huge space, filled with silence. Trying to properly describe what "Un Phenomene De Reliance" is, we can use the terms "ambient" or "chamber music". However, neither of these expressions will fully represent what is contained in this publication. At the same time, it is worth devoting special time to, somewhere in the privacy of your home, to be able to concentrate on the pleasure of listening and exploring this very intimate, personal and captivating music.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/un-phenomene-de-reliance
######################
"Genre/Influences: Experimental, Ritual, Cinematic.
Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.
Background/Info: Frédéric and Olivier Charlot -who are also involved with other projects like Sphyxion, are back on track unleashing a new opus of Maninkari.They already released several albums but this is their third one on Zoharum.
Content: The work features 4 songs which have been progressively built up by the mix of authentic instruments and electronic treatments. The viola injects a deeply, atmospheric, darkness to the work while the rhythmic make it all sound Ritual.
+ + + : I like Maninkari for their authenticity, the use of acoustic instruments not only adding an artistic touch to the work but also a poignant, atmospheric, touch. The title song is a true masterpiece whereon the Charlot brothers have found a perfect balance between the different instruments. The viola is absolutely terrific here. You also can notice improvised passages but the work remains constantly accessible.
– – – : It needs a few minutes before you totally get into the poignant sonic universe of Maninkari. So you better be a little bit patient.
Conclusion: Subtle improvisation with a styled, acoustic, touch on top." [Side-Line]
|
2022 |
€18.00 |
|
| MANKOWSKI, ADAM |
Dzwieki z Offu |
CD |
Music, word, murmur - stratified and contrasted with the sound naturalism obligatory in Polish cinema, gave rise to a completely new path of film acoustics development, which ceased to be only a sincere mirror and became a conscious element in the creation of psychic reality. The musical material contained in the album is an attempt to subjectively interpret the huge wealth of experience brought by the film debut of Grzegorz Królikiewicz - the movie Na Wylot. Movie has never belonged to the favorites of critics, and all analyzes and reviews - which took place after the premiere and for the next decades - focused almost on the problems of the moral work. The artistic layer of the film remains underestimated and still overlooked, as well as the potential of the techniques used to assemble and execute the sound, which allowed to significantly extend the psychological portrait of the main characters of the drama. The overriding aim of the process of creating this musical material was the desire to evoke the creative spirit accompanying the director and his composers - Henryk Kuzniak and Jerzy Hajdun. The creators responsible for the sound layer, dared to break with the contemporary tradition and departing from naturalism, created a sound space that is a kind of deformation of reality in which the lost and deformed sound often reaches us from outside the frame.
The basic assumption of the project "Dzwieki z Offu" is to bring the audience to the figure of Grzegorz Królikiewicz - director, screenwriter and professor of film arts associated with Lodz. The film debut of the author, made at the WFDiF Film Laboratory in Lodz, was an absolute sensation at the time of the premiere on the background of Polish cinematography. This was due to the use of innovative techniques for the implementation and assembly of sound, as well as artistic experiments in combining the sound layer with the image.
Adam Mankowski - born in 1985, lives and works in Lodz. A sound artist, improviser, independent music journalist and photography enthusiast. An insightful observer of newly emerging music phenomena of an avant-garde character. Since 2006 he has been continuing his solo music activity under the name - Limited Liability Sounds. He moves in the genere of improvised, experimental and intermedia music. He co-founded the experimental duo Scindite (2014-2015) and the ambient project Insomnia (2005-2012). Winner of this year's artistic scholarship, Mayor of the City of Lodz.
llsnoise@gmail.com
www.llsnoise.pl
www.facebook.com/llsnoise
"ADAM MANKOWSKI in Lódz ist in den Kreisen, in denen er sich seit 2006 bewegt, besser bekannt als Limited Liability Sounds oder auch mit Scindite. Als LLS hat er zwischen Re-Drum und Emerge auch schon bei Attenuation Circuit angedockt, mit genug Anspruch und Courage, sich an "An Hommage to Luciano Berio" (2017) und gar an "Music for Philosophers" (2018) zu wagen. Dzwieki z Offu [Klänge aus dem Off] (ACU 1013) dreht sich nun lokalpatriotisch um Grzegorz Królikiewicz (1939-2017), den durch etwa "Wieczne pretensje" [Ewige Nörgelei] (1974), "Zabicie ciotki" [Die Tante erschlagen] (1984), "Der Fall Pekosinski" (1993) oder "Sasiady - Neighborhooders" (2014) bekannten Altmeister der polnischen Filmkunst in Lódz. Und insbesondere um dessen preisgekröntes und kontroverses Debut "Na wylot" (dt. Durch und durch, 1972) und die Filmmusik dazu von Henryk Kuzniak & Janusz Hajdun. Mankowski nähert sich dem an durch nicht unharmonische Drones und perkussive Geräusche und Ansätze von Rhythmik, durchsetzt mit Samples. Als Metasoundscape, durch den Alltagsgeräusche und Instrumentalklänge geistern, Fetzen eines Kinderchors. eine Handvoll Pianonoten, angerührte Strings, von allem nur Tupfer, Schlieren, ein Anhauch, wie ein melancholisch eingetrübter Schleier, gewebt aus Erinnerungen und durchhuscht von Mäusen, die im Oberstübchen daran nagen, betropft von Tropfen und müden Schlägen, mit vagen oder klimpernden Griffen in die Tasten, von Glocken bebimmelt, von Vögeln bezwitschert. Dumpf verzerrte Klänge kehren wieder, Geräusche kreisen und malen unrund und schleifend, das knarzende Gefüge scheint zu träumen. So vieles ist wie im Traum und durch den Lauf der Dinge unscharf geworden: die Festung Przemysl von "Fort 13" (1984) nicht weniger als der Totschlag und die "Na wylot"-Liebe von Jan & Maria oder "Die Kostbarkeit des freien Gewissens", wie Królikiewicz 1981 seine Mahnung vor dem religiösen (ideologischen) Bürgerkrieg überschrieb, und wie es in Polen weitergeht, nachdem wieder das Messer gezückt wurde." [Bad Alchemy] |
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| MANNING, ROSS |
Te t on on ti computer |
MC |
Ross Manning is a contemporary new media artist from Brisbane, Australia. He focus on alive instrument practises, kinetic and sound composition. He is using mainly recordings of his own percussion instruments made by steel, aluminium and scrap metals. Ross Manning is an obsessive creator of systems that are driven by their own logic, exploring the rhythm and the recycling energy of them. His sound works has published on moremars, Room40, vitrine, Chemical Imbalance and Greedy Ventilator.
In both sides of his “te t on on ti computer” release, he present us two different aspects of his musical direction. The first side is a montage, with a big variety of distorted sounds and pure tones, that reproduced by his custom-made instruments and electronic sources. Noisy parts mixed with chaotic metal percussions and drones, are constructing a sonic sculpture that even if the individual elements have a complex structure, the final result sounds simple and mysterious.
On the second side, there is a long composition made by his self-made string panels, that they produce rhythmic patterns, that are changing form through the kinetic energy. Sonically, there is a sense of gamelan music, with melodic motifs that gradually change to a more complex form, with the composition to get more busy, constructing an extremely dense amalgamation of sounds.
www.moremars.org/store/products/ross-manning-te-t-on-on-ti-computer-cassette/
"Greece's More Mars released a cassette by Ross Manning before (see Vital Weekly 1062). This
Australian musician is not particularly fond of much information on his covers, so I still have no idea what he does, but last time I wrote: "Manning creates his own instruments since a very early age and on this cassette we find four of his pieces using these DIY electronics and "shelf-made string pannel" [sic]", so perhaps it is fair to say he is still doing that. The chaotic approach of before is now gone and there is much more control to be noted in these pieces, which works very much for the benefit of the music. Of course, he is doing a similar instrument here, which is something I am
not sure of. It is a most enjoyable release here, in which Manning carefully explores the sounds he produces with his devices. On the first side, there is a beautiful drone-like exploration of this, somewhere in the middle of the tape, whereas on the second side there is a more percussive element in the music. Then it sounds like a bit nervous yet regular tapping of violin strings. Throughout there is a rough element in the music like it has been taped in a space, using an amplifier and space plays a small but not insignificant role here. It is a mighty step forward, I thought." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2019 |
€9.00 |
|
| |
Reflex in Waves |
LP |
In August this year, Ross Manning opened his first major survey exhibition, Dissonant Rhythms, at Brisbane’s Institute of Modern Art. As part of the exhibition a monograph and LP edition, titled Reflex in Waves, were prepared to celebrate this milestone.
Reflex in Waves brings together a series of sonic approaches Manning has been developing for over a decade. Specifically, Manning’s work is concerned with waves and the impacts of their resulting vibration. Quietly producing audio works out of his studio in Yeronga, on the south side of Brisbane city, Manning’s works are based on a series of deeply personal instrument designs, tape manipulation and other exploratory approaches. His instruments, which are often percussive, use harmonically related materials that are activated by motor-driven strings. The resulting sound is a chaotic but pulse-like cluster of harmony.
Developing sets of uniquely pitched materials, Manning’s instruments each maintain a distinct quality. No two instruments sound alike and although the way in which they are ‘performed’ may be similar, the resulting sound is anything but familiar.
“I have always been interested in how sound lives in spaces,” Ross summarises. “As I worked on this exhibition, I spent a great deal of time in my studio building instruments and exploring them. I recorded many, many hours of materials in this space and this collection of recordings is very much a summary of my sound practice to this moment.”
Dissonant Rhythms will tour Australian galleries for the next four years. The Ross Manning: Dissonant Rhythms exhibition, publication, tour, and Reflex in Waves are supported by the Australia Council for the Arts, and the IMA’s Commissioners Circle.
https://room40.bandcamp.com/album/reflex-in-waves |
2017 |
€25.00 |
|
| MARANHA, DAVID |
Piano Suspenso |
CD |
"OSSO EXOTICO-Mitglied DAVID MARANHA auf Solopfaden: a single piece of beauty for about 71 minutes! Piano strings excited by four motors and violin, recorded in N.Y. at the electronic arts performance series. In allen Frequenzen ausschweifende, majestätische Drones, mit ständigen Interferenzen & Überlagerungen & Obertönen, ein Meer von Drones sozusagen, in das man hinabtauchen kann!!!" [old Drone Rec. info] BACK IN STOCK !!
"Reissue of this 1999 release and out of print since a long time. Some reviews at the time of release : ' After a tentative opening consisting of damp harmonic scrapes, the piece takes off like a single-engined light aircraft when maranha kickstarts his four-motored piano effect and then starts to tease single notes from the bubbling background with his bow. This is a great and physically affecting slab of sound, where the slightest minimal shift causes tectonic plates to groan. It's gravy train stuff for fans of Maryanne Amacher, Arnold Dreyblatt and Ð perhaps maranha's major influence Ð Phill Niblock. ' david Keenan - The wire (aug. 99) ' david maranha, one third of Osso Exotico, recorded a hauntingely beautiful piece in New York, using four motors and a violin bow to play the grandpiano. The motors create rich textures of overtones that slowly go in and out of phase and make unknown harmonies audible. The bow plays something like the melody off and on. There is a very special thanks to Phill Niblock and if you know his music, then you know what to expect as it fits his tradition of minimal music very well." ' Frans de Waard - Vital weekly " [press release]
|
1999 |
€10.00 |
|
| MARANHA, DAVID & HELENA ESPVALL |
Sombras Incendiadas |
LP |
"Helena Espvall first met David Maranha in 2006 when her band Espers played a show in Lisbon. They played two gigs the following year, and Espvall contributed to Maranha's Marches of the New World. Since then they always had the intention of working together more extensively and once Espvall moved to Lisbon two years ago they had no more excuses. Sombras Incendiadas ('Exploding Shadows') features Espvall on amplified cello and Maranha on electric organ and amplified violin. Espvall has an amazing cello sound, kind of Velvet Underground, while David Maranha is in the vein of La Monte Young or Tony Conrad. As a duo, they create heavy drones with delicate harmonics behind the wall of sound. The textures are raw, the compositions are minimalistic, and the riffs are heady. The repetitive patterns played very loudly create a monolithic, hypnotic, and time stopping album. Sombras Incendiadas is available on LP (with a download coupon) and digitally. David Maranha, violin, electric organ. Helena Espvall, cello. Recorded in Violente do Céu by David Maranha between december 2012 and march 2013."
www.three-four.net
"Over the course of many years I have been enjoying the music from David Maranha a lot. First when he was playing with Osso Exotico, a group with among others his brother Andre, and later on solo or in collaboration with others. One could easily say, with any exaggeration, that Maranha represents minimal music in Portugal, more so than say Rafael Toral who is more the 'drone' master (before he started being interested in jazz). Here he teams up with Helena Espvall from Sweden, who lives in Philadelphia, where she is part of the psychedelic and free-folk scene. In 2006 they met for the first time, when Espvall played in Lisbon and since Espvall lives in that city for two years it's only natural they would work together. There are three instruments on this record: Espvall's amplified cello and Maranha playing electric organ and amplified violin. The music reminds the more informed listener of the drone/noise/minimalism of the sixties; think Tony Conrad (especially him) or a heavily
amplified and drugged out LaMonte Young or maybe The Velvet Underground in their normal habitat, less any drums. It's busy as hell, with these loud, repetitive moves that sound like a menace and it's nowhere mechanical. This is a heavy record, I must say. It's not for the weak of hearth and mind: it goes right into your brain and sticks like thick knitting needle; it goes under your skin and never leaves. This is not the kind of drone aiming to please the listener, but make him sit upright and listens carefully. Play loud is not something I would say easily, but in this case: yes, absolutely play very loud and don't engage yourself in any other activity, other than listening and be fully immersed." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
| MARANHA, DAVID & Z'EV |
Obsidiana |
CD |
"David Maranha, hammond organ. Z'ev, stainless steel discs, bass drum, maracas. Recorded live at zdb, Lisbon, 24 june 2010. Certain musicians names can speak for themselves, before even a note of music has been played. Their reputations proceed them, although of course there will also be those ignorant of both reputation and name. David Maranha - solo or with Osso Exotico - explores the territories opened up half a century ago by John Cale and Tony Conrad. Z'ev is the grandmaster of industrial/ tribal percussion. The fusion they create together is a magma of movement and stasis before which only legless cripples will remain motionless." [label info]
www.sonoris.org
"A meeting of minimalists, I'd say, but minimalists with a maximum output. I saw David Maranha once in concert at his organ, loud and long, and minimal, like Terry Riley on speed. Z'EV is a man to play percussion on stainless steel discs, bass drum and maracas and most his playing is minimal, letting tones do the work in the space it is played in, leading to heavy bouncing sounds. These two heavy weights plays a concert at ZDB in Lisbon on June 24 2010 and the result is this thirty-five some piece. It starts out moody and slow, silent with Z'EV playing the stainless steel discs, waving the listeners into some kind of obscure magic ritual which is about to take place. Tones bend in various directions and slowly the hammond organ on Maranha comes in and from then on things evolve in quite a natural way, but once everything is in place it no longer carries that ritualist tag, but unfolds itself as a great psychedelic piece of music. Terry Riley meets the Velvet Underground. When Z'EV picks up the maracas to play the bass drum, Maranha starts adding some fine clusters in the lower region, and both knit a very dense pattern of closely linked tones. Maybe just a bit short with a bit too abrupt ending, and next to being at the real concert, I can imagine the CD is best substitute." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| MARC WANNABE |
Things don't last very long |
CD |
Schwülstig-obskure rhythmische Elektronik, oder wie soll man das nennen, was MAREK WANTZECK hier produziert hat? Rollend abgefederte Beats werden mit allerlei vokalen Geräusch-emissionen verwurstet, der Effekt ist (jedenfalls bei mir und einigen von meinen 1000 selfs), dass man verwirrt das Tanzbein schwingen muss. Filed under: Mind-fuck-Techno!
“After 3 years the third rumbling album by Marc Wannabe finally is released! A journey through 12 crackling & grooving tracks, based mainly on the sounding sputum of throat & mouth. 60 minutes of straight & oblique rhythms, pulsating basses & energetic transfers. Old friends showing up, leaving breathes, noises & voices, and also the well known old pleated robots can be found somewhere... Marek Wantzéck (aka Marc Wannabe) explains the conceptual background of this album:
"How to handle that professional music as we know it? Well, the construction, you see, really made me start to use situations and transistors radios. And that became an image of the piece what was happening around me. And the title really came after the piece and is like a silent protest. So there was a strong connection there with things don´t last very long." That may answering a lot - but not everything. To get the full spectrum of possible answers: Listen to this CD!” [press release]
"Cultureclash. Kampf der Genres. Audiogebrösel aus dem kollektiven Musikgedächtnis der letzten Jahre. Hip-Hop, Grime, Dub, Experimentelles und abstrahiertes Rhythmusgefühl. Random Music, bizarres Audiotheater für Leute, die unter ihre Achim Wollscheid-MP3s einen Technobeat mischen.
Marc Wannabe präsentiert mit »Things Don't Last Very Long« fucked up Jazz, Knödelpop, dümmliche Hip-Hop Etüden und breites Verständnis für jegliche Form von öffentlichkeitsfern entstandenen Schülerhandyaufnahmen getreu dem Motto: mach mir die Sau für 1 Minute Schulhofimpression. Alles aufgezeichnet. Da darf es auch mal grunzen oder spastische Vokalverrenkungen geben. Mach dich zum Horst verdammt noch mal.
Wannabe darf alles, erlaubt sich alles und zieht auch noch andere mit hinein. Column One sind dabei und dürfen Wannebe auditiv abkanzeln und ihn in der Karzer schicken, während Stea Andreasson ihn wieder aus der Ecke zieht um ihm mit rotem Lolitamund die Leviten zu lesen. Andreassons filmisches Zitateschnippeln aus der Krimiserie Der Alte mag da als pädagogisches Anschauungsmaterial dienen.
Das braucht es dann auch mal. Alle Register werden hier gezogen. Und wer das alles nicht versteht, sollte die CD mal vor der Schule in der Cliquenraucherecke abspielen. Damit bist du einer von allen bei soviel stilistischer Vielfalt." [Thorsten Soltau / AEMAG] |
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| MARCHETTI / NOETINGER / WERCHOWSKI |
same |
CD |
"This CD documents some of the considerable body of live work undertaken singly and together by these associates of the Metamkine group - Lionel Marchetti, Jerome Noetinger and Mathieu Werchowski..... This disc consists of two half-hour performances from a European tour undertaken in November 1998, Lille and Turin. It documents the collision between the ‘electroacoustic devices’ of Marchetti and Noetinger, and the violin of Werchowski. The frisson of timbres both acoustic and electronic, and the juxtaposition of traditions (modern and ancient), provides a charge of excitement to the proceedings, and anchors it in a genealogy of improvisation stretching back to the 1960s. All this is discussed in depth in the accompanying essay by Michel Henritzi, which situates their endeavors within the underlying social infrastructure as well as the cultural superstructure." {from the press release}
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
| MARCHETTI, LIONEL |
Knud un Nom de Serpent |
CD |
Wiederveröffentlichung des erfolgreichen MARCHETTI-Albums von 1999 (soweit wir wissen sein erstes full-length Solo-Album), ein in höchstem Maße forderndes Collagen-Werk mit Aufnahmen von schamanistischen Ritualen & ritueller Musik, inspiriert von MIRCEA ELIADE.
"Having seen Marchetti perform live with Jerome Noetinger, this CD comes as somewhat of a surprise. Starting with African music, followed by part of a French chanson and parts of spoken word, this work obviously needs a different approach. After reading the press release, things become clearer: Marchetti has a strong interest in shamanism and tries 'to make the listener live with my mythology, more aware of the world's potential forces'. Collage seems to be the method to achieve this goal. All tracks consist of numerous citations from music from all over the world and all over the times. The result is a work that one can listen to over and over again, because of the richness of its ingredients. Others can probably not stand the complexity..." [Roel Meelkop, Vital Weekly]
"Back by popular demand ! Lionel Marchetti's classic album of harrowing tape music from 1999, Knud un Nom de Serpent (Le Cercle des Entrailles), was published by Intransitive in 1999, quickly sold out, and remains the most requested title to be resurrected from our back catalog. We're thrilled to make Knud available again, now with a striking new cover design and an appreciative essay by Bhob Rainey (nmperign, The BSC). The gripping drama of Knud un Nom de Serpent illustrates Marchetti's idea of popular music as Shamanic ritual, a gateway to ecstatic altered states. Armed with fierce wit and a razor blade, he smashes together sounds from all over the world into a hallucinatory cyclone of Jamaican reggae, French chanson, American avant-garde vocalists, Thai pop songs, nature recordings, spoken text, and more. The result is a chilling work of furious, obliquely narrative tape-collage and tense, frightening scenes. As Marchetti explained to The Wire magazine, 'I've always been interested in the idea of the medicine man. Someone who by sheer force of imagination transports you into another world, part artist, part healer. Maybe that's what a composer is.' Lionel Marchetti (France, 1967) is a self-taught composer of musique concrète. He has built his own recording studio, and has composed in the Groupe de Recherches Musicales in Paris since 1993. Marchetti also performs improvised music with microphones and loudspeakers as a duo with Jérôme Noetinger, as part of the group quintetAvant, and with the collective Le Cube, which performs live music and interactive film. Marchetti's book La Musique Concrète De Michel Chion was published by Éditions Metamkine in 1998. Also available: int031 Lionel Marchetti & Seijiro Murayama 'Hatali Atseli (L'Echange des Yeux)' CD." [label info]
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Alpha Z Centauris |
MC |
"I started recording sounds when I was 17 years old, in 1984 when by chance someone gave me a K7 tape recorder with 2 diverse speeds... I discovered recording sounds was already a full and poetic act which was able to be used for the experimental music which i was dreaming of. In 1987, after one month of hard work in a summer camp restaurant I bought a 4-track stereo tape recorder and I started a lot of experiments in my little flat in Lyon (France) : via an old Radiola radio from the 50's, my hifi system, an old synthesizer, my clarinet (I tried to play in water), a rhythm machine, a bad (good?) microphone etc. At that period I knew nothing about Revox tape recorders and the idea of tape montage. Nevertheless, when I started Katakomb (which is a part of a series of my first 33 little musique concrete compositions, I discovered how incredible was the changing of speed for a recorded sound, or all synthesizer sounds, voices... and the beautiful possibility to reverse all sounds - I was discovering the 'power' of a recorded sound. For me, the act of recording became an incredible acceleration to join a new poetic 'world' : Katakomb was the first composition which was talking to me from a 'nowhere' place as if, as a composer, I became a 'stranger'. Satan and Alpha Z Centauris are composed as little free musique concrete studies and they follow what I started in 1987 : the idea of an accumulation of little aphoristic studies which can communicate all together even if they are composed in diverse periods and studio places. I have, since that period and always today, numerous little study compositions following that direction and I am happy to build around them, via a first edition of my archives on Mirror Tapes which has founded a new architectural place of montage and perceptions.' L.M. *A professionally duplicated & factory sealed C30 cassette tape with tape inlay professionally offset printed in full-colour. Limited Edition : 250 copies only." [label info]
|
2011 |
€9.00 |
|
| |
La grande vallee / Micro-climat |
LP |
"I wonder if my fascination for clouds (without being an obsession) may have risen at the end of the '80s as, whilst composing 'Micro-climat', I would regularly wander between the Vercors mountains and the high plateaus of the Monts du Forez discovering, through my eyes, body, breath, active observation and walk, that natural forms when constantly changing and yet swollen with a unity of matter (in this instance, water) open one up to a deep, fundamental breath and a clear field for the mind. The sky and its forces: our ally. A model for a natural music which, although fixed, as in musique concrète (a rule of the genre), moreover on a recording tape, will remain charged with such a poetic quality that (isn't it its role or rather its reality?) it will ensure a perpetual renewal for our senses, so as to reach another idea of the world, far more open and richer than what we could have imagined." --Lionel Marchetti, 2011.
"Lionel Marchetti is a major figure of the 'third generation' of concrète musicians, a term he values. Listening to these works, imbued with poetry and traversed by micro-narratives, one can indeed retrieve the original concrète spirit, the one that draws from the sonic world, with ears wide open, so as to extract a fertile, rich and multiple substance then shaped and conveyed towards a formal and musical abstraction. Lionel Marchetti has mastered this process, but his real distinctive feature is a truly unique talent for setting climates (as one sets traps) and keeping us on constant alert. The two pieces in this record perfectly illustrate the entrancing dimension of Lionel Marchetti's music, whose charm leads us, through each successive listening, to become voluntary captives so as to better liberate ourselves." --François Bonnet, Paris, 2020.
"La grande vallée": Musical composition, design and sound production carried out at the INA grm Studios (Paris) in 1993/95; Original audio recordings in the Drôme and the Mont Ventoux areas "Micro-climat" is the first movement of the Sirrus cycle (Micro-climat, Passerelle, Sirrus) composed in 1989/90; Musical composition, sound design and production, audio recordings in 1989/90 at the CFMI studios in Lyon (Lumière University, Lyon 2). Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi; Cut by Andreas Kauffelt at Schnittstelle, Berlin, November 2020; Translations: Valérie Vivancos; Layout: Stephen O'Malley.
https://lionelmarchetti.bandcamp.com/album/la-grande-vall-e-micro-climat
"A long-standing member of Groupe De Recherches Musicales, the French composer, Lionel Marchetti, is one of the great contemporary exponents of musique concrète and acousmatic playback, having worked in the idioms since the late 1980s - producing dozens of solo and collaborative releases - and written extensively on the subjects. He is regarded as among the most important figures within the idiom’s third wave.
Recollection GRM’s LP, La grande vallee / Micro-climat, dives back toward the earliest days of the composer’s catalog of works. The album’s first side comprises the work La grande vallee, which was created at GRM between 1993 and 1995, before its original release in 1998 as part of Metamkine’s legendary Cinéma Pour L'Oreille series.
Drawing on a vast range of recordings from diverse sources - many taken from the natural world - over the works’ 20+ minutes, Marchetti weaves a startlingly imagistic and hauntingly musical tapestry of sonority. Shadows of ambience rise and fall amongst long tones and bristling textures, sculpting a space to be occupied fully, and where the boundaries between obscurity, clarity, and abstraction fade within expanses of brilliantly balanced organisations of sound.
The entire second side is given over to an earlier work, Micro-climat, created by Marchetti in 1989 and 1990 at the CFMI studios in Lyon, but remaining unreleased until 2001, when it appeared on his CD only release, Sirrus, issued by Auscultare Research. While radically different and arguably more explicitly experimental in its material presence than La grande vallee, the work similarly speaks from Marchetti’s intimate relationship with the natural world, drawing much of its inspiration and source material from his wanderings during this period in the Vercors mountains and Monts du Forez in the south of France.
Building on heavily processed tones and textures that dance with interspersed environment sounds - locatable and unplaceable - the work’s engrossing structures pulse with energy in a careful balance between pure abstraction and the ephemeral trace.
Largely unknown outside of France and a small number of devoted fans of experimental electronic practice, Recollection GRM’s LP, La grande vallee / Micro-climat, presents Lionel Marchetti as a crucial and welcome voice in late 20th and 21st century musique concrète.
A deeply poetic channeling of the natural world through rigorously experiential techniques, with its two works appearing for the first time ever on vinyl, it’s a vibrant and engrossing listen from start to finish that shouldn’t be missed. Like all things from the label, it’s bound to go fast so grab it while you can." [Soundohm]
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| MARCHETTI, LIONEL & JEAN-BAPTISTE FAVORY |
100 000 Annees |
do-CD |
"Lionel Marchetti (France, 1967) is a composer of musique concrete. First self-taught, he discovered the catalogue of Musique Concrète with Xavier Garcia. He has composed in the CFMI of Lyon 2 University between 1989 and 2002, where he still organizes workshops focused on the loudspeaker, the recorded sound and
Musique Concrète, both on practical and theoretical levels. He has built his own recording studio, and composes also in the Groupe de Recherches Musicales in Paris since 1993. Lionel Marchetti also performs improvisation using microphones and loudspeakers, as a duo with Jérôme Noetinger, with the collective Le Cube with (Christophe Auger, Étienne Caire, Christophe Cardoen, Xavier Quérel, Jérôme Noetinger, Gaëlle
Rouard) that performs live music and where films are shown and worked on interactively, and with the collective Archipel: Emmanuel Petit, Mathieu Werchowski, Sophie Agnel, Fabrice Charles, Pascal Battus. Since 1992, he organizes regular workshops centered on Radio and creation together with Olivier Capparos for France Culture. At the same time, he writes
poetry, and develops theoretical thoughts on Musique concrète and the art of the loudspeaker
About the pieces: “Kitnabudja Town is a fascinating and abounding composition, a colossal encyclopaedia to dissect with
patience, an unseen sound collage that revives with the beloved techniques of the surrealists to reach a kind of automatic writing, a flux of thinking that is nor music, neither science, philosophy, neither eastern, nor western, at
the same time electronic and shamanic... using studio techniques that we can discern as archaic, lionel marchetti bends and pummels his sources until their last death rattle, being not afraid of distractions and collisions. A dense, visceral and generous work.”
“Comprising seven electronic improvisations, this piece is inspired by the movement of the seven celestial bodies closest to the earth with the sun as a central axis. Each planet is represented by two sounds: one concrete, the
other synthetic. The concrete sound is not audible but modulates the synthetic sound in amplitude and frequency. The result is then processed using several effects to obtain a
sound in constant evolution and partly random.
Without seeking to reproduce an existing astronomic model whitch is taken for reality, the piece proposes a quasiorganic vision of what in former times was named «The spheres» wherein the forces were realeased by the
movements of celestial bodies, acted directly on mankind.” Jean-Baptiste Favory "
[from the press release]
www.monotyperecords.com
|
2009 |
€17.50 |
|
| MARCHETTI, LIONEL / OLIVIER CAPPAROS / YOKO HIGASHI |
A blue Book |
CD |
"Limited to 294 numbered copies, available in different colours. Lionel Marchetti & Olivier Capparos - Mementum / Momentum (Table De Cire). Electronics [Electricity] - Lionel Marchetti. Piano - Olivier Capparos. Voice [Additional] - Adèle Marchetti , Solal Capparos. Olivier Capparos - A Blue Book. Olivier Capparos - String Quartet, No. 2, Tenebrae. Cello - Loïc Maireaux. Mastered By - L.M. Recorded By - Samuel Allain. Strings - Orchestre National de Reims. Viola - Jean-Pierre Garcia. Violin - Catherine Perlot , Philippe Jégoux. Lionel Marchetti & Yôko Higashi - A Short Story. Synthesizer - Lionel Marchetti. Voice - Yôko Higashi. Voice [Additional] - Kyô Marchetti-Higashi. Liner Notes - O.C. Notes: Mementum / momentum (table de cire)" (2006). “A blue book” (1993-2002). “String quartet, No. 2, Tenebrae” (2008), recorded at Césaré (Reims, France)." [credits]
|
2010 |
€15.50 |
|
| MARCHETTI, WALTER |
Antibarbarus |
do-LP |
"A reissue of Antibarbarus, issued as a compact disc in 1998, was the first edition Walter Marchetti released on Alga Marghen. The Antibarbarus cycle of five pieces makes use of original tapes coming from the same recording sessions that originated some of Marchetti's major musical works realized in the '80s. This former series of works presented some homogeneous and untouched sound sources in the "concrete" status of their inner - and necessarily chaotic - level of entropy. Nevertheless this operative and only in appearance "neutral" premise introduces an implicit mimetic transposition. This link between the "iconic" threshold of the acoustical material and its transposition literally deconstructs the prerogatives and the ideological categories of music composition. In Antibarbarus, the temporal continuum restores the mimesis of the phenomenal regression of musical time, crystallized in a framed-length which gets estranged from subjective domain.
But the transfiguration of sound sources now deliberately intends to de-signify the analytical prerogatives of hearing. The sensorial perception is in such a way inhibited from an immediate comprehension of the acoustic reality so reproduced: canis reversus ad vomitum suum. In the late 1950s, Marchetti was able both to formalize a more critical aim towards the established lingua franca and absolutist ideology of musical avant-gardism and to expand the sense of artistic praxis, in line with an ethical and subtly political evaluation of aesthetic experience. Marchetti was inspired by Cage's poetics of indeterminacy and subsequently created, through a close and indissoluble association with Juan Hidalgo and José Luis Castillejo, an original and de-ritualized form of action-music which led in 1964 to the birth of ZAJ group.
Marchetti's work relays, in its procedural level, upon a resolute de-functioning of the musical codes and impose this act as a reversed mimesis of the methodological statute of music composing. Namely, not a "degré zero de l'écriture", but its "reversal"; not a "denial of style", but "style of denial". In this perspective, Walter Marchetti's oeuvre condenses one of the rare examples of aesthetic radicalism consciously extended to music poetics. Comes in full color gatefold sleeve; Includes printed inner sleeves (with photos of "Musica da camera n. 182", London, Raven Row, 1989/2011 and "Music in secca", Milano, Fondazione Mudima, 2003); Liner notes by Gabriele Bonomo in English and Italian."
|
2017 |
€39.50 |
|
| MAREGIANO, ANNE |
CHARLEMAGNE PALESTINE, THE GOLDEN SOUND |
DVD |
"Born in New York City, composer, performer, and visual artist Charlemagne Palestine was a contemporary of Steve Reich and Phillip Glass in the avantgarde classical music scene of the 1960s and 1970s. On stages filled with his own home-made stuffed animals, Palestine performs his trance-like strumming music. He is often referred to as a minimal composer, but rejects that in favour of maximalism. Anne Maregiano's documentary about Palestine, The Golden Sound (2011), allows the artist to tell his own story while putting his music and performance, in long, unedited takes, at the centre of the film' - Michael Garrad, (Close Up) Bonus Films: 'The Red Suitcase' by Anne Maregiano (2011). 'Body Music 'by Charlemagne Palestine (1975). 'Charlemagne 2 : Piltzer' by Pip Chodorov (2002). 'Sound Recording: March 7, 1975' by Charlemagne Palestine. Book (44 pages) with texts written by Ingram Marshall, Roland Spekle, Pip Chodorov and Anne Maregiano. Photos by Kathleen Agnoli, Elaine Hartnett, James Lapine, Charlemagne Palestine. English with French subtitles." [label info]
"Il est 19h30 au Louvre le 6 mars 2001. Charlemagne Palestine descend les marches du grand auditorium avec sa valise en toile rouge. Il porte un grand chapeau Weston, plusieurs écharpes bariolées, un pantalon orange et des chaussures rouges. Il pose sa valise devant le majestueux piano Bösendorfer et en sort une grenouille, un petit singe, un ours, un perroquet… quelques peluches rescapées des poubelles de l’histoire. Charlemagne débute son concert devant une salle pleine. Il ne faut pas plus de cinq minutes de Strumming Music pour qu’un spectateur se lève et crie au scandale. Le concert s’interrompt, Charlemagne lui suggère de quitter la salle. Après un échange musclé, l’homme à lunettes se rassoit. A la fin du concert, je revois la même personne félicitant Charlemagne de sa performance. Que s’est-il passé ? Qu’est-ce qu’il lui a fait changer d’avis : l’origine ukrainienne de l’artiste, son appartenance à l’avant-garde new-yorkaise au début des années 70 (Tony Conrad, La Monte Young, John Cale, Taylor Mead, Terry Riley...), son expérimentation électro-acoustique à Los Angeles (Morton Subotnick, Ingram Marshall), son art vidéo (Nam June Paik), ses accointances avec le cinéma expérimental (Stan Brakkage) ou son exil vers l’Europe. Le film vient de commencer… » Sous la forme d’une confession intime et sur fond d’archives d’époque (vidéos, photos et musiques inédites), Charlemagne nous livre sa quête de « l’or sonore". [Anne Maregiano] |
2013 |
€23.00 |
|
| MARGOLIS, AL / IF, BWANA |
REX XHU PING |
CD |
Mehr Musik aus AL MARGOLIS Genre-losen experimentellen Zwischenreich, hier auf sechs Stücken in verschiedensten Besetzungen solo oder in Interaktion, meist in ruhigen, fast meditativen Sphären, z.B. das wunderbare zweite Stück FROG FIELD, das auf klangvollen Xylophon-Loops basiert. Aber eine gewisse Bizarrheit (Instrumentierung, Sprache) ist immer präsent... vielleicht das bisher ausgereifteste und zugänglichste Werk des legendären Cassetten-Täters (SOUND OF PIG)......
“New Al Margolis release features Margolis¹s compositions for tapes, electronics, voice, drones. Rex Xhu Ping (pronounced rex shoe ping) features Margolis (tapes, electronics, clarinet, and sundries), Laura Biagi (vocals), Dan Andreana (speaker, tapes), Detta Andreana (tapes, bowed cymbals), and Orchestre de Fou.
A recent review of Margolis¹s work says: "Let it be declared that Al Margolis/If, Bwana is some sort of evil genius working with raw materials which are never adapted to a genre or a context, because they create one in that very moment. Those sources are radically altered up to an utterly unrecognizable state, anarchic manifestations moving in compact determination." (Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes)
[label description]
|
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
An Innocent, Abroad |
CD |
Zwei grossartige neue Stücke von IF BWANA aka AL MARGOLIS, der im Frühjahr 2008 auch endlich mal in Euopa live zu sehen war (z.B. im Hamburger B-MOVIE). AN INNOCENT ABROAD lässt sich als höchst strange & surreale Geräuschmusik charakterisieren, basierend auf der Stimme von LISA BARNARD und Flöteneinspielungen, in einer NURSE WITH WOUND-ähnlichen Machart bearbeitet und collagiert.
"The new Al Margolis/If, Bwana cd is comprised of Issue, for electronics and multi-tracked voice, and An Innocent, Abroad, a 40 plus minute work for electronics, vocals, and flutes. An Innocent, Abroad can be best described as a Sonic Oratorio: an assemblage, a construction of an event that never happened or will happen. A live installation for radio, perhaps. There is no "meaning" to the text. All parts were drawn or are inter-related to the original vocal track, recorded by Lisa Barnard, which is no longer present. The text/voice part has been multi-tracked and now represents five "separate entities". The electronic parts have been extracted and processed from the original vocal track. The five flute parts were performed by Jane Rigler and Jacqueline Martelle, and was be improvised by them. They recorded to the separate voice tracks. None of the performers heard the entire piece that they worked on. Lisa Barnard is a vocalist and performance artist. Most noted work is her interpretations of her dreams into original performances for Deep Listening Institute's annual Dream Festivals. Jacqueline Martelle is a flutist and arts administrator, living in New York City since 1996. She performs new music and has recorded on the Mode and Centaur record labels. Jane Rigler, flutist, composer, educator and producer is an active featured performer in contemporary music festivals throughout the U.S. and Europe as a soloist as well as within chamber ensembles
Al Margolis was one of the prime movers in the cassette underground scene of the 1980s (between 1984 and 1991 his Sound Of Pig label released over 300 cassettes of music by the likes of Merzbow, Costes, Amy Denio, John Hudak and Jim O'Rourke) and is the éminence grise behind twenty-three years of music under the name If, Bwana. He is the man behind the Pogus label, as well as label manager for Deep Listening, XI Records, and Mutable Music." [label info]
"The resulting texture sounds more like a Horatiu Radulescu piece performed by Morphogenesis." [DW]
www.pogus.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| MARHAUG / ASHEIM |
Grand Mutation |
CD |
"Orgelspiel trifft Laptop-Electronica - spannende Ambientkompositionen im Stil von Johann Johannsson. Hat sich das britische Touch Label mit der Spire"-Serie schon absolute Kompetenz in zeitgenössischer Orgelmusik erworben, so setzen sie mit "Grand Mutation" einen vorläufigen Höhepunkt. Die beiden Schweden Lasse Marhaug und Henrik Assheim nutzen zwei konträre Klangquellen zur Umsetzung ihrer Kunst: Henrik Assheim spielt auf einer großen Kirchenorgel, während Lasse Marhaug mit elektronischen Equipment diese Sounds manipuliert. Das Resultat ist mehr als die Summe der einzelenen Teile. Eine Mischung aus erhabener Ambientmusik, Neo-Klassik und Soundtrack arbeiten die fünf langen Stücke mit dem Raumklang und dem Volumen der Töne. Ein spannendes Hörerlebnis der modernen Avantgarde und Electronica!" [Cargo]
"Lasse Marhaug and Nils Henrik Asheim started their collaboration in 2004 at the All Ears festival in Oslo, Norway. This turned out as a fruitful meeting between two musicians of very different backgrounds. Marhaug's feedback to Asheim's organ sounds in the Oslo concert started to reflect how the work was to develop. Asheim is working with half-stops and subtle playing techniques that create multiple layers of sound with a vibrating or fluctuating character, as well as with the power of the full organ. Marhaug's tools belong to the world of sine wave oscillators and noise generators. The aim was to set a sonic frame into which they could both gradually tune. The two musicians met again in June 2006 just before Oslo Cathedral (which contains Asheim's favourite instrument) closed down for a few years of renovation work. One day of soundcheck and musical work and one night of recording produced an improvised flow of one hour, afterwards structured into five tracks. The recording was made in a live setup on the organ loft. Nils Henrik Asheim was sitting at the organ console and Lasse Marhaug right behind, playing his electronics through a loudspeaker system in order to make the electronics and the acoustic organ sound blend as close to each other as possible. Sound engineer Thomas Hukkelberg used two custom-built condenser mics for the organ, two Shure KSM 44 for the electronics and two Neumann U87 by the altar for the ambience. He used a Millennia Media HV-3 preamp and an Apogee AD-16X converter. The recordings were made at night to avoid unwanted ambient city sounds. The final mix was made by Marhaug in January 2007." [press release]
www.touchmusic.org.uk
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| MARHAUG, LASSE |
Carnival of Souls |
maxi-CD |
Amazing release from this norwegian noise-composer, using sounds from a short film by TOM LOBERG - silence, objectless drones, then overwhelming pure noise, but always good listenable, this sounds very “composed”...
"Carnival of Souls" - a 20 minute track CD made out the soundworks from "The Letter" - a short film directed by Tom Løberg which I scored last year. Not a soundtrack to the film, but a piece made to stand on its own. It has a strong cinematic quality to it, coloured by the surreal and creepy images of the film. Scary stuff.“ [Lasse Marhaug]
|
2005 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
Context |
LP |
"Lasse Marhaug is one of those characters that operates at the nexus of so much stuff that’s important to us here - working as a producer (over the last couple of years alone he’s helped shape albums by Jenny Hval, Kelly Lee Owens, Okkyung Lee, Hillary Woods etc etc), a mastering engineer (far too many releases to mention), a prolific sleeve designer (likewise), publisher (his occasional Personal Best magazine is still going strong) and, perhaps most importantly - a recording artist in his own right. ‘Context’ is his most substantial release in years - a crushing assembly of bone-dry/darkside drone/machine malfunctions that’s bursting with a visceral, throbbing, mass of feeling. If yr into anything on the spectrum from Mika Vainio to Grouper to Kevin Drumm or Deathprod - this one’s as good as it gets
Over almost three decades of activity, Marhaug has carved out notoriety as a solo performer, a prolific collaborator (working with everyone from Sunn O))) to Jim O'Rourke) and as a busy producer, who's notched up credits on some of the most striking-sounding albums of the last few years. This new album was created as a swan song for the infamous Oslo studio that he's inhabited for 17 years, prior to his move back to the Arctic Circle where he originally came from. Recorded over a 14-month period and painstakingly edited from hours upon hours of material, it might just be the most impressive, moving record we’ve heard from him so far.
The interplay between piercing softness and deafening noise is the key to "Context", displaying a philosophy Marhaug has been exploring for years. Few other artists are able to balance chaos and harmony with such ease; Marhaug does it without grandstanding, it's music that sounds as simultaneously beautiful and as daunting as the Arctic landscape he's returning to. At any moment a sound can be alluring or treacherous, like the frozen sun reflecting on a snowy mountaintop. Marhaug's deftness with rhythm and bass emerges on 'Context 3', as he pairs Vainio-esque low-end pulses with crumpled noise and widescreen tones; as disquieting music-box chimes absorbed into the blasted soundscape on 'Context 5', while we're thrust into the freezing cold on 'Context 6', subjected to punctuating gusts of white noise and trapped string loops.
Trust it’s a rare and near-mythical beast, conjuring vast, treacherous soundscapes illuminated with pangs of sentiment that naturally weave strands of his non-musical practice in their psychosensual lustre and gritty attrition. As he steps into a new phase of his career, we're left with a concluding chapter that stands as a summation and open-ended post-credits reveal."
"Bursts of harsh noise, slivers of angular static, rumbles of punishing bass: Though the sounds here are every bit as intense as Marhaug’s past might lead us to expect, his patience and appreciation of space mean the results are newly delicate, the fragile skeleton of a once-formidable beast." - Pitchfork
https://marhaug.bandcamp.com/album/context
|
2022 |
€28.50 |
|
| MAROW |
+-0 |
CD |
"... Yes, this album has tracks with a 4/4 beat, but it is still far from being commercial or club music. However, the subtle melodies, the distinct Marow sound and the crystal-clear production make +-0 (pronounced: "Plus Minus Null") a pleasure to listen to even for advanced listeners. Mille Plateaux's A&R Marcus Gabler continues to follow his idea of "more substance by more musicality." A must for Yagya, Monolake or Thinner label fans." [label info]
"Intrigue in subtlety: A pendulum between active and passive listening.
Plus Minus Null, he newest album by the Berlin-based electronic group Marow is the sort of perfectly chilled-out fare that accompanies late solitary evenings or a post-club car ride home. Glossy synth pads swell over minimalist, glitch-y electronic beats. Old school hip-hop samples chirp around four-to-the-floor house beats and lounge-y keyboard figures. Clicking metallic rhythms and digital blips move antiphonally around slowly oscillating space-age synth sounds. While the record’s quiet subtleties make for ideal mood music, its depth of color and texture bring you back for repeated listens.
Plus Minus Null is first and foremost atmosphere music. There’s little in the way of melody or harmonic motion over the course of the record’s thirteen songs. Instead, the music is built on meditative repetitions and stripped down production touches that occasionally touch on classical minimalism à la Steve Reich. That’s not to say that there’s nothing going on here—rather, the music’s intrigue is in its subtlety: the faint vocal samples in “präfix,” the simulated mallet percussion of “schweif,” the huffing synth pops of “substrativ.” “eis (long)” is an intoxicating cloud of windchimes and floating keyboard pulses. Repeated listens to the mesmerizing “e.coli (rmx)” reveal ever-emerging layers and sonic colors.
Plus Minus Null is best ingested as a whole. The songs flow seamlessly into one another, making for a meditative suite that pendulums the listener between active and passive listening. At some points, the music seeps so far into the background that it’s easy to forget it’s even there. But then or a subtle shift in texture or rhythm brings you back to reveal a new, quietly engaging element of depth and color." [Hannis Brown / Tokafi]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| MARSEN JULES |
Golden |
CD |
"Den Sommer begrüßt das Genesungswerk friedlich mit diesem Album von Marsen Jules. Auf GOLDEN treffen sich Gitarre, Piano und Elektronik zu einer harmonischen ménage à trois. Gelegentlich unterstützt von Ziehharmonika, Flöte und Geige finden sie sich nach einer Winterwanderung vor dem Kamin ein. Leise knisternd entzündet sich ein Feuer und vertreibt die Kälte aus unseren Gehörgängen. Akustikgitarre und Piano zeichnen die melodischen Linien, während sich die Elektronik einfühlend der Klangfarbe des Interieurs annimmt. GOLDEN ist wahrlich ein treffender Titel , funkeln und glimmen doch bei allen sieben Stücken die Klänge, ohne ihre Hörer je zu blenden. Sehr intim, sehr nah, zugleich klar und transparent taucht die Schönheit der Instrumente den Sommer in ein neues Licht." [label info]
Electronica-Ambience reminding at times of newer ULTRA MILKMAIDS or a more poppy WILLIAM BASINSKI...
"Close followers of these pages will already be intimately familiar with the work of Marsen Jules, responsible as he is for two of the loveliest albums we've had the pleasure of stocking these last few years. His debut album "Herbstlaub" strolled into an autumnal tundra of layered strings and neo-classical arrangements that best brought to mind the work of Arvo Part, attaining both critical and commercial acclaim from all quarters of the music scene. His dense follow-up "Les Fleurs" approached similar terrain but with a more colourful sound-pallette, creating an aural bloom of dense orchestral reductions that kept the minimal composure intact despite the rays of aural sunlight allowed to seep into Jules' unique, inspiring studio. This long awaited new album "Golden" takes little time in declaring its place as a worthy successor to both its predecessors - it's a breathtaking collection of pieces that begin from the same neo-classical starting point and unfurl in different directions, taking in acoustic guitar, barely audible electronic pulses, dense orchestral reductions and heavy filtering along the way. You'd find it difficult to get past the album's incredible opening track "Birkengefluster" without finding yourself incredibly moved by what's in front of you - another shimmering weave of elongated midnight strings and subliminal melodies consorting to force you to abandon all resistance in the face of its relentless beauty. By the time second track "Wharend" wheezes into life with its prepared piano passages and other-worldly washes of sound, you'll be unable to acknowledge anything else in your surroundings bar the music. Marsen Jules is just one of those rare artists who manages to achieve so much with such limited material at his disposal - it's both the simplicity and timeless quality of the 7 long tracks here that make "Golden" not only one of the most beautiful albums you'll hear this summer, but also one that you'll find hard to let go of come autumn. Sublime music - essential listening.'' [Boomkat]
www.genesungswerk.de
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| MARSPITER |
Vigila |
CD-R |
Wagner auf Valium in einem “desolated landscape”! Slowmotion Orchester-Arrangements treffen auf Wüsten-Drones, das ganze hat einen sehr martialischen, düsteren Anstrich....
“Mars is an ancient Deity with many faces and many names. Resurrected here in a twilight gloom hovering over a mythical battlefield. The idol cracks and the voice of Ares reverberates through a mountain-valley. Operatic ritual warfare.” [label info]
“Promising debut release from an up-and-coming U.S. artist working in the field of dark ambient incorporating orchestral elements. Deep and massive soundscapes of twisted echoes, subterranean drones, barely audible voices and wind sounds combine with subtle orchestrations adding to the dramatic nature of the sounds. Pro-duplicated disc and beautiful full colour sleeve in standard jewel case.” [KAOS KONTROL]
|
2004 |
€10.00 |
|
| MARTIN, KEVIN RICHARD |
Sirens |
LP |
When I was 22 I managed to acquire Techno Animal’s Demonoid 12” at a local record store, Rocking Horse Records. I can still recall the intensities of sound that marked the first moments of listening to it. The sense of bass as a tactile surface, that rolling groove and the howling sine waves and dub sirens that scorched with a type of sonic burning sensation that to this day makes my hairs stand on end. A year later I heard Ice’s Bad Blood, from there I discovered The Bug through a release on Wordsound, a band called God, a sound movement called isolationism and much more; all of these projects had one nexus point - Kevin Richard Martin.
In 2015, Kevin and I book-ended a series of concerts at Berghain for CTM festival. For his performance, Kevin debuted a new work I’d heard very little about called ’Sirens’. I remember two things distinctly about the performance. The first thing is he opened the set with a blazing passage of bass and dub sirens that instantly transported me back to those initial moments of encountering his work. The second was the feeling of absolute, crushing bass. Not before, or since, have I felt a sense of sound pressure like this. Unlike his other work with The Bug for example, the consistent bass carrying in the space was literally breathtaking and there were moments when it seemed difficult to see clearly as my eye sockets were vibrating in a way I’d never experienced.
Sirens, which documents the intensities surrounding the delivery and early days of his first child, carries in it a sense of deep affect. The album, unlike the live work, traces out a dynamic sound world that is both tender and caustic. It charts the emotional rollercoaster that is the arrival of parenthood, heightened through the complex circumstances of his wife's emergency procedures during the birth and two further life threatening operations for his son, in the first month of the child's life. Within each piece, microcosms of sensation unfold, Kevin clearly and deftly manoeuvres us through the tumultuous journey. Seconds become hours, and hours become seconds; Sirens somehow creates a sense of time that is without anchor and is foggy in a way that is profoundly unique (and frankly pleasurable).
Kevin Richard Martin has remained a point of constant inspiration for me over several decades now. To have the opportunity to share his first ever solo recording, one that arguably opens an entirely new side of his practice, brings me the utmost pride. His work has impacted so very much on me at various points and I know I am not alone in this situation. His new work, Sirens is a life journey transposed into sound that is truly personal, but effortlessly universal. It is the start of a new chapter for Kevin and one that I know will only strengthen his place as one of the critical voices in contemporary electronic music.
- Lawrence English, March 2019
https://room40.bandcamp.com/album/sirens
"Kevin Martin has tapped into a kind of unfathomable strain of desolation this year, first on King Midas Sound’s ‘Solitude’ - one of the most painfully lonely albums of recent times, and now on the first album under his own name, ’Sirens’, released by Lawrence English’s Room 40 label. It’s a startling record lost in its own thoughts, the soundtrack to personal tragedy and rebirth somehow mirroring Hildur Gudnadottir’s recent score work for Chernobyl, but in much more personal space.
Despite being a more or less constant presence on our radars since the late 90’s when we first opened our doors (actually, from way before that - 1995’s 'Macro Dub Infection' comp and 97’s 'Köner Experiment' are both foundational records here) - and despite a constant barrage of bangers under myriad guises (but mostly as The Bug), various strains of Martin's work seem to have only just recently converged into something entirely distinctive. Both ’Solitude’ and ’Sirens’ are neither showy nor self indulgent - this is music that’s ice cold yet intimate, barely-there - but utterly compelling. While its easy to make sudden impact with scudding basslines, here Martin takes a more lonely route into numerous strands of contemporary music; from dub to noise and across the abyss between, into a dimly lit corner that somehow brings out the best we’ve heard from him in over 20 years. It's nothing short of an isolationist classic." [Boomkat]
|
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| MARTUSCIELLO, ELIO |
Unoccupied Areas |
CD |
Grossartige neue Experimentalmusik von diesem italienischen Komponisten (auch mit OSSATURA aktiv), die noch am ehesten der Elektro-Akustik zuzurechnen ist. Soundschnipsel z.B. von der „answering machine Solution“ CD (Staalplaat) und von vielen anderen kontemporären Musike(r)n werden von ihm äusserst sorgfältig und so gut wie ohne Wiedererkennungswert der Originalquellen neu bearbeitet und zusammengesetzt, so dass hochdynamische, klanglich perfekt aufeinander abgestimmte Collagen entstehen. Es gibt absolut keine Wiederholungen, jeder auftauchende Klang ist „neu“, jede Sekunde für eine Überraschung gut. Das Zuhören erfordert ein wachsames, aufmerksames Bewusstsein, das Gegenteil von meditativer Musik ! TIP!
"This is a quiet masterpiece. Five tightly focused electroacoustic compositions that are austere, rich, strange and brilliantly executed. Elio has an ear like a bat and a serious antipathy toward cliché, and he never relies on repetition for structure; these pieces seem rather to grow out of themselves in surprising but somehow logical ways like perfect exotic blooms. His is also a music of extremes, never theoretical but always grounded in the grain of the sounds themselves. Working with sounds taken directly from the world -- in 'A@travero', the electronic world: disembodied voices from answering machines, radio, Television, CDs, cinema and the internet; in 'Proiezioni', the cinematic world of machines: cameras, projectors, empty film spools, and so on for each piece which starts with the collection of similarly connected materials. The final track, a hommage to Pierre Schaeffer, draws directly on Schaeffer's own captured recordings, taking, as concrete music does, already cooked materials as just another kind of raw ingredient. The sources may be quotidian, but they are not mundane. And they have been refined and polished and stretched and squashed and buffed and etherised to the point where they are like polished steel, reflecting something in a distorted plane, resembling something as a Brancusi might, but unfamiliar, transfigured." [press release]
|
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
| MARUTTI, ANDREA & FAUSTO BALBO |
Detrimental Dialogue |
CD |
"Andrea Marutti and Fausto Balbo have met in 2005 at Lab12 in Vigevano; both active in music making since more than fifteen years, their friendship has grown over the years on the fertile ground of the interest that they share about electronic experimentation and their wide and open-minded listening habits.
"Detrimental Dialogue", their very first collaboration, deeply explores various types of analogue and digital synthesis (additive, subtractive, Physical Modeling, FM, Phase Distortion, Granular, etc.) and live electronics elements.
Recorded together in the authors' studios and then worked out in seclusion between 2007 and 2009, the tracks on "Detrimental Dialogue" were subsequently redefined during a one-week long collective mixing session rigorously made with analogue equipment and precious outboard effects at Fausto Balbo's studio.
The album presents four experimental electronic pieces whose exact classification eludes us since their musical contents are rich of the most disparate suggestions.
In a formula full of its own natural-born personality, we find elements that recall prominent experimental forms - sometimes pseudo-abstract - rich of fragments, loops and "clusters" of sounds that bear a pronounced and exhibited synthetic matrix.
"Atmospheric", dilated and generally quiet sequences are alternated with more structured, dramatic and progressive moments that shake the listeners and emotionally involve them with a more orthodox path, without giving way to conventional or stereotyped solutions.
The artwork created by Stefano "Sicksoul" Rossetti enrich this nice work offering an "alien" rendition of the music, and once again "Space Is the Place"!" [label info]
www.aferecords.com
|
2010 |
€13.50 |
|
| MARUTTI, ANDREA / CARLO GIORDANI |
Impressioni Organizzate di Ansie Liquide |
CD |
Building on 15 years of friendship, and nearly a decade working together, two fixtures of the Italian experimental music scene, Andrea Marutti and Carlo Giordani, come together with their collaborative debut full length release, "Impressioni Organizzate di Ansie Liquide" (Organized Impressions of Liquid Anxieties) - a rippling body of sonorous abstraction - issued by St.An.Da./Silentes.
The origins of the album date to 2011, when Andrea Marutti was asked by the filmmaker and cultural agitator, Massimo Indellicati, to compose soundtracks for a series of experimental short films - "Aquology - Oceano interiore" - centred around aquatic and science fiction themes. Intent on intervening with his own practice in electronics and synthesis, he asked field recordist, engineer, and software designer, Carlo Giordani, to come on board.
While the film project was never fully realized - only small fragments of Marutti and Giordani's initial collaboration were used - their creative relationship bore fruit, bringing them together regularly over the subsequent years, each pushing and expanding the other's approach toward sound into new territories. The album - the result of an enduring process of reworking of the cumulative material that resulted from their collaborations between December 2013 and January 2020 - melds these two distinct sensibilities into a single, palpable force.
"Impressioni Organizzate di Ansie Liquide" rests at the sublime juncture of shifting materiality and perception; where the organic transforms into the otherworldly and the synthetic bubbles with life. The collision of two highly individualized creative practices - built from a vast pallet of sonority - across its breadth, the locations of source and the intervening hand shift in and out focus, gathering as an expanse ambience and event that gives the impression of being guided by chance occurrences and responses of its own making.
Amplifying the incidental into the mystical and metaphysical, this work challenges the very notions of how we locate the meaning of music and art. Unified by the thematic vision of water that first brought Marutti and Giordani together, the album culminates as a series of evolving, abstract images, alluding to the embryonic fluids that give way to life. Drifting long tones, buzzing electronics, and woven textures of ambiguous sound, rumble and dance between the foreground and distance, penetrated by punctuations drawn intermittently from Marutti's synths and Giordani's deft snapshots of the world.
Like its subject, "Impressioni Organizzate di Ansie Liquide" is an immersive, languid realm, filled with elegant, poetic beauty, that bristle with unknown elements and the lingering potential of danger. A remarkably sensitive reminder of the creative potentialities that rest at the heart of electroacoustic, concrete, and field recording based musics, doubling as a vision of their possible futures, Marutti and Giordani have created an album that simultaneously drowns the ear and fortifies it with breaths of fresh air.
The album is presented on a glass-mastered CD limited to 200 copies which is housed in a deluxe six panel digipack with black finish, and features pictures by Stefano Gentile.
Andrea Marutti was born in 1970 in Savona and currently lives in Milan, Italy. He began his experiments with music in the early '90s using mainly tapes and objects. A few years later he also started to use synthesizers, samplers and other electronic devices, and founded the Lips Vago Digital Studio.
His most well-known projects are Amon and Never Known. During the late '90s and early '00s several of his releases in the field of Ambient / Dark Ambient music have been published by labels such as Eibon Records, Nextera, Amplexus, Silentes, Drone Records, Taâlem, etc. on CD and other formats.
For some time he was also responsible of other projects dealing with different styles of electronic music ranging from Lo-Fi, Weird and Cheap Electronica to IDM (Wolkspurz & Ramirez, Lips Vago) to Dada, Noise and Nonsense (Spiral).
With the turn of the century he started recording and releasing Experimental Ambient tracks under his own name, in duo with Giuseppe Verticchio/Nimh as Hall of Mirrors, with Davide Del Col (Ornament, Echran, Antikatechon) as Molnija Aura, and again in duo with Andrea 'Ics' Ferraris as Sil Muir. Later on he was also involved in two collective projects: Maribor with Giuseppe Verticchio, Maurizio Bianchi, Stefano Gentile, Pierpaolo Zoppo and Gianluca Favaron, and Meerkat with Andrea Ferraris, Davide Valecchi/aal, Fabio Selvafiorita, Luca Bergero/Fhievel, Logoplasm, Luca Sigurtà, Matteo Uggeri/Hue and Adriano Zanni/Punck.
During the years he also had the chance to collaborate with many other friends, musicians and artists: Fausto Balbo, Madame P, Aidan Baker, Femina Faber, a034, Moan, OvO, Sparkle in Grey, Amalia Del Ponte, K11, Subterranean Source, Raffaele Serra, ODRZ...
Between 1995 and 2013 he has ran Afe, a label devoted to experimental electronic music. During its existence, Afe has released dozens of works by many renowned international musicians: Maurizio Bianchi, Bad Sector, Maeror Tri, Telepherique, De Fabriek, Ultra Milkmaids, Aidan Baker, Logoplasm, Bestia Centauri, True Colour of Blood, Dronaement and many more.
After a few years of hiatus, in late 2017/early 2018 he re-built his studio in a new location and began to work on new projects.
Carlo Giordani is an electronic engineer, working in the field of Information and Communications Technology; he is a project manager and consultant, specialized in big data architectures, database consolidation and data warehouse migration. Previously he has worked as a geophysicist, developing data processing software related to electromagnetic fields.
Despite his technical training he has always been interested in photography and sound. One of his passions is to capture sounds, process and stratify them, dissect them with an acoustic microscope and force them to become compositions.
He began his activity of 'sound hunter' in 1981: armed with a Marantz Superscope portable cassette recorder, he used to record rain and thunderstorms. Due to the limits of the technology available to him ar the time, he reluctantly abandoned his project quite soon.
After a break which lasted almost twenty years, in 2001 he successfully resumed his activity of field-recordist, publishing many works on the Internet in a short time (some of which are now available on his personal website) and two audio CDs (namely "Sanglisente" and "La voce degli Alberi", which translates into "The Voice of Trees"); he has given lectures, live performances in selected venues and on the Internet, and has curated transmissions for Framework Radio.
Among the many other projects he has been involved in during the recent years, his contribution to three documentaries deserve a special mention. For these productions he collected and provided sounds which were essential in the narrative process:
- "L'oro bianco e altri racconti" ("White Gold and Other Tales"), a five days expedition to record the dams of Venerocolo and Pantano dell'Avio Lakes in the Brescia district, Italy;
- "Ragazzo" ("Boy"), with sounds recorded at Lagoscuro, above the Mandrone refuge in Trentino, Italy;
- "I compagni sconosciuti" ("The Unknown Companions"), with sounds sourced in an old farmhouse in the lower Brescia area, a house as a musical instrument.
In 2019 he was also present with an installation entitled "È buono e si sente" ("It's Good and You Can Hear It") at the event "Forme" at the Fair of Bergamo , Italy.
store.silentes.it/catalogue/standa2024.htm
|
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
| MASIN, GIGI |
Plays Venezia |
LP |
LP black vinyl // LP gold vinyl ltd. 106 hand-numbered copies // CD // Tape ltd. 100 copies
Five years ago, back in September 2016, Stefano Gentile published a photographic book entitled IL SILENZIO DEI TUOI PASSI (The Silence of Your Steps), which collected a series of 56 pictures, both in b/w and colour, dedicated to the nights in Venice. The book was a journey through the most remote "calli" and "campi" (streets, alleys and squares, as they're called in Venice) in search of the true 'breath' of the city, far away from the hordes of tourists who 'attack' it every day during daylight hours.
On such occasion, renowned musician Gigi Masin composed a 30 minutes epic ambient track entitled VENEZIA 2016 which was the perfect soundtrack to the images included in the book. The track was published on CD and released bounded with the book itself in a limited edition of 480 copies only, and has been unavailable for years now.
In 2021 Gigi Masin returned to that great piece of music and to its timeless sounds. Finally, Silentes can now offer PLAYS VENEZIA, Masin's latest work contanining a re-edited version of that 'pearl', accompanied by two unreleased tracks composed and recorded in the same period.
Once again inspired by the city, Masin created an enduring and wonderful ambient masterpiece, a sort of return to the origins, to his home. Adding to the intrinsic quality of the originals, the tracks were beautifully mastered by Brandenburg Mastering in Amsterdam.
PLAYS VENEZIA is simply an unmissable release and one of Masin's greatest accomplishment in a long carrier that never ceases to amaze us.
13.silentes.it/private_sounds/sps2143_gigi_masin_plays_venezia.htm
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| MASONNA |
Filled with unquestionable Feelings |
LP |
Cascades of electronic noise, a psychedelic touch and vocal belching mixed together constitute the ingredients of Mademoiselle Anne Sanglante Ou Notre Nymphomanie Auréolé, the double-barreled name for Masonna. Maso Yamazaki founded his project in 1987, with a charismatic and glamorous personality who become a cult figure in “Japanoise” scene. Masonna’s abundant productions on his own legendary and astonishing label Coquette were presented in very limited edition, sometime totally confidential (one sole copy), and reflect his predilection for 60’s psychedelic music revisited in its own very peculiar way. He transforms his voice into noise, feeding the microphone back through a process of extreme distortion. His shouts become clipped bursts of overloaded sound, doubled and extended by a delay that displace the sounds into stuttered blasts of static.
Filled with unquestionable feelings along with Freak is an ultra-rare cassette originally released in 1995 by Coquette in an edition of only 36 copies and now return for the first time in a stunning vinyl format fully remastered!
The two sides of the cassette / vinyl are completely different from each other. Side A can be considered a classic Masonna piece, where it reaches its full artistic maturity here. This side is very brash, earsplitting and mad. The distortion and effects on the vocals are top notch, they in combination with his awesome screaming create a complete audio assault. Remind also to his first period as Open your cunt and Like a vagina tapes. Everything is scraped, fast and beautiful and focuses an electrically overcharged universe, punctuating the thrilling and vocal sonorous power with some quite moments and brief interruptions, conferring a very particular dynamic to work. Side B is completely different. The voice disappears (or is no longer heard because it is covered or transformed by feedback). The structure is more compact and organized but eventually becomes far wilder, building up to pointillistic bleeps and dense layers of electronic fizz that unexpectedly cut to near-silence; these bear many uncanny resemblances to the simple melodic improvs and incessant ostinatos of Terry Riley.
https://urashima.bandcamp.com/album/filled-with-unquestionable-feelings
|
2021 |
€21.50 |
|
|
Masonna Vs. Bananamara |
LP |
Absolutely incredible and visionary - not to mention an engrossing, challenging, and thrilling listen - Masonna Vs Bananamara vinyl reissue stands high among the most significant of the year, allowing us to witness where it all began for a hugely important artist’s lifelong commitment to an exploration of noise music. This beautiful pressing - issued as a deluxe vinyl edition of 299 copies - is the first ever reissue of this masterstroke of noise, faithfully reproducing every aspect of the original 1989 release on Vanilla Record. Truly stunning and historically monumental within the genre, it can’t be missed by any fan of Japanese experimental music and noise
Mademoiselle Anne Sanglante Ou Notre Nymphomanie Auréolé, the double-barreled name for Masonna , is one of most prolific, adventurous, and respected noise artists, making dozens of releases on his own legendary and astonishing label Coquette, presenting them in very limited editions, sometime totally confidential (one sole copy), and reflecting his predilection for 60’s psychedelic music revisited in its own very peculiar way. He transforms his voice into noise, feeding the microphone back through a process of extreme distortion. His shouts become clipped bursts of overloaded sound, doubled and extended by a delay that displace the sounds into stuttered blasts of static. From noise lines to minimal, warbling expanses, to the ambiences and schizoid thinking effects, it’s a journey into a versatile mind who we clearly never heard enough from.
Masonna claims that his interest in making noise is rooted in childhood encounters with the sounds of destruction on tv. Initially playing in Japanese punk band The Sadist, active since the mid '80s, as vocalist under aliases of Rin with his buddy and guitarist Michio Teshima, who founded Vanilla Records in 1985 to release the band's works. In a very few years Michio's label will become a reference point for all Japanese noise projects, releasing artists such as Violent Onsen Geisha, C.C.C.C., Incapacitants, Solmania, Aube, Merzbow and needless to say Masonna.
On 1988 Masonna released debut album Like a Vagina on cassette by Coquette (reissued on vinyl by Urashima last year), an overdriven blast of psychedelia and harsh noise, that would rattle everything in its wake. Masonna Vs. Bananamara, Masonna’s second release, was originally issued , of course, on Vanilla Records in 1989 in a tiny vinyl edition of 290 copies. Given its iconic status and rarity, it’s little wonder that it currently commands heavy figures on the secondary market. In classic DIY form, it was recorded at home by Masonna on a variety of instruments, with hallucinatory vocals, and used no mixing and overdubbing, rendering a startlingly visceral and dense effect.
Across the album’s two sides - containing a mind boggling 29 tracks - Masonna transforms his voice into noise, feeding the microphone back through a process of extreme distortion. His shouts become clipped bursts of overloaded sound, doubled and extended by a delay that displace the sounds into stuttered blasts of static, heavily underscored by explosive blistering guitars, and cascades of electronic noise, culminating as one of the most striking and emotive gestures in the entire genre of noise.
https://urashima.bandcamp.com/album/masonna-vs-bananamara
https://urashima.bandcamp.com/album/masonna-vs-bananamara
|
2022 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Inner Mind Mystique |
LP |
Masonna, the moniker of the Osaka based artist Maso Yamazaki, belongs to the second wave of Japanese noise. The name alone, a pun on Madonna’s name by combining the Japanese words Maso (マゾ, Masochist) and Onna (女, Woman), illuminates the wry humour and intensity that rubbles below his work.
Masonna claims that his interest in making noise is rooted in childhood encounters with the sounds of destruction on tv. Initially playing in psychedelic rock bands, following encounters with the work of artists like Hanatarash and Nord, he disappeared from view for a number of years, quietly developing his own singular vision of the idiom, before bursting onto the scene in 1987 with a performance style, marked by frenetic energy, damaged equipment, wild body movement, and often personal injury, that quickly set him apart. The following year, he released his debut album, “Like a Vagina” - an overdriven blast of psychedelia and harsh noise - that would rattle everything in its wake.
In recent years, Urashima has dedicated considerable energy to slowly returning Masonna’s back catalog to print, many of which were issued in tiny editions and have remained virtually unobtainable since their initial release. The latest among these is the project’s “Inner Mind Mystique”, originally released in 1996 on CD. Comprising seven studio recordings that embark on a full sonic onslaught of few equivalents, the album deftly deploys Masonna’s mastery of cut-up techniques, folding screaming vocalisations, effects, burbling electro noises, high-pitched twees, and other sci-fi sounds into a hurling mass that balances between something deep and primal and futuristic. Each piece is the culmination of a vast array of electronic sound events, meticulously sequenced within a complex vocal fusion of earthly and heavenly sounds that almost transform into a form of violent ambience because of the density and consistency that they display.
Immersive and almost transcendental in effect, Masonna’s “Inner Mind Mystique” is unquestionable an high water mark in the history of Japanese noise, taking the extremes of an already boundary pushing genre into the next realm. Truly amazing and not for the faint of heart, Urashima’s beautiful edition of 299 copies represents this masterstroke’s first ever appearance on LP and comes complete with an A3 poster and a cardboard insert, housed in a sleeve faithfully reproducing every aspect of the original 1996 release. An absolute must for any fan of experimental music and noise.
|
2023 |
€24.00 |
|
| MASSACRE |
Killing Time |
CD |
"Another legendary release. Fred's first full-on group after Henry Cow - following soon after his move to America - was a power trio with Bill Laswell (bass) and Fred Maher (drums), both from Giorgio Gomelsky's house band Zu - later to become Material. Massacre was loud and their pieces tended to be short, make their point and end. They used the time-honoured structure of bebop: an intricate head followed by high energy explorations of rhythm and timbre (aka noise). But the authority of playing skills remained very much to the fore - hence, perhaps, the term Punk Jazz which was applied at the time. However, this is unequivocally rock. A fully re-mastered reissue of the original Japanese release, plus the five extra tracks that appeared on the long out of print, Rec Dec CD and two, previously unreleased tracks, including The Shadows-Massacre, FBI." [label info] |
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
| MASSTHISHADDHU |
Shekinah |
CD |
Re-Edition of a rare cult album first out on Steven Stapleton's (NWW) own label UNITED DAIRIES in 1988. Plus as bonus for this special re-issue, a never heard, unreleased track of 30 minutes!
Masstishaddhu members were Sean Breadin, Mike Watson and Richard Rupenus, all of whom were also members of METGUMBNERBONE; Richard is also a member of TNB...
Tribal & Droning Psychedelia from over three decades ago - a very special album to be re-discovered.
Mastered from the original tapes by Colin Potter (NWW).
Shekinah comprises two side-long slabs of highly experimental music in the early Coil / Current 93 / Organum vein with touches of Eastern (or is it North American?) mysticism thrown in for good measure.
‘For The Dead & Unborn’ is a wild, chilling and uninhibited chant-cum-invocation featuring wordless vocals set against a hypnotic backdrop of percussion and bowed instruments.
‘Angels Gather Here Between Purity Of Heart and Hopeless Despair’ is taken at a much slower pace with far less accent on the chanting and more emphasis on the bowed strings and singing / ringing percussion and at times had me glancing nervously over my shoulder!
- AUDION
Shekinah could be described as very dark Gothic Ritual Folk with a sprinkling of occult allure.
The title, cover and music all suggest bloodied altars, unfathomable rituals and mystical learning.
The low and buzzing drone underscores a lava flow of chants, cellos and percussion.
Whatever words are spoken during this procession of yearning melodies and utterly ethereal voices is perhaps best left for the Gods.
Whatever secrets the music holds, they are simultaneously a fountain of spiritual beauty and unknowable terror.
It's as if its character changed with my dispositions: if I was feeling fear then fear is what I heard.
If I was feeling joyous, then the joy of the Gods shone down upon me and relaxed every fibre of my being.
- BRAINWASHED
In the ‘80s underground, Ritual Ambient and Tribal Ambient were both coming to fruition and although they had a rough framework there wasn't yet a concrete basis for how the genres were set to develop.
Masstishaddhu exploited this potential to create a music that sounds like a well-executed modern Free Folk album - in 1988, a good decade before the New Weird America scene (spearheaded by the likes of Sunburned Hand Of The Man) began revolutionizing the idea of Folk music operating under rhythmic constraints.
In this sense Shekinah is undoubtedly unique, perpetuating the 'ritual' side of ambient through disconcerting vocalizations and chants.
It is deeply embedded within the Folk influence that uses atmosphere to sculpt instrumental improvisations, again, much like well-executed modern Free Folk does.
- A TERTIARY SOURCE
"Wiederveröffentlichung des Masstishaddhu-Albums Shekinah auf Old Europa Café
Veröffentlicht am 11. Januar 2021 von Michael
Old Europa Cafe bringt das ursprünglich auf Steven Stapletons Label United Dairies 1988 veröffentlichte Album „Shekinah“ von dem Metgumbnerbone-Seitenprojekt Masstishaddhu, bei dem auch Richard Rupenus von den New Blockaders mitwirkte, auf CD neu heraus. Mit den teils perkussiv-tribalen Momenten, seltsamen Blasinstrumenten und merkwürdigen Stimmen, die zwischen Kehlkopfgesang und Delirium changieren, lässt sich das Album in die Tradition industrieller Ritual-Musik einordnen.
Shekinah“ klingt in Passagen, als sei der Nekrophile-Records Backkatalog (der im Laufe des Jahres von Vinyl-On-Demand wiederveröffentlicht werden wird) von David Jackman neu abgemischt worden. Neben den zwei ursprünglich enthaltenen je eine Albenseite füllenden Tracks enthält die CD ein bisher unveröffentlichtes 30-minütiges Bonusstück, das einen stärkeren Free Folk-Charakter zu haben scheint." [African Paper] |
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE |
Totem Two |
LP |
"Echoing like a long lost Werner Herzog soundtrack Totem 2 is a record of subtle Meditations and Deep electric Hallucinations from the Crystal Caves of the Northwest to the orchestral desert portals of Turkey. Totem 2 finds MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE exploring the disappearance of the Mystic and the schisms of our age. In times when forces move against our souls these are the first sounds of music that can only be described as NO-AGE , a resistance is making itself known. Featuring members of EARTH, ASVA, BURING WITCH, THE DIMINISHED MEN, and more and special guests from SECRET CHIEFS 3 and the thriving Istanbul music scene. MMOB has now solidified into a 7-piece cosmic psych force. Like a reverse dark side of the New Age sound, on the Totem series Master Musicians of Bukkake perform ritualistic electric excursions into the outer and inner reaches. Relying more on the electric power of psyched guitars, analog synth chants, and exotic heavy percussion. This Totem Trilogy echoes with the delusions of a west coast death cult. Outer spaced gamelan, dusty fuzz rock from celestial deserts, meditations of a deranged Krishna gathering, and the Blurry acoustic guitar majesty of The Cascade mountains all reveal themselves here in epic form." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2010 |
€19.50 |
|
|
Totem Two |
CD |
"Echoing like a long lost Werner Herzog soundtrack Totem 2 is a record of subtle Meditations and Deep electric Hallucinations from the Crystal Caves of the Northwest to the orchestral desert portals of Turkey. Totem 2 finds MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE exploring the disappearance of the Mystic and the schisms of our age. In times when forces move against our souls these are the first sounds of music that can only be described as NO-AGE , a resistance is making itself known. Featuring members of EARTH, ASVA, BURING WITCH, THE DIMINISHED MEN, and more and special guests from SECRET CHIEFS 3 and the thriving Istanbul music scene. MMOB has now solidified into a 7-piece cosmic psych force. Like a reverse dark side of the New Age sound, on the Totem series Master Musicians of Bukkake perform ritualistic electric excursions into the outer and inner reaches. Relying more on the electric power of psyched guitars, analog synth chants, and exotic heavy percussion. This Totem Trilogy echoes with the delusions of a west coast death cult. Outer spaced gamelan, dusty fuzz rock from celestial deserts, meditations of a deranged Krishna gathering, and the Blurry acoustic guitar majesty of The Cascade mountains all reveal themselves here in epic form."
www.importantrecords.com
|
2010 |
€14.50 |
|
|
Elogia de la Sombra |
mLP |
"Two tracks, 31 minutes. Southern are very excited to present the latest release in our Latitudes series from Master Musicians of Bukkake. Recorded at Southern Studios by Harvey Birrell on 17 April 2010. Additional tracking and mixing at Aleph Studios in Seattle. Produced by Randall Dunn. Mastered by Mell Dettmer. Artwork by Randall Dunn and A.Turner. Elogia de la sombra is the 24th recording in the Latitudes series. Edition of 1000 copper foil-stamped and hand assembled CDs and 1000 LPs.
Master Musicians Of Bukkake are an enchanting collective, comprising a fine pedigree of musicians from bands as diverse as Earth, Sun City Girls and Burning Witch. With an amalgam of global influences drawn from music, philosophy, mysticism, and the kitchen sink, they are difficult to pigeonhole, but this is to their credit as Master Musicians are entirely original and when they come together, the result is truly magical.
I see Master Musicians Of Bukkake as a kind of sonic playground, allowing an even greater form of expression for these like-minded individuals. Call it the Exotic Other. Needless to say, the prospect of watching all of those musicians perform together live is always an event. We just had to get them to the Southern Studios to record a Latitudes session, knowing full well that they would adapt to the improvised nature of these sessions with great ease, and with great results!
The finished piece is two lush tracks, the first a sumptuous canyon of melody and timbre and the second an arcane tribute to NEU! and such Krautrock pioneers. Both tracks are testament to their musical prowess. Absolutely mesmerising." [Lauren Barley]
Track Listing
1. Tainted Phenomena
2. Elogia de la sombra
Running time 00:30:59 minutes
www.southern.com/southern/label/LTT
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Totem Three |
CD |
"Following the tremendous success that was Totem 2, Important offers you Totem 3. LP pressed in an edition of 1000. This is the final offering before entering the new wave of the failed future from MMOB. Totem 3 journeys from quiet Bardo womb choosing meditations and instrumental mantras to the delusional glee of Kali Yugafied Indian rock. Totem 3 is the most diverse and heartfelt of the Totem Trilogy. A steady pulsating musical mirror prison expressing the atrophy of our 'Modern World' through no-age hallucinations of passionate and unfolding melodies. A blissful mirage filled caravan with no destination pushing onward through a mercurial blue sanded desert between what is and what was. A place where disembodied nomadic djinn join in lament attempting to push through the cell phone interference with a message of no return." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| MATHES, JEREMIE |
Efequen |
CD |
"Efequén is a recollection of the geomorphological structure of the island of Lanzarote which I visited in March of 2010. During one week I had the opportunity to amass various sounds in different parts of this volcanic and arid land. My initial goal wasn’t to represent a pure or realistic sound map of this island, but rather to interlace it with my errancies during my time there. My intention was to transcribe the sonic sensation of this semi-arid wilderness surrounded by limitless ocean.
I built my score by assembling, merging and permuting the sound fragments that I had collected. I worked to reveal my personal aural perception of this delimited land, where volcanic activity is still underlying, where nature appears hostile but is under permanent reconquest.
In Arrecife, I spent several hours with my stereophonic microphone gear, recording crowd and human activity. The harbor was also a focal point where I had the opportunity to use my hydrophone setup.
Ciclos is a hybrid combination of sound elements from bubbling aquatic plants, a decaying metal bridge and aeolian effects on constructions.
Los Caletones is a specific sandy bay to the north of the island where I made a series of recordings from the action of the ocean ebb and flow on volcanic black rock.
Atlante del Sol is an abandoned hotel in the south area of the island exposed to the elements in the middle of lava fields. This sonic piece is built from debris and objects found cast up by the ocean.
El Golfo is a small locality on the southeast coast of Lanzarote close to Timanfaya National Park, a protected area. I achieved capturing the sound of black sand swell from the beach at El Charcos del Ciclos."(Jérémie Mathes, January 2013)
www.unfathomless.net
|
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Arkhaios |
10inch |
"These two new 10" releases (of LP length) lead to an area where words and rational thinking are suspended, and a connection with deeper parts of your mind begins...
JEREMIE MATHES is a French field recording artist (known for some excellent CDs on Unfathomless) living in Cambodia since some years. For "Arkhaios" he combined cavernous object drones (recorded at an abandoned factory site) with various instrumental sounds from ancient Khmer instruments (Tro u, Khim), all highly processed. You get the impression as being under the earth in a place populated by metallic amoeba or other smallest creatures, inside sewerage ducts or an deserted mine, exposed to the circulation of air...
This is the spirituality of the underworlds! "Dissolving time, space, mangling sounds collected into a simulacrum of altered realities. A oneiric junction between the concrete world and other unknown
territories." [J. Mathes]
ed. of 300 copies, black vinyl, Artwork by Stijn Deprez, based solely on pictures realised by Jérémie Mathes." [press release]
https://soundcloud.com/drone-records/jeremie-mathes-tomleiki
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"The two pieces are based on same materials s "Uunartoq Qeqertoq" for the Drone Mind Serie LP [vol 04] on Drone records, and on my album "Fallow Memory" on Unfathomless label: A coalescence of acoustic sound sources recorded in an industrial complex of abandoned factories in South of France between 2010 to 2015.
In-situ improvisations inside reverberant metal tanks, deserted warehouses that I had the possibility to infiltrate during my exploration of the site. Generating sound in these empty spaces mainly by using found objects, combined with instruments that I've brought as a Tibetan bowl, small bells, percussions, cymbal, a bow, and a violin. Capturing the inner substance, the hidden vibrant matter of various types of metallic structures, machinery, tubes, and pipes o extended my sonorous palette.
All of these elements were used exclusively in the composition of my pieces. Dissolving time, space, mangling sounds collected into a simulacrum of altered realities. A oneiric junction between the concrete world and other unknown territories. Recorded, edited and composed by Jérémie Mathes [2017/ 2018].
Artwork by Stijn Deprez, based solely on pictures realised by Jérémie Mathes." [artist info]
www.substantia-innominata.de/SUB-27.html
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
| MATHIEU, STEPHAN |
Radioland |
CD |
“Radioland is Stephan Mathieu’s long awaited 5th full length studio work, following his acclaimed The Sad Mac cd from 2004. Exclusively based on real-time processed shortwave radio signals, Radioland takes the listener on a carpet ride across endless, majestic shimmering landscapes. Radioland is a mesmerizing reflection on the bubble of information thats all around us, all the time, by one of the truly unique minds in today's abstract digitalia.” [label info]
"Mathieu solo. Maybe the 'The Sad Mac' was the last one? I honestly don't recall. But of course things haven't been quiet for him. In the recent years he toured quite a bit with his 'Radioland' work. Here he plays with real time processed shortwave signals. Picking up from a simple receiver, feeding it into his self-built max-msp patches and transforming the signals into what is best described as 'Mathieu music'. Stephan Mathieu, whom I like to regard as one of the true masters of ambient glitch music, produces music here that is once again of absolute great beauty and expands beyond the 'softer' side of ambient music and goes into a bit more louder area, working with overtones created through multi-layering of such sounds. However, don't expect this to be harsh music or in fact static music. Mathieu knows how to move stuff around, finding small details in the music, amplifying them, lifting them out of the music and giving them life on their own. The minimalism of the godfathers of this kind of music (LaMonte Young, Palestine and Niblock) resonate through the computerized (but oh so warm!) version of Mathieu. What a great CD! And what a lovely package. A continuing peak in quality." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.die-schachtel.com
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
To describe George Washington Bridge |
10inch |
"To Describe George Washington Bridge" is Stephan Mathieu's 2nd Dekorder release in the 10" format (reflecting his interest in old 78rpm records) after 2009's sold out "The Key to the Kingdom", and, we're happy to say, again it features two of the composer's most outstanding short pieces. Both are recorded utilizing similar methods as used on his most recent album "A Static Place" on 12K Records yet they are presented in an even more condensed and melodic way. As source material he used transcriptions made from the marvelous 25x 12inch 78rpm set G.F. Händel. "Twelve Concerti Grossi" performed by the Busch
Chamber Players in 1946, and a Columbia 10"
record from 1912 with Händel's usual smash hits
from "Messiah"." [label info]
www.dekorder.de
"Just as on 'The Key to the Kingdom' (reviewed in Vital Weekly 666) and 'A Static Place' (see Vital Weekly 766), this one deals with picking up sounds from old 10" records through ancient gramophones. What happens beyond that is a bit unclear (sound being picked with microphones and using spectral analysis and convolution), but no doubt some form of computer processing which stretches the material to what is perhaps now trademark Mathieu music. Very spacious music, drone like, minimal. Mathieu finds much of his inspiration in colorfield paintings (Rotkho, Newmann) and his music reflects that, I think: quite an uniform mass of sound with the slightest changes boiling on and below the surface. Yet Mathieu always knows how to add a bit of melodic shimmer to his music, which makes it move a bit out y'r standard drone music. Quite a bit. Mathieu knows how to capture a fine mood in a relative short time span, as each side last about five minutes. Very refined as usual. But I guess you didn't expect this to be objective, or let alone critical?" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| MATHIEU, STEPHAN & EKKEHARD EHLERS |
Heroin |
LP + 12inch |
"Between Christmas 2000 and New Year 2001 producers Ekkehard Ehlers and Stephan Mathieu recorded an album of warm, soft, delicately crackling electronic music in the space of that week. It was christened with the ambivalent title "Heroin" and was released on CD via the label Brombron in 2001 and later in 2003 re-issued on Kit Clayton's Orthlorng Musork on double-LP with remixes the pair had commissioned as expansions.
17 years later Heroin sees its first vinyl release to include all 13 tracks from the original CD track-list on this LP + 12“ set. The centerpiece "Herz" finally receives its long deserved vinyl treatment (side C, at 45rpm) and on the flip side Thomas Brinkmann contributes a mirror in a magnificent remix of that very piece on side D.
Ehlers and Mathieu were both highly prolific solo artists during the period 2000-2004, and in just two years after the initial release of "Heroin" each had produced over half a dozen new solo recordings: among them the serial masterpiece Ehlers' "Plays" (Cornelius Cardew, Hurbert Fichte, John Cassavetes, Albert Ayler, Robert Johnson) released as 5 stunning LPs in a series on Staubgold, while Mathieu's 'Full Swing Edits' spread over five 10" records plus his album 'FrequencyLib' on Mille Plateaux, 'Die Entdeckung des Wetters' on Lucky Kitchen and ‘The Sad Mac’ on Atsushi Sasaki’s Headz label were greeted to critical acclaim.
Both artists were expanding their conceptual sonic approaches in the glow of developing laptop technologies which would to these times in 2020 seem quite primitive, but these two in that period used the state-of-the-art to aid and abet their conceptual visions, while at times the duo used unorthodox experimentation - yet always had a distinctively melodic and musical form at its heart and soul. Ehlers can be seen as a conceptualist, as a meta-musician who interrogates the mediums and methods of sound production - reflecting on the conditions and possibilities of improvisation (e.g. "Plays Albert Ayler") and exploits ideas of mutation and distortion of popular aesthetics played out within a ghostly form of divine pop beauty in his project März.
Mathieu, originally a drummer and co-founder of what has come to be known as the Berlin 'Echtzeitmusik' scene. His approach could be similarly described as working a critical analyst and researcher: Subtly and precisely working in the realm of processing as a method of intervening in melodious/harmonic analog sound sources.
Ehlers and Mathieu may not think too much about their singular productions and publications outcomes, but instead concentrate on the process and musical personality that characterizes their gesture- style itself stays in the background - and they usher a music from small minimal sound sources coaching a patient music of slow intervention - much like a refraction of light than a concrete painting or a blurred photograph - beatus accident.
And indeed, "Heroin" is an album that embraces the happy accident being made up of reduced, often very catchy and very direct micro hooks which seem laser-guided into a space accepting obvious melodic beauty in what feels like an observation of musics unfolding and revealing it's DNA, embed with for a kind of yearning for innocence and naiveté - as if Satie were on the jukebox in "The Crying of Lot 49". Not to say the music is "reduced", but rather: 'restricted' and born from acceptance of limitations, and the artists allowing the sounds to just "be.." with some incremental degrees of coercion.
The album not only sounds like that of 2 producers who are both dreamers and scientists, but that Ehlers and Mathieu chose to work with these means in a dialogue together to reduce pop music to its musical/tonal core, it is not Pop music anymore, rather a ghostly pointilistic itteration of song. "Heroin" is located at this transition, around that point at which tracks, that were or could have become pop compositions, irrevocably slip into a static harmonic nirvana. We are invited to follow the arch of Heroin in a slow-motion morphine musical haze.
Heroin sounded timeless when originally released and proof is that it remains so, one wishes that Ehlers and Mathieu would convene again for a week, a month or an entire year to continue this process of slow rumination, picking affectionately over the sounds they both love - and then maybe when everything is condensed, evaporated they would write more songs with those sonic refractive elements that remain.
Remastered by Stephan Mathieu, March 2020. Vinyl cut by Lupo @ Loop_O. Design by Caro Mikalef for Cabina."
https://schwebung.bandcamp.com/album/heroin
|
2020 |
€26.00 |
|
| MATHIEU, STEPHAN + TAYLOR DEUPREE |
Transcriptions |
CD |
" 'Transcriptions', a collaborative work by Stephan Mathieu and Taylor Deupree, contains 8 tracks of music that is both historic, decayed, angelic and revolving, while also existing in warmth, purity, and transcendence through acoustic instruments, and vintage synthesizer.
Delving deeply into the history of the earliest recording methods through mechanical phonographs, Stephan Mathieu created a method using wax-cylinders, the predecessor of records, as well as 78s, which have a larger frequency range, to create his music through playback of these pieces of musical history. With a setup consisting of playing the cylinders through two portable gramophones, and then sending them directly into the computer by microphone, Mathieu was able to record the sounds, and perform software processing in realtime, rendering a resulting flow of deteriorated angelic elegance, decomposed beauty, and reborn awakenings.
From this result, Taylor Deupree worked with the recordings, adding acoustic instruments and vintage synthesizer; adding-to, while still maintaining the physicality of the 78s, opening the range of the tracks through unalloyed analog contributions. Upon first listening, it might be thought that the contributions of Taylor Deupree were merely additions to original material, but when listening further, once the music has breathed openly, it can be heard actually how much the cylinder recordings of Stephan Mathieu shape the open pathways of Deupree's acoustics, allowing for a breadth of incredible range. Not merely a compliment, but a modern counterpart.
Through nearly 48 minutes of music, self-described as warm and enveloping, these sounds represent the pivotal movements of the unique, the saturated, and the exploratory, all colliding in what may be sometimes a wave of revolving fuzz, swirling melodies of the supernatural and the human, the delicate echoes of single revolutions, and gentle plucks of the guitar. It is both a conversation, and a translation of both sides. Transcription, after all, means notating the unnotated.
The result of the century-apart sources combined with the methodology and talent of these two leading experimentalists creates an immutable, impressing magnetism, while still balancing so gently on the vibrations of the decayed, and the frail humanity of the past." [Will Long / CELER]
www.spekk.net
|
2009 |
€15.50 |
|
| MATTIN & RICHARD FRANCIS |
Lisa Says |
LP |
"LP clear vinyl 33 rpm
release date: 18.09.2012
artists: MATTIN & RICHARD FRANCIS
title: Lisa Says
order no.: aatp38
time: ca. 50 min
sleeve designed by Richard Francis, comes with text insert. Clear vinyl 300
handnumbered copies.
On “Lisa Says”: This LP captures the first transcontinental collaboration between artists
Mattin and Richard Francis with sounds recorded in Stockholm, Berlin and Auckland, NZ. The mixdown portrays the current state of affairs in composed noise: filtered gritty sound blocks flow and float with no seeming direction
when sudden breaks puncture the structure and create something like a melody. Well, almost. The music is accompanied by a text insert that
documents a skype conversation between the two artists discussion the methods and aesthetics connected to this release and their ways of working in general.
Mattin Bio www.mattin.org
Mattin is a Basque artist working with noise and improvisation. His work seeks to address the social and economic structures of experimental music production through live performance, recordings and writing. Using a
conceptual approach, he aims to question the nature and parameters of improvisation, specifically the relationship between the idea
of “freedom” and constant innovation that it traditionally implies, and the established conventions of improvisation as a genre. Mattin considers improvisation not only as an interaction between musicians and instruments,
but as a situation involving all the elements that constitute a concert, including the audience and the social and architectural space. He tries to expose the stereotypical relation between active performer and passive
audience, producing a sense of strangeness and alienatio in that disturbs this relationship.
Richard Francis Bio www.richardfrancis.net.nz
Richard Francis has been releasing works on CD/vinyl, performing solo and in collaboration as a touring artist since 1996. He uses field recordings of acoustic and electronic sounds and a tone generator to compose sound works.
He has released solo and collaborative music on a number of labels worldwide and runs his own label CMR through which he releases limited edition lathe cut records by New Zealand artists. In performance he uses a computer and electronics and has toured Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, USA and Europe. Since 2003, Francis has composed works for sound installation, participating in group and solo shows at galleries throughout New Zealand. He has collaborated for recording and
performance with many artists, and has had recent published collaborative CDs with Jason Kahn (USA/Swiss) and Francisco Lopez (Spain). Collaborations for recording and/or performance: Bruce Russell, Francisco Lopez, Jason Kahn, Mattin, Birchville Cat Motel, Gate, MSBR, Tetuzi Akiyama, Lawrence English, Rosy Parlane, Howard Stelzer, Jason Lescalleet, Jay Sullivan, Empirical, Pumice, Kuwayama Kiyoharu, Phil Dadson, Anthony Guerra, Sean
Meehan, Ishigami Kazuya, Antony Milton, James Kirk, MHFS, Tim Coster, Paul Winstanley, Takefumi Naoshima, Toshihiro Koike." [label info]
"A project in two parts, one the actual music, as recorded on July 3 2008 in Berlin and one the conversation as a piece of text from August 31 2011 in which Richard Francis and Mattin talk about the recording from three years before, about their methods of working together but also with others. A fascination they have in common is about white and pink noise, and sustaining those sounds. It's an interesting text to read, as it clears up some interesting things but it's not entirely necessary to read the text to like the music I should think. The buzzing, cracking and sustaining sound, which sometimes hoovers closely above the threshold of hearing, reminds the listener of your ventilator or heater buzzing, or the faint noises from afar late at night. If I understand right, this record is for Francis an end to the way he working and for Mattin the start of a new working method, a more conceptual approach if you will. This record contains some very minimal music, with very few sound elements, but are fascinating to hear. Crackles of vinyl (not from the pressing), field recordings very remotely humming and the white/pink noise slowly washing ashore and moving away. All of this in a very quiet and contemplating way. If you think Mattin is all about noise then you should surely try this record for a change. Maybe this is more what you would expect from somebody like Richard Francis, but this is a great improvised electronic record. Excellent head space music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
www.aufabwegen.com
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| MAUTHAUSEN ORCHESTRA |
Private Thoughts Recordings |
CD |
Nine years after the death of Pierpaolo Zoppo, an unforgettable artist and a forerunner of Industrial Music with his Mauthausen Orchestra 'cult' project, this new CD of completely unreleased material - containing tracks he composed between 2009 and 2012 - is finally released by Standa.
The album - a release which has been officially authorised by his family - shows us Pierpaolo Zoppo at the peak of his artistic maturity: after investigating the most extreme and intransigent sounds for years with impetus, he finds a moment of reflection and some quietness, without completely abandoning its original instinctive and 'wild' nature, he knocks corners and softens forms, giving us ten tracks of music/non-music as 'strong' as ever, but at the same time touching and 'poetic' as never before.
"Private Thoughts Recordings" (the title of the album was taken from notes that Pierpaolo himself had pinned with a felt-tip pen on a few home-burned discs containing his original recordings) is perhaps the best gift that the artist could have letft us before departing for his long journey, and the most intense proof of his deep sensitivity and his incredible avant-garde 'sound visions'. A final chapter absolutely not to be missed.
store.silentes.it/catalogue/standa2133.htm
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| MAXIMIN, BERANGERE |
Land of Waves |
do-LP |
On her 6th album, the French electroacoustic composer BÉRANGÈRE MAXIMIN explores the idea of a kaleidoscopic world - a sonic aggregation of living creatures, plants, minerals, nature and buildings, using various sound objects, small percussions, synths, electric gui-tar, voice and electronics.
Working out of her private studio since 2008, BÉRANGÈRE MAXIMIN has developed her own ap-proach to sound art and electronic music, composing dense, immersive pieces with immediate im-pact. On five albums – released to critical acclaim on TZADIK, SUB ROSA, CRAMMED DISCS and CRAIG LEON’s ATLAS REALISATIONS label - she has revealed a taste for mixing disparate sounds together with a sense of detail, effusive, lyrical playings with the digital material and tight nuanced writing. BÉRANGÈRE MAXIMIN’s music engages the listener in consideration of space and textures, the sound ambivalence and its independence from its original source being at the center of her work.
During her career, the French composer has obtained commissions and residencies in National Music Research Centres such as Paris' Ina-GRM, Stockholm's EMS and received a grant from the ‘Villa Medicis Hors Les Murs’ program in New York City (Cultures France). She has performed in notable festivals, venues and concert halls from Paris’ Présences Electronique festival, London’s Hayward gallery, NYC’s Roulette, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie’s e-Phil series to major international festivals in Eastern Europe. Beside her solo performances, she also regularly shares the stage in duo with FRED FRITH.
“Land of Waves”: three words evoking territories of plains and curves connected with each other by canals, footpaths, tunnels. The four parts of the album lead the listener into a hybrid land where the jungle meets the city … a succession of reliefs, surfaces, textures, layers create a large mosaic as if on a concrete wall which seems solid and definitive but is in fact penetrable, alterable.
For “Land of Waves”, BÉRANGÈRE MAXIMIN took inspiration from recordings she did in various city parks, abandoned properties and limits with the suburbs during her travels in Europe, the di-versity of sources, the variations of events and the contrasts between day and night they offered, and reinterpreted them in the studio.
Recorded, composed, arranged, mixed and produced by Bérangère Maximin at the Home Sweet Home Studio/BM and Studio Polyphone, France, 2019/2020.
Sound objects, small percussions, analog and digital synths, guitar, digital chimeras, voice.
* Recomposed and mixed by B.M. featuring Fred Frith (electric guitar) and B.M, Colin Johnco, Kirikoo Des and Roméo Poirier as Swibekico Quartet (electronics).
Mastered by Kassian Troyer at D&M, Berlin, 2020.
https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/land-of-waves
|
2020 |
€25.00 |
|
| MAXWELL, JULES |
Cycles / Nocturnes |
do-LP |
"Cycles is the latest album of work by Irish composer Jules Maxwell whose music has featured at London's National Theatre, The Royal Opera House, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and The Roundhouse. Most recently he has been working with the band Dead Can Dance and in 2021 he released an album entitled Burn with singer Lisa Gerrard. Cycles is an exquisite album of meditative instrumental music. It is quiet and circular in nature but deeply atmospheric and dramatic at moments. Cycles will be released on Friday 25th March on Berlin based label Ghost Palace. A limited double vinyl edition will also be available featuring the Cycles album and its predecessor Nocturnes."
"Heute morgen, kurz nach fünf, kurz nach Wecker klingeln. Noch ist es verdächtig ruhig und entgegen meiner Gewohnheit, eines jahrelang antrainierten Automatismus folgend, schalte ich nicht erst den Wasserkocher und dann Deutschlandfunk ein. Sondern ich lege, während der Tee vor sich hin zieht, „Cycles“ von Jules Maxwell auf. Genauer gesagt, die erste der Doppel-LPs.
Mit dem Opener „Deeper Sleeper“ in den Tag zu starten ist ungewohnt entspannt, denn sogar noisy Kinder und Jugendliche verstummen mit einem „Ohhh“ und bewegen sich auf einmal fast lautlos. Wer hätte das gedacht. Warum ich das jetzt in einer Review erwähne? Weil diese Szene vermutlich am besten beschreibt, was Jules Maxwell auf dieser Platte für eine Stimmung erzeugt. „Cycles“ ist ein ruhiges, meditatives Instrumental-Album, welches mit den ersten Tönen den Pulsschlag entschleunigt. Dennoch schafft es Maxwell Spannung aufzubauen. So, dass der*die Hörer*in ganz bei und in der Musik bleibt.
In „A Rose On The Road“ führt ein Klavier, wie ein langsamer, rhythmischer Glockenschlag in den Song ein, im Hintergrund bauen sich sphärische Klänge auf, werden intensiver, dringlicher und bauen eine Dramatik auf, die ab rund dreieinhalb Minuten von einer Geige (oder ist es eine Bratsche, ich tue mich schwer damit das rauszuhören) aufgenommen wird. Nach rund fünfeinhalb Minuten haben sich die Klänge, die Töne, vereint und lösen sich auf, so dass ein sanfter Übergang zum nächsten Song geschaffen wurde.
Und das, was ich hier für diesen Song beschrieben und versucht habe in Worte zu fassen, ist exemplarisch und findet auch in den anderen Songs statt. Immer anders, aber dennoch ist das Album eine Einheit und als solches zu hören. Zu hören ist Jules Maxwell zur Zeit auch Live. Er tourt mit Dead Can Dance. Termine findet ihr hier.
Doch kommen wir zur zweiten LP, die sich im Gatefoldcover befindet. Hierbei handelt es sich um die, digital schon im März vergangenen Jahres erschienene LP „Nocturnes“. Jetzt auf Vinyl sind „Nocturnes“ und „Cycles“ vereint und auch musikalisch bilden sie eine Einheit. Eventuell ist „Nocturnes“ stellenweise ein wenig verspielter, zum Beispiel in „April 1964“ oder auch „Virgin Territory“ wird im Laufe des Songs verspielter. Grundsätzlich wird aber die Stimmung, die Jules Maxwell auf „Nocturnes“ kreiert hat, in „Cycles“ aufgenommen und intensiviert.
Und wer jetzt bei den Stichwörtern meditativ und ruhig denkt, es wäre sicherlich nicht so seine*ihre Musik, dem*der empfehle ich mal reinzuhören. Denn die Platte berührt, egal ob man jetzt vorwiegend Progressiv Rock, Metal oder Radio-Pop hört. Wer’s nicht glaubt, spule nochmal zurück zum zweiten Absatz, oder hört halt mal rein.
Erschienen ist das Vinyl auf dem Label Ghost Palace und liegt mir als Testpressung in schwarzem Vinyl vor. [Vinyl Keks]
|
2022 |
€26.50 |
|
| MAZANEK, JIRI |
Radha-Krsna |
CD |
"For many years I dreamed about making an album for the greatest lovers and divine principles Radha and Krishna. Finally, my longyear friend Jožan Púry encouraged me to do so. Everything was made possible thanks to a very very devoted musician, sound engineer and friend Michal Ditrich. I am grateful for all of his inspiring remarks, by which he gave my ideas the right direction and then made the realization easy. This loving piece of work would not have come into existence without his help.
For long years I have been sending my love into our world and the whole spiritual universe through my thoughts, my heart and now also through sound vibration. May your hearts be filled with love so that you could give it to everybody around.
Jaya Radhe, jaya Krshna" [Jiri Mazanek]
www.nextera.cz
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| MC LEAN, STEVE |
Bridges |
do-CD |
"These recordings collect together works spanning two decades of composition and experimentation that balance traditional musical resources (the band, compositional skills, instrumental techniques, acoustic and amplified instruments) and the new technologies (computers, software, processing). The first CD showcases polyrhythmic, careful compositions (like those on his last ReR CD, Opposite of War), which still no-one has tried to emulate. The second is more meditative, abstract and electronic, moving from Koto through electric and acoustic guitars - with and without radical effects processing - to piano and virtual orchestra, putting various softwares through their paces." [label notes]
label-website: www.rermegacorp.com
|
2007 |
€19.00 |
|
| MC NINCH, NATHAN |
A brief audio history of agriculture |
CD |
ORAL ist das Montrealer Experimental-Label von ERIC MATTSON, der Organisator der MUTEK-Festivals. NATHAN MC. NINCH ist ein neuer Name für uns, der mit “A brief audio history of agriculture” ein Werk präsentiert, welches sich über die Verwendung von field recordings mit dem Thema “Agrikultur” auseinandersetzt, um deren “Geschichte” mit ihren ureigensten Sounds zu erzählen... so vernetzt er hier die Klänge von landwirtschaftlichen Maschinen und der Alltags-Agrarwelt sehr sanft und tagträumerisch, so dass eine adäquate Atmosphäre entsteht, die in die nordamerikanischen Weiten entführt...
“a brief audio history of agriculture "This project began with an unlikely source : a t-shirt, which read if you eat, you have an interest in agriculture . From conversations about the ways in which agriculture and farming practices have shaped our lives in North America derived primal ideas on a language to represent agriculture. Early in the spring of 2004, as the snow was just melting, I made some recordings of myself "playing" a derelict rusty piece of farm machinery abandon in a field. I was quite taken with the sounds I was able to record and with the extent to which I was able to "play" the machinery as an instrument. It was in these recordings that I discovered both the language and the story of this CD : a history of agriculture told using sounds created with the tools of agriculture. Initially the piece intended on developing using some sort of timeline, starting with the most basic elements: seeds, soil, water... and progressing to modern day mechanized tools. A combination of the old and the new; the banging and scraping of antique metal milk containers combined with the soft humming of a contemporary milk tank coolant unit. More subtle aspects of the history of agriculture, migration, drought, a recent move away from "the family farm"... were brought in. And here it is: the brief audio history of agriculture, all on one CD.
-First full-length solo work, not self-released. Unlike most of field recording based pieces, composition is here the master key.
-A new release on ORA, the label directed by Eric Mattson, music curator for MUTEK festival and independent producer for: MUTEK_rec.
-A "must" have for all lovers of experimental, subtle but intriguing releases.
-Carefully mastered by John Sellekaers-METARC (Ant-Zen, Klanggalerie, Noise Museum, Quatermass, Sub Rosa).” [label info]
|
2005 |
€13.50 |
|
| MCDOWALL, DREW |
The Third Helix |
LP |
For this third release on Dais, Drew McDowall reaches into concept, ritual, and immersion, in an exercise of unravelling the DNA of hallucination. The Third Helix is McDowall's product of deconstructive exploration, twisting the fibers of being into new structure, shape, pattern, and pulse, without reconstituting its inscribed template.
The result is a true third act,in McDowall's career, that has seen him peregrinate from the late-70s art-punk of the trio Poems to his work with Psychic TV and Coil throughout the 80s and 90s, into his current home of New York City, where he has composed with CSD, Compound Eye, as well his solo work. That triangulation is central to The Third Helix, as it begins with his dive into the existence of a sensory toolkit unique to McDowall before twisting faculties and reconfiguring consciousness by honoring inherent power, cognizant of memory yet agnostic of context.
With the tenet that journey is rarely linear, but rather an omnipresent oscillation of matter, sound is stripped to salient and primal, propelled by McDowall's boring into the core of memory and impulse, suturing together the silent awareness of excogitating experience.
Featuring eight new tracks of McDowall's dark, experimental electronics, including the opener "Rhizome", The Third Helix is a churning descent into emotion, provoking thought and reflection while carving out haunting space only to fill it with baffling and wondrous structures of layered sound. McDowall solidifies himself as an architect who transforms otherworldly materials into something fascinating and challenging in the process.
Unnerving, trancelike anthems for nervous meditation and anxious relaxation, fans of Coil will immediately connect and immerse, while the complex compositions welcome listen for drone and ambient enthusiasts.
Packaged within a thick sturdy matte sleeve jacket featuring artwork/design by artist J.S. Aurelius (Ascetic House/Marshstepper).
https://drewmcdowall.bandcamp.com/album/the-third-helix
|
2018 |
€22.00 |
|
|
Agalma (black vinyl) |
LP |
"Veteran NYC based Scottish electronic musician Drew McDowall's latest work is his loftiest, most liturgical, and least industrial outing to date — and potentially the apex of his recent discography. Named after an ancient Greek word for votive offering, Agalma exudes a hooded, devotional aura, creaking and keeling under vast rafters of stone, stained glass, and shredded wires. It's a music of majesty and mystery but also modernity, McDowall's refined modular system shape-shifting strings, piano, pipe organ, and choral masses into disorienting synthetic mirages of the sacred. He cites the intersection of “joy, terror, and the elegiac” as a centering inspiration – or, phrased more bluntly, “that 'what the fuck is going on' feeling.”
As a career collaborator himself, with stints in Coil, Psychic TV, and countless other shorter-lived partnerships, it's telling that McDowall chose this project to gather such an impressive spectrum of peers. Italian synthesist Caterina Barbieri, American drone organist Kali Malone, prolific multi-instrumentalist Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, operatic Humanbeast vocalist Maralie Armstrong-Rial, Saudi producer MSYLMA, and warped futurist beat-makers Bashar Suleiman and Elvin Brandhi cameo across the album's 42 minutes, contouring McDowall's nuanced negative spaces with shudders, shadows, and shivering flickers of serenity. Each of them shines in their spotlight, elevating these elusive alchemical states into surreal revelations of texture and transcendence.
McDowall's original working title for the record is revealing: Ritual Music. He speaks of his creative practice in ceremonial terms, negating binaries by seeking the middle path to a numinous equilibrium that erases the distinction between the inner and outer worlds. These compositions feel similarly processional and intuitive, at the crossroads of holiness and hallucination, the sacred vertigo of yawning naves rising into untouchable night skies. It's a vision of industrial music as enigma and invocation, cryptic hymnals of shrouded beauty summoned in catacombs and crumbling cathedrals.
Despite its depths, Agalma is also an album of immediacy and emotion. Celestial laments of and for times of unrest and suffering. McDowall characterizes his initial intention for this music as an to attempt to convey experiences he felt incapable of putting into words: “To try and approach sublimity, or at least acknowledge it in some way.” Agalma more than acknowledges the ineffable – it embodies it.
The album features original photography and design by artist Caroline Schub."
|
2020 |
€22.50 |
|
| |
A THREAD, SILVERED AND TREMBLING |
LP |
Scottish experimental/electronic musician Drew McDowall's lifelong interest in an elegiac solo bagpipe style called pibroch (ceòl mòr in Gaelic) has been an inspiration for much of his previous work (including Coil's legendary Time Machines). This form, often traditionally used for laments and for tributes to the dead, fuses modal drones with flickering dissonance and plaintive melody evoking an ancient, solemn mood. His latest work, A Thread, Silvered and Trembling, both incorporates and transforms these elements via exploratory electronic processing, weaving an electro-acoustic tapestry of strings, shudders, voids, and voices, alternately disembodied and displaced. Co-produced with engineer Randall Dunn at Circular Ruin Studios in Brooklyn, the collection's four pieces capture McDowall at his most elevated and elusive, in thrall to "the ineffable - that which refuses to be spoken." McDowall's palette here is unusually eclectic, sourced from a dynamic orchestral ensemble arranged by Brent Arnold and comprised of cello, viola, violin, harp (Marilu Donovan of LEYA), and french horn. Ebbing between shrouded electronics and enigmatic, sometimes spectralist orchestration, the album moves with a seething, simmering energy, surging into elegant, uneasy crescendos. The first two pieces are inspired by a liberatory hijacking and inversion of a grim biblical story (and by a cryptic and strange UK simple syrup branding). Opener "Out of Strength Comes Sweetness" shivers with short echo and resonant pads, before shifting into the album's centerpiece: the 14-minute saga "And Lions Will Sing with Joy." A murmuring electrical storm of keening strings and disorienting drones gradually grows darker and denser, until suddenly there's a crack in the clouds, revealing mutated choral voices and sparkling harp. McDowall describes the track as "an incantation to help usher in a break, and a new beginning." The record's latter half evokes a deep untamed animism shot through with spiraling radiance. "In Wound and Water" sways with harp, plucked strings and eerie cello undertows while lush layers of disorientated electronics hang in the dusk. There is no resolution, only a faint gradient of fragile dissipation, leading into the album's harrowing and climactic closer, "A Dream of a Cartographic Membrane Dissolves." Processed voices (credited on the liner notes to "The Ghosts Who Refuse to Rest") contort, whisper, and gather as the rest of the ensemble sharpens, poising to strike. Then it does - grand, tragic stabs of strings and horns lashing the sky, storming heaven by force. The fallout is poetic and inevitable, raining embers into a dark sea. But the journey and catharsis of A Thread linger long after it goes silent. Like so much of McDowall's multifaceted catalog, this is music of immanence and alchemy, attuned equally to the sacred and the profane, to the tile and the mosaic. |
2024 |
€25.00 |
|
| MCFALL, CHRISTOPHER |
The Body as I left it |
CD |
"CD edition limited to 500 copies. This collection of works was assembled in 2009 and was composed using piano, a broken phonograph player, field recordings and sampled material. I think that this release embodies a certain diversity in terms of content because at the time I was recording these works I was experimenting with several different approaches to developing new compositions involving the use of a more melodic approach to things. Once the release was completed, I had several thoughts in reference to a title and the title 'The Body As I Left It' seemed the most appropriate to me given the circumstances that had occurred during the time of it's creation. (text by Christopher McFall) On this new series of recordings Christopher McFall enriches his personal urban ethnographic work with a palette of concrete musical materials and the sounds of failing playback equipment. This combination has yielded an album which succeeds in remaining a recognizable development in the work of this composer, while revealing a whole range of sensibilities which were previously not heard in his recordings. Once again Christopher has created a work of great subtlety which contains a sense of narrative while eluding any simple descriptives or conclusive understanding of its contents. (text by Asher Thal Nir)" [label info]
"Not much information on this new release by Christopher McFall. 'composed in Kansas City, MO 2008-9', 'untitled i-vii' and the title. Not even the website of Asher's label Sourdine is mentioned on the package. Let the music speak for itself. McFall has had already a bunch of releases on Gears Of Sand and Entr'acte, and also in the digital domain his work can be found. Up until now I believed his work was mainly based around the extensive use of field recordings and processing thereof. The empty land around Kansas City, the empty warehouses and silos, but here, perhaps for the first time, it seems that McFall also uses musical instruments, primarily, I think, piano sounds. These too are processed, and mingled with the field recordings and voice material. Its an interesting new phase McFall enters here. The overall musical touch brought to the table is gentle, quiet and altogether alters the music of McFall quite a bit. The sound is deepened, without losing its original focus. The musical elements are a great supplement to the field recordings, but perhaps that could also be said vice versa. An excellent work. This music indeed speaks for itself." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| MCFALL, CHRISTOPHER & ASHER |
An amber hollowed Night |
mCD-R |
"a multi-layered track created by two prolific and very talented us sound artists.
christopher mcfall first issued a bunch of netreleases on respected labels such as alg-a, conv, earlabs or test tube then physical releases on entr'acte, 1000füssler, mystery sea or sourdine (asher's label). he likes to collaborate with other sound artists too (with ben fleury steiner or more recently with luigi turra on mystery sea's sister-label unfathomless). he's known for his rich soundcsapes full of treated field recordings.
asher's output shares many labels with his partner (earlabs, conv, homophoni, mystery sea, and/oar...) and also produces multi-media dvd releases...
here's what christopher mcfall says about this track made with four hands: "this release is entitled 'an amber hollowed night.' the reason i proposed this title is that it accurately describes the feelings and environment that i was experiencing when I was assembling the tracks that comprised the final multi-track format. i was composing late at night in my studio and then taking the work that i had done for any particular evening and walking with it in the streets of kansas city to listen and access the results. effectively, this collaboration came to fruition as a result of asher sending me piano fragments taken from a series of recordings entitled 'passages' that was recorded in vermont in 2007 and audio from an installation entitled 'materials for spaces'. i worked extensively with these tracks and combined them with a series of field recordings that i had compliled and recorded to treated tape. the source material for the field recordings were primarily from the train yards here in kansas city, whereby the digital field recording was eventually transfered to treated audio tape. the individual tracks were then manipulated more in the computer and multi-tracked together to form the final recorded track. these recordings were compiled and rendered into 'an amber hollowed night' in the fall and winter months between 2007 and 2008."
[label info]
www.taalem.com
"The final new release is by Christopher McFall and Asher, both highly active with numerous releases in various formats (mp3, CDR, CD). They both have sound input, Asher gives his piano music and McFall field recordings from Kansas City. In the first stage the sounds were treated on tape and then later on the computer. Its probably exactly the kind of piece you would expect from them. Hissy, low in volume, but also highly beautiful. I don't think it adds that much to what you may already know from either of them, but as so often with things like this, that hardly matters. People like McFall and Asher have carved out a very specific sound of their own and work within that very well. A highly atmospheric piece of music." [FdW, Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€5.00 |
|
| MECHA / ORGA |
56:24 |
CD |
Filed under: polyphonic power-drones! Griechisches Projekt mit einem sonoren Drone one-tracker, der an HAFLER TRIO oder NIBLOCK erinnert, Obertöne überschlagen und überlagern sich wellenartig, das ganze wird allmählich immer lauter und massiver in einem fast unmerkliches Crescendo, das furios anschwillt, zum Ende hin gewinnen die Drones eine schon unangenehmen Druck & Präsenz ! Intensiv und definitiver TIP!
“...as if a garden being planted and you are watching all the process from the bare earth to the colourful result, comes “56:24”... generating a drone layer which slowly starts the cultivation process where layers upon layers slowly build a delicate atmosphere and the way they expand and grow draws an even more colourful result, as if a swarm of insects spreads the pollen in our garden, helping it grow even more beautiful and even more colourful, lasting in a flabbergasting droning result... or at least, such was the atmosphere last march in Halandri where Yiorgis Sakellariou (aka Mecha-Orga) premiered this piece for us. And it was John Pallas, who by the time the set ended proposed absurd the cd release and didn't leave until we 3 shook hands... such also was our life in our 2006, like a fertile garden, with lots of releases and trips here and there, always ending with our occasional meetings at cafe Amarrylis in Kifissia for coffee (Mecha-Orga) & Shitloads of alcohol (absurd) or at “Varsos Kifissia” to enjoy our sweets & cofee (Mecha-Orga), hot-cold chocolate (absurd). and as a friend wondered of how the future will look like, we thought nice to picture Mecha-Orga on the cd's front cover sleeve, as a middle aged man, thinking of how he'll create his next piece-live set and a grey haired absurd on the cd label, probably in a meeting w-someone to discuss an upcoming release or project in one of editions_zero's side-ghost labels, book publishing houses, etc etc etc... comes highly recommended if you fancy instant trips to colourful droning soundgardens!!!” [Nicolas Malevitsis]
"The name Mecha/orga keeps popping up in Vital Weekly and though not entirely a household name, it should be one, at least some day. His new CD could be of great help to achieve this. Mecha/orga is the name chosen by Yiorgis Sakellariou from Greece, who works since time under this guise (and plays regular music as well under various other guises and in various other capacities). The work, indicated by it's length, was created one afternoon in february last year, and played live there after a couple of time. No bullshitting about. The length becomes the title, and the listener can come up with his or her own story. Mecha/orga plays drone music. On a laptop. How much more simple can it get? Or rather does it have to be complex? No it doesn't. Over the course of the fifty-six minutes and twenty-four seconds Yiorgis Sakellariou plays a slowly unfolding piece of drone music, which seems to be growing in intensity throughout. When you think nothing more can be added, he adds another layer. And another. And another. Most suitable to play in the dark, at night and ghostly activities will surely occur. Or during the day, outside and watching plants grow. Multi-purpose music, I'd say. Great stuff. Powerful music." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.void.gr/absurd
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| MEDERY, LUDOVIC |
Les Pierres Seches |
CD |
It’s within the framework of a disused factory located in Liège, a post-industrial city of Belgium that I gathered the sound recordings over a six months period (March till August 2016).
This factory is in St Leonard quarter (in the North part of the city, dubbed sometimes as “North Quarter”). At a time of whom some still remember, workshops, some small factories & stores flourished there between 1950 and 1980.
Historically, this quarter saw these factories and stores emerge and die. Scars from this process still strew across the place, namely empty shop fronts hastily refurbished with scraps and abandoned buildings not waiting anymore for its workers.
As the years went by, this quarter met different populations from the four corners of Europe and Africa, first for the coal, and then for the steel industry. The Meuse is the river which splits the city into two banks, the left one is bordered by St Leonard Quarter.
Intimately bound to the history of this Quarter, the building I explored is adjacent to the esplanade erected and completed in 2006. This esplanade which grew up as some breathing space and meeting place for its inhabitants had formerly a totally different function.
It was the place where the prison of the city sat. Moved by a vivid exploration desire and curiosity, I wandered through the site many times until it became inaccessible.
During my visits, I divided my sound recordings in 3 phases :
– sound ambience without intervention
– sound ambiences with interventions within the space
– searches for objects of all sizes allowing me to create other sounds and play sequences.
~
C’est dans le cadre d’une usine désaffectée de Liège, ville post-industrielle de Belgique, que j’ai réalisé ces captations sonores sur une période de 6 mois (mars à août 2016).
Cette usine se situe dans le quartier St Léonard (situé dans nord de la ville on le surnomme parfois Quartier Nord). A une époque dont certains se souviennent encore, des ateliers, de petites usines et commerces y florissaient entre 1950 et 1980.
Historiquement, ce quartier a vu naître et mourir ces usines et commerces. Ces cicatrices encore visibles parsèment le quartier. Vitrines vides réhabilitées à la va-vite avec des bouts de rien et bâtiments à l’abandon n’attendant plus les ouvriers qui les fréquentaient. Au fil des années, ce quartier a vu arriver différentes populations venant des quatre coins de l’Europe et d’Afrique. D’abord pour le charbonnage, ensuite pour la sidérurgie. « La Meuse » est le fleuve qui sépare la ville en deux rives, la gauche est bordée par le quartier Saint Léonard.
Intimement lié a l’histoire de ce quartier, le bâtiment que j’ai visité lors de cette exploration est attenant à l’esplanade qui à été construite et achevée en 2006. Cette esplanade devenu espace de respiration et rencontre entre habitants avait auparavant une toute autre fonction, c’était là où se situait la prison de la ville. Animé par le désir d’exploration et la curiosité, j’ai exploré à plusieurs occasions ce site jusqu’à ce qu’il soit complètement inaccessible.
Durant mes visites, j’ai décidé de diviser mes captations en trois phases;
– ambiance sonore sans intervention
– ambiance sonores avec interventions dans l’espace
– recherche d’objets de toute taille me permettant de créer d’autres sons et séquences jeux.
(Ludovic Medery, January 2020)
LOCATION : a disused factory in Liège.
50.6500253 N / 5.5840799 E
Sound recordings made with omnidirectional, cardioid and contact mics. Additional electronic sounds made with analog synthesizer, a ring modulator, a delay, and a feedback generator.
Mixed, assembled, and mastered by Ludovic Medery 2017-2020.
Additional art card, cover design & treatments by Daniel Crokaert.
Based exclusively on photos by Cathy Alvarez Valle & Ludovic Medery.
https://unfathomless.bandcamp.com/album/les-pierres-s-ches
|
2020 |
€14.00 |
|
| MEELKOP, ROEL |
5[zwischenfälle] |
CD |
"5(zwischenfaelle) is the latest release by dutch electronic musician ROEL MELLKOP. It is a special release in Meelkop’s catalogue because it is consist of five piece that were originally used in the context of sound installations running over a certain period of time in specific special surroundings. For 5(zwischenfaelle) Meelkop has set himself the task to compress these soundscapes into five dense and still minimal audio pieces that could work outside the context of the original installations. 5(zwischenfaelle) is focussed on single sound events and stark beautiful dynamic movements in a certain area of sound and does not have the bruitistic research-like feel of other solo works by Meelkop. 5(zwischenfaelle) makes for concentrated unpolished ultra minimal listening with maximum effect. For all friends of Bernhard Günter, Francisco Lopez, Joe Colley/Crawl Unit or Marc Behrens this is a definite work!
Roel Meelkop (Tegelen, NL, 1963) studied sculpture and painting at Academie van Beeldende Kunsten in Rotterdam, NL. He graduated in 1990 and in the years after that he concentrated mainly on painting. Five years later, he decided to expand his views on art and philosophy and applied for a postgraduate course at the same academy. He graduated from this course in 1997. By then, Meelkop had abandoned painting altogether in favour of working with sound. Before this he had already been working with THU20 on experimental sound collages and electronic music. This practice was extended and now includes sound installations and performances as well.
Nowadays, Meelkop regularly plays live performances around the world, either solo, or with one of the three musical projects he is involved with: THU20 (musique concrete), Kapotte Muziek (electro-acoustic music) or GOEM (electronic music). His solo music is a unique combination of the aforementioned styles. Besides his live activities, Meelkop has a long list of releases to show for his creativity and productivity in the studio. Another area of interest for Meelkop is sound in space. The relation between space and sound and the unique artistic possibilities this offers have urged him to create several installations, not only in exhibition spaces, but also in public spaces. Most of these installations are created specifically for the spaces that will hold them and are based on Meelkop’s impressions from these spaces. In most cases the work is not visual but auditory, thus expanding the existing space in a way that visual art will never achieve. Central issue in these installations is the experience of space and time at a specific place and time. Aside from his artistic activities, Meelkop is also active as organiser, curator and programmer of contemporary sound art and electronic music in Rotterdam, NL and as a reviewer for the email magazine Vital Weerkly." [label info]
"ROEL MEELKOP ist als Soundtüftler und inzwischen auch Kurator für zeitgenössische
elektronische Musik in Rotterdam nicht ohne
Vergangenheit in der niederländischen Szene.
Seit 1986 arbeitet er in dem Audio-Art-Kollektiv
THU 20, seit 1995 tritt er regelmäßgig mit Kapotte Muziek auf und veröffentlicht desweiteren seit 1997 mit Frans de Waard und Peter Duimelinks als GOEM sowie Arbeiten unter seinem Namen und seinem dubbigen minimalacid-
elektro Alter Ego slo-fi. Zu 5 (Zwischenfälle)
(AATP18, digipak ltd. 500) selbst ist zu
sagen, dass er hier Stücke aus spezifischen
Soundinstallationen aus dem Zeitraum 2005-
2006 überarbeitet und damit aus dem eigentlichen
Kontext gerissen hat. Allesamt unbetitelt,
werden 4 längere Tracks jeweils von einer
kleinen Präambel ein- und ausgeläutet. Das
räumliche Element fließt hier dennoch erfolgreich ein, durch Pausen wie auch durch überraschende Klangkontraste. Die Abstraktion
des eigentlichen Ausgangspunktes nimmt
fluchtartig zu, aber so, dass die Statik des Raumes nicht gefährdet wird. Verhallende Geräusche vielschichtig arrangiert, unerwartete
Klänge, undurchsichtige Hintergrund-lautmalereien. "Zwischenfälle" ist hier ein sehr gut gewählter Untertitel, da eine beruhigende Wirkung nicht von diesen Aufnahmen ausgeht." [cs / Bad Alchemy]
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| MEELKOP, ROEL & MECHA/ORGA |
Rotterdam 54:21 |
CD |
"This first collaboration between Roel Meelkop and Yiorgis Sakellariou consists of three pieces, two solos and one duet. Unusual and groundbreaking combination of modified field recordings and twisted sound of old analogue synths shows the distinct and personal approach to the electronic composition, shaped throughout the years of studio practice. Release date is 29th December 2012. Limited edition of 500 copies in jewelcase." [label info]
www.monochromevision.ru
"Roel Meelkop may not have been born in the city of Rotterdam, he's been there for more than half his life now, so he probably knows every in and out, and is a perfect guide for the city and the extended harbor. He toured the city, armed with a tape recorder and with Yiorgis Sakellariou, also known as Mecha/orga to tape the beauty and the ugliness of the big city. Afterwards they went down to Worm, Rotterdam's finest when it comes to staging experimental music, or more in particular to their in-door CEM studio (who moved since 1959 all over the country, Hilversum, Arnhem, Amsterdam and now Rotterdam), where we have some vintage synth modules. Here the sound was treated further and then stuck together as a collage of electronic music. Then it was played live a couple of times and ended up on a silver shiny disc. Thirty minutes together and then fifteen Meelkop solo and nine minutes Mecha/orga solo. Probably I am not the right person to shed any light on this release - too close involved and all that. But this is one damn fine release. The collaborative piece flows all into eachother with the solo ones. Whereas in the collaboration they use the collage form, setting field recordings aside from the electronics at one point, mixing and filtering them together at another point, making an intense, rich form of collage. In his solo piece, Meelkop seems to be concentrating on sustaining sounds from motorized objects, slowly filtering and fading several together, while Mecha/orga is more on the field recordings side of this matter, which is no doubt more his line of business. An excellent collaborative work and a story that will continue this year, not with the same line-up, but from these fruitful weeks in The Netherlands in April 2012." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| MEGAPTERA |
Staring back at you |
CD |
Rares Material des schwedischen Death Industrial Kult-Projekts!
"In a final celebration of Megaptera’s 15 year anniversary, Malignant presents the definitive last statement from this prominent and highly influential death industrial project. Staring Back At You concentrates on demo versions, outtakes, and rare songs from various arenas, including the compilations Zyklon B, Beating the Meat, Slaughter Age ’95, The Book ov Shadowz, Death Odors II, as well as material from the Deep Inside mLP, and more. These tracks capture Megaptera at their grittiest, creepiest, and most horrifying...a grinding, lurching monstrosity fueled by the madness, violence, lies, wars, and disease that plague the world. Lmtd to 800 copies, and coming in a 6 panel digipak designed by Mårten Kellerman, this has been re-mastered by Magnus Sundstrom, with additional boosting courtesy of Thomas Garrison. Staring Back At You is final nail in the coffin for Megaptera, and may they rest in peace, but continue to deliver nightmares, maddening thoughts, and the darkest of obsessions. Track listing: More Disturbance (demo version), The Passage (demo version), Disoriented (Totally Different demo version), Lurking Fear (Pre-damaged demo version), Frozen Corpse, The Final Day (excerpt), Morior, Mass Murder, Antropofagi, Deep Inside." [label info]
label: www.malignantrecords.com
|
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
Near Death |
LP |
Urashima's vinyl reissue captures the essence of "Near Death" in its purest form. The tactile experience of placing the needle on the vinyl and allowing the album to unfold as intended by the artists adds a new dimension to the sonic journey. The haunting melodies and unsettling textures resonate even more powerfully, making this reissue not just a reproduction but a revival of the album's visceral impact.
Immerse yourself in the mysterious and haunting world of "Megaptera," a captivating music project that pushes the boundaries of industrial and dark ambient genres. Initiated by Peter Nyström alongside Mikael Svensson, with the participation of Magnus Åslund, "Megaptera" embarked on a sonic journey into the heart of darkness, where atmospheric textures and chilling soundscapes intertwine.
"Megaptera" is a project that defies conventional classification. The trio's early collaboration set the groundwork for soundscapes that delve into the darkest corners of the psyche, inviting listeners to confront their fears and delve into the unknown.
At the core of "Megaptera" lies an intricate fusion of industrial rhythms, unsettling textures, and atmospheric layers. Each composition is a sonic voyage, transporting the audience to realms where the borders between reality and imagination blur. The music possesses an uncanny ability to evoke emotions that are rarely explored, creating an intense and immersive experience for those who dare to listen.
Prepare to be transported to the edge of consciousness with the Urashima's vinyl reissue of "Megaptera - Near Death." Originally released on Sound Source .1917. cassette in 1991, this pivotal album not only marked the inception of the "Megaptera" project but also carved a niche for itself in the annals of dark ambient and industrial music.
"Near Death" is a journey into the depths of the human psyche, a descent into the unknown territories of the mind. With the collaborative efforts of Peter Nyström, Mikael Svensson, and the participation of Magnus Åslund, the album takes on an even more profound resonance. The combined creativity of these minds birthed a sonic masterpiece that fuses haunting atmospheres, experimental soundscapes, and industrial rhythms into a symphony of darkness.
From the first notes, "Near Death" envelops the listener in an uncanny aura, a sense of foreboding that guides you through its enigmatic passages. The album is a testament to the trio's ability to manipulate sound, sculpting it into a chilling narrative that unfolds across its tracks. The atmospheric textures evoke a sense of unease, while the pulsating rhythms create a hypnotic rhythm that carries you along the journey. Throughout the album, there's a palpable tension, a feeling of being suspended between reality and a realm of shadows. The layers of sound intertwine, creating an intricate web that seems to echo the labyrinthine corridors of the subconscious. The distant whispers, eerie drones, and subtle shifts in dynamics pull the listener deeper, inviting introspection and exploration.
In a world that often shies away from the darker corners of human experience, "Near Death" is a fearless exploration. It is an invitation to confront the shadows that dwell within us, a reflection of the mysteries that lie beneath the surface. As the vinyl spins and the sounds envelop you, you'll find yourself embarking on a sonic odyssey that is equal parts unsettling and transformative. "Megaptera" is not for the faint of heart; it is an invitation to confront the shadows that reside within us all. Through its intense sonic explorations, the project beckons listeners to embrace the darkness and embark on a journey that delves into the most primal aspects of human experience.
https://urashima.bandcamp.com/album/near-death
|
2023 |
€25.00 |
|
| MEIN GLASFABRIK |
Exotic Percussion / Death TV - Recordings 1979-81 |
do-LP |
"In the heart of Sheffield's electronic / industrial music scene of 1979, Peter Bargh and Mark Holmes created the experimental project Mein Glas Fabrik. This VOD release is a combination of their two cassette albums, recorded on simple equipment using tape loops, home made synths, samples, random radio frequencies and a legendary Shergold guitar. Death TV was favourably reviewed in local fanzine "Tigers on the Moor", Exotic Percussion followed soon after. While influenced by a wide spectrum of musical genres, Mein Glas Fabrik created a fusion of sounds, not adhering to any specific genre...expect the unexpected!"
https://www.vod-records.com/-1-432-673.htm |
2020 |
€28.00 |
|
| MEISSNER / SLAVIN / SACHS |
Into the Void |
CD |
Eine Art "Hör-Film" dreier Audio & Video-Künstler aus Israel & Österreich basierend auf einer Spurensuche im jüdischen Viertel in Krakau... besonders das 11teilige "Into the Void" von SEBASTIAN MEISSNER ist sehr hörenswert: field recordings & Erzählungen werden verwebt mit dunklen Drones, Piano-tunes, Klezmer-Fragmenten, teils in langen sphärischen Stücken, teils cut-up mässig...
RAN SLAVINS "Segments from the Snow" klingt Electronica-lastiger, aber auch bedrückend atmosphärisch & voller interessanter Sound-Arrangements & stakkatohaft-mechanischer Samples & Volksmusikverfremdungen...
ERAN SACHS (u.a. Mitglied bei LIETTERSCHPICH) schafft mit "Memory Gaps" einen geräuschaft-melancholischen Raum, basierend auf zwei traditionellen jüdischen Klarinetten-Stücken, field recordings & Interviewfetzen...
kommt mit Booklet und ausführlichen Liner-Notes....
"presence/absence:::into the void is a reflection upon the history and the recent changes in the krakovian neighbourhood of Kazimierz. The center of this meditation is the seemingly contradictory development of the last few years, which is showing that the attempts to re-animate jewish culture. The piece is working on the basis of an attempt of reversing the seasons: from summer to winter the 700-year-old Jewish district of Krakow. What struck Meissner at first sight, was the glaring contrast between the rich though often neglected presence of the material culture and the dreadful absence of the community exterminated during the Nazi days.
Four months later, on 26 June 2003, at Krowoderska52 club in Krakow, Sebastian Meissner, Ran Slavin and Eran Sachs offered the final effects of their research in the form of series of pieces. They carefully crafted crunchy steps, freezing wind, cracking ice and conversations into a mesmerising film for ears’. The imaginative power of the music was reinforced by Slavin's video impressions — equally apt in conjuring up desolate though meaningful a digital environment referring
to Nowa Huta —the empty large defunct metal industry zone....
Sebastian Meissner: works as music composer, sound designer and photographer in Vienna. Over the years his audio-visual works has been presented by curators of prestigious festivals and exhibited in international galleries
such as Transmediale, Sonic Square, Podewil, Portikus Frankfurt, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Goethe Institute Buenos Aires, Kulturhuset Stockholm and Forsythe Ballet. His music and sound compositions -
as Random Inc. - are released on music labels Mille Plateaux, Ritornell, Kompakt, Crónica and Beta Bodega.
Ran Slavin: Works as film-maker and as audio-visual artist from Tel Aviv. His last opus in video is one of the most brilliant films that came from Israel during the last years : INSOMNIAC CITY. Premiering with the first part at the Venice Biennial of Architecture in 2004 and continuing with part 3 at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque and international venues. Working with experimental cinema, digital and acoustic music, video art and live video/sound performances. Operating between contemporary art and new music, his visual work has been described as intense urban surrealism. His audio visual work is a culmination of balanced relations between sound and video, their interconnections. His work has been shown at the Pompidou, Jeu De Paum, Transmediale, Istanbul Biennial, Cinematheques in Israel and Paris, festivals in Berlin, Slovenia, Amsterdam, Austria, New York, China, Israel, London, Ukraine. His music and videos released on the music-media labels Mille Plateaux, Cronica, Sub Rosa. www.ranslavin.com
Eran Sachs: works as composer, improviser, sound-artist and curator in Jerusalem. He plays this machine regularily in the Doom-Dub-Noise outfit Lietterschpich and John Zorn's "Cobra" improvising ensemble in Israel. His works have been released on Mille Plateaux and various labels in Israel. As a sound-artist his works tend fuse the sonic with the political, as in the case of "Yannun Yannun", which portrays the harrasment of Palestinian villagers by fanatic settlers. He founded and managed the Yad-Vashem bookstore - the only holocaust dedicated bookstore in Israel." [press release]
|
2006 |
€13.50 |
|
| MEIZTER, K |
Travelling Light |
CD |
Solo-Album des B.S.E.-Mitglieds, der hier neue Wege einschlägt, wie immer bei HORUS in exquisiter Cover-Aufmachung.. "Auch wenn die erkleckliche Verbindung von Dark Ambient und Rhythmus keine Erfindung von K. MEIZTER ist, deuten Tracks wie Play It As It Lays in eine mir bisher unbekannte, aber recht interessante Dark Trip Hop Richtung und vielleicht ist ja auch der Titel Teil des Programms, dass man sich nicht um Genregrenzen scheren soll. Irgendwie wird hier das Kunststück zelebriert, dunkle Soundscapes mit Rhythmen zu versetzen, ohne diesen ihre düstere Spannung zu nehmen, denn die Befürchtung, Dark Ambient mit falsch eingesetzter Rhythmik zu verhunzen ist wohl nachvollziehbar. Stellenweise geht das Ganze dann sogar etwas in Richtung Industrial, wobei dies vor allem an den verwendeten Samples liegt und z.B. bei The Local Group nach einer guten Minute unterbunden wird, um wieder mehr loungetauglichen Klängen und Rhythmen Platz zu machen. Überhaupt hängt es auch auf diesem Album zum Großteil von den verwendeten Samples ab, in welche Richtung die Atmosphäre geht, wobei man hierzu sagen muss, dass ebenso wie Drumcomputer und Bass auch die Samples gut platziert eingesetzt worden sind. Travelling Light erschafft so ziemlich neuartige Klangkonstruktionen, die man sich eventuell ausmalen kann, wenn man sich ein Remix-Wars Album von GOLDFRAPP und HERBST9 vorstellt, bei dem der BRYN JONES der Baghdad -Ära auch irgendwie seine Finger im Spiel hatte. Travelling Light klingt genauso, nur eben ganz anders. Am besten anhören! Wegen seines außergewöhnlich ruhigen Charakters ist das schöne Some Battles On vielleicht nicht der repräsentativste Anspieltipp, also sollte man auch zumindest noch Honesty Through Paranoia sein Gehör leihen." [KMF]
"K. Meizter makes his solo debut with Travelling Light after five successful years in BEYOND SENSORY EXPERIENCE. Still lurking in the realms of dark ambient, K. Meizter now sets foot towards more experimental grounds focusing on melancholy melodies and twisted rhythms.
Travelling Light takes you on an intriguing journey through the Universe of Mind and comes
with elegant and thought-provoking artwork
presented in a special hand-numbered oversized booklet. The album has been mastered by
Mika Goedrijk (of This Morn’ Omina) at Atomic Studios and in some parts it would remind best times of this ritual group! References: Hybryds, 4th Sign of the Apocalypse, TMO." [label info]
www.horus.cz
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
| MELANCHOHOLICS |
A single Act of Carelessness |
CD |
Zweites Album der dunklen Gitarren-Sphäriker - hier ausgefeilter & experimenteller als beim Debut, mit Gitarren, Drones, Electronics, stimmlichen Klangmaterial, Akkordeon & Cello werden angerauhte, einsame melancholische Weiten geschaffen, wobei das improvisatorische Element unüberhörbar ist…
Anklänge an z.B. DWELLING LACUNA und manchmal fast schon alte STARS OF THE LID oder LABRADFORD….
“Without wanting to place Deafborn Records in one particular corner of the musical spectrum, 'dark' and 'atmospheric' are certainly two key-words. I never heard of Melanchoholics, which is a three piece group of Benedikt on guitars, Philip on bass and Lutz on electronics. Their previous interests lie in Death/Grind/Heavy metal and industrial and noise, but none of these influences are shown on 'A Single Act Of Carelessness', which is their second CD, after the self-titled, self-released CD from 2003. In 2001 they got together, discussing 'dark and solitudous sound atmospheres' and started jamming around. They probably do that a lot, since this CD shows a mature sound. The alienated, desolated soundscape of a post nuclear landscape is what is unfolded before our very eyes. Empty industrial sites, dark clouds, a thunder - the fine ingredients of a good nightmare or perhaps the storyboard of a b-movie entitled 'the last man on earth and his wanderings' (sorry that didn't sound very hollywood like). The guitar is plucked, a dark wall of synths and feedback hoover in the background and we hear the sound of highly polluted water running down the drainpipes. The album doesn't very hopeful, nor any where near melancholic. What would they long for? The cross-over between ambient and industrial has been made before, by many (Illusion Of Safety's during the late 80s period spring to mind here), but Melanchoholics translate the sound pretty well to a new millennium.” [FdW/ Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Solar Cafe |
CD |
"By combining found noises and field-recorded nature with minimal/fragile post-rock-guitars, drones and fuzzy low-end bass-lines, Melanchoholics create mad extensive soundscapes and almost cinematic soundtracks to psychotic euphoria and intoxicated wastelands. After releasing on Drone Records, MNDR and Deafborn, Eibon Records proudly presents their final low-end manifesto for low-end connoisseurs. On Solar Cafe, Melanchoholics once again have set their attention directly to the lurid sides of human personalities: desperate internal fears and simplistic structures and melodies fleshed out well with subtle textures and voices. The feeling is one of lamentation and dreariness as the sounds trudge along. Yet there is a warmth and smokiness to it as well. There is a colourful darkness before that day comes... the moment to celebrate the return of sunlight. Comes in matte-varnished digisleeve." [label info]
www.eibonrecords.com
www.melanchoholics.com
"It's been a long, long time since I reviewed 'A Single Act Of Carelessness' by the German band Melanchoholics (see Vital Weekly 530). This trio was Benedikt on guitars, Philip on bass and Lutz on electronics; was, because the band no longer exists, so it seems, following the passing of Benedikt Bjarnason a few years ago. The music on 'Solar Cafe' was recorded from 2006 to 2010 and then it took some more time to finish the release. But the result is certainly great. With their previous release I compared it with the old ambient industrial music that was en vogue in the late 80s, when bands started to play guitars with cello bows, adding bits of conversations, made it all more atmospheric, but at the same time also with that dark, noisy undercurrent never far away. Music like passing dark clouds over an abandoned industrial lot, but Melanchoholics add more spacious guitars to the recipe, owing a bit to the world of post-rock. In 'Presence of Absence' they depict with the guitars vast
open territories while the steady slow beat is like an oilrig. Get my drift? It's music that I quite like actually. It's both abstract and musical; it's both atmospheric and noisy - from time to time. It has that great cinematic quality to it. It's experimental music just the way I like it; like very much, actually. Perhaps one could argue there is not a lot of difference between this and the previous release, but with such as small output: who cares? One could care however about the fact that this band is no more and the musical development has come to an end. That's perhaps the saddest conclusion one could draw from this release. Sad but beautiful that's how it ends here with the final piece, 'Minus 1 One'." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| MELCHIOR, DAN & SIGTRYGGUR BERG SIGMARSSON |
Cod War Kids |
CD |
"This is the second collaboration of Sigmarsson and Melchior, following their 'Dark Arc' LP, reviewed in Vital Weekly 1146. I still have not much idea who Dan Melchior is, other than a guitarist. If there is a lot of guitars here is hard to say. Surely in a short piece like 'Wyno Ryder Forever' yes, but overall? I am not so convinced; it is not so important either, I would think, and both gentlemen do whatever
they want to do, using whatever apparatus (hard and software, instruments, sounds etc.), they find suitable and do a great job, once again, in creating some beautiful weird music. This is music that is sort of genre-defying. There are some great creepy bits, playing on an organ, in 'Blind Curtains & Curious Eyes', along with singing/humming/sighing/screaming, there are field recordings of a rather hard to define nature, there is surely some heavily obscured laptop doodling going (like on Sigmarsson's previous solo release, see Vital Weekly 1169) but there is also the aforementioned guitar piece, which complete with vocals (no words) and rhythm is almost like a proper song. I am
strongly reminded here of Nurse With Wound, but perhaps that is something that can be said of all the six pieces here. These two gentlemen share the eclecticism of the nurses; it is any music that you care to make, thrown together and it still sounds pretty coherent. The overall quality of the pieces is a bit dark, I thought, especially in their use of voices, which is the sort of unearthly humming; a drunken monk or a Middle-earth creature? Your guess is as good as mine. Sounds are provided by Helgi Porsson ('spooky synth sounds') and Frans de Waard (oh) and Tom Smith ("additional sounds"; I wish I could say what it is; I should know, don't you think?) and it's a great release (not because of those additional sounds; I was at conclusion before I reached the track in which they are used). It is experimental, dark, funny and solid. The fun is mainly in their strange
titles (another NWW influence?), such as 'This Is The Scene Where Siggy And Dan Receive Their
Prophecies From The Witches". This is an excellent place to start exploring the sound world of Sigmarsson and from there go to his solo work." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| MELT FAMAS |
Serial Weather |
10inch |
"MUSIKZIMMER LABEL:
The label Musikzimmer is based in Aarau (Switzerland) and Berlin. It was born with the idea of giving birth to music not only in a ethereal way. We want to materialise what we like. We want to produce, to touch and to spread it.
It all started 21 years ago with one of the first „independent“ exhibition spaces in Switzerland, the Kunstraum Aarau. Since approximately 7 years we focus on soundart and sound related site specific interventions. And because not every manifestation finds its form in a frame work of an exhibition, we started to organise concerts and offer now a stage without stairs to concertant situations. To can those situations as long as possible we decided to cut them into vinyl.
MELT FAMAS – serial weather is the first conserved situation. It will be followed by a 10“ of chained melodies by RM74. The concept is simple. 10 inch, 1 cover version and the cover sleeve is designed by an artist who does not play on but maybe with the record.
MELT FAMAS:
When the movement of a terrestrial object around a static point is repetitive, we talk about oscillation...When two people oscillate around several electric devices according to a nearly repetitive movement, we talk about rock‘n‘roll. At Melt Famas, during the supper, we talk about oscillations, aquatic rock‘n‘roll. Dessert comes when the table has already been cleared.
In the living room, guitar screams exhort to indiscipline, and voices invite to the reconstruction of a new order. At Melt Famas‘, codes are made for others. According to the stars position, the degree of gravity and the level of caffein of the last tea, sounds meet under the fingers until dizzyness spreads, and invite us to an immobile trance. Fred Billet and Nicolas Magot, or l‘invitation au voyage with a one way ticket.
FRED BIGOT: (aka Electronicat)
The root of Fred Bigot‘s music is in guitar. The way he makes music is all related to the way he plays guitar, including imperfections, lo-fi sound, noise, melody and the practice of improvisation.
The distorted but melodic guitar, the unquantised rhythms, the delay-heavy vocals and the buzzing rumbling 808 bass drum all became characteristic features of the Electronicat sound. His songs encompassed an array of influences in all respects - particularly glam rock, psychedelia, 60s garage rockabilly and experimental electronic music - and took it further making electronic music sound more rock n roll and vice versa.
To date he has released numerous albums and singles on international labels (Holy Mountain, Onitor, Disko b, Optical Sound, Ldrr). He has produced tracks for pour Beans, Miss le Bomb, Marina Ribatski (ex- Bondo de Role), remixes for Depeche Mode, Numbers, Bretzel Göring. Fred played all around the world alongside with artists such as Felix Kubin, Stereolab, Adult. He has collaborated with numerous artists and musicians, building up an impressive resume that includes projects with musicians J.G Thirwell, Gerhard Potuznik, Khan and contemporary artists Nicolas Moulin, Anu Pennanen and Pauline Curnier-Jardin.
NICOLAS MALLET:
After having visited experimental and post-punk music, Nicolas Mallet turned into Nicolas Metall. Melodies in minor chords, Bach is never far. Keyboards, guitars and rhythms. He plays with Fred Bigot (Electronicat) in Melt Famas, with Marie Germinal in a rock-post punk style, he has organised events and works with artists and dancers (Nicolas Moulin, Marie Reinert, Olivier Dohin, Grégoire & Elise Charbey, Clémentine Roy). His most recent Release „ Growing Ideas Of Falling Generations“ is a Double Vinyl on Nicolas Moulin Label „Grautag Records“.
„Growing Ideas Of Falling Generations, as the first double LP of Nicolas Metall, has to be heard as the psychoanalysis of the Space Odyssey computer HAL 9000. Electronic-wave music to dance on a russianÕs suburb discotheque dancefloor or to listen to by staring at the sunset , The 2nd release of the berlin-based label Grautag records“ (Grautag Records)" [label info]
www.musikzimmeraarau.ch
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| MELVILLE |
17 TV Themes |
do-CD |
“2 x 17 masterpieces as a soundtrack for the cinema in your head and beyond: The hammering automatic rhythm of an Elka organ introduces us to Melville's film-music masterpiece, slowly moody echo-laden guitar lines, spooky keyboard chords, honey sweet theremin-sequences and lascivious female voices add to a "Blues noir", melodic and harmonic fireworks of references build up and make clear where we are. The cineastic escapades of the 50s and 60s and their heroes salute you: Alain Delon, Brigitte Bardot, Jean Paul Belmondo, Lino Ventura, Gina Lollobrigida, Sophia Loren, Michel Serrault… all these stars are cast for this sparkling masterpiece on celluloid, which is neither B-movie nor blockbuster, but rather builds up to something new each time you listen to its soundtrack. Melville sets straight limitations to his genre, but he gives his listeners the freedom to choose: What used to be a horror movie in the vein of Dario Argento yesterday might be the diary of a psycho killer in the 50s in moving pictures. Melville produces soundtracks, soundtracks for the cinema in your head. He invites each listener to direct his own movies, to trip on Melville's soundwaves depending on what mood you are in. While film connoisseurs will be thrilled and find clear cineastic references, the living room of the average listener will suddenly smell of gun powder and lead while a francophile gangster blonde will aspirate erotic confessions.
The second CD of the album is an image of the first one. It contains the exact order of tunes as the first CD but interpreted and remade by artists chosen by Melville. These artists come from all musical genres, ranging from earthy blues to avant-garde electronics and metal: The (ethno-)pop-project Binder&Krieglstein from Graz follows the Viennese avantgarde composer Jürgen Hofbauer, Reflector's doom laden metal stands next to Peter Plessas' innovative electronics, "New York-certified" theremin godess Dorith Chrysler and some acts from the avant-garde label "tonto", blues guitarist Christian Masser is followed by the minimal electronic freak marufura fufunjiru and Mego-darling Dr. Nachtstrom. An opulent array of innovative artists which clearly appreciate the genius and the brilliancy of the original.” [Soul Seduction]
|
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
| MENCHE, DANIEL |
Concussions |
do-CD |
Mächtige Klangschwälle aus ratternder Perkussion umtosen einen wie ein Ozean, polyrhythmisch verzwirbeltes Stakkato-Gedröhn zwingt in die Knie. Das ist frisch und klischeelos, MENCHE erweitert wieder seinen eigenen und unseren Horizont !
MENCHE goes PERCUSSION !! No words needed, this blast has to be experienced !!
"Daniel Menche is usually known for creating towering infernos out of densely droning layers of incinerating sound. For his new Concussions project the sonic stakes are taken higher, soaring into a relentless world of propulsive pulse, where powerful, poly-rhythmic percussion pound and merge together. The result is an intense avalanche of overdriven noise blasts that actually rock hypnotically in a periodic way that is seldom heard. This ain't no drum circle to be sure, and fans of the recent Boredoms material or the primitive metal banging from Einsturzende Neubauten / Test Department industrial strength era will be pummeled by an accelerated experience with this opus! Daniel takes the perpetual beat engine of 49 locomotives, rides down the 20 untitled tracks and stampedes off a cliff? This is the true METAL! Flex your muscles!" [label info]
|
2006 |
€17.50 |
|
|
Furious Eclipse |
12inch |
We got some last copies of this very first vinyl in the SOLEILMOON–vinyl-series (which was stopped too early), two tracks of awesome monumental & rumbling low-frequency-scratch & heartbeat-drones, press on clear vinyl, with special cover, numbered edition.
"Soleilmoon's first vinyl release is from our resident noise monster. It's his first 12 inch record, and it's a numbered limited virgin clear vinyl edition of 693 packaged in hand made Japanese art paper." [label info]
|
1996 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Incineration |
CD |
Re-Release der ersten genialen MENCHE – CD!! Unglaublich dicht & spannend!
“ Somatic sound sources, organic materials and tortured electronics were documented, mutated and treated during 1992 and 1993. No samples or musical instruments were used..”
|
1999 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Jugularis |
CD |
Die JUGULARIS-Venen sind zwei Adern im Halsbereich, die bis in den Schädel laufen... und klingt nach tiefgestimmten Trommeln & Becken-Kaskaden und hellen Gläser- & Glocken-Pulsationen, wobei das Ganze irgendwann eine ritualistisch-schamanistische Komponente bekommt, als wenn sich die Sounds in Stammestrommeln & Grillenzirpen verwandeln, und sich alles in hypnotischen Klangblöcken auflöst...
Great stuff again vom Power-Drone Magier !!
"Imagine yourself riding on cells coasting through your body's veins. The sound of the heart grows stronger like a beating drum as you're pulled closer. Suddenly, you're embraced by this giant pulsating muscle and when you're finally released back into the veins you can hear it's sound fading slowly, but still growling with the same intensity that it has beat with for eternity. Jugularis is the soundtrack to this ride and like your heart it's packaged in blood: the ultimate symbol of life and intensity. Recently Daniel Menche has embraced more percussion based sound to create music that manipulates the listeners blood flow and intensifies the listening experience. Jugularis still contains a distinctly Menche sound yet being that it's intensely rhythm and percussion based it's extremely different from anything that he has created prior. Never before has Daniel Menche's mantra of "If Music is like blood then make the speakers bleed" been so appropriate." [press release]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Kanticle |
mCD |
One-tracker of nearly 20 minutes, using acoustic sources (strings?), creating a contemplative and rather quiet drone-field with some shimmering elements..... great stuff again !
“Recorded in winter of 2003 and finished in summer of 2005 in Portland, Oregon, at Stereophonic studios. Dedicated to Koji Tano (1965-2005).” [credits]
|
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
|
Radiant Blood (SOLD OUT) |
10inch |
SUBSTANTIA INNOMINATA ist eine neue 10”-Vinyl-Serie von Drone Records mit neuem Konzept. Mit “Unbenannter Substanz” ist das “Unbekannte, Un-erkennbare, Unergründliche, Un-Identifizierbare“ gemeint, das hier als Inspiration und Themenfokus für die Künstler (akustisch wie visuell) dienen soll. Das, was über unsere Wahrnehmung hinausgeht oder vielleicht nur unbewusst wahrgenommen werden kann. Das was man nicht denken kann. Das Unbekannte in uns und ausserhalb unser erkennbaren, gewohnten Welt.
DANIEL MENCHE macht den Anfang mit zwei Stücken: Komprimierte Energie. Dichte. Antreibende Kraft. Spannung. Pulsierendes Blut. Das Unbekannte als Teil einer grossen Energie, die auch in der Musik steckt?
Die grossartige ARTWORK für die SUB-01 stammt von ROBERT SCHALINSKI (COLUMN ONE). Braun-schwarz marmoriertes Vinyl in einer Erstauflage von 500 Stück.
“Substantia Innominata” is the brand new release-series from Drone Records. We are proud to present this as a 10” VINYL series along with subsequent re-releases on CD.
This new series doesn’t focus on a special concept or ideology regarding the music, but on a certain theme. The theme for this 10” series is based on “The Un-known, The Un-nameable, The Un-speakable, The Un-thinkable, etc.: Various aspects related to “The Unknown”. Basically the grey matter (psychic or physical, which are bound to result the same) surrounding us / within us, but can’t be understood or recognized through the normal senses (though some may perceive it on a subconscious level). We could name it “The Unconscious”. The chosen name for this series, “Substantia Innominata”, was inspired to the fact that this Latin name represents a certain region of the brain which has unknown functions and remains a mystery for its role and existence. Therefore this name reflects well the intense fascination for this impalpable concept of “the unknown”.
The invited artists for this series were asked to work around this theme, to let themselves be inspired by its abstraction. The artwork for this series will be created by the various visual & graphic artists. All in full-colour or silkscreen covers. The 10” vinyl pressings will come in an edition of 500 copies for each title.” [Basic Concept]
DANIEL MENCHE begins the series with two pieces: Compressed energy. Density. Driving force. Tension. Pulsating Blood. The Unknown as part of a bigger energy, that is also part of the music?
The great artwork for SUB-01 was made by ROBERT SCHALINSK (COLUMN ONE). Brown-black marmorized vinyl in a first ed. of 500 copies.
OUT 15. DECEMBER 2005 !
Note: this 10" plays on 45 rpm !
|
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Scattered Remains:Early Remixes |
do-CD |
Zusammenstellung von frühen & raren Material, meist von nicht mehr erhältlichen Compilations, alles von 1994-1999. Der oft noch eher „noisige“, rauhe, mit mehr konkretem Touch arbeitende MENCHE.... Nice priced, alles re-mastered!
“Keeping track of the musical output of Daniel Menche has never been easy. Besides his numerous albums and singles, released by an
eclectic range of labels, he has contributed countless tracks to compilations, many of which reached only the smallest of audiences.
Scattered Remains tracks his progress from 1995 through 1999, collecting the best of these pieces, now fully remastered, onto two full-length CDs. With the passing of time it has become nearly impossible to find many the original releases these tracks came on,
making this rarities collection a must have for long-time fans and new converts alike. Besides the material culled from CD compilations, three tracks previously only available on vinyl appear in digital form for the first time ever. The list of labels involved reads like a who’s who of cutting edge music in the 90s: Banned Productions, Ash International, 23five, Noise Museum, Self Abuse, Isomorphic, KAON, Shirocoal, Suterfuge, G.M.B.H. and of course, Soleilmoon. Best of all, it’s a great value: Two CDs for the price of one. What’s
not to love?” [press release]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Melting Gravity |
LP |
Daniel Menche follows up his triple CD opus Sleeper with the razor drone constructs of Melting Gravity. Hailing from Portland, Oregon, Menche is an iconic musician with three decades working with intense noise, immersive ambience, and turbulent field recordings. With Melting Gravity, Menche continues to carve his spot as a figurehead in the experimental community.
The title of Melting Gravity refers to an allegory on the human pursuit of transcendence with all of its connotations to weightlessness, ascension, flight, out-of-body experiences, and just getting high. Gravity, on the other hand, becomes that which negates and nullifies those transcendent pursuits. In the context of this particular allegory, gravity is the devil. Music, long a vehicle aimed towards transcendent ideals, becomes the weapon to defeat gravity, to defeat the devil. Daniel Menche wields the weapon of music in composing the mercurial grandeur that is Melting Gravity.
Implementing an elegant arc of acceleration and dissolve, Menche presents a slow-motion tumble of drones from his signature manipulation of FM synthesis, oscillators, and sustained tones from various stringed instruments. The tangles and tendrils of these extended frequencies are bright and liquid, rich in harmonic complexities though mottled with a scrap metal discord. Menche balances these slippery, luminous overtones with a dub-inspired lattice of recursive bass tones. Read as an industrial mantra or as amplified minimalism, Melting Gravity stands as an exemplary work in Menche’s storied catalogue of recordings.
Daniel Menche’s lengthy discography contains over 60 albums, many of which have been published by some of the most esteemed experimental record labels. Over the years he has worked with Editions Mego, Sige, Touch Music, Alien8 Records, Ash International, Utrecht Records, and many others. He has collaborated with Mamiffer, Andrew Liles, KK Null, John Wiese, Aaron Bradford Turner, Joe Preston, Anla Courtis, Zbigniew Karkowski, Kiyoshi Mizutani, and Kevin Drumm. He has performed extensively in North America, Japan, Europe, and Australia.
- Jim Haynes
https://sigerecords.bandcamp.com/album/melting-gravity
|
2019 |
€21.50 |
|
|
MMXX-05: 4424 |
LP |
Matière Mémoire presents the MMXX Series: In anticipation of the year 2020, Matière Mémoire asked 20 experimental/electronic artists to create an original 20 minutes piece and an artwork. Throughout this year, each quarter will see the release of 5 new vinyls.
Each record is limited to 500 copies and comes as a crystal clear vinyl featuring an original track of 20 minutes on one side, and a laser engraved artwork on the other. Each 12" is housed in a transparent sleeve printed with the MMXX logo, coming with a print of the artist artwork.
Participate in this series: Franck Vigroux, John Duncan, Phill Niblock, Jim O’Rourke, Reinier Van Houdt, Stephen O’Malley, CM Von Hausswolff, Hampus Lindwall, Oren Ambarchi, Kevin Drumm, Bérangère Maximin, Kassel Jaeger, Daniel Menche, Charlemagne Palestine, Giueseppe Ielasi, Carlos Casas, Susanna Santos Silva, Joachim Nordwall, Karbé Dinel, Mauro Lanza
|
2020 |
€24.00 |
|
| |
Dirge |
CD |
Daniel Menche : Bowed Grand Piano and Noise
Recorded at the Hallowed Halls studio in Portland Oregon.
Great gratitude to Peter Drake who assisted me wit hthe creative recording process of the grand piano.
Recorded throughout January 2021
Mastered at the Stereophonic Mastering.
www.stereopho.com
https://fernsrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/dirge
"Daniel Menche has yet again utilized a piano to create a vast and immense storm of noise and drones. In 2011 he created a piano noise album titled “Guts” that was the sound of a piano being violently attacked and then electronically treated. Ten years later Daniel Menche worked with a grand piano that was in tune and located in a very acoustically sound studio. With carful elegance and care Daniel Menche wove long horse hairs in between the longest strings of this grand piano and bowed the strings for several hour to create massive amounts of overtones, drones and noise. Edited, mixed and subtly treated, “Dirge” is presented in a rather raw manner. The bowing acoustic movements was the main focus to the music rather than the electronic making this a unique recording in the ever growing discography of Daniel Menche. “Rawest Dirge” is a bonus track only on this CD release that is the raw recording of several objects placed on the strings with tone generators resonating the strings. “Rawest Dirge” is presented raw without any edits or treatments. “Dirge” was a very physical recording to make and therefore an album that truly needs to be heard physically loud and deep as possible."
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| MENCHE, DANIEL & MAMIFFER |
Crater |
CD |
"There are profound forces that enmesh the minds, bodies, and souls of these venerable artists. Mamiffer unfurls darkened hymns and sprawled abstractions authored by Faith Coloccia in partnership with Aaron Turner. Daniel Menche stands as a stalwart noise technician of many years, with his blood and sweat permeating all of his adrenaline fueled recordings and performances. Collectively, they design sound to slip between the formally defined practices of metal, noise, song, and drone, offering a phenomenological essentialism that amplifies and exaggerates the earthly ele- ments of water, moss, soil, and fire. This can be a sonic transubstantiation of field recordings and in situ object documents from Coloccia and Turner’s home on Vashon Island, Washington; and this can be the aestheticized forms of mythic poetry cast through austere melodies for guitar, piano, electronics, and plainsong chant.
The communal production took four years to develop with a few performances that spilled forth. Menche, for one, abhors the notion of collaboration, preferring to qualify this as a documentation of their friendship. “’Collaboration” sounds so... business like or formal or something of a technical term. We’re just friends making acoustic sounds together and recording nature with our hikes together. Then we eat pizza and laugh.” This relational intimacy and interpersonal development brings an understanding of each other’s strengths, and from that understanding, the conviction to extract out the very best that each has to offer. From Menche’s perspective, Coloccia projects a nearly religious capacity for harmony and melody; Turner has grace and fury in his DNA;
And Menche quips about his own work: "I’m a chainsaw artist making those touristy statues of grizzly bears but instead of wood I’m using sound.” Ellipses of guitars and piano sparsely populate this album. Upon appearance, these forms are progressively dissolved into a dislocation of machined noise and wintry drone, abraded with the tactility of stone and iron. It can become difficult to determine where the province of negation ends (e.g. emptying the musical structure as a simulacrum of the sublime) and that of accretion begins (e.g. layer upon layer of noise, pressure, and volume to feed a collapse). In this liminal iceblink, the work of Mamiffer and Menche is resoundingly heroic, tragic, haunted, cold, and beautiful. To Menche, though, “this is a very humble recording. When we’re old and grey and come across this in a old dusty box, we’ll have a warm smile. Maybe we’ll play it on our death bed?!?!" [label info]
sige.bigcartel.com
"Daniel Menche, Faith Coloccia, and Aaron Turner have been close friends for quite a long time now, with this album emerging as the first fruits from their communed relationship. And as collaborative projects go, Crater is a superb document showcasing how each of these equally talented folks in disparate facets of the dark arts (noise for Menche, hallowed / haunted plainsong for Coloccia, and heroic riffage from Turner) can work so effortlessly and gracefully. Glacial harmonic drones expand from field recordings, church organs, abraded stone & steel, and guitars only to be disrupted by heavily hammered piano melodies that in turn are gristlized by the collective noise strategies, machines, and snowstorms. Alternately, meditative and explosive, imposing and rapturous. Brilliant through and through." [Aquarius Records]
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| MENUCK, EFRIM MANUEL & KEVIN DORIA |
Are Sing Sinck, Sing |
LP |
Efrim Manuel Menuck – founding member of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Thee Silver Mt. Zion – and Kevin Doria from Growing and Total Life, are now officially a duo. Menuck recruited Doria to help him translate his acclaimed 2018 album Pissing Stars from the studio to the stage, and the pair have been touring under the Efrim Manuel Menuck moniker for the past year (often with Doria’s latest solo project KGD opening the proceedings). They’ve also been co-writing piles of new material, diving deeper into whirling maximalist electronics, still shot through with Menuck’s incantatory singing awash in plaintive distortion and hope.
Efrim Manuel Menuck & Kevin Doria are “SING SINCK, SING” presents the first volume of songs forged from this febrile and fertile merger: an antifascist poetics of sound that unspools across five crushing, keening tracks driven by thick sweeping drones and ostinatos, battered by inscrutably searching, ricocheting vocals. Anguish, yearning, and desperate conviction combine in these saturated survivalist electro-hymns, for as long as the power stays on to overload the amplifiers.
WE STARTED PLAYING TOGETHER IN THE DARK WINTER OF 2017. 6 OSCILLATORS AND 3 LARGE AMPLIFIERS. DROVE THRU HELLA BLIZZARDS AND/OR HEATWAVES JUST TO LAND IN SMALL ROOMS, VIBRATING. A SERIES OF SHORT TOURS, A PROCESS OF FIGURING OUT WHILE EXHAUSTED WHILE HURTLING WHILE WORRIED. EVERYTHING ILLUMINATED EVERYTHING DESTROYED. WE LANDED IN MEXICO CITY LAST FALL, WROTE THIS RECORD QUICKLY WHILE THE POLICE DROVE ROUND AND ROUND. FIRST SONG IS SELF-EXPLANATORY. 2ND SONG A STATEMENT OF INTENT. THIRD SONG IS AN EMPTY SPACE BETWEEN TWO HIGHWAYS. FOURTH SONG IS ABOUT A MURDERED FOREST. FIFTH SONG INSISTS THAT WE WILL WIN. HOLD ON. THO THESE TIMES ARE DARK TIMES. HOLD ON. – E.M.M./K.G.D (SING, SINCK SING)
As the title suggests this is also an interstitial album of sorts, an identity-bridge that leads away from Menuck as ‘solo’ artist and towards SING, SINCK SING which will be the new band name for future work by the duo. Thanks for listening.
Recorded in Mexico City and in Montréal, autumn 2018.
Mastered by Harris Newman at Greymarket, Montréal.
Intro vocals on “Do The Police Embrace?” sung by Johanna and Ezra.
Additional vocals on “Do The Police Embrace?” and “Joy Is On Her Mount And Death Is At Her Side” by Robin Wattie.
“Fight The Good Fight” lyrics by Michele Fiedler-Fuentes & E.M.M.
Dedicated to Dirk Hugsam, last of the sad german outlaws
https://singsincksing.bandcamp.com/album/are-sing-sinck-sing
############################
180 g Vinyl inklusiver kunstvoller Innenhülle + 4" Farbaufkleber + MP3-Download. Efrim Manuel Menuck (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion) und Kevin Doria (Growing, Total Life) sind nun offiziell ein Duo und präsentieren dieses neue Set von wirbelnder, maximalistischer Antifa-Elektronik-Noise, durchdrungen von Menucks markantem Beschwörungsgesang, der in klagende Verzerrung und Hoffnung taucht. WIR BEGANNEN IM DUNKLEN WINTER 2017 ZUSAMMEN ZU SPIELEN. 6 OSZILLATOREN UND 3 GROßE VERSTÄRKER. FUHREN DURCH HÖLLISCHE BLIZZARDS UND/ODER HITZEWELLEN, NUR UM IN KLEINEN VIBRIERENDEN RÄUMEN ZU LANDEN. EINE REIHE VON KURZEN TOURNEEN, EIN FINDUNGSPROZESS, WÄHREND MAN ERSCHÖPFT IST, WÄHREND MAN SICH BEEILT, WÄHREND MAN SICH SORGEN MACHT. ALLES ERHELLTE ALLES ZERSTÖRTE. WIR SIND IM LETZTEN HERBST IN MEXIKO CITY GELANDET, HABEN DIESE PLATTE SCHNELL GESCHRIEBEN, WÄHREND DIE POLIZEI IMMER WIEDER RUNDHERUMFUHR. DER ERSTE SONG IST SELBSTERKLÄREND. DER ZWEITE SONG EINE ABSICHTSERKLÄRUNG. DER DRITTE SONG IST EIN LEERER RAUM ZWISCHEN ZWEI AUTOBAHNEN. DER VIERTE SONG HANDELT VON EINEM ERMORDETEN WALD. DER FÜNFTE SONG BESTEHT DARAUF, DASS WIR GEWINNEN WERDEN. HALTET DURCH. DENN DIESE ZEITEN SIND DUNKLE ZEITEN. HALTET DURCH. - E.M.M./K.G.D. (SING, SINCK, SING)
|
2019 |
€21.00 |
|
| MERRELL, TODD / AIDAN BAKER / PATRICK JORDAN |
Nagual |
CD |
Verzaubernde Rausch-Drones und subtile Gitarren-Loops und Tupfer, ganz zart & betörend sensibel ist dieses Trio bei einer Aufnahme in HARTFORD, CT vorgegangen, die Teilnahme AIDAN BAKERs (NADJA) ist unüberhörbar. 600 Stück wurden aufgelegt und mit dem besonderen ARCHIVE-Artwork von SELDON HUNT ausgestattet.
"long playing ambient dronescape focusing the combined efforts of Todd Merrell on shortwave radio and electronics, Patrick Jordan on shortwave radio and processing and Aidan Baker (Nadja) on guitar. Recorded live in 04 in Hartford. Comes packed in heavy stock center open sleeve with environmental mirror image landscape artwork courtesy of Seldon Hunt. Pressing of 600 copies." [label info]
"... This live set finds Baker handling guitar duties, but you’d never know it from the sound, augmented by short wave radios, electronics, and various bits of processing, the sound here is deep and dark, a crumbling and epic expanse of rumbling shimmering low end. Roiling clouds of murky melodic fragments, distant swells, throbbing low end pulses, barely audible bits of static and washed out glitch. Very cinematic, if you were watching a film that was almost entirely dark, with just barely visible shifts in the various shades of black and grey. Lovely though, minimal and haunting. Think Coleclough, Chalk, Lustmord, that sort of ambient darkness.
But the second track is an entirely different beast. Simple guitar strums, minimal melodies, the strings struck softly, the metallic buzz and clang ringing out into the ether, some sort of underwater slow motion Fahey, smeared and soft and dark and dreamy.
The final half of the track, the guitar disappears completely, leaving streaks of feedback that sound like the cries of gulls, grinding slow motion slabs of shifting low end, whirling windlike whirs, almost like a manufactured nature recording.
The guitar returns for the third track, drifting gently, while the background noise builds into a slow motion wash of sound, the track culminating in a cloud of chimes and reverbed percussion, seasick swirls and struck steel strings, before slipping languidly into the final track, a lugubrious underwater crawl, all of the sounds muddy and indistinct, a sonar like ping buried way down in the mix, underneath it all a thick blanket of constant whirring drones, quite lovely.
Packaged in one of those cool, 6 panel, gatefold aRCHIVE
sleeves, glossy paper, super striking image of forest and clouds,
LIMITED TO 600 COPIES!!" [Aquarius Records]
www.archivecd.com
|
2007 |
€13.50 |
|
| MERZBOW |
Offering |
CD |
MERZBOW auf TANTRIC HARMONIES? Aber es ist mal wieder ein “anderer MERZBOW”, der Noise fügt sich als ein Element in fast gemächliche, rhythmisch-pulsierende Strukturen ein, die trotzdem vor Energie nur so strotzen. Meditativer Noise !
„material originally made for Masami Akita's MERZBOW concert in Tokyo. It is inspired by the novels of Juran Hisao, especially his dark detective story called 'Kinro' (Golden Wolf). Opening with dark ambient drones "Offering" moving through massively dense frequencies mixed with killer beats to the wall of pure noise. A hypnotic journey to the dark core of subconsious.“[label info]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Eucalypse |
CD / object |
MERZBOWs Hommage an den vom Aussterben bedrohten australischen Eukalyptus-Baum! Kommt in einem noch nicht dagewesenen, aufschiebbaren runden Holzcover, massiv & bedruckt, mit 4 runden farbigen Inlay-Karten. Wohl eines der spektakulärsten CD-Covers ever ! Das Material (5 Stücke, fast 60 Minuten) ist höchst psychedelisch, pulsierend, in jeder Sekunde expandierend, mitreissend und zermürbend zugleich....
"A complete winner here from electronics wizard Masami Akita and Solielmoon Recordings. The music is some of the most psychedelic that I have heard from Mr. Akita, a panoramic kaleidoscope of metal machine noise and psycho New Age synthoblasters. This is the 360 degree apocalypse of the mind. The Merz is letting loose. This is a man who has recorded a lot of music in his lifetime. I would be very surprised if Merzbow himself is able to keep track of the vast volume of material that he has put out over the years. Sometimes, you don't really remember it after listening a few times. This one is really dramatic and sticks in my mind very clearly. I can very distinctly remember the first time that I listened to it while driving. The music is meant to echo the reality of the destruction of Eucalyptus trees, which is apparently a very terrible problem on the Earth that is disrupting the ecosystem. I can accept that, and it doesn't hurt that this story was told to me via this amazing release. The first track is an amazing psychedelic journey that by itself would make this release worthwhile. Track two opens with violent crashing blending into radio signal white noise static, and industrial sounds that echo the hectic feeling that Merzbow is trying to evoke. This is completely harsh and distinctive, some of the most compelling material from this artist since the noise heyday of the mid-90s and popular releases such as “Pulse Demon.” Each track (all sharing the title “Eucalypse”) has a separate and distinct theme that works very well one after another. The over-arching theme of ecological destruction comes across in a very sincere and horrifying manner through the amazing synthesizer and noise work on this release. It sounds like Jimi Hendrix going through TG's pedals in the ninth circle of hell as everything comes crashing down. It is awesome. The packaging is made out of Eucalyptus wood, ironic considering that the release is trying to decry the practice. Ol' Merz didn't cut the damn thing down himself though, so it all works out in the end. Accompanying this beautiful, awkward, and coaster-shaped wooden box are several round cardboard photographs of Eucalyptus trees with information about the release on the back. The entire thing is completely breathtaking. I assume that this is in some sort of absurdly limited edition, so if you come across this one snatch it up, it's great." [Heathen Harvest]
"The Tasmanian Blue Gum tree, Eucalyptus globulus, is native to Tasmania and southern Australia. Eucalyptus trees are uniquely suited to the varied ecologies of Australia, and there is no other continent more closely associated with one genus of tree. Its leaves are the food of choice of the koala, and its flowers attract bees and hummingbirds. Out of approximately 300 identified species, Blue Gums are now the eucalyptus most frequently found in other parts of the world. Throughout the tropics they are known for their ability to dry out swampy areas, making them a valuable weapon in the fight against malaria, a disease caused by parasites carried in female Anopheles mosquitos, which breed in standing water. Eucalyptus globulus was first brought to India in the late 18th century. Large plantations were establish in Kerala in 1863, but other than small amounts of oil distilling, little use has been made of the fast growing trees. Instead, they have thrived in the moist, foggy hills, spreading far across the landscape and transforming the ecosystem in the process. With their deep roots they lower water tables, depriving native species of the moisture necessary to survive the annual dry season, while the anti-bacterial properties of the “blue gum” secretions they drop on the soil further suppress the germination and growth of other plants. An ancient and intricate web of life has been disrupted, and native plants, insects and animals are being driven to extinction. Humans, who have long been a part of the local ecosystem, are adaptable and will survive, but the biodiversity of an entire region is under threat from a single exotic species. It is truly a eucalyptus apocalypse. It is a eucalypse. At Soleilmoon, packaging and presentation are never overlooked. This release is presented in a hand-crafted round wooden box with screenprinted swiveling lid. The box contains one CD and four round, full-color cards. Only 1000 copies of this handsome CD have been made." [label info]
www.soleilmoon.com
|
2008 |
€23.00 |
|
|
Marmo |
CD |
"After two vinyl releases finally a digital album by the master of Japan-Noise on OEC.
This album is entitled "Marmo" (Marble for Italian) and is devoted to the Italian and particularly the Venetian marble.
Masami was visiting and playing in this magic Italian city several times and was impressed by all the marbles used in the Venetian buildings and paintings ...
The 3 tracks composing this album are entitled "Merzbotanica-parallela", "Botanica parallela" is a book written by the Italian author Leo Lionni who is also the inventor of such botanic science, a parallel iper-real botanic where imagination is more reliable than reality ....
A real psychadelic tribute by the Japanese master of noise to Venice and Italy ....
Enter this new “Merzcolored-Merzbotanic-Merzpsychomuzak” full of scratching rythms and psychoactive noises and let your brain explode.
Special folding cover with Venetian marbled paper effect and golden letterings." [label info]
www.oldeuropacafe.com
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Camouflage |
CD |
"The elemental excitement for each new Merzbow album remains intact among us here and, after four long years, the undisputable master returns to Essence Music with a new installment of his unique brand of harsh psychedelic noise assault.
A bit distant from Sha Mo 3000’s pulsing, often rhythmic strategies or the recent albums featuring freestyle drums by Masami Akita himself, Camouflage plays by the more straight MERZBOW rules, going back to his comfort zone of audio barbarism.
We salute the ferocious torrents of abused, imploding and exploding electronics, the sharp, pulverizing and abrasive high frequencies and the unrelenting punishment of frenzied throbbing machine-screams witnessed in the controlled cacophonic environment of Camouflage!
Presented in our deluxe, sturdy gatefold mini-LP packaging featuring intriguing psychedelic collages by Mr. Akita. Limited to 800 copies." [label info]
www.essence-music.com
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Nezumimochi |
pic-LP & CD |
"Cold Spring are very proud to announce our 200th release – the brand new studio album from the King of Japanoise – MERZBOW. The album comes on a stunning picture disc vinyl and CD pack (not available separately). However, both formats contain exclusive and completely different tracks; the CD isn’t simply a copy of the vinyl. Over 90 minutes of crunchy, intense noise, complex structures, and hypnotic samples, all with that special Merzbow touch. Recorded this summer, the album is limited to 500 copies." [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Lowest Music.2 |
LP |
Lowest Music 2 is made by 4 track reel tape recorder with different loops and recorded by Monoural hand tape recorder on 1982 at home.
For the first time original 1982 version has been released on vinyl and no changes of pitch were made in the mastering process. The record has been pressed on 140 gr black vinyl with black label and black inner sleeve and comes in a deluxe silver silkscreen on black cardboard sleeve, limited to 199 copies w/insert. |
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Hybrid Noisebloom |
do-LP |
Merzbow stands as the most important artist in noise music. The moniker of Japanese artist Masami Akita was born in Tokyo in 1979. Inspired by dadaism and surrealism, Akita took the name for his project from German artist Kurt Schwitters's pre-war architectural assemblage The Cathedral of Erotic Misery or Merzbau. Working in his home, he quickly gained notoriety as a purveyor of a musical genre composed solely of pure, unadulterated noise. Embracing technology and the machine, first in an absolutely analog way and then welcoming digital innovation, Merzbow broke boundaries and pushed toward new territories of the extreme, arriving at a sonic space of uncontaminated, straight noise that, from its base in Tokyo, has continued, now for over 40 years, to set the pace for the entire genre of noise.
When it comes to Japanese noise, few projects have pushed boundaries or risen to a more iconic status than Merzbow.
Hybrid Noisebloom, originally issued by Vinyl Communications on CD in 1997, is the latest in this trilling bread crumb trail. It is also the first time that this seminal document from Merzbow’s '90s period has ever appeared on vinyl.
Composed and performed on EMS and Moog Synthesizers, Theremin, Metal Devices, Noise Electronics, and Voice, all recorded at extreme volumes, Hybrid Noisebloom’s five tracks present a fascinating sonic assault, heavily driven by the presence of electronic sounds, played against the sparse interjections of Akita’s heavily processed vocals, that push toward new territories of the extreme, while subtly nodding toward historical gestures from the early years of the avant-garde.
A side opens with Plasma Birds comprising a series of banner that investigate timbral relationships, the fragmentation of melody, and abrasive, provocative noise - shifting from the sparse, airy, and restrained, to dance clusters of interplay and back again. Follows enclosed in just over ten minutes, Minotaurus, finding a strange middle ground between the intuitive logics of their instruments; synth and electronics taking on decidedly percussive approaches, while metal device’s fractured polyrhythms and beats often veer toward the presence of a notable tonality. B side is filled with a single long track, Mouse Of Superconcetion, formed by screeches and from swinging and chugging to stepped back and sparse combinations of rhythm and tone - moving from the lingering sensibilities of straight-ahead synth to radically out hard blow fire. Launching from a total wall of sound, C side track Neuro Electric Butterfly takes the listening on an endlessly surprising journey through its devices’ inner world, shifting between airy open passages that feature endless combinations of one or more effects, to furious moments of sonorous lashings where the sound falls in together in brilliant dialogical periods of conversant texture and psychedelic intervention. Closes The Imaginary Coversation Of Blue embedding bristling fragments, percolating tones, and poignant dissonances within a sweeping field of echoes rumbles and drones, taking sonic abstraction to startling heights.
All composed & performed by Masami Akita using EMS & Moog Synthesizer, Theremin, Metal Devices, Noise Electronics, Voice
Recorded & mixed at ZSF Produkt Studio, January - February 1997
Remastered by MA at Munemihouse Tokyo, 21 February 2021
Artworks by Masami Akita
https://urashima.bandcamp.com/album/hybrid-noisebloom
|
2022 |
€32.50 |
|
| |
Cloud Cock OO Grand |
do-LP |
"Merzbow came roaring onto the Tokyo scene in 1979. To this day, the project remains one of the most prolific and aggressively forward-thinking acts in experimental music. Initially a duo of Masami Akita and Kiyoshi Mizutani, before settling as the moniker of Akita alone, the project took its name from German artist Kurt Schwitters' pre-war architectural assemblage, The Cathedral of Erotic Misery or Merzbau, and quickly set out to challenge entrenched notions of what music could be. Embracing technology and the machine, even in its earliest iterations, Merzbow broke boundaries and pushed toward new territories of the extreme, arriving at an unadulterated manifestation of sonic expression that has continued across the last 40 years, setting the pace for the entire genre of noise along the way. Few projects have pushed boundaries, risen to a more iconic status, or been as influential over the same period of time.
Recorded in Holland during the autumn of 1989 and originally issued as an highly limited edition CD by ZSF Produkt in 1990, “Cloud Cock OO Grand” was the first of a series of albums to indicate a change in creative direction that Merzbow would following over the coming decade. During the European tour during which these recordings were laid to tape, Akita was only able to transport simple, portable gear. Rising to the challenge, these limitations led to the development of a signature form of harsh noise, heavily influenced by death metal and grindcore, that would come to define much of his early '90s sound. “Cloud Cock OO Grand” was the first of this shift to be sent into a wider realm.
Comprising five individual compositions - three being side-long - “Cloud Cock OO Grand” was composed and performed by Akita on synthesizers, metal devices, noise electronics, and string instruments, all recorded at the extreme volumes for which Merzbow has always gained a unique sense of distinction. Despite being enthralling sonic assault, driven by the frenetic presence of electronic sounds, across the length of the album’s four sides it is hard not to be captivated by a greater sense of dynamics and space within the artist’s work, resulting from sparse acoustic interjections played against Akita’s heavily processed strings. The result, while no less intense of demanding than anything before or since, reveals a surprising sense of intimacy and consideration that’s often not easily observed within the field of noise.
Easily among the most captivating gestures within Merbow’s sprawling catalog, pushing endlessly forward while subtly nodding toward historical gestures from the early years of the avant-garde, Urashima beautiful double LP edition of “Cloud Cock OO Grand” marks this seminal and long unavailable album’s first time over on vinyl.
Issued in a very limited pressing of 299 copies, with cover that faithfully reproduces the original CD artwork and an A2 poster with an original 1990 draw by Masami Akita, it’s hard to recommend enough."
https://urashima.bandcamp.com/album/cloud-cock-oo-grand
|
2023 |
€34.00 |
|
| MERZBOW & LAWRENCE ENGLISH |
Eternal Stalker |
LP |
"On their first official collaboration, Japanese noise pioneer Masami Akita aka Merzbow and Australian sound sculptor Lawrence English present a harrowing, surrealist portrait of nocturnal industrial activity, spawned by field recordings made in a sprawling factory complex seven hours north of English’s home in Brisbane. He characterizes the area as “uneasy and unsettling,” awash in the sickly glow of smelters and refinement machinery, somehow not of this world – a liminal quality vividly captured in Andrei Tarkovsky’s sprawling purgatorial opus, Stalker, to which the title alludes. Akita, too, described early drafts of Eternal Stalker as feeling “like the soundtrack to a dystopian science fiction opera.” A mood of mechanical dread and ruined futures permeates each of the album’s seven potent compositions.
Opener “The Long Dream” sets the stage with steady rain on sheet metal, punctured by thunder and metallic echoes, reverberating to the rafters in a collapsing warehouse. Quickly the tempest rises. “A Gate Of Light” and “Magnetic Traps” both convulse in churning furies of electric demolition and rattling chains, roaring and relentless. “The Visit” and “Black Thicket” operate more at a distance, surveying the topography of steam, rust, and liquid metal from above, their flickers of violence like gunfire swallowed by blankets of darkness. This is noise at its most elemental and unknowable: brooding, bristling, and opaque, stalking forbidden peripheries of chaos and creation.
Discussing Akita’s music, English refers to its “intense substrata that is purely psychedelic; it consumes and confounds.” The seasick swells of friction and fracture subsume the listener, forcing an auditory surrender: “this saturation of the senses can be a euphoria.” Proof comes halfway through “The Golden Sphere,” when the howling mayhem subtly recedes, revealing an eerie siren drone hovering in the void, like the resonance of a dead star galaxies away. Slowly a seething, venomous wall of volume returns, shredding the signal until its frequencies fray, whipping away into the eye of the storm. The combined effect merges obliteration and liberation, rapture and ravagement; it’s the sound of dissolution as resolution, uprooted and unmoored, finally freed from form."
https://lawrenceenglish.bandcamp.com/album/eternal-stalker |
2022 |
€24.00 |
|
| MERZBOW & THE HATERS |
same |
CD |
Wiederveröffentlichung der wohl bisher einzigen Collaboration dieser beiden Noise-Legenden, die 1987 als MC erschien! 3 lange Stücke elektro-statisch aufgeheizter Lärm mit Kaskaden und Schichten von Feedback und schlingernden Krach-Effekten, tiefbassigen Dröhn- und Sirenen-attacken und auftauchenden obskuren found sounds. Wahnwitzige Loops bilden quasi-rhythmische Elemente, geschredderte Sprach-schnipsel drängen nach vorn. Absolut kurzweilig und ungewöhnlich, eine eigene Sprache aus reinen Geräuschen.
Listen with new ears, create your own new neurons !
"First released on cassette in 1987 it became a noise classic. out of print for almost 10 years it is now been resurrected to it's full digital glory by john wiese. featuring a remixed version of jopa by gx and using all the original artwork from the cassette" [label info]
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
| MERZBOW + GENESIS BREYER P-ORRIDGE |
A Perfect Pain |
LP |
The incredible power created by GENESIS BREYER P-ORRIDGE (Psychic TV / Throbbing Gristle) - the founding father of the Industrial world, and MERZBOW - the undisputed king of Japanese Noise. Recorded exclusively for Cold Spring, with five brand new tracks, "A Perfect Pain" has been hailed as an important album and an extremely successful collaboration.
Remastered for both CD and vinyl by The Cage Studios.
First edition on vinyl (180g), third edition of CD (first time in digipak) - OUT 25th OCTOBER
Standard Black Vinyl
Limited Flaxen Gold Coloured Vinyl x 300 copies (via Cold Spring only).
"a long overdue collaboration from these two living legends of experimental music... This disc will scare the shit out of most people... it's almost a modern day take on the simultaneous beauty/brutality aesthetic
of Throbbing Gristle" (Brainwashed)
"…easily the finest material Merzbow has made in
some time... pure data trash of the highest quality…" (The Wire).
Electronics, Drum Machine, Effects - Masami Akita
Producer - Genesis Breyer P-Orridge
Engineer - Bryin Dall
Editing - Dave Kirby
Original Artwork - Charles Acethorpe, Richard Crónín
Original Design, Layout - Associated Distortion
Photography of Genesis Breyer P-Orridge - Francis Polk
2018 reinterpretation and layout - Abby Helasdottir
2018 remastering - Martin Bowes, Cage Studios
|
2018 |
€22.00 |
|
| MERZBOW / KIM CASCONE |
Rondo / 7phases / Blowback |
CD |
Zwei der Koryphäen der frühen Noise/Industrialmusik, aus ganz unterschiedlichen Regionen & Soundästhetiken stammend, hier in aufregender Zusammenarbeit...
“ In the 80's, Masami Akita, Asmus Tietchens and Kim Cascone collaborated on a CD called 'Grav' which was eventually released on Silent Records in the early 90's. Having gone their separate ways, Masami and Kim reestablished contact in the late 90's. After email addresses were exchanged, Kim received a copy of the 'Amlux' CD from Masami, and later heard about a remix project on Important Records paying tribute to the Japanese industrial/ noise-maker.
Cascone started his own remix based on extracts from from 'Amlux' CD. The new track was based on new editing techniques Cascone developed which were experiments in time compression by combining tape editing techniques commonly used in Musique Concrete with simple algorithms developed in Max/MSP. The track 'Blowback' - the prototype track using this editing style - was completely constructed by hand using a software sound editor. '7Phase' puts these editing techniques under algorithmic control in Max/MSP. By using each others published work as raw material for their collaboration. They then sent each other tracks via CDR to be used as either new source material or finished work. After choosing the best of the collection of tracks they had developed, Kim and Masami titled the pieces, sequenced the tracks and then designed a cover graphic for it using Jitter (graphic library for Max/MSP).”[press release]
“...At the very least, the compelling and surprisingly listenable Rondo/7Phases/Blowback offers a bearable entry point for those seeking an introduction to Merzbow, as well as a more aggressive presentation of Cascone’s normally more restrained style.”[Stylus magazine]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| MERZBOW / SUN RA |
Strange City |
LP |
Officially licensed from Irwin Chusid of the SUN RA estate, Cold Spring's Justin Mitchell negotiated rare and unreleased tracks from the SUN RA archive to be remixed and treated by Masami Akita.
The tracks incorporate the jazz power of SUN RA, carried into brutal excess by the legendary Japanese artist, MERZBOW.
6-panel matt laminated digipak.
Please note that both formats (CD / LP) have completely different music!
www.coldspring.co.uk
"The constant and destructive waves of noise make this decisively a Merzbow record, but its cosmic mood and rhythms prove that Sun Ra lives in its DNA.
Sun Ra’s presence on the latest Merzbow record is odd: blink and you might miss him completely, but squint and you can notice him almost everywhere. The only time it’s blatantly obvious that Masami Akita, the man behind noise legend Merzbow, is using Sun Ra’s recordings as source material comes in the first 10 seconds of Strange City. Opener “Livid Sun Loop” begins with overlapping saxophones and drums, but Akita quickly steamrolls those into a dense cacophony. For the rest of the album’s 103 minutes (66 on CD and 36 on LP, both titled Strange City but containing different music), he steadfastly maintains that busy din.
Yet focus your ears intensely on Strange City—preferably through headphones—and Sun Ra’s music peeks out through Merzbow’s noise wall. (The Ra estate gave Akita material from 1966’s The Magic City and 1967’s Strange Strings, which he remixed and treated while adding his own original sounds). Rattling drumbeats grow out of crackling static like weeds in a garden, bassy rhythms undulate beneath rolling roars like shifting tectonic plates, and pretty much every screech and squeal could pass for a wailing horn. Strange City is decisively a Merzbow record, but Sun Ra lives in its DNA.
Where Strange City stands in Merzbow’s massive discography is easier to suss out. Many of the strengths Akita has developed over roughly four decades of noise devotion are put to use here. He creates relentlessly forward-moving music with so much going on that it feels three-dimensional. During such lengthy tracks, your ears and brain accept and acclimate to Akita’s ruthless sounds, and his seemingly random noise eventually starts to feel normal.
Strange City is most successful on the two half-hour-plus tracks that make up the CD version. “Livid Sun Loop” is filled with destructive sounds and stabbing rhythms, but it also has a narrative arc developed through 32 minutes of sonic drilling. On “Granular Jazz Part 2,” Akita grapples most seriously with Sun Ra’s creative spirit. Devoted primarily to the trebly end of the spectrum, the piece subtly rides Ra’s rhythms while building a space-bound aura, a fitting way to grapple with an artist who claimed to come from Saturn.
The three tracks on the LP version of Strange City—all titled as parts of “Granular Jazz”—are less distinctive. In some places, Akita falls back on stock noise moves like firing-laser jolts and helicopter-style whirr. Something interesting happens on every piece, though, and the closer “Granular Jazz Part 4” is particularly fascinating due to its relative restraint. Surprisingly distant and subdued, it’s like Merzbow’s ballad of Sun Ra, an elegy for a virtual partner coming after 100 minutes of sonic boxing. You could call Strange City a Merzbow victory, but it couldn’t have happened without Sun Ra on his team." [Pitchfork]
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Strange City |
CD |
Officially licensed from Irwin Chusid of the SUN RA estate, Cold Spring's Justin Mitchell negotiated rare and unreleased tracks from the SUN RA archive to be remixed and treated by Masami Akita.
The tracks incorporate the jazz power of SUN RA, carried into brutal excess by the legendary Japanese artist, MERZBOW.
6-panel matt laminated digipak.
Please note that both formats (CD / LP) have completely different music!
www.coldspring.co.uk
"The constant and destructive waves of noise make this decisively a Merzbow record, but its cosmic mood and rhythms prove that Sun Ra lives in its DNA.
Sun Ra’s presence on the latest Merzbow record is odd: blink and you might miss him completely, but squint and you can notice him almost everywhere. The only time it’s blatantly obvious that Masami Akita, the man behind noise legend Merzbow, is using Sun Ra’s recordings as source material comes in the first 10 seconds of Strange City. Opener “Livid Sun Loop” begins with overlapping saxophones and drums, but Akita quickly steamrolls those into a dense cacophony. For the rest of the album’s 103 minutes (66 on CD and 36 on LP, both titled Strange City but containing different music), he steadfastly maintains that busy din.
Yet focus your ears intensely on Strange City—preferably through headphones—and Sun Ra’s music peeks out through Merzbow’s noise wall. (The Ra estate gave Akita material from 1966’s The Magic City and 1967’s Strange Strings, which he remixed and treated while adding his own original sounds). Rattling drumbeats grow out of crackling static like weeds in a garden, bassy rhythms undulate beneath rolling roars like shifting tectonic plates, and pretty much every screech and squeal could pass for a wailing horn. Strange City is decisively a Merzbow record, but Sun Ra lives in its DNA.
Where Strange City stands in Merzbow’s massive discography is easier to suss out. Many of the strengths Akita has developed over roughly four decades of noise devotion are put to use here. He creates relentlessly forward-moving music with so much going on that it feels three-dimensional. During such lengthy tracks, your ears and brain accept and acclimate to Akita’s ruthless sounds, and his seemingly random noise eventually starts to feel normal.
Strange City is most successful on the two half-hour-plus tracks that make up the CD version. “Livid Sun Loop” is filled with destructive sounds and stabbing rhythms, but it also has a narrative arc developed through 32 minutes of sonic drilling. On “Granular Jazz Part 2,” Akita grapples most seriously with Sun Ra’s creative spirit. Devoted primarily to the trebly end of the spectrum, the piece subtly rides Ra’s rhythms while building a space-bound aura, a fitting way to grapple with an artist who claimed to come from Saturn.
The three tracks on the LP version of Strange City—all titled as parts of “Granular Jazz”—are less distinctive. In some places, Akita falls back on stock noise moves like firing-laser jolts and helicopter-style whirr. Something interesting happens on every piece, though, and the closer “Granular Jazz Part 4” is particularly fascinating due to its relative restraint. Surprisingly distant and subdued, it’s like Merzbow’s ballad of Sun Ra, an elegy for a virtual partner coming after 100 minutes of sonic boxing. You could call Strange City a Merzbow victory, but it couldn’t have happened without Sun Ra on his team." [Pitchfork] |
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| MERZBOW KAPOTTE MUZIEK |
Works 1987-1993 |
Korm Plastics KP 3050 |
"Both of these projects hardly need an introduction. Merzbow is since the late ‘70s the project of Masami Akita working in the field of noise music, having released a few hundred CDs/LPs/cassettes by now.
In 1987 Kapotte Muziek was then the solo project of Frans de Waard, after Christian Nijs left the group early ’87. De Waard concentrated on working with other musicians, and started trading tapes with a few musicians he was already in contact with, and one of them was Merzbow. The first release was a cassette, which was released in two versions, one of Merzbow’s ZSF Produkt and one on Belgium’s Therapie label (although none ever showed up, so perhaps it didn’t happen). In October 1989 Merzbow was invited to play at V2 in ’s-Hertogenbosch and a subsequent small tour was done in The Netherlands, playing in Utrecht and Nijmegen. On october 3rd 1989 Merzbow played in the evening in a small student club, Diogenes, and in the late afternoon as a duo with Kapotte Muziek. The first 20 minutes were released on one side of the LP ‘Documentation/Collaboration’, whereas the second side has ‘recycled’ versions of those recordings. For their next project Merzbow Kapotte Muziek took all the recordings from that day and reworked them in an extensive process into the LP ‘Continuum’.
This 3CD set compiles all of these recordings and more. It includes (CD1) the first cassette, ZSF Produkt version, (CD2) has for the first time the complete live recording from the collaborative concert at Radio Rataplan plus two compilation pieces that were made around the same, and (CD3) the complete ‘Continuum’ LP, as well as three highly obscure compilation tracks, including the long reworked ‘Radio Rataplan’ from the very obscure ‘Dutch Tour’ double cassette by V2_Archief.
All expertly remastered by Jos Smolders at Earlabs, all lovingely designed by Meeuw, in a carton box with three CDs, poster, shrinkwrapped and sticker." [label info]
www.kormplastics.nl
Edition of 300 copies only
"In history, a certain type of very conservative – reactionary even - history, key moments and people are outlined, but no longer do we learn the kings and queens, we concentrate on oral histories of last week. So whilst seemingly radical in fact everything in music is still well and truly reactionary ideology. Artists still are identified with and seek to make seminal work, as our Tracey sickly maintains. So when in the late 1970s one Masami Akita stated “I threw all my past music career in the garbage. There was no longer any need for concepts like 'career' and 'skill'. I stopped playing music and went in search of an alternative.” The rest one could say really was history! Only a history that has been both ignored and wonderfully misappropriated into what is now the current noise “scene” of incompetent misfits who imagine their work to be art in the great western tradition. What this 3CD set demonstrates is the origin of this ‘scene’ or site of dissemination of the
meaningless and banal of contemporality. The ipad generation were not yet born when Akita and de Waard began a series of interchanges released originally on cassette and vinyl. The ‘history’ of this process is detailed here http://kormplastics.nl/kp3050.html. The consequences of this (and other events) of the time are in a real sense more profound. As if the ideas of a previous generation failed to generate, and how the fin de siècle became an eternal return of the (same) trivial misunderstanding, and failing to understand. The process of this collaboration is obviously a deconstructive one as any current art student would argue – though by virtue of wikipedia and a downloaded paper with Harvard references. So in fact this contemporality changes, in Damian
(Peter 1007-1072 not Hirst 1965 -?) fashion, the past to render the noise of Akita and de Waard as meaningful in its reaction to – from the past – of this future we now inhabit. The brilliance of such mutilation of past events not via some modified DeLorean but by the simple expediency of a logical inversion - the logic of the ipad’s NOT gates. (The garbage becomes art and so art becomes garbage….) One might therefore admire Akita and de Waard’s work as contributing to the current ‘scholasticism’ – or perhaps conversely to Damian’s condemnation of philosophy as the work of the Devil and the self flagellation of ‘noisers’ in small bars all over the mid-west. Either way – by not excluded middles they are genius’s. A logically non exclusive OR. And to end - by the by - I’ve been criticized for not describing the sound in a review – so what does this sound like – it sounds like the work that is yet to be produced by a sound ‘artist’ somewhere!" (jliat)
|
2012 |
€25.00 |
|
| MERZOUGA |
52°46’ North 13°29’ East – Music for Wax-Cylinders |
CD |
"The World’s Most Moveable Armchair
Erich Moritz von Hornbostel was an „armchair ethnologist“. Due to his bad health the musicologist was unable to travel to faraway countries. Instead he sat at his desk in the Dorotheenstraße in Berlin and received the world through his phonograph. On from 1900 the world’s music arrived at his office in the form of more than 16.000 wax-cylinder recordings from all over the planet. Due to an edict by the Prussian Emperor all German trading as well as scientific expeditors were bound to travel with a phonograph and send their recordings to Berlin. Today we might put it that way: Hornbostel was in charge of the biggest field-recording project of all times.
In his case being a stay-at-home was definitely an achievement. His immobility gave Hornbostel the chance to develop a completely new perspective, an unprecedented acoustical bird’s eye view, and made him the founder of a new discipline: comparative musicology’s aim was to “unveil the dark and distant past (…) and to extract the timeless and the general from the abundance of our present; in other words: We want to get to know the historic and the basic esthetic principles of musical art.” (1)
Approximately 100 years later Hornbostel’s acoustic present has itself become a dark and distant past. To our ears the 16.000 wax-cylinder recordings of the Berlin Phonogram-Archive sound like treasures from a long lost world. These treasures are not only raised by researchers but increasingly also by artists. The current archive’s management is generously granting them access to the recordings that have been digitalized over the past fifteen years.
Thus Eva Pöpplein and Janko Hanushevsky (aka Merzouga) have become fellow armchair-travelers. They bring along a lot of experience, which they collected as heavy-duty field-recordists on intensive sound-expeditions through India and South-East-Asia. („Good Morning, Rickshaw“ – Deutschlandradio Kultur 2008; „Mekong Morning Glory“ – Deutschlandradio Kultur 2009 / Gruenrekorder 2011). Now they encompass the sonic landscape of the Phonogram-Archive with the same musical sensitiveness that can be found in their previous works. Just like Hornbostel the two are genuinely interested in something timeless, something general: the uniquely beautiful human ability to play with sounds and structures. Janko Hanushevsky integrates his electric-bass improvisations into the historic wax-cylinders’ cracks and scratches. And Eva Pöpplein sparingly applies electronic effects in order to distill precious essences from the sonic material.
The result is a musical position-reckoning between the past and the future of sound-recording: Located at 52°46’ North and 13°29’ East, in the Ethnologisches Museum Dahlem, is the world’s most moveable armchair."
[Marcus Gammel, Deutschlandradio Kultur]
www.gruenrekorder.de
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
De Rerum Natura / Dance of the Elements |
CD |
Sound composition by Merzouga – inspired by Lucretius’ philosophical poem.
On the Nature of Things
In his poem De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things) the Roman poet/philosopher Lucretius (c. 99 – c. 55 BCE) explores Epicurean physics and philosophy through richly poetic language and metaphors, as he presents an entire cosmology: based on the principles of atomism, Lucretius tries to explain the nature of the mind and soul, and the development of the world. While some of his ideas have been proven scientifically wrong, some of his thoughts seem strikingly reasonable even for the contemporary reader.
Lucretius believes that, while everything in the universe is finite, the smallest elements (“The First Beginnings of Things”) themselves are eternal – moving through the void they collide, create forms and dissolve, just to collide again in order to create new forms.
For Lucretius life is a beautiful chance-driven Dance of the Elements. His ideas, popular and highly controversial in Roman intellectual circles, were soon to be banned and eventually forgotten during the rise of Christianity.
The poem was by chance rediscovered in the 15th century by the famous humanist Poggio Bracciolini (1380-1459), most likely in the scriptorium of a monastery in Fulda, Germany. During the renaissance it eventually became a foundation stone of modern western philosophy and natural sciences.
Translating the Book into Sound
When Soila Valkama, the ars acustica-editor of Finnish broadcaster YLEISRADIO commissioned us to produce a sound-composition, we suggested to her a playful attempt of a sonic translation of Lucretius’ ideas.
The listener embarks on a journey in which a universe of sound unfolds.
Smallest sonic elements float through space, dark and chaotic, merge to create concrete forms, transform into different consistencies, from water to wind, from stone to dust, steadily in motion in a constant process of becoming and dissolving.
Late in the piece the sounds of mammals and humans arrive, blurring again into a palimpsest-like structure when the circle is closing.
We used field-recordings of nature, as an analogue for the “concrete forms” that are created by the colliding elements, but also concrete musical structures: fragments of melodies, tonalities, and rhythmic patterns in contrast to the more abstract material.
Intertwined with the sound-composition we encounter fragments of Lucretius’ text in English and in Latin, carefully adapted and translated by Janko, and spoken by his brother, the actor Stefko Hanushevsky.
The radio-piece consists of six chapters, transposing the structure of Lucretius’ six books into the compositional structure.
There is no delay, no rest to interrupt the flow, we can constantly feel it, and we can see things, smell them, and perceive their sound. –
Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, Book VI: 932+933
1 Track (38′22″)
CD (500 copies)
Credits
Merzouga is:
Janko Hanushevsky (prepared electric bass) and Eva Poepplein (electronics)
Speaker: Stefko Hanushevsky
Translations: Janko Hanushevsky
Editor: Soila Valkama
Commissioned and produced by YLEISRADIO/Finland.
Artwork: U9 – visuelle Allianz
The artwork was created by setting up paper in the garden and applying pens and
brushes to the branches of a tree. All the traces of ink on the paper were created
by the wind moving the tree, thus providing all the scource-material for the album’s
entire artwork.
Merzouga would like to thank
Soila Valkama & YLE, Stefko Hanushevsky, Lasse-Marc Riek & Roland Etzin, Leopold Lenzgeiger, Sabine Kuechler, Markus Jarchow, Bohdan & Ewa Hanushevsky, and Felix & Waltraud Poepplein for their continuous support.
This release was made possible by the generous support of SKE-Fonds.
www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=16867 |
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| META MEAT |
Infrasupra |
LP |
meta meat presents its second musical work: INFRASUPRA
the theme of this album is the equilibrium between our aspirations to reach a new 'suprahuman' omniscient condition and our inner 'infrahuman' material essence. how do modern 'civilised' technological humans (supra) still do cohabit with their animalistic truth (infra)? our desire for carnal flesh versus our quest to become a more 'godlike' creator are challenging our physical / metaphysical co-existence in this more and more virtual world. this work also pays tribute to those we used to refer as 'primitive' and now were renamed out of guilt: 'first people'. we wish to invoke the forgotten pulses and spirits of the 'lost tribes' - those primary nations which we wiped out or colonised, some still in resistance - as inspirations for our future.
the music of INFRASUPRA explores its dichotomous theme by proposing a mix of crude acoustic instruments with raw samples and sophisticated electronic sounds. self-invented rhythms are played with various percussions (daf, bendhir, hand drums, toms, etc...) then combined with various digital elements. somekilos and phil von succeeded in creating 10 neo-archaic / electro-ethnic ritual mini stories, offering with this masterful second album a unique and original musical endeavour.
https://metameat.bandcamp.com/album/infrasupra
meta meat - trampled [official video]
youtu.be/Q_1YEH84qTs
somekilos: electronic, hand-drum, toms, cymbals, daf, wooden rattles, voices
phil von: electronic, daf, bendir, cajacuerda, voices
mastered by norscq
layout by stefan alt
released in collaboration with le label beige. www.facebook.com/lelabel.beige
this is ant-zen act421
https://ant-zen.bandcamp.com/album/infrasupra
|
2021 |
€22.00 |
|
| |
Infrasupra |
CD |
meta meat presents its second musical work: INFRASUPRA
the theme of this album is the equilibrium between our aspirations to reach a new 'suprahuman' omniscient condition and our inner 'infrahuman' material essence. how do modern 'civilised' technological humans (supra) still do cohabit with their animalistic truth (infra)? our desire for carnal flesh versus our quest to become a more 'godlike' creator are challenging our physical / metaphysical co-existence in this more and more virtual world. this work also pays tribute to those we used to refer as 'primitive' and now were renamed out of guilt: 'first people'. we wish to invoke the forgotten pulses and spirits of the 'lost tribes' - those primary nations which we wiped out or colonised, some still in resistance - as inspirations for our future.
the music of INFRASUPRA explores its dichotomous theme by proposing a mix of crude acoustic instruments with raw samples and sophisticated electronic sounds. self-invented rhythms are played with various percussions (daf, bendhir, hand drums, toms, etc...) then combined with various digital elements. somekilos and phil von succeeded in creating 10 neo-archaic / electro-ethnic ritual mini stories, offering with this masterful second album a unique and original musical endeavour.
https://metameat.bandcamp.com/album/infrasupra
meta meat - trampled [official video]
youtu.be/Q_1YEH84qTs
somekilos: electronic, hand-drum, toms, cymbals, daf, wooden rattles, voices
phil von: electronic, daf, bendir, cajacuerda, voices
mastered by norscq
layout by stefan alt
released in collaboration with le label beige. www.facebook.com/lelabel.beige
this is ant-zen act421
https://ant-zen.bandcamp.com/album/infrasupra
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| METAORGANISM |
I:Baphomet |
CD-R |
Neues Projekt mit der finnischen Experimental / Elektronik- Legende NIKO SKORPIO; Sinustongeneratoren, Oszillatoren, Feedback, in spezieller Schaltung "systemisch" verbunden...
"Metaorganism was conceived — or discovered — in Kuuskulma studio while conducting various experiments with sinewaves, oscillators and feedback.
Metaorganism is based on — or communicates through — a network of digital and analog devices transmitting information to each other, back and forth. In the system, a minor change in a supposedly insignificant parameter may unexpectedly change the overall course of the sound. Everything affects everything — as above, so below...
At some point of its development, the system will reach a state of balance where it seems to become self-reliant — independent, evolving — and in a sense a communicating entity which becomes conscious of itself. The Manifestation occurs, through sound.
A series of recording sessions were held, with the attempt to experiment with the system to serve certain 'hermetic' purposes, to influence the nature of Manifestation, ie. what exactly is invoked in/through the sound.
I:Baphomet is the first in what is being planned as a series of Metaorganism audio documents." [label info]
www.someplaceelse.net
|
2008 |
€6.00 |
|
| MICH, LUDO / WATARU KASAHARA / KIYOHARU KUWAYAMA |
Les archives de l'univers amnesique illustre |
LP |
"A new pairing of minds and techniques on a steel-grey voyage across the treacherous Ifingr river.
Kiyoharu Kuwayama, master of resonant spaces and junk objects holds the reins over three chapters of spiralling horror and madness. Sounds are coaxed out ashamed and blushing: the syphilitic cough, the cracked shin bone and the greasy sheen of night sweats wired up to a 9 volt battery.
Wataru Kasahara plays the mysterious masked man adding stewed tape manipulation to the mix. The brush strokes hint at a moody Goya and his bleak Pinturas negras.
Ludo Mich is a ghost, a spectre that adds an ass-hiss, a stain, a pursed lip smacking to the junkyard rumble.
Overall the listening effect is startling. Like grasping for a banister when drunk, there is a slo-mo quality, a brief moment of calm before the crash of brittle chin vs concrete steps. It sets up a déjà-vu meme with the recurring metallic ‘ssschhshh’ sound that could come from throat or stoat. Overlaid are saw-tooth waves, sourced from MP3s buried in the garden over a harsh winter. When the ducks loosen phlegm they shit silver dollars. Presently contact mics are attached to submarine hulls somewhere in an undersea canyon and closing the eyes opens up new patterns of pressure-roses blooming red, orange, red. You’ve not heard a more focused record this year.
Kiyoharu Kuwayama has been making music since the 1980’s He also records as Lethe and collaborates with cats as chunky as: Kapotte Muziek and Campbell Kneale (Birchville Cat Motel).
Wataru Kasahara is an experimental musician and visual artist and has recorded widely in Japan and Europe.
Ludo Mich has played the field since the swinging sixties and has therefore played with everyone of consequence. Currently the godfather of the Northern European heek-a-feak underground." [label info]
www.discombobulaterecords.com
|
2013 |
€18.00 |
|
| MICHEL, JOSEPHINE & MIKA VAINIO |
Halfway to White |
BOOK + CD |
"With Folio, Touch introduces a new series of bespoke hardback book and CD publications, produced to the highest specifications. This first release, Halfway to White, is a collaboration between singular photographer Joséphine Michel and acclaimed musician and sound artist Mika Vainio. Joséphine Michel's images reframe our perception of the visual by exploring the notion of "sonic photography," as she exposes her subjects according to the resonance of the noise-fields felt at her chosen locations. Michel subtly brings to light the inflections of sound -- its tones and pulsations -- in a setting that has often been considered one of the most silent visual arts. This work is mirrored by Mika Vainio's five original compositions, his recordings poised between an environmental hold and atmosphere, while suggesting an extra-sensory world and a dream-state in parallel to the 33 haunting photographs that make up this ensemble. Sixty-page hardcover book and 60-minute CD bound in a gray linen cover and printed on heavy hi-white paper in an edition of 500 copies. Designed by Jon Wozencroft. Further Folio publications can be expected throughout 2015-2016, including new work from Chris Watson, the world's leading sound recordist and sonic painter, and other artists from the Touch stable." [label info]
www.touchmusic.org.uk
|
2015 |
€49.50 |
|
| |
The Heat Equation |
BOOK + CD |
Book+CD: 100pp linen cover with foil blocking
Book contents 69 photos and a portrait of Mika Vainio by Joséphine Michel, and an introductory essay by Jeremy Millar.
CD Track listing:
1. Mika Vainio - Live at Contra Pop, Ramsgate 56:38
The Heat Equation is a 100pp book + CD showcasing a new photographic work by Joséphine Michel alongside a live recording of Mika Vainio’s final performance in the UK, featuring all new material intended for his proposed 2017 solo CD for Touch.
Following their previous collaboration on Halfway to White (Touch # FOLIO 001, 2015), Michel and Vainio had been planning a second production, and in March 2017, Michel visited Vainio in Oslo to show him the first examples of the photographs she had been taking for this purpose. Included in the book, as a postcard insert, is Michel’s tender portrait of Mika Vainio taken at this meeting.
Shortly before Mika’s untimely death in April 2017, the project took an unexpected turn. The recordings for the new album for Touch were nearing completion but his sequencer broke down and the project needed to be restarted. The collaboration turned into a complementary exploration between Michel’s both quasi-scientific and lyrical photographs, a perception of a world on the edge of discovery – whether it be born of physics, medicine or space travel – and the legacy of Vainio’s musical vision, with its vast imaginary of matter, and its tension between heat and icy precision.
The photographs and the music interact through a variety of climates, where the microcosm and the macrocosm, the animate and the inanimate, the telluric and the cosmic coexist - and sometimes fuse.
In August 2016 Vainio performed a blinding set at the Contra Pop festival on Ramsgate beach, which was recorded off the desk, yet the organisers reported that the file was corrupted and the proposed counterpoint to Michel’s work was deemed lost.
Miraculously, 18 months later, Contra Pop discovered a back-up recording. Remastered by Russell Haswell, Mika Vainio’s new music is the equal of anything he released in his lifetime.
Bound in a linen cover with foil blocking, Michel’s photography is expertly printed on 200gsm Arctic Silk. The Heat Equation is released in an edition of 750 copies, accompanied by an introductory text by artist Jeremy Millar, “The Devouring Drop”, art directed by Jon Wozencroft and the latest development in Touch’s new series of ‘ear books’.
|
2019 |
€36.00 |
|
| MICRO:MEGA |
Where we go we don't need it anymore |
CD |
„Hinter MICRO:MEGA stecken Männer mit beeindruckendem musikalischem Background: Frederic Luneau, einer der Gründer der LÖBE RADIANT DUB SYSTEM, der lange Jahre das Projekt WEBCAM betrieb und Sylvain Chauveau, der als Mitglied von THE WATERMELON CLUB auftrat und eine steile Solokarriere hinlegte. Sein 2000er Debüt-Album begeisterte die Kritiker und auch der Nachfolger bekam großartige Kritiken. Nach dem Release der MCD "Un Autre Decembre" eröffnete er 2003 für SIGUR ROS auf deren Europatour. Sein letztes Album ist schließlich als Soundtrack für den in Cannes gezeigten Festivalbeitrag "Des plumes dans la tete" verwendet worden. Parallel arbeitete Chauveau zusammen mit Joan Cambon an seinem Projekt ARCA und mit Steven Hess an ON. Diese Vielfalt an Arbeiten macht es verständlich, woher die musikalische Reichhaltigkeit des MICRO:MEGA Universums stammt. Durch die verschiedenen Einflüsse und Erfahrungen der beiden Musiker werden vielfältige Materialien und Instrumente verarbeitet, die geschickt vermischte Sound-Schichten ergeben. Dadurch kann das Duo elektronische und organische Elemente paaren und so ein Bindeglied zwischen LABRAFORD, PAN AMERICA, AUTECHRE, Yann Tiersen und PAN SONIC herstellen. "Where We Go We Don't Need It Anymore" ist weniger melancholisch als die oben genannten Bands, ein Album das offen und weniger introspektiv ist. Damit besetzen MICRO:MEGA eine einzigartige Nische in der französischen Elektro-Szene.“
“...Already endowed with very different sensibilities, the two musicians have drawn from their different experiences a marked taste for the use of a variety of materials and instruments and a great deftness in the mixing of multiple sound strata. Thanks to that, the pair can smoothly conjugate electronic and organic and establish links between LABRAFORD and PAN AMERICAN's America, AUTECHRE's England, Yann Tiersen's Brittany and PAN SONIC's Finland, without ever forgetting what melody means. Less melancholic than its predecessors "Where we go we don't need it anymore" is also perhaps less introspective, more open. While keeping a definitely unique place on the French electronic scene, MICRO:MEGA seem to have reached a kind of fullness that we are happy to share with them.” [press release]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| MICROMELANCOLIE & STROM NOIR |
49°05'19,3 |
CD |
"The album of the enigmatic title "49°05'19,3"N22°34'04,0'E" is the result of the collaboration between two artists signed to Zoharum: Emil Mat'ko aka Strom Noir from Slovakia and Robert Skrzyński aka Micromelancolié from Poland. Both have two albums and participated in several compilations released on our label on their account. Their collaborative album is a piece of work suspended between two stylistics penetrated within their own solo projects, and at the same time it is perfectly complementary. On one side we have the guitar/electronic passages so characteristic of Strom Noir, and on the other the sonic structures prepared from defects and scraps that has been explored for several years by Micromelancolié. Two untitled compositions float slowly and are contemplation of places a bit distant to urban civilization. "49°05'19,3"N22°34'04,0'E " is a sound postcard from the mysterious place hidden in the title. Where is it? The answer is in the music itself, and in the coordinates composing the title of this collaborative album." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| MIEVILLE, EMMANUEL |
Magnetic fields and shrouded flux |
mCD-R |
Harsh field recording ambience? All sounds here seem to be derived from field recordings, but were then processed heavily.. this resulted into two quite intense pieces, with lots of details & great effects...rarely water sounded that harsh!
"french composer/phonographer mixing musique concrete, field recordings and drones for two haunting pieces. full-colour printed 3"
cd-r with artwork by delphine ancelle-b." [label info]
www.taalem.com
|
2007 |
€5.00 |
|
| |
Ethers |
CD |
Slowly but o-so-surely, Emmanuel Mieville is building an impressive body of work, where each new album seems to make the previous one pale in comparison. And the music press would be wise to catch on to him. The man is discreet and unassertive, so is his music, but he – like it – cannot be dismissed as just another proponent of the field recording. For Mieville, music is some of the most spellbinding art for the ear out there in the aether.
"Ethers" is Mieville's second album for Baskaru, and though the previous one certainly stands the test of time, this new opus pushes the bar higher, much higher. In the composer's own words, "Ethers is an attempt to give an earthy quality, a dense texture to drone music, to lower it from the 'skies'."
Mieville first trained as a sound engineer, and then studied musique concrète at GRM. He grew up listening to creative radio programs and embraced field recording as a form of art. His latest works fully realized a synthesis of all these elements: the attentive ear to one's surroundings, the abstract approach to sound, the sense of drama that makes a field recording composition take life.
Mieville has worked with Buto dancers, video artists, and like-minded musicians like Eric Cordier, Guido Huebner, and Benjamin Thigpen. After appearances on compilations albums, he released two CDs in Malaysia (on Herbal Records and XingWu), followed by his Western full-length debut "Four Wanderings in Tropical Lands" on Baskaru in 2011. Since then he released two thematic albums: "Buddha – Anima – Asia" (Obs*, 2012) on Buddhism, and "Concret-Sens" (Crónica, 2014), a homage to early musique concrète.
www.baskaru.com
"The last time I heard something from Emmanuel Mieville was in Vital Weekly 803, and that was his previous album for Baskaru. Mieville, a trained composer from GRM uses a lot of field recordings in his music, which he treats into music. I am not sure how Mieville works in creating his music, but it could very well be that he has many treatments of the same sound source and which are later stuck together and crafted into a piece of music, with all the subtle changes possible, which Mieville can choose from when doing this. I might very well be entirely wrong of course. His music can be compared to that of Whetham (or vice versa, but that's not the order I am hearing these releases): quite closed off blocks of sound, but somehow the work of Mieville sounds more coherent than Whetham on his new release. It also seems to be less closed off, with a bit more air in between the various treatments that he uses in his music. Whetham's music seems hermetically closed. There is fine vibrancy in the pieces by Mieville, shifting back and forth, ignoring strict classical rules of composition. Excellent release." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| MILAN SANDBLEISTIFT / AIDAN BAKER / RELAPXYCH.O |
Saite an Saite (a string based compilation) |
CD |
"MILAN SANDBLEISTIFT has a very minimal piece with feedbacks & strange sounds all over the place which is based on a guitar played as real "object". Over 16 min long.
AIDAN BAKER's piece "One step ahead, one step behind" is a very fitting continuation, experimental guitar drone more experimental & soundbased as usual (over 20 min long), the last piece by RELAPXYCH.O sound more electronic but nevertheless organic, and finishes the split / compilation with a lovely microsound piece with enough interesting sounds to get your attention while setting you in a trance at the same time.........(the healing paradox). a minimal compilation, wtih minimal credit information, and full colour booklet with lots of photos...... recommended!" [Drone Records info]
"3-artist-compilation auf licht-ung; experimentell und ruhig, angespannt entspannt, gitarre ja; aber anders.
„milan sandbleistift mit „seymour in der huette" 16.34 minuten extrem nah am instrument und mit filtern und reduzierten feedbacks über einem (grundbrumm)drone auf der suche nach dem bisher ungehörten. weniger musik (im konsumsinne), mehr experiment (dabei gut konsumierbar) mit gefühl für spannung und aufbau innerhalb eines eng gesteckten rahmens.
an zweiter stelle „one step ahead, one step behind" von dem mann der 10.000 releases, aidan baker: 20.40 minuten ein gezupftes gitarrenloop, langsam durch rauschen ergänzt, ein rauschen, das vielleicht auch irgendein tief verstecktes zer-riff ist, darüber materialisierende delayfetzen und die ahnung angedeuteter melodie. und während noch der gedanke herrscht: hier passiert doch gar nichts mehr, verfolgt herr baker längst dieses frosch-im-kochenden-wasser-prinzip, verdichtet alle ingredienzien und löst auch das rätsel um das rauschige zerren. und, ganz die ruhe selbst, verabschiedet sich dann in der dunklen, aber warmen wolke.
relapxych.0, zuletzt hier mit ihrer split mit rapoon präsent, verbinden auf dem 17.12 langen „insommniactivity (origins mix)" in ihrer art die beiden zuvor gehörten ästetiken: sehr offen und klar im hörbild und experimentell (wie die #1), aber deutlich mehr der „musik" an sich verschrieben (wie herr b.), collagierend und andeutend, kontraste und höhepunkte setzend, ein mikromotiv als aufhänger auf dem weg durch das stück und am ende das entlassen in harmonie; fast; es gibt doch noch letzte worte...
sehr stimmige, deutlich „experimental-" compilation mit schicken lich-tung cover: alles blauschwarzer wald, cd, innen, hinten, vorn, seiten... nur das booklett ein paar andere bilder mehr und die inhaltsbeschreibung auf einer fläche von 100 x 5 mm versteckt, schriftgrösse -1, so ungefähr beim dritten blick zu bemerken, empfohlener leseabstand? ...ich brauche mehr licht (-ung)." [N, Unruhr.de]
www.licht-ung.de
|
2009 |
€12.50 |
|
| MILITIA |
Ambiorix |
CD |
After releasing the MILITIA debut album into cassette (a split with CON-DOM entitled "Scorching Earth Policy") in 1995, Old Europa Cafe, 23 years later, proudly comes with the new and MILITIA album "AMBIORIX" devoted to the great Gaul King.
All sounds with the usual unmistakable MILITIA trademark, a big variety of rythms with loads of self made percussions and wind instrumets.
Songs are sung in different languages including Latin and Gaul.
The definitive MILITIA album, the album of their maturity.
Special Eco-Leather covers.
Covers available in some different brown tonalities and with 4 different logos printed on Eco-Leather Sleeves.
Also included is a 3-folded insert with cover notes.
Ambiorix, a musical story by MILITIA, based on Ceasar’s writings of “De Bello Gallico”
What happened before
When around 57 bC Julius Ceaser conquered Gaul, his troops marched into Belgica. (Belgica is more or less the state of Belgium plus a part of the Netherlands reaching to the river Rhine).
Belgica was inhabited by several tribes which were at war with each other frequently.
The tribe of the Eburons was lead by 2 kings, Ambiorix and Catuvolcus, both sharing power.
In 54 bC Ceasar had to provide his troops with fresh food and wood supplies and he ordered the tribes to cede a part of their crops to the Roman armies. Because the harvest wasn’t a good one that year and because the Eburons needed the wood from their forests for themselves for the coming winter, the Eburons refused.
Ceasar ordered his generals to built camps around the villages of the Euburon tribes, take over power and confiscate the food supplies by force.
Ambiorix and his Eburons were not to let this happen.
Music on the album and the story of Ambiorix >>
Track 1: Resistance
During the intro of the 1st track “Resistance”, you can hear “forest sounds”, like sounds of birds and insectsb and the wind blowing in the trees. The intro represents the situation of Romans entering the Eburon forest and starting to chop several trees.
The Eburons attack, the small group of Roman soldiers is taken by surprise and only a few can escape.
Track 2: Negotiation
Ambiorix and his Eburon warriors haunt the escaping Romans, but when Ambiorix reaches the Roman camp, he decides not to attack but instead he starts negotiations with the enemy.
The Eburon king explains to the Romans that he doesn’t mind their presence in the region and that he’s in fact Lucky with having them staying on his land, because their presence keeps other hostile tribes from entering Eburon territory.
Ambiorix warns both generals Sabinus and Cotta for the fact that a hughe Germanic army is crossing the Rhine and planning to attack the Roman camps.
Ambiorix advices the generals to move their troops to another Roman camp and join the troops there.
That way they would be stronger and capable of beating the Germanic warriors.
Ambiorix promisses the Romans a free passing through the Eburon lands.
Track 3: Arguing
The generals Sabinus and Cotta discuss all night long whether they should leave their camp or not.
Sabinus trusts Ambiorix and thinks it’s better to leave while Cotta prefers to stay in the camp and wait for the attack.
They cannot agree and only after Sabinus gets furious, hitting hard the table with his fist, Cotta agrees to leave the camp.
Track 4: Ambush
The decision to leave the camp has been taken and the Roman soldiers start marching.
There are two possible routes to the next Roman camp, one path was behind hilly landscape, the other through a valley.
The generals decide to go pass the valley and when descending, Ambiorix and his warriors attack, charging downhill out of the woods and straight into the indefensible flancs of the Roman army.
The Romans were slaughtered and a few were captured.
Noone could escape.
Track 5: Burning the Wicker Man
In his book “De Bello Gallico”, Ceasar described how the Gauls used to sacrifice their prisoners: the men or even women were locked up in a hughe puppet made of wood and straw, like a giant, and then this giant, called the Wicker Man, was set on fire, burning alive the prisoners inside it.
It was their way of sacrificing the captured Roman soldiers to the Gaul god of thunder, Taranis.
Track 6: Women of Gaul
Despite of Ceasar’s claims that Gaul women had nothing to say and were treated as inferior to men, we know from historical sources that some women occupied an important function in their community.
We don’t know if they were active in battle as well, but we know the story of the Celtic female warrior called Boudicca, who got beaten and witnessed her daughters being raped by the Romans.
She took revenge, lead her troops to war and burned down a few Roman cities located in Britannia.
Track 7: March on Gaul
Rome received the news about the beaten army and the resisting Eburons.
Ceasar swore to exterminate every tribe of Belgica. It was important for him to show the greatness and the power of the Roman empire, so this enormous defeat could not be left unpunished: a complete Roman legion and 5 cohorts (in all around 7200 men) was completely whiped out by just one tribe!
Ceasar sent a massive force to Belgica, a force never witnessed before.
Track 8: Calling all Gauls
At the same time Ambiorix united all other Belgian tribes to form a defending force against the Roman army that was marching to Belgica. Thousands of warriors stood behind Ambiorix.
They trained and prepared themselves for the great clash.
Track 9: War
This is the musical interpretation of the great battle between the Roman soldiers and the Gaul warriors.
You’ll hear commands in Latin and Gaul language.
Blood and mud, sufferings and death, victory and defeat.
Track 10: The Rape of Gaul
The Gauls lost the battle, whatever remained of the Belgican population was slaughtered and the Gaul villages were burned down: extermination, genocide, rape, plunder, massacres, murdering women and children, hostiges and prisoners became slaves.
It was the end of the Gaul civilisation.
Track 11: The Lost King
Ambiorix could escape and with a few warriors he succeeded in crossing the Rhine and hiding in Germania.
There’s no trace left of him and although sometimes Roman soldiers reported to have seen him, they can never catch him.
Ambiorix diappears in the dark mists of history.
We remember the great king who stood up against the Roman occupiers.
For evermore he’ll be a true Belgian hero in the hearts of all, in the hearts of Militia.
|
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
The Face of God |
CD |
"This album was first released directly by the band in a special Boxed edition of which only very few copies was made available.
OEC is re-editing that CD album in a 6 panels digipak and this will be the only available format from now on as the band stopped releasing the special boxed edition!
Limited edition of 300 copies.
The Face of God" contains 11 tracks, a combination of industrial soundscapes and metal and skin percussions, wind instruments and vocals, in the best tradition of the Belgian industrial percussion band Militia.
Musically The Face Of God mirrors this bird’s-eye perspective on the broader history of western religion.
While it’s still firmly located within the martial and percussive industrial sounds, much of the record, especially its first half, manages to connote a pre-industrial, and in fact pre-modern mood.
The slowly rotating drum cycles of “Thank You Oh Lord” suggest medieval mills or the creak of wagons more than industrial factories, and the sampled church bells which drone throughout do nothing to dispel the murky feel of long dead saints. It’s not until close to the midway point of the record, where the dusty clatter and insistent core beat of “Sermon”, augmented with slight, sorrowful pads, that things seem to sound more like the byproducts of our own age. Interestingly, at the point where the music becomes more tense and contemporary, reactionary counter-Christian themes and ideologies fall under the lens (and don’t come out any stronger than their orthodox counterparts), almost as if a dialectic of religious positions follows in the footsteps of the development of industry.
Tracklist:
1. An Atheist Statement
2. The Immaculate Conception of Lies
3. Thank You Oh Lord
4. God is a Dicta
4. God is a Dictator (part 1)
5. Sermon
6. Angelus
7. God's Face
8. Necronomicon - The Beast 666
9. The Pentagram
10. Calling all Atheists
11. God is a Dictator (part two)
|
2019 |
€14.00 |
|
| MILLIMETRIK |
Northwest Passage's New Era |
CD |
"Millimetrik is Québec City resident Pascal Asselin. Pascal’s music unites his love of hip-hop, electronica and ambient music, but takes these influences to somewhere entirely his own. Over the course of four albums, Millimetrik’s music has evolved, becoming less concerned with ambient textures and atmospheres, and more richly layered, warm and melodic. 2008’s “Northwest Passage’s New Era”, his first full-length release for Make Mine Music featured contributions from Ulrich Schnauss and Port-Royal. Pascal also records as half of Le Chat Blanc Orchestra." [label notes]
www.makeminemusic.co.uk
|
2008 |
€8.00 |
|
| MILLIS, ROBERT |
Relief |
LP |
"Our man Millis is a Climax Golden Twin and a noted curator of globe trotting / time traveling esoterica, amongst other accolades. In the former category, Millis and Jeffery Taylor steadily release some of the most headscratching amalgamations of avant-rock, decontextualized temple music, heightened-state minimalism, and collaged field recordings this side of the Sun City Girls (including the soundtrack to the cult film Session Nine); and in the latter, Millis has published a number of acclaimed anthologies for Sublime Frequencies (Scattered Melodies, This World is Unreal Like a Snake in a Rope, Phi Ta Khon, The Crying Princess, etc.) and Dust-To-Digital (our personal favorite, aptly titled Victrola Favorites). With his fingers in so many jars of jam, it can seem like an uncommon occurrence for Millis to release solo work although he is one to smear his sticky hands all over himself in performance, installation, and collaboration. Thus, The Helen Scarsdale Agency is delighted in presenting his latest opus, Relief.
A fever dream of blurred harmonics and ethnomusicological spelunking, Relief repeatedly returns to variations on a peculiar yet beautifully serpentine drone, whose twinkling acoustic properties meld the hallucinatory mouth-music of the Bangladeshi Murung people and the curved air hypnosis of Terry Riley. Millis bookends and interrupts his mysterious miasma with comedic interludes snatched from his lauded collection of antique 78s, maudlin piano tone-clusters, and teleported crescendos of spectral ballroom waltzes. More Nurse With Wound than The Caretaker, this polyglot raga-drone of daytime somnambulism and psychedelic slipperiness speaks to the uneasy borders at psychological, cultural, and geophysical states of being. Oh, to be a human on this planet." [label info]
www.helenscarsdale.com
"Polyglot might be just the right word to describe what Robert Millis and his Climax Golden Twins have been up to for the past two decades or so. An album might be a ramshackle collage of blisterfuck noise-rock, another might be a graceful set of murder ballads, and yet another might hypnotize the listener through an alpha-state minimalism. And then, there's Millis' acclaimed collections of olde-timey '78s and raw field recordings of indigenous folk songs, much of which has been released through those tasty labels Sublime Frequencies and Dust-To-Digital. The solo work from Millis tends more toward the dronemuzik and hallucinatory collage axis of CGT's multi-headed agenda, although he has been known to strum out a sadsack blues number that might straddle the worlds of Alan Bishop and Roscoe Holcomb; but here on the impeccable new album Relief, Millis tunes in and drops out with a blearily psychedelic album of forgotten sounds, ghostly fragments, and Pacific Ocean drones. The album begins with a comedic outburst from one of Millis' 78s with a helpful direction to "hear the secret sentence played out on the talking typewriter" followed by a jaunty clatter of a manual typewriter all wrapped in scratchy-vinyl, crackling goodness. Immediately, the album delves into a swarming tone-float of harmonic overtones pecked with trilling glissandos. The source for this sound has got to be a plung - a Bangladeshi mouth-organ used specifically by the Murung peoples living deep in the rainforest, as this sound is uniquely atonal and wrigglingly eerie in its wavering notes. Millis furthers this wooziness by rarifying these sounds into the holy minimalism conjured by LaMonte Young, Angus Maclise, and company. After swimming here in these golden pools for a good five or six minutes, Millis drops the needle on a dramatic orchestral swell that would be the envy of the Caretaker's sunken ballroom recordings. A couple of hip-swaying recombinations of temple music rhythms and Les Baxter exotica glide in and out of Millis' glassy-eyed shimmeriness and post-Eno piano constellations. The album's finale is an impressionistic driftscape of languid, temple bell & gong tones stretched into a gorgeous, expansive cloud of lush harmonics giving way to a metronomic wooden rhythm that leads to a set of solitary piano notes suspended over Mariana trench diving-bell ambience. Limited to 400 copies, and comes with the requisite download code. So fucking good." [Aquarius Rec.] |
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
This World is unreal like a Snake in a Rope |
DVD |
"A film by Robert Millis. Folk cinema from the eternal never-ending collage that is India. A journey through the ancient Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu featuring Hindu trance ceremonies, street music, festivals, nagaswaram improvisations, impossibly loud cities, ancient temples, processions, devotions, decay, fireworks, abstractions and more. India is impossible to know: it is impossibly old and impossibly new, impossibly rich and impossibly poor, quiet and chaotic. Offered here is one perspective, raw, captured live and in the moment, with an emphasis on India's complex and mesmerizing sounds. DVD features a bonus photo gallery with over 100 images. 50 minutes/Color; digipack; all-region DVD; NTSC format. Limited one-time edition of 1,000 copies." [label info]
www.sublimefrequencies.com
|
2012 |
€18.50 |
|
| MIRROR |
Some Days it rains all Night |
LP |
Breathtaking first new album in 15 years from "Andrew Chalk and Christoph Heemann’s cult duo Mirror, debuting on La Scie Dorée - home to their respective adored projects with Timo Van Luijk (Elodie, In Camera). A total gem for Jim O’Rourke or Kassel Jaeger fiends!
Both hugely regarded in their shared fields of exploration between improvised, low key noise, ambient and experimental composition, Chalk and Heemann have followed their nose for this sound since the early 80s alongside dozens of underground dons and their empathic level of musical comms really shows across this beautiful album. Most particularly we’re struck by the electro-acoustic mixing and recording, which comes close to the levels of subtly disorienting proprioceptive fuckery executed by their peer Jim O’Rourke, making them seemingly dialled in from different distant axes of floating suspension on the first side, before achieving immanent states of intimate meditation amid swirling ambient noise on the B-side.
’Some Days It Rains All Night’ introduces itself with tantalising timbral thizz and murmuring nudges of surreal acoustic space that soon start to slip out of time and place, inducing keening sensations and a slippage of light that give the scene a laggy glow, where their daubs of piano keys appear like glinting lights in a mist of bowed cymbals and rumbles of gong thunder, immaculately rendered in-the-mix for deeply disorienting effect. In other words, it’s dead trippy, and the other side takes the vibe yet further out into the dream swamp, holding off to more tentative gestures for a more uncanny sense of stasis and shrouded in electro-acoustic apparitions that richly recall similar interzones explored in Kassel Jaeger’s recent ace for Shelter Press." [Boomkat]
"....Then the clangor fades to a relative calmness, the textural wholeness returning autonomously to the inscrutable vibratory core that has always defined Mirror’s output. In the end, we register the symbolism for one’s existence. A fundamental quiet to begin with, a growth at first under control then gradually difficult, the fight against problems bigger than our strength, the apparent lack of a way out, the exclusively mental conjectures about an unknown “after” hindering the quest for becoming pure sound. The only significant goal.
But the elapsing of time brings things back into perspective. The breathing slows down, the awareness still deeply painful. Somehow, we keep walking. And learning, day by day, from authentic teachers. Those who won’t utter a single word." [Touching Extremes]
|
2020 |
€19.50 |
|
| MIZUTANI, KIYOSHI |
Inferior's Betrayal |
do-LP |
Reissue of the self-produced K7 in 1994 on Kiyoshi Mizutani's Ulcer House label.
https://fernsrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/inferiors-betrayal
"The first time I saw Merzbow in concert, in 1989, during his first European tour, I perceived them as a group. Masami Akita, Reiko A and K. Mizutani (although he arrived a bit later on tour) were a trio, even when Akita already seemed the leading man. Mizutani was present on various Merzbow releases from the 1980s but left in the early 90s. Since there have been several solo releases, not as many as Merzbow, since long Masami's solo vehicle, but that number is hard to surpass. 'Inferior's Betrayal' was first released on cassette in 1994 by Ulcer House. I am sure I heard that one, but not for long. With Merzbow, Mizutani was the guitarist, and I always assumed (but am not sure of) this is also his preferred instrument in solo work, next to sound effects. But, somehow, I also believe he uses field recordings or objects and contact microphones. The first piece, 'A Calm', is such a piece that sounds to me as if he's scraping contact microphones over rusty shovels and feeding that a bunch of sound effects. Interestingly enough, in none of the five pieces, Mizutani sounds like Merzbow, save perhaps for the feedback orgy of 'Parasite'. Sure, there is noise and a bit of feedback, but the main focus is not on that. Mizutani's music sounds like an exploration of acoustic sounds drifting into an electronic world. One could say that this is electro-acoustic music, but Mizutani adds an element of improvisation. All of these tracks are long and could be edited, but I would think endurance is part of the idea. A piece such as 'Composition' sounds like a Fluxus-inspired bang on a can (and plastic bags) and has a collage-like approach more than the four others. I enjoyed this double record, with music I hadn't heard in a long time and reminding me that I should dig out some of his other cassettes; perhaps Ferns will reissue these as well? That would be great." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2022 |
€26.00 |
|
| MIZUTANI, KIYOSHI & KIYOHARU KUWAYAMA |
Interlude |
CD |
"Kiyoshi Mizutani: feedback. Kiyoharu Kuwayama: handmade electronics, contact mic & mix. and/OAR (via either/OAR) is very pleased to present what is without a doubt among the very best of both artist's electronic-based work. Throughout much of this highly charged release, brooding clouds of swarming tones and drones envelope the listener, either inducing a hypnotic trance or a deep contemplative listening state. This work is the result of a mail exchange. At first, Kiyoshi created the feedback sound in the studio using a suspended microphone, mixer and some effects. Sometimes drum sticks, steel and wooden chair were used to influence the sound. Kiyoshi's recorded sound was sent to Kiyoharu who then processed the materials and edited and mixed the sound with his own materials. Kiyoshi Mizutani started his sound career with the noise project Merzbow until the late 1980s, After leaving Merzbow, Kiyoshi started releasing solo work under his own name - gradually shifting away from noise to mostly recording and releasing straight environmental sound documents. Apart from Kiyoharu Kuwayama and Masami Akita (Merzbow), Kiyoshi has also collaborated with Daniel Menche and Hideaki Shimada. Apart from and/OAR, Kiyoshi has had his work released by such labels as Ground Fault, CMR, Monochrome Vision, Auscultare Research, E(r)ostrate, Artware Production, Engraved Glass, Flenix, among others. Kiyoharu Kuwayama (aka Lethe) is known for creating and recording work in highly resonant spaces or charged atmospheres (abandoned warehouses, Shinto temples, etc). Kiyoharu is also known for his involvement with the duo Kuwayama - Kijima (Kiyoharu Kuwayama : cello, and Rina Kijima : violin) who are formidable players, so well attuned to each other that their improvisations cannot be distinguished from highly complex compositions. With a particular interest in ambient sound and locations that inspire improvisation, they take advantage of the natural reverb of each location (under a bridge at night, an abandoned warehouse), and even change their position while playing to create beautiful and charged performances." [label info]
www.and-oar.org
"There is, like with most releases by Kiyoharu Kuwayama not a lot of information on the cover (or websites) with details about the recording, but more than some other times. Kiyoharu Kuwayama plays "handmade electronics, contact mic & mix" and Kiyoshi Mizutani just gets credit for feedback. Mizutani was in the 80s a member of Merzbow, and after leaving Merzbow he did a couple of releases, ranging from the heavy noise field to field recordings, including collaborations with Daniel Menche and Hideaki Shimada. Kuwayama is perhaps best known as Lethe and has created a bunch of releases that deal with large spaces in which he plays cello, metal objects and electronics. This release with Mizutani is one that was generated through mail, which I think is a rarity in his catalogue. Mizutani recorded feedback using a suspended microphone, mixer and effects, influencing the sound with drum sticks, steel and wooden chair. Kuwayama then processed this material and did further editing. The result is excellent. The feedback produced by Mizutani is never 'loud and dirty' as one could easily think these things would be (think harsh noise walls), but refined and varied. The sustained sounds move through your home space in an excellent way, and Kuwayama treats them with great care. The ten pieces flow into each other and form a great unified wholeness, which reminded me of the best of Arcane Device. A highly varied disc of music, excellent treatments and fine composition." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| MLEHST |
An old broom knows all the dirty corners |
CD |
Das MLEHST-Comeback nun auch auf CD; diese Klänge sind wirklich unangenehm und regen auf, ohne harsch noisig zu sein, ein schräger Tanz von Radiosinustönen, low-fi-Geräuschen und Rauschen, fast jegliche musikalische Grundkonzepte und Bestimmungsparameter sind hier ausser Kraft gesetzt!
"Mlehst returns after years of silence, along with his unique (and prolific) experimental noise. As a bonus this digipak album has some alternate mixes of material from two recent LPs, but they fit well here and will seem like part of the whole work to most listeners. Commencing with noisy drones and reverberating percussive noises, the album takes a really varied journey through all kinds of noisy experimental, weird electronic, feedback, and droney sounds. There is a really unsettling and disturbing element to the music throughout the CD, which seems more controlled and natural than I had remembered in previous works. As intense as the sounds on CD can get, it is by no means a typical static harsh noise release. Everything has it's place and is totally under control, being precisely manipulated. Just how I like my noise... An incredibly solid and enjoyable release, through and through." [Diophantine Discs Top Releases of 2006]
"Whether or not its because I am in the process of giving up smoking I don't know, but this album leaves me anxious and on-edge. Fantastic! So many recordings just leave you cold. An emotional conduit!" [METAMORPHIC JOURNEYMAN]
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Breathing in Dead Flies / Cock Sucking Lips |
CD |
Breathing in dead flies was the first vinyl release by Mlehst pressed at gramophonov zavody (pre GZ media) in 1996. Basically we sent the master on a high quality chrome cassette tape as that was the highest quality technology we had. The overall sound quality was lo-fidelity to say the least, with a wide dynamic range which meant that a lot of the quieter original audio was buried in the rumble of the vinyl grooves. The 100 copy milky clear vinyl LP cemented the Mlehst and bandaged hand produce DIY aesthetic.
For this digital and CD reissue, a vinyl LP rip has been remastered and repaired with substantial work by “esoteric audio renovations” to create a clearer quality product than the original vinyl. The audio levels and dynamic range have been left similar to the original to preserve its integrity, although some passages of audio have been lifted slightly. High volume playback is recommended!
Cock sucking lips is an earlier Mlehst recording and a bit of an oddity, based on some very early Mlehst source material (1990/1991) with a slightly humorous edge, albeit demented. Very few copies of this cassette album were released, probably around 10-20 copies existed. These recordings are completely at odds with breathing in dead flies, but do show two sides of Mlehst.
For this digital and CD reissue a digital rip has been gently remastered only, with no real renovation needed.
https://oxidation.bandcamp.com/album/breathing-in-dead-flies-cock-sucking-lips
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| MNEM |
For Delta Relics |
CD |
....die erste “echte” CD der finnländischen Analog-Drone-Meister, die sich wieder auf Reisen in abgründige archaic-drone Texturen geben...
“Audacious plunge into the undercurrent textures of sound overwhelming with archaic and primal influence yet appearing unprecedented and downright fresh in the present day. Finest sonic massives emitting complex syntheses of post industrial, electro-acoustics and harsh ambience; intensive layers of drones and abrasive loops laying foundation to diverse analog sound sculptures. Utilising old reel-to-reel recorders and analog gadgets has given this Finnish duo an almost trademark sound, now presented on their first full length release with highly acclaimed vinyl releases (Drone Records, Kaos Kontrol) already under their belts. Beautiful full colour sleeve in standard jewel case masterly designed by Stephen O'Malley (Malignant Records, Southern Lord, etc.).
Website: http://www.kaos-kontrol.org/mnem“ [label press release]
|
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
|
No Cosmic Ox |
7inch |
Fourth release on NEGATIVE FOUNDATION, the MNEM-label. MNEM music sounds so basic, so raw, so “old” in a way, its raw ambient-noise full of strange mysterious details....
“It was conceived using reel-to-reel tape recordings and loops, microphones, pedals, and 8-track mixing.” [label info]
|
2006 |
€6.50 |
|
| |
Hegonon |
LP |
"Judging by the name of one of the two members of Mnem, Juri Kaprov, Mnem is Russian or from
the Ukraine. The other member calls himself 1W, so that's not really helpful. Sentimental is a label run by Edward Sol, who for his other enterprise Quasipop is usually forthcoming with information, but for whatever reasons not this other label, so it's all a bit mysterious and perhaps that’s the point of course. From Discogs I learned that at the core of Mnem's sound there are old reel-to-reel recorders and 'analogue gadgets'. The sound they arrive at it is best called 'old school industrial', with a strong influence of Maurizio Bianchi, or rather his Sacher Pelz moniker from before that.
Quite some disturbing sound, full of hissy distortion and the sound is pretty crumbled and loop based. It rotates and rots away; one could almost hear the magnetic particles falling of those old tapes. The analogue gadgets might be a bunch of monotron synthesizers, the slowed down
percussive sounds from some pots (the reel-to-reel is particularly useful for slowing down sounds) and all of this comes in a loop based way. Mnem add a bit of sound effects along the way, just like MB did, creating dense clouds of sounds from the nuclear fall-out zone. It is by all means an old sound, but not something I for one hear a lot these days (perhaps not keeping up with all the M.B. re-issues), so I quite enjoyed this crude set of pieces; all six of them. And just like them oldie days it comes with a mysterious cover collage, but no concentration camps or pornography this time, so
we've moved forward by now in that department." (FdW/Vital Weekly) |
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| MNORTHAM (=MICHAEL NORTHAM) |
Go |
mCD |
A beautiful drone-one-(drone-on)-tracker wtih 20+ minutes length, which could simply go on forever and forever, you can listen to tiny details but also just let it go as an atmosphere in the background. Has lots of mechanical "surface"-scratch noises in it, but its all very soft... Great stuff.
"This new work by Michael Northam (aka mnortham) is a humble attempt to represent in sound the inner force of his recently deceased father's life-long passion for machines and long career as a driver of 3/4 midget and sprint race cars. Where during his 16-year career (from 1949 until 1965) he gained some status as a pioneer of the sport and a national champion. For Michael this period remained a mysterious time of legend as it was some years before his birth. This composition therefore is a journey into the heart of these legends. A portrait of a sprit struggling to keep focus while riding a massive force of machine. An interpretation of the experience that his father must have been undergoing in the midst of a race. Based on various sources including spring cars themselves recorded at the Terre Haute Raceway September of 2005. This work is a monolithic testament of the force of life of a man who lived it fully until the end. As well, a meditation on the samasaric metaphor of the oval track—the circle of life we are all riding along and are bound to GO "the only constant is change" Richard Northam [1926-2005] [press release]
http://fernsrecordings.free.fr/
|
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
Molecular knot phase one |
mCD |
Ein polyphoner Wahnsinns-Drone erfreut uns auf dieser wunderschön gestalteten und verpackten 5” mCD, ein wahres Meer aus Klängen verbirgt sich hierin..... am Ende scheint sich alles in hellem Licht & reinen Schwingungen aufzulösen......20 min one tracker... TIP !
'A massively layered sound work that evolved from a live percussive session with Seth Nehil on a variety of zithers and objects from 1999 at the Mizpah chapel, Portland, Oregon.' 'The inspiration to make the 'molecular knot phase' work comes from readings of Rupert Sheldrake. His example of protein molecular folding used to explain the possible existance of morphic fields was for me also fascinating possible explanation of how I consider the construction of my sound work.
This 'molecular' model pushed me to take on what I considered 'normal' musical morphologies and via my personal system of sound 'composting' arrive at a completely new sound where the overtly musical form vanishes into a deeply folded sonic space. For this 'phase' I have used percussive sources created by Seth and myself.' [label info / M.Northam]
|
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| MODELBAU |
Neither Nor |
CD-R |
"Modelbau is not the latest in a series of names used to create music, but it is indeed the latest one for a solo vehicle. Each of the names, and that includes my own name, stands for something particular, an idea, and something not found in the other monikers I am using. Modelbau is, like Freiband, not a proper German word (it should be Modellbau, but I thought that looked ugly) and as such is probably already a lo-fi name, and as such also very personal. As a musician I have noy a particular instrument, nor do I favour any technqiue, and I think one should use what is needed for a particular project or a piece of music.
When I started Modelbau, I wanted to use various lo-fi sound sources, such as Dictaphones, walkman, shortwave radio, small synthesizers and such like. This would not be a project for improvisation, but more or less planned pieces of music. All of which to be released in the digital domain only. That was in 2012. Now, in 2017, almost nothing is left of this outline, and yet the msuic is very much what I envisaged as Modelbau. These days Modelbau uses pre-recorded cassettes, iPad apps, sound effects, laptop, shortwave radio, small synthesizers, ancient 2bit sampling device; everything is recorded on the spot, as is, and without multi-tracking and very minimal editing (save for fades and mastering) released as downloads, but also on cassette, CDs and CDrs. Vinyl is only a matter of time. Whenever Modelbau plays a concert (all of which are recorded) preparations are made, and these are also recorded; sometimes they have these preparations can have the length of a concert, but they can also be single pieces of a few minutes. All of these recordings are archived and whenever a release is prepared, the latest sessions are listened to again. 'Does it stand the test of time', is it still interesting.
The pieces on 'Neither Nor' were all recorded on a single, particular fruitful afternoon in October 2016, while waiting for guests who arrived too late to be part of any recording. Free form spacious and lo-fi, complex and minimal, steady and yet always with movement."
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/neither-nor
|
2017 |
€6.00 |
|
| MODELL, ROD & TAKA NODA |
Glow World |
do-LP |
2LP black vinyl, ltd. 192 copies // 2LP coloured vinyl ltd. 108 copies // CD, 6-panel digisleeve, ltd. 300 copies // Tape, ltd. 100 copies
GLOW WORLD is Rod Modell's new project resulting from his collaboration with Taka Noda. The duo delivers what could be an example of perfect elegance and musical refinement, but the resulting sounds are once again dirtied, ruined and ravaged by a noise capable of deafening us, sounds that come from afar, that seem to fade away but suddenly illuminate the world around us, which lands on us and which no longer belongs to us, leaving us lost in an infinite melancholy.
GLOW WORLD is a work characterized by buoyant ambient sounds from which delicate rhythmic textures emerge, and never speeding up they run along the routes of an electronic music that surely knows how to be as minimal and suffused as it is distressing. Touches of piano, slow pulsations of bass lines and constantly disturbed sounds that nevertheless almost lull the listener into listening to this timeless music, perfect for letting go, observing time inexorably slipping out of our hands forever.
Sounds that are timeless, it was said. Rod Modell and Taka Noda are visionaries, and GLOW WORLD is a rare gem. Simply another masterpiece.
13.silentes.it/private_sounds/sps2360.htm
|
2023 |
€36.00 |
|
| MODELL, ROD / MARIT WOLTERS |
Cocoon |
do-LP |
Marit Wolters is a Viennese artist who creates sculptures that speak. They generate their own world of micro-sounds. Rod Modell is a sound designer operating primarily from Detroit (with an EU home-base in Amsterdam). Here, he moulded the sounds of Marit's works in the same way that she works her materials, creating a generative soundscape designed for museum playback during Marit’s exhibitions, constructed with sounds of Marit’s sculptures, drones, field recordings, and cosmic sounds. The result of this collaboration is COCOON, a 74 minute CD of music by Rod and Marit, with a 24-page 8" square booklet featuring Marit’s work. The package also Includes a poster that reproduces the original playbill from the debut exhibition of COCOON in Linz, Austria. A collector's item, limited and numbered to only 300 pieces.
"The Ethereal Substance of Matter" by Mirco Salvadori
It takes adaptation to begin this journey. We need to increase our perceptual sensors by adapting the transmission of touch to the apparently inert matter. Sight too must increase its visionary capacity, and hearing has the obligation to pick up even the most microscopic movement. Gradually, we levitate upon appearing in front of the substance. As protected in a transparent cocoon that allows contact, we penetrate through the undefined throbbing of a heart that is constantly springing into action, witness to a life that uses field recordings capable of recalling past glitches. Absorbed in the liquidity of sound we slowly immerse ourselves in the majesty of the deep dronic breath, driven by the power of the ambient wave that iterates its eternal oscillation. We are in, here where everything is an unlimited reverberation, almost a song of seductive ethereal substance.
13.silentes.it/private_sounds/sps2037_rod_modell_marit_wolters_cocoon.htm
|
2021 |
€36.00 |
|
| MOHAMMAD (MMMD) |
Zo Rel Do |
LP |
"Zo Rèl Do is the first volume of a trilogy that explores the sounds of the geographical area between 34°N - 42°N & 19°E - 29°E. In this new adventure Mohammad further enrich their monolithic, resonant and deep-dark melodic sound with rhythmic shreds, seismic vibrations that echoes past and future rituals. Volume 2 entitled Lamnè Gastama and Volume 3 Segondè Saleco will be released later in 2014 - early 2015. Edition of 450 copies." [label info]
www.antifrost.gr
"Of the two releases by Mohammad, 'Zo Rel Do' was already released in spring and 'Lamne Gastama' was just released; both of these are part of a trilogy that explores the geographical area between 34 and 42 degrees North and 19 and 29 E, which, if I'm not mistaken is roughly the area of the Mediterranean Sea. Mohammad is a trio of Nikos Veliotis (cello), Coti K. (contrabass) and Ilios (oscillators), and they describe their music as 'chamber doom, religious, extremely dark, harrowing, monolithic, born in heaven, sonic rape, electrocution', a lot of their music deals with low frequencies and dark textures, but I think there are some important differences between both releases. 'Zo Rel Do' seems to me less 'heavy' than the 'Lamne Gastama' one. On the latter the two stringed instruments are played 'con furioso', 'tres fort', like it is a vicious animal that need attacking. In 'Tik Tromakton' the oscillators from Ilios start out and it seems one of the rare occasions we hear him. Maybe, yet I might be entirely mistaken, but with many of the subtle low frequencies Ilios uses in his music, it might be better to witness this in concert at an appropriate volume, which may be lost at home (unless you want some domestic disturbance). The four pieces on 'Lamne Gastama' seemed to be more intense than the ones of 'Zo Rel Do', and evoke a feeling of oppression. Maybe even a very odd take on doom metal I was thinking. Having said all of that, I don't think 'Zo Rel Do' is a more lightweight record, but it certainly reflects a different life in that geographical area I think. The seven pieces here are a bit shorter than on the other one, and while 'Grabe' and 'Kabilar Mace' are quite forceful, 'Urso Nesto' seems to be entirely build of field recordings and 'Marik' reaches for a more contemplative mood, or even a sense of mourning in 'Samarina'. Both are excellent releases and with humble apologies to my neighbours for playing this at a considerable volume in the last few days." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€19.50 |
|
|
Lamnè Gastama - 34ºN-42ºN/19ºE-29ºE Study Vol.2 |
LP |
"Lamnè Gastama is the second volume of a trilogy that explores the sounds of the geographical area between 34°N - 42°N & 19°E - 29°E.
In this second volume Mohammad descend further down into the bowels of darkness unleashing sonic monoliths and Promethean melodies and rhythms. Lamnè Gastama, a veritable tour de force including Hapsía the first ever vocal track by the trio so far featuring Sakis Tolis of Rotting Christ.
Segondè Saleco, the third volume and final catharsis is expected in spring 2015. Tirage limité de 450 copies." [label info]
www.antifrost.gr
"Of the two releases by Mohammad, 'Zo Rel Do' was already released in spring and 'Lamne Gastama' was just released; both of these are part of a trilogy that explores the geographical area between 34 and 42 degrees North and 19 and 29 E, which, if I'm not mistaken is roughly the area of the Mediterranean Sea. Mohammad is a trio of Nikos Veliotis (cello), Coti K. (contrabass) and Ilios (oscillators), and they describe their music as 'chamber doom, religious, extremely dark, harrowing, monolithic, born in heaven, sonic rape, electrocution', a lot of their music deals with low frequencies and dark textures, but I think there are some important differences between both releases. 'Zo Rel Do' seems to me less 'heavy' than the 'Lamne Gastama' one. On the latter the two stringed instruments are played 'con furioso', 'tres fort', like it is a vicious animal that need attacking. In 'Tik Tromakton' the oscillators from Ilios start out and it seems one of the rare occasions we hear him. Maybe, yet I might be entirely mistaken, but with many of the subtle low frequencies Ilios uses in his music, it might be better to witness this in concert at an appropriate volume, which may be lost at home (unless you want some domestic disturbance). The four pieces on 'Lamne Gastama' seemed to be more intense than the ones of 'Zo Rel Do', and evoke a feeling of oppression. Maybe even a very odd take on doom metal I was thinking. Having said all of that, I don't think 'Zo Rel Do' is a more lightweight record, but it certainly reflects a different life in that geographical area I think. The seven pieces here are a bit shorter than on the other one, and while 'Grabe' and 'Kabilar Mace' are quite forceful, 'Urso Nesto' seems to be entirely build of field recordings and 'Marik' reaches for a more contemplative mood, or even a sense of mourning in 'Samarina'. Both are excellent releases and with humble apologies to my neighbours for playing this at a considerable volume in the last few days." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Lamnè Gastama - 34ºN-42ºN/19ºE-29ºE Study Vol.2 |
CD |
"Lamnè Gastama is the second volume of a trilogy that explores the sounds of the geographical area between 34°N - 42°N & 19°E - 29°E.
In this second volume Mohammad descend further down into the bowels of darkness unleashing sonic monoliths and Promethean melodies and rhythms. Lamnè Gastama, a veritable tour de force including Hapsía the first ever vocal track by the trio so far featuring Sakis Tolis of Rotting Christ." [label info]
www.antifrost.gr
|
2014 |
€12.50 |
|
| |
Som Sakrifis |
CD |
"CD version of the 2013 LP edited on PAN. New mastering + bonus tracks. Mohammad is a chamber music trio consisting of Coti K (contrabass), Ilios (oscillators) and Nikos Veliotis (cello). Based in Greece, Mohammad make long form work drone works that explore the lower end of the frequency spectrum whilst retaining an intense emotional capacity. The results are monumental slow moving physical blocks of sound, both daunting and musical. The sheer weight of these recordings is impressive, the interplay of the musicians and instruments staggering, this end result being an album rich with immense harmonious abstraction which highlights years of dedication to their unique path. Following on from their previous releases (the highly regarded 'Roto Vildblomma' CD and the 'Spiriti' 3LP box, both on Antifrost) 'Som Sakrifis' follows the trio through three tracks of deep space experimentation where the acoustic and electronic blend together as a monumental whole. Listening to 'Som Sakrifis' takes the listener on an expansive journey through the netherworld of the low range whilst retaining distinct traces of musicality. The time and space in these works have a logic more akin to that of Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr than any contemporary music references. Monumental monochromatic movement is the order of the day. Sit back, strap in and let these fine explorers take you way out into the nether world."
www.antifrost.gr
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| MOLJEBKA PVLSE |
Tamon |
CD |
Nach seinen meditativen, ruhig-dronigen Werken SADALMELIK und DUHKA zeigt sich der junge Schwede M.P. mit TAMON viel noisiger, obgleich im Effekt ähnlich hypnotisch. Hier scheint MOLJEBKA PVLSE das Auge im Zentrum des Orkans zu suchen, wenn im Noise-Sturm eine ruhige, objekt- & zeitlose Zone entsteht.....MOLJEBKA PVLSE kreiert Trance-Noise, auf eine energetischere Stufe gehievt.... Industrialized microsound at its best !
“Mathias Josefson’s one-man-project Moljebka Pvlse from Stockholm, Sweden here stretches the boundaries of ambient drone-music, perhaps a surprising listen for those accustomed to his other recordings put out by Eibon and Cold Meat Industry to name a few. This work to a larger degree features a sound palette unarguably harsher than his other recordings. Tons of frenzied, computerized, but crispy clear distortion flows out over you like an ice wall and leaves the listener in a nervous state, begging for a warming aftermath. Static walls of rampant treated guitars and billowing droney backgrounds screaming endlessly out over the cold plains of the earth. Ambient gourmets also get their piece, though somewhat in a more experimental way. Full color digipak.” [label description]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Borrowed Scenery: Appearance |
maxi-CD |
During the pandemic, many of the restrictions introduced, in particular, on movement, artists, like most of us, made their journeys mainly in their own rooms or made pilgrimages deep into each other. Mathias from MOLJEBKA PVLSE at that time uses his own studio as a vehicle he traverses through virtual field recordings, composing his own abstract environments and discovering distant lands. The map of these borrowed places is written in 3 long compositions, complementing each other like the topography of neighboring places or overlapping grids showing different properties occurring at the same latitude. It is possible to read them separately, just as it is possible to listen to only one of the three compositions and it gives some idea, allowing you to capture a selected fragment, this listening to the whole gives a deeper insight. The material from the session was divided according to a similar pattern and properly divided into two complementary releases: the album "Borrowed Scenery", which will be released next spring on vinyl, and CDEP "Borrowed Scenery: Appearance", introducing the atmosphere of the longplay, respectively. The CD containing over twenty minutes of composition folded in a 6-inch gatefold with two postcards attached is the next installment of a series of short musical forms, initiated in our catalog by the publication of the material "Klechdy" by Rigor Mortiss.
CD EP folded in 6" gatefold sleeve + 2 postcards limited to 200 copies
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/borrowed-scenery-appearance
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Borrowed Scenery |
LP |
Sweden's Moljebka Pvlse (Mathias Josefson) will be known to many for releases on labels such as Cold Meat Industry, Cyclic Law, Drone Records, and Reverse Alignment. During the pandemic, Josefson used his own studio as a vehicle to traverse through virtual field recordings, composing abstract environments and discovering distant lands. The map of these borrowed places is written in three long compositions, complementing each other like the topography of neighbouring places or overlapping grids showing different properties occurring at the same latitude. It is possible to read them separately, just as it is possible to listen to only one of the three compositions and it gives some idea, allowing you to capture a selected fragment, this listening to the whole gives a deeper insight. The material from the session was divided according to a similar pattern and properly divided into two complementary releases: the album "Borrowed Scenery", presented here (41 mins), and "Borrowed Scenery: Appearance" (21 mins), introducing the atmosphere of the longplay, respectively. Special limited edition of 150 copies, with MCD in 5" card sleeve, both editions with slightly different artwork. Comes with digital download code.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/borrowed-scenery |
2022 |
€20.00 |
|
| MOLJEBKA PVLSE & HOROLOGIUM |
Kaukasus |
CD |
Die Kaukasus-Region dient auf dieser Zusammenarbeit des schwedischen Projekts MOLJEBKA PVLSE mit den uns bisher unbekannten HOROLOGIUM als inhaltliche Inspirationsquelle.
Trancige Mantra-Drones, hypnotische perkussionsartige Strukturen, überwiegend sehr dronig-rauschig-minimalistisch, spirituelle Atmo. SEHR schöne Verpackung: Gefaltete / Bedruckte Papphülle in Leinen, mit Siegellack verschlossen. [Drone Rec info 2006]
“The highest mountains in Europe have been a place of constant national conflicts ever since. 'Kaukasus' by Moljebka Pvlse and Horologium is an album devoted to this magical and spellbound region, known for its natural beauty and cultural variety. 45 minutes of experimental ambient music on a limited to 555 copies CD edition, which as always comes in a splendid packaging: 260 x 360 cm poster folded in two (13 x 18 cm). A linen clothing is added for your aesthetical pleasure.“ [label info]
|
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
| MOLJEBKA PVLSE / SEVENTEEN MIGS OF SPRING |
Ravha / Electricity Gardens |
CD |
Split & Collaboration vom beliebten schwedischen "Experimental Drone"-Projekt mit den uns bisher unbekannten 17 MIGS OF SPRING aus Tel Aviv. Eröffnet wird das Album durch ein sehr langes, ungewöhnliches Stück von M.P. mit vielen eher konkreten field recordings, welches wieder dessen grosse Variabilität aufzeigt; es folgen ein echtes Collaboration-Stück beider Projekte und 5 Stücke von 17 MIGS OF SPRING, die sich zwischen dunklem drone-ambient und aggressiven Analog-Industrial bewegen.
"It is not every day you find reviews of albums released by Israeli labels in Vital Weekly. Topheth Prophet is an independent Israeli label formed in summer 2002 whose aim is to spread the knowledge of the Israeli noise scene to the outside world. The label focuses on styles ranging from harsh noise across power electronics to dark ambient. This 13th release from the label deals with drone-based ambient music. On this particular release one of the presented projects has its origin in Sweden. It is a split album between Israeli project SEVENTEEN MIGS OF SPRING and Swedish project MOLJEBKA PULSE. The album opens with the 27 minute long track titled "Ravha" from the latter mentioned project. The brain behind Moljebka Pvlse is the Swedish sound artist Mathias Josefson who explores the sounds of both acoustic and electronic origins, quite often with the starting point taken in found sounds and field recordings. The "Ravha"-track is a nice example of Mr. Josefson's ability to transform the sounds of reality into a world of drone-based minimalism. Opening with a mixture of concrete natural sounds and buzzing drones the expression slowly turns more and more harsh as the field recordings develops into noisy drones including spoken words. At a point the concrete sounds fades away or turns into sonic abstraction. The track moves into pure drone ambient minimalism. Nice work.
Seventeen Migs Of Spring is an Israeli project consisting of three members, Gurfa, K-76 and B-74. As was the case with aforementioned Swedish project the conceptual approach of this Israeli project is sonic drones based on concrete sounds. Compared to the Swedish project the Israeli projects goes further to the extremes with sounds of a rather noisy kind. Especially four or the five tracks get quite harsh with the use of an on-going mixture of static noise and radio-based shortwave frequencies. Inbetween the two projects comes a collaborative track that successfully combines the style of the two projects. Everyone interested in drone based ambient with focus on concrete sounds should definitely check out this album. " [NM, Vital Weekly]
label-website: www.tophet.org
|
2007 |
€13.50 |
|
| MONOCUBE & TROUM // TROUM & MONOCUBE |
Contemplator Caeli |
LP |
"CONTEMPLATOR CAELI denotes the antique notion and skill of immersing into the (night-) sky, in order to feel connected to the immeasureable dimensions of the universe and the unearthly powers. The celestial spheres and objects are interpretated as living entities, building a shelter for the earth and the humans, reflecting an eternal cosmic order and it's principles. The sky is being watched with deep humbleness, amazement and praise.
Inspired by this old notion TROUM & MONOCUBE wanted to capture it's emotional bearing, understanding the sky also as our 'psychic firmament', the universe that is linked with every single cell in our bodies.
Ukraine's transcension guitar drone project MONOCUBE and German dream atmospherics TROUM collaborated on four long tracks, working with each other's basic material, using acoustic guitars, melodica, accordeon, voice and electronic effects.
The result is this very first vinyl release on TRANSGREDIENT, the initial edition is limited and numbered to 200 copies and comes on multi-"sky"-coloured vinyl and with inlay, feat. a phantastic artwork done by sukkeret.og.pepper studio (Berlin).
Side 1:
A1 CIRCULARIS ET PERPETUA
A2 PRECESSIO ÆQUINOCTIORUM
Side 2:
B1 STELLAE ERRANTIS
B2 DIGRESSIO
digital version:
https://troum.bandcamp.com/album/contemplator-caeli-collab-with-monocube
###########################################
"Although being familiar with both projects, the first thing that drew me to this album was the stunning gothic and celestial-tinged artwork. Upon investigation the visuals specifically tie in with the album’s theme which ‘denotes the antique notion and skill of immersing into the (night-) sky, in order to feel connected to the immeasurable dimensions of the universe and the unearthly powers. The celestial spheres and objects are interpreted as living entities, building a shelter for the earth and the humans, reflecting an eternal cosmic order and its principles. The sky is being watched with deep humbleness, amazement and praise’.
Circularis Et Perpetua opens the album, blending mournful drones and what appear to be treated choirs sitting in the middle to the back of the mix. Hitting its stride early, the tone swells in a cyclic rising and falling manner and hints at grandiose night-time vistas; this maintains consistency over the eight-minute span. In contrast to the ethereal mood that the choirs provide on the first track, a more earthbound perspective is articulated on Precessio Aequinoctiorum via the use of a lone male singing (courtesy of Monocube?), blended with widescreen enveloping drones. Stellae Errantis opens Side B, and is slightly less flowing than the preceding material as the caustic and tensile atmosphere sounds to be constructed around treated field recordings and layered foghorn drones. But the absolute highlight track is the final one, Digressio: an amazing piece of melancholy minimalism, based around reverb-drenched and catatonically plucked strings (acoustic guitar?), blended with widescreen melodious bass drones that rise and recede over an extended length.
If you enjoy the output of either or both projects, you will clearly find much to like with this release. While the first three tracks are enjoyably good, it is the fourth that is the absolute standout. Pressed in 200 copies in clear coloured vinyl, a full colour cover and insert rounds out the exquisite presentation."
[Noise Receptor]
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| MONOPIUM |
The Goat & the Dead Horses Circus |
CD |
" ”The Goat & Dead Horses' Circus” is a new child for MONOPIUM. After a great debut album “Mesmerized.” The surrealist titles hint at the fact that the album is filled with abstract music and slightly degenerated, out of this world sounds. Twelve compositions introduce the listener to the world of magical fairytales. Welcoming you to an adventure based on a soundtrack of deranged improvisations; experiments with cut-ups and exotica. The tracks have been graced by guest appearances by two extraordinary artists: Euski (ROMA AMOR) and EmmA WyrD (CHRONIQUE NOCTURNE) The cover was designed by Robert Schalinski (of Column One fame)." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"Michal Majcher is the man behind Monopium (great name I thought). Active since 2007, he released his first album, "Mesmerized' on Beast Of Prey in 2009. I don't think I heard that one. The music here on 'The Goat And The Dead Horses' Circus' is easily classified as 'odd'. Zoharum describes this "neo-cabaret, post-industrial electronics, musique concrete, drone and even free jazz, it draws associations with incidental musics for film noir, surrealist cinema and the dadaists" and I couldn't agree more. Not something I necessarily like throughout, I must admit, as it carries some traces of gothic, pathetic undercurrent here and there, the sort of adult stuff about fairytales, but because it sounds quite different from what is usually on our plates, but still could easily be classified as 'experimental' by our own standards, this is certainly something I played with a lot of interest. It's quite heavy on the percussion side of things, but also have tape manipulation, cello, voices and maybe field recordings - more water sounds here. A hotch-potch of instruments, and such perhaps of styles (although of course that's not necessarily per se), this makes up indeed a curious CD, of all those things mentioned, and to which one could also add perhaps ambient and plunderphonics. Nice one for its daringly, different content." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| MONOS (DARREN TATE & COLIN POTTER) |
Generators |
do-CD |
DARREN TATE und COLIN POTTER wieder in Aktion, zwei sehr ruhig schwingende Synth-Drone-tracks, angereichert mit „konkreten“ Sounds (Wasserkocher, Radio) von TATE, die sich aber perfekt und niemals störend ins atmosphärische Klangbild einfügen und einen immer grösseren Sog aufbauen - aber so langsam, dass man selbst in ein Zeitlupen-Bewusstsein verfallen kann...
“Long announced new drone release by Colin Potter & Darren Tate. This double album consists of two different works recorded between 2002-2003 at IC studio. Disc one features 3 tracks that are loosely based on processed field recordings in the 'classic' Monos style, exploring internal spaces. Disc two has one long track of arganic & electronic tones which combine to give a dense cloud of flowing sound. Additionally there will be a special mail order only edition incl. an extra CDR, containing a track made up of components from both discs, which produces a completely different result. Full colour digisleeve. Artwork by Darren Tate & Helen Potter. Design by Jonathan Coleclough. First edition of 600 copies. Total playing time: 118:22 min.” [press release]
|
2005 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Window |
CD-R |
Unser bisheriger Favorit von MONOS ist diese CDR namens WINDOW – das Fenster zu unbewußten Phantasien? Sehr tagträumerische field recordings mit viel viel Hall, endloser Space umfängt Dich... zwei lange Stücke.
Our favourite MONOS-release so far, the window to unconscious phantasies? Very daydreamy field recordings with much much reverb, totally lost in space.. two long pieces named “THAT DREAM” and “ALONE”.
label: www.icrdistribution.com
|
2002 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Above the Sky |
CD |
"Finally the ‘new’ album from Monos sees the light of day. Spanning a period of almost four years and involving their one and only public performance, the trio of Darren Tate, Colin Potter and Paul Bradley finally agree that everything is where it should be and the CD is released. Two long contrasting tracks; the familiar and unfamiliar, the context changed, the final result very different, yet at the same time completely natural and cohesive." [label info]
www.icrdistribution.com
"Over the past few years, Darren Tate has been wandering into
some wildly weird electronics, broadening the scope of his aesthetic
beyond the seminal recordings he made with Andrew Chalk (amongst
others) as Ora, and more recently through Monos. For the most part,
Monos has been a collaborative project between Tate and Nurse With
Wound engineer extrordinaire Colin Potter, but at other times, we're
pretty sure that Tate is the only one behind the wheel. For Above The
Sky, the Monos line-up includes Tate, Potter, and fellow British
dronescraper Paul Bradley; and this record is a top notch, vintage
sounding Monos disc for sure.
The extended pieces found on this album were culled from the
one and only live Monos gig in 2006, the handful of recordings from
that gig were processed, recreated, forgotten about, rediscovered, and
processed again throughout various starts and stops over the next four
years. The resulting album is surprisingly coherent, presenting itself
as a sinewy mass of undulating drones dappled with various textures,
shadowy events, field recordings, subtle instrumentation, and then
some. The ghostly ambience that introduces this album is sublimely
beautiful, like the druggy drones of Nurse With Wound (e.g. Soliloquy
For Lilith) or the permafrost laden expanses of Thomas Koner or even a
darker version of Leyland Kirby's much-lauded hauntological ambience.
Distant sound elements of scraped metal echo to the foreground, as the
latent sounds from some occluded ritual in some forgotten place.
Shimmering acoustic clouds of resonance peel away into field
recordings of numerous birds flitting about. Later on, semi-melodic
phrases hover near the event horizon dominated by ominous electrical
vibrations and dilated drone fields. Seriously, this is fantastic stuff!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Age and Transformation |
do-CD |
"To say that this has been planned for some time would be a bit of an understatement. The original Age and Transformation was released by Darren Tate in 2004 on his own Fungal imprint (and issued again in 2005). Both were released as CDRs in editions of 100 copies. Around 2006 the subject of doing a reissue was discussed, and discussed/planned/discussed, and now 6 (six!) years later Age and Transformation with an exquisite Colin Potter remaster along with an entirely new piece, Aged and Transformed remixed from the original is just about here. Darren's work has always been that of a drone eccentric, and proof positive of that is the micro-editions released since 2003 on his own Fungal Records. True modern-day psychedelia, drawn out drone excursions, electric guitar scraping and expansion, synth noodling harbored into small private recordings for the chosen few. The limited number of those exposed to Darren's view, which was not intended to be exclusive, just small updates as to where/what was happening with Darren in terms of gear, mood and circumstance. There is an inherent feel that little editing takes place, just captured recordings with the reel-to-reel on. Tate has worked extensively with other collaborators: Andrew Chalk (together known as Ora), Colin Potter (as Monos), Paul Bradley, Andrew Liles, and Ian Holloway to name a few. Collectively a solid block foundation of great U.K. drone artists. In a collaborative setting, there may be a bit more judicious editing employed for better (or for worse) depending on where one sits in appreciation of refinement over improvisation. Which brings us to Age and Transformation. Two tracks, both around the half-hour mark and presumably recorded in one take each. The first track ('Untitled') contains all elements of what makes a Tate recording effective: gentle guitar scraping, echoed city recordings, air vibrations oscillating an overall nocturnal hush that shrouds the whole piece. The second track (again, simply 'Untitled') is undoubtedly one of Tate's finest solo moments. A defining impressionistic recording captured in the middle of the night. It opens with the sound of a freeway , a very distant light traffic flow filtered through the forest. A lonesome organ sonata, languid chords with silence in between weave in and out at various points throughout. Tate sitting by the window capturing the sounds of the freeway, voices, haunting arias both human and industrial. The second disc is a reworking by Colin Potter. Extracted from the quiet of Age and Transformation, the first track 'Aged' is an encapsulation of the entire recording with the small dervishes, organ melodies and drone wrapped up in an almost tidy nine minutes. The second, 'Transformed,' is over 40 minutes of water tower acoustic sustained tones, layered subtle guitar hum... a perfect complimentary refinement on a classic ambient improvisation." [label info]
www.infractionrecords.com
|
2012 |
€16.00 |
|
| MONTE ESPINA |
Pa |
CD |
Monte Espina, electroacoustic free improvisation duo, consists of Ernesto Montiel and Miguel Espinel, both Venezuelan-born and North Texas-based. The pair perform in tandem, exploring the possibilities of sinuous sonic environments amid amplified sounds and signal processing.
"Pa" is Monte Espina's second proper album, following 2019's outstanding "y culebra" (Marginal Frequency). In many respects, this is a seamless continuation of the timbres and atmospheres uncovered in that first effort, but "Pa" is an altogether more personal endeavor.
Recorded on March 21st, 2020, just one day before the pandemic quarantine took effect in their area, this was the last time Montiel and Espinel would be able to make music together for many months.
Adding greater weight to this date was the death of Ernesto Montiel Guillen, Montiel's father, in Venezuela just one day prior, on March 20th. That country's political climate, coupled with the developing global pandemic (not to mention economic considerations), meant that he was unable to be with his family during this abyssal moment of loss. Monte Espina's standing weekly rehearsal (or "training" as the duo refer to it) fell on the 21st, but rather than cancel it in mourning, they decided to go ahead and play (and record). It turned out to be a fruitful session. As Montiel states: "It was the first creative act I committed in a world where my father no longer was. And given the nature of our methodology of work, free improvisation, the performance was absolutely permeated by my feelings."
This piece is steeped in the stylistic flourishes of Monte Espina's previous work, but perhaps with a more vulnerable core than ever before. Though it was not explicitly performed in dedication to Montiel's father, this material's release intends to pay homage to his memory.
"Pa" then represents a delicate balancing act between introspection and fearless experimentation. Over the course of 63 minutes, Montiel and Espinel offer a series of ever-shifting textures and harmonics which give way to mysterious scrapings and rumblings only to then transform yet again into subtle, shimmering beauty: an ominous cloud, replete with resonant thunder and sparkling torrential rain.
https://elevatorbath.bandcamp.com/album/pa
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| MONTEIRO, ALFREDO COSTA |
Anatomy of Inner Place |
CD |
Das "zu Hause" als Experimentierfeld und Geräusch-Park? Interessantes Konzept von diesem portugiesisch-spanischen Gitarristen & Multimedia-Künstler: alle verwendeten Sounds basieren auf Alltagsgeräuschen, die er in seiner eigenen Wohnung aufnahm, neu zusammenmischte, und die nicht weiter elektronisch effektiert wurden. Was dabei herausgekommen ist, sind höchst abstrakte Drone- und Geräuschscapes, wo die Ursprungs-Klangquellen allerhöchstens noch erahnbar sind. Ein weiteres gutes Beispiel für die Fähigkeit von Musik zur "Verflüssigung der Wirklichkeit" - das Bekannte und Erwartbare wird in völlig neuen Perspektiven wahrnehmbar, einengende Fixierungen werden aufgelöst!
"Recorded at home in winter 2006. Mixed in january and february 2007 in Barcelona. 'All the sound sources are part of my domestic environment every sound is used here as it was recorded with no electronic effects or processing except for dynamics some sounds result from acoustic combinations of other sounds.' " [from the press release]
www.monotyperecords.com
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| MONTESSUIS, JOACHIM |
Chapel Perilous |
LP |
"After a prolific 2011 with a handful of splendid releases on CD, DVD and cassette + collaborations with the likes of Charlemagne Palestine, Julien Ottavi and The Master Musicians of Joujouka, “Chapel Perilous” marks the debut vinyl release and first proper solo album by the Paris based audio/visual artist and curator of the exquisite Erratum label. 23 tracks, totalling approx. 35 minutes, compiled from recordings made in the course of the past eight years, de- and recomposed for this album in early 2012. Drawing on his voice as the main tool, Montessuis delivers a frantic opus of cut-up noise poetry, making “Chapel Perilous” le chef d’œuvre of his extending body of work." [label info]
www.fragmentfactory.com
|
2012 |
€17.50 |
|
| MONTGOMERIE, JO |
From Industry Home |
MC |
an elegant decay amassed from the sounds of detritus. that may be an apt introduction to the work of jo montgomerie. of course, the helen scarsdale agency has a long standing infatuation with disintegrated sound in various forms. so, it makes perfect sense we should publish her work! that said, montgomerie has a fascinating strategy to her long-form smears of blackened mascara ambient and smoldered noise. as a teenager she was a classically trained musician with an eye towards a career as a concert pianist; but a bad audition may have closed that door yet it opened another in her career in sound design, foley work, and post-production. it may be of note to some, that she was an uncredited soul responsible for thousands upon thousands of audio clips rendered for boomkat during a lengthy tenure at that institution. these forms of production and editing necessitate a flawlessness which also hides the process entirely; and montgomerie began to ruminate on that which was left on the cutting room floor (or the digital version of such a space). and thus, she took these unwanted sounds, telescoped them into sinewy drones, forced them to collapse in a crucible of noise, and even rarified their essence into fluid harmonic tones.
the source material to much of her work is the urban landscape of her manchester home, but she also will recontextualize traditional instruments and even the creaks, groans, and snaps of her own body. amidst the thickets of details, obfuscating noise, and thrumming din, the original sounds are dissolved with new layers and accretions become audible. they still address a heavy melancholy augmented through a dilated sense of time. from industry home becomes a tantalizing, uncanny album of the once familiar, adjacent to those heemann / chalk productions as mirror and the environmental abstractions of jana winderen.
Professionally duplicated. Professionally printed on archival, classic laid paper. Limited to 125 copies
https://helenscarsdale.bandcamp.com/album/from-industry-home |
2022 |
€12.00 |
|
| MONTGOMERY, GEN KEN |
Drilling Holes in the Wall |
CD |
"Archive materials from one of the most mysterious musicians in electronic underground, dating from 1988 to 1991. Each piece composed by Gen Ken Montgomery is the result of domestic alchemy, transforming some ugliest environmental sounds into artistic images
of impressive beauty. His instruments are just prepared toy synth, but also from time to time laminator, icebreaker, radiator, film projector and so on. These recordings were made in Conrad Schnizler studio in West Berlin, and also live on stage there, in time of Germany reunion.
Gen Ken Montgomery has been active in the experimental, electronic and noise scenes since the early 80s. Montgomery was the founder of Generations Unlimited and an original co-founder of Pogus Productions, respected experimental music labels. In 1989, he founded Generator, the first sound art gallery in New York City, where he created a home for sound artists and noise makers who were part of the thriving international cassette culture of the 80s. Since 1996 he has published recordings by sound artists in collaboration with Scott Konzelmann (Chop Shop) releasing them through Generator Sound Art." [label info]
"Gen Ken Montgomery’s ‘Drilling Holes in the Wall’ is less an ambient record than it is an opus among the work of an experimental sound artist – being two divergent concepts – the latter more among artists of the ilk of Daniel Menche, who choose to create using a circus of instrumentation to perform certain plays before moving on to not just new locale, but new tools for performance sculpting. This retrospective of work is a troupe of electronic pulses, glitches, groans, explosions, susurrations, and endless other sonic perturbations.
Suppurating at first, “Drilling Holes in the Wall” bloats with unhealthy ichors pressing the sores with throbbing ululations that are lanced with synaptic lacerations of noise, using sound to sonically cut and carve away tumorous flesh. Every digital strike is never the same with each collop dissected bringing new electronic whimpers unexpected; the infinitesimal filigree of surgical strikes of sound is like the marginalia of some robotic surgeon. Sound fuses, splatters, roars, and blazes contorted shapes in a linear-spatial sculpture. There is no empathy here, nothing to relate to human experience. Gen Ken Montgomery’s first track is more Opus No. 1, a matrix of half an hour of disassembly, reassembly and alien interdiction upon frequencies we recognise. It comes as great surprise to find the liner notes disclose a recording date of 1990 as it could easily sit in this milieu.
Two years prior to that and the next two tracks – the latter of which and its two succeeding ones being unreleased - divulge more montage of digitally modelled scintilla, though here in more unified form, if only by sinewy electrical strands of frazzled computer nightmares of the surreal kind. Unidentifiable and humanly unpronounceable vespers are strobed and shuffled to the pulpit for recitation but there is no quantifiable bourn to address, only to witness and wonder.
The last two tracks are the shortest but of the familiar distortive and displacing concurrence sound forms previously expressed. They scurry and quiver across the mottled surface of Gen Ken Montgomery’s odd musical conglomerate. The incision of human vocals in the last track is a bizarre feeding of radio station into tesla coils that seems a poor accompaniment to the unearthly welding going about it, and before it.
Nonetheless, if you enjoy chewed electronics unlike anything you have previously heard, Gen Ken Montgomery is for you." [Heathen Harvest]
www.monochromevision.ru
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Birds + Machines |
CD |
"With the enthusiasm of a born-again composer, I reviewed music I composed in the 80s, giving special attention to pieces that fused electronic sounds with everyday recorded sounds and noisy songs." - Gen Ken
I knew of Gen Ken Montgomery long before I ever met him, in fact one of the first tracks to attract me to his music is on this cd. And then I did meet him, etc etc. (Ken was a co-founder of Pogus, by the way). So it is with special delight that Pogus can release this cd of Ken's works from the 1980's.
I think that what Rene van Peer writes in his notes for this disc sums up much of Ken's work indeed:
Gen Ken Montgomery's sound worlds are full of activity. Not in the sense of sinuous melodies and chord progressions that try to set flea-hopping records. The sounds conjure up images and atmospheres of workshops where people busy themselves with assembling and repairing a variety of contraptions. Places where humans and tools intermingle, where technology (both hi and lo) appears as a trusted and respected companion. It is as much accepted as an integral part of the human sphere as a dog or a cat might be - and it sounds equally homely.
That is not to say that all sounds you'll hear in his music are commonplace, mundane. Many of them are immediately recognizable. Many of them can be traced to their source, even through dense veils of modification. Some derive clearly from instruments, some from birds. But many are absolutely singular, there's no telling what produced them. And to tell you the truth (my truth): it doesn't really matter. Regardless what sounds or sources form the components of this music (everyday or extraordinary objects; musical instruments or electronic tools; his own voice or environmental recordings), what is important is the mind that processes them and welds them together into the independent entities that we call songs.
It is evidently an open mind that enjoys toying with sounds. His music sounds as if he works with what he finds. Obviously he has prepared materials to be used. But the way he puts everything together makes the impression of someone following his judgment of the situation on the spot. These are not guided tours, mapped out beforehand. These songs are explorations. Trips into an unknown. They aren't, however, excursions done in seclusion. Everywhere he goes Ken Montgomery creates a buzz. He creates a sphere of sound around him that feels humane, sociable. A warm cloud of sonic strangeness. But a loud cloud, too, mind you." [label info]
www.pogus.com
"Although never really 'away' from the scene, Gen Ken Montgomery's career has been up and off the radar quite a bit, but these days he feels like a born again composer. He has been around since 1980 and recently reviewed the first decade of his career, and compiled this overview from these years and released it on Pogus, a label he was one of the founding fathers of (a fact I was unaware of). Heavily under the influence of electronic music, from all sorts of directions.
From industrial music to Conrad Schnitzler and
the serious sixties avant-garde, but also working, early, with field recordings (bird sounds return in various pieces). This collection spans all of these interests and makes up a highly varied disc of experimental, electronic music. The free spirit of these pieces, mostly made through improvisation with synthesizers, electric violin, found sounds, is partly crude, inherent to the period it was recorded I guess, is great. Not every track is great, 'Crema Di Roma' just gets on and on a bit too much for my liking, but there is enough great music here in this package to enjoy. If you missed out his own early tapes and records, and 80s styled electronic music was just discovered, then this is a must have. All others already made a note to fill in the gap in history." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Postcards 1981-1986 |
do-LP |
Gen Ken Montgomery, a New York-based Visual Artist and Sound Composer is absolutely genuine; he has no training in traditional music or art. He was never a follower of any direction or school. Instead he founded his own school of off-beat DIY-electronics, driven by irresistible curiosity and ingenuous enthusiasm for sound experimentation and process-oriented performance.
His music is dense and full of polyrhythms and counter harmonies with singular control over layers of randomly pulsing, bleeping synthesizers and drum boxes. As a composer in the early eighties Ken was creating multi-channel sound works often performed in total darkness.
He began his sound explorations with electronic toys, cheap synthesizers and household gadgetry for which he had a special fascination. His ever present objects of affection are electric machines including an ice crusher (ICEBREAKER), aquarium pump, refrigerator, shoe shine machine, hand massager and a laminator (The Sound of Lamination).
Postcards has 41 (!!) tracks; 22 tracks on LP 1 compiled from his first tape Gen Ken & Equipment (1981), his second tape Collaborations (1982), his third official tape Kalkreuth Keks (1986), recorded at Conrad Schnitzler’s Studio, and several live recordings under the name KMZ with Michael Zodorozny of Crash Course in Science. Postcards LP2 includes 19 songs from the 4th official tape Beatmusik 1981-84 (SoP186) released by Sound of Pig, New York, songs from 1984 on his 5th release Room to Roam on Out Of The Blue, Berlin, plus 3 previously unreleased tracks from the same time period, one also as KMZ.
Gen Ken & Equipment was self-produced in an edition of 150 tapes in 1981 and led Montgomery to corresponding and trading tapes in the international Cassette Culture and Mail Art network, leading to relationships and collaborations with such luminaries in the underground music scene as Conrad Schnitzler, Giancarlo Tonuitti, CHOP SHOP, David Lee Myers (Arcane Device), Al Margolis, John Hudak, Francisco Lopez, AMK, Istvan Kantor (Monty Cantsin), G.X. Jupiter-Larsen (The Haters), Rod Summers (VEC), Maurizio Bianchi, Masami Akita alias Merzbow, CM von Hausswolff and Leif Elggren among others.
“Cassettes were an inexpensive and practical way of getting feedback from the developing international community of sound/noise/music experimenters. Cassettes allowed for spontaneous freedom and experimentation without the burden and commitment of releasing vinyl which was expensive to mail and costly to press in editions of less than 500”- gkm
Montgomery used the earliest Casio keyboards, self made electronic gadgets, cheap drum boxes and his favorite instrument, the Korg MS-20 synthesizer. The mixture of noise/pop/rock/electronic and soundscapes all on one cassette show how musical genres hadn’t become entrenched in the Cassette Culture scene yet. “Do it!”, “Small World” and “Treat The Hell Out of It” (released as a flexi-disc included with Onslaught Magazine (Artwerk) in 1982 are examples of the songs he composed at this time.
In the early 80s in New York City there were still small record shops such as Venus Records, Bleecker Bob’s, Soho Music Gallery and 99 Records that sold artist produced cassettes and fanzines. Independent mail order distributors like Rough Trade and Aeon Records carried Montgomery’s cassettes and On-Slaught Magazine, Option Magazine, Factsheet Five and other small DIY zines listed them or reviewed them.
Montgomery’s interest in structured improvisation and avante-garde theater theatre led to the formation of KMZ with his friend Michael Zodorozny from Crash Course in Science. KMZ performed regularly at the legendary Pyramid-Club in NYC. Tracks from KMZ and collaborations with other artists such as Stephen Spera and Stefan Tischler of Port Said can be found on his 2nd tape Collaborations.
Between 1982 and 85 Montgomery spent time in Berlin combining performance art and electronic music where he had the fortune to meet and develop a relationship with Conrad Schnitzler who has had a major impact on his life and work.
His third official Tape Kalkreuth Keks was recorded in Conrad Schnitzler’s studio during a 2-week stint in the dead of winter 1986. These 8-track recordings incorporated the violin, guitar, and keyboards with analog synthesizers, processing, voice and the “new” sounds of the Yamaha CX5M music computer. Three of the tracks on Postcards are from these sessions.
A 4th cassette Beatmusik, released on Al Margolis Sound-of-Pig-Label (SOP186) in 1988 featured a selection of tracks recorded between 1981 and 86. In 1989 Lord Litter from Berlin also released a fifth Gen Ken-tape called Room To Roam, also with recordings from 1984. A selection from these two tapes can be found on the additional accompanying 7”inch.
In 1987 Montgomery, along with David Prescott and Conrad Schnitzler started the label Generations Unlimited. Two cassettes of cassettes of minimal electronic music, Stepping Through Rooms and The One Sided Triangle were released on Generations Unlimited and in1988, GENCON, a collaboration with Conrad Schnitzler was released on vinyl.
His involvement in the late 70’s and 80’s Cassette-Culture and the Mail-Art movements led to his creation of the first and arguably still the most important Sound Art gallery in New York City in 1989: Generator. Located in the East Village, then in Chelsea, Generator’s wide scope and novel approach toward audio art made it a vector-point for some of the most interesting and important artists from around the world. Gen Ken also founded A.T.M.O.T.W.— Art is Throwing Money Out The Window — and Generator Sound Art Inc., and he co-founded the seminal experimental label Pogus Productions.
The past three decades many of Montgomery’s cassettes, records and CDs have been released in limited editions on small labels outside of mainstream distribution on such respected labels as De Fabriek (Holland), Staalplaat (Holland), Tellus, Mark Lane’s Artwerk, Banned Productions, XI Records (all USA), Firework Edition (Sweden), Old Europa Café (Italy) and Discos Esplendor Geometrico (Spain). Other recorded works are available on his own A.T.M.O.T.W. label, Generator Sound Art and on Touch Radio.
Montgomery continues to produce music and soundworks while also producing visual art, collage, bookmaking, and international correspondence art. As The Minister of Lamination (a.k.a. Egnekn) he is the world’s foremost practitioner of sonic Lamination Art and he continues to mail postcards to friends and collaborators throughout the world.
www.vinyl-on-demand.com
|
2012 |
€27.50 |
|
| MONTSEGUR, JEANNE / NATURE MORTE |
Restes d'une chose brisee |
10inch |
"More than just a record, “Restes d’une chose brisée” is the outcome of an intimate collaboration between music and writing. Based on a series of thirteen short texts by young French writer JEANNE MONTSÉGUR, this symbiotic work unfolds like a Dantesque journey. On each step of the way NATURE MORTE’s abyssal drones echo the desperate intensity and ruthless honesty of Jeanne’s words, opening her wounds to chasms, sustaining the inner conflict and the baring of feelings by an almost unbearable tension which, when it finally breaks, strikes the listener as surely as the incisiveness of her words. At the end of the voyage there is hope, seeping between the lines and through the grooves as the drones recede and give way to luminous reeds, leaving the reader-listener shaken, colder and gloomier than before, but maybe a little wiser too." [label info]
www.tutrur.com
|
2012 |
€18.00 |
|
| MOORE, ANTHONY & THE MISSING PRESENT BAND |
The Present is missing |
LP |
a-musik is honoured to present a new album by one of our all-time favourites, anthony moore. we've been faszinated by his work, both with slapp happy and solo, since quite a long time now, and are happy to release this lp with wonderful live recordings he did with the missing present band in cologne in late 2015.
https://a-musik-official.bandcamp.com/album/the-present-is-missing |
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
| MOORE, ANTHONY / THERAPEUTISCHE HÖRGRUPPE KÖLN |
Ore Talks |
do-LP |
" 'ore talks' limited edition release, gatefold sleeve with booklet. a double lp of essentially electronic and noise-based pieces paired with astonishing texts spoken by anthony moore. the concept is that objects of value, artifacts or minerals, buried deep in the ground send strange signals through the earth up to the planet's surface. they are detected by the ears and instruments of miners, explorers and archaeologists who are tuned-in to the subterranean frequencies. the album contains a large booklet explaining this idea and featuring many pages of eccentric writing about sound." [label info]
Four sides of vinyl: this has served as a time constraint from the very outset of the project. With around 18 minutes per side giving an overall run time of 72 minutes, these time slots are designed to offer recordings of four sets of historical, technical processes and their devices. Each of the four chapters is conceived in two parts and realised in a number of actual compositions.
A. VALVES / ROEHRE:
1. Their Electrons. The developement of De Forest‘s Audion.
2. Noise as signal and the power of redundancy.
B. PIEZOS:
1. Reversibility; Loudspeakers as Microphones and The Transmitting Ear.
2. Mercury Acoustic Delays Lines.
C. RECORDERS:
1. Wax Cylinders, Hill ’n Dale, Voices of the Dead.
2. Magnetic Oxide and Memory Machines, Storing Time.
D. CRYSTAL SETS:
1. Waves; The Air as One Vast (negentropic) Library.
2. Farewell to AM, Fades to Infinity.
A voice is transmitted through various materials; early microphones, the reproducer of an Edison phonograph, glass phials filled with mercury, piezo crystals, transducers, and piezo discs attached to polystyrene spheres, shortwave radios, old russian valves and the self-built circuitry of condensers and switches. What emerges are speech-driven patterns of noise, electronic music and occasional passages where the voice can be plainly heard in 14 separate pieces of widely differing durations.
ORE THOUGHTS
Galena to Stibnite, starting with lead, ending with lead; the history of soldering, cementing connections for currents of information and noise alike. In the undigital realm, noise is a context for the signal and can be information in itself. For example rotating surface noise is useful for finding the original speed at which early shellacs may have been cut. Redundancy is vital for a proper understanding of the world. So Ore Talks celebrates lead and soldering and making connections and, endotically, noise; noises at the outer ear but also of the inner ear. Perec and the Oulipians employ the term ‚endotic‘ as an antonym to ‚exotic‘ in order to focus attention on the everyday, on what might be dismissed as mere noise. The infraordinaire, as Perec calls it, is very much the subject of a historiographical approach that prefers to explore the lives and times of the distinctly unfamous; a more vivid, sensory history that concerns itself with sights and smells and sounds.
In addition, Ore Talks posits a strange attraction between the discoverer and the yet-to-be discovered; between buried artefacts and the archeologist seeking to disinter them; between prospector and rich, subterranean lodes. The ‚ground‘ in the electrical field is a conductor that reaches into the earth. Simultaneously, metalliferous ores and objects alike call out to be uncovered in an equivalent act of active perception. The only prerequisite? Keep an ear to the ground; the telluric source for chthonic voices.
Murmurings from below the surface: the call of buried things that seek to be disinterred. Anthropomorphism notwithstanding, there is something to be said for giving a voice to inanimate minerals. After all, their constituent elements come from the stars and have also given rise to us humans. Furthermore, when those same elements are alchemically transformed into compounds of metal and fillers of plastics, of quicksilver and piezo crystals, of the very air, water or copper that play host to sound in its various forms, transporting speech, then ORE TALKS emerges as a title with some resonance.
And text too can be a ground from beneath which conceptual objects stem (voices in the grey matter). Here is a list of such objects that have been disinterred in no particular order from the paragraphs above. “Active perception; superluminality in the collapse of the sender/receiver paradigm”
“A History of Simultaneity; how far back does same-timedness go?”
“Noise in History, noise as history”
“The importance of redundancy in human communication”
“Sound and the continuum are products of each other”
“What holds true for time also applies to sound; they both depend on disappearing as they come into existence.”
“The speed of sound is a good rate at which to think about a speed of time” These and related topics are expanded over the following pages. They contain the sources for all readings recorded and subsequently transformed in the ORE TALKS experiments on this double LP.
www.therapeutischehoergruppekoeln.de/ore.html
"Antimonit Bleiglanz Coelestin... Ein erzernes ABC bis hin zu Zinnober.
Verbunden mit 72 Minuten Text + Klang in vier Kapiteln / Vinyl-Seiten: a. Valves / Röhren b. Piezos c. Recorders d. Crystal Sets. Kreisend um Ore [Erz] =
Mineralgemenge, die wegen ihres Metallgehaltes abgebaut werden, um es für Werkzeuge und Ähnliches weiterzuverarbeiten.
Kreisend um L/ore, dt. Lehre -> Folklore = the knowledge and traditions, frequently passed along by word of
mouth. Merke: Transmission is a vital part of the folklore process -> 1. Orality =
Mündlichkeit -> 2. Literacy = Reeling and Writhing / Lesen & Schreiben -> 3.
Technical Devices = Aufschreibesysteme. Es geht um Medientechniken: Alphabet - Grammophon... (Friedrich Kittler), um Recording Angels' Mysteries (Klaus Theweleit), um Dead Letters (Gregory Whitehead). Bevor Moore 1996 (bis 2015) Professor an der KHM wurde, hatte er mit Slapp Happy den Mond vom Himmel gepflückt, mit Pink Floyd gearbeitet und Soundtracks für Werner Nekes kreiert.
Akademisch forschte er dann synchron mit Kittler über die Geschichte und Gesetzmäßigkeiten von Sound, über phonetische und klingende Techniken des Daseins und der Erinnerung. 2004 nahm er teil an Kittlers Sirenenexperiment, das vor Amalfi Odysseus' Affäre mit den Sirenen nachstellte. Zwischen '...and the Gods made love' und Moores 'Dogs of War' spielt sich alles ab, was es zu singen und sagen gibt. Polyphone Erkenntnis über Sound und Zeit, Noise und Information, gefiltert aus den Lebenserfahrungen von der Bronzezeit her. Darüber schreibt und spricht Moore mit medienarchäologischem Knowhow und einem Ohr für die chthonischen Stimmen. Innere Stimmen, wie sie zuerst noch bikameral fluktuierten (Julian Jaynes), dann akusmatisch, mimetisch, alphabetisch, speicherbar, decodierbar, repetierbar wurden. Die Namen Zeiss, Chladni, Tyndell und Helmholtz oszillieren steampunkabenteuerlich an den pythagoräischen Küsten wie Töne und Zahlen zwischen Rauschen und Offenbarung. Schwingquarze geben den Takt an.
Memory Machines verflüssigen Vergangenes und Kommendes, um es zu fixieren, so wie Moores Sätze zu Science Fiction verschwimmen. Er raunt von The Etherial Skin of Interference, er wird poetisch, fasziniert von den Ur-Geräuschen, die Scott de Martinvilles Schweinsborsten-Phonautograph einfing oder Rilke der Kronen- Naht des Schädels zu entlocken gedachte. Klang wurde das mit Hilfe der Therapeuten Beck, Grewenig & Hennes (von The Knob, The Finger & The It), Langguth und Specht (einst bei 40 Sekunden Ohne Gewicht und Kunstkopf). Moores Stimme wispert und fitzelt subliminal unter löchrig-perkussiver Bruitistik,
er reiht Zahlen oder verschwindet hinter sirrenden Spuren, taktilen Geräuschen,
spurenelementaren Impulsen. Silben und Satzfetzen mischen sich mit Hilfe der
Hörgruppe zu Kratzern, Partikelkollisionen, Radiowellen, Zeitrost, Reibung von
Entropie und Negentropie, sprachmelodischem Blaseton, Frequenzpingpong.
Umso überraschender daher die klaren, wenn auch für den Laien kryptischen
Sätze über Interferenz, Simultanität, die Unschärfe des Now-Space, von Senden und Empfangen. Moore meditiert über Turings ACE und die Alchemie von Quecksilber-Laufzeitspeichern, aber die Sprache wird wieder verzerrt, der Noise dafür prickelig und wohltönend. Doch dann umfängt einen wieder im ursuppig, uhrsuppig brodelnden, radiowellenberauschten Äther protologisch wummernde Sonic Fiction, die zuletzt endlosrillenstottrig ausgroovt." [Bad Alchemy] |
2017 |
€25.00 |
|
| MOORE, STEPHAN |
To build a field |
CD |
"Stephan Moore is a composer, audio artist, and sound designer in New York City. He has graduated from from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Western Michigan University, and Interlochen Arts Academy. His creative work centers around the collection and use of real-world sound, the creation and perception of sonic environments, and technological manifestations of improvisation and interactivity.
Recent performances and installation artworks make use of a large multi-channel array of his hemispherical speakers. He performs regularly as half of the electronic duo Evidence, and with a variety of musicians, live-video artists, and dancers. He has created custom music software for a number of composers and artists, and has taught courses in sound art and electronic music at Maryland Institute College of Art, Peabody Conservatory, Massachusetts College of Art, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Simon's Rock College of Bard.
He is currently the Sound Supervisor of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company." [general info about the artist / Deep Listening site]
Stephan Moore has spent the last five years touring with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company as a core member of their live band, alongside such notables as Christian Wolff, Takehisa Kosugi, David Behrman, John King, and William Winant. At the same time, he has been collaborating with a
number of younger choreographers to create sound scores for their performance works. To Build A Field collects the best of these pieces, drawn from six of his commissions by four very different choreographers. The CD's title refers to Moore's view of his role in these collaborations: designing and executing sonic structures that define the emotional and rhythmic topography of time. Each track negotiates a balance between acoustic sound sources and electronics, live performance and studio composition, and human vs. algorithmic control of sound materials. Time is continually bent into new
shapes, challenging the listener, and his collaborators, to think beyond the easy comforts of a regular tempo, and confront rhythm as texture instead of a reliable grid.
"Brooklyn-based sound artist Stephan Moore's recent musical work centers around the collection and use of real-world sound, the creation and perception of sonic environments, and technological manifestations of improvisation and interactivity. He develops his own performance software and builds point-source loudspeakers for use in his performances and sound installation work. His current ongoing collaborations include the Xenolinguistics performance project with visionary video artist Diana Reed Slattery, projects with choreographers Yanira Castro and Kimberly Young and performance artist Kyle DeCamp, sound design for the Nerve Tank theater collective, and the performing/recording duo Evidence with sound artist Scott Smallwood. He curates a concert series at the Merce Cunningham Dance Studio called Experiments in the Studio, and co-curates an annual month-long Floating Points festival of performances and sound installations at the ISSUE Project Room in Brooklyn, pairing the permanent sixteen-channel installation of his Hemisphere speakers there with diverse artists. Moore has been commissioned to create sound installations and performances for a number of dance companies and site-specific venues. He has been awarded residencies by Hunter College, the Experimental Television Center and Wave Farm for his work in music and new technology. His performance and exhibition credits include Tonic (NYC), Axiom Gallery (Boston), Zeitgeist Gallery (Boston), Deep Listening Space (Kingston, NY), ffmup (Princeton, NJ), Massachusetts College of Art (Boston), Yale University, Princeton University, The Tank (NYC), Roulette (NYC), the Music and Alternative and X-Disciplinary Approaches in Sound Festival (Sheffield, UK), Sound Practice (Dartington, UK), Music Without Walls? (Leister, UK), Disjecta (Portland, Oregon), Warehouse 23 (Boston), Issue Project Room (Brooklyn), The Chocolate Factory (Queens), ACM/Siggraph, International Conference on Musical Perception and Cognition, International Computer Music Conference, Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States, the Acoustical Society of America's semiannual meetings, American Theater in Higher Education's annual conference, International Society for Electronic Arts, World Forum for Acoustic Ecology, and the Burning Man Festival, among many others. As an improviser and musician, he has appeared on stage with John Paul Jones, Pauline Oliveros, Alex Waterman, Keith Rowe, Michael Haleta, MV Carbon, Andrea Parkins, Zach Layton, Troy Pohl, Curtis Bahn, David Linton, Mikel Rouse, Maria Chavez, Newton Armstrong, Seth Cluett, Ikue Mori, Kenta Nagai, Larry Polansky, Jesse Stiles and Joan La Barbara, among others." [label info]
www.deeplistening.org
www.deeplistening.org
|
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
| MOREIGNE, BRUNO |
Solstice |
mCDR |
Le solstice d'été est le jour le plus long dans l'hémisphère nord et correspond au jour le plus court dans l'hémisphère sud. Cette pièce a été conçue en explorant le bruit de fond chaotique des photons captés par une plaque de silicium (capteur solaire)et en convertissant numériquement les lumières du dernier solstice d'été.
La matière sonore brute a été fouillée et transformée comme par distillation pour en extraire les harmoniques ou les rythmes, par analogie au prisme de verre qui décompose la lumière blanche du soleil en spectre de couleurs.
Du chaos au bruit, du bruit au son, du son aux sens.
De la théorie corpusculaire et ondulatoire de la lumière à celle de la relativité.
À écouter dans l'obscurité.
De la lumière nait la Vérité.
https://brunomoreigne.bandcamp.com/album/solstice
|
2012 |
€8.50 |
|
| MORTIFICATION TO THE FLESH |
Le Tresor Maudit |
CD |
"First official CD-reissue, previously released in 1988 as vinyl LP on Bog-Art label (cat. # BOG 101) in an edition of 300 copies. Digi-slim sleeve, including all six tracks from the original vinyl + bonus tracks.
Even though it was released in a strictly limited edition (original copies of the LP are now sold at very high prices), "Le Trésor Maudit" reached a huge cult-status within the industrial scene. Following the best 80's German music tradition, the band put together different styles into an unique sound, strong and suggestive at the same time. Rhythmic, hypnotic “new wave” (with female vocals) meets courageous experimental music, classic industrial and art-electronics.
Mortification To The Flesh: Annett Falkenheiner, Hubert Haverkamp, Imelle Von Dohlen. Featuring, amongst others, contributions by (!) Al Margolis and Giancarlo Toniutti. An essential album for the fans of German industrial music and underground new wave." [label info]
www.finalmuzik.com
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| MOSER, MICHAEL |
Antiphon |
do-LP |
"Klanginstallation im Hauptschiff und Chor der Minoritenkirche Krems/Stein.
Pre-recorded source materials:
Klaus Lang: organ (Stiftskirche St Lambrecht,
Pfarrkirche St. Oswald, Krakaudorf; Minoritenkirche)
Berndt Thurner: percussion (Minoritenkirche)
Michael Moser: glass plates, electronics
ANTIPHON STEIN ist eine ortsspezifische Klanginstallation im Hauptschiff und Chor der Minoritenkirche Krems/Stein, die sich mit der Architektur und dem Klang dieses Kirchenraumes auseinandersetzt. Das verwendete Material sind hängende und liegende Flächenobjekte aus Glas und Metall, über Körperschallwandler mit Klängen bespielt. Diese Objekte werden so zu Membranen, die, in ihrer gesamten Fläche und Masse in Schwingung versetzt, den Klang an den sie umgebenden Raum abgeben. Die in der Installation verwendeten Ausgangsklänge wurden zu einem großen Teil vor Ort mit einem speziellen vierkanaligen Aufnahmeverfahren hergestellt und nach ihrer elektronischen Bearbeitung auch in dieser speziellen Vierkanaligkeit belassen, da diese durch die Aufnahme aus unterschiedlichen Raumperspektiven und Distanzen ein akustisches Abbild des gegebenen Raumes entstehen lässt. Der Klang des spezifischen Raumes spielt somit eine zentrale Rolle im akustischen Gesamtbild.
Die Positionierung bzw. Hängung der Flächenobjekte führte durch die Strenge der frühgotischen Architektur zu der zweiteiligen, responsorienartigen Form der Arbeit: unten im Hauptschiff die acht Glasplattenobjekte jeweils zwischen den mächtigen Säulen hängend, oben im ehemaligen Chor die dreiteilige, am Boden auf weißen Filz wie schwebend angeordnete, und daher von unten nicht sichtbare, aber dennoch hörbare Metallarbeit. Die Intimität der Apsis mit ihrem Triptychon aus Metallobjekten kontrastiert die Weitläufigkeit des Hauptschiffs mit seinen in großer Distanz hängenden Glasflächen. Der Verlauf der Lichtgestaltung, vom dunklen Hauptschiff zur lichtdurchfluteten hellen Apsis, versucht diesen Dialog fortzuführen.
Die Klänge, kleine kompositorische Miniaturen mit Dauern von 3 bis 7 Minuten ¿ oben eher Orgel- unten mehr Becken-Klänge, Perkussion, bespieltes Glas ¿ werden vom Computer auf Basis einer genauen Ablaufpartitur immer wieder in neue Konstellationen gebracht: teilweise aleatorisch, teilweise in fixierter Reihenfolge und unterbrochen von Interludien, die im zeitlichen Abstand von 30 Minuten den einzigen Moment darstellen, in dem ein einzelnes Soundfile auf alle Flächenobjekte der beiden Räume gleichzeitig zugreifen kann.
Gesamtspielzeit: ca. 80 min"
www.edition-rz.de
|
2016 |
€30.00 |
|
| MOSS, JESSICA |
Pools of Light |
LP |
180gram vinyl includes 12x24 art print poster + 320kbps MP3 download The debut solo full-length by violinist and sound artist Jessica Moss (Thee Silver Mt. Zion, Black Ox Orkestar, Vic Chesnutt, Carla Bozulich). Recorded by Radwan Ghazi Moumneh (Jerusalem In My Heart, Suuns, Matana Roberts, Eric Chenaux) RIYL: Sibelius, Laurie Anderson, Sarah Davachi, Benoît Pioulard, Loscil. Jessica Moss is known best as the violinist, co-composer, and backing vocalist with the acclaimed chamber-punk band Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra (SMZ) and the avant-klezmer group Black Ox Orkestar. As fans of these projects will know, Moss has developed a distinctive and impressive approach to violin that combines a natural technical fluidity, a recombinant command of folk, classical and modern idioms, and an adventurous exploration of signal-bending and analog effects that uniquely expand the spectrum of the violin as sound source. Her solo work is deeply rooted in live performance, where she builds up and breaks down stunning longform compositions in real time with an array of pedals - including octave/harmonizers and samplers/loopers. To hear all of this rallied on her debut full-length solo release is intensely rewarding: comprised of two side-length multi-movement compositions, Pools Of Light unfolds at a stately, inexorable pace, combining sound-art and signal-processed timbres, extended melodic and contrapuntal lines, and the periodic deployment of stark, minimalist vocals. Pools Of Light is elegiac durational music at the intersection of neo-classicism, soundtrack, electronic, art-punk and avant-folk - a decidedly organic, non-academic, profoundly searching and emotive work, guided by Moss's liner note mantra: "FEELING LOVE IN A MELTING WORLD".
|
2017 |
€23.00 |
|
| MOTLAND, STINE JANVIN |
Fake Synthetic Music |
do-LP |
"Vocalist, performer and sound artist Stine Janvin works with the extensive flexibility of her instrument of the voice, and the ways in which it can be disconnected from its natural, human connotations. Created for variable spaces from theatres, to clubs and galleries, the backbone of Janvin’s projects focus on the physical aspects of sound, and potential dualities of the natural versus artificial, organic/synthetic, and minimal/dramatic.
Fake Synthetic Music is Stine Janvin’s latest live performance for voice, echo, lights and spatial distribution. The concept was created to present a full-body physical and ambient experience with the frequency range of her voice. Inspired by past and present producers of architectural electronic music, Janvin presents a new take on ‘deconstructed rave’ by exploring both sonic and optical illusions, otoacoustic emissions and minimal melodic sequences in reference to pop, techno and trance.
The release introduces a recorded version of her ‘fake synthetic material’, and through her ongoing live performances, she continues to work between the music and art scenes, developing further her methodology of imitation and resonance through audio visual concepts.
The tracks on Fake Synthetic Music reflect the concept of sonic illusions and Janvin’s use of the voice as a sound source. “…I wanted to explore how I could vocalise in a way that would combine architectural sound with dance floor sequences.” she says. Each track is based on a different take on these ideas, some being pure studio production, using only her vocal archive of sustained notes, chopped up into innumerable pieces of different lengths, and re-attached. Tracks, such as ‘Like Right Now’ and ‘Like Last Night’ are examples of live material converted to a recorded format, keeping the simplicity of the direct voice signal through a digital delay effect with no post-production processing.
The album is mastered by Rashad Becker, featuring photography by Camille Blake and artwork by Bill Kouligas."
|
2019 |
€28.00 |
|
| MOTT, NICK |
Here begins the Great Destroyer |
CD |
"Lumberton Trading Company presents Here Begins the Great Destroyer, English multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Nick Mott's second album under his own name. Mott, previously known mostly for his work as a founding member of the eclectic group Volcano the Bear, has, since his departure, been forging a path very much his own. A couple of other projects aside, namely Skeleton Birds and the Number of God and Spectral Armies, Mott's work under his own name commenced in 2011 with a one-sided 7" art package also released on Lumberton Trading Company (LUMB 006B-EP). Similar to his drawings and photocopied collages, Mott's music beams in from some kind of distorted or fractured reality, reminiscent of the twilit places explored by the likes of H. P. Lovecraft. The ten pieces on Here Begins the Great Destroyer bear witness to a world of unfolding electronic textures, uneasy tones, rhythmic bursts, and a general sense of things not being quite as they seem. However, this is no dark ambient muck. Instead, it rather uncomfortably resides in a space out of which Renaldo & The Loaf, Tuxedomoon, Nurse with Wound, and Andrew Liles have all crawled. Of course, there is a crooked humor evident, too, as no artist can truly traverse such places without it. Here Begins the Great Destroyer is the first step towards what will, in due course, become a deluxe vinyl box set also containing an art booklet by Nick Mott. In the meantime, this album exists in its own right as a Digipak CD, which is limited to 300 copies and will not be reprinted. Mastered by Siôn Orgon (former collaborator of Thighpaulsandra and Peter Christopherson).
www.lumberton-trading.net
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| MOUCHOIR ETANCHE (=BLACK TO COMM) |
Une Fille Petrifiee |
LP |
"I am sitting in a garden, I haven't left the property in weeks, someone is dropping off food once a week. I haven't seen a human being in ages, I feel like a reverse Schroedinger cat -- do I exist when nobody sees me? I must be somewhere in France but I don't remember. I have lost my consciousness again. When I wake up I hear a broken record looping somewhere in the mansion. A washed-out opera. Behind the trees I see the dilapidated hermaphrodite sculpture in a field of verdant nettles and fern. I hear gunshots far afield, aeroplanes in the sky, sirens on the main road. When unconscious I dreamt of sitting on the Concorde observing the scarab blue ocean and iridescent clouds from above, an erstwhile receding memory. Sometimes I hear the organ of the nearby Renaissance Cathedral merging with the Russian Church bells. I am hallucinating again. Someone's humming in the kitchen? Singing? A radio? I overhear two young women talking about art galleries in the neighbour's garden. Bees attack, again? Again and again. The hairspray finally intoxicates them. An amphoric Japanese voice is whispering in my head saying I will die soon. Someone (something?) bangs on the vases. The fountain's water turns dark red. Fleur calls and says mum died. The funeral will be televised on Tuesday. We opt for the synthetic choir for the service. The call is suddenly interrupted. Mold is slowly taking over the house. I go back inside."
Une Fille Pétrifiée is the debut album of new Black To Comm related entity Mouchoir Ètanche. Combining real and fake acoustic instrumentation, sampling, field recordings, and excessive yet inaudible post production this is another sublime and ethereal statement. Influences are ranging from (French) classical and opera to the anecdotical compositions of Luc Ferrari, Chinese opera, chanson, sacred music/church music, JG Ballard, and surrealism. Marc Richter records as Black To Comm for Thrill Jockey, Type, and Dekorder and as Jemh Circs for his own Cellule 75 imprint. He also produces soundtracks and acousmatic multichannel installations for institutions such as INA GRM Paris, ZKM Karlsruhe, and Kunstverein Hamburg. Mouchoir Étanche is a new project by Marc Richter, aka Black To Comm (Thrill Jockey, Type Rec). Includes download code; edition of 300.
https://blacktocomm.bandcamp.com/album/une-fille-p-trifi-e
"Une Fille Pétrifiée is a more unified recording, but it’s just as diverse. We’re not sure if that’s a real cat on the cover or a photoshopped mutant, but we hope it’s the latter. Poor kitty. This image, along with the first two titles (“Enter Mirror Hotel,” “Satyre et Hermaphrodite”) hint at a tug of war between genres and ideas. As the album begins, classical, jazz and opera loops trade places. A surreal piece of shock fiction connects the dots, but its very nature defies categorization. Field recordings add texture, but little context; this is a fever dream. Why is the girl petrified? Mouchoir Ètanche isn’t that scary. Even “Music in the Dark” has a guiding light: sounding brass in the middle of gas and drone. In “Sécheresse” (“Drought”), children play over the sound of church bells, while in “Le temps isolé” (“The isolated time”), birds and organ drown out the sound of sirens, rather than the other way around. The organ returns throughout the album, offering a sense of safety that reverberates in opposition to the agitation of A C of M; and the final track includes a soloist and choir. Seldom has an artist been so impossible to predict, a huge part of Richter’s appeal. At this point, we have no idea what to expect from the artist’s third autumn album: holy or harrowing?" [A Closer Listen]
|
2020 |
€18.00 |
|
| MOULDYCLIFF / POTTER / MOULDYCLIFF [MPM] |
Orbits |
CD |
ORBIT - course, path, circuit, trajectory, rotation, revolution, circle, cycle, circumgyration.
This sequence of pieces, composed in the main by Jackson Mouldycliff, with additional interventions & modifications from Colin Potter & Phil Mouldycliff, was started back in 2019 but because of the Covid pandemic it was only recently completed. The work centres on loops, repititions & recurrent elements of sound assembled by MPM to accompany a series of mixed-media drawings by Phil, which in turn, takes as its starting point, star charts, celestial globes, planeteria, orraries, armillary spheres, astrolabes & astronomical clocks. Each of the eleven pieces has a title taken from a particular type of celestial orbit.
https://icrdistribution.bandcamp.com/album/orbits
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| MOUTHUS |
No Canal |
CD |
"Guitar, drums and electronics. There are no further requirements for turning the world on its head. Since their inception in 2002, Mouthus from Brooklyn have delighted and enraptured their audience. Thundering noise eruptions, mail-fisted guitar drones, infernal drumbeats and an indomitable drive are these devilish duos hallmarks. This is undiluted rock ‘n’ rock for noise junkies. When it comes to live performances, Mouthus are unbeatable. Nevertheless, in order to nourish the other parts of the soul, Mouthus alternate their teeth-grindingly loud shows with recordings into which rage and energy are consummately channelled. No Canal follows a different path altogether. Guitarist Brian Sullivan and drummer Nate Nelson lead the listener on a journey of exploration. Past bricked-up walls of sound and through a swamp of drones the duo descries a terra incognita, a dark world of sound in which innocent idylls of nature are soon subjected to the destructive forces of industrialisation.
Initially, pastoral guitar parts are heard, pursued by drums in the distance. This is ethereal music in the tradition of bands like Popol Vuh. The promised land is hidden behind low mist and impenetrable green. But all hope proves idle: torturing guitar feedback and tribal drums soon tear the dream apart. The industrial torrent of sound seems unstoppable. This is music that reveals itself as a tired, technological beast with a slow heartbeat and creaking limbs. The subliminal menace and naked demise remain audible and tangible. This is a story that has to be told. Mouthus cannot be silenced.
No Canal is packed in the beautiful 'envelope' packaging, designed and hand printed by Jason Dodg" [label info]
www.bottrop-boy.com
|
2008 |
€13.50 |
|
| MOUTHUS & YELLOW SWANS |
Live on Conan Island |
LP |
Live-Collaboration Dokument dieser beiden US Guitar-Drone / Electronic / Free Form Noise-Duos, die zu viert ein furioses Klangfeuer entfachen, low-fi feedbackend rauschend ekstatisch, verzerrter als verzerrt.. irgendwo im Noise-Brei sind sowas wie Vocals, Percussion, und langsame elektronische Pulses auszumachen.
"An inevitable match made in Hades. Four titans workin' it out in the primordial mulch & all the gods are cowering in their presence. The dual intertwining guitarattack impacts & fragments into the dense concrete percussion forest surrounded by a shroud of pulsing caterwauling skree. A harum-scarum locomotive ride of thick, bombastic & heavy proportions." [unknown reviewer]
"The ultimate East coast/West coast soundclash as Oregon’s Yellow Swans and Brooklyn’s Mouthus present a smouldering document from their onstage interactions on their Fall 2006 US tour.
The sound of Mouthus’s splat&clatter percussion and sheets of severely altered guitar and voice noise paired with Yellow Swans’ raucous axe-mangling and sublime noise processing make for a gargantuan oil tanker of sound that can’t avoid enveloping the listener.
‘Live On Conan Island’ is a range of monstrous caverns of free electro skronk, alt-percussion and wailing guitars from live collaboration between two of Load's hottest noisemongers. Gigantic!" [label info]
www.no-fi.org.uk/label.php
|
2008 |
€17.00 |
|
| MSBR |
Structured Suicide |
LP |
MSBR (Molten Salt Breeder Reactor), aka Koji Tano, was one of the most respected noise artists to arise from Japan's exciting noise/experimental music scene of the 1990s. Much of his material was self-released on his own label, the astounding MSBR Records, which was dedicated to the production of limited-edition releases with incredible artwork. MSBR present a music elaborated with previously chosen source of sounds, whose origins are either naturel or artificial, with use of Korg guitar synthesizer and some effects, working in analog sounds. Oscillating between grappling electro noise (as he describes his musical style) and pure noise, the really surprising quality of the sound research leads to a tremendous kind of noise-texture.
After his debut LP and a lathe cut seven-inch, Structured Suicide is third MSBR release and first on tape in amazing package as everything other release by artist. The long track that occupies the entire A side of the cassette and the first track of the B side of over a quarter of an hour, are filled with excellent harsh noise with strong influences of concrete and electroacoustic music, deep and calmer rumble and ambient effluence. Structured Suicide is a terrific undertaking into the wickedness of mechanized clatter as a foreboding, consuming pollution, the unrelenting and ever-building storm of machines slowly lulling the living into bleak states of masochistic artificiality. This is the classic sound of MSBR, which envelops you with its texture of noise scales, suffocating and enthralling, without an immediate impact, but which then, at its harshest, hits you with devastating force! The other two quite short tracks that close the album are less conventional and show how much the artist wants to experiment, without closing himself in a pre-packaged genre.
Vinyl comes in only 199 copies with cover that faithfully reproduces the style of original art work, with vinyl labels that replicates inlay tape card. An awesome artefact of early 1990s Japan noise music, resting at the borders of electroacoustic, Urashima’s long awaited, first ever vinyl reissue of Koji Tano’s epoch-making album, 'Structured Suicide', emerges 28 years later as a stunning testament to the importance of the creative expansion to which it belongs. Absolutely essential on every count!
https://urashima.bandcamp.com/album/structured-suicide
|
2021 |
€21.50 |
|
| MUELLER, JON |
The Whole |
CD |
"Der Avantgarde-Perkussionist übersetzt tradiertes Handwerk in Musik: "The Whole" mag sein Debüt für das Label Type sein, doch ist es bei weitem nicht Jon Muellers Einstand in der Szene. Über seine Mitarbeit in Bands wie Collections Of Colonies Of Bees und Volcano Choir mit Justin Vernon aka Bon Iver sowie mehreren Soloalben und Kollaborationen hat sich der Mann aus Milwaukee einen Namen als hervorragender Schlagzeuger und Perkussionist gemacht. Als Nachfolger seines Werks "Metals", einer Sammlung klassischer Heavy-Metal-Rhythmen, und den ausschweifend schönen "Physical Changes" war es für Mueller Zeit für ein grundlegendes Statement. Fasziniert von einfachen und akustischen Klängen, ließ sich Mueller sogar vom alten Kunsthandwerk der Shaker, einer amerikanischen Religionsgemeinschaft, und vom Quilt-Handwerk beeinflussen. Beides einfache tradierte Handwerksformen, die aber immer wieder misinterpretiert wurden. Diese fehlgedeutete Simplizität ist ein Leitmotiv von "The Whole". Mueller erschafft mit Schlagzeug, Dulcimer und seiner Stimme einen Sound, der gleichzeitig originell und verführerisch ist, der Spuren der Vergangenheit und Echos der Zukunft trägt.//
The Whole might be avant-percussionist Jon Mueller's first album for the Type imprint, but it's far from his scene debut. Working in a plethora of bands for many years (including Collections Of Colonies Of Bees and Volcano Choir with Justin Vernon aka Bon Iver), Mueller has honed his sound to a distinct peak, and over the course of umpteen solo albums and collaborations has cemented his status as one of experimental music's most revered drummers. Following his epic works Metals (a collection of classic heavy metal rhythms) and the expansive and surprisingly beautiful Physical Changes, both for the esteemed Table Of The Elements label, Mueller embarked on the heady process of creating a "defining" work. Intrigued by ideas of simplicity and acoustic sound, Mueller's research drew him to Shaker crafts and quilt-making, both deceptively simple practices rooted in the transmission of ideas. Over time, these experiences were interpreted in many different ways, almost certainly inaccurately, and this miscommunicated simplicity is at the very center of The Whole. Through a rolling, unamplified snare drum (a piece of kit perfected over a year of intense practice), booming low toms, hammered dulcimer and his own voice, Mueller creates a sound that is wholly original and totally beguiling. There are traces of folk traditions and lines drawn to the avant garde idiom, but Mueller's sound is so singularly perfected, it is hard to connect him to specific peers. The Whole is an album that sounds like both a relic of the past and an echo of the future. The ideas are anchored in memory and tradition, yet the sound is alien and sometimes impenetrable. Over time, as the messages are stripped back, an unabashedly gorgeous piece of work is revealed. Like a good book, it requires patience and contemplation to show its beating heart." [label info]
www.typerecords.com
|
2010 |
€15.50 |
|
| |
Death Blues |
LP |
"Find Yourself. Impatience. Death Blues. Acceptance. Impermanence. Iron String. The six songs that comprise Jon Mueller's Death Blues are each their own doorway to both a bold new musical statement from the renowned drummer percussionist and an unprecedented journey into a conscious contemplation of death -- and the life that surrounds it. Released in tandem with a multi-part manifesto, Death Blues transcends its own existence as 34-minute, earth-cracking rock album. Much like Mueller, whose landmark solo work stands alongside his role in notable bands Volcano Choir (and previously, Collections of Colonies of Bees), Death Blues embodies the acknowledgement that there's more to experiencing music than simply just listening. Conceived and largely executed in its recorded form by Mueller himself -- adding hammered acoustic guitar and bold vocal patterning to his ever-evolving mastery of percussion -- Death Blues is audibly (and intensely) personal. However, the very act of recording was the first step in a discourse that Mueller began over a year ago, forming a band of brilliant performers from his Milwaukee, WI hometown that would go on to perform Death Blues at Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh, NC and at two sold-out Death Blues events in Milwaukee, where a labyrinth led the audience into a multi-sensory and participatory experience culminating in a climactic performance of the album. It was as close as one could get to being next to Mueller at that moment of discovery: of the inevitability of death as the impetus to become more present in each moment and of the necessity of building his own path to sharing that idea. Death Blues is being collaboratively released by Taiga and Hometapes and is available as a limited edition LP packaged in a deluxe litho-wrapped jacket that includes the Death Blues manifesto; 500 hand-numbered copies of the highest fidelity pressed on 200g virgin vinyl." [label info]
www.taigarecords.com
|
2013 |
€20.00 |
|
| MUENNICH / ESPOSITO / JUPITTER-LARSEN |
The Wraiths of Flying A |
CD |
"A three-way collaboration by Chicago based sound artist and renowned researcher in the field of Electronic Voice Phenomena Michael Esposito, Hamburg based operator of the Fragment Factory label Michael Muennich and long-time conceptual/performance artist, filmmaker, writer and core member of The Haters GX Jupitter-Larsen from Los Angeles. The origin of this project was a field investigation conducted by Esposito at American Film Studios, Santa Barbara, CA, additional sounds recorded by Michael Muennich at Fragment Factory, Hamburg during 2011
2012, edited and processed by Michael Esposito, Michael Muennich and GX Jupitter-Larsen in the course of 2012. Edition of 300 copies." [label info]
web.comhem.se/elggren/fer/fer.html
"Over the last few years I am more and more 'exposed' to the music of Michael Esposito, or should that be 'the work of'? It's work/music that has to do with the voices of the dead, the EVP, and he works with a variety of musicians. Here with GX Jupitter-Larsen (best known as The Haters) and Michael Muennich, the label boss Fragment Factory. Not always all three of them together, but in various combinations. You could try and figure out which these combinations are, but the print is rather fine here. The release is dedicated to Audrey Munson, an actrice of the silent era, who after the arrival of the talkies spent the rest of her life in Ogdenburg Psychiatric Institution. Maybe that's where Esposito caught her voice - from beyond of course? For reasons unknown to myself, I expected something that was more noise based, but that's not the case here. It's, in fact, all rather subdued, quiet, with loops of found sound, hissing, ticking, with voice material dropping in and out of the mix in some of these pieces, such as the very nice title piece. It all seems devoid of real noise and that's great, I think. It's more like a radio play of highly obscured sounds, always looping around (perhaps one could hold that against the total release? Without being necessary), with all of these ghostly voices spooking around. Its however not really an unsettling release - these seem like friendly ghosts to me. An excellent release, like I think most of Esposito's releases of late a very good." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| MULTER |
Berge im Bunker |
CD |
"The two tracks on this release are based on the music that was originally composed for the Berge im Bunker exhibition by Barbara Meisner that ran from August 2008 to May 2009 in Dortmund. The collage is a repeating, light melodic environmental soundscape that creates an unheimlich feel, while incorporating all [multer] elements: loops, electronica , drones... Still it is not a typical release for the German duo as it is their most minimal effort up to date. The music will get the best out of your imagination.
CD (NO CD-R) limited to 200 copies." [label info]
www.consouling.be
"Zwei Stücke mit auditiv ähnlich gelagerter Faktur. Der Soundtrack zu einer Installation rückt [multer] von der gegenwärtigen Theorie einer Konzeptband in den unheilvollen Kunstbetrieb. Dabei sind die Klänge von [multer] unter dem Corrige von N seit jeher Träger von Stimmungen und emotionalen Miasmen, deren Inhalte sich durch das Goutieren im
klanglichen Zusammenspiel noch mehr aufzuladen scheinen. »Berge Im Bunker« klingt aber so
wenig kunstaffin als nach einem gewagten Experiment in Zeit und Raum. Die Musik ist
defizitär sparsam, die Verwendung hochauflösender Echoschleifen geradezu gewollt
zeitbrechend. Was sich nach einer minimalen Tapete für stehendes Kunstgut ausnimmt,
funktioniert auf der Hörebene ohne visuelle Kontrapunkte ebenso. Das Album wirkt in den
zwei Titeln gekonnt zerbrechlich, die Gitarre surrt melodramatische Arpeggien ab während
der Raum sich durch sanfte Gongklänge in eine mantraartige Struktur verdickt, die sich nur
durch den immerwährend wiederholenden Absatz markiert. Wiederholung, das sah selbst
Cage als wichtig und nötig an denn nur so kann sich Veränderung einschleichen. Hier brechen [multer] mit dem gewohnten Bild einer rhythmisch veräderten Musik, die sich auf
»Berge Im Bunker« mit einem Male in ein Zerrbild ihrer selbst verwandelt. Nicht für jeden ein Gewinn, aber ein grandioses Zusammenspiel von Kunst und Konzeption.
5/5 " [Thorsten Soltau / AEMAG]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Köln 4/11/2006 |
CD-R |
"One of the best known unknown artists of the german experimental hard-to-classify scene publishes here this document of a one track concert, recorded at the Kulturbunker, Cologne during a concert series organized by Till Kniola / Auf Abwegen in Late 2006.
The trio of Neidhardt (guitar/Amps), Geiter (keyboards, live mix) and Hoeschen (field recordings, live mix) performed in their unique style what can be loosely described as memorable post-rock drone. A piece which just keeps growing and developing for close to an hour.
The last full length release by [multer] was the sound installation soundtrack ‘Berge Im Bunker’ (consouling sounds, 2011) which was prefaced by the marvelous but vinyl only ‘Kopenhagener deutung’ album (genesungswerk, 2003). Next year shall bring a release of a studio version of this track as well as other projects concluding with the publication of entirely new material and accompanying live performances.
For those interested what happened between [multer] activities there is the meanwhile impressive back-catalogue of Hellmut Neidhart aka ‘N’ solo and also releases on Thomas Geiter’s own label inselkind-schalltraeger worth more than a listen.
Issued as a limited & numbered cdr with special artwork directed and produced by [multer] and as an unlimited digital dl." [label info]
https://klappstuhl.bandcamp.com/album/k-ln-04-11-2006
"Klappstuhl Records zeigt sich, nach ersten Anzeichen 2012 und 2013, seit 2015
zweifelsfrei wiederbelebt, ohne merkliche Gesinnungsänderung zur kassettentäterischen
Vorgeschichte in den 80ern (& 90ern). Köln 4 | 11 | 2006 (SP 012, CD-R) wirft nun sogar ein halbes Pfund in die Waagschale. Durch ein silbernes Cover aus Eisen. Zu hören sind, live im Kulturbunker, Thomas Geiter: keyboard, mixing, Mal Hoeschen: fieldrecording, mixing & Hellmut Neidhardt: guitars, amps, Letzterer
einschlägig bekannt als N, die drei gemeinsam als [multer]. Sie tasten sich mit blasender, wischender, dröhnender Vorsicht voran. Dröhnend? Es ist das fast ein Singen wie von einer Harmonika, ein sublim changierender Silberstreif am tief gelegten Kulturhorizont. Ein knatternder Helikopter unternimmt einen Aufklärungsflug. Kleine Alltagsgeräusche, Schritte, Vogelschreie, Entengeschnatter,
Glockenspiel und Turmuhrschlag oder erst glucksendes, dann anbrandendes und
lappendes Wasser akzentuieren als Einsprengsel der Welt da draußen das langwellig sonore, surrend noch unterstrichene Fürsichsein in einem Tagtraumzustand. Ein fernes Akkordeon spielt 'Caravan', die N-Gitarre schnurrt. Zwei
Stimmen referieren über den Ausnahmezustand und die Schamlosigkeit, die künstlerisches Schaffen ermöglichen, und über das 'Nein' des ästhetischen Menschen. Nietzsche trapst als Nachtigall: Es giebt zwei Zustände, in denen die
Kunst selbst wie eine Naturgewalt im Menschen auftritt, über ihn verfügend, ob er will oder nicht: einmal als Zwang zur Vision, andrerseits als Zwang zum Orgiasmus. Beide Zustände sind auch im normalen Leben vorgespielt, nur schwächer: im Traum und im Rausch. Vinyl knurscht, der Harmonikadrone kurvt und sirrt. Und träumt von der suggestiven Kraft der Musik, ihrer "suggestion mentale"..." [Bad Alchemy] |
2016 |
€11.00 |
|
| MUNDY, GARY & ERALDO BERNOCCHI |
Broken Masses |
CD |
"Five collaborative pieces between Gary Mundy of Ramleh/Kleistwahr/Broken Flag and Eraldo Bernocchi of Sigillum S. Combining two guitars, subtle electronics and what sounds like a voice from another dimension, rhythmic loops or serene pools of liquid sound are generated that add up to an album of immense beauty and scope. Sometimes more intense and at others almost elegiac, this work is in keeping with Gary's more recent solo work yet benefits also from Bernocchi's own clear signature stamped throughout. Haunting, moving and immersive, with an almost soundtrack quality to it, this is music for reflecting on these deeply troubled times firm in the knowledge something majestic can still be found. As Bernocchi himself says, "Broken people, broken bones. Broken dreams, broken masses. An unfinished skyscraper, stray dogs, small time criminals. A few hanged themselves in there, others jumped from the top. Time sneaked, undetected since 1986, until we met in a studio armed with two guitars, several ideas but no structure, no skeleton, except for our memories and the eyes of the watcher. 'Broken Masses' is a hymn to the wind of change, a floating unformed magma of feelings, memories, wishes and disasters. Since the legendary Broken Flag released Sigillum S "Trance Flexure" we've always been in contact, encouraging the wish for an album together. After 35 years it finally happened. More to come."
https://garymundykleistwahr.bandcamp.com/album/broken-masses
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| MURAYAMA, SEIJIRO & ERIC LA CASA |
Paris: Public Spaces |
CD |
"Seijiro Murayama is a drummer-percussionist-voice performer currently working in Japan again after living for a number of years in France. Éric La Casa is a French sound artist well known for site-specific field recordings with a strong improvisational element. The two have been working together on numerous projects for nearly a decade. For six months starting in January 2012, La Casa and Murayama took portable tape recorders out to parks, subway stations, streets and other public spaces in Paris and separately made individual recordings in the same place and time frame, then edited the recordings. The result is the 12 tracks on this CD. Murayama frequently produced his unique vocal sounds while recording. This odd and unexpected voice sneaks into the varied and lively sounds that fill the public spaces, creating curious accents." [label info]
www.ftarri.com
"A most curious work here, but not unrelated to what I noted before: sometimes improvisers set themselves to work outside and use the natural sounds that surround them to be part of whatever they are recording. An extra layer of sound/music if you will. Here Murayama and La Casa do something similar, in the city of Paris. La Casa takes credit for 'field recordings' and Murayama for voice and recordings. Basically they go some place, with two portable recorders, and record the environment. Murayama adds with his mouth sounds to the recordings, but does that in a very subtle way, mostly almost unnoticed. He breathes, sighs, whispers or just makes crazy soft sounds with his mouth, maybe something a small baby would do. Maybe it's an imitation of sounds he's surrounded by, or maybe something he draws inspiration from. The space in which all of this happens is usually a bit hollow, adding an extra layer of musical information, a bit of reverb. Each track start with a cue to start, which is perhaps a bit annoying after a while, but on the other hand it also gives the idea of the start of an action, so the start of a piece, rather than seemingly random cut from a bunch of field recordings. That makes all of this quite a fascinating musical trip. Bird chirping, a marching band, fireworks, a construction site and sometimes just seemingly empty places. Murayama's contribution is rather mysterious most of the time, but that sort of is exactly quite right for this kind of music. A rather beautiful release. It would make you want to visit Paris straight away and go to these locations, close your eyes and listen again. But then, keep in mind, that this is not really a sounding travelogue, or just a piece of improvised music. It's a bit of all and at such a rather unique item." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| MURAYAMA, SEIJIRO & TOSHIYA TSUNODA |
Snared 60 Cuts |
CD |
"One clear day in spring, the two of us, Seijiro Murayama and Toshiya Tsunoda, went out to a park on the outskirts of the city of Yokohama. It was just like a picnic, but what we carried with us was a snare drum, not a lunch basket. We settled in a wide open space in the park and took a look through the inside of the snare drum, just for fun, to see how the world looked in that peaceful spring sunlight. That day Seijiro didn't play his instrument. We placed a pair of microphone inside the snare drum and tried to catch its sound under various conditions. He loosened the drumhead, took off the rim, put a heavy stone on it, hung it from a tree branch, and even cut the drum skin with a knife After two days of this strange picnic, we had gathered a total of 80 sound recordings. None of them includes a familiar snare drum sound. In fact, the sounds of these recordings are not generated with an ordinary 'musical' instrument, but result from the same instrument regarded merely as an object and perhaps also the act of breaking down the instrument into its physical pieces. Hopefully, still, another of our actions (the act of recording) reminded us of its nature as a musical instrument. Because of our general indifference to audio-technical details, we didn't take notes on the individual recordings. In our point of view, the differences among the takes are not important for the sake of the sound itself, or to the purpose of discerning them. On the contrary, the differences are only significant to the differences themselves. When you listen to these sounds coming to you in the stream of similarity, you'll find yourself listening to the threshold of yourself. It was just these differences that amazed us. What we offer here is not so-called 'beautiful' sounds. As for us, it is something more, chaotic, primal, and abundant." [credits/ label info]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| MURCOF |
The Versailles Sessions |
do-LP |
"Vom Barock zur Elektronik: Wassermusik des mexikanischen Elektronikers:
Seinen Titel verdankt das Album dem Ort, wo alljährlich "Les Grandes Eaux Nocturnes" stattfindet: das Sound-, Licht- und Wasser-Festival im wohl berühmtesten Schloss der Welt, dem Château de Versailles bei Paris. Der mexikanische Elektroniker Fernando Corona alias Murcof hat für den großen Fontänenabend im Jardin de Roi extra eine Suite geschrieben, "The Versailles Sessions" dokumentiert das Ereignis. Die sechs Kompositionen für das Projekt stammen alle aus dem 17. Jahrhundert (u. a. von Jean-Baptiste Lully, François Couperin) und wurden für das Projekt von Barockmusikern auf Originalinstrumenten eingespielt. Was wie eine Verabschiedung von elektronischer Musik klingt, ist in Wahrheit eine Fortführung von Techniken, die Corona über die Jahre entwickelt hat: die Verarbeitung bestehenden Materials - nur, dass dies jetzt aus dem 17. Jahrhundert stammt. "The Versailles Sessions" sollen dennoch nicht als Nachfolger des Albums "Cosmos" (2007) gesehen werden, eher als Zwischenprojekt zum 2009er-Werk "Océano". Das Album erscheint auf CD sowie als Doppel-LP in limitierter Edition." [label info / Indigo]
"In the summer of 2007, Fernando Corona completed a site-specific commission for Les Grandes Eaux Nocturnes, an annual festival of sound, light and water at Château de Versailles in France. A suite of music was composed specifically for the grand evening fountain display in the Jardin du Roi. The Versailles Sessions is an aural document of the event, to be released this winter on specially priced CD and limited edition double vinyl.
The six compositions prepared for the project derive entirely from recordings of 17th century baroque instruments (including harpsichord, viola da gamba, flute and violin) and a mezzo soprano. GetSound, who commissioned the project, hired musicians specialized in baroque music in Paris.
“We recorded pieces by Lully, Couperin and others,” says Corona of the sessions. “They were played traditionally, but we also experimented quite a bit with the music and instruments. It was a great learning experience - the musicians were amazing - very open minded and willing to have fun.”
The recording process may appear to be a departure for an artist known primarily as an electronic musician, but in fact it’s a continuation of techniques Corona has perfected over a number of years.
“It’s more or less done in the same fashion as my previous work: processing of previously recorded acoustic material. The only difference is the actual source material being so specific to 17th century baroque music and instruments. And since the recordings are the starting point of the composition process it naturally took me to a different place.”
Corona’s initial interpretations of the source material didn’t quite go according to plan.
“When we did a rehearsal about two weeks before the actual opening, it was pouring with rain so I wasn’t able to make the necessary tests. But being there and seeing the space and the installations (big disco balls and video projections on water fountains), I realised I was going in the wrong direction musically.
“The location demanded a different approach: more openness, more time for the sounds to develop and for them to resonate in that big space, so I went back home and during those remaining two weeks I reworked the whole commission into what it is now.
“The recordings I used as source material are very rich and cover a wide range of timbres, so I had lots of options as to how to approach the music making process.”
The Versailles Sessions should not be considered as the successor to 2007’s monumental Cosmos, rather as a special project while we await Murcof’s next album proper." [label info]
www.theleaflabel.com
|
2008 |
€18.50 |
|
| |
The Versailles Sessions |
CD |
"Vom Barock zur Elektronik: Wassermusik des mexikanischen Elektronikers:
Seinen Titel verdankt das Album dem Ort, wo alljährlich "Les Grandes Eaux Nocturnes" stattfindet: das Sound-, Licht- und Wasser-Festival im wohl berühmtesten Schloss der Welt, dem Château de Versailles bei Paris. Der mexikanische Elektroniker Fernando Corona alias Murcof hat für den großen Fontänenabend im Jardin de Roi extra eine Suite geschrieben, "The Versailles Sessions" dokumentiert das Ereignis. Die sechs Kompositionen für das Projekt stammen alle aus dem 17. Jahrhundert (u. a. von Jean-Baptiste Lully, François Couperin) und wurden für das Projekt von Barockmusikern auf Originalinstrumenten eingespielt. Was wie eine Verabschiedung von elektronischer Musik klingt, ist in Wahrheit eine Fortführung von Techniken, die Corona über die Jahre entwickelt hat: die Verarbeitung bestehenden Materials - nur, dass dies jetzt aus dem 17. Jahrhundert stammt. "The Versailles Sessions" sollen dennoch nicht als Nachfolger des Albums "Cosmos" (2007) gesehen werden, eher als Zwischenprojekt zum 2009er-Werk "Océano". Das Album erscheint auf CD sowie als Doppel-LP in limitierter Edition." [label info / Indigo]
"In the summer of 2007, Fernando Corona completed a site-specific commission for Les Grandes Eaux Nocturnes, an annual festival of sound, light and water at Château de Versailles in France. A suite of music was composed specifically for the grand evening fountain display in the Jardin du Roi. The Versailles Sessions is an aural document of the event, to be released this winter on specially priced CD and limited edition double vinyl.
The six compositions prepared for the project derive entirely from recordings of 17th century baroque instruments (including harpsichord, viola da gamba, flute and violin) and a mezzo soprano. GetSound, who commissioned the project, hired musicians specialized in baroque music in Paris.
“We recorded pieces by Lully, Couperin and others,” says Corona of the sessions. “They were played traditionally, but we also experimented quite a bit with the music and instruments. It was a great learning experience - the musicians were amazing - very open minded and willing to have fun.”
The recording process may appear to be a departure for an artist known primarily as an electronic musician, but in fact it’s a continuation of techniques Corona has perfected over a number of years.
“It’s more or less done in the same fashion as my previous work: processing of previously recorded acoustic material. The only difference is the actual source material being so specific to 17th century baroque music and instruments. And since the recordings are the starting point of the composition process it naturally took me to a different place.”
Corona’s initial interpretations of the source material didn’t quite go according to plan.
“When we did a rehearsal about two weeks before the actual opening, it was pouring with rain so I wasn’t able to make the necessary tests. But being there and seeing the space and the installations (big disco balls and video projections on water fountains), I realised I was going in the wrong direction musically.
“The location demanded a different approach: more openness, more time for the sounds to develop and for them to resonate in that big space, so I went back home and during those remaining two weeks I reworked the whole commission into what it is now.
“The recordings I used as source material are very rich and cover a wide range of timbres, so I had lots of options as to how to approach the music making process.”
The Versailles Sessions should not be considered as the successor to 2007’s monumental Cosmos, rather as a special project while we await Murcof’s next album proper." [label info]
www.theleaflabel.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| MURDEROUS VISION |
Voided Landscapes |
CD |
"Upon returning from a successful gig in Helsinki, Finland several inspired late night recording sessions began to take shape and morph into something a bit more cohesive. Voided Landscapes is a bleak journey into the paths of dark industrial and minimal death ambient. Using an arsenal of electronics, field recordings, strings and less conventional items, Voided Landscapes is a shifting beast that covers a lot of ground, but stays on a course that will not disappoint long time followers of the project. Features guest appearances by Robert O'Lexa (Vengeance Space Quartet), Pauline Lombardo and Rebecca Potter (Both of Cunting Daughters). Packaged in a 6 panel digisleeve with photography by Andy Henry that is printed on heavy uncoated retro paper stock."
https://murderousvision1.bandcamp.com/album/voided-landscapes
|
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| MURMER |
What are the Roots that clutch |
CD |
"It was a cavernous tone that broadcast from a ventilator duct that inspired Patrick McGinley to begin collecting field recordings and working them into his slow-arc compositions. At the time when he heard that particular tone in that particular city at that particular time, he had no gear to recording device on hand. Over the next fifteen years (and counting) McGinley has eased into a peripatetic lifestyle, wandering the European countryside and forests (but never straying too far from the thrum and spark of civilization) in search of the same epiphany with his head rattled to the sound of a cavernous air duct.
Around 1996, McGinley adopted the moniker Murmer for his compositional work; and though his work often steps into the quieter realm of sound construction, much of his field recordings and resultant compositions privilege interference and disturbances that occur within any given sound ecology. Those sounds could be the elusive tone from that ventilator, the polyrhythmic chorus of chirping frogs, the abstracted roar from an Arctic wind tearing across the Black Sea, or the metallic skree from a bowed antenna perched atop a Soviet-era observatory. What Are The Roots That Clutch marks McGinley's first full album in nearly 5 years, but it marks an elegant continuation of his previous album We Share A Shadow. The five chapters of this album can't easily be associated with any specific location; instead McGinley overlaps and crosshatches his field recordings and abstractions into acousmatic passages with ghostly, half-melodic qualities. Even the two unprocessed recordings of the album are impossibly complex in their accretions of sound. McGinley's composed pieces embrace lithe, mysterious drones whose mossy, damp atmosphere perfectly situate with tactile crunches, tactile events, and signal noise generation. Eels and leaches would not be out of place in such an environment; but the subaquatic murk snaps into a hallowed manifestation of ritualized minimalism at the album's finale -- one that LaMonte Young and Angus Maclise might have conjured in 1968 with clattering percussive elements and a hypnotic blur of harmonic drone.
What Are The Roots That Clutch is limited to 400 copies and comes housed with letterpress artwork." [label info]
www.helenscarsdale.com
"Patrick McGinley just carries on. Working as Murmer since 1996 he has a strong love for the world of field recordings and electronics. Since quite some time now he lives in Estonia and walks the woods to tape his sounds, takes them home and then transforms them in whatever mysterious way. Five long pieces, from mere six minutes to eighteen minutes. The two pieces that stay under ten minutes are 'unmanipulated found sounds', the other three are 'composed from found sounds, found objects and live room feedback'. Its easy to tell the difference between one and the other. The 'pure' pieces are indeed pure pieces in which we hear the obscure sounds of motors, ventilators, or otherwise objects moved by say wind, while in the other three, McGinely chooses for a slow built up of events. A simple, single sound starts up and then slowly more and more sounds are added, sine wave like sounds leap slowly in and then at one point you'll notice that the entire piece seem to have changed and you
have a full on, minimal yet maximum output sound, such as for instance in the fifth (untitled) piece when the pots and pans in the kitchen start to vibrate and we have an interesting minimalist clutter piece, that is halfway between a drone piece and a Velvet Underground jam. Maybe that's where the real surprise of this release is, in that development of field recordings towards very interesting (and very good) minimalist, electronic music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
"In looking at his discography alone, Patrick McGinley (aka Murmer) might not seem to be such a prolific artist; although he's certainly dedicated his entire existence to the pursuit of the field recording, its use in composition, and avant-garde sound practices in general. Each week, McGinley produces the ever enlightening Framework radio series dedicated to those very topics, starting out of Resonance FM in London with syndication now reaching several dozen adventurous radio stations across the globe. He's also active in curating a quarterly series of small cd-r editions of sound ecology, phonography, and field recording based sound art; and he also is an active participant in the Estonian avant-garde, as he's currently planted himself in the university city of Tartu. What Are The Roots That Clutch is his first full album in nearly seven years. Has it really been that long? That said, McGinley did work on a brilliant collaborative project with John Grzinich and Yannick Dauby, and he released a 3"cd-r for Taalem, both of which came out earlier this year in 2012. McGinley quips that he put the recordings aside to this record for well over a year, which may account in part for the delay; but ultimately, all of the recordings from Murmer are timeless. What Are The Roots That Clutch is no exception.
The field recordings that McGinley collects hedge towards disturbances in any given sound ecology, as found in the abrasive textures from a busted exhaust vent comingling with the Aeolian harmonics from the sustained gusts streaming down from the North Sea. McGinley does include two relatively unaltered field recordings (probably some minor filtering, but that's all) within the thoroughly abstracted and droned out compositions. One of these features a very eerie fundamental harmonic drone, obviously being activated by the wind and coupled with a glistening rattle and an unfurled flapping. The three elements here make for a surprisingly musical, if totally alien sounding piece that's akin to the Alan Lamb wire recordings. The album's 17 minute centerpiece is a slow building blur of industrial resonance and densely layered aquatic filigree that melts into chunks of clattering ice (it could be wood or glass... but ice is just so much more poetic to consider given the context); but the album's finale is where McGinley really gives us something to sink our teeth into. A comparatively harsh stutter of electrical abrasion builds up to a crescendo through water-tank rumblings and fire and / or water textures. At the peak, McGinley snaps to a downright psychedelic raga of back-masked belltones, harmonium drones, and percussive clatter that all comes together in a minimalist chorale on par with anything that Angus Maclise mustered in his dervishes and mantras.
As great as McGinley's last record was, What Are The Roots That Clutch might be even better. Handsomely packaged in letterpress artwork whose ochre-yellow hue matches the color of an Estonian farm house he's quite fond of. Limited to 400 copies." [Aquarius Rec.] |
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Songs for Forgetting |
LP |
"I work very slowly, hence songs for forgetting has been in development for a very long time. The first element, a large sand timer, was recorded in Cologne, Germany in August, 2007. Further field recordings were made of rain dripping through Soviet-era gutter spouts in the small Estonian village of Tõravere (which happens to be home to northern Europe’s largest optical telescope) later that same month; daytime fireworks (mascleta, set off for sound rather than light) in Valencia, Spain (March, 2008); a pebble beach in Étretat, France (June, 2008); underwater life in a branch of the Andelle River in Perruel, France (May, 2009); and, more recently, the rain gutters at my current home in Põlgaste, Estonia (September, 2013) and the stridulation and footfalls of an inadvertently disturbed ant colony on Kemiö Island, Finland (July, 2014).
But the force that brought all these recordings together was an inadvertent tendency towards instrumental recordings, which feature in each of these ’songs‘. These instruments were all unfamiliar, and in some cases they were not ‚instruments‘ at all, in the literal sense of the word, but objects or spaces that nonetheless lent themselves to being played. I encountered them around the same time as the recordings mentioned above were being made, and recorded my explorations and improvisations, sometimes alone, sometimes with other players.
The first of these instruments was small and zither-like. It was, I learned only recently, a miniature Ukrainian bandura, and it was in an apartment in Berlin where I stayed during a visit in August, 2007. The apartment was the home of another sound artist whose name, Jeff Gburek, I’d known for years, but whom I had never (and still have not) met in person. He was out of town at the time; he didn’t know for years that I played and recorded his instrument (although, thanks to this release, he does now).
The next instrument was an old radio antenna, on the roof of the aforementioned observatory telescope in Tõravere, which sang a predetermined melody when you bowed it, which I did together with a native of that village, Piibe Kolka, in August, 2007 (Piibe’s bowing can be heard in ‘the third song for forgetting’). And in December of that year, in Vienna, Austria, I recorded an improvisation with the debris and trash under a small pedestrian bridge with Lasse-Marc Riek, who coincidentally co-curates the Gruenrekorder label, and visual artist Elffriede (this action can be heard in ‘a fourth song for forgetting’).
In February of the next year, while staying with Maksims Šentelevs in Riga, Latvia, I experimented with one of the many instruments in his collection, a small kora. And a year later in February, 2009 I recorded another tabletop zither, given to me by an old housemate from my time in London, the singer-songwriter Sam Semple, playing it with a small motor also given to me by Max from Riga.
With all the elements collected, the songs began to come together, very slowly, beginning in that summer of 2007, and finishing only now as this release is being prepared. They were built often in response to specific emotional situations, situations that demanded some forgetting themselves, so the title can be read two ways: what you forget is up to you.
A brief word about some elements of the design of the physical version of this release, which is the work of Vahram Muradyan, using elements from my own collection of found objects and detritus, which are printed and embossed on sleeves made for us by the Räpina Paper Factory, here in southeast Estonia, using 100% additive-free recycled fibre: the front image is a reproduction of a leaf skeleton that I have had for some years – I can’t remember exactly where or when I found it, but I believe it is an aspen leaf from an Estonian forest. I have fond memories of recording aspen leaves in these forests, as they tremble in the wind. The maple and grape leaves that denote sides A and B of the vinyl were collected for their colors while traveling in France one autumn. The writing on the inner sleeve comes from one of several old school notebooks found in a mill ruin near my home, water-damaged and sun-faded, and mostly illegible. These notebooks make me think of memory and its loss, the fading away of the past. Included with the physical version is an original fragment of one of these notebooks.
Without the following people (along with those mentioned above) this release would not have been possible: Tuuli Tubin McGinley, Oliivia Tubin McGinley, Lasse-Marc Riek, Roland Etzin, Joshua Kunisch, Vahram Muradyan, Felicity Ford, Helmut Erler (who mastered the album at Dubplates & Mastering in Berlin), and Mihkel Peedimaa (from the Räpina Paper Factory, who made and donated the sleeves). Furthermore, this release has been produced with the help of a number of supporters, to whom I express my sincerest gratitude: Ariel Vitello, Bob Maier, Carole Kojo, Daniel McGinley, Eckhard Kuchenbecker, Greg Burrell, Hao-Tsun Kuo, Hitoshi Kojo, Irvic D’Olivier, James Bailey, Jonathan Coleclough, Julia Kümmel, Lauri Laanisto, Maren Möhring, Mark Stanley, Martin Clarke, Mike DePolo, Paul Fay, Udo Noll, and my colleagues at Resonance FM."
[Patrick Tubin McGinley, April/October 2016]
"The American ex-pat Patrick McGinley (aka Murmer) has now taken up residence in a rural village in Estonia after many years of wanderings and explorations. To this day, he continues to roam any and all environments, collecting field recordings and his own interventions with a particular place. It has been almost five years since his last solo work, but McGinley remains a steadfast champion the field recording within composition through his weekly Framework radio series, broadcast on Resonance FM and beyond through numerous radio and online outlets. Songs For Forgetting highlights McGinley's talents in molding and shaping tone and subtle melody from deep within the fundamental sounds of a particular environmental sound. At the same time, he'll interject actual instrumentation. The playful clatter of McGinley tinkering with a zither ringing in the vein of Harry Partch set in motion against a humid chorus of cicadas and spellbinding dronescaping. Witness the psalter-like halo blossoms on the second half of the record, where we find McGinley bowing a Soviet era antenna mounted at the top of an near-space observational telescope. The resulting harmonics and pastorally minimalist drones are drop-dead gorgeous, as richly sonorous as anything Pauline Oliveros and Charlemagne Palestine would compose through more conventional means. Songs For Forgetting manifests into a beautiful record, packaged in an suitably rough-hewn, embossed sleeve that was fabricated at the Rapina Paper Factory in southeast Estonia. McGinley has included considerable notes and ephemera, turning this into an wondrous objet d'art." [Stranded Rec.]
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
| MURRAY, BRENDAN |
Wonders never cease |
CD |
"Four years in the making, the music of Brendan Murray’s latest/greatest album of cinematic drone anthems, Wonders Never Cease, was honed during live concerts around New York and New England. Recorded in situ, each track was painstakingly (re)assembled and embellished back at Murray’s studio. While it cannot accurately be called a ‘live album’, the adrenaline thrill of live performance is palpable as soon as the opening howl charges out from the speakers. From the laminal scorch of the opening track, through an electric fizz storm and a breathy hymn for what sounds like harmonica and folding chairs (?), the eyes-wide-open bliss of Wonders is exhilarating. Soulful, melodic and intimate, this is electro-acoustic music as gloriously life-affirming and natural as a sunrise." [label info]
"The very last concert I saw in 2006, was on new year's eve, and by Brendan Murray, the unknown hero of experimental music. Due to some technical problems, it wasn't the grand finale of a great night, but he worked himself cleverly around the problems and did a more than suitable ending. Murray has a new CD to present, 'Wonders Never Cease' and I lost count a little bit, but it's perhaps his fourth or fifth solo release, and hopefully this will put him on the map for good, as he is ready for it (well, actually since his first CD, but that label disappeared all too quick). Murray plays around with the notion of drones in a clever way. The opening piece 'Hymn One' starts out as a loud beast, almost in a violent way, but when Murray pulls back the volume, things develop in a beautiful way. Heavily layered, with throughout changing patterns, which especially in 'Seas' works quite well, almost in a Steve Reich like manner, it is hard to believe that this actually a live album, even when its and pieces were reworked in the studio. It's a clever drone album, since it by-passes the Mirror et al as Murray's music is much more upfront and present, and that very same quality makes it also anything far from ambient music. 'Wonders Never Cease' is Murray's finest album to date and hopefully puts him on the map of great experimental composers." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.intransitiverecordings.com |
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Commonwealth |
CD |
Dröhnminimalismus pur! Poly-Drones die sich in endlosen Wellen umeinander legen, regelrecht anfangen zu schlingern. Aufs "erste Hören": Statik. Beim genaueren Hinhören: Eine unendliche Klangfülle, tänzelnde Obertöne, schwingende Frequenzen in multiplen Schichten, stetige Veränderungen und Verschiebungen. Der Drone-Gott steckt in den Details! Eine sehr feine Aufnahme des Bostoner Klangkünstlers BRENDAN MURRAY!
"Nie wurden Sehnen mehr gedehnt als über Murrays 49 Minuten Commonwealth. Nur Phill Niblock, Eliane Radigue oder Jean-Francois Laporte erzeugen solch sture Dronegebilde, in denen schüchterne Obertöne zu gigantischen Kolossen mutieren und Langatmigkeit den klaren Ton angibt. Harmonieansätze tauchen in diesem Wall aus Gitarre und analogen/digitalen Soundmanipulationen nur ganz spärlich auf und entblößen sich rasch als hilflose Wegweiser vergangener Genres. Nostalgie spielt allerdings keine Rolle, Commonnwealth schabt nach vorne, dezentriert Zeit und vermag sogar den Bewegungsapparat zu blockieren. Liest sich eventuell zu statisch, wirkt unter der Oberfläche aber äußerst drastisch. " [Ed Benndorf / DE BUG]
"Brendan Murray has become a central figure in Boston’s sound art vanguard through a reputation of exceptional live performances and a growing catalogue of slow-shifting compositions for rarified drones. A single crescendo terminating at the end of 49 minutes, Commonwealth is an epic investigation into subtle harmonics and overtones expressed through layered slippages of pure sound. Conceived through guitar, analog synthesis, and plenty of digital manipulation, Commonwealth expresses a rare confidence in Murray's finely tuned detailing of sinewy tonalities and sculpted megalithic surfaces. Murray himself has qualified this album as a "sincere bow to 'classic' minimalism," and Commonwealth is a worthy parallel to the work of Phill Niblock, Eliane Radigue, and Iannis Xenakis." [label info]
"We've ballyhooed Brendan Murray's exceptional, yet perennially overlooked drone & din work in the past; but nothing could have prepared us for Commonwealth. Damn, this guy is good. No, wait; he's fucking great! After a handful of cd-r productions, a Twonicorn cassette, and a fine cd release on Intransitive of processed shimmer, shifting frequencies, and some low-end girth rumblings for our bligatory SUNNO))) reference, Brendan Murray has produced his best work to date with Commonwealth. Compositionally, it's incredibly simple: a drone goes up, and it goes down. It lasts a little under 50 minutes. But buried with this single minded composition, there are thick spun rumbles, reflective vibrations, sympathetic sub-harmonics, and rich tonal frequencies. Out of the constant tectonic whir that introduces Commonwealth, shimmering clusters sound like a battery of reed organs or hurdy-gurdies, slowly modulating into heavier, deeper drones. We've been told that the source material for these sounds is guitar, although you'd be hard pressed to hear anything guitar-shaped anywhere on the disc. It's far more like the hallowed minimalist sound of Charlemagne Palestine and La Monte Young. Dare we say, it's better? Yes, Murray's drone hums like a perfectly tuned machine, with multiple pistons purring in a steady progress along Commonwealth's compositional arc. When Murray shifts the focus of the album downward, which begins not even halfway through the piece, the descent is noticeable; but it actually becomes Murray's most fertile work within Commonwealth. Here, low rhythmic thrumbs crawl beneath
the surface of the slowly collapsing drone, precluding its inevitable terminus. Perfect trance-enducing dronemuzik. Fans of Aidan Baker, Andrew Chalk, and Phill Niblock should definitely take note!" [Aquarius Records ]
"... Much louder and less subtle, this is loud drone music, one of the kind that Niblock plays live. Although playing music on headphones is not something I usually recommend, this piece sounds pretty fine on headphones, pressing air against your ears, making a thunderous storm, which shoots right in your brain. Towards the end the volume drops a bit in favor of more heavy weight bass sounds, forming the natural ending to a heavy work. Murray delivers, once again, a mighty fine album that will be another step forward in recognizing him as a true master of the genre. Fans of classical drone music be aware - this is the classic of the future." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.23five.org
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Not Now |
CD |
"for his recorded debut, Boston-based electro-acoustic composer Brendan Murray presents an album that both speaks and listens. using only two phrase samplers and computer, he manipulates field recordings and static, breath loops and subsonics to create a record that expresses serenity, panic and liberation. 'Not Now' will gently take your hand, lead you to a place you've known for years and leave you there, wondering where you are. subtle and understated, Murray's work is rich with deep layers which reveal themselves only with careful repeated listenings. Murray is an integral part of the growing Boston electronic-improv scene, having performed extensively throughout the Eastern U.S. over the past two years." [label description]
|
2001 |
€14.00 |
|
| MURRAY, BRENDAN / PERISPIRIT |
split |
LP |
"Semata Productions & Razors and Medicine are pleased to announce the first long playing record release of both Brendan Murray and Perispirit. Murray has been making waves around Boston, the USA, and the world since 1999. Perispirit, the collaborative project of Ricardo Donoso and Luke Moldof formed in late 2007, is known by their dynamic live performances and two cassette releases.
Brendan Murray's "Birches and Marksman's Graves (Voice and Computer #1)" is a clear summation of his interest in controlled drones and gestural improvisation with a step into the unknown. Murray is always keen to transform and manipulate an instrument sound color to the point of non-recognition, utilizing a single source for this piece: the voice of Noell Dorsey. The piece opens with dissonant clusters, moving up and down generating momentum, keeping the music physical while still highly controlled. Vague hints of melody lie underneath the cracks trying to seep through but are swallowed up by the turbulence. It gradually gives way to extended technique vocalisms that call to mind sound poetry and at times even the Sprechstimme of Schoenberg. Later the swirling tones return with a combination of both the higher and lower pitch clusters. It sounds like falling infinitely downward.
Perispirit's side offers a statement that is equally focused but bares little if any resemblance to Murray's piece. It can be described as more active than their previous material, utilizing quick sectional transitions, relying on three key components: harsh noise, delicate melodic work, and degraded lo-fi manipulations. The piece begins with dynamic harsh cutups that pay attention to sound spacialization and stereo field manipulations inspired by the likes of Sickness and Pain Jerk. The momentum grows and is quickly brought down to almost nothing creating a feeling of aural blue balls. The process is resumed and then the piece breaks into looping guitar passages with a subtle electronic underpinning. The layers build than disappear. The noise returns building to a heightened peak of frustration until it drops off and we are left with the sound of lifeless monotony. Gradually a wall of drone begins to creep in and eventually overtakes all else.
Edition of 250 pressed on 160 gram off white vinyl featuring full color LP jackets & labels; mastered by Kris Lapke." [label info]
www.semataproductions.com
|
2010 |
€21.50 |
|
| MUSIC OF TRANSPARENT MEANS |
Selected Live Recordings |
LP |
"Selected Live Recordings is the third release De La Catessen Records has divined from the archives of New-York-via-Adelaide minimalist composer Alex Carpenter, and the second in this series for his shape-shifting collective, Music Of Transparent Means. It follows the two side-long fantasias of 2021's self-titled album; this time, we pan out slightly, to grant the listener a varied and yet more complex understanding of the material Carpenter was writing and performing when this music was happening, during the noughties. On this album, you can hear the results of some intensive explorations of the possibilities of minimalism both at its most delicate, and at its most feverish. The heavenly stasis of "Disappearance #1", for massed wine glasses and bowed guitars, feels like being jettisoned in a water tower filled with ether; the wooziness of "Burial Music" captures something of the spirit of Fripp & Eno's (No Pussyfooting), but as though the tape is slowly disintegrating; the music is blurred at the edges, warped and sidereal. Perhaps the centerpiece of Selected Live Recordings, though, is the simple, yet ravishing, "Rose Street Womb". With its performers given a simple set of instructions -- to continually repeat and elongate a series of phrases, while listening and responding to the overall sound of the ensemble -- its pastoral psychedelia recalls the gentle slippages of Arthur Russell's landmark composition, Tower Of Meaning. Elsewhere, "Mountain Piece #2" is a thunderstorm for massed drums, while "Second Presencing" uses delays as a structuring device to paint an "audio canvas" from a clutch of damaged tones. Throughout, you can hear Carpenter's knowledge and deep study of the history of minimalist composition -- he has written extensively on the work of La Monte Young, and there is certainly some aesthetic and ideological crossover with the likes of Phill Niblock, Terry Riley, and Arnold Dreyblatt. But it is also very much his own thing, the result of an intensive period of study and exploration of the possibilities, not just of minimalist composition, but also of Just Intonation. With the material long whispered about in reverent tones, and circulating on CD-R only amongst a small group of like-minded souls, De La Catessen's ongoing series of releases of Carpenter's music is a major development, bringing to light one of minimalism's hidden histories." [press release]
"From Iggy on the cover of Raw Power to Black Sabbath, circa 1980, in Milwaukee, from the ’52 Cleveland riot through to Suicide in Brussels, a healthy dose of chaos and danger is at the heart of all great rock music. So, it comes as no surprise to hear Alex Carpenter, the musician behind Music Of Transparent Means (MOTM), talk about chaos as core to the development of his music: “Even though there was this purity and mathematical elegance throughout some of the thinking and theory, what I remember almost more than that was the chaos and the mess, the forcefulness, the saturation and obliteration. The clear ideal gave way to this kind of loud, intense chaos, which in turn opened a path back to the clear.”
Music Of Transparent Means has always struck me as a particularly rock-reverent kind of minimalism, as though Alex has removed all the excess baggage that rock has picked up over the decades and focused on its most important aspects: noise and intensity, energy and mayhem. There is, of course, a great tradition of rock minimalism, from the Velvet Underground through AC/DC to Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca, on into Band Of Susans, Spacemen 3 and Loop, but Alex’s music is curious for the way it flips the script on those examples and gives us an altogether different take on the intersection of these two forces.
You can hear the ‘elegant chaos’ of Alex’s compositions throughout this second archival release by the ensemble, which is filled with music that’s both seriously beautiful and deliriously serious. If the first MOTM release on De la Catessen gave an extended view into Alex’s work, with one long piece per side, here we have excerpts from performances throughout the years, allowing a more expansive take on both process and outcome. What strikes me, listening to this music, is the way that Alex indeed allows chaos to take its own non-form, to coalesce and congeal into huge, abraded blocks of sound, to allow the meeting of musicians, many from different walks of life, to morph into one throbbing brain at the centre of the sonorous universe.
Hearing “Rose Street Womb” for the first time in over a decade, I am also momentarily surprised by how much it echoes another favourite composition of mine, Arthur Russell’s early ‘80s piece, Tower Of Meaning. In “Rose Street Womb”, musicians are each given one short phrase, or a series of them, “which were continually repeated (either fully or partially) and continually elongated,” Alex recalls. “Performers were encouraged to listen less to their own part and more to the overall ensemble.” Here, you can hear that collective mind flame into being, where a ticker-taping tessellation of tones builds abstract architectures. It’s a collectivity that’s echoed in the brief excerpt from “Mountain Piece 2”, for massed drums, though this concerns itself more with the dynamic of rise and fall, and the collapsing of our distinct sense of rhythm and texture; it’s an exhilarating rush of projected energy.
By contrast, the woozy, sea-sick strands of melody in “Burial Music” obliterate themselves via the delay feedback system that Alex has constructed (shades of Fripp and Eno in the (No Pussyfooting) mirror-verse here), eventually leading to simple phrases collapsing in on each other, “resulting in a sort of ‘burial of melody’,” Alex confides. This focus on delay as a structuring force is also evident in the following “Second Presencing”, where Alex draws out what he terms an “audio canvas” by “increasing the delay time to over five seconds, thus opening a space in which I could react musically and build upon burgeoning patterns and gestures,” with a “slow change of harmonic centre”. If the delay pedal is so often the curse of lazy experimental and post-rock music, an easy route to padding out the tonal spectrum, Alex, on the other hand, uses it with indeed a painterly caress, using the parameters and extremities of this phenomenon to offer different ways of composing and responding to sound as it unfolds in real time, in front of our ears.
The closing excerpt from a 2002 performance of “Disappearance #1”, for wine glasses and bowed guitars, has particular personal resonance for me – attending this show at SEAS Gallery was the first time I’d encountered Music Of Transparent Means, on the recommendation of Alex’s and my mutual friend (and general all-round mensch of Adelaide music) Nigel Koop. I recall being struck by the eloquence of the sound and tested by its duration. For Alex, “Disappearance #1” was a significant piece – “the result of a painful re-entry back into performance after a long period of getting hung up on theory,” he remembers, “in particular the history of Western tuning and the idea of returning to some rarefied (and impossible) ‘perfect sound.’ Writing in just intonation definitely helped with the re-entry, but ultimately I realised I wanted more energy and chaos, even if it was in the service of striving towards some type of perfection.”
When I interviewed Australian musician Oren Ambarchi many years ago, I asked him why he was so moved by minimalist composers like Phill Niblock. His answer was simple: “I like it because it rocks.” Listening, with some intensity, to Alex’s music after some time away from it, I’m struck by the way it also collapses dualities – elegance and chaos; body and mind; heart and head; rock and minimalism. In here, we can experience something that’s fundamental, I think, to what we’re all looking for, perhaps moreso on the level of the unconscious, whether we’re lost in the zone at a heady recital or caught up in the tidal waves of noise rolling off the stage at a gig; deep, identity-dissolving sensory obliteration.
Like being caught in the middle of the holocaust of sound that my bloody valentine erupt into at the end of their gigs, during “You Made Me Realise”, you’re blissfully lost, and not a little concussed and confused. “The goal was to exhaust people first,” Alex concludes. “To get them to a point where these perceptual habits stopped serving them. Like meditating on a word until it loses its referential significance or magnifying an image until its normally recognisable shape becomes unstable. It’s only after these surface layers start breaking away that we can start clearing a path towards a more direct engagement with the material.” [Jon Dale]
https://transparentmeans.bandcamp.com/album/selected-live-recordings-2
|
2022 |
€25.00 |
|
| |
Chord from the Second Delphic Hymn |
LP |
https://transparentmeans.bandcamp.com/album/chord-from-the-second-delphic-hymn-emerging-like-an-infant-from-the-house-of-truth
Discovering Music Of Transparent Means was one of the three or so genuine revelations from my fifteen years of living in Adelaide, Australia. I was in my twenties and had spent some time wondering why the city I was surviving hadn’t offered much in the way of genuinely engaging and affecting ‘experimental music’ (all terms used advisedly) during my tenure. I’d also somehow glommed onto the work of a number of American composers and polymaths – La Monte Young, Tony Conrad, Arnold Dreyblatt, Phill Niblock, Maryanne Amacher – and somewhere in the back of my head, I was looking for a similar music, locally made, that combined the rush and roar of the best rock music, its volume and its joyous love of kicks and freedom, with the temporal and experiential obliterations of the best minimalism.
So, finding Music Of Transparent Means (MOTM) was a heavy deal. A loosely shaped ensemble, MOTM was really the conceptual and aesthetic expression of éminence grise, Alex Carpenter, a fiercely intelligent and disciplined musician, composer and thinker who balanced that intensity with a genuine warmth and kindness in the personal realm. (The latter is far more important, in the end, than the former, and it’s one reason why I still listen to MOTM.) Alex had come up through time-honoured traditions – playing in rock bands as a teenager, studying classical guitar, finding himself embedded in, and ultimately chafing against the ‘classical guitar scene’: “It was a culture with limits. I didn’t just want to work on perfecting the Bach suites and discuss endlessly the merits of one particular arrangement over another one.”
Instead, Carpenter leaned towards composition over being ‘just’ a guitarist. The means of his expression were many and varied, but he recalls that he “also wanted loud, engaging sounds, alternative tunings, sustained notes and beating nuances that come from multiple instruments and sound sources.” A concurrent interest in the work of La Monte Young and his peers – Carpenter wrote an essay, “La Monte Young: Towards Absolute Music”, as a student in the nineties, which was an early, oft-referenced discussion of Young’s work - proved that Carpenter had intellectual chops to burn, as well, but as his colleague and peer Luke Altmann wryly comments, “he had an endearing love of the ridiculous and was the first person you’d look for at a party.” I can’t help but feel that you can sense that in the joyous sensory over- stimulation of MOTM – the music is, quite simply, a head-fucking blast to listen to and swim through.
Besides being the person releasing the album you’re now holding in your hands, Altmann was also a key facilitator for Carpenter, via the former’s De la Catessen Gallery. “Before I started presenting concerts at De la Catessen in ‘05, I meekly asked Alex if he would play there, since I couldn’t see the venue working without him. He agreed, and presented a series of concerts over the next two and a half years which really defined that period locally.” Carpenter’s final concert at De la Catessen, before relocating to the USA in 2007, was the launch of the album Chord From The Second Delphic Hymn. Initially planned as a lathe cut LP, the lathes proved unlistenable, and Carpenter returned to the CD-R format, via his label Vanished. There’s a sense, with this new LP release, of a project finally completed, come to full fruition.
Altmann’s description of “Chord...” is apposite: “As a listener it seems to hover and vibrate. Gravity is acting on it, but it’s failing. Its bubble-like surface swirls and endures, it is resolute but unresolved. But as a performer it’s another story - this beautiful object has an enormous mass and it takes intense physical exertion to keep it in the air. Each keyboard player has a sequence of notes, a sort of mantra, to play over and over, taking longer and longer to complete the sequence on each cycle. However, each note must always be repeated as rapidly, loudly, and consistently as possible, to create as close as can be to a continuous sound, before moving on to the next note. It is utterly exhausting and physically exhilarating.”
Carpenter expands, also taking into consideration this album’s b-side, “Emerging Like An Infant From The House Of Truth”: “The idea in both pieces (and in other pieces I wrote around that time) was to isolate a particular harmonic and textural “field” (for want of a better term) that was complex and engaging, and explore as many nuances as possible within the timeframe of the piece. Also to utilize these fields as channels for perceptual exhaustion and meditation.” I was once part of an MOTM performance – I can’t quite remember whether it was “Chord...” or another piece, but to be fair, we are talking 15+ years ago – and I readily concur with Altmann’s description of performing, and Carpenter’s focus on exhaustion and meditation: it’s tiring but thrilling, and strangely meditative, to be caught within the midst of all sound.
I also remember, once, sitting with Carpenter, and discussing an ideal of music that felt like a “bright white light shone directly into your face.” I mentioned it to Carpenter recently and he said, “I love this metaphor, and I remember talking about it with you! From memory it came from Baudrillard’s phrase “unbearable incandescence,” which I like because it seems to represent my feelings on sound as a resource musicians tap into. We perceive (and value) partial components of this overall “thing” - whether that be within a piece or an entire historic era. These components change, and there can be a flow to that changing, moving image, but the flow can also be interrupted by our preoccupation with a particular “snapshot” of the image.
“Put another way, I see sound as an unbearable incandescence because it is a resource that offers infinite possibilities, and as such we cannot take in all possibilities simultaneously. It needs to filter through our media. But to me it demands a certain reverence and curiosity. We’re aren’t using sound; it is using us.” Ask Carpenter to expand on this, and to explain what he wants people to get out of this music, and he continues: “The sensory overflow of the music that is on many levels quite forceful and unrelenting is an invitation for the listener to let go of the messages and concepts they might normally seek to have confirmed in music. To let go of the composed, performed data.”
I keep returning to the idea of a kind of blissful, obliterated exhaustion as core to the MOTM experience. It’s something Carpenter seems to agree with: “The goals of MOTM essentially centered around the exhaustion of perceptual habits. Given the pervasiveness—and to a certain extent, unconsciousness—of our expectation for music to render the themes, forms and meanings of habitual response, exhaustion was considered an important stage to reach. Only by becoming exhausted with the cultural categories normally sought and emphasized in music, could we really be given an opportunity to move beyond them.” I guess MOTM, and Carpenter, exhausted Adelaide, too – it was sad to see him go in 2007, as much as we all knew that he was destined for much bigger things, and that Adelaide’s cultural conservatism in the ‘00s was no great working context for someone so dedicated to music that sat outside of both the culturally dominant forms and those that presented as legibly counter-cultural within the dominant lexicon. But I learned from MOTM how to be in time and in sound; how to move through and give in to the experience of the sonification of our corner of the world. It was a lesson in possibilities.
|
2023 |
€28.00 |
|
| MUSLIMGAUZE |
Chapter of purity |
CD |
Stücke von längst vergriffenen Vinyl-only releases 1985-1987!
” www.pretentious.net/muslimgauzeI'm pleased to announce the new (is it right term?) Muslimgauze album on Tantric Harmonies. "Chapter of Purity"compilation gives you a chance to see where the legend started. Tracks on this CD were selected from four early Muslimgauze vinyl releases:Blinded Horses - LIMITED 2 (9/1985), Flajelata - LIMITED 3 (2/1986), Hajj - LIMITED 4 (8/1986) and Jazirat-Ul-Arab - LIMITED 5 (3/1987).As always Bryn's music is full of Middle Eastern atmospheres, power and beauty. All titles for the first time on CD format! ” [press release]
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Speaking with Hamas |
CD |
Das Original erschien 1999, dies ist ein re-pressing im digipack von rarem Material... “A collection of limited edition series of 1996, selected by Muslimgauze. This is to be permanently available to people who don't deserve it. A tourist asked Ali Muhamad, a second-hand camel salesman, why camels look so dam supercilious. The Arabs know 99 names for God but only the camel knows the 100th.” [sleeve note]
www.staalplaat.com
|
1999 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Zuriff Moussa |
CD |
Eine der eher “poppigen”, fast schon tanzbaren releases von 1997, jetzt wiederaufgelegt im edlen Design. Limited Edition of 800, comes in new cover and special paper.
"Instead of the drones and mostly beatless atmospheres of many previous Muslimgauze recordings, Zuriff Moussa presents quite a danceable switch for Bryn Jones. Dedicated to a Palestinian martyr, the album sounds like a cleaner version of Techno Animal, with Eastern influences instead of dub. "Turkquoize Label" and "Brazil Marijuana" are surprisingly infectious, with distorted breakbeats and the patented Muslimgauze phased-channel drone. There are 24 tracks spread across more than an hour, so there isn't a large amount of time for each track, though several are presented in suites, like "Anti Arab America." For messed-up beat fans who are able to find it, Zuriff Moussa is close to a crucial purchase." [John Bush, All Music Guide]
|
2004 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Uzi Mahmood |
do-CD |
"Bryn Jones died January 14, 1999. The man best known as Muslimgauze was 37 years old, and at the peak of his career. During his short life he recorded an astonishing number of albums, some 200 at last count, a great many of them in years immediately preceding his death. Indeed, his output was so great that his labels couldn’t keep up with the virtual flood of music he produced. It’s no wonder new material continues to surface so long after his passing.
“Uzi Mahmood” was recorded to satisfy a specific request. Soleilmoon wanted a 12 inch single that DJs could play in nightclubs. The idea was to introduce Muslimgauze to a potentially enormous new audience. The request was made in the autumn of 1999, in a phone call lasting less than five minutes; Bryn was never one for small talk. He was all business, and he could record a complete album in three or four days, sometimes faster. Two weeks after agreeing to record a disco album for Soleilmoon, “Uzi Mahmood” was delivered to the label. But instead of the agreed on two or three tracks, he sent an eleven song compact disc, followed a week later by a 90 minute digital audio tape containing the entire CD plus two more pieces. Four songs were eventually selected for the experiment, and in the spring of 1998 a dirty-and-dubby 12" EP was released. Two more songs were later used to replace a pair of corrupted tracks on the master tape for “Hussein Mahmood Jeeb Tehar Gass”, released on CD in 1999. The music was well received by fans, but the hoped-for dance floor revolution never happened, and the little record with the unconventional beats went out of print a few years later.
Fast forward to the present: The year is 2010 and the four song EP has been out of print for more than five years, seven more songs lie waiting in the vault, still unreleased, and the two tracks tacked onto “Hussein Mahmood Jeeb Tehar Gass” are the only ones in wide circulation. Which is why Soleilmoon is so very pleased to finally be releasing all thirteen songs together on one record. “Uzi Mahmood” is 90 minutes of the sexiest, most booty-shakin’ Muslimgauze music ever heard. We released a limited edition gatefold triple LP in November. Now it’s available as a two CD set. Disc one has the eleven tracks from the original master, disc two has the two extra songs that came on the DAT. The cover art is by plazm design (plazm.com)." [label info]
www.soleilmoon.com
|
2010 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Turkish Berlina |
CD |
"The recently unearthed 'Turkish Berlina' dates back to 1997, shortly after Muslimgauze played Berlin; the master was labeled, simply, remixes. As with many of Bryn Jones' remixes of his own work, these ten untitled tracks range from hauntingly familiar to strikingly new versions of already extant Muslimgauze material. Surely we've heard some form of the haunting vocal loop on the first track before? The dense, busy, distorted break that takes over the second track, that's
new, isn't it? Or maybe we have it backwards, maybe what feels new here should be familiar and vice versa. Even for dedicated Muslimgauze fans these ten remixes hover tantalizingly on the border between the known and the unknown. Here the balance between Jones' source material, the music of the Middle East and elsewhere, and his own electronic, sometimes abrasive additions and distortions slides over much closer to techno than much of Muslimgauze's output, whether on the extended dubby pulse of the third track or the headspinning broken beats of the eighth and ninth. Jones had mentioned in the past being uneasy trying to represent the breadth of Muslimgauze's music live, preferring to emphasize percussion and backing tracks. These versions, then, coming on the heels of live performance, might just offer a glimpse at what Muslimgauze was like live. 500 copies." [label info]
www.staalplaat.com
|
2013 |
€15.50 |
|
|
Mazar-I-Sharif |
CD |
" 'Mazar-i-Sharif' is to polite society what a dozen angry Rotweillers are to a cafe full of poodles: An explosion. The diamond collars scatter across the tiles and the fur turns red as the perfectly clipped poodle-butts are torn apart by a pack of rabid Jerry Springer Spaniels. Your politically correct end-of-the-century tea party is officially OVER, and anyone thinking Muslimgauze is about to make a calculated move to new age radio should call a taxi right now because the missiles are already in the air.From the intense noise-and-rhythm barrage to the shocking cover image of a young boy with amputated arms, there is no part of this compact disc that will not offend someone. Yes, of course there are groovy Middle Eastern beats, and music loops are top notch as usual, and the true die-hard fans of Muslimgauze will not be disappointed, but we expect that there will be fewer of them after they hear this record. Track listing: 1. “Rezin Of Joy” – 13:39 2. “Sulymaniyah” – 4:17 3. “Mosul” – 12:13 4. “Bandar Abbas” – 9:57 5. “Zahedan” – 5:31 6. “Mazar-I-Sharif” – 7:56" [unknown source/label info]
www.soleilmoon.com
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Syrinjia |
do-CD |
"Syrinjia was first issued in 1998 as a limited edition of 850 vinyl LPs. It has been sold out since winter 2002. Bryn Jones (Muslimgauze) always intended for us to release it on compact disc after the vinyl edition was gone, and today we’re happy to announce the fulfillment of his dream with the release of “Syrinjia” as a double CD. Ever the prolific composer, he recorded 20 songs for the album, of which only the first nine were included on the LP, leaving the rest to be released at a later date. Although Muslimgauze was never known for making particularly dance-oriented music, “Syrinjia” was a rare exception to the start-stop noisy feedback-driven assault that defined his style. This change in direction, more a detour, really, was the result of a simple request put to him to make an album that DJs could play for people who might not normally appreciate what he was doing. Rather than look at the request as a demand to compromise or sell out to commercial requirements, Bryn took it as an opportunity to explore a completely different foundation from which to work. While it could be said that the majority of his songs find their inspiration in Arabic or Islamic traditions, “Syrinjia” breaks the mold by looking west towards Jamaica and its vital reggae scene. The beats are rock steady and a sinuous bass line bubbles underneath at a rolling boil, and it’s standing room only once again on Air Palestine flight 132 to Kingston. A limited edition collectors version of “Syrinjia” was issued on CD on July 12, 2004. It was presented in a luxurious handmade silk folder with inserts made from recycled silk fiber. The entire run of 518 copies was sold in the first week of release. This regular edition is presented in a standard jewelbox and comes with a friendly price." [label info]
www.soleilmoon.com
|
2004 |
€18.50 |
|
|
Zilver / Feel the Hiss |
CD |
"Some of the tracks on Feel the Hiss, a release Bryn Jones recorded live to cassette in early 1995 but never had the chance to remix and polish before he died, use the same kinds of devotional voices found on much of Minaret Speaker, but here other voices are present too. Conversational or angry, male or female, English or French or Arabic, almost inaudible or forcing their way to the front of the music, these “Zilver Tracks” (the name based on a note Jones wrote on the tape) engage more directly with the world Jones was so fascinated with and tried to represent over and over again in his work as Muslimgauze.
If, like most listeners, you only speak one or two languages, the content on Feel the Hiss can be just as inscrutable as anything Jones has put out. But the music, luckily, is also just as wonderful; for a set of demos recorded live to tape the Feel the Hiss material certainly comes across as fully-formed, if a bit more reflective and synthesizer-heavy than much of his oeuvre. The lengthy “Zilver Track 4” especially, seems at times like a tour around the embattled regions of the world Jones was so passionate about, complete with echoing percussion, voices in various languages, even train sounds.
Not that this is Muslimgauze’s answer to the KLF’s Chill Out, by any stretch of the imagination; the dark, shimmering “Zilver Track 1” is as compellingly propulsive as any of his songs. It’s possible if Jones had gone back to this tape his changes would have brought it more in line with other Muslimgauze releases but as it is Feel the Hiss is a chance to experience the more contemplative side of his work." [label info]
www.staalplaat.com
|
2015 |
€15.50 |
|
|
Minaret Speaker |
CD |
"While the human voice has often been an element in Bryn Jones’ work as Muslimgauze, rarely did he highlight it as much as he does in these two newest releases from the Muslimgauze Archive Series. While elements of Minaret Speaker appeared on the 7” of the same name released by Staalplaat in 1996, much of the strongest material here is previously unheard. Jones’ normal practice was to send in tapes to the label with only a title for each tape as a whole, then provide individual track titles before each release. Sadly, with his passing in 1999 we are left with many projects where he provided album titles but, barring a séance, the tracks themselves will always remain untitled.
The material on Minaret Speaker can be broken into two groups; the first, the ten tracks that make up the bulk of this release, make clear immediately why Jones picked that title for the album, with the ten-minute “Minaret Speaker Track 1” serving as a duo for his trademark digitally distorted percussion loops and what certainly sounds like a recording of a call to prayer, or adhan. The voices on the tracks here are ones that may well have come out of an actual minaret speaker at some point. One these tracks, as the musical backing gets harsher and more distorted, the voices reach towards deliverance; the results, even on wordless interludes like the string-based “Bamboo Bound” is something that can seem more approachable than some of Jones’ work as Muslimgauze.
The four Rest tracks that make up the end of this release form a brief bonus EP of even lower-fidelity-than-normal works in progress from Jones, with “Rest Track 1” immediately sounding like Jones putting his own work through some new contortions. At times this material gets and fuzzed- and dubbed-out as anything in the Muslimgauze discography, a perfect accompaniment to the mix of soaring and pulverizing music found on the rest of the album." [label info]
www.staalplaat.com
|
2015 |
€16.50 |
|
|
Narcotic |
do-LP |
"Narcotic is perhaps one example of an album in both camps of the muslimgauze spectrum, it denotes the expertise acquired in oriental percussion by Bryn Jones after a crescent development and practice through action, part Tribal, part Ambient with shades of texturized noise, glitch details and field recordings, as result the listener is inside this intoxicant atmosphere of exotic madness, where the basic musical premise constituted by the consistent tribal beats from darbukas and tambourines contrasting radically with the eerie sounds from organic noise, distortions and minimal jams.
The opening track "Medina Flight" bangs on with a metallic sounding looped drum track that blares with distortion at some points while background voices chant out vocals nearly throughout. The track is flavored with other harsh sounds and even a few woodwind sounding instruments before subsequently breaking down and starting back in several times. "Believers of the Blind Sheikh" is a 10-minute middle-eastern sounding dub track sprinkled with live drum sounds and more occasional vocal samples of unknown conversation. "Saddams Children" leans more toward traditional instruments, but one can hear the gurgle of electronics lightly in the background. The instrumentation of the album is amazing. When I first started seeing that Muslimgauze released so many albums in such a short amount of time, I naturally thought that the quality might fall suspect, but Narcotic is a solid piece of work that covers quite a chunk of the electronic music spectrum, although a lot of the rhythms tend to fall on a little harder side. It manages to blend ethnic and electronic sounds into quite an interesting mix.
The images of a surrealistic desert land inhabited by the bizarre and general strangeness abounds in between the strong rhythm usage and cinematic atmosphere unbound, subsequently the decisive progression from the album increases this sensation. The listener easily gets submerged into this opium like state, suscintly guided by the beats and echoes from oriental sounds that wander in and out of the speakers and far away and so close from the mind.Interesting and atractive the album keeps a middle ground status, half experimental and other half adapted for the tribal and linear structure common to Muslimgauze, the listener will find quite another of the many faces of this enigmatic artist." [label info]
"....this album is largely percussion focused and very atmospheric but not necessarily in the way albums like Vote Hezbollah or Mullah Said are. Narcotic focuses much more on dubby, washed out and dense atmospheres that make you feel like you're wandering through an arabic street on a hot summer's day. a truly amazing record to me, featuring extremely memorable tracks like the hypnotic Gulf Between Us (which the 23 minute long extended mix of is excellent, by the way), Effendi, the fabulous and completely entrancing Believers of the Blind Sheikh and all 3 excellent Narcotic suite tracks. just an absolute gem of a record and the one that always sticks out the most to me, due to it's unique atmosphere and immensely coherent tracklist.
a definite recommend. start here if you've never heard Muslimgauze before, as it's probably one of his most accessible and gives the best overall view of his sound in my opinion. it's a perfect mix of the ambient dub, percussion and hypnotic soundscapes i love from him." [StoneInFocus]
|
2020 |
€29.50 |
|
|
Muhammadunize |
do-LP |
Listeners who know much of anything about Bryn Jones' work as Muslimgauze know that he was prolific in both his work and Muhammadunize, has what could be called a classic feel to it, with a very familiar blend of drones, string instruments, and synths, and varying percussion/break-beat patterns, in turn mixed with a number of hard-to-catch vocal samples. It's a formula used many times in the past by Jones, yet somehow he still manages to keep things just fresh enough, investing songs like the first and second "Khalifate" and especially both slamming versions of "Imad Akel" with enough unexpected touches. He incorporates the basic power of his work in the tracks as well, with both beauty and a nervy, hard-to-define tension as the songs progress. The sound palette of Muhammadunize is very similar to his ambient-techno albums such as Mullah Said and Gun Aramaic, down to the rhythms and the trademark tanpura drones and keys in C minor. The difference is that it's a bit more aggressive and faster-paced than the aforementioned albums, thus utilizing a similar dark atmosphere to a more immediate and in-your-face effect, especially as noted by the drum-kit urban-sounding pulse of "Imad Akel", one of the high points on this album. However, a favorite track here is the closer "Fatah Guerrilla" (also title track of the whole triple album), featuring a rapid echoed rhythm along with a barrage of percussion popping up and echoing every so often, sounding like they're flying through the room at a quick pace; the piece also features a beautiful flute melody which combines with the busy rhythm section in an interesting way.
|
2022 |
€32.00 |
|
|
Veiled Sisters (GOLD) |
3 x LP |
It's by some strange inversion that since his untimely death in 1999 Bryn Jones' Muslimgauze project has become evermore enigmatic as his publicly available recordings have become evermore vast. The Mancunian artist's sudden passing at the age of 37 prematurely resolved a body of work that remains as experimental as it is diffuse, with an informal archive that was left spread between favoured labels and confidantes. And though this monadic project never abided by genre specifications, it all feels as if it is taking the critical pulses of its time and rendering them into something other than the sum of its obscure compulsions. Jones' double album 'Veiled Sisters' from 1993 is no exception, and it persists as a magnificent outlier in his singular and bewildering discography.
Originally released by the label Soleilmoon, an early and lifelong supporter of Jones' work along with Staalplaat, the album is a notable example of the uniquely recombinant fragility and fervour of Jones' work. This 3LP edition marks the album's first appearance on vinyl. Like much of the Muslimgauze catalogue, 'Veiled Sisters' is dedicated to the Palestine Liberation Organization, with its two halves—Sister One and Sister Two—calling on the history and conflicts of the modern Islamic world through opaque titles and snatches of musical oration.
Forgoing the raucous timbre and abrasion that Jones could occasionally employ, this album balances a medley of shrill instrumental bursts with a complex patterning of ambient atmospheres. 'Veiled Sisters' moves with a hypnotic gait across its extended runtime with a dynamic ensemble of electronics grounded in a pulsing yet evasive combination of low-slung kicks and dub-soaked bass. The hissy wash of drums, both played and machined, decorate a restless patina all over, and the cacophony of samples send impressions scattershot into Jones' idiosyncratic yet readymade psychedelia. With a quiet intensity that is not often captured this succinctly in the Muslimgauze catalogue, this new edition of 'Veiled Sisters' is a reminder of the haunting wonder that Jones was capable of manifesting.
https://alter.bandcamp.com/album/veiled-sisters |
2022 |
€55.00 |
|
|
Lo-Fi India Abuse |
pic-LP |
12" Picture Disc LP
• Remastered
• Special Die-Cut Sleeve
• Limited to 500 copies
India Lo-Fi Abuse was recorded in 1998, some tracks are "pure" Muslimgauze and some are re-mixs of tracks from Systemwide's "Sirius" CD (see also Systemwide meets Muslimgauze "at the City of the Dead" 12"). Nearly all of the tracks have hand percussion in varying tempos and intensities and at least 1/2 make use of electronic noise surges. The sound is very crisp and clean, extremely well produced, recorded and nicely varied throughout the length of the disc. Some track by track comments: "Antalya" is obviously from the same sessions as "Fakir Sind" seeing as it shares the same hand percussion sound, whistles, vocal wailing, cut-ups and delays. "Valencia Flames" sounds like a Systemwide remix. A dub bass line, hi-hat and background vocal of some sort are all obliterated by numerous delays, starts, stops and re-starts with an unpredictable nature in these cut-up tracks. "Al Souk Dub" injects background voices, market sounds and drones into the cut-up mix of slow hand percussion playing. "Catacomb Dub" and the final two tracks make use of twinkling synth waves, presumably a Systemwide sound source. "Dust of Saqqara" has a heavy pulsating electronic sound wave over an old beat box rhythm. "Android Cleaver" is brutal (as is "Nommos' Afterburn") hand percussion, jabs of noise and an oft repeated, unintelligible vocal sample. Yes, India Lo-Fi Abuse is yet another great Muslimgauze release, grab it! - Brainwashed.com
All tracks recorded by Muslimgauze 1998
Some tracks are re-mixes from Systemwide’s “Sirius” album
Re-mastered by Višeslav Laboš
Sleeve by Oleg Galay
Originally released in 1999 via BSI Records (BSI 1999-3).
An Other Voices Records / Kontakt Audio Co-operation Release
|
2023 |
€29.00 |
|
|
Turn on Arabic American Radio |
do-LP |
The relationship between Bryn Jones’ music as Muslimgauze and the track/abum titles he would provide (sometimes right on the tapes he would send in for release, but often determined later, sometimes even giving two different pieces months apart the same title, accidentally or not) has always been a little mysterious. Jones himself can no longer be asked, and as we continue to investigate the swathes of material he provided, you hit sources like the DAT or DATs that make up the contents of the new double LP »Turn On Arab American Radio«. Nine tracks, the first LP/four tracks titled »Turn On Arabic American Radio,« and the other LP/five tracks labelled only »Arabic American Radio.« None of them sound particularly radio-esque, although given the simultaneous vastness and ornate focus of Jones’ Muslimgauze work that gap between name and sound is far from atypical.
Instead here the de rigeur percussion loops that underpin this particular set of tracks, while occasionally clipping into the fierce distortion that Jones either loved to use or couldn’t get away from, steer away from both the more consistent application of that distortion as well as the Middle Eastern and Asian influences he often used. It’d be a stretch to call anything here basic boom-bap production but they come closer to it than a lot of Muslimgauze production. And while those loops are, as always prominent, they’re not actually the focus; settling into steady vamps as structures for Jones to pursue an extended and often more gentle exploration of the other sample sources he has here. There are stringed instruments, the sound of water, but most prominently or strikingly the human voice. Nothing is in English but tone and the occasional word ('familia', 'passport') still provide guides. There are ululations, snatches of melody; but most often speech, dialogue, often tense and harried sounding. Is this what Jones was thinking of or referring to with his Arabic American Radio?
As with so many other questions about Muslimgauze, we’ll never know the answer to that one. (Most pertinently in this case we might wonder who appears here, and what the context of these recordings is. But Jones never provided that with his submissions.) Here, even though those inexorable loops pound on, indefatigable, that emphasis on some of the people Jones chooses lends a measured gentleness to much of »Turn On Arabic American Radio«, at least within the context of his body of work. The last thing you hear at the end of the second LP is one last question from one of the many speakers on this peculiar Muslimgauze radio, echoed away into infinity. We may never have answers, but those questions continue to resonate.
https://www.discogs.com/release/25889791-Muslimgauze-Turn-On-Arabic-American-Radio
|
2023 |
€33.00 |
|
| |
Veiled Sisters |
do-CD |
It's by some strange inversion that since his untimely death in 1999 Bryn Jones' Muslimgauze project has become evermore enigmatic as his publicly available recordings have become evermore vast. The Mancunian artist's sudden passing at the age of 37 prematurely resolved a body of work that remains as experimental as it is diffuse, with an informal archive that was left spread between favoured labels and confidantes. And though this monadic project never abided by genre specifications, it all feels as if it is taking the critical pulses of its time and rendering them into something other than the sum of its obscure compulsions. Jones' double album 'Veiled Sisters' from 1993 is no exception, and it persists as a magnificent outlier in his singular and bewildering discography.
Originally released by the label Soleilmoon, an early and lifelong supporter of Jones' work along with Staalplaat, the album is a notable example of the uniquely recombinant fragility and fervour of Jones' work. This 3LP edition marks the album's first appearance on vinyl. Like much of the Muslimgauze catalogue, 'Veiled Sisters' is dedicated to the Palestine Liberation Organization, with its two halves—Sister One and Sister Two—calling on the history and conflicts of the modern Islamic world through opaque titles and snatches of musical oration.
Forgoing the raucous timbre and abrasion that Jones could occasionally employ, this album balances a medley of shrill instrumental bursts with a complex patterning of ambient atmospheres. 'Veiled Sisters' moves with a hypnotic gait across its extended runtime with a dynamic ensemble of electronics grounded in a pulsing yet evasive combination of low-slung kicks and dub-soaked bass. The hissy wash of drums, both played and machined, decorate a restless patina all over, and the cacophony of samples send impressions scattershot into Jones' idiosyncratic yet readymade psychedelia. With a quiet intensity that is not often captured this succinctly in the Muslimgauze catalogue, this new edition of 'Veiled Sisters' is a reminder of the haunting wonder that Jones was capable of manifesting.
https://alter.bandcamp.com/album/veiled-sisters |
2022 |
€24.00 |
|
| MUSTERION |
The Black Lodge |
CD |
Uns bisher unbekanntes Projekt auf HORUS, mit erster (?) Veröffentlichung unter diesem Namen. THE BLACK LODGE ist keine einfache Zusammenstellung von Musikstücken, sondern eher ein theatralisch-szenischer Soundtrack zu einer dunklen Geschichte oder Vision, mit Bezug zu LOVECRAFT, BURROUGHS, KEROUAC, GINSBERG. Das klingt sehr neoklassisch & dunkel instrumental, ist aber auch in elektro-akustischer Weise mit Stimmen & allen möglichen Geräuschen versehen, liegt also zwischen Neo-Klassik / Filmsoundtrack und Elektro-Akustik. Das ganze Werk wirkt wie in einem Traum oder einer Halluzination gehört… Grossformatige Hülle & Kunstdruck-Booklet, nummerierte Auflage von 500 Stück !
"The Black Lodge", a world beyond, is the place were Agent Dale Cooper is trapped. He travers through memories, dreams, Tibet, the works of H. P. Lovecraft and more. The Agent possesses the body of the late Jerzy Grotowski as he do his last journey among the walking dead. The visions of Cooper are seen, heard and felt in this avant-garde and exquisitely dark ambient album from Musterion, Simon AA Kölle (Za Frûmi, Abnocto). The Black Lodge is a place of murder, dreams, mystery, darkness, ancient machines, old memories and horror. A shrieking violin swells into a chaotic babel of sound; a pandemonium that would have lead most men to doubt their own shaking sanity. Inarticulate cries that only mutes can utter, and that rises only in moments of the most terrible fear or anguish.
With extreme attention to details this profound opus of the mind leads the listener away from the normal world and into the world of the Black Lodge. Garmonbozia!“ [label description]
“....In order to induce such a hallucinatory listening experience Musterion creates music using a wide array of instrumentation ranging from traditional and classical acoustic instruments to purely electronic based sounds. Though many songs are shadowed by dark ominous drones the music in each song reaches way beyond the range and habit of standard dark ambient music. Musterion has striven to bring experimentalism to dark ambient music and has successfully created a cinematic environment previously only pursued by too few capable musicians. Musterion “The Black Lodge” is definitely the most powerful full length album I have heard Simon AA Kölle participate upon. Fans of Simon’s previous work as Za Frumi will find the cinematic quality of the music familiar though be informed that the scope and intricateness of the songs far exceed Simon’s work with Za Frumi. I highly encourage dark ambient fans that like music that reaches beyond standard drone music to check out Musterion as well. Anyone with a fetish for H. P. Lovecraft or other dark occult inspired narratives is also encouraged to discover Musterion. Musterion is an invitation to close your eyes and be led into a world of shifting shadows, intrigue, and horror. This excellent release is limited to 500 hand signed copies so collectors be aware of the limited nature of this release.” [Heathen Harvest]
www.horus.cz
|
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| MUUR |
Bod |
CD |
Ambient ritual soundscapes that are profound and resonating, the music, artwork and concept behind BOD serves as an exploration and instalment of a new tradition of ritual and occult arts sourced from various ancient foundations. For this, a new culture with its own history, including a new language was constructed. The meaning created by MUUR is but one interpretation of the new tradition; it is of great importance for every listener to construct their own meaning from their experience. Because of this, neither MUUR, nor BOD is affiliated with any form of traditional Left Hand Path.
Edition of 500 copies in 4 panel Digisleeve. 1 Track. Running Time 51:16
https://www.cycliclaw.com/releases/muur-bod-cd-143rd-cycle
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| MY CAT IS AN ALIEN |
The Dance of Oneirism |
do-LP |
"Limited edition of 300 copies in 3 different screenprinting colours. Record 1 on black vinyl, Record 2 on black vinyl. Silver, Blue and White screenprinted vinyl (on D side), each of 100 copies. Comes with a 24 pages art book, an insert and a postcard. From the extended foreword insert by David Keenan: "Our co-ordinates are fixed, or more properly suggested, by the listing of instruments. Self-made double-bodied string instrument, handmade pocket harp, pedal effects, wordless vocalizations, modified analog drum machine, mini-keyboard, alientronics. [...] The session was recorded - instantly composed - in MCIAA's "Alien Zone", situated in the Western Alps, and it sounds it. The central fact of MCIAA's music has always been space but they have never sounded quite so far away, so removed. [...] Occasionally there is the sound of strings, strange steel resonances that populate the music like ghosts, the ghosts of Roscoe Holcomb's high, lonesome sound, of Dock Boggs and the sanctified steel of Washington Phillips. Ash Ra Tempel met Timothy Leary in the Alps [...] The transmissions are fuzzy up here and at points it makes for a music of almost terrifying quiet. It is minimal, sure, but MCIAA are not so much interested in repetition as in eternal expansion. [...] The Dance Of Oneirism is a music of unknowing, a dance with a phantom, the letting go of a dream." [label info]
www.backwards.it
|
2015 |
€28.00 |
|
| MY CAT IS AN ALIEN / STEVE RODEN |
Cosmic Debris Volume 2 |
CD |
Interesting collab of two artists / projects that work in totally differents fields of sound-art creation...
"CD re-issue of the second installment in the "Cosmic Debris" split ART-LP series set up by Maurizio and Roberto Opalio, aka My Cat Is An Alien, on their own Opax Records. The Vol.II sees the two space brothers from Torino, Italy, alongside Californian visual and sound artist Steve Roden. What makes this collaborative release so peculiar is the natural interactive exchange occurred between the artists, and that came out from the concept behind the experience itself. Roden's contribution thus represents the unique experience of hearing him literally 'playing' guitar chords. His first track, "E-bows and Rainbows", developes through the minimal and reiterated sound architecture of Roden's so-called 'possible landscapes', where singular source materials such as objects and field recordings are abstracted through electronic processes to generate new audio spaces, characterizing the artist's aesthetic in sound works; the following "My dog is a Yufo" is so far a pretty unheard aspect of Roden's ability to shape a fascinating intimate piece only with an old electric guitar and his own fingers, and it also demonstrates how a true artist can re-create his own personal universe, no matter what kind of source utilized. On their side, MCIAA deliver another piece of 'cosmic debris', centered on multilayered echoes of voice, toy piano, space drones raising from a distant horizon, and their own physical gestures performed during the recording, which reproduce themselves through the air, re-play and give birth to echoes of real time that overcomes its own essence, becoming field recording itself, mirror and spectre of its immutability. Their track entitled "Everything waves like cosmic debris" also features Ramona Ponzini's Japanese bells contribution." [label info]
www.asilentplace.it
|
2007 |
€6.66 |
|
| MY HOME, SINKING |
King of Corns |
do-LP |
If writing is a concentrated form of thinking then the most concentrated writing probably ends in some kind of reflection on dying. This is what we eventually confront if we think long enough and hard enough.”
– Don DeLillo
My Home, Sinking is one of the many sound projects fronted by Venetian Enrico Coniglio, whose latest album King of Corns blends live instrumentation with field recordings and strange vocals to create a neo-classical work wherein the sum of the whole is greater than its parts.
Like Baudelaire’s great book of poems, The Flowers of Evil, King of Corns seems to allude to the interplay between life and death as twin sides of the same coin. The beautiful, haunting sleeve art features the unsmiling bust of a porcelain woman with black eyes from whose neck emerges a full bouquet of roses.
Frequently the album is beautiful on its own terms. Consider the opening track, “Bird’s Eye” which features an Eno-esque piano walking over cinematic strings and a lazy harmonica. The piece sounds like an orchestra tuning up before a concert, a call to adventure for the rest of the album. Perhaps more fittingly, it reminds of latter day Talk Talk with tensile strings, errant notes, silent interludes, slow motion piano.
Further beauty exists in “Animating Old Postcards,” which is built around a minstrel’s guitar and the ethereal voice of Finnish artist Violeta Päivänkakkara and feels like a springtime return, a much-needed break in the clouds, a patch of blue after heavy storms.
With that said, the album’s title track is undeniably terrifying. Led by the quivering, indecipherable falsetto of Jessica Constable and a fearsome piano arpeggio, “King of Corns” sounds something like a witch’s curse or an oracle warning of things to come. The last track on the album, “Full Blank (No Stars)” is a dark aria and again features Ms. Constable, who is not so much singing here as reciting musically, as if in an opera.
Clearly, Coniglio’s King of Corns is a marked change in direction from the warm sounds of the last MHS album, Sleet. More sound art, the new work is riddled with anxiety, hesitation, fear. It’s hard to imagine listening to this in polite company or before going to bed. But ultimately the album is successful in that the work demands the listener engage directly with it to form her own interpretation of the material, and in this collaboration she becomes implicit in its creation, a kind of co-author of each track.
Often King of Corns sounds like a descent into madness, a journey through the forest of the dead to the darkest parts of the self. But where there is death there is opportunity for life, for new beginnings. KoC proves that Coniglio is a Romantic in the true sense of the word: one who believes that death and darkness and dreams give us secret access to the divine and help us reconnect with the life-giving principle, or what the Greeks called “Psyche” - the soul.
-Daniel Williams
credits
released September 16, 2017
Enrico Coniglio : guitar, melodica, harmonica, horn, electric organ, synthesizer, psalter, tapes & vinyls, found objects, field recordings & programming
Elisa Marzorati : piano
Piergabriele Mancuso : viola
Chantal Acda : vocals and lyrics "I Can't Help It (But This is The End)"
Jessica Constable : vocals and lyrics "King of Corns" & "Full Blank (No Stars)"
Peter Paul Gallo : vibraphone on "Love Scene" & "I Can't Help It (But This is The End)"
James Murray : organ, vocals, loops on "Along the Pipeline"; electronics on "Full Blank (No Stars)"
Violeta Paivankakkara : vocals and lyrics, glockenspiel and effect on "Animating Old Postcards (Aikaa Ei Ole Olemassa)"
All tracks written, arranged and produced by Enrico Coniglio
Design, Calligraphy, Hand Drawn Typography by Chris Bigg
Illustrations by James Heginbottom
https://infraction.bandcamp.com/album/king-of-corns
|
2017 |
€28.00 |
|
| |
King of Corns |
CD |
If writing is a concentrated form of thinking then the most concentrated writing probably ends in some kind of reflection on dying. This is what we eventually confront if we think long enough and hard enough.”
– Don DeLillo
My Home, Sinking is one of the many sound projects fronted by Venetian Enrico Coniglio, whose latest album King of Corns blends live instrumentation with field recordings and strange vocals to create a neo-classical work wherein the sum of the whole is greater than its parts.
Like Baudelaire’s great book of poems, The Flowers of Evil, King of Corns seems to allude to the interplay between life and death as twin sides of the same coin. The beautiful, haunting sleeve art features the unsmiling bust of a porcelain woman with black eyes from whose neck emerges a full bouquet of roses.
Frequently the album is beautiful on its own terms. Consider the opening track, “Bird’s Eye” which features an Eno-esque piano walking over cinematic strings and a lazy harmonica. The piece sounds like an orchestra tuning up before a concert, a call to adventure for the rest of the album. Perhaps more fittingly, it reminds of latter day Talk Talk with tensile strings, errant notes, silent interludes, slow motion piano.
Further beauty exists in “Animating Old Postcards,” which is built around a minstrel’s guitar and the ethereal voice of Finnish artist Violeta Päivänkakkara and feels like a springtime return, a much-needed break in the clouds, a patch of blue after heavy storms.
With that said, the album’s title track is undeniably terrifying. Led by the quivering, indecipherable falsetto of Jessica Constable and a fearsome piano arpeggio, “King of Corns” sounds something like a witch’s curse or an oracle warning of things to come. The last track on the album, “Full Blank (No Stars)” is a dark aria and again features Ms. Constable, who is not so much singing here as reciting musically, as if in an opera.
Clearly, Coniglio’s King of Corns is a marked change in direction from the warm sounds of the last MHS album, Sleet. More sound art, the new work is riddled with anxiety, hesitation, fear. It’s hard to imagine listening to this in polite company or before going to bed. But ultimately the album is successful in that the work demands the listener engage directly with it to form her own interpretation of the material, and in this collaboration she becomes implicit in its creation, a kind of co-author of each track.
Often King of Corns sounds like a descent into madness, a journey through the forest of the dead to the darkest parts of the self. But where there is death there is opportunity for life, for new beginnings. KoC proves that Coniglio is a Romantic in the true sense of the word: one who believes that death and darkness and dreams give us secret access to the divine and help us reconnect with the life-giving principle, or what the Greeks called “Psyche” - the soul.
-Daniel Williams
Enrico Coniglio : guitar, melodica, harmonica, horn, electric organ, synthesizer, psalter, tapes & vinyls, found objects, field recordings & programming
Elisa Marzorati : piano
Piergabriele Mancuso : viola
Chantal Acda : vocals and lyrics "I Can't Help It (But This is The End)"
Jessica Constable : vocals and lyrics "King of Corns" & "Full Blank (No Stars)"
Peter Paul Gallo : vibraphone on "Love Scene" & "I Can't Help It (But This is The End)"
James Murray : organ, vocals, loops on "Along the Pipeline"; electronics on "Full Blank (No Stars)"
Violeta Paivankakkara : vocals and lyrics, glockenspiel and effect on "Animating Old Postcards (Aikaa Ei Ole Olemassa)"
All tracks written, arranged and produced by Enrico Coniglio
Design, Calligraphy, Hand Drawn Typography by Chris Bigg
Illustrations by James Heginbottom
https://infraction.bandcamp.com/album/king-of-corns
|
2017 |
€14.00 |
|
| MYSTERY OF THE BULGARIAN VOICES FEAT. LISA GERRARD |
BooCheeMish |
BOX - set |
The Mystery Of The Bulgarian Voices will release their first album of new studio recordings in over two decades on May 25th, 2018. Better known to many as Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares (Grammy winner for “Best Traditional Folk Recording”), ‘BooCheeMish’ sees the esteemed Bulgarian choir performing together with erstwhile 4AD Records label mate Lisa Gerrard (co-founder of the duo Dead Can Dance) on several tracks, thereby uniting two of the most distinctive vocal acts working in music. Gerrard, who is also well known for her movie soundtrack work on films such as ‘Gladiator’ and ’The Insider’, has often spoken about the influence the choir exerted on her singing technique when she discovered their music in the early 1980’s.
In successfully connecting Bulgarian folklore with other traditions and cultures, the album manages to retain the unique identity of the voices, vocal styles and techniques of the individual choir members, even when allying them with acoustic accompaniment such as stringed instruments and various types of percussion, including beatbox.
Once described as “the marriage of the avant-garde and the Middle Ages”, the magic of the ensemble stems from its success in mastering Bulgaria’s diverse, age-old vocal traditions while simultaneously sounding strikingly modern and original, thanks to the unique choral music structure - multi-part a cappella arrangements that transform its collective sound into strange colours as if something other than the human voice is being heard.
themysteryofthebulgarianvoices.bandcamp.com/album/boocheemish
|
2018 |
€68.00 |
|
| |
BooCheeMish |
2 x CD & BOOK |
The Mystery Of The Bulgarian Voices will release their first album of new studio recordings in over two decades on May 25th, 2018. Better known to many as Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares (Grammy winner for “Best Traditional Folk Recording”), ‘BooCheeMish’ sees the esteemed Bulgarian choir performing together with erstwhile 4AD Records label mate Lisa Gerrard (co-founder of the duo Dead Can Dance) on several tracks, thereby uniting two of the most distinctive vocal acts working in music. Gerrard, who is also well known for her movie soundtrack work on films such as ‘Gladiator’ and ’The Insider’, has often spoken about the influence the choir exerted on her singing technique when she discovered their music in the early 1980’s.
In successfully connecting Bulgarian folklore with other traditions and cultures, the album manages to retain the unique identity of the voices, vocal styles and techniques of the individual choir members, even when allying them with acoustic accompaniment such as stringed instruments and various types of percussion, including beatbox.
Once described as “the marriage of the avant-garde and the Middle Ages”, the magic of the ensemble stems from its success in mastering Bulgaria’s diverse, age-old vocal traditions while simultaneously sounding strikingly modern and original, thanks to the unique choral music structure - multi-part a cappella arrangements that transform its collective sound into strange colours as if something other than the human voice is being heard.
themysteryofthebulgarianvoices.bandcamp.com/album/boocheemish
|
2018 |
€48.00 |
|
| MYSTERY SCHOOL |
Triangle of the Sun |
CD |
"Triangle of the Sun" is an instrumental work that references the male/sun energy - the morning star. It is a land where drones and drum beats live in harmony while creating a vibratory trip through these energies. The three pieces represent the phases of the sun from morning to twilight. Through the use of specific musical frequencies the music allows the listener a meditative journey through the intellectual/logical with hints of South American mythology and magic.”[label info]
|
2004 |
€12.00 |
|
| MYSTIFIED |
Reduced |
CD-R |
Neues US-Projekt mit sehr konkretem field recording-Fokus, viele Sprach-Elemente, mechanische Geräusche, seltsames Rauschen & Drones werden zu Collagen verarbeitet... auf 16 Stücken extrem variantenreich, Anklänge an DARREN TATE, ORA, ERIC LA CASA..... to discover for field recording lovers !
"Mystified is proud to announce the release of our cdr, "Reduced". "Reduced" is comprised of field recordings and collages of field recorded material. Like "South City Spring", the release covers many South Saint Louisan moods and modes, though it was created using newer, higher-quality equipment, and therefore is, mystified feels, a superior release.
Listening to this cdr is like visiting mystified's apartment in South Saint Louis, with aural sensations both intentional and surprising. Reverberant glurp soundscapes, muted conversations, floating voices, mechanical drones. . . all and more are represented here. The cdr has sixteen tracks and clocks in at just over 53 minutes. It was professionally duplicated and features a full-color insert with art by Sandy Spreitz (www.sandystudio.com)." [mystified.com]
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
M |
do-CDR |
Nice collection of older & newer material of this currently very active US low-fi & experimental drone project. Lots of different stuff to discover, some reminds on raw ZOVIET FRANCE-like sounds, some is more electronically refined and based on sampled material or synths (then it sounds like a low-fi version of COIL), some sounds more digitalized & abrasive... not easy to classifiy, from deep rumblings to more electronica-sounding stuff, but always dark & brooding ..
"2 disc collection featuring a retrospective of older & unreleased material plus a disc of all new tracks. 22 tracks - total running time 1 hour 33 minutes - 2x5" dual hub, inkjet printed cdr w/ insert in a tin." [label info]
http://roilnoise.com
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| MYSTIFIED & MARTYN SCHMIDT |
An Effort of Memory |
CD-R |
"ACE 1002: CD-R in folded cardboard sleeve
Many albums in the Attenuation Circuit Eco Series are split releases, but this hour-long composition is a true collaboration with 50 per cent input from both US-based drone artist Mystified and German poet and sound artist Martyn Schmidt. Starting with a poem, Schmidt’s voice morphs into pure vocal improvisation and breathing, both processed to amalgamate with Mystified’s acoustic drones. The result sounds at times like La Monte Young meeting Morton Feldman or like Norwegian experimental jazz singer Sidsel Endresen imitating deep bass strings with her voice.
Using feedback loops, the sound of whale bones played as percussion instruments on a Danish island, and jackhammers from local building sites, Schmidt „encoded, stored and retrieved“ (as the back cover says) lots of samples along with the music by Mystified he was reacting to - encoding, storing, retrieving being the three steps of memory as conceptualised by psychology. Connecting psychoacoustics back to his poetic roots, Schmidt also quotes (on the cover-artwork) the poem “Andenken” (Memory, or Remembrance) by Hölderlin. Memorising, forgetting, and recreating sounds and words turn out to be different sides of the artistic process, and the drone as a music that forever seems to dissolve and congeal, to ebb and flow, to move and stand still, seems a perfect sonic metaphor for this." [label info]
www.attenuationcircuit.de
"A collaboration by Thomas Park's project Mystified and Martyn Schmidt, a German poet and sound artist. There is a short spoken word prologue, a sixty-two minute piece of music, and short epilogue. In the main piece, 'An Effort Of Memory', uses, according to the information, 'feedback loops, the sound of whale bones as percussion instruments on a Danish island and jackhammers from local building sites', of which Schmidt made the samples which he combined with the music of Mystified, resulting in this hour long sound collage of all things atmospheric. Forget the word jackhammers (or building site), as there is nothing 'industrial' or loud about this. The music here is all atmospheric, dark in the full moon night, and everything flows into each other. The music may seem an amorphous mass of sounds mixed together, without real beginning or end, and perhaps (I might be wrong) without much compositional planning. More like a go with the flow kind of music, which is nothing strange in this particular musical underworld. None of the sound sources are easily recognized here, if at all, but all is transformed into a long, sustaining mass of atmospherics, and works very well. A cold day today, autumn has arrived it seems and this is the soundtrack for such seasonal weather. Nothing new, but it works very well." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€8.00 |
|
| MZ.412 |
Svartmyrkr |
LP |
Swedish behemoths MZ. 412 return with their first full-length album in 13 years, once again asserting their dominion as the true Kings of Black Industrial. "Svartmyrkr" is a massive tour de force that reinvents the classic sound of MZ. 412 whilst retaining their trademark malevolent harshness.
This album is dedicated to the true hell of the north - Helheim - and the giant goddess that rules it, Hel. From blackened ritual incantations, to bleak yet beautiful dark ambient arrangements, to harsh bombastic orchestrations, this album exceeds all expectations.
MZ. 412 blur the lines between music, magick and reality. The earth trembles... the mountains quake... all light is vanquished. The Swedish overlords darken the hearts and extinguish the souls of all who bear witness to "Svartmyrkr".
Album Teaser: youtu.be/wT7FEsoRzE4
Album Previews: youtu.be/yKppBrwe0UE
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/svartmyrkr-csr257cd-lp
|
2019 |
€22.00 |
|
| |
Svartmyrkr |
CD |
Swedish behemoths MZ. 412 return with their first full-length album in 13 years, once again asserting their dominion as the true Kings of Black Industrial. "Svartmyrkr" is a massive tour de force that reinvents the classic sound of MZ. 412 whilst retaining their trademark malevolent harshness.
This album is dedicated to the true hell of the north - Helheim - and the giant goddess that rules it, Hel. From blackened ritual incantations, to bleak yet beautiful dark ambient arrangements, to harsh bombastic orchestrations, this album exceeds all expectations.
MZ. 412 blur the lines between music, magick and reality. The earth trembles... the mountains quake... all light is vanquished. The Swedish overlords darken the hearts and extinguish the souls of all who bear witness to "Svartmyrkr".
Album Teaser: youtu.be/wT7FEsoRzE4
Album Previews: youtu.be/yKppBrwe0UE
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/svartmyrkr-csr257cd-lp
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| MØHR & MAEROR TRI |
Hafenstadt |
CD |
" On “Hafenstadt”: This music was originally planned to form a part of the third tape box in the MØHR interpretation series of ZNS TAPES. In this series different artists got an individual 30-minutes-piece of basic material by MØHR to be interpreted it in any way: Using it as a backing tape and adding some more tracks, getting inspired and doing something unique in the spirit of the basic material, deconstruct and arrange it anew. The invited artists had any opportunity to re-work the source material. For the actual release the basic material was placed on side A and the interpretation on side B, enabling the listener to compare the basic and the final sound. Three tapes were compiled as one tape box linked by a loose theme. The first box, Bürokratie, contained works by DAS KONZENTRAT, BESTATTUNGSINSTITUT and SUICIDE COMMANDO (released in 1990), the second, Kulturschock, contained works by ANDREW CHALK/DARREN TATE, ECTOPLASMIC EMBRYO EXPERIENCE and FLAGRANTs D’ELI (released in 1991). The third one, which was to contain Hafenstadt by MAEROR TRI (as well as material of PBK and THE HATERS), has never been released due to the sudden end of ZNS TAPES. We’re convinced that this combination of basic stuff plus musical reworking is still an interesting and exciting experience for the audience, maybe especially after more than 20 years in the archives. (Andreaz Vogel)
MØHR biography
MØHR existed between 1986 and 1994 as the solo project of Andreaz Vogel. Previously he had been active as a bass player and drummer in various post punk and noise rock groups.Since its inception the main aim with MØHR was to create a dense and energetic sound without the use of conventional instruemnts. With this wall of sound the listeners were almost under attack and forced into a dark and brooding listening environment, both on the recordings and in the live situation. Andreaz also ran the important tape label ZNS TAPES.
MAEROR TRI biography
MAEROR TRI existed from April 1988 to the end of 1996, coming from the very north-western part of Germany. The three members were influenced by (post) industrial, noise rock and experimental ambient and found a way to establish their very own drone based style, using often guitars but also other instruments plus all kinds of (self build) objects and masses of sound effects. Their symbol, the triangle “Wheel” stood for ‘consciousness’, moving & shining in different colours and speed. The sound was meant as a tool for the listener to open the mind for transcension & sensitization: ‘We want to transmit a total openness, the bursting and overcoming of all mental barriers, the breaking out of the enforced subject “Tunnel-Reality” of modern society. ‘ Out of MAEROR TRI evolved the projects TROUM and 1000SCHOEN that are still very active." [label info]
www.aufabwegen.com
www.aufabwegen.com
"Mohr was the work of German avant tape-machinist Andreaz Vogel who ran the ZNS Tapes label in the late '80s and early '90s; and our introduction to this work dates way back to the very second Drone Records single, released in 1993. This was about the time when Vogel pretty much called it quits on sound construction; but given how many great artists had been introduced through the Drone Records series of singles, Mohr's work had always been intriguing even as it had been quite elusive in the global cassette underground at that time. By the end of Mohr's tenure, Vogel had embarked on three mail-art pieces in which various audio sculptors and sound destroyers would rework / deconstruct a 30 minute track from Mohr. The second in this trilogy was notable to those Andrew Chalk enthusiasts as an unknowable Ora cassette from 1992. The third - and never released - cassette was to include Maeror Tri, The Haters, and PBK. With Hafenstadt, we now have a glimpse back into the gristled, contorted, and mangled tape construction that Mohr had been producing in conjunction with a pretty stellar set of black hole implosion of x-ray drone courtesy of Maeror Tri. Vogel took something of a Fluxus approach to his industrially bent constructions, purposely avoiding musical instruments in favor of the found sound that got flung into orbit in a spiraling descent of his tape loop dub and squeaky wheel rhythmic errata. These are deliberately raw and malformed cyclical patterns for a DIY musique concrete. Maeror Tri's brain-crush of sustained reverb and backwards masked flares of dark energy bury much of the insistent hypnosis from Mohr well beneath their grim wall of leaden noise and nuclear winter drone. It's always a wonder to behold the early works from Maeror Tri, and here it's nicely paired with Mohr's mangled hypnogogia." (Aquarius Rec)
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| N & BU.D.D.A. |
untitled |
LP |
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/no-title
"When Helmut Neidhardt (also known as N), Chris Sigdell and Sascha Stadlmeier (collectively known as Bu.d.d.a., meaning Bund des dritten Auges) met for the first time in 2020, they booked studio time to record music together. Still, as spontaneous as this meeting was, it was also chaotic. Salvaged from the recording was Helmut's guitar, some of which served as a basis for Chris to re-record his guitar at home, adding some vocals, mailing it off to Sascha, and adding his violin and musique concrète. Back it went to Chris, who did the final mix. Since then, they have toured together and played three shows as a trio. Judging by the music, that is good because what they do here sounds natural, even with some distance between them. Both music projects labour with drones and do that slightly differently. The guitar and amplification are essential for N, sometimes with sharpish played notes, whereas Bu.d.d.a. has a denser approach, layering instruments and sound effects in one thick carpet. There is a point at which they both meet, and that's precisely where x marks the spot. Two pieces (well, three, but the two on side B blend easily together as one) of vast drones, moving and shaking, going places instead of staying in one place too long. The voices are, perhaps, not something I am not all too happy about, but I can see why they do it, and it's the music quite well. It adds further to the mysterious sound they play, and even with the addition of N's guitar, sounding at times like a steel guitar, which I thought was very nice, I am still very much reminded of Troum (as noted before, in Vital
Weekly 1347), but this trio has enough going for themselves. Ominous and dark, this is exactly the kind of all-immersive drone you'd expect these people to play. Maybe it's a pity they didn't choose a new band name and started fresh as a new group, but that's none of my business. I can imagine there will be some exciting trio work for them in the future. One could say this is a promising start, but with their shared history, it doesn't feel like a start." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€19.50 |
|
| N + BALTZER |
Gaunerzinken |
do-LP |
This improvisation was recorded live in one afternoon with a one-track recorder in the order of the tracklist. Nothing was cut or added.
GAUNERZINKEN
For us humans, the world consists of signs that we continually create and interpret ourselves. As cultural beings, we work partly consciously and more often unconsciously every day to produce signs of meaning. Through language, ritual, habit or deliberate planning. In this way we appropriate the world. The so-called GAUNERZINKEN have the same function. Signs painted on houses that give clues to their material value and inhabitants. The signs are planned. The inhabitants do not know their meaning. They are excluded from their interpretation.
Thus, GAUNERZINKEN form signs of meaning, created by marginalised groups who desire, in secret language, a double act of appropriation: The creation of a secret, self-concealing sign, for the appropriation of a part of the material world, the property. Through the production of signs, those excluded from material privileges gain a first access, a first symbolic occupation, a small boundary shift of the exclusionary in the world. Crime is therefore necessarily immoderate, immoderateness necessarily criminal. The music of N and Baltzer is in this immoderate, alluding to signs / playing signs, that remain ambiguous. The signs are diffuse, blurred, diffuse into atmosphere, no meaning is given, the implications are to be filled individually, subjective crooks are to emerge while listening. But no one gets excluded.
This is how we can appropriate the world. This world, flooded with signs, brushed over and dressed up, the world obscured by property. Through the production of secret meaning, through our signs, which first form in us as emotion and which we then paint on the facades of the world when we have located ourselves anew, which we should always covet, so that it may someday be ours again.
Here is your sound.
Double-Vinyl LP in a DIY linoleum print cover. Edition: Black printing on grey paper.
https://n-baltzer.bandcamp.com/releases
"Auf „Gaunerzinken“ entwickeln sich fünf, dem Wesen und der Erscheinung nach einander fremde Live-Improvisationen, die dennoch darin vereint sind, eine durch Gitarren vermittelte Unruhe zu erschaffen. Die Stücke variieren ungewöhnlich stark. Und das, obwohl nur ein Nachmittag benötigt wurde und obwohl das instrumentale Fundament während der gesamten Aufnahme hinweg identisch bleibt: „Guitars, amps and effects“ – einfach live, ohne nachträgliche Zusätze, pur. Hellmut Neidhardt, kurz N, hat es mit dieser unmittelbar bedrohlichen Musikform auf Dutzenden von Tonträgern und in einer Vielzahl von Projekten zu einer außergewöhnlichen Klasse gebracht. Und auch in Zusammenarbeit mit Sebastian Baltzer (ORANGE SWAN) gelingt ein vielschichtiges, behutsam sich entwickelndes Album von unerhörter Präzision. Gemastert von Dirk Serries, einem anderen Gitarren-Drone-Virtuosen, ist „Gaunerzinken“ ein herausragendes und atmosphärisches Werk geworden, dessen Improvisationen ein bebendes Leben innewohnt." [Ox Fanzine]
|
2022 |
€26.00 |
|
| N / MOLOCH / E H E |
Live at N51 21064 ° E6 783782 ° (28 11 2015) |
LP |
"With this collaboration, my ongoing search for musical challenge has led my into the territories of harsh noise; something I never did before... It happened after Moloch + E.H.E. and me shared the stage during some festivals, respectively I listened to them during Moloch + E.H.E. shows. I immediately liked how they manage to use noise in a very dynamic way, not always full blast, but really being able to tell a story with more than just one facette... And: they are not using laptop only as a source; the main part of their sound is created using a really difficult to see through bunch of effect-boxes with a labyrinth of wiring. So the cacophony (NOT meant negative in this case) in sound and the visual cacophony of wiring and pedals really comes together when you have a look on the tables on stage, spread all over with their tools... Besides the pure sound, the visual aspect is significant anyway: At least one part of Moloch + E.H.E. is concentrating on visuals during a show; using millions of frames for a visual improvisation in direct relation to the sound.
At some point we decided to just prove if it would work joining Moloch + E.H.E. with N drones and instead of trying that at the studio we directly did our first live-show. Luckily Andreas Brinke of [ B O L T ] was there that evening and did a fine recording directly from the mixing-board. And now you can hear this very first and fully succesful melting of our different aestethics in sound: With the first part of the show I added micro-sounds to the noise, mainly emphasizing the moves of Moloch + E.H.E., for the second part I choosed drones, somehow earthening the sound.
As with the music, we made it with this record: it is completely D.I.Y.; the records have been pressed on natural-clear vinyl, the sleeves are printes by ourselves, using different film-stills from the original visuals. Any cover now is made of two sheets of printed transparent paper put into a transparent plastic bag. With the record being transparent also, you have a very nice see-through / three dimensional effect... Look at it while you crank up the volume!
The records are available from us directly. And please come to our release show at AZ Muehlheim / Ruhr on January 4th; with a lot of other artists on stage also..." [Hellmut Neidhardt]
|
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| N / SEGMENT |
Karnap |
7inch |
Ganz wunderbare split-Single zweier MULTER-Leute, zarte Gitarrenpickings und E-Bow-Obertöne, zu schön für diese Welt !
Two MULTER – members with solo-tracks (or one remixing material of the other), two brilliant tracks of intellligent guitar-ambience. Our deepest recommendation !
“[multer] guitarist Hellmut Neidhardt has nearly finished a pure guitar-album under the project name 'N'. Last mastering activities with Thomas Köner are currently carried out. But before the album is released, this single, on which 'Segment' cared for editing some guitar-takes, is published. Pure guitar sounds! Two songs are the result, with a grace reminding us of heavenly crowds of angels, kept in house arrest and spending their time imitating with harps and violins the bustle of ants or dragonflies. Heavenly beautiful.“ [press-release]
www.genesungswerk.de |
2001 |
€8.00 |
|
| N [XX] (HELLMUT NEIDHARDT) |
Rote Fuhr [N41] |
LP |
"N is the moniker of Dortmund-based German experimental guitarist Hellmut Neidhardt. September 2015 marks the release of a new solo record and a collaboration album, N(41) „Rote Fuhr“ and N(42) + Dirk Serries „Kehr“.
„Rote Fuhr“ is special. Musically it finally brings together the more noise orientated approach of „Saarn“ and „Heven“ with the deep droning of records like „Prora“ (empiric records), „Goor“ and „Oie Kirr“ (both: Denovali). Also using white noise in a musically way, like a cold storm breaking loose, whiping away everything around and pushing it into abyssial, dark and glowing drones. With a destroyed arpeggio slicing some parts of „Rote Fuhr“, with a stacking of layers between noise and organ-like drones, all stenched together with micro-melodies to a symphony of brutal beauty.
Coda: this record mainly transports anger. An anger felt during a short tour of N with his labelmates Petrels and Talvihorros during a very dissappointing showcase in front (or better: not really in front) of some really ingnorant people. The next night made Hellmut instantly quit the intended setlist and let the anger run through the amps. And so finally finding a home for some motifs being played live since 2011... In a way they were never played before. ... Hellmut was very angry that evening, but very happy with this result. And just to be sure: this is a live-record. Recorded at Schlegels / Dortmund / Germany by Andreas Brinke as the recording engineer." [label info]
www.denovali.com
|
2015 |
€27.50 |
|
|
Suedfall [N54] |
LP |
We are pleased to present you “Suedfall” by N. This album is a very special document, containing one of the most influential tracks, for us. “Suedfall” is not just an album, it is somehow our way to revere the track “Suedfall”, that we love since almost 6 years.
Side A features “Suedfall” in it´s very original version, taped during it´s premiere in the Christuskirche Bochum back in 2011. It was a very magic moment listening to this nearly 20minutes track surrounded by the aura of a church. Slowly rising, slowly getting louder, slowly growing distortion, always accompanied by the overwhelming melody of the track.
Side B features a newly recorded studio version of “Suedfall”, featuring electrified violin by Vanessa Kreutz. This collaboration came to live as a score for the short film “Der blinde Fotograf” by Max Walter. This version highlights all the subtle melodies and brings the track to a new level. 23 minutes of pure drone mass. Slowly rising to a noisy apex and floating slowly away.
midirarecords.com/md-054-n-54-suedfall/ |
2018 |
€25.00 |
|
| |
Tremonia |
LP |
N is one of the most profiled German drone / ambient artists - being active since the early 1990s he has released more than 50 records. On "Tremonia" he returns with the idea to picture a certain place musically - his approach goes further than before, using field-recordings for the first time. "Tremonia" is located under a row of 17 railway-bridges very close to the central station of Dortmund. Those bridges are played by the trains entering and leaving and also give house to an unknown number of homeless people. All these impressions can be heard on the field recordings of "Tremonia" taken in the early morning hours. Technically the record still sticks to N's "no overdub" rule with solo recordings: The field recordings were played over a third amplifier while recording the guitars, thus the mix was done live. Part of the tracks had been selected by Urbane Künste Ruhr for a compilation of places described by music.
heavy handprinted rough cardboard covers, black polylined inner sleeves, 180g black vinyl, strictly limited to 100 copies
https://n1511.bandcamp.com/album/tremonia
|
2023 |
€33.50 |
|
| NADJA |
When I see the Sun always shines on TV |
CD |
"Tracklisting:
* Only Shallow (My Bloody Valentine)
* Pea (Codeine)
* No Cure For The Lonely (Swans)
* Dead Skin Mask (Slayer)
* The Sun Always Shines On TV (A-ha)
* Needle In The Hay (Elliott Smith)
* Long Dark Twenties (Kids In The Hall)
* Faith (The Cure)
NADJA illustrate their eclectic roots by covering their favorite artists. From My Bloody Valentine and The Cure to artists as impossibly diverse as Slayer and Elliot Smith, this album contains eight carefully-selected covers re-imagined through NADJA’s unique sonic blueprint." [label info / credits]
"... But thankfully, every song on here is a crushing doom drenched, pop infused, slow motion chunk of dreamy blissed out, ultra catchy heaviness. And even though it's not technically a proper Nadja record, it just may well be our favorite Nadja record yet." [Aquarius Records review]
www.theendrecords.com
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Numbness |
CD |
"music genres: doom metal, shoegaze, ambient, experimental. Nadja is a duo of Aidan Baker (guitar, vocals, drums, piano, flute) and Leah Buckareff (bass, vocals, violin) from Toronto, Canada. Their sounds have been called "ambient doom"; music that combines elements of metal, shoegaze, ambient, post-rock, experimental, and neo-classical. They have released numerous albums on such labels as Alien8 Recordings, The End Records, and Conspiracy Records and have toured extensively throughout the world including appearances at noted festivals like Roadburn, FIMAV, and SXSW. "Numbness" is a special collection of tracks, compiled by Nadja themselves choosing "shoegaze-oriented" tracks among their vast previous titles. Most of the tracks were originally released on very limited vinyls or rare compilation albums. Among the 6 tracks, total time of over 70 minutes, there are two vocal-centered tracks which reveals the influence of My Bloody Valentine. The last track "Numb" is an amazing 21 minute drone noise track as if synchronizing dark psychedelia of Mono and Mogwai. A perfect compilation for Nadja beginners to Nadja freaks. Packaged in a special cardboard sleeve in black ink. Just Awesome! NUMBNESS track listing and info: 1) Veil of Disillusion originally released on Shadows Infinitum compilation (Crucial Bliss 2004) 2) God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen originally released on The Holiday Masterpieces compilation (Blod Records 2004) 3) Long Dark Twenties (slightly extended 7" version) originally released on 7" (Anthem Records 2008) 4) Alien In My Own Skin unreleased 5) Time Is Our Disease originally released on Infernal Procession... 3-way split with Atavist and Satori (Cold Spring Records 2008) 6) Numb originally released on Base Fluid 'net release (Foreshadow Productions 2007)" [label info]
http://happyprince.jp
|
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Dagdrom |
CD |
"Dagdrøm is Nadja’s first proper full-length since their 2010 release Autopergamene (Essence Music) and, replacing their habitual drum machine, features live drums courtesy of Mac McNeilly from The Jesus Lizard. While Nadja retains their signature overblown sound and heavily distorted guitars, these songs are more concise and structured, tempering their experimentalism and ambience with a more straightforward “rock” sound and compositional style. As such, Dagdrøm looks both forward and back—a departure from Nadja’s usual sound and style, it also harkens back to the noise rock scene of the ’80s and early ’90s and bands like Big Black, Caspar Brötzmann Massaker and, of course, The Jesus Lizard, all of whom were influential on Nadja’s sonic development.
Originally from Toronto and currently based in Berlin, Aidan Baker (guitars, woodwinds, vocals, drum machine) and Leah Buckareff (bass, vocals, accordion) create music variously dubbed dream sludge, metalgaze and ambient doom—atmospheric textures and elements of shoegaze, and experimental / ambient with the heaviness and volume of metal and noise. Nadja has released numerous recordings on Alien8 Recordings, Hydrahead, Southern Records, Robotic Empire and their own label, Broken Spine Productions (to name a few). The group has toured and performed extensively around the world, appearing at such diverse festivals as Incubate, SXSW, FIMAV, Roadburn and Unsound." [label info]
http://brokenspineprods.wordpress.com
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| NADJA / AIDAN BAKER |
Nalepa |
LP + CD |
NADJA | AIDAN BAKER NALEPA
After their highly acclaimed album “Luminous Rot” (Southern Lord), Nadja continue their body of doom drone shoegaze works with the instrumental album “Nalepa”.
On “Nalepa” Nadja are joined by Ángela Muñoz Martínez on drums, also known as one of the percussionists in the always evolving Hypnodrone Ensemble. The three musicians teamed up for a live in studio session at Funkhaus Berlin, after being invited by Jake Muir, with the aim “that we might do something different in the studio than we normally would ourselves” (Aidan Baker).
The former DDR broadcast studio with its giant studio rooms, is the perfect place for an epic drone doom session, providing enough room for all the sounds to sprawl.
“Nalepa” features the studio session, divided into six parts, or two parts on vinyl. The first half is a pushing forward doom beast, featuring repetitive themes, while the second part comes with a more experimental seething approach, like a volcano close before eruption. The album has its own haunting libertine mood and sounds different, compared to other Nadja albums featuring drummers. Have a listen on soundcloud.
In a follow up session some weeks later, Aidan Baker also recorded a solo album at the illustrious Funkhaus Berlin that is featured as a CD, which comes with the Nadja LP. “Nalepa” by Aidan Baker features four dynamic tracks, moving somewhere between ambient, drone, jazz and space rock. All sounds on that record are played live by Aidan. He played drums over live-looped guitar and bass patterns, to create four exceptional energetic pieces.
“Nalepa” comes in an edition of 250 copies on LP+CD. Black vinyl with printed labels and reverseboard printed sleeve on 300g cardboard. The CD is housed in a reverse board printed cardboard wallet. Both formats are featuring artwork by øjeRum.
Nadja – Nalepa LP
Funkspiel I (8:25)
Funkspiel II (10:50)
Funkspiel III (6:58)
Funkspiel IV (12:25)
Funkspiel V (7:54)
Funkspiel VI (5.24)
Aidan Baker – Nalepa CD
Radioplay I (10:46)
Radioplay II (11:24)
Radioplay III (8:38)
Radioplay IV (11:18)
Credits:
Nadja
Aidan Baker (guitar)
Leah Buckareff (bass)
Ángela Muñoz Martínez (drums)
recorded live in studio 01.02.2020 at Funkhaus Berlin by Jake Muir, Matias Santos and Olívi Mamberti
Aidan Baker
Aidan Baker (guitar, bass, drums)
recorded live in studio 27.03.2020 at Funkhaus Berlin by Jake Muir, Matias Santos
Technical:
LP + CD / Limited to 250 copies
LP comes on black vinyl / reverseboard printed sleeve / printed labels
CD comes in wallet / reverseboard printed sleeve
https://www.midirarecords.com/release/md-100-nadja-aidan-baker-nalepa/
|
2022 |
€32.00 |
|
| NADJA / AIDAN BAKER / LEAH BUCKAREFF |
Trinity |
CD |
Als NADJA zusammen mit ALLSEITS in der "Friese" in Bremen auftraten, gab DIE STADT diese CD heraus, mit dem wohl ersten veröffentlichten Solo-Track von der weiblichen NADJA-Hälfte LEAH BUCKAREFF! Dieser erscheint tatsächlich wie ein Gegenpart zu AIDAN BAKERS Musik-Kunst, ist aber bassiger & abgründiger, pulsierend & gefährlich ... allein dieses Stück "Socorro" wäre das Geld wert! Ansonsten gewohnte Klasse !
"A special NADJA CD also feat. one solo track by both members Aidan Baker & Leah Buckareff. Released in conjunction with a live performance on 20. April 2008 in Bremen. Limited edition of 500 numbered copies in full color sleeve. Total playing time: 38:35 min.
Track listing:
1. Aidan Baker 'Carrizozo' 10'31
2. Leah Buckareff 'Socorro' 10'42
3. Nadja 'Jornada del Muerto' 17'22 " [label info]
"Die Stadt always takes great care of their artists. Once you belong to the label, the label will carry all your releases, and when in Bremen, Stadt of Die Stadt, the artists will play and there is a CD for the occasion. This trinity of a matter of one plus one is three. Nadja is the duo of Leah Buckareff and Aidan Baker, so they can do three things on the same night. On April 20th (a day with historic significance... Bebe Barron died that day this year for instance) they visited Bremen and on 'Trinity' there are two solo pieces and one duo piece. It's interesting to see how things add up, or perhaps don't. Nadja is in full form here, with a loud rocking piece: the drum machine hammers time away, while guitar and bass play distorted, meanwhile looping their sound. A strong 'hole' in the sound adds an odd angle to the piece. A far cry away from Baker's solo piece, made of carefully strummed guitars which are looped around. Drones are faded in over the course of ten minutes and things remain subtle. In the middle, literally, is Buckareff solo for bass. Also starting out quiet things are unmistakably but the distortion pedal is already lurking underneath and adds a more noisy tone to the music. If these names don't mean anything to you, but see their music all around, then this is absolutely a fine place to start. Trademark pieces everywhere." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
label-website: www.diestadtmusik.de
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| NADJA / PICASTRO |
Fool, Redeemer |
LP |
"Fool, Redeemer is semi-collaborative split release between Canadian acts Picastroand Nadja. Having toured together and shared a stage many times over the course of the last half-decade, the two bands thought it was time to finally release something together. Nominally a split album, with side A featuring tracks by Picastro and side B a sidelong track by Nadja, members of both groups contributed to each other's songs. And a certain mutual influence seeped into the compositions, Picastro's dark-folk appearing at the beginning of Nadja's track "Venom" and Nadja's trademark drone/dirge tendencies lending a heavier, noisier edge to Picastro's songs. Nadja is a Canadian duo made up of Aidan Baker (guitars, vocals, woodwinds, drum machines) and Leah Buckareff (bass, accordion, vocals), alternately based in Toronto, Canada and Berlin, Germany. The project, originally formed in 2003, creates music which has variously been described as 'Ambient doom,' 'Dreamsludge,' and 'Metal-gaze,' combining the atmospheric textures and elements of shoegaze and experimental/ambient music with the heaviness and volume of metal and noise. Nadja has toured extensively around the world and released numerous recordings on such labels as Alien8 Recordings, Hydrahead Records, Beta-Lactam Ring Records, Blocks Recording Club, and their own fledgling label, Broken Spine Productions. Toronto-based Liz Hysen's (guitars, vocals, piano, violin) Picastro has existed in various forms with various players (including members of Final Fantasy and Rockets Red Glare), since 1997. Currently active as a trio, Hysen is joined by Brandon Miguel Valdivia (drums, percussion), and Nick Storring (cello, guitars, woodwinds, electronics). Picastro creates stark, brooding, discordant song which draw on folk and psych traditions, noise, and post-rock. The band has released four full-length albums on such labels as Pehr Records, Polyvinyl and Blocks Recording Club." [label info]
http://brokenspineprods.wordpress.com
"A split release by Nadja, well-known in the pages (and outside I guess) and Picastro, a Canadian group around Liz Hysen's (guitars, vocals, piano, violin), with a fleeting membership, but here a trio of Hysen with Brandon Miguel Valdivia (drums, percussion) and Nick Storring (cello, guitars, woodwinds, electronics). Nadja of course is a duo Aidan Baker (guitars, vocals, woodwinds, drum machines) and Leah Buckareff (bass, accordion, vocals). There is however an overspill between both bands as they play on each other tracks - semi-split.There is something to say to put both of them on a disc together. Picastro plays music that is also 'heavy', but also with an interest for folk like music, psychedelics and post-rock. The violin and cello wail about, and the band plays on. This CD is cleverly constructed: via two psych rock pieces we arrive at 'Darnia', a more meditative piece of percussion and strings and a mellow song for acoustic guitar and strings in 'A New Souls Benediction'. The tinkling takes over for 'Venom' - the twenty-three minute excursion carried out by Nadja, which starts out with equal low strumming and whispering vocals, before slowly erupting into a wall of sound which is the trademark of Nadja, complete with drum overload towards the end of the piece. It marks a full and complete album." [FdW /Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
| NADLER, MARISSA |
Little Hells |
LP |
"... in den Songs selbst liegt es, weil aus ihnen immer noch die edle, beschwörende Kraft spricht, die Geschichten, die sich so sacht vor einem aufbauen, dieses „you can feel the beat of yesterday“. Ja, immer noch und vielleicht noch nie so selbstsicher der Mut und das Bekenntnis zu den Vergangenheiten, zum Gescheiterten, zum Unglücklichsein und zur Trauer. Und wie wunderbar das alles in diese Songs eingeschrieben ist, dass man selbst das düsterste Lamento noch für Tage im Ohr behalten kann. Darin ist die NADLER virtuos: das Schwierige, Unsagbare mit leichten, tänzelnden Bewegungen einzufangen, für einen Moment ein bisschen die Last zu nehmen, von sich und vom Hörer. Ihre Stimme, das ist ein beinahe substanzloser Hauch, den sie nur flüchtig von Wort zu Wort schickt, und kaum etwas damit ertastet und doch alles und jeden damit berührt. Wo sie in den Vordergrund tritt, da ist auch alles Umliegende göttlich angeweht...." [Roy L, NonPop]
"We are proud to announce the latest release from renowned Boston singer/songwriter Marissa Nadler: Little Hells. On her fourth solo album, Marissa Nadler finds multiple ways to envelop the listener in splendid gauzy moods without becoming monochromatic. “The songs take on different personalities at different points in time,” says Nadler. “If a song is good, you should be able to do it in any style and transform it, take a risk and have some fun.”
A master of creating rich dreamscape atmospheres, Nadler’s voice shines and glides even more with a full band accompanying her. Produced by Chris Coady, the starry musical guests include longtime collaborator Myles Baer, Simone Pace (Blonde Redhead), and Dave Scher (Farmer Dave). Few contemporary artists can match the stunning ride of Marissa's reverb vocals that are a journey into themselves on every rose tinged track. Little Hells displays a brighter leap in musical maturity and attention to detail, as the fantasmagoric sounds delve into melancholy nuggets, sometimes erotic, sometimes gutting, but filled with a gorgeous sense of serene hope more so than previous album, Songs III: Bird on the Water." [label info]
"The fourth record from Boston's most enchanting female songstress has left us breathless and almost at a loss for words! Ms Nadler really hits the nail on the head with this effortless marriage of hauntingly rich vocal cascades and captivating song writing. Quite the magnificent album, Little Hells features Nadler joined by a full band whose rhythmic weight anchors each song as her reverb-shrouded vocals drift into the dawning sky. If you've a penchant for lonely country charm with a gothic twist, and melancholic hymns possessed by a familiar nostalgia, this is soooo for you! Conjures visions of Victorian churches on golden plains at midnight, flickering shadows in hallways of rickety old barns. As far as production goes, we've never heard Nadler sound so dense and layered with such an array of instrumentation embracing the core slide guitar, bass and drums. And yet for all the gothic folk elements at the heart of this record, Little Hells is perhaps Nadler's poppiest release to date. Stunning!" [Aquarius Records review]
www.kemado.com
|
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
| NAM-KHAR |
Sur Chöd |
CD |
The Ritual/Drone collective Nam-Khar return to our Winter-Light label with their latest inner outing entitled 'Sur Chöd'.
This is Nam-Khar's second release with Winter-Light, after the very successful and well received 'Secret Essence/Sangwa Dupa' album in 2018. The music has evolved ....
"Sur Chöd" is composed of 6 long-form pieces, each piece transforming and morphing in to a musical entity within it's own right. The traditional percussive elements are still there in the music, deployed in full force alongside more subtle uses of these instruments. It is the use of the drone and bass elements that have changed on this release. The small vacuous pockets which Nam-Khar use so well are soon filled with warm, thick drones, synthesised sweeps and enlightening cosmic sounds. It once again creates that space for the listener to move into for contemplation and reflection, to energise and focus through the welcome isolation space created by Nam-Khar's atmospherics. Pushing the inner-traveller ever further onwards, along different trodden paths.
Ritual ambient, dark ambient, drone, industrial and subtle tinges of dark-jazz await the listener on this deep and diverse release from Nam-Khar.
https://winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/sur-ch-d
"Two years after its first album on Winter-Light label, Nam-Khar is back with the “Sur Chöd” full length, which seems as a natural evolution of the project, yet while keeping its specific style of Eastern aural mysticism, the project is infusing a handful of fresh spicy ingredients to their music.
Already on the first track based on the sounds and echoes of horns and gongs you may notice a subtle yet quite atmospheric layer of the shade and colour I cannot recall it was present on “Secret Essence/Sangwa Dupa”. But it is with the second piece, “aDre” that all the fun begins. Of course the word “fun” should be filtrated by sensitivity of an introversive dark ambient supporter, like me for that matter. How the drones flow, blend and morph one into another… It is made with all the principles of the genre, takes you far above the Himalayan peaks and lets you float blissfully. If you know me a little, you know that I’m not so fond of the pitch-black side of the genre. There always should be at least a faint glimpse of light, an atmospheric or oneiric foothold, so to speak. On “Sur Chöd”, Nam-Khar finds a perfect balance while maintaining this “tibetan” spirit from the previous releases they managed to create a veil of still mystic, yet a more universal aura. Something that cannot be limited by the monikers related to a certain culture. It is as profound as the Nature itself. It still can be overwhelmingly dark, like “Dregs Pa”, yet I feel this time it is a facade, an opening gate for the unknown, vast realms of the world beyond.
How the drones intermingle one with another forming these beautifully esoteric structures may at some points recall the darker works by Klaus Wiese or Mathias Grassow and since I’m a die-hard fan of both German artists, I can’t be more happy of that fact. “gNod sybyin” is evidently the best example. Along with these specific eastern drums and a silky glacial background it results with possibly the most sublime composition of the whole album.
On this album Nam-Khar has evolved into a five person ensemble. I’m not sure exactly how the personal constellations looked in the past (most of the time I was convinced that it is a one-man project, to be honest), but I suspect there’s some fresh blood on the board this time and this different perspective is noticeable, yet it doesn’t conceal what Nam-Khar is about. Nice example of stimulating diversity in favor of the project’s coherent style is “Gangs chen mdzod lnga”. Atmospheric scapes, reverbed tinkles, ritual sequences and silence being a crucial part of the whole composition. No single unwanted sound.
The final track has been made in collaboration with Akoustik Timbre Frequency, the project by Priapus23, who’s also known as a CEO of a ritual dark ambient label Sombre Soniks. And this is another “Sur Chöd” highlight, an unconditionally stunning fusion of divine drones, unrushed beats and a handful of tiny ornamentations. This one may not be exceedingly intricate, but in this case the artists prove that simplicity is a virtue and I found myself listening to “T’ew Rang” several times in a row, on repeat.
I would say it’s Nam-Khar’s best work up-to-date. I still appreciate “Secret Essence/Sangwa Dupa”, as I wrote in a review that album was more than decent, but I have to admit that I find some moments too “straightforward dark” to me, so I have to be in a proper mood to play that CD. “Sur Chöd”‘s palette of emotions is far more broad and giving even more possibilities for your own inner journeys. Where will it take you? Check for yourself." [Santa Sangre mag] |
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| NAMENLOSIGKEIT |
1 |
12inch |
"From the mystic north dark depths of the Netherlands we offer you Namenlosigkeit. A 180 grams black vinyl produced in total isolation on the wild plains of the Iniaheide. Established without mordern sources of computer technology on a modular synthesizer system." [label info]
|
2016 |
€16.00 |
|
| NATURAL SNOW BUILDINGS |
Terror's Horns |
LP |
"Da ist es wieder, das französische Psychedelic Dronefolk Duo. Ihr 2013 wiederveröffentlichtes Album The Snowbringer Cult hat mich damals aus den Socken gehauen. Das war das reinste Hitfeuerwerk und in dem Jahr nicht umsonst als zweitbestes Album noch vor dem damaligen Release meiner Lieblingsband Troum plaziert. So konsequent hittig gehts diesmal nicht zu, aber dafür noch ein wenig verspulter. Hits gibts aber mit dem eher psychedelisch-folkig gehaltenen „Sun Tower“ und dem eher ambient-dronigen „The Rising Portal“ dann auch noch. Insgesamt so spannend und visionär, daß ich das nächste Album jetzt schon kaum erwarten kann." [Sibylle Bölling/Pretty in Noise]
"After a string of Natural Snow Buildings reissues, each more elaborate then the last, Ba Da Bing presents their first ever release of new material from the band. For a group known for its use of horror imagery and lyricism, perhaps the most shocking thing of all is that this album clocks in at just under 45 minutes. If there ever was a release that served as the proper entry point for Natural Snow Buildings, Terror’s Horns is it. It would be a stretch to call this Mehdi Ameziane and Solange Gularte’s pop record, for Terror’s Horns continues the duo’s tradition of combining many layers into sometimes blissful, sometimes contemplative, often menacing conditions. Stringed instruments trill, percussion gongs, feedback hisses and vocals maintain near monotone as if in a cultish trance. The songs still unveil themselves slowly, and the album’s progression lends the impression of descending down through the depths, past hidden cavities and chambers never to be unseen once experienced. Terror’s Horns features new artwork by Gularte that pays tribute to the backwoods horror of massacres involving chainsaws." [label info]
"Yes, there are a plethora of insanely limited editions published for and by Natural Snow Buildings and their satellite projects; but with their recent dealings with Ba Da Bing, the problematic availability has been alleviated somewhat. Of course, there was a tiny cd-r bonus edition that was coupled with this album but only available in pre-order direct from the label. No shops got any of those; so, we apologize in advance that we cannot offer that version. HOWEVER, we do have this amazing album itself, from aQ fave death-folk explorers Natural Snow Buildings.
There's long been a haunted thread that traces through all of the work from the French duo of Mehdi Ameziane and Solange Gularte, whose long-form tangles of ritualist drone-rock minimalism and sprawling, opiated psychedelia harks back to International Harvester, Flying Saucer Attack, and Kemialliset Ystavat. Here on Terror's Horns, Natural Snow Buildings plumb the depths of an emotional gloom and shuddering despair with this epic, cinematic album. The two have long specialized in expansive tracks of shimmering guitars, woodwinds, and bowed instruments that could be psalters, zithers, and / or violins, all of which blossom into sublime masses of dronological impressionism; and on Terror's Horns, Natural Snow Building engage in a sound far more elegiac and funereal and heavier than heard on any of their previous recordings. The freak-folk transcendence of NSB still will embrace the unsettling falsetto of Ameziane and the percussive clatter of Gularte, with the swirling psychedelia tumbling downward in lush cinematic collapse, with heavy minor-key chords and reverb saturated rhythmic plod providing plenty of parallels to the early days of Barn Owl and the latter days of Earth. Beautiful as always, these Natural Snow Buildings, if much darker than in days gone by." [Aquarius Records] |
2015 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Terror's Horns |
CD |
"Da ist es wieder, das französische Psychedelic Dronefolk Duo. Ihr 2013 wiederveröffentlichtes Album The Snowbringer Cult hat mich damals aus den Socken gehauen. Das war das reinste Hitfeuerwerk und in dem Jahr nicht umsonst als zweitbestes Album noch vor dem damaligen Release meiner Lieblingsband Troum plaziert. So konsequent hittig gehts diesmal nicht zu, aber dafür noch ein wenig verspulter. Hits gibts aber mit dem eher psychedelisch-folkig gehaltenen „Sun Tower“ und dem eher ambient-dronigen „The Rising Portal“ dann auch noch. Insgesamt so spannend und visionär, daß ich das nächste Album jetzt schon kaum erwarten kann." [Sibylle Bölling/Pretty in Noise]
"After a string of Natural Snow Buildings reissues, each more elaborate then the last, Ba Da Bing presents their first ever release of new material from the band. For a group known for its use of horror imagery and lyricism, perhaps the most shocking thing of all is that this album clocks in at just under 45 minutes. If there ever was a release that served as the proper entry point for Natural Snow Buildings, Terror’s Horns is it. It would be a stretch to call this Mehdi Ameziane and Solange Gularte’s pop record, for Terror’s Horns continues the duo’s tradition of combining many layers into sometimes blissful, sometimes contemplative, often menacing conditions. Stringed instruments trill, percussion gongs, feedback hisses and vocals maintain near monotone as if in a cultish trance. The songs still unveil themselves slowly, and the album’s progression lends the impression of descending down through the depths, past hidden cavities and chambers never to be unseen once experienced. Terror’s Horns features new artwork by Gularte that pays tribute to the backwoods horror of massacres involving chainsaws." [label info]
"Yes, there are a plethora of insanely limited editions published for and by Natural Snow Buildings and their satellite projects; but with their recent dealings with Ba Da Bing, the problematic availability has been alleviated somewhat. Of course, there was a tiny cd-r bonus edition that was coupled with this album but only available in pre-order direct from the label. No shops got any of those; so, we apologize in advance that we cannot offer that version. HOWEVER, we do have this amazing album itself, from aQ fave death-folk explorers Natural Snow Buildings.
There's long been a haunted thread that traces through all of the work from the French duo of Mehdi Ameziane and Solange Gularte, whose long-form tangles of ritualist drone-rock minimalism and sprawling, opiated psychedelia harks back to International Harvester, Flying Saucer Attack, and Kemialliset Ystavat. Here on Terror's Horns, Natural Snow Buildings plumb the depths of an emotional gloom and shuddering despair with this epic, cinematic album. The two have long specialized in expansive tracks of shimmering guitars, woodwinds, and bowed instruments that could be psalters, zithers, and / or violins, all of which blossom into sublime masses of dronological impressionism; and on Terror's Horns, Natural Snow Building engage in a sound far more elegiac and funereal and heavier than heard on any of their previous recordings. The freak-folk transcendence of NSB still will embrace the unsettling falsetto of Ameziane and the percussive clatter of Gularte, with the swirling psychedelia tumbling downward in lush cinematic collapse, with heavy minor-key chords and reverb saturated rhythmic plod providing plenty of parallels to the early days of Barn Owl and the latter days of Earth. Beautiful as always, these Natural Snow Buildings, if much darker than in days gone by." [Aquarius Records]
www.badabingrecords.com
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
| NECKS, THE |
Townsville |
CD |
"Ein Kontrabass wiederholt immer wieder ein kaskadierendes Motiv, unaufdringliche Einladung, doch mit einzusteigen. Und Lloyd Swantons Partner tun es - einmal mehr, wie so oft in den gemeinsamen 20 Jahren. Chris Abrahams streut Pianonoten ein, entspannt perlend. Und Tony Buck federt und sirrt mit Besen und Cymbals. So bricht THE NECKS-Zeit an, unverwechselbar. Diesmal wieder live im heimischen Australien, in Thuringowa am 15.2.2007. Nicht ganz so lakonisch betitelt wie piano bass drums vor 10 Jahren, aber ebenso
schlicht nach dem benachbarten Townsville
(ReR Necks8). Aus Wiederholungen und kleinen Variationen ergibt sich der hypnotische Sound des Trios, immer ein wenig anders, aber wie nach der selben ungeschriebenen Formel gewebt. Intuitiver Minimalismus, der sich, einmal angestoßen, prozesshaft entfaltet. Für jedes Konzert steigen sie an einer anderen Stelle in den Fluss ohne Ufer, dessen unerschöpfliche
Quelle sie selber sind. Buck tickelt und klickt als verlässliche Unruhe, Swanton zupft und plonkt seine dunklen Tontrauben und Abrahams klimpert seine Arpeggien, harft die Klaviatur auf und ab. Als ob die Klangwelt ein- und ausatmen würde. Das Tempo wird leicht angezogen, indem Buck die Schlagzahl erhöht. Ohne dass der Spielfluss selber beschleunigt würde, nur die Oberfläche rippelt sich, mal mehr, mal weniger. An den gut 53 Minuten ist nichts Dramatisches und nichts Hyperbolisches. Aber es gibt ‚gefühlte‘ Verdichtungen der Webmuster, Akzentverschiebungen zwischen
der drei Polen. Mit der Paradoxie, dass
selbst bei merklicher Beschleunigung eines
Spielers, die Synchronität nicht aufgehoben
wird. Wer The Necks einmal gehört hat, kriegt sie schlecht wieder aus dem Hirn. Eine Play-it-again-Droge, die tagträumerisch, zeitvergessen, süchtig macht." [Bad Alchemy]
"The Necks in quiet mood recorded at a concert recording in Townsville, Thuringowa, Northern Queensland. Though many Necks’ pieces open with - or eventually arrive at - some discernable groove, Townsville just floats in a state of suspension from beginning to end. It’s like watching the ocean as wave follows wave follows wave: each the same; each different; assymetric. Bassist Lloyd Swanton who, on this occasion, provides the motif that set Townsville running says he had had no idea where it would lead: ‘One of the deep joys for me’ he said, ‘after twenty years of making music with this group, is that we’re still completely unable to predict where our pieces will go.’
[label notes]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Silverwater |
CD |
"Their first studio CD for three years - named for an industrial suburb in Sydney, famous for its correctional facility - Silverwater ranges further and wider than the Necks' earlier releases, exploring a more sectional structure that counterposes more extremes and contrasts, and has a greater sense of forward motion, than usual, though still retaining the long, hypnotic single-track iterative form for which the band has become famous. Layers and skeins of overdubs and textures give way in places to almost empty stretches, and there is much play with asynchronous time. Paradoxically, for a band famous for its slow, cycling, repetition, the Necks show again that they work hard not to repeat themselves." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
"Hot damn. A new Necks album. They're one of our favorite bands EVER, and this is (one of the many reasons) why. Silverwater provides 67 minutes of the Necks' unique, hypnotic, keys/bass/drums bliss, all one track of course as is their wont. Over the course of those 67
minutes, though, the music made by this Australian trio varies quite a bit. Their trademark tranceiness is present, always, but at the same time this new album (their first studio record in, like, 3 years) seems more programmatic and propulsive than we're used to from these guys, taking off in directions we haven't necessarily heard from them before, but still sounding more like the Necks than anything else.
Yet, parts could be mistaken for an underground ambient psychedelic jam from the likes of Sylvester Anfang, almost. And we'd say this is
the Necks record to get Bohren & Der Club Of Gore fans into 'em. Other comparisons we've perhaps made before would be to Circle (in their non- metallic Miljard mode), Supersilent, Alice Coltrane, and AMM... anything that can elicit references to the likes of those is,
obviously, amazing.
Eerie wavering drones delicately unfurl near the start, quiet and pretty... that gives way to a section that's almost ceremonial, like some percussive ritual. Sparse and deliberate, drums-only for a stretch, to be joined by deep, plucked bass notes... it could be some kinda krautrock jazz... and it does get "jazzier", sort of, with electric organ coloration, and cyclic piano plinkings, but also electronic-y gritty glitchiness overdubbed... Silverwater's shimmering textures and minimalist pulsations are simply beautiful, enthralling. It's a glorious 67 minutes, all right.
If you know the Necks, you know you need this. If you're new to the Necks, please do yourself a favor and check this out. Next to seeing them live (which some of us have been lucky enough to do, oh my god they were good), this will demonstrate quite effectively why we hold them in such high regard." [Aquarius Records]
"67:15, ein Track. Der Einstieg in den
Necks-Sog geschieht diesmal über Hammondorgel,
Electronics, flickernde Percussion. Dann ein ultrarepetitives, trillerndes Pianomotiv von
Chris Abrahams, ganz sparsam der Kontrabass
von Lloyd Swanton, knatternd rollendes
Drumming in immer wieder wiederholtem Muster.
Lange spielt Tony Buck das allein, bis der
Bass wieder mit langsamen Schritten sich anschließt. Dann auch zarte, gleichmäßige Cymbalschläge und die Wiederkehr von Hammond
und Piano zugleich. So gleitet man in den nun
wieder vollen Klang hinein. Alles an The Necks
ist gleitend, fließend, repetitiv, hypnotisch.
Mandalas aus Schwebklang und Puls. Buck klappert mit Muschelschalen, Abrahams schlägt immer nur ein, zwei Noten an. Die Electronics
kommen wie ‚from nowhere‘, dazu das nun schon bekannte perkussive Klackern, wohl nicht von Hand. Die schlägt die Sekunden auf der Cymbal zu dröhnender Orgel und Pianomonotonie. Was macht Swanton? Lässt er einen Ventilator die Basssaiten beklackern? Jetzt steigt der Bass als Bass wieder ein, das Klackern geht aber weiter, dazu kommt jetzt - wenn die Uhr nicht geschmolzen wäre, würde sie 30 verstrichene Minuten anzeigen - eine Gitarre. Buck macht mit einem Drumriff dem mäandernden Dröhnfluss Beine, Abrahams hält mit einem Pianoloop schritt, dazu Walking Bass und der klackernde Automat. Und die Gitarre, jetzt deutlich. Dann dünnt der Klang aus auf das Klackern und zwei Klavierspuren, eine davon hell und verzerrt, dann übermenschlich trillernd. Dann doch auch wieder Bass und schnelle Cymbalschläge, aber nur kurz, als eine nicht realisierte Möglichkeit des Fortgangs.
Es spielen nur die Automaten, trillernd,
klackernd. Jetzt der zweite Anlauf von Bass
und Drums, auch das Piano, dann nur das Piano.
Es hat die Ausdauer, gegen die Automaten die Wende einzuläuten. Bass und Drums verhungern
aber ein drittes Mal, die Orgel hält als einzige, monoton pulsierend, den letzten Lebensfaden. Ganz im Hintergrund tauchen
Drums und Keyboards als weitere Lebenszeichen
auf. Jetzt weitere Orgelschwaden, wieder
und wieder, bis der Puls endlich von einer
Rhythmusgitarre verstärkt wird und kräftig genug, den Bass wiederzubeleben für einen simplen Vierklang. Dazu das Geschrammel über
sonorem Orgelfond und, für die finalen drei Minuten, tickende Cymbal, Pianonoten und Arcostriche, die diese vier Noten gemeinsam anstimmen. Bis zuletzt nur Cymbal und helle Pianotropfen bleiben. Was für ein Spannungsbogen, mit einer herausfordernd schmalen Brücke von Hier nach Da." [Rigobert Dittmann / Bad Alchemy]
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Mindset |
CD |
"Now in their 24th year, the Necks’ release Mindset, their 16th album - and first LP, featuring two starkly contrasting tracks: the pulsating, raw, Rum Jungle and the slower building, rather hypnotic Daylights.
Polyrhythms imbue both pieces with powerful forward motion, embroiled with which ethereal piano patterns interweave with bass, drums, electronics, churning Hammonds and noise-guitars.
Drummer and percussionist Tony Buck writes: “Mindset shares some elements in common with our previous album Silverwater [2009], mostly in some mixing approaches and rhythmic devices - a reflection of our ongoing fascination with polymetric material and varying simultaneous pulses... but it's a whole other thing again, and the two tracks are very different from one another - Rum Jungle captures the live approach of the piano, bass, and drum trio a lot more, while Daylights features a bed of electronics and little sounds that slowly converge, coalescing into a multi-layered, multi-tempo, swirling soundscape.”
This release is supported by tours over the next three months in North America, Australia and Europe..." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Open |
CD |
"Die unvergleichlichen THE NECKS mit ihrem nunmehr 17. Album ihrer 26-jährigen Karriere.
THE NECKS haben etwas geschafft, was nur wenigen Künstlern gelingt: einen singulären Stil
zu kreieren, dabei eine ganz unverkennbare eigene Handschrift entwickelt und doch mit jedem
neuen Album nicht einfach bewährte Rezepturen neu aufgekocht, sondern durch feinfühlige
Neujustierung der Parameter neue Nuancen offenbart. Das leitende Motiv bei „Open“ waren –
nach dem vergleichsweise dynamischen, stellenweise eruptiven „Mindset“ von 2011 –
Stille und meditative Klarheit, die etwa „Drive By“ innewohnte. CHRIS ABRAHAMS (Piano),
TONY BUCK (Drums) und LLOYD SWANTON (Bass) setzen im Laufe der 68 Minuten einen
repetitiv-hypnotisierenden Klangfl uss aus leichtfüßig swingendem (Post-)Jazz, repetitiven Grooves à la JAKI LIEBEZEIT (CAN) und elektronischen Sounds in Gang, der elegant innerhalb der selbst gewählten Koordinaten mäandert und bei aller scheinbaren Reduktion und Schlichtheit unter der subtilen Oberfl äche eine komplexe Struktur offenlegt. Wie immer bei den Australiern. //
OPEN will be the Necks’ 17th album, and the 11th released by ReR. Here the band returns to the territory for which it is best known: a single, glacially mutating, long-form piece that runs for a little over an hour.
The previous record, “Mindset”, said bassist Lloyd Swanton, “reached some pretty intense levels at times, and though we never overtly discussed it, I think that on Open, by contrast, all three of us were taken by the idea of working in a field of significant stillness. At least, after a couple of days’ recording, it became clear that the music was leading us in this direction.” Feeding into the ground plan are floating arco harmonics, minimalist funk, iterative piano figures, subliminal and liminal pulses, twittering electronics and at one point an arco bass choir. It is unequivocally a studio work, with layer laid on layer, while still, miraculously, remaining architecturally spare." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
"The Necks might be our favorite jazz group, most of their records/performances being single hour long pieces, always a lush, patient, slow build, all texture and mood, super dynamic, but in a way most bands can't pull off, just bass drums and piano, their sound dense and dark, doleful and lovely. The last few Necks records have found this minimal band getting a little maximal, their slow build eventually erupting into something dense and driving and almost psychedelic, as if in response to that, Open finds the group and their most hushed and abstract, with the first few minutes featuring a field of tinkling chimes, spare pointillist piano, and only the occasional flurry of bass notes, spacious and mesmeric, as we usually find ourselves saying about these guys, we would have been happy if there was no slow build at all, and the whole record was just this glistening, glimmering sprawl of abstract free jazz drift.
But there is a method to their madness, and at about the eight minute mark, the song shifts dramatically, an electronic pulse, some simple hi-hat rhythms, the occasional bass drum, and nothing else, weirdly hypnotic and barely there, the sound soon joined by a buzzing hum, a snare crack here, some bass thrum there, the sound blossoming into a sprawl of subtle tribal drumming, and more shimmering chimes, soon the piano comes back in, and the song begins to take a more jazz-like shape, albeit one that's still quite free and abstract, the lilting piano melody offsetting the busy drumming, the sound shifting again soon after, with a snare roll that sounds almost like radio static, the bass and low notes on the piano unfurling a dense rumble, those chimes tying everything together again, before settling into something much more tranquil and serene, only to return to that strange electronic pulse / hi-hat section, which slips from jazzy shimmer, to abstract free form almost-psychedelia, the snare locked into another roll, adding a buzzy thrum, the sound finally settling into some hushed, laid back jazziness, wreathed in a dreamy droned out shimmer, gradually fading to silence.
Recommended, as always!" [Aquarius Records] |
2013 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Vertigo |
CD |
"The release of a new Necks album is always news. This is our 12th to date - and their 18th. While most ensembles are driven by personalities, the Necks are powered by an idea. A very large and simple idea - which now seems completely obvious…. but only because the Necks thought of it and made it work. Now their pleasure (and ours) is sequentially to re-imagine and explore that idea – the prime directive of which seems to be to be that each unfolding step and every passing detail of any performance be allowed to evolve organically out of the musical conditions established at its moment of departure. In other words, we are in the territory of chaos and catastrophe theory; of hurricanes and butterfly wings… And, since one can never step twice into the same river, each beginning has led to wildly unpredictable and variant outcomes; and imperceptibly: you never hear the changes until somehow they have already happened. “We end up, Lloyd Swanton writes, ‘in a very different place from whatever our initial notion … had been.” In the case of Vertigo, we are dropped straight into an almost Feldmanesque musical universe, in which sounds - seemingly disconnected - are already there; creating space rather than inhabiting it. Then, without trying, they mutate. Not mechanically and not according to any pre-determined process - because it’s always clear that what we hear is being played by human beings; that it’s music. A special kind of music that is not pushy or demanding or demonstrative, but rather co-operative, spatial, ambiguous. A music that leaves room for its listeners." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
"Die unvergleichlichen THE NECKS mit dem nunmehr 18. Album ihrer 28-jährigen
Karriere. THE NECKS haben etwas geschafft, was nur wenigen Künstlern gelingt: einen singulären
Stil zu kreieren, dabei eine ganz unverkennbare eigene Handschrift zu entwickeln und doch
mit jedem neuen Album nicht einfach bewährte Rezepturen neu aufzukochen, sondern durch
feinfühlige Neujustierung der Parameter neue Nuancen zu offenbaren. CHRIS ABRAHAMS
(Piano), TONY BUCK (Drums) und LLOYD SWANTON (Bass) setzen auch auf ihrem neuen Album „Vertigo“ den Maßstab sehr hoch an. Der prägende repetitiv-hypnotisierende Klangfluss
aus leichtfüßig swingendem (Post-)Jazz, repetitiven Grooves à la JAKI LIEBEZEIT (CAN) und elektronischen Sounds, der viele ihrer alten Alben prägte, ist auch auf dem aktuellen Album zu hören. Elegant und subtil erschafft das Trio aus Australien hier abermals ein Meisterwerk. Wie kaum einer anderen Band gelingt es den Musikern, dem Hörer einen „Weg“ vorzugeben, ihm aber genug Freiraum für eigenes Hören und Interpretieren zu lassen. Ganz große Kunst!" [Broken Silence]
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
|
The Necks Box |
8 x CD BOX |
"Formed in Australia the late 1980s by Chris Abrahams, Tony Buck and Lloyd Swanton, the NECKS have been hailed as "one of the greatest bands in the world" by the New York Times.
The Guardian said: “Entirely new and entirely now...They produce a post-jazz, post-rock, post-everything sonic experience that has few parallels or rivals." And Critic Richard Williams wrote in his book Blue Moment: "I think the new music I would find it hardest to do without, fifty years after Kind of Blue, is that produced by The Necks”.
8 of their best CDS are now in this sturdy box, at a very interesting price:
CONTENTS
Hanging Gardens
Drive By
Aether
The Boys
Chemist
Townsville
Silverwater
Mindset." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
"Die unvergleichlichen THE NECKS mit einer tollen und hochwertigen Werkschau in Form einer 8-CD Box. THE NECKS haben etwas geschafft, was nur wenigen Künstlern gelingt: einen singulären Stil zu kreieren, dabei eine ganz unverkennbare eigene Handschrift entwickelt und doch mit jedem neuen Album nicht einfach bewährte Rezepturen neu aufgekocht, sondern durch feinfühlige Neujustierung der Parameter neue Nuancen offenbart. Dies lässt sich wirklich auf alle Alben der Band übertragen. CHRIS ABRAHAMS (Piano), TONY BUCK (Drums) und LLOYD SWANTON (Bass) sind bereits seit 1989 als Band aktiv und veröffentlichten 16 Alben. Weit über die Grenzen ihrer australischen Heimat ist die Band bekannt. Nun erscheint eine kleine Werkschau
mit acht Alben der Band in einer hochwertigen Box. Inhalt: „Silverwater“ (2009), „Townsville“ (2007), „Chemist“ (2006), „The
Boys“ (1998), „Drive By“ (2003), „Aether“ (2001), „Hanging Gardens“ (1999) und „Mindset“ (2011)." [Broken Silence]
"Wow, if you DON'T have all these Necks cds, and you might not 'cuz some have been hard to find lately, then this box set is Christmas come early. Treat yourself! Eight of the aQ-beloved Australian minimal trance drone-jazz masters' ReR releases, circa 1999-2011, together in a handsome box. This hefty cube contains Silverwater, Townsville, Chemist, Drive By, The Boys, Aether, Hanging Gardens, and Mindset - each of which has received rave reviews on our list over the years (three of which were Records Of The Week, though all easily could have been). If we pasted in our reviews of all of them here, this review would be waaaay too long. So we'd just suggest if you're curious, please look 'em up on our site. Basically, though, it's a great chance for anybody who has slept on The Necks to get a big dose of some of the best, most original and hypnotic instrumental 'jazz' music ever.
Of course, they have other releases you should get too - we'd love a box set of their earlier stuff, and even this set is missing some Necks releases that came out during that 1999-2011 time span. Still, more than enough music here to keep you entranced for a long time..." (Aquarius Rec)
|
2015 |
€60.00 |
|
| |
Body |
CD |
"The new NECKS studio record. It’'s another multi-layered classic and I won’t spoil it for you by trying to describe it. Though it’s their 20th, they still have a sack of fresh ideas - and even, on this record, a surprise! -
as they further test the BIG structural idea that they have been slowly unravelling from the beginning. Patience, temperament, quiet virtuosity, concentration, economy - and a unique understanding of experienced time -
confirm the Necks as one of today's few truly original bands. This record is a labyrinth; each listening different and each exposing further layers. Don’t think twice."
" 'Body’ is the mesmerising 20th studio album by cult Aussie trio The Necks. It lands nearly 30 years into their singular run of sprawling, freeform yet coolly disciplined kosmiche jazz treks to prove, where needed, the timeless scope and appeal of Tony Buck, Chris Abrahams, and Lloyd Swanton in combination...
Unfolding nearly 1 hour of fluidly spaced and patiently timed drums, guitar, piano, synth and acoustic bass permutations, ‘Body’ is an instant classic in The Necks’ restlessly shapeshifting catalogue. As ever, their playing is modestly virtuosic and democratic. No one element dominates the others. Rather, they move as a feathered phalanx in dynamic murmuration, moving from breezy swirls of percussion over low-lying bass eddies in the first part, thru a passage of lysergic deliquescence, to a motorik post rock climax and far out into synth-curdled space jazz.
However, any literal description of ‘Body’ will fall short of grasping its full majesty. It’s an album that needs to be received with the patience with which it was made. Only by submitting to its intuitive quantum physics for the duration, and allowing yourself to roll with their unique syncopation and naturally unpredictable dynamics, can you comprehend their music’s full, transportive effect." [Boomkat] |
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| NEGATIVLAND |
Escape from Noise |
CD |
"If there is one Negativland CD that someone you know owns, it’s probably this one. This 1987 SST Records release was a surprise college radio hit, and, some say, years ahead of it’s time. "Escape From Noise" is one of our bestselling and most accessible projects, where we took the tape splicing skills honed on "A Big 10-8 Place" into ever more musical directions. In 1999 Seeland Records reissued "Escape From Noise" in a reworked package designed for the CD format. Negativland always intended the original cover artwork to be for the LP format only, and we were never happy with the "original" painted cover image reduced to such small size on the first CD issue. This new version features that artwork full size as the front cover, with the remainder of the artwork reformatted throughout the package by ace designer and Negativland satellite member Dan Lynch. This new version of "Escape From Noise" is not remastered or remixed in any way, nor is there any extra material added." [label info]
www.negativland.com
|
1999 |
€13.00 |
|
| NEGRU PVLSE |
Fervere |
CD |
"An album that was long in the making. The creative minds of Mathias Josefson (Moljebka Pvlse) and Peter Nyström (Negru Voda, ex-Megaptera) join forces again to return 13 years after their first album Madeira (2002, Old Europa Cafe). Fervere in Latin stands for ‘boil’ or ‘seethe’ and these expressions accurately capture the one hour content of Negru Pvlse’s sophomore release: dark, dense and often rhythmic soundwaves that Megaptera’s mastermind is known for and the unique and more dreamy ambient parts by Mathias Josefson. The whole, however, presents itself as a distinct and independent work of a fully developed band, and not as a mere collaboration. Fervere is a complex yet highly addictive work that will make you realize the long wait was well worth it!" [label info]
ur-muzik.blogspot.de
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| NEHIL, SETH |
Amnemonic Site |
CD |
Erstes Solo-Album von SETH NEHIL seit 5 Jahren... geheimnisvoll tönende Soundwelten warten auf ihre Entdeckung, Klänge kommen von Objekten & Aussenaufnahmen...
"Perhaps Seth Nehil is better known from his collaborative work than for his solo work. He worked with jgrzinich and Olivia Block, but his last solo work was from 2002. In the years between he worked mainly on different projects that couldn't be released on CD, such as multimedia installations. The new work 'Amnemonic Site' is covered with obscurity. Besides his name, the title, labelname and catalogue number, the cover holds no information. 'Play Loud' it says on the label, which always raises the question here: why? I usually like to make up my own mind if I want to play music loud or not. The whole time I was playing this CD, I couldn't stop thinking 'what are these sounds'? It's of course a question that I constantly ask myself when playing new music, certainly when covers are as obscure as this one, but in Nehil's case, it can be anything really. Are these field recordings? Perhaps. Or closely miked objects? Also likely. And what about the nature of sound processing? It seems likely there is some. How and to what extent? And do I also detect some real instruments, like wind instruments, or perhaps organs? It's all likely. Each of the pieces is a large mix up, I imagined, of all of these. There is field recordings, closely miked objects falling to the wooden floor, but also long sustained sounds of wind instruments. It all makes up a particularly strong CD, that is very much alike the latest Olivia Block release, in which a similar treatment of 'real' instruments and field recordings is used, and Nehil easily reaches to a similar height in his 'Amnemonic Site'. Full of tension, he offers a strong interplay between all of his soundsources and it's easily the best release I heard from him to date." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.alluvialrecordings.com |
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Flock & Tumble |
CD |
Mit diesem Album erweitert der amerikanische Composer das bisher von ihm Gewohnte auf kurioseste Weise! Diverse Objektgeräusche und subtiler Einsatz von Stimmen und Gesängen, so obskur wie nur selten zuvor vernommen, field recordings & kaum Erkennbares, wohl auch elektronisch bearbeitet, vieles bleibt im dunkeln und macht FLOCK & TUMBLE umso geheimnisvoller und wunderbarer, von der Wirkung ungefähr so wie BIOTA, vom "Feeling" hat es was von THUJA, TIP für Leute die was wirklich Neutönendes suchen !
"Seth Nehil is an American artist involved in various projects ranging from compositions for dance, installations, multimedia performances, publications and visual art. Over the years, he has collaborated with other significant sound researchers (John Grzinich, Olivia Block, Michael Northam, Matt Marble and Brendan Murray) and has released many CDs on international labels such as Kaon, Alluvial and ...Edition.
It's not so easy to describe the music of Seth Nehil: like a compound of several substances, obtained by capturing natural and urban sounds, manipulated instruments, as well as by electronic treatments and textured objects.
Flock & Tumble is another fine example of his new direction : shorter tracks with an almost song-like structure and a large sound palette that includes the human voice as material. Flock & Tumble explores haphazard clusters, abrupt shifts, percussive rattles and gentle clouds." [label info]
"Throughout the years we have reviewed much of the work of Seth Nehil, who belongs with people like JGrzinich and MNortham to the main players of the US drone scene, which finds itself largely based in field recordings, but also acoustic instruments and just a little bit of electronics. All of this is collected and played and then put together into pieces of music. Music that is not easy to describe as it simply defies categorization, which is always good (and difficult for such reviewers like me, who like to use them). Partly we could say the music is improvised on the side of the instruments, percussive mainly. Then afterwards, or perhaps before hand, field recordings are put to it, something set in a loop, although not always 'on', and sometimes dropping out of the mix, in order to return later. If a word applies to this music, then 'organic' would, I think, be appropriate. Organic in the way the material is put together: from various sources, but it seems to fit together like it always was. Organic also in the sense of playing the instruments and the use of field recordings. This leads to some pretty strong pieces of music, in which we also recognize someone like Af Ursin or Yannick Dauby. Dense and delicate." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"An important demonstration of Nehil’s abilities, this is a classic sleeper which deserves immediate exposure, well beyond the small circle of experts to which music like this is usually addressed." [Touching Extremes]
www.sonoris.org
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| NEHIL, SETH & MATT MARBLE |
Ecllipses |
CD |
Mysteriöse Geräuschmusik pur! Tolle Zusammenarbeit der beiden Herausgeber des exzellenten FO A RM - Magazins. Materialien und Objekte werden so bearbeitet, das lebendige fliessend-konkrete Klänge entstehen, deren Herkunft man nur erahnen kann. Alles ist in ständiger Bewegung, die Stücke nehmen z.T. dramatische, dronige Formen an, um dann wieder in Mikrosound-artige Fragmentsounds zu fallen, mal klingt es nach schwingenden selbst-gebauten Instrumenten, dann nach rauschenden field recordings... geniales Zeug zum genauen Zuhören & Sich-Versenken !
"First collaboration release between two American 'sound composters', Seth Nehil and Matt Marble. A dynamic whirlwind tour through states of ellipsis and eclipses, abrupt ruptures, reuniting and igniting. Where nothing is static for too long. Through an invigorating admixture of instruments, field recordings and various found matter, a compelling and mysterious world comes alive to spark the imagination." [label notes]
"Naturalist aktionism? Sure, let's call it that. We can't really
say that the Hermann Nitsch and Gunter Brus bloodletting as grand
allegory is applicable to this collaboration between Portland based
sound artists Seth Nehil and Matt Marble; but a rigorous body of work
is definitely at hand. These two are the editors of the sound art
journal FO A RM, and have both generated impressive bodies of
conceptually minded compositions through field recordings, found
objects, the almighty drone, and hand-built instruments. Here, Nehil
and Marble wax poetic about the overlay of tactile sounds to emphasize the ruptures, holes, and negative spaces which may have been present on each layer of sound. So, instead of a gaping piece of unbroken ambience, Ecllipses is a tense and discordant album of rollicking textures which bristle and scrape against each other. Nehil and Marble revel in tumbles and scrabbles of what could be a revolving metal drum filled with various pine cones, twigs, and pebbles. Elsewhere, they focus upon churning bowed steel-strings, which offer buzzing clouds of softly rendered acoustic noise; and then soft pluckings of what sound like softened dulcimers drift into prolonged echo, hinting at avant- folk drones of Jewelled Antler (especially the Ov recordings) and Kemialliset Ystavat. Barring a minimal amount of signal processing and ring modulation, the album flourishes in the sodden palette of natural objects: wood, grass, leaves, soil, and rock."" [Aquarius Records review]
www.and-oar.org
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| NEHIL, SETH & OLIVIA BLOCK |
Sunder, unite |
CD |
Collageous / cut-up – surroundings made from many different sound-sources and real instruments. Very obscure and unique !
“Sunder, Unite began with the destruction of musical sources through the insertion of silence and/or faulty connection. It continued with the playing of small objects, fire and grass on our tour of Japan in 2000, being multiplied on many small speakers in each space and recorded in these situations. Sources continued to be recorded in our locations, train stations, a market in Kyoto... Sounds were traded and holes punched in, surfaces distorted. Transparencies of sound were overlaid and cut, residues remain. We followed an ever-shifting ground and rate-of-change. A skip and fade, an intuitive mix and then traded again. The crumbling recording of metal. A walking recording of creaking wood. Speakers in a room.”
Composed 1999-2001. Instruments and treatments by Seth Nehil and Olivia Block except: Kyle Bruckmann, oboe, Chinese oboe; Michael Northam, objects; Michael Shannon, reeds. Photograph by Carmen Resendez. Drawing by Bethany Wright and S.N. With thanks to Koji Tano for assistance in Japan.
Contact: s_nehil@yahoo.com, oliviablo@aol.com
Olivia Block is a contemporary composer and sound artist who combines field recordings, scored segments for acoustic instruments, and electronically generated sound. Her recorded work seeks to introduce, set at play, and ultimately reconcile nature with artifice in the realms of music and sound. In the process, "organic" sound becomes subtly processed, digitized and abstracted; "inorganic" sound becomes self-replicating and animate; and "musical" elements such as chamber instruments are defamiliarized from their traditional associations, freeing them to participate in the larger aesthetic possibilities of sound.
Seth Nehil (b. 1973) began working with sound around 1990 using found objects and instruments, old records, reel-to-reel machines, discarded magnetic tape and other detreitus. Alial Straa was formed in 1994 in collaboration with John Grzinich as a studio projectinvolving Grzinich's handmade piano-wire instruments and Nehil's analog tape-treatments and objects. Joined by Olivia Block, the group went on to perform as an electro-acoustic improvisational trio. Seth Nehil worked with experimental arts magazine N D as writer and artistic contributor from 1996-2000, and received a BA in studio art from the University of Texas at Austin in 1998. Beginning with 1998's Tracing the Skins of Clouds, Seth Nehil has pursued an interest in the sensual surface of found objects and materials, and the inner dynamics of their acoustical properties. Without altering those properties, the possibilities of the studio are explored as a means of transforming sounds into dense interactions - meditations on physicality, germination and disorientation. Recent work has included continued collaborations with John Grzinich and Olivia Block in studio works as well as soundtracks for experimental theatre group Hand2Mouth." [press release]
|
2003 |
€14.00 |
|
| NERATERRAE |
Scenes from the Sublime |
CD |
"Consisting of ten tracks, each one inspired by a different painting, “Scenes From the Sublime” is an ode to beauty, the unfathomable and the minds capable of channeling the sublime. A captivating yet unsettling contemplative aural experience that guides the listener through dense dystopian atmospheres granting oneiric visions of delicate grandeur and otherworldly scenarios transcending time and space. This journey features collaborations by Alphaxone, Dødsmaskin, Leila Abdul-Rauf, Mount Shrine, Phelios, Phragments, Shrine, Xerxes The Dark, George Zafiriadis from Martyria and Yann Hagimont from Cober Ord."
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/scenes-from-the-sublime
https://neraterrae.bandcamp.com/album/scenes-from-the-sublime
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| NERTHUS |
Urban |
CD |
Nerthus isn't a new name to audiophob as a track of this project was already on the first release from our label "-∞ dB" (auphcd001). Furthermore Nerthus provided a remix to Spherical Disrupteds remix cd "Barriere" (auphcd006). But you might also know the project from its earlier releases, for instance at Art Konkret and recently on Polymorph Records. "Urban" is the latest work of this project and we are proud to have it on our label. On the first look, the 8 tracks on this CD might be more rhythmic than Nerthus' previous releases but nevertheless it still keeps the ambient mood. On your way through urban land- and soundscapes: don't forget to have a look at the artwork provided by Nethus himself. (auphcd007)
https://audiophob.bandcamp.com/album/urban
|
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
| NERVE NET NOISE |
Meteor Circuit |
CD |
Japanisches Duo mit einem dynamischen Mix aus Stille und analog-synthetischen Sounds, die sich in seltsamen Klick- und Pfeif-mustern anordnen. Weder harsch noch ambient, klingt teils nach mutierten Vögeln, .. oder so... extrem in seiner Konsequenz und oft hart an der Grenze zum Erträglichen. IN SEARCH OF EXTREMISTS-POP? here you are..
"Following two albums on Kazunao Nagata's cult Zero Gravity label and last year's stunning "Various Amusements" CD on Hronir (and, of course, the infamous "160/240" on Meme), "Meteor Circuit" is the first Nerve Net Noise CD published in the US. Nakamura records more accessible techno-pop under the alias Tagomago. He also records using the alias Toki-Meki Science for Nobukazu Takemura's Childisc label. The band describes their sound as "electric noise music, but not academic, not mere noisy sound. We think that our music is not so much noise music as new kind of pop music"."
|
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| NEST (FINLAND) |
Trail of the Unwary |
CD |
Acoustic Nordic melancholia played on kantele. Deep voice telling old legends about the forest.
"The atmosphere created is just incredible. Imagine wandering barefoot through an ancient, enchanted forest, the way illuminated only by the shafts of moonlight, the hairs on the back of your neck raised with the unshakable feeling that some old spirit is watching you. That is what listening to this album is like. Favorite track: Hunt." [Colin M.] |
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
| NEST (Otto Totland & Huw Roberts) |
Body Pilot |
10inch |
"Nest is the collaborative project of Huw Roberts (Wales) and Otto A. Totland (Norway). Using a combination of acoustic instruments, field recordings and sample manipulation, the two work together to create instrumental music linked closely with their environments.
While unmistakably a Nest record, the material on 'Body Pilot' marks a more restrained, pared back development of Nest's sound. The palette used to craft these pieces is sparser than on previous recordings, placing greater emphasis on the nuances and subtleties of each sound.
'Stillness' opens proceedings on familiar ground. Gently sustained strings rise from a near inaudible hum and are accompanied by slow, resounding piano notes. The pace is glacial, each sound unravels and unfolds in sequence painting a vivid picture of the record's opening scene. The muted greens of an open plain as it tapers into the distance and the pearl-white of the sky, featureless save the bas-relief of a distant mountain range. The landscape resonates in sympathy with the beckoning drone of a propeller engine.
On 'The Dying Roar', we find ourselves borne aloft amid turbulent skies. Brass and woodwind instruments swirl and eddy, growing in intensity until, like the ground disappearing below, they blur and fade into nothing. The engines are cut and we glide silently into the white. Solo piano plays out the piece and closes the first side of the record.
In sharp contrast with the pieces preceding it, "Koretz's Meteor" opens with the haunted drone of an electronic synthesiser. Unidentifiable sounds and effects clamour for space around the rising growl, sweeping from left to right, submerging and resurfacing. A camera shutter opens and closes, cicadas sing in the night, what could it be, that burns so bright?
'Body Pilot' comes to a close with 'The Ultimate Horizon', a detached, isolated piece of music. Sounds speed up and slow down like the on / off of a propeller, sub-bass rises and falls, passing above and below hearing level. The track fades as we travel beyond the infinite." [label info]
www.serein.co.uk
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| NETHERWORLD |
Kall. The Abyss where Dreams fall |
CD |
".... In a tradition that is anchored, at the same time, in avant-garde, ritual soundz and dark-ambient, with a typically Italian touch, NETHERWORLD gives a peculiarly and elegantly organic and palpable feel to sounds that, in the hands of others, would maybe fall flat …and it is as if the sound universe conjured by the magic of NETHERWORLD was strangely…how could one say? OCCUPIED. Each moment, each twist and turn of this sound adventure bears infinite richness and elasticity, at all times …those are rather ‘busy’ sound layers but each of the elements has sufficient breathing space and can differentiate itself from the other surrounding components. This antagonism represents one of NETHERWORLD’s greatest strengths. Another noteworthy antagonism: this tendency to propose us ambiences that are excessively introspective, subdued, withdrawn into themselves, but which, at the same time, expand, subtly dilate to occupy an incommensurable space. Upon the first notes (or pulses??) of the opening track, ‘’KALL’’, this infinite abyss, envelops us and our dreams sink, dissolve, reinvent themselves…The sound propositions found on’’KALL’’ have enough movement and density to please the ones fond of depth in their music, but the overall ‘purified’ feel will please the most discerning purist. For the occasion, MONDES ELLIPTIQUES once again used the mastering talents of JOHN SELLEKAERS @ METARC and it is CHRISTIAN SA LETTE who put his savoir-faire in our service for the design of the sleeve and images. Limited to 441 copies! Deluxe cardboard sleeve." [label description]
"Netherworld is Alessandro Tedeschi and on the album 'Kall - the abyss where dreams fall' he shows his interest in cool ambient and drone related kind of music, that slowly and patiently unfolds in the space. The music is presented in four tracks that are called 'Kall', from part one to part four. What's most present in the 14 minutes of the first piece is the pulsating drone atmosphere, that sounds very gentle and is put in the front, while from time to time there are other sounds too that are appearing in the background and are adding a specific and slightly tribal sounding sense to the track. The sense of tribal ambient music is even more present in the second piece, while in the third longer piece of 21 minutes, there are motives similar to those in the first track - slowly unfolding layers of sounds that are coming from the cooler corners of the ambient spectrum, a kind of atmosphere that is present through the whole album. 'Kall - part 4' is no exception in the sounds that Netherworld uses in the music on this album. The fourth part is as smooth ambient music as the previous parts, it is the smoothest track, with almost 8 minutes of few slowly shifting layers of a kind of sustained, unusual, calm and sometimes linear sounding and spreading ambient music, a kind of aesthetic and approach to the music that is mostly present on the whole album, that is not a typical ambient aesthetic, but it crossovers the border-lines between the ambient and drone kinds of music." [BR / Vital Weekly]
www.angle-rec.net
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| NEU! |
Neu! |
LP |
"Reissue of this Krautrock icon (sometimes referred to in title as #1), originally released by Brain in 1971. Painstakingly remastered from the original master tapes. Neu! were formed by Kraftwerk members Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger who took the sparse early Kraftwerk electronic sound and utilized many effects like lock-groove rhythms and minimalist melodies currently used by today's electronic artists. Neu! created a new kind of rhythm that bridged the gap between rock n roll's syncopation and dance music's four-on-the-floor beats." "Neu!'s groundbreaking debut challenged rock n' roll by using feedback, processed effects, repeated riffs and incessant rhythms -- laying the cornerstone of what would become today's electronic music." [label info]
www.groenland.com
|
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
| NEW HUMANS |
AKA NEW HUMANS / VITO ACCONCI / C.SPENCER YEH |
Semishigure semi011 |
"Noise surrounds and permeates us, and no one is more responsible than the New Humans from that loudest and noisiest of metropolises: New York. From installation art to ear splitting live concerts, this infernal power trio lead by artist Mika Tajima eschews no collaboration, no matter how insane. Guitarist and artistic leader Tajimi is supported by electronics specialist and voice acrobat Howie Chen, drummer Eric Tsai, as well as a large number of guest musicians. The New Humans like nothing more than to drag friend and foe with them into their noise avalanches.
Semishigure proudly presents the fourth release, a unique live collaboration with artist Vito Acconci, a pioneer of body/conceptual art, and vintage experimentalist C. Spencer Yeh. This album consists of two concerts that took place during an exposition of the collective at the Elizabeth Dee Gallery in New York. Two electrifying, memorable performances that just had to be registered on CD.
The last time American performance legend Vito Acconci collaborated with a band was more than ten years ago, when he worked with punk rock brigade the Mekons. A similarly untainted, classically grim punk attitude shines through in his spoken word performance with the New Humans. “You in the Background” is the name of their jointly raised middle finger to the world. Floating on the ominously swelling waves of noise created by the New Humans, Acconci throws all frustrations overboard. Captive to a feverish, shamanic trip, Acconci speaks of each and everyone’s search for their own identity. Acconci has made a special selection from his audio works for the occasion. Texts such as “Now do you believe the dirty dogs are dead” (1978) and “Cry, baby!” (1977) still sound like screams for enlightenment and liberation. C. Spencer Yeh’s plaintive violin careens into the impenetrable wailing wall of feedback. The New Humans not just voice, but scream their anger of life under the Bush regime, and in Acconci they have found a worthy ally.
C. Spencer Yeh and the New Humans go the whole hog on the second live concert, an immensely loud drone séance lasting half an hour. Like no other, radical violinist Yeh manages to infiltrate any collective, be it Dream/Aktion Unit, Comets of Fire or Smegma. Through his trademark exorcising Velvets violin sound Yeh manages to create unbearable tension with the New Humans’ sound avalanches in hot pursuit. During the performance, a glass sculpture is destroyed and the noise of its breaking amplified. At any moment the waves of noise terror threaten to submerge Yeh, but he stands firm. Thank God this all-engulfing live experience has been registered for posterity!" [label info]
www.bottrop-boy.com
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| NEW RISEN THRONE |
The Outside |
do-CD |
Fourth chapter of a series that began with 2007’s „Whispers of the Approaching Wastefullness“ (out on Cyclic Law).
A Conceptual soundtrack envisioning the evolution of a fictional story and of which will soon come a VR experience.
After centuries of isolation the human race begins a journey in search of the causes that led to the end of its world, and for the first time it approaches the Structures, new life forms that have developed and evolved in the emptiness of “The Outside”.
Through this cinematic landscape we find again the now well known and unique sonic approach to Dark Ambient by Stielh, one of Italy’s true master of the genre.
And as a very generous bonus, a second disc was completed containing older pieces featuring revised and remixed tracks by close friends and collaborators Sysselmann, Visions, Taphephobia, Phantom Ship, Vestigial, Apocryphos and TeHÔM.
Released in collaboration with Cyclic Law.
Edition of 500 copies and 8 panel digipack with Matt Lamination.
Two hours of cinematic sounds.
|
2020 |
€17.00 |
|
| NIBLOCK, PHILL |
Touch Three |
3 x CD |
Grossartiges, monumentales Werk des New Yorker Drone-Minimalisten, z.T. fürs Deutschland Radio Köln produziert.. Neun lange Drone-Stücke auf 3 Cds verteilt, die auf von verschiedenen Musikern eingespielten Instrumentalsounds beruhen. NIBLOCK hat daraus 24 - 32 Spuren-Stücke gemacht, die elektronisch nicht weiter verfremdet wurden. Reine Klänge, Wellen, Frequenzen, Fliessen, Obertöne - Statik die sich bewegt, wie sie einnehmender kaum sein könnte… mal sehr nah, dicht und konkret, mal orchestral vielschichtig und polyphon....benutzte Instrumente: Cello, Akustikgitarre, Saxophon, Trompete, Viola..
"Touch Three is minimalism in the classic sense of the word, if that makes sense. Niblock constructs big 24-track digitally-processed monolithic microtonal drones, and the result is sound without melody or rhythm. Movement is slow, geologically slow. Changes are almost imperceptible, and his music has a tendency of creeping up on you. The vocal pieces are like some of Ligeti's choral works, but a little more phased. He says: "What I am doing with my music is to produce something without rhythm or melody, by using many microtones that cause movements very, very slowly." These nine pieces were made from March 2003 to January 2005. They were all made (except "Sax Mix") by recording a single instrument with a single microphone. The recordings were direct to the computer/hard disk, most of them using a Powerbook G4, Pro Tools, an M-box and an external firewire drive. The resulting mono sound files were edited to remove breathing spaces, leaving the natural decay of the tone, and the attack of the subsequent iteration of the same tone. Each note was represented by several repetitions, perhaps ten for each tone, of about 15 seconds duration each. Each piece uses a few tones. A simple chord, perhaps. Additional microtonal intervals were produced in Pro Tools using pitch shift. The pieces were assembled in multitracks, usually either 24 or 32 tracks. The recording environment varied from a simple apartment in Berlin (Ulrich Krieger's) to a very large hall used for symphony orchestra performances and recordings, with a sizable audience space. The recordings were generally done quite closely miked. One hears only the sound of the instrument. There is no electronic manipulation in the recording, the editing of the tones, or in the mix. The only changes to the recorded tones are the pitch shifts to create microtones...the microtones are doing the work." [press release]
" Ever since I am a keen follower of his work, and this new 3CD set is just an overwhelming release. The idea is very simple, for each of the pieces on this CD. Recorded a few tones of one instrument, remove the breathing, leaving the decay and then change the pitch on some of the sounds. Then Niblock starts to layer these tracks, usually somewhere between 24 and 32 tracks. No other electronic processing was done to these recordings. Among the instruments used here we find cello, acoustic guitar with e-bow, recorders, alto/soprano/baritone saxophones, trumpet and viola. A typical Niblock piece lasts between 20 and 22 minutes. All clear, neat and simple? Then why release three CDs, nine tracks in total? They probably all sound the same anyway? Well, of course it less simple and of course it sounds different. The CD open with 'Sethwork' (check out Phill's website for the correct order of the tracks on CD one!), which is almost classical Phill Niblock: sustained tones, with hardly a pause and apparently played on 'acoustic, unamplified guitars with e-bow'. A continuos deep hissing (for the lack of a better word) sound. This is how Niblock sounded when I first heard his music, almost twenty-five years ago. Compared that with 'Harm', also on the first CD, which is a work for cello (which is one of Niblock's beloved instruments). Now here the sounds are highly sustained too, but in stead of one mighty block of sound, it almost sounds orchestral, with the sounds coming in and out of the mix. Two totally different approaches to the same technique. With a slight adjustment, leaving some space at the beginning and end of each sound, Niblock adds on 'Parker's Altered Mood, aka, Owed To Bird', the sound of inhaling breath (in order to play the alto saxophone), which add yet another dimension to this music. Maybe playing all three CDs in this set is a bit much, but I did it, and I must say time disappeared as this overwhelming unfolded little by little. Simply the best Niblock statement thus far, the most complete one.” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€22.50 |
|
|
Touch works, for Hurdy Gurdy and Voice |
CD |
Der legendäre New Yorker Minimalist mit drei schönen Drone-Stücken, dicht und voll, mit „Leierkasten“ (track 1) und reinen Obertongesängen (track 2 & 3), die moduliert werden...
"1. 'Hurdy Hurry' (15:20, October 1999) Jim O'Rourke, hurdy gurdy (samples); 2. 'A Y U', a.k.a. 'as yet untitled' (21:30, October 1999) Thomas Buckner, baritone voice (samples); 3. "A Y U, Live", (21:30, October 1999/2000) Thomas Buckner, baritone voice (samples and live). All were completed with Protools software in a Macintosh computer, and are 24 tracks mixed to stereo. There are two versions of the voice piece, one the original tape piece, the other a version with three added voices, live, plus four tracks of pitch shift on each, done in Robert Poss's (Trace Elements) studio. Phill is a sixty-something New York-based minimalist composer and multimedia musician and director of Experimental Intermedia, a foundation born in the flames of 1968's barricade-hopping. He says: 'What I am doing with my music is to produce something without rhythm or melody, by using many microtones that cause movements very, very slowly.' The stills in the booklet are from slides taken in China, while Niblock was making films which are painstaking studies of manual labor, giving a poetic dignity to sheer grueling slog of fishermen at work, rice-planters, log-splitters, water-hole dredgers and other backbreaking toilers." [label press release].
|
2000 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Brazil 84 |
DVD |
"Brazil 84
16mm film & music by Phill Niblock (77 minutes)
“Three Orchids” for 3 orchestras (2002-03)
Orchestra of the SEM Ensemble, conducted by Petr Kotik
“Two by Tom,” for 2 orchestras (2005)
Trio Scordatura (Amsterdam) and the Nelly Boyd Ensemble (Hamburg)
“Three Orchids” (2002-03)
Trio Scordatura
Phill Niblock (b.1933) is an intermedia artist using music, film, photography, video and computers. He makes thick, loud drones of music, filled with microtones of instrumental timbres which generate many other tones in the performance space. Simultaneously, he presents films / videos which look at the movement of people working, or computer driven abstract images floating through time.
Brazil 84 is from Niblock’s series “The Movement of People Working.” 16mm, unedited long shots, carefully framed to compress single movements, shot in rural and urban settings, capturing people in their working environments, men and women using their hands and body to an eternal working choreography that seems tuned to the microtonal universe of Niblock’s music.
All these images are timeless, they could have been shot today, in the ‘60s or even earlier in the century. All these images have a perfect timing, a perfect framing, captured not as a document but more as a choreographic gesture, as visual music. The images are raw, the colors are saturated and the sound seems to happen in your head.
Phill Niblock says: “In 1984, I returned to Brazil, deciding to travel the coast, closest to the ocean, from Salvador, Bahia, to as far north as I could get in the time I had. That turned out to be Natal, 1000km away. I was the sole film crew, carrying the camera bag and tripod, loading the film, reading the light and occasionally applying sun screen. The film from that trip is the material on this DVD. And it was beautiful to see that country and those people.”
Originally silent, Niblock chose to add his music as the soundtrack, as he often does during screenings of his films. These works, specially compiled for this release, are presented in both stereo and surround mixes.
For this DVD, a new transfer was made of the original 16mm film, which was then restored under Niblock’s supervision.
The Digipak package contains an 8-page booklet of essays by Niblock, Bob Gilmore (music), Carlos Casas (film) and Johan Vandermaelen (the recordings)." [label info]
www.moderecords.com
|
2014 |
€24.00 |
|
|
Music for Cello |
CD |
"3 To 7 - 196 (1974, 24 minutes)
Descent Plus (1978/1995, 22 minutes)
Summing II (1981, 32 minutes)
Phill Niblock's Music For Cello collects three pieces from the 70's and early 80's, performed by cellist David Gibson.
This CD includes a 16 page unpublished interview with Phill Niblock.
Since the late sixties Phill Niblock has been composing long-form acoustic drones with a focus on the rhythms and overtones that rise from closely tuned instruments. His highly original and influential music is an exploration of timbre, microtonality, stability, duration and psychoacoustic phenomenon.
"3 to 7 - 196 is very direct, aggressive, and gritty. The overtone patterns that are produced by the proximal pitches become more prominent with louder volume. So please, play this piece very loud. This was the first piece of mine in which the musician was precisely tuned, in which I chose exact pitches in hertz. We used a sine wave oscillator and frequency counter for the tuning.
Descent Plus has four cello tones descending one octave over twenty-two minutes, from 300 hertz to 150 hertz. David Gibson played these tones without lifting his bow from the strings, constantly retuning. I made four different scores, manually changing an oscillator to which he was tuning, for each track's recording. For the revision, we added six more tracks, with David playing long tones which were not descending. The second part of the recording was made nearly twenty years later.
Summing II (one of four parts) is mellow and sonorous. David plays two strings simultaneously, one of which is retuned for each successive recording of that pair of tones. This is a mix of an eight track tape. It's better played loud also." - Phill Niblock from liner notes"
|
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
|
MMXX-12: Browner |
LP |
MUSIC & ARTWORK BY PHILL NIBLOCK - this piece made with materials from four artists - Arne Deforce, cello; Deborah Walker, cello; Erik Drescher, flute; Dafne Vicent Sandoval, bassoon
recorded in Marcus Schmickler’s studio in Koln, with a Brauner microphone
https://phillniblock-mm.bandcamp.com/album/mmxx-12-browner
|
2020 |
€23.00 |
|
|
NuDaf |
CD |
A 65-minute electroacoustic composition featuring Dafne Vicente-Sandoval, bassoon.
“The aural effect is minimal to the max, but it isn’t simplistic. The tones vibrate and glow, the densely packed texture shifting hues like a sonic aurora borealis” –John Rockwell, The New York Times. NuDaf (2020) is the second longest piece in Phill Niblock’s repertoire of recorded audio works. NuDaf is a departure from his previous pieces in that he makes extensive use of multiphonics and constructed the work with fewer tracks than usual, creating uniquely transparent and ephemeral textures. The piece is the result of a collaboration between Niblock and the stellar bassoonist Dafne Vicente-Sandoval. Her musicality and breadth of knowledge, extended bassoon performance, and uncanny timing inspired the piece. This is the first of three collaborative projects between XI Records and Akoh Media. Akoh initiated the project, suggesting that Phill confront a longer form that also seemed eminently suitable to Dafne Vicente-Sandoval’s interests. Akoh, as is its tradition, presents the work in a limited numbered edition of a one-of-a-kind Petri dish that incorporates Niblock’s photos in an exquisite and unique design. From the liner notes by Michael Pisaro-Liu: “… over the course of the long duration of NuDaf we listen to a slow-motion explosion that frees it, creating a spectacular shape, right before our ears.”
https://xirecords.bandcamp.com/album/nudaf
|
2021 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Boston/Tenor/Index |
LP |
Boston/Tenor/Index, presents for the first time some of the earliest works by the American composer Phill Niblock, including three never before released pieces: "Index" (1969), "Tenor," and "Boston III" (both from 1972). Until now, it's been impossible to encounter Niblock's compositions from earlier than the 1960s, a reality thankfully rectified by the long overdue publication of this Boston/Tenor/Index LP on Alga Marghen. "Tenor" (1972) represents the first evolution of Niblock's musical thought towards the aesthetics of microtones, overtones, and drones which the composer would develop in following decades. The piece was recorded by the photographer Martin Bough on tenor saxophone and gradually dubbed back and forth by the composer in his New York studio. "Boston III" (1972) was recorded at the Intermedia Sound studio in Boston with Rhys Chatham (flute, voice), Martin Bough (tenor saxophone), and Gregory Reeve (viola, voice); the composer himself also contributed with his voice. The LP also includes "Index" (1969), an improvised sound performance by the composer himself. Guitar (both its body and strings), fingers and fingering fuse in a vehement action around which barely listenable sounds and resonances vibrate. Considering the extended pulsation as an organic blend of impulse, rhythm, drive, strength, vitality and passion, the end of this sole solo in Niblock's complete oeuvre is not defined by the fixed duration of the piece but as the consequence of the tiredness of the performer. The music changes according to the loudness of playback. The interaction of the upper harmonics changes especially, with much richer overtone patterns being produced at louder levels. Edition of 450 copies, including an insert with liner notes and photo.
[press release]
#########
"Alga Marghen returns with what might just be their most historically significant release to date, “Boston Tenor Index”, comprising three, never before released compositions - “Index”, from 1969; and “Tenor” and “Boston III”, both from 1972 - by Phill Niblock, that represent some the earliest works in his catalogue to have ever appeared.
Truly stunning in audio terms, and an absolute revelation toward understanding how Niblock arrived where he did a few short years down the road, it’s easily one of the best things we’ve heard all year.
Over the course of nearly three decades of activity, the Italian imprint, Alga Marghen, has continuously cast light into the shadows of historical sound practice, offering particular focus to underappreciated artefacts at the juncture of visual art, sound-art, experimental music, and sound-poetry. With each subsequent release, the label has helped to reform our understanding of the 20th century, and the voices that made it what it was. Over the years, they’ve brought forth an unprecedented range of early and archival material by seminal composers like Charlemagne Palestine, Walter Marchetti, Philip Corner, Henri Chopin, Robert Ashley, David Behrman, Max Neuhaus, Eliane Radigue, and numerous others. While surprising to think, until now they have yet to touch upon the towering legacy of Phill Niblock. Their latest LP, “Boston Tenor Index”, takes a deep dive into some of the earliest work ever released by the American composer, comprising never before released works three works in his catalogue, “Index”, from 1969; and “Tenor” and “Boston III”, both from 1972. Creatively striking, while casting crucial light on Niblock’s beginnings as a composer, it’s a truly remarkable body of sound and easily among the most important archival releases that we’ve encountered so far this year.
After roughly a decade of working as a filmmaker and photographer, during the late 1960s, while collaborating with the Judson Dance Theater in New York, Phill Niblock embarked upon a new career as a composer. Over the coming decade, he would begin to slowly assemble a singular body of works that layered microtonal drones - meticulously recorded from acoustic instrument - that culminated as some of the most remarkable gestures of tape collage and musical minimalism to appear during the second half of the 20th century. With a small number of exceptions, the earliest of these to appear as albums - “A Trombone Piece”, “A Third Trombone” (“Nothin To Look At Just A Record”, 1982); “Second Two Octaves And A Fifth”, “First Performance” (“Niblock For Celli / Celli Plays Niblock”, 1984), "P K", "S L S", "P K & S L S", "Winterbloom Too" (Four Full Flutes, 1990) - were composed and recorded during the late 1970s. Until now, it’s been almost impossible to encounter Niblock’s compositions from earlier than that period, a reality thankfully rectified by the long overdue appearance of the works that comprise “Boston Tenor Index”.
We jumped for joy when we saw this one announced, and are still overjoyed, numerous listens in. Alga Marghen has done us a great service with this one, bringing some of the earliest known pieces by Phill Niblock to our ears. As far as archival releases go, "Boston Tenor Index” is as good as it gets and as essential as they come. A revelation of the highest order." [Soundohm]
|
2023 |
€22.50 |
|
| NIBLOCK, PHILL / ANNA CLEMENTI / THOMAS STERN |
Zound Delta 2 |
LP |
A new piece by minimalist / experimental composer PHILL NIBLOCK (1933 - 2024), co-composed and performed by ANNA CLEMENTI & THOMAS STERN. Intense, menacing layers of thick drones and alien sounds.
In summer 2022, within just a few weeks and by pure coincidence, 2 proposals regarding PHILL NIBLOCK albums arrived: one suggesting an overdue vinyl reissue of a CD release (more on that when the time has come for it), the other email was from ANNA CLEMENTI saying she and THOMAS STERN were working on new pieces that PHILL NIBLOCK has written for her … when "Zound Delta 2" was complete, PHILL sent photographs for the two artworks, we met twice to discuss details, but unfortunately he died unexpectedly early january this year so the album now is, sad as it is, a posthumous release … an intense goodbye from one of 20thcentury most iconic composers.
Phill Niblock
Phill Niblock (1933-2024, USA) was an artist whose fifty-year career spans minimalist and experimental music, film and photography. Since 1985, he has served as director of Experimental Intermedia, a foundation for avant-garde music based in New York with a branch in Ghent, and curator of the foundation's record label XI. Known for his thick, loud drones of music, Niblock's signature sound is filled with microtones of instrumental timbres that generate many other tones in the performance space. In 2013, his diverse artistic career was the subject of a retrospective realised in partnership between Circuit (Contemporary Art Centre Lausanne) and Musée de l'Elysée. The following year Niblock was honoured with the prestigious Foundation for Contemporary Arts John Cage Award.
phillniblock.com
Anna Clementi
Italian-Swedish singer Anna Clementi grew up in Rome, where she first studied the flute and completed acting training before moving to Berlin and studying experimental vocal music and experimental music theater with the composer Dieter Schnebel at Hochschule der Künste (now UdK Berlin). Anna Clementi sees herself as an "actress of the voice" rather than exclusively as a singer. In this way she also articulates the diversity of her artistic expression, with which she is always searching for new connections between voice, gesture, language, dance and theater.
During her decades spanning career, Anna Clementi has performed at the most important festivals, has premiered numerous works, many of which have been composed especially for her, and worked with Fast Forward, Michael Hirsch, Rupert Huber, Christian Kesten, Alexander Kolkowski, Olga Neuwirth, Josef Anton Riedl, Iris ter Schiphorst, Dieter Schnebel, Laurie Schwartz, Elliott Sharp, and many others.
A special focus of hers is the work of John Cage, whose pieces she has performed worldwide.
www.annaclementi.com
Thomas Stern
Born in Bremen, Thomas Stern moved to Berlin in 1984 where he joined Mona Mur with Alex Hacke and F. M. Einheit (both from Einstürzende Neubauten, with which Stern also worked as live sound engineer for many years). Around 1987 he co-founded the Berlin set up of Crime And The City Solution (Mick Harvey, Alex Hacke a.o.). Over the years, he has has collaborated with artists like Ulrike Haage, Phew, Nick Cave, Ton Steine Scherben, Meret Becker, Nina Hagen, Jaki Liebezeit, Ben Becker, N.U. Unruh, Gry, Iris ter Schiphorst, Automat, Swans, Hans Joacxhim Irmler and many more, on the road or in his own Sternstaubstudio.
www.thomasstern.de
credits
released April 12, 2024
Anna Clementi: voice
Thomas Stern: slide guitar, bass and soundprocessing
Composition by Phill Niblock, Anna Clementi and Thomas Stern
Recorded and mixed by Thomas Stern at Sternstaubstudio, Berlin
Mastering and lacquer cut: Kassian Troyer at D&M, Berlin
Cover photography by Phill Niblock
Layout and design by kaidoh
https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/zound-delta-2 |
2024 |
€20.00 |
|
| NICO |
BBC Sessions |
12inch |
"Previously only available as a vinyl release on John Peel’s and Clive Selwood’s Strange Fruit label during a brief period in 1988, this four track vinyl EP was the first of two sessions Nico performed for John Peel (the second was in 1974), and was recorded live for BBC Radio One’s Top Gear on 2nd February 1971 and broadcast the following week. This haunting session is Nico at the height of her creative powers as testified by those who saw her solo concerts accompanying herself on harmonium around this time."
https://store.gearboxrecords.com/products/nico |
2015 |
€18.50 |
|
| NID |
Manga Myggor, Mycket Öl |
CD-R |
“Re-release of one side of a rare split-cassette by NíD and D.A.R.K. originally released in 1996 in a ltd. edition of 50. NíD are masters at ambient and dark soundscapes. They hail from the area of improvised industrial electronics and harsh noise. Makes your ears drown in sound.“ [label info] |
2001 |
€7.00 |
|
| |
Plate Tectonics |
CD |
Aufnahmen eines Konzertes aus Arnheim, Niederlande, vom Dezember 2002, in Studio-Qualität. Allertiefste dumpfe Dronescapes & verlangsamte Stimmen, Klassik-found sounds, glockige Klänge, obskure Vinyl-loops, immer dunkel & ominös & in einem dynamischen Feld voller unerwarteter Sounds. Eine recht einmalige Verbindung von Vinylloop-Plunderphonics, tiefbassigen Dronescapes und Geräuschen von selbstgebauten, oft ober-obskursten Gerätschaften und Objekten.
"Crawling back into the wound: NID 1995 – 2007. NID is an experimental group whose aim it is to challenge conventional concepts and structures of electronic music by experimenting with the source of sounds. The music is created on the spot, making each performance a genuine and unrepeatable event. It has been described as moving sound-objects, improvised electronic noise, or broodng ambient music. It has been compared to an underwater-journey, a pathway to the inner self. Given enough volume, it certainly affects the body as well as the mind. In which way remains open to the listener’s psyche. NID was formed in 1995. Over the years the core-members have performed in art-galleries, rock-clubs, bars, water-reservoirs, cinemas, as well as at industrial and electronic festivals and in record shops. In 1998 they were invited to play onboard the MS Stubnitz when it was anchored in the harbour of Stockholm as part of the “European Culture Capital” activities. They were also involved in the 2001 Six And More & R:IP jubilees, improvising with 30 other electronic free-jazz musicians. As for the group name… A “nid” is a curse or insult with homosexual connotation that was frequently in use in the Viking age. It brought a depth to the concept of honour and shame. It could be used as a challenge or simply to ridicule another (which was a challenge per se). It could reveal anyone else to be no better than he was, and it undermined social structures. NID disbanded in 2006. Chris Sidgell continues in various projects, most notably his solo project B-Tong. Jürgen Eberhard releases music under the name Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim. This is NID’s one and only proper CD release. The sound on this work may appeal to fans of Lustmord, New Blockaders or collage post-industrial in general/experimental ambient. The music on this CD was recorded live in Arnheim by Mars Wellink
(Vance Orchestra). The cover was done by Katja Wahl..." [band info & press release]
"While not new, we only just discovered NID, and our discovery came about in a very random manner, considering various related works were right under our nose. We listed a killer 4 way split 12" a while back called One Man Drone, and our favorite track from the spit was a piece by a group called B(degree)Tong. We later discovered that the man behind B(degree)Tong was previously a member of German experimental sound-collective NID. But what we did not know was that NID was sometimes also known as Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim, a group who had various releases on the Drone Records label, one of which is included on the recent tUMULt collection of out of print Drone singles. So now it's sort of come full circle and we have this, the only proper full length recording (as far as we know) from the group NID, aka Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim and it's pretty amazing. Pretty bizarre too, but then with a (sometime) name like Feine Trinkers Bei Pinkels Daheim, what else would you expect?
Three looooooooong tracks. Each an epic, incredibly varied soundworld, blending found sounds and field recordings with drones and intense blasts of layered sound. The opener begins with a muted cacophony of birds and crickets, before disappearing into a roiling
black cloud of rumbling low end and distant droning guitar buzz. It almost sounds like sticking your head out of a speeding car, the wind whipping by and causing all sorts of distortions, but blurred into an impressively massive wall of sound. Within all this whipping sonic wind and rumbling whirs, are strange bits of percussion, the clang and bang of metal on metal, shakers and simple rhythms, they drift
briefly in the eye of the storm, before the drone drops again, even more furious than before, until it fades out amidst the dreamy
shimmer of female vocals and haunting minor key melodic buzz. Really intense and strangely beautiful.
The second track is another deep cavernous roar. A bit smoother than the previous number, but not for long, bit of metallic buzz surface amidst the undulating rumbles, with some serious dynamic spikes, some of which sound like brief bursts of SUNNO 0))), and others are even lower and more aggressive bits of low end exploration. There are bits of static and random buzz here and there, but mostly it's black and dark, a massive growling beast, slowly uncoiling into a monster that blocks out the sun. Near the end of the track, the darkness abates and in its place is a strange skipping stuttering snippet of music, wrapped in hazy distortion and looped into a mesmerizing rhythm, repeated over and over and over, gradually crumbling and becoming more and more distorted before erupting into a final burst of chest rattling low end, finally slowing down and sputtering to a halt.
The final track is over twenty minutes and is the most melodic of the bunch. Beginning with a looped cycle of xylophone melody, over
a throbbing low end pulse and streaks of keening distant guitar and bits of operatic female vocals. Very ominous and mysterious sounding. When suddenly everything stops, and there's a guy with a British accent ranting over someone ransacking a kitchen, breaking glass, clanging cutlery, and suddenly it's gone, and we're back in some new dronescape, a mumbled voice looped into a haunting mantra, beneath distant thunder like rumbles, and little blurs of high end melody, indistinct, but gradually building in intensity. The drones drift away leaving birds and voices, and some strange bits of hiss and skree, before transforming into a plodding doomdrone beast. A simple stretched out rhythm over cavernous thrums and the sound of subway cars, everything pulsing and throbbing, a bizarre bit of dark
collage, that manages to be strangely musical and completely hypnotic.
An amazingly weird record, and absolutely essential listening for the drone obsessed, which we would assume should be most of you..." [Aquarius Records]
"Posthumous release by this Swiss-German trio dedicated to mostly drone-bound sounds, noise manipulation, foggy samples and dialogue snatches. Here, three lengthy pieces encircle some fantastic voyages through muted hum, looped voices, gentle vibrations and the stench of noxious ooze. The last one, ‘35000 Feet Below the Ocean Surface’, clocks in at almost 22 minutes and hints at a leather-clad NWW surveying a desert of black ash. Which works a treat for me." [RJ, Adverse Effect]
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| NIEDOWIERZANIE |
same |
LP |
Debut-Album dieses 1-Mann Projekts aus Marseille (currently residing, like everyone else, in Berlin), ein sehr eigener Stil aus harmonischen Instrumental / Drone / Neo-Klassik Elementen, schleppend-rhythmischer Elektronik, Field Recordings und Effektbearbeitungen. Hier kommt etwas zusammen was eigentlich nicht zusammengehört, aber es funktioniert & klingt wie aus einem Guss! Mal ist der Sound schneidend wie Glas, dann verflüssigt sich alles wieder, durchtränkt von einem subtilen melancholischen Fluidum...
Edition: 200 Stück auf weissem Vinyl.
"In spite of all their growing differences, there are still hidden places, elusive dimensions where East and West meet… For instance in the highly introspective music of the Marseille/Berlin based solo project NIEDOWIERZANIE, presenting here its first official album in the shape of five long instrumental pieces of neo-classical sound sculptures. Flirting both with IDM and contemporary music, mixing organic compositions (using a wide range of string, wind and self-made instruments) with electronic cut-ups and field recordings from the artist’s native Marseille and his extensive journeys through India, these intense, complex and luminous crescendos evoke the works of artists as diverse as COIL, MIRROR, MIASTO NIE SPALO and ARVO PÄRT. 12" LP - white vinyl - lim. edition of 200 hand-numbered copies." [label info]
www.tutrur.com
|
2008 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Attendre |
LP |
"Three years and many live gigs after the self-titled debut, Niedowierzanie’s music has lost nothing of his maestria and exotic flavour. The complex compositions using a variety of acoustic instruments and digital effects still tell us of faraway places, conjuring vivid pictures of south-American landscapes, Mediterranean balconies and eastern harbours. But it has also become more accessible, leaving behind the long experimental pieces and turning instead to shorter, more rhythmic, even danceable songs full of Bohemian romanticism and Mediterranean flair. Dreamy, lazily swaying ballads alternate with somber pieces like funeral marches in the heat and dust of a summer evening, revealing sudden pangs of unease and anguish behind the flowing southern nonchalance. With “Attendre”, Niedowierzanie delivers a masterpiece of Post-Mediterranea worthy of such legends as Novy Svet or Mushroom’s Patience." [label info]
|
2011 |
€16.00 |
|
| NIETO, MIKEL R |
Dark Sound |
BOOK & CD |
"The book contains Ecopolitik, an introduction as an epilogue by José Luis Espejo, a letter to the Huaorani people, two research texts and one bertso, descriptive texts and photos of recordings, a possible chronology, a glossary, a compilation of several texts with testimonies, reports and declarations from different people, groups, institutions, and publications in reference to the impact—direct or indirect—of the noise from the oil industry during its various phases of development on the people, the environment and the fauna. More info at dark.mikelrnieto.net
34 recordings in one track. In a black polycarbonate CD.
Final editing, mastering and carbon print from Ireland by Slavek Kwi.
Tracklist
01. Nyctridomus albicollis
02. Lipaugus vociferans
03. General Electric CF34-10E
04. Hypsiboas lanciformis, Hypsiboas boans and Unidentified Oil Extraction Machines in the Distance
05. Pogonomyrmex barbatus
06. Paraponera clavata
07. Atta cephalotes
08. Ectatomma tuberculatum
09. Termitidae procornitermes
10. Eciton burchellii
11. Gryllidae and Unidentified Frogs
12. Lophostoma yasuni
13. Leptonycteris yerbabuenae
14. Yamaha Enduro E40X
15. Unidentified Underwater Animals
16. Honda GX160
17. Unidentified Underwater Survivors in Produced Water
18. Changlin YZ26
19. Electric Generator at Tiputini Biodiversity Station
20. Electrical Substation at the Yasuni Research Station (Ten Meters Distance)
21. Electrical Substation at the Yasuni Research Station (One Meter Distance)
22. Air Conditioner for the Electrical Substation at Yasuní Research Station
23. Chevrolet S10
24. CAT MD6420B Drill
25. Cummins KTA19G4
26. HongSheng CYJ-83-37HB
27. CAT 3512 DITA
28. MTU 396
29. Shale Pump SP1614
30. Tiger Rig ZJ30LDB
31. Oilon Wisedrive WD32-34
32. Maxon Oxytherm LE
33. Preamp Battery Blackout
34. Radio Jungla 94.3 FM Through Several JBL Control 1 Pro in Repsol-YPF Access Control"
176 pages, dark paper, black ink, hardback. languages: huao, basque, spanish and english"
www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=15050
"In the product page on the label’s website the description of this release ends with this warning: “Partially legible. Sunlight reading recommended”. It’s hard to fail recognising that this warning is absolutely appropriate, until you realise that it’s a black book, with black opaque pages, printed with black lucid ink, housing a black CD. And it doesn’t stop there, as it doesn’t have a fixed sale price, but its price is determined by the crude oil Brent price at the time of purchase, so the author and label warn that if you buy the book you’ll “contribute to the destruction of the planet.” With these creepy premises, a curiosity about the content of the work immediately arises. And after a few attempts, the reader can find the right angle and light to (struggle to) start reading realising that it’s a remarkable collection of essays, pictures and documents on the oil industry’s impact on the Ecuadorian natural environment. This is coupled with a CD with 34 recordings in one track from the Ecuadorian rainforest (the whole work is part of the Field Recording Series by Gruenrekorder). It progresses from delightful natural sounds to industrial machines slowly disrupting them. Then reading, meanwhile, some testimonies or a detailed chronology perfectly let this whole suppressed world to (painfully in every sense) re-emerge from its current status. The pervasive “black”, eventually, doesn’t hide anymore, but becomes the mandatory colour to engage with, in order to learn and understand what has been hidden, but must now be revealed." [Neural Mag.]
"I have listened several times to the CD Dark Sound by Mikel R. Nieto over the past month and have been intrigued by the purpose of the recordings presented by the album. — Dark Sound is a CD length single track album of field recordings taken by Mikel R. Nieto mostly in and around the Ecuadorian rainforest within areas associated with the colonisation and domination of contested areas that were found to have oil reserves. The album traces the relationships between a number of different indigenous groups who have resisted becoming associated with Western European and global models of capital, in favour of continuing the heritage and lives they had prior to the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in the late 15th Century.
The single track CD contains a wide number of field recordings from across various situations that the recordist encountered whilst investigating the noise and culture of Ecuadorian oil mining operations and the impact it has had on the biophonic soundscape and ecology of non-native human, native human, and nonhuman populations. The album comes with an accompanying black paged book with black glossy lettering throughout which makes it impossible to read other than in bright sunlight; a statement upon the darkest of dark geological substrates; crude oil, as well as a comment on the practices of obfuscation that have continued in pursuit of capital gain through oil drilling by corporations. This has led to a number of significant historical, political events including the death of Alejandro Lebaka, a Basque man who in the 1980s took it upon himself as a missionary to position himself as “the voice of the voiceless” (Lebaka in Nieto, 2016: 53) but in his attempted defence and support for a number of native groups, specifically the Huaorani (literally meaning those who speak our language”) which is to say, the native people of the Ecuadorian rainforests, was killed by spears from a group of Huaorani referred to as Tagaeri who no longer wished to partake in the violent systems of control forced upon the Huaorani.
The book provides a significant overview to the political history and issues encountered as a result of the colonisation, and pacification of the indigenous people of Ecuador in pursuit for oil whilst also raising a broad ranging investigation into acoustic research and/or phenomena that are a consequence of the oil operations and their effect directly and indirectly on the Ecuadorian ecology.
The album itself, contains a number of ethnographical and environmental field recordings that include weather events, insects, birds, fish and small mammals and security guards, diesel turbines and high security perimeter fencing. The recordings range from acoustic captures to hydrophones to ultrasound and contact microphones in an attempt to reflect the wide range of acoustic, para-acoustic infra and ultrasonic phenomena that are comprised, altered and ruptured in the pursuit of capital.
The book is highly politicised and the recordings only further emphasise the massive transitions from small tribe to mass industrial practice and the absolute refusal for some to be forced to be adapted and co-opted into a military industrial complex and capital based system of goods exchange and parasitic raping of newly discovered lands." [Mark Parker]
|
2016 |
€44.00 |
|
| NIGHT SCIENCE (MAGAZINE) |
Vol. V |
BOOK & CD |
V/A - 'Night Science V' 'zine + CD
sic89
Anemone Tube
1. Prayerwalk II (video)
Alberich
2. The Fig Tree
3. Yodok Rations
Mlehst
4. Thirteen Not Unlucky
Hal Hutchinson
5. Dedicated To Damage I
Skin Graft
6. Rotting Neck
Kazuma Kubota
7. Watercolours (video)
Hal Hutchinson
8. Dedicated To Damage II
Niellerade Fallibilisthorstar
9. Avvikande
158 page 'zine includes interviews with all of the afore-mentioned, Fragment Factory and release / live reviews.
released 21 Januuary 2015
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| NIHILIST SPASM BAND |
Breaking Wind |
LP |
"As nicolas was heading for his roaring forties birthday, we were wondering whether we should issue a release to celebrate the occasion or should we throw a party or whatever. On the one hand lots of radical changes had taken place in the rekem HQ during the last year and found the four of us in a state of flux. On the other, a release idea to which you can always return and use as a sound diary, was bringing shivers from the absurd heyday and ultimately we couldn’t resist the idea of doing one. Whom to invite for it? Without any second thought, the name of the Nihilist Spasm Band stuck to our minds. A band of friends who -for nearly half a century- hold regular Monday-night meetings/improvisations, their music has been a companion to our explorations in the world of obscure music, ever since our first encounter with it almost 23 years ago. And the recording and title the NSB suggested to us couldn’t have fit any better, marking a crossroads in our lives with their free-as-the-wind sound that will now accompany new journeys." [label info]
rekemrecords.tumblr.com
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| NILSEN, BJ [BJ NILSEN] |
Terroir |
mCD |
All source material recorded in Krems, Langenlois, Kalvarienberg at Schönberg am Kamp at, April - September 2016.
Recordings made of the terroir, harvest and fermentation during vinification. Original four channel version presented at the opening of Drahtsicht, an outdoor sculpture by Günter
Wolfsberger, 9 October 2016.
|
2017 |
€7.50 |
|
|
Massif Trophies |
LP |
BJNilsen is a composer and sound artist based in Amsterdam. His work primarily focuses on the sounds of nature and how they affect humans. Recent work has explored the urban acoustic realm and industrial geography in the Arctic region of Norway and Russia. His original scores and soundtracks have been featured in theater, dance performances, and film. Celebrating 27 years as a recording artist, Massif Trophies is his first solo release for Editions Mego. In 2015, he set off on a month-long hiking trip in Gran Paradiso to explore the acoustic environments in the alpine landscape. Drawn to the monotonous and physical effort that mountains and high altitudes contribute, this became one of the main inspirations for Massif Trophies, reflecting upon the perception of the landscape during several hours of physical difficulty, let alone rapid weather changes, horizontal thunderstorms, and rock avalanches. Massif Trophies is also about the scope of details and perception of the path and the myth of the mountain as the accursed or sacred place. The five pieces contain narratives based on experiences and recordings from the trip. All source material recorded in Gran Paradiso, July 2015; Engineered at Odd Phasing and Echoes, Amsterdam NL; Photography by BJNilsen. Includes download card. |
2017 |
€16.50 |
|
| |
Focus Intensity Power |
LP |
For his inaugural LP for Moving Furniture Records the Amsterdam based Swedish sound artist BJ Nilsen turns his intense aural focus and compelling narrative power away from his well-known and much lauded predilection for field recordings of organic nature or the urban built environment. The five pieces presented on this record capture Nilsen during a short residency he did in the Fall of 2017 at Willem Twee Electronic Music Studio in Den Bosch, The Netherlands – five documents these are of improvised sessions using modular synthesizers, tone generators and test and measurement instruments.
Nilsen, ever the exploratory sound experimenter, de facto exchanged his wax rain coat for the white laboratory mantle. On Focus Intensity Power he lets the machines rule supreme. Although BJ says there's no underlying major concept to the record, the quintet of recordings is tied together to form a sturdy sonic package, tied with a red thread of analog pulse, droning waves and subtle and surprising noise interventions. Washes of natural wind or condensed bustle of London traffic as we have come to know and highly appreciate from his previous works have found their machine-counterparts in sessions that retain the flâneur's touch of slowly moving, roaming open ears with keen interest in texture and timbre. And at the same time these indoor improvisations yield a tremendous poetic freedom for both artist and listener; boundless walking through layers of pure sound – freed from time and place and space.
Sven Schlijper-Karssenberg, July 2018
credits
released August 24, 2018
Music by BJNilsen recorded at Toonzaal, 's-Hertogenbosch, NL. engineerd at Odd Phasting and Echoes, Amsterdam, NL.
Mastered by Jos Smolders at EARLabs.
Published by Touch Fairwood Music.
Artwork by Zeno van den Broek.
https://movingfurniturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/focus-intensity-power
"From his first dark ambient project Morthound which had releases on Cold Meat Industry during the early 1990s, BJNilsen moved over to the Hazard moniker in the late 1990s, and from around 2004 onwards opted to record under his own name. Generally speaking, over the last 15 years BJ’s approach has been characterized by an experimental approach to sonically processing various natural and urban-based field recordings. However with Focus Intensity Power being the solo new album, it marks a decided shift away from the use of field recordings as it is a purely studio-based album, which according to the promo notes provides: ‘documents of improvised sessions using modular synthesizers, tone generators and test and measurement instruments’. Sonically this album has greater alignment with early Hazard albums than recent solo output and is certainly welcomed from these quarters. The 15-minute album opener Beam Finder is an elongated exploration of minimalist unceasing mid to lower range bass tones, coupled with micro-tonal static and machine idling drones which appear late in the track. This approach continues with The Sound Of Two Hands, although this is slightly more forceful and varied with the introduction of a ‘ticking clock’ element and other minimalist scattered electronics. The relatively short Flattened Space embodies a muted sub-orchestral tone blended with mechanical menace, while Table of Hours fits cleanly within a dark ambient drone frame of reference. The final of the five tracks, The Limits of Function, starts slow but gradually elevates with layered machine drones, and the second half of the track is driven forwards by a central rhythmic loop. In essence Focus Intensity Power is an effective celebration of sustained tonal atmospheres, which amounts to evocative sounds in their purest form. Sublime." [Noise Receptor] |
2018 |
€16.50 |
|
| NILSEN, BJ & STILLUPPSTEYPA |
Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna |
CD |
Zweite Zusammenarbeit der Skandinavier, und wieder wird eine geheimnisvolle, einsame & endlose Soundwelt erschaffen, die seltsam entrückt wie frühe WERKBUND-Sachen auf uns wirkt....
Wie DEUTSCH NEPAL oder KARJALAN SISSIT scheinen auch der ex- HAZARD- (und die Isländer von STILLUPPSTEYPA sowieso) eine geradezu obsessives Verhältnis zum Alkohol zu besitzen, die in diese Aufnahmen mit eingeflossen ist; wie der lange Absturz nach der rauschvollen Ekstase, surreal halluzinierend und beklemmend...
"In Scandinavia, it's not uncommon to hear of someone's mother, grandfather, uncle, or plumber who drank him-or-herself to death at an early age; and the Swedish drone artist BJ Nilsen has felt the alcoholic pangs which may foreshadow his own demise. In recent years, Nilsen has turned to his Icelandic neighbors Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson and Helgi Thorsson (collectively known as Stilluppsteypa) in existential sympathy over the problems of their collective lust for alcohol. Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna marks the second collaborative document of abject minimalism that these three have composed; and like its predecessor Vikinga Brennivin, this album is spiked with drunken thought. Any alcohol induced euphoria has been tempered by perturbing blackouts, moments of cruelty, and an all-consuming nihilism. Beyond their shared Scandinavian heritage, their expressionist urge for the frigid drone, and their penchant for drink, BJ Nilsen and Stilluppsteypa intend this recording as an open ended experience, wandering through their sound without the burden of any exegetical text that may get in the way.
Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna resolves itself as a grim kaleidoscope, where the bleakness of the wintry Scandinavian landscape and the langour of a drunken escapade constantly mutate through the highly refined sensibility of dronescaping. Sonar pings announce the beginning of this album, with its echoes returning as an amorphous fog and locating little but a gloomy pall upon the event horizon. Clattering electronics scurry across the barren sounds like death-watch beetles upon the tundra; and creaking doors offer something much more foreboding than what Pierre Henry envisioned for musique concrete. Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna adheres to the psychological dis-quiet through sound design that Alan Splet provided for Eraserhead or that Nurse With Wound achieved on Salt Marie Celeste. Yet for all of their tendencies for brooding and desolation, BJ Nilsen & Stilluppsteypa retain a compulsion for a glacial beauty through their intoxicated visions of the sublime.... " [label info]
"...On the same Helen Scarsdale Agency label the second collaboration between B.J. Nilsen and Stillupsteypa. One perhaps wondered if the latter were still around, because the last thing we heard was the previous work with Nilsen (see Vital Weekly 460) and again alcohol abuse in the Scandinavian territory is the main theme here. It's a firm continuation of the previous album. Using also field recordings this is much along similar lines of the Jim Haynes album and far away from the last thing we heard from Stillupsteypa (which was close to being a disco band). A winter landscape, frozen roads, empty swirling through a desolate country is what is on this album. They captured the stale wind and put it to music. If the term Isolationist music hadn't been invented before, it should be done for this album. Droning landscapes, quietly humming, and even at times using a faint trace of a melody, such as in 'Undir Ahrifum/Sunderlaus' (all credits are in Swedish and Icelandic - two entirely different languages) with something that might very well a guitar. And sometimes it seems nothing is happening at all, such a breeze, such as in 'Supbröder/Drykkjufelagar', humming quietly. This album is a great one, excellently produced, but perhaps not holding something that is entirely new to the world of electronic music, but rather carries on a tradition, which sometimes is fair enough." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"For a country whose entire population is only half that of San Francisco, Iceland has an exceptionally prolific arts community. One could easily look to the big Icelandic names in pop music (i.e. Bjork and Sigur Ros); but there's also slightly lesser known (but even more adventurous) music from the likes of Johann Johannson, Apparat Organ Quartet, and the entire output of the Kitchen Motors institution. But our personal favorite from Iceland remains Stilluppsteypa, whose dada drunkenness and black humor has developed arctic undercurrents to their increasingly bleak drone-based work. On Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna, the Stilluppsteypa duo of Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson and Helgi Thorsson have hooked up once again with the Swedish sound artist BJ Nilsen, perhaps best known for his triumphant elemental drone work as Hazard released through Touch. Sigmarsson sums up the communal idea behind this album as a "love for drones, Scandinavia, and alcohol." Of course, he then proceeds to type a polysyllabic onomatopoetic bunch of drunken text that makes our extend-o-spelling of doom seem trite by comparison.
The previous collaboration Vikinga Brennivin was an homage to the Icelandic firewater of the same name; yet it held a clarity and singlemindedness rarely attributed to alcoholic excess. Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna has that same contradictory dualism of conceptually relating to being fucked up without totally losing a grip on reality. Or perhaps these three Scandinavians have gotten so loaded that they drifted into a parallel universe of liquid physics and amorphous gravity. Needless to say, Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna is another masterful album of alchemical drone, that's even darker and more morose than its predecessor. Sonar pulses and crackles of wood break up the jet-black atmospheres of frozen electronic drones, resonant frequencies, and hallucinatory echoes rippling way out on the outer regions of the event horizon for this sonic black hole. At times falling close to the constant spiralling of Nurse With Wound's Salt Marie Celeste, and times recalling the best isolationism of Thomas Köner. Somber, magnificent, and exquisitely constructed!" [Aquarius Records] |
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Vikinga Brennivin |
CD |
"Nordische Drone-Collaboration von BENNY NILSEN (ex HAZARD, MORTHOUND) und STILLUPPSTEYPA: 5 Stücke, durchdrungen von schwelenden, geheimnisvollen Drones und etwas konkreteren Soundabdrücken, sehr spannend, hypnotisierend, betäubend..... „schöne Klaustrophobie“ meint Frans de Waard.......
“...Focusing the perception of natural sounds through a reconstruction of time and space, Nilsen has rendered the commonplace sounds of wind, rain, and snow as stealthfully seductive and quietly menacing drifts of frozen sound. Their resultant collaboration is an existentialist allegory in which the three drunkenly stumble out in a Scandinavian winter night and spiral toward the inevitable point in which they blackout. Lest this be construed as a derelict piece of method acting, the craft that Nilsen, Sigmarsson, and Thorsson brought to Vikinga Brennivin is impeccable, as the extended soundfields breath with the majesty of distant fog horns and sparkle with the delicate light of countless stars cast down from the black heavens onto the frozen tundra below. Frightening and barren, yet hauntingly compelling, Vikinga Brennivin is an isolationist masterpiece....” [from the label info]
www.helenscarsdale.com
“Drinkers out there: pay attention, because our favourite drunks are here and they celebrate their favourite drink: brennivin. Never heard of? No problem. It's an Icelandic liquor made of potato and flavored with cumin, which burns down your throat - and I know: the only two
times I was really sick of alcohol in the last 10 years was of brennivin. The first time I got this poison served was at Stillupsteypa's house - no wonder, they are from Iceland and like everybody from there they drink. A lot. An insane lot. These days Stilluppsteypa is Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson and Helgi Thorsson and they team up with BJ Nilsen - our man in Sweden (and known from Touch releases, more than his drinking habits, at least here). Of course it's hard to tell wether one would think of the booze if it didn't have that title, nor is it easy to relate the music to the drink. The five lengthy pieces here all deal with a hermetically closed sound. Processings of field recordings perhaps, but no longer recognizable
as such. Some ten or so years ago, someone invented the term 'isolationism' for this kind of music, but basically it was what everyone else called 'ambient industrial', but somehow 'isolationism' sounded better. It's certainly an appropiate term for this CD. It's either music you hear when you try to make it home after a night of heavy brennivin intake and if that didn't do the trick it's music you hear in your head when you wake up. It's almost claustrophobic music, but beautiful claustrophobia. Lovers of Nilsen's other work, or Thomas Köner's old work, should keep an eye open for a CD packed in copper-plates inside a jewel case.” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"The cold winter nights stuck above the Arctic Circle have become the perfect climate for extended bouts of intoxication for many a Scandinavian. As a result, the capacity for the Icelandic duo Stilluppsteypa to consume alcohol is the stuff of legend. Alcohol has soaked into every fiber of their being; but its manifestation in their music (and their personalities for that matter) is closer to the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde allegory, as a raging alcoholic squirms just beneath the surface of a stoic Scandinavian temperment. Of course, where these two personalities come into conflict is where the art of Stilluppsteypa is realized. A schizoid tension runs throughout Stilluppsteypa's impressive catalogue of terminal drones, sputtered rhythms, and atomic fractures; and often this tension is dished out with a smug dollop of black humour and Dadaist absurdity. So, it's hardly unusual to come across Stilluppsteypa celebrating Vikinga Brennivin, the stringent Icelandic alcohol that has undoubtably killed some of their collective brain cells. Yet it was the stoic BJ Nilsen -- the Swedish electron wrangler whose best known for his work as Hazard -- who invited Stilluppsteypa to collaborate on Vikinga Brennivin. Their resultant collaboration is an existentialist allegory in which the three drunkenly stumble out in a Scandinavian winter night and spiral toward the inevitable point in which they blackout. Lest this be construed as a derelict piece of method acting, the craft that Nilsen and Stilluppsteypa brought to Vikinga Brennivin is impeccable, as the extended dronescapes breath with the majesty of distant fog horns and sparkle with the delicate light of countless stars cast down from the black heavens onto the frozen tundra below. Frightening and barren, yet hauntingly compelling, Vikinga Brennivin is an isolationist masterpiece." [Aquarius Records]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Passing Out |
CD |
Dritter Teil der nordischen "Drone & Alkohol-Intoxikation"-Trilogie, die den Zustand des Wegtretens zwischen Wachheit und Dämmerzustand klanglich adäquat wiederspiegelt; im tiefen Drone-Morast erscheinen Traumbilder, -gedanken & akustische Sequenzen der Realität auf. In paradoxer Weise ist man dann in der Lage, sowohl unbewusste wie bewusste Geistes-Inhalte zur gleichen Zeit wahrzunehmen...(sagen die Erzeuger dieses Albums). PASSING OUT ist ein One-Tracker von fast 70 Minuten, tiefgrummelnd-bassig und sonor und von mysteriösen, atmend-ächzenden Sounds durchzogen....
"The first chapter found the drink. The second came after a night of intoxicated shouting. The third chapter is inevitable: Passing Out.
The Nordic sound artists BJ Nilsen & Stilluppsteypa have authored the last component to a trilogy of isolationist compositions for barren field recordings and lumbering electric drones, thematically linked in the psychotropic effects of alcohol. In doing so, they have issued a brief statement in defense of their research: "It's been four years and three studies, Passing Out being the final. Even in its most general, colloquial usage, Passing Out indicates the occurrence of a state that is incompatible with active behavior. It is possible that the individual could experience both consciousness and unconsciousness at the same time while encountering Passing Out."
Yes, Passing Out is a crepuscular recording, with the flickering of twilight further dimmed by the distant Arctic sun in wintertime and the blackened numbness of too much drink. With one singular track that spans 60 minutes, a nearly constant thrum and rumble of monochromatic low frequencies casts a grim pall upon the precisely dialed-in modulations and vibrations. Spectral guitars, maudlin tunes from haunted radios, angrily growling voices, and field recordings of wind-whipped snow and ice bury themselves deep amidst these subharmonic drones. All of these tease at the edge of perception, sculpting the narrative of the drone into a vehicle for unhinged expressionism of varying degrees of horror, melancholy, beauty, and oblivion.
The Swedish born BJ Nilsen defines his work as "focused upon the sound of nature and its effects on humans, and the perception of time and space as experienced through sound." He has numerous recordings on Touch and has collaborated with the likes of Chris Watson, Christian Fennesz, and Z'ev. The Icelandic citizens Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson and Helgi Thorsson are Stilluppsteypa, whose electronic abstractions engage absurd theatrics that mar the pristine surface of minimalism..." [label info]
"....The complete and total isolation of the music, the long passages of seemingly no action (there is just one piece, clocking it at 68 minutes), with then a sudden break, a melody filters in, the radio starts humming and field recordings - that backbone of so much in Vital Weekly and certainly here - make this an album of not just pure drones or just processed field recordings, but the strange elements thrown in, give this album a stranger, almost alien feel to it. If it's the equivalent of passing out is a bit hard to say: the act of passing out on alcohol prevents you from remembering anything. This is however their best album to date and makes a strong trilogy." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"...Deep resonant vibrations abound, with some creepy breathing in your ear whisperings that may be those Leif Elggren vocals that Benny
was talking about. Gradually, all of these deep drones and shadowy overtures glide into a slumbering descent. But the Icelandic weirdoes
in Stilluppsteypa couldn't just let the album drift away without their absurdism forcing through the door, as they blurt with a clinical repetition of blooping electronics smashed and grabbed from Raymond Scott circa Manhattan Research. It's an unsettling climax to the album, but one that works brilliantly through Stilluppsteypa's expert use of electro-acoustic black humor. But it's drone that dominates the album, as angelic wash and devilish rumble collude to end this magnificent album. Oblivion never sounded so good. Passing Out is beautifully packaged with letterpressed and silkscreened artwork. Very nice." [Aquarius Records review]
www.helenscarsdale.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| NIMH |
Line of Fire |
CD-R |
“ Gloom, heavy electronic textures, over which islamic voices and environmental depiction of a war zone entwine. Sounds like being there in a nightmare, definitely. Static, suspended, a feeling of hopelessness and human suffering all over, pernicious, persistent. Scarcely noted, high quality colour printed sleeve, that seems to invite you to drown in the listening experience - and come out transformed.”[G.Ippoliti] |
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Travel Diary |
CD |
"Finally collected on a single CD, and released in a completely re-edited and re-mastered version enriched with new sounds and parts, Silentes present all the music created by Giuseppe Verticchio/Nimh during 2001/2002 using ethnic instruments only, in a total “unconventional” way, with the addiction of treated/processed field recordings. A real challenge beyond every stylistic and “geographical” border; an original and evocative dark-shaded ethnic-electronic-ritual music, born from the “voice” of ancient and often unknown traditional ethnic instruments mostly collected in the Far East, without using synthesizers and any other electronic/synthetic source at all. An absolutely original “Travel Diary, unpredictable and unrepeatable…" [label info]
www.silentes.net
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Iron and Ice |
CD |
st.an.da.2244
CD ltd. 200 copies in 6-panel digisleeve
Nimh
Iron and Ice
After a good six years from Nimh's last solo CD of previously unreleased material (Circles of the Vain Prayers), and two years after his previous collaborative CD (Post-Folk Lore Vol.1), Giuseppe Verticchio is back, walking again on those same electronic paths strongly imbued with ethnic ritual suggestions and sonorities. The sound of string and wind instruments, metals and percussion instruments coming mainly from South-East Asian countries, combined with refined electronic textures, voices, field recordings and obscure environmental substrates, describes an adventurous and multicoloured intercontinental journey, crossing geographical and stylistic borders, taking the long rigorous experimental research undertaken by the well-known Italian artist since more than twenty years ago even further.
store.silentes.it/catalogue/standa2244.htm |
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| NIMH & ANTIKATECHON |
Out Hunting for Teeth |
CD |
"I've got an email from Giuseppe with exciting information, that he recorded together with Antikatechon 49 minutes of sound. It was very intriguing. I haven't heard the music, but my imagination already started. What can we get from fusion of NIMH and Antikatechon? How does it sounds? Who has left the stronger imprint on this album? Is it compact or rather splitted into two different parts? Such questions absorbed my mind. Of course I will not answer now for all the questions, but this what I have listen have been successful beyond my dreams. Both acts are well known and critically acclaimed, and the union of musical sensivities of NIMH and Antikatechon made the album, which..." [label info]
rageineden.org
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| NIMH & RAPOON |
Post-Folk Lore Vol. 1 |
CD |
"Two highly respected and prolific artists join forces for this collaborative release on our Winter-Light label.
Nimh (Giuseppe Verticchio) & Rapoon (Robin Storey) recording together for the very first time, combining both of their key musical elements and forging something very new and different in the process.
'Post-Folk Lore Vol.1' is comprised of 4 long pieces created through shared recording sessions between their respective UK and Italian studios. Using traditional instruments, alongside sampled elements and synthesised sounds, Rapoon and Nimh open the door to this newly created Post-Folk space."
https://winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/post-folk-lore-vol-1
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| NLC / EISENLAGER / OCCUPIED HEAD / WILFRIED HANRATH |
Thing |
CD-R |
In 2022, attenuation circuit starts a new series of four-way split albums called THING. The aim is to provide a medium for exchange and presentation of a great variety of artists. As each artist spreads the copies to their network, listeners also get to know the other artists featured on the same disc. The title references the fact that the CDs are physical objects – things! – but also refers to the 'thing' or 'ding' in old Norse and other Germanic languages, which designates the place of a popular assembly or the assembly itself and thus alludes to the 'meeting-place' character of the albums on (or around) which the four artists and their audiences meet, if only virtually.
With the second instalment of the THING series, attenuation circuit presents four artists that offer their various, but always rather deep and spacious takes on ambient. EISENLAGER have previously released download albums on attenuation circuit; both Occupied Head and Wilfried Hanrath have released on the label and were also featured live at attenuation circuit's “re:flexions sound-art” festival. In addition to these three German-based artists, Nouvelles Lectures Cosmopolites from France make their first appearance on the label with their contribution to this compilation. A continuous presence in the international experimental music underground for decades, Julien ASH of NLC first inspired label head Sascha Stadlmeier to open attenuation circuit – up until then only a release platform for his own music – to other artists in 2010. Therefore, attenuation circuit is very happy to welcome Nouvelles Lectures Cosmopolites to the label roster with this new track in their new duo line-up of Julien ASH and Alois L., which started in 2021 after NLC had stopped their activity for more than a decade.
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/thing-2 |
2022 |
€8.00 |
|
| NNHMN |
Deception Island |
CD |
NNHMN returns to Zoharum with "Deception Island" a compilation CD of tracks taken from vinyl EP-s titled Deception Island Part 1 and 2 respectively, released by Spanish Oráculo Records.
As expected, the duo of Lee and Michal Laudarg deliver hell of a ride. Dark Wave, Synth Pop, EBM, New Romantic, Dark Disco - you name it. Spirit of '80s nostalgia is strong in this music. It's hard to listen to this without nodding your head or moving your hands and feet. Deception Island is very propulsive. From the first synths of "In Darkness" to the last beats of "Nachtgang" NNHMN keeps you enslaved on the dancefloor.
The track order has been slightly rearranged so the compilation has a more album feel and makes you find yourself listening to it for the third time in a row moving and watching the stars. You just don't want it to stop.
Restless dance of the night endless.
CD edition of 300 copies comes in "silk" digipack.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/deception-island-full-length-album
"The Berliner based Polish duo of NNHMN last year released two EPs entitled “Deception Island 1” and “Deception Island 2” on Oráculo Records. Zoharum this year released both EPs together as an album featuring the ten original songs.
Content: NNHMN is a band I personally consider as one of the greatest revelations from the past few years; Minimal-Electro-Wave music, which is clearly reminding me of the sterile- and cold atmospheres of the 80s. The whispering and totally emotionless way of singing of Lee creates an icy, sensual touch while Michal’s sound production creates a kind of dark-cellar dancefloor sensation.
+ + + : If there’s one band that awakens my curiosity on each new work it for sure is NNHMN (Non Human). They aren’t setting the world alight, but creates a fascinating vintage exposure with a true Minimalistic approach. The typical melodic strings, dry snares and icy sequences are reminding me of the 80s. I think it’s a real good thing both EP’s have been assembled as a full length album and there are some brilliant songs on it like “Deception Island”, “Education Lost”, “In Darkness”, “Nachtgang” and “Robot Woman”.
– – – : This album is a kind of compilation so if you already know both “Deception Island”-EPs you’ll be not surprised.
Conclusion: I remain totally addicted to the impressive Minimalism of this Berlin based duo; this is how Electro-underground music has to sound!" [Side-Line] |
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| NO XIVIC |
I do blame you |
mCD-R |
Noisiger & apokalyptisch wummernder als auf der Drone 7”, tönt es bei diesem One-Tracker des finnischen Projekts. Metallische Sirenen & knisternde Lava-Massen von Sound in diesem
Gänsehaut-Drone-Sumpf ! Ein einziges Knirschen, Dehnen & Ächzen. Grosses Hörkino !
“no Xivic is Henkka Kyllönen, a finnish artist you may have discovered thanks to his untitled 7" released last year by Drone Records, described by the label as "underground 'dronish' experimental sounds, based on long & moving metallic drones mixed with higher, near-distorted frequencies and low rumblings. this results in pure & elegant floating dronescapes that never stands still, giving you nothing to fix upon from your completely immersed mind.". "i do blame you" might be harsher & noisier than this previous piece of vinyl. here, no Xivic proposes us a near 24min long track, perfect blend of noise and dark ambience, piercing frequencies and rumbling drones. "try this in supermarket or some place filled with people ! (works everytime)" [label info]
|
2004 |
€5.00 |
|
|
Uneksija |
CD |
Nach der tollen 7” auf Drone und einigen CDRs hier das erste CD-Album für das finnische dark ambient / minimal drone Projekt...
“Excellent debut full length album from this Finnish artist, presenting a very challenging work ranging from surreal minimalism to deep dark ambient and post-industrial elements. Long pieces introducing a wide selection of sounds and styles, from bleak pianos to haunting soundscapes and infinite drones; also used scarcely yet effectively are human voices. Beautiful full colour carton digisleeve.” [label info]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
same 7 (SOLD OUT) |
7" |
Drei Stücke von einem neuen finnischen Projekt, der sich hier in metallisch klingenden Drone-Sphären mit magischer Anziehungskraft verliert..
“ DRONE Records is proud to present NO XIVIC, a newcomer from the growing Finnish drone era. His very first release consists of underground ‘dronish’ experimental sounds. The three pieces on this EP are based on long & moving metallic drones (as if coming from BERTOIA) mixed with higher, near-distorted frequencies and low rumblings. This results in pure & elegant floating dronescapes that never stands still, giving you nothing to fix upon from your completely immersed mind. An atmosphere which is as much haunting as it its otherworldly. These three Finnish titles: ‘Rauhattomuus’ , ‘Kemikaaleja’ and ‘Sieni’ translate as ‘Restlessness’ , ‘Chemicals’ and ‘Mushrooms’. These tracks are pointing to an inherent tension and have a brilliant intoxicating quality to them.
Filed under: hallucinogenic drones CLEAR VINYL. WHITE COVERS WITH HANDPAINTED 3-DIMENSIONAL GEOMETRIC FORM / DESIGN ON BOTH SIDES.” [press release]
|
2003 |
€7.00 |
|
| NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS |
Stoneface |
LP |
Accumulation and assembly in the Derbyshire Dales in the Caroline K studios.
Digital mastery achieved in Silver Octopus studios Buxton, Derbyshire, England, 29th July 1989.
Mastering : Paul Lavigne March 2023
Layout : Pole Ka
Dedicated to the new active listener.
https://fernsrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/stoneface
Nigel Ayers’ most accessible emission? The glut of his ‘band’s prolific history has generally been a full-scale assault upon the senses, via either dingy slabs of noise or near-pretty industrial musique concrete. Stoneface operates on many levels, a set of gruelling, scraping, yet strangely attractive organic sounds that reveal numerously coloured layers with successive listens.
Recorded in 1988, these sonic morsels play with near-baroque tendencies, devolved factory rhythms, spiritual solemnity and lucid minimalism, sometimes gripping, sometimes forgettable, but never uninvolving. And, as has been the case with the recent wealth of Emissions releases, it’s best to observe Stoneface’s sacred experiments in one complete sitting, where Ayers can effectively work his art on you with your complete, undivided and willing immersion.
Darren Bergstein
I/E
"The 1980s were particularly fruitful for The Nocturnal Emissions, later dropping 'the'. Starting in the early second wave of industrial music, they quickly began experimenting with different styles. Electronic pop, for lack of a better or the industrial electro breakbeats of 'Viral Shedding' (a personal favourite of mine) and then,
for a somewhat more extended period, coming ambient soundscapes with the residue of industrial cling clang. Around this time, 1986, the group, now effectively a solo project of Nigel Ayers (and in 2023 still going strong), the interest in magick, stone circles, techno–shamanism, neo-paganism, animism and Fortean research (I am quoting Wiki here) was added to the situationist interests. 'Stoneface' is from 1989, when the style was developed at its best, and the Emissions did some of their best work in this direction (along with 'Spiritflesh' and 'Invocation Of The Beast Gods'). However, it's all a bit in the no-longer-distant past. I wish I could say I play all of these records once a year; I don't, although 'Viral Shedding' is on my phone, so those tracks I hear on every random play the thing is on.
As I played these nine pieces, I realized that what attracted me at the time and still does is the relatively straightforward approach to technology. I remember seeing Nocturnal Emissions a couple of times in those years. If I'm not mistaken, there were a couple of those early sampling devices, the Casio SK1 or SK5, with a 1,2 (or so) second memory, but when played through a bunch of stomp boxes, you could do a lot with relatively easy sounds. I always suspected Ayers to have altered his machines, but I am unsure. His sound palette includes animal sounds, kitchen utensils, voices, and whatever makes noise. I guess Ayers had access to some decent multi-track machine, and using many tracks gives these lo-fi samples some great depth. There are some great drones, some rusty percussion, some good use of reverb and excellent quality around here. Some phase shifting (play similar loops with minor intervals, so they never overlap in the same way) is used to significant effect here so that most of the time, you have no idea you hear
only short loops. Yet, there is always movement, thanks to those very same loops being brief and to the point. An excellent record that has aged quite well and is a fine reminder to play some of the old ones again. Time is what I want, more time! [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€21.00 |
|
| NOETINGER, JEROME & LIONEL FERNANDEZ |
Outer Blanc |
LP |
Highly electrified guitar, anamorphosed, perforated, and tainted by all sorts of effects, implodes its rage and its urgency in the magnetic nets of a tape recorder as cannibal as it is destructive. From various recordings Lionel Fernandez & Jérôme Noetinger have created and produced these ten pieces: big, biting, dangerous and acerbic – like the intoxicated meeting of a chainsaw and a microphone. Real garage music: grease, gutted car bodies and outdated alternators, like a soundtrack ripped from an unreleased Tobe Hooper film.
Lionel Fernandez and Jérôme Noetinger: a musical encounter between two important and uncompromising figures in contemporary experimental music in France. This duo emerged during an evening of the label Premier Sang programmed at Instants Chavirés (Montreuil) in the 2010s… A few years and a few furious concerts later and it is now on the Sonoris label that they are releasing their first record.
Guitarist of the pioneering french free noise/no wave band Sister Iodine, Lionel Fernandez uses an out of norm practice of the electric guitar in a group or as solo playing, “a guitar used as a flame thrower thrashed and fiercely held up as machette totem, he chops through darkness with unsane anti-riffs and carved blocs of dirty sounds, where gargle in slow combustion gangreened micro-textures » (Le Non_Jazz)
He also plays in other deviant combos such as Antilles, Cobra Matal, Ibiza Death, Haine, Porsche, Discom, Minitel, Mauser M etc and has collaborated either live or on records with Masaya Nakahara, Meyna’ch/Mütiilation, Andy Bolus/Evil Moisture, Stephen Bessac/Kickback, Hendrik Hegray, Tujiko Noriko etc..
Jérôme Noetinger is a composer, improviser and sound artist who works with electroacoustic devices such as the Revox B77 reel-to-reel tape recorder and magnetic tape, analogue synthesisers, mixing desks, speakers, microphones, various electronic household/everyday objects and home-made electronica.
From 1987 to 2018, he was the director of Metamkine, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the distribution of improvised and electroacoustic music. Between 1987 and 2014 Jérôme was a member of the editorial committee of the quarterly journal of contemporary sound, poetry and performance, Revue & Corrigée. For ten years from 1989, he was a member and programming co-ordinator of exhibitions, gigs, and experimental cinema at le 102 rue d’Alembert, Grenoble.
_
Lionel Fernandez, guitar, electronics
Jérôme Noetinger, Revox B77, electronics
10 tracks, 42 minutes, master by Fred Alstadt at Studio Angström
##################################
"Une guitare hautement électrifiée, anamorphosée, trouée, et salie par toutes sortes d'effets, implose sa rage dans les filets magnétiques d'un magnétophone à bandes, cannibale et destructeur. A partir de divers enregistrements et de pistes rapportées, Lionel Fernandez & Jérôme Noetinger ont créé et produit ces 10 pièces grasses et acides, moites et caverneuses, sorte de rencontre intoxiquée entre une tronçonneuse et un micro. Une vraie musique de garage, entre cambouis, carrosserie éventrée et alternateur périmé, comme la bande-son arrachée d'un film inédit de Tobe Hooper."
credits
released September 9, 2021
Jérôme Noetinger, magnétophone à bande Revox B77, électroniques.
Lionel Fernandez, guitare, électroniques.
Enregistré aux Instants Chavirés par Benjamin Pagier, à Paris à Blckout Studio, et Rives
Masterisé par Frederic Alstadt à Studio Angström
Artwork par Unglee Izi
Sonoris 2021
https://sisteriodine.bandcamp.com/album/outer-blanc-2
|
2021 |
€18.00 |
|
| NOGRAY, FREDERIC |
Nelki |
CD |
"Der Pariser Klangdesigner FRÉDÉRIC NOGRAY, bisher bekannt durch minimalistische Elektronik (Panotii, N-REC, 2003), die er auch einsetzte als Schallfolie für die bildende Künstlerin Laëtitia Bourget (Optical Sound, 2003), gibt sich mit Nelki (prl004) ganz der Faszination
durch die reinen Schwingungen von Kristall-Klangschalen hin. Auch wenn er deren dröhnendes Om von tibetanischen Klöstern in normannische Kirchen versetzt, wo es in kreisenden Sinuswellenschwingungen sich himmelwärts schraubt, feiert ihr sublimes Wummern, das Luft und Stein und Fleisch durchbebt, zuerst einmal nichts als das Dröhnen selbst. Dass die Schalen von Teelichten im Innern orange leuchten, verstärkt gleichzeitig mit dem meditativen den feierlichen Aspekt, der mit kunstreligiöser Aura eine frei schwebende Spiritualität zelebriert. Das brahmanisch-zen-buddhistisch getönte Sehnen nach universaler Harmonie hat zwar zur Zeit mit dem Dalai Lama eine Pop-Ikone, aber bei Nogray schwingen eher kristall- und musiktherapeuthische Unter- und Obertöne mit, die Entspannung, Loslassen und Dämmerschlaf versprechen." [Bad Alchemy]
"Music for crystal singing bowls.
Frédéric Nogray diverts his rock crystal crucibles from their usual function in the silicon industry to generate an ample and tactile music, a music that succeeds as much in making the listener's intellect wander as it does in moving the material itself. Although entirely acoustic, this music is powerful, the different-sized bowls being generators of distinct waves operating in the range of frequencies from infra- to ultrasonic. Because of their superimposition and the acoustics of the space they are in, chimeras or interferences are born. A musical event partaking simultaneously in the creation of perception and corporal experience. Recorded by Eric Cordier decembre 2007 in churches Normandy, France." [label info]
http://www.prelerecords.net/prl004/prl004.htm
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Wuritagu |
mCDR |
"french composer, frédéric nogray pays a particular attention on sounds in their intrinsic qualities and for what they are: vibratory phenomenon. but also for their broadcasting into the listening space, our perceptions on it, and different states of consciousness induced by listening. along his musical works with crystal singing bowls and/or feedbacks, he creates dreamlike sonic compositions from field recordings. his past works were released by various international labels such as kaon or 3leaves.
all sounds used for "wuritagu" were field recorded on the north coast of honduras during may 2012, in and around la ensenada and triunfo de la cruz. wuritagu, el lago negro is a lake between these two garifuna villages. surrounding the lake there are mangroves. at one end the lake is separated from the caribbean sea by a beach. at the other end, a small road connects the two villages. all sounds were recorded at different moments of the day and at night.
"wuritagu" is a powerful field recording-based composition where you can feel the raw energy of the jungle…" [label info]
www.taalem.com
"Of course everybody - me at least - is wondering what Taalem will do next. When Drone Records released their 99th 7" single they stopped. With these new releases on Taalem we also reach number 99 - Frederic Nogray does the honours and here we start. We know his music from releases on Kaon and he seems to be someone whose interest lies in the use of field recordings. Here he uses sounds recorded at the north coast of Honduras in May 2012 close to a lake of the same title. This twenty-one minute work is made from various recorded during various times of day and night. I assume these recordings were layered together as it's all quite full with sound. The lower end of the seashore sounds colliding with the high-end singing of insects makes a particular scary move, I thought, especially if, at one later point, planes or helicopters are part of it. It's all, in general, a bit louder than is usual, a bit cruder and with the constant pressing force of water sounds something you could easily drown in." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€5.00 |
|
| NOISE DREAMS MACHINA |
IN / OUT (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
Für OSCAR MARTIN aka NOISEDREAMSMACHINA eröffnen sich durch digitales Soundprocessing von Umwelt- und Objektaufnahmen neue Wege, die peripheren Zonen von Klang zu erkunden. Seine kraftvoll geräuschhafte 7" für Drone Records verbindet Elektro-Akustik und Power-Drone in beeindruckender Weise.
"NOISE DREAMS MACHINA is the project of Spanish artist OSCAR MARTIN. Now living & studying in Berlin & Barcelona, he is currently exploring the possibilities of homemade software with free tools for sound deconstrucion and realtime performance.
IN & OUT is his first vinyl release and uses a wide range of environmental recordings which are processed digitally in more "electro-acoustic" ways. This leads to a balance between "Drone" and "Electro-Acoustic" where the acoustic potential of conventional reality is enlarged via digital processing. In his own words: "It brings attention to the peripheral zones of the sound phenomenon". Through intense mutation & deconstruction of acoustic materials a new or previously hidden meaning can be revealed for the blind spot of our perception.
Filed under: ADVANCED ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC DRONES
more info: www.noisedreamsmachina.blogspot.com
MILKY VINYL, WHITE COVER WITH BLACK SILK-SCREENED PRINT" [press release]
|
2008 |
€7.00 |
|
| NOISE-MAKER'S FIFES |
Intervisage (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
the most impressive newcomer in a while - profound and mysterious dreamscapes full of atmosphere...
first edition
250 copies, orange vinyl,
handmade jute-sleeves with
coloured photo inside!!
released May 1997
second edition
300 copies, black vinyl,
printed sleeves released May 2000
"This group from brussels has grown to one of the leading experimental improvisational outfits of the last few years. often performing live throughout europe (they have just finished
a polish tour), they excite the audience with their complex and overly suspensed noise-works that lack comparison. in a very short period of time, they have released 4 cd's and one 10",
as well as a few tapes on their own label. this first 7" for the group shows them at their most refined ambient/atmospheric level, mysterious and threatening at the same time, with an ever
growing tension. squealing and growling noisescapes for a deep view inside the dark side of your mind! "We think: Intervisage
seems to be a psychological tool to discover the undefined spheres of your mind." [label info]
|
1997 |
€ |
|
| NOIT, HATIS |
Illogical Dance |
LP |
"Japanische Vokalkünstlerin mit ergreifenden Klangskulpturen, die ohne Worte auskommen.
Bislang war "Illogical Dance" exklusiv in Japan erhältlich, im März 2018 erscheint die EP der japanischen Sängerin international und erstmals auch als Vinyl. In vier unvorhersehbaren, geheimnisvollen und wunderschönen Tracks präsentiert Hatis Noit ungekannte, die Geräusche der Natur nachahmende Klangwelten, die ganz ohne Worte auskommen. Für ihre komplexen und komplett improvisierten Skulpturen greift sie auf so unterschiedliche Elemente wie westliche Klassik, japanischen Folk und natürliche Töne zurück. Der immense Stimmumfang von Hatis Noit basiert auf einem vollkommen autodidaktischen Ansatz, der erstaunliche Einflüsse verbindet: Gagaku, der höfische Musikstil Japans, und verschiedene Operntraditionen zählen ebenso dazu wie bulgarische und gregorianische Gesänge oder Pop- und Avantgarde-Sänger. Bemerkenswert: Es ist kein einziges Sample zu hören - selbst wenn es so klingt, als ob herabgefallene Blätter zerdrückt werden, es ist Hatis Noits Stimme, die dieses Geräusch imitiert. Die von Haruhisa Tanaka und Matmos koproduzierten Vokalwelten erinnern an den experimentellen Ansatz Meredith Monks, der mit der ausgefeilten Produktionsweise einer Holly Herndon vereint wird.
Japanese vocal performer Hatis Noit will release her enigmatic EP Illogical Dance via Erased Tapes worldwide on 23rd March 2018. The arresting 4-track record creates unique song-worlds with transcendent vocal interpretations that at once deconstruct and recombine Western Classical, Japanese folk and nature’s own ambience atmosphere. Illogical Dance also features Björk-collaborators Matmos, who were so impressed with Hatis Noit’s recordings, they volunteered to edit the lead track Illogical Lullaby.
Hailing from the distant Shiretoko, a small town in Hokkaido, which is the largest island in north Japan, Hatis Noit’s accomplished range is astonishingly self-taught, inspired by everything she could find from Gagaku — Japanese classical music — and operatic styles, Bulgarian and Gregorian chanting, to avant-garde and pop vocalists. The sounds she created on Illogical Dance, co-produced by Haruhisa Tanaka and Matmos, bring to mind the experimental vocal patterns of Meredith Monk with the attentive production of Holly Herndon.
It was at the age of 16, during a trek in Nepal to the Buddha’s birthplace, when she realised singing was her calling. While staying at a women’s temple in Lumbini, one morning on a walk Hatis Noit heard someone singing. On further investigation it was a female monk singing Buddhist chants, alone. The sound moved her so intensely she was instantly aware of the visceral power of the human voice; a primal and instinctive instrument that connects us to the very essence of humanity, nature and our universe.
The name Hatis Noit itself is taken from Japanese folklore, meaning the stem of the lotus flower. The lotus represents the living world, while its root the spirit world, therefore Hatis Noit is what connects the two. For Hatis Noit, music represents the same netherworld with its ability to move and transport us to the other side; the past, a memory, our subconscious. It is the same for Illogical Dance, a set of transformative songs that taps into our most primal instincts.
“The human voice is our oldest, most primal yet most powerful instrument. I use it to describe nature’s many sounds, a language that isn’t logical. Yet it forms a beautiful conversation that isn’t restricted to words like the human language is. I want my music to remind us of that.”
Wanting to interpret and mimic the sounds Hatis Noit hears in nature, Illogical Dance is as unpredictable, beautiful and mysterious as the world around us. Each track is made up from multi layers of vocals, all improvised and without words, before being carefully pieced together. Astonishingly no samples are used throughout, even the sound of crushing leaves came from Hatis Noit’s own vocal chords. The result is a stunning array of sound sculptures that see her switching between multiple styles with great ease. From the sweet operatics on Illogical Lullaby, the manipulated vocal loops duplicating electronic production on Anagram c.i.y. to the primordial chanting call to arms of Angelus Novus, a 10-minute odyssey that features whispering and leaves crunching, it showcases Hatis Noit’s full range and introduces a truly original artist.
Previously only available in Japan, Illogical Dance will receive a worldwide release on 23rd March 2018 including a first edition on 12” vinyl.
https://hatisnoit.bandcamp.com/album/illogical-dance
|
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| NONO, LUIGI |
20 Jahre Inventionen V : Quando Stanno Mordendo, etc.. |
CD |
Three impressing pieces from NONO which show his highly political engagement, questionning what art & music can do in the face of the apocalypse. His music creates an utopian dislocatedness, full of intensity and power. The longest piece here is "Quando stanno morendo" (37+ min, composed 1982), mainly based on four ethereal female voices. The third piece from 1960 ("Omaggio a Emilio Vedova") is short and shows his early electronic experiments. Great stuff !!
"Eine CD mit drei Konzertmitschnitten von Kompositionen Luigi Nonos beim Berliner Festival "Inventionen.
Die Live-Elektronik, mit der Nono in den frühen 1980er Jahren im Freiburger Experimentalstudio erstmals arbeitet, dient ebenfalls der Entrückung der Musik: Die Musik rückt aus klaren räumlichen und klangfarblichen Zuordnungen heraus. Die beiden Instrumente, Bassflöte und Violoncello, sind durch die elektronische Verarbeitung in ihrer klanglichen Charakteristik kaum noch zu erkennen. Töne und Gesten lassen sich ins scheinbar Unendliche verlängern und im Raum bewegen. Gesamtspieldauer: 52:41
Tracks: * Quando Stanno morendo (diario polacco no. 2) - Konzert 1983 * Canciones a Guiomar - Konzert 1991 * Omaggio a Emilio Vedova - Konzert 1991" [label info / credits]
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Intolleranza 1960 |
CD |
"Intolleranza 1960 is the awakening of human awareness in a man who has rebelled against the demands of neccesity - an emigrant miner - and searches for a reason and a 'human' basis for life. After several experiences of intollerance and domination, he is beginning to rediscover human relations, between himself and others, when he is swept away in a flood with other people. There remains his certainty in 'a time when man will be a help to man'. Symbol? Reportage? Fantasy? All three, in a story of our time." [Luigi Nono]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| NORDERVAL, KRISTIN |
Aural Histories |
CD |
"Kristin Norderval cut her musical teeth touring with Einstein on the Beach in 1992, went on to record works of American composers such as Tania Leon, David Lang, and Anne LeBaron, improvised in the New Circle Five with Pauline Oliveros and Susie Ibarra, and co-founded the electro-acoustic duo Zanana with trombonist Monique Buzzarté. Now she has released a solo CD of her works for voice and laptop.
The composer writes: “Aural Histories is a compilation of works for voice and electronics. None have lyrics, but they all have stories. Some are improvisations recorded in one take with live sampling and audio processing in real-time; others are electronic compositions with varying degrees of vocal improvisation; and still others are through-composed electronic works. Some use the voice alone as sound source, and others contain pre-recorded and processed sounds of machines and electronic equipment, from coffee machines and microwaves to incubators and antique motors.”
Zooming further out, alongside singers and composers including Meredith Monk, Anne LeBaron, Juliana Snapper, and Mendi and Keith Obadike, Norderval’s work fits within […] a contemporary U.S. feminist opera that seeks to denaturalize singing, listening, and sound. This is work that faces rather than masks sound’s dependency on material transduction. Furthermore, it never forgets that sound always sounds in a three-dimensional setting even when played through speakers or headphones, as will be the case with this CD. […] For Kristin Norderval each sound’s specific location in space is a significant compositional parameter. Aural Histories is not a linear sound trajectory; instead it is an invitation to step into any of its ten different scenes. The doors are open to you, the listener: please enter." [label info]
www.deeplistening.org
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| NORDHEIM, ARNE |
Electric |
do-LP |
"Among the most stunning and musical electronic works ever produced, these five compositions represent the complete electronic works of Norwegian composer Arne Nordheim (1931-2010). They have stood the test of time remarkably well and have been embraced by new generations of influential musicians. This audiophile 2LP comes in an edition of only 500 copies in a beautiful gatefold sleeve with updated credits and liner notes. The sound has been mastered by Helge Sten (Deathprod) specifically for this vinyl edition, sourced from the original analogue master tapes and painstakingly restored before being transferred to 24bit/96kHz for the best possible audio results."
www.runegrammofon.com
|
2017 |
€45.00 |
|
| NORDVARGR |
Untitled Navigations I |
CD |
Long one-tracker that clocks at almost 50 minutes length. Excellent eerie dark drones with a very floating movement & processing of sounds... one of his definite masterpieces !!
"New album of the northern wolf, leader on the Swedish scene of dark sounds. Co-creator of such projects as MZ412, TOROIDH, or FOLKSTORM for the second time appears on Beast Of Prey.
Untitled Navigations I was recorded live in the Villa Bohult studio, and is one massive ambient piece of slow moving darkness. As the soundscape evolves, rythmic patterns appear and merges with the crackling of broken records and deep resounding frequencies. Partly based upon Nordvargr´s previous attempts to alter sleep patterns, this recording also contains theta/delta waves, but the reason for this is not revealed. Untitled Navigations I is presented exactly as it was performed, without any overdubs or post production. Prepare for another dark journey into the mind of the nordic master of darkness.
Unconventional release in special white cardboard with silver printing. Unusual shape of the package that folded makes 150mm x 150mm size. Inside there are 3 different inserts showing winter landscapes. All very snowy and icy, handmade and numbered to 300 copies." [label info]
www.beastofprey.com
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
| NORMAL MUSIC |
A short exhibition of Normal Music |
CD |
Experimenteller minimal-Techno / IDM mit Drone-Elementen, sehr dicht, fliessend und saugend....
“Rhythmic explorations on the edge of madness. Micro field recordings and drones with a beat. Like Pole before he sucked, and Pan Sonic but more surreal. "Normal Music uses dubby, clicky rhythms from the best clicks and cuts tradition in combination with the best ambient sections from labels as such as Chain Reaction...If this was on ~scape, these boys would be on the cover of The Wire and playing the big festivals." - Vital Weekly "Minimal beats, gentle atmospherics and acoustic instrumentation all combined nicely...the kind of music one can listen to while making drunken love to your neighbor. Buy two and share." - Urb
|
2003 |
€12.00 |
|
| NORTHAM, MICHAEL & JATIN VIDYARTHI |
Golden Shadow |
CD |
"A document of the Khoj residency, Jatin and myself took a bit of time (with the help of the Khoj crew) to make a short edition of a collection of our sessions and recordings we did together... Strange mix of improvisation, minimal acousmatics and field recordings (perhaps the first project of its kind from India)." [label info]
www.semperflorens.net
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY |
same |
CD |
Projekt von JESSICA BAILIFF mit JESSE EDWARDS: Feiner Folk mit gezupfter Akustikgitarre & mehrstimmigem Gesang & spacigen E-Gitarren, unglaublich zart, emotional, langsam, melanchronisch = abgedriftet in reine Emotion, und doch so traumhaft schön....
mal singt JESSICA BAILIFF, mal JESSE EDWARDS....
Referenzen z.B.: SLOWDIVE, RED HOUSE PAINTERS, LOW...
“The debut album from NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY, the duo of JESSICA BAILIFF (CLEAR HORIZON, EAU CLAIRE) and JESSE EDWARDS (RED MORNING CHORUS). Ten tracks of moody, psychedelic pop, folk, and electronic sounds influenced by time, space, and weather. Features guest appearances from FRED THOMAS (FLASHPAPER, SATURDAY LOOKS GOOD TO ME) and COURTNEY BIRD, and cover art by IKER SPOZIO (Ptolemic Terrascope)”
“....If you've never heard Jessica Bailiff or Jesse Edwards' work, then this might actually be the best place to start. The balance between desperation and happiness on this album might make it more attractive to some who have approached either's work and found it akin to reading Sylvia Plath. After enough exposure, neither sounds particularly cold and the subtle magic they both work on this record will permeate everything, making whatever darker themes are present seem less important than the sonic brilliance demonstrated in their work.” [Lucas Schleicher / Brainwashed]
|
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
| NORTHERN VALENTINE |
The Distance brings us closer |
CD |
Band aus Philadelphia mit drei (!) Gitarristen (sowie Synths & Streicher), die sehr subtilen & warmen, fast "flüssigen" Gitarren-Drone-Ambient machen mit leichter experimenteller & geräuschhafter Note, Anklänge an LABRADFORD, ULTRASOUND, ULTRA MILKMAIDS, WINDY & CARL..
"Northern Valentine is husband & wife Robert & Amy Brown along with friends who join them from time to time. They have been writing & recording music since 1997 & have released material previously on acclaimed label Gears of Sand as well as on their own label Baresound. We are glad to have them added to the Silber roster. They are from Philadephia, Pennsylvania & they love to play live shows. Depending on the performers, live shows can range from quiet and meditative drones to loud & fuzzy instrumental post rock, often within the same set. Recommended if you like: Labradford, Windy & Carl, Ennio Morricone, Eluvium, Mogwai, Seefeel, Earth, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Spacemen 3" [label info]
"So this is one of those records where the cover totally gives away what’s hiding inside. These Philadelphia drift-heads sent us this disc a few weeks ago, and we were totally blown away. The music so nicely reflects the cover photograph: beautiful, expansive oceanic horizons, almost glowing with a looming grayness. With keyboards, violin, three electric guitars and a bass, this five piece really hone in on a super liquidity, an organic, fluid type of drone composition. Their third album out of four, The Distance Brings Us Closer resonates with long, lush tones and delicate melodies that seem to blend and form chords in mid air. Always moving and turning like fog creeping along the forest floor, Northern Valentine has a distinct sound that kinda reminds us of a more darkened and coastal Windy and Carl playing with Rameses III in some giant cathedral. Very dark and mysterious, the record travels through blissed out walls of trance inducing drones and into more textural noisy Fennesz-like atmospheres. Though they call themselves a post-rock band, the guitars and instruments used are so dripping with reverb and delay that it might be more accurate to describe Northern Valentine as a dark and drifting ambient group. At least that’s how they sound on this particular record, as word on the street is their other albums have drums and are more propulsive and less drifty. Either way we dig what they’re doing A LOT, and couldn’t wait to share it with all of you! If you like anything Type records related or that recently reviewed Elegi, you’ll love this too! Completely and utterly recommended!! " [Aquarius Records review]
www.silbermedia.com
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| NOSTALGIE ETERNELLE |
Notre Debut |
CD |
"Nostalgie Éternelle was a German duo active from 1986 to 1991. Stefan Heinze (well-known as Inox Kapell) and Dieter Mauson (later member of Delta-Sleep-Inducing Peptide, with Siegmar Fricke) recorded a large number of songs in just few years, distributing them mainly through self-released tapes and international cassette compilations. “Notre Début” is a collection of twenty (!) remastered tracks from Nostalgie Éternelle solo cassettes and compilation tapes, 1988 – 1991, now available on CD for the first time in a handnumbered digi-slim sleeve. Classic 80's dark minimal synth-wave, distant obscure vocals, thrilling synthscapes, including influences from icy electronic music and d.i.y. industrial. “Notre Début” is also an open window to know better 80's cassette-scene and culture; n example, four songs have been previously released on two tapes in 1988, on my old Discipline Produzioni cassette-label: releasing this CD has been a great chance to bring them back to life, together with songs published at that time by 80's cult labels such as Insane Music, Jar, EE Tapes, Headkleaner, Weed Music and more. A cold, dark “Goodbye!” to 80's decade and a claustrophobic “Hello!” to the upcoming 90's. Someone told us that 2011 will be the year of Nostagie Éternelle comeback: If so (fingers crossed), “Notre Début” will be the best introduction to this precious, interesting, original 80's electro-wave band." [label info]
www.finalmuzik.com
"Die zweite Welle der Kassettentäter bekommt endlich und wohlverdienterweise ihre eigenen Re-Releases, mit dabei auch das Duo NOSTALGIE ÉTERNELLE, das von Mitte der 80er bis in die frühen 90er aus INOX KAPELL und einem Teil von D.S.I.P. bestand und fleißig verschrobene, Minimal-Elektonik produzierte und in der ganzen Welt verbreitete. Somit ist es nicht verwunderlich, dass hier keine "komplette" Kassette wiederveröffentlicht wird, sondern einzelne Tracks die auf diversen Compilations zu finden sind und den Werdegang perfekt nachzeichnen. Den Charme dieses Duos macht sicher der naive, aber stets konkrete Umgang mit der damals noch nicht so ausgereiften Keyboards und Samplern (Casio SK-1 rules!) aus. "Schräg" nannt man das irgendwann mal... Es wurde einfach sessionartig produziert und veröffentlicht. - Welchen Stellenwert hat soetwas heute? - Es sind schöne Erinnerungen die sonst verblassen würden und für die Generationen danach ist es Geschichtsunterricht was alles möglich war und ist, wenn man nur einfach mal anfängt was eigenes zu machen! (7)" [Carsten Vollmer/OX]
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Sans Fin |
LP |
"NOSTALGIE ETERNELLE (,ewige Sehnsucht") (NE) wurde im Oktober 1986 von Stefan Heinze und Dieter Mauson in Leer / Ostfriesland gegründet. Dieter hatte zuvor in diversen NoWave und PostPunk-Bands Bass gespielt. Stefan hatte schon über längere Zeit Elektronikmusik gemacht und seit 1982 einige Tapes in geringen Auflagen veröffentlicht. In der ersten Zeit spielte NE vor allem auf diversen Festivals in Ostfriesland. 1987 begann die Band erste Aufnahmen im ,Heimstudio' zu machen, die dann auf Cassettensamplern zuerst in Deutschland, dann in ganz Europa und später in Japan und den USA veröffentlicht wurden. Verbreitet durch Fanzines, Flyer und Briefe bestand in den 80ern eine riesige internationale Cassettenszene. NE wurde ein Teil von ihr. Viele Freundschaften entstanden, die teilweise bis heute bestehen. Die Szene veranstaltete Festivals - vor allem in den Niederlanden und Belgien. Im Sommer 1991 verlies Dieter Mainz und kehrte in den Norden zurück. Er zog nach Hamburg und gründete dort eine Familie. Zunächst glaubten Stefan und Dieter über die Distanz mit NE weitermachen zu können. Es entstand ein letztes Tape (COURAGE AND DESPAIR) das einzige Studiosolotape. Danach stellte NE seine Aktivitäten ein, doch die Freundschaft zwischen Stefan und Dieter blieb. Über die Jahre redeten Inox und Dieter immer von einem Neuanfang von NE. Und 2009 trafen sich die beiden, 18 Jahre nach ihrer letzten Aufnahmesession, wieder im Studio von INOX in Wespbaden. Die ersten neuen Stücke entstanden. Im Januar und Februar 2011 wurde weiteres Material im neuen Heimstudio von Dieter in Hamburg-Altona aufgenommen. In diesen Sessions in 2009 und 2011 entstanden die Stücke für das Vinylalbum SANS FIN (,ohne Ende"), dass nun - im Januar 2012 - auf HAFENSCHLAMMREKORDS in Hamburg erschienen ist. Im Juni 2011 war bereits NE-Archive-Material auf einer Vinyl-EP auf dem belgischen Label EE-Tapes, sowie auf einer CD mit dem Namen NOTRE DEBUT auf FINAL MUZIK in Italien erschienen. Ein weiteres Doppelalbum mit Musik von 1988 bis 1991 ist auf dem französischen Label INFRASTITION in Arbeit. NOSTALGIE ETERNELLE is back!" [label info]
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Magie Fragile |
LP |
"NOSTALGIE ÉTERNELLE (ewige Sehnsucht) wurden 1986 in Leer / Ostfriesland von Stefan Heinze (Inox Kapell) und Dieter Mauson gegründet. Verwurzelt im Punk, NDW, Industrial, NoWave, Post-Punk und der Elektronikmusik beginnt das Duo ihre Musik auf nationalen und internationalen Cassetten-Samplern zu veröffentlichen und Konzerte in Ostfriesland zu spielen. 1989 erfolgt dann der Umzug ins Rhein-Main-Gebiet. Es werden nun auch Konzerte im Ausland gespielt. Nach einigen Tapes und Beiträgen zu Vinlysamplern zieht es Dieter 1991 zurück in den Norden (Hamburg). 1992 löst sich das Duo aufgrund der räumlichen Entfernung auf. Der Kontakt bleibt über die Jahre bestehen. 2009 fassen die beiden den Entschluss ihre musikalische Zusammenarbeit fortzusetzen. Inox wohnt inzwischen in Berlin (und zweitweise noch in Wiesbaden) und Dieter noch in Hamburg. Wie in den Anfangstagen singen beide Bandmitglieder und während Inox zumeist für die Elektronik zuständig ist, spielt Dieter vornehmlich Bass und Gitarre. In der Folgezeit werden Alben mit Archivmaterial der Band in Belgien, Italien und Frankreich veröffentlicht. 2012 erscheint ein Vinyl-Album (Sans Fin) mit neuem Material auf Hafenschlamm Rekords in Hamburg. Das Duo beteiligt sich auch wieder an internationalen Compilations, die auf Vinyl, CD, Tape und als Freedownload in Belgien, den USA, Brasilien und Spanien erscheinen. Seit 2012 spielen NOSTALGIE ÉTERNELLE auch wieder Konzerte. Einige kleine Touren haben sie in den letzten Jahren durch Deutschland, die Niederlande, Belgien und die Schweiz geführt Wieder auf Hafenschlamm Rekords erscheint nun im September 2015 ein weiteres Vinyl-Album (Magie Fragile) mit neuem Material. Einige der Songs sind bereits liveerprobt." [label info]
www.hafenschlammrekords.de
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| NOTHING |
Silence came back in, filling jagged spaces |
CD |
Wohl kaum ein anderes Label zeigt eine so enge Verbindung zwischen DOOM Metal/Rock und dark Ambient/Industrial wie EIBON Records aus Italien, das Label des CANAAN – Masterminds Mauro Berchi! NOTHING, das Projekt von Jason Walton & Stephen Johnson, präsentieren hier nach „the grey subaudible“ ihre zweite CD auf EIBON. Teils mächtiger, teil sphärisch-melancholischer doom ambient industrial, mit überraschenden ethno-parts, aber auch fast songstrukturaufweisenden Stücken. Insgesamt ein sehr ominöser, eigenständiger Hybryd....
“A disharmonic journey through the mid-world spheres. Fragments of corrupted melodies melt with post-nuclear tribal rhythms. Quiet semi-silences turn into crystal-clear ambiences, then suddently leave space to bursts of noise. Shamanic-like chants evolve into caressing violins, then fall into pits of ultra-droning dark ambient. ...S.U.R.R.E.A.L... ...G.H.O.S.T.L.Y... In clear-trayed jewel box.” [label info]
|
2004 |
€8.00 |
|
| NOVA, JACQUELINE |
Creacion de la Tierra - Ecos palpitantes de Jacqueline Nova: Musica electroacustica e instrumental (1964-1974) |
do-LP |
"Jacqueline Nova (Ghent, Belgium, 1935 - Bogotá, Colombia, 1975), a representative figure of Colombian avant-garde music, developed important and radical work within the field of electronic and instrumental music, as well as in interdisciplinary forms. This album, Creación de la Tierra - Ecos palpitantes de Jacqueline Nova: Música electroacústica e instrumental (1964-1974) ("Creation of the Earth - Throbbing Echoes of Jacqueline Nova: Electroacoustic and Instrumental Music (1964-1974)")¸ under the curatorship and research of the Colombian composer Ana María Romano G., recovers Nova's most important electroacoustic works: "Creación de la tierra (Creation of the Earth)" (1972), "Oposición-Fusión (Opposition-Fusion)" (1968) and "Resonancias 1 (Resonances 1)" (1968-69), as well as the music for the film Camilo el cura guerrillero (Camilo the Guerrilla Priest) (1974), composed during her stay at the Centro Latinoamericano de Altos Estudios Musicales (CLAEM) , of the Torcuato Di Tella Institute, in Buenos Aires, as well as in the Study of Phonology of the University of Buenos Aires. The compilation also includes the instrumental works "Omaggio a Catullus" (1972-1974), "Transiciones (Transitions)" (1964-1965), and "Asuimetrías (Asymmetries)" (1967), in which she explores randomness, timbre possibilities or the encounter between acoustic and electronic media. The interest in experimenting with the human voice, and interdisciplinary work involving visual arts, were some of the aspects that have defined Jacqueline Nova's work. Ana María Romano has written: "Nova lived in an environment hostile to change, to debate and discussion, hostile to her being an autonomous and lesbian woman. She undertook feats that make her a pioneer, even though she did not set out to be taken as one, but only as a result of the commitment, dedication and passion of a creator with her society. Jacqueline Nova died in Bogotá of bone cancer. Her tragic and early death not only cut short a career in full creative force, but also directly affected the development of electroacoustic music in the country. After her death there was a great silence -- close to 15 years -- in musical creation with electronic means. Nova challenged a conservative milieu and survived alone, working in a field thought to be exclusively masculine. But it was a woman who strengthened the use of technology in Colombian music. A risky bet that sadly represented a high cost: Nova was relegated during her lifetime, but her noises managed to shake and question the comfort zones of the Colombian musical establishment." Includes a booklet with extensive information written by Ana María Romano G.; edition of 300."
https://buhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/creaci-n-de-la-tierra-ecos-palpitantes-de-jacqueline-nova-1964-1974
"Continuing their incredible dedication to the historic sounds of the 20th Century Latin American musical avant-garde, Buh Records returns with one of their most important releases to date, "Creation of the Earth - Throbbing Echoes of Jacqueline Nova: Electroacoustic and Instrumental Music (1964-1974)", the first ever collection dedicated to the pioneering work of the Columbian composer Jacqueline Nova.
Spanning the final decade of Nova's life, not only does this stunning double LP overflow with astounding acoustic, electroacoustic, and electronic works that entirely upend the Eurocentric historic experimental music, but the album doubles as a crucial illumination of the feminist and queer struggle for liberation through sound in Latin America during this period.
Absolutely astounding on every level and impossible to recommend enough, it's the sort of revelation that only comes around once in the rarest of times.
Running continuously since the mid 2000s, in recent years the Lima based imprint, Buh Records - run by Luis Alvarado - has issued an astounding array of little heard Latin American experimental music onto the world stage, offering particular focus to work - contemporary and historic - from Peru. In recent years, they’ve been increasingly casting their gaze further afield, offering glimpses of the broader Latin American context experimentalism with stellar releases by Mesias Maiguashca, Walter Smetak, Oksana Linde, and a number of others. Their latest, “Creation of the Earth: Throbbing Echoes of Jacqueline Nova: Electroacoustic and Instrumental Music (1964-1974)” belongs to this shift. The first-ever release entirely dedicated to the pioneering Columbian electronic composer, Jacqueline Nova, it lifts the shadows of time to reveal an astounding artist whose work has remained almost entirely unobtainable since her untimely death in 1975. Visionary and truly remarkable, the historical importance of this stunning double LP - issued in a very limited edition of 300 copies, complete with extensive liner notes by Ana María Romano - can't be understated. Once again, Buh has upended the perceptions of avant-garde happening during the 20th Century and replaced it with something far more diverse, vibrant, and alive.
"The history of avant-garde, experimental, and electronic music from Latin America has always been incredibly difficult to access, largely due to the effects of conservative, authoritarian governments that game to power in many countries in the region during the mid 20th Century, attacking progressive art-forms and limiting the mobility of the rich contexts of sounds that emerged within their borders. Despite the opposition that these artists faced, a remarkable scene of experimental music thrived - often cross pollinating - throughout Latin American during the second half of the 20th Century, a happening that Buh Records has been making greats strides toward illuminating for more than a decade. It would be hard to find a better example of this than their latest release, dedicated to the work of the Columbian composer Jacqueline Nova.
Born in 1935, Jacqueline Nova began playing the piano at a young age, eventually taking her studies to the National Music Conservatory in 1958. In 1963 she shifted her focus toward composing, and in 1967 became the first woman to obtain a diploma in composition at the Conservatory, following which she won a scholarship to study at one of the most noted electronic and electroacoustic studios in Latin American, Centro Latinoamericano de Altos Estudios Musicales (CLAEM), in Buenos Aires, Argentina. From this point forward, she almost entirely dedicated her efforts to electroacoustic composition, until her death in 1975.
Nova’s time at CLAEM set her apart from most of her Columbian peers, allowing her the space and time to reach a high level of technical refinement that, combined with her compositional talents, placed her as one of the leading figures in Colombian and Latin American electroacoustic music during that moment. This became even more the case following her return to Argentina in Guggenheim scholarship. Nova returned to Buenos Aires, with the support of a Guggenheim fellowship to research and develop a body of work that integrated ways of transforming the human voice through electronic processes.
“Creation of the Earth”, spanning two full LPs that comprise seven important works by Nova, is effectively a career spanning window into the composer’s remarkable inner world, covering the years between 1964 and 1974. Over its length, we hear the evolution of one of Columbia and Latin American’s most important avant-garde composers, from early efforts like “Transiciones” - a stunning work of complex harmonics and distances for solo piano - and “Asimetrías” - an equally striking, spacious work for flute and percussion - that give a glimpse of her purely acoustic beginnings in the avant-garde, and the sublime talent that laid the foundation for her subsequent works. Beginning with “Resonancias 1”, composed across 1968 and 1969 between Buenos Aires and Bogotá, we encounter Nova beginning to incorporate electronic processes; her piano and other acoustic instrumentation becoming interwoven with electronic sounds, in a work that is built on seven structures with timbre indications, leaving a great deal of openness for each player to make decision and determine its outcome.
The remaining three works gathered on “Creation of the Earth” are unquestionably the most radical and forward thinking, witnessing Nova reaching the full extent of her powers as a composer. The first of these, “Creación de la tierra”, composed in 1972, draws upon her research into the transformative potential of electronic process on the human voice. Composed solely from vocal material drawn from songs on the creation of the earth of the U'wa ethnic group in Boyacá, Colombia, the work culminates as an immersive ritual of astounding scope, rendering the source material almost unrecognizable through heavy processing that transforms it into writhing ambiences of texture and tone. This is followed by “Omaggio a Catullus”, composed over the two years between 1972 and 1974, which takes an entirely different approach to these queries. Incorporating a vast range of acoustic instruments, vocalizations, and electronic processes, it appears as a sonic gesture of deep urgency, entirely of its moment and yet somehow out of time. The final work of the collection, “Montaje electroacústico a partir de materiales de la música original de la película Camilo el cura guerrillero”, was created in 1974 toward the end of her life. As the title suggests, it is an electroacoustic montage from music materials created for the film “Camilo the Guerrilla Priest”. A likely indication of Nova’s politics - Camilo Torres Restrepo, the subject of the film, having been a Marxist-Leninist, priest who fought for progressive reform in Columbia - the work is a stunning gesture of avant-garde sonority, swirling into abstract forms.
As the liner notes to “Creation of the Earth” state, “Nova lived in an environment hostile to change, to debate and discussion, hostile to her being an autonomous and lesbian woman. She undertook feats that make her a pioneer, even though she did not set out to be taken as one, but only as a result of the commitment, dedication and passion of a creator with her society.” One can only imagine what effect she might have had if her life hadn’t been cut tragically short at the age of 40 in 1975 by bone cancer. Perhaps even more tragically, her death ushered in a period of silence in Columbian electronic music that would last well over a decade, perhaps proving how alone, ahead of her time, and important she was. For this reason and the astounding quality of the work, it is impossible to overstate the importance of Buh’s release of “Creation of the Earth: Throbbing Echoes of Jacqueline Nova: Electroacoustic and Instrumental Music (1964-1974)”, the first ever collection solely dedicated to her remarkable body of work. It’s a truly stunning and revelatory listen, bringing a crucial, lost piece in the history of Latin Avant-garde music into the light for the first time. Issued as a beautiful double LP, which includes fantastic exploratory liner notes, we can’t recommend this one enough. Ten out ten and beyond. Grab it before it’s gone." [SOUNDOHM]
|
2022 |
€34.00 |
|
| NOVAK, YANN |
Paradise & Winchester |
CD |
"Paradise & Winchester was created in late 2011 for the Belgian imprint Unfathomless who’s credo is to commission works that ‘illustrate artists‘ personal fascination for specific locations, either natural, human built, or fictitious’. In response to this, Novak chose a location that he had never been to, yet knew he would have a strong reaction to, Las Vegas, NV. The piece focuses on ‘The Las Vegas Strip’, a portion of Las Vegas Boulevard outside the city limits spanning two unincorporated townships: Paradise and Winchester.Paradise & Winchester was created from ten recordings, made over three days, each one an attempt to find relatively quiet moments in an outdoor location. These quiet moments were then digitally altered to reflect a more personal reaction to the location. The final form of the piece is an ever changing hybrid state, move from one location to the next and a constant mix of nearly raw material with altered material.Paradise & Winchester was formed in late 2011 after a 7 day trip collecting and recording sounds and images. The trip ended with three days of rest in Las Vegas, NV."
[Yann Novak, May 2012]
www.unfathomless.net
"There was a time the name Yann Novak propped up in these pages quite regularly, if not for his own music, it was for releases on his Dragon's Eye Recordings, but in more recent times this has become less and less. I am not sure why this is. Maybe he just releases less and less, or perhaps not all of his releases reach me. Here he has an interesting work which deals with the sounds of The Las Vegas Strip, in itself part of the Las Vegas boulevard, 'outside the city limit, spanning the two unincoprorated townships of Paradise and Winchester, where the majority of the casinos and tourist activity takes place'. This is not exactly a new soundtrack to Paul Verhoeven's 'Showgirls' (a fav here) or 'Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas'. In fact should you not have known this, would you be able to tell this forty some minute was recorded in one the most hectic and noisy cities in the world? I don't think so. At the same time I have to admit that I am also not entirely sure to what extend there has
been sound processing. Surely something, which makes a very nice pattern of gliding sounds and endless delays, but in between, in the backside, far away we still hear the activities of humans. Voices, cars parking and that sort of thing, but also the sound of wind, blowing down the microphone. In these forty-three minutes he moves between various settings, in all about five or six different movements. It has that gentle microsound feel that is part of many of the previous works by Novak have, and perhaps as such isn't the new approach to what he does. That aside though, this I thought was a great work. Taking the quiet sounds of a busy city and melt that into a gentle soundscape. Very nice!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Ornamentation |
CD |
"Source material includes field recordings captured throughout the United States and Canada from 2006–2016 and modular synthesizer recordings, all digitally altered. Yann Novak is a multidisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles. Ornamentation is Novak's first physical release on Touch and continues his investigations of presence, stillness and mindfulness through the construction of immersive spaces, both literal and figurative." [label info]
"For his latest release, Ornamentation, the man behind Dragon's Eye Recordings, lands on another highly regarded UK label, Touch Music. This is the imprint, of course, that brought us recordings by Fennesz, Simon Scott, Anna von Hausswolff and Lustmord, just to name a few released in 2016! Besides Richard Chartier's Line label, for which Novak has already released back in 2010, and Fabio Perletta's Farmacia901, on which an Undefined collaboration with Chartier appeared in 2013, Touch has been a place, in my opinion, that would always suit this Los Angeles-based sound designer. Add the obligatory cover art by Jon Wozencroft, and the mastering ear by the one and only Lawrence English, and you've got yourself a very nice little package, archiving a live performance, presented in LA in fall of 2016.
As is expected from this master of drone microsound, the sound on Ornamentation is abstract, its structure absent, the future obsolete, and stillness absolute. Here we find ourselves in the present moment, immersed in tranquility, nominal hum, and crackling transformation. The vibrations of this continuous din fully penetrate your being, enveloping your ears with endless sonic buzz, until they merge with your consciousness and become as one with all of the silence. This is where sound nearly ceases to exist, as your mind pushes its perseverance to the outer edges of awareness, where it melts into the void of daily noise and harmonious drones, like fuzz of the power lines, or the whir of your laptop fan, or the purr of your neighbor's refrigerator.
Using field recordings from his archive, captured in various settings in the last decade on numerous low fidelity devices, processed through a complicated chain of effects, along with a recording of a modular synthesizer, Novak creates atmospheres that are also pregnant with a conceptual message. On Ornamentation Novak "resists modernism’s problematic relationship to race, class and labor, and attempts to decouple contemporary minimalist sound work from this historical precedent." The title of the album mirror's Adolf Loos' 1913 manifesto, "Ornament and Crime", in which the author claims that human desire to embellish our environments, personal spaces, and bodies with decorations is a primitive impulse, which we must avoid.
Loos devalued the labor traditionally associated with aesthetics and beauty, and equated ornamentation with the degenerate. In this context, one could consider ornamentation as a way of viewing decay. His examples as such (tattoos, fashion, style, painting, et al.) predictably fell along divisions of race and class, coding modernity as the next outward manifestation of white, capitalist patriarchy.
Attending to some of Loos' claims, Novak constructs a composition with a focus on the labor thereof, rather than the extracurricular process of adornment and garnish, that would often distract a listener from its inner core. On Ornamentation Novak concedes to the necessary conventions of today's modern sound art, but focuses solely on the beauty of the labor itself, as the primary aesthetic. This is a beautiful recording on the meditation of sound and time, which will mesmerize as well as challenge one's senses. Recommended for fans of simplicity, purity, and calm." [Headphone Commute]
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
The Voice of Theseus |
CD |
From Yann Novak
In Greek mythology, the legend of Theseus describes how the king-founder of ancient Athens rescues the children of his city from King Minos’ minotaur on the island of Crete. In commemoration, Athenians began a pilgrimage to honor his victory, taking the ship of Theseus and sailing it from Athens to Delos. It was with this tradition that a philosophical paradox about the historic ship was raised: As the ship was repaired, piece by piece, until it was no longer composed of any original parts, at what point could the ship no longer be considered the same entity?
In recent years, I’ve become interested in exploring the perceptual differences I experience. While some of these differences—partial color blindness and dyslexia—have been with me my entire life, tinnitus caused by hearing damage is a relatively new change to how I experience the world. It is these sensory challenges which have shaped my artistic practice by creating what I call a perceptual insecurity—an uncertainty of how accurately I discern the world around me.
The Voice of Theseus is my attempt to explore the obstacles I face in processing external sensory information. If I have trouble perceiving reds and greens, if I have trouble hearing certain frequencies, if I don’t interpret written language in a standard way, how closely can I experience reality in the way that others experience it? The album asks the listener to question how their unique means of perception and interpretation might differ from that of others.
For The Voice of Theseus, I asked two of my favorite vocalists to assist with this experiment. Both Dorian Wood and G.Brenner recorded vocals for me to manipulate throughout the album. If their original audio is Theseus’s ship, the changes I make to their voices are like the Athenians replacing each of the original vessel’s pieces. And so, how far can these vocals be pushed while still remaining attached to the vocalists’ identities? Where lies the separation between the source materials and the objects they’re used to create?
The myth of Theseus’ ship allowed me to tease at the nuances of how reality can be observed, interpreted, and altered in an indeterminate number of ways; it can be dismantled and rebuilt, many times over. And yet, because of my internal circumstances, a perceptual insecurity remains. As flexible as the true nature of an object or moment may be, inaccuracy looms. There’s no real way to know how great the disparity is between my observational experiences and another’s, and no clear limit of how many pieces of our shared reality can be altered—before it stops being just that.
https://yannnovak.bandcamp.com/album/the-voice-of-theseus-2
|
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| NOVAK, YANN / JAMIE DROUIN |
+ROOM-ROOM |
CD |
JAMIE DROUIN trat im Drone-Mailorder bereits 2004 in Erscheinung, als er in Zusammenarbeit mit LANCE OLSON eine sehr schöne CD-R nur mit Schnee-Klängen veröffentliche ("Snow:Field", Infrequency Rec.); auf +ROOM-ROOM begegnen wir ihm im Verbund mit dem DRAGONS EYE-Betreiber YANN NOVAK wieder, wo sich zwei ähnlich hochminimale Drones für eine Galerie-Installation verdichten. Der erste Drone besteht aus stehenden Wellen von lichtem Klang mit Zeitdehnungseffekt, der zweite ist dunkler & rauschiger und schafft weiten Raum. Zwei identische Räume bekommen damit völlig verschiedene "Gesichter", die Drones verändern auch die Wahrnehmung physischer Umgebung. Minimalste Soundart die vor Schönheit funkelt! 2 tracks, 63 Minuten.
" +ROOM-ROOM is a pair of sound installations for two adjacent galleries at the Henry. Artists Yann Novak and Jamie Drouin will each individually explore how the perception of these familiar places is transformed by sound. Through contrasting sensory experiences, the installations create an experiential divide between the two virtually identical rooms and restructure notions of architectural solidity and singularity in favor of more flexible, intuitive perceptions. The aural compositions, based on actual ambient noises recorded in the galleries, turn attention onto the spaces themselves and encourage us to rethink the ways in which we process physical location, and create assumptions about our surroundings. In collaboration with the artists, the Henry will produce a CD of stereo versions of the works.
+ROOM-ROOM is organized for the Henry by Associate Curator Sara Krajewski." [exhibition info]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| NOVI_SAD |
Jailbirds |
CD |
Das zweite Album für dieses griechische Minimal / Drone-Projekt, der gerade auch in der MORT AUX VACHES-Reihe zu Ehren kam; verschiedenste hyper-minimale Drone-Felder und Field Recording-Sprengsel formen, teils sehr wuchtig & bassig wummernd. Anklänge an ILIOS, FRANCISCO LOPEZ, etc..
"Limited to 500 copies and housed in our plastic-free gatefold sleeves with spine. art design by cs08. Novi_Sad's work came to our attention via our good friend Susanna Bolle (Non-Event and Rare Frequency) in Boston. A superbly keen ear, Bolle felt that his work and our label should connect. Though Nov-Sad's has only a few years of practice behind him, the quality and maturity of all of his efforts is striking. The proposed Jailbirds material for Sedimental was totally complete and not only of the highest quality but also of a truly unique vision. What is significant in his work is the multiplicity of its action on the listener. It is a density of sound, acting in three-dimensions, not as auditory 'sound effect' but as music with depth both physically and in functionality. Its intensity and purposefulness based in specific conceptual foundations and enhanced by a mastery (and transcendence) of technical means collapses amplified environmental recordings, drone manipulations, structured ambient soundscapes, microtones and overtones into unified whole. Sedimental is truly excited to be an early anchor of this young composer and sound artist's serious oeuvre. Novi_Sad (Thanasis Kaproulias, b. 1980) is a graduate student from the Economic University of Piraues. He lives and works in Athens, Greece where he began generating sounds in 2005. His debut album Misguided heart pulses, a hammer, she and the clock received worldwide critical acclaim. Recently, Novi_Sad did a recording session at the prestigious VPRO studios in Amsterdam, for the Dutch National Radio which will be released by Staalplaat [NL] in the Mort Aux Vaches series. A recent piece called Dramazon is available on TouchRadio from the publishing house Touch [U.K]. He is currently working on a project based on various methods of audio analysis called Sirens in which he explores the aesthetics of information on sound by using quantitative data from major stock market crashes in history." [label info]
www.sedimental.com
"...The attraction of his music lies, I think, in the combination of microsound and dark ambient music. There are the cracks and hisses of micro world, but also the thunderous deep ambient drones which can be top heavy, like in the opening ‘Komdu! Hvert?’. Field recordings, the call of the birds, leak through here, as the deep bass dies out very slowly for the rest of duration of the song. ‘Torched Estates’ starts out with some nasty high pitched sounds, but throughout the pieces moves into various heights and depths, and it strikes me that this is the more complex piece of the two on this release. Many heavily processed field recordings are present, but then also sometimes naked and pure.
Whereas the first is built around one theme, is the second piece more a collage of various moods and textures. Quite loud microsound altogether, and thus a strong break with tradition. Great one." [FdW, Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| NU & APA NEAGRA |
Omag |
CD |
Rumänische Underground-Psychedelia auf dem Berliner Label LOLLIPOPPE SHOPPE (die auch schon VOLGA und KARPATY MAGICZNE herausgebracht haben)! Ethno- & Folk-Einflüsse, field recordings, dichte & dunkle Atmosphäre; das Spektrum reicht von ruhigen, sehr anmutigen Passagen bis hin zum ekstatischen free-impro Chaos und elektronischen Bearbeitungen, immer weird & eigen, was ist das nur für Musik? Aber lassen wir jetzt noch den staunenden Rigobert Dittmann sprechen: "Ähnlich wie The Magic Carpathians Projekt lässt mich der Sazspieler
und multiinstrumentale Alleskönner Sasa-Liviu Stoianovici im rumänischen Timisoara bedauern, dass ich so wenig Musik aus den östlichen Nachbarländern kenne. Omag (The Lollipoppe Shoppe, LSCD 08) ist nämlich wieder ein stellenweise beklemmend schöner und durchwegs spannender Beitrag zur ‚Imaginären Folklore‘, mit dem selbstverständlichen Einsatz von Loopsampler, Mikrokorg und Fieldrecordings neben der Saz und der Kurzhalslaute Cobza, von Vlad Sturdzas E-Gitarre neben Maultrommel und Szilander Farks Sitar, von Calin Torsancs Reeds & Klarinette neben Alexandru Hegyesis bundloser akustischer Bassgitarre. In den Lauten und dem näselnden Gebläse scheinen Wurzelfäden bis hinab zu prototürkischen, ja sogar thrakischdionysischen und panischen Zeiten zu flattern. Aber in der elektroakustischen Verschwurbelung wird diese Aura von altem Balkan und mythischer Zeit ganz eingemischt in ein psychedelisches und surreal-kosmisches Tripping. Dass Alan Holmes, der walisische Produzent von Gorky's Zygotic Mynci und Gitarrist der Faust verehrenden Ankstmusik-Band Ectogram, einen Mix von ‚Peste munte‘ anfertigte, deutet auf ein Raumzeitnetz hin, in dem sich Nu & Apa Neagra, was übrigens Nein & Schwarzes Wasser heißt, ideell bewegen.
Beim Titelstück ertönt arabesker Gesang zu Sazgeschrammel und dem Zwitschern und Gurren von Vögeln inmitten polymorphender, von einer Furzelwelle angekurbelter Mixadelic. Mit ihrem Balkantouch setzen Nu & Apa Neaga aber einen eigenen Akzent, den ich mit ‚schwerst halluzinatorisch‘ nur andeuten kann. Die Wirkung entspricht einer ziemlich kräftigen Dosis Mutterkorn, die Uhr läuft rückwärts, der Duft von Ziegenbock ist stellenweise schwindelerregend, es wachsen einem Flügel, die einen auf Wolken aus Fuzz und Klingklang schweben lassen, während ‚over the mountain‘ eine Flöte schallt, die nichts davon weiß, dass der Große Pan tot ist. Eine Gitarre auf Speed (‚Galop in 2/4‘), eine Orgel im Opiumrausch (‚Plinsul lui V.‘), dann ein
reedgetrillertes Loopdelirium, in dem ein Wortfetzen mitkreist (‚Cobzar
pneumatic‘). Der Geist von Muslimgauze hetzt vorbei - ‘Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!’ (‚Seara‘), Stimmen kaskadieren auf einem Orgeldrone (‚Umbra si copacul de fier‘). Man durchquert eine Bahnhofshalle, in der die elektrisierte und maultrommelbetwangte Luft Turbulenzen bildet (‚Tambal ruginit‘), und taucht dann ganz tief ein in plunderphonischen, von Stimmen durchraunten und dunkel beflöteten Tapesalat mit Sitardressing (‚Cinci suprapuneripareri‘). Zuletzt jamt Greatful Dead, grillenbezirpt, ungeachtet ständiger Lautsprecher-durchsagen, gefangen zwischen Gestern und Übermorgen (‚13, pentru caracter‘). Vielleicht ist ja das der große Reiz unserer neuen alten Miteuropäer, dass sie noch nicht so durchrenoviert sind, noch nicht so up-todate, dass ihre Kunst des Erbens statt völliger Amnesie doch noch Träume und Räusche mit einschließt, die unserem Speed-Way of Life spotten." [Bad Alchemy]
"NU & APA NEAGRA wurde von Sasha-Liviu Stoianovici (Saz-Autodidakt, Maler und visueller Künstler) und dem Bassisten Alexandru Hegyesi in Timisoara, Rumänien gegründet. Die Gruppe arbeitet mit traditionellen Motiven, improvisiertem Gesang und elektronischen Klängen und ging aus dem NU-Projekt, einem 'free form folk' Projekt hervor, das seit 2001 aktiv ist.
2006 spielte die Gruppe erstmals in Deutschland in Clubs und auf Festivals und präsentierte ihre selbst veröffentlichte CD "At Gardina".
Seit dem hat das Album positive Reaktionen und airplay erhalten, unter anderem im Freien Radio Kassel, Radio Blau Leipzig und beim amerikanischen WFMU Sender.
Nach Umbesetzungen formierte sich die Gruppe 2007 neu als NU & APA NEAGRA (apa neagra = schwarzes Wasser) und arbeitete an dem Album "OMAG", das in Berlin und Timisoara aufgenommen wurde. Der dunkle Charakter der Aufnahmen wurde beeinflusst durch Exkursionen in die Wälder und Berge Rumäniens. Fieldrecordings, alte Instrumente und Aufnahme-Experimente erschaffen eine raue Ethno-Psychedelia, die charakteristisch ist für den Sound der Band. Der Album-Titel "OMAG" ist inspiriert durch eine Pflanze der traditionellen rumänischen Pharmakologie (Aconitum napellus, dt.: Blauer Eisenhut). Neben 13 Aufnahmen beinhaltet das Album einen Mix von Alan Holmes (The Ectogram, Parking Non Stop).
Sasha Liviu Stoianovici – saz, voice, instruments, tape loops
Alexandru Hegyesi – accoustic bass
Vlad Sturdza - guitar
Calin Torsan - woodwinds
www.nu-apa-neagra.ro - www.myspace.com/projectnu
Formed in Timisoara, Romania, by Sasha-Liviu Stoianovici (self taught saz-player and visual artist) & Alexandru Hegyesi, the NU & APA NEAGRA sound project deals with a mix between traditional tunes, improvised vocals and spacey electronics. It started in 2001, as NU, being at the time more of a folk/free form music project.
Representing Romanian underground psychedelia, the group toured Germany twice in 2006, presenting their cdr 'At Gardina', which, in the meantime, received some great reviews. The group played club gigs and also festivals. NU's music has had airplay at radio stations like WFMU or Freies Radio Kassel, among others...
After some changes and studio work in 2007, NU 'reincarnated' as NU & APA NEAGRA and released the OMAG album at the German indie label Lollipoppe Shoppe in June 2008. The tracks have been recorded both in Berlin, Germany and Timisoara, Romania. The sound has became darker, being influenced by various trips in the mountains and forests of Romania. Field recordings, ancient instruments, strange overdubbing techniques, they all create a rough ethno-psychedelic sound, definitely a trademark of NU & APA NEAGRA. The title of the album is inspired by the very poisonous plant Omag, found in the traditional pharmaceutical universe of Romanians (Aconitum napellus). There are 13 original tracks, the 14th one being a deep and strange mix done by Welsh Alan Holmes (Ectogram, Parking Non-Stop). Live shows in central Europe are planed for autumn 2008." [press release]
www.lollipopshop.de
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Descantecul Apei negre |
CD |
"As if it were taken from a story which has not been written yet, this new album of NU & APA NEAGRĂ remains true to its original influences - the Romanian & Turkish folklore and the electroacoustic madness of the 20th Century. With field recordings, pseudo sampling and instruments such as caval, divan saz, prepared cymbalom, synthesizers and vintage sound effects, to name just a few, the group offers a vertical approach towards the sound, one that explores the cultural and primary layers of Balkan & Carpathian spaces which are put into an occidental equation. A sort of amorphous sound psychism, whose depths reveal all of a sudden some recognizable fragments, which could help reconstruct an archaeology of all four musicians' trajectories." [label info]
www.myspace.com/projectnu
"Mich wundert es nicht, dass die Banater Heide beste Schwarzerde bietet für weirde Folklore. Alexandru Hegyesi, Călin Torsan, Vlad Sturdza & Sașa-Livio Stoianovici, in Temeswar zuhause, machen mit Cimbalon & Bassgitarre, Klarinette & Pfeifen, Zither, Gitarre, Ebow, Glocken & Percussion bzw. Saz, Cobza, Gusle, also Lauten von den türkischen Crossroads auf dem Balkan, aber auch mit Korg, Moog, Harmophon und noch mehr Percussion und Effekten eine Pilgerfahrt. Zum Schwarzen Meer? Es scheint eher so, als wäre das Ziel kein Ort auf dieser Welt, sondern ein mystischer Ort, oder eine Anomalität in der Zeit. Da kreuzt sich spacewärts orientierte Sonic Fiction mit klanglichen Phantomen der Vergangenheit. Einer verleugneten Vergangenheit, denn warum sonst sollte der Hahn dreimal krähen ('Al treilea Cântat al cocoșilor')? Im Vorwärtsdrang wirbeln in einer halluzinatorischen Gleichzeitigkeit des Ungleichzeitigen alte Klänge auf. Uraltes Saitenspiel, Pfeifen, Schellen und Getrommel, auch raunende Gesänge, die, sich überlappend, durch die Erinnerung wabern, durch die Zeit kaskadieren, mit Echos von den Karpatenwänden und Klangfetzen, die sich in den transsylvanischen Wäldern verfangen haben, oder an den Mauern von Piteşti verstummt sind.
Lautengeschrammel und Hackbrettgedengel bringen das Blut in Wallung, Stimmfetzen werden zu einem Krähenschwarm, die Zeit kreist in sich selbst. Beim anfänglich orientalisch anmutenden 'Alt Pelerin' (Noch ein Pilger) schält sich wehmütiger Gesang von Maria Balabaș aus dem Dröhnfluss. Ich denke, schwarzes Wasser meint nicht das Marea Neagrä, sondern ein Wasser, das die Vergangenheit löscht. Doch vielleicht ist es, wie bei Telephos und Amfortas die Lanze, als das, was verwundete, auch das Heilmittel. Daher die Wiedertaufe mit schwarzem Wasser. 'The Black Water' badet lang in harmonisch rauschenden Spacewellen, mit Bassklarinette, Kaval und Pfeifen als bukolischem Widerhall, mit zartem Zither- oder Gitarrenklang, knurrigem Moog, jaulenden Synthies. Ist das jetzt Ruderschlag? Oder lappt die Zeit rückwärts? Man wird mitgerissen in dieser psychedelischen Odyssee (wie Dave Bowman beyond the infinite). Bei 18:50 reißt das Band.
[Schluck]" [Bad Alchemy]
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| NULL, K.K. |
Kosmo Incognita |
maxi-CD |
After the RAPOON-maxi another limited maxi-CD on Thisco, this time from our beloved power-electronic-droner KK NULL ! Act fast if you’re interested !! This is a 20 min. trip of very pure electronic vibes, pulses, noises, somewhere between weird BAD SECTOR, JOHN DUNCAN and industrialized TELEPHERIQUE maybe....
"The emergent portuguese electronic scene continues to expand its frames of reference with a compelling exercise in high-speed
navigation from Kazuyuki Kishino funded by Fonoteca Municipal de Lisboa. A single piece constructed from live recordings from various locations in Tokyo, Kosmo Incognita is 20 minutes object lesson in how lines of extreme contrast, wild leaps in effect and bludgeoning laptop excess can engage the senses rather than simply overpowering them.KK Null not only has the skills to capture the listener`s attention,
he also shows how to keep it." [The Wire]
|
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
|
Atomik Disorder |
CD |
Very powerful new work for the NEUROSIS-Label, ultra-fast pulsating harsh elecronic patterns, fiercing sound-effects, metallic clanks, abrasive ambience-fields, manic percussion.. this is Industrial for the new Millenium !
“From the mind-eye of KK Null, a sonic warfare battling for future human consciousness. Fans of Scorn and Merzbow, join ranks now. The latest offering from the legendary and prolific KK.Null, renowned for his solo works and his "progressive hardcore trio", Zeni Geva (which has produced more than 10 albums, recorded two Peel Sessions for the BBC). Over the course of his 20 year career, KK Null has produced collaborative works with musical innovators like Steve Albini, Merzbow, John Zorn, Fred Frith, James Plotkin, Jim O’Rourke, Keiji Haino, Seiichi Yamamoto, Jon Rose, Atau Tanaka, Zbigniew Karkowski and Masonna.” [label info]
|
2003 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Ergosphere |
CD |
Sometimes the music of KK NULL is the best that can happen to yourself at certain moments, with its high tension-high pitched-and highly artificial sinustone sounds, miles away from the usual harsh noise..... this sounds like spreading Adrenaline, but it's pressed and forced into steel-forms. NULLs sound never looses a kind of futuristic atmosphere, an almost floating character and quasi-composed delevopments.... Maybe like MAIN on Speed.. or sometimes it feels like being the witness to an intergalactic cosmic WAR, or like being involved in an utopian pinball-machine.....
[Drone Rec. 2006]
"Ergosphere was recorded live during Kazuyuki Kishino's (Zeni Geva, etc.) tour of Russia in late 2005, specifically on his only two solo dates, live at Moscow Palace of Youth in Moscow Russia October 5, 2005 and 'Festival Hea Uus Heli' Kanuti Gildi Saal in Tallinn Estonia on October 7, 2005. An uneasy balance of lull and divide." [label info]
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Kosmista Noisea |
CD |
Live-Aufnahmen aus Europa von 2003 & 2004 (von 3 locations), aus denen 2 Stücke geformt wurden. V.a. im zweiten Stück sind auch sehr ruhige Passagen vorhanden, das erste wird durch die Zusammenlegung zweier live-Aufnahmen auf Kanal A & B noch dynamischer und druckvoller...
"Kosmista Noisea is a brand new full length from Japanese legend K.K. Null. Packaged in a jewel box with a metallic print on a vellum tray card, this was lavishly designed by Stephen O'Malley (Sunn 0)))/Khanate). Kosmista Noisea (Finnish for Cosmic Noise) consists of live recordings from 3 different locations during the European tour in 2003-2004. 'Kosmista Noisea 1' is taken from 2 separate live recordings and uniquely combined in the studio into one piece with Talcent, Italy on the left channel and St. Etienne, France on the right channel. This technique is designed to give more depth and multiple dimensions. Kosmista Noisea 2 is a 45 minutes long non-edit of an entire live performance in Antwerpen/Belgium, showing the diversity of KK Null's music from intense clashing waves of noise to structured electro-acoustic ambience, droning isolationist material." [press release]
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
|
BaryoGenesis |
CD |
"the album opens up with the sound of insects & birds which i recorded live at wetland in Kakadu National park in Australia, that symbolizes organic life/organism (including our human bodies) composed of baryons. then, abstruct electronic noise overlaps them and takes you into a journey through deep inner and far outer spaces at any scales. however, you don't have to care about what i say here, just i hope this music inspires you as much as it does myself, and enjoy with your open mind and free imagination!! technical note : all the music on this album was basically composed and
created in my home studio and it was performed live along with some improvized processing, playing a synthesizer and my voice on top of that." [KK Null]
"KK Null would have been king of noise if Merzbow wouldn't be on the throne. Ever since his work with ANP and Zeni Geva he loves to work with the raw end of music and sound, which has become increasingly more abstract and less rock based than say in his Zeni Geva days. Unlike Merzbow there is a stronger rhythmic component in his music which forms the backbone of his music. It's however not a rhythm of stomping kind, techno like or any such like, but more the repeated action of highly splintered sound fragments, which are looped. On top KK Null plays a brand of harsher noise textures of freaked out psychedelic electronics. Other than Merzbow - again - KK Null's sound is much more detailed and clearer, even in the endless stream of information that his music is. Four strong heavy blasts of noise, and the tracks are pretty long, but in order to get this music working right, it only seems natural to give it such a length. Here too we can wonder about the progress of the music, since it's certainly not Null's first CD, but with a discography that is considerable smaller than Merzbow's that is hardly a problem." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
label-website: www.vivo.pl
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Akumu |
CD |
"Japanese experimental music legend Kazuyuki Kishino now presents his new CD album entitled Akumu (Nightmare). On this album Kazuyuki tests his own limits into the darkness and focus all his artistic skills on creating a personal cinematic audio nightmare. Akumu is like being caught in a spiderweb that sticks and creeps to your skin, there is no escape. Akumu is a truly imaginative and terrifying electronic album that gives us a new and unique edge on the artist and sound master Kazuyuki Kishino's universe. This is the dark masterpiece of K.K. Null...Deluxe 6 panel digipak comes with beautifull stylish design/photography by Salt." [label info]
"Akumu finds KK Null once more dragging the listening into a heady, shifting and highly effective audio movie for the mind with his distinctive mix of electronica, ambience, noise matter, field recordings & heady cinematics.
As the albums artwork of frozen spiky organic matter and thawing firns suggest this has a very cold, barren yet alien beauty to it. And to my mind the album it rather brought to mind a soundtrack for travels through a strange isolated high radiation zone- like something from Tarkovsky Stalker but with more of twisted sci-fi angle. A few examples of this come with the opening track that switchers between eerier gong/ bell tone laden gothic ambience & sudden seering sound oveloads. This pictures in ones mind a deserted & overgrown market square that's still strangely ringing with the towns bells, with the sudden power-up’s and boil tones akin to been engulfed by radiation high spots that make your Geiger counter go mad. Track five is an building and kaleidoscopic audio slice of cold, mechanical, gone-haywire electro dread and intensity bringing to mind walking through a deserted car factory that’s starts operating on it’s own. As Null buildings up a detailed & at times jarring sound tapestry of purring, buzzing, scuttling, static hits, circuit board mournfulness and stale radiation heavy drone feeds. Really through out the album walks wonderful between tension, dread, jarring moments and general very heady and detailed audio scaping.
Another masterfully structured and built slice of internal soundtracking from KK Null which with repeat listens reveals more sonic facets and deeper atmospheric emersion." [Roger Batty, Musiquemachine.com]
www.hentai-vital.com
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
| NULL, K.K. / DAVID BROWN |
Terminal Hz |
CD |
NULL in Kollaboration mit dem Australier D.Brown von “Molecular Music Projects” aus Melbourne. Diesen Sound zu beschreiben, der aus tausend kleinen Partikeln bestehen zu scheint, ist schier unmöglich – zu fremd und abstrakt sind die hier dargebotenen Klänge!!
“Haunting soundscapes, like a hurricane in a small space, conjuring strange ethnic musicians trying to stall the storm with unheard pluckings.”
Very much recommended for sound-explorers!!
www.groundfault.net |
2000 |
€13.00 |
|
| NULL, K.K. / Z'EV |
Artificial Life |
CD |
Strong mixture of metallic gong & percussion-drones with electronic analogue-noises.. some material is quite mellow, some has outbursting movements... no boring moments... definitely recommended for friends of both projects.
“Percussion and percussive elements compose the majority of the source material on this collaborative disc. However, the five pieces on this disc are anything but traditional percussion. With tracks ranging from dense, complex rhythms that sound like angry gnats to sonorus bowed metal and shifting sine waves, these recordings emphasize why these artists have earned their places in the pantheon of experimental sound artists.” [label info]
“....Recently both were on tour in the UK, and on that occasion this CD was produced and in a way can be seen as a continuation of a recent work they did with Chris Watson (see Vital Weekly 503). Both are works of playing together, but in the case of the release with Watson, it was Z'ev putting the stuff together afterwards based on the sound material offered by KK Null and Chris Watson, whereas in this case Null and Z'ev where together and played the music in an improvised way. That means there are differences to be noted. The Touch CD was much more densely shaped with a wide variety of sounds being blurred together into fine woven pattern, whereas here electronics play a main part but separately from the percussive elements thrown in by Null (who gets credit for electro-percussion) and Z'ev. Less dense, but with a lot of variety. From the tribalism third piece (all are untitled) to the abstract and quieter second and fourth piece, these two gentlemen play a fine piece of music. Throughout they know what they are doing and it may seem that Z'ev is the man who plays the 'solo's' here, meaning he gets a more distinct sound, but it's a wonderfully varied and intelligent disc. No wonder they are heavy weights.” [Fdw/ Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Brombron 17: Extra Space, Extra Time |
CD |
"Korm Plastics is proud to present the seventeenth release in the Brombron series. Originally a co-production between Staalplaat and Extrapool, it is now hosted by co-curator Frans de Waard. In the year 2000 Frans de Waard and Extrapool started the Brombron project. Two or more musicians become artists in residence in Extrapool, an arts initiative in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, with a fully equipped sound recording studio. These artists can work in a certain amount of time on a collaborative project; a project they always wished to do, but didn't have the time or the equipment to realize.
Since almost forty years Z'ev belongs to the absolute fore front of experimental music. Playing percussive music he gained a lot of attention, but in more recent years he returned to working with electronic tape manipulation. One aspect is working with other people, such as Francisco Lopez or Kasper Toeplitz. In his collaboration with KK Null he plays electronic drums.
KK Null (born Kazuyuki Kishino in Tokyo) is a Japanese experimental multi-instrumentalist. He began as a guitarist, but soon added composer, singer, electronic musician and drummer to his list of talents, and also studied with the Butoh workshop.
Null joined the noise/progressive rock band Ybo2 in 1984, issuing several albums and EPs throughout the remainder of the decade. Later he founded more bands, such as Absolute Null Punkt (aka ANP) and his most well known one, the self-described "progressive hardcore trio" Zeni Geva. From that point he also produced albums for other artists, created his own record label (Nux Organization), played live and collaborated on albums with many other musicians, including John Zorn, Yona-Kit, Steve Albini, Boredoms, Seiichi Yamamoto, Jim O'Rourke, Merzbow, Fred Frith, James Plotkin, Keiji Haino, Otomo Yoshihide, Jon Rose, Atau Tanaka, Zbigniew Karkowski, Z'EV, Alexei Borisov, Earth. Noisegate and Philip Samartzis, as well as supporting such artists as Sonic Youth and Mike Patton on tour." [label info]
www.kormplastics.nl
"Next and 17th album in the Brombron-series is an interesting collaboration between two legends of the noise and industrial-scene. Z'EV (aka Stefan Joel Weisser) has been around in the experimental music scene for a long time already. His brand of scrap-metal and found object percussion originates back to the early seventies. Creating his own instruments from various metals and plastics, he has placed himself at the forefront of the movement that became known as "industrial". He was among others one of the described forefront industrial pioneers in the legendary "Industrial Culture Handbook" (1983). In the more recent years, he has returned to working with electro-acoustic manipulations. Fellow artist at the extrapool studios is one of the top composer's of Japanese noise scene. Starting his career in the early 80's by performing guitar improvisations in the clubs and streets of Tokyo, Kazuyuki Kishino a.k.a. K.K. Null continued by collaborating with among others Merzbow and others from the extreme noise scene of Tokyo. The two quite different noise artists has come out with a very interesting album as the result of their studio-days at the Extrapool. The expression on the album "Extra space, extra time" seems like a very nice combination of the style of both artists. Percussion patterns derived from metal materials and other sorts of acoustic banging circulates hand in hand with rumbling noises changing between full throttle and subtle. What makes this release certainly interesting is the way that the twosome manage to blend noisy textures with handmade percussive patterns. Hordes of noise drones and pulses moves alongside the intense tribal drum patterns of Z'EV. The main parts of the six works of the album carrying the title "Extra space, extra time", opens slowly with distant sounds that builds over time until powerful drum patterns set in to create a trancelike atmosphere. Thus despite the abrasive nature of the album, the works has a great appeal thanks to the excellent rhythm textures created by one of Industrial music most steady-going percussion artists, Z'EV. A masterful collaboration on this one!" [NM/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| NURSE WITH WOUND |
Rat Tapes One: An Accumulation of Discarded Musical Vermin 1983-2006 |
CD |
Ratten-Tapes? 18 Stücke, alle unbetitelt, aus den letzten über 20 Jahren, keinesfalls ratten-schlechtes Material, im Gegenteil,
auffallend oft rhythmisch ausgeprägt (sogar break-beatig 1 x ), natürlich immer an der Pforte zu einem surrealistischen Traumreich, wo Bedrohung und Humoreske zwei Seiten derselben Medaille sind. Ansonsten kann einem hier so ziemlich alles passieren, und diverse Sounds von bekannten Releases tauchen wieder auf... Stimmenexperimente, Tierlaute, Sinustöne, unbeschreibbare Geräusche noch und nöcher....
“With 18 untitled tracks, there’s no shortage of the mutant voices and clanks from the darkness that I’ve come to expect. However, I was most surprised by the amount of rhythmic material found here, especially on the second half of the disc. “Track 10” could very well be a backing track left over from the Rock and Roll Sessions. Strangely enough, “Track 12” is a techno song with little of the Nurse With Wound signature other than some operatic elements and the oblique, gaping maw of an ending. It’s actually not a bad example of that type of music, perhaps aided by the element of surprise. “Track 14” actually has lyrics as a growling voice riffs on television news over a big beat and atmospherics. “Track 16” starts with frogs and insects in what could be the foley track of a film before drums and an explosion tear it open into a primal kraut romp with guitars and buried vocals.
There aren’t a whole lot of tracks with obvious forebears, although the bell sounds from Thunder Perfect Mind recur on “Track 4,” “Track 6,” “Track 11,” and perhaps “Track 15.” Also from that album is the jackhammer drill briefly reworked as “Track 13.” The disc concludes with a spoken word collage of musicians’ names, many of which pass too quickly to differentiate, and then ends with the statement, “All of these bands are complete shit,” followed by a scream. Considering that many of those named are well-respected in underground circles, it’s an amusing send-up and perhaps serves as a companion anti-statement to the band’s infamous list of greats from Chance Meeting.
Although a few of the longer songs grow a little dull in the context of other shorter, fragmentary tracks, the album is still generously entertaining with many unique entries to the Nurse With Wound canon.” [Brainwashed / Matthew Amundson]
"An accumulation of discarded musical vermin 1983 - 2006." With Mr. Stapleton returning to publishing through his United Dairies imprint, he has collected various studio outtakes from over the years and compiled them into this exceptional body of NWW ephemera. Immediately, Nurse fans will recognize vastly mangled variations of "Black Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair" from She And Me Fall Together Into Free Death, "Cold" from Thunder Perfect Mind, and "Rock 'N Roll Station" from any number of those sessions. Stapleton has long recycled themes in a kaleidoscope of distortions, permutations, and hallucinations, and hearing such favorites all over again, brings a smile to us all.” [Helen Scarsdale]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Alice the Goon |
CD |
"June 2009, new reissue. United Jnana are pleased to announce the next installment in our ongoing Nurse With Wound reissue series, 'Alice the goon'. Originally released in a limited vinyl edition in 1995, it was expanded for its CD debut in 2000. This version replicates the 2000 reissue With a 4 panel digipak. Tracks: (I Don't Want to Have) Easy Listening Nightmares (9:28) ¥ Prelude to Alice the goon (12:51) ¥ Untitled (7:24)." [label info]
"Alice the Goon was previously a vinyl-only issue of 500 pieces, available to a lucky few at the Nevers Festival in France. It was hard to come by and selling for high prices on auction websites. Fortunately, for the Nurse With Wound fans not so lucky to be in France, Stephen Stapleton has agreed to allow everyone a chance to hear this music again. The CD features the two songs from the original release plus an additional, untitled piece which many call simply 'Alice the Goon.' The first track sounds like it would fit right in on the Sylvie and Babs release; imagine an old phonograph player belting out a brass-laden instrumental. The second track is a little less involved. The third track, however, sounds right out of A Missing Sense. There is little movement and many drones in this song that could certainly lull you to sleep."
[Paul Kustos]
www.durtro.com
|
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Chromanatron |
pic-LP |
"Chromanatron is the new album from Nurse with wound, collages of no less than 5 albums by the mythical German band from the late 60s SAND. These five psyche-experimental-krautrock albums include their first oddity Golem, that NWW discovered a long time ago and represented straight away a great source of inspiration for him.
A great dedication to Sand, and hat-in-hand, chapeau bas ! to Nurse with wound for this once again unique masterpiece.
Chromanatron is part of the series INXODEM released by Rotorelief. It is a series of new albums from Sand as well as a reissue of their obscure and rare album Golem. This series of albums is called INXODEM, the series title having one letter for each album. Current 93 is also part of the project with When the may rain comes, cover versions of the original track from Sand.
All paintings and collages of the INXODEM series are created by Babs Santini aka Steven Stapleton." [label info]
www.rotorelief.com
|
2013 |
€24.50 |
|
|
Chromanatron |
CD |
"Chromanatron is the new album from Nurse with wound, collages of no less than 5 albums by the mythical German band from the late 60s SAND. These five psyche-experimental-krautrock albums include their first oddity Golem, that NWW discovered a long time ago and represented straight away a great source of inspiration for him.
A great dedication to Sand, and hat-in-hand, chapeau bas ! to Nurse with wound for this once again unique masterpiece.
Chromanatron is part of the series INXODEM released by Rotorelief. It is a series of new albums from Sand as well as a reissue of their obscure and rare album Golem. This series of albums is called INXODEM, the series title having one letter for each album. Current 93 is also part of the project with When the may rain comes, cover versions of the original track from Sand.
All paintings and collages of the INXODEM series are created by Babs Santini aka Steven Stapleton." [label info]
www.rotorelief.com
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Lumb's Sister |
CD |
"Newly remastered from the original analogue tapes by Denis Blackham. "This music was originally conceived as raw material for the film project 'Lumb's Sister' by Chris Wallis. During the long evolution of his movie, Chris decided to use alternative source sounds and subsequently none of these pieces ever made it onto the completed film." [label info]
"Back in 1990, Nurse With Wound, Current 93, and Sol Invictus issued a 3lp set of their works, all of which was suitably occult and suitably dark. By the middle of the decade, both C93 and Sol Invictus had reissued their own material on individual discs, but Steven Stapleton / Nurse With Wound never did until some 25 years later. As such, that boxset became quite a prize possession for NWW aficionados; and it was originally composed to be the soundtrack to a film by Chris Wallis, an occasional contributor to Nurse With Wound and Current 93 in the late '80s. The film itself had been notoriously unfinished for decades, with cans of film getting lost over the years; and when Wallis finally got around to completing a cut of the film, the original soundtrack was unused, instead Wallis picked over various bits from the Nurse With Wound catalog as the score. So, Lumb's Sister the Nurse With Wound album has nothing anymore to do with Lumb's Sister the film by Chris Wallis. Stapleton's response? "Aw, shucks." A quintessentially obscurant recording of quintessential Nurse With Wound strategies, Lumb's Sister laces eerie vocalizations that are often sped up conversations on tape machines amongst distended drones from various bowed metals, elongated vocal utterances, and stringed instruments that all amass into a bellowing darkly illumined thrum. Its closest companion in the Nurse With Wound catalogue would be the elegant piece of minimalism found on Soliloquy For Lilith and the Tibet / Stapleton drone-chant epic The Sadness Of Things. This cd version contains much more material than the original lp, also including Nurse With Wound's subtle variation of Coil's "How To Destroy Angels." As with anything that Stapleton touches, this is a work of genius." [Aquarius Records]
|
2015 |
€19.00 |
|
|
The Swinging Reflective II |
do-CD |
"Follow up to 1999's The Swinging Reflective album. It features an array of Steven Stapleton's favourite releases that are either his remixes of other artists, collaborations or have been co-written with individuals who have worked extensively with NWW. All tracks are remastered and some have been slightly or comprehensively remixed. This set is packaged in a heavy board, gloss laminated 6 panel digipac."
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Homotopy to Marie |
BOOK / 2 x CD |
Double-CD version includes 30-page metallic hardcover book (15 x 20 x 2cm) containing color and black-and-white art by Babs Santini (Steven Stapleton). Rotorelief present a reissue of Homotopy To Marie. the fifth album by Nurse With Wound, originally released in 1982. Music and sleeve created by Steven Stapleton. The album is "a step on from the Dadaist rock of Merzbild Schwet, with much use of tape manipulation and classical avant-garde techniques". The album, which combines tape edits with resonating gong tones and disembodied children's voices to create a sonic collage, is far removed from the harsh improvisations of the group's early albums. The title of the brief closing track derives from a passage from "Les Chants de Maldoror" (1869), a surreal poetic novel written by Le Comte de Lautréamont. This appropriation of a phrase from Maldoror is shared in common with the title of Nurse With Wound's debut album, Chance Meeting on a Dissecting Table of a Sewing Machine and an Umbrella (1979); both phrases appear in Lautréamont's work. The album was first issued on Stapleton's own United Dairies label on vinyl, cassette, and later in remastered compact disc including an extra track "Astral Dustbin Dirge". This masterpiece reissue is the official full, double album from the original recording sessions. The four tracks from the original LP are accompanied by additional recordings from the same period.
|
2018 |
€27.50 |
|
|
Gyllenskold, Geijerstam and I at Rydberg's |
CD + BOOK |
"Nurse With Wound – Gyllensköld, Geijerstam And I At Rydberg’s – Art Book CD – Silver Collection – augmented album
Deluxe Art Book cd of 24 pages sewn – All artworks by Babs Santini
Tracks
1. SEVERAL ODD MOMENTS PRIOR TO LUNCH (9:48)
2. PHENOMENON OF AQUARIUM AND BEARDED LADY (5:32)
3. DIRTY FINGERNAILS (15:42)
4. ODD (2:41)
5. AQUARIUM (5:58)
5. DIRTY FINGERNAILS (10:33)
6. JOURNEY THROUGH CHEESE (20:20)
"This 1983 period in which Gyllensköld was recorded was a fantastic time for the evolution of Steven Stapleton’s audio art. His collaborations with Diana Rogerson, Robert Haigh (Sema), David Tibet, and Thirlwell around this time elicited some of the most exciting work Nurse With Wound had yet recorded. Listen to this material and compare it to Chance Meeting and it becomes clear that in just a few years, Stapleton’s art had grown by leaps and bounds. The production quality on these tracks is remarkable, and the widening out of the NWW soundworld opened up a whole new audio toybox that Stapleton has continued to experiment with up to today. This new sound encompasses vocal experiments, vintage LPs of easy listening music, demented nursery rhymes, lateral references to disposable pop music, avant-garde jazz and minimalistic piano composition, all glued together with evocative atmospheres redolent of things unholy, troubling and perverse, but always oddly indefinable and puzzlingly misshapen. In retrospect, Gyllensköld can be seen as the beginning of the “mature” period of NWW, and thus it is an indispensible release for fans of the project.
Perhaps influenced by the obsessions of his friend and collaborator Tibet, Stapleton also began weaving religious and occult references into his usual name-dropping of avant-garde artists and movements. The title of Gyllensköld was taken from an entry in dramatist August Strindberg’s Occult Diary, a volume which represents either the record of a great writer’s exploration of magic and mysticism, or the hallucinogenic scrawlings of a man in the grips of extreme paranoid psychosis, depending on your point of view. Similarly, NWW’s Gyllensköld comes across at times as the soundtrack to a schizoid episode: disembodied voices intoning nonsense, floating subliminally across the stereo channels, or cackling in evil delight. The sounds are denser here than on earlier works such as Homotopy To Marie. Areas of silence are mostly gone, replaced by layers of drone, cartoonish noises and mutated voices. “Several Odd Moments Prior to Lunch” opens the brief album, setting the stage with its lysergically altered vocals and a frightening, yawning chasm of haunted, spectral sound. Stapleton, Thirlwell, and company learned how to wield the studio like an instrument on these and other recordings of the period. Effects such as reverb, delay, ring modulation and backwards tracking are utilized to create evolving textures and darkly psychedelic dreamspaces.
“Phenomenon of Aquarium and Bearded Lady” utilizes a number of instruments, including horns and piano, to create a bizarre dislocated funeral dirge in which the sounds of a slowly cycling jack-in-the-box are not out of place. For fans of musicians like Jacques Berrocal, who prefer their free jazz with a heavy dose of whacked-out eccentricity, this is about as good as it gets. “Dirty Fingernails” is something else entirely, a longform exploration of outré textures, combining mysterious trebly noises with percussive bleeps of mysterious origin. It all comes across like the soundtrack to an alechemical ritual performed by rickety Victorian-era cyborgs in an abandoned subway tunnel at the end of time. In other words, prime Nurse With Wound territory." [Brainwashed]
https://nursewithwound1.bandcamp.com/album/gyllensk-ld-geijerstam-and-i-at-rydbergs
|
2021 |
€27.50 |
|
| |
Bar Maldoror |
do-LP |
The long-running and infamous project known as Nurse With Wound -- essentially Steven Stapleton joined by a rotating cast of characters -- mixes the overly serious chin-scratching of the contemporary avant-garde with a healthy dose of absurdist humor and wit. Often unfortunately branded with the industrial's tag, Stapleton's music actually reflects elements of musique concrète, ambient, and free improvisation juxtaposed against more traditional forms. No one pigeonhole can adequately describe this diverse and immense catalogue: only by diving in can one truly appreciate the varied sonic possibilities of Stapleton's unfettered imagination. He's that weird, and he's that good. In the mid-1980s, Nurse With Wound existed as a live band for only eight shows, of which only five were in front of an actual audience. Live at Bar Maldoror, released in 1991, documents these various live incarnations. Having been remastered by Andrew Liles, the diverse and lengthy pieces (which were actually recorded in disparate locales, none of which are named "Bar Maldoror") sound rather contemporary. Sparse percussion, tape manipulation, loops, noise, dark drones, improvised semi-musical instrumentation and strangled glossolalia all expose the many facets of Stapleton's oeuvre. In 2023, as part of the silver editions, Rotorelief Records released Bar Maldoror as a double vinyl album, in a luxurious gatefold with four panels of artwork by Babs Santini.
|
2023 |
€40.00 |
|
| NURSE WITH WOUND / OCTAVE MIRBEAU |
Alienation / Un Homme Sensible |
mCD + book |
"Je ne crois pas avoir jamais été méchant. Non, en vérité, je ne le crois pas. Tout enfant, j’étais même doué d’une sensibilité excessivement, exagérément douloureuse qui me portait à plaindre, – jusqu’à en être malade – les souffrances des autres… pourvu – cela va de soi, car je suis un artiste – qu’elles ne se compliquassent point de laideurs anormales ou de monstruosités physiologiques. Ah ! ce n’est pas moi – vous pouvez m’en croire – qui admettrai jamais l’esthétique de M. Rodin. Et, je puis me vanter que j’en ai jeté des pommes cuites à son Balzac !…
Écrivain et critique, Octave Mirbeau (1848-1917) est notamment l'auteur de L'Abbé Jules, Le jardin des supplices et Journal d'une femme de chambre. Dans Un homme sensible, il conte l'histoire d'un assassin bien décidé, au nom de l'harmonie du monde, à débarrasser celui-ci de « tous les organismes inaptes à une vie harmonieuse et forte ». De quoi inspirer Nurse With Wound, qui, en guise d'illustration, nous livre ici Alienation (The Devil's Interval), une nouvelle pièce de musique inédite."
www.lenkalente.com/product/un-homme-sensible-d-octave-mirbeau-nurse-with-wound
"Let me finish where it all started. With Nurse With Wound whose music I have been listening to for the last ooooh thirty five years or so. Late eighties maybe? Mid eighties? Memories lost in the fog of time. You listen to so much you lose track. What was my first Nurse With Wound album? Probably ‘A Sucked Orange’, maybe that collaboration with Hafler Trio that came out on Staaltape. ‘A Sucked Orange’ I found hilarious; I’m A Frayed Knot, Pleasant Banjo Intro With Irritating Squeak, Scrambled Egg Rebellion In The Smegma Department. I listened and thought to myself but aren’t Nurse With Wound supposed to be dark and scary? Somewhere lodged in the back of my brain was the cover art for ‘Chance Meeting ...’ and that leather clad dominatrix and the thought that only weirdos listened to Nurse With Wound and here was ‘Raymonde Fluffs It’ in which Raymonde fluffs his opening lines. Laugh? I nearly bought myself one. The split with Hafler Trio meanwhile, that truly fried my brain. I had no idea what was going on but I knew that I liked it.
Shortly afterwards I availed myself of twenty nine United Dairies cassettes via Ron Lessard and have proudly walked stride by stride with Nurse With Wound ever since, diving in to the back catalogue and buying new stuff when the chance arose. Until recently when the thought struck me that barring what Lenka Lente have released I haven’t listened to a new Nurse With Wound release for what must be over ten years. How did that happen? How did I manage to overlook what one of my favourite bands have been doing for the last ten years?
I decided to make up for lost time by drawing up a list of every Nurse With Wound release catalogued on Discogs and ticked off all those that I had physical copies of. I discounted the two Nurse With Wound MP3 discs I bought in St Petersburg in 2003 because a] I dislike the Russian and Chinese attitude towards copyright and b] MP3’s are a bit shit. I now realise that far from having everything Nurse With Wound had recorded from inception to the year 2000 and bits beyond I was the proud owner of quite a bit of it with several gaps that needed filling. To fill these gaps I need time and money so for the foreseeable the blog is being put to bed as I venture forth on the good ship Nurse With Wound proudly captained by Steve Stapleton and his crew. Whether I shall ever rouse it from its slumbers we shall have to wait and see.
In the meantime I’m going to find out what Nurse With Wound have been up to these last ten years. I need to hear what awaits me within that decade and the gaps that lie beyond. I shall also paint and draw, read, listen to the radio, go for walks around Scholes, see out this sodding lockdown, survive the virus and hopefully emerge like a vaccinated butterfly sometime during the spring months. By then I will have listened to lots of Nurse With Wound. Lots. Masses. Hopefully I’ll have bought quite a bit too. Maybe I’ll sell off some stuff to make room for it. My very own dedicated Nurse With Wound shelf with a vinyl copy of ‘A Sucked Orange’ forever proudly on display.
My Lenka Lente/Nurse With Wound CD’s will also go there though the shelf will have to be a tad smaller to accommodate them. These three inch/five centimeter discs have been virtually my only portal to what Nurse With Wound have been up to recently. The last one that came through the door piquing my interest enough to having me seek out their Tusk set from 2017, which by the way in case you are interested and why shouldn’t you be is quite stunning and well worth your time. If only I was there. Woe is me etc.
‘Alienations [The Devil’s Interval]’ is a fifteen minute slice of a ‘sleep concert’ Nurse With Wound gave in Ireland also during 2017. Sleep concerts being eight hour long overnight shows where Stapleton DJ’s his back catalogue while mixing in live sounds [I’m guessing] as the audience chills out for the night on airbeds and sleeping bags. Somnolence and hypnogogia being the perfect state of mind in which to receive the slowly moving drones of say Soliloquy For Lilith. Whether Stapleton played ‘Chance Meeting …’ in its entirety at four a.m. isn’t recorded. You can achieve the same state of mind at home by smoking a big bifter and playing Soliloquy For Lilith on repeat while rubbing the rim of a glass bowl with a wet finger. Just don’t try it with ‘A Sucked Orange’ ... unless you’re an insomniac. The results will be very different. Fifteen minutes culled from eight hours of DJ’ing will have to suffice for now then and beautiful it is too with the merest hint of Aurelie Lierman’s vocals helping to lull you safely in to the droning arms of morpheus.
As for Octave Mirbeau, I vaguely remember buying a copy of his ‘The Torture Garden’ when I was going through a very expensive and steep transgressive reading curve. If I had all the money returned to me that I spent on books of a transgressive nature I’d have enough to buy a good chunk of the Nurse With Wound back catalogue on original vinyl, in mint condition. Needless to say I was wholly unprepared and underwhelmed by Mirbeau’s satire on the brutality of humankind wanting and expecting something of a far more base nature for my money. I left Mirbeau and much of transgressive literature behind around the same time. Maybe I should go back now that I am older and wiser? Now that I have more time on my hands. Now that I’m reacquainting myself with Nurse With Wound. The perfect partners perhaps? I could translate all of ‘Un Homme Sensible’ while listening to ‘Automating Volume Three’. I’m sure that it would be time well spent." [Idwal Fisher]
https://idwalfisher.blogspot.com/2021/02/octave-mirbeau-and-nurse-with-wound.html
|
2021 |
€16.00 |
|
| O PARADIS |
Pequenas Canciones de Amor |
CD |
"The 1st thing that comes to mind when I hear O Paradis is Novy Svet and lookie lookie Jurgen Weber from just that project worked and wrote some of the material. It has the same campy cabaret vibe as Novy Svet. Though there are more eastern and gypsy elements into the Folkish overtone. I all honesty the 1st track was a tough listen to get through. There are moments were I really wonder where O Paradis are going with this.
They are very akin to Spiritual Front in song structure and ideals as well. I do like the lazy horns and heavy bass elements that add an avant jazz overtone. ‘Pequenas Canciones De Amor’ being in Italian some of the time is a bit hard for me to follow from time to time but there are really some beautiful track especially when the female vocals are mixed with the very lounge sung male vocals.
A truly shining moment is the Bob Dylan song so well done by the mighty Johnny Cash called " its aint me, Baby”. The additional accordion piece which is incorporated really adds to the fullness of the track.
Sometime I think O Paradis really want to be Novy Svet as some of the more dark ambient/ martini/ martial moments could come off one of their releases. I was always a sucker for Novy Svet so it’s something I greatly missed. I'm shocked that labels like Punch, WKN or Soleilmoon didn’t jump at the chance to release this title. Some of these tracks I think are in Spanish like Novy Svet did from time to time as well. As ‘Pequenas Canciones De Amo’ goes along the CD get stronger and stronger and a more complex beast that is hugely expansive and almost epic at times, which also include moments of even stirring neo-classic movements. This new label Tourette based of Texas USA have given a release to stand up with the bigger labels mentioned above. It comes in a wonderful digipak as well. Just to add to the magic of it all. I will be looking forward to hearing more from O Paradis and Tourette in the future." [Clint Listing /Judas Kiss]
www.touretterecords.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| O PARADIS / ESCAMA SERRADA |
La Corte del Rey Pescador / La Reina esta mala |
2 x CD |
"I have been a follower of Ô Paradis since I purchased “El Juego Negro” a couple of years ago. Demian has always managed to present groovy, Mediterranean neo folk, with a large assortment of samplers, noises and improvised instruments, and most always caressed by Demian’s voice. Frankly, “La Corte Del Rey Pescador” is, in my opinion, one if his best results yet. He seems to have polished the sometimes crude angles of his previous records. The fluidity of the record is astounding, and the music has become riper, settled, like a fruit fills with juice in the spring sunlight. “La Corte Del Rey Pescador” reminds me more than ever of Corcobado, with a darker, more experimental sound. Especially the use of the bass and the introduction of diverse experimental melodies take the music that step further. The lyrics seem to have also developed, into an intimate world, full of metaphors and sparkled with direct statements. The swing of “La Verdad De Los Peces” is transformed into the dark pop ballad of “El Paraiso Perdido”. The languid “Solo Un Desierto”, with a naïve piano melody, becomes a folk masterpiece that disintegrates into the violent dark tune “El Trono De La Razon” to then let the record close with the brilliant, moving, “Mi Dios”. Twenty minutes definitely come out as being too scarce. A must for true folk, experimental pop and simply great music lovers."
"The debut album of Sergio Méndez comes through Tourette Records as part of the pack “La Corte Del Rey Pescador/La Reina Está Mala”. Sergio and Demian from Ô Paradis have a friendship that has culminated in the release of this double work, in which they have actually worked together on some tracks. However, don’t be mistaken, Escama Serrada doesn’t sound like Ô Paradis except maybe with some ingredients of the music production. But, hey, bread and cake also share ingredients yet they taste quite differently. Samplers, parchments of songs, melodies - but especially noise, sometimes thick, sometimes hard, are present as well. Always undulating and pulsing, creating the main bases for each song. Escama Serrada basically presents a sort of dark ambient, adding some martial spice at times and a lot of dark punk attitude at others. Perhaps the music is similar to a modern day nihilistic version of Einstürzende Neubauten, or deconstructed rock stricken through a machinery surface. I love the way the songs are connected to each other, and it seems the hand of Demian is visible here, since his Tourette release is perhaps also the one in which the fluidity of the record is the best in his career. Also, both records have seven songs, mirroring each other. My personal favorite is track “IV” with its haunting guitar that is slowly shaded by the atmosphere around it. Promising ambient, with ample possibilities and, appreciatively, a distinct personality." [both reviews from SIDE-LINE]
www.touretterecords.com
|
2009 |
€22.00 |
|
| O YUKI CONJUGATE |
The Euphoria of Disobedience |
CD + object |
"Just one short decade after making their last album, UK ambient pioneers O Yuki Conjugate release a new CD called “The Euphoria of Disobedience” on their OYC Limited label. This calls for a celebration, and indeed an explanation. O Yuki Conjugate have released four studio albums and innumerable spin-off and side projects since their first gig in Nottingham in 1982. Currently in their third incarnation, the ever-youthful OYC have cancelled their hip replacements and are going all-out for superannuated ambient glory with their latest CD. Started in 2002 and completed in late 2005, “The Euphoria of Disobedience” explores an area OYC have christened “dirty ambient”, multi layered, hyper textural and distinctly gritty. Less obviously ethnic than previous OYC releases, the perfumed garden of Eno’s classic ambience is replaced by rough edges, noxious odours and abrasive textures. The result is a jagged beauty. “The Euphoria of Disobedience” is available only as a numbered limited edition of 1000 in a unique digipak fronted with a hand cast resin “ice” tile. With all its cracks and roughness it’s not like anything you’ve ever seen before. “The Euphoria of Disobedience” marks a new period of activity for OYC who are making their long deleted back catalogue available as downloads via iTunes and their own site (www.oyukiconjugate.com) as well as completing more releases in this unusual spate of activity." [label info]
|
2006 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Sunchemical |
12inch |
"O Yuki Conjugate have been active since 1982. Initially embracing Post Punk currents, they evolved into early pioneers of Fourth World music and still very active havung never stopped evolving. In the mid 90s their music briefly crossed over with the fringes of the club scene as their “Equator” album became something of an ambient classic. Signed to ultra cult Dutch label Staalplaat, a label as far removed from the club world as one might imagine, they nevertheless decided to release a club friendly 12” with a remix from Charles Webster that became an E Music classic. Perhaps the least known of his remixes, this ten-minute epic take on their ambient masterpiece will melt the hardest heart.
The original Staalplaat 12” is almost impossible to find so Optimo Music is delighted to make it available again in a slightly reconfigured version. Three divine Sunchemical takes from OYC and a Charles Webster remix that a quarter of a century later sounds as if it might just have been created. Comes in a full colour sleeve designed by Andrew Beltran."
https://optimomusic.bandcamp.com/album/sunchemical-ep
|
2021 |
€14.50 |
|
| |
A Tension of Opposites Vol.3 & 4 |
MC |
listen:
https://oyukiconjugate.bandcamp.com/album/a-tension-of-opposites-vols-1-2
Volume 3:
'A World Without Zeros'
Tracks 1 - 5 by Andrew Hulme, Hull & London 221-2 (43 minutes)
Volume 4
'Inversion'
Tracks 6 - 16 by Roger Horberry, York 2022 (37 minutes)
with
Joe Lamb - saxophone
Two years after the first two volumes of A Tension of Opposites (ATOO) were issued OYC return to the form they created to house their looser more exploratory works. ATOO allows them to expand their musical horizons and release their music more expediently.
The original ATOO was born out of 2020's virus state where both OYC members were left working in isolation. Two types of music emerged spontaneously, and rather than try to combine them OYC decided to present the results separately, two sides of a contrasting whole.
In need of a suitable format and frustrated by their usual lengthy release schedules, OYC returned to the quick and dirty compact cassette – the place they started back in the 80s.
ATOO is 'Dirty Ambient', a phrase coined by OYC for the process of working quickly and instinctively, embracing errors and honouring imperfections. It's also a jibe at what is sometimes a hideously manicured genre.
VIEW SHORT FILM HERE
vimeo.com/815575259
Brand new cassette release, second in the series of releases called 'A Tension of Opposites'.
86 minutes of completely new music, effectively two albums in one.
Housed in dual colour black and white shell, with folded Maltese cross packaging, full colour design printed on uncoated 240gsm card, inside and out.
This edition is a complement to 'A Tension of Opposites Volumes 1 & 2' and is limited to 300 copies.
"Now in its 40th year of existence, O Yuki Conjugate is still going strong. Going through various line-ups, but with Roger Horberry and Andrew Hulme as the common thread in their history. Their new cassette is a follow-up to the first instalment of 'A Tension Of Opposites' (see Vital Weekly 1275) and the result of working in isolation. The first one was at the height of lockdown and covid, but an idea they
liked to repeat. Hume has five pieces on the first side, Horberry ten on the second, and you try to spot the differences in approach and do the maths as the total is the sound of O Yuki Conjugate. They label their music as dirty ambient, which is about the "process of working quickly and instinctively, embracing errors and honouring imperfections. It's also a jibe at what is sometimes a hideously manicured genre." It's easy to hear the typical OYC elements in the music here, the percussion, the bass sounds, the sparse synthesizers, the slightly exotic feeling and the 'dirty' elements, a bit of tape hiss, for instance. As before, Horberry likes to keep his pieces short and tends to be rhythmic. Hulme has four shortish pieces and one long piece, and, again, his music is a slightly more abstract ambient drift. Remember that these 'differences' aren't significant, as Hulme's pieces have a fair share of rhythm, just as Horberry's music is highly atmospherical. Hulme's pieces are, perhaps,
more a collage of various sounds and textures, generally mixed in a free-floating manner, whereas Horberry's are kept together and have a song-like structure. Indeed, these approaches make up the music of O Yuki Conjugate. Let me end with the same conclusion as before; you can mistake this for a group effort, which is undoubtedly the point." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€12.00 |
|
| O'CALLAGHAN, JAMES |
Espaces Tautologiques |
CD |
1st disc by Montréal-based young Canadian composer James O’Callaghan.Includes the trytich of acousmatic works that imagine the sounding bodies of instruments as resonant spaces. “Objects-Interiors” (2013), “Bodies-Soundings” (2014), “Empties-Impetus” (2014-15), “Isomorphic” (2011-14).
James O’Callaghan is a composer and sound artist based in Montréal praised for his “mastery of materials and musical form” (Électromania, Radio France) and “highly refined sense of colour” (Vancouver Sun).
His music intersects acoustic and electroacoustic media, employing field recordings, amplified found objects, computer-assisted transcription of environmental sounds, and unique performance conditions.
His work, spanning chamber, orchestral, live electronic and acousmatic idioms, audio installations, and site-specific performances, has been variously commissioned by the Groupe de recherches musicales (GRM), NYO Canada, Ensemble Paramirabo, Quasar, and Standing Wave, among others.
James O’Callaghan is the recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts’ Robert Fleming Prize (Canada, 2015), and his music has been awarded first prizes in the Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award (USA, 2016), the Musicworks’ electronic music competition (Canada, 2015), the SOCAN Foundation Awards for Young Composers (Canada, 2013, ’14), including its 2014 John Weinzweig Grand Prize, and the Canadian Electroacoustic Community’s competition Jeu de temps / Times Play (CEC, Canada, 2013). His music was nominated for the Gaudeamus Award (The Netherlands, 2016) and the Juno Award for Classical Composition of the Year (Canada, 2014), and was a finalist in the the 8e Prix collégien de musique contemporaine (Québec, 2016) and the Klang competition (France, 2015).
Originally from Vancouver, he received a Master of Music degree in composition from McGill University in 2014, studying with Philippe Leroux, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts honours degree from Simon Fraser University in 2011, studying with Barry Truax.
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
2016 |
€14.00 |
|
| O'MALLEY, STEPHEN |
Eternelle Idole |
do-LP |
"September 2015 marks the release of Stephen O’Malley’s ‘Eternelle Idole’, long awaited documentation of the score of Paris based choreographer Gisèle Vienne's eponymous artistic ice skating choreographic piece of the same name.
Composed of 47 minutes of music spread over 2 vinyls and enhanced by a elegant and chilling photoset by Estelle Hanania, the record features some - familiar - O’Malley collaborators such as Steve Moore, Daniel O'Sullivan, Peter Rehberg, Jesse Sykes, Bill Herzog & Randall Dunn.
Recorded between Brest (FR), Seattle (USA), and Rotterdam (NL), the score sees Stephen O’Malley taking several creative detours, utilizing modular synthesizers and programming as key elements for much of the composition. And while a 3 minutes hole (Track 3) will extract the music from any temporality, emerging eerie phrases of keyboards and piano draw a white monochrome stage for a young girl’s stark and emotive elegy.
Not to worry then… clavichord and guitars weave the darkness, supported by Jesse Sykes prophetical voice, summoning the utter walls of the threats from the external world.
Mirroring the music score, Estelle Hanania presents 16 photographs from the choreographic piece, enlightening how much ice-skating can be about grace and sustain, geometry, telemetry, distance and perfection, as well as possible falls, gloomy shadows.
Metal against ice, tights and knots, spirals and scratches, shouts and winds : field recordings mold a crispy atmosphere while instruments draws some ovals shapes such as lakes, ice skating ring, cosmos belt… and a terrestrial cloud passage and eventual landing platform for a flying saucer." [label info]
www.shelter-press.org
|
2015 |
€32.00 |
|
| |
End Ground |
LP |
"End Ground forms the 3rd and final installment in a series of records documenting the solo prowess of Sunn 0)))’s Stephen O’Malley released on Sweden’s iDEAL Recordings. It was performed on electric guitar thru Sunn model T amps, and captured on zoom H4 at Centre Cultural Suisse, Bad Bonn Carte Blanche, Paris, France, on 18th October 2013.
In solo mode, stripped of his usual accomplices and collaborators, O’Malley is no less than an elemental force. His durational meditations absorb and consume with steady- handed wave after wave of charred, sustained, and sub-harmonised chords casting the mesmerising minimalist practice of La Monte Young into the physicality of Black Sabbath’s original, heavy metal die.
The A-side/first half of this 45 minute performance features O’Malley tentatively coaxing out languorous riffs which turn the air around him to a pensive, vibrating mush. As the 2nd half dawns he begins to deliver more crushing blows, drawing out and subsiding the chords with a patented, gut-wrenching and vivifying power that transcends rock, avant- garde, minimalism - all of that - to awaken dormant senses not usually experienced with other musics or concise temporality.
As with many of the most affective heavy drone recordings by Sunn 0))), among others, a modicum of patience is required in order to attain the right state for reception, but once your mind and body are malleable, the impact is deliciously visceral, primal and whelming."
www.idealrecordings.com
|
2017 |
€21.00 |
|
| OBLIVION ENSEMBLE |
Seraphim Hallucino |
CD |
Nach langer Wartezeit endlich ein neues Album für das US-amerikanische Projekt um BRANNON HUNGNESS und JOHN BERGSTROM, die vor Jahren auch eine EP für Drone Records eingespielt haben. SERAPHIM HALLUCINO ist ein erdrückend intensives, dunkles Werk basierend auf Instrumental-Improvisationen, die später im Studio ausufernd bearbeitet wurden... mit elektro-akustischer Finesse ausgestatteten Dronescapes, die geheimnisvoll & geräuschhaft tönen, man scheint wie in einem surrealen (Alp?)-Traum gefangen zu sein, immer wieder schlittern diese Sounds am Bewusstsein vorbei, um dann in überraschenden Arrangements wiederzuerstarken... eine einzigartige, filmische Atmosphäre wird erschaffen. Grossartiges Album!
"The music of Oblivion Ensemble remains as elusive and surreal as the ever-shifting cast of musicians and performerswho participate, knowingly, or unknowingly in their work. Founding members are John Bergstrom and Brannon Hungness (aka Figure). Hungness is a virtuoso experimentalguitarist and composer and a former member of the Glenn Branca Ensemble. Bergstrom is a computer-musicgearhead and a film composer with a classical music pedigree, and mastermind behind the industrial-noise assembly Torse. Seraphim Hallucino is Oblivion Ensemble’s fifth full-length release, the first since the virtual opera “Nightmare:Sinistrotorse” (Complacency, 1995). At Seraphim Hallucino’s source are strange, electro-acoustic improvisations of percussion, trumpet, voice, synthesizers and guitar. These improvisations are sculpted and sampled, twisted and turned, shaped into building and diminishing moments, and, at times appearing alone, pure and unmodified. Deeply imbedded in the music and fragmented lyrics are secrets, intertwining themes, voices, and imprinted messages. All come together to create an enormously complex, mercurial mix of surreal, dynamic and dark sounds. To fully appreciate the scope and intricacies of Seraphim Hallucino, headphones in a darkened room are highly recommended.
"The band most likely to compose a fitting soundtrack for the end of the world. ” [Sorted magAZine]
“Visionary gothic psychedelia. [The Wire]
"the most undefinable gorgeous musical anything that I have ever witnessed ... a beyond great performance, chilling and anxious.
[Best of Times]. In superb digipak, with artwork by Matt Vickerstaff of darkwaveart.co.uk." [press release]
"... Eerie textures are easily combined with chaotic and hectic movements. I am not sure wether we should see all twenty-two pieces as part of the total, or wether they are all separate, I rather believe the first, since some parts do flow nicely into each other, thus making the greater picture. There is a darker undercurrent on this CD, which doesn't make it easy to grasp, but it unfolds great beauty when explored in depth (and in dark, I presume)." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| OFFTHESKY / PLEQ |
A Thousand Fields |
do-LP & 7inch |
A Thousand Fields is the first collaboration between Denver, Colorado based artist offthesky (Jason Corder) and Warsaw, Poland based musician Pleq (Bartosz Dziadosz). From the opening restrained "Ashes of America" with intermittant ominous strings through the industrial landscape of "drown under..." with it's glittering glass and harmonious drones breaking through, this work of ambient tapestry sees each artist pulling the best work from one another. Both are veteran experimental and ambient recording
artists with dozens of recordings to their credit. Featured on a multitude of labels that read like a roster of contemporary ambient and soundscape recordings - Home Normal, Ephre, Taalem, Databloem, dataObscura, Basses Frequencies, Constellation Tatsu to name just a few.
This recording feels like a potential has been met. What has been hinted at in solo and prior collaborations meshed together with an influence of equal parts minimalism, fourth world ambience, field recordings, drone, and experimental composition to a stunning degree.
Composition is thrilling when notes are allowed to breathe, to vibrate. A single piano string, the circular slow melody of a violin, as on the nostalgic "Delicate Exit" or the delicate assembly of abstract beauty - distant harp, an interrupted string section, shuffling of feet, a ghostly echo as on "simulacromancer".
This is a 2xLP set, mastered by Carl Saff, cut at 45 rpm. It is housed in a tip-on style heavy gatefold sleeve with OBI strip featuring artwork from Pyhai. The first 300 copies will include a bonus 7" entitled "Still Your Bones" (INFX 062 S) with 2 exclusive tracks. The entire pressing is a 500 copy edition, available in white 180g vinyl (limited to 100 copies **White vinyl Sold Out**) and the remaining 400 copies will be on black 180g vinyl.
Includes unlimited streaming of A Thousand Fields via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
https://infraction.bandcamp.com/album/a-thousand-fields
|
2015 |
€32.00 |
|
| |
A Thousand Fields |
CD |
A Thousand Fields is the first collaboration between Denver, Colorado based artist offthesky (Jason Corder) and Warsaw, Poland based musician Pleq (Bartosz Dziadosz). From the opening restrained "Ashes of America" with intermittant ominous strings through the industrial landscape of "drown under..." with it's glittering glass and harmonious drones breaking through, this work of ambient tapestry sees each artist pulling the best work from one another. Both are veteran experimental and ambient recording
artists with dozens of recordings to their credit. Featured on a multitude of labels that read like a roster of contemporary ambient and soundscape recordings - Home Normal, Ephre, Taalem, Databloem, dataObscura, Basses Frequencies, Constellation Tatsu to name just a few.
This recording feels like a potential has been met. What has been hinted at in solo and prior collaborations meshed together with an influence of equal parts minimalism, fourth world ambience, field recordings, drone, and experimental composition to a stunning degree.
Composition is thrilling when notes are allowed to breathe, to vibrate. A single piano string, the circular slow melody of a violin, as on the nostalgic "Delicate Exit" or the delicate assembly of abstract beauty - distant harp, an interrupted string section, shuffling of feet, a ghostly echo as on "simulacromancer".
This is a 2xLP set, mastered by Carl Saff, cut at 45 rpm. It is housed in a tip-on style heavy gatefold sleeve with OBI strip featuring artwork from Pyhai. The first 300 copies will include a bonus 7" entitled "Still Your Bones" (INFX 062 S) with 2 exclusive tracks. The entire pressing is a 500 copy edition, available in white 180g vinyl (limited to 100 copies **White vinyl Sold Out**) and the remaining 400 copies will be on black 180g vinyl.
Includes unlimited streaming of A Thousand Fields via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
https://infraction.bandcamp.com/album/a-thousand-fields
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
| OGNI VIDENIY & SVETLO111 |
Synapse |
CD-R |
A collaboration of the two projects now based in St. Petersburg and often performing together at city gigs and forest festivals. Three long psychoactive tracks filled with gritty analogue noise, farced with scraps of electronic signals and soaked in a syrup of harmonious drones. Despite the abrasive texture of sound and use of rather sharp effects, the atmosphere of the album is quite contemplative. Like the severely frosty northern night with polar lights: the air bites your skin and burns your lungs, but you just can't stop staring. The key point is the right adjustment of perception and selection of warming elements!
zhb.radionoise.ru/eng/zhb-liii.html
|
2015 |
€8.00 |
|
| OJERUM (øJERUM) |
When Birds Fly, the Eyes of Heaven can Rest |
LP |
Released by Aurora Borealis Recordings, 2017
Post-Production on Part 1 by Andrew Chalk
Description by the label:
As fans since 2014, we’re very excited to be releasing the debut vinyl from Danish multi-disciplinary artist øjeRum. Titled ‘when birds fly, the eyes of heaven can rest’, the LP features two extended tracks of aetherial, haunting and otherworldly beauty.
The cover art is a hand-cut collage, part of an ever growing body of incredible work from this talented Dane. The artwork expresses the audio perfectly. A floating, drifting haze of light, subtly shifting, organic. This is a world to lose yourself in.
credits
released January 30, 2017
"Denmark’s øjeRum makes a sublime vinyl debut with the anaesthetising ambient tones of When Birds Fly, The Eyes of Heaven Can Rest for London’s Aurora B [...]
Veritably curling off the platter like opium smoke, the two sides of When Birds Fly… place the listener in a gorgeous state of suspended animation akin to the blissful serenity encouraged by Kevin Drumm’s Imperial Distortion, but perhaps massaged with Elodie’s special oils, which should maybe come as little surprise as Elodie’s Andrew Chalk is responsible for post-production on Part I.
That first side is a real beauty, unfurling some 17 minutes of thee most languid, golden synth and choral harmonics and shivering partials with a patience and steadiness of hand that’s just an absolute pleasure to undergo. Likewise, Part II is a pure dream sequence, but this time riding dense, phosphorescing waves of organ drone with a deeply blue, melancholic quality that places it in a very special category on our shelves.
Don’t sleep on this one!"
- Boomkat
"[...] OJERUM ascends toward the heavens out over a sea of bliss (again, both sonically and visually), establishing a more distinct connection to the classical ambient model than ever existed in previous works - measured ebb and flow of gentle tones finding contemporary relatively sunny side up comparison to DAVID ANDREE, KYLE LANDSTRA and WILLAMETTE - i might think of this as OJERUM's moonshot, "a world to lose yourself in" indeed, exquisitely presented on neatly full color labeled clear vinyl with glorious "hand-cut collage" cover art
AURORA BOREALIS also did a cassette edition "in keeping with the artist's previous catalogue" but also in keeping with OJERUM's catalog it didn't last long - but rest assured this is as about as good as it gets for me in terms of a "proper vinyl debut" so might as well enjoy it as such, sure to be one of my absolute favorite ambient albums of the year."
-PSI Lab
https://oejerum.bandcamp.com/album/when-birds-fly-the-eyes-of-heaven-can-rest-2
|
2017 |
€27.50 |
|
| OLD CASTLE |
Welcome to Graceland |
CD |
"Rapoon and ex-Zoviet France, Robert Pepper of Pas Musique and Shaun Sandor aka Promute met in 2011 when they performed in Brooklyn at Cafe Orwell and they just clicked immediately. Starting as colaborative duos, they decided to work as a trio and so Old Castle came to life – incarnation of synergy drawn from the experience and creativity of each member. Given that each gentleman has pretty vast catalogue of very varied music the end result is pretty hard to classify and saying simply that it’s experimental music just doesn’t give it justice.
Tracks bear echoes of Coil. You can clearly feel shamanistic approach to sound creation with influences of IDM and LSD (the substance). Album starts in a pretty dark tone to move towards more rhythmic, colorful and abstract structures to end with a droning horror of the last track (ironically tiltled “Mummy Love”). Along the way you will hear unexpected appearances of classical instruments like trumpets, pianos or violins and even less obvious didgeridoo which brings to mind aboriginal trance inducing music. Everything veiled in mystery and eeriness. Overall experience reminds of acid trip with all its lighter and darker aspects.
It’s also worth to mention the cover art by Magdalena Eftimova, which after listening goes with the music perfectly. Bits of colours, textures and shapes turn into acid like yet coherent image and same goes with music - collages of sounds turn to coherent tracks and these create eventually amazing album as a whole.
CD edition of 400 copies comes in a 6 panel digipack."
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/welcome-to-graceland
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| OLEK |
Suicide Prevention |
CD |
"Somewhere between psychedelia, techno, electroacoustics, and post-rock, Suicide Prevention is the product of a 14 year old pact of music or death. Like a dual with the past, the record was motivated by an ineffable will to live. It is made up of a series of propositions for reasons to act. Though musically eclectic, the album meticulously weaves a coherent symbolic gesture. Filled with rich textures, warm and noisy acoustic recordings, complex synthetic algorithms, and haunting nostalgic melodies, this album addresses the organic sensibility of the listener.
Alexander Wilson (01ek) is an interdiciplinary artist, musician, theatre director, and theorist based in Montreal, Canada. He composes electro-acoustic music, produces experimental videos, interactive media and architectural installations, and directs physical theatrical events in immersive environments. His artistic propositions invariably materialize philosophical interrogations into the structure of meaning, the potential for human agency, and the metaphysics of the body, space and time. Co-founder of Parabolik Guerilla Theatre, he is currently directing $ymbolocaust, an experimental play which will open in May 2007, in Montreal. His interactive architecture installation, Hinge_Dimension, a collaboration with interaction designer and architect Karmen Franinovic, was commissioned by the Enter_Unknown Territories media-arts festival, in Cambridge UK (April, 2007). His multichannel audio-video collaboration with filmmaker Seth Poulin, Decay Line, is premiering at Elektra 8 festival, Montreal, May 2007. Alexander is half of the experimental music duo, Élan d'Amérique, with Alexandre St-Onge. In 2006, he directed the ambitious, Social Reproduction Machine (version 3), a technological micro-theatre installed in the back of a rented moving-truck, parked in downtown Montreal. In 2005, Alexander composed the operatic soundtrack of the Parabolik Guerilla Theatre production, A Ship to Namuh, directed by Melanie Verville. In recent years, Alexander has realized many videos and installations for which he also composed the original music, such as the Social Reproduction Machine (version 2) (interactive video-installation, Gallerie Bourget, 2006), Genesis: Three Magi (Centre SKOL, 2005), Execution (Centre SKOL 2005) and Anti-Sacrifice (presented at the Amsterdam Film Experience festival in October 2006), and Holey Space, Sync!, and Dance With Me, Society for Arts and Technology, 2000- 2002. Alexander is currently completing FQRSC and SSHRC-funded research into the dynamic relations between the body, meaning and space-time, as part of his Masters in Fine Art, at Concordia University, Montreal."
[label info]
www.oral.qc.ca
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| OLHON |
Sinkhole |
CD |
Ein etwas anderes “Lied der Erde” ! In der Nähe von Rom existiert ein fast 400 Meter tiefes „Sinkhole“, das tiefste des Planeten, welches zum Grossteil mit Wasser gefüllt ist. Sowohl aus dem „trockenen Teil“ als auch „unter Wasser“ wurden von ZAIRO field recordings gemacht, die MASSIMO MAGRINI später mit ihm bearbeitet hat...
Das Ergebnis ist entsprechend: tiefster organischer Abyss-Drone-Ambient von faszinierender Dichte....
“OLHON was born as a cooperative effort of Massimo Magrini (mastermind of the genious BAD SECTOR) and Zairo (of the ultra-obscure dark ambient travellers WHERE). "Sinkhole" (the band's second full-length after "Veiovis")
was composed using original field recordings taken (mainly underwater) in the "Pozzo del Merro", the world's deepest sinkhole. The result is an extremely organic, almost "breathing" dark ambient journey. Very challenging, that's for sure.....
Nobody knows what lies in the abyss. Just sit down and listen to the sound of the earth's depths.” [label description]
www.eibonrecords.com
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| OLIVEROS, PAULINE |
Lion's Eye for Gamelan |
CD |
"Bang a gong! Or something similar… Our Gamelan loving friends from Berkeley spend 45 minutes striking serenity into the hearts of men. This magnum opus wends its subtle way along, carrying you with it, until you find yourself pretty much back where you started - in other words, it’s great Gamelan music. The synthesizer blends in nicely, using Gamelan sounds, but sometimes at very quick tempos. Lion’s Tale sounds less traditional, but is still a nice piece. A pleasant soundtrack for meditative contemplation." [IOUN for KFJC 89.7 FM]
"Lion's Eye for Gamelan was commissioned in 1985 by Barbara Benary for Gamelan Son of Lion. Lion's Eye for Synthesizer was commissioned concurrently by Neil Rolnick for iEAR Presents at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Both versions were performed in 1985. The intention to combine both pieces in order to expand the tempo range of the Gamelan was first realized in May of 1989 in performances by the Berkeley Gamelan in Oakland and San Francisco, California under the direction of Daniel Schmidt. This version of Lion's Eye is recorded on this disc. The duration of "Lion's Eye" is forty-five minutes. "Lion's Tale" (1989) is composed of layered polymetrical, polyrhythmical patterns. The patterns are played at speeds ranging up to 1800 per minute. The composer designed patterns are generated by the computer program. "Lion's Tale" may be created in a new version every time the program is run. "Lion's Tale" also exists in a MIDI version for a keyboard performer. Both versions are available from Deep Listening Publications. Known internationally as a composer, accordionist and teacher, Pauline Oliveros's work in improvisation, electronic techniques, teaching methods, myth and ritual, and meditative and physical consciousness raising has changed the course of American music. She left the University of California at San Diego in 1981, at the rank of full professor, in order to support her ideas, creative projects and collaborations. All of her work emphasizes attentional strategies, musicianship and improvisational skills. Oliveros' compositions have been performed worldwide." [press release]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
|
No Mo |
CD |
Raw early experiments of the female LEGEND of experimental electronics, very strange stuff, a squealing world of e-noise... three long tracks recorded 1966-1967.
"In the summer of 1966 I worked in the classical Electronic Music Studio at the University of Toronto for six weeks. The system I used to create 'No Mo' and 'Something Else' consisted of Layfette tone generators, noise source and tape delay. In the Fall of 1966 I was the newly appointed director of the Mills Tape Music Center formerly the San Francisco Tape Music Center and now the Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College. 'Bog Road' was created at the Mills Tape Music Center in the Summer of 1967 with the Buchla Series 100 Box. The studio overlooked a pond where frogs were singing a chorus that inspired a series of Bog pieces." - from the liner notes.
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Accordion & Voice |
CD |
"Pauline Oliveros (b. 1930) is an accordionist and composer who currently resides in Kingston, New York. Her instrument is tuned in Just Intonation and she often includes it in her meditative improvisational music. Her music is not meditative in the sense that it is intended for listening to while meditating, rather each piece is a form of meditation, such as her aptly titled Sonic Meditations.
A central figure in post-war electronic art music, Oliveros is one of the original members of the San Francisco Tape Music Center (along with Morton Subotnick, Ramon Sender, Terry Riley, and Anthony Martin), which was the resource on the U.S. west coast for electronic music during the 1960s. The Center later moved to Mills College, where she was its first director, and is now called the Center for Contemporary Music. Oliveros often improvises with the Expanded Instrument System, an electronic signal processing system she designed, in her performances and recordings.
“Accordion and Voice was the first of my recordings as a soloist. I was living in an A-frame house in a meadow just below Mount Tremper at Zen Mountain Center. I had a wonderful view of the graceful saddle mountain top. When away on a performance trip I would imagine the mountain as I played Rattlesnake Mountain. I followed the feelings and sensations of my many experiences of the mountain - the changing colors of the season, the breezes and winds blowing through the grasses and trees. Horse Sings From Cloud taught me to listen to the depth of a tone and to have patience. Rather than initiating musical impulses of motion, melody and harmony I wanted to hear the subtlety of a tone taking space and time to develop. The tones linger and resonate in the body, mind, instrument and performance space. My thanks to Important Records for bringing these pieces to be heard again.” - Pauline Oliveros 2007 " [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
The Well & The Gentle |
do-LP |
The Well & The Gentle, two of the major works of Pauline Oliveros, are presented here in a first time reissue on double vinyl in a gatefold sleeve with extensive liner notes.
If Oliveros had followed a more conventional path she may have, all social obstacles aside, been considered among the major composers of her time. However, Oliveros approached composition in a more egalitarian manner. She wrote music for musicians to interact with or, in the composers words, she wished to create "an inclusive and interdependent and unfolding world of relationships."
Oliveros' propensity towards inclusion is part of what makes this work so remarkably distinctive. The Well & The Gentle is carefully crafted, allowing performers to participate in the creation of the work. Players are asked to collaborate, focus, react and make imaginative choices. Only then can the performers "pass through stages of awakening to the possibilities inherent in making music, working together, leading to the essence of what can shape musical impulses and individual freedom simultaneously."
Unlike most major composers of the era, Oliveros' work focuses on collaboration and improvisation. For Oliveros, the processes involved in making music are as fundamental as the music itself. Oliveros creates, as Arthur Sabatini put it so eloquently in the liner notes, "A world in which sound and the practices entailed in making music merge; become, at once, source and atmosphere, energy and essence, presence and dynamic."
Pauline Oliveros was an electronic music pioneer, accordionist, composer and educator who resided in Kingston, New York. Her instrument was tuned in Just Intonation and she often included it in her meditative improvisational music. Her music is not meditative in the sense that it is intended for listening to while meditating, rather each piece is a form of meditation, such as her aptly titled Sonic Meditations.
A central figure in post-war electronic art music, Oliveros is one of the original members of the San Francisco Tape Music Center (along with Morton Subotnick, Ramon Sender, Terry Riley, Steve Reich and Anthony Martin), which was the resource on the U.S. West coast for electronic music during the 1960s. The Center later moved to Mills College, where she was its first director, and is now called the Center for Contemporary Music. Oliveros often improvised with the Expanded Instrument System, an electronic signal processing system she designed, in her performances and recordings.
https://imprec.bandcamp.com/album/the-well-the-gentle
|
2023 |
€36.50 |
|
| OLIVEROS, PAULINE & MIYA MASAOKA |
Accordion Koto |
CD |
" 'Listening to this recording session I am lifted to a world both evanescent and yet somehow connected to a distinct culture of music making in the 21st century (Miya Masaoka) 'Though an unlikely combination - accordion and koto - it is not so much about the instruments as about the energies of the music that comes from the intensity of listening - listening as close to now as possible. We know that our consciousness is delayed by a fraction of a second that the brain interprets as now - however the body is instantaneous in its perception. Thus the phenomena of playing and becoming conscious of what has played - been played - is a continually surprising experience in such improvisation'. (Pauline Oliveros)
Miya Masaoka, musician, composer, performance artist, has created works for koto, laser interfaces, laptop and video and written scores for ensembles, chamber orchestras and mixed choirs. In her performance pieces she has investigated the sound and movement of insects, as well as the physiological responses of plants, the human brain, and her own body. Within these varied contexts of sound, music and nature, her performance work emphasizes the interactive, live nature of improvisation, and reflects an individual, contemporary expression of Japanese gagaku aural gesturalism. Masaoka's work has been presented in Japan, Canada, Europe, Eastern Europe and she has toured to India six times. Pauline Oliveros's life as a composer, performer and humanitarian is about opening her own and others' sensibilities it the many facets of sound. Since the 1960's she has influenced American Music profoundly through her work with improvisation, meditation, electronic music, myth and ritual. Many credit her with being the founder of present day meditative music. All of Oliveros' work emphasizes musicianship, attention strategies, and improvisational skills. She has been celebrated worldwide. During the 1960's John Rockwell named her work Bye Bye Butterfly as one of the most significant of that decade. In the 70's she represented the U.S. at the World's Fair in Osaka, Japan; during the 80's she was honored with a retrospective at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C.: the 1990's began with a letter of distinction from the American Music Center presented at Lincoln Center in New York: In 2000 the 50th anniversary of her work was celebrated with the commissioning and performance of her Lunar Opera: Deep Listening For_tunes. Oliveros work is available on numerous recordings produced by companies internationally." [label info]
www.deeplistening.org
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| OLIVEROS, PAULINE / DAVID ROTHENBERG / TIMOTHY HILL |
Cicada Dream Band |
CD |
"Flames will destroy everything
at the end of the universe.
It may already be destroyed.
A cold cricket cries in the pile of wet leaves.
He wanders back and forth, unable to get past regret.
Go along with it
Stumble in rain,
Walk on alone.
At the end of the trail is a warm cabin with a single fire.
There you may dry out those lonely years.
Case 29, The Blue Cliff Record
2013 marked the arrival of millions of periodical cicadas to the New York Metropolitan area. These musical insects appear only once every seventeen years. On the occasion of this auspicious event, David Rothenberg performed a series of concerts together with composer and deep listener Pauline Oliveros, overtone singer Timothy Hill, and live singing insects brought in from the trees. The ensemble of digital accordion, clarinets with electronically enhanced nature sounds, and harmonic singing is certainly a trio unlike anything heard before. Even Pauline, with eighty-two years of music making, confessed she had not heard anything like it. The ensemble headed to the famous Dreamland Studios just outside of Woodstock to commit three and a half hours of music to digital memory. For the album they picked their favorite 64 minutes and 32 seconds. Joëlle Léandre said “I love this trio, it’s wonderful, special!” "[label info]
www.gruenrekorder.de
"Last year Gruenrekorder released the album ‘Bug Music’ by David Rothenberg. He has a love for the rhythms produced by birds, insects, etc and made a record based on these rhythms coming from nature, joined of vocalist Timothy Hill and guitarist Robert Jürgendal. The album by the Cicada Dream Band is a sort of a next step. The band combines the talents of Pauline Oliveros (V-Accordion), David Rothenberg (bass clarinet, clarinet, iPad, creatures) and Timothy Hill (voice). They made their recordings in august 2013 in New York. “2013 marked the arrival of millions of periodical cicadas to the New York Metropolitan area. These musical insects appear only once every seventeen years. On the occasion of this auspicious event, David Rothenberg performed a series of concerts together with composer and deep listener Pauline Oliveros, overtone singer Timothy Hill, and live singing insects brought in from the trees“. That is how it started. It inspired the three for long extended
dialogues with these natural sounds, and about an hour of this material is selected for this album. Although I like their improvisations, their way of combining it with animal sounds did not really do it for me. Although...this last sentence I wrote after one or two listening, but now that I’m listening again it begins to reveal its beauty. Like the beautiful lines they play along the whistling of an European blackbird in ‘Room at the Inn’. The music becomes more and more óne and intriguing after repeated listening. Besides the vocals by Timothy Hill fascinate and inspire. He is a new voice for me. He worked with a variety of artists like John Cage, Bill Frisell, Jeff Buckley, Odetta, Pete Seeger, Madan Gopal Singh, and not to forget David Hykes. Okay, I’m pretty much in favour of the dreams of Rothenberg." [DM/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| OLIVEROS, PAULINE / FRANCISCO LOPEZ / DOUG VAN NORT / JONAS BRAASCH |
Quartet for the End of Space |
CD |
"This recording consists of 8 electro-acoustic compositions. 2 pieces by each of the 4 composers. The works span a vast sonic terrain, challenging listener and performer alike through a seamless blend of Deep Listening and Absolute Noise, moving between ever-fluid improvisation and carefully controlled sound manipulation.
The quartet convened for two improvisational sessions between February and May of 2010, with López sitting in on a Triple Point (Oliveros-Van Nort-Braasch) recording session and bringing his finely crafted sonic objects-as-instruments, further spanning the electro-acoustic divide that has become Triple Point’s calling. The four later re-formed for their debut concert at the Deep Listening Institute in Kingston, NY in September of 2010. These sessions have since become raw material for the individual artists to construct new visions of this shared sonic body through extensive and thorough evolution of the recordings - personal reflections culled from a collective tapestry.
Pauline Oliveros has influenced American music extensively in her career spanning more than 60 years as a composer, performer, author and philosopher. She pioneered the concept of Deep Listening, her practice based upon principles of improvisation, electronic music, ritual, teaching and meditation, designed to inspire both trained and untrained musicians to practice the art of listening and responding to environmental conditions in solo and ensemble situations.
Francisco López is internationally recognized as one of the major figures of the sound art and experimental music scene. Over the past 30 years he has developed an astonishing sonic universe, absolutely personal and iconoclastic, based on a profound listening of the world. Destroying boundaries between industrial sounds and wilderness sound environments, shifting with passion from the limits of perception to the most dreadful abyss of sonic power, proposing a blind, profound and transcendental listening, freed from the imperatives of knowledge and open to sensory and spiritual expansion.
Doug Van Nort is an experimental musician and digital music researcher whose work is dedicated to personal and collective creative expression through noise, free improvisation and generally electro-acoustic means of production, from the lo-fi of broken electronics to the hi-tech of custom signal processing algorithms. Recent projects have spanned telematic music, laptop ensemble compositions,, immersive electro-acoustic works, interactive sonic installations and machine listening systems.
Jonas Braasch is an experimental soprano saxophonist and acoustician with interests in Telematic Music and Intelligent Music Systems. He has performed with Curtis Bahn, Chris Chafe, Michael Century, Mark Dresser, Pauline Oliveros, Doug van Nort and Stuart Dempster among others. His saxophone style expands the traditional repertoire by incorporating various non-western elements and extended techniques." [label info]
www.pogus.com
|
2011 |
€12.50 |
|
| OLSSON, KRISTIAN |
Att Vara Där Jag Var Innan Jag Var Jag |
CD |
The much acclaimed and sold-out debut LP of Kristian Olsson (Alfarmania / B.O.T.C. / Survival Unit etc.) is now made available on compact disc through Old Captain. Originally released in 2010 on the Swedish label Nattmaran in a limited edition. "Att vara där jag var innan jag var jag" contains 10 tracks making for a neck-breaking journey down a rabbit hole paved with rusty metal, the only light coming from cobwebbed, broken lead glass windows. And just when you think you are about to land in a bone-infested, giant badger’s nest, the winding hole takes another turn, and you fall backwards down a chute filled with sharpened rods which have impaled all who have come this way; a never-ending fall into a bottomless pit of despair. The acoustics contained in the tracks are a bit clearer than Olsson’s trademark style, but expect nothing less than a relentless 43-minute gut-punch with an iron-clad skeleton fist. Inspired by drastic changes in the artist’s personal surroundings, the recording is an obituary of a special time in the annals of the Sundsvall catacombs which this artist has frequented for far longer than what the doctor ordered. Recordings were made with the expert operation of the usual electronic nightmare arsenal of the Styggelse satanic whore-lord, in addition to thighbone flutes, bowed cymbals, metal barrels, chains, whips, and just about every other abominable material or implement this filth-pig heathen could assemble from the recesses of his anti-human haunts. With the determination of a snake, the stealth of a panther and the grace of a one-legged terminal patient on an ether binge, Olsson crushes expectations and excels through outright excellence. Limited to 250 copies in a 4-panel matte-laminated black & white Digipak with limited edition of two postcards put into random packs. |
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Ligranorex |
CD |
"Dark ritualistic post mortem works from Kristian Olsson (Alfarmania / Survival Unit) made in 2012. Originally released as private cassette in small circulation. Here released with one additional track from same period." [label info]
"Kristian Olsson – of Alfarmania and Survival Unit infamy – should really need no introduction. Ligranorex is a solo recording, but not a new one. Originally issued on cassette in 2012, it has been reissued here with an additional track added for good measure.
In a general sense, Kristian’s solo recordings are not light years away from those of Alfarmania; however, a clear differentiator is that his solo recordings are far less aggressive and more ritualized in scope. The opening 22-minute title track, despite its ritualized undercurrent, is overall quite noisy and tonally blustery, begging comparison to Alfarmania works. But from second track Sippurator, the catacombic and esoteric depths at the core of this album are revealed. Here a track of dank cavernous ritualized atmospheres is fully realized, where shuddering darkness comes to life and seems to articulate the psychic membrane separating the real from the unreal and the waking state from the dream. Floating subdued male chants allude to human form, but equally these could be from a netherworld beyond the edges of waking perception. Later, cyclic bass drones provide greater movement to the composition, but the general mood is of drawing you into its fold. Haruspex announces itself with the wailing of a thighbone trumpet, dank and slow-paced ritual percussion, and sparse ceremonial chimes. These sit at the forefront of sound that articulates cavernous archaic depths sonically receding far off into the distance. Spanning 21 minutes, the mood and pacing is slow and drawling, whereas throughout the middle and later sections the percussive pulse becomes more urgent, coupled with a prominent ascending/descending drone loop. Although lerul is noted to be a bonus track, it fits perfectly with the flow, mood, and balance of the album. Grey-hued and tonally stark soundscapes are releveled and further infused with archaic ritual atmospheres. Yet with its incessant bass throb and wavering sustained drones, it at times begins to resemble a slightly more ritualized version of Anenzephalia’s subdued heavy electronics offerings.
Packaging wise, the six-panel digi-pack is exquisitely presented with a selection of Kristian’s artwork, including the same artwork used for the cover of Issue No.3 of Noise Receptor Journal." [Noise Receptor] |
2019 |
€12.50 |
|
| OM |
Pilgrimage |
CD |
"The mighty return of the transcendental RIFF! The third Om record! By now the methods and purpose of their ultra heavy music of
the spheres is clear. The music on this album, much like the first two, is stripped to its essence. Bass and drums churning out super
hypnotic heaviness and repetitive chant-like vocals creating a cyclical whorl of trance-rock divinity.
With a lot of new releases from bands we love, change in sound and development of style is important, Om seem to operate with different principles than the average rock and roll outfit. The consistency of their sound lends itself to the eternal nature of the music, as if all three of their records are really just movements in some expansive, cosmic symphony. Within Om's canon, change is felt like the passing of time without the aid of a clock or calendar, existing in the infinite void. And what an ass kicking void it is! The riffs and rhythms on Pilgrimage are certainly just as good as those on either of their previous releases, which means amazingly heavy and heady slabs of stoned out ROCK!
The record starts off with the title track, which is an expansive slow burner. Mesmeric and spiritual, soft spoken vocals and a propulsive tom and tambourine beat. The riffs on this track, as well as the bulk of Om's material, have a certain eastern quality, like some strange Sabbath-raga meld, and they go on forever and ever, taking the listener on some sort of mystic celestial voyage. By track
two, "Unitive Knowledge Of The Godhead", the fuzzed out bass distortion kicks in, and the sound gets HEAVY! This Sleep-like heavitude continues into the 11 plus minute "Bhima's Theme", by which point in the album the listener is more than likely completely
transfixed, eyes a-glaze with the eternal riff burned into their brain. The last song on the album is "Pilgrimage (Reprise)", which makes for a very circular experience, like when listening to the album all the way through, time disintegrates and 32 minutes seems
like a split second or a week or an eternity! Heavy, mannnn...
Possibly one of the most distinctive things about Pilgrimage is the recording itself. This album sounds fucking great! We mean, for a band that just consists of bass guitar and drums, you could not pick a better engineer than Mr. Steve Albini, whose forte has always been the rhythm section, and he completely nailed the sound! It's warm and cavernous, and completely swallows the listener whole.
So, if you are in tune with the amaranthine vibes of Om's two previous records, you will most certainly appreciate this one as a continuation on the path towards the essence of musical anima mundi! RIFF TO ETERNITY!" [Aquarius]
www.southernlord.com
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| OMEI |
Black Eyed Angels |
CD-R |
Absolutely stunning, eerie & threatening dark ambience... whispers, dark pulses, endless echo-voices, mighty hiss-fields, anxious spoken words evoke an atmosphere of abuse & violation.. if youre looking for real good doom ambient check this out !
"Nightmarish dark atmospheric soundwork from this Sickness side project." [label info]
|
2002 |
€9.00 |
|
| ON (SYLVAIN CHAUVEAU & STEVEN HESS) |
Something that has Form and Something that does not |
CD |
"Der US-Schlagzeuger Steven Hess und der französische Instrumentalmusiker Sylvain Chauveau bilden zusammen das Projekt On, "Something That Has Form And Something That Does Not" ist ihr drittes Album, auf dem sie ihren abstrakten, experimentellen Sound zu neuen Höhen verhelfen. Wie schon auf früheren Werken wurden die aufgenommenen Improvisationen einem Gastmusiker überantwortet, der mit ihnen machen konnte, was er wollte. Diesmal war es der Experimentalpionier Christian Fennesz, der das Gehörte überarbeitete, neu arrangierte und komponierte. Fennesz kennt das Duo seit 2004, und es war nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis auch er sich mal ans Werk machen durfte. Die Quellsounds behandelte er mit einer gewissen Leichtigkeit, die ihnen das Atmen ermöglichte. Teilweise hört man Raumgeräusche, die zum Rückgrat intensiver, sich langsam aufbauender Dronescapes werden. Nein, "Something That Has Form..." ist sicher kein Easy Listening, das Album erfordert Hingabe und Konzentration, die allerdings mit der Offenbarung reiner Schönheit belohnt werden." [label info / indigo]
" ‘Something That Has Form And Something That Does Not’ is the third album from Sylvain Chauveau and Steven Hess under their On moniker, and continues their excavation of abstracted experimental sounds. As with the previous records, improvisations were recorded in a studio in Chicago and then handed to a guest musician to rework in whichever way they saw fit, and this time around the guest musician is none other than experimental pioneer Christian Fennesz. Christian’s association with the band goes way back – he performed with them in 2004 as a trio so it seemed almost inevitable that a collaboration would emerge at some point, but this treatment truly takes the notion of collaboration to another place entirely.
Unlike ‘Your Naked Ghost Comes Back At Night’ (which was handled by dark-ambient master Deathprod), Fennesz has treated the source sounds with a distinct lightness, allowing them to creak and breathe. Occasionally you can hear the room itself ticking in the foreground – hands on drumsticks and feet on pedals. The sounds become the backbone of the intense, slow-building dronescapes that Fennesz pulls from the original recordings. We are treated to piercing noise as the album opens with a choir of feedback, but the cacophony gradually disperses to allow pulsing harmony and Steven Hess’s propulsive, metronomic drumming.
When we close on the blissful near 20-minute ‘The Sound Of White’, echoes of Fennesz’s best work drifts through the crackle and pulse of Sylvain Chauveau’s prepared guitar and Hess’s distant percussion. These hypnotic patterns slowly rise and fall, giving the listener time to truly hear each subtle shift. This is not an exercise in easy listening – rather here is an album that demands close attention, and one where the beauty truly is in the details." [label info]
www.typerecords.com
|
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Something that has Form and Something that does not |
LP |
"Der US-Schlagzeuger Steven Hess und der französische Instrumentalmusiker Sylvain Chauveau bilden zusammen das Projekt On, "Something That Has Form And Something That Does Not" ist ihr drittes Album, auf dem sie ihren abstrakten, experimentellen Sound zu neuen Höhen verhelfen. Wie schon auf früheren Werken wurden die aufgenommenen Improvisationen einem Gastmusiker überantwortet, der mit ihnen machen konnte, was er wollte. Diesmal war es der Experimentalpionier Christian Fennesz, der das Gehörte überarbeitete, neu arrangierte und komponierte. Fennesz kennt das Duo seit 2004, und es war nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis auch er sich mal ans Werk machen durfte. Die Quellsounds behandelte er mit einer gewissen Leichtigkeit, die ihnen das Atmen ermöglichte. Teilweise hört man Raumgeräusche, die zum Rückgrat intensiver, sich langsam aufbauender Dronescapes werden. Nein, "Something That Has Form..." ist sicher kein Easy Listening, das Album erfordert Hingabe und Konzentration, die allerdings mit der Offenbarung reiner Schönheit belohnt werden." [label info / indigo]
" ‘Something That Has Form And Something That Does Not’ is the third album from Sylvain Chauveau and Steven Hess under their On moniker, and continues their excavation of abstracted experimental sounds. As with the previous records, improvisations were recorded in a studio in Chicago and then handed to a guest musician to rework in whichever way they saw fit, and this time around the guest musician is none other than experimental pioneer Christian Fennesz. Christian’s association with the band goes way back – he performed with them in 2004 as a trio so it seemed almost inevitable that a collaboration would emerge at some point, but this treatment truly takes the notion of collaboration to another place entirely.
Unlike ‘Your Naked Ghost Comes Back At Night’ (which was handled by dark-ambient master Deathprod), Fennesz has treated the source sounds with a distinct lightness, allowing them to creak and breathe. Occasionally you can hear the room itself ticking in the foreground – hands on drumsticks and feet on pedals. The sounds become the backbone of the intense, slow-building dronescapes that Fennesz pulls from the original recordings. We are treated to piercing noise as the album opens with a choir of feedback, but the cacophony gradually disperses to allow pulsing harmony and Steven Hess’s propulsive, metronomic drumming.
When we close on the blissful near 20-minute ‘The Sound Of White’, echoes of Fennesz’s best work drifts through the crackle and pulse of Sylvain Chauveau’s prepared guitar and Hess’s distant percussion. These hypnotic patterns slowly rise and fall, giving the listener time to truly hear each subtle shift. This is not an exercise in easy listening – rather here is an album that demands close attention, and one where the beauty truly is in the details." [label info]
www.typerecords.com |
2010 |
€19.50 |
|
| ONDO |
Mahavishnu |
CD |
Geheimtip aus Schweden aus dem Doom-Drone-Metal Bereich: ONDO erschaffen den absoluten Katakomben & Gruft-Sound, auf tiefsten Höllenschlünden scheint ihr frei-flottierender Angst-Metal-Drone zu stammen, das ganze klingt sehr eigenständig und authenthisch & tief melancholisch....
"The majestic debut full length album from Sweden's Ondo. Intricate, textured doomed drone, blackened ambience and lush nocturnal electronica, delicately crafted into a dark cinematic vision. A shadow dreamscape of overpowering density, akin to an intoxicating fusion of early Earth, Raison D'Etre and a touch of the shimmering haze of Fennesz, perhaps? Presented as a limited edition of 500 copies only, in dvd presentation box with full colour art." [label info]
".... Whereas that cd-r was a single looooong song, this disc is split into distinct movements, each a bleak and caustic chunk of truly ominous ambience. Actually, there is so much stuff going on, and this is so dark and heavy, it’s almost disingenuous to call it ambient music. This is cinematic abstract free noise drone music. Heavy enough to worm its way inside the ears of drone inclined metalheads, but dark and blissed out enough to keep the drone obsessed in downtuned druggy nirvana.
The label mentions early Earth, Raison D’Etre and Fennesz, and damn if all three of those don’t definitely apply. Pretty melodies are buried under slabs of grinding buzz, chords are woven into undulating sheets of fuzzy sound, everything is hissy and glitchy, with a gauzy sheen. Imagine Earth 2 as reimagined by Christian Fennesz and you might be getting close. Chords and notes, churn and throb, blackened sounds pulse ominously enveloping crystalline shimmers and music box like melodies, voices and samples are chopped up and distorted, riffs are pulled apart into washed out smears of sound. Some of the tracks definitely border on serious doom territory, while others are blurred distorted dreamscapes, all skittery and smeared, dark pianos, radio distortion and amp buzz, distant melodic whir, all tangled into something creepy and beautiful, strings draped over crumbling industrial crunch, all woven around heaving heaviness, rendered in slow moving swells. Way recommended for fans of things slow and low, dark and doomy, murky and mysterious.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES. Packaged in a white dvd style case, with a full color cover and printed black and white insert." [Aquarius Records review]
www.paradigms-recordings.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| ONODERA, YUI |
Le Jardin |
mCD-R |
Es gibt wohl zur Zeit nur wenig ambient / drone Musik, die subtiler, zarter und fragiler daherkommt als die Kompositionen des Japaners YUI ONODERA. Auf "Le Jardin" werden weich wallende Klänge von Gitarre & Violine und tieffrequent pulsierende Synths verwendet, aber auch solche die durch "electroanalysis sound of water" entstanden sind (was immer das genau sein mag). 4 Stücke die eine besondere Atmosphäre hervorzaubern, die im Kern auf die totale Stille & Ruhe zu veweisen scheint..
So viel authentische Schönheit & Transzendenz verträgt man kaum...
"minimal & melodic drones composed by this japanese artist who's just released a 7" in the Drone Records series. full-colour printed 3" cd-r with artwork by cyril herry." [label info]
label: www.taalem.com
|
2007 |
€5.00 |
|
| ONODERA, YUI & CELER |
Generic City |
CD |
" 'Generic City' is the debut release for Two Acorns, a new label/publisher curated by Will Long of Celer. 'Generic City' is presented in a custom-designed CD package, created by mondii, with photography by Danielle Baquet-Long, and mastered by Taylor Deupree.
'For this collaboration work, I made a lot of field recordings. Songs of migratory birds that come to a big lake only in winter, the sound of breaking ice, frozen on a lake, the peal of huge bells in a temple, voices in prayer to the Buddha, footsteps in the subway, on the ground, made by coming and going people, machine sounds at a construction site, rain flowing into a steel pipe with a hard sound, the oscillation sound of rubbing iron which was recorded through a contact mic set on steel, the conversation of people walking in the city, noise of vehicles and trucks, kids voices from an elementary school, and so on. Like a time trip to transcend places, these sound-scapes are presented as a imaginary tale. To collaborate with foreign artists became a chance for facing Japan again for me. Reflecting on each of our localities to compose let us be aware anew of the vernacular which has been lost in the global world. Artists can't be unrelated to the characteristics (culture) of places (surroundings) where they live, and they are influenced obliviously in some way. By watching our everyday surroundings closely, we can engender a most realistic language of where we live, and how we think. I sense that peculiar, unfamiliar cultures and customs are invaluable wealth in human history.' - Yui Onodera
'In this collaboration work with Yui Onodera, we contributed many instrument sounds, and field recordings such as the streets of Los Angeles, rain on our doorstep, water draining into the gutter, cars passing on wet and slippery streets, people walking on their way home from work, talking in an airport baggage claim, crosswalks, airliners flying over, taxi rides, riding bikes through traffic, conversations in restaurants, the Metro Link train in Los Angeles, and walking on quiet streets. In our part of mixing, since we were working with someone's instrument sounds and field recordings from a city that we haven't visited, much was left to our imagination to re-create an environment and city setting for the piece. Trying to keep a balance between the heavily processed material and the entirely unprocessed material, created a natural bridge of movement inside the city. Processed elements became backdrops and scores to real activity, sometimes simply drifting away from the daily life, or the finding the soul of the pieces. When these two entirely different cities came together, it created an all new way of looking at, and hearing the city's movements around us. Cultures parallel one another, with the views of the skylines and empty streets left the only visible evidence of similarity.' - Danielle Baquet-Long, Will Long " [label info]
www.thesingularwe.org/twoacorns
"Two Acorns is a new label started by Will Long, one half of Celer. He deals with 'things you can hold in your hand, or keep on your bookshelf, to keep these feelings, memories, and experiences. There is no replacement for the smell of a book, the spin of a CD player starting'. Hear hear. The label starts of with a collaborative release of his band Celer (which was Long and his partner Danielle Baquet-Long, who passed away) and Yui Onodera. The latter provides field recordings, electronics, guitar, violin, piano and musical box, while Celer holds the mixing board, cello, violin, piano, field recordings, theremin, electronics and ocarina. I am not sure but I don't recall seeing many collaborations of Celer, but the result, four lengthy pieces work out quite well. Its probably everything you would expect from such a collaboration (you could debate wether that is good or bad), but the gentle, sustaining, of course drone - a word that can't be avoided when talking about Celer nor Onodera - like atmospherics work quite well, but what seems interesting is that many of the field recordings go unprocessed into the mix. Lots of rain, water, animals, street sounds, stuff that seems to be picked up with contact microphones and such like, and they bathe quite well in the string of sounds woven together on the various instruments. They add a great spice to the music, which doesn't stick that much in the world of 'just' drones too much. Beautifully ringing overtones, 'heavy' street sounds, air traffic and crackling of leaves: together they create a mighty fine aural landscape. Beautiful." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€12.50 |
|
| ONODERA, YUI & STEPHEN VITIELLO |
Quiver |
CD |
Yui Onodera // electric violin, electric guitar, field recordings, found objects, processing
Stephen Vitiello // acoustic and electric guitar, modular synthesizer, toy piano, field recordings, processing
Kenneth Kirschner // (variant’s materials) on Quiver 1
Quiver” continues our subseries of cerebral abstract electronic minimalism after Triac’s “In A Room” and Hanno Leichtmann’s “Minimal Studies”. The word Quiver can speak to an emotional state – “a slight trembling movement or sound”. A quiver is also the word for a kind of container, used for holding arrows, bolts, or darts. They employed a vast array of sound sources for meticulous processing on their computers from electric violins, acoustic and electric guitars, modular synthesizer to toy piano and field recordings. They built music rich with textures, loops, strange structures blurring the lines between foreground and background sounds thus making a complex and mysterious, generous and surprising music. These compositions by Onodera and Vitiello are layered with possibility and will mean something different to each listener.
Yui Onodera is a musician and composer based in Tokyo, Japan. After studying music and architecture, he founded the Critical Path. In terms of environmental functions and spacial relationships of sound, he employs materials from various sources ranging from field recordings, electronics, and voices, to various musical instruments, for process-based, restrained electro-acoustic, experimental and ambient pieces.Electronic musician and sound artist Stephen Vitiello transforms incidental atmospheric noises into mesmerizing soundscapes that alter our perception of the surrounding environment. He has composed music for independent films, experimental video projects and art installations, collaborating with such artists as Nam June Paik, Tony Oursler and Dara Birnbaum. In 1999 he was awarded a studio for six months on the 91st floor of the World Trade Center’s Tower One, where he recorded the cracking noises of the building swaying under the stress of the winds after Hurricane Floyd. As an installation artist, he is particularly interested in the physical aspect of sound and its potential to define the form and atmosphere of a spatial environment. 300 copies."
"I’ve been a fan of Yui Onodera’s music for some time, but this album surprised me. Rather than his usual stately drones and glacial fluttering, Onodera’s collaboration with New York sound artist Stephen Vitiello is… a pop album? Yes, I think so. The music is tuneful and upbeat, with even the more low-key songs having a melodic element at the forefront. Some of Vitiello’s previous work has moved in this direction, but “Quiver” puts accessibility in the forefront. I enjoyed it very much! Some tracks, such as “Quiver 4” (none of the songs have real titles), feature a skeletal guitar lightly applying Vini Reilly-esque melodic lines over a bedrock of electronic skitter and sometimes a steady (though understated) anchoring pulse. “Quiver 6” is rather lovely, with something sounding like moving water burbling next to a synthetic chorus and dreamlike shoegaze guitar wash that would appeal to fans of Chris Herbert, Cheihei Hatakeyama or even recent 12k releases. After listening through a couple of times, it occurred to me that this collaboration seems as natural and complete as an album by a full-time “band” might be… so I hope these guys pursue the duo
further! I wouldn’t mind more of this to spin as the soundtrack to my pleasantly groggy weekend
mornings." (HS/Vital Weekly)
http://mikroton.net/
mikroton.bandcamp.com/album/quiver
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| OORCHACH |
Chtonikka |
CD |
Zweites Album für diese uns bisher gänzlich unbekannte Band aus Litauen - ihr elektronischer Post-Industrial wird gefüttert von pulsierenden dunklen Synth-Flächen, hypnotisch-repetitiven Beats (mal subtil mal bombastischer), Noises / Samples und beschwörenden Vocals & Geflüster das eher im Hintergrund bleiben und dem ganzen eine rituelle Komponente geben... Anklänge an DEUTSCH NEPAL, MEGAPTERA, etc.. recht "klassische" Sounds also, aber überzeugend arrangiert, entfaltet CTHONIKA eine sofortige, düstere Sogwirkung.
"Chtonikka is the second album of OORCHACH, Lithuanian post industrial project. Six new tracks are dedicated to the arcane world Chtonikka whose vision the author conveys through the gloomy industrial loops, coarse and dirty lo-fi sound. Powerful tribal rhythms provide the tracks with vehement dynamics, while the album as a whole smacks of strong archaic mood." [label info]
".... This album is full of visions, but it does not give you neither questions nor answers. If you need them - search for yourself. It is meditative wade in the wet grass. Still, once you see the vision of Chtonikka, you won't be able to return to your "normal" life. This darkness infects you and stays deeply in the head. But you know that one day it will strike and then you'll leave everything and go, following the footsteps of the ritual. There, where nobody would find you." [Terror.Lt]
www.autarkeia.org
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| OPENING PERFORMANCE ORCHESTRA & HIROSHI HASEGAWA |
Fraction Elements |
CD |
The collective album of the Japanese noise artist Hiroshi Hasegawa (C.C.C.C., Astro, South Saturn Delta, Galax) and the seven-member Czech ensemble Opening Performance Orchestra contains three large compositions and four short pieces inspired by the elements. The first Hiroshi Hasegawa composition is a suite of colourful modulated psychedelic sounds and noises. The second composition is a collective work. Based on sound material from Hiroshi Hasegawa, it is a quasi-remix by Opening Performance Orchestra. The third Opening Performance Orchestra piece is a digital decomposition of an original sound material. The working method is in line with the rules of fraction music, postulated by Opening Performance Orchestra, and the slogan no melody - no rhythm - no harmony. 65 mins. Ltd x 500 copies in a digipak.
www.psych-kg.de |
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| OPENING PERFORMANCE ORCHESTRA / REINHOLD FRIEDL / MIROSLAV BEINHAUER |
Chess Show (Other Memories of John Cage) |
do-CD |
Die 64-minütige Chess Show verwendet als Klangmaterial Fragmente aus Werken von John Cage, die nach dem Zufallsprinzip geordnet und kombiniert werden. Zeitgleich spielt Reinhold Friedl auf Klavier, Toy Piano und Gegenständen Stücke von Cage. Nach Art eines Quodlibets wird die strenge Struktur von Chess Show mit einer unvorhersehbaren Auswahl konfrontiert: verschiedene Klavierparts aus den Number Pieces, eine ungeordnete Selektion aus den Song Books, vielleicht sogar die Suite for Toy Piano und Saties Vexations. Chess Show [4’34” version] entstand in Zusammenarbeit mit Miroslav Beinhauer, einem tschechischen Klaviervirtuosen, im Studio.
"Der Klang wird transformiert und wiederhergestellt, aber auf eine nicht erkennbare Weise! Er wird wiedergeboren. Es ist eine immerwährende Wiedergeburt oder Reinkarnation. Es ist Leben. Und das geht immer weiter und weiter." Dieses Zitat aus John Cages Buch For the Birds schwingt in den einzelnen Versionen von Chess Show mit, einer Komposition des Prager Opening Performance Orchestra. Die Idee zu Chess Show entstand Mitte der 1990er Jahre, als das Stück unter dem Titel Cagemix nicht-öffentlich gespielt wurde. 1962 verwendete John Cage für seine Komposition Atlas Eclipticalis Sternkarten, die der tschechoslowakische Astronom Antonín Bečvář angefertigt hatte. Unser Ziel war es, an diese Arbeitsweise anzuknüpfen, aber dabei eine echte Schachpartie zu verwenden. Später wurde Chess Show fünfmal live aufgeführt, zweimal in einer gekürzten Version. Die erste Chess-Show-Aufführung fand 2007 in Telč statt. Anlässlich des hundertsten Geburtstages von John Cage im Jahr 2012 wurde Chess Show in der Ausstellung Membra Disjecta for John Cage in der DOX-Galerie in Prag und in der Galerie der Schönen Künste in Ostrava in einer elektronischen Version für vier Laptops und ein Video gespielt. Die letzte Live-Aufführung von Chess Show fand 2017 im Rahmen des Festivals für zeitgenössische Musik Ostrava Days statt, mit Reinhold Friedl als Solist. Die andere Version von Chess Show entstand im Studio – Chess Show [4’34” version], in Zusammenarbeit mit Miroslav Beinhauer, einem tschechischen Klaviervirtuosen.
The idea of "Chess Show" originated in the mid-1990s. In 1962, John Cage used for his composition "Atlas Eclipticalis" maps. The aim was to link up to this method of work, while using a real game of chess. Later on, "Chess Show" was performed live five times. The first performance took place in Tel 269; in 2007. To commemorate the centenary of John Cage's birth in 2012, "Chess Show" was played at the "Membra Disjecta for John Cage" exhibition at the DOX gallery in Prague and at the Gallery of Fine Arts in Ostrava in an electronic version for four laptops and a video.
The most recent live performance of "Chess Show" was in 2017 at the Ostrava Days contemporary music festival, with Reinhold Friedl as a soloist. The 64-minute piece uses fragments of Cage's works as sound material, randomly re-arranged and combined. Simultaneously with "Chess Show", Reinhold Friedl performs Cage's "Song Books". The strict structure will be confronted with an unpredictable selection of other works: various piano parts from "Number Pieces", jumbled takes on selection from "Song Books", maybe even "Suite for Toy Piano" and Satie's "Vexations".
The other version of "Chess Show" was created in the studio"Chess Show [4'34" version]", in cooperation with Miroslav Beinhauer, a Czech piano virtuoso, as a guest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNUeH-UfSbE
|
2022 |
€28.50 |
|
| OPITOPE |
Hau |
CD |
"This an imaginary album traveling from the north to south, overlapping the images of transition of the four seasons. In reality, indeed one things always leads to an end and I feel sad every time I think about that. In this album, we tried to express this sorrow feeling changing gradually into hope as we travel south. Seasons have no end. It always moves from spring, summer, autumn, winter back to spring.. And just like the changing seasons, the tracks in this album constantly shifts another and the last piece connects to the very beginning which forms the never ending circle. We have expressed the images of these "endings" with "never endings" by music. These thoughts were brought up naturally during the making of this album and it's not that we had this idea from the start. Another concept of this album is "symmetry". There are 9 pieces in this album and is constructed by track 5 being the axis of the symmetry - like in terms os composition, 1st track is a piano piece and also the 9th track. The same thing goes to the arrangements like you will notice sounds that forms contrasts between the left & right speaker." [Opitope]
www.spekk.net
|
2007 |
€15.50 |
|
| OPIUM / SOSTRAH TINNITUS |
Stain |
CD |
"Warm, involving, deep and penetrating sounds... Flowing sounds patterns, vibrating drones permeated by a discreet sense of tension, evolving in dark, obscure, foggy, nocturnal atmospheres, violated by raven voices, mysterious noises and sounds of metal objects in motion... And then concrete noises, confused and elusive melodies, feeble light flashes, buried echoes of human voices, distantr whispers, sudden passages of rough sounds, undefined nuisances, subliminal and hypnotic sequences, just like a recollection of unreal and dusty sounds from an old carillon... An extraordinary and not to be missed journey in the darkness, lead with great skill by two of the most remarkable artists coming from the Italian ambient/dark-ambient scene of the last decade." [label info]
www.silentes.net
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| ORATORY OF DIVINE LOVE |
Meditatio |
CD |
"...Meditatio is a circle in the world, pointing us through to something ineluctable, indubitable, something which empirical scepticism must pre-suppose in order to grumpily dismiss. It is hard to explain this CD in words because it transcends them into experience so marvellously. The sounds ebb and flow like tides with the moon to carry us into different valences and intensities of emotion, space and presence. The whole CD feels like a prelude or an aftermath, all at once, a sustained moment drawn out for almost an hour like a tantric orgasm (though of course less pyrotechnic!). That I find myself resorting to outlandish metaphysical analogies to try to explain this release can be taken as a sign that it is worth your purchasing and meditating on. This is ambient music which truly captures the powerful consciousness-transforming potential of this genre of music. Recommended, recommended, recommended, recommended." [Henry Lauer, Heathen Harvest]
"One of the children of John Gore (aka 'kirchenkampf'), The Oratory Of Divine Love presents here their third CD: a fifty-plus minute track of ambient electronic drone that, with gradual progression, features melodies and voices filtering in and out throughout the sound. Though a generally contemplative recording, the piece is quite engaging and will elicit the attention of all who enjoy experimental and drone musics. Previous recordings under this name have been issued by EE Tapes and Waystyx. Housed in a custom printed color wallet. Edition of 500 copies." [label info]
http://discs.diophantine.net
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| ORBIT SERVICE |
Songs of Eta Carinae |
CD |
"The first 1000 are in a 5 color gatefold boardstock sleeve. What if the star baby at the end of '2001: A Space Odyssey' was the product of Thom Yorke and Roger Waters? Orbit Service at your service. Wish you were here... An altruistic dark side of the moon proposition, Eta Carinae is a star 120-150 times the size of our own sun that lies a mere 7000+ light years from this island Earth. Discovered by no less than Edmond Halley his bad self in the late 17th century, Eta Carinae has been observed to fluctuate between telescopic and naked eye proportions over the past 3 centuries. Eta Carinae is in the last throes of its long life, with only about another 100,000 or so years to go before a likely supernova. It seems fitting that one of the most majestic and awesome of the celestial bodies should be serenaded by someone. Orbit Service have certainly taken space, the atom mother, to heart in this progressive ode. And like the star in their eyes the album expands and contracts from white hot to blue cool. The resultant cosmic astro-dirge howls in a bubbly flurry of electro-buzz and slowly pulsing drumbeats. Vocal whispers rise into muted wails, pushing against the very fabric of firmament itself before being drawn back into the gaseous miasma of the star-field. Violence and silence interlaced, as in the life of a sun. Or in the life of a son. The lyrics cast shadows on the stuff of terra firma and of the heart as well, making this just as much about inner space. Orbit Service's cris de coeur is a shaded psychedelic parallectrogram that almost answers the question: what if the star baby at the end of '2001: A Space Odyssey' was the product of Thom York and Roger Waters?. Orbit Service at your service. Wish you were here..." [press release]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Twilight |
CD |
Über BETA-LACTAM wird diese (Debut?)-CD dieser vierköpfigen Band aus Denver, CO, vertrieben. ORBIT SERVICE machen verträumten, langsamen Songwriter-Folk/Pop mit hochmelancholischer Note und schönen Instrumentalparts, dunkel, gefühlvoll & warm.... leicht elektronisch / psychedelisch, gitarrig, mit getragenen Melodica- bzw. Akkordeon-Arrangements.... erinnert an RED HOUSE PAINTERS, IDAHO, oder SYD BARRET wenn er heute noch Musik machen würde...
“Twilight, mastered by Grammy-award-winning engineer Matt Sandoski, explores dark, brooding territory with near-telepathic interplay. Seamless from start to finish, this eleven-song cycle sustains an ominous, slow-loping ambience suitable for doomsday -- or at least a rainy-morning shag. Twilight is a journey through lavish, woeful soundscapes populated by jilted lovers, sleepless nights, and friends that are friends no more. Masterfully arranged and orchestrated, the album envelopes the listener in a seamless world of soaring peaks and dismal, barren wastelands. Hope is absent, and the anger of youth has been replaced by melancholic acceptance of the world's hastening plummet at the hands of man. The album's pristine production, handled by both the band members and Grammy Award-winning engineer Matt Sandoski, blurs the line between listener and performer. Around every bend are sonic explorations that create a moving and shared experience.” [press release]
"The best way I can describe the sound of this album is to think of what you would get if you mixed PORTISHEAD, a little PINK FLOYD, RADIOHEAD, and the slower side of PORCUPINE TREE." [Jettmandude, www.peacedogman.com, May 2005]
|
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| ORCHARD [AIDAN BAKER, GASPAR CLAUS, FRANCK LAURINO] |
Serendipity |
do-LP |
"It was only a matter of time before Stéphane Grégoire - artistic director of the label - regained his now well-known desire to bring about improbable meetings between artists he really likes. This new project goes by the name of Orchard and is in the succession of This Immortal Coil and Numbers Not Names. These projects are quite apart in the label's catalogue and could be described as daring bets with one simple objective - to give life to an intuitive idea. At the end of October 2016, the four musicians in question - Aidan Baker (Nadja), Gaspar Claus (Pedro Soler, Angélique Ionatos, etc.), Franck Laurino (Zéro) and Maxime Tisserand (Chapelier Fou) - met for the first time. The recording took place at the l'Autre Canal in Nancy (France). The sessions were intensive and created an extremely specific context in which the musicians were confined. This atmosphere spontaneously brought about strong cohesion which led the group to produce a real break with its environment, easily freeing themselves from the closed-in walls of the studios to imagine an organic music rather like the photographs by Francis Meslet which illustrate the cover art."
"Another supergroup curation by ici d’ailleurs director Stéphane Grégoire, Orchard consists of Nadja’s Aidan Baker, Pedro Solo’s Gaspar Claus, Zéro’s Frank Laurino and Chapier Fou’s Maxime Tisserand. The quartet, strangers at the time of curation, hit it off with strong improvisations of ambientish post-rock - not unlike ol’ Tortoise. Appropriately, beautiful photos of an orchard comprise the artwork." [Norman Rec]
|
2017 |
€22.50 |
|
| ORCHESTRAMAXFIELDPARRISH PRESENTS AERA |
To the last man / Index of Dreaming |
do-CD |
"... The two halves of this album are individually named possibly as an indication of content or possibly as a thematic device for Mike’s overarching driving concept. Either way they encompass a sumptuous and engrossing set of ambient music. Utilising, slow snowfalls of drones, showers of micro-tones and some well chosen field recordings Mike has created a set that fills a room with a cushion of sound
It’s difficult to give you a straight and easy description of the music. It is, by turn, the purest of ambient - like Eno at his best - before morphing into the most uncomfortable of atmospheres - dripping with discomfort and trepidation. His music is as slow and stark as the winter months and as lush and vibrant as the summer ones. Always recommended." [Wonderfulwoodenreasons]
"Faith Strange Recordings has just issued it's first double cd as of January, 2009. This is a new electronic excursion filling two full cds of recordings from orchestramaxfieldparrish and issued under the project name of orchestramaxfieldparrish presents ÆRA.
A beautifully detailed and rich sonic palette exploring the fleeting aspects of memory and dreams. These recordings manage to strike an artistic balance between adventurousness and a neo-classical sensibility, combined with a keen perception of aural sculpture. In a genre that brims with derivations, To The Last Man / Index Of Dreaming is something way ahead of the curve.
Issued in a limited edition 2xCD package in a Japanese style double mini lp gatefold sleeve. Two hours of wide open vistas and introspective private rooms." [label info]
www.faithstrange.com
|
2009 |
€18.00 |
|
| ORCHIS |
A thousand Winters |
CD |
"ORCHIS is an English Dark Folk band consisting of Tracy Jeffery (who also sings with Cunnan and J Greco's SQE), Amanda Prouten and Alan Trench (Cunnan, SQE, Twelve Thousand Days(with Martyn Bates), Temple Music). We have so far managed to release four albums to date starting in 1994 with The Dancing Sun (cryptanthus /World Serpent), which was more a collection of formative pieces than anything else, then in 1997 the concept album that was A Thousand Winters (cryptanthus / World Serpent). Mandragora (Trisol), an alchemical album based around the themes of life, death and the transmutation of the soul followed in 1999 and in 2001 Trait (a ‘best of’ released through the Russian Brudenia label). Relocation and various tedious problems put ORCHIS on the back burner for a while whilst we buried ourselves in other projects like the busy bunnies we are; we raised our heads out of the mire again in 2007 with the ‘Other Days’ download ep via the (now sadly defunct) Woven Wheat Whispers legal folk download service... There have been numerous compilation album appearances over the years, with some tracks turning up on the ‘Trait’ album. We like to think, as the Fairports had it, that we are Nicely Out Of Tune - there was the odd perfect take, but those were never the ones that went on the albums - rather it was the ones that kept to the True Spirit....
For now, we are happy, to inform you about the important, re-release of the second long-play, from this Esoteric Dark Folk band!.
A TOUSAND WINTERS it is improbable result of the deep mystical experiences embodied in studio work! It's a сonceptual album, with Grand Theme: The story of one part of Europe is extraordinarily like every other part; a thriving pagan culture that at first laughs in derision at the priests of the desert messiah, and then is slowly submerged by the rising tide of christianity until all that remains is folk memory and old tales and songs. The cult of the Nazarene has built many truly awe-inspiring cathedrals from the blood of the people of Europe whilst incorporating and subverting their culture into that of the Blood of the Lamb.
We can to tell that on music, it is mystical dark folk with an impurity of a classical English psychedelia of the end 60th or "Psychic TV" pouring "Allegory and Self" / "Trip Reset", probably to draw parallels with early works In Gowan Ring, but these words and comparisons it will be final a little what to describe music of great group! This inexpressible travel one way...
Now this album also the important part of history Neo-Folk of music to which we again have possibility to touch...
So, ORCHIS again with us and returning begins with "A THOUSAND WINTERS" which we with pride represent in 6 pannel-digiCD with a bronze stamping." [label info]
www.infinitefog.ru
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| ORD |
Withered Bones |
CD |
ORD is another artist from Russia to appear in the Zoharum catalog. Behind the project is Alexey Shipilov, the owner of the label Status Prod. The musician can boast of quite a lot of phonographic achievements, which undoubtedly consolidated his position on the Russian experimental scene, with time going beyond its borders.
The material on "Withered Bones", the album released in Zoharum, is the result of several sessions recorded between autumn and winter 2020 at the "Yunost" Music Center and mixed in the summer of 2021 in the studio by Andrey Volkov.
We are dealing here with ritual music with a deep meditative influence, based on traditional acoustic instruments (singing bowls, flutes, tubular bells, caratals, tambourines and other percussion instruments) with the support of field recordings, samples and effects. Through its own music, graphics and live performances, ORD demonstrates his bond to the Buddhist ritual tradition and shamanic practices that preceded it, which gives a certain color and can be an asset. However, it can undoubtedly be successful in the mind of the recipient who is not too familiar with Buddhist meditation practices. It is worth reaching for this album to explore new areas of music.
CD released in an edition of 300.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/withered-bones
|
2022 |
€12.00 |
|
| ORGANUM |
Die letzte Musik vor dem Krieg |
7inch |
Schöne geräuschhafte NEUE Stücke von ORGANUM, scheppernd-schrottige Konkret-Noises wie sie wir lieben vermischen sich mit ruhigem Klavier und Horn-Attacken...
“Two brand new pieces from 2003. Piano on side A and tibetan horns on side B add new sound colours to the classic Organum drones. Edition of 500 copies in picture cover.. Playing time: 6.39 min.” [label info]
|
2003 |
€8.50 |
|
| |
Omega |
CD |
"...Sitardrones evozieren buddhistische Untertöne, Dröhncluster schlagen die Stunden, die Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 wie eine Litanei aufzählt: A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; eine Zeit zu suchen und eine Zeit zu verlieren; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. Omega ist selbst in sich wieder dreigeteilt und erfüllt in der finalen von drei nahezu gleichen Viertelstunden den ganzen Raum mit pantheistischer Erhabenheit. Jackman nannte (im Interview mit Kevin Spencer) für das,
was ihm vorschwebte, big slow shape in time, Kegelschnitte und die minimalistischen Lichtinstallationen von Dan Flavin. Kühle,
symmetrische Struktur, warmer Klang, keine Psychologie, keine höhere Bedeutung. A piece of time, a time of peace." [Bad Alchemy]
Third part of this great ORGANUM comeback trilogy, more floating again, endless repetitions of the same sounds lead to an experience of timelessness... brilliant sounds & a highly contemplative effect...
"Collecting music for the sake of collecting is not something I am very keen. Music hearing for the sake of hearing music, that is what I like. There are a few artists whose new works I usually try to get, and Organum is one of them. Although I must admit, I sometimes (or perhaps more often than not) am clueless what it is about. If it's about something at all. The music by Organum is a mystery that comes in clusters. The cover of 'Omega' looks like 'Sanctus' and 'Amen', so no doubt there is a relation in the music, which comes to form in the use of a church organ like sound, some highly processed chime like sound and a deep drone of rusty metal in the background. Just as on 'Sanctus' and 'Amen' - and much true to the form of Organum mystery, there are three pieces here, which all sound quite similar - or perhaps they are similar? You can't tell, and that's probably the whole point. After some fifteen minutes, another track of fifteen minutes that sound similar, is that then also
similar? It's a question Organum asks himself, or rather, just raises for us to find an answer too. I am afraid I have no answer myself. I sit back and listen and wondering what this means, 'Omega', 'Sanctus' and 'Amen' - a holy trilogy? Better would be, perhaps, not to ponder too much about this and just enjoy that crazy genius Organum. I am long converted to his belief." (FdW / Vital Weekly)
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| ORGANUM / Z'EV |
Tocsin |
CD |
Endlich mal was ganz neues von ORGANUM: diese Zusammenarbeit mit Z’EV entführt mit Piano und Stahlklängen in objektlose Sphären und melancholische Zwischenspiele, eine überraschende Zusammenführung, die gut funktioniert...
“Following their maxi CD 'Tinnitus Vu' on Touch in 2004 'Tocsin' is the first full lenght album by these two renowned sound artists. Whereas Z'ev simply reworked already existing work by Jackman for 'Tinnitus Vu', this time the artists agreed to both meet in the studio for 'Tocsin'. They created and recorded sounds from a piano which can be found at RMS Studios London and a stainless steel piece built by Z'ev circa 1989, over the course of several hours, took the recordings home, and after a period of each one mixing these sounds by themselves came up with what can be heard on this CD. Two distinctively different works/sections by both artists which form a multilayered and fascinating album. Design by Janthan Coleclough. Edition of 600 copies in full colour 4 panel digisleeve. Total playing time: 49:24 min.” [press release]
“.....Together they went in the studio one day in 2004 and each played an instrument: Z'ev played a stainless steel instrument, built in 1989 and Organum played piano. They improvised for several hours and then each return home to work on their own mix of the material. It's hard to believe that these are two sides of the same coin, really. One of he two lengthy Organum pieces dwell heavily on sparse piano sounds, with vague rumblings in the background. Maybe the plucking of the stainless steel instrument, but it's kept to a strict background. The other piece shows similar piano notes but with bowing sounds and long sustains on metal. Z'ev on the other hand has seven shorter pieces and each seems to rely heavily on sustaining sounds, scraping sounds with piano notes forming a much looser connection to the whole. It seems to me that Z'ev added more electronic processing to the sounds, such as the use of reverb and delay. Unlike what you could easily believe is that the drone like pieces here are by Z'ev and not by Organum. Z'ev's pieces are more along the lines of the previous Touch release. Quite a fruitful collaboration and hopefully more to come.” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
| ORGANUM ELECTRONICS |
Organum Electronics |
CD |
In the birth of the universe
Time stands still amidst a wild and untamable energy
Radiant light bathes and purifies solid stone pillars
Both ancient and modern
Wild vibrations touch our most innermost core and perception
Organum Electronics exists in the clear moment of the present
But its mysterious compositions lay hidden in a
timeless past
Modulating oscillations mirror our most fundamental sense of being
As though a living and breathing entity would
Communicating with a life-force and language we have all but forgotten
sirenrecords.blogspot.com/2019/11/organum-electronics-siren-29.html
"David Jackman’s music, both as Organum and under his given name, is typically characterized by repetition, brevity and a deadpan aloofness. He’s made plenty of extremely short (sometimes
one-sided) 7” singles, albums containing multiple slight variations on a single piece, and albums of compositional (if not sonic) minimalism. It’s Jackman’s typical move to provide very little information beyond a word, or sometimes an image. Lately, he’s been predisposed to not even providing an image; just as few words as possible on a white background, nothing more.
Naturally, he does not seem to do interviews and has no web presence. As listeners, we’re left to apprehend the music as itself. No guidance into his hermetic world. I find it refreshing. Whatever your experience of an Organum album is, that’s all you get. Thankfully, each emission is thought- provoking enough to get lost in and monolithic enough to encourage both passive and active engagement.
In the case of the flatly titled Electronics”, the music is as evocative and singular as anything Jackman has produced. The three 15-minute untitled pieces are monoliths of surging drone bathed in mammoth reverberation. The title says everything you need to know and nothing at all.
Same with the cover art, merely the title and name in a black print cross pattern on white background. The design is nearly (or perhaps exactly?) identical to Jackman’s relatively more active and mellow “Herbstsonne” album; is there an implied relationship between the two? I’ve given both albums some deep listen and I cannot tell what the relationship could be. And so again, the sound is all one gets. “Electronics” is dense and huge; a roiling swamp of electric din that would appeal to fans of Jackman’s early collaborations with The New Blockaders (“Salute” and “Wrack”), though this is more atmospheric than aggressive. It’s a slow boil of fierce control, not a chaotic attack. Few actual events happen, and there isn’t much difference between the three tracks… it’s almost as if Jackman set some sounds in motion, then stepped back and allowed the pieces to generate themselves. It’s relentless and heavy, uniform in mood across all 45 minutes. No build-up, no denouement, just a steady mysterious churn to get lost inside of." [HS, Vital Weekly]
|
2019 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Solitude |
CD |
“In the everlasting silence of the universe
Dark clouds reflect upon shimmering water
The voiceless radiance of solitude
Dissonant overtones in dark clouds
Pierce the eternal veil of night
The rivers rage ceaselessly
Burst
Swiftly, cloud-shadows and sunbeams
White flames burning through a dark sky
Wrapped in its own eternity
Wild and forsaken
No sound is tamed
Release and rebirth, revolve, subside and swell
Inescapable and incessant in motion
The path of that unfailing sound
A harmony
Ancient and solemn
The voiceless radiance of solitude”
David Jackman’s music, both as Organum and under his given name, is typically characterized by repetition, brevity and a deadpan aloofness. He’s made plenty of extremely short (sometimes one-sided) 7” singles, albums containing multiple slight variations on a single piece, and albums of compositional (if not sonic) minimalism. It’s Jackman’s typical move to provide very little information beyond a word, or sometimes an image. Lately, he’s been predisposed to not even providing an image; just as few words as possible on a white background, nothing more.
Naturally, he does not seem to do interviews and has no web presence. As listeners, we’re left to apprehend the music as itself. No guidance into his hermetic world. I find it refreshing. Whatever your experience of an Organum album is, that’s all you get. Thankfully, each emission is thought- provoking enough to get lost in and monolithic enough to encourage both passive and active engagement.
8Howard Stelzer]
"In Vital Weekly 1216, HS reviewed 'Electronics' by Organum, which was quite the change for Organum’s David Jackman. In the last decade or so, Jackman used quite a lot of real instruments to construct a bizarre composition that may or may not be the same. After that came 'Stillness', not reviewed on these pages, and the name was changed to Organum Electronics, which is also the banner for 'Solitude', a thirty-six-minute piece of harsh electronics. Oddly enough, the artwork didn't change and is still similar to the artwork of his 'quieter' phase and which I think is pop art without the images. I have no idea if David Jackman acquired a set of modular electronics to do this, or if this is something he always had but not used a lot. The loud character of the music brings back memories of the very first record I heard from Organum, 'In Extremis'. I always thought that was made with acoustic instruments played with mechanical objects and slowed down, and I might be wrong. It had that density of ringing sounds that I enjoyed a lot back then and still do; Organum is one of the three or four musicians of whom I own a lot of records. That sort of density I also find in 'Solitude', even when it might be all electronics. It sounds like being trapped in the machine room of a large ship. The more you concentrate, the more little nuances appear in the music, an odd sense of movement in a standstill notion. The music might be loud, but it has not the similar aggression I find in some noise records. There is, odd as it may sound, a soothing aspect to the music. I am a fanboy, I admit that, and that means Organum can't do wrong. It was a bold move to change the style of music for David Jackman, but most enjoyable!" [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2021 |
€14.00 |
|
| ORGHANON |
Figures in slow Motion |
CD |
"Sergio Calzoni's talent in chiselling electronics like a master craftsman has already been made very clear in COLLOQUIO's albums. This time he flies alone, and what a flight this is.... ORGHANON's debut album offers a melancholy-filled trip through a congealed world where figures slowly drift in the thick air. Gentle melodies, superbly constructed electronic patterns, experimental passages create vast sonic scenarios that would perfectly fit in a Jim Jarmusch/Alejandro Inarritu's movie. Not only the sheer, marvellous quality of the songs but also a very strong feeling of walking into a brand new, undiscovered sonic territory will leave you breathless. Only a few times in our entire "career" we've been so completely dragged into a record like into "Figures in slow motion". Miss it at your own risk." [label info]
www.eibonrecords.com
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| ORIGAMI ARKTIKA |
At Royspytten |
7inch |
Neue Single der Norweger, hier beschreiten sie sehr subtil dark-folkige Wege..
The same Origami Arktika dreamteam line up as the last single on killer – at Snippen. This time the Norwegian folk music undercurrents are even more pronounced, including their very own version of a Jørund Telnes song (Norwegian folk music performer). Since last time the band has released several CDs - >brook< - a spilt CD with Lull and a live CD from Poland. This single is the first material to arrive from their latest session and hopefully the rest of this material sees the light of day. Origami Arktika sounds like nothing else on earth, a bit folk music, a bit drone rock, a bit outlandish as a freeform arctic storm. Personnel are Tore H. Bøe, Kai S. Mikalsen, Bjarne Larsen, Rune Flaten and Kjell Ø. Braaten. Current activities include Salvatore, several Origami fractions, Kobi, Ka, Sketch, Palace of Pleasure and a lot more. Beautiful colour cover courtesy of Jarle Hrafn Grindhaug.45 rpm, edition of 300 where 100 are on dark lilac vinyl” [press-release]
|
2002 |
€6.00 |
|
| ORIGAMI GALAKTIKA |
One |
CD |
"Everything is one, unique, peculiar – the message besides the new album from norwegian artist. Absolutely essential collection of his new works is released now on the CD in glossy and beautifully designed digifile.
Origami Galaktika is Benny Braaten, A.k.a. b9. Established in 1994 Origami Galaktika is celebrating 20 years of ambient soundscapes. A journey that has brought deep spiritual sounds to close to 20 countries. A variety of venues ranging from art galleries, pubs, punk places, churches, to concert halls etc.
How many ambient acts do you know that have played Sunset Strip, Los Angeles? Or the French quarter, New Orleans? A vinery in Aesch, Switzerland? In the woods outside of Gdansk, Poland? Everything from youth clubs to tea-houses in Slovakia? Vancouver, Toronto, the middle of the praries where hardly anybody has ever been?
Supported extreme metal bands, opening metal festivals? Supporting The Legendary Pink Dots more than 50 times and played with: I: wound, (r), Daniele Brusaschetto, The Angels Of Light, Dave Phillips, Nocturnal Emissions, Francisco Lopes etc…
In addition to Galaktika, Braaten is also working with the historical music projects Folket Bortafor Nordavinden (The People Beyond The North Winds) and Skvalthr. He is also having music history "lectures" where he tells us about and demonstrates ancient musical instruments… He is also hosting tonings and drum journeys. Braaten is also working on music for a dance performance to be performed in May 2014.
The new album "One" is a bridge between the "old" and "new" Galaktika. Featuring two older (previously unreleased) pieces and 6 brand new ones. After many years of mostly sample based live performances, Origami Galaktika today is mostly accustic and no sampler is used in the live performances these days." [label info]
www.monochromevision.ru
"Behind Origami Galaktika we find Norway's Benny Braaten, who has been doing music for a great many years. He toured with Nocturnal Emissions and The Legendary Pink Dots and releases his records around the world, albeit quite sparsely. I must admit I am never sure how this whole Origami business works, but it's a larger group of people working together, although it seems that Origami Galaktika's Braaten is mostly working solo. I saw him a couple of times and his music is highly atmospheric and generated on relatively lo-fi equipment: electronics, field recordings and four track cassette tapes. Atmospheric and drone like is what he offers us. There was a time when we called this ambient industrial music, when we played the cello bow on the guitar and added lots of reverb here and there. That is, essentially, what Origami Galaktika still does. On this grey, rainy day this is probably the perfect soundtrack for the mood one can find oneself in. A usual piece by Origami Galaktika starts with a drone and on its way gathers more drones in small variations and a box tricks is opened and small variations on a theme appear. I was thinking about the fact that it sounds like something I heard a lot, even when perhaps not very recently; if that the lack of innovation is a real 'problem' (to whom, I wonder). True, Origami Galaktika doesn't necessarily change tactics, but he does a great job in what he does. If you like say Troum or Maeror Tri, and you like your sub consciousness tickled than Origami Galaktika is surely something you must hear, if you don't know them already. 'One' is one great CD." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| ORIGAMI REPLIKA |
Kommerz - MERZBOW in the Hands of Origami Replika |
CD |
This CD sees Origami Replika (a now defunct part of the ever changing cultural Origami collective/phenomenon) made up by three of Norway's most diehard noise heads -- Lasse Marhaug, Tore H. Boe, and Mads Staff Jensen. Recorded in 1997, this effort is entirely based on sound sources from the back catalogue of Merzbow. With no back-bending, knee-scraping humility, and with a pure love for all source sounds, Origami Replika have shaped classic Merzbow sound into all-new compositions. These are innovative and highly potent re-workings of the harsh sound waves, recommended to all those who still have a healthy addiction to the Merzbow sounds of yesterday. Thick and meaty, the blasts emanating from the speakers are filled with lusty, fetishized, organic heavy noise and experimental Dadaism, ready to be devoured by the faithful disciples. Originally planned for release on another label, and now finally unleashed on Segerhuva, this is a CD that has been tried and tested over and over again. These recordings, created almost a decade ago, have been remastered by Lasse Marhaug, and it is safe to say that this CD has stood the test of TIME. After nine years, it sounds remarkable - a solid chunk of the classic, living breathing Noise Object that some call religion. Bottom line -- the NOISE FETISH is still very much alive and well. This time it comes from a somewhat unexpected source. Indulge!
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| ORNAMENT |
Unicorn Lullaby |
CD-R |
Wiederveröffentlichung dieser schönen ORNAMENT-CDR mit recht einfach gestricktem, aber sehr wirkungsvoll-hypnotischen loop-ambient/drones, warm und dunkel, zwischen TAM QUAM TABULA RASA und AMON? Feine Fullcolour-Cover-Artwork auch ...
sehr zu empfehlen!
„Unicorn Lullaby" was self-released by Ornament in a few copies back in 2000 and is now published by Afe in a fully remastered and repackaged version that showcases the author's visionary attitude. Due to the poor distribution of the original version, this is probably Ornament's less know work, but it's probably his best attempt at Dark Ambient music contaminated with Industrial elements. If we look for some kind of internal reference wondering through the whole Afe catalogue, this can easily be found in Never Known's "Dawn of an Era", but "Unicorn Lullaby" has of course a personality of his own. According to his author, "Unicorn Lullaby" is an oniric / visionary concept in sounds, a travel to and back from an imaginary collapsing world where the "Unicorn Shaped Labyrinth" is the entrance / exit. "Noctifer" is the star shining above this imaginary world, while the gear-sounding "High Density of Grief" is a representation of the slave-citizens forced to work in a consuming production-chain and "From Concealed Gardens" tries to describe its mysterious flora and fauna. After entering the imaginary world, the protagonist wakes up ("I Opened My Eyes in the Liquid Room") and fight against his "Fiendish Ego" as the world begins to collapse ("Under Shivering Columns") as predicted by ancient priests who were charged with heresy ("The Heretics' Heritage"). This heritage is the only key that allows the protagonist to survive the ordeal and return to the place where he belongs as only a few traces of past life surround him ("Only Life Remains"). The distinctive overall sound of the album is subtly achieved with a rich shady substratum of distant sounds that are intentionally and elegantly kept in the background and are fully appreciable at a mid volume level.” [label description]
www.aferecords.com
|
2005 |
€12.00 |
|
| ORO!ORO! |
Sastingis |
CD |
"The latest oro!oro! album is dedicated to the eternal winter. To the everlasting glacial stagnation. Just imagine it is one and the same season - the season of winter - all year round. That is the true core of the stagnation. Excessively deep meditative sounds remind ether, the habitat of spirits. Reluctantly you ask yourself if you are still alive? In terms of style, the album harks back to the cult ambient albums of Current’93. Those who still recall The Stars Are Marching Sadly Home may expect the same atmosphere. Perhaps now is the time when the waiting for the spring will never end?" [label info]
www.autarkeia.org
|
2013 |
€12.50 |
|
| ORPHANAGE COMMITTEE |
Continuities Vol. 1 |
CD |
EE Tapes proudly present the new brainchild of Orphan S.C. Wallace from our hometown Sin City, Belgium.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, his debut LP from 2021 - A Significant Change - has still been delayed at the pressing plant....maybe this year?
Instead, we present his different face first: ambient / drone constructions created spontaneously as homage to EE Tapes' 35 years of electronic obscurities!
All sound and vision by Orphan S.C. Wallace. His floating drones are like a film between the ears. 3-2-1....relax now and let the earplays take off!
CD in standard jewel case limited to 100 (only 65 for sale).
First 35 cps (only 20 for sale) come in a coloured box (yellow, blue, green or red).
Available as physical CD + DL.
Video:
youtu.be/7TbbxLxzy_E
https://eetapes.bandcamp.com/album/continuities-vol-i
|
2022 |
€12.00 |
|
|
The Seven Sacraments |
CD |
The Orphanage Committee is an ever-changing sound art project. Has Orphan S.C. Wallace now become religious?
Not likely, but you have to admit that 'The Seven Sacraments' is a damn fine topic to expand your mind!
This wonderful soundwork collects two lengthy compositions interpreting the Sacraments and being powered by real organ sounds. A true easy/uneasy listening experience to reach your personal Eargasm! Hell yeah! (Reverend EE)
CD Limited to 100 cps in a jewel-case or DL
Tags: abstract, ambient, field recording, experimental, mental muzick
https://eetapes.bandcamp.com/album/the-seven-sacraments
"Holy cow - sorry - but when I ended my review of the previous release by The Orphanage Committee, only four weeks ago (!), with "made me curious about where the Committee is heading next; I can't wait", I didn't expect the answer so soon. Belgium's Orphan S.C. Wallace releases an album with "two interpretations of the Seven Sacraments, being baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance, anointing of the sick, holy orders and matrimony". Of course, this is very Catholic, and I have no idea how seriously we should be looking at this. Maybe it's a parody, or perhaps it's all serious business. Also, on Catholicism, I wrote before; that, "as a good Catholic boy, I don't care [about prayers], repent on my last day and go straight to heaven". I hope that works out one day (not too soon). Each of the two interpretations consists of seven parts, distinctly different, yet each flowing in the next. Unlike the previous LP, The Orphanage Committee returns to his first work (VItal Weekly 1319) and offers some more moody, synthesizer-based music. Not part of the cosmic school, perhaps, but repeating sounds, a bass line here and there, a repeated melodic loop. To top it off, there are field recordings, ranging from the schoolyard, radio and television. It's unclear what the relationship is between the spoken word and the seven sacraments; as far I could see, not a lot, and they were used in a more ornamental way. Face value, the music has very little to do with anything remotely religious, so even for atheists (for people of other faith), this is the most enjoyable mood music. So, if the correct order of the releases is the one in Vital Weekly 1372 as the debut, and in 1319 the follow-up, and then this, we can say that working with the more atmospheric end of synth-based music has his preference. A most enjoyable route to take, and the result is quite good." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
|
A Significant Change |
LP |
THE ORPHANAGE COMMITTEE is the solo project of Orphan S.C. Wallace, residing in Sint-Niklaas (Hellgium).
On his long-awaited debut LP, he delivers fresh and playful soundscapes, often with a spastic beat, but mostly with a serious twist, undoubtedly!
Put this record on, loud as it will play and enter the challenging playground of THE ORPHANAGE COMMITTEE.
Strongly recommended for your mental moves!
\'All music is equally abstract, but some music is more equally abstract than other\' - Orwell S.C. Wallace
Available as LP on sealed 180 gm black vinyl, 200 cps with insert and DL
https://eetapes.bandcamp.com/album/a-significant-change-2
|
2022 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Sol in Solus |
LP |
The Orphanage Committee is the brainchild of Orphan S.C. Wallace.
The committee in itself can be seen as a singular abstract entity, while its different faces show themselves in their different aspects of music or variety of genre they create.
Second vinyl LP for label resident Orphan Wallace!
'Sol In Solus' is a concept album about nature and self-reflexion.
An overall organic suite in ten parts comprising multi genres and instruments conceived and performed by this talented local electronic artist!
Guest appearance by Michiel De Malsche on A: V.Topsoil Girl.
Back to nature!
'For the Sun is our Force of Habit,
Giver and Taker of Life,
For our Solus is the Merit,
The Way, the Truth, the Light.'
Tracklist
A: I.Tiny Rivers II.Mother Tree III.Le Fort IV.Bound Like Blood/My Very Last Chance V.Topsoil Girl
B: I.Aquarius II.Forest Spirits+ III.As Long As I Have My Sense Of Wonder IV.Earth, Bind, Oxidize V.My Darling Thunder
Tags: abstract, ambient, experimental, field recording, minimal, modern classical
#################
" 'Sol In Solus' is already the fourth release by Belgium's Orphan S.C. Wallace, also known as The Orphanage Committee. He writes, "The committee in itself can be seen as a singular abstract entity, while its different faces show themselves in their different aspects of music or variety of genre they
create, " which may account for the slightly varying approaches in sound. The title means The Sun Alone, a concept album "about nature and self-reflexion". Ten parts spread over two sides of the record, each flowing into the next. Instruments aren't mentioned, but if I have to guess, I'd say there is an abundance of sampling going on, and many of these are samples from real instruments. Lots of percussion, keyboards, strings and such, and the result is again a diversification from his earlier work. The music is atmospheric again but in a slightly more orchestral sense of the word. The Orphanage Committee isn't using big-time-sustaining sounds but melodic sampled electronics. One name that sprang to mind was Fetish Park, but I forget which CD of theirs. The whole thing has an air of modern classical music but an artificial version. I admit not seeing the relation with nature easily here, or, come to think of it, self-reflection. Only when he mixes some field recordings do things become more nature-based, obviously with these forest sounds. It is all quite pleasant to hear, maybe too lovely and light at times; perhaps I love a bit of darkness, a bit too much, and there isn't always that much of it here. Having said that, there is enough to enjoy here, as each of the ten sections works very well as part of a whole, and there is some excellent variation in the music here. Another record by The Orphanage Committee, another variation in approaches, another winner." [FdW / Vital Weekly] |
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| ORPHAX |
De Tragedie van een Liedjesschrijver zonder Woorden |
CD |
" “De tragedie van een liedjesschrijver zonder woorden” (The tragedy of a song writer without words) is the first normal CD by Orphax. This album contains music that has been written between April 2005 and July 2007 and retouched again in 2008 and 2010. The period these songs were written was one with many transitions in the live of van Erve. It was the end of his student years, the begin of his working years, a period where he struggled with an at that time unknown disease, a period where he was searching for answers to questions he didn't know. Inspired by this he wrote these wordless pieces.
The music on this release, at first planned for release in 2011, shows yet another look into the ever expanding work by Orphax. Even more than his other work this one is dealing with small details in the composition creating an environment that feels comfortable but at the same time grabs you by the throat. The music goes from minimal droning sounds to isolationist soundscapes and experimental ambient moods.
Orphax is the project by Sietse van Erve, born in Tilburg, living in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Orphax works in the field of experimental electronic music once started out with ambient music slowly incorporating drone elements he now has a focus on minimalist music and lo-fi droning sounds. With every release he tries out new ways to get to his goal to create a psychedelic mind influencing atmosphere.
So far he has released several CD-R releases both private as on small labels such as Cut Hands and Verato Project, Broken20 and Moving Furniture Records.
In the past he was performed and worked with artists such as The Village Orchestra, Jos Smolders, and Erstlaub. He also shared the stage with musicians such as Charalambides, Sindre Bjerga, Zebra (Frans de Waard & Roel Meelkop), Staplerfahrer, Dirk Serries and many others.
Limited Special Edition with bonus CD only available directly through Orphax." [label info]
www.movingfurniturerecords.com
"A while in the making, this 'tragedy of a song writer without words', which was already recorded between 2005 and 2005, later reworked, in 2008 and 2010 and then left in the hands of a less reliable label, but now being released as a CD on Orphax' own label, Moving Furniture Records. Orphax, you should know, is the work of Sietse van Erve and perhaps the easiest thing to say is that he is a computer musician, and one of the few I know who works extensively with AudioMulch, a sort of build your own musical software, along the lines of Max/msp or pure data. He has released a whole bunch of things, mostly CDRs and downloads, but now his first CD, and perhaps I am listening to this differently, but it sounds great. Do I listen better, more closely because this is a CD? I would hope it doesn't make any difference, but the five pieces, all with titles in Dutch, showcase what Orphax does best. Creating glitch like music, with microscopic changes, deep end drones and it works heavily on the mind. You could wonder wether something 'new' happens here, but that's not the point I think. Orphax plays some glitch based music which is firmly rooted in minimalism and has a tendency towards noise, but unlike some of his previous releases, the element of noise is very much under control here: it's there for sure, it serves the purpose of the music but it doesn't get in the way of whatever is going on, the drones, the ambience. Carefully building sound constructions, these six pieces is each a beauty to hear. This is, and I am not exaggerating here, by far the best Orphax release I have heard. It's a great decision to have this on a real CD, a show of confidence." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€11.50 |
|
| ORPHAX & MACHINEFABRIEK |
Weerkaatsing |
CD |
Weerkaatsing is the first collaboration by Rutger Zuydervelt (Machinefabriek) and Sietse van Erve (Orphax), both active players in the Dutch experimental electronic music field. While their paths did cross many times at concerts either as visitors or as performing artists, never before these prolific musicians got together. And as with so many collaborations also this one has a story behind it:
Reflectie (Orphax)
The idea behind this collaboration started in 2007, when Rutger released his EP Stofstuk and following this the remix album Kruimeldief.
For years since the release I was intrigued by this little piece and the various remixes, and always had the idea of making a remix myself (and actually to start a series of unrequested remixes). Finally in 2016 I took the time to really work on this Stofstuk remix. With some magic and other forms of witchcraft I created the almost 20 minute long drone piece Reflectie, based solely on the Stofstuk piece. I tried to put a real Orphax touch to the work, but without losing the true Machinefabriek sound. As such it really felt for me as if we did a collaboration; and it was screaming for more.
So I told Rutger about this and after I sent him the piece the idea came he would also remix one of my works. And from there this collaboration really kicked off...
Spiegeling (Machinefabriek)
The first time I met Sietse was at a gig in Utrecht, probably in 2006 or so, but I’m not sure. Since then, I saw him at so many gigs… one of the regulars of the scene, I’d say. Anyway, in 2007 I invited a load of artists to make a remix of my track ‘Stofstuk’. The results appeared on the album ‘Kruimeldief’, but what was missing was Sietse’s remix. At least, that’s what I found out recently. Apparently he had been ‘secretly’ working on a beautiful 20-minute remake of my track. Damn, it was too nice not to do anything with it, so we decided that I should return the favour and do a remix of an Orphax piece. I choose 'Geluiden van de Eerste Dag’, of his 'Tragedie van een Liedjesschrijver’ album, the piece that resonated the most with me. And the rework was done in no time. Not because I was in a hurry, but because the basic material of the track was so grateful to work with. I added a few looped snippets of violin which I recorded at a rehearsal (for another piece), and these worked perfectly with Sietse’s sounds. ‘One plus one equals three’, I’d say (cliché or not).
Weerkaatsing (Together)
So then we had two remixes. We had already decided to release this somehow, but it didn’t feel complete yet. That’s when ‘Weerkaatsing’, the title track, came to life. The most ‘collaborative collaboration’, and our favourite track of the album. It’s like the table tennis illustration on the cover; we kept bouncing sounds back and forth, until the track was finished. Which, again, didn’t take long. We were clearly on the same wavelength, and together with the other two tracks, we think it’s a really solid drone album.
movingfurniturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/weerkaatsing
"In a small country like The Netherlands there is a small, lively scene of experimental musicians, who bump into each other quite a lot and it is almost inevitable that there will be collaborations. Sietse van Erve, also known as Orphax bumped into Rutger Zuydervelt, alias Machinefabriek, bumped into each other a lot, as players of concerts or visitors to other concerts. Orphax was also interested in 'Stofstuk', an early piece by Machinefabriek (see Vital Weekly 573) that got quite quickly a remix CD to its name (see Vital Weekly 586). Van Erve was not on part of that remix project but over the years worked on a remix of his own and when Rutger found out, he decided to thank by doing a remix of an Orphax piece, 'Geluiden van de Eerste dag' from 'Tragedie Van Een Liedjesschrijver' (see Vital Weekly 899), in a twenty minute piece. To top it off they
worked on a joint piece of music, bouncing sound files back and forth and now all three pieces.
These three pieces are now to be found on 'Weerkaatsing', which means reflection, just as all three pieces have titles which Dutch synonyms for 'reflection'. Many works by both artists have been reviewed in Vital Weekly, and if you read what was written over the years, you know the words 'drone' and 'ambient' have been used quite a bit. This collaborative is not different and both play what their fans, me included, expect them to do. Where Machinefabriek has the sustaining organ sound Orphax is known, along with the stretching of bell sounds, Orphax uses the violin loops of the original and even allows for some rough cuts. Machinefabriek seems to be at his most minimal in this piece, in awe of Orphax, I'd say, and Orphax returns by showing a more musical side. In their duet piece they go for the more conventional drone approach and it consists of many layers of Orphax' old organs picked up in a space with a microphone adding an excellent space feel to them, and it gets a lovely treatment. This CD has a great cover too,
courtesy by Zuydervelt. An excellent release." (FdW/Vital weekly) |
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| ORPHX |
Chalice |
10inch |
Neues Klangextrakt der starken Kanadier, enthalten sind 4 Stücke im Niemandsland zwischen ambience und Rhythmen, wie immer gehen ORPHX sehr elegant, kompakt und doch behutsam vor...das ganze als erste Dokument einer neuen „travel document“ series, präsentiert von KREV (the kingdom of elgaland-vargaland).
A new & strong 4-track 10“ by the canadian duo, who walk into no-man-lands between ambience and rhyhtms, as always they work very elegant, compact but also careful with sounds..
“ CHALICE sees ORPHX walking on new ground.
four tracks, that cross the bridge between dubby basic channel-style grooves and crunching pan sonic distortion. amusement for commutors world wide.” [press release]
www.aufabwegen.de |
2002 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Pitch Black Mirror |
CD |
Pitch Black Mirror is the new full length album from industrial techno veterans Orphx, copresented by Sonic Groove (2xLP + digital) and Hands (CD). Rich Oddie and Christina Sealey have created a diverse and distinctive body of work over the last 23 years and this album may be their most definitive statement yet.
Pitch Black Mirror foregrounds the duo’s unique fusion of techno and industrial but also demonstrates their ability to continually push their sound in new and challenging directions by drawing on elements of electro, post-punk, and EBM. The human voice is a central element here, ranging from subtle layers of samples and location recordings to the more prominent vocals of Rich Oddie and guest vocalist Marie Davidson. The album is also notable for its detailed sound design, courtesy of Sealey’s modular synthesizer systems, Oddie’s percussion and synth work, and software mutations from founding Orphx member Aron West. With its sonic and lyrical imagery of watery depths, lost love, and transmutations, Pitch Black Mirror offers a sonic landscape that is clearly inspired by personal and social turmoil but points towards the possibility of creative transformation.
www.handsproductions.com |
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
| ORPHX & THE INFANT CYCLE |
Interference |
maxi-CD |
Endlich veröffentlicht das kanadische Projekt INFANT CYCLE auf größerem Label – hier mit unseren HANDS-Favoriten ORPHX. Enthalten sind je ein Stück von beiden Projekten und entsprechende Remixe vom Gegenpart. Das ist tiefschürfender, schleppend-atmosphärischer Elektronik-Ambient der allerbesten Sorte, düster und sirrend.
Finally the excellent canadian project INFANT CYCLE on a bigger label, here together with our favourite HANDS-Acts ORPHX. Listen to profound, slow-waving atmospheric electronic ambience of the highest quality, dark and fuzzy..
“ HANDS FOLDOUT PACK IN DARK GREY CARTON. ORPHX ARE BACK – THIS TIME TOGETHER WITH THE GREAT INFANT CYCLE. THE MINI ALBUM OFFERS 4 EXCLUSIVE
TRACKS OF A COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE TORONTO BASED PROJECTS ORPHX AND THE INFANT CYCLE.” [label info]
www.handsproductions.com
|
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| ORSI, FABIO |
Osci |
LP |
Italienischer Newcomer auf SMALL VOICES mit einer von Nostalgie und Melancholie durchdrungenen Drone/Ambient-Produktion, field recordings und traditionelles Folk-Material wird z.T. loopig verwebt mit Gitarren- & Synth-Klängen, 3 nostalgische Postkarten runden das verträumt-nostalgische Bild ab... für Atmo-Melancholiker.
“SmallVoices is happy to present a new Italian promising artist: Fabio Orsi. 'Osci' is a two long tracks album (remixed by Gianluca Becuzzi/Kinetix) of ambient drone music, field recordings and experimental melancholic soundcapes... Using processed folk music parts (taken during folkloristic festivals, typical of the Apulian folk tradition), Fabio creates a dreaming atmosphere crossing between balls and bellows, silence and spirituality, everyday life: at home, in a church, in the countryside, at the small-town feast. All these sounds mixed and processed through digital machines: an encounter between modernism and tradition. Image a sort of mixture between Alio Die's ambient works, William Basinski's melancholia, Phil Niblock's experimentalism. Fabio Orsi plays: guitars, samples, field recordings, laptop. The black heavy weight vinyl was packaged in an elegant sleeve and including 3 postcards.” [label info]
“Osci is a deep hole into the ground of the loved/hated traditional music. It is a snatch with the past, watching it from unusual perspective, with deforming lens under coloured lights. Osci never meets "Art", it is something like a hack. As the sickle relates about the man, but it's completely unconcerned with their destiny. He speaks the speech of crickets and ants. Time no exist. Telephone are not used to ring and the bees are assembling a "flying saucers" with the elements of an old washing machine. Telephone doesn't know how to ring and voices are gliding in to the dark from mouths full of soil and cheap beer, talking about obscene love proposals. Under the Sun we reverse a big stone and the name of a girl crawls out, into the grass. Someone picks up it from the ground, and put it on the neck as an amulet. Violin's strings clasp the heart in an August night. Flames itching the flesh with pain. Finally our body shows infinite chances. Inside and outside. Every single pore is a hole. Inside is outside. A blink. We would like to shake the skin from bodies, jumping in the fire. A blink. Then we leave by car, disappearing on dusty roads. Sentenced to a slow craziness. All the rumours pushing under the scab. Where the streets are swelling as the veins and the buildings are collapsing, we plant a microphone, cold as a needle.” [liner notes]
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Random Shades of Day |
3 x CD |
"Fabio Orsi has been winning the hearts of many listeners over the past few years with both his solo and collaboration releases. It's not often I find a new artist that interests me, and since my first listen to 'before long, before anyone, the stars will be walls in my mind' I've been hooked.
This set includes two CDs of previously unreleased and out-of-print material spanning Fabio Orsi's career. Drones, keyboard, guitar, distant vocals and field recordings can be found over the first two discs. Included are Fabio Orsi's first EP (I'm Here), 1000 Days Red, Faded on the Blowing of Winter, six previously unreleased tracks and more.
CD3 is a brand new full length record entitled 'Random Shades of Day'. This new full length continues on from 'Wild Light of the Moon' with beautiful drones and relaxing ambience. This is easily some of my favourite work that Fabio has ever done, and Part III is also some of his darkest. Easily the finest release to date." [label info]
www.privilegedtofail.com
|
2010 |
€16.00 |
|
|
The new Year is over |
3 x CD |
"Nine long and extraordinary tracks collected in a triple CD, among fluctuating ambient atmospheres, hypnotic rhythmic progressions, circular and motionless stasis, acid psychedelic escapes, evocative electronic reflections... Slow suites of "classic" ambient music suspended and dilated, soft and wrapping sonorities alternated with evocative and dramatic crescendos, through progressive sounds layerings, drones, pulses, distant echoes of human voices and subliminal perceptions of ethnical vibrations... A long and absorbing journey through distant sounds and universes, a timeless music without boundaries...
Monumental opus by one of the most brillant italian artist. Simply a milestone.
Limited edition of 300 copies in cartonsleeve." [label info]
www.silentes.net
"One of things I wondered about when listening and looking at 'The New Year Is Over' is why a set of three CDs? Track titles don't show evidence that these belong to each other per se, but of course music wise it does. Nine lengthy cuts of what Fabio Orsi does best, playing ambient soundscapes, highly atmospheric. He employs synth, effects and guitar according to the cover. That's easy. The outcome however isn't as homogenic as one should expect. I thought it would be along those lines where we have nine similar approaches to the same idea, but that's not the case. A piece like 'Endlisch' on the first disc is almost noise ambient, with a touch of rhythm buried underneath and marks the end of a CD that seems anyway a lot louder than we are used to. Its a diametrical opposite piece to 'Dust In One Hand, Love In The Other' (track two, disc two), which is a very soft floating sailboat, the last track of a more silent CD. These two works could have fitted one disc, but I can see why it's decided not to do that. The third disc has three pieces which have a slightly more rhythmic, looping feel about it, and bridges I guess the two previous CDs in an effort to go from very quiet, introspective material to more loud movements in 'The Lonesome Era (part 3)'. This CD is a showcase of the various aspects of atmospheric music that Orsi is familiar with and as such he does a great job in displaying that. You could argue wether three is a crowd and such a showcase could have been one CD, but I think its better to have it over the course of three separate discs and show the smaller variations in there." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Memory of a safe Place / La Forest a non fa pura |
LP + mag |
"issue #1
phonographic record
FABIO ORSI MEMORY OF A SAFE PLACE
photographic work
FABIO ORSI LA FORESTA NON FA PAURA
Born in the province of Taranto, in southern Italy, after many years spent in Naples and now based in Berlin, Fabio Orsi sits among the most interesting names of the European electronic and experimental scene. Following his early output on A Silent Place and Smallvoices, his music works have been published by many other labels worldwide, including Last visible Dog, Porter Records, Boring Machines and Silentes. His talent has become an estabilished reality thanks to his abilities in finding a nice balance between experimentation and melody, sounding intimate and abstract at the same time, using drones of a concrète and electronic nature, acoustic instruments, field recordings, synthesizers and computer treatments for his compositions. In addition to his solo work, we would also like to mention his many collaborations with Italian saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Valerio Cosi and Gianluca Becuzzi a.k.a. Kinetix, and ex-Limbo, that projected their visions into a different perspective. “Memory of a Safe Place” consists of two long drone-based pieces that explore the pictures collected in “La foresta non fa paura” (The Forest Is Not Scary). Both tracks slowly build from a distant low frequence humming: “Part 1” has a dream-like quality and is one of those numbers suspended in eternity that could easily last forever, a truly healing experience; with its rhythmic elements fading in along the road, “Part 2” is more down-to-earth, so to speak, althought if it reminds pretty well the listener of the German Cosmic Couriers of the Seventies. An awesome work for all the Ambient Music fans, Post-Kraut lovers, Hypnagogic dreamers and the Eternal Drone explorers out there.
The standard edition of this issue consists of 250 copies; a limited and hand-numbered edition of 44 copies is also available, it includes a 18x24cm original photograph printed on 310 gr. high quality professional photo-paper." [label info]
www.silentes.net
"Following a small tidal wave of releases, things became quiet for Silent at the end of 2012, it seems. Maybe there is only room for as many CDs? Or maybe there is a need to break away from easy to copy/download CDs and create something that is perhaps more unique, more desirable? Hence, the birth of '13', which takes here the shape of 12" record with 16 A4 page booklet of photography, in an edition of 250 copies. It could have been 50 copies, with different shaped photos or even smaller editions with unique prints. Either way, the photographic aspect is of an equal importance as the music. The series kicks off with Fabio Orsi, doing both music and photography here. Orsi's career started on A Silent Place and Smallvoices, and further developed with releases on labels such as Last Visible Dog, Porter Records, Boring Machines but above all Silentes. Orsi is an ambient composer and uses synthetic and natural sounds to create his music, that fits the black and white photography quite well. Lots of pictures of nature, and with a sound that seems to stem straight from nature this is music that is probably best enjoyed outside - be it that taking a record player into nature is a bit difficult. That's the only downside of such a release I guess, which is otherwise filled with some great music. In 'Part 1', I believe to hear a mass of voice material, cascading freely but seemingly becoming more of a tidal wave, whereas in 'Part 2' it seems to be revolving around a looped guitar of some kind, locked into an eternal hum. Both sides are of course highly minimal with some very slow developments, placed in all the right places, preventing both parts from being just a single minded drone piece, but more a free floating experience in sound. Very sober in execution, both sound and image, but very nice altogether." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Uncharted Waters |
CD |
With more than 30 albums under his belt, Fabio Orsi has been one of the leading figures of the Italian electronic scene for over 10 years now. In his work he experimented with folktronica, drones, field recordings, minimalism, and sampling. As the title itself indicates, his latest album (and the first one released on Zoharum) is a journey into previously unknown areas. "Uncharted Waters" is a pulsating, multi-layered, multi-coloured 36-minute composition that can surprise current fans of the artist. It proves you can expect the unexpected from Fabio Orsi. At the same time, the melancholy hovering over the melodies and the atmosphere of this album links "Uncharted Waters" with previous releases of this Italian artist.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/uncharted-waters
"Background/Info: In a bit more than years Italian artist Fabio Orsi has released an impressive number of productions. “Uncharted Waters” is his first work released by Zoharum Records.
Content: “Uncharted Waters” is an invitation to dream away. The work takes off a pure space-style. The track is progressively evolving towards darker passages. After more or less 20 minutes you’ll notice electro sequences accentuating the electro-ambient approach of the composition. “Uncharted Waters” features one single cut of more than 35 minutes.
+ + + : I like this typical space-like atmosphere hanging over the composition. It’s a relaxing experience, which progressively moves into a darker sound. The second half of the song is the most fascinating one. There’s a kind of exciting space-dub touch leading the listener into a transcendental journey.
– – – : When listening to a single piece with such a long during time it’s nearly impossible to remain fascinated from start till the end. The first half of the composition is relaxing, but not exactly exciting
Conclusion: Music can be synonym of travelling and that’s precisely what this album is all about! Put the disc in the CD player, close your eyes and dream away throughout unknown, imaginary places." [Side-Line]
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Sterminato Piano |
LP |
I've known Fabio Orsi for almost fifteen years now, artistically and humanly. Since the days of "Osci" his first album released by SmallVoices, my label at that time, up to some essential records published by A Silent Place, another label that I managed, in a period that seems almost unrepeatable. Each of his work, whether in music or photography, is always a certainty for me, but lately also a surprise; in fact Fabio Orsi has learned to surprise himself and surprise us: this new creature is different from his previous releases, but is always touched by that talent and crystalline class that distinguishes him; after all these years, I can affirm it without fear of appearing too enthusiastic or even partisan. The new work "Sterminato Piano" settles among the best things of Fabio Orsi, but also in some ways, among the most unexpected and original. After eight years in Berlin, his return to Puglia (south of Italy) is restoring new life and new creativity and new energy. In fact, the new album is full of energy and warmth, with patterns, sequences and dancefloor beats of our dreams. Amazing cover artwork wizardly made by Italian illustrator Mastereaster.
https://fabioorsi.bandcamp.com/album/sterminato-piano
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Reverse Diverse |
CD |
An album of sublime workmanship, developed by one of the finest Italian artists in that experimental context in the broadest sense that Fabio Orsi has explored over the years in every direction, with the uncommon ability to always go "beyond", renewing himself, seeking new sounds and new forms of expression, without ever completely abandoning the "main" path from which he began his long journey many years ago.
In this "Reverse Diverse", the artist combines sounds and musical openings that are at times almost "symphonic" with programmed rhythmic structures of great impact and effectiveness, with moments of strong impact and drama alternating with moments of more reflective "stillness" and introspection.
The tracks are those of an electronic music that draws its greatest inspiration from all that the "Berlin School" has been able to express from its beginnings up to the most current digressions; but this is only a general indication, because Fabio Orsi has been able to catch every bud of that experience, to then "expand" and develop it in a very personal way, integrating it with all the other influences that until today have "contaminated" his appreciated artistic/musical past.
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Late Afternoon Tapes |
CD-R |
recorded, edited and mastered in my studio, Litoranea salentina, March 2022
fabioorsi.bandcamp.com
cover collage by Robert Kerber
“Für gewöhnlich versuchte er, einen winzigen Augenblick in der Zeit festzuhalten, aber manchmal fand er Vergnügen daran, kleine Geschichten zu erzählen”
robertkerberart.wordpress.com
With this album, the labels attenuation circuit, run by EMERGE, and Grubenwehr Freiburg, run by Grodock, launch a new series of co-releases, marked by their catalogue code with the label 'initials' ACGF, but especially by their over-sized artwork in the format of a 7'' vinyl single sleeve. The aim is to give artists a broader exposure across the various networks of the two labels.
Fabio Orsi, who divides his time between Berlin and his native Southern Italy, makes ambient music in the best possible sense of the term. Not in the sense that it is music that just textures the air as some kind of acoustic wallpaper or furniture and doesn't actually deserve attentive listening. But rather music that attunes itself to the slow changes in atmospheres, light and weather conditions, the ambience in the sense of the (natural) world that surrounds and in many ways (still) defines us. “Late Afternoon Tapes” with its slowly meandering guitar-based textures will not only appeal to fans of guitarists like Robert Fripp or Christian Fennesz, but also – and the “Tapes” in the title may be a conscious hint at that – to anyone who enjoyed William Basinski's “Disintegration Loops”. When it's late afternoon, the light fades into an eventual darkness. This is music to go gentle into that good night, to paraphrase Dylan Thomas, or at least Fabio Orsi's music “makes time pass a little less painfully” (Anne Clark).
File under: ambient
"Last week, I wrote about the Silentes label and Fabio Orsi, these are very active people. Here we have a CDR release. It marks the beginning of a collaboration between Attenuation Circuit and Grubenwehr Freiburg. As I commit these words to the screen, it is not yet late afternoon, but the idea behind the music is evident. Daylight fades, the day ends, and there is a soundtrack for that. 'Thursday Afternoon' from Brian Eno is such an appt title in this respect. Orsi's recent music is all about synthesizers, sequences and arpeggio. I am not sure if that is the case with this new release. Maybe he returned to his guitar and loops? Or perhaps it is a combination of both? I suspect the latter to be the case here. These five pieces sound not unlike Eno or Fripp, solo or together, and are something of a departure for Orsi; or a sidestep. The music is slow, with minimal changes. A few notes are hanging in the air thick of cloudy drones. The result is fuzzy and hazy music. I enjoyed this very much, but I guess Orsi can't do much wrong in my book. For me, this is not the soundtrack of the end of the day, but rather the start of the day, my favourite moment to play ambient music. In that sense, this is music for every day, all times of the day, depending on what the listener chooses." [FdW /Vital Weekly]
|
2022 |
€8.50 |
|
| ORSI, FABIO & CLAUDIO ROCCHETTI |
Cascando |
LP |
"The work of both Fabio Orsi and Claudio Rocchetti has long been a varied study in internal dynamics. Through an array of instruments and sound sources, Orsi and Rocchetti have made an album that both feels very internal, and yet firmly roots observation on the external; that which is indeed beyond view. The very 'falling' of Cascando is at play across the work. Typically, of course, one associates the act of falling as a negative; something which is accidental and brings pain. Yet as the album begins with its harsh insect-like frequencies, so it ends in a similar vein as the fall implied is complete. Quite beyond that which one would expect however, the end result of said fall is one that is considered, calm, and ultimately, biotic. The slowing down of everything gives us time to see beyond life's noise, with its diversions and tracts. It helps us to absorb but to also look deeper, further, and onward, to a place we can call our own, to a place we can call home." [Ian Hawgood]
www.backwards.it
"The psychedelic drone traveler Fabio Orsi has dotted the globe appearing on an impressive array of labels with his slippery dronescaping and nocturnal impressionism. Time Released Sound, Home Normal, Digitalis, Students Of Decay, and Korm Plastics have all released his recordings, and here; he finds himself on the Italian imprint Backwards working with fellow countryman Claudio Rocchetti, who both happen to be residing in Berlin. The twin guitars of these audio alchemists surface through dense layers of time-delay effects of shimmer and blur, resulting in some lovely overtones and harmonics washed amidst the field recordings of rural chimes and cathedral incantation. While it's hard to discern the exact division of labor, Rocchetti seems to be the one with more of the rough-hewn Tom Carter-styled bent to his guitar figures and drones, where Orsi might be the one who wraps his instrument in a deep cosmic hypnosis. Together, they are formidable pairing making a gauzy yet earthen mesmerism, in conjuring these mirage-like recordings. Think a more shambolic Stars Of The Lid or a less shoegazing doppleganger of Simon Scott, and you'll probably be pretty close to what this Cascando falls. Gorgeous stuff." [Aquarius Rec.] |
2014 |
€12.50 |
|
| ORSI, FABIO & MAMUTHONES |
The First Born |
CD |
Der neue italienische Ambient-Star FABIO ORSI wieder in Kollaboration, und zwar mit MAMUTHONES aka ALESSIO GASTALDELLO, Mitglied von JENNIFER GENTLE. Es fängt harmonisch & recht harmlos an mit Synth/Organ-wellen und Vogelgezwitscher, dann aber setzt Perkussion ein, die Drones werden prägnanter, fuzziger, das ganze bekommt einen hypnotisch-trancigen Sog, der einen langsam immer mehr gefangennimmt... Super !
"... Dunkle Soundlayers verweben sich mit atavistischer Percussion, ins Endlose schlingernde Feedback-Schleifen von beklemmender Dichte wälzen sich wie höllisches Miasma durch die Lautsprecher, irgendwo blitzen weit aus der Ferne erhellende Keyboard-Tupfer auf, um sich später zu treibenden Rhythmussektionen zu verfestigen." [SKUG]
"THE FIRST BORN is (quite aptly) the first collaboration between Fabio Orsi (more than a recurring name in the In A Silent Place catalogue) and Mamuthones - better known to friends and family as Alessio Gastaldello and founding member and drummer of Jennifer Gentle, the Italian psych band signed to Sub Pop Records. After six years with the Jennifers, Alessio split amicably in late 2006 and reinvented himself as Mamuthones, a one-man project delving into primitive percussive jamming and equally primitive one-finger astral keyboard-playing. After a telematic chance meeting with Fabio Orsi, now the crowned prince of the Italian experimental noise, this album slowly started taking shape via e-mails and file-sharing. Built around a series of percussion-cum-keyboard sonic landscapes performed by Mamuthones and enriched by deep, droney electronic layers later added by Orsi, THE FIRST BORN contains four long tracks of dark, brooding modern psychedelia. From the splashing cymbals and martial beat of the title track to the hypnotic surge of "The infinity within" or the ritualistic feast of "The battle", the whole album feels like an ancient sea ebbing and flowing on some distant alien shore, making for a curiously disjointed listening experience, at the same time peaceful and menacing. The ever-shifting sonic textures evoke both the starchildren krautrockers of old and more recent outer-world explorers but always keep a strong personal identity, firmly rooted in the current weird Italian take on space rock. Released in extra heavy and luxurious package!" [label notes]
www.asilentplace.it
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| ORSI, FABIO / TEZ |
Otto |
CD |
13/Silentes presents the fruitful first collaboration between FABIO ORSI and the Italian interdisciplinary artist and independent researcher MAURIZIO MARTINUCCI (aka TeZ), mostly knownfor his collaboration with ADI NEWTON in CLOCK DVA.
Together they have created a work as dense as it is intense, with cosmic traits that are aptly depicted in the images featured on the artwork. A work in which the experience of its two authors reaches a unique climax where you can only let yourself loose without placing any limits on your senses.
“Two liquid minds that meet in a truly surprising creative partnership, devoted to the alchemy of electronic weavings that pulse, dig, transform, dare, reinvent. The artists in question are Fabio Orsi and TeZ, talented musicians who need no introduction other than to point out that we find ourselves in the presence of two veterans of avant-garde experimentation and ambient noise that drives out hidden horizons by intercepting them in the space-time folds of the sound dimension. The plastic breath of OT / TO's 'optophonic' compositions denotes elements of visionary writing out of the ordinary, like prismatic figures in the odour of quantum mechanics, or like chiselled tonal profiles that refer to the synaesthetic idea of a music susceptible to becoming a vehicle for sublimating multi-sensory experiences. If Fabio Orsi shows off his knowledge as an imaginative creator of mental-oneiric atmospheres through the hallucinogenic, deeply immersive registers of his instrumental apparatuses based on electronic patterns, field recordings and variable frequency drones, TeZ is the synthesist of post-science and of the kinematic algorithm that triggers highly pervasive vibrational dynamics, the strategist of the mathematical pulsation that forges cycles of gravitational currents and vortexes of telematic sounds with innovative pronunciation. It is no wonder that Adi Newton wanted him permanently at the court of Clock DVA and that he has also distinguished himself in comparative research into the interrelational potential of sound, light and space. It is from this molecular fusion that the genesis-synergy of a work full of magnetic properties and captivating waveforms is triggered. Eight tracks, each of which is marked by a specific numbering (from one to eight), according to a numerical sequence aimed at the 'philological' purposes of the authors. What comes to life is a phenomenon of tensional factors and sinusoidal events in continuous movement, like atoms of fluid crystals that change shape and volume, perspective angle and tactile sensation, regenerating between one loop-scan and another, while the harmonics float, dart, throb and dance on the mesmeric granular stratifications of the drones. A fine elaboration of phono-particle complexions for a four-handed challenge that we can consider decisively won.” - Aldo Chimenti
CD in 6-panel digisleeve, ltd. 200 copies
13.silentes.it/private_sounds/sps2247_orsi_tez.htm
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| ORTHANK |
same |
CD |
Orthank (An evil Orthodox B.M Release for Fans of Deathspell Omega, Ofermod and Ascension)
Out of ashes and blood we have returned to glorify His name! The one who confronted the Enemy and became the \\\"Scapegoat,\\\" Azazel. From complete humility to the highest point of consciousness and individuality, he went his way to bring knowledge to mankind. A confrontation that cost him not just his life, but his eternal imprisonment in torment, is bearing fruit every day.
Progressing in decadence and vice, humanity descends into the Abyss to continue its slavery under the aegis of the demiurge, without noticing the noose around its neck.
We sing His name with these four hymns. We praise His feat. Opposition and exaltation, freedom and clarity!
The Devil is one, his handiwork manifests itself at different levels of the vertical of existence and is not limited to this!
Official Video Teaser:
youtu.be/WhgQ2cnyilU
https://zazensoundspublishings.bandcamp.com/album/zzs-106-orthank-orthank-digi-format-sold-out-available-in-high-quality-digital-download
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| OSSASERPIA |
Mvsic for Solve et Coagvla |
CD & book |
"Vladimir Igoshin (Ossaserpia) has created Opus alchymicum, spectacular account of the »work« of the musickal alchemists who developed a symbolic kind of psychochemistry, aimed at producing the gold of mystical illumination through celestial musick. See theories by Robert Fludd (Robertus Fluctibus) and Rosicrucian theories of the monochord. Very unique drone chamber musick with some strange industrial elements. Vladimir Igoshin is known for his contributions to HCD compilations such as Lust From The Underworld and/or AL: 100th Anniversary. Special art-work for an oversized hard-bound book (A5) designed by fantastic Madeline von Foerster! Special limited edition consists of 500 hand-numbered copies in hand-made box covered with rustish top-notch embossed Quilt 120g paper. The oversized embossed hard-bound book (A5) printed on Gmund Kaschmir cream 170g and embossed CD sleeve-jacket again on Quilt 120g paper. Very rare print for all fans of occult & alchemy! Special limited box on request only!" label notes]
"Genre: Dark Ambient / Drone / Neo-Classical (Chamber) / Industrial.
In today’s climate where record labels seem intent on cheaply mass produced releases to make a few quick bucks it comes as a relief to find a record label that actually cares about the presentation to match the music they release. Stepping into the, highly deserved, limelight is the Czech HORUS CyclicDaemon record label founded by Martin Mrskos. All their releases, well the ones I’ve been lucky enough to track down, have been impeccable in every respect. What went before though has been overshadowed by this latest release by the artist Vladimir Igoshin recording as Ossaserpia. I doubt many labels would have the balls to put out a recording housed in an actual hard bound book, A5 sized, in quality 120g paper and beautifully illustrated by the artwork of Madeline von Foerster. My eyes still can’t take it all in. I’m not by any means up on Art by any stretch of the imagination but I knows what I like and I like what I see set before me. The illustrations saying more than any amount of words can possibly describe. Which they need to as there are no words to accompany the pictures. A wise decision as it leaves the listener to use their own creative imaginations to make of it what they will as they listen to the music. For this book is best used in conjunction with the recording. Which I suspect was the way it was meant to be. Separated both are superb stand alone products. Together they open up undiscovered realms that feeds the senses. The touch, smell and sights of the book complimented by the aural grandeur that Vladimir has composed.
Based on the theories of Robert Fludd (Robertus Fluctibus), 1574-1637, a Kentish Anglican alchemist, mathematician, astronomer, cosmologist who wrote thirteen published works in his lifetime and the Rosicrucian theories of the monochord. Please Google these for I have not the time, nor the intellect required, to go into great detail here, the music expands on the theory that alchemists developed a symbolic kind of chemistry aimed at producing the gold of mystical illumination through celestial music. Clear as muck then. The concept may well be shrouded in unintelligible mystery to a Neanderthal knuckle scraper like myself but even I could see what the artist has tried to envision through his music. Featuring, what I can only call, a Medieval vibe mixed in with modern Industrial noise and drone sensibilities the twelve tracks are a treat for the ears. Though you will need to give it a couple of spins to really get inside every nuance that Vladimir has created.
From the off perceptions are challenged by the dirge drones and assorted muted ‘noise’ effects that spread like wildfire from the speakers. The bass tones are heavy duty and tinted with a dark apparel. Move past this introduction and the speckles of Neo-Classical / Chamber music begins to shine forth and suddenly the music takes the semblance of form as Vladimir throws all manner of different black musical combinations into the cauldron that bubbles with an intensity you never realised possible. You are treated to a music born of fire and brimstone from an age past brought to life in the present day. As your eyes scan and feast on the pictures of storm clouds, dragons and entwined couples the music conjures them in the minds eye. At its heart the music is surprisingly downbeat and steeped in dark oppressive moods where tranquillity appears smashed to a pulp. For all the unsettling swings the music takes, and it takes a lot, it ends on a note of triumph. A glimpse of fortitude winning against all odds.
Unlike many recordings that have tried to re-create the whole ‘magical’ dark ambient experience ‘Mvsic For Solve Et Coagvla’ is the only one I’ve encountered that has actually got under the skin of its subject matter. I’ll not pretend that it is by any means an easy recording to get into and many of you may be put off by the way Vladimir has tackled the subject in such an uncompromising way. This might have been the Achilles heal for a lesser experienced musician but Vladimir’s music is created in such a way that through repeated plays you become more accustomed to the sounds until finally the clouds break and the full visionary aspects opens up before your ears. If there was such a thing as a perfect 10 for both presentation and music working in harmony and tandem with each other then ‘Mvsic For Solve Et Coagvla’ would be it. I tell you now that it will be one of the most sought after recordings for music lovers and collectors alike this year. With only 500 numbered copies you’ll need to act fast…or live to regret it." [Alan Milne / Heathen Harvest]
label-website: www.horus.cz
|
2006 |
€26.00 |
|
| OSSATURA + TIM HODGKINSON |
Dentro |
CD |
"Somewhere between Musique Concrete and a kind of abstract improvisational work, using extended techniques and electrification that disconnects sound from any recognisable source. A fascinating first record that sits between studio improvisation and extensive post production processing composition." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
1998 |
€14.00 |
|
| OSSO EXOTICO |
Church Organ Works |
CD |
Die Aufnahmen zu diesem Album wurden ausschließlich in Kirchen gemacht – Orgelstücke, wie sie minimaler und freischwebender kaum sein können. Ätherisch & von mitunter monumentaler Art, aber auch von zarter, heiliger Stimmung. Wieder eine aussergewöhnliche CD der Gruppe aus Portugal. Sehr feine Artwork (Klappcover).
"The three piece group from Portugal explore in ten tracks the possibilities of the church organ. The members play in various combinations on different organs. The outcome is very varied. The opening piece is barely audible, but the second piece is a loud, repitive, all register open one. Of course it's hard to see this music without any religious overtones, but Osso Exotico don't give a clue in that direction: all their pieces are untitled. Meditative pieces in most cases, but less minimal then the known minimalist who grew up with playing organ. This is a different approach then Charlemagne Palestine would do, but none the less this is quite interesting." [Frans de Waard - Vital weekly]
|
1998 |
€8.00 |
|
| OSTERTAG, BOB |
Sooner or Later |
CD |
“Long out of print, now reissued in limited edition metal boxes by Bob himself, Sooner or Later is a powerful piece (for sampler) derived from the sounds of a Salvadorian boy burying his father: a shovel striking rock, a voice, a buzzing fly. Some guitar sounds by Fred Frith are added in part two. This tells only of the sources; what Bob does with them is compelling and hypnotic.categories CC, SAPT, EL, CL” [ReR]
|
1991 |
€14.00 |
|
| OTAVAN VERET |
same |
CD |
"Otavan Veret is another new addition to the Cyclic Law family. Hailing from mystical Finland, the project is from the minds of Kaarna (Tervahäät, Slave's Mask, Anima Arctica Label etc..) & Kivelä. Their first self titled album is a conceptual journey towards the vastness of the universe, where one would simply seep into and become one with these amorphous territories. A calm, epic, massive and monotonously rich curtain of ritualistic sonorities escalates as radiant timbres morphs like an aurora borealis amongst stellar luster. Ever present is the uttermost distance, deep as lethargy, soothing as still waters and affective as phantoms.
Edition of 500 copies in 6 panel Digipack. 3 Tracks. Running Time 50:00" [label info]
www.cycliclaw.com
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| OUSTAD, KRISTOFFER |
Filth Haven |
CD |
"As one half of Swedish/Norwegian industrial duo K.N.O., Kristoffer Oustad is no stranger to the Malignant roster, and yet within the broader context of the K.N.O. sound, his exact contributions were never fully known, or at least immediately recognizable. Listening to his debut solo recording, it becomes evident that the more emotive and moody qualities within those recordings seemed to be his primary responsibility. The 7 tracks that comprise Filth Haven operate on a palpable psychological level and are perhaps some of the most personal and deeply emotional recordings Malignant has released. Oustad shows an innate ability to craft intricate and detailed pieces of grey hued, analog darkness that feel suspended in time… dreamlike and meditative, yet always hinting at something ominous on the horizon, as gradually shifting textures, drifting tones and haunting melodies intersect in a hazy, somnambulant procession. While the method for composition (analog synths, guitar, and field recordings) may have been the same, each track is uniquely different than the next, but in the end, feels tightly bound together by a cinematic framework that sinks deep into your consciousness. An absolutely astounding and rewarding work for those that appreciate all manner of dark music." [label info]
www.malignantrecords.com
"Filth Haven is the first full length release published by the Norwegian Kristoffer Oustad under his own name. In the past Oustad has offered several albums and compilation works under the moniker of Kristoffer Nyströms Orkester (a power industrial duet formed with Peter Nyström of Megaptera) and Plague Machinery and the post-metal, avant-garde industrial project V:28.
Filth Haven is an ultimate bleak, demonic and epic soundscaping inferno. Massive, absorbing and grimy, the dark instrumental music rituals offered here are made of brooding droney chords, treated found sources, ultra-sonic electronic assaults, micro signals, harsh noises, disembodied chants and treated hypnotic-like percussive elements. The whole orchestration is amazingly captivating and exceptionally turbulent, as if we enter in complete nightmare-ish hallucinations which send us back to primordial origins or to some forgotten cosmic events. ‘Filth Haven’ is a tremendously hell-ish narrative album, a sublime illustration of infernal scenes of extravagance and final desolation we can appreciate in terrifying painting visions of John Martin, John Charles Dollman or Adolf Hiremy-Hirschl, just to name a few. The apocalyptic mood is interrupted by rare field recordings as in the otherworldly Acheron-like droning sound tapestry of “Row me over.”
Mesmeric splendor, compelling musical procession and dark contemplative estates that will ravish addicted fans of isolationist ambient music and anything related to post-industrial experimentalism. With this album Malignant Records proves one more time that they figure among the most iconic producers of shimmering industrial ambient music. Filth Haven is definitely a recommended album for collectors as well as beginners in the genre." [Philippe Blache, IGLOO MAGAZINE]
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| OUTLIER |
The Top Tent |
CD |
You are cordially invited to a vacation at The Top Tent. It's a faraway dreamlike location, where Outliers like you & we can meditate in peace, to develop exciting new sounds & ideas, exciting new sounds & ideas that are not tired & worn-out sounds & ideas. Sounds like a nice idea, doesn't it? We all want a peaceful new way to move ahead, don't we? The Top Tent is a five-star getaway destination, a new way to house your head that's fit for your slickest, glossiest brochures. Fold your brochure into a private aeroplane & fly the friendly skies to The Top Tent!
Come & join Sarah & Kevin & our wily cats & escape for a little while. Here at The Top Tent, your experience is #1. Ease back & bask in a multitude of new moods & moonlights & motions & maybe a little magick, too. Presented in pristine hi-fi digital recording quality for our very first Compact Disc, Outliers have truly renovated & expanded our musical living quarters for The Top Tent & this is the Grand Opening. No need to R.S.V.P. Tell no one where you go when you dream. This experience is your own. Please, make your self a home.
Music by Sarah Tracy & Kevin Hainey.
Recorded in Toronto during 2021.
Live room improvisations. No overdubs.
Mastered by Jason Lescalleet at Glistening Labs USA, June 2022.
https://outliercommunications.bandcamp.com/album/the-top-tent
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| OVAL LANGUAGE / RLW / DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE |
Sprechzimmern (Hommage an Carlfriedrich Claus) |
CD |
"Distance, busyness, sporadic communication occupied with other topics are often the reason why common interests are discovered only late and by accident. Carlfriedrich Claus, sound poet and graphic artist with a largely concealed output, working in the no-man's-land of Annaberg-Buchholz, near Chemnitz, Germany, was with some exceptions only discovered after the fall of the wall. Creating a work of vocal utterances not only composed with great sophistication, but underlined with intense philosophical research.
How could we not be enthusiastic and even euphoric when digging through the layers of his multi-faceted body of work that has progressively been published as deserved, which wasn't the case during the GDR regime that had him withdrawn his title of a professional artist. Concentrating on a few basic elements, intuition and chance as creative tools backed by intense theory and contextualization, working methods we all strive for ourselves. It was just a matter of time and time it took, but it was worth it, to do our own take inspired and in homage to this great man to whom we feel so linked.
This is not a collaboration of working on each other's sound files, it rather is to let each other know, to compare where each participant's exploration is positioned and how the distinct works could be arranged together in order to allow for a varied but continues listening session. A process of filtering and combining, adding and eliminating, varying density and permeability.
a homage to Carlfriedrich Claus
of fermenting language / aggregated resonances / swoosh-combined speech transparency:
historical-philosophical vibration / distorted densification = experimental retail salesman
/ articulating principal latency / private suspect statesmanship / destructive-combinatorial / an evening live in annaberg - buchholz: tol & rlw & dsm / chronicled, condensed and constellated in 2014.
full coloured artwork based on an original drawing by Guido Huebner (dsm)
edition of 300" [label info]
scrotum-records.de
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| OVAL LANGUAGE, THE |
Waldkonzerte |
do-LP |
Second LP release by The Oval Language on Edition Telemark after "Hibernation" in 2017, this time showcaseing Klaus-Peter John's Waldkonzerte (woodland concerts), recorded in 2016. The Oval Language is an autonomous art project founded in 1987 in Leipzig, East Germany, by Klaus-Peter John and Frank Berendt. Since Berendt left in 1995, it has been continued by John, sometimes with collaborators, but recently mostly for solo activities. Its fields of activity have included sound-noise performances, conceptual works in open spaces, installations, land art projects, photography, and more.
From the beginning, the space or location itself has been a central aspect within many of their site-specific sound-noise performances. When working at a certain location, the performers tried to not bring in anything from outside, but exclusively use material already available at the space. This way, it becomes possible to thoroughly feel out and explore the site, allowing a distinct site-specific sound to emerge that is integrated into the performance. Throughout the 1990s, the sites used often were abandoned buildings in Leipzig, available in nearly unlimited quantity, from vacant factories to unused former public bathing facilities. During the recent years, Klaus-Peter John has focused on a minimisation of means and developed a unique vocal technique without amplification that he has used in a number of performances. In 2016, he attempted to integrate his voice into pure nature, in his own words the biggest challenge to date. His goal was not to perform any kind of singing or the like, but to use voice as a means similar to the site-specific tools used in previous performances by The Oval Language. He performed five concerts without audiences in a forest ravine in Döben, near Grimma, between June and November. The concerts parallel the course of the seasons and their related acoustic changes and conditions.
This double LP is presented in a die-cut single sleeve with two printed inner sleeves. The inner sleeves contain one photo made during a Waldkonzert on each side. By switching the order of the inner sleeves, four different front sleeves can be generated. Edition of 200.
www.edition-telemark.de/903.01.html
|
2021 |
€29.50 |
|
| OVRO |
Revisited |
CD |
Auf "Revisited" benutzt OVRO Feldaufnahmen aus St. Petersburg und Moskau, die sie von einer Reise mitbrachte. Die wallend-raunigen Drones der Metro, obskure TV-Schnipsel, Kirchenglocken, der Besuch eines "Eis-Tempels" und die Benutzung von Metallflöten, Kaffee-Bar Geräusche, Altai-Folklore in einem Museum... aus all diesen Soundquellen schafft sie eine faszinierende "zweite Reise" für den Headspace, so dunkel, dicht und traumverwebt spannend, dass hier quasi Genre-freie Musik ensteht, zwischen drone ambience, Geräuschmusik und atmosphärisch-experimentellen Hörspiel.
"The wondergirl of Finnish dark ambient soundscapes is back with a new album. Revisited is based on field recordings made during Ovro’s tour in Russia in 2006, subsequently processed and treated in the studio. Revisited is a powerful aural travelogue. It will lull the listener to a state of receptive trance, and then starts working on the subconscious mind. Let yourself go, lose yourself in the sound, expect lucid dreams, out-of-body experiences, alien apparitions and a shower of sound massaging your body throughout. Revisited is loosely related to Estraier, a 2006 EP of which only a handful of copies were given out. Compared to Estraier, Revisited is extended, mutated and more elaborate throughout. While the beginning is similar, the paths taken turn out somewhat different and thus the outcome is all new. CD is packed in beautiful 4-panel digisleeve. Edition of 1000 copies." [label info]
www.someplaceelse.net
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Horizontal / Vertical (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
"OVRO has already been called "the wondergirl of Finnish experimental music" and with this, her first ever vinyl-release, she really proves this! On HORIZONTAL / VERTICAL deep waving droning noises are set against vortexing echoes & swirling digital effects, derived from what could be instrumental sources or object recordings, moving the willing listener into a surrealistic subconscious dimension. Especially on the second side the contrasting conrete material can fill your imagination with "something" that "happens", so captivating & condensed!
This music spreads like an unconscious aural travelogue in different spatial directions (horizontal & vertical). What makes OVRO so special is her capability to create very "cinematographic" and "narrative" drone-atmospheres or landscapes, with great care for even tiniest details.
OVRO is also a part of the SOME PLACE ELSE-association, together with NIKO SKORPIO.
Filed under: Subsconscious Travel-Drones
more info: www.someplaceelse.net/artists/?id=ovro
WHITE VINYL. HANDMADE COVERS PASTED UP WITH NEWSPAPER-SHEETS & FILMSTRIPS" [label info]
www.dronerecords.de
"Auch OVRO, die mit Horizontal / Vertical (DR-93, white vinyl, red labels) erstmals auf Vinyl zu hören ist, bekennt sich zu einem ‚Anderswo‘, das als Label Some Place Else eine Adresse in Venäjänkangas hat, in den Hinterwäldern von Turku. Dort hat die junge Finnin Musik veröffentlicht - Malice in Underland (2003), Gegendurchgangenzeit (2005), Mosaick the Serpent / Vipera Aurea (2006) und Revisited (2008) und weiteres als Hæretici 7o74, einem Duo mit Niko Skorpio - , die jedem, der sie hörte, in die Zwielichtzone
zwischen Tag, Traum und Alptraum entrückte und Geheimnisse zuflüsterte, wie sie Dichter als Krikelkrakel einer anderen Macht zu Papier bringen. Schon das Video zu ‚Equation Impossible‘ macht eine Faszination durch Stummfilmhorror und Schwarzweißfilme von Polanski deutlich. Hier suggiert ein aufgeklebter Filmstreifen auf den handgefertigten EP-Hüllen eine cineastische Qualität der ominösen Klänge, die ins Bewusstsein einsickern wie nichts Gutes. Eine grummelnde Basswelle, wischende, fast krächzende und kaskadierende Loops, die rückwärts und linksherum gegen das Gebot
der Zeit verstoßen. ‚Undergrounded‘ und ‚Elevatored‘ steht auf den Auslaufrillen. Man steckt in einem Untergeschoss fest, und das leise Klopfen und Scharren vor der Tür lässt einen zittern, dass sie nicht aufgeht. Oder ist es nur der eigene Puls im Ohr, und schon zittert der furchtsamen Nachtwache in der Hirn-Morgue sprichwörtlich ‚jedes Blatt‘?" [Bad Alchemy]
|
2008 |
€7.00 |
|
| OVUM |
Eld |
CD-R |
Ein one-tracker (51 Minuten) vom schwedischen dark ambient-Projekt, Zeitlupen-drones und leicht sirrende elektronische Effekte, die ganz langsam niedersinken.... windartige, verhallte Filterrauschsounds verstärken eine Atmosphäre des Unendlichen und Transzendentalen. Sehr schönes Artwork (2-fach Vollfarb-Pappklappcover mit GLUT darauf), insgesamt ein exzellenter dark-drone-ambience Release! TIP !!
“OVUM is the main project of Karl Midholm from Sweden, his style may be best described as a mixture of Industrial-Ambient and Drone Music. "Eld" was created in 1999 using recordings of fire as the only sound source. Such recordings were subsequently run through filter banks and effect units, resulting in one fifty minutes long track of evolving beautiful drones. The album was originally intended as part of a various artists set dealing with the four elements that unfortunately was never released. After five years from its creation, it finally see the light of day as another Blade Records / Afe Records co-production.” [label description]
|
2004 |
€12.00 |
|
| OÖPHOI (OOPHOI) |
Hymns to a silent sky |
CD |
Neues Werk, dem “Himmel” gewidmet...pure Meditations-drones, langsam kreisende Frequenzverschiebungen, sanfte verhallte aurale Schlagschatten..... die “beste Kunst”, sowohl visuell als auch akustisch, produziert immer noch und täglich neu, die Natur... diese Natur-verbundenheit scheint OÖPHOI mit seiner Musik ausdrücken zu wollen....
“A silent, impassive sky is watching us. An impending sky full of signals that we should learn to read and perceive. A sky which reflects our moods, hopes and fears. A sky which can recall our deepest memories.
I want to dedicate these hymns to all the people who feel attracted by the beauty and the mysteries of the Sky.” [Oophoi, 2005]
"An album of epic, deep, evocative space music that stretches out in front of you in its own infinite universe of sounds. The music is deeply connected with the mysteries of the sky: clouds moving slowly, delicate and dramatic colors merging together beyond the horizon line, winds carrying voices and sounds from distant times. A remarkable work full of poetry. According to general reactions - Oophoi's best album so far. Total Time: 60:21 “ [label info]
www.nextera.cz
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Mare Imbrium |
CD |
Re-Release of the limited self-released CDR which appeared originally in January 2001. We wrote at that time: “New work by the italian ambient-project, getting more and more attention in the ambient-scene. OÖPHOI uses here “synths, electronics, tibetan singing bowls, stones, shakuhachi..” for his unbelievable spaced-out nebulous & lush drone-sound.. “Mare Imbrium” is our favourite, with extremely distant acoustics and a surreal dreamstate-sound, ideal sensual late-night listening!”
"Challenging music to drift away with, a deeply atmospheric listening experience inspired by the most obscure Sea of the Moon, Mare Imbrium, the Sea of Storms. Dark synth washes, subtle noises, the distant voice of the Goddesses and deep slow resonances create a trance-like soundscape which asks for a careful listening to uncover its secrets" [from the press release]
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| P-ORRIDGE, GENESIS & THE HAFLER TRIO |
Dream Less Suite |
do-LP |
Genesis P-Orridge and The Hafler Trio: do these 2 legends still need any introduction?
Genesis P-Orridge was the founding person of COUM Transmissions in 1969, Throbbing Gristle in 1975, Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth and Psychic TV in 1981.
Andrew McKenzie started The Hafler Trio (together with Cabaret Voltaire’s Chris Watson) in 1982 and since then released all his work under this moniker and collaborated with William
S. Burroughs, Autechre, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Nurse With Wound and Jónsi from Sigur Rós, to name a few. And he constructed the first kit Dreamachine in 1989 together with Brion Gysin.
The impact and influence of these pioneers of the industrial underground,visionary thinkers and open minds, anti heroes of the misfits and the outcasts is hard to underestimate.
On ‘Dream Less Suite’, the first new album by The Hafler Trio since 2016, Andrew McKenzie unearths, resurrects and completed recordings he made through the years with Genesis P-Orridge.
This 2LP features soundtracks to unfinished films, live performances and the real versions of tracks you know and love, released for the very first time and mastered from the original reelto reel tapes.
Expect the unexpected and be prepared for the unprepared.
Subliminal soul music for the very faint-hearted.
Demented disco for insecure insomniacs.
Asymmetric acid for hoovering hipsters.
Immersive polka for naughty night nurses.
Soothing sounds for crying babies.
Liberating latin for lesbians on xtc.
Transcending tribalism for jogging junkies.
Frenetic freakbeat for nihilistic numerologists.
Jiving jazz for tyrannic transgenders.
Hypnotic exotica for corrupt gymnastics.
Indescribable sounds for angry journalists.
Endless entertainment for everyone and the rest of the family.
All f#cks given 2.0. Masters at work.
|
2023 |
€29.50 |
|
| P16.D4 |
DISTRUCT |
CD |
Assemblage of transformed, organized and (re)structed sound material submitted by:
Bladder Flask, Déficit Des Années Antérieures, De Fabriek, The Haters, Philip Johnson, Hiroki Kocha, Merzbow, Fredrik Nilsen, Nocturnal Emissions, Nurse With Wound, Onnyk, Harold Schellinx, Die Tödliche Doris, Vortex Campaign.
P16.D4 was a German electronic noise music collective, active primarily from 1980 to 1988. P16.D4 embraced tape cut-ups, musique concrète, endless recycling and transformation of previously published material, and many long-distance collaborations with like-minded artists such as DDAA, Vortex Campaign, Nurse With Wound, and Merzbow. Their active participation in the international industrial tape scene yielded collaborative output such as their release Distruct, where bands such as Nurse with Wound, Nocturnal Emissions, Die Tödliche Doris, and The Haters provided the source material. The longest-term collaboration was with the installation and conceptual artist Achim Wollscheid, who used P16.D4 sounds as the basis for LPs he recorded under the name SBOTHI. Ralf Wehowsky, the only constant member of the group, later released solo material under the alias RLW.
Members of P16.D4 were also involved with Selektion, a collective of people involved with sound as well as the visual arts. Selektion published LPs, CDs, books, visual art and design.
The collective worked in a strongly improvised, spontaneous and anti-professional way, using acoustic and electronic instruments, using existing sound fragments, duplicating and alienating them, using repetition, distortion, changes in speed and playing direction. For this they used not only sounds of other artists but also their own material from earlier productions. Late works of the collective are associated with musique concrete.
https://www.sonoris.org/product/p16-d4-distruct-lp/
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“On this, their second LP, P16.D4 solicited tapes from several artists from Europe, England, the U.S., Canada, and Japan, and mixed that with their own material. Though in the current digital age collaborations from artists thousands of miles apart is quite normal, this was a quite radical approach back in 1982, when work on this LP began – an interesting concept that actually works quite well, since these artists, which include Bladder Flask, DDAA, the Haters, Merzbow, Nocturnal Emissions, Nurse With Wound, and several others – work in a similar free-ranging experimentalism as P16.D4, and their particular elements, usually just vocals or one instrument or noise implement, blend well without diluting P16.D4’s own peculiar brand of avant-garde post-industrialism, but merely give it another facet. One of the best tracks, “Aufmarsch, Heimlich,” consists of a choir submitted anonymously from Eastern Europe phasing in and out of static while a skronky alto sax bleats away. Most of the pieces exist somewhere just beyond the borders of free jazz, industrial, and even classical avant-garde, full of jarring noises and strange transitions and with a heavy overlay of electronics. What started out as an experiment yielded one of P16.D4’s best albums.”
Rolf Semprebon / AMG
“Distruct is organized around sounds provided by the cream of experimental musicians of the early ’80s, from Nurse With Wound to Nocturnal Emissions, via De Fabriek, Die Todliche Doris, The Haters, Merzbow, and others. Obviously, there is no question of remixing here, and at no time do P16.D4 seek to hide its sources, clearly identifying the contribution of each artist in the liner notes. It would be futile to try to find the paw of each artist, the trio operating vis-à-vis its collaborators the same methods as in their own work. Reworked, distorted by various effects, cut, edited, aggregated with other sounds, produced by P16.D4 themselves, reprocessed. Exchange, communication, two other data that will constantly recur in the work of P16.D4, rich in external contributions and encounters of all kinds. Musically, and despite the diversity of sources treated, Distruct escapes the heterogeneous character, which often marks this type of collaboration, to offer a coherent whole: fragments of opera, Soviet speeches, out-of-tune guitar, saxophone, tattered violins, overdriven and metallic noisy attacks, jackhammers, field recordings, battered choirs, and many other less identifiable sounds. In addition to the desired dialogue between the artists, Distruct also offers a real reflection on listening, and on the expectations of the listener.”
Dissolve
P16.D4 was a German electronic noise music collective, active primarily from 1980 to 1988. P16.D4 embraced tape cut-ups, musique concrète, endless recycling and transformation of previously published material, and many long-distance collaborations with like-minded artists such as DDAA, Vortex Campaign, Nurse With Wound, and Merzbow. Their active participation in the international industrial tape scene yielded collaborative output such as their release Distruct, where bands such as Nurse with Wound, Nocturnal Emissions, Die Tödliche Doris, and The Haters provided the source material. The longest-term collaboration was with the installation and conceptual artist Achim Wollscheid, who used P16.D4 sounds as the basis for LPs he recorded under the name SBOTHI. Ralf Wehowsky, the only constant member of the group, later released solo material under the alias RLW.
Members of P16.D4 were also involved with Selektion, a collective of people involved with sound as well as the visual arts. Selektion published LPs, CDs, books, visual art and design.
The collective worked in a strongly improvised, spontaneous and anti-professional way, using acoustic and electronic instruments, using existing sound fragments, duplicating and alienating them, using repetition, distortion, changes in speed and playing direction. For this they used not only sounds of other artists but also their own material from earlier productions. Late works of the collective are associated with musique concrete.
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| PACIFIC 231 |
Ethnicities |
CD |
Das Industrial-Projekt von PIERE JOLIVET, der auch Bestandteil der fantastischen VOX POPULI! gewesen sein soll. "Ethnicities" ist eine Zusammenstellung von bisher unveröffentlichtem Material.
"'Ethnicities is an electro-acoustical scope of unreleased recordings of Pacific 231's post-industrial period. Successive and consecutive cuts were made until he put together the concept of the album as: pluri-cultural diversity of the sounds, tropical steams, exotic journeys & electronic man-made build-up manipulations, urban dins and industrial mazes, ' Ethnicities ' is a psychedelic and unexpected patchwork from Pacific 231." [label info]
www.rotorelief.com |
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Stif(f)le |
CD-R |
Drei Mitschnitte von den P231-Konzerten 2007 in Russland sind hier dokumentiert, wesentlich minimaler und droniger als man es gewohnt ist, frequenzmodulierte analog-synth drones in spiralenförmigen Drehungen erfüllen den Raum...
"Pierre Jolivet has been producing music since 1981. His most recent CD Palestine has been released in 2007 in collaboration with Rapoon. This album is based on the performances will take place in the Moscow, St.-Petersburg and Yaroslavl, during the russian tour organized by Monochrome Vision label. The concept of Stif(f)le is to encompass a space by creating a virtual world based on the use of digital technology. Since first performance, nearly 25 years ago, progress has been made in creating and controlling the performance in a real time environment. The equipment consists of a single laptop, connected through MIDI to an upper torso
exoskeleton and a data projector displaying the visual in sync with the sound feed. Abolishing the instrument liberates the performer as motion sensors on the body facilitate gesture found in dance or in sculpture. The minimalist aspect of the performance makes the spectator closer to an altered state of consciousness, a format used since the early sixties repetitive school of music to include the public as part of the event as a cerebral feedback loop." [label notes]
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
1983-86 Compendium |
do-CD |
"Pacific 231 is active since 1981, starting with a limited edition Psychic Euthanasia tape recorded in total stereo, Pacific 231 was involved into VP 231 for a few years alongside Vox Populi!. His first LP "Unusual Perversions" was released in 1984. After some references, VP 231 was terminated following the double LP L'Enfer est Intime international compilation. Today, Pacific 231 is the co-producer on all his productions. From 1987 "Power Assume" second LP on Bunker Records in Canada to his most recent release ! This DCD Compendium* is a selective collection of early 80's Pacific 231 works. More than 48 hours of recordings coming from reel-to-reel tapes has been unveiled and carefully converted to recover two hours worth of material. The production has been split in two parts as the 1st CD is Studio and the 2nd is Live. As a matter of interest, for the "Unusual Perversions" fans out there, a good percentage of the archives are circa 1984 and unreleased. * A compendium is a concise, yet comprehensive compilation of a body of knowledge. A compendium may summarize a larger work." [label info]
www.tesco-germany.com
|
2011 |
€16.00 |
|
| PACIFIC 231 & BARDOSENETICCUBE |
The Traditions of Changes |
CD |
"PACIFIC 231 is the brainchild of French multimedia artist Pierre Jolivet, currently residing in Dublin, Ireland. While Pacific 231 has its roots in the 1980’s industrial noise underground, Pierre Jolivet has since then consistently sought out and found new sounds and new compositional themes, venturing into unfamiliar aesthetics but always maintaining the rare quality of a steady evolutionary path.
BARDOSENETICCUBE was formed by Russian artist Igor Potsukaylo in 1998. In his work, surrealism is key: “pure psychic automatism willing to express the real functioning of the reflection orally, written or in any other form. Dictation of mind without any control from the intellect, outside of any aesthetic of moral considerations.” (André Breton)
One of Russia’s leading experimental drone acts, Bardoseneticcube has a quite extensive discography, having released on labels such as Drone Records, Aquarellist and Monochrome Vision.
This collaborative composition consists of 6 movements, leading the listener through a utopian sonic maelstrom in a modern re-interpretation of some sections of ‘New Atlantis’ (Francis Bacon, 1624-27). Psychedelica, field recordings and abstract electronics create a ‘New Language’ with a slippering affect from quietness and by dint of colliding utter chaos.
NOTE: Preferably listened to in total for coherence and surreal storytelling projection.
Limited to 300 copies
Packaged in a 6-panel A5 folder with soft-touch finishing and UV spot varnish." [label info]
www.silkentofu.org
"Wenn zwei Musiker einen völlig konträren Ansatz verfolgen, kann eine Kollaboration zu ungewöhnlichen Ergebnissen führen oder grandios scheitern. Nur eines ist sie niemals: vorhersehbar. Igor Potsukaylo alias Bardoseneticcube ist nach eigener Einschätzung der geborene Surrealist, der sich von seinen Ideen und Assoziationen eher treiben lässt, vergleichbar einem Schreiber der ecriture automatique, der seiner Feder und den Worten freien Lauf lässt. Pierre Jolivet alias Pacific 231 ist Komponist, der dem Soundmaterial begegnet wie ein Bildhauer seinem Steinblock, wenn er schon längst die Idee des künftigen Werks vor Augen hat. Einer fürs kreative Chaos also und ein anderer, um ebendies in eine verdauliche Form zu bringen.
„The Traditions of Changes“ beginnt mit diesem reizvollen Knack- und Frickelsound, die auch der versierteste Noisefan zunächst an einen Defekt denken lässt, zumal das erste der vier Stücke auch noch sehr leise anklingt und Hochfrequentes enthält. Interessant, wie ein dünner Hochtöner diesem minimalistichen Szenario Struktur gibt. Bis zum Ende des ausgiebigen Auftaktes und zum Übergang in etwas heterogeneres Material, wäre der unkonzentrierte Gelegenheitshörer längst in Tiefschlaf verfallen, denn es braucht einen gewissen Grad an Involviertheit, um in den chaotisch vor sich hin mäandernden Soundfetzen aller Coleur, die sich in alle Richtungen im Raum verteilen und gelegentlich in menschliches Geschnatter münden, die durchaus vorhandenen Kompositionsmuster zu erkennen. Im Verlauf erweist sich das auf zahlreichen Feldaufnahmen basierende Soundpanorama allerdings als ausgesprochen vielschichtig und reich an Überraschungen und Variationen.
Laut Eigenangabe ist „The Traditions of Changes“ von einem Klassiker der utopischen Literatur, nämlich Francis Bacons „New Atlantis“ inspiriert und von der Idee, eine neue Sprache zu erfinden. Nun ist die Idee, die verbale Sprache durch Sound zu ersetzen, nicht neu und hat die Menschen immer wieder beflügelt. Was die beiden Musiker hier absolvieren ist jedoch weniger eine solche Sprache selbst, als der Versuch eine solche zu entwickeln – ein work in progress mit einem noch offenen Ende, dass durch surreale Komik und originelle Soundideen überzeugt." [Uwe Schneider / African Paper]
africanpaper.com/2015/05/16/pacific-231-bardoseneticcube-the-traditions-of-changes/
"It seems that Pacific 231 has been around forever, but maybe there was a hiatus for some time. I remember Pierre Jolivet from France, but living in Dublin for quite some time now, as an active participant in the eighties underground cassette scene, and on lots of compilations with his own, not always unique brand of industrial noise, but back in Vital Weekly 888 I got the updated Pacific 231 sound, which I enjoyed very much: minimal electronics, psychedelic and intense. Here he has a collaboration with Igor Potsukaylo, who works as Bardoseneticcube, a name we have seen before a few times; he is a man of atmospherics, drones and the louder edges (outer edges?) of ambient. Jolivet supplied the 'field recordings and analog structures', while Potsukaylo takes credit for 'electronic construction'. Francis Bacon’s “New Atlantis” inspires the music, or as they call 'an utopian sonic maelstrom'; a maelstrom it surely is. No sound effects have been spared in this work. Everything and
everyone, or every possible level, there seems to be something happening. You get distracted, follow the loops, but then on a different level something else seem to be happening. A lot of it stays in the same place, yet a lot of it seems to be moving all the time. Yes, that is confusing, but then such is the nature of this music: very confusing, but pleasant at the same time. Music that is one large head trip for you, providing of course you are open to such buzzing activities. I can easily imagine or even agree if someone would say: but, look; now this is all way too much. If you don't let this in, you might easily be annoyed by the mass attack of sound. So, open your mind, and flow the waves, the ever-cascading waves of this massive music, then you'll be in for onehellofa trip to the backside of the moon. That, or maybe a rollercoaster to New Atlantis." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| PACIFIC 231 & RAPOON |
Palestine |
CD |
Surprising collaboration between the french Industrial pioneer and RAPOON, very hypnotic beats & strange sounds with an "oriental" feel, this is the electronic dervish-trance !
"Palestine is a face-2-face in memoriam between Pacific 231 & Rapoon to the late Bryn Jones 1961-1999 a.k.a. Muslimgauze. The production also support the justified struggle for a truly free Palestinian nation, a key issue for a middle-east liberated from foreign ingerance.
Music was the modus operandi Muslimgauze wanted to carry the message and music is the medium we want to continue to convey the legacy. This regular edition is in-fact also a special edition due to the special screen printed Protex-Box / Lever Kick-out box and for the black coloured playing side of the CD! " [label info]
www.oldeuropacafe.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| PACIONE, ADAM |
Dobranoc |
pic-LP |
"Dobranoc contains more than 40 minutes of new music utilizing field recordings, guitars, shortwave radio, analog keyboards & Moog filters. Haunting and yet serene, overflowing with contemplative and melodic tones, these are mostly long-form pieces: 'Always' builds slowly into a monolithic block of sound, while in the title track, layer after layer of warm atmosphere appears and then unravels into a sea of tranquility. This is three-dimensional music, strikingly elegant, from a modern master of the art. This picture disc LP is adorned with Pacione's lovely full-color macro photography circa 1995. The colorful sounds and images are bound together into a unified abstraction, dreamlike in its beauty. Adam Pacione has been a fixture in the upper echelon of ambient drone for the last five years with releases on Elevator Bath, Infraction, and his own Bee Eater Recordings imprint. Pacione is also a highly skilled photographer with solo exhibitions and nearly a lifetime of experience under his belt. He lives in Fort Worth, Texas. This picture disc LP has been released in an edition of 268 copies." [label info]
"Adam Pacione's blissed ambience has quietly enthralled us over many years now; and he continues his relationship with the exceptional Elevator Bath label, who has issued this wondrous album through an ongoing series of picture discs that previously included work by Rick Reed, our own Jim Haynes, and Dale Lloyd (reviewed elsewhere on this list). Pacione claims a bunch of sources for Dobranoc, including guitar, field recordings, analogue synth, Moog filters, and shortwave radio. He seems intent on extracting particular, harmonious colors from each of those materials and working them into a monochromatic blur of softened dronescaping and hushed ambience. The faintest of half-melodies work through Pacione's stately compositions; and it's
easy to become lost in these extended moments on Dobranoc. Throughout, Pacione streams a series of delicate textures that could be snow
coming through the radio, or it could be a light shower of rain that settles behind much of Pacione's sustained tonal flutterings. No
matter the source, the slight abrasions of these sounds act as a ghostly counterpoint to the purity that Pacione gets out of his drones. The resulting wanderings through his radiant soundfields have much of the sense of mystery that Zoviet France managed on Shadow Thief Of The Sun or that emerged from the more minimal explorations of Stars Of The Lid. The picture disc features two blurred macro-lens images sporting oversaturated colors abstracted through the lens; and these are suitable visuals to accompany Pacione's ethereal work.
Limited to 268 copies." [Aquarius Rec]
www.elevatorbath.com
|
2009 |
€17.50 |
|
| |
From Stills to Motion |
CD |
"An age of virtual audio saturation, of pre-articulated sound. Expressivity, once an array of possible voices, is ever more probabilized. Originality, once primary criterion, is cast from the platform, problematized. Wondering, late in modernity's day, what does it take to make a noise that matters? A keen-eared recontextualizer, an alchemist who can make sound, found or unfound, to walk its own way, outside the ready-made parade. Adam Pacione is one such new recruit to a group of like-minded musicians, kindred spirits Brian Grainger (Milieu), Mike Bennett (Zimiamvian Night), and Kiln, who have brought the ferment from their sound stills to the Infraction table. That label is now streaming a vital strain of new backwoods ambient, this latest from deep in the heart of (Ft. Worth) Texas -- experimental, but harmonically-inclined, apparently lo-tech, but substantially audiocratic. Pacione's distinction lies in drawing the vectors of several lines of musical enquiry into a trajectory which leads to a suggestive affective place. Echoes of the enviro-drone clan, low-lying labels like and/OAR, Twenty Hertz -- old familiars of Infraction, the silhouettes of whose kinfolk -- Keith Berry, Paul Bradley -- are heard remotely. Pacione starts from base material, conventional instruments, mainly guitars, the odd analog synth and sample, but no tone is left unturned. Like a tenderized but still chewy analog to recent Kranky fuzz-blur harmonizations, his source-sounds quietly exult in altered states -- compressed, granularized, weathered, distressed... in a word (Pacione's) 'grexed.' Grex comes from cross-breeding -- environment traits spun with the string-steel of source, further fleshing out, the familiar contour lent unfamiliar edge. A delicate and intricate weave results -- a warp to the weft, dissonance offset by harmony, consonance subverted by pitch-bend. Basinski may have modeled the suggestivities of disintegration, mate Milieu pointed the emotive caché in sepia-stained sonorities, and Boards brothers the heart-swoop from modulating detune." [label info] |
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| PADDEN, DANIEL |
Pause for the Jet |
LP |
"DANIEL PADDEN kannte ich bisher als einen der Volcano-The-Bear-Bären. Nach Glasgow umgezogen, ging er auf Solopfade, erst als The One Ensemble Of Daniel Padden und mit Pause for the Jet (Dekorder 026) zum zweiten Mal unter dem bloßen Familiennamen. Seine Vorlieben für schräge Sounds aus fernen Ländern, für seltsamen Kraut- und wagemutigen Artrock sind darauf collagiert zu Songs und Instrumentals mit surrealen Haupt- und Nebenwirkungen. ‚Crow Crow Growth‘ mischt das Timbre von Charles Hayward mit Saitengezupfe und Ethnopercussion zu einem wehmütigen Folksong. ‚Sponge Shipwreck‘ lässt 33 Sekunden lang den Geist von Harry Partch erscheinen, ‚The Ghostly Whole‘ nur den Geist einer alten Kirchturmuhr, während Ratten pizzikato Kontrabass knabbern. Die Residents und Nurse With Wound haben ähnliche Seancen abgehalten, ähnlich von Recording Angels behütete Träume geträumt. ‚Three Farewells‘ mischt Posaune, Bassklarinette und Cello und loopt dazu einen elegischen Gesangsfetzen, bevor mit ‚The Liar Inbetween‘ wieder ein fast straighter Song erklingt, auch wenn die Begleitung erst nur seltsam verzupft und verschrappelt daher kommt und sich dann doch elektrisch verdichtet. Auf ‚The Shadow Of Lunch‘ tutet eine asthmatische Harmonika, die Kopfstimme dazu wackelt auf hölzernen Stelzen. Auf rostig schnarrenden Twangs schwimmt ‚Narwhal‘ dahin, um auf morbiden Trommelschlägen zu stranden. Katzenjämmerliche Salonmusik quietscht in allen Scharnieren, bevor Padden nach ‚Arc Fankle‘ mit seiner stotternder Percussion und ‚Bustle‘ mit seinem Bassklarinettengebrummel a capella ‚English Again‘ anstimmt. Seltsam, aber seltsam schön." [Bad Alchemy]
"Since 1995 Daniel Padden has been a member of Volcano The Bear, with several highly regarded album releases on Nurse With Wound's United Diaries label, Textile and Beta-Lactam Ring Records. After his move to Glasgow he started The One Ensemble Of Daniel Padden as an outlet for his solo recordings with releases on Catsup Plate, Secret Eye and Textile. When The One Ensemble slowly metamorphosed into a band of its own, Padden started to record his solo output under his birth name, with last year's "The Isaac Storm" on the Ultra Exzema label being the first seminal result.
Over the years Padden has developed a strong fascination for obscure musics from all over the world (re his recent "Epiphanies" article for The Wire magazine): mouth organ love-songs from Thailand, The Ramayana Monkey Chant from Bali, Khene pieces from Laos; so-called world music from Burundi to Bulgaria.
Combining these interests with his love for British Folk and Art Rock (This Heat, Robert Wyatt), Kraut Rock (Faust), Free Jazz, the surreal collage techniques of Nurse With Wound and the odd humour of The Residents, he has developed a totally unique and highly personal musical vision without ever sounding overambitious or directionless. Gorgeous song-writing is seamlessly transformed into pure fuzz or string drones, suddenly interrupted by some improvised reeds or collapsing percussion, all within the blink of an eye, and never losing its natural flow, "Pause for the Jet" is already an auspicious aspirant for our "Record of the Year"."[label info]
www.dekorder.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| PAINTING PETALS ON PLANET GHOST |
same |
LP |
"Debut recording from Italy's Opalio brothers (My Cat Is An Alien) and Ramona Ponzini. An esoteric and mesmerizing trip through space, minimalism, and emotion. Each track recorded at a different mystical location in the western Alps, and centered around Ramona's beautiful vocals, all of which are sung in traditional Japanese. Maurizio & Roberto add sparse accompaniment by means of toy piano, alien keyboard tones, antique accordion, percussion, tape effects, and some particularly evocative acoustic guitar. The whole thing comes off alternately as deeply meditative or chillingly haunted, depending on your attention & mood. Silence, space & ritual are hugely important here, with notes & words hovering frozen in time... while the My Cat Is An Alien moniker might leave some folks scratching their heads, here the Painting Petals On Planet Ghost name nails it : fragile, beautiful, cosmically isolationist, and totally spooked... pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl, and lushly packaged with letterpress printed cover & insert. Printed with copper ink on exquisite & massively thick handmade ivory art paper, each sheet cast one at a time & air dried. Hand numbered edition of 560 copies." [label info]
www.time-lagrecords.com
|
2005 |
€29.50 |
|
| PALE |
Beyond the Pale |
7inch + BOOK |
PALE are håkan paulsson, emma ekered, christina blom & joakim engström from jönköping / gothenburg sweden.
PALE is raw, abrasive and dark northern industrial, which could be described as challenging but also captivating. the band is using traditional style power electronics and aggressive rhythms confronted with a provocative wall of sound - purely authentic and with full dedication. four charismatic singers are screaming their heart out to hymns of noise for the ultimate level of intensity.
the members håkan paulsson and joakim engström are already known from their countless performances with the legendary band SANCTUM. pale is already existing since more then 15 years and they did several live shows, but it took till today for the very first vinyl release. the band\'s lyrics deal with themes of death, suffering and dystopia and deliver a solemn and immersive dark soundscape to the environment we are fenced in.
PALE. beyond the pale [video]
www.facebook.com/watch/?v=588797695468291
https://raubbau.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-the-pale |
2023 |
€24.00 |
|
| PALESTINE / COULTER / MATHOUL |
Maximin |
CD |
Diverse recordings of entrancing drone-scapes, enriched with electronic rhythms & plainchants, these are basically studio- & live-recordings by PALESTINE-pieces that were re-worked later by DAVID COULTER & JEAN MARIE MATHOUL... great stuff!
"Young God Records is proud to announce the release of the music of the seminal early Minimalist composer Charlemagne Palestine, as re-configured/re-iterated by David Coulter and Jean Marie Mathoul, in co-operation/ collaboration with Mr. Palestine. Coulter and Mathoul have taken previously recorded works of Mr. Palestine and - with the full respect due these often transcendent and sacred works - interwoven new sounds/found-sounds, drones, and unexpected textures into an ever-shifting flow that brings new light to these deeply soulful, sonic-sculptural emanations. Re-contextualizing the pure and spiritual force of nature that Mr. Palestine’s music represents could be a risky musical undertaking, but in my opinion Coulter and Mathoul have pulled it off beautifully, inspired solely by their love and respect of the original works themselves. The mixes have an authentic, hand made sensibility, and even when electronics are occasionally introduced, retain an organic feel. The music on this CD has given me hours of listening pleasure, and I hope it provides you with a similar experience. It’s also our hope that the release of this CD will serve as a portal to the work of Mr. Palestine for those who might not already be aware of his substantial catalog of music." [Michael Gira]
www.younggodrecords.com
|
2002 |
€14.50 |
|
| PALESTINE, CHARLEMAGNE |
Godbear |
LP |
Black Truffle Records present the first official vinyl reissue of Charlemagne Palestine's Godbear
- Godbear is a 1987 solo piano recording originally scheduled to sit alongside Sonic Youth and Swans in the catalogue of Glenn Branca's Neutral Records
- Revisiting his signature piano style in 1987 after several years focusing on visual art, Godbear presents three distinct variations that demonstrate the development of Palestine's piano music performed on the Bösendorfer Imperial Grand Piano, the 'Rolls Royce' of pianos
- A classic release, and one that, because of the variety of approaches surveyed within, serves as an ideal introduction to Palestine's ecstatic and mysterious sound world.
- Godbear is presented in a deluxe gatefold sleeve designed by Stephen O'Malley and has been remastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, Berlin.
Black Truffle is pleased to present the first vinyl release of Charlemagne Palestine's Godbear, a 1987 solo piano recording originally scheduled to sit alongside Sonic Youth and Swans in the catalogue of Glenn Branca's Neutral Records but eventually released on CD by the Dutch Barooni label in 1998. Although Palestine has worked in an enormous variety of media, his long form performances for solo piano are perhaps his most acclaimed works. Palestine immersed himself in the study of overtones throughout the 1960s, working first with carillons and then with electronic synthesis, searching for the 'golden sound'. Beginning in the early 1970s he continued his exploration of the complexities hidden within seemingly simple tones and intervals on the Bösendorfer Imperial Grand Piano, the 'Rolls Royce' of pianos. With the piano's sustain pedal constantly depressed, Palestine hammers out rapidly repeated notes, allowing a complex cloud of overtones to rise above the percussive texture of the struck keys. Initially working with simple intervals such as octaves and fifths, Palestine gradually expanded the harmonic range of his piano performances over the years, while still retaining their ecstatically single-minded nature.
Revisiting his signature piano style in 1987 after several years focusing on visual art, Godbear presents three distinct variations that demonstrate the development of his piano music after the classic recordings of the early 1970s. Occupying the entire first side, The Lower Depths stages a slow descent from the piano's mid-range to the Bösendorfer's cavernous additional low octave, building into a thundering swarm of booming overtones. Breaking entirely with the stereotype of clinical minimalism, Palestine's journey to the depths embraces passages of darkly romantic melody before slowly ascending to its starting point. The version of Strumming Music performed here condenses the developmental arc of the piece into eleven minutes, fanning out from a single octave to a complex harmonic wash that calls to mind Palestine's enthusiasm for Debussy and Ravel. Timbral Assault is like an evil twin of Strumming Music, transforming its insistency and harmonic complexity into aggressive intensity and creeping dissonance, foreshadowing Palestine's later collaborations with Christoph Heemann. A classic release, and one that, because of the variety of approaches surveyed within, serves as an ideal introduction to Palestine's ecstatic and mysterious sound world.
- Francis Plagne |
2016 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Interrvallissphereee |
LP |
"Charlemagne Palestine first started using electronic instruments in his music in the late 1960's. "Electronic instruments were very rare & exotic in the 1960's. There were Moogs around New York but they were only in universities who preciously guarded them from us young composers. So after all this time visiting The Moog Sound Lab is like a dream come true for me_..to have so many oscillators all singing together is a truly beautiful experience. I am so glad I am still around and able to be making music I first dreamt of 50 years ago". These two releases come from our second UK lab session & is the first Charlemagne Palestine Moog Sound Lab. All electronic long form drone works from an archive of six recordings."
|
2018 |
€21.50 |
|
| |
Dingggdongggdinggg Vs. Singggsonggsinggg |
LP + 7inch |
Singing songs while playing ding dongs, Charlemagne’s solo voice over the bells of his studio carillon is a premiere in his recorded works, and - to our knowledge- the first voise/carillon record in musical history. All the little shamanic stuffed deities inhabiting the carillon added their souls to the spirit of the reverberating songs, including a song in memory of Mika Vainio.
pressed in 1000 hand-numbered, yellow vinyls.
240 Come with a 7"«, engraved with an exclusive track on one side and etched with a Charlemagne drawing on the other.
Dedicated to the memory of Mika Vainio
Charlemagne palestine : Carillon & voice
Recorded by Frédéric Alstadt at Charlemagne Palestine’s workshop,
brussels august 25 & 26, 2017
Mixed by Frédéric Alstadt & Cedric D’hondt at Angström Studio
This Album is mastered and cut by Frédéric Alstadt at Angström mastering, brussels
Pictures and layout by Cedric D’hondt
The photos were taken in Charlemagne Palestine’s workshop, brussels
Produced by Christopher Denruyter & Cedric D’hondt for Matière Mémoire editions
© matière mémoire editions - art Sonore Sprl - www.matiere-memoire.com matme001lp
https://charlemagnepalestine.bandcamp.com/album/dingggdongggdinggg-vs-singggsonggsinggg
|
2018 |
€36.00 |
|
| PALESTINE, CHARLEMAGNE & RHYS CHATHAM |
Youuu - Mee = Weee |
3 x CD |
"166 minutes with Charlemagne Palestine:
piano Bösendorfer, orgue Yamaha and voice
Rhys Chatham: trumpet, loop pedal, electric guitar.
This is the first recorded collaboration between Charlemagne Palestine and Rhys Chatham. And it's precious. After the musical meeting with Tony Conrad (SR204), and with Z'ev (SR340), this new Sub Rosa sessions creates a form of trilogy.
Rhys Chatham
Rhys Chatham began his musical career as a piano tuner for avant-garde pioneer La Monte Young as well as harpsichord tuner for Gustav Leonhardt, Rosalyn Tureck and Glenn Gould.
He soon studied under electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick and minimalist icon La Monte Young and was a member of Young's group, The Theater of Eternal Music, during the early seventies; Chatham also played with Tony Conrad in an early version of Conrad's group, The Dream Syndicate. In 1971, while still in his teens, Chatham became the first music director at the experimental art space The Kitchen in lower Manhattan. His early works, such as Two Gongs (1971) owed a significant debt to Young and other minimalists.
His concert productions included experimenters Maryanne Amacher, Robert Ashley, Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Pauline Oliveros, Steve Reich, and early alternative rockers such as Fred Frith, Robert Fripp, Arto Lindsay, and John Lurie. He has worked closely with visual artist/musician Robert Longo, particularly in the 1980s, and on an experimental opera called XS: The Opera Opus (1984-6) with the visual artist Joseph Nechvatal.
By 1977, Chatham's music was heavily influenced by punk rock, having seen an early Ramones concert. He was particularly intrigued by and influential upon the group of artists music critics would label No Wave in 1978. Members of the New York City noise rock band Band of Susans began their careers in Chatham's ensembles; they later performed a cover of Chatham's "Guitar Trio" on their 1991 album, The Word And The Flesh. (This parallels the way that members of fellow NYC noise rockers Sonic Youth began their careers in Branca's ensembles; Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth did play with Chatham as well.)
Chatham began playing trumpet in 1983, and his more recent works explore improvisatory trumpet solos; these are performed by Chatham himself, employing much of the same amplification and effects that he acquired with the guitar, over synthesized dance rhythms by the composer Martin Wheeler.
Charlemagne Palestine
Charlemagne Palestine wrote intense, ritualistic music in the 1970s, intended by the composer to rub against audiences' expectations of what is beautiful and meaningful in music. A composer-performer, he always performed his own works as soloist. His earliest works were compositions for carillon and electronic drones, and he is best known for his intensely performed piano works. He also performs as a vocalist. Palestine's performance style is ritualistic; he generally surrounds himself (and his piano) with stuffed animals, smokes large numbers of kretek (Indonesian clove cigarettes) and drinks cognac.
Works/Selected Discography
Four Manifestations on Six Elements (Barooni, 1974), Strumming Music (Shandar, 1977) was revolutionary in that it turned "strumming" into an avant-garde technique, and minimalism into highly dynamic (and noisy) music. Palestine improvised on a piano emphasizing otherworldly overtones. Schlingen-Blaengen (New World, 1998), Karenina (Durtro, 1997), Jamaica Heinekens In Brooklyn (Barooni, 2000), a symphony of drones and found sounds." [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2014 |
€18.50 |
|
| PALESTINE, CHARLEMAGNE & Z'EV |
Rubhitbangklanghear Rubhitbangklangear |
LP |
"Second time in 20 years Palestine and Z'ev are performing together. First time they're recording it! Unreleased material from Charlemagne's lair, a place now called Charleworld, where both fellows spent 3 days in June 2010. Part of our Sub Rosa/Laboratoire Central sessions.
'i first started to play the bells while at high school of music + art in the sixties at st. thomas church across the street from the museum of modern art in manhattan!! i played everyday for years!! in the eighties
i met z'ev in amsterdam!! i'd known him for 20 years before he suggested one day that we perform together, which we did at lem barcelona in 2007!! later after seeing and hearing the carillon at my studio in brussels he suggested that we perform and record together there, which we did in 2010!! here's / hearsz what we did!!!!' charlemagne palestine " [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Rubhitbangklanghear Rubhitbangklangear |
do-CD |
"Second time in 20 years Palestine and Z'ev are performing together. First time they're recording it! Unreleased material from Charlemagne's lair, a place now called Charleworld, where both fellows spent 3 days in June 2010. Part of our Sub Rosa/Laboratoire Central sessions.
'i first started to play the bells while at high school of music + art in the sixties at st. thomas church across the street from the museum of modern art in manhattan!! i played everyday for years!! in the eighties
i met z'ev in amsterdam!! i'd known him for 20 years before he suggested one day that we perform together, which we did at lem barcelona in 2007!! later after seeing and hearing the carillon at my studio in brussels he suggested that we perform and record together there, which we did in 2010!! here's / hearsz what we did!!!!' charlemagne palestine " [label info]
www.subrosa.net
"Unter den Minimalisten ist Charlemagne Palestine sicher derjenige, der im etablierten und institutionalisierten Musikbetrieb weniger als seine Kollegen wahrgenommen wird. Die Auftritte und Aufnahmen Palestines hatten bzw. haben – nicht nur wegen dem Moment des Repetetiven (der sich auch im Titel widerspiegelt) – (auch) immer einen gewissen rituellen Charakter, etwa wenn z. B. die Stofftiere aus der extensiven Sammlung Palestines auf der Bühne drappiert wurden (vgl. die Rückseite der CD) und er sich den obligatorischen Cognac (der hier das Cover ziert) einschüttete. Und auch Z’EV hat sich sowohl musikalisch als auch schriftlich (in Rhythmajik, Practical Uses of Number, Rhythm and Sound, das bezeichnenderweise ursprünglich von Temple Press veröffentlicht wurde) mit dem, was Musik alles bewirken kann, auseinandergesetzt. Über das zuletzt genannte Werk schrebt Z’EV, es handele „not about music but spells out the use of rhythm and sound and proportion for Trance, Healing“.
In den Linernotes der Doppel-CD schreibt Palestine, er und Z’EV hätten sich 20 Jahre gekannt, bevor sie 2007 den Entschluss fassten, zusammen aufzutreten. Die auf „RubhitbangklanghearRubhitbangklangear“ enthaltenen Aufnahmen stammen aus dem Jahr 2010 und wurden in Palestines Studio in Brüssel gemacht. Auf der ersten CD finden sich die gemeinsamen Arbeiten: Während Palestine auf seinem Carillon -eine Art überdimensionales Glockenspiel- Melodien minimal variiert spielt, schlägt Z’EV seine schweren Bass-Trommeln. Was anfangs noch nebeneinander herzulaufen scheint, fügt sich im Verlauf der 18 Minuten zusammen; das Stück entwickelt sich zu einem repetetiv-perkussiven Mantra, das fast schon sakralen Charakter hat. Die zweite Duoaufnahme beginnt wesentlich zurückhaltender: Während die Glocken behutsam und langsam geschlagen werden, sind Z’EVs Beiträge kaum noch rhythmisch zu nennen, klingen so, als spiele er eine riesige Klangschale. Der dritte Track enthält dagegen erratischer klingende Perkussion, man meint, Z’EV wanke vom Cognac beschwingt durch eine Fabrikhalle, das Carillon ist hier stärker im Hintergrund. Das ist das vielleicht atonalste Stück auf dem Album. Die zweite CD enthält die Soloarbeiten und auch wenn diese nicht wirklich schlecht sind, so fallen sie im Vergleich zur ersten CD etwas ab, wobei die schiere physische Präsenz Z’EVs, die sich auf dem 46-minügen Abschlusstrack zeigt, schon beeindruckt und den Hörer – je nach Disposition – vielleicht tatsächlich in Trance versetzen kann." [M.G./African Paper]
"Here's two men who have been around since the 60s and both considerable ties to the underground, perhaps Z'EV more than Palestine. But neither have been elevated into the world of high art and are easy to approach. They met in Amsterdam in the 80s and have played a concert before, but only in 2010 they actually recorded material together at Charleworld, Charlemagne Palestine's own place, where has a carillon set up. The picture on the back shows what this looks like. Palestine up in the air playing the bells and Z'EV on the floor with his percussion. In '#3' the playing is somewhat chaotic and aided by natural reverb, but it's my least favorite piece of the three collaborations. In the other two we find an interesting drone like layer, played by Z'EV on a large skin drum and which adds a great texture to the more controlled playing of Palestine. In "#2' Z'EV only seems to rub the skins and makes it even more intense and creepy. I stopped the music because I wasn't sure if I was just hearing the music or something outside happened. That's the great mark of quality, I think. Those two long opening pieces would have been great enough by themselves. There is also a second CD with solo works. Palestine is brief here, just under eight minutes with a fine piece of carillon music, and 'Solo Z#1' sees Z'EV exploring more of those drone like sounds like on the second duo duo piece while his second piece lasts forty six minutes and we hear him like at least I remind me from the first time I heard his music (mid 80s). Banging metal percussion, aided with natural reverb, in what seems now proto-industrial music from an acoustic perspective. Excellent stuff here, this is the Z'EV I haven't heard in quite some time. Great package of excellent contemporary music all around." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| PALMER, AMANDA & EDWARD KA-SPEL |
I can spin a Rainbow |
do-LP |
A collaboration planned for many years which finally achieved fruition in the Spring of 2017.It's a deep one- - secrets are revealed over time and consider well the colour of the candle you choose to burn. Do check out the marvellous work on violins by former Pink Dot Patrick Q.Wright which can be found at every turn on this voyage
https://amandapalmer.bandcamp.com/album/i-can-
spin-a-rainbow
|
2017 |
€27.50 |
|
| |
I can spin a Rainbow |
CD |
A collaboration planned for many years which finally achieved fruition in the Spring of 2017.It's a deep one- - secrets are revealed over time and consider well the colour of the candle you choose to burn. Do check out the marvellous work on violins by former Pink Dot Patrick Q.Wright which can be found at every turn on this voyage
https://amandapalmer.bandcamp.com/album/i-can-
spin-a-rainbow |
2017 |
€17.00 |
|
| PALO ALTO |
Difference and Repetition - A Musical Evocation of GILLES DELEUZE |
do-LP |
"This new album (the tenth in their discography) was born from two ambitions: to pay tribute to Soft Machine's Third on form (4 sides / 4 titles) and to philosopher Gilles Deleuze (Difference and Repetition is the title of his thesis) on the contents. The 4 long pieces of this double concept album were developed over 2 years and each has a different style and climate. Bold and kaleidoscopic, Difference and Repetition perfectly synthesizes the musical and literary obsessions of Palo Alto.
Palo Alto
Formed in Paris in 1989, Palo Alto released his first album (a cassette) on the Italian label Old Europa Cafe in 1990. The year 2020 is therefore an opportunity to celebrate the 30th anniversary of this first stone, the founder of a discography rich with 10 albums. The band is now composed of Jacques Barbéri (also a science fiction author), Laurent Pernice (ex-member of the French industrial band Nox) and Philippe Perreaudin (also coordinator of several compilations and reissues: Legendary Pink Dots, Un Département, Nino Ferrer Revisited, Ptôse, Hardy Fox…).
Literature, and particularly science fiction, is a leitmotiv in the band's work. Antoine Volodine, Thomas Pynchon, Philip K. Dick, Lewis Carroll or J. G. Ballard have been invoked many times.
In recent years, Palo Alto has multiplied musical collaborations with, among others, The Residents, Ptôse, Klimperei, Tuxedomoon...
From industrial music to inextricable electronic ramifications, by making a detour through improvisation, the musical universe of Palo Alto is multifaceted. Their new album is no exception to this rule… "
https://subrosalabel.bandcamp.com/album/difference-and-repetition-a-musical-evocation-of-gilles-deleuze
"Palo Alto aus Paris gibt es seit 1989 und mit "Le Clos" erschien 1990 ein erstes Album (auf Tonbandkassette), dem bisher ein gutes Dutzend weitere gefolgt sind. Das Projekt um Jacques Barbéri nennt als Einflussgeber Tuxedomoon, Art Zoyd, The Legendary Pink Dots, Coil, The Residents, Can und Cabaret Voltaire, und betätigt sich vornehmlich in experimentell-elektronischen Gefilden, verunreinigt seine Musik aber auch mit Punkig-Schrägem, New-Wave-Artigem oder Modern-Kammermusikalisch-Klassischem. Ich machte erstmals mit dem 1998 beim Musea-Unterlabel Gazul Records erschienenen Album "Transe Plan" Bekanntschaft mit der Formation, und auf jenem geht es auch weitestgehend elektronisch und experimentell zu.
Zum 30sten hat man dann das wohl bisher ambitionierteste Projekt verwirklicht. Ein Doppelalbum hat man sich vorgenommen, von der Form her wie "Third" von Soft Machine, also mit vier seitenlangen Nummern, welches sich mit dem Werk des 1995 durch Selbstmord verstorbenen französischen Philosophen Gilles Deleuze befasst. Dazu hat man sich einige musikalische Gäste gesucht: Den von Deleuze beeinflussten SF-Schriftsteller Alain Damasio als Vorleser, Richard Pinhas, der einstmals bei Deleuze studiert hat, an der E-Gitarre, Thierry Zaboïtzeff am Cello und Rhys Chatham an der Trompete. Das fertige Werk wurde schließlich Ende 2020 vom Belgischen Label Sub Rosa als 2xLP oder CD veröffentlicht.
Mit Soft Machine hat die Musik eher wenig gemein. Aber, es ging ja auch nur darum ein ähnlich ausladendes und gestaltetes Album zu veröffentlichen. Ein paar jazzig-rockige Spuren sind auf "Difference And Repetition - A Musical Evocation Of Gilles Deleuze" aber auch auszumachen. Ansonsten ist dies eine Art von elektronischer Musik, oft rhythmisch voran schreitend, bestimmt von programmierter Perkussion, vornehmlich aber dominiert von allerlei Synthesizererzeugnissen und bisweilen heftigst verfremdeten Saxophonklängen, in die je nach Stück weitere Blasinstrumente, Cello, Bass, E-Gitarre und Textrezitationen eingewoben wurden.
Vor allem im dreiteiligen "Triptych" verliest Damasio Texte, einen eigenen bisher unveröffentlichten über Deleuzes Tod (der auch im Inneren des Digipacks abgedruckt ist), aus Deleuzes Buch "Capitalisme et Schizophrenie" (1980) und aus seinem Roman "Les Furtifs" (2019), durchaus engagiert und intensiv, ganz im Stile des "Concerto Delle Menti" von Pholas Dactylus. Man kann, auch wenn man den französischen Text kaum folgen kann, nur gebannt zuhören.
Die restlichen Stücke sind vorwiegend instrumental gehalten, nur im einleitenden "The Tears of Nietzsche" wird kurz ein Text von Richard Pinhas’ verlesen (aus "Les Larmes de Nietzsche – Deleuze et la musique“, 2001), und sind recht stark von den jeweiligen Gastsolisten geprägt. Im eben genannten ersten Track ist Pinhas’ E-Gitarre klangbestimmend und die Nummer klingt dann über weite Strecken wie das recht typische Gitarrendröhnen, welches auch auf den Soloalben des Franzosen meist zu hören ist. Palo Alto, insbesondere Berberis Sax, sorgen aber für eigenen Charakter. In "Rhizom" knarzt Zaboitzeffs Cello erst bedächtig, dann immer wüster, eingebettet in eine hypnotisch dahin schreitende Space-Elektronik, in der das 'Tibetanische Horn' Barberis aber auch exotische Akzente setzt. Im abschließenden Titelstück ist dann Rhys Chatham tonangebend, allerdings nicht an der E-Gitarre, sondern mit einer heiser-krächzenden Trompete, übrigens oft begleitet von einem Damenchor (genannt 'Les Bottines'), der stellenweise fast für Zeuhl-Atmosphäre sorgt.
Eine recht schwer zu kategorisierende Musik ist auf "Difference And Repetition - A Musical Evocation Of Gilles Deleuze" zu finden. Als dynamischen Avant/Kammerprog, dröhnenden E-Gitarren-Elektrorock, krautige Elektronik oder als pulsierendes Electronicagemenge könnte man das bezeichnen, oder als eine dichte Verschmelzung dieser Ingredienzien, angereichert mit allerlei freiem Klangbasteln. Das Ergebnis ist jedenfalls reichlich originell, intensiv, voluminös, packend und auf jeden Fall sehr progressiv. Ich denke einmal, dass Avantprog-Freaks bzw. Zaboitzeff- und/oder Pinhas-Fans, die zudem die weiter oben genannten Vorbilder (oder einige derselben) schätzen, von "Difference And Repetition" (übriges auch ein Buchtitel Deleuzes) begeistert sein sollten. Ein später Höhepunkt des Progjahres 2020!" [Babyblaue Seiten]
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| PANHUYSEN, PAUL |
A Magic Square of 5 to look at |
CD |
Endlose Zeitlupenwellen von langsam dahinächzenden Sirr-Teppichen, als konzeptuelle Grundlage der Klangkunst-Komposition diente ein „magisches Quadrat“ und die entsprechende Mathematik der „kosmischen Harmonie“... interessantes Konzept und überzeugendes Klangergebnis von diesem eher im Ausstellungs/Installations-Betrieb arbeitenden Klangkünstler..
“OK, for all the math freaks out there, this is a must have. This CD by one of the most famous Dutch sound artists with a resume as long as both my arms is one big mathematician's wet dream. The theory of a magic square is simple enough, but not so simple that I would be able to reproduce it correctly here. What Panhuysen has done is to transpose the theory to image and sound (all the details about this can be found extensively in the booklet). Sounds boring? Well, it may sound that way, but the result is great! Especially the resulting 30 minute sound piece is a sheer beauty. Sine waves are played according to the rules of the magic square and some additional rules and the result is a piece that is hauntingly evocative, yet dry as a desert. This strange contradiction gives the work its strength and tension. The piece was originally conceived as a four channel sound installation but works very well in the CDd format. Together with the booklet and text it is a very hermetic work of art, extremely modernist, and therefore a welcome statement in times of relatively random digital number crunching. A very good work.” [MR, Vital Weekly]
www.beequeen.nl/plink.html
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Partitas for long strings |
CD |
Sehr schöne Drones von diesem Klang- und Installationskünstler, der mit langen aufgespannten Drähten / Saiten arbeitet...
“ Partitas for Long Strings is the first album in 12 years¬ and the first CD ever¬ to document Paul Panhuysen¹s work with long string installations. Since 1982 Panhuysen has created over 200 such installations. For the partitas on this album there were two aspects of central interest to him: different tunings and density of sound. He made an installation in the large space of Het Apollohuis, stretching four strings lengthwise and attaching them to the wooden wall on the far end, which served as a resonator. He did not use automatons or electric amplification. He played the strings by brushing them, walking back and forth at an even pace. His aim was to make
his playing as continuous and even as possible. For each partita he recorded his playing four times, superimposing these recordings over each other and listening to the earlier recordings over headphones whilst playing. The total sound of each partita is produced by sixteen strings. The three partitas differ in the systems according to which the strings are tuned. These tunings can be regarded as the score for each piece.” [label info]
|
1998 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Pendulum Change |
LP |
"First vinyl LP edition by Dutch sound and visual artist Paul Panhuysen since 1986. In terms of sound art, Paul Panhuysen is well-known for his long string installations, yet he has produced a vast amount of other sound installations using different materials and sound sources ranging from various instruments to animals such as birds. This LP contains a recording of the installation "Pendulum Change Ringing", displayed at Pand Koloniale Waren in Hasselt (Belgium) in 2012. The installation consists of twelve engraved Turkish metal platters, each mounted onto a black plastic bin, and placed in a 20 meters long row. The rim of each platter is hit by a metal pendulum operated by a tiny electromotor. Each hit causes the platter to resonate with a rich sound texture full of dissonant overtones. During the recording, the twelve pendulums are activated one after the other. The paces at which they swing differ due to their rods having different lengths. This causes interlocking rhythmic patterns to emerge that become more complex with each step and never stay the same. Hits aggregate into clusters, then thin out again. The sound is not chaotic, yet its regularity is hard to comprehend. "You might call Pendulum Change Ringing a typical Paul Panhuysen piece: it works according to a system, quite a simple one in fact, but its effect surpasses that apparent simplicity by far." (René van Peer)
Edition of 300 copies. Full-color sleeve with photos of the installation and liner notes by René van Peer. Black poly-lined inner sleeve." [label info]
www.edition-telemark.de
|
2014 |
€22.00 |
|
| |
Long String Installations |
3 x LP |
After two LPs in 2014 and 2017, Edition Telemark now turns to the group of works that is probably the most well-known within the vast oeuvre of Dutch sound and visual artist Paul Panhuysen (1934–2015): his long string installations. Using this term, he referred to all of his works involving strings and sounds. They were realized all around the world between 1982 and 2012 – until 1991 mostly together with Johan Goedhart –, each installation made specifically for the site where it was displayed.
Unlike other artists working with long strings around the same time, e.g. Ellen Fullman and Terry Fox, Panhuysen's strings were instruments or performative material only secondarily. Rather, his installations can be considered sculptural and sounding events in space, operating in between two lines of tradition, constructivism and situationism, that are evident also in many other parts of his oeuvre.
"Over 250 long string installations were made since 1982 and have produced a better understanding of what is happening in these works. The first information about what happens around us always depends on the perception and detection of our senses and is afterwards transformed, analyzed and interpreted by the brain. It has been a happy coincidence which has drawn my attention to this opportunity to integrate image and sound in the art of long string installations. [...] In daily life we try to understand what is happening primarily by visual and auditory perception. In art these two senses are mostly kept apart. In the long string installations, eyes and ears are equally important. This improves the understanding of reality and daily life." (from Panhuysen's preface to the book "Long Strings 1982–2011")
The first recordings of Panhuysen's long string installations were published in the 1980s, most famously on a 3-LP box set edited on Apollo Records in 1986.
This new 3-LP set includes solely unreleased recordings made between 1982 and 2012, with one recording added posthumously in 2017. It is presented in a triple gate-fold sleeve with printed inner sleeves containing liner notes by Rolf Sachsse and Stephan Wunderlich as well as various high-resolution photos.
www.edition-telemark.de |
2018 |
€55.00 |
|
| PANTALEIMON |
Cloudburst |
CD |
"Pantaleimon (pronounced 'Pan-ta-lay-mon') is the adopted moniker of vocalist and composer Andria Degens. Sometimes collaborating with friends, though often alone, she creates beautifully haunting and meditative music. Cloudburst, her first recording as Pantaleimon since 2002's Change My World, features four tracks of hypnotic vocal passages that together form a long conceptual piece, which, Degens says, '...is symbolic of the journey every human being makes in a lifetime... the transformation, transfiguration, the state of being, the space between heaven and Earth.' Initially packaged with a limited, hand-printed edition of Degens's poetry and drawings, Cloudburst is now available as a proper CD release." [press release]
"Pantaleimon is the work of Andria Degens, who may be best known as the wife of David Tibet from Current 93; and she, like many of Tibet's friends and partners, has contributed on occasion to the Current 93 cause. It goes without saying that the Pantaleimon project shares plenty of Current 93's inspirations from British folk music; but where Tibet uses those musical archetypes as a medium for mystical revelation, Degens' approach is far more impressionistic and delicate. Given song titles such as "Crystalline Rain," "Ascension of
the Sun," and the title track of this 20 minute EP, the splendor of nature springs from her elliptical guitar instrumentals that draw
favorable comparisons to the likes of Marissa Nadler and Steven R.Smith." [Aquarius]
www.durtro.com |
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Heart of the Sun |
CD |
Eine gar illustre Schar von Musikern & Projekten remixten für dieses Album Songs von ANDRIA DEGENS aka PANTALEIMON, daneben gibt es einige "echte" Kollaborationen und vorher unveröffentlichte Stücke von ihr. Folkiger, "magischer" Ambient in wunderbaren & wundersamen Variationen, kein Stück ist doppelt vorhanden...
"The whole thing started when Clodagh Simonds (Fovea Hex) asked if she could remix 'Under The Water.' Of course, I said yes. When she came back with such remarkable music, and casually mentioned, 'Oh, why don't you ask a couple of other pals to do remixes?', it gave me the idea for this album. It is not simply a remix album, but a collaborative project. I chose friends I admired as artists and who inhabit creative spaces that are connected in some way and on some level to me and to each other. I gave away my 'babies' to go out to play with the likes of Andrew W.K., Stephen O'Malley, Lilium, Carter Tutti, Colin Potter, Andrew Liles, The Bricoleur, Plinth, Fabrizio Modonese Palumbo (Larsen), and, of course, Fovea Hex. Even though I had an inkling that the mixes would fit together as one coherent whole, I had no idea just how much they would complement one another. There are also some previously unreleased tracks including a cover of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's 'Even If Love,' which didn't quite make it on Mercy Oceans for aural reasons. However, this cover version has been gently manipulated and star-mangled by Susan Stenger (Band of Susans)." [label info / credits]
".... The sparse, delicate hazy folk of Pantaleimon remixed? Don't worry there are no cheesy beats, awkward turntables or sloppy hands on any of these songs. In fact the first time we listened we had no idea that any of these songs were in fact remixes. Maybe it's because we hadn't heard any of these songs in their first incarnation. But wow, we were drawn in immediately. Andria Degens is making such beautiful and haunting music as Pantalimon that we almost hesitate to mention that she's married to David Tibet of Current 93, as her own music more then stands on its own. But if folks who haven't heard her before and are C93 fans check this out then the more ears that hear Pantaleimon the better!
While the sound is similar to the music of folks like Fursaxa, Grouper and Christina Carter, there is much more immediacy, focus and a connection to folk history in the songs of Pantaleimon. While less hazy then some of her peers there is a seemingly sonic mist hanging
over her songs which stops you in your tracks. There is also a rustic quality in these stripped down songs that makes us think of Bridget St. John and Hala Strana recording a record together. Plenty of folks help out by adding sounds and ambience but all do so with much subtly and respect. Who knew Andrew W.K. could be so subtle, his tasteful keyboards are heard on the record's opener, and the list of other contributors/remixers reads like a who's who of the musical underground (Colin Potter, Andrew Lilies, Stephen O'Malley, Fovea Hex, Lilium, etc). Heart Of The Sun is becoming the record we listen to both early in the morning and then late at night as we surrender to
sleep. So beautiful!" [Aquarius Records review]
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Under the Water |
7 |
Sammlerstück ! Einseitig bespielte Single auf klarem Vinyl, mit kunstvollem Siebdruck auf der B-Seite. Instrumental-akustische Folk-Ambience mit Gesang, nicht unähnlich z.B. FOVEA HEX..
"Here's a gorgeous one-sided single. 'Under The Water' is an alternate version of a song scheduled for release on an upcoming solo LP, and it's a brilliant, mystical breath of air of pure longing. The lyrics are simply structured and circular, the music is a mix of accoustic plucks and drones, and the mood is wonderfully doleful. Nice package too." [BYRON COLEY, WIRE]
"BLUESANCT is very pleased to announce that the next release in our ART SINGLES series will be by PANTALEIMON. Like the MOUNT EERIE 7", it will be a beautiful single, with an exclusive recording on one side, and a screenprinted image of the song on the other side.
For those not familiar with PANTALEIMON's work, it is essentially the work of ANDRIA DEGENS. She creates gorgeous acoustic soundscapes of droning ambience accompanying beautiful folk melodies. Besides her work as PANTALEIMON, Andria is also a frequent guest on the recordings and in the live emsemble of one of my favourite all time projects, CURRENT 93 and her music will be featured in the upcoming GUS VAN SANT film." [label info]
www.bluesanct.com
|
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
| PARA-NOISE-TERMINAL |
Fraktale (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
this duo from Hamburg brings nature's sensibility into your mind, pure organic atmospherics instead of today's usual sensual overkill...
"LIMITED + NUMBERED FIRST EDITION OF 250 COPIES.
HAND-MADE SLEEVES; BRIGHT BLUE VINYL.
THIS DUO FROM HAMBURG, EXISTING SINCE 1992, WORKS WITH LOTS OF HANDMADE INSTRUMENTS AND ANALOGUE SYNTHS. THEIR MUSIC IS BASED ON THE NATURAL ROUGH SOUNDS OF LARGE METALLIC 'OBJECTS', SUCH AS STONES, WOOD, AND OTHER OBSCURE SELF-BUILT SOUND SOURCES. PARA-NOISE-TERMINAL IS ABLE TO ENCHANT THE LISTENER WITH A VERY SENSIBLE ATMOSPHERE OF PURE SURROUNDINGS. PARA-NOISE-TERMINAL OFTEN PERFORM LIVE IN VARIOUS LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT GERMANY. IN 1993 THEY PERFORMED IN WALES AND IN 1994 THEY PERFOMED AT THE SOUNDWORK EXCHANGE FESTIVAL IN LONDON. ON THIS, THEIR FIRST VINYL-RELEASE, PARA-NOISE-TERMINAL OPERATE WITH RECORDED VOICES AND DRONING SOUNDS (TRACK 1: "FRAKTALE DER MASSE") AND PRESENT THE MOST SUBLIMINAL AND ENCHANTING TECHNO-PIECE THAT MAYBE WAS EVER RECORDED (TRACK 2: "URMASSE") !
"ENCHANT YOUR MIND WITH PURITY PARA-NOISES"
DRONE RECORDS DR-13/ JULY 1995 [label info]
|
1995 |
€ |
|
| PARALLEL LINES |
White Fur / Black Cathedral |
LP |
"Parallel Lines ( /// ) is a Canadian improv-instrumental jam band comprised of Eric Quach (Destroyalldreamers, thisquietarmy) from Montreal on guitar, Ryan Ferguson (Sianspheric, Electroluminescent) from Hamilton on synthesizers, and Pascal Asselin (Below The Sea, Millimetrik) from Quebec City on drums. With 1000 km separating the 3 members and several years of crossing each other’s paths, sharing the stage with their various projects – the concept is simple: whenever the occasion arises during their busy schedule – jam and press record!
In 2011, Parallel Lines met at the Christ’s Church Cathedral in Hamilton, Ontario to record their next album, which is now available as the first release on Oaken Palace Records. Eric Quach’s typical, haunting guitar sounds blend with spaced-out synth loops and pulsating drumming, creating a sonic landscape that leaves you with a bright and relaxed smile on your face. This is music to dream and drift away, a must-have for fans of Quach’s solo projects and, in fact, for everyone who enjoys psychedelic music!
The Animal: Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus)
Polar bear
Parallel Lines dedicate their album to the most famous animal of their home country, namely the polar bear. All profits are donated to Polar Bears International, the world’s leading polar bear conservation group.
As of 2008, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) reports that the global population of polar bears is 20,000 to 25,000, and is declining. In 2006, the IUCN upgraded the polar bear from a species of least concern to a vulnerable species. It cited a “suspected population reduction of >30% within three generations (45 years)”, which shows the urgency of conservation efforts. Risks to the polar bear include climate change, pollution in the form of toxic contaminants, conflicts with shipping, stresses from recreational polar-bear watching, and oil and gas exploration and development.The IUCN also cited a “potential risk of over-harvest” through legal and illegal hunting.
If you want to learn more about polar bears, check out the extensive resources at Polar Bears International." [label info]
www.oakenpalace.com
|
2013 |
€18.50 |
|
| PARKIN, NICK & TOM GILLIERON |
Red Shift |
CD |
Überraschende Verschmelzung von NICK PARKIN’s geheimnisvollen Sphären-Geräusch-Ambient Sounds mit schmissigen Break- und Techno-Beats. The absolute space-dance!
“Red Shift fuses blistering hypnotic break beats with dark atmospheric sound textures and derives its inspiration from the images of distant galaxies and planets captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Imaginings of distant space are counterbalanced by the gritty reality of living and creating in the dense urban environment of London and the impact this has on everyday aural experiences. Beats and breaks are constructed individually and meticulously in the break beat science style and merged with sampled and synthesised sound to create a compelling sonic experience. Nick Parkin is well-known for his many CD releases revolving around atmospheric dark electronica and elemental electroacoustic soundscapes, including Island of Dust (1999), Entropolis (2001) and Geomorphic Resonance (2001), which were released by Soleilmoon. He was awarded first prize at Bourges International electroacoustic music awards in 2001 for his elemental electroacoustic work Magmas, which has since enjoyed considerable international airplay. He brings his long term experience of using elements of drum and bass within his commissioned music for dance and theatre companies to startling effect in Red Shift and has teamed up with Tom Gillieron, a DJ, House and Drum and Bass artist and producer. Tom has released a number of 12" singles on the Dutch Drum and Bass scene and remixed for people as diverse as BT in the USA and MJ Cole in the UK garage scene.” [press release]
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| PARLANE, ROSY |
Jessamine |
CD |
"Wie schon am ebenfalls bei Touch verlegten Vorgänger »Iris« finden sich auf »Jessamine« lediglich drei Tracks, nach der Betitelung wohl als Teile eines großen Ganzen zu hören, die vom Umfang her wieder eine Spieldauer von fast fünfzig Minuten erreichen. Dabei weisen deren durchwegs von Rhythmus und Melodie befreite Konturen recht eindeutige Züge klassischer Drones auf, die in den entscheidenden Momenten von monolithischem Dröhnen weg in Richtung konzentriert geschichteter Textur-Overloads tendieren und großzügig angelegte Spannungsbögen vornehmlich aus gekonnt inszenierten Intensitätsverläufen zwischen Loslassen und Verdichtung rekrutieren. Das dazu notwendige Instrumentarium ist zum Großteil akustisch und reicht von Gitarre und Piano bis hin zu Field Recordings, Radios oder verschiedenen Haushaltsobjekten. So bleibt auch nach dem digitalen Reißwolf eine, durch die glasklare Produktion eigenartig verstärkte, organische Grundstimmung erhalten, die durchaus im Widerstreit zur fokussierten, geradlinigen Ausrichtung der Tracks steht. Da gibt es kein Ausfransen, kein flächiges Abschweifen; Parlane entwirft einen beeindruckend konsequenten, fast schon ökonomischen Flow, zurrt die unruhigen Kleinstbestandteile, knackend, knisternd und Obertonfunken schlagend, zu drei hypnotischen HighTech-Ambient-Monstern zusammen und setzt auf die Dramaturgie der Dynamik. Oder umgekehrt? Während jedenfalls der erste Track noch vor dem Klimax ein trotzdem versöhnliches Ende findet und die große Erlösung im folgenden lediglich spärlich angedeutet wird, eigentlich nicht mehr als ein digitales Bäuerchen darstellt, explodiert das beinahe zwanzigminütige Schlussstück aus mittels Kaminfeuerknistern geerdetem, euphorisch verstrichenen Klanglayern zu einer wahrhaft infernalischen Wall of Sound, aufgezogen mit Hilfe von acht Gastmusikern, die ihre elektronisch verstärkten Streich- und Saiteninstrumente hier zu einem Crescendo auflaufen lassen, das seines gleichen sucht. Die Sicherheit und Konsequenz, mit der Parlane seine Soundskulpturen bearbeitet, sowie eine herbe, oft schwer fassbare Schönheit, die sich gleichermaßen durch harsche Noisewälle und entschlackte Ambientpassagen streckt, machen »Jessamine« zu einer enorm intensiven Erfahrung und darüber hinaus zu einem der besten Alben an den Outskirts elektronischer Avantgarde des vergangenen Jahres." [Tobias Bolt / Quietnoise]
"This is New Zealand-based (and former Thela member) Rosy Parlane's second full-length release on Touch. His previous album, Iris (2004), was hailed by Jim Haynes in The Wire who wrote: "Jon Wozencroft's impeccable photography and design packages Rosy Parlane's Iris inside a predominantly blue package, inextricably linking the music to the emotional resonance of the color... He flushes his soundfields with cascades of digital fragments which he separates into two distinct compositional categories. On the one hand, Parlane stretches sounds from guitar, piano and organ into unrecognizable drones that swell into dense layerings, every once in a while coalescing into fluttering half-melodies. On the other, he emphasizes the textural qualities of those digital fragments, simulating the natural acoustics of ice crackling from trees in winter or the gentle patter of rain on a windowsill. When fusing these together by placing the textures against the backdrop of the drone, Parlane effectively builds pointillist sound environments with a profoundly human melancholia." With Jessamine, Rosy develops these themes, and continues to incorporate new musical elements from unconventional as well as orchestral instrumentation. To him, everything is an instrument: from household objects to nature sounds. But it is the human element which gives his work such a distinctive sound. Ranging from ambient to noise, he gives full rein to textures of living; to start, languid and mournful; later harsh and assertive. Jessamine is a magnificent follow-up to a classic Touch debut. Rosy Parlane: electric and acoustic guitars, piano, melodica, accordion, violin, trombone, snare drum, shimsaw, amplified sawblade, bowed metal, household objects, contact microphones, field recordings, radio, computer. Additional contributions by Marcel Bear, Tetuzi Akiyama, Lasse Marhaug, Anthony Guerra, Michael Morley, Donald McPherson, Matthew Hyland, David Mitchell, Stefan Neville and Campbell Kneale." [press release]
"A little over two years ago, Rosy Parlane, made his debut on Touch with 'Iris', following solo releases on Sigma, and a membership of such bands as Thela and Parmetier. Three tracks back then, and on 'Jessamine' again three tracks. Rosy plays here electric and acoustic guitars, piano, melodica, accordion, violin, trombone, snare drum, shimsaw (an instrument designed by Marcel Bear), bowed metal, household objects, field recordings, radio, computer and contact microphone, and if that isn't enough there is also help from a whole bunch of people who played guitar. The first track starts out in common territory: ambient glitch made with bowed guitars, violins, but Parlane's music is more angular. It has a sharper edge, already in this first piece. Even a bit of old Organum could be traced in these scraping and bowing sounds. It's hard to say if all the instruments mentioned on the cover are also there, but guitars are definitely there. In the loudest part, 'Part Three' things become orgasmic loud, almost in a Merzbow manner, but Parlane keeps things nicely under control. Overall, Parlane has a richer sound than on 'Iris', there is more happening and he is stepping out of the more safer microsound glitch. Quite a leap forward!" [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€14.50 |
|
| PARMEGIANI, BERNARD |
Memoire Magnetique Vol. 2 |
LP |
Transversales is very glad to announce the release of « Mémoire Magnétique, vol.2 » spanning 1966-1993, revelatory collection of short and secret music by electronic music pioneer Bernard Parmegiani.
The second volume of this compilation allows us to discover some of unreleased rarities from Bernard Parmegiani’s personal archives and unpublished recordings which were composed for the screen or the performing arts.
Remastered high-resolution audio transferred directly from the original tapes.
Exclusive liner notes and pictures.
Musique originale composée, interprétée et enregistrée par Bernard Parmegiani.
Production exécutive : Jonathan Fitoussi & Sébastien Rosat.
Mastering à partir des bandes originales : Jonathan Fitoussi.
Direction artistique & graphisme : Jean-Philippe Talaga.
Traduction : Michèle Parent.
(P) 2021 Transversales Disques ®
sous licence exclusive de Claude-Anne Parmegiani
A1 / "Témoignages" - 1972.
Générique pour la série télévisée de Pierre Houdain.
A2 / "Pop secret" - 1970.
Version remixée pour concert de la musique créée avec le groupe
"Third Ear Band" au Royal Festival Hall, Londres.
A3 / "Voyage Conseil" - 1970.
Musique pour la publicité de : "Voyage Conseil".
Version non utilisée.
A4 / "Lion d'or" - 1988.
Générique pour l'émission radio de Georges Léon diffusée sur France Culture
le 22/02/1988.
A5 / "Flash sports" - 1975.
Indicatif de l'émission télévisée éponyme diffusée sur Antenne 2.
A6 / "Spot pub" - 1971.
Spot publicitaire non identifié, non utilisé.
A7 / "Journal TV 2" - 1981.
Indicatif du journal télévisé d'Antenne 2.
A8 / "Stade 2" - 1976-1986.
Indicatif de l'émission : "Stade 2".
Antenne 2, émission sport. Animation : Peter Foldès.
A9 / "L'art au monde des ténèbres" - 1982.
Série documentaire télévisée de Mario Ruspoli.
A10 / "Sonal Roissy" - 1971-2005.
Signal sonore de l'aéroport Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle.
B1 / "Bongo fuego" - 1967.
Film d'animation de Peter Foldès.
B2 / "Electrorythmes" - 1966.
Version remixée pour concert ; film de Peter Foldès avec la chorégraphe Marpessa Dawn.
B3 / "E Pericoloso sporgersi" - (élément) - 1991.
Musique radiophonique ; commande de France Culture.
B4 / "Une mission éphémère" - 1993.
Film d'animation de Piotr Kamler.
B5 / "Une honorable partie de Gô" - 1978.
Série documentaire télévisée de Jean-Emile Jeannesson,
"Lettres du bout du monde".
B6 / "Sonal Roissy" - (inédit) - 1971.
Maquette de signal sonore pour l'aéroport Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle.
Version non utilisée.
https://bernardparmegiani.bandcamp.com/album/m-moire-magn-tique-vol-2-1966-1993
"Belonging to a growing body of previously unreleased work culled from the archives of Bernard Parmegiani, the always incredible Transversales Disques returns with “Mémoire Magnétique, Vol. 2”, the second instalment in their series of albums focusing on the composer’s work for film, television, and the performing arts.
An inevitable revelation for even the most devoted of Parmegiani’s fans, we’re also making it available as part of a specially priced bundle with brand new represses of “Mémoire Magnétique, Vol. 1” and “Rock (Bande originale du film, 1982)” for those who missed them the first time around.
So good.
Over the last few years, the Paris based imprint, Transversales Disques, has set a remarkable standard for archival releases, bringing us a treasure trove of previously unreleased recordings by Pierre Henry, Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders, Luc Ferrari, Igor Wakhevitch, Philip Glass, Ariel Kalma, François Bayle, Ennio Morricone, and numerous others.
While by no means the limit of their focus, the imprint has offered special attention to works by French pioneers of electronic music, particularly those associated with Groupe de Recherches de Musique Concrète (GRMC) and Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM). Central to this modus operandi is the work of Bernard Parmegiani. Back in 2017, they brought us the composer’s incredible 1982 soundtrack, Rock, created for Michel Treguero’s film of the same name, followed by the LP, Mémoire Magnétique, Vol. 1 in 2018.
After three years of waiting, the label is back with the second instalment of rare sounds by Parmegiani, Mémoire Magnétique, Vol. 2, accompanied by brand new represses of Mémoire Magnétique, Vol. 1 and Rock (Bande originale du film, 1982), which have been out of print since their initial release. As a special celebration, we’re offering them individually or together as a specially priced bundle. They’re 20th Century electroacoustic music at its absolute height, hugely historically important, and not to be missed.
Bernard Parmegiani’s contributions to electronic and electroacoustic practice are now regarded as among the most important in the history of 20th Century Music, but this wasn’t always the case. For much of his career, the composer lingered in the shadow of his more famous peers at Groupe de Recherches - Pierre Schaeffer, Luc Ferrari, François Bayle, etc. Some of this was a consequence of circumstance and idealism. Gifted with a deep belief in access and humor, Parmegiani believed in the profound potential of electronic and electroacoustic sound, seeking to integrate it into everyday life, particularly through forms of mass distribution activated by radio, film, and television. A great deal of his output was created for these contexts - remaining unreleased on physical formats - while he supported himself as a sound engineer and as the head of the Music/Image division of French television. It is into this rarely heard body of recordings which Transversales Disques takes us once again.
Like the first instalment, Mémoire Magnétique, Vol. 2 culls its material form the composer’s personal archives and unpublished recordings of material created between 1966 and 1993, focusing specifically on his output for the screen and the performing arts. Standing as a largely unacknowledged counterpoint to more famous works like De Natura Sonorum, La Roue Ferris, Dedans Dehors, Chants Magnétiques, and Chronos - created during same period covered by the collection - these works unveil a lesser-known vision of Parmegiani, one that embedded himself in the subconscious landscape of the French public, with sounds that were often heard without acknowledging their genius or source.
Comprising 16 revelatory tracks, of relatively short lengths - from 13 seconds to just over 8 minutes - Mémoire Magnétique, Vol. 2 covers a brilliant range of material, from sci-fi tinged arpeggiating synths, brooding minimalist expanses, semi psychedelic meanderings away with free-flowing texture, pastoral meditations, playful, percussive musique concrète, pieces that flirt on the edges of kosmische and Berlin school electronics, and so much more.
Encountering the composer in the throes of his deepest passion - working alongside the visual realm - just when you’d thought you’d heard it all, Transversales Disques digs up more gold from the archives of Bernard Parmegiani, expanding our vision of the astounding talent and range of one of the most important sonic artists of the 20th Century.
These previously unreleased rarities have been remastered from the original tapes in high-resolution audio, and come complete with exclusive liner notes and pictures. As engrossing as records come, and an absolute blast to listen to. Not to be missed!
Across 17 despite works, Mémoire Magnétique, Vol. 1 spans 24 years of Parmegiani’s output of music designed to integrate with the screen, drawing on a framework the composer developed for research and mutual exchange between sound and image. It should come as no surprise, given the overwhelming creative talent which Parmegiani possessed, that these efforts more than stand on their own when separated from the images with which they were designed to speak. The LP is an overwhelmingly powerful body of revelatory sound.
Not unlike his soundtrack for Rock, Mémoire Magnétique, Vol. 1 pushes the boundaries of what the work emerging from Groupe de Recherches is often perceived to have been, if not the very notions of what qualifies as avant-garde. Imbued with Parmegiani’s overwhelming humor and playfulness, it offers nods to a countless range of musical idioms and fields of practice - often painting a dark, dystopian technological, rhythmic landscape with aural touchstones ranging from techno, Kraftwerk, and John Carpenter soundtracks, with a peppering of the clown show, reminding us that Parmegiani began his career as a mime.
There’s no question that Transversales Disques is taking the high road, bringing us into wild, wonderful, and often overlooked bodies of organized sound which rewrite almost every standard narrative of history. These works are some of a Bernard Parmegiani which all too few heard, belonging to a way of working which captures the idealism closest to his heart.
Absolutely brilliant creatively - a challenging field of imagination and an endlessly thrilling listen. Transferred directly from the original tapes with exclusive liner notes, if you missed the first pressing, don’t sleep. This is an absolute must for any fan of Parmegiani, GRM, soundtracks, and electronic music at large."
[Soundohm]
https://bernardparmegiani.bandcamp.com/album/m-moire-magn-tique-vol-2-1966-1993
|
2021 |
€26.50 |
|
| PARMERUD, AKE |
Growl |
CD |
"Composer Åke Parmerud is from Göteborg, which is also the home of underground labels such as Fang Bomb, Release The Bats, and Beläten, names on which we can always rely to provide solid blasts of depressive post-industrial noise and drone music. Parmerud isn’t exactly cut from the same cloth, being as how he’s a prize-winning and classically-trained electroacoustic maestro, but there are moments of tasty darkness on his Growl (empreintes DIGITALes IMED 15132) collection which appeal to a macabre chap like myself. La vie mécanique, for instance, is a pretty effective critique of modern industrialisation, or at least an observation on it, and takes the hoary old dystopian cliché of “modern man becoming machine-like” and dusts it down for an update that involves samples of machinery blended with Techno music. In this lively composition of clattering beats and metal, it’s far from clear where the factory machines leave off and the dancefloor begins; it’s intending to convey something about the body being broken down into smaller units, much like the cogs of a machine being taken apart. Parmerud also makes a commentary on the contemporary use of machines (laptops, presumably) for making music. I wish he’d be a little less equivocal about it, both in his notes and his music, but it’s a nifty statement.
Maybe serious composers shouldn’t dabble with Techno. However, if you think men of Parmerud’s generation should leave the kids’ music alone, you’ll be even more appalled by the idea of Growl itself, where he drily observes “metal music is big in Sweden” from his lofty position, and borrows some ideas from his youngest son who plays in a metal band. This might be Aron Parmerud who plays his “axe” for Marionette, a Death Metal band who made a couple of albums for Listenable Records. What the composer has done here is zero-in on the throat-shredding vocals that characterise a lot of the music in this genre, and through arranging samples of voices shrieking “Hell Is Us! Die We Must!”, has built a virtual “growlers choir”. With the dark techno backing, electronic effects, and gloomy ambient tones, this works surprisingly well, even if it sounds too “expensive” and well-produced for a genuine metal album and has far too many interesting dynamics. He also misses the claustrophobia and genuine sense of doom. But even so Parmerud turns in a strong piece of work, and in any case he wasn’t setting out to produce a metal album.
What else are the “young people” interested in these days? Vinyl records, of course! So listen in to 2011’s Grooves if you want to hear what Parmerud can do when sampling the black stuff. The source material for this was the vinyl collection of his friend Kai Hanekken; in fact the composition seems to have been a by-product of a digitisation project requested by said Hanekken, who urged the composer to pick up the gauntlet and create a composition. He gave in. What gets sampled are run-out grooves and vinyl “noise”, i.e. crackles and clicks and such; Parmerud seems to have been only too aware that doing this was already something of a well-worn cliché, but again he liked the challenge and wanted to see if he could invert it and bring new life into the idea. Although best heard at high volumes and played back through a multi-channel system, Grooves still succeeds on your home CD player and delivers a suffocating density which is clearly one of this composer’s trademarks. Continuity is severely disrupted by the multiple edits, and the speed with which the layers of abstract noise pile up is incredibly alarming. You’ll feel like you’re trapped on an enormous spinning black disc of death.
Also here: 2014’s Electric Birds derived from birdsong samples (yet another instance where Parmerud had promised himself he would never make a piece like this), and Transmissions II, the most recent composition. It derives from a multi-media work where, if seen live, a singing choir are able to manipulate sound signals in real time. Some fascinating complex electronic layers result, and it sounds a lot more contemporary than some of the formal music that often gets released on this label, and is every bit as convincing as any given Mego release from the last few years. Sometimes proper composers make a ninny of themselves when they try and get “with it”, but Åke Parmerud has nothing to be ashamed of here." [The Sound Projector]
|
2015 |
€14.50 |
|
| PARSICK & REUTER |
Lament |
CD |
"Stephen Parsick and Markus Reuter have once again met up to brew their own kind of dronescapes. The path leads into sonic hinterlands where processed guitar fuses with experiments of a decidedly electronic nature. Complex structures are erected from out of a mysterious tonal language, and the journey meanders between cold and harrowing audioscapes into the blooming fields of the outer reaches of the psychosphere. Comes in a jewelcase with a 8-page booklet." [label info]
http://gterma.blogspot.se
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| PARTCH, HARRY |
World of Harry Partch |
LP |
2018 repress; 180 gram exact repro reissue, originally released in 1969. "The World of Harry Partch collects three of his best short pieces. 'Daphne of the Dunes' (1967) is a side-long update of 'Windsong' written for dance. The melodic segments are given more emphasis than usual for a Partch piece, and harmonically this is one of his best with arpeggiated glides/cries of the Harmonic Canons evoking our sympathies. Meter changes almost measure by measure, with one section in 31/16 meter; another (polymetric) section consists of 4/4-7/4 over 4/8-7/8! Needless to say, while being very physical, Partch's music isn't something you can easily tap your foot to. What's most important is that it works. Partch was not one to introduce musical complexity merely for its own sake, another factor that separated him from his contemporaries. Not only are the rhythms complex, but they are performed at a frantic pace unequaled by any music I've hard (save perhaps the inhumanly fast player piano pieces of Conlon Nancarrow!). This is characteristic of most of Partch's works, though I think 'Daphne' is one of the most successful and exhilarating. 'Barstow -- Eight Hitchhiker Inscriptions from a Highway Railing at Barstow, California' was composed in 1941 as part of 'The Wayward.' It offers such statements as 'Go to 538 East Lemon Avenue for an easy handout' and 'Looking for millionaire wife...' This charismatic piece is successful due to the contrasting of Partch's intoning voice with others in the ensemble and to increased instrumental emphasis. Last is 'Castor and Pollux' in a more modern performance than From the Music of Harry Partch, with greater vigor and fidelity. The World of Harry Partch is an excellent introduction to his works that comes highly recommended." -- Surface Noise
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| PAVONE, JESSICA |
Knuckle Under |
LP |
"Violist Jessica Pavone's Knuckle Under is the result of an exercise in mono focus, the result of a medically enforced hiatus from playing her primary instrument. She returned to the viola after a 21 month lay-off determined to play only the sounds she most wanted to hear. That turned out to be long tones, often played with such force that one imagines a puff of rosin rising from her strings as she bowed them. 'But Not Here' gets through just three rustic sounding notes before a delay unit sprays one out like a prism. She repeats the phrase, and another note splits and gets trapped in an effects pedal's hall of mirrors. The simplicity and sheer noisiness of the music feels remote from the scrupulous craftsmanship exhibited on her last solo record, Hope Dawson Is Missing, even though they share a tune. 'Plutonium', the piece in common, reveals the flexibility that Pavone finds in folk material. On the Tzadik disc, it unfolds into a stately art song; here, mournful low tones turn as bushy as a wolf's winter coat under the influence of amplification. Pavone is, as ever, scrupulously focused, wringing everything she can from one piece of material before moving on.' Bill Meyer, The Wire, Issue 368. Knuckle Under is Pavone's first recording to be released on vinyl. Mastered by James Plotkin, cut direct to metal and pressed on 200g virgin vinyl in an edition of 300. The jacket was letterpress printed, diecut and hand-assembled at Studio on Fire in Minneapolis." [label info]
www.taigarecords.com
|
2014 |
€23.00 |
|
| PBK |
Descent |
CD-R |
"Among the artists from the late-80s experimental tape underground who inspired the music of EMERGE and the founding of Attenuation Circuit, PBK is one of the most important. Therefore, we are extremely proud to present in a digital format for the first time his first solo release “Descent” from 1988, which the artist aptly describes as “dramatic atmospheric space-drone with plenty of analog synthesizer, via Dave Prescott, who once ran the Generations Unlimited label, releasing works by Conrad Schnitzler, Morphogenesis, etc. Prescott owned one of the largest modular synths ever assembled and puts it to striking use on this tape. Combined with PBK's Moogs, loops and drones, and howls of anguish provided by the irrepressible Minóy, all echoing around in the strange space of a Radio Shack mixer's spring reverb.”
“Minoy’s bedroom isolationist approach produced something that seemed otherworldly, spiritual and more like paintings, which was my own background. I took Minoy’s approach as my own model,” PBK says about their late-80s collaborations. This eminently emotional yet perfectly poised masterpiece of “noise ambient”, as PBK came to call his approach to music, is stunning proof that the international tape underground brought forth truly new sounds in electronics that are second to nothing but the most revered academic work by the likes of Stockhausen or Xenakis, and certainly opened up these ways of exploration to larger numbers of people. As fellow composer and Sound of Pigs tape label activist Al Margolis/If, Bwana says about the late Minòy (1951 – 2010): “i heard Minoy’s work before i had ever heard Stockhausen’s Hymnen – so that my take on hearing Hymnen was that it fit in this continuum …not the other way around!!!”
[label info]
www.wix.com/attenuationcircuit/attenuation-circuit
"Phillip B Klingler: that's what PBK stands for. No secret but just in case you didn't know this and that might happen, since PBK might not be a household name these days. Unlike the late 80s when he rose to small fame in the underworld of home-brew cassette releases. He never went 'away' or in hibernation, but perhaps was not always as visible in this twenty-five year career. I am not sure if this re-issue of one of his earliest cassette releases is part of a longer campaign to re-issue earlier works, or perhaps part of an anniversary of some kind, but its great to hear it again after so many years. 'Descent' is perhaps his first true solo release, and sees him take inspiration from Minoy and David Prescott, rather than Stockhausen of Xenakis (I am using the press text, thank you). At David Prescott's he taped a whole bunch of synth sounds and spread these out over the four tracks of his machine and then started to mix them, adding more synthesizer sounds, tape loops and such like, and the result is one of the earliest instances of 'ambient' meeting 'industrial'. It has that spacious character of ambient music, like being in a stream of sounds (as in a stream of consciousness) but at the same time has an angular character, a certain aspect of being nasty, that remote, desolate, empty industrial waste land image that makes it 'industrial'. Composing is perhaps not the sort of thing that applies here, but rather a surrealist take on mixing odd tracks of sounds together in two long form pieces of music. Intuitive playing and mixing, a surrealist approach to the art of composing, that is what PBK is best known for and here he does a great job at it. An early work, but what a fine piece." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€8.00 |
|
| PBK & MODELBAU |
The Dead Time |
CD |
https://oxidation.bandcamp.com/album/the-dead-time
"In music, separating the wheat from the chaff these days is not easy, one has to apply some kind of compulsion and instinct towards interesting releases. “The Dead Time” was made out of processing sonic information in the passing of time, yet what makes this music stand out from the passing and make it “dead”?
"I am interested in the alchemical breakdown of things and the results of pure accidents.” -Phillip B. Klingler
Frans de Waard and Phillip B. Klingler are rooted in the experimental music scene. Both are still at the forefront of pushing the boundaries of underground and formal electroacoustic music. This album was made of collages of recordings De Waard made in 2014, fermenting on Klingler’s shelve until summer 2021. One day that summer, Klingler awoke with a premonition about the work, which started an intensely creative period. He created three collaborations: 'The Dead Time' with De Waard, a PBK & Nocturnal Emissions LP, and the CHAIN LETTER EXHORTATION Series. "It's the same way I like to paint: only when inspired to do so, and without preconception.” as Klingler states.
Both composers are daily concerned with archival matters, so they have a deep intellectual and experiential understanding of the importance of work and detail, no matter how small or few the edition. To my knowledge, this quality translates into the depth of sound, fragility and sensibility, the compositional approach of the unknown by the use of transformed field recordings, digital processed, mixer feedback, synthesizers and sample players, which allows them to enter this abyss of a personal and yet collaborative esoteric space. As Klingler puts it: “I think it was very nice to leave the tracks as "miniatures" with their characteristics, not attempting to be epic in scope, but more like the experiments of the 1950's/60's - Dutch composers of the Phillips Research Laboratory, where all ideas of creativity were embraced, even somewhat incongruous combinations. (..) The compositions are made, but they are abstract, no narrative”.
The “miniatures” sound like deep, personal, little moments of awakening, fermented by time, but then again appearing to be free from it: “We have imposed our own very personal process(es) on the audio to create sounds that belong to something but also subvert that thing.”, as Klinger states.
This is a robust and thoughtful work of two composers always deeply involved in their game and firmly immersed in its execution. Favourite piece: “Knife”." [MC / Vital Weekly]
|
2021 |
€13.50 |
|
| PBK & TELEPHERIQUE |
Noise-Ambient Connection |
CD |
"Noise music exists for many years, but there are still some individuals who are assiduously following their own approach, avoiding any external influence, creating something new and inspiring to get rid of any standards, giving us
the idea of unique sounding. Phillip B. Klingler (PBK) is the one such musician.
In his 20 years of activity, he walked against the number of noisescapes, painting them over with some secret traces of beauty and beyond. He released some solo works but also collaborations with Dirk Serries (vidnaObmana), Slavek Kwi (Artificial Memory Trace), Asmus Tietchens, Jeph Jerman (Hands To) and even
Artemy Artemiev (the son of famous Russian ANS-synth explorer). PBK proposes premium quality music with manifold edges: some hypnotic ambient pieces, some crazy noise collages, but mostly just unclassifiable abstract sound-sculptures. His early works were released on tapes by his own PBK Recordings label and sold out for many years, in the early 90s N D Records published his first couple of
CDs: endless labyrinths of dissonances, amorphous soundscapes unfolding from the complex schemes of machine improvisation and stochastic processes. Telepherique is the seminal German project existing since the late 80s and exploring the grey area of the electronic underground. The main person behind
it is Klaus Jochim who also was responsible for now defunct tape label Drahtfunk Productions. Besides his own production under various monikers like Technostria and Das Konzentrat, he released some great collaboration tape albums with artists like Brume, Kapotte Muziek, S.Core, Tesendalo, De Fabriek etc.
Telepherique uses a lot of synthetic sound sources and sequences, creating unsettling atmosphere from the structured electronic patterns ranging from intense rhythmic work to creepy ambient out-of-body soundscapes. They got initial support from labels like Ant-Zen and Noise Museum, later released some albums
through Old Europa Cafe, S.S.S.M., Afe Records and Waystyx. The name Telepherique means "funicular railway" in French, but indirectly also the intention gaining a view from a higher level. This particular album is the first ever collaboration between PBK and Telepherique, it represents yet another breakthrough in the
search for a music that is comprehensively exploring 21st century ambient music." [label notes]
www.monochromevision.ru/
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| PEAL GRIM |
same |
CD |
Peal Grim is one of the names of Dmitriy Shilov known for the projects Unknown, Neznamo and Magickal Things. Peal Grim explores the theme of dramatic experiences of the human life using acoustic and electric guitars, overdrive, distortion and spatial effects. Their sound creates clouds of guitar drone, noise and ringing, assuming different shapes in the acoustic atmosphere: sometimes floating like an impenetrable fog, sometimes rolling like a gigantic front of thunderclouds, sometimes creeping over a dark pit of overwhelming melancholia…
These five compositions were recorded over the course of three years from 2007 to 2009 and were mastered by Sergey Bulychiov (kshatriy.pro) in 2014.
"This record is not recommended to listening for depressively inclined persons".
[label info]
"So, this album begins with the caveat: "This record is not recommended to listening for depressively inclined persons." Now, that is far more enticing than "may cause drowsiness" (which has been affixed to less than inspiring new age / ambient records in days gone by) or Pulp's reverse psychology of "Please do not read the lyrics whilst listening to the recordings" or any number of unimaginative variations on "play loud or not at all, motherfucker!" There is also something rather charming about this translation about "depressively inclined persons" which may just be an utterly commonplace trigger warning in the Peal Grim's native Russian. What we have behind this is a pretty fucking bleak album of crumbling, corrosive blackened ambience that actually morphs into an ominously tranquil, making for an album that could be rather soothing in a dark, wintery kind of way. Peal Grim is the work of Dmitry N. Shilov, who has orbited in the pagan neofolk and mystical ambient underground of Moscow for a good part of the last two decades. In spite of this background, this album has all of the feel of the ambient passages from the best of the best black metal albums, making us think that he must have been buzzing riff with corpse paint instead. Nonetheless, this is a densely layered album of skeletal guitar figures that are blasted out in blackened fuzz, while spiralling down a soul-sucking maelstrom with a stately minor key lament throughout all the atmospheric depression. A properly replicated cd in an edition of 100 copies." [Aquarius Rec.]
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| PENJAGA INSAF |
Sarna Sadja |
CD |
"For several years Ingo Sauerbrey made extensive travels through Indonesia, always carrying recording equipment to collect sounds as an audio diary. During periodic return trips to Germany, he started to work on the recordings with electronic devices. Some sounds were edited, cut and transformed, while others were kept completely intact. To name a few sound sources only recordings from Water Puppet and Shadow Theatres, Gamelan and various welcoming and fighting dances like Kecak, Jegog and the Tarian Caci were used for this album. Some of those impressive performances were made of 60 to 90 men chanting and dancing while a bamboo orchestra used 4 meter long bamboo sticks playing bass drums on it. SAMA SADJA is waving together the sounds of living traditions, religions and languages with spherical ambient pads and electronically edited drones from the field recordings. This is an contemplative and intimate soundtrack from the deepest heart of South East Asia." [label info]
www.loki-found.de
"Brussels' label Ini.itu specializes in music that deals one way or the other with Indonesia, the land, the people, the nature. They should be paying attention to this release by Ingo Sauerbrey, who plays music as Penjaga Insaf. For years now he has been traveling to Indonesia armed with a recorder to tape original Indonesian music from puppet theatres, gamelan and such like, but also from countries such as Vietnam which he uses in his compositions. I didn't study the booklet very hard when I started to play this and I thought at the beginning this was some kind of ambient act using lots of digital synthesizers and a bit of percussion and some heavily processed voices, but as the album progresses the field recordings become clearer and clearer. Sauerbrey reworks the recordings pretty neatly, not beyond recognition, so you always have a clear picture of what is going on. He mixes these together with a fine blend of digital synthesizers, borrowed from the world of ambient dance music.
The whole thing is pretty densely layered and it seems like is something going on all levels at the same time. Probably just as colorful as traditional puppet play. An excellent release of highly imaginative music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| PENNY RIMBAUD'S L'ACADEMIE DES VANITES (CRASS) |
Yes Sir, the Truth of Revolution |
CD |
"CRASS WAS THEN - THIS IS NOW. WAKE UP TO IT
CRASS' album, 'Yes, Sir, I Will', was possibly the most angry and hard hitting attack on the political/military/industrial complex ever consigned to vinyl. Written by Penny Rimbaud in 1982 at the height of the Falklands conflict, it seethes with righteous indignation over what he saw as a pointless but vicious exercise in vote catching by a government whose popularity was severely on the wane. So powerful was this critique that it led to threats of prosecution by that very same government, threats which were typically used by CRASS to further their attacks on it and its tyrannical leader, Margaret Thatcher.
Over thirty years later, in 2014, Rimbaud was asked to participate in the Rebellion Festival, a yearly punk gathering held in Blackpool, UK. Realising that the opening date of the festival closely coincided with that of the euphemistically named 'Great War', Rimbaud and the festival organisers agreed that as an appropriate response they should open the event with a performance of 'Yes, Sir, I Will'.
In preparing for this performance, Rimbaud began to question the relevance of some of the content of 'Yes, Sir'. It seemed to him that much of it was pertinent only to the time in which it was written, a time when a genuine social uprising had appeared to be a very real possibility (one that was violently and conclusively squashed during the miners' strike of 1984). But times change and there was, he now felt, an element of aggression within the work which veiled its essential message of love and peace; it was a passion that could all too easily be mistaken for blind anger. With this in mind, and inspired by John Lennon's 'All You Need is Love', he set about rewriting 'Yes, Sir' from what he describes as a more Taoist viewpoint. Through replacing screams of anguish with laments of love, he was largely able to satisfy his wish to change 'Yes, Sir' into an expression of compassion, that being the hugely demanding realm of love in its unconditional form.
For the Rebellion performance of the now retitled 'Yes, Sir, the Truth of Revolution', Rimbaud was joined by CRASS' lead vocalist Eve Libertine plus a group of leading musicians from the London jazz scene with whom they'd worked extensively in the past. Named 'L'Académie des Vanités', the band consisted of Eve Libertine/vocals, Penny Rimbaud/vocals, Louise Elliott/sax, Kate Shortt/cello, Jennifer Maidman/guitar, Phil Robson/guitar, Thad Kelly/bass and Gene Calderazzo/drums. The live recording of that show, presented here, captures all the tense excitement created by presenting a primarily punk audience with complex poetics of love, accompanied by equally demanding freeform, improvised jazz. However, as had generally been the case with CRASS' output, wild, willing and worrisome, it would be wise to expect the unexpected. Equally, through its progressive and colourful imagery, the vibrant packaging designed by Gee Vaucher shows a refusal to harp back to the illusory golden past of punk dreams and conceits.
'We are poets, armed with the cobblestones of love, unconditional, uncompromising, beyond need of proof.' However, if proof is needed, it will most surely be found in the content of this radical, imaginative release." [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| PER ASPERA |
Nil Desperandum |
CD |
Drittes Album dieses uns bisher noch unbekannten polnischen dark ambient-Projekts, das auf NIL DESPERANDUM eine ureigenste Vision von dunkler elektronischer Ambience entwirft, wo sehr minimal & bedächtig instrumentierte Synth-Parts of ebenso spärlich eingesetzte Sakral-Gesänge stoßen, es später aber Bezüge zu 9/11 gibt und die Klänge rauher & experimenteller werden. Ingesamt wirkt das alles sehr ausgereift & überlegt komponiert, 7 Stücke die aufeinander aufbauen.
Sehr ambitioniert und fesselnd !
"The third and the most complete release by one of the most talented ambient artists hailing from Poland these days. Unifying vast array of elements, Per Aspera once again achieves remarkably introvert but vibrant style.
Eerie industrial atmosphere seamlessly blends with serene harmonies of almost orchestral form. Cinematic, monstrous drone formations morph into pulsating abyss of dissonant disturbances and uncompromised sonic experiments, overlaid by subtle beauty of human voice and minimalist acoustic instrumentation.
All those skillful, multiformal explorations establish Nil desperandum one of those albums of complex yet stable musical concept—reflecting the incoherencies of human nature and its immanent affection to chaos and order merged together. Per Aspera tends to render tragically compound heritage of the mankind, being constantly shaped by cultural, ethnic and religious or ideologic discrepancies.
Definitely not your average dark–ambient buzz, this album stands out of the dull cliche. The sound may appeal to the admirers of T. Köner, Parca Pace, Nocturnal Emissions or Neubautens to name a few but still, expect no pattern follower.
Complemented with special A5–sized glossy digipak designed by Ibsen studio, this CD is limited to 500 copies only." [label info]
".... Whilst it’s ridiculously difficult to be overly innovative within the dark ambient genres, one of the skills a composer must demonstrate is the ability to keep the listener engaged whilst producing a sound that doesn’t show immediate comparisons to one or another artist from within this genre. Thankfully Per Aspera does a fantastic job at both and has created a set of recordings that smack of originality whilst containing a myriad of well executed compositions, rich textural sounds and a wonderfully imaginative evolving plethora of atmospheres that flow from the album. As a dark ambient release this is as good as it gets and sets an impressively high standard immediately, with a faultless album being produced from start to finish. For those who relish in the shadowy undercurrent of rich dark ambient soundscapes ‘Nil Desperadum’ delivers a fabulous journey into this style of music and is welcomed addition to the genre itself and as such is a near prefect introduction for a relatively unknown artist and a label which promises great things, if this is anything to go by." [Judas Kiss]
www.newnihilism.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| PERRET, NICOLAS & SILVIA PLONER |
Nýey |
CD |
In 1963, off the coast of Iceland, an island emerged after an underwater volcanic eruption, a rare event that occurs on average twice a century. It was given the name Surtsey, after Surtr, the fire giant of Norse mythology. The surface of this new land grew after further eruptions until June 1967 when it had reached 2.65 square kilometers in size and poked 175 meters out of the sea. Surtsey has been an object of research as no other territory has been before, since it bares the unique possibility to study in-scale the creation of an ecosystem. Closed to the public since its birth, only a few scientists have access to the island once per year for four days. To this day more than half of the initial territory of Surtsey has disappeared. The violent waves of the winter degrade its coasts and the wind erodes its surface. Scientists estimate that in 2120, two-thirds of the surface will be gone and erosion will have laid bare its heart of palagonite, a rock that might withstand for a few thousand years.
Being the youngest member of the Westman archipelago, Surtsey serves science as a window to the past of the older islands. Reciprocally, those older islands are studied as windows to what Surtsey might become like in the future. Following this approach of the island as sort of “time capsule,” we investigated in Surtsey′s assumed past, present and possible future in exploring the sonic environment of Surtsey as well as the one of its neighboring islands. The resulting sound piece Nýey evolves around the motifs of creation, colonization and metamorphose of a territory.
Nýey is composed of:
Field recordings from Bjarnarey and Elliðaey, two older islands of the Westman archipelago.
Field recordings from the volcano Eldfell and the new territory its eruption created in 1973 on the island Heimaey.
Field recordings from Surtsey, recorded through a sound trap by Borgþór Magnússon (expedition leader on Surtsey).
The piece also contains words by three generations of scientists engaged with the island and samples from the original music of the movie “Surtur fer sunnan” (Ósvaldur Knudsen, Iceland 1964), composed by Magnús Blöndal Jóhannsson.
(Nicolas Perret & Silvia Ploner, March 2015)
++++
Additional Info
The radio version of Nýey was produced by the programme Klangkunst of Deutschlandradio Kultur (broadcast date: April 18th, 2014), with the support of “Du côté des ondes”, GMVL, Phonurgia Nova and the Surtsey Research Society. In 2014 the radio piece was awarded the first prize in the category “Radioarte” at the 10th Bienal Internacional de Radio.
About us
Nicolas Perret and Silvia Ploner – http://www.islandssongs.blogspot.com – work with recording technologies to sound out mysterious environments, remote territories and unknown phenomena. Envisaging the milieus they investigate as laboratories, their interest is drawn to the faint, the imperceptible, the unsuspected, the sonic detail, the inaccessible. Alongside scientists whom they share fields of study and methods of work with, they embark in long term projects. The resulting field recording based compositions and installations shape listening as a method of exploration. Nýey is their first common project. Their second project, ALL DEPENDS ON THE SUN, explores the acoustic phenomena related to northern lights.
www.unfathomless.net
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
| PETERS, STEVE |
Three Rooms |
CD |
Exquisites Soundscape-Album mit drei Stücken, die völlig verschiedene Ansatzpunkte haben; ob field recordings, Objekt-Geräusche, der eigene Atem, PETERS entwirft stets sehr subtile und langsam dahingleitende Stücke mit faszinierender Aura...
"We are very proud to present the music of Steve Peters, which Alvin Curran once described as "pure, restrained, and rigorously beautiful."
Originally composed as sound installations, these three delicate pieces - or rooms, as the title states - are the result of very personal investigation regarding the interaction between physical spaces and the experience of listening. The selected compositions on the disc seem to emanate themselves from these spaces to continuously create room(s) for the listener, intensifying quietly and subtly our awareness. In "Delicate Abrasions," all of the sounds are derived from tactile interaction with the interior surfaces and materials of an old warehouse building in Santa Fé, New Mexico: nails, dust, sliding door, concrete, metal, glass, and wood. These seemingly inert materials yield a beautiful music hidden within the walls (and ceiling, and floor) of this otherwise mute and neglected space. "Center of Gravity" was composed for an installation with artist Susan York of one of her "graphite rooms," which evoke the contemplative space of a Japanese rock garden. The sound was made entirely with Steve's own breath and real-time electronic processing. Each individual breath was treated as its own miniature composition. These short pieces are then layered and punctuated by silences of random length. The final piece, "Mountains Hidden in Mountains," is made entirely from one strike of the densho (meditation bell) at a Zen Buddhist temple in New Mexico. The sound of the bell never quite dies away, instead revealing the complex dance of overtones in the air and ever-deepening pure waves. It was adapted as a participatory sound installation in a faux bell tower at the Santa Fé Art Institute in 2004." [label info]
www.sirr-ecords.com
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| PETIT, PHILIPPE |
Henry: The Iron Man |
LP |
"I first head Philippe Petit's Henry the Iron Man on WFMU in March of 2010 while driving through the meadowlands on the New Jersey Turnpike. The air was freezing and the sky a depressing cement gray. The music perfectly matched the frozen, decimated landscape. Then, as I took the exit ramp to the even more decrepit route 1 &9, the mood shifted, and I was lifted out of the darkness. Some sort of transformation was taking place, and the bleak numbness of winter soon gave way to hope and the strange feeling that Philippe and I would work together soon.
Fast forward to December 2010. Philip was now on Aagoo records and I was playing the test pressings of Henry. The same surprise and wonder that I had felt on the New Jersey Turnpike surfaced once again. Where do the manipulations start and stop? Is that popping sound Philippe's tweaking or dust on my cartridge? I was left guessing whether to approve the tests or not; and for me, this uncertainty is part of the pleasure of hearing the record.
Philippe’s work on vinyl informs both his creative process and the final product itself. He captures the accidents caused by vinyl manipulations and shapes them into sonic sculptures—creating order from a sum of circumstantial parts. The physical texture of the vinyl album also gradually changes over time. With each repeated listening, Philippe’s album gathers the patina of age. The cracklings become warmer, the sounds become altered, and the album’s identity evolves with every revolution of the plastic disc. My guess is even if your turntable is falling apart this record will be fun to play." [label info]
www.aagoo.com
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| PETRELS |
Haeligewielle |
LP |
"Haeligewielle is the debut solo record of Oliver Barrett of Bleeding Heart Narrative. It is a swirling cataract of a record, a deluge of beautiful noise and crushing melody, which ebbs and flows beneath the surface. Utilizing bowed strings, bent electronics, found percussion and occasional vocals, the record unfolds over seven tracks and fifty minutes, from the portentous drone of the opening ‘After Francis Danby’ and shimmering ‘Silt’ through the work-song-like ‘Concrete’ and cascading rhythm of ‘Winchester Croydon Winchester’. Haeligewielle tells a forgotten story, buried underneath the stones and water." [label info]
www.denovali.com
"Petrels has provided us with what has to be the strongest solo debut from a musician so far in 2011. It’s as if Barrett has launched his solo career as Petrels by giving us his own Sisyphus narrative, and somehow it sounds dreadfully authentic – no small feat. Haeligewielle is an album so dense and immersive you sometimes feel as though you are drowning or being smothered, but that’s exactly the way it’s supposed to feel." (Brendan Moore, Fluid Radio)
"Haeligewielle (holy well, sacred spring) is an album of creation and destruction, holiness and human honor. Its characters and etimologies dance around each other like fish in a waterspout. The album is a masterpiece of narrative, a blackened ship with a broken mast that defies the storm and in so doing discovers its own dark destiny." (Richard Allen, The Silent Ballet (8.5/10))
"Haeligewielle is Oliver Barrett’s (also of Bleeding Heart Narrative) first solo album as Petrels. It is a song of water, a song of stone. These two elements form the album’s thematic core, entwined in the story of the central figure of William Walker, the Winchester diver; but they also inform the album’s sonic makeup – onrushing, buoyant, coursing and at times dense and abrasive. It’s a record that excavates, and extrapolates outwards from, a particular and resonant historical undertaking and in its jubilant expansiveness grants it mythic, numinous life." (Matt Poacher, The Liminal)
|
2012 |
€18.50 |
|
| PG.LOST |
Oscillate |
LP |
"Hier ist Oscillate von PG.LOST - das neue Album der Band, welche pures Drama und Katharsis lebt. Ihr fünftes Werk - das erste seit dem erfolgreichen 2016er Versus - braucht mit ausgeprägtem Verständnis von Spannung/Entspannung einen Vergleich mit Mono, Explosions in the Sky und Godspeed You! Black Emperor nicht zu scheuen. Mit Einflüssen, die von der emotionalen Wucht von Big Thief über den erfinderischen Geist des Krautrock bis hin zur Brutalität von Neurosis und dem dunklen Experimentalismus von Coil reichen, verflechten sich diese schwereren Elemente und öffnen sich in der Weite gar bis Fennesz oder Tim Hecker. Eine neue Ausrichtung, welche eine schimmernde Schönheit und Tiefe enthüllt, wie sie in der heutigen überkomprimierten und überproduzierten Version "moderner" Musik selten zu finden ist. Das Titelstück beginnt mit einer blühend dunklen Ambientpassage, ein aufsteigender Gitarren-/Synth-Part, der die Spannung aufbaut bis die endgültige Befreiung durch einem großen Refrai und gigantische Wellen von Gitarrenklängen erreicht wird. Oscillate steht exemplarisch für das Album als Ganzes - massiv im Umfang und noch größer im Klang. Das Album wurde im eigenen Studio aufgenommen und von Magnus Lindberg von Cult of Luna gemischt und gemastert. Souverän in der Ausführung ist Oscillate höchstdramatischer Bombast und ein gewaltiger Schritt vorwärts für die Band - vier Jahre warten haben sich gelohnt. Für Fans von Mono, Explosions In The Sky, Mogwai, Cult of Luna, EF, Caspian, Russian Circles, Envy * Limitierte Single Colour White Vinyl-Version! * Band Info: PG.LOST wurde 2004 in Norrköping, Schweden, gegründet und besteht aus Mattias Bhatt, Martin Hjertstedt (ex- Ghost), Gustav Almberg (The Great Discord) und Kristian Karlsson (Cult of Luna). Auf der Suche nach einem einzigartigen Klang und der Liebe zu Post-Rock, Ambient und Shoegaze mit einem Hang zum Post-Metal, veröffentlichte die Band 2006 und 2007 ihre selbstbetitelte sowie die Yes, I Am-EP.2008 veröffentlichten PG.LOST ihr Debutalbum It's Not Me, It's You! Es folgten In Never Out, Key, die Split-LP mit Wang Wen und zuletzt Versus. Line Up: Mattias Bhatt: Gitarre, Martin Hjertstedt: Schlagzeug. Gustav Almberg: Gitarre, Kristian Karlsson: Bass"
Trapped in a cavern, it’s pitch black and the air is getting harder and harder to breathe. Disoriented, hands follow the walls to find what could be the ceiling, fingers digging into the rock to find something– anything– loose to help point toward a direction out. Suddenly, a rock frees itself and after clearing away some dirt, a pin of blinding light shines through the enveloping darkness. Clearing away soil and rock with more and more vigor, hope and salvation is just a short way from here.
This is PG.LOST’s Oscillate– the band’s latest LP packed to the gills with pure drama and catharsis. Their fifth overall and first effort since 2016’s much lauded Versus, Oscillate leans on an instrumental approach and while their keen understanding of tension/release may warrant comparison to the likes of MONO, Explosions in the Sky and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, PG.LOST is unafraid to move into exciting new directions. With influences that range from the emotional heft of Big Thief to the inventive spirit of krautrock to the brutality of Neurosis to the dark experimentalism of COIL, these heavier elements intertwine and open up into wide-eyed expansiveness of Fennesz or Tim Hecker, revealing a beauty shimmering underneath and a range of depth rarely found in today’s over-compressed and spit-shined version of “modern music.”
In making the new LP, PG.LOST opted to keep it simple and follow their gut. “On the previous records we have always tried to make it very basic and clean when it comes to production, not too many overdubs or add-ons,” reveals bassist Kristian Karlsson. “This time was more about not thinking about that at all. We don’t try to over analyse our records– it always starts with one or two songs and they often set the mood of the rest of the writing process.I think this album has more layers to it– you hear new things every time you listen. We’re really looking forward to hearing what the listeners think.”
Kicking off with a blossoming dark ambient passage on the title track, an ascendant guitar/synth part builds tension until final release is achieved with a massive chorus, waves of eye-opening guitars and elephantine tribal drums. It’s emblematic of the album as a whole– massive in scope and even larger in sound, Oscillate is the true definition of its title with incredibly tense swells to the point of collapse leading to a slow but pensive disintegration. And again. And again. Oscillate is not just instrumental music, it’s cinematic– it’s high drama, executed in IMAX with a pristine soundtrack blasting at 120db.
Due in November via Pelagic Records, the LP was recorded by the band in their own studio, and mixed/mastered by Magnus Lindberg from Cult of Luna. In creating the LP, the only hurdle seemingly was an internal one and making efficient use of individual scheduling. “When we formed the band we spent almost every night in the rehearsal space,” recalls Karlsson. “Nowadays we only rehearse for tours or when we plan to have writing sessions for example upcoming records. It is not as spontaneous as it used to be, but I think it forces us to really make the best out of it when we do see each other.”
Founded in 2004 in Norrköping, Sweden, PG.LOST is Mattias Bhatt, Martin Hjertstedt (ex- Ghost), Gustav Almberg (The Great Discord) and Kristian Karlsson (Cult of Luna). Formed in pursuit of a singular love of post-rock, ambient and shoegaze with a bent towards post- metal, the band released their self-titled and the Yes, I Am EPs in 2006 and 2007. From there PG.LOST dropped their 2008 LP It's Not Me, It's You! quickly followed by 2009’s In Never Out, Key, the Wang Wen split LP and Versus followed in 2012, 2013 and 2016 respectively.
Sovereign in execution and mammoth in scope, Oscillate is ten tracks of pure dramatic bombast and a massive step forward for the decades-old band. The four years away have been worth it.
https://pglost.bandcamp.com/album/oscillate
|
2020 |
€34.00 |
|
| PHAENON |
Submerged |
CD |
Debut-Album eines neues polnischen Dark Ambient-Projekts, extrem kosmisch, spacig und dunkel, rauschend & unendlich weitläufig hallend... ein one-tracker von über 65 Minuten, Anklänge an YEN POX, INADE, AMON... absolut kontemplativer Space-Sound...
"With the debut release from Phaenon, it is immediately evident a heavyweight has arrived. The brainchild of Polish born, but current Maryland resident, Szymon Tankiewicz, Submerged is a dark ambient tour de force. Visually and sonically enveloping, this is an album of space and texture, slowly revealing a psychoactive soundscape of majestic, arcing timbres, circadian buzzes, and expansive drones. Heavy, and cosmically weighty in the beginning, Submerged evolves into something more minimalist and serene, radiating a celestial beauty, yet becoming even more bleak and suffocating as it progresses over it‘s 66 minute time frame. Experienced from start to finished, there’s a palpable sense of drifting and drowning, of being carried away into an endless, interstellar vacuum. An exciting new project, and a must for dark ambient purists. Check out Phaenon‘s myspace page for excerpts of new works at www.myspace.com/szymontankiewicz, as well as the Malignant myspace page for an excerpt of Submerged at www.myspace.com/malignantrecords. In stylish 6 panel digipak, artwork by K. Enderlein (LOKI), mastered by Thomas Garrison..." [label info]
www.malignantrecords.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| PHARMAKON |
Bestial Burden |
CD |
"Four days before New York noise musician Margaret Chardiet was supposed leave for her first European tour as Pharmakon, she had a medical emergency which resulted in a major surgery. Suddenly, instead of getting on a plane, she was bedridden for three weeks, missing an organ.
“After seeing internal photographs taken during the surgery, I became hyperaware of the complex network of systems just beneath the skin, any of which were liable to fail or falter at any time,” Chardiet said. “It all happened so fast and unexpectedly that my mind took a while to catch up to the reality of my recovery. I felt a widening divide between my physical and mental self. It was as though my body had betrayed me, acting as a separate entity from my consciousness. I thought of my corporeal body anthropomorphically, with a will or intent of its own, outside of my will's control, and seeking to sabotage. I began to explore the idea of the conscious mind as a stranger inside an autonomous vessel, and the tension that exists between these two versions of the self.”
Consumed by these ideas, and unable to leave her bed, Chardiet occupied herself by writing the lyrics and music that would become Bestial Burden, the second Pharmakon LP for Sacred Bones Records. The record is a harrowing collection of deeply personal industrial noise tracks, each one brimming with struggle and weighted with the intensity of Chardiet’s internal conflict." [label info]
www.sacredbonesrecords.com
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| PHARMAKUSTIK |
Neurochemie |
LP |
"It consists of 8 pieces that involve complex arrangements of clinical ambiances and experiments in granular modulations...Some works also contain modified robotic, vocoded electronic voices and dismembered rhythmic particles. The Neurochemie album in a way sums up all the experiences of previous Pharmakustik-releases by concentrating on total modulation of sound and its effect on the nervous system using a wide range of plug-in effectors and many external sources. The album represents Siegmar Fricke perspective of Pharmakustik-sound 2010." [label info] |
2010 |
€18.50 |
|
| PHELIOS |
Human Stasis Habitat |
CD |
"After two outstanding CDs on Malignant Records, Martin Stürtzer returns with his new PHELIOS album ´Human Stasis Habitat´. Its predecessors opened the gates to a transcendent journey with huge sound walls of cosmic doom and ritualistic percussion; the new album moves deeper to the core from which the monolithic audio sculptures of PHELIOS rise. ´Human Stasis Habitat´ is a constant maelstrom of sound waves utilising majestic and ominous dronescaping, underlaid by intense bass tones and loaded with echoes. These add a vast emptiness to the textural darkness, enlarging its stoically cosmic aura in the most splendid way. It is the perfect soundtrack for an aural journey far beyond the Earth and our imagination, into the deepest spaces where the dark is light enough." [label info]
www.loki-found.de
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| PHILLIPS, DAVE |
Proceed with Inquiry |
DVD |
"The contained DVD comprises video works, live performances and collaborations by radical Swiss sound artist DAVE PHILLIPS, sonically active since 1987, part of the notorious SCHIMPFLUCH GRUPPE (with Rudolf Eb.er, Joke Lanz) since 1991, having left his signature in numerous bands, projects and collaborations.
DAVE PHILLIPS uses sound as a means to activate primordial emotions otherwise hidden underneath the debris of civilization. His concept is called “Humanimalism” accordingly, meaning a state of mind that overcomes religious, material und supremacist charges of evolution, acknowledges itself as part of a whole and has grown into an empathic, conscious and connected creature allowing emotion and instinct their equal part in decision-making.
This collection presents his multifaceted work in composition, performance, psycho-acoustics, sonic rituals, voice, video, field recordings, objects and electronics, etc. in a yet unknown complexity and coherence of motion pictures. His performance work is revealed in all its undiluted brutality, the urgency and topicality of his work and his message is clearly evident, captivating and intensely documented.
Along with DAVE PHILLIPS’ video works created between 2014 and 2016, the DVD is a document of unique solo live actions and the notorious Paris 1996 performance of SCHIMPFLUCH-GRUPPE, as well as recent collaborations with G.X. JUPITTER LARSEN, and video artists PAKISE AKIN, JAN VAN HASSELT and REMOTE-CONTROL RECTUM, who in turn created their visual interpretations of PHILLIPS' audio works. It all amounts to a mind-expanding experience, playing with altered perception and throwing back the viewer onto his own vision." [label info]
"...Merely approaching, let alone summarising, the work of Dave Phillips is near impossible. Active for 25-odd years in multiple artistic fields (including appearances on almost 200 releases), his contribution here to the DVD component of the release is characteristically challenging. The work is delivered in three parts: video works, live performances, and collaborations.
The video works are varied with clear effort put into editing and sound composition. They’re often jarring and disorienting, always intimate, and personal. Some are abstract and intangible while others are precise and brutally polemic. There is slap-to-the-face activism in spades, including a sobering piece on humankind’s exploitation of the Earth and its animals (‘How sad, that nature speaks and we don’t listen.‘). Phillips’s use of footage depicting animal vivisection, cruelty, and industrial slaughter is about as subtle as a sledgehammer, as is the screaming text (‘Education is a progressive discovery of our ignorance!’). But these pieces are clearly meant to shock and are more about our complacency and willingness to let them happen than about the actions themselves.
The collaborative works are interesting enough, though they are not as strong as Phillips’s solo contributions. He seems to supply audio primarily over his collaborators’ mostly impressionistic visuals. Many could display rather comfortably on a screen in a respectable art gallery.
The live performances are highly entertaining and showcase a theatrical grotesquerie typical of the Schimpfluch-Gruppe of which Phillips is a core member. Indeed, the best of the live recordings here has him on stage with Rudolf Eb.er for a Schimpfluch-Gruppe action in Paris. Contact mikes in mouth, their faces slam repeatedly and unceremoniously into bowls of spaghetti. It’s bleakly humorous and very uncomfortable.... " [Heathen Harvest]
silkentofu.bigcartel.com/product/dave-phillips-proceed-with-inquiry-dvd |
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Sixth Mass Extinction |
LP |
"black vinyl lp in embossed sleeve, edition of 300. comes with a free 8 page newspaper featuring articles that offer a broad view of what homo sapiens has achieved in terms of coexistence and in taking care of its home.
1.
Things Falling Apart 21:12
2.
Radical Hope 20:12
about
things falling apart - composition for three PA’s (stereo version):
the original 6 channel piece was commissioned by bad bonn kilbi festival düdingen switzerland 2018.
radical hope - live action (studio version):
this incarnation of live action was initiated in january 2016 and has developed since. triggered by a broken heart, it’s a critical analysis of subjective behaviourisms, self-reflections, self-criticisms and conclusions thereof. the subsequent translation of derived intentions into ritualised actions include purging, activating learning and healing processes, self-betterment, empowerment and hair-burning. has since morphed into a piece about the relationship of the human as a species with planet earth as a cherished entity, such as a loved one, a friend, a partner, a companion, a parent or a family member, a home or an origin.
all audio by dp. decomposed may to november 2018 for schimpfluch. mastered by riccardo mazza. artwork by brett wagg using photos by dp.
https://totalblack.bandcamp.com/album/sixth-mass-extinction
Dave Phillips INTERVIEW by CHAIN DLK
( By Vito Camarretta - August 11, 2021)
dave dp phillips long story short
fields of re/search: existences and behaviourisms humanimalistically. works that oppose the omnipresent restriction and reduction of life and living, that activate primordial shared emotions otherwise hidden under the debris of civilization, inviting rumination, encouraging intervention, endorsing catharsis, liberating, cleansing. therapeutical stimulation is acknowledged. sonic activism, ritual protest music, humanimalism
methods: audio de/construction, composition, sonic rituals, psycho-acoustics and performance
tools: voice, body, fieldrecordings, electronics, objects, video
reason for this interview: his recent release “to death” (7th July 2021, Misanthropic Agenda)
enjoy the reading!
Chain D.L.K.: Hi Dave! How are you doing?
Dave Phillips: Quite alright. I moved house earlier a month ago, I’m settling in…
Chain D.L.K.: I heard you recent ‘to death’ and I honestly think it’s a listening that I would likewise honestly recommend in this historical stage… but before focusing on it, even if those well-informed readers of our zine, whose memory has not been reset yet, don’t really need any introduction, how would you introduce yourself, your sound art and its direction(s)?
Dave Phillips: Puh. Well. My music is rather free, abstract, “cinematic”, and personal. It sounds more organic than it does electronic. What I seek in sound/music is altered states of consciousness, states of trance and liberation, cathartic and purging kind of highs, some sort of elevation. Sound for me is communication, so I like it to have some sort of narrative, intentionality, something shared. I’m interested in the effect of sound as much as its aesthetic form. Sonically I’m inspired by contemporary (classical) composition, the sounds of insects, traditional music, improvisation/free music, bass music, as much as the energy of radical punk and metal. Literature is a big inspiration too. My sound work is often accompanied by topical contexts that touch on environmental and existential issues but are more driven by the interconnectedness of things, the thing that some call chaos, this enormous ecosystem that we are a part of, the kind of free life that is uncontrollable and beyond our systems of control or scientific measurement or language. I call my music “ritual protest music” – I protest against the reduction and restriction of life – I describe my way of approaching sound as “sonic activism”. Uhm, long “introduction” but there you go…. just open ears…
Chain D.L.K.: The last outputs I vividly remember of yours, who reached somehow my desk (I often don’t know how or why some sonic entities reach my desk, besides the fact someone delivers them to my mailbox), has been a super limited split with Emerge on Nazlo, that was a tribute to Dmitry Vasilyev. Have you ever met him? Which tracks did he leave in your memory?
Dave Phillips: I met Dmitry Vasilyev a bunch of times. The last time was in September 2018 when Dmitry had organized a tour for me and emerge in Russia. We met in Sevastopol before embarking on a tour together. The day before our tour began, we went swimming in the Black Sea and Dmitry drowned. The tape you speak of is a reaction to that tragic loss. Dmitry’s enthusiasm for and energy invested in experimental music was amazing…
Chain D.L.K.: I have to amend… There’s also a CD from Attenuation titled ‘Post Homo Sapiens’, but I honestly haven’t unfolded it yet… What a shame! Can I get excused for that? What should I expect?
Dave Phillips: Of course! Post Homo Sapiens imagines a world where insects and plants rule.
Dave Phillips imagephoto courtesy of Jesse Newman
Chain D.L.K.: I enjoyed the reading of some of your texts (ref: https://www.davephillips.ch/texts), the last of which includes many interesting and praiseworthy ecologist thoughts and reflections, but it dates back to 2015. Are you writing some new text for the recent evolution of human history?
Dave Phillips: “For the recent evolution of human history”, haha. Besides writing, I collect and present texts too, and my texts sometimes take from articles and books that touch me. For the “sixth mass extinction” LP (2019) I collected a bunch of articles that together offer a picture of how humans are doing in terms of coexistence with other beings on this planet. It’s probably no surprise that we’re not faring very well – what we seem to be good at though is causing mass extinction and destruction. Said articles were accompanied by a profound text by professor Jem Bendell on “navigating climate tragedy”. For an upcoming split with sist en 343 called “thinking future coexistence,” I used a text by Charles Eisenstein on what happened since corona blessed us – this should be out in the autumn. I am supposed to write something for an upcoming compilation, but I haven’t got there yet…
Chain D.L.K.: So let’s go back (or forward) to ‘to death’. I remember the words of a Tibetan monk on this subject, who said that we have to notice that when a baby comes to life cries, and we smile, when a person comes to death (let’s say so) sometimes has a smiling expression on his/her face, while we cry. Is this somehow ironic viewpoint close to the meaning of death you were referring to on your last release?
Dave Phillips: Yes, very much so! Accompanying my father on his last journey was a profound experience that demystified death to an extent where it mostly wasn’t this “horrible thing” that people often seem to associate with it, but something quite different…. somehow magical, often peaceful and serene – my father was smiling a lot as he lay dying – and also somewhat unbiased, more to do with “life (in all its stages) never fails to amaze me”, where often opposing angles together make the whole.
Chain D.L.K.: I think that most of the weirdest consequences of this likewise weird pandemic crisis can be interpreted by using the filter of human fear of death. How did this situation influence your ‘to death’?
Dave Phillips: I was living in such intense reality bubbles at the time of the pandemic that the pandemic itself seemed to be happening on a side-stage, it didn’t seem to have that much impact on me. In hindsight, though, I realize it played into my perception more than I acknowledged. It affected my perception of the world. The slow dying of my father seemed to go hand in hand with the dying of something that somehow defines us as humans, as we grow more and more separate and distanced from one another and from purpose and freedom – as we have from the “natural world” at large, a separation that we are imposing on us more and more. That’s a slow dying. I mean, the empire is failing and falling, it will crash, no doubt, it’s just a question of when and how. And it sure won’t be pretty. People, please remove your filters!
Chain D.L.K.: I also enjoyed the fact that in the title, there seems a first part missing. You can expect an ‘Hymn to death’, an ‘Ode to death’ or even a ‘Yell to death’! But it’s as it is… just ‘to death’! How did you draw inspiration for it? I read it was somehow related to your father’s last moments (of course you have my deepest sympathy).
Dave Phillips: Thank you. Yes, it’s mainly inspired by my father’s illness, which was devastating and my being his carer for the last 15 months of his life. I witnessed his person being eaten away by disease – in a way, he was gone before death gave him peace. At the same time, I found myself in a role that made sense on so many levels, and somehow I managed to pull it through – I’m so glad I did. Taking care of the old is like taking care of the young, is like education, is like a purpose in life – outsourcing that to a paid service or a job or some system is missing out on profound experiences, on things essential, maybe on things that define us as animals or mammals or tribal beings. Something that teaches more than schools or universities can, but also demands more. So really it’s more about the journey, the path, the story of accompanying someone all the way “to death” and all that it sets free. My father’s wish was to die at home, and I’m glad that my siblings and I made that wish come true.
But this journey also leads to other related topics. There are many readings of the title. The ode/hymn “to death” is certainly in there, probably poking at the wish to demystify death as the huge taboo that it still is. the title also addresses what we’re doing to planetary life – to plants and other animals. Thus, also what we’re doing to ourselves: when I view my father’s disease in a global context, it’s a common cause – nowadays. The main causes of death in our times show us how sick our allegedly “civilized” way of life makes many of us. So much human waste. We are “civilized to death”. And then there’s what this is all doing to us emotionally and existentially – areas where many of us seem more dead than alive, where we merely function and follow rules. The slow death of human potential through our educational systems and through our imposed “normality” is part of that. The death of freedom through total control of life, as per recent events. I mean, life IS uncertain – that’s the exciting part, isn’t it? All our puny attempts to create “safety and security” are laughable if they weren’t so devastating in what they actually do to us – but we’re like animals born in captivity. Our established political and economic systems seem rather dead too – I mean, an economy that functions linearly is just grossly inadequate for a world and lives that happen in cycles. So there are many paths and pointers “to death”. I can also turn it around: if death is the only certainty in life, then a tribute to death is a celebration of life!
Chain D.L.K.: What are the reversed words in the opening ‘A Cycle Completed’ to say?
Dave Phillips: The tone matters more than the words. What do you hear?
Chain D.L.K.: Death is maybe the aspect of existence that keeps the strongest taboos still on. Do you agree with such a statement of not?
Dave Phillips: Yes, that’s also why I wanted to make an album that demystifies that, that steers us away from this taboo, from this conditioned denial or shame, this refusal to face all aspects of existence. I wanted to describe death as what it is, part of a cycle as natural as birth, something to encounter and to know, not something to primarily fear. On the contrary, I feel the awareness of death is one of the driving forces of life, it brings out deep emotions which frankly make me feel very alive. Death the experience has many beautiful aspects to it, at least in my experience. To reduce death – or this album – to just something “dark and scary” is merely scratching the surface – it’s looking away. If we could include death in the bigger picture as something normal, we may enjoy more freedom in our lives…
Chain D.L.K.: That piercing scary and somehow beastly scream on “To Death We All Go, The Sooner The Better”… how did you grab it, if it can be said?
Dave Phillips: I often start a recording based on notes I made or impulses, ideas about sonics, and sentiments. The tape starts running and… I try to put these sentiments into sound, and then… often things happen, I get carried away…. I go places, I enter different states of being, it’s like I travel like I’m somewhere else. Then sometime later, thump, I land again, it’s like I’ve returned from far… and sometimes it even translates onto tape ;o)
Like this album. I didn’t plan to do something about this particular topic, or about my father. I had a bunch of ideas noted, things I wanted to work into, but nothing like “to death”. Then I started recording. It was like a trance. It just poured out of me. The basic recordings happened within about ten days, basic structures of pieces were completed the following week. When I started listening back to what I had done, I was surprised. Then I realized what it’s about…
Chain D.L.K.: Paraphrasing and quoting the title of one of my favorite tracks of the album, what’s the real catastrophe you wanted to represent or maybe exorcize?
Dave Phillips: “The real catastrophe is that humanity continues”. It refers to the coronavirus and a reason why it might’ve appeared. I mean, we humans have vastly overpopulated this planet, and we are a very sick civilization, we’ve taken a couple of wrong turns too many, and we’re destroying not only our home but also that of all other inhabitants and them with it. It’s time we became extinct, or at least drastically reduced in numbers. We, humans, are the catastrophe… haha… it’s somewhat tongue-in-cheek, my sense of humor, though I reckon part of me means it ;o)
Chain D.L.K.: Is there any moment of ‘to death’ that you want to keep deliberately indecipherable?
Dave Phillips: Honestly, I try to be transparent with all that I do. My intentions, sentiments, feelings, it’s all there really. I don’t try to be cryptic or mysterious. On the other hand, it’s very subjective – I’ve put things out into the world that I thought were obvious and then find myself surprised by very different interpretations. So in this work, there are wordings, for example, that are only my own words for this particular moment, this context, they are subjective and not telling in terms of a narrative, so they needn’t be clear, they are only relevant in terms of opening spaces, it’s your own words or sentiments that take you through those spaces, and that’s fine.
Chain D.L.K.: Any plan to lend or adapt ‘to death’ for other forms of art (theatre or video art maybe)?
Dave Phillips: Not for now. The way this album poured out of me, the way it happened, this format is quite right for now. Emotionally, I’m quite elsewhere now anyway, also thanks to having this album happen.
Chain D.L.K.: Any work in progress?
Dave Phillips: Always :o) I’m currently finalizing two pieces for a 7″ for a young Portland label, and a comp track, but there are other pots cooking too…
Visit Dave Phillips on the web:
https://www.davephillips.ch/about
https://dave-phillips.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/dave-phillips
vimeo.com/davephillips
|
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
| PHILLIPS, TOMAS / DEAN KING |
A Travers le Bord |
CD |
"'The product of a definite convergence of ideas as well as my own nascent french, the title Á Travers le Bord can be interpreted as both a Ôcrossing through' a material edge or border and a liminal move from exterior to interior, or vice versa, in terms of, for example, flesh, or more generally, selfhood. A happy accident. Though I would never presume to attribute any central meaning to music, such border crossings are a constant in my life and most likely inform my composition process as it unfolds in front of the laptop, moving or being still, listening, inside or out. It's a delightful paradox, the ongoing flux that finds its faithful correlate in the pull towards a relative silence and calm. Also delightful was my good friend and collaborator dean king's willingness to contribute sound material for this piece, in addition to a much needed critical ear. After a few limited edition cd-r releases as Eto Ami, we were due a joint project. Many of these sounds I processed further and set about composing Ð a long and sometimes arduous course that prompted its own numerous excursions through borders. Most importantly, however, I was reminded of the pleasures of camaraderie, even at a distance." [Tomas Phillips]
www.nonvisualobjects.com |
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| PHILLIPS, TOMAS / JASON BIVINS |
Blau |
CD-R |
"Blau marks the first collaboration between Tomas Phillips and Jason Bivins. A marriage of guitar improvisation and through-composition, its immediate reference point beyond lowercase sound art is the work of painter Barnett Newman. His solid color canvases, broken by vertical lines of various shades, reveal an aesthetic preoccupation with minimalist imagery aligned with a reverence for the philosophy of Spinoza. An equally pleasurable matrimony.
Original digital artwork Blue With Lines, (after Barnett Newman) by FOURM (BGN)." [label info]
www.dragonseyerecordings.com
|
2010 |
€10.00 |
|
| PHILLIPS, TOMAS / LUIGI TURRA |
Vignettes Amplifie |
CD |
"The first ever collaboration between prolific american composer Tomas Phillips and prominent italian newcomer Luigi Turra, "Vignettes Amplifie" presents a sequence of subtle sound constructions characterized by minimalistic and contemplative approach. Quiet field recordings, soft acoustic sounds and organic electronic arrangements builds panoramic view on two levels. The acoustic gestures like bells, manipulated objects and drone fragments are coming from silence and disappearing after some time. On the other hand, there is a kind of reflection of these sonic events in the background, muted and abstracted, hiding from your ears. But these microscopic sounds, short and forgetful, seems to be the main part of the whole thing - when you are trying to trace them down, to catch your attention, and to understand the aesthetical value of this music. Shy and confused, these sounds represents the soul of this music, but in fact they are just grow and fade away like the autumn rain. This album will teach you how to turn your mind into ears, hunting for every little susurration in total silence." [label info]
www.nitkie.ru
"New age might also be the word that one could apply to an album that involves shakuhachi and prayer bowls, as on the disc by Tomas Phillips and Luigi Turra. They are both also credited for the use of laptop. And obviously this is not a work of new age. The music is simply not 'easy' enough, but it surely hints at a more zen-like experience of listening. Things are stretched out, quiet and peaceful. There are some highly obscured sounds from the world of electro-acoustics, long sustaining sounds on the bowl and the flute, the more than obvious crackles, which seem to belong to this micro-world. A release that could have as easily fitted on Line, I would think. Three pieces, all around eleven to fourteen minutes, which all need their time to peacefully and calmly enroll their story. A fine work of microsound, that not necessarily is anything new, but quite well crafted." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| PHOLDE |
In the subset of all elements |
mCD-R |
Es klingelt glas- und metallartig über wellenden dark drones, Hallräume öffnen und schliessen sich, dumpfe Grotten-Pulsationen schaffen eine schamanistisch-rituelle Atmosphäre... drei neue Stücke vom kanadischen Projekt in der essentiellen mCDR Reihe des französischen Labels!
„pholde had various releases before, including one on our belgian friend Mystery Sea. deep scrapey metallic drones, simply beautiful...full-couloured printed 3"cd-r in a slim crystal box.” [label info]
|
2005 |
€5.00 |
|
| PHRAGMENTS |
Earth shall not cover their Blood |
CD |
"You’ve seen it before. Certain bands or artists delivering their finest work with their first recording. Then, in futile attempts to capture some of the same magic, becoming formulaic and stale, rehashing ideas and never really achieving the same caliber of work. Others, expanding on the elements of their prior releases, and through a natural maturation process, get stronger with each release. That would certainly be the case with Phragments. With their third full length studio CD, this Slovakian duo have made remarkable strides not only in quality but in scope. Equipped with an enriched sonic palate, Earth Shall Not Cover Their Blood mixes forceful brass and dark orchestral strings with rolls of powerful tribal percussion, somber wind instrumentation, ominous atmospheres, industrial clangor, and a strong and commanding vocal presence, particularly on tracks like “Over Deadlands” and “The Kin of Cain”. Cohesive, complete, and epic, this is a release that will open some eyes to new found authority of Phragments. Yours to discover. In 6 panel digipak." [label info]
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| PHURPA |
Rituals of Bön I |
LP |
"Phurpa is an extraordinary artistic and cultural project, not only on a European scale. For years, its members have been exploring the traditions of Bön - the magical practices of ancient Tibet, Iran and even Egypt, and they take it closer to their listeners. Over the last few years they have recorded dozens of sessions, released on various formats. They have already played countless number of concerts in various parts of the globe. Each of their performances assumes the character of a ritual where Phurpa members, thanks to their "rgyud-whence" singing and playing traditional instruments, often made of human bones, bring the audience into a kind of trance, a transgressive journey, inviting to a meeting with the ancients gods and demons of the pre-buddhist era.
"Rituals of Bön I" is the first part of the cycle, which presents this most sacred aspect of the Russian troupe. It's over 40 minutes of shamanic trance.
The vinyl album is strictly limited to 300 copies."
www.zoharum.com
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Rituals of Bön II |
LP |
"Phurpa is an extraordinary artistic and cultural project, not only on a European scale. For years, its members have been exploring the traditions of Bön – the magical practices of ancient Tibet, Iran and even Egypt, and they take it closer to their listeners.
A year ago the first volume of “Rituals of Bön” was released on vinyl. Zoharum now presents the second volume of this series, based on the recordings from the Moscow gigs where Phurpa performed magic shows lasting up until a few hours. The participants would certainly confirm that they are a highly intensive ritual in which both the band and the audience participate.
As in the case of the previous LP, the second part of the series presents the sacred aspect of the Russian troupe’s activity. It’s more than 40 minutes of shamanic trance. Just like the first volume, this edition on black vinyl is strictly limited to 300 copies."
www.zoharum.com
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Ya Tog Rid Pa'i Gyer |
do-CD |
"This double album is the successor to the previous release entitled “Chöd” from nearly a year ago. The new release shows how Phurpa constantly transforms itself through their own musical exploration as well as personal spiritual development. Apart from intensive concerts, its members are famous for their long meditation trainings/sessions. This constant movement, the exploration of various techniques and discovering new inspirations in eastern culture makes Phurpa musicians more and more eager to use traditional instruments in addition to their distinctive “rgyud-skad” singing, thus enriching the already familiar formula. By emphasizing the sacred and spiritual nature of their activity, they seek to enrich it in such a way that the listener can find the novum, bearing in mind that not only the aesthetic but very spiritual world of the ancient deities of the Bön tradition is particularly important. The title, referring to the magical quest for the universe, should set the direction for the interpretation, or be merely a pretext or an invitation to this mystical journey.
The album consists of two discs with over 90 minutes of music. It is released in a 3-panel ecopak in a strictly limited edition of 500 copies."
|
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Trowo Phurnag Ceremony |
CD |
This voyage began in the middle of the 1990's in Moscow, when a group of artists and musicians led by Alexei Tegin and based at the legendary Fabrique of Cardinal Art commenced their studies of traditional ritual music, drifting away from the field of contemporary electroacoustic and industrial music with the intent to delve deeper into the ancient musical cultures of the ancient Egypt, Iran and Tibet. The original 2003 lineup of the project that emerged as a result was ubbed Phurpa (one of the five tutelary deities of the Father Tantra in Bon tradition), and all the members have carried on with their research in the field of Bon and Buddhist liturgies up to the present day.
Before Buddhism reached Tibet, local people had practiced involved shamanic rites derived from various ancestral cults. Later on, circa the VI-IX century AD, a conflict between the local tradition, namely, the pre-Buddhist religion of Bon (which originates from Central Asia) and Tantric Buddhism (hailing from the North of India) gave birth to a unique cultural phenomenon known as Tibetan Buddhism, which combines an extensive metaphysical corpus and an advanced philosophical system with pristine ceremonial practices that reach down through many centuries.
In the X-XI century AD the monastic ensemble came into being. It has got a lot in common with the Chinese court ensembles of the Tang dynasty; nevertheless, the Tibetan ceremonial ensemble has preserved its authenticity and kept a large number of primordial elements stemming from the ancient Tibeto-Burmanese music intact to this day. A typical ensemble usually includes a pair of nga drums, several rolmo cymbals and a pair of gyaling oboes, as well as telescopic dunchen horns, dunkar shells and short wandun horns.
One of the unique features of the Tibetan monastic choir is a specific kind of overtone chanting, called "rgyud-skad", or the Tantric voice, which is based on the principle of the singer's transmogrification during the so-called "chanting meditation".
Recorded in 2005 at Melodiya studio, mixed and mastered in 2007-2008 at Magihead studio photography by Cheslav Merk, Ulrika Merk and Anna Lukyanova
sketis-music.com/catalog/skmr-060-phurpa-trowo-phurnag-ceremony
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
LTA ZOR |
LP |
Zoharum is proud to present another ritual recording by Phurpa brought to you on beautiful 180g vinyl. After Rituals Of Bon I & II, “Lta Zor” is the third installment of mysterious Russian duo on Zoharum.
If you ever had the opportunity to experience Phurpa live you know how overwhelming experience this is as this is not a gig. This is a ceremony in purest sense of word. Overtone singing piercing through your mind and soul creating vibration that penetrates every cell of your body, occasionally accompanied by traditional Buddhist instruments (some of them made of human bones) all veiled with dense smoke of incense. This is what “Lta Zor” is like. It’s a spiritual transfer enclosed in an album format. This is the power of human voice. This is the power of sound.
Album mastered with care by Natt comes on 180g LP limited to 300 copies
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/lta-zor
"And so, Phurpa are back. Like Russian Cenobites stepping slowly from the shadows and wreathed in a thick fug of juniper smoke, they are here once more to bathe us in their power and resonate our chakras in sympathy with the universal vibration.
For those not already familiar with Phurpa’s low-end majesty, they are a “roving monastic choir” from Moscow, led by the enigmatic Alexey Tegin and comprising a slowly-revolving cast of participants. Importantly, they are also devotees of a schismatic form of Bön, the ancient shamanistic spirituality of Bactria, in Central Asia.
Their music is a reflection, or probably more accurately an expression, of these beliefs, a transfer of spiritual energy and meaning shaped in sound and given form through a style of overtone singing called rgyud-skad, or “tantric voice”, all supported by an array of traditional Tibetan instruments: the dungkar (a horn made out of an enormous conch), the dungchen (a three-metre-long horn / trumpet), the silnuyen (flat cymbals), the nga (a double-sided drum), the damaru (a drum made from human skulls), the kangling (a human thighbone trumpet), the shang (a Bön tambourine) and an assortment of other cymbals such as the rolmo.
Powered by their physical and mental commitment both to Bön and to its musical embodiment, Phurpa are a band who do not dabble in half measures. Not only is their musical practice intense, but their life and lifestyles, their whole approach to physicality and mentality, are all tailored towards supporting the essential performance of the rites of Bön. This extends right down to the exercise and diet regime, Tegin once stating that:
There is power in food. If you want to feel wild like a tiger or shark you need raw meat, maybe a little salt and pepper. I like horse meat, in Moscow this is possible. When you eat it, there is fire inside you. Sometimes your body says ‘stop fire’, then you drink yoghurt. This is for PHURPA, action aspect – if you instead want information from space you drink only water and eat vegetables.
And so, like their namesake Phurpa Drugse Chempa, the God of resolved action, Phurpa’s live shows are more ceremony than gig per se, combining the hypnotic and transformative power of the music, with ritual, darkness, costume and smell. This is very much a Gesamtkunstwerk designed to overcome and still the restless conscious mind and allow the body to open up and receive the liturgy unmediated. In the correct setting and with the right approach, as Tegin explains, “if doctrines are powerful enough, they’re universal and can settle in other cultures”.
LTA ZOR captures one such ritual, spread across two dense, intense twenty-minute slabs of performance. And as with all such live moments transferred into the recorded medium, it pays dividends to approach it in the right way: put on some headphones, turn off the lights, lie on the floor. If you want to burn some heavy, musky incense whilst you’re about it, I think Tegin would probably approve. And a horse meat dinner beforehand? Well, that’s at your discretion.
Part I is almost entirely vocal driven, the mesmeric tones of aural energy pulsing with power, battering themselves slowly against your consciousness like a siege engine. When listening to this, I closed my eyes and decided to ponder the illustration given to explain the duration of the kappa, the Buddhist eon: “Suppose there were a city of iron walls one yojana (about 15km) in length, one in width, one yojana high, filled up with mustard seed. Therefrom a man were to take out at the end of every hundred years a mustard seed. That pile of mustard seed would in this way be sooner done away with and ended than an eon.” That is scale on which it seems fitting to imagine Phurpa’s resonances and messages.
Part II begins with a startling flurry of horn before giving way to an eerie passage of low drones and deep drum hits – for some reason redolent to me of the quiet yet foreboding shots of the Nostromo travelling in deep space at the beginning of Alien – and thence a collision of voices. This really is Phurpa at their absolute best, organic, acoustic, yet with such controlled power, operating at frequencies to which the body, however swaddled under the vestments of the modern world, cannot help but respond.
The voice and the drum are the primal instruments; they were our modes of musical expression before we even had language or the written word, and thus, when we attune ourselves to them, we can travel back into our own deep time. This is, I think, more than anything Phurpa’s message.
Given that none of us are likely to be getting back into a live venue again any time soon, LTA ZOR is the closest anyone will get to seeing Phurpa’s incredible ritual in the flesh for now. With our enforced focus inwards during these times, turn that from a necessity into an opportunity and embrace the power of Bön."
[David Solomons / FREQ] |
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| PICK-UP |
Mouthless |
LP |
"... So hat FdW neuerdings mit Martin Luiten, der vorher mit Girlfriends aktiv war, einen neuen Partner für ein weiteres Projekt namens PICK-UP, von dem nun gleich zwei Tonträger Kunde geben. Das Debut Mouthless (imprec 123, LP) erschien bei Important Records in
Newburyport, MA, einem Label, das mit seinem Faible für Psychedelic, Noise, Avantness und Orginalität Daniel Johnston, Jad Fair, Kimya Dawson, Diane Cluck, Merzbow, Acid Mothers Temple, Fe-Mail, Larsen, Angels Of Light, Kluster, Pauline Oliveros, Grails und Conrad Schnitzler zu Bettgenossen machte und auch schon einiges von Beequeen herausgebracht hat. Luiten spielt Gitarre & Electronics, so dass FdW, der diese Klänge, ein Fahey‘eskes Twanging und Picking, an seinen Laptop verfüttert, um gitarristische Loops und elektronische Drones mit zusätzlicher Modulation und Ornamentierung aufzumischen, quasi an sein Gitarrenprojekt Shifts anknüpft. Bei ‚Klemmend‘ vibrieren Stimmengewirr und Beifallklatschen als klickernder Rauschvorhang hinter Luitens countrybluesigem Strumming." [Bad Alchemy]
"Pick-up is a new duo of Frans de Waard (Beequeen) on laptop and Martin Luiten (Girlfriends, Uw Hypotheek Advies) on guitar. Limited edition of 300. Hand made cover artwork. This is the 9th release in our Arts & Crafts series which pairs music with handmade artwork by the artists responsible for the recordings." [label info]
"Hot on the heels of their first album comes this bright orange-colored vinyl follow up. 'Mouthless' however was recorded prior to their first release, so this is really - with some delay - Pick Up's debut. The concept of Pick Up is simple; the music is based upon the (resonator) guitar playing by Martin Luijten, which is reworked via Frans de Waard's laptop. At times field recordings are added. 'Mouthless' contains 4 long tracks. The title tracks opens the proceedings with gentle John Fahey-ish picking. Luiten uses a resonator guitar (also known as a Dobro) on this album. The body of this guitar contains one or more metal cones, instead of wood, which makes the sound louder and gives the guitar a distinctive blues-grass sound. The style of Luiten's fingerpicking is friendly and traditional, using the occasional slide. After a while looping and gentle feedback sets in, which makes 'Mouthless' a wonderful, restrained track. In contrast, the second track 'Klemmend' is far more chaotic with dominant field recordings of what sounds like a kindergarten. In the background the guitar is fighting to be heard. Side two opens with 'Magnifying Glasses', which features reflective guitar playing by Luiten only, showing his versatile skills. Very nice. If you like this sort of guitar picking I can highly recommend any of the early Takoma LP's by John Fahey. On the second track, 'Tracing', the electronics set in again with looping. A mirror image of side two, here too the sound is less structured. As a whole, this is a very fine album (with an original combination of electronics and resonator guitar), even though you could argue that it would have been an idea to put the two more quiet tracks on one side and the more chaotic tracks on the other. But that is just a thought. Packed in two heavy cardboard sheets (like the previous Pick Up album) with a hand-colored paste-on sheet, this looks very sturdy indeed. And, if you're lucky, you will find the album in luminous orange vinyl (the first 100 of a total of 300 copies) inside." [FK, Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
| PILIA, STEFANO |
The Suncrows Fall and Tree |
LP |
Originally released on CD in 2006 on Sedimental 'The Suncrows Fall And Tree' pushed Stefano Pilia to the forefront of the European experimental avant garde scene showcasing his incredible knack for creating beautiful soundscapes, blissful ambience and electroacoustic compositions that speak to the heart.
His sound can aptly be defined ‘ecstatic', in the purest sense of the term, as a result of the exploration of these points of focus, through multi-instrumental practice and investigations into the recording and production process. Pilia is one of the founding members (alongside Valerio Tricoli and Claudio Rocchetti) of the group 3/4HadBeenEliminated. He predominantly plays as a soloist though collaborates extensively. He has played in duo with Massimo Pupillo and with ZU, though his multifaceted practice has also led to an active involvement in a host of other wide-ranging projects. Since 2010 Pilia has been a member of psychedelic quartet In Zaire and has been a focal contributor to the BGP trio, alongside David Grubbs and Andrea Belfi. Since 2009, he has been a member of Il Sogno del Marinaio, a trio made up of legendary Minutemen bassist Mike Watt and the drummer Paolo Mongardi. As well as these projects, he is lead guitarist for celebrated Malian singer Rokia Traorè (since 2012) and for the band Afterhours (since 2015). He has released record on Nonesuch, Die-Schachtel, Presto?!, Drag City, Bluechopstick, Hapna, LastVisibleDog, Sedimental, Soleilmoon, 8mm, Black Truffle.
“Pilia’s subsonic drones are a thing of beauty; pulling in and pushing the listener away simultaneously, keeping him or her in a constant state of limbo.. in all things Stefano Pilia does, there is an understated and simple beauty beneath them. It acts like a silent guide, making sure everything goes off without a hitch”. Brad Rose / Foxy Digitalis
"With The Suncrows Fall And Tree, Pilia has created an electroacoustic work that uses drones as a major compositional tool, but to achieve effects that are striking and unusual. Avoiding sonic gestures associated with one or another school of electroacoustics, and not creating a work entirely of blissful ambience, Pilia has concocted a very impressive electroacoustic debut." Caleb Deupree
https://improvedsequence.bandcamp.com/album/the-suncrows-fall-and-tree-imp014 |
2020 |
€27.50 |
|
| PILLOW |
From Dusk to Dawn |
CD |
"best known as the keyboarder of italy's premier post rock combo giardini di mirò, wowing fans and sceptics alike with their formidable long players and impressively intense live performances, luca di mira finally returns as a solo artist. "from dusk to dawn" is the second album he pursued on his own. 6 years down the line, pillow's sound has changed quite drastically, yet glows with the same shocking deepness. focusing on a unifying, even more orchestral sound, di mira creates his own melancholic universe. centered around the epic "silent journey", pillow demonstrates in each and every track, how music should be approached in these troubled times. merging subtle piano fragments, overwhelming string arrangements, minimal guitar melodies and even 4/4 beats, pillow has written a soundtrack no one will ever forget." [label info]
www.city-centre-offices.de
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| PIMMON |
Mort aux vaches |
CD |
Der Australier gehört inzwischen zu den anerkanntesten experimentellen Laptop-Musikern dieser Tage.. in der MAV-Serie gibt es abstrakte Geräuschkompositionen mit warmen Untertönen, seltsam quasi-rhythmische Muster & Sphärenharmonien zu hören.. wie immer im speziellen Art-Cover..
“ From all the people with a laptop and who travel, I rate Pimmon as one of the better ones. Not falling in a pure noise mode, or a pure improvisation mode, his music is a combination of melodies, raw chunks of sound and glitchy rhythms. His recent 'Snaps Crackles Pop' (a rather self-explanatory title) for Tigerbeat didn't make it to these pages, but would rank high in my top 10 for 2003. That CD was a studio, to get the full Pimmon picture, one would also need the 'Mort Aux Vaches' CD. Recorded at roughly the same time as the Tigerbeat CD, the live recording on 'Mort Aux Vaches' CD dates from about a year ago, upon his first Europe tour. Of course, the live side is always arranged in a more free mode, small mistakes happen but these pieces bear the Pimmon trade mark allover: grainy yet warm glitch rhythms, amplified static hiss that evolves into small wormholes and crackles and pop all around. However, Pimmon never looses the idea of composition - he never leaps into pure improvisation nor does he let things get out of control, there is always the structure to control. Pimmon clearly has this capacity, both in his studio work, but also in his live work. Finally a very good example of the latter becomes available. “ [Frans de Waard]
|
2003 |
€14.00 |
|
| PIMMON / JAMES PLOTKIN |
split |
12 |
"Endlich haben wir diesen Split-Release aufgetrieben – JAMES PLOTKIN erzeugt auf 3 Stücken auf seiner Gitarre ungewöhnliche Klänge, helle repetitive Klickmuster und Flächen, sowie fast schon Maschinenloops, die kaum noch an das Ursprungsinstrument erinnern... Mr. PIMMON dagegen kommt mit rein digitalen Mitteln zu ähnlichen Atmosphären, wobei er jedoch noch wesentlich abstrakter tönt... tolle Platte, nummeriertes, mit Löchern durchsiebtes Cover, Spielzeit einer LP !"
this is something you definitely NEED if you are searching for something unusuable ! JAMES PLOTKIN creates with his guitar on 3 pieces very unusual guitar-sounds, bright click-patterns and soundfloor and something like machine-loops, that nearly don’t remind anymore to the original source. Mr. PIMMON uses pure digital means and reaches similar atmospheres, but sounds much more abstract.. great records, comes in a numbered cover with holes.. plays as long as an LP !" [Drone Records info 2000]
|
2000 |
€10.00 |
|
| PLAGNE, FRANCIS & ANDREW CHALK |
The Painter's Family |
CD |
Recorded 2008-2016, released on cassette in 2018.
The Painter’s Family is the first duo release from Andrew Chalk and Francis Plagne, recorded intermittently, both together and apart, over eight years, in Hull, Melbourne and various places in Japan. Eight pages from the sketchbook, sequenced into two languorous side-long suites.
‘He tried by every means to come close to nature, lying in the fields before daybreak and until nightfall in order to learn to represent very exactly the red morning sky of sunrise, sunset and the evening hours’.
https://francisplagne.bandcamp.com/album/the-painters-family
|
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| PLANNING FOR BURIAL |
Desideratum |
LP |
"New Jersey gloom band Planning For Burial will release its first full-length in almost four years this May on SF-based dark music label The Flenser. Titled Desideratum, this album is the band’s first full-length since 2010′s cult hit Leaving (Enemies List).
Simultaneously straddling the line between being completely nostalgic and futurist sounding, Planning For Burial is the product of a single wunderkind taking healthy obsessions with certain influences and filtering them through a droning, gloomy spyglass that evokes only the most concrete blues (the emotion not the music) this side of the gray waters of the Atlantic. While Planning For Burial gets lumped in with the whole wave of “bedroom recording artists” (which is where the project toiled for years until Leaving finally was released), the mastermind behind the project sets himself apart from his peers due in no small part to his background in sound. Planning For Burial’s brand of dark shoegaze/gloomgaze is hard to categorize, but it’s sound contains elements of slowcore, shoegaze, doom, drone, 90′s alt rock, 80′s goth, and black metal, while never being defined by any one of those genres.
Over the course of the last four years, Planning for Burial has been sporadically popping up in live venues (sharing the stage with a wide breadth of musical compatriots from Chelsea Wolfe to Deafheaven while seeming out of place at none) along the east and west coasts and releasing a slew of EPs and splits on various labels. Now, as Planning for Burial gears up to release Desideratum, the band will also perform a series of live shows – tour dates can be found below. PFB commented,
Expected to ship on or before May 13th.
LP comes in a heavy jacket with a heavy inner sleeve. The CD version comes in a case-wrapped jacket with an inner sleeve. CD/LP package can be ordered below.
The colored vinyl edition is Half & Half Oxblood/Swamp Green and is limited to 200 copies. Inspired by a gloomy Jamison bottle." [label info]
theflenser.com
|
2014 |
€21.50 |
|
| PLAYING WITH NUNS |
Frolicking through the Meadow |
CD-R |
"4 Track 33min, Drone / Harsh Ambient / Noise PRO-CDr. Playing with Nuns is one of our favorite soundscape noise creator, lends us another awesome release that blends all sorts of sounds and textures. Artwork by Glowingpixie.
Limited to 80 copies" [label info]
www.darkmeadowrecordings.com
|
2011 |
€6.00 |
|
| PLEQ + HIROKI SASAJIMA |
Witch-Hunt |
mCDR |
" "witch-hunt" is a wonderful collaborative track between pleq, the polish busy bee (past productions were released by several international labels like basses frequences, u-cover, dataobscura, somehow, audio gourmet, rural colours or ephre imprint) known for his ambient/glitch productions and the japanese field recordist hiroki sasajima we already know on taâlem thanks to the nature of dislocation 3" we released a few years ago (see here). his previous release were out on mystery sea, unfathomless, impulsive habitat or semper florens. this 24min long track is a beautiful blend of the two artists' skills, perfect mix of drones, field recordings and a few glitches..." [label info]
www.taalem.com
|
2012 |
€5.00 |
|
| PLOOG, JÜRGEN |
Tapes von Unterwegs 1971-1976 |
LP |
"Recorded & edited by Jürgen Ploog on different flights between 1971 & 1976 on a portable tape-recorder. Final selection, montage & editing by Robert Schalinski.
Like his literary fellow traveler William S. Burroughs who made tape experiments a few years earlier, the German Beat writer Jürgen Ploog (born 1935) began experimenting with tape recorders in the 1970s. Due to his career as a transcontinental pilot Ploog was constantly on the go. “My life was a series of interruptions both geographically (outwardly) and psychologically (state of mind) with exposure to different countries and the constant effects of jet lag.” This 40-minute cut-up is the result of his experiments. Passages of Ploog’s spoken text get mixed with Indian television voices, while sounds of Buddhist rituals are heard through an open hotel window. Radiograms, birds, recordings of airport and street noises, people noise and that of machinery … assembled, superimposed … scraps pulled out/torn, shifted and copied … questioned and documented … an alchemical experiment, a journey of sounds …
“Cut-up as a drug that leads to a different relationship with language, just as a hallucinogen leads to an altered relation with the so-called reality. The result is a fundamental shift of meaning. ‘Shift linguals’ was the motto in a continuous process with an open end …” J.P.
"This tape is a recording of many voices simultaneously under the spell of the urban Moloch. They moan, marvel, murmur and curse in a mixture of sounds that would became independent and found its own cadence. A sound that could turn drunk, melt on the tongue, mingle with the juices of the body and eventually turn into sweat and piss. The traveler lived with it as with microbes sucked up and gulped with every swallow.”
“When I look back now at those years, I see that they were a ground-breaking departure for me, not towards other, newly rising ideologies but into an unspecified way of writing and perception — because reality is based on perspective and seeing, thus opening the possibilities of an enhanced imagination and a vision of life under conditions which are not determined and pre-recorded. It may be said that these were the accounts of only the first steps. That in my case this was related to traveling to far-off continents and may just have been a lucky coincidence. At the same time it is obvious that it was difficult for me to record the exoticism of travel as merely a fortunate occurrence that gave me the chance to slide into remote scenery. The whiskey on the rocks at the beach of a tropical island is after all only the Technicolor-version of the beer in the pub back home. The challenge was to navigate under limitless technical possibilities and across the open space of digital deserts that spread rapidly …” J.P.2014
Jürgen Ploog - born 1935, lives in Frankfurt and Miami. He was a pilot for Lufthansa for 33 years. With Jörg Fauser and Carl Weissner he was co-founder of the legendary little-mag Gasolin 23. A friend and literary associate of William S. Burroughs, he is considered a father figure of the German-language literary underground." [label info]
www.90-prozent-wasser.de
|
2015 |
€18.00 |
|
| POLIO |
Concrete |
CD-R |
Alles andere als „konkret“ klingen die drei Drone-Stücke auf dieser CDR von Peter Wright aka POLIO; spheric dreamscapes at its best !
“ Before relocating to the U.K. earlier this year, Mr. Wright finished this fourth POLIO release back in Christchurch, NZ. "Concrete" is an apt title; these are digital deconstructions of recordings made live in a bunker (apparently before an audience as distant chatter is
heard on the last track), and to my mind there's a palpable sense of weight, gravity. At first these suspended "pure tones" just sort of
hangs there, but the recording progressively resolves itself beautifully & becomes more open, then somewhere during the second track descends to an altogether deeper/sub-conscious level....oohmm .....close your eyes....still literally quite heavy but exquisitely layered and hallucinatory. Enveloping, but not stuffy. This is huge.” [label description]
|
2003 |
€7.00 |
|
| |
Soyuz |
CD-R |
“ Polio was originally intended to be a studio-only project dealing with the dregs of home-recorded detritus and recycling it all inside droning digital straitjackets. However, 2002 saw Polio out in front of audiences of at least 15 people on a couple of occasions which presented new challenges and resulted in a swag of new recordings awaiting their moment on a CD plonked inside a wrapping of cheap manilla paper with a neat schematic of a spacecraft on the front. Any excuse for pictures of space vehicles...
Soyuz presents the bulk of a live Polio performance at Lyttelton's appropriately off-kilter Wunderbar recorded to digital hard disc by the omnipresent David Khan, and one unlisted piece of studio deconstruction to finish the disc. Polio live is a mix of pre-processed drones, live loop & sine-wave manipulation & general knob-twiddling on the effects units. Sort of like those energy drinks you can get with extra crap thrown in to what is essentially sugar & water, Soyuz is like Gemini, but with extra minerals (?!)... ahh, hell, it's a hard thing to write blurbs with a hangover, but you get the picture hopefully...! The bottom line is if you loved Gemini, you'll definately like this disc. A further installment in the Polio saga will appear shortly on Norwegian imprint Humbug, but for starters why not sink your teeth into this beauty...” [label info]
|
2003 |
€8.00 |
|
| POOK, JOCELYN |
Untold Things |
CD |
"The Real World Gold version of Untold Things includes two bonus tracks: Adam's Lullaby and Ave Maria, sung by Natacha Atlas.
"I wanted Untold Things to reflect the live work I'd been at the time," says the classically trained, thirty-something Londoner. Pook sees the recording as a natural progression from her long association with Real World, where she'd been a keen participant in the legendary creative jams that are Recording Weeks and worked as a string player and arranger for Peter Gabriel. (As a former member of The Communards and co-founder of the all-female sextet Electra Strings she has also helped flesh out the sounds of PJ Harvey, Paul Weller, Morrissey, Nick Cave and Siouxsie Sioux).
Where her previous albums, 1997's 'Deluge' and 1999's 'Flood', were written specifically for theatre and film - the former for Canadian dance company O Vertigo, the latter for Stanley Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut' - 'Untold Things' is very much Pook's own creative vision. Encouraged by Real World's penchant for blurring boundaries, she channelled her trademark combination of classicism and innovation into an exhilarating gem of an album, one which pulls off that rare coup of putting listeners in touch with their deeper feelings. 'Untold Things' will, no doubt, be the source of many an epiphany. You could say that it has a spiritual, even magical, quality, as befits one who is constantly changing artistic shape - and whose surname is the Celtic word for fairy.
Pook's soft speech, translucent skin and Pre-Raphaelite curls might fit the stereotype of a classical musician (and, if you like, a latter-day Titania), but they belie a background in performance-based work that's seen her create 'atmospheres' from found objects like answer-machine messages and corrugated iron. And though Pook insists she is proudly rooted in the formal, classical music tradition, she still hankers after the cutting edge. Her influences - Laurie Anderson, Steve Reich, Holger Czukay and her friend Michael Nyman - are also shared by her like-minded ensemble. "Most of my string section are friends who go way back and who, like me, are also composers. I tend to work with people I've got chemistry with and then build around what they play. That means all sorts of instruments and voices creep in."
"There's a juxtaposition of vocal styles," states Pook, who has always favoured eccentric opposites. On 'Untold Things', she pits her English choral plainsong and early music leanings against multi-ethnic traditions, and offsets the spacious, tranquil nature of some tracks with the pulsing, dervish-style rhythms of others. It turns out the vocals are not words at all. "Because words are so incredibly powerful," Pook explains, "I tend not to use them. I prefer to treat voices like instruments. So we've used a made up language on two of the songs; there's one piece which developed from a phrase Parvin Cox once sang to me over the phone. On others I've recorded texts backwards, because I love the strange, kind of uneasy quality you get. I find it really peaceful."
'Saffron' is the title track for 'In A Land of Plenty', a major new BBC TV drama series which aired at the time of the album's release. "It's about a family who are my generation, born in the Sixties and growing up into the present day. It's very beautifully shot, very impressionistic, which is unusual for television" Pook states. But it started out as a poem written by a mother for her daughter, its lyrics reversed by Pook and Pappenheim before being featured in a short dance film. All of the songs on 'Untold Things' have been reshaped and sculpted to perfection. Or at the very least, as near to it as Pook will admit.
"I could go on fiddling with all these pieces for years," she grins. "But with what I've learnt over the past year, especially from doing 'Eyes Wide Shut', I've been able to go back and rework some of them. I'm more confident in what I'm doing now, which has really helped me to develop. And Stanley (Kubrick) was just so amazingly positive and flattering about my music. The experience of working with him was truly powerful."
"I'm not somebody who conceptualises," she offers. "I just do it and see the connections afterwards. I know people will think there's a religious element to this, which isn't something I want to comment on. But I do think there's a sense of faith, of loss and yearning, which is inherent in the music. Hopefully, it moves you." And in keeping with her Celtic surname, Jocelyn Pook has made an album with translucent wings." [label info]
www.realworldrecords.com
|
2013 |
€10.00 |
|
| POST SCRIPTVM |
Benommenheit |
CD |
"Post Scriptvm is a New York-based Russian band that operates on the fringes of the original industrial, experimental, ambient and power electronics genres. The project's sound is repeatedly referenced as some of the darkest and most cinematic music in these fields. This 5th full-length album by PS is a heavy entanglement of morbid, rough-edged analog industrial structures, warped samples, and eerie, hypnotizing ambient, submerged in otherworldly, mystical atmospheres. "Benommenheit" contemplates earthly existence as a ghostly, tenebrous moment between eternities. From the opening track, "Horrorbirth," to the final piece, "Mal de Débarquement," the album unfolds a solitary journey, plagued by torturous angst, clouded by aetherial torpors, shadowed by tragic incongruities and concluded with nothing but the inevitable pain-filled departure back into the void." [label info]
www.tesco-germany.com
|
2014 |
€14.50 |
|
| |
Gauze |
LP |
"LP reissue of the first full-length album by Post Scriptvm, recorded in late 2001 and originally released as CD-r. Unlike the project's later works that are characterized by subtlety and meticulous production, Gauze is an unvarnished, gritty 4-track recording of lo-fi death ambient from the wasteland of southern Brooklyn, NYC, enshrouded in the lingering haze of razed buildings and burnt human remains. The boundary between what is considered normal everyday life and sheer insanity, carnage, personal and social collapse-true horrible face of humanity-is but an ephemeral layer of gauze that can be torn in a heartbeat, throwing reality out of balance, violently and irrevocably. "This game is prompted by a rip in the fabric of life." [Gauze] has the same hypnotic and overwhelming power as a strong fever dream. It hauls you into a contorted world of loose association, an industrial landscape in which humans lose their form and randomly merge with animals and bizarre machinery, where perception is warped and hours flicker by in an instant. -Nulll Oppressive drones and bleak atmospheres, interjected with twisted samples and cavernous, haunted basement noises. [Gauze] has a very cool old school feel to it that's been sadly missing within the 'death industrial' genre. -Jason Mantis/Malignant Records "Gauze" is a hazy swirl of dark ambient, subtle ritual elements, esoteric samples and mild death industrial textures. The deep tones and the cryptic vocals samples and chants combine to make some truly eerie atmospheres. -Scott Candey/Worm Gear "Gauze" sounds quite a bit like a live recording, like being immersed in a real-time psychosis simulation. -Industrial.org Post Scriptum construct their pieces from a varied mixture of drones, analogue sounds, post-industrial samples, strongly maintaining a claustrophobic atmosphere at the same time...thick with an uneasy sense of a catastrophe about to happen. -Corridor of Cells Ragged dark ambience full of trepidation and strangeness, as scratched into the flesh of weird, dimly lit corners of aural resonance. -SEVEN Tracklist: Cunctator Trepan On the brink Pore The Binding Vox Calamantis Gentle Diversions."
www.tesco-germany.com
"Gerade hat Kollege ENDSAL die aktuelle Live-Werkschau "Séance" (Besprechung) des russischen Industrial-Duos POST SCRIPTVM gewürdigt. Nun möchte ich noch ein paar Infos zu "Gauze" nachschieben, um die Diskografie komplett zu machen. Es handelt sich um die allerersten Aufnahmen von POST SCRIPTVM, die ursprünglich im Jahr 2001 auf CDR erschienen sind. TESCO ARCHAIC DOCUMENTS, eine Serie des Mannheimer Industrial-Labels TESCO, presst hier ältere – teils auch unveröffentliche oder live entstandene – Werke auf Vinyl, und so ist auch "Gauze" als nicht mehr erhältlicher Baustein des Gesamtwerkes nun als LP wieder zugänglich. Womit wir auch wirklich alle Veröffentlichungen der in den USA lebenden Russen auf NONPOP geehrt hätten.
"Cunctator" (01) startet mit einem höhligen, gefährlichen und vibrierenden Drone. Dumpf klingende Sprachsamples und ein kratziges Geräusch ergänzen den Track, ab der Mitte tauchen sporadisch sakrale Mönchsgesänge auf; eher Atmosphäre als Musik, sehr stimmungsvoller Dark Ambient. Das Frickeln und Bratzeln in "Trepan" (02) formt sich nach und nach zu Frequenzdonner. Auch hier tönt eine Sprech- und später schamanische Singstimme aus der Gruft. Mit metallenem Scheppern ergibt sich auch ein erster Ansatz von Rhythmus, der in "On The Brink" (03) weiter verfolgt wird. Gelooptes Kratzen hält Drones zusammen, später übernimmt diese Funktion ein Herzschlag – das Stück ein geisterhaftes Schweben. "Pore" (04) besteht aus weitem, maschinellem Rumpeln und Dröhnen, dezent von noisigen Sounds unterstützt, die in "The Binding" (05) zunehmen: Zwischen Weltuntergangs-Blitzen ruft eine russische Frauenstimme ganz sicher den Notfall aus. Wasserplätschern, Wind und schwimmende Drones lassen "Vox Calamantis" (06) ruhiger wirken, in wiederholende Loops fügt sich eine nachdenkliche, mahnende russische Stimme ein. Und zum Schluss besteht "Gentle Diversions" (07), ganz klassisch, überwiegend aus rotierendem Dröhnen zwischen Noise und Industrial.
Für mich sind POST SCRIPTVM einer der besten und intelligentesten Industrial-Acts auf dem Markt. "Gauze" hat bereits alle Grundbausteine für die spätere Entwicklung. Klanglich noch recht roh und rau, man könnte auch sagen 'old school', wirkt das Album fast wie eine Liveaufnahme. So unmittelbar und direkt. Ich habe permanent das Gefühl, mich in einem dunklen Schiffsbauch zu befinden, schwankend, zwischen stampfenden Maschinen. Diese LP gehört natürlich, wie alle anderen Veröffentlichungen von POST SCRIPTVM auch, in den Plattenschrank. Nicht nur als abzuhakendes Frühwerk, sondern als spannender Ausgangspunkt für folgende Meilensteine." [Michael We. für nonpop.de]
|
2016 |
€23.00 |
|
| POTTER, COLIN & MICHAEL BEGG |
Fragile Pitches |
do-CD |
"Two members from Fovea Hex, but also from Nurse With Wound and Monos (Potter) and Human Greed (Begg) were commissioned to perform a work by Unique Events in Edinburgh in December 2009 in the St Giles Cathedral. Both sets of the night are captured on these two discs, whereas on the third disc, a limited CDR (120 copies) there is material that was featured between both and recorded earlier. If you know Potter's work with Monos, Fovea Hex or solo, then you know what to look for in this collaboration: dark atmospheric music. They use laptops, effects and guitars and create lengthy sets of eerie, flowing music. Slow, minimalist changes of glacier like moving masses. Well over three hours of this kind of music is obviously a long sit through, but this is of course the kind of music that needs its time to develop. Potter and Begg keep the idea of playing in cathedral in mind, by using a bit more of that kind of church organ like sounds. A great work indeed. The bonus disc is the one that seems to have the most silent music of the three, which would be either a good start or good contemplative ending. One could argue, like so many of the current drone works around, that this isn't much news, but as always Potter is one of the masters of the genre, and this release is easily one of his best." [FdW / Vital Weekly - review for the lim. version with bonus CDR - please note we can only offer the standard doCD now!]
www.omnempathy.com
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
| POUSSEUR, HENRI |
Musique Mixte 1966:1970 |
CD |
Zwei Stücke aus den 60ern, eine hochdynamisch-expressive Piano-Sprechgesang-musique concrete Mischung mit theatralischem Überbau...sehr extrem, fast unhörbar, noch immer radikal wie irgendwas!
“Mixed Music : voice, pianos, various electro-acoustic devices
We come back to our exploration of Henri Pousseur's works with a four-CD series which, along with what has already been released, will cover all his electronic music and his most radical works between 1953 and 1988 - 35 years of research and experiments....
The two pieces featured on Mixed Music (Voice, Pianos, Various Electro-Acoustic Devices) are magnum opuses in Pousseur's body of work, though they are seldom heard - Jeu de Miroirs de Votre Faust has been unavailable for a long time, while Crosses of Crossed Colors is released here for the first time ever.” [from the press release]
‘Already for Couleurs croisées (Crossed Colors, 1967), my initial idea was to add an amplified voice to the orchestra, a voice that could stand up to it and would clarify and explain the meaning of the piece, in the form of a black Baptist minister-style preach. So, besides the voice ("black," if possible), we have: 5 pianos, whose assembled parts reuse almost all the harmonic-rhythmic contents of the orchestral piece.’ [Henri Pousseur]
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Parabolique d'Enfer |
CD |
"This recording will be Sub Rosa's first posthumous recording of Henri Pousseur. It is the sixth release (out of eight) in their catalog devoted to this composer's experimental and electronic works. It also marks the end of the trilogy of the Parabolic works (following the 1972 unreleased recordings and the 2001 collective performance). This time around, we have a piece built through another major Pousseur work: Leçon d'Enfer (composed in 1990-1991 around Arthur Rimbaud). This previously-unreleased version was realized by Henri Pousseur in Cologne in 1992. This release was important to Henri Pousseur, as it concludes, in a sense, the Paraboles trilogy, after 1972's 8 Etudes Paraboliques (released as a 4CD box set comprised of all the études to be used as the basis for all current and future mixes) and 4 Parabolic Mixes (2001), on which four composers -- Robert Hampson, Philip Jeck, Markus Popp, and Pousseur himself -- tackled those source tapes. This suite of works was gradually pushing composition further into the territory of destruction and abstraction. This final installment, a mix made from the 1972 Études, as it should be, integrates a major external element (something already planned in the initial design), another work by Pousseur, "Leçons d'Enfer," a complex piece of musical theater dedicated to the memory of Arthur Rimbaud and composed in 1991 for the centennial of the poet's death. This work, over 100 minutes long, was written for two actors, three singers, seven musicians (clarinet, alto saxophone, tuba, harp, piano, and two percussions), tapes (including traditional Ethiopian music and field recordings from that area), and electroacoustic devices. With this version, Henri Pousseur shows how the deep impression left by a work in constant mutation can take different guises. The Rimbaud pictured in this flux is neither the promising teenager, nor the striking genius, nor even the desperate man struggling in vain in an empty landscape; it is an appeased hybrid breathing the ebullient air of the final times." [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| PRAXINOSCOPE |
same |
pic-LP |
“Praxinoscope is a new project which sees the duo Roberto Opalio (one-half of My Cat Is An Alien) and Ramona Ponzini (close collaborator of the Italian space-brothers). While in the debut album as Painting Petals On Planet Ghost (out in early September 2005 on Time-Lag Records) Ramona will focus on her Japanese vocals alongside both brothers' acoustic tunes, here she plays little Japanese percussions and wind chimes, creating a resonant texture over Roberto's alien wordless vocals and space electronics. The material comes from a whole session recorded in a mysterious location of the Western Alps, directly transferred to cd using neither overdubs nor outtakes, practice which the Opalio bros have made us addicted to. For the entire lenght of its 40 minutes, the piece will stifle you the breath because of its so pure essence and intimate mood; a mystic, suffocated chant reminding the silence of ancient rituals, the ultimate exorcism to avert the Infinite Pain. Limited edition of 500 copies only as vinyl picture disc 12" LP with psychedelic artwork!” [label info]
“…..This project traverses a similar terrain as MCIAA, but is perhaps closer to Roberto's brilliant solo album, "Chants From Isolated Ghosts". Opalio's vocals star here, taking the limelight and thriving inside it. Effects drench his voice making it something truly not of this world. These lunar oceans of sound are magnificent and totally enthralling. It's as though he's a cosmonaut trapped inside a glass box, unable to travel the reaches of space. Such confinement derails your mind and Opalio sounds like a person struggling against himself. At times, hearing this is almost too much - there's simultaneous discomfort and exorcism happening and you can't quite focus intently on either. You are a passive player in this exercise, lost in the crevices Opalio and Ponzini create. I cannot discount Ponzini's contributions to this 40 minute piece, either. While it may seem minimal on the surface, her various "Japanese percussions" (mostly chromatics, cymbals, and the like) add a great deal of needed texture to counterbalance Opalio's haunted wails. It is reminiscent of the way Finnish master, Keijo, works in a lot of percussive elements to his tracks. And it has the same effect. Praxinoscope is a great new project from the always wonderful My Cat is an Alien. This is one of Opax's finest releases. Bringing to mind the vocal transcendence of the Skaters, Praxinoscope are proof that you don't need any instruments to make amazing sounds. This is wonderful, wonderful music” [Brad Rose, FOXY DIGITALIS]
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
| PRESTON, JOE & DANIEL MENCHE |
Cerberic Doxology |
LP |
"Joe Preston and Daniel Menche's Cerberic Doxology represents a new LOW in collaborations. A new LOW in depth, a new LOW in bottom frequencies, and a new LOW in drone, noise, heavy, metal, Basso Profundo, and Gregorian Chant. Cerberic Doxology is an album of rich subtleties and dramatic textures: a dense, dark, tonal topography surveying the dizzying heights and cavernous depths of the human voice. Constructed of only sonorous and rumbling vowel sounds, its absence of consonants still resonates with layers upon layers of audible friction. This new version of Cerberic Doxology represents a work that is slightly shorter and quicker in pace to fit the vinyl format. What's presented, then, is a piece foregrounding the seamless mastery of Daniel Menche's ambient and textural recording work. Limited to 500 vinyl copies, the Cerberic Doxology EP is an 18-minute analog piece. The B-side of this limited edition pressing contains 20 different samples from the work featured in 20 separate locked grooves. Daniel Menche and Joe Preston appear as vocal co-collaborators with The Man Choir on SunnO)))'s Southern Lord release, Monoliths & Dimensions." [label info]
www.discouragerecords.com |
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| PRIME, MICHAEL |
Requiem |
LP |
Für „Requiem“ hat der unterbewertete Experimental-Composer aus England Sounds von NEGATIVE ENTROPY (sein Projekt mit Geert Feytons von den NOISE MAKERS FIFES), eine „sound sculpture“ von LEN LYE, und „the voice of Miro“ benutzt. Herausgekommen ist dabei eine fantastische, geisterhaft dröhnende Komposition die eine unglaubliche Weite und absorbierende Atmosphäre besitzt und sehr spannungsreich verläuft. Drown-Drones ! Schöne Artwork im Klappcover – ein Muss für jeden Drone-Freund!!
Fantastic new album by MICHAEL PRIME, creating ghostly, otherworldy dark drones which rich details and an unbelievable width and absorbing atmosphere ! very much recommended !
“A new album by Michael Prime who is another prolific sound composer for many years. Being an active member of Morphogenesis he also collaborated with among others: David Jackman/Organum, Jim O'Rourke, Eddie Prevost, David Toop, Adam Bohman. He's also one half of Negative Entropy a collaborational project with G. Feyton (Noise Makers Five) and is running his own label Mycophile. Recorded between December 1998and December 2000 'Requiem' is one of his most intense works so far and quite different from his more enviromental studies. Dedicated to M, H and LL. Pressed on 180 gramm vinyl the record is coming in a full color gatefold sleeve. Limited edition of 700 copies.” [label press release]
|
2002 |
€15.00 |
|
| PRIMITIVE WINGS |
Morphosis |
CD |
Satatuhatta is honoured to present the debut album of Primitive Wings, a new project by Jaakko Vanhala. ’Morphosis’ is a highly evocative album, bringing into mind vivid flashes of something primal, perhaps from the prehistoric past. At the same time it’s very raw, but without being utterly harsh. It can be seen as a sum of the artist's previous projects Zoät-Aon, Secret Apex and Vanhala, but it still presents something new.
Listening to the album, you can imagine insects digging their way through the forest floor, big dragonflies propelling amongst the ferns in the twilight, reptiles roaming in the verdant undergrowth, and prehistoric roars rising amongst the tropical trees. But it’s not a nature documentary. It feels more like an atavistic memory, an intuitive transformation taking you inside an alien consciousness. This could be felt as just undefinable chills or perhaps as a vision of an event on this planet, which happened under the same stars but billions of years ago. Something from the beginning, of growth, sentience and flesh, finding its expression in strange transformations.
https://satatuhatta.bandcamp.com/album/morphosis
"Another round of introductions here. Satatuhatta is a Finnish label "focusing on harsh noise and experimental sounds" and has about sixty releases, mainly on cassettes but, as we see here, also on CD. Many (or, instead, most) names are all new to me. Jaakko Vanhala is the man behind Primitive Wings, his latest project. Previously he worked as Zoät-Aon, Secret Apex and Vanhala. The cover doesn't provide us with the necessary information concerning instruments, which isn't a good thing from a reviewer's perspective. Listening to the eight pieces, running from five to seven minutes, I envisage a combination of reel-to-reel tapes, electronics and a battered synthesizer. The loops Vanhala cuts are long, short and shorter. By playing them all at once (or extensive layering), they never overlap in the same way, while at the same time, they never become very chaotic. Your ears adjust themselves to the proposed order of the sounds. At least, that's my little pet theory of this week. What he puts on his loops is very hard to say; electronic sounds are a contender for that, but also field recordings. I believe to hear some of that in 'One Star'. Somewhere below in the mix of mangled loops, some electronics lurk beneath, adding creepiness to the music. Primitive Wings operates primarily in the mid to high-frequency range and has some nasty sounds, but it is not necessarily all about an endless stream of harsh noise. Maybe there is a certain sameness in the sounds used here, which made me think that the album is, perhaps, ten minutes too long, but as always, that might be the idea of the noise plan behind such operations." [FdW / Vital Weekly] |
2023 |
€12.50 |
|
| PRINZIP NEMESIS |
My Name is Assumption |
CD-R |
"A trip through India, captured through field recordings, poetry, and songs – this is what this album is about. Instead of relying on the so-called ‘pure’ soundscape of an exotic country like so many practitioners of ‘phonography,’ Prinzip Nemesis recreate their impressions and the moods they experienced on their trip in compositions that carefully interweave the field recordings and ‘found music’ by street musicians with music for electric guitars, pianos, and synthesizers.
This is a great acoustic travelogue that is second to none but the best works in the genre, for example by Luc Ferrari. Prinzip Nemesis are wise enough to know that sounds do not always speak for themselves, so to tell a story with sounds, you still need words - and music, in this case a kind of goth-rock/electro-pop/ambient hybrid style that is always in the service of the overall atmosphere of the whole album, which really feels like one long piece. Prinzip Nemesis manage no small feat: They have created a piece of acoustic art that transcends the boundaries of phonography, poetry, and music in a way usually only found in the most sophisticated radio art compositions while remaining totally accessible and entertaining to all sorts of listeners." [label info]
www.attenuationcircuit.de
"If I tell you that this release deals with sounds recorded traveling through India, you may form already an idea what this will be about. Right? Human interaction, sounds from nature and that's it? That's not the case here, or perhaps only partly. Prinzip Nemesis, of whom I think I didn't hear before, takes these field recordings from India and brings into the context of 'music', by adding guitars, pianos and synthesizers. Not a collage of sounds from an exotic country but pieces that stand by themselves, in which a voice (by Birgit Merk, one half of Prinzip Nemesis) sings, recites and whispers additional lyrics, along with looped voice material. She and her partner Marc Fischer add more or less a pop tune to the field recordings. This is not y'r usual field recording turned music (say in the classical, Luc Ferrari sense), but lushly played and with a fine sense of naivety. I am not sure if it works well in every track, as I seemed to like the more adventurous pieces, such as
'Namaste' best: here we have a collage of fire recordings, a bit of piano and synthesizer and the looped greeting that makes up the title. Not altogether, but spread out over the course of ten minutes. Sometimes I don't seem to get along with it, such as the guitars and singing in 'Mumbai'. It's a most curious release; a daring experiment that works and sometimes it doesn't, which makes it a successful release in my book." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€8.00 |
|
| PROPELLER |
Oro |
CD |
Zweites Album dieses Solo-Projekts von Mark Spybey (ex-Zoviet France) – sehr unterschiedliches Material, insgesamt nicht so noisy wie der Vorgänger "Rame " ('96) - "processed electric and acoustic guitars, pulsed beats from acoustic sources, drones from electric objects, chants and vocal improvisations from Eric Pounder (ex-Lab Report)." Zwischen Surreal Ambient und bizarren atmosphärischen Experimentalsounds, viele recht kurze Stücke, kurzweilig und gut! Speziell geschnittenes Pappcover mit Golddruck.
www.scratchrecords.com |
1998 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Rame |
CD |
Debut-Album des Solo-Projekts von “ex-Zoviet France”-Mitglied MARK SBYBEY, war lange vergriffen, wieder erhältlich !!
„Propeller is a Vancouver based collective of no fixed membership save the hands of Mark Spybey. Spybey is known for his work as Dead Voices On Air, who have released several albums for Invisible Records. He also worked with Download and Zoviet France.
Rame was a quick fire collection of sonic fragments, isolationist doodles, half truths, archived recordings and low fi ambience.....
Propeller started it's life in England, 1992. It was there that Spybey recorded with his childhood friend Richard Sanderson, who is a mainstay of London's vibrant free improvisational scene. The pair recorded versions of songs that they had worked on in the late '70's, as well as numerous pieces inspired by their fascination with spontaneous composition and noisy improvisational music. It is hoped that these recordings will be cleaned up and released.
Spybey resurrected Propeller's Do It Yourself Disposable Music ethos when he was invited to submit a 30 second piece for a CD Rom project in 1995. Why become so fascinated by first take spontaneity? Propeller seeks to create compact music. Music that expressively captures a moment in time or a dynamic (between the musicians, between the musicians and their instruments and between the music and the listener ). It's deliberately ambiguous in intent. You won't find deceptive melodies or catchy hooks here. It's not gratuitous noise either. It's carefully sculpted once recorded and laid out for the listener to play with. To explore.“ [label info]
|
1996 |
€13.00 |
|
| PROPERGOL |
Tormentor |
7 |
Der neue Stern am Industrial & harsh noise -Himmel heisst PROPERGOL: Intelligent gemachter, psychologisch inspirierter Power-Noise mit Struktur (aus Frankreich).
“First 7" and vinyl release for this French confirmed project. "Tormentor" is dealing with usual PROPERGOL’s intimate obsessions and again music is nothing less than a reflection and an exploration of his confused and chaotic innerworld… Tracks are made of nervous, repetitive and hypnotic pulsations as well as noise injections and vocals in the typical PROPERGOL’s style made of anger and despair underlying his personal oversensitivity… With this 7", PROPERGOL takes you both to a trip to places overwhelming with imagination and to a mental journey on the sinuous and unhealthy roads of neurosis when your own imagination is becoming your most intimate enemy. Like a nice musical score on schizophrenia… Deluxe packaging on a glossy fold-out cover plus postcard. “ [label description]
www.nuitetbrouillard.com |
2003 |
€8.00 |
|
| PROTAGONIST |
Songs of Experience |
CD |
"in 1794, william blake published ‘songs of experience’ as an addendum to ‘songs of innocence’, to complete the picture
of ‘the two contrary states of the human soul’ - the state in question here being the constriction of the human spirit, the
suffocation of creativity by the force to conform.
after magnus sundström aka the protagonist had released his debut ‘à rebours’ in 1998, the sky seemed the only limit for this musical entity. but, to much disappointment within the industrial scene, for the next seven years only a couple of compilation appearances would be heard from the protagonist. then, in 2005 two cds came out via cold meat industry: the aptly titled ‘interim’ ep and the album ‘songs of experience’ (which was actually not entirely a new album, but in parts consisted of reworked versions of the aforementioned compilation tracks and a couple of tracks from the previous ep).
the music on ‘songs of experience’ resolved all doubts: the protagonist is a devoted artist, putting quality over quantity, and the result had been well worth waiting! as if no period of inactivity had ever discontinued the creative flow, the protagonist reassumed the path of the debut: orchestral splendour, rigid drumming, dramatic string works and an increased presence of haunting, eerie atmospheres, pushing the album towards the darker edges of the neo-classical spectrum. vocal deliveries are rather sparse and restricted to short spoken parts this time around, but feature prolific
guests again: tomas petterson of ordo rosarius equlibrio lent his unmistakeable voice to the protagonist’s most wellknown track, ‘strife’, a truly bombastic marching tune. jonathan grieve of contrastate can also be heard on one track, the heart-shattering ‘sick rose’. among all the opulence, romantic leanings all over, though the whole composition takes a decidedly bleak direction. the adapted literature features not only blake, but also baudelaire (here’s the symbolist theme again) and no other than the master himself, mr. william shakespeare. all in all, music and content combine into one
impressive libertine’s manifesto, proclaiming the power of free thought and the mistrust of authorities!
for this well-timed re-release, raubbau gathers together not only the original album, but also the exclusive tracks from the ‘interim’ ep, thus presenting the entire bundle of cmi-released protagonist tracks. until today, the protagonist stands out unique among neo-classical artists for the sheer brilliance of composition and the authenticity of his preoccupations - he is really serious about seriousness. history has been revealed, let beauty unfold!" [label info]
www.raubbau.org
|
2012 |
€6.00 |
|
| PROYECTO MIRAGE |
Turn it on |
CD |
"proyecto mirage was founded in 1990 by alicia h. willen and francisco planellas. they were initially influenced by the classic electro-pop of the early nineties (a sound which is still present in their side project bubble gum) but the duo was also attracted to industrial-music projects like s.p.k., whitehouse and - of course - esplendor geométrico. their first release saw the light of day after nine years, and their creative output since then has evolved into more complexity. the hard-floor oriented aggressiveness was enriched with electronic ingredients of all kinds - ranging from electro and electronic body music to techno, drum'n'bass, or even sounds similar to those of experimental 'bridging artists' like aphex twin and pan sonic. artists who share p.m.'s taste for alarming atmospheres, broken melodies and distorted rhythms.
'turn it on' is the conclusion of more then ten years of progression. lashing high-speed dance floor blasts ('cannibal party'), distorted eighties nostalgia (6 6 5, 9), straight breakbeat excursions ('welcome to life'), pounding four-to-the-floor industrial anthems ('salvation', a collaboration with italian experimental/folk mastermind spiritual front), disturbing experimental-core ('darker bex') - this album is a perfect amalgamation of all facets of the electronic assault culture - all of which is welded together to form a powerful statement that encompasses severity as well as humorous wickedness - nobody expects the spanish inquisition!
this is what they are, this is where the project is today - take it or leave it.
always keep in mind: proyecto mirage is not just an illusion but a concrete reality!" [label info]
www.ant-zen.com
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| PSYCHIC TV |
Alien Be-In |
12inch |
"Dark Entries Editions is venturing into new waters with a remix EP of Psychic TV’s classic Acid House song “Alien Be-In”. Psychic TV was formed by Genesis P-Orridge and Peter Christopherson after the breakup of Throbbing Gristle in 1981. After various line up changes, the band shifted direction to dance oriented songs influenced by the Acid House scene in America. By 1988 experimental electronic musician Fred Giannelli, of Turning Shrines, joined the band and over the next 2 years started to record songs for “Toward The Infinite Beat”. The album was a mix of deep, multilayered tracks full of bright and hypnotic dance numbers, providing the soundtrack to the rave culture that sprung up in the UK in the 90s.
“Alien Be-In” was written in early 1989 on an E-mu Emax Sampler and an Alesis MMT-8 sequencer. Vocal samples were taken from a tape American investigative reporter Don Bolles sent to Genesis. A didgeridoo rides throughout the song, heavily modulated by a Gristleizer creating a hypnotic effect. Near the end of the song the breakbeat slides out of time yet the band chose to leave this in because it sounded strange and fit the concept of the track. Genesis played a spaced out Echo Violin and the band used 360 degree panning rotation devices. For this reissue Fred Giannelli takes a stab at remixing the mono mix of the original sequence sourced from the Emax floppy discs. On the flip are two brand new mixes, the first from Los Angeles based producer, Silent Servant, who updates the classic with his modern brand of driving EBM techno. The second remix is a team effort from Silent Servant and veteran producer John Tejada, that re-creates the original melody using a Roland TR-808 and TB-303, paying homage to early Chicago Acid House artists like Lil Louis and Robert Owens.
All songs have been mastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The 12” is housed in a mind-alerting, metallic silver die-cut sleeve and a neon green label that pops through, featuring the psychic skull transformed into an alien cone head label all designed by Eloise Leigh. Each copy includes a 2-sided 11x11 square insert with black and white photo of the band from 1988 and liner notes by Fred Giannelli." [label info]
www.darkentriesrecords.com
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Kondole / Dead Cat |
do-CD + DVD |
Cold Spring are proud to announce “Kondole / Dead Cat” – a double CD and DVD collection, presented in a lavish 8-panel matt digipak with booklet.
CD1:
Features the complete, long version of ‘Dead Cat’.
“…what could be more beautiful that such a sustaining & chronic radical as Gen could have provided us all – in the form of KONDOLE – with a piece of truly necessary Everyday Listening?” (JULIAN COPE / Head Heritage).
CD2:
Contains 3 tracks:
Thee First Part, ‘Thee Whale’ was recorded at Time Square Studios, Chiswick, London, on thee 23rd January 1988. It is thee soundtrack to an unmade 23 minute film called “Kondole (Thee Whale)”, by David Lewis and Andy Crabb.
Thee Second Part, ‘Thee Shadow Creatures’ was recorded at Hyperdelic Studios, San Francisco on 23rd January, 1993.
Thee Third Part, ‘Dead Cat’ was recorded at Time Square Studios, Chiswick, London, on thee 23rd January 1989. It is thee soundtrack to the film “Dead Cat” by David Lewis.
DVD:
The film 'Dead Cat' was released in 1989, and shown only at two film festivals of the same year, including once at the infamous Scala Cinema in London. It was never issued on general release and has only recently been uncovered by David Lewis (writer & director). We present the full film, re-authored from the original source. The film itself features unique starring roles from cult film director DEREK JARMAN, ANDREW TIERNAN ('The Pianist', '300', 'The Bunker', Derek Jarman's 'Edward II') and GENESIS P-ORRIDGE (PSYCHIC TV, THROBBING GRISTLE). The film features the music of Psychic TV, included here on CD1, in its complete form.
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/kondole-dead-cat-csr246cd
|
2018 |
€29.00 |
|
| PUNCH INC. |
Fightclub |
CD |
"the bielefeld based live / studio project punch inc. was founded in august 2000. both protagonists, a. brinkert and a. glöckner are equally responsible for synthesizer, sampling and programming (both have played in various projects since 1992). a. glöckner (aka moctan) experimented with electronic dance music and supported local industrial projects like ars moriendi, asche, morgenstern and monokrom, while a. brinkert (aka bipol) achived recognition as an innovative bass player and sound constructor with klang, womp and templegarden's. during various sessions both generated the idea to merge these musical outputs into a collective venture. since the beginning the name punch inc. has stood for hard, intransigent and propulsive industrial that is supported by tribalistic and technoid beats.
the mercilessness of an industrial civilization is punch inc's main influence, and they always place an emphasis on the rhythmic overkill. fightclub: a visualization of the fate of most everyday humans: struggle for assertiveness, combat the inner and outer predator, fight - not for the chance of winning but for survival. fightclub: machines designed for personal wars, emitting dense, grinding soundwalls that are wedged into never ending beat pulses. fightclub: mankind's biggest enemy is shutdown and here are eleven arms to make you move onward...
if this album doesn't make you roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty then you need to check your pulse!" [label info]
www.ant-zen.com
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| PUNCTUAL TRIO |
Grammar |
CD |
Lou Mallozzi: turntables, CDs, Microphones, Oscillator
Fred Lonberg-Holm: Cello
Carlos Zingaro: Violin
Recorded by Pete Wenger at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago, 28 May 2003.
Mixed and Masterd by Lou Mallozzi and Fred Lonberg-Holm at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago, 23 June 2004.
Produced by Lonberg-Holm, Mallozzi and Zingaro.
@2003 Mallozzi / Lonberg-Holm / Zingaro
Lou Mallozzi (b. 1957)
Lou Mallozzi is a Chicago audio artist who has been dismembering and reconstituting language, sound, and gesture on stages, sites, CD, and radio since 1986. His background is in performance, intermedia and installation art, and since 1996 an increasing amount of his attention has been focused on improvised music. Using microphones, turntables, CDs and analog mixing, he collaborates with numerous instrumentalists in improvised frameworks. These collaborators have included Carlos Zingaro, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Michael Vorfeld, Mats Gustafsson, Jaap Blonk, Sebi Tramontana, Terri Kapsalis, Michael Zerang, Guillermo Gregorio, Birgit Ulher, Hal Rammel, and many others. He has performed in this context at the Come Sunday Festival (Munich), the Logos Foundation (Ghent), Podewil (Berlin), The Empty Bottle (Chicago), Candlestick Maker (Chicago), The Renaissance Society (Chicago), Kraakgeluiden (Amsterdam), and others. He has also composed several sound poems and structured improvisational works for soloists and ensembles, including Jaap Blonk, Barbara Lüneburg, and the ensemble Intégrales.
In addition to his improvised music projects, Mallozzi also produces intermedia and sound performances, radio art works, and sound installations. These have been presented at numerous venues since 1986, including the PAC/Edge Performance Festival (Chicago), the Chicago Cultural Center, Experimental Intermedia (New York), the TUBE audio art series at the Einstein Kulturzentrum (Munich), Spritzenhaus (Hamburg), Suoni/Sound 2000 (Isola d'Elba, Italy), The Subtropics Experimental Music Festival (Miami), the Fort Wayne Museum of Art (Indiana), Percorsi 98 Festival (Montegrosso d'Asti, Itlay), the Sound Canopy public art project (Chicago), Donald Young Gallery (Chicago), Gallery 400 (Chicago), the Bechtler Gallery (Charlotte), Randolph Street Gallery (Chicago), Aether Fest (Albuquerque), New American Radio, Bayerischer Rundfunk (Munich), Kunstradio/Radiokunst on ORF Vienna, Sender Freies Berlin, ABC Radio (Sydney), the Resonance FM Festival (London), and others. Among his collaborators in these realms are Sandra Binion, Mark Booth, Heinz Weber, Antonia Contro, and Maurizio Pellegrin.
Mallozzi has two CDs on the Penumbra Music label: Radiophagy (three radio works from 1990 - 1996) and Whole or By the Slice (electroacoustic collaborations with Hal Rammel). A CD of improvised music with Fred Lonberg-Holm and Carlos Zingaro is forthcoming on Rossbin Records (Italy). He also appears on Guillermo Gregorio's Faktura and Cornelius Cardew's Material (both on HatArt, Switzerland).
Mallozzi has received a number of grants and fellowships, including a residency at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Study Center (Italy), four Artist Fellowships from the Illinois Arts Council, and grants from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and the Governor's International Arts Exchange Program.
In addition to his artistic career, Mallozzi is co-founder and Executive Director of Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago, and he is on the faculty of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Fred Lonberg-Holm
Composer, improvisor and anti-cellist Fredrick Lonberg-Holm currently resides in Chicago. Defying categorization, his work deals only with the context of the specific musical situation in which he finds/places/builds for himself. A former composition student of Morton Feldman and Anthony Braxton, and cello student of Ardyth Alton and Orlando Cole, his ongoing projects include the groups Terminal 4, The Boxhead Ensemble, Pillow, and the Lonberg-Holm/Kessler/Zerang Trio. He is also currently a member of the Guillermo Gregorio Trio, the Peter Brotzmann Chicago Tentet, XMARSX, and Witches and Devils (music of A. Ayler). He also has been coordinating and directing performances of his Light Box Orchestra, a non fixed structured improvising ensemble utilizing a light based cuing system . In addition he has also performed in ensembles led by Anthony Braxton, Ken Vandermark, Anthony Coleman, Georg Graewe, Wolfgang Fuchs, and John Zorn. As an improvisor he has recorded and or performed with numerous musicians including Jaap Blonk, John Butcher, Gunter Christmann, Axel Dorner, Hamid Drake, Barry Guy, Joelle Leandre, Paul Lytton, Jeff Parker, William Parker, Mischa Mengelberg, Ikue Mori, Mats Gustafsson, Paul Lovens, Paul Rutherford, Sten Sandell, Hamid Drake, Jim O'Rourke, David Stackenaas, Willie Winant, Carlos Zingaro, and many others. He has also performed/recorded with the rock groups God-is-my-Co-Pilot, Wilco, the Flying Luttenbachers, Chris Mills, Janet Bean, Super Chunk, Bobbie Conn, Ahmed Elmotassem's Legal Fiction, L'Altra, US Maple, Freakwater, Lake of Dracula, Plastic Scorpions, Zeek Sheck, Smog and others. Concert works have been premiered by William Winant, Carrie Biolo, Joe Fonda and Bottoms Out, Duo Atypica, the Schanzer/Speach Duo, New Winds, Paul Hoskin, Kevin Norton, the E.S.P. Ensemble and others. He has performed throughout the US and Europe as both a soloist and ensemble member. His scores for dance have been performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Dance Theater Workshop as well as many other venues. Film credits include music for a Playboy Channel short and the independant feature Animals, by Michael DiGiacomo. He has recorded for the Avant, Pogus, Occa, miguel, Explain:, Locust, Meniscus, Nuscope, Curious, Random Acoustics, Skin Graft, Hat Art, Buzz, Knitting Factory Works, Drag City, Ecstatic/Yod, Nine Winds, Atavistic, Rastascan, Box Media, 8th Day, Tzadik, Truckstop and What Next? labels as well as many others.
CARLOS “ZINGARO”
Born 1948 in Lisbon, Portugal; violin, electronics.
Carlos Zingaro undertook classical music studies at the Lisbon Music Conservatory from 1953 to 1965, and during the two years 1967/68 he studied church organ at the High School of Sacred Music. Also, during the 1960s, Zingaro was a member of the Lisbon University Chamber Orchestra. In 1967 he formed Plexus, the only Portuguese group at the time to have developed a new musical approach based on contemporary music, improvisation and rock; the group recorded a 45rpm single for RCA-Victor in 1968.
From 1975 onwards Carlos Zingaro has performed with a wide variety of improvising musicians, including: Barre Phillips, Daunik Lazro, Derek Bailey, Joëlle Léandre, Jon Rose, Kent Carter, Ned Rothenberg, Peter Kowald, Roger Turner, Rüdiger Carl, Dominique Regef, Evan Parker, Günter Müller, Andres Bosshard, Jean-marc Montera, and Paul Lovens. In 1978 he was invited by Wroclaw Technical University in Poland to participate in the 1st Instrumental Theatre Meeting, and in 1979 he won a Fulbright Grant and was invited by the Creative Music Foundation in Woodstock, New York to participate in meetings, classes and performances with such composers as Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, George Lewis, Leo Smith, Tom Cora and Richard Teitelbaum (a regular collaborator). He also gave lectures on New Notation Concepts, Movement and Sound, and the inter-relationship of Improvisation and Body Attitude. As a soloist, or with other musicians and composers, Carlos Zingaro has performed at many of the most important new music and improvising festivals in Europe, Asia and America.
A substantial level of Carlos Zingaro's musical activities are associated with theatre, film and dance. In 1975 he completed Stage Design studies at the Lisbon Theatre High School and later served on the board of directors of the School. From 1974 to 1980 he was musical director for the Lisbon-based theatre group Comicos, being responsible for most of the original music scores performed during the period. In 1981 Carlos Zingaro received the Portuguese Critics Award for best theatre music and in 1988 he worked with the Italian theatre director Giorgio Barberio Corsetti on his Kafka Trilogy. He has also been stage and costume designer for several other theatre productions. He has produced several film scores and worked extensively with dancers and dance companies such as the Gulbenkian Dance Company, the Opéra de Genève Dance Company, Michala Marcus, Aparte, and Olga Roriz.
Carlos Zingaro was a founding member of the Lisbon-based art gallery Comicos, his work has been exhibited, and he has received several prizes for his cartoons, comics and illustrations, samples of which can be seen on a number of CD sleeves, for example, Musiques de
scène.
www.rossbin.com/rs019.htm
"Is there a mode (maybe mood, posture, or circumstance) in which you are required to set yourself in order to appreciate (maybe absorb) freely improvised music? If you are attending a live show, the location, smells, company, and certainly the visual aspects of the show contribute to your "experience." When you are merely listening to a purchased recording, what are the rules for your listening experience?
Do you meditate in a quiet room? Can you listen to it in your car? Walking with an iPod? Washing dishes? How does the experience of the improvisation mesh with your current environs? Don't ask me for answers, but consider all the stimuli that invade your senses every hour of every day. Maybe that's why the relentless beat-beat-beat of pop music is so simple... because no one's actually listening.
My point is this: no two listeners can have the same response to very highly interpretable music like what the Punctual Trio produces on Grammar.
The cast of players includes cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, the newest member of Vandermark 5 (plus Wilco, Terminal 4, The Boxhead Ensemble, Pillow, and the Peter Brotzmann Chicago Tentet, to name just a few); Lou Mallozzi, a sound artist from Chicago who lists Mats Gustafsson, Jaap Blonk, Sebi Tramontana, Michael Zerang, and Guillermo Gregorio as collaborators; and Portuguese violinist Carlos Zingaro, who has partnered with the likes of Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, George Lewis, Leo Smith, Tom Cora, and Richard Teitelbaum.
Simple review: you cannot dance to this disc, but I give it a ten.
The trio benefits from its choice of instrumentation. Lonberg-Holm's cello, which is seemingly at home in a range of settings from jazz standards to rock to free music, mixes well with Zingaro's violin's scraping, plucking, single notes, and complex travels. They are attuned to silence and space, as on the opener, or odd pulse and song forms, as with "Punctuation. Mallozzi doesn't drown you with samples or electronics; he places them in the mix as if he were Treg Brown, the sound editor of 1950s Warner Brothers cartoons. If you listen closely to "Punctuation, you may find yourself actually embedded inside a cartoon.
But then again, your experience with these sounds will probably be nothing like mine." [All About Jazz]
|
2004 |
€6.00 |
|
| PURE |
Noonbugs |
CD |
Minimaler Dark Ambient von diesem österreichischen Projekt, besonders gefallen die Parts mit Streichern...
“ Pure's debut full length on Mego continues to explore realms of sinister sonic's and edge of the equation audio initially previewed on the highly regarded "the.end.of.vinyl" 3" CD / 12" pic disc.
As a complete serve the full extent of this world is revealed to be an elaborate exploration - rich in texture, variation, mood and quality. In some ways this release can be seen as a take on the darker edge of 20th classical / avant garde as seen through a 4th generation raised on industrial/electronic mediums. Comprising of a continuous work and what seems to be minimal process,
this is by no means an unfolding minimal record along lines of Alvin Lucier or Elaine Radigue. Changes are more immediately discernable (whilst avoiding noise, distortion or any other 'immediate' tactics). The result is in an unsettling journey throughout an array of balanced elements: looped violins sway amongst ringing tones, a distant police siren adds an element of isolation to washes of dark frequencies. Fragments of suspense
guide the listener on a series of subtle subversion's coming together as a dynamic thematic whole. A see-saw of subversive sonic's which make for some prime late night ambience. One could say this is as close to dark ambient as Mego has come, but like all the best Mego releases Pure's is one that questions the exact nature of the genre from which it has sprung whilst incorporating certain signifying elements in an entirely new way.” [press release]
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Ification |
CD |
"Mir ist PURE durch seine Releases auf Mego, Feld und dOc Recordings ein Begriff, andere kennen Peter Votava schon aus Ilsa-Gold-Zeiten, als Loop- und Sub/Version-Macher und Electronica-Veranstalter. Auf Ification (Crónica 038) schafft der Ex-Wiener und jetzige Berliner erneut mit dröhnminimalistischen Mitteln sieben Soundscapes. Die lassen einen eintauchen in dark-ambiente Dunkelwolken (‚Blind Flight‘) oder lethargisch und wie unter einem Bann dahin driften durch eine Nacht, die kein gutes Ende verspricht (‚End‘). ‚Iron Sky‘ ringt mit zähen und drückenden Verstrickungen wie Laokoon mit den Schlangen, die fatalen Beats schlägt - wie auch bei ‚After the Bomb‘ - Martin Brandlmayr, die Stimme ist die der Bolzn-Screamerin Alexandra. Die hatte auch schon in der Geisterbahn von ‚Sonomatopoeia‘ gestöhnt, zu giftigem Sirren, Theaterdonner und Gewummer, während die krachig verzerrten und gewellten Impulse des Auftakts ‚Fire‘ auf der Gitarre von C. de Babalon basieren. Die dystopische Melancholie von ‚After the Bomb‘ entsteht durch gedämpfte Drones, silbrig durchfunkelt, voller sirrender Frequenzen und mit dem fernen Nachhall von Sirenen und Gefechtslärm, den Brandlmayr mit Besenschlägen und Cymbalbeats andeutet. ‚Approximation‘ nähert sich mit dunklem Stöhnen - wie von den Sirenen der Titanic oder Tubas des Jüngsten Gerichts - und diskant schrillenden Strings, spärlich durchsetzt mit perkussiven Akzenten, dem Bereich der Klassik, mit offenbar ungescheutem pathetischen Effekt. Wer in Pures Elevator
Noir einsteigt, muss sich auf einen Trip ans dunkle Ende der Gefühlsskala gefasst machen." [Bad Alchemy]
"After more than ten CDs and several vinyls under different aliases, projects or collaborations that ranged a multitude of musical styles over the last 15 years, Pure's newest release is now proudly presented by Crónica. Three and a half years later than scheduled, and six years after his previous studio CD release “Noonbugs” on Mego, Pure returns with his fourth solo full-length album — “Ification” — the outcome of a long period of live work (documented in the first two volumes of the “Home Is Where My Harddisk is” series), residencies — in France, with Johnny Dekam, where the “Reqoil Displaced Peaceoff” DVD was produced — and collaborations — the “Heart Chamber Orchestra” with Erich Berger, an audiovisual performance based on the heart-beats of an orchestra of 12 musicians. “Ification” presents a collection of seven highly diverse tracks that revolve around dense, filmic and eerie atmospheres, without ever drifting into obvious or simple harmonies. As in his previous work, Pure takes from music history whatever serves his narrative needs and appropriates it through his." [label info]
"Something entirely different is the latest album by Pure, from Vienna. He works under various guises, and this is fourth Pure CD, following 'Noonbugs' on Mego for four years ago. Seven pieces of electronic music, six of them recorded with the help of others, like Christoph de Babalon on guitar samples, Martin Brandlmayr on drums, the screams of Alexandra von Bolzn and Anke Eckardt on bass guitar. What Aubrey lacks in variation is made up here by Pure. The heavy start of 'Fire', into to post nuclear war zone with no survivors of 'After The Bomb' (an appropriate title), Pure takes the listener on a ride that ranges from subtleness to the utter crude, which ends with the nightmares of 'Iron Sky'. Excellent music for b-movies that deserve a-music. Certainly not always 'pleasant' in terms of nice background music for your living room, but unpleasant music to make your life a bit easier and less painful." [FdW, Vital Weekly]
www.cronicaelectronica.org
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| PUTREFIER |
Hypertension Classics 2 |
4 x CD |
"Mark Durgan has been doin' the lord's work within UK noise since 1986 (via his Birthbiter label) and keeping his shoulder to wheel with recordings for Broken Flag, Artware, MSBR, RRR and others. This luscious doorstop collects the long out-of-print "Hypertension Classics" double-seven (sold at shows in Japan ten years ago), plus a four-hour "noise assault [that] combines the mid-air ectoplasmic gloop of mid-period Merzbow with a bone-grasping tactile edge that seems to come more out of post-Industrial DIY traditions as articulated by New Blockaders.…" [Volcanic Tongue]
|
2005 |
€22.00 |
|
| PYROLATOR |
Niemandsland |
LP |
The musician Kurt Dahlke is not only a member of the bands Der Plan and Fehlfarben, founding member of the group DAF and co-founder of the label Ata Tak, he has also released a stellar line of solo works under the name Pyrolator for which he enjoys great critical acclaim. What began in 1979 with the first release "Inland" continues it's lineal thread with new work "Niemandsland" – the sixth album within the Land series.
It was 1979, some 43 years ago, when Pyrolator released Inland, an instrumental protest album, as he liked to think of it. Autumnal protests against nuclear weapon stations, against the entire structures of the war generation, but without the pathos of the rebellious songs which soundtracked the 1968 movement. Apart from a few samples, there were no words at all.
Now, more than four decades later, Kurt Dahlke alias Pyrolator returns to his origins. But not, this time, in protest: "The clock already stands at ten past midnight and we have arrived in no man's land. Neither the student movement nor the rejectionist stance of punk changed anything. Avarice has emerged victorious and no future is nothing more than an empty cliché. This is what global reality looks like. The principle of cause and effect."
This is also a back to the roots story for Pyrolator in the musical sense. Niemandsland was created exclusively with modular synthesizers, the computer merely a recording device. All of the tracks were played live and direct – neither storable nor replicable.
The sixth album in Pyrolator's Land series is more than just a bridge to the past and the music to be found there. It has a formal language all of its own, meandering between the beauty of crystal clear melodies and restrained ambient moments on the one hand and rugged, dystopian brittleness on the other. A cycle revolving between the hope of a revolution for humanity and arrival in no man's land.
https://pyrolator.bandcamp.com/album/niemandsland |
2022 |
€22.50 |
|
| QUELLET, ISRAEL |
Oppressum |
CD |
"Quellet's music is not really outsider sound art, but it shares strong similarities with it. It explores a debarred universe almost impossible to escape. A minute - albeit extreme - exploration of sound (particularly through saturation), mystical discourse and excesses. However, the composer is also pictured as a regular guy living in a Swiss town, a guy who likes to toy with the local church's organ, accompanied by his wife. Sound materials come from a number of sources: the local church's organ, rented or borrowed percussion instruments (bass drum, timbales, gong, djembe), various objects being struck (his oil tank at home struck with hammers and iron ods), pipes, faucets, telephone touch pads, power tools, sound-producing toys, voice, mouth sounds, throat sounds, and wheelbarrows." [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Soni Sclavus |
CD |
Already the second album from this young Swiss composer, and like "Oppressum" its quite a beast on 11 tracks, using sounds going direct into your face, piercing pulsing organ-tunes, rumbling distorted rhythmic excesses, loopy metallic bangs, all kinds of impetuous weird sounds in between, animal sounds, backwards voices & whisphers and something like sound poetry. Very difficult to classify, "experimental" in the truest sense, after this session you maybe simply don't know if you like it or not, but it was NON-ORDINARY music like hell!
"Israël Quellet: a short biography. Born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, 1972. He worked in the psychiatric field for several years. at 16, he discovers on his own some different soundworlds, such as Miles Davis's electric era, Sun Ra, Dub, German cosmic music, Magma, Zappa and many more. In 1997, he stepped into the action and, following the advice of a sound engineer friend, bought microphones, a digital mixing board, and studio monitors. Basically, he turned part of his basement into a soundsmithing studio. That is when he started to create, out of his immediate surroundings, sound works that have little to do with what is "normally" being done. Appreciated by composer Jorge E. Campos, Quellet is supported by the Centre Pierre Schaeffer in Paris. In 2003, he contacted Sub Rosa. Three years later, he was releasing his first public recording. This present one is the second (probably of a trilogy). It explores the very common object and have a great deal with the problem of saturation and noise." [label info]
"Israel Quellet's 2nd album for Sub Rosa is not the unexpected surprise from an unknown artist that this Swiss sound-maker's debut disc was (for both us, and the label, read our review of it to see what we mean, we started off by saying "who the heck is Israel Quellet?"). But, that's because THIS time 'round, when we saw
Quellet's had a new recording coming out, we were already eager to hear it. Much like its excellent predecessor, it's about compositions
(improvisations? explorations?) limited to specific sound sources, each track featuring the use/abuse of a certain instrument or two, or perhaps a non-instrument, and to Quellet, his methods are his music, this is the focus, to the extent that the tracks are identified
thusly... For example, track 1 is "for organ and percussion". Track 3 is "for fitness rower". Track 7 is "for footsteps and knocks on stairs, and vented carbon dioxide". He makes use of organ on here quite a bit, as well as percussion and less frequently voice,
electronically treated (and in French). Actually much of this seems electronically treated, or in some way distorted, with "saturation" factoring into several of his pieces, occasionally achieving Merzbowian levels of noise (on track 6, "for percussions and saturation" especially!). All in all, this disc can be heard as one man's playful but moody, quasi-industrial homebrewed take on 20th (now 21st) century classical music. With so much somber organ and repetitive thunderous percussion, many of these tracks seem quite
ominous, you can start imagining DIY Nitsch-style "aktions" happening in Quellet's backyard.
As with Quellet's prior album, this is varied and fascinating throughout, and surprisingly listenable. Truly experimental (and
successfully so) music for curious ears made by someone with curious ears too. Recommended!!
Oh, and by the way, on our list this week there IS a cool Sub Rosa disc from a hitherto unknown (to us) artist, look for Pierre Berthet's Extended Loudspeakers, it's also AQ recommended." [Aquarius Records]
www.subrosa.net
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| QUEST |
(A)Quarter |
mCD-R |
here's another dutch artist: QUEST (the beatless ambient alias of Frans de Waard). he has proposed us something quite uncommon in the taâlem catalogue: a rather cosmic track! have a listen!
https://taalem.bandcamp.com/album/a-quarter-alm-130
"This EP under the Quest banner is the most classically “ambient” of the Taâlem batch, 22 minutes of arpeggiating synth flourishes and ear-friendly electronic drones. As with much of de Waard’s current mode, “(A) Quarter)” has a very deliberate pace, gliding patiently across it’s three sections. It opens with some cosmic bloops, drifts into a center section of darker distant feedback peels and an arhythmic thrum, then returns triumphantly to a Berlin-School-flavored finale of blissful analog filigree. If Modelbau is too noisy for you and QST too pop, Quest’s “(A) Quarter” is a nicely accessible entry into Frans de Waard’s music." [HS/VITAL WEEKLY] |
2019 |
€5.50 |
|
| QUIN, DOUGLAS & DAVID ROTHENBERG |
Before the War |
CD |
"David Rothenberg, an innovative musician and acclaimed environmental writer joins composer and sound artist, Douglas Quin, 'the Audubon of audio'. Together, they blend the indigenous energy of the world's primal cultures with the exploratory spirit of improvisation, in a musical adventure built around and within the powerful soundscapes of a living earth. Rather than simply echoing the tones of nature's voices, this 'earth jazz' moves from a deeper resonance, attuned to the ways nature moves, ebbs and flows. There are echoes of Middle Eastern, Eastern European, Scandinavian, and North African melodies, with an ECM-like tone of atmospheric virtuosity; these grooves seem to represent momentary glimpses of conversations that have no real beginning or end. Rothenberg's sensual woodwinds and the fluid support of Russ Gold on percussion and Bill Douglass on bass and flutes complement Douglas Quin's soundscapes with a sensitivity and flair that makes clear that this is music that includes, rather than imitates, nature...The result is an invigorating blend of exotic textures and deep heart that speaks equally to lovers of world music, jazz, and the vibrant sound of our wild surrounding world." [label info]
|
2000 |
€13.00 |
|
| R.O.T. |
L'Ecurie |
LP |
Eine wunderbare, sehr mysteriös und seltsame tönende Platte! Auch nach mehrmaligem Hören weiss man noch nicht so recht, was hier eigentlich passiert. Sehr dronig und ambientös und vielschichtig "folkig-organisch"; etwas low-fi & fliessend improvisiert erscheinen die Dronescapes, dick & undurchdringlich und auch psychedelisch...erinnert an ruhigere VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA z.B...
"r.o.t. has gained a quality reputation in the underground scene during their six years of existence. this led to a splendid cdr- and tape discography. "l'écurie" is their first long player. each side contains two jams that sound like calm and fluently movements through sound at one time, then like a somewhat more brutal treatment at another point. the album shows nicely how r.o.t. works as a (live) band. it's not about well-thought sound poetry here, but about spontaneous improvisation where random incidents are considered as an extra band member. a slow bass that wanders gently through the acoustic droning, when suddenly an alarm clock starts to ring, followed by new almost-quietness and laidback noise. r.o.t. stands for an original approach of sound sources and a continuously seeking for the "moment". side a was recorded in an abandoned administration building in jette, a small town near brussels. the space was run by young students for six months and renamed the place "l'écurie", the french for stable. r.o.t. improvised in the dusty kitchen during three long days, mostly during the nights as well. the tracks on the b side are takes from improvisations in an horse stable. there again the album's title refers to l'écurie. this time at an old farm which is called ferme du biereau (louvain la neuve). the farm is also known as a nice venue and spot for artists en musicians." [label info]
www.kraak.net |
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| R.P.M. |
Circle Line |
CD |
"A very peculiar journey........
It's not often we would say this, but listening to this on headphones is a most unusual experience!
Circle Line initially started life as a graphic score created by Phil Mouldycliff as a piece to be played by Keith Rowe in 1989. Over a period of twelve years this open form composition developed to the point where by 2002 an opportunity arose to make a recording of the work at IC Studio in Preston, using ambient recordings taken from Circle Line Tube stations made specifically for the project by Phil and Colin Potter . Keith effectively solos over the assemble tape collage of sounds from the Underground, starting and finishing with material collected at Edgeware Road. Given that a full circuit of the Line takes upwards of fifty minutes, the individual stations are grouped together to create workable sections delineated by geographical boundaries. Since making the recording the work has been performed live by Rowe, Potter and Mouldycliff on a number of occasions."
https://icrdistribution.bandcamp.com/album/circle-line
"R.P.M. stands for (Keith) Rowe, (Colin) Potter, (Phil) Mouldycliff, whereas the Circle Line is an integral part of London’s complex underground network. On such grounds – pun intended – Mouldycliff developed in 1989 a graphic score for Rowe’s performance; the trio recorded this version of the piece in 2002, accompanied by field recordings captured during a trip on the same route. In synthesis, what we hear is Rowe’s trademark dissection of the object previously known as the guitar mixed with structural sounds of wagons, other mechanical entities and human reverberations (voices, steps and so on) typical of an hour spent on the CL.
Having often traveled with this very medium in the past, the problem was usually having my player’s musical selection smothered or otherwise ruined by the surrounding clangor-cum-hubbub. In this case we have Colin Potter who – fortunately for us – balances the whole’s overall level, skillfully processing where necessary. The advice we are given is to listen with a good pair of headphones, and should definitely be followed. Only in this way does the music reveal its clever microscopy, giving the listener’s hearing apparatus the respect it deserves.
Beyond banal classifications – no, it is not a “drone album” – Circle Line represents an exercise in careful listening aided by sonorities that stimulate the innards of our discernment, although complementary to a day of ordinary commuting. Enjoying these extemporaneous inventions – that is, everything which exists between subsonic engrossment and exploitation of timbral oxidation – is a special pleasure in this particular context. I might look at commuting with earphones from a different perspective, after all." [Touching Extremes]
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| RABELAIS, AKIRA |
Hollywood |
CD |
"The birth of Akira Rabelais' 'Hollywood' has its roots in the composer's lifelong interest in field recordings and in the desire to create a piece of work dedicated to Los Angeles: Texas born Rabelais has used a Tascam recorder to capture almost four hours worth of sounds on Hollywood Boulevard, between Betty Grable's and of Rod Serling's stars. These original recordings have been lightly edited, cut and mastered into a composition that encapsulates the sounds of casual chats, drunken tourists, peddlers, passing cars, music coming from surrounding shops. An extremely dynamic and always changing soundscape dedicated to 'the pleasure of being present'. Akira Rabelais, composer and software developer based in Los Angeles, has released records on Ritornell, Orthlorng Musork and Samadhisound. He has collaborated, among others, with Björk, David Sylvian, Harold Budd and Stephan Mathieu." [label info] |
2008 |
€13.50 |
|
| RACHEL'S |
Selenography |
do-LP |
"Die Gruppe aus dem Chicago/Louisville-Umfeld (SHELLAC, RODAN, JUNE OF '44, SONORA PINE, etc..) mit ihrem 4.ten Album (nach´Handwriting', 'Music for Egon Schiele' und 'The Sea and the Bells'). Eine instrumentale, herbstlich schimmernde Mischung aus klassischer Kammermusik und Geräuschparts, alles rein instrumental. Viel Piano & Streichinstrumente, wunderschöne Cover-Artwork. Deeply recommended!" [old Drone Rec info]
"The fourth album from these deft neo-classicists brings a collection of songs that have been staples of their breathtaking live performances, yet had never made it to tape. An integrating of live and electronic textures recorded in various locales between july '97 and January '99." [label info]
www.quarterstickrecords.com |
1999 |
€21.00 |
|
| RADFORD, LAURIE |
Les ponts de l'espace |
DVD-A |
"DVD audio. Stereo and 5.1. DVD Rom with documents. 'Verb Tales' (2002). 'Les ponts de l'espace I' (2001) . 'Les ponts de l'espace II' (2003). 'À la cire perdue' (2004). 'Mining Inference' (2003). 'Terms of Occupancy' (2004, 05-06). 'The six works presented here bridge numerous, often disparate compositional and personal agendas and circumstances: the reconsideration and adaptation of the initial stereo versions (and in one case - Terms of Occupancy - an original eight-track version that turned into a stereo version) to explore the expanded spatial potential of the 5.1 format; the use of recordings of and concepts from some of my instrumental works as materials for composition in a multi-channel electroacoustic style; the compositional negotiation between recordings of natural urban environments and the substantially transformed sound materials of the digital studio environment; the temporal and geographical spanning of the place and time of origin of some of the sound materials, as well as the place and time of the original conception of these works, the place of final re-composition and mixing, and the place of final mastering a journey withstood as much or more by the works themselves as by the composer. These acts of 'bridging' have left traces and scars that resonate within and between these works.' Laurie Radford
[credits]
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| RADIAN & HOWE GELB |
Radian verses Howe Gelb |
LP |
"Das österreichische Avantgarde Electronics Trio RADIAN (mit drei Alben auf Thrill Jockey und einem auf Mego) tut sich hier zusammen mit dem GIANT SAND Desert Country Songwriter HOWE GELB. Eine besondere Kollaboration zwischen Americana, Jazz und Electronics. Radian Releases ist das Label von RADIAN, das 2014 neu gegründet wurde, um die Projekte von RADIAN und limitierte Spezialitäten zu veröffentlichen.
Howe Gelb: voice, guitars, piano; Martin Brandlmayr: drums, vibraphone, electronics, synths, editing und arrangement; Martin Siewert: guitars, lap-, and pedalsteel, electronics, synths, processings John Norman: bass.
Musik von Radian und Howe Gelb, Texte von Howe Gelb außer ,Moon River", das von Henry Mancini und Johnny Mercer kommt.
,Radian is a machine - their music the sum of body hydraulics and fuzzy logic" (THE WIRE)
"...a band with impressively original density and texture" (THE NEW YORK TIMES)" [label info]
"HOWE GELB is no stranger to collaboration in the 21st century. Since 2006 he's released records with a gospel choir ('Sno Angel Like You), and a flamenco group led by Raimundo Amador (Alegrias). What sets this recording with Vienna's Radian apart from those offerings is that this is their album. Over four sessions, Gelb contributed lyrics, melodies, piano parts, acoustic guitar fragments, and mostly his rambling vocals. Radian is an experimental trio comprised of drummer/sonic arranger Martin Brandlmayr, bassist John Norman, and new guitarist/sound editor Martin Siewert. Their tunes usually begin as improvisations and take on more recognizable forms as they evolve. True to form, they give Gelb's offerings their signature treatment: Splintering, editing, and spindling them to their own purposes. But Gelb is never lost in the process; in many ways, he anchors it. Both parties come from musical areas where terrains are often blurry and shambolic: Gelb from loose Southwestern Americana and adventurous guitar rock, and Radian from an experimental geography between This Heat and early Tortoise. The natural tension between these poles is allowed free rein here, but this intimate, often spectral recording never devolves into excess. Opener "Saturated" commences with radio static, and like its second half, "Saturated Beyond," is rooted in a dub-like blues groove that eventually takes on a mutant funk sheen. Sparse, processed sounds are given a rhythmic pulse amid a skeletal bassline, brushed snares, a tom-tom, and glitchy guitar. Single keyboard notes are droned in, and vocals are woven in skittering cadences, natural spoken tones, and pitched, controlled syllables. Eventually the whole vamp emerges to carry on for the better part of nine minutes. "I'm Going In" is a reverse trip through the birth canal. With pulsing synth tones, slippery vibe sounds, pen-toned guitar, and trancey, skittering drums, Gelb announces that he's "going in/keep a tight leash on that umbilical/you're gonna have to take up the slack…." This is a vast, aural, inner space exploration. That journey continues on "From Birth to Mortician," the only cut here that emerges with an actual strummed guitar hook -- albeit somewhat momentarily -- though it follows a series of set changes. "The Constant Pitch and Sway" is just that, but from a truly blob-like mass of short sonic bursts, a fine experimental rock & roll song comes into being. The only thing that doesn't work here is the closer, a cover of "Moon River." It feels calculated -- perhaps it's because there's more of Gelb's persona layered on than in the rest of the record. It's a small complaint though. The rest of Radian Verses Howe Gelb is a spooky, mysterious sound (and song) collage that has many secrets buried in its murky depths." [Allmusic.com]
|
2014 |
€20.00 |
|
| RADIGUE, ELIANE |
Jouet Electronique / Elemental I |
mLP |
"alga marghen proudly presents two sublime pieces by Eliane Radigue, 'Jouet Electronique' (1967) for feedback on magnetic tape and 'Elemental I' (1968) for feedback of natural sounds on magnetic tape. Both works, released at Pierre Henry's Studio Apsome in Paris, were never published before. Between 1967 and 1968, Eliane Radigue was the assistant of Pierre Henry in his studio, mainly for the editing of 'L'Apocalypse de Jean'. He also put her in charge of organizing his sound archive according to different criteria. It was an endless work... there were incredible sounds, a true sound library! Eliane Radigue really enjoyed to do this work, even if it took a long time... So, sometimes, she decided to set the machines of the studio to do some little work on her own. 'Jouet Electronique' and 'Elemental I' were born this way as a kind of recreation during her time as a studio assistant. Working with feedback is something that Eliane Radigue learned through Pierre Henry. Do you remember 'Voyage'? There's that fluid part which is made of feedbacks constructed with a microphone... Everything had to be set at a precise distance from the loudspeakers because that is the specific problem with feedback, you have to be at the right distance... Afterwards, these high tone recordings were slowed down in order to discover the deeper character of their colour. This work with feedback was in the end quite limited and what the composer preferred, as a way to produce sounds, was working with two reel tape machines. The first was set on the recording mode while the other was playing and it was the accidents happening in this phase that made the feedback richer. With some fine-tuning you could reach very beautiful results: low pulsations, very high-pitched sounds, sometimes the two at the same time or long sounds. All of these sounds could be slowed down or accelerated, which gave her a beautiful material to work with. With 'Jouet Electronique' Eliane Radigue had a lot of fun, hence the title... As far as 'Elemental I' is concerned, it was the first attempt at something which was very important to her based on the theme of the basic elements: water, fire, air and earth. Eliane had the chance to record in open air thanks to a small Stella Vox that Arman gave her in the beginning of the 1960s. At the time she was still living in Nice and every now and them she went for a walk to do some recordings: the sea, the wind, the rain, the fire... Eliane Radigue continued this way to built her very minimal sound library, not more than ten reel tapes... This was the starting point and in 1968 she used these recordings for her work with two reel tape machines. First pressing limited to 300 copies, with a text by Emmanuel Holterbach and a photo portrait by Arman." [label info]
|
2011 |
€19.50 |
|
|
Transamorem Transmortem |
CD |
\" “Before the greatest achievement
Before the greatest detachment.
At the limit of the frontier space of the unconscious - tuned waves - \"consonant things vibrate together\".
Where does the change happen? In the inner field of perception or the exterior reality of moving things in the course of becoming.
\"And time is no longer an obstacle, but the means by which the possible is achieved\".
Eliane Radigue - June 20, 1973
\"Transamorem - Transmortem\" was premiered on March 9, 1974 at The Kitchen in NYC, where the music programmer at the time was Rhys Chatham - this was right before his guitar phase. During this period, \"Transamorem - Transmortem\" was presented along with other compositions by Eliane Radigue in a linear mode of listening, although the piece had originally been conceived, during its composition, as a sound installation. Of course, both modes of listening are possible, and each works marvelously in its own way.
In their original form, Eliane Radigue\'s works are magnetic tapes. After being played a few times in public, the tape disappears to its case until a release proposal makes it available again through a disc.
During this period Eliane Radigue\'s compositions became fairly long, some lasting over an hour. Because the tracks could not be edited for some obvious reasons, a vinyl release was unthinkable. It was only in the 90\'s, with the advent of the CD format, that the long compositions of Eliane Radigue were made available (with the exception of the \"Song of Milarepa\" LP on Lovely Music, a work already divided into multiple movements and thus able to be fit onto two sides of an LP). For these reasons, the work of Eliane Radigue remained virtually unknown for twenty years - from the 70\'s to the 90\'s.
It was in 2004, when she accepted my aid in digitizing her archives, along with Lionel Marchetti, that I discovered \"Transamoren - Transmortem.\" Immediately, I was awed by the majestic grace of this very long tangle of frequencies, this set of seemingly unchanging tones, whose variations are of a delicate subtlety. \"Transamoren - Transmorten\" is recognizable as one of the most radical of Radigue\'s compositions, comparable to the first \"Adnos,\" the work that follows \"Transamoren - Transmortem\" chronologically. Very few transformations, an apparent formal aridity that is then contradicted by the physical play of the frequencies as the listener turns her head gently from right to left, or better yet as the listener moves slowly throughout the music space. Moving through zones of specific frequencies, the listener\'s body experiences localized zones of low, medium and treble frequencies which vary according to the acoustic properties of the space. As Radigue wrote of \"Adnos\": \"to displace stones in the bed of a river does not affect the course of water, but rather modifies the way the water flows.\" Here, we find the same meditative tension proposing a peaceful movement through the spaces created by the different frequencies that compose \"Transamoren - Transmortem.\"
Very well-organized, Eliane Radigue\'s archives are a pleasure to explore, and \"Transamorem - Transmortem\"\'s case contained a mine of information. What excited me most was the short text entitled \"Inner Space\", which described the ideal conditions under which \"Transamorem - Transmortem\" should be presented. That is to say as a sound installation.
\"Inner Space - This monophonic tape should be played on 4 speakers placed in the four corners of an empty room. Carpet on the floor. The impression of different points of origin of the sound is produced by the localization of the various zones of frequencies, and by the displacements produced by simple movements of the head within the acoustic space of the room. A low point of light on the ceiling, in the center of the room, produced by indirect lighting. Several white light projectors of very weak intensity whose rays, coming from different angles, meet at a single point\".
Eliane Radigue - 1973
I immediately felt that it was necessary to make \"Transamoren-Transmorten\" available once again, and this time in its ideal form, in trying to follow Radigue\'s recommendations word for word. It was with this idea in mind that the Cumulus collective (also responsible for the contemporary music festival Why Note) organized the Continuum festival in Dijon along with the art space Le Consortium (one of the founders of which had persuaded the goup Circle X to record their first, mythic EP in Dijon in 1979 - but that\'s another story!).
The goal was to correctly present some of Eliane Radigue\'s sound installations, an aspect of her work now completely forgotten. And yet, between 1967 and 1971 her work was often exhibited in galleries of contemporary art, mostly in Paris (Lara Vincy, Yvon Lambert ... ), a reflection of the fact that French people have had a harder time than Americans placing the work of Radigue. She herself hesitated for quite a while to use the word \"music\" to describe her work, a complex that is familiar to this very generation of musicians, and which is now no longer really a problem. Who would claim that the work of Eliane Radigue is not musical? That would be strange ...
The 2006 Continuum festival in Dijon saved four sound installations from the dust (an expression that Radigue uses to describe her archives): \"S=a=b=a+b\" (1969), \"Omnht\" (1970), \"Labyrinthe Sonore\" (1970) and \"Transamorem - Transmortem\" (1973). The first two installations are composed with feedbacks, the two others with the sounds of the ARP 2500 synthesizer. Each one is based on a strategy of specific spatial presentation, but that\'s also another story ...
Now it\'s your turn to enjoy this enveloping electronic space ...\" [liner notes]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2011 |
€16.50 |
|
|
Occam Ocean 3 |
CD |
Occam river II, for violon and cello
Occam VIII, for cello
Occam delta III, for violon, viola and cello
Silvia Tarozzi, violon.
Deborah Walker, cello.
Julia Eckhardt, viola.
Recorded in 2019 at l’Abbazia di Santa Maria Assunta, Monteveglio (Bologna)
With a 32 page booklet.
Occam Ocean 3 is an exceptional project, the result of collaboration between Eliane Radigue, French composer, pioneer of the exclusive use of continuous sounds, and three string instrumentalists, Julia Eckhardt, Silvia Tarozzi and Deborah Walker. Composed in Paris, the 3 pieces of this record were recorded in September 2019 at the Abbazia di Santa Maria Assunta, Monteveglio (Bologna) in Italy
Éliane Radigue stopped producing electronic music and began creating collaborative works with instrumentalists in 2001. Since then, she has produced over 70 works ranging from solos and string quartets to works for orchestra. She began creating occam ocean ‒ the series that makes up most of this prolific output ‒ in 2011. The individual pieces share a creative process that relies almost solely on oral and aural transmission: musicians visit Radigue at her apartment in Paris, often returning for multiple sessions before the pieces are completed.
Solo pieces are typically based on a combination of pre-prepared sonic materials from which Radigue selects sounds ‒ a process which she calls her “shopping” ‒ and a water-based image that guides the form and a ect of the piece. Ensemble pieces combine soloists from the project into many novel con gurations. Radigue often bases these ensemble pieces on new water-based images.
Radigue’s work may seem created almost as if by magic ‒ from thin air, vibrations or from zealous admiration ‒ but this is music that is made possible by the hard graft and meticulous concentration of expert musicians. Each piece requires a special kind of virtuosity that entwines precise muscular skill with extraordinary memory, imagination and patience. For musicians who have played in multiple ensemble pieces in the occam ocean series, the demands grow in nitely more complex, as one must remember many subtle differences between the different pieces.
This CD is the document of a special situation at a monastery in the mountains in Italy. It documents a version of these pieces that is co-created with a specific location at a speci c time. But the pieces may continue matu- ring as they continue to be played in di erent contexts. Like Radigue’s music that slips in and out of memory, we must allow these recordings to exist in the moment of listening but not as scores or xed objects.
This is music that resists remembering.
This is music that exists solely in the moment of its performance, that marries precision and uidity, that does not concern itself with written traces but only an indelible atmosphere of sonic transformation.
This is music that is experienced both privately and collectively, that merges our own inner worlds of perception with the exterior world of space, time, bodies, instruments, soundwaves and architecture.
This is music that covers its own tracks. It is a Japanese rock garden where beautiful patterns are created and then erased.
This music inhabits the far reaching corners of the room, bouncing o of beams and dancing in our ears, blending and merging into an autonomous mass of ecstatically vibrating sound. |
2021 |
€25.00 |
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In Memoriam-Ostinato / Danse des Dakinis |
LP |
"Alga Marghen presents the last chapter from the Feedback Works documentation series, a brand-new LP including "In Memoriam-Ostinato" and "Danse des Dakinis", two previous unreleased tracks by Eliane Radigue. Among the works of fixed duration from the feedback period, "In Memoriam-Ostinato" is the link between "Jouet Electronique" (ALGA 029LP) and "Opus 17" (ALGA 045LP), and allows you to understand the evolution of her approach. "In Memoriam-Ostinato" is a game of mirroring symbols which glide into a non-measured, bent and elastic, temporality. Eliane Radigue's working method and her aesthetic direction are evident in this work from 1969: her very own unique temporal space of sonic experiences. Even though it bears the same name as the third part of "Adnos III", "Danse des Dakinis" is a peculiar work in Eliane's oeuvre. Conceived in a short time, with all kind of tapes from the composer's past work, it fluently shows a kaleidoscopic vision of Radigue's sensibility for sound. In 1998 she put together a curious self-portrait in sound. There is a feedback ostinato conceived around 1969 and which refers to "In Memoriam-Ostinato" and "Opus 17". All through "Danse des Dakinis" you plunge into the sound of a creek recorded at Mills College campus that brings you back to the field-recordings from the beginning of the 1960s, made on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Such elements construct "Elemental1" (ALGA 029LP) as well. There are also some discreet interventions on the ARP 2500 synthesizer. It is indeed a peculiar work, which doesn't have the same features of her other compositions, especially at that time of her compositional path. There is an explanation for the composer producing this kind of sound material in 1998, and not limited to the sound waves of the ARP synthesizer. Invited to a workshop at Mills College in 1998, Eliane Radigue could not load herself down with her bulky instrument on such a trip. So, she left with just a few tapes taken from her own collection, drawn from different periods, and composed "Danse des Dakinis" with those old elements. There is tension in this composition, a certain wildness, an unpredictability of elements, those which are recognized as fundamental elements, which give structure to the universe. "Dance des Dakinis" is an intimate and wild symphony, alive and unpredictable, which is to be the next-to-last gesture of the composer before completely stopping her work with electronics." [label info]
"There is no artist, working in the contemporary field of experimental sound, that is more important than the French composer Éliane Radigue. She is a shining light, who, for more than half a century, has quietly blazed trails with a body of work that is as creatively visionary as it is sublime. Back in the 2010s, Alga Marghen launched a crucial archival series, dedicated to some of Radigue’s earliest and previously unavailable works, many predating her first LP, 1983's “Songs of Milarepa”, by more than a decade. Having already delivered four LP of this material, they return with their fifth and final instalment in the series, “In Memoriam-Ostinato / Danse des Dakinis”. Perhaps the most fascinating of the group, the first work was composed in 1969 in the period between the creation of two of her earlier works comprised within Alga Marghen’s initiative, “Jouet Electronique” and “Opus 17”, while the second draws on material recorded during the 1960s and then further intervened with, “Danse des Dakinis” was conceived and created in 1998 by Radigue as a self-portrait in sound. Absolutely essential on every count, we couldn’t think of a better place for this series to end, further illuminating the remarkable beginnings of one of our greatest living composers in truly eye watering ways.
Born in 1932, Éliane Radigue began her musical endeavours in Paris during the late 1950s and early '60s, working under Pierre Schaffer and Pierre Henry, before quickly outstepping her mentors. Initially working predominantly in tape, during the early 1970s she made the radical switch to modular synthesis, beginning a decades long exploration of the ARP 2500 that drew on her practice as a Buddhist and pushed the notions of musicality endlessly forward, taking the entire landscape of experimental sound with her through a series of sonic mediations that bound life and art.
During the early 2000s, Radigue set aside her synth, embarking upon a hiatus from music, before taking the unexpected step of beginning to compose works with and for acoustic instrumentalists. By the the early 2010s, this new phase in her career had begun to emerge as the sprawling work, “Occam Ocean” series, arguably bringing her more acclaim and adoration than any other point in her long career. Fittingly, it was during roughly this same moment, beginning with “Jouet electronique”, that Alga Marghen embarked upon their archival series dedicated to Radigue’s earliest and previously unavailable works, offering a unprecedented and much needed sense of dimension to the breadth of her career. Followed in rapid succession by “Feedback Works”, “Vice-Versa, etc…”, and “Opus 17” - each mining the period when the composer worked predominantly with magnetic tape - it’s been nearly a decade since the last LP appeared, making the emergence of their final instalment in the series. “In Memoriam-Ostinato / Danse des Dakinis”, that much more sweet.
Comprising two free standing works, the first, “In Memoriam-Ostinato”, foreshadows the pacing that would soon come to define Radigue’s unique approach to composing sound. Measured and slow, it is an immersion into an extending state of contemplation, manifested in organizations of sound; a game of mirroring symbols that bend and elongate time, inviting the ear to get lost. As Radigue recounts: “This piece was commissioned for a Happening, Mémorial. It was a sort of secular procession to the castle of Verderonne, a beautiful place. The pools bordering the edifice were lit, and everyone was dressed or draped in mauve. It terminated in one of the grand salons of the castle where I played “In Memoriam-Ostinato”.”
While considerably more concise than many of the durational works through which Radigue would come to make her name, the 23 minutes that make up “In Memoriam-Ostinato” are not encompassing or lacking in depth. Where it differs is within the presence of slighter darker temperament and mood. Across the work’s length, low rumbles of textural noise form a bedrock - feeling a bit like the death knell of dying electronics - into which strange, warbling tones of feedback pulse and dance with a palpable sense of tension. Like so much Radigue’s work over the years to come, “In Memoriam-Ostinato” actively obscures a consciousness of the artist’s hand. It's so elegant and risk laden, that were it encountered by chance, without context, it might be perceived as the generative form of an abandoned radio station within an alien landscape.
Rounding out the collection and not to be confused with the third part of “Adnos III”, which bears the same name, “Danse des Dakinis” is quite possibly the only work of its kind in Radigue’s remarkable body of work. Drawing on a wealth of tapes she created during the 1960s, the work was created in 1998 as a kind of self-portrait in sound; a kaleidoscopic vision of Radigue's sensibility for sound, a memoir, and a hall of mirrors prismatically reflecting the multiples sides of self. The piece, because of the many phases in her career from which it draws, is a fascinating hybrid that uses field-recordings from the beginning of the 1960s, made on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and capturing the sound of a creek recorded at Mills College campus, feedback elements from 1969, as well as later interventions on her ARP 2500 synthesizer.
Standing outside her larger body of composition, while intrinsically bound to it, “Danse des Dakinis” nods toward the dakini, a female deity in Vajrayana Buddhism or a female demon in Hinduism, establishing a curious bond between wrathful female forms and the elements of nature which double, in Buddhism - a central force in Radigue’s life and work - as the absence of ego or mental obstacles, where nature itself is revealed. Here, once again, we encounter the composer in a darker meditative state, weaving the sounds of nature into those of her Arp and feedback to create a complex internal world that blurs the lines between abstraction and raw emotion, electronics and organic sounds.
It’s hard to not feel a little bitter sweet about the long overdue emergence of Éliane Radigue’s “In Memoriam-Ostinato / Danse des Dakinis”. On one hand, it’s a truly incredible and deeply illuminating body of work. On the other, it signals the end of Alga Marghen’s decade long immersion into the composers crucial, previously unreleased body of feedback works from the 1960s. Still, we couldn’t think of a better way to end than here. It’s one of the most intriguing and engaging of the group. Absolutely fantastic from the first to the last." [Soundohm]
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2022 |
€24.00 |
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Feedback Works 1969-1970 |
LP |
Feedback Works 1969-1970
However mesmerizing they may be, the works of Éliane Radigue which could be found on record were quite rare when I met her in 1998: “Trilogie de la Mort”, “Biogenesis”, impressive pieces composed on the ARP 2500 synthesizer between 1970 and 1990. There was also the very rare double 7" “Σ=a=b=a+b”, edited by the author and then brought out by the Yvon Lambert Gallery in 1969, which seemed to unveil a turbulent side of the composer’s youth. This work was intended to be presented as a sonic environment and had been composed with nothing but feedback effects on magnetic tape… a relatively crude piece compared with those for synthesizer, difficult for me to relate to. I hastily concluded that Éliane had dabbled with feedback for its hot-tempered quality, a bit like her colleagues Robert Ashley or Alvin Lucier, before passing on to something calmer (in her case, the rounded and peaceable harmonics of the synthesizer)… my mistake. “Σ=a=b=a+b” was but a small part of the group of works based on feedback, just one of the more rough nuances from that so-rich period.
When I visited her in her Paris apartment for the first time, what made an impression on me were the immense shelves taking up the entire entryway, filled from floor to ceiling with tapes. All those sounds… the whole life story of an electronic composer. Immediately I became overcome with curiosity as to the beauties hidden within those boxes, no way not to find treasures within. I did not know anything as yet.
Éliane lives in an eternal present, one could almost say. I had never met someone who at her age was not busy digging around in their past. She, on the other hand, simply considered that she always had “her whole life in front of her”.
Éliane, always inhabited by music, usually lives with a new project in mind. Even if not at all stingy in responding to questions about her rich past, one would not say that she tried to evoque times gone by.
I quickly proposed to convert her magnetic tapes to digital. Not only to create an archive but also and especially to search out all the details, the secrets of this unique body of work. For years all I got were polite but firm refusals. She wanted to convince me that there was nothing but never-ending dust, and babbling, risky if not primitive… Things only changed suddenly after a return from Chicago in 2002 for the release of “L'Île re-sonante”. Delighted with the experience, she described the evening of the concert. She had been overwhelmed by the presence of very young people who came up for a signature on the boxset of “Adnos” trilogy (realised between 1974 and 1982 and published in 2002 by Table of the Elements. This time when I said that these works of the past were in effect full of passion and so it might be the time to put in order the archive, she said laconically, but with enthusiasm: “Oh, alright! But you do it, you know where everything is”.
The big job could begin; I was enchanted and am still. I expected to find other works on the rough side, like “Σ=a=b=a+b”, but with surprise quite another thing came forth.
The digital versions were all done in Lyon, at Lionel Marchetti’s. His interest in and knowledge of Éliane’s music, along with his detailed work, made for a most enjoyable activity. I recall the silence in the studio when we uncovered works surely never listened to after their first public performance, not to say ever presented... Sounds older than I was, for sure. Certain of these works had something of the traumatic about them: my goodness, she made these magnificent sounds with only three pieces of string!
Thus were the works of the feedback period of Éliane Radigue revealed, as we gradually got them digitized, extending over five years approximately: “Omnht” with its broad tectonic vibrations, the celestial voices of “Usral”, the dense silences of “Jouet électronique”, “Stress Osaka” massive chant, the horizon moving in “Vice-versa, etc.”, the magnetic bewitchments of “Opus 17”… each one brought its load of surprises and burst a well filled time bubble. So did we rewind the thread of her biography, discovering obvious connections even in the texture of the sounds themselves, which joined that period to the synthesizer one.
There is nothing anecdotal in the feedback period of Éliane Radigue. A good dozen pieces were composed between 1967 and 1970 in which most of the characteristic originality of her works had their beginnings. It is moreover continually amazing that she could build such formidably organic sonic edifices with the primitive machines which were hers: three tape recorders, a mixing board, an amplifier, two loudspeakers and a microphone. A home studio certainly primitive, but there were not any home studios to speak of in the sixties, the cost of materials being too high. To compose electronic music, or “concrete” or “experimental” (what distinctions!) you had to have access to an institutional studio (At the time usually located in the large radio studios, or certain universities). Indeed, a large part of Éliane’s possessions came from Pierre Henry.
She met him at the “Studio d'Essai” of the R.T.F. in the middle of the 50s, after having met Pierre Schaeffer almost by chance (if such a chance does exist) who invited her to learn the techniques of musique concrète. In fact, from 1955 to 1957 she learned all about these techniques there, “in the shadow of the masters” she says. Éliane emphasizes that she could be there as a “quiet little mouse”, because she cast no shadow on the masters of the place. She learned, as she says, that she was only there as a student. During the 50s no avant-garde musician could imagine a woman seriously competing with them… Jokes erupted: “At least when Éliane comes to the studio it smells good!” etc. Nevertheless Pierre Henry liked one of Éliane’s montages and wanted to use it in a piece he was working on, “L'Occident est Bleu” (1957). From 1957 to 1967 she no longer had access to a studio. During these ten years she will be travelling, taking care of her family, and composing a few graphic scores which will never be published, or even played: “Asymptote Versatile” in 1960, or yet “Chess Game” (based on a chess match between Marcel Duchamp and her then husband, Arman). She was biding her time.
She was to once again assist Pierre Henry from 1967 to 1969, and there she made her first tape compositions. During the last stage of mixing “L'Apocalypse de Jean”, in 1968, Pierre Henry brought to her some of the materials which would become her studio, so that she could continue working on some parts of the “Apocalypse” he asked her to work on, while he continued working at Studio Apsome. These things remained in Éliane’s house and she bought what was lacking to work autonomously: one more tape recorder, a microphone, and then, in 1971, the ARP 2500 synthesizer. Even if these first compositions date from the end of the 60s it seems evident the entire creative process in Éliane Radigue’s work had begun in the Studio d’Essai in 1955.
What I always find striking when I listen to the first piece “Jouet électronique” (realized in 1967 at the Apsome Studio and published in 2010 by Alga Marghen) is the maturity and expressive force in this short composition. There is already a tension and poetry proper to her own. Similarly, “Jouet électronique” seems to contain the germ of all which is to come. Or at least it opens all the paths which she will follow indefatigably. It is as if her musical work in some way contained a martial arts discipline on which she meditated for 10 years before striking the first blow, with an impressive precision… Right away her music separates from the explorations of musique concrète, from any academism, or whatever style then in vogue. Her adventure is intuitively going towards flux, towards contemplative stasis. A music of continuous sounds, of apparently simple structures, which permits the revelations and expansion of rich acoustic phenomena. One could say that in one sense it is the very texture of the sounds which leads the form in her compositions. At the same time this approach favors an intense sensuality in the listening. The fluidity of form in Éliane Radigue’s music has more to do with certain world music traditions, composed of drones, resonances, pulsations (although I cannot be sure that this was really the inspiration). A music in which time is suspended, but not stopped, rather unfolding with an intoxicating slowness, engendering fascination rather than boredom.
Between 1969 and 1970 Éliane Radigue gave up measured durations and composed works which flirted with eternity: “Usral” (1969), “Labyrinthe Sonore” (1970). and “Omnht” (1970). They are generally made of several tape loops of clearly different duration read simultaneously. In this arrangement, simple and ingenious (close to the usage of Steve Reich in his youthful pieces), the fixed sounds go slowly out of synch, in a play of perpetual mutation. From this appears a sonic landscape whose temporality, as well as its materiality, could be described by these verses by Paul Verlaine:
“…who, each time, is never quite the same, nor completely another…”
The terms “Sound Art” and “Sound Installation” are in vogue at this moment. There was nothing like it at the time. A way of describing this new approach had to be developed. So she presented her works under the description “Propos Sonores” (Sonic propositions) or sometimes “Music without End”. These works were unveiled to the public both in the places consecrated to music as well as museums and galleries (Yvon Lambert, Lara Vincy, etc.). Nothing surprising in the fact that these “Music without End” at times, like a halo of the infinite, accompanied works of such visual artists as Marc Halpern or Tania Mouraud. For all that, without minimizing the interest of these collaborations, it seems important to add that the sounds she used have in themselves a completely “plastic” quality.
This is the context in which Éliane composed “Omnht” in 1970 for one of the architectonic spaces of the visual artist Tania Mouraud, “One More Night”, presented at the Gallery of the Rive Gauche in Paris. With Jean Heuzé, one of Pierre Henry’s co-workers who helped out on this project, Éliane had the idea of screwing the speakers into the partitions so that they would be invisible with respect to the immaculate exhibition space. Due to this the sounds could vibrate within walls which become resonant surfaces. This description caused me to “leap up to the ceiling” because it is a technique that I used myself in my sound installation work… only twenty years later. I quickly felt it necessary to present this piece anew. In 2006, thanks to an active competition by the Consortium Art Center and the association “Cumulus” in Dijon (organizers of the contemporary music festival “Why Note”), it was possible to do a version among the old industrial buildings of “L'Usine”. Large plaster partitions were already in place and formed an ideal group of surfaces for the installation of loudspeakers. Resounding in these grand rooms, “Omnht” seemed to shake the entire building, thus creating a sonic architecture of time and space… A vast edifice of vibrations, built like a mirror of frequencies in which were reflected our inner worlds. It was admirable to see how much this work had resisted time; the fascinated reception by the public left no doubt as to its poetic force. After this public presentation I set up a stereophonic synthesis of that installation in my studio, by combining the original sounds with those taken at “L'Usine”. I felt a lively need to hear those magnificent sounds again. I realized moreover that the sonorities of “Omnht” survived the reduction quite well, and I found once more with happiness the unique intensity of this spatial composition.
Some time later, Éliane offered me one of the 10 copies of “Vice-versa, etc.”: a small handmade box, signed and numbered, realized as a multiple on the occasion of a show at Lara Vincy’s gallery in 1970, which contained a reel of magnetic tape and the instructions for use. It indicates that all playback speeds are possible, forwards or backwards, as well as any combination of two channels, on several recorders, “ad libitum”… A present which touched me profoundly. I took up the game and rapidly made mixings following the indications to the letter, respecting the composition methods of Éliane Radigue. Need I say that to work with such lovely sounds was a real pleasure?
Then I decided to do the same with all her sound installation works: slices of time from those sonic environments dedicated to space and infinity. There are so few spaces devoted to Sound Art, so the occasions for presenting such work to the public are rare. It seems evident to me that if we waited for that to happen very few people would have access to that part of Éliane’s work. Fundamentally, these stereophonic syntheses should have been made and published a long time ago because this compilation offers a simple way into the home of this passionate time.
Therefore, I proposed that we listen to them together, because of course the idea should seem legitimate to her. Knowing her to be extremely critical towards her past work, and ready to renounce certain aspects of it, I confess to being a bit anxious as to her reaction. Neither did I know how she would react to my taking the initiative in making such syntheses. Contrary to my apprehensions we passed a marvelous day. Éliane had forgotten practically everything of the sonic textures she made then, and discovered evident links with the sounds she realized later on with the synthesizer.
In her compositional work Éliane Radigue developed her own characteristic “footprint”: an art of imperceptible transition from one kind of movement to another. It is very difficult to know at what moment things change, because they are continually changing without one’s really being aware of it… a little like a natural phenomenon in perpetual mutation. This is doubtless one of the magical constituents of her music and it engenders the loss of any temporal reference point. If you look over the whole from her first compositions to the most recent ones for acoustic instruments, passing through the imposing electronic period, it seems evident that this way of gentle transition is a characteristic of her entire work. Not only within the compositions but also from one composition to another. We do not confront a collection of isolated experiences but rather embark on a patient and minute exploration of a vast poetic territory.
At the end of the day it was clear to her, just as it had been for me, that these syntheses had to be complied and published. This certainly does not replace the necessity of in-situ presentations; all of the music of Éliane Radigue is destined to vibrate spatiously and this is all-the-more so for the installations. And in any case, this collection gives a good overview of the intense beauty of these “Propos Sonores” composed so long ago with such reduced means.
By her original approach, Éliane Radigue held herself, as she still does, outside the dogmas of her epoch and therefore had to sometimes face some lack of understanding. Intuition is however her force, and she has known how to continue until today composing in full independence of spirit; her aesthetic gives forth a body of work unique in its genre, honorably recognized and appreciated today.
We are among the many who see her as a pioneer capable of revealing a precious territory of sounds, one that she seems alone to occupy. To us to enjoy this publication of the first remarkable steps of a figure who holds the music of our time in her spell.
Emmanuel Holterbach
https://elianeradigue.bandcamp.com/album/feedback-works-1969-1970
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2022 |
€24.50 |
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| RADIGUE, ELIANE (FEAT. ENSEMBLE DEDALUS & RYOKO AKAMA) |
Hepta I / Occam XX |
CD |
https://montagnenoire.bandcamp.com/album/eliane-radigue
In Eliane Radigue’s work, one distinguishes or contrasts the electronic works (composed until the early 2000s) with those written for acoustic instruments. From 2002 onwards, the artist began a series of compositions, the Occams, in which, in her own words, she fully realised what she had always sought to achieve in her electronic works.
The disc devoted to her here brings together two pieces written at the same time; one for an instrumental ensemble (Dedalus) and the other for analogue synthesizer (Ryoko Akama). If the means seem to be opposed, this concordance of time lets us glimpse the deep unity that brings them together.
Dans l’oeuvre d’Eliane Radigue, on distingue ou on oppose les oeuvres électroniques (composées jusqu’au début des années 2000) à celles écrites pour instruments acoustiques. A partir de 2002 en effet, l’artiste entame une série de compositions, les Occam, dans lesquelles, selon ses propres mots, elle réalise pleinement ce qu’elle avait toujours cherché à accomplir dans ses oeuvres électroniques.
Le disque qui lui est ici consacré réunit 2 pièces qui ont été écrites à la même période ; L’une pour un ensemble instrumental (Dedalus) et l’autre, pour synthétiseur analogique (Ryoko Akama). Si les moyens semblent opposés, cette concordance de temps laisse entrevoir la profonde unité qui les rassemble.
credits
released April 22, 2023
Occam - Hepta I (2018)
Enregistré à la Cité de la musique-Philharmonie de Paris le 13 octobre 2021
Prise de son : Benjamin Maumus
Mixage : Benjamin Maumus & Didier Aschour
Occam XX (2014)
Enregistré au Dai Hall, Huddersfield (UK) le 10 décembre 2020
Prise de son : Jo Kennedy
Mastering : Giuseppe Ielasi
Presse :
De magnifiques entrelacs de violoncelle-alto-violon et trombone-trompette-saxophone ainsi que de guitare. RYOKO AKAMA joue la contrepartie électronique avec « Occam XX » sur EMS et générateur d’ondes sinusoïdales, où la netteté persistante du premier morceau est remplacée par un tapis sonore doux, mais très stoïque. De cette façon, une méditation intensive sur le silence et le son réussit en un peu moins d’une heure.
Extrait - V.A - WESTZEIT, Jazzjanzkurz - 2021
"Occam Hepta I est un mantra d'une force sidérante, à arracher à tout jamais le voile de la māyā... Interprètes parfaits !"
Extrait - Dionys - Overblog, Inactuelles, musiques singulières - 15/04/23
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2023 |
€15.00 |
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| RAGLE GUMM |
2nd |
mCDR |
"ragle gumm is a total mystery, even for us. we got this submission one day with absolutely no details about it, just an e-mail address to contact the artist... the only thing we know is that another work should be released sooner or later on elsie and jack. "2nd" is a very strong piece, full of processed voices, surprises and breaks. you can feel the industrial electricity when you listen to this piece! be curious!!!"
www.taalem.com
"Ragle Gumm is a total mystery, even for us, so says Taalem. He (she?) send a work out of the blue and otherwise it seems there is a work from him coming on Elsie & Jack. Apparently this work is full of voices, by claim of Taalem, which I must admit I don't hear, but its an interesting piece of music. Obviously the majority of is drone based, but Gumm throws in some sampled rhythm patches, which he chops up for good measure. That adds a curious feel to the piece, like high voltage electrical charges being sparked off. Sometimes the piece is on the verge of collapse, but it never really does, fortunately. The drones presented here are in a much more upright fashion, direct in your face and as such quite nice. Who is Ragle Gumm then?" [FdW, Vital Weekly]
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2010 |
€5.00 |
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| RAIONBASHI |
In Teufel's Küche? |
10inch |
"... The music is great, yet hard to define. Is it musique concrete? Perhaps one could say it is. There is the use of piano sounds, various objects picked up with contact microphones and perhaps some voice material. But what Raionbashi does with this material is not drown it in electronic processing, but built in various layers of unprocessed nature. Lots of layers it seems, but with various moments of silence built in. I perhaps wrongly expected some noise, but this is far from it. This is some great obscured music (as opposed to obscure music), with some intense moments. Not easy listening, but one that grows every time you play it ." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
" 10" Vinyl published by Absurd (Greece) and Ignivomous (USA). Follow-up release of 2006 'Kollekte' LP on Hanson Records (USA). All Voices, Noises, Instruments, Body-Functions & Apostrophes by DL. Performed, recorded and mixed 2005-2008 at No-Go-Area, Berlin. Mastered at Clunk, and cut at D+M, Berlin, by Rashad Becker. Edtion of 500 copies. 33rpm." [label info]
" "In The Devil's Kitchen." So translates the German title, the
first that we've stocked from Daniel Lowenbruck, who both records as
Raionbashi and runs the Tochnit-Aleph mail order service out of
Berlin. He's also a long standing member of the Schimpfluch Gruppe
whose provocative recordings and performances directly channel the
Vienna Actionists such as Hermann Nitsch, Gunter Brus, and Rudolf
Schwartzkogler. Where the Austrians were pushing their transgessive
acts through art world channels, Schimpfluch has their origins in
punk, industrial culture, and (at least for the case of Schimpfluch's
Dave Phillips) metal taken to a Dada extreme laced with theatrical
ultra-violence. So begin these deconstructed tapes and mangled silences.
Lowenbruck cites that the sources to his Devil's Kitchen
include 'noises, instruments, body functions, and apostrophes.' The
discernible sounds are a piano being struck by a hammer fist on the
lower octave of the keys, a police whistle blowing out the condenser
mic on a Walkman, and some downpitched vocal howls that come across as
way more demonic than those wolf growlings on Ben Frost's album By The
Throat. Between these recognizable elements, Lowenbruck cuts and
pastes with monochromatic noises that puncture grey curtains of leaden
hiss. Compositionally, certainly hits the mark with the guttural
musique concrete from the Schimpfluch Gruppe, somewhere between the
machined ruptures of Dave Phillips and the unsettled ambience crafted
by the impeccable G*Park; or less self-referentially stated, somewhere
between the sound poetry of Henri Chopin and the corroded tape work of
Joe Colley. Limited to 500 copies and highly recommended!" [Aquarius Records]
www.tochnit-aleph.com
|
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| RAISON D'ETRE |
Prospectus I (Redux Version) |
do-CD |
"Long time sold-out, finally here comes the re-edition of this cult and seminal album!
A stunning blend of the modern soft gothic sound and the timeless chants of Catholic rituals. It is at once a beautiful sound, yet also filled with melancholy. Archaic layers of string sounds, bells and choirs are intermingling with heavy drums and industrial loops creating an unsettling and threatening background atmoshere whilst spleen and sweetness forms the foreground.
'Prospectus I' became the first CD album by raison d'être, originally released in 1993 by Cold Meat Industry. In order to celebrate the 20th years anniversary it has now been made available as a reduxed and enhanced 2CD album.
All the sounds has been restored and re-recorded from source and all the tracks has been carefully mixed to maintain the true feeling and atmosphere of the original album but with the modern standards for high quality audio. 'Prospectus I' with related tracks can for the first time be experineced with superior audio quality and well balanced mixes.
The first disc mirroring the tracks of the original album and the second disc contains a major selection of tracks from the 'Prospectus I' session previously available on the 'Lost Fragments' and 'Collective Archives' collections." [label info]
www.oldeuropacafe.com
|
2013 |
€17.00 |
|
|
Mise en Abyme |
CD |
"TRANSGREDIENT RECORDS TR-10
6-PANEL DIGIPACK using photos of Roberto Conte
FORMAT: FULL-LENGTH CD PLAYTIME: 58:50 min
FILED UNDER: DARK AMBIENT, SOUNDTRACKISH POST-INDUSTRIAL
Transgredient Records is very proud to release the newest studio-work by this well known Swedish ambient industrial project, continually re-newing the dark ambient genre since 1992.
"Mise en Abyme" is the first raison d'être studio album in over 4 years, following a very special "initation concept" with an emphasis on the experience of sequential psychological states with cathartic effects - diving into the deepest regions of the subsonscious in order to return with a fresh and 'empty' mind. All the previously beloved elements of raison d'êtres music are here: spacious deep drones, touching sacral choirs, ritualistic sounds from gongs and bells and other awesome integrated field / object recordings - all impressively enhanced to reach a new level of masterful atmospheric composition. Moving from dramatic tension and threatening uproar to meditative beauty, this near hour long album reveals various changes and details, while always sounding monolithic (all of one piece), expressing almost unbearable sensations of melancholy, vastness and contemplation. The idea behind this album, in the words of the artist: " 'Mise en Abyme' is an inner journey down to the most hidden and dark parts of the Self. 'Mise en Abyme' literally means 'placed into the abyss' and conceptually the album contains ingredients from 'The Divine Comedy' by Dante or any similar stories/myths around the katabasis theme. Instead of being linked to religion, history or morality, it is purely a psychological and therapeutic trip to the underworld, investigating the subconscious. But even in the darkest and chaotic places in the depths, there are small shades of light, hope and understanding; one can be enlightened and purified upon returning to the conscious world."
TRACKLISTING :
1. ABYSSOS
2. INFERNOS
3. KATHAROS
4. AGRAPHOS
video teaser: http://youtu.be/pmnvden-DBo
www.raison-detre.info // www.facebook.com/raisondetreofficial" [label info]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Anima Caelum |
do-CD |
Alive and apocalyptic; unique live moments spanning from 2014 to 2017 compiled into a heavenly exposure with gloomy trails and path towards darkness.
Anima Caelum contains both complete live sets and selection of tracks from live recordings by raison d'être, from performances stretching from the world tours of 2014 - 2015 to the very unique moment at the once-in-a-lifetime event Cold Meat Industry 30 years Anniversary Live in 2017 performing one track from each of his Cold Meat Industry studio albums. This is apocalyptic music that can bring life to heaven!
Originally released on Old Europa Cafe as a double MC in 2018, now revised and remastered for digital format (CD / download) with optimum sound quality.
The download version of the album also includes the remaining tracks from the Anima Caelum 2MC release as bonus.
credits
released April 30, 2019
Track 1 - 10 recorded live at Cold Meat Industry 30 years Anniversary Live, at Klubben, Stockholm, Sweden, 2017-11-04, with edits and overdubs to correct problems.
Track 11 recorded live at Bolkow Castle Party, Bolkow, Poland, 2015-07-18.
Track 12 - 13 recorded live at Cleveland Radio show, Levelland, US, 2014-10-23.
Track 14 - 20 recorded live at Jerusalem, Israel, 2015-05-09.
Track 21 recorded live at Montreal, Canada, 2014-10-15.
Track 22 recorded live at Poznan, Poland, 2014-03-29.
Track 23 recorded live at Miami, US, 2014-10-30.
Bonus tracks:
Track 24 recorded live at Belveders Ultra-Drive, Pittsburgh, US, 2014-10-21.
Track 25 recorded live at Schlagstrom Festival, Berlin, Germany, 2014-08-03.
Track 26 - 27 recorded live at Bolkow Castle Party, Bolkow, Poland, 2015-07-18.
Track 28 recorded live at Cold Meat Industry 30 years Anniversary Live, at Klubben, Stockholm, Sweden, 2017-11-04.
All music by Peter Andersson 1991-2017.
Recorded live 2014-2017.
K-14 level mastering.
2CD release by Old Europa Cafe, OECD300.
Digital release by Yantra Atmospheres, YA-2019-94.
https://raisondetre.bandcamp.com/album/anima-caelum-2
"By way of background context, Anima Caelum was first issued in a limited edition of 99 copies on double cassette in 2018 (also on Old Europa Café). Now it has been reissued with slightly revised content on double CD in a less limited edition.
With the tagline on the cover stating ‘alive 2014-2017’ it is a not too subtle clue enough that it is a collection of live tracks and not new recordings. So for me, the pinnacle aspect is the full recording of the special set which was performed at the Cold Meat Industry 30th anniversary show in Stockholm November, 2017, which I was lucky enough to attend and witness in person. My review of that festival noted the following with regard to the raison d’être set featured on this set:
‘Having seen raison d’être three times before, I expected it to be decent show, but was completely blown away by the impact of this set, based on the sheer intensity of volume. Also with sole member Peter Andersson playing a special set consisting of one track from all of his CMI albums, it was a veritable hit parade of the tracks from each album with the greatest emotional impacts. Again, with the focus being on the projected visual backdrop, it functioned to further amplify the mood of the sacral and the damned, based around various moving images of religious decay and sorrowful mourning. For me personally raison d’être’s set was the most moving of the entire festival, where the pairing of tracks Inner Depths Of Sadness (from the Within The Depths Of Silence And Phormations album), and Reflecting In Shadows (from the In Sadness, Silence And Solitude album) hit home hard to show just how important the music of raison d’être has been to me over the years (as an example of this, I was so taken by In Sadness, Silence And Solitude when first hearing it in 1997 that it spurred me on to immediately write my first music review, which in turn led to me creating Spectrum Magazine shortly after). In being far beyond a ‘mere’ dark ambient set, the volume absolutely elevated the impact and presence of the set to the next level and was one of my personal standouts of the entire festival’.
The above impression pretty much sums up my thoughts on the entirety of the content featured across the two CD’s. Perhaps this is a release more the avid and obsessive fan than the casual listener, but even so, it is an excellent collection of the full and complete Stockholm set coupled with live tracks from various performances. Likewise the live version deviate enough from the original to provide both detailed and nuanced interest. Another very enjoyable album from this unfaltering dark ambient behemoth, and exquisitely presented in a deluxe 6 panel digipack." [Noise Receptor]
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| RAJKOWSKI, MIROSLAV |
The primary principle |
10" |
"Immer wieder tauchen aus dem Underground-Schlund neue Namen auf – oft Künstler, die seit Jahren aktiv sind, und in allerkleinsten Nischen ihre marginalisierte Musik pflegen. So auch MIROSLAW RAJKOWSKI, der als reiner Vokal-Künstler rauhe und erdige Obertongesänge vollführt und mit dada-esker Stimmakrobatik glänzt. Hat eine durchaus (pseudo?)-wahnsinnige Komponente und ist wohl einer der abgefahrensten Scheiben dieser Liste!"
[Drone Records 2002]
“Hooked on multiphonics! This stalwart vocalist turns groaning into a sublime artform. From the ringing drones of Tuvan throat singing to the whimsy of Meredith Monk (see Dolmen Music) influenced rounds and canons, Mr Rajkowski's soliloquys display a brilliant and playful love for the human vox. Miroslaw explores a wide range of vocal stylings, carefully sidestepping any semblance of the common nuissance known as words. The deliverys lean more towards sparse atmospherics (ala early Henri Chopin) than machine gun bombast, save for the occasional Schwitters-isms that inevitably twist across his tongue. Miroslaw clears his throat that you may clear your head. This 10"record release is as far as Beta-lactam is aware, one of the longest ever cut, running in at almost 50 minutes of music! part 5 in the 10" series.” [press release]
|
2002 |
€12.50 |
|
| RAMESES III |
I could not love you more |
CD |
"Ein derart vom Rest der Welt abgekapseltes Album gab es lange nicht mehr. Wie ein endloser Fluss ziehen die Tracks ihre Kreise, lassen sich durch nichts stören und wollen niemandem irgendetwas beweisen. Alles hört auf den ganz eigenen Puls der Bandmitglieder Daniel Freeman, Spencer Grady und Stephen Lewis. Ob die der Hektik ihrer Heimat Croydon bewusst etwas entgegensetzen wollen, tut hier eigentlich nichts zur Sache. Perfekte Welt? Der perfekte Moment? Was auch immer hier mit den zurückhaltenden Ambient-Hymnen bespielt wird, wir müssen alle danach streben. Rameses III … das ist der Himmel auf Erden." [thaddi / de:bug]
"Das Londoner Trio entzückt mit Ambient und pastoralem Folk: Mit ihrem tiefgründigen und originellen Umgang mit Ambientmusik haben Rameses III bewiesen, dass aus Croydon mehr als Dubstep kommt. Daniel Freeman, Spencer Grady und Stephen Lewis haben bereits einige Veröffentlichungen für Labels wie Important Records, Digitalis und natürlich Type Records hinter sich, es ist aber das Album "I Could Not Love You More", mit dem sich das Trio in die Musikgeschichtsbücher einschreiben wird. Ein Album, das den Sound der Band zwischen treibendem Ambient und postoralem Folk neu positioniert. Man vernimmt Gitarrenechos von John Faheys legendärem Takoma-Label, aber auch Schatten früher 4AD-Produktionen, was etwa das schimmernde Hintergrunddröhnen anbelangt. Über allem schwebt der Geist Brian Enos, der erfolgreich zur Selbstbeherrschung mahnt. "I Could Not Love You More" hätte aber auch mit seinem elektrischen Klavier, dem Mellotron und den Gitarren Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts entstehen können. Wer aber hätte gedacht, dass es 2009 aus dem übel beleumundeten Süd-London kommt?" [label info]
"..While even some of our favorite modern ambient music relies on layers and layers of digital processing, Rameses III maintains a
certain acoustic integrity by layering strictly live instruments. Electric guitars, electric pianos, and mellotrons produce a warm,
ethereal wash that brings an otherworldly depth to their sound, a depth that digital processing could never recreate.
Ghostly and melodic, mysterious and heavy, ambient and thoughtful, I Could Not Love You More is no doubt the trio’s finest
work and a perfect addition to the Type catalogue, highly recommended!" [Aquarius Records]
www.typerecords.com
|
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
| RAMLEH |
It's never alright |
7inch |
For many years now Fourth Dimension Records has forged a strong relationship with both Gary Mundy and Anthony Di Franco of Ramleh by virtue of support for their respective solo endeavours, Kleistwahr and JFK. After having released a large proportion of their albums under these guises it then only made sense that a Ramleh record itself for the label would be mooted. This single grew out of these discussions and follows on from 2019's critically acclaimed The Great Unlearning 2LP on Nashazphone, which itself saw Gary and Anthony not only reunited with Stuart Dennison, Martyn Watts and Philip Best, but also collaborating with Philip's wife (and Consumer Electronics partner) Sarah Froelich and delivering perhaps their most immediate and surprising work to date. Made available as a good old fashioned double-A side on 'punk rock green vinyl', both 'It's Never Alright' and 'Kerb Krawler' maintain these high level proceedings, too. If you ever wondered how Noddy Holder might sound if fed through the Ramleh mangler, then 'It's Never Alright' will help flesh out that thought with its city-destroying stomp attack colliding head on with the kinda untamed keyboard splurge the group is more generally renowned for exorcising. Before you then begin to prod at those question marks arising from the melee, 'Kerb Krawler' helps to reel you back to a psychedelic orbit nobody but Ramleh know how to navigate. Proof positive, should it be necessary, that these boys won't be donning mirror adorned top hats any time soon. Typical for Ramleh as they stand now, both songs represent just two of the many sides they're now given to exploring. Bold, serious, playful and once again illustrating exactly how easily they straddle the line of being great musicians never afraid to turn that notion on its head by rising to new challenges, this single pays testament to their current upward curve. Limited to 500. Due in November 2019. |
2019 |
€8.00 |
|
| RAPOON |
Alien Glyph Morphology |
DVD |
”Robin Storey, better known as Rapoon, is well known in ambient music circles for his extensive catalog of recordings, presently exceeding 40 albums, singles and collaborative projects released over the last 13 years. Rapoon has always stood for more than music, however. Visual arts have long been important to Robin. His paintings grace many of his album covers, but until today his filmmaking has been done in relative obscurity. "Alien Glyph Morphology" is the name of a suite of six short movies, set to his music, of course, that make up the primary focus of his DVD release. Using montage, slides, and slow-motion techniques Robin produces the visual counterparts to his unique and atmospheric soundtracks. A short film, "Shadow", and two slide shows round out the collection. A limited edition set of 20 sturdy Tarot cards painted by Robin Storey accompany the first 1000 copies.” [press release]
“....Rapoon's music has a strange timewarping effect, a Deep Listening wormhole that puts you in a blissful perpetual state of cognitive play. Rather than attempting to replicate the mantra quality with some sort of hypnotic, retina burning lightshow, the defining quality of his films is luscious texture and suggestive symbolism. Warm, analogue background hues flicker like ghosts caught on film; the Miro-like moving sketches on top are floating markers of unconscious energy. The visual dimension of Alien Glyph Morphology gives the music even more licence to roam - spare, enlightened Jon Hassell-like passages sit side by side with sample transmissions akin to Cabaret Voltaire's Attic Tapes. The main challenge of this marvellous release is how to tune out the outside world and properly immerse yourself in Storey's dislocated trance states; rather than having to peer into a TV or monitor, it would be even better if these images could flow unrestrained across cinema screens and gallery walls.“ [THE WIRE]
|
2005 |
€15.00 |
|
|
The Bush Prophet |
CD |
"We are happy to present you the third Rapoon release on Ewers Tonkunst. “The Bush Prophet” is a brand new album from this legendary and highly influential project, which unique style of blending industrial, ethno-rhythmic and cut-up techniques has gained international recognition and made Rapoon one of the main artists in its genre. This work has an accent on more dark, hard and anxious sound constructions than most of its recent albums, it is full of tension and scepticism, but with no lack of inner hope though.
Like it’s last year Soleilmoon release “Melancholic Songs Of The Desert”, it deals with isolationism and the myth of democracy. Manipulated by media and bombarded with political spin we live in a world where our political choices are reduced to almost zero. Faced with a hostile world and lies from every direction is it any wonder that there is a need to retreat to try and find some peace and humanity. The voices on the television make promises and soothing noises then wage unjust wars in our name. The lies fall like honey and nothing changes.
These songs are a retreat into the one place that no government has yet found a way into, the free and open spaces of the mind. They are spontaneous and mediative reflections looking for an inner peace in a world made ugly by hatred and war. They symbolize a kind of "walkabout" and a reconnection with a lost sense of belonging spiritually, intellectually and physically with the world we inhabit. The music here looks for a sense of inner being that one can only find in quiet isolation.
The release is limited to 500 copies and comes in a stylish digisleeve with artwork by Robin Storey." [label info]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Time-loop Anomalies |
CD |
"Time-Loop Anomalies", the next Rapoon offering on Zoharum after "Disappeared Redux", contains more than an hour of eerie, ethereal music lingering on the borderlands of dreamworld and reality. Robin Storey, the man behind the moniker, delivers yet again a subtle woven masterpiece, both being a bold step into the new world and in the vein of his earlier projects continuing recurring themes in his artistic work.
Robin says:
"Time-loop Anomalies" is a collection of single tracks and 'starts' in the creative process drawn together and composed into a cohesive collection of pieces. Many times in the method of composing new works different directions and musical elements are created and then honed down into a direction which is built upon and re-enforced throughout the "narrative" of a album. "Time-loop Anomalies" is a collection of short stories put together and given a unifying theme which binds the various elements.
The pieces span a wide timescale, but, in the spirit of quantum mechanics, they are tossed together and create new and different perspectives through the workings of chance and composition. There are hundreds more "starts" that resurface and disappear as time goes by. These are some that made it to the final stage of the creative method and got to be published.
Sputnik remix is my own personal favourite as it is autobiographical, in the sense that I remember looking into the starry skies when I was very young and seeing the little pinprick of light travel through the heavens. It left a deep impression of loneliness and separation upon me ...bleak but beautiful..." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Seeds in the Tide Vol. 1 |
do-CD |
" 'Seeds in the Tide' collects all the rare tracks released on compilations, small or limited formats. The first disc entitled "Keepsakes and Oddities" contains tracks recorded between 1993 and 1999. The second one is a reissue of the ultra-limited CDR version of the well-known "Messianicghosts" album which inclides the original version of the four tracks from that album that are significantly different from their later variants." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2012 |
€16.00 |
|
|
To West and Blue |
CD |
"Not a reissue, not a compilation, but something complete new. "To West and Blue" is 50th Rapoon album and 5th Rapoon release on Zoharum label. And this one will become a staple in our CD players for long time. 7 long, slowly evolving tracks appealing to your subconscious side. An album that is definitely not to everyone's tastes. This one gradually grows on you until you are captivated by its haunting beauty. But there is an underlying uneasiness in it. A sort of clash between reality and a ghost world or a world that is long-gone. With choral voices hidden beneath layers of treated sounds, "To West and Blue" is a stand-out album among Rapoon numerous releases.
Robin Storey talks about this album: These pieces are about the area grew up in in the UK. A peninsula of land which stuck out into the Solway Firth. Surrounded by the sea when the tide was in and surrounded by endless mudflats when the tide was out. When the water covered the ground the line between the sea and the sky was almost non-existent. A diaphanous boundary. The sea came in from the West where the huge skies hung without end in a vault of blue.
The 7 tracks presented on "To West and Blue" were mastered by Maciej Bartkowiak. The cover is based on photos by Robin Storey and the design was handled by Maciej Mehring. The whole production process was overseen by Michał Porwet.
The CD is housed in gatefold sleeve in the vein of Japanese-style vinyl replica and is strictly limited to 500 copies." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Seeds in the Tide Vol. 2 |
do-CD |
"In December last year "Seeds in the Tide Volume 01" saw the light of the date and met with loads of interest. As promised we continue the series with the second installment in this collection of Rapoon rarities. This time, apart from compilation tracks, "Seeds in the Tide" features three (yes, three) rare releases. The first one being "Live at Klanggalerie" tape from 2000; the other 2 being "Pell Mell" and "Ep Et Vee" EPs, all the three released in very small quantities. "Seeds in the Tide Volume 02" is therefore your chance to grab these titles, not on eBay (where they fetch enormous sums), but in one collection at a reasonable price. All in all, the second volume contains 150 minutes of pure sonic bliss with a quality sign, just like any Rapoon release is. Once again, the tracks were faithfully restored by Maciej Bartkowiak. The paintings on the cover is by Mr. Robin Storey himself and the design duties were handled by Zoharum in-house designer Maciej Mehring. The whole production process was overseen by Michał Porwet. Note: this is the second volume in the series. Next year Zoharum is releasing the next volume covering rare tracks from years 2004-2007. This release is strictly limited to 500 copies. Release date: 25.11.2013" [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
|
The Fires of the Borderlands |
do-CD |
"It's been 16 years since the release of Rapoon's masterpiece entitled "The Fires of the Borderlands".
This special edition is comprised of two discs. The first is the main album which is mastered from the original tapes, therefore, it sounds significantly better to the 1998 version. The bonus disc is a 40-minute live recording for the San Francisco-based radio KFJC which again proves that Robin Storey has mastered the ability to creating haunting sonic atmospheres.
This expanded edition of the album is packaged in a digipak sleeve and is limited to 500 copies worldwide." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"In the wake of so many dreadfully digital concoctions of insipid ambient music from the mid to late '90s, a good Rapoon album was a breath of fresh air. The warmth of his analog processes, tape-loop and delay mechanics, and some good-old cassette grit thrown in for good measure was a gnostic beacon to the days of a post-industrial zeitgeist from a previous decade, or century, or millennium for that matter when it came to the best albums from Rapoon. Any sense of timeloss and historical displacement would be considered a victory for most artists; but for Robin Storey and his long-standing Rapoon project, that's been a common parlance from his work. The Fires Of The Borderlands may be Rapoon's best known album, as it was put out originally through the Relapse subsidiary Release back in 1998. It's long been out of print; and it also ranks as one of his better releases. Here, we've got the Polish 2cd reissue of that album, fleshed out with a remastering job from the original tapes and a bonus disc featuring an hour long performance on KFJC down in Silicon Valley.
The album is flush with slow-motion billowings, night-ocean tidal wash, and sibilant blurs, all crafted from Storey's refined use of tape-loops and delay pedals. There's nary a reference to anything infernal or hellish to the hypnogogic cascade of Rapoon despite the album's title. At times, Storey engorges his reverb-drenched loops into a galvanized thrum of drone portent equivalent to the bunker hermeticism of Maeror Tri. But as with most of Storey's work he transcends a gothic nihilism through his application of ghostly dub reflections that could harken to the echoes of some pneumatic lung wheezing in the corner or a derelict monk chanting to a long-forgotten deity. Beautiful stuff.
The live in the studio session is equally as good with Storey lining the wash with distant tribal rhythms and wooden flute gestures thrown in for good measure." [Aquarius Records]
|
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Seeds in the Tide Vol. 3 |
do-CD |
"Third part of "Seeds in the Tide" out now.
The third volume in our ongoing series of albums collating Rapoon's rarities from 2003 and 2004. As always it's composed of 2 discs. The first one features two rare releases; number one is ”Monomyth: Par Avion” CDR (limited to 199 copies only) is a source material for a collaborative album with Birds of Tin, and number two is ”Jane from Whitley Bar” 7” vinyl plus a number of tracks from compilations. The second disc is a real treat as it contains a previously unreleased recording from a 2004 gig in Vienna.
The CDs is housed in a digipak sleeve and the album is strictly limited to 500 copies. The cover was designed by Maciej Mehring based on Robin Storey's paintings. "Seeds in the Tide Volume 3" was mastered by Łukasz Miernik. The whole production process was overseen by Michał Porwet." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
|
A long View across |
CD |
"A Long View Across - refers to the feeling you get when touching an artefact that was made more than 7,000 years ago, in this case stone rock carvings in the Cheviot hills in Northumberland. Spread out across the top of the hills lie huge stone tables carved with many petroglyphs weaving in and out of each other. The sites where you find the carvings are all places with fantastic views across the hillsides and lowlands. Places of great beauty and serenity. There is a sense of "being out of time" at these sites. You are separated from yourself and instead feel a sense of being part of a greater whole. A spirituallity, if you will. The sense of a connection with our ancestors and being part of a continuity. looking backwards and forwards ..a long view across." [Robin Storey]
www.aquarellist.ru |
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
|
A pale blue Door |
BOOK + CD |
"Robin Storey, best known for his musical avatar Rapoon, has written his first book, a 68 page short story about a group of characters navigating an unfamiliar and changing world. “A Pale Blue Door” takes place in the past, the present and the future, and may involve time travel. The people in the story are trying to live their lives as best they can, but a mysterious spaceman floats in and out of view, affecting them in different ways, and never quite touching the ground.
“A Pale Blue Door” is a tightly written, well paced tale that reveals its secrets slowly. Robin Storey’s prose is concise and economical, engaging and seductive. The book begs to be read again and again.
Accompanying the book is a 60 minute Rapoon CD, also titled “A Pale Blue Door”. The compositions utilise recordings of stars, manned space missions, radio signals and emissions made available through NASA’s official website. There are also field recordings made on the marshlands of the Solway Firth in Cumberland.
Extract:
The wind moaned outside the frost rimed windows. It whipped up small eddies of snow and made swirling snow devils in the frigid air.
The landscape took on a surreal, lunar aspect in the moonlight and shadows were deepened in the silvered light.
Something moved in the shadows.
Something not human. It headed for the house with the pale blue door and left no footprints in the snow.
Silently in the sleeping night it drew closer and closer.
Billy woke with the certainty that there was someone else in the room. He sat up and looked towards the end of the bed. In the shadows and gloom he could just about discern the outline of a lumpy squat figure. His eyes grew accustomed to the light and the shadows retreated. He could see that the figure was about five feet tall and had a barrel chest and a thick limbs. The face remained in the shadows but it had a strange luminescence to it. Slowly it seemed to move forward and the face became visible. Billy shuddered. There atop this squat frame was the pale head of a pig. Small dark eyes regarded Billy without emotion.
As silently as it had appeared it vanished again into the shadows. Billy was covered in sweat and shaking. That terrible face was one he had seen before and it left him with a feeling of dread.
He sat staring at the place where the figure had been long after he could no longer see it.
The image burned onto the back of his eyes and some primeval horror clawed at his subconscious. Billy knew intuitively that this horror had existed for as long as man had been alive. It was ancient and mythical and spoke across aeons of time, perhaps even space. He continued to stare into the emptiness until a faint crackling sound brought him back to the present. He listened and tried to understand where the strange noise was coming from. After a long while he realised that the sweat which had poured from him when the dreadful vision had appeared was turning to ice on his body. He leaped from the bed and grabbed clean clothes and pulled them onto his freezing body. He pulled off the soaking bed clothes and tossed them into a far corner of the room and dragged the bed through the doorway into the living room. He went back to the bedroom to get fresh bedclothes and emptied his wardrobe onto the newly located bed, then he got planks and nails and boarded the room shut. He would never set foot in that room again.
The wind blew gently across the marshlands. The short grass rippled like the tide in the sweet smelling breeze. She sat on the turf in her best Sunday dress clutching a small posy of wild flowers she had gathered on the way. Her hair had been cut recently and a few stray strands broke free from the neat bob. She pushed them back in place with her small hands. She wanted to look her best.
Her father fussed around with his photographic equipment. Arranging tripods and lenses and polishing each item in turn with a giant yellow duster, taking great pride in his work and his treasured gadgetry.
She sniffed the air and it smelt sweet and warm. and warm." [label info]
www.soleilmoon.com
|
2015 |
€23.00 |
|
|
Song from the End of the World |
CD |
"Robin Storey otherwise known as Rapoon, and ex member and co-founder of legendary northern group Zoviet France, comes back in the frozen lands of Glacial Movements after his vision of an Europe covered by ice in "Time Frost" (2007). The English artist this time faces a theme recently discovered, and that could dramatically change the destiny of our planet.
Evoking visions of mad scientists, French researchers are set to revive a mega-virus dormant for 30,000 years that they discovered in the permafrost of the Russian Arctic. The researchers, from the French National Center for Scientific Research, say they will take precautions to revive the specimen under safe laboratory conditions. They published a paper detailing their research in the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The group of researchers is headed by Jean-Michel Claverie, who runs a laboratory at the French center. The French scientists, who awakened another Siberian virus, known as Pithovirus sibericum, in a petri dish in the lab in 2013, warn that climate change may awaken dangerous viruses in areas of the far north where soil or permafrost is melting and believe it is better to ‘know the enemy’. They found it near the same area as the latest discovery, which they named Mollivirus sibericum. This is the fourth prehistoric virus found since 2003. Source: ancient-origins.net
Buried deep beneath the ice lies Armageddon Locked in a frozen world it waits There are songs and myths of the coming end The voices are raised in supplication to gods and nature A cold wind howls the ice slowly melts Without understanding of time It waits This is my song from the end of the world Robin Storey, 2016 " [label info]
www.glacialmovements.com
|
2016 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Downgliding |
CD |
"This is the third release on our Carpe Sonum Novum sublabel.
released September 28, 2015
These recordings began with playing Xpand 2, the software instrument included in Pro Tools.
I was listening to the electric piano instruments and tried out a few different settings until I got the sound that became the inspirational building block for these compositions.
A kind of sonar ping.
Lost, lonesome.
A sound resonant with searching and finding.
A hopeful enquiry sent into the depths awaiting reply.
I was reminded of listening to Pink Floyd's Meddle when I was a youngster and the emotional impact sounds and music had when i was just a listener.
Just listening is an important part of composition. Karlheinz Stockhausen said as much.
So did the guys in Can.
Just listening is sometimes the hardest thing you can do.
Just listening is sometimes the most important and rewarding thing you can do.
In these recordings I tried to just listen.
The sea ebbed and flowed." [label info]
www.carpesonum.com
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Seeds in the Tide Vol. 4 |
do-CD |
"Zoharum releases the fourth part in the series of RAPOON's archival recordings entitled "Seeds in the Tide". Like the previous three, this album is divided into two parts. In the first one we find songs from the years 2005-2007 from rare, limited releases, various artists compilations plus a remix of Rapoon made by the project Xela. This first disc, almost 75 minutes long, features a variety of recordings presenting Robin Storey's project from different angles.The second disc is a recording of the next concert from Rhiz in Vienna. This time it is a little shorter, only 45-minute-long appearance, very consistent, strongly contrasting with the first disc." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Wanderlust |
CD |
Winter Light is proud to announce the release of Rapoon ‘Wanderlust' CD, a brand new studio album containing 10 all new and original tracks. Robin Storey aka Rapoon needs no introduction, having released around 60 albums alone under his avant-garde project. Robin has collaborated with many artists over the years and for this release additional vocals for the album have been supplied by the Russian folk singer Tatyana Stepchenko aka TOLOKA.
As the title indicates. ‘Wanderlust’ is the endless yearning, the search for questions and for answers, the horizon ever drawing onward with the lure of what lies beyond. The pull of the mountains and the deserts and the infinitive light of the stars, shining from the distant past. We travel…..
The album is released in a full colour, 6-panel digipack. Artwork and cover design by Midnight Sun Studio with original paintings from Robin Storey.
The CD is comprised of 10 original tracks with a running time of 70:08. Strictly limited to 400 copies.
www.winter-light.nl
"During the cold and eerie autumn season, the best thing that could happen is a record which could easily transform bad weather and dark emotions into something dreamy and wonderful. Rapoon is a fine example of this dreamy atmosphere, and its new record, Wanderlust, is the biggest gift for anyone who wants to participate in this magical travel through a state of wandering.
Wanderlust has been released by a small and obscure Dutch label, Winter-Light. The imprint has released some other releases including two from Seetyca and some other bands. The atmosphere and sound of Wanderlust perfectly describes the goals of Winter-Light as I see them: to spread highly somnambulant music usually in ambient or drone form, refusing anything radical or anything political, instead just focusing on someone else’s dreams or nightmares and exploring that kind of emotion in audio form. The mind of someone sleeping is rather obscure, led by unconscious, filled with many different layers, and Wanderlust is just like that too. It’s hard to simply describe this album in simple terms, but it’s crucial to say that this Rapoon effort is about a lot of things; it’s filled with many elements and every song seems like a different dream.
Rapoon
One big aspect behind the music of Wanderlust is rhythm. The album starts with a beat which pulses like an ocean and leads to an evolution of cascading samples. The structures behind each individual song seems to remain similar throughout the album, with seemingly only samples driving it to the end. Speaking of samples, it’s difficult to recognize their origins, and that seems to be a good element—to a fault. In that way, samples seem to be much more obscure and strange, which is definitely unique. In other songs of Wanderlust, simple synth melodies are used with an equally straightforward yet effective rhythm, creating a stronger style of that ethereal sound. Sometimes, Robin Storey‘s music even sounds sacred, especially with the addition of classic instruments. In other cases, songs on Wanderlust sound more playfully mystical—almost cinematic in scope, like vintage film scores. Gloomy synthesizer sounds create a mood of desolation. Listening though the album, you get the impression that the whole thing is alternating between elevated emotions, ethereal visions, and genuine melancholy.
‘Calling Ghosts’ is unique to the album as it begins with something similar to female Slavic chanting and works its way into a violin performance, distant samples, and some other instruments. Listening to Wanderlust, it‘s difficult to miss just how varied it really is, which is a quality that unveils itself in its fullest glory through Storey’s patented epic atmospheres, especially on ‘You Look Like Something’, whose twelve-plus minutes are filled with strange ambient artifacts.
Rapoon’s Wanderlust is a dreamy landscape full of majestic vibes, strange but suitable samples, and sounds of exotic instruments. Its general atmosphere and the sounds that create it are often so foreign that they feel almost alien in nature—something that Storey is becoming exceedingly talented with at his age. It is the perfect album for this autumn as we work our way into winter, and it‘s intended to be played by a listener every evening just before sleep. The effect of it should be unforgettable."
[Heathen Harvest]
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Sanctus Equinox (Mercury Rising 1 ) |
CD |
We welcome back Rapoon for this, his second release, on our Winter-Light label.
Many people will already be familiar with Robin Storey. Not just for his pioneering work as founder of the industrial group :zoviet*france: in 1979, but also of course for his solo-project Rapoon, which began life in 1992. Now, 25 years after the inception of his solo ambient project, Rapoon is still very much with us and still very much active.
In celebration of this, his 25th Silver Anniversary, we are releasing a triptych of new work from Rapoon entitled ‘The Mercury Rising Trilogy’. The Mercury Rising Trilogy will comprise of three brand new studio albums, all with exclusive material. The albums will bring a new feel to Robin’s work, that of a more off world spacious feel, jazzy in parts with a ceremonial thread running throughout. Each album interlinked by this feel and theme, as the titles suggest, but with each one still having it’s own unique identity.
Here we present to you the first part of the Mercury Rising Trilogy, ‘Sanctus Equinox’.
What if you had created a race of sentient beings and then simply abandoned them, having no further use left for them? What might become of them and what sort of world would these replicants create for themselves, if left to their own devices?
‘Sanctus Equinox’ is a portrayal of that world, a painted landscape of the secret rites and ceremonies practiced by it’s inhabitants. Celebrations and rituals created to overcome the sense of loss and abandonment, after being discarded by their creators, deemed to have no further worth. Scattered across the many moons in their new solar system, they gather en masse to worship under alien skies, bathed in the fractured light of moons and suns. Dressed in splendid costumes, they sing and dance along great winding, standing stone pathways; a procession of vibrant colours and chants moving hypnotically towards stone circles raised high to the heavens.
As the solar winds blow across now empty plains, time stands still as chants of ‘Sanctus Saves….’ echoes through the air.
Processed vocals, atmospheric pads, sub bass patterns, strings and old school sci-fi sounds all exquisitely layered to produce an album of intense beauty. The feel is one of ceremonial celebration and ritualistic joy. A ray of shining hope in the lives of a forgotten people.
winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/sanctus-equinox |
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Hotel Bravo |
CD |
After a longer break Rapoon returns to Zoharum with allbrand new studio recorded album. The eponymous „Hotel Bravo” is a relict of sorts, which lost its splendor with time and water that took away a part of adjacent land. This decaying building is also a symbol. A special place evoking fragile memories, scraps of images and long forgotten conversations. It’s all the movies seen during the time of adolescence. Finally, it’s all the dreams dreamt years ago by guests within its premises…
The above depicts a journey to which Robert Storey invites you on a course of its eight intricately woven sound compositions.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/hotel-bravo
|
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Dust of Souls (re-issue) |
CD |
“Dust of Souls” was previously released by Ultra Mail Prod. Limited to 100 copies release was almost entirely sold out in pre-sale leaving many Rapoon fans empty handed and aurally dissatisfied. Trying to meet the expectations of those who weren’t lucky enough to get this album Zoharum picks up the gauntlet and decides to reissue this important piece of Rapoon’s discography.
Album presents 8 tracks of trance inducing rhythms and sounds. With a use of processed acoustic instruments, electronics and ambient scapes Robin Storey takes us on a journey to the unknown lands and spaces. Near East ethnic influences are served in a form of loop based brain captivating compositions. Think of softer side of Muslimgauze but more ritual and hypnotic.
As usual former member of :zoviet*france: delivers a great piece of listening, where you can fully appreciate his years of experience as musician and independent artist. This is experimental music in its best.
Album comes in 6 panel digipack limited to 500 copies.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/dust-of-souls |
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Pell Mell |
LP |
Originally released as a 2 track CD in 2002 on Staalplaat, after almost two decades “Pell Mell” gets its well deserved remastered reissue on vinyl with bonus track “Scatter” and new cover art!
Album comes on 180g LP limited to 300 copies courtesy of Zoharum.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/pell-mell-extended-edition
|
2020 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Fallen Gods |
do-LP |
‘Fallen Gods’ is the third studio album by Rapoon aka Robin Storey, formerly of :zoviet*france:. Originally released in 1994, ‘Fallen Gods’ emerged amid a prolific early period for the Rapoon project, following in the wake of debut album ‘Dream Circle’ – originally released in 1992 – and second outing ‘Raising Earthly Spirits’, released a year later. Building on the haunting industrial ethers of ‘Dream Circle’ and the esoteric, rhythmic drone of ‘Raising Earthly Spirits’, ‘Fallen Gods’ consolidates many of the sounds and disciplines that had shaped Storey’s work up to this point, while indicating a newfound, concerted focus on classical Indian instrumentation. The results represent a synthesis of myriad ideas, rooted in the duality between modernity and mysticism.
Throughout ‘Fallen Gods’ the reverberant pulse of Tabla-led percussion and the remote tones of what sounds like the Bulbul tarang (aka Indian banjo) resound and repeat in locked instrumental cycles, as vast, atmospheric shadows and echoes are unfurled. On ‘Sanctum’ Storey creates a mesmeric form of ceremonial indigenous music and with ‘Iron Path’ combines ramshackle, automotive percussion and distant zither-like emanations. Intensities are heightened with the title track, as Storey delivers a sidereal melee of barrelling drum sequences, gleaming ambient vapours, and stuttering glossolalia. In these opening exchanges, as with much of ‘Fallen Gods’, archaic modes of musical performance are uniquely reconstructed, as organic elements are subjected to inventive technological processes; primitivism made mechanical.
Presenting a pure vista of celestial drone on ‘Breathing Gold’, the album resumes a hypnotic, scrupulous exploration of perpetual drum cadences, deep modulations of traditional instrumentation and prodigious ripples of spectral, otherworldly resonances on ‘Sataranum’ and ‘Sacrement’. Works of infinite circular rhythms. From here the unadorned ancient tones of ‘Khomat’ and the chasmal nomadic roots music of ‘Dusk Red Walls’ present a shift in momentum, a sense of pause and suspended reflection, before the ascendant finale of ‘Valley’, a coda of undulating keys, expansive FX, and condensed surges of sampled percussion. Altogether these compositions form a deeply arresting body of work that is arguably considered one of Storey’s finest works, a record that still sounds both completely original and remarkably timeless.
An enigmatic landmark in Storey’s early solo output, ‘Fallen Gods’ sees the sound world of the Rapoon project reiterated, expanded and memorably enriched. Across nine tracks Storey weaves together indeterminate, sonorous currents of ambient and experimental electronics with magnetic, sprawling passages of acoustic instrumentation, creating a profound work of entrancing, ritualistic minimalism. Comparisons could be drawn with the panoramic soundscapes of Lustmord, the fourth world ambitions of Jon Hassell, the heavy outernational psychedelia of Psychick Warriors ov Gaia but really ‘Fallen Gods’ illustrates an artist establishing their own trajectory, a distinct indication that Storey had moved way beyond :zoviet*france:. into the flourishing territories and intricate sound environments of the Rapoon project.
Remastered by Colin Potter (Nurse With Wound).
https://abstrakce.bandcamp.com/album/fallen-gods |
2022 |
€27.00 |
|
| |
Skulls on the Plains of Turkey |
CD |
On the latest album, Robin Storey once again invites us to a musical journey closer to the exotic world of the Orient, sparkling with many delicately woven miniatures, based on fragments of melodies, heard as if in the deep sleep phase, when sounds and images reaching us from a distance gently fill the space, giving the impression of an integral part of it. Out of nine tracks filled with tribal rhythms, vocals and a wide palette of colors, an extremely coherent, slightly pulsating ambient emerges in the spirit of the best Rapoon albums. "Skulls On The Plains of Turkey" is also a kind of musical story, inspired by one of those moments when the surrounding space and seemingly ordinary events make us reflect deeper, and which the musician remembers more or less like this: Sitting at a table in front of a bar by the sea in Chania, watching the crashing waves and enjoying the beauty of this place, I watched a ball of white light moving from behind the eastern headland and disappearing behind the west. She was moving at speeds impossible for a boat or plane.
I looked around to see if anyone else noticed ... but everyone was just staring at the glass screens of their phones.
In Terminator 2, young John Connor asks the terminator "we're not gonna do this, are we?" I mean people.
All this can be read somewhere in the small phrases and compositional structures on which this meditative, slightly reflective concept was based.
Album available on CD and in digital version.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/skulls-on-the-plains-of-turkey
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| RASAL'ASAD |
Space.Scape |
CD |
Dreamscape-Synth-Ambient aus Portugal, zum entsubjektivierten wegdriften und meditieren perfekt ! Low price!
“Lush long synth washes, providing the perfect soundtrack for some stargazing or cloud watching. Music that is best enjoyed lying on your back and devoting your time to anything else but listening, dreaming and sleeping your day away. Nice stuff, along the lines of labels as Hypnos or The Foundry.....[Vital Weekly]
|
2002 |
€6.00 |
|
| RATKJE, MAJA / EUGENIUSZ RUDNIK |
In Dialogue with... |
CD |
Release Date: X 2014
Total Time: 50:42
CD | 10 page folded insert | digipack
1. Eugeniusz Rudnik Divertimento
2. Maja S. K. Ratkje In Dialogue with Rudnik
3. Eugeniusz Rudnik Breakfast on the grass in the cave of Lascaux
Making music is to be in constant dialogue with your own aesthetics and preferences. In inspired moments, you can get surprised by where the process leads you. And in welcoming circumstances, there are no limits or sneaking doubts that disallow you to try out any possibility. The electronic music made by Eugeniusz Rudnik unquestionably encourages such a position. Working with his music has been greatly inspiring, and the nature of his music feels strangely fitting to my own approach to electronic media.
Maja S. K. Ratkje
[...]
When asked to compose music based upon some of Rudnik’s classic works, I was thrilled to hear his non-idiomatic use of field recordings and voices. I have worked with such sounds since I first started to create my own electronic pieces. And the always changing arsenal of concrete sounds that I carry along when I improvise live in concerts has many similar qualities to the musical world of Rudnik. I thought this task could go well.
Maja S. K. Ratkje
http://www.boltrecords.pl/2,polish-radio/76,Maja_S_K_Ratkje_in_dialogue_with_Eugeniusz_Rudnik,pl.html
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| RATKJE, MAJA S.K. / JON WESSELTOFT / CAMILLE NORMENT / PER GISLE GALAEN |
Celadon |
CD |
"A record of slowly evolving beauty that gradually unravels its meditative design. Recorded in Norwegian sculptor and painter Emanuel Vigeland' s (1875 -1948) mausoleum in Oslo in 2013. A recording space that is famous for its acoustics and its long and full-sounding reverb. These three tracks utilize both the delicacy and the power of acoustic instruments and human voice in relation to the unique recording space. This is a record that is otherworldly and eerie but also with a great primal expressive force. Performed by four artists from different backgrounds coming together to create this singular set of music. Maja S.K. Ratkje - Voice and Bells. Jon Wesseltoft - Accordion Organ and Harmonium. Camille Norment - Glass Armonica. Per Gisle GalŒen - Zither and Harmonium. Recorded at Emanuel Vigeland Mausoleum May 2013 by Thomas Hukkelberg. Mixed and mastered by Maja S.K. Ratkje." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| RATTI, NICOLA & MARK TEMPLETON |
Resophonic |
LP + booklet |
Nicola Ratti began his musical career as guitar player. Lately his approach is more focused on beat-analog experimentation and sound installation. He is currently working with Giuseppe Ielasi, with whom he formed the project entitled Bellows, Attila Faravelli – as Faravelliratti – and ~Tilde, a trio with Enrico Malatesta and Attila Faravelli.
Resophonic is a work that ponders about the creation of a an illusion. The construction in the fieldwork of a soundscape augmented through the addition of sounds that do not belong to it, and that moves in two cities which have a different origin, size, and surfaces, just like unknown protagonists of souvenir postcards.
A trip to Edmonton and one to Milan, discovering, as we listen, that the difference lies in the sound-dust of whom inhabit them, in the emptiness of the respective places where our foreign sounds have served as a magnifying lens through which observe them.
The 13 issues series is a 16-page A4 magazine that includes 13 pages dedicated to graphic or photographic works strictly related to an audio counterpart that comes in the form of a 12″ record pressed on virgin white vinyl and housed in a transparent PVC sleeve.
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| RE-DRUM |
S |
CD |
"An excellent piece of work by Pavel Aleshin whose drone soundscapes were released by Oophoi's record label Umbra and Slovakia-based Black Orchid Productions. The album explores the area of sacral and infinite, hence the title. S can be seen as the symbol of them.
Re-Drum was founded in 2002 by Pavel Aleshin. The sound of Re-Drum varies from deep drone/noise soundscapes on the first albums to light, warm, even melodic textures in the last works.
For fans of Robert Rich, Lustmord, Troum, Maeror Tri, Lull, Yen Pox
DISCOGRAPHY
'Fragments of the Faith Forgotten' MC 2003 (Black Orchid Productions)
'In the Shadow' CDR 2004 (Black Orchid Productions)
"_" CDR 2005 (Black Orchid Productions)
'Four Whispers for the Bees' CDR 2005 (Umbra)
'Inhalation' CDR split with Rattus 2008 (Black Orchid Productions / Minorlabel / Ambsine)
'S' CD 2009 (Zoharum)" [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| RE-DRUM / B°TONG |
Hush! / Ascending in the Light of an alien Sun |
CD |
"The split album between Russian RE-DRUM and Swiss B°TONG. Each project has prepared 30 minutes for this special release.
Avid Zoharum observers already know Pavel Aleshin's project called Re-DrUm. 5 years ago we released his album "S" and it was our 7th release. In the meantime, he has been touring extensively plus released one full album, a digital EP and offered his music on a split release with Rovar17. Now Pavel returns to Zoharum with 3 new tracks of contemplative nature. They are full of slow acoustic sounds and field recordings. His sound on "Hush!" is less droney than on "S", but much more organic and laid-back.
The second part of this release belongs to Chris Sigdell and his renowned project b°tong. In contrast to Re-DrUm, "Ascending in the Light of an Alien Sun" is a different affair - a dark, brooding affair full of oily drones and treated sounds. Again, composed of 3 songs, it takes you on a trip to the desolate factory inhabited with ghosts of its previous owners.
This special project is released in a mini-vinyl sleeve and is strictly limited to 400 copies worldwide." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| RE-DRUM / EMERGE/ SVART I / LEFTERNA |
split |
MC |
Re-Drum I EMERGE / Svart1 I Lefterna - Split
recycled C90 cassette in clear jewel case, limited edition 50 copies
emerge.bandcamp.com/album/split-20
Grubenwehr Freiburg / attenuation circuit ° GFAC 1001 ° 2022
grubenwehrfreiburg.bandcamp.com ° attenuationcircuit.de
A
EMERGE - empty seat
Re-Drum I EMERGE - Einfarbiger Dom
(live @ DOM, Moskva, 14.09.18)
Re-Drum - Zum Verlust der Muttersprache
dedicated to Dmitry Vasilyev
track 1 & 3 previously released on
Monochrome Visions by Korm Digitaal in 2018
re-dr-um.bandcamp.com
immerge.bandcamp.com
B
Svart1 I Lefterna
1 - 4
Svart1 (Raimondo Gaviano)
Lefterna (Boban Ristevski)
svart1.bandcamp.com
bobanristevski.bandcamp.com
credits
released May 29, 2022
https://grubenwehrfreiburg.bandcamp.com/album/split
With this album, the labels attenuation circuit, run by EMERGE, and Grubenwehr Freiburg, run by Grodock, launch a second series of co-releases. The split tapes in the GFAC series, all using recycled tapes, are aimed at pairing new or lesser known artists with already more widely connected practitioners in the experimental underground scene.
The first tape in the new series emphasises the collaborative spirit on another level as well, because each side features collaborations by two different artists, so four artists in total are heard on one tape. On side A, it's label head EMERGE and Re-Drum. Touring the Crimea and Russia in 2018, EMERGE was present when concert organiser and head of the Monochrome Vision label Dmitry 'Dima' Vasilyev died. The shock and grief over this loss is present in the titles and music of the solo tracks by EMERGE and Re-Drum ('Zum Verlust der Muttersprache' is a German catchphrase referring to getting heavily drunk, 'up to the point of losing one's mother tongue'), which were already released on the Dima tribute compilation 'Monochrome Visions' in 2018, and their collaborative live performance at Moscow's DOM which concluded the tour became a memorial concert for Dima. (The German title 'Einfarbiger Dom' translates as 'Monochrome Dome'.) The fact that such a tour would now be impossible due to the war only adds to the sense of grief and loss conveyed by the Re-Drum/EMERGE side of the tape. Yet the collaborative release itself by a Russian and a 'Western' artist, at this time, is a gesture of hope that personal and cultural relations will prevail.
As for side B, Svart1 is Raimondo Gaviano, who works in the fields of ambient, dark ambient, industrial, techno, live-performances and visuals. In the duo with Lefterna, the project name adopted by the extremely prolific collaborator Boban Ristevski, Svart1 enters into a long-form dialogue. By composing one four-part piece for the whole duration of the tape side, they offer an interesting contrast to side A which is made up of shorter pieces which, in themselves, are more fragmented, interspersed with alienating samples and found sounds.
File under: musique concrète, dark ambient
|
2022 |
€8.00 |
|
| RECCHION, TOM |
Oaxaca Dawn |
pic-LP |
"Elevator Bath's ongoing series of picture disc LPs (each record being adorned with full-color artwork by the recording artist) continues with Tom Recchion's lovely Oaxaca Dawn | Bamboo. Originally slated for release nearly ten years ago, this pair of humble field recordings is now finally available.
Oaxaca Dawn and Bamboo are two raw, unadulterated, and unpretentious snapshots of specific moments in time and space: the early morning cracking of dawn in Oaxaca, Mexico and a windy afternoon in a Hana bamboo forest on Maui, Hawaii. Individually these audio documents are gorgeously simple, matter-of-fact presentations of travels. Together they are a recollection of their natural beauty, impossible to adequately render by any other means.
"I was struck by the cacophony of sounds at the dawn of light in the 'suburb' of Oaxaca where I was staying. It woke me everyday of my week long stay. It was like a barnyard turned up to 11. I brought a DAT machine and two Audio Technica microphones for the purpose of making field recordings on the trip. I woke up before the sun came up and set up the equipment in the dark. The first sound on the record is the moment the sun came over the horizon.
The bamboo forests on Maui were seared into my memory from my first time in Hawaii. On my second trip, armed with a first edition Edirol digital recorder, I hung out in the forest for a couple of hours to make the recordings. I noticed 3 distinct sounds (though there are more). The wood block clunking of the stocks, the squeaking of the thin branches flicking and slipping off neighboring plants and the white noise rustling of the leaves on top of the giant clusters."
This beautiful LP features site-specific recordings and photographs by Tom Recchion, a sound and visual artist/composer/potter/art director and graphic designer. He is the co-founder of the legendary Los Angeles Free Music Society (LAFMS) and has been an active, integral participant in the arts for more than forty years. Recchion lives in Pasadena, California.
This picture disc LP has been released in an edition of 250 copies. Every copy purchased directly from Elevator Bath will include a download code for high quality files of the entire audio content of this LP."
www.elevatorbath.com
|
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
| RED FAVORITE |
same |
LP |
"Jeremy Pisani recorded these 11 tracks between 1996 and 2003. As a resident of western Massachusetts, he shared stages with acts like Sunburned Hand of Man (=vaguely focused free folk), P.G.Six (acid folk, reviewed on next page), MV & EE Medicine Show (=avant music), Flaherty & Corsano duo (=avant music), Dredd Foole (=guitarist / s-sw, -havn’t hear him yet-) and Joshua (psych-folk) has maintained a curiously low profile.
The combinations of fingerpicking guitar meanderings with additional textures and some murmering voice (like on “First”) fits well with music like early Tower Recordings, Six Organs Of Admittance, Currituck Co., etc. Jeremy described his music well as “A soundtrack for dreams, chemical endeavours, human afflictions and distant memories”.
Acoustic guitar is the main instrument, often as acoustic guitar meanderings, with textures and fingerpicking improvisations, combined with some additional instruments like amplified guitar and banjo. On several tracks the guitar is combined with mellotron : on “Routine”, “Cistern”, “Wingshot”, and on the slightly loaded “Flight”. There are also touches of collages with other sounds (like with a distant phonograph on “Agrippa”). The production and mixing is well done and in a combination of songs the concept has been made optimal. I heard for instance an original use of changing the environmental echoes or tensions in the recordings on “Stormwatch”. “Pallid” has also a strangely mixed sound, which has some surreal effect, probably benifits from a less perfect recording. And “Flight” which has a somewhat dense tension is mixed as outro into the quieter acoustic fingerpicking solo. In between tracks with more tension are various very moody instrumental tracks like “Routine”, which has also flute and mellotron. A strange track is “Green Hill Beach” which starts with waves, then has guitar improvisations (amplified and acoustic), some voice whispers, and then evolves to more and more electro-acoustic and electric guitars echoes, to a point of saturation with effects, then calms down as if filtered again to amplified guitar meanderings only. In general I can say that those people who liked the experimental approaches from Six Organs of Admittance should check this artist too. But also fans of Joshua / P.G.Six might notice here a wonderful undiscovered talent.
The last hidden 12th track is a beautiful solo fingerpicking instrumental closer in Middle Eastern mode. A release which definitely deserves to be heard with an official publication." [Psychedelic Folk]
"Red Favorite, a cycle of compositions for guitars, electronics and voices created by Jeremy Pisani was first released as a limited edition CD on Spirit of Orr and is now offered, as it was originally conceived to appear, on an LP. He moved closer and looked through the peephole. And he saw: the world stretched out before him, a quiet and gentle space with a broad expanse of grass that practically glistened in its greenness. A sparkling brook ran through the meadow in the middle distance, and now he saw that the grass was dotted with the pale blue and soft yellow of many blooming flowers, which, half hidden in the grass, stared out at him like so many frightened eyes. On a distant hilltop stood a grove of small pink trees, covered and obscured by the astonishing pinkness of their blossoms. The world had a sense of freshness, as if it might only be minutes old -- washed clean by a careful springtime rain, dried and scrubbed by a solicitous breeze, burnished to its brightness by the rays of a gentle sun. It was an uncomplicated place, a very simple place. But what it had was quite enough; it had all it needed." [label notes] |
2008 |
€15.50 |
|
| REED, RICK |
Dreamz / Blue Polz |
pic-LP |
Rauschig-repetitive Analog- & Mechano-drones, füllig & dicht auf Seite 1, ruhiger & ätherischer auf Seite 2, kreiert mit Analog-Synth, Sinustone-Generator und Kurzwellen-Radio. Das sind quasi die Soundtracks für 2 von RICK REEDS abstrakten Gemälden, die auf dieser picture-disc abgebildet sind. Schöne Arbeit des Texaners mit starkem 70er Jahre Drone & Minimalismus-Touch.
"Beautiful picture disc LP featuring two full-color reproductions of visual works by Rick Reed and two new side-long solo compositions. Reed's fascinating, highly evolved world is represented well by these two new pieces, each of which offers up the kind of droning intensity and unsettling beauty that this veteran noisemaker has come to be known for. Reed's work is very obviously that of an experienced craftsman - one whose sound is a reverent nod to early electronic music underscored by an enduring sensibility for atmosphere and ethereality.
Dreamz began life as the soundtrack for a live visual display by filmmaker Ken Jacobs, which was performed live by Jacobs and Reed at the 2007 New York Film Festival. The record’s flipside, Blue Polz, was also inspired by the work of a filmmaker (originally conceived as a kind of alternate soundtrack to a piece by Fred Worden). All of the music was created using an EMS Synthi A, plus 2 sine wave generators and a shortwave radio. The artwork comes from two original paintings. Reed has been active in the visual arts for more than 20 years; his work is utterly abstract, beautifully enigmatic. These images are the perfect accompaniment to Reed’s otherworldly audio counterparts.
In addition to his solo work, Rick Reed has participated in a number of productive collaborations over the years with Keith Rowe, Jgrzinich (in Frequency Curtain), the Abrasion Ensemble, and SIRSIT. He currently resides in Austin. This picture disc LP has been released in an edition of 260 copies." [label info]
"From the improvisation world of Texas comes Rick Reed, who has been around for quite some time, playing with Keith Rowe (it's this Rick from that AMM title), the Abrasion Ensemble and Sirsit, of whom I never heard. He has had various solo releases on Elevator Bath before. These two pieces here were part of something bigger: one as a 'live visual display by filmmaker Ken Jacobs', and the other one could be an alternative soundtrack to a piece by one Fred Worden. Reed uses a EMS Synthi A, two sine wave generators and a shortwave radio. The first side, if I detected that alright, is a very minimal piece of soft flowing, high pitched tones. Like far away insects chirping whilst the dawn sets in. Over the course of the side dawn gets dark and insects quiet out. The other side start out in the middle of the dark night but it stays night: dark humming organ like drones, which are filtered out over the course of the piece, until some chorus like sounds drop. Of these four sides, this is the most single minded, and for me the least interesting, even when it's not bad either. Two fine to great records, lovely picture disc and highly limited. Yummy." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.elevatorbath.com
|
2008 |
€17.50 |
|
| REED, STAN / GREGOR JABS / FRANK ROWENTA |
Apoplexia 1973 |
CD |
Schon fast sowas wie ein geräuschmusikalisches Hörspiel über Schizophrenie, ein einziger verstörender Psychotrip! Interview-Stücke mit Psychiatrie-Patienten (von 1973) werden verwebt mit Bombardements von akustischen "Alltagswelt"-Informationen, TV, Film & Radiofetzen & Musikphrasen, vokales Material, und elektronischen Sounds, alles heftigst effektiert und übereinandergelegt zu einer überwältigenden Schizophonie, die das Wesen dieser Krankheit spürbar & erfahrbar macht!
"Based on the reel to reel tapes from Klinischen Anstalten Aachen from 1973, this collaboration explores the intimate nature of several patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and their journey through the surreal mental landscape that a diseased mind finds itself lost in so many times. Interviews with patients are woven into dreamscapes of sound, some nightmarish, others almost childlike. Ironic samples scattered throughout the work create a beautifully disturbing listen. What movies will play in your own mind? What voices will speak to you from the inside? Stan Reed is the owner of PsychForm Records & PsychoChrist Productions. His own recording projects include PLETHORA, The Broken Penis Orchestra, The Broken Human Machine, and Blue Sabbath Black Cheer. Gregor Jabs is a new and upcoming German sound artists who records with the psychedelic outfit known as Grillhaus. His first solo CD, Stamen, is also now available on Jeans Records. Frank Rowenta has been involved with surreal sound projects since the early 90's. He is one half of the super group Rowenta/Khan, formed Grillhaus with Mr. Jabs, has recorded several solo CDs and has now started the Jeans Records label out of Aachen Germany, which promises to yield many more audio oddities in the future" [press release]
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
| REFORMED FACTION |
The World Awake / 11 Stueck |
do-CD |
"The World Awake! / 11 Stueck is a new double album from Reformed Faction, the duo of Robin Storey and Mark Spybey. It follows the triple CD release for Soleilmoon, ‘I am the Source of Light I am not a Mirror,” in 2009.
Robin Storey was born in 1955 in Cumbria, England. He studied fine arts at Sunderland University and took classes in electronic and experimental composition, joining with friends to perform the works of Karlheinz Stockhausen (a key influence, as were the Krautrock bands of the early 1970s). In 1979 Storey formed the pioneering industrial group :zoviet*france:, remaining a member until 1992: The same year Storey issued the first Rapoon album, Dream Circle, its entrancing fusion of Indian ragas, African rhythms and experimental textures anticipating the evocative soundscapes of the many releases to follow. Also a noted visual artist and animator, Storey's work has been exhibited throughout the world and is in the collections of many major galleries.
Mark Spybey was born in North Yorkshire, England in 1961. He has always worked in mental health care. After a long time as a member of :zoviet*france: he moved to Canada and worked under the names Dead Voices on Air and Propeller. He collaborated widely, toured and was vocalist of the acclaimed band Download (ex-Skinny Puppy). He was also a member of Sofortkontakt!, led by the late Michael Karoli of Can, appearing at Can’s 30th anniversary shows. Spybey has worked with a variety of artists who inspired his music, including Damo Suzuki of Can, Faust, Michael Rother (Neu!, Harmonia and Kraftwerk), Dieter Moebius (Cluster and Harmonia), Genesis.P.Orridge (Throbbing Gristle/Psychic TV), James Plotkin, Martin Atkins, Mick Harris and The Legendary Pink Dots. He returned to the U.K in 2000. The World Awake! Was originally intended for a vinyl release and recorded from improvisations made on one day in November of 2009. 11 Stueck was compiled from improvisations made on December 1st 2009, with drummer Christian Alderson and bass player Oscar Ruiz Fernandez. The Austin Texas based musician Tony D’Oporto, aka Gnome, also appears on one track. The work references the writing of Henry Miller, in his aptly entitled essay, “With Edgar Varese in the Gobi Desert.” “The World Awake! Just to repeat that to yourself five times a day is enough to make an anarchist of you. How would you awaken the world – if you were a musician? With a sonata for rusty tin openers? Have you ever thought about it? Or would you rather remain asleep?” “We have been educated to such a fine – or dull – point that we are incapable of enjoying something new, something different, until we are first told what it’s all about. We don’t trust our five senses. We rely on our critics and educators, all of whom are failures in the realm of creation.” Varese said, “What should be avoided; tones of propaganda. As well as any journalistic speculation on timely events and doctrines. I want the epic impact of our epoch, stripped of it’s mannerisms and snobberisms…. Imagination is the last word.” This first edition of “The World Awake/11 Stueck” is presented in a high-quality screen printed perfumed sleeve with printed slipcases for each disc. It is limited to 444 copies." [label info]
|
2012 |
€20.00 |
|
| REFORMED FACTION [OF SOVIET FRANCE] |
The War Against... |
CD |
"REFORMED FACTION is a band featuring ROBIN STOREY (RAPOON) and MARK SPYBEY (ZOVIET FRANCE). Their second album 'The War Against...', was cultivated from hours of improvisations made whilst watching Werner Herzog movies and drinking red wine. Spybey would record Storey and then manipulate the sounds, combining rough mixes of the pieces with sounds of his own. Themes from the recording sessions were played in live concerts and then reworked for the final version of the album. This 2012 reissue of "The War Against" is presented in a tastefully screenprinted slipcase." [label info]
www.soleilmoon.com
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| REHBERG, PETER |
Peter Rehberg at GRM |
LP |
Shelter Press and INA grm are pleased and moved to present two previously unreleased recordings of Peter Rehberg, two live performances given at the GRM which, each in their own way, vividly illustrate the extent of his sonic palette. On July 22, 2021, Peter Rehberg passed away, leaving a great emptiness in his wake. Many initiatives have already celebrated or will soon celebrate his memory and the titanic work he put at the service of so many artists - a whole musical community, in fact -- through Editions Mego. INA grm, Shelter Press and Stephen O'Malley, who are continuing some of the collaborative Editions Mego sub-labels (Recollection GRM, Portraits GRM and Ideologic Organ), wanted to pay tribute more specifically to the musician Peter Rehberg, and to his immense talent. Peter Rehberg, as an artist, has collaborated with the GRM on numerous occasions, both with Stephen O'Malley (as KTL) and solo. This release features two concerts given for the GRM, each time as part of the Présences électronique festival. The first concert, given on March 15, 2009 at the Maison de la Radio in Paris, marked the first collaboration between Peter Rehberg and the GRM and the beginning of a long and fruitful friendship. The second concert took place on March 6, 2016. Between these two concerts, seven years have passed, seven years in which the ties between Peter Rehberg and the GRM have been strengthened, seven years in which Peter Rehberg's music has flourished. What is striking in these two concerts is how Peter Rehberg's unique musical sensitivity and "grammar" can be heard beyond the instruments. For while the first concert is pure laptop music, the second is extended to the field of modular synthesis. However, in both concerts, the elements that are so personal to Peter Rehberg's music are present and combine in a layering of sonic abrasions, raw sensations and a sensitivity that is as much about formal awareness as it is about the invocation of overwhelming emotions, even though a little hidden behind a radicality that is always a bit provocative. Peter Rehberg offers us a "portrait music", a music that gives some clues about the personality of its author and whose absence continues to deepen an inconsolable sadness.
A1. at GRM (2009) (21:24)
B1. at GRM (2016) (17:33)
|
2022 |
€20.00 |
|
| REIDER, C. |
Aughtet |
CD-R |
Stunning work from C.REIDER where he works with human language which is processed & computerized extremely.... listen to totally fragmented voices, like in a dissociative or psychotic process, when language looses its meaning or gets a new one....the whole creates an unsettling atmosphere....very much recommended !
“c. reider's tendency to manipulate the human voice into weird patterns is explored to its fullest on this release. Voice samples from friends were rendered into rumbling guttural grunts, incoherent alien poetry, spiky shards of plosives, singing where once there was no singing, and smooth grains of foreverness. 99% of the sound sources on this recording come from someone's mouth.” [label info]
|
2003 |
€8.00 |
|
| RELAPXYCH.0 |
City Nightlights |
CD |
"Ghost Sounds present one of their most sublime and engrossing releases to date courtesy of relapxych.0. 'City Nightlights' was built upon field recordings from areas around Stockholm central station, Stadshuskajen, Riddarholmen, Tegelbacken and some abandoned and architecturally left-behind areas under and beneath the main central station, imbuing the six tracks with a tangible spectral presence and greatly enhances their organically drifting nature. The eponymous opener sets the scene with thirteen minutes of depth plumbing dub techno shapes, setting expansive parameters for the rest of the album to fill. The second part sheds the rhythmic anchor to spin off into gaseous free space, which turns colder and more oppressive in the shadowy disturbances of 'Interdimensional'. The quaking seismic pulses of 'Landmark II' signal firmer territory, subtly adjusting the pressure levels for re-entry with 'City Nightlights III' and the blissful tonal scapes of 'City Nightlights (Beat Reduced)'." [Boomkat]
Weitere Infos: http://www.myspace.com/relapxych0acoustics#ixzz14L8XYnoD
www.myspace.com/relapxych0acoustics
|
2010 |
€10.00 |
|
| RENALDO & THE LOAF |
Gurdy Hurding |
CD |
"Possibly the thing in the world that you never expected to happen, but luckily you were wrong: Klanggalerie are proud to present you the brand new album by Renaldo & The Loaf. 30 years after "The Elbow is Taboo", Renaldo & Ted The Loaf have created another fabulous record. 13 songs in classic RATL style with an incredible cover by the wonderful Poxodd. All the RATL trademark sounds are there, but of course technology has not passed unnoticed, so there is a 2016 approach to the music, too. This is what the band say: "Olleh! Hard to believe almost 30 years have passed since Elbow Is Taboo but finally we have decided it’s about time for a brand new album. So... (surprise!).... Gurdy Hurding is soon to be released by Klanggalerie . With a wonderful cover design and artwork by Poxodd, the collection of 13 tracks is scheduled to be released on October 25th. Renaldo & Ted". British avantgarde at its purest by who was often called The English Residents. Track list: 1. Henri Rise 2. Pessimistoc Song 3. A Convivial Ode 4. Scent Of Turnip 5. The Moment Is Lost 6. Gurdy Hurding 7. Improbable Legs 8. Carrot Ballet 9. Asper Dorsalis 10. Djinn House 11. Gladsome Vane 12. Early Twirly 13. Optimism" [label info]
"The style of Renaldo and the Loaf is immediately recognizable, with goofy voices and exaggerated accents, bizarre lyrics involving topics like garden gnome bedmates or a hatred of soap, non-obvious chords and melodies, acoustic instruments played abnormally and extreme sound manipulation to make everything sound unnatural. On Gurdy Hurding, the duo’s original bizarre vigor is still strong, although there are some technological enhancements. (...) Gurdy Hurding is a true statement of the duo’s fun yet uneasy spirit with an emphasis on creating interesting sounds and a relentless devotion to manipulate each one until it’s sufficiently peculiar."
(The Pulse, November 2016)
|
2016 |
€14.50 |
|
| RENOU, CHRISTIAN |
Flou |
CD |
„So let your soul speak, wake up or die.“ Das inzwischen eigenständige Sub-Label von Cold Lands bringt nun eine Reihe von „fabrikgepressten“ limitierten CDs raus, die von Drone exklusiv vertrieben werden !
Der ex-BRUME C. RENOU spinnt hier auf sechs neuen Stücken einen weiteren, wenig angenehmen Trip in die Untiefen des Selbst zurecht, spannungsreiche Geräuschmusik die immer kurz vor der Explosion zu stehen scheint, eiskalt und hart an der Oberfläche, aber von tiefer verzweifelter Emotion im Inneren geprägt... authentisch spricht hier RENOU ein erkaltetes, versteinertes Selbst an, wo der feurige wahre Kern nur noch im Verborgenen glüht.....
Im Inlay übrigens eine Gesamtdiskographie von BRUME / RENOU !
Six new pieces of RENOU’s inner soul-trip music, hard & cold on the surface, but with a hidden, very emotional inner side.... fabric-pressed CD by the COLD LANDS-Sublabel, exclusive distro through Drone Records !
|
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Fragments and Articulations |
CD |
Der Alt-Meister des konkret-intensiven Flows, BRUME, macht nun unter seinen bürgerlichen Namen Christian Renou weiter. Auf „Fragments and Articulations“ überwiegen die atmosphärischen Parts – geblieben sind Fülle, Dichte und Detailreichtum der Klänge.
The old master of the concrete-intense flow, BRUME, continues under his real name, on this release the more atmospheric sounds predominate.
“ -- Fragments & Articulations #1 - A short, isolated sequence, taken from a drum part of an URIA performance (a mutant jazz rock band that Christian played in) from 1982, was used as the basic sound source which was then processed and manipulated with a computer. Final recording, May 2002.
-- Fragments & Articulations #2 - A field recording (Riva-Bella, 1997) has been re-injected into an old computer with a damaged CYRIX processor which decomposed the sounds into something much better. Final recording, April 2002.
-- Fragments & Articulations #3 - Very dirty frequencies, generated by a home-made Galene receiver were processed by computer. Final recording, June 2002. Samples of each track are available at www.groundfaultrecordings.com” [press release]
|
2002 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Gone with the Wound |
mCD-R |
Finally, new material from RENOU, very eerie & threatening stuff with rising drones & alienated voice-material. So good & intense..
"Years and years ago, Christian Renou was known as Brume, but already since six or so years he works under his name, and changed his sound a little bit. As Brume the sound collage was his main interest, but under his own name, he seems to have developed a love of sustaining and droning sounds. 'Gone With The Wound', in two parts is no different. Elements of collating sounds are still there, but throughout the pieces, the long journey is the central theme. Still quite powerful stuff. Part one is loud and clear present, whilst the second part uses more covered up sounds." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
"it's a great pleasure for us to welcome Christian Renou in the taâlem series. active for more than 20 years, first under the Brume alias, he has released many discs (and countless tapes in the old days) on many international labels like Staalplaat, Release, Ground Fault, Drone Records, Old Europa Cafe and more recently Fario or Waystyx.
this in two parts is a highly evocative journey with constantly evolutive sounds between experimental, ambient and drone... processed recordings from various different sources for a captivating & fascinating result." [label info]
|
2007 |
€5.00 |
|
| |
Ex-Voto |
CD |
In den Liner-Notes zu EX-VOTO erklärt CHRISTIAN RENOU das Scheitern seines Anspruchs, mit Beendigung von BRUME alle narrativen & lyrischen Elemente hinter sich zu lassen und die reine "Struktur von Klang als Molekular-Zustand" zu erforschen (seitdem benutzt er Computer zur Sounderzeugung & Aufnahme). Alles Nachdenken und Philosophieren über Musik half ihm nicht, den "wahren" Kern zu finden, denn "Mikro"- und "Makro"-Struktur sind letztlich ein und dasselbe, selbst die abstrakteste Form von Klang erzeugt Narration sobald sie ertönt. Diese frustrierende Erkenntnis führt aber zu einer neuen Freiheit in der Komposition, letztlich ist all seine Musik einfach "Seelen-Musik" und nichts anderes.
Auf EX-VOTO geht RENOU neue Wege und benutzt geräuschhafte Feldaufnahmen aus einer Kirche (dort gespielte Violinenklänge & Gesang). Es gibt wunderbare melodische Parts und elektro-akustische Noise-Elemente, Wasser- und Strömungsklänge, irgendwo taucht pathetischer Frauengesang auf, Verfremdung und Re-Kontextualisierung setzt RENOU wieder in sagenhafter Art und Weise ein. So viele verschiedene Ebenen & Stimmungen hier sind zu erfahren , kurz: EX-VOTO ist ein beeindruckendes Werk mit mehreren Bedeutungs- & Erfahrungsebenen, für mehrmaliges Hören wie geschaffen..
Wie auch für viele der BRUME-Alben gilt: unsere wärmste Empfehlung !
"Ex-Voto - a votive offering to a saint or divinity. ‘I see words’. With ‘ex-voto’, Christian Renou has forsaken his analogue machines to encourage a fresh approach via digital technology. As Renou states in his liner notes – he cannot escape narrative structures in his music – his sounds are so evocative of soundtracks without an actual film – encouraging the listener to conjure their own accompanying images.
Yes, it is incredibly melodic, hauntingly so, though at times this is broken by shards of noise and implacable clicks. Midway through ‘ex-voto’, alien beats provide a base for further evocative outpourings of human vs. machine visions. The introduction of strings brings an elegiac quality to the composition. Renou, when creating this narrative, did not deny the ghosts of history in the name of progress…
The disintegration and contamination of a guitar motif appears alongside chopped rhythms and often indistinguishable words. These distant, half-remembered voices babble incoherent noise which battle against the sweet, sweet cracked melodies which pitter-patter and dance around your head. An underlying, delicate metallic whirring plays against a near indecipherable reverie, before the initial guitar melody rears its head for a final time. Layer upon layer of hubble, bubble, toil, but no trouble, ensures this body of work to be Renou’s masterpiece [Frans de Waard / Vital claimed that this more melodic route was something that he’d like to hear more of, whereas Barry G. Nichols / Whiteline blog / Spekk recording artist, extolled the virtues of Renou’s ‘genius’ with this recording] 'I see death'. The cd is packaged in the usual high standard expected of elsieandjack. spot varnish and silver ink over beautiful photography and simple layout, printed on thick cardstock - plus Renou’s liner notes printed on a vellum overlay.
Remember, there is a hand-numbered edition of 100 with laser-etched jewelcases only available direct from Christian Renou and elsieandjack." [label info]
www.elsieandjack.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| RESGESTAE |
Etat d'Urgence |
CD |
"RESGESTAE is the project of Nicholas P., an experimental musician living in Athens, Greece. Using samples, field-recording, etc. he creates post-industrial, cinematic soundscapes, incorporating true political, social and economic elements. "Etat d'Urgence" is no more than a social control soundtrack, an experience in our daily lives of fear. Recommended to all those who like POST-SCRIPTUM and PROPERGOL.
RESGESTAE is the project of Nicholas P., an experimental sound-artist living in Athens, Greece. He started creating post-industrial music in 2005 with a dark-ambient project called [distopia] which released a couple of full-length albums, split-releases and a few EP's on various independant labels.
From 2010, being infatuated with the dark-ambient and "horror" concept, Nicholas started experimenting using wave editing software, working with field-recordings and other sound samples. RESGESTAE was born. The name could be translated to "things done", or the space of time that occurs from commiting a crime to the sentencing for that crime.
RESGESTAE is influenced by contemporary politics viewed from a social prism. Nowadays, everything ranging from a discovery of a virus to the theoretical definition of a new field of economic competition is a political act that affects everyone's social life. He's also influenced by the works of W.S.BURROUGHS, F.NIETZSCHE, Aldous HUXLEY, CRITICAL ART ENSEMBLE, Jacques MESRINE and various street articles.
RESGESTAE's purpose is to compose contemporary power-electronics with both "cultural terrorism" and an esoteric aesthetic. For him, the "typical" power-electronics sound , mixing harsh electronics and up-front vocals has gone into hiatus. His purpose is to use extreme frequencies, samples and drones to form a deep sub-sonic landscape. This creates a cinematic experience incorporating true political, social and economic elements. That's why this first release deals with media control, the deep state, technoscience and biotechnology. "Etat d'Urgence" is no more than a social control soundtrack, an experience in our daily lives of fear." [label info]
www.nuitetbrouillard.com
|
2015 |
€12.00 |
|
| RESIDENTS |
Metal, Meat & Bone (Six Songs Inspired By Dyin' Dog) |
LP |
During the recording of their ‘Metal, Meat And Bone’ album,
wherein The Residents produced their own versions of songs originally recorded by Alvin Snow, aka Dyin’ Dog, the group found themselves experiencing a number of peculiar and unexplainable sensations. Call them what you will – impulses, cerebral interferences or just good old vibes – this was nothing new for The Residents, but what was unusual was the group’s developing belief that these sensations may have been spiritual resonances reaching them from whichever plain the long-lost Snow now inhabits.
Intrigued, The Residents began to actively open themselves up to whatever was happening, and slowly but surely ideas for songs, lyrics, melodies and rhythms the group could neither explain nor claim entirely as their own began to appear in their collective thoughts. And so this collection of songs inspired by Alvin Snow and those peculiar vibrations came into being. This isn’t Alvin’s music, but it is music which couldn’t possibly exist without those original Dyin’ Dog recordings, and without the journey they took The Residents on.
The Residents
So The Residents play Alvin, and somehow Alvin, it seems, plays The Residents. We’ll never know for sure what went on during those recordings sessions, but here is all the evidence we need that some special happened. Equal parts pan-dimensional projection and group exorcism. Or, perhaps, just the collective hallucinations of a bunch of guys who partied too hard in the seventies
|
2020 |
€28.50 |
|
| RETARDER |
Enquiries |
CD |
"I’ve been waiting for this one to come for quite a while. The solo debut of Lloyd James, known for what he has done in NAEVUS for the last decade.
Rumors about this commitment found their way to me shortly after ”Silent Life” and I thought to myself that ”gotta sound like Clapton” but no no no. As RETARDER, Lloyd sets out on a very edgy and stormy voyage, full of obstacles to overcome. It’s very experimental, most of this material could possibly destroy a NAEVUS album and sometimes, it’s even more weird than that LARK BLAMES album he did together with Marc Blackie (SLEEPING PICTURES). Not two tracks sound the same but that’s just a statement I establish and, it’s neither positive nor negative, it’s just the way it is.
The intro is a long and exhausting piano improvisation with some horns hidden underneath. Could probably call it arty or something. It doesn’t sound too good, which is probably the whole idea, but it does something with you and you will feel like... Empty afterwards.
The second track has a slightly proto post-punk feeling, a simple, mechanic riff and a vocal loop is the core and I must say it sounds quite cool.
”Tongue in the Wind” takes the listener on a multi-layered ambient trip, where spacey sounds are mixed with something that resembles a theremin.
Track four is called ”Father Duncan” and it’s probably the least experimental one, actually, it could be a NAEVUS song with that strummed guitar and simple drum pattern. We’re also given some Lloyd-singing and pretty nice lyrics as usual when he’s the author. A nice track and a well deserved break between all the madness that went by and that awaits; ten seconds into the fifth track you’ll succumb to the feberish nightmare sounds, could probably go under the parole noise lite. ’Tis really lots of deranged and distorted sounds swirling around and around for about, what it feels like, half the day, and it’s a really scary track if you ask me.
”Superman’s Cave” is another ambient one and once again with lots of mysterious bleeps that sounds like something from my childhood, can’t tell what though, but it’s certainly has a nostalgic feeling.
”Modern Evening” is nice, maybe my favorite, and sounds very apocalyptic and atmospheric and we get some singing again, over slow and brooding electric guitar harmonies and strange effects, and then finally we have ”Chalk is Valuable, Keep it in Your Hand” that could as well be a tribute to CABARET VOLTAIRE and their mysterious ”Exhaust” with a deranged voice popping up at random going ”Chalk... Hand...”, after a while accompanied by some garage guitars and a monologue by Lloyd. The end.
So, that was the album I’ve been waiting for? Did it fill my expectation? Sure did. It’s awesome to hear Lloyd in such a different context than what I’m getting used to. It feels fresh and the entire album is awfully well done. It may not be the first choice for everyone and just because you fancy NAEVUS, I can’t guarantee that this will work you you. Open up all your senses and prepare for a while. Give it a shot. And then another. Personally, I think this shows that mr. James is an artist capable of doing almost anything with success." [review by The Shadows Commence]
more info : www.myspace.com/retarder
www.touretterecords.com
|
2009 |
€6.00 |
|
| REUDENBACH, MICHAEL |
Szenen, Standbilder, Werke 1991-2009 |
do-CD |
"zur selbstverständlichkeit wurde, dass nichts, was die kunst betrifft, mehr selbstverständlich ist, weder in ihr noch in ihrem verhältnis
zum ganzen, nicht einmal ihr existenzrecht." mit diesen worten eröffnet adorno ende der 1960er jahre seine "ästhetische theorie".
"An Klangsetzkästen aus Zeit lassen diese Stücke denken: äußerst sparsam bestückt mit munkelnden Tonzeichen, Geräuschfundsachen, ins Irreguläre kippenden Pulsationen, skelettierten Nachtschattenereignissen. Und in dem, was an Stille ins Unendliche sich weitet, kann man lauschend den Nachhall eines existenziellen Bebens gewahren. Die Interpreten agieren hochakkurat und mit heilig-nüchternem Ernst." (Für die Jury: Helmut Rohm; Quelle: Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, Bestenliste 2-2013)
CD 1
trio. studie für klavier, violine und violoncello 10:49
choral für stimme und fünf instrumente 7:49
und aber. musik für streichquartett 16:24
kommen — überschreibungen für 5 stimmen 11:36
trio 3 für bassetthorn, bassklarinette und klavier 10:08
mirlitonnades pour petite flûte 2:45
59:43
CD 2
zählergesang für ensemble 10:47
schnitt & fortsetzung für flöte, harfe, gitarre, klavier und pauke 10:26
duo pianism für zwei klaviere 8:12
ahto. musik für 8 instrumente 12:30
stratton für ensemble 11:34
szenen, standbilder für vier instrumente 9:24
62:55
[label info / credits]
www.edition-rz.de
|
2013 |
€21.50 |
|
| REUTOFF |
Gute Nacht, Berlin |
CD |
Zweites Album der russischen dark ambient Industrial – Koryphäen, eher ruhig–introvertiert-melancholisch wie auf den frühen Tapes, mit deutlichem WW II - Bezug. Die Musik wirkt wie ein Epitaph, das voller niemals zu überwindender Trauer die Erinnerung an die Schrecken der jüngeren Geschichte wach halten will...
“....Fifth opus from the Russian trio, 'Gute Nacht, Berlin!' as the previous 'The Fourth Face' 10" and 'ReuTRauM III' 7" is also released by the Austrian label HauRuck! This is the 2nd CD in the Reutoff discography. Released just a few months after 'Unseen Rituals', 'Gute Nacht, Berlin!' is musically very close to the previous mentioned album. The ambiances are the ones we expect when listening to this band: sometimes ritual, hidden... sometimes floating, atmospheric... but always with the undescribable 'something' specific to Reutoff that sets them apart from other bands...
No need to give more details, as the whole album is brilliant. Nevertheless I can't prevent myself from underlining the beauty of the second title 'die sunden der vater'. Just let yourself be carried away by the magnificent soundscapes and the drawn out melody... A very long (11 minutes) industrial ambient piece that is certainly one of the very best Reutoff titles I have ever heard!
The album also features two new versions ('Libera me (edit)' and 'Allegoria No. 3') of excellent tracks present on the first tape of the band ('Das Absterben' released in 1998), re-released a few months ago on CD-R by the Italian label By Blade. For those who do not own this tape or the very limited CD-R, this an excellent opportunity to listen to two compositions based on ancient works...
'Die rote fahne' also deserves to be mentioned... Built upon a combination of small, minimalist and repetitive noises with a rather epic Russian song (extracted from or mixed with a film?), this original composition will endlessly intrigue the listeners... The CD comes in a nice full-coloured digipack and is obviously highly recommended, while waiting for the soon to be released fifth part of the ReuTRauM series...” [NathalieF., Heimdallr]
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Deprivatio |
CD |
Ganze fünf Jahre nach "Gute Nacht, Berlin" endlich das neue Album der Moskauer Ambient Industrial / Elektronik Band, die es wie wenig andere verstehen eine wirklich hoffnungslose Atmosphäre zwischen Misantrophie und trister Melancholie aufzubauen...
"... Reutov ist eine von Moskaus kleinen Satellitenstädten, die haupt-sächlich aus Industrieanlagen besteht. Ihr wird von den Band-mitgliedern, die alle in der Nähe leben, eine ganz besondere Atmosphäre zugeschrieben, die man beim Hören der Musik als trübe Industriemelancholie zwischen Zerfall und Science Fiction begreifen könnte; eine Stimmung, wie sie in Deutschland manche alte Häfen oder Güterbahnhöfe ausstrahlen. Ein Faible für den Klang der deutschen Sprache, das sich auch in vielen deutschen Songtiteln ausdrückt, hat aus dem 'v' am Ende der Stadt das doppelte 'f' für den Bandnamen werden lassen.
Wie immer ist auch dieses REUTOFF-Album eine Antwort auf die Frage, wozu eigentlich Dark Ambient erfunden wurde. Die fantastisch-düstere Stimmung erwächst stets aus der Musik der Russen selbst, und nicht – wie bei vielen Genrekollegen – aus den großen Worten, die begleitend zur Musik gemacht werden. Aber – endlich eine Veränderung – "Deprivatio" ist nicht mehr so durchweg archaisch wie noch die ersten Arbeiten, es ist ebenfalls nicht mehr so homogen industriell wie die beiden letzten Alben "Unseen Rituals" (2002) und "Gute Nacht, Berlin!" (2003). Die neue CD ist die bislang dynamischste, abwechslungsreichste, aufregendste und futuristischste Veröffentlichung von REUTOFF.
Hypnotisch ist der Beginn. Zum Dauerloop eines Kindersummens gibt eine rauchige, weibliche Sprechstimme auf Englisch Anweisungen, was zu tun ist: "Stellen Sie Sich vor, Sie sitzen in einem riesigen Theater mit schwarzen Sitzen und können nur eine einzige Sache sehen..." So düster und geheimnisvoll die ersten Sounds, so beruhigend sind die Worte. Später passt sich die Musik an und entspannt sich Richtung Downbeat, garniert mit verhuschten Männerstimmen und noisigen Geräuschen. Der Opener bereitet die futuristische Atmosphäre, die das ganze Album durchzieht. Noch häufiger im Verlauf der knapp 73 Minuten kommt sich der Hörer vor, als würde er durch einen von STANISLAW LEM entworfenen Park lebender Maschinen wandern. Auch das intelligente Songwriting – wenn man bei einem zehnminütigen Dark Ambient-Track davon überhaupt sprechen kann – offenbart sich gleich zu Beginn. Überraschungen wie eine eingeflochtene und beinahe folkige Akustikgitarre sowie versteckte und vertrackte Melodien und Rhythmen machen aus einem langen auch einen sehr abwechslungs-reichen Soundteppich. Es folgt ein eher klassisches Dark Ambient/Noise-Stück, dessen Drones in Verwandtschaft zu SAL SOLARIS gleißen und schimmern wie Sonnen im Weltall. Großes Kino, im wahrsten Sinn des Wortes, denn REUTOFF-Alben werden immer gerne mit der Stimmung von Filmmusiken oder Filmen – unter anderem "Stalker" von TARKOWSKIJ – verglichen. Und selten traf dieser Vergleich so zu wie bei "Deprivatio", auch bedingt durch die technisch hervorragende, satte Produktion.
"American Whores" geht dann wieder einen gänzlich anderen Weg. Die Collage bringt zu einem Bass, der auch MASSIVE ATTACK oder MOBY alle Ehre machen würde, ganz unterschiedliche Samples zusammen. Musik der 1920er-Jahre, fast eine Minute lang solo. Dazu verdichten sich die Trainerin eines Fitnesskurses und ein Kirchenprediger mit Chor – in Kombination mit dem Namen des Songs – zu einer infernalischen Amerikakritik. Nie wirken solche Samples belanglos, sie unterstützen bei REUTOFF immer die Atmosphäre des Tracks.
Auch der einzige deutsch betitelte Song, "In Die Leere Gehen", ist eines der Highlights: Hier ein strahlendes Universum mit synthetischen Engelschören, dort düstere Gewittercluster, die glauben machen, dass sich die Hölle öffnet – fehlt nur noch ein Sample von Luzifer persönlich. "Sun Of Sleepless" ist mit seinen knallenden und knirschenden Beats eine weitere Empfehlung für die Macher des nächsten Endzeit-Streifens; mit laut wehenden Fahnen geht die Welt unter. Und zum Abspann verglüht "25-th Hour" wie die letzte Moll-Hoffnung eines im futuristischen Kerker eingesperrten VANGELIS. Für so viele Höhepunkte übersieht man gerne die wenigen schwächeren Momente, etwa die Mischung aus Ethno und Dark Ambient mit piepsigen Loops menschlicher Geräusche ("Nemesis").
Alles an "Deprivatio" atmet russische "Metropolis"-Atmosphäre. Das Individuum zwischen Experiment, größenwahnsinniger Industrie, Verlassenheit und Zerfall. Damit ist die neue REUTOFF-Veröffentlichung längst nicht mehr nur ein Stimmungsbericht aus Reutov, sondern ein Abbild des neuen, modernen Russlands. Genreuntypische Experimente, die gekonnte Verknüpfung diverser Samples und Abwechslung in Tempo und Klangbild sorgen dafür, dass "Deprivatio" eines der besten und ausdrucksstärksten Dark Ambient-Alben der vergangenen Jahre ist. Es macht außerdem sehr neugierig auf die angekündigten Kollaborationen im Herbst." [Michael We. für nonpop.de]
"Finally, since five years after their 2003 “Gute Nacht Berlin” on Albin Julius HauRuck!, here is the long-awaited full-length solo CD from this most well-known Russian industrial project worldwide. “Deprivatio” is a sad story of a person surrender to the enemy environment, it’s about idle struggle with time and fatigue, about constant withering of passions and imminent vitality deprivation. Being maybe the most hopeless and sad work for the band, this album is paradoxically their most rhythmic and dynamic. There are more noisy drum loops and electro sounds here than martial drum patterns and old school noise, but their unique deep and profound melodic main themes are still remain as the basement for the brilliant new tracks of despair and downfall. The ascetic b&w artwork was done by Murad Ibatullin known for the recent “Iznutri” compilation. The release comes as a jewel box with 6 panel booklet, the first 100 copies come with 33x21 two sided poster." [label info]
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
|
NullRauM |
do-CD |
"Retortae is proud to present an epic work from the most world well-known Russian industrial combo called Reutoff which has just celebrated its 15 years of existance. NullRauM is a collection of all the tracks included in ReuTRauM series initially released as seven 7” vinyls issued by seven different labels in seven different countries as well as four tracks made especially for this collection. The entire period of its creation took around 15 years – as long as the project exists – and it could be considered as the band’s most important work to date. Complex dark drone ambient structures typical to Reutoff presented here in all their historical development, from the very first 7” released in 2000 by legendary Drone Records to the most recent tracks made exclusively for this release. The result is extremely pessimistic and profound reflexion of the old world collapse and desperate anticipation of the shape of things to come. Though NullRauM material is a collection of the tracks made during such a long period of time, today it looks really homogenous and holistic, and its mosaic elements have finally found its providential shape. Extremely recommended to absolutely everyone. The release comes in laminated full colour digisleeve with 16 pages booklet." [press-release]
|
2014 |
€17.00 |
|
| |
No One's Lullabies |
CD |
"No One's Lullabies" is the 9th album by Reutoff, one of the best-known Russian projects on the international post-industrial scene. Over the course of one hour they will be performing their "lullabies" which won't let you sleep though... The whole panopticon of borderline mental states will unfold before the eyes of our attention. Every track is a masterfully performed decadent dance of emotions and feelings. Steady industrial rhythms, an unhasting but assertive semi-drunk waltz, circus-like grotesque with wicked medieval shades, comatose jazz swinging in dark tones and epic electronic doom that could also fit well in the repertoire of their brother-project Otzepenevshiye - all imbued with remarkable spirit and slightly inflamed imagination.
The material entitled "No One's Lullabies" was initially produced as a cassette mini-album by the German label Sea State in 2014 in a small edition of 80 copies in unconventional handmade packaging. The extended version with four additional compositions was put out by Reutoff on their bandcamp page as a web-release. Now we're glad to present the CD version of the album for the happy owners of CD-players and optical drives! The CD-edition contains an exclusive bonus track with a live version of one of Reutoff's rare compositions. The disc is packed in a matte 4-panel cardboard digisleeve, artwork features paintings by Fabrice Billard, the chef of Divine Comedy Records.
http://zhb.radionoise.ru/
"If someone were to ask me, which post-industrial artist gives you the biggest pleasure when you listen to their music, I would never mention Reutoff. If somebody else were to ask me which project is in my opinion the most daring in its experiments or simply the most innovative in the scene, Reutoff wouldn’t be my pick either. But if you were to ask me about the musician who combines experimental with so-called “catchiness” the most effectively, well, I’d have to think about mentioning this Russian duo.
They’ve been active for about 18 years, releasing a variety of materials, also in collaboration with other artists in their famous Kreuzung series: a collection of names such as Deutsch Nepal, Troum or Der Blutharsch. “No One’s Lullabies” was originally released on tape, thanks to the Sea State label from Leipzig. Zhelezobeton gives us an extended edition on CD, with five additional tracks and a cover image painted by Fabrice Billard, the owner of the Divine Comedy label.
For many years Reutoff’s line of work and constructing additional sound structures has more or less been the same. They take a nicely crafted industrial background, a mid-tempo rhythm theme, often looped and encrusted with other trinkets and little diamonds, so that most of the tracks possess a slowly yet nicely building tension that leads to a culmination, abundant in sounds and atmospheres. Not all of the tracks though: Reutoff is not a project that always chooses the easy and proven ways – check this splendid dark ambient of a non-obvious feeling in “Nameless Tune With No Fate”.
This is also one of Reutoff’s huge advantages. That you can’t describe their atmosphere in one or two words. You need to build the whole story in your mind, different for each track. It may be dystopian sci-fi straight from Orwell or Bradbury novels; a dark yet epic, sometimes even strangely romantic story, similar to, say, “Blade Runner”. After all, titles like “New World Disorder” or “Requiem for Android” cannot be a coincidence. On the other hand in some track you may notice a somehow optimistic… no, not a good word – a note that breathes with hope. Saying that not everything is lost, that there are still new and mysterious worlds to explore even though our planet is lost.
I feel this modern sci-fi element is pretty solid in Reutoff’s works, which is even more interesting considering the fact that when it comes to technical matters a strong analogue vibe emanates over the whole of “No One’s Lullabies”. This is specific for many post-industrial artists coming from Russia, that while they’re faithful to classic samplers and synths, they’re able to achieve such a fresh effect. Reutoff, Cyclotimia, Sal Solaris, some Cisfinitum efforts. This offering is no different, and once again provides us with a certificate of the uniqueness of the Russian post-industrial scene." [Stark/Santa Sangre mag]
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| REUTOFF & SAL SOLARIS |
Eigengrau |
CD |
"Joint release by Russian post-industrial projects Reutoff and Sal Solaris. The working title of the record is «Beyond the principles» and refers to the psychoanalytic concept of inner human life guided by two principles; that of reality and pleasure. The sober, cold cosmic ambient of Sal Solaris expresses the principle of reality that restrains the drive of our wild souls while the emotionally rich and turmoiled post-industrial of Reutoff matches with the impetuosity of human desire. Does the domination of these principles mean that a human creature is crucified between the desire and impossibility of its realization? This album taken as a whole is a hypothesis, that there is a place where a person can be free from itself. With our eyes closed we behold the inner utterless "intrinsic grey", Eigengrau, that shines beyond any principles.
Edition of 500 copies in Foil Stamped 6 panel Digipack with 4x12" poster. 8 Tracks. 1:15:00" [label info]
www.cycliclaw.com
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| REUTOFF VS. DEUTSCH NEPAL |
Kreuzung Vier |
CD |
Der vierte und letzte Teil der KREUZUNG-Serie! Sechsmal flirrender, hektischer, düsterer Elektro-Industrial & Dark Ambient der intelligenten Sorte. Hiervon gibt es leider nur 400 Stück!
"The fourth issue in a series of collaborations between Reutoff and their friends. This issue includes 3 tracks from Reutoff based on the source material by Deutsch Nepal and 3 tracks suite called “Jigsaw Puzzeling With A Dismembered Reutoff” created by Deutsch Nepal using the sounds delivered by Reutoff. The release comes in a special "Kreuzung" series package made of brown kraft carton with a full colour stickered artwork/info cover and Reutoff logo embossed on the back, the CD is housed in the same carton die-cut inner envelope. 6 tracks, 50 mins in total. First edition of 400 copies." [label info] |
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| REVENANT |
Zeltini |
CD |
"Maksims Shentelevs, Eamon Sprod, John Grzinich, Kaspars Kalninsh, Felicity Mangan
‘revenant’ is an ongoing project with open membership that focuses on site-specific acoustic actions. All sounds originate from materials found in-situ, and from interactions with the space itself.
There were some “dark” elements surrounding this session. It was mid-November in the Baltics which meant that it was cold, gray and the sun goes down early. By the time we entered the bunker and set up to record there was no natural light left to see. Trying to find a shared experience through improvisation among a group that is not familiar is hard enough, trying to do this in the dark in an unfamiliar place is even harder. Knowing we would be without visual and sometimes auditory communication because of the multiple spaces available I suggested to do a recording experiment, to each use our own equipment yet synchronize the timing at the start. If we were to get “lost” or immersed in our own experiences, it would be interesting to reassemble them later as a shared “fictional” space. This is indeed what we ended up with. Using only my ears and a headlamp to guide my way, I foraged through that unknown space collecting objects and playing them on the varied surfaces I discovered. I remember the old rags, the dust, broken pieces of concrete, pipes coming out of the ground and how I searched for ways to animate the space and instigate interactions with the others. Whether it was the quest for new objects or the need to stay warm I constantly moved around and even ended up outside toward the end. (John Grzinich)" [press release]
www.unfathomless.net
"An ongoing project with open membership, that is what Revenant is about. On their second (?) CD, we find John Grzinich again, but with four new members, Maksims Shentelevs, Eamon Sprod, Kaspars Kalninsh and Felicity Mangan. The five of them went to Zeltini, a former Soviet army base in Latvia and they looked for some stuff to create music with, as this is another angle of Revenant. Find material on the site, and play that as it were instruments, using the space as its concert space or studio. Again we are not told how this was recorded or edited, but for about fifty plus minutes we hear these five persons moving through the bunker space, toying around with the various objects they found in this space, like glass, stones and metal. This is done in a musical manner, through means of improvisation. Not a random scattering of debris, but listening and interacting with each other and creating music with non-musical objects. There are overtones to be found here, which are hard to place (wind? somebody blowing a pipe?), which add a nice textural tone to the proceedings. Maybe like the previous one, this is the natural element that is being used here. I am not entirely sure. The only reference I could think of is the recent work of Jeph Jerman - closely miked acoustic objects being played, but then in the large resonating bunker in Latvia. Not the most easy listening one around, but surely some great music has been captured here." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| REYNOLS |
|
CD-R |
Die REYNOLS haben wieder zugeschlagen mit ihrer Mischung aus surrealem und chaotischem low-fi noise, der sicherlich regressive Tendenzen fixieren helfen kann. Außerdem: El terrorismo subliminal es provocar una falla en el sistema para que despues se propague. Sin mala intenction"... "Ten new pieces recorded at Mofifero Studios, Buenos Aires, by Tomasin/Conlazo/Courtis, including smash hits like "_ _ _ _ _" and "_ _ _".
special low priced. BACK IN STOCK SOME COPIES !
|
2000 |
€7.00 |
|
|
Fire Music Reloaded |
CD |
Fire Music Reloaded, by REYNOLS
Fire Music was composed by Reynols in 2002 with fire recordings made at Tigre (Río Capitán) and different locations in Buenos Aires city and around. With some of this material, a CD EP appeared in Japan in 2002 through the Digital Narcis label, however the complete version of this piece remained unreleased for decades. In a recent research the masters of the whole work were found and rescued from the group's archives. So twenty years later, finally the full version of this piece is now ready to see the light on a brand new CD album carefully released by German label Aufabwegen. Fire Music Reloaded stands on the most conceptual side of Reynols' catalogue, along with works such as: 10.000 Chickens Symphony, Whistling Kettle Quartet, Computer Music, Gordura Vegetal Hidrogenada or Blank Tapes. In its four parts journey, the group explores a wide range of frequencies coming from fire as the only sound source. A release which pays tribute to the igneous aurality. Let your ears get on fire!
REYNOLS
Reynols is one of the most notable experimental music groups to ever emerge from Argentina. The band started in 1993 in Buenos Aires and was formed by Miguel Tomasín, Roberto Conlazo, Pacu Conlazo and Alan Courtis. The project counts over 150 releases by labels from Japan, Europe, USA, Oceania and Latin America. Reynols has been tagged as a “cult group” by British magazine The Wire, while the French festival Sonic Protest proclaimed it as groupe phare (lighthouse group) of inclusive music. Throughout 2003, Reynols occupied the 1st place on the “Top 10 Downloads” section of former website Space-Rock (UK). A year later, their song “Manisero Mufuso” was #1 on Larry “Fuzz-O” Dolman’s Blastitude Top10 (USA). Japanese magazine Studio Voice included Reynols’ album Barbatrulos in their “Best 100 Western Alternative Music Records” ranking, and Reynols/No Reynols among the “300 Legendary Discs” of all times, while The Wire ranked their boxset Minecxcio Emanations 1993-2018 in their 2019 Top50.Reynols has appeared in countless exhibitions, radio shows, TV shows, magazines, newspapers, books and documentary films from around the world. Reynols has collaborated live and in studio with acclaimed artists such as Pauline Oliveros, Lee Ranaldo, The Nihilist Spasm Band, Damo Suzuki, Paul Dutton, John Oswald, Michael Snow, Alan Licht, Birchville Cat Motel and Acid Mothers Temple, amongst others
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/fire-music-reloaded
"Die aus Argentinien stammende und seit der ersten Hälfte der 90er aktive Band Reynols hat ein umfangreiches Werk veröffentlicht, das zwischen Stilen und Genres hin- und herspringt: Von skurillem Noise-/Anti-Rock bis zu Drone. Das jetzt auf Auf Abwegen erschienene Album „Fire Music Reloaded“ ist eine vollständige Version der 2002 auf dem japanischen Label Digital Narcis Corporation,. Ltd. erschienenen 20-minütigen EP „Fire Music“. Vielleicht spielt die sehr niedrige Auf Abwegen-Katalognummer auf das Alter der Aufnahmen an. Reynols bearbeitete -wie der Titel vermuten lässt – den Klang von Feuer; insofern knüpft diese Veröffentlichung mit der Konzentration auf ein Ausgangsmatrial an die „10.000 Chickens’ Symphony“-7” auf Drone oder etwa „Whistling Kettle Quartet“ an.
Der erste kurze Teil mit seinem helllen und transparenten Klang lässt einen denken, ein knisterndes Feuer brenne im Raum und hier wirkt das Ausgangsmaterial (scheinbar) wenig bis gar nicht bearbeitet. Teil 2 dagegen ist eine dichte wie verdichtete Klangwand, in der man zwischendurch immer wieder das Knistern von Flammen hört. „Fire Music Part III“ ist wieder fragiler, hier lässt das Knistern der Flammen an einen Gang durchs Unterholz denken oder an das Zirpen von Zikaden. Darauf folgt Teil 4 als dunkles Dröhnen und Brummen: das ist ein zähflüssiger Klangsud, so als lausche man dem Ächzen eines Gletschers und man fühlt sich durchaus an den frühen Thomas Köner erinnert. Die neun Minuten von „Fire Music V“ sind hektisch, während Teil 6 das Album fast schon mit einer Art Noisestück beendet: Der Track ist eine Kakophonie, bei der man sich vorkommt, als stünde man in einer Turbine. Diese nun vollständige “Fire Music” ist sowohl in ihrer konzeptionellen Konsistenz als auch in ihrer (zumindest partiellen) Heterogenität beeindruckend." [MG / African Paper]
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Gona Rubian Ranesa |
LP |
Reynols is a storied band with endless lore. Many history lessons have been written about them, still they remain one of the world's most mysterious and challenging groups. "Gona Rubian Ranesa" is Reynols' first studio album in 17 years and it exposes their classic sound to new realms of hypnotic psych-rock immersion. This record was cut by the classic Argentinian quartet of Miguel Tomasin, Anla Courtis, Rob Conlazo and Pacu Conlazo and it stands as 100% proof that Reynols are highly reinvigorated and rocking headier than ever.
Reynols stand as living legends of the international underground. Outspoken singer, drummer and spiritual architect Miguel Tomasin has Down's syndrome and shapes the band's unique and playful sense for conceptual sound art. The band has always extensively collaborated with other like-minded innovators, most notably Pauline Oliveros, The Nihilist Spasm Band, CCMC, and Acid Mothers Temple.
Reynols have recently hit headlines with their "Minexcio Emanations 1993-2018" box set as well as the Acid Mothers Reynols collab LP and film, and now "Gona Rubian Ranesa" delivers on the... more
MIGUEL TOMASIN: vocals, drums & organ
ROB CONLAZO: guitar & marmonio
PACU CONLAZO: percussion, horn & flute
ANLA COURTIS: guitar & rovelio
Recorded by Hernán Calvo at Van Vliet Studios, Buenos Aires, 2018-2019
Mixed by N. Sitruoc & Slonyer at Celula Stadium II, Buenos Aires, 2020
Mastered by Lasse Marhaug at The Best Studio, Oslo, 2020
Produced by Reynols
https://outliercommunications.bandcamp.com/album/gona-rubian-ranesa
|
2020 |
€25.00 |
|
| RGV |
Aliseum |
mCD-R |
RGV = Ruben Garcia. Wieder ein neuer Name auf Dreamland! ALISEUM ist die Umsetzung von Impressionen (oder auch Sounds) des Timanfaya Nationalparks in Lanzarote. Mächtig dronende, kilometerweit entfernte, mit hell klingenden Schwingungen versehende Kraftfelder, alles gerät in hellste Schwingung und Vibration, erinnert an MNORTHAM, LOPEZ! TIP !!!
„ a drone of low density & depths, invoking hard sand and rock soil, only the intense temperatures beneath our feet remain to haunt.”
[label info]
|
2003 |
€5.00 |
|
| RHEIN_STROM (SIEFERT & RIEK) |
Von der Rheinquelle bis Hafen Karlsruhe |
CD |
How can we as humans in this day and age foster a relationship with the Rhine River, without lapsing back into modes of romanticism, when witnessing its remaining beauty in some rare places; without turning away in frustration and disillusionment, when confronted with the irreparable interventions it has undergone?
What is disclosed if we shift the focus from the dominant sense of vision to hearing?
Would you recognize the Rhine by its sound?
What other senses are helpful here?
Do I have enough senses at my command to answer this question?
Do I have to and can I develop further senses?
With these questions as a starting point Thomas M. Siefert and Lasse-Marc Riek have approached the Rhine acoustically and visually on various locations and seasons during the last seven years. This resulted in the close examination of the ambient sound, the soundscape and the “sound entity” of the Rhine.
The “Rhine-soundscape” does not only sound like flowing, gurgling or slowly bobbing water. The soundscape also includes animals and humans who live by the river, who move and rest there.
In addition to the sound of the present, also the sound of the past was sought out: a listening back to what has remained; a listening forward to what could come.
Siefert’s and Riek’s formal approach to the soundscapes demands from the artist to step back behind the recording. In the foreground of their artistic practice stands the unprocessed sound- and visual-recording of a specific situation.
Tracklist:
01 vorderrheinquelle (region)
02 rhein bei tschamut
03 rheinschlucht nähe versamer tobel
04 kanalrhein bei balzers
05 rheinbrech bodensee
06 stein am rhein
07 rheinfall bei schaffhausen
08 basel hafen (nähe wiesemündung)
09 petit camarque d´alsace
10 staustufe ottmarsheim
11 restrhein bei fessenheim
12 staustufe und schleusenanlage fessenheim
13 staustufe marckolsheim
14 ile de rhinau
15 staustufe rhinau
16 fähre kappel – rhinau
17 kanufahrt im naturschutzgebiet taubergiessen
18 ile de langgrund
19 staustufe strasbourg
20 staustufe gambsheim
21 karlsruhe hafen
21 Tracks (73′25″)
CD (500 copies)
www.gruenrekorder.de
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| RHUCLE |
Beautiful Fragments |
mCD-R |
active for a couple of years only, tokyo-based rhucle has already an impressive body of work, mostly cassettes but also some cd-r's on labels such as white paddy mountain, assembly field or still*sleep. his tracks usually mix field recordings and long synthetic drones for a highly emotional result...
taalem.bandcamp.com/album/beautiful-fragments-alm-119
"And finally there is music by Rhucle, also from Japan, apparently Taalem’s heartland for this kind of
music. Here too I am introduced to his music, even when he had releases before on White Paddy
Mountain, Assembly Field and Still*Sleep. For his music he uses field recordings mixed with long
sustaining electronic washes of sound, or vice versa. Perhaps. I have no idea what comes first for him.
He plays here three long pieces with an average length of seven minutes. All three pieces are gentle
streams of sound. A guitar? Who knows? Maybe it is a guitar, sound effects, but for all I know an organ
and sound effects, or heavily processed field recordings being cooked up with some that are still fresh
and which simmer through the gentle flow of drones. This is quite easy listening, perhaps the easiest
of these four excursions into the world of ambient music." (FdW) |
2018 |
€5.00 |
|
| RICCI, MASSIMO |
Tracey Feels Worse |
CD |
Elevator Bath is honored to present the first ever release of sound work from famed music writer Massimo Ricci.
Known as an individualistic reviewer - or, as he puts it, a "composer using words as main instrument" - in the meantime Ricci keeps researching, dissecting and altering sounds, something he has been doing since the late 60s.
"Tracey Feels Worse" consists of a single 35-minute piece based on recordings made by the composer in 1984, which, over time, were radically rearranged and reformed. Now in its final state, the piece is a wholly abstract undertaking; ominous and deliciously inscrutable.
The work does not contain hidden meanings or esoteric implications, nor does it want to symbolize unprovable "truths." Ricci - an atheist lone wolf who despises the opportunistic traits of false spirituality - processed extremely simple sources to the point of near-unrecognizability, generating enigmatic spirals and indeterminate environments from what was originally born as mere parody.
The specific sounds and techniques employed remain mysterious, as neither samples nor loops were utilized. But this mystery is fitting for such a haunting, ephemeral piece of music - even if the sound is robust. Indeed, there is an almost physical presence to the ever-shifting elements at play here. The soundscape is in constant motion, yet the overall impression is of a kind of uneasy calm. Perhaps the piece's structure lends itself to a feeling of anxious serenity. The sounds unnerve while the methodology soothes.
The piece's palindromic construction recalls the ghosts of Victorian literature, doomed to repeat their movements in an endless cycle for all eternity. But ultimately, in Ricci’s words, "'Tracey Feels Worse' may be interpreted as a threnody for the risible irrationality of the human theories about creation and afterlife. Typically fabricated by minds anxious to satisfy the needs of the self, they’re pitifully inadequate for the egoless infinity of sound and silence.”
https://elevatorbath.bandcamp.com/album/tracey-feels-worse
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| RICHTER, MAX |
The Blue Notebooks |
CD |
"Following releases by Set Fire To Flames and Sylvain Chauveau, Max Richter’s ‘The Blue Notebooks’ was the fourth release on FatCat’s 130701 imprint, established as an outlet for more more orchestrated, instrumental material.
Richter is a British-based, German-born pianist and composer. Following 2002’s highly-acclaimed ‘Memoryhouse’ - performed by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and released on the BBC’s classical label, Late Junction - ‘The Blue Notebooks’ is his second solo album, a distinctive and adventurous work that is beautifully recorded and cinematic in scope.
Opening with a text from Franz Kafka over a sparse piano melody, the album moves through gorgeous, heart-wrenching string swells of ‘On The Nature Of Daylight’ (which quotes a tune from ‘Memoryhouse’); through to sparse but lyrical piano pieces; hazy, swirling atmospherics, avalanche pulse-beats and partially occluded melodies that recall Aphex twin’s ‘Ambient Works’ albums; and to reverberant organ / choir recordings.
Utilising piano, cello, violin and viola, alongside electronic beats (made using a variety of antique electronics and Reaktor), spoken word passages and the occasional field recording, other sounds were generated via old guitar pedals and vocoders. The organ music was made for a chapel near Tourtres in South-West France, whilst the environmental sounds are mainly recorded around London. The tone of the album is generally domnbeat – a series of bittersweet articulations that seem suspended somewhere between a certain dreamy sense of wonder / awe and a heavy melancholia.
Peppered across Richter’s music like diary entries (and backed with attendant typewriter clatter) are a number of literary texts or ‘shadow journals’ (lifted from Kafka’s ‘the Blue Octavo notebooks’, and from Polish author Czseslaw Milosz’s ‘Hymn Of The Pearl’ and ‘Unattainable Earth’). Apparently chosen by Richter on instinct, they were recorded by acclaimed British actress, Tilda Swinton, who has starred in films including ‘Adaption’, ‘Orlando’, ‘The Garden’, and ‘The Beach’. These brief passages muse over time, memory, and the impermanent nature of things.
With Richter playing piano, the other featured players here are his regular collaborators, Louisa Fuller (violin), Natalia Bonner (violin), John Metcalfe (viola), Philip Sheppard (cello), and Chris Worsey (cello).
Born in 1966, Max Richter trained in composition and piano at Edinburgh University, at the Royal Academy of Music, and with with Luciano Berio in Florence. The Richter family moved to the UK from Germany when Max was a young child, leaving the wider part of his family distributed around Germany. This sense of a lack of roots had an effect on his musical formation - “I have always had a sense of belonging, in some way, to the middle of Europe but not specifically to any one place…” he explains.
On completing his studies, Richter co-founded the immensely successful contemporary classical ensemble Piano Circus, where he stayed for ten years, commissioning and performing works by Arvo Pärt, Brian Eno, Philip Glass, Julia Wolfe and Steve Reich. Richter was also pro-active in developing the group’s use of live sampling.
“I have always listened to a broad range of music. In my early teens I was listening to a lot of classical standard repertoire as well as 20th century work. During this time I also built and customised a number of analogue electronic instruments and was immersed in the early electronic music scene.” In 1996 he worked closely with The Future Sound of London on their release ‘Dead Cities’. Initially involved as a pianist, he ended up co-writing a track (which they subsequently titled ‘Max’).
Following this, Richter collaborated with FSOL over a two-year period on the album ‘The Isness’, with his input ranging from programming or piano playing to arranging, mixing, co-producing and co-writing various tracks. Max’s orchestrations have also graced ‘In The Møde’ by drum’n’bass pioneer Roni Size." [label info]
www.fat-cat.co.uk |
2004 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Elle s'appelait Sarah - Bande Originale |
CD |
"This French drama directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner is a quality adaptation to the New York Times Best Seller, Sarah's Key, by Tatiana De Rosnay. Starring Kristien Scott Thomas, the film follows follows her journalist's present day investigation into the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup, and a story of a young girl's experiences during the Nazi occupation of France.
Max Richter (Waltz With Bashir) has composed an emotional and beautiful score which plays a central role in the film. Viewers will notice it." [label info] |
2010 |
€14.50 |
|
| |
Disconnect (OST) |
CD |
"Jason Bateman and Alexander Skarsgard star is this drama centered on a group of people searching for human connections in today's wired world. Extremely well received on the festival circuit, LD Entertainment is releasing the picture in April. This album includes the entire score composed by Max Richter (Waltz With Bashir, Sarah's Key) for the film. It is an emotional and beautiful score which plays a central role in the film." [label info]
www.milanrecords.com
"One of the most beautiful and definitive tracks in Max Richter's ever-growing body of work is "On the Nature of Daylight" from The Blue Notebooks, the album that brought him to the attention of many critics and fans. Since that breakthrough, he's developed a niche as a composer ready and willing to revamp the classics, as he did with Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, as well as a sensitive and versatile composer of scores for films ranging from looks at the not-so-tame secret lives of domesticated animals (Die Fremde) to dystopian sci-fi (Perfect Sense). Richter's music for Disconnect is an intersection of those career paths: the score uses "Daylight" as its emotional and musical focus, surrounding it with pieces that echo and complement it. While Martin Scorsese's brain-twisting thriller Shutter Island also featured the piece prominently, here it's fundamental to the film and its exploration of how technology brings people together and (more often) pulls them apart. Cues like "The Swimmer" reprise "On the Nature of Daylight"'s beautifully somber violin melodies, while "Confrontation" pits them against pummeling electronic beats in a way that could be heavy-handed but maintains a dignified poignancy in Richter's hands. Elsewhere, the score borrows from other Blue Notebooks pieces like the lovely "Written on the Sky," or evokes them as on the mournful organ pieces "Hospital" and "The Gun." Given the film's tech fixation, most of the rest of Disconnect's music is more electronic and makes the most of Richter's minimalism, whether on brief, wash-like tracks such as "The Report" or more elaborate ones like "Zero Balance," which moves from delicate tones to more ominous ones as it progresses. Many of these tracks aren't as attention-getting as the ones that draw from Richter's classical roots, but his cues for Disconnect's action scenes are as tense as they are restrained; "Pursuit" and "Running" are just as taut, but far subtler, than a typical climactic score piece. Disconnect is of a piece with scores like Cliff Martinez's Traffic, where the music seems to just faintly tint the air with the proper mood. It may not be among Richter's richest works, but he provides what the film needs from its music with more depth and restraint than many other composers could have managed. ~ Heather Phares Audio Mixers: Michael Schubert; Max Richter." [Henry-Alex Rubin]
|
2013 |
€17.50 |
|
| RIEK, LASSE-MARC |
Schwarm |
MC |
"It is our pleasure to present the latest piece of work by Lasse-Marc Riek, a master of field recordings and one of the most distinguished sound artists of our times. We’re following his output for a good ten years now - both his own recordings of bats, birds, snow dogs, islands or harbours, and the countless releases he produced for his (and Roland Etzin’s) outstanding Gruenrekorder label which became probably the most important adres for the art of field recordings. The source of the „Schwarm“ („swarm“) pieces were recordings of a flight corridor Riek made last year in Hanau-Steinheim, near the Frankfurt Airport. He cut and wove them into two 30 minute tracks which are charaterized by a very specific, at the same time documentary and surrealistic, beautiful and uncanny quality. Mindblowing stuff. edition of 80 copies, with download code." [label info]
www.magdeleinebast.com
|
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| RIEMAN, ERIC GLICK / LESLI DALABA / STUART DEMPSTER |
Lung Tree |
CD |
ERIC GLICK RIEMAN: Piano & Synthesizer, LESLI DALABA: Trompete, STUART DEMPSTER: Trombone, Didjeridoo, etc..
9 Stücke fein gesponnene Instrumental- & Geräusch-Improvisationen, eher zurückhaltend und mit Gespür für Mikro-Details, manchmal fast meditativ...
“This is one of those recordings that arrived unannounced in the mail. I knew Lesli Dalaba, of course, but the others were new to me. The project is Eric Glick Rieman's and I found it immediately intriguing. There seemed to be something quite subtle going on; minimal, microtonal, economical and eccentric; it plays subtly with timbre, pitch and structure and never quite does what you expect. At first blush it seemed as it would be another interesting but conventional improvising trio, but after a few minutes the organising intelligence, and the clear compositional discipline became clear. And after this, throughout the CD, it sticks to the point. This is a deep investigation of a very few simple principles. Acoustic instruments rub ambiguously up against electrified objects and electronics, but these in the main provide atmosphere and harmonic complexity, never overpowering the mingling air-columns on which the wave of this CD floats. Attachments, modifiers, objects all make an appearance, but the topic is the small, the tenuous - and the tenacious - above all, breath.” [ReR]
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| RIMBAUD, ROBIN |
The Garden is full of Metal - Homage to DEREK JARMAN |
CD |
Robin Rimbaud was both a friend and collaborator over the years and this CD is his tribute to an important figure in both his life and others'. Using recordings of Jarman's voice as well as location recordings around his home, he creates a graceful and delicate sculpture in sound. This is a close friend's tribute, backed by a profound understanding of the filmmaker's sense of intimacy, atmosphere and drama.
2014 - on the 20th anniversary of the passing of Derek Jarman and this reissue Robin Rimbaud (aka Scanner) reviewed many of the materials in his archive and discovered four selections that were originally off the release but feel now that they offer another viewing.
"This is a creative mind and man I still miss, but who thankfully and finally seems to be receiving the accolation he should have received long ago." (Robin Rimbaud)
"A beautiful and fragile tapestry. Reflective, tactile and emotional."The Wire
"This music operates a certain unsettling, eerie magic on the listener, sneaking out of the speakers surreptitiously and filling the room like a sudden burst of sunlight. Even those unaware of Jarman's flicks will be moved." NME
This album is a collection of memories taking recordings from spaces that Jarman inhabited or experienced - from the walk to the sea's edge from his cottage in Dungeness through to the roar of London congestion around his Charing Cross flat - Robin has attempted to create a fluid, elegiac sound portrait, a form of resonant landscape painting that weaves through recordings of Jarman's own voice. Robin applied the term 'sound polaroids' to describe these intimate, isolated, improvised moments, the same way a polaroid camera captures an image for a moment, almost dispoable, forgotten, a tiny epiphany that dwells within but surfaces at unexpetcetd triggers.
The majority of the sound here is abstracted and processed through modest means, cutting, stretching and editing tape - acoustic data like this once digitised dissolves into a form that one can mould and re-shape in an almost scultural manner.
Derek Jarman 1942-1994
Derek Jarman was one of England's greatest cinematic visionairies. Spanning painting, theatre, film, he comfortably moved between genres, seemingly shape -shifting at will. From designing ballet and theatre in the sixties for Frederick Ashton and Ken Russell, through to his own films in super-8 and seminal features such as Sebastiane (1976), Jubilee (1978), The Last of England (1987) and Blue (1993), Jarman explored a unique and compelling vision until his death from AIDS in 1994.
This record was an homage to film director Derek Jarman. It was released with a short film by Guy Marc Hinant shot on location in Jarman's garden. Published in 1997, it was the second full-length album by Robin Rimbaud / Scanner on Sub Rosa.
FEATURES
ROBIN RIMBAUD aka SCANNER
TRACK LISTING CD - 13 TRACKS
01 Open 5.08
02 Experience 7.49
03 Drop
04 Waterbrush 4.56
05 Their own Space 3.27
06 Fravaer 7.03
07 Rosa Rugosa 7.44
08 A Walk through St James 5.58
09 Always Fading: Sedum Acre 3.22
2014 BONUS TRACKS:
10 Circles of Stone 4'22
11 I Waited a Lifetime 3'19
12 Translucence 2'33
13 Garden (redux) 5'34
www.subrosa.net
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| RIPARBELLI, PIETRO & EMANUELE BECHERI |
Metamorfismo |
mCD-R |
"italian master pietro riparbelli (a.k.a. k11 with releases on silentes, gruenrekorder or old europa cafe) reworks raw recordings done by italian artist emanuele becheri for three subtle and evolutive tracks.
this work was created using field recordings, dusty analogue devices, as well as samples from emanuele becheri’s performances as central sound source.
pietro riparbelli: field recordings, analogue devices and arrangement.
emanuele becheri: piano, alto sax and guzheng. " |
2017 |
€5.00 |
|
| RIPARBELLI, PIETRO / K11 |
Three Days of Silence. The Mountain of the Stigmata |
CD |
" “Three days of silence” is conceived as complete phenomenological experience of listening. I have been three days within the Sanctuary of La Verna on the top of a mountain called “the mountain of the Stigmata” in Tuscany. I’ve lived together with the monks recording and attending the ceremonies and the sounds of the place trying to penetrate in a dimension of pure contemplation.
La Verna, in Latin Alvernia and geographically known as Monte Penna, is a locality on Mount Penna, an isolated mountain of 1,283 m situated in the centre of the Tuscan Apennines. The place is known especially for its association with Saint Francis of Assisi (he is said to have received the stigmata here) and for the Sanctuary of La Verna, which grew up in his honour.
Count Orlando of Chiusi gave La Verna to Francis on May 8, 1213 as a retreat specially favourable for contemplation, and in 1218 built him the chapel Santa Maria degli Angeli. In August, 1224, frustrated by the changes in the Order of Friars Minor, Francis withdrew to La Verna to keep a forty days fast in preparation for Michaelmas and while praying on the mountain- side he received (on or about 17 September) the stigmata.
After seeing a vision of a seraphim he began to develop nails of hardened flesh which protruded from his hands and feet. He also began to form a wound in his side like that of Christ. Thus La Verna came to be seen as sacred ground. Pope Alexander IV took it under his protection.
In 1260 a church was consecrated there in presence of St. Bonaventure and several bishops. A few years later the Chapel of the Stigmata was erected, paid for by Count Simone of Battifole, near the spot where the miracle took place. The Chiesa Maggiore was begun in 1348, although not finished until 1459." [label info]
www.gruenrekorder.de
"When buried with a lot of releases to review for Vital Weekly, I sometimes wish to retreat to a monastery and not be interrupted by such mundane things as e-mail, telephone, shopping and just blend in with the tranquility of monastery life. Pietro Riparbelli did visit a sanctuary, Sanctuary of La Verna on top of a mountain in Tuscany, where Saint Francis of Assisi supposed to have gotten his stigmata and recorded life over there during three days. Here he has six pieces, three of them I believe are pure field recordings and three are compositions he created out of these basic sounds. Not that is easy to tell the difference, certainly if you don't play close attention to when the track ends and moves to the next. For the busy western man, non believer at that, perhaps the closest I can get to monstary life, I guess. Riparbelli captured the sounds and the atmospheres of the sanctuary pretty well - the overall idea of this release is 'silence' without being silent. The large empty spaces with a minimum of sound information, the garden and rain in it, the vaguely humming of what could be the church organ, its all there. Music that slowly unfolds and that could invoke a religious experience (government health warning not included here). In the 'Third Day' piece we have the most musical experience, with crackles and what seems to be some sort of stringed instrument, but for all I know it could be the repeated sound of the bucket in the well to get water. A very contemplative release altogether. Excellent soundscaping." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| RIPIT |
Tsatsa Tushen |
12inch |
For ‘Tsatsa Tushen’, Ripit created four trance-inducing tracks of swampy industrial dub music, using vinyl loops of ethnographic African recordings, modular synths and intense dub-mixing. The general smokey atmosphere is generated by the collision of several unsettling rhythm layers, scattered echoes, crawling basses, raging stabs and drowned-out voices, guiding the listener on a unstable path towards a dissociative rite.
It should come as no surprise that Ripit releases these tracks now, as dub music has always been a part of his musical heritage. Not just in his work with Fujako, but also in his prolific early years in the late 1990s, you’ll find obvious links to dub. Hence the title, which means ‘knots of time’ in the main West-African language Hausa. ‘Tsatsa Tushen’ combines the old with the new, the dusty ethnographic records with modern electronics, bending the time and space continuum in a noisy Dub.
Since the 1970s, dub and industrial music find their common ground in the recycling of found sounds and in exploring electronic tools. Adrian Sherwood’s On-U Sound blended Dub with diverse emerging musical influences and industrial artists explored diverse forms of music, their paths regularly crossing. Ripit merged these influences and philosophies in this record.
Think of dusty-needled, hand-driven turntables playing sun-bent vinyls such as African Head Charge’s ‘Songs of Praise’ Muslimgauze’s ‘United States of Islam’, Test Dept’s ‘Critical Dub’, Badawi’s ‘Jerusalem Under Fire’ or The Bug’s ‘Tapping The Conversation’.
12” limited to 300 copies
All tracks by Nicolas Esterle at Zen666 2014-2015
Mastered & cut by Frederic Alstadt at Ångström Mastering
Images by Eric Desjeux
Design by Silken Tofu |
2017 |
€15.00 |
|
| RIVULETS |
You are my Home |
CD |
"Long-delayed 3rd album by internationally acclaimed solo artist Rivulets. Featuring guests Jessica Bailiff (Kranky), Chris Brokaw (Codeine, Come, the New Year), Christian Frederickson (Rachel's), Fred Lonberg-Holm (Boxhead Ensemble), & Bob Weston (Mission of Burma, Shellac).
The contributions of these remarkable musicians adds snowy layers of wintery texture to Nathan Amundson's beautiful recordings. Like Nick Drake smothered not with layers of orchestration, but subtle textures to truly compliment the mood of the album.
Rivulets is the project of minimalist singer-songwriter Nathan Amundson. Born in Colorado, Amundson grew up in Alaska before leaving home at age 16 and moving frequently throughout the United States. He started performing as Rivulets in 1999, and currently resides in Bloomington, IN.
Rivulets is a prolific songwriter, with releases out on several labels, including Acuarela, BlueSanct, Silber, and Chair Kickers'' Union. This is Rivulets'' 3rd full length album, and 1st for Important Records.
Rivulets'' first 2 full-length albums, r i v u l e t s (2002) and Debridement (2003), were both recorded by Alan Sparhawk of Low, and released on Low''s own label Chair Kickers'' Union. These albums feature guest appearances from the likes of Jessica Bailiff , LD Beghtol (Magnetic Fields), Jon DeRosa (Aarktica), Marc Gartman (No Wait Wait), Brian John Mitchell (Remora), Aaron Molina (if thousands), and Mimi Parker (Low).
Extensive touring overseas has garnered Rivulets intensely loyal fanbases across Europe. We''re hoping this, Rivulets 1st album on Important records, will help the US to take notice as well. A few of the artists Rivulets has shared bills with in the past include: Haley Bonar, Chris Brokaw, Cerberus Shoal, Cocorosie, Mark Eitzel, Daniel Johnston, Low, Mirah, My Morning Jacket, the New Year, Scout Niblett, Piano Magic, Radar Bros., Stars of the Lid, Songs: Ohia, Swearing at Motorists, Willard Grant Conspiracy, Shannon Wright, and Xiu Xiu. Rivulets'' discography also includes numerous compilation appearances and several EPs: the aforementioned Thank You Reykjavik EP on BlueSanct; The Alcohol EPs on Silber; the Rivulets / Marc Gartman split CD (featuring Jarboe of Swans) on Tract; and the You''ve Got Your Own EP on Acuarela (the bestselling EP Acuarela have released, out-selling EPs by the Album Leaf, the Clientele, and Tara Jane O''Neil!).
This is not a folk album. This is an album about hearts breaking, tearing it down, and moving on." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| RLW |
Tonlose Lieder |
CD |
22 Stücke aus der Zeit von 1990 & 1991, kurz bevor das erste RLW-Album “Acht” erschien.
Brilliante (De)Konstruktionen von instrumentellen & Alltags-Soundquellen (z.B. Piano, Gongs, MIDI-Keyboard & Rhythmen, Staubsauger) vermischt mit Sample-Technik, gescratchten Platten, & obskuren Feldaufnahmen. Eine unglaubliche Fülle von Ideen wird hier schonungslos umgesetzt - meist sehr dynamisches und vitales Material, zwischen Atonalität und Geräuschimprovisation, no easy listening guaranteered !
“After the recent re-issues of the old PD work, it's now time to fast forward in music history and take a closer look at the missing link of disbanding P16.D4 and the first solo works of RLW. Fast forward to 1990. This is the time when the old techniques of tape-splicing,
cheap four track records and such like was replaced by cheap samplers and computer interfaces (midi to control sequences), being an option for everyone. Before this all settled down into RLW's first CD 'Acht' (1992), he experimented with a lot of ideas, using the newly acquired techniques. The abrassive side of P16.D4 became more subtle, more dynamic and at the same time it was also reduced in sound and approach. No less than twenty-two pieces from the sketchbook are to be found on this CD, and each of them is described in the booklet.
Scratching records is for instance a main feature, like was done on the SLP project, but it involves also organ like sounds, sterile factory settings found inside the sampler and much more. In some cases we get the raw version of a piece that ended up on 'Acht', but the majority is unheard. Whereas on the later solo records by RLW it's hard to recognize the original input, we can hear on this CD him freely improvising around with instruments, sampling them etc. Of course not every fragment is great, but it would not be right to say that this album is only for those with a keen ear on history. It bears the collage-like style of P16.D4 with the latter RLW style, but in all its fragmented style it sounds, still after all these years, like a fresh album. Only to be compared, I think, with P16.D4's
'Tionchor' album. A collection of nice short pieces, that make more sense when heard they are groupep together.” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
Address: http://www.parallaxrecords.jp
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Views |
CD |
Dronig-verwirrende Soundscapes, konkrete Geräusch-improvisationen, feedbackende Kakophonien... Material von 2003, das RLW eher von der verspielt-improvisatorischen Seite zeigt..
"In the 25th year of Ralf Wehowsky's recording career, Anomalous Records presents his first truly solo release featuring four new compositions based on instrumental improvisations. Using simple devices (tone-generators, percussion toys, music boxes, an electric toothbrush and an electric guitar) played in unusual ways, he builds up layers of each sound to create a suite of textural pieces. Each of the four tracks takes on an identity unique from the others, as the first three each focus on one of the sound sources while the last combines elements from the previous three to make something else. The disc opens with a 20-minute piece of mysterious and drifting electronic tones. Other tracks highlight very tactile sounds and bring a much more 'live' element to his work, while retaining his skillful use of dynamics and placement of silence which have gained him so many fans. Previous releases by RLW have seen him collaborate with such diverse artists as Achim Wollscheid, Bernhard Günter, Andrew Chalk, David Grubbs, Jim O'Rourke, Kevin Drumm, and Bruce Russell. He is the founder of the now defunct group P16.D4 and the label Selektion."
[label info]
www.pogus.com/anomalous
“There was a time when RLW, which stands for Ralf Wehowsky, was a buzz name. From his previous band P16.D4, he developes since the mid nineties a strong solo career aswell as many collaborations with people like Jim O'Rourke, Kevin Drumm, Bernard Gunter,
Duimelinks/Meelkop. But in more recent years his release schedule was less hectic and now we have 'Views'. Everything on this CD is made by RLW with no input from anybody else. His source material includes tone-generators, music boxes, toys, electric guitar and toothbrush. Each of the four pieces here consist of RLW improvising three or four times his sounds on to the computer, and creating a mix afterwards. In the opening piece, '#1' he only uses tone generators, by which he creates quite densely layered patterns, that come in quite a chaotic way at one point - unlike much other RLW material. In '#2' he uses the Orff instrumentarium (percussive instruments for children), which he jams around and this is much more his territory: carefully hoovering on the edge of silence. Something similar goes in '#3', but here it deals with the hallucinating simplicity of music boxes. These two quieter pieces are the total contrast of '#4', which uses various feedback recordings of the two previous tracks and some added guitar sounds - a fiery noise piece, which is again an unlike RLW piece. Quite a strong CD, with some surprises for the RLW devotee. Moving inside aswell as outside of his usual music, this is quite a step forward. [FdW, Vital weekly]
|
2004 |
€12.00 |
|
|
An Archivist's Nightmare |
CD |
Die Beta-Lactam "Black Series" prüft (überschreitet?) weiter die Grenzen des Alltäglichen, mit dieser CD von RLW (oder sollte man eher sagen: mit diesem im CD-Player installiertem Happening?). RLW liest (mit extra-starkem "german accent" wie es scheint) die Titel der letzten Tonträger die er bekam vor, (s)ein Kind versucht dies (manchmal) zu imitieren, das ganze lief 2003 als Radio-Feature für Radio Resonance London... 60 Minuten lang....ja, genau, das wars! Den Effekt des ganzen kann mich nicht beschreiben, den muss man erleben!! Nummer 2 in der neuen BLACK SERIES (schwarze edle Klappcover) von Beta-Lactam!
"Black Series 2 - Ed. of 300 numbered and signed copies by RLW (P16.D4). RLW moves in to the world of sound art with his piece "The Archivist's Nightmare". "RLW: An archivist´s nightmare The nightmare has been produced as a sound feature for radio resonance, London, in mid 2003 and was “aired” on internet October 3rd 2003. It is dedicated to Benjamin Green and would not have been possible without the help of Dorothea, Soeren, and Sonja. Index points are set for your pleasure. The feature itself embraces the whole CD. Total Time: 60:00 Some notes: "...i will read the titles of the last records i got (i guess about 1000 should fit into one hour). selected, insofar as i'll leave out those i found not worth listening to anyway. no criteria of order otherwise (therefore the title). ... imagine a future archivist interested in experimental/avantgarde/underground - however you will call it - sounds of the past 21st and 20th century, trying to find a path..." rlw, april 2003 “in an earlier mail i told you i would like to add some pieces of mine to the feature. Meanwhile i think this only would distract the listener´s attention from the reading. Instead i will additionally read parts of my letters to you and include these recordings in the feature. this additional level of self-reflection will also be of use as an structural element. “ rlw, may 2003 “sounds fucking great.. and i can sense an opening of possibilities… working with children is something I would be interested in doing, with some kind of structured improvisation/game pieces… strange… i keep getting a very high pitch sound in one ear when I type loudly, which reminds me of yr piece.” ben green, may 2003 “thanks for the radio feature. it´s really great. the funniest thing i´ve heard in a long while. it´ s a weird thing, initially i thought these were the records that would get played later, and then i started thinking like ´got that one, heard that name before, did the cover for that one, dunno this`.” jos moers, june 2003" [label website info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2007 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Fall Seliger Geister |
CD |
"We are proud to present the stunning new album by Ralf Wehowsky. He is currently one of the most respected electronic composers of our day. Ghostly creaking sounds mix with highly complex electro-acoustic and electronic sounds. This description may sound familiar, but no sound is what it seems and rlw always manages to stay far ahead of his contemporaries. His music is impossible to pigeonhole into one simple bracket. It is neither industrial or musique concrete, nor computer music nor improvisation. In fact it could be all of these. A rewarding release that will still sound fresh and relevant in years to come.
Ralf Wehowsky was one of the founder members of the seminal German group P16.D4 and the label Selektion whose ground breaking releases influenced many working in today's experimental music scene. Previous releases have seen him collaborate with such well known and diverse artists such as Merzbow, Bernard Gunter, Jim O'Rourke, Achim Wollscheid and Lionel Marchetti.
Ltd to 500 copies, the CD comes packaged in a Japanese mini LP style sleeve with textured reverse board printing and black inner sleeve." [label info]
www.dirter.co.uk
"Oddly enough, the latest RLW CD is on Dirter but co-released by Black Rose Recordings, which happens to be the Contrastate label, but they aren't co-releasing their own release. For a moment I thought that things might have slowed down for RLW, but a quick look on discogs proved me wrong: Ralf Wehowsky is as active as always. Following that great P16.D4 set I hoped I could find time to play some of the RLW stuff again, which I collected, but sadly this has to wait. But of course then there is this new one. I am not sure if I would regard myself an expert on the work of RLW (or in fact of someone else for that matter), even when I heard a lot of his music. For starters, it's not easy to define his music. It's a lot of a lot of things. RLW gathers his sounds somewhere inside and outside the house, playing instruments like cello or trombone (at least that's what I think), children playing outside and taping sounds in the kitchen. All of that is brought into the computer and treated in
some way, and then it reaches it's final composed state. So RLW's music could be called electro-acoustic, musique concrete, improvised and/or field recordings, yet it's never exclusively one of these, but rather a curious mixture of all of these. The improvised element, in case you wonder, is made up using extensive blocks of sound from instrumental passages, like said celli, trombone or thumb piano. Here it seems as if RLW recorded a whole bunch of those and then in the process of mixing decided which parts he really needed. By adding all the other sounds and the close mixing of the total amount of music, he creates some excellent dense soundscapes. Dense and moody, in fact, as the overall tone seems a bit darker than before. Excellent release indeed. Damn, I wish I had more time to go back to his older work." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Funeral Parties |
LP |
When Bhob Rainey had moved to New Orleans late in the first decennium of the 2000's we were talking about an eventual new collaboration. The idea to work with the confrontation of New Orleans based jazz funeral music versus the European tradition of composed funeral music came up and sank down no later than Bhob's next move - to Philadelphia. Nevertheless I felt fascinated by plunging into the funeral theme and laid down some drafts of pieces. When Bhob visited in March 2013 he did some sax-improvisations along the lines of these drafts. Electronically transformed excerpts from these recordings have been injected into and morphed with the drafts. The reference to New Orleans has been lost completely midway, like the plan of an equal-part collaboration. Nevertheless Bhob and me totally agree about many things. Like our disagreement concerning the importance of Dj Screw.
Judge for yourself !' LP edition of 200.
www.musica-moderna.org
|
2016 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Flurry of Delusion |
CD |
"Haptik und Automatik wirken quasi 'Hand in Hand' und erzeugen eine ins Anästhetische tendierende Schrumpfform von Melodie und Rhythmus. Oder einmal anders gesehen, sie schaffen eine Vor- und Urform dessen, das einmal Musik gewesen sein wird." [Bad Alchemy #92]
"The starting point for these new recordings was an improvised recording session with Giuseppe Ielasi, but as with all RLW works nothing is quite what it seems to be. Cutting out the moments of "glory" and recombining them Wehowsky reassembles them into new more detailed compositions. Further improvised sounds were treated and added to the mix. The result may seem like an authentic representation of a real time improvisation, but in reality the pieces are nothing like that...in fact nothing is quite what it seems to be.
His music is impossible to pigeonhole into one simple bracket. It is neither industrial or musique concrete, nor computer music nor improvisation. In fact it could be all of these.
Ralf Wehowsky is one of the most respected electronic composers of our day and was also a founder member of the seminal German group P16.D4 and the label Selektion whose ground breaking releases influenced many working in today's experimental music scene. Previous releases have seen him collaborate with such well known and diverse artists such as Merzbow, Bernhard Guenter, Jim O'Rourke, Achim Wollscheid and Lionel Marchetti.
The CD is limited to 500 and is packaged in a beautiful full colour digipack on reverse board." [label info]
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Agnostic Diaries |
CD |
"The common factor linking these recordings are projects that were never fully realized. The basic recordings started in 2005, however the period of reworking and transformation (2016 to 2017) is more important. All vocal parts and general revisions were done during this period. Agnosticism was the basic idea for the vocal/musical re-working of the pieces with the vocals implanted into the basic pieces, not just as simple overdubs, but inserted in a dialectical confrontation with the basic sounds and structures. "Le Ballet" relies on George Antheil's Ballet Mecanique; "For Gerald" on a co-operation with Anla Courtis using some sounds by Ovary Lodge planned for the Gerald Jupitter-Larssen series which stopped far too early. "Without M.B." includes RLW's parts for a collaboration with Marc Baron whilst "Monotype #6" includes vocals by Dylan Nyoukis, also used for a collaborative CD-r with him. Ralf Wehowsky is one of the most respected electronic composers of our day and was also a founder member of the seminal German group P16.D4 and label Selektion whose ground-breaking releases influenced many working in today's experimental music scene. Previous releases have seen him collaborate with such well known and diverse artists such as Merzbow, Bernhard Guenter, Jim O'Rourke, Achim Wollscheid, and Lionel Marchetti. His music is impossible to pigeonhole into one simple bracket. It is neither industrial or musique concrete, nor computer music nor improvisation. In fact, it could be all of these." [label info]
"There was a time when Ralf Wehowsky was very active when it came to releases under the alias of RLW. In the last decade that seems to have slowed down. The last new one I heard was his LP with Paak (Vital Weekly 1047). Wehowsky was, in the 1980s, one of the main people behind P16.D4, a highly influential group coming from the world of 'industrial music' but crossing over to musique concrète. Since the early 90s, he works solo as RLW, using the computer to work and rework sounds and collaborating with many others, such as SRMeinxner (his label boss here), Paak, Das Synthetische Mischgewebe and others. The music on 'Agnostic Diaries' was recorded in 2016 and 2017 but started back in 2005; it is an album to complete things that were not yet completed. Among those who delivered sounds for this, we find Anla Courtis, Ovary Lodge, GX Jupitter-Larsen, Marc Baron and Dylan Nyoukis. Throughout these six pieces, voices seem to play one role or another. The music of RLW is best explained as organized sound. You load everything you have, basic material, processed versions (analogue, digital) thereof, onto the computer and through a lengthy process of editing and erasing, filtering and cutting, adding effects and so on, until there is a narrative, a composition. It is not easy to say why something works, and something else, perhaps, doesn't work. I guess that is part of being great at what you do and RLW is among the best in this field. With the excellent variation between pure electronic sounds, acoustic sounds and voices (which are, of course, also acoustic) a fine, delicate interplay emerges that makes up these six pieces. In the opening piece, 'Le Ballet' (which relies on George Antheil's 'Ballet Mecanique'), there are some very high and piercing tones, which made me reach for my remote control, but in his other pieces that don’t happen. The dynamics between 'loud' and 'quiet' is something that RLW plays with, along with hard cuts in the music. Yet, it seems as if all the sounds come naturally out of the previous, a logical extension if you will and that makes up for some great music. Upon repeated listening, there is every time something new to be found in this." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| RLW & DAS SYNTHETISCHE MISCHGEWEBE |
Die Eisenbüglerin |
do-CD |
"The idea for this project was in the air since the late 1980´s. There was an intense, though short-lived, (snail) mail contact between DSM and P16.D4, RLW´s group in those days, which fell into sleep for reasons unknown today.
20 years later the contact lived up again. After getting themselves informed about the actual respective state of work, methods and techniques and sounds, the recordings for the project started.
RLW cd: The basic recordings were done by rlw from early to mid 2009, sound sources are instrumental (piano, trombone) and household objects. First detailed sketches of the compositions (autumn 2009) include heavily treated versions of these recordings, cross-modulations with sounds supplied by DSM and with DSM-variations of the RLW sounds sent to Caen. Fine-tuning of the compositions took until fall 2010.
DSM cd: With very few exceptions I used only the original sound recordings of RLW, discarding most of his own processing that he provided me with as I wished for treatments only what would be conceived to be already into the realm of the compositional strategies I fancied for these works. So up to which degree a processing of a sound turns it into an autonomous new one is a question without answer. In consequence resulted a collaboration starting with extremely few basic recordings. However as they had been particularly distinctive by their material character as well as the audible space of the recordings and the variation of their physical intensity as they all resulted from manual efforts they provided me with what was needed. Besides dynamical treatments and cleaning up, my sound processing is not only mostly analogue or equivalent too, but mostly even mechanic. Playing back recordings through 'no-fi equipment' and recording them again, while manipulating mechanically reproduction and recording devices is what I employ most." [label info]
www.aufabwegen.com
"Now here's two guys whose history goes back at least thirty years. Both from Germany and both from the world of cassettes and industrial music, but both having grown into something else, the world of academic music, musique concrete. Ralf Wehowsky was the main man behind P16.D4, but left that name behind to become RLW, while Guido Hubner always remained Das Synthetische Mischgewebe. Especially that is perhaps a bit odd. Hubner's work is more than Wehowsky's connected to the world of serious composing, yet he maintains his old 'band' name. Both of these men also know each other for a long period and there has always been talk of doing something together, so after much discussion, this double CD 'Die Eisenbuglerin' is the result of an extensive 'music by mail' collaboration. They both use conceptual angles to work from. 'Ah, DSM is always very fragmented, maybe I should work opposite', 'let's use mainly analogue, mechanical techniques to transform this material'. Also in the final execution the results are not widely apart, which is fine. It would be hard to say whose CD is who, if you didn't look at the label. Lots of microscopic detailed sounds - sometimes isolated, sometimes like mass - are the very foundation of this music. A fascinating ride, this is. Some close to fifty minutes by RLW and close to sixty by DSM. As said differences are in the details with this. Maybe DSM is at times a bit more fragmented and RLW a bit more 'full' at times. None of the sound sources mentioned on the cover (piano, trombone by RLW) can be easily traced, if at all, in these pieces. Excellent electro-acoustic music in the best tradition of both microsound and serious academia." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€17.50 |
|
| RLW + SRMEIXNER |
Just like a Flower when Winter begins |
CD |
"Recorded by RLW (Ralf Wehowsky of P16.D4) and srmeixner (Stephen Meixner of Contrastate) between 2010 and 2013. The first emanation of the project came up with two versions of one mutual piece (Sunglasses by rlw, Wishing by srm). The core structural elements of the release can be seen in srm's meditation on sentiment (old hearts) and rlw's textased pieces (Prach-tjunge, Alle, Definition). More instrumentally based are Gummidorf (srm) and Spaßbremse rlw). Beyond this a signment both artists have touched all pieces in various ways, as indicated indirectly by the following pandects & interpolations: RLW (Dec 2010) 'Some weeks ago I did a horrible dj-set for a 75th birthday celebration, including Heino and other German schlager cruelties. it was so terrible ! maybe I'll go back to the pieces i used for this event some day. This stuff is awful enough to make another use of it. SRM (Jan 2011): I have been thinking about your description of German schlager cruelties and how horrible it was and awful enough to do something with. Maybe there is a possible project there?" [label info]
www.monotyperecords.com
" "Wie eine Blume am Winterbeginn / Und so wie ein Feuer im eisigen Wind / Wie eine Puppe, die keiner mehr mag /Fühl ich mich an manchem Tag" (meaning "Just like a flower when winter begins / And just like a fire in an icy wind / Just like a doll that nobody wants anymore / That's how I feel on some days"), said the first strophe of the song "Ein bisschen Frieden" ("A little bit of Peace") by which Nicole Seibert, better known as Nicole, won Eurovision Song Contest 1982, rised UK single chart up and became quite famous due to a number of translated versions. This buttery and somewhat controversial (just check lyrics) song became the emblem and the title of this lampoon of pop hit songs - mainly German schlager, but there are also quotes and samples from other traditions together with some German musical atrocities which could have been exported by immigrants, such as the sample of Italian song "Mamma" by Claudio Villa in the disturbingly funny "Old Hearts Rejuvenated" - by Ralf Wehowsky aka RLW, member of the forerunning collective P16.D4, and Stephen "srmeixner" Meixner of Contrastate. Their humorous collage which turned a set of samples from a number of gutted pop hits, plunderphonics, industrial-like sonorities, electroacoustics and vocals which sound like radiophonic captions into a sort of creepy show, whose core elements are srm's meditiation on sentiment ("Old Hearts Rejuvenated"), which are somehow closer to his "permutative distorsions", and rlw's textual pieces ("Definition (Konsumation)", the disquieting swarm of "Alle (Everyone)" - it's really funny the list of names of German pop stars, where the female speaker turns into a devilish one -, the initial "Blumen fur den Prachtjungen") as well as some instrumental forays ("Gummidorf", "Spassbremse") or post-industrial unnerving activated sludges ("Wishing To Be Entartained", "The Man with the Sunglasses"). I could imagine that what you're going to listen on "Just Like A Flower When Winter Begins" if you woefully end up in a German schlager with drunken cockscomb, nazi loggers, twinkly blond milks and a lot of cholesterol while you were searching for a loo in order to sober up after a pitiless barman put an acid pill into your glass of milk." [CHAIN D.L.K.)
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| RM74 |
Fireproof in 8 parts |
CD + CDR |
'Nothing is holy! With his fourth solo-release, Reto Mder aka RM74 takes us on a fevery missionary journey which is driven by an unholy quest for saturation and leads us into the dark places where tortured souls dwell. Unpredictably muckraking in the shoals of timeless abysses, RM74 seeks to kindle the supressed fires of passion. Nothing less!
To do justice to this mission, Mder interweaves acoustic instruments such as an organ, a piano, a bassguitar or a harp with analogue and digital treatments into 8 firey and frivolous revelations. The symbiotical relation on 'Fireproof in 8 Parts' is clearly in favour of the beatified instruments, which are re-discovered as liberating tools: 'The dusty organ winds itself ecstatically in purgatory. The rickety piano holds confused and atonal soliloquies. The detuned strings of the bassguitar gleefully dance to the song of wantonness, and the harp calls for the exorcism of charaded awe!' 'Fireproof in 8 Parts' also contains a bonus-CDr titled 'Part 9: LoFire'. This goodie offers additional insight into the works of RM74, concentrating on his LoFi-inspired Songwriter drafts.
Guestmusicians: Ralf Wehowsky (RLW), Dave Phillips, Roger Ziegler (Herpes Ö DeLuxe), Alexei Borisov and Reverend Lester Knox (archived by Tom Smith)." [label notes]
www.hinterzimmer-records.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| ROADS, CURTIS / TODD BARTON |
Split |
CD |
Due to ongoing demand:
Expanded reissue of this cassette release from 2016. All the original material, of course, but also an exclusive Todd Barton remix/re-work of Roads’s source material.
The original cassette-only release featured a noisy and pontillistic version of a new piece by professor Roads, a spiraling train crash bordering on harsh noise… and Krell music by Barton: outerworldly space contemplations, with a touch of a distant future from a parallel past.
Todd Barton is a tireless Buchla educator and synthesis explorer from Oregon.
Curtis Roads is a pioneer of granular synthesis and algorithmic composition from California.
Both are legendary figures of electronic music and I’m super proud to present this release to the world.
www.umpio.com
|
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
| ROCCHETTI, CLAUDIO |
These are the days |
LP |
CLAUDIO ROCCHETTI (von 3/4HADBEENELIMINATED) benutzt auf dieser LP sein MC- & Vinyl-Archiv als eine Art Gedächtnisspeicher in Verbindung zur Welt; die hier gespeicherten Informationen sind auf vielfältige Weise verbunden mit den Vorbesitzern & ihrer Aura. Auf "These are the days" werden Teile davon collagenhaft neu zusammengesetzt und ganz neue Geschichten "erzählt", es wirkt wie kurze Schnappschüsse des Unterbewussten ins Verborgene der Alltagsgeräusche, kaum fassbar und doch nicht chaotisch, mit viel Raum für Pausen und Rauschen, Knirschen, Crackles... eine besondere Scheibe, die mit mehrmaligem Hören an Schönheit gewinnt!
"These are the days" is a collection of short pieces all around of memory concept... a sort of back-up of experiences on Claudio's preferred media (tapes and vinyls). Tapes and vinyls are here used in a double way: in their common way, the Universal recognized one. As sound reproducers, as technological element of our day-life with their own personal story linked to all the people who owned them... they are full of memory, they are part of our World. But if you change the rules and use the machines in an unusual way, the story change and also the result. Driving them over the limits we can discover unexpected borders... "...I'm attracted by places where the human presence is denied or cancelled, but where you can still hear their vibes. Abandoned flats, tube stations in disuse, spaces in which Nature grows between asfalt and cement, resuming what men has stolen..." CR. Limited to 300 copies." [label info]
www.asilentplace.it
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
| RODEN, STEVE |
A slow moving Boat |
mCD |
'1. a slow moving boat. In april 2007, I made several recordings on a ferry in Norway, of the engine resonating through the metal hull. Later, I recorded my voice humming and singing to the ferry, using it as a harmonic guide or drone. I then erased the original ferry recording, and replaced it with a bowed banjo. The piece was created for the FM ferry experiment, and broadcast from the staten island ferry in ny. Special thanks to Jorgen Larsson for the Norwegian journey, and Valerie Tavere for including the piece in the FM ferry project.'
"Here's a new lil' 3" treat from the always-interesting LA-based experimentalist Steve Roden. It offers a view of land through a ship's dirty window... three black marks on the glass evoke the 'noise' of worn film as Roden's voice falls below the waterline. This song, "A
Slow Moving Boat", has come to life through several poetic transformations described in a short text on the cd sleeve. Taking field recordings he made of a ship's hull in Norway, Roden has used them as guide for his voice as he hummed along to the drone, then replaced the original field with a recording of bowed banjo. As with all of the 'concepts' that drive Roden's work, this one is absolutely gentle... a subjective way of framing and eliciting a creative gesture that, in this case, deftly makes its way back to a ship as a commissioned soundtrack for an FM Staten Island ferry broadcast. The voice on this 15 minute piece ebbs in and out of itself, Roden intoning beautifully at both a high and a low register while the banjo buzzes and flutters. Strangely, as hand-made and human as this music is, it seems to leave its maker behind as it blows out of reach of land..." [Aquarius Records review]
www.inbetweennoise.com |
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Ecstasy showered its Petals with the full Peal fo the Bells |
mCD |
"last summer, while in paris, i was given a beautiful small bell as a gift. it has been a constant sounding companion ever since. at times, during my travels, i would shake it to bring certain spirits forth, and at times it would ring on its own, living in constant motion in my pocket or my bag. as with
some of my earlier works with single sounds – the lamp, chair, splint series and the tea cups in winter couplet – i wanted to see what such a simple singular object could generate, as well as if some of the presence of the person who gave it to me could be conjured through its sounding. perhaps making music can be a kind of alchemy. of course, i not only shook the bell as intended, but recorded the rubbing of its surface, the tapping of it's stem, etc. as usual, some of these sounds are present as recorded, while others have been manipulated
through pitch, and/or time. the title is a fragment from georges rodenbach's bruges-la-morte, a book more filled with the sound of
bells than any other i have read (or heard!). [steve roden]" [label info]
www.myspace.com/fernsrecordings
|
2009 |
€6.50 |
|
| ROGALSKY, MATT |
Memory like Water |
do-CD |
Amerikanischer Musiker & Komponist mit sehr vielfältigen Stücken & Konzepten, hier dokumentiert ist live-Material der letzten 10 Jahre. Vielschichtig schimmernde sphärische Endlos-Drone-Stücke & geräuschhafte Improvisation z.B. mit Violine & Gitarre, sowie eine äusserst merkwürdige Komposition für Radio-Klangquellen...
“The six (or seven) pieces on these CDs document live performance works which span 1996 to the present. Most of the solo pieces are structured improvisations, in that they have a broad form which is repeated from performance to performance while the detail is always quite different. The collaborative pieces are less formalized and depend hugely upon the input of my co-performers. I am very grateful to have worked with them. Conceived as two halves of a single piece, Resonate (noise) and Resonate (tones) seamlessly crossfade from one to the other. Both are sustained-sound pieces, the first exploring noise textures, the second exploring dense, quasi-orchestral harmonic territory. Both pieces employ original software which generates sound using a type of granular synthesis, triggering sampled sources many hundreds of times per second.
The three works entitled Kash are all related in that they employ the same original software instrument (of that name) initially developed in 2001 and still in use today. This software enables me to interact with live performers (or other sound sources) in fluid and lively improvisational situations, accumulating and processing fragments of low-level sounds (the "spaces between the notes"). The three performances with my Kash instrument represented here show how very different the outcomes can be, depending on who (or what) my co-performers are. In each case, all the electronic sound is derived from their real-time input.
Kash (vln) is a collaborative improvisation between myself and violinist Jane Henry, recorded live. Jane is a composer-performer whose performance techniques involve, among other things, use of multiple violin bows made of different abrasive materials. Kash (gtrs) is a live studio recording featuring my brothers Benjamin and Luke Rogalsky on steel-string acoustic guitars. This performance was an improvisation based on a few suggestions as to overall structure. Kash (radios) is a live recording made before an audience at Experimental Intermedia in New York City on March 8 2001. In this case, the "performers" with whom I am interacting are two radios, tuned to talk stations. The radios are faintly heard at the beginning of the piece, but soon the direct sound disappears and only the processed sound remains.
Sprawl (western magnetics) is a document of a live solo performance. As with Kash, Sprawl is a software instrument still in current use, which I developed to be employed in many different improvisational situations. Input from a live performer, or any other sound source, can be sampled and explored at the micro-level using a granular synthesis technique controlled by an computer graphics tablet. Many textural layers of sound can be built up to a dense wall of sound but equally delicate melodic lines can be drawn out as well. On this occasion the input sounds were provided by my brother Luke Rogalsky.
Transform is a manipulation of a live radio signal, tuned to any music station; the frequency content of the source radio program is brought out by a series of tunable delays which create strong harmonic resonances. These harmonies are constantly shifting throughout the piece, which is performed in two sections, the first relatively quiet and the second fairly loud, where the processing used causes the radio to take on the character of an electric guitar constantly on the verge of feedback. Overlaid on the resonant radio in the middle and end sections are sounds of a quite different character generated with electronic feedback loops. The underlying radio signal may sometimes be heard emerging from the dense processed sound.” [Matt Rogalsky]
www.xirecords.org
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
| ROGERSON, DIANA & ANDREW LILES |
No Birds do Sing |
CD |
"... vom neuen album behauptet ehemann Stapleton, es sei das beste, das je eingespielt wurde. an der seite seiner frau tritt Aandrew Liles ins rampenlicht. er zählt zu den experimentierfreudigsten der gegenwärtigen elektrobastler und klangkünstler. soundcollagen, drone music sind sein metier und er wird in eine reihe gestellt mit größen wie heemann, chalk, basinski. so bildet sich ein duo, das kaum interessanter sein könnte, dem man mutiges und zugleich bewegendes, weil bisher nicht dagewesenes zutraut... konzentrationsfordernd ist es, daneben gilt es körperliche berührtheit zu ertragen, dem ansinnen zur flucht zu trotzen, dann wieder müheloses hin-hören, also eine mehr als dynamische rezeption einfordernd. launige samples neben aggressiver stimmung, hier geht so einiges zusammen, was scheinbar nicht zusammen gehört." [Das Klienicum]
"Everyone’s belle de jour Diana Rogerson and Andrew Liles got together to create what we regard as one of the most considered and well conceived albums Liles has been part of. 'No Birds do Sing' can only be described as a hallucinogenic voyage of disconcerting mysticism and cosmic pandemonium and is a recording he's very proud of. This disc is a completely black and comes in a stunning super high gloss digipack with wonderful artwork by Babs Santini." [label info] |
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| ROIGK, STEFAN |
Suffering for the promised |
LP |
Being in the making – or un-making – for the past 14 years, Stefan Roigk's »Suffering For The Promised« has gone through many stages, from being finished, revoked, left untouched, reworked, discussed to finally getting banned onto vinyl in its ultimate and irrevocable form. An atmospherically intense but yet utterly fragile piece, combining concrete sounds, field recordings and devotional vocal fragments to an eclectic and highly intimate composition, consolidating Roigk's position as one of the top players in the game.
Edition of 316 copies on black vinyl, incl. full-colour inner sleeve w/ text by Stefan Roigk. |
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| ROMERO, DAMION |
Twins |
do-LP |
"For over a decade DAMION ROMERO has been crafting minimal sub frequencies to create some of the most interesting and unique experimental music. Twins is Damion's most impressive document to date; it contains four sides of intense and focused pure sound, recorded live with no overdubbing, effects, tapes, or feedback. Twins utilizes many varying textures and layers of sound offering many rewarding engaging listens. Edition of 500 copies in professionally printed INA/GRM "Serie Gramme" style gatefold sleeves. Co-released with P-Tapes." [label info]
www.tonefilth.org
|
2007 |
€20.00 |
|
| ROMULUS & REMUS |
Zalmosis |
10inch |
Collector’s item – trilogy part 2 ! Excellent tribal / ethno – percussive trance-pieces with edges on this sec. part of the trilogy, silkscreened / woodcut covers & inlays.
“Ed. of 111 numbered copies with a bonus coupon. Collect all 3 coupons and send them to R/R and receive a handmade object to hold all 3 releases. Audiophile vinyl packed in a tri-fold cover, signed and numbered. Part 3 of this trilogy will feature Markus Wolff (Crash Worship, Waldteufel). Romulus And Remus are no longer just for Rome. They have become modern dark facilitators for all. Where previously the whiley brothers paid homage to the moon goddess through last year's "Hekate" 10" (B-lRR mt039), they now make worshiping at the alter of the Death God easier and more affordable than ever. Rather than having to defer to the sticky mess of tossing some poor bloke on spear point to appease the ancient Thracian God-O-Death, Zalmosis, all you now need is a turntable and a copy of the new 10" and, by turns, the tides will be turned in your favour without the cleanup. While it certainly can be said that, like its predecessor "Hekate," "Zalmosis" has its bloody scythe lightly dipped in the halotosis of Muslimgauze, the unmistakable "Z" factor of this latest opus reeks of an absolutely distinct Romulus & Remus-ness. The hand percussion breaks are expertly woven into a sonic miasma that often sounds like the record player is on the fritz. Syrupy raga drones become beds for the rhythms to lie in and decay or sometimes be smashed to bits (and, yes, that scraping noise IS supposed to be there, you ninny). There may even be a little one-upmanship over the "Hekate" 10" because, after all, what is the moon goddess going to do in protest? Moon? Nonetheless, both 10"'s are beautifully rendered, extremely limited and indispensable companion pieces with a third on the way. Which is to say that your Zollection is not Zomplete without Zalmosis!” [press release]
|
2003 |
€22.00 |
|
| ROSE & SANDY |
Play Cat's Cradle |
CD |
"Behind this name which suggests two ladies working together we find two of Scottish finest musicians: Ruaridh Law (TVO/The Village Orchestra, Accrual and more) and Dave Donnelly (The Production Unit and more). While they both have their feet in beat driven music for their project Rose & Sandy they take a swing quite the opposite way. From improvised processing, like on their full-length debut they present here, to field-recordings and live video presentations.
Not only have they got a range of solo releases on labels such as Highpoint Lowlife and Stuffrecords, they also run the new upcoming Scottish label “Broken20” together with Dave Fyans (Erstlaub) and are involved with several concert and party events organized by Numbers (in Glasgow)." [label info]
www.movingfurniturerecords.com
"Of course Rose & Sandy are not Rose & Sandy, but a duo of Ruaridh Law (TVO/The Village Orchestra, Marcia Blaine School for Girls) and Dave Donnelley (Production Unit, Marcia Blaine School for Girls) from Scotland, but then I don’t know who is Rose and who is Sandy. The label’s website lists a long story about a zither, or actually something like a zither, being given to ‘Sandy’ by his father. A funny story which describes how it looks and what it does. I suggest you read it yourself, saving me to repeat a long story. So Sandy played the instrument while Rose did all the processing, done into two different sessions, which were edited together into the piece ‘Cat’s Cradle’. Its not easy, when listening to this almost forty minute work, to say what the instrument does, doesn’t, where processing comes in and when it leaves. It seems to me that the beginning is where we hear the instrument in its most pure form, but after some six minutes into the piece, the processing drops along and even, say somewhere around twenty-six minutes, it seems to be taking over entirely for a few minutes. But it works well. There is a beautiful grainy and sustainy quality to the piece, which makes it partly a drone piece, but there is just a bit more to it than just that. An excellent musical trip of gliding scales, buzzing electronics, hissy tapestries and perhaps more such common places. A wintery feel hangs over this music and there sets the mood on the shortest day of the year. The music dies out like the fading day light. Sad and beautiful." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| ROSE, JON |
Rosin Box |
4 x CD-BOX & BOOK |
60th anniversary limited edition set
3 CDs, 1 data disc and a book
DVD style compact multi-case.
"Jon Rose is one of the most productive, original and focused people I know; he’s also an extraordinary musician and an inspired composer. To mark his 60th anniversary we are releasing this 3 CD box of previously unreleased works ranging from radio documentary and radio fiction to virtuoso performances - taken from all manner of contexts, using both the acoustic violin and the hyperstring interactive bow system. There’s a remarkable improvised violin concerto (the rest of the mini-orchestras’s parts are written out), as well as collaborations with Australian locals (multiple brassbands, musical whips, lounge pianists, aboriginal choirs, orchestrated corrugated iron, musical gum leaves, auctioneers, chainsaws, singing dingos, bowed saw orchestras, and so on). There’s a duo with George - an Albert’s Lyrebird, and concerts with contemporary ensembles and heavy earthmoving equipment. It comes accompanied by a great deal of extraordinary film - and some purely audio - material collected together on a supplementary data disc. Plus there’s a generous booklet of texts, documents and photographs and, of course, a souvenir sample of bow-hair." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2013 |
€30.00 |
|
| ROSE, JON / CHRIS ABRAHAMS |
Peggy |
CD |
Jon Rose and Chris Abrahams (of The Necks), after four decades of being parts of other projects, finally got around to recording as a duo. Jon uses a number of violins, including the bird - a specially made tenor hardanger fiddle with sympathetic strings; his tunings are non-standard, and create complex microtonal dissonances with the standard keyboard. Abrahams is unfazed and somehow manages to make the conversation coherent; they’re still speaking one language – probably because these are both virtuosi and they’ve been around the block a few times. So this is not easy music; the simple problems aren’t stimulating, so these negotiations begin at masterclass level. Though pitch and counterpoint are the main topics, the third extended piece pushes timbral exploration to the edge; piano and violin are typecast as ‘classical’ but here they sound more electronic and industrial. Probably not for everybody, but the real innovators seldom are.
/
THE NECKS-Pianist CHRIS ABRAHAMS trifft in dieser spannenden Zusammenarbeit auf JON ROSE. ´Peggy´ ist der Komponistin PEGGY GLANVILLE-HICKS gewidmet und erscheint als CD auf RECOMMENDED. Avantgarde trifft auf Contemporary Classic. JON ROSE und CHRIS ABRAHAMS kennen sich seit fast vier Jahrzehnten. In dieser Zeit haben sie in einer Reihe von Formaten zusammengearbeitet, darunter z.b. bei ´Violin Music in the Age of Shopping´. ´Peggy´ ist allerdings das erste Mal, dass sie als Duo zusammen arbeiten. Man merkt den beiden Musikern ihren reichen Erfahrungsschatz an. Mühelos spielen Piano (ABRAHAMS) und Geige (ROSE) zusammen, klingen dabei harmonisch und (gewollt) dissonant. Das Album ist PEGGY GLANVILLE-HICKS, einer angesehenen Musikkritikerin (New York Herald) und Opernkomponistin gewidmet, die ihr Haus, nach ihrem Tod, Musikern und Künstlern zur Verfügung stellte.
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| ROSE, NEIL |
Wilbur Whateley / Psychopomps |
LP |
"... Inspired by the writing of HP Lovecraft this concept album is going to have a beautifully crafted gatefold sleeve and 180 grams worth of black vinyl to enhance your audio pleasure and bring about the apocalypse! Neil Rose is a Plymouth based electroacoustic composer and his debut album fully deploys his considerable skill at interweaving concrete sound sources, the spoken word and awkward polyrhythmic beat material. It is dark and brooding, and at times yields results no recording should produce, and yet retains a danceable sensibility." [label info]
"Neil Rose, sonic artist and lecturer at Plymouth College of Art, has developed a double A side concept album – his first, and something of a departure for him – titled Wilbour Whatley / Psychompomps, inspired by the writings of HP Lovecraft. Lovecraft, whose writing is liberally descriptive of sound in conveying horror, isn’t interested in poetry. His writing is quick, crude, and hurried – rushing towards something so hideous yet so compelling it wipes out all mind, all sense. He is not escaping from this cosmic horror, he’s escaping to it. It’s a kind of inverse nirvana, and in the album, this expiry of sense, mind, reason – this point of encounter in the music – is devastating. The gathering energy of Yog Sothoth hit me hardest, and it was the oncoming need to dance that I found devastating – if Tolkien’s Belroc was a DJ, he’d play this... " [Arts & Culture]
www.onec.tv
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| ROSENFELD, MARINA |
Teenage Lontano |
LP |
Teenage Lontano and roygbiv&b, from 2008 and 2011 respectively, comprise two key works by composer and artist Marina Rosenfeld. Both works are choral compositions imagined for and enacted by teenagers.
Premiered in New York’s immense Park Avenue Armory, Teenage Lontano is Rosenfeld’s groundbreaking "cover version" of Hungarian composer György Ligeti’s 1960s classic for orchestra. Teenage Lontano is reimagined as an immersive sound environment bisected by a column of teenagers in headphones. Beneath a loudspeaker rotating at the phonographic speed of 33 1/3 rpm, the teens' collective voices produce a hauntingly vulnerable account of Ligeti’s dissonant polychords. Teenage Lontano has been performed on three continents, including a French premiere in 2020 as part of Musica Strasbourg.
In roygbiv&b, asynchronous, sometimes raucous incantations of song fragments swell and dissipate, loosely organized around a purposeful mis-hearing of the acronym ROYGBIV: in Rosenfeld’s version, “r” evokes ‘are' (as in, "Are you that somebody...”);, o is 'oh' (“Oh, oh, oh…”); y becomes 'why' (“Why should my heart...); g is 'je (sus)', and so on. The extra 'b' in the work’s title pays homage to the ‘blue(s)’ of r&b.
Rosenfeld’s punning, spectral composition had its debut performance at the Museum of Modern Art in 2011. The recording featured on this edition took place at the South London Gallery in 2014 realised by local south Londoners, the recording highlighting their style and genre affiliations. Both works have remained unpublished until now.
Side A
Teenage Lontano, 2008
Recorded on March 8, 2008 at the Park Avenue Armory by Arup Acoustics for the 2008 Whitney Biennial. Special thanks to Art Production Fund, Bob Bielecki, Raj Patel and all of the NYC performers
Side B
roygbiv&b (Version for South London), 2014
Recorded on June 11, 2014 at South London Gallery, London by Mick Ritchie. Special thanks to Simon Parris, Avid Williams and the talented vocal stylists of Peckham and Brooklyn
Mastered by Lawrence English at Negative Space
https://room40.bandcamp.com/album/teenage-lontano
|
2021 |
€26.00 |
|
| ROSENQVIST, DAG |
Lexika |
CD |
Lexika is a soundtrack to an imagined sci-fi movie set in deep space. It started with an image of a completely silent explosion in space. From that image I created a narrative of sorts, where a story unfolded as I set out to create the music that would become Lexika. With Lexika I’ve tried to step outside of myself and look at life, the universe, and our fragile existence from another vantage point. The themes of the album – grief, sorrow, hope, perseverance – are themes I come back to repeatedly though. This time they’re just framed in a slightly bigger picture.
When I close my eyes and listen, I see supermassive black holes. I see the Oort cloud, asteroids hurtling through endless black, the Andromeda galaxy, a radiant supernova, the redshift at the end of the universe. I see the endless vastness of space, I see Voyager II leaving our solar system and I see Mercury as a tiny dot in front of our sun. I see a story that unfolds forwards and backwards simultaneously through time where we – humanity – are both part of it and not. How, from the cosmic perspective, mankind’s existence is so brief that you’d miss it if you blink. And how that also makes it so precious.
- Dag Rosenqvist
https://dronarivm.bandcamp.com/album/shelter
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| ROSENQVIST, DAG & RUTGER ZUYDERVELT |
Vintermusik |
CD |
"One album, seven tracks, two people. Who are they? Dag Rosenqvist is a Swedish musician releasing solo music under his own name/previously Jasper TX moniker, and Rutger Zuydervelt is prolific Dutch sound artist familiar to most as Machinefabriek, already known to Zoharum followers via ”Dubbeltjes” compilation of his rarities. And what is ”Vintermusik”? Actually, it is another rarity being reissued.
The tracks from this album date back to 2006 and are one of the early tracks commited by both Dag & Rutger. They did not meet at the time of the recordings, they used the Internet to exchange files. And so 50 minutes of music was created. It is contemplative music full of shimmering guitar drones, delicate piano melodies and bits of field recordings. They sound cold, yet warm at the same time. So the time for releasing this music is just right – it is a little bit of winter music for the end of the summer.
The original version ”Vintermusik” came out on a CDR limited to just 200 copies. Due to a popular demand we decided to re-release it. It has not dated in the least bit, it is as fresh as on the day of its release. As a special bonus, another rare gem was added, that is ”Feberdröm” coming from a 3” CDR. It gives you the full picture of those early ventures into duo collaboration between Dag and Rutger.
”Vintermusik” is released in a 3-panel ecopak in a strictly limited edition of 300 copies." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"With some recognition (to avoid the word fame), Rutger Zuydervelt, also known as Machinefabriek, can always lean back and grab an oldie but goodie (and sold-out-ie) from the shelf and have it re-released. This is what happens here: The first six pieces were released in January 2007 on a CDR by the musicians themselves and probably didn't make it to these pages, and 'Feberdröm (Koortsdroom)' was released in December 2007 as a 3"CDR and reviewed in Vital Weekly 609. All of this now compiled on 'Vintermusik', a proper CD version of all the work by Dag Rosenqvist (sometimes also known as Jasper TX) and Rutger Zuydervelt. It's after all these years still not possible to tell who did what on these recordings, as for instruments and mixes that is. The original 3"CDR is placed at the end of this release back then I wrote: "... it's a great work. High static crackles, a mid-range bed of warm drones and a bass that rumbles somewhere below. Much along the recent works of Machinefabriek, and a sound that brought him his fame so far. Maybe there is a risk of repeating, but no doubt the fans will take that for granted. Nice one." The other five pieces follow a similar schematic, I think: lots of drone like sounds, generated by guitars and loop devices (and who knows what else from the electronics department) and all of this creating a solid hour of the finest dark ambient. Nothing new, but what did you expect from a re-issue? Fine quality, through out all of this." (FdW/Vital WEekly] |
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| ROSENQVIST, DAG & SIMON SCOTT |
Conformists |
LP |
"Conformists’ is a soundtrack album to the short film of the same name composed by Dag Rosenqvist (aka Jasper TX) and Simon Scott.
The origin of the album occurred when Dag was approached by filmmaker Juriaan Booij to provide music for a film he was planning to shoot. Before a single frame was committed to celluloid, the overview provided to Dag was to score a film about how group mentality rules us as humans.
Equipped with only this simple brief, access to a handful of storyboard images and stills from the film set, Dag decided to ask friend and colleague Simon to collaborate on the project. Through the long-distance exchange of files, ideas and half-finished tracks, ten pieces were completed for the film score.
The resulting soundtrack is music rich in subtlety and nuance. Matching the overarching themes of the film, an undercurrent of menace is present throughout, evoking the feeling of half-forgotten memories and imagery drained of its colour.
It should be noted that one of the strengths of ‘Conformists’ is that unlike many film scores, the album also works as an entity in its own right. It was uncertain for a time that the film was going to be completed. As a result of the artists’ creative juices flowing thick and fast, the album was completed as a collaboration based on a film they imagined would be made..." [label info]
www.low-point.com
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
| ROSSETTO, VANESSA |
Self-Care |
CD |
"Self-care is made up of documentation of a three day trip to San Francisco in the fall of 2018. I spent the majority of my time there in a pleasant rented room where I left the recorder running and examined elements of my relationship with my own corporeality.
(Vanessa Rossetto, November 2019)
LOCATION : on the street and at The Boat, San Francisco, CA..
Recorded September 7-9 2018.
Mastered by Vanessa Rossetto.
Cover design & treatments by Daniel Crokaert.
Mainly based on twenties + fifties ads, an old John Keats cover book, and photos by Vanessa Rossetto.
https://unfathomless.bandcamp.com/album/self-care
"Visionary, challenging and beautiful, pushing the potentiality of organized sound incrementally ahead, Vanessa Rossetto's 'Self-care' is unquestionably one of the most engaging releases we've heard so far this year. A bristling expanse of environmental texture and incident, slowing building across its duration into a moody sonic space of startling psychological depth.
**150 copies** Part of our mission, here at SoundOhm, is shining light on remarkable and ambitious efforts, issued by small imprints in tiny editions that might otherwise be overlooked. It goes without saying that the scale of availability, economy, and distribution rarely reflects the towering potential of an artist's work. Before us is one such case - the latest release, Self-care, by American composer, improviser, and painter, Vanessa Rossetto, issued by Unfathomless in two beautiful and very limited editions.
Primarily focused on composing works that draw on a diverse pallet of chamber instrumentation, field recordings, electronics and a wide array of different objects, with a practice that explores each through a combination of extended and traditional techniques, Vanessa Rossetto has been working at the boundaries of the American vanguard for well over a decade, producing beautiful and challenging solo efforts for a diverse number of imprints, including Kye, Another Timbre, No Rent, Erstwhile, and numerous others, as well as collaborations with figures like Michael Pisaro, Sarah Hennies, and Lee Patterson.
Self-care, her latest solo effort, belongs to Unfathomless' mission to produce phonographies that reflect the the aural resonances of a specific place and those associated memories.
The album was created by Rossetto during a three day trip to San Francisco during the Autumn of 2018, during which she spent the majority of her time in a rented room. To build a body of material through which to construct the resulting work, she left a recorder running, amassing a temporarily and spatially constrained series of field recordings that reflected the artist's relationship with her own corporeality.
The result is a bristling expanse of environmental texture and incident, within which Rossetto's voice and thoughts occasionally penetrates, slowing building across its duration into a moody sonic space of startling psychological depth. Visionary, challenging and beautiful, pushing the potentiality of organized sound incrementally ahead, Self-care is unquestionably one of the most engaging releases we've heard so far this year." [Soundohm]
|
2020 |
€14.00 |
|
| ROSTAMI, ARIA & DANIEL BLOMQUIST |
Still |
CD |
Five years have passed since Glacial Movements published the wonderful "Wandering Eye" album by the duo Aria Rostami and Daniel Blomquist, whose themes focused on a description of the best places to observe space from the Antarctic Plateau. A further step forward is represented by "Still", whose purpose is to describe how time can change its motion in case of cold weather.
" "Still" consists of a few recordings done within our first year of collaborating (2015-2016) - the opening track was our first studio recording, everything we had done prior to that was strictly live. Throughout this project, we've tried a lot of different approaches and made a special effort for each record and each live show to make it feel different from the last. In that first year, we primarily aimed to make songs that were built over long periods of time - usually getting noisier and/or more intense - and this was how we had envisioned "our sound" at the time. This also means that songs that were more on the traditional ambient side didn't make the cut of our first record, "Wandering Eye". When Glacial Movements approached us about a second release, we went with a different direction and the songs we chose for "Still" captured a new spirit in our work that was originally left on the cutting room floor. As time went on, we started venturing into new ideas like experimental techno, noise, and more traditional compositions while the songs on "Still" sat like a time capsule. We released more music, expanding our sound, and "Still", which was originally slated for a 2018 release, got pushed back further as conflicts on release schedules came up. We could never have predicted what the world would have looked like in 2021 when this record will finally be released. Somehow, through elements of chance, "Still" is finally being released in a world that feels like it is on pause in so many ways. Most of the songs on "Still" change over time. They do not sound the same when they end as they did when they started. This change is subtle rather than grand and over time the songs become completely new. For the song and album titles, we were thinking about time slowing or stopping in cold weather - how life is on pause and how movement is difficult. The stillness feels more like a cocoon rather than a hibernation - there is something changing over time - and although we had no idea what a global pandemic or politics of today would look like when making this work, the world today completely recontextualizes the music and the delay in the release now feels appropriate. "
https://glacialmovements.bandcamp.com/album/still
"When I was little I used to go on holiday to Austria with my parents. Sometimes we’d go in the winter and other times in the summer. One thing we always did was take a cable car to the top of one of the Tyrolean mountains. It was a weird feeling being carried up a mountain in a tinbox by metal cables. When we got to the top the views were incredible. Even as a child I knew that the views were impressive. One holiday in the winter we went up to a glacier. I didn’t know what it was but was excited to see one. Little did I know that the glacier was just a load of ice. At the time I was disappointed as I wanted to see something impressive. Like a stadium, church, another massive mountain on top of a massive mountain, but it was just a load of ice. As I listen to Still by Aria Rostami and Daniel Blomquist I’m reminded of this trip.
The album opens with ‘-2 °C’. Airy synths swirl out of the speakers while a deep drone slowly grinds its way towards me. This opening salvo works not only as an introduction to the track but to the album itself. Everything that follows is of the small ilk. ‘Undercooled’ is a bit busier but generally it’s the same thing. Here, though, the melodies are crisper, giving the ‘Uncooled’ an edge that the opener was missing. The standout track is ‘Hoarfrost’. Here Rostami and Blomquist add some sounds of birds and running water to the mix. These elements take us out of the serene drones and plant us in the real world. The field recordings also give the song a sense of urgency that is missing from the rest of the album.
Still lives up to its name. Rostami and Blomquist aren’t rushing anything here. They are taking their time and delivering some exquisite drones that do enough to keep your attention whilst keeping it, well, still. Mostly the album works. A lot of the heavy lifting is done by the huge, slab like, synths. As they move forward, one drone at a time, you do get the impression of glaciers. Gradually turning mountains to rumble and cutting out valleys where there wasn’t one before. The downside to the album is that the slightly light, faster, melodies aren’t quite as engaging as I hoped, so my attention was lost from time to time. It always came back to the music, but after a few moments it was lost again. This is an album to play while concentrating on another task. That sounds harsh, and slightly belittles the richness of the music, but there wasn’t enough variation to keep me engaged for the full 55-minutes.
While listen to Still, I’m back up the mountain looking down at the valleys and gorges, the glacier violently cut through the landscape. Despite the tourists everything is quiet and still. It might snow later, but it probably won’t. Ultimately it doesn’t matter as the glacier will still be here tomorrow. As will the album. Perhaps then I’ll find its inner secrets, but if I don’t, I know it’ll be an enjoyable experience finding out." [God is in the TV]
|
2021 |
€15.00 |
|
| ROUX, SEBASTIEN |
Revers Ouest* |
CD |
"This is the story of a man marked by an image of his childhood… Or perhaps is it the story of this woman coming here to meet a beloved stranger, at the Grange-Auloup street ? or maybe their story ?" [Sébastien Roux]
"Revers Ouest* is a radiophonic work based on text fragments drawing a futuristic and mental description of the Nantes city. It’s an isolated utopist vision of architecture, buildings made like concrete waves. The texts are read by two actors, whose voices are used as a musical material and digitally processed, becoming a ghostly trail of the characters they represent. The piece, by mixing a fragmented story with heavily processed acoustic sources, aims to intricate radio art genres like documentary and hörspiel with more ‘musical’ forms such as electroacoustic and contemporary classical music. The first version of the piece was commissioned by Sonor festival and co-produced by La Muse en Circuit. It was premiered on the 31/03/2007 in Lieu Unique (Nantes).
Born in 1977, Sebastien Roux is sound artist living in Paris. Since 2003, he has recorded for the experimental electronic labels 12k, ROOM40 and Apestaartje. In 2005, he was awarded for his piece « un grand ensemble » at Muse en circuit 6th international competitions of Radio Piece. His main collaborative projects includes Heller (with Eddie Ladoire, published by French labels n-rec and optical sound), works with 12k artist Sogar, and with Greg Davis (the duo cd called “paquet surprise” was released on carpark in October 2005). He has released a series of sound installations called wallpaper music. This work has been shown in Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg and Bristol. He also works at Ircam as a musical assistant. (mainly with composer Georges Aperghis)." [label info]
www.room40.org
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| ROZENHALL, DANIEL |
same |
CD |
1. A Plumage Man With A Plastic Bag (3.43)
2. Eyeland Part 1 (16.37)
3. Eyeland Part 2 (19.47)
4. Grig-ailment (6.39)
5. Sinister Laburnum (18.14)
Total time: 64.44
Tracks 1-3 were originally released on the LP Eyeland (Firework Edition Records, FER 1042) in 2003.
Tracks 4-5 were originally released on the LP Miasmasun (Firework Edition Records, FER 1032) in 2001.
All tracks were digitally re-mastered in 2007 for this CD edition.
All music by Daniel Rozenhall. Recorded at EMS, Stockholm.
Cover and insert artwork by Rozenhall. Graphic design by Rozenhall and Sten Backman.
"Time is an illusion. Nature consists of rhythms, pulses and the eruptive life wills of the organisms. And there is something unremittingly organic – or to be more exact bacteriological - about Rozenhall’s soundscapes. They demand their own lebensraum and squeeze themselves up between the dials on the mixing board. Sounds that have gone astray. In perpetual motion. A process without hiatus. Bacteriological objects forcing themselves upon us from the eye of the hurricane, while everything around us is twisted out of joint – time, space and the whole show. We contemplate but we aren’t able to interact. The body loses power over its movements and the world is transformed into flickering light. Yes, if we promptly need to speak of Rozenhall’s music, then we have to speak of the sounds between the frequencies, between the fingers, between the words, beyond the patterns. Where every nerve ending is revealed. Millions and millions of details. A rhythm without tonality. A music of negations. And our conversation cannot be anything else but the excretions that are left behind after the descriptive attempts have been halted - the waste product of sounds. Try to lie still to this. Rozenhall unveils your couchpotatin’ for what it is: an imagined resting place on a globe of galactic driftwood.
Rozenhall’s music has nothing to do with greeting phrases. This is the way a farewell sounds. To part is to begin again with oneself. The last handshake that allows thought to return to one’s own drawing board. Rozenhall has created the ultimate soundtrack for this swiftly passing ground zero. When you without help from anyone else have to confront the vertigo within yourself. The dizziness that happens before you have caught up with your own autobiography and the private mythmaking that allows you to return to your ordinary habits.
And the first thing you meet is the treble. The shrill tone that is allowed to radiate into every cavity. Impossible to figure out like a rubik’s cube without a solution. A sound wave from an alpine landscape, deserted and windswept. It’s like if The Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubricks’s ‘The Shining’ started sending out its own emotional state through a forgotten radio channel. And it is our fate to lay frostbitten with our axes raised for attack in the garden labyrinth."
[Daniel Westerlund , Writer and publisher]
www.fylkingen.se
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| RUHLMANN, MATHIEU |
Somne |
mCD-R |
Sehr sparsam “instrumentiert”, aber mit Sinn für jedes Detail, dieser neue „Ether-Core“-one-tracker des Kanadiers auf TAALEM.
“After a full length cd-r on S'Agita Recordings and just before another one on our beloved belgian friend Mystery Sea, here comes the first 3"cd-r of a newcomer in the ambient world. Mathieu Ruhlmann is a canadian composer who carefully builds his pieces starting from his own field recordings. Add drones, subtle sounds and here's the result : a 20min long track, very calm, ambient, dark but luminous in the same time, cold and refreshing. Perfect for the winter !” [label info]
www.taalem.com
|
2005 |
€5.00 |
|
| RUHR HUNTER |
... ritual before the hunt |
CD |
Das musikalische Betätigungsfeld des GLASS THROAT REC.-Betreibers Chet Scott bietet dark Industrial mit zynisch-ironischem Einschlag und noisigen Passagen.."...RUHR HUNTER'S first full length explores the depths of dark minimalism fused with rich ambient soundscapes. An apocalyptic journey through somber moods that swell without warning into abrasive, violent sound...Limited press of 1000 copies." |
1998 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Torn of This |
CD |
Ungewöhnliches neues Album von RUHR HUNTER aka Chet W. Scott, der auch das GLASS THROAT-Label betreibt. Viel weniger noisig als zuvor, bewegt sich „torn of this“ in eher meditativ-ambienten Sphären, mit so bemerkenswerter Instrumentierung wie „Antique Autoharp“, „War Drum“, „Energy Chimes“ und „Hammered Dulcimer“.
[Drone Rec. info 2002]
“Isolationist composer Chet W. Scott, has blossomed with his most passionate and personal collection of melancholia to date. "Torn of This" RUHR HUNTER'S sophomore solo release, brings a whole new set of dynamics to the soundscape table...Featuring nine beautifully flowing and timeless compositions, with a minimalist sound design, traditional folk elements and contemporary acoustical instrumentation. RUHR HUNTER'S "Torn of This" provides not only another audible journey for the listener to experience, but an absolute look into the composer's personal history, inspired through childhood emotions and experiences, geographical relations and the simple spirit of being. An evocative, sonic portrait of an essence, it's past and it's future...” [label press release]
|
2002 |
€12.00 |
|
| RUTSUBO |
Zakuro |
CD |
"Zakuro is a document of a midsummer feast held by Rutsubo: four artists from four different countries, as strolled in the forest of Broceliande and meditated at Robert Tatin's labyrinth in France.
Jani Hirvonen (Finland) has released numerous titles since the early 2000's as Uton. His wild intuition, cultivated in the forests of Karelia, is directly connected to the pulsations from the depths of the earth and the vibrations of the nebulae. His recordings pour out through his limbs like the automatic writings of a channeler.
Valérie Magisson (France) releases recordings and video works as Sunhiilow. She consistently presents a detailed mythological world with delicately structured works that reflect her adoration of ancient civilizations. However her vocalization and percussions on track 5 and 6 of this album reveal her hidden shamanic side, as opposed to the anonymous aesthete as Sunhiilow.
Hitoshi Kojo (Japan) and Carole Kojo (Switzerland) began making music together in 2006 as Jüppala Kääpiö, and since 2010 have released their recordings primarily through their own omnimemento label. Their sensibility to the discovery of harmony among different elements is strongly displayed in this album, and it gives a wide-ranging but unified impression and structure to these spontaneous improvisations.
The CD is encased in handmade packaging that features Jani Hirvonen's line drawings and Carole Kojo's linocut designs. The first edition is 150 copies, in two color variations." [label info]
www.omnimemento.com
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| S-CORE |
Finger Mark (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
this legendary dronish and noisy tape-group combines deep power-sounds with harmonic over-tunes
"LIMITED+NUMBERED FIRST EDITION OF 250 COPIES
IN SELF-PRINTED SLEEVES BY THE ARTIST; WHITE VINYL.
THIS LONG-EXISTING SOUND-PROJECT FROM TOKYO HAS BEEN ACTIVE IN THE INTERNATIONAL TAPE-SCENE SINCE 1985, DEVELOPING A VERY OWN, SOMEHOW EARTHY STYLE OF MUSIC. NOW IT SEEMS THAT SFCORE IS GETTING MORE AND MORE ATTENTION, A FIRST CD AND LP ARE OUT NOW. DRONE PRESENTS THE THIRD 7"-VINYL, CONTAINING THE NEW TRACKS "THE KILLI # 2" AND "AFFLICTED AREA".
SFCORE MANAGES IT TO COMBINE ROUGH OR EVEN HARSH WHITE NOISES AND POST-INDUSTRIAL SOUND-LOOPS WITH SILENT BEAUTIFUL, SOMETIMES EVEN MELODICAL SOUNDS - THUS DEVELOPING A KIND OF GLOWING TRANCE MUSIC. IT'S A STRANGE FORM OF HYPNOTIZING MEDITATION YOU CAN PUSH YOUR MIND IN WHEN BEING SURROUNDED BY THESE WAVES.
THIS IS MODERN ZEN-MUSIC. "SACORE BRINGS YOU TO THE CORE OF INTELLIGENT POWER!"
DRONE RECORDS DR-14/ SEPTEMBER 1995
|
1995 |
€ |
|
| S.E.T.I. |
The Geometry of Night |
do-CD |
"First released in 1996, `The Geometry of Night´ is the second album of Andrew Lagowski´s deep space sound project which marked a reference point to his works under the name LAGOWSKI. A classic album with laid back percussion, finely-tuned electronics, dark atmospheric synth waves and soundscapes. All constructed around a central premise; ‘The Geometry of Night’ perfectly describes the themes of night sky surveys, surveillance operations and radio telescope disinformation with the advice to keep a wary eye on the dark side of human nature. This is a remedy for the lonely nights staring at your social interface, the melancholy for lost opportunities and a hope for what lies beyond the nearest nebula.
This newly re-mastered edition includes the sister album `Companion´ with more than 60 minutes of new material. The concept involves companions, bound together by molecular chains, enveloped in dark matter and history. Swirling endlessly within infinite illuminating spirals. Their BrEAUTalitY – answerable only to the laws of universal physics and spiritual cosmology. A stunning soundtrack of deep hypnotic drones, textured layers of noise and space transmissions. Moving extra terrestrial sound research to its deepest core!
This double CD set comes in a nice 6-panel digifile. Mastered at Secretlab." [label info]
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| SAAADON |
мреть (наутро ночь) [Die (in the morning night)] |
CD |
In 2018, the longtime partnership between the St-Petersburg based duo Sádon (familiar to us from their collaboration with Treha Sektori) & France's Romain Barbot alias Saåad (who has curated & managed the BLWBCK label and released Sádon's early material) finally turned into a musical collaboration as Saáadon. Entitled мреть (наутро ночь) (which can be translated as « Die (in the morning night ») is centered around the melancholic and introspective poetry of Donat Mavleev, evoking a secular dream, the end of time, its horizon and beyond. The trio's music moves across drone & ambient soundscapes, giving birth to a disturbing strangeness with radiant hues, simultaneously intense and peaceful. A poignant emotional journey the likes only such a joining forces can conjure.
CD edition of 300 copies in 6 panels Digisleeve, Matt Lamination. 5 Tracks. Running Time 37:02
LP Edition of 200 copies on black vinyl with printed inner sleeve, Matt Lamination. 5 Tracks. Running Time 37:02
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/- |
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| SAARIAHO, KAIJA |
New Gates |
CD |
Vier Stücke der finnischen Komponistin, uns bekannt von der fantastischen INA GRM–economique maxiCD „Six Japanese Gardens“ ! Spannungsgeladene, eindringliche, transzendierend-unheimliche Neue Musik-Kompositionen für Streicher, Gesang, Flöten, Harfe, mit ausführlichen Liner Notes auf Englisch, Deutsch und Französisch.
“Kaija Saariaho is the most successful of contemporary Finnish composers. She has won a number of international composition prizes, among them the Prix Italia in 1988. Her compositions have been recorded by, among others, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dawn Upshaw and the Kronos Quartet. She studied in Freiburg, and finally settled in Paris, at IRCAM, the centre for computer music. Saariaho continues to live in Paris.
"In Cendres, musical tension is created by sometimes bringing the instruments as close together as possible in all compositional aspects (such as pitch, rhythm, dynamics, articulation, color), sometimes letting each of them express the music in their own most idiomatic way. In between these extremes one can find an unlimited number of possibilities to create more or less homogenic musical situations. The awareness of this variety was the rope on which I was balancing when working on the piece." (K.S.)
"Grammar of Dreams was born from my curiosity of the relation of human voice to instruments, a subject which I had put aside for many years. As the title of the piece proposes, another source of interest here was the structural life of dreams." The major part of the text is a collage from the texts of Paul Eluard.
"Solar was written for Champ d'Action. Solar is based on the idea of a permanent harmonic structure, which spreads its own image all around and continually brings the harmony back to its original form, as if obeying the laws of gravity. This idea gave the work its title."
New Gates is based on a ballet with no story line: the general theme is passing from one state to another, opening doors, gates, falling, crossing the water, etc.- themes often found in mythologies. As the title suggests, the music moves towards gates, opens them showing us new landscapes, and continues then again towards new gates.
The above quotes are taken from the liner notes, written by the composer.
The Belgian ensemble Champ d'Action takes its name from Umberto Eco's influential book Opera Aperta, which refers to new ways in which to understand the relationships between science and the arts. After more than a decade of intense activity, the ensemble still owes its relevance in the musical world to this meaningful term. Champ d'Action realizes high quality performances and recordings of such music by working directly with the composer. Conductors are carefully selected on the grounds of their working relationship with the composer. This is the first of a series of CDs for Mode, which will also include portrait-CDs of Luc Ferrari and Iannis Xenakis, among others.” [label info]
|
2001 |
€15.00 |
|
| SABLE MOUVANT |
Bridge that leads nowhere |
CD |
Mysterious sounds & atmospheres from this Lithuanian project, repetitive metallic overtune-structures, impressionistic oracle-sounds as coming from a different dimension...
"SABLE MOUVANT is a music project coming from Lithuanian artist GyS. The project may be classified as hypnotic drone ambient. The first album titled Bridge That Leads Nowhere perfectly conveys gloomy, melancholic world where the prevailing trends include reduction, extinction and impalpability. Compositions of Bridge That Leads Nowhere are very slow and solid, their monotonic vibes are the source of a weird hypnotic feeling. Here we have live and pulsatile drone ambient where the track names precisely represent their mood best described as solitude and isolation. SABLE MOUVANT music offers a full dose of Gnostic unknowability, cryptic atmosphere. It is best suited for listening in derelict wastelands, while meditating invisible, elemental and indeed pervading supernatural reality that uncompromisingly regulates the evolution of all worlds known and unknown. The album will please anyone who’s not indifferent to the music of Jarl, Moljebka Pvlse, NWW, Kammarheit." [label info]
www.autarkeia.org
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| SAD KARMA |
Solis |
maxi-CDR |
Ziemlich beeindruckende CDR auf ONYXIA von einem (neuen?) Projekt namens SAD KARMA, die vier sehr elegisch-dunkle Stücke komponiert haben, irgendwo zwischen reinen atmosphärischen Klängen und richtigen „Songs“.... etwas elegisch, weirde Gitarren & Analog-Synths, Pianoeinsatz...
“SadKarma is the phenomenon of the experience of pleasure, through the perception of balance and proportion of stimulus. It involves the cognition of a balanced form and structure that elicits attraction and appeal towards a person or an inanimate object. SadKarma is the bedlam of organic ambience with decoration & fluctuation in its purest form. The frames of the music bear fragments from certain eras of artists like Swans and Coil but the painting itself has drifting textures far more beautiful. Professionally executed CDR release with full colour sleeve & label. Warmly recommended! Ltd. 200 copies.” [label info]
|
2005 |
€7.50 |
|
| SAINTE-MARIE, BUFFY |
Illuminations |
CD |
"Illuminations, released in 1969, is the sixth album by Buffy Sainte-Marie. Though most of the tracks did away with the backing she had used on her previous two albums, Illuminations had a completely different sound from anything she had previously done. From a basis of vocals and acoustic guitar, Sainte-Marie and producer Maynard Solomon used electronic synthesisers to create a sound that was much more experimental music than folk. Indeed, Illuminations was the first quadrophonic vocal album ever made, and on songs like the album's only single "Better to Find Out Yourself", her voice is completely altered by a Buchla synthesiser.
Peter Schickele, however, did provide arrangements to "Mary", "Adam" and "The Angel", whilst the four tracks "Suffer the Little Children", "With You, Honey", "Guess Who I Saw in Paris" and "He's A Keeper of the Fire" were her first work to be not produced by Vanguard boss Maynard Solomon. Instead, they had a stripped-down rock sound and were produced by little known folk-jazz songwriter Mark Roth. Bob Bozina played guitar, John Craviotta drums and percussion and Rick Oxendine played bass." [Wikipedia]
|
2000 |
€13.00 |
|
| SALAKAPAKKA SOUND SYSTEM |
Barbed Wire Boogie |
MC |
New self-released tape "Barbed Wire Boogie" is out! 40 minute pro-duplicated (by BSM-studio) cassette of tracks made 2013-2015. This was originally intended to be released as a split cdr release with/by another artist but after about a year of waiting I grew tired of that laissez-faire attitude and decided to put it out myself with a few added tracks. Once again DIY proved to be THE most satisfying way, even though it means limited quantities (it's limited to only 50 copies) and much more limited exposure... you know, I'm not a 'networking' type of person.
Track list:
A1 Fetus
A2 Afraid of sunlight
A3 Man builds a house (pre-mix)
A4 Terror da mort
A5 In praise of Jean Tinguely
B1 Iceland
B2 If the world should end in fire and ice
B3 No input (radio friendly edit)
B4 Don't call me friend, we barely know each other
A1 is a disturbing song about a pregnancy gone wrong. A2 is something you could call apocalyptic ambient (bit like Homeinen kuu on "Accident Worhip" CDr and The end of the world on the following tape, where is also a cleaner final version of A3 here (hence the pre-mix on a title). A4 is based on a sample of the great Coffin Joe. A5 is inspired by the exhibition of Jean Tinguely's works which I found quite inspiring. Here I use mostly the sounds which I recorded at the exhibition. B1 is based on a sung poem which I found accidentally somewhere. I have no idea what does it tell about but I found it quite fascinating. Just one of the examples where vocals is just another instrument, words lose meaning when you understand absolutely nothing of the language. I appreciate if there's someone who understands Icelandic and could tell me something about the poem. B2 is a sort-of-remix of a certain popular song. B3 is only using a feedback as a sound source. Original track is much more longer but in hope for a decent amount of radio play I decided to include here an edited friendly version, heh. B4 is something I made while I was kind of frustrated and annoyed about people using the word 'friend' in a very loose fashion. You know, Facebook 'friends' etc. - "Hey boss, I am your friend. A special price only for you." Yeah... fuck off... 'friend'!" [label info]
ikuinen-kaamos.blogspot.com
|
2015 |
€7.50 |
|
| SALOMAN, GABRIEL |
Movement Building Vol. 1 |
LP |
"Over the past few years Gabriel Saloman has developed a reputation for releasing penetrating works of haunting beauty in his new role as a solo performer and composer. Known for his part in the seminal electronic-noise duo Yellow Swans (alongside Pete Swanson), Saloman has taken the sweeping drones and fried electricity of his former band and embedded them within an expanding pallette of bowed strings, martial percussion and resonant piano. The majority of his work to date has been developed as music for contemporary dance, exemplified by two recent solo albums with Miasmah, 2012's melancholic Adhere and last years celebrated ode to mud and decay Soldier's Requiem. As he continues to prolifically produce music for dance, Saloman has developed a new series with Shelter Press to make these works available: Movement Building.
The first of two volumes to be released individually on vinyl and together on CD, The Disciplined Body is a 34 minute work that moves through ghostly minimalist drones, poly-vocal drumming and culminates in an aching climb through sheets of shimmering guitar chords before erupting in a violent spurt of harsh noise. While at its climax it may be evocative of transcendental string manglers ranging from My Bloody Valentine to Godspeed You Black Emperor, in its more subtle moments it wades through the kind of blackened water that suggests the outer boundaries of ambient metal, or the ghostly remnants of a cassette dub of beatless electronics. Composed for Daisy Karen Thompson's 'Re-Marks on Source Material', the music shares that dance's Foucault influenced questioning of the limits imposed on our bodies by technology and labor, reaching for an ecstatic escape from discipline and control. Listeners may want to reach for the same - to do so we suggest they play this recording very very loud.
Mastered and cut by Elmut Herler at D+M (Berlin) and pressed in a limited edition of 500 copies worldwide." [label info]
www.shelter-press.com
|
2014 |
€17.00 |
|
|
Movement Building Vol. 3 |
LP |
Shelter Press has made good on its promise to deliver the third and final volume of its series featuring Gabriel Saloman, released both on vinyl and collected with Movement Building Vol. I (2014) and Vol. II (2015) as a double CD. For fans of Saloman’s post-Yellow Swans work – an already dense catalog of darkly cinematic compositions mostly conceived as accompaniment to some of Vancouver’s edgier contemporary dance companies, Movement Building Vol. III is not only a much anticipated conclusion to this trilogy, it is the most fully realized album in years. Where as Movement Building Vol. I & II acted primarily as documentation of time-based artworks, Movement Building Vol. III offers a more coherent and narratively rich album that will appeal to admirers of Soldier’s Requiem (Miasmah, 2013).
Listeners will recognize the emotive bowed strings, militant percussion and searing guitar eruptions that evoked memory and trauma in that previous album. Joining this pallet are other familiar Saloman sounds: shoegaze washes of distorted guitar, minimalist piano attacks, melancholic appregiated melodies, and a patina of harsh noise. Added to this is a more 21st Century approach to drums and bass, perhaps an effect of his collaborations with producer Michael Red in their dub-ambient project Chambers.
Saloman’s music has never sat comfortably in any genre, sharing with a select cohort of other artists (Stephen O’Malley, Lawrence English, Grouper, Kreng, Tim Hecker, among others) an ambiguous position between “modern classical”, “electronic music”, and the more outer limits of metal. Movement Building Vol. III doesn’t clarify as much as it expands Saloman’s oeuvre further into an idiosyncratic musical no-man’s land that fails to be faithful to any popular musical trend – contemporary, retro or futurist.
Movement Building Vol. III’s themes are taken from the dance it was composed for, 2015’s What Belongs To You, created by longtime collaborator Vanessa Goodman (Adhere, Soldier’s Requiem). That work sent its dancers through a physical journey exploring the needs of the body, for shelter, for love and for self-actualization, roughly aligned to Abraham Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs”. The resulting album seems to achingly soundtrack the struggle for survival, not simply for bare life but for something greater and more transcendent that would make survival have meaning. It holds dread and hope in equal parts, never quite giving away the end of the story. Though this record was recorded two years ago Movement Building Vol. III could be the perfect album for our current era of civilizational near-collapse, whether at the hands of maniacal politicians, the slow burn of the Anthropocene or the constant enclosure of the corporate driven, social media enabled surveillance state.
Movement Building Vol. III arrives both as a stand alone vinyl release, and as part of a collection of all three volumes packaged in one double CD. The collection of these works allows one to see clearly Saloman’s techniques and approaches to a relatively limited number of instruments – guitar, percussion, occasional piano and tape. Movement Building Vol. I is presented as one continuous piece, moving through an extended set of drone and loping drum play before climaxing in the kind of glorious guitar chording most often associated with My Bloody Valentine, GSYBE or Mono. Movement Building Vol. II explores various combinations of drum and drone, ASMR inducing high end clatter and the now infamous take on Miles Davis’ classic My Funny Valentine. The digital versions of these albums, mastered by Helmut Erler at Berlin’s Dubplates & Mastering, restore to them their full range of frequency and dynamics, providing a deeper glimpse into the theatrical origins of their composition.
Movement Building Vol. III is not only the final installment in Shelter Press’ series but also represents the culmination of a prolific period of creation for Saloman that began with 2012’s Adhere. From 2011-2016, Saloman produced dozens of recordings in collaboration with various dance artists. Currently living in Santa Cruz, California, and working on a PhD concerning noise and protest, it’s unclear how a new home and a new political reality will shape the music he makes next. One thing is for certain: it’s unlikely that Saloman will be silent for long.
shelter-press.org/gabriel-salomanmovement-building-vol-3/
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Movement Building |
do-CD |
Shelter Press collect all three volumes of the compelling Movement Building works for dance by Gabriel Saloman (Yellow Swans) in a handy double CD set, providing a first opportunity to listen and immerse yourself in the noise deity’s most refined and touching body of work since going solo after Yellow Swans’ demise.
Since 2014 Shelter Press has been steadily releasing a multi-volume series of documents showcasing Gabriel Saloman’s music for contemporary dance. Under the title of Movement Building, these albums have covered a wide breadth of themes and approaches, all of them coalescing around Saloman’s darkly cinematic approach to contemporary guitar music. Known for his part in the seminal electronic-noise duo Yellow Swans (alongside Pete Swanson), Saloman has taken the sweeping drones and fried electricity of his former band and embedded them within an expanding pallette of bowed strings, martial percussion and resonant piano.
Shelter Press has now made good on its promise to collect all three volumes of this vinyl only series – Movement Building Vol. I (2014); Vol. II (2015); and Vol. III (2017) – as a double CD featuring two hours of music, new artwork, previously unreleased tracks, a new digital master by Helmut Erler of Berlin’s Dubplates & Mastering, and an extensive essay on dance, politics and the themes of each album written by Saloman. These collected volumes provide an absolutely necessary document for any fan of Saloman’s work, past or present.
The first disc collects Movement Building Vol. I and Vol. II, the former a sprawling 36 minutes epic that had previously been separated into two discreet tracks for vinyl and is collected here as one continuous piece, moving through an extended set of drone and loping drum play before climaxing in the kind of glorious guitar chording most often associated with groups such as My Bloody Valentine, GSYBE or Mono. Movement Building Vol. II explores various combinations of drum and drone, ASMR inducing high end clatter and Saloman’s infamous take on Miles Davis’ classic My Funny Valentine.
The second disc collects Movement Building Vol. III, including two tracks not available on the concurrently released vinyl version. Vol. III shares with earlier albums the emotive and disorienting bowed guitar, militant percussion and searing guitar eruptions that was so evocative of memory and trauma. Joining this pallet are other familiar Saloman sounds: shoegaze washes of distorted guitar, minimalist piano attacks, melancholy guitar melodies, and a patina of harsh noise at just the right moments. Added to this is a more contemporary approach to drums and bass, perhaps an effect of his collaborations with producer Michael Red in their dub-ambient project Chambers.
Saloman’s music has never sat comfortably in any genre, sharing with a select cohort of other artists (Stephen O’Malley, Lawrence English, Grouper, Kreng, Tim Hecker, among others) an ambiguous position overlapping “modern classical”, “electronic music”, and the more outer limits of “ambient metal”. The recordings collected in Movement Building doesn’t clarify as much as it expands Saloman’s oeuvre further into an idiosyncratic musical no-man’s land that fails to be faithful to any popular musical trend – contemporary, retro or futurist.
|
2017 |
€17.00 |
|
| SALT |
Machiakari |
LP |
"the moment of light is unrepeatable: with his second album, stefan alt pays homage to life in the present moment, any moment, which by nature can never be repeated. the same group of people may get together in the same place again, but a particular previous gathering will never be replicated, and thus each moment always remains a once-in-a-lifetime experience, one to be enjoyed and cherished. this positivity is the overall theme: so embrace the machiakari, the glow in the night, urban artificial light, the modern manifestation of light in times of darkness.
'machiakari' works in the tradition of juxtaposing alluring atmospheres, psychedelic appeal and even occasional melodies with washes of seemingly freeform noise and challenging track structures. so join the ride, enter the 'time capsule' and let go of your standard perception of time. 'assault on precinct 13' is indeed a cover version of (and adoring homage to) the famous score title by john carpenter, the movie and its soundtrack itself being classic examples of the avant-garde making a successful foray and leaving an impact on popular culture. 'absorbed' and 'we never sleep' (referencing the theme of light and the work of john carpenter again, respectively) feature drums by experimental jazz musician gerwin eisenhauer, a contemporary of salt in the city of regensburg, the result being dynamic and intoxicating halfstep tunes with a lot of sonic grit, loaded with urban anxiety and confusion. when you visit tokyo, you will most likely overlook the older quarter 'ueno': outdated, sporting a visible patina, a flair of darkness and decay, fascinating for its sluggishness. the three parts of 'yakushi-do' dive head-on into japanese culture and mysticism, a path leading to purification of the mind, delivered with an industrial attitude, moving from ritual to collage style.
'machiakari' follows the enthusiastically received 'invisible', with which it shares not only it’s concise 45 minute album format, but also it’s artistic reappraisal of visual phenomena and japanese culture. and yet, this sophomore album is an entirely different entity, a focused and confident manifesto shedding valuable light in the dark of night. the moment of light is unrepeatable."
https://ant-zen.bandcamp.com/album/machiakari |
2019 |
€25.00 |
|
| SALTLAND |
I thought it was us but it was all of us |
LP |
"Saltland is the new project led by Montreal-based cellist Rebecca Foon, best known as a founding member of contemporary chamber group Esmerine and a former member of Thee Silver Mt. Zion and Set Fire To Flames. Foon began composing solo work in 2010, featuring multi-layered cello and hushed vocals at the intersection of drone, no-wave, improv, dream-pop and minimalism. Joined by Jamie Thompson (Unicorns, Esmerine) on miniature percussion, programming and signal processing, Foon's live performances in Montreal and abroad over the past two years have seen her sound progress towards gently rhythmic and electronic territory as well. She has transfixed audiences with this new music while sharing the stage with Mary Margaret O'Hara, Julia Kent, Nat Baldwin and Sam Amidon, among others. As her largely home-recorded debut album began taking shape throughout 2011, with numerous guests contributing to various pieces, Foon adopted the Saltland moniker for this work.
I Thought It Was Us But It Was All Of Us is a beautifully restrained debut album that telescopes the directness and economy of Foon's compositional and vocal styles into lush, twilight atmospheres aglow with luminescent tendrils and flickering particles. Foon sings of childhood innocence lost, of tender utopic reveries and downcast dystopic horizons, and the search for soft, stoic strength in a darkening, devolving world. Foon’s voice is discreet but defined, drifting on buoyant currents of sound sourced from her plucked and bowed cello lines, in most cases propelled by Thompson's bespoke percussion and understated programming/processing, with touches of guitar, bass, horns, woodwinds, strings and backing vocals added by a cast of supporting players. The record unfurls like a gauzy flag in a restless breeze at dusk: a delicate, resolute sentinel set against the fading light.
The album's ambience also owes much to the work of Mark Lawson, the award-winning engineer (Arcade Fire) who collaborated closely with Foon to record and mix these songs at Six Saint V, her apartment studio in Montreal. Lawson, along with friend and percussionist Thompson, helped to forge a balance between lo-fi intimacy and shimmering breadth with these recordings, remaining faithful to the all-anologue instrumentation of the source material while judiciously deploying signal processing strategies to subtly refract, saturate and expand the sonic landscape. With contributions from Laurel Sprengelmeyer and Jess Robertson (Little Scream), Mishka Stein (Patrick Watson), Colin Stetson (Bon Iver), Sarah Neufeld and Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire) among others, Saltland offers up an unassumingly immersive debut album of searching songs that blend several core influences into a distinctively naturalistic sound. Saltland stakes out an unaffected, meditative, clear-eyed and earnest space where minimalism, dream-pop, drone, shoegaze, confessional folk, chamber music, and ambient/electronic coexist and coalesce.
Release date: 14 May 2013
Running time: 38:32
Packaging notes
CD comes in a custom gatefold jacket printed on 100% recycled paperboard in 4-colour process. LP is pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl at Optimal (Germany) and comes in a heavyweight gatefold jacket printed in full-colour process." [label info]
www.cstrecords.com
|
2013 |
€23.00 |
|
| SAMARTZIS, PHILIP |
Mort aux vaches |
CD |
Highly abstract digital processing music with a wide range of moods, sounds & spheres, nearly undescribable. Concentrating listening necessary. Comes in luxury cardboard-paper-covers with embossing, lim. 1000.
“ Philip Samartzis is a Melbourne based composer with a long history in experimental sound production and performance. He formed Gum in 1986 with Andrew Curtis releasing several albums and singles independently and through Korm Plastics (NL) and RRR Records (USA). Since 1995 he has primarily worked solo, releasing Residue (1998) & Windmills Bordered By Nothingness (1999) through Dorobo (Aust), both of which highlight his explorations in recording and processing acoustic and spatial environments through digital technologies. More recently Samartzis has extended his studio based techniques to incorporate live performance working both solo and in collaboration. Over the last two years he has performed with Kozo Inada, Gunter Muller, KK Null, Sachiko M, Voice Crack & Seiichi Yamamoto. An upcoming release in the Mort Aux Vaches series released by Staalplaat (NL) contains elements of these collaborative and solo performances. Samartzis is also responsible for curating Variable Resistance: Ten hours of sound from Australia, a contemporary survey of Australian sound culture, presented at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2002, and the Transmediale Festival in Berlin in 2003. Philip Samartzis' 'Mort Aux Vaches release' is the 40th release in the series... “ [label info]
|
2002 |
€13.50 |
|
| |
Soft and Loud |
LP |
SOFT AND LOUD ist eine Klangkunst-Installation für 8 Lautsprecher, die auf verschiedensten ‚environmental recordings’ aus Japan basiert. Aufnahmen von Tempelplätzen, Wäldern, Marktplätzen, U-Bahn, Vorstadt-Noise, wobei sich aber das „typische japanische“ als Klangfokus herauszentriert, betörend schöne fliessende Sounds wechseln mit lauteren Alltagsmomenten & -geräuschen ab. Das ganze klingt sehr konkret und komplex zusammengefügt in dynamischer Bewegung & Effektierung.
“Originally conceived for eight-channel surround sound playback, Soft and Loud is comprised of field recordings made in Japan between 1999 and 2001 that were later arranged and mixed in Melbourne over a three year period. The objective of the field recordings was to document a variety of common environments in order to investigate the behaviour of singular events and their relationships to other sounds occupying the Japanese soundscape. Of particular interest is the cohesion with which artificially generated sounds are incorporated within the generally subdued natural acoustic environment. However intriguing the artificial is, the strangely muted quality of Japan is also a source of fascination. A massive city like Tokyo can be thunderously noisy, however it has a calmness to it that can be quite unsettling. It is the intersections where the distinctions between the artificial and the natural, noise and silence are blurred that drew samartzis' interest when constructing this work.” [label info]
|
2005 |
€18.00 |
|
| SAMARTZIS, PHILIP & LAWRENCE ENGLISH |
One plus One |
maxi-CD |
"The turntable has enjoyed a varied history in the realm of performance and experimental music. From the early phonographic works of John Cage to the spliced cut-ups of Christian Marclay in the 1980s, the device has proven to be a versatile tool for the creation and transformation of sound. Following a joint billing at Brisbane's Metro Arts Space in 2002, Melbourne based composer Philip samartzis and sound artist Lawrence English shared a 30-minute performance that was to become the beginning of their on-going turntable duo. Both samartzis (a member of the legendary Australian turntable group Gum) and English (a regular player with DJ Olive, Janek Schaefer and others) have long histories of live actions utilising turntables and together each of them brings a wealth of gestures and unique sonic qualities to the instrument. Recorded in early 2006, this edition captures the initial studio works from these two artists and seeks to reflect on the potential of the cyclical nature of vinyl and the surface noise that envelopes the very medium itself." [label info]
www.room40.org
|
2006 |
€7.50 |
|
| SAND |
His first Steps |
CD |
"The present album is a forerunner of GOLEM, the legendary album from the cosmic and psychedelic genius that is Sand. After the split of POT the early SAND submerged as a threesome in the basement of Claudiusstrasse and built up an alchemical assembling shop, where they resurrected the archetypical GOLEM. SAND considered themselves as an exile community in a fascinating area - full of distinctly bizarre energy.
There is something magical and inexplicable in creation, and Sand manifest absolutely these mysterious phenomena. Story-tellers, musicians, shamans, geniuses, Sand were known, at the end of the 60s, as P.O.T. (Part of Time). The music they created at that time has remained unreleased until now.
Two different approaches are evident within this band. The first—which is shown in the compositions of the trio Ludwig Papenberg, his brother Ullrich Papenberg and Johannes Vester—is avant-gardist, experimental and proto-industrial. The second, when this same trio is augmented with a few extra members, reveals a more emphatically “rock” side, somewhat in the vein of Pink Floyd’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, perhaps making it somewhat less personal than the visionary and experimental positions characteristic of Sand, a truly unique entity in the history of music.
At that time Klaus Schulze was developing, with engineer Manfred Schunke, a specialised recording process called “Artificial Head Stereo Sound”, which, like “Surround Sound”, created the illusion of the music coming from 360º around the listener. Schulze chose Sand to record in his studio one of a series of records to demonstrate this new technique. Sand’s album Golem was recorded and released on the Delta-Acustic label in 1974.
Sand acknowledge that Manfred Schunke and Klaus Schulze were Sand’s most important mentors.
Although classed as “Krautrock”, Sand are not really in the Krautrock style, despite being part of this movement of German cosmic/psychedelic bands. Instead they take us on a cerebral/cosmic/strange/dark trip all of their own, with a highly original subtlety, elegance and strength. Trapped in the trip, swallowed up by the quicksands, seduced by the unique and innovative combination of acoustic guitars, synthesisers, sound generators, short-wave radios, factory noises, hammers from the shipyards, agricultural machines, whirls of sand and eerie atmospheres, the listener discovers and lives the story of Sand and his Golem.
Julian Cope wrote of Golem in his HeadHeritage’s website’s “Album of the Month” column, “Dig this fucking weird Saxony sound and fill your heart”.
Rotorelief releases, in 2010, a series of unreleased albums by Sand as well as a reissue of Sand’s only album, the obscure and rare Golem, first released by Delta Acustic in 1974, along with related releases by Nurse with Wound and Current 93.
This series of albums from Sand is called “INXOM”, the series title having one letter for each album, explained by Johannes Vester as follows:
“Incoming, Inspiration, (...) In X is OM (Odem) which could mean ‘There is Om/Odem/Atman in the Unknown (X)’ ; this also corresponds to "shem" which is in XOM,—the meaning in the Golem Myth. Last, but not least, for me it sounds like the electronic attitude in symbiosis with Sand's spirit....”
And also called '' INXODEM '' with 5x Sand album (INXOM) from 70's + 1 album of Nurse With Wound (2013) and 1 45RMP twelve inch of Current 93 (1992) :
"His First Steps" (I) / is a previous, unreleased and variety album (1972 & 1973) of "Golem"
"Golem" (N) / legendary album composed in 1972 and 1973 (released in 1974)
"Desert Navigation" (X) / unreleased album, titles composed in 1973, 1975 and one track from 1982
"Sylph Ballet" (O) / unreleased album, titles composed in 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1976
"North Atlantic Raven" (M) / unreleased album, titles composed in 1973, 1975 & 1976
(+ bonus 1982)
"Chromanatron" (E), by Nurse With Wound composed in 2013 with sounds and extracts from Sand
"When the May Rain Comes" (D), 2 varieties of the reprise title "May Rain" of Sand by Current 93 in 1992
Today, 40 years later, here the cool sound jugglers, founders and new members, go again (Ludwig and Ulrich Papenberg, Johannes Vester, Christian von der Schulenburg and Richard Pappik) then Sand is active in a creative frenzy timeless...
www.rotorelief.com
www.rotorelief.com
|
2016 |
€14.00 |
|
| SANKT OTTEN |
Morgen wieder lustig |
CD |
"Sankt Otten’s fourth album sees the duo’s sound evolving once again, while retaining the undeniable hallmarks of atmosphere, melodic dexterity and depth. Morgen Wieder Lustig employs stacks of luscious synthesizers, with knowing nods to fellow Germans Kraftwerk and Klaus Schulze, alongside Oliver Klemm’s hallmark soaring guitar drones and Stephan Otten’s unmistakable rhythms. The album presents a musical vision that is both epic and personal – a kind of internal cinema. Single ‘Lustig, lustig demain encore lustig’ is a prime example of Sankt Otten’s glorious new direction. The track acts like a magnet, irresistibly drawing the listener along with its hypnotic drums. Elsewhere the album is soaked in majestic refrains, demonstrating Sankt Otten’s control of rhythm and texture. While their early sonic experiments explored the brooding and frayed edges of ambient, post-rock and jazz, these new songs push this relationship to a new level. Morgen Wieder Lustig shifts from the head-rush ambience of ‘Das bezahlte Lob’ to the dark and twisted post-jazz of ‘Fromme Lügen’. Just when you think you have the album pegged, ‘X für U’ drags you on a melancholic, Klaus Schulze-inspired sc-fi odyssey." [label info]
www.denovali.com
|
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| SANTAAGOSTINO |
Operazione Paura |
CD |
"SantAAgostino tell of the Noises from Beyond the Gate.
SantAAgostino play the Journey of No Return from the Death Phase. SantAAgostino sing the Dark Zone of those who met the pain-soaked Demiurge and came back to Earth without forgiveness for their sins. SantAAgostino write about the laments and the looks of those who saw beyond the coma and came back. SantAAgostino feel the return of those who died and are reborn more rotten and foul than before.
Operazione Paura is a tribute to music and cosmos energy: the same energy that santAAgostino trio was permeated with during the opus and the esecution of the pieces.
Operazione Paura is a total turning not just for the band but for dark, ambient music and noise, generally speaking. That’s because santAAgostino is like a meteor crashed onto the Earth disarranging all the balances, rhythmes and cycles. After the crash the planet seems to be perished but, in the inner part, the new fire of life is burning. A brand new energy developed in a new way of living, of thinking and being.
Operazione Paura speaks of the filmic and horrorific fear, mind trap “to kill” atavistic thoughts and all those mental factors that trapped the man into a selfmade cage in his own mind, through the mind itself. Operazione Paura is an awl that, slowly but inexorably, drives the listener to a dimension where there is no thought, no images, no more conceptualizing, nothing still exhists: there is just a huge solitary desert now, where sounds spontaneously flow creating new monster beyond space and time. It’s a place where new divine dynasties born, spreading their seed, in order to bear a brand new reign far from the borders that we can’t even imagine." [label info]
www.greytone.eu
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Mokaraba Constellation |
CD |
"Greytone is proud to present the second album from the enigmatic act santAAgostino. Definitively the best expression of their multifaceted way of visual-audio compositions. Seven tracks of pure melodic ambient noise will bring the listener into a cathartic mind introspection above the abyss.
Mokaraba Constellation is an album of songs and just because those songs have been slapped with layer upon layer of filthy concrete and lead doesn't mean they were never songs at all. Fantastic, crucial tunes yet again from the mind of the Italy's most hard working dark ambient / noise alchemists
Without a doubt this is one of the finest experimental records we’ve had cross our label in years, and one nobody in their right mind should pass up." [label info]
www.greytone.eu
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| SANTOS SILVA, SUSANA / HAMPUS LINDWALL / TORBJORN ZETTERBERG |
Hi! Who are you? |
LP |
The trio Susana Santos Silva / Torbjörn Zetterberg / Hampus Lindwall emerged in 2015 with their first album If Nothing Else (Clean Feed CF348) which was received with critical acclaim. The unique conceptual approach to composition & improvisation rooted in both free jazz and contemporary classical music was described as “guaranteed a unique listening experience” (JazzIn), “It is art!” (Gapplegate Music Review) and “unique sound and style” (New York City Jazz Record). On their new album “Hi, who are you?” (Matière Mémoire MATME004LP) they have taken the musical creation a step further by adding live electronics for real time sound treatment. Different techniques from experimental electronic music is juxtaposed with simple use of electric guitar effects to obtain tight and highly emotional sound.
Susana Santos Silva - trumpet
Torbjörn Zetterberg - double bass, and electric noise on track 5 and 10
Hampus Lindwall - pipe organ and live electronics
All music composed and performed by Susana Santos Silva, Torbjörn Zetterberg and Hampus Lindwall
Produced by Susana Santos Silva, Torbjörn Zetterberg and Hampus Lindwall
Recorded by Torbjörn Zetterberg in Engelbrektskyrkan, Stockholm, Sweden, January 20-21 2018
Mixed by Torbjörn Zetterberg in Mörbylund, Sweden
Mastered by Mats Äleklint
Cut by Frédéric Alstadt at Ångström studio, Brussels
Artwork collage by Dan Lean (Merciful Stranger Art)
Graphics and layout by Cedric D’hondt
The organ in Engelbrektskyrkan was built by Grönlunds Orgelbyggeri in 1964 and restored in 2013 by the same company. It has 91 stops, 5 manuals and pedal.
https://matiere-memoire.bandcamp.com/album/hi-who-are-you
https://matiere-memoire.bandcamp.com/album/hi-who-are-you
In 2015, Portuguese trumpeter Susana Santos Silva teamed up with Swedish musicians Torbjörn Zetterberg on bass and Hampus Lindwall on organ. The combination is relatively unique, as is their sound. Santos Silva is one of the leading voices in contemporary improvised music, often performing together with Zetterberg. Their collaboration with Lindwall is more selective. In 2015 they released "If Nothing Else", and we are happy that the next iteration of their music is now available, albeit in only 300 vinyl copies, so you'd better hurry.
The sound of Lindwall's church organ is critical to the overall feel of the music. Under the influence of his organ teacher, Rolande Falcinelli, he moved to Paris in 2002 and studied at the Conservatoire de Saint-Maur-des-Fossés and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Lyon. He is the Titular Organist in Saint-Esprit, Paris.
In an interview with us about their debut album, Susana Santos Silva explained their approach as follows: "It's improvised music but with a great sense of structure and development within each song. And that's what can be so beautiful in an improvised piece of music, that all the notions of composed music, like the development of an idea, theme and variations, counterpoint, leitmotifs, dynamics, question-and-answer phrasing, different layers, textures, and so on, can just happen spontaneously, in the moment".
Most of the music is acoustic, but frequently altered by live electronics. The result is a strange sonic world, that is at once brutal, haunting, reverent and riveting. The performance was recorded in the Engelbrektskyrkan, a church in Stockholm, selected amongst others for its recently restored organ, that has 91 stops, 5 manuals and pedals.
The resonance of organ, trumpet and bass in the church makes this an even more special performance. In a way, you have to be in the space itself to fully enjoy it, even if the sound quality of the album is also astonishingly good.
Highly recommended!
---
I had the luck to see the trio perform in 2017 in the Saint Jacob's Church in Ghent, Belgium, where I recorded the following video vignettes with my smartphone. Not the ideal quality, but it gives an impression of what this music means in a real church. The trio is of course high up on the balcony next to the organ.
[The Free Jazz Collective] |
2019 |
€23.00 |
|
| SASAJIMA, HIROKI |
Bells |
CD-R |
"Bells is an Evening Record. The deep of its sound travel us toward a landscape and a situation directly. It is a record that supposes an experience on listening, a compromise with hearing. Images float, changing in a record with a beautiful narrative. The trip, the steps and tension appears clearly in this process that means to listen to this record.
It is an unique track of long haul. It is not a fleeting record. It is a record-experience.
I have the chance to make listen to Bells to my pupils of twelve years old, as an exercise of writing. And this is one of the very beautiful results: “It presents a picture of me walking with Hiroki headwind in a field close to nothing. Like night, also appears to be near a route by traffic noise. In a moment it looks like rain and another seems to pass a train. The noise is constant. The combination of constant andsound recordings is perfect. I think Hiroki Sasajima walks through puddles.
It was a very good piece of work why is good at drawing on white paper. Evening Bell is the perfect title.Hiroki I imagine abandoning any idea where he is recording all the sounds you hear. This is very good to use your imagination.
With this work Art you can imagine many things.” " [Bernardo Durand]
www.ahoraeterno.com.ar
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| SASAJIMA, HIROKI & TAKAHISA HIRAO |
Hidden Bird's Nest |
CD |
"With the aptly named "Hidden Bird's Nest" Hiroki Sasajima & Takahisa Hirao, all senses in alert, commit an uncommon dive into Nature's breathing Heart, the clamor of the world...
Purity is often usually a simple idealistic abstract notion - not here ; all sounds seem to have been captured in such a pristine way and in such full details that it seems to exceed the limitations of faithful reproduction...and one gets the feeling that suddenly the whole Cosmos is almost enclosed in a single resonance just in front of your ears...
Distance becomes abolished, and it's like if the listener is invited to become a vibrating & active part of the selected location...
Each sound has its own weight, color, placement and is the exact reflection of what it stands for...the restitution of an essence into all its components...
"Hidden Bird's Nest" should cross time easily, offering a veneer of permanence, while being an ultimate testimony of the magnificent Togakushi region..." [Daniel Crokaert]
www.3leaves-label.com
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| SASHASH ULZ |
Chtenie |
CD |
"Following two now impossible-to-get cassette album releases, Chtenie, meaning ‘reading’ in English, is set to be Russian artist Alexander Shevchenko’s debut on CD. Comprising improvised organ and guitar pieces with field recordings and a warm, natural and earthy feel that falls somewhere between a soundtrack to a lost ’60s mystery film and the notion of the lone busker playing mildly jaunty, yet generally disturbed, melodies to the mostly bemused townsfolk. Packaged in a fold-over card cover and limited to 300. Released in December 2013." [label info]
www.fourth-dimension.net
"And here we go... improvisations on organ, bass and guitar. Twelve pieces of fresh music with influences of blues, jazz, folk and minimal music. The sound of the organ will take you back to the sixties and seventies and the combination with field-recordings create a psychedelic atmosphere. Sashash Ulz lives and works in Karelia – Russia and invites the listener to his intimate music. He is an very active musician and last year he released 10 tapes and digital releases at several labels. This album is released by the Polish label Fourth Dimension Records, which releases music since 1983. The recordings are pure and as if you are in his own living-room. He uses not a lot of layers in his music, mostly only organ or guitar and sometimes other sounds are added. The album “Chtenie” consists tracks with titles as “Y”, “Y,” and “,,,” I really don’t know what this will mean, but the titles fit well to the music. The compositions are coming up and will pass away, they will catch you or suit well as a sweet background. The melodies are recognizable, but do not refer to a special song or composition. It is just music for a sunny day, sitting around and doing something or doing something casual. Great fun!" [JKH/Vital Weekly] |
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| SATO, MINORU (M/S, SASW) + ASUNA |
Texture in glass tubes and reed organ |
CD |
"Die Kollaboration von MINORU SATO (m/s, SASW) + ASUNA für Texture In Glass Tubes and Reed Organ (KK012) folgte akribisch phonologischen
Konzepten, die in den Titeln auch schon angesprochen sind: ‚Superimposing five harmonic states‘ und ‚Weaving seven resonances: with
raw stereo material‘. Eine musikalische Phänomenologie, für die das Wort ‚experimentell‘ tatsächlich mal zutrifft. Die beiden dabei minutiös geschichteten oder verwebten Klangquellen, Glasröhren und Saugwindharmonium, sich klassische Dröhner. Sie erzeugen wunderbar harmonische Schwingungen,
die als Wellen im Raum ‚stehen‘ und wabern. Die ebenso raffinierten wie minimalistischen Anordnungen zeitigen idealtypische Resultate - Deep Listening à la Pauline Oliveros, Phill Niblock, Osso Exótico & Verres Enharmoniques.
Obwohl nichts anderes als Nüchternheit und Präzision am Werk sind, quellen klangwolkig und sanft schwingend alle nur denk- und fühlbaren
Konnotationen von Sphärenharmonie, Nada Brahma, Meditation und Immersion auf." [Bad Alchemy]
"We have been performing “music” focusing on the materialistic nature (physical phenomena) of sounds by utilizing the reed organ and glass tubes. Our music is composed and constructed in such a way that however the phenomena we use reacts with the circumstances of the space – the situation of the site including the audience – our live performance involves and uses these conditions. Since these compositions are studio recordings however, we decided to exclude acoustic spatial matters and the ‘one-time-ness’ of live performances and instead composed the structure of resonances within certain divisions of time. This is similar to textiles – weaving “resonances”, rather than thread, in certain patterns.
"Superposing five harmonic states" was developed by recording five harmonic states separately. Each of the harmonies was obtained by finding the characteristic sound effects made by the relationship of the chords of the organ and resonances of the glass tube. It was constructed by layering the recordings regularly in certain passages of time. The resonances of the organ and the tubes are left as they were originally recorded and the result is five separate recordings woven into a single piece.
"Weaving seven resonances: with raw stereo material" was developed by recording a state where the resonances keep a subtle balance between the relationship of the organ and the glass tubes. From the originally recorded material we found seven characteristic frequencies and reconstructed them into a piece, by giving each individual volume a transition using optionally assigned periodic variations. Thus this composition, made of a single recording, is like a piece woven by one string.
If our live performances were to be evaluated as music where we are presented with one-time incidents – i.e. reflecting the real time phenomena as ‘now and there’ in the music – this CD could be evaluated as music to analyze the sound structure of these phenomena and to make those aspects audible. It is intended to create a narrative about the phenomena which resonate through constructed sounds." [Minoru Sato]
www.spekk.net
|
2007 |
€15.50 |
|
| SATOH, SOMEI |
Mandala Trilogy + 1 |
do-LP |
WRWTFWW Records announce the full official reissue of Somei Satoh's magnificent Avatamsaka Sutra inspired Mandala Trilogy with one additional never-released piece. Sourced from original masters and available on double vinyl in heavy 350gsm sleeve with liner notes by passionate Japanese music connoisseur/collector/critic/DJ, Masaaki Hara. Deep deep deep into the abyss... The Mandala Trilogy blends Somei Satoh's own slowed down Buddhist chant vocalization and early electronics to create a radiant and meditative atmosphere conveying serenity and timelessness. It includes three pieces recorded separately. "Mandala" was recorded at the NHK Studio of Electronic Music in 1982 and was included on the album Mandala/Sumeru, released on Kojima Recordings' ALM. "Mantra" was an NHK commissioned work, recorded at the same studio in 1986. "Tantra" was recorded at Victoria University of Wellington's Lilburn Studios for electronic music and recording in 1990. Included as a bonus is the 20-minute "Mai", a composition commissioned by harpist Ayako Shinozaki and recorded at the Kioi Hall in Tokyo on November 11th, 2004. The piece was conducted by Tetsuji Honna and performed by the Kioi Sinfonietta Tokyo. Satoh says: "The harp is one of my favorite instruments. Also, by combining my affectionate percussion instrument, the chromatic gong and steel drum, with the harp's most beautiful tone, I attempted to bring out a mystical sound." Although it is not an electronic music piece, the stunning composition elegantly complements the deep mystical world that Satoh expresses in his Mandala Trilogy. Mandala Trilogy + 1 is reissued in conjunction with Somei Satoh's Emerald Tablet / Echoes LP
https://wrwtfww.com/album/mandala-trilogy-1
|
2021 |
€30.00 |
|
| SATORI |
Kanashibari |
CD |
"Das Cover dieses Satori-Albums ziert ein Gemälde von Henry Fuseli namens "Der Nachtmahr". Um einen Albtraum geht es auf "Kanashibari" auch, sogar um einen real existierenden. Das japanische Wort "Kanashibari" steht für den Begriff Schlafparalyse, den Zustand der Bewegungsunfähigkeit während der Traumphasen. Diese Unfähigkeit sich zu Bewegen ist ein unbewusster Zustand. Es gibt aber Menschen, die sich dieser Paralyse durchaus bewusst werden und das ist wahrhaft ein echter Albtraum.
Diesen haben Satori, man kann es nicht anders sagen, perfekt in ihrer Musik festgehalten. Düster und brodelnd gestaltet sich das Album, Drone Ambient mit tiefschwarzer Attitüde. Aber "Kanashibari" begnügt sich nicht mit bloßen, tiefen Tönen, nein, rituelle Trommeln beschreiben den dramatischen Kampf, sich bewegen zu wollen, es aber nicht zu können. Rauschen, Zischen und andere ähnliche Geräusche transferieren direkt einen beklemmenden Eindruck. Die nicht zu entziffernden, entstellten Stimmen könnten Traumfetzen sein. Aber zusammen mit den Geräuschen dürften sie eher für die halluzinogenen, auditiven Wahrnehmungen stehen, die mit der Schlafparalyse einhergehen können. Wie man es auch dreht und wendet, Neil Chaney (Pessary) und Justin Mitchell (Cold Spring Chef) haben ein herrlich düsteres Stück Musik geschaffen, das bei nächtlicher Rezeption wiederum zu Albträumen führen könnte.
Nach ihrer Japan-Tour im April 2007 mit Sutcliffe Jügend veröffentlichte das japanische Label Dogma Chase "Kanashibari" auf einer auf 300 Stück limitierten LP. Cold Spring zog dann Ende 2008 nach und veröffentlichte das Album auf CD und spendierte sogar noch einen Bonustrack, "Pavor Nocturnus"." [Veit, Medienkonverter]
"CD version of the 2007 album from UK dark ambient/Fortean electronics act Satori - Neil Chaney (Pessary) and Justin Mitchell (Cold Spring boss), originally issued on LP by Dogma Chase, Japan. "Kanashibari" is the Japanese term for sleep paralysis (literally "bound or fastened in metal"). The album explores this phenomena, manipulating Fortean sounds and deep dark ambience." [label info]
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| SAUVAGE, TOMOKO |
Fischgeist |
LP |
Fischgeist was recorded in a former water tank in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg in August 2019. The nineteenth-century brick building consists of five layered circles, with a spiral staircase in the middle leading up to an exit to a hilltop. Inside, it's humid and cold, the temperature always around 8–10 ℃. The building’s acoustics produce a long reverberation that lasts up to 20 seconds.
‘One day between recording sessions, a man, a passerby, wanted to look inside the building. He told me that it used to be full of fish. For a second I imagined a huge round aquarium with loads of fish swimming around in circles. Then I realized that he meant dead fish were kept there, to be sold on markets during the GDR era. But the image of fish swimming in the space stayed with me.’
In conversation with the space of the water tank, Tomoko Sauvage searches beyond the limits of her self-invented ‘natural synthesizers’: porcelain and glass bowls, filled with water and amplified with hydrophones.
While she continues to develop some of the classic techniques heard on her previous album Musique Hydromantique (Shelter Press, 2017) – hydrophonic feedback (Kinetosis Study) and ‘fortune biscuits’ (porous pieces of terracotta that emit tiny singing bubbles) (Deluge) – here new elements are combined with delicate gestures to make curious noises: stroking bowls’ surfaces to imitate the voices of sea mammals (Metamorphosis), drawing dots and circles by rubbing stones against stones underwater (Exit) …
The underwater amplification of quasi-inaudible sound is even more magnified in the air by the echo of the water tank. Not only tiny bubbles, but also micro-movements of the bones and veins of the hand holding the sonorous objects in the water, are intensely amplified – sounding like a tempest on the opening Deluge.
Sauvage's longtime research into hydrophonic feedback develops with her new obsession with natural harmonics and sympathetic resonance. In Flying Vessels, the percussive notes of struck bowls resonate and turn into feedback loops before decaying, fueled by electric signal gain. Kinetosis Study is a sonic etude on fluid dynamics – the flow velocity, pressure and density of manually shaped water waves directly controlling the aquatic synthesizer's parameters.
August, when the mid-summer Ghost Festival is held, is traditionally known as the Ghost Month throughout East Asia. The spirits of the dead visit their living families, who welcome them with feasts, dancing and music. Miniature lantern-laden boats are released in rivers, to help lost ghosts find their way home.
Animated by formless matter – water, electricity, sound – Fischgeist celebrates a phantasmagoric journey, as the souls of aquatic lifeforms find their way out of the labyrinth of the water tank.
credits
released October 16, 2020
Composed, performed and mixed by Tomoko Sauvage
Recorded and produced by bohemian drips prior to Speicher festival, Berlin, August 2019 | Binaural recording with a KU 100 dummy head microphone
Mastered by Andreas Kauffelt in Berlin
Cover drawings by Baien Mōri (1798–1851)
https://tomokosauvage.bandcamp.com |
2020 |
€23.00 |
|
| SAVAGE REPUBLIC |
Siam |
maxi-CD |
For the collectors: SIAM marked the comeback of SR, includes material not available anywhere else ! Numbered edition.
"The first studio release by Savage Republic since 1989. This is a limited edition EP produced for the 2007 "Siam" tour. Features hand-letterpressed covers by Bruce Licher at Independent Project Press. More information and samples available at the Savage Republic MySpace site." [label info]
www.mobilization.com
|
2007 |
€8.50 |
|
|
Customs |
CD |
"Recorded in Thessaloniki, Greece, Nov 1988
########
The fourth of four new reissues of the classic studio albums from seminal industrial-art-punk group SAVAGE REPUBLIC.
###########
"Customs" was the final studio album from Savage Republic, recorded under considerable duress in Greece during an ill-fated 1988 tour in which all of their gear was confiscated by Greek customs! Thus, "Customs" was recorded entirely on borrowed equipment. The resulting album is not dissimilar to the usual Savage Republic sound of expansive songs that build up through the increasingly aggressive riffs of "monotone" guitars, but has been augmented with a handful of traditional Greek instruments such as hand drums and bouzouki. And, as a potentially useful piece of trivia, you might want to know that this album features Savage Republic's "Birds of Pork," which for years has been the preamble played before each and every Neurosis live show!" [label info]
www.mobilization.com
|
2002 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Sword Fighter / Taranto!!! (RED vinyl) |
7" |
Limited edition including an insert.
Very special package with die-cut cover with silk-screened printings designed by Andrea Scarfone (Skarfo/Julie's Haircut).
First 200 hand-numbered copies comes is solid RED vinyl.
Hailing from the Los Angeles underground of the 1980s, Savage Republic forged an astonishing reputation for themselves with their legendary performances. Their brand of ritualistically tribal exhibitions blurred the boundaries of Post-Punk and Industrial music. Their music incorporates minimalist bass rumbles, exotic and/or militaristic drumming, Arabic melodies, primal chants and even a bit of surf guitar.
Now A Silent Place is honoured to release a limited vinyl 7" single with two amazing exclusive tracks recorded expressly for this release after '1938' cd album release on Neurot Recordings!
Both tracks are with SR distinguishing elements: tribal drumming, hypnotic and raga-like guitar lines with pulsating bass, Post-Punk and Industrial music with a sort of exotic atmosphere." [label info]
www.asilentplace.it
SR Biography:
Figures of considerable repute within the Los Angeles post-punk community of the 1980s, Savage Republic grafted tribal percussion, industrial drones, and raga-like guitar lines together to craft an idiosyncratically moody sound with flashes of both desolation and eloquent grandeur. Capable of both harsh dissonance and shimmering textures, the band's guiding force was guitarist Bruce Licher, a founder and constant presence in their shuffling lineups. Alternating between cyclic instrumentals and quasi-industrial assaults with gruff, chanted vocals, their records were unavoidably inconsistent, but most contain some enduring highlights.
Savage Republic was founded by former UCLA students Licher and drummer Mark Erskine in the early '80s. Adding new members, the group originally called themselves Africa Corps, changing the name to Savage Republic just before releasing their first record in 1982. Exotic percussion would always play a big role in Savage Republic -- even in the early days they were using oil cans, metal pipes, and 55-gallon drums. Their early singles, and their debut LP Tragic Figures (1982), show the group at their least accessible, though there are hints of the more mysterious and melodic elements to come.
After some personnel changes (some members went off to form 17 Pygmies), Savage Republic regrouped with new elements (Thom Fuhrmann and Ethan Port) and a more guitar-oriented sound. On Ceremonial (1985), the band shifted their focus to mostly instrumental material, usually piloted by oddly tuned guitars (the group sometimes used guitars with six identically tuned strings). They'd never wholly abandon those droning, angst-driven chants, though. Combined with the fact that their instrumental material wouldn't break much new ground over the course of the decade, that can make their studio albums uneven listening. In any case, the band was best experienced live, where they would burn trash cans of pampas leaves, play on Los Angeles' Skid Row, and use all sorts of unexpected objects for percussion in their quest to make each concert a unique event.
Savage Republic's albums, which were individually hand-letterpressed and numbered by Licher himself, received as much attention for their packaging as their music. Licher would perform the same services for other bands on his Independent Project label, even getting a Grammy nomination for his work on the first Camper Van Beethoven LP. Savage Republic was not destined to become nearly as big as Camper (not that this was ever their intent), and disbanded around 1990. A small reunion tour brought the band back in the fall of 2002, but the band only played a few random dates. After relocating to Arizona, Licher continues to run the Independent Project label, and design sleeves (his most famous work in that department has been for an R.E.M. Christmas fan club single). Musically, he resurfaced with the trio Scenic, which plays entirely instrumental material that blends the exotic flavor of Savage Republic with influences from Ennio Morricone and southwest border music. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
|
2009 |
€12.50 |
|
|
Sword Fighter / Taranto!!! |
7inch |
"Limited edition including an insert.
Very special package with die-cut cover with silk-screened printings designed by Andrea Scarfone (Skarfo/Julie's Haircut).
Hailing from the Los Angeles underground of the 1980s, Savage Republic forged an astonishing reputation for themselves with their legendary performances. Their brand of ritualistically tribal exhibitions blurred the boundaries of Post-Punk and Industrial music. Their music incorporates minimalist bass rumbles, exotic and/or militaristic drumming, Arabic melodies, primal chants and even a bit of surf guitar.
Now A Silent Place is honoured to release a limited vinyl 7" single with two amazing exclusive tracks recorded expressly for this release after '1938' cd album release on Neurot Recordings!
Both tracks are with SR distinguishing elements: tribal drumming, hypnotic and raga-like guitar lines with pulsating bass, Post-Punk and Industrial music with a sort of exotic atmosphere." [label info]
www.asilentplace.it
SR Biography:
Figures of considerable repute within the Los Angeles post-punk community of the 1980s, Savage Republic grafted tribal percussion, industrial drones, and raga-like guitar lines together to craft an idiosyncratically moody sound with flashes of both desolation and eloquent grandeur. Capable of both harsh dissonance and shimmering textures, the band's guiding force was guitarist Bruce Licher, a founder and constant presence in their shuffling lineups. Alternating between cyclic instrumentals and quasi-industrial assaults with gruff, chanted vocals, their records were unavoidably inconsistent, but most contain some enduring highlights.
Savage Republic was founded by former UCLA students Licher and drummer Mark Erskine in the early '80s. Adding new members, the group originally called themselves Africa Corps, changing the name to Savage Republic just before releasing their first record in 1982. Exotic percussion would always play a big role in Savage Republic -- even in the early days they were using oil cans, metal pipes, and 55-gallon drums. Their early singles, and their debut LP Tragic Figures (1982), show the group at their least accessible, though there are hints of the more mysterious and melodic elements to come.
After some personnel changes (some members went off to form 17 Pygmies), Savage Republic regrouped with new elements (Thom Fuhrmann and Ethan Port) and a more guitar-oriented sound. On Ceremonial (1985), the band shifted their focus to mostly instrumental material, usually piloted by oddly tuned guitars (the group sometimes used guitars with six identically tuned strings). They'd never wholly abandon those droning, angst-driven chants, though. Combined with the fact that their instrumental material wouldn't break much new ground over the course of the decade, that can make their studio albums uneven listening. In any case, the band was best experienced live, where they would burn trash cans of pampas leaves, play on Los Angeles' Skid Row, and use all sorts of unexpected objects for percussion in their quest to make each concert a unique event.
Savage Republic's albums, which were individually hand-letterpressed and numbered by Licher himself, received as much attention for their packaging as their music. Licher would perform the same services for other bands on his Independent Project label, even getting a Grammy nomination for his work on the first Camper Van Beethoven LP. Savage Republic was not destined to become nearly as big as Camper (not that this was ever their intent), and disbanded around 1990. A small reunion tour brought the band back in the fall of 2002, but the band only played a few random dates. After relocating to Arizona, Licher continues to run the Independent Project label, and design sleeves (his most famous work in that department has been for an R.E.M. Christmas fan club single). Musically, he resurfaced with the trio Scenic, which plays entirely instrumental material that blends the exotic flavor of Savage Republic with influences from Ennio Morricone and southwest border music. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
www.asilentplace.it
|
2009 |
€5.00 |
|
|
Varvakios |
CD |
"Recorded in Greece in February 2012 over the course of three hectic days, Varvakios is a sequel of sorts to the 1989 album Customs, and draws on local sights, sounds and synergies. On several tracks the band are joined on violin by Blaine L. Reininger of Tuxedomoon, himself a resident of downtown Athens.
Thom Fuhrmann: "To walk into such a volatile situation and create this music in such a short time was by far the most satisfying experience that I've ever had as an artist."
[label info]
|
2012 |
€16.50 |
|
|
Meteora |
CD |
Hailing from the Los Angeles underground of the 1980s, Savage Republic forged an astonishing reputation for themselves as art-punk and industrial pioneers with their legendary performances. Their brand of ritualistically tribal exhibitions blurred the boundaries of Post-Punk and Industrial music.
Their music incorporates minimialist bass rumbles, exotic and/or militaristic drumming, Arabic melodies, alternate tunings, primal chants and even a bit of surf guitar.
Savage Republic released four full length albums in the 1980s, plus several live records and compilation tracks. 1989 everything went quiet as the republic scattered to pursue other interests and their labels and distributors folded. After reuniting in 2002 for a brief U.S. tour supporting the boxed-set reissue of their five studio albums by Mobilization Records, several of the members began sharing ideas for new songs, reviving the band officially in 2005.
In 2006/2007 Savage Republic added drum professor Alan Waddington (the Unforgiven) to the line-up and released "1938" on Neurot Recordings, the band's first studio recording in 18 years. The limited edition "Siam" EP was also released on Neurot Recordings featuring alternate mixes of some of the "1938" material.
With their first full-length album in seven years, Savage Republic return with some of their best work yet! Self-recorded in a secret cavernous location, their mix of tribal textures, political anthems and Morricone-esque surf instrumentals once again transport the listener to faraway lands at turns both sinister and beautiful. One of many highlights of "Meteora" is the pandemic inspired piece "Unprecedented"written by Wire's Graham Lewis that is sure to become a staple in their set list. This longest-lasting lineup of Thom Fuhrmann, Ethan Port, Alan Waddington and Kerry Dowling have infused all the power of their legendary live performances into a cinematic sonic dreamscape.
"Very few artists can stand as being actually unique. Artists who make sound that fills the holes in your soul that nothing else touch. Savage Republic is one these very few. As a founding member of Neurosis I can say that we are very aware and vigilant of all things that happen around us. There is no tolerance for disruption in our ritual. For the last 13 years we have played one band and one band only for our preshow music, Savage Republic is the soundtrack that sets the tone for whats to come and what existed before." - Scott Kelly / Neurosis
https://savagerepublic.bandcamp.com/album/meteora
|
2021 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Meteora |
LP (Lathe-cut) |
Hailing from the Los Angeles underground of the 1980s, Savage Republic forged an astonishing reputation for themselves as art-punk and industrial pioneers with their legendary performances. Their brand of ritualistically tribal exhibitions blurred the boundaries of Post-Punk and Industrial music.
Their music incorporates minimialist bass rumbles, exotic and/or militaristic drumming, Arabic melodies, alternate tunings, primal chants and even a bit of surf guitar.
Savage Republic released four full length albums in the 1980s, plus several live records and compilation tracks.
1989 everything went quiet as the republic scattered to pursue other interests and their labels and distributors folded. After reuniting in 2002 for a brief U.S. tour supporting the boxed-set reissue of their five studio albums by Mobilization Records, several of the members began sharing ideas for new songs, reviving the band officially in 2005.
In 2006/2007 Savage Republic added drum professor Alan Waddington (the Unforgiven) to the line-up and released "1938" on Neurot Recordings, the band's first studio recording in 18 years. The limited edition "Siam" EP was also released on Neurot Recordings featuring alternate mixes of some of the "1938" material.
With their first full-length album in seven years, Savage Republic return with some of their best work yet! Self-recorded in a secret cavernous location, their mix of tribal textures, political anthems and Morricone-esque surf instrumentals once again transport the listener to faraway lands at turns both sinister and beautiful.
One of many highlights of "Meteora" is the pandemic inspired piece "Unprecedented"written by Wire's Graham Lewis that is sure to become a staple in their set list.
This longest-lasting lineup of Thom Fuhrmann, Ethan Port, Alan Waddington and Kerry Dowling have infused all the power of their legendary live performances into a cinematic sonic dreamscape.
"Very few artists can stand as being actually unique. Artists who make sound that fills the holes in your soul that nothing else touch. Savage Republic is one these very few. As a founding member of Neurosis I can say that we are very aware and vigilant of all things that happen around us. There is no tolerance for disruption in our ritual. For the last 13 years we have played one band and one band only for our preshow music, Savage Republic is the soundtrack that sets the tone for whats to come and what existed before." - Scott Kelly / Neurosis
Vinyl is cut by Uncle Gusstaff in the real time in Studio im. Witolda Gombrowicza.
https://gusstaffrecords.bandcamp.com/album/savage-republic-meteora |
2021 |
€26.50 |
|
| |
Live in Wroclaw January 7, 2023 |
do-LP + 8" lathe |
"Hailing from the Los Angeles underground of the 1980s, Savage Republic forged an astonishing reputation for themselves as art-punk and industrial pioneers with their legendary performances. Their brand of ritualistically tribal exhibitions blurred the boundaries of Post-Punk and Industrial music. Their music incorporates minimialist bass rumbles, exotic and/or militaristic drumming, Arabic melodies, alternate tunings, primal chants and even a bit of surf guitar. Savage Republic released four full length albums in the 1980s, plus several live records and compilation tracks. 1989 everything went quiet as the republic scattered to pursue other interests and their labels and distributors folded. After reuniting in 2002 for a brief U.S. tour supporting the boxed-set reissue of their five studio albums by Mobilization Records, several of the members began sharing ideas for new songs, reviving the band officially in 2005. In 2006/2007 Savage Republic added drum professor Alan Waddington (the Unforgiven) to the line-up and released "1938" on Neurot Recordings, the band"s first studio recording in 18 years. The limited edition "Siam" EP was also released on Neurot Recordings featuring alternate mixes of some of the "1938" material. In 2021 Savage Republic released the album "Meteora" on Gusstaff Records and during the tour promoting this album in January 2023, the band also played a concert in Wroclaw, Poland. It became not only a document of this route, but also a kind of summary of their entire history. The album is released in CD format (the entire concert), as a black LP (over half of the concert) and as a limited red vinyl with an 8-inch vinyl record (lathe-cut) added with a few remaining songs from the concert. Both LP versions were pressed on thick 200g vinyl. Vinyl versions include download codes with the entire concert. |
2023 |
€33.50 |
|
| SAVY, PASCAL |
Simulacra |
CD |
Conceived around a time of strong political, social and cultural turmoil in the UK and elsewhere, a time ridden with a deep sense of uncertainty and unease, the music resonates with feelings of alienation and powerlessness as well as convey ideas of anger and latent violence. Working with heavily textured drones as well as sharp edged sounds and sustained rhythms to echo and articulate those feelings, some of the tracks were re-worked until their final forms had lost all relation with their initial skeleton, something that was partly influenced by the idea of simulacra not representing the real anymore, inspired by the reading of ‘Simulacra and Simulation’ by Jean Baudrillard and ‘The Weird and the Eerie’ by Mark Fisher. The addition of rhythmic structures, a new step for Savy, helped explore the idea of power by saturating the sonic landscape with repetition and pulsations. On certain tracks rhythms are implied, slowly disappearing or simply absent to reflect this idea of the real not being there anymore.
Overall the process used to make this album was heavily influenced by both the idea of simulacra (sound as a representation of the real but often devoid of true relationship with it) and the idea of connecting to something tangible and truly personal (drone textures and harmonic movement as a representation of the fragility of the real). Ultimately, this record seeks to process a turbulent period echoed by ideas of political, social and cultural disintegration. Feelings of alienation and loss, as well as a desire for reconnection are at the core of the music, and the album navigates this complex emotional and personal map while avoiding the trappings of an escape into the hyperreal of pure simulation.
Pascal Savy is a French musician who lives and works in London. He creates organic ambient and drone music as a way to reflect on erosion, transition and decay. He utilizes tones, textures, micro-melodies and noise to explore atmospheres rather than narratives. His work often combines acoustic and electronic sources generated from field-recordings, pick-ups, tape loops, feedback, synthesisers or home made electronics which he transforms into dense and layered motifs.
CD Edition of 300 copies in 6 panel Digisleeve, matt lamination. 7 Tracks. Running Time 48:49
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/simulacra
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| SCHAEFER, JANEK |
Cold Storage |
CD |
"Cold Storage is an impressive resume not only of Schaefer's own career as a sound artist, but half a century of theory and practice of electronic music in all its diverse forms." - The Wire
"Cold Storage is one of Janek Schaefer's most refined works of "musique concrete". The original concert was a live improvisation using as an instrument the snippets he had previously collected and assembled. The CD version uses the same sounds, but "keeps it closer to the source material". Luckily, it is not apparent at all that he kept it so "close" to the original source. The five movements are powerful and haunting precisely because the sources are unrecognizable, and, instead, the slowly evolving music seem to hark back to mysterious primitive forces of nature. The first movement sounds like the internal, psychological perception of the composer entering a room. The second sounds like a broader survey of the environment, evoking a multitude of action, from traffic to waves. Its ebullient chaos is balanced by the ghostly and massive moving textures of the third movement, The fifth movement is the most fearsome, unleashing industrial fury and expressionist tension. The whole is exactly the sum of its parts: a multi-faceted experience that describes a continuum of emotions through the inner ear." - Scaruffi.com
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Location Stories |
do-7inch |
Die schöne 7“-Reihe auf MIXER wird fortgesetzt mit einer Doppel-Single von JANEK SCHAEFER: Anrufbeantworternachrichten aus Minneapolis, Ziegenglocken aus Südspanien, und eine Regenwaldsymphonie & Wordassoziationen vom Amazonas, vielfältiger gehts kaum, kleine & durchaus witzige & hintersinnige Bewusstseins- und Phantasiereisen, für jeden field-recording Fan ein Muss !
“Janek Schaefer has gained a reputation when it comes to fieldrecording-based soundworks. Using his sonic surroundings, manipulated or not, Schaefer comes up with unique and intimate results. ‘Location Stories’ is another collection of found-sound stories, that Stichting Mixer is proud of to release.
Side A Minneapolis Office Max Messages > 1.45min
A collage of the messages I found left on the display model of a mini digital dictaphone bought at a Branch of Office Max in Minneapolis. In a condensed period of time we get to hear many different cultures and stereotypes interacting with the technology uninterrupted by the presence of sales staff. The track concludes with a voice from my car radio, as I tested it in the car park outside, talking about innovation and technology.
Side B Field Recording > 6.00min
This is the unedited recording of a huge field of silent goats in the village of Villanueva de la Concepcion, south Spain. They were all wearing goat bells and didn't bleat once. The result is a random cacophony of bells. A very pure ‘field recording’ composition.
Side C: Amazon Word Game [beginning] side 1 > 7.41min
Side D: Amazon Word Game [ending] side 2 > 7.40min
A recording made in the heart of The Amazon Rain Forest, where a Brazilian guide, two English tourists and a German tourist, are lying in hammocks at dusk, in a camp made from palm leaves, playing a ‘word association’ game. The language differences make an entertaining and intimate play of language in the middle of the ambient sounds of the virgin rainforest.” [credits]
“....This new double 7" (and if understood well, the final new Stichting Mixer release in some time to come) deals with field recordings, but of three different natures. On side A we hear messages left on a mini digital dictaphone that Schaeffer bought. It was the display model so it went through many hands, and many people tried the machine, leaving their messages on. Quite a hilarious piece of found sound. The b-side is a pure field recording of goats wearing bells. The funny thing is that these goats are all silent, so the only thing we hear is the sound of the bells, which sound like a thick mass of chinese bell chimes plus some more obscured sounds, part of the recording. On the other 7" we have two recordings made in the Amazon Rain Forest, where a Brazilian guide, two English tourists and a German tourist are playing a 'word association' game. Of course the Rain Forest makes a lot of noise, bird and insect calls. Of course with three different native languages on board it's not easy to do this, so there is some amount of confusion among the players. It's a very nice idea and with the Rain Forest sounds its also a beautiful ambient recordings, but perhaps the fifteen minutes spread over 2 sides of a 7" is a bit too much. However, Schaeffer tells three great, three different stories.” [FdW, Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Out |
CD |
"Janek Schaefer is one of the leading persons in the Turntable Terrorist wave nowadays. He only works with one sound-source namely The Triphonic turntable, which he invented. The manipulations that he causes, create a spectacular result, sounds coincidence, clash together and fade away."
Very visionary, experimental soundscapes..
www.kraak.net
|
1999 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Unfolding Luxury beyond the City of Dreams |
LP |
"Dekorder presents two new vinyl editions composed and designed by UK sound artist Janek Schaefer, who is known around the world for his wide variety of engaging and unpredictable works for installation, concert and composition. Following his highly acclaimed ‘Lay-by Lullaby’ album on 12k [which Pitchfork listed in the ‘Top 10 under-the-radar releases for 2014’], Janek has created and collated a collection of tracks that showcase both his more ambient works [077], and his highly charged sonorities [078]. A beautiful pair of LP’s that ideally should be experienced together for your home listening pleasure. The tracks were mastered by Stephan Mathieu and cut by Lupo at Calyx Mastering.
A1 White Lights of Divine Darkness
By chance I composed this for my brother-in-law the day he passed away. In recent years he had seen the white lights of heavens gate, but returned, and became fascinated by what he called God’s divine darkness in this lifetime.
A2 Unfolding Honey 6:06
A track from my exhibition soundtrack 'Future Beauty, 30 years of Japanese fashion' held at The Barbican Gallery, London. The exhibition featured some amazing folded garments by Issey Miyake, that inspired the unfurling fabric feeling of the composition.
A3 Luxury 3:00
An orchestral drone piece featuring an old French lady singing to her cats with an extra celestial chorus.
A4 Skyline Ascending 3:28
A Carpenters LP piano loop is layered again and again over a high sky recording, which was recorded using a helium balloon floating in the clouds over the city, with raindrops.
B1 Coda (for Sir John Dankworth) 5:00
In my early teens, I used to attend week long music camps, in tents, within the grounds of Sir John Dankworth's home with Cleo Laine. I used to know them, and composed this piece with one of their vinyl's on the day I heard he died. The installation premiered at the Sydney Cooper Gallery in Canterbury, broadcasting a 3 channel version to six 50's radios.
B2 The City of Dreams 8:28
Theme tune for the opening of “The Mill: City of Dreams” a site specific theatre production in a deserted mill in Bradford. Piano motif recorded live with my twin-arm turntable, additional overlays recorded with Mark Robinson on his old family piano.
B3 Beyond 6:30
The Carpenter’s return, sliding piano loops through recordings made in Grand Central Station at closing time when the vast hall was deserted, and the full majesty of the acoustic space could be appreciated. Stilettos pass by forming polyrhythm's, as the last train announces it’s departure...
credits
released 19 November 2014
Biography
Janek Schaefer has exhibited, lectured, and performed widely throughout Europe [Sonar, Tate Modern, ICA, Strasbourg Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art], USA/Canada, [Walker Art Center, Mutek, Princeton, XI], Japan, and Australia [Sydney Opera House 2003]. His foundsound concerts and installations explore the spatial, social and celestial qualities that sound can communicate, through the twisting of old and new technology. The context of each idea is central to its development and resolution, often exploring themes of appropriation, accident, & alteration.
Janek studied Architecture at the Royal College of Art where he worked with Brian Eno, creating “Recorded Delivery” in 1995, and discovered how important sound is in perceiving space, and place. In 2008 he won the British Composer of the Year Award in Sonic Art, and a Paul Hamlyn Award. The Bluecoat Gallery in Liverpool exhibited a Retrospective of his career to date in 2009. He is represented by the Agency gallery, London, and is a Visiting Professor at Oxford Brookes Sonic Art Research Unit. He lives and works in Walton-on-Thames." [label info]
www.dekorder.com
"The other LP has seven pieces, shorter pieces of course and it's a pity that there are no clarifications printed on the cover. They are in the press text, so we know why there were created, so we know, for instance that 'Luxury' is 'an orchestral drone piece featuring an old French lady singing to her cats with an extra celestial chorus', or that 'Skyline Ascending' is 'a Carpenters LP piano loop is layered again and again over a high sky recording, which was recorded using a helium balloon floating in the clouds over the city, with raindrops'. Shorter these pieces may seem, they essentially are not unlike his longer pieces: multi-layered sound events that create a beautiful dense, atmospheric field of sound. Careful crackles, computer processed sustaining loops (from instruments, vinyl, field recordings, nothing is sacred in the hands of Schaefer), and carefully placed field recordings in their raw state. There is obviously no reason to pick one over the other, but I think I prefer the second LP to the first, great as that one is. The second LP had more variation and the compositions were better worked out, unlike the more endless stream of sounds approach of the first. The differences are small I know, and it's probably best if you get both at the same time. This is Janek Schaefer at what he does, and what he does best. No surprises here, pleasant or otherwise." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Inner Space Memorial in Wonderland |
LP |
"Dekorder presents two new vinyl editions composed and designed by UK sound artist Janek Schaefer, who is known around the world for his wide variety of engaging and unpredictable works for installation, concert and composition. Following his highly acclaimed ‘Lay-by Lullaby’ album on 12k [which Pitchfork listed in the ‘Top 10 under-the-radar releases for 2014’], Janek has created and collated a collection of tracks that showcase both his more ambient works [077], and his highly charged sonorities [078]. A beautiful pair of LP’s that ideally should be experienced together for your home listening pleasure. The tracks were mastered by Stephan Mathieu and cut by Lupo at Calyx Mastering.
'Over the years, I have produced a number of works in praise of the ideas of J.G Ballard. He lived just over the river from my home. While reading his autobiography in 2009, I was wandering how to go and say hello, but found out I was too late. I produced a monument in honour of him called the ‘Inner Space Memorial’, part of my Retrospective at the Bluecoat in Liverpool. A pair of speaker cones were turned around to play back into the void of their cabinets. An epitaph for a great mind.'
'Wonderland is the finale of my exhibition soundtrack to "Asleep at the wheel...". A work that questions where our culture is heading further down the highway ahead. A single majestic daydream that drives you forwards as reality undertakes you. Location recordings were made in the middle of the night on a footbridge over the M3, at the end of Ballard's street. I was fascinated to work out that while he was writing Crash and Concrete Island, the six lane motorway was being built right past the front of his home. Ideal music for when you need to stay awake on the road!'
Biography: Janek Schaefer has exhibited, lectured, and performed widely throughout Europe [Sonar, Tate Modern, ICA, Strasbourg Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art], USA/Canada, [Walker Art Center, Mutek, Princeton, XI], Japan, and Australia [Sydney Opera House 2003]. His foundsound concerts and installations explore the spatial, social and celestial qualities that sound can communicate, through the twisting of old and new technology. The context of each idea is central to its development and resolution, often exploring themes of appropriation, accident, & alteration.
Janek studied Architecture at the Royal College of Art where he worked with Brian Eno, creating “Recorded Delivery” in 1995, and discovered how important sound is in perceiving space, and place. In 2008 he won the British Composer of the Year Award in Sonic Art, and a Paul Hamlyn Award. The Bluecoat Gallery in Liverpool exhibited a Retrospective of his career to date in 2009. He is represented by the Agency gallery, London, and is a Visiting Professor at Oxford Brookes Sonic Art Research Unit. He lives and works in Walton-on-Thames." [label info]
www.dekorder.com
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| SCHEFFNER, PHILIP |
Fon |
maxi-CD |
Erste Veröffentlichung für das neue Berliner Label PONG. PHILIPP SCHEFFNER versucht hier, hörspielartig mit musikalischen Mitteln eine Story zu erzählen.. sehr interessant und außergewöhnlich.
First release for new Berlin based label PONG by P. SCHEFFNER who already created music for several film-productions. This work has Hoerspiel-like qualities, like the “cinema pour l’oreille”-series.
“For „fon" Scheffner developed for the first time a soundtrack without a film. Over and over modified soundscapes and acoustic „accidents", recorded and re-arranged in analog and digital technology, have been created as a subtle drama structure, which the six different tracks follow without narrating a clear story. Comfortably situated in the electronic home after a while a certain restlessness is noticed by the inhabitant. The attempt to contact the outside becomes a journey through ether waves and wires and gets stuck between beats and loops. A real outside world seems more and more unlikely to exist. The cinemascope-version of the story could be totallly different: A catastropy has happened in a small town, USA. A single survivor is sitting in his detached family house, seeking desperately for signs of life. In this version the hero would probably leave the city at last. Close Up. It is raining. Long fade out.” [press release]
|
2001 |
€11.00 |
|
| SCHISTOSOMA |
Moment |
m-CDR |
Surprise ! SCHISTOSOMA (known from the NEFRYT CDR) are back with their very nice mix of ethno-oriental and ambient-elements. Dense percussive atmospheric pieces with tension, direction MUSLIMGAUZE, TUU, DESACCORD MAJEUR. Comes in special full-colour mCD-Cover (with jewel-case).
“ Here is a new release from Nefryt's sublabel - Malachit. New music with echoes of their old sounds. 7 electro tracks with acoustic accents. Excellent rhythms. Delicate smell of ethno includes little notes of Orient. Nice packing. Limited & numbered to 121 copies.” [label description]
|
2004 |
€6.50 |
|
| SCHLOSS TEGAL |
Oranur III. The Third and Final Report |
CD |
"Based on the work of Wilhelm Reich and his encounters with UFOs, this influential album has been remastered and reworked from the original recordings, with new bonus tracks and new remixed versions. Originally released in 1997 on CD by Tegal Records (Ltd x 1000) and LP by Artware Productions, Germany (Ltd x 1000), all of the original subject matter has been taken to a new level with this digital recording from the analogue sources. This is the third and final warning to the sleeping beings of the earth. This album influenced many other electronic artists and has been hailed as one of the first recordings to be labelled "dark ambient"." [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
https://schlosstegal.bandcamp.com/album/oranur-iii-the-third-and-final-report
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| SCHMICKLER, MARCUS |
Param |
do-LP |
...ein “drone”-album par excellence auf Seite 1, 3 & 4 die himmlisch-höllischen, vielschichtigen dunklen und mitunter disharmonisch-noisigen Drones erinnern an ROLAND KAYN oder andere „classical“ composer und graben sich wie tiefe Furchen ins Gemüt... unheimlich und doch wunderschön ! Andere Stücke (v.a. Seite 2) sind eher klassisch abstrakt gehalten und brechen mitunter aus, aber der düstere Unterton ist stets vorhanden...sehr sehr intensiv !!
“The new release on Cologne based label A-Musik contains compositions by Marcus Schmickler that were performed and recorded over the last four years with many various musicians and ensembles. These recordings document Schmickler's interest in a confrontation with modern classical composers, they are a return of "the livingd dead." According to Schmickler innovations
are only possible by including the old.Schmickler has been known also for his different approaches with Pluramon, MIMEO, his collaborations with Thomas Brinkmann or the improviser Thomas Lehn. "Param" continues his series of releases on A-Musik although it presents itself less electronic and less bulky than "Wabi Sabi" or "Sator Rotas". The original recordings of the compositions are newly edited for this release..” [press-release]
|
2001 |
€17.00 |
|
| SCHNITZLER, CONRAD & WOLFGANG SEIDEL |
Music is not Language. Neither is it Painting. Just Music |
LP |
"A posthumous duo LP featuring text and music by Conrad Schnitzler, music by Wolfgang Seidel, and artwork by Matt Howarth!
Conrad Schnitzler and Wolfgang Seidel have been musical collaborators since the early 1970s when Seidel performed in Schnitzler's free-form group Eruption that had been founded as a successor to Kluster and featured a revolving cast of members. In the 1980s, they produced the duo albums Consequenz, Consequenz II and Con 3 where Seidel performed under his alias Wolf Sequenza.
Shortly before Schnitzler's death in 2011, he handed Seidel a hard disk of his archive including a huge collection of music originally recorded to CD-R, subdivided into "solos" and "mixes", where solos are building blocks to be blended with other solos in a performance, and mixes are recordings of such performances. One of those solos turned out to be a spoken-word CD-R, aptly titled "CONtext", where Schnitzler gives an account of his musical philosophy – in a performative lecture with a lot of humour. It is not known what he intended this recording for, but its unique character made it a natural choice for a building block of a new piece.
Instead of making a collage with other solos from Schnitzler's archive, Seidel decided to record his own music to accompany the text, inspired by the early-1970s Eruption recordings. The resulting 8-channel piece was mixed down to stereo for side A of this LP and features Schnitzler's voice and English text-to-speech subtitles for his non-German-speaking fans. Side B contains an instrumental posthumous duo for which Seidel used excerpts from Schnitzler's EMS synthesizer performance at the Gallery House in London in 1972.
The cover artwork was created by US comic artist Matt Howarth and features Con, a character from his Savage Henry comic book series who is a "German synthethist" and member of the premiere insect-rock group, the Bulldaggers.
"Any combination of sounds is just as valid as any other. Any means for the production of a group of sounds is just as valid as any other means. [...] Music is not what reaches our ear as a sound wave. It's not the sounds that are music, but what we've made out of them and what has been heard from them." (Conrad Schnitzler)
Edition of 300 with printed inner sleeve and insert containing a transcript of side A and liner notes."
www.edition-telemark.de/923.06.html
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| SCHNÜFFLER |
Rauschbereich |
Resipiscent RSPT031 |
"Drawing current and breath through metal... it’s hard to picture just how either is possible, but Schnüffler plumbs the backwaters of both aural miracles in an engrossing, if pageless, storybook entitled "Rauschbereich."
The name of Gino Robair and Liz Allbee's hyper-attuned duo, Schnüffler, is a colloquialism meaning someone who huffs substances. "Huffing" is equal parts curiosity and consuming obsession, and as any huffer knows substance has a way of vanishing. So hork up yours before this handbuilt edition of just 56 copies, end-pages beautifully illustrated by Allbee herself, is gone for good." [label info]
www.resipiscent.com
|
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| SCHOU, JANNICK |
Eldey |
mCD-R |
"active for a few years, danish composer jannick schou's work deal with various forms of textual music. his past works were released on various international labels like experimedia, rural colours, under the spire of heat death records.
this 20 minute drone piece has a long progression and an almost analogic orchestra feel..." [label info]
www.taalem.com
|
2013 |
€5.00 |
|
| SCHUMACHER, MICHAEL J. |
Five Sound Installations |
DVD |
"Five Sound Installations is a DVD-ROM (for MAC and PC) that contains 5 sound compositions generated in real time by a computer algorithm. The works are: 'Room Piece Twenty-Four'; 'Noema'; 'Steiner Suite'; 'Unintending'; 'Scene'. 'Sound Art, algorithmic composition, chance operations, multi-channel sound systems, immersive installations, computer music; these terms all intersect at a point defined by the new XI release 5SI by MJS. Shumacher is a composer, curator (he runs Diapason, NY's only 'sound art' gallery), and performer, and has been creating computer-generated installations for close to 20 years. His output includes 5 solo cds, but these were by necessity adaptations of works designed for more or less permanent listening situations, in which auditors could explore various modes of listening within sound environments. These works were composed with installation settings in mind, they had no 'beginning-middle-end' (even out of order) in the traditional sense. For the cd releases, the pieces needed to be manipulated in various ways to accommodate the medium. A better way needed to be found. Schumacher has always been interested in creating algorithmic works that extend the boundaries of the genre, investing them with 100s of constituent parts that form sonic mobiles in space and time. Now he presents the ambitious (and technically savvy) listener with a means to experience Schumacher's installations in the home, through up to 8 separate speaker channels and for as long as the computer keeps running. No question, this is not an iPod experience! For some, just understanding the reason for such a project will be difficult. But the composer and XI believe that the time is apt for challenging a complacent public and industry. This release, more than anything else, is a challenge to break boundaries in both content and distribution, a call for a new way of thinking about sound in the home, which is more than ever the predominant place for listening.' NOTE: These compositions must be installed on a computer to be heard. Instructions are enclosed." [label info]
"This is not a DVD with musical compositions in any sort of traditional manner. It doesn't 'play' in a conventional way. One has to copy all the information to the harddisc (watch your system requirements, and there is both Mac and Windows available) and then you will have five pieces of music that are made in real time. Every time you play one of the five it will sound different. It's the work of Micheal J. Schumacher who has explored before sound installations and his releases were often 'just' the musical component of it, not the spatial side. But now you can set it up, stereo or surround sound (unavailable in the HQ here). Still not quite interactive: one can't load sounds yourself to the pieces, an Schumacher has set the parameters of the pieces, but there is, obviously, more freedom than a regular. This is music that plays until you stop it or if your computer shuts down. Definitely the first release ever in Vital Weekly that you can't download on a blog! I played every installation for about fifteen minutes to get the drift of it. My favorite was 'Room Piece Twenty-four': it had continuos gliding sounds which filled my space with elegance - certainly work to have playing for some time. The other four pieces more cut and paste pieces that arrive a bit louder than the first one, thus making a bigger 'presence' in your space. They were fine too, but I choose to play them at a somewhat lower volume but there is certainly sense in having these pieces play for a long time and see what it creates for you (unfortunately time is not something the average reviewer has too much at hand). Next step would be something to incorporate ones own sounds I guess. " [FdW / Vital Weekly]
label website: www.xirecords.org
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
| SCHWARZ, ROBERT |
The Scale of Things |
LP |
"Distantly rooted in musique concrète, ”The Scale Of Things” discloses an uncanny, multilayered sonic universe of its own.
The seven compositions are based on the exploration of nature recordings for unheard details and hidden layers, focused on patterns of stochastic order and unique chaos created without musical intention. The harmony we hear is the harmony of overwhelming and collective uncertainty, because this nature is chaos.
Audio transformations that remain hidden, accompanied by modular synthesizers purposely blur most links to the “real” world, in favor of a strange and poetic realm, following the erratic patterns of nature.
Mesmerizing and disturbing at the same time, an ambivalent dualism emerges of a strange world that is dissolving and not dissolving. A world that can only be described by it’s surface. Expulsed from nature, as our brain is expulsed from nature.
Die Natur ist das einzige immerwährende Menschenunmögliche.
Track list:
01 Drift Following The Seam
02 In The Flat Field
03 Frost
04 Self-Propelled-Sound-Particles
05 With The Witch
06 Mabalel
07 From Surface Downwards
7 Tracks (35′42″)
Vinyl (300 copies)
recorded, composed and produced by Robert Schwarz
field recordings from Bale, La Gomera, Mmabolela(*), Naxos, Vienna and Yangshuo
(*) ‘Sonic Mmabolela’ residency/workshop, organized by Francisco López and James Webb
produced in Vienna 2013-2014
r-schwarz.tumblr.com
soundcloud.com/schwarz
mastered by SELF"
www.gruenrekorder.de
|
2015 |
€16.00 |
|
| SCHÄFER, HELMUT |
Thought Provoking III |
CD |
"Thought Provoking III is the final document from the electro-acoustic composer Helmut Schäfer who died in 2007. The Austrian artist spoke of his work as "characterized by the use of very intense and direct musical language which powerfully describes his personal experience and reflections on society structures, the blindness of modern and informed masses and everyday functionalism in between civilization." That intensity of expression manifested itself through performances and collaborations that took Schäfer around the globe, including presentations at Documenta X and ARS Electronica both in 1997. For all of his tireless work, Schäfer's recording output is relatively small, focusing mostly on his collaborative work with noted musical extremist Zbigniew Karkowski.
Schäfer posited Thought Provoking as a radical shift from his brutalist electronic engineering to a spatialized, open-ended composition based on the muffled tones from an ad hoc instrument he built from salvaged church organ pipes and hair dryers. The first presentation of this work took place in his home town of Graz, Austria in 2003; the second was a collaboration with violinist Elisabeth Gmeiner in Vienna two years later; and the third & final performance occurred in 2006 with percussionist Will Guthrie and Gmiener at the St. Andre Church where he first presented it in Graz. After Schäfer's death, Guthrie reconstituted the rehearsal takes from that performance for this recording of Thought Provoking III, attempting to re-imagine the controlled energy of those sessions with Schäfer's aesthetic framework at the forefront. The bellowing hums from Schäfer's organ pipe and hair dryer contraction ebb and flow amidst intermittent percussive flourishes, subtle gong overtones, sustained violin trills, and fizzling electronic mark-making. On the second track of this disc, long-time friend Zbigniew Karkowski presents a smoldering electro-acoustic remix of Thought Provoking III as a fitting tribute to Schäfer." [label info]
www.23five.org
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| SCIAJNO, DOMENICO & RALF WEHOWSKY |
Gelbe Tupfen |
CD |
Zum Weihnachtsfest 2003 erschien in der (Anti)-Xmass-7"-Reihe von Meeuw Muzak eine kleine wahnsinnige Single von RALF WEHOWSKY mit Bearbeitungen von IHR KINDERLEIN KOMMET, basierend auf Original-Aufnahmen des RLW-Töchterchens Sonja. Dies führte dann sukzessive zu weiteren Bearbeitungen anderer Klangforscher (und zur RLW-CD "I.K.K.-Purpur" auf SIRR) und einem sehr langen (34.30min) Stück des italienischen Bassisten DOMENICO SCIAJNO, welches hier verewigt ist. SCIAJNO hat das Material bis zur Unkenntnlichkeit auseinandergenommen und ein spannendes Geräuschmusikstück kreiert, welches durch stete Wechsel der "Weite" der Klangräume, von ganz nahen konkreten granularen Sounds bis hin zu weitflächigen dreidimensionalen Hallen, besticht.
RLW führt in der nachfolgenden Bearbeitungen das ganze noch weiter, wenn er sich selbst bei der Bearbeitung des Stückes im Studio aufnimmt und dieses wieder einarbeitet - einen endlosen Zirkel von Rückbezüglichkeit schaffend. Seine 22 Minuten (in 3 Teilen und mit einem Schlussteil) präsentieren feinste "RLW"sche konkret-Atmosphären mit unglaublichem Detailreichtum, das gebanntes Lauschen fast erzwingt.
Wieder ein Geniestreich von einem von Deutschlands kreativsten Klangbastler, der nie ohne hintersinnige Konzepte agiert ! TIP !
"A work is never finished. Last week we noted that the 'self-remix' by Norbert Möslang that is an act that is hardly done these days, but that Ralf Wehowsky makes this stock trade and takes matters always further. This new CD with Domenico Scianjo is another aspect of life started with the release of his Christmas 7" for Meeuw (which is dutch and not belgium, as its wrongly noted on the cover) and that was recently continued with a CD on Sirr-ecords. On that CD, various composers take their hands on the original 7" (which was composed by Christoph Schmid in 1794 and sun by Wehowsky's daughter) material, but perhaps the piece that Domineco Scianjo was either too long or it arrived too late? His piece is thirty-four minutes and is entirely made with self-made Max/msp patches, which transform the original sounds into a big electro-acoustic cloud of sound. None of the original is to be recognized here. Scianjo recommends headphones here and normally I wouldn't bother with that, but I must admit that the stereo field is wide apart, which, played with headphones adds a rather hallucinatory effect to the piece. It moves away from Scianjo's previous noise related works into the world of serious, almost academic sounding pieces. As such it's one of the best pieces I heard from him. Wehowsky of course is also present here with another piece, 'based on sound fragments from I.Dk.Sk, a recording of my myself sitting in the studio and working on the piece, plus some new transformations of Sonja's original take'. This piece is shorter and focusses more on RLW's recent interest of drone like material, that is of course RLW's private version of drone music. Sounds are clustered together until they form densely patterns, of sound blocks that glide together until the collide onto eachother and they start moving in separate directions. It's drone music that is based on collage methods, but that form a homogeneity through the piece. A captivating piece with a funny coda at the end." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| SCISS |
Achronie |
Video-CDR |
30 minutes of various visual & acoustical extracts, a combination of lights, flashes, sparks & shimmering drones with more concrete sound effects, environmental filming in a special way, nice colourful waving water-effects, at parts hyperabstract amorph drones, shifting geometrical shapes & patterns with hallucinogenic effects, etc etc., not really psychedelic, this is more subtle and refined. A very recommended work.
“ Achronie - the inability to perceive the phenomenon of passing time - started in 2001 as an experimental audio/video collaboration between Cem Akkan and Sciss. Completed in August 2002, the work consists of eleven short clips and three interludes that explore the interaction between floating and vibrating visual shapes and synchronized sound scapes. While in most cases sound creation followed video, finally a careful balance was found in which the question of stimulus and response or causality arises. The way we look at the images influences the way we hear the noises and vice versa.
More specifically, the clips deal with paradox situations of speed and time perception. A dynamic system in which the recipient can synchronize himself/herself to the stream and, on a different point on the time line, divorce from it. The moment when speed exceeds a threshold and gets mapped back to a state of calmness.” [Sciss-info]
for more info / sound-examples check: www.sciss.de
Music By – Sciss
Video Editor – Cem Akkan
|
2002 |
€10.00 |
|
| SCORN / SEEFEEL / TIMOTHY LEARY / YANOMAMI |
Ancient Lights and the black Core |
LP |
"Third record of a thematic series of 9,
published from 1993 to 1998 called Utopian Diaries: Ancient Light and the Blackcore (1995).
Never released before as LP vinyl. Contains only unreleased and exclusive material.
It begins with Scorn at his best, Naked Sun with M.J. Harris (Lull, Painkiller) & N.J. Bullen.
Followed 3 new tracks by Seefeel (As if, As track & As well) recorded during the sessions of Seccour. Why are you there? the large track by Timothy Leary (voices) & DJ Cheb i Sabbah (production) is a fascinating hallucinatory
piece. At the end of the LP, extraordinary recordings of an intoxicated and painful ceremony of some Amazonian Shamans - recorded
by David Toop in the rainforest of Southern Venezuela (communauty of Yanomami) in november 1978.
Insert includes an important text written by David Toop: 'Subworld .' " [label info]
www.subrosa.net
www.subrosa.net
|
2017 |
€15.00 |
|
| SCOTT FIELDS ENSEMBLE |
From the Diary of Dog Drexel |
CD |
Carrie Biolo: vibraphone, marimba, crotales, and unpitched percussion
.Kyle Bruckmann: oboe and English horn
.Guillermo Gregorio: alto saxophone and clarinet
.Greg Kelley: trumpet
.Scott Fields: electric guitar and nylon-string guitar
.Stephen Dembski: conductor (tracks one through four)
.Gregory Taylor: constructor (track five)
Movements one through four were composed by Scott Fields (BMI).
Movement five was composed by Biolo, Bruckmann, Gregorio, Kelley, Fields, and Taylor.
It was constructed by Gregory Taylor using Cycling 74¹s Max/MSP software.
His raw materials were solo improvisations by each of the ensemble's members.
The recording and mixing engineer was Mark Haines.
The mastering engineer was Tom Blain
Recorded 22 April, 2002 at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin.
Mixed at Smart Studios 3 May, 2002. Mastered at Ultimate Audio Mastering, Madison, Wisconsin.
There is a formula for making up your porn star name. As your first name use the name of the pet you had when you were a kid. As your last name use the street you grew up on. Scott Fields¹ pet was a whippet named "Dog." Fields grew up on 57th and Drexel. "Dog 57th" is not a good porn name.
"The Diary of Dog Drexel" is a suite of five movements, each of which programmatically portrays an emotional state from the diary. One of the ideas behind "Dog" was to thoroughly blend improvised and composed elements.
In the first four movements'Conflicted, Pissed, Bummed, and Agitated'there are at almost all times at least one thread of composition and another of improvisation.
The balance between the elements shifts steadily. Muddying the waters further is that many of the extended techniques that are called for in the composed elements are drawn from the usual vocabulary of the ensemble¹s instrumentalists.
The fifth movement'Medicated'also blends the two elements, but through a different process.
Each of the ensemble¹s instrumentalists, with the barest of instructions from Fields, recorded individual improvisations.
These improvisations were the clay that computer musician Gregory Taylor shaped into the fifth movement. As a result of the compositional strategy and the extended techniques used, it can be tricky to distinguish preplanned from spontaneous.
The best plan for listening to this music is to treat it as a whole rather than worry about what came from where.
www.rossbin.com/rs008.htm
|
2002 |
€6.00 |
|
| SCOTT, SIMON (SIMON SCOTT) |
Navigare |
LP |
"This is the debut full-length release by the UK's Simon Scott. Scott has had a notable musical past: in the early '90s he was the drummer for the renowned shoegaze band Slowdive. Upon leaving Slowdive, he formed the more electronic-based group Televise. He also set up his own label, Kesh Recordings, and has so far released titles by the likes of Hannu, Sebastian Roux, Aus and Mark Templeton. More recently, Scott has been involved in several diverse projects, including his work as a member of Seavault (with Antony Ryan from Isan), and collaborations with Machinefabriek, Jasper TX and Emmanuele Errante. With Navigare, there are shades of Scott's previous output and musical interests, but as a whole, the album marks a bold new direction. Navigare opens with "Introduction Of Cambridge," a shimmering wall of sound, its ethereal tones and slow-burning drones gradually drawing closer and closer, creating gorgeous uplifting melodies and textures. The processed guitar combined with gentle swathes of interference and underlying rhythms echoes the processes of Chain Reaction's productions as much as it does the screeching, arcing feedback lines of Kevin Shield's guitar work. Navigare shares an affinity with the melodic content of Fennesz's work, the dark beauty of Tim Hecker's sound, and houses elements of the restraint found in Andrew Chalk's drone compositions. What really devastates here is Scott's ability to merge ambient passages with such memorable melodic cycles, taking the simplest of ideas and building on them, generating murky hooks and submerged "riffs." Scott explores textures using a variety of instruments including sitar, violin, cello, and flute, merging them with excerpts from field recordings; it all sounds so effortless. The looping rhythms and slow guitars rise and grow, at times approaching something oppressive; select pieces such as "Flood Inn" house an underlying weight, comparable to Justin K. Broderick's Jesu and Final projects. Perhaps the hazy drums, bass and guitar drift of "The ACC" presents the most recognizable of stylistic qualities from Scott's back catalog; a groove that recalls the Souvlaki-era sound in all its glory, re-imagined in a new, darker and more expansive form. Additionally, a guest appearance from label mate Jasper TX, a vocal contribution from Moskitoo, and a track co-written with Rafael Anton Irisarri, adds even more depth to Scott's already ambitious vision." [label info]
www.myspace.com/o3o3o
"Ah, Miasmah! After the likes of Elegi, Jacazek, and Kreng, we're pretty much automatically interested in any new release on
Norway's Miasmah label. Like this one. Add in some bits of trivia, like that Scott was once the drummer for shoegazers Slowdive, and that
this disc features a guest cameo from another Miasmah artist we love, Jasper TX, and we're already pretty intrigued. We also weren't at all surprised, but certainly pleased, by the gentle swells of ambient sonics that seep sleepily from the speakers when one hits play. The first two tracks, "Introduction Of Cambridge" and "Under Crumbling Skies", are blissfully replete with quiet hum and shimmering textures, forming into and out of drifting diaphanous melodies, blurry and
melancholic. Some sparse, slowed down drum skitter adds a touch of Bohren to the proceedings in the first track, while the second employs a glorious chorus of angelic drones, that graces one's ears again and
again throughout the disc.
Then, suddenly upping the volume, the third track "Flood Inn" seemingly enters into a subterranean realm full of soft fuzzy distortion. Quasi-industrially rhythmic, with a distant tolling bell heard amidst the crackle, this is ambience of the heavier (but not
harsh) variety, almost like something from a Nadja or Jesu album.
Having given warning of a more sinister side, the disc continues on, with seven tracks more, being a beautiful blend of dreaminess, drone and distortion. There are almost pop songs hidden here, with buried rhythms and barely-there vocals (in one instance
contributed by 12K's Sanae Yamasaki, aka Moskitoo), electronic treatments rendering the sound sources (guitar, sitar, violin, cello,
flute, field recordings, voice, ???) all one lush, hushed, beautifully bleary, gorgeous warm bath of song-like drone...
It's a moodier, shoegazier take on Pop Ambient perhaps, certainly something that fans of Tim Hecker, Fennesz, Final, Jasper
TX, and of course those other Miasmah wonders should check out!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2009 |
€18.00 |
|
|
Bunny |
CD |
"This is UK multi-instrumentalist Simon Scott's second album for Miasmah. He might still be best known for his tenure as the backbone of influential shoegazers Slowdive, but after his debut solo effort Navigare in 2009, he showed that there was far more to his oeuvre. With an ease and fluidity that eschews the usual trappings of the genre, he injected Slowdive's freeflowing bliss into the kind of blackened soundscapes the Miasmah label has made its calling card and gave the sound a rich, multi-layered quality that was effortlessly enticing. Bunny sees him take on a plethora of themes and ideas, distilling them into a coherent, well-defined narrative. The overall premise of the record is apparent from the very beginning, and might surprise some with its inspired take on the blackened jazz and smokey Americana heard in Paris, Texas or Mulholland Dr.. It would do Scott a disservice to simply label the music as Lynchian however; his success is to treat the layers of instrumentation (drums, guitars, cello, synthesizers) with a masterful fluidity, allowing the influences to melt into a delicate and delectable whole. Occasionally Scott acknowledges his shoegazing past, nudging the sound towards the blurred haze of his former band, but even these moments are cavernous enough for us to imagine them oozing from a Midwestern jukebox in an abandoned suburban diner. Bunny is an ambitious and daring journey for an artist who refuses to stay still; and it might just be the best road trip you've never taken." [label info]
www.miasmah.com
"Simon Scott produced one of the best records of 2009 with Navigare, an album whose shoegaze dronemusic was dotted with radioluminescent dream-pop numbers. It was hardly a surprise to us when we learned that he was the drummer of Slowdive way back when. Since then, Scott has produced a single for Immune and a collaboration with Jasper TX, both equally fantastic. For his second proper record, Scott makes a slight detour; but one that is well suited to everything else that's been released by the hauntologically leaning Miasmah records. The album opens with a languid series of smoke and mirror abstractions flickering above a nocturnal jazz rhythm that gives way to a Caretaker-esque melody of disembodied historicism amidst subterranean clatter and eerie scrapings. A walking bassline follows this as the only constant to the next track "Betty" whose distant cacophonous guitars slide into audibility through a dense fog of reverb, with a trip along the drumkit taking one tempestuous fill before succumbing to Scott's omnivorous reverb, sounding not all that far from Supersilent at their grooviest and some of those bleached Crescent instrumentals, if anybody remembers that Bristol outfit. With the breathtaking "Radiances," Scott relives his shoegaze past with a song directly out of the Slowdive playbook: a halo of guitar ambience brightens a classic Brit-pop maudlin rhythm section, where the droning slipperiness of the guitar is perfectly countered by the easy pace of the bassline. It really does sound like "Albatross" off of the Blue Day album by Slowdive, and we mean that as quite a high complement. Scott reprises this dream-pop sensibility on the equally deft "Drilla," with electro-static crackling and plenty of ephemeral drone-guitar work to fill in the blanks." [Aquarius Records] |
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Floodlines |
CD |
Recorded live at Cafe Oto as part of “Touch presents…” on 31st January 2016
Simon Scott is a sound ecologist and multi-instrumentalist from Cambridge, England. His albums ‘Insomni’ (Ash International) and ‘Below Sea Level’ (12k / TouchLine) are out now (see above). His work explores the creative process of actively listening, the implications of recording the natural world using technology and the manipulation of natural sounds used for musical composition. He plays the drums in Slowdive and has recently collaborated with artists James Blackshaw, Spire, Taylor Deupree (Between), Isan + many more.
This is his first physical release for Touch.
Source material recorded in The Fens, East Anglia.
Simon Scott's blistering live set from London follows his 2015 album ‘insomni’ but features his field recordings of areas of The Fens in East Anglia that cartographically are below mean sea level. They’re complimented by underwater hydrophone recordings taken on field research trips, making the unheard audible and brings the unseen to the surface. It’s a flat landscape that was devastated by the draining of The Fens in the 17th century. The ecosystem was damaged but these areas have been left to reflood and re-establish it’s vernacular wildlife, replete with its own instrumentation and orchestras. Tapping into these, Scott's vision encourages us to explore the fertility of the flatlands of England.
www.touchmusic.org.uk
|
2016 |
€11.00 |
|
| SCOTT-BUCCLEUCH, RUSS / SIGTRYGGUR BERG SIGMARSSON / ANDREW SHARPLEY |
Mask of Cheerful |
CD |
Ross Scott-Buccleuch: tapes, objects, found sounds.
Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson: sounds, percussion, voice
Andrew Sharpley: reaktor synths
Edited and Mixed by Andrew Sharpley, Dec 2020 - Jan 2021
Mastered by Richard Scott
Front cover collage by Ross Scott-Buccleuch
https://testrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/mask-of-cheerful
"Here we have two collaborations with Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson, with, in one case, his favourite collaborator, BJ Nilsen. Let's start with the other one, which sees him working with Ross Scott-Buccleuch (tapes, synths, field recordings) and Andrew Sharpley (sounds, edit, mix), while Sigmarsson is responsible for tapes, sounds and voice. The first we know from his work as Dirunal Burdens and his Steepgloss label, while Sharpley once was a member of Stock, Hausen & Walkman. The three of them already worked together, on the CDR 'Ghost Of Dada', released by Chocolate Monk last year (not reviewed here). As far as I know, it is quite common for Sigmarsson to do the final mix of the music, but in this case, it was Sharpley. From what I understand the process to be, is that everybody brought a lot of sound to the table and from the resulting ingredients Sharpley stewed this dish, perhaps adding a few rounds of processing to the mix, but most likely perhaps not. Just bring it all to whatever multi-track program/device of choice and shift the material around for a considerable amount of time and see what that brings, in terms of composition and, perhaps also, in the terms of variation. While to some this kind of music might be something like 'anything goes', I would think this is not the case. What Sharpely does here is creating a work of modern musique concrète qualities. Through endless cutting, editing and pasting of sounds, he created nine pieces of music collage and demontage. There is a great variety in the sound material here, spoken word, synthesizer sounds, the kitchen sink and some rather more obscure sounds, and the results are loud and harsh, soft and intimate and anything in between. Occasionally a loop goes on a bit too long or being just a bit too much of a plain loop, but I found this a great work altogether. Very classic, I thought, in a sort of late 80s cassette networking sort of way." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2021 |
€14.00 |
|
| SEAMUS |
Forever |
CD |
New project of AMIR BAGHIRI and STEFANO GENTILE (of AMPLEXUS / SILENTES), trance-percussive electronics, more technoid and cosmic, with long ambient parts....
“On the wing of a new chapter in Amir Baghiri and Stefano Gentile's musical career the SEAMUS carries us to their latest sounds-statement to the mystical side of our industrial world. In the musical labyrinth of the SEAMUS project, the fractal grooves continually changing themselves from each sound colour into another one ...and all that with Amir`s excellent balance between the dynamic elements and morphing atmospheres, between emotional energies and spiritual experiences .
Refined and elegant electronic music, discreet rhythmical and pleasant movements, blended to cosmic-ambiental suspended sonic landascapes, bass lines, sequencers parts, voices, radio meddles, ambient distant noises, whispers, soft melodic elements... A moving and variegated sonic trip around a limitless electronic universe.” [label info]
|
2005 |
€8.00 |
|
| SECONDS IN FORMALDEHYDE |
Construct |
m-CDR |
"Construct offers a 22 min journey through nice shimmering drones that have a quiet romantic glitch appeal. Euphoric but at the same time fragile. This release marks the highlight of SiF's quiet young career" [label info]
www.waterscape.de
|
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
| SECRET PYRAMID |
Embers |
LP |
Secret Pyramid is the nom de nocturne of Vancouver, BC’s resident
ambient explorer Amir Abbey. Having perfected his brand of elegant elegia over the past decade heard on albums released by illustrious imprints as Students of Decay, Ba-Da-Bing!, and Nice Up International and collaborated with the likes of Loscil, Abbey makes his Geographic North debut with Embers, Secret Pyramid’s most sincerely solemn and curiously calming work to date.
Embers’ six pieces find Abbey furroughing a few of his most trusted tools (including Ondes Martenot, sampler, Space Echo, two tape machines, and a computer), while taking a more compositional approach than his past works. This method opened entirely new aural possibilities and allowed Abbey to consider, manipulate, and re-consider each passing tone. The end result is an exquisitely enveloping work of contemporary ambient music that is equally inspired by and spiritually linked to influential French composer Olivier Messiaen, the progenitors of Dub, and a number of ephemeral oddities in between.
Sonically, Embers reveals some of Secret Pyramid’s most minimal and open works yet. Certain pieces (such as “Pins,” “Particles,” and “Ohms”) employ a single instrument or sound source with only a modicum of manipulation. This “less is more” approach gave each sound actual room to breathe and find a balance of beauty and dissonance, and the magical transition between the two.
Emotionally, the music was created during a particularly turbulent time in Abbey’s life, allowing him to process things musically. In his own words, “It’s a reflection of the impermanent, shifting, and fleeting aspects of our lives, both the good and the bad, that often spark something inside of us. Aspects of our daily existence, and the self (whether our emotions, surroundings, relationships,) that are constantly morphing, disappearing, reappearing, burning out, reigniting, and so forth, metaphorically like flares or embers.”
https://secretpyramid.bandcamp.com/album/embers
|
2020 |
€25.00 |
|
| SECTION 25 |
Eigengrau |
CD |
"Blackpool’s most famous music export Section 25 are best known for being a legendary band on Manchester’s Factory label. They were labelmates of Joy Division and were produced by Martin Hannett in their early days. We at Klanggalerie think that SXXV are not only known and loved in the postpunk scene, but also in the avantgarde and Industrial genres. So we asked some great bands from those scenes to remix classic Section 25 tracks. The result is an incredible variety of styles and approaches, nevertheless the whole album sounds homogenic. The impressive full track list is as follows:
Girls don't count (Atomizer Remix)
Beating Heart (Absolute Body Control Remix)
Desert (7JK Remix)
Colour Movement Sex & Violence (Monoton Remix)
Inner Drive (Dust Orchestra Remix)
Looking from a Hilltop (Wrangler/Stephen Mallinder Remix)
Desert (Samy Morpheus & Erge Storman Version)
The Process (Volcano The Bear Remix)
Uber Hymn (DDAA Remix)
Desert (Shane Fahey Remix)
New Horizon (23 Skidoo Remix)
Girls don't count (Renaldo & The Loaf Remix)
Desert (:zoviet*france: Remix)
Dirty Disco (Portion Control Remix)
Experience a different and new Section 25. The postpunk roots are still there, but the collaborators have taken their songs to a new level where avantgarde meets rock and electro." [label info]
www.klanggalerie.com
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| SEETYCA |
The Lake (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
Erstes Vinyl für dieses ostdeutsche Projekt, welches fast lyrisch zu nennende akustische Stimmungslandschaften erschafft, organisch und geheimnisvoll, von dunkler expressiver Kraft....
"Another German project dealing with language, poetry and sound is SEETYCA. They use their own orthography and publish lyrics and prose on their projects website. Seetyca’s musical interest lies more in creating "acoustic landscapes" or moods than in telling stories. They’re especially interested in unconscious archaic states of the mind. The two pieces on "The Lake" relate to a sacral approach of experiencing nature. When beautiful (classic?) samples are set into a sphere of extremely wide spaces and reverbation, when these clouds of sounds spread out in infinite refulgence, moving like slow surging billows, a point of utmost inner calmness can be reached.....
File under: mysterious organic drones
BLACK MARBLED DARK GREEN VINYL, HANDSPRAYED COVERS WITH COLOUR PHOTO, INLAY" [press release]
|
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
|
Bleakscapes |
CD |
"Everyone into dark ambient should be already familiar with Seetyca project from Germany. Bleakscapes full-length is an incredible dark journey, it consists in 77 minutes of drones, minimal dark ambient sound pleasures for the ear and mind.
bleakscapes was conceived and recorded in winter and spring 2010 @ mbira v.06. seetyca plays e-maschinen, samplers, bells, flutes. artin mucht plays synth. etheocles stevens provides voices & string samples, recorded with the oregon origo string quartet. mixed and mastered by seetyca & artin mucht. Additional artwork and final mastering by C." [label info & credits]
www.essentiamundi.com
"Back in Vital Weekly 549 we reviewed a triple CD set 'Nekton Falls', with twenty six pieces by as many people working, loosely, with field recordings. That project was organized by Seetyca, with whom I seem to have lost contact a bit over the years, but a recent e-mail exchange lead to him sending his latest work and probably my first proper introduction into his music. He has worked in ambient and experimental music since 1994 and besides his solo music he is also active with groups like vzusdw, Circle Of Pines, Postmoderne Phonombel, Origami Nalebariska and moedra and has been involved in some eighty releases, sometimes on his own Mbira label. On his own he plays 'e-maschinen, samplers, bells and flutes', while receiving help on synth, voices and string samples from others. Despite the title this is not as bleak as one would expect, deepscapes would have probably been a better title, as these seven, mostly, lengthy excursions are in the world of deep atmospheric ambient music. The final piece is the shortest and the most experimental, with a cluster of organ sounds but very much in the digital field - bleak perhaps indeed. In the six other pieces Seetyca keeps himself in control within the tight (?) rules of deep ambient music: long sustaining sounds, effectively more so by the use of reverb, to generate that necessary feel of atmosphere, dislocated bell and flute sounds. While the early autumn sun truly blazes outside, this is might not be the perfect soundtrack for such circumstances. I guess this nocturnal work is more suited for late night listening. Perhaps in its genre not the most original album, but then: what is these days? On the other hand, purely looking from the point of musical content, this is really a great album. Refined, contemplative and rich in sound." [FdW, Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€12.50 |
|
|
The Luminous Deep |
CD |
"When the final faint rays of light shine upon motionless limbs, colours begin to fade as the pelagic darkness bides a welcome with its cold and soft embrace. The descent continues, unevenly adrift on an unknown current. The boundaries of time and space no longer apply. Finally at rest on the distant seabed new life is destined to spring from this empty shell anew. Comes in a jewelcase with 16-page booklet." [label info]
http://gterma.blogspot.se
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Nemeton |
CD |
" 'Nemeton' is the new studio album from seetyca on the Winter-Light label and we are very pleased to have this fine artist on our roster. In the ancient Celtic tradition, a Nemeton was a sacred space, primarily situated in natural areas, often sacred groves of trees.
The album 'Nemeton' will take you to your own sacred place, as it hints at what lies hidden, ever deeper in the thick forests and darkened woods of Germany. A lo-fi master piece in dark ambient, the six tracks on this CD invoke feelings of apprehension, wonder and longing for a place never visited in the flesh but often travelled to in the minds eye. A place that lies tantalising just out of reach in the distance but that at any moment can become all consuming and enveloping. Encompassing you in thick dark layers of ambience and transporting you to a space from which there is no return.
CD is strictly limited to 300 copies in a 6-panel digipack. 6 tracks, total running time 79:30.
1. katarakt - 2. nemeton - 3. die wogen der unbil - 4. wenn alles aus ist - 5. als loch geh ich vor dich hin - 6. die Feuer von samhain" [label info]
www.winter-light.nl
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Zwischenwelten |
CD |
We are once again delighted to welcome seetyca to our label, for the release of his new CD album Zwischenwelten.
‘Zwischenwelten’ is an immensely deep journey, characteristic of seetyca’s music. The listener is pulled between worlds, shrouded in dense layers of fog or pinned to the edge of a scene, forced to watch as an observer, while the part plays out. Interspersed with environmental sounds, and both electronic and traditional instruments, ‘Zwischenwelten’ is a beautiful, hypnotic album switching between what is real and what is perceived to be real by the listener. The album is laced with lush melodies, light ambient touches and otherworldly samples which bring to this piece a welcome sense of detachment.
For this release, seetyca has been joined by a number of contributing artists including Thom Yeesland (ambiant guitar sounds), Julian Eckstein (trombone) and Kris Caelis (glockenspiel and environmental sounds). seetyca himself plays an array of instruments including e-maschinen, samplers, ocarina, recorder, zither and acoustic guitar to name but a few.
seetyca certainly likes to pack his albums to the hilt, and this release is no exception. The cover design and layout has been created by Midnight Sun Studio, based upon original artwork from Edward Valerans III.
CD comes in a 6-panel full colour digi pack. 9 tracks with a total running time of 79:35 mins.
1. magnitogorsk
2. the clouds form a smile
3. der schwimmer in dunckel
4. im schragen wahn lebt sichs am schonsten
5. wem trauen?
6. hide my phace, hide my heart
7. before it’s dark, before it rains
8. verstrahl.to
9. jennyssey
www.winter-light.nl
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Winterlicht |
CD |
'Winterlicht' is Seetyca's third full length album to be released on the Winter-Light label.
As the album title indicates the theme is that of the winter's light and comprises of 12 new tracks, combining deep drones and sparse musical pieces to create a vast wintry landscape. The opening track 'cold morning' invokes images of sunlight playing across fields steeped in deep white snow while your cold breath disappears in to the morning air. The title track 'winterlicht' is a slowly evolving darker, deeper 13 minute drone piece. Here the heavy mantle of winter steadily envelopes the listener, drawing the darkness of the nights ever nearer, as the cold winds howl and the ice begins to form, locking the landscape in to a frozen tundra.
The play between light and dark, the subtle use of environmental sounds and carefully chosen instruments, played by a stellar array of Seetyca's friends, is what makes this album truly engaging.
'Winterlicht' was conceived, played and recorded over three summers between 2014 - 2016.
credits
released October 13, 2017
Seetyca uses e-maschinen, samplers, glass harmonica, air voice and harmonica. Technical assistance by dr. dipl.-ing. johann e. mildenberg.
Some friends gave a hand....
artin mucht: additional synths.
umanosuke yumeji: electro harmonix.
thom yeesland: environmental sounds.
madeleine madeiras: ice piano on track I.
ralf behrendt: additional atmospherics on tracks VIII & XII.
string samples on track IX by the oregon origo chamber orchestra, conducted & recorded by etheocles stevens.
gowlan roberts: bass on track XI.
the newschubert: additional sequencing on track XII.
The album was mixed by Artin Mucht and mastered by Seetyca.
The cover design and layout has been created by Midnight Sun Studio.
winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/winterlicht
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Trances |
CD |
'Trances' is the new album from Germany's master of the drone Seetyca, which is a sequel to the album 'Zwischenwelten', previously released on our Winter-Light label in September, 2016.
On 'Zwischenwelten' the listener was pulled between worlds, switching from one to the other through dense ambient drone pieces. On 'Trances', one is drawn into different states of mind, slight shifts in sanity and mental disturbances.
This is not only evident in the music and some of the track titles but in the musical transitions also. There are subtle changes and shifts used in the cross overs between the tracks. What the artist refers to as experimenting with different "disturbed transitions'.
As the album title suggests, the music is very hypnotic and in keeping with Seetyca's signature drone style. But there are other elements at work here, layered between the drones, or inter-woven between each track which also makes 'Trances' a stand alone album in it's own right. Here, Seetyca gives the listener the space to maneuver between sounds, not filling the whole space up, to the point that you feel suffocated. Patient and careful attention to detail. Enjoy.
credits
released March 28, 2019
All music written and recorded by Seetyca.
Seetyca uses e-maschinen & samplers, flutes, duduk, rich. lipp & sohn piano, self-built percussion and voice.
Mixed by Artin Mucht.
Mastered by Seetyca.
https://winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/trances
Here’s one for those who dig long, continuous strings of soundscapes as expansive, inspired and deep drone worlds are on the menu on Seetyca’s “Trances”, a kind of follow-up of “Zwischenwelten”.
The 60-minute organic-spiced aural space is long and continuous flow of sound a blend of electronics, wind instruments and acoustic elements immersing into an alienating, profound mysterious and dark netherworld with an occasional abstract/experimental edge. Lovely echoes of Schulze’s “Mirage” surface beautifully but briefly on “Huge Globes of Glass passing by” while the sonic fingerprint of Robert Rich comes to mind as well as haunting/gothic-ish ambiences at other passages as it travels into the beyond. The two-part “Stratospheres” found at the end of the release is a special treat due to the very nicely rendered elevating impact.
Despite the sometimes obscure sound treatments, few strange aural corridors and twists, “Trances” is an appropriate companion to descend into a deeper, hypnotizing state- without things becoming gloomy or feeling lost.
Website: http://www.seetyca.bandcamp.com
[Sonic Immersion] |
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| SEIROM |
Mesmerized |
CD |
'Mesmerized' is a collection of ambient and synth works recorded in 2014. Once again the aim of the material was pure emotion, pure atmosphere. Limited Edition 500 copies, 6 panel digipack
www.ksenzarecords.ru
"When one submerges themselves in as much darkness as black metal/noise maven Mories tends to, it is only natural to need a break every now and then. The need to come up from the murky depths and bask in the sunlight now and again is only human, and despite the otherworldly sounds he produces, the man is only human. Seirom is this breath of fresh air, this ray of sunlight, for Gnaw Their Tongues mastermind Maurice De Jong.
Ofttimes overlooked in favor of his more shocking material like Aderlating or Gnaw Their Tongues, Mories’s ambient synth project Seirom is just as satisfying a listen as any of his other material, and uses many of the same methods of attack, albeit to very different effect. Despite the fact that the project doesn’t seem to garner quite as much critical attention, the intrinsic value of the music contained within is undeniable, and the back-uncatalog is surprisingly extensive with multiple releases dating back since 2011, many of which are available of the artist’s bandcamp page for a ‘pay-what-you-want’ download. The newest Seirom release, the seven song EP ‘Mesmerized‘, is a beautiful and fascinating work which is a perfect place for newcomers to Mories’s lighter world to start immersing themselves.
As I stated in my review of the latest Gnaw Their Tongue’s full length Abyss of Longing Throats, Maurice De Jong is a master of creating moods and forcing you to feel; he understands how to draw certain emotions out of people with sound. Usually, these talents are utilized to terrify and repulse, but on Seirom he creates an atmosphere of contentment and peace, at times intruded upon by a sad, quiet longing. An edge of longing and mournfulness for times past, but one that is at peace with that past. A feeling that conveys the all-encompassing emotions of wistfully looking at days past and remembering beautiful times and contentedly moving forward, despite the passage of those times. Even the album art and track names seem to convey this wistful reminiscence. In this way, Mesmerized is a fitting title for this EP, for it truly does leave one mesmerized upon losing yourself to the beautiful sound and the atmosphere it creates. The base structure of the songs is not terribly different from some of Mories other more ambient releases in bands like Aderlating; however, the tone of the music and the execution is completely different. Still present are synth-laden ambient soundscapes and grand orchestral compositions, at times interrupted by washed-out samples and more conventional instrumentation, but this base formula is turned on its head by the stark change in execution and framing.
Standout tracks include the opener and titular track “Mesmerized,” and the lovely “Desensitized,” which is a beautiful example of everything Seirom does perfectly. The track begins with rhythmic strains of floating synth between washed-out, subtle electronic crunch and a programmed drum beat, and slowly builds in presence and insistence until a crashing finale of emotion, which slowly gives way to ambient nothings before rebuilding itself and then rapidly dying off again. Closer “Something New” is a perfect cap to the album, building upon the themes touched on earlier of wistful remembrance as the beauty of youth gives way to something new – not necessarily something bad, but something that is different than the things you once loved. Hypnotic piano amid light-drenched synth lead you towards the final ambient finale, slowly fading into obscurity and nothing as you leave behind the old and find the way to something new.
Another of Seirom’s releases is entitled and the light swallowed everything, and if there were ever a perfect title to describe a band’s overall sound, I think that would be it. Seirom deals in light, but it is an all-consuming light. Something that washes over you and makes you a part of it. You don’t know whether or not it is a good thing or a bad thing to be swallowed so wholly by this light, but it is certainly a beautiful thing. And as you are being swallowed, that is really all you care about." [Kira / Cvltnation] |
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| SELAXON LUTBERG |
Cold House of Love |
CD |
Very emotional & melancholic dronescapes from this Italian project - slow & sad, many instruments are used, a bit mysterioius & strange... this is quite a revelation for us !! Definitely worth to discover!!
"Pages of a diary under the form of ten minimal soundscapes based upon emotional sounds made with guitars, piano and heavily processed field recordings. Hard to say if this is dark ambient or minimal post-rock… "Cold house of love" is all of this and a lot more. Subtly disquieting ambience music - a journey through the cold rooms of the house of love....." [label info]
"....Based primarily within the ambient genre Andrea mixes dynamic electronic soundscapes with the occasional use of samples and simple piano refrains. For the most part though the electronics dominate creating this phenomenal piece of work. You could rightly call this dark ambient music in many ways. There is a dense creepy edge to the sonics that would match that description. That though is open purely to the individuals interpretation. You hear dark. I hear glorious light. You say full of remorse. I say full of hope. You say barren. I say lush and full of life. What we hear and how we build associations with that information is what makes us each unique in our own little ways [...] A remarkable recording that dreamers the world over should get hold of immediately." [Alan Milne / Heathen Harvest]
www.eibonrecords.com
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| SELLEKAERS, JOHN |
Observer Effect |
CD |
A journey in the unknown is a deeply transforming experience. How are we affected by the world around us and how do we alter it just by being there, by existing in this particular place, at this very moment? By observing it? Frozen textures, faint melodies from the polar nights... The excitement, fascination and primal fear felt by the pioneers, explorers, men and women, travelling to extreme, uninhabited regions. Mysteries are uncovered, or left alone. A solitary voyage in seemingly endless territories. Observer Effect is an album fed by history, countless stories and books. And by the pleasure of building a sonic scenery, a suspended state, imagining icy landscapes in the lightest night...
John Sellekaers (b. 1973) is an electronic music composer and producer based in Brussels. He has written and recorded close to sixty records so far, under different aliases, such as Feral Cities, Night Sky Pulse, Meeple, Xingu Hill and Dead Hollywood Stars. His music has been released by labels in Europe and North America, including Ant-Zen, Hymen Records, Parenthèses Records, Falt, Oreille Gardée, Hushush and Nova Zembla. John has toured extensively since the nineties and has worked on collaborations, remixes and soundtracks. He is also a freelance audio engineer (mixing & mastering), photographer and graphic designer.
https://glacialmovements.bandcamp.com/album/observer-effect
|
2021 |
€15.00 |
|
| SERRIES, DIRK |
Microphonics XXI-XXV |
do-10inch & CD |
"with the conclusion of other remaining projects and collaborations, there’s no focus other than dirk serries’ ongoing exploration of minimalism. four years in the making and undoubtly fuelled by his 2009 debut and previous mainstays vidnaObmana and fear falls burning, this second microphonics studio album is a heartbreaking symphony of echoing themes, wailing overtones and beautiful desolation. microphonics xxi-xxv, subtitled ‘mounting among the waves, there’s a light in vein. the burden of hope across thousands of rivers’ does hint towards an emotional statement, one that boldly goes beyond what previously achieved.
microphonics xxi-xxv will be out on march 16, as a limited edition double 10inch in a numbered gatefold sleeve (150 copies on white vinyl, 300 copies on black vinyl), complete with a cd copy of the album, and a cd in a deluxe mini album gatefold sleeve." [label info]
www.tonefloat.com
"At the end of 2008 microphonics I - V saw the daylight. Time has come for Dirk Serries to play music under his own name and say good-bye to his alter-egos vidnaObmana and Fear Falls Burning. The design of that album was minimalist in structure. Quiet guitar patterns built up and flowed away and a calm, meditative ambient atmosphere with adventurous harmony was created. Five live albums and a 10 " were released at Tonefloat. Meanwhile appeared the last album of Fear Falls Burning, what can be called a stunning album, which led to an acoustic aftershock of an era ended. For more than four years later arrived the second studio album by the musical project microphonics, microphonics XXI - XXV with the subtitles Mounting among the waves, There's a light in vein, The burden of hope and Across thousands of rivers, which are the titles of the four tracks on the album. Elements of Fear Falls Burning, vidnaObmana and of course microphonics can be found in the compositions. The sound of
the guitar is dirtier, unpolished, seeking feedback and underneath the many layers of repeating sounds in which Serries is a master. The discrepancy between the heavy bass lines, distorted guitars, layered chords and delicate strumming seek each other, collide and blend together. Cheerfulness is hard to find in this album. It is true quest in which somewhere hope flickers. In this way the album ends with open chords and a rolling drone. The album is a pleasant surprise twist in the microphonics project, in which the ambient atmosphere reigned supreme. The double 10?is coming out with a book of city photography of Martina Verhoeven, the partner Dirk Serries. She plays bass in 3 Seconds or Air (a side project of Dirk Serries) and is responsible for the cover photography of Serries. The photography of the book, I haven?t view it yet, but given the pictures I've seen her before, it will be aesthetically pleasing and appropriate to the album. Often there is a desolate atmosphere in carefully composed black and white photos. Tonefloat knows to release another wonderful compilation of image and sound, which is a delight for the eyes and ears."(JKH/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€27.50 |
|
| SEVEN THAT SPELLS |
The Men from Dystopia |
CD |
SEVEN THAT SPELLS beweisen, dass ost-europäischer "Drone / Folk / whatever-Psych" was ganz besonderes ist. Wild, ekstatisch, droney, nur was für hartgesottene Psychedelic-Freaks! Aus Kroatien.
"CD edition of 500 numbered copies in a full color book bound case. Simply amazing Croatian psych with special assistance from Makoto Kawabata (Acid Mothers Temple, ...) If the metallic mettle of these men represents Dystopia, then forget Utopia, I wanna bang on Dystopia’s drum all day! The sweet ‘n’ sour smell of Kraut explodes in carefully paced salvos, and then goes completely off the rails. And then gets crazier. And crazier. And crazier. And crazier. Until it reaches an insane, almost unbearably heavy sonic crescendo, and then gets even crazier. And crazier. And crazier. A thick, unending firestorm of napalm psychedelia PUMMELS while its orbit decays into the swirling sounds of slowly going mad. An audio illustration of a mescaline trip that gets too close too enlightenment. Amon Duul II times ten to the fifth of Beethoven! A truly massive attack!" [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Black Om Rising |
CD + DVD |
"Wrapped intricately like a holiday present in book binding with a gatefold image of topless women and buddhas cavorting in the sky, Seven That Spells thankfully don’t say anything on the instrumental Black Om Rising. The band regularly puts out limited-run releases of abstract psychedelic narratives that fever out of control or space out into remote cosmic hinterlands. On the surface, they seem to be following the lead of Japanese noise-rock guru, Acid Mothers Temple founder, and occasional Seven That Spells collaborator Kawabata Makoto, a.k.a the most prolific recording artist in history. Yet, the Slavic foursome have likely been digging deep into the Western canon as well as the Nipponese one. On Black Om Rising, there’s traces of the propulsive intensity of motorik post-rockers like Trans Am and Turing Machine, the apocalyptic prog ferocity of Magma, and the virtuosity of The Mars Volta. There’s even traces of free jazz in Lovro Ziopaša’s sax-ranting, which uses dub echo to ominous insistence on “RA”. The centerpiece of Black Om Rising is the three act play “Lo”, which emerges from simple gothic Dick-Dale-tremolo and dilates outward into mini orchestral vignettes that are both sporadic and organically harvested. The CD’s side B, a DVD capture of a live performance, catches the band at even more frenetic and dissonant heights, proving them a most worthy import indeed." [PopMatters]
"Ed. of 500 copies in a book bound case and 8 page booklet. Audio CD plus region free DVD consisting of songs from “Black Om Rising” album performed live. Don't go round tonight, well it's bound to take your life; there's a black Om on the rise. And that black Om slugs all creation square in the gut. Seven That Spells spells, in this instance, EXPLOSION. Black Om Rising is a tightly-wound precision time piece ringing the hours with an effervescent brutality. The rhythm section growls with a low, mean thudding punch that could give the back end of The Birthday Party or Big Black the business in a street fight. Black Om Rising ascends; a beautifully bejeweled bloody stump of instrumental brilliance. Gilt post-punk edges halo the Kraut-suffused filigree of expert musicianship, that is not only capable of handling heavy progressive payloads, but also of circumventing the trigonometry of wank. Powerful, mellodious, charismatic, dynamic, weird and ballsy to the core. STS has compassed an album whose every drone, silence and screech is so slyly crafted that Mozart called from the 18th century demanding amps!" [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2008 |
€16.00 |
|
| SEVERED HEADS |
Clifford Darling please don't live in the Past |
do-LP |
"Severed Heads are one of the longest surviving bands to emerge from the Australian post-punk independent music scene. They began in Sydney in 1979, incorporating elements of ‘industrial’ noise-generation, tape cutting & looping and electronic sound synthesis. As the project developed song-structures and vocals were employed in a more-or-less recognizable mutant electro pop style. After many line-up changes featuring Garry Bradbury and psychedelic guitarist Simon Knuckey, Severed Heads was the vehicle for composer Tom Ellard.
In 1985 their record label asked them to release a retrospective, so they dragged out bits that we had lying around from 1979 up til 1983. The compilation was titled “Clifford Darling Please Don’t Live In The Past”, spread out into a montage over four sides of vinyl. Bradbury and Ellard would fuss each bit and sling it on their new digital recorder, and since they still have the digital recorder, this reissue is made directly from the bits assembled twenty years ago. This compilation includes live recordings, raw demos, unreleased studio recordings and solo pieces from each member of the band during from the first five years. Their early music was characterized by the use of tape loops, noisy arrangements of synthesizers and other dissonant sound sources in the general category of industrial music. After several releases in that vein, Severed Heads began incorporating various popular music tropes, such as a consistent 4/4 rhythm, strong melodic lines, resolving chord arrangements and the occasional vocal. This move was underscored by the incorporation of mimetic devices, such as drum machines and bass synthesizers. The result was a striking hybrid of the avant-garde industrial and pop.
All songs are remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Housed in a jacket featuring brightly colored, distorted, VHS graphics output by Stephen Jones’ video synthesizer created by Tom Ellard video piece “Kato Gets The Girl” in 1985, designed by Eloise Leigh. Each copy includes a fold-out poster with a color video still photo on one side and liner notes and credits on the other. 30 years later Severed Heads’ perverse creativity is still paving the way for powerful imaginative challenging music far and wide." [label info]
www.darkentriesrecords.com
In 1985, Severed Heads were commissioned to collect a retrospective of their (then) six years in existence. Instead of the standard 'best of' anthology, Tom Ellard and Co. took the opportunity to create a sprawling collage of a whole slew of material never heard before, with cutting room edits, tape loop assemblages, live tracks, and numerous experiments that never found their way onto any of their albums. That approach is emblematic of the subversive manner in which Severed Heads produces and contextualizes their heavily mediated electronics, tracks that boisterously flaunt new wave pop structures butted against chunks of machined voltage-control noise and volatile industrial rhythm. On this release, more than pretty much anywhere else in Severed Heads catalog, do comparisons to Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle make the most sense.
(Aquarius Rec)
|
2015 |
€28.00 |
|
| SEWER ELECTION |
Kassettmusik |
LP |
"April 2007. Moments captured and repeated in raw mono. Contact mic, cassette loops + cassette amplifier"
Originally released as two private edition cassettes and then reworked for a CD release on iDEAL in 2008, Kassettmusik still stands out as one of Dan Johanssons' most confounding and bold moments. Upon its release, the extremely minimal and restrained approach on the recording took a quite unexpected turn compared to the brutish harsh noise and 'Killing For' endeavours Sewer Election was known for at the time. Crude cassette loops of sparse electronics and body sounds with the fidelity of the disintegrated magnetic tape becoming an important piece of the two side-long compositions.
Pressed in 500 copies in a matte sleeve. Insert with liner notes by Chris Sienko. Vinyl master by Viktor Ottosson. Fördämning Arkiv 5.
https://soundcloud.com/idischidelbarone/sewer-election-kassettmusik |
2022 |
€18.00 |
|
| SHAKHNES, GRISHA |
The Heaver |
MC |
https://moremars.bandcamp.com/album/the-heaver
“I was going to be a neo-deconstructivist but mom wouldn't let me”
Writing about Grisha Shakhnes’s music is quite a difficult task. Grisha is involved with the independent music scene since 2008, at first under the name Mites and then with his real name. All these years, he is practicing on music composition, using mainly field recording, tapes and lo-fi electronics, keeping a beautiful balance between real time composition and experimentation. Grisha's sound work has a very personal character and sometimes it's like the listener following in real time his creative process. He is recording at home, with his presence being notable on the recordings and with the sounds of the environment being welcome on his compositions.
On “The Heaver”, Grisha Shakhnes works with structure, textures and length, giving space to transformative qualities of sound and repetitive inaudible ones, to shape of his musical work. He improvises and manipulate sounds very gently, creating foggy soundscapes of broken sounds, electronic hums and noises, mixed with pre-recorded material from urban life.
“The Heaver” includes four new long compositions by Grisha Shakhnes, recorded on Tel Aviv during June of 2021. Released on a limited edition of 100 cassettes, including download code.
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"Music from Grisha Shakhnes, from tel Aviv, made it to these pages a couple of times (Vital Weekly 1208, 985, 939, 880), but already some time ago. I am unsure why it took some time to have a new release, but maybe I missed out on some. His music is usually quite conceptual, even when the concept isn't always that clear. There is quite a bit at work regarding field recording but without much action. Shakhness captures a situation and maybe adds a wee bit of processing, and that's it. In 'About To Collapse', the recorder sits in a car, and it rains, so the window scrapers are on. Maybe a delay pedal rides along? 'Street Life' does that, capturing street life. At night, I think, with minimal action going (or maybe Shakhness lives in a tranquil area). In 'Winding Down', the tap leaks, and there is some highly obscured indoor action; again, we have no idea about the source. In that respect, is the title piece the winner here; I have no idea what's going on there. We have four pieces here, four situations, if you will, or four textures. Each of these textures is mysterious and vague in equal portions. But, perhaps, strangely enough, I found all these highly fascinating music pieces. Is there development or even change? That question I found hard to answer. There are points in all of these pieces in which something changes but is that the result of Shakhness intervening (or composing with sounds), or simply because there is a shift in the sound. Scientists are still thinking about this answer. For me, the answer is not as interesting as the question." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€9.50 |
|
| SHALABI EFFECT |
Unfortunately |
CD |
"This fourth and latest offering was recorded over 3 evenings during the band's recent residency at the Montreal Interculture Institute. It truly represents the band's appetite for experimentation & their desire to keep things interesting for their fans. At times epic and challenging, perhaps like a secret collaboration between Fly Pan Am & Acid Mothers Temple." [label info]
www.alien8recordings.com
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| SHASTA CULTS |
Configurations |
CD |
"A ship sinks beneath the silver mirror of the sea-top, temple gongs ring through an empty valley, industrial machinery sputters, heaves, lurches forward, stops, falls apart… These sound events may be the most acute musical referents of Shasta Cults, the music project of Canadian synthesizer technician Richard Smith. Using obsolete electronics, Shasta Cults pursues the true sound of the instrument, freed from the tyranny of emulation, no strings/woodwinds/piano presets. Shasta Cults’ compositions seek out unchartered territories where sustained drones may swell, build, or evaporate; where timbres collide, amplitudes fluctuate, sounds emerge, raw, primeval, new hybrids form from the collisions of electricity and frequency. There may be stretches of silence punctuated by bell-ish tones from futures unheard; a sequence of notes may verge upon melody before mutating into ugly moans, the sonic equivalent of funhouse mirrors. But the end result is far more than chance operation, sporadic sound fields, or indeterminate academic exercise. Instead, Shasta Cults brings us back to nature, back to the possibilities inherent in nature, to the truth of evolution, stitching both musical tones, and the sounds of 21st century living into a form which is as real, as imponderable, and as ungovernable as our own memories.
Recorded in 2017, employing the processes of non-linear waveshaping, frequency modulation and feedback, Configurations consists of eight programs captured live to multitrack using a rare, fully functional Buchla 700 digital-hybrid instrument designed in the late 1980s. Whereas previously released works made with the 700 almost always consist in simple manipulations of the single factory preset, this album delves deep into the instrument’s rich sonic vocabulary to offer the listener a more elaborate demonstration of the system’s capabilities.
Presented here in limited quantities this release is intended as a high fidelity audio archive of this obscure musical artifact."
https://shastacults.bandcamp.com/album/configurations |
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| SHEA, DAVID |
The Book of Scenes |
CD |
Anspruchsvolles Werk für Viola & Piano & Sampler in 29 “Szenen”, die thematisch orientiert sind und sehr stimmungsvolle neo-klassisch-geräuschhaft-improvisatorische, z.T. elektronisch prozessierte Muster ergeben. Uraufgeführt 2003 auf dem „Why Note“ Festival.
"Return of the prodigal son: our favourite New York composer is back home at Sub Rosa.
This new CD consists in scenes with specific atmospheric tracks; a kind of open book, an open music film... and in the same time a true composer work of high level classical sampler music!
The Book of Scenes is a collection of pieces for Viola and Piano. Each piece is a single scene and scored on a single page and places the players and the instrument in different situations and relationships to each other and sampled recordings of themselves as well as the electronic environment the duo perform in. The work can be played in any order and the sequence is chosen before hand by the the players.
The scenes explore solo and duo playing, and musical roles inside of shifting contexts many related to visual references, films and iconic memories. This record presents Book I the first 29 pieces performed live with some scenes constructed electronically from samples and memories of other scenes. Many of the sections are visual in nature, for example where the alto player bows his instrument while the pianist places his hands on the viola neck and chooses the notes to be played followed by the alto player placing his hands inside the piano to mute the pianist notes as well as a scene where the players are blindfolded.
These scenes have been replaced by electronic manipulations of the live performance. The result is a flow of relationships and scored or scripted scenes living between the orchestration of the acoustic instruments and the electronic characters they engage with.” [press release]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| SHEARER, RACHEL |
Fakerie |
DVD |
Die Neuseeländerin RACHEL SHEARER war vormals als LOVELY MIDGET aktiv, jetzt präsentiert sie auf FAKERIE einen höchst minimalen und meditativen Experimental-Film mit Synchron-Sound, in denen sieben fix positionierte siebenstrahlige "Sterne" Leucht- und Klangintensitäten in sich vereinen...
"Fakerie is a digital séance of aural and visual sculptures by the New Zealand artist Rachel Shearer, formerly known as Lovely Midget. Filmed in an environment to facilitate focused listening, Fakerie is as much for the ears as the eyes. Glowing white lights ebb and expand from darkness in shifting series -- like clustered stars -- as penetrating resonances of acoustic and electronic overtones decompose into the tiniest sand-like components. Traces of Mary Lucier's mid-1970s burn films and Francois Bayle's musical investigation into the physical and psychical world is present. The specially programmed Region 0 (free)/NTSC format DVD plays in constant loop. Its 22-minutes can be expanded into hours allowing the user to immerse themselves in the work. This DVD is Shearer's first long-form film release. In the past 20 years she has released records on Siltbreeze, Xpressway, Flying Nun, Corpus Hermeticum and Ecstatic Peace as Lovely Midget and with Queen Meanie Puss and Angelhead. Packaged in a mini-LP-styled gatefold book, this set also contains a 20-page booklet investigating the ghosts, distances and signals of Fakerie." [label info]
www.family-vineyard.com |
2008 |
€16.50 |
|
| SHEFFIELD, COLIN ANDREW |
Signatures |
CD |
Mit einer etwas andere Art von "Plunderphonics" sticht C.A. SHEFFIELD auf "Signatures" hervor; seine vier Stücke sind feinst gesponnene Drones, die aus Extrakten von alten Grammophon-Platten gewonnen wurden. Auf diesen befanden sich, dem Labelkonzept von INVISIBLE BIRDS gemäss, Vogelgesänge und weitere Natursounds (was man den stark transformierten Drones allenfalls noch als subtile organische Aura anmerkt). Sehr sanft und kontemplativ auf den Punkt gedroned, beim letzten Stück epische Ausmaße annehmend...
"these pieces were composed without the use of a computer, only a turntable, old sampler and a portable 64-track digital workstation.
each track is a distillation of commercially available recordings with the essential qualities remaining, only very brief sections are selected and the raw components then contracted into gradually shifting and unfolding atmospheres, offering subtle nuances
and quiet restraint. fragments from these tracks include sounds from birds or water, some being partially obscured while others are veiled references to those elements. in "broken light," the low rumbling that appears at the beginning and for the first few minutes is the sound of birds' wings flapping upon takeoff)." [label info]
"this is the second release by a new label called invisible birds. their first release was m. swizynski's 'films 2007' we reviewed in vital weekly 625, although it didn't mention this as a label. the label focuses itself on releasing 'limited edition cds and dvds evocative of birds and the landscapes they inhabit', which i think is a very nice selection method for incoming demo's. colin andrew sheffield might better known from the releases on his own label, elevator bath, for which he released cdrs and a cd. his 'signatures' cd has its official release december 10th 2008, the 100th birthday of olivier messiaen, another lover of birds and music (probably in that order). sheffield uses a turntable, old sampler and a 'portable 64-track digital workstation' and no computer on these recordings. on the turntable lies records of nature sounds, birds and water, of which sheffield carefully selects fragments to sample and layer on his ancient workstation. if you staple enough sounds on top of eachother, then have them slightly out of sync, one can create beautiful drone music, and that's exactly what sheffield does here. the first three tracks are nice, but it will turn out they are exercises for what is to come: 'breath of day', the fourth and final epic of this, with gramophone hiss and organ like sounds, being stretched out over the course of the twenty-seven minutes this lasts. a true beauty, in all its simplicity. sometimes the simplest things is enough to get things done. the previous tracks, which lay out what sheffield wants, eventually, are great too, but aren't of the same beauty as the last one. if it would have been just the first three i would have been equally enthusiastic about this, now i'm probably ecstatic. great cd." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
www.invisiblebirds.org
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| SHEFFIELD, COLIN ANDREW / JAMES ECK RIPPIE |
Variations |
LP |
"Variations is a selection of works from the duo of Colin Andrew Sheffield (samples, processing) and James Eck Rippie (turntables, guitar). The three pieces comprising this album were recorded "live" with no additional production and were wholly improvised. Each of the album's pieces utilizes sounds from a single acoustic instrument as its sole source material. Here, the duo's examinations of the harp, guitar, and flute result in three unique components of a unified whole: a textured ambience that is rich and subtle, simple and complex.
On black 180g vinyl with lovely full-color jackets, in an edition of 400 copies." [label info]
www.elevatorbath.com
"Interessante Zusammenarbeit von C. SHEFFIELD mit JAMES RIPPIE... zu hören gibt es drei atmosphärische, dronige Kompositionen mit sowas wie verfremdeten Harfen oder Gitarren-Sounds, vielen digitalen Brüchen und eigenartigen Texturen, die eine ganz eigene Harmonik entwickeln..
nice collaboration presenting atmospheric,droney compositions using effected harps and strange textures that develop their very own harmonics.. " [Drone Records info]
|
2001 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Exploded View |
mCD (Minimax) |
"Ah, a minimax CD! I haven't seen one of those in quite some time. And if you are wondering what it is, a minimax CD is a CD with a small portion of music, usually, twenty-three minutes (but I know of instances were they are thirty) and the rest of the disc is transparent, which give a great effect for design. Elevator Bath goes to town with a fine digipack around it. It begs, of course, the question: why not a proper full-length release? We aren't told but for some reason, Colin Andrew Sheffield and James Eck Rippie found their piece of enough interest to stand by itself. These two musicians have been going for some time and in recent years have been working together quite a bit, culminating in releases together. They use turntables, samples and processing. Earlier this week,
in a private conversation with a friend of mine I was complaining about turntablism, which is
something that I don't care too much about. Mainly because of its rotating aspect, making a lot of sounds the same; even if you decide to play sandpaper. In the case of Sheffield and Rippie, that aspect is luckily not there. I would believe they pick up the sounds from the turntable and give it the good twice over in the sampler and whatever else they use for processing (be it analogue or digital) and the results are used in a nineteen-minute montage/collage of modern musique concrete. It has that great vibrant feeling of things buzzing, sparkling and flying about, sometimes
staying in a place for a short time, sometimes a bit longer, but new elements are carried in, bashed on their heads and before you know melted down in the microwave into a nasty drone. There is quite a bit of dynamics in there, obviously, I would say as these men know their trade quite well, and that begs the question again: why not a bit more? Please?" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
https://sheffieldrippie.bandcamp.com/album/exploded-view
|
2019 |
€7.50 |
|
| SHIBALBA / BLACK SEAS OF INFINITY |
Mahakala |
CD |
"For their next split, SHIBALBA united into morbid congregation with BLACK SEAS OF INFINITY...
Utter grim horrific rite to glorify Great Black Goddess Kali. Far beyond the manifestations of Maya, obtain the dark essence of Her - Dark Shakti of Siva, Destroyer of Time, A Transcendental Blackness." [Nihilward info]
"The conjoined work of the order of Shibalba and Black Seas of Infinity, constitutes an undertaking and exploration of the supreme Kala, through musical, visual and literary transmissions and receptions an adoration unto Kali. She is the adored and the adorer, our blood shall be as her venom, our skull as her ornamentation.
Members of the Memphitic Coven of Shibalba:
Acherontas V. Priest Aldra-Al-Melekh
Recorded at the Halls of Christian Cambas, during the waning crescent moon of January MMXV. Mixed and mastered by Christian Cambas.
Artwork/Layout by Synthetic.
Front And Back Painting By David Hereiras.
Cd is coming by Nihilward Productions and Handmade edition in Tape and special box set tape by Arsenestre
Lp is coming later by Nigrum Serpentis.
Tshirt Merchandise by Nigrum Serpentis On October.
[Shibalba Bandcamp info]
www.nihilward.com
|
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| SHIFLET, MIKE & DANIEL MENCHE |
Stalemate |
CD |
"Mike Shiflet and Daniel Menche: Hammond organs and electronics. Recorded in 2007/2008.
Mastered in the analog domain at Stereophonic Masting in Portland, Oregon.
Mike Shiflet is one of the most interesting artists of the new US noise scene. He ran the Gameboy label with 100 releases in 10 years and, as musician, besides his solo recordings, he worked with C. Spencer Yeh/Burning Star Core, Brendan Murray, Francisco Meirino/Phroq & many others.
Daniel Menche is recognized since late eighties as a major figure of the experimental music world, exploring the fringe between noise and drone in a heavy and organic way. For 20 years Daniel Menche has harvested a vast discography of solo and collaborations.
Stalemate, the first collaborative work between these two prolific American artists, is based on Hammond organ sounds and electronics. The result is a heavy body of work - a powerful drone based music with densely textured sounds and some deep bass that'll make your walls shaking." [label info]
www.sonoris.org
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| SHIFTS |
Branches |
mCD-R |
A quiet powerful one-tracker (almost 20 min.), pure mechanized overtones and shifting poly-waves. Great for microsound-listening.
"Since 1995 Shifts is one of the various projects of Frans de Waard, besides Freiband, and membership of Beequeen, Kapotte Muziek, Goem, Wander and his recent new project with Roel Meelkop, Zebra. All of the work is based on guitar sounds. In the first phase various guitars were played with objects and effects, then, the next phase were computer treatments of the previous phase (the 'Vertonen' series, 22 pieces in total). After that a return to simplicity again; 'Branches' is one of three pieces ('trees' and 'leaves' to be released on LP by entr'acte) based on four stringed, detuned acoustic guitar and motor objects. Loud and drone this could have been a next step, but might very well the final works on Shifts. Previously material has been released on Korm Plastics, Fourth Dimension, Kraak, Elsie & Jack, Meme and other labels." [label info]
"Derrida's idea that the "semantic horizon which habitually governs the notion of communication is exceeded or punctured by the intervention of writing." which "..does not give rise to a hermeneutic deciphering".. is key to understanding the difficulty of locating the 'drone' within the idea of music which is "western" - i.e. teleological, which is written contra the arguments given in S.E.C. And though we have passed through such a teleological epoch we are only now in the light of post modernism reconsidering the alternatives, i.e. 'turtles all the way down'.. the eternal return of the same. and alternative mythologies - Buddhist, Jain, Hindu .. even Wagnerian prior to Parsifal... And so this 'music' is open to the critique of those who wish to enforce a teleology upon us. (And the usual ploy of leveling ethnocentric critiques on musics which are not part of this great tradition of the west! - and its teleological meta-narrative - i.e. Christian / Jewish / Islamic / Marxist).
This piece avoids the latter critique, its very Conrad-esq beginning locates it within modern western culture despite its use of the de-tuned string instrument. Its development, and that's a very dangerous word to use here, is something subtle - it does not so much hide the development but points towards a cyclic anti hermeneutic work - and this is perhaps my only 'valid' point of criticism of this otherwise excellent work, and maybe not that valid - but given a piece of music (normally) has to be temporally located this provides an obvious challenge to the drone work - (unless repeat play is used) - maybe via an mp3 disk this temporality could be extended but never breached, but this is not a significant philosophical challenge to the drone work as its not surprising that our technology supports the western idea of a teleological universe even though there is a likely alternative - eight track tape as the anti-Christ!" (jliat)
www.taalem.com |
2006 |
€5.00 |
|
|
Vertonen 10 |
CD-R |
Sehr schönes neues Material von diesem Projekt des immer noch hyperaktiven FRANS DE WAARD, der bei SHIFTS nur Saiteninstrumente einsetzt.. ein fast 60minütiger, mikrosound-artiger multipler Drone ertönt hier, der sich vom knisternden Anfang zu dunkel-bedächtige Flächen mit infiniten Effekten in verschiedenen Phasen und Ebenen bewegt. Grossartig !! Das ganze kommt in einer kunstvoll gefalteten blauen Hülle, lim. & nummeriert 60 Exemplare.
“Exquisitely packed comes this new work by Frans de Waard's string based project Shifts. And the question that immediately rises upon listening is: where are the strings? But as said before, Shifts is based on strings, so one may assume that the origins of these wide, drony and shimmering sounds are indeed strings. This short rant is meant only to mark a shift in Shift's appraoch to sound: this is definitely digitalised material, whereas his earlier works were obviously analog. OK, having said that, the work on this disc is an almost one hour piece of drony arctic sound, with small rattlesnakes moving about in the snow. I know this doesn't make sense but that's exactly the point: these sounds have the same incongruity and don't seem to belong together, but they go together very well. Further into the piece we are taken away from the desert snowfields and seem to be hovering at some height above them. And at a certain altitude the winds are taking over the sound scenery, adding resonance to the original drones. This is basically how the piece develops. A classic ambient drone piece that makes the mind go on its own trip and makes time seem to originate from another universe.” (MR, Vital Weekly) Address: http://www.verato-project.de
|
2004 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Vertonen 16 |
CD-R |
“In a edition of 100 copies EE Tapes offers a new CDR by Shifts, a side-soloproject of Frans de Waard. He started this project in 1995 and defines it as an "ongoing exploration in the world of guitars". 'Vertonen 16' being his 16th step in this research I suppose, results in one lengthy ambient piece lasting some 33 minutes.
In order to describe the experience of listening to this music I would like to make the following comparison. Imagine yourself looking at a very abstract painiting. A painting even more abstract then the painting (by Frans de Waard) that is on the cover of this release. Imagine a square painted smoothly in just one colour. After concentrating at it for some time, it is as if 'things' start to move and to flow in the painting. Of course you know you are imagining it, but on the other hand, it looks as if things really start to move. Listening to the new Shifts CDR is a similar experience. We hear just 'one' sound moving slowly ahead with no shifts at all for about half an hour. Because there are no shifts, it's not correct to say that the piece 'moves'. In a way development, progress and even duration are no fitting concepts here. It's a very static and 'timeless' music. But by listening closely to the piece it starts to reveal many little changes at a microscopic level and within a very limited range. You start to ask yourself whether these changes are real or effected in the mind like the moving of the colours. So you end up in an ambigious soundworld and that's an interesting experience. Also an enjoyable one, because de Waard created some nice rich sounds that didn't bore me at all. So whether imagined or real, in the end this is not relevant. Because one way or the other: it really Shifts!” [Vital Weekly]
|
2004 |
€9.00 |
|
| SHIGGAJON |
Sela |
LP |
Shiggajon is a Danish collective based around musicians Mikkel Reher-Lanberg and Nikolai Brix Vartenberg. Much like the music itself the collective is in constant flux, sometimes performing in the form of a small ensemble, other times appearing on stage with as many as 15 persons, depending on the situation.
It's tempting to categorize Shiggajon as a spiritual jazz ensemble, since their music is able to induce a heightened, spiritual euphoria much similar to that of Pharoah Sanders, Don Cherry or Alice Coltrane. But any narrow definition of their sound would be misleading. While there's an element of ritualism present, there's also a post-modern tendency to absorb everything from sufi music to krautrock and contemporary electronic drone. Heavily modulated guitar pedals and processed vocals accompany layers of flutes, strings, bells and percussion as the most natural thing in the world.
It's the kind of music that demands openness and surrender. Every time the ensemble performs improvisation is fundamental - it’s a journey into the unknown. As in John Coltrane's later works, Shiggajon establishes a unity between spirituality and improvisation - they embrace the paradox of seeking elevation and existential affirmation through sounds that occasionally verges on chaos and dread. These two long, multi-layered, cacophonous pieces occasionally come off as slightly abrasive and dissonant, but ultimately the music is a process resulting in joyful catharsis and healing.
|
2015 |
€19.00 |
|
| SHINJUKU THIEF |
Sacred Fury |
CD |
"Leaving aside the sheer viciousness of “Black Ice”, the delicate abstraction of “Black Frost” and the calm asphyxiation of his “Matte Black” albums, Darrin Verhagen on his latest release re-embraces all the dramatic theatricality his Shinjuku Thief project is best known for. Hovering midway between gothic orchestral horror and contemporary cinematic narrative, “Sacred Fury” presents us with a score from the midst of judgment. Reflective cinematic odes are strafed by brutal sound design, whilst elsewhere, bombastic homages to In Slaughter Natives pound out a march to the apocalypse in 31 beats.
This is the quintessential soundtrack for when all your best military plans turn to shit in your hands, and each new oncoming palletload of reason, ideology and faith seems more combustible than the last." [label info]
www.findesieclemedia.com
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| SHOCK FRONTIER |
Mancuerda Confessions |
CD |
"Founded some time during 2010, Shock Frontier is the brainchild of Psychomanteum’s Robert Kozletski. Born from an increasing interest in harsher industrial sounds, and aided by long time friend Kyle Carney (Defiantly Fading), Mancuerda Confessions is an expertly composed and finely honed collection of shape shifting, nightmarish emissions and radioactive tonalities, drawing inspiration from some of the early death industrial pioneers, but adding an unique, densely layered and atmospheric style. This is a soundtrack to a world that ends not in a cataclysmic, fiery fashion, but one that slowly decays and rots into oblivion, where swathes of ghostly textures, samples, and disembodied noises morph into murky ambient realms, and caustic frequency reverberations pierce through a bleak, post-apocalyptic haze. After 19 years in existence, it’s arguable that a definitive Malignant sound exists, but if it does, Shock Frontier has managed to come awfully close to capturing it with Mancuerda Confessions. A must for fans of Megaptera, Steel Hook Prostheses, Soldnergeist, and the early CMI sound. In 6 panel eco-wallet, designed by Brian Vdp, and mastered by John Stillings/Steel Hook Audio.
Tracklisting: Paroxysm, Angels Upon Iron Horses, Blood Eagle Zealot, The Confessional, Controlled Atmosphere Killing (feat. Staalkracht ), Understanding the Extent Of Our Disintegration, Decrepitude Approaching, Mancuerda, This Is Paradise." [label info]
www.malignantrecords.com
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| SHOEMAKER, MATT |
Spots in the Sun |
CD |
"Dieser Autodidakt in Seattle hat mit seinen dröhnminimalistischen Soundscapes schon Anklang gefunden bei verwandten Seelen wie Francisco López und Bernhard Günter, der auf seinem Label Trente Oiseaux Shoemakers Groundless (2000) und Warung Elusion (2001) herausgebracht hat. Der neue Dröhnscape reizt Hörsinn und Phantasie mit vier Szenen, zu denen man, je nach Wildheit der Imagination, sich Sonnenflecken und Protuberanzen als fernen kosmischen Klangsturm, oder auch einfach ein Fleckchen in der Sonne am Badesee vorstellen mag. Jeweils taucht man ein in grummelnde Tableaus aus Rauschpixeln in vibrierenden Grautönen und schimmernden Monochromien, die in einem Zoomeffekt kulminieren. Als ob das Mikrophon vom Bild angesaugt und verschluckt würde und in den letzten Sekunden akustische Großaufnahmen des Schlunds liefern würde, in dem es verschwindet. Im vierten Teil meine ich bebende Cymbals, Dutzende von Cymbals, als Quelle ausmachen zu können, ein metallisch sirrendes Klangbeben, das im Raum zu schweben scheint, und über das sich dunkle Dröhnwellen hinweg wälzen. Als ob Shoemaker Makro- und Mikroebenen ineinander blenden würde, meint man im Bildgewebe auch die molekularen Reibungen und partikularen Kollisionen wahrnehmen zu können. Letztlich aber verschwinden Katz und Maus im grauen Rauschen. Kennt ihr den? Begegnen sich ein Ästhetizist und ein Anästhesist unter einer Autobahnbrücke..." [Bad Alchemy]
"Matt Shoemaker pulled his chin away from his hand after several ponderous moments, positing that the title to this electrically-charged opus of encrypted drone holds at least two entry points. The most obvious reference for Spots In The Sun would be the astrophysical study of sunspots with all of the allusions to earthly disturbances triggered by events millions of miles away. Yet, on the other hand, Shoemaker also proposed an earthbound reference to regions of the world that only exist -- perhaps literally, perhaps psycho-geographically -- under the intense glare of sunlight. He then shrugged his shoulders, hoping for an ideal situation in which his audience will confront his work as a vacuum and allow personal references to be drawn from within. In simplest terms, Spots In The Sun is a grotesque, sonic landscape with details exaggerated out of proportion and narratives folded upon themselves in a magnificent abstraction of electro-acoustics, rarefied field recordings, and particulate matter plucked from the ether. Shoemaker works in monochrome, shaping his gray tonalities into rhizomes of shadow which occasionally erupt in brilliance of hyper-realized clarity. While the familiar sounds of encircling birds, turbulent weather, and temple bells litter Shoemaker's recordings, the sonic topography describes a vulgar and hostile landscape where fits of delirium and circadian arrhythmia are common human responses. Shoemaker achieves these complex metaphors through labyrinthine drones spiraling through irradiated fog and glassine vibrations, punctured by the scars of a landscape in perpetual revolt. In many ways, Shoemaker's Spots In The Sun could be mistaken for Bernard Parmegiani at his most focused or even John Duncan at his most gracefully brutal." [press release]
"....Shoemaker's music is always present, and perhaps a little more raw than mentioned counterparts, but that's what I like this release. It moves more wildly through various textures from semi-soft to semi-loud in a more continuos manner and thus Shoemaker can be lumped in with some of the drone crowd than say with his microsound counterparts. In the field of drone music his collage techniques may seem odd, but it's surely an original voice. A high quality work, with minor and vital differences." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.helenscarsdale.com
"Have a glance back at our most verbose descriptions about anything from the avant-garde fringes of music making, and you'll most likely find a common metaphor of specific locations, or rather the memories that the author attributes to that space -- good, bad, holy, abject, transcendent, etc. Upon listening to Spots In The Sun, we find ourselves returning to the well-trod linguistic device of comparing sound to the detached memories of place; however, Shoemaker's exploration of psychogeographic sound never grounds itself upon a specific location -- like a crumbling hospital, reclaimed World War II bunkers, or even his own favored locations of the jungles of Indonesia. Rather, Shoemaker drops the listener into a sunbleached environment, where heat, humidity, jetlag, fatigue, and general environmental claustrophobia prevent any of the specifics to make themselves known. While Shoemaker's landscapes are openly hostile toward the listener, these swarming masses of sound are incredibly alluring, drawing us in even though we may know better than to enter these openly toxic spaces. Shoemaker is always teasing us with small hints as to where we might be, with screeching birds, temple bells, and the patter of rain; but before we can begin to triangulate a position, Shoemaker rips us from our locale with a ruptured crescendo and drops us somewhere else. It is through the drone that Shoemaker achieves all of this and more, his swarming monochrome morphs from complex vibrations into radioluminescent clouds. Spots In The Sun is an exquisite manifestation of abstracted field recordings pushed to the point of grotesque minimalism, and is indeed some of the finest that we've heard (comparable to the likes of BJ Nilsen, Machinefabriek, Loren Chasse, Philip Jeck's Surf, and mnortham)." [Aquarius Records] |
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Erosion of the Analogous Eye |
CD |
"As said in the review of the new CD by Jim Haynes there is a small school of drone musicians, mainly from the USA who deliver some of the more darker outing in the scene. There are of course minor differences to be spotted. According to the cover of Schoemaker's new CD 'environmental phenomena' where recorded in Indonesia, Cambodia and USA, but its hard to spot these on the actual music, as he feeds them through a whole bunch of analogue synthesizers, guitar stomp boxes, reverb and such like. Only in the last piece 'The Analogous Eye' bird calls and wind sounds rise out of the mass, but even here things seems electrified. This makes that Schoemaker's music is altogether more 'electronic' in nature than that of Haynes or Irr.App.(ext.) and also a bit more 'louder', industrial perhaps. In his music he depicts empty industrial sites of long sustaining, rusty sounds of rusty object on even more rusty surfaces. The two parts of 'Erosion' are highly minimalist affairs of long sustained sounds. Not to be confused with the current wave of 'cosmic' sound artists, this goes further and deeper. An excellent work, sadly perhaps limited to 300 copies only." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"The studio of Matt Shoemaker is alive with electricity. Impossibly complex wirings channel signal in and out of analog synth modules, an array of curious aluminums boxes with unmarked knobs, slinkies strung from ceiling to floor creating a set of giant spring reverb units, accelerometers attached to consumer electronic errata, and even a few conventional tools like guitar stomp boxes and a bruised computer. For all of the convoluted engineering that goes into Shoemaker's equipment, the resulting mesmerism in sound appears effortless and strangely organic. Shoemaker has enjoyed a semi-obscure career through his polymath activities that bridge such electronic experiments with a choice library of globe-trotted field recordings and a broad knowledge of avant-garde cinema. For Erosion of the Analogous Eye, Shoemaker waves his hands about his laboratory to construct an ever-evolving album for mutant dronemuzik. His electrical seas of synthetic bristling undulate with placid regularity, only to find Shoemaker contorting these brain-melting psychedelics into cancerous, atonal bellows. Out of his allotropic shifts, one can find swells of irradiated static transform into the graceful chime of temple bells; and electrical phase patterns slip into deep forest murmurings dotted with narcoleptic birds calls. On one hand, this album is prescient of the revival for progressive electronics currently underway in the flood of US post-noise projects; it's easy to triangulate this between Emeralds and Heldon. But on the other hand, Erosion of the Analogous Eye is the continuation of where Shoemaker had begun with his early work on Trente Oiseaux with its grotesques exaggerations of field recording into this beguiling piece of art. The artwork on Erosion of the Analogous Eye features unique hand-dyed abstractions mounted onto letterpressed paper. This has warranted a very small pressing of 300 copies." [label info]
www.helenscarsdale.com
"A very prescient, and very good, record by the sound-artist / field recordist Matt Shoemaker, Erosion Of The Analogous Eye pushes his work of tonal exploration and exaggerated found sounds into the neighborhood of many of the post-noise cosmic explorers who have been blossoming in every corner of the US it seems. At the same time, this is very much a Matt Shoemaker record, following a trajectory set forth through his acclaimed work on the once-mighty Trente Oiseaux label.
An ur-drone of analog synthesis opens the album, obviously harkening to '70s kosmische activities certainly a muscular revisitation of Schulze or even an extraction from Richard Pinhas. Such a lazerbeam of a drone has a lysergic sunrise feel to it, with the light and shadow brought into sharp relief, the colors shifted and separating into spectral bursts of yellow, red, pink, and orange. Yet, slowly, Shoemaker introduces atonal drones which clash with that introductory suspension. At first, the metallic slashes have almost an Andrew Chalk and Jonathan Coleclough feel, but Shoemaker quickly dispels those notions with a layer of field recordings of insects ravenously scurrying about. That introductory tone, which still continues through this first track, bends like a divebombing plane with Doppler tones trailing behind, descending in a series of bell tones. All of this in a seamless 17 minutes. A steady rhythm of gamelan bell tones opens the second track with accumulated complimentary drones shimmering and vibrating while harmonic dissonance abounds, collapsing into a quiet stream of percolating textures. Spread across 24 minutes, this track seems ancient and sounds beguilingly beautiful. Bellowing rumbles amplify out of recordings of rain, mud, and water and steadily arching through a metallic rattling of various pipes and gongs for the final track, which eventually gives way to an uneasy set of recordings of birds in a rainforest whose calls echo through the trees.
As with all Helen Scarsdale releases the packaging is stellar. Letterpressed text with hand-dyed paper. Each are different, each are quite special. Oh yeah, limited to a mere 300 copies!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Tropical Amnesia Two & Three |
do-CD |
"In November of 2007 I was part of a group of eleven sound artists who journeyed to Brazil to participate in the Mamori Sound Project, an annual residency/workshop under the direction of Francisco López that convenes in an isolated area of lowland lakes and rainforest, perhaps around 4 hours' journey outside of Manaus, right in the heart of Amazonia.
I had some very limited experience with tropical rainforests from travels in South East Asia, but nothing like the immersion that was central to what Francisco had organized: direct access to a staggeringly diverse bioacoustic environment unmatched anywhere else on Earth.
Over the course of the two weeks we spent at Mamori lake exploring and recording, there was never a pause in the stream of curious animal sounds.
Not even during sleep, as the nighttime would roar to life and pass into dreams. I had come prepared with the equipment that I could afford to bring: a pair of condenser microphones, several homemade contact microphones, and a single hydrophone. With these I was able to capture all of the sounds used to make the three Tropical Amnesia parts.
While assembling the field recordings, I was immediately drawn toward the idea of imagining the rainforest, and the bodies of water contained within, as an unfathomable void of sorts, and something beyond thescope of enduring memory. Reflecting on my own memories from Mamori Lake and the surrounding area, I can of course picture the individual ant or frog, but it is the sheer multitudes and abundance of life that persists in my mind as a consuming, evolving abstract." - Matt Shoemaker - March, 2010
Nine years later after the release of Tropical Amnesia one, Ferns Recordings is proud to be able to discover the rest of this trip with a certain sadness. Ferns Recordings wanted to pay a tribute to Matt Shoemaker by not letting these magnificent recordings remain in oblivion.
All sound recorded November 2007 in/at/around Mamori Lake, Amazonas, Brazil.
Material culled and assembled December 2007/January 2008 in Seattle.
https://mattshoemaker.bandcamp.com/album/tropical-amnesia-two-three
"In 2017, Matt Shoemaker passed away and yet somehow there is still new music from him to
be released, which is a good thing. Ferns already released the first instalment of Tropical Amnesia (not reviewed in these pages), and maybe they had the second and third part from Shoemaker, but not yet the resources to release it earlier. These two discs contain sounds recorded in the Amazon area in Brazil in November 2007 and in December of that year and
January 2008 this has been used to create the two-hour works that span these discs. I couldn't
tell if these works were made out of single events, or perhaps also with the help of loops; I assume there has been sort of layering of sound events in both these pieces. It works in two different ways here. 'Tropical Amnesia Two' is a rather straight forward work, once the ball gets rolling; from there on it stays in a fairly loud and oppressing volume but throughout it changes and moves through what I think is probably the whole range of animal life; insects, frogs, birds. In 'Tropical
Amnesia Three' there is a less straight forward approach and while the piece moves through
the same animal sounds, there is a different build-up, within one point birds leaping out of the choir of cicadas and ending with something that is close by the microphone making a popping
sound, as if Shoemaker was close to the pond in a rowing boat. Towards the end of it all, there
is a sign of human life and perhaps also the best example of this being construction of organized sound, rather than straightforward documentation of an event. This, I thought, was very delicate work, even in all it's considerable presence, volume-wise that is. It reminded me of the movie 'Monos' about the life of guerrilla’s in the Colombian rain forest and which I thought was one of the best movies I saw this year." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| SHRINE & MYTRIP |
Descent |
7inch |
“Descent” is a two-track collaboration between key Bulgarian ambient acts Shrine and Mytrip. Sharing a passion for loud and textural ambient sound, they delved deeper in organic sounds and looping tonal layers, which are intertwined with sparse industrial soundscapes. This brief musical offering successfully showcases both artists’ signature takes on ambient. The heavy-weight sound production, courtesy of Shrine, makes “Descent” a memorable experience, certainly worth owning on a 7” vin
https://amekcollective.bandcamp.com/album/descent |
2022 |
€9.00 |
|
| SIGILLUM S |
Terror Auto-Obstetrics |
maxi-CD |
Re-Issue einer alten 7" von 1990 und zwei Compilation-Tracks anno 1991, re-mastered.
"Released to coincide with the very first USA Sigillum S show in the Italian post-industrial audio project's 20+ year history, this EP pulls together four songs originally released on AWB Recordings: "Terror Auto-Obstetrics" and "Transkathartick Endoscopy" (7-inch, 1990), "Suck Inside Thee Ov Bulb" (Effete compilation cassette, 1988), and "Purulence Peaks, Hairy Knobs, And Death Disturbances" (Private Thoughts compilation cassette, 1991). The tracks were re-mastered by band member Eraldo Bernocchi. Sigillum S's ongoing explorations of forbidden areas of the subconscious yields alien electronic mutations that merge concrete noise research with acoustic transmigration, while visuals and other media achieve maximum interaction intensity." [label info]
http://bloodlust.blogspot.com
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
| SIGMARSSON, SIGTRYGGUR (BERG) |
Into the Second Half |
LP |
Icelandic artist and musician Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson is known not only for his work with Stilluppsteypa but also numerous solo albums and collaborations with Swedish composer BJ Nilsen as well as several other artists. On Into the Second Half, his new solo album, recorded in 2022, Sigmarsson takes the listener into a calming yet mysterious world of sound. Starting from almost silence he creates a different state of listening that we could only find elsewhere when concerned with works of Robert Ashley. Carefully composed textures as subtle as the changes of light in the forbidden zone in Andrei Tarkovsky"s Stalker weave in and out of each other to make for a hypnotic ride. The cover and label photos were taken by Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson. Mastered for vinyl by Jim O"Rourke |
2024 |
€30.00 |
|
| SIGUR ROS |
Ny Batteri |
mCD |
“Following the near unprecedented reception for their debut EP, ‘Svefn-G-Englar’, Iceland’s Sigur Rós deliver an equally extraordinary second record in the shape of ‘Ný Batterí’. As with its sold-out predecessor, ‘Ný Batterí’ comes as a four track EP with three otherwise unavailable new compositions. First track ‘Rafmagnið Búið’ (trans. ‘Electricity Over’) is a remix based around the brass section from ‘Ný Batterí’ (‘New Battery’), which follows (and is taken from the group’s forthcoming debut album, ‘Ágaetis Byrjun’. Third track ‘Bíum Bíum Bambaló’ is a breathtaking rendition of an old Icelandic lullaby, which research reveals has never been recorded before, being handed down instead by oral tradition. The last track is ‘Dánarfregnir Og Jarðarfarir’, which translates as something like ‘Death Announcement and Funerals’. This is based on the Iceland radio service which each day announces to the nation who has died and what their funeral arrangements are. This is “theme” music, as interpreted by Sigur Rós.
The last two tracks have been chosen for the soundtrack of ‘Angels Of The Universe’, a forthcoming movie from Oscar-nominated Icelandic film director Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, which is based on a book by winner of the Karen Blixen prize for literature, Einar Mar Gudmundsson. Following their inclusion on this limited edition EP, both ‘Bíum Bíum Bambaló’ and ‘Dánarfregnir Og Jarðarfarir’ will be available only on the ‘Angels Of The Universe’ soundtrack.” [label info]
www.fat-cat.co.uk |
2006 |
€9.00 |
|
|
Svefn-G-Englar |
mCD |
“Formed in January, 1994, Sigur Rós are an Icelandic four-piece band who, if the startled reactions to the pre-release CDs of this 12” are anything to go by, look set to be huge. Although until now Sigur Rós have remained unreleased outside of their native country, to date they have released 3 albums in Iceland (all on the Smekkleysa label) – ‘Von’, their debut in 1997; a remix of this, ‘Vonbrigð’, a year later; and a month ago, the awesome new ‘Agætis Byrjun’, which has been number 1 in Iceland since, garnering some amazing press reviews.
First spotted playing live at a Gus Gus party in Reykjavik, at which FatCat were Dj-ing, the band forge a stunning brand of beautifully-orchestrated, deeply atmospheric music. Layering a huge, rich and emotional space through a mixture of guitars, keyboard, flute, accordian, bass, drums and vocals, their tracks become extended soundscapes that shift and slide, flowering in massive crescendos, hooking the listener and dragging him /her with them.
If you’re looking for reference points, check God Speed You Black Emperor or Rachel’s (and yes, they are really that good). What marks out a major difference though, is singer Jonsi’s distinctive vocal style. Sung in a mixture of Icelandic and ‘Hopelandish’ (the band’s own made-up language – recalling Liz Fraser’s babytalk in The Cocteau Twins), his voice slips across the music, following its rises and falls.
Just as impressive are the band’s live performances. Two tracks on the CD single bear witness to their power as a live force: ‘Nýja Lagið’ and ‘Syndir Guðs’ (both exclusive to the CD). **PLEASE NOTE THAT CD IS A REPRESS VERSION AND NOT IN THE ORIGINAL SLEEVE” [label info]
|
2006 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
Von |
CD |
"Wieder lieferbar, die erste SIGUR ROS von 1997, damals noch weitaus experimenteller und droniger als heutzutage...in einer hyper-sphärischen, frei fliessenden Art und Weise verbinden sich auf vielen Stücken dunkles Grummeln, field recordings, Instrumentalklänge und z.T. mehrstimmige Elfen-Gesänge zu geräuschhaften Dronescapes...
daneben gibt es Stücke die schon typische Song-Strukturen und klassische SIGUR ROS Harmonien andeuten ... aber vieles klingt noch reichlich anders, rauher, z.T. auch heftiger rockend, mit extremen Studioeffekten & Cut-Ups versehen, wunderschön das folkige Titelstück VON." [Drone Rec.]
"I remember the feeling that enveloped me the first time that I heard Sigur Ros - a copy of Agaetis Byrjun played over the loudspeakers at Vintage Vinyl in Fords, New Jersey (bless 'em) - my knees quivered, my jaw dropped, and I had one of those all too rare musical epiphanies. Subsequently, I worried that once acquainted with their lovely and idiosyncratic music, it would never elicit quite the same genuine and fresh response again. The reissue of the group's elusive debut, Von, on One Little Indian, puts those misgivings to rest. It may be Sigur Ros's debut, but it is as ambitious as albums come.
Yes, Von is a sprawling work - 72 minutes of sprawl - reveling in sonic experiment, diverse in texture, and somewhat ambling in formal design: so what? When layers of choir-boy vocals are added to the group's singing ("Hun Joro"), when feeble, naturalistic sounds are used in questing improvisations ("Sigur Ros"), or when acoustic instruments coalesce with a swath of electronics ("Dogun"), you'll find your jaw on the floor, too, stunned as ever." [Christian Carey / Junkmedia]
www.xl-recordings.com
|
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| SIGURTA, LUCA |
Warm Glow |
CD |
Luca Sigurtà is an electronic composer since the early 2000s and his new album Warm Glow is out on the Polish label Monotype Records: a great stride in his compelling and very personal musical journey. In Warm Glow Luca’s emotional electronic noise has become part of a mix together with slow paced rhythms and analogue synth delicate flows: a sort of very original trip-noise-hop ambient; melodies with a remarkable melancholic feel and beautiful digital/analog sounds shows all the potential of his music.
Shared between the passion for silence and noise, Luca Sigurtà made several releases on labels like Fratto9, Creative Sources, Afe Records, Dokuro, Lisca, Tulip, Karl Schmidt Verlag. Apart from his solo project he’s part of Luminance Ratio and he played with Harshcore.
On stage he uses tapes, analogical sources and electronic stuff of any sort.
|
2015 |
€7.00 |
|
| SIL MUIR (ANDREA MARUTTI / ANDREA FERRARIS) |
same |
CD |
"Diophantine Discs is pleased to announce the release of a new CD...
Sil Muir - Sil Muir.
Italy's Sil Muir presents to us here their first full-length work. It is a beautiful, yet melancholy, hour-long recording carrying us along that sleepless journey from dusk 'til dawn. Powerful and gentle drones shudder and shimmer through these four dense and amazing tracks. Sil Muir is the collaboration between Andrea Marutti (Amon, Never Known, Afe Records) and Andrea "Ics" Ferraris (Ur, Airchamber3, Ulna). Their only previous appearances are a lengthy compilation track on Transf.Order and a collaboration with Horchata on taâlem.
Housed in a custom printed color wallet. Edition of 500 copies." [label info]
http://discs.diophantine.net
"A mighty fine disc of dark drones, ambient and a totally isolated feel." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| SILBERMAN, JARRETT |
Stenographer |
mCD-R |
Our first listening experience with this artist who presents here a one-tracker of about 19 minutes, 4 guitars without any effects, but it sounds not like guitars at all, more like "a deep throbbing rumble from below for 4 guitar players" [label info]. Very minimal, but tiny little details are revealed permanently. In nice black art-paper package with banderole. |
2006 |
€6.50 |
|
| SILENCE & STRENGTH |
Das Haus zur letzten Latern. A Tribute to Gustav Meyrink |
CD |
"Das ganze Sein ist flammend Leid". Exzellenter esoterischer dark ambient mit gewissen folkigen Elementen aus Israel, mit einem Tribut an GUSTAV MEYRINK (Verfasser von DER GOLEM und DER ENGEL VOM WESTLICHEN FENSTER). Dreizehn Stücke mit hinunterziehender Sog-Wirkung, unheimlich & entrückt. Grundlage bilden Synth-Drones & flächige Gitarren, aber auch diverse Instrumente kommen gekonnt zum Einsatz. Vokales Material erscheint als rückwärtiges Geflüster & Gewisper, subtile Ethno-Perkussion taucht auf, und irritierende Geräuscheffekte verbreiten eine klaustrophobische Stimmung. Dazu kommen v.a. zum Ende hin einige Überraschungen,
z.B. ekstatische Klezmer Folk Stück mit Gesang... die gespenstische Atmosphäre der Bücher wurde hier hervorragend herausgearbeitet, das ganze sehr professionell produziert, kein Klang sitzt hier an der falschen Stelle.. für dark ambient & Soundtrack-Hörer ein echte Entdeckung !! Kommt wie immer bei HORUS aufwendig verpackt, im Kunstpapier-A5 Umschlag & mit 2 Booklets !
"Silence & Strength is a project created by a talented Israeli musician Stephan Friedman. Interfusing noise, drone, glitch and experimental dark ambient he creates soundscapes in a highly structured and ritualistic way. Secret musical spaces of Silence & Strength will enchant those who feel that there is too little sounds around them and who want to know them all.
Silence & Strength joined HORUS CyclicDaemon in 2004 on "100th Anniversary of Liber AL" compilation with the track "Secret Name". Since then Stephan has been working on a special album to be published at HORUS CyclicDaemon. The album will be a tribute to the works of an extraordinary writer Gustav Meyrink.
Gustav Meyrink has long attracted readers for his masterful stories, examining the supernatural, the macabre, the spiritual, and the occult. With complex and ambitious novels, such as "The Golem", "The Green Face", "The Angel of the West Window", and "The White Dominican" Meyrink intertwines past and present, dreams and visions, myth and reality in a world of the occult, culminating in the transmutation of physical reality into a higher spiritual existence." [label info]
"The sound is great and it is composed by hundreds of different layers
that keep the listener's attention always awake. With a crisp production this album is a great "movie for your ears"..." [Chain DLK]
www.horus.cz
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
| SILVERMAN |
State of Union |
CD |
Wiederveröffentlichung der CDR die 2001 auf dem LPD eigenen "Terminal Kaleidoscope"-Label erschien, jetzt mit 21minütigen Bonus-Track, in der schönen "Black Series" von Beta-Lactam.
"The Silverman is one of the two remaining founding fathers of The Legendary Pink Dots and this release serves partly as a sketch book of ideas and stuff he did on a solo tour with the addition of a new 20 minute bonus track. The music by The Silverman only has a far away resemblance of the Legendary Pink Dots, like just one layer is distilled and used as the backbone of an entire new world. It could be described by that dreaded term ambient, but it doesn't justify it. The sounds inside this release are at times far too alien to be filled under ambient. It moves along many different territories, ambient, cosmic, but it takes out the best elements and it is presented in a rather own way. Music that is like a disturbing dream, not a nightmare but a surrealistic dream." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Time on thin Ice |
CD |
"Packaged in a full color gatefold sleeve. Featuring guest performer Edward Ka-Spel (Legendary Pink Dots). The man of silver is a master of negative space. His silences say as much as his notes. Perhaps this is how he can compose a thing that sounds like glaciers conversing. Ringing ubertones breathe sighs of bas-relief at the borealis. The Silveman's sounds are quiet and delicious, like a Rainbow Generator sinking slowly into a rusted hull. These ambiences destroy fascists. Dark and twisting pulses hollowly respirate, imitating their dying. This is the good stuff. With Silverman, the only motoriked thing to fear is atmosphere itself.Thanks to Alena Boykova for melodica on 1, to Edward Ka-Spel for percussion and tapes on 1 and for voice and lyrics on 2 & 3. Thanks also to Raymond Steeg for cd mastering, to Astrid "Snoepsnail" for cover photography, and to Chris McBeth for cover layout." [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
"...Sometimes I tend to think of Silverman releases as blue prints for future Pink Dots releases, but I guess that's not true, as they stand very much by their own. The four long pieces here show a side to The Silverman which we hardly see in the work he does with the Pink Dots. Spacey, atmospheric music, build from synthesizers. That made me think about something: when do we classify something as drone music and when is something cosmic music? With the current interest in the latter, I think The Silverman could the master of the scene. Should be. His love of analogue synthesizers, textured sounds and slow arpeggio's, along with sparse percussion make up some excellent cosmic trip, which also finds its roots in drone music (say Eliane Radigue) and modern electronics. Now why isn't this guy on a hip young label playing is electronic spacey music? If ever I would find out… Here The Silverman gets vocal contributions on two pieces, but the best is 'Ocean Calling', which is all by himself: a meditative piece of music, reflecting tidal waves, slowly moving back and forward. Four excellent pieces of the greatest mood music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Finisterre |
CD-R |
"Despite the ominous warnings on the radio, a lonely boat sails away from a lonelier island with the good captain Silverman at the helm. Aliens here to study mankind had taken control of the airwaves; spread confusion with fake weather reports; induced brainwashing with warped forms of Celtic music; inserted subliminal mantras like "Better Warped Than Corrupted" into all political and financial broadcasting; as well as openly plotting revolution - or was that resolution? or evolution? or perhaps pollution? But this was of no concern for Silverman as he changed course by the north star,heading out towards Andromeda." [LPD newsletter spring 2013]
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| SINKE DUS |
Akrasia |
CD |
"Akrasia is an old question dealing with the weakness of the will. To behave "akratically" is when one acts against his better judgement, committing acts that are known to be wrong but yet still going through with the motion. Markus Lonebrink wanted to explore not so much the philosophical issues at hand, but rather the subjective experience of akrasia itself. To learn of the underlying motives of when one acts akratically. Certain events in the akratic process felt natural to him and it was those he tried to integrate into these soundscapes. There are no conclusions described in the music, but there might be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel and perhaps the shadow of a hint of why we humans sometimes act as irrationally as we do. A shared quest to gain better knowledge of oneself through this self-revisionistic ambient journey filled with ethereally lush passages that give way to a truly visionary and immersive experience. The album also features a special collaboration with Par Bostrom of KAMMARHEIT. In fold out gatefold cardboard sleeve. 7 Tracks. Running Time: 45:50." [label info]
www.cycliclaw.com
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
| SINN/RD |
One-legged tap Dancer |
12inch |
" 'One-legged tap dancer' by Sinn/rd is a four tracks ep available on vinyl and as a digital download. Release date : 20th April 2013. Track listing : 1. Scar 2. The Rhythmace 3. Pem-x 4. The Fuzzin'E. Total length : 25:31.With contributions from Stéphane Babey (Les Poissons Autistes) and Jon Attwood (Yellow6)." [label info]
www.deadvox.com
|
2013 |
€12.50 |
|
| SION ORGON |
Into the Dark |
7inch |
"Representing the second entry in the new Fourth Dimension Singles Club (see details below – only a few subscriptions still available!), this is the latest release from the Welsh weaver of molten electronic sounds, avant-garde sensibilities and, indeed, even versatile pop/rock where surprises are the order of the day. The two pieces here are the first from Thighpaulsandra/Coil affiliate, Orgon, for a few years. The flipside song, ‘Paper State’, features the late Sleazy, Thighpaulsandra himself and Seb Goldfinch. Strictly limited to 250. Released in November 2012." [label info]
www.fourth-dimension.net
"The second release in the 'Singles Club', following Richard Youngs/Luke Fowler (see Vital Weekly 837), is by one Sion Orgon, who is somehow connected to Thighpaulsandra, Coil and thus it's hardly a surprise we find Peter Christopherson present on both sides of this record, and Thighpaulsandra and Seb Goldfinch on one side. For me an introduction. A pleasant one, if not too brief, but that's life with 7"s I guess. Sion Orgon plays electronic music, atmospheric and moody. I think the etching on the record is not correct, as there are no labels. In the title piece we find a bunch of moody, airy electronics and a strong vocal delivery as starting points, taking it into more noise bits and drums, effectively creating this is into a nice Coil-like piece. 'Paper State' on the other side is also atmospheric, but more 'out there' indeed in which a melancholic piano plays a big role, drifting and flowing about, with eerie electronics backing the whole thing up. It's excellent modern pop classic - perhaps. Here time will tell." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
Dust |
LP |
Limited edition 12' Vinyl.
Sion Orgon's 5th album featuring Thighpaulsandra, Richard Johnson, Claudio Gian and many other guests.
or a number of years now, Sion Orgon has been crafting music that fuses abstract electronic mulch with the kind of bright melodies one would expect from a shiny pop group. Using avant-garde sensibilities and a vision partly shaped by his affiliation with both Thighpaulsandra and Coil, the Welsh producer/musician has never been afraid to push these into areas most artists of a similar disposition would never be bold enough to touch. At once catchy, psychedelic, filmic and disturbed, Sion Orgon's work has a very distinctive feel to it that only arrives from a craftsman firmly locked on to his own path. 'Dust' is the very latest collection of work, comprising six new tracks featuring Thighpaulsandra (Coil, Spiritualised, Julian Cope) on half of them and a number of other guests, including Claudio Gian, Lara Ward and Richard Johnson (Splintered, Theme). Somewhere amongst the many convoluted folds of often weird 'n' wonderful sounds are texts spoken by a number of random Finnish and Latvian people, further enhancing the multi-dimensional stealth attack of any one of the songs presented here. Like, again, his regular collaborator Thighpaulsandra's work, Sion's is enmeshed in rich layers and tangents so disparate they'd never make sense in anybody else's hands, and despite the countless such claims put forward by those essentially creating music permanently stuck in first gear this truly is aimed at those who demand far more from their listening experience. Limited to 300.
https://sionorgon.bandcamp.com/album/dust
"Welsh man Sion Orgon was always somewhere on the wider boarder of my radar due his regular involvement with Thighpaulsandra and also occasionality with Peter Christopherson of Coil. Supporting his artist career as Sound Designer, Studio Technician and Music Producer for Film, Theatre and Animation this is actually his 5th solo album.
"Dust" was first published as limited Vinyl LP (300 copies only) via Lumberton Trading Co. last Autumn and is now also available as CD with identical tracklisting.
Honestly I didn't expect him to be such an stylistic versatile musician - within these 6 tracks he moves seamlessly from noisy indie rock, abstract ambient to and back, with a grand finale of heartfelt and moving psychedelic rock.
Starting with "Spat Out Of Dust", co-written and featuring Richard Johnson of Splintered he immediately catches your attention with a relentless beat and guitar pushing forward the cynic vocals until it fades organically into an open structure. After this track which reminds me positively of current Ministry "Ornament Centipode" is a dramatic soundtrack-ish piece, musique concrete with an experimental and psychedelic edge. Besides it's also one of the three tracks featuring Thighpaulsandra on modular synthesizers.
Followed by "Head Bomb" the setted mood continues at first but steadily gains intensity until a psychotic rage can be imagined which is lived out to the fullest. Supported only by Claudio Gian on Bass and Chey Davis on Percussion & field recordings Sion Orgon leaves no nerves untouched here.
'Who Do You Think You Are?' (co-written by Thighpaulsandra) gets back into indie-rock post punk mood with dramatic interferences, a switch suddenly into melodic progressive metal excursions and backwards into field recordings filled post punk deserts.
"Disintegration" is the straightest alternative rock song imaginable here, paired with a hip-hop beat and surprising merciless vocals. This one leaves me puzzled, an outburst of energy to be resolved only through the final epic "The Mouth That Has No Face" which is an astonishing homage to early psychedelic rock, light-hearted, playful and even with a catchy melodic refrain before it slowly fades into field recordings which leave you at peace with the world.
While this release basically lasts only 6 tracks in barely 40 Minutes it really kicks ass, ashes and dust at once." [CHAIN D.L.K.]
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| SISTER IODINE |
Venom |
do-LP |
"Sister Iodine’s Venom is a pure and raw, energy-powered album performed like an audio exorcism. Each track contains its own intense physicality to radiate sound illuminations of light inside of darkness. Venom is a powerful album of potent spells that Sister Iodine have conjured and captured as sonic shamans.” Cameron Jamie. Paris, France. January 2018.#French noise scene spearheads, Sister Iodine, return with their sixth album; “Venom”. Active since the Nineties, Sister Iodine which involve Erik Minkkinen, Lionel Fernandez, and Nicolas Mazet, have not lost one milligram of their radical and uncompromised approach in sound exploration and limits stretching. Following two studio albums on Parisian Label, Premier Sang, released in 2009 and 2013 respectively, it took almost 5 years to shape up “Venom”. #It is with the advent of the 21st century – more than ever – that the decisive path of Sister Iodine has taken a fascinating route. From their debut album, ADN115, released in 1994 which was strongly influenced by the original New York No Wave scene (Mars, DNA, Red Transistor) to their more recent works which are augmented by “newer poisons” such as black metal, or the most abrasive end of industrial music and power electronics, as well as experimental electronics (Editions Mego has reissued an extended version of Premier Sang’s “Flame Desastre” on CD), the band has managed to survive through the years from the inhospitable French squats of the nineties to nowadays’ established venues and proper tours. Today, the band’s music has changed recipients and has attracted younger generations with their organized radioactive chaos, never conceding anything from their initial intensity. Over the years, Sister Iodine will have also created their own idiosyncratic language, for which sound exploration matters and pure beauty seem to count as much as pure explosive ferocity, while intense violence and energy gets deployed in live shows. #The last few years witnessed an increasing number of collaborations such as the recent sessions with Meyhna’ch (Mütiilation) or the ones with Masaya Nakahara (Violent Onsen Geisha / Hair Stylistics). “Venom” includes two tracks featuring the vocal contribution of Stephen Bessac, the deviant frontman of the cult French hardcore band Kickback. #Sister Iodine produces today a music that is actually unique and unheard anywhere else. One of eternal youth and audacity."
|
2018 |
€32.00 |
|
| SITAAR-TAH! |
Semimimimimin |
CD |
Ungewöhnliche Ethno-Sounds auf ARCHIVE, dem Label aus New Jersey. SITAAR-TAH! ist ein asiatisches 22köpfiges "Orchester" welches mit Sitar-, Tabla- und rauhen Obertongesangklängen in den Hyper-Trance & Ekstasen-Raum vorstösst...
"Orchestra that provided the amazing musical backdrop for Keiji Haino on the double disc archive release Animamima. The 22 piece unit is back with this swarm of locus gem of a release. Graphic and design work on the release by Stephen O’Malley features an outer cover that is a four color silkscreen, beautifully executed by Alan Sherry of Siwa records. Inside is a gorgeous photographic collage. Pressing of 700 copies." [label info]
"...a single 43 minute ascension this time featuring featuring a khoomei/Tuvan throat singer, and hoo boy, it does not disappoint. The group's sound swells gently to locust-swarm proportions, all the while featuring pulsating percussion and recurring raga-esque motifs while holding down more of a modern groove. Despite the sheer magnitude of the group and its sound, the piece never really gets aggressive; rather, its insistence continually rises, ebbs, and spirals upward to a liftoff which begins about two-thirds into the piece, when the throat singing begins and slowly but surely pushes things both upward AND forward." [Downtownmusicgallery]
www.archivecd.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| SIYANIE |
Mystery of Life |
CD |
The third full-length album by the project of Sergey Ilchuk (ex-Vresnit, ex-Vetvei) and Dmitriy Shilov (Neznamo, Peal Grim, Magickal Things) has gathered materials recorded at three live gigs in 2012-2013 and completed in the studio in 2012-2015. This album is for lovers of live textured ambient. Almost 80 minutes of powerful yet tender sound submerging the listener into bright dreaming and at the same time awakening crystal clarity within. An experience of the mystery of life expressed in artistic form. The call, the revelation, the transformation, living through your own self. These canvases are woven from a manifold of acoustic and electronic threads: droning and vibrating guitars, flutes, voices, a sitar, electronic sequences, field recordings and found sounds - all this is interlaced into multidimensional structures, the depths of which can be endlessly explored with every new listening. The CD is packed in a matte 6-panel digisleeve with artwork by Sergey Ilchuk. Sound mastering performed by Sergey Bulychov (Kshatriy). The edition is limited to 300 copies. Digital copy can be purchased at bandcamp... Special collector edition - 24 copies in envelopes with 17 cards of A5 size printed on silver cardboard featuring reproductions of Sergey Ilchuk's artwork made in 2012-2016 - available for ordering directly from the author by e-mail: siyanie.art@gmail.com.
http://zhb.radionoise.ru/
|
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| SIZZLE |
Muermotivo |
CD-R |
SIZZLE is a french electronic industrial / experimental project from France, one member is LE K who is also the man behind the label FACTHEDRAL’S HALL. This is rhythm-based & vital break-beat / breakcore / sometimes minimal influenced stuff, which has a dark & hypnotic atmosphere and often develops into more droney fields, sometimes it goes into quite bizarre areas..... suspensefully and straightly created, this is a versatile and interesting release. To discover.
« On se rappelle Sizzle, l'un des projets de M.Reina, alias Le K., manager du label Facthedral's Hall, comme un territoire bouillonnant, où les drones en mouvements n'en finissaient pas de régurgiter d'épais fantômes mélodiques, issues de gestes ambiants souvent éprouvés. Aujourd'hui, si la texture est toujours visitée, il s'agit d'une contrepartie rythmique, aussi sèche que les premiers CDR's étaient arrosés, mais également vivante. Au long des morceaux, plusieurs modèles rythmiques sont convoqués, depuis certaines conventions éléctro-industrielles élégantes, récemment héritées de musiciens comme Delta Files, ou Orphx, jusqu'à des éffondrements en écho, ou plus loin des claudications éclairées par des harmoniques ondulants. Grain, ponçage, caisse claire franche, crécelle saturées, beats vissés, autant de matières dures visitées par Sizzle, discrètement augmentées de sons périphériques malléables, festons discrets. » [Fear Drop]
|
2004 |
€5.00 |
|
| SKALPELL |
Nothing important to tell so far |
CD |
audiophob is proud to welcome a new project at the label. The name Skalpell might ring a bell to some of you, as the swiss duo has been active since 1995. During this time they have published excellent releases on labels like Deafborn and in the Dark Ambient Series of Art Konkret. \"Nothing Important To Tell So Far\" is the first album in five years and it\'s been worth the wait! Skalpell offer 76 minutes of ambient that is not shy to show influences from both noise and tribal-ritual.
Even though the opener \"Left Handed Sentinel\" seems somewhat restrained, \"An Inkling Of Things To Come\" shows finally what the album is all about. During the middle part, \"Ebola 3\" continues a series that started with the first two parts on the 1997 tape \"Surgical Compulsion\". This track is also one of the more noise influenced pieces of the album. The last track \"Rupture\" starts similarly noisy, but soon turns into hypnotic rhythms that end the journey through the world of Skalpell. (auphcd014)
https://audiophob.bandcamp.com/album/nothing-important-to-tell-so-far
|
2010 |
€7.00 |
|
| SKARE |
Solstice City |
CD |
Fünfte Veröffentlichung auf dem Label welches sich den "eisigen Landschaften" verschrieben hat. SKARE ist ein schwedisches Trio mit MATHIAS JOSEFSON (besser bekannt als MOLJEBKA PVLSE), die ihre Dronescapes unter dem Gesichtspunkt des Kreislaufs der Aggregatzustände von Wasser (zu Gas & Eis & Schnee) erstellt haben. Dementsprechende field recordings werden verarbeitet, leichter Instrumenteneinsatz (Piano) sticht hervor, aber auch der Schnittpunkt von Natur & Stadtleben gerät in den Fokus... die narrative Komponente wirkt sich aber nie störend auf die "deep drones" aus, sondern wurde geschickt verwebt... für Fans von THOMAS KÖNER, TOY BIZARRE, MICHAEL NORTHAM, etc..
"Skare is the collaboration of Mathias Josefson (Moljebka Pvlse), Fredrik Olofsson and Per Åhlund. The members of Skare are all fascinated by the circulation of water, snow and ice. The metamorphosis from gas to floating liquid to snow to solid ice through freezing, the light reflecting from the snow and filtered through the ice as a prisma and - most of all - the sound of this ever ongoing circle.
Skare's first album, Solstice City, is an interpretation of a journey through a shifting landscape where the city meets nature. Departing from a distant and foreign shore, the traveller embarks a ship, uncertain of his destination. This prelude, introduced vividly in "To the other shore", releases this pilgrim to further explore yet unchartered territories. Leaving all man-made conventions, the second track "Through Wind and Broken Ice" takes us where the city imitates nature. Finally, a factory appears in the whiteout; a place where angels are manufactured as presented in the final track "The Snow Angel Factory"...The vehicles used by Skare on this journey are field recordings, found sounds and treated and manipulated instruments." [label info]
www.glacialmovements.com
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Grader |
CD-R |
"Skare is the combined artistic forces of Mathias Josefson (Moljebka Pvlse) and Per Åhlund (Diskrepant). Both situated in the Stockholm area and known from their perfomances across Europe as well as abroad.
Grader contains two recordings from live appereances the years before their debut Solstice City was released on Glacial Movements Records (2009). A minimalistic and dreamy experience of both analog and digital elements, a drift into contemplation. As the name Skare tells, we find ourselves in a wintery landscape with only us and the beauty of the cold. This is creative experimentalism from Sweden's finest, an interlude before their second album arrives.
Professionally made CDr in a limited edition of 100 copies in 6 panel digipack." [label info]
www.reverse-alignment.se
|
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| SKELETON BIRDS AND THE NUMBER OF GOD |
These dark Roots of Heaven |
LP |
"Nick Mott with Ben Jones and Sarah Sullivan from Jazzfinger. An atmospheric recording captured in a cave in Cornwall with later manipulation and overdubs by Nick Mott. Also featuring weird demonic voices courtesy of 5 year old Gabriel Mott. Disintegrating tape loops, home made pipes, distorted violins and guitars, cheap keyboards, percussion, water and rocks. Influenced by Nick and Bens shared appreciation of Avant Garde Black Metal and Occult Noise this album is however loose, free and almost fragile in its incorporation of found and sampled sounds. Discordant and disjointed in places, yet occasionally an almosy tribal melody is allowed to evolve before being plunged into a brass sample or sonic blender..mysterious and intense. 180 gram vinyl. Limited to 250 copies." [label info]
www.altvinyl.com
|
2010 |
€18.50 |
|
| SKIN AREA |
Rothko Field |
CD |
"3rd full length release from this acclaimed Martin Bladh (IRM) project(in conjunction with Magnus Lindh), following 2002's New Skin
CD and 2006's double CD Journal Noir/Lithium Path, both on Cold Meat Industry.
Like previous works, Rothko Field is a visceral auditory experience...mind bending and turbulent sonic explorations that are grainy, abstract, and tense, where uneasy frequencies intersect with caustic drones, insectile buzz, swelling drifts, and slow motion, percussion driven sludgery. Further comparison reveals Rothko Field to be less schizophrenic, less challenging, and more structured than in the past, coming off as both spacious and yet suffocatingly claustrophobic, suggestive of a spiral downwards into mental decay and
degradation, and further enhanced by Martin's uniquely distressed and provocative vocalizations. 9 tracks total, broken into two "mirrored parts", with track 5, "Void"acting as the actual mirror itself. In digipak, with full color 24page booklet." [label info]
www.malignantrecords.com
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| SKITLIV |
Bloodletting |
pic-10inch |
"Limited edition 10" Picture disc from SKITLIV, the project of former MAYHEM front man MANIAC.
With a line up that includes SHINING’s NIKLAS KVARFORTH, SKITLIV is a disturbed, and disturbing, blackened doom journey through the mind of this legendary Black Metal vocalist who was one of the original exponents of the genre, and is one of its most recognisable figures.
This picture disc is made extra special not only by the inclusion of “Who Will Deliver Us From Gold and Planets” by CURRENT 93 - an introductory collage destruct that was created at the request of Maniac and is dedicated to him, but also because the artwork that is used for the side containing this track is part of one of Tibet’s own paintings.
Ltd x 777 copies. No repress.
Track Listing:
A1. Current 93 - 'Who Will Deliver us From Gold & Planets?'
A2. Slow Pain Coming (Cold Spring Mix)
B1. A Valley Below (Demo Version)" [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
| SKODVIN, ERIK K |
Flame |
CD |
"Erik K Skodvin (Deaf Center, Svarte Greiner) finalizes his nocturnal Americana-inspired pair of albums with Flame, the follow up to 2010 ´s Flare.
The embers of Flare smolder patiently, searching to ignite the live branch that will grow into Flame. Within minutes, everything in your surroundings changes, everything you thought it would be, it is not. Building on Skodvins past palette of sound with a quiet intensity, the album moves you further along film-noir backyards and oceanside pathways. On occasion, reverberating synths and rolling percussive moments open up the melancholic drift of the otherwise fairly dusty sounding record. Whereas Flare transformed Skodvins earlier projects, its 2014 companion sustains the newfound life into quietly psychedelic forms.
Erik K Skodvin is a master of enveloping the listener into a world that is both monumental and suspenseful. Flame does so by subtly patching together musical influences from all over the map, centered around a heap of instrumentation. He is also aided by Anne Müller and Mika Posen on strings and Gareth Davis on clarinet. While his Svarte Greiner albums might dwell on minimal atmospheric darkness, Flame is awash in its own destructive concept of light." [label info]
www.sonicpieces.com
|
2014 |
€21.00 |
|
| SKOZEY FETISCH |
Spectral freight |
CD |
16 tracks mit weirdo Collagen-Experimenten wurden hier verewigt von einem schon seit grauen Vorzeiten aktivem Noise-Explorer, in wahrhaft abseitige Soundgebiete (meist auf Analog-Sounds basierend) wird man hier entführt, sehr bizarr und eigen und etwas verstörend und leider nicht hinreichend gut mit verbaler Sprache beschreibbar...another mind-trip for your space-mind.
„His first major release in over ten years, skozey fetisch's "spectral freight" utilizes a wide array of sound sources (analog synth, radio interference, feedback, deconstructed computer test tones, field recordings, even a reworked acapella performance) to create this recording. An interesting aspect of "spectral freight" is the diversity of sounds actually created from the same source--skozey (Mark C. Jackman) favors analog synth for more than half the tracks on the disc, with a handful actually being reworkings and processing of other tracks on the disc. Isolated, these tracks explore the vast possibilities of the instrument: intense yet subtle drones, sharp, brittle attacks of noise, whimsical snippets of electronic chaos, pulsating battles between frequencies. However, all tracks are equally at home on the disc; whether it's a field recording of a subway trip in Japan that blossoms into an electronic wash of sound before reaching its destination, or treated computer tones that make you feel like mechanical ferrets are playing tag in your inner ear, "spectral freight" is a cohesive and diverse display Jackman's talent, and a welcome release after a long silence.” [label description] |
2002 |
€12.00 |
|
| SKULL DEFEKTS |
The Drone Drug |
LP |
Endlich sprichts mal jemand aus: DRONES haben Drogenwirkung! Die schwedische Band SKULL DEFEKTS ist eigentlich nicht unbedingt für lupenreine Drone-Musik bekannt, aber hier sind sie ganz auf der "Analog Synth Drone"-Schiene, sehr trocken, sehr vibrierend und kratzend und knarzend, mit inhärenten wellen- und vibratohaften Bewegungen, keine endlosen hallenden Räume sondern spürbare Reibung und Vibration sind das Thema...
"In their own words, Sweden's Skull Defekts are "all about rhythm, repetition, and all energies in sound." The concept manifests itself in two distinctly different forms. On 2007's Blood Spirits and Drums Are Singing, the band showcased their more "rock"-based sound described by Julian Cope as an amalgamation of Chairs Missing-period Wire, Audionom, and '70s German proto-metallers Tiger B. Smith. However, the DFX, as they're sometimes known, also have an alter-ego under which their sound becomes a harsh wall of droning noise and psychedelic industrial bowel churn. It is that persona that is embodied on The Drone Drug.
Drone is often associated with music that is essentially ambient in nature. While The Skull Defekts do create an ambient aura, The Drone Drug has more in common with the terrifying atmospheres created by noisier cohorts like Prurient then the minimalism of Tomas Koner. The sound is grim, black, and abrasive; mechanical, filthy, and unnerving. This limited-edition LP is the first of two by the DFX to be released by Actual Noise, with the second, Skull, coming in the near future.
A recent appearance at No Fun Fest, an Eastern US tour in October, an upcoming split with Prurient, and a new release on Important Records, all make 2008 a very productive and successful year for The Skull Defekts." [label info]
" NOW ON VINYL!! Limited to 500 silkscreened copies. With a coupon for free digital download of the album, with an extra track, one we're pretty sure was included on the prior cd version of this on Release The Bats, which we reviewed thusly: Holy drone!! This is not at all what we expected from these guys, but then, most Skull Defekts records tend to confuse or confound. Which is pretty much why we love them so. And who are we to turn up our noses art a sonic surprise, especially when that surprise is DRONES. Big thick buzzy snarling crumbling blown out low end buzzing writhing brain melting, ear drum crushing, rib cage rattling, speaker destroying drones. Skull Defekts are no stranger to the drone, and the fact that they called this record Drone Drug, should have been a clue, but the band, who in the past have been heavily rhythmic, have discarded pretty much everything except for the drone. No beats, no riffs, no recognizable instruments, nothing but deep dark drones. This is a seriously heavy record. Dense and brutal, four extended tracks, each an exercise in tension, long form extended tones, but within these, stretched out sounds, much like dronelord Phill Niblock, the various layers are surprisingly active, throbbing and pulsing, and twisting and slithering and buzzing and whirring and shimmering, the sounds rough and raw, bits crumbling and emitting grit, slipping into fuzzy drift and then slipping back into a solid endless throb. The power of the drone is divine, and when harnessed, like this, with volume, and texture, and timbre, the music is a physical presence. Headphones come to life and encase your head in an organic black cocoon of sound, speakers unfurl thick flows of sonic tar, laying supine, eyes closed, you're soon buried alive, beneath layers and layers of resonant rumbling sound. And it is divine.This is powerful, earth shifting, massive minimal music. Not sure if these sounds come from synths or guitars, electronics or sine wave generators, malfunctioning effects pedals or a microphone lowered into the center of the Earth (we're leaning toward the latter), the result is something so primal and organic, so primeval and timeless, the act of listening seems to alter the listener's molecular structure, transporting the listener to an alternate universe, made entirely of sound, where our bodies are transformed into sound waves, our souls escape their mortal shackles and reveal themselves to be pure, deep drones. So awesome." [Aquarius Records review]
www.actualnoise.net
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Blood Spirits and Drums are singing |
CD |
"Blood Spirits & Drums Are Singing is The Skull Defekts first record recorded in a professional studio. It is also their first one for the avant rock sound, previous releases included heavy sound experimenting, doom variations and electronic noise stuff. It is all about the rhythm. The circle, repetition. The sound. The noise. Sweat. Funk. Sex. The Skull Defekts sound is a beast going for your brain, feet and the place in between. Beware. The Skull Defekts was formed by Henrik Rylander and Joachim Nordwall in early 2005 when Nordwall's band Kid Commando decided to end their eight-year carreer as knights of the sweatiest avant rock existing. Rylander had been experimenting with feedback for a few years after the death of the infamous Swedish garage rock outfit Union Carbide Productions where he was the pulse, rhythm and founding member. Quickly they teamed up with legend Jean-Louis Huhta who's been a key character in the Swedish underground music scene since the mid 80's, and the quartet was complete when Daniel Fagerström joined after Eric Olofsson left the band after the recording of Blood Spirits & Drums Are Singing. Inspired by bands like Section 25, Lungfish, PiL, 23 Skiddoo, Arthur Russel, Cabaret Voltaire, A Certain Ratio, Brain Bombs, dub, noise, funk, and tribal ritual drumming ' The Skull Defekts are kings of their own sound. And my god. The sound." [label info]
www.conspiracyrecords.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| SKULLFLOWER |
Kino I: Birthdeath |
CD |
"Finally available, after almost two years of driving Dirter & Shock to the brink of insanity -- a massive 4CD retrospective of Skullflower's early works from 1986-1990, featuring all the material previously released on Broken Flag, Shock, Majora and Forced Exposure, plus around two hours of previously-unheard music -- 14 tracks spread across the series. And this is not "out-take" dross used to fill up CDs, this is essential early Skullflower providing further insight into their uniquely twisted musical world. All material has been digitally mastered by Richard Whittaker at FX, and each CD comes in a deluxe gatefold card cover and inner sleeve with newly-unearthed artwork by Matthew. Booklets feature extensive notes and previously-unseen flyers, posters and photos.
Comprises the remastered first 12" EP, available in its entirety for the first time since 1987, plus six previously-unreleased, unheard and undreamed-of tracks. This series of CDs are a co-production between the original Shock label and Dirter." [label info]
www.dirter.co.uk
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Kino II: Form Destroyer |
CD |
"The remastered first album by Skullflower, originally released on Broken Flag in 1989 -- the best it has ever sounded. Includes two "bonus" tracks from Shock's long out-of-print RUINS and two previously-unheard pieces. A truly monstrous disc of heavy, fucked up music.
Finally available, after almost two years of driving Dirter & Shock to the brink of insanity -- a massive 4CD retrospective of Skullflower's early works from 1986-1990, featuring all the material previously released on Broken Flag, Shock, Majora and Forced Exposure, plus around two hours of previously-unheard music -- 14 tracks spread across the series. And this is not "out-take" dross used to fill up CDs, this is essential early Skullflower providing further insight into their uniquely twisted musical world. All material has been digitally mastered by Richard Whittaker at FX, and each CD comes in a deluxe gatefold card cover and inner sleeve with newly-unearthed artwork by Matthew. Booklets feature extensive notes and previously-unseen flyers, posters and photos." [label info]
www.dirter.co.uk
|
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| SKULLFLOWER / MASTERY |
split |
LP |
"SKULLFLOWER presents a trinity of sombre meditations evoking Europe after the rain, drowned ruins, sunken dreams: spiders run across harpsichords in deserted schlosses and chateaus, doors slam and phantom demon choirs are summoned at seances by Blatavskian crones, whose impenetrable china blue dolls eyes open onto Tibetan vistas, terrible, ancient and remote…
MASTERY is improvised one man cosm(ag)ick from Ephemeral Domignostika. Total berzerker black metal, rooted in the tradition of true grim blackness, but filtered through Mastery’s cracked perception, transforming this into something beyond true; a droned out and damaged, outsider blackness, that sounds pretty much unlike almost any other black metal.
Ltd x 500 copies.
Standard edition: 400 copies on purple vinyl.
Special edition: 100 hand-numbered copies on green vinyl through Cold Spring mailorder only!" [label info]
" 'We offer an invocation to, and an evocation of the hidden, averse, heathen power that seethe within our native soil. Come leave your timid gelded civilised masks, bow down and rise up, reborn, within our whirlwind', schreibt SKULLFLOWER-Mastermind MATTHEW BOWER unter der Überschrift „Skullflower: What we are ...“ in seinem Blog und vermittelt so eine Ahnung des – ich nenn' es mal – ganzheitlichen Aufforderungscharakters, den er mit der Musik seiner, 1987 gegründeten und 1988 mit der 12'' Skullflower-Birthdeath/release/142281">"Birthdeath" auf BROKEN FLAG debütierenden Band verbindet. Kurzum, der Mann hat Sendungsbewusstsein, und das nicht ohne Grund.
Bis zum, durch interne Streitigkeiten zwischen den Mitgliedern verursachten Bruch im Jahre 1996 handelte es sich bei SKULLFLOWER, ungeachtet ihrer Einbindung in die klassische englische Industrial-Szene der frühen 80er Jahre, um eine Band im engeren und bei ihrer Musik um Noise Rock, im – nun ja – sehr weiten Sinne. Dies änderte sich, als Gründungsmitglied MATTHEW BOWER SKULLFLOWER 2003 als Quasi-Soloprojekt ins Leben zurück rief. Zwar umfasst das derzeitige Line-Up immer noch die Mitstreiter SAMANTHA DAVIES und LEE STROKE, man tut den beiden aber sicherlich kein Unrecht, wenn man in ihnen eher Begleitmusiker für die Realisierung von Visionen sieht, die in allererster Linie BOWER'scher Provenienz sind. Der Sound verschob sich von Album zu Album nachdrücklicher in den Bereich des Noisig-Atonalen, bisweilen auch Dronigen – wobei man sich das, was hier behelfsmäßig als "Drone" bezeichnen wird, im Falle von SKULLFLOWER selbstverständlich dezidiert unbehaglich vorzustellen hat. Den bisherigen Gipfelpunkt dieser Entwicklung bezeichnet zweifellos das, 2011 bei COLD SPRING erschienene Album "Fucked On A Pile Of Corpses", mit dem BOWER ein infernalisches Noise-Monster abgeliefert hat, das sich in der Brutalität und Kompromisslosigkeit seiner musikalischen Umsetzung dem überaus charmanten Albumtitel als absolut ebenbürtig erweist.
Umso überraschter – und das durchaus positiv – ist man nun, auf der vorliegenden, ebenfalls auf COLD SPRING veröffentlichten Split-LP wieder eine Rückwendung in vergleichsweise strukturiertere musikalische Territorien zu verzeichnen. Der Begriff skullflowertruth.blogspot.de/2012/07/black-psychedelia-one-of-these-days-im.html">"black psychedelia", den BOWER in seinem Blog auf das Side-Project VOLTIGEURS anwendet, scheint mir für die Beiträge auf der vorliegenden Split-LP wahrlich nicht minder passend: Was für ein Getöse! Was für eine Wucht! Wer den jüngeren Output bis hin zum besagten, Nerven und Gehör gleichermaßen zerschreddernden Meisterwerk von 2011 ebenso zu schätzen weiß wie ältere, tendenziell „rockigere“ (Anführungszeichen sind hier durchaus angebracht) Veröffentlichungen wie Skullflower-Obsidian-Shaking-Codex/master/54292">"Obsidian Shaking Codex" von 1993, der wird von diesen drei Stücken begeistert sein. Zur Darbietung gelangt eine Melange aus den beiden zentralen stilistischen Betätigungsfeldern der umtriebigen Band aus London – das Beste aus beiden Welten sozusagen. Wie auf den meisten späteren SKULLFLOWER-Veröffentlichungen kommt man komplett ohne den Einsatz von Drums bzw. ganz generell ohne irgend einen Beat aus: Der Sound baut sich alleine aus schneidend-knirschenden, durch Verzerrer und Effektgeräte gemarterte, im aktuellen Fall – passend zum compagnon de guerre auf der B-Seite – ziemlich Black-Metal-lastig tönenden Gitarrenriffs auf, die in der Gesamtschau etwas generieren, das man wohl am treffendsten als apokalyptisches Noisedronehochamt umschreiben könnte. Letztlich mündet der Versuch einer konkreteren Charakterisierung der Musik von SKULLFLOWER fast zwangsläufig in ein Ringen um wohlfeile Worte, denn seit die Band nach ihrer Interimsauflösung im Jahre 1996 und der Wiederauferstehung im Jahre 2003 wieder auf Kurs ist, oszilliert der "typische" SKULLFLOWER-Sound irgendwo im Niemandsland zwischen Gitarrenwänden, Feedbackexperimenten und brutalem Noise – und ist überdies immer im Fluss, will heißen, der Schwerpunkt, um den herum sich die Musik jeweils kristallisiert, ändert sich von Veröffentlichung zu Veröffentlichung.
Die Atmosphäre der drei Stücke der Split-LP ist getragen, man könnte sie schon fast ein wenig pathetisch – nicht im abwertenden Sinne – nennen, doch mag das der Thematik geschuldet sein, die sie laut Promotext umkreisen, es handelt sich nämlich um "a trinity of sombre meditations evoking Europe after the rain, drowned ruins, sunken dreams". Im Übrigen darf es, wer für einen derartigen Alleszermalmer wie das mehrfach angesprochene Vorgängeralbum verantwortlich zeichnet, guten Gewissens mal ein wenig ruhiger und getragener angehen – gar kein Problem. Das sei MATTHEW BOWER und uns, dem enthusiasmierten Publikum, von ganzem Herzen gegönnt. Zumal "ruhig" in diesem Fall ohnehin nur sehr, sehr bedingt etwas mit dem landläufig üblichen Verständnis von ruhig zu tun hat. Langer Rede kurzer Sinn: Großartiger Beitrag – Musik, die im Raum steht wie ein schwarzer Monolith.
Und damit kommen wir zur B-Seite und ... äh ... MASTERY. – Vorweg sei das Eingeständnis ausgesprochen, dass ich mich in der schillernden Welt des Black Metal keiner allzu fundierten Sachkenntnis erfreue, obgleich ich dem Genre im Laufe der letzten Jahre zunehmend mehr Sympathie entgegenbringe. Der geneigte Leser möge meine folgenden Worte also als subjektive Meinung eines Interessierten und keinesfalls als kanonisches Urteil eines Eingeweihten – oder eines solchen, der sich dafür hält – interpretieren.
Denn in der Tat: So lange ich mich bei der A-Seite aufgehalten habe, so kurz kann ich mich bei der B-Seite fassen: Laut discogs handelt es sich bei MASTERY um ein, seit 2005 aktives Ein-Mann-Black-Metal-Projekt aus der Gegend um San Francisco; die Musik beschreibt der Promotext als "[t]otal berzerker black metal, rooted in the tradition of true grim blackness, but filtered through Mastery's cracked perception […]; a droned out and damaged, outsider blackness, that sounds pretty much unlike almost any other black metal." Nun ja. Meiner unmaßgeblichen Meinung nach wäre hier ein wenig mehr Bescheidenheit unbedingt am Platze gewesen: "Blood Electric" ist summa summarum eine ebenso brutale wie uninteressante Uptempoprügelnummer, dominiert von einer Stimme, die irgendwo zwischen genretypischem BM-Krächzgeschrei und Death-Metal-Gegrowle changiert. Und aufregend, geschweige denn "droned out and damaged outsider blackness", geht nun wirklich anders. Nicht nur, dass man dergleichen schon x-mal anderswo und obendrein besser gehört hat – wenn auch nicht unbedingt auf knapp 18 ununterbrochene und mit Fortschreiten der Laufzeit zunehmend nervigere Minuten ausgedehnt. Man fragt sich zudem, worin eigentlich das verbindende Glied zwischen SKULLFLOWERs grandiosem Opus auf der A-Seite und diesem mediokren Gekloppe bestehen soll – und zwar ebenso in qualitativer wie in stilistisch-formaler Hinsicht. Ich jedenfalls bin einigermaßen davon überzeugt, dass so ziemlich jeder, der – mit absoluter Berechtigung! – von der SKULLFLOWER-Seite begeistert ist, die MASTERY-Seite mit einem Gähnen quittieren wird – et vice versa.
Doch sei's drum: Allein für den beispiellosen musikalischen Furor, den SKULLFLOWER auf der A-Seite entfalten, lohnt sich die Anschaffung allemal." [Endsal für nonpop.de]
|
2013 |
€23.00 |
|
| SKY BURIAL |
Spectrehorse |
CD |
Das Seitenprojekt von FIRE IN THE HEAD mit einnehmenden doom / ritual / noise-drone der visionären Sorte, eine Vermählung von Zeitlupenbeats, stechenden Soundschleifen, verstörenden Geräuschen & rauhen Gitarrenfeedbackwänden..
"....Sky Burial was different. Sky Burial was a sonic revelation and one I whole heartily embraced. Sky Burial is, in reality and so far, a dark ambient / drone / experimental sound sculpture side project. A world apart from FITH. "Spectrehorse" is the first official CD to be released and Michael composed the music, and I quote: "using field recordings from temples and caves in Laos with additional material from various studio sessions between 1996 to the present". Michael has that written large on his website so I for one will not question any of those facts.
The nine tracks sees Michael on fire playing around and manipulating sounds into ever increasingly complex patterns within a variety of different ways. He inhibits a sort of netherworld of darkest spatial ambience... but isn't afraid to introduce a touch of melody, post rock or even, gulp, old fashioned noise into the mix to bring these sounds to a fitting climax. Whilst the drone purists may baulk at some of the extravagances he employs, the rest of us can but admire the fruits of his labour. The spectacle of claustrophobic entrapment is never far away as he toys and plays around with the senses. There is this undeniable feeling of cold isolation that is prevalent and cannot be shaken off. An ominous and stark realisation that forms a knot in the stomach as the music repeatedly builds in intensity. That isn't to say that "Spectrehorse" isn't without its lighter, more serene, moments. Even then though you feel this is an illusion and you patiently wait for the true evil, that must surely lurk beneath, to be revealed in all its ugly glory. I generally hate comparisons to this artist / group or that, although I have been guilty of doing this myself in the past, but to say someone sounds like someone else is a disservice to all the artists concerned. After all Michael, like all artists, didn't deliberately set out to mimic someone's style. He created what he's created. The fact it falls within certain musical spectrums is neither here nor there and so comparisons become invalid and inconsequential. Treat "Spectrehorse" for what it is. A glorious, and mostly sonically bleak, exhilarating musical adventure that is the other side of the coin to FITH by being far more accessible in every respect. I can but hope he continues down this path for many years to come...." [Aural Pressure]
www.collectivexxiii.com/sky
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Threnody for Collapsing Suns |
CD |
"Michael Page’s (Fire in the Head) Sky Burial project has been exploring the dark ambient side of industrial music since 2006, evolving into a unique and steadfast in the genre. Threnody for Collapsing Suns is a triptych clocking in at over 50 minutes - thoughtfully composed; incorporating deep drones, shimmering synth work, and lamenting melodic lines. The disparate layers come together to form a surpisingly organic, well-crafted narrative. Threnody continues Sky Burial’s journey into the nebulous dusk of “Kosmische Musik”, and forms part of a loose trilogy with the preceding Kiehtan and forthcoming Aegri Somnia." [label info]
www.small-doses.com
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| SKÖLD, MATTIAS |
Taroom |
CD |
" 'My first complete electronica CD which contains electronic music I performed live over the last couple of years, edited to form a complete work that can be played from beginning to end. The title comes from John Lloyd's and Douglas Adams' dictionary The Deeper Meaning of Liff where it in brief means loud and informative (it is also an Australian town). The music is a combination of harmonic noise music and multi-layered rhythmical electronica'. Mattias was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1976. He studied classical composition with Sven-David Sandström and Per MŒrtensson at Gotland's School of Composition and with Pr Lindgren and Bill Brunson at The Royal College of Music in Stockholm. Beside working as a classical composer, Mattias is an avid performer of live electronic music. He is active as a board member of various societies for experimental music, such as the Ra ensemble which combines classical and jazz music, and the intermedia art society Fylkingen where he is the vice chairman. Mattias is a teacher of electroacoustic music, currently on the computer music course at Stockholm University, and he is one of the editors of Tritonus, a blog about contemporary music.
1. Entry 2:30
2. Tempt 8:13
3. Contempt 6:37
4. Console 2:34
5. Enroll 5:56
6. Loud 5:30
7. Riff 6:54
8. Cloud 7:56
9. Liff 5:52
Total time: 52:21" [label info / credits]
- FYCD 1031, 2008 |
2008 |
€12.50 |
|
| SLAVES NO MORE |
The Unravelling |
do-CD |
SLAVES NO MORE is the new project of Kevin Tomkins and Paul Taylor. SNM was conceptualised some time ago and incepted right after the decision to end Sutcliffe Jugend and it's official announcement made at the end of 2019.
‘The Unravelling’ is the inaugural release that officially paves the new artistic direction of Sutcliffe Jugend. This double album marks the continuity of their musical journey, and perseveres in the creative vision and sonic execution of the Kevin and Paul.
The maturity displayed in the 10 tracks and its progressive nature are dominantly presented through complex layered soundscapes and new dimensions of vocal ranges that feature ‘Scott Walker-esque’ baritone and soprano parts. The avoidance of cliched tunefulness and implementation of unusual notes, further accompanied by dark lyrics and subtly intense vocal aesthetics make all of this “essential to the ‘unravelling’ of the character“.
https://4ibrecords.bandcamp.com/album/slaves-no-more-ex-sutcliffe-jugend-the-unravelling |
2020 |
€19.50 |
|
| SLAVES, THE |
Ocean on Ocean |
do-LP |
"The mystical drone-folklorist Jon Porras introduced us to the luminous sound of The Slaves, so we thought it fitting that he should expound upon their radiant shoegazing heaviness. Here speaks Mr. Porras:
"A shadow moves beneath the water. Ocean On Ocean: two abysmal surfaces echoing into one another. Mutually reflecting an endless geologic score to a post-apocalyptic litany. Planes of ambivalence obliterated by light, voices eclipsed by devotional low end, synthesized stereography spiraling from an eternal core. Hovering above the weighted disposition of Doom and below the consolation of Shoegaze, the duo transmit a burdened grace that unfolds like a radiant mammal writhing in black water. We discover an object heavy and obtuse until placed into the sea. Lines of light swell and dissipate behind hushed lyrics. Feedback and whitenoise ebb and flow, the mammal's breath hollowed, tumbling below the surface. The hum offset and displaced by water that surrounds. Holographic accord materialized by invalidated hopefulness. We are unsure and skeptical of what this optimism holds. What lies waiting at the depths carved between these two reflective surfaces? Ocean On Ocean implies a tangible province exists between these mirrored planes. A staircase built from reflective feedback, extending horizontally into bliss. A bliss that is fleeting and simultaneously petrified in the present. A paradox realized by the duo's distillations of urgent ambiance and luminescent melancholy. Conjuring environments that billow out from instrumental restraint, Ocean On Ocean is an exercise in disciplined abstraction.
Initially a cd-r, Ocean On Ocean reaches its supreme possibility today. An acoustic artifact cast into alchemical tangibility, these recordings are finally at peace on vinyl. Now the relics hidden between these Oceans can be crystallized."
The Slaves are Barbara Kinzle and Birch Cooper, who hail from Portland, Oregon and who have released other works on Digitalis and Paradigms to considerable acclaim, drawing favorable comparisons to the likes of Grouper, Slowdive, Earth, and Barn Owl. The 2LP of Ocean On Ocean is limited to 400 copies, and the recordings were mastered for vinyl by James Plotkin." [label info]
www.helenscarsdale.com
"Fuck, yeah! Here, we have the double lp reissue of the aQuarius favorite Ocean On Ocean by The Slaves, the Portland duo of Birch Cooper and Barbara Kinzle. We got the cd-r of this album back in early 2011, upon the enthusiastic request from the former aQ-staffer Jon Porras, known to some as one half of of drone-doom duo Barn Owl. The rough sound of the cd-r has been considerably improved via remastering by James Plotkin, with the vinyl cut at 45 rpm so that all the heavy / dreamy / shoegazy loveliness is even richer and more radiant. Still one of our favorite albums, made even better!
We love bands whose music-making formula appears, on the surface, simple and intuitive, yet the sounds they create are huge, engulfing and seemingly complex. Using two synthesizers and echoing vocals, The Slaves inhabit a sound that is as lush and dense as it is mysterious and minimal. Their debut album, Ocean on Ocean, is the perfect showcase of a group that can conjure up bountiful sounds within a restrained approach. Honestly, we can’t get enough of Ocean on Ocean, something about those enormous, dreamy, engulfing songscapes just leaves us wanting more. Their oozing brew of minimal pop melts and blurs with the melodic thickness of MBV's Loveless or early Slowdive, but surrenders to a contemplative mode that falls somewhere between Gregorian hymn and pagan ritual. The duo spin a radiant web of sustained vocals and heavy synth, each chord drawn out and smeared into a neon haze while indecipherable lyrics suggest longing, loss and submission to oblivion.
"Seventeen" unfolds with a slow arching chord progression that grows and dissipates like a coastal tide. Female vocals creep into the oceanic haze while fluttering noise and cosmic wash hover in obscurity. And though the rhythm-less wash may appear to be aimless improv, a close listen reveals a defined structure beneath the veil of long tones and heavy atmospherics. And yes, The Slaves are heavy. And it's not a "down-tuned guitars through a wall of amps" kind of heavy. It’s more evident in the slow movement of the songs, and the visceral effects felt by each musical gesture. The duo have perfectly crafted a searing offering of "soft doom", so gorgeous and mesmerizing we’ve had Ocean on Ocean on repeat for the past week. "Shadows" is another noteworthy track. We love the push and pull of heavy synth and whispery vocals, whirls of female voice echo into the night then dissipate into huge swells of HEAVY distorted synth. Crumbling low end amid ethereal dream chants, what else could we ask for?? One of our favorite records in recent memory and highly recommended!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2012 |
€22.50 |
|
| SLEAFORD MODS |
Spare Ribs |
CD |
"Die motzenden Electro-Punks mit weiblicher Verstärkung. 2020, wir müssen reden! Corona, Brexit, Johnson, Trump und jede Menge andere Scheiße, die in der Welt vor sich geht. Für Jason Williamson und Andrew Fearn aka Sleaford Mods bietet dieses Seuchenjahr natürlich reichlich Material für ein neues Album. Jason Williamson spricht dabei die Sprache der Menschen auf der Straße, hat ein Gespür für ihre Sorgen sowie Nöte und trägt sein Herz stets auf der Zunge. Der Titel des sechsten Albums "Spare Ribs" bezieht sich auf die Corona-Krise in England, wo manchen politischen Eliten das Leben ihrer Mitmenschen verzichtbar erscheint. Erstmals bekam Williamson bei den Aufnahmen weibliche Unterstützung: auf dem Album findet man gleich zwei Duette, einmal mit der britischen Newcomerin Billy Nomates, zum zweiten mit Amy Taylor, Sängerin der australischen Punkband Amyl & The Sniffers.
Poised to blow the cobwebs off life and unleash some much-needed wit and charm upon us, Sleaford Mods are back with their astonishing 6th studio album, entitled Spare Ribs.
Recorded in lockdown in a furious three-week studio blitz at JT Soar in July, the polemical Jason Williamson and dexterous producer Andrew Fearn kick against the pricks with unrivalled bite, railing against hypocrisy, inequality and apathy with their inimitable, scabrous sense of humour. And Spare Ribs, featuring Amy Taylor of Melbourne punks Amyl and the Sniffers and the British newcomer Billy Nomates, finds the duo charged with ire at the UK Government’s sense of entitlement, epitomized by its devil-may-care approach to the coronavirus crisis.
Commenting on the new album Jason says, “'Our lives are expendable under most governments, secondary under a system of monetary rule. We are stock if you like, parts on a shelf for the purposes of profit, discarded at any moment if fabricated or non-fabricated crisis threatens productivity. This is constant, obviously and notably in the current pandemic. The masses cannot be present in the minds of ill-fitting leaders, surely? Or else the realisation of their catastrophic management would cripple their minds. Much like the human body can still survive without a full set of ribs we are all 'spare ribs’, preservation for capitalism, through ignorance and remote rule, available for parts.”
https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/sleaford-mods/spare-ribs
|
2021 |
€12.00 |
|
| SLEEPWALKER |
Monument From The Void |
CD |
https://sleepwalkerambient.bandcamp.com/album/monument-from-the-void
Enigmatic guitar soundscapes and ambient drone walls from Russia's Sleepwalker, with themes ranging from the mysteries of space to Eastern philosophy, using shamanic and analogue instruments, sound effects and custom pedals for guitar and synths. "Landing squarely between dark ambient and post-rock, Sleepwalker's guitar and percussion soundscapes are both haunting and majestic. The album's four tracks begin with the self-titled opener, featuring cosmic layered guitar drones. The second track, Le Cercle Rouge, couples undistorted guitar melodies with harmonies made up of long-held notes, as well as semi-martial percussion. The percussion becomes more involved, almost tribal, on Dream Cycle, as the guitars produce waves of textures. All of this culminates in Neverending Journey Through the Void, a 29-minute excursion with slow but heavy chording and stark synth melodies. Quieter passages are introspective and reminiscent of dark ambient, while aggressive percussion and guitar, as well as a hint of chanted vocals, drive the more assertive movements to crescendo" (Avant Music News). Features a joint track with Liholesie. Digipak.
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| SLOWDIVE |
Everything is Alive (Crystal Clear vinyl) |
LP |
Sechs Jahre nach dem monumentalen Comeback mit dem selbstbetitelten Album, finden slowdive - bestehend aus Rachel Goswell und Neil Halstead (beide Vocs und Git.), Christian Savill (Git.), Nick Chaplin (Bass) und Drummer Simon Scott - auf "everything is alive" immer mehr Konturen ihres eindringlichen, elementaren Sounds. Das fünfte Album der Shoegaze-Giganten enthält die Dualität einer vertrauten inneren Sprache, gemischt mit der Exaltiertheit von Neuanfängen. "everything is alive" ist transportierend, suchend und leuchtend, das Werk einer klassischen Band, die ihre unverwechselbare Stimme weiter in die Zukunft richtet. Das neue Album begann mit Halstead in der Rolle des Autors und Produzenten, der zu Hause an Demos arbeitete. Halstead experimentierte mit modularen Synthesizern und stellte sich "everything is alive" ursprünglich als ein "minimaleres elektronisches Album" vor. Die kollektive Entscheidungsfindung von slowdive führte die Band schließlich zurück zu ihren charakteristischen, mit Hall durchtränkten Gitarren, aber dieses erste Konzept sickerte in die Kompositionen ein. "Wenn wir als Band alle damit zufrieden sind, ist das tendenziell das stärkere Material. Wir sind immer aus leicht unterschiedlichen Richtungen gekommen, und die besten Stücke sind dort, wo wir uns alle in der Mitte treffen", sagt Halstead. "slowdive ist vor allem die Summe seiner Teile", fügt Goswell hinzu. "Wenn wir fünf in einem Raum zusammenkommen, passiert etwas Undefinierbares." Der mehrjährige Aufnahmeprozess begann im Herbst 2020 im Courtyard Studio, wo die Band schon immer aufgenommen hat, setzte sich dann in Oxfordshire und in der umliegenden Heide von Lincolnshire fort, um dann wieder zurück in Neils eigenes Studio in Cornwall zu gelangen. Anfang 2022 holte die Band Shawn Everett (The War On Drugs, Alvvays, SZA) ins Studio, um sechs der acht Tracks des Albums abzumischen. "everything is alive" ist genau das, was der Titel andeutet: eine Erkundung der schillernden Natur des Lebens und der universellen Berührungspunkte darin. Mit seinen psychedelischen Klanglandschaften, pulsierenden 80er-Jahre-Elektronik-Elementen und John Cale-inspirierten Reisen wirkt das Album sofort wie etwas, das für die Zukunft gemacht ist; das passt, denn die Fangemeinde der Band ist im Laufe der Zeit immer jünger geworden, und ihr Einfluss auf vorwärts denkende Musik-Künstler*innen ist ungebrochen. Für ein Genre, das oft als spalterisch angesehen wird und oft Introspektion rechtfertigt, zeigen slowdive hier, dass sie ihr Handwerk beherrschen, indem sie es über das Singuläre hinaus vorantreiben; das Endergebnis ist eine Platte, die sich ebenso emotional und kathartisch wie optimistisch anfühlt.
The fifth album from shoegaze giants Slowdive contains the duality of a familiar internal language mixed with the exaltation of new beginnings. everything is alive is transportive, searching and aglow, the work of a classic band continuing to pitch its unmistakable voice to the future. Six years after the group’s monumental self-titled album, everything is alive finds Slowdive—vocalists and guitarists Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead, guitarist Christian Savill, bassist Nick Chaplin, and drummer Simon Scott—locating evermore contours of its immersive, elemental sound.
The new record began with Halstead in the role of writer and producer, working on demos at home. Experimenting with modular synths, Halstead originally conceived of everything is alive as a “more minimal electronic record.” Slowdive’s collective decision-making ultimately drew the group back towards their signature reverb-drenched guitars, but that first concept seeped into the compositions. “As a band, when we’re all happy with it, that tends to be the stronger material,” Halstead says. “We’ve always come from slightly different directions, and the best bits are where we all meet in the middle.” The convergence of five unique characters has made the sound. “Slowdive is very much the sum of its parts,” Goswell adds. “Something unquantifiable happens when the five of us come together in a room.”
The group’s projected studio sessions for everything is alive, in April 2020, were naturally scrapped, and when the group finally did meet up, six months later, at Courtyard Studio, where they’ve historically recorded, the mood was jubilant. (Finally, they had a proper reason to leave the house.) That was the beginning of a multi-year recording process, which moved from Oxfordshire and into the Wolds of Lincolnshire and back to Neil’s own Cornish studio before extending into February 2022, when the band brought in mixer Shawn Everett (The War On Drugs, SZA, Alvvays) to mix six of the record’s eight tracks.
Owing to their deep history, there’s a palpable familial energy to Slowdive in 2023. everything is alive is dedicated to Goswell’s mother and Scott’s father, who both died in 2020. “There were some profound shifts for some of us personally,” Goswell says. Those crossroads are reflected in the many-layered emotional tenor of Slowdive’s music; everything is alive is heavy with experience, but each note is poised, wise, and necessarily pitched to hope. Its unique alchemy subtly embodies both sadness and gratitude, groundedness and uplift. Reflecting on “kisses,” which may be Slowdive’s surest pop moment yet, Halstead said, “It wouldn’t feel right to make a really dark record right now. The album is quite eclectic emotionally, but it does feel hopeful.”
everything is alive, is exactly what the title suggests: an exploration into the shimmering nature of life and the universal touch points within it. Spanning psychedelic soundscapes, pulsating 80’s electronic elements and John Cale inspired journeys, the album lands immediately as something made for the future; which figures, as their fanbase has grown younger and younger as time has gone on, and their influence on forward thinking musical artists continues to prevail.
For a genre that is often thought of as divisive, and often warrants introspection, here Slowdive show their craft as the masters of it by pushing it outwards, beyond the singular; the end result being a record which feels as emotional and cathartic as it is optimistic.
https://slowdive.bandcamp.com/album/everything-is-alive
|
2023 |
€26.50 |
|
| |
Everything is Alive |
MC |
Sechs Jahre nach dem monumentalen Comeback mit dem selbstbetitelten Album, finden slowdive - bestehend aus Rachel Goswell und Neil Halstead (beide Vocs und Git.), Christian Savill (Git.), Nick Chaplin (Bass) und Drummer Simon Scott - auf "everything is alive" immer mehr Konturen ihres eindringlichen, elementaren Sounds. Das fünfte Album der Shoegaze-Giganten enthält die Dualität einer vertrauten inneren Sprache, gemischt mit der Exaltiertheit von Neuanfängen. "everything is alive" ist transportierend, suchend und leuchtend, das Werk einer klassischen Band, die ihre unverwechselbare Stimme weiter in die Zukunft richtet. Das neue Album begann mit Halstead in der Rolle des Autors und Produzenten, der zu Hause an Demos arbeitete. Halstead experimentierte mit modularen Synthesizern und stellte sich "everything is alive" ursprünglich als ein "minimaleres elektronisches Album" vor. Die kollektive Entscheidungsfindung von slowdive führte die Band schließlich zurück zu ihren charakteristischen, mit Hall durchtränkten Gitarren, aber dieses erste Konzept sickerte in die Kompositionen ein. "Wenn wir als Band alle damit zufrieden sind, ist das tendenziell das stärkere Material. Wir sind immer aus leicht unterschiedlichen Richtungen gekommen, und die besten Stücke sind dort, wo wir uns alle in der Mitte treffen", sagt Halstead. "slowdive ist vor allem die Summe seiner Teile", fügt Goswell hinzu. "Wenn wir fünf in einem Raum zusammenkommen, passiert etwas Undefinierbares." Der mehrjährige Aufnahmeprozess begann im Herbst 2020 im Courtyard Studio, wo die Band schon immer aufgenommen hat, setzte sich dann in Oxfordshire und in der umliegenden Heide von Lincolnshire fort, um dann wieder zurück in Neils eigenes Studio in Cornwall zu gelangen. Anfang 2022 holte die Band Shawn Everett (The War On Drugs, Alvvays, SZA) ins Studio, um sechs der acht Tracks des Albums abzumischen. "everything is alive" ist genau das, was der Titel andeutet: eine Erkundung der schillernden Natur des Lebens und der universellen Berührungspunkte darin. Mit seinen psychedelischen Klanglandschaften, pulsierenden 80er-Jahre-Elektronik-Elementen und John Cale-inspirierten Reisen wirkt das Album sofort wie etwas, das für die Zukunft gemacht ist; das passt, denn die Fangemeinde der Band ist im Laufe der Zeit immer jünger geworden, und ihr Einfluss auf vorwärts denkende Musik-Künstler*innen ist ungebrochen. Für ein Genre, das oft als spalterisch angesehen wird und oft Introspektion rechtfertigt, zeigen slowdive hier, dass sie ihr Handwerk beherrschen, indem sie es über das Singuläre hinaus vorantreiben; das Endergebnis ist eine Platte, die sich ebenso emotional und kathartisch wie optimistisch anfühlt.
The fifth album from shoegaze giants Slowdive contains the duality of a familiar internal language mixed with the exaltation of new beginnings. everything is alive is transportive, searching and aglow, the work of a classic band continuing to pitch its unmistakable voice to the future. Six years after the group’s monumental self-titled album, everything is alive finds Slowdive—vocalists and guitarists Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead, guitarist Christian Savill, bassist Nick Chaplin, and drummer Simon Scott—locating evermore contours of its immersive, elemental sound.
The new record began with Halstead in the role of writer and producer, working on demos at home. Experimenting with modular synths, Halstead originally conceived of everything is alive as a “more minimal electronic record.” Slowdive’s collective decision-making ultimately drew the group back towards their signature reverb-drenched guitars, but that first concept seeped into the compositions. “As a band, when we’re all happy with it, that tends to be the stronger material,” Halstead says. “We’ve always come from slightly different directions, and the best bits are where we all meet in the middle.” The convergence of five unique characters has made the sound. “Slowdive is very much the sum of its parts,” Goswell adds. “Something unquantifiable happens when the five of us come together in a room.”
The group’s projected studio sessions for everything is alive, in April 2020, were naturally scrapped, and when the group finally did meet up, six months later, at Courtyard Studio, where they’ve historically recorded, the mood was jubilant. (Finally, they had a proper reason to leave the house.) That was the beginning of a multi-year recording process, which moved from Oxfordshire and into the Wolds of Lincolnshire and back to Neil’s own Cornish studio before extending into February 2022, when the band brought in mixer Shawn Everett (The War On Drugs, SZA, Alvvays) to mix six of the record’s eight tracks.
Owing to their deep history, there’s a palpable familial energy to Slowdive in 2023. everything is alive is dedicated to Goswell’s mother and Scott’s father, who both died in 2020. “There were some profound shifts for some of us personally,” Goswell says. Those crossroads are reflected in the many-layered emotional tenor of Slowdive’s music; everything is alive is heavy with experience, but each note is poised, wise, and necessarily pitched to hope. Its unique alchemy subtly embodies both sadness and gratitude, groundedness and uplift. Reflecting on “kisses,” which may be Slowdive’s surest pop moment yet, Halstead said, “It wouldn’t feel right to make a really dark record right now. The album is quite eclectic emotionally, but it does feel hopeful.”
everything is alive, is exactly what the title suggests: an exploration into the shimmering nature of life and the universal touch points within it. Spanning psychedelic soundscapes, pulsating 80’s electronic elements and John Cale inspired journeys, the album lands immediately as something made for the future; which figures, as their fanbase has grown younger and younger as time has gone on, and their influence on forward thinking musical artists continues to prevail.
For a genre that is often thought of as divisive, and often warrants introspection, here Slowdive show their craft as the masters of it by pushing it outwards, beyond the singular; the end result being a record which feels as emotional and cathartic as it is optimistic.
https://slowdive.bandcamp.com/album/everything-is-alive
|
2023 |
€11.50 |
|
| SM / DP (MARKO SUORSA, PENTTI DASSUM) |
Fault-Tolerant System |
CD |
This is electronic contamination music. A long distance collaboration between Suorsa Marko / Dassum Pentti.
It's 1% junk noise and 99% computer music, spectrogranular synthesis, modular patch feedback loops, sample scanning manipulations and a variety of processing techniques (GRM Tools, Hourglass, Reaktor, etc etc).
An uncomfortable balance between academic sterility and a fist in a blender.
File under electroacoustic noise and insekt elektronix.
300 made
www.umpio.com/nekorekords/
|
2017 |
€12.50 |
|
| SMALL CRUEL PARTY |
(before the dream...) (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
released February 1995
"This obscure project from Seattle may be known to some through several strangely and wonderfully packaged vinyl and tape releases (and one CD), as well as through installations and sound works presented in many galleries and other locations. On this nameless E.P. we find two tracks, 'Before the Dream' and 'Of the still Earth' in the typically unique SMALL CRUEL PARTY-style, here working with water-sounds as well as unidentifiable sources, thus creating a very particular language of noise, a special dimension that be must entered 'soul to soul', a very personal communication.
What is expressed by this kind of music you can find in your own treasury! SMALL CRUEL PARTY delivers the KEY (sic!) to open it!
The E.P. is accompanied by a full discography. SMALL CRUEL PARTY also played a rather short but fantastic gig at the first Drone-Extrakt Festival, at Tara (Emden), in October 1993. We'll never forget it.
'SMALL CRUEL PARTY teaches you to listen to a different language.' "[label info]
" SMALL CRUEL PARTY BANNTEN DEN SOUND DER KERAMIKWANNE. IN IHR SITZT MAN, INMITTEN VON WILD ÜBER DEN MENSCHEN NOCH UNBEKANNTEN DICHTERN DISKUTIERENDEN, KLEINEN SCHWARZ GEPANZERTEN TIEREN. SICH STETIG DEM HAHNE ENTREISSENDE WASSERTROPFEN MISCHEN SICH MIT IHREM KLANG UNTER DIE KNISTERNDEN STIMMEN. INMITTEN DIESER GROTTENGERÄUSCHE LIEGT DER HÖRER UND BEGINNT ZU BEGREIFEN, INDES DIE SCHEINBAR ENDLOSE OFFENBARUNG SCHLIESSLICH DURCH DIE BEGRENZTE AUFNAHMEKAPAZITÄT DER SINGLE AUSBLEIBT UND ERKENNTNIS IM BRODELNDEN SOG DES ABFLUSSES MIT HINABRAUSCHT."
(Peter Schlewinski, Vertigo)
" WICHTIG FÜR DAS VERSTÄNDNIS DER MUSIK VON SMALL CRUEL PARTY (ICH BIN MIR SICHER, ER WÜRDE ES NICHT MUSIK NENNEN) IST EINERSEITS DIE KONZEPTIONELLE ARBEIT MIT KLÄNGEN UND UMWELTGERÄUSCHEN, ANDERERSEITS DER SCHEINBAR MEDITATIVE CHARAKTER SEINER AUFNAHMEN. SCHEINBAR DESHALB, WEIL GERADE BEI SEINEN BESSEREN STÜCKEN MEDITATIV TATSÄCHLICH NUR EINE UMSCHREIBUNG IST: SIE REIZEN DIE SINNE ZU EINEM GENAUEN HINHÖREN, SIE SIND STIMULANZEN DER SINNE, DIE SICH VORNEHM ZU PHANTASTISCHEN KLANGLANDSCHAFTEN ENTWICKELN. DER HERRSCHENDE MINIMALISMUS DER MITTEL IN DEN ARBEITEN VON SMALL CRUEL PARTY ERLEICHTERT ES, DAS ANLIEGEN HINTER DER MUSIK ZU DEUTEN. "
(Thomas Beck, Odradek)
|
1995 |
€ |
|
| SMALL THINGS ON SUNDAYS |
Searching for |
LP |
"The Copenhagen based duo Small Things on Sundays are proud to present their first LP, "Searching For", the seventh album release by the duo - but the first that will be available on vinyl. Small Things on Sundays have focused on their musical vision to create an album of beauty and shade, which will take the listener on a sound journey exploring the filmic images the tracks presents. It can be investigated with further listenings revealing subtle details.
The title "Searching For" refers to the duo's own quest to create new moods and athmospheres, where time stretches out, as the listener, and the band themselves, submerges into harmonic ambient layers and more abstract unsettling textures that emerge from the improvisations. To be engulfed in these mesmerizing sounds, can serve as a way to step out of daily life for a moment, which seems needed now and again.
"Searching For" can also be seen as an imaginary interpretation of places on earth, like "Echo Lake at Night", or in space "Enceladus" (Earth-like moon orbiting Saturn). The basic sounds on the LP are derived from live improvisations, using turntables, detuned guitar, toy keyboard, viola and laptops. Some of the tracks are kept as the first live-takes, other tracks are the product of long hours of re-imagining and re-arranging tracks from the sound archive." [label info]
www.skratrecords.com
"Following a string of releases on CDR, cassette and download, some of which we reviewed in Vital Weekly (see for instance Vital Weekly 717, 732, 777 and 862), Danish duo Small Things On Sundays, now venture out to their first full length vinyl release. Henrik Bagner and Claus Poulsen use turntables, guitars, casio-keyboard, viola and laptops. They tell us that some of the pieces here were recorded in one take, and others took hours and hours to do on the computer. Cleverly they don't tell us which. It's not easy to say, and probably not very interesting to think about it. Easiest is to state that Small Things On Sundays play 'dark ambient' music. I was, recently, listening to some older Zoviet*France releases, even before I knew this LP was coming and it's nice to see the Zoviet*France template on an album like this. The careful use of real instruments, the abundance of sound effects, the creative use of tape-loops, the spacious nature of this music. As Small Things On Sundays note in the letter with this record, this is perhaps the lightest and most accessible of the trilogy '4AM' (717), 'More' (732) and now this one. I totally agree. The sharper edges of the music might be gone indeed, but I think that works well. The newly placed refined sounds make up for that rough edge but it also moves the work forward, onto the next level. The brightness of the music shines through here, like an early morning sun with a soft breeze on a nice spring day. The music is opening up and we see the potential of Small Things On Sundays much clearer now. This is a road they should explore more and more. Not trying to replicate the music, but to see what else lies in this brighter light. It's surely something they should do!" [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2013 |
€15.00 |
|
| SMALLEY, DENIS |
Neve |
maxi-CD |
"Musique concrete around a glacier in New Zealand. Smalley was born 1946 in Nelson, New Zealand. He learned piano and organ at a young age. In his home country, he premiered works for organ by Olivier Messiaen and György Ligeti in the late '60s. He taught music at Wellington College for three years before the French Government awarded him a grant in 1971. He studied in Messiaen's composition class for a year at the Conservatoire de Paris, but he also took the electro-acoustic music course dispensed at the time by the Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM). Musique concrète was a revelation to him and he quickly turned away from performance and classical composition to concentrate solely on tape music." [label info] |
1994 |
€10.00 |
|
| SMALLWOOD, SCOTT |
Electrotherapy |
CD |
Neues Werk von SCOTT SMALLWOOD, kein field recordings im strengen Sinne diesmal, sondern Objekt-Microsound.
.... Aufnahmen von Maschinen eines PETE BARVOET.....
....bis in die Mikrostruktur elektrischer Prozesse hinein...
....elektromechanische Sounds....
.... gemeinnisvolle drones & knister- und klopf-sounds...
.... outer-spheres-music....
.....dann sogar elektro-sirr-rhythmik......
„Electrotherapy is a collection of sound pieces based on studio recordings of early 20th-century electrical devices, including induction coils, a diathermy machine, an ultra violet ray oscillator, and a sectorless wimshurst machine. These devices were recorded at close range, and form the basic source material for all tracks on the CD. Thanks to Pete Barvoets, who kindly allowed me to record the devices that are part of his private collection.” [Scott Smallwood]
|
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
| SMEGMA |
I am not Artist |
6 x LP-Box / DVD-BOX |
"This astonishing 6LP/DVD Box-Set compiles most of Smegma's long out or print and
impossible to find Vinyl-releases and contributions on labels such as their own legendary PIGFACE-Records, LAFMS, TRAP, DOM and SELEKTON. The box incl. their first three 7" inches "Disco Diarrhea", "Flashcards", "Pigface Chant", their Lp's like "Pigs for Leper" or "Glamour Girl 1941" as well as a 2Lp-sided extract of the Live 73-82 Double Tape „Spontaneaous Sound, all in one place. Smegma started collectively by Ju Suk Reet Meate, Cheese it Ritz, Chucko Fats, Dennis Duck, Amazon Bambi and Cheesebro and found many other Avantgarde/Freejazz/Improv-musicians to participate in the next 3 1/2 decades to come. This Box is taking you on a journey with the least likely Folk-Primitive-Avant-Gard band in Pasadena, California, through Portland Oregon's Punk Rock revitalization and first melt down, to become the serious force in weird music that continues today. Box is accompanied with a DVD-Version of the original Video "10 years wasted" released in 1983 which is a great document of Smegma's first 10 years of existence & work Box is accompanied with a DVD version of the original amazing Video "Smegma the first 10 years“ by Mike Lastra released in 1983 plus 2 Bonustracks of performances from 1978 & 80." [label info]
www.vinyl-on-demand.com
|
2010 |
€95.00 |
|
| |
Mirage |
LP |
"With Mirage on Important Records, Smegma again does the impossible. 38 years after reinventing the musical wheel, they have recorded a stunning masterpiece. With four of the original members working together again for the first time in many years, together with many new collaborators, they have kept alive their unique brand of old school primitive, avant/garage music. Running the gamut from the 'music concrete' inspired subtlety, the bombastic mood of the title track, 'world of my own's' frenzied noise/funk jams, that morph past rock'n [Eno/Roxy Music era] garage band, before finally slipping into a primitive meditation involving silly voices, toys, record players and such. On the other hand 'F-85 Turbo Rocket' blasts strait to psycho rockabilly heaven and is over before it all sinks in. Also worth mentioning, with its timeless creepy beauty, the front cover drawing/collage sets the stage for this strange journey. Several of the tracks were recorded 'live' at a Smegma House Party in Portland September 2009. The CD includes a unique Smegma house party track and a bonus 1973 original Pasadena unreleased recording." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2010 |
€20.00 |
|
| SMITH, RANDALL |
Sondes |
CD |
“Sondes (Multiple Soundings) by Randall Smith brings us four years in the life of this versatile composer, condensed into an earjam of seventy-five minutes. Known for his delicately conceived musique concrete collages, typically working with thousands of found sounds, here Smith adds acoustic instruments to the mix, in order to more faithfully reflect the complexity of all he encounters. Filled with sorrow, celebration and dance, Smith plunges into worlds we’re unable to see, in order to bring back, like some explorer of centuries past, some idea of what they might sound like. Whether the sounds of continents taking shape, or the internal chemistries of mother and child, each turn is unexpected, graceful, filled with discovery and invention. If no one has heard music like this before, and no one has, it’s only because each personality fills with the tumult of the world in an entirely new way, like a signature, or fingerprint. Sondes is an invitationto uncover the hidden worlds beneath this one, to cleanse the ears until everything appears as it really is: infinite.” [Mike Hoolboom]
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
1999 |
€12.00 |
|
| SMOOTH QUALITY EXCREMENT |
My name is William Wayne |
CD-R |
Eerie drones flavoured with odd humour, using speech excerpts. A quite undescribable trip by URE THRALL, THE FRUITLESS HAND AND and J.P.LOCASTA. Recorded live but it's not clear when & where... 7 tracks, 74+ minutes.
"What would the DUKE have done if he had been president? The Shitesters want YOU to know. The saga of a REAL man stranded in a petty pseudo culture put to a very difficult soundtrack by them sinister Shite-sters." [label info]
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Plastic Perpendicular Crevice |
CD-R |
12 tracks, almost 76 minutes. All live-material except one track. Very melancholic / isolationistic stuff, but also a cosmic-chaos otherworld appears, and great pure mysterious sound-scapes with hallucinative percussion, eerie dronescapes that suck you in - maybe forever... everything can happen after you entered this excremental world!
"The NEWEST material from Ure Thrall, The Fruitless Hand and even our old pal Paul Locasta. Features special personal outtakes and cut-ups!" [label info]
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| SOL, EDWARD |
Wrong Action |
mCD-R |
EDWARD SOL ist der Betreiber des emsigen ukrainischen Labels QUASI POP aus Kiev. Seine "Wrong Action" mCDR ist eine ziemlich absurde & durchaus witzige Klangcollage über eine Pop-Diva in vier Teilen (z.B. "inside Kylie"), basierend auf Analog-Synths, Loops, Plunderphonics, Tapes, Objektklängen, Noise-Feedbacks, etc.. sehr schön verpackt in ein handgemachtes Digipack..
"Tape collages, audio-objects and wild psychonoise in surrealistic cinematic mood. This is the tragic (and funny at the same time) story of Pop Diva working and partying hard. Audio tabloid in some sort, inspired by the early works of Pierre Henry, but Inland Empire and The Hafler Trio as well." [label notes]
"Music by Edward Sol has been released by Quasipop before and reviewed here. Here he presents another four tracks on 3" format in a nice little package. Apparently the theme is about 'This is the tragic (and funny at the same time) story of Pop Diva working and partying hard', although it's not sure which diva is meant here. Maybe Kylie Minogue, as suggested by the track title 'Inside Kylie'? Unlike some of his previous stuff, Sol goes out to old fashioned tape collages, cutting, splicing and pasting of tapes to create his music. At times he wanders out in the rich field of noise, but stays in true spirit of the good ol' musique concrete. It's at times loud and vicious, but the collage element of the music prevails. Influenced by say Pierre Henry (voices are spliced together) and Merzbow, makes this his most refined statement so far. Not in every subtle, but created with great care." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
label: www.quasipop.org
|
2007 |
€6.00 |
|
| SOLA TRANSLATIO |
Mother Sunrise |
CD |
Starke Zusammenarbeit zwischen ALIO DIE und OPIUM, spirituell-entrückte Elektronik & field recordings mit leicht orientalischem Flair..
“Combining an entrancing mix of natural recordings (water, wind, soil, forest) and electronic textures, Mother Sunrise conveys a descent into the natural world at its grittiest, most organic, and most truly "alive." Usually ambient & atmospheric music is primarily electronic, or perhaps utilizes guitars or other acoustic instruments, with electronic treatments. While this recording does integrate such conventional instrumentation in part, it derives its truly unique flavor through the liberal use of natural "location" atmospheres (recorded in the Far East as well as Italy), as well as organic percussive elements. Opium is a newcomer, mostly unknown in the ambient & atmospheric music scene, but Alio Die (especially through his excellent collaborations with ambient stars Robert Rich and Vidna Obmana, but also through his proprietorship of the Hic Sunt Leones label on which most of his solo material has been released) is one of the increasingly respected & beloved artists of our genre. Taking a truly unique and personal approach to this work, Alio Die arrives at a sound which is distinct -- truly rich, complex, and substantial enough to bear repeat listening." [label description]
www.hypnos.com
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
| SOLAR OCEAN |
Enter Serenity |
CD |
"Adrift on an endless ocean, suspended into mellow water gently rocking you to sleep. Each wave carries you further from land and into a twilight existence, the sun warming your face and the water sending a million glittering reflections into your gaze. The result is a mini-album of serene ambient soundscapes with a harrowing undertone. Comes in a jewelcase with a 12-page booklet." [label info]
http://gterma.blogspot.se
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| SOLO ANDATA |
same |
CD |
"12k presents Australian duo Solo Andata along with their second album, self-titled. Translated literally from the Italian as 'one way,' Solo Andata portrays the theme of a one-way journey that moves from (and represents a thread between) water and land, fluid/stasis, cold/hot. Following Solo Andata's debut album Fyris Swan (Hefty, 2006) and their 12k inception on Live in Melbourne, Solo Andata presents us with an ambient affair, with dark drones coupled with ethereal sonic environments. It could be said that Solo Andata is carefully sequenced to a narrative structure: beginning on boat in the cold, arctic night of 'Ablation,' and then ending on foot in the hot wilderness of 'Woods, Flesh, Bone.' However, concepts and narratives that seem clear to the artists are often left oblique to the listeners. This is perhaps why Solo Andata represented this narrative in a strict sense by recording what the titles literally refer to. For example, 'Woods Flesh, Bone' presents us with sweltering woodlands, the sound of a fresh carcass being torn apart and the clattering of bones. The same can be said of 'Hydraulic Fluctuations,' 'Canal Rocks,' 'Ablation' and 'In the Light Storming.' These organic sources, then, help tie music and concept together. Solo Andata utilizes very little, if any, electronic instruments. Acoustic guitar, piano, cello and the natural resonances of organic materials (usually by way of a violin bow, pluck, or home-made contraption) become their main instruments, and as their live shows often attest to, Solo Andata can turn almost any object into an instrument capable of producing beautiful, other-worldly music." Includes a 12-page booklet with photographs by Taylor Deupree." [label info]
|
2009 |
€14.50 |
|
|
Ritual |
LP |
"After the highly praised “Fyris Swan” (Hefty) and “S/T” (12K), Solo Andata return with “Ritual”, a meticulously-crafted album emphasizing an engagement with the unknown.
‘Ritual’ is Solo Andata’s third full-length album and also the inaugural release for the Buffalo-based label, ‘Desire Path Recordings’. This limited edition 12”LP consists of four glorious sonic ‘topographies’ that are altogether spellbinding, eerie, visceral and energetic. ‘Ritual’, similar to Solo Andata’s self-titled album on 12k, is fundamentally made up of organic sounds, such as primitive gongs, bells and bowls, wildlife and environmental recordings, sacred chants, the vibration of human cancerous cells, cleavers, and prepared piano. These four pieces seem to work toward a repetition or ‘ritual‘ between disparate elements so as to transport us, via a magical spell, to dense otherworldly habitats. In fact, the title of the twenty-minute piece Incantare translates as ‘to chant’ (a magical spell upon), which derives from ‘in’, into, unto and ‘cantare’, to sing. For the eight-minute piece Carving, there exists a ‘ritualistic’ image similar to that of Kafka’s In the Penal Colony, where an intricate carving device inscribes the Condemned prisoner’s sentence onto his flesh. The whole affair of ‘Ritual’ is bound to leave listeners mesmerized by its vividness and bewitched by its intensity."
www.desirepathrecordings.com
|
2010 |
€19.50 |
|
| |
In the Lens |
CD |
"In the Lens, Solo Andata’s fourth full-length album, was born from recordings found in the interstices of decades-old hard drives, lost email threads from disused accounts, and forgotten samples recorded on cassette dictaphones. These fragments were combined and re-worked with newer elements to create an album very much in the spirit of the band’s debut Fyris Swan(Hefty Records, 2006), an album touched by both folk and jazz and swathed in a dusty, narcotic haze.
Solo Andata’s Kane Ikin and Paul Fiocco have always pushed aside the digital studio in favor of a more haphazard and hands-on workshop vibe to their productions. They prefer near-broken acoustic instruments, cheap microphones and, as can be witnessed by their live performances, tend to turn anything they can get their hands on into a beautiful sound-making object.
While there is a raw and guileless nature to the duo’s sound it is precisely this that makes their music so powerful amidst the over-produced cliches of much modern music. The beauty of their work is how simple instruments and objects can be physically manipulated into creating such rich, layered sound. Dark, swaying, almost-looped melodies from piano, woodwinds and horns wrap themselves in smoky obscurity around remnants of percussion and warm beds of noise and the world around us.
In The Lens is very much a late-night record, reflected in the rain-soaked cover imagery, dripping with half-forgotten memories. Jittery yet calming, rhythmic, yet unhurried, it leads you down its dark corridors to a soft resting space. Ikin and Fiocco have created a new story around the chemistry of their creations that were taking place during the early days of their musical explorations." [label info]
www.12k.com |
2016 |
€15.50 |
|
| SONATA REC |
... und wir waren nicht die ersten Utopisten |
mCD-R |
"Heidrun Schramm aka. Sonata Rec continues her selfcontained path on her second 3” release on AIC, with associative and ambiguous sampling collages, sparse yet of high intenseness. this music is rare in its density (comprised of few elements), in its broken narrative aspects
and in its pure sound sensitivity. and, even more special, it offers some unintrusive, sarcastic hints on prevalent ideologies of our society.
The work “...und wir waren nicht die ersten Utopisten” (...and we hadn’t been the first of all utopians) has been presented in different versions in 2007, within various concert and exhibition projects – for instance at
Ballhaus Naunyn (Berlin), and at Kulturfestival Preetz." [label info]
www.0000-anti.info
|
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
| SONDE |
En Ondes |
CD |
Weitere Aufnahmen der Montrealer Performance / SoundArt-Gruppe, diese stammen aus dem Archiv von 1980-1988, viele field recordings und Objekt-Noises, Klänge von Sound-Sculptures, meditativ-konkrete Improvisationen...
"This CD is the second release ever of Sonde, the previous one being Sonde en concert edited in 1978 by Music Gallery Editions. This CD is thus quite important, bringing to light part of the group's archives. Optimized with today's sound tools, all these recordings deal with waves of different kinds, sound waves of course but also organic and brain waves. The live concert recordings of these pieces, with the exception of L'acier bien trempé (électronique), were broadcast by CBC-Montreal approximately in 1984 at the request of the producer Gilles Poirier, hence another of the meanings of the expression 'en ondes'. 'Sonde is a group of Montreal electroacoustic composers and performers. Their compositions were generally conceived for live performance on original sound sculptures. Through meditative improvisation, the group's aim was to produce new music with sounds revealed by electroacoustic amplification and transformation. Very active from 1976 to 1986, the members of the group included Andrew Culver, Charles de Mestral, Pierre Dostie, Chris Howard, Robin Minard, Michael O'Neill and Linda Pavelka. Since the beginning, Keith Daniel provided Sonde's technical support.'" [Charles de Mestral]
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| SONDERBERG, ADAM / PAUL BRADLEY |
Anoxia |
CD |
Basis-Material des LONGBOX-Betreibers ADAM SONDERBERG wurde hier von PAUL BRADLEY bearbeitet. Klasse, wie sich aus leisen konkreten Geräuschen allmählich ein breit fliessender Drone-Sog ausbreitet, in dem Glocken- und Gongartige Sounds platziert werden. 37 min. one-tracker, DVD-Box.
“The universe of Paul Bradley is quickly expanding. Besides his solo releases (mainly on his own Twenty Hertz label), he is also an avid collaborator, with the likes of Colin Potter (a recent live CDR was released through ICR) and Darren Tate (their recent CD 'Sometime Today' was released on Plinkity Plonk). Here he works together with Adam Sonderberg of the Dropp Ensemble and Civil War (aswell as from the co-releasing Longbox Recordings label). Here he provides Bradley with the rough sound material, for Bradley to freely use and abuse (much alike the collaboration Bradley did with Darren Tate). Field recordings form again a steady ingredient, and are set against a large wall of droning sounds, which sound like a bunch of processed long strings. In thirty seven minutes the listener is taken on spacious journey through weightless space, with the field recordings buzzing like outer-space meteoritic sand against the space craft. Slowly the sand become small rocks towards the end of the journey and sky falls down. Quite a trip, but a pleasant one as such.” [Vital Weekly]
|
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
| SONIC YOUTH |
The Eternal |
CD |
"Sonic Youth’s 16th album, ‘The Eternal’, will be released on double vinyl, compact disc, and digital album by Matador Records on June 9. Produced by John Agnello and the band, ‘The Eternal’ not only marks Sonic Youth’s return to the independent label sphere (titles on their own SYR label excepted) after a long association with Geffen, but more importantly, ranks as one of their more inspired efforts in a 28 year career.
Recorded through November and December of last year at the band’s Echo Canyon West studio in Hoboken, NJ, ‘The Eternal’ features many firsts for a Sonic Youth album, including a number of shared vocals between Kim, Thurston, and Lee, and the studio debut of former Pavement/Dustdevils bassist Mark Ibold, a member of Sonic Youth’s touring band for the past few years.
The band’s current extracurricular activities are as always, quite varied. The Kunsthalle in Dusseldorf, Germany is now hosting the touring museum exhibition SONIC YOUTH ETC.: SENSATIONAL FIX, which focuses on the band’s multidisciplinary work since the band’s formation in 1981, including their collaborations with visual artists, filmmakers, designers and musicians. Kim Gordon launches a clothing line, Mirror/Dash, at Urban Outfitters on February 16, and is showing at The Armory Show in NYC March 5-8. Lee Ranaldo, with co-conspirator Leah Singer, just opened installations at the Konsthall in Stockholm and the CNEAI in Paris, and he has a piece in the travelling exhibition “Bad Moon Rising 3″, currently at Boots Contemporary Art Space in St. Louis. A Beck/Sonic Youth split 7″ is being released by Matador on April 18 for Record Store Day. And the band recently collaborated with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (along with former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones and mixed-media sound composer Takehisa Kosugi) on a work celebrating, and being performed for, Cunningham’s 90th birthday on April 16 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Upcoming SY shows include April gigs in Austria and Germany (including the closing of SENSATIONAL FIX in Dusseldorf) and May 16 at the No Fun Festival in Brooklyn. They will be touring throughout the summer in support of ‘The Eternal’.
Of ‘The Eternal’, Matador’s Gerard Cosloy says, “We’ve not had a record in our recent history that’s been the subject of nearly as much speculation and anticipation. Suffice to say we’re pretty amazed at the way the band delivered something this neoteric while still sounding like, well, themselves. Less of a reinvention and perhaps more to do with a particularly awesome dozen songs.”
Matador will shortly announce a Buy Early Get Now scheme for the album with some very interesting bonus material.
Sonic Youth are:
Steve Shelley
Lee Ranaldo
Kim Gordon
Thurston Moore
Mark Ibold
Track listing:
1. Sacred Trickster
2. Anti-Orgasm
3. Leaky Lifeboat (for Gregory Corso)
4. Antenna
5. What We Know
6. Calming The Snake
7. Poison Arrow
8. Malibu Gas Station
9. Thunderclap For Bobby Pyn
10. No Way
11. Walkin Blue
12. Massage The History
[label / website notes]
www.matadorrecords.com
|
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Bad Moon Rising |
LP |
2022 repress. LP version with download code. "Sonic Youth's second full-length LP Bad Moon Rising was originally released on Homestead and Blast First in 1985. The album is a fascinating examination of 'the junction where hippie idealism [meets] the cold hard world,' says guitarist Lee Ranaldo, 'where Woodstock [meets] Altamont -- Death Valley, Charles Manson, Brian Wilson, musicians, murderers, heroes and villains.' Its original eight-song tapestry of droning guitar feedback, distant clattering percussion, and sullen vocals, all held together with interstitial noise loops and shadowy haze, ambles through a long, dark night before the feverish 'Death Valley '69,' driven by runaway guitar riffs and a frantic Thurston Moore/Lydia Lunch vocal duet, pounds the capstone into place. Sonic Youth's big leap forward from Confusion Is Sex and Kill Yr Idols 'reflects the spirit of the time,' to quote All Music Guide. Bad Moon Rising views 'American gothic through the glassy eyes of willful moonlit paranoia.' Back in print on Goofin' Records, this reissue includes bonus tracks 'Flower' and 'Halloween,' both from a 12-inch single of the same era. The sound collage morsels 'Satan Is Boring' and 'Echo Canyon' are your cue to begin moving toward the exit and get out while you can." |
2022 |
€26.00 |
|
| SONOLOGYST |
Phantoms |
CD |
https://sonologyst.bandcamp.com/album/phantoms
Voices of children in a park, people playing a handball game, dogs barking, a man talking of philosophy, a demon lurking in a dark corner. Dreamlike mental landscape of nonsensical memories, a metamorphic passage from the blackness, the shadows of a lost beauty. Everything frozen in the stillness of phantom recordings.
Recordings by SONOLOGYST
Sound Design, Turntables, Trumpet, Azzax, Voice.
"The previous release by Raffaele Pezzella, also known as Sonologyst had "Silencers, usually
known as Men In Black" as a sort of theme (see Vital Weekly 1134). I'm not sure if there is an
overall thematic approach on 'Phantoms', other than some ghostly activity. Originally inspired by modern classical composers (Stockhausen, Henry, Ferrari, Subotnick, Nono, Pousseur,
Parmegiani and Maderna), Sonologyst's music has not much to do with that, certainly not on
this new one. The previous sounded a bit more improvised than before, with a violin playing an
important role, here the sound sources are "turntables, trumpet, azzax (which is an "electrified cymbal that I play with wooden or Plexiglas sticks”), voice and sound design". I recognized some of the turntables already, with its crackling sounds, but it has not the meaning lead. Like before, Sonologyst music has a great soundtrack-like quality to it, and this time it is the phantom in the attic movie. The voice (by Pezzella? By others? I don't know) doesn't sing or speak, but it is rather more along the lines of making sounds that have emotions; crying or shouting, but in a controlled manner, and it is not featured in all pieces. The music has a sort of improvised feel to it, again, but these recordings have been overlaid, edited, and are presented as collages of sound. In that way,
it owes to the world of musique concrete, perhaps also because of the vinyl used and what seems to be field recordings, and less to the world of improvised music, as found on his previous release. In these pieces, he offers quite some variety and in each of them, he explores the sounds in a fine collage form. The music is not shy for a bit of noise here and there and it that respect owes to the world of classic industrial music, but Sonologyst is capable of keep matters interesting and above
all varied." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
––– Address: https://sonologyst.bandcamp.com/ |
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Interdimensional |
CD |
The new Sonologyst album, Interdimensional, explores the paraphysical dimension of cosmic music. It completes the dilation process of his sound, which began with the albums Silencers (CSR 253CD, 2018) and Ancient Death Cults And Beliefs (CSR 270CD, 2020), forming an ideal trilogy inspired by what is beyond the boundaries of science. Interdimensional is inspired by the scientist Michio Kaku who theorized what could be the remote future of the human species, beyond matter, the stars, and known dimensions. A future that could lead you to the victory over the end of everything, beyond the foreseen and inevitable death of the universe known to us. Also, a cosmic record in terms of sound, Interdimensional is pervaded by a sense of stasis reminiscent of Thomas Köner's isolationist electronics, but still characterized by the use of electrified instruments, analog synthesizers, and recordings of resonant metal objects. Unlike the previous records, however, the typical dark experimental/post-industrial sound of Sonologyst is filtered through hazy warping reverberations, and infinite delays, which musically depict the intergalactic journey of a civilization in search of a possible future beyond death.
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/interdimensional-csr305cd
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| SONS OF GOD |
Proclamation |
CD |
"The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great - and for destroying those who destroy the earth." [credits]
www.fireworkedition.com
|
1996 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
The Object |
CD |
"The Sons of God, who serve the aims of civil defence and whose motto is to instil strength and courage and who have previously conducted investigations into materials and media, within the realm of the psyche as well as the social, have now taken it upon themselves to investigate "the object" using the means at their disposal. With the aid of a diaphragm in the shape of a 130-by-200-millimetre piece of sheet iron and microphones taken from the mouthpieces of Swedish Army telephones dating from the period in question, we will search the boat and, applying the methods of analogue telephony with regard to electromagnetism and its effects on matter, attempt to extract "locked", "frozen" or "dormant" information from the complex interior of "the object". A condensed version of the results of our investigation is presented on this CD release. Anyone who listens to and partakes of it will be placed in the same position as we were in our work on "the object", perhaps only with a change of perspective. We are therefore pleased to pass on the material, in the hope that new layers will be discovered and other information extracted." [label info]
www.fireworkedition.com
|
1999 |
€13.00 |
|
| SONS OF GOD & MATS GUSTAFSSON |
Reception |
CD |
"The Sons of God: 32 amplified iron plates. Mats Gustafsson: live electronics. Recorded by Olof Madsen on the 5th of March 2006 at Frgfabriken, Stockholm, Sweden. Reception was a sound installation at Frgfabriken (February 18 - March 5, 2006). by the Sons of God and Emanuel Swedenborg and a part of the festival Place and Space, Stockholm New Music. The festival was curated by Magnus Haglund and Magnus Andersson. During the installation period, the following guest-artists were invited for performances and concerts : Mats Gustafsson, Per Jonsson, Anna Koch, Nora Kvassman, Lotta Melin, Lise-Lotte Norelius, Daniel Rozenhall, Amit Sen, Wenche Sundsrud and Pr Thörn." [label info]
www.fireworkedition.com
"Work by The Sons Of God is somewhere in between composition, performance and installation. Lots of their released output relates to performances and installations and 'Reception' is no different. This particular work involves no less than thirty-two amplified iron plates set up at Fargfabriken, Stockholm in 2006 and on the night of March 5th 2006 a concert was held with Mats Gustafsson providing live electronics. An almost fifty-four minute work of loud noise. One vague rumble of… what exactly? Thirty-two iron plates you might say, which sound like crashing, cascading storm and on top we have Gustafsson's electronics wailing more about. Think Merzbow, but then without any development or change, save for a slow building up, to an orgasmic height and then quickly taking matters to a logical conclusion. Almost like a very noisy storm, almost like ambient music taken to a very (il)logical conclusion. To confuse matters even more there is a whole text about a 18th century writer Emanuel Swedenborg about heaven and hell, and how that influenced the work of The Sons Of God. You can read that and contemplate about it when listening to the music, although I am sure it will not shed a brighter light on one or the other. I thought of the whole package as quite fascinating, but then I always admire such consistent conceptual ideas." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| SONTARAN EXPERIMENT |
same |
CD |
"Eine aurale Verwüstung: Debütalbum der britischen Experimental-Metaller: Die Noise-, Grind- und Experimentalband um Paul Catten (Lazarus Blackstar, Murder One, This Is Menace, Medulla Nocte) stellt mit "The Sontaran Experiment" ihr Debütalbum vor. Die Gruppe aus dem südenglischen Ross-on-Wye betreibt damit eine aurale Verwüstung: drei Songs in 58 Minuten, die einen dazu zwingen, alles zu überdenken, was man über experimentelle Musik gelernt hat. Dazu kombinieren sie Doom mit Geräuschkollagen, unheimliche Stimmen mit von der Klassik inspirierten Sätzen, experimentelles weißes Rauschen mit Noise-Schnipsel, Psychedelia mit der Wildheit des Metal. "The Sontaran Experiment" schickt den Hörer auf eine Reise durch Myriaden musikalischer Erfahrungen und herausragender Kreativität. In Großbritannien tourte das Quartett bereits mit Gallhammer (Peaceville) und erhielt hervorragende Kritiken. Für Fans von: Fantomas, Melvins, Sunn 0))), Mike Patton, ASVA, Guapo oder Burning Witch." [label info / Indigo]
www.undergroove.co.uk
|
2008 |
€16.00 |
|
| SOPHIA |
Unclean |
CD |
New opus from Sweden’s Industrial Ambient project from Peter Bjärgö (Arcana). Bringing together some of the original collaborators which were featured on earlier albums, Per Ählund, Stefan Eriksson and Ia Bjärgö, “Unclean” is again an outstanding piece of sonic force. Pounding percussions, commanding vocal parts and expanding ambient passages all merge to give us and absorbing, diverse and forward thinking journey. “Unclean” is an excursion into the folly of man’s self destructive tendencies, with a slight hope of a possible awakening before the last gasp is taken.
www.cycliclaw.com
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| SORIAH |
Chao Organica in A Minor |
CD |
Kontemplation pur von diesem obskuren Künstler! Orgel-Oberton-Drones und gutturale Gesänge, esoterisch & spirituell, aufgenommen in einer Kirche in Portland.
“Like a bolt from the blue, the saccharine rich organ drone sets the supper for this winding piece of esoterica. Take equal parts Messiaen organ atones and the beguiling, echoed baritone moans of a disembodied spirit (with just a dash of pungent myrrh pouring over a cup of the very thickest Turkish coffee) and the environs of Soriah are partially breached. This magnificent choral suite for antique church organ is paired with a second vocal suite for Tuvan throat singing. The bone trembling multi-timbres of Soriah's commanding throat singing crack open and become a cathedral as the rumbling is pulled through a wash of electronic effects. Of chaos is a new religion erected. Soriah's crushing passion play becomes a bombastic bodhisattva that leaves all average messiahs staying indoors for the second coming. Also sprach Soriah! For fans of drone, Mirror, Coleclough, Af Ursin and avant-garde that stands the test of time.
From out of the fir-lined mists of the Pacific Northwest's primordial musical soup is spawned the singular performance and sound sculptor Soriah. Spilling initially from a rock and roll womb, but building on years of intensive studies in Tuvan throat singing and classical Indian raga chanting, Soriah both subverts and elevates tradition by weaving the avant-garde into the ancient. Whether backed by hand percussion, or accompanying himself on organ, or with electronics, or wailing a cappella, a thick, echoing, thaumaturgic atmosphere is carved out of the thin, vibrating air that rushes between vocal chords. Performance is an integral part of Soriah's Choa-sphere. Concerts played in haunted tunnels, from trees, in the desert, in churches and other far-flung venues are more the rule than the exception. Elaborate costumes, often incorporating authentic head-dresses and other tribal garments and totems, are another hallmark. The costumes are worn partly in beatific reverence and partly for the sake of how they move. Soriah's grounding in the study of butoh, yoga and other physically based rituals completes the circle of the experimental shaman; a circle which will continue to propagate as the only constant with Soriah is change. After numerous home and hand made releases Soriah is finally poised to light out into the world at large through his first recording on Beta-lactam Ring Records.” [label press release]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| SOSTRAH TINNITUS |
Caravanserraglio |
CD-R |
Hinter SOSTRAH TINNITUS steckt der italienische Maler & Musiker MARIO COSTA, der hier ebenfalls (wie kürzlich öfter festgestellt werden konnte) eine sehr breitgefächerte “experimental ambience” anbietet, die schwerlich einem bestimmten Genre zugeordnet werden kann. Soundquellen speisen sich aus Feldaufnahmen, selbstgespielten Drone-Electronics, konkreten Instrumenten oder Objekten (wie Steinen, Muscheln, Metall), und alten low-fi Tapes. „Konkret“ erzeugte Klänge und elektronisch manipulierte stehen hier also gleichberechtigt nebeneinander, wenn auf 7 Stücken alles zu sinnlichen dreamscapes vermengt wird, die nicht einschläfern, sondern sensibilisieren....
Sensual dreamscapes that don’t lull you in but sensitize, from the italian painter & musician MARIO COSTA aka SOSTRAH TINNITUS, based on all kinds of sound-sources (field rec., selfplayed drone electronics, concrete instruments or objects like stones, shells, metal, and old low-fi tapes); following a kind of recent “trend” of a very broad “experimental ambience” that can’t be put into a certain genre. Great sounding and very carefully created stuff....
|
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| SOUND |
Screaming Zenith |
do-LP |
Wieder “weird stuff” auf beta-lactam: ein US-Projekt mit düster-schwülstigen, elektronisch-psychedelischen, oder verspielt-experimentellen Stücken (bei dem auch Viola und Sitar zum Einsatz kommen), gratwandern sie zwischen Irrsinn und Ernst bzw. lassen den Hörer im unklaren, ob er das nun gut finden soll oder nicht....und das sexuell-dadaesk-explizite Cover passt zu der Musik eigentlich überhaupt nicht. Das ganze im Vollfarbklappcover, Seite 4 ist mit Artwork beklebt, viele inserts.
“Cacophony plus catastrophe divided by calliope minus colostomy=crepe-noizette! Sound sound off like a delicious blend of fresh When and finely ground Aphex Twin mixed with just a dash of Pascal Comelade drool. 13 tracks of dark dementia sewn together as a quilt of mini symphonic diversions, embroidered with bits and bytes and twisted sub rhythms and the occasional driving breakbeat. Whimsical and dada-esque with solid musical foundations, this record can also stand as rightful heir to the likes of Didier Bocquet and early Ian Boddy in its sequenced charms. And let's not forget our Frog forebears Albert Marcoeur and Etron Fou Leloublan for that certain "je ne sais quoi" factor. Ah, And as if these were not enticements enough, the gorgeous full-colour artwork may just win you some free counceling sessions should it be seen in your possession by an upright citizen type. A capricious and captivating compendium that sustains the continued use of "C" descriptor words containing "P's" to describe it, saving of course for "crap," which this is never, though you may be compelled to do so when you see and hear how beautiful and odd this record is and becomes. Please to file in experimental...barring that, I should think that rock or electronic would be a fair second, or electronica just gone wrong! If you work at Tower, just steal it and order more later!!!!!!!! “ [press-release]
www.blrrecords.com |
2002 |
€15.00 |
|
| SOUND_00 + LEFTERNA |
Elementals: Collabs 2 |
CD |
After a series of collaborative publications on multiple experimental labels, the duo of Toni Dimitrov (Sound_00) & Boban Ristevski (Lefterna) finds its 'Elementals: Collabs 2' conceptual release on Winter-Light. 'Elementals: Collabs 2' is an ambient/experimental release of deep drone contemplations and ambient exploration, good for deep meditative and learning sessions.
'Elementals' gathers together selected collaborative works from the artists Sound_00 + Lefterna. All tracks have previously been released separately on compilations from the labels Fall Into Void, Post Global Recordings, HNM Recordings, AOsmosis and Crna Zemlja. For this release on our Winter-Light label, the tracks have been completely remastered by Cruel Sound Works, adding a richer, more distinctive warm feel to each piece.
Glass mastered CD comes in a 4-panel full colour digi pack. 7 tracks with a total running time of 77:23 mins.
winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/elementals-
collabs-2
"Quite some years ago, Sound_00, the musical project of Toni Dimitrov was an active force in the world of net labels and CDRs (this was before cassettes became hip again), but he disappeared for a while, for reasons I don’t know but I see his name popping up again and here he has seven pieces recorded in collaboration with Boban Ristevski, also known as Lefterna, and who, also many moons ago, wrote
reviews for this rag. Apparently they have been working together for some time now, and released
their work on compilations on such imprints as all Into Void, Post Global Recordings, HNM Recordings, AOsmosis and Crna Zemlja. Not that I heard any of these. This collection sees these pieces re-mastered by Cruel Sound Works, “adding a richer, more distinctive warm feel to each piece”. These are quite lengthy pieces of music, somewhere between seven and fifteen minutes, dealing with field recordings, processed and otherwise, and to which a bunch of electronics are added. There is a strong love for field
recordings that contain a lot of water, rain, running taps or river streams; that sort of thing. By way of processing and adding effects and electronics it comes out as a deep wash of atmospheric drone music.
I can’t say if these are now warmer than before, but they sound pretty much all right to these ears.
There is the dash of reverb, set to a cavernous setting to suggest that spooky touch, which is something that you can find on all these releases, by this label, and in general with this kind of music. This is music that one should undergo and feel, rather than rationalize about. Like many of the other isolationist
musicians it seems less about composing and more about letting sounds wander freely inside a bunch of sound effects but it becomes a very nice work indeed." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| SPECIAL INTERESTS (MAG) |
No. 9 |
mag |
SPECIAL INTERESTS #9
(June 2013)
B5/84 pages
Cover Artists
Coelho / Sektor 304
Essential albums
MK9
Prurient
Recommended books:
-MK9
-J.Jerman
Interviews:
– Jaakko Vanhala
– Sektor 304
– Das Synthetische Mischgewebe
– Pogrom
– Mikkel Rorbo (Alleypisser etc)
– Foetus
Live noise feature
with Haters, Con-Dom, Keränen + artwork by Tisbor
harsh noise 2013 feature
With The Rita, Being, Tourette, Developer, Alogirl.
Massive 84 pages B5 size issue!!! Interviews: Jaakko Vanhala. Sektor 304. Das Synthetische Mischgewebe. Pogrom. Mikkel Rorbo (Alleypisser. etc..). Foetus. Cover Artists: Coelho / Sektor 304 Essential albums feature with: MK9 and Prurient. Recommended books by MK9 and J.Jerman. Live noise feature with Haters. Con-Dom. Keränen. Harsh noise 2013 feature with The Rita. Being. Tourette. Developer. Alogirl. Reviews.
|
2013 |
€10.00 |
|
| SPECIMENS |
In the Dust of Idols |
LP |
‘In The Dust Of Idols’ is an album exploring mortality, Existentialism & the dread one can feel in the face of an apparently meaningless world. The journey you embark on when trying to create meaning where there is perhaps none. These initial senses of dread can be brought about by the insignificance you feel in the face of greatness (or perceived greatness), where others have seemingly found meaning and purpose in the face of your own wavering path. Often these can be expressed in grandness and can become historically significant human feats, the fact that they have stood the test of time can become in itself overwhelming when reflecting on your own journey. Whilst these moments in time may hold no specific meaning to you - despite their impressive nature - you are driven into senseless awe.
‘In The Dust Of Idols’ ties in this sense of wonderment coupled with the overarching dread you feel as you contemplate your own existence, where you fit into the significance of society and as Ruth Tallman quotes “the search for answers in an answerless world”.
“I wanted to create something dense & heavy. When you listen through, it makes you feel like it has the weight of time stitched into it” explains Ives. As well as expanding the range of instrumentation used on this, his second album, Ives also enlisted the talents of Cellist Charlotte de Burgh-Holder and experimentalist Joe Summers on the tracks “The Unread Library” and “Twisted Necks” which further adds to the dynamic depth and range on this record.
“Clarity was not my main objective, like an old piece of furniture covered in dust, you can tell what it is but the details are obscured, my ambition was to create a dense sonic backdrop, a representation of the confusion and insecurities we all can feel when questioning our existence - you know there should be answers but you can’t quite make out what they are”. It’s not all dark though and moments of optimism and cracks of light pepper the record giving enough hope to the listener to pursue questioning the unanswerable.
Accompanying the release of the record is a short film set to music from the album, produced and shot by photographer & director Lucie Rox. The film is a visual expression and representation of identity and the many ways this is challenged, perceived and adopted. Whilst taking forward the concepts explored throughout the album, the film looks to reduce the great vastness of confusion and self doubt put forward on the record & focus instead on a more intimate and personal perspective laid bare and shared by both director Lucie Rox & Specimens.
With a heavy focus on race & heritage of which both Specimens & Lucie are mixed - Caribbean & British / African & French respectively - the objective of the film is to show one of the many angles where an individual's search for meaning & identity can be expressed.
‘In The Dust Of Idols’ is released on November 30th 2018 as an international collaboration between SVS and First Terrace Records. Pressed on beautiful white & blue splattered vinyl with artwork from Australian painter Kieran Ingram and mastered by the legendary Lawrence English.
https://specimensmusic.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-dust-of-idols
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| SPHERULEUS |
Voyage |
CD |
"Voyage' is the latest album from Lincolnshire based sound designer Harry Towell. Released under his Spheruleus guise, this album utimately provides a soundtrack to a doomed sea-voyage. Through eight different movements, 'Voyage' chronicles everything from the immense pride felt as the ship sets sail to depicting the horror and heartache of its sinking. The album then closes with detailed passages that portray the decomposition of the ship as it begins to rot deep under sea.
This album is well researched with Harry having explored his chosen subject thoroughly. For the two years in which the album has been in the making, the young sound designer studied the history of great sea disasters and also took inspiration from soundtracks such as Gavin Bryars’ ‘The Sinking Of The Titanic’ and Gareth Hardwick's 'Of The Sea And Shore'. Although the Titantic's infamous fate was naturally a strong influence on the project, 'Voyage', does not refer to any particular sinking ship. Instead, its purpose is to sonically depict the various emotional aspects that lie within a failed sea voyage, as felt by all those who are affected by it.
Once the concept for 'Voyage' had been born, Harry revisited one of his old demos from early 2010 and decided to make this the spine of the album. He then used his instrument collection including; guitar, violin, trumpet, bugle, zither and keyboard to add several layers to the demo. In doing so Harry has been able to develop his chosen theme and create the character required to turn this forgotten treasure into the album it is today. As a poignant exaggeration of the events that unfold through the track 'She Sinks', there is a contribution from Russian pianist Alex Tiuniaev that opens and closes this dramatic track. He also performs on the track 'Clouds Swarm', as it heads into a crescendo.
Aside from his solo production work, Harry also records with brother Stuart under the name Paper Relics and runs the Audio Gourmet netlabel, which specialises in 15 minute EPs designed for shorter 'tea-break' listening. His work as Spheruleus has seen him release through netlabels such as Test Tube, Resting Bell, Earth Mantra, Audio Gourmet and in March 2010, his first physical album 'Frozen Quarters' was released on CD format by the Under The Spire imprint." [label info]
www.hibernate-recs.co.uk
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
The late Surge of Gold |
CD-R |
"The Late Surge of Gold is the work of British sound designer Harry Towell, under his Spheruleus moniker. Previous releases have graced labels such as Hibernate, Home Normal and Time Released Sound and collaborations that
have seen him work with the likes of Pleq and Ekca Liena. Harry also runs the Audio Gourmet netlabel and its new sister label Tessellate Recordings, which specialises in limited edition CDr releases. The Late Surge of Gold
was composed specifically for Analogpath, recorded during last year’s Indian Summer in the UK, a phenomenon in which the sun shines deep into autumn. This is an album which documents warm and hazy summer, the bright
sunshine that extends through autumn before eventually descending into the cold of winter. The sounds are a typical example of Spheruleus’ work, pooling together fragile acoustic recordings from the artist’s instrument
collection. They are joined by field recordings, static and subtle drones which amount to a lo-fi pastoral tale, unfolding the full spectrum of seasonal colours from the warmth of yellow and orange, fading slowly to
grey and darkness. Artwork by Johan Söderberg, except from the image which features a building. This was taken by Harry Towell on holiday in the Peak District at the height of the Indian Summer." [label info]
http://analogpath.com/main/ |
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| SPIEGEL, LAURIE |
Expanding Universe |
do-CD |
"The Expanding Universe is the classic 1980 debut album by composer and computer music pioneer Laurie Spiegel. The album is reissued here for the first time in a massively expanded two-CD set, containing all four original album tracks plus an additional 15 tracks from the same period, nearly all previously unreleased. Some of the already well-know works included in this set are Patchwork, the complete Appalachian Grove series, and Kepler's Harmony of the Worlds, which was included on the golden record launched on board the Voyager spacecraft. The pieces comprising The Expanding Universe combine slowly evolving textures with the emotional richness of intricate counterpoint, harmony, and complex rhythms (John Fahey and J. S. Bach are both cited as major influences in the original cover's notes), all built of electronic sounds. These works, often grouped with those of Terry Riley, Phil Glass, Steve Reich, differ in their much shorter, clear forms. Composed and realized between 1974 and 1977 on the GROOVE system developed by Max Mathews and F.R. Moore at Bell Laboratories, the pieces on this album were far ahead of their time both in musical content and in how they were made. Each of the included works broke new ground, pioneering completely new methods of live interaction with computer-based logic - ways of creating music that are now reaching the heights of their popularity with Ableton Live, Max
MSP and other interactive music software entering mainstream music production. The package also includes an extensive 24-page booklet with notes by Laurie Spiegel and period photos." [label info]
www.unseenworlds.net
"And yet again does Unseen Worlds provide us with something Unheard, at least over here. From the world of minimal and electronic music they find those interesting gems that are from really rare releases - of the kind you don't even see on the most outsider/underground blogs. I never heard of Laurie Spiegel or her album from 1980 on Philo Records. We are dealing here with some highly computerized music from a time when computer where not things for your desk or your lap, but apparatus that filled rooms. Its all told in the booklet, albeit with a lot of technical speak that perhaps sometimes may elude the uninitiated. But the whole text breathes 'another time, another world', even if you don't understand what it is all about. It is about limitation with those early big computers to create music, and perhaps that's the real surprise if you hear it. Take for instance a piece like 'Drums', which sounds like Pan Sonic or Goem, with a bouncing back and forth rhythm. The booklet tells us, about these pieces, that Spiegel has a folk influence, but that's hard to hear (well, that, or more inside knowledge is required). In other pieces there is perhaps something that we would call these days 'cosmic music'. Spiegel's music is not of a plink-plink nature that one perhaps would associate early computers with. Instead she plays long form, sustaining pieces, which slowly develop. Now, here she is clearly been influenced by the world of minimal music. Various of her pieces start out with with a bouncing single note which slowly expand - 'get longer' - and then starts to build slowly. The length of a piece is usually five to ten minutes with some being well over that, such as the title piece which is close to thirty minutes (which was also pressed in this length onto vinyl, so a CD version is more than welcome, I should think). No doubt with some of this music one could easily think its too simple and with my laptop running live you could easily do the same results in a few minutes, but I prefer to take the historical position: wow, with such limitations, these results! Spiegel's discography is rather small, and this double CD contains the entire debut LP, various pieces from later works (such as 'Drums' and 'Appalachian Grove I-III'), but also many pieces that are here for the first time. I can imagine that close to three hours of this music is perhaps all bit much to take in, but this is yet another remarkable re-issue on Unseen Worlds. Boy, what a great label so far, what surprises they have next for us?" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
The Expanding Universe |
3 x LP |
The Expanding Universe is the 1980 debut album by computer music pioneer Laurie Spiegel. The original album is reissued here as a massively expanded 3LP/2CD set, all four original album tracks plus an additional 15 tracks from the same time period, many making their first appearance on vinyl in this brand new edition. Since this album's first CD reissue in 2012, it has gone on to be widely established as a classic of 20th century electronic music. Some of the well-loved works included in this set are "Patchwork", the "Appalachian Grove" series, "East River Dawn" and "Kepler's Harmony of the Worlds", which was included on the Golden Record launched on board the Voyager spacecraft. The pieces comprising The Expanding Universe combine slowly evolving textures with the emotional richness of intricate counterpoint, harmony, and complex rhythms (John Fahey and J. S. Bach are both cited as major influences in the original cover's notes), all built of electronic sounds using the GROOVE system at Bell Laboratories during the 1970s.
https://unseenworlds.bandcamp.com/album/the-expanding-universe
|
2019 |
€42.00 |
|
| SPIRACLE |
Ananta |
do-CD |
"Hitoshi Kojo (aks Spiracle) professes to have some difficulties in falling asleep. When sleep comes to him, it can often arrive at dawn, when the colors of the sun begin to break through the darkness of night and when some are just rising after their own good night's sleep. Ananta is a twin set of compositions that urge the listener toward a dreamless sleep-state, while reflecting the glowing warmth of a blossoming sunrise. In constructing the two variations of Ananta, Kojo began with finely tuned drones extracted from a Dilruba and a Sarangi, and applied a process of merging sympathetic field recordings and other tonal interferences alongside those instrumental sounds. The resulting pieces are elliptically static drone compositions that brightly shimmer with hues of gold, crimson, and aquamarine.
One of the two variations of Ananta was published back in 2006 as a micro-edition CDR through Mystery Sea. In composing the Mystery Sea version, Kojo purposefully eschewed the representational sounds of the "Night Ocean Drones" espoused by the label, opting for these aforementioned concepts. On this piece of tiny churning textures streaming along a linear path, Kojo's piece nearly achieves infinity, which happens to be the translation from Sanskrit of "ananta." While other works from Kojo enjoy the darkly elegant arches found in select recordings from Organum and Lawrence English, the Mystery Sea Version of Ananta fits more of the tradition of the Roland Kayn, Yoshi Wada, and Charlemagne Palestine in constructing pieces which require endurance, lest you succumb to Kojo's audio hypnosis. The Strato Version of Ananta is a previously unreleased composition, that bends and undulates around a fundamental drone, all the while still maintaining the sun-flecked glints magnified in the Mystery Sea version. Limited to 300 copies."[label info]
www.helenscarsdale.com
"We missed out completely on the Ananta cd-r that Spiracle first released through the Mystery Sea label a few years back. It was limited to 100 copies and quickly disappeared, much to our chagrin. Fortunately, Helen Scarsdale in her sage wisdom has just reissued that static drone opus with a second disc that reworks the original material while keeping the same intent.
Hitoshi Kojo is man behind Spiracle, having wandered from his native Japan to Central Europe where he's been collaborating with the likes of Michael Northam, Maurizio Bianchi, John Grzinich, and Murmer. Much of his work deals with acoustic drone construction, with some of his records taking up the mantle of beautiful tactile noises like those generated by Organum, Jonathan Coleclough, and Andrew Chalk. Ananta, now presented as a double disc, is an album with a purpose; or at least it has a purpose for Kojo as he's one who has trouble falling asleep. So he composed this album as a narcotizing agent to lull him into a deep sleep. But this is also a man who is a night owl, so the time when he's usually falling asleep is when the sun is just beginning to rise. So for this composition, Kojo tuned his drones to match the ruby reds and golden yellows of daybreak. The Mystery Sea Version of Ananta is a linear construct of softened static with wisps of sustained tones spiralling in and out of the mix. The composition shimmers along this focused path with few variations, reflecting a rigor of process much like the champions of minimalism (e.g. Charlemagne Palestine, Roland Kayn, Yoshi Wada) but with a delicate approach found in the likes of Stars Of The Lid. The Strato Version found on the other disc smoothes out the static into a rich undulating surface of warm golden tones, that could easily be an ambient lullaby to accompany a daydream whilst napping at the beach. So, so beautiful!
The Helen Scarsdale reissue does increase the distribution of this disc, although not by much... there's only 300 of these beauties kicking around!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
| SPK (S.P.K.) |
Live at the Crypt / London - April 25 1981 |
CD |
S.P.K. Live at the Crypt / London in 1981!
For the first time on CD, This is an authorised re-edition of the very first album by the band which was released as a tape on STERILE Records (the label run by Nigel Ayers / Nocturnal Emissions) in 1981.
Sounds on this CD was re-mastered by Nigel Ayers from the original tapes.
SPK was one of the very first "Industrial" projects, formed in 1978 by Greame Revell in Sydney - Australia.
SPK together with THROBBING GRISTLE, CABARET VOLTAIRE and few others gave birth to what is today known as Industrial music and this live album is to be considered an early industrial era document of primary value.
cutting (open), gashing, slashing, tearing, ripping, mangling, mutilation, maiming, mauling, scratching, scraping, grazing, incision, splitting, cleaving, hacking, stabbing, tearing apart, butchery, savaging, wounding, injury, damaging, slit, puncture, score, lesion, trauma…
One of SPK’s dominant themes in 1981 was EVISCERATION - removal of organs / disembowelment. The live performances and dokuments at the time were some of the first anywhere to include medical visuals of this type, collected by myself and Dominik Guerin. Credit must go to Foetus Productions for advice on some sources and to the Viennese body artists for inspiration. But while admitting that the discovery of these images and the actual medical specimens provoked fascination (as it did for audiences) the metaphorical connection with first Artaud and later Deleuze’s work was of utmost importance.
I spoke at the time of an apparent fascination with dissection and display - how these specimens were more strange works of art: hyper-sexual Ballardian exercises in cutting, scoring and shaping (sculpture) than creating any seriously useful educational tool. Heads floating and staring unseeing into time’s abyss, forever tattooed with the signature of their creator. But the greatest influence was Deleuze and Guattari's thought, the term ‘body without organs’ describing an undifferentiated, un-hierarchical realm that lies deeper than the world of appearances. Every actual body has a limited set of traits, habits, movements, affects. But it also has a virtual dimension: a vast reservoir of potential traits, connections, affects, movements, etc. The full body without organs is "schizophrenia as a clinical entity" (Anti-Oedipus). To create a body without organs is to actively experiment with oneself, through body alteration, art, or even madness, to draw out and activate these virtual potentials.
From the very beginning the SPK project had been about LACERATING all the accepted norms of artistic production. Laceration is a wound that is produced by the tearing of soft body tissue. It is a lesion, frequently irregular and jagged, that is often contaminated with bacteria and debris from whatever weapon caused the cut. The idea was to disembowel the organs from the body of production (music as it had previously existed) and enable the fluid transmissions manifesting as ‘noise’ to flow unhindered. The body without organs was also described as "howling", speaking a "language without articulation" that had more to do with the primal act of making sound than it did with communicating specific words. By the excision of language and the overloading of information beyond the ability to draw predictable reactions - a certain lobotomisation of habit occurred that we allowed to be contaminated. Information as Viral introgression - again: splicing, incision and mutation.
The body without organs is ‘permeated by unformed, unstable matters, by flows in all directions, by free intensities or nomadic singularities, by mad or transitory particles’ (A Thousand Plateaus). That is, we usually think of the world as composed of relatively stable entities ("bodies," beings). But these bodies are really composed of sets of flows moving at various speeds (even the land as very slow-moving flows; living things as flows of biological material through developmental systems; language as flows of information). This fluid substratum contains the revolutionary impulse to undercut; to tear apart in order to disseminate rhizomatically, subterraneally and then to heal or reconstruct in a different and perhaps better way.
It was a strategy undertaken with the full knowledge that power, both from without and within, inscribed deeply into the social brain, will inevitably be brought to bear…
‘When you will have made him a body without organs,
then you will have delivered him from all his automatic reactions
and restored him to his true freedom.’
Antonin Artaud: To Have Done with the Judgment of God (1947)
§ GREAME REVELL (May 2019)
Show Line-up:
- Greame Revell
- Dominic Guerin
- Mike Wilkins
Tracklist:
01. Berufsverbot
02. Emanation machine R.Gie 1916
03. Stammheim Torturkammer
Ground Zero: Infinity Dose
Serenace
"John"
04. Victim
|
2019 |
€15.00 |
|
| SPOONBENDER 1.1.1. |
Stereo Telepathy Academy |
CD |
Die Zahl 3, Synchronizität, Telepathie, David Cronenberg, „Third Mind“-Technik: San Francisco’s SPOONBENDER 1.1.1 ist eher ein Projekt zur Erforschung parapsychischer Phänomene als eine reine Musikgruppe.
Hier enthalten ein 40 minütiger one-tracker mit elektronischen Sounds & Film-Text-Schnipseln, der ein Experiment dokumentiert, das auf Burroughs / Gysins – Third Mind-Technik basiert, wo zwei Filmquellen miteinander verbunden werden, die eigentlich nichts miteinander zu tun haben, um synchronizitäre Verbindungen herzustellen. Nummerierte Auflage von 333 Stück, und bereits weg beim Label !
“Spoonbender 1.1.1’s Stereo Telepathy Academy is fucking mental. And essential. Truly alien, Truly progressive, and likely to be misunderstood by all but the committed. A true classic on par with COILANS and NWW’s Soliloquy For Lilith. I’ve listened to it obsessively for weeks, and i’m afraid to go near this whilst on drugs! DEEP AND ESSENTIAL!..” [UKDave, KFJC Reviews]
“In 1913, Marcel Duchamp dropped three pieces of string, each a meter long, from a height equal to their length. He then cut shapes into pieces of wood in order to document the rumpled line of his three fallen strings. In essence, Duchamp conceived his 3 Standard Stoppages as a preservation of chance, which he viewed as a means to combat logical reality. In addition to Duchamp's self-proclaimed antipathy to the rational world, he was quite particular in how he contextualized and executed his ideas through readymade objects, chance operations, and his notorious psycho-sexually charged dioramas. It is this dualism between the chance operation and an absolute intellectual/technical control which brings us to the present age, and to Spoonbender 1.1.1 in particular, where the acceptance and integration of opposites results in the 3rd option: everything.
The San Francisco-based Spoonbender 1.1.1 outlines itself as the 'tele-ambient dream self' of the critically-acclaimed, 'populist avant-tronics and media group' I Am Spoonbender. It is important to note that Spoonbender 1.1.1 declares itself not a side project of I Am Spoonbender, but a psychologically immersive extension of the central IAS concept. Both projects uncover the hidden connections that lie beneath the surface of reality by delving into the arenas of paranormal research - the exploration of the occult significance surrounding the number 3 and its strange laws, for example - but the intended outcomes for these concepts are decidedly different. For Stereo Telepathy Academy, Spoonbender 1.1.1 exercises psychic community through the architecture of the soundtrack.
At the beginning of the first transmission of Stereo Telepathy Academy on November 3rd, 2004 - a performance where the group supported Genesis P-Orridge's PTV3 - 1.1.1's Dustin Donaldson announced that "tonight's Spoonbender 1.1.1 show is governed by chance operations and the 'third mind' technique. Spoken text was taken from one film, overlayed onto images from another film, and the score was composed while viewing a third (and secret) film source. The synchronistic results appear to be intentional." Such was the strategy of Duchamp's aforementioned piece nearly a century ago; but Spoonbender 1.1.1's collision of artforms also employs the technique found in the William S.
Burroughs / Brion Gyson classic The Third Mind. As the images of David Cronenberg's rarely seen film Crimes Of The Future flickered, Spoonbender 1.1.1 radiated an inverted telekinetic minimalism of undulating tones supporting the third piece of the puzzle: spoken text from Cronenberg's Stereo, a faux-documentary detailing a surgical procedure for the advancement of telepathic communication. The result is a sort of Wizard Of Oz / Dark Side Of The Moon for the mimetic engineering mindset.
The same principles and elements apply for Stereo Telepathy Academy, the group's long-awaited debut studio recording (1.1.1 has existed solely as a live group for years). This marks the second of three editions to be released. The first was an edition of 111, documenting the aforementioned live performance; the second is this edition of 333, sporting handsomely letterpressed artwork; the third and final edition will be a unique art piece in an edition of a mere 3 copies.” [label notes]
"Edition 2 (studio version) of the Spoonbender 1.1.1 Stereo Telepathy Academy trilogy...
Simply put, this is a weird-as-hell, warped, late night, difficult-listening 'trip' for all you aQers looking for truly strange atmospheres... Okay, first things first; Spoonbender 1.1.1 is not a side-project of I Am Spoonbender. The duo of Dustin Donaldson and Cup consider Spoonbender 1.1.1 to be a self-contained project that ventures outside the 'populist avant-tronics' of I Am Spoonbender into the realms of sidereal soundtrack music, the transmission of ideas through subliminal means, manifestations of 'third mind' techniques, and the non-logic of chance operations. Not so different on paper, but put another way: there are no drums, singing, or 'songs' in the 1.1.1 project. The material for Stereo Telepathy Academy was debuted during a live performance in which Spoonbender 1.1.1 performed with (appropriately enough) Psychic TV; however, for the second edition of Stereo Telepathy Academy, Spoonbender 1.1.1 recomposed all of the material in the studio -- expanding and elaborating on their live performance, and making for a distinctly new and different listening experience that stand on its own with or without the visual accompaniment. That said, as in the first edition, Stereo Telepathy Academy features "text taken from one film, overlaid on images from another, and the audio score was written around a different, third film... the results appear to be intentional" for a sort of 'Wizard Of Oz/Dark Side Of The Moon' for telekinetics.
The J.G. Ballard-esque text was taken from David Cronenberg's 1969 student film 'Stereo', a faux-documentary detailing the work of a Dr. Luther Stringfellow, which concerns surgical procedures for the advancement of telepathic communication, while the visuals came from 'Crimes Of The Future' (another Cronenberg film, which transpires in an urban dystopia populated by pedophiles and oozing victims from a female-eliminating cosmetics related catastrophe). As creepy and sterile as the images were, we have to say that its Canadian-ness was positively charming, somehow. In their score, Spoonbender 1.1.1 lunges ominously forward with an otherworldly radiance of slow motion electronic pulses and melodies that retain an even darker hue than that of Klaus Schulze, Coil (e.g. Coilans / Time Machines), and Alan Splet, who are probably Spoonbender 1.1.1's closest sonic neighbors. Given the nature of their intense, masterfully detailed sea of electric sound, Spoonbender 1.1.1 hedged their bets that Cronenberg's pseudo-scientific spoken text would situate nicely against their audio. And indeed, this freakish document of prepared-chance context, atmosphere and appropriation works exceptionally well.
PLEASE NOTE: In keeping with the numerological-binding-of-3 theme, there will be 3 released versions of Stereo Telepathy Academy, all with different packaging. The first version arrived as a cd-r edition of 111 copies sporting a white glove as an allusion to 'Crimes Of The Future' (now out of print). This is the second edition, a proper disc that comes with letterpressed artwork in an edition of 333. The final edition will be in an edition of only 3 copies!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| SRH |
Telomer[e] |
LP |
listen: https://klanggold.bandcamp.com/album/telomer-e
Sascha Rosemarie Höfer — telomer[e]
Höfer uses different sound sources and recording processes. One of his focus points is the collection of sounds and noises, which he predominantly records analogue and very rudimentary on tape, various voice recorders and microphones he holds dear. Höfer is collecting sounds indoors or in the field. Usually en passant.
“I like to listen if something interesting catches my ear, but not obsessively. I collect sounds, when I feel like it, not because a certain sound may be extraordinarily exquisite, making me want to trace it. I would regard that as a disruption of the moment, something I generally want to avoid.” says Höfer.
Sascha Rosemarie Höfer’s album telomere[e] breaks with his works of previous years. It took longer to complete, is devoid of conceptual and artistically developed ideas. Rather, it presents the process of metamorphosis: dieback, segmentation, recombination, exploration, ageing and rejuvenation, thus mimicking the language of biology.
telomer[e] took three years to complete, a time during which the different pieces underwent various ecdyses, during which ideas developed and unravelled, explored different stylistic directions and once again dissolved, until first fusions emerged. Fusions Höfer picked up to shape the musical segments into something larger than themselves, finally developing pieces for piano he later merged with the different sounds. The result: telomer[e] as presented on this album.
“It is important for me to create a musical representation of the space where I am recording the music. Not least because it carries a central momentum, which I consider as a fundamental element that may not be excluded. The result often sounds rough and lo-fi-esque.” says Höfer.
telomer[e] is captivating due to its contrasts, it is playful, harmonic and atonal, creating a glamorous homogeneity, despite — or because of — these musically antagonistic efforts. Höfer brings the sounds to life, he nudges them into a conversation until they are fusing, but without losing their immediacy. If you are expecting it to be easy on your ears, you’re out of luck.
Written and produced by srh. Recorded, arranged and mixed by srh.
Instruments: piano, modulated guitars, drones, fieldrecordings, dictaphones, glockenspiel, analogue synths, digital and analogue processing.
Trumpet on “TTACCC” arranged by srh, played by Marco Stubbemann; voicesample on “TAAACC” and clattering on various tracks by Mathilde Schoenmakers.
Cover photography by Melanie Schoenmakers; design: Andreas Usenbenz; mastered by Fabian Tormin [plätlin mastering].
translated by www.tommibrem.de
|
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
| SRMEIXNER (STEPHEN MEIXNER) |
A Silent War |
CD |
Artist: srmeixner
Product Title: A silent war
Format: CD
Cat no: BRCD 21-1018 / CDROT097
Release Date: October 2021
Style: Abstract, Experimental Electronics, Ambient
Black Rose Recordings and Oxidisation present the new album from Stephen Meixner (Contrastate). Initial inspiration for this project came from the 1980s recycling projects such as “Captured Music” and “Destruct”, both released on the Selektion label who described recycling as “a procedure concentrating on materials already existing on their own or as separate sources as a practical base for further reworkings”. As the project was progressing news was sent across the world of the death of George Floyd whilst in police custody. Sadly, not a new phenomenon, but a repeat of past events highlighting the unfinished business of needing to change the future. I decided to incorporate the events into the initial theme using words and specific references to carry on a dialogue that interacts with the re-interpretations of previous sound sources. It has been said that we cannot tackle the past by re-writing it. Maybe we can.
This releases features contributions from Ralf Wehowsky (rlw/P16 D4), Steve Pittis (Band of Pain), Jonathan Grieve and Stephen J Pomeroy (Contrastate), Leyden Jars, Adrian Morris, Lee Pomeroy and Simon Wray.
"There must be something in the air. Two weeks ago, I reviewed three releases from Howard Stelzer. He worked with sound material fellow musicians mailed him, which in return was based on Stelzer's primary sound material. I mentioned P16.D4's 'Distruct' (Vital Weekly 863), from 1984, which worked along similar lines. The same record is mentioned on the cover here (though misspelt as 'Destruct'), along with 'Captured Music', which also worked with the recycling of sound, more specific live recordings from a festival of the same name. Stephen Meixner, one-third of Contrastate, does have a similar approach here. He received sound material from his Contrastate buddies
Jonathan Grieve and Stephen J Pomeroy and also from Ralf Wehowsky (one of the leading players of P16.D4), Steve Pittis (Band Of Pain), Leyden Jars, Adrian Morris, Lee Pomeroy and Simon Wray. I don't know these last four. Meixner added the death of George Floyd as part of the narrative in the music, something that P16.D4 would not have done, staying away from overtly political messages. The message is not really in your face (whether good or bad, I leave it up to you). There is vocals/text in only a few pieces here, such as in a 'cover' of Nina Simone's 'Singing About Revolution'. Musicwise, Meixner doesn't copy the musique concrète approach of P16.D4 too much, even when the studio-as-instrument' method is present here. The results are pretty different for Meixner. The sounds are part of the overall composition, working from one idea and making it a 'song' rather than a cut-up or collage. Some sounds are used as guiding lights for a piece via sample/loop, and then Meixner spins the
rest around. In 'Unfinished Business', this is indeed a more collage-like form, but n 'We Demand Tomorrow (Or Business A Usual)', the percussion is the glue that holds drones and electronics together. Meixner has an excellent ear to make the right connections between this disparate sound material. It makes a fine homogenous album with subtle variations. Most of the time, I had no idea this was from various unrelated sources, which I would think is a great thing. This is quite different from the recent Stelzer albums, with both of them using friends' sounds as starting points." (FdW)
––– Address: blackroserecordings@yahoo.co.uk
"This is the work of Stephen Meixner, who is also a member of Contrastate as well as the man behind Black Rose Recordings. This disk was a direct response to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. As the artist states, “Sadly, not a new phenomenon, but a repeat of past events highlighting the unfinished business of needing to change the future. I decided to incorporate the events into the initial theme using words and specific references to carry on a dialogue that interacts with the re-interpretations of previous sound sources.” That said, let’s dive into the music and see what this sounds like.
This is kind of an odd album. The opening track, A Silent War,” features heavily processed vocals and synth drone with snippets of beat and other random noises thrown about. You can only make out bits and pieces of the vocals, such as “the police were called” that give this track a disconcerting feeling. It's ominous without being heavy-handed. Next up is “Breathe,” which is particularly unsettling with its constant incantation of “I can't breathe” and “please let me up, I can't breathe.” The subject of this track is unmistakable with its origin in Eric Garner’s murder, which then led to “I can't breathe” becoming a rallying cry within the Black Lives Matter movement. What makes it interesting is the almost mechanical way that he keeps intoning “I can't breathe,” almost as if you're listening to a public service announcement or something in an airport where they're saying that you must stay to the right. The disconnect makes this track work particularly well. “Virtue Signaling” is a synth drone composition with bits of beat drum beats thrown in randomly. It's noisy, but never quite descends into noise. One thing that makes this fun is that you can tell this intentional. This isn't a “stick a brick on a synthesizer and make drone music” composition. This is composed and well put together. “Unfinished Business” is some peaceful, mellow drone, but even here there are bits of grinding metal noise. “We Demand Tomorrow (Or Business As Usual)” keeps this feeling going with additional bits of sound that sounds like a growing mixed with metal xylophone or pipes and heavily distorted voice like listening to a radio station between stations.
Finally, we have a short piece, “Singing About Revolution,” with lyrics by Nina Simone. But in this version, imagine that someone watched 27 hours of Schoolhouse Rock, smoked a ton of hash, and then decided that they were going to recreate one of the videos, but a little different with hallucinogenic vocals. Solid.
Overall, this is an interesting disc and well worth checking out." [Chain DLK]
"Stephen Meixner of Contrastate has been recording and releasing music under this solo guise for many years now and generally speaking it involves a more abstract and darkly experimental sound than that of the main project (yet some indirectly similar sonic threads too can be noted too). With reference to this latest work the liner notes highlight A Silent War had its nexus in 2020 UK Covid lockdowns and was intended as a working basis for further recordings, but obviously evolved into this standalone work. Likewise, the liner notes provide further detail on the working methodology, which was inspired by 1980’s recycling projects and involved recontextualising sound sources contributed by close associates. Six tracks make up A Silent War which includes an element of social commentary but is which is also not overtly emphasised. This is weaved within the crisply refined electronics which slot neatly under a ‘dark ambient / experimental / post-industrial soundscape’ descriptor.
The title track opens the album exudes a performance art angle, which is mostly due to the tone provided by manipulated spoken word vocals, while the minimal shimmering soundscape is occasionally interrupted with moments of melodic percussive strikes. Breathe continues and is framed around multiple electric to semi-orchestral drones coupled with a centrally placed jittery tonal texture, while further vocal cuts up referencing the track title and its thematic aspect. The instrumental track Virtue Signalling brings more interweaving melancholic drones but also includes a wonky pitch-shifting tonal framework blended with vague mechanical rhythmic elements and other manipulated tones (piano note stabs perhaps?). In maintaining the prevailing sonic theme the minimalist but incessant plodding pulse of Unfinished Business characterises the first segments before shifting off into melancholic drone territory with fragile tonal respite. We Demand Tomorrow (or business as usual) slightly differs, given it contains some forceful electricity-toned textures, while late in the track it morphs into musically playful and percussive-driven elements. As for the final track Singing About Revolution, it is a short two-minute cut and the oddest and surreal offering of the lot, to the point of being quite jarring against the tone of the balance of the album (and therefore well-positioned at the album’s conclusion). Here there is a clear nod to Contrastrate thanks to vocals provided by Jonathan Grieve, and notable the lyrics are credited to Nina Simone to close the thematic loop.
A six-panel double gatefold cover with extensive liner notes rounds out the packaging of an expertly crafted yet equally understated album of experimental ambient & post-industrial sonics." [Noise Receptor] |
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
| SRMEIXNER / BAND OF PAIN |
Texture. Montage. Sequence / Tripping in Q |
7inch |
Filigrane Split-Single des CONTRASTATE Mitglieds (der summende Drones & subliminale Harmonien mit einer Reihe von feinen Natur field recordings verbindet), und BAND OF PAIN (ruhige Synths werden behutsam bearbeitet) auf weissem Vinyl.
"A split single release on white vinyl, limited to 250, with black and white artwork printed on 120 gram tracing paper from these two well known and respected projects. This is a cinematic and inspiring musical journey which combines beautiful ambience interspersed with haunting atmospheres with each artist creating a distinctive, yet complimentary, electro-acoustic soundscape." [label info]
"This little beast I played at least ten times before even starting to think about the review. Was it that great? Well, no, not because of that, but rather the format of a 7" with 'difficult' music is hard to capture. Both SRMeixner and Band Of Pain are known for a long time inside the world of experimental music. On side A we fin Meixner, former member of Contrastate, with a piece that involves sea washes and processed bird/insect/frog sounds, along with sparse music (piano? guitar?), heavily layered. Quite an intimate piece of music.
Steve Pittis, also known as Band Of Pain, on the other side, has a likewise intimate piece of music. Sparse, drone like sounds and tape/vinyl-manipulation interjecting the music. Quite a musique concrete like piece, one that we haven't seen him doing before. More peaceful than before. For both of these pieces goes, that they are too short to give a solid opinion about, and both cry for more. Great, but way too short." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2007 |
€7.00 |
|
| SSHE RETINA STIMULANTS |
Ket Sueki No Eiga |
CD |
SRS-Album from 1996 with a sexually overdriven biotech-noise journey, where bodily functions, molecular structures and acoustic vibrations emerge into something new. This is piercing electronic power-ambience, raw & electronic & quite ecstatic! Ex- SIGILLUM S !
|
1996 |
€12.00 |
|
| STABAT MORS |
Ich bin so wild nach deinem Erdbeermund (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
“STABAT MORS is the name of an amazing noise-project from Germany, which always works grounded on certain thematical concepts or philosophical ideas. The name of the group is derived from “Stabat Mater” – Passion Music. This EP uses an autobiographic text from Klaus Kinski, the legendary “daemonic” actor, as inspiration, “to transform his greed for life musically”. We find here two pieces (named “Die Frau des Direktors” and “Krepiert”) with minimal elements. Piercing, low feedback functions as main drone-source, other elements are: repeated metal-feedback-sounds, low analogue noise-drones below, a female voice in the background citing Kinski, and a totally distorted accordeon....
The whole creates a fragmented atmosphere, not really loud, but attacking the nerves, sounding like a wild animal shortly before he explodes.... Filed under: grinding love-drones. RED VINYL. HANDPAINTED COVERS WITH GLARING RED/WHITE DESIGN” [press release]
|
2004 |
€6.50 |
|
| STAHLWERK 9 |
The Grey Ghost |
CD |
"CD in 4-side-digipack, limited to 350 copies. A masterpiece of black industrial and dark ambient mixed with hard and pulsating rhythms. The Grey Ghost is a psychotic soundtrack for your worst nightmares, directly crawling into your subconscious. Stahlwerk 9's first new album since 5 years!" [label info]
www.steinklang-records.at
|
2012 |
€12.50 |
|
| STANISZEWSKI, JACEK |
Zawstydzajacy Dar |
CD |
"Jacek Staniszewski came across to my attention long time ago with Polycephal label releases as Facial Index and a bit earlier as a member of Neurobot collective.
His deconstructive, cut-ups and micro-landscapes of glitchy tissues were refreshing back then in the noughties and still somehow evoke this down-to-earth attitude of a interdisciplinary erudite with dry sense of humour.
He released this cd 3 years ago with Lumberton Trading Company.
With a cover of getting more and more critically acclaimed Aleksandra Waliszewska whose horror like scenes from the symbolism infused life of daily monstrosity are interesting introduction to the complexed perplexity of Jacek's musical collages.
The minimalistic sobbering electronics that is as much individualistic as it can be where you feel a tunnel of post-techno sensitivity as well as musique concrete puts you straight into position of attention.
There are razor sharp arguments to feel this way - it's a non verbal statement of an elusive power where a hidden echo of animalistic transgression from understanding humanism towards something more sophisticated and even cynical of sorts fist punch of sense to the face of shallow postmodern conceptualism. It has the energy of punk but not in terms of dynamics or agression. It brings you back to the basics of the sound, the crude matter that can be edited, reduced all over again and can put you in shame how far it can go." [Felt Hat Reviews] |
2016 |
€12.00 |
|
| STAR TURBINE |
Sandwich Music |
CD-R |
ACLE 1010: CD-R in folded cardboard sleeve, limited edition of 50 copies
The improvising duo of Claus Poulsen and Sindre Bjerga are back on attenuation circuit with a new album. It retains the combination of electroacoustic drones and the percussive possibilities of amplified objects, but adds some surprising new elements that create a truly colourful mosaic of sounds.
The playful element that characterises this album and that sets it apart from more moody, somewhat “darker” releases by Star Turbine, is exemplified by the sample of Martin Klapper playing toys and amplified objects in Part 2. This not only expands the range of available sound sources, but also changes the pace of the improvisation from a duo to a trio situation, with the two live players having to work with the sounds from the recorded third player.
File under: Improvisation, ambient
www.attenuationcircuit.de
"This trio of new releases on Attenuation Circuit kicks off with Star Turbine, the ongoing duo of Sindre Bjerga and Clous Poulsen (the latter also from Small Things On Sundays); as such they tour Europe infrequently and do releases on CDR. On the 'Sandwich Music' release they receive help from Martin Klapper playing toys and amplified objects in the middle of the third tracks. From both of their solo releases and perhaps their other collaborations as well, we know they love long stretched sounds, electronic hands-on manipulation of sounds, played in a improvised way, and somehow a bit lo-fi also. On this release we find three pieces of which the opening piece is the longest. All of their pieces are relatively long and take their time to develop a bit; or not, whatever they feel like doing. Sometimes the 'no-development' scheme is part of whatever it is that they are doing. Especially in the second piece - with Klapper - it seems to be an endless stream of sounds, rather than a deliberate composition. It works well, especially since they use lots of sound effects, which sort of smears it all together and suggests space and atmosphere, where it perhaps is not always there. For whatever they do, they do with some style and dark elegance." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€8.00 |
|
| |
White Lines across the Void |
MC |
"Living bric-a-brac pulls itself together clicking like raw peas. Cadets Sindre Bjerga and Claus Poulsen jointly tweak various close-miked micro-sounds to flood into your gracious ear ‘oles and master the erotic squeal of leather rubbed with a moistened finger. At one moment the intense pressure waves promise to painfully stretch those ear drums tight; in another a junk-yard gamelan made of tin cans and string ‘poing’ and ‘ping’ with off-camera heavy breathing. The art of meta-sound-collage-improvisation presented with heavily perfumed panache.
Sindre Bjerga (Norway) has released over 100 records of his deeply personal take on that drone chestnut across our world. Claus Poulsen’s (Denmark) Sci-Fi electronics grace the great Small Things on Sundays and an increasingly weighty slew of solo and small-group interventions." [label info]
www.discombobulaterecords.com
|
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| STARGAZER'S ASSISTANT |
Mirrors & Tides, Shivers & Voids |
CD |
"Eyes closed, ears wide open, we are given freedom to dream the void. Sweeping, intricate, sometimes ominous yet always exuding a warmth and depth of emotion, The Stargazer’s Assistant produces pure cinema of sound. For this record David J. Smith (Guapo) is joined by Circle vocalist Mika Rättö’, who sings on the heartbreaking “Coral Butterfly”. David also had the honour of playing the late Finnish jazz drummer Edward Vesala’s Sound & Fury collection of unique metal percussion. Ancient forests, vast plains, billowing clouds, rusted metal hulks, wet rock walls, light flickering in dark: these are the subtle visions of The Stargazer’s Assistant.
Originally released on Utech Records in 2013 as a double 10” vinyl this recording is now available for the first time on CD.
David J. Smith, perhaps best known as the band leader & drummer of avant garde rock group Guapo, formed The Stargazer’s Assistant in 2007. Originally a solo recording project set up to provide soundtracks for his work as a visual artist, it has since grown to encompass live concerts and collaborations with film makers and performance artists. The group is at present a trio comprising: David J. Knight (Danielle Dax, Lydia Lunch) with whom Smith also performs in the group UnicaZürn (together with Stephen Thrower - Coil, Cyclobe) and Michael J. York (Coil, Cyclobe, Teleplasmiste). Smith & York have collaborated since working together from 2012 in the live incarnation of Stephen Thrower and Ossian Brown’s group Cyclobe. 2018 saw the latest release Resurgam I, Resurgam II on House Of Mythology (the follow up to their 2016 debut for the label - the double LP Remoteness Of Light). Smith is currently working on a film for the Resurgam pieces with artist Maurice Burns.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/mirrors-tides-shivers-voids |
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| STELLAMARA |
Star of the Sea |
CD |
"We simply never tire of the hauntingly elegant Star ot the Sea by Stellamara. Sonja Drakulich's rich, siren-like vocals are paired with stately, reverential beats, and an exceptionally rare mood is established as a result—one both seductive and solemn. This album draws on the most arcane and ancient melodies from 13th and 15th century Galacia, Croatia, and Persia, and makes them relevant and engaging. "Zephyrus" is an incredible track, as is "Immrama"—an almost incomprehensibly subtle medieval Irish song concerning a hero's sea journey to the Otherworld. "Stellamara cut directly to the devotional essence of music." [SF Weekly] |
1998 |
€10.00 |
|
| STELZER, HOWARD |
How To |
CD |
New material from the master cassette manipulator Howard Stelzer. "How To" is 46 minutes of collage ranging from drones to harsh noise. Not to be missed for any fan of Stelzers work.
Mastered by James Plotkin and art by Lasse Marhaug.
If your not familiar with Mr. Stelzer here is what TinyMixTapes.com has to say about him.
"Don’t let the disappearance of his label Intransitive Recordings fool you; Howard Stelzer has kept himself as busy as ever. The New York-born tape manipulator may no longer have an outlet of his own, but even before closing Intransitive Recordings down back in 2012, he had been releasing albums pretty much everywhere. He has recently announced a new album on Phage Tapes, How To, which follows the still-fresh Narrow Escape and At Ease, a collaboration with Joe Bastardo.
Active since the mid-90s, Stelzer has made cassette tapes his trademark platform to craft complex collages of noise, found sounds, and synthetic textures. Yet he is best known as an all-around devotee of tape as a medium, collecting hundreds of cassettes, writing about sound art and tape culture, and curating an amazingly ambitious catalog of experimental music for Intransitive Recordings. Based in Boston and active for over a decade, the label released music by Jason Lescalleet, Nerve Net Noise, Jason Talbot, C. Spencer Yeh, and Brume, among many others. Nevertheless, it would be unforgivable to overlook 1998’s Bond Inlets, Stelzer’s crowning achievement; an album where he was able to pick the inherent limitations of consumer-grade tapes apart, laying out a foreboding work of rare emotional power."
https://phagetapes.miiduu.com/howard-stelzer-quothow-toquot-cd
|
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| STELZER, HOWARD & FRANS DE WAARD |
Pink Pearl |
CD |
"Composed in Lowell MA (USA) and Nijmegen (NL) by HS and FdW, 2011-2012. All sounds were extracted from live, studio and mail collaborations 2002-2011. Cover photography by Ashley Stelzer. Cover design by Mirt. Mastering by SEC_. Frans de Waard (1965) has been producing music since 1984. First as Kapotte Muziek, but throughout the years, he also worked as Beequeen (with Freek Kinkelaar), Goem (with Roel Meelkop & Peter Duimelinks, both of whom are also a member of Kapotte Muziek these days), Zebra (with Roel Meelkop) and such solo projects as Freiband, Shifts as well as his own name. He played various solo concerts as Goem-FDW in Japan, as part of a package tour with Pan Sonic. Frans de Waard also likes to play sets of improvised music with whoever is available, just as he did with people like Guiseppe Ielasi, Jaap Blonk, Howard Stelzer, Roel Meelkop, Andrew Liles, Radboud Mens and the mayor of his home city Nijmegen. In 2008 film maker Harrie Timmermans made a small documentary about his work with Kapotte Muziek under the title 'What You See Is What You Hear'. He has given workshops and lectures at various places, such as Extrapool, the art academy of Maastricht en 's-Hertogenbosch, the Glinka Conservatorium in Moscow and Lithuania. With Scott Foust he formed the duo The Tobacconists in 2009 and with Wouter Jaspers the duo Ezdanitoff in 2010. Howard Stelzer has been active as a composer and performer of electronic music since 1992. His music exploits the unique sonic and physical qualities of cassette tapes and tape players: gritty hiss, the squeal and hum of cheap motors taxed until (and sometimes well beyond) their breaking point, amplified plastic clatter, and play speed altered by pressure from fingers applied to the tapes' reels. Early work was stubbornly low fidelity, with awkward pauses and jarring a-musical transitions assembled roughly into rather linear collages. Stelzer's music has evolved over the years, and now seems to sit still for longer durations. Tapes and cassette artifacts are densely layered, treated, layered some more, thrown into a bin and shaken up, then smoothed back out into pleasantly boring stasis with lots of sharp tacks buried within. Stelzer ran the Intransitive Recordings label from 1997 until 2012." [label info]
www.bocianrecords.com
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| STELZER, HOWARD & JASON TALBOT |
Songs |
CD |
„Intransitive Recordings is proud to present the long-awaited debut CD by Howard Stelzer and Jason Talbot. "Songs" contains eight concise pieces of electro-acoustic music created from cassette tapes and a single turntable. Since the duo's inception on 1999, they have worked toward developing a unified, improvisatory sonic language by approaching their machines in a decidedly instrumental manner. For their first album, Stelzer & Talbot take inspiration from artists such as Schimpfluch-Gruppe, P16.D4, SBOTHI, as well as musique concrete and contemporary free improvisation, arriving at a voice entirely their own. The duo's music demonstrates a raw passion and energy, anchored by tense silences.
Stelzer and Talbot have toured extensively, collaborating with artists as diverse as Kevin Drumm, Martin Tetreault, Haco, Gert-Jan Prins, Keith Fullerton Whitman/Hrvatski, Roel Meelkop, Le Quan Ninh, nmperign, Christian Renou/Brume, Brendan Murray, Brent Gutzeit, Jack Wright, Ron Lessard, and Jason Lescalleet. In addition, Stelzer has performed with Axel Doerner, Jos Smolders, Jerome Noetinger, Lionel Marchetti, James Coleman, and Andrea Neumann, and is a member of Bhob Rainey's large ensemble the BSC, whose first CD is forthcoming on Grob this summer. Stelzer runs the Intransitive Recordings label, and Talbot the Kissy Records label. They live in Boston, Massachusetts.” [press-release]
|
2003 |
€7.50 |
|
| STERN, JOEL & MICHAEL NORTHAM |
Wormwood |
CD |
Collaboration of our beloved “concrete etheral ambience” performer MICHAEL NORTHAM with the (for us)unknown JOEL STERN. They mix: “found objects, prepared instruments, electronics, feedback systems, environmental recordings” on five pieces for a stunning result ! Open your ears and listen to magical natural sounds objects.....
"The five wormwood pieces are taken from a single recording session which happened late at night, in a loungeroom borrowed from friends, at petticoat lane, East London, on dec 29th 2002. Michael had only just arrived fresh / weary from his explorations in Malta, Joel was preparing to leave London after 3 years and return home to Australia. The music, in all its abstraction, reflects this transitory moment of shared sensibility and open exchange between two people heading in opposite directions. + found objects, prepared instruments, electronics, feedback systems, environmental recordings." [label info]
|
2004 |
€12.00 |
|
| STETSON, COLIN |
New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges |
CD |
"Colin Stetson is a horn player of uncommon strength, skill and genre-defying creativity. He composes and performs otherworldly songs that combine a mastery of circular breathing technique with percussive valve-work and reed vocalisations, making a polyphonic solo music that combines influences as diverse as Bach, early metal, American pre-war Gospel, and the explorations of Jimi Hendrix, Peter Brotzman and Albert Ayler. Colin has been making his mark as a staggering solo performer for several years now, in front of audiences small and large, from intimate jazz and experimental music venues to big stages, whether opening for Arcade Fire or The National, or playing at jazz and new music festivals like Moers and London Jazz. His talents have been widely recognised and employed by artists as diverse as Tom Waits, Laurie Anderson, TV On The Radio and Bon Iver; he also plays in Bell Orchestre and Sway Machinery.
Stetson's live solo performances are absolutely stunning and uncategorisable and he conveys a commensurate intensity and iconoclasm on this new studio album of original material. New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges is Stetson's second solo record and his first for Constellation.
Stetson is able to weave an uninterrupted flow of arpeggiated swirls and chordal progressions while simultaneously singing yearning melodic lines through the reed of his horn – a technically powerful combination, exponentially intensified by Colin's innate sense of pace, phrasing and trajectory. Stetson approaches his solo work with one foot firmly rooted in a pop sensibility, harmonically and in terms of overall song structure – a sensibility on fine display in longer pieces like "Judges", "The Stars In His Head (Dark Lights Remix)" , "Clothed In The Skin Of The Dead" and "Fear Of The Unknown And The Blazing Sun". He can paint short, ecstatic spirals of rapid-fire ostinati that move through the entire range of the instrument, full of subtle rhythmic shifts and filigree, as with "The Righteous Wrath Of An Honourable Man", "From No Part Of Me Could I Summon A Voice" and "A Dream Of Water", all of which clock in at the 2-3 minute range (and the last of which features a spoken word vocal by Laurie Anderson). Colin can also shred, especially when rallying the full force of the bass saxophone, whether in the foghorn blasts that open the album or the gasping syncopated pulse of "Red Horse (Judges II)". The seamless, steamy, multi-timbral drone that underpins Shara Worden's guest vocal on "Lord I Just Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes" demonstrates another side of Colin's mastery and sensibility.
The music on New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges was captured entirely live in single takes at Montréal's Hotel2Tango studio, with no overdubs or looping, using over 20 mics positioned close and far throughout the live room. Guest vocals by Laurie Anderson and Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) are the only exceptions to this rule, along with one brief french horn that was multi-tracked.
The Judges sessions were co-produced by Stetson and Shahzad Ismaily and engineered by Efrim Menuck at the Hotel2Tango, then taken to Greenhouse Studios in Reykjavik and mixed by Ben Frost, the critically acclaimed experimental electronic/ambient composer and producer whose shared influences of minimalism, noise and black metal made him the perfect choice for a bold and unconventional approach to the raw material. Frost pushes and pans different mic signals to the fore from song to song (and within songs), eliciting a cornucopia of details and extremes in Colin's playing and highlighting the complexity of sounds generated by a single horn in Stetson's hands. Rhythms are formed by clicking keys, minute textures are brought forward by running ambient mics extremely hot, and low end is at times pushed fully into the red to devastating effect. Mastering by Mell Dettmer provides the final touch.
The result is a highly original, experimental, euphoric record that fires on all levels: a document of an astoundingly strong and gifted player; a compositional tour-de-force; and a studio production bursting with intensity and inventiveness." [label info]
www.cstrecords.com
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
| STIEBLER, ERNSTALBRECHT |
Kanon / Torsi |
LP |
"Ernstalbrecht Stiebler (b. 1934) is a German composer of minimalist and reductionist contemporary music. His name is still most closely associated with his long-time position as radio editor and producer for New Music at the Hessian Broadcasting Corporation (Hessischer Rundfunk), but his own compositional oeuvre – beginning in 1955 and continuing until now – has in the recent years attracted more attention with various concerts and several releases.
Having attended the Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music from 1958 onwards, Stiebler decided in 1963 to leave serial music behind and instead opt for his own reductionist style built on minimalist structures and repetitions, though not in any way related to the so-called Minimal Music but rather influenced by Minimalism in visual art. In terms of composers of his time, the closest stylistic relationship that could be drawn is that to Morton Feldman. Stiebler's approach is best summarized in his own words: "Music is too important to burden it with emotions."
This LP pairs two organ-based works: "Kanon" (1980) for organ, electric organ and wind instruments, and "Torsi" (2002) for organ in three movements: "Torso", "Organa minima" and "Cantus". The latter recording, made at St. Stephen's Church in Konstanz (organ: Hans-Peter Schulz), was previously released on CD by m=minimal. "Kanon" is so far unreleased. Edition of 300 in gate-fold sleeve including an extensive interview conducted by Jens Strüver about Stiebler's compositional views and techniques."
www.edition-telemark.de
|
2017 |
€20.00 |
|
| STIEBLER, ERNSTALBRECHT / VARIOUS ARTISTS |
Reworks |
LP |
Frank Bretschneider, Bérangère Maximin, Jasmine Guffond, Phonosphere, and Kammerflimmer Kollektief celebrate Ernstalbrecht Stiebler's 85th birthday with exclusive reworks of compositions by the German minimalist composer. Ernstalbrecht Stiebler (born March 29th, 1934) is one of the first German composers involved with minimalism and ranks among the pioneers of reductive, repetitive, sound-oriented music. Although honored with several prizes (e.g. the "Bach-Preis der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg"), up to the current day only true connoisseurs of contemporary music are familiar with his oeuvre. On the occasion of his 85th anniversary this year, Karlrecords launches a series of albums with original pieces by Stiebler who besides his compositional work served as director for new music at Hessischer Rundfunk for over 25 years (where he supervised recordings of Morton Feldman, John Cage, Alvin Lucier, Giacinto Scelsi, amongst others) and published numerous essays in Musik-Konzepte, MusikTexte, and other music journals. The new Stiebler series, however, kicks off with Reworks -- five artists from different musical backgrounds present their approach to and understanding of Stiebler's minimalist aesthetics for which he cites "sonority, rhythm, and duration" as his three principal compositional concerns. Mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin. 180 gram vinyl; includes download code.
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| STOA |
Silmand |
CD |
Seelenmonat. Viertes Album der Neo-Klassik / Sakral-Ambient / Mittelalter-Folk Pop-Band und Mitbegründer des "Heavenly Voices"-Genres, hier mit Verstärkung von Mitgliedern von LOVE IS COLDER THAN DEATH und CLAN OF XYMOX. 13 Stücke voller dunkel-romantischer Momente, musikalisch hochwertig arrangiert & von erhabener & fragiler Schönheit, zudem scheinen die meisten Instrumente original eingespielt zu werden. Melancholische Streicher sind omnipräsent, emotionaler geht es kaum !
"The first new sign from STOA in 7 years! Fans will be happy that the STOA mastermind stays true to himself with his fourth album. Besides the usual melancholy, unusual pop rhythms found their way on the various albums, but the typical STOA sound is still distinct. The vocal lines harbour some surprises as well. For once theres the angelic voice of singer Mandy Bernhardts, known from the live performances of the band; on the other hand, the voices of three guest singers sound on Silmand. The first voice belongs to the Australian multi-instrumentalist Louisa John Krol. The Dutchman Peter Nooten (Ex-Clan of Xymox) could be engaged for Silmand as well as the Leipzig-based Ralf Jehnert (Love is Colder than Death)." [label info]
"For lovers of melancholic music, it probably doesn't get much better than Silmand." [Heathen Harvest]
www.darkdimensions.de
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
| STOLLERY, PETE |
Un son peut en cacher un autre |
DVD-A |
"Onset-Offset (1996). Peel (1997). Shioum (1994). Altered Images (1995). Shortstuff (1993). ABZ-A (1998). Vox Magna (2003).
When I first became involved in electroacoustic music, I was fascinated with the way that technology could allow the composer to work directly with sound, in a similar way to how a sculptor or potter works with his-her materials. The ability to manipulate material at this basic level is a central aspect of my music and this can be seen most obviously from pieces which are concerned with the interplay between the meanings associated with sounds and these sounds as pure sonic material, divorced from any mimetic connotation. There is little in my music which can be likened to broad brush-work - attention to detail and the exact positioning of sound objects within composed space is of the utmost importance to me. This allows the listener to become aware of the intrinsic qualities of the sounds themselves, and how they behave. There are many uses of, and references to, real-world sounds in the pieces on this disc; the key in the lock opening the door at the beginning of Onset-Offset is, on one level, metaphorical, but at the same time, provides an opportunity for the listener to enjoy the spectro-morphological behaviour of this gesture. Playing with the potential ambiguities of listening is central to all these pieces; a door slides open to reveal a new sound space, but at the same time, the listener dwells on the texture and shape of that slide; a street scene is recognised initially, but with the subtle inclusion of other sounds, and gradually mutates into the unrecognisable - the boundaries between what is known and what is unknown become blurred. A roulette wheel is stretched and the outer surface peeled back to reveal new sounds beyond.'
Pete Stollery studied composition with Jonty Harrison at the University of Birmingham, where he was one of the first members of BEAST (Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre) in the early '80s. He now composes almost exclusively in the electroacoustic medium, particularly acousmatic music. He has collaborated with practitioners from other artistic disciplines, particularly dance and sculpture and has produced music and sound design for a number of UK visitor attractions including Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh, Magna in Rotherham and St Patrick's World in Downpatrick (Northern Ireland). He is Reader in Composition and Electroacoustic Music and Director of the Electroacoustic Music Studio at the University of Aberdeen (Scotland), delivering courses on the creative applications of technology in music and music education to students, schoolchildren and the general public. He is a board member of Sonic Arts Network (SAN), the national organisation promoting electroacoustic music in the UK, which he chaired in 1996-99 and again in 2002-03. In 1996, along with Alistair MacDonald, Robert Dow and Simon Atkinson, he established the group invisiblEARts whose aim is to perform acousmatic music throughout Scotland and to promote Scottish acousmatic music to a wider audience, both within Scotland and abroad." [label info / credits]
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
| STOREY, ROBIN & DEAD VOICES ON AIR |
With an Ear and a Why |
7inch |
"03. is a collaboration with fellow Reformed Faction member Robin Storey under the name, “With a Why and an Ear.” Robin and Mark first played together in the late eighties in Zoviet-France. Later Robin formed Rapoon and has released many albums. He continues to collaborate extensively. With Spybey he has released four Reformed Faction albums, with others in the pipeline. Robin is a gifted visual artist and his works appear in numerous collections worldwide." [label info]
www.touretterecords.com
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| STRAFE F.R. (STRAFE FÜR REBELLION) |
The Bird was stolen |
CD |
"Based in Düsseldorf, Germany, Strafe F.R. is a long-term collaboration between the artists Bernd Kastner and S. M. Syniuga, which started in 1979. After a long period of hibernation, The Bird Was Stolen marks their return to Touch following four previous releases in the 80s and early 90s.
From their early connection with the local punk and new wave scene, centered around the Ratinger Hof in Düsseldorf, Strafe went on to develop a unique and influential form of sound sculpture that pioneered the use of field recordings alongside home-made instruments and the use of the studio as a performance space.
A new track, ‘Virgin’, which appeared on the recent Touch Movements CD/book, gave an early indication that they are back at the peak of their powers. The Bird Was Stolen presents 14 new compositions that push the signature sound of Strafe F.R."
|
2018 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Shadow Position |
LP |
"There are 4 tracks, 4 different windows to look out from our studio in Düsseldorf into the street and their different layers of sound.
4 horizons, 4 spy holes in the door, 4 eyes and 4 shopping windows. 4 landscapes.
Witness the electric city and the power house. Strafe F.R. is sitting inside the fuse box. The electric chirp of the night. The socket in which we sleep. The dog comes, in order to devour Strafe F.R. First he eats the rebellion and next he bites the Strafe.
The house and the body, both are earthed and the veins are vibrating. Between the 3rd and the 4th hour of the morning we enter the realm of insomnia. You fly by not using an airplane.
An old woman is cleaning the door bells with her own spittle. The old man is distilling schnaps in his back garden. The swimmers are gliding through the day on top of a greasy film. The reception is a flare into seconds until it fades away into noise again. The kettle drum gives the rhythm of breathing, the bass determines the time. You stumble forward, forward into the next day.
From our window we see a public building where there exists a toilet, its porcelain shows the most beautiful craquele fissures. There is an historic poster of Lenin. It is fixed on a garden fence in the landscape and the stinging nettles grow over it softly swinging in the wind.
There are shadows but there is also brightness, this means there are complementary colours and contrasts, movements and reflection until there is stillness. We see the back-breeding of cattle in the Neanderthal age and at the same time we look into the large heating room of an art museum, where we observe tubes and their upstream pressure regulators.
All sounds and music instruments recorded by Strafe F.R. – Bernd Kastner, Siegfried M. Syniuga. “Shadow Position” was mixed by Rasmus Zschoch. “Nachtmaschine”, “Every Day XXL” and “Isabella B.” were mixed by Strafe F.R. at Strafe studio in 2019 / Düsseldorf. Thanks to Detlef Klepsch for additional technical support. Female vocal by Anna Nettra."
https://strafefr.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-position
|
2020 |
€20.50 |
|
| |
Octagon Sphere |
LP |
New album Octagon Sphere by avantgarde veterans Strafe F.R.
The new album Octagon Sphere by Duesseldorf duo Strafe F.R. comprises of four pieces recorded in 2020 and 2021 at the group's own studio. The work features heavily treated female vocals and includes rhythmic patterns and electronic sounds contributed by Detlef Klepsch (of the group keit). The overall atmosphere is tense and moody, both dark and uplifting at the same time. Octagon Sphere was mastered by Kai Blankenberg at Skyline Tonfabrik.
Octagon Sphere is the sister release to last year's CD Soundless Sphere – both albums are tied together by rhythmic alchemy and sound manipulation in highest detail.
credits
released January 8, 2023
All songs recorded by Strafe F.R.
Strafe Für Rebellion is Bernd Kastner and Siegfried M. Syniuga.
Photography/Design: Jon Wozencroft
|
2023 |
€18.50 |
|
| STRATVM TERROR |
This is my own Hell |
CD |
"The return in late 2008 of Peter Andersson (Raison D'etre, Necrophorus etc) and Tobias Larsson (Ocean chief) after a long silence.
"This is my Own Hell" is over an hour of darkest, bleakest industrial. Spanning minimalist dark ambience to doomed industrial passages. Stratvm Terror portrays an absolutely hopeless atmosphere of pure desolation.
credits
released December 17, 2008
All torments by Peter Andersson & Tobias Larsson.
Paintings by Mia Mäkilä.
Released as a collaboration with Existence Establishment (existest.org)." [label info]
reversealignment.bandcamp.com
Some seriously bleak death industrial from Peter Andersson (of Raison D’etre) along with his partner in sonic crime Tobias Larsson. Long tracks that rumble and hum, grind and throb. The slow build of opener “Now Ever Sleep...” sets the stage with a terrifying suffocating creepy-crawl that manages to build in intensity without building in volume, it’s like a black hole getting blacker, with greyed swaths of hiss and swirls of crumbling shimmer, underpinned by distant death drums, stunning and harrowing.
The rest of the album manages to up the intensity even more, splintering at times into bursts of caustic, near metallic brutality, with sheets of grinding noise, heaving machinelike swells, super processed vokills, a swirling morass of sonic miserablism. But those moments are balanced by hushed passages of tranquil ambience, and long stretches of what sounds like air conditioners and heating units and the mundane sound of city life, blurred and smeared into blackened streaks and muted rhythmic pulsations.(Aquarius Rec) |
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Love me tender or I will cause Pain |
CD |
Now they are back after 15 years with their new assault: 'Love me tender, or I will cause Pain'.Stratvm Terror had just gone underground, hiding for their next terrorising attack. But no, that would have been too easy.
Rumoured said there will be no more albums and the project is dead.§
Massive layers of corrosive darkness with occasional injections of ominous noise sounds and claustrophobic vocals makes this an utterly end-of-life experience.This album is filled with seven oppressive and depressive weird obscurities to ease or cause you pain, depending on your inclinations.
With 'Love me tender, or I will cause Pain' the project celebrates their 30 years anniversary with no happiness, only sweet pain. They started the band in 1993 and released a great number of albums in the late 90's and early 00's, on Old Europa Cafe, to finally take a longer break around 2008.The Swedish doom ambient industrial noise project Stratvm Terror consists of doom metal guru Tobias Larsson (Ocean Chief) and dark ambient master Peter Andersson (raison d'être).
Mastering and Layout by Peter Andersson 2023.
https://raisondetre.bandcamp.com/album/love-me-tender-or-i-will-cause-pain
|
2023 |
€14.00 |
|
| STRIGAE |
Drift |
MC |
Limited cassette edition of 50 copies. Four tracks with a running time of 20 minutes
On a routine salvage mission, the crew discovers a strange artifact floating in the void. Battered as it is by radiation and microparticles, some of its contents are recoverable; grainy, beautiful images of a distant black-and-blue world. Endless oceans. In the distance, a huge ship sulks in the rain.
Then, the view climbs, ascending a delicate elevator along the hull. We walk through endless grey corridors. In the distance, machines hum, doors open and close, but we don’t see signs of any other passengers. We are alone.
What distant world is this?
https://chryptus.bandcamp.com/album/drift
|
2017 |
€6.00 |
|
| STRINGS OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
same |
LP |
"A collaboration between ANGEL (Ilpo Väisäinen (Pan Sonic), Dirk Dresselhaus (SchneiderTM), Hildur Dudnadottir (Mum/Stilluppsteypa etc.) and STRINGS OF CONSCIOUSNESS (Philippe Petit (BiP_HOp etc.), Mark Beazly (Rothko), Raphaelle Rinaudo ( Pierre Yves Mace Ensemble), Nicholas Dick (Kill The Thrill)). The whole sound project redesigns with fluidity a certain form of contemporary noise. It is quite both warm and delicate, away from the traditional noisy tempest attached to this musical genre. However, you have to embark on a musical voyage to allow this noisy delicacy slowly make its way into your body instead of violently exploding onto your face. The more attention you'll bestow on that record, the more unsuspected new paths you'll be invited to wander about. An intricacte and imaginative soundtrack with several layers of sound, gathering both organic and sonic elements to assemble a post-industrial sound structure. The latter will give life to a noisy magma where unexpected clicks stumble over interferences, where digital accidents happen and where drones, acoustic resonance fill the space in time. A multitude of digital notes will slowly stretch to reach a dark-grey chaos, a pure and clean big bang echoing and calling lost sound memories." [label info]
"... On both pieces, the rough coating on the sound forms is very reminiscent of Pan Sonic’s own experimentations, but the context is somewhat different here, and the resulting work draws upon very different resources. With this album, SoC and Angel have created an incredibly dense and vibrant soundtrack, which is ultimately much bigger than the sum of its parts." [The Milk Factory]
www.conspiracyrecords.com
|
2008 |
€16.00 |
|
| STROM NOIR |
Famadihana |
mCDR |
"STROM NOIR is the project of emil mat'ko who lives in bratislavia, slovakia. since 2007 he has released several records on various labels like hibernate, rural colours, u-cover or resting bell.
the tracks for "famadihana" were recorded after finishing the "dni stratili svoju farbu" cd (hibernate, march 2011) with aim to create quite minimal guitar drones.
"famadihana" refers to a funeray tradition of the malagasy people in madagascar known as "the turning of the bones", people bring forth the bodies of their ancestors from the family crypts and rewrap them in fresh cloth, then dance with the corpses around the tomb to live music." [label info]
www.taalem.com
|
2012 |
€5.00 |
|
| SUDA, NOBUTO |
Twilight Garden |
mCDR |
"we first discovered this japanese musician thanks to his (i think) very first -and very nice- release (under the NADA alias) on the H.L.M high linear music netlabel run by alexis béchu (lexothimie). a few days later, NOBUTO got in touch with us to propose his music. talk about a coincidence! we immediately fell in love with his simple yet highly emotional tracks. think about the most melodic AIDAN BAKER songs or early ULTRA MILKMAIDS. SUDA has since built a rather impressive discography thanks to rural colours or somehow recordings, and co-founded tobira records with HAKOBUNE." [label info]
www.taalem.com
|
2011 |
€5.00 |
|
| SUDARIA |
The Syncretic Labyrinth |
MC |
"Sudaria opens up the gates of (un)reality to unveil the true shapes behind the mirror of the illusory self; 9 mantras to break the illusion, 9 keys to open the holographic seals of Maya.
«Following in somnambulism the invertebrate steps of a primary Art. Drowned into the ascetic syncretism of silence and noise. The pulse of necro-mechanical cannibalism. Rising beyond Catharsis in ransfiguration; devouring the corpse of the illusory self. 9 Keys to the Gate; 9 mantras to break the holographic seals of Maya. Dressed with the shrouds of Malediction. The Immortal Binary Clock.»
Samples on «Ghastly Eaves» from Arvo Pärt’s Missa Syllabica
—All Musick and artwork by Miguel Souto, MMXVI.
miguelsouto.bandcamp.com
sudaria.bandcamp.com"
www.attenuationcircuit.de
"In a binary existence, the idea of quantum suicide can be engaged in order to convince us of our own immortality – we exist only in a world in which we haven’t died. All other universes, however, contain a rotting corpse that looks uncannily similar to ourselves. Unfortunately, not all life and death scenarios are quite so black and white and it is this nagging knowledge that could have led Miguel Souto to protect himself with these nine sonic mantras.
The Syncretic Labyrinth is a dark, contemplative and often hellish joint release from the German Attenuation Circuit and Spanish Sphingidae labels. Ghostly winds and strained, shrieking guitars set the tone on opening track Veils of the Syncretic Maya before a low drone edges in, paving the way for a frightening chugging as if feral pistons were rampaging through rain-drizzled streets. Kapala then pours its gloopy way into the skull of its audience. A thick, blackened bass rumble squeezes into your cranial space as unrelenting, reverb-chained, metallic thuds pound out in the approaching distance. Voices gasp in reverse like a solemn message escaping from the Black Lodge before being replaced by a pained guitar painting the aural landscape. This shifts from solitary notes to driving chords, whipping up a growing sense of tireless toiling – the slog of existence peppered with a glimmering light through wretched gloom.
The labyrinthine cacophony (of which Borges would be proud) that Sudaria has formed sidles easily from tormented industrial clangs, through leaden techno for sleepwalkers, and into a stained dark ambience via the tectonic-plate-bothering plod of some inconceivable colossus. A gentle sea of consciousness is sporadically cleft apart by softly comforting snippets of travelling trams, trains, and trucks, grounding this in the gritty present. A bluster slips by. Lofty ideas can be born in these waters but heads must stay out of clouds. A melancholy piano desperately collapses and Arvo Pärt’s choral chants lie under a canopy of drones. These paranoid yet hypnotic soundscapes give the final moments of this record an ethereal and phantasmagorical quality."
mithratemplezine.com/sudaria-the-syncretic-labyrinth-album-2017/
|
2017 |
€8.00 |
|
| SUDDEN INFANT |
Holes of Glory |
MC |
"the holes of glory are dark and deep: sudden infant plays with our minds by the means of 45 minutes full of so much more than plain entertainment. sudden infant is art, the compositions complex and multi-dimensional with classical noise parts, dark synth licks or complete sample-based tracks. holes of glory leaves room for your own interpretations and imagination, makes you reach for what lies underneath. willingly or not, you become part of these creations, making this record an absolute personal and individual experience. the unmatched history of sudden infant releases is continued on raubbau: inspired by a fictional serial killer in the s&m scene of new york city, this masterpiece is the musical site of crime, made for you to discover."
www.raubbau.org
|
2014 |
€9.00 |
|
|
Buddhist Nihilism |
LP |
Swiss Industrial-Dada-Noise-Rock band based in Berlin. Their 2014 album "Wölfli's Nightmare" on Voodoo Rhythm Records was produced by Roli Mosimann (Swans, The Young Gods, Wiseblood) and was very well received by critics and audiences. "Buddhist Nihilism" will consolidate the bands ability for bizarre and intense compositions full of left field humour, powerful rhythms and twisted structures. Brilliantly mixed and mastered by Martin Siewert (Radian) in his Vienna studio. "Buddhist Nihilism is a real fistful of sturm und drang, a real departure for the band. The new record leaves some of the noise and industrial elements behind and sees the band streamlining its approach. "Sudden Infant go all the way. Nothing is held back." - Keith Moline / The Wire "One of Europe's finest Noise provocateurs!" - Matthew Kosloff / Skyscraper Magazine
https://suddeninfant.bandcamp.com/album/buddhist-nihilism
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Lunatic Asylum |
CD |
Joke Lanz and Sudden Infant once again return in their razor-sharp trio setting whereby the absurdist nature that Joke's work is already cut with is reconfigured in a gnarled and beefy punk-fucked contorted rock setting. Short bursts of angular flex are heavily propelled by depth-charge rhythms, wry lyrical musings on modern living, and sensibilities hatched from years of experience in the worlds of sound art, abstract music, industrialised junk-noise and related areas have manifested in the perfect follow up to 2018's Buddhist Nihilism album on Harbinger Sound. Aided by Christian Weber on bass and Alexandre Babel on drums, Joke lays on a battery of electronics, loops, field recordings and samples to complement mostly semi-spoken vocals that appear like they've been swept from the overflowing gutters of a shopping centre into a huge ball of malaise that can only be laughed at as world leaders look on perplexed. Exactly as the title suggests, 'Lunatic Asylum' depicts a world in absolute disarray as the seams binding it together slowly fall apart to reveal jesters whose best attempts to glue everything back in place are built on bigger lies more transparent than ever. Meanwhile, citizens of the developed world turn on each other for the stupidest of reasons or grow fatter with their descent into an ignorance nourished by half-baked cultural nuggets pre-packaged and sold as great and awe-inspiring work. And everything has to be recorded, photographed and shared as brain cells are decimated by false ideals, propaganda, exaggerated lifestyles and a huge tub of popcorn swimming in indiscernible yellow gloop. Such are the snapshots that resonate as Lunatic Asylum takes some well-aimed swipes at the human condition of the 21st Century. Featuring a fantastic guest appearance by Franz Treichler (The Young Gods) on ' Il y a des Enfants', each of the 14 songs that constitute Lunatic Asylum are bold, heavy, playful and rife with surprising twists and turns Joke's mostly English splatter-poetry helps guide into a space that's about as accessible as the outer reaches of rock can get. In a perfect world, this is the stuff even daytime airwaves should be pregnant with but, since the world is presently tripping over its own feet more so than ever, we will have to suffice with wherever this can nudge with the help of Fourth Dimension Records. One day, hopefully, more will catch up. Please note that a vinyl version of Lunatic Asylum will appear later, but due to continuing heavy delays at the pressing plants this won't be available to pre-order till June. In the meantime, the CD features two bonus tracks.
https://suddeninfant.bandcamp.com/album/lunatic-asylum
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| SUDDEN INFANT / BILL KOULIGAS |
split |
CD-R |
"Probably one of the frenziest & craziest Sudden Infant' recordings. Recorded live at the Gluerooms, London, on may the 20th, 2004, stands for me as one of joke lanz most intense and unique sudden infant recordings I came across to this day besides his already classic ones! sharing this disc w-his recent "partner in crime' Bill Kouligas (those who caught up w-the recent dec 06, uk tour know what am talking about), also member of the bizarre greek duo of family battle snake, who offers us 5 studio tracks recorded between aug-sept 06 of pure lo-fi (ocasionally monolithic) bizarro noise!!! Soundscapes to set up Absurd's central in flames each time cdr plays on the sterero!!!! Comes in a beautiful package w-artwork-design by Bill Kouligas! PLAY IT LOUD!!!" (label info)
|
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
| SUDDEN INFANT / CARLOS GIFFONI |
Oslo Oscillation Orgy |
LP |
"This collaborative release has its origins in a joint performance which took place in ‘a shady pub in London’, according to Carlos. Recordings have since been exchanged and reworked, and finalised when the two played together again in Oslo last year. Based in Berlin and London, Joke Lanz toils ceaselessly to create new sounds. He crafts an abrupt musique concrète, a bewildering edifice of no-fi electronics, turntables, and unexpected and disorientating sound sources. Since 1986 he has appeared under a variety of guises, including Schimpfluch-Gruppe, Schnäbi Gaggi Pissi Gaggi, WAL, Catholic Boys in Heavy Leather, Opposite Opponents, and the ubiquitous Sudden Infant.
Carlos Giffoni is a Venezuelan artist based in New York. His compositions utilise analogue and digital synthesis, modular
manipulation, feedback systems, and rewired electronic instruments.
He is a prolific performer, appearing with Thurston Moore, Jim O’Rourke, Kid 606, Merzbow and Smegma, amongst many others. Carlos is the curator of the annual experimental music No Fun Fest in Brooklyn, and also a member of no wave/noise/rock trio Monotract.
First edition of 200 copies" [label info]
"Two masters of noise team up. The old master from Switzerland is Joke Lanz, also known as Sudden Infant since about twenty years and Carlos Giffoni from Venezuala but since some time in New York. They met four or five years ago and have played together a number of times. The record now released by Entr'acte was recorded in last two years in London and New York. For some reason I expected the full forty minute noise blast, but not so. Of course this record is not the softest discussed this week, but it turned out to be one interesting slab of sound collating through skipping vinyl, looping of sounds (which could be from reel to reel recorders) and manipulations through computers. Occasionally these things explode into noise, but throughout everything sounded more through out than I anticipated. After the recent release by Sudden Infant on Absurd which I didn't enjoy very well, this is a real blow in the face. Intelligent noise, well crafted." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.entracte.co.uk
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| SUGIMOTO, TAKU & KEVIN DRUMM |
Den |
CD |
Abstrakte live-Improvisation der beiden Gitarristen mit viel Raum für (fast) Stille und nicht-nach-Gitarren-klingende-Sounds, für uns wie eine ausgewogene Mischung aus Elektronik und Organik. Schon in zweiten Auflage (300 Stck).
“ An album that documents the concert by two guitarists (of which one also plays electronics) held on April 5th, 2000 in Japan. Sugimoto is known for his improv style in which silence plays an extensive role. He strums a string, waits, strums the same and waits again. The space in which he plays becomes an important factor. Drumm is kinda similar, but he's responsible for the electronic part, so he fills his guitar strums, with occasional feedback, crackles and glitches. Yet, Drumm is a controller, so he never lets things out of control. Listening to these 41 minutes you feel the air of the Gallery where this was recorded, so much silent interludes, delicate
strumming, isolated cracks and more silence. If you try listening superficially, then the whole thing go lost. This requires your full attention, or better play something else. Zen in music.” (FdW / Vital Weekly)
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
| SULIDAE, PHILIP |
History of Violence |
CD |
"Sounds were recorded in the Belanglo State forest, 150 kilometres to the south of Sydney, Australia. Its quiet solitude and isolation contrasts dramatically with its turbulent and macabre history – the scene for a series of horrific murders in the early 90’s at the hands of one of Australia’s most notorious serial killers.
I choose Belanglo as a location due to my own somewhat morbid fascination with its history, but also due to its virtually indistinct organic character. It is essentially a forest like any other area of bush along the eastern seaboard of Australia; however its latent and almost dormant sensation is unlike any other.
I find this contrast very interesting, as it plays deeply into people’s subjective understanding – this understanding of Belanglo is, I believe, largely shaped and divided by our external perceptions of its history, and the innate, immediate impact of its environment.
During recording, the sounds, timbres and sonic characteristics were very comparable – similar areas, environments, topography. This allowed me some latitude and gestural flexibility in composing, as I could play with the ideas and observations that lay behind the forest and its history. In effect I could try and create a sonic environment that would replicate the contrasting and distinct perceptions of Belanglo.
Our ideas of place and the constructs behind them generate a fertile ground for creativity and composition.
(philip sulidae, February 2014)" [label info]
www.unfathomless.net
"It's been a while since I last heard music by Philip Sulidae, but some of his newer releases are downloads only, so perhaps that explains, and there also seems to be some time gap between this and the previous. I quite enjoyed his work so far, which sometimes seemed quite raw and at other times very microsounding. This new work surely fits the latter body of works. All of the sound sources were recorded at the Belanglo State Forest in Australia, which is some 150 kilometres to the south of Sydney and apparently a very quiet area, even when it was the "scene for a series of horrific murders in the early 90’s at the hands of one of Australia’s most notorious serial killers". No doubt that's one of the reasons to do field recordings over there, and Sulidae is not the first to go to 'guilty territories'. It's not something you are aware of when hearing this release, based upon just hearing it. These six pieces are very quiet, high pitched for whatever reason, and it's unclear to me
whether this has any electronic processing, or whether this area is high pitched, insects maybe? I think a certain level of sound processing took place and it’s quite a frightening release, in a curious way. The sheer level of compression, to get all of these sounds together, make a very oppressive release, despite all the quietness that is going on here. But perhaps I am hearing too much in this release, maybe things that are not in there per se. I played this a couple of times, and the more I hear it, the more I like it. It all seems relatively easy made but it unfolds a lot of beauty actually. A great yet very much unsettling release." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2014 |
€14.00 |
|
| SUN OF THE SEVENTH SISTER |
Farben Raum |
CD |
Das totale Freak-Orchester aus Australien, bis zu 25 Mitspieler! Diese Aufnahme stammt vom Februar 2007, ein vielschichtiges Impro-Chaos, welches aber recht gemächlich und "slow" bis düster daher kommt (und teils mit deutschen (!) Sprechgesang in FAUSTischer Manier. Für Freunde von NIHILIST SPASM BAND, BORBETOMAGUS, AMM,...
auf dem RATS WITH WINGS-Label!
"Following on from their 2007 New Zealand tour triple lathe cut LP, and 6 cassette boxset on Breakdance The Dawn, comes Farben Raum, the debut CD by Sun of the Seventh Sister. This floating line-up, mushroom fuelled free-psych woolly mammoth often consists of a phalanx of between 10 and 25 players: multiple drummers, multiple electrified chordophones, horns, vocals, oscillators etc. Imagine half a dozen freak-folk ensembles congealing into a psychedelic din of Borbetomag-ian proportions. On this occasion SSS comprised members of xNoBBQx, UnAustralians, Arse Lunch, Cock Up Shitting Whore, Rats With Wings, Stasis Duo and others. The CD consists of 3 immense tracks, taken from a 3 hour straight session, lovingly recorded by the Pulled Out mobile unit, with mastering analysis for Heard Worse Records by DJ Beefcurtains." [label notes]
"Sun of the seventh sister is a collective of artists-musicians from Australia and New Zealand ranging in number from 10-25 players. Their rack of instruments is pretty immense including multiple drummers, electrified chordophones, horns, vocals, oscillators, electric guitars and pretty much everything they can put their hands on. This hord of nomad musicians reminds me of the nomadic artists of the middle-ages with everything that this brings to mind, the madness, the immersion into music, the ecstatic ceremonies. This is not just a free-jam as you might imagine or a free-folk cult (chic). This is a gigantic psychedelic beast that roars and screams and calms and bursts and back to the start featuring members of xNoBBQx, UnAustralians, Arse Lunch, Cock Up Shitting Whore, Rats With Wings, Stasis Duo (featured in our own deconstructive music triple cd compilation) and others.
This cd on heard worse records includes 3 long length nameless of course tracks and a total run time of almost 80 minutes of bodily absorbed orchestrated pray and prophecy or what you might imagine that it should sound like. Ranging from free form improvisation to ecstatic jazz and ecstatic folk this is not a record but an experience I wish I could have lived live. It worth every single second, especially the third track that is unbelievably intense!" [Random E-Zine]
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| SUN RA |
Disco 3000 |
do-CD |
"first release of the full concert recording.
This is a reissue of one of the great Sun Ra albums - documenting a rare outing for a small ensemble comprising John Gilmore, Michael Ray (trumpet) and Luqman Ali (drums). June Tyson is also credited on the sleeve.. Ra himself plays piano and electronic keyboards - including the mysterious Crumar Mainman (undocumented by the company itself), which Ra describes as 'like a piano, organ, clavichord, cello, violin and brass instruments' in one, and which offers, in addition, pre-programmed bass-lines and electronic percussion - used to great effect in this small grouping, and seldom, if ever, used by Ra elsewhere. This fact alone makes these this release especially interesting. The LP version was an ear-opener when it came out, and amongst the LPs we most frequently had pressed for us at the time by Ra - alongside Media Dream, Black Horizon and The Sound Mirror). Most of the material is outside the familiar repertoire - another feature that singles this session out. The newly mastered double CD contains the entire concert from which Disco 3000 was taken, adding more than an hour of previously unheard material, setting the LP selections in their original context. There are also excellent new sleevenotes by trumpeter Michael Ray who describes Ra's work method and reminisces about the tour and the recording session. Nicely packaged." [label notes]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2007 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Media Dreams |
do-CD |
"This is the companion to Disco 3000, made on the same classic Italian quartet tour with John Gilmore, Michael Ray (trumpet) and the minimal but perfect Luqman Ali (drums). Ra himself plays piano and electronic keyboards, including the mysterious Crumar Mainman, which Ra describes as ‘like a piano, organ, clavichord, cello, violin and brass instruments’ and which also, importantly, has a facility for pre-programmed bass-lines and electronic percussion, which Ra uses constantly and to great effect in this small ensemble setting and seldom, if ever, elsewhere. The best of this collection (most of CD1) is luminous: very electronic, often rhythmical and melodic, always economical and making every sound count. These tracks are like no other jazz ensemble and, although recognisable as Ra – who else could think of, and then get away with, this – unlike any other Ra ensemble either. Ra makes the machines do amazing, visionary things while the band exercises restraint, remaining always in focus. In between, there are piano, saxophone, trumpet and drum vignettes, fresh and perfectly judged; this real was a fine band. This places the original vinyl release (and related releases, Sound Mirror and Disco 300) back into the context of the concerts, from which they were drawn. An important addition to the Sun Ra canon, since it is a rare document of an unusual Ra project that produced three classic late ‘70s LPs. Beautifully packaged and well annotated." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2008 |
€17.50 |
|
| SUNDIN, RONNIE |
Hägring |
CD |
TraumLogik-Musik, geboren aus der Faszinationen heraus für Wachträume, aurale Halluzinationen & und dem „Gedächtnis“ von Klang. Sehr ruhig und schwelend, aber nicht einlullend, entfalten sich hier „unfassbare“ Soundfetzen aus verschiedenstens Quellen, extreme Frequenzen und concrete-sounds brechen herein, verschwinden wieder, erzeugen einen nur verschwommenen Eindruck...
Erstes Album des Schweden für das griechisch-spanische Label !
“Hägring is the third and final part in the Hypnagogic trilogy that started with Sleepwalk and Morphei which is based upon a fascination for wake dreaming, auditory hallucinations and the memory of sound. Composed using delicate field recordings, computer processed sounds, vibrating piano and guitar strings to create a sensitive dreamlike state. Or was it just a mirage? all mirages emergedduring 03-04 in Malmö, sweden. special thanks to Dimitris. Drawings by Ronnie. Cover by Lasse” [liner notes]
“The press notes of this CD talk about "mirages" and I truly believe this is a more than adequate description of Ronnie Sundin's music. Although the impalpable, mesmerizing phantom reverberations present over the whole course of the record are sometimes broken by sudden crunches and sick discharges, the Malmö-based composer follows paths of forgotten memories and unquiet sleeps, letting us have just a small fraction of a glimpse of "what could be following" after discarding pulse and "regular" structures in favour of thick strata of metallic nothingness and concrete ruins in an abandoned factory. This sort of aural trip is also finely composed: the sonic events suceed in perfect correlation, there is no room for anything to shine while murmuring frequency rumbles expand the altered state of our perceptivity during immobile reminiscences worthy of Mirror or Brent Gutzeit. All in all, "Hägring" is punctuated with mastery touches of decaying sounds; without being modernist at all costs, Ronnie Sundin has given us the gift of ethereal detachment from false beauty. Let these manifestations take their place around you, see what strange light they're emitting, listen to what those mirages have to teach.” [Touching Extremes]
|
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
| SUNN O))) |
Kannon |
CD |
"Kannon is an album which was composed in the aftershadow of SUNN O)))’s most recent successes in immersive collaboration (the group worked with Scott Walker on Soused, Ulver on Terrestrials in 2013 and 2014) and also from the broad and influential wake of their epitimous Monolith’s & Dimensions . Kannon emerged both independently as a conceptual entity and with roots in the legacies of those projects, yet was fully realised years later, in 2015. The album is 36 minutes in length and consists of three pieces of a triadic whole : Kannon 1, 2 and 3.
The album celebrates many SUNN O))) traditions ; Kannon was recorded and mixed with SUNN O)))’s close colleague and coproducer Randall Dunn in Seattle, in Studio Litho, Aleph and Avast!; and the LP includes performances by long term allies and collaborators Attila Csihar, Oren Ambarchi, Rex Ritter, Steve Moore and others. And at the core the composition centers around the dynamic and intense guitar and bass interplay of SUNN O)))’s founders : Stephen O’Malley & Greg Anderson.
It’s possibly the most figurative album SUNN O))) has created, which is unusual as they usually dwell in layers of abstraction and subjectivity. On the other hand the album is the most outright “metal” in years, drawing personal associations and memories of cherished albums like Panzerfaust and Twilight of the Gods again to the forefront of consciousness. At the third time it is very close to the cyclical character of mantra which the band has evolved into as a living creature, the enormity of intense sensate detail and manifestation of the live in concert face of SUNN O))), the organism that has flourished, metamorphosed and transcended tremendously over the past ten years.
The literal representation of Kannon is as an aspect of Buddha: specifically “goddess of mercy” or “Perceiving the Sounds (or Cries) of the World”. She is also sometimes commonly known as the Guanyin Bodhisattva (Chinese: 觀音菩薩) amongst a plurality of other forms. There is a rich lineage behind this idea tracing back through many asian belief systems, with as many names and cultural personifications of the idea.
SUNN O))) commissioned critical theorist Aliza Shvartz to write a text / liner notes around these ideas and topics. She also explores the relations and perceptions to their approach to these ideas via the metonym of music and SUNN O)))’s place/approach within the framework of music and metal overall.
SUNN O))) also commissioned Swiss designer/artist Angela LaFont Bollinger to create the cover artwork, an abstracted sculpture of vision of Kannon, and the French photographer Estelle Hanania to capture portraits of the core trio (Csihar, Anderson, O’Malley) in the impressive and obscurant Emanuel Vingeland mausoleum in Oslo.
The LP is packaged in immaculate tip on gatefold sleeve by our long time comrades Stoughton Printing, and pressed at Cascade in Portland, Oregon. CD, download and coloured vinyl versions are also available.
– Stephen O’Malley & Greg Anderson / SUNN O))), 11 September 2015" [label info]
credits:
Released December 4th 2015
Attila Csihar - Vocals
Stephen O’Malley - Guitar
Greg Anderson - Guitar, Bass Guitar
Oren Ambarchi - Guitar, Oscillator (K1,K2)
Randall Dunn - Korg MS 20 (K1, K2)
Rex Ritter - Moog (K2)
Brad Mowen - Concert Bass Drum (K2)
Steve Moore - Juno 106 (K2)
Conch trio : Dempster, Priester, Moore
Recorded at studio Litho, Avast! and Aleph, Seattle by Randall Dunn
Mixed at Avast! by Randall Dunn
Assistant recording engineer (Litho) : Mell Dettmer
Mastered by Jason Ward at CMS
Kannon 1, 2, 3 written & arranged by SUNN O)))
Lyrics by Attila Csihar
Produced by SUNN O))) with Randall Dunn
SUNN O))) art direction : Stephen O’Malley
Cover and typographic design by Allison Lafont Bollinger
Text by Aliza Shvarts
Band portraits by Estelle Hanania / Detail from mural Vita at the Emanuel Vigeland Mausoleum, Oslo
© Emanuel Vigeland Museum / ARS 2015
www.southernlord.com
"Those grimrobed ambient metal overlords O'Malley & Anderson (here with guests including Oren Ambarchi and vokillist Attila Csihar) add a new opus to their extensive discography of doom/drone masterwerks! The three part Kannon, which may have germinated from the track "Cannon" found on their live Domkirke double lp from 2008, is art to play loud. All deep drones, deep voices, doubtless deep thoughts (check out the liner notes by critical theorist Aliza Shvartz). And here are OUR notes: Abyssic atmospheres of vast grinding drones. Layered, liturgic cavernous ritual. Gorgeously sculpted feedback flowmotion. Along with moments that remind us of the wide open Western spaces twang of more recent Earth (or Barn Owl) as well." [Aquarius Rec.]
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| SUPERSILENT |
4 |
CD |
„new, quite stunning recordings from the quartet spearheading the new wave of Norwegian jazz. colourful, dynamic and more varied than their debut, it combines improvisation and electronics, without a drumloop or computer in sight.“
|
1998 |
€15.00 |
|
|
7 |
DVD |
„Um direkt allen Mißverständnissen vorzubeugen: Auf „7" der neuen DVD von SUPERSILENT gibt es keine Extras oder irreführende graphische Menüs. Keine staatlichen Warnungen, keine Einführungen mit Ufos. Kein Schnickschnack. Denn Label, Künstler und Regisseur hatten den Anspruch, das „7" wie eine Audio CD laufen sollte, nur mit Bild. Einlegen und ein komplettes SUPERSILENT Konzert genießen, genau so lange (109 Min.) und in der gleichen Reihenfolge wie dargeboten. Man kann sogar zwischen den Tracks hin und her skippen. Keine Overdubs (auch wenn sich irgendwie einige psychedelische Momente auf die DVD geschlichen haben:-)), statt dessen hat DEATHPROD einen hervorragenden Stereo Mix abgeliefert, bei dem man sogar zwischen Dolby Digital und dem leicht besseren DTS wählen kann. Und dank DVD-9 ist die Bildqualität sowieso überlegen.“
"The Norwegian death-jazz improvising unit return for the seventh of their Supersilent series, this time in the form of a DVD release of a highly-anticipated live performance in Oslo on August 16, 2004. Members Arve Henriksen (trumpet, electronics), Helge Sten (audio virus), Ståle Storløkken (keyboards) and Jarle Vespestad (drums) form a band that refuse categorization, with experiments in such disparate elements as ambient, jazz, electronica, rock, techno, noise and musique concréte. Critics have compared them to the Miles Davis band of the early '70s, and groups like Stockhausen, Einstürzende Neubauten and Can. Supersilent hadn't played the capital for quite some time and the line went around the block. With the uncertain knowledge that all Supersilent concerts are totally improvised, it didn't take long to hear that they were in excellent form and interplay, all captured by three cameras to black and white 16 mm film and recorded by Kai Andersen from Athletic Sound. Filmed by Norwegian multimedia artist Kim Hiorthøy, the black and white footage lends a filmic quality very rarely seen in concert DVDs. Constructed like an audio CD with visuals, there are no extras, no menus, no FBI warnings or meaningless graphics -- what you get is a pure, complete Supersilent concert from start to finish, 109 minutes. What you see and hear is how it was, no overdubs have been applied to the recording, but a couple of psychedelic hiccups have found their way to the film. The 6 "tracks" are divided so you can skip back and forth as on a CD. By using the audio button on the player's remote control you can chose between Dolby Digital and the slightly superior DTS sound alternatives, if your DVD player is ready for DTS. The sound is mixed by Deathprod in good old stereo. Please also note that this is a DVD-9 production, giving superior picture quality due to the disc having dual layers and more available space. What you hear and see is a multifarious, totally improvised, completely unique live performance from a group who define the best in bombastic Nordic sound. Running time: 109 minutes." [label info]
|
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
|
8 |
CD |
"Inzwischen sind wir bei Supersilent 8 (RCD 2067), Dazwischen liegt ein beständig sich verändernder Klangfluss von harschem Free Noise (1-3) über Electrojazz (4) zu ambienten Soundscapes (5 & 6). 8 entstand, wie schon die Rune-Grammofon-Klassiker 1-3, Luggumt oder
Raus Aus Stavanger, im Athletic-Sound-Studio in Halden. Alles ist improvisiert, aus 5 Stunden wurden 66 Minuten ausgewählt und von 1 bis 8 durchnummeriert, es gibt keine Overdubs. Abstraktion, oder nennen wir es besser Absolutheit, und Kollektivität sind Trumpf. Als Klangquellen dienen Audio Virus & Gitarre, Keyboards & Synthesizers, Drums, Trumpet, Voice & Electronics. Neologismen wie FutuRhythMachine (K. Eshun) oder SonicFriction (T. Berne) sind notwendig, um der Nowness von Supersilents Trips halbwegs gerecht zu werden. Mit Supersilent unterwegs sein, heißt Niemandsland
durchstreifen. Das Neuland hat gemeinsame musikalische Grenzen allenfalls mit Ektroland und Neuseeland. Fremdartig monotone, oder krumme Sun-Ra-Takte (8.3!), raues, rockfernes Gitarrengedröhn, Gebrabbel und Singsang, als ob der Geist von Leif Elggren unter einem Bett hervor kröche (8.5). Der Hall einer Possible-Worlds- Trompete von weit draußen, der Hauch einer ‚Flöte‘, immer wieder ‚psychedelische‘
und ‚spaceige‘ Raumzeitverformungen durch Keyboards und Electronics. 8 ist wie eine Prellung, die schillernd aufblüht,
gleichzeitig zeitlupig und gerafft auf eine Stunde, vielleicht weil der Bluterguss einen ganzen Raumquadranten verfärbt. Manchmal
bleibt nur ein Zwitschern und aleatorisches Zucken wie von einschlagendem Sternenstaub, dazu Kopfstimmengesang (8.6). Plötzlich ein Freerock-Blitzgewitter, ein donnerndes, schneidendes Inferno (8.7)! Mit einem finalen Gerumpel. Als Epilog dann wieder Getröpfel. Und enigmatische Spaceharmonik. Die pure Alienpoesie." [Bad Alchemy]
"Helge Sten, Ståle Storløkken, Arve Henriksen and Jarle Vespestad celebrate 10 years as a groundbreaking quartet with their first studio album in almost 5 years. Their music lives in a no-man's-land between the genres, somewhere between rock, electronica, jazz and modern composition. Yes, we say composition because when listening it´s not far fetched to think it could have been, although everything here is improvised, as it has always been with Supersilent. With ”8” they have yet again re-invented themselves, exploring more abstract and mysterious pathways and ending up even further away from traditional categories. The album is produced by Deathprod and mastered by US mastering guru Bob Katz." [press release]
".... Another excellent, original Supersilent effort, with the use/abuse of vocals opening up some new dimensions to their sound. Parts of Supersilent 8 give us the idea we're listening to some sort of really strange field recording, the documentation of the fracturing of an iceberg, the swarmings of bugs, or the language of birds or bats, when in fact this is a very human-activated, machine- mediated, far-from-natural audio document. Of course at other times on this album that fact is quite evident! Indeed, Supersilent 8 also is the closest these "death-jazzers" have come to making rock album, especially when the super distorted, hazy murk of psychedelic howling almost garage-rock-improv pummel of track 7 is taken into account." [Aquarius Records]
www.runegrammofon.com
|
2007 |
€15.50 |
|
| |
11 |
CD |
"This is the eleventh release in the Supersilent series. These recordings are taken from the very fruitful sessions that resulted in Supersilent 8 (RCD 2067CD), but are no mere leftovers. Indeed, Supersilent 8 was originally scheduled as a triple release, but producer Deathprod (Helge Sten) finally decided to split it. This is also the first vinyl-only release from the band. Supersilent 8 was recorded during a 5-day studio session at Athletic Sound in Halden, Norway, the all-analog facility where other Rune Grammofon albums like Supersilent 1-3 (RCD 2001CD), Scorch Trio (RCD 2025CD), Luggumt (RCD2040CD/RLP 3040LP) and Raus Aus Stavanger (RCD 2049CD) were recorded. From the monumental hardcore blizzard storm of 1-3 to the elegant electro-jazz of 4 and from the quiet soundscapes of 5 to the epic 6, Supersilent yet again re-invented themselves with 8, an album that to a certain degree explored more abstract and mysterious pathways beyond categories and comparisons. In fact, these sessions turned out to be so fruitful, that producer Deathprod finished 5 hours of music and at one point considered making it another triple CD. In the end, 68 minutes ended up on Supersilent 8, but it was always understood that more of the excellent music that didn't make it to the final cut would appear in one way or another at a later time, and indeed, here it is as a vinyl-only release. This was also Jarle Vespestad's final studio session. This 180 gram audiophile vinyl edition was carefully mastered by Bob Katz and cut by Paul Gold at Salt Mastering. Members include: Helge Sten (audio virus, electric guitar), Ståle Storløkken (synthesizers, keyboards), Arve Henriksen (trumpet, voice, electronics), and Jarle Vespestad (drums)." [label info]
www.runegrammofon.com
|
2014 |
€15.50 |
|
| SUTCLIFFE JUGEND |
Pigdaddy |
CD |
"The Sutcliffe Jügend filthy dirt-mess of an album that is Pigdaddy is now available on Cold Spring. Six stories of mind-fucking depravity. Pigdaddy contains some of the most fucked up, histrionic and downright bizarre vocals ever recorded. The music is created using the most basic sound sources. The overwhelming sense of moral decay makes this Sutcliffe Jügend's most original album yet. Pigdaddy is Beyond Perverse. Sexual transgression never sounded so dirty. Hear Pigdaddy and you will never feel clean again. Cover painting by Kevin Tomkins."
[press release]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Campaign Volume I: 1979-2000 |
10 x LP BOX |
VOD178 SUTCLIFFE JUGEND "Campaign Volume I: 1979-2000" 10Lp-Box w Shirt / Booklet
Sutcliffe Jugend Vol. I Campaign 1979-2000
LP1
Side A:
1. Blind Faith
2. Corporate Miss Use
3. Mind Control Institution
4. Death Squad
5. Dead Corpse Man
Side B:
1. Relentless
2. Feed
3. Nothing
LP2
Side A
1. Kill, Kill, Kill!
2. Leighley Allyway
3. Whores Endlosung
4. Sutcliffe Youth
5. Lustmord
Side B
1. Unite
2. Sex Beast
3. Pleasure Corpse
4. Entfernung
5. The New Breed
LP3
Side A
1.Strangulation
2. Electric Tool (Filthy Whores 2)
3. Necro-Sadism
4. Bullpen Hammer (Ripper Attack)
Side B
1. Erection Centre
2. Sex Master
3. Coprolagnia
LP4
Side A
1. Slaughterhouse
2. Ripper Victim 2
3. Edmund Kemper
4. Ripper Victim 4
5. Ripper Victim 5
6. KZ3 (Affliction)
Side B:
1. First Torture
2. Second Torture
3. Third Torture
4. Fourth Torture
5. Fifth Torture
6. Sixth Torture
7. Seventh Torture
LP 5
Side A:
1. Death Squad
2. Wombaphilia
3. Fetches
4. Vachers Way
5. Human Disregard
6. Forward
7. King Ian
Side B:
1. Anti
2. Argyll Square
3. Foetus Death
4. Sodomy
5. Dominator
6. I Came Only To See Your Death
LP6
Side A:
1. Queen Myra
2. Broadmoor
3. This Is Pommerenkke
4. Headwounds
5. Corpse Fuck
6. Bring Down The Whip
Side B:
1. Ten Hours (For Paul Corrigan)
LP7
Side A:
1. Military Force
2. Mental
3. The Shit
4. Psychopath
5. SD
Side B:
1. Pleasure Corpse
2. New Sadism
3. The Vicars Muscle
4. Second Perversion
5. Third Perversion
6. King Ian
LP8
Side A:
1. Music From The Vicars Muscle 3
2. For Ultra 1
3. For Ultra 2
4. For Ultra 3
Side B:
1. Metal Device
2. With This Cock
3. Death Mask
4. The Killing Of Heather
LP9
Side A:
1. When Pornography Is No Longer Enough
2. Second Victim : With Brutal Force : My Pleasure, Your Pain
3. Third Victim : With Control : Message To The Mother
4. Fourth Victim : With Murderous Passion : Homage To De Sade
5. Fifth Victim : With Murderous Passion : Homage To De Sade
6. Sixth Victim : With Venomous Contempt : F.B.C.
Side B:
1. Fear And Anticipation
2. Torture And Death
3. Cold Aftermath
LP10
Side A:
1. VI
2. V
3. Drowning In The Glorious Bloody Filth
4. The Victim As Beauty
5. Preparation
6. In Darkness
Side B:
1. White Light Power
2. Trust
3. Friendly
4. Thirst
5. Final Victim
6. Post
|
2023 |
€225.00 |
|
| |
Campaign Volume II: 2007-2020 |
10 x LP BOX |
VOD178 SUTCLIFFE JUGEND "Campaign Volume II: 2007-2020" 10Lp-Box w Shirt / Booklet
Sutcliffe Jugend Vol. II Campaign 2007-2020
LP11
Side A:
1. Born Again
2. Restraint
3. Pigboy
4. Your Weakness
Side B:
1. Insult
2. Defacer
3. Pigdaddy
4. Filth
LP12
Side A:
1. The Fall Of Nature
Side B:
1. With Extreme Prejudice
2. Empathiser
3. Lucky
4. I Have Kissed This Sick, Sick World Goodbye
LP13
Side A:
1. Speak and Tell
2. With Brutal Intent
3. Shy
Side B:
1. Solace
2. Blue Rabbit 3. Offal
LP14
Side A:
1. Howl
2. Crawl
Side B:
1. Shame
2. Bait
LP15
Side A:
1. Masks
2. Weakling Child
Side B:
1. Consensual
2. Control (Regained) 3. Unjust
4. Ghostly Dog
LP16
Side A:
1-5. The Golden Age Of Innocence (1-5)
Side B:
1-4. The Golden Age Of Innocence (6-9)
LP17
Side A:
1. The Mute Shall Speak
2. Sehnsucht
3. Unashamed
4. Angels Flying In To The Burning Gates Of Hell
5. Eulogy
Side B:
1. Burning Books
2. Authors Note
3. The Hunger
LP18
Side A:
1. Relentless
2. Bludgeoned
Side B:
1. I Am The Reason
2. Days Of
3. Pavlov’s Dog
LP19
Side A:
1. The God (Who Craved His Own Death)
2. Scars
Side B:
1. Unleash The Fury
2. Domestic
3. Rock And Roll (Swing For The Daddy)
LP20
SideA:
1. Slaves No More
2. Calving The Man
Side B:
1. The Impossibility Of Love And Death
2. On Her Decline
3. Poison (An Ending)
|
2023 |
€225.00 |
|
| SUZUKI, DAISUKE |
D.D.D. |
CD |
'DDD' is a field recording album recorded by Daisuke Suzuki and was originally Released by Texas based IDEA in 2001 in an edition of 300 copies on LP.
Sometimes field recordings can be appreciated in relation to the conceptual art form, or as an on-site sound study and documentation of a very specific phenomena. Daisuke had no concept of the idea of building sonic panoramas and was specifically only Concerned with gathering lots of intriguing sound matter for his personal listening. 'DDD' was mastered by Gary Todd, who was the founder of the Cortical Foundation. Gary and Daisuke became good friends when Gary visited Japan as Red Crayola live sound engineer in the late 1990s and they developed a mutual trust with each other after that. Sadly in September 2001, Gary fell from his apartment balcony, which left him On June 25, 2022 Gary passed away at the age of 59. Daisuke said, “Gary was always generous and had a kind heart. friendship and warmth. I've decided to re-issue 'DDD' to keep him in memory and heart.” The CD includes an expanded version of 'Cricket Voice' which did not appear on the original IDEA LP release.
Tracklist:
A1. Part 1
A2. Part 2
B.Cricket Voice
"Siren Records is a small Japanese label run by Daisuke Suzuki and active since the late 1990s, with a limited roster of musicians: The New Blockaders, Andrew Chalk, Jonathan Coleclough, Robert Haigh and David Jackman. In 25 years, some 35 releases, with catalogue number 33, were allotted to the new David Jackman CD, 'Sekihi Oidori', of which we didn't receive a promo. I am not as obsessed as I once was with catalogue numbers, but Daisuke Suzuki's 'D.D.D.' is Siren 13, yet a release from this year. Maybe because it's a re-issue from an LP released by IDEA in 2001? The record was mastered by Gary Todd, the erstwhile mastering engineer who ran the Cortical Foundation (instrumental in some excellent Tery Riley re-issues), who fell from his balcony in 2001 and was hospitalised until his death last year. This re-issue is dedicated to his memory. The triple D stands for 'Duck! Duck! Duck!', of which there are two parts on this CD, plus 'Cricket Voice'. All three pieces use extensive field recordings. Or, maybe, even solely. I am unsure about that. It seems he didn't do much else to these recordings, no processing or anything, but perhaps some of this stuff is looped. You can never be too sure about the nature of things, as there is a lot of repetition going on on a superficial level. Editing, however, seems very likely. The titles are giveaways for the sound sources, ducks and crickets, with the latter being exceptionally high frequencies. With almost forty minutes, this is twice as long as the original and something that I like to play at a somewhat low volume. The whole disc works best at a slightly diminished volume, keeping it ambient within the ambience of one's home environment. It's all very basic but charming music." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| SUZUKI, KAORI |
Music for Modified Melodica |
CD |
"Music for Modified Melodica was born out of two explorations: one of tuning (and subsequently degrading) the small reeds of a melodica, and the other to modify it playable with foot pumps, allowing for the sustained excitation of the reeds.
Playing with the highly resistive foot bellows introduced massive ‘volumes’ of air to the reeds, overblowing them to vibrate loudly. This aspect led me to work with the sound potentials of combination tones which appear at high acoustical volumes- an area which has been elemental, especially to my durational sound works, over recent years.
The pumped breaths of the melodica are amplified and brought through time delays, with electronically manipulated high frequencies and oscillators to further activate the mix. The resulting experience, as a performer, lends affinity to what a participant to the music previously called it—one which “rewards endurance with transcendence”.
MMM was performed and recorded live. Similar iterations have been performed in New York, Osaka, and Tokyo in various settings, and at least once in an abandoned naval magazine.
Intended for hi-volume listening!
bio:
Kaori Suzuki is a Tokyo-born and California-based artist, performer, and composer.
Her spiraling sound visions are geared for heightened states of listening-and-being, often working with loud, high-droning electric and acoustic instruments, synthesis, tape, oscillators, and other elements necessary to spin her auditory transmissions. Suzuki’s long time interests in “inner-ear tone” psychedelia and psychoacoustic phenomena inform her live performances, recordings, and installation works.
Suzuki’s recordings of solo and collaborative configurations are published on independent labels in Europe and the U.S., including Beacon Sound (US) and Second Editions (DE). When she's not working on her solo music, her other projects include drumming in the Oakland based minimalist psych-punk group, Night Collectors; her ongoing, collaborative light & sound happenings with partner, John Krausbauer; and playing amplified cello and guitar in the ever-intense amplified string ensemble, Ecstatic Music Band.
Suzuki sustains a diverse background in electronic music and instrument making, including her production of electronic instruments for her (now defunct) project/company, Magic Echo Music from 2008-2013. Her autodidactic creations evolved into custom and small run instruments, which have been utilized by various musicians around the globe and most venerably by Hiroshi Hasegawa (C.C.C.C., Astro). She continues instrument making for her own work, and currently teaches on the subject of electronic music at the Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College and as a visiting lecturer at Santa Clara University.
As a performer, Suzuki has presented her sound works at numerous venues across North America, Japan, and Europe, including the San Francisco Electronic Music Festival (US), Berkeley Art Museum (US), OTOOTO (JP), Worm (NL), CCRMA (US), Quiet City Series (CN), Debacle Festival (US), The Lab (US), Gallery Nomart (JP), Gallery 316 (MX), Vox Populi (US), Zorba (FR), Elastic Arts (US), FUSE Arts (UK), Human Resources (US), Time Based Art Festival (US), Rhizome (US), Ochiai Soup (JP), Coaxial (US), Arkaoda (DE), Holy Underground (US), and many others.
kaorisuzuki.net
Recorded live at the littlefield concert hall (Mills College) in Oakland, California, July 2019.
Mastered by Jos Smolders at EARLabs
Covert Painting by Pete Greening"
https://movingfurniturerecords.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-modified-melodica
|
2022 |
€12.00 |
|
| SVAER |
л.λ.ハ |
mCD-R |
svær is a solo project by a french musican currently based in brussels, belgium. we discovered him nearly three years ago when he was the opening act for tim hecker in brussels. based on layers of guitars, his excellent first album "muted people" released in 2020 seriously confirmed our hopes
https://taalem.bandcamp.com/album/alm-143
"And finally, there is svær, from France, but currently residing in Brussels. In 2020 he released his debut, 'Muted People' and his three pieces are for deceased dogs, 'Laika', 'Loukanikos' and 'Hachikō'. All dogs go to heaven, svær says (What happens to cats? Or people who are afraid of dogs? I know a few of the latter). I understand that svær plays the guitar and undoubtedly uses many sound effects to arrive at that gritty guitar sound that was popular once upon some time ago. Taalem learned about svær when he opened for Tim Hecker; perhaps that may serve as a pointer? Especially in 'Loukanikos' the digital processing plays a very big part. On either side of 'Loukanikos', the other two offer a much more mellow ambient tapestry of long spun sounds on the guitar, lo-fi electronics and sadly too short." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2022 |
€5.00 |
|
| SVAIXT |
Virsme Versme |
CD |
Promising mystic ambience from Lithuania, working with slow-motion singing-bowl, chime- or bell-sounds that are endlessly repeated and used in different tonal layers, very low & deep in the second half. Resonant woods are added at times, and some strange sound-effects..
Very meditative, analogue, pure.. Four tracks, 63+ minutes.
"Words swaixtix, svastika, svaiksti have a common root that in Sanskrit or Indo-European mother-tongue means to shine, to glow, light. Svaixt, coming from Laurynas Jukonis, the master of the Lithuanian post-industrial, is one more project revealing his sincere interest in the roots of the civilisation, the beginning of the archaic, multi-meaningful, solid and conflictless reality. Demo version of Svaixt album Virsme versme was released in 50 copies by the very author in CDR format and sold in a blink. The album for the second edition was complemented by new material placing new stress in its concept. Svaixt music consists of deep, pulsating and very transparent ambient building up mystic, arcane atmosphere. The value of the album lies in the absence of digital sound generating means in the recording. Virsme versme was recorded by playing the single brass percussion inducing meditation and providing the sound with a strong oriental zest. The cover of Svaixt Virsme versme contains the photo of the legendary marsh opening Ulos Akis located in the Lithuanian region Dzukija, whereas the CD is packed in the elegant digipack." [label info]
www.autarkeia.org
|
2007 |
€12.50 |
|
| SVARTE GREINER |
Kappe |
CD |
"Wer dachte, dass das Debüt von Erik K. Skodvin alias Svarte Greiner schon eine ziemlich düstere Angelegenheit war, sollte Kappe besser nicht im Dunklen hören. Denn die vier Tracks gehören zum verstörtesten und düstersten Dark-Ambient, das ich seit langem gehört habe. Vier Kompositionen in unterschiedlicher Länge, von denen der fast schon ironisch betitelte Opener Tunnel of Love noch das kürzeste Stück darstellt, auch wenn es den anderen in Sachen Intensivität in Nichts nachsteht: angetrieben von einem permanenten, metallenem Geräusch von rasselnden Ketten, braut sich im Hintergrund langsam ein kolossaler Sturm zusammen, ehe man in tiefe Drones und undurchdringendes Rauschen abdriftet. Dagegen wirkt der Anfang von Where Am I geradezu friedlich, doch auch hier setzt bald klaustrophobische Enge ein, weicht auch der letzte Kerzenschimmer totaler Dunkelheit. Immer wieder brechen Fragmente durch, die entfernt Stimmen und Schreie sein könnten, dekonstruierte Instrumente, Gitarrenfetzen und vermummte Saxophonklänge quellen aus der hallenden Weite hervor und verlieren sich wieder. Der fast schon sakrale Unterton wirkt zunehmend wie der Soundtrack des letzten Gerichts. Und doch ist Kappe keine willkürliche Ansammlung verstörender Sounds, sondern erstaunlich gut durchkonzipiert. Trotz der scheinbaren Monotonie, die die 16 Minuten von Candle Light Dinner Actress durchzieht, schafft es Skodvin, trotzdem die Aufmerksamkeit hoch zu halten, auch oder gerade wenn sich einem zuweilen die Nackenhaare aufstellen. Kappe ist ein 45-minütiger Horrortrip, und damit auch ein Album, das an den Nerven und der Ausdauer der Hörer zehrt. Ein Album, das aus den tiefsten Wäldern Norwegens zu kommen scheint, und genau dorthin auch wieder verschwindet, ohne dass man genau weiß, was einen getroffen hat. Eine Unheimliche und vor allem unheimlich dichte Angelegenheit. Wahnsinnig, im doppelten Sinne." [Eikman, The Last Beat]
"This is Erik Skodvin's (one-half of Deaf Center) second full-length release for the Type label as Svarte Greiner. His debut Knive was a milestone in doom music. Taking a surprisingly acoustic route, he kick-started a sub-genre as he used cello, violin and rattling miscellanies to conjure up blood-curdling soundscapes. Kappe continues Skodvin's blackened underworld cruise, furthering his mysterious, cinematic sound. Through incessant touring, Skodvin has built up a distinctive live technique since the release of Knive and it is this which works as a spirit guide on Kappe. Travelling the dark corners of the world, Skodvin has explored every shadowed alleyway in his grasp, built up a collection of broken glove-puppets and potion-filled medicine bottles and trapped many a stifled scream in the process. Some of these disparate adventures were captured to cassette tape (Penpals Forever, Digitalis Limited) and wax disc (Til Seters, A Room Forever), but the most evil moments were set aside for this full-length record; four fated psalms in honor of the dark Northern lords. The album's opener "Tunnel Of Love" may be the noisiest piece Skodvin has produced to date with a death-rattle of chains accompanying his patented maritime bass drone. It sounds something like Death's gondola gliding through purgatory, gradually building into a dense, chattering cloud of torment before dropping into bleak stillness. Skodvin is joined by Ultralyd saxophonist Kjetil Møster who adds a disarmingly terrifying squeal to the horrifying detuned strings on "Candle Light Dinner Actress." The most startling change here is his incorporation of the electric guitar -- "Mystery Man" sees Skodvin harness the feedback into loops of distressing, pained melancholy, bringing to mind Skullflower or a slow-motion Sonic Youth at times. Kappe, however, is very much its own beast, and followers will already know that nothing sounds quite like Svarte Greiner. You won't find a more unsettling record this winter." [label info]
"... another mysterious missive, broadcast as always from some dark sonic underworld, courtesy of the man known as Svarte Greiner (Erik Skodvin to his mother), following the equally haunting and mysterious Man Beard Dress lp from the end of last year. As we've mentioned before, this is doom. But not doom as you know it. Not heavy and crushing and downtuned and distorted, instead, spectral and ghostlike, abstract and ambient, doom in vibe, intention, spirit, as much as in sound. It's not about riffs or beats, it's about mood and space and soul, and taking a cold hard look through the cracks into the crumbling wasteland that lies inside all of us... " [Aquarius Rec]
|
2009 |
€16.00 |
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| |
Penpals forever (and ever) |
CD |
"The first side (first two tracks) were originally issued on the Penpals Forever cassette on Digitalis in 2008, limited to 180 copies. Both tracks have been completely remastered. The remaining pieces are all new and exclusive to this release. Svarte Greiner is the nom de plume of Deaf Center's Erik K. Skodvin. Hailing from Norway, his solo efforts are always stripped bare, white-knuckle sojourns through dark, haunted ambient sonic corridors. Penpals Forever (And Ever) is the imaginary tale of a long dead Baroque painter and his telekinetic correspondence with a flightless bird. It feels archaic; experimental death marches circa 1622. Like Guercino's Et in Arcadia ego, once the end is realized, there's nowhere left to go. It's beyond our experience and sometimes you never recover from the shock. Despite its rather cheery title, Penpals Forever (And Ever) is another step toward the abyss. Musically sparse, Svarte Greiner finds new channels connecting desolate landscapes through ethereal nightmares. It is music best served cold. Chattering, looping guitar lines that feel like muscle being separated from bone slowly build into aching piles of aural dissonance. It's painful to a point. Recorded voices speak a language you can't understand underneath ominous, echoing single notes. Distant metal fragments scrape the dirt from detuned strings while a nefarious feathered minstrel bows dying instruments in the background. No hope left, death is just around the corner. As it ever was, Svarte Greiner is again weaving something deliciously sinister. This is music that is uncomfortably bare. Within its blood-stained confines, there is nowhere to hide. Skodvin's tangled, gnarled tale goes back and forth into infinity until it becomes clear that the flightless bird in question lives inside your skull. Drowning slowly into one's own twisted mind, Penpals is the soundtrack of loss; the procession of fears gradually becoming so overbearing that you can't escape your own demons." [label info]
www.digitalisindustries.com
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
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| SVARTSINN |
Mørkets Variabler |
CD |
Now 8 years since the last full length for Cyclic Law, Norway’s SVARTSINN returns with a new opus, reaffirming his place as one of the world’s premiere Dark Ambient acts. For this album Jan Roger Pettersen is accompanied on some tracks by fellow Norwegian Amund Ulvestad on Cello, providing new elements to Svartsinn’s distinct ominous drones. Mørkets Variabler translates to "Variables Of Darkness" and it is a certain combination of such variables that fuels the urges and need to create the atmospheres translating as Svartsinn. Darkness comes in various shapes and forms and through these new pieces we are plunged into this vast and singular subject, left to our senses to explore it’s subtle meanings and impressions left within ourselves. Presented in a unique Limited Edition Hardcover Digibook as well as a Limited Gatefold Double vinyl. The vinyl version includes an exclusive remix of the track “Echoes Of Silent Cries” by Sweden’s KAMMARHEIT. Artwork by Dehn Sora.
CD Digibook Edition of 500 Copies. Hardcover, 4 panels sleeve with 16 pages Booklet. 7 Tracks. Running Time 63:51
Double Vinyl Edition of 300 Copies. Gatefold Sleeve with printed Inner Sleeves on Black Vinyl. 8 Tracks. Running Time 72:00
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/m-rkets-variabler
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2017 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Morkets Variabler |
do-LP |
Now 8 years since the last full length for Cyclic Law, Norway’s SVARTSINN returns with a new opus, reaffirming his place as one of the world’s premiere Dark Ambient acts. For this album Jan Roger Pettersen is accompanied on some tracks by fellow Norwegian Amund Ulvestad on Cello, providing new elements to Svartsinn’s distinct ominous drones. Mørkets Variabler translates to "Variables Of Darkness" and it is a certain combination of such variables that fuels the urges and need to create the atmospheres translating as Svartsinn. Darkness comes in various shapes and forms and through these new pieces we are plunged into this vast and singular subject, left to our senses to explore it’s subtle meanings and impressions left within ourselves. Presented in a unique Limited Edition Hardcover Digibook as well as a Limited Gatefold Double vinyl. The vinyl version includes an exclusive remix of the track “Echoes Of Silent Cries” by Sweden’s KAMMARHEIT. Artwork by Dehn Sora.
CD Digibook Edition of 500 Copies. Hardcover, 4 panels sleeve with 16 pages Booklet. 7 Tracks. Running Time 63:51
Double Vinyl Edition of 300 Copies. Gatefold Sleeve with printed Inner Sleeves on Black Vinyl. 8 Tracks. Running Time 72:00
cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/m-rkets-variabler
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2017 |
€26.00 |
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| SWANS |
The Seer |
do-CD |
"MICHAEL GIRA, Bandleader der SWANS, merkt zum neuen Album an: "THE SEER nahm 30 Jahre in Anspruch. Hierin gipfelt nicht nur jedes bisherige SWANS Album, sondern auch jegliche Musik, die ich jemals gemacht habe, an der ich beteiligt war und die ich mir jemals vorstellen konnte.
Und dennoch ist es unvollendet, wie die Songs selbst. Es ist ein einziger, lose schwankender, Rahmen, welcher verschwimmt, sich vermischt und letztendlich verschwindet.
Am Anfang der Lieder war nur eine Akkustikgitarre, dann kam die (unschätzbare) Hilfe meiner Freunde hinzu.
Anschließend wurden die Songs weiter gequält, während der Proben, der Live - Konzerte und im Studio verführt und nun erwarten die Lieder ein weiterer zwangsernährender Kannibalismus, weil wir uns darauf vorbereiten, einige davon live zu spielen.
An diesem Punkt werden sie entweder weiter mutieren oder für eine Weile zur Seite gelegt.
Egal, was ihr vielleicht gehört habt oder mutmaßen mögt, mein Anliegen ist, Licht und Freude in dieser Welt zu verbreiten.
Meine Bandkumpanen sind alle ausgezeichnete Menschen. Ohne sie bin ich bloß ein kleines Kätzchen.
Unser Ziel ist und bleibt das gleiche: Ekstase!" +++ Das Zustandekommen der Songs beschreibt GIRA wie folgt: "Auf THE SEER, AVE.
B BLUES, AVATAR und APOSTATE hört man den Songs an, dass wir uns während der Proben und den Tourneen ganz natürlich zu einer Gruppe entwickelt haben.
Die Songs haben während der letzten SWANS - Touren konstant entwickelt, was wiederum während der Studioaufnahmen eingefangen und abgöttisch liebevoll umgesetzt.
Die für das Album übriggebliebenen Songs wurden von Grund auf im Studio entwickelt. Unter Teilnahme und Einsatz aller beteiligten Musiker wurde alles von einer unsichtbaren Hand geführt. //
The Seer took 30 years to make. It’s the culmination of every previous Swans album as well as any other music I’ve ever made, been involved in, or imagined. But it’s unfinished, like the songs themselves. It’s one frame in a reel. The frames blur, blend and will eventually fade.
The songs began on an acoustic guitar, then were fleshed out with (invaluable) help from my friends, then were further tortured and seduced in rehearsals, live, and in the studio, and now they await further cannibalism and force-feeding as we prepare to perform some of them live, at which point they’ll mutate further, endlessly, or perhaps be discarded for a while.
Despite what you might have heard or presumed, my quest is to spread light and joy through the world. My friends in Swans are all stellar men. Without them I’m a kitten, an infant. Our goal is the same: ecstasy! —Michael Gira " [label info]
www.younggodrecords.com |
2012 |
€20.00 |
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|
To be kind |
do-CD & DVD |
Freunde der musikalischen Trostlosigkeit dürfen sich auf Neues von den legendären Swans freuen. Mitte Mai erscheint ihr neues zweistündiges Doppelalbum "To Be Kind" via Mute. Mute hatte bereits in den Achtziger Jahren mit den Swans zusammengearbeitet und das klassische Werk "Children Of God" über das Sublabel Product Inc. veröffentlicht. Mit von der Partie sind diesmal mit St. Vincent, Cold Specks und Little Annie gleich drei illustre Gastsängerinnen.
Swans sign to Mute and release a new album 'To Be Kind'. 'To Be Kind' contains 10 new Swans songs that - like their Homeric last album, 2012's 'The Seer' - will punish and reward listeners for more than two hours. Some songs are quite melodic and the emotions are not so severe. The shortest song lasts eight minutes, the longest, whilst 'Bring the Sun,' is a full 35 minutes. Special Guests for this record include (among many others): Little Annie (Annie sang a duet with Gira on the song 'Some Things We Do', the strings for which were ecstatically arranged and played by Julia Kent); St. Vincent (Annie Clark sang numerous, multi-tracked vocals throughout the record); Cold Specks (Al contributed numerous multi-tracked vocals to the song 'Bring the Sun'); Bill Rieflin (honorary Swan Bill played too many instruments to list here, ranging from additional drums, to synthesizers, to piano, to electric guitar and so on. He has been a frequent contributor to Swans and Angels of Light and is currently playing with King Crimson).
Double CD - 10 Tracks.
CD / DVD - 10 Track Double CD plus a DVD of Swans live 2013 Primavera.
Triple Vinyl - 10 Tracks plus Download.
|
2014 |
€22.50 |
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|
The Glowing Man (special ed.) |
do-CD & DVD |
The final album by the Swans. Finally, Peace.
www.mute.org
"Swans neuestes Studioalbum, The Glowing Man, erscheint Mitte Juni via Mute auf 2CD+DVD, 2CD und 3LP+MP3. Der Veröffentlichung des neuen Albums, die Sänger und Swans-Kopf Michael Gira als letztes Album der Swans in ihrer "gegenwärtigen Inkarnation" verstanden wissen will, wird eine extensive Welt-Tournee folgen, die die Band auch in unsere Breiten führt. Die Band formierte sich 1982, löste sich 1997 auf und fand ab 2010 erneut zusammen. In ihrer letzten Phase veröffentlichten sie die Alben "My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky" (2010), "The Seer" (2012) und "To Be Kind" (2014). Das neue Album wurde zum Großteil in El Paso, Texas aufgenommen, weitere Aufnahmen entstanden in Seattle und Berlin, abgemischt & gemastert wurde es in New York.
- 2CD inklusive Bonus DVD (Swans Live 2015) im Digipak!
- Standard 2CD im Digipak!
- 3LP im Doppel-Gatefold inklusive Poster & Downloadcode!" [german press info] |
2016 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Leaving Meaning |
do-CD |
SWANS Leaving Meaning is the band’s fifteenth studio album, the follow up to 2016’s The Glowing Man and due for release by Mute / Young God Records (N America) on 25 October 2019. Leaving Meaning will be released on double vinyl in a brown chipboard sleeve, double CD in a brown chipboard digipack and digitally.
Listen to the first track from the album, ‘It’s Coming It’s Real’:
https://youtu.be/3ZVZo30M8Lc
Written and produced by Michael Gira, the album features contributions from recent and former Swans, members of Angels of Light as well as Guest Artists Anna and Maria von Hausswolff, Ben Frost, The Necks, Baby Dee, and a Hawk and a Hacksaw – full personnel list below.
Michael Gira explains, “Leaving Meaning is the first Swans album to be released since I dissolved the lineup of musicians that constituted Swans from 2010 – 2017. Swans is now comprised of a revolving cast of musicians, selected for both their musical and personal character, chosen according to what I intuit best suits the atmosphere in which I’d like to see the songs I’ve written presented. In collaboration with me, the musicians, through their personality, skill and taste, contribute greatly to the arrangement of the material. They’re all people whose work I admire and whose company I personally enjoy.”
“Here below are the primary contributors to Leaving Meaning:
Michael Gira – Vocals, words, acoustic/electric guitar, production. I started Swans in NYC in 1982 and have been the primary songwriter, singer and producer throughout the years. In the early years I played bass, but later switched to guitar. During the years of Swans hiatus (1999 – 2010), I released several albums by and toured with a group called Angels of Light.
Kristof Hahn – Lap steel, various guitars throughout, backing vocals, generous and insightful advice on mixes and arrangements. Kristof first became involved with Swans in 1989, was a principal contributor to Angels of Light, and a core Swans member 2010 – 2017. Kristof’s other musical ventures have included the Rock ‘n’ Roll Noir band Les Hommes Sauvages and Kool Kings (with Alex Chilton). He’s currently working on an instrumental record for Lawrence English’s label, Room 40. He holds a master’s degree in Political Science, and when Swans doesn’t pay the bills, he translates books for a living. Kristof’s presence, on and off tape, is pivotal to this record. Kristof lives in Berlin, Germany.
Larry Mullins – Drums, vibes, orchestral percussion, Mellotron, various keyboards, backing vocals. Larry (AKA Toby Dammit) is a trained symphonic percussionist and all-around consummate musician. He played through the 90s with Iggy Pop and later with The Stooges. He played with Swans in the late 90s and was a main contributor to Angels of Light. He is rumored to have been involved with The Residents. His varied and numerous credits also include a stint with Silver Apples as well as recently, Shakespears Sister. His current main job is playing keyboards with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. I decided immediately to ask Larry to contribute to Leaving Meaning after watching the German TV series Babylon Berlin, and suddenly, unbeknownst to me, there was Larry as the main focus of various cabaret scenes, drumming behind a huge kick drum in his inimitable style. After laughing in shock for perhaps half an hour, I decided to contact him. We hadn’t been in close touch for a long time and I’m elated I reached out. Larry lives in Berlin, Germany.
Yoyo Röhm – Electric bass, double bass, various keyboards, piano, backing vocals. Yoyo came to my attention through his work with Kristof and Larry in Berlin. In addition to his excellent bass playing, Yoyo’s ears were invaluable in helping to sort out many of the arrangements. Yoyo plays with numerous left field musicians around Berlin and also works with Mick Harvey on his Serge Gainsbourg recordings and tours. Yoyo, Larry, Kristof and I rehearsed in Berlin for 3 weeks prior to recording. Yoyo is a true Berliner – gruff and determined on the outside, a marshmallow inside. He was a great musical resource for this record.
The Necks – (Chris Abrahams – piano, organ; Tony Buck – drums, percussion; Lloyd Swanton – double bass). I have been an avid Necks fan since I first saw them perform at a Big Ears Festival in 2010. They subsequently played with Swans at a few shows in Australia. Their live performances and recordings are just about any superlative you can think of – mesmerizing, transcendent, sublime. Their music is entirely improvisational – it’s my understanding that they have no idea what they’re going to play before they start. And yet, mostly using rudimentary jazz trio instrumentation, they manage to fashion burgeoning and ever-evolving, immersive clouds of sound that utterly envelop the listener as the music unfolds. I’m beyond honored and humbled that they agreed to perform the basic tracks for 2 of my songs (The Nub and Leaving Meaning). Their performances were then delicately, and (I hope!) tastefully further orchestrated upon in Berlin. Tony lives in Berlin, and also played drums on the song Some New Things.
Anna and Maria von Hausswolff – Choral backing vocals. Anna is blessed with a soaring voice, lyrical acuity and increasing facility with the church organ. I was impressed recently to learn that she often travels around Europe and visits churches unannounced, where she talks her way into being allowed to use the resident organ – some of them rather massive, I imagine – and plays and explores for hours. Her searing records and live shows reflect the courage of her imagination and have garnered her increasing, much deserved recognition. Maria is an accomplished Swedish cinematographer and director of photography. In 2017 I heard Anna and Maria singing together at a sound check for a special song they were doing in Anna’s set, was instantly enthralled, and resolved at that moment to ask them to participate together on a Swans recording. I’m delighted they agreed to come to Berlin and record for me. They were a joy to work with! They live in Scandinavia.
Ben Frost – Guitar, synthesizers, sound manipulations. Ben’s adventurous sound-craftings, sometimes harrowing and sometimes delicate and quite musical, and his powerful live shows, have afforded him much recognition of late. I’ve also been highly impressed with his soundtrack work for the HBO series, Dark. He’s an extremely talented arranger and composer. His mission for this record was intentionally ill defined. I basically wanted his ears and sensibility, with no particular part or instrument in mind. I arrived at his studio in Reykjavik, Iceland, put up the songs, and he played what he thought a song needed. I was pleasantly surprised to discover his unique approach to the electric guitar as well as his synth work. Ben also was quite helpful with arrangement and mixing ideas. Ben lives in Iceland.
Baby Dee – Lead vocal on The Nub, supported by her friends Fay Christen and Ida Albertje Michels, and Jennifer Gira. Dee has released numerous records (one produced by Bonnie Prince Billie, I think), and if you don’t know them, you should! The first time I saw her she was riding a unicycle in circles outside the now-defunct Avant club, Tonic, in NYC, playing a ukulele (or accordion?) and singing with great mirth. I saw her set that night and was won over. She’s since toured with Swans several times. Her music could loosely be called neo cabaret, but more accurately she’s totally unique and a great performer and songwriter, graced with a powerful voice and high-end ability on the piano, accordion and more. I wrote The Nub specifically for her to sing. I was stymied for words to the main guitar figure to the song, and suddenly she popped into my mind, floating through the universe in diapers, sucking milk from the stars. The song wrote itself. Dee lives in The Netherlands.
Jeremy Barnes and Heather Trost – Jeremy: Santur, hi-hat, fiddlesticks, accordion, engineering; Heather: Stroh violin, violin, viola, fiddlesticks, engineering. Together, Jeremy and Heather comprise the band A Hawk and a Hacksaw. (Jeremy played at one time with the bands Neutral Milk Hotel and Beirut). Again, if you don’t know their music, you should! They’ve released several records. It’s Balkan/Gypsy influenced, somewhat psychedelicized, with great singing, playing and melodies. They’re each multi-instrumentalists and they intrepidly travel the world, both touring and simply exploring the Balkans, in search of adventure and master musicians of the region, some of whom they simply befriend, others whom they record. They toured with Swans a while ago, and I’ve had it in the back of my mind to ask them to record on a record since. I travelled to their home studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico, presented the songs, and did the same thing I did with Ben – I said, “Now what?” You can hear them on several songs on the record, sometimes subtly, at other times more pronounced. In any event, it’s great to have such a pair of wonderful humans on the record.
ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS:
Dana Schechter – Dana played bass on the song ‘Some New Things’. Dana was a core member of Angels of Light. Her current band is Insect Ark. It’s rather heavy and great. Will be working with Dana more soon in the future and very pleased we reconnected recently.
Jennifer Gira – Backing vocals throughout and cameo vocal on Sunfucker. Jennifer has sung backing vocals on the past few Swans albums as well as lead vocal on the song When Will I Return? on the last Swans album, The Glowing Man. She’s also of invaluable help on mixing and arrangement decisions.
Cassis Staudt – Accordion and harmonium. Cassis was a core member of Angels of Light. She moved to Berlin some time ago and we lost touch. Cassis is a composer of music for films in Berlin. I’m very happy to be working with her again.
Norman Westberg – Electric guitar. Norman played on a few key moments on this record. Norman has been in and out of Swans since the beginning (mostly in) and was a core Swans member in 2010 – 2017. We’ll continue to work together into the future, absolutely. Norman releases solo instrumental records through Lawrence English’s Room 40 label. We’re touring (each solo) together in Eastern Europe soon.
Christopher Pravdica – Bass guitar, sounds. Chris played at pivotal moments on this record. He was a core Swans member in 2010 – 2017. We’ll continue to work together in the future, absolutely. Chris has recently been enlisted by Jamie Stewart for his band Xiu Xiu.
Phil Puleo – Phil played hammer dulcimer on the song Amnesia. This might be considered a severe underutilization of his considerable talents as a drummer, but there’s more to come quite soon. Phil was a core member in Swans 2010 – 2017 and played as a member of Swans in the late 90s and contributed to Angels of Light.
Thor Harris – percussion, trumpet, clarinet, sounds, bells, gizmos, additional vibes. Thor drove up from Austin to record for me at Heather and Jeremy’s place in Albuquerque. Always a highpoint to be in the presence of this committed musician and friend. Thor was a core member of Swans in 2010 – 2016 as well as Angels of Light. Certainly, more to come! Thor has his own happening combo, Thor and friends, and they make seductive and beautiful records and tour often. He also has recently been recruited by Jamie for Xiu Xiu.
Paul Wallfisch – Paul played piano to great effect here and there on the record. Paul was a touring member of Swans in 2017. He works with the glorious human chanteuse Little Annie. He’s also a musical director for theater productions in Germany, and recently landed a very fancy-pants job as musical director/composer for a theater production at a historical theater in Vienna.
Thanks to All!!!!
MG”
|
2019 |
€18.50 |
|
|
Where does a Body end? (deluxe ed.) |
2 x BLU-RAY |
Die Anfang der 80er Jahre in New York gegründete Band Swans gilt als eine der härtesten, lautesten Live-Bands der Welt. Einen Einblick in ihre Intensität, ihre wechselhafte Geschichte liefert Marco Porsia mit seiner intimen Dokumentation ,Swans - Where Does a Body End?", für die der Regisseur jahrelang Teil des inneren Zirkels der Band war. Gerade deswegen: Ein Film für Fans. Anfang 2020 im Kino, nun als US-Pal/Region 0 DVD/BD/2BD, Sprache Englisch, Untertitel Englisch mit Altersfreigabe 12 Swans gilt als eine der radikalsten Bands der letzten 40 Jahre. Ihre Konzerte gleichen noch immer ekstatischen Ritualen. Gegründet 1982 als streitlustige Post-Punk-Band erregten Swans erste Aufmerksamkeit in der New Yorker No-Wave-Szene, feierten währen der Indie-Welle der 90er unerwarteten Mainstream-Erfolg, verursachten Chaos auf und jenseits der Bühne, erlebten Bandauflösung und Wiedervereinigung. Swans war immer eine Ansammlung von wechselnden Einzelperformern - mit einer einzigen Konstante: Sänger, Songwriter und Mastermind Michael Gira. Sein Lebensweg vom Problemteenager zum Enfant Terrible seiner Kunsthochschule, Alkoholiker und schließlich Familienmensch sind der rauen, progressiven Musik seiner Band eingeschrieben. Filmemacher Marco Porsia hat Swans und Gira über fünf Jahre lang begleitet und beim Songschreiben, im Probenraum und auf Tour gefilmt. Er erhielt unbegrenzten Zugriff auf Giras Archiv mit hunderten Stunden von unveröffentlichten Videos und Tonaufnahmen. Neben Swans-Mitgliedern Jarboe und Thor Harris erklärten sich zahlreiche Wegbegleiter*innen und Fans wie Amanda Palmer, Blixa Bargeld und Thurston Moore für Interviews bereit. ,Swans - Where Does A Body End?" ist eine musikalische Zeitreise, ein filmisches Tour-Tagebuch, ein epischer Konzertfilm. Vor allem aber ist er das Porträt eines besessenen Musikers, Michael Gira, der sein Leben radikal der Kunst gewidmet hat. ,Michael ist kein furchtloser Mensch", erklärt Bandkollege Harris, ,aber er ist ein furchtloser Künstler." Zitate: "There really is no other force of music like Swans. Swans stand alone, integral, drenched in pathos. A band to end all bands." _Thurston Moore/Sonic youth Presse: Director Marco Porsia delivers an intense, comprehensive documentary of the band that is every bit as massive as their recordings. That he captured their many faces to this extent is an astounding achievement in its own right, but then to build something both captivating and informative from such split personalities is pure cinematic magic. _ Film Threat A comprehensive portrait of Gira and his musical endeavors... Fans should love this raw exploration of their legacy. _ Under the Radar There is considerable opportunity to see how Swans' performances have developed over time, with plenty of variously brutal, abrasive, shamanistic and ecstatic concert footage. _ The Arts Desk
https://mvdshop.com/products/swans-where-does-a-body-end-dvd
|
2020 |
€23.00 |
|
|
The Beggar |
do-LP |
listen: https://swans.bandcamp.com/album/the-beggar
https://younggodrecords.com/products/the-beggar
SWANS have announced details of their sixteenth studio album, The Beggar, due for release on Mute / Young God Records (N America) on 23 June 2023. In addition, Swans have announced further dates for a tour across the UK, Europe and North America – full details below. The Beggar is released as double vinyl in a brown chipboard sleeve with a download card for accessing an additional 44 minutes of music (a 44 minute piece of music called The Beggar Lover (Three) that is included on the CD), and as a double CD in a brown chipboard digi-pack.
The Beggar was recorded and mixed at Candy Bomber Studio, Berlin, engineered by Ingo Krauss and mastered by Doug Henderson at Micro-Moose, Berlin. The album was written and produced by Michael Gira and features contributions from recent and former Swans, members of Angels of Light, as well as Guest Swan Ben Frost.
“After numerous pandemic-induced cancellations of tours for the previous Swans album leaving meaning, and an apparent bottomless pit of waiting, waiting, waiting, and the strange disorientation that came with this sudden but interminable forced isolation I decided it was time to write songs for a new Swans album and forget about everything else. They came relatively easily, always informed by the suspicion that these could be my last. When I finally was able to travel, songs in hand, to Berlin to work with my friends recording this record, the feeling was akin to the moment in The Wizard of Oz when the film changes from Black and White to Color. Now I’m feeling quite optimistic. My favourite color is pink. I hope you enjoy the album.” – Michael Gira
Primary contributors to The Beggar:
Michael Gira – Vocals, words, acoustic guitar, production. Gira started Swans in NYC in 1982 and has been the primary songwriter, singer and producer throughout the years. During the Swans hiatus (1999 – 2010), he released several albums by and toured with a group called Angels of Light. Gira recently published a book of his short stories, journals, and words for music, called The Knot. He lives in New Mexico.
Kristof Hahn – Lap steel, various guitars, vocals. Kristof first joined Swans in 1989 and was a principal contributor to Angels of Light, and a core Swans member 2010 – 2017. Kristof’s other musical ventures have included the Rock ‘n’ Roll Noir band Les Hommes Sauvages and Kool Kings (with Alex Chilton). When not making music Kristof translates books. He lives in Berlin, Germany.
Larry Mullins - Drums, vibes, orchestral percussion, Mellotron, various keyboards, backing vocals. Larry is a trained symphonic percussionist. He played through the ‘90s with Iggy Pop and later with The Stooges. He played with Swans in the late ‘90s and was a main contributor to Angels of Light. His current main job is playing drums with The Bad Seeds. Larry lives in Berlin, Germany.
Dana Schechter – Bass guitar, lap steel, keyboards, vocals, piano. Dana played bass in and was a core member of Angels of Light. She subsequently released music and toured as Bee and Flower. Her current band is the power-duo, Insect Ark. Dana is also an animator and designer in the film industry and currently lives in Berlin, Germany.
Christopher Pravdica - Bass guitar, sounds, keyboards, vocals. Chris played bass as a core Swans member in 2010 – 2017. Chris has played with the bands, The Gunga Din, Flux Information Sciences, Xiu Xiu, Yonatan Gat and Medicine Singers and has a project of his own called We Owe. Chris is a sound designer and lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Phil Puleo – Drums, percussion, vocals, piano, exotic wind instruments. Phil played drums with Swans in the late ‘90s and was a core member in Swans 2010 – 2017 and contributed to Angels of Light. Phil’s early NYC musical venture was Cop Shoot Cop and has since played with Human Impact, among others. Phil is an extremely talented illustrator and lives in Chicago, IL.
Ben Frost - Guitar, synthesizers, sound manipulations. In his own work, Ben’s adventurous sound-craftings are sometimes harrowing and sometimes delicate and quite musical. His numerous albums and his powerful live shows have afforded him much recognition. He is also an accomplished composer and arranger of music for film and television. Ben lives in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Backing vocals are provided by Jennifer Gira, Lucy Kruger and Laura Carbone.
Organ illustrations by Nicole Boitos
The Beggar 2CD tracklisting
CD1:
The Parasite (8:27)
Paradise is Mine (9:23)
Los Angeles: City of Death (3:29)
Michael is Done (6:08)
Unforming (5:55)
The Beggar (10:15)
No More of This (6:55)
Ebbing (11:04)
Why Can\\\'t I Have What I Want Any Time That I Want? (7:38)
CD2:
The Beggar Lover (Three) (43:51)
The Memorious (8:38)
The Beggar 2LP tracklisting + The Beggar Lover (Three) included on download card
Side A
Paradise is Mine (9:23)
The Beggar (10:15)
Side B
Los Angeles: City of Death (3:29)
The Parasite (8:27)
The Memorious (7:53)
Side C
Michael is Done (6:08)
Why Can\\\'t I Have What I Want Any Time That I Want? (7:41)
Unforming (6:10)
Side D
Ebbing (11:25)
No More of This (6:55)
|
2023 |
€45.00 |
|
|
Children of God |
do-LP |
“By 1986/7 Swans had run its course with the physical assault of sound that we had employed previously for the most part. I wanted to move on to other things and didn’t want to get stuck in some style, which in our case had the potential of becoming cartoonish if we’d continued in that direction. So, I pushed the music into unfamiliar territory. We spent 6 weeks in an old isolated medieval sawmill in Cornwall, England “experimenting” and hashing things out. Even though there was the inevitable tension between myself and the musicians at that time, I remember that episode fondly and miss everyone involved…sigh. Everyone did a great job musically, as well as imbibing with enthusiasm the local brews and eating huge amounts of free food. Jarboe came more to the fore as a presence too. The lineup of Gira / Kizys / Westberg / Jarboe / Parsons was a really good version of the band - one of the best live versions of Swans ever – actually much more intense and visceral in performance than in the nuanced takes of the songs on these recordings. Lyrically, I’d always seized on abstract subjects like money/power/sex/work, etc., and I was watching a lot of Jimmy Swaggart on TV (the televangelist), and I thought he was a great rock performer, so I stole his thunder as best I could. I didn’t want to mock the religious impulse, which would have been a typical thing to do at the time, but instead to get inside it. Everyone wants to lose themselves in something bigger than they are. I don’t know if this is a bad thing or a good thing. Anyway, Children of God was a major turning point for Swans and the musical tendencies that are first engendered here were fertile ground for the remaining future records.” - Michael Gira/Swans 2008
https://swans.bandcamp.com/album/children-of-god-2020-remaster
|
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Public Castration is a good Idea |
do-LP |
https://swans.bandcamp.com/album/public-castration-is-a-good-idea
Swans’ live album Public Castration Is a Good Idea, originally released as a limited edition “official” bootleg in 1986, is now available on vinyl for the first time since that original collectible release. Public Castration… includes live recordings from UK shows at the ICA, London, The Garage, Nottingham and the University of London Union in support of the release of Holy Money in 1986, featuring tracks from that album along with Greed. Swans for these recordings were Michael Gira, Jarboe, Norman Westberg, Algis Kizys, Ronaldo Gonzalez and Ted Parsons.
“... there's no denying the intrinsic entertainment value of having a copy of Public Castration is a Good Idea around the house. The title alone is enough to freak out your parents and roommates; imagine what'll happen if you actually play it for them.” - Pitchfork
|
2022 |
€25.00 |
|
| SYLVESTER ANFANG |
II |
CD |
"Verdammte Hippies! "Sylvester Anfang II" ist der authentischste, von Drogen zerfressendste, prallste, von gotteslästerlichem Hedonismus durchzogene Ausflug in die Zeit von Analogus Rex, den ich jemals gehört habe. Die Flamen spielen einen verqualmten Hippie-Jam, der sich gewaschen hat, oder eben nicht. Voller okkulter Mystik, ohne Plan, ohne Ziel. Krautrockjamsessions auf Acid während einem satanischen Ritus im Haus von Charles Manson. Gitarrengewaber, hypnotische Percussion, wummernder Bass, orientalische Harmonien, obskure Teufelsgesänge, altmodische Synthesizer, ein heißes Covergirl. Und der verrückte, dreckige Gesang von Clay Ruby alias BURIAL HEX im Hintergrund ist beim Zweiteiler "The Devil Always Shits in the Same Graves" sogar richtig furchteinflößend.
Irgendwie sind SYLVESTER ANFANG geil, irgendwie nicht nachvollziehbar. Ich glaube, im LSD-Rausch ist dies die ultimative Musik, herrlich unterproduziert, ohne Songs im eigentlichen Sinne, von ein paar Wahnsinnigen, die trashige Horrorfilme ein wenig zu ernst nehmen. Diese Verbindung von POPOL VUH und AMON DUUL ist allerdings ziemlich mutig, das Ganze auf eine Länge von fast siebzig Minuten auszudehnen, geradezu wahnwitzig. Vor allem laut aufgedreht und bei vollem Bewusstsein entfaltet "Sylvester Anfang II" ungeahnte Faszination, hauptsächlich bei Althippies und Typen, die letztes Wochenende auf einer harten Pilzmischung hängen geblieben sind." [Vampster]
"All things must evolve, and given time even the unicellular organisms dwelling in ocean's deepest fathoms may shift form and take to the skies. In celebration of the mysteries of evolution, Aurora Borealis proudly presents SYLVESTER ANFANG II. In the time since the release of Kosmies Slachtafval, Silvester Anfang have grown into SYLVESTER ANFANG II, a more psychedelic beast, a more tangible creature in some ways, but one that defies and confounds standard classification. Taking their cue from Krautrock communes of yore, the Flemish troubadours have expanded both ranks and minds and now present this giant new opus for general consumption. With cultish numbers swollen with new blood in the guise of Stef Anus (Kiss the Anus of a Black Cat), Father Sloow (Sloow Tapes pontiff), Bram (Ignatz) and Clay Ruby (Davenport, Burial Hex ), the sound is much fuller and more reminiscent of Krautish dope jams then ever before. Ruby's vocal additions create a whole new universe for the band, rather like if Dr. John had been born in a plague pit in Flanders, and the resulting tracks "The Devil Always Shits in the Same Graves" parts 1 & 2 are masterful examples of Flemish voodoo boogie. The new material is more hypnotic than before, and the band are sure to add new members to their fan cult as they slink across Europe like a fog in the coming months. Sure to upset parents and upstanding citizens with their occult themes and liberal Europeanstyle artwork, SYLVESTER ANFANG II reach new levels of consciousness with their mantras of goat worship and the orthodoxy of denial that states "Only analogue is real". Dust off your robes, sharpen the sacrificial blade, order in some Trappist beers... Tune in, turn on, evolve." [label info]
www.aurora-b.com
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| SYNCHRE |
Requiem |
CD |
All instruments and compositions _ Luca Canciello & Lorenzo Brusci
Vocals _ Movement 2, The Zimbabwebird; Movement 1 and 3, Sosta Palmizi
Text, Movement 2 (by Zimbabwebird, in Zulu and Shona, 2015): "Thuma mina, mweya mutsvene.
Unditumeo" [Send me, pure spirit. And then send me.]
Lorenzo Brusci, 1966, co-founder of MUSSTDESIGN.com, managing partner at the music robot start up MUSICFIT (musicfit.ch).
He launched over the last 20 years prestigious adventures in the audio and sound space design field as the sound and interactive design studio GIARDINO SONORO (giardinosonoro.com) and the architectural speakers manufacturer ARCHITETTURA SONORA. He has been composing music for various ensembles, theatre, television and radio since the early ’90s (He founded TIMET.org in 1993).
Lives between Berlin, Tuscany and Krakow.
www.lorenzobrusci.com
www.soundcloud.com/lorenzo-brusci
Luca Canciello, Italian born, Berlin based.
Multi-instrumentalist, composer, sound designer, he performs experimenting with live electronics, instruments and sounds.
www.soundcloud.com/climnoizer
His musical journey and inspiration have brought him into various fields and art disciplines, working solo or collaborating with other artists and bands.
His interest for other art forms, in particular dancing, leads him composing musical pieces for theatre, dance companies, experimenting the various natures of rhythm in music .
On sound design, he’s been involved on projects linked to international cultural heritage and architectural media mapping.
The mechanism of individual and collective memory and its rituals, are the central inspiration of our Requiem. It’s not a formal Mass; our intention was to harvest and express the community’s need of sharing and binding its ties while facing the experience of death.
A deep sense of community - religo in latin, binding in english - inspired our structural research. Requiem becomes then the concerting moment that asks for “holding back”, a desperate request of time suspension, the ultimate demand for re-living, re-experiencing, re-loading, re-gaining, now, in this very ritual and public moment what will be lost forever.
Through a free attitude in music composition and expression - our syncretism - we designed a process of electroacoustic layering, consolidating in 3 compositional areas the process and destiny of organic life.
- Living Elegy - the enchantment for life and its many endangering gates: the movement is subdivided in (living) Articulation, (ritual)Transition and (pathological) Abandon;
- Nostalgia - the seeking for the integral time suspension and life preservation;
- Transfiguration - where we depict the organic reaction to danger and biological faith, subdivided in (furious and ultrabiological) detachment, (regenerating) intimate power, (coding the) extended mind, (persuing a new form of) immanency.
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/requiem
"Lorenzo Brusci (Timet, Climnoizer, Giardino Sonoro) & Luca Canciello gestalten als SYNCHRE mit ihrem Requiem (ACU 1009, CD) aus Drones, Breakbeats und dunkel grollenden Blechbläsern (oder Orgelpfeifen) einen Dreisatz aus 'Living Energy', 'Nostalgia' und 'Transfiguration'. Als einen Übergangsritus, mit einer zart flehenden Gesangseinlage von Tozim Madzima aka Zimbabwe Bird, zu plonkenden Lauten aus dem Innenklavier. Danach wieder rauschend sich wälzende, zittrig verzerrte und knarrende Synthie- und Gitarrensounds, mit Vogelgezwitscher durchsetzt und erst zeitlupig gedehnten, dann wieder zuckenden Beats. Und zuletzt auch wieder der dunklen Bläserpracht, zu der sich diese grandiose Musik der brausenden Verwandlung entgegen stürzt. Wer braucht noch eine Leitkultur, nach so einem Durchgang ins weiße Licht?" [Bad Alchemy] |
2016 |
€10.00 |
|
| SYNDROME |
Now and Forever |
LP |
"Mathieu Vandekerckhove, mostly known for his work with Amenra. For years the self-taught musician learned and studied his craft of songwriting and sound scaping, mainly as a means to self exploration, meditation and attempts at channelling negative into positive energy, this while staying below the surface at all times.
Now 2012 marks a turning point for Mathieu Vandekerckhove and Syndrome as he steps forward, with the epic 28 minute long “Now And Forever”. Dedicated to his son Wolf, this track offers words of guidance and will grant you a look into the heart and soul of the artist. Close your eyes and hear the beating heart of pure artistic freedom.
First 75 orders will get an extra booklet with photography by Mathieu Vandekerkhove."
hypertensionrecords.com
"Gent in Ostflandern, Heimat AMENRAs und somit auch die von Mathieu Vandekerckhove. Der AMENRA-Gitarrist ist ebenso wie seine Kollegen ein Vielbeschäftigter. Die belgische Ausnahmekapelle und ihr ganzheitlicher Ansatz wussten im letzten Jahr gemeinsam mit NEUROSIS live dergestalt zu überzeugen, dass der amerikanische “Headliner“ an jedem Abend Vollgas geben musste, wollte die Band nicht von Vandekerckhove und den Seinen in den Schatten gestellt werden. Wer NEUROSIS kennt, weiß, dass sie diese Form der Herausforderung suchen und lieben.
Dass Eindruck zum Ausdruck wird, ist ein Wesenszug kreativen Wirkens. Die Belgier indes verzahnen künstlerischen Ausdruck und das eigene Leben eng. Nicht umsonst wird bei keiner Veröffentlichung auch nur ein Aspekt dem Zufall überlassen. Gleiches gilt für alle Projekte der in Gent Beheimateten – gleiches gilt somit auch für SYNDROME. Es geht die Geschichte, dass Vandekerckhoves Projekt einem Zuhause Experimentieren entsprungen sei, vor ca. sieben Jahren. Mit “Now And Forever“ liegt die mittlerweile dritte Veröffentlichung vor, ein Track mit einer Spielzeit von 28 Minuten. Das Stück bildet den Wandel ab, der sich in SYNDROME eingeschrieben hat und setzt sich aus Ambient, Drone, Doom und ja – Folkelementen zusammen. Unterstützung erfährt der Belgier von Bandkollegen Colin H. van Eeckhout und Josh Graham. Letzterer sollte als NEUROSIS-Mitglied und A STORM OF LIGHT-Kopf keiner weiteren Vorstellung bedürfen.
“Now And Forever“ startet mit einer eindringlichen Akkordfolge, die sanft von einem Drum durchklopft wird. Der vormals erwähnte Wandel drückt sich immer wieder in einer hohen Verdichtung der einzelnen Sounds aus, schnappt Versätze beinahe beiläufig und schichtet diese sorgsam auf, bereitet so auf das Hervorbrechende und Anstürmende vor, besänftigt diese und überführt sie kurz darauf wieder in mindestens zweimalige, versetzte Wiederholungen desselben Motivs. Die Intervalle des Motivs ändern sich stetig und befördern so den rauschhaften Charakter. Ab Minute neun gesellen sich Vandekerckhoves Brummvocal hinzu, um schließlich durch Colins helle Gesangsparts abgelöst zu werden. Immer bleibt die Gitarre leitend und gleicht dabei aber auch einem Katalysator. Sie senkt nicht nur die Aktivierungsenergie, sie überführt auch Dunkles in Klingendes, Tönendes. Reaktant dabei ist das Niederringende des Alltags, dass in das Ergebnis namens “Now And Forever“ expediert wird. Im Vergleich zu AMENRAs Wirkweise des “Hervorbrechens“ steht bei SYNDROME eher das Aufbrechen im Vordergrund. Wo dort die Ausdehnung, das Treiben und das Herauskommen definiert werden, geht es hier eher um ein Öffnen, ein Aufschließen und Durchstoßen. Das Ein- und Aufweichen von Strukturen geschieht entlang des beschriebenen Wandels.
Dabei findet der Hörer AMENRAs die anderen Projekte der Mitglieder in die Wertvorstellungen der Hauptband gut verfugt. Nicht umsonst haben die Belgier mit der CHURCH OF RA eine Form der Herangehensweise gewählt, die in Glaubenssystemen wurzelt. Ernsthaftigkeit ist dabei das Credo, fernab von Dogmen und Hierarchien der Entstehungsgrundlage, sondern vielmehr Basis für eine bedingungslose Hingabe, die Ergebnisse erschließt wie das vorliegende. Dort, wo eine Deckungsgleichheit von Handlungen erzeugt wird, entsteht eine Überzeugungsgemeinschaft, eine, die gemeinsam einen Pfad beschreitet, der an den wenig begangenen Weg Robert Frosts erinnert. Das, was dabei betreten wird, ist gesäumt von einem Streben nach Ganzheitlichkeit in Bild und Ton. Das dort im Verborgenen Schlummernde wird Stück um Stück freigelegt, hoch ist der Aufwand für dieses Abringen, jetzt und für immer." [S.L./Black Magazine]
"Nearly a decade ago, Syndrome came into the world through the Belgian mind of one Mathieu Vandekerckhove due to his need for a meditative vehicle through which he could release the negative energy in his life and transform it into something more constructive. This vehicle obviously existed in obscurity, laying dormant in silence for many years before taking on the attributes of droning post-rock and finding a home in 2011 with Belgian label ConSouling Sounds where Vandekerckhove has spent his entire career under this moniker to this point. Life was officially given to Syndrome when “Floating Veins” was released last June, finding availability in both a 12″ and a CD limited to 500 copies, of which the first 100 came with a bonus DVD-R of material. Other than that and “Now and Forever” here, the only other existing official Syndrome release is a three-way split with Monotonos and Sequences entitled “Fall of Man”. Outside of Syndrome, Vandekerckhove is otherwise known for his work as guitarist for sludge doom bands Kingdom and, more importantly, Amenra whom found a decisive home in Neurot Recordings a year ago. Unfortunately it seems that, despite a promised release of the new studio album “Mass V” a few months after signing, nothing has yet been unleashed.
This slow pace on Neurot may be what has freed Vandekerckhove to pursue his solo project in such depth, and that depth has found him constructing a one-track, 28 minute opus in dedication to his son, Wolf, for this release. What few words are present here exist as a guiding light for his son towards finding himself, finding strength, helping others, and knowing no matter how distant the expanse, be it physical or ethereal, his father is there in spirit. It’s an intimate portrait of the proverbial handing of the torch in blood, primal if not tribal in spirit. A tribal nature is in fact how this album opens, with a subtle light percussive notion — the only place on the entire album where you’ll find any hint of bombast behind the epic, weaving feedback drones that shimmer harmoniously before washing away in tides of a deeper, less tenuous drone that is textured lightly by gentle noise and guitar tones. These moments will eventually give way to the heart of the track that contains the lyrical content and the most desolate production within the release to give space for the vocals to express their stern, yet inert fragility. The deep performance here, both literally and emotionally, immediately reminds of efforts from several artists including Steve von Till and later Ulver, and whose building ethereal guitar nature is uncannily reminiscent of the gut-wrenching dreamy style that Love Spirals Downwards once achieved.
Other than the obvious emotions associated with succeeding at bringing a child into this world, there has to be something incredibly special on an entirely different, subconscious level about implementing those emotions into a dedication through music. It was a decade ago, this year, that Green Carnation released their acclaimed “Light of Day, Day of Darkness” album which was inspired by, at least in part, by the birth of Tchort’s son and the death of his daughter. Obviously there is a greater sense of melancholy in that record, but there is a very distinct yet undefinable emotion that accompanied that album — an emotion that is also present in full force here. It certainly isn’t melancholy, but it is reserved all the same — focused and incontrovertibly sincere. That said, it’s difficult to place the particular portion of the painting by Matthieu Ronsse, “Bateau”, that as used as the album cover, in regards to it’s significance to the subject matter at hand. It certainly fits in with the ethereal music of “Now and Forever”, and there are certainly ties in sound to the sea, but it is certainly cryptic at best in relation. The figure pictured has a ship’s flags linked to the inside corners of the eyes, almost representing tears, while the sail itself covers the mouth. The ship itself is on fire. There are many obvious lines of thought, but they seem to contradict one another once their paths cross.
Perhaps this is an explanation best saved for another article at another time. Regardless of the cryptic artwork though, it’s hard to imagine an album of this style achieving a level of perfection that rises above this. There’s simply such an incredible amount of intensity, love, and musical prowess at work in “Now and Forever” to find any kind of negative attributes within." [Sage/Heathen Harvest]
|
2013 |
€20.50 |
|
| SYSSELMANN |
Ritual of the Aurora Noir |
CD |
Winter-Light warmly welcomes Norwegian artist 'Sysselmann' to our label, with the release of his latest venture into darker realms, 'Ritual Of The Aurora Noir' E.P. This is Sysselmann's third release to date, having previously brought out 'The Northern Chronicles' and 'Live at Mir' on the Norwegian label, Tipi Token Records.
The Sysselmann project was born on a tiny island, in the north of Norway, after experiencing 7 severe winter storms, in as many days. He describes his debut album 'The Northern Chronicles', as being '...a tribute to the collective consciousness of the northern parts of Norway..... A celebration of the magical coastal landscape and those who came before us."
A celebration of those who came before us..... Music with it's roots so deeply embedded in the history of his own land, that it gives rise once again to the myths and legends of the ancients. A modern ode to the might and power of the land of the Norse men and women.
On 'Ritual Of The Aurora Noir' we are treated to the full arsenal of Sysselmann's audio armoury. From the first mountain-shaking horn blast to the heavy rhythmic thunder of crashing drums. Through throat singing, the serpent-like coiling of warm drones and the heart felt synth stabs that conjure up and offer a glimpse in to the past. A window into another time and age, long since past but never to be forgotten.
Sysselmann has always been true to the meditative sound, using his field recordings as a major tool in his work. Nowadays, he employs more organic field recordings and uses these in combination with acoustic instruments. Sysselmann's magical live performances are accompanied by an array of hand made pipes and horns, which he also uses to effect in the studio.
4 track E.P. with a running time of 32:02 mins.
https://winter-light.bandcamp.com/album/ritual-of-the-aurora-noir
|
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| SZCZEPANIK, NICHOLAS |
The Chiasmus |
CD |
"Nicholas' debut CD is much more than an impeccably constructed piece of abstract drone music: The Chiasmus undulates between waves of quiet melancholy and overwhelming beauty, with small slices of pointillistic noise. an album where the emotional response is always the central focus rather then pure aesthetic concerns, the nuances of The Chiasmus are only revealed upon multiple listens; by then, the listener is completely tuned into the world it presents. packaged in a jewel with a 16 pages booklet of art by Avery McArthy." [label info]
"... We mostly know him as the owner of Sentient Recognition Archive label, who produce some professionally packed CDRs of the moody, textured drone music around. I think this is the first time I hear his music. Its hardly a surprise that he creates such music himself. Drone music with a big D. Szczepanik seems to be drawing inspiration from all over the place. Through calm and atmospheres, he isn't too shy about breaking away from that and offer a louder end of his excursions. Things buzz and drone and sometimes bite your ear. Think a louder Organum meeting the softest Machinefabriek. The softer moments are the best, I think, but the louder bits (a minority here) provide a great counter point. Maybe a bit long, but very nice." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"A split release between bad ass French microlabel Basses Frequencies, and Szczepanik's own Sentient Recognition Archive label, The Chiasmus is Szczepanik's latest collection of dronology, and the first proper cd we've had (quite possible his first proper cd release
entirely). We've long been fans, being the dronelords and ladies we are around these parts, and past Szczepanik joints have demonstrated a mastery of the drone, creating surprisingly lush and lustrous expanses of low end minimalism. On The Chiasmus, Szczepanik continues to move ever deeper, ever darker, five long tracks, each a different variation of drone, drifting from minimal black shift, to near Pop Ambient bliss.
Record opener is cavernous, epic, Teutonic and slow shifting, peppered at the beginning with bits of glitch and hiss, the song soon settles into an uneasy sprawl, ominous and dangerously grim, but still somehow warm and expansive and enveloping. The second track shifts gears completely, unfurling a gauzy bit of chordal shimmer, all warm and sun dappled and delicate and gauzy, gentle tranquil melodies played out over minutes instead of seconds, a little Eno for sure, as the song drifts and flutters and hovers dreamily in midair. The final three tracks hover somewhere in between, deep moaning post industrial whirs laid over dense metallic buzz, the two layers slowly seeping into one another like some blackened sonic spill, deep bell like tones ring out, their tones frozen in time and stretched out into softly undulating sheets of sound, slightly reflective and iridescent and
kaleidoscopic, glimmering and glistening underneath some alien black sun, and finally, a loooooooong stretch of grinding muted buzz,
spreading out in slow motion, it's black shimmer infused with streaks of melody, as if some strange black seas was slowly growing warmer and coming to life before our ears.
Fantastic, gorgeous stuff. Essential listening for the drone obsessed..." [Aquarius Records review]
www.bassesfrequences.org
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| SZCZEPANIK, NICHOLAS & JUAN JOSE CALARCO |
Lack Affix |
CD |
"Lack affix isn’t so much about one particular location as it is an homage to the memories of the places we can’t vividly remember. This is about the imagery conjured when certain senses are triggered. It’s about our mind’s recreations of memories past; at once familiar, but also different in some inexplicable way. (Nicholas Szczepanik) Washington DC
-
Since a couple of years I’ve been living in different areas very far from the centre of the city and for Lack Affix I tried to capture this particular feeling I used to get during the nights by the time I lived at the most overcrowded districts; those extremely distant-blurred sounds of night activities as trucks delivering boxes, police helicopters, construction sites working on full hours, gas stations filled with taxis coming and going but mostly that undefinable, abyssal texture of a huge city at very late hours.
As Nicholas was sending me his re-works on my raw stuff and his own recordings for me to work on, we went more into this direction. So, I focused even more on recordings from the same streets and specially from terraces and inside subway entrances to reconstruct the sounds as I used to hear them those times ago; hopefully, even to recover some peaceful sensation I’ve never felt again so far, no idea if related with the dulling sound of those crowded districts or not. (Juan José Calarco)
Buenos Aires, Argentina"
[label / website info]
www.unfathomless.net
"The third release in the Unfathomless series is a duo release of two artists bringing sounds to the table from their own places. Nicolas Szczepanik from Washington and one Juan Jose Calarco from Buenos Aires. They traded these sounds and then started to work on processing these. This resulted in the three pieces on this CD. Its hard to recognize the busy urban life in these pieces. Just as much as you would guess, this could also be the sounds from a small village. Unless of course they stuck out their microphones in the middle of the night, picking up the remains of the day and the birds of the night. Occasionally they work towards a crescendo, but even then its not easy to spot the city. Not that I care about this, I must say. They come up with music that has a lot to imagine about. Great field recordings, and great processing of the sounds. They do an excellent job, mixing all of this together, with great clarity and lots of detail. The sound bounces all over the dynamic spectrum.
If you like say Francisco Lopez, then you're bound to like this too. Highly refined soundscapes." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
| SZKIEVE |
Ekranoplanes |
mCD |
Fast schon “elektro-akustisch” nennen kann man diese komplexen synth / elektronischen / konkreten sieben Miniaturen des HUSHUSH-Labelbetreibers aus Kanada.... zum genauen Zuhören, für das aurale Kino im Kopf bestens geeignet!
“szkieve is dimitri della faille who founded the project in 1998. besides several szkieve releases, dimitri has also collaborated with martiens go home and vromb, and made a split-vinyl with ammo. szkieve's music is made of intense and complex compositions that assemble rich textures and expansive sounds. this is then combined with chords, string melodies and high-pitched synthetic tones. szkieve's sound explorations could be described as 'scientific', comparable to the works of modern electronic composers. but instead of 'dry, academic experiments', szkieve transforms moods into music and the result is quite unusual for this genre. 'ékranoplanes' is a concept work: because they require huge amount of resources and money, science and technologies have always been at the mercy of politics. this mini cd is a study of a lost technology of the former soviet union. that is, the futuristic vision of one man confronted by the needs of a country engaged in a battle for the world. ékranoplanes are the platypus of transportation, they are both planes and boats or something entirely else. these incredible monsters of steel and oil broke the waves of the caspian sea while intelligence around the world were still trying to figure out what they were. made of tons of rivets, motors and grey matter - those having the chance to spot such a special animal never forgot the sound of its metal bouncing on water or its wings cutting the air. with this release, szkieve renders the grandeur of this forgotten technology and pays a tribute to the developments of modern science.” [press release]
|
2005 |
€8.50 |
|
| SZMT |
Parvenu |
CD |
Parvenu is a work about authoritarian structures and developments.
The narrative is abstract, all sounds are concrete. Every single sound on this recording is based on recordings from three bee hives.
Track List:
Sometimes She Had Melancholic Memories of Her Larval Stage – 11:48
His Primary Role Was to Mate with the Fertile Queen – 9:04
The General Skepticism of the Constitutional Monarchy Was Justified as New Forms of Authority Surfaced – 15:11
The Surviving Virgin Queen Hid in the Shadows of Her Former Kingdom – 11:37
www.gruenrekorder.de
"Behind szmt (no capitals needed) is Tobias Schmitt, better know, I think, as Suspicion Breeds Confidence, but also an improviser and organiser of concerts. As szmt he “contextualizes seemingly contradictory material and techniques. All input is equal and will be formed into a coherent but nevertheless open to misinterpretation result by means of improvisation and composition” and for
‘Parvenu’ we read that it is a “work about authoritarian structures and developments. The narrative is abstract, all sounds are concrete. Every single sound on this recording is based on recordings from three bee hives”, in which context I guess the whole authoritarian structures becomes funny. When I played this yesterday for the first time I didn’t look any of this up, nor could I really decipher the font
on the cover and decided to give it another try, another day, which turned out to be today. Now that I know I am hearing the processed sound of bees, it sounds like something very obvious, but I guess that’s always the case. I assume that Schmitt is armed with a laptop and sound processing tools that lie within those machines to compose the four pieces on this CD. It is shimmering, quiet, sometimes loud, sometimes very processed, beyond recognition and then sometimes it seems to be fairly close to
what is really a recording of a bee. Most of the times it sounds like the work of microsound, that active music force from a decade ago, but in the case of szmt that is perhaps 2/3 of the story. In “The General Skepticism of the Constitutional Monarchy Was Justified as New Forms of Authority Surfaced” (all four
titles are that weird, indeed), Schmitt let’s his bees do a dance, and while not really techno music, or perhaps something we could or should dance too, there is surely some kind of groove to be detected.
Schmitt’s work reminded me of Roel Meelkop, Marc Behrens and that posse, but he added his own
twist by allowing a more loop based structure, working his processing around those, calling for
minimalist developments within each piece. It’s these perhaps not so big differences that actually made it stand out from the microsound as it was before and made it into something he can call his." [FDW/Vital Weekly]
"Gruenrekorder recordings are often filled with surprises, and szmt’s Parvenu is no exception: the brainchild of Tobias Schmitt, the forty-eight-minute release was created entirely using sounds derived from three bee hives. Given the szmt description provided, Schmitt, who also issues material under the Suspicion Breeds Confidence alias (e.g., The Fauna and Flora of the Vatican City) and has contributed to a number of releases on the label over the years, would appear to be somewhat of a provocateur. szmt, we’re told, “contextualizes seemingly contradictory material and techniques” such that all input is “formed into a coherent but nevertheless open-to-misinterpretation result by means of improvisation and composition.”
In the case of Parvenu, four long-form explorations are presented, each carrying with it a wordy title, the lengthiest “The General Skepticism of the Constitutional Monarchy Was Justified as New Forms of Authority Surfaced.” The material’s predictably abstract and amenable to interpretation, the listener free to conjure any number of possible interpretations in response. Occasional moments of insect swarm and buzzing do surface, but for the most part Schmitt’s treated the original recordings like so much raw material ready to be liberally shaped and transformed.
As the recording plays, it’s impossible to predict what direction it’ll take; at one juncture, a writhing, industrial-inflected rhythm pattern begins to assert itself before a swathe of smears abruptly takes its place. Elsewhere, amplified chirping, grinding, and warbling noises suggest a microphone moving in closely on the hive and its inhabitants, with rutting sounds of indeterminate origin implying activity of some (re)productive kind occurring within. Tinged with sci-fi bleeps, a few ambient-like episodes arise that one would perhaps misidentify as synth-generated were one unaware of the production methodology involved, and strange though it might sound, that aforementioned track, especially when it features clattering beat elements, threads sequences into its fifteen-minute frame that aren’t unlike what one might encounter in an early Autechre experiment.
A number of possible descriptions come to mind, but experimental soundsculpting might be the best and simplest fit for what’s going on here. Such experimentation is business as usual at Gruenrekorder central, of course, as long-time followers of the label already know. As strange to outsiders as Parvenu will be, to Gruenrekorder fans such weirdness is nothing more than standard operating procedure." [Texture] |
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| TABATA (TABATA MITSURU - BOREDOMS) |
Mankind Spree |
CD |
"Mankind Spree is the latest solo album by Tabata Mitsuru (Acid Mothers Temple, Zeni Geva, etc.), which is every bit as good as one may expect from an artist who has the power and vision to soundtrack time folding in on itself whilst simultaneously pushing the psychedelic envelope into realms where melodies, static white crackle and overflowing rivers of electronics converge like the very points where sanity opens its welcoming hands to madness. Featuring several guests, including Acid Mothers Temple's synthe sizer player, Higashi Hirosh, Mankind Spree comprises seven cuts that cough 'n' splutter over angular rhythms, suck up noise as colourful and beautiful as a perfect rainbow, hit back with some melodic scree and never stray too far from Tabata's keen ear for those rather more avant-strained sensibilities. Similar to Finland's magnificent Circle before him, Tabata's relationship with Fourth Dimension commenced with the release of a now long out of print limited edition 7" single in 1996. 'Children of Woods'." [label info]
www.fourth-dimension.net
|
2010 |
€9.00 |
|
| TAEHA TYPES |
Mechanical Keyboard Sounds: Recordings of Bespoke and Customized Mechanical Keyboards |
LP |
"Mechanical Keyboard Sounds: Recordings of Bespoke and Customized Mechanical Keyboards is made and recorded by the master of this modern art, Nathan from Taeha Types. Yes, this is actual typing sounds on amazing future/retro/cutting edge keyboards, every track and keyboard different. Listen and weep, or sleep, or something to this incredible and unique listening experience -- the first mechanical keyboard album ever. For the last few years a small scene has been growing: the mechanical keyboard scene. It makes total sense as most people use keyboards every day, so why not have an amazing keyboard to use instead of total crap? Just look down: it's shit, isn't it? Some people worked out that things could be improved -- a lot. They started to make incredible, kinky keyboards, using both old and new tech: the possibilities and options in construction are endless. There are key cap options, spring options, and even backplate options (steel, aluminum, copper), and of course, case options too. All these options make a big or little difference. Once made these keyboards are carefully lubricated spring by spring to give them that little extra smoothness and "ping". The results are beautiful, fetishistic, and futuristic in an odd retro style, and they sound amazing when they are typed on. This is classic ASMR/whisper porn; the gentle click and rattle of carefully lubed springy keyboards make the hairs on the back of the neck rise. Either that or wooed into a peaceful, sublime state. This is a classic and groundbreaking new Trunk album for modern stressful times, from a selection of (enhanced) keyboards from the '80s, '90s, and now. They were recorded by the master maker of the modern mechanical keyboard, Nathan from Taeha Types. He has a large following on Instagram, YouTube (videos of his hands typing on his keyboards hit 10K in just a couple of days after upload), and he now has over half a million views on his Twitch channel where he constructs keyboards live. Notes by Jonny Trunk and Stu London (AKA Futurecrime) from the London mechanical keyboard scene. He knows what the fuck he is talking about. One might not understand it, but one can catch up really quickly. Mastered by Jon Brooks. Presented in full-color sleeve, with special foil pantone."
|
2019 |
€28.00 |
|
| TAGG, DAVID |
Pentecost |
CD |
"When the hard work of the day is done, and you go home and begin your nightly routine of winding down, there are only so many things that reciprocate that relaxed stillness. Here at Install, we're happy to say that we have the exact soundtrack for many of your sleepy evenings to come: David Tagg's newest album PENTECOST. Following in the wake of his Cold Spring Harbor EP, and utilizing a process that included using his grandfather's reel-to-reel tapes of organ playing for source sound, David has created what could be described as an "ambient novel". A superbly vivid work of musical nonfiction that tells the stories of 1000 photographs, long since forgotten memories and a crackling, eroded legacy, now exhumed from the dusty wine cellars of Tagg's sentimental estate. What all this wholly amounts to is a landmark recording, full of cool, subdued tones and soft shadowy movements. PENTECOST could be David's strongest ambient moment, if not only for consistency, but also for potency." [label website info]
www.installsound.net
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| TAJ MAHAL TRAVELLERS |
August 1974 |
do-LP |
High quality reissue of the monumental work August 1974 by Japanese experimental music ensemble Taj Mahal Travellers. Pressed on 180gr. vinyl with extensive liner notes by Julian Cowley.
In April 1972 a group of Japanese musicians set off from Rotterdam in a Volkswagen van. As they crossed Europe and then made their way through Asia they made music in a wide range of locations. They also paid close attention to the changing scene and to differing ways of life. Midway through May they reached their destination, the iconic Taj Mahal on the bank of the Yamuna river in Agra, India. The Taj Mahal Travellers had fulfilled physically the promise of the name they adopted when they formed in 1969. But their music had always been a journey, a sonic adventure designed to lead any listener’s imagination into unfamiliar territory.
The double album August 1974 was their second official release. The first July 15, 1972 is a live concert recording, but on 19th August 1974 the Taj Mahal Travellers entered the Tokyo studios of Nippon Columbia and produced what is arguably their definitive statement. The electronic dimension of their collective improvising was coordinated, as usual, by Kinji Hayashi. Guest percussionist Hirokazu Sato joined long-term group members Ryo Koike, Seiji Nagai, Yukio Tsuchiya, Michihiro Kimura, Tokio Hasegawa and Takehisa Kosugi.
The enigmatic Takehisa Kosugi, whose soaring electric violin was such a vital element in their music, had been a pioneer of free improvisation and intermedia performance art with Group Ongaku at the start of the 60s. Later in that decade, before launching the Taj Mahal Travellers, he had become known internationally through his association with the Fluxus art movement. During the mid-70s the Travellers disbanded and while his colleagues more or less stopped performing as musicians Kosugi continued to reach new audiences across the course of several decades as a composer, regular performer and musical director for the acclaimed Merce Cunningham Dance Company.
August 1974 captures vividly the characteristic sound of the Taj Mahal Travellers, haunting tones from an unusual combination of instruments, filtered through multiple layers of reverb and delay. Their music has strong stylistic affinities with the trippy ambience of cosmic and psychedelic rock, but the Taj Mahal Travellers were tuning in to other vibrations, drawing inspiration from the energies and rhythms of the world around them rather than projecting some alternative reality. Films of rolling ocean waves often provided a highly appropriate backdrop for their lengthy improvised concerts. This is truly electric music for the mind and body. |
2018 |
€27.00 |
|
| TAKAHASHI, YUJI |
Meikai No Heso |
CD |
Yuji Takahashi “Meikai no Heso” CD
Edition OMEGA POINT Archive Series OPA-026
A collection of small pieces of tape music by renowned composers, that haven’t been talked about very much. All of them are premiere release on disc.
tr.1 Yuji Takahashi (1938 -), Meikai no Heso (The Umbilicus of Limbo, 1963) (sound file)
It is also known as Window to Antonin Artaud, or The Umbilicus of Limbo. it was performed in a version of tape and instruments - poetry reading of the French poet Antonin Artaud, which was modified on the tape, and bass instruments as well as percussion instruments. This is a live recording of Musicians Group: New Direction at Sogetsu Art Center, conducted by Toshi Ichiyanagi. At the beginning of the concert, Kuniharu Akiyama gave his commentary about the piece.
tr.2 Kuniharu Akiyama (1929 - 1996), Jo-un Keiji sho (1987) (sound file)
It is a segment of a body of work Sound Gift, that was commissioned by WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk) for a show to celebrate John Cage’s 75th birthday. A short text, “Kumo Kumo-wo Joshi Keiji-suru (Kumo=Clouds, Keiji=Cage)”, which was a poetry reading by Akiyama, was looped in the tape, which then overlapped with Haiku about clouds (including English and German), words related to Zen ( in which Cage immersed himself), and sounds. By the way, an English version of Haiku was read by Ayuo Takahashi.
tr.3 Yoriaki Matsudaira (1931 -), Constellation (1984) (sound file)
This is a work by using UPIC device developed by Iannis Xenakis (which can translate graphical images into sound). Here is Matsudaira’s commentary.
“I decided to draw the constellation which we can see in Japan, and chose to fade in colours depending on the brightness of each star. Each of us was supposed to indicate the tone by images, and I remember that I decided to divide the sky into four sections to change the tone little by little.
tr.4 Yoshio Hachimura (1938 - 1985), Catch in the air (1973) (sound file)
It was produced in 1973 at NHK Studio of Electronic Music. Some Japanese traditional instruments, piccolo, tuba, violin, piano as well as electronic sounds were edited on the tape. Its sharp materialistic sound is characteristic of this composer.
tr.5 Toshi Ichiyanagi (1933 -), Music for Film Shikisokuzekuu (1974) (sound file)
The visual of Shikisokuzekuu is described as follows; A letter of Heart Sūtra is projected one by one on the screen rapidly. From the middle of the film, religious paintings appeared with subliminal effect, and flickering vivid colours were added. That gave the audience a dizzy sensation.” The music is mixed barbaric rhythm, electronic sound and Japanese traditional instrument.
omega-point.shop-pro.jp/?pid=159022056
|
2021 |
€21.50 |
|
| TAKAYANAGI, MASAYUKI |
Action Direct |
CD |
„Takayanagi, ebenso wie Frith oder Rowe ein „Alter“ an der Gitarre zwischen Improvisation und Komposition, entwickelte sein hier vorgestelltes Tischgitarrenkonzept in den frühen 80er Jahren. Diese Wiederveröffentlichung einer längst vergriffenen Live LP von 1985 zeugt von einem wiederum ganz eigenen Stil in dieser Spielart. Zwei Walkmen, Mixer, Effektgeräte und zwei Gitarren, eine mit Kontaktmikrophonen bestückt und eine auf dem Tische liegend, Buttermesser, Säge, Streicherbogen etc. zur Bearbeitung, Zuspielbänder mit Stimmen von Mishima Yukio, Hitler und anderen Märschen, Eimert, Wagner sowie Industriesounds dienen Takayanagi zur Herstellung seiner Collagen/ Montagen. Trotz der Fülle an Mitteln, ist sein Stil druckvoll und wohl überlegt. Man hat die Gitarre stets vor Augen und „sieht“ beim Hören doch mehr und weiter. Jeder seiner Eingriffe, jede neue Geräuschlage wirkt hochkonzentriert und bar jeder Hektik. Gitarrenimprovisationen jenseits von Jazz und/oder Neuer Musik. Schönes Foldout-Cover und ein Minibooklet mit Linernotes von Alan Licht und Johan Wellers./
Like Frith or Rowe, Takayanagi is an „oldtimer“ on guitar playing between improvisation and composition. He developed his concept of table guitar in the early 80ties. This rerelease of a long time sold out live LP from 1985 shows his very own style in this genre. 'The instrumentation (...) consisted out of two walkmans, a mixer, various effect pedals and two guitars, of which one was wired up with contact microphones, while the other was stretched out across the table, manipulating its sound with effects while using a bowstring and other utensils like butterknifes and chains (...) modulated tapes of music by Wagner, Eimert and Eissler, snippets and fragments of of speeches by Mishima Yukio, Hitler and accompanying Nazi marches, pieces of a Richard Wagner opera, Sergei Prokofiev’s second symphony and sound bits of industrial machinery and other heavy industries were put to use'(from the linernotes) to create the sonic collages/ montages. In spite of the abundance of sound sources his music is powerful and well-considered. Always the guitar in your eye while listening you „see“ more and further. Every step, every noise layer seems high concentrated and cool. These are guitar improvisations beyond Jazz and/ or New Musik. Nice foldout jacket included a small booklet with linernotes from Alan Licht and Johan Wellers.” [Peter Schlewinski for Drone Records]
"The CD version is carefully crafted and housed in a deluxe fold out sturdy carton mini-LP styled record sleeve (hand numbered) complete with fully detailed and extensive liner notes by Alan Licht and Johan Wellens." [label info]
|
2005 |
€20.00 |
|
| TALVIHORROS |
Descent into Delta |
CD |
"A year passes by and finally Talvihorros is back with his latest album Descent Into Delta to be released on both vinyl and CD. The man behind this one man guitar driven excursion is London based Ben Chatwin who in addition to hibernate has had material released through Benbecula, My Dance The Skull and our sister label Rural Colours. Despite only recently forming the Talvihorros project in 2008, Chatwin has been experimenting with sound ever since he first picked up a guitar as a teenager. His live performances have seen him share a stage with the likes of Tim Hecker, Stephan Mathieu and Ian Hawgood to name just a few. Chatwin has to this point juggled live performances and studio work as two separate entities with studio material being culled from sounds derived from as many different instruments as possible and live performances being restricted to just guitar and pedals.
Descent Into Delta marks the blurring of the lines which separate these two disciplines. It was live performance that ignited the production of this record, which began life as a series of live improvisations, these were then selected and edited over a long period of time. During the mixing process the concept to Descent Into Delta was born and it slowly developed through many hours of editing and arrangement. Chatwin became interested in different states of mind, realising it actually produces frequencies or waves - much like sound, itself. When the mind is alert, awake or anxious, these waves are Gamma, at the other extreme, during deep sleep, Delta waves are produced. It was in turn Chatwin's intention that the sounds of Descent Into Delta would loosely depict a journey from Gamma through to Delta, as a kind of experiment to see whether the listener could be subconsciously encouraged to trace this path through sound.
Towards the last few moments of the album on the last track 'Delta', Chatwin was joined by viola player Anais Lalange who added a subtle but effective impact to the closing stages of this record. The addition of this instrument brings a whole new dimension and texture to the guitar explorations of Talvihorros." [label info]
www.hibernate-recs.co.uk
"Back in Vital Weekly 731 I reviewed the first CD by Talvihorros, also known as Ben Chatwin, a man with a guitar and effect pedals. He has had a couple of other releases, which I didn't hear. Up until this album there was a separation between live concerts and studio work. In his studio he would be using whatever sounds he could produce from whatever instrument, but live he was restricted to guitar plus effects. For this new studio album he took many hours of live playing into the studio and then started to edit and arrange this. Of his previous release on Hibernate I thought it was all quite ambient, but on this new one, things are less strictly defined. The guitar is overall a dominant factor for this, and its played at times in a more improvised way, feeding through bundles of sound effects. That results at times in menacing walls of sound such as in 'Beta', in which it reaches for the ambient doom of Nadja. Darkness is anyway something that lingers in all five pieces here, even in its more introspective and quiet moments, such as the very beautiful 'Delta', which has a nice viola to it. One could say that with this album Talvihorros found more a voice of his own than on the previous. Blending ambient with the improvised textures of ambient doom/metal into five fine tapestries of sound is very nice, though not unheard before, but a fine move indeed." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€12.00 |
|
|
And it was so |
LP |
"Talvihorros is London based composer Ben Chatwin's study of guitar and electronics. Numerous techniques are used to coax a myriad of sounds from both acoustic and electric guitars. Home-made and vintage electronic equipment are used to loop, process and manipulate improvised material into dense and dark sound collages. What started out as a personal challenge to make an album in 7 days grew into something else entirely. Over a year in the making, and expanding his trademark guitar sound with drums, strings, bells, organs and synthesisers, 'And It Was So' features contributions from fellow label mates Field Rotation (violin) and Petrels (cello) along with tour partner Jordan Chatwin (drums/percussion) and long time collaborator Anais Lalange (viola). If last years album 'Descent Into Delta' was reminiscent of plunging into the murky depths, his latest offering 'And It Was So' evokes the expansiveness, dynamicism and density of the cosmos. Attempting to find order in chaos is something Talvihorros has been striving to achieve over the past three albums and he has never balanced these elements so beautifully. Merging the textural noise of Tim Hecker with psychedelic, guitar sound-sculpters such as Barn Owl and Sun Araw.
Vinyl: thick sleeves + thick printed inner sleeves; 180g vinyl; free download code." [label info]
www.denovali.com
|
2012 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
And it was so |
CD |
"Talvihorros is London based composer Ben Chatwin's study of guitar and electronics. Numerous techniques are used to coax a myriad of sounds from both acoustic and electric guitars. Home-made and vintage electronic equipment are used to loop, process and manipulate improvised material into dense and dark sound collages. What started out as a personal challenge to make an album in 7 days grew into something else entirely. Over a year in the making, and expanding his trademark guitar sound with drums, strings, bells, organs and synthesisers, 'And It Was So' features contributions from fellow label mates Field Rotation (violin) and Petrels (cello) along with tour partner Jordan Chatwin (drums/percussion) and long time collaborator Anais Lalange (viola). If last years album 'Descent Into Delta' was reminiscent of plunging into the murky depths, his latest offering 'And It Was So' evokes the expansiveness, dynamicism and density of the cosmos. Attempting to find order in chaos is something Talvihorros has been striving to achieve over the past three albums and he has never balanced these elements so beautifully. Merging the textural noise of Tim Hecker with psychedelic, guitar sound-sculpters such as Barn Owl and Sun Araw. Cd: nice digipak packaging." [label info]
www.denovali.com |
2012 |
€14.50 |
|
| TAM QUAM TABULA RASA |
Cotidie Morimur (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
released March 1995
lim./numbered first edition of 250 copies. Individually symboled P.E. sleeves & printed covers; dark blue vinyl
“WHILE STILL RELATIVELY UNKNOWN, THIS ITALIAN GROUP HAS BEEN ACTIVE SINCE 1988 AND MANAGED TO RELEASE SOME OUTSTANDING UNIQUE SOUNDING TAPES IN THE INTERNATIONAL/ EXPERIMENTAL TAPE-SCENE. DRONE RECORDS IS PROUD TO PRESENT THE VERY FIRST VINYL RELEASE OF T.Q.T.R., A 7" EP FEATURING THE TRACKS 'DYSKRASIA' AND 'ATAXIA'.
THEIR MYSTERIOUS AND MONOTONIC MUSIC CAN IN OUR OPINION BE TRULY CLASSIFIED AS REAL ARCHAIC MUSIC, EVOKING EMOTIONS OF AN ANCIENT AND FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTER. FOCUSING DEEP INTO THE GROUND OF HUMAN EXISTENCE, THEIR MUSIC IS A KIND OF ARCHETYPICAL EXPRESSION THAT IS TIMELESS AND AESTHETIC. PERHAPS TO UNDERSCORE THE QUALITY OF THEIR MUSIC AS ITS OWN SECRET LANGUAGE, THE BAND INSISTS ON USING LATINS FOR THEIR TITLES. THIS EP SHOWS THE GROUP WORKING ON A MORE RHYTHMIC MODE, WITH URGENT DRONES AND STRANGE HARMONIES CREATING AND ATMOSPHERE OF NATURAL MYSTICISM – MIRRORING THE NEVER UNDERSTOOD FORCES WITHIN ONESELF. Cotidie morimur. Cotidie demitur aliqua pars vitae.”
[label info]
|
1995 |
€6.00 |
|
| TAMARU |
Figure |
CD |
"Vignette #1 - I've had the same headache in my right temple for 8 days straight (too many football grand finals in Europe at odd hours mixed with late nights for music). Most sounds just hurt my head. But my preferred method of falling asleep involves headphones and music. Figure is a warm, treacly soother to both my sore head and desire to sleep.
Vignette #2 - I'm walking home from work with my headphones on. The sky is grey. As I walk, appearing before me is the full 180° arc of a rainbow. To anybody who, like me, has lived in Sydney for the last month and is used to much more regularly blue skies, you will understand the joyous feelings that such a sight might trigger. Figure is my brooding soundtrack which always hints at quiet joy and peaceful satisfaction.
Tamaru has created a contemplative drone work from a setup of bass guitar, volume pedal and delay pedal. The work is majestically beautiful as its simple constructs drag you through a range of of emotional states without seemingly doing very much at all. The bass notes tend to form sinewave sounds which, through subtle shifts in the delay time, are pushed into brief microtonal harmonies. Each track is given time to sink in and envelope. Each is inviting and full of warmth.
Put it down to the weather. Put it down to my health. Whatever it is, Figure is one of the finest releases I've heard for a while and will be returning to my playlist regularly top accompany any of a wide range of moods."
[Adrian Elmer/Cyclic Defrost]
www.trumn.com
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| TAMING THE OUTBACK |
1986-1989 |
CD |
"TAMING THE OUTBACK...
OK ... you probably haven’t heard of this 1980’s UK band before – but they really are worth it ...
Taming The Outback were a three-piece from Southend-on-Sea (Essex, UK) who were active from 1986 to 1989 (hence the title of this retrospective compilation). While they spent most of their time playing outside of the town itself and bemoaning the R&B traditions of the area, they were very much a Southend band. The three members of the original line-up formed after crisscrossing each other’s musical paths in South East Essex in the early 1980s. Melbourne-born drummer Daryl Amos and bass player Jason Sherwin first played together in local band A Wreath For Brezhnev, later meeting-up with guitarist/singer Tony Sampson (who played with Playground) to form Taming The Outback – band characterized by an aggressive, driven rhythm section, strong self-penned songs with a rich, echo-saturated guitar.
Playing live became a primary focus for the band but the endless gigging, drinking and the failure to release the aforementioned second single and the LP (already recorded) probably marked the beginning of the end of the band. Taming The Outback itself played their last gigs in 1989 with the aggression being turned inwards between personnel and instruments.
This limited edition retrospective CD collects the unreleased LP, their 7” single and the cassette EP, along with demos and some rare live recordings – all carefully and professionally remastered by Sting Davies at Big Noise, one of the UK’s top audio restoration engineers. Their music has never sounded better. The deluxe packaging pays homage to those lovely old vinyl gatefold sleeves and has an information-packed 24-page full colour booklet and inner sleeve (initial copies also come with a 2-sided mini-poster with more press cuttings and a sticker). Check out our web page for videos, more images and (aging and fading) press cuttings." [label info]
www.chronoglide.com/equation.html
"Every now and again I find a band or artist that I just am absolutely in love with, only to find upon further research, that they have fallen to obscurity and little to no more material exists to be had. That is very much the case with Taming the Outback. Being a big fan of the post-punk movement as a whole, I was certainly excited to give this disc a spin, but I had no idea what was in store. A 'definitive' collection, culled from the entirety of their 3 year lifespan, '1986-1989' may just be one of the most quintessential post-punk records I've experienced. From the opening notes of 'Fire & Smoke' to the moving, dramatic leads of 'Mistrust' to the final notes of 'American Dream' this cd is a near flawless listen. So many classic influences are channeled throughout this disc, while not a single one of them can quite be used for comparison. The Outback were able to draw from these influences and really put their own stamp on it all. From bass sounds very reminiscent of the Cure's 'Disintegration' album, coupled with certain melodies containing the ghosts of Joy Division's early work to the angst of Killing Joke and hint of the western vibe of Fields of the Nephilim (with whom The Outback shared the stage for a tour) to the tension building vocals of Echo and the Bunnymen and Mission UK'¦ The list just goes on and on, yet I can't stress enough, that at no point does it sound like any of these bands have been recycled in any way. Taming the Outback had something so magical that this world just couldn't accept it, and after just three short years, tensions grew to a head, and the magic was no more. Lucky for us the trio, after 2 decades, decided to release this retrospective of singles originally slated for an abandoned LP, demos, and live tracks. While the quality of some of the live tracks isn't 100% pristine, some of the almost inaudible tape noise, really at its worst just adds a warm, nostalgic feel the latter half of the album. Even the packaging is impressive. A thick, heavy, double gatefold style cardboard sleeve is adorned with the band's infamous crucifixion publicity shot, and comes with a poster, and full 24 page booklet containing lyrics, interviews and reprints of more than a few press clippings about the band; and a second edition limited to just 75 copies (which at last inspection were still available) comes with the same, as well as 4 badges, a mini reprint of 'Alive and Kicking' fanzine from 1987 featuring the band, and an original copy of their only 7' in a picture sleeve. Once again, just a phenomenal record in every way; go out of your way if you must, just make sure you get this one under your belt before you die." [Barton Graham / Chain DLK] |
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| TANAKH |
Dieu Deuil |
CD |
"Tanakh's newest record, Dieu Deuil, commands a nautical embrace of wet boots and November days filled with rain. It sings stories of loss, hope, and transcendence amidst the swirling cyclone of mundaneness. Dieu Deuil, which takes it name from the architecture of Daniel Libeskind, successfully integrates improvisation and song writing, and communicates an interior intimacy, which previously was only hinted at in the drifting exterior world of 'Villa Claustrophobia'. Dieu Deuil is a small warm café in the cavernous arcades of 'Villa Claustrophobia,' where the air is moist with smoky teas and steam hoarfrosts the windows. 'Dieu Deuil' maintains the outer-national feel of 'Villa Claustrophobia' but focuses less on a pneumatic exotica and more on a rich interior journey that communicates the warmth of human touch and the frigid burn that such contact can leave when it is taken away. Dieu Deuil captures a particular gentleness of the 70s-era folk psychedelia inspired by the likes of John Martyn, Tim Buckley, Fairport Convention and Pentangle, both in it's inventive orchestration and in it's vocally charged delivery." [label info]
www.alien8recordings.com
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| TAPE |
Milieu plus |
CD |
"Nach OPERA (Häpna 9) das zweite Album für das schwedische Trio um ANDREAS BERTHLING. Zeitlose schöne, handgespielte Instrumental-Musik, entspannend & introvertiert & positive Vibrationen erzeugend.... gezupte Gitarren, Melodica, Akkordeon, Orgal, Harmonium, Vibraphone, mit einzelnen zarten geräuschhaften Zwischenparts....wie ein Nachmittagsspaziergang in lauer Herbst-Sonne..." [Drone Rec. info 2003]
"Tape is a trio from Stockholm, Sweden, building their music from a whole array of acoustic instruments, computer and field recordings. Their first CD "Opera" got excellent reviews in international press and was compared to artists such as Talk Talk, Gastr del Sol, Fennesz, John Fahey and Faust. Their new CD "Milieu" shares the same basic premises as "Opera". All kinds of sound sources are used and organically integrated in the songs, which move freely somewhere between the composed and the improvised. Even if "Milieu" makes use of experimental methods, the album are argumentably more songbased than "Opera" and therefore maybe more accessible." [original label description]
www.hapna.com
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| TAPE LOOP ORCHESTRA |
Interiors Three |
LP + CD + BOOK |
Cobwebbed keys and dust mite spectres perfuse the dimensions of rooms 14-19 in the third and final volume of the Tape Loop Orchestra’s ongoing ‘Interiors’ investigations, subtly refining the Tape Loop Orchestra sound from vast and moor-like to minimalist and economic. Big tip if you’re into Tim Hecker, Basinski, A Winged Victory for the Sullen, Richard Skelton.
Again accompanied by a booklet of evocative “found” images, TLO vicariously probes our relationship to space and time thru the prism of domestic life, and more specifically, thru the spaces once inhabited by others. His music is a metaphor for the plasmic, entropic energy of human spirits, and their referential ephemera, using the glimpses of other peoples lives - as found in the booklet - as cues for haunting strokes of dilapidated piano coupled with cosmic sighs that strafe the soundfield like the timelapse of midwinter sun dialling an empty bedroom. The LP features two related pieces, while the CD revolves one long, immersive track formed of outtakes.
“Rooms are an incarnation of the people who inhabit them. The selection of items are signs of status, emblems of their aspirations and signatures of private lives. Even when empty the omnipotence of the inhabitants is on display through the soft furnishings, artworks and trinkets.
Empty Time is the third volume of Tape Loop Orchestra’s Interiors series. Across the series TLO adopts a restrained minimal approach, focusing on the spatial aspects of sound TLO offers up a soundtrack to interiors bereft of inhabitants. Offering his own collection of found photos as a visual guide the listener is invited to meditate on the spaces we inhabit and what ephemeral energy is left behind when they are not in use.
|
2019 |
€34.00 |
|
| TAPE MEASURE KID [N + JIM CAMPBELL] |
Zero is an Even Number |
LP + CD |
TAPE MEASURE KID is the new live-playing duo of N, amps + guitar, and Jim Campbell (aka the preterite, www.the-preterite.com), lofi samplers, modified analog 4-track recorder and effects. On their double debut releases “Ours Is A Stubborn Monster” and “Zero Is An Even Number” they expand N's drone / ambient style to something that is at the same time drone and beyond drone, including a sort of dark and sometimes weird improv tendency. very unique and for some of you maybe as if N's sustained guitar had been mangled through a computer by some strange wizard. but in fact all you can hear happened in real time, with a cable feeding the guitar signal to jim's cassette scratch orchestra, with the possibility of real-time manipulation while playing, cutting loose from boundaries.
Both records show this special live-appeal of TAPE MEASURE KID, with the live-in-studio material on the vinyl part and the live-on-stage cuts on the CD part of both releases.
Thick covers printed on rough cardboard, 180g black vinyl, CD contains bonus material, strictly limited to 100 pieces.
https://n1511.bandcamp.com/album/tape-measure-kid-zero-is-an-even-number
|
2013 |
€32.00 |
|
| TAPHEPHOBIA |
House of Memories |
do-CD |
As Reverse Alignment was established in 2007 we also made our first contact with Ketil Søraker. His guitarbased drone project Taphephobia had just a moment ago released it's first opus "House of Memories" through the belgium label Nothingness Records. From there on we've been in touch more or less, (in a more constant period) when putting out "Anomie" and "Black City Skyline", (and more or less) over the years when new production's emerged.
Since Taphephobia's first release in 2007, Ketil's project is now a permanent act under the banner of Cyclic Law and has since it's start released six albums, and a load of collaborative albums and compilation tracks.
Now, 10 years after it's publication, Reverse Alignment release House of Memories again, with new artwork and design from Haerleif Langås and mastered by Frédéric Arbour. As a special treat follows eleven selected compilation tracks put together for this release. All a good way to summarize ten years of Taphephobia, from how the project sounded in the early days to today.
reversealignment.bandcamp.com/album/house-of-memories
|
2017 |
€16.00 |
|
| TARAB |
I'm Lost |
CD |
"A schizoid-concrete opus of environmental sounds heightened, stimulated, decontextualized, and teased into a psychic puzzle of industrialized and post-industrialized detritus, I'm Lost marks another milestone in the ever impressive catalogue from Australian sound-artist Eamon Sprod, who adopts the moniker Tarab for his endeavors. The title is one that explodes with a multitude of meaning. There's the geographical frustration in losing one's way as the surrounding landmarks fail to match with whatever technology may be in use (e.g. a sextant, a compass, an iPhone, a torn map, one's poor memory of a childhood neighborhood, etc.). There's the psychological implications of being lost from the existential narratives that we have scripted for ourselves due to broken relationships, failed jobs, dead relatives, natural disasters, the hand of God, etc. In addition to these possibilities, Sprod proposes that the notion of "lost" could also be an inversion of the idea of the "found object" or the "found sound," instead becoming the "lost object" or the "lost sound." Sprod's semantic wordplay is hardly a conceptual gimmick, as he fully immerses himself in the confusional framework while maintaining a consummate technical prowess over his field recordings. The compositional approach is rhizomatic, with dead-ends, wrong turns, and reprisals of these same dead-ends and wrong turns, offering a blackhumor sneer at the stubbornness of humanity's inability to learn from our mistakes (e.g. pollution, blight, poverty, disease, etc). Within the album's harsh edits and disjointed collages, Sprod renders sound with dysphoric associations through his vacant drift, crumbled gravel, scalding plasma-tube frequencies, and putrid factory noise. I'm Lost achieves the same psychological gravity as heard in the works of Sudden Infant, P16.D4, and John Duncan with an even greater sense of dislocation from those pioneers of radical tape splicing." [label info]
www.23five.org
" "Careful arrangements of sonic rubbish." That's one hell of a great artist's statement, courtesy of Eamon Sprod (aka Tarab). Over the past decade or so, this Australian sound-artist has quietly produced some of the finer examples of composition through field recording. His work is hardly the stuff of pleasantries from a soft ambient whoosh set as the backdrop to various birdsongs plopped willy-nilly for the intrepid listener to identify. Nope, there's always the threat of psychological, psychic, and existential violence lurking throughout Sprod's work. When the insect chorales push through to the foreground, it's symbolic of pestilence, disease, blight, and the simple fact that much in the outback can fucking kill you. It's easy to tap into the ultra-violent, post-apocalyptic, doomsayer, and/or isolationist scenarios mapped out elsewhere through the Australian psyche (e.g. Mad Max, Chopper, On The Beach, Bad Boy Bubby, etc.); and Sprod carves out his own niche in digging through the hinterlands of urban neglect, locating meaning of psychogeographical import (or the lack there of) within a recontextualized sound object. Since his debut Surfacedrift back in 2004, Sprod's work has steadily exhibited a maturation in conceptualization and aesthetic complexity, culminating in the schizophonic collage-tactics of I'm Lost.
The opening salvo of leaden thud, turbine roar, and pressurized blasts of air slithering through release valves is a torrent of concrete-actions, jump-cuts, and dead-ends, as if Sprod has decided to dematerialize the listener and purposefully mistranslate the coordinates between alternate realities of equally miserable / fascinating locations of industrialized bleakness. When he settles upon a singular space-time continuum, it's a vat of uranium churning at the bottom of an oil drum, while the container itself quickens its half-life through atomic fission. Another turn and Sprod channels an ethereally unholy skree of a thousand particle accelerators amassing their beams on a single contact microphone, ending up with something akin to a far more uncomfortable Phill Niblock or Rhys Chatham, manifested through what could be fluorescent bulbs. The quiet passages of textural rummaging that Sprod intersperses throughout I'm Lost have the queasy feel of somebody pulling off scabs from old wounds. Equal parts Cronenberg and Schimpfluch (Lanz, Phillips, Eb.Er., Zeier, etc.) - so of course, it's fucking awesome." [Aquarius Records]
"When reviewing 'Strata', the previous release by Tarab in Vital Weekly 911, I already noted that he's not the world's busiest bee when it comes to releases, but with steady intervals there's always something new. The title could refer to being lost in a geographical sense of the word, or being lost from 'existential narratives that we have scripted for ourselves' (broken relationships, failed jobs), but Eamon Sprod uses it for 'lost object' and 'lost sound', opposed to 'found object' and 'found sound'. He still uses field recordings on these five pieces here, but also to a wider extent than before the collage/cut-up aspect in all of this. 'Strata' seemed rather un-manipulated, but 'I'm Lost' is surely the product of lots of manipulation. Firstly through the layering of sounds and secondly through cutting these up and re-assembling these sounds. It makes that this music is a bit more noise like than before, jumping around in all these weird and unexpected cuts. It's not easy to say
where Tarab gets his field recordings; if they are tied in to specific location(s), or thematically linked or from whatever source he seems fit. Maybe they all stem from pollution sites, I thought, as to a certain extent it seems to me this album is also a bit darker than his previous work, or perhaps many other works by those who work inside field recordings. It may share the negative worldview of say Joe Colley or the near-broken equipment of Francisco Meirino and with both of them it's a similar collage like styled, dynamic work of collage and cut-up. And, if you have been paying attention in the past few years, it's this dynamic form of noise - loud, quiet, high, low - which, combined with a refined sense of composition, is something that I enjoy very much. Therefore I can easily say that this is Tarab's best work to date. Strictly personal opinion, obviously." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
An incomplete yet fixed Idea |
LP |
"Tarab explores re-contextualised collected sounds and tactile gestures formed into dynamic, psycho-geographical compositions inspired by discarded things, found things, crawling around in the dirt, junk, the ground, rocks, dust, wind, walking aimlessly, scratchy things, decay and most if not all the things he hears and sees.
More than simply documenting a given site, tarab is interested in a direct engagement with our surrounds, teasing out half narratives, visceral sensation, false leads and heightened awareness.
Edition of 300. Includes download code. Composed and recorded by Tarab / Eamon Sprod. Sounds collected 2011-16 arranged 2016. Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi. Cut by CGB at D&M."
www.aposiopese.com
|
2017 |
€21.00 |
|
| TARAB + ARTIFICIAL MEMORY TRACE |
Obex |
MC |
"To start AMT and Tarab exchanged materials and objects. AMT exchanged a single sound sculpture for Tarab’s collection of small objects. This material exchange led to activity. AMT manually manipulated, Tarab also, but more often than not he placed the sculpture in situations and let them work on it. Once again exchanges took place, this time of audio material. Elements where then selected and arranged and further rearranged; some left untouched and some where transformed.
Tarab explores re-contextualised collected sounds and tactile gestures formed into dynamic, psycho-geographical compositions inspired by discarded things, found things, crawling around in the dirt, junk, the ground, rocks, dust, wind, walking aimlessly, scratchy things, decay and most if not all the things he hears and sees. More than simply documenting a given site, Tarab is interested in a direct engagement with our surrounds, teasing out half narratives, visceral sensation, false leads and heightened awareness.
Artificial Memory Trace is a project by Slavek Kwi, a sound-artist, composer and researcher interested in the phenomena of perception as the fundamental determinant of relations with reality. He has a longstanding fascination with sound-environments, developing what he terms “electroacoustic sound-paintings”, that oscillate between sound-only works and interdisciplinary works exploring social, spatial and temporal processes." [label info]
"The other new Cronica Electronica release is a collaboration between Tarab from Australia and
Artificial Memory Trace from Ireland. From both of them we reviewed quite some work, even when
Tarab is not as active as Artificial Memory Trace. Both of them use a lot of field recordings. The latter reworks these extensively on his computer, while retaining some of the original and Tarab “explores re-contextualised collected sounds and tactile gestures formed into dynamic, psycho-geographical compositions inspired by discarded things, found things, crawling around in the dirt, junk, the ground,
rocks, dust, wind, walking aimlessly, scratchy things, decay and most if not all the things he hears and sees” (I couldn’t have said it better). Together they exchanged “materials and objects’, rather than a bunch of sounds. Artificial Memory Trace sends a sound sculpture down while Tarab send up a collection of small objects. Things were manually manipulated, recorded and transformed, all noted on the cover, but maybe also adding to the mystery of it. And mysterious it surely is. I quickly lost my way here, already on the first side of this cassette. I had no clue which piece I was hearing, or who did what. The Bandcamp version only shows a limited amount of pieces, so hardly any help. There is lots of obscure rumble of objects, and equally a lot of processing without any telling what these objects are.
It could as easily be one piece per side anyway and for some obscure fun it is listed as a bunch of pieces. It is a fascinating listening experience, and unlike Delplanque’s work, it is clearer defined as a composition. I would think there are strings attached to these objects, that they are used in a percussive way and sometimes it sounds like they are destroyed. It is very acoustic yet also electrical. Sometimes
small drone sounds are formed and then sometimes it builds, but as easily seems to be falling apart making this quite odd but thoroughly captivating stuff." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2018 |
€10.50 |
|
| TARKATAK |
Skärva / Oroa (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
"First full-lenght E.P. of a quite unknown German project, which only appeared on 3 ½ cassettes so far and on a split-7" with DEEP. TARKATAK uses synths and other electronic devices, the music is slow & dull, non-impulsive and dream-like. Very low rumblings, dark harmonies, some subliminal & dense backwards-effects, this is sensible "archaic music" which could be easily compared to old Zoviet France and the likes. Another Mind-Drone. If you're able to go INTO the sound, the sound will pulsate in YOU and have effects for a long time...
BLACK VINYL, [was impossible to press this music on coloured vinyl!!], BROWN HAND-COLOURED AND STAMPED COVERS, EACH ONE WITH TWO "STRINGS"
"Two spacious new E.P.s for entheogenic minds
- out on Drone in December 1998"
|
1998 |
€ |
|
| |
I II III IIII |
CD |
Die 4 Titel auf / // /// //// sind in ihrem Ursprung auf Reisen entstanden, an unterschiedlichen Orten oder auf dem Weg. Dann weitergeführt in unterschiedlichen Situationen an diesem festen Ort hier bis sie eine endgültige Form angenommen haben, die sich aber erst nach vielen Stimmungsschwankungen gefunden hat. Ein manchmal langer Weg dessen Resultat nur aus der Stimmung entscheidet, die die Musik in diesem Moment entgegenbringt.
Tarkatak
Ende 1981 war der Anfang: Punk und die Kassettenszene machten alles möglich. Unter dem Namen „Der Pilz“ erschienen die Geräusch-Collagen aus selbst geschnittenen Tonband-Loops und Kassetten-Overdubs. Das Harsche blieb bei „Der Pilz“, das Ruhige wurde zu „Tarkatak“, mit der ersten Kassette „slow“ (1999). Die Quellen und Wege blieben gleich (hören, sammeln, schneiden, unkenntlich machen), das Medium wurde Digital, obwohl es oft noch immer nach Kassette rauscht. Und immer wieder geht es tief in das dunkle, zähe Unbekannte – um sich dann vom Klang irgendwo erfüllt und umschlossen zu verlieren.
Neben zwei Kassetten, einer LP, div. 7“s bei Drone Rec. (z.T.Features mit Klangwart und Deep), CD/Rs (u. a. zusammen mit Anemone Tube und Florian Filsinger) und ein bisschen Digitales, gab es Konzerte oder Live-Kollaborationen mit Troum, A Thousand Vows, Melt Banana, Christina Kubisch, Kapotte Muziek, EA 80 etc."
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/i-ii-iii-iiii
"You could think that is a label that hands me two new CDs, and one of these is new work by Asmus Tietchens, that would be the one first to hear. But a new CD by Tarkatak! Hold on. I can't remember I last heard or reviewed his music. I have known the musical project from Lutz Pruditsch since he started it in 1992. Before that, he had a cruder, industrial act, Der Pilz. As Tarkatak, he plunges into the world of ambient and industrial. 'I II III IIII" is his first release since the 2007 release 'Mormor' (not reviewed). There are four long pieces on this CD: ' I', 'II', etc. The pieces are from 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017/2021. I have no idea what kind of instruments Tarkatak uses; only the piano is recognizable in 'IIII'. Otherwise, I think he uses electronics, effects, guitars, synthesizers and such. There is a robust drone approach in these pieces, of slowed-down tapes and rusty sounds, slowly evolving. With pieces between thirteen and twenty minutes, there is enough time to let them grow and develop naturally. This works best in the longest of the four pieces, 'II'. Tones arrive from nowhere, make a few slow and majestic moves and then disappear, replaced by new ones. The resulting music is dark, atmospheric and ambient. It ticks all the right boxes for me; I have been a fan since the early days, even when I am ashamed to say I haven't played many in recent years. Oddly enough, the one that didn't work well for me was 'IIII', with the piano sounds. Whereas the other was akin to amorphous clouds, the musical element of the piano, slightly unorganized, banging out slow
tones against a drone background, became after a while a bit boring. But a good hour of great music has passed by then, so nothing to complain about. Let's hope we don't wait another fifteen years for the next album." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
" „I II III IIII“ ist das erste neue Album von Tarkatak seit dem 2007 erschienen Album „Mormor“ auf Genesungswerk. Ende 2021 erschien ein starker Track auf einer Compilation. Die hier enthaltenen Aufnahmen entstanden zwischen den Jahren 2011 und 2021, geremixed wurden sie im Frühjahr 2021. Lutz Pruditsch, dessen Werk in den 80ern/90ern als Der Pilz stark von der Industrial Culture beeinflusst war und der das kleine Label Trümmer Kassetten betrieb, macht als Tarkatak eine ziemlich variantenreiche Musik, die sich im Drone verorten lässt.
Konzipiert während des Reisens und Unterwegsseins, bekommt man vier lange Tracks, die sich fortwährend entwickeln: So kommen auf “I” im Laufe der 16 Minuten zu dem in der Ferne anschwellenden Drone immer weitere Elemente hinzu, die sich nach und nach verdichten. Das ist eine sich langsam entwickelnde, aus zahlreichen Schichten bestehende Musik: Zwischendurch wird man an eine Sirene erinnert, Dissonanzen tauchen auf, es pulsiert, brummt und irritiert (und das ist durchaus positiv zu verstehen). “II” wirkt anfangs von der Stimmung wesentlich positiver, weniger dunkel. Man kann sich diesen weitgehend sehr melodischen Track zur Untermalung eines Sonnenaufgangs vorstellen. In der Ferne erklingen Pianotöne, die verhallen, im Rauschen gerade noch erahnbar sind. Dann glaubt man, Wellen schlügen gegen das Ufer, dann setzen dunkle, unheilschwangere Drones ein, um dann am Ende doch hoffnungsvoll zu enden. “III” ist wesentlich reduzierter, beginnt fast unhörbar, dann kommen seltsam-melodische Passagen dazu. Dem Track haftet ein Moment des Mysteriösen an, bevor der Rest Schweigen ist. Der das Album abschließende Track “IIII” beginnt dunkel, tastend, dann kommen Klavierpassagen dazu, die wesentlich dominanter als zuvor sind.
Diese vier langen, organisch wirkenden Tracks loten aus, was der Drone alles kann. Sehr schöne, auf 200 Exemplare limitierte Veröffentlichung mit einem zum Poster ausfaltbaren Siebdruckcover." [MG / African Paper]
"An edition of 200 copies only in silk-screened hand numbered poster-cover sounds nice and lovely but is in fact a bit unhandy, the poster folds out to more of the organic structure in bronze / brown / black. Thankfully a regular booklet is included here so at least some basic infos can be gained from the artwork.
Tarkatak is actually no new name to me, it's a project by Lutz Prueditsch (who was active as Der Pilz, run his experimental tape label Trümmer Cassetten and later Dachstuhl a.o. activities) I've listened to in awe years ago already when his album 'Mormor' appeared on the much missed Genesungswerk label, in a cardboard box with a CD on felt. Ambient drones for the thinking man or something like that I wrote back then. At least back then he gave the tracks some titles but for this collection, recorded between 2011 and 2021 and finally mastered in 2021 even those have left and the tracks are titled as the release, just four numbered sections. Well, freedom of speech, association or of thought or both this is.
The most recognizable instrument used here in small doses is a piano, spreading a few melodic highlights throughout these organic drones, built from field recordings and found but altered sounds and voices. Reworked over and over again the continuos movement and the flow hardly ever stops until everything is dissolving.
The mood is shifting from brooding to wallowing in various stages of post-romantisicm not completely unlike contemporaries Troum (f.e. with 'Mare Morphosis'). Maybe also reflection of a period of travels and changes in the artists life. A pleasure to listen to. Dreamy Movements in a deep wakefulness sleep." [CHAIN D.L.K.]
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| TARKATAK VS. C. REIDER |
The druiser pricid |
CD-R |
Beautiful US/German-drone collaboration, very submarine sounding stuff, guitar- & mysterious backwards sounds, but also disturbing moments.. a droney trip through various moods & emotions
with many details. comes in a handmade papercover.
„ Lange hat es gedauert, bis das Resultat veröffentlicht wurde. 2000 haben sich Tarkatak und C. Reider gegenseitig einen Tonträger voller Geräusche, Loops und Samples geschickt um daraus einige Stücke zu basteln. Es gab keine bestimmten Abmachungen, alles war offen. So wurde nicht nur mit den einzelnen Sounds des Jeweiligen gearbeitet, sondern auch Neues/Eigenes hinzugefügt.
Entstanden ist ein sehr stimmiges Wechselspiel die in 2 Hälften aufgeteilt wurden. C. Reider aus den USA, betreiber des Lables VUZH, hat bisher div. Tapes und CDrs veröffentlicht. Siehe: http://www.livejournal.com/users/vuzh.“ [label info]
|
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| TASADAY |
Implosione tra le pieghe dell'anima |
CD |
"A sensational CD release of an awesome tape (originally published by MULTIPLE CONFIGURATION) that includes live tracks recorded between 1983/1984 and comes in a completely remastered edition. Tasaday are a "cult" band active since the early Eighties. Born from the merging of Die Form and Nulla Iperreale, they are probably the most eclectic and groundbreaking representative of an Italian experimental scene that used to blend elements of rock, noise, experimental and industrial music with great courage and originality. An audio document of exceptional value, this longly waited reprint of live material is also the most direct and remarkable evidence of the work of this unforgettable - and still alive and kicking- band." [label info]
www.silentes.net
|
2010 |
€12.50 |
|
| TATE AND LILES |
Without Season |
CD |
Feine Collaboration der ORA-Hälfte DARREN TATE mit dem aufsteigenden Brightoner ANDREW LILES. TATE hat wieder field recordings beigesteuert (z.B. Holz- oder Bootknirschen, leises Bachrauschen, Äthersounds, Vögel & andere Tiere, Laufgeräusche, Unterholz-knispern), die unverarbeitet im Mix auftauchen, während ruhige drones und Instrumentalklänge (Piano, Akkordeon) das ganze konstrastieren... WITHOUT SEASON klingt überwiegend getragen, dunkel und etwas bedrohlich & ist von einer gewissen surrealistischen Bizarrheit, irgendwas „stimmt hier nicht“ oder lauert im Geäst...
“There is a playful madness, an eccentricity running through the veins of this recording. Disembodied sounds flit around the margins of our consciousness, barely recognisable, separated from obvious meaning, snatches of the almost familiar. We’re nearly home, but not quite. It’s more dreamlike, a perverse version of home, where something isn’t quite right, something is out of place. Our sanity perhaps?
‘In that direction,’ the Cat said, waving its right paw round, ‘lives a Hatter: and in that direction,’ waving the other paw, ‘lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they’re both mad.’
‘But I don’t want to go among mad people,’ Alice remarked.
‘Oh, you can’t help that,’ said the Cat: ‘we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.’
‘How do you know I’m mad?’ said Alice.
‘You must be,’ said the Cat, ‘or you wouldn’t have come here.’
Quote from Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Sonically flawless and wrapped in superb visuals, this is some of the strongest work from either artist.” [press release]
|
2005 |
€14.50 |
|
| TATE, DARREN |
Reveal |
CD-R |
4 pieces, 62+ minutes of new material: soft synth- & siren-drones, delicated noises are merged within, slow analogue tremolo-effects & organ-melodies.... at times it feels like being on a ferry on the water, or... acoustic nutrition for your imagination ! |
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| TATTERED KAYLOR |
Selected Realities |
CD & DVD |
" ʻSelected Realitiesʼ is a collection of captured, spatialised and composed sounds as discovered within unique sonic environments by australian sound artist Tessa Elieff AKA Tattered Kaylor. Each composition presents the observer with the audible identities of a time/place/space – as interpreted by Kaylor through immersive sound composition. The works provide a passage by which listeners experience an alternative to our everyday realities, causing us to question our observations we regard as being absolute.
Spaces portrayed include underground drainways, Inner city multi-level stairwells and hidden basements – housing the mechanical organs as used to transform theatre configurations. Each space was chosen not only for the unique sounds as to be found within their boundaries, but also for their provocation of sound – the ways in which their architecture manipulates and interacts with the physicality of the sound wave. Sonic phenomena such as standing wave forms, resonances, beating and flutter are all objects of desire within the recordings and sounds have been captured and spatialised so as to portray these unique artefacts. Characteristics of environments are presented using blunt gestures. The visceral qualities of sounds are neither exaggerated nor swept aside but rather - brought to light - their brutal exposure proving to support the sonic reveal.
Recording methods utilised in the capture of the sounds include Mono, Stereo, MS and self developed surround-recording techniques. Assorted microphones are placed in nonconventional configurations and calibrated individually so as to each present their own recorded sounds as equal to the others – in volume and in sensitivity. Where most audio purists insist on uniformity in microphone (brand and model), Kaylor indulges and exploits the attributes each microphone possess, working by the same ethos as is abided by throughout the selection of each unique space.
The official european release presentation of MOOZAK #005 will be held at the second edition of MOOZAK FESTIVAL on September 21st/22nd, 2012. Tessa Elieff aka Tatterred Kaylor will present a special 5.1 surround sound concert which will definetly sharpen all listeners perception. MOOZAK #005 will be available at the festival's merchandise table in a special package (festivalpass + release)." [label info]
www.moozak.org
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| TAZARTES, GHEDALIA |
Jeanne |
CD |
"Jeanne (Vand‘Oeuvre 0732) ist nur ein Kleinod von 30 Minuten, die Musik für ein Theaterstück nach dem Roman Jeanne la Pudeur von Nicolas Genka, das die Compagnie Pardès Rimonim 2006 aufführte. Aber wenn Tazartès Zeilen von
Genka in seiner unnachahmlichen Manier intoniert, singen wäre dafür viel zu wenig gesagt, dann stellt sich unwillkürlich das Tazartès-Feeling ein, ein Schauer, ausgelöst von
einem Timbre, das wie aus uralter Zeit und wie von weither klingt, mystisch, mythisch fast. Urtümliche Weltmusik ist das, aber völlig eigen gemischt aus rauen Streicherklängen,repetitiven Minimalmotiven, seltsamer Keyboardharmonik in Moll und ziemlicher Schräglage. Klassisch wenn man so will, Kammermusik, wie man sie sich als Soundtrack von Michael Nyman vorstellen könnte, der eine Stimmung von Wehmut unterstreicht. Von
Tazartès stammt übrigens die Musik zu Yolande Zaubermans preisgekröntem Film Moi Ivan, toi Abraham (1993) und zu Catherine Corsinis TV-Version von Ödon von Horvaths Jeunesse sans Dieu (1996). Seine Form von Proto-Freakfolk, er taufte es Mitte der 70er ‚Impromuz‘, erhält einen wesentlichen Teil seiner Bizarrerie durch einen Zug ins Urbane, speziell durch seine Adaption von Musique concrète in der Freundschaft mit Michel Chion. Wobei das zittrige, pathetische arabisch-jüdische Ziegenhirtentimbre die Verbindung zu einem Zustand oder einer Bewusstheit von Fremde herstellt, einen Kontakt zum Jude-, Frau-, Tier- und Quasimodo-Pol. Zu ‚Les femelles‘ blubbert nur eine Tuba. Dann klackert ein Schlagzeug zu den dunkel webenden Streichern und Tazartès stimmt einen Chazzán-Blues an, während im Hintergrund Fußballfans vorbei ziehen. ‚TA‘ rockt einigermaßen autistisch gegen die Wand und da singsangt er dazu nur ein entsprechend debiles „tatatatita“. ‚Mother‘ ist dann purer Freakrock, der auf der Zeile „(What do you mean with) I want to fuck your Mother tonight“ herum kaut und mehrstimmig „Mamme-
Mama“ stammelt, bis Tazartès mit ‚Lamento/Jeanne‘ noch einmal einen archaischen und herzzerrissenen Klagegesang anstimmt und ein Rezitativ, als ob der Geist von Artaud in
ihn gefahren wäre. Umgekehrt ist sein Geist längst übergesprungen auf DDAA und STPOs Pascal Godjikian. Aber hier hört man das Original in seiner irritierenden, fast erschreckenden,
ergreifenden Einzigartigkeit." [Bad Alchemy]
"Recreating the idioms of some ethnic musics, Ghédalia Tazartès invents himself an imaginary world which seems to be inspired by differents forgotten traditions. Musician, genious handyman, singer to the improbable accents, Ghédalia Tazartès pours a flood of sounds and atmospheres, voices and strange melodies, weaving the screen of an hallucinatory soundtrack which accounts for the universe of the show 'Jeanne' (Co Pardès rimonim) for which it carried out the majority of those compositions. Artist out of time, Ghédalia Tazartès shared incredible collaborations in particular with Alain Gigout, Michel Chion, Philippe Adrien or François Verret." [credit notes]
www.centremalraux.com/disques
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
|
5 Rimbaud 1 Verlaine |
10inch |
"Vinyl reissue of this great tribute to the poetry of Rimbaud and Verlaine made by our favorite French sorcerer, who exceptionally abandones his typical imaginary language to reinterpret six small poems in his own way, jumping from one musical genre to the other and happily letting them crunch together in a childish, enthusiastic play. Recorded in Paris in his flatelier around the same time he recorded the wonderful Hystérie Off Music and previously available in an almost unnoticed mini CD edition published by the French label Jardin au Fou, it's now available in a remastered vinyl version - with an excellent 45 rpm cut made by SST in Frankfurt.
Pressing info: 350 copies on black."
|
2016 |
€16.50 |
|
|
Diasporas |
LP |
Originally recorded in 1977, following a limited release in 1979, Ghedalia Tazartes debut album, Diasporas, introduced listeners to the surreal, mysterious and truly unclassifiable statement of Tazartes and his out-of-time place in the French avant-garde canon. Born in Paris in 1947 to Judaeo-Spanish parents of Greek descent, Tazartes spent his early career as an autodidact utilizing his knowledge of repetition and collage, coupled with his Ladino linguistic heritage, to create some of the most unique recordings of the late 20th century. Interest in the works of Tazartes truly sparked when artist Steve Stapleton included his follow up album, Tazartes' Transports, in his famed "Nurse With Wound List," thus adding endless curiosity to the folklore behind Tazartes and his mystical entree. From the onset of Diasporas, looping incantations seemingly pile up at the behest of Tazartes. In almost a prayer-like decree, Tazartes chants to the gods in an undefined whail that is both haunting and spiritually divine. Tazartes unique use of tape loops to capture the disappearing traditions of his family's past creates an atmospheric texture that unexpectedly complements his cut-up, manipulated vocal experiments. While contemporaries within the French avant-garde maneuvered academic theory and rigid tradition, Diasporas strays away from these boundaries, working in Tazartes' invented practice of 'impromuz', a method in which he endlessly records for hours and edits only the moments that display any sense of spontaneous enlightenment. Further emboldening the obtuse nature of Diasporas are the seemingly random recitation of poet Stephane Mallarme and the traditional 'Parisian-style' piano accompaniment of experimental composer Michel Chion. Since its initial release over 40 years ago, both Dais Records and Alga Marghen have released reissues of Diasporas in various formats, all of which quickly fell out of print. Dais Records presents an official reissue, newly remastered by Josh Bonati, utilizing the original artwork of Diasporas in its sole album form, for the first time in over four decades.
https://ghedalia-tazartes.bandcamp.com/album/diasporas
|
2020 |
€22.50 |
|
|
Gospel et le Rateau |
LP |
"Ghédalia Tazartès left us in February 2021 when we had just finalized the editing and the cover art of his new album with him. Unfortunately he will never see the finished object. This record is therefore particularly important for us. He opened his archives to us so that we could select unpublished pieces with him and organize them in two long suites (indexes have been made on the CD for a more convenient listening) . This work took almost two years (finding the pieces among dozens of sometimes very old CD-Rs, checking that these pieces had not already been published, processing the sound to obtain an aesthetic unity and a coherent order, etc). This record is therefore a melting pot of unreleased tracks which cover a large part of his career. You can hear a few guests perform on some of the tracks (mostly vocals parts). As for the lyrics, apart from Ghédalia's own personal poetry, he wrote music for two texts by different poets, that he performs himself in a more or less comical way or on the contrary very intense (the final on a text by Antonin Artaud)!
About the cover. During an art exhibition in 2018, Ghédalia really loved a series of photographs by Isabelle Magnon and immediately asked to use them for the cover of a future album. It is therefore these three photos (two for the LP version) which illustrate Ghédalia Tazartès' final album."
https://bisourecords.bandcamp.com/album/gospel-et-le-r-teau
|
2022 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Gospel et le Rateau |
CD |
"Ghédalia Tazartès left us in February 2021 when we had just finalized the editing and the cover art of his new album with him. Unfortunately he will never see the finished object. This record is therefore particularly important for us. He opened his archives to us so that we could select unpublished pieces with him and organize them in two long suites (indexes have been made on the CD for a more convenient listening) . This work took almost two years (finding the pieces among dozens of sometimes very old CD-Rs, checking that these pieces had not already been published, processing the sound to obtain an aesthetic unity and a coherent order, etc). This record is therefore a melting pot of unreleased tracks which cover a large part of his career. You can hear a few guests perform on some of the tracks (mostly vocals parts). As for the lyrics, apart from Ghédalia's own personal poetry, he wrote music for two texts by different poets, that he performs himself in a more or less comical way or on the contrary very intense (the final on a text by Antonin Artaud)!
About the cover. During an art exhibition in 2018, Ghédalia really loved a series of photographs by Isabelle Magnon and immediately asked to use them for the cover of a future album. It is therefore these three photos (two for the LP version) which illustrate Ghédalia Tazartès' final album."
https://bisourecords.bandcamp.com/album/gospel-et-le-r-teau
|
2022 |
€14.00 |
|
| TBC |
Eileithyia |
CD-R |
“ACT UP AGAINST YOUR NATURE, BE AN ARTISTIC BODY. PUT THE CONTRARIES OUT OF JOINT”. EILEITHYAIA is a crypt on the Kreta-isle, which served as place for a fertility cult. Inspired by this, TBC questions the gender-construction, and reflects on what “noise” means or could mean. Nicely illustrated and conceptualized new work, this is a pure drone-hiss / white noise / water / field recording – composition, carefully executed. As everything on ANTIINFORMATION so far, highly recommended !
“Thomas Beck is the man behind TBC and he has a long standing reputation for producing music aswell as releases on his own Wachsender Prozess label. If I understand correctly his piece 'Eileithyia' was recorded at a performance on Trojan boat - safely
assuming a replica here - and at home he worked some more on the recordings. In two more or less thirty minutes TBC offers the processed sound of water - at least that's what I think. In long washes of minimalist changes, TBC slowly transforms the water sounds into vastly droning sound clouds, especially in the second piece, which I found the best one. It's a tad bit more varied with various sounds swirling in and out.” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
Address:
|
2004 |
€9.50 |
|
| |
Insecta: The Birth of Gods |
CD |
"This is the debut full-length CD by Thomas Beck solo project - raw and noisy soundscape inspired by the kind of the modern mythology, showing his perfect skills in uncommon treatment of synthetic sounds, samples and field recordings, after numerous small run works, different collaborations with other artists and other activity.
Release date is 10th June 2012. Limited edition of 500 copies in jewelcase."
www.monochromevision.ru
"The Russian label Monochrome Vision brings since 2004 music from classics of experimental electronic music world, such as Le Syndicat, Francisco Lopez, Asmus Tit Chen, Freiband and Arcane Device. TBC and Coloured Water Well take care of the last two releases. TBC is a project of the German Thomas Beck. Since the 80s he has been active and started in the tape and international mail art network. He made radio, runs a DIY label, created a meeting for musicians and mail-music projects with Brume, and Das Synthetic Mischgewebe. And for now he releases his first full-length solo album. In four songs he takes us in his electronic world where minimal noise slowly changed into a white noise. In that the sound does not change, but due to the slow development. By the subtlety of the noise, which originates by sounds of nature and by samplers and synthesizers, the noise is not overwhelming. The Birth of God: Insecta is a wonderful album and an ode to the noise that nature knows it." [JKH/Vital WEekly] |
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| TEFITON (VAN BEBBER, CLAUS / ERHART HIRT) |
Tefiton |
LP |
"tefiton features over 40 minutes of thickly layered and at places elegantly slick noise textures generated from electronics, feedback and turntable. tefiton features ulrich krieger (zeitkratzer, sonic youth collaborator) on saxophone on one track. the overall sound shifts between almost classical improv and abrasive moments more known from the field of noise music. claus van bebber (turntables) has been a founding member of the artist collective heinrich mucken (1982-1990) and as a sound artists has collaborated with erhard hirt, paul hubweber, philip jeck, helmut lemke, michael vorfeld and more. erhard hirt (guitar + live electronics) works since the 1970ies as a musician and promoter/curator in the field of improvised and experimental music and collaborated with derek bailey, stephan wittwer, davey williams, eugene chadbourne, hans reichel and many more." [label descriptions]
label: www.aufabwegen.de
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| TEICHER, ELSE |
Whored |
CD |
"Ed. of 300 numbered copies with the first 40 including very special art inserts by the band. Bitter/sweet Else (both E’s pronounced) appears to have been spat a tuberculin progeria princess from Der Himmel Uber Berlin. She has been fiendishly haunting sonic neithers for the past 20 years with a number of small run cassette and CDR releases and, for a time, as half of Romulus & Remus. “Whored” weds composerly and DIY elements into an experimentally corroded pastiche of pseudo-noise and sub-psychedelia. Her oddly wrought opuses are musical, yet remain damaged enough that they occupy a space that is not quite “tuneful.” The smaller Rainy Day Women pieces sew blown out loops into exquisite corpses of overdriven drone and pulse. The seething, long form “Horde” forms up slowly and steadily like an ever massing din of doom cascading over a distant horizon, eventually filling it. The mournful yet rising Kathode rumbles through like a requiem mass of organ and decaying electronics. Else’s beautiful noise resides somewhere betwixt the primitivism of early Zoviet France and shameless weirdness of early Severed Heads. Even in her reign of misappropriated instrumentation she avoids an improvisational sound. Her compositions have shape and direction. The wrongs sound strong. So click your heels and raise a baeren-jaeger Prost for the mysterious she-teuton and the Pferd she rode in on. In these hinterlands, broken is spoken." [label info]
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| TELEPHERIQUE |
Nerv.Sys |
do-CD |
“nerv.sys's topic is distress as a result of technical evolution in industrial civilizations. the collage-based music symbolizes the moods and parameters appearing under distress and the effects caused on the human mind and body. on this cd, telepherique try to transform these effects caused via the nerve system into music - caution: please listen at your own risk!” [press release] |
2004 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Slowmotion |
CD |
"Telepherique, one of Germany's most recognizable names, has returned with another masterpiece. After almost one-hundred
releases over the last eightteen year on many respected labels like Ant-Zen, MSBR and Old Euroupa Cafe, Force of Nature is honored to
present 'Slowmotion'. Telepherique's new album 'Slowmotion' is not the first album in which a critical view on society is presented to the listener. For example with the project Telerotor they released 'Modern Times' and 'Mobility', two highly conceptual albums with a vision on the hasty life and connectivity in modern times. But in contradiction with their earlier social conscious albums, 'Slowmotion' has a ritualistic ambient flow which enforces the listener to take it a step down; To see and live things in 'Slowmotion'. It is well said on the inlay: "This CD is dedicated to all the people who try to simplify their life in modern times, marked with materialism, business, stress and sickness". The eight tracks have notitles but they are divided into three 'steps', being "Out of balance", "Down shifting" and "Fountain of flow". The whole results in a ritualistic, flowing album with moments of rhythm, ambience and complex soundscapes." [label info]
"...but it is safe to say that 'Slowmotion' is well chosen title: the music is mostly ambient in approach, with long washes of synths, but it's never the big A ambient. Telepherique also uses rhythm, a lot of it, but it's a slow pulse, whenever it is used. Not exactly dance music, but a sort of driving pulse, a heart beat if you want, or the steady bump of a train ride. You watch outside and the landscape slowly changes, with altering colors and sceneries. The rhythms have a sense of tribalism, which is not far away from some of the mechanical beats of Muslimgauze. Excellent production of music that is best heard when traveling. Leave what you are doing behind and start a journey with this as its soundtrack." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
label website: www.forceofnature.cc
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Bionik / Biomimetik |
LP & CD |
“The legends of post/industrial sounds back on laub, after their contribution on laub's very first release : va. "automation" do-12",
here and for now with an exceptional project dealing with the nature and their imitation by so called science. the release is split
up into 2 parts : bionik (cd) brings the basic, the elements of nature together in an ultra long piece to show : its not able to seperate
them from each other. the biometrik (lp) shows what mankind made out of the nature-given-basics : the try to fake and improve.
"concern that we don't invent anything new, we´re no innovaters, we´re only repeaters, imitators of that what the nature is doing
since milleniums. we invented weapons, cars, tv... but don't you agree that the one who invented us, the one who gave us all the basics for our 'inventions' did a 'better job' at all?! and is it really able to improve what's perfect already?" this release brought on the way with the massive support by the ant-zen company. artwork by s. alt / ant-zen. limited to : 499 pieces.”[label info]
|
2004 |
€10.00 |
|
| TELEPHERIQUE VS. S-CORE |
Past-Art |
mCD-R |
Neben der Wiederveröffentlichung der alten mail-art collab MC (Kokeshidisk) gibt es auf Taalem auch zwei neue Remixe von TELEPHERIQUE mit rauhen, unwirklichen, grottigen Granular-Dronescapes... dunkel, verstörend, aufregend arrangiert...
"telepherique remixed/reworked a s•core 7" released in 1995 for a unique result, perfect mix of weird sounds & atmospheres. full-colour printed 3" cd-r with artwork by delphine ancelle-b." [label info]
www.taalem.com
|
2007 |
€5.00 |
|
| TELETOPA |
Tokyo 1972 |
3 x LP |
"Geoffroy Collins, flute, percussion, electronics. Peter Evans, percussion and electronics. David Ahern, violin, percussion and electronics. Roger Frampton, percussion, electronics and saxophone. Splitrec is honoured to release a legendary recording from 1972. In 1968 the young Sydney composer David Ahern studied in Germany with Stockhausen where he met Cornelius Cardew. The next year he travelled onto London attending Cardew's classes in Experimental Music' at Morley College and - in a mammoth seven-hour concert at the Roundhouse on 4 May - participated (with Cardew) in performances of La Monte Young's String Trio and also took part in the realisation of Paragraph 2 of Cardew's The Great Learning which proved to be the catalyst for the formation of the Scratch Orchestra. These were revolutionary and defining moments in C20th music. Returning to Sydney in 1970, one of his aims was to set up an electro-acoustic improvisation group - Teletopa was founded in Sydney in late 1970 by Ahern, Peter Evans and Roger Frampton. Tokyo 1972 - 3LP or 2CD release - features two 50min improvisations from a radio session at NHK studios Tokyo. The group was Ahern, Frampton, Evans and Geoffrey Collins and they were completing a 1972 world tour. The group broke up on their return to Sydney. Only a small example of their work has ever been released before. The Liner notes will be a manifesto by David Ahern from a 1971 pamphlet, and there is an insert, a newly penned Potted History of Teletopa by Geoffrey Barnard, who had been a member of the group from September 1971 until July 1972. The tapes have sat in boxes for 42 years. With this release we can hear that Sydney in the early 1970's had a group at the forefront of musical experimentation with a unique take on free improvisation. This document is not just important for Australian music - it should establish them posthumously as one of the most interesting developments in experimental music anywhere in the world at this time." [label info]
www.splitrec.com
"There is, I'm sure, tons of stuff buried in archives, garages, attics waiting to be heard when someone at least finds it. Stuff from people I never heard of, like Teletopa. David Ahern, Peter Evans and Roger Frampton in Sydney founded this group in late 1970. By 1972 Geoffrey Collins was also a member. Ahern studied in Germany in 1968 with Stockhausen, and he met Cornelius Cardew, with whom he performed in London later on, such as in 'The Great Learning'. We can see Teletopa along the lines of such legendary improvisation bands AMM (especially them) and MEV, but less electronic than they were. Here we have improvisation and no rules, even when the band also performed pieces by Cardew, Stockhausen and themselves, following visual scores. The instruments are flute, percussion, electronics (Collins), percussion and electronics (Evans), violin, percussion and electronics (Ahern) and percussion, electronics and saxophone (Frampton), but they also incorporated non-musical instruments. As Teletopa they never released much work, but in 1972 in Tokyo they recorded two fifty-minute pieces of improvised music. Tapes of these recordings have been unearthed recently and now released on this double CD with some excellent liner notes about this group. The music is very strong. It's not very silent, but very loud and perhaps also not very musical, in the traditional sense of the word. Sometimes all of this seems closely to feedback, with lots of scrapings on the violin and the saxophone sounding like a balloon being rubbed on end. The second disc is perhaps a bit more introspective than the first disc, at least for the first thirty or so minutes, allowing space between the notes, before the overall sound gets a bit more thicker and richer. Here Teletopa seems to be in almost Zen like mode. This is some strong 100 minutes of improvised music. Music that comes like an endless stream sound, subconsciously improvised on a wide variety of instruments and objects. If AMM and MEV were already on your list, then this double CD by Teletopa should not be missed. An essential historical release." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2014 |
€38.50 |
|
| TEMPLE MUSIC |
Volume II |
CD |
"Temple Music return to the themes first set out in Volume One – that the Olympian Gods of ancient Greece can still walk amongst us - in their superb new album, Volume Two. In the years intervening, Temple Music have evolved - via some stunning live shows and the Songs Of Absolution album, as well as the explorations of sonic possibilities in the ongoing Green Man series - into a unique acoustic/electronic/experimental/mythic band, and each of the six tracks on this new collection displays a different facet of their sound. Key personnel continue to be Stephen Robinson and Alan Trench, joined here by Julie Brackenbury and Tracy Jeffery. Using old analogue synths, delicately plucked and blown acoustic instruments and an acute musical sensibility that melds together seemingly disparate elements into a visionary whole, Temple Music create mesmeric and awe-inspiring soundscapes; for invocation and contemplation; for navigation through the dreaming backwaters of the aeons; and for the starlit times that shiver in the spaces between - intense and atmospheric, shifting and hypnotic . As you would expect from Temple Music and Shining Day, this new collection comes in a wonderfully evocative package; a foldout full colour wallet from original artwork by Alan Trench printed on heavyweight textured stock and cased in a protective wallet. Edition of 300 copies." [label info]
www.shiningday.pl
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Alpha - Barton upon Humber - St Peter |
CD-R |
"The Green Man Project is presented as a private limited edition CDR (50x each volume), housed in individual, hand printed ‘art’ wraparound sleeves with information about each location. Each piece is different, as is each location; each is dense, shifting, unexpected, rhythmic, arrhythmic, modal, tonal, abrasive, ethereal... each is as different and yet the same as the Green Man himself. Take yourself on a journey of a different sort with Temple Music…
The Green Man is a symbol familiar to many; it cuts across a vast swathe of interests - folklore, pagan, esoteric, architectural - and is found in a number of different contexts. Place names (farmsteads, woods), inn and pub signs, company logos and, overwhelmingly, churches, all contain references to, and images of, the Green Man, Primary and seconday schools alike set it as an art project. So ubiquitous is it, in fact, that most people will not have to have it explained to them - you can simply refer to the Green Man and they will know what you are talking about. Or, at any rate, they will know the symbol... So what exactly is the Green Man a symbol for? In broad terms, there is an agreement that he is part of our pagan past, a symbol of death, rebirth and renewal, the spirit of the Woods - Jack O? The Green, Robin Hood (Wood), the Lord of Misrule, the Corn King. A British, Celtic or Norse god brought into the churches (where he is often found in conjunction with Sheela-na-Gig) to properly sanctify them by our superstitious forebears. So broad are the terms of reference, so much does the Green Man seem to represent and signify, it seems that he is what you make of him and what you want him to be...
All the World is drown’d
Roots of Trees are drown’d
Ocean breathes and sleeps
Leaf and Branch are drown’d
Here I breathe and sleep
Tracy Jeffery - Harp, Vox
Stephen Robinson - Bass, 3 Drone Harmonium, Lapp Frame Drum
Alan Trench - Lyre, Dulcimer, Guitar, VSS30, Birds, Rainstick
www.myspace.com/templemusick" [label info]
www.shiningday.pl
|
2008 |
€9.00 |
|
|
Gamma - Cadney - All Saints |
CD-R |
"The third in the seven album GREEN MAN series from TEMPLE MUSIC (ALAN TRENCH (ORCHIS, CUNNAN, S.Q.E., TWELVE THOUSAND DAYS) & STEPHEN ROBINSON (THE BELOVED)) opens with sinister bursts of (dis)harmony from the vintage String Machine underpinned by brooding bass and highlighted by tense yet liquid guitar... as the piece build, the mood lifts and becomes more rhythmic until a veil lifts on a crystalline vision of chiming bells and harmonised lyre; distant flutes play far away... again, this new vision builds, ebbs, flows... making way for a beautiful circular guitar and organ duet... this resolves into a song of yearning and loss with vocals by TRACY JEFFERY (ORCHIS, SQE) that seems to encapsulate all that has gone before; the final playout is both sad and elegiacal...
Once again TEMPLE MUSIC continue on their seven step journey; this third on the path shows an evolving series of spectacular depth ...
Once again, this comes as an extremely limited Art Edition; a beautiful handmade package, with individually painted and hand-blocked outer sleeve and complementary inner sleeve – and, once again, PLEASE NOTE that this is a NEW and RE-MASTERED EDITION that has a depth and tonality missing from the now totally unavailable Woven Wheat download version– and is exclusive to this SHINING DAY release.
This is what TEMPLE MUSIC have written about the album:
This recording is the third part of a continuing series of seven long pieces inspired and informed by different Green Man locations in the county of Lincolnshire, England. This volume is based upon a lonely and tree encircled location, the air tumbling with the black tatters of rooks - the once important All Saints church of Cadney Cadney sits in the wide clay valley of the river Ancholme a couple of miles south of Brigg (named after the bridge across the river). The suffix ‘ey’ gives the clue to its history, meaning ‘isle’ and before drainage schemes and the channelling of the Ancholme this was indeed an island in the midst of fresh and saltwater marshes and was ceded (under the name ‘Ruckholme’) to St Gilbert, founder of the Gilbertine Order, some time in the 12th century. Here he built Newstede priory where he lived until his death in 1189.
Based closely on the Cistercian order, the Gilbertine rule was austere, based on manual labour – farming. The son of a Norman baron and an English woman, Gilbert was ideally placed to bridge the cultural gap, and here, on the island in the darkness of the marshes between Lincoln Edge and the Wolds, in the Norman church of All Saints he could hardly have failed to notice the pagan survival that watched over the congregation; the Green Man. Modern Cadney is peaceful (if not entirely somnolent); the priory now a farm, the Ancholme now slow flowing and calmly channelled under the vastness of the arching sky. Here the past seems distant, unfocussed; the present hardly here at all, the landscape dreaming under the cloth of fields and woods. Although the work of Gilbert - and almost the memory of him - are nearly erased by time, the Green Man lives on.
SR & AT, 11.11.08 ev, Lincolnshire
On this piece, Temple Music were:
Tracy Jeffery – Voice : Stephen Robinson – Bass, String Machine, Synths, Lapp Frame Drum, Cithara
Alan Trench – Guitars, Tibetan Bells, Sequencer, Synths, Lyre, Whistles, Mongolian One String Fiddle Treatment
www.myspace.com/templemusick" [full label info]
www.shiningday.pl
|
2008 |
€9.00 |
|
| |
Songs of Absolution |
CD-R |
"Ltd edition of 200 copies beautifully housed in a gatefold digiwallet, each one of which is an original artwork in acrylics from the Apocalypse Sunset series by Stephen Robinson and Alan Trench.
Art print insert and outer protective sleeve.
The second album by Temple Music is a pause for breath between the Volume One and Volume Two workings and the first recorded output of the project after expansion to a duo with Alan Trench (Orchis, 12000 Days, World Serpent etc) now joined by Stephen Robinson (Bug, The Beloved, Mutoid Waste).
Opening with the lyric beauty of Myrrh and Belladona (featuring Tibetan singing bowls and Pixiphone) the mood deepens with the elegiac drift of Eisendrang where, to a stately undertow of subterranean gongs, the loss of the past is mourned with a distant wail of feedback as a floating, spacious fx guitar duels with whistles and a bass Moseno flute.The mood changes again with Harmony Rosy Cross, a paean to a dead friend which features oddly out of kilter acoustic and electric guitars circling and spiralling, changing and unchanging ceaselessly and hypnotically, never quite resolving.Satyrion was written specifically as part of the soundtrack to HAXAN (Witchcraft Through The Ages)(1922) and first performed at a screening of the film on 01 07 05 ev.The atmospheric version here magisterially conjures the nightmare claustrophobia of Benjamin Christensons surreal and hallucinogenic masterpiece.The album continues claustrophobically to close with Thunder: Father of Bulls, a section of a much longer piece (an invocation to Poseidon) which showcases the band in a live setting with analogue synth, fx guitar and a bass delay system.
Despite - or because of - having so many disparate elements, the album is a cohesive whole and a joy to listen to (preferably around 3 o'clock in the morning). The dreamer will awake." [label info]
www.shiningday.pl
|
2005 |
€9.00 |
|
| TEMPLUM N.R. |
Spectrum DCXCIII: Poison Portals |
CD |
On one hazy night I met an elderly man sitting in an old wooden chair. He was wearing an elegant white suit and I could not help noticing the simple white lines in his fore- and middle fingers. In the remaining fingers he had circles. The pitch-black sand of the shore absorbed all the light from the sky. Regardless, I saw fifty-meter-high waves crashing down behind him – and at the same time, they remained static.
‘Spectrum DCXCIII: Poison Portals’ has a luring, fatal beauty of its own. Redirecting, throbbing analog electronics, slowly swallowing droning textures and sinuous rhythms are accompanied with eternal, eerie melodies – all reeking of the primordial pleasures. Obscure radio transmissions and telepathic resonances are emerging from the parallel universes and will sink you even deeper into the ignorance of your very self or towards the ravishing beauty of transformation.
The other worlds and realities are present both in sound and vision; A triple-bladed iron dagger, brought to this world through trancework. Assume its form, pass the Poison Portals, and continue until the opposites intermingle and known territories vanish beneath the colossal waves.
This CD version also includes the previously limited ‘The Mass Rattle’ ep with tracks ‘The Viscous Tomb Liquid’ and a Telepath Remix of the ‘I am His Sacrifice’.
The album is enclosed in a customised and screen printed Sublunar series cardboard covers, including five two-sided insert cards. Limited to 300 copies.
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| TENHORNEDBEAST |
The Sacred Truth |
CD |
"From the ashes of Dark Ambient legends Endvra the TenHornedBeast is rising. Cryptic, menacing atmospheres erupt from droning chasms of feedback. On an altar of horn and fire "The Sacred Truth" is revealed. An ultra doom / drone epic! Presented in a matt-laminate, spot-varnished digipak. TenHornedBeast is Christopher Walton." [label info]
"With a past in the British dark ambient-project Endura in joint venture with Stephen Pennick, Christopher Walton knows exactly how to create atmospheres of the disturbingly black kind. His solo-project "Tenhornedbeast" is like a trip back to the early days of death industrial. The expression on the five intersections of the album is repetitive and slowly moving, though the approach to dark minimalism varies on the overall album. With drones based on orchestration of the dark kind the associations from beginning of the album stylishly turns towards the Cold Meat Industry-scene, more precisely towards the lesser harsh moments of Brighter Death Now around the "Necrose Evangelicum"-period. From fourth intersection titled "In the teeth of the wolf", the drones becomes more guitar-based in the gloomy drone-rock style characterizing the expression of Sunn O))), with a dark ambient-based touch reminding of Lustmord and early british industrial/metal-ambient-project Saw Throat (aka SoreThoat ). The true power of this album is Christopher Walton ability to create cinematic atmospheres of trance-like hypnotism with this great mixture of acoustic and synthetic. Impressive album." [NM / Vital Weekly]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| TENHORNEDBEAST / MARZURAAN |
split |
CD |
Zwei lange Stücke auf dieser Split der Bands aus UK. Unfassbar weiten & mächtigen, fast halbstündigen DOOM-DRONE produzieren TENHORNEDBEAST, die früher als ENDVRA aktiv waren. MARZURAAN ist die zweite Inkarnation von RYN, und sie rocken hier weniger metallisch-krachig, sondern in wunderbarer ultra-minimaler JESU-Manier... Spezielles ausgestanztes Cover.
"Aurora Borealis is proud to present this split CD by two of the lesser known greats from the Northeast of England. TENHORNEDBEAST is the dark vision of Christopher Walton, part of the much feted ENDVRA, masters of 90s dark and occult ambient. 'Law of the needle', clocking in at over 28 minutes, is an oppressive opus of doomed drone, both monolithic and multifaceted. Pure power. "elongated, sinister drone, ...distant, echoing string resonance from bowed guitars and cold, steely walls of distortion" think the good folks at Boomkat, as well they may. MARZURAAN contribute 'Into countless battles', 13 minutes of narcotic guitar haze. I think this is my favourite of anything they have done to date. So good, you never want it to end. The gruff metal grunts of the 'Solid Wood' LP have been replaced by a subdued, almost crushed vocal, totally stands out. "acres of textured guitar, low end pressure and brooding drums" say Boomnkat. Can't wait to hear more from MARZURAAN - this is epic, like a bassier, looser, Mogadon dosed JESU with a man past caring roped in to give his thoughts on where its all gone wrong. Pete from MARZURAAN did the artwork and layout. Printed on heavy textured card and with 2 diecut runes. Comes in a pvc bag." [label info]
" Every once in a while, someone will release a record, and we can't help but feel like it was made specifically for us. And for you. Some records just perfectly speak to the aQ aesthetic, as undefinable as that seems to be. This is another one of those cases. Someone thought it would be a perfect combination to match up UK one man ambient drone outfit Tenhornedbeast, with UK slow motion doomlords Marzuraan. And it is perfect. And a fantastic idea, but just because something is a great idea, doesn't always mean someone thinks of it. And we're not saying we had been thinking someone should get these two bands together specifically, we're just glad they did, and we sort of wish we HAD thought of it. But that's neither here nor there. The important thing is that it happened, and now we can all luxuriate in the deep dark heaviness both of these bands explore. And while the bands are indeed different, their aesthetics are not all that far removed. The both exist in some blackened nether region, haunting sonic realms, where heaviness can be expressed in both utter darkness and extreme force, sometimes
both, and once in awhile neither.
Tenhornedbeast offer up a nearly 30 minute long sonic ritual, beginning as a bit of swirling black minimalism, but slowly building to a truly intense wall of doomdrone, the sound thick and textured, a churning cauldron of low end buzz and downtuned disembodied riffs, all brought to a boil and poured out in a viscous black torrent, left to flow like some subterranean river. But these deep drones are laced with melodies, and keening high end shards, allowed to shine forth occasionally, but often swallowed up before they can fill those caves with their unnatural light. The track continually changes shape, sound and timbre, various shades of grey and black, lightening and darkening as the landscape changes, a haunting journey through some lost world, where sound replaces sight, allowing us to navigate ever deeper.
Marzuraan counter with what must be one of their prettiest tracks ever. It's still sludgey and doomy, but the notes ring out, the melodies almost soar, the sound fuzzy and glimmering, almost like these guys have caught the shoegaze bug as well. Washed out and blissy, super melodic and melancholy, but the coolest part is that the track seems to warble and waver, almost like someone is manually adjusting the tape speed, so the notes sound drunken and drugged, the track lurches and weaves drunkenly, only adding to the haunting and off kilter beauty. Part way through, the riffs get a little more riffy, and then the vocals come in, a moaning distant croon, and we're most definitely in serious Jesu territory, but that weird speed shifting hitch, keeps it from sounding too pretty, or two blissy. But if these guys keep heading in this direction, they could definitely give Jesu, and Nadja and other metallic shoegazers a run for their money.
The packaging is super swank, a three panel gatefold, each of the front panels diecut with each band's symbol, printed inside and out, housed in a thick plastic sleeve with a sticker affixed to the front." [Aquarius Records review]
www.aurora-b.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| TENNEY, JAMES |
Melody, Ergodicity and Indeterminacy |
CD |
Für Freunde früher elektronischer Musik sind auf dieser CD v.a. die beiden Computermusik-Stücke ERGODOS I & II interessant (1963 + 1964), die mit unglaublichen Sounds gefüttert sind und als Vorläufer späterer Minimal & Drone-Musik gelten. Daneben sind hier 4 Solo-Instrumentalstücke für Flöte & Klarinette enthalten (darunter seine frühesten Werke POEM (1955) und MONODY (1959). Äusserst obskur wird es, wenn moderne Kompositionstechniken Computerklänge & Instrumente verbinden, was auf drei längeren Stücken von 1964 passiert. Eine schöne Zusammenstellung, welche die Vielseitigkeit dieses US-amerikanischen Komponisten demonstriert, inkl. Booklet mit Begleittext auf Englisch, Deutsch, Französisch!
"Poem" (1955). Jos Zwaanenburg, flute. "Ergodos I" (1963) computer music. "Monody" (1959). John Anderson, clarinet. "Ergodos II" (1964) computer music. "Seegersong #1" (1999). John Anderson, clarinet. "String Complement (with Ergodos II)" (1964) computer music with violin, viola, cello, bass. "Seegersong #2" (1999). Jos Zwaanenburg, flute. "Instrumental Responses (with Ergodos I)" (1964) computer music with flute, bass clarinet, trombone, bassoon, violin, viola, cello, bass, percussion, baritone. "Ergodos III" (1994). Frank Denyer and Nora Mulder, pianos. "Percussion Response" (with Ergodos I) (1964) computer music with Tobias Liebezeit, percussion.
Barton Workshop. James Fulkerson & Frank Denyer, directors. First Recordings. “James Tenney (1934-2006) was probably the first composer to develop an aesthetic for computer music, realizing that electronic music almost forced the composer to accept noise as music and to abandon the idea of absolute control over a composition. He came to accept Cage’s passion for randomness, but from a different angle: computer music can be “unpredictable” (rather than “random”). This CD looks at how Tenney persistently asked two questions: “What if?” and “How does it work?” Entitled Melody, Ergodicity and Indeterminacy, it brings an understanding of Tenney's exploration of the act of listening and the factors of composition, of how materials can be assembled, how a composer creates musical continuity. It contains four solos for flute and clarinet which are taken both from some of his earliest works, Poem (1955) and Monody (1959) and from relatively late in his career, Seegersong #1 & 2 (1999). The cd features Tenney’s Ergodos compositions (forerunners of minimal music or drones) - instead of a fixed object, the listener hears a process and assembles his own experience from the sounds which have enveloped him. The reel-to-reel source tapes for Ergodos I and II are unique in that they may be played in either direction, beginning and ending at any point and-or with any number of super-impositions of parts (channels). On this cd, both Ergodos tape pieces are presented along with the tape and its String complement, Instrumental responses (10 performers) and also with a percussion soloist (Percussion responses). Like so many of Tenney’s pieces, these works walk a line between the composers input and the choices of the performers in order to come to fruition. Tenney’s conscious inclusion of the performer's input is a consistent characteristic of his music and remains a factor which distinguishes him from many other composers.”
www.moderecords.com
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| TERRA SANCTA |
Disintegration |
CD |
Nur selten hört man etwas vom australischen dark ambient Projekt TERRA SANCTA, aber wenn dann gehört es zum besten & massivsten was es im extrem dunkel-dronigen Bereich gibt. Ähnlich wie bei YEN POX bauen sich auf vier langen Stücke tiefbassige Gebilde auf, die allmählich komplexe und poly-dimensional wellende & obertönende Strukturen ausbilden, wie gigantische organische Materie im Weltenraum... eine Organik, die wie ein schwarzes Loch jede Energie schluckt und alles umhüllt in ihrer Umgebung.
"Four years after the release of the highly acclaimed Aeon CD, Disintegration finds Australias Terra Sancta in fine form, having
delivered another sweeping, dark ambient epic. Expanding on the sounds explored on his previous releases, Disintegration pushes the levels of intensity to new heights, featuring four long and texturally turbulent emissions of formidable power and depth. With its enormous washes of stormy drones and billowing, multi-layered atmospheres,
these are tracks that grow and build to such a degree they seem to collapse and erode under their own weight, strewing particles into a
vast horizon and creating a broad panorama of ever changing desert colored hues. A completely enveloping and engulfing release, this is
dark ambient on a massive scale, something Terra Sancta seems to have a knack for creating and something few do so well. Jewel box with 6
panel booklet, designed by Vestigial." [label info]
www.malignantrecords.com
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| TERUGGI, DANIEL |
Sphaera |
LP |
"Between 1984 and 1989, my acousmatic work was focused on processing and merging the four fundamental substances. Each 'element' gradually became articulated with the others, thus crystallizing my subjective perception of their materiality. Over the years, helped by the enthusiasm of a Greek friend who propelled me into the Socratic universe, what started out as an exploratory path has become a circular, spherical unity, in which each occurrence simultaneously belongs to one of the four substances as well as the whole. These four sections, of uneven durations, embody the different resonances of each 'element' upon my imagination. The movements are ordered compositionally and range from the intangibility of the air to the extreme density of the earth. In 'Eterea', the dual nature of air, a space for the dissemination of sounds and an environment for mobile masses, shaped the work and the development of its forms. Whether it be the vast expanse of particles as organized movement or the displacement of sources in our three-dimensional perception, ethereal air fills the space and drives the immaterial motions and gestures. 'Aquatica' locates the materiality of water in relation to its amazing extremes: from the drop to the ocean, an extensive journey unfolds through the various phases of the reinvented liquid. Still waters, deadly waters, raging waters follow one another, leading to the aerial fusion of a primordial equilibrium eventually retrieved. Then comes 'Focolaria' and the unsteady fires, the elusive and wild will-o'-the-wisps that open and adorn the gates leading to the depths of the earth. The land of 'Terra' is devoid of atmosphere, a land of matters before the advent of life. The sounds of the original matter merge and evolve into purer forms. The motions trigger progressions towards new equilibriums of forces, the ultimate fusion, the very last attempt, needed for the emergence of life. The sphere is now complete, the world ready for creation..." --Daniel Teruggi
"While the theme of the four elements has been a constant source of inspiration in the arts, its setting to music using electroacoustic techniques seems highly auspicious, since the notion of matter and its transformation is consubstantial with the concrete approach. In Sphæra, Daniel Teruggi precisely addresses this question, transcending matter with the help of novel digital audio techniques so as to draw out forms, trajectories, layers, and musical objects, all of which result from the merging or sublimation of primordial sounds. Indeed, this is where Daniel Teruggi's music and compositional approach stand out: by engaging sounds, with strength, will and inspiration, in a close encounter with energies, whether tectonic or electrical. Such collisions, such metamorphoses, are then appeased in the whole space of the composition, a fascinating landscape, the final destination of all transmutations." --François Bonnet, Paris, 2021
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi. Cut by Andreas Kauffelt at Schnittstelle, Berlin, July 2021. Translations: Valérie Vivancos. Layout: Stephen O'Malley.
https://danielteruggi.bandcamp.com/album/sph-ra
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| TERVAHÄÄT |
same |
CD |
"The fifth release from Finnish underground label Anima Arctica is this self-titled debut work by Tervahäät, a duo consisting of Antero Väätäjä and Ilmari Akkanen. This shortish but interesting album builds bridges between raw post-industrial ritual tracks and frosty Finnish folklore.
From the start of the album on, we are presented with the successful instrumental base of this project that returns in most of the tracks: banjo and bass melodies overlaying rumbling industrial soundscapes, varied organic percussion and some seething electric guitar work. Longer tracks like “Otava” forge these elements into extended ritual journeys, accompanied by pathos-filled vocals in Finnish. The accompanying sheet of English text (a translation of the lyrics?) speaks of animals, spirits, and mystic poetry. In general, the music of this album is not easy to get into; while there are accessible tracks like the Nordic neofolk of the instrumental “Joulukuu”, the greater part of the album is rather esoteric and demands a receptive mood, one that resonates with the cold and oppressive visual imagery. It is perhaps typically Finnish in the sense that it doesn’t open up at the first listen.
However, despite this closedness and lack of very direct compositions that immediately grab you by the throat, Tervahäät manages to deliver an album that has a compelling mysticism about it, as well as an original sound that blends organic, industrial, and folkloric elements. The foundations for an interesting musical oeuvre have been laid here, and lovers of experimental post-industrial music should definitely check this album out. It will be especially appealing if you have an ear for Finnish underground music of the past decade." [O.S. / Evening of Light]
www.animaarctica.fi
|
2009 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Taival |
CD |
"Taival continues on the paths and narrow roads through Finnish forests to further explore the rustic and mystical sounds and visions of Tervahäät. Seven tracks of ritualistic folk & neofolk are inspired by rural surroundings, spiritual unity, and a sincere interest in the native land and its entities — trees, animals, and the spirit of the ancestors. The fourth album of Tervahäät brings also some surprisingly warm winds from the icy north-west, but the warmth also carries a slight smell of decaying bones and suspicioulsy friendly whispers from old ghosts." [label info]
www.animaarctica.fi
"I have spoken to many people about their taste in music. Several of them can pinpoint a defining moment that triggered their now eclectic taste, which has led them along the path of musical freedom. I, personally, keep very limited and musically specific company, but for me it’s a very simple and nostalgic memory.
Have you ever had one of those evenings where you find yourself looking at film after film on YouTube? You go from band-to-band and genre-to-genre, and you stumble across some amazing, bizarre, and down-right amateur videos. That particular nostalgic night, I stumbled across a man playing a Finnish instrument called the ‘kantele’. I was amazed at how simple the instrument looked and yet how sweet the tone is. The first one I heard was a five-string, and the YouTube trail quickly brought me to a ten-string. Before I knew it, I had placed an order for a five-string kantele to be made in the United States. This epiphany of sorts found me entrenched in the culture of Finland, whilst playing its national instrument.
This immersion in Finnish culture—now six years on—has not deteriorated; if anything, it has intensified. From the stories of the Kalevala, Vainamoinen, and the mythical Kantele he constructed from a pike’s jaw-bone, to the vast landscapes full of lakes, forests, and elks, and the pre-Lutheran religious customs and practices that were once the Pagan folklore of the land… It’s quite possibly the polar-opposite, natural elements of my homeland that fuels my fascination.
Tervahäät
When my editor told me to ‘light a fire’ underneath the Tervahäät review, I detected a Finnish scent on the name. Further examination of the cover and notes brought about the jubilation and motivation required to get that ‘fire’ going.
Many no doubt know that Finland is renowned for great music. Being a folk metal junkie, there isn’t much that comes out of Finland that I don’t like or haven’t seen live, even here in Australia. Having predominantly covered folk and neofolk to date with the Heathen Harvest Periodical, it was a much-anticipated listen.
The polar opposite landscapes of which I previously spoke are significant. We have huge deserts, dried-up lakes, and a bevy of poisonous reptiles to keep your trekking interesting. I played Taival in my car on a four-hour drive across the plains of South Australia. My research on the band’s name, Tervahäät, loosely translates to ‘Tar Wedding’. Quite auspicious given that my initial listen is being done on the open road! The album’s name, Taival, loosely translates to ‘Journey on foot’. As we say in Australia, ‘bugger that’—there are too many snakes out at this time of year.
The opening song, ‘Kärrinpyörä’, begins with guitar strumming reminiscent to the intro of a Western film scene. The harsh and drawn-out vocals accompany a simple melody being looped in the background. Harsh vocals are usually associated with heavier music but there is elocution with these, which really hold your interest. The surroundings in the early stage of my journey are arid and harsh. Dry farms and wrecked cars are a common sight. The previous suggestion of Western theme has much more credence (to my present situation). The chorus keeps returning and after a while I find myself singing and humming it in a familiar way.
‘Kevätkirot’ begins with a more melodic approach that fins the vocals taking a 180-degree turn wherein Riimu showcases his vocal ability. His voice wouldn’t sound out-of-place belting out Russia’s national anthem or one of Ivan Rebroff’s classics. These haunting tones are hypnotizing. They captivate me to the extent that I needed to know more about the lyrics. Not verbatim, but in Riimu’s words, the song reflects a particular mood: A time in early depression, or that bleakest time in spring and utter loneliness. The outro of the track has a dreamy presence and plays a haunting sound whose origins would point to a wind instrument.
The album isn’t short of effects, and as ‘Tuomiolaulu’ begins, the presence of reverb gives the song an enchanting sound. Again the song is driven by powerful vocals; the music passages are superfluous to them but accompany the style.
Have I mentioned that the album has an occasional Western theme? The use of Banjo on ‘Koulutie’ reaffirms this theory. The previous description of Finland’s landscape casts a rural description which gives credence to my suggested theme. It then dawns on me that this album draws inspiration from the transition of seasons—the personal reflections and mood changes that occur within all beings and in the case of this album, the artists.
The song ‘Taival’—also the album’s namesake—ends the seven-track recording. A synthesizer and eclectic but simple percussive beat accompanies the consistently haunting vocals. I listened to this one a few times over. With each listen I hear a new overtone in the background. Like the recording was being infiltrated by ghosts or spirits from the ancient land or another world. One in particular sounds like a Tuvan throat singer. It adds a mystique that’s hard to quantify in words. It still sends a quiver of eeriness over my body with each listen.
Musically simple, vocally diverse, and lyrically reflective are appropriate word associations for Taival. It’s been a while since I have heard anything like this, and I want to explore this style a lot more. I have myself in recent times been meditating to this record; the music works with me like a spiritual guide to the Suomi landscape that I’m yet to visit. Its place as driving music wasn’t limited to that one encounter. The CD hasn’t left my stacker. The artists are clearly emotionally entrenched in their music. It comes across as from the heart; it comes across with honesty, and it works." [Malachy O'Brien / Heathen Harvest]
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| TESENDALO |
Entwurf (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
released in July 1994 in an edition of 200 copies on white vinyl. Nice and always different patterns of colours on each Coverside.
Press-Information: "The open ambient project TESENDALO of Peter Schuster, founder of the long-existing tape-label PRION TAPES, charms you with magical ambience you will possibly drown into and forget your selves in. The two tracks "Entwurf I + II" work with similar elements (drones, guitars, effects + nature-recordings) to create slightly different dreamy soundscapes that will dip you and your environment into emotional atmos-spheres. This is in our opinion a perfect example what ambience is able to express... We'd also like to recommend the wonderful debut-LP of TESENDALO which cam out on Marginal Talent (a sub-label of Empty Records) recently."
|
1994 |
€ |
|
| TEST DEPARTMENT / TEST DEPT. |
Disturbance |
LP |
In an ideal world, Disturbance, the new album from industrial pioneers Test Dept, would not exist. It wouldn’t need to. Britain would not stand divided by xenophobia. Working class communities would not be under siege. Capitalism would not have created a climate change crisis pushing the planet towards a dangerous brink. And the Thatcherite ideals that Graham Cunnington and Paul Jamrozy spent Test Dept’s early years raging against would not be so terrifyingly back in political vogue.
Back in1981, Cunnington, Jamrozy and a revolving door of talented artists from disparate disciplines and backgrounds formed Test Dept, forging an incendiary new sound from a squat in New Cross that made them underground heroes, landing the group under surveillance by the British government. 37 years later, on Disturbance, that sound is as incendiary as ever.
“It began with a project to do with our archive,” recalls Cunnington. It was the early 2010s and Test Dept had been dormant for years. The pair wanted to sort through Test Dept’s old recordings to “re-establish our history and get our music out there again” after record label red tape left many of their 14 albums out of print.
When attention turned to the “next logical step of a new album”, an idea emerged – taking germs of ideas from old songs and turning them into new, sledgehammer-heavy sonic experiments full of powerful protest poetry. Politics had come full circle. It felt fitting to do the same with their music.
The result is an album that at once peers into the past and roars into the future, across eight tracks that conjure the raw power of Test Dept in their original, 1980s incarnation while adding new elements. “We’re different people now – not spring chickens anymore,” laughs Jamrozy. “We’re still angry but it’s tempered by a slightly different wisdom. We tried to upgrade the sound, to soup things up further.”
“Art is not a mirror to reflect reality, but a hammer to shape it,” the poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht once wrote. It’s a mantra that continues to drive Test Dept. who return to their past on this eviscerating new album in order to move into a bold new future. They hope Disturbance can soundtrack a society doing the same.
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Disturbance
by Test Dept
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dauvit thumbnail
dauvit Test Dept. have always sounded like Test Dept. and nobody else sounds like Test Dept.
Another fantastic release.
jvvoda thumbnail
jvvoda Not a case of sentimental cash-out reunion call, quite the opposite. This record will keep you pushed to the edge of your comfort zone, and true to the title, it will leave you disturbed - in the best possible way - as a wake up call from your apathy and ignorance back to action.
mipsen thumbnail
mipsen What a great interpretation of my favorite track of the "Unacceptable Face of Freedom"! The whole album is extremely recommended! Favorite track: Gatekeeper.
R5N thumbnail
R5N Just a fucking brilliant album. 🤘Glad to see such a great return.
Bryon Wilson thumbnail
Bryon Wilson Love the album! I honestly can’t say what my favorite track is. I keep listening to the entire thing straight through. Great work.
Synthonic thumbnail
Synthonic You don`t listen to Test Dept, you feel them. If you have a heart, that is.
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Landlord 00:00 / 04:41
Streaming + Download
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£5.99 GBP or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
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Single black vinyl in gatefold sleeve with artwork designed by David Altweger
Includes unlimited streaming of Disturbance via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 3 days
£17.99 GBP or more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
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CD in 6 panel digipack with artwork designed by David Altweger
Includes unlimited streaming of Disturbance via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 3 days
£8.99 GBP or more
1.
Speak Truth To Power 06:21
2.
Landlord 04:41
3.
Debris 04:33
4.
Full Spectrum Dominance 07:27
5.
Information Scare 04:50
6.
Gatekeeper 05:32
7.
GBH84 04:21
8.
Two Flames Burn 07:53
about
In an ideal world, Disturbance, the new album from industrial pioneers Test Dept, would not exist. It wouldn’t need to. Britain would not stand divided by xenophobia. Working class communities would not be under siege. Capitalism would not have created a climate change crisis pushing the planet towards a dangerous brink. And the Thatcherite ideals that Graham Cunnington and Paul Jamrozy spent Test Dept’s early years raging against would not be so terrifyingly back in political vogue.
Back in1981, Cunnington, Jamrozy and a revolving door of talented artists from disparate disciplines and backgrounds formed Test Dept, forging an incendiary new sound from a squat in New Cross that made them underground heroes, landing the group under surveillance by the British government. 37 years later, on Disturbance, that sound is as incendiary as ever.
“It began with a project to do with our archive,” recalls Cunnington. It was the early 2010s and Test Dept had been dormant for years. The pair wanted to sort through Test Dept’s old recordings to “re-establish our history and get our music out there again” after record label red tape left many of their 14 albums out of print.
When attention turned to the “next logical step of a new album”, an idea emerged – taking germs of ideas from old songs and turning them into new, sledgehammer-heavy sonic experiments full of powerful protest poetry. Politics had come full circle. It felt fitting to do the same with their music.
The result is an album that at once peers into the past and roars into the future, across eight tracks that conjure the raw power of Test Dept in their original, 1980s incarnation while adding new elements. “We’re different people now – not spring chickens anymore,” laughs Jamrozy. “We’re still angry but it’s tempered by a slightly different wisdom. We tried to upgrade the sound, to soup things up further.”
“Art is not a mirror to reflect reality, but a hammer to shape it,” the poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht once wrote. It’s a mantra that continues to drive Test Dept. who return to their past on this eviscerating new album in order to move into a bold new future. They hope Disturbance can soundtrack a society doing the same.
credits
released March 1, 2019
Graham Cunnington - Percussion, Electronics, Vocals
Paul Jamrozy - Percussion, Electronics, Vocals
Zel Kaute - Drums
Lottie Lou - Electronics, Live Sound
David Altweger - Visual Director
Rob Lewis - Additional Drums
Ashley Davies - Bass / Percussion
Laura Thompson - Additional Vocals on 'Gatekeeper'
Roz Corrigan - Piano on 'Debris'
Michelle Outram - Cello on 'Truth'
Jordi Blanchar & Ilenia Bombardi - Additional Vocals
Recorded:
Flesh & Bone Studios, Hackney
The Shed, Nunhead
Mixed & Produced: The Shed
Engineered: Lottie Lou
Mastered: Giovanni Versari at La Maestra Mastering, Tredozio (FC)
GBH84 Is dedicated to The Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign
Artwork by David Altweger
Photos by Michael Kötter |
2019 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Disturbance |
CD |
In an ideal world, Disturbance, the new album from industrial pioneers Test Dept, would not exist. It wouldn’t need to. Britain would not stand divided by xenophobia. Working class communities would not be under siege. Capitalism would not have created a climate change crisis pushing the planet towards a dangerous brink. And the Thatcherite ideals that Graham Cunnington and Paul Jamrozy spent Test Dept’s early years raging against would not be so terrifyingly back in political vogue.
Back in1981, Cunnington, Jamrozy and a revolving door of talented artists from disparate disciplines and backgrounds formed Test Dept, forging an incendiary new sound from a squat in New Cross that made them underground heroes, landing the group under surveillance by the British government. 37 years later, on Disturbance, that sound is as incendiary as ever.
“It began with a project to do with our archive,” recalls Cunnington. It was the early 2010s and Test Dept had been dormant for years. The pair wanted to sort through Test Dept’s old recordings to “re-establish our history and get our music out there again” after record label red tape left many of their 14 albums out of print.
When attention turned to the “next logical step of a new album”, an idea emerged – taking germs of ideas from old songs and turning them into new, sledgehammer-heavy sonic experiments full of powerful protest poetry. Politics had come full circle. It felt fitting to do the same with their music.
The result is an album that at once peers into the past and roars into the future, across eight tracks that conjure the raw power of Test Dept in their original, 1980s incarnation while adding new elements. “We’re different people now – not spring chickens anymore,” laughs Jamrozy. “We’re still angry but it’s tempered by a slightly different wisdom. We tried to upgrade the sound, to soup things up further.”
“Art is not a mirror to reflect reality, but a hammer to shape it,” the poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht once wrote. It’s a mantra that continues to drive Test Dept. who return to their past on this eviscerating new album in order to move into a bold new future. They hope Disturbance can soundtrack a society doing the same.
released March 1, 2019
Graham Cunnington - Percussion, Electronics, Vocals
Paul Jamrozy - Percussion, Electronics, Vocals
Zel Kaute - Drums
Lottie Lou - Electronics, Live Sound
David Altweger - Visual Director
Rob Lewis - Additional Drums
Ashley Davies - Bass / Percussion
Laura Thompson - Additional Vocals on 'Gatekeeper'
Roz Corrigan - Piano on 'Debris'
Michelle Outram - Cello on 'Truth'
Jordi Blanchar & Ilenia Bombardi - Additional Vocals
Recorded:
Flesh & Bone Studios, Hackney
The Shed, Nunhead
Mixed & Produced: The Shed
Engineered: Lottie Lou
Mastered: Giovanni Versari at La Maestra Mastering, Tredozio (FC)
GBH84 Is dedicated to The Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign
Artwork by David Altweger
Photos by Michael Kötter
https://testdept.bandcamp.com/album/disturbance
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| TESTCARD |
# 17 : SEX |
BOOK |
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Kimiko Leibnitz:
Anything Goes? Sexualität, Medien und die Verschiebung von Tabugrenzen.
Georg Seeßlen:
Die nackten Wilden des Kapitals. 10 Ungebote von Sexualität und Marktwirtschaft.
Dagmar Brunow:
Im Bett mit Marcuse. Sexualitätsdiskurse in der radikalen Linken. Im Gespräch mit Massimo Perinelli.
nói:
Knoten und Jogginghosen. Besuch bei einem Japanbondage-Workshop.
Mick Schulz:
Mit Lust gegen die Gesellschaft! Oder: Was man heute noch aus alten Bravo-Heften lernen kann.
Tim Stüttgen:
»Nicht alle empfinden das Gleiche über Sex.« Im Gespräch mit Laura Maria Agustin über MigrantInnen, die Sex verkaufen und diejenigen, die ihnen angeblich helfen wollen.
Michaela Wünsch:
Sexuelle Arbeit. Im Gespräch mit Renate Lorenz.
Ron Steinke:
Schwule Frauen, lesbische Männer. Geschlechternormen im deutschen Transsexuellengesetz.
Jasper Nicolaisen:
Liebe_Machen. Sex und Transbeziehungen.
Mike Laufenberg:
The Trouble With Nature. Über homosexuelle Körper und das Dilemma der Identitätspolitik.
Klaus Walter:
Sprechen über Aids. Im Gespräch mit Brigitte Weingart.
Projekt L (Berlin):
Shrek, Tokio Hotel und der nicht-virtuelle Körper. Notizen zum Projekt (anti)lookism.
Ladyfestwien Sex-AG:
Ladyfest goes Sexparty.
Dorothee Krings:
»Man ist schon anders erzogen, wenn man durch die SM-Schule gelaufen ist.« Ein Gespräch mit zwei BDSMlerInnen.
Martin Büsser:
For your pleasure. Fragmente einer Porno-Komparatistik.
Kerstin Stakemeier:
Come. Möglichkeiten eines GEILEN Pornos.
Tjark Kunstreich:
»Ich hätte nie dazu gehört.« Der Porno-Star Michael Lucas über Europa, Israel, Amerika und die Schwulen.
Barbara Eder:
From Hard-Core to Post-Porn. Sex, Gender und der kalte Blick aufs nackte Fleisch.
Matthias Schönebäumer:
pop that ass. Über Detroit Ghettotech als pornographische Karikatur.
Torsten Nagel:
»This is not a love song.« Der ganz alltägliche Pop-Sexismus.
Chris Wilpert:
No Sex, Please! Auf der Suche nach Sex im deutschsprachigen Indie/Pop/Punk. Eine Leerstelle …
Andreas Richter:
Wer sXe sagt, muss auch Sex machen. Über Straight Edge und die verpassten Chancen.
Jens Thomas:
Ich bin nicht schwul, und das ist auch cool so. Homophobie im deutschen HipHop: Sexismus in Reinform oder Fiktion nach Maß?
Martin Büsser / Sonja Eismann:
The L-Underground. LESBIANS ON ECSTASY.
Benedikt Köhler:
KIDS ON TV. Unmixing Business and Pleasure – Zwei Lesarten einer Löschung.
Katja Peglow:
Goodbye Schmuddelecke! Das Jungsheft. Ein Porträt.
Ann Pellegrini:
Höllentheater. Sünde und Abschreckung – das Phänomen der Hell Houses.
Atlanta Athens:
Wie war dein bester Orgasmus? Der Film Shortbus plädiert dafür, sexuelle Verhandlungsräume zu erweitern.
Julia Reifenberger und Marcus Stiglegger:
»Wenn die Hölle eine Anatomie hätte, wäre es der weibliche Körper.« Das feminine Kino der Cathérine Breillat.
Ernest Mathijs:
To Die For. Der Fan und die Rezeption von Sexualität und Horror in den frühen 1980ern.
Ivo Ritzer:
Histoire(s) de la sexualité. Der Film-Regisseur Russ Meyer als Bild-Philosoph.
Jonas Engelmann:
»Lieber aufrecht sterben, als auf den Knien leben!« Battle In Heaven – Ein Film von Carlos Reygadas.
Simon Dickel:
Black Men Loving Black Men and other Revolutionary Acts. Positionen zu Begehren und Sexualität in schwarzer schwuler Kultur.
Hendrik Lakeberg:
»Vor 50 Jahren konnte man als Homosexueller in der arabischen Welt freier leben als im Westen.« Im Gespräch mit Joachim Helfer.
Birgit Binder:
Das binärgeschlechtliche System angreifen. Im Gespräch mit Lynn Breedlove.
Annika Nickenig:
Ein Raum, der nicht für uns gedacht ist. Virginie Despentes und die ›selbst verschuldete Vergewaltigung‹.
Franziska Meifert:
Pornologie. Liebe, Lust, Laster. Eine Bücherschau.
Frank Apunkt Schneider:
monochroms bewährtes Rezept zur Herstellung von »1 Einh. technol. Innovation«. Oder: Die Quintessentialisierung eines Quintessentialismus.
Rezensionen
www.ventil-verlag.de
|
2008 |
€14.50 |
|
|
# 12 : LINKE MYTHEN |
BOOK |
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Martin Büsser:
Vom Verfassungsfeind zum deutschen Aushängeschild. Ton Steine Scherben.
Frank Schuster:
You can count me out. Mit Rockmusikern ist keine Revolution zu machen.
Tobias Lindemann:
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. Black Power, Black Panthers, Black Pop.
Sebastian Schäfer:
Popmusik in der DDR. Eine Chronik.
Linke Verlage in Deutschland. Eine Gesprächsrunde.
Christian Hißnauer:
Nach der Gewalt: Linker Mythos RAF – linker Mythos BRD. Terrorismus im deutschen Film
Miriam Spies / Johannes Ullmaier:
Jeden Tag woanders ... Interview mit Gerd Conradt.
Enno Stahl:
Literatur und Terror. RAF-Rezeption in Romanen der letzten 25 Jahre.
Dagmar Brunow / Luka Skywalker:
Zur Mythenbildung nicht geeignet. Im Gespräch mit Irmgard Möller.
Andreas Kragler / Tine Plesch:
Do You Dig It? Ein Interview mit Michaela Melián und Thomas Meinecke.
Jochen Bonz:
Die Funktion des Signifikanten. Über eine Ausstellung von Michaela Melián.
Annibale Picicci:
Industrial zwischen Tradition, Konfrontation und Affirmation linker und rechter Mythologie.
Jens Petz Kastner:
No Woman, No Cry. Der Mythos von Reggae als schwarzer Kultur der Befreiung.
Olaf Karnik:
Dem Gone, Dub & Delay. Wie spricht Reggae in Deutschland?
Julian Weber:
Das große 80er Revival. Ein Zeitalter wird besichtigt.
Andreas Rauscher:
Never Mind The Situationists – The Filth And The Fury. The Sex Pistols und The Clash im Film.
Oliver Uschmann:
Bad Religion und die Dialektik der Aufklärung.
Tobias Stalling:
Nach Punk in die Disco. Von der Pop Group zu Radio 4.
Martin Büsser:
Bildet Netzwerke! Antifolk – zurück zum Do-It-Yourself.
Christina Nemec:
Und sie tanzen immer noch. »Wir gehen bis Ihr geht« – Versprechen eingelöst – doch was jetzt?
Hans Plesch:
Hanns Eisler. Zerstrümmerung und Anverwandlung.
Nicolai Dierks:
Jenseits von Autonomieästhetik oder Politisierung der Kunst?
Essay zur kompositorischen (Post-) Avantgarde der 60er und 70er Jahre.
Joachim Ody:
Linke Perspektiven in der Avantgarde der 60er und 70er Jahre.
Felix Klopotek:
»Every Noise Has A Note.« Neue Musik und Linksradikalismus.
Roger Behrens:
»Komm mit ins Abenteuerland ...«. Pop als Mythos.
Johannes Ullmaier:
Zur potentiellen Differenzierung von ›linkem Mythos‹ und ›Mythos der Linken‹.
Andreas Kragler:
Das Problem der Linken mit der Ästhetik oder Der ewige Streit um Form & Inhalt.
Fabian Kettner:
Ein erledigter Fall. Zum Tode von Eckhard Henscheid.
Franziska Meifert:
Aktion. Re-Aktion. Konzeptuelle Mythen am und im Wiener Aktionismus.
Tine Plesch:
Freies Radio als linker Mythos? Interview mit Andreas Stuhlmann.
Jan Deck:
Der »Mythos Globalisierung« und die Linke.
Marcus Stiglegger:
Abschied vom »Mythos Amerika«. Die filmischen Elegien des »letzten Linken« in Hollywood.
Johannes Ullmaier:
Der Linksomat
Rezensionen (Tonträger/Bücher)
www.ventil-verlag.de |
2003 |
€14.50 |
|
|
# 11 : HUMOR |
BOOK |
HUMOR in der Kulturindustrie – im Spannungsfeld zwischen der „Festigung der bestehenden Verhältnisse“ und dem „Humor als Subversion, als strategische Destabilisierung herrschender Verhältnisse oder als Grundwerte zerschmetternder, deren Falschheit nach außen kehrender . Mit Beiträgen u.a. zu „Witz in der Kulturindustrie“, Naiv-Pop von JAD FAIR bis MOLDY PEACHES, KLF, GOLDENE ZITRONEN, HELGE SCHNEIDER, FRAUEN UND HUMOR in der Popmusik, EMOCORE, HARALD SACK ZIEGLER, ASMUS TIETCHENS, LAURIE ANDERSON, Reviews, Buchtips, etc etc.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
»Alles geht kaputt und ich lach, ha, ha, ha!«
Roger Behrens über die Entstehung des Humors in der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft und den Witz in der Kulturindustrie
Sie sind so niedlich. Sind sie?
Martin Büsser über die Naiv-Pop-Tradition von Jad Fair bis zu den Moldy Peaches. Mit einem Abstecher zu Eugene Chadbourne, John Zorn und »Radical Jewish Music«
Is this what The KLF is about?
Ina Beyer verfolgt die Irrwege der eigenartigsten Band dieses Planeten
Was ist Humor?
Knarf Rellöm spricht sich für die Humor-Strategie der Goldenen Zitronen aus
Helge Schneider für Kinder
Frank Apunkt Schneider erklärt, warum Helge Schneider und die Postmoderne untrennbar zusammengehören
Frauen? Humor? Popmusik?
Tine Plesch mit einer großen Materialsammlung von Liliput bis Princess Superstar
smashing the omniverse with a smile
Evi Herzing zeigt anhand von Chris Bickel und dessen Band Guyana Punch Line, daß »Emocore« nicht immer ernst und betroffen sein muß
Harald »Sack« Ziegler
Christian Keßlers Hommage an den Kölner Ausnahmemusiker und Minimalpoeten
Spaßgeselle in der Ernstgesellschaft
Hans-Jürgen Lenhart portraitiert Asmus Tietchens als einen der wenigen humorvollen Musiker im Industrial/Geräusch-Kontext
Engel in der Arena-Gesellschaft
Peter Kempers Interview mit Laurie Anderson
Verträumt, berauscht und doch berechnet
Martin Büsser über él Records, Pop-Charme und britischen Witz
Das Ding mit Ming
Conny Lösch stellt den Künstler, Musiker und Poeten Sexton Ming vor
Killer Traktor
Sexton Ming in his own words
One and One is
Stephanie Bunk über den Unterschied zwischen Disco und »Spaßgesellschaft«
Lauwarm geduscht
Humor in Fanzines? Gibt es das noch? Oliver Uschmann hat nachgesehen
Humor ist, wenn man nicht trotzdem lacht, sondern gerade darum
Luka Skywalker über die Verarbeitung des 11. Septembers in Witzen
»Ulkiger Erzählonkel« – gereift & altersweise?
Enno Stahls Thomas-Kapielski-Portrait
We are queer, we are here and we gonna have a look on jokes
Therese Roth über Strategien von Queer Humor
Watch British: Angloasiatischer Kanak Chic erobert den Mainstream
Dagmar Brunow über die BBC-Comedy-Serie Goodness Gracious Me
Stand Up!
Michael Gruteser zur Lage der Stand Up-Comedy
Generation X'd
Andreas Rauscher über die Filme von Kevin Smith
does humor belong into art?
Tine Plesch im Gespräch mit Andreas Kragler über Humor in der zeitgenössischen Kunst
Zu Hause und im Wald
Annette Emde zum photographischen Werk von Anna und Bernhard Johannes Blume
Die Geburt der Postmoderne aus dem Geist der Polemik
Christian Welzbacher zum fragilen Verhältnis zwischen »Pop«-Architektur und Humor
Wenn man trotzdem ...
Franziska Meifert mit einer großen Bücherschau über Humor in Praxis und Theorie
Rezensionen (Tonträger/Bücher)
www.testcard.de
|
2002 |
€10.00 |
|
|
#18 : REGRESS |
BOOK |
" »testcard« reagiert auf den reaktionären Wandel unserer Gesellschaft – polemisch, analytisch, kämpferisch, aber nicht resigniert.
1968 ist dieses Jahr in aller Munde. Aber wie steht es mit unserer gegenwärtigen Gesellschaft? Nahezu alle im Zuge von 1968 erkämpften Errungenschaften werden derzeit wieder schrittweise abgeschafft. »testcard« #18 wirft einen kritischen Blick auf den reaktionären Backlash, den die westlichen Gesellschaften in den letzten Jahren erfahren haben. Dies betrifft die Renaissance von Religionen aller Art, spirituelle und irrationale Lebensmodelle, die erstarkte Bedeutung der Kleinfamilie und von traditionellen Geschlechterrollen, Neoromantik und Eskapismus in der Kunst und Musik und den Abbau von Bürgerrechten.
Die neue Stimme der Reaktion kommt jedoch nicht einfach nur »von oben«. Phänomene wie flächendeckende Kameraüberwachung werden von einem Großteil der Bürger begrüßt oder sogar ausdrücklich gefordert. Filme wie »Keinohrhasen« oder Bücher über spirituelle Erlebnisse auf dem Jakobsweg feiern deshalb so große Erfolge, weil sie den regressiven Nerv der Zeit treffen. Doch wie konnte es zu einem solchen Mentalitätswandel kommen? Warum gehen Prekariat und zunehmende Entrechtung nicht mit Protesten einher, sondern mit der Flucht in Denk- und Lebensmodelle, die den Anschein erwecken, es habe das Projekt Aufklärung nie gegeben?
»testcard« #18 vermeidet einseitige Schuldzuweisungen und versammelt erstmals in einer Anthologie kritische Analysen zu einem Rückschritt, der alle gesellschaftliche Bereiche erfasst hat.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Dietmar Dath:
Das große Abschaffen.
Anne Roth:
Dringend tatverdächtig. Die Verhaftung des Soziologen Andrej Holm.
Ron Steinke:
Genug gekuschelt. In der Debatte um »Erziehung« werden andere Saiten aufgezogen.
Enno Stahl:
This is the end of the world as we know it. And I feel bad ... Der Faktor Arbeit – stirbt aus ...
Thomas Waitz:
Der große Gesundheits-Check. Die Dicken, die Armen und das Fernsehen.
Jens Thomas:
Machs Dir selbst. Do it yourself. Über den Wandel eines Begriffs.
Johannes Ullmaier:
Basiswissen Regression.
Nicolas Dierks:
Mitwohnzentrale für Weltbilder.
Sascha Seiler:
Believing the Western Canon. Kanonbildung in der Popmusik.
Wolfgang Seidel:
Zukunftsmusik. Wie das Zukunftsversprechen des Pop vom Rückschritt abgelöst wurde.
Didi Neidhart:
Kein Pop ist auch keine Lösung.
Klaus Walter:
New Musical Apartheid.
Matthias Rauch:
Die Notwendigkeit der Subversion. Die Analyse des global Populären in den Cultural Studies.
Martin Büsser:
Zu zart für diese Welt. Woher kommt der Hass auf Emos?
Chris Wilpert
Gustav. »Wie fühlst du dich als Mann auf der Bühne?«
Holger Adam:
Der Ruf der Sirenen. Zur (regressiven) Rezeption der »Folk-Elfe«.
Ellen Wesemüller
Das IKEA aller Festivals? Feminismus und Subversion in der Ladyfestbewegung.
Jörg Nowak:
»Feminismus der Besserverdienenden und Familie fürs Volk«
Torsten Nagel:
Her mit der schönen (Sozio)Kultur?
Gabriel Kuhn:
»Rewilding« or »Regressing«? Zum US-amerikanischen (Anarcho-)Primitivismus
Dieter Bott:
Der Fan als idealer Staatsbürger.
Stephan Loichinger:
Partnervermittlerin Claudia Püschel-Knies.
Jan Gerstner:
Ein unverzichtbares Land. Der deutsche Familienroman und die Nation.
Atlanta Athens:
Sich Raum nehmen, solange die anderen lächeln?
Andreas Rauscher:
Indiestream. Der amerikanische Independent-Film zwischen Nische und Backlash.
Kimiko Leibnitz:
Der reaktionäre Kern von I Am Legend.
Christian Hißnauer:
Von der Entmythologisie-rung zum neuen Mythos. Die Entpolitisierung der RAF im medialen Diskurs.
Martin Büsser.
Im Beichtstuhl des Grauens. Der Filmemacher Wenzel Storch.
Benedikt Frank:
Ausgetauschte Tonspur. Das heute ungenutzte Potenzial der filmischen Montage und Zweckentfremdung.
Ivo Ritzer:
Nicht versöhnt. Der Regisseur John Milius – ein progressiver Reaktionär?
Frank Apunkt Schneider:
Warum früher nicht alles besser gewesen sein darf. Zur Krise des poptheoretischen Gegenwarts-Dogmas.
Franziska Meifert:
Störenfriede – Strategien gegen die Regression. Eine Bücherschau.
Ewgeniy Kasakow:
Jegor Letow (1964–2008). Nachruf auf eine umstrittene Schlüsselfigur des russischen Undergrounds."
www.testcard.de
|
2009 |
€14.50 |
|
|
#23: TRANSZENDENZ - Ausweg, Fluchtweg, Holzweg? |
BOOK |
In der avancierten Popkritik genießt Transzendenz keinen guten Ruf. Im frühen Punk wurde ein explizites Transzendenzverbot ausgerufen; das bewegungslinke Lager denunzierte das »Ausklinken« als konterrevolutionär oder verklärte es im Reggae zum »antiimperialistischen Befreiungskampf«.
Als der moderne Pop in den 1950ern entstand, war er das Immanenteste überhaupt geschaffen für das reine Diesseits. Das Jenseits, die Transzendenz, tauchte lediglich ironisch gebrochen, als Diskurs zweiter Ordnung auf. Erst ab den 1960ern lassen sich explizite Transzendenz-Momente im Popkosmos finden. Und gleichzeitig wurde Kritik laut: Was ins Jenseits ausgreift, ist entweder kein Pop oder schlechter Pop. Doch Pop störte sich nicht daran, brachte das Transzendente als Leerstelle zum Schwingen und füllte diese mit Schlagworten aus dem Fundus von Esoterik, Raumfahrt und Psychedelic.
Kurz darauf wurde das Transzendente offensichtlich gemacht. Christlicher Rock und der islamisierte Cat Stevens wollten den Pop missionieren, Heavy Metal verklärte ein negatives Christentum. Und im Krautrock, im Jazz und in der experimentellen Musik diente ein Spiritualitätsgestus stets der Abgrenzung zu den Niederungen der Popkultur. In den 1990ern wurde die Transzendenz dann rehabilitiert, zumindest solange sie nicht mit säkular-moralischen Normen in Konflikt geriet. Dem Jenseits brachte man dieselbe diffuse Toleranz entgegen, wie den meisten anderen Pop-Phänomenen auch.
Heute bedienen Neo-Drone und Neo-Psych ein bestimmtes Marktsegment unter vielen gleichwertigen. Und damit macht sich Sprachlosigkeit breit. Wie reden wir über spiritistischen Neo-Folk oder Hauntology, wenn die politisch inspirierten Kategorien der Vergangenheit ebenso wenig greifen wollen wie diejenigen der Weltflucht? Und was genau ist das Transzendente an der gegenwärtigen Entgrenzung der Stile?
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Johannes Ullmaier:
Worüber man nicht reden kann, darüber. Transzendenz und ihre Rolle in Musik und Popkultur
Roger Behrens:
Der Geist der Utopie
Thomas Hübener:
Notizen zur Transzendenz im Säkularpop
Martin Niederauer:
»If you find earth boring …«. Spiritualität und Religiosität im Jazz und die Interpretationen des Unbestimmten
Holger Adam:
Spirituelle Neuorientierung jenseits von Krautrock und Neuer Musik. Peter Michael Hamels Musik der 1970er-Jahre
Volker Zander:
Moondogs Oberton-Kontinuum
Wolfgang Brauneis:
»Ich lebe in meinem eigenen Königreich«. Zu Michael Buthes Kunst der 1970er-Jahre
Tim Stüttgen:
Sun Ra: Kosmischer Noise. Eine quare Lesart von Sun Ras musika-lischer und performativer Praxis im Schatten der Sklaverei-Geschichte
?Move On Up. Die große Transzendenz-Diskografie
Frank Apunkt Schneider / Didi Neidhart:
Discotranszendenz & Distant Thunder … Transpirationen am Tag danach
Franziska Meifert:
Turn on, tune in, drop out! LSD, Musik, Transzendenz
Alexander Nym:
Vom Pilzkult zur Popkultur. Entheogene im Dienst des kulturellen Wandels
Michael Horowitz:
Tickets zur Transzendenz
Sascha Hommer / Martina Lenzin:
Parolen aus der Stadt. Abenteuer eines Wolfes. Episode zwei
Christian Werthschulte:
»Wir leben in einer Nicht-Zeit«. Ein Gespräch mit Mark Fisher über die Geister der Zukunft
David Schwertgen:
Was soll denn eigentlich verschwunden sein? Vaporwave und die Leere hinter der Oberfläche
Raphael Smarzoch:
Schwellenakustik. Liminale Klanglandschaften in und jenseits von Pascal Laugiers Martyrs
Flora Könemann:
Text, Ton, Stimme, Frequenz. Transzendenz? Das (un-)stimmige der (eigenen) Stimme
Hendrik Otremba:
Tobias Gruben und die Wahrheit. Zur Erinnerung an einen fast Vergessenen
Wolfgang Buechs / Jonas Engelmann / Jens Meisenheimer: Jurpolp From an Unknown Planet. Sun Ra antwortet
Marius Henderson:
Soft Berry Metal. Eine »häretische« Annäherung an Black Metal Theory
Gerald Fiebig:
(Verheißungs-?)Volle Dröhnung. Dronemusik und spätmoderne Zeiterfahrung
Peter Scheiffele:
Vodou. Eine politisch-religiöse Praxis zwischen Revolution und Überlebenskampf
Sandro Holzheimer:
Yeah Science!? Die Transzendenz des neuen Atheismus
Jasper Nicolaisen:
Wir sind hier nicht in Wittenberg, Martin … 95 Thesen zur Möglichkeit einer emanzipatorischen Religion
Rezensionen Tonträger
A. K. KLOSOWSKI & PYROLATOR: Home-Taping Is Killing Music
AARON DILLOWAY: Siena
AARON MOORE & THIERRY MUELLER: Today Is Yesterday’s Tomorrow
ALAHUTA: First Connexion
ANDREAS DORAU: Ärger mit der Unsterblichkeit / Demokratie
ANDY STOTT: Luxury Probelms
ANIKA: EP
ANNE-JAMES CHATON / ANDY MOOR: Transfer
ASHLEY PAUL: Line The Clouds
ASH WEDNESDAY: Love And Other Numbers
BEAK>: Beak>> / Beak>> Bonustracks / 0898/Welcome To The Machine
BORIS HEGENBART & 19 ARTISTS: Instrumentarium
BRENDA RAY: D’Ya Hear Me: Naffi Years 1979–83
BROADCAST: Berberian Sound Studio
BRR: s/t Buch
BUDHADITYA CHATTOPADHYAY: Eye Contact With The City
BUKE AND GASE: General Dome
CANDELILLA: Heart Mutter
CHAD VANGAALEN & XIU XIU: The Green Corridor II
CHARLATAN: Isolatarium
CHARLATAN MEETS THE NORTH SEA: Emerald Eyes
CHICALOYOH: Thébaïde Des Pierres Bleues / In My Garden Shed/Vol. 2 / Les Fantômes Sortent Des Racines
CHRISTINE SUN KIM / WOLFGANG MÜLLER: Panning Fanning
CHUZPE: 1000 Takte Tanz
CLASSLESS KULLA & ISTARI LASTERFAHRER: Auf & Zustände
COLIN STETSON: New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light
CONRAD SCHNITZLER: rot / blau / Consequenz / CON 3
CROCODILES: Endless Flowers
DAGOBERT: Dagobert
DAVID FENECH: Grand Huit
DAVID ROTHENBERG: Bug Music
DEMDIKE STARE: Testpressing #1 und #2
DER PLAN:: Die letzte Rache
DER PLAN: Geri Reig / Normalette Surprise / Die Letzte Rache / JaPlan
DIE NERVEN: Fluidum
DIE TÖDLICHE DORIS: Losspielen
DIVERSE: Noise of Cologne 2
DOLDRUMS: Lesser Evil
DRACULA LEWIS: Permafrost EP
DROPOUT PATROL: s/t
EKKEHARD EHLERS: Adikia
EMIL RICHARDS: Stones – Journey to Bliss
ENSEMBLE PEARL: S/T
FIELD ROTATION: Fatalist: The Repetition Of History
FREIBURG: Aufbruch
GEOFF BARROW/BEN SALISBURY: Drokk: Music Inspired By Mega-City One
GHOST TIME: Ghost Time
GIANNI GUIBLENA ROSACROCE: La Piramide Di Sangue / La Mia Africa
GRAFZAHL: Der Rückzug ins Private
GRAVETEMPLE: Ambient/Ruin
GROUPER: Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill / The Man Who Died In His Boat
HAFTBEFEHL: Blockplatin
HANS W. KOCH / THOMAS LEHN / BEN PATTERSON / JOSEF CSERES: Requiem For A Baby Grand. Final Piano Music For 8 Hands And Tools
HECKER: Chimerization (english) / Chimerization (farsi) / Chimerization (deutsch)
HOTEL MORPHILA ORCHESTER: Schwarze Energie
IANNIS XENAKIS: GRM Works 1957–1962
IGOR WAKHÉVITCH: Logos / Hathor / Docteur Faust / Nagual / Les Fous d’Or / Let’s Start
ILLUSION OF SAFETY: Sweet Dreams
JACK DICE: Block Motel
JENNIFER VEILLEROBE: Luftlöcher
JESSIKA KENNEY & EYVIND KANG: The Face Of The Earth
JE SUIS LE PETIT CHEVALIER: An Age Of Wonder
JOHN FAHEY: Voice Of The Turtle / Transcendental Waterfall: Guitar Excursions 1962–1967
JOHN ZORN / MOONCHILD TRIO: Templars – In Sarcred Blood
JUKEBOX MAMBO: Rumba And Afro-Latin Accendet Rhythm & Blues 1949–1960
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE: The 20/20 Experience
KETTCAR: Zwischen den Runden
KIASMOS: Throwna EP
KIKO C. ESSEIVA: Drôles d’oiseaux
KLUSTER: Klusterstraße 69–72
KOFELGSCHROA: Kofelgschroa
KOMMANDO SONNE-NMILCH: You Pay I Fuck
KUUPUU: Sous Juju / Sisar
LAURIE SPIEGEL: The Expanding Universe
LORD HURON: Lonesome Dreams
LORD TANG: Lord Tang
LUBOMYR MELNYK: Corollaries
LUNAR ABYSS DEUS ORGANUM: Atanimonni Aitnatsbus
MARCUS WIEBUSCH: Hinfort ! Feindliche Macht
MARK LORENZ KYSELA: Eins+
MATS GUSTAFSSON / PAAL NILSSEN: Love / I Love It When You Snore
MATT CARLSON: All Moments
MICHAEL PRICE: A Stillness
MILES: Faint Harted
MODERN PETS: Excessive/Organic Kidneys
MOON DUO: Circles
MUTTER: 25
MV&EE: Fuzzweed / Zebulon Residency
NATHAN BOWLES: A Bottle, A Buckeye
NEIL ARDLEY: A Symphony of Amaranths
NILS FRAHM: Screws
NILS WOGRAM / SIMON NABATOV: Moodes And Modes
NORBERT MÖSLANG: Indoor_Outdoor / The Sound of Insects
ONEIROGEN: Kiasma
ORBIT THE EARTH: Aphelion
OTIS G. JOHNSON: Everything – God Is Love 78
P16.D4: Passagen (6CD+)
PALAIS SCHAUMBURG: Palais Schaumburg
PELT: Effigy
PETER BRODERICK: These Walls Of Mine
PETRELS: Onkalo
PRSZR: Equilibrium
PTTRNS: Body Pressure
PYROLATOR: Inland / Ausland / Pyrolator’s Wunderland / Pyrolator’s Traumland / Neuland
RACHUT/LANDSCHIER: Blinder Mond
RAINER VEIL: Struck
RED MATH: Obsolete Systems
ROBBIE BASHO: Seal Of The Blue Lotus
RUTH FEAT. MUSHY: Far From Paradise
SAFFRONKEIRA: Tourette
SCHORSCH KAMERUN: Der Mensch lässt nach
SELVHENTER: Fricka B. Fricka / s/t
SLEAFORD MODS: Austerity Dogs
SPRINGINTGUT: Where We Need No Map
STEPHEN MALKMUS AND FRIENDS: Can’s Ege Bamyasi
SUN PAPA & THE FAN CLUB ORCHESTRA: An Insane Portrait
SUUM CUIQUE: Ascetic Ideals
SUZANNE CIANI: Seven Waves / Lixiviation Ciani/Musica Inc. 1969–1985 / Voices of Packaged Souls
SWEET VALLEY: Stay Calm / Eternal Champ / Jenova
THE BLACK TWIG PICKERS: Rough Carpenters
THE COSMIC JOKERS: The Cosmic Jokers
THE EX & BRASS UNBOUND: Enormous Door
THE NORTH SEA: Grandeur & Weakness
THE PETER BRÖTZMANN CHICAGO TENTET: Concert For Fukushima, Wels 2011
THE SCHWARZENBACH: Farnschiffe
THE SOUND OF GERI REIG. Düsseldorf – San José 1979. The Original Tapes
UN-KOMMUNITI: Black Dwarf Wreckordings 83–85
URBAN HOMES: Centres
V. A.: Personal Space – Electronic Soul 1974–1984
VARIOUS: Drone-Mind // Mind-Drone Vol. 2
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Your Victorian Breasts
VATICAN SHADOW: Ornamented Walls
VIRGIL MOOREFIELD: No Business As Usual / Five Ideas About the Relation of Sight and Sound
VLADISLAV DELAY: Kuopio / Espoo
WEISSER WESTEN: Weisser Westen
WILLIAM SHELLER: Lux Aeterna
WOLD: Freemasonry
WOLF EYES: No Answer: Lower Floors
XUL ZOLAR: Eternal Love/Goa Bay / Hex
YOSHI WADA: Earth Horns With Electronic Drone / Singing In Unison / Off The Wall / The Appointed Cloud / Lament For The Rise And Fall Of The Elephantine Crocodile
ZS: Score / Grain
Rezensionen Papier
DIDI NEIDHARDT / HANS PLATZGUMER: Musik ist Müll
HEINRICH DEISL: Im Puls der Nacht. Sub- und Populärkultur in Wien 1955–1976
KARL MEYERBEER / PASCAL SPÄTH: Topf & Söhne – Besetzung auf einem Täterort
CHRISTOPH WAGNER: Der Klang der Revolte
TIMME ROSENKRANTZ / FRADLEY HAMILTON GARNER: Harlem Jazz Adventures. A European Baron’s Memoir, 1934–1969
DEREK ANSELL: Sugar Free Saxophone. The Life and Music of Jackie McLean
MARKUS HEIDINGSFELDER: System Pop
PAULA-IRENE VILLA / JULIA JÄCKEL / ZARA S. PFEIFFER U. A. (HG.): Banale Kämpfe? Perspektiven auf Populärkultur und Geschlecht
JAMES KENNAWAY: Bad Vibrations. The History of the Idea of Music as a Cause of Disease
JENNIFER SHRYANE: Blixa Bargeld and Einstürzende Neubauten: German Experimental Music ›Evading do-re-mi‹
NIKOLAOS KOTSOPOULOS (Hg.): Krautrock. Cosmic Rock and its Legacy
HUNTER HUNT-HENDRIX / NICK RICHARDSON / BRANDON STOSUY: Black Metal. Beyond the Darkness
THERESA BEYER / THOMAS BURKHALTER (HG.): Out of the Absurdity of Life. Globale Musik
CORNELIUS VON JACKHELLN (Hg.): GewaltKunstWerk
STAN HAWKINS (Hg.): Pop Music And Easy Listening
ANTONIO GRAMSCI: Literatur und Kultur
DIETMAR DATH / BARBARA KIRCHNER: Der Implex. Sozialer Fortschritt: Geschichte und Idee
SONJA EISMANN (Hg.): Absolute Fashion
DIRK BRAUNSTEIN / SEBASTIAN DITTMANN / ISABELLE KLASEN (HG.): Alles Falsch. Auf verlorenem Posten gegen die Kulturindustrie
URSULA MARKUS / TANJA POLLI: Das Geschlecht der Seele. Transmenschen erzählen
ALEXANDER KARSCHNIA/MICHAEL WEHREN (Hg.): Kommando Johann Fatzer (Ringlokschuppen. Mülheimer Fatzerbücher 1)
CORNELIA VISMANN: Das Schöne am Recht
NIKLAS LUHMANN: Macht im System
WERNER FULD: Das Buch der verbotenen Bücher
DAVE MONROE (Hg.): Philosophie für Verdorbene – Essays über Pornografie
SVEN LEWANDOWSKI: Die Pornographie der Gesellschaft
CHRISTIAN KESSLER: Die läufige Leinwand – Der amerikanische Hardcorefilm 1970–1985
STEFAN SCHELER: Cumshots – Höhepunkte der deutschen Pornofilme 1 + 2
STEFANIE VOIGT / MARKUS KÖHLERSCHMIDT: Die philosophische Wollust – Sinnliches von Sokrates bis Sloterdijk
MYRON HURNA: Späte Gegenwart. Zur Historisierung des Holocaust
ALEXANDER KLUGE: »Wer ein Wort des Trostes spricht, ist ein Verräter«. 48 Geschichten für Fritz Bauer
ANNIKA SCHEFFEL: Bevor alles verschwindet
SARAH DIEHL: Eskimo Limon 9
VLADIMIR JABOTINSKY: Die Fünf
SARA STRIDSBERG: Darling River: Doloresvariationen
JOSEF WINKLER: Wortschatz der Nacht / Mutter und der Bleistift
BRIAN WOOD / MARK BROOKS / ROLAND BOSCHI: 100% Marvel 64: Wolverine und die X-Men. Alpha & Omega
WENZEL STORCH: Arno & Alice
ANKE FEUCHTENBERGER: Die Spaziergängerin
SOPHIA MARTINECK: Hühner, Porno, Schlägerei
MARC-ANTOINE MATHIEU: 3 Sekunden
TONTO (Hg.): Noise
SASCHA HOMMER (Hg.): Orang # 10: Heavy Metal
HENNING WAGENBRETH / R. L. STEVENSON: Der Pirat und der Apotheker
ATAK / MARK TWAIN: Der geheimnisvolle Fremde
CHRIS WARE: Jimmy Corrigan. Der klügste Junge der Welt
THOMAS VON STEINAECKER / H. J. BALMES u. a. (Hg.): Neue Rundschau: Comic – Form und Inhalt
KERI SMITH: Mach Mist!
MEL GOODING / JULIAN ROTHENSTEIN (Hg.): Psychospiele – Persönlichkeitstests, Spiele und Fragebögen
JÖRG VÖLLNAGEL: Alchemie – Die königliche Kunst
HARTMUT KRAFT (Hg.): Ecce BLALLA! Abstürze und Höhenflüge
PAULE HAMMER: Welt-Enzyklopädie
DIETMAR DATH / HEIKE AUMÜLLER: Verbotene Verbesserungen
CHRISTIANE ZU SALM (Hg.): Manifesto Collage
GISELA VETTER-LIEBENOW (Hg.): Karikatur & Zeichenkunst
TOBIAS G. NATTER / ELISABETH LEOPOLD / LEOPOLD MUSEUM (Hg.): Nackte Männer – Eine Entdeckungsreise
LENTOS KUNSTMUSEUM LINZ / LUDWIG MUSEUM (Hg.): Der nackte Mann
DOX PRAGUE (Hg.): Amor Psyche Aktion – Wien. Das Feminine im Wiener Aktionismus
MUSEUM MODERNER KUNST STIFTUNG LUDWIG WIEN (Hg.): Wiener Aktionismus – Kunst und Aufbruch im Wien der 1960er-Jahre
HANS-PETER WIPPLINGER (Hg.): Padhi Frieberger – Glanz und Elend der Moderne
HANNAH PILARCZYK (Hg.): Ich hatte die Zeit meines Lebens. Über den Film Dirty Dancing und seine Bedeutung
KONRAD KLEJSA/SCHAMMA SCHAHADAT/MARGARETE WACH (HG.): Der polnische Film. Von seinen Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart
CHRISTIAN SCHIFFER (Hg.): WASD – Texte über Games. Vol. 2 »Select System – Games und Politik«
GEORG SEESSLEN: Träumen Androiden von elektronischen Orgasmen? / Garten der Lüste / Future Sex in Queertopia (Sex-Fantasien in der Hightech-Welt I–III)
WOLFGANG MÜLLER / AN PANHUYSEN (Hg.): Gebärde, Zeichen, Kunst
WOLFGANG MÜLLER: Subkultur Westberlin 1979–1989. Freizeit
[Verlagsinfo]
www.ventil-verlag.de/katalog/testcard
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2013 |
€15.00 |
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#24: BUG REPORT. Digital war besser |
BOOK |
" »Wie würden Sie das Internet beschreiben?«
»Als die Hölle in bunt, mit Nullen und Einsen. Eine binäre bunte Hölle.«
– Bernd das Brot
Bei kaum einem Medium fallen Theorie und Praxis so wenig in eins wie bei Computern und dem Internet. Wir lesen Blogs, auf denen in einer Breite und Tiefe über nischenhafte Popmusik gesprochen wird, wie es im »goldenen Zeitalter« des Pop-Journalismus niemals möglich gewesen wäre. Wir halten unsere Plattensammlungen mit Datenbanken, die von ihren NutzerInnen gefüllt werden, auf dem neuesten Stand. Gleichzeitig steht uns ein Großteil der Musikgeschichte mit ein paar Suchanfragen zur Verfügung – womöglich illegal, auf jeden Fall aber kostengünstig. Auch die testcard-Redaktion selbst, die sich zwischen drei Großstädten und einer bayerischen Universitätsstadt aufteilt, wäre ohne das Netz kaum koordinierbar.
Trotzdem hört man gerade in sub- und gegenkulturellen Kreisen Klagen, die weit über die Kritik an der Datensammlung durch Regierungen, Geheimdienste und Medienkonzerne oder mickrigen Spotify-Einnahmen hinausgehen. Von »digitaler Erschöpfung« ist da die Rede oder von »kommunikativem Kapitalismus«, von einer Verschränkung von Liberalismus und Kybernetik, der Herrschaft der Algorithmen oder vom »fucking Internet«. Zeit für eine Bestandsaufnahme jenseits von kalifornischer Ideologie und »Disruption«, aber ausdrücklich nicht auf der Seite derjenigen, die mit aller Macht ihren Einfluss von den alten Medien in die neuen herüberretten wollen.
Vielleicht sprechen wir letztlich über ein altes Problem: Was ist die Basis, was der Überbau, wie verhalten sie sich zueinander? Das Sprechen über Digitalisierung und das Netz fällt uns vielleicht deshalb schwer, weil die Form von Technologie nicht ohne ihren polit-ökonomischen und sozialen Rahmen zu denken ist. Oder sind ein anderes Computing und ein anderes Netz möglich?
Aus dem Inhalt: Sounds der Digitalisierung >> Verschaltete Welt >> Kleine Genealogie des Computers >> Digitales ABC >> Zustand und Zukunft des Webcomics >> Digitale vs. analoge »Gegenwart« >> Nathan Jurgensons Webtheorien >> Mensch-Maschinen und Roboter >> Erzählen in der Digitalisierung >> Altern der digitalen Ästhetik >> Retrospieleboom >> Ungegenstand der Musikinformatik >> Let’s Player >> Indie-Computerspiele >> Ästhetik des Post-Digitalen >> ...
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Christian Werthschulte:
(right now, please). Warum die digitale Gegenwart irgendwie auch nicht besser als die analoge geworden ist
Roger Behrens:
Digital ABC
Roger Behrens:
Digitale Frist. Computer. Pop. (Beta-Version)
eve massacre:
Network of blood. Von »Augmented Reality« bis zum »Liquid Self«: Nathan Jurgensons Webtheorien
Waltraud Blischke:
Bugs, Big Data und die UnverNETZbaren. Ein Gespräch mit Peter Bittner, Stefan Hügel und Julia Stoll vom FIfF
Marco Schröder:
Eine Maschine für alle Maschinen. Kleine Genealogie des Computers mit Implikationen für seine Anwendung in Philosophie und Musik
Raphael Smarzoch:
Rumorende Algorithmen. Die Sounds der Digitalisierung
Flora Könemann & Chris W. Wilpert:
Part of your distortion. Effekte im Zeitalter ihrer Re-Auratisierung
Julian Rohrhuber:
Dienst nach Vorschrift. Über den Ungegenstand der Musikinformatik
Waltraud Blischke:
t-cardcomp. Die Musikliste zur ungeregelten Geschmacksynthese
Jonas Engelmann:
In Love With the Modern World. Ein virtueller Roundtable über Zustand und Zukunft des Webcomics hierzulande
Carl Wiemer:
Das schnelle Altern der digitalen Ästhetik. Samuel Beckett und der Zenit ?ästhetischer Modernität
David Schwertgen:
Der Autor im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reproduzierbarkeit
Johannes Ullmaier:
Human Trouble. Transhumane Anthropologie im Turing-Test
Hommer / Lenzin:
Parolen aus der Stadt. Abenteuer eines Wolfes. Episode 3
Bettina Wilpert:
Guided by Voices. Erzählen in der Digitalisierung
Waltraud Blischke:
»Wenn man damit Geld verdienen kann, muss das ja salonfähig sein.«
Ein Gespräch mit dem Let’s Player SgtRumpel
Philipp Eichhorn:
Technology in our hands. DIY als Totengräber des Fortschritts anhand des Retrospielebooms
Fiona Sara Schmidt:
Die Geschichte muss das Medium notwendig machen. Die Spieledesignerin Lea Schönfelder über Autorenspiele, Zensur und perfekte Posen
Benedikt Frank / Thomas Schröder:
Wo andere Urlaub machen. Arbeit im Spiel, Spiele als Arbeit
Rezensionen Tonträger:
20.SV: The Great Sonic Wave
ADDISON GROOVE: Turn Up The Silence
ALOA: s/t
ALTE SAU: s/t
ALVARIUS B: Chin Spirits
AMANDA FEERY: Spells From The Ice Age
AME ZEK: Rostfrei
AMON DÜÜL II: Düülirium
ANDROMERDA MEGA EXPRESS ORCHESTRA: Live on Planet Earth
ASTRAL SOCIAL CLUB: Medow Mechanicals
BANANA PILL: Weave
BANKS: GODDESS
BART DE PAEPE: Rhode
BEYONCÉ KNOWLES: s/t
BILL ORCUTT: Daddy’s Got A Spice Rack
BILL ORCUTT: Fantomas ? Le Faux Magistrat
BIRD PEOPLE: King Of the Grove / Nightshades
BOHREN UND DER CLUB OF GORE: Piano Nights
BRIDGET HAYDEN: Just Ideas/The Night’s Veins
BUCK GOOTER: Molescules
BULBUL: Hirn Fein Hacken
CATHY LANE: The Hebrides Suite
CHRIS PETIT: The Museum of Loneliness
CHRISTINA KUBISCH UND ECKEHARD GÜTER: Mosaïque Mosaic
CICADA DREAM BAND: Bug Music
CRASH COURSE IN SCIENCE: Signals from the Pier Thirteen
DANIEL BACHMANN: Orange Co. Serenade
DANIEL BLINKHORN:Terra Subfónica
DAS WEISSE PFERD: Inland Empire
DATASHOCK: Keine Oase in Sicht
DEUTSCHE TRINKERJUGEND: Scheissegal
DIE HEITERKEIT: Monterey
DIE PARTEI La Freiheit des Geistes
DIVIL A’ BIT: In Deference To The Squeamish
DJ RASHAD: Rollin’ EP / Double Cup / We On 1
DJ SARDENA: The Voice: Studio Sardena
DJ SLUGO: King Of Ghetto House
DSR LINES: Spoel
EEK: Live At The Cairo High Cinema Institute
EIKO ISHIBASHI: Imitation Of Live
EMBRYO: Message From Era Ora
FENNESZ: Bécs
FENSTER: The Pink Caves
FILIPE FELIZARDO: Volume II ? Sede e Morte ? Guitar Variations For The Thirsty And The Dead
FKA TWIGS: LP1
GONZÁLEZ & STEENKISTE: Dimly Lit
GÜNTER SCHLIENZ: Contemplation
HAILU MERGIA: Shemonmuanaye
HALSABSCHNEIDER: Havelmusik 1982?1984
HEIN SCHOERS: The Sounding Museum: Box Of Treasures
HELEN: Witch/Zanzibar
HELLVETE: Ode
HONIGRITTER: Kellergeister in unserem Haus
IF, BWANA: Live at the Logos Tetrahedon
INEZ LIGHTFOOT: Sleep By Day / Fly By Night
ISLAJA: S U U
JA, PANIK: Libertatia
JAMMIN GERALD: Factory Funk
JASON LESCALLEET: Much To My Demise
JEFF & JANE HUDSON: Flesh
JIM O’ ROURKE / PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE / LASSE MARHAUG: The Love Robots
JIM O’ ROURKE: Old News / No.?9 / No.?5 / No.?7 / No.?6 / No.?8 / FIRE! WITH JIM
JOSHUA BURKETT: Xavier’s Birds
JUMPING BACK SLASH: Namhlanje EP
KELIS: Food
KEMIALLISET YSTÄVÄT: Alas Rattoisaa Virtaa
KILLERLADY: s/t
KK NULL + THE NOISER: s/t
KLINISCH SAUBER: Kommerz Krieg Mond!
KREIDLER: ABC
KREISKY: Blick auf die Alpen
KRISSI B: The Duke
LANA DEL REY: Ultraviolence
LASSE-MARC RIEKS: Helgoland
LAU NAU: Valohiukkanen
LEAST CARPET: Back Alley
LIEVEN MARTENS MOANA: Os Canais
LILY ALLEN: Sheezus
LIMPE FUCHS / VIZ MICHAEL KREMITZ: Kugel Haus Musik
LOS MICROWAVES: Life After Breakfast
LOUIS SARNO: Song From The Forest
LOVE A / KOETER: Split
LUKE FOWLER: Fowl Tapes II
MAMMANE SANI: La Musique Électronique Du Niger / Mammane Sani And The Workstation / Taaritt
MANY ARMS: Suspended Definiton
MARCELLUS PITTMAN: Do You Like Music EP / 1044 Coplin
MARION, FRANZISKA UND ARNULF MEIFERT: Incredible Familiar Music / Absolute Relative Music
MARK PRITCHARD: You Don’t Know Me
MARY OCHER: Eden
MERZOURGA: 52°46’ North 13°29’ East. Music For Waxcylinders
METABOLISMUS: Sus
MOUSE ON MARS: Spezmodia EP
MURENA MURENA: Ghoaster Coaster
MUTTER: Text und Musik
MY BLOODY VALENTINE: mbv
NOXAGT: Brutage / Collection 1
O’ ROURKE / Steamroom
OLIMPIA SPLENDID: Nuttu Nurin
ORACLES: Stanford Torus EP
OREN AMBARCHI, KEIJI HAINO & JIM O’ ROURKE: Imikuzushi / Now While It’s Still Warm Let Us Pour In All The Mystery
ORPHAN FAIRYTALE: My Favourite Fairytale
PANABRITE: Wasteland Cycle
PARRIS MITCHELL: Project EP
PART WILD HORSES MANE ON BOTH SIDES: Aulos’ Second Reed
PASCAL NICHOLS: Nihilist Chakai House
PATRICK COWLEY: School Daze
PETER MICHAEL HAMEL / THOMAS GUNDERMANN: Coincidence
PETER MICHAEL HAMEL:Voice Of Silence
PHARRELL WILLIAMS: G I R L
RAMBLING BOYS: True To Blue
RASHAD BECKER: Traditionel Music of National Species Vol. 1
RAUM: Event Of Your Leaving
RAZEN: Reed Bombus LFO
RODOLPHE ALEXIS: Morne Diablotins
RP BOO: Legacy
RUARI O’ BAOIGHILL: The Faceless One
RYLEY WALKER: All Kinds Of You
SCHREIN: Einszweinschrein
SIR RICHARD BISHOP: Solo Acoustic Vol. 8
STAER: Daughters
STEVE GUNN / MIKE COOPER: Cantons de Lisboa / Way Out Weather
STOSSTRUPP REVIVAL DUETT: s/t
SUN RA: Mix-Tape
SUNROOF!: Rock Power
SWANS: To Be Kind
TENSES: Howard
THE SPACE LADY: The Space Lady’s Greatest Hits / »Major Tom«/»Radar Love« / Recorded Live in San Francisco / Songs in the Key of Z. Vol. 2
THE YOUNG MOTHERS: A Mothers Work Is Never Done
THEO PARRISH: Footwork / American Intelligence / Theo Parrish’s Black Signature
TOM WU: s/t
TRAXMAN: Da Mind Of Traxman / Da Mind Of Traxman 2 / Westside Boogie Traxy Vol. 3
TREK WITH QUINTRONIC: Landing Plus
VALERIO TRICOLI: Miseri Lares
VAPOUR THEORIES: Split-LP
VENN RAIN: Crepuscular Raze
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Keine Bewegung!
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Pulsating Strings: A Collection of Psychedelic Asian Guitar Music
VARIOUS ARTISTS: 10 Year Anniversary Hybrid Vinyl Series
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Cassette Van Antwerpen
VARIOUS ARTISTS: La Psicotropia
VILLAGE OF SPACES: Gathering
WESTBAM: Götterstrasse
WILLIAM ONYEABOR: Who Is William Onyeabor?
WILLIAM TYLER: Impossible Truth
WOOG RIOTS: From Lo-Fi to Disco
ZEA: The Swimming City
Rezensionen Papier:
ALBERTINE SARRAZIN: Astragalus
ASTRID KUSSER: Körper in Schieflage. Tanzen im Strudel des Black Atlantic um 1900
BENJAMIN STEIN: Das Alphabet des Rabbi Löw
BLACK HAWK HANCOCK: American Allegory. Lindy Hop And The Racial Imagination
BRECHT EVENS: Die Amateure
CHRISTIANE BAREITHER, KASPAR MAASE, MIRJAM NAST (HG.): Unterhaltung und Vergnügung. Beiträge der Europäischen Ethnologie zur Populärkulturforschung
CHRISTOPHE BLAIN: Gus: 1. Nathalie / 2. Schöner Bandit / 3. Ernest
CLAUDIA BOSSE (Hg.): Cheap Method Edition #1. Struggling Bodies In Capitalist Societies (Democracies)
DANIEL CLOWES: Der Todesstrahl
DAVID BUCKLEY: Kraftwerk. Die unautorisierte Biographie
DAVID PRUDHOMME: Einmal durch den Louvre
DAVID SIMONELLI: Working Class Heroes. Rock Music and British Society in the 1960s and 1970s
DENNIS EICK: Digitales Erzählen. Die Dramaturgie der Neuen Medien
DIEDRICH DIEDERICHSEN: Über Pop-Musik
DIETER MERSCH: Ordo ab chao ? Order from Noise
DIETMAR DATH / OLIVER SCHEIBLER: Mensch wie Gras wie
DIETMAR DATH: Feldeváye ? Roman der letzten Künste
DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF: Present Shock
EKKEHARD KNÖRER: Battlestar Galactica
ENNO STAHL: Diskurspogo. Über Literatur und Gesellschaft
ERIKA SCHMIED: Peter Kurzeck ? Der radikale Biograph
ERWIN IN HET PANHUIS: Hinter den schwulen Lachern. Homosexualität bei den Simpsons
FANNY BRITT / ISABELLE ARSENAULT: Jane, der Fuchs und ich
FLORIAN CRAMER: Exe.cut(up)able statements. Poetische Kalküle und Phantasmen des selbstausführenden Texts
GUNNAR HINDRICHS: Die Autonomie des Klangs
HANS BLUMENBERG: Präfiguration. Arbeit am politischen Mythos
HANS-CHRISTIAN DANY: Morgen werde ich Idiot. Kybernetik und Kontrollgesellschaft
HEIKO KOCH: Casa Pound Italia. Mussolinis Erben
IAN F. SVENONIUS: 22 Strategien für die erfolgreiche Gründung einer Rockband
JAN SÜSELBECK (HG.): Familiengefühle. Generationengeschichte und NS-Erinnerung in den Medien
JOE SACCOS: Der Erste Weltkrieg ? Die Schlacht an der Somme
JONAS ENGELMANN: Gerahmter Diskurs ? Gesellschaftsbilder im Independent-Comic
JÜRGEN SCHMICH: Plattensüchtig. Expeditionen in eine andere Welt. 7 Schallplattensammler im Interview
JÜRGEN ZIMMERER: Kein Platz an der Sonne. Erinnerungsorte der deutschen Kolonialgeschichte
KATIA FOUQUET: Jonas oder der Künstler bei der Arbeit
KITTY KRAUS: Lidschlag
LINDER STERLING: Frau/Objekt
LUCIUS BURCKHARDT: Der kleinstmögliche Eingriff
MAGNUS KLAUE: Verschenkte Gelegenheiten. Polemiken, Glossen, Essays
MAISHA EGGERS / GRADA KILOMBA / PEGGY PIESCHE / SUSAN ARNDT: Mythen, Masken und Subjekte. Kritische Weißseinsforschung in Deutschland
MANUEL MENRATH: Afrika im Blick. Afrikabilder im deutschsprachigen Europa 1870?1970
MARIA JANION: Die Polen und ihre Vampire. Studien zur Kritik kultureller Phantasmen
MARK BUTLER: Das Spiel mit sich. (Kink, Drugs & Hip-Hop). Populäre Techniken des Selbst zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts
MARTIN NIEDERAUER: Die Widerständigkeiten des Jazz. Sozialgeschichte und Improvisation unter den Imperativen der Kulturindustrie
MERCEDES BUNZ: Die stille Revolution. Wie Algorithmen Wissen, Arbeit, Öffentlichkeit und Politik verändern, ohne dabei viel Lärm zu machen
MICHAEL PETRY (HG.): Nature Morte ? Stillleben in der zeitgenössischen Kunst
MICHAEL PHILIPP / BUCERIUS KUNSTFORUM (HG.): Dionysos. Rausch und Ekstase
OSWALD WIENER: die verbesserung von mitteleuropa
OUMAR DIALLO / JOACHIM ZELLER: Black Berlin. Die deutsche Metropole und ihre afrikanische Diaspora in Geschichte und Gegenwart
PETER KURZECK: Bis er kommt / Angehalten die Zeit
SPRING: The ABC of Tragedy / Wunder
STEFFEN SCHOLL: Musik ? Raum ? Technik. Zur Entwicklung und Anwendung der graphischen Programmierumgebung »Max«
STEPHAN PACKARD (Hg.): Comics & Politik
STUART HALL: Ausgewählte Schriften
SUSAN ARNDT / ANTJE HORNSCHEIDT: Afrika und die deutsche Sprache. Ein kritisches Nachschlagewerk
SUSAN ARNDT / NADJA OFUATEY-ALAZARD: Wie Rassismus aus Wörtern spricht. (K)erben des Kolonialismus im Wissensarchiv deutsche Sprache
THOMAS MEINECKE: Analog. Kolumnen
TOBIAS GOLL / DANIEL KEIL / THOMAS TELIOS (HG.): Critical Matter. Diskussionen eines neuen Materialismus
VARIOUS ARTISTS: In 50 Comics um die Welt / Comics zur Lage der Welt
VOLKAN ÇIDAM: Die Phänomenologie des Widergeistes. Eine anerkennungstheoretische Deutung von Marx’ normativer Kritik am Kapitalismus im Kapital
VOLKO KAMENSKY / JULIAN ROHRUBER (HG.): Ton. Texte zur Akustik im Dokumentarfilm
WENZEL STORCH: Die Filme
WERNER SCHWAB: Fäkaliendramen
WOLFGANG HERRNDORF: Arbeit und Struktur"
[Verlags / website info]
www.ventil-verlag.de/katalog/testcard
|
2014 |
€15.00 |
|
| THE ALPS |
Jewelt Galaxies / Spirit Shambles |
CD |
"JEWELT GALAXIES/SPIRIT SHAMBLES is their 1st full album collecting the first two CDR releases from The ALPS.
Following a specially tuned internal compass that leads them from open meadowsand rushing rivers to urban chaos and decay, The Alps use a variety of soundsources (Wooden Flute, Tabla, Orchestra Bells, Electric Guitar, Omnichord,Microphone, Clarinet, Violin Bow, Acoustic Guitar, Organ, Shakers, Mixer, Voice,Cassette Tape, Sleigh Bells), This was recorded with one microphone in Scott Hewickers's living room mostly in one session on November 14 2005 and a bit in August earlier in the year." [label info]
|
2007 |
€15.50 |
|
| THE BEAUTIFUL SCHIZOPHONIC |
Musicamorosa |
CD |
"Im Schatten blühen junge Mädchen pink? Jorge Mantas jedenfalls ließ sich durch Proust inspirieren, untermischt mit von Tristesse und Abschied geprägten Liebesgeschichten von Poe bis Wong Kar-Wai, Mädchenbildern von Waterhouse und Rosetti bis Rohmer und Deville, aber auch den Erotika-Ikonen der Fotografen Guido Argentini und Roy Stuart. Mein erster Eindruck - Bilitis - war also gar nicht so abwegig. Ein Computermönch träumt von Sensuality & Sadness und schon treibt Sublimation delikate Blüten. Gefühlskitsch bekommt im Halbschatten einer künstlerischen Sensibilität gleich etwas Sublimes. Musik als Geliebte, umsponnen von einer Delectatio morosa, der Lust an sündigen Vorstellungen? Fast alle Titel stammen aus Prousts Die Gefangene. Colleen spielt dazu La Lectrice und alles wird gleich ‚Pariserisch‘. Nicht Lukas, der Hl. Antonius ist der Schutzpatron der Künstler. Das ist nicht halb so sarkastisch, wie Dionysius als Nothelfer gegen Kopfschmerzen. Ich schwanke, während Mantas mollige Drones mich umschweifen und verführerisch ihre Gestalt wechseln, zwischen Kopfzerbrechen und Gedankenverbrechen - wie denn auch anders, wenn eine Musik gleichzeitig so schön, fatal und schizophon daher
kommt. Ach wie so schwelgerisch öffnet der Laptop seine Speicher, auf deren Grund man auf Wagners Liebestod und Debussy stoßen würde. Was gerade noch knirschte wie Sand oder schäumte wie die Brandung um Aphrodites Knöchel, ist nun blinkende Gitarre, dann wieder eingedampftes orchestrales Rauschen. Als Encore folgt ein ausführlicher Remix durch @c, schnüffelnd wie eine Maus, die rosige Nackedeis wittert." [Bad Alchemy]
"Marcel Proust has been one of the main sources of inspiration to me in the last years. His ideas devoted to the affections of the human heart, his approach deeply rooted on the long literary French tradition in which love can only be lived in sadness, is something that goes much beyond pure aesthetic. So it came only natural that somehow I would try to convey this literary and philosophic interest with the sound aesthetic I pursue. The image of a sleepless solitary writer confined to a Parisian soundproof room, has everything to do with the experience of a modern laptop composer, alone in the dark of a room, in a sort of headphone ecstasy with his acoustic fragments of reality. Both experience loneliness. Both are melancholic dreamers creating from an imaginary memory of the world. Whether this music is truly related with some of the delicate emotions depicted in A la recherche du temps perdu or not, it's up to the listener to decide. Could this be a possible sound equivalent to the literary images of affection written by Proust in the early 20th century? Is the sound atmosphere of each piece loaded with some kind of sensual aura? Would ever be possible to express a sadness full of joy in the same moment of music? Probably we'll never know. But perhaps we think about it next time we'll listen to musicamorosa." [Jorge Mantas]
www.cronicaelectronica.org
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
| THE FORCE DIMENSION |
Early Recordings 1985-89 |
4 x LP BOX |
4 Lp Box w. Shirt & Booklet. Black vinyl ltd. 400. The Force Dimension was formed in the mid 80's by René Van Dijck and Tycho de Groot. After some demos and appearances on compilations, the band signed a contract with the Belgian label KK Records. Their self-titled debut was released in 1989 curiously on two different versions, one produced by Luc Van Acker (Revolting Cocks) and the other co-produced by Dirk Ivens (Klinik, Dive). The duo continued developing a very unique sound mixing EBM, industrial and different electronic influences.
4 Lp Box w. Shirt & Booklet
The FORCE DIMENSION. Early Recordings 1985-1989
LP0.5 (=1) Lp2 (all Tracks recorded 1985/1986)
A1. Radial 4:01
A2. Asylum Iso-sweet 3:20 (solar)
A3. Enter My Playroom 4:07
A4. Square Feeling 2:26
A5. Babybubblebathroom 9:21
A6. Weeping Robot 4:38
B1. Arctic Aparatus (correct version). 4:59
B2. Dadahaha 6:16
B3. Walking Against The Wall 4:56
B4. Cathedrals of SM 2:34
B5. Suffocating Syndrome (grey version) 2:07
B6. Karton Im Regal 3:44
LP1 (=2) (all Tracks recorded 1985/1986)
A1 Iceplanet Asterioid 5:20 (1985/86)
A2 Destruction 4:59 (1985/86)
A3 Burning Sticks down at the Castle 4:22 (1985/86)
A4 Enterprice Mister Spock Disco 5:36 (1985/86)
A5 Pi 3 5:10 (1985/86)
A6 Pi 3 outro 0:19 (1985/86)
A7 Toys of Witchcraft 4:00 (1985/86)
B1 Dogmah Nepal 3:14 (1985/86)
B2 Mental Psi 5:03 (1985/86)
B3 Suffocating Syndrome 3:35 (1985/86)
B4 SDI 5:08 (1985/86)
B5 Rayons im Lokal 2:55 (1985/86)
B6 Tarot 8:05 (1985/86)
LP2 (=3) Lp2 (all Tracks recorded 1985/1986)
A1 Excitement 4.27
A2 Excitement Outro0.15
A3 Blow Out 4.26
A4 Spelonkologgio 3:15
A5 Attenzione prego 6:12
A6 offerz to buddha 2:13
A7 Calls from the Islands in Between 5:56
A8 Calls from the Islands in Between outro 0:16
B1 two times dead 5:59
B2 fire 3:44
B3 War of Ghosts 7:09
B4 Inside myself 4:23
B5 Cold Cave of Death Part 1 0:49
B6 Cold Cave of Death Part 2 & 3 2:55
Lp4 (=3) (all Tracks recorded 1986-1989)
A1 Dust (Remix). 5:34 (1989)
A2 Carcinome (Fabforce 7inch Version) 3:28 (1988)
A3 Excitement 3:01 (1987)
A4 Attentione Prego! 3:37 (1987)
A5 Green Hall 4:51 (1986)
A6 Sequence your Body 2:28 (1988)
A7 So-Dom (Fabforce 7inch Version) 4:35 (1988)
B1 Julius Caesar 6:33 (1987)
B2 Superballen 3:01 (1986)
B3 Arctic Apparatus 2:08 (1986)
B4 Giant „Ghost“ Steps 4:41 (1986)
B5 Cradle Song 2:34 (1988)
B6 Hangar V1 2:36 (1987)
B7 Gabrielle 4:10 (1987)
B8 Fiebertanz 4:07 (1987)
|
2023 |
€95.00 |
|
| THE GHOST ORCHID |
An Introduction to EVP |
CD |
Hochinteressante CD zum Thema "Electronic Voice Phenomenon" (EVP), das sind auf magnetischen Tonträgern aufngenommene "Geisterstimmen" für die es keine gesicherte Erklärung gibt. Auf der CD werden eine Fülle von EVPs vorgestellt und erklärt (moderiert von LEIF ELGGREN und die Arbeit des EVP-Erforschers RAYMOND CASS wird vorgestellt. Die Aufnahmen sind z.T. bis zu 35 Jahre alt. Handelt es sich um Stimmen von Verstorbenen? Oder Botschaften von Aliens? Oder um ganz normale Radiostimmen, die über noch unbekannte Mechanismen übertragen werden? Im Booklet werden dazu die verschiedensten Theorien diskutiert und weitere erstaunliche Details erläutert. Für jeden an übersinnlichen / paranormalen Phänomenen Interessierten eine faszinierende Anschaffung!
"This is the third edition of this much sought-after CD... and has been unavailable since 2002... [originally issued in 1999]. The ParaPsychic Acoustic Research Cooperative [PARC], in association with Ash International, is proud to present the first ever fully comprehensive investigation into the paranormal phenomenon of EVP, otherwise known as Electronic Voice Phenomenon. Without doubt EVP falls into the catagory of the paranormal alongside other unexplained mysteries such as ufology, life after death & poltergeist activity. The listener is guided through a collection of strange and mysterious voices that have appeared without explanation onto the tapes of EVP researchers. Included with the CD is a 24 page booklet containing commissioned articles which cover the conflicting views surrounding the EVP. Actual voice samples are reproduced here for the first time on compact disc: Polyglot Voices, Public Service Broadcasting, Interruptions across the airwaves, Singing Voices, Instant Response Voices, and the extraordinary Alien Voices. The CD also includes a commentary by the artist Leif Elggren (in English), and recordings of the work of Raymond Cass, England's leading EVP researcher, and original member of the Fortean Group, and the Latvian EVP researcher, Dr. Konstantin Raudive. This CD release seeks to present the evidence; are the voices extraterrestrial, paranormal evidence of our telepathic powers or an elaborate hoax perpetrated by sinister and powerful groups to mislead us from their true aims...?" [label info]
www.ashinternational.com
|
1999 |
€15.00 |
|
| THE HUMAN VOICE |
Exit Lines |
CD |
"Harleif Langas better known as the mastermind behind Northaunt has found a new way to exorcize his ambient creativity. The Human Voice brings a rather different style from what we've been used to hearing from this man. It's definitely more into pure soundtrack music or soundscape experiments. There are records from which there's less to say, but only experience it yourself. 'Exit Lines' will bring the listener into a mysterious sonic voyage with fewer sounds mainly composed by guitar treatments. It increases some of the imaginary visions this kind of music can occur, but it's not necessary fascinating during the entire ride. I for sure like the wayguitar sounds can be used and transposed to create such an ambient trip. Exit Lines is the kind of album that needs a visual part this way creating a 'total concept'. Definitely for lovers of minimal experiences!" [Side-Line]
"NORTHAUNT mastermind Harleif Langas gives voice to a less dark and oppressive journey with "Exit lines", and explores the thin boundary between ambient (not necessarily dark....) music and spacious post-rock. Deep drones and sparse melodic guitar lines, "skeletal" structures and subtle noises. Appealing to both the Constellation-freaks and the courageous (and open minded) dark ambient travellers. Digisleeve." [label info] |
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| THE LORD & PETRA HADEN |
Devotional |
LP |
Devotional is a new collaborative album with vocalist and violinist Petra Haden and Greg Anderson, who first worked with Anderson during his time in Goatsnake, as well as on the second SUNN O))) studio album, ØØ Void.
Devotional is a rapturous and heady offering of wordless vocalizations, droning guitars, and heaviness explored in unexpected and intoxicating ways. Inspirations came from deep listening to Indian classical music, as well as a fascinating look at the chaotic and unbelievable life of Ma Anand Sheela and the Rajneesh community.
Through a haze of incense, flowing robes, and secret mantras, Haden’s voice rings out over constant drones in ecstatic chants throughout this musical investigation into the myriad of ways in which worship can lure and intoxicate. This is a journey that Haden and Anderson go on together, the guitar and vocals combined like the call and response of a guru and their congregation. Greg Anderson comments on the album, “I’m extremely happy with the recordings we made together. Petra’s vocals bring a whole new dimension to the heaviness.”
Petra Haden comments, “It was so much fun getting to play and sing on SUNN O)))’s album ØØ Void. 20 years later, I’m on stage with them at The Mayan Theater in Los Angeles singing and playing on the encore. I was in heaven! After the show, Greg and I talked about working on more music together. When I heard his ideas, I already had melodies in my head. I recorded some ideas at home and it developed from there. Greg is a really deep listener and he’s so much fun to work with. Getting to collaborate with Greg reminds me why I love to sing and improvise. I feel free and happy. That’s what music is all about.”
Seductive and hypnotic, Devotional is an intriguing new chapter in The Lord’s exploration of heavy music.
|
2022 |
€26.00 |
|
| THE NORMAN CONQUEST / AGNES SZELAG |
nadir / ZENIT |
LP |
"Inhabit two different realms of temporality. Zenit sculpts time with textures hurtling your consciousness through the cosmos faster than the speed of light. Nadir invokes stillness seeping you in layers of cosmic dust; suspending time.
The experience can be furthered by playing both tracks simultaneously; creating a supernova of sound that swirls and bellows around you. This record is a split release by Agnes Szelag and The Norman Conquest. These pieces are conceptually and tonally connected, but mani- fested individually unlike music from their collaboration as Dokuro. Both pieces were real- ized using only vintage analog monophonic synthesizers recorded to analog tape. Nadir was created on an ARP Axxe, and Zenit was made with a Sequential Circuits Pro One." [Anges Szelag]
http://ruralfaune.tumblr.com
http://ruralfaune.tumblr.com
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| THE NORTH SEA |
Bloodlines |
LP |
"Brad Rose is an artist who is notoriously hard to pigeonhole. He might spend his days running the esteemed Digitalis imprint (sidelining the wonderful Foxy Digitalis webzine) but his nights are wiled away chiselling at the petrified corpse of experimental music. Donating sounds to Ajilvsga, Altar Eagle, Sea Zombies and Ossining (among many, many others) he has somehow found time to fashion a new solo work for Type and it could hardly be further removed from his last outing.
‘Bloodlines’ is an album rooted in synthesis – the kind of busted power electronics that emerged in the early 80s with Ramleh, Throbbing Gristle and Whitehouse. This is not however simply a noise album – Brad has anchored his sound in this explorative mode, but uses his expertise to take it far beyond murk, grit and fractured teeth. With the help of Zelienople drummer Mike Weis (who accompanies the entire record on percussion) the record is a gloriously spacious excursion, with the fizzing Radiophonic blips, drones and tones set against gongs, scrapes and clanks. The sounds are dark and often punishing – torturous and occasionally frightening, but Brad somehow manages to offset it with an occasional flourish of beauty or calm.
The record is cut into two distinct acts (split lovingly for vinyl listening) and each ‘song’ blends into the next giving a true album experience. ‘Bloodlines’ is not a simple collection of pieces but a distinct narrative from beginning to end. As it tumbles from 50s sci fi synth tones into haunting off-world terror there is a sense of purpose and most of all, place. Brad has created a record that might not be an easy listening experience, but is one which grows on every successive play. It is truly deep and intensely troubling music." [label info]
www.typerecords.com
|
2010 |
€16.50 |
|
|
Bloodlines |
CD |
"Brad Rose is an artist who is notoriously hard to pigeonhole. He might spend his days running the esteemed Digitalis imprint (sidelining the wonderful Foxy Digitalis webzine) but his nights are wiled away chiselling at the petrified corpse of experimental music. Donating sounds to Ajilvsga, Altar Eagle, Sea Zombies and Ossining (among many, many others) he has somehow found time to fashion a new solo work for Type and it could hardly be further removed from his last outing.
‘Bloodlines’ is an album rooted in synthesis – the kind of busted power electronics that emerged in the early 80s with Ramleh, Throbbing Gristle and Whitehouse. This is not however simply a noise album – Brad has anchored his sound in this explorative mode, but uses his expertise to take it far beyond murk, grit and fractured teeth. With the help of Zelienople drummer Mike Weis (who accompanies the entire record on percussion) the record is a gloriously spacious excursion, with the fizzing Radiophonic blips, drones and tones set against gongs, scrapes and clanks. The sounds are dark and often punishing – torturous and occasionally frightening, but Brad somehow manages to offset it with an occasional flourish of beauty or calm.
The record is cut into two distinct acts (split lovingly for vinyl listening) and each ‘song’ blends into the next giving a true album experience. ‘Bloodlines’ is not a simple collection of pieces but a distinct narrative from beginning to end. As it tumbles from 50s sci fi synth tones into haunting off-world terror there is a sense of purpose and most of all, place. Brad has created a record that might not be an easy listening experience, but is one which grows on every successive play. It is truly deep and intensely troubling music." [label info]
www.typerecords.com
|
2010 |
€6.00 |
|
| |
Archaic Spines |
CD |
"Here is the latest release from Brad Rose's project The North Sea, and if you know anything about this group you know to keep your mind and ears open. There are certain very vague parameters Mr. Rose and The North Sea work within. One can expect an interesting selection of both acoustic and electric instruments, and a shimmering tension created by the juxtaposition of old song forms/instruments with new ideas and technologies. Even given those small guidelines, 'Archaic Spines' may surprise even the most dedicated Brad Rose/North Sea fans, as we are presented with a fine selection of very sparse and lovely meditations for bouzouki. The sound is raw, apparently released as recorded with few (if any) overdubs or effects. The effect is mesmerizing and refreshing, one instrument played with feeling and an unerring ear for the folk rivers that feed The North Sea's ocean of sound." [label info]
|
2007 |
€6.66 |
|
| THE ONE ENSEMBLE OF DANIEL PADDEN |
Oriole |
LP |
" 'oriole' is the new album by the one ensemble. bolder and more dynamic than previous albums, it showcases the one ensemble's ability to combine thrilling live playing with compositional elegance, shifting between hard-nosed rhythmic workouts and string miniatures, between wayward waltzes and open-throated song. oriole features the core quartet of shane connolly (drums and percussion), peter nicholson (cello), daniel padden (guitar) and aby vulliamy (viola and accordion). the one ensemble started life as the solo project of volcano the bear's daniel padden, but after two albums it became a live band, taking padden's experimental folk and expanding it into a fuller, more orchestrated sound. under padden's leadership, the ensemble developed a curious and strident brew of eastern european folk, chamber music, a pinch of robert wyatt and some kind of earthy psychedelic primitivism."
www.altvinyl.com
"This LP sees Daniel Padden's One Ensemble laying down some Eastern European-sounding folk business with accordions and fiddles and stuff. It's all quite dusky and repetitive and there's sometimes some vocals. It's not a straight folk record by any means, though, with the ensemble free to play around in more jazzy and experimental territory when they want to. It's not a million miles away from Leeds's finest chamber jazz-folk troupe 7 Hertz actually, and there's shades of A Hawk and a Hacksaw in its warm, bubbling fusion vibes, and Phil reckons there’s a bit of an Alexander Tucker-esque medieval feel here too, and when they take it down a notch like in ‘Chicken on a Raft’ it’s reminding me of Lungfish’s Dan Higgs.
Padden is of course best known for his work with Brit oddballs Volcano The Bear, and that's no surprise listening to this record either, as the band he's put together seem perfectly happy to switch from bustling gypsy folk to disorienting neoclassical to even more disorienting free expression without so much as a hiccup, and some of the most effective moments see them taking repeato-rock ideas and throwing folk textures all over them.
It works really well and is thoroughly charming, with the physicality of the traditional instruments really shining through in the strained, warm tones. In fact I think as far as charm and listenability go it’s the equal of his other band. Well worth investigating." [Norman Records]
|
2012 |
€16.50 |
|
| THE ROOTSMAN MEETS MUSLIMGAUZE |
Amahar |
do-LP |
One of the lesser known Muslimgauze releases, recorded 1997-’98 with his longtime spar The Rootsman, surfaces on its first vinyl edition - newly mastered by Mark Gergis (Sublime Frequencies)
‘Amahar’ is a strong example of both Muslimgauze’s latter phase, his work with soundsystem selector The Rootsman, and his relationship to Bradford - an overlooked epicentre of West Yorkshire culture with a super strong contribution from its South Asian and Muslim community. Patently, Muslimgauze was inspired by this culture and recorded a stack of releases there with local resident The Rootsman, including this heavily dubwise set informed by strong sonic flavours that are practically in the air around there; from its amazing curry houses to cars tonking out updates of traditional music.
Expect to find a mix of his more brooding work and rude subbass with killer, stepping percussion that relates to the area’s heavy soundsystem culture and links to Simon Scott’s legendary SubDub clubnight not far away in Leeds - a rite of passage for anyone in the north of England with even a passing interest in dub. In that mode, the set rides hot and tuff between the heady swagger of ‘Amahar’ and the deep roots of ‘Mecca Dub Room’, taking in unmissable tackle in the scudding stepper ‘Bradisqatsi’ and killer rimshots of ‘Izlamalayzia’, the tumbling echoic dub of ‘Cairo Hookah’, and intoxicating atmospheres of ‘Harama.
https://therootsman.bandcamp.com/album/the-rootsman-meets-muslimgauze-amahar
|
2021 |
€28.00 |
|
| |
City of Djinn |
do-LP |
The second part of the famous collaboration between two UK based electronic pioneers: John Bolloten aka The Rootsman and Bryn Jones aka Muslimgauze.
For this album the original The Rootsman material from his albums “Into The Light” and “52 Days to Timbuktu” was remixed and deconstructed by Muslimgauze. As always with Bryn Jones, all material is inspired by Arab culture.
We hear distorted dub rhythms, sawn-off loops, traditional music, male and female voices and then distorted rhythms again. Closing your eyes, you can find yourself in the middle of an eastern city, walk along its noisy streets, admire the ancient architecture. This noise can tell amazing stories!
First vinyl edition. Originally in 1999 on CD by Third Eye Music.
https://viaparigi.bandcamp.com/album/return-to-the-city-of-djinn
|
2022 |
€30.00 |
|
| THE SAND RAYS |
Remembered Vol. 1 (EPs gathered together) |
CD |
After the dissolution of The Infant Cycle, Jim DeJong went on a hiatus from production, and disappeared into seclusion. However, after a few months, an offer to score a feature film appeared, which spurred him back into production. A lot of flexible basic tracks were produced during this time, that could be fitted together for different scenes. Unfortunately, the film production ground to a halt, but being active again caused DeJong to begin his new project, The Sand Rays, and adapt some of the film score ideas into something that could be released and heard. A number of EPs were released on DeJong's label The Ceiling in tiny editions, under a number of similar names (The Sand Rays, Ray Sands, Sandra Y.), which are hard to find. The sounds emanate from an assortment of instruments and sound makers including carved runout grooves, bass guitar, bird cages, shortwave radio, and more, cooked into a choppy stew of drones and mood.
The cover photo reflects its contents. Up close, a pretty photo of sumac, but pulls back to reveal a more troubled location. This location was outside DeJong's old studio, a brownsfield too toxic for people, but a safe place for the vegetation to flourish.
The material could be considered an extension of the final inclinations of The Infant Cycle, such as the "Drop-out Center" album (2012, Zhelezobeton): zhelezobeton.bandcamp.com/album/drop-out-center A new chapter in the same book? Now we bring together the rare first four EPs in an easier to find and digest package, with full colour sleeve artwork. Eight interlocking tracks. Play it straight through, or random, or repeat.
zhb.radionoise.ru/eng/zhb-lxx.html
zhelezobeton.bandcamp.com/album/remembered-vol-1-eps-gathered-together
|
2017 |
€12.00 |
|
| THE STONE TAPES (PINK DOTS, BIG CITY ORCHESTRA & FRANS DE WAARD) |
Revolutions in the Head |
CD |
All music by:
dAS
Edward-Ka Spel
Frans De Waard
Ninah Pixie
Philip Knight
Recorded at TeKaSky Studios in Nijmegen, Netherlands, late October 2018.
Ninah first prepared her collection of sipsi reed flutes, before bonding at the studio Crumar organ (also a Pixy!), with all it's stuttering (broken!) idiosyncrasies.....
Frans conjured textural movement by mixing multiple cassette players and I-Pad.....
dAS experimented with contact mics and sound boards, feeding his computer to his looper....
Edward conducted a ballet of custom voice samples and played software synths.....
Phil surfed the aether-static world of circuit bent radio, and powered up the analog synth... more....
“Revolutions In The Head” represents the almost transcendental result of “Discipline In The Studio” as members of The Big City Orchestra, Legendary Pink Dots And Frans De Waard (Modelbau, Kapotte Muziek and much more) combined to create a stream of 60 minute soundtracks for a TV station in San Francisco .
If that sounds like a recipe for chaos, then think again. The concentration involved was almost terrifying, but the satisfaction displayed when that clock hit the magical 60 minute mark seemed like a glorious release.
All the music here was recorded in The Silverman’s Attic studio .
Das And Ninah of Big City Orchestra instigated the project and flew to The Netherlands for these sessions.
The first hours involved them, The Silverman and Frans while Edward Ka-Spel joined for the last part of the penultimate session and the final hour.
Edward had literally just got off the train from London, tiptoed upstairs, unpacked his keyboard and various devices, connected the wires as soundlessly as possible and found his patch in the cauldron. The “Hellos” were delayed as only 30 minutes had passed of that particular musical voyage.
When the music was over, there seemed to be a general consensus that this meeting of minds needed to be heard by a wider audience. A big thank you to Frans for the hours he spent editing to make this release possible.
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/revolutions-in-the-head |
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| THE SWIFTER |
Wall Sailor |
LP |
"For some this could sound like a supergroup: Simon James Phillips' vivid piano playing with Andrea Belfi's precise percussion and drum patterns make the perfect companions for BJ Nilsen's electronics, welding together a driving energy.
It is a rare treat to come across a record that imparts music as spacious as Wall Sailor. The album's ability to capture the listener with a mixture of acoustic instruments, field recordings and digital processing, with constant movement and relentless tension, is nothing but astonishing. Just like an actual murmuration in the sky, the trio's music refuses to keep steady and allows us to perceive its structures and formations from afar. These pieces could go everywhere; and yet they remain as pleasant as they are fascinating and never fail to impress. The Swifter's compositions breath an urgency for expression that never gives in to their controlled and skilled performance.
Listening closely, you can imagine following the beating of wings, as if these tracks have been waiting to be released to cherish their freedom.
Vinyl comes in a reversed cardboard jacket, printed in- and outside with Full Tone Colours, Lasercut-Artwork and Printed Inner Sleeve, ltd. to 500 copies."
sonicpieces.com
|
2016 |
€24.00 |
|
| THE TREE PEOPLE |
same |
CD |
Japanische Re-Edition einer Acid-Folk Ausgrabung aus dem Jahre 1979 !!
"Tiliqua Records is psyched about being able to present a whole new audience and generation with the lysergic beauty of the Tree People's sole recorded artifact, a privately released acid folk gem out of 1979. In times when people are all getting excited about media-created scenes like “New Weird America” and “Freak Folk”, they seem to overlook the fact that such music was already being created decades ago. The Tree People is evidence of such a splash of creativity that sadly enough was doomed to disappear within the cracks of obscurity. Until now. Tiliqua was granted the opportunity to restore this gem and with the kind collaboration of Mr. Cohen of the Tree People, who provided me with the master tapes and a seemingly unlimited support, Tiliqua was able to prepare this reissue. To me, this album is one of the singular most beautiful gems to have crossed my path and words always fall short in an attempt to describe the aural sensation it unleashes. “Upon listening today this hushed and intimate feeling still resonates through the music – the record possesses an extraordinarily potent atmosphere that still intoxicates the senses after so many years. Over a combustible backing dominated by shimmering strings, bone-shaking hand percussion rhythms, and quivering sensuous threads of eastern-toned flute playing, the group succeeded in concocting up a syncretic combination of meditative Indian raga, western folk stylings and idiosyncratic melodic ideas. The music breathes out intimacy and communicates with a rare directness - hooking you instantly with sheer aural bliss derived from the melody, from the flowing beat, from the sound of the words and syllables and of all those separate elements interacting with each other, rendered into a concentrated, gracious flow of lunar notes. The album's compositions have so many hidden qualities, all breathing out deep and affectionate sentiments that reveal, just like a lotus flower centered on the axis with its petals unfolding towards the circumference, a streamlined adhesion towards the group's' own singular creed. Listen to it and you may feel like awakening from a deep slumber, your unconsciousness leaking away as aspects of reality slowly mix in with the rest of your already blurred mindset.” First time ever official reissue, housed in a sturdy mini-LP styled gatefold sleeve." [Beta Lactam]
|
2006 |
€19.50 |
|
| THE TRIPLE TREE |
Ghosts |
CD |
"Tony Wakeford kann's nicht lassen! Als ob der umtriebige Mr. "Sol Invictus" nicht schon mit zahlreichen Nebenprojekten (u.a. Grey Force Wakeford, Trio Noir, L'Orchestre Noir, Hawthorn) ausgelastet wäre, hebt er nun gemeinsam mit Andrew King sowie ausgewählten "Familienmitgliedern", u.a. Renee Rosen, Guy Harries, John Murphy (u.a. Knifeladder, SPK, Death in June, Shining Vril) oder Kris Force (Amber Asylum), ein weiteres namens The Triple Tree aus der Taufe, dessen Debut "Ghosts" niemand geringerem als dem britischen Ghoststory-Autor M.R. James (1862-1936) gewidmet ist.
Bereits das James-Zitat "Depend upon it! Some of these things are so, but we do not know the rules!" auf der Rückseite des Booklets deutet die Marschrichtung an: Festgelegte Regeln kennt man hier nicht, und schon gar nicht die des Neofolk. Folglich sollte man sich der Scheibe exakt unter diesem Gesichtspunkt nähern, denn "Ghosts" ist abgedreht, "Ghosts" ist schaurig und "Ghosts" verlangt dem Rezipienten zeitweise einiges an Toleranz ab. Sägende Geigenläufe, diffuse Feldaufnahmen, schräge Flöten-/Pfeiftöne, dumpfe Percussions sowie viele weitere Soundelemente, oft subtil disharmonisch zusammengefügt, erzeugen eine Atmosphäre, welche den Hörer direkt in James' gespenstische Szenarien zu führen vermag, in staubige Bibliotheken, schmutzige Hinterhöfe oder düstere Gemäuer des viktorianischen England. Die Stimmen von "Dr. Wakeford" und "The Rev. King" tun dazu ihr übriges. Während "The Mezzotint" oder "Lost Hearts" in schlichtem Erzählstil dargeboten werden, kommt "The Stalls" als altertümlicher Kanon daher und "Black Crusade" scheint von beiden direkt in einer Kaschemme der Londoner Docks eingesungen worden zu sein.
Doch "Ghosts" ist auch berückend schön. Neben dem durch gezupfte Gitarre und markante Männerstimmen fast erhaben wirkenden "Three Crowns" sind es hauptsächlich jene Titel, in denen die beteiligten Damen Autumn Grieve, Kris Force oder Mercy Liao gesanglich zum Zuge kommen. Dabei kristallisiert sich vor allem das perlende Duett "The Malice of Inanimate Objects" als Höhepunkt heraus. Aber selbst dieses ist von einer unheilsschwangeren Aura umgeben, da die Lieder ständig durch schrille Versatzstücke gebrochen werden, die sich entweder als Intros/Outros oder komplette Tracks einschleichen. Genau das richtige, um die Gruselstimmung immer wieder zu entfachen.
Trotz alledem kommt jedoch eine typische Eigenschaft der Inselbewohner nicht zu kurz, der Humor. Im Booklet präsentieren sich die beiden Protagonisten nämlich launig, wie direkt aus einem der schauerlichen Romane entsprungen. Schrullige Fotos für ein ebenso schrulliges und gerade deshalb fesselndes Album. M.R. James wäre sicher stolz gewesen!" [Medienkonverter]
"The Triple Tree consists of Tony Wakeford (Sol Invictus) and Andrew King aided and abetted by M, Autumn Grieve, Kris Force (Amber Asylum), Guy Harries, Renee Rosen and John Murphy (Death In June, SPK, KnifeLadder), and is an extended homage to the supernatural fiction of M. R. James (with a certain nod to his notable studies in the New Testament Apocrypha) the greatest ghost story writer in the English language, and the finest medievalist of his generation. Join Dr Wakeford and the Rev. King as they search for the Three Crowns, attempt to Cast the Runes, purchase The Mezzotint, follow Mr Abney’s "remarkable enlightenment" in Lost Hearts, and join Count Magnus on the "Black Crusade"! Winter evenings will never be the same again... Digipak with booklet." [label info]
".. Anthony Wakeford and Andrew King is best known as part of the project Sol Invictus, that for more than two decades has combined neo-folk and neoclassical influences with electronic experimentation. The comprehensive experiences in that particular field beautifully flourish on this tribute to haunted tales of medieval times under the project flag "Triple Tree". The atmosphere is perfectly accomplished with some beautiful male and female vocal integrated in medieval folk-expressions that stylishly turns associations towards Dead Can Dance. As a contrast to the organic sounds, the electronic part of the album first of all operates in ambient-oriented soundscapes to create haunting atmospheres of ghouls. "Ghosts" is a strong sonic depiction of early ghost stories from M.R. James, inspiring the listener to dive into the dark forces of the medieval author!" [NM, Vital Weekly]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2008 |
€8.00 |
|
| THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE & CINEMA PERDU |
Invocation |
CD |
"in our lives we meet various people and we get to spend some quality time with a couple of them. depending on who we spend our time with and in what state of mind the time together is spent, we talk about friendship. and the more honest and unconditional this friendship is, the more it adds to the quality of our respective lives. it's a rare thing when you meet someone and right from the first moment you know you add to each others lives. it only happens a few times - and maybe not even that often - but we have all been there and we all recognize those moments; as well as the people it concerns. and yes, those times bring back a warm and fuzzy feeling. but then there are the many ways a friendship can end: a wrongfully interpreted word, a misunderstood thought, incompatible visions or simply because it started to cost more energy then it gave back. as incomprehensible a friendship can begin, it can also end. sadly there are also true and deep friendships that have never ended, even when said friend has left this dimension. the feeling that we're left with is just about the worst feeling ever ... with 'invocation' the [law-rah] collective and cinema perdu present a split album with personal views and interpretations of the emptiness that remains. finding closure in a process of grief. not the most happy of feelings, but it's a feeling we all recognize, an emotion we can all relate to and maybe the one thing we all have problems with giving it a place in our lives. the process of composing, writing, producing and finishing 'invocation' has helped us seeing things in perspective again after loosing loved ones. 'invocation' - simply to have that final conversation, to share that final drink, or just to say you care ..." [label info]
"So today we will be looking at (and listening to, of course) some darkly pulsing ambient and asking, “just what is it about this music that makes it so great for processing inarticulate emotions?” Well before I answer that, and while I try not to ‘zone out’ entirely, let me just articulate my feelings right now by saying: This... Is... Great. And, furthermore, it pulses darkly and in all the right places. Ahhh…
It’s a collaborative effort, this, between The [Law-Rah] Collective (Bauke van der Wal) and Cinema Perdu (Martijn Pieck) -- each performing and contributing two individual tracks and a fifth track wherein they combine their compositional efforts. Opening track, ‘1’, by [Law-Rah], pleasantly and gently throbs like the aural equivalent of a deep red Rothko painting. For musical touchstones, think Nurse With Wound and Locust. His second individual track, ‘5’, drones slightly more ominously and is accompanied by a glitchy ‘popping’ sound which is not unlike that made earlier when we were preparing the post here at Norman and a trolley rolled over a long sheet of bubble wrap. These sounds phase in and out and pan woozily to leave the listener a little disorientated.
Cinema Perdu similarly explores the empty psychological spaces which remain once you are all cried out. Really, this is perfect for the final part of the day when this reviewer has precious little more strength to muster. The two tracks Martijn Pieck brings to this disc are as sublime as the previous two by Bauke, in that the music is the contemplative, irresistible, seemingly boundless evocation of space, of internal conflicts easing and resolving themselves outside of time. Plus, his second track features metallic chiming under mallets. I’m a sucker for resonating metal and mallets.
Martijn and Bauke’s collaborative track, ‘4’, is possibly the most affecting of all. What sounds like a sample from a long lost choral masterpiece is used as a bed for found sounds and plucked electroacoustic instruments, with an industrial throb underpinning it all… there’s an organ playing. For a minute there, I thought it was coming from the cathedral in my mind. Then silence. The CD whirrs its death throes and I feel a little more alive." [Norman Rec.]
"THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE ist ein mehr oder weniger loser Zusammenschluss von Künstlern rings um den niederländischen Musiker BAUKE VAN DER WAL, der das Projekt mit dem enigmatischen Namen um das Jahr 2000 herum gründete. Bevorzugt tummelt man sich im Experimental-, Drone- und Dark Ambient-Sektor, zeigt aber auch keine Berührungsängste mit harscheren, ja dezidiert noisigen Spielarten, was exemplarischen Ausdruck in Kollaborationen mit NAVICON TORTURE TECHNOLOGIES (Box Edition von "The Gospels Of The Gash" und "Your Suffering Will Be Legendary") findet. Überhaupt ist man, was die stilistischen Details betrifft, um relativen Abwechslungsreichtum bemüht, und so reicht das bei discogs aufgespannte Genre-Spektrum von "Elektronik, Pop" über "Experimental, Abstract" bis hin zu "Dark Ambient, Drone". Seiner Grundrichtung bleibt das Kollektiv nichtsdestoweniger treu; nicht umsonst hat man schließlich – nomen est omen – der eigenen Homepage die Adresse "darkambient.net" verpasst. Entsprechend gerne arbeitet man freilich mit stilistisch benachbarten Künstlern wie CISFINITUM oder eben CINEMA PERDU zusammen. Der Mann dahinter, MARTIJN PIECK, ist langjähriger Freund VAN DER WALs, seit 2008 Vollmitglied von THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE und seit 2011 unter dem nom de guerre CINEMA PERDU aktiv, unter dem er bislang mehrere Alben im File- und Tape-Format veröffentlicht hat.
Die vorliegende CD "Invocation" ist nach dem gemeinsamen Split mit WOODBNDR, "Blue Ruins Under Yellow Skies" von 2014, die zweite dezidierte Zusammenarbeit mit CINEMA PERDU und folgt stringent jener kontemplativen Drone-Programmatik, die im Großen und Ganzen das Leitmotiv für die Arbeit VAN DER WALs mit dem [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE abgibt, hier allerdings in ganz besonders vielschichtiger, facettenreicher Form zelebriert wird. Das Thema der CD fordert eine gewisse Besinnlichkeit freilich nachgerade heraus, beschäftigt sich die inhaltliche Ebene von "Invocation" doch mit dem Zerbrechen, Erlöschen, in jedem Fall aber mit dem Ende intensiver Freundschaften und enger Beziehungen, sowie insbesondere mit jener gähnenden Leere, die eine solche, mehr oder weniger gewaltsame Trennung einer tiefen emotionalen Verbindung nach sich zieht – egal, ob sie "nur" einem menschlichen Zerwürfnis, einer individuellen, existenziellen Krise oder gar dem physischen Ableben eines der Beteiligten geschuldet ist: "Invocation" versteht sich, so führt der Promotext aus, als "split album with personal views and interpretations of the emptiness that remains. Finding closure in a process of grief." Vor diesem Hintergrund erschließt sich denn auch ganz zwanglos der Hintersinn jener Sentenz, die sich auf der Innenseite des CD-Kartonschubers findet: "Some things were never meant to change but here we are" ...
Das beim Berliner RAUBBAU-Label erschienene Album enthält sechs unbetitelte, lediglich durchnummerierte Tracks zwischen knapp acht und knapp zwölf Minuten Länge – etwas Zeit, Muße und Geduld sollte der interessierte Hörer also schon mitbringen, möchte er sich mit dieser, ohne Worte auskommenden, "conversation about what really matters" auseinandersetzen. Wer nun allerdings vom leidlich bekannten, sich über die komplette Laufzeit spannenden, mediokren Einheitsgebrumme ausgeht, das so betrüblich oft unter der Bezeichnung "Dark Ambient" firmiert, wird erfreulicherweise eines besseren belehrt: Lediglich das erste und das letzte Stück, beide von THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE eingespielt, präsentieren sich als ausgesprochen dronige, tiefenentspannte, einzig durch allerlei Rascheln, Knistern und anderweitige Störfrequenzen in minimale Regung versetzte, dabei jedoch niemals langweilige Soundmeditationen, während die von CINEMA PERDU beigesteuerten Beiträge 2 und 3 deutlich experimenteller und collagenhafter daherkommen – streckenweise fühlte sich der Rezensent durchaus ein wenig an NURSE WITH WOUND erinnert. Die eigentliche Zusammenarbeit zwischen den beiden Outfits, Track Numero 4, gibt denn auch das interessanteste Stück des Albums ab und entwickelt sich, ausgehend von einem sakralen, durch rotorartiges Flattern fragmentierten Choraleinstieg, hin zu einem, schon fast treibend-rhythmischen Mittelteil, um schließlich in einem amorphen, alle Strukturen wieder einschmelzenden Klangbad zu verhallen. Nicht alles auf "Invocation" ist also gar so meditativ, wie es auf den ersten Eindruck und nach Lektüre des zitierten Begleittextes scheinen mag – nach einigen Hördurchgängen entpuppt sich das versammelte Material in der Gesamtschau vielmehr als erfreulich abwechslungsreich und immer wieder für das eine oder andere überraschte "Oho!" gut.
Fazit: THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE & CINEMA PERDU legen mit "Invocation" ein rundum gelungenes Werk vor, das routiniert mit den Genregrenzen spielt, sie ausweitet und bisweilen beinahe transzendiert, ohne dabei jemals bemüht zu klingen, sich in Beliebigkeiten zu verheddern oder in akademischen Frickeleien zu verlieren. Beide Projekte interagieren perfekt miteinander und realisieren so ein bemerkenswertes, ebenso meditativ-hypnotisches wie dramatisch dichtes Album, das durch seine implizite Programmatik und die unprätentiöse Art & Weise, in der diese präsentiert wird, noch zusätzlich punktet: "the process of composing, writing, producing and finishing 'invocation' has helped us seeing things in perspective again after loosing loved ones. we hope it can do the same to you." – Irgendwie ist die ganze Veröffentlichung ... einfach ... sympathisch. Und wer kann schon etwas gegen sympathische Musik haben? Der Autor dieser Zeilen jedenfalls nicht." [Endsal/NON-POP]
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| THEE SILVER MOUNTAIN REVERIES (SILVER MOUNT ZION) |
play |
CD-EP |
Neue mLP der Gruppe deren Name sich mit jedem Release stets leicht ändert – poetischer PostRock der besonderen Sorte, diese mLP trieft nur so vor einnehmender Melancholie... immer wieder herzzereissende Streicher & hypnotische Instrumental- und Gesangsstrukturen.... Anklänge an GODSPEED, RACHEL’s, SET FIRE TO FLAMES....
“The "Pretty Little Lightning Paw" E.P., originally available (on CD only) at shows during The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band European tour in Winter 2004, will be released to shops on both formats in May 2004. The E.P. contains all new songs, with a total running time of just over 30 minutes.
"More Action! Less Tears!" opens the record - a noisy clarion call of chiming instrumental rock driven by a long wraparound riff & recorded live off the floor during the This is Our Punk-Rock... (cst027) sessions. This cut finds various Mt. Zion players trading/switching instruments for the rockout, with cascading tape treatments added by Efrim in the mixdown. Three more songs follow which Efrim began recording in sporadic late-night sessions at the hotel2tango in Montreal over Summer and Fall of 2003. All three were built up from Efrim's initial vocals and guitar, with co-founding Mt. Zion member Thierry collaborating closely on instrumental & backing vocal arrangements and Jessica working up violin and vocal parts as well. A four-voice choir (including two members of Frankie Sparo) lends additional vocal support.
What began as studio sketches, evolved, through a few intensive drunken nights, into a beautiful, unfettered, unbelaboured trio of songs that confirms Mt. Zion's ongoing re-invention as a vocal-driven outfit and reveals Efrim's growing strength as a lyricist. The results are deeply moving and utterly original in both poetics and sonics - songs that explicitly invoke a tender and hopeful collective consciousness wrought from mythic/mystic themes, motivated by the tiny graces and tragic failures of our contemporary communities and cultures.” [label description]
|
2004 |
€13.50 |
|
| THEE SILVER MT. ZION MEMORIAL ORCHESTRA |
Kollaps Tradixionales |
do-10" & CD |
"THEE SILVER MT. ZION MEMORIAL ORCHESTRA (SMZ) returns with its sixth full-length recording and first since the band's line-up change of summer 2008. Having shed three members and recruited one (drummer DAVID PAYANT) the group officially dropped the "Tra-La-La Band' from its name, played a debut performance as a newly minted quintet at All Tomorrow's Parties in upstate NY, and embarked on an extensive European tour through the fall of 2008. As Kollaps Tradixionales ably demonstrates, the band has lost none of its raw and frazzled anthemic power and continues to forge bold new ground in its search for a unique hybrid of punk, blues, psych, folk and modern orchestral idioms. Anchored by the fried electric guitar and plangent voice of band leader EFRIM MENUCK (who previously co-founded GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPEROR) SMZ continues to slide comfortably and unforcedly towards an expansive, loose and blues-inflected balladry—not so much the inexorably riffing blues shuffle of the title track from its previous effort, 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons, but a more languid waltz-time marking an almost smoldering dynamic arc, as heard on the new album's opening track "There Is A Light" and gorgeous closer "'Piphany Rambler." [label info]
www.cstrecords.com
|
2010 |
€25.50 |
|
| |
Kollaps Tradixionales (special edition) |
CD & book |
Deluxe CD with a special 16-page, 7”x9” perfect bound art book with found image collages by EFRIM MENUCK and filmmaker/photographer JEM COHEN with a foil-embossed cover.
THEE SILVER MT. ZION MEMORIAL ORCHESTRA (SMZ) returns with its sixth full-length recording and first since the band's line-up change of summer 2008. Having shed three members and recruited one (drummer DAVID PAYANT) the group officially dropped the "Tra-La-La Band' from its name, played a debut performance as a newly minted quintet at All Tomorrow's Parties in upstate NY, and embarked on an extensive European tour through the fall of 2008. As Kollaps Tradixionales ably demonstrates, the band has lost none of its raw and frazzled anthemic power and continues to forge bold new ground in its search for a unique hybrid of punk, blues, psych, folk and modern orchestral idioms. Anchored by the fried electric guitar and plangent voice of band leader EFRIM MENUCK (who previously co-founded GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPEROR) SMZ continues to slide comfortably and unforcedly towards an expansive, loose and blues-inflected balladry—not so much the inexorably riffing blues shuffle of the title track from its previous effort, 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons, but a more languid waltz-time marking an almost smoldering dynamic arc, as heard on the new album's opening track "There Is A Light" and gorgeous closer "'Piphany Rambler." [label info]
www.cstrecords.com
|
2010 |
€18.50 |
|
| THELXINOE |
Inner Subspace |
MC |
The first full-length album by Thelxinoe is re-released now for the first time on audio cassette.
This release continues developing a distinct Thelxinoe approach of creating high-quality drone ambient with the stringed and wind instruments involved. There are some slightly Maeror Tri/Troum-influenced moments such as light and a bit psychedelic, sometimes reversed guitar chords – especially in the shorter odd tracks which look like introductions or transitions to much longer even tracks. But the essence of Thelxinoe’s creativity is in the second track full of straight multilayered canvases of meditative drone ambient and particularly in the fourth 33-minutes track. This marvelous piece is called "Corona Borealis Void" and offers dark texture made of overwhelmingly long-resonating brain-blowing drones which goes as perfect background for sometimes melancholic and relaxing, sometimes psychedelic saxophone inclusions.
"Inner Subspace" was released digitally in 2012 on DNA Production.
Alexey Zakharov: alt-saxophone, baritone-saxophone
Peter L.: guitar, bass, sound processing
Kol Belov: cover art
https://thelxinoe-avalancheorganization.bandcamp.com/album/inner-subspace
|
2021 |
€9.00 |
|
| THEME |
Valentine (Lost) Forever |
CD |
"The third album from Theme, a band comprised of Stuart Carter, Jeanne Boyer and Richard Johnson (from'90s influential industrial-experimental band Splintered and head of the Lumberton Trading Company label), is a hallucinogenic intersection, where the exploration of twilight spaces, dreams, bitter reflections and hopes collide with a sense of escape (to better places?) or an abandoned 'self', either lost or searching for much needed identity.
More 'song'-based than their previous album, on Valentine (Lost) Forever Theme often witnesses barbed yet oblique words cut-up and formed into mantras over a mesh of cascading drones, textures, blissed-out guitar strums, submerged tamboura, metallic sheets of electronic frah, occasional drum pounds and chilling swells 'n' flecks of musique concrete. Overall, it catches the group exploring their environment, in more senses than one, with renewed vigour and nothing but questions left either open-ended or vying for interpretation. It's a world of rubble, dust and sprawling collapse, psychological or otherwise, screaming for meaning and purpose in a world gone mad where inner conflicts, vulnerability and regret are drowned in vast existential pools...
With an additional remix by ex-Siouxsie & the Banshees bass player Steven Severin, this genuine album offers an apocalyptic sound mirage that recalls the experimental and post industrial works of :Zoviet*France, Throbbing Gristle and Coil, as well as the occult-like numbness of Current 93, the bleak avant-electronica of Andrew Liles and the psychedelic drones furrowed by the group's own previous work in both Splintered and Theme. In that sense, Valentine (Lost) Forever is a definite masterpiece in the ever-evolving legacy of the U.K. industrial scene, and if this is the end, then it's time to burn the truth." [label info]
www.HCBrecords.com
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| THEPERSONWHODIDTHIS |
Aquarium |
CD-R |
"This is the second release of Oko Records (OK 02), brother label of eclipsis.gr
Behind the nickname "thepersonwhodidthis" we find the Greek electronic / experimental music artist Sotiris Bakagiannis who back in 2009 was invited to create atmospheres to celebrate little Orion's 3nd birthday party which took place in an old house in the village of Iasmos, near Xanthi, North Greece.
For this ocassion he used his software performed either by himself or by the little children who were invited to the party and used 7 pc mouses provided to "draw" freely music colours on the pc screen (each mouse corresponding to certain colour and a musical note).
Here's nothing but the manipulated recording of this enchanting night."
www.eclipsis.gr/maino.htm
|
2019 |
€8.00 |
|
| THIS HEAT |
Out of Cold Storage |
6 x CD-Box |
Monumentale Box mit ALLEN offiziellen Releases & dickem Booklet sowie einer CD mit bisher unveröffentlichten Aufnahmen von der legendären britischen Band um CHARLES HAYWARD, die aus verschiedensten Einflüssen von Industrial bis Jazz in genialer Weise einen ganz neuen, eigenen Stil kreierten, der bis heute absolut einmalig geblieben ist!
“Where do you start with something like this? With a history lesson and a 9.0 review up at Pitchfork this week I suppose... Born out of the UK crucible that existed in the period immediately post punk (before it earned capitals and morphed into genre all of its own...), This Heat formed through the restless response of three twenty-somethings who felt impelled to document their corner of 1970's London. Already faces at the more severe end of the prog-rock scene, Charles Bullen and Charles Hayward were joined by non-musician Gareth Williams - a catalyst that would see them recording vast quantities of work then editing the results down into consumable chunks of aural fortitude. Spread over a massive six discs and further bolstered by a pretty darn exhaustive book that interviews the surviving members (Williams passed away in 2001), 'Out Of Cold Storage' is testament to the unbridled virility of This Heat - with all the music very much rooted in its era, yet also utterly timeless. Comprised of their five studio albums ('This Heat', 'Deceit', 'Health and Efficiency', 'Made Available' and 'Repeat') plus an incendiary set of live action culled from their 1980/81 heyday, 'Out Of Cold Storage' allows everyone to get hold of these classic recordings in pristine form - a real treat given the eroded bootlegs and mp3s that have been doing the rounds for years. Ranging in style from the avant-rock of their eponymous debut, through to the political polemic of 'Deceit', This Heat are spiky without the need to resort to high-kicking comparisons with the likes of Orange Juice et al., with their output always a couple of steps removed from their retrospective peers. Unafraid to disrupt their reputation through creative right-angles, the likes of 'Repeat' and it's central 20 minutes of looped drones and rhythms (think Can in a chiller cabinet) are seemingly at odds with 'Health And Efficiencies' melody etched high - yet rather than cause tension, these juxtapositions merely heighten the band's appeal and allow you a glimpse into moments of creative perfection. Vast, comprehensive and thoroughly indispensable, 'Out Of Cold Storage' is the kind of collection that reasserts your faith in the music and proves that the endless vault combing perpetrated by labels can sometimes come good. Six shades of fantastic....“ [Boomkat]
|
2006 |
€75.00 |
|
| |
same |
LP |
"Second pressing of vinyl re-issue. First official vinyl re-issue in collaboration with original band members Charles Bullen and Charles Hayward. 24 bit/96 kHz re-master from original analog tapes. Includes booklet with track notes and archival photos. Isn't it so often the case that the most innovative works of art -- the ones that break the ground where others follow -- are the ones that seem to reach only the ears of those who take those ideas and run with them? So it is with This Heat and their eponymous debut album frequently referred to as 'blue and yellow' for its ultra-minimal jacket. Within its 48 minute run time, the seeds of post-punk, avant rock, noise rock and post-rock can be found. Formed in Brixton, a multicultural, and -- at the time -- down-at-heel part of south London, This Heat were born into a music scene in rapid flux, first thanks to the punk explosion and then via new wave and its myriad offshoots into pop, rock and art-rock. But while many sought to apply punk attitude to chart-friendly sounds, This Heat were concocting some of the most experimental ideas ever committed to tape, taking influence from musique concrète, krautrock, the burgeoning industrial scene and even the dub reggae blasting out in their home borough. Their debut album had -- for the time and for the DIY scene -- an unusually long gestation, recorded in sessions between February 1976 and September 1978 in a variety of studios including their own Cold Storage, a converted cold storage room in the Acme Studios complex. Innovating throughout, they combined loops and tape manipulation with live performance and haunting vocals to a complex, dissonant whole. The band recorded everything they ever did -- including gigs -- and tracks such as 'Water' were entirely improvised in the studio. Given the difficult, abrasive, and involved nature of their sound, This Heat never found anything approaching mainstream success, but patronage by the influential Radio 1 DJ John Peel meant they reached a national audience -- whether that audience was ready for them or not. Celebrating This Heat's 40th anniversary in 2016, Modern Classics Recordings will re-issue the band's catalog -- 1979's This Heat, 1980's Health and Efficiency, and 1981's Deceit -- with full co-operation of surviving members Charles Bullen and Charles Hayward. Four decades on, the tireless efforts of This Heat's process can once again be a revelation for new audiences." [label info]
www.lightintheattic.net
„Was diese so Band so ausnehmend macht und selbst unter heutigen Maßstäben so ungemindert bestechend, ist in meinen Ohren der Thrill zwischen schwebenden Momenten, in denen die Musik die Luft anzuhalten oder garottiert zu werden scheint und sich enorme Energie aufstaut, und den unglaublich intensiven Eruptionen in Gestalt des ostinaten Drummings und sich ins Gehirn fressender Loops. Dazu kommt dann noch an besonders sublimen Momenten HAYWARDs Gesang mit einem Timbre, das einem die Kehle zuschnürt durch den wehen Ton und mit heißkalter Dringlichkeit die Schädeldecke aufstemmt....“ [Bad Alchemy #51]
“A landmark recording by one of most important British bands, full stop. this, their first release, tore up the book and laid new rules for band composition and performance. First, the music: without precedent, then, the musicians: all extraordinary, all uncompromisingly radical, then the way it was all put together: endlessly surprising, hammeringly intense, and the sound: hard, radical, crafted, rich, with complete control of the frequency range. Beautifully recorded, radically mixed, this was breathtakingly present. Stripped back to the bone but never simplified. And it hasn't aged. this is deep, complex work that creates its own world, anticipating much that was to follow in the next 15 years. A luminous release out of print (for almost a decade?). Re-mastered by the group for this re release.“ [label info]
"Earlier this year, a few months back, we made the 40th anniversary This Heat vinyl reissues our Records Of The Week. More like Records Of All Time, really. The two full-lengths (This Heat and Deceit) quickly sold out, and have been sadly absent from our racks for the past little while - but now they both have been repressed, and are available again at a slightly lower price than before (thanks to no longer being in gatefold jackets). If somehow you missed out before, we urge you to get 'em now! Our review of this one...
Oooh, at last nicely reissued on vinyl, automatic Records Of The Week!!! What more is there to say that we haven't already said (at length, below, you'll see) about these This Heat records?
Trying to explain why this record is so good is sort of like trying to explain why ice cream is so delicious.
Or maybe it's kind of like writing an introduction for the new Pynchon novel. Or telling a few jokes before Richard Pryor comes on stage. Or throwing a couple quick passes before Joe Montana comes on the field. It's that daunting, that overwhelming, that impossible.
The trio of Charles Hayward, Charles Bullen, and Gareth Williams known collectively as This Heat were one of the few bands that literally changed people's lives. Changed the way folks thought about music. I (Andee) couldn't believe music like this actually existed. It was everything I wanted to listen to before I knew that THIS was exactly what I wanted to listen to. Hit It Or Quit It publisher / rock critic / indie scenstress Jessica Hopper once wrote that she literally pee'd her pants the first time she heard This Heat. And it's not hard to see why. Without This Heat, modern, alternative, avant garde music as we know it would be a whole different beast. Post rock, math rock, avant rock are hugely indebted to the genre shattering experimentalism of This Heat. Tortoise, You Fantastic, Yona Kit, Brise Glace, Psychic Paramount, Laddio Bolocko, Radian, Village Of Savoonga, Larsen, Starfuckers, Circle, Salvatore, I Am Spoonbender - none of those bands would even exist if it weren't for This Heat, or if they still did you can bet they would sound a whole lot different. And that's just off the top of our heads, AND that's -just- bands whose sound directly reflects the influence of This Heat. Imagine how many performers and artists were influenced by This Heat but who let that influence manifest itself in not so obvious ways.
We once described This Heat as "Krautrock-ish hyper rhythmic tape-looped prog." Which comes close to succinctly describing the magical musical alchemy of This Heat, but still only scratches the surface. This is their self titled debut, originally released in 1979, which manages over the course of about 50 minutes to redefine almost all music that has come before.
The sound of This Heat is rhythm and texture and dynamics. The recording studio as instrument. Every sound and every song is based on rhythm and texture. There are hooks, and melodies, but they exist to serve the rhythm and are often born from the deft manipulation of sound and tempo. Even the most static and repetitive parts manage to sound -musical-. There are vocals, but they are minimal and otherworldly, weary and sing songy and completely mesmerizing. A droning musical accompaniment to the haunting whirs and clanging percussion in the background. This record is such a totally immersive and strangely lovely musical environment. From the machinelike Krautrock of "Horizontal Hold" to the dreamy contemplative "Twilight Furniture" with its simple chiming guitars, muted tribal percussion and keening vocals, to the bizarre affected drum workout of "24 Track Loop", it's like wandering through some alien musical world. As sky full of greys and blues, smeary drones floating gently by, haunting quavering vocals drifting below, like tendrils of smoke, the barren landscape littered with all manner of rhythmic outcroppings, harsh jagged crashes and booms, as well as low rolling thumps and stutters, off in the distance simple spare melodies float and hover, each note a glowing spot on the horizon. Absolutely and utterly overwhelmingly brilliant.
There are plenty of places on the web and in magazines to read more about the history of the band, the band members, the various releases and reissues (see elsewhere on the AQ website for reviews of past editions of various TH recordings) but none of that ultimately matters as much as the sound. And oh the glorious sound. Just take a listen to the sound samples and no words will be necessary." [Aquarius Records]
|
2016 |
€26.50 |
|
| THIS IMMORTAL COIL |
The dark Age of Love |
CD |
Noch ein COIL-Tribut Album mit Neu-Interpretationen von Klassikern der Band - aber diesmal wirklich "ganz anders": Inspiriert von seligen THIS MORTAL COIL Zeiten auf 4AD sind hier von einer illustren Scharn an "Singern & Songwritern" kammermusikalisch & folkig-instrumental geprägte Versionen entstanden, eine schöner & melancholischer als die andere...
"Members of This Immortal Coil are Yaël Naim, Bonnie Prince Billy, Yann Tiersen, Matt Elliott, DAAU, Chapelier Fou, Sylvain Chauveau, Christine Ott, Oktopus, Nightwood, David Donatien & Nicolas Jorio.
"On November the thirteenth 2004, Jhonn Balance passed away, He was, along with Peter Christopherson, the founding member of the band Coil. His brutal death marked the end of over twenty years of activism and musical genius. I have then decided to work on a project that would pay tribute to them.
I didn't want another compilation that would pile up pieces, without any link. My wish was to transpose this unique musical mood to another one, more classical and more accessible to everyone. The whole idea was to pay tribute to the music for what was beyond it, just the way Coil underlined it: "Coil is more than music".
I got my inspiration from the project This Mortal Coil, started in the eighties by the English label 4AD. Its label manager had then grouped some of its own artists together in order to play some standards of rock and pop music.
Most of those who participated in this work hardly knew Coil. My purpose wasn't to go towards those artists who had a conscious connection with the music of the group, let alone musicians who claimed to be the heirs to this seminal work. My aim was to play with the discovery and take Coil's pieces towards new interpretations, rid of all influences.
The respect and the admiration that I have for Coil's work led me to surround myself with talented artists also admired for their brilliant writing. I needed strong personalities who would show a maybe unconscious will to put all their soul, with great humility and maturity, in their participation. The interpretation of Bonnie Prince Billy being certainly the most poignant testimony.
Each artist that was hired for this project was utterly fascinated by the depth of the repertory. They have all been motivated and glad to bring their know how and share it with the others.
Members of DAAU from Anvers, the virtuoso Christine Ott, Yann Tiersen and Matt Elliott have lived productive, strong and passionate meetings, which made Yann Tiersen offer Matt Elliott to participate to his new album Dust Lane. To finish and in order to strenghten this team spirit, the whole album was mixed by Oktopus (Dälek) who knew better than anyone how to put each member of the project's contribution forward.
Peter Christopherson, who since has gone back to working on his first two groups Throbbing Gristle and P.TV, has written about the titles of This Immortal Coil: "I LOVE THEM. It is the first time somebody with musical sensibility and talent has put so much time and effort into covering Coil songs. It totally passes my "hairs on the back of your neck standing up" test for the whole running time of the album. I was awe-struck."
After four years spent managing this project, I could not ask for more."
[full label/website info]
www.icidailleurs.com
|
2009 |
€14.50 |
|
|
The World ended a long Time ago |
do-LP |
In 2009, following the death of Jhonn Balance four years earlier, This Immortal Coil's "The Dark Age Of Love" appeared as a tribute to the superb work of the British band Coil over two decades.Formed by musicians from all walks of life, the album was praised by critics but also, and most importantly, by Peter Christopherson himself!
13 years have passed and this passion for the band has never wavered. Following the death of Peter Christopherson in 2010 on the one hand, and meetings with musicians such as Massimo Pupillo (Zü), Aho Ssan and Kristoffer Rygg (Ulver) who in turn wanted to pay tribute to this gigantic band, on the other hand, Stéphane Grégoire's (founder of the label Ici d'ailleurs) desire to make a new opus took shape in 2017 with a first recording of the title "Where Are You". Just like the first one, more than 5 years will be necessary to realize this new album so that it is at the height of Coil's genius.
The Ici d'Ailleurs team is very proud to unveil This Immortal Coil's second album 'The World Ended A Long Time Ago'.That will be available on December 09, 2022 in several formats (DL / CD / 2[LP] / BOX- 3[CD] / BOX - 5[LP]) that will be revealed very soon. The artists this time are Coil lovers but without the album being a "lovers" cover, that would be the opposite of Coil's image.
Many, many thanks to Shannon Wright, David Chalmin, Matt Elliott, Christine Ott, Aho Ssan, Gaspar Claus, Aidan Baker, Ulver (Kristoffer Rygg, Ole Alexander Halstensgard, Stian Westerhus), Massimo Pupillo, Mattia Cipolli, Elisa Bognetti, Stefano Michelotti, Francesco Bolognini, Marton Csokas, Ivan Chiossone and Eric Aldéa who make this project a reality
This Immortal Coil "The World Ended A Long Time Ago » is : Shannon Wright - David Chalmin - Matt Elliott - Christine Ott - Aho Ssan - Gaspar Claus - Aidan Baker - Franck Laurino - Kristoffer Rygg - Ole Alexander Halstensgård - Stian Westerhus - Massimo Pupillo - Mattia Cipolli - Elisa Bognetti - Stefano Michelotti - Francesco Bolognini - Márton Csókás - Ivan Chiossone - Eric Aldéa
https://thisimmortalcoil.bandcamp.com/album/the-world-ended-a-long-time-ago
|
2022 |
€26.00 |
|
| |
The World ended a long Time ago (special ed.) |
3 x CD BOX |
In 2009, following the death of Jhonn Balance four years earlier, This Immortal Coil's "The Dark Age Of Love" appeared as a tribute to the superb work of the British band Coil over two decades.Formed by musicians from all walks of life, the album was praised by critics but also, and most importantly, by Peter Christopherson himself!
13 years have passed and this passion for the band has never wavered. Following the death of Peter Christopherson in 2010 on the one hand, and meetings with musicians such as Massimo Pupillo (Zü), Aho Ssan and Kristoffer Rygg (Ulver) who in turn wanted to pay tribute to this gigantic band, on the other hand, Stéphane Grégoire's (founder of the label Ici d'ailleurs) desire to make a new opus took shape in 2017 with a first recording of the title "Where Are You". Just like the first one, more than 5 years will be necessary to realize this new album so that it is at the height of Coil's genius.
The Ici d'Ailleurs team is very proud to unveil This Immortal Coil's second album 'The World Ended A Long Time Ago'.That will be available on December 09, 2022 in several formats (DL / CD / 2[LP] / BOX- 3[CD] / BOX - 5[LP]) that will be revealed very soon. The artists this time are Coil lovers but without the album being a "lovers" cover, that would be the opposite of Coil's image.
Many, many thanks to Shannon Wright, David Chalmin, Matt Elliott, Christine Ott, Aho Ssan, Gaspar Claus, Aidan Baker, Ulver (Kristoffer Rygg, Ole Alexander Halstensgard, Stian Westerhus), Massimo Pupillo, Mattia Cipolli, Elisa Bognetti, Stefano Michelotti, Francesco Bolognini, Marton Csokas, Ivan Chiossone and Eric Aldéa who make this project a reality
This Immortal Coil "The World Ended A Long Time Ago » is : Shannon Wright - David Chalmin - Matt Elliott - Christine Ott - Aho Ssan - Gaspar Claus - Aidan Baker - Franck Laurino - Kristoffer Rygg - Ole Alexander Halstensgård - Stian Westerhus - Massimo Pupillo - Mattia Cipolli - Elisa Bognetti - Stefano Michelotti - Francesco Bolognini - Márton Csókás - Ivan Chiossone - Eric Aldéa
https://thisimmortalcoil.bandcamp.com/album/the-world-ended-a-long-time-ago
|
2022 |
€26.00 |
|
| THIS MORTAL COIL |
Blood |
CD |
Third and last album from the 4AD-supergroup.
"This group was essentially the creation of Ivo Watts-Russell, the co-owner of 4AD Records, a highly successful Wandsworth, London-based independent label. This Mortal Coil was actually a collaboration of musicians recording in various permutations, overseen and directed by Watts-Russell. The first single, an epic cover version of Tim Buckley 's 'Song To The Siren', was originally intended as a b-side. However, bolstered by the considerable talents of Robin Guthrie and Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins), it saw its own release and became a near-permanent fixture in the independent charts as a result. The album that followed set the pattern for the occasional outings to come.(...)
Featuring a selection of artists from the 4AD roster plus various outsiders, the albums included several cover versions of works by Watts-Russell's favourite songwriters (Buckley, Alex Chilton, Roy Harper, Gene Clark and Syd Barrett )." [unknown source]
|
1991 |
€15.50 |
|
| THISQUIETARMY + YELLOW6 |
Death |
LP |
" “DEATH” presents a lonely journey of great intensity across the desert, facing inner and external elements, fatally leading to an escape for salvation. The journey is split into three tracks: “Sand” discovers the tough, arid and suffocating desert, as attractive as it is frightening, it surrounds you completely without compromise and there is no turning back. “Furnace” describes the beginning of the blistering heat and the dusty pilgrimage; the rocky landscape is mirrored by a great loneliness in which is revealed our inner demons, ready to engage a battle without mercy against your own soul. “Salt” depicts the comatose state of being at the tail end of the journey, disoriented and dehydrated, lost within psychedelic hallucinations, physically fighting death with little of what is left of your mind. Mastered by Fear Falls Burning.
180g vinyl with free download coupon (no CD, unfortunately) 80 black / 320 gold." [label info]
www.bassesfrequences.org
|
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
| THO-SO-AA |
Absorb |
CD |
Viele haben darauf gewartet, jetzt ist sie draußen. THO-SO-AA lassen sich viel Zeit, bis neue Aufnahmen das Licht der Welt erblicken, und das hört man: wohlüberlegt konstruierte, sich gemächlich im Raum ausbreitende Elektronik – überraschenderweise tönt die ABSORB viel rhythmischer als die beiden Vorgänger, aber das stört nicht im geringsten. Subtil, schwelend, isolationistisch, und doch voller Sehnsucht tönt dieser „slow rhythmic ambient“ und hinterläßt emotionale „Imprintings“..
[Drone Rec. info 2001]
“Now the third part of THO-SO-AA ´s sound creations is finished and to be released. ABSORB is the consequent result of a very interesting development in the work of this artist. The 3rd THO-SO-AA CD shows a lot of varitions in the soundworld of this ambient project. Of course you will hear the typical dark ambient sounds, but you can also listen to ritual soundcreations and also rhythmical tracks and you can say they are danceable.” [taken from the label press-release].
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Identify |
CD |
"We are proud to announce the long awaited ambient-masterpiece identify by Tho-So-Aa. After 7 years of development Tho-So-aa was finally ready to present this release. This is the german outfit most complex and dense album. Some of the tracks may show you with threatening collages and experimental loops, how close the difference between freedom and prison is. Other tracks are surrounded by melancholic soundscapes and dark bass-drones inspired by desperation and totally sadness. In the past years Lutz Rach spent working with sounds to create this thick layers and drones that have never surfaced in his music before. This is no longer pure dark ambient music, it is enriched by industrial sounds experimental use of classical instruments voice samples and an overall laying cry against isolation. The dark soundscapes expose a very cynical point of view on our sick society, it decribes the unknown pressure to identify with yourself! The wait was worth it, with this THO-SO-AA delivers his to date masterpiece. After 49 minutes, Identify lets you alone in your silly live, with the cognition: You are 75% dead. IDENTIFY NOW!" [label info]
www.tesco-germany.com
|
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
| THOROFON |
Gladio |
LP |
gladio' offers a diversified and contemporary collection of minimal electro pop tunes, industrial power electronics and retro-body beats. the atmospheric spectrum ranges from icy, clinical disturbance to aggressive, forcing blasts, drilling the message of the forceful lyrics straight to the heart.
'gladio' is about the inner pain and desires, all the sinister thoughts within the state of enforced self-isolation and the fear of wounds that will possibly endure. the acceptable impulse of interaction in contrast with an involuntarily defense mechanism. there is a time, where i reach out my hand and you take the knife.
thorofon is loaded with angst-pop, haunting synth lines from mighty analogue devices and rhythmic core. the ingredients of vintage industrial music, metallic percussion and the remarkable psychotic voice are united in a most perfect way - a trademark thorofon. this is dystopian music for empty dancefloors.
https://ant-zen.bandcamp.com/album/gladio
colourless clear 12" vinyl & special vintage cardboard sleeve. limited edition of 200 copies incl. digital download-code |
2022 |
€25.00 |
|
| THROBBING GRISTLE |
The Second Annual Report |
do-CD |
"Nach 30 Jahren sind THROBBING GRISTLE zurück auf ihrem eigenen Label Industrial Records. Und zur Feier dessen erscheinen die ersten fünf THROBBING GRISTLE Alben auf Vinyl und CD. Jedes Album wurde mit Liebe von den Digitaltransfers der ersten Analogtapes neu gemastert. Jede der CD Special Editions erscheint als Gatefold Sleeve mit restauriertem Originalartwork und einem integrierten 8-seitigen Booklet. Jede CD Special Edition wartet außerdem noch mit einer exklusiven Bonus-CD mit Material aus dem Jahr des Originalreleases auf wie z.B. Livetracks und neu gemasterte Singles. Die Vinyleditionen haben ein großformatiges 8-seitiges Booklet mit THROBBING GRISTLE Material mit bisher unveröffentlichten Photos. Jedes Vinyl ist auf 2000 Stück limitiert. Die Tracklisten von CD und Vinyl sind gleich. Das "Greatest Hits" CD-Special verfügt überdies noch über zwei bisher unveröffentlichte THROBBING GRISTLE Mixe aus den 80er Jahren. Die Vinyle und CDs werden in wöchentlichem Abstand veröffentlicht werden.
On 26th September 2011 IR will make the following titles available as part of a 'TG Time Capsule' CD series of reissues. Each title has been remastered by Chris Carter and comes packaged for the first time in the digi-pak format to better represent their original IR LP artwork. Each release in this 'Time Capsule' series, comes with an additional disc of selected TG live performances culled from our TG24 archive recordings. They are selected to represent TG live performances specific to the original release year of each album." [label info]
www.industrial-records.com
|
2011 |
€18.50 |
|
|
20 Jazz Funk Greats |
do-CD |
"Originally released in 1979, 20 Jazz Funk Greats is Throbbing Gristle's pop-influenced masterwork. It's hard to believe the beautiful, conventionally-attractive Cosey Fanni Tutti on this album's front cover previously gave herself milk and blood enemas in front of a live audience. Additionally, the song "Hot On The Heels Of Love" is far removed from the dissonant nihilism of the previous TG albums. It's a sleek, minimal synth-pop song that foreshadows Tutti's later work as Chris & Cosey. Still, 20 Jazz Funk Greats is underpinned by a profound distance from accessibility. The breezy luminosity of "Persuasion" and "Six Six Sixties" is still marked with casual bits of distortion and absurdism. Preceding dark synth-pop (and everything else), TG's third album is far ahead of its time and still sounds as relevant as ever. The CD version includes a bonus CD of live recordings, including two versions of the manic classic, "Discipline." The 8-page full-color book includes visual ephemera and previously-unpublished photographs. Cover artwork has been painstakingly restored from the original source material." [label info]
www.industrial-records.com
|
2011 |
€18.50 |
|
| |
Mutant T.G. |
CD |
https://throbbinggristle.bandcamp.com/album/mutant-tg
"Mutant TG, Throbbing Gristle’s first ever collection of remixes available again on CD via NovaMute/Mute.
In many respects Throbbing Gristle as artists, self-promoters, marketeers, label owners and music makers broke the mould on every level and decentralised the whole music making process into their own hands. It therefore came as no surprise when some of the most notable figures in electronic dance music jumped at the chance to re-work some classic TG catalogue. The record was originally released on Mute’s sub-label NovaMute in 2004, and saw reworks from DJ and producer Carl Craig, electronic duo Two Lone Swordsmen (Andrew Weatherall and Keith Tenniswood), Basement Jaxx’s Simon Ratcliffe, electronic post-industrial duo Motor (Mr Nô and Bryan Black), as well as TG’s very own Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti.
Formed in 1975 from the ashes of performance art troupe/media guerrilla cell Coum Transmissions, Throbbing Gristle consisted of Genesis P-Orridge (1950 – 2020), Cosey Fanni Tutti, Chris Carter and Peter Christopherson (1955 – 2010). During their most active period of 1975 – 1981, TG fully delivered on punk’s failed promise to explore extreme culture as a way of sabotaging systems of control, releasing seminal records such as The Second Annual Report Of Throbbing Gristle (1977), D.O.A The Third And Final Report Of Throbbing Gristle (1978), 20 Jazz Funk Greats (1979) and more. After years of pursuing different projects, the band reformed in 2004, performing several concerts and releasing projects such as TG Now (2004), Mutant TG and Part Two: The Endless Not (2007) before disbanding for good in 2010."
################
"The legendary 2004 set of TG remixes by Carl Craig, Carter Tutti, Motor, Basement Jaxx’s Smon Ratcliffe, and Two Lone Swordsmen receives its 20th anniversary flowers.
‘Mutant’ first emerged during a dry period for the long-defunct industrial musick pioneers to provide contemporary context for their late ’70s/early ‘80s prototypes of textured, rhythm-driven electronics. Issued in tandem with the ‘TG Now’ 12” - their first release of original material ft. the original line-up, since 1982 - the ‘Mutant’ session would skool those who came thru with the early ‘00s whole “electroclash” wave to that sound’s origins, whilst also reframing their work for modern ‘floors for those old enough to join the dots.
Fair to say that Carl Craig’s re-version of ‘Hot on the Heels of Love’ is now a stone cold classic, trimming the original to a sleek Detroit aerodynamism but still sizzling with the grit of Chris Carter’s custom-built kit in the mix, and of course Cosey’s slinky whispers and its chiming hooks, while his take on ’Still Walking’ is resplendent in its cold metallic churn. Decades later, Carter Tutti’s own mix of the creepy as fuck ‘Hamburger Lady’ is marginally less mucky, more oiled up for the darkroom, and still makes us need a wash after rinsing, next to the fetish club canter of their spliced remix for ‘HotHeelsUnited’
Perhaps one of the set’s biggest surprises was the inclusion of Simo nRatcliffe, at a late peak of his Basement Jaxx prowess, dialling up the sexiness of ‘Hot on the Heels of Love’ with hot flushes of MDMA-trigger string pads, whereas french EBM type Motor signalled the sound’s relevance to early-mid ‘00s electro in his spark-spitting remix of ‘Persuasion’, and Andy Weatherall & Keith Tenniswood’s TLS remix of ‘United’ gives it some Rotters Golf Club warpage." [Boomkat]
|
2023 |
€16.00 |
|
| THU20 |
Live in Groningen |
CD |
Mitschnitt eines fantastischen Konzerts (August 2000) der fast schon legendären THU20 - ein Projekt von JOS SMOLDERS, PETER DUIMELINKS, ROEL MEELKOP. Sehr subtile Geräuschmusik, zwischen sehr direkter & konkreter Collage & eher sanften Drone- & Microsounds, immer spannend und in höchster Konzentration vollendet. Letzte Kopien dieses Releases zum Sonderpreis !
"Dutch electro-acoustic ensemble THU20 is the co-operation between Roel Meelkop, Peter Duimelinks, Sjac van Bussel and Ios Smolders. The strength varies, their releases are limited and live shows rare. Not a steady thing this THU to say the least.. Despite all of this, all four have firm ideas about music and performances. THU has a unique sound, established through numerous experiments in recording and several collaborations (they've worked on hearplays, spoken word projects, highly conceptual music-making and so on), but still is not a defined thing.. and that's good. The THU20 philosophy is one which fits perfectly with our own and obviously Mixer is very proud to release this cd. "Live in Groningen" is an edited version of a performance they did during the CASA ELECTRONICA festival high up north in the Netherlands. The hearplay-like character of their set/ music is very much imaginative and holds a lot of anekdotal, but still fairly abstract elements. The sound of THU20 is a multi-layered object, compiled of numerous sonic happenings, going through the complete range of audible sound and certainly not in a lineair way. From highly digital to dusty acoustics, from pleasantly calm to disturbingly hectic. It is exactly this tension and variation which keeps you tuned and fascinated. The way basic elements like repetition, tonal differences and time-elapse are used is truly original and surprising. Things move around completely free, accessible for one's own thoughts and interpetation, adding to the constantly changing texture. THU20 dashes around sound, though all is embedded in a very gentle stream of subtle tones and little sound-events, which makes this work perfectly suitable for extended and intense listening... THU20 has released previously on Staalplaat, Flenix and Midas Music." [label info]
|
2000 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Vroeg Werk |
do-CD |
"First anthology of legendary dutch electroacoustic group of musicians whose names can be definitely placed in range of true underground stars and passionary pushers of contemporary experimental music scene. First CD in this double album is compiled from studio works, unreleased or taken from rare compilations, second CD gathers the best concert recordings. Release date is 29th December 2012. Limited edition of 500 copies in jewelcase." [label info]
www.monochromevision.ru
"Sometime in the early '80s, a bunch of young Dutchmen formed a couple of post-punk bands that nobody remembers anymore; but on one Thursday that happened to be the 20th of some month, one of those bands abandoned their rhythms entirely and splattered out a drone-tape and synth-noise set that had the audience freaking out. The punk structures were scrapped entirely and THU20 was stuck onto this project as the new name. Get it? The Dutchmen of THU20 included Jac Van Bussel, Peter Duimelinks, Roel Meelkop, Jos Smolders, and Guido Doesborg (later replaced by the ubiquitous Frans De Waard). The mid to late '80s proved to be a highly prolific time for THU20, although the project continues on to this day at a much more restrained pace. The ideas that went into THU20 transitioned from Joy Division into Cabaret Voltaire & Throbbing Gristle quickly arriving at a DIY punk form of musique concrete and electro-acoustic experimentation. Such was a similar trajectory for the German ensemble P16.D4, albeit towards even more unconventional goals. In the studio, THU20's work could be austere and brutalist in the obfuscated collages and disjointed slabs of noise; but the live version of THU20 proved to be far more shambolic, dynamically expressive, and rewardingly chaotic. Vroeg Werk is a diverse collection that spans both of these modes of operation, with the second of these two discs being entirely live recordings and the first culling from the dustbin of the cassette culture. The studio material found on disc one has some semblances of the more abstracted tape work found on Einsturzende Neubauten's Drawings Of O.T sans Blixa, with the opening track "5720" being particularly choice. But, the live material is really where THU20 shine, grafting gritty electro-acoustic noise sourced from voice, tape, synth, feedback, pedals, shortwave, power tools, scrap metal, and who knows what else onto thin rhythmic spines of morse code blips, overblown tape loops, and primitive drum machinations. Effectively, THU20 would land somewhere between the panzer bleakness of MB and the viral shredding of Nocturnal Emissions. Not a bad place to be..." [Aquarius Rec.]
"And then there is 'Vroeg Werk' by THU20. Now I am the last person to review that, you may claim, right so, but I really don't have that much to do with it. By accident I was present at two concerts, and added vocals (?) to one and a synth to the other, which makes a total of five out of thirty-one pieces. This double CD reflects the early works of THU20, an original five piece with Jos Smolders, Peter Duimelinks, Jac van Bussel, Roel Meelkop and, in these early years, Guido Doesborg. Started out by Doesburg and Van Bussel as a sideline project to Club Rialto, they experimented in their early years with feedback, sample delay pedal boxes, a synth, a rhythm machine and then slowly something such as 'composition' came in, along with the other three members. THU20 were part of the big cassette scene (see also the P16.D4 of two weeks ago), sending out their pieces to compilations. The first discs collects these in chronological order (which is commendable, but it means it's doesn't start out with the best tracks), ending with their twenty minute concert in Bordeaux from 1989 (originally released as a split LP with Merzbow). The whole of the second CD has concert recordings of the years before that, 1986-1989, plus one from 1992. Here we find THU20 improvising freely with electronics, turntables, tapes, synthesizer and sometimes, but not always, guided by a backing tape and a loose notion of a graphic score. Many of these pieces are well-known to me, following the band from their very early days, but boy, they sound great here. The muffled sound of the cassettes is complete washed away and all of these piece shine like diamonds. You could argue if 150 minutes is a bit much, wether the chronological order is a great idea, but this is some truly exciting music. It combines the industrial music of say 1986 (feedback, noise) with the more rough edged notion of musique concrete, electro-acoustic, and it follows this band to find their own way in this. Many of their previous releases are hard to find these days ('Eerste Schijf', 'Tweede Schijf', 'Derde Schijf' or 'Elfde Uni'), and surely here's a band who deserved their own big box set. That is not likely to happen, but this 'small' (what is small?) box set is worth every penny. And still kicking around, THU20 works on a very irregular basis in 2013, in a slightly different line up. Who would have guessed?" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€16.50 |
|
| THUJA |
same |
LP |
"A brand new vinyl only full length from aQ beloved ambient improvised free rock explorers Thuja. The core group is all present, Loren Chasse, Glenn Donaldson, Steven R. Smith and Rob Reger, joined for these sessions by Thuja satellite members: Greg Bianchini, Keith Evans, Bryan DeRoo and former aQ mailorder mistress Christine Boepple. Collected from various live performances, these tracks find Thuja setting up in various venues around the Bay Area, and
transforming each location, at least briefly, into a forest glade, or a darkened wood, or a fog shrouded seashore, using traditional
instruments as well as sticks and stones and other found objects to conjure up ghostlike soundscapes , each track, every performance, a
slow burning sprawl of humid and humming minimalism.
Almost the entirety of the A side is taken up by an epic stretch of alchemical minimalism, a muted series of washed out melodies, of gentle scrapes and distant shimmers, various notes and chords expressed in long streaks, the guitar lines unfurling lazily, the band eventually coalesce into a glistening high end crescendo, suddenly reminding us of Sunroof! with their upper register ur-drone skree, but here that skree is more muted and muddied, a mournful keening, before the band elves back into a more minimal moonlit crawl. Disembodied slowed down riffs are draped over whispered whirs, while the band lurk in the shadows, letting tiny bits of light spill out, creating barely there sonic patterns, and dusty dreamlike song skeletons.
The B side is even more understated, each track a brief soundscape, exploring dark dusty corners, shuffling through a blanket of dead leaves, the band barely there at all. Almost like they set up their instruments and just stood there, letting the wind and the wildlife create the sounds. When the music does materialize, and take more solid form, the guitars weave themselves into delicate little
tangles, drifting over deep resonant swells, all around sounds betray the environment, but become inexorable parts of the organic sound being created, snippets of conversation, voices, footsteps, alongside subtle bits of percussive thump, warbly distant melodies, a deep dark
ambience, a gorgeously subtle sound that manages to be quietly propulsive even as it seems to hover motionless.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!!" [Aquarius Records review]
label-website: www.importantrecords.com
|
2008 |
€15.50 |
|
| |
Hills |
LP |
Thuja's 2002 album, Hills, emerged out of a particularly productive phase for the loose assemblage of musicians known as the Jewelled Antler Collective. Glenn Donaldson and Loren Chasse, who had recently formed Thuja alongside Steven R. Smith and Rob Reger, were dialling down the volume, moving away from the instrumental rock interludes of previous groups like Mirza, and exploring more rugged terrain - laminal improvisation, wistful wide-eyed folk songs, field recordings and home-recorded electro-acoustics. By 2002, Jewelled Antler had developed a certain notoriety for unstintingly releasing excellent, small-run CD-R releases,. Thuja's albums had been picked up by Craig Stewart's visionary Emperor Jones imprint, but Hills was released on a small-scale American CD-R label, Last Visible Dog, run by Chris Moon. One of four albums (and two more mini-CDs) Thuja released that year, it's a startling document, a collective of eviscerated dream tones and cavernous psychoacoustics. The unforced, luxuriant development of Thuja's music - a misty fold of keyboard drones, tinkling piano, clusters of percussives, shuttling and scrabbling strings and other things - often asks for metaphor from the natural world. But this is also distinctly city-based music, as Donaldson described it: "insular warehouse music from a still affordable city, before the internet dominated everything. No intention of getting noticed or 'streamed', just making sounds for the sake of it. A rejection of rock things: clubs, structure, volume." The music on Hills and other, loosely contemporaneous releases often played on broken instruments and non-instruments, with small, sensual details captured by contact mics, was "all improvised," Donaldson recalls, "but no 'jamming' or soloing [was] allowed, just a slow evolution towards a mood." In that respect, Thuja can lay claim to a heritage of all-in-one, group-mind improvisation that arcs back to AMM and Musica Elettronica Viva, but also connects with other, less immediately recognisable precursors - there are shades here of groups like Biota, or composer Sofia Gubaidulina's improvisatory outfit Astreja. There's a relaxed yet questing folksiness too.
https://rosehobart.bandcamp.com/album/hills
|
2019 |
€20.50 |
|
| TICKMAYER, STEVAN KOVACS |
Cold Peace Counterpoints |
CD |
"A suite of fiendishly complex compositions for mixed real and virtual resources. Bob Drake, Djorge Delibasic, Pegja Milosavljevic and Chris Cutler make appearances - playing electric guitar, bass, drums and virtuoso violin between them, but mainly it is Stevan who plays all kinds of keyboards, strings, double bass, zither, samples and software. Three thoroughly through-composed and finely articulated pieces make up this very concentrated suite: Concerto Grosso (for keyboards, string instruments and CPU), The Cold Peace Counterpoints and Five Bagatelles for a Polyhsitor. Those familiar with Tickmayer's earlier recordings, or the Science Group, will have some idea of what to expect - a rare commingling of high European art music (Tickmayer studied with both Gyšrgy Kurtˆg and Louis Andriessen), various East European folk musics, experimental rock, post rock and computer assisted electronic composition. These are intense, emotionally and philosophically driven pieces that demand attention, and reward it when given." [label notes] |
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| TIDAL / CHAOS AS SHELTER / IGOR KRUTOGOLOV |
Ingathering of exiles |
CD |
Sehr fruchtbare Zusammenarbeit des US-Minimal-Drone-Projekts TIDAL mit den apokalyptisch-sakralen CHAOS AS SHELTER und dem ebenfalls aus Israel stammenden Experimentalmusiker IGOR KRUTOGOLOW, die hier eine unheilvolle und schwermütige Atmosphäre heraufbeschwören: bedrohlich–symphonische Drones, pathetische Klagegesänge, tief-eruptive Soundschwälle, schwelende feedbacks, elektronische Sounds und akustische Instrumente oder Soundquellen... ein bedrückend intensiverTrip ins sakrale Herz der Dunkelheit, der sich hier symbolisch auf das biblisch-messianische Heilsversprechen bezieht..
„Tidal is David Brownstead, previously known for his harsh noise project 666 Volt Battery Noise. Now focusing on minimal ambient music, David has released CDs under the name Tidal on Alluvial Recordings and just recently on Manifold Records. "The Four Rivers" on Alluvial, is the first installment in what is to be a trilogy dedicated to and inspired by Mishima. "Golem And Man" on A Pyrrhic Victory/Manifold is his latest release which was released in October 2002. The second installment of the Mishima trilogy is in the works as well as other releases and collaborations.
Conceived in 1999, Vadim Gusis (Chaos as Shelter) is Israel's premier solo composer of Soundscape, Neo-Folk, Ambient Drone music...He currently has three CDr releases, one 3" CDr, 2 CDs, a double CD and a 7" record in his discography. He works out of New Jerusalem Studio.
Igor Krutogolov is an experimental multi-instrumentalist (including cello, piano and throat singing) based in Jaffa, Israel. He is a frequent contributor to Chaos As Shelter as well as various other projects in genres ranging from ambient to improvisation to harsh noise. His solo work has appeared on various compilations and he is currently working on upcoming solo and collaborative releases. Historically "The Ingathering of Exiles" is when, in the Messianic age, all Jewish people, including the Ten Lost Tribes, would gather from their exile around the world to Israel. The Ground Fault Recordings CD, "Ingathering of Exiles" is an idea that explores the shared
heritage of the three collaborators.” [label description]
|
2003 |
€7.00 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS |
Biotop |
CD |
Zweiter re-release in der Serie von Wiederveröffentlichungen des TIETCHENschen Oeuvres – BIOTOP erschien 1981 und ist pure analoge Elektro-Pop-Musik mit nicht zu vernachlässigem Obskur-Faktor, klingt nach 80ern wie irgendwas !
„Second in the rerelease series presenting the first of four albums that were issued by Sky Music in the early 80's. Incl. 2 unreleased bonus tracks. 1000 copies with poster booklet in jewel case. Playing time: 51:34 min.” [press release]
“ With the release of this album, a 3 year interlude began which was dominated by the use of Roland 'CompuRhythm' drum-machine. In addition, I discovered new sounds and playing possibilities on the Moog which considerably expanded my creative armoury. I also added a conceptual self-limitation: no track should be more than four minutes long. In the end, the majority of the pieces on the first two Sky albums actually clocked in at under three minutes each. In the opinion of my musical mentor Okko Bekker, their sparseness and short lenght evoked the impression of radio time-signals (Radio-Zeitzeichen), a form of acoustic station identification which was
already obsolete by then. This reference provided me with the name for my accompanying orchestra, which consisted solely of musicians from the experimental music scene in Hamburg. Because of the total absence of bass lines the commercial potential of the pieces was virtually non-existant. The album was recorded on an 8-track Otari tape-machine. The Eventide digital harmonizer and the Ursa Major 'Space Station' reverb-machine also played a part. All of the pieces were recorded in 1980. They were not commissioned by any label, the contact with Sky Records only happening in 1981. The two bonus tracks from 1979 mark a decisive break with previous work ('Nachtstücke'). 'Futurum Drei' was recorded between 6th and 9th of July 1979. 'Fast Food' came three weeks later. While the first of the pair does not totally make the break with the old way of working, the second points clearly into a new direction.
I would particularly like to thank Günter Körber (Sky Records) for his kind permission to re-release 'Biotop' and the three other Sky albums, and for allowing me to use the orignal labels in facsimile.” [from the liner notes - Asmus Tietchens]
|
2003 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Geboren um zu dienen |
CD |
“8th part in the ongoing re-release series of all early Tietchens albums between 1980—1991. Described by Tietchens himself as his «Industrial» album, «Geboren, um zu Dienen» was originally released on the spanish ESPLENDOR GEOMETRICO label in 1986. The CD version incl. three unreleased bonus tracks from the same period and comes with a full colour fold-out booklet incl. liner notes by Tietchens himself.” [label info]
„If I'd ever recorded an «Industrial» solo album, it must be «GEBOREN, UM ZU DIENEN». Although I obviously wasn't one of the inventors of «Industrial Music», I clearly felt an affinity to it. So I tried to learn my lessons well adding my own musical aspects to the general apocalyptic noises of this genre. My main concern was to dive deep into the canonical topics of fear, hysteria, claustrophobia, machine and threat. The end was imminent as hundreds of Pershings and SS20 all pointed in the direction of the march up area called West Germany, the seals of the read buttons were already broken. Even the conventional alternative — a tank war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact — sounded like utter apocalypse. Would we really have welcomed our brothers from the east with open arms? This particular background has to be seen as the main influence on GEBOREN, UM ZU DIENEN. I believe that many of my colleagues also recording «Industrial» albums felt the same at that time. IF there would have been a «Bang» it — without doubt — would have been global.
Fear, emptiness and the futility of the aesthetical, were not alien to me, but until then I moved inside a carefully tested zone which was defined by a spectrum of experimental forms. GEBOREN, UM ZU DIENEN was an experiment in itself which first fruits I set free immediately. As if I'd to work under a deadline I recorded the tracks hastily, not wasting much thoughts about dynamics, duration, precision and construction. In the same way I resolutely did rough mixes of the seperate tracks of the pieces: what sounded dirty stayed dirty. Essentially the raw and the unsculptured were a part of the dogma of «Industrial». The original nine tracks plus five more (three which appear as Bonustracks on this CD) all developed in a very short period of time. The album was released on the spanish «Esplendor Geometrico» label, run by Andres Noarbe, in the same year. Originally a tape only label EG released a series of radical albums during the mid 80's, also albums by the «Industrial» group of the same name, many which are much sought after items today. Of course only 500 copies of the album were pressed, which still meant a considerable financial risk given the small circle of potentionally interested listeners. But the enthusiasm and dedication of everyone involved lead to a self-evident «Nevertheless».
Looking back at these years it has to be noted that I established a daring attitude then, which luckily developed positively and stayed with me until today. The fact that a german attorneys general confiscated a small number of the LP in 1990 deeming the cover as being immoral («A Call for abortion»), was registered with satisfaction. A case like this corresponds with the mark of quality granted by the «Stiftung Warentest». Go on Germany! “ [Asmus Tietchens, 2006]
Editorial notes: The original masters of all the pieces incl. the bonus tracks are in perfect condition and were used 1:1 for the transfer onto CD. Only the fade-out at the end of «Mein erstes Erlebnis» was slightly corrected.
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Litia |
CD |
“Fifth part in the ongoing rerelease series of all early vinyl albums by Tietchens on CD. This one from 1983 marks the end of his Sky 'phase' and was the last to feature his very own version of 'Synthesizer Pop Music' for some time (he'd only return to this music with the release of his HEMATIC SUNSETS albums in the late 1990's). The CD also feat. the rare 'Rattenheu' 10inch only release plus one unreleased archive track and comes in a transparent jewel-case with full colour poster booklet feat. a reproduction of the original cover art and extra photos. Edition of 1000 copies. Total playing time: 63:01 min.” [press release]
“The years 1982 and 1983 proved to be a time of extreme musical schizophrenia for me. On the one hand I could not let go of the rhythmic synthie-etudes. On the other, and at the same time, I had already turned to 'Industrial Music'. The latter manifested itself in the release of four cassettes between 1981-1983.
But for one last time I was intrigued by some new gadgets. I felt that with their help I could take my rhythmic work much further: namely, one of the first digital, programmed rythmn machines (MFB521) and the Korg Polysix polyphonic synthesizer. With the help of these two machines I was able to create structures, I simply could not make with the other machines available at the time. But while working on LITIA, I reflected on the growing imbalance between my own creative input and the possibilities of the factory sounds (presets, sequencer, sound colours, ect.), with the result that my early fascination with these gradually disappeared and a more
thoughtful attitude emerged. More and more I was impressed by the machines but less and less was my own creativity involved. It was high time for me to re-consider and to come to terms with this situation with regard to my own view of human dignity.
Nevertheless, I wanted one more album to be released on Sky, and with the above instruments and an even more complex studio set-up it was recorded in no time. This had to be the finale, though. The bonus tracks 11-15 on this CD, which belong to the LITIA series, and which were released in 1996 as a 10inch entitled "Rattenheu", are to be viewed more as a kind of musical joke, one which would only be heard again at the Aroma Club in 1998. With the issuing of LITIA a four-year release period reached its end, a period which was marked by the use rhythmic and harmonic preset sounds and by flashy-coloured LP sleeves.
The above-mentioned and long-ago completed aesthetic shift to an utterly different musical attitude, coupled with a partial throw-back to musical experiences of the late 1960's, would be made public in the album releases which followed. Again, I would like to give my warm thanks to Günter Körber (Sky Records) for his friendly co-operation. Take care, Günter!” [Asmus Tietchens, 2004]
|
2004 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Spät-Europa |
CD |
Nummer Drei der Re-Release-Orgie auf dem feinen Bremer Label. SPÄT-EUROPA ist eines der vier frühen SKY Records Alben und beinhaltet 20 Miniaturen mit unnachahmlichen frühachtziger analog-Elektronik-Sounds...
“Part Three in the ongoing rerelease series of all early vinyl albums from 1980 - 1991, this is Tietchens second album for SKY Records recorded in 1981 documenting his search for his own style of'pop music'. Edition of 1000 copies in jewel case with poster booklet feat. the original cover artwork.
Liner notes:
Asmus Tietchens 'Spät-Europa' (Sky Records 070) 1981
Even more consistently than on 'Biotop' I kept all of the tracks on this album deliberately short. Originally, all of them were supposed to be exactly two minutes in length but, back then, without a computer, this was not really possible and the idea could not be carried ot precisely. Nonetheless, this strict concept gave the listener a total of twenty miniatures, four more than on 'Biotop'. The technical standard of the studio had improved rapidly. It was possible for me to indulge in as many tracks as I wanted ! However, these two aspects presented me with a creative problem: I either had to respond in a very appropriate way, or would end up producing somewhat useless 'filler' material. The first I was not yet capable of and the second would have been embarrassing. 'The shoemaker should stick to his last'! I decided to stay with a maximum of eight tracks as this would give me no problems at all. New synthesizers (Polymoog, ect.) and an enlarged array of additional equipment (EMS Vocoder, Ring Modulator, Sampler, ect.) forced me to learn a lot of new things, but I worked my way through it all quickly and thoroughly. The results found their way into the music on this album. The jubilant sound of 'Schöne Dritte Welt' was created by the late Andreas Hoffmann, a.k.a. C.V. Liquidsky. Parallel with this album I worked on a series with the working title of 'Experimentelle Geselligkeit', a string of musical sketches which I was wanting to use with my regular electronic equipment. I then realised that the relative inflexibility of the rythmn machine made it impossible to transform these sketches into complete works. The rythmic patterns proved to be incompatible. As a result, that work came to a halt, leaving the sketches unreleased. Two of them are included as bonus tracks on this CD. 'Soirèe' and 'Zum Tee bei Frau Hilde' were intended, in a re-arranged form, to be the basis of an album with the previously mentioned title of 'Experimentelle Geselligkeit'. The series was never completed, and the fragments were put aside. Only thirteen years later, when the 'Aroma Club' opened its doors, did I return to the idea. I would particularly like to thank Günter Körber of Sky Records for his permission to re-release 'Spät-Europa' and the other three Sky albums, and to use the LP labels in facsimile.” [press release]
|
2004 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Notturno |
CD |
Schon die 10te CD in der DIE STADT-Reihe mit Wieder-veröffentlichungen früher TIETCHENS-Werke. NOTTURNO erschien im Original 1987 und schaffte eine ganze eigene, verstörende "Alien"-Atmosphäre, recht schroff & konkret mit viel verfremdeten Klaviermaterial und wieder bemerkenswerten Titeln wie "Halbe Tanzmusik" - wie auch "Formen letzter Hausmusik" eines der frühen Meisterwerke auf denen sich der hier schon unverkennbare TIETCHENS-Stil deutlich niederschlug.
"Tenth part in the ongoing re-release series of all early Tietchens albums between 1980-1991. Notturno was originally released by Spanish label Discos Esplendor Geometrico in 1987 and also by Barooni on CD in 1992. Remastered version in a first edition of 600 copies in jewel case with full color artwork and poster booklet also featuring the original front and back cover. By the time Studie für Klavier (Formen Letzter Hausmusik, DS84) was released, it actually wasn't my first attempt to use the piano as a sound source. Various pre-studies came before this, but all which either were not characterized as such in their title or simply didn't make it onto record. I was intrigued by the great range of sounds it offers in general, but also by the multiple possibilities to produce sounds inside of the piano. Of course I was fully aware that these techniques had already been used by other composers like Henry Cowell and John Cage in the past. Not only could I make use of a grand piano in 1986, I also had the technical equipment at hand which didn't leave nothing to be desired. I wasn't quite precise calling these pieces Studien für Klavier (Piano) by the way, as I was actually using a flügel (grand piano). I began preparing the strings in an almost old fashioned way, also producing sounds with unusual aids (electric gastr beater, wire brush, coins and others). Then in another step, with the help of the studio, I carefully started working on the recorded sounds. While doing this, I wasn't even afraid of using some good old avant-garde tricks, by the way. But I won't tell. The fact that Notturno was released by an industrial label, shows how much the interest in unusual electro-acoustic music had grown at the time. In fact, Notturno is nothing less than an industrial album. To my own delight and to the delight of the listeners as well, I used techniques which were introduced in the field of new music since several years already. As a result, Notturno can be seen as a cross between musical styles. On one hand it sounds academic, but in fact it isn't. But the question whether this was U (popular) or E (serious) was obsolete anyway, as electro-acoustic experiments didn't exclusively belong to the circle of serious composers anymore. Of course I wasn't the first or only non-academic composer who produced music, which couldn't be categorized easily then, and maybe even still not until today. As a result, the exchange of these new aesthetic strategies with other musicians and listeners in the mid-'80s, further encouraged the musicians to produce such music, and as a result, labels such as Discos Esplendor Geometrico could be sure to sell a small edition of 500 copies in a fairly short time. The ears had opened up for this genre-crossing music and the heads were ready to accept. We had succeeded breaking new ground." [label info / liner notes]
"....Following 'Formen Letzter Hausmusik' and 'Hydrophonie', 'Notturno' was the third 'serious' attempt in composing more serious electro-acoustic music, and Tietchens limits himself to using the (grand) piano. In a good tradition, say starting with Cage's prepared piano, Tietchens treats the inside and outside of the piano with objects, like an electric gastr beater, wire brush, coins and others, but unlike Cage it's for Tietchens only a starting point. The recordings are processed in the studio, in no doubt true Tietchens style. Looping the sounds around, filtering through sound effects and synthesizers, after which they finally find their form in neatly constructed pieces of music. To use loops as to the extent that Tietchens does is something that sets him aside from the regular musique concrete composers. At the time for many, yours truly included, this was the first introduction to the more academic music, while now, we hear a record that is certainly a great one but perhaps not so academic as we thought back then. 'Notturno' is one the best Tietchens works that one can encounter and the mastering is much improved over the first edition on CD. While many seem to think that Tietchens music is quite distant and cold, 'Notturno' combines playful melodies and sturdy processing of the material. Certainly one to get if you are only remotely interested in his work." [Vital Weekly]
www.diestadtmusik.de
|
2007 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Aus Freude am Elend |
CD |
Wohl eine der ungewöhnlichsten & schönsten Tietchens-Alben, die augenzwinkernde Verwendung von vokalem Material war hier der Fokus, found sounds & field-recordings werden eigentümlichst verfremdelt, aus Schlager- oder Volksliedern die abartigsten Töne rausgekitzelt, absolut unkategorisierbare Klänge entstehen... ein wunderbares-wundersames Re-Kontextualisierungs-Projekt! JA WIR LIEBEN ES! 2 Bonus Tracks!
"11th part in the ongoing re-release series of all early Tietchens albums between 1980-1991. AUS FREUDE AM ELEND is based on the human voice as a primary sound source and was originally released in edition of 500 copies on Dom America in 1988. The CD includes two previously unreleased tracks and comes in a jewel case with full color artwork and poster booklet also feat. the original front and back cover. First edition of 600 copies.
Asmus Tietchens AUS FREUDE AM ELEND (Dom America Dom US LP 02) 1988 "Following my research of piano and water sounds (DS102, DS88) it didn't come as a surprise that my next project was about the human voice as a sound source. The great masters of Plunderphonics already showed the way in the early 80's, when they plundered the gigantic junk-shops packed full of already recorded material, which was stolen by them to use it for their own aesthetic targets. This album only consists of such stolen goods. Each track (with the exception of 'In memoriam P.F.') was based on voices of people who I naturally didn't ask their permission to use these recordings in the first place. So you can hear the voices of ecstatic religious people as well as other people making love. You'll also hear someone singing to Annette and Peggy out of the trash bin of a publishing company. Even the screams of furious teachers came in handy while I made loops from them. Especially loops: Rarely before this album and only once after it (on Stupor Mundi) did I made use of the structural means of loops to such an extent. I was fascinated by the rhythmical and harmonic permanence, in the same way as many of my musical colleagues at the time. The aspect of the 'Ritual' was a self-evident common formulation in difficult music during the 80s, so loops and tape voices, monotonous rhythms and LoFi became obvious means to shape the music. AUS FREUDE AM ELEND too was strongly spiced with these ingredients and therefore can be seen as a prototype album of this specific view of music during the time. This tendency was supported - even partly inspired - by a new generation of sound machines, which also made it possible for new aesthetic goals to appear at the horizon. The 90s were near at hand and sound art music would develop drastically in many ways in the years to follow. Samplers, digital editing, hard-disc recording and the first PC's opened new doorways. Half of the material on AUS FREUDE AM ELEND was already created with these digital tools. I never quite understood how the labels Dom America (run by Jon Carlson) and Dom here in Germany were connected. Did Carlson used to be a fan of Dom which was founded by Christoph Heemann and Achim Flaam. Did he simply liked the release politics of this label. And what became of Dom America ? Actually I don't know. I guess it was one of the small enthusiastic independent labels which released a handful of titles and which disappeared after being active for a couple of years during the 80s. However AUS FREUDE AM ELEND had vanished shortly after its release. I only used 'stolen' voices twice again ('Stupor Mundi', 1990 and 'Das Fest ist zu Ende. Aus', 1993) after this album by the way." [label info / credits]
"... Much like some his previous records, most notably 'Formen Letzer Hausmusik' and 'Seuchengebiete', its foremost a work of electro acoustic or musique concrete. There is an element of repetition that one wouldn't easily spot with the original 'masters' of the genre, but Tietchens uses them in his own, highly personal, way, adding his own fine blend of electronics and in order to make a creepy sound, a sinister play of vocals. The people whose voices are used sound like they are singing in a far away cage, in isolation, a cry to get out. After all these years this record hasn't aged at all, and is a highlight in Tietchens career." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Abfleischung |
CD |
Auch "Abfleischung" gehört zu den "irgendwie legendären" TIETCHENS-Alben (1989). Das tolle Cover, die Titel, das unglaubliche CIORAN-Zitat, das alles ist "klassisch Tietchens" und noch immer gibt es wenig Musik die sich daran messen kann, noch immer klingen diese 20 Skizzen (zum ersten Mal recyclete TIETCHENS altes Material seiner selbst) so rätselhaft nicht-menschlich wie von einer gänzlich fremden Welt stammend. Collagige Cut-ups, teils flächig unterwandert, elektronisch verfremdet bis ins Deformierendste hinein und doch mit Blick für jedes kleinste Detail des Klangs, dabei sind die Tracks so kurz dass die Aufmerksamkeit nie versiegt, der Geist hat keine Chance zur Routine, nur zur Fokussierung....
"12th part in the ongoing re-release series of all early Tietchens albums between 1980-1991. ABFLEISCHUNG is based on material recorded by Tietchens as early as 1967-1970. These recyclings made in 1989 became the 20 short tracks on this album which was originally released in edition of 500 copies on Hamster Records in 1989. The CD includes two previously unreleased tracks and comes in a jewel case with full color artwork and poster booklet also feat. the original front and back cover. First edition of 600 copies. Total playing time: 49:18 min." [label info]
"....It was released in 1989 on Hamster Records as part of a four record series: 'Watching The Burning Bride', by Asmus Tietchens and Terry Burrows (owner of Hamster), then 'Abfleischung' by Asmus solo, then 'Whispering Scale' by Terry solo and the fourth one 'Burning The Watching Bride' (by the two of them again) was released in 1998, on Disaster Area. On 'Abfleischung' Tietchens goes back to his old reel to reel tapes from the period 1967 to 1970. Not a remix where one particular sound is remixed but the track in its entirety is reworked. Asmus calls this 'recycling', a much more appropriate word for what he does. He uses the techniques of 1989 to recycle the sounds of twenty years before. No less then twenty pieces are presented on this album (plus two bonus pieces) which last from forty-eight seconds to almost five minutes, but mostly between one and two minutes. Short pieces which were change for Tietchens too. Different methods of treating of the basic material, lead to a variety of similarly titled pieces, such as Mineral 1 to 4 and Modal 1 to 5. This album shows Tietchens at his peak of musique concrete, working with a limited set of sound in a limited frame of time. A fascinating journey of sound with the crackling of tooth combs, metallic rusty sounds and many more highly obscured sound sources. The only thing that makes this a bit dated is the sometimes excessive use of reverb, which perhaps in those days made a lot of sense, but not these days - at least not with me. But throughout a very well needed re-issue on CD." [FdW, Vital Weekly] |
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Biotop |
LP |
"Scheppernd, künstlich und plärrend bunt: Reissue des 81er-Albums des Hamburger Elektronikers.
Asmus Tietchens ist einer der bekanntesten deutschen Künstler im Bereich der abstrakten Musik. Fünf seiner Frühwerke, die grob im Bereich Avantgarde-Synthiepop zu verorten sind, werden nun beim Label Bureau B wieder veröffentlicht. "Biotop" war 1981 Tietchens’ erste LP bei Sky Records (u. a. Cluster, Rother, Roedelius, Moebius, Plank, Riechmann). Es mag rückblickend wie eine bewusste Irreführung erscheinen, dass die ersten musikalischen Hervorbringungen von Asmus Tietchens als schräg tönender Pseudopop daherkommen. Vier Alben aus den Jahren 1981-83 sowie diverse Einzelstücke bilden die "Zeitzeichen"-Phase, die sich mit den Worten ihres Urhebers durch den Einsatz von "rhythmisch-harmonischen Versatzstücken und quietschbunten Schallplattenhüllen" auszeichnet. Die Stücke auf "Biotop" sind mit ihren insektoiden Fiepstönen, der bollerigen Perkussion und der verschleppten Kinderliedhaftigkeit so scheppernd, künstlich und plärrend bunt, wie es den Vorstellungen eines Künstlers entsprach, der reguläre Unterhaltungsmusik weder herstellen konnte noch wollte. //
Asmus Tietchens is one of the best known German artists in the field of abstract music. His early works though are finest avant-garde synthesizer pop. "Biotop" was Tietchens' first release on the German label Sky Records (Cluster, Michael Rother etc.). It is inhabited by insectoid squeaks, banging percussion and echoes of displaced nursery rhymes. These blaring, crashing tracks glare with artifice, mirroring the ideas of an artist lacking the inclination and capacity to compose straightforward easy listening music.
"Spät-Europa" also conveys a banefully distorted pseudo pop soundscape of disjointed rhythms and oblique melodies, defined by nervous pulses, cool alacrity and croaking toots; tongue in cheek it most certainly is, but the musical arrangement again affirms its own identity. Here, shadowy, rumbling industrial elements cut into the neon coloured pieces indicative of the artist's parallel lines of development. Both reissues are available on CD (Digipak), vinyl (180g) and for download." [label info]
www.bureau-b.com
|
2013 |
€18.50 |
|
|
Spät-Europa |
LP |
"Wieder veröffentlichtes Album aus der Frühphase des Avantgardemusikers.
Asmus Tietchens ist wohl einer der bekanntesten Künstler im Bereich abstrakter Musik. Fünf seiner Frühwerke, die grob unter Avantgarde-Synthiepop zu verorten sind, werden jetzt vom Label Bureau B wieder veröffentlicht. Während Tietchens mit "Biotop" (1981) plante, "in die Zukunft" aufzubrechen, zeigt er sich auf "Spät-Europa" in dieser angekommen. Als zweites Album der "Zeitzeichen"-Phase im Jahr 1982 auf Sky Records veröffentlicht, führt es den Stil des Vorgängers nicht nur weiter, sondern bringt ihn um eine Nuance treffender auf den Punkt. Auch "Spät-Europa" transportiert jene gallig übersteuerte Pseudo-Pop-Klangwelt voller verstolperter Rhythmen und schräger Melodien. Dabei ragen mitunter düster grollende Industrial-Elemente in die neonbunten Stücke hinein, wohingegen die Form der Stücke knapp und pointiert gehalten wird: Wie schon auf "Biotop" strebte Tietchens auch auf "Spät-Europa" 20 Zwei-Minuten-Miniaturen an. Und auch hier bildet mit "Epitaph" ein betont sperriges Stück den Abschluss.
Asmus Tietchens is one of the best known German artists in the field of abstract music. His early works though are finest avant-garde synthesizer pop. "Biotop" was Tietchens' first release on the German label Sky Records (Cluster, Michael Rother etc.). It is inhabited by insectoid squeaks, banging percussion and echoes of displaced nursery rhymes. These blaring, crashing tracks glare with artifice, mirroring the ideas of an artist lacking the inclination and capacity to compose straightforward easy listening music.
"Spät-Europa" also conveys a banefully distorted pseudo pop soundscape of disjointed rhythms and oblique melodies, defined by nervous pulses, cool alacrity and croaking toots; tongue in cheek it most certainly is, but the musical arrangement again affirms its own identity. Here, shadowy, rumbling industrial elements cut into the neon coloured pieces indicative of the artist's parallel lines of development. Both reissues are available on CD (Digipak), vinyl (180g) and for download." [label info]
www.bureau-b.com
|
2013 |
€18.50 |
|
|
Der fünfte Himmel |
LP |
"Between 1981 and 1983 Asmus Tietchens released four albums on the Sky Records label, fusing rhythmic set pieces and off-kilter sounds into gaudy escapades of saccharine artificiality. The “pseudo-pop” epithet reflected their frequently ironic air. All four records have been reissued by Bureau B in their original form. What remained may be found on this collection. Der fünfte Himmel (“The Fifth Sky”) retrieves those pieces which were denied a place on the original LPs, although clearly cut from the same contextual cloth. Quality control was not behind their relegation to the archive, but rather their eccentric and, at times, outlandish character.
Futurum drei is patently a bridge to Tietchens debut album Nachtstücke, recorded back in 1978, whilst Soirée and Zum Tee bei Frau Hilde were riginally—in a completely different guise- designed to form the basis of the experimentelle Geselligkeit album, ultimately shelved. The titles themselves are interesting: Aus dem Tag was initially earmarked to open up In die Nacht but was deemed too extravagant. Würgstoffe (“Wirkstoffe”) and Niedermacher (“Liedermacher”) are further evidence of Tietchens’ penchant for wordplay, even though the composer today admits that these rather corny jokes no longer seem quite so witty. In addition to this promenade through the outskirts of the “Zeitzeichen phase” (or “Sky phase“), Der fünfte Himmel includes tracks which could have constituted a further album on Sky Records. Tietchens was working ahead of himself as his contract covered just four albums and sales were in sharp decline. Zudem hatte sich die musikalische Ausrichtung verändert. Moreover, his musical direction had shifted to accommodate a far less rugged sound and a broader range of musical tools. If these pieces share a link in to the strategies of previous works, it is a tenuous one. This would probably have been enough in itself to preclude a continuation of the series, as the material veered so far away from the Sky label line." [label info]
www.bureau-b.com
|
2014 |
€21.50 |
|
|
Humoresken und Vektoren |
CD |
"CD in full colour digipak with photos by Okko Bekker and Asmus Tietchens. Production: Okko Bekker. Recorded at Audiplex Studios Hamburg in 2012. 16 tracks of new material. 500 copies.
On „Humoresken und Vektoren“
„Humoresken und Vekotren“ takes up a work that was started upon the invitation of Francisco Lopez for the spanish Störung label. The task was to deliver thirteen 2-minute original compositions for a compilation release. “Humoresken und Vektoren” recycles these miniatures from 2010 and unfolds it into eight new works having no resemblance with the original sourcings whatsoever. These eight tracks are bound together by eight short pieces entitled “Tristia” that function as bridges between the longer pieces. “Humoresken und Vektoren” is a combination of very dynamic and detailed sounds and a range of delicate layers and abstract textures. The CD features very surprising artwork unlike most recent Tietchens releases.
Asmus Tietchens writes:
Vier Humoresken, vier Vektoren und alle Stücke getrennt durch jeweils eine kleine Traurigkeit: Tristia, Die allerdings in gleich acht Varianten. Im 19. Jahrhundert wurden ohne Ende Humoresken komponiert.
Ich habe nie begriffen, was an diesen Stücken lustig sein sollte. Im 20. Jahrhundert gab es eh nichts mehr zu lachen, also wurden auch keine Humoresken mehr komponiert. Das 21. Jahrhundert scheint zum Schreien komisch zu werden, also habe ich vier Humoresken komponiert.
Wahrscheinlich wird kaum jemand heraushören, was an ihnen lustig ist.
Vier Vektoren geben zwar definierte Richtungen an, aber solange die Koordinaten nicht bekannt sind, zielen sie ins Nichts. Solche Vektoren zu betrachten, ist ebenso ergiebig, wie den Bereich zwischen Null und Eins zu untersuchen. Und vielleicht sind die acht kurzen Tristia- Stücke ja die eigentlichen Humoresken? Und die Vektoren ein wenig traurig? Und die Humoresken führen nirgendwohin?" [label info]
www.aufabwegen.com
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Parergon |
CD |
" “Parergon” (Greek ‘collection of small texts’) is the sequel of the idea to continue to recycle recyclings of recyclings. That does not mean remixes or deconstructions but much more genuine compositions derived from already repeatedly recycled structures. In the future the new compositions, too, will be transformed by recycling into totally new music. This approach is in no case hermetic because no circular course happens: There is no way back to the beginning. With digital tools – but w i t h o u t chance operations – one can achieve treatments and processings which lead to a nearly endless multitude of esthetic relevant compositions derived from once defined basic structures. In this connection ‘sampling’ is not of importance. -
The pieces of “Parergon” do not intend to provoke pictures or moods, but will give the listener simply something to listen to – it is up to him how he handles this offer. In consequece the pieces have no titles. Instead they have index data which point to certain series. -
“Parergon” has been composed in dark times, but at the best only the artwork reflects this conditions. The sounds themselves come from the vacuum." [Asmus Tietchens, 2016]
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Soiree Fantastique |
mCD |
5” CD in full colour digipak carton sleeve and printed inner sleeve. CD is off-set printed in half-metallized format, all designed by Asmus Tietchens. Production: Okko Bekker. 500 copies.
On „Soirée fantastique“:
"Two pieces – unfocussed in every aspect – featuring blurring contours, spooled out harmonies and barely recognizable melodies frame an extreme minimal, almost static piece in the centre. A piece of harsh, sharp-edges transparency. If this were not the music of a phantastic nightlyx gathering, a soirée fantastique, one could liken these sounds to be signifiers of the setting we name the soft core inside a hard shell – only in reverse. To know that this saying is as paradox as there cannot be a soft core might proof to be life-safing."
[Asmus Tietchens]
"Just like the 10" the miniCD is a format of doom. Not a lot of music to be a full length, too much to be a single. But at least this miniCD looks like a full length CD, with the outer ring being all-transparent, and only the twenty-two minutes of music with a silver layer; it's been a while since I last saw one of these. They were more popular a decade ago, but somehow I doubt whether Asmus Tietchens (or his label) cares much about popularity, and what to do or don't in that respect. He does what he does, and it's a matter of take it or leave it. Over the years we have seen a seemingly endless reduction in much of Tietchens music (although not exclusively), creating a very rich sound with the most minimal sounds. Even when I know the music of Tietchens very well, and on a few occasions engaged in a conversation with him, I have very little knowledge of how he works. I believe to some extent he uses computer technology, and somehow I have this fantasy in which Asmus creates a fully formed piece on his computer and then has some plug ins that effectively take out certain frequency ranges and then takes what's left and feeds that into an entirely different plug ins, reducing some more, or perhaps emphasizing a few other frequencies and he repeats that a few times. Then he takes all the processed pieces, overlays them on each other, super-imposing them, and then creates a gentle mix out of these residue sounds. It's a technique that works really well, and can, in principle applied to all sorts of sounds, but also entire finished pieces, even by others. Yet, I am not sure if this is what Tietchens does; somehow he seems not to be the
plunderphonics kind-a guy. The three pieces on this new release are all along these lines, and they all sound wonderful; wonderful again, I should add. But then I am a big fan of the man's music and there is very little that he does that I don't like. I could say he's perhaps exhausted the 'reduction' by now, but secretly I hoped this would have contained two or three more pieces like this. To have some change is fine but not always necessary; this is a fan boy speaking, so I am sure not everyone agrees with me there." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2017 |
€9.50 |
|
|
Dämmerattacke |
CD |
Asmus Tietchens is a sound artist and composer from Hamburg, Germany. He got interested in Musique Concrete by listening to a German radio programme when he was 10 years old. In 1965, at the age of 18, Asmus started experimenting with tape loops and turned them into musical collages. Soon, the use of synthesizers was added. In 1980 his debut album Nachtstücke was released, produced by Peter Baumann of Tangerine Dream. This was soon followed by a series of albums of electronic pop music for the Sky label, home of many Krautrock bands. Tietchens often uses special source materials for his compositions such as water (Seuchengebiete), human voices (Von Mund zu Mund), paper (Papier ist geduldig). He is associated with the Industrial music scene through his collaborations and releases on labels such as United Dairies, Esplendor Geometrico or Dom Records. Tietchens never studied composition, he has no academic background, everything he does is self taught or learnign by doing. Nevertheless, he was professor for sound design in Hamburg in recent years. The album Dämmerattacke was originally released on Dutch Korm Plastics label in 1997 as a limited edition vinyl LP only. It was later reissued as a double CD with Eisgang. For this latest edition, we have added another bonus track making the CD 20 minutes longer than the LP. Full track list: 1. Zweite Dämmerattacke 2. Erster Nachtschatten 3. Zweiter Nachtschatten 4. Dritter Nachtschatten 5, Schlagschatten 6. Franz-Joseph-Land.
www.klanggalerie.com/gg251
|
2017 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Raum 318 |
CD |
"Asmus Tietchens is a sound artist and composer from Hamburg, Germany. He got interested in Musique Concrete by listening to a German radio program when he was 10 years old. In 1965, at the age of 18, Asmus started experimenting with tape loops and turned them into musical collages. Soon, the use of synthesizers was added. In 1980 his debut album Nachtstücke was released, produced by Peter Baumann of Tangerine Dream. This was soon followed by a series of albums of electronic pop music for the Sky label, home of many Krautrock bands. Tietchens often uses special source materials for his compositions such as water (Seuchengebiete), human voices (Von Mund zu Mund), paper (Papier ist geduldig). He is associated with the Industrial music scene through his collaborations and releases on labels such as United Dairies, Esplendor Geometrico or Dom Records. Tietchens never studied composition, he has no academic background, everything he does is self-taught or learning by doing. Nevertheless, he was professor for sound design in Hamburg in recent years. Raum 318 was originally released on cassette only in 1991 on the E'ostrate label in France, in an edition of only 138 hand-numbered copies. It is a part of Tietchens' more Industrial sounding body of work and was remastered for this edition. In addition, a long previously unreelased bonus track has been added."
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Ptomaine 1 |
CD |
\"Asmus Tietchens is a sound artist and composer from Hamburg, Germany. He got interested in Musique Concrete by listening to a German radio programme when he was 10 years old. In 1965, at the age of 18, Asmus started experimenting with tape loops and turned them into musical collages. Soon, the use of synthesizers was added. In 1980 his debut album Nachtstücke was released, produced by Peter Baumann of Tangerine Dream. This was soon followed by a series of albums of electronic pop music for the Sky label, home of many Krautrock bands. Tietchens often uses special source materials for his compositions such as water (Seuchengebiete), human voices (Von Mund zu Mund), paper (Papier ist geduldig). He is associated with the Industrial music scene through his collaborations and releases on labels such as United Dairies, Esplendor Geometrico or Dom Records. Tietchens never studied composition, he has no academic background, everything he does is self taught or learnign by doing. Nevertheless, he was professor for sound design in Hamburg in recent years. Ptomaine was originally released on RRRecords in 1996 as a 3 LP set. This is the first volume of the first ever CD re-issue\"
https://www.klanggalerie.com/gg388
|
2021 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Ptomaine 2 |
CD |
\\\"Asmus Tietchens is a sound artist and composer from Hamburg, Germany. He got interested in Musique Concrete by listening to a German radio program when he was ten years old. In 1965, at the age of 18, Asmus started experimenting with tape loops and turned them into musical collages. Soon, the use of synthesizers was added. In 1980 his debut album Nachtstücke was released, produced by Peter Baumann of Tangerine Dream. This was soon followed by a series of albums of electronic pop music for the Sky label, home of many Krautrock bands. Tietchens often uses special source materials for his compositions such as water (\\\'Seuchengebiete\\\'), human voices (\\\'Von Mund zu Mund\\\'), paper (\\\'Papier ist geduldig\\\'). He is associated with the industrial music scene through his collaborations and releases on labels such as United Dairies, Esplendor Geometrico or Dom Records. Tietchens never studied composition, he has no academic background, everything he does is self-taught or learning by doing. Nevertheless, he was professor for sound design in Hamburg in recent years. Ptomaine was originally released on RRRecords in 1996 as a 3 LP set. This is the second volume of the first ever CD re-issue.\\\"
https://www.klanggalerie.com/gg415
|
2023 |
€15.00 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS & DIRK SERRIES |
Air |
CD |
Asmus Tietchens : treatments
Dirk Serries : accordeon, melodica, clarinet, harmonica, concertina
Sources performed and recorded in October 2018 by Dirk Serries.
Treatments by Asmus Tietchens. Recorded, mixed and mastered at Audiplex Studio E, Hamburg.
https://newwaveofjazz.bandcamp.com/album/air
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Die Höfner Akten |
CD |
"Dirk Serries and Asmus Tietchens worked before, mostly as Vidna Obmana and Asmus Tietchens. Now that Serries no longer releases new music as Vidna Obmana, and he has new found love for improvised music, he releases music under his own name. The first time they worked s such (Vital Weekly 1197), Serries delivered sound material from wind instruments. For this new collaboration, he delivers source material from his acoustic guitar, a Höfner. Tietchens uses twelve sections, some he uses a few times, so there are sixteen pieces of music in total. It is interesting to hear what kind of processing Tietchens applies to the guitar. I expect some heavy analogue or digital processing so that the guitar is no longer recognizable, but that is not the case. In many of these pieces, the acoustic guitar is to be recognized. Tietchens cuts up the material, creates loops, and finds interaction between these re-arrangements. He then feeds it through modulators, pitch shifters, and such until there is some kind of dialogue between the recognizable guitar and the electronics. The approaches are pretty diverse; sometimes, I had the impression I was listening to Serries solo, maybe applying a few sound effects himself, but sometimes, the level of abstraction is much higher, such as in 'Höfner Akte 3C'. Tietchens is a master in keeping the music precise and to the point. This new album is no exception. Many of the pieces are between two and three minutes and say everything there is to say. Also, there is a great variety in approaches here, as already noted, and it makes up quite a remarkable, different album for Tietchens." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/die-h-fner-akten
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS & RICHARD CHARTIER |
Fabrication |
do-CD |
Very minimal, silent & mysterious drone- & microsounds, a re-work from TIETCHENS of CHARTIER-material. On the bonus-CD (first 500 copies only) we find additional material which is a little more demanding & concrete...
"The first collaboration by these two renowned sound artists. FABRICATION saw its beginning during the production of RE-POST-REFABRICATED, a project in which artists were selected by Richard Chartier to rework/create new works from his 1998 CD POSTFABRICATED for its reissue in 2003. As it was intended as an open project, Asmus Tietchens continued to explore the source materials and suggested further formal collaboration. This evolved into the collaborative work FABRICTAION. The CD comes in a full colour 4-panel digisleeve with artwork and designed by Chartier. The first 500 copies incl. a bonus CD feat. the complete material created by Tietchens from POSTFABRICATED entitled »POST-FABRICATION" [label info]
www.diestadtmusik.de |
2007 |
€18.50 |
|
| |
Fabrication 2 |
do-CD |
"500 copies. Designed by Richard Chartier. 'Fabrication 2 ist the sequel to 'Fabrication', the first collaboration between Richard Chartier and Asmus Tietchens released in 2007. Whereas for the first collab the idea developed from the project around reinterpretations of Chartier's 'Postfabricated' this time the efforts where directly focussed on the reinterpretation of specific basic sound material. This basic sound material can be found on the first disc in the set prefabrication 2' which was constructed by Richard Chartier alone in Montreal and Washington, DC. 'Fabrication 2' is the reworking of this sonic basis by Asmus Tietchens. Whereas the first CD has traces of subtle dematerialized rhythmic structures the second disc is a study in minimalism and concentrated sound manipulation. Richard Chartier (b.1971), sound and installation artist, is considered one of the key figures in the current of reductionist electronic sound art which has been termed both microsound and Neo-Modernist. Chartier's minimalist digital work explores the inter-relationships between the spatial nature of sound, silence, focus, perception and the act of listening itself. Chartier's critically acclaimed sound works have been published over the past 12 years as 38 compact discs on labels such as 12k/LINE (US), Raster-Noton (Germany), Spekk (Japan), Non Visual Objects (Austria), Room40 (Australia), Die Stadt (Germany), DSP (Italy), ERS (Netherlands), and Trente Oiseaux (Germany). He has collaborated with noted sound artists Taylor Deupree, William Basinski, CoH, and German pioneer Asmus Tietchens, as well as installation artists Evelina Domnitch, Dmitry Gelfand, and visual artist Linn Meyers. Asmus Tietchens has been producing electronic music since the 1960ies and is one of the most renowned sound artists today in Germany. In the last five years he was awarded twice the SWR state radio prize 'Karl Sczuka Preis' " [label info]
www.aufabwegen.com
"The first collaborative result between Richard Chartier and Asmus Tietchens was called 'Fabrication' and released together with the rough sound material on a bonus CD. Apparently that was a way of working which both artists like, so its now continued on 'Fabrication 2'. The first 'Fabrication' was an exchange, back and forth, of sound material between the two, on this new one things are a bit different. One disc is the rough sound material composed by Chartier and on the second we find the reworks as carried out by Tietchens based on the Chartier piece. That piece, lasting thirty-nine minutes, is an odd one by Chartier. It is called 'an unusual improvisation' by him, and perhaps its so indeed. It has that, perhaps by now, 'classic' Chartier approach in sound: low, minimalist, drone like, with a minimum of clicks but its all indeed a bit more roughly put together, like more by accident than design. That adds a rather nice perspective to the piece and with those odd changes also
perhaps the right source material for Tietchens. He knows his ways with material like this, and created eight different treatments of the material in a classic Tietchens manner. Classic by now, as it continues the sort of interest Tietchens developed in the 21st century, his 'Menge' series. Very sparse electronics, with an emphasis on drone like sounds and treatments in some click like sound. Simply great music, but perhaps I'm not the most objective person about Asmus Tietchens. I don't think I ever heard a bad thing from him. 'Fabrication 2' is a damn fine work among other damn fine works, and nothing that leaps out of that catalogue, but ranks with the best." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€18.00 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS & ROLF ZANDER |
Tarpenbek |
CD & 12inch BOX |
"CD in LP Box. The box includes: 12 high quality prints reproducing etchings by visual artist Rolf Zander – each image corresponds with a track on the CD. The box further holds three prints with sketches and texts by Rolf
Zander about his style of etching and the composition of the visual works. Finally there is a text print giving track info for the CD and an essay on the project by Kai U. Jürgens.
Handnumbered 300 copies. There is also a special ART EDITION of 30 copies available. This edition includes one of 30 original etchings by Rolf Zander, signed and numbered.
The collaboration between Rolf Zander and Asmus Tietchens is very special indeed. Zander was Tietchens’ music teacher at school. He can be heard on some of the tracks on the Adventures In Sound CD of early experiments that came with the reissue of Nachtstücke on Die Stadt.
Tarpenbek is now the realization of a project that has been long in the making and planning. It all started with a series of etchings by Rolf Zander that he made in the 1970ies. These etchings deal with the structures and
topographical features of the small north german river “Tarpenbek”. The series of images is very reduced minimal and interwoven with textures on the original material.
Tietchens took each of these etchings as a starting point for a musical composition, taking ideas about structure and layers from the images. Ony in one instance field recordings from the riverbanks of the Tarpenbek were incorporated. At most instances the music is as minimal as the visual works. Full of details and small surprising turns.
aufabwegen is really proud to present these works together – high quality prints of the etchings by Rolf Zander and a CD with 47 minutes of new music from Asmus Tietchens." [label info]
www.aufabwegen.com
"...This CD comes in a LP sized box with twelve prints by Rolf Zander - ok, which I didn't see then, but I looked at his website and have an idea what he does. And I think it fits the minimal music of Tietchens very well. What seems the case with the work of Zander is that there is an certain level of erasing in his treated zinc plates and of course know Tietchens for having a similar interest in erasing sound and use the bare minimum of what remains. If I am to believe what the liner notes tell me these printings were used by Tietchens to define his music, but maybe that's just an interpretation of the writer. Set up an equalizer, some oscillator or whatever kind of filter and then feed whatever sound through these applications - I am never sure if herr Tietchens still only uses analogue equipment or also digital ones these days. Whatever it is, the results are without doubt Trademark Tietchens. At least of course the Tietchens that has been exploring this route for the last ten or more years, perhaps since he started to release music on Mille Plateaux and later 12K. Carefully placed clicks and cuts, sustaining sine wave like sounds, all heavily reduced, the bare necessities of a simple sound. This is the electro-acoustic music that I love, that doesn't dwell on glissandi to evoke a sense of drama as I hear so often, but a simple, drama-free sound, highly abstract in nature (and henceforth probably not the most popular in its kind, sad to say), but oh so beautiful. Its not that Tietchens adds anything to what we know about his work, but it's just another confirmation of what a great composer he is. This is an excellent release!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€45.00 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS + CV LIQUIDSKY |
Monoposto |
CD |
17th and final part in the re-release series of all early Tietchens albums between 1980-1991
Originally released on Dragnet, Dom Elchklang in 1991. This new version incl. 3 Bonus tracks and is another joint release by German labels Die Stadt and aufabwegen. Jewel case with full color artwork and poster booklet also feat. the original front and back cover. First edition of 600 copies.
Track listing:
1. 'Junge Hoden' 3'01
2. 'Drangsal am Hauptbahnhof' 3'09
3. 'Der Appelbeker Kreis' 3'14
4. 'Schlotzen' 2'47
5. 'Mit dem Zombiebus ins Totenreich der Killermumien' 10'07
6. 'DDR' 4'01
7. 'Frauenhygiene' 3'12
8. 'Vergessene Jungens' 3'40
9. 'Einfach Helden' 3'09
10.'Aus heiterem Himmel'2'07
Bonus tracks:
11. 'Prinzip Hoffmann' 2'49 12. 'Schwachholz vorsetzen' 2'06 13. 'Liquidsky spricht' 0'22
Asmus Tietchens + CV Liquidsky 'MONOPOSTO' (Dragnet & Dom Elchklang, Dradomel 03) 1991
It was just before the end of the so called heroic times when CV Liquidsky and I decided to record a studio album together. Almost a bit late considering that Liquidsky had already lived and worked in Hamburg since 1979. Our ways had crossed many times and a mutual friendship developed. Actually we discussed a possible collaboration several times. Liquidsky was a graphic designer, journalist, musician and someone who really moved things in all these areas. I got to know Liquidsky's musical side as him being one half of the industrial music duo 'Cinema Verite', and at the same time through his journalistic skill's, writing excellent reports about the Hamburg and International music and cultural scenes. As a trained artist he also did record covers and posters, illustrated Fanzines and created some disturbing free works. It was no secret that his chosen artist name derived from both ,Cabaret Voltaire'(CV) and 'Liquid Sky'(Liquidsky). His real name was Andreas Hoffmann. The recordings for 'Monoposto' were made between 1988-1990. The mention of the years 1981-1990 on the cover was deliberately misleading. Our work scheme was to try and record one track per nightly session, and when ever we met in the studio we clung to this strict working method. It was our intention to avoid making a perfect studio album. Improvisation, chance, errors and spontaneous decisions were the game plan. After a track was recorded it was mixed the same night or even early the next morning, so it was finished. No softening out and no corrections were made, no matter if the raw diamonds we created started to shine or not. It was Liquidsky (the "mover") who persuaded me to accept this almost Dadaistic concept, as I'm basically someone who takes longer to create a track. He concentrated on his guitar and myself on the electrical treatments. Later a good friend of ours described the music as a mixture of apathy and ecstasy, beauty and ugliness. In fact I never worked on an album with such a melancholic note before or ever after. The cover was created by Liquidsky within a couple of hours. The word 'Monoposto' has actually no meaning. It's a Blindtest to show the actual look of a certain typography common in the analog world back then. Liquidsky was fast and he always stood on the right side. Andrea Hoffmann died on 6th of September 1998.
Editorial notes:
All recordings were transferred from the original tapes, but in a different order than on the LP. The title 'Mit dem Zombiebus ins Totenreich der Killermimen' on the original album is actually written incorrectly. The corrected title is 'Mit dem Zombiebus ins Totenreich der Killermumien'. The track 'Liquidsky spricht' was taken from the compilation 'Das digitale Vetrauen' (Soleilmoon, SOL 54)." [label info]
diestadtmusik.de/DS120.html
"Die große, 2003 begonnene 18-teilige Wiederveröffentlichungsreihe von Asmus Tietchens’ früheren Arbeiten kommt mit Nummer 17 langsam an ihr Ende; in einer erneuten Zusammenarbeit veröffentlichen Die Stadt und Auf Abwegen das mit CV Liquidsky zwischen 1988 und 1990 entstandene und ursprünglich 1991 erschienene Album „Monoposto“.
In den Linernotes schreibt Tietchens, dass er Andreas Hoffmann, so der bürgerliche Name des 1998 verstorbenen Musikers, Journalisten und Graphikers, schon lange kannte, bevor sie sich endlich dazu entschlossen, ein gemeinsames Album aufzunehmen. Es sei nicht darum gegangen, ein „perfektes Studioalbum“ aufzunehmen, sondern „Improvisation, Zufälle[...], Fehler[...] und spontane[...] Entscheidungen“ hätten eine wichtige Rolle gespielt. Das führte dazu, dass die einzelnen Stücke recht schnell entstanden und noch in der gleichen Nacht gemischt wurden. Nichts weiter wurde mit den Aufnahmen gemacht.
Das Zusammenspiel von Liquidskys Gitarre und der elektronischen Bearbeitung von Asmus Tietchens führt “ zu ganz unterschiedlichen Ergebnissen. Insgesamt ist „Monoposto“ allerdings ein stark von Wiederholung geprägtes Album, wie gerade der fast schon rhythmische Opener „Junge Hoden“ mit seinen immer nur leicht variierten Loops zeigt. Ähnlich konzipiert scheint „Drangsal am Hauptbahnhof“, das mit seltsamen kreischenden Passagen im Hintergrund etwas düsterer und variabler ist. „Mit dem Zombiebus ins Totenreich der Killermumien“, vielleicht der Titel eines verlorengegangen Drehbuchs von Don Swan, ist eine anfangs verrauschte, fast schon nach Ambient klingende Nummer mit dunklem Dröhnen und leichtem Pochen. Auf dem verglichen damit profan betitelten Track „DDR“ hört man Loops, Heulen und Dröhnen, seltsame Stimmen und im Hintergrund eine Hymne. “Fraueninnenhygiene” hat eine merkwürdige Westernatmosphäre, „ Auf „Einfach Helden“ glaubt man ein dissonantes Klavier zu hören und das Stück „Aus heiterem Himmel“ ist ein Cover von Neil Youngs „My my, hey hey (Out of the blue)“, das im Original die legendäre Zeile „It’s better to burn out/Than to fade away “ enthält. In Tietchens’ und Liquidskys Interpretation lässt sich das Original durchaus noch erahnen, von der Herangehensweise passt es aber gut zum Rest des Albums.
Stampfende, primitive Rhythmik hört man auf den Bonustracks „Prinzip Hoffmann“ und „Schwachholz vorsetzen“ und gerade diese Tracks situieren dieses in Passagen monotone und ruppige Album durchaus an den Rändern des Industrials. (MG)
|
2020 |
€15.00 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS + FRANS DE WAARD |
Oordeel |
CD |
On „Oordeel“
This collaboration was bound to happen someday! Out of mutual respect and admiration for each other’s work Asmus Tietchens and Frans de Waard decided to work on some music together. The result is “Oordeel" (dutch for "judgement") – eleven tracks of diverse character and subtle beauty. From distorted groans and gritty pulses to delicate and abstract sound layers Tietchens and de Waard have created a fascinating sound world of bizarre beauty.
Frans de Waard
Frans de Waard (1965) has been producing music since 1984 (Kapotte Muziek, Beequeen, Goem, Zebra, Freiband, Shifts, Modelbau, etc.). In 1984 he started his own record label Korm Plastics, releasing music from Arcane Device, Asmus Tietchens, Jim O'Rourke among others. He has worked for the pioneering Dutch tape label Staalplaat (1992-2003) and since 1986 as a reviewer for his own publication Vital (now Vital Weekly), a magazine which has been an online source for underground music since 1995, and which celebrated its 1000th issue in 2015. In 2016 Timeless published in France his first book, an autobiography of life in Staalplaat titled This Is Supposed To Be A Record Label. His interests in music creation ranges from ambient to noise to what he describes as 'silly disco
music'. He has played concerts in Europe, USA, Canada, Russia and Japan, and collaborated with Steven Wilson, Jaap Blonk, Andrew Liles, Radboud Mens, Keiji Haino, Pan Sonic and others.
Asmus Tietchens
Tietchens was born in Hamburg in 1947. Since 1975 he has been working as an independent musician; in 1980 he released his first solo record Nachtstücke. After producing a series of rhythmic and harmonic albums for the Sky label in the early 1980s he released his first industrial record Formen letzter Hausmusik in 1984 on United Dairies. Here Tietchens articulated his musical interests clearly: everyday noises were treated and at times deformed beyond recognition and placed into new contexts. Until now Asmus Tietchens has released more than 80 albums on international labels where he continues to explore the posibilities presented to him by specific sound sources (ranging from water sounds to pure sine wave tones). He has a more rhythm-oriented fake band project called Hematic Sunsets. Tietchens’ work is rooted in a deeply sceptic gesture, marked by frequent quotes from the works of philosopher E.M. Cioran on his album covers. Asmus Tietchens has been awarded with the prestigious Karl Sczuka Prize of the Südwestrundfunk (SWR) twice: in 2003 for his work Heidelberger Studien 1-6 and in 2006 for Trois Dryades. He lives and works in Hamburg.
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/oordeel
"As everyone knows by now, I am the world’s foremost authority on Frans de Waard Record
Reviews. Do you think you’ve written more Frans de Waard record reviews than I have? You are
incorrect. Go ahead, count all the Frans de Waard record reviews that you’ve ever written and tell me how many there are. Oh, is that all? I’ve written more. You cannot win. Looking at my recent contributions to the subgenre of music journalism of which I am the indisputable champion, I notice that my critical expertise is most frequently turned towards de Waard’s solo albums as Modelbau and Quest/QST. However, as the Reigning King of Frans de Waard Reviews that we all agree I am, I happen to know that the (unofficial) Mayor of Nijmegen thrives on collaborations. This latest pair of albums show off his versatility with two very different, yet equally excellent, pieces of electronic music made with the cooperation of two very different composers.
It’s amazing to think that “Oordeel” is the first album-length album that de Waard and veteran German composer Asmus Tietchens have done as a duo. Both are prolific and enthusiastic collaborators, so it seems natural that they’d come together at some point. Both gents share a disinclination to explain themselves, preferring to follow their musical instincts wherever they lead and to let an image or a title stand as the only signpost to guide listeners. The way that the title “Oordeel” is pronounced in English, the word describes something difficult to endure; a protracted
unpleasant or traumatic experience. The Dutch word, however, means “judgement”. I suspect that
neither interpretation is intended to frame this music literally, and that the title was more likely selected for it’s aesthetic appeal. I could be wrong, but then again I’m the greatest reviewer of Frans de Waard records on the planet, so… let’s just assume I’m right, okay? Indeed, this music is not in any way an ordeal to sit through, nor does it seem to be judging anything. The album’s sequence of short, discrete pieces offers no clues as to a concept or even compositional strategy, and yet it sounds very specific. Every piece seems to be created from similar materials united by a
background ambience of incorporeal breath, which makes it hang together as a single idea.
There’s a cool hermetic quality to all eleven vignettes, each one offering sharp clicks and carefully sculpted hums that skip lightly over a surface haze. I’m reminded of smooth 1970s plastic, mercilessly austere and yet vaguely sinister in its indifference. Only one piece breaks up the set: “VII” temporarily shatters the reverie with a buzzing whine of dial-up modems and hostile radio static. Once “Oordeel” gets that out of its system, though, it returns to the holodeck and stares out at the cosmos for awhile." [HS/Vital Weekly]
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| TIETCHENS, ASMUS / OKKO BEKKER |
E |
CD |
"The term "E-Musik" is not used to denote "electronic music", as one could be led to believe. Rather the E stands for "earnest" music or a music that is to be taken seriously, even more so as composers of this genre tend to be focused on their salary. Whether the distinction between E- and U-Musik, that mainly exists in the german speaking territories, is to be rendered a useful one, Bekker/Tietchens try to explore on their 1988 release E. They do this by appraoching some stylistic variation of so-called E-Musik in their own terms. What we hear ranges from soviet realism via dodecaophincs through to minimal music and free atonality. The meeting of Bekker and Tietchens and the results of their encounter on this album are all the more remarkable because Tietchens is an exponent of non-academic electronic music and Bekker works in the field of F-Musik, whose social acceptance is way below that of U-Musik. F-Musik stands for "functional music" and describes a type of music no one really wants to listen to. Usually upon playback the irritated listener tries to lower the volume approaching zero. Thus the title "Musik Im Deutschen Imbiss (short: MIDI)" - while being totally neglected both by music sociology and musical aesthetics - might well prove to be an example a valid analysis for compositional challenges that mights be solved on a future album entitled "P". Strictly speaking Bekker and Tietchens know New Music only by hearsay and through occasional visits of concerts in broadcasting houses or other remote locations. That they tried to formulate a somewhat partial typology of New Music regardless, is due to their enthusiasm and juvenile furor. It is not a product of their actual knowledge of the subject." (Tro Khan) comes in jewel case with full colour poster booklet, reproducing the original artwork plus new photograph and liner notes by Tro Khan, plus both tracks from the bonus 7" U, plus 2 unreleased bonus tracks from the period. edition of 600 copies
www.diestadtmusik.de
"The reissue campaign of the early works by Asmus Tietchens continues, here with a 1988 recording with long-standing collaborator Okko Bekker, originally released on Dom, now sporting four bonus tracks not on the original. Intentional or otherwise, E parallels much of the library music that was being quietly generated in institutional electronic studios across the globe, jumping thematically from pre-serialist melodicism played on period-specific digital sampling keyboards to Eno-esque avant-pop electronic numbers with a few forays into thoroughly abstracted / splintered sound collages and way out saxophone improvisations.
E was always an eclectic record and one that seemed out of place next to Nurse With Wound or HNAS; but in a context of Ghost Box relocating the KPM catalogue for themselves and those digging into the not-quite-new-age electronics of sci-fi exuberance and baroque horror synthesis (e.g. K. Leimer, Craig Leon, Laurie Speigel, etc.), this album will definitely bring delights in its fancifully cheeky electronic simulacrum." [Aquarius Rec.] |
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
| TIUNIAEV, ALEX |
I knew her |
CD |
"Aus ganz wenigen Mitteln großartige Werke voller Tiefe und Melancholie zu erschafffen - das können nur die Russen und ALEX TUNIAEV ist einer davon. "I Knew Her" besteht aus einem 40 Minuten langen Stück, welches nur auf Streichern, einem Chorsample und Flächensounds basiert, die langsam und leise beginnen und mit zunehmender Spielzeit lauter und intensiver werden. Eine hypnotisch wie einlullende Sinfonie voller Schönheit und Wärme, die völlig ohne Pathos und donnerndem Finale auskommt. Trotz des simplen Aufbaus erreicht das Werk eine maximal einlullende und emotional berührende Wirkung, an der die typisch russische Seele sicher nicht ganz unschuldig ist." [M.F., BLACK Magazin]
"Alex Tiuniaev is an electronic musician and producer from Moscow, Russia. 'I Knew Her' is a 40-minute long journey of heart-melting, melancholic and neo-symphonic splendour - full of choirs, strings and neoclassical orchestration. This solitary track builds to a haunting and breathtaking crescendo... then brings the listener gently back down to the warm earth. A monumental release, with influences ranging from Sigur Ros to Philip Glass and Stars Of The Lid." [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| TO |
Elaeis guineensis |
CD-R |
What flew into these pieces: “Clay - childs – pain – devils – water – insects – animism – refugees – noises – healer – spirits – voices – sacred places – fever”. Newest work of Tô with droney processed field-recordings, source material made at a forest in Guinea, with lots of very concrete but ultra-sublime detail-surfaces, microsounds, nature-noises.... to discover! ... 3 pieces, 44 minutes. |
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| |
Memory of (f) |
CD-R |
Environmental / Psychogeographical concrete ambience/drone similar to ERIC LA CASA, TOY BIZARRE or T. TSUNODA. Interesting concept.
A new french artist to discover!
One-tracker of 21 minutes length.
“Memory of (f) is made of comings and goings between two spaces in a same place: my grandmother’s village located in the eastern part of France. One is closed, an attic, the other is open, it’s a forest. These two spaces were special places of games during my childhood. For four days I recorded sounds coming from these two environments as well as improvised sequences made of materials found around. Then this work was realized at studio Cesare Reims.” [liner notes]
|
2004 |
€10.00 |
|
| TO / THOMAS TILLY |
Cables & Signs (ten underwater field recordings) |
CD |
"These sound pieces all originate from hydrophonic mono recordings, carried out during summer 2009 in the waters of a moat of a castle in the west of France. During these recording sessions, I came to realise that some of the sounds generated there (Cables & Signs 1, 5 and 10) were modulated by variations in the intensity of the sun on the surface of the water. Even though I was not able to accurately identify the species emitting them, I now know they were produced by insects and aquatic plants. Fascinated by their relation to the external environment, by the concentration of these phenomena on the site and by some of the effects they produce on the ear, I selected fifty minutes out of the five hours of material gathered on location. Naturally composed and modulated by the environment, these ten excerpts result from a careful and subjective listening process and now exist through this format as musical pieces. Apart from a slight equalisation, none of these works were electronically altered or edited." [thomas tilly]
www.fissur.com
"On a hot day like today I should be outside, trying to find some cool shade, but I have to stay inside and cool it with my old ventilator, which sometimes makes a funny noise. The first time I was playing this CD by Thomas Tilly I wasn't paying attention enough - hot weather and all that - I thought that it was the ventilator acting up again. Then I studied the liner notes and it turns out that Tilly recorded sounds under water, and although I am not entirely sure, I understand these are the sounds are perhaps from insects and plants and somehow react to the sun shining on the water. These are then recorded and nothing else was done with it, except that we hear it. Its a pretty amazing disc, I must say. The music sounds like electrical charges, decaying motorized objects and such things alike. If you wouldn't better you could easily think this some sort of conceptual thing about machines, maybe something by Paul Panhuysen. It shares the same minimalist approach of Panhuysen, but then entirely from field recordings. Click like sounds, with some odd changes, if any at all. It doesn't sound like field recordings at all, and that's the best thing about it. It stays away from that line of interest of rain and wind sounds but makes a fascinating world of itself. One of the most interesting pieces of work I heard in quite some time. Hard to explain, but you should definitely found our for yourself." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Script Geometry |
do-LP & CD |
\"Approaching the forest as if were a city, a construct, an ensemble of strata and vertical heights where signals answer, contrast and ignore each other. Variations occur, fullness and emptiness are created according to the weather and the peak and off-preak hours. This density that language can\'t define presents a challenge for the ear, and from this density surfaces, frm time to time, certain analogies to a modern sound environment. Cultural leads fraw our experience of these natural acoustic phenomenin towards the domain of technology : \'it sounds like... it\'s like\'. The timbres ? The sound structures ? There exists something in a tropical forest that sounds like and plays within the realms of electronics, music and electronics noise ; something characteristic of an era long before the birth of biotopes that form this forest and create this sound. Script geometry comes from this idea and the desire to work with density, in an attempt to extract forms that characterize these analogies. Taking these sounds out of their context and rearranging them as we would patch cables on a synthesizer ; weaving these strata and vertica heights into a different pattern by using the signals from the forest as if they were synthetic sounds : dissecting this spectrum and looking for something that can only be revealed through listening, this is the essence of the project\'. Thomas Tilly - Winter 2012\'In March 2013, I traveled to the Nourages scientific research station in French Guiana. Situated in the heart of a tropical rainforest, this station welcomes international scientific research progams dealing with tropical forests and their biodiversity. For the 30 days and nights of my stay, i listened to and captured the sound environment with an emphasis on animal communications : those wich are perceptible to the huan ear, but also the inaudible spectrum. The result is a collection of compositions and phonography characteristic of the zone. No electronic treatement has been added to these recordings other than a low cut filter and a light EQ mix. Script Geometry was conducted as an artist-in-residency programme at the Confort Moderne, Jazz à Potiers, the Lieu Multiple and the Nouragues Station in French Guiana between February and June 2013. A series of concerts, conférences, broadcasts and a creative workshop took place in accompaniment to the project\'. Double LP mastered by James Plotkin. CD mastered by Thomas Tilly. Cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates and Mastering, Berlin.\" [label info]
www.aposiopese.com
\"A double LP and a CDR of the source material. For this work he went to the Nourages scientific research station in French Guiana, in the middle of the rain forest. For thirty days he recorded sounds with an emphasis on animal communications, some of these using ultra sonic translators. \'No electronic treatment has been added to these recordings other than a low cut filter and a light EQ mix\' it says on the cover and we have to believe that, sometimes hard as it is. However some of the recordings are overlaying each other so a more dense pattern arises, and the chirping of insects that is already a bit electronically sounding are emphasized, such as in the opening piece, \'At Night, Mass\'. The pieces on
this record shift back and forth between untreated - as \'no mixing, no editing\' - and \'composition, classic and ultrasonic recordings. Mixing and editing\', and especially those pieces, say \'Crossroad, nodes\' have a highly electronic feel to them. A very minimal piece of electronic music, almost like a modular synthesizer piece, but maybe a bit less organised, following the more chaotic patterns of the nature sounds. I thought this was a great record. Very much originating in the world of field recordings, but then, the result, from an entirely different kind of planet. \'Unidentified Insects Colony\' is almost like The Haters ripping paper and doesn\'t sound like an unidentifiedd insects colony at all. A truly fascinating work of which the hour long CDR is a nice bonus. Maybe something for the die-hards I guess, but it makes the package all the more complete.\" [FdW/Vital Weekly 05.2014]
|
2014 |
€24.00 |
|
| TOBACCONISTS! |
Prometheus / The darker Secrets of Doctor Perati |
7 |
After the mCDR on MOLL this is the first 7" by this duo composed of SCOTT FOUST (IDEA FIRE COMPANY) & FRANS DE WAARD (BEEQUEEN, KAPOTTE MUZIEK, etc.). A fine blend of analog electronics and object-noises, especially the title piece is a lovey abstract GERÄUSCHMUSIK thing with great sounds inside...
Only were 200 pressed, get your smoke today !
"The first Swill Radio 7" in 26 years dating back to The Story Of Failure's "Negative Fulfillment On The '83 Spitting Circuit" EP. The Tobacconists are Frans de Waard and me and we are both heavy smokers. The Tobacconists did a few shows across Europe in the Spring of 2009 and recorded studio versions of our live material which should be released as an LP by Tourettes Records at some point. We did other recordings as well and from them Frans put together this excellent single. Prometheus is a fire stealing liver eater with a truly astounding sonic palette. Dr. Perati's Laboratory has some dark secrets indeed and they are revealed here for the very first time. The infernal mechanism! Great cover by Jos Meeuw and a real 7" sleeve! Fantastic!!" [label info]
www.kormplastics.nl
|
2009 |
€7.50 |
|
| TOEPLITZ, KASPER T. |
Capture |
CD |
Epischer one-tracker (76 min) für Tanztheater, sehr hochfrequent rauschig-mikrotonal, erinnert z.B. an KARKOWSKI und LOPEZ, nach einiger Zeit wird man völlig absorbiert von diesem sirenenhaften weissen Rauschen,..... so minimal wie nur vorstellbar und doch so kraftvoll und hypnotisierend, erzeugt das Gehirn von ganz alleine Veränderungen im KlangMaelstrom... am Ende so metallisch durchdringend dass es kaum noch hörbar ist...
“A very micro-tonal score, played by 3 dancers/musicians whose infinitesimally slow movements are "captured" by web-cams and "mapped" to all the parameters of a real-time digital synthesis engine - frequency, amplitude, ambitus…. No samples, no pre-recorded sounds, the sole sound source is a white noise generator, sculpted by filters, producing a polyphony of drones, oscillations, movements of electricity - a long electronic ascension”. [label info]
|
2005 |
€13.50 |
|
| TONGDISKLAKTIKA |
Transmigrations |
CD-R |
"Mixing the dark monumental atmospheres of b°tong, the Diskrepant soundscape collage and the most various forms of sound content delivered by Origami Galaktika finds us facing an abstract and pulsating entity.
Being at close encounters touring, Chris Sigdell, Per Åhlund and Benny Braaten released Tongdisklaktika, a cooperative project that manifests itself beyond the ordinary and superlative. The pulsating art of Transmigrations binds you and still cross boundaries. If you dare.
Go. Explore." [label info]
reversealignment.bandcamp.com
|
2015 |
€10.00 |
|
| TONIUTTI, GIANCARLO |
The Sound-Placing Land Bridge |
CD |
During a research in his archive Giancarlo Toniutti found two unfinished compositions recorded with Tiziano Dominighini in 1981-1982. Those compositions were mostly made of improvisation sessions using synthesizers and a guitar.
Giancarlo Toniutti decided in 2013 to complete the compostions and recorded new material througout 2013 and 2014. The new compositions were made of several field recordings made in the countryside nearby a highway road.
All the compostions were then mixed together in 2014-2015.
"The focus of this work is on the real relationship of the sonic phenomena when they meet our personal environment, how they mold our perception and are molded by it, in its cognitive affirmation. Music, in other words." Giancarlo Toniutti
Limited edition of 300 copies in digipack with a 20 pages booklet with extensive liner notes written by Giancarlo Toniutti.
www.menstrualrecordings.org
|
2016 |
€14.50 |
|
| TONIUTTI, MASSIMO |
Cava XI.XI.86 |
CD |
https://fernsrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/cava-xi-xi-86
CD reissue of a cassette released in 1987 edited by Massimo Toniutti.
An unique, beautiful and mysterious work in which sounds are produced somewhere, under the earth, in a cave or cellar. Organic, out of time.
Remastered from the original tapes, including two unreleased tracks created from records of the same period.
Cava xi.xi.86 was a concept album split into two parts, side 1 formerly called gravi tracks 1-4 and side 2 le ghiaie tracks 5-7.
Mixed at the stanza delle uova (1987) using a (4+4) multi-track system.
Two more compositions have been added to this reissue:
Track 8 (cube version of gravi) and track 9 (with a little help from l\'orchestra dei becchi di Fuji), both of them using \'86/\'87 archive sessions, re-worked and digitally mixed at my ground floor studio (2019).
Re-mastered from the original tapes.
All material recorded from November 1986 to April 1987 at the laboratory and its surroundings.
sound sources : clothes horse, metal ladders, pipes, welded wire mesh, railing, metal cans, occluders, muffles, clamps, springs, mandrels, drill bits, wrenches, hacksaws and unidentified objects; processed field recordings, via sistiana\'s hammers ad venetian blinds, and trains; hi & lo-fi speakers and microphones, handheld cassette players and recorders.
Thanks to Ron Lessard since 1988 and Sébastien for his hospitality.
#######################################
\"These refurbished sounds originally recorded in-between 1986-87 are from Italian experimenter Massimo Toniutti (we covered his Il Museo Selvatico here last year). His use of metallic objects and everyday instruments, fused in mysterious ways, is one of multilayered distinctions. A special thanks to Ferns and to other curatorial imprints who preserve these sounds for first-time observers. Though you’d never know it, this came out in that ‘growing-pains’ era when glitzy acts like Sigue Sigue Sputnik ruled certain airwaves, and you’d catch faded latter-day Eurythmics on your car radio as well as Deborah Harry gone solo and so many other novelties of the time. This is far from a response to that sonic Siberia, and likely was far too gray for the neon street life.
Instead, Cava xi.xi.86 serves a vintage more akin to what The Legendary Pink Dots or Controlled Bleeding were doing at the same time, just a little more introspective in terms of construction. At times this sounds like a windstorm passing through a kitchen pantry, and at others its more a series of aural sculpture – brittle man-made contortions. There are passive moments too, and here the quiet contemplation the relative freeform nature finds its way of exorcising its own ghosts.
Cling, klang the echoes slam and achromatize in gestures that are definitive but never inferring a beat structure, instead more similar to opening and closing the doors of a horse stable. If you listened to this and heard ‘chimes’ while sitting close to a vast body of water you may not be too far off either. In other words Toniutti (working vertically) has created a lubricious sound that is bespoke in the most underground of sensibilities.
The new re-worked tracks have a methodical atmosphere, like a nightmare involving a rickety rollercoaster. At some point herein the artist did, in fact, incorporate hammers and venetian blinds but instead of something kinetic you might expect from Einstürzende Neubauten here the listener is much closer to the inversion of surfaces and gadgets being deployed. At more than one juncture in the closer, cava recovery, an open circuit seems to be present as well as a nice balance of drone – and this is couched in such a way as to hear not only echoes from objects being struck, but this inert feeling as if you are lurking around the space. As the listener surveils the temperature of shifting tonalities things quiet down to a pivotal numbing murmur.\" [Toneshift]
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Variation Séculaire Géomagnétique |
CD |
Massimo Toniutti is an Italian sound designer and experimental musician. He is the brother of Giancarlo Toniutti who is best known for his electroacoustic masterpiece La Mutazione which was originally released on the Broken Flag label in the UK and later re-issued by Klanggalerie. Massimo started working with sound when he was a teenager, collecting and playing recordings of all kinds. In the 1980s he released four cassettes on his own label, all heavily influenced by the experimental music scene of that time. He soon developed a strong relation to electroacoustic structures, space/environment and silence. In the 1990s, he began investigating radio, creating his own sound archive and producing unusual broadcasts. He released an album entitled Il Museo Selvatico, which was re-issued in Australia in 2018 on Oren Ambarchi's label Black Truffle. A documentation of his radio work can be heard on the CD Le Gabbiette Di Faraday, collecting radio pieces from 1996 to 1998. After a twenty year break, the cassette Antidocument/Groundwork was released in 2016 in a tiny edition of only 100 copies. Klanggalerie asked Massimo Toniutti to re-issue this composition on CD to which he agreed. When work was started, Massimo decided to extend it to a much longer piece which became Variation Séculaire Géomagnétique. if you are into Musique Concrete, Dark Ambient or simply beautifully crafted atmospheric music, then this release is for you.
www.klanggalerie.com/gg298
|
2019 |
€14.00 |
|
| TONTON MACOUTE |
Mureedil |
LP |
“Tonton Macoute is a French band formed in 2006. With a stock of cheap instruments, the trio wanted to find a dense, subtle and massive sound, in order to create motorik soundscapes, psychedelic drones, electric hypnosis and timeless storms. Rehearsals and recordings took place in a basement. Using the studio as an instrument, all the tapes were re-worked to produce this LP record titled “Mureedil”. Early listeners mentioned experimental rock and compared the music of Tonton Macoute to F/i, This Heat, Harmonia or Sonic Arts Union. Etienne Coussirat : guitar, keyboards, drums, percussions, etc. Emmanuel Holterbach : guitar, tapes, analog synth, etc. Jacques Masson : guitar, bass, organ, etc. Recorded from February to June 2006. Edited, mixed and mastered at Studio Fluorescent, Lyon, France from August to November 2007.
Etienne Coussirat (born in 1980) is a musician who builds impossible musical instruments and practices electro-acoustic improvisation. His work focuses on auditory perception and on the exploration of acoustic phenomena. Emmanuel Holterbach (born in 1971) plays enharmonic glasses with Orbes, offers acousmagic experiences with eHœCo, rocks with Tonton Macoute and presents his kaleidoscopic sound environments in Europe, Canada and China since 1992. He’s also in charge of Eliane Radigue’s archives.
Jacques Masson (born in 1974) is a music fan and a music journalist. He writes poems, draws and composes electronic miniatures.
Their first LP titled “Mureedil” is also the first record released by Les Productions Fluorescentes, available now in an edition limited to 300 copies.” [label info]
|
2011 |
€19.50 |
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| TOOP, DAVID |
Entities Inertias Faint Beings |
LP |
From David Toop:
The music existed already, spores maybe or dormant clusters of digital files. Out of three periods of solitude the germination began. The first was in Queensland, on Tamborine Mountain (an aboriginal name), so silent at night that I listened to recorded music – Japanese gagaku, Buddhist ritual from Bhutan, Korean Confucian music – as if drifting into cavernous black space. Stepping into sleep I saw a hypnagogic image - a transparent swimming pool suspended over the mouth of a volcano. I read Stephen Mansfield’s book on Japanese stone gardens – “Successful stone arrangements seem almost alive, the elements conversing among themselves with an occult vitality, the call and response that has been noted between well-placed rocks resembling the chanting of Buddhist sutras” ; Daylight listening in chill air, hearing whip birds, butcher birds, noisy mynahs, kookaburra chatter, rainbow lorikeets; catapult elastic, I wrote, radio waves in a kettle, electric buzzers. On Queensland’s Gold Coast I gazed at a distant humpback whale breaching out to sea, watched Yasujiro Ozu’s 1934 silent version of A Story of Floating Weeds, listened to cicadas burst into life as a helicopter flew overhead.
Back into society and driving with Lawrence English I asked him, why would anybody release music in the 21st century? He laid out his philosophy; I was convinced. Then in St Ives, Cornwall, solitary again, drawing, reading Timothy Morton’s Hyperobjects and Clarice Lispector’s Agua Viva (her beautiful sentence: “dry keys echo in the dark and humid early hours”), gazing at ocean flux, music trembling into life from secreted audio files, music becoming living entities. Phantoms rose up out of sea mist, images of black light and blistered skin from photographers (Takuma Nakahira and Tomatsu Shomei), the fermenting of sounds. From a distance I heard voices – the extraordinary painter Mariko Sugano reciting ancient Japanese garden texts on the taboos associated with stone setting; Emi Watanabe’s flute as if a ghost from the Noh; the sounds of underwater creatures in my pond; Sylvia Hallett’s sarangi crying (in cavernous black space); the fervent drumming of Rie Nakajima’s small mechanical beings (like cooking with paper, wire and batteries); John Butcher’s reeds, music as a scientific exploration of the body, the instrument. Rie talked about the properties of objects, soft or hard. In the Noh play Aoi no Ue, the spirit is compelled with drum and plucked string (the catalpa bow).
In solitude I contemplated death, decay, the gush of life. Back in the car, Lawrence told me, when you die you’ll leave many projects unfinished. I laughed. Unspeakable truths, notes for a language to come, maybe not this world.
room40.bandcamp.com/album/entities-inertias-faint-beings
"Composer/performer/improviser David Toop’s latest release traces the seam between sound and music, paying attention to the hidden sounds that surround us and turning silence inside out.
In a lot of ways I’ve come to dislike music,” David Toop told The Wire in 2003. “I love sound, I love silence, but music as a whole I don’t like anymore.” You might assume that would have troubled him, given that Toop, then 54, had been deeply involved with music for most of his life, in virtually every role imaginable: performer, improviser, composer, critic, theorist, archivist, curator, and label owner. But if it represented any sort of crisis for him—six years before, burnout and “indifference to contemporary music” had led Toop to hang up his hat as a music journalist—it didn’t hold back his output. Since making the statement, Toop has continued to perform and lecture, released a half-dozen albums, and written two books, including the recently published Into the Maelstrom: Music, Improvisation, and the Dream of Freedom.
But Toop’s turn away from music, that complicated category of organized sound, has been crucial in one very important aspect: It has allowed him to ask probing questions about the nature of listening. Those questions come to a head on Entities Inertias Faint Beings, his first studio album since 2007’s Sound Body. Offering a vibrant array of rustle and hum, the new album traces the seam between sound and music, between the intentional and the incidental, between expression and mute abstraction. A partial index of its sounds would include the whine of rubbed wineglass rims; shortwave radios on the fritz; the electric buzz of the forest canopy at night; the languid click of fingernails across guitar strings; the whirr and flap of a 16mm film projector’s take-up reel. It is an album about paying attention to the hidden sounds that surround us, about turning silence inside out. And it is an album about using sound to find one's own bearings.
Entities Inertias Faint Beings got its start as an autobiography—or, more precisely, it is the result of what turned out to be an abortive case of writer’s block. Its genesis lies in three periods of solitude: first a stay on Tamborine Mountain in subtropical Queensland, Australia (“so silent at night that I listened to recorded music—Japanese gagaku, Buddhist ritual from Bhutan, Korean Confucian music—as if drifting into cavernous black space,” Toop writes in his introduction to the album), and then on Queensland’s Gold Coast, where cicadas harmonized with helicopters. Back in Cornwall, trying and failing to write his life’s story, he began sifting through several years' worth of personal recordings he had stored on his computer: small, percussive thunks; filament-like drones; the crinkling of paper. Shuffling, layering, and arranging—not so much composing as feeling his way through the material, as if improvising—he added new sounds to the mix, like a quiet passage of acoustic guitar from one of his daily practice sessions, and a hydrophone recording from his garden pond. And in London, he fleshed out the pieces with the help of musician friends. The improvising saxophonist John Butcher lends trilling, bird-like sounds to two tracks; Rie Nakajima's battery-powered motorized objects rattle and whirr, suggesting insect colonies in upheaval.
The overall result—thematically, anyway—is something like one of W.G. Sebald’s literary peregrinations: a palimpsest of place, memory, and accident, although its precise route is unknown to all but its creator. There is little to tell us what any of these clicks and pings might actually be. Several of the album’s track titles suggest cryptic headings scrawled on notecards in dusty filing cabinets: “dry keys echo in the dark and humid early hours”; “pieces of wood and iron, phials of odours”; “sea slug.” They function as indices of possible experiences, and if they explain little—do the bassy gurgles of “sea slug” really come from a gastropod mollusk?—they offer unusual and inviting travelogues consisting of little more than white noise and feral throb.
But Toop can’t quite resist sneaking music—that most elegantly ordered aspect of organized noise—back into the equation. Again and again, understated wisps of melody, harmony, and rhythm surface briefly and disappear just as quickly, sending out ripples that supercharge every corner of this lovely, engrossing album. In the album’s centerpiece, “ancestral beings, sightless by their own dust,” Sylvia Hallett’s sarangi, a bowed string instrument from Hindustani classical music, weaves an eerie, mournful air over slow, methodical pulses. Then, at the track’s end, a jungle’s worth of growling, chirping, buzzing sounds swells and is swallowed in turn by the steady gush of a tropical rainstorm. Toop has compared his compositional processes to traditional Japanese stone gardens—one track, “setting stones,” quotes a thousand-year-old passage on the subject—and at its most engrossing, Entities captures the uncanny qualities of inanimate objects in conversation with one another. It is a way of suggesting that the music exists independently even of its creator; it is a product of the act of listening itself. By the act of focusing our ears, we bring it to life—and vice versa." [Pitchfork]
|
2016 |
€23.50 |
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| TOOP, DAVID & PAUL BURWELL |
Suttle Sculpture |
LP |
Never before released recordings from Logos Foundation live sessions with David Toop and Paul Burwell in Brussels, on May 7, 1977. David Toop on the recordings: "When Paul Burwell and I started playing together just after Christmas, 1969, we found ourselves wrestling with a new language of sound, listening, actions, objects and space. At first it was music. We studied in the improvisation classes given by John Stevens at Ealing College in 1971-2, and also took classes in African music at London's Africa Centre. Most of the musicians lasted only one or two sessions so we resigned ourselves to being a duo and worked out an approach to free improvisation that expanded from simple structures and instrument combinations. Decomposition, we called it. We had worked intensively together, searching for techniques through which to decondition ourselves from orthodoxies, devising exercises in listening and instrument building, studying esoteric organology, bioacoustics, environmental sound, raw musics and anthropology. We were both fascinated by phenomena like diffraction, propulsion, resonance, projection, masking and heterodyning, and by shamanism, the symbolically grounded agency of shamanic drums, animal-becoming and noisy costume, the shaman's capacity to enliven quotidian space with the commotion of discarnate audible entities from the spirit world. This recording is one of the very few that conveys anything of what we were about." Personnel: Paul Burwell - percussion, whistles; David Toop - flutes, home-made reeds, whistle.
Logos Foundation in Belgium is Flanders's unique professional organization for the promotion of new music and audio-related arts by means of new music production, concerts, performances, composition, technological research, and other activities related to contemporary music. This organization was founded in 1968 by Godfried-Willem Raes.
www.subrosa.net
|
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| TORAL, RAFAEL |
Electric Babyland / Lullabies |
CD |
"electric babyland" is what has been coming out of the initial idea to extend the original lullabies (of the meeuw muzak 7") into a more complete work. first versions of these pieces have been performed during the electric babyland european tour in 2002, revealing a lot of potential from just the live versions. and now, after a lot of studio work the final release of these pieces eventually sees the daylight. rafael toral is using music box and analog modular system here. but the result is maybe his most beautiful and accessible record since "sound mind sound body". [label info] |
2003 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Engine 03_04_02 |
CD |
37 Minuten live-Material in der limitierte live-Serie von Touch, aus einem Zwischenreich der Akustik, kreiert mit 2 Gitarren, einem Bass, Feedback-Zirkel & “motorisierten Saiten”.. obwohl als CD-R touch-katalogisiert, handelt es sich um eine fabrikgepresste CD !
Very nice live-material, analogue & guitarish blurbs & ambience..
“Fourth release in this limited series on Touch (as with the previous Fennesz CD, this is not actually a CDR, but a regular pressed CD). Recorded live at Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. "'Engine' is a piece for two guitars, one bass, twin modulated feedback circuits, motorised strings, analogue modular system, routing audio mixer and several other devices. It's performed simultaneiously on two channels." [label info]
|
2004 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Harmonic Series 2 |
CD |
TORAL arbeitet hier, inspiriert von FOURIER, mit Sinuswellen, um die „innere Struktur“ von Klang sichtbar zu machen... ein langer, durchdringender, aber höchst meditativ wirkender Elektro-Drone ist dabei herausgekommen, der sich frequenzmodulierend und Obertöne abwerfend in Raum und Zeit breit macht.....43 min. one-tracker.
“Japanese-only release. Recorded live in Japan in 2003, Harmonic Series 2 is a 43 minute piece for computer generated sinewaves, custom software, guitar and analog electronics. It follows Harmonic Series 0 which was released on Table of the Elements. Since I have always been involved with the inner structures of sound, working with the harmonic series comes as a natural move, since harmonics are well known to guitarists. Thus, inspired by Fourier's theory, I chose to work with the most basic element of sound synthesis, the sinewave. Harmonic Series is my first project using the computer as a musical instrument.” [Rafael Toral]
|
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Space Elements Vol. 1 |
LP |
"Bis Ende der 90er hatte sich der portugiesische Musiker mit Gitarren-Drones auseinandergesetzt. Mittlerweile hat Toral um den für ihn paradigmatischen Begriff »Space« ein ganzes post-Free-Jazz-in-Elektronik-Universum kreiert und dies auf zahlreichen VÖs dokumentiert. Als einer der wesentlichen Gitarristen der 90er angesehen, arbeitete er u.a. mit J. Zorn, J. O'Rouke, Sonic Youth, MIMEO oder Alvin Lucier. Auf dieser CD entschlackt Toral Musik soweit, bis nur noch arrangierte Sounds übrig bleiben. Sein Vorteil ist es, dass dabei keine eklektische Futzelelectronica herauskommt, sondern ein durchaus abgefeimtes Setting, in dem Reste von Jazz und - mit etwas gutem Willen - auch Swing auszumachen sind. Klarerweise auf heutige Verhältnisse gemünzt. Mit dabei: Rute Praça (Cello), Margarida Garcia (b.), César Burago (dr.) und Torals Langzeitkumpel, der Taschentrompeter Sei Miguel. »Ernste« Musik mit hohem Spaßfaktor." [Heinrich Deisl / SKUG]
"The Space Program is Rafael Toral’s long-term research project launched in 2004, through which he has unearthed an innovative approach and a complete re-thinking of how electronic music is conceived and experienced. Using custom experimental instruments, Toral performs electronic music concerned with “phrasing and swing” and performing strange melodies with physicality, movement and gesture in flux. The result is something you’re unlikely to have heard before, a kind of alien electronic jazz. After the acclaimed, orchestral Space and the following Space Solo 1, this is the first volume of the Space Elements series, each release being focused on one kind of instrument, on small settings and including collaborations. Space Elements Vol. I features Rute Praça (cello), Margarida Garcia (electric double-bass), Sei Miguel’s amazing percussionist César Burago, and David Toop (flute), besides a short appearance by Sei Miguel himself. From Toral’s liner notes: “Having found that jazz is the field of musical knowledge where disciplined decision-making is most developed, this music is more informed by jazz than by any other. The Space Program emphasizes articulating silence and sound, by structuring musical discourse on experimental instruments with a simple and clear sonic identity. To my surprise I found no historical precedents to this practice, being that it draws practically no information from electronic music history (which is grounded on different thinking patterns), and it draws very little from jazz history as well, since the instruments I use are inadequate to play any music based on the Western system. I regard this approach to jazz (meaning a system of individual decision-making from the standpoint of free-spectrum live electronics) as a new and exciting field of creative possibilities. I called it “post-free jazz electronic music.”
Space Elements Vol. I was mastered direct to metal and pressed on clear 200gram virgin-vinyl in a limited edition of 500 copies. The jacket was designed by Helder Luis at NOTYPE and features a collage by contemporary artist Joao Paulo Feliciano. CD Version available on Staubgold." [label notes]
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Cyclorama Lift 3 |
maxi-CD |
"Cyclorama Lift is a piece about the idea that electronic resonance is everywhere in our electronically mediated perception of sounds. Like a ghost-in-the-machine. It's performed with an empty circuit, basically a feedback loop using as main instruments two 8-second delays and a 4-band parametric equalizer. There's no input, the loop is constantly nourishing and digesting itself. The circulating sound is electronic resonance. Rafael Toral is a musician, producer and sound engineer. Born in Lisbon in 1967, he has been performing live since 1984. Considered by the Chicago Reader to be 'one of the most gifted and innovative guitarists of the decade', his work focuses mainly on the possibilities of ambient music (variable attention listening process), the electric guitar as a sound generator and improvisation with higher levels of risk (using instruments or systems that behave in unpredictable ways) in real time sonic exploration. 20'50"." [label info] |
2000 |
€8.50 |
|
| TORBA |
Musique Inconcrete |
LP |
After the quickly sold out »Ggràn« cassette, released on Fragment Factory in 2016, we are very happy to welcome back the Italian sound artist Mauro Diciocia aka Torba for his 2nd contribution to the FF label catalogue. »Musique Inconcrète« is the follow-up to »Musica Conventionale«, released earlier this year on his own Edizioni Aaltra imprint, and marks the second installment in a trilogy of related recordings, informally named »Le Musiche«. While being active in the field of contemporary sound art and noise music for more than a decade, Diciocia has produced a whole lot of mostly small run cassette releases. This LP is Torba's first and long overdue full-length album for the vinyl format.
While Diciocia's latest work is far from being composed in classical terms, the concept behind the album revolves around the idea of sketch or annotation. Or better still: The inconcrète. A semi-false (or semi-correct) french word, used to undermine the consistency of the french Musique Concrète tradition in a rather light-hearted manner. During the conception of this album, MD was strongly influenced by the work »Incompiuto - The Birth of a Style« by the Italian contemporary art collective Alterazioni Video. They loudly claim that Incompiuto – the unfinished – is the only Italian art style of some significance in the past 50 years: "The term ‘incompiuto’ refers to the architectural and infrastructural works whose construction has been halted, and which can be witnessed throughout the entire Italian peninsula. They are all publicly funded, and for a variety of reasons (design errors, political decisions, inaccurate cost estimates, contractors' bankruptcies, evident disregard of building regulations, the disappearance of funds, etc.) their construction has been interrupted, leaving behind a series of ruins in reverse.” (Alterazioni Video)
Far from any reference to post-architecture or mafia-political controversy, the final output of »Musique Inconcrète« is a macro cut-up of sound-screens reorganized as quasi-organic narration: Fragments of unfinished compositions, roughly assembled according to a mere aesthetic criteria. Beyond the sporadic use of oscillators and a few inserts of other people's music manipulated on ¼-inch tape, the whole LP is made out of field recordings collected in the region of Salento in southern Italy, where Diciocia is currently living. All environmental sounds were captured with common consumer electronics (walkman and mobile phones) in order to give back the domestic feeling of an abandoned opera. Speaking of geography, the first track Lapjèdr Fòr is the only exception. Intended as an introduction to the whole narration, it testifies MD's emotional and non-linear journey back from Germany, where he spent about eight years, to Southern Italy: It contains a clashing mix of recordings made in Berlin and around the seaside of Torre Lapillo.
The pictures for the artwork of the album were taken by the photographer Gabriele Albergo, whose perpetual-in-progress project »Salento Death Valley - A Black Diary of the Most Beloved Italian Peninsula« aims to deconstruct the touristically idealized image of the region through the serial production of what he calls anti-postcards.
Edition of 300 copies on black vinyl.
https://fragmentfactory.bandcamp.com/album/musique-inconcr-te
"Many of the sounds on Musique Inconcrète are thin, threadlike, fibrous, like amplified insect legs or the metallic rustle of uncut guitar strings. Usually such a description would apply to an album with much more sound processing and alteration involved in its construction, not a work that relies as heavily on mostly unmanipulated field recordings as this does, but the singular vision that audio collage maestro Mauro Diciocia (a.k.a. Torba) has adopted for Musique Inconcrète is unconcerned with “usually.” The six tracks on the LP are true sonic sketches, a structure he borrows from the Alterazioni Video collective’s tradition of Incompiuto—the incomplete. Diciocia warmly embraces a state of unfinishedness, fully content to explore acoustic settings and movements with qualities that might often be cited as weaknesses: insubstantiality, choppiness, frailty. He uses the aforementioned field recordings—most of which were captured in southern Italy—as fragile canvases for his sketches, their beautifully mundane soundscapes both contributing their own unique textures to the music as well as serving as a base for quiet interjections of buzzing static; occasional and very choice musical samples; and other oddities. The recordings themselves are often shaky and unstable, an effect that’s achieved via either subtle processing or the recording medium itself; Diciocia chose to use basic electronics like small tape recorders and mobile phones to evoke “the domestic feeling of an abandoned opera.” Such careful efforts to fully adopt an intentional lack of polish or seamlessness make Musique Inconcrète not only a fascinating and thought-provoking release but also more lush and well-realized than one could ever think possible." [Noisenotmusic]
"Wenn das neue Torba-Album ein Pendant in der Welt der haptisch erfahrbaren Artefakte hat, dann ist es die Ruine – ein Phänomen, welches das Künstlerkollektiv Alterazione Video jüngst am Beispiel unvollendeter Architektur und Infrastruktur untersuchte, an verschiedenen Konstruktionen, die aus Geldmangel, wegen technischer Probleme, politischer Planänderungen und ähnlicher Gründe Fragment bleiben mussten. In der dazu entstandenen Studie wurden sie als die bedeutendsten Kunstwerke des heutigen Italiens bezeichnet.
“Musique Inconcrète”, erneut eine Reihe an feinsinnigen Cut-Up-Kollagen, wurde stark von diesen Überlegungen getriggert und setzt sich aus eher spontan zusammengesetzten Komponenten zusammen, denen man ihre Fragmentiertheit anmerkt. Benannt hat Torba das Resultat allerdings nicht nach dem Unvollendeten, sondern nach dem “Inkonkreten”, was eine ganze Reihe weiterer Bedeutungsnuancen eröffnet.
Im Vergleich zur One Track-CD “Musica Convenzionale”, dem ersten Teil der losen Reihe “Le Musiche”, erst recht aber zu früheren Veröffentlichungen, sind die sieben Tracks des neuen Longplayers noch ein ganzes Stück dezenter, andeutungshafter und ungreifbarer: Mikrosequenzen, deren Soundmaterial diffus an Zikaden, Straßenlärm, Sinustöne, Wind und Wasser und zwitschernde Vögel, aber auch an jazziges Basspiel erinnert, eine Viel-, wenn nicht Unzahl an per Telefon aufgezeichnetem Material, dazu Songzitate und immer wieder dezente Manipulation – all das liegt übereinander, greift ineinander und verschmilzt doch nur soweit miteinander, dass das Konstrukt einer Einheit verwehrt bleibt. Alles verbindet sich gerade so stark, dass die Konturen einzelner Klänge undeutlich und eben unkonkret werden.
Man kann darin freilich eine Kritik an den Ideen der Musique Concrète, oder zumindest das Aufzeigen einer Kehrseite und eines blinden Flecks sehen, betonten die Pioniere dieser Musik doch besonders das Material in seiner wie selbstverständlich angenommenen Abgegrenztheit. Die einzig deutliche Grenze, die Torba hier zieht, ist die des immer wieder überraschenden Schlusspunktes einer Sequenz oder einer Tonspur, womit er an einige seine früheren Tape-Veröffentlichungen anknüpft. Torba ist nach wie vor ein Gelände mit vielen abrupt endenden Sackgassen. Mehr noch als in den opulenteren Stücken wird dies in den zwei minimalistischen “Intermezzi” deutlich, in denen der (teils verfremdete und im Tempo hochgeschraubte) Auftakt einer berühmten Klaviersonate durch ein Szenario verhuschter Sounds getrieben wird. Daran, dass das Motiv immer wieder nach drei Tönen de nova da capo geht, mag man sich gar nicht gewöhnen, und soll es vielleicht auch nicht.
In dieser Spannung, in der die einzige klare Kontur die Evidenz des Unfertigen ist, liegt die Signifikanz und natürlich die größte Herausforderung von “Musique Inconcrète”. Hat man sich daran gewöhnt, erkennt man viel Schönheit in dem Gebräu aus Verkehrslärm, Stimmengewirr und verschwommener Jahrmarktsmusik." (U.S./African Paper) |
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| TORTURING GIRL (=TORTURING NURSE + ALO GIRL) |
same |
LP |
Torturing Girl is a great collaboration between Torturing Nurse and Alo Girl. In 2004, Junky and Misuzu created the Harsh Noise project “Torturing Nurse” in Shanghai in the spirit of Hijokaidan. Originally, the band’s classical line-up included Youki, Misuzu, Miriam and Junky. They use contact mike, metal, pedal, feedback, voice and guitar. Since 2010 Tourturing Nurse consists of Junky and Youki. Alo Girl is dissolute and cruelly Italian HNW/ Harsh noise project by Cristiano Renzoni (whose also the other half of Richard Ramirez’s An Innocent Young Throat-Cutter) and it debuts in 2009 with its first LP. He uses analog electronics, pedal and contact mike in order to create sonic wall construction where brutality appears to be the inevitable outcome. This angry LP comes in a deluxe silver silkscreen on black cardboard sleeve, limited to 119 hand numbered copies w/8 pages mini-booklet.
Listen to extract at: www.urashima.it/uma019.html
|
2011 |
€25.00 |
|
| TORTURING NURSE |
Il Comunismo doveva morire |
CD |
"il comunismo doveva morire is Torturing Nurse's first Mind Flare Media release. Absolutely devastating, this album is one single track running almost an hour and fourteen minutes long. The band suddenly breaks in from nowhere and immediately begins an assault on your ears, suddenly switching and transitioning to a variety of different power electronics landscapes. The artwork sums it up well, a symbolic representation of a dead politicial system. The back features similar art taken from famous propaganda and manipulated, ending with more political imagery inside and a CD that rests upon a pile of skulls. Without a doubt the harshest thing these guys have ever done. This stuff is powerful and not for the faint of hearing." [label info]
www.mindflaremedia.com
"Why noise from Japan was spectacularly good was that noise as miss-appropriation of western music in post war Japan was where miss-appropriation of the west was paramount, removal of tradition in favor of day glo Elvis's Whiskey made from genuine Scottish grapes and school girls in tartan mini skirts." . discuss.. Or why miss-appropriation has now firmly shifted to China might be the explanation of the ability of Torturing Nurse to take over the incoherence of noise from the great masters of Japan, and that in there inconsequential screaming, noise and feedback is what they do so well, whether from design, pastiche or naivety, it doesn't matter, all is symptoms without any traces, illness without disease, psychoanalysis of sanity, this is a culture which was never part of the monotheistic religions. Judaistic calling which engendered the enlightenment and guilt, Freudian Oedipus or Marxist theory ,T.N. is a superficial image, a simulacra of the west without foundation or introversion, it has nothing to attack or demolish, so is pointless, nothing to solve or cure, the name itself silly lacking any psychosis of western introversion, those bare chested lot who miss mommy, no this is noise as noise for noise from noise and nothing else besides, and 74 minutes which is never enough. All those blokes in Texas half drunk on Budweiser with their effects pedals, guitars and toys should take a listen and weep, no not weep, too much weeping already, maybe then get washed have a shave and get a job at HMV in the local mall, or else take up the dizi, sheng, paigu, paixiao, guan, erhu, zhonghu, dahu, banhu, jinghu, gaohu, gehu, yehu, cizhonghu, diyingehu, leiqin, guqin, sanxian, yangqin, guzheng, ruan, konghou, liuqin, pipa, zhu?????" [jliat/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| TOTSTELLEN |
Mein Licht beleuchtet nur Abgruende |
CD-R |
"processed fieldrecordings of a journey through the baltic states, finland + lapland. reflections on constructed nature + disruption as utopia.
01 - anorexie im bauch eines wals (12:42)
02 - faules blut in molochs adern (19:38)
03 - keinen traum mehr zu haben (01:24)
04 - fuer die noch lenenden toten (17:32)
05 - vermehrt zu gast im laeukemiecluster (23:38)" [label info]
http://telenautik.de/grimm/totstellen
"Der Alptraum kommt in lautleisegefälligen Schritten, die baltischen Länder bieten neben der touristisch entlegenen Industrieromantik auch etwas wie ein dreckig-verschlafenes Lokalkolorit, welchem mit Mikrophon und Sampler zu Leibe gegangen werden kann. Wann beginnt der Alptraum wirklich? Dann wenn man aufwacht und feststellt, dass die Realität sich bei aller Authentizität doch beliebig verformen lässt. Totstellen hat in 5 Kompositionen seine einjährige Reise durch die baltischen Länder festgehalten, streng feldrekorderistisch, wie ein audiophiles Tagebuch welches die jeweiligen Reisemomente auf ehrlichste und naheliegendste Art zu skizzieren vermag. Mal rauschen die Bäche, dann wiederum dräunt und hallt der industrielle Alltag der Straßen und öffentlichen Plätze durch die Aufnahmen, werden Funkstimmen und Wassertropfen zu grotesken Klangmonstern, die ihre Formwandlung auf unerklärlich hässlich-faszinierende Weise exhibitionistisch zur Schau stellen. Wenngleich Totstellen’s Abgründe sich ihrer Funktion wohl nur im Gedächtnis seiner eigenen Reiseerinnerungen öffnen, atmet »Mein Licht Beleuchtet Nur Abgründe« eine ganz eigene Sprache, das verworren-gutturale Geflecht aus Erinnerung und Lücke. Die archaische Umverpackung, handgenäht und mit Siebdruck versehen, macht aus diesem Release eine besonders intime Angelegenheit. Chapeau." [Thorsten Soltau / AEMAG]
"...Totstellen uses both field recordings, but plays music, sound material creates what he encounters, like the rustle of plastic and metal buckets on ticking. In one way or another, the atmosphere is nostalgic and melancholic compositions and are true sound paintings. These beautiful CDR's packaged in a self-sewn cover with a picture book where the emptiness of the city and nature plays a central role. Highly recommended!" [JKH/Vital
Weekly]
|
2010 |
€12.00 |
|
| TOY BIZARRE |
KDI DCTB 49 / 23 (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
"TOY BIZARRE from Limoges, France, are one of the leading outfits for new "natural" or "environmental" music, which uses places as instruments. The compositions strongly relate to geography and cartography. These two pieces are made of sources coming from a railway station & a little summit named "Cote 358": the train, wind, electrical flux, grasshoppers, fences, barbed wires, storm & rain... All these sounds were organized raw & uneffected in a very suspenseful & unique way.
Listen to a totally alienated world around us!
grey vinyl, creased thick wrapping-paper covers." [label info]
|
1998 |
€ |
|
| |
kdi dctb 278 |
CD |
" “kdi dctb 278” is what I call a sound film. Its shape entirely and solely based on the sound recording of places – as in all of my pieces – fits my refusal to make a choice of abstraction or narration and willingness to stay in an in-between, to maintain a dialogue between abstraction / narrative, which would be close to the daydream.
“kdi dctb 278” was recorded 1994~2013 @ various locations; sequences built for various projects.
Some parts appeared first in the kdi dct 216 “garden / square meter” series (Melbourne), thanks to Jude Anderson, Jacques Soddell.
Tested live (parts) @ Instants Chavirés, L’Audible Festival, Paris, 2012/09, thanks to Jérôme Noetinger.
Tested live (fully) @ Sonikas, Madrid, 2013/12 – thanks to Juan Carlos Blancas, Alfonso Pomeda & the man-who-saw-codex-but-lost-the-way.
This version, mixed 2015/06 @ TBS
Release date: 09.2015
Label : Semperflorens
Time: 41:43 mins
Format: CD in DVDBOX
Limited to 500 copies" [toy bizarre info]
www.ingeos.org/en/kdi-dctb-278/
"After all these years, we are still not all that clear what the acronym that Cedric Peyronnet (aka Toy Bizarre) has used for the bulk of his album titles. It's definitely some sort of cataloging system as his titles are in sequential fashion, now reaching 278, though there are some sizable jumps between the various numbers. Peyronnet may have explained what this may mean somewhere and at sometime, but enlightenment eludes us. So, we'll collectively shrug and move onto this vivid collection of manipulated field recordings and phonographic compositions that are found on this impressive album. Since the late '80s or thereabouts, Peyronnet has used natural sounds as his primary source material, working in parallel to Eric La Casa, Small Cruel Party, Tarab, and some of the more obtuse practitioners of contemporary musique concrete. Peyronnet's uneasy dislocations never settle on the notions of purely objective / narrative descriptions of sound, nor could they be defined as abstraction. So one can hear jolting splashes of water and mud along with Luc Ferrari like snippets of human voice well-removed from context alongside filter-heavy drones of liquid miasma and mercurial drones dappled with found object texture and splattered detritus. Peyronnet has quite a knack for rendering all of the components of his compositions with an incredible sharpness of detail - the purity of his dilated frequencies and an exactness to environmental elements work into his slippery compositions punctured with bursts of energy that Peyronnet allows to wane into solemn pools of contemplation." [Aquarius Rec.]
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| TRANSITIONAL |
Nothing Real Nothing Absent |
CD |
Erinnert sich noch jemand an die begnadeten HEAD OF DAVID? Das lief damals unter "britischem Noise-Rock", war aber weitaus abgründiger und experimenteller als viele andere Bands mit derselben Stilrichtung aus dieser Zeit, von der Innovationskraft & rabenschwarzen Radikalität ehesten vielleicht noch mit der New Yorker Band LIVE SKULL vergleichbar. DAVE COCHRANE gehörte zur Urbesetzung von HEAD OF DAVID, war später bei GOD, SWEET TOOTH und JESU, und brilliert nun in diesem neuen Duo TRANSITIONAL, das irgendwo zwischen JESU-Rock und elektronischen Power-Trance & Drone angesiedelt ist, mitreissend wie hier rohe Kraft in betörende Bahnen gelenkt wird....trancige Beats, Weite, rauhe Sounds wie Wellen & Wind...
"Transitional is the new project of musician producer Kevin Laska (Novatron) and long time Justin K Broadrick and Kevin Martin collaborator Dave Cochrane (Jesu, Grey Machine,). The debut 'Nothing real Nothing Absent' offers a rich variety in their approach to sound combining crushing atmospheres through a mixture of electronic ambience, mangling bass lines and distorted epic layers of textured guitar. Injected with driving rhythms and effected vocal phrasing Laska and Cochrane build discordant worlds on an immense scale which pull you down to another level of fear and ethereal bliss before kicking off with some more soul dismantling sonic dysfunction.
This is a band which can deliver both sonic tranquility and extremely heavy slabs of dense music and just about everything in between; Heavy electronic machinery, juggernaut bass lines and hypnotic guitars go from passive relaxation to an unstoppable machine within a single surge. Kevin Laska's woven creations of bleak electronic/organic mesmerizing mayhem and bliss has found a new level. Now joined by legendary bassist Dave Cochrane who played with the likes of Kevin Martin in God, Ice and The Bug and Justin Broadrick in Jesu and Head of David. Born September 2006 Laska's found himself in another quality up with Cochrane, following his last collaboration with a.o. Russel Smith and Anthony Difranco (Ramleh, ex Skullflower) as Novatron. Transitional; a solid, textured and dynamic sonic journey through a world that is both self deprecating and enlightening, but either way leaves you wanting more." [label info]
www.conspiracyrecords.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| TREMBLAY, PIERRE-ALEXANDRE |
Alter ego |
DVD-A |
Autoportrait (2001). au Croisé, le silence, seul, tient lieu de parole (2000). Binary (Virtual Rapper Remix) (1998). fugue; qui sent le temps? (1997). la cloche fêlée (2004)
"The other self - Finding in music an accomplice, the other, without whom nothing is possible, without whom one cannot grow. Better: through his contact, one really exists, since one plainly sees oneself. A mirror. the other me - My music as an intimate insight, naked, subject to the world's judgement: an act of humility. Through it I present a hidden side of my torment, in my name, alone to take on the poetry of its imperfection. Of my imperfection. the other you - Proposing dreams fragments, paths for wandering, where others can hopefully loose themselves and self-identify to the extent of purging their humanity. Or just to enjoy the road. the other thing - work, not as a superficial exercise of aesthetic seduction, but as an attempt to transcend differences toward the Übermensch. Strong arguments, amoral, music as a vehicle of reflections, Expressionist and Romantic, inducing an effervescence, an urgency to live. Perhaps simply beautiful? other." Pierre-Alexandre Tremblay.
First initiated to the world of classical guitar at an early age, Pierre Alexandre Tremblay subsequently dedicated body and soul to composition and bass guitar during his adolescent years. With the support and guidance of Jean-Guy Larin, Michel Tétreault, Michel Donato and Marcelle Deschênes, the young composer forged his unique language in Montréal's teeming cultural life of the '90s and, in 1998, completed his bachelor's degree in composition at the Université de Montréal. Pierre Alexandre Tremblay continued to explore further musical endeavours in the creative atmosphere of England at the beginning of the millennium. He was awarded his PhD in Electroacoustic Composition from the University of Birmingham (UK) in 2005, under the supervision of Jonty Harrison. Since then, Pierre Alexandre Tremblay teaches composition at the University of Huddersfield (UK). In parallel with his academic path, Pierre Alexandre Tremblay formed, in 1996, the contemporary jazz ensemble [iks], which he still leads and with which he continues to tour Europe, America, and Africa. With this ensemble, that has released six albums to date, he practices improvisation on his instrument and, more recently, on realtime processing devices. He is also frequently in the studio for popular music artists, both as producer and session bassist. Well versed in these aesthetic approaches that he considers complementary, Pierre Alexandre Tremblay now seeks to unite them into a single coherent poetic language. He spends his spare time, pursuing his interests in reading and photography, and with his family. In addition, as founding member of the no-tv collective, he does not own a working television set.
[label info / credits]
www.empreintesdigitales.com
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
| TREPANERINGSRITUALEN |
Algir; Eller Algir I Merkstave |
LP |
Trepaneringsritualen return to Cold Spring with an album-long ritual working entitled ᛉᛦ — Algir; eller Algir i Merkstave. On this record — constructed from a series of rituals designated to guide the last ceasing of ᛏᛇᚱᚫ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ — T × R × P is manifest in its most obscure form. Sonically minimal yet devastating in emotional impact, this working lets the listener grasp the last vestiges of Nifl and Múspell, and with them as weapon and beacon traverse the Night. ᛉᛦ reveals a barren landscape where crooked paths lead onward, through soot black veils to a point of radiant light where all that is is Union & Dissolution.
Dedicated to our sister, ᛏᛇᚱᚫ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ.
T × R × P channelled through the forms of ᚦᛟᚦ ᚷᛁᚷ, ᚾᛟᚺ ⩝⚭⩝, and ᛏᛇᚱᚫ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ at the 63rd Link, 4 & Rising, and Zone Rouge December 2017 e.v. — July 2018 e.v. Mastered by Martin Bowes. Artwork by Nullvoid.
___
I tordön rister marken och i ett enda andetag rämnar alla världar. Den arma kropp som en gång med knapphet höll samman faller nu itu, och itu, och itu. Tills varje beståndsdel blir till Ingenting. Likt en vålnad utan hud och blod och anda — utan köttets förtvivlan — kastar jag mig — handlöst och av vanvett vredgad — i ditt vidunderliga gap.
Här, i gudars sotsvarta skymning, där natt och dag förgås, hörs alla ord och stäv för första gången tydligt. Här tar alla vaga förnimmelser sin sanna form och stiger ur ett disigt skimmer.
Här, i alla solars gyllne gryning, strålar tusen — åter tusen, pilar av det mest förblindande ljus, mot en enda punkt. Skapandet, och varandet, och blivandet löses upp där prisman splittrar ljuset. Framför mig syns vägen klar och uppenbar.
Vi Vandrar Vidare
V ∴ V ∴ V
CD in 6-panel digipak
LP - Limited first edition of 500 copies on 180g black vinyl. Printed inner sleeve with reverse board outer sleeve.
Official teaser: youtu.be/8bTlXaUPpzI
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/algir-eller-algir-i-merkstave-csr275cd-lp |
2019 |
€22.50 |
|
| |
Algir; Eller Algir I Merkstave |
CD |
Trepaneringsritualen return to Cold Spring with an album-long ritual working entitled ᛉᛦ — Algir; eller Algir i Merkstave. On this record — constructed from a series of rituals designated to guide the last ceasing of ᛏᛇᚱᚫ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ — T × R × P is manifest in its most obscure form. Sonically minimal yet devastating in emotional impact, this working lets the listener grasp the last vestiges of Nifl and Múspell, and with them as weapon and beacon traverse the Night. ᛉᛦ reveals a barren landscape where crooked paths lead onward, through soot black veils to a point of radiant light where all that is is Union & Dissolution.
Dedicated to our sister, ᛏᛇᚱᚫ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ.
T × R × P channelled through the forms of ᚦᛟᚦ ᚷᛁᚷ, ᚾᛟᚺ ⩝⚭⩝, and ᛏᛇᚱᚫ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ at the 63rd Link, 4 & Rising, and Zone Rouge December 2017 e.v. — July 2018 e.v. Mastered by Martin Bowes. Artwork by Nullvoid.
___
I tordön rister marken och i ett enda andetag rämnar alla världar. Den arma kropp som en gång med knapphet höll samman faller nu itu, och itu, och itu. Tills varje beståndsdel blir till Ingenting. Likt en vålnad utan hud och blod och anda — utan köttets förtvivlan — kastar jag mig — handlöst och av vanvett vredgad — i ditt vidunderliga gap.
Här, i gudars sotsvarta skymning, där natt och dag förgås, hörs alla ord och stäv för första gången tydligt. Här tar alla vaga förnimmelser sin sanna form och stiger ur ett disigt skimmer.
Här, i alla solars gyllne gryning, strålar tusen — åter tusen, pilar av det mest förblindande ljus, mot en enda punkt. Skapandet, och varandet, och blivandet löses upp där prisman splittrar ljuset. Framför mig syns vägen klar och uppenbar.
Vi Vandrar Vidare
V ∴ V ∴ V
CD in 6-panel digipak
LP - Limited first edition of 500 copies on 180g black vinyl. Printed inner sleeve with reverse board outer sleeve.
Official teaser: youtu.be/8bTlXaUPpzI
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/algir-eller-algir-i-merkstave-csr275cd-lp
"After a run of strong albums framed around vocal driven, rhythmic death industrial compositions, Trepaneringsritualen (TxRxP) has chosen to take an abrupt left-hand turn (onto the left hand path?) to deliver an extremely minimalist ritual dark ambient album, thus harks back to an earlier phase of the project. In fact this new instrumental album is so minimal and ritualized in style, it would not at all be out of place on the Aural Hypnox label.
Compositionally this album consists of two lengthy nineteen-minute tracks, each titled with the algiz rune, but noting for the second track the algiz rune has been inverted. To glean meaning from this, in its upturned position, the algiz rune can be interpreted as a human with upraised arms to received the protection, guidance and wisdom from the Universe. But in its inverted position can be interpreted as meaning hidden dangers for the self and the need to reflect and look within as part of the process of gaining strength and connecting with higher self. Yet even with the cover image of the algiz rune formed by tree branches, based on the spartan artwork and text in Swedish, how the algiz runes should be interpreted in context of this album remains unclear.
Sonically speaking the atmosphere is one of bass driven tonal depth and catacombic echo, where blackened washes of archaic drones blend with reverb drenched ritual percussive sounds, including: deep catatonic drum hits; sparse gongs; wailing horns; ritual chimes; singing bowls, low atonal piano notes etc. Yet for all of its apparent minimalism, this album is one that immediately draws you into its sinister clutches and does not loosen its grip for the entire album duration, particularly given the ample tensile sonic elements which keep interest and engagement throughout. Although cut into two separate tracks, the sound effectively plays out at an album length track as the sound between the two pieces bridges the same pace and articulates visions in the mind’s eye of a ritual ceremony being conducted in the falling twilight on the damp forest floor, while tree limbs creak and sway in response to the winds gusting through treetops far above. Also of note is the deep shuddering thud featuring at the start and end of the album album, as if sonically representing the opening and subsequent closing of a ritual cycle.
Prior to the release of this album, perhaps I had assumed that TxRxP would continue to forge ahead with a song-based approach. That impression has been proven to be completed incorrect, but at the same time, ᛉᛦ – Algir; Eller Algir I Merkstave is an exceptional example of minimalist and strongly meditative ritual dark ambient music, and completely takes me back to the earliest days of when I started listening to this type of music. Recommended." [Noise Receptor]
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| TRICOLI, VALERIO |
Clonic Earth |
do-LP |
"The experimental Italian composer returns to PAN with a new LP, titled 'Clonic Earth'. His ongoing output for the label has long-presented his electroacoustic sound compositions where since the mid-'00s, he has utilized analogue live sampling and real-time editing of field and studio recordings by means of manipulation of 1/4 inch tape.
Asides from being a founding member of the Italian avant-rock group 3/4HadBeenEliminated, he has worked extensively with various musicians, choreographers and multimedia artists including Thomas Ankersmit, Antoine Chessex, Werner Dafeldecker, Anthony Pateras, and Robert Piotrowicz.
His studio compositions, documented on few records, often explore themes of the internal - represented both by the psychological and the physical - and of the occult, which with the use of spoken text makes them often deeply existential works, self-investigations of the psychological, emotional and irrational horror within.
The new record, 'Clonic Earth' is a perturbing, compelling and eventually mind-expanding work, marked by compositional strategies of exploded narratives, psychological insight and oracular literary references, where questions about the boundaries of spatial perception in the decoding processes of acousmatic music are overturned into existential, metaphysical questions.
Tricoli's allegorical and philosophical universe takes the form of an unhinged mind's landscape swarming with estranged sound objects, and sometimes reminiscent, in the complexity of details and surrealistic effects, of Hieronymus Bosch's larger paintings. Compared to his previous works, the content of 'Clonic Earth' explores more synthesized and heavily processed sounds, especially vocals, often appearing in the form of a religious, electrified chanting.
The record is described by its author as a natural consequence of the internal collapse depicted in his previous record, 'Miseri Lares': 'As if all the debris left inside my loudspeakers have been ignited to expand into the ether, to find a justification at the principle of Chaos, or Cosmos alike.'
This movement is expressed by references to the theme of fire as original matter in the Chaldean Oracles which, together with the later work of Philip K. Dick, are the main sources for the vocal/text elements of the composition. Fire, intended as the convulsive principle of existence, but also an ontologically terminal element - hence a representation of the infinite decay and a mean of communication with the otherworldly Ð serves the author a metaphor for the acousmatic listening experience itself: a borderline perception of sounds eternally fixed in their spasmodic disappearance, which could eventually drag us into a different layer of reality, drastically changing, subverting, or expanding the space in which they are diffused. A ritual, somehow, which may link the listener and the perceptive space that he inhabits with whatever lies beyond the loudspeakers, beyond the vibrating surface of the world.
The 2xLP is mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, featuring artwork by Bill Kouligas."
www.p-a-n.org
|
2016 |
€27.50 |
|
| |
Say Goodbye to the Wind |
Shelter Press 139cd |
The Palermo born, Munich based composer, Valerio Tricoli, has forged a singular path within experimental sound practice, continuously rethinking the relationship between electroacoustic composition and narrative possibility. Say Goodbye to the Wind is his first album with Shelter Press. Across three intricate, deeply personal works of concrète music, the composer blurs the boundaries between the tangible and abstract, weaving complex allegories for the self. Most commonly created on a RevoxB77 reel-to-reel -- manipulating, live sampling, and real-time editing/mixing of field and studio recordings -- in Tricoli's hands, estranged moments of sonorous ephemera transmogrify and intertwine as metaphorical and allegorical sums, far greater than their parts. The title of Tricoli's sixth full-length is taken from a story by J.G. Ballard, set in the desolation of a holiday resort that rests among a landscape of endless rolling dunes that are populated by "sound sculptures" and monsters. Historically, one of the primary pursuits of musique concrete is the transformation of everyday sonority into abstractions of profound meaning and weight. While this process unquestionable played a heavy hand in the composition of Say Goodbye to the Wind, Tricoli's approach to the idiom sets the stage for something entirely unique. Not only are the practices of tape music applied to field recordings, but to the sounds of piano, synthesizers, objects, and the composer's voice, in addition to interventions by Ecka Mordecai (cello), Lucio Capece (soprano saxophone), and Ida Toninato (vocals). "Lo Spopolatore", draws its title from Samuel Beckett's short story Le Dépeupleur (The Lost Ones). Tricoli's work weaves together a multitude of sonorous fragments: field recordings, voice, and diverse instrumentation. "Mimosa Hostilis" -- the name of a Brazilian plant which contains DMT -- begins with same recording as its predecessor, made of his son's breathing, a few months after his birth, in the Sicilian sea wind. Here, Tricoli treats his sources with pointillistic precision, intermingling vocal and minimal instrumental gestures into a polyrhythmic patter that transforms commonplace sonority into aural echoes of wind, rain, the shadowy species within. The title of "De Vacuum Magdeburgicus" is taken from the name of the first paper published by Otto von Guericke, a 17th century, German scientist, inventor, and politician. While no less oriented around the abstract possibilities activated by field recordings, "De Vacuum Magdeburgicus" is the album's most explicitly musical work. Warbling instrumental sounds and vocal interventions, bent by the hand tape manipulation, push toward heightened states of drama and tension, pushing and pulling against a vast pallet of textures drawn from the natural word and beyond. Artwork by Mårten Lange. Mastered by Rashad Becker.
https://shelterpress.bandcamp.com/album/say-goodbye-to-the-wind
|
2022 |
€18.50 |
|
| TROMMER, MICHAEL |
Night Swimmer |
CD |
Night Swimmer’ is created from field-recordings of nocturnal swims and paddles made during the summer of 2013 in Ontario’s Georgian Bay. As evening would fade into night, the athropophony and biophony tended to become muted; this resulted in a significantly increased signal to noise ratio, or what acoustic ecologist R Murray Schafer describes as a transformation into a ‘hi-fi environment’. This expanded sonic horizon – coupled with a reduced amount of visual information – encouraged a heightened focus on the act of listening: the manner in which landscape filters and reflects sound became significantly more perceptible and I often found myself in an acousmatic space in which most of what was heard could not actually be seen. In this intensified state of acoustic awareness, one can perhaps detect a more primal way of responding to our environment, an echo of a past that predates the primacy of the visual.
(Michael Trommer, September 2014)
www.unfathomless.net
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
| TROUM |
Tjukurrpa (part three: rhythms and pulsations) |
CD |
“ Dronecore. This is the third part in TROUMs Tjukurrpa-trilogy, following part 1 (harmonies) and part 2 (drones). This final part is dedicated to “rhythms” and “pulsations”, with a focus on rhythmic, pounding, looping & repetitive elements and structures.
With TJUKURRPA 3, TROUM shows a not so well known side, using the trance-power of repetitive textures. In every of the seven extensive tracks (playtime 66+ min) rhythms in various moods build the basis: from smooth ambience-pulsations over ritualistic surroundings up to ecstatic pounding harshness, from underneath & soft pulsative patterns up to evolving harsh & overwhelming rhythmic loops. The music on Tjukurrpa III is made by raw & processed loops & handplayed percussion, along with electric guitar & bass, balalaika, mouth organ, male & female human voice, flute, and accordeon. No samplers, synths or computers used.” [press release]
“...The global rhythm of the album is just like a biorhythm, it becomes the final shape depending on the many individual elements. Devouring or emphasizing each other, they develop inside the organism and join insensibly to our attitude, becoming habitual part of it like breathing or palpitation. The standard rhythmical structures can just diversify the physical course of time sensation - unlike that, Troum music embraces all association models control in the human brain, so it will enchant you and not let you go... despite your frame of mind and inclination.” [Dmitry Vasilyev, IEM Magazine]
“Their trilogy is a true masterpiece in the genre.” [Fdw, Vital Weekly]
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Tjukurrpa (part two: drones) |
CD |
Der zweite Teil der Trilogie zeigt die „dronige“ Seite von TROUM, fünf lange Stücke mit transzendental-entrückten DRONES von meditativer Atmosphäre bis hin zu rituell-apokalyptischen, monumentalen Klangräumen... ein weiterer Versuch, die Ratio auszuschalten und in grenzenlose, entsubjektierte Bewußtseinssphären zu gelangen! Kommt wieder im kreisförmigen Cover....second CD in the Tjukurrpa – trilogy, another try to loose ratio and reach boundless spheres of mind.
“This part two is dedicated to "drones", presenting five highly atmospheric and droning tracks ranging from minimal to monumental sounds, from dark ambient to more ritualistic areas: these are drones to loose your rational mind in.. The music on Tjukurrpa II is made by loops based on metal-sounds, percussion & other more obscure sources, as well as mouth-organ, choirs, guitars, and effects.” [press release]
“All in all "Tjukurrpa" is a step towards unconsciousness, estrangement and self-knowledge. Having plunged so deep into one’s inner space one risks never to come back again. Roaming about the corridors of your own soul, try not to get lost completely.” [Nikolai Kiryukhin]
„ Just like Maeror Tri, Troum seem to have mastered this area of subconscious music best.“ [Frans de Waard, VitalWeekly]
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
|
SIGQAN |
CD |
"...„Sigqan" von 2003, remastered und in neuem cover auf neuem label, diesmal dem eigenen. und gerade bei so verbesserungen ist das ergebnis ja oft zwiespältig; das re-master hier dagegen subtil lebendiger, körper- und räumlicher, die (für troum verhältnisse) fast minimalistische, auf gebündelte sounds setzende klangästhetik unterstützend bzw. eben einfach besser ans ohr bringend: dunkel, fast glazial, gegeneinander verschiebende ebenen rund um den hauptstrom der einzelnen teile der sigqan-trilogie, im „part 3" mit ergänzender, eher subtiler rhythmustextur; bis zum ende nur noch ein feedback zwischen cello- und trompetenästetik den beginn widerspiegelt. unter den troum alben vielleicht eines der focussiertesten, vielleicht immer ein wenig versteckt zwischen der grossen tjukurrpa-trilogie; in jedem fall: schwer empfohlen. das neue cover, wieder ein digipack, diesmal in farbe, textur und besonders typografie irgendwie nicht einem bestimmten grafischen (zeit)geschmack verpflichtet wie damals die erste auflage." [N, Unruhr.de]
"Deep beneath the ocean is a world of mystery, wonder, darkness, and danger. Even if it weren't for the cover art of this German duo's brilliant new album, there is unmistakably no other place in the universe that has influenced the sounds and movement of what is represented within. These drones are not passive in the least. The depth and volume are all encompassing, and moving slowly but steadily like an ancient and lonely large whale through the graveyards of shipwrecks, at the very beginning of the food chain in which all living creatures depend. Recorded live in the studio without overdubs, the first two parts are based on live performances the band was touring around with in 2001, the first being a dark blue rumble, heavy on the low end and marked by patient melodic movement, the second with swirling guitar strums and leads like the sun coming through in bended bands of beams: flickering, reflected, and refracted. The intangible overwhelming feeling of weight and pressure is unavoidable and inescapable, like being frozen in a dream, unable to move, but calm and comforting all the same. Around the half-way mark, it dips back into the darker regions as pitch and pace slow down deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper yet into the cold, black unknown. The third part was recorded as an afterthought, and is described as a new ending. Its brightness and chugging backwards-sounding guitars brilliantly accent the feel that it is a journey which is reaching its end. At this point, it feels that the central figure in the journey seems to be a vessyl of some sort, and the 16-minute Part 3 is thematic of a glorious resurfacing, reintroduction to the bright light of day, and returning to solid ground. But, as the brightness comes, so does an ominous sense that all might not be right. The world looks different than before, the places are familiar but everything's seemed to have changed. The credits may roll but this is certainly not the end." [Jon Whitney / Brainwashed]
“Finally, the first Troum record to be widely available in the United States, released through Relapse subsidiary Desolation House, and we're pleased to say it's maybe their best yet. Troum are the ambient-drone ensemble that emerged from the dissolution of proto-industrial dronesters Maeror Tri. Unlike the primarily guitar based whir and rumble of Maeror Tri, Troum obfuscate their sound sources, laptops, found sounds, accordians, guitars too maybe, and the results are timeless, mysterious, haunting, ethereal and utterly breathtaking dronescapes. Sigqan is a lengthy three part epic, beginning with rich sonorous foghorn like swells, that ebb and flow, separated by near silence, and slowly building in intensity from warm crescendos to huge doomy pulses. Eventually, these roaring rumbles joined by complementary shimmers of high end, that sound out, and then dissipate like sonic ripples, fading into blackness. The swells slowly grow closer and closer until the edges begin to blur and a subtly more continuous melodic framework begins to emerge and so begins the second movement, a creepy and slightly ominous, slowly fluctuating slow-motion-melody, whose lazily shifting notes keep the sonic landscape dense and rich, and keeps the sounds from flatlining into monochromatic drones. As the piece winds down, the dynamics and melody start to smear together into a warm, diffused fuzzy hum, with the subtle traces of melody sinking deeper and deeper into the dark warmth. The third and final movement was a sonic afterthought, added/recorded later than the first two, but is a pleasantly dreamy coda, with a slightly sunnier tone, a keening upper register melody, stretched out into subtly slithering iridescence with a shuffling, staticky rhythm just below the surface. So nice.“ [Aquarius Records, 2003]
"Beauty and profundity are the evident merits of the album - like the unity of oceanic and atmospheric elements, and namely the ocean is most frequently mentioned association used by critics and musicians. When you are at a depth of thousands metres, even the storm on the surface is impossible to hear." [Dmitry Vasilyev, IEM]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Ljubimaya / Daur |
CD |
CD-Wiederveröffentlichung zweier bisher nur als 10" Vinyl erschienenen Mini-Alben; DAUR ( 3 tracks) erschien 1998 auf dem KIRCHENKAMPF-Label COHORT und enthält allerfrühestes TROUM-Material bzw. Aufnahmen aus der Zeit entstanden "zwischen" MAEROR TRI und TROUM als der weitere Status des Projekts noch unklar war.
Von DAUR gab es 300 Kopien auf blauen Vinyl in einem merkwürdigen Kork- & Alu-Cover, ein kleiner Teil der Auflage (24 Stück) kam in einem Aluminium-Gitter Cover. LJUBIMAYA war eine frühe WAYSTYX-Veröffentlichung (2003( mit ebenfalls drei Stücken... für das re-issue gibt es eine neue Coverartwork von HUM, Auflage 500 Stück.
"Reissue of two 10" from the years 1998 and 2003. Daur is the very first release of TROUM and it resents very post-rock sounding material wth a lot of decipherable guitar parts and good drive. Ljubimaya was released by the Russian label Waystyx and carries you towards lyrical and touchy eternity of everbeginning melodies without an end, into emptiness of existence with all the uterine roar provided by YEN POX project in one of the tracks. The covers uses psychodelic image manipulations by Dmitri "HUM" Chistov" [press-release]
"Troum means dream, and dream is a symbol for unconscious. Just like a daydream, this music can drive us to very deep, out of mind control domains from emotional side. Floating, blurred soundscapes takes you to the limits of everyday life. The enigmatic non-being, unreacheable ultimate harmony is far from mind capabilities and refuses to be rationally analyzed. This minialbum is the first vinyl release of Moscow based label Waystyx, and it remember us about russian tour of the legendary duo, which took place about a year ago. Dense and spheric, their sound progressed to the more subtle, fine aesthetics, carrying slightly minor intonations through all three pieces of this album, creating the wonderful shapes out of massive noise foundament. Especially speaking of “Meerestraum” (“The Sea Dream”), which is majestically eminent, enchanting your perception, drilling the dusky space of unconscious chaos, it fulfill your soul with confusion and yearning for mysteries and unknown places....." [Dmitry Vasilyev, IEM Magazine]
|
2009 |
€12.50 |
|
|
Syzygie |
CD |
"Formed by Glit[S]ch and Baraka[H] in 1997, Troum rose from the ashes of Maeror Tri. The duo create unbearably beautiful drones, multi-layered transcendental noise, and highly atmospheric dream-muzak.
Syzygie: Zusammenkunft und Gegenschein zweier Planeten, or: an antithetic relationship between (personified) beings of the spiritual world and their shadows.
A collection of rare / deleted tracks from compilations Vol. II (1999-2002). Everything recorded by TROUM between November 1999 and May 2002 on analogue 8-track. 9 meticulously crafted tracks, carefully compiled by Troum and delicately remastered by Martin Bowes (Attrition).
Cold Spring will release the brand new studio album from Troum in 2014.
Track listing:
1. Ater
2. Makaria
3. Ganymed
4. Fantauma
5. Uegh[Cunabula]
6. S’engourdir
7. Khan-Arachnid
8. Wit Wists Fra-Qistjan
9. Thrausmata Enos Oneirou" [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
"Troum is a joint venture between two members of the well-acclaimed project Maeror Tri. In 1997 the two members Glit[S]ch and Baraka[H] introduced the Troum project. Troum takes its starting point in atmospheric drones and multi-layered noise woven into an alluring sound texture. Present album titled "Szygie" is a collection of rare / deleted tracks recorded by Troum in the period November 1999 to May 2002. That "Szygie" is a compilation of tracks taken from different periods of the lifetime of Troum becomes clear as you listen to the varied expressions throughout the runtime. The expressions spans from industrial-based ambient across orchestral ambient and deep ambient to more threatening sound art. The album opens in orchestral based dark ambient. Grandiose soundscapes of melancholy drifts upon the listener from beginning. As the album continues the expression turns into beautiful moments of deep ambient resulting in hypnotic and well accomplished tripping ambient. Moments after the album takes a new step into territories of concrete noise and voices whispering in the background to add a great feeling of dream or nightmare depending on the nature of the listener. Despite the great variation in the ambient expression throughout "Szygie", the album works really well as an entire work. Everyone interested in ambient music or dying for a trip into dark hypnosis should definitely check this out." [NM, Vital Weekly] |
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
|
DA-PU-RI-TO-JO (The Singles 2004-2016) |
CD |
Troum returns to Zoharum with DA-PU-RI-TO-JO a collection of tracks taken from 7” singles (and one digital EP) that were released through the years 2004-2016.
Drone masters offer 12 dreamscapes that range from soothing, etheral and meditative through emotional and mysterious to dark, industrialesque and nightmarish.
Listening to the album in one go Troum takes us on a journey to the farthest corners of human psyche. From heaven to hell and back. It’s all here.
If you’re Troum’s fan it’s a great opportunity to have these lesser known tracks in one place. If you’re about to become one it’s a great way to start here your journey into the depths of subconscious.
CD edition of 500 copies comes in 6-panel digipack.
This is a collection of TROUMs 7" vinyl releases (+one digital EP- unreleased on any physical format so far) through the years 2004 - 2016.
The tracks are not chronologically sorted to get a new perspective inside this "labyrinth of music".
Cover artwork by Radosław Kamiński (Ab Intra)
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/da-pu-ri-to-jo-the-singles-2004-2016
"Troum has been always some sort of legend in terms of its own publishing and concert activity. Associated with Drone records, a small label famous for its singles series, it made a brand of its own with evocative, dark ambient.
Zoharum releases a compilation of their singles from over the course of 12 years - between 2004 and 2016.
It definitely shows the slow metamorphosis and evolution of their craft. Coming from the influences of psychodelia and prepared electroacoustic music rather than synth based ( as they mentioned many times - they don't use synths, samplers and sequencers) they elaborate on quite a romantic way of expression - a somewhat natural in this field but also not being pushed too hard and very honest way of their artistic expression.
Their own version of atmospheric ambient operates on low frequencies and glitched and delayed for of hymn like tracks but never ceases to amaze how much you can achieve through using very simple techniques within the washed out clichees of the genre that rarely helps to understand why there is no progression.
But Troum in many ways is master of its own terms and can be refreshed by the fact that it has its own working ethos." [Felt Hat Reviews] |
2021 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Da-Pu-Ri-To-Jo Labyrinth / Spiral motive [ |
T-SHIRT |
It's an official TROUM T-shirt
'Hydra' motive.
High quality cotton branded by SOL's.
Colour: black
Print: white / professional frame printed
Grammar: 180 g
https://alchembria.pl/en/strona-glowna/4901-t-shirt-troum.html
|
2021 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Symbiosis |
LP |
Listen:
https://aufabwegen.bandcamp.com/album/symbiosis
First ever vinyl reissue of TROUM's Symbiosis EP, with unreleased extra track
The original Symbiosis CD EP was released in January 2003 as a limited edition in a handmade 3D pyramid-box (200 copies) as Transgredient TR-02. An additional standard edition came in a stickered & handcoloured cardboard cover with obi (more copies). The 5 tracks were recorded from May 2000 – August 2002 and consisted of guitar-only solo pieces by both members. Forming a unity out of singularities, merging the contradictions, this first re-issue has an additional unreleased bonus track, a reworking of older material recorded with the same approach. Finalized in march 2023.
Troum
Troum is a duo located in Bremene, Germany, established in early 1997. The two members Gli[S]ch and Baraka[H] were active before in the influential ambient industrial group Maeror Tri which existed from 1988 to 1996. "Troum" is the old German word for “dream". The dream seen as a central manifestation of the unconscious symbolizes the aim of Troum to lead the listener into a hypnotizing dream-state of mind, a pre-verbal and primal consciousness sphere.
Troum have played live extensively and collaborated internationally with numerous releases on different labels around the globe.
|
2024 |
€22.00 |
|
| TROUM & RAISON D'ETRE |
De Aeris In Sublunaria Influxu |
CD |
"...Troum und Raison dêtre, das Yin und das Yang des Unbewussten." [Sibylle Bölling]
"Ever wondered how a mix of Troum and raison d’être would sound like? Here is the long awaited answer.
Four years in the making – carefully forged between 2011 and 2014 -, De Aeris In Sublunaria Influxu showcases a magically crafted alchemy between these two titans of the drone and ambient realms.
Troum navigate through cavernous, subterranean spaces where cyclical sounds reverberate towards impressive crescendos of icy noise, luminous drones and dramatic, guitar-driven ghostly melodies. Their truly unique gorgeous soundscapes shine in a perfect symbiotic movement with the Swedish dark ambient maestro Peter Andersson. Engulfed in a hauntingly beautiful kaleidoscope of grey-ish melancholia, raison d’être comfortably walks deeply into Troum’s vast territory, delivering his very own trademark of eerie tones, ominous sacral ambience and crystal clear constructions.
Airy lush enigmatic atmospheres live together with dark breathing, reverberant transformative drones. Rich and gorgeously layered.
Mastered using the K-14 level standard, the album comes lavishly assembled in a custom, sturdy 6-panel digisleeve packaging with amazing minimal artwork by the award-winning Spanish designer Ritxi Ostáriz. Limited to 700 copies." [label info]
www.essence-music.com
"Schön, wenn vorab kaum Worte nötig sind, weil allein die Tatsache der Zusammenarbeit zweier namhafter Künstler oder Bands für sich steht. Das deutsche Duo TROUM trifft auf den Schweden PETER ANDERSSON. Meine persönlichen Drone-Helden, die wie kaum eine andere Gruppe den Begriff 'Drone' mit Leben füllen, treffen einen der wichtigsten Dark Ambient-Workaholics mit seinem Hauptprojekt RAISON D'ÊTRE. Obwohl 'aufeinander treffen' eigentlich nicht das richtige Wording ist. Viel eher passt zum Beispiel 'aneinander schmiegen', denn entsprechend verwoben und organisch ist die über vier Jahre sorgfältig vorbereitete Zusammenarbeit ausgefallen.
"Folia" (01), der Opener und eines der zwei kurzen Stücke, beginnt mit schwebenden Drones, die ich sofort TROUM zuordnen würde. Das Knistern und Knastern wiederum, welches unterschwellig für Unruhe und Grautöne sorgt, gehört zu RAISON D'ÊTRE. Diese Zuordnung lässt sich über weite Teile des Albums vornehmen. Nach dem dezenten Vorspiel entsteht mit "Alio Tempore" (02) das Bild einer riesigen Kathedrale: abwechselnd tönen schwere und leichte Gongs, Soundcluster im Stile eines Chores schieben sich langsam nach vorne. Im Untergrund ergänzt ein Klirren die Szenerie. Über spacige, flirrende (Gitarren?)Sounds ergibt sich ein ruhiger, gleitender Ausklang. Auch "Oculum Mundi" (03) arbeitet mit Kirchenglocken-ähnlichen Loops, wie überhaupt die Stücke oft sakral wirken. Hier folgt allerdings eine hektischere Wendung, mit Dramatik durch mehr Geschwindigkeit inklusive eines mächtigen Trötens. "Atmosphaera" (04) ist warm und weich, sehr dronig eben, mit diesem kleinen Maschinen-Rattern anbei. In "Meditationum" (05), dem längsten Track, bilden atmende, singende Drones eine chorale Fläche, sorgen für weites und gelöstes Ambiente. Konkretere, schnarrende Klänge schieben sich nach einigen Minuten hinein, und die im Verlauf zunehmend längeren, gleißenden Drones erinnern mich an Musik für (oder von) Eisberge(n), untermalt von an dieser Stelle sehr organischen Sounds wie Grillenzirpen. "Flammae" (06) ist mit seinen drei Minuten für mich das schönste und auch wehmütigste Stück des Albums, die Drones formen eine betörende Melodie. Und "Ad Infinitum" (07) wirkt zum Abschluss auf mich besonders mächtig, fast bedrohlich oder unheimlich. Der Track hat was von einer Verabschiedung, von Dahinfloaten, insbesondere am Ende mit eisigem Krächzen und Schieben, mit fast menschlichen, stöhnenden Drones.
Als hätten TROUM und RAISON D'ÊTRE schon immer miteinander gearbeitet, klingt "De Aeris In Sublunaria Influxu" in der Summe seiner Bestandteile äußerst harmonisch. Die angesprochene Aufteilung der Sounds in deutsch und schwedisch, in flächige Drones und Dark Ambient-Geräusche ist zwar möglich, beides ergänzt sich aber durchweg hervorragend und ist so sauber aufeinander abgestimmt und gut produziert, dass die Atmosphäre dadurch gewinnt. Hypnotisierende Soundlandschaften, oder lyrischer: Ein Schweben in warmen Grautönen für dunkle Novemberabende.
Das Album kommt auch in einer limitierten Box mit zusätzlichen Tracks auf den Markt..."
[Michael We. für nonpop.de]
|
2015 |
€14.00 |
|
| TROUM & REUTOFF |
Kreuzung Zwei: Creatura Per Creaturam Continetur |
CD |
"Jedes Wesen ist mit jedem anderen verbunden."
Nach ANTLERS MULM der zweite Teil der REUTOFF Collaboration-Serie: TROUM bearbeiteten hierfür Basismaterial der Moskauer und gossen das ganze, inspiriert von der Kosmologie HILDEGARD VON BINGENs, in sechs dronig-sphärische Stücke.
"The second in Kreuzung collaborations series. The basic sound sources and samples made by Reutoff especially for this release have been treated, arranged and mixed with an addition of their own instrumental parts by Troum. Dark profound harsh ambient with some occasional rhythmic patterns intertwined with transcendental prepared guitar loops and perfect drone noises - a perfect blend between two project distinctive features and creative manners. The concept of this work is based on cosmology of Hildegard von Bingen. The release comes in a special “Kreuzung” series package made of brown kraft carton with a full colour stickered artwork/info cover and Reutoff logo embossed on the back, the CD is housed in the same carton die-cut inner envelope." [label info]
"The forty-five minutes are divided into six tracks, slowly building towards an intense mixture of miniature noisescapes, neoclassical tapestries, ethnic rhythmic structures and eerie vocal samples. All titles are in Latin, and since that isn't my strong point, I'll leave translations to the readers' enquiring minds. The first track, "Aether Purus", is typical for Troum, although the familiar bassy layering of Troum seems to have gone up in frequency; it's all a bit higher. "Terrenus" has some partial neoclassical-like sounds, but it is set in a 1970s surrounding, "A Space Odyssey"-like environment. There are moments there that appear like insects stuck in your aural canal. Or is it really little aliens?
This setting is forcefully continued in the third (title) track where the Troum sounds find their way back into the composition. Later in the track rhythms are added to the composition. It is by far the longest track on the album. "Ignis Niger" is the fourth track and its creepy, erratic voices and samples really get you into a mood fit for watching a horror movie. Yes, two film references are my way of saying this whole release is very filmic. "Ignis Lucidus" has rhythms again, in combination with deep droning layers. It's a bit close to atmospheres like O Yuki Conjugate. The disc closes with "Aer Aquosus (Reprise)" which is a short but powerful track in an adapted Troum style.
My knowledge of Reutoff is minimal, so maybe there are a few too many references towards Troum here, but on the other hand I love Troum, and this album is, despite the references, so different from their other work that I think I'm secretly going to like Reutoff a lot also." [Bauke van der Wal / Connexion Bizarre]
"The Germanic and dark drone outfit Troum embark on a collaboration with the equally dark, Russian ensemble Reutoff, although the conceptual framework of their album isn't one wholly wrapped in mystery, occlusion, and shadow. Creatura Per Creaturam Continetur is based upon the cosmology of Hildegard von Bingen, the 12th century German abbess, whose richly detailed visions through her unshakeable Christian faith offered feminine descriptions of the cosmic order sprinkled with sexually charged metaphor. In addition to her writings, Hildegard had developed an impressive musical canon of monophonic chorales and plainsong melodies, whose recursive elements certainly look forward to all sorts of drone-based musics of the 20th and 21st centuries.
While the drone connection is easy to make, how Troum and Reutoff view Hildegard von Bingen's faith and art is unclear.
Regardless, the majestic swells that immediately surge at the introduction of this album are some of the most beatific and
heavensent that either project has produced to date. Troum have always been known for their glacial pacing of drone crescendos for spiralling guitars heavily processed in effects; and on this album, they leave no doubt that they excel at their craft. For those seeking the dark, almost blackened ambience that both Troum and Reutoff have mustered in the past, there's plenty of industrial bellows, clanking rhythms, creepily whispered vocals, and subaquatic reverberations to cast a somber pall across these recordings..." [Aquarius Records]
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| TSUKIMONO |
Sketches 6-27 |
CD-R |
Eine weitere Labelgründung gibt es aus UTRECHT zu vermelden! MECHANIZED MIND will sich dem Bereich zwischen experimental Ambient/Drone und Songwriting widmen.
Aus Schweden kommt TSUKIMONO: minimal-loopige Piano-Stücke, die digital verfremdet werden aber von wohlklingender und fliessender Harmonik & Melancholie durchdrungen sind
...“The first release of MechanizedMind is this cd by tsukimono. Continuing his efforts on Garmonbozia and Fukkgod, Tsukimono again cuts and slices guitar and piano, and re aranges to form something completly new, without ever loosing the feeling of the original recordings. His music is a perfect balance between acoustic music and experimental electronics.
Tsukimono is often compared to Fennesz and the likes, a great honour ofcourse, but it´s too easy. They might share the cutting and slicing, but what is done with it afterwards is different. Sketches 6-27 might sound hectic at times, or noisy, but sit back, let the music take you on a ride, and you'll see it's really just dreamy music, made to enjoy with closed curtains, late at night and as little light as possible. Starting out with a stunning piano piece, the cd slowly builds up to the end, introducing guitar and many more (treated) sounds.” [label description]
|
2003 |
€6.00 |
|
| TSUNODA, TOSHIYA / JUSTIN BENNETT |
Cleavage of Acoustics / Cacerolada |
LP |
Nr. 3 in der Mixer Split LP Reihe ! JUSTIN BENNETT hat einem Protestmarsch in Barcelona gegen den Irak-Krieg im März 2003 beigewohnt, eine unglaubliche detailreicher Soundkulissensumpf aus Sirenen, Autohupen, Perkussion, Pfeifen & Gegröhl. T. TSUNODA arbeitet diesmal nicht mit reinen field recordings, sondern lässt Sinuswellen auf konkretes Material treffen, was zu knisternd-resonanzbildenden Effekten und merkwürdigen „small sounds“ führt.
Tolle Geräuschmusikplatte !
“Both Justin Bennett and Toshiya Tsunoda have gained a reputation when it comes to fieldrecording-based soundworks. Using their sonic surroundings as the startingpoint for their work, both are unique in approach and result. "Cacerolada" is based on a noise-protest against the Iraq-war, recorded in Barcelona. It wakes up and dies out as any day does, gradually moving along all kinds of sonic occurrences in between. Compared to Tsunoda's, Bennett's work comes from a more contemplative approach, outlining to his listener the beauty, absurdness or musicality of the everyday soundtrack he's living in. Originally these protests served a highly political goal, to record them and treat these recordings as a piece, is what made "Cacerolada" into a sound-object, to be listened to with different ears. This is the core of Bennett's work. Using hardly any processing-tools (Bennett composes with the raw building-blocks he records), these environmental-pieces are very much like documents, with specific artistic or aesthetical qualities. He hunts for certain scenes or situations and captures moments in time that contain a specific type of gesture he is looking for. The reference to daily life might be very much upfront, though Bennett's work is much more than a highly associative collection of recorded sounds. His recordings easily keep up as complete compositions with a strong musical form, taking the listener beyond what is heard at first sight and this is exactly where the strength in Bennett's work as a composer and sound-artist lies. These works show a delicate timespam, organically interpolating from scene to scene. The so familiar sounding material constructs and underlines compositional shape and development, adding a rare compositional richness to environmental-soundworks.
Tsunoda's "Cleavage of Acoustics" stands in close relation to previous works in which he tries to integrate somewhat technical concepts into the everyday beauty of singing birds and chirping crickets. Tsunoda adds to the body of these compositions of the public domain, as Justin Bennett does, but takes a different route to get there. He experiments to find out the musical relevance of technicality for natural sounds and forces a symbiosis between the two. The results still contain the associative character and organic development so typical for environmental recordings, but have a new, more abstract, mimicry. The sometime subtle, sometimes clashing, but always interesting interference between these two worlds, is what gives Tsunoda's work a very unique twist. It can exist as a completely autonomous entity while grafted upon the soundmaterial we all know so well. Tsunoda, like Bennett, makes us hear our surrounding acoustic reality in a different way. Not by fencing off certain parts of it, as Bennett does, but through simple yet very effective technical interventions, making it's appearance shift a bit or two.
"When listening to field recordings, I am always surprised by the richness of it's acoustics. Vibrations echoe from various places, in mixed complexity, changing constantly over time. In some way, it looks like stratum. I would like to sharply cleave the stratum to see the surface of the crevice. This work shows the audibility of sound vibrations through an uncommon process. I tried to cut off the source (field recording) material using a gate device and sine-waves. In each track, specific sine-waves have been mixed with the source-material.
In this work, I regard the sine-wave as the standard speed signal for the source. This has made any alternation within the audio signal detectable for the gate device. The linear audio signal (monoral) is cut horizontally into the advance direction, turning it into two signals. The amplitude of the alternating current has a separated + and - side, with 0 volt as base for the gate device. This split signal is simultaneously reproduced through the right- and left- channel of stereophonic audio equipment. Try mixing these 2 channels. The waveform is almost restored to it's original form, giving a peculiar result compared to the separated signal playback." [press release]
|
2004 |
€12.00 |
|
| TUNDRA |
Tajnie i Glebie |
CD |
"Tundra - an electroacoustic project of Dawid Adrjanczyk and Krzysiek Joczyn - is a duo, whose inspiration is, first and foremost, space, both in its physical manifestation and the spiritual meaning. Beside samples, field recordings and sound manipulation, they use acoustic instruments. After 2 self-released EPs and 2 collaborative albums with Karpaty Magiczne (The Magic Carpathians), they recorded a full-length album, which is a manifestation of their journeys into places where peace and chill reign simultaneously. These are akin to more ethereal songs from the World Serpent realm, but also academic compositions or free improv. The sounds on "Tajnie i G³êbie" lose tracks and inspirations luring the listeners with an ambiguous atmosphere at the same time.
This 3-panel ecopak release is strictly limited to 350 copies." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| TUNNELS OF ĀH (TUNNELS OF AH) |
Lost Corridors |
CD |
"Tunnels Of Ah is the new project of former HEAD OF DAVID vocalist Stephen Ah Burroughs. “Lost Corridors” is the first Tunnels Of Ah release and features Burroughs’ “industrial esoterica”, evoking the spirit of the pioneering underground experimental scene in the new dark age. This is psychick war.
A mandatory release for those who worship at the altars of Coil, Psychic TV, Arktau Eos, Z’EV…" [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
"Next album comes from British sound artist Stephen-Ah-Borroughs performing under the alias Tunnels Of Ah - a name that hits the bull's eye considering the sonic expression of the present album. Stephen Ah Burroughs is the brain behind legendary project Head Of David. Present album titled "Lost corridors" is the debut album from Tunnels Of Ah. Musically what we are dealing with here are long repetitive drones swirling inside tunnels of dark sinister ambient. Divided into seven intersections the composer uses processed sounds of acoustic instruments such as whining guitars to create the hypnotic textures that change between drifting tranquillity and rumbling noises resulting in an excellent kind of drowsiness. Ghostly voices occur to strengthen the feeling occultism. Turn the lights off look and let the dark, threatening yet beautiful buzzing drones clear your brain. The perfect soundtrack for drifting into sub consciousness." [NM/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Charnel Transmissions |
CD |
Charnel Transmissions' is the fourth TUNNELS OF ĀH release and once more the TOĀH sound is taken into ever more oblique regions.
Inspired by the 'chime and gong stations' recordings of the Cold War era, 'Charnel Transmissions' sets out to evoke rather than recreate the alienated spirit(s) of those recordings. With the ritual percussion of Francis P. weaving throughout the album alongside cracked electronics, 'Charnel Transmissions' is a disquieting spiral into an ashen world of 'mythostatic psychopomp' where this world is transformed into a charnel ground of gods, ghosts and jackals.
Crumbling drones, splintered bursts of noise and buried voices make 'Charnel Transmissions' unconventional and non-linear, much like those charnel dwellers who seek out the lowest to attain the highest. For lovers of ceremonial sounds and dark places.
https://tunnelsofh.bandcamp.com/album/charnel-transmissions |
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
The Smeared Cloth |
do-CD |
"The Smeared Cloth" is a double CD compilation containing the TUNNELS OF ĀH recordings from 2012-2018, which have not yet been published on any medium. The first disc is filled with compositions from the period before the debut in Cold Spring and outtakes from the sessions for "Thus Avici", the next album for the British label.
The second disc contains tracks recorded during and between the sessions for "Surgical Fires" and "Charnel Transmissions". Although they were created as loose compositions, out of the concepts clearly outlined on each of the mentioned albums, they sound incredibly coherent, giving impression of being part of a concept release, this makes them a pleasure to listen to; especially when we get carried away in the world created by Stephen Ah Burroughs with the sounds characteristic of his work. Sometimes they evoke associations with ancient rituals, intensifying the impression of Egyptian darkness, the feeling of coldness and emptiness coming as if from a deep dungeon, and with them an echo. All this is a superstructure for the 21 tracks filling both discs, outlined and maintained, in a convention that allows them to be stylistically located somewhere between isolating dark ambient and death industrial, where the gloom aura and dense, mechanical structures coexist as if in symbiosis, thanks to which the balance between building the atmosphere and reflecting the true nature of the industrial collision. This release is undoubtedly a must-have for TOĀH fans, but it can also delight those who appreciate death industrial at a high level. The album's released on two CDs folded in a six-panel ecopack.
Tracks 1-11 taken from "The Smeared Cloth" CD1
Tracks 12-21 taken from "The Smeared Cloth" CD2
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/the-smeared-cloth-2012-2018-unearthed
"In den frühen 80ern gründete Stephen R. Borroughs zusammen mit Justin Broadrick und Dave Cochrane das Trio HEAD of David, das einen der noisigsten Grundsteine dessen legte, das später Industrial Metal genannt werden sollte. Im Lauf der Jahre konzentrierte er sich mehr und mehr auf Soloprojekte, und neben Frag war dies seit etwas über zehn Jahren Tunnels of Āh, mit dem er einen Ritualkosmos von fast räudiger Abgründigkeit entstehen ließ.
Dass Tunnels of Ah trotz der starken Abstraktion seiner ästhetischen Konzepte ein konsequent verfolgtes atmosphärisches Thema hat, wird bereits deutlich, wenn man die mittlerweile sechs Alben, die seit 2013 auf Cold Spring und zuletzt Hypershape erschienen sind, im Vergleich hört, denn da fallen die verbindenden Elemente sehr deutlich ins Auge. Mehr noch beeindruckt einen die musikalisches Stringenz angesichts der jüngst auf Tape und Doppel-CD erschienenen Compilation “The Smeared Cloth 2012 – 2018 Unearthed”, denn hier lassen frühe Stücke und Outtakes aus verschiedenen Albumsessions ein überraschend zusammenhängendes Bild entstehen.
“The Smeared Cloth” ist nichts für Hörer, die Probleme mit Beklemmung, Dunkelheit und niederdrückender Schwere haben. Eine finstere, bedrohliche Stimmung zieht sich durch die oft kreisenden Soundgebilde, lassen durch ambiente Dröhnung, Saitenrasseln oder sirrende Streichersounds filmreife Phasen der Spannung und durch paukende und prasselnde Takte und plötzliche Schuttlawinen aufwühlende Momente entstehen, steigern sich vom subtilen Hauch eines – nur oberflächlich sanft wirkenden, in Wirklichkeit höllischen – Windes zu infernalischen Szenen von hochtönendem, schleifenden Lärm. Klangfarben von Stein und noch stärker Metall prägt das Gesamtbild, doch ist in gewissen Abständen auch immer die Illusion des Organischen spürbar, als würde das harte und kalte Material mit dürren Reiserbesen und ähnlichem traktiert. Auch die entmenschlichte menschliche Stimme ist gelegentlich zu hören, mal in Rezitation, mal als finsteres Growlen und Keifen, mal in Form eines sakralen Gesangs.
Wenn man in den 20 Stücken die Kohärenz betont, sollte man hinzufügen, dass in ihnen natürlich auch Raum für Variation ist. Sollte ich einige herausragende Stücke betonen, dann wären es wahrscheinlich “Keys King At Womb Door Again”, in welchem sich ein anfangs kaum spürbares lykanthropisches Hecheln langsam zu etwas (noch) Monströse(re)m steigert – eine Entwicklung, die vielleicht etwas vorhersehbar ist, doch die urige Soundgestaltung, die durchweg an etwas Altes, seit Urzeiten Verschüttetes denken lässt, fällt weitaus stärker ins Gewicht. Ferner “Fountain of Life”, das nach gängigem Verständnis wohl eher wie das Gegenteil seines Titels klingt und an einen zerbrochenen Brunnen erinnert, dessen Wasser ein paar Erdklumpen mit sich reißt und am Ende im Schlamm versiegt. Nicht zuletzt auch der Titeltrack, dessen Spoken Word-Passage wie das Monument eines sinnlosen Aufwands vor infernalischer Kulisse am Ende von einer Schuttlawine geschluckt wird.
Nach den über zwei dystopischen Stunden scheiden sich wahrscheinlich die Geister: Während die einen fürs erste genug gelitten haben, sind die anderen nun gewappnet für die regulären Alben des Projektes, und “The Smeared Cloth” gibt da tatsächlich einen großartigen Einblick in einen Kosmos, den ich allen empfehlen kann, die frühe Coil, alte Broken Flag-Releases und ausgewählte Death Industrial-Platten nebeneinander im Regal stehen haben."
[African Paper]
"Eager to get back into the Tunnels. Not long ago, I gave 'Deathless Mind' another spin, and I had been looking forward to some new material from Burroughs. Still.. two whole CDs, dearie me. I'm curious if I can make it through in one go. Also, it is not exactly 'new' material, but rather excerpts and unused tracks from two distinct periods: the first CD collects all discards from the Lost Corridors and Thus Avici era; the second contains material from the period between Surgical
Fires and Charnel Transmissions - compiled into this 2,5-hour lasting tour de force. Me, oh my.
Though branded as 'dark ambient' on Discogs, we've come to know Tunnels of Āh for industrial ambient landscapes and complex saturated loops and textures that range timbrally from (seemingly) acoustic in origin to overtly synthetic. Also, the 'loops' here should mostly be taken less literally; there are elements that seem to repeat, but for the most part, the chopped-up complexity of the textures ensures we won't have the typical 'looper' kind of experience in which repetition is often an easy way of tricking our brain into believing it is listening to something musical.
On CD 1, many sounds seem to have acoustic sources, which is much more noticeable than on the more recent albums. We also seem to get a lot more vocal delivery than usual, making tracks like 'Brute World' and 'To the Pschal Victim' almost have an early Current 93 or 'ambient Test Dept kind' of ring to them.
It is also completely dissimilar in many ways, e.g., production-wise, but for fans of those bands, these tracks may be the right point of entry into the Tunnels. The vocals are often mixed in quite deeply, so you won't be listening to poetry with a noisy background.
With the choppy granulated ambient of 'Lost Corridors', a track that did not feature on the eponymous 2013 album, there seems to be somewhat of a 'natural' ending to the first part of the first CD. The subsequent ambient track 'Fountain Of Life' ramps the intensity again with its swirling vortex of delayed grit. Both 'Great Darkness' and 'The Cloth is Smeared' really stand out as two of the more memorable pieces.
Disc 2 starts with the interesting combination of 'To the Paschal Victim' and 'Circumcision', which seem to be variations on the same bass riff/loop - though the latter track slides off into a murky bass swamp about halfway through. 'Red Distribution' and 'White Distribution' wrap this disc up in a
manner that reminded me of Charnel Transmissions. There is a certain kind of dense lo-fi elegance to them, which also made me fall for that album when it first came out.
I've said this before, and I'll repeat it: What I love about Tunnels Of Āh is that though it is clearly tarnished with the brush of industrial and perhaps even reminiscent of some noise - due to its complex textures, it never becomes too harsh or punishing, which given the length of most tracks may be a very deliberate choice either during mastering or in the composition process. Moreover, a wise one, since especially with a leviathan of this length, balance is a thing to aim for.
Does it work as an album, though, or is this merely a release for us to be complete? Tough question. The first CD is consistent, albeit on the long side. With 77 minutes, it is about half an hour longer than any Tunnels release on average, and I definitely had to listen to the whole release in phases. That said, when it
comes to textures and intensity, there seems to have been some thought put into the dynamic distribution of the tracks and though longer than usual, I would say both these discs work as stand-alone albums. Another keeper in a long line of excellent works from the Tunnels." [LdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€17.00 |
|
| TURNER, AARON & DANIEL MENCHE |
NOX |
LP |
"Daniel Menche is a prolific musician whose work in the fields of noise and experimentalism displays both savage tactile expressionism and masterful studio manipulations. Aaron Turner is an equally prolific artist whose output veers from violent guitar architectures to textural meditations. Consequently, their collaborative album Nox could have been a brutish exercise in punishing frequencies and aural assaults. Instead, Nox is what Turner describes as “a combo of Danielʼs more free-flowing form of impulsive music making and my more contemplative composition.” Consisting of one lone track over the course of two sides of an LP, Nox uses its allowance of time to patiently wind and unravel around Mencheʼs intuitive and free-associative vocal and drum treatments. Manipulated and wrought to the point of abstraction, this spontaneous underpinning served as the narrative backbone to Turnerʼs orchestral vocal arrangements. Over the course of the year-long development process, the two musicians maintained a continual dialogue on the direction of the album, taking turns adding their accents and embellishments to the composition. Field recordings, found sounds, and auxiliary instrumentation fleshed out the recording until Nox developed into a final ruminative experience. Menche and Turner had previously worked together on the Mamiffer/Menche collaborative album Crater, though Nox bears closer sonic relations to other endeavors in both artistsʼ canons. One can hear vestiges of Mencheʼs more percussion-based albums like Concussions or Turnerʼs more ethereal vocal-based work with Jodis on their most recent offering. And while the tactics and tools used for creating the album are very much of the modern age, the duo conjure the timeless elements of the transcendental hymns of Arvo Pärt or the tonal clusters of György Ligeti through their patient, economical approach. Ultimately, Nox creates a lush, inviting, and deeply dimensional world that belie the cold basements of Portland, OR and Vashon, WA where it was slowly brought to fruition.
LP edition of 400 copies. The LP is housed in a letterpressed jacket designed by Daniel Castrejon with photography by Faith Coloccia. Turner and Menche worked over a period of 2 years to complete the album using voice, field recordings, electronics, guitar, etc. The album was then mixed by Mell Dettmer (Earth, Eyvind Kang, Jessika Kenney, Sunn0))), etc)."
sigerecords.blogspot.de |
2017 |
€23.00 |
|
| TURRA, LUIGI & CHRISTOPHER MCFALL |
tactile.surface |
CD |
" “tactile.surface” is the sound presentation of a virtual place, an imaginary environment born from the alchemy of recordings between two different but real places, far apart geographically, yet close in time and spirit.
On one side, are the sounds captured in the intimacy of my living room in the small city of Schio (North of Italy), mainly those reflecting its silence, and also some caught from the windows in the early hours of morning, enhanced with some discreet short recordings of shakuhachi flutes ; On the other side, lies the open space of Kansas City urban context, and the sound/views absorbed during a long travel to Colorado by Christopher McFall.
The two different sound places have been blended into a new one, rich of memory and keeping intact the physical perception of the surfaces, and their tactile, material aspects. (Luigi Turra)
Almost 2 years ago, I travelled home to see my mother in Colorado. This was no simple journey as I had to drive for 12 hours from Kansas City into the western lands of Kansas & Colorado. Tactile.surface really takes me back to that particular journey, because I was listening to the tracks we were compiling for it as I drove the length of the journey.
Desolate : is the only word I can think of describing Western Kansas and its snow covered expanses. there is to be found there the most abrasive wind patterns, a generalized sense of absence, and an undeniable confrontation with absolute sky (there’s only one topography here, and it’s completely flattened as the sky becomes your envelope).
battered snowlines will outfit our drudgery
we sweetened the deal to touch in cold January
where roads give way the elemental trajectory
sunlit eyes were seeding the alchemy.
This work traverses many surfaces and covers so much terrain. Many of the parts were extracted from manipulated recordings that originated from treated audio tape. Many of the “broken” low-ended sounds that served as base primer for the piece came from that side of things. The more “crisp” overlay sounds are derived from Luigi’s workings. The experience of it all was much the equivalent of weaving a tapestry of surfaces which resulted in a composite abstract topography (Christopher McFall)" [label info]
www.unfathomless.net
|
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
| TV POW |
Powerful friends and devoted lovers |
do-CD |
"first part of a 4 cd remix spectacle with about 60 artists remixing tv pow's album "friendship patrol" which itself contained more than 60 short tracks. the first 2cd-set contains remixes from: oren ambarchi, motor, boris hauf, thymme jones, otomo yoshihide, m behrens, ken brown, vadim sprikut, toshimaru nakamura, ernst karel, leif elggren, ancient greeks, tu ´m, 7000 dying rats, sutekh, burkhard stangl, greg kelley, jazzkammer, drillchop 9, olivia block, panicsville, mike shiflet, amnon wolman, koura, stilluppsteypa, freiband, stephan mathieu, vertonen and reynols. second 2cd-set will be out early autumn 2004."[press release] |
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
| TWELVE THOUSAND DAYS |
The devil in the grain |
CD |
Schon das zweite Album des Projekts von Martyn Bates und Alan Trench ! Beautiful melancholic ambient-Pop !!
“.... this sounds just like one could expect a collaboration between Orchis and Martyn Bates would do. The sound here is more coherent, more integrated and the album flows much better. It is slightly ”softer”, sounding both serene and fresh at the same time. It is not specified what instruments they make use of, but it is a lot of sources for sure. It is not overly complex – the complexity (if any) would lie in the emotional colourings.. “ [notes from somewhere]
|
2001 |
€13.00 |
|
|
At the Landgate |
maxi-CDR |
Drei neue Studio-Stücke des kreativen “weird folk”-Projekts von MARTYN BATES und ALAN TRENCH...romantisch, poetisch, düster, folkig... auf einem neuen polnischen Label.
“This is the latest missive from the otherworldly realm inhabited by Martyn Bates (Eyeless In Gaza) and Alan Trench (Orchis, Temple Music), the first since the splendid Devil In The Grain album and a taster for the forthcoming From the Walled Garden. Twelve Thousand Days have been playing live, and it shows; although this is a studio recording the sound is both immediate and delicate, with Bates’ sublime vocals shimmering over a cornucopia of plucked and blown instruments and ethereal guitars. Clocking in at vv minutes, this is more a mini album than an ep; the first track, Christmas and May is something of an epic, moving through several distinct parts while hallucinatory spoken word parts phase in and out, while the gorgeous title track soughs and sighs with the immensity of loss. The closer is the duos take on the trad I Once Loved A Lass, though with a dark and foreboding air of menace.
The album is housed in a beautifully presented textured booklet with a front cover by Charles Altamont Doyle whilst the back is a detail from the frescoes depicting the descent of sinners into hell from the Rila monastery in Bulgaria, while pictures of Trench and Bates are on the inside pages. The numbered insert (also on textured stock) completes a package which beautifully complements the music., with the whole housed in a plastic wallet. Print throughout is full colour. The attention to detail on ths release is destined to make it an extremely desirable collectable.” [label description]
|
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Insect Silence |
CD |
"MARTYN BATES (Eyeless In Gaza) & ALAN TRENCH (Orchis, Howling Larsons) return after a long hiatus with the fourth TWELVE THOUSAND DAYS album. From the opening “Death Went Fishing” (a free translation of “vgíke o cháros na psarépsei”, the classic rebetiko by Giannis Papaioannou) to the closing, haunting notes of “Red And Golden Fire”, the listener is taken on a journey made up of a thousand journeys, a thousand side trips, a thousand destinations, hinging around the sprawling central trip of “Pathless”, in which the ramifications of choices made swim into hazy view. The 13 tracks that make up “Insect Silence” are a concatenation of dulcimers, whistles, guitars, synths, disturbing digital background noise (“Night Harmonium”) and other instrumentation with slices of pure, aching melody echoing through strange darkened corners, all enlivened and enlit by the wondrous tones of Martyn Bates.
MARTYN BATES is well-known for his brilliant long-time work with EYELESS IN GAZA, for his solo albums and for collaborations with MICK HARRIS and ANNE CLARK.
ALAN TRENCH: co-founder of World Serpent Distribution and musician with brilliant projects/groups ORCHIS, HOWLING LARSONS, TEMPLE MUSIC." [label info]
https://finalmuzik.bandcamp.com/album/twelve-thousand-days-insect-silence
"It's been quite some time since Martyn Bates (Eyeless in Gaza) and Alan Trench (Temple Music, Orchis) have come together as Twelve Thousand Days. It's fair to say much water has passed under the bridge since their last album From The Walled Garden in 2006. Insect Silence follows a ditched compilation release with the same title scheduled for release a number of years back. Insect Silence continues with the folk based music provided by Alan Trench and fronted by the distinctive voice of Martyn Bates but Insect Silence more so than their previous albums doesn't dwell solely in folk music. It may be its starting point but Insect Silence differs with passages of psych guitar and its layering of synths and electronics, as well as in the ambient interludes which feature throughout and often open up the tracks way beyond its grounding in folk music. Lyrically Insect Silence is couched in an English familiarity and in the eternal themes of life, love and death. Just shy of 70 minutes it's a long winding path of 13 tracks involving a large assortment of instrumentation which are woven into a complex and intricate tapestry of sound. You will be surprised by the pathways Twelve Thousand Days roam on .
Insect Silence opens to the spirited acoustic folk and percussive tambourine bashing of 'Death Went Fishing', outwitting death as it rushes onwards, weaving soaring psych guitars, which return throughout Insect Silence, as Bates implores that "he will return again". Its sets the scene for Insect Silence an album loosely based around folk music employing a rich multitude of instrumentation including guitars, dulcimers, harmonium, whistles as well as electronics. Twelve Thousand Days stretch the parameters of folk music with psych-guitar and ambient and instrumental interludes sprinkled throughout the 13 tracks. At times it likes listening to a Krautrock inspired psych-folk album with space rock leanings. In a good way, of course.
Opening to an ambient interlude 'Mad As The Mist' is the first of three musical settings of the words of Irish poet W.B. Yeats. Dreamy folk guitars entwine twang and strum, as Bates in his pure folk tones recalls philosophers such as Plato, Homer, Tully and Cicero, swelling into another passage of soaring solo of psych guitar and back again to dreamy folk song. More restless psych-guitar features on 'A Coat'. There's more of an experimental edge to the Yeats setting here pitching Bates' strained (and occasionally treated) voice to the fore, embellished by the pluck of guitar notes augmented by glinting electronics, bass throb and a needling guitar casting vibrations of psychedelic proportions. 'Arrow', the final piece in the Yeats trilogy is starker and played more straightforward with the beautiful folk voice over ringing acoustic guitar and warm synth backing.
Away from the Yeats tracks, a number of which Bates recorded with Troum in different musical forms, 'Errant Desires' moves to graceful ambience with flourishes of guitar notes. Bates' pure mournful tones add a sleepy lamentful melody, as faint electronics flicker behind the gentle flurry of guitar notes and assorted instrumentation. Beautifully atmospheric, it's one of my favourites on Insect Silence. Bates' voice is measured and melodic illuminating the sense of life passing in the evocative lyrics of rain falling, captured in our hands and gladly falling to the earth. More timeless folk arrives in the form of 'She Raises Her Eyes' where in captivating melodic tones Bates sings of a longing recalling long cold December months over duelling dulcimer chime.
One of the more surprising tracks appearing in the first half of the album is 'Invoke Hecate' where over passages of whistle and rousing, beating strum, Twelve Thousand Days sounding not unlike Ostara invoke the Goddess of Witchcraft, through an assortment of occult techniques. Alan Trench in past endeavours has facilitated many musicians in the apocalyptic folk genre but this rare sojourn, even with it blistering psych solo, can still raise an eyebrow and something of a smirk.
As mentioned earlier, Insect Silence is interspersed with instrumentals taking the music down alternate pathways, straying far off the beaten track. The first of these 'Night Harmonium' carries an air of arcane English mysticism with its loose folk stylings where strings chime and whistle billows merge over background synths and static clicks. The instrumental 'Old Ladies As Birds' is another brooding mystical moment where layers of whistles and flutes cast an age old melody over wheezing harmonium while loose guitar notes chime and ring out as distant electronics shudder underneath. While 'Old Ladies As Birds' is evocative of transforming souls and spirits, the jaunty folk offering of 'Fieldwork' is celebratory. Based on whistles and acoustic strum it comes across like a folk dance or Pagan procession. If 'Fieldwork' revels in a lost Englishness 'Descent' is dealing with nostalgia. A vintage crackling recording of 'See, The Conqu'ring Hero Comes' shrouds the descending organ scales of 'Descent'. Bates' voice is quiet, distant and softly murmured amidst the eerie disembodied voices of the choir as percussion rattles. You can almost picture the landscape on the pastoral 'Red and Golden Fire' another experimental offering mixing lulling electronics with whistles and flutes which closes the album.
Insect Silence hinges around 'Pathless' an epic experimental 16-minute musical and lyrical journey which we all make on our travels through life. Set in the middle of the album it continues the theme first introduced on the opener 'Death Went Fishing'. With the huntsman at our heels, we try to outwit death to no avail. Travelling from ringing guitar with Bates' voice, wrapped in layered accompaniment, veering between passages of Krautrock electronics and wavering synths to psaltery, whistles and location recordings. All the elements of Insect Silence emanate from and come together on this track to great effect. As it flows together seamlessly it's difficult to pinpoint where 'Pathless Part I' ends and 'Pathless Part II' begins but it may be when a heartbeat bass pulses and acoustic guitars ring out and the spoken word of Lisa (I think this is Elizabeth S who features on releases from Eyeless In Gaza) surfaces amidst guitars and layers of spacey synths which lull, crash and wail, before Bates returns, to close this epic track in high registered tones.
Insect Silence bustles with an immediacy, there's a sense of freshness of getting it all down on tape before the additional sound layers of instrumentation are added. Ambient, electronics, psych guitar, whistles, location recordings are all here embellishing the tracks making it intricate and complex. At the heart of it is an open-ended folk sound reflected in Bates' beautiful, distinctive voice which illuminate the timeless themes. Insect Silence is by far the best I've heard from Twelve Thousand Days and though the tracks are disparate there's an arching basis in folk music which traverses into other areas which holds it all together. As we said, Insect Silence is a journey, a pathway laid down just waiting for us to follow. Insect Silence is released digitally and on CD by Final Muzik in an edition of 500 copies. For more information go to Final Muzik and to download go to Final Muzik Bandcamp." [Compulsion Online]
"Man neigt gerne dazu, Bands, die sich nur alle Schaltjahre oder seltener zu neuen Aktivitäten zusammentun, als klammheimlich aufgelöst zu betrachten, erst recht dann, wenn es sich dabei um noch anderweitig aktive Musiker handelt – so wie Sänger Martyn Bates mit Eyeless in Gaza und seinem Soloprojekt und Instrumentalist Alan Trench mit seinen Folk- und Psychedelic-Gruppen Temple Music, Orchis und Black Lesbian Fishermen. Nachdem mit ihrem Duo Twelve Thousand Days wahrscheinlich nur noch wenige gerechnet hätten, steht mit „Insect Silence“ nun ganz überraschend ein neues Album in den Regalen, das fast da anknüpft, wo die beiden vor gut zwölf Jahren mit „From the Walled Garden“ aufhörten. Fast, denn gerade bei Alan sind doch ein paar Spuren seiner neuen Arbeiten herauszuhören.
Wie man es von früheren Aufnahmen her kennt, wechseln sich schmissige, fast frohsinnige Folksongs ab mit verträumt melancholischen Klageliedern und geheimnisvollen ambienten Soundscapes, und zusammen mit Bates’ unverkennbarer Stimme, die so klar und jugendlich wie eh und je klingt, kreiert die Musik ein verzaubertes Setting, das an ein langsam vor dem Auge verschwimmendes Jugenstilgemälde erinnert.
„Death Went Fishing“ und „Invoce Hecate“ zählen zu den eingängigen Folkstücken, die mit feurigem Geschrammel und ekstatischen Rasseln nach vorn galoppieren – mystische oder makabre Töne schleichen sich über sanft gesungene Textzeilen in die Szenerie und bilden mit der harmonischen Musik eine heikle Mischung, und schon mit den allerorts spürbaren heidnischen Untertönen sind die Stücke vor jedem Indie- und Pop-Appeal gefeit. Impressionistische Tableaus wie „Mad as the Mist“, dessen anfangs noch ziellos umhertastendes Gitarrenspiel sich erst nach und nach zu einem anmutigen Stimmungsbild zusammensetzt, bilden einen Gegenpol dazu, ebenfalls das aus einer balladesken Märchenwelt herübergewehte „Old Ladies as Birds“ und das mit Knacken und Knistern leicht verfremdete Zwischenspiel „Night Harmonium“ – beide Stücke gewinnen noch an Charisma durch Alans berührendes Flötenspiel.
In einigen dieser Tracks sind aber auch räudige Psych Rock-Elemente zuhören, die der Musik eine Kantigkeit verleihen, die in den klassischen Zeiten des englischen Folk nichts ungewöhnliches gewesen wären – zünftige E-Gitarrensoli und dröhnende Riffs, die die Folkmelodien, die sie spielen, gleichsam zerschreddern, als wären sie eine nationalhymne in Woodstock. Weder Eyeless in Gaza noch Orchis waren frei von solch rauen Beigaben, doch hier hat sich v.a. die Sprache jüngerer Temple Music in die Stilpalette geschlichen und gibt dem naturverbundenen Sound eine deutliche Prise Realismus.
Es gäbe einiges, das sich in den einzelnen Songs hervorheben ließ, die anrührende Melodie in „Errant Desires“, die cinematischen Verfremdungseffekte in „Red and Golden Fire“ und der melierte Orgelsound in „Descent“, der in ein verwehtes Sample des Liedes „Hail the Conquering Hero!“ (im Deutschen die Melodie von „Tochter Zion, freue dich“) übergeht, sind nur einige davon, doch alles in allem funktioniert „Insect Silence“ am besten als zusammenhängendes Werk, das mit mehrmaligem Hören immer mehr zu verzaubern weiß." [U.S., African Paper]
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Field's End |
CD |
MARTYN BATES and ALAN TRENCH, energised by the hugely positive critical reception of the recent “Insect Silence” album (also available via Final Muzik), deliver an extraordinary new set of songs showcasing both virtuoso songwriting and an impeccable selection of covers.
From the stunning interpretation of Black Sabbath’s “Planet Caravan” that opens this missive from the aethyr, to the darkly beautiful haunted whisperings of “Wistman’s Wood” that closes it, Bates and Trench take us on a musical tour of their mystical landscape that leaves the traveler breathless and transported. Bates’ voice, at once urgent and impassioned, delicate and graceful, is underpinned by an eclectic instrumentation of dulcimers, synths, piano, organ, mellotron, shruti and others that highlight the interplay of Trench’s fluid guitar lines with the soaring melodies. The recent folk history of England is incorporated with covers of songs by Alasdair Clayre, Bob Pegg (Mr. Fox) and Vashti Bunyan; the album revolves elliptically around the elegiac rush of the title track, where Bates sings: “the seas ride up the skies/and the stars fill yr eyes/I dream the rain’s long answer/I dream the sun’s responses”.
Recorded and mixed over a period of less than three months between Nuneaton in England and Evia in Greece, this is TWELVE THOUSAND DAYS finest work to date!
Presented in a beautiful digipak design with lyrics included. Limited edition of 500 copies. FM 26
MARTYN BATES is well-known for his brilliant long-time work with EYELESS IN GAZA, for his solo albums and for collaborations with MICK HARRIS and ANNE CLARK.
ALAN TRENCH: co-founder of World Serpent Distribution and musician with brilliant projects/groups ORCHIS, HOWLING LARSONS, TEMPLE MUSIC.
Final Muzik mail order catalogue on Discogs: www.discogs.com/seller/Final-Muzik/profile
Recorded at Bridge House Studios, Evia (Greece) and Hive-Arc, Nuneaton (England), 2019. Produced by Alan Trench and Martyn Bates at Bridge House Studios, Evia, 2020.
https://finalmuzik.bandcamp.com/album/fields-end
|
2020 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
The Boatman on the Downs |
CD |
Martyn Bates & Alan Trench return to the ghost-haunted Downs of Southern England for their new album, their fourth in five years to be released by Italy’s Final Muzik label.
Twelve Thousand Days are without a doubt producing some of the finest music in their twenty-five years of existence, abstract and evocative songs that seem to be from the folk canon, so rooted in tradition are they – and the band always give more than a nod to past glories with arrangements of “Arthur McBride” and a song which all children in England once learnt in primary school, “Early One Morning”, which is found here dis-assembled and fed through the haze of more than half a century of lives lived.
The two traditional songs sit comfortably alongside eight new compositions; “Comely” sets the tone, full of yearning and loss, and yet basking in hope, full of haunted voices and distant bells; the journey continues through tales of Wayland the Smith and the Silver City inspired by the verse of John Masefield, magickal tales of djinns and other spirits, an elegy to a departed friend, and more.
The soaring voice of Martyn Bates is underpinned by exquisite instrumentation – acoustic guitars, flute organs, bodhrans and bells, mellotrons and analogue synthesisers, taking the listener on a trip through the forgotten highways and byways of a drowned land.
Available as a limited edition CD Digipak, 500 copies.
https://finalmuzik.bandcamp.com/album/the-boatman-on-the-downs
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| TWIG HARPER |
New Lost Knowns |
LP |
*Edition of 200 housed in silk screened jackets, white vinyl - One of our favourite labels, Planam, pulls out a real time-and-space bender from James Twig Harper, who's perhaps best known for his collaborations with Nate Young in Nautical Almanac and alongside Daniel Higgs for Thrill Jockey. Theres some genuine weirdness within, some of the strangest we've heard since Planam first gave birth to Pat Murano's Decimus series, but with a distinctly unique fidelity and gyroscopic dynamic that makes for a deliciously disorienting experience all of its own conception. There's an animalistic or perhaps even plant-like bio-logic to its devolved, dubbed-out arcana, a grunting, scraping, grubbing ecological complexity of sounds that grows, twists and bifurcates at seemingly haphazard junctions to catalyse chain reactions of constant change and multiple layers of surreality. The 2nd side in particular enters passages which sound almost like a primitive take on Florian Hecker's plonging, rubbery computer music or Rashad Becker's perplexing notional folk music." [Soundohm]
"in the beginning of what exactly was this beginning that has remained one of the mysteries ever since? in this beginning the year might or might not be 2011 and the whole practice could still be in-process now (though we firmly reject the meaning of the meaning as an open forma s we consider it more a time-binding). it is doubtful if this sonic process would have ever evolved beyond the animal stage suspended as it is in a fragile balance between sounding familiar to the nervous system and unfamiliar and alien. this process is wholly dependant upon the integrity of the system and its necessary environment. an extermination program created by working multiple channels, reducing mixes, removing sections, adding segments, layering inversions under continual growths and constant changes, until we can no longer recognize the original source or process itself. a very limited unit of sound and image biologically activated to act as communicable dizziness existing in the past present and future when listening to it. let's turn it on. lp record and silkscreened sleeve are the access, your playback new "reality". edition of 200 copies which will turn your eyes and ears inside out, upward, backwards and in all directions." (label info)
|
2013 |
€21.50 |
|
| TZESNE |
crossing TierraHueca |
mCD-R |
"tzesne is a basque sound artist who perfectly combines field recorings and eletronic processings. his previous works were released by drone records, mystery sea or his own imprint series negras. "crossing TierreHueca" is a collection of four quite short tracks, maybe more on an ambient side than some of his other works..." [label info]
"Four shorter pieces at work here, in which he blends together field recordings and electronics. In some of his previous works this has resulted in some more noise based ambience, but these four new pieces are all quite quiet on the ambient side, with only ‘Swarm’ being a bit louder. Quite nice this new material. " [FdW / Vital Weekly] |
2009 |
€5.00 |
|
| UCHO / OKO |
Qul Prad |
Video-CDR |
“Music to Adam Kossakowski's (OKO-Eye) pictures, or maybe pictures to Marek Rybicki/Rafal Dêtko¶ (UCHO-Ear) music. Old & new tracks, solo works & a fragment of only collaboration work with Solaris. Beautiful colours. CDR for PC computers only. Total time 40:40, stereo HiFi.” [Nefryt]
|
2001 |
€10.00 |
|
| UGGERI, MATTEO |
The Next Wait |
CD + CDR |
In 2013 my wife Gaia was pregnant. We were then waiting for our first born to come, expected for November of that year. A few little obstacles and troubles occurred during the nine months, so my anxious nature at the time generated in me the need to somehow express the feelings in a record, where I conveyed the worries that a father, especially a musician that needs his own moments for playing, may have in terms of an expected potential future lack of time and energies.
I also decided to involve fellow musicians I got to know at the time, like Maurizio Abate (guitar), Enrico Coniglio (guitar and organ), with whom afterwards I would have made full albums - but you can find here the first traces of our collaboration. There were Andrea Serrapiglio (cello) and Cristiano Lupo (bass), that I knew for quite some time, and featuring female voices. I asked Dominique Van Cappellen-Waldock (that I discovered through her marvellous presence on a Doug Sharin solo album) if she wanted to sing on a track, and she did, providing her own lyrics. The American singer Jenny Oakley, aka Empty Vessel Music, did the same on track one, as well as a glitching sample from Nicola Ratti is also featured.
The central piece of the whole album can be considered “Family Man”, a sort of cover from a song by Black Flag, totally reversed by my wife Gaia Margutti. She re-interpreted the lyrics her own way, and she performed it in an unforgettable session of home recordings, with my daughter Olivia, now finally born, hanging from her neck.
Indeed, the album took quite a long time to be made, and then the ‘wait’ was over, transformed in the new life we were all three now living together.
The second half pieces, actually a long track sliced in three parts, are dedicated to this transition period, where also tensions in the family are occuring. The tracks are built on a piano melody provided by the Japanese artist, Mujika Eisel, that collaborated with me on a previous album.
Now it is 2019, and not only is Olivia 5 years old, but also Nora was born, in March 2017. This album, is now dedicated to both of them, and can in a away, be perhaps considered a bit too ‘direct’, (as a Henry Rollins song!) but it’s for me a sincere expression of feelings and sensations. The concept of waiting can be interpreted in different ways, and anyone can ask himself what the two dogs in the front cover (kindly provided by the Italian photographer Adriano Zanni) are expecting to come.
Anyway, the album is finally released, thanks to the generous and neverlasting effort of US label Infraction, available in the three formats of LP/CD/DL, with an additional 7” containing two outtakes entitled “After the Wait” (exclusive to physical formats only), when the new life was becoming a new set of routines.
I even made a video in 2018, featuring - guess who? - my family. It can be seen on Infraction Bandcamp and on my website as well.
I hope that this long pathway of experiences, feelings, music and visual art will be shared with careful listeners all over the world. - Matteo Uggeri
Album editions :
100 copies of clear blue water LP + 7 inch (after the wait)
150 copies of black vinyl 180 gram edition
Each LP is housed in a Stoughton tip-on style heavy sleeve. The 7" is a clear vinyl.
250 copies of full-length CD. The first 100 copies will contain a bonus CDR with 2 exclusive tracks (entitled 'After the Wait'). The CD will be housed in a Stoughton style mini-lp gatefold sleeve.
Maurizio Abate (guitar)
Enrico Coniglio (guitar, organ)
Andrea Serrapiglio (cello)
Cristiano Lupo (bass)
Dominique Van Cappellen-Waldock (vocals)
Jenny Oakley (vocals)
Nicola Ratti (electronics sample)
Gaia Margutti (vocals)
Mujika Eisel (piano)
https://infraction.bandcamp.com/album/the-next-wait
|
2019 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
The Next Wait |
LP + 7inch |
In 2013 my wife Gaia was pregnant. We were then waiting for our first born to come, expected for November of that year. A few little obstacles and troubles occurred during the nine months, so my anxious nature at the time generated in me the need to somehow express the feelings in a record, where I conveyed the worries that a father, especially a musician that needs his own moments for playing, may have in terms of an expected potential future lack of time and energies.
I also decided to involve fellow musicians I got to know at the time, like Maurizio Abate (guitar), Enrico Coniglio (guitar and organ), with whom afterwards I would have made full albums - but you can find here the first traces of our collaboration. There were Andrea Serrapiglio (cello) and Cristiano Lupo (bass), that I knew for quite some time, and featuring female voices. I asked Dominique Van Cappellen-Waldock (that I discovered through her marvellous presence on a Doug Sharin solo album) if she wanted to sing on a track, and she did, providing her own lyrics. The American singer Jenny Oakley, aka Empty Vessel Music, did the same on track one, as well as a glitching sample from Nicola Ratti is also featured.
The central piece of the whole album can be considered “Family Man”, a sort of cover from a song by Black Flag, totally reversed by my wife Gaia Margutti. She re-interpreted the lyrics her own way, and she performed it in an unforgettable session of home recordings, with my daughter Olivia, now finally born, hanging from her neck.
Indeed, the album took quite a long time to be made, and then the ‘wait’ was over, transformed in the new life we were all three now living together.
The second half pieces, actually a long track sliced in three parts, are dedicated to this transition period, where also tensions in the family are occuring. The tracks are built on a piano melody provided by the Japanese artist, Mujika Eisel, that collaborated with me on a previous album.
Now it is 2019, and not only is Olivia 5 years old, but also Nora was born, in March 2017. This album, is now dedicated to both of them, and can in a away, be perhaps considered a bit too ‘direct’, (as a Henry Rollins song!) but it’s for me a sincere expression of feelings and sensations. The concept of waiting can be interpreted in different ways, and anyone can ask himself what the two dogs in the front cover (kindly provided by the Italian photographer Adriano Zanni) are expecting to come.
Anyway, the album is finally released, thanks to the generous and neverlasting effort of US label Infraction, available in the three formats of LP/CD/DL, with an additional 7” containing two outtakes entitled “After the Wait” (exclusive to physical formats only), when the new life was becoming a new set of routines.
I even made a video in 2018, featuring - guess who? - my family. It can be seen on Infraction Bandcamp and on my website as well.
I hope that this long pathway of experiences, feelings, music and visual art will be shared with careful listeners all over the world. - Matteo Uggeri
Album editions :
100 copies of clear blue water LP + 7 inch (after the wait)
150 copies of black vinyl 180 gram edition
Each LP is housed in a Stoughton tip-on style heavy sleeve. The 7" is a clear vinyl.
250 copies of full-length CD. The first 100 copies will contain a bonus CDR with 2 exclusive tracks (entitled 'After the Wait'). The CD will be housed in a Stoughton style mini-lp gatefold sleeve.
credits
released September 10, 2019
Maurizio Abate (guitar)
Enrico Coniglio (guitar, organ)
Andrea Serrapiglio (cello)
Cristiano Lupo (bass)
Dominique Van Cappellen-Waldock (vocals)
Jenny Oakley (vocals)
Nicola Ratti (electronics sample)
Gaia Margutti (vocals)
Mujika Eisel (piano)
https://infraction.bandcamp.com/album/the-next-wait |
2019 |
€28.00 |
|
| UHLIG, MIRKO |
VIVMMI |
LP |
"As mummy thought us: you have to put your money where your mouth is. So when we claimed praise for a small CDR release by a relatively new German composer Mirko Uhlig we dabbled with the idea of releasing it on LP. Now we did. We doubled the edition of 65 to 130 and it has great carton sleeve (like last year's Pick-up LP).
Since 2006 he has retreated to his nom de passport (formerly known as Aalfang mit Pferdekopf), Uhlig has exchanged the naive bewilderment of experimental bricolage with the pursuit of pure beauty and there is suddenly confusion as to his motives: Are these silent outbursts of refined romanticism intended as some sort of clever commentary on the Drone genre, as a neo-conservative return to proven values or part of something different altogether? 'VIVMMI' has been remastered for vinyl." [label info]
www.kormplastics.nl
|
2009 |
€15.00 |
|
| UHUSHUHU (Ухушуху) |
Long Songs pleasant for Hearing |
MC |
" "U'hu! Shu'hu!" - hoot owls in a forest, as told by Daniil Kharms, and in the sky, above a rainbow, long songs pleasant for hearing are sung to a cherubim. Uhushuhu is a name of a project run by members of the creative group "Utrovortu" and their "Long Songs…" is the first studio record made after a few interesting performances at small underground city clubs and forest open-air festivals in the Leningrad region.
Following these songs we set off on a journey through structures and surfaces in a shell of experimental drone ambient. We will face sonic anomalies, random wanderings in unstable and unpredictable spheres, vague rustles and semblant echoes, spaces of various densities, mood and nature, hidden dead-ends, spontaneous phonations and labyrinths enclosed in themselves.
Second edition - 55 copies on white cassettes with stickers, two-sided full-colour cover." [label info]
"Reissued on cassette, but not for long! The Uhushuhu collective have been known to perform and produce their work under the canopy of the Russian forests outside of St. Petersburg, making them something of a Russian reincarnation of Jewelled Antler. There's much more of an electronic underbelly to Uhushuhu than Jewelled Antler, while retaining the pine-cone drone ethos of luminously radiant psychedelic dronescaping. The first track actually holds a number of aesthetic similarities to the long form works of Motion Sickness Of Time Travel - sinewy, seductive, and slippery passages of intertwining synth melodies softened through reverb and spaciousness, furthered along by watery field recordings and damp ruminations on subterranean lairs, wormholes, and caves. Each of the album's three tracks clock well past the 15 minute mark, leading towards deeper, more shambolic explorations of sublime atmosphere. Quite a lovely piece of work, with the cassette limited to 55 copies." [Aquarius Records]
|
2015 |
€8.50 |
|
| |
Onega |
MC |
"Together with the ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ label we are happy to present the cassette reissue of the second album by Uhushuhu - "Onega". The first release was made by ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ in January 2015 on CD-R, a small edition of 33 copies in beautiful handmade packaging. It was sold out very quickly and now we've decided to re-release this recording on cassette along with two other albums ("Long Songs Pleasant for Hearing" and "Geoscience").
The sound of "Onega" was described by ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ as "archaic earth hum; water ripple near dusk; stones dancing in the dark; tales about moss and its inhabitants. Ease of predawn dew, heady spirality of snails." We can only agree with these laconic and concise characteristics.
Besides the album itself the original disk contained a bonus track - a remix by Creation VI who stand behind the ΠΑΝΘΕΟΝ label. It is also included on the B-side of this cassette and even more - there is an exclusive 27-minute reshape version from Uhushuhu themselves mixed in a different tonality.
Artwork - clear cassettes with stickers, two-sided full-colour cover, outer cardboard slipcase." [label info]
zhb.radionoise.ru/eng/releases.html#zhb
"Along with two reissues on cassette of quickly sold-out cdrs over the past few years, we have a new album from the enigmatic Russian collective Uhushuhu. These are drones to sink into - deep, thrumming tones, nocturnal field recordings, accreted electronic vibration, and wind-swept aeration that appear to emit from the depth of the Russian forest, all embued with a transcendent, mystically dark quality that immediately makes us think back to those early Andrew Chalk albums, especially his beloved Sumac disc with Jonathan Coleclough. As with the other cassettes, this too is limited to 55 copies; but unlike the others, the plastic casing is swaddled in an O-card." [Aquarius Records]
|
2015 |
€8.50 |
|
| ULTRA MILKMAIDS |
AMR |
lathe-cut LP |
"the milkies are back on ant-zen, ready to do good and to excite both old and new fans alike with 'amr', where they present two continuous works of unmistakable quality. during the nearly sixteen minutes of the title track you will be carried onto a strange but not unsettling place by electronic tone floats with underlying twelve string drones. the second track 'lira & morphine' is a well-balanced post-psychedelic blend of distant cymbals, swirling synths and oscillating soundscapes interspersed with a subtle rhythmic interlude - contemporary electric music for mind and body. those who wish to get 'amr' on vinyl are heartily recommended to hurry up, due to the strict limitation of 92 copies. however of course an unlimited number of listeners will have the opportunity to acquire this album in digital format. the saga of the legendary ultra milkmaids continues...
available: 14february2k13 " [label info]
|
2013 |
€20.00 |
|
| ULTRA UNITED |
Research 1 (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
"This is the very first release of a new composer from Basle, Switzerland, who has created an amazing 6-track-disc of captivating, organic and strengthful sounds. After a strange effected chanson-entry we find ourselves in a world of long bassy drones, squeezing effects, earthquake- and siren-like sounds, and synthetic tunes. The whole holds an extreme tension during the tracks, and ends up with rather spacey and relaxing track a la BAD SECTOR.This is a real physical- & psycho-acoustical journey from the first to the last second! ULTRA UNITED means "Music that combines extreme opposite and ambiguous emotions in every respect". GOLDEN VINYL, BLACK ON BLACK PRINTED COVERS." [press release]
"THESE THREE EPs ARE PERFECT EXAMPLES THAT "DRONES" ARE NOT JUST "DRONES", BUT THAT THEY CAN BE USED TO CREATE INTENSE AND EXCITING COMPOSITIONS TO EFFECT DIFFERENTLY ON OUR MIND AND EMOTIONS. ALL 7"es APPEAR IN A LIMITED & NUMBERED EDITION OF 250 COPIES." [additional info on DR-38-40]
|
1999 |
€ |
|
| UMPIO |
Opium Electronics Vol. IV |
CD-R |
"Umpio means "vacuum" in Finnish. This is a project founded by Pentti Dassum in 2006. Pentti has been playing guitar and bass in a variety of punk, death-metal, rock, jazz and experimental bands since the early 90-ies, and also has a huge sound engineering experience obtained from working within the Finnish musical underground. However in his own project Umpio he devotes attention to making sounds from metal junk, contact mics, circuit bending, various analogue and digital electronics and whatever comes in his hands, recording extraordinary material from harsh noise to hypnotic ambient.
The "Opium Electronics" falls right into the latter category. The first cassette "Opium Electronics Vol. I" was released by the Russian label Rokot in 2012, then two CD-Rs followed on Pentti's own imprint Nekorecords and now the fourth installment comes out on our label. Four tracks mold in a single sonic flow. Soft enveloping electronics that sounds like a plush cocoon wrapped around one's head. Background textures humming gently, waves of mild noises rolling softly, forefront sounds slightly scratching the ears... detachment and abstraction not providing any determined images but giving free scope to the listener's imagination." [label info]
zhb.radionoise.ru/eng/releases.html
|
2014 |
€8.50 |
|
| |
Molesterol |
CD |
new 2020 album Finnish supreme harsh noise. More electronics, more modular patches, more room sounds than line-recordings. Some unreleased archive noise sources thrown in mix. Sharp, crystalline quality, yet noisy and harsh at the same time! Umpio always delivers noise that radiates energetic force.
https://freak-animal.net/2020/11/03/vanhala-umpio-mania-government-alpha-sadio/
|
2020 |
€12.50 |
|
| UN DRAME MUSICALE INSTANTANE |
Rideau! |
CD |
"Rideau! was Un Drame Musical Instantané's second album, originally released in 1980 on the group's own GRRR label. Since its creation in 1976, featuring Jean-Jacques Birgé, Bernard Vitet and Francis Gorgé, the group has decided to promote collective musical creation, co-signing their albums, which they consider as artworks in themselves, or their live shows which they try to renew every time they play. Un Drame borrowed their sources from rock (synthetizer player Birgé and guitarist Gorgé, both authors of the album, Défense de); jazz (trumpeter Vitet who founded the first free jazz band in France, together with François Tusques, as well as Michel Portal who played with many American and European jazzmen); classical modern music; as well as movies or world news; they were the first in France to give a new impetus to live music on silent films. Birgé and Gorgé also recorded a duo album that was mentioned on the infamous Nurse With Wound list, Défense De. On Rideau, you will hear their wild mix of styles, a very original, unclassifiable, inventive music, which drifts from jazz to electronic music and contemporary music. Remastered in 2016 and with a lot of bonus tracks, amongst them the track that appeared on United Dairies' compilation album "In Fractured Silence" for the first time in its full length!"
[label info]
"We are talking here of the trio of Jean-Jacques Birgé, Bernard Vitet and Francis Gorgé, indeed a very unique trio. From the beginning they blended jazz, rock, electronics, new music, improvisation, sound, audio-visual into fascinating Gesamtkunstwerk. In a way that has some resemblance with the work of Alfed Harth and Heiner Goebbels, who were operating at the same time. (...) All three members already had their history in the jazz scene of France, especially Bernard Vitet who died in 2013. As a trio they would become a stabile force for many years. ‘Rideau’ is a perfect start for getting introduced to their idiosyncratic way of assembling influences. They developed their very own world, their own language. Listening after a long time once again to Rideau, the music still talks and sounds far from out-dated. The musicians play a wide variety of instruments. (...) Back then their music sounded very experimental and wild to my ears, now it strikes me this is really full-grown, open and well- balanced music by inventive musicians who had a strong musical intuition and vision."
(Vital Weekly, May 2017)
www.klanggalerie.com
|
2017 |
€14.50 |
|
|
A Travail Egal Salaire Egal |
CD |
" À Travail Égal Salaire Égal was Un Drame Musical Instantané's third album, originally released in 1982 on the group's own GRRR label. Since its creation in 1976, featuring Jean-Jacques Birgé, Bernard Vitet and Francis Gorgé, the group has decided to promote collective musical creation, co-signing their albums, which they consider as artworks in themselves, or their live shows which they try to renew every time they play. Un Drame borrowed their sources from rock (synthetizer player Birgé and guitarist Gorgé, both authors of the album, Défense de); jazz (trumpeter Vitet who founded the first free jazz band in France, together with François Tusques, as well as Michel Portal who played with many American and European jazzmen); classical modern music; as well as movies or world news; they were the first in France to give a new impetus to live music on silent films. Birgé and Gorgé also recorded a duo album that was mentioned on the infamous Nurse With Wound list, Défense De. On À Travail Égal Salaire Égal, you will hear their wild mix of styles, a very original, unclassifiable, inventive music, which drifts from jazz to electronic music and contemporary music. Remastered in 2016 and with a lot of bonus material. Track list: 1. On Tourne 2. Crimes Parfaits 3. Pourquoi La Nuit? 4. La Preuve Par Le Grand Huit 5. La Preuve Par le Grand Huit, One Year Later." [label info]
www.klanggalerie.com/gg244
|
2017 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
L'homme a la Camera / La Glace a trois Faces |
CD |
Un Drame Musical Instantané were founded in 1976, featuring Jean-Jacques Birgé, Bernard Vitet and Francis Gorgé. Their aim was to promote collective musical creation, co-signing their albums, which they consider as artworks in themselves, or their live shows which they tried to renew every time they played. Their sound was created with many influences: They borrowed their sources from rock (synthesizer player Birgé and guitarist Gorgé, both authors of the album, Défense de); jazz (trumpeter Vitet who founded the first free jazz band in France, together with François Tusques, as well as Michel Portal who played with many American and European jazzmen); classical modern music; as well as movies or world news; they were the first in France to give a new impetus to live music on silent movies. After having improvised freely for many years, they led a fifteen piece orchestra from 1981 to 1986, and from 1989 onwards they produced multimedia shows (live video remix on a giant screen, fireworks, choreographies). Still their music was the most important technique, they called their recordings "blind cinema". The Drame used to mix acoustic and electronic instruments in real time as well as original instruments built by Vitet (a reed trumpet, a multiphonic French horn, a variable tension double-bass, a giant balafon with frying pans and flower pots keyboard, a fire organ, plexiglas flutes, etc.). After Francis Gorgé left the band in 1992, Birgé and Vitet went on recording and producing with other musicians close to the "family" such as percussionist, Gérard Siracusa, or multi-instrumentalist, Hélène Sage. Un Drame Musical Instantané always remained independent (they always owned their own recording studio and record label GRRR) and stopped its activities in 2008, with Birgé being the only one active until this day. L'Homme À La Caméra was originally released on GRRR in 1984 and features 15 musicians. In addition to the original album, we offer you a whole new section of previously unreleased music from the time entitled La Glace A Trois Faces which is another soundtrack to a silent movie from 1927 |
2020 |
€14.00 |
|
| UNDARA |
Traveller |
CD |
"The Undara project is a loose constellation of musicians and artists hailing from Portugal. Setting an interdisciplinary path through musical arcanum and artistic obscurity their journey of discovery leads into a dark and unknown wilderness, tripping over smoldering rocks and stumbling over the very roots of mankind's origin. Hear the distant call of the untamed lands to which mankind rarely chooses to venture. Comes in a jewelcase with a 8-page booklet." [label info]
http://gterma.blogspot.se
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| UNDERJORDISKA / SPECTRAL LORE |
split |
CD-R |
Zweimal qualitativ hochwertige "dark harmonic ambience" von Projekten aus dem Black Metal-Bereich...
"Two experimental black metal one-man bands venturing into new and undiscovered territories: this split is a collaboration far different from your typical "let's throw some left-outs from our previous records, make a intro or two and off to the printing plant" mentality, instead being a concept split album which should be heard as one, rather than two albums on the same cd. It is a journey from the surface of the sea to the very depths of the ocean, and then back towards the surface again. Each musician undertakes one part of the journey; two compositions over 30 minutes, featuring actual underwater recordings, aquatic drones, unique instruments (from a mandolin to a duduk) and even melodic post rockish moments. There is a continual flow of movement to the music, as the listener, embodied within this audial environment, descents and ascends through the ocean, towards a deepest point that seems to bear a particular significance: but is it the goal, or the journey itself that matters more?" [label info]
"... Hailing from the small but gradually growing group of Ambient Black Metal projects, Spectral Lore's Ayloss and Underjordiska's Dawid Dahl place consumptive Guitar- and Mandolin patterns alongside the foreboding electronic tapestry, integrating field recordings of lazy days at the beach into angelically ringing drones. And whenever they return into the oblivious void, the aforementioned bipolarity shines through even clearer. The overall impression of these two independently realised but astoundingly complimentary thirty-something-minute tracks is therefore timbrally rich and thematically diverse. While Dahl builds his piece modularly, taking it through a string of musical passages, the Spectral Lore contribution is rather shaped like a curve, slowly oscillating between anthemic noise and vaporous darkness. The stoic refusal of many genre-related releases to take their ostrich-like head from the sands of sadness is counterpointed by an approach which never rests on its laurels while placing seminal importance on ambient coherency: Diversity and darkness, they teach us, need not be a contradiction." [Tokafi] |
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| UNFYROS |
Alpha Hunt |
CD |
Unfyros "Alpha Hunt"
“The Invocations of the Secret Voice and Deathly Glyphs”
1. The Dagger Within 2. In Dawn Claws 3. A Numinous Meeting
Side A is dedicated to the Way of the Warrior and the Puissant Entity possessing from the infinite Archonyx; The Sower of Mistseeds and a secret key to the Whispering Cycloliths by the Black Deep.
Megaliths Arise!
+ + + + + + +
“The Knowledge of the Aphotic Pyres and Flaming Wisdom”
4. Enter the Monolith 5. The Cosmogyral Flame 6. Onyxian (Abyss-Mother)
Side B is dedicated to the Oneness between life and death and the Hypenemious Fires flowing from the Un-I-Ur Towers; May the ancestral, spectral lights enlighten the Timeless Altar and our Totemic Sleep forever!
Tunnels Awake!
The Onyx Union:
Anti Ittna H. - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Synthesizers
Nox Vector - Drums & Cymbals
The tunes of old sorcery on this album were evoked, received and translated during the years of 2018 - 2021 by Anti Ittna H. in the luminous darkness of North Ostrobothnia, Finland.
The lyrical themes have been transcripted from various metaphysical journeys and primitive automatic vocal seancés held in the Unfyros shôngi-temple between 2018 - 2021.
All tracks were recorded, mixed and mastered at the Katajan Kaiku studio in 2021 - 2022. Cover painting by Namurian Visions 2021. Unfyros logo by Unholy Designs. Photography by Unfyros. Layout and lettering by tlmnn.
We are the messengers of nightfall and channel out the Power that interacts with the transcendental structures of consciousness. We are the Primeval Game - The Quintessence.
https://unfyros.bandcamp.com/album/alpha-hunt
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| UNIT 21 |
November |
CD |
"Unit 21 could, name-wise be mistaken for an industrial or gothic act, is one Stanislav Vdovin, who plays music since 2003, mainly doing techno and house remixes, and later 'non dance solo albums'. For 'November' he uses 'looped micro samples from soviet vinyl records, home microphone recording, drum pattern and processed white noise'. Although this CD is indexed with seven tracks, which are all quite different from each other, it listens as one pleasant, mildly experimental piece of music. At the first the static crackles of vinyl skipping is perhaps just a bit too easy, but as the CD progresses, and the other sound sources are added, we are uplifted in a spiral form of rotating sounds, a swirling mass of static hiss, a bit too much reverb, but also drum machine patterns that aren't exactly groovy, but which work quite relaxing and field recordings of a highly obscure nature. Quite a nice CD, not a really big surprise but nevertheless very nice. Ambient glitch, might be the best description, but less based on the digital variation." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.lagunamuch.com
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
|
| UNKNOWN ARTIST |
Agusta Lecetta, 1926 |
MC |
"This material was found on a CD-R in Toscana without any information. We decided to release this obscure material - whether it's authentic or not. A deep journey into processed violent recordings with devil voices from another world.
This army green C-25 comes with a very special unique handmade painted artwork, limited
to only 34 copies worldwide. Includes a phiole filled with poison to make suicide easier." [label info]
www.voluntarywhores.de
|
2014 |
€8.00 |
|
| UNSONG |
The frailty of angels, the treason of people |
CD |
Excellent debut release from this British project, silent but dense & eerie ambience with tension, a very own style...
“Unsong (Mason Ball) is a project interested in producing stark, atypical and emotive audio regardless of logical progression, musicality or continuity. Unsong create rich, layered, instinctive sound works from the minimal to the extravagant, utilising a miscellaneous array of sources: electronically generated tones, processed field recordings, disassembled voices, domestic appliances, stolen sounds, chance; the list stretches on exponentially.The methodology employed by unsong is a simple one: proceed with what sounds right, abandon what doesn't, often producing broken and unintelligible sounds to engage, soothe, surprise and disorientate the listener. Unsong endeavours to fashion disordered audio for gleefully unsound minds. [label info]
“ Dark, atmospheric music, that however doesn't tend towards something like dark ambient (with tons of digital synths), but more into the sound research areas of The Hafler Trio (circa How To Reform Mankind), Coil or Andrew Liles. One of the better pieces on this is the lenghty title piece, which is a slow beast moving onwards until a loop drops in and changes the slightly the atmosphere of the music. Sometimes the music falls below the point of hearing, but it always creeps back from under the carpet, right into your face. Scary music, this is. Music that could be easily used for some thriller film production. Very spooky but very well made. I am told that through the website of Unsong it is possible to order from each song a lenghty remix (one track per CDR), in case this wasn't enough... [FdW, Vital Weekly] Address: http://www.macrophonies.co.uk
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
| UR |
The Day of the Lord |
CD-R |
"Italian project started in 2005. UR has released a number of albums through Topheth Prophet, Afe Records, Mask Of The Slave. Music is mostly free-improvised in the style of Industrial of 1970’s. Four long pieces recorded in 2006 create a hellish maelstrom of black shadows, heartrending groans, bloodletting rave in a throng of ashletting horny and caudate entitites. Sometimes more scary than TG, early CURRENT 93 and STALLAGH." [label info]
www.abgurd.com |
2010 |
€8.50 |
|
| US STEEL CELLO ENSEMBLE |
Noise in the Library |
LP |
Bob Rutman's life could be compared to the life of Odysseus, although we're not here to write his biography. Putojefe is happy to present his phenomenal Noise In The Library, recorded with the U.S. Steel Cello Ensemble, an all-steel string quartet established by himself in Boston in 1976.
The Ensemble consists of one Steel Cello and three Bow Chimes, played by Rutman and a rotating cast of guest musicians: in this instance, Daniel Orlansky –one of Rutman’s closest collaborators and longest-lasting member of the band–, Stephanie Wolff and Alex Dorsch. The instruments, built and developed by Rutman, are impressive sound sculptures in themselves, made of large flexible sheets of metal and defined by the artist as "American Industrial folk instruments".
The „Bürgermeister von Mitte” needs no introduction. He has literally traveled history, from Nazi Germany to the New York of the Seventies, landing again in Berlin in recent years. A tireless performer aged 87, he has toured the US and Europe extensively, playing both small galleries and underground venues as well as established cultural institutions as the MoMA, London’s ICE and the Berlin Atonal Festival.
Rutman is internationally recognised as the multifaceted avant-garde artist par excellence, as attested by his diverse collaboration with key figures of post-war culture: Dorothy Carter, Merce Cunningham, Laurie Anderson, Philip Lamantia, Wim Wenders, Asmus Tietchens and many others.
Captivating from the beginning to the end, primitive and futuristic in its form, Noise In The Library remains as the U.S. Steel Cello Ensemble’s sole recording featuring the exceptional overtone singer Stephanie Wolff, whose vocals are intertwined with Bob Rutman’s chant in Tibetan Buddhist style. Prior to this, Wolff had only appeared as a guest singer with the groundbreaking krautrock outfit Brainticket. Her deep and delicate tones go beyond spirituality and take listeners on a space travel to open skies.
Recorded live at Passionskirche in Berlin on May 31st, 1989, in the prime of the Ensemble’s career, this is one of the last few examples of great, powerful music made by humans without the indiscriminate use of electronics or binary codes.
A sometimes frightening and breathtakingly intense performance, as thoroughly mysterious as early American soil, as it first appeared to the eyes of visionary European minds.
https://ussteelcelloensemble.bandcamp.com/releases
|
2018 |
€18.00 |
|
| USENBENZ, ANDREAS |
Bells Breath |
LP |
“Bells Breath” transforms the tolling of the bells in the Ulm Minster into a work of sound art. This project by Andreas Usenbenz and Dorothee Köhl was created for the 125th anniversary of the minster spire’s completion and was presented in the form of an audio installation inside the minster in the fall of 2015.
There are 13 bells in the bell tower, ten of which are in use. Each bell has its own size and pitch, and each has its own function.
“Bells Breath” strips away that function, creating a new form of auditory experience. The moment of the bell tolling has been recorded, the tone stretched and the individual tones are layered on top of each other. The sound installation was situated on the ground floor inside the minster, beneath the bell frame. A platform for people to step or sit on created a spacial frame of reference, the sound was triggered by the listeners by pressing a button.
When dealing with this work, it is helpful to have a brief look at Minimal Art. In the early 1960ies, a new understanding of art was being developed in contrast to abstract painting. Part of it was an abandonment of categories that had been considered essential until then, like the aesthetic experience or the artists signature style. Industrially produced materials were now being used, every day objects were stripped bare of their function. Experiencing art turned into an experience of self-awareness on behalf of the audience.
Sculptor Tony Smith was aware of the importance of this type of experience as early as the mid-fifties. He took his students on a nocturnal journey on the still uncompleted New Jersey Turnpike. Driving down the road lacking crash barriers and road markings didn’t serve any functional purpose. Instead, the dark and the passing industrial complexes appeared in a different state of perception. It’s this experience that Smith regarded as having an artistic quality.
This kind of quality can be described further using the “Mirrored Cubes” by Robert Morris. The installation consists of four mirrored cubes. They are positioned in a square, one edge length apart from each other, therefore eliminating the element of composition. The surface, as perceived by the audience, is only a reflection of the surroundings and of itself. Artwork and location become an inseparable one. What the audience experiences is an amplified perception of itself and of the spacial situation here and now.
The here and now are two elements that appear on different levels in “Bell’s Breath”. The work strongly relates to the location, the tower hall right beneath the bell frame. At the same time, the sounds’ original function is being eliminated by prolonging and layering the different sounds. This, together with the audience’s presence in the space creates a new experience of perception.
releases February 17, 2017
All field recordings, sound design & compositions by Andreas Usenbenz, between march 2015 and may 2016
The music is based on field recordings of 10 different church bells installed in the Minster of Ulm. Usenbenz recorded the bells using a wide spaced A – B pair with omni directional DPA microphones,
a Sennheiser ORTF setup and contact microphones mounted directly to the bells or their direct environment.
The Bells where rung by the Sacristan. Additionally, Usenbenz played them with different props to tease very specific sounds out of the bells. No additional sounds were used in these compositions.
Produced at Klangmanufaktur
Artwork by Chris Corrado
Mastered by Stephan Mathieu
Cut by CGB at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin
|
2017 |
€16.50 |
|
| USENBENZ, ANDREAS & PETER SCHUBERT |
Plaque |
CD |
Sound art. In an essay for the Goethe Institute dated 2009, Carsten Seiffarth (of Singuhr gallery, Berlin), called sound art a “new art form”. An art form that is now established but still only plays a marginal role in the art world and in exhibitions. Everybody who visits galleries and art fairs regularly will concur.
Why is that?
For one, many sound artworks are intricately connected with the locations they are presented in, which is usually not where art fairs and exhibitions take place, but locations whose atmosphere and history are to be amplified or to be communicated. Or the locations have been specifically constructed, like the Philips pavilion at the world expo in Brussels in 1958, for which Edgard Varese created his Poème électronique.
So, works of sound art are often tied to a specific event as well, like “Plaqué”, which has spacial as well as historic roots. When the event is over, the relevance of many sound artworks may fade away to a certain degree. In addition, the presentation of sound art often proves difficult in traditional galleries or art fairs. These are usually not designed to adequately present live performances or sound art in general, because of sound art’s predominant element, sound, is usually not part of the art presented there. In fact, there are only very few galleries that specifically deal with sound art.
While sound installations and more classically laid out compositions may come with a certain potential for longevity (or repeated resurrection), a lot of artists are producing works that are very ephemeral, except for archival recordings, of course. Performed works are often placed on the side stages of music festivals, or they may emerge within a tightly set frame of time and context, outside of which only a documentary shadow remains.
Collectors are struggling with sound art as well. Like with video art, it is not easy to get used to the idea that you may be purchasing a work which can be copied in unlimited numbers at no costs. That’s precisely what a recorded piece of sound art is. This parameter, as well as the performance aspect of sound art, seems to put it on a level with music. But is that appropriate?
A question that could be asked in the case of “Plaqué”. Is it “just” an archival recording of a long gone performance? Like Varese’s Poème électronique, “Plaqué” was created for a specific event, the 200th birthday of Daniel Straub, whose endeavors in Geislingen shaped the small German town for decades to come. He was involved in the construction of the railroad line and founded a company called WMF, which produces kitchenware and cutlery to this date.
Usenbenz and Schubert traced Straub’s history in the Geislingen of our present. The collected field recordings were presented as a live performance, which served as a preliminary work and a basis for the work now published. “Plaqué” is not just a recorded performance, it is an advanced work, a new composition containing additionally recorded material. It gently loosens its spacial and temporal roots without losing its contextual base. The result is strangely fascinating and universally relevant. It is an independent piece of sound art, which deserves the same form of attention and appreciation as a painting or a sculpture. Even if it’s not a unique piece, entering one art collection, but an edition that will be enjoyed by 200 collectors.
peter schubert • field recordings • electronics • microgranny analog fx • ableton live • fieldscaper • no-input mixer
andreas usenbenz • field recordings • borderlands • samplr • ableton live
dubplates • cassettes • microkorg • patchblocks
recording • editing • mastering • klangmanufaktur ulm
photography • artwork • andreas usenbenz
www.klanggold.net
|
2017 |
€10.00 |
|
| V.A. (VARIOUS ARTISTS) (COMPILATIONS) |
Anthology of Noise & Electronic Music Vol. 2 |
do-CD |
“ This 2nd volume explores the early days of pre-electronic music (Percy Grainger, Johanna M. Beyer...) and proposes some rares or unpublished pieces by main composers of electronic music (Wladimir Ussachevsky, Otto Luening, Tod Dockstader, Morton Subotnick, Hugh Davies, Luc Ferrari) as well as unreleased tracks by musicians who are cornerstones of the 90's electronic scene (Autechre, Aphex Twin, Scanner, Kim CasconeYoshihiro Hanno...), acid movement (Woody McBride, Choose) or industrial (Laibach, SPK). Without forgetting some free-jazz (Sun Ra) or rare stuff from Captain Beefheart, Daphne Oram, Alan R. Splet...
slow explorations of the past and the present
Given the present system of production there are reasons, some of them identifiable, why only a few names emerge in each period.
There may also be a preference for concentrating information rather than letting it pile up in disordered fashion. Over the past 40 years the same ten electronic music composers get mentioned again and
again (including in music dictionaries and histories). Yet behind them are many other names. Who are they? Second-raters? Not necessarily. For we then need to define the concept of top-rate (rated by who, and on what criteria?) and second-rate or minor
artist. Great pleasure can be derived from the works of minor artists. The case of Tod Dockstader is instructive: when "for lack of academic qualifications" he was denied access to the electronic music facilities he needed, was there not great beauty in the pieces he nevertheless created and in his determination to make music without those facilities? His name was never seen on the labels of top record companies. But he influenced quite a few people - Richard James quoted him, and others then referred to his work. Some of his records were reissued, and what one could call
the rehabilitation process continues. The same applies to many other composers. All such stories spell a passion for music, and weave myth.
historical axes
At the turn of the century there were efforts to find new sources of sound - a number of machines were exhibited, including Thaddeus Cahiel's Telharmonium in 1887 and the Dynamophone presented to the New York public in 1906; they generally played well-known
romantic or post-romantic pieces. After a few flamboyant skirmishes described in the previous volume, the postwar period saw the arrival in 1951, of Wladimir Ussachevsky and Otto Luening in New York's Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center.
When audiences of the 50's and 60's first heard Varèse, Pousseur, Stockhausen, Berio, Ussachevsky, Yuasa, Dockstader and Mumma, what did they feel? Perhaps a sort of break, an epistemological break, like it must have been for the first audience of Monteverdi's
Orfeo (in Mantua, Italy on 24 February 1607). They left the auditorium completely stunned,because they had never heard anything like it.
WHAT CONTAINS THIS SECOND EDITION ?
CD 1
Wladimir Ussachevsky + Otto Luening > Incantation for Tape * 1953 02:35
Luc Ferrari > Visage V * 1958-59 10:33
Tod Dockstader - Aerial > Song * 2002 12:56
Johanna M. Beyer > Music of the Spheres * 1938 05:59
Morton Subotnick > Mandolin * 1962 07:02
Daphne Oram > Four Aspects * 1960 08:05
Robin Rimbaud / Scanner > Emily * 2003 04:46
Hugh Davies > Quintet * 1967-68 12:05
Alan R. Splet > Space Travel w/ Changing Choral Textures 04:02
Kim Cascone > Zephirum Scan * 2002 04:58
CD 2
Autechre > Bronchus One.1 * 1991 06:01
Yoshihiro Hanno > On/Off Edit * 2001 09 :12
Meira Asher > Torture/Bodyparts * 2001 03'40
Woody McBride > Pulp * 1993 06:07
Lasse Steen / Choose > Purzuit ov Noize * 1994 05 :36
Arcane Devices > Lathe * 1988 05:54
Laibach > Industrial Ambients * 1980-82 09:54
SPK > Slogun * 1979 06:20
Percy Grainger > Free Music #1 (for four theremins) * 1936 01:22
Sun Ra > Imagination * 1965 02:04
Captain Beefheart > She's too much for my miror / My human gets me blues * 1969 05:32 “ [press-release]
|
2003 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Construction Sonor |
do-CD |
Swiss artist BERND SCHURER (known for the DAS ERDWERK 7” on Drone, and now active with his label DOMIZIL and solo-works) created a great field recording journey (94 short spots) made in the tunnels, tubes, shafts and railways below the alps. On the second CD we find 13 remixes of the basic material, by artists that live along the featured recording places!
SEELENLUFT, BALDUIN, TABLE, DOLMEN, DRUMPET, BLANK, MÜLLER/KORBER, INTRICATE, MONOLAKE, ARCHETTI, and also ERIK M, FENNESZ, REFAT.
Comes with big poster-inlay and booklet, a real stunning release for sound-researchers ! BACK IN STOCK ! STILL TO DISCOVER!
|
2003 |
€17.50 |
|
|
Debris Field (MAX EASTLEY / LOREN CHASSE / COLIN POTTER / PHIL MOULDYCLIFF / KEITH ROWE / etc.) |
CD & book |
Katalog und -CD zum Thema “Trümmer” einer Ausstellung, die von April bis Juni in einer Kunstgalerie in Bolton (UK) stattfand und von PHIL MOULDYCLIFF kuratiert wurde. Abbildungen von Bildern, Skultputuren, Zeichnungen, Texte & Biographien der hier vorgestellten 13 Künstler, sowie ein 48+ minütiger feinstofflich-ambientöser Installationssoundtrack von LOREN CHASSE, PHIL MOULDYCLIFF, COLIN POTTER und KEITH ROWE machen dies zu einer äusserst sehens- und hörenswerten Publikation.
“This is the CD and catalogue for the 'Debris Field' exhibition at Bolton Museum curated by Phil Mouldycliff. The CD is an edited version of 'Debris Field ambient wash', a 48 minute piece that is split into 3 movements. The catalogue includes an essay by Mouldycliff titled 'Tracing paths through debris fields' which gives some insight into the exhibition and CD. Also includes photographs of some of the exhibits and artist biographies for those involved including Colin Potter, Keith Rowe, Max Eastley, Tom Philips etc” [ICR]
“ 'Debris Fields' was curated by Phil Mouldycliff and deals with 'remains', the debris after the act. It's not an exhibition about music per se, as it includes paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures and also music. Some of the participating artists are also musicians, such as Loren Chasse, Keith Rowe and Phil Mouldycliff and they all delivered some music to Colin Potter, who presented 'Debris field Ambient Wash', a mix of all the sounds into a 'discreet, constantly changing audible environment' to fill up the space with the exhibits. While flipping pages of the catalogue at home, this music fills also up the private space, and the big advantage is of course you can turn up the volume much louder and enjoy things perhaps better than in the public space. The music alone is worth getting the catalogue for.” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"...Under the curatorial vision of Phil Mouldycliff, 13 artists embarked on a sound-art exhibition at the Bolton Museum, Art Gallery
and Aquarium, whereby (to the best of our understanding) the artists were given access to the Museum's collections of natural artifacts to use within the installations and as sound making devices. In turn these installations (which also involved paintings, drawings, prints, sound, and sculptures fabricated by the exhibiting artists) became something of what Mouldycliff qualified as an "accumulation of
fragments." The participating artists included Colin Potter, Loren Chasse, Keith Rowe, Max Eastley, Russell Mills, Julian Lees, Peter
Oakley, Tom Phillips, Colin Fallows, Hugh Davies, Glenda Lees, Paul Mason, and Phil Mouldycliff.
As none of us had the good fortune of experiencing the exhibition, we can only comment on the catalogue (which artfully
presents the numerous ideas behind all of the contributing artists) and the accompanying CD which features a mix of material produced for
the catalogue by Colin Potter of various sounds produced by Rowe, Chasse, Mouldycliff and himself. As the disc begins, it's apparent who
is the creator of those first sounds: AQ-fav sound artist Loren Chasse as he presents a delicate crackling of natural tactility above a rarified drone of accumulated environmental ambience (i.e. surf and wind), very much sounding like those heard on his The Air In The Sand release. The ominous shadows and oceanic rumbles which Potter has employed so successfully in Nurse With Wound, Monos, and Ora act as the glue holding the entire composition together, with Keith Rowe's
small yet growling machines and vibrating strings only occasionally emerging from the din. Mouldycliff's contributions are a little harder to pinpoint, as we're honestly not all that familiar with his work (sorry Phil!). The disc itself is a wonderful listen, and certainly continues along what Mouldycliff intends, as "pathways through the assembled clutter as if exploring a debris field on the bottom of the sea." [Aquarius Records]
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2006 |
€16.00 |
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Dissolution Tapes: The Musique Concrete Ensemble remixed |
CD |
Eine Compilation auf dem US-Label ZEROMOON, die das ganze mögliche Spektrum experimentellen Soundrecyclings aufzeigt ! Remixed wird nämlich das (sehr ruhige & schöne) Album “Disonancias..” von MUSIQUE CONCRETE ENSEMBLE in einem extrem weiten Spektrum, von atmosphärisch-organischen Dronescapes bis hin zu digital-concrete noise... wirklich hervorragendes Material, definitiv zu empfehlen !
“ Lets face it, most compilations suck, are filled with half-assed throw away tracks by name artists and filler by unknowns reinventing the wheel for the umpteenth time. This is were Dissolution Tapes differs. In order to maintain a stylistic consistency of music and challenge the contributors, musical themes recorded by Normal Music's secret alter ego, The MCE, were given to every participant. Its sort of a remix CD but beyond that in how attention was paid to the overall disk in terms of flow and composition creating a unified release of new and challenging music. Artists include: Cornucopia, Alexei Borisov, Anton Nikkila, Freiband, Ultra Milkmaids, Violet, Jacob Kirkegaard, Maja Ratkje, Kotra, Dead Letters, Andrey Kiritchenko, Das Torpedoes, Michael Gendreau, R.R. Habarc, Francisco Lopez, Rechord, Fe-Mail.” [label info] "Dissolution Tapes requires effort but rewards accordingly. Still, it should not be approached as the companion disc to Disonancias y Repeticiones Ambiguas, unless you plan on seriously expanding your horizons." - François Couture, All-Music Guide "listen to this compilation whole in one breath, it's worth it." - Vital Weekly
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2003 |
€10.00 |
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Evolved As One - a Collection of emotional Ambient Drones |
CD |
Ein neues Label aus Utrecht, NL, wartet gleich mit einer hochkarätigen ambient-drone Compilation auf. Sehnsuchtsvollste Sphären wieder von URE THRALL, transzendentale DeepDrone-Kaskaden von MOLJEBKA PVLSE, DUAL taucht in micro-detail-Flächen ein, ULTRASOUND umschwirren zart die Sinne, STEPHEN MEIXNER (ex CONTRASTATE) fängt den Hörer in eine traumhaft-weiche Atmosphäre ein, CATS OF TEL AVIV (Solo-Projekt von Rober Ovetz/ ULTRASOUND) betört mit ganz minimalen Hauch-Vibrationen, und TROUM betrauern das nicht zu ändernde Schicksal.
Wir meinen: Eine Top-Compilation wie aus einem Guss ohne Schwachpunkte, Pflicht für Freunde dronig-erhabener Klänge !
Pure yearning of the spheres ! This one’s made to break your heart! A new Label from Utrecht, NL, with their first release – a highly recommended ambient-drone compilation, we think one of the best that has ever been done in this genre !!
“A new label from The Netherlands: hurray! Evolved from a series of concerts held in Utrecht, their main man nows has his own label and as a start he released a CD with nine tracks by his favourite seven artists. Like with the evenings, Evolved As One focusses on ambient and drone related music. They seek drone music in various directions: sad, introvert or melancholic. On this CD we find some very deep drony music by some of the more well-known players in the field. Dual, Ultrasound and Troum all have releases out that gained quite some recognition. Runner up are SRMeixner (the solo project of Stephen Meixner, formerly of Contrastate), Ure Thrall (whose 'Breathing' here is on the edge of kitsch, I must admit), Cats Of Tel Aviv (solo project of Rob Ovetz of Ultrasound) and Moljebka Pvlse. These seven groups play their usual standard - high standard, I must say - of organic, densely layered music, but the standout is Troum's 'Ananke', with accordion playing and a highly reverbed and slowed down sea man choir. A true melancholic song - a song that it is, rather then a landscape. It's the shortest song, but quite a surprise. The converted to the genre will surely like this, as much as I do (because I am already converted) and the uniniated will have a splendid introduction to the genre.” [FdW, Vital Weekly]
www.evolvedasone.com
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2003 |
€13.00 |
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Floating Foundation Vol. 1 |
CD |
"HISTORICAL EXPLANATION : bases and developments
Leaving aside controversy and scandal, Frank Lloyd Wright built a huge hotel in Japan between 1916 and 1922; a few months later, Tokyo was devastated by an earthquake. Only a few buildings stayed up - amongst which the Imperial Hotel. When asked how his construction had remained intact, he replied: Floating Foundation. In this case as in others, he had thought and assimilated the nature of nature. What must be done now is to apply this principle to other areas of creation.
A thousand facts and actions could support the theory that we are moving towards a new decompartmentalization of genre, towards a unified field, as Christophe Charles - and Markus Popp - would state.(we could also treat archeologically the compartmentalization of the arts and its decompartmentalization throughout history, to reach the conclusion that nothing is ever permanently set).we are merely linking together a few elements that go in the same direction.
Likewise, the idea which preoccupies us in this series, is to create sound objects, abstract in their appearance, with musicians who are, in most cases, plastic artists too - the border between music and plastic arts is thinner than ever before. This is what we will try to explore for the time being.
Janek Schaefer
Based in london as architecte and musician. After his 'Above Buildings' , he worked with Robert Hampson on a project called Comae', also he invented the Tri-Phonic Turntable.
Robert Hampson
Founder of Loop and Main - a seminal musician from south london. he produced about 12 records from early 90 and participated to the 'Gilles Deleuze unit' with Scanner mid-90.
Christophe Charles
French sound plastician living in Tokyo, close in mind to Markus Popp / Oval - he released "undirected 1986-1996 " on Mille plateaux and "dok " - a soundfile exchange between Oval and him.
Stephen Vitiello
Born in New York City in 1964,. His work has been featured in group exhibitions at Whitney Museum and Postmasters Gallery, in New York. A musician and media-artist, he is involved in the New York avant garde,. He was also a close collaborator of Nam June Paik.
Kurt Ralske
Kurt Ralske is a Manhattan-based composer, electronic musician, and computer audio-video artist. Described by Alternative Press as 'proving that machines do indeed have souls' - founder long time ago of the mythic Ultra Vivid Scene (on 4AD)" [label info]
"The aim of the Floating Foundation series is to "create sound objects" with musicians "who are, in most cases, plastic artists too" (from Sub Rosa director Guy Marc Hinant's presentation) -- in other words, to walk the thinning line between music and plastic arts. The sound sculptors contributing to this first installment all decided to take its title (inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's sense of architecture) literally. Each piece is a journey through either air or water -- not that the artists declare to specifically use sounds derived from these sources, but their music feels airborne, free-floating, gentle, and following its own, sometimes capricious path. Janek Schaefer's "Lithospheric Shifts" opens the CD, but it represents its weaker point. It doesn't take off, offering a limited and uninvolved scope of sounds. Robert Hampson's (aka Main) "Hysteresis" is already more interesting and takes the shape of a British-school electro-acoustic work. Christophe Charles and Stephen Vitiello's contributions make for the best moments, the former vaguely ambient, the latter presenting the most minimalist but sharply focused work, derived in part from his recordings of the World Trade Center (something that cannot help but take an unplanned extra dimension after the events of September 11, 2001). This is where the sense of plasticity, of "sound sculpting," can be felt the strongest. Kurt Ralske's "Au.Taste" provides a suitably calm ending."
[François Couture, All Music Guide]
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2002 |
€13.00 |
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HANDS 2001 |
5 x LP Box |
Die limitierte (500 Stck) Version der neuen HANDS Jahres-Compilation, wieder mit exklusivem Material von fast allen HANDS-acts, der eindrucksvolle Einstieg in eine Soundwelt, die von rhythmic Industrial, technoid noise, dark ambient und drum’n’bass beeinflusst ist..
“SECOND LABEL COMPILATION. A DIVERSE COLLECTION OF SOUNDS, FROM HARD RHYTHMS TO EXPERIMENTAL AMBIENT. OVER 2 HOURS WITH FOLLOWING 30 EXCLUSIVE TRACKS OF HANDS’ ARTISTS: PROYECTO MIRAGE (ONLINEPRODUCT - 9 HORAS – THE SOUND OF DESERT) NEEDLE SHARING (ANOTHER KIND - POLYPHOBIC - DNS) XABEC (HOME I - HOME II - HOME III) S.I.N.A (CRACK UP - MEIN STERN - WHO CARES) MONO NO AWARE (SO.NE.KA. - AFTER THE SHOW - X-PERIMENT) SQUAREMETER ( ...WAKES - AGAIN - FROM SLEEP) 5F_55 (496E 7465 6C6C 656E 74 - 4772 7575 7674 - 4D6F 6A6F) TYPHOID (WHILE YOU SLEEP - BLISS FILTER - ATTENUATIONS OF LIFE) ATIV (1011 - 1012 - 1013), AND SYNTH-ETIK. [press-release].
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2002 |
€30.00 |
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Hands 2003 |
do-CD |
“ ALSO IN 2003 WE PRESENT THE HANDS UNIVERSE ON OUR NEW HANDS LABEL COMPILATION PROGRESSIVE ELECTRONIC MUSIC. 3 EXCLUSIVE TRACKS OF FOLLOWING 10 ARTISTS: WINTERKÄLTE, KLINIK, ORPHX, AH CAMA-SOTZ, MS GENTUR, NEEDLE SHARING VS SQUAREMETER, SYNTH-ETIK, 5F_55, PLACID, MS MONO. YOU WILL GET 30 EXCLUSIVE TRACKS OR 10 MCDS OR 150 MINUTES NEW MATERIAL. SO PRESENT THEMSELVES ON >2003 HANDS< AS WELL HANDS ACTS OF THE FIRST HOUR LIKE WINTERKÄLTE, ORPHX, AH CAMA-SOTZ AND MS GENTUR AS ALSO NOW ALREADY ESTABLISHED ACTS LIKE SYNTH-ETIK AND 5F_55. IN ADDITION BOTH NEW SIGNINGS OF THE LAST
YEAR KLINIK AND PLACID ARE FOR THE FIRST TIME ON A LABEL COMPILATION. THE GREAT FINAL OF THE COMPILATION ARE THE 2 COLLABORATIONS OF NEEDLE SHARING VS SQUAREMETER (COLLABORATION BETWEEN NEEDLE SHARING AND SQUAREMETER) AND MS MONO
(COLLABORATION BETWEEN MS GENTUR AND MONO NO AWARE).” [label info]
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2003 |
€12.00 |
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Haunted Weather |
do-CD |
Die begleitende Compilation zum Buch von DAVID TOOP ! „A double cd compiled by David Toop, the author of the landmark book of music "Ocean Of Sound", and released parallel to his new book "Haunted Weather", published by Serpent's Tail. Features 33 tracks with a total running time of 2 hours+. The book has 280 pages and is written in English. The double cd features a wide selection of artists written up in the book, including Autechre, Oval, Matmos, Fennesz, Pan Sonic, Chris Watson, Terre Thaemlitz, Alvin Lucier, Otomo Yoshihide, Christian Marclay, John Oswald, David Toop/Max Eastley and many more."Haunted Weather" provides an international insight into new electronic music worldwide. David Toop's knowledge of and interest in music of all kinds is second to none. A musical travel diary, recording the way people work with and experience sound in the 21st century. Digital music, performance and technology - downloaded and unzipped for your convenience.” [press release] |
2004 |
€15.00 |
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Ikebana: Merzbow's Amlux Rebuilt, Reused and Recycled |
do-CD |
Das AMLUX-Album von MERZBOW remixed, von v.a. laptop/glitch, IDM und Electronica-artists - sehr kuriose Ergebnisse, oft rhythmisch & break-beatig, gar hip-hoppig, wo stets die MERZBOWschen Harshklänge eingearbeitet werden...
“Artists were asked to use Merzbow's album Amlux as an instrument in an original composition, rather than to perform the conventional remix. We hoped that this would allow the artist to flourish with greater creative freedom and a less restrictive context. We didn't want to fit this project into any sub-genre of music. We wanted it to simply exist. Perhaps the beat oriented tracks, record scratching and vocals will annoy some Noise purists, and perhaps the noisy sound collages will irritate others, but hopefully this collection of tracks from some of the best electronic artists working today will enlighten the listener. Music is sound and sound is everywhere, regardless of classification." Remixers include: Jack Dangers, DJ Spooky, Luke Vibert, Alec Empire, Kawabata Makoto, Cornelius, Kid 606, Negativland, Nobukazu Takemura, Atom, Chicks On Speed, Experimental Audio Research, Bola, Kim Hiorthoy, Staalplaat Sound System, Lasse Marhaug, Kim Cascone, Freiband, Nau-zee-aun, Kurt Weisman, Raub Roy, Instavoid, Custom Drummer, John Wiese, Zipperspy, DJ Rupture.” [press release]
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2003 |
€16.00 |
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Ju-Jikan |
do-CD |
23FIVE INCORPORATED ist nicht nur seit Jahren der wichtigste Konzertveranstalter für experimentelle Musik in San Francisco, sondern inzwischen auch als Label tätig. In Zusammenarbeit mit dem San Francisco Museum of Modern Art ist eine Compilation-Reihe entstanden, die pro Ausgabe Projekte eines einzigen Landes vorstellt. Hier JAPAN. Eine sehr variantenreiche Reise ins musikalisch-experimentelle Herz des Landes.
“Last year, local educational sound-arts organization 23five and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art co-presented a ten hour listening event/installation documenting the past 50 years of Japanese experimental music entitled "Ju-Jikan" (which translates as '10 hours' in Japanese). Curators Atau Tanaka, Ryoji Ikeda, and Shunichiro Okada described it not as a comprehensive taxonomy of Japanese experimentation, but simply sought "to trace the complex web of sonic style that constitutes the current Japenese musical landscape." Tanaka, who wrote the liner notes for the program, further explained that the curatorial choices were also guided by how the West perceives Japan and how Japan considers its own representation towards the West.
This double cd compiles elements selected from that ten hour listening event at SFMOMA (the full ten hours would have required mp3 encoding and much in the way of complicated licensing arrangements!), focusing upon the more contemporary elements of experimental Japanese music. These sounds draw their connections through the recombinant power of electronic synthesis and the juxtaposition of disparate styles; which together have become a standard if elusively-defined musical vocabulary for Japanese music. "Ju-Jikan" features physically challenging noise from Merzbow, Masonna, Hanatarash (Eye from the Boredoms), Pain Jerk, and Tetsuo Furudate; 'anti-academic' reactionary modes of Yasunao Tone and Yuji Takahashi; purist minimalism of tonal austerity from Ryoji Ikeda, Otomo Yoshihide, and Nerve Net Noise; and delicate electrodrone work from Kazuo Uehara, Tamami Tono, and Kozo Inada. A really important collection indeed. We're told some tracks are previously released, some not, but it's hard to tell which -- chances are you'd have to be a really geeked-out collector to have many of these already, and even in that case you'd still want this for the rest. The cd booklet gives Tanaka's detailed notes on all styles covered, a graphic timeline of Japanese experimental sound genres, and a program for the full ten-hour event so you can see what you missed.” [Aquarius Records]
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2002 |
€15.00 |
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Jukebox Buddha |
CD |
"Fifteen tracks made with the FM3 Buddha Machine. Featuring exclusive contributions by Adrian Sherwood and Doug Wimbish, Blixa Bargeld, SunnO))), Thomas Fehlmann, Sun City Girls, Gudrun Gut, Kammerflimmer Kollektief, Jan Jelinek/Andrew Pekler/Hanno Leichtmann, Mapstation, Aki Onda, Robert Henke, Es, Alog, Minit and Wang Fan. It was about three years ago whilst loafing in one of Beijing's finer foot massage joints that Christiaan Virant, the other half of Chinese duo FM3 to Zhang Jian, began to riff mutation fantasies as applied to the Buddha Machine. The Buddha Machine is a literal translation from Mandarin for the small plastic box, driven by two double 'A' batteries, that grinds out low-fi looped sutra variants across the whole of China and South East Asia. The original concept was to locate the nest, infect the breeding process with the new strain of meditative sonics developed by FM3 over the previous couple of years, lop off a hundred or so clones for promotion purposes and bounce off the impact with a few European gigs. That idea died as soon as the little babies fell into the hands of Brian Eno, a rare musical expeditionary from the far West visiting China, and the notorious Alan Bishop of the Sun City Girls. Only just over twelve months later the little beggar polls 88 thousand pages on Google (the number 8 is the luckiest number in China) and has a dedicated My Space page almost as amusing as the soundbox itself when only the Pope is missing from its fanbase! On Jukebox Buddha, the first chapter of Buddha version, disciples of many levels stretch, compress, reconfigure, rub and dust, and generally fuck around with the nine floating loops clipped out from FM3's confrontational world of quiet. Moving straight to level four, the entry from Einsturzende Neubauten's Blixa Bargeld finds the Beijing resident submitting to sweeter harmonies than those with which he is traditionally associated, even eschewing voice in a move that could free him from the eternal cycle of rebirth. Level two devotee Wang Fan, longtime associate of FM3, builds environmentally-friendly filigrees of sound while new initiates Sherwood and Wimbish immediately recognize the key importance of bass to the Buddha. A true Zen moment is struck by the shameless humor of Jan Jelinek, Andrew Pekler and Hanno Leichtmann's commercial but Robert Henke (Monolake) takes a more devotional approach with a lift from his new album of droneage based entirely on loops from the Buddha Machine. Although Mapstation sound like Mapstation, in an act of submission Thomas Fehlmann bucks the beat and builds floating layers of naked vocal. The Sun City Girls prove they have visited more temples in the East than any other Westerner, and SunnO))) arrive from a different dimension with incomparable restraint. In fact, the absence of self indulgence pervades many of these contributions, as with Minit whose contribution is the only one to actually sound like FM3 but none more so than Gudrun Gut's analysis of the creative process employed in producing the track she has offered here." [press release] |
2006 |
€10.00 |
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Minima |
CD |
Sehr kohärente Compilation mit hauptsächlich digital arbeitenden Musikern, auf dem neuen Pariser Label von HERVE BOGHOSSIAN. Angesiedelt zwischen sehr ruhig-harmonischen Material und solchem im Niemandsland zwischen ambience & noise.
„Ein neues französisches Label für clickende wundervolle Musik, das sich erst mal auf einer Compilation vorstellt, die vermutlich in den Clickcharts dieses Jahr ganz oben stehen muss, denn sie weitet den Begriff mit Leuten wie Sogar, Charles Curtis, Komet, Otomo Yoshihide, Taylor Deupree, Sol, Speakerine, Alan Licht und vielen anderen soweit aus, dass am Ende nur noch die Faszination für diese fast unscheinbaren Sounds an den Grenzen des Hörbaren übrig bleibt. Schon der erste Track von Sogar (aka Jürgen Heckel) lässt einen von einer Welt träumen in der das Popmusik ist, einfach weil Popmusik ja auch mal Schönheit, Reinheit, Unglaubliches heissen könnte, weil es aufregend sein könnte Popmusik zu sein,
unwahrscheinlich und unhinterfragbar brilliant. Und glaubt nicht einer der Acts würde einen hier enttäuschen.Ein Label das man auf jeden Fall im Auge behalten sollte“ [debug]
“Minima~List ( list L1 CD ), from a new French label dedicated to all things minimal. There's plenty of microsound courtesy of Taylor Deupree, Richard Chartier and Komet, virtual nothingness from Nosei Sakata, Alan Licht's guitar shimmersand "sustained friction
sonorities" from Charles Curtis. It's not all tiptoeing around the soundfield, though. Where too many of today's minimalists use the term to camouflage a paucity of ideas or their true chillout sentiments, Minima~List is anafraid of the movement's louder
manifestations, be they piercing tones from Otomo Yoshihide, the sound of Miles Davis blowing a bagpipe in an ice storm from Matthieu Saladin, or the Branca-ish guitar squalls of Fabriquedecouleurs.” [THE WIRE]
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2002 |
€10.00 |
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Montreal Sound Matter / Montreal Matiere Sonore |
CD |
Compilation zu einer Ausstellung & Workshop von FRANCISCO LOPEZ vom August 2006 mit elektro-akustischen Arbeiten die Feldaufnahmen aus Montreal als Basismaterial einsetzten... hier gibt es einiges neues zu entdecken !
“Works by Francisco López / Louis Dufort / Steve Heimbecker / Hélène Prévost / Mathieu Lévesque / a_dontigny / Chantal Dumas / Tomas Phillips. Montreal Sound Matter / Montréal matières sonore brings together eight Canadian and international sound artists. The project began with a workshop on environmental sound collecting by Francisco López and led to the development of a collective sound project including an album, a sound installation, and a concert. This is the recording. The artists create an immersive sound installation made up of fragments of Montreal, which propose a reflection and a questioning on the city. Far from being a postcard, these sound portraits suggest an abstract view of Montreal made up of fragments modeled or transformed to the liking of the artists. Through these places turned non-places and thus more or less unrecognizable, the pieces present an interesting variety of aesthetics, constructions and creative processes.”[Esther Bourdages, curator]
“Yet it is not about the city as a conglomerate of soundmarks or stereotyped symbolic elements--it does not aim at making a sound portrait or a representational creation. My proposal to all the participating artists involved in the project was to foresee the city --both outdoors and indoors, both the public and the private spaces-- as a constantly-changing generator of sound matter. The original source environmental recordings were carried out by the participating artists in Montreal during April 2006, and we all shared the common pool of sound matter thus generated to create the individual pieces. I believe this is an interesting way of setting up a challenging situation in which we are dealing with a limited and intentionally restricted universe of sonic extractions of reality, and also -and more importantly-a straightforward way of proceeding to reveal the creative individual substance of each one of us.” [Francisco López]
„.-...Not to make an audio postcard of the city, but rather a more abstract and personal view of the city, by people who already lived there much longer than Lopez. So it's not a matter of saying, 'oh this is that street, or this nice restaurant ('Schwarz', anyone?)', but to sit back and take it in as a long soundscape of the city. Rather than seeing this as eight separate pieces of music, I see it as one city seen through eight microphones and some of them present their work in their most pure form, like an unaltered recording, some as a cut-up and with some it's hard to recognize any sort of field recording at all, such is the case with Tomas Philips. But all the tracks are thus placed on the CD that they make their trip through the city, from busyness to quietness and back again. Only towards the very end of the CD, in the piece by Mathieu Levesque, there is a bit of music sipping through: a computerized game music thingy. In the end we know nothing more about Montreal, but we do experienced a beautiful trip through a very nice city. It also includes pieces by Helene Prevost, Steve Heimbecker, Louis Dufort, Chantal Dumas, A_dontigny and of course Lopez himself.“ [FdW / Vital Weekly]
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2006 |
€13.00 |
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Myths 3 |
CD |
Eine der ganz frühen SUB ROSA – Veröffentlichungen (1987 als LP) wieder erhältlich: Teil 3 der MYTHS – Reihe enthält lange Stücke von Ambience- & Minimal – Komponisten: JON HASSELL, HAROLD BUDD, GAVIN BRYARS, und sakralen Gesängen aus dem “ARCHIVES SONORES SUB ROSA”, die hier gut hereinpassen in das line-up...
“This is a reissue of the third volume in this early Sub Rosa compilation series, originally released in 1987. Features long tracks from Jon Hassell (duo with J.A. Deane, from 1985), never released since; Harold Budd (duo with Eugen Bowen, from 1983) in the mood of "The Serpent in Quicksilver" (with a splendid steel guitar); Gavin Bryars (duo with Andrew Thomson, from 1987); an unpublished sketch for two pianos called "Sketch For Sub Rosa" (later published on ECM with a chamber ensemble); and an excerpt from Les Archives Sonores Sub Rosa, a short film without image. Spanning from 1972-1975, Harold Budd created four individual works under the collective title The Pavilion of Dreams, produced by ambient pioneer Brian Eno. His two subsequent collaborations with Eno, The Plateaux of Mirror and The Pearl, established his trademark atmospheric piano style. Jon Hassell's first recordings were made with minimalist masters La Monte Young and Terry Riley, through whom he met the Hindustani raga master, Pandit Pran Nath. From his studies of the classical Indian music of the Kirana tradition he adapted these techniques to the trumpet and developed a new style of playing which forms the basis of his own unique sound world. Gavin Bryars has written a large number of works, including three operas, and a number of instrumental pieces. His first major work as composer was The Sinking of the Titanic on Brian Eno's Obscure label in 1975. This collection gathers together the most stunning of ambient, atmospheric sound worlds from three very important composers.” [press release]
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1989 |
€13.00 |
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On Paper |
do-CD |
Nice Portugesian compilation on the theme PAPER, with material from VITOR JOAQUIM, STEPHAN MATHIEU, PURE, PETRO TULEDA, PAOLO RAPOSO, etc.....
“Auslotung von Aggregatzuständen, ihre Beschreibung und Veränderung, und das alles in Sound. Das Label Crónica aus Porto setzt auf Intermedialität, allen Widrigkeiten wie »zu arty« und »zu offensichtlich« zum Trotz. Diese formschöne Doppel-CD-Compilation österreichischer, deutscher und portugiesischer Klangkunst hat das Papier zum Thema. Sozusagen eine Brücke zwischen den Cut-Ups auf Papier und deren akustischer Abbildung. Nicht: Wie fasse ich mein Gedicht in Töne, sondern: Wie geschieht der Transfer der »Restgeräusche« des Papiers auf eine musikalische Oberfläche? Kratzen, schaben, reißen, schneiden,... alles wunderbare Soundquellen, die es per Mikrofon abzunehmen gilt. Dann aber sind diese Geräusche ihrer Ursprünge eigentlich so beraubt, dass sie zu »freien« Klängen werden und die einzigen Unterscheidungsmerkmale nur noch zwischen dem eigentlichen Gegenstand (Papier) und der Peripherie (Stift, Mund, Stimme,...) auszumachen sind. Wenn es so etwas gibt wie das »originär Sonische« des Papiers, dann ist es auch nach diesen 13 Beiträgen gut in irgendwelchen schwarzen Wissenslöchern verborgen, von weiteren Komponenten wie räumliche und zeitliche Verdichtungen – also krümmen und zerknüllen – mal ganz abgesehen. Und das trotz einer sehr guten Auswahl an Musikern wie Vitor Joaquim, Stephan Matieu, Pure und Petro Tuleda. Allemal ein ambitionierter Sampler, der völlig unprätentiös daherkommt und nichts weniger im Sinn hat, als Wissenschaft und Rock’n’Roll miteinander kurzzuschließen. Dranbleiben, Crónica verspricht viel Gutes.“ [SKUG-Journal]
|
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
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Oscotarach |
do-LP |
Industrial-Compilation with four projects, each on one side, inspired by LEONARD COHENS
“Beautiful Losers”-novel. Special cover.
“Noise is probably the purest form of industrial music. The use of manipulated field recordings and machines to create otherworldly environments is what four experimental electronic composers create in this wonderful limited edition vinyl pressing. The four tracks offered by Mirko Hentrich's Spherical Disrupted project range from dark walls of all encompassing noise, shown in 'Phantom' and 'Daunt', to the minimal field recordings of 'SPH 265 HII' and 'Com Verbot'. Elsewhere, Skalpell, a project from Zurich, offer two outstanding minimal dark ambient dance pieces that come across like a more upbeat Biosphere.
The second disc obliterates the senses with six uncompromising tracks from Carsten Vollmer. Like listening to a stuck record, Carsten layers electronic blips and blops to create cold tones of industrial modernity. This is rounded off with four experimental ambient tracks from Hidden Technology, best described as the sound of the subconscious if it were audible. Their incorporation of synthetic drones with spoken word and ambience gives the compilation further variance. All in all this makes for a thouroughly unique and immersive listening experience.” [Will Stone /Terrorizer Magazine]
www.deafborn.de
|
2005 |
€16.50 |
|
|
Paranoise One |
CD |
Das kleine Kölner Experimental-, Elektronik- & Industrial-Label hat eine schöne Compilation mit vielen neuen Namen zusammengestellt, das meiste davon wohl aus deutschen Landen, in der lim. Version mit „branding“-Holzbox! Um nur einige der Beteiligten zu nennen: FATAGAGA bestechen mit wuchtigem Katakomben-ambient-Industrial, AXIOMATIC INTEGRATION aus Hamburg knirschen sich mit microsound-IDM nach vorne, RYFYLKE bieten spannenden ambient-noise, die MELANCHOHOLICS düsteren Guitar-ambient-post-post-rock, COURTIS (ex REYNOLS) allerfeinsten dark-ambient-Rauschdrone der endlos weitergehen dürfte, LOSTHEIM verlieren sich in objektlosen Drone-Sphären, und überraschenderweise ist auch ein Stück von GERECHTIGKEITSLIGA enthalten, welches recht frisch klingt, also evtl. neues Material?
“this cd compilation contains a various mixture of ambient, experimental and industrial styles by the following artists :
gerechtigkeitsliga / co.caspar / courtis / incite / axiomatic integration / hidden technology / melanchoholics / ryfylke / fatagaga / elfish echo / les rejetons de dd5 & dd6 / lostheim / interferenz / luminous / roland / gumminonnen / milan sandbleistift
the fullcolor 20page booklet contains individual artworks by each artist.
two editions are available :
- a normal edition limited 280
- a special edition wooden box with branding limited 220” [label info]
|
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Serene Moments (NACHT / NORTHAUNT / SHINJUKU THIEF / UMBRA) |
do-7 |
Nächtlicher gothic-ambient & neo-klassik-Industrial von vier Projekten, im Klappcover, auf dem polnischen FLUTTERING DRAGON – Label !
“Concept double 7" vinyl presenting mysterious sounds, chants, whispers and yells created by Nacht, Shinjuku Thief, Umbra and Northaunt. Four magic projects on four sides vinyl disc. Six incredibly mesmerizing tracks which will make the last sunbeams die...Edition limited and numbered to 505 copies.” [label info]
|
2004 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Swarm |
do-CD |
Günstiger Label-Sampler des britischen Industrial / Martial-Labels, alle Stücke exklusiv !
“We are very pleased to announce the brand new Cold Spring label sampler! One of the most modern and comprehensive examples of the scene today and a unique insight into the future of Cold Spring. "Swarm" features 22 exclusive tracks from all these astounding Cold Spring artists, recorded specifically for this collection. Presented in a double gatefold pack with sumptuous artwork by O. Lomer. A double CD for the price of a single CD!
Exclusive tracks by: A CHALLENGE OF HONOUR, ANDREW LILES, BAND OF PAIN, BLEIBURG feat. WERKRAUM / VON THRONSTAHL, SLEEP RESEARCH FACILITY, DEADWOOD, H.E.R.R., WERKRAUM, FREDRIK KLINGWALL, GOATVARGR, NECROPOLIS, CLEAR STREAM TEMPLE, SCHLOSS TEGAL, KREUZWEG OST, JOHN WATERMANN, SHINJUKU THIEF, VON THRONSTAHL, TENHORNEDBEAST, KRIEGSFALL-U, MERZBOW Vs. NORDVARGR, SISTRENATUS and ZOS KIA“ [label info]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Tel Aviv Aftermath |
CD |
"Auch in ISRAEL formiert sich eine Post-Industrial / Elektronik / Experimental / Ambient – Szene, und diese erste VÖ von THE TOPHETH PROPHET bringt einen ersten Überblick auf CD. Enthalten ist hier Material von GRUNDIK + SLAVA, IGOR18 (gerade auf Pre-Feed veröffentlicht, siehe CDRs), CHAOS AS SHELTER (bekannt von der Drone EP und einigen CDs), SCREENING, FORMA, HU (die sich mit „Cryptoacoustics“ beschäftigen), VECTOR SCOPE, AGNIVOLOK (von ihnen erschien gerade eine LP auf StateArt), THE CROSSFISHES, und einem Collaborationsprojekt von IGOR18 und CAS. Hier gibt es einiges zu entdecken." [Drone Rec. 2002]
“The Topheth Prophet is a new label aimed to reveal the most kept secret in Israel, the Industrial \ Dark \ Experimental music scene. Tel Aviv Aftermath is our first release , it is a compilation cd , a collection of ten tracks , each has a special idea and unique sound , each was carefully chosen , each represents a different aspect of the current experimental doing in Israel.” [from the press release]
|
2002 |
€8.00 |
|
|
Text-Sound Compositions. A Stockholm Festival |
5 x CD-Box |
Re-Release von den lange vergriffenen FYLKINGEN-LPs die zwischen 1968 und 1977 erschienen sind und die Stockholmer TEXT-SOUND COMPOSITION-Festivals dokumentiert haben. Experimental sound poetry and beyond !
“Fylkingen Records in collaboration with the Swedish Radio released a series of LP records with text-sound compositions between the years of 1968-77. All of these were documentations of the international festival text-sound Compositions-Stockholm Festival, which Fylkingen presented in Stockholm several times during these years. Most of the LPs were only pressed in batches of about 400-500 records, and most of the LPs sold out during the festivals. A re-release had long been planned, and this 5 CD box marks the complete re-release of the complete recordings. Apart from the 5 CDs with in all ca 6 hours of material, the CD box contains a 60 page booklet with essays by Teddy Hultberg and Sten Hanson, as well as historical photographs taken by Lütfi Özkök during the festivals.
The term text-sound composition was coined in 1967 in Sweden by the composers writers Lars-Gunnar Bodin and Bengt Emil Johnsson, and was meant to serve to name a genre that was a vital art form in the no man's land between sound, poetry, and music. text-sound compositions had influences from previous modernistic waves such as futurism, dadaism, lettrism, etc., but perhaps the most important influence was the Swedish poet and visual artist Öyvind Fahlström, who had just over a decade earlier coined the term concrete poetry. The term concrete poetry related to Pierre Schaeffer's concrete music, and it is somewhere between concrete poetry and concrete music that text-sound compositions appear. The birth of the electronic music studio and concrete music's idea that every sound can be freed from its original context and given a new meaning when it is reworked and put together with other sounds in the electronic music studio became the catharsis for text-sound composition. In the electronic music studio, voice and language sounds can be broken down, unleashed, and then fused together to become a poetry that had never been heard before. Certain text-sound composers would come to work only with pure lingual sounds, but most eventually came to integrate lingual sounds with other sounds, both concrete and electronic.
The CD box contains works by the following text-sound composers and sound poets: Charles Amirkhanian, Lars-Gunnar Bodin, Svante Bodin, Henri Chopin, Bob Cobbing, François Dufrêne, Gust Gils, Jarl och Sonja Hammarberg-kesson, Sten Hanson, Bernard Heidsieck, C. Christer Hennix, Ake Hodell, Bengt Emil Johnsson, Sandro Key-berg, Bengt af Klintberg, Ilmar Laaban, Annea Lockwood & Harvey Matusow, Arrigo Lora-Totino, Ghérasim Luca, Arne Mellns, Franz Mon, Ladislav Novák, Diter Rot & Emmet Williams, Erik Thygesen, Paul de Vree.” [press release]
|
2005 |
€45.00 |
|
|
The Walls are whispering Volume III |
CD |
Dritter und letzter Teil der schönen Compilation-Reihe für experimentellen & dunklen Ambient, Drone & Trance auf dem belgischen EE Tapes, zum Abschluss viele bekanntere Acts, insgesamt bietet die Trilogie einen umfassenden Überblick über den derzeitigen atmosphärisch-experimentellen Underground !
“....To refresh your memory: 'The Walls Are Whispering' are three compilation CDs with dark ambient music of whatever kind, be it drone related, be it more rhythmical or be it more soundscape/field recording like. The series collects some of the better known names in this area with some newcomers, such as Acid...Soma and Azymbol, here on the third volume. The various field recorders are represented here by MNortham, Seth Nehil and Yannick Dauby. The darker ambient comes from Shifts, Azymbol, Acid...Soma and Contagious Orgasm (the latter two being also the most noise related here), whereas Oren Ambarchi and Fear Falls Burning use the guitar to drone away. The two surprising pieces are by Eric Lanzillota (who has settled now as a composer of music) with a nice pure electronic piece of shifting clusters of sound and Felix Kubin who does something likewise. They are both atmospheric in approach, but are different than the much of the other pieces (here, as-well as on the previous two volumes). It's another good volume and with all three one should have a good guide to what is available in this field of music.” [FdW / Vital Weekly] Address:
http://www.eetapes.be
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
|
This Place is Dreaming |
CD |
Psychogeographical Compilation that comes in DVD-case with large full-colour booklet, produced for the festival of the same name that happened in October 2004. Field Recordings & interviews from Brussels archives as well as instrumental pieces & recordings from other cities were used for 18 compositions from the likes of AKI ONDA, TMRX, MARTIENS GO HOME, FRANCISCO LOPEZ, HILDEGARD WESTERKAMP, JUSTIN BENNETT, STILLUPPSTEYPA, etc. – a great variety of different approaches for the “Rethinking and Transfiguring the Sites and Sounds of Brussels”. |
2004 |
€13.50 |
|
|
Variable Resistance |
CD |
23FIVE INCORPORATED ist nicht nur seit Jahren der wichtigste Konzertveranstalter für experimentelle Musik in San Francisco, sondern inzwischen auch als Label tätig. In Zusammenarbeit mit dem San Francisco Museum of Modern Art ist eine Compilation-Reihe entstanden, die pro Ausgabe Projekte eines einzigen Landes vorstellt. Diese CD ist AUSTRALIEN gewidmet und beinhaltet Stücke von AMBARCHI, PIMMON, DARRIN VERHAGEN, PHILIP SAMARTZIS und einigen anderen...sehr schöne Zusammenstellung!
“Variable Resistance" was the second 'listening room' event co-sponsored by SF sound art organization 23five, Incorporated and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Where the first collaboration between 23five and the Museum centered on Japanese experimental music, this one takes a southern route to Australia, which has enjoyed a healthy explosion of adventurous musicians exporting their wares across the globe. Assembled by noted sound artist Philip Samartzis, "Variable Resistance" is a title that encapsulates the tone and extent of the work on hand, referencing not only the electronic gizmo (the variable resistor) as key to many of the featured homespun constructions, but also as an applicable non-definition of those artists who "offer variable resistance in how they are defined and the positions they occupy in a broader cultural context, fragmented, and dispersed among remote cities and divided by enormous physical and psychological space." That said, Samartzis attempts to breakdown the Australian aesthetic into a number of sub-genres: Microphonics, Metallic Plates & Resonating Strings, Residue, Flutter & Flux, Malfunction & Resistance, Improvised Composition, Suspended Time & Expanding Space, Electrical Impulses & Variable Flow, Soundhackers, and Microwaves, Collisions, & Noise. While each of these subgenres do offer some help in interpreting the work of these artists, those featuring on this cd (a condensed version of the SFMOMA event) are pretty good at resisting any imposed characterization. Much of the work on "Variable Resistance" is based upon live improvisation filtered through a number of DSP techniques (with obvious exceptions and detours) with tracks from Oren Ambarchi, Robbie Avenaim, Philip Samartzis, David Brown, Xonk, Thembi Soddell, Darrin Verhagen, Pimmon, and Delire.” [Aquarius Records]
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Verfassung |
LP |
Erste „offizielle“ Compilation des HÖRBAR e.V. aus Hamburg! Enthält 14 Stücke der Mitglieder, die das grosse Spektrum der derzeitigen experimentellen Musik fast abdecken, von dröhn-minimalistischen Sphären über cut-up & Collagen, musique concrete und Impro bis zu post-industriellem Noise, mit Y-TON-G (ex PARA NOISE TERMINAL) und TBC sind auch zwei Drone Records-Vertreter dabei, aber auch sonst durchweg hochklassiges Material von u.a. EVAPORI, [HYPH]; AUDIBLE PAIN, INCITE, GREGORY BÜTTNER, SONATA REC und natürlich darf ASMUS TIETCHENS nicht fehlen.
“On the newly released vinyl LP "Verfassung" (German for "state" or "constitution") 14 electronic tracks by 14 musicians and projects can be heard. The music includes all styles of experimental electronic music: minimal to noise, musique concrète, improv, cut-ups and collages. The record not only shows the current state of the experimental music scene in Hamburg, despite the different individual approaches and styles it creates a musical flow, offering a diverse and exciting listening experience. All musicians on the record are members of the "Hoerbar" (German for "audible" and "listening bar"). For over 10 years it has been an important meeting point for producers and consumers of experimental music in Hamburg, Germany. Once a week a lively exchange between composers, musicians, labels and collectors takes place. Once a month local and international musicians are invited to the "Unüberhörbar" concert (German for "unignorable"), among the guests have been Jim O’Rourke, Hafler Trio, Keith Rowe, People Like Us and many others.” [label info]
"the audible VERFASSUNG of our loosely organized group of producers [called HOERBAR] is being reflected by this audio document, which is representative but cannot be complete.some children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those courageous explorers of electroacoustic music continued walking on analogue and digital paths, avoiding the academic castles of compulsion and the sweat-moistened dancepalaces, being driven by furious excitement to add something personal to the pool of established aesthetic strategies. knowing that the wheel cannot be reinvented is not a cause for resignation or for becoming Epigones, but made us develope our ambitions to learn from historic achievements so that we can walk upon new roads and even stray with our heads up. so, the electroacoustic VERFASSUNG [constitution / condition / circumstance / state of mind] compiled by hoerbar hamburg manifests the whole spectrum between the righteous ponderer‘s efforts and the unconcerned homo ludens‘ arabesques. we will go on." [Asmus Tietchens]
“Ah the classic format of compilation LP, with booklet. It looks retro, very 80s like, but it's 2006. The Hörbar in Hamburg is an organisation that puts on concerts, mainly in the B-Movie cinema. Hörbar is mainly run by musicians, who work as volunteers, doing the sound, the bar and the door. Every week they meet up and do something. Now Hörbar also acts as a label, and this compilation is the first release. Of course it features music from the people that make up the Hörbar organization. The good thing is that it holds many musicians I never heard of, such as Pizza Ni Ni, Renoise, Margitt Holzt, Guy Saldanha and Ebinger, sitting next to somewhat more known locals such as Evapori, Gregory Buettner, Sonata Rec, [Hyph-], TBC, Incite and Y-Ton-G. Of course the biggest star from Hamburg, Asmus Tietchens, is also present, with the most silent and reduced piece of the lot. What can be noticed that there is a fair amount of noise material on this record, such as TBC, Guy Saldanha and Audible Pain. Margitt Holzt and Incite represent the rhythm side of this bunch, whereas Tietchens has his own followers such as Gregory Buettner and some seem to follow their own track, such as the curious piece by Ebinger (who he?). Evapori and Sonata Rec play pieces that are a cross over between the world of Tietchens and the underworld of noise. The most curious piece is by Pizza Ni Ni, entitled 'E', it seems just the one time strumming of an E chord on the guitar. A booklet describes the pieces and has a bunch of nice quotes. Limited to 300 copies - that is the final trick from the 80s, make a few and create a rarity!” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.hoerbar-ev.de
|
2005 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Water & Architecture |
CD |
Nachpressung dieser schönen Compilation zwischen Post-Rock und Avantgarde / Ambient-Electronica auf Sub Rosa, zum Thema Wasser & Architektur....
“Nature, cities, water, concrete... Water eating rocks, shores. Cities eating landscapes, life. Those two elements are interconnected, though fighting. In between there are humans, needing both elements to survive. A shelter to protect the close to 70% of water a body is made of. What is the connection, the dialogue, the potential of construction/destruction? What is the impact of architecture on water, what is its influence on modern cities? Featuring unreleased material from: Directions: Post-rock with electronica flavours,featuring Bundy K. Brown (Tortoise,Bastro,Gastr del Sol...) and Doug Sharin (June of 44, Him, Rex...) Recorded in Tortoise Studio, Chicago. Seefeel :Too Pure, Warp... Seefeel was some unique act in the pop-electronica scene. Somewhere in between folk-dub-intelligent electro. These two tracks are mixing natural rhythms, minimal electronica... Atom Heart: It was the first track released by Atom TM in his new studio located in Santiago. It starts as some German techno groove to end into some electro-'limbo'. Amazing.
Bisk: The Osaka post Drum'n' Bass wizard "desturcturer", Naohiro Fujikawa, in a three piece suite of sounds, strange, odd, Bisk...
AER (ALPHA ECHO ROMEO): aka Jon Wozencroft, british designer, co-founder of the Touch label composer these tracks with sounds collected worldwide. Architectural experimentation.” [press release]
www.subrosa.net
|
1998 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Widerstand (PROPERGOL, ORPHX, GENITOR LVMINIS, PREDOMINANCE, DREAM INTO DUST, SURVIVAL UNIT, CON-DOM, etc ) |
do-CD |
Industrial-Compilation focused on the theme “resistance”, from very harsh attacks with vocals over orchestral ambience to dark droning pure sound-stuff, this is very varied collection, reflecting the theme from different sides.
“ The final chapter in Stateart's early series of releases! This Double CD comes in a compact DVD size box with full colour inlay and 20-page booklet, containing artworks provided by all participating artists. Limited edition of 1.000 copies without re-issue!
Tracklist: Disc 01: PROPERGOL "Alpha 60" // PROPERGOL "Fahrenheit" // 4TH SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE "Black Sheep" // ORPHX "Black Flag" // ALLGRENA "Protest" // CONTROL RESISTANCE "Blood In Your Face" // GENITOR LVMINIS "Resistance" Disc 02: BLOOD CONSPIRACY "The Wire" //
PREDOMINANCE "To Tame A Land" // DREAM INTO DUST "At The Heart Of The White Rose" // CITADEL "Radix" // SURVIVAL UNIT "Resistance Redefined" // CON-DOM "I'm Human" //
MAISON CLOSE "Escape From Freedom" // WUTANES HEER "Resistance" [label info]
|
2003 |
€18.00 |
|
|
IZNUTRI |
CD |
Russian compilation compiled by (and for) IVAN "ASTERIUS" NAPREENKO, "dedicated to the Happy End of Times", with exclusive material from HUM, CISFINITUM, REUTOFF, KRYTPOGEN RUNDFUNK, SAL SOLARIS, HYPNOZ, NEUTRAL, SEDATIVE, CYCLOTIMIA, MAJDANEK WALTZ, O PARADIS, OTZEPENEVSHIYE, QUATTRO BRAVO EBALLIEROS, ALLERSEELEN, RAPOON, and TROUM.
“Iznutri” (‘From The Inside’ in russian) is an international compilation of the eschatological music with a motto “Dedicated to the Happy End of Times”. The story of mankind knows many examples of obsessions by eschatology, but they were never as common and overwhelmed as nowadays. In waiting for the end of Times we tried to listen that very special sound of solemn and enchanted yearning for deliverance. “Iznutri” is a foreboding : the suffocating desert of the modern linear time will explode like a moldering mushroom one day, revealing the contours of eternal existence. But, only special Eye-Witness could survive this threatening transformation, and any of us must expect his appearance only from the inside. The following artists has granted us with their exclusive unreleased tracks: Cisfinitum, Allerseelen, Reutoff, Sedative, Kryptogen Rundfunk, Majdanek Waltz, Sal Solaris, Hypnoz, Troum, Cyclotimia, Otzepenevshiye, O Paradis, Rapoon, Neutral, Hum, Quattro Bravo Eballieros. The CD comes in a black and white fold-out digisleeve...." [label info]
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
IDIOSCAPES |
CD |
Nice compilation on new belgique label, special priced !
"the idea was to ask some of our favourite sound artists to take part in a compilation . . . and, to our surprise, they accepted. The only concept was that they had to provide a specific / particular / idiosyncratic piece. qualified as a “drone paradise” by lasse marhaug (of jazkamer), the result is a fine and coherent whole, full of extended textures, contrasted acoustic surfaces, subtle and strong. Idioscapes contains 70 minutes of authentic acoustic researches, with glitches, loops, noises, deep and glittering textures, subliminal frequences and narrative inserts, punctured with sensible musical moments.
idioscapes is a very nice object with a beautiful digipacked artwork.
01 janek schaefer : scarlett arrives - for scarlett schaefer
02 keith fullerton whitman : quest appartments, Newcastle NSW
03 critikal : critically fluffy
04 rapoon : the moment screams
05 kk null : idioscape / decomposition
06 charlemagne palestine : la beauté et la bête
07 steffen bashô-junghans : the blue hour
08 sébastien roux : D 821
09 troum : fantauma
10 eve and the sickness : infected nature
11 jazkamer (lasse marhaug) : ruido rosa 5 minutos
12 daniel menche : cadence
13 idiosyncrasia : filt_h " [label info]
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Nekton Falls |
3 x CD |
Von SEETYCA zusammengestellte Compilation mit ansprechendem übergreifendem Konzept ("Tiefsee"), exzellentes Material von SEETYCA, HERPES Ö DELUXE, I:WOUND, YANNICK DAUBY, FRANS DE WAARD, MICHAEL NORTHAM, MICK HARRIS/LULL, NID, MATHIAS GRASSOW, etc. etc..
"This compilation is set against an ambitious conceptual background, that incorporates ideas from various scientific disciplines and combines environmental concerns with a fascination for the incredible depths of the oceans. These references are centered around an interest in interrelating processes between living organisms and their surroundings, as it is indicated by the title "Nekton Falls" (a scientific term that is used to describe the process of dead sea organisms dropping to the bottom of the ocean, rotting and eventually turning into food for a new generation). All this is explained in detail on the website www.nekton-falls.org, complete with artists' statements and suggestions for further reading.
A background like that of course hints towards dark stretched out sounds and field recordings of water, and this is exactly what you get for the most part of the three CDs, plus some rhythm-based tracks and grainy digital textures. In total 26 artists and projects are involved here, including well established names (Michael Northam, Frans de Waard, Roel Meelkop, Lull, to name a few) as well as lesser known ones. The individual tracks are connected with interludes composed by Seetyca, who also contributes a track and is responsible for the overall concept (together with A. G. Reisdorf). Most of the music is rather subdued, with vast fields of sound, fading from black to deep shades of blue and back again. This creates a nice, continuous flow of music, yet with enough variations to keep you interested. This flow is only sometimes disrupted by one of the few rhythm-oriented tracks, which might be nice by themselves, but don't go along too well with the other pieces. However, a whole palette of approaches towards the darker side of atmospheric music is on showcase here. Amorphous immersive soundscapes, field recordings of natural phenomena, digital errors, clear blocks of abstract sound and hints of acoustic instruments - it's all there and most of the time it nicely complements each other. With so many people involved obviously not all tracks work well for everyone. Some tracks might benefit from a little refinement and some of the sounds seem rather worn out. But there are some real highlights to be discovered and as a whole it works pretty well, guiding you on a worthwhile trip into imaginary sub oceanic regions." [MSS / Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Table For Six: All Quiet? |
CD |
Hochkarätige "Experimental Drone"-Compilation mit schönen langen Tracks, alle mindestens 10 Minuten. Kommt im silberfarben bedruckten 7"-Cover, auf Belgiens wohl am längsten bestehenden Experimental-Label EE Tapes, sowieso ein Spezialist für Compilations.
"6 artists from 6 different countries gather around the table and showcase their individual audio art, each one with an exclusive long track of progressive ambience. Program: Tarkatak (Germany), Cisfinitum (Russia), Civyiu KKliu (United States), Kendo Nagasaki (United Kingdom), The [Law-Rah] Collective (The Netherlands) & 33 MHZ (Belgium). Full metallised CD with cardboard cover in plastic 7" sleeve. Only 200 copies available directly from our office."[label info]
"....Very nice compilation, which should appeal to all who love a non-quiet microsound." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
Address: http://www.eetapes.be/
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Listen to something different |
CD |
ARS MACABRE is a record-shop and mail-order in ROSTOCK (the very north-east of Germany) existing since 1995, who also co-organized many experimental concerts on the ship MS STUBNITZ in the harbour of Rostock. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of this shop (who works under quite difficult conditions) a compilation-project was started, which could finally be released now in May 2007. Some of label-owners Frank Krögers all-time faves were put together on this high-quality collection of experimental & electronic music: Old heroes that already ceased to exist or were silent for a long time (MUSLIMGAUZE, CONTROLLED BLEEDING, ETANT DONNES), famous long-existing projects (ASMUS TIETCHENS, HAFLER TRIO, AUBE), ambient & dark drone-stuff (BEEQUEEN, TROUM, INADE, WINDFAHNENAMT), plus the anti-genre acts COLUMN ONE and DITTERICH VON EULER-DONNERSPERG.
"With all exclusive and previously unreleased songs, except Étant Donnés (appears on “La Vie Nouvelle” 2003) and Windfahnenamt (appears on “Windfahnenamt” 2001), LISTEN TO SOMETHING DIFFERENT offers not only a starting point for new listeners and musical explorers, but also a substantial addition to any experimental music lover’s collection. One carefully assembled compilation that ambitiously unites 13 internationally acclaimed experimental artists and is released as a fine 6-panel digipak CD. Ars Macabre is a record store and mail order service operating in Rostock, Germany and is specializing in the distribution of experimental music since 1995." [label info]
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
KKH 1 LOCK GROOVES |
7inch |
Obskure Veröffentlichung des "Königlichen Stockholmer Unversitätskollegs für die bildenden Künste", diverse schwedische Soundartisten / Studenten haben unter der Initiative von CM VON HAUSSWOLFF Endlosrillen beigesteuert: LINDA JANSSON, CM VON HAUSSWOLFF, KLASNY RUSSIA ERIKSSON, MATHIAS JOSEFSON (MOLJEBKA PVLSE), LENA BERGENDAHL, JENS EVALDSSON, NANNA HELLBERG auf Seite 1, auf der B-Seite ein Remix von allen von HAUSSWOLFF.
"The lock groove pressed in a lump of vinyl is a great tool for DJs, and of course we are all DJs... well, all but me (someone's gotta give up). C.M. von Hauswolff seems also an unlikely figure as a DJ, but on his initiative six students of the Royal University College of Fine Arts in Stockholm produced this 7" - each, plus Hauswolff making one lock groove. They are cut on side A. On side B, Hauswolff produces a piece of music out of it. Also it should be noted that all seven participants have now a group where the lock grooves are mixed live on seven record players. It's been a while since I heard such worn out ideas. But hey, I'm not a DJ, so I don't need the tools." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
Address: http://www.kkh.se/royalrecords
|
2007 |
€6.00 |
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Three aural interpretations of a drawing by Eric Lanzillotta |
7inch |
RALF WEHOWSKY (aka RLW), LEIF ELGGREN und JEPH JERMAN "transformieren" auf dieser Konzept-Single Zeichnungen von ERIC LANZILOTTA (der ex-ANOMALOUS RECORDS-Betreiber) in Klang, drei sehr verschiedene Arten von körniger und collagierter Geräuschmusik. Klares Vinyl, Mini-Poster.
"Limited edition of 250 copies pressed on clear vinyl and packaged in double-sided 14.5" by 10.5" poster sleeve. This 33 RPM EP include three sound artists playing a drawing by Eric Lanzillotta. Each artist has a unique, though abstract take on the drawing, which is included in the inside of the poster sleeve. The sounds include the calm physical motions of Jeph Jerman, the static activity of Leif Elggren and noise music of Ralf Wehowsky (sounding a bit like P16.D4 here).
Jeph Jerman gained attention under the name Hands To, but has created his most refined work under his own name. He performs mostly with natural objects (stones, plant parts, feathers, etc) and has collaborated regularly with Wally Shoup, Greg Davis, Sean Meehan, Tim Barnes, Mike Shannon, Dave Knott, Eric Lunde, and many others. He has had several previous releases on Anomalous Records, and a new CD of his work will be released by Little Enjoyer this year.
Leif Elggren is a pioneering sound, performance, book and installation artist from Sweden, as well one of the two kings of Elgaland-Vargaland. In the last 30 years, he has released a great deal of material on labels such as Radium 226.05, Anckarström, Flykingen, Ash International, Korm Plastics, Some, Absurd, Meeuw Muzak, Kning Disk, iDEAL Recordings, Touch and his own Firework Edition, which has also published many of his book works, such as the legendary "Experiment with Dreams" done in collaboration with Thomas Liljenberg.
Ralf Wehowsky started making music in the Neue Deutsch Welle period of Germany history with his band P.D., which later became the group P16.D4. Since the dissolution of these groups, he has been recorded largely as a solo artist, though in truth always incorporating collaborations with various friends. Over the years he has worked with Andrew Chalk, bernhard günter, Kevin Drumm, Lionel Marchetti, Bruce Russell, David Grubbs, Jim O'Rourke, and many others." [label press release]
|
2007 |
€8.00 |
|
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A tribute to the wor(l)ds of Jhonn Balance |
CD |
Die Popularität von COIL wird eindrucksvoll deutlich, wenn man sich nur die vielen "tribute" Compilations anschaut, die nach dem Tode von JHONN BALANCE erschienen sind. Dabei gibt es inzwischen ein grosses Spektrum, das sich v.a. regional aufteilen lässt (zwei russische Comps, eine französische, etc.); dies hier ist jetzt die "italienische" Version, eher elektronisch - rhythmisch - technoid ausgerichtet, aber auch dark wavige und experimentelle Stücke sind vorhanden, fokussiert sich insgesamt stark auf die lyrischen Aspekte von COIL. BLACK SUN PRODUCTIONS dürfen nicht fehlen, aber auch Projekte wie CORPOPARASSITA, CROPCIRCLE, unser neuer Geheimtip SELAXON LUTBERG, und WERTHAM sind dabei.
"We start off with Black Sun Productions and their 'A List of Wishes' is very intense and convincing. Next up is Snuff 066. 'Blood from the Air' is a bit too simple for me and the beats sound somewhat cheap. Corpoparassita and Mariae Nascenti quickly recover the mood with their spherical tracks. PostmoRder[n]XS and Endtransmission continue this nice ambience. Mekhate's contribution awakes the listener from the quite dream with painful screeching noises. DBMG/RAF brings another more uptempo track. Two of the highlights are the contributions of Cropcircle and most certainly Selaxon Lutberg. 'Broccoli' is really very nicely built up and very convincing. Wertham shakes your bones one last time with 'Boy In A Suitcase'. In Broken Fields ends this all with 'The Sea Priestess' and gives the listener a modest but alienated feeling. My conclusion is: if you want a good compilation concerning the life, works and thinking of Jhonn Balance, then buy “X-Rated: The Dark Files”. If you already have this one and want more, then definitely try “A Tribute to the Wor(l)ds of Jhonn Balance". The contributions of Black Sun Productions, Mariae Nascenti, Selaxon Lutberg and In Broken Fields, among others, really make this a special tribute." [Gothtronic]
www.creativefields.net
|
2007 |
€12.00 |
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Musics in the Margin Vol.1 |
CD |
"Never released before: an anthology that links Daniel Johnston and the great Wesley Willis with a dozen outsider artists from around the world - digipack + booklet including short bios and drawings, and unreleased and rare tracks - 6 pages digipack + 12 pages booklet
A project made in co-production with Art en Marge.
Outsider Art Music has unfortunately not had a Harry Smith or an Alan Lomax to discover unpretentious talent, those two 'folksong hunters' who had realized the importance of making recordings to serve collective memory. One of them gave us the essential Anthology of American Folk Music (1952), an absolute reference for the folk movement, while the other made recordings all over the world and became an absolute reference for world music. And that is why the sound of Adolf Wölfi blowing into a cardboard tube to play his enigmatic scores, or the threnodies of Arthur K. Ferris played on his giant violins with their insides covered with writings and holy texts, will never be heard again. However, thanks to recent developments in technology and a growing interest in outsider music, a few of these unusual performers are beginning to be recorded. We have taken this opportunity to include several such sound pieces in our compilation. The composers live in highly individualistic worlds. Faithful to our precepts, we search out self-taught musicians. That means people who make contemporary music outside the customary production and distribution channels and with the determination and creative gifts that stem from unmistakable artistic talent. Some of these musicians operate in mental or social isolation and make their music in special workshops while others can be classified with the spiritualist or visionary artists. Others again, like Daniel Johnston and Wesley Willis, have become cult figures, a reference for underground and alternative musicians. Like the surrealist and expressionist artists, who were amazed by the strangeness and authenticity of work made in asylums, many members of today's music scene get inspiration from such 'outsider' music and feel it comes from another world. The recordings are of several kinds. In some cases less than 100 copies were pressed, or even just one copy, and they have never been distributed outside the circle of family and friends. In any case they were never intended to be listened to by a wider, impersonal audience. The process is more important than the result. In fact some authors, like Konstantin Raudive, have never claimed that their experimental sound pieces are to be regarded as music. This particular relationship with the creative process is a fundamental characteristic of outsider art.
Sound is an energy, a power. The ability to handle that power is perhaps what so many musicians, artists and writers lack - they are too referential, have no universe of their own, are pushing to get their particular insights recognized (through art-historical criteria). Whereas here, everything is marked by the spirit of a chaotic intelligence. Artists spurning all method, going too far, being excessive: isn't that just what we are looking for?" [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
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Dark Ambient Radio Volume 1 |
CD |
Das Hamburger Internet-Radio "Dark-Ambient-Radio" steht seit einigen Jahren für ein anspruchsvolles Programm und bietet den Hörern zudem eine Plattform für Austausch & Kommunikation. Auf der ersten CD-Compilation des Independent-Senders finden sich einige bekanntere Acts, aber überwiegend gibt es wohl für die meisten was neues zu entdecken. Im Dark Ambient Genre mischen sich der Sinn für Geräuschhaftes und Soundeffekte mit der Sehnsuchtsweite der Drones, wobei harmonische Elemente oft ein minimales Gerüst bilden.
Dabei sollen dunkle, kosmische, melancholische Atmosphären entstehen... Die "Dark-Ambient-Radio" Zusammenstellung führt das sehr schön vor, unsere persönlichen Highlights kommen von: SVARTSINN & ALLSEITS (die "andere Seite" von ALL SIDES), NAGUAL ART, PHELIOS...
"At eleven the track-count stops and another marvelous sampler will have played on your stereo. With the title Dark-Ambient-Radio, Vol. 1, there is not much to guess about the content of this album.
The collected artists on this sampler are in between completely new and world-famous (within the genre that is). The absolute most well-known on here is Ah Cama-Sotz, but also Svartsinn and Phelios have earned their place in the dark ambient genre already.
For Evoke Scurvee, Nihil Communication, Mytrip, and Nagual Art this is the first occurence on a CD. All others on this album have had releases before, so depending on how much you like dark ambient, you might have stumbled upon tracks or releases already.
So the balance of "something old, something new" slightly tilts towards the "new" and that is always good. Getting to know new names and finding the well hidden pearl in the oyster gives you the feeling there is still stuff to explore in an at times slow developing genre.
But does this album contain dark ambient? Well, yes and no. Partially there is definitly some references toward the definition, but at times there is also a lot of experimentation with fieldrecordings, samples, drones, and emotion. A purist would call file those tracks under drones or experimental. But let's just f*ck purism this time. :-)
A must-have for explorers and those dark of mind ..." [Bauke van der Wal / Gothtronic]
& live-stream at: www.darkambientradio.de
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
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FRANNCE |
3 x CDR |
Ausufernde Compilation auf dem DIY-Label aus Frankreich, wohl etwas ironisch als "Ode an France" untertitelt. 45 Projekte zwischen kraftvoller Drone-Psychedelia, wirbelnden Analog-Electronics & Instrumental-Madness, so ziemlich alles aus dem Bereich "Experimenteller / Impro Folk-Drone" was man sich nur vorstellen kann...
"A quick look at the listing of groups on this super limited triple cd-r collection of songs from France, or about France, or with some sort of French angle, should have most weird music fans freaking out bigtime. All exclusive tracks from tons of AQ faves, including: The Shitty Listener, Quetzolcoatl, Brothers Of The Occult Sisterhood, Silvester Anfang, Heavy Winged, Tom Carter, The North Sea, Taiga Remains, Ashtray Navigations, Uton, The Futurians, Mike Tamburo, Tanakh, Black Forest Black Sea, Ben Reynolds, Volcano The Bear, 6majik9, CJA, The Stumps, Gregg Kowalsky, Fursaxa, Seht, Valerio Cosi, Fabi Orsi, Birds Of Delay, Bjerga / Iverson, Robert Horton and more more more. 3+ hours of strange and magical sounds from all over the world, but all centered around France. From the ultra lo-fi barely audible pop genius of The Shitty Listener, the gorgeous mournful steel string Appalachian folk of The North Sea, the washed out murky drift of Quetzolcoatl, some super spare solo electric guitar drift from Tom Carter, a bit of haunting high end tribal buzz from Brothers Of The Occult Sisterhood, some gorgeous shuffle and twang, slither and creep from Silvester Anfang, an epic druggy slowburning NZ-style krautrockish jam from The Stumps, some whispered crystalline shimmer from Fursaxa and we could go on and on. Varied and expansive, from folk to drone to noise to pound to swirl to buzz to twang...
As with all RuralFaune stuff, meticulously packaged, each one hand assembled, three spray painted discs, rouge, blanc and bleu (the colors of the French flag), housed in a cool textured red and orange wallpaper cover, in a thick vinyl sleeve, with a sticker on the front. Inside is a huge fold out, 2 sided poster insert, with liner notes on one side and a painting on the other, as well as a bunch of other inserts, stickers, a tiny square of paper hand numbered and a "piece of blotting paper impregnated with red wine"! LIMITED TO 300 COPIES. We will NOT be able to get more..." [Aquarius Records]
www.myspace.com/ruralfaunelovesyou
|
2007 |
€18.00 |
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Destroying the Night Sky (CADAVEROUS CONDITION-remixes) |
CD |
Sicher einer der ausuferndsten & interessantesten Experimental-Compilations des Jahres 2008, mit Fokus auf britische Acts aus dem NWW / ICR-Umfeld! Material der Death Metal-Combo CADAVEROUS CONDITION (die es schaffen, übelsten Kitsch mit Grindcore-Gegrunze zu verbinden) wird hier z.T. auf irrwitzigste Weise dekonstruiert, manchmal haarscharf am Wahnsinn vorbei, manchmal entstehen aber auch unerwartet schöne Arrangements, das Spektrum ist trotz des "rockigen" Basismaterials sehr gross.... man sollte allerdings Grunz- & Gröhl-immun sein, sonst hält man es kaum aus, am witzigsten & noisigsten wohl CONTROLLED BLEEDING, die Originalversatzstücke mit Harsh Noise und bizarren anderen found sounds mischen.
"NURSE WITH WOUND, THIGHPAULSANDRA, NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS, ANDREW LILES, CONTROLLED BLEEDING, COLIN POTTER, PRODUCT 8, ASMUS TIETCHENS, GJÖLL, HOLY McGRAIL, ALI HELNWEIN versus CADAVEROUS CONDITION. Destroying The Night Sky CD in a limited edition of 700 copies. A very special release with an unusual mix of sound: Using Cadaverous Condition's "To The Night Sky" album as source material for their tracks, all the aforementioned bands have created a unique new style of music. Call it metal ambient, drone metal or electronics metal, the result is something previously unknown and exciting. Hear Nurse With Wound doing one of their darkest tracks ever - listen to Controlled Bleeding's totally insane restructuring of a rock track, or be surprised by Nocturnal Emissions's return to noise - this album is unlike everything else you have heard in recent years. All cover
artwork by Cyril Helnwein, son of Gottfried Helnwein." [label info]
www.klanggalerie.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
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AIRPORT SYMPHONY |
do-CD |
Australische Compilation zum Thema "Erfahrungen des Reisens in moderner Zeit" mit Beiträgen v.a. aus dem Microsound und digital-ambience & drone Bereich. Jeder Musiker / Klangkünstler benutzte dabei Original-Aufnahmen vom Brisbaner Flughafen, das ganze kommt in einer Metallbox mit Banderole verpackt.
"With David Grubbs, Richard Chartier, Francisco López, Camilla Hannan, Taylor Deupree, Christophe Charles, Dale Lloyd, Marc Behrens, Toshiya Tsunoda, Tim Hecker, Stephan Mathieu, Fennesz, Burkhard Beins, Jason Kahn, Ulrich Krieger, Keichi Sugimoto, Christopher Willits, Joel Stern. 'AIRPORT SYMPHONY' commissioned by the Queensland Music Festival and Brisbane Airport Corporation, documents and synthesises the experiences of travel. Each piece represents a personal meditation on aspects of travel in the modern age and suggests ways in which we control, augment and ultimately exists in a time where almost no part of the face of the planet is inaccessible. Each of the pieces features a source recording made in and around Brisbane Airport between March and June 2007 in a raw form or transformed by processing. Audio diary entries cataloguing the epic possibilities of flight, aero-passage and human bodies in motion and even at rest." [L. English, June 2007]
|
2007 |
€18.00 |
|
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Zelphabet Vol. A |
CD |
Wahnwitziges Noise-Culture Compilation-Projekt von G.X.-JUPITTER-LARSEN, welches 26teilig das ganze Alphabet umfassen soll, wobei allerdings die Vornamen der beteiligten Musiker zählen - auf dem ersten Teil versammeln sich ACHIM WOLLSCHEID, AMK, ARCANE DEVICE und ASMUS TIETCHENS - also alles schon sehr lange aktive Urgesteine der Szene: Irre Xylophon-Arrangements von ACHIM. Loop & Turntable-Madness von AMK. Spannende Klangcollagen mit alten Analog-sounds von ARCANE DEVICE. Und uns ASMUS: hintergründige Sphären & Drones und anorganisch-konkretes Geschacher im Vordergrund. AA, ein sehr guter ANFANG.
"Almost close to thirty years now span the career of G.X. Jupitter-Larsen, better known as The Haters, and throughout these many years he has met many other musicians, labels and such like. His telephone book is well stocked with names so it seemed him a good thing to make the musical variation of his phonebook, an ambitious twenty-six (well, actually one more) series of compact discs with each three or four musicians with the same letter at the start of their name. So that accounts for the presence of Achim Wollscheid and Asmus Tietchens with the letter 'A'. With names like AMK and Arcane Device further on 'A', one could all too easily think that G.X. knows only old folks, but on 'B' we find the young ones The Beast People, 16 Bitch Pile-Up and Bob Bellerue with just one older person, blackhumour. 'B' is unmistakably the noise variation, with loud distorted pieces by the three new (relatively speaking of course) acts. Blackhumour, where has he been I was thinking, hands in one of his trademark pieces of unprocessed voices. Looped around, cutting them shorter as the piece progresses, this is both a stand still but since I gather not many people know him, it's good to get reacquainted. Bob Bellerue's piece of subdued noise is the best of the rest. AMK on 'A' also does what he seemingly always does, playing with damaged records. It's the least interesting piece on that one. Achim Wollscheid has a great computer controlled piece of playing Xylophone. Arcane Device created a recent mix of old feedback pieces and Asmus is in his recent mood of shimmering microtonal bits and pieces, fed through ring modulation. Great promising start, can't hardly wait. But it looks like a definite compendium of thirty years of difficult music. Subscribe now to this wiki of noise and know all there is to know." [FdW / Vital Weekly, reviewing part A & B]
www.zelphabet.com
|
2008 |
€6.00 |
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Landscape I / The Forest |
CD-R |
CENTRE OF WOOD ist das neue Label von COLD CURRENT PRODUCTION mit dem Fokus auf "Folk" in verschiedensten Varianten, diese Compilation gibt einen Label-Überblick mit 15 Stücken von Geräuschmusik & Akustik-Drone bis free form / Impro & Neo Folk, mit schönen Stücken von TIM COSTER, NEBELUNG, THROUROOF, PRAGUE, ES, WE WAIT FOR THE SNOW, und vielen uns unbekannten Acts.. Nummerierte Auflage & handgemachtes Cover, kunstvoll verschlossen mit einem Stück Ast!
"[Forestes, the most important influence for "Centre of Wood" label, of every kind and in every part of the world, are a magic place where to get lost and then find our deep relation with the nature. 14 bands from the acoustic, drone, lo-fi and free folk underground called to rappresent through music their relation with these places. The Result is this CD-R that contains more than 60 minutes of weird music. The projects and the bands involved are : Tim Coster; Donato Epiro; Nebelung; Vapaa; Chora; Aalto; throuRoof; Eyes like Saucers; The Katie Winter; Belly Boat; Prague; Es; Las Vegas Club; We Wait for the Snow. Listening to this compilation is like getting lost in a immense green forest, walking through its trees, meet the eyes of its creatures...]
PACKAGING : The packaging is composed of a brown and green heavy cardboard, closed with a small branch and a brown cotton thread, with an insert in perfect d.i.y. old style. limited to 120 numbered copies." [label info]
www.coldcurrentprod.com
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
|
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Audioscoop Compilation 1 |
do-LP |
Ein sehr breitgefächerter Rundumschlag durch den "experimentellen & elektronischen Untergrund" bietet diese schön aufgemachte Compilation, vereinigt sie doch Stücke von 20 internationalen Acts die im "Intro in Situ" in Maastricht zu Gast waren, von "schwieriger" Geräuschmusik bis hin zu recht gefälliger rhythmischer Elektronik. Es handelt sich dabei überwiegend um exklusives Studiomaterial, und neben bekannten Acts gibt es eine Reihe von neuen Namen. Für Einsteiger und Sammler gleichermaßen geeignet !
"Since 2005, "Audioscoop" is an ongoing series of musical events, held in the lovely soundworkplace "Intro In Situ", in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Kim Laugs, member of Feedback Society and who I suspect to be the brainchild behind Audioscoop, invites artists to "explore the boundaries in sound and music". This double LP contains a selection of artists who where part of these events, between 2005 and 2007. They were asked to deliver exclusive material or edits from their live performances at Intro In Situ. Quite some pioneer explorers are to be found here: Asmus Tietchens, Das Synthetische Mischgewebe, Aube, Kapotte Muziek, Sudden Infant and the late MSBR (sadly, one of his last concerts was the one in Maastricht). They are placed, fittingly well, together with some new kids on the block: Arnoud Rivière, Meta Orcha, incite/, Thuth, Ex.Zero and (of course) Feedback Society. I should also mention the fieldrecording composition made by Rinus van Alebeek: it deals with chocolate and is really funny (with an odd erotic twist). In conclusion: highly enjoyable record that gives a nice overview of what has been so far, and makes you look forward to the events to come." [SDT, Vital Weekly]
www.introinsitu.nl
|
2008 |
€25.00 |
|
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OEC 100 / THE OLD EUROPA CAFE |
7 x CD-Box |
OLD EUROPA CAFE fing wie einige andere heute noch existierende Experimental-Labels (z.B. ANT-ZEN, KORM PLASTICS) in den 80er Jahren als Cassetten-Label an, um später auch Vinyl & CDs herauszugeben... Nun gibt es das Label von Mastermind RODOLFO PROTTI bereits seit 25 Jahren, und das wird mit dieser irren Compilation eindrucksvoll zum Ausdruck gebracht. 101 Stücke von Gruppen, Musikern & Projekten die irgendwie mit OLD EUROPA CAFE in Verbindung standen oder stehen sind hier verewigt, und das Thema soll sein: EUROPA. Von Post-Industrial über Harsh Noise, Dark Ambient und Neo-Folk, das Spektrum des Labels reicht sehr weit, die Wurzeln liegen aber ganz klar in geräuschvollen Industrialsounds..
"This compilation was planed during 2007 for the 25th OEC anniversary. For celebrate the label and all the work done over all those years 101 artists / groups / projects which was / are / will be involved with OEC was invited to submit an unreleased or anyway re-worked / exclusive track devoted to the theme :
Europa !
Europe : from Portugal to Russia
Europe : his history
Europe : his culture
Europe : his cities
Europe : his beauty
…. At last, a true Old Europe Cafe soundtrack ....
Tracklisting / in Alfabetical Order :
1. A Challenge of Honour - Iberia
2. Aesthetic Meat Front – Twilight in Berlin
3. Ain Soph – Tra le Rovine
4. Albireon – Un Cavallo Senza Nome (Sonne Hagal’s Italian covered track)
5. Alessandro Pacciani – The Colour of the Human Ashes
6. All My Faith Lost … - Septembre 1871
7. Argine – Risveglio
8. Artefactum – The Night Waltz in Vienna
9. Asianova – Trieste
10. Astro - Old European Son
11. Autopsia & K.Rossmann – Fragment II
12. Bad Sector – Old Europa On Air
13. Beyond Sensory Experience - Fadren
14. Black Sun Productions – Gegen Verfuehrung / Grande Inno di Ringraziamento
15. Bleiburg – Europaean Heartbeat
16. Camerata Mediolanense - Guillotine
17. Circus Joy – Signora Europa
18. Claustrum – Penitential
19. Cristian Renou – U-Rop Impress (heavy version)
20. Cropcircle – The Balkan Doll will never Grow
21. D.B.P.I.T. – Lili Marlene
22. David E. Williams – Erlkönig
23. Dawn & Dusk Entwined – Occident
24. Dead Man’s Hill - Parc Abbey / The Heverlee Lakes
25. Deutsch Nepal – The Lonely Comming Down
26. Discordance – Jokela, Finland
27. Division S – Further Knowledge
28. Dogs Hate Monet - In This Dream
29. Dream Weapon Ritual – excerpt from The Mysteries Of E
30. Egida Aurea – L’Ardente Fiaccola della ragione
31. Folkstorm - United under a black sun of utmost splendour
32. Foreign Trade – With You
33. Foresta di Ferro – Europe Greets the Storm
34. Furvus – Evropa
35. Gerechtigkeits Liga – Controlled Europe
36. Grey Wolves – Decapitation Zone (Euro Carve Up)
37. GX Jupitter-Larsen – Norge Om Polybølge
38. H.E.R.R. – A Newer Rome (2007 Version)
39. Horologium – European Macht Muzik
40. Hybryds – Resistance (Old Europa Mix) with samplefood by Wejdas
41. 40.Jerome Deppe and Gentlemen Oscura – Song for Nero
42. K. Meizter – Prypiat
43. Kallabris – Holzweg , Scherzo for Scandinavian wood winds and tape manipulation
44. Kenji Siratori – Crusade 2007
45. Knifeladder – Warsaw , 4pm
46. Lark Blames – Small Cars
47. Lonsai Maikov & Dissonant Elephant – Occident : 111
48. Lt. Caramel – Estación de Princípe Pío
49. Macelleria Mobile di Mezzanotte- White Jazz (Excelsior Cafe Version)
50. Malato – EU
51. Mauro Guazzotti – Clockwork Europe
52. Moljebka Pulse – Avra
53. Musterion – Underneath Stockholm
54. MZ.412 - Overthrowing European Christianity
55. Naevus – The Petty Task
56. Nazi UFO Commander – Flying Dutchman
57. Ninth Desert – Oscript
58. Njurmannen - Music for an erotic TV show
59. Nocturne – Old Nocturne Cafe
60. Nordvargr - Facing the ghost of the past
61. Northgate – Brief
62. Ô Paradis – Contigo
63. Organisation Toth – Follow the L.ight O.V. .E.uropa
64. Pacific 231 – Mezquita
65. Peter Andresson – Kitchenscape
66. Post Contemporary Corporation – Il Martirio di Wagner (live attack !)
67. Rapoon – We Whisper Revolutions in the Cafe’s of Europe
68. Richard Ramirez – The Colours of Dark Clouds over Italy
69. Roma Amor – Der Treue Husar
70. Runes Order – In the Endless Regions of Europa (Hate IV)
71. S.Q.E. – Shards
72. Sacher Pelz – Pchearsezl
73. Sala Delle Colonne – Scilla e Cariddi
74. Second Amendment – The Stranger
75. Seelenblut – Sudden Light
76. Seelenlicht – Return to Summerisle
77. Selfishadows – Poison
78. Shining Vriel – Of Coin + Ruin
79. Siegmar Fricke - Euroceutik 2007
80. Simulacrum – Naturatum EU
81. Sleeping Pictures – Kiss the Dirt
82. Slogun - Palma:1986-2002
83. Space Alliance – Abduction of Europa
84. Spiritual Front – Funeral Blues
85. TAC - Sixth From Jupiter
86. Tam Quam Tabula Rasa – New Ropes Suffocate my Hopes (Rendhagyò Olasz Dallam)
87. Tears of Othila – Up our Banners ! (Special Old Europa version)
88. Teatro Satanico – Veneto Industrial in Europa
89. The Lindberg Baby – No Promises
90. The Soil Bleed Black - Thou Art Mine
91. Thomas Nola et Son Orchestre – Mother’s Ruin
92. Tribe of a Circle - Demokratür - Final Act
93. Troum / Asianova / Voice of Eye – Dream for a New Europa (Re-Entry Edit)
94. Ventral Metaphor – Lost in Pordenone
95. Vestigial – Substorm’s Curtains
96. Voice of Eye – Inside the Breath of the Adriatic
97. Vox Populi! – Soft entrance to nature’s camino de luz
98. Wermut – Maladia Europa II
99. Wertham – Which Way Western Man
100. Wheian – Europa
101. XX Century Zorro – Phelin Phelix
Cover art-work features reproductions of oil paintings by : Mass Inc.
As you can see this will be a true Mammoth compilation !
We didn't put limits to the sound stiles , so here you can really hear all the sounds
of the Industrial sub-culture featured on OEC !
A BIG document on OEC work ...
A BIG thank you to all the artists who was walking with OEC !!!
A BIG thank you to all who was supporting OEC for such a long time !!!"
[label info]
www.oldeuropacafe.com
|
2008 |
€36.00 |
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>Manifesto Rumorarmonico Post Futurista. Tributo a LUIGI RUSSOLO |
do-LP |
Vier altgediente Noise-Heroen treffen sich auf dieser Compilation zu Ehren des italienischen Futuristen LUIGI RUSSOLO, dessen legendäres Manifest "Die Kunst der Geräusche" (1913) den Startschuss für den Einsatz von Maschinenlärm in moderner Komposition darstellte.
Die Compilation zeigt gut, auf welche unterschiedliche Art und Weise "Geräusch" eingesetzt werden kann, von agitierendem Power-Effekt-Lärm (MERZBOW), mechanisch-maschinellem Rausch-Noise (GX JUPITTER-LARSEN) über seelenlos-statisches Elektro-Geknirsche & Gekrache (SACHER PELZ) bis hin zu mysteriösem Dröhnklang (RAPOON)..
"Vinyl compilation devoted to “Luigi Russolo” the father of Futurist music and the first man theorizing that music has to be composed mainly by rumors And not by harmonic sounds ! His music was played with an instrument “l’Intonarumori” or “Rumorarmonio” which was invented by himself ! Russolo is the forefather and theorizer of the “Electronic music” concept and for sure we can say today that he was the first man playing “Industrial” muzak ! For this project we found four artists which are known for being since their first approaches to music as “Neo-Futurists” and uncompromising “Industrial”. Involved artists :
- GX Jupitter-Larsen from USA, also known for being the mind behind The Haters and for all his very “Futurist” performances where a click becomes the main sound !
- Merzbow from Japan, the father of Japanese noise ! this is the sound Russolo was playing if alive today
- Rapoon from UK, with his first project “Zoviet France” Robin Storey was one of the very first artists using toy instruments !
- Sacher Pelz from Italy, Sacher Pelz was the very first project by Maurizio Bianchi also known as MB, he was one of the very first artist theorising electronic noise !
Each artists gives his contribution to this tribute playing long tracks on a full LP side ! White Vinyl. Discs are packed in hand-numbered folding cover showing Luigi Russolo and his Rumorarmonio." [label info]
www.oldeuropacafe.com
|
2008 |
€22.00 |
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John Barleycorn Reborn : Dark Britannica |
do-CD |
"A discovery of folk music from dark Britannica. 'John Barleycorn Reborn' explores seasonal birth, death and rebirth on this double CD. Our cycle begins at Lammas 2007 (1st August), a day traditionally known for 'the first fruits of the harvest'. Pre-orders begin on this day. All orders also receive a free complementary thirty-three track download only set of further music. This compilation explores the darker side of British folk music, evoking the mystery of our ancient past and peoples, the strangeness of their beliefs, arcane traditions and the remnants of this carried down the centuries as folklore. The set has an extended booklet with articles, essays and explorations of the album's concept. The album is a collaboration between Cold Spring and Woven Wheat Whispers, a folk music artist community and legal download service (where the third part complementary part will be available). Curated by Mark Coyle. Track Listing: Disc 1 1. The Horses Of The Gods - 'John Barleycorn' | 2. The Owl Service - 'North Country Maid' | 3. The Story - 'The Wicker Man' | 4. Damh The Bard - 'Spirit Of Albion' | 5. Mary Jane - 'Twa Corbies' | 6. Andrew King - 'Dives And Lazarus' | 7. The Triple Tree - 'Three Crowns' | 8. Sol Invictus - 'To Kill All Kings' | 9. Sieben - 'Ogham On The Hill (Remix)' | 10. Sharron Kraus - 'Horn Dance' | 11. Charlotte Greig And Johan Asherton - 'Lay The Bent To The Bonny Broom' | 12. Pumajaw - 'The Burning Of Auchindoun' | 13. Peter Ulrich - 'The Scryer & The Shewstone | 14. Alphane Moon - 'Where The Hazel Grows' | 15. English Heretic - 'Hippomania' | 16. Far Black Furlong - 'Icy Solstice Eye'. Disc 2 1. The Anvil - 'John Barleycorn Must Die' | 2. Tinkerscuss - 'To Make You Stay' | 3. The Straw Bear Band - 'Trial By Bread & Butter' | 4. Electronic Voice Phenomena - 'The Sorrow Of Rimmon' | 5. The Purple Maids Of Lazeron - 'Dragonfly' | 6. Sand Snowman - 'Stained Glass Morning' | 7. The A Lords - 'Summerhouse' | 8. The Kitchen Cynics - 'The Guidman's Ground' | 9. Quickthorn - 'PewPew' | 10. Clive Powell - 'Reed Sodger' | 11. Venereum Arvum - 'Child 102 Willie And Earl Richard's Daughter' | 12. Drohne - 'Nottamun Town' | 13. Stormcrow - 'Gargoyle' | 14. Doug Peters - 'Pact' | 15. While Angels Watch - 'Obsidian Blade' | 16. Xenis Emputae Travelling Band - 'John Barleycorn: His Life, Death And Resurrection' | 17. Martyn Bates - 'The Resurrection Apprentice'." [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2007 |
€16.00 |
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Pangaea Noise |
CD |
Nachfolger der erfolgreichen "Beyond Ignorance and Borders" Compilation. Wieder gibt es weitgehend völlig unbekannte experimentelle Elektronik & Noise aus den entlegendsten Ecken unseres Planeten (jedenfalls wenn man von der "westlichen" Perspektive ausgeht.. wie auch die CHINESE-Anthology auf SUB ROSA zeigt PANGAEA NOISE, dass sich nicht-akademische "Underground-Tonkunst" immer weiter ausbreitet !!
"A follow-up to Beyond ignorance and borders including noise artists from Puerto Rico (Cornucopia), Indonesia (Aneka Digital Safari), Singapore (Mindfuckingboy), China (Osci-Vibra-Tor, Li Jianhong), Algeria (Nihil Humanum), Slovenia (Aluviana), Iran (Nyctalllz), Luxembourg (Switchonoff), Tunisia (Heart Burnt To Ashes), Switzerland (Dave Phillips), South Korea/Japan (10), Equador (Industria Masoquista), Canada (Szkieve), France/Belgium (Planet Aldol & C-drík), Belgium (Črno klank), Malta (Grosz Ear), Latvia (Error), Everywhere/Nowhere (Zbigniew Karkowski), Bulgaria (Gokkun). Limited to 500 copies." [label info]
www.syrphe.com
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2008 |
€13.00 |
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Zelphabet Vol. G |
CD |
"The great alphabet continues with Giancarlo Toniutti in a fairly long drone piece, which no doubt is created with some acoustic objects and analogue treatments, which results in a great minimal drone piece. Government Alpha is the noise corner of 'G', with a pure and unrelentness piece of feedback and distortion, followed by the near silence of G*Park. Here we find ourselves outside and listening to our environment. Cracks of branches, the careful opening of a squeaky door. An antidote for the noise of the previous piece. One of the nice things about this series, is that G.X. Jupitter-Larsen finds people of whom we haven't heard in a while, like Gregory Whitehead. He has a classic piece 'The Catastrophe Class', of mumbling voices, repeated phrases and background environment noise of an undefined nature. In every word: a classic Whitehead piece. So far on this series all tracks last around fifteen to twenty minutes, maybe with one of two exceptions, but 'G', closes with 'Explosion 2008' by G.X. Jupitter-Larsen, a single sound of explosion, lasting 3 or so seconds." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"The seventh in Zelphabet’s new series of 26 alphabetically oriented compilations of noise. Volume B eviscerates with cuts from Giancarlo Toniutti, Government Alpha, G*Park, Gregory Whitehead, and GX Jupitter-Larsen." |
2009 |
€11.00 |
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HÖGA NORD |
LP |
Compilation-LP mit vier Projekten aus der derzeitigen schwedischen Post-Industrial und Experimental-Szene auf dieser LP !
"Four lenghty tracks from four Swedish experimental groups in tribute to the god-forsaken land we call Sweden - or, Höga Nord if you wish. From BOCKSHOLM's structured and up-building jackhammer mechanics, onward with DUSA's moody downer-beats from the outskirts of hell - further down the road NIELLERADE FALLIBILISTHORSTAR's abstract and
ghostly metal junk/cymbal ambient to VARTGARD's heavy and painful death industrial - this is a record that follows an unknown path, where grey and depressive specimen without contrasts makes a subliminal whole. For sure not the full-on noise Segerhuva perhaps is known to release but a beautiful and deranged journey through our
native mushroom woods and what one can find if taking a leak on a small highway side-track somewhere outside of Skara. Edition of 300
copies in printed black and white matte sleeves with insert." [label info]
www.segerhuva.se
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2009 |
€14.00 |
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An Anthology of Chinese Experimental Music (1992-2008) |
4 x CD |
Diese Compilation hat definitiv hat das Zeug zum Klassiker, handelt es sich doch um den allerersten umfassenden Überblick über die wachsende chinesische & asiatische Experimental & Elektronik & Noise-Szene, die hier in ihrer ganzen Vielfalt präsentiert wird. Ein guter Teil dieses Mammutswerks (48 Stücke!) bewegt sich im experimentellen Drone & Ambient-Bereich, aber es gibt auch einige Extrem-Noise Beiträge, Rhythmisches, hyper-abstraktes, Musique Concrete, Microsound. vier CDs mit für uns fast nur unbekannten Acts, eine wahre akustische Entdeckungsfahrt!! Anspieltips: DAJUIN YAO, STRINGRAYS, WANG FAN, LOGA, von denen mal hoffentlich wieder hören wird ! Mega-Digipack mit 2 Booklets, inklusive Text von Z. KARKOWSKI & YAN JUN "An Overview of Experimental and Non-Academic Music in China". SONDERPREIS!!
"Bis zur letzten Minute interessant bleibt dieser viereinhalb-Stunden-Rundumschlag durch experimentelle Musik aus China, zusammengestellt vom Aktivisten Dickson Dee, der dieses Feld seit zwanzig Jahren von Hongkong aus bestellt. Anders als der Titel suggerieren mag, konzentrieren sich die vier CDs dieser Box auf eine ganz junge Szene, die experimentellen Rock der 90er hinter sich gelassen hat und stattdessen (meist elektronisch) auf abstrakterer Stufe mit Klang experimentiert, für uns grob umrissen durch Noise, Ambient, Soundscape, in China selbst unter Sound Art zusammengefasst. Knapp die Hälfte der Stücke sind von 2007, ein weiteres Viertel von 2006; der Rest bleibt für eher punktuell scheinende Pionierarbeiten. Neben einem Booklet mit kurzen Texten zur Selbstvorstellung fast aller Künstler gibt es ein weiteres mit einem sehr erhellenden Text vor allem zur Genese experimenteller Musik in der VR China von Zbigniew Karkowski und Yan Jun, die drei Fünftel der Beiträge ausmachen (dazu kommen je ein Fünftel aus Hongkong und Taipei, plus ein Beitrag je aus Singapur und Malaysia). Dieser Text zeichnet die Linie nach von Kulturrevolution über Recycling und Piraterie westlicher Medien und klärt etwa über die besondere Ausgangslage der traditionslosen, wertungsfrei offenen Rezeptionssituation auf. Wie gesagt, das ist spannend, dennoch bemerkt man beim Durchhören eine gewisse Schieflage der Bandbreite, von der nicht klar wird, wie subjektiv sie geprägt ist. So einige Arbeiten konzentrieren sich auf Feedback und Distortion, von hier und heute aus besehen die schwächsten Glieder (Torturing Nurse verschwenden leider ihre Viertelstunde); besser gefallen mir die Sound- und Dronescapes, die oft Fieldrecordings verwenden und nicht unbedingt bahnbrechender, aber konzentrierter und eindrücklicher sind, und grade auch (aber nicht nur) von den Pionieren kommen: Dickson Dee selbst, Wang Fan, Dajuin Yao. Bemerkenswert aber auch Hong Qiles krasser, modemartiger Schreddernoise aus Fuzhou wie auch mein Favorit Loga, einer der ganz wenigen, die mit Rhythmus arbeiten, der sich bei ihm ganz unmerklich aus einer Klanglangschaft entwickelt. Dazwischen verstecken sich immer wieder isolierte Preziosen – Stimmauslotungen (Alice Hui-Sheng Chang), verträumte Popelektronika, die auch auf Noble stattfinden könnte (Nara), ein Beatstück mit Matmos-Funk (Sun Dawei), 50er-Jahre-WDR-Elektronik (Circadian), manch uneinsortierbares und offenbar folgenlos gebliebenes aus den 90ern, und man fragt sich ein wenig: gibt es da so wenig dazwischen? Beatexperimente? Oder Plunderphonics, im weitesten Sinne, wenn doch die Kultur auf Trash und Piraterie gewachsen ist? Aber das ist einfach Potential für die nächsten vier CDs, die genauso willkommen wären, wie diese hier, die natürlich ein Standardwerk ist." [multipara / de:bug]
"FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME, AN EXCEPTIONAL AND
VERY COMPLETE PANORAMA (MORE THAN 5 HOURS / 4 CDs)
SINCE ORIGINS (1992) OF ALL EXPERIMENTAL AND ELECTRONIC MUSIC IN CHINA, HONG KONG, TAIWAN, SINGAPORE AND MALAYSIA.
4 CD SET DIGIPACK
+ 2 x 16 PAGE BOOKLETS
AN ANTHOLOGY OF CHINESE ELECTRONIC MUSIC (1992-2008) from Mainland China (Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guilin, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Shanxi, Harbin) Hong Kong - Taiwan - Singapore - Malaysia.
This anthology features 48 artists from within the Chinese area of influence. It is designed
as a journey through what is currently happening underground, under extremely diverse forms.
It also looks at the recent past and the key role of pioneers like Wang Fan, Dajuin Yao,
and also Hong Kong-based Li Chin Sung aka Dickson Dee who, for almost two decades, has been spreading the word about Experimental music in Mainland China. This album was curated by Dickson Dee on Guy Marc Hinant's invitation. It includes an enlightening presentation on the
short yet intense advent and history of the Chinese noise explosion,co-written by Zbigniew
Karkowski and Yan Jun.
________________________________________
The Sound of the Underground: An Overview of Experimental and Non-Academic Music in China
The Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-76) in one way or another eradicated most of the
existing culture in China. At the same time as intellectuals were sent to rural labor camps,
countless ancient buildings, antiques, books, paintings and various artifacts were just
destroyed. This period created an enormous intellectual, cultural and artistic vacuum in
China - destruction that in a sense, time is still healing.
So tradition of music culture and especially non-academic, purely experimental music,
started from 'point blank' scratch sometime in the 80ies. With the market economy introduced in that decade and further media developments in the 90ies, there was a kind of an explosion in youth culture that had been held back for decades. Movements and music scenes that previously never reached China - like for instance psychedelic music, punk or neo-dada started to appear and expanded at astonishing pace.
The birth of these alternative rock and punk music scenes that later developed into even
more experimental trends is a direct result of global capitalism and profound change in China's position within the World Order. It however did not develop the same way as it
usually does in the West - with one eye looking forward and the other one always glancing
at history. It started with 'dakou' and with piracy.
tracklisting
4 x CD
CD1
01. Li Chin Sung aka Dickson Dee (Hong Kong) / Somewhere (1994) / 10'33
02. Zenlu (Shenzhen) / Zen (2007) / 9'19
03. Bai Tian (Chengdu) / Wet (2007) / 4'05
04. Cheewei (Singapore) / Evening has arrived (2006) / 8'02
05. Lim Giang (Taipei) / "???" (2006) / 8'41
06. Ang Song Ming aka Circadian (Singapore) / Book radio mixer (2007) / 3'02
07. Chung-Han Yao (Taipei) / Untitled (2005) / 5'02
08. Goh Lee Kwang (Malaysia) / Frong spraying (2007) / 3'42
09. Wu Quan (Beijing) / Weather forest (2006) / 5'04
10. Me:Mo (Beijing) / pro.a (2007) / 4'30
11. Wang Jong-Kuen (Taipei) / Leaving (2006) / 5'40
12. Dajuin Yao (Zuoying) / Psycho Realm (2006) / 5'29
CD2
01. Sun Dawei (Beijing) / Crawing state (2007) / 4'14
02. Nara (Beijing) / Dream a little dream (2007) / 6'54
03. WFDD / Wang Fan + Dickson Dee (Beijing/Hong Kong) / Sin (2007) / 8'36
04. Stingrays (Singapore) / 061020 (2006) / 5'18
05. Dennis Wong aka Wong Chung-Fai (Hong Kong) / para_dot (2006) / 5'12
06. Fathmount aka Wilson Lee (Hong Kong) / A yoke of oxen (2007) / 4'56
07. PNF (Hong Kong) / Chi (1994) / 3'11
08. Li Wen Tai aka Vince Li (Hong Kong) / Eat (2007) / 4'57
09. Shenggy (Beijing) / Junggy 's decay (2007) / 3'05
10. Ronez aka Zhou Pei (Guilin) / Kikusui Back (2006) / 4'57
11. Zhou Ri Sheng (Shanxi) / Noise God (2006) / 7'22
12. Fish (Taipei) / Rusty Crane Keelong (2007) / 4'46
CD3
01.Torturing Nurse (Shanghai) / Fugitive (2006) / 14'46
02. Wang Fan (Beijing) / Zero (2006) / 6'28
03. Wuwei + Ulrich Morits (Shanghai/Berlin) / Toy Ships (2003) / 2'48
04. Xper. Xr. & The Orphic Orchestra (Hong Kong) Hickory Dickory Dock (1992) / 1'01
05. Hong Qile (Fuzhou) / j gmc (2007) / 8'00
06. Ying Fan (Taipei) / L2255 mix (2007) / 3'58
07. Dead J aka Shao Yanpeng (Beijing) / untitled (2007) / 3'49
08. Z.S.L.O (Taipei) / 422189 (1997) / 3'09
09. Jedung Kying / Edging + Junky (Guangzhou/Shanghai) Dabao (2007) / 3'01
10. Tats Lau (Hong Kong) / Face The Antagonish (1992) / 2'53
11. Li Jianhong (Hangzhou) / Sod (2007) / 5'32
12. Dino (Taipei) / untitled (2005) / 6'45
CD4
01. Wang Changcun (Harbin) Through the tide of faces (2007) / 4'59
02. D!O!D!O!D! / Li Jianhong + Huangjin (Hangzhou) A dark knife (2006) / 5'36
03. Yan Jun (Beijing) / Its more than enough (2006) / 5'35
04. Loga (Fuzhou) / 620 (2007) / 9'22
05. Pei aka Liu Pei-Wen (Taipei) / Bird lady (2007) / 7'43
06. Eric Lin aka Lin Chi-Wei (Taipei) / untitled (2007) / 3'10
07. Alice Hui-Sheng Chang (Taiwan) There she is, standing and walking on her own (2007) / 3'59
08. Ching Shen Ching (Taiwan) / V-zone (1997) / Fuji Wang + Anes: electronics / 7'25
09. Dancing Stone (Hong Kong) / Two (1995) / Nelson Hui: flute + Ling Lee: voice / 2'13
10. Illuminated 6.6.6. (Hong Kong) / Enjoy the silence (1992) / 6'06
11. Juno aka Timmy Lok (Hong Kong) / Possiblilities (1995) / 3'18
12. Simon Ho (Hong Kong) / 5 (2005) / 6'53 "
[full label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2009 |
€25.00 |
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Ya Ji |
CD |
Das dürfte die erste in China veröffentlichte CD sein, die wir anbieten. Eine Compilation mit Collaboration-parts von BAI TIAN (auch auf der SUB ROSA Anthologie enthalten), SHIZI (auch aus China), sowie ANDERS PETERSON (aka OBJEKT4 und RELAPXYCH) und die legendären LOOP ORCHESTRA! Glitchig ambientes, drones, plunderphonics.. inkl. inlay mit liner notes über alle Stücke auf englisch und chinesisch!
"Ya Ji (Elegant Meeting):
A truly International sound project between China, Sweden and Australia. Proving that experimental music is very much acultural. The artists involved are Bai Tian from and currently lives in Chengdu (Sichuan province) and Shizi from Lanzhou (now lives in Beijing) in China, Anders Peterson from Stockholm and The Loop Orchestra from Sydney. The Artists have remixed each other’s work and these remixes are joined together to make up the 16 minute collaborative first track. Sound files were exchanged through the Internet. So it is a real cross-cultural/international sound project and in that respect it is unique. The other tracks on the CD are pieces by each of the artists.
The CD is released on the Chinese label KwanYin Records which is under the Sub Jam (www.subjam.org) collective from Beijing . All of the Artwork, CD production and final mastering was done in China.
The music ranges from the sound journey of the first collaborative track , Ya Ji, through to the beautiful final slowly unfolding piece by Shizi . The 16 minute collaboration is in four separate chapters. The first is a collaboration between Bai Tian and Anders Peterson. The second is a remix by The Loop Orchestra of the collaboration. The Loop Orchestra remix is then remixed by Shizi. The piece is really like a sound journey from minimal beats which become buried by dronal loops and finally slowly collapsing into the abyss.
The second track , In , by Bai Tian is a bright crisp digital electronic piece which references the heyday of European digital electronica of the late 90s.
Track three, insomniactivity is by relapxych.0 (Anders Peterson from Stockholm, Sweden). It is a marriage of instrumentation and electronica.
The next piece (track four), Vibraloops, by The Loop Orchestra is a colourful and humourous tape-loop rendition of a 1940s/50s vibraphone orchestra. Full of kitsch and colour it is beautifully percussive and opposite to the previous piece is very much low technology or as they like to say a category called No Tech. Purely tape loops played on reel-to-reel tape machines.
Track five, Background Shadows is a radio studio remix of the CD Her Face Amongst the Shadows by Objekt4 (the previous sound project of Anders Peterson). The remix is by John Blades and Richard Fielding who co-present the experimental radio program Background Noise on 2 mbs FM in Sydney. For this they used the radio studio as an instrument. Listen at www.anonradio.net .
The final track, track six is by Shizi and is a layered drone piece which is like being consumed by a thick fog. A very appropriate closing to the elegant meeting.
The whole CD can really be described as a sound journey with a beginning, a middle and an end.
THE ARTISTS:
Anders Peterson (relapxych.0)
After working for many years with sound design, film music, sound recording, mastering / remastering, acoustic design and also as a musician (guitars / bass) I eventually found the most rewarding personal experience from the sounds of nature (water, wind, fire, earth), with its endless variation and amazing organic qualities, constantly evolving, and by capturing (recording) ambience from certain places I finally obtained sounds that had massive potential to be truly *original* and *unique* to myself. The next step was to combine these recordings with musical instruments and “approaches”, combining harmonics and “body” from musical instruments with the organic flow and constantly varying rhythms of for example dripping water, gusts of wind or cracking ice, through digitally coded cross-synthesis, hybrid sounds carefully sculptured by hand. Creating musical ambience instead of ambient music.
www.ghostsounds.net
Bai Tian (aka Bai+ian) is a emerging sound artist, flute player and organizer of independent music based in Chengdu, China. He plays in a wide range of styles such as ambient, cut’n'paste and electronic music etc. He has performed with Chinese and international artists such as Huan Qing, Zafka, Zbignew Karkowski and Li Chin Sung. He has participated in exhibitions such as 156M Contemporary Art Exhibition (Chengdu), Getitlouder (Chengdu) and China Power Station (London).
www.myspace.com/baiii
Shizi was born in Lanzhou, China in 1984. He is a drummer, and improvised music player. As member of “Noise Association of Lanzhou” he started his underground music career in the late 1990’s. He has worked with more than 10 bands/projects with different styles. Once he moved to Beijing for university in 2003, he started to work in the palm of electronic/experimental and improv music. Now he is studying sound design at Beijing Film Academy.
www.myspace.com/shiziofnoise
The Loop Orchestra was formed in 1982 by Richard Fielding and John Blades. It is a collective of reel-to-reel tape machines which are approximately 30 to 35 years old. The reel-to-reel tape machines play lengths of quarter inch tape joined into loops of varying size onto which sound is recorded from various sources. This methodology is historically significant in the history of electronic music from the 1950s. The loops are mixed together to create a layered and slowly evolving soundscape. They have had CD and record releases in Australia and Europe since their first release (the LP record Suspense) in 1991. There are currently five members: John Blades, Richard Fielding, Manny Gasparinatos, Hamish Mackenzie and Juke Wyatt. The Members for this recording were John Blades, Richard Fielding, Manny Gasparinatos and Patrick Gibson. For information and a full list of performances and releases visit. www.thelooprchestra.com."
[press release]
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
|
23 Drifts to Guestling |
CD |
"Originally released in 1983, this stands as the missing piece of the jigsaw between Coum Transmissions, Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV. Scrapbook rehearsals, formative ideas, radio snippets, interviews and general nonsense. CD version original cassette release of the contributions of the many people that made up Throbbing Gristle, Coum Transmissions, Coil and Psychic TV, brought to you by FOPI. Features: Throbbing Gristle, Genesis P-Orridge, Psychic TV, Monte Cazazza, Peter Christopherson, Martin Denny, Joan Armstrong, Gary Gilmore, Adi Newton, Frank Zappa, Charles Manson, Alex Fergusson & Lynette Fromme (Manson Family)." [label info]
"This is a CD re-release of an album which originally appeared on cassette in 1983. 23 Drifts To Guestling was compiled by David Tibet of Current 93 fame and released by Nanavesh, an appreciation society for the pioneering industrial group Throbbing Gristle. Nanavesh produced three magazines, and the 23 Drifts To Guestling tape was their fourth and final publication.
Containing 51 tracks which add up to 64 minutes, 23 Drifts… isn’t a music album as such, although there are bits of music on it. Instead, it is a kind of audio scrapbook of the ideas, influences and people who contributed to the formation of Throbbing Gristle, COUM Transmissions, Coil and Psychic TV, containing excerpts from radio interviews, phone calls, conversations and TG rehearsals, as well as quotations from people who influenced TG in one way or another, such as exotic music maestro Martin Denny, whose track ‘Mumba’ is introduced by Genesis P-Orridge, Charles Manson and Lynette ‘Squeaky’ Fromme of the Manson Family, and art-world provocateur and prankster Monte Cazazza, who’s credited with the invention of the term ‘industrial music’. One of the funniest things on 23 Drifts… is the sixth track, in which Monte Cazazza robotically intones: "I am the slave of Genesis P-Orridge. There is no mind but the mind of Genesis P-Orridge. There is no truth but the truth that comes from Genesis P-Orridge. There are no lies but the lies that come from Genesis P-Orridge…”
Given Genesis P-Orridge’s later demonisation at the hands of the tabloid press, this is richly ironic.
Elsewhere on the album, you can hear such diverting curiosities as the phone call which set up the infamous TG performance at Oundle public school, John Peel introducing the TG single ‘United’ on his radio show, the Nazi anthem ‘Tomorrow Belongs To Me’ from the musical Cabaret rendered as a Cockney football chant, Charles Manson reminiscing about his dear old mum, death-row prisoner Gary Gilmore quoting Shakespeare, Genesis P-Orridge in conversation with Frank Zappa, and every now and then, odd bursts of the music of TG just to remind you of why all this stuff is so vitally interesting. The best music tracks are track 5, ‘Want You To Kil: TG In The Death Factory’, track 33, ‘Process: TG In The Death Factory’, and track 50, ‘Atom Bomb Whorle Ov Sound’, but 23 Drifts… is much more of a documentary audio archive than a music album. Track 24 is an excerpt from The Early Worm, Genesis P-Orridge’s first ever recording, made way back in 1967.
One of the central preoccupations of Throbbing Gristle throughout their recording career was the collection and dissemination of information, with the group offering a radical critique of the methods employed by powerful institutions within mainstream society to maintain a monopoly on information control, very much in line with Michel Foucault’s dictum that ‘knowledge is power’. When TG disbanded in 1981, they announced this with a postcard press release stating: “Throbbing Gristle: The Mission is Terminated… The archetype has been investigated, the information is stored."
The renewed availability of the material contained on 23 Drifts… is a useful and welcome addition to the documentation of Throbbing Gristle, offering valuable insights into this most important first-generation industrial band, and dedicated TG fans will find this a rewarding and entertaining listen. However, it’s unlikely to make very much sense to anyone who doesn’t already possess a fairly detailed knowledge of the history of TG. For those people, the best available account of TG and COUM Transmissions, the performance art group which preceded TG, is Simon Ford’s definitive biography Wreckers of Civilization (Black Dog, 2001), and 23 Drifts… could be considered a kind of accompanying soundtrack to this book." [JudasKiss]
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
|
MOM |
CD |
"This benefit CD was created to raise funds for my mother, Jeanine, to assist in her fight against stomach cancer diagnosed in June 2009. Thank you very much to the following for your generosity by submitting songs for this project: Legendary Pink Dots, Nadja, Nurse With Wound, Andrew Liles, Expo ‘70, Orbit Service, La STPO, Troum, Earthmonkey, Volcano the Bear, Un Festín Sagital, CJ Boyd, One Starving Day, Armchair Migraine Journey, Else Teicher and Seven That Spells.
Please see the CD face for artist and track names. Thank you to Steven Wilson and Yuen for your generous donations to this cause. To donate to this cause or for more information, please follow the link below or contact BlRR http://jeanines-journey.blogspot.com Thank you: Chris, Heather and Pia Godspeed Mom "
[label info]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
|
FREQ_OUT [0 - °°Hz] |
CD |
"With pieces by: Finnbogi Pétursson, Franz Pommasl, BJ Nilsen, Jacob Kirkegaard, Mike Harding, Kent Tankred, J. G. Thirlwell, PerMagnus Lindborg, Jana Winderen, Hans Sydow, Brandon LaBelle, Petteri Nisunen/Tommi Grönlund, & an ensemble piece arranged by BJ Nilsen [Hazard]. "What: A sound installation consisting of 12 individual audio works which are presented as a single piece. Where: Any large self-contained space will work. The first event took place at Charlottenborg Exhibition Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark, in June 2003. Who: Encouraged by disturbances, Swedish artist and curator C M von Hausswolff assembled a collection of 13 artists representing the elite of international sound art. The group consists of sound artists, architects, composers, producers, sculptors, mathematicians and visual artists. The installation was part of a larger event taking place at the Royal Danish Theatre and Charlottenborg in Copenhagen. How: Each player is assigned a frequency range to work with. This process is carried out in situ, each player using a workstation consisting of mixing desk and PA system. All the resulting sounds are then mixed together in the space provided to create a sound installation. Why: The project reveals how space-specific certain frequencies can be, but also how other sounds can be separated from their source and 'thrown' around the space. It also shows how sound 'fits' (or not) into the space provided by exploring the complexities of frequencies and their inter-action. The final mix not only reveals the innate properties of the frequency ranges, but also the possibilities when they are combined. The result is a lively and accessible sound-filled space which can be approached either as a traditional installation, or as a theme park of sound -- fun for all the family and serious students alike." [label info]
www.ashinternational.com
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
|
FREQ_OUT 2 |
CD |
"Freq_out is a sound installation of twelve individual audio works which are presented as a single piece. Each artist is assigned a frequency range with which to work. This process is carried out in situ, each using a workstation consisting of a mixing desk and a PA system. All the resulting compositions are then amplified together in the space to create a sound installation or performance. The project reveals how space-specific certain frequencies can be, but also how other sounds can be separated from their source and "thrown" around the space. The final mix not only reveals the innate properties of the frequencies, but also the possibilities when they are combined. The second freq_out CD after Ash 5.8 (2004) features the usual suspects; curated and conducted by Carl Michael von Hausswolff, freq_out 2 was recorded and performed for Ultima the Oslo Music Festival 2004, by: BJ Nilsen, J. G. Thirlwell, Jacob Kirkegaard, Jana Winderen, Maia Urstad, Kent Tankred, Finnbogi Pétursson, Per Magnus Lindborg, Brandon LaBelle, Franz Pommasl, Mike Harding and Tommi Grönlund & Petteri Nisunen. The recording was made by NOTAM, mixed by BJ Nilsen at The Embassy and mastered by Denis Blackham at Skye Mastering. Much more "ambient" than the spiky, threatening sonic conflict of the first freq_out CD, this second piece is evocative of an utterly still landscape." [label info]
www.ashinternational.com
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Twisted Cabaret Vol. 1 |
CD |
"Ein internationaler, avantgardistischer Haufen tanzt mit einer gesunden Portion kabarettistischer Lebensmüdigkeit im Dreivierteltakt in den Tod. Oder zumindest in den Vollsuff. Bei 18 Songs kein einziger Totalausfall, dazu sind viele Stücke selten oder sogar exklusiv. Kaufen! www.youtube.com/useser/volvoxmusic
TRACKLISTING: 01. THE TIGER LILLIES - START A FIRE 02. BABY DEE - THE EARLIE KING 03. EVELYN EVELYN - HAVE YOU SEEN MY SISTER EVELYN 04. THE REAL TUESDAY WELD - THE SWEETEST SONGS 05. THE DRESDEN DOLLS - BANK OF BOSTON BEAUTY QUEEN 06. BUDAM - DA DA DA DIE 07. LE MAXI MONSTER MUSIC SHOW - J'AURAIS AIM 08. THE RESIDENTS - THE DYING OILMAN 09. KOKUSYOKU SUMIRE - GEKKO RENKA 10. KATZENJAMMER KABARETT - SAYLOR SANDHAM'S SISTER 11. VERMILLION LIES - BONNIE & CLYDE 12. LITTLE ANNIE - SIT ON DOWN 13. DE KIFT - KNOECK 14. THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS - MAN OR MOUSE 15. ARANOS - NEW GUITAR 16. MARCELLA PUPPINI AND THE FORGET ME NOTS - WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO YOUR FACE? 17. EL TIGER COMICS GROUP & JOEL HUBAUT - VAPAMOU RIRE 18. LITTLE WHITE RABBITS STILL BLEED - BALLOON ANIMAL SUICIDE (BIG BLUE RIBBONS)" [label info / Cargo ]
"Seit Charlotte Rampling in Cavanis Sadiconazista-Film Der Nachtportier diesen Song von Friedrich Hollaender im KZ um ihr Leben sang, klingt bei mir Cabaret beklemmend pervers wie Macabaret. Darüber schiebt sich das Großstadt-Triptychon von Dix und der Conferencier im Kit Kat Club plärrt grinsend seine Zoten. Hinter dem Rücken deutscher Abgrundsvergessenheit hat sich aber anderswo etwas entwickelt, Dark Cabaret getauft oder "Brechtian punk cabaret", das den Spirit von vor 1933 mit anderen Mitteln, mit Postpunk-, Gothik- oder bloßer Nostalgie-Attitüde wieder aufgreift. Versammelt auf Twisted Cabaret Vol. 1 (Volvox Music, VOL0902/0903, CD + DVD) sind die stilprägenden The Tiger Lillies aus London als Brandstifter mit groteskem Zündstoff, The Dresden Dolls aus Boston und das französische Katzenjammer Kabarett mit den ‚erwachsenen‘ Altstimmen von Amanda Palmer bzw. Mary Komplikated. Little Annie bietet einen ihrer Songs from the Coal Mine Canary und eine verboten glaubwürdige Version von Aznavours ‚Yesterday When I Was Young‘. Irritationsveteranen wie The Residents und unverwüstlichen Tänzern über Abgründen wie The Legendary Pink Dots mit dem herzensbrecherischen Edward Ka-Spel als ‚Man or Mouse‘ (unter lauter Schafen) stehen Baby Dee zur Seite, hinter deren rauer Schale eine Seele steckt, die in Kilogramm gewogen werden kann, und Aranos als Stehgeiger mit einer heißen Kartoffel im Mund. The Real Tuesday Weld steuern im 3/4-Takt fingerdick Patina bei, die großartigen Marcella Puppini and The Forget Me Nots lassen Männer Männchen machen. Dazu krähen die kessen Mädels von Kokusyoku Sumire Tango Balkanese oder, halb Geisha, halb Rokoko, Enkaschlager, dass die Perücke stäubt. Vermillion Lies spielen kriminellen Rock‘n‘Roll aus Oakland, als männliches Gegenstück kurbeln die Muncie Bros. aus Indianapolis aka Little White Rabbit Still Bleed Red ihre Klappsmühle, während Evelyn Evelyn sich schwuder & bresterlich eine Gitarre teilen. Mit The Maxi Monster Music und dem Schellackgesang ihrer üppigen Bearded Lady zu Singender Säge und Zweifingerklavier und der theatralischen eL TiGeR CoMiCs GRouP mit ihrem heiseren Chansonier Joel Hubaut treten weitere Franzosen auf, De Kift verblüffen mit holländischem Rap zu Blasmusik und Slide Guitar, der toteslüsterne Budam von den Färöer Inseln stimmt einen morbiden Humptatawalzer an. Fehlen bloß die World/Inferno Friendship Society und Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird. Einige der Lieder sind exklusiv, einige rar, nicht wenige glamourös oder fatal, aber alle stellen sie seltsame Sachen mit Herz oder Hirn (soweit vorhanden) an. Von den Blauen Engeln und Seeräuber Jennies ganz zu schweigen. Die besten unter diesen Galgenliedersängern und Pfeffermühlenfatalisten können jederzeit die bad alchemystischsten Zeilen, die ich kenne, unterschreiben: Wenn ich mir was wünschen dürfte, möcht ich etwas glücklich sein, denn wenn ich gar zu glücklich wäre, hätte ich Heimweh nach dem Traurigsein. Was singt Amanda Palmer da auf der DVD? I want all the details of the pain and misery, und Ka-Spel, für den sie sich ans Klavier setzt, würzt nach mit Asche und 15 toten Fliegen. Aber die DVD ist eh schon wegen The Tiger Lillies Freakshow unbezahlbar." [Rigo Dittmann / Bad Alchemy]
|
2010 |
€14.50 |
|
|
SURFACE TENSION |
BOOK & CD |
300 Seiten starkes, sehr schön aufgemachtes Kunstbuch (herausgegeben von BRANDON LABELLE und KEN EHRLICH) mit CD zum Thema „Kunst im öffentlichen Raum“ bzw. zur Frage des Ortes der Kunst, der Dialektik von Innen und Aussen, der Beziehung von innerem Wunsch und äusserem Raum... mit vielen Projektbeschreibungen & Essays, Fotos, und CD mit Klang- und Installationskünstlern: Bruce Nauman, Paul Panhuysen, Anthony Moore, Erik Nauman, Stuart Dempster, Frances-Marie Uitti, Undo, Yoko Ono, Terry Fox, Alison Knowles, Atau Tanaka.
Super-Aufmachung & hochinteressante Musik & Projekte, mit diesem Buch kann man Stunden verbringen !!
"Edited by Brandon LaBelle and Ken Ehrlich. CD compiled by Stephen Vitiello. CD mastered and manufactured by Ground Fault Recordings. Published by Errant Bodies Press (300 page, 8.5"x11", book with compact disc)"
"Surface Tension aims to broadly explore the notion of Site by addressing questions of public space and the frictions and conversations that occur as intersections of the imagined and the real. Through investigating these interactions, Surface Tension will seek to make apparent connections between cultural production and the very spaces in which such work functions. As much as the rhetoric of globalization, virtuality, and digital networking dominates contemporary discourses of place and space, Surface Tension looks towards proximate space and experiences of locality to tease out the tensions between contemporary global communications and the site-specifics of everyday life. Rather than reinforce existing notions of an authentic alternative vs. a 'wired' culture, we hope to explore the cultural and personal investments made in technology in order to examine how social andpolitical space is inhabited and made manifest. This entails a consideration of the desires, impulses, and longings which occur within and against the contexts of social spaces and cultural arenas, and how this very interaction performs within the dynamics of spatial organization. Out of these relations comes the radically diverse ways space can be negotiated, manipulated, and traversed."
"From Gordon Matta-Clark to Lawrence Weiner, Bruce Nauman to Alison Knowles, the question of site locates itself in issues of public space, at the intersection of the imagined and the real, at the juncture of performance and architectural production. By anthologizing essays, documents, and interviews by leading critics, historians, and artists on issues of site-specificity, conceptualism, feminism, and architecture practice, Surface Tension reveals the connections between cultural production and the very spaces in which such work functions. These textual explorations are complemented by extensive documentation of related projects, both historical and contemporary, by artists, architects, and performance artists, including Coughing Piece, a never-before released 1961 audio work by Yoko Ono; an obscure audio work by Nauman from 1969; projects by Suzanne Lacy, a leading figure in the development of conceptual practice and public art; and an experimental text by Jane Rendell on psychic architectures. Conversations occur between the pages of Surface Tension, between theoretical analysis and modes of practice, that activate the publication as a site itself, one participating in a broad field of knowledge. Includes an audio CD of the sound art pieces."
Essays/Writings: Kathy Battista, Jennifer Gabrys, Gordon Matta-Clark, Margaret Morgan, Paul Panhuysen, Lucy Lippard, Laurie Palmer, Brandon LaBelle, Ken Ehrlich, Jane Rendell, Juli Carson, Atau Tanaka, Michael Asher, Simon Leung Documentation of Projects: Concrete Steps, Jen Hofer/Melissa Dyne, Kim Abeles, Carol Brown, Wochenklausur, Christof Migone/Alex St-onge, Michael Rakowitz, Eyal Weizman, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Tanja Jordan, Lizzie Scott, Lize Mogel, Terry Fox, Lynn Kirby, Octavio Camargo, Colette Meacher, Valerie Trever CD: Bruce Nauman, Paul Panhuysen, Anthony Moore, Erik Nauman, Stuart Dempster, Frances-Marie Uitti, Undo, Yoko Ono, Terry Fox, Alison Knowles, Atau Tanaka."
[label info]
|
2003 |
€25.00 |
|
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String of Artifacts |
do-CD |
"Yep, this is the compilation you heard about. Solve the enclosed crossword with your ears or find the cheat sheet hidden inside; your clues include: Sun City Girls, Caroliner, Nautical Almanac, Metalux, Wolf Eyes, Mono Pause, Hans Grüsel's Krankenkabinet, Tarantism, Tom Recchion, Fat Worm of Error, Sixes, Bran(...)Pos, Masonic Youth, Pod Blotz, Smegma, Panicsville, too many more." [label info]
https://www.resipiscent.com/artist/view/21
|
2005 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Lenghedivacje |
do-CDR |
"...RENATO RINALDI and Hybrida put together an interesting project: stories and interviews in CD1 become sound source for experimental music of CD2, with outstanding contributions from SLAWEK KWI, ERIC LA CASA, ANTJE VOWINCKEL, WEIS WARD, GIUSEPPE IELASI." [label info]
www.finalmuzik.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
|
ERRATUM # 4, Revue Sonore |
3 x CD |
"Poetry of sound / sound of poetry. Erratum brings together personalities both atypical and unclassifiable : outriders, stalkers, survivors of the sonic crash zone, those transgressing the strictures and clichés of unimaginative sound habits. Visual and sonic artists, bards, iconoclastic noise makers come together to create a subtle, hybrid, ever-changing, disseminated collective sonic psyche. From the time of Marcel Duchamp's Musical Erratum and Luigi Russolo's Art of Noises in 1913 to the latterday recuperation of software bugs, hardware crashes, along with the eclectic array of contemporary poetical noise praxis, there is a rich, complex and poorly understood history. Erratum's aim is not so much to associate poetry and music as to seek out their potential to merge : the crossovers, the openings, the interzones, meetings and fault lines, the ineffable yet tangible open fusion, that blends the different vibrations of voice, noise and electronics. Erratum weaves a lively and diagonal concretion, an alternative to restrictive and mechanical technological visions and it stands out as a realm of a possible Utopia of the indivisible that leads towards active questioning.
with :
AGF
Pierre André Arcand
Llorenç Barber
Stéphane Bérard
Xavier Boussiron
Raoul Beckman
Christophe Charles
Henning Christiansen
Chlorgeschlecht
Ira Cohen
Doc. Courbe
Jacques Demarcq
Le Dépeupleur
Fréderic Dumond
Yvan Etienne
EHB
Vincent Epplay
Joana Preiss
Arno Fabre
Giovanni Fontana
Michel Giroud
Guillermo G.Peña
Guillermo Galindo
Tommi Grönlund
Petteri Nisunen
Charles E.Henry
Gary Hill
Joël Hubaut
José Iges
Jil Keita
Christina Kubisch
Brandon LaBelle
laboiteblanche
David Larcher
Rainier Lericolais
Francisco López
Robin Minard
Joachim Montessuis
Phill Niblock
Julien Ottavi
Charles Pennequin
Finnbogi Pétursson
Cédric Pigot
Jörg Piringer
Lee Ranaldo
Jean Philippe Roux
Erik Samakh
Samon Takahashi
Atau Tanaka
Alexandre Yterce
Randy H.Yau"
[label info]
www.erratum.org
|
2004 |
€26.00 |
|
|
Audible Geography |
CD |
"Geography is an ongoing force shaping our understandings of the environments around us and, in turn, experiences ongoing transformation and development. Considering not only the natural world, but also culture, economy and politics in diverse settings and across many scales, contemporary geography acts as a glue - integrating disparate research streams and continuing to provide insights into our relations with space and place. On Audible Geography, 11 sound artists were asked to consider the scope of geography today. The results are as varied as they are intriguing. The final edition is offered as a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Institute of Australian Geographers. Feat. Eric La Casa, Stephen Vitiello, Lee Patterson, Asher, Jeph Jerman, Toshiya Tsunoda, Philip Samartzis, Marc Behrens, James Webb, Andrea Polli and Francisco López." [liner notes]
www.room40.org
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Zelphabet Vol. K |
CD |
"The eleventh installment in Zelphabet’s new series of 26 alphabetically oriented compilations of noise. Zelphabet K rides into the new year with tracks from K2, KEY RANSONE, KK NULL and KLUSTER 07 (CONRAD SCHNITZLER)." [label info]
www.zelphabet.com
"And then there is of course Zelphabet, curated by G.X. Jupitter-Larsen of The Haters fame. Now up to the letter K. Intervals are getting longer, unfortunately, as this is such a fine series that I would love to see complete one day. Two noise ends and two surprises here. The noise side is represented by two Japanese artists. K2 goes out furthest into noise land with a twenty minute onslaught of cut up distortion. It could very well be that K2 takes a bunch of his own tapes, a pair of scissors and then just crudely assembles bits of tapes into a new piece. KK Null is here also a bit louder than we are used of him in recent years, but adds a rhythm or two to his noise tapestry. More digital in approach, with the rhythm being made by skipping loops of CD players, feeding off to a line of sound effects. Both of these pieces are almost twenty minutes and perhaps at such a bit long. The two surprises is first a 1998 recording by Key Ransone. Once better known as Small Cruel Party, but since 2000 more or less gone from the scene, in order to be a chef in France. But not entirely disappeared. His 'A Tangible Bridge' is performed by the Seattle Creative Orchestra - Ransone always had something with bridging electronic music with modern classical music. This piece is entirely modern classical, with slow violin build up and after a crescendo, silence, followed by singing and strange gestures. Maybe a bit like older Arvo Part? I must admit I am not that much of a connoisseur of the genre, but this piece is actually very good. The other surprise is Kluster 07, consisting of Conrad Schnitzler, Michael Thomas Roe and Masato Ooyama, who recorded this piece in September 2007. Bouncing, psychedelic electronics with a set of more or less improvised percussion on top and more improvised bits on some synthesizers. Quite a mellow piece, but perhaps also a nice update to the earliest incarnation of K/Cluster - still a steady favorite after almost forty years." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2011 |
€11.00 |
|
|
Magnetic Traces |
CD |
"Only sound installations, presented during august 2009, in West Space gallery and Project Space gallery, Melbourne, Australia. Stereo versions from multichannel compositions. Artists: Marc Baron, Loïc Blairon, Anthea Caddy, Jean-Luc Guionnet, Camilla Hannan, Eric La Casa, Cédric Peyronnet, Geoff Robinson, Philip Samartzis, Thembi Soddel, Eamon Sprod, Thomas Tilly. Cover by Marcia Jane." [label info]
http://ascendre.free.fr/
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
|
I.D. Art # 2 |
CD |
"When the Los Angeles Free Music Society 10 CD set came out I eagerly flipped through the contents to see what treasures had finally been made available again. Much to my surprise the early compilation I.D. Art #2 was not included in this otherwise major overview of the LAFMS. I.D. Art #2 was the second LP release on their label, coming after Le Forte Four’s ‘Bikini tennis shoes’ LP, and before the 2LP ‘Live at the Brand’, a split album between Le 44 and The Doo-Dooettes. It dates from 1976. It is also probably the most difficult LP on their catalogue to find. Originally released in an edition of just 200 copies, most of which were given out to the 44 artists and groups who appeared on this extraordinary LP. The deal was that each track was paid for by the contributor at a rate of $8 per minute in exchange for 4 copies of the disc. Consequently very few copies were ever made available via the LAFMS mail order service.
With a running time of 66 minutes and the sheer variety of contributions, I.D. Art #2 remained for most people a mysterious and tantalising item.
Most of the contributors came from the students at Otis Art Institute in LA, and many make their only ever recordings for this disc. Among the known names from the LAFMS scene are: Le Forte Four, Joe Potts, Fredrick Nilsen, Mr Foon, Ace & Duce, Dennis Mehaffey as well as 6 tracks by Smegma. Other artists include the painter Miles Forst, violinist Josie Roth, film makers Doug Henry and Gary Beydler, mail artist and dog portrait painter Irene Dogmatic, Otis librarian Joan Hugo, graphic designer Kathe Schreyer and many other creative artists and designers at the start of their careers who submitted their audio idea, be it via telephone, in subways, recontextualising old vinyl, philosophising, story telling, being abstract, joking, rehearsing and lo even playing instruments. This exhilerating journey, bursting with ideas was compiled by Joe Potts and Waynna Kato." [label info]
tracklist:
• 1a. Mac McCloud; b. Mac McCloud (2:19)
• 2. Harold Schroeder “Silent rituals” (3:32)
• 3. Greg Neutra/J.D. Elliot “Grieg fatigue” (2:01)
• 4. Smegma a. “Rrose Selavy will wait for my washing machine, even” b. “The Andalusian dog often digs into the furniture with onyx fingers.” (2:02)
• 5. Smegma “Potatoe war” (0:59) mp3
• 6. Fredrik Nilsen “You can’t hide from aldehyde” (1:40)
• 7. Miles Forst “Art, art, art” (0:41)
• 8. Smegma “One moment” (1:30)
• 9. Smegma “Pig face blues” (0:24)
• 10. Doug Henry “View this command as a verbal enactment of a command” (0:15)
• 11. Josie Roth “Heal, and another little time” (1:01)
• 12. Joe Potts “I don’t want to go to the farm” (0:21)
• 13. Otto Fick (0:48)
• 14. Smegma “Excerpt from: I’ll have Julie Nixon-Eisenhower for my appetizer (sour lungs to my surprise)” (3:01)
• 15. Karen Kato “Xmas 1952” (0:35)
• 16. J.J. Allen Vargas “Victim of racism” (1:25)
• 17. Dennis Guy Mehaffey “Busta Nosa” (1:47)
• 18. M/R/Zuniga “Vulnerability: rape, male vs. female” (1:31)
• 19. Mike Green “Martin Heiddeger revisited” (dedicated to Molly) (0:15).
• 20. Mehaffey a. Introdution by Buckminster Fuller. b. “I stumble/You laugh” (4:01)
• 21. Jules Lemelle (1:03).
• 22. Maureen Abbott (0:14).
• 23. Smegma “Take one” (3:29).
• 24. Dan Weiss/P. Hamilton Ross “A bicentennial tribute to America’s freight trains” (0:56).
• 25. Mr. Foon “Timeless #1” (5:50)
• 26. Bertil Petersson “Monologue to Henry VIII” (2:05)
• 27. Amrein & Stoll (1:04)
• 28. Ace & Duce “Dogs are barking" (0:37)
• 29. Irene Dogmatic/Rose Tatoo (0:36)
• 30. Gordon Shields “Cotton duck, up and back” (0:59)
• 31. Gary Beydler “Record stick” (0:16).
• 32. Tom Kemp “Pasadena subway station poetry stills” (3:39)
• 33. Donald Spaulding “I don’t want this to happen” (0:32)
• 34. Janice Felger/Joan Hugo “One minute of art news update in 30 seconds (1:04)
• 35. Sue Farthing (0:22)
• 36. Waynna Kato “White/Noise” (0:29)
• 37. Jim Abuan/Peter Muzzey “Why does love have to be so sad?” (0:20)
• 38. Juan Gomez “This is my country” (2:47)
• 39. P.J. Campbell (1:01).
• 40. Kathe Schreyer “Don’t make me laugh” (0:15)
• 41. Mary Dana Chodzko “Patty Smith by Mary Dana Chodzko” (1:42).
• 42. Gary Laskin “Have sex with Rex” (1:25)
• 43. Jean Koller “Dream” (3:20).
• 44. Le Forte Four a. Discarded portion of the soundtrack for Rick’s film “Burger madness” b. From “The origin of Largie Schrapnel” c. “I haven’t heard you for a long time...” d. “Fat ape” (1:17)
www.stalk.net/paradigm
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
|
TF100 |
BOOK/ 2 x 10inch |
"in the rotterdam home of tonefloat, 100th anniversaries are typically referred to as 'seeing methuselah'. you can be sure, however, that when the corks are unscrewed on february 27th at the release party for tf100, the label won't show any signs of turning into an old man. if anything, this celebratory publication proves that over the past fourteen years, tonefloat may have gone through many different stages, but has always foremost done things their own way. the one hundred first entries in the catalogue include curious little items such as the tonefloat website (tf006), a t-shirt (tf025), an album of acoustic pink floyd covers which got lost when the pc containing the master crashed (tf017) and even a long stretch of silence (tf015) - the years between 2000 and 2004, in which not a single new album was added to the discography. most of all, they include a lot of alluring music by strikingly creative personalities who've always understood that releasing lavish vinyl editions was never a retro trend or a temporary fad, but all about treating music with respect and as a form of art.
this celebratory package not only reflects these aspects by going back in time, but also points towards the future. on the one hand, a 108-page hardcover book tells the tonefloat story from the very first release – the use of ashes' moongarden - to recent full-lengths by artists like astralasia, anja garbarek, microphonics, theo travis & robert fripp, porcupine tree and no man, covering a period in which the music industry as a whole underwent massive changes. on the other hand, the real core of the tf100 set are the two 10inches of exclusive material, which have been carefully included in the book – friends of the luxurious insurgentes vinyl set will know what to expect. to mark the occasion, the leading artists on tonefloat have teamed up in various constellations and in promptu line-ups. tf100 now includes collaborations between, among others, steven wilson, theo travis and sand snowman and a duo between dirk serries and maarten van der vleuten. these contributions depict the full range of musical emotions which have come to define the label's eclectic yet recognisable voice, from eleven-minute folk-epic 'song for john fahey' by wilson and sand snowman to the barely two and a half minute short quirky techno of peter van vliet's 'through the eyes of the duck'. there's nothing nostalgic about this music at all - some of these tunes could even get metusaleh dancing.
tf100 will be available in an initial run of 700 copies (of which 500 are on sale) as a deluxe hardback and cloth-bound 11x11inch 108-page book, containg the 7-track album over two 10inches. the official release date for the album is february 27, 2011, and is available from the tonefloat store. pre-orders will be shipped on march 1, and the album will be available on the tonefloat festival."
www.tonefloat.com
|
2011 |
€39.50 |
|
|
From Earth to Sirius |
do-CD |
"With Ah Cama-Sotz, Apocalyptic Visions, Atomine Elektrine, Christblood, Different State, Electric Uranus, Emme Ya, Expo '70,Hybryds, Kallee, Kia Karma, Nordvargr, Ouroboros, Phelios, Rapoon, S.E.T.I, Therion Trismegistos, Unknown Caller, X-naVI:et, Zenial (space ambient mantras).
A compilation dedicated to the canine star. 20 artists, 130 minutes-well-known masters of the post-industrial music and also a few newcomers. Highly recommended!!!" [label info]
www.zoharum.com
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Ambient of TIME |
CD |
"Material or formless? Concepts or changes?
The concept of time and how we grasp what "time" means varies by person while it controls our behaviors. The favorite time, the relaxed time, the anxious time, the change by time, and the memories and the forgetfulness.
what if it's put in sounds?
All 10 tunes written by 10 musicians, who had kept thinking over the “time”, create a current of lenient time, piling up afterimages.
Album Concept: We are living under the concept of time. Time - It seems that all the creatures and even the universe have been controlled by time. However, that is not really "time." It is, in fact, the “change.” The existence of time is an absolute axis of our activities. On the other hand, these moments give different meaning for each person and exist. The ambient of time. How do we grasp what it is? And what would it become if it's expressed in sounds..
【track list】
01. el fog / Time, Memory
02. Psychedeism / dawn chorus
03. Tatsuhiko Asano / Quartz
04. radi strand / absence of time
05. atrem / under cover of winter's night
06. Yu Kadowaki / Tokinokane
07. Mujika Easel / Le rêve de l'après-midi
08. naph / music for etv
09. Tadahiko Yokogawa / Au long de la riviere nocturne
10. Doi Itsuqi / Hakalame" [label info]
|
2011 |
€13.50 |
|
|
FUCK YOU. Fucking Noise in China now |
DVD |
"100 minutes of electronic noise music and harsh speeches: a road movie between Beijing and Shanghai featuring Torturing Nurse, Wang Changcun, Wang Fan, Li Jian Hung / Dickson Dee, the poet Sun Meng Jin and Zbigniew Karkowski as radical red line.
DVD NTSC-PAL 100'
English + French subtitles
released by SUB ROSA / OME
'We went on a trip, with a vision that may have confused feelings of revolt with revolt itself, expecting to shoot a monument to the glory of Noise "as a subversive action" in the People's Republic of China. After spending a few hours on site, we had to admit that nothing political was being expressed in this place and at this time. In two weeks, we still shot about a hundred hours of rushes, in a totally chaotic fashion, as if in the throes of panic.' OME team" [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Compilation Festival Electronica en Abril * 2003-2012 |
do-LP BOX |
"To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Festival Electronica en Abril, born in 2003 at La Casa Encendida, Madrid, La Casa Encendida has invited some of the artists that have left their personal mark on the event, right now the oldest music festival in Madrid. All of them have contributed exclusive tracks to this 2LP that provide an insight into the quality and diversity of the festival. These are ten exclusive tracks that research a very specific sound quality (Eleh, Radian, nsi.), take introspective journeys (Thomas Körner, Maja Ratkje) and summon deep rhythmic collisions (Farben aka Jan Jelinek, Dopplereffekt, Elektro Guzzi, Matmos, SND). All of them seem to share a desire for experimentation that encompasses the emotional as a response to a general state of things that hits us with an overdose of data and experimentation. Matmos' track was composed playing around with a friend's new synthesizer. Eleh added field recordings to his usual microscopic sound aesthetic for the first time. Thomas Körner composed this intimate and melancholic piece for his grandmother, and Maja Ratkje goes deep into an alien ambient lullaby of ravishing simplicity and beauty. Farben deconstructs rhythm to build it up again as a pure ecstatic house beat. Nsi., the project of Tobias Freund and Max Loderbauer embark on an abyssal expedition to the far reaches of sound. Dopplereffekt melt their retro-futurist electro into crystalline emotions. Elektro Guzzi, always recording live, without overdubs, was helped in the studio by Patrick Pulsinger, taking the bullet train directly to the heart of their amazing analog techno, where guitar, bass and drums truly count. And SND (Mark Fell and Matt Steel) ride on an oblique and funked-up carousel of their own making, where rhythm and math surf together. And finally, Farben goes deep into glorious house-not-house." [label info]
|
2012 |
€29.50 |
|
|
5 Composers - 3rd Hearing |
CD |
A third hearing from the vivid electroacoustic scene of Sweden. Lars Larsson, Patrik Thorell, Erik Peters, Cristian Marina and Rolf Enström present more brilliant, exciting sounds to broaden your world.
Rolf Enström "In Ice, Mirror"
Lars Larsson "Opening a Can of Worms"
Erik Peters "Sejd"
Cristian Marina "Fatidique"
Patrik Thorell "Högmod?"
- FYCD 1006, 1995
www.fylkingen.se
|
1995 |
€12.50 |
|
|
TOUCH. 30 Years and counting |
do-LP |
"Compiled, edited, mixed and produced by Mike Harding & Jon Wozencroft, 14-15th October 2012. Cut by Jason at Transition, 16th October 2012. Artwork & Photography by Jon Wozencroft. Release date: 5th December 2012. Released to coincide with Touch's 30th anniversary celebrations at Beaconsfield, London, on December 5th and 6th 2012, all tracks are exclusive and original to this release With Fennesz, Bruce Gilbert, Rosy Parlane, Oren Ambarchi, ELEH, BJNilsen, Nana April Jun, Chris Watson, Mika Vainio, Carl Michael von Hausswolff, Jana Winderen, Philip Jeck, Francisco López, Z'EV, Hildur Gudnadottir, Biosphere.
30 years and counting is an echo of a time when the world was in a critical condition, and potentially about to blow itself into oblivion at the tail end of the Cold War. As such the title is a wry reflection on the situation we find ourselves in today, where the final curtain is less likely to close, but the stakes somehow seem to be more extreme and polarised than ever.
As far as Touch is concerned, it is an expression of our youthful relationship to the work. Mike Harding and Jon Wozencroft invited each of the Touch artists to contribute a glimpse of their current practice to what is effectively a group show rather than a compilation. The brief was not only to celebrate a situation, but to remind each other why we are doing it, and make a kind of documentary realism.
Some artists responded quickly with significant twists and returns to their signature sound and others left it to the last minute. The net result was that Mike and Jon mastered the LP/CD more or less as live performance in the cutting room, Transition, as an expression of the vitality of the project rather than some pre-ordained historical item.
The history is built into the cover with two images of the first computer, the ‘Colossus’, built in Bletchley Park during the early 1940s as a means of cracking the Enigma codes… Here the pressure of time is at its most compressed. Two contra-punctal images were shot only recently, backstage moments of Touch 30 situations which as historical events, pale in comparison – they are just personal, memories in a flash.
30 years and counting is a filmic/time-based response from a collective of artists who have made a distinct impression on contemporary music and the way things go. Fennesz, Eleh, Hildur Gudnadottir, Chris Watson, Philip Jeck, Biosphere… We should really list everyone. That’s what they try and do on hip-hop albums.
We started with cassettes; this project commenced as a dedication to vinyl rather than digital, a question concerning the art of recording. 30 years and counting is a manifesto after all these transformations. It is available on CD and download. The vinyl flares with the crackle of the present." [Jon Wozencroft, November 2012 / label info]
www.touchmusic.org.uk
|
2012 |
€24.50 |
|
|
Complete 10inch-series from Cold Blue |
3 x CD |
"Back by popular demand (and available for the first time on CD), this boxed set of three CDs collects all the music released on a popular series of 10-inch vinyl records that were put out by Cold Blue in the early 1980s. During the Cold Blue label's first incarnation, this music by seven West Coast composers created much of the company's reputation as a challenging and always interesting source of new music. Although bound together by a common concern with music's basic sensuality, the pieces collected here are wide-ranging in Style -- process-driven works, carefully through-composed pieces, ambient soundscapes, and music that draws on influences from around the world. In instrumentation, this music is also wide-ranging -- from violins accompanied by gourd rattles to an ensemble of clay ocarinas and whistles and flutes to works for piano (solo and duo), synthesizers, singers, speaking voices, cello and piano, electric guitar and clarinet, and perhaps the only known piece of new music for pedal steel guitar accompanied by multiple dobros. The diverse, free-spirited, genre-bending music in this set was characteristic of certain trends in West Coast music of the 80s. And, to some degree, most of this music tangentially addressed the lingua franca of 70s minimalism -- embracing certain aspects, fleeing others." Composers: Peter Garland, Michael Jon Fink, Barney Childs, Read Miller, Chas Smith, Rick Cox, Daniel Lentz." [label info]
|
2003 |
€24.00 |
|
|
Tensions at the Vanguard: New Music from Peru (1948-1979) |
do-CD |
"This new Pogus 2 CD compilation, Tensions At The Vanguard, curated by Luis Alvarado (writer, journalist, sound poet), presents some of the most important pieces of the Peruvian musical vanguard of the 1960's and 70's, offering a representative sample of works and composers from this important period in Peruvian music. This release also includes a 24-page booklet - in both Spanish and English - with an essay giving an overview of the works, the composers, and a brief musical and social history of Peru during this time.
CD 1: Edgar Valcárcel: 'Invencion' for magnetic tape (1967), Leopoldo La Rosa: 'Andes N¼1 1969' for orchestra (1969) (Fragment), César Bolaños: 'Intensidad Y Altura' for magnetic tape (1964), Walter Casas: 'La creacion' for piano (1971), Luis David Aguilar: 'Mayhuay' for string quartet (1971), Francisco Pulgar Vidal: 'Detenimientos' for violin and piano (1967), José Malsio: 'Danza' for orchestra (1948-1950). CD 2: Enrique Pinilla: 'Prisma' for magnetic tape (1967), Alejandro Nuñez Allauca 'Gravitacion Humana' for magnetic tape (1971), Celso Garrido Lecca: 'Intihuatana' for string quartet (1967), Pedro Seiji Asato: 'Quasar IV' for two pianos & contrabass (1973), Enrique Iturriaga: 'Cuatro Expresiones for violin' (1967), Arturo Ruiz del Pozo: 'Lago de Totoras' for magnetic tape (1978).
A note: A number of the tracks here are taken
from live recordings that were not necessarily intended for release. While our best efforts have been made to reduce the original broadband noise, we found it necessary to allow some to remain in order to preserve clarity. This new Pogus 2 CD compilation, curated by Luis Alvarado (writer, journalist, sound poet), presents some of the most important pieces of the Peruvian musical vanguard of the 1960's and 70's, offering a representative sample of works and composers from this important period in Peruvian music. This release also includes a 24-page booklet - in both Spanish and English - with an essay giving an overview of the works, the composers, and a brief musical and social history of Peru during this time. Thirteen works by thirteen different composers - 5 tape pieces and 8 instrumental works - give an excellent introduction to some fascinating composers who are known outside of Peru in varying degrees, if at all. These composers explored serial, electronic, electroacoustic, and aleatoric music during a time of tension between politics and the avant-garde in academic music in Latin America. The 1960s and 1970s were particularly difficult years for Latin American social movements, and a time when the concepts of vanguard, revolution and universalism enter into complex interactions. These works and their composers ask not how much experimentation occurred, but what the use of these techniques represent and to what extent did these musicians and their music engage critically with modernity ? Our hope is that the listener will find some or all of these composers and their works of interest, and will further explore the music made by these fine composers as it hopefully becomes more available over time." [label info]
www.pogus.com |
2012 |
€18.50 |
|
|
Cycles: Cyclic Law's 10th Anniversary Label Sampler |
do-CD |
"To commemorate our 10th year of activity, we’ve collected new and previously unreleased material by most of Cyclic Law’s roster who’s music has been released on the label over the past 10 years. This very special label sampler features exclusive tracks by ALLSEITS, ARCANA, AUN, BEYOND SENSORY EXPERIENCE, DESIDERII MARGINIS, GUSTAF HILDEBRAND, KAMMARHEIT, KARJALAN SISSIT, NEW RISEN THRONE, NORTHAUNT & MULM, PARHELION, SHRINE, SINKE DUS, SOPHIA, SVARTSINN & PSYCHOMANTEUM, THE FLOATING WORLD, THERRADAEMON, TREHA SEKTORI, TRIANGULAR ASCENSION, VISIONS and VORTEX. This compendium stands as an homage to all artists involved throughout the years, and whom with their unique approach to atmospheric music have forged the Cyclic Law Sound. We’d also like to dedicate this release to our worldwide supporters who’ve made this 10 year venture possible. Onward to a new dawn...
Edition of 1000 copies in 6 panel digi sleeve.
21 tracks. Running Time 2:35:00." [label info]
www.cycliclaw.com
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
|
In Progress II |
CD |
"Laznia CCA and In Progress present the second In Progress album. CD includes recordings of artists that performed in Laznia CCA within In Progress project.
Most of the recordings were registered in Laznia CCA during live shows.
Kompilacja V/A - IN PROGRESS 2
1.Robert Lippok "Avarietyofcolour"
2.Rapoon "White Disc Moon "
3.C.3.3. "Acousticon II"
4.Troum "Apeiron "
5.Jacaszek "White wind dance "
6.Andrew Lagowski "Morpheus in the Snow" / live in Laznia CCA 19.02.2011
7.Michel Banabila "Eclipse"
8.Z'ev & Hati / live Laznia CCA 7.05.2011
9.Mats Lindström "Palats" / live in Laznia CCA 17.11.2012
10.Adam Donovan "Cycling robot" / live in Laznia CCA 1.12.2012
11.Robert Piotrowicz "Helsinki Live "
12.Feine Trinkers bei Pinkels Daheim / live in Laznia CCA 14.07.2012
13.Aki Onda "India Song, Paris, June 26, 2008" / 2012 " [label info]
Click the link below to listen to V/A In Progress 1:
http://palsecam.bandcamp.com/album/various-artists-in-progress-csw-a-nia
|
2013 |
€8.00 |
|
|
70 Years of Sunshine |
do-CD |
"In 1943 a Swiss chemist accidentally absorbed through his finger-tips a tiny amount of a compound he was researching. Later, he recorded the effects in a journal - a document of the world's very first LSD trip: 'Last Friday, April 16,1943, I was forced to interrupt my work in the laboratory in the middle of the afternoon and proceed home, being affected by a remarkable restlessness, combined with a slight dizziness. At home I lay down and sank into a not unpleasant intoxicated-like condition, characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination. In a dreamlike state, with eyes closed (I found the daylight to be unpleasantly glaring), I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors. After some two hours this condition faded away.' - Dr. Albert Hofmann - Sandoz Lab Report. 50 years later, in 1993 (the height of the Rave scene in San Francisco) Silent Records released a very special double CD set, curated and produced by Kim Cascone. This was no ordinary release - it was a stellar collection of music from artists paying homage to Albert Hofmann's very first LSD trip. '50 Years of Sunshine received many positive reviews and was praised for being a welcome tribute to the man who changed 20th century human consciousness with a single molecule. The musical homage to Hofmann struck a chord with the public, serving as a reminder to keep the doors of perception open and the creative imagination nourished. Given the bleak times we find ourselves in today, Cascone felt that another tribute to Herr Hofmann was in order. To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the first LSD trip, a batch of etheric lysergic soundscapes were contributed to this project by Kawabata Makoto of Acid Mother's Temple, Robert Wheeler of Pere Ubu, Legendary Pink Dots, Andrew Liles (Nurse With Wound), Andy Rantzen (Pelican Daughter's), various artists from the Silent label and some newer sound artists as well. Consider '70 Years of Sunshine' to be a muchanticipated software update. One that will hopefully make your auditory operating system run smoother and more colorfully. With Kawabata Makoto, Lord Tang, Chihei Hatakeyama, Makyo, Rafael Anton Irisarri, Legendary Pink Dots, Ethernet, Invisible Path, Phil Legard, Andrew Liles, Rapoon, Komora A, (Darius Ciuta), Mike Rooke, Lonely Crowd, Mystical Sun, Mirt, Ceremonial Dagger, Cotton Ferox, Andy Rantzen." [label info]
www.monotyperecords.com
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Hassaniya Music |
LP |
"In 2006, Hisham Mayet returned to West Africa to continue his search for an unknown musician he had heard six months earlier on the radio in a Morocco hotel room. Knowing only that it was Sahrawi music — music of the south — he headed down through the vast and remote desert landscape of the Western Sahara and Mauritania in hopes of finding someone who could identify these revelatory recordings.
That artist was Group Doueh. But he also found much, much more as he wandered from Laâyoune, Western Sahara, to Mauritania’s capital city of Nouakchott: From intimate, sinuous home recordings by Group Marwani, to a sublimely devastating track by the enigmatic Abdul Rahman Al-Gheid, to the inimitable tidinit artistry of Sadoum Ouled Aida, the performers on this album exemplify the haunting and intoxicating qualities of Sahrawi music.
Featuring Mayet’s first recordings of the electrifying Group Doueh, as well as dizzying field recordings from Nouakchott’s Marché Capitale — where relentless traffic noise swirls together with fragments of melody from countless cassette vendors’ PA speakers— Hassānīya Music from the Western Sahara and Mauritania is the evocative soundtrack to a chimerical journey that is also documented visually in Sublime Frequencies’ breathtaking film Palace of the Winds. It not only traces Mayet’s own passage through these barren and beautiful lands, but also charts the evolution of Sahrawi music from sung poetry accompanied by traditional acoustic instruments to electrifying modern grooves drenched in reverb and phase effects. Limited edition pressing with Stoughton tip-on full color gatefold jacket." [label info]
www.sublimefrequencies.com
|
2013 |
€27.50 |
|
|
EIDOLON. A Tribute to REUTOFF |
CD |
"For those (few) who don't know Reutoff : they are one of the more prominent and intriguing Russian Post-Industrial Ambient projects.
The album, celebrating the bands 16th anniversary, consists of remixes and cover versions on original Reutoff tracks, made by bands / projects / friends, whose music has always been close to the band.
Most of the contributors created their tracks using original Reutoff material, some of them were just inspired by Reutoff's music, others tuned in with their own sound and the track with Deutsch Nepal is an entirely team-work piece.
The "Eidolon essence" is a reflection: there was a time, when we absorbed, we were imbued with the images of the Tribute participants.
Their music and their impressions on their own epiphanies were interpreted in our music. Now it's their turn, we came to full circle and the phantoms are granted with new lives.
We are grateful to every each and one of you, you did your best.
A special thank you goes out to Oleg Pashchenko for the Cover Art.
His flair is as brilliant as is his genius>
- Reutoff -
Tracklist :
1. ATRIUM CARCERI : Capacity to Kill
2. DESIDERII MARGINIS : Hypnerotomachia
3. FLINT GLASS : Tunnels in the Dark
4. EMPUSAE : La meno Ma Mento
5. SAL SOLARIS : Never Touch the Xyu
6. ANTLERS MULM : Schlaf-Hello Sleeper
7. WERMUT : Winter 1998
8. DEUTSCH NEPAL / REUTOFF : The Flame
9. SVARTSINN : Dies Irae
10. ОЦЕПЕНЕВШИЕ (OTZEPENEVSHIYE) : Moss
11. TROUM : Regennon Re- Generated
12. CISFINITUM : Last Train to Reutoff"
www.oldeuropacafe.com
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Incendium #4 |
CD |
"The fourth part in the LOKI/PAS label series! Tracks taken from latest releases plus 3 tracks from forthcoming albums and a mindblowing live version of Bad Sectors AMPOS which is unreleased so far.
001 NORTHAUNT If Only My Heart Were Stone (excerpt)
002 CIRCULAR Retreat From Reality
003 INADE The Collision Of Conscience
004 HERBST9 Kima Šuškalli Ukattimanni Šittu
005 FJERNLYS Revelation
006 S.E.T.I. Powder Canyon
007 BAD SECTOR Ampos – Live
008 FIRST LAW Low Spirits Meme (excerpt)
009 PREDOMINANCE Pandemonia Dawning
010 IONOSPHERE Polarized Light
011 SVARTSINN Ashes Of The Late World (excerpt)
012 LAND:FIRE Causing
013 BAD SECTOR October 4, 1957
014 S.E.T.I Final Trajectory (excerpt)
001 from The Borrowed World CD & LP PAS 34
002 from Radiating Perpetual Light CD LOKI 59
003 from Audio Mythology Two CD & LP LOKI 60
004 from Ušumgal Kalamma 2xCD LOKI 56
005 from forthcoming album
006 from Baikal CD PAS 31
007 unreleased live version / original track from Ampos CD PAS 17
008 from A Future so Bright CD LOKI 58
009 from forthcoming album
010 from forthcoming album
011 from The Borrowed World CD & LP PAS 34
012 from Incandescent Sonic Lodge CD PAS 36
013 from Kosmodrom 2xCD PAS 33
014 from Final Trajectory CD PAS 35"
[label info]
|
2014 |
€4.00 |
|
|
Smm: OPIATE |
LP |
"Vinyl limitiert auf 800 Stück im dicken Sleeve mit bedruckter Innenhülle. 'SMM: Opiate' ist der zweite Teil in der SMM Serie von Ghostly International, die eine Erforschung der weitreichenden Möglichkeiten des Sounds zwischen klassischem Minimalismus, Electronica und Drone, Soundtracks und zerbrechlichen Vorstellungswelten zum Ziel haben.
'SMM:Opiate' ist der Nachfolger zu 'SMM: Context' von 2011 und genau wie damals gesellt sich auch hier eine sorgfältig ausgewählte Selektion von Musik, die über zwei Jahre und die ganze Welt hinweg zusammengestellt wurde.
Als Ganzes ist die Erfahrung sicherlich ähnlich derer des Opiats aus dem Titel, doch tatsächlich ist dies eine Zusammenstellung, die den Hörer dazu einlädt, seinen eigenen Sinn zu finden oder einfach nur der Schönheit der Musik zu huldigen und der Welt für eine Weile zu entkommen.
'SMM: Opiate' versammelt Originaltracks von SIMON SCOTT, A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN, CELER, BLACK SWAN, JIM HAYNES, EN, PJUSK, FIELDHEAD und NOVELLER. //
SMM: Opiate is the second release in Ghostly's SMM series, which is an ongoing exploration of the evocative possibilities of sound, with a focus on classical minimalism, electronic and drone composition, film soundtracks, and fragile imaginary landscapes. Opiate is the follow-up to 2011's SMM: Context, and as with that record, it's a carefully chosen selection of music, compiled over some two years from around the world.
The record opens with Simon Scott's "Water Shadow," a luxuriant piece of beatless ambience that's like a wash of warm water or the first touch of the summer sun on your face after a long, cold winter. It's a warmth that doesn't last, though — "Ti Prego Memory Man," by A Winged Victory for the Sullen, is no less beautiful. It's a stately, alpine beauty, its chilly sounds a harbinger of things to come. Celer's "Nothing So Mystical" is more minimal still, while Black Swan's "Passing Heartbreak" brings whispers of humanity, its sound coalescing out of an atmospheric whirl of vocal textures.
The wryly titled "This Is Radio Sweden," by Jim Haynes, is all brooding background noise that's shot through with what sounds like an old-fashioned telephone engaged tone, a track that seems shot through with connotations of absence and loss. EN's "White" is both somber and somehow transportive, setting plucked chords from what sounds like a banjo over a glistening synth figure, while Pjusk's "Dorsk" slows to a sort of stasis, with only the faintest of basslines to indicate any sign of life. Fieldhead's "37th" is like a slow, mindful from such a reverie, and Noveller's "Bright Cloud Blooms" brings the cycle to a close with another brief flush of precious warmth.
As a whole, the compilation seems to follow a narrative arc, descending through a series of stages into near-complete stillness, and then slowly ascending back to where it began. As a whole, the experience is certainly evocative of the opiated sensation evoked by the record's title — but really, it's a compilation that invites you to find your own meaning in it, or simply to appreciate the beauty of its music and escape the world for a while." [label info]
www.ghostly.com
|
2013 |
€17.00 |
|
|
15 Poems by Franz Kafka |
BOOK & do-CD |
"We are pleased to present this unique double release produced by our label along with the "Own Editions" publishing house, the translator Olga Roschina, the illustrator Daniil Grazhdankin and a number of musicians from St. Petersburg, Moscow, Rostov-on-Don and Odessa. The first part - the "15 Poems by Franz Kafka" book - is the first ever bilingual illustrated edition of all known Kafka lyrics (in German and Russian). The second part is the musical compilation based on the material of this book.
As it turned out Kafka's works and their atmosphere are close to musicians from very different cultural layers. It's the point where many musical styles interwine: radical chanson and neofolk, female choir and collage electronics, post-industrial and dark ambient, rampant neoclassic, minimalistic improvisation and post-rock. The compilation features I. Belorukov, A. Popovskiy + D. Sorokin + B. Shershenkov, Pustotsvet, N. Sudnick, UtrovortU, Uhushuhu, Chumaho DRU, Bardoseneticcube & Chivadeshe, Eject, Kryptogen Rundfunk, Majdanek Waltz, Monocube, Sal Solaris, Sequoian Aequison, The Tune 3.0." [label info]
zhb.radionoise.ru/eng/releases.html
|
2014 |
€16.00 |
|
|
Insane 80's [EV01>EV10] |
CD |
"An outcome of 10 limited 7inch EPs inspired by the 1980s and with a strong focus on rare belgian forgotten gold, we can hardly believe it ourselves....
....Vinyl hunting, running our own label, DIY-fanzines, organising live gigs, home-taping, mail-art, and loads of strange physical mail, it was all part of our 1980s music history, all for the sake of our individual creativity, not to mention our addiction to underground music in the first place! We can even still recall the smell of those lovely indie vinyl stores!
Unfortunately not every artist made it onto a vinyl record, apart from the lucky few.
So the cassette popped up as a convenient release format, be it in a much more obscure environment....
Now here it is, a tribute CD to our (mostly OOP) 7inch series, far from complete but compiled with love and respect! All of the artists presented here deserve to be heard by a bigger audience. Special thanks to all of you who took part!
Including the full version of "80s Compilation EP" (EV07) and 5 bonuses previously released on tape only!
Liner notes by Peter Vercauteren | Gonzo (circus).
File under: minimal wave, minimal synth, synth-pop, 80s." [label info]
www.eetapes.be
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Nostra Signora delle Tenebre |
do-LP |
"There was a time in Italy when movies did not suck. Or at least, when they sucked, they did it in a graciously peculiar way.
Alongside the world-famous auteurs (the Fellinis, the Viscontis, the Bertoluccis), there was a plethora of lesser known, critically unappreciated directors, often mockingly called cinematografari, frantically tackling (and twisting) every kind of movie genre: western, comedy, thriller. For some reason, they excelled especially in their wild, sick take on horror and crime dramas – and music played a big role in these successes.
Classically trained composers like Ennio Morricone and Stelvio Cipriani rubbed shoulders with former pop stars-turned-soundtrackers like Nico Fidenco and Pino Donaggio and together happily immersed themselves in the muddy waters of this cinematic swamp, creating their own distorted versions of the funk, psychedelia and beat rock canons. The aberrant results were then applied like thick make-up to equally mind-boggling, malevolent, highly stylized movies from directors like Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci or schlock uebermeister Joe D’Amato.
For a brief period it worked at the box office too.
“Nostra Signora delle Tenebre” is a tribute to that extraordinary, by-gone era now apparently forgotten in Italy too. It is a tribute to the gloriously adventurous soundtracks of maybe somehow less glorious horror and giallo flicks – movies that anyway retained a decidedly Italian flavour, a bizarre mix of nasty violence, lurid sexuality and feverish Catholic mysticism, all filtered through a manic obsession with death, blood and the sins of the flesh.
At the same time, this album is a way to celebrate a small but thriving national scene, generally labeled under the admittedly lazy banner of “Italian occult psychedelia” and championed by the likes of Simon Reynolds and Julian Cope while at the same time getting growing interest from music magazines, with several features on The Wire, Vice, Fact Magazine, Tiny Mixtapes, Foxy Digitalis etc.
“Nostra Signora delle Tenebre” gathers together almost all the best bands in the scene: groups like Michael Gira’s favourites Father Murphy, Lay Llamas and Mamuthones (now both on Rocket Recordings), Heroin In Tahiti, Cannibal Movie and Jennifer Gentle, probably the best known Italian indie band abroad and whose “A New Astronomy” album is considered a forefather of the genre.
We asked these bands to revive some of our favourite horror and giallo soundtracks from the 60’s and the 70’s. They did it in their own way, and it sounds good.
Limited (FIRST) edition of 500 copies of which 100 copies as special edition available through Backwards only, and 400 on black vinyl (as standard edition).
Second pressing of 500 copies on violet vinyl.
Tracklist:
Heroin In Tahiti “Nuda per Satana” (A. Baldan Bembo)
Lay Llamas “Palude” (L. Michelini)
Second H. Sam “Gli ultimi cannibali” (N. Fidenco)
Lamusa “Tourist trap” (P. Donaggio)
Edible Woman “Magic & Ecstasy” (E. Morricone)
Mai Mai Mai “Sette note in nero” (Bixio – Frizzi – Tempera)
Jennifer Gentle “Chanson de la Nuit” (E. Macchi)
Slumberwood “Toby Dammit” (N. Rota)
Mamuthones “The Thing” (E. Morricone)
Gianni Giublena Rosacroce “Incubo sulla città contaminata” (S. Cipriani)
Beautiful Bunker “L’aldilà” (F. Frizzi)
Cannibal Movie “Sans espoir” (B. Nicolai)
Father Murphy “L’alba dei morti viventi” (Goblin)
OVO “Nuda per Satana” (A. Baldan Bembo)
Maria Celeste “Cento campane” (Fiorentini – Grano)" [label info]
www.backwards.it |
2015 |
€20.00 |
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PYRE |
CD |
A Cold Spring label sampler, presenting 15 tracks of industrial, esoteric, dark ambient, ritual, Japanese noise, drone, power electronics, doom, death industrial and experimental sounds. Unearth the world of Cold Spring! Sealed card slip. TRACKS: 01. Troum - Outer Brain Outsourcing (Excerpt) 02. Khost [Deconstructed And Reconstructed By] Godflesh - Inversion 03. La Breiche - Le Mal Des Ardents 04. Skullflower - Furfur 05. Penny Rimbaud's L'Académie Des Vanités - What Did You Know, What Did You Care? 06. Tunnels Of Ah - Purging Process 07. Sutcliffe Jugend - Howl (Edit) 08. TenHornedBeast - All Fled (Excerpt) 09. Sun Ra | Merzbow - Granular Jazz Part 4 10. She Spread Sorrow - Crushed On The Pillow (Excerpt) 11. Coil - Fire Of The Mind 12. Common Eider, King Eider - A Wisp Of Smoke, And Salem Burns (Excerpt) 13. Trepaneringsritualen - All Hail The Black Flame 14. Henrik Nordvargr Björkk / Margaux Renaudin - Sunyata 15. Dave Ball · John Savage - Dead Neon |
2016 |
€4.00 |
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Musique Concrete |
LP |
This record represents an important milestone in the development and progression of musique concrète – marking a crossroad for not only the genre itself but also in the paths of its originator Pierre Schaeffer and another of the genre’s most important and respected protagonists Pierre Henry.
Undoubtedly one of the most influential experimental and electroacoustic musicians, Pierre Schaeffer is also credited as being the father of the theory of musique concrete as well as later name coining the term itself. Having found a job in 1936 at Radiodiffusion Française (later Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française or RTF) as an engineer, Scaeffer developed a newly found interest in music and with the blessing of his superiors made the most of his access to the Radiodiffusion Française studios, utilising his abilities as an engineer to experiment with sound whilst collaborating with musicians and composers that passed through the station’s hallowed doors. In 1942 Schaeffer and influential theatre director, producer and actor Jacques Copeau founded the Studio d’Essai (renamed Club d’Essai in 1946) as part of RTF in order to experiment with radiophonic techniques. Drawing on the works of French filmmaker, critic and novelist Jean Epstein, Schaeffer would occupy his time and his mind with the manner in which sound recordings “revealed what was hidden in the act of basic acoustic listening” and in 1948 formally set about his research in ernest – the results of which were presented as a series of studies known as Cinq études de bruits (Five Studies of Noises) during a concert in Paris.
With word of his theories and experiments spreading, Schaeffer was able to press the RTF management to further finance and in doing so expand his research. However, for an undertaking of this size he would need help. Having previously collaborated as part of his early research with a young classically trained composer by the name of Pierre Henry, Schaeffer had no problem convincing the RTF executives he was the right man of the job. By adding a third prong to this sonic fork in the shape of sound engineer Jacques Poullin, Schaeffer was able to complete a powerhouse, which he renamed the Groupe de Musique Concrete, that would push his experiments further than he could have imagined. In1951, RTF handed the trio the keys to one of the earliest purpose-build electroacoustic studios (the other being the WDR Studio in Germany), furnishing it with state of the art bespoke equipment such as a Morphophone (designed by Poullin himself and capable of tape loop-delay) and a Phonogène (a multi-headed tape instrument also designed by Poullin). The studio went from strength to strength, attracting composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen and Edgard Varèse to collaborate, and in that same year Schaeffer and Henry produced and premiered what is considered to be the first opera concrète, Orphèe 51.
As Schaeffer’s notoriety grew as did demand for his time and he found himself increasingly called away from the studio during which time he would hand the keys to over to his colleagues. Pierre Henry wasted no time in pursuing projects closer to his own heart, working with experimental filmmakers and choreographers like Maurice Béjart (the two would later collaborate with Michel Colombier on the cult classic Les Jerks Électroniques De La Messe Pour Le Temps Présent Et Musiques Concrètes Pour Maurice Béjart). In 1957, following a particularly prolonged absence on RTF duties, Schaeffer returned unhappy with the direction the group had taken and tabled an idea to revitalise both their approach as well as personnel. As a result, Henry and several other key members left the group the following year leaving Schaeffer to lay the foundations in 1958 for a new collective called Groupe de Recherches Musicales – one of a number of theoretical and experimental groups overseen by Saeffer’s Service de la Reserche at RTF – and set about recruiting new members including Iannis Xenakis, Henri Sauguet, Luc Ferrari and Michel Philippot as well as usher in a new steady stream of eager musicians eager to study within what had rapidly become (and still is) a national institution – including a young Jean Michel Jarre!
Featuring the full versions of these seminal early works (abridged versions of which had previously appeared across two 7” singles on Disques BAM) the recordings presented here are the first fruits of this new alliance and served to lay the bedrock for the future of the Groupe de Recherches Musicales research which would later count the likes of Ivo Malec, Philippe Carson, Romuald Vandelle, Edgardo Canton and François Bayle (who went on to coin the term Acousmatic Music) amongst its members and cement its place in the annals of experimental, electroacoustic and early electronic music history.
www.finderskeepersrecords.com |
2016 |
€21.00 |
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25YLOKI |
do-CD |
"When we decided to celebrate our 25th anniversary in Paris together with our French friends of Au-delà du Silence we thought about something special for the event and we came up with the idea of a 2CD for the festival – one CD with unreleased tracks by all performing artists and one CD with some kind of mix. One person came straight into our minds: the infamous DJ Philipp Strobel from Berlin would be a perfect match of doing a special mix for our 25YLOKI compilation. We asked him if he could imagine something like this project and he jumped in, packed his record bag full of LOKI & PAS releases and worked on the mix to celebrate the LOKI label history. For a limited time we uploaded the DJ mix of Philipp Strobel at Soundcloud. Thank you Philipp and to the rest of you!
CD1:
S.E.T.I. Child Stage
INADE The Library of Babel
FJERNLYS The Nightshade
CIRCULAR Into the Deepest Currents
PHELIOS Vox Aeterna
BAD SECTOR Radial Body 2 (Live)
CD2:
Tracklist Philipp Strobel – 25YLOKI DJ Mix:
Ionosphere – Deep Interior Research [PAS 19]
Inade – Ethos Anthropo Damon [LOKI 57]
Penjaga Insaf – Pulang [PAS 27]
S.E.T.I. – Mare Crisium [PAS 39]
Bad Sector – April 12, 1961 [PAS 33]
Fjernlys – Trunkene Flut [LOKI 42]
Predominance – Four Symbols [LOKI 34]
Circular – Intersection At The Infinite Space [LOKI 52]
Fir§t Law – Bad Influence [LOKI 43]
Ionosphere – Polarized Light [PAS 38]
Bad Sector – 1969-11-12T10-41-11+01-00 – Rooms [PAS 30]
Northaunt – If Only My Heart Were Stone [PAS 34]
Circular – A Lightning Cycle [LOKI 52]
Turbund Sturmwerk – Gloria Mundi [LOKI 36]
Ex.Order – We Want No One To Escape [PAS 21]
Phelios – White Ashes [LOKI 54]
Northaunt – If Only My Heart Were Stone [PAS 34]
www.loki-found.de
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
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'... that first Season' - A Winter-Light Compilation |
do-CD |
We invited 16 specific artists from all corners of the globe to contribute exclusive tracks for “…that first season”. Many of the artists are favourite listens of ours, as well as the addition of one or two new and interesting ones. The resulting compilation of tracks offers the listener a unique perspective from each artist based upon the one common theme - the winter light.
It was always an interesting idea to us to see how this theme would play out from different parts of the world, across both hemispheres and on different continents, with different styles of ambient and artistic approaches. All of the submitted tracks have been included on this double compilation and our expectations have been exceeded with the quality, the variety of rich sounds and depth of the music. Spanning across two discs, Heavy Snow and Long Shadows, Winter-Light and the participating artists are pleased to offer over 140 minutes of exclusive music, brought together for the first time on this, our first compilation.
The artwork has been produced by Midnight Sun Studio and all tracks have been mastered by Simon Heath. All music recorded in 2016.
We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everybody who has contributed to making this release possible. Dedicated to our Ezzy.
The DCD comes in a 8-panel full colour digi-pack and is also available as a digital download. Strictly limited to 500 copies.
CD1: Heavy Snow
1.1 Seetyca - The Stars
1.2 Gydja - Krapadrífa ok snáka sótt
1.3 Phantom Ship - Entanglement (version)
1.4 Foetusdreams - Ignis Fatuum
1.5 Nexus Sun - Estive
1.6 ABBILDUNG - Om Ter Om
1.7 Charadriiform & Filivs Macrocosmi - Drifting Stations
1.8 VelgeNaturlig - Golden
1.9 Rapoon - Tal-Gel Isolde
CD2: Long Shadows
2.1 Jeff Stonehouse
2.2 Havdis - Borea
2.3 Apocryphos - Sesam In Winter Lights
2.4 Strom Noir - Not Everything Dies
2.5 Kloob - A Special Glow
2.6 Michael Brückner & Mathias Grassow - ,,The Fall Of Leaves''
2.7 Hakobune - Shimoyo
www.winter-light.nl
"Apart from the high quality of the music itself, this compilation is very special for at least two different reasons. One, the cohesive character of the whole thing which sounds, well, maybe not as if it has been composed by a single artist, but rather as a group of musicians from various parts of the world, gathered under one idea, understood 100% by each and every one of them. And two, the diversity of the projects presenting different approaches within the ambient framework. Where else would you find purely dark ambient outputs like Abbildung or Apocryphos going hand in hand with Hakobune or Strom Noir, which are not affiliated with the dark scene, plus the emotional drone masters like Havdis and Mathias Grassow on top of that.
Most of them have been present on Santa Sangre with their full albums in the past. I don’t know if there’s a point in detailed descriptions of the tracks one by one, because here it’s all about nuances; nuances that sometimes are more significant, sometimes less, sometimes are very tiny, but it is they which make each project unique. Let’s try to point out these nuances then – just bear in mind that the atmospheric basis is the same for all of them. Organic drones by Seetyca that make you feel like you’re deep under water, warm microglitches and delicate synths by Gydja that make me like this composition more than her darker or more ritual offerings. Vast cosmic howls by Phantom Ship, that don’t have the most original feeling in the world, but they swallow your body and soul and take you straight into the void. The monolithic blackness of Foetusdreams which reminds me of the familiar monument from ‘2001: Space Odyssey’ hovering over the surface of the moon. The gloomy majesty of Nexus Sun which is reminiscent of the image of mountain summits touching the grey sky. The disturbing field recordings and dense bass backgrounds by Abbildung, sounding like a perfect aural illustration of the “Hell” segment of “The Garden of Earthly Delights” by Hieronymus Bosch. Slow synth melodies and surreal samples from some Russian radio broadcast by Charadriiform & Filivs Macrocosmi, which are like lost signals and transmissions floating over the Siberian nowhere. Semiacoustic solace by Velge Naturlig that reminds you that there’s a day after each night, and the sun will always appear after the harshest snowstorm. The Middle Eastern mystery of Rapoon which in five minutes tells the story of the thousands of uneasy years of that region.
This is how “Heavy Snow”, the first half of this double CD ends, while the second half, entitled “Long Shadows”, begins with Jeff Stonehouse who has something in common with Seetyca: organic, influenced by the sea, though less dark. And even more minimal. After that, the sad beauty of ‘Arctic Nature’ by Havdis, who is probably the most underappreciated ambient artist on this planet. The longest and most beautiful piece on “…That First Season”. Apocryphos comes from the USA, but continues in the path taken by Havdis in the preceding track. The artist’s emotional, slowly forming melodies keep you frozen and in awe. Trance guitar drones by Strom Noir make me long for Autumn. Spatious and windy textures with subtle oldschool synth sequences by Kloob may recall some of Atomine Elektrine’s works. Combining ethereal drones with classic, space (quite Schulze-esque) electronica by Michael Brückner & Mathias Grassow prove that Mathias is simply the best in this spiritual ambient business, and that inviting his more Berlin school-oriented colleague to collaborate on this track wasn’t a misguided idea at all. Calming serenity by Hakobune, which makes “Shimoyo” an accurate ending of this almost two-and-a-half-hour long compilation.
Nature, sadness, the interchange of seasons and weather conditions: this is why I like ambient music the most, and this is what I get here in excess. Surely one of the best compilations released over the past few years. And I consider it as a crowning of the first cycle of the Winter Light label’s activity. Why am I sure that only great things are to come from the Netherlands?" [Stark/Santa Sangre]
|
2017 |
€16.00 |
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Avantgarde is happening because.. |
CD |
Full title: "Avant Garde Is Happening Because Collaborations Are Happening As Long As The Desire To Interact Fuels Our Hearts We Will Find Swarms That Build Moments And Space To Shelter The Worlds That We Are"// Released to coincide with the re-emergence of the festival at Schiphorst, Germany to celebrate "three days of utopia". The Avantgarde Festival is the legendary gathering of experimental music and performing arts brought to life by Jean-Hervé Péron (faUSt), Carina Varain (Mother of the Headquarters) and friends. This year re-born by Jeanne-Marie Varain, who grew up with the Avantgarde Festival and curated its program in 2014, and Ines and Julia (MuD, Logotorium, Krarque Jamaric ) who scouted several Actions at the Festival in 2013 and 2014 and decided to team up as AGF spirit and figured out a new format that supports collaboration and at the same time is able to sustain itself. The CD features exclusive material from the likes of Nurse With Wound, Faust, Qluster, Asmus Tietchens and is available in extremely limited quantities. This set is packaged in a heavy board, mini LP sleeve, complete with inner.
www.dirter.co.uk
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2017 |
€14.00 |
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Metaphors: Selected Soundworks from the Cinema of APICHATPONG WEERASETHAKUL |
CD |
"Apichatpong Weerasethakul is recognised as one of the most original voices in contemporary cinema today. His seven feature films, short films and installations have won him widespread international recognition and numerous awards, including the Cannes Palme d'Or in 2010 with Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. Compilation album 'Metaphors' contains 14 soundworks carefully selected from his past cinema and other visual works since 2003, which includes Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Syndromes and a Century, Fever Room and more.
Apichatpong Weerasethakul has regularly worked with the same sound designers since 2003 and has always given importance to the personality of on-location sounds giving his films a sense of continuity. In post-production, he's fascinated by the manipulation of these 'live' sounds in order to express 'reality'. This reality doesn't necessary represent the actual sound of the places, but more a representation of the world in layered memories. Similar to the way he treats images, Apichatpong sometimes calls attention to the physicality and the fragility of the audio (and its apparatus) and to the process of audio manipulation itself.
In his cinema, Apichatpong prefers natural sound sources over music. Nevertheless, he often boldly incorporates popular songs that were persistent during the shooting. He doesn't shy away from using tunes that relate to his own personal memories. In this sense, Apichatpong values the spirit of authenticity much more than rigid manipulation of audio and weaves a complex and dreamlike soundscape in his cinematic repertoire.
Born in Bangkok, Apichatpong grew up in Khon Kaen in north-eastern Thailand. He began making films and video shorts in 1994 and completed his first feature in 2000. He has also mounted exhibitions and installations in many countries since 1998 and is now recognised as a major international visual artist. His art prizes include the Sharjah Biennial Prize (2013) and the prestigious Prince Claus Award (2016), the Netherlands. Lyrical and often fascinatingly mysterious, his film works are non-linear, dealing with memory and in subtle ways invoking personal politics and social issues.
www.subrosa.net
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2017 |
€14.00 |
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Playing with Words |
do-CD |
The work on this audio compilation is part of an intermittent ongoing tradition of artistic investigation of spoken language. The pieces included here negotiate potential oppositions such as semantic play and abstraction, musical and narrative structures, speech and song, one voice and many. Influences have been drawn from many sources including poetry, music, song, theatre, typography and graphic art, philosophy, radio, performance art, linguistics, fine art, literature and of course the keen observation and experience of the very many varieties of human communication that we all encounter and participate in every day.
The concerns of these contemporary artists in many cases relate back to their historical antecedents such as the poets, performers and other artists working with sound in the early part of the twentieth century, including the Futurists, Zaum poets, Dadaists and Lettristes who sought to invent new languages and new words in order to express their vision of reality and to deconstruct and reduce the power of language. Other featured artists are examining and revealing the experiences and complexities of contemporary society by engaging with how spoken language works and manifests itself. These works reflect more recent developments in linguistics and the psychology and philosophy of language revealing how meaning is negotiated and transmitted between individuals and groups, across cultures and through languages and their translations.
This audio compilation has a companion online compilation release. They both feature the same artists but, in some cases, different tracks. A DVD of live performances by some of these artists is also available.
Many of the artists on this compilation have also contributed to Playing with Words: the spoken word in artistic practice which is available from Cornerhouse Books at www.cornerhouse.org. Cathy Lane / CRiSAP www.crisap.org / London / 2010
www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=1771 |
2010 |
€14.00 |
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Dark Ambient Radio Volume 3 |
CD |
"This compilation lets you know what it is right up front, and in some ways it flows together like a good radio show should. If you didn't know it was a compilation, it would be easy to think that it was the work of the same artist for several tracks. I had not heard of any of these artists, so I was interested to see what this group had to offer. Aspectee, Nepenthe, and Valerio Orlandini open the disc with three tracks respectively of nice spacey ambient. Mortaja mixes it up a bit with some ritualistic chanting. Crepuscular throws down some crunchy ambient with the feel of tectonic plates shifting. Myth Industries and Sjellos also departs from the space ambient feel with slow waves of rattling and light drumming. Sjellos takes on his own track with some drums that I didn't really expect to kick in, but it worked. Then he goes back to the comfort of droning ambiance. Winterbound provides the base for your next Halloween mix ' this has a nice horror movie soundtrack feel to it. Mytrip finishes us off with 'Small Humyn,' which has a nice heaviness to it. There is a feeling of pressure and depth, like the thick drone that you might find in the inside of a beehive. For me this was one of the standout tracks on this disc. Overall this was interesting dark ambient and it was curated well. If you want to hear some new blood in the dark ambient scene, this is one to pick up. This compilation is limited to 500 copies and weighs in at around 72 minutes." [Chain DLK]
www.darkambientradio.de
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
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Earthen |
do-CD |
OUT 5th NOVEMBER
VARIOUS ARTISTS ‘Earthen – A Cold Spring Sampler’ 2 x CD (CSR250CD)
csr250cd_500
A massive double CD to celebrate our 250th release! 29 tracks – including an EXCLUSIVE unheard track from COIL. An unrivalled collection of Industrial, Esoteric, Dark Ambient, Ritual, Drone, Power Electronics, Doom, Death Industrial, Experimental, Torch Songs, Electronica. Unearth the world of Cold Spring! Gatefold digisleeve. Ltd x 4000 copies in a gatefold ecopak.
SCROLL DOWN FOR FULL TRACK LISTING!
Purchase
Track Listing:
Disc 1
1. MERZBOW / GENESIS BREYER P-ORRIDGE ‘A Perfect Restraint’ (3:20)
from ‘A Perfect Pain’ CD/LP (CSR23CD/LP)
2. SHE SPREAD SORROW ‘Escape’ (4:25)
from ‘Midori’ CD (CSR251CD)
3. PENNY RIMBAUD ‘Act 5’ (2:12)
from ‘Oh Magick Kingdom CD (CSR259CD)
4. NDE ‘VII’ (4:23)
from ‘United’ CD (CSR247CD)
5. SONOLOGYST ‘Singularity‘ (4:30)
from ‘Silencers’ CD (CSR253CD)
6. NYTT LAND ‘Nordur / Yule Song’ (6:26)
from ‘Oðal’ CD (CSR249CD)
7. DER KÄTTERSKÄ FORBUND ‘Sacred Grounds’ (4:44) from ‘Lidaverken Part I’ LP (CSR265LP)
8. PSYCHIC TV ‘Dead Cat (Telepathic Edit)’ (4:39)
exclusive edit from ‘Kondole / Dead Cat’ 2CD+DVD (CSR246CD)
9. KHOST ‘Redacted, Repressed, Recalcitrant’ (5:37)
from ‘Governance’ CD (CSR237CD)
10. LEFT HAND RIGHT HAND ‘Rise And Fall’ (5:43)
from ‘Biting The Hands That Bleed You’ CD (CSR254CD)
11. THE NEW BLOCKADERS ‘Live At Sonic City (Excerpt)’ (3:04)
from ‘Live At Sonic City’ CD+DVD (CSR261CD)
12. THE TELESCOPES ‘The Desert In Your Heart’ (3:59)
from ‘Stone Tape’ CD (CSR267CD)
13. VIVIANKRIST ‘Silent Soul’ (5:50) from ‘Morgenrøde’ CD (CSR268CD)
14. ILPO VÄISÄNEN ‘Kivi Ja Kataja’ (4:31)
forthcoming TBA
15. COIL ‘Spastiche (Trumpo)’ (3:50)
exclusive track for Cold Spring
Disc 2
1. MZ. 412 ‘Ulvens Broder’ (5:39)
from ‘Ulvens Broder’ 10” (CSR248EP) & ‘Svartmyrkr’ CD/2LP (CSR257CD/LP)
2. ANNI HOGAN feat LYDIA LUNCH ‘Blue Contempt’ (3:04)
from ‘Lost In Blue’ CD/LP (CSR266CD/LP)
3. XERXES THE DARK ‘Longing To Return’ (6:02)
from VA ‘Visions Of Darkness (In Iranian Contemporary Music)’ 2CD (CSR242CD)
4. SHIFT ‘To Rid Them All And To Wash Their Filth From My Body’ (3:32)
from ‘Abandon’ CD (CSR236CD)
5. JOTUNSPOR ‘Solartjuven’ (5:14)
from ‘Gleipnirs Smeder’ CD (CSR244CD)
6. MAYUKO HINO ‘Faintainhead (Excerpt)’ (4:17)
from ‘Lunisolar’ CD (CSR245CD)
7. ZENI GEVA & STEVE ALBINI ‘Autobody’ (6:12)
from ‘Maximum Implosion’ 2CD (CSR260CD)
8. C.3.3. ‘Movement II (Radio Edit)’ (4:07)
from ‘Ballad Of Reading Gaol – The Cacophonietta’ CD (CSR255CD)
9. COMMON EIDER, KING EIDER ‘The Dark Winter (Excerpt)’ (3:37)
from ‘Shrines For The Unwanted, Respite For The Cast Aside’ CD (CSR243CD)
10. SOFT ISSUES ‘Bleak Magic’ (5:04)
from ‘Soft Issues’ CD/LP (CSR262CD/LP)
11. COLOSSLOTH ‘Lain Inert’ (2:35)
from ‘Heathen Needles’ CD (CSR235CD)
12. COIL + ZOS KIA + MARC ALMOND ‘Baptism Of Fire’ (4:25)
from ‘How To Destroy Angels’ CD/LP (CSR263CD)
13. TUNNELS OF ĀH ‘Kosmiglot (Edit)’ (5:16)
from ‘Charnel Transmissions’ CD (CSR256CD)
14. BARRY ADAMSON + PAN SONIC + THE HAFLER TRIO ‘The Hymn Of The 7th Illusion (BBC Mix)’ (5:37)
special mix for the BBC, from ‘The Hymn Of The 7th Illusion’ 12” (CSR241LP
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/earthen-csr250cd
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2018 |
€8.00 |
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Wire Recorded Pieces |
LP |
This compilation is for those who are not familiar with the fascinating world of Primal Electronica, Noise, Sound Design, Industrial, Avant-Garde, Tape-Music, etc. _ you name it!. This set hopes to be the gateway to a completely new Revolutionary sound experience, proving what John Cage predicted in the 1930s : "'I believe the use of noise to make music will continue and increase until we reach a music produced through the aid of electrical instruments which will make available for musical purposes any and all sounds that can be heard." Including a track recorded in 1921, almost a hundred years ago_ and ending in the early 1960s, this selection includes artists of very different nationalities such as Egypt, USA, Hungary, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Sweden, France_ even the USSR! It represents everything New and Revolutionary that we have come to expect since the beginning of the Postmodern era. These are relics with much to say to the contemporary listener as they sound impossibly way ahead of their and our time(s). Revolutionary since much of the included material did and still does push the very definition of what music is. Here are demonstrations of techniques and Sound Systems that shaped Modern Music as we know it today. These are the first examples ever to loop a track, play it in reverse or use a host of other effects which are all so common tools for musicians of today. Songs are sequenced to give a coherent and surprisingly easy way to enjoy and appreciate this music field that can be baffling - in order to give the listener some of the most multilayered (in every sense of the word) experience. Thanks to 21st Century advance techniques, every track here has a low noise floor, which has been achieved without the loss of palpability or dynamic range. These recordings sound fantastic: fresh, jarring, groundbreaking and adventurous._ Enjoy the ride. "WIRE RECORDED PIECES" Precocious Noise and Early Electronica Pt. 2
https://soundmiraclerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/wire-recorded-pieces
|
2019 |
€20.00 |
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The Godfather of Odd: A HARDY FOX tribute |
CD |
"Hardy Fox grew up in Texas. After college he moved to San Francisco reveling in the free love days of 1967-68. He co-founded the much loved cult band, the Residents, where he was primary composer. The Residents recorded such groundbreaking albums as Eskimo, Duck Stab, Commercial Album or Fingerprince and continue to inspire, record and tour until this very day. They aren't only known for their avantgarde music, but also for their multimedia CD ROMs and their DVDs. Throughout the group's existence, the individual members have ostensibly attempted to operate under anonymity, preferring instead to have attention focused on their art output. Much outside speculation and rumor has focused on this aspect of the group. In public, the group appears silent and costumed, often wearing eyeball helmets, top hats and tails—a long-lasting costume now recognized as its signature iconography. In 2015 Hardy retired from the band, and two years later identified himself as the band's co-founder and primary composer. Hardy continued to record under various pseudonyms, best known as Charles Bobuck, until later he worked under his own name and released such seminal albums as Heart or Rilla contemplates Love. A week before his untimely death, Hardy recorded a very personal good-bye to his fans, a mini album entitled 25 Minus Minutes. For many of us, Hardy wasn't only a genius musician, but also a close personal friend. Philippe Perreaudin and Walter Robotka have thus put together a tribute album to him which collects specifically recorded music by former label mates, collaborators and friends, and also some musical admirers. The cover was made by Helge Wagner and it also features a piece of art by Liz R. Full tracklist: 1. Blaine L. Reininger - Autumn Shore 2. The Residents - If Only 3. Harry Lagoussis - Crossing Up In Space 4. Palo Alto - El Ralpho 5. Laurie Amat - He Said 6. Harvey & Nipple - Teddy 7. Carla Fabrizio - Inter 8. DDAA - Adios Come Again 9. Cult With No Name - I Hate Heaven 10. JG Thirlwell - Trouble Adore 11. Renaldo & The Loaf - Mahogany Wood 12. Steven Brown - The Yawn Song 13. Už Jsme Doma & Randy - Never Known Questions 14. Ptose - The Black Hound Shrine 15. Fred Frith - Almost Certain."
www.klanggalerie.com/gg300
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2019 |
€15.00 |
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Strain, Crack & Break : Music from the Nurse With Wound List Vol. 1 (France) |
do-LP |
After years of mythology, misinterpretation and procrastination Nurse With Wound’s Steven Stapleton finally chooses Finders Keepers Records as the ideal collaborators to release “the right tracks” from his uber-legendary psych/prog/punk peculiarity shopping list known as The Nurse With Wound List, commencing with a French specific Volume One of this authentically titled Strain Crack Break series. Featuring some Finders Keepers’ regulars amongst galactic Gallic rarities (previously presumed to be imaginary red herrings) this deluxe double vinyl dossier demystifies some of the essential French free jazz and Parisian prog inclusions from the alphabetical “dedication” inventory as printed the anti-bands 1979 industrial milestone debut.
When Steven Stapleton, Heman Pathak and John Fothergill’s anti-band Nurse With Wound decided to include an alphabetical dedication to all their favourite bands on the back of their inaugural LP the notion of creating a future record dealers’ trophy list couldn’t have been further from their minds. By adding a list of untravelled European mythical musicians and noise makers to their own debut release of unchartered industrial art rock they were merely providing a suggestive support system of existing potential likeminded bands, establishing safety in numbers should anyone require sonic subtitles for Nurse With Wound’s own mutant musical language. Luckily for them, the record landed in record shops in the midst of 1979’s memorable summer of abject apathy and its sound became a hit amongst disillusioned agit-pop pickers and artsy post-punks, thus playing a key role in the bourgeoning “Industrial” genre that ensued. On the most part, however, the list , like most instruction manuals, remained unreadable, syntactic and suspiciously sarcastic… As potential “real musicians” Nurse WIth Wound became an Industrial music fan’s household name, but in contrast many of the names on The Nurse With Wound List were considered to be imaginary musicians, made-up bands or booby traps for hacks and smart-arses. It took a while for the rest of the record collecting community to catch on or finally catch up.
Since then, many of the rare, obscure and unpronounceable genre-free records on The Nurse With Wound List have slowly found their own feet and stumbled in to the homes of open-minded outernational vinyl junkies, D’s and sample hungry producers, self-propelled and judged on their own merit, mostly without consultation of the enigmatic NWW map. But, to the inspective competitive collector’s chagrin, one resounding fact recurs, NWW got there first! via vinyl vacations, on cheap flights and Interrail tickets, buying bargain bin LPs on a shoestring while oblivious to the pending pension worthy price tags after their 40 year vintage, Stapleton and Fothergill, even if you’ve never heard of them, were at the bottom of the pit before “digging” became paydirt. And NOW at huge international record fairs that occur in massive exhibition halls (or within the confines of your one-touch palm pilot) amongst jive talk acronyms such as SS, PP, BIN, DNAP and BCWHES the coded letters NWW have begun to appear on stickers in the corner of original copies of the same premium progressive records accompanied by a customary 50% price hike to titillate/coerce the initiated as dealers extort the taught. Like “psych” “PINA” or “Krautrock” did before, “NWW” has become a buzzword and in the passed decades since its first publication The List has been mythologised, misunderstood and misconstrued. It’s also been overlooked, overestimated and under-appreciated in equal measures, but with a growing interest it has also come to represent a maligned genre in itself, something that all members of the original line-up would have deemed sacrilegious. Bolstered by the subtitle “Categories strain, crack and sometimes break, under their burden,” all bands on the inventory (many chosen on the strength of just one track alone) were chosen for their genre-defying qualities… A check-list for the uncharted.
Forty years after Nurse With Wound’s first record, Finders Keepers Records, in close collaboration with Steve Stapleton remind fans of THIS kind of “lost” music, that there once existed a feint path which was worn away decades before major label pop property developers built over this psychedelic underground. As long-running fans and liberators of some of the same records, arriving at the same axis from different-but-the-same planets, Finders Keepers and Nurse WIth Wound finally sing from the same hymn sheet resulting in a collaborative attempt to officially, authentically and legally compile the best tracks from the list, succeeding where many overzealous nerds have deferred (or simply, got the wrong end of the stick). Naturally our lavish metallic gatefold double vinyl compendium would only scratch the surface of this DIY dossier of elongated punk-prog peculiarities hence out decision to release volume one in a series which, in accordance with Steve’s wishes, focuses exclusively on individual tracks of French origin, the country that unsurprisingly hosted the highest content of bands on the list. Comprising of musique concrète, free jazz, Rock In Opposition, Zeuhl School space rock, macabre ballet music, lo-fi sci-fi, and classic horror literature inspired prog, this first volume of the series entitled Strain Crack And Break throws us in at the deep end, where the Seine meets the in-sane, introducing the space cadets that found Mars in Marseilles.
Like the Swedish flat-pack record shelves that attempt to house the vast amounts of vintage vinyl that goes into a multi-volume compilation like this, it is time to prepare your own musical penchants and preconceived ideas about DIY music and hear them slowly strain, crack and break.
https://www.finderskeepersrecords.com/shop/strain-crack-break-nurse-with-wound/
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2019 |
€24.00 |
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METALCHEMY |
CD |
Metalchemy
11 different artists using only metal as a sound source to create different sounds varying from thick harsh noise to scraping textures.
Artists include:
Bocksholm
Grunt
Lethe
Putrefier
Das Synthetische Mischgewebe
Sudden Infant
The New Blockaders
Richard Ramirez + Baculum
Halalchemists
Knurl
K2
mastered by Grant Richardson
art by Paul Ban Trigt
https://phagetapes.miiduu.com/metalchemy-cd
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2019 |
€10.00 |
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Thousands of Eyes in the Dark |
LP |
"For two decades, Ghostly International has functioned at the joints of genre, distinctly connecting many, demarcated by none. Among the more curious throughlines in the label's stylistic architecture is its use of the tag SMM. Launched discreetly in 2003, the undefined acronym has designated calm, slow-moving music that straddles the synthetic/organic divide in surprising ways. 2011 compilation SMM: Context pieced together landscapes imagined by the likes of Leyland Kirby and Christina Vantzou. 2013 follow-up SMM: Opiate proposed the evocative possibilities of sound with artists such as Noveller and A Winged Victory for the Sullen. The letters have since emphasized releases ranging from harpist Mary Lattimore to synthesist Steve Hauschildt. In 2019, alongside the label's 20-year milestone, Ghostly extends Thousands of Eyes in the Dark, a collection celebrating international talent with an outward gaze. Ten original works of contemporary melodic and incidental electronics — fragments, moods, vignettes — sequenced as one continuous suite, a pairing of personal expression with wide angle vision.
Submissions stretch far beyond Ghostly’s roster and roots. Tracing the tracklist on a map, we begin in the Netherlands with Suzanne Kraft operating under his SK U Kno alias. Stabs of guitar mingle with washes of restless sound design on “Cut and Faze,” a gripping, asymmetric opener. Pan over to Los Angeles next, where emerging modular synth practitioner Emily Sprague patches “Mesa,” lightly coiling the tonal hymn skyward. The third track, “This Was Us,” belongs to Berlin-based Dutch-Italian composer Aimée Portioli aka Grand River. She says the tender, strolling piece references the dissolution of a relationship and was improvised on a Yamaha DX7 following a night with friends; “I just sat with the instrument and started to play. I kind of needed a moment to myself.”
Back in Ann Arbor, Ghostly’s first home, label mainstay Tadd Mullinix renders an oscillating study of sensations titled as a nod to the film Woman in the Dunes. In his words: “I was inspired by the beautiful imagery and mood of the film which conveys, very sensually, passion as a consolation for life's looming impasse of bondage and drudgery.” Closing side A is Canadian composer Sarah Davachi, who drafted her cathedral-filling drone for Mellotron and Hammond organ. She explains, “The title is multivalent: taken in the middle ages from Latin origins, a Sybil was a sort of pagan fortune teller; in recent history, it refers to a psychiatric disposition to feel away from oneself.”
The entry point to Side B hazily stirs and crackles in the care of Orcas, the collaboration between veterans Rafael Anton Irisarri (The Sight Below) and Thomas Meluch (Benoit Pioulard). They cite a lineage of classic ambient inspirations: Mark Hollis, Pieter Nooten & Michael Brook, Fennesz & David Sylvian. Vancouver producer and recent signee Dylan Khotin-Foote provides one of the series’ sweetest moments yet, “Angel Epicenter,” his signature dream-like climes anchored by a steady pulse. Immediately following is its twangiest, “Shepherd Canyon” by Saariselka, the meditations of Oakland, California composers Marielle Jakobsons (Fender Rhodes, organ, synthesizers) and Chuck Johnson (pedal steel guitar and treatments). That pastoral terrain is left to linger a moment before into turning to concrete, courtesy of Manchester duo Space Afrika, known for their vast, disintegrating urban dubscapes.
Thousands of Eyes in the Dark finishes its first cycle in Japan, as producer and field recordist Yosi Horikawa leads listeners through a lush forest of sound, outlining every step with melancholic piano phrasings, inching into the sublime. Designed for repeat play-through, these ten tracks from some of the world’s finest sound artists double as a worthy metaphor for Ghostly’s 20-year run with SMM: a discerning set keeping us engrossed and guessing."
https://ghostly.bandcamp.com/album/thousands-of-eyes-in-the-dark
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2019 |
€20.00 |
|
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INSANE |
2 x 7inch set |
VOD158.INSANE V/A Insane 80s Tracks from the Insane Label (supplement to VOD158Book/2CD) 2x7inch
VOD158.Insane 1
A1 BeNe GeSSeRiT rock yoko 3:57
A2 BeNe GeSSeRiT tonight 4:45
B1 PSEUDO CODE could it be a hit 3:08
B2 PSEUDO CODE jesus 5:44
VOD158.Insane 2
C1 PSEUDO CODE waiting for zorro 3:28
C2 HUMAN FLESH fourteenth mirage 4:17
D1 I SCREAM nothing to do 5:02
D2 I SCREAM take your headphones and dance 2:47 |
2020 |
€20.00 |
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Drop the Beat |
CD |
Which significance does rhythm have for us?
Focus? Means to an end? The main parameter or one parameter of many?
How much time do we spend on rhythmic organisation while composing?
Is our music danceable?
Which sounds do we use to generate beats?
How do our electronic “percussion instruments” sound?
How is groove generated? Does my computer groove?
Can digital groove be distinguished from analogue groove?
What do our pulse grids look like?
Music on the timing grid, microtiming, quantisation?
– Felix Leuschner
With contributions from Marc Behrens, Jiayi Wu, Johannes Kreidler, Kai Niggemann, Kirsten Reese, Alex Hofmann, Matthias Ockert, Stefan Schulzki, Lina Posecnaite, Michael Harenberg and Jörg Lindenmaier.
https://www.degem.de/cds-dvds/drop-the-beat/
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2018 |
€13.00 |
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20_20 |
CD |
2020 is (was) a dramatic year. This is (was) evident already in its first few weeks. Fears, worries, hardships everywhere, even panic, utter
helplessness, but also disgraceful ignorance and arrogance towards the perceiveable dangers around us, which continue to increase and diversify steadily, having already taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of people
worldwide. This number, which increases daily, this number, which cannot describe the suffering and death of each single human being, this alarming number draws perpetually closer. Much has been (is being) consumed by this, been (is being) laid idle, much (leads) has lead to great existential afflictions. 20_20 - subject and title of the DEGEM CD 18 - records, documents, abstracts (and intervenes against) this situation, these situations, this network of situations, which is, of course, far more
extensive and detailed than music could ever encompass. Nevertheless: The CD collects a many-voiced selection of aesthetic statements as hindsights, as previsions, dystopian / utopian / resigning / courageous / protesting /
alarming / optimistic / comforting /… /… that react to incidents, experiences, and the severe events in the still ongoing calendar year 2020:
Beethoven 250, the continuous destruction of environment and democratic values, the pandemic. This CD is dedicated to the memory of Georg Katzer, pioneer of electroacoustic music in the German Democratic Republic and long-time honorary member of DEGEM, who died on 7 May 2019 at the age of 84 years. In his radio pieces Mon 1789 (1989) and Mein 1989 (1990), the
illumination and scrutiny of two important revolutionary years in contemporary history is both impressive and riveting.
With contributions from Marc Behrens, Gerald Fiebig, KedArY, Jörg Lindenmaier, Nicola L. Hein/Joshua Weitzel, Clemens von Reusner, Maximilian Marcoll, Wolfgang Motz, Monika Golla, Peter Kiefer, Klarenz Barlow, Julia Mihály, Ralf Hoyer and Johannes S. Sistermanns.
full colour digipak with 6-panel fold out booklet in german and english.
Curated by Stefan Fricke, produced and designed by Marc Behrens. 1000 copies
https://www.degem.de
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2020 |
€13.00 |
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Speech after the Removal of the Larynx |
LP |
"The larynx or voice box is a small organ located towards the top of the neck in humans and some other animals. Constructed largely of cartilage, it houses the vocal folds that allow for the manipulation of pitch and volume, which are essential for the phonation of spoken speech. It is also involved in bringing air to the lungs when we breathe and it protects the windpipe when we swallow. However, those unfortunate to experience the potentially fatal malignant tumours of laryngeal cancer will have their larynx removed, resulting in a traumatic loss of speech; thankfully, as this rare record issued by Smithsonian Folkways in 1964 demonstrates, removal of the larynx does not necessarily spell the end of speech for such blighted individuals. Instead, through developments in artificial voice creation, patients could learn to employ modes of vocal communication again. The album was recorded by physician Harm A. Drost at the Phonetic Laboratory of the Ear, Nose and Throat Dept of the University Hospital, Leiden, in the Netherlands, working under the direction of Professor H. A. E. van Dishoeck. As the advances were fairly new and surprisingly varied, Drost felt a phonograph album demonstrating the techniques would be useful for those in the field. The album thus features a narrator explaining aspects of several different techniques, followed by examples of patients employing them. Buccal speech (limited to certain consonants), parabuccal speech (collecting air in a space between the upper jaw and the cheek), glosso-pharyngeal speech (a method deemed obsolete where air is forced between the tongue and the palate), esophageal voice (made by reconditioning one’s esophagus via swallowing, suction or injection), various injection techniques and devices such as the larynxophone, pipa di tichioni and “western electric” are all explored here, along with other aspects of the larynx and its absence. Speech After The Removal Of The Larynx is definitely one of the strangest albums ever given a commercial release!"
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2019 |
€20.00 |
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Well known Strangers - UNROCK's ARCHIVAL SINGLE BOX SET |
14 x 7 |
The Well Known Strangers 14×7“ Singles Box Set finally documents what we have been doing during the last few years…..
It features numerous excellent and adventurous contributions from Sir Richard Bishop, the weird lo-fi interpretations of Ennio Morricone songs by Alvarius B., Middle-East-All-Stars Karkhana killing it by playing the tunesian traditional Sidi Mansour which became a smash for German popsters Boney M under the name of Ma Baker decades ago. Sam Shalabi, leader of not only his fine orchestra Land Of Kush, came up with a very fine tuned hommage to Dwars Of East Agouza’s favorite Kebab shop in Cairo. You get Ava Mendoza’s (Who has been voted currently as one of the best contemporary jazz guitar players around the world) outstanding solo-version of her classic Feral Twin….
Beiruts long running free-everything outfit A-Trio (Sharif Sehnaoui, Mazen Kerbaj, Raed Yassin) messing not only around with the Grand Seigneurs from AMM, (Eddie Prevost & John Tilbury) but with Alan Bishop. The exceptional and exploding talents Of Sunn Trios young mastermind Joel Robinson from Arizona, an exclusive by Sunn Trio as an entity, which is from our point of view one of the most exciting newer bands around the planet. Eyvind Kang, a long time contributor with Sun City Girls, John Zorn and so many others, blasting the limits with his viola…..Tashi Dorji, an extraodinary experimental guitarist from Bhutan captured in Unrock’s living room, the Ivory Tower….and shiny little pearls from Dredd Foole collaborateur Ed Yazijian. W.David Oliphant, the pre-industrial legend from Arizona teamed up again with SRB, Cairo’s Dwarfs Of East Agouza are running free around the Camel Toe, Chris Corsano and Bill Orcutt unrock the house down and last but not least Clandestine Trio (Chris Corsano, Richard Bishop & Alan Bishop) flew in from Brussels, Portland & Cairo in November 2017 to play their first ever show to celebrate Unrock’s 25th anniversary as an entity……
With its 128 copies available, it will be a rare collectors item soon.
https://www.unrock.de/unrocks-archival-single-box-set-v-a-well-known-strangers-14x7/
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2021 |
€95.00 |
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NEKROPHILE REKORDS 1983-1990 |
10 x LP BOX |
"Symbolically limited to 666 copies, housed in a deluxe wooden box, and also including an exclusive t-shirt and a 240-page book, this magnificent set feature no less than ten LPs and two 7" vinyl records covering the entire Nekrophile Rekords original output, with the welcome addition of two unreleased full-lenght albums by Coming To Now and Metgumbnerbone. Comprehensive edition about the legendary Nekrophile Records tape label. Founded in Vienna by Michael Dewitt, also known as Zoe Dewitt, the label was specialized in occult / ritual industrial music (self-described as 'Martial Music for the New Aeon'). During its lifespan it released eight cassettes and various printed materials.
The label was notable for releasing solo material from Throbbing Gristle member Genesis P-orridge (with Stan Bingo), and also for early material by the noted Industrial band Coil (with Zos Kia), with the participation of Peter Christopherson, another member of Throbbing Gristle. Dewitt released solo material on the label under two names: Korpses Katatonik, and Zero Kama. The Zero Kama album "The Secret Eye of L.A.Y.L.A.H." is purported to have been recorded in its entirety using human bones and skulls as musical instruments. The overall content and design of Nekrophile's releases clearly drew inspiration from the occult, with many references to Aleister Crowley and Thelema in particular." [Soundohm]
LP01 NRC01 1983 Korpses Katatonik Subklinikal Leukotomy 1Lp
LP02 NRC02 1983 Genesis P-Orridge / Stan Bingo What's History 1Lp
LP03 NRC03 1983 Various The Beast 666 1Lp
- Korpses Katatonik Choronzon 4:26
– Coil Here To Here (Double Headed Secret) 4:22
– Hunting Lodge Learn To Will I 4:28
– Kathan Spiss The Serpent 6:38
– Toy Muzik Introducing The Brides Of Christ II Part A 7:45
– Stigma Diaboli La Force Pas La Joie 10:18
– Hunting Lodge Learn To Will II 5:08
– Mr. Vile Thumb Introducing The Brides Of Christ II Part B 4:44
– Zero Kama V.V.V.V.V. 6:59
– Post Mortem: The Sea Of Cefalu 1:45
LP04 NRC04 1984 LAShTAL Thoum Aesh Neith 1Lp
LP05 NRC05 1984 Zos Kia / Coil Transparent 1Lp
LP06 NRC06 1984 Various The Archangels Of Sex Rule The Destruction Of The Regime 1Lp
– Sleep Chamber W:O:M
– Zero Kama Prayer Of Zos
– Ain Soph Theme III
– Ewald Spiss Gbvrh
– Metgumbnerbone Death
– Coming To Now Thy Call To Kia
– Zero Kama Seven Nights Of Tantra
– Ain Soph Theme II
– Ewald Spiss NTzCH
– Sleep Chamber Coven Of Angels
LP07 NRC07 1984 Zero Kama The Secret Eye Of L.A.Y.L.A.H. (Cass, C60) 1Lp
LP08 NRC08 1985 Ain Soph Ars Regia (Cass, Album, C60) 1Lp
LP09 Coming to Now „Closer to Silence“ 1Lp
LP10 Metgumbnerbone For the Raven“ Lp plus 7inch
"Wait, some ritualistik musick in Vital Weekly, reviewed by FdW? That'll be some fine trashing! If you thought that, then I have to disappoint you. I am a fan here, which is a very personal thing. When in the early 80s I discovered Throbbing Gristle, I somehow got hold of a cassette by Genesis P. Orridge and Stan Bingo,
'What's History'. I assume I purchased it at Staalplaat. My musical partner bought 'The Secret Of L.A.Y.LA.H.' by Zero Kama, and together we headed out to the nearby town of Arnhem to see that band perform on what turned out to be one of the very few occasions they ever played live. We thought it was a disappointment. We were promised a concert with skulls and bones, but save for some flutes, all the drumming was on drums, plus some easy blood spatter on a naked girl. My friend asked one of the members what Zero Kama meant and got the dry reply 'zero karma'. Still, we both found the cassette a fascinating thing. Skipping a few years, I found myself behind the counter of Staalplaat. While I had very little interest in the world of death, industrial, and gothic, I found these CD reissues that Staalplaat had made of the Nekrophile Records quite interesting. As part of my research into 'what am I supposed to sell here', I took copies home of the available titles. Coil/Zos Kia had not
been released yet, and we came close to doing it ourselves (or not? That story is somewhere else), Ain Soph was no longer available, but the rest was still there. For a few reasons, I liked this. It was a world of its own, a label that only released a handful of cassettes mysteriously disappeared and yet almost all of it was on CD. I still have the CDs, and I still take m out on occasion to play them in one row.
When Vinyl On Demand announced a 10 LP/2 7" set, it was a no-brainer to spend my Christmas allowance on a box, mainly because there was also a book. Now books about record labels have my utmost interest, even if I don't like the music. This, obviously, is not the case here, as I enjoy the music. Vinyl On Demand delivers heavy books using heavy paper and is almost like an art catalogue. They aren't easy to read but look great. In this book, we find the story of Nekrophile Records well documented, first and foremost by Zoe deWitt, who ran the label in the early 80s (as Michael deWitt). We read of her interest in Psychic TV, magic and occultism as part of industrial music, rather than death and destruction. The music also changed, quieter, using bells, and flutes, next to synthesizers and electronics. deWitte first operated as Korpses Katatonik, later as Zero Kama, when the music became even more rhythmic. Skulls and bones were sourced at an old graveyard, and a legendary cassette came to fruition. As they do those days, deWitt was in contact with other musicians, and, also as they did, this leads to compilation cassettes, which included the first ever track by Coil, and music by Hunting Lodge, Stigma Diaboli, Toy Muziek, Sleep Chamber, Ain Soph, LashTal, and the aforementioned P.Orridge/Bingo tape. The book in this box details the various problems with these releases, such as musicians promising too much or forgetting what was promised. The book has some fine examples of letters from them, such as John Balance's fine writing (as recently also detailed in another book, 'The Abrahadabra Letters'), Steve Stapleton's blunt 'no' to an invitation, catalogues and pamphlets. All with excellent photo material, which made me sad that such things are no longer made (letters, booklets et al., I mean) in these days of digital communication.
Of course, the music is not an insignificant portion of the material. There is an exciting variety here. There is the more experimental synthesizer/electronics side of the ritual industrial music on the one hand. Here we find Korpses Katatonik, LashTal and Ain Soph (the latter, to my surprise, as that one is missing from my old collection, and I was never too fond of their later work). In contrast, the ritual, rhythmic aspect is represented by Zero Kama, whose LP gathered quite a cult following over the past thirty-something years and Metgumnerbone. Their LP was initially not released by Nekrophile, but contacts were established back in the day. The group gained notoriety because of their gravedigging for skulls and bones and subsequent arrest. Another album planned at that time that only sees the light of day now is Coming To Now, a duo of Luther Howard and Andy H. Their music has a fine blend of ritualistic slow drums, flutes and voices and is also similar to the more ritualistic rhythm side, and charming naive quality. The compilations have material from both ends of the musical spectrum, and the Psychic TV influence on Coil, Zoskia, Orrdige/Bingo is a clear one, a little diversification. It is topped with two 7"s by Toy Muzik, quite an unknown entity from the UK in this story, and more Metgumnerbone, to top this off. A small label, whose overviews fit in one wooden box (coffin is the apparent reference), offers a beautiful insight into the ancient and arcane world. I love it!" [FdW / Vital Weekly]
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2022 |
€299.00 |
|
|
This is Tehran? |
CD |
Tehran - Iran's cultural melting pot with a population of 15 million.
There is a broad and lively music scene here, about which little is known in the West.
"This Is Tehran?" invites you to discover this music scene and marvel at its diversity. From contemporary classical sounds with Saba Alizadeh on the Iranian spiked fiddle Kamanche or Siavash Molaeian together with Kasra Faridi on the piano to the well-known experimental electronic musician Ata "Sote" Ebtekar. The electronic beats of a cooperation of Ehsan Abdipour and Andreas Spechtl stand naturally next to jazzy sounds of a Parastoo Ahmadi or Mina Momeni. The Otagh Band invites you to the dark, trip-hop laden "Rotenburg," which they wrote about the "Cannibal of Rotenburg."
“This is Tehran?” will be 30M Records’ second release, and presents the capital’s wild creative energy with tracks that span contemporary classical, to experimental electronics to trip-hop and jazz in a mesmerizing journey through a fascinating culture.
“This Is Tehran?”, a 10-piece album uniting diverse contemporary Iranian composers and musicians, invites listeners to discover and be amazed by the fruits of the marriage between heritage and innovation in the city of endless creativity.
“This Is Tehran?”, introduces a modern generation of composers from Iran that have been breathing new life to the traditional music of the country.
"This Is Tehran?": 10 tracks that arouse curiosity and invite us on a musical journey as we certainly did not imagine!
credits
released June 4, 2021
1 Saba Alizadeh - “If I ever see you again”
Written and performed by Saba Alizadeh. Taken from the forthcoming album “May I Ever See You Again” (SMR003). ℗ 2021 30M Records
2 Ehsan Abdipour – “Sornarama”
Written and performed by Ehsan Abdipour. Synthesizer, additional percussions & mixing by Andreas Spechtl. ℗ 2021 30M Records
3 Hooshyar Khayam & Bamdad Afshar – “Char”
Written and performed by Hooshyar Khayam & Bamdad Afshar. Taken from the album “RAAZ” (SMR001). ℗ 2020 30M Records
4 Otagh Band – “Rotenburg 2020”
Written by Bamdad Afshar, performed by Bamdad Afshar and Otagh Band. ℗ 2020 Sheed Records
5 Pedram Babaiee – “Et Cetera”
Written and performed by Pedaram Babaiee. ℗ 2021 30M Records
6 Sote – “Pipe Dreams Metempsychosis”
Music: Ata 'Sote' Ebtekar (Electronics & Acoustic), Arash Bolouri (Santour + Extended Technique, Vocals, Tombak), Pouya Damadi (Tar + Extended Technique, Vocals), Poem: Bidel Dehlavi
Mastering: Helmut Erler at Dubplates & Mastering. Courtesy of Diagonal Records ℗ 2019
7 Parastoo Ahmadi – “Balal Balalom”
Re-worked and performed by Parastoo Ahmadi. Based on an ancient Shirazi traditional
℗ 2020 Parastoo Ahmadi
8 Rojin Sharafi – “Naked City”
Written and performed by Rojin Sharafi. ℗ 2021 30M Records
9 Siavash Molaeian & Kasra Faridi – “Kolber”
Written and performed by Siavash Molaeian & Kasra Faridi. ℗ 2021 30M Records
10 Mina Momeni – “Divar”
Written and performed by Mina Momeni. ℗2020 Mina Momeni
Mastered at Tonhotel Hamburg by Gerd Mauff
Produced by Matthias Koch
For more information visit www.30m-records.com
https://30m-records.bandcamp.com/album/this-is-tehran |
2021 |
€14.50 |
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Strain, Crack & Break Vol. 2 : Germany |
do-LP |
With his ongoing commitment to like-minded archivist label Finders Keepers Records, industrial music pioneer Steven Stapleton further entrusts us to lift the veil and expose “the right tracks” from his uber-legendary and oft misinterpreted psych/prog/punk peculiarity shopping list known as The Nurse With Wound List. Following the critically lauded first instalment and it’s exclusively French tracklisting both parties now combine their vinyl-vulturous penchants to bring you the next Strain Crack & Break edition which consists of twelve lesser-known German records that played a hugely important part in the initial foundations of the list which began to unfold when Stapleton was just thirteen-years-old. From the perspective of a schoolboy Amon Düül (ONE) victim, at the start of a journey that commenced before phrases like kosmische and the xeno-ignant Krautrock tag had become mag hack currency, this compendium is devoid of the tropes that united what many would accurately argue to be the greatest progressive pop bands in Europe (namely CAN, Neu! and Kraftwerk) and rather shatters the ingredients across a ground zero landscape for both inquisitive fans and socially rehabbing musos to begin to assemble a unique self-styled identity. If Krautrock was the music that journalist told us lurked behind schlager (German pop) in the 1970s, then this record includes the music that skulked behind Krautrock and perhaps refused to polish its backhanded name belt. Including lesser-known artists like the late Wolfgang Dauner whose career proceeded and outlived the kosmische movement while consistently informing and outsmarting ‘em whenever they got stuck in their metronomic ruts, or how about Fritz Müller, the man who was to Kraftwerk what Stuart Sutcliffe was to The Beatles but had more in common with Yoko and quite rightly couldn’t give a shit about the Fab Four’s Hamburg roots. Elsewhere we have a plethora of German bands made for German audiences as they try and shed second hand flower power Americanisms and feel the benefits of much harder drugs and the realisations of difficult second album budgets while Kommune 1 newsflashes wipe smiles from everybody’s faces and replace them with opioid chic or acid-sarcastic grins. Bonzo Cockettes show us their Big Muffs and drummers ask for extra mics while Conny Plank goes for parliamentary office and gives babies good firm hand shakes for the camera. Strain Crack & Break Volume Two is the sound of Steve Stapleton’s sponge-like mind and the dividends of anyone who was brave enough to even peek inside those brick-thick gatefold covers never mind drop the needle, with tracks by Mr. and Mrs. Fuchs (aka Anima-Sound) who played their instruments completely naked throughout their anti-career alongside previously unpressed tracks by the scene’s leading Detroit-born African American drummer Fred Braceful who’s band Exmagma officially had the coolest record sleeves and track titles of ALL TIME (Torpedo Tits? Yes Please!). From an era where it was embarrassing to go into your local record shop and hum the tune over the counter, well that young lad Steve Stapleton was braver than that, and besides, these tracks are unhummable and at times unutterable. Did somebody in the crowd shout out for Joel Vandroogenbroeck! Good luck with that one. Stapleton is sharing. Even Stevens.
Over forty years since Nurse With Wound’s first album was released, Finders Keepers Records and Steve Stapleton take connoisseurs of OUR kind of music, back to the disused elevator shaft towards ground zero. Arrriving at the same checkout from different departments, Finders Keepers and Nurse With Wound continue to sing from the same hymnal with this ongoing collaborative attempt to officially, authentically and legally compile the best tracks from Steve’s list, where many overzealous nerds have faltered (or simply, got the wrong end of the stick). After Strain Crack & Break Volume One merely scratched the surface of this DIY dossier of elongated punk-prog peculiarities, our second lavish metallic gatefold double vinyl compendium drives a much deeper groove, which, in accordance with Steve’s wishes, focusses exclusively on individual tracks of German origin - the country whose music forged the prototype of the NWW inventory in the form of his secondary school vinyl want-list in the early 1970s. Comprising of disassembled free jazz, unshowered stoner psych, hypnotic prog, deranged monk funk and fuzzed out Deutschmark bin bonzo beats this second volume of the series throws us straight back in the deep end, putting the Bad in Baden and the odour in The Oder with little need for cheap Cologne.
Willkommen to another forgotten plateau found beneath the psychedelic underground, as Steve Stapleton and Finders Keepers dig new tunnels through the fabric of your vinyl wish-list, these German records are heavy, so find Solid Ground or watch you floorboards Strain Crack & Break before your bloody ears.
https://finderskeepersrecords.bandcamp.com/album/strain-crack-break-music-from-the-nurse-with-wound-list-volume-two-germany
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2021 |
€27.50 |
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Anthology of Exploratory Music from India |
CD |
The new Unexplained Sounds Group’s compilation of exploratory music and sound works from India intends to present a comprehensive collection of sonic practices that have emerged from the desire to break away from India’s traditional sounds, e.g. classical music and folk tunes, while simultaneously drawing on ideas and inspirations from these lineages and auditory heritages in the form of recurring motifs and sonorities as well as textures and open-ended compositions. The fragile but complex connection between tradition and modernity is the crucial point of entry in this body of works contributed by Indian-born sound artists and experimental musicians. What is ‘sound art’ and what is ‘experimental’ can be debated at length, but sound art is a Western construct, and experiment is something Indian musicians have long been engaged in whilst keeping their traditions alive and transformative. What is new in this compilation is locating the tension between historical trajectories of sound thinking and the intervention of modernist technologies like recording and mixing that the artists continue to negotiate through their interpretations and reconfigurations of temporality and spatiality. That is why the western invention of CD as a form of sonic object-hood can be a constraint for Indian sound practitioners. This compilation therefore asks its listener to consider the CD just a trace of the sound experience, while the actual listening is ephemeral. This spatiotemporal tension uncovers a few questions around (de)coloniality and its shadows on emerging sonic practices in South Asia with new perspectives. The release, co-curated by Raffaele Pezzella and Budhaditya Chattopadhyay, contributes to the ongoing research Connecting Resonances that encourages critically listening to the sound practices and auditory cultures in the Global South with an interest in sonic confluences and decoloniality, to stand on the right side of music history.
[Budhaditya Chattopadhyay]
https://unexplainedsoundsgroup.bandcamp.com/album
/anthology-of-exploratory-music-from-india
|
2021 |
€13.00 |
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Anthology Of Experimental Music From China |
CD |
China’s experimental music and sound art scene began to take shape in the post-Tiananmen era in the late 1990s. A few musicians from the mainland’s underground music scene started to experiment with new ways of making music while the music industry co-opted the once revolutionary and independent rock music scene. The Hong Kong based experimental musician Dickson Dee and the U.S. based artist Dajuin Yao introduced Western avant-garde, experimental music to the mainland through the Internet and through the organization of music tours and festivals. The practice and spread of sound art, particularly installation and performative kinds, was made possible partially by venues such as contemporary art galleries and studios that have come to flourish in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Developed outside of academic and official institutions, China’s sound art and experimental music scene encompasses noise music, experimental music, free improvisation, sound performance art, and sound installation.
Wang Jing
The Unexplained Sounds Group is proud to present an anthology of experimental music from China, showcasing veteran musicians alongside many young and promising artists from the contemporary underground music scene.
https://unexplainedsoundsgroup.bandcamp.com/album/anthology-of-experimental-music-from-china
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2021 |
€13.00 |
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An Oblique Reference to Zeros |
do-CD |
"A budget-priced collection of tracks by artists who've had releases out on Fourth Dimension Records or whose music has entered the label's orbit and made a good impression.
In an ideal world there'd be at least several albums by all concerned on Fourth Dimension Records, but the label operates from more or less the same dingy old basement it always has and subsequently has to limp along in usual fashion.
It is precisely because of this that An Oblique Reference to Zeros has been assembled. The music always comes first and because Fourth Dimension Records does not focus on one particular area of music and instead works with a broad range of artists, the idea of bringing a number of them together on a compilation so that listeners can check out the previously unfamiliar made a lot of sense.
Almost all of the tracks here are previously unreleased, remixes or recorded exclusively for this compilation, too.
Packaged in a 6-panel digipak including stunning artwork by Puppy38 and a booklet with text even pointing to what inspired the title, this is an ideal purchase for anybody whose interests in music dovetail with Fourth Dimension's.
And, no, the title had nothing to do with Eno! Artists include: Kleistwahr, Sudden Infant, Hand & Leg, Mad Masks, MAP 71, Alternative TV, Splintered, Hiroshimabend, Tabata Mitsuru, Richard Youngs, JFK + Klaska, Philippe Petit, Schrottersburg, White Pee, Helm, EXTNDDNTWRK, Zsolt Sores, Theme, Band Of Pain, Contrastate, Mahler Haze, Sion Orgon and Gad Whip."
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2022 |
€13.50 |
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To Catch a Ghost - Field Recordings from Madagascar |
LP |
This is Sublime Frequencies’ second volume of transcendent musical field recordings from central and southern Madagascar, produced by Charles Brooks. Like the grand beauty and wonder of its flora and fauna, Madagascar’s music is completely unique. Whether the tempos are fast with polyrhythmic precision or slow in the form of a Kabosy ballad, once one gets familiar with its sound, it can never be mistaken again. Charles Brooks has been traveling to Madagascar and living with these spectacular artists for many years and has managed to document countless examples of their work, and regardless of how formal or informal a recording is made, the results always turn out magical. The following is an excerpt from Brooks’ liner notes:
The musicians on this album are storytellers and much of their craft is improvised and has a strong foundation of expertise in their respective cultural traditions. These field recordings have been collaborative from beginning to end and here, I’ve attempted to represent the finest of these talented artists. Their music journeys across endless landscapes with some movements having the qualities of a start and finish and yet no apparent end… Seeking, recording, and sharing the intangible experience, the best of all of this, is to catch a ghost.
• Charles G Brooks (2018)
(Limited edition LP with two-sided insert featuring images of the artist and highly detailed notes of the recording sessions)
https://www.sublimefrequencies.com/products/626114-to-
catch-a-ghost-field-recordings-from-madagascar
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2018 |
€22.50 |
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CONTEMPORARY HOMEMADE MUSIC FROM SWEDEN |
CD |
An audio postcard from the Discreet Music family featuring new music from Astrid Øster Mortensen, Jon Collin, Blod, Charlott Malmenholt, Hugo Randulv, Sewer Election, Skogar, Incipientium, Leda, JJulius, Amateur Hour, Arv & Miljö, Klas Trollius and Treasury of Puppies. 53 minutes.
Edition of 500 copies in jewelcase with 16-page booklet.
https://discreetmusic.myshopify.com/products/v-a-contemporary-homemade-music-from-sweden-cd
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2021 |
€15.00 |
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Visions of Darkness II ( (In Iranian Contemporary Music ) |
do-CD |
When the anthology "Visions Of Darkness (In Iranian Contemporary Music)" was released in 2017 (co-published in collaboration between Cold Spring and Unexplained Sounds Group), it was immediately clear that the Iranian music scene was not just promising, but already a rich chest of treasures. Years later we have further confirmation of the creative excellence and variety of musical languages that flourished in the Persian land.
In spite of the title, this second volume of the legendary anthology also gives us a broad picture of the musical experience of the Iranian underground that is not limited to the dark ambient, but explores sonic territories that reach concrete music, electroacoustic experimentation and sonic abstractionism. Persia, the cradle of a millenary culture, is teeming with young talents who continue their musical research with enthusiasm, pride and self-denial in the territories of drone music, as in electronic experimentalism and in the contamination of genres.
To some familiar names already present in volume I (Xerxes The Dark, IDFT, Reza Solatipour, etc ..), new discoveries are added that contribute to making the journey through the new Persian music exciting to the point that we can no longer speak of an emerging scene, but of a consolidated musical reality akin to others in the West.
Presented in a double digipak.
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/visions-of-darkness-volume-ii-csr316cd |
2022 |
€17.50 |
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Hyperakusis II |
CD |
When over 10 years ago we (Mirko and Carsten) had the idea to start our own label to promote the music we like, whether from our own projects or from others, we weren't sure if this label would last more than a few releases. Then and now most voices you've heard were telling you that releasing music successfully is getting more and more difficult. In times where new music is just a download away from your listening enjoyment, who would bother to pay for a CD release? In a scene where the majority of the artists produce distorted, harsh and rhythm oriented and in most cases very danceable tracks, who would like to listen to concerts of more quiet and contained ambient acts that don't let you burn of your energy while dancing? But now, 10 years, 20 CD and 16 download releases as well as numerous festival and concert appearances later, we are happy to say we found our spot in the music scene. We are proud of everything we have achieved and we are happy we met so many great people along the way. Here and now we want to thank every single artist who released their music on audiophob, every concert organizer and everyone of their crews who welcomed us as their guests, every reviewer of one of our releases, every DJ who played one of our tracks, everyone in the audience, everyone who bought one of our releases and everyone else we shared much valuable moments in the last years for their support. We hope you stay around for the times to come. (auphcd020)
https://audiophob.bandcamp.com/album/hyperakusis-ii
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2014 |
€6.00 |
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Sintomas de Techno: Ondas Electronicas Subterraneas Desde Peru |
LP |
Síntomas de techno : Ondas electrónicas subterráneas desde Perú (1985-1991)
Symptoms of techno:
Underground electronic waves from Peru (1985-1991)
This compilation presents for the first time various underground techno groups and projects that emerged in Lima in the mid-1980s. Projects such as Disidentes, Paisaje Electrónico, T de Cobre, Meine Katze Und Ich, El Sueño de Alí, Cuerpos del Deseo, Círculo Interior, Ensamble and Reacción were responsible for introducing styles such as techno-pop, EBM, industrial and minimal synth in Peru. Coinciding with the explosion of punk in Lima and the appearance of the so-called Rock Subterráneo [underground rock], these techno groups shared the same DIY spirit, performing in many punk concerts and even creating their own fanzines, and, above all, opening a space for other types of sonic experiences. Meine Katze Und Ich, El Sueño de Alí and Paisaje Electrónico were also the parallel projects of the members of Narcosis, the iconic punk band, one of the founders of Rock Subterráneo.
Disidentes and T de Cobre brought extreme sounds to local electronics: viscerality, mechanical rhythms and the use of Casiotones or synthesizers, which resulted in an atypical sound that, in turn, portrayed a critical time in Peru, and which has made them an unavoidable reference for any historical account of techno and industrial music in Latin America.
The title of this compilation is inspired by the name of a concert held in Lima in 1991, considered to be the first techno concert to have taken place in Peru. Even though not all intervening groups were doing techno at that time, they did share the fact that they all used keyboards. Four of them, however (Cuerpos del Deseo, Ensamble, Círculo Interior and Reacción), were in fact affiliated to an electronic sound (techno-pop, EBM). The concert was a sign of the diversification of musical styles in Lima's alternative scene, and in particular of the emergence of a micro scene, for which the concert Síntomas de techno [Symptoms of Techno] represented an important step towards the development of a local culture of electronic music during the 90s.
Many of the recordings included here are extracted from demos with limited circulation, practically impossible to find. Other tracks are unpublished pieces which come from the private archives of the artists themselves. The compilation has been made by Luis Alvarado and is part of the Essential Sounds Collection, with which Buh Records is making available a vast archive of avant-garde Peruvian music. This compilation is published in vinyl format in a limited edition of 300 copies, with extensive information and visual documentation. Mastered by Alberto Cendra. Art by René Sánchez. Cover photography by Rogelio Martell.
This project was awarded with funding from the Economic Stimuli program of the Peruvian Ministry of Culture.
Limited edition of 500 copies, booklet with extensive information in spanish and english, and visual documentation
https://buhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/s-ntomas-de-techno-ondas-electr-nicas-subterr-neas-desde-per-1985-1991-essential-sounds-collection
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2022 |
€25.00 |
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CYCLES II : Cyclic Law's 20th Anniversary Label Sampler |
do-CD |
In celebration of our 20th year as a label, we've gathered 22 artists on 20 tracks, all graciously presenting us exclusive and unreleased material. Featuring AJNA, ASCENDING DIVERS, ASHTORETH, BECKAHESTEN, CURSE ALL KINGS, DESIDERII MARGINIS, FUNERARY CALL, KAMMARHEIT, LEILA ABDUL-RAUF, NERATERRÆ & DØDSMASKIN, NEW RISEN THRONE & CORONA BARATHRI, NORDVARGR, ØJERUM, SHEDIR, SHRINE, SOPHIA, SUTEKH HEXEN, TAPHEPHOBIA, VISIONS and VORTEX. We’d like to dedicate this release to our worldwide supporters who’ve made this 20 year venture possible and to all artists involved throughout the years, whom with their unique approach to atmospheric music, have helped create the aural world that is Cyclic Law. Artwork imagery is by our close collaborator and friend Kristina Feldhammer.
Double CD Edition of 500 copies in 6 panels Digisleeve with 180x120mm poster, matt lamination. 20 Tracks. Running Time; CD1 56:57, CD2 57:17
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/cycles-ii-cyclic-laws-20th-anniversary-label-sampler
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2022 |
€19.50 |
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LA MATERIA VERBAL - Antologia De La Poesia Sonora Peruana |
LP |
La Materia Verbal - Antología de la Poesía Sonora Peruana
The Verbal Matter: An Anthology of Peruvian Sound Poetry
This compilation brings together 22 sound poems, including both pioneering and current pieces, and constitutes itself as the first great overview of sound poetry from Peru. It continues a cycle that began in 2009 with the appearance of a CD called Inventar la voz: Nuevas tradiciones orales [To Invent the Voice: New Oral Traditions] and was followed up in 2011 with another one called Irse de lengua [To Let It Slip], both of which contributed to articulate diverse manifestations of poetry that used technological means, also in the context of intense activity in the local scenes of experimental music and sound art that opened spaces for interdisciplinary dialogues.
What we know as sound poetry is the product of a technological revolution associated with the appearance of various means of recording, transmission and amplification of the voice. A long process that took shape in the 20th century, until it became a discipline, articulated as an international movement which, based on phonetic research, expanded into a universe of oral/vocal artistic practices as part of a new technological context.
The recordings gathered here comprise a time frame that goes from 1972 to 2021. We find poems that work with montage techniques, either because they explore simultaneity or juxtaposition, such as those by Mario Montalbetti, Frido Martín, Florentino Díaz, Carlos Estela, Luisa Fernanda Lindo, Macri Cáceres, Rodrigo Vera Cubas, Tilsa Otta, Giancarlo Huapaya/Omar Córdova, Virginia Benavides, Lisa Carrasco and Luis Alvarado. Others emphasize vocal/oral performance: we find the phonetic poems of Carlos Germán Belli and Eduardo Chirinos, as well as the concrete conceptual poems of Michael Prado, Sandra Suazo, Peru Saizprez, and the oral/guttural poem of Omar Aramayo. Finally, we find another group of pieces where the poem starts with the creation of a computational parameter or algorithm, as is the case with the pieces by Jorge Eduardo Eielson and Enrique Verástegui, eventually reaching the use of Artificial Intelligence as in the poems by Francisco Mariotti and Paola Torres Núñez del Prado.
The Verbal Matter: An Anthology of Peruvian Sound Poetry is part of a series produced by Buh Records for Centro del Sonido, a website set up as a digital archive of Peruvian experimental music and sound art. The compilation has been made by Luis Alvarado and is published in a limited edition of 300 copies in vinyl format. It includes extensive notes and visual documentation. Mastered by Alberto Cendra. Art by René Sánchez.
This project was awarded with funding from the Economic Stimuli program of the Peruvian Ministry of Culture.
-------------------
THE VERBAL MATTER
AN ANTHOLOGY OF PERUVIAN SOUND POETRY
It is difficult to imagine today\'s world without thinking about the influence that inventions such as the phonograph, the gramophone, the radio, the telephone or the microphone have exerted on the fields of culture, communications and human relations since their appearance in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Many of the activities that are part of our daily life originated in that auditory revolution and in those that came after: from the appearance of tape recorders and personal players, to the infinity of resources that the socialization of the digital revolution brought about. Today these technologies are available to anyone. We all carry a cell phone, a device that can record, reproduce, store and transmit sounds.
What we know as sound poetry is the product of that technological revolution. A long process that took shape in the 20th century, until it became a discipline, articulated as an international movement, which, based on phonetic research, expanded into a universe of oral/vocal artistic practices as part of a new technological context.
As a live and performative act, sound poetry has admitted multiple resources: accompaniment with video or dance, the use of live electronic techniques, multichannel systems, improvisation techniques, repetitions, mantras, solo or group actions, of simultaneous voices using samplers, loops, as well as texts, instructions or scores, among others.
We are going to refer here, however, only to what constitutes sound poetry as a recorded piece. And in that sense, what distinguishes many works of sound poetry is that they make use of editing. Sound poetry, like cinema or radio art, is an art of montage, juxtaposition, concatenation, sound planes, that uses many resources from concrete music as well as from various digital processing techniques. But sound poetry is also an art of recording: it is therefore a performance of the voice, alone or electronically processed, before a microphone and a before a recording device. Like the songs we hear on the radio or any streaming platform, sound poetry is stored as a phonogram.
Sound poetry also encompasses sound organization systems, from the design and control of parameters to complex computational processes with algorithms and Artificial Intelligence, working therefore in an area related to various methods of composition of contemporary or electronic music.
The Verbal Matter: An Anthology of Peruvian Sound Poetry is an album that continues a cycle that began in 2009 with the appearance of a CD called Inventar la voz: Nuevas tradiciones orales [To Invent the Voice: New Oral Traditions] and was followed up in 2011 with another one called Irse de lengua [To Let It Slip], both of which contributed to articulate diverse manifestations of poetry that used technological means, also in the context of intense activity in the local scenes of experimental music and sound art that opened spaces for interdisciplinary dialogues.
The present compilation brings together 22 sound poems, including both pioneering and current pieces, and constitutes itself as the first great overview of sound poetry from Peru. We find poems that work with montage techniques, either because they explore simultaneity or juxtaposition, such as those by Mario Montalbetti, Frido Martín, Florentino Díaz, Carlos Estela, Luisa Fernanda Lindo, Macri Cáceres, Rodrigo Vera Cubas, Tilsa Otta, Giancarlo Huapaya/Omar Córdova, Virginia Benavides, Lisa Carrasco and Luis Alvarado. Others emphasize vocal/oral performance: we find the phonetic poems of Carlos Germán Belli and Eduardo Chirinos, as well as the concrete conceptual poems of Michael Prado, Sandra Suazo, Peru Saizprez, and the oral/guttural poem of Omar Aramayo. Finally, we find another group of pieces, where the poem starts with the creation of a computational parameter or algorithm, as is the case with the pieces by Jorge Eduardo Eielson or Enrique Verástegui, eventually reaching the use of Artificial Intelligence as in the poems by Francisco Mariotti and Paola Torres Núñez del Prado.
It is important to mention that Peru is a country with a great oral tradition, especially in the Andean and Amazon regions. It is also a country with a great linguistic diversity, 47 languages, many of them spoken in indigenous communities with little population, and running the risk of disappearing. This makes the implementation and systematization of recording technologies essential, urgent for the creation of oral history or spoken word archives. There are several projects underway, but there also remains much to be done.
We can also find there a key to understand the process of sound poetry in our country, insofar as its origins, practice and development are related to how well established is an archive culture of our spoken word.
Going back in time, in 1892 the Peruvian poet Carlos Germán Amézaga published a poem called “The phonograph”, which was recorded with the first phonograph that arrived in Lima. There we could read these verses: “The heart does not preserve harmonies / As the cylinder does... / Its sorrows and joys are erased / Everything in the heart, everything goes away!” [“No guarda el corazón las armonías / Como el cilindro aquel los guardará…/ Bórranse sus pesares y alegrías / Todo en el corazón, todo se va!”]. The cylinder mentioned by Amézaga is the recording medium of the phonograph. The poet describes the power of the machine to record sound, which he opposes to to oblivion as a human condition.
The phonograph was undoubtedly an important tool for the development of ethnographic research and the preservation of oral tradition. In this sense, the great Peruvian writer, José María Arguedas, saw in the recording device and in radio broadcasting, important means for the preservation of folklore and endangered oral traditions. Arguedas has often been described as a man glued to a tape recorder, given his work as a compiler. Among the many recordings he made, in addition to Andean songs, there is a long and intense hymn poem of his authorship titled “Tupac Amaru kamaq taytanchisman” (“I sing to our father Tupac Amaru”) (1962), in Quechua and Spanish, published as a written poem, but also recorded in an oral version intended to be broadcast on radio, a medium that could potentially reach various remote villages on the mountains. In the poem Arguedas made a vindication of Andean culture, and established a communication between the chief god, son of the serpent, and the Andean people, in communion with their land, their animals, their landscape. \"Listen to the vibration of my body\" [Escucha la vibración de mi cuerpo], the poet is heard saying, perhaps seeking to reveal that spectrum of emotion which defines the orality of the poem. Due to its length, Arguedas took advantage of the recording machine to pause and then resume his declamation. If we listen carefully, we will be able to perceive the stop and start of the tape, and hear the renewed voice of Arguedas reappearing from time to time. The art of recording offers those possibilities.
Towards the mid-70s Jorge Eduardo Eielson defined as “audio-paintings” [audiopinturas] or “verbal structures” [estructuras verbales] a form of vocal poetry that consisted of pieces presented as schemes, permutations and rhythms, whose intonation qualities opened an interstice between poetry and music. They were unique vocal performances that were recorded on tape and that constitute the earliest antecedent of a form of sound poetry produced by a Peruvian poet.
The Verbal Matter is a sample of various moments in which Peruvian poetry has led to forms of oral/vocal art, based on an awareness of the poem as a way to start other chains of meaning in language. Sound poetry has been a way to bring the sounds of speech, the poet\'s own voice, to a stripped, dislocated area, where the poem emerges from that tension between sound and meaning. These are culminating moments or extreme moments, and therefore also insular moments, an inquiry into the border with that purely auditory dimension, mediated by new technological devices, where the poem takes shape in the air, is amplified and electrified.
https://buhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/la-materia-verbal-antolog-a-de-la-poes-a-sonora-peruana |
2022 |
€25.00 |
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\'Музыкальное Приношение\' (Musical Offering) - |
CD |
listen:
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/musical-offering-csr326cd
Available on CD (or any other format) for the first time outside USSR, five Soviet composers perform their works on the legendary ANS synthesizer.
Recorded in 1971, "MUSICAL OFFERING" is 6 tracks (42 mins) of experiments on the unique machine by: Eduard Artemiev (2 tracks), Oleg Buloshkin, Sofia Gubaidulina, Edison Denisov, and Alfred Schnittke.
"MUSICAL OFFERING" demonstrates a 'musical' machine unlike any other and has long fascinated cutting edge, modern electronic composers, notably COIL and THE ANTI GROUP COMMUNICATIONS (TAGC) / CLOCK DVA, that have both released recordings utilising the ANS.
Try to imagine a score sounding by itself without a conductor; an orchestra without musical instruments. This magic is possible by using the musical ANS synthesizer. Created by Soviet scientist Evgeny Murzin over the course of 20 years, ANS is an instrument with which a composer can not only create but also draw their music without notes. You can see the twinkling of different lamps, the rotation of grooved glass discs... The drawings on the glass are 'sounding notes'. To listen to the drawn picture, press the button and a wonderful transformation will begin.
Inside the ANS are five rotating glass discs with 144 tones printed (by hand) on each one. Light is projected through the discs and onto photovoltaic cellbank which converts the light into electricity and sends signals to the ANS's amplifiers and bandpass filters. The ANS can generate 720 tones this way and, unlike a human musician, play them all at the same time.
Murzin dedicated his photoelectronic apparatus to Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin, hence the name ANS. Scriabin, the creator of the 'Poem of Ecstasy', and a famous explorer of synesthesia, used in his works a highly chromatic, new type of harmonic style designed to express his beliefs, views and wishes. Soviet music lovers will already know recordings made on ANS from Tarkovsky's films Solaris, The Mirror, and Stalker, Konchalovsky's film Siberiade, and others.
Presented in a digipak with the new artwork by Abby Helasdottir (who also created the compelling promo video), complimenting the ANS process perfectly.
Officially licensed from Russian state label Melodiya.
Watch promo video (YouTube): bit.ly/Musical-Offering
Copyright © – ВТПО "Фирма Мелодия" (Melodiya)
All-Union Recording Studio. Recorded in 1971.
Recording supervised by Юрий Богданов
Mastered by Martin Bowes at The Cage
Track listing:
1. OLEG BULOSHKIN - \'Sacrament\' (3:32)
2. SOFIA GUBAIDULINA - \'Vivente-Non Vivente (Alive And Dead)\' (10:44)
3. EDUARD ARTEMIEV - \'Mosaic\' (4:05)
4. EDUARD ARTEMIEV - \'Twelve Looks At The World Of Sound\' (12:53)
5. EDISON DENISOV - \'Birds\' Singing\' (5:04)
6. ALFRED SCHNITTKE - \'Stream\' (5:57)
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"A new batch of Cold Spring CDs, and I must say... At least with one of them, they stole my mathematic sound nerdish heart. "Musical Offering" is a sampler with Russian composers using the ANS, probably entirely up to its limits. Two tracks by Eduard Artemiev and one track each by Oleg Buloshkin, Sofia Gubaidulina, Edison Denisov and Alfred Schnittke. I only knew about Artemiev on this list because of his movie soundtracks. So to hear his work without a movie and, of course, images of empty landscapes, a brutalist-themed forgotten society and demise and a void enter my head, but fair is fair: all images were in colour. Nothing bleak or grey but the richness of the ANS is all over the place.
So for those who don't know what an ANS is all about, it's a Russian synthesizer designed over 20 years by Evgeny Murzin, and there is only one. It works with drawings on glass plates and devices that transform light into voltages, and those voltages create sounds. The glass discs spin, and well ... Wiki / YouTube is your friend here. Many artists have worked with the ANS, including Coil, The Anti Group Communications. Yes, [law-rah] also used original sounds from the ANS on their split with Cisfinitum (released on Fario). Maybe working on that release is the reason why I have a personal
weakness for this machine. I just couldn't get over how rich the sounds were that we got to use. Sure: A completely different thing than Coil being in the museum and drawing on the discs and us 'just' working with some recordings one of the museum guys did for us. Yet still ... I was impressed then, and I'm still impressed now.
For this disc, I am keeping the review smallish. Why? Because you already know if you are a) interested in neo-classical compositions by Russian composers. If you are, you will get this release and not be disappointed. It's as simple as that. If you are b) a nerd who loves different forms of synthesis like me, this album is one to consider. Because it's very varied and shows a lot of the ANS in 'its original environment': Russian composers on a Russian synth, and if you are c) curious about composition techniques, this will break your mind. Because from the ritualistic rhythmic parts in "Sacrament" (by Buloshkin), the 'voices' in "Vivente-Non Vivente" (by Artemiev) and the birds and frogs in "Birds Singing" (by Denisov), can you tell what is the origin of the sound? Is it a bird? Is it a recording? Or is it super ANS?
For me, it's not one of those reasons to love this album, and it's d) all of the above." [BW / Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€15.00 |
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In Fractured Silence |
CD |
Compilation curated by Steven Stapleton (of Nurse with Wound) of creative-experimental-unlikely music, originally released in 1984. Released on his United Dairies label that he had created with John Fothergill, he naturally called on Jean-Jacques Birgé and Francis Gorgé, who were then playing with Bernard Vitet in Un drame musical instantané. The compilation would be named In Fractured Silence. Alongside Nurse With Wound and Un drame musical instantané, could be heard Hélène Sage (whom Birgé introduced to Stapleton) and Sema, a project from the experimental British musician Robert Haigh who had participated in key records in the Nurse With Wound discography, such as Homotopy to Marie and Spiral Insana.
Carefully restored and remastered from by Gilles Laujol
Graphic design by Stefan Thanneur
Digipack CD
Licensed from United Dairies
Have you heard of the Nurse With Wound List? If you are a fan of creative-experimental-unlikely music, certainly. You would therefore be aware that amongst the recommendations that Steven Stapleton slipped into the first album of his group Nurse With Wound, were to be found a few restless frogs: Jef Gilson, Luc Ferrari, Jacques Thollot, Urban Sax, Horde Catalytique and last…
… but not least Jean-Jacques Birgé and Francis Gorgé. Stapleton admired their album Défense de. The two Frenchmen just had to conceive of a fabulous precursor to the channel tunnel (check out the inside of the record, you’ll see) to enable Stapleton to come to France in 1980. The Englishman was looking for contributions to a compilation to be released on his United Dairies label that he had created with John Fothergill, and he naturally called on Birgé and Gorgé, who were then playing with Bernard Vitet in ‘Un drame musical instantané’.
It was a done deal and the compilation would be named In Fractured Silence. Alongside Nurse With Wound and Un drame musical instantané, could be heard Hélène Sage (whom Birgé introduced to Stapleton) and Sema, a project from the experimental British musician Robert Haigh who had participated in key records in the Nurse With Wound discography, such as Homotopy to Marie and Spiral Insana.
The curtain is raised and it is Un drame musical instantané who start the ball rolling. Mystery abounds; synthesisers lurk, percussion clatters and the sounds (creaks, whistles, vocal insertions…) fire in all directions. For the piano, it’s a debacle, the Drame won, Hélène Sage can take over. Heading up a quintette including Gorgé and Vitet, she creates a cushioned chamber music with strings and many silences.
On the B side, it’s the other side of the channel. Sema’s piano first off, which dares everything, even melody, before spilling out its darkest ideas in a raucous requiem. Finally, Stapleton appears, delving into his collection of female voices to devote himself to an iconoclastic transformation and concoct a song which collapses under the assault like Marianne at Agincourt. After having listened to In Fractured Silence, you will simply have to choose sides.
*
Avez-vous déjà entendu parler de la Nurse With Wound List ? Si vous êtes amateur de musique créativo-expérimentalo-improbable, sûrement. Vous n’êtes donc pas sans ignorer que parmi les conseils d’écoute que Steven Stapleton a glissé dans le premier album de son Nurse With Wound, on trouve quelques froggies agités du bocal : Jef Gilson, Luc Ferrari, Jacques Thollot, Urban Sax, Horde Catalytique pour la fin…
… Et aussi Jean-Jacques Birgé et Francis Gorgé, dont Stapleton a apprécié l’album Défense de. Il suffira aux deux Français d’imaginer avant l’heure un fabuleux tunnel sous la Manche (regardez à l’intérieur du disque, vous comprendrez) pour qu’au milieu des années 1980 Stapleton gagne la France. Prospectant pour une compilation à paraître sur United Dairies, le label qu’il a créé avec John Fothergill, l’Anglais rencontre naturellement Birgé et Gorgé, qui jouent désormais avec Bernard Vitet dans Un drame musical instantané.
L’affaire est entendue et la compilation aura pour nom In Fractured Silence. Aux côtés de Nurse With Wound et d’Un drame musical instantané, on y entendra Hélène Sage (que Birgé a présenté à Stapleton) et Sema, projet de l’expérimentateur briton Robert Haigh qui aura participé aux incontournables de la discographie nursewithdienne que sont Homotopy to Marie et Spiral Insana.
Le rideau se lève : c’est Un drame musical instantané qui ouvre le bal. Le mystère est partout : les synthétiseurs rôdent, les percussions claquent et les sons (grincements, sifflements, inserts vocaux…) fusent. Pour le piano, c’est la débandade, le drame a gagné, Hélène Sage peut prendre le relais. A la tête d’un quintet dont font partie Gorgé et Vitet, elle aménage une musique de chambre capitonnée avec des cordes et beaucoup de silences.
Sur la face B, c’est l’autre côté de la Manche. Le piano de Sema, d’abord, qui ose tout, même la mélodie, avant de cracher ses idées noires sur un requiem de bastringue. Enfin, c’est l’apparition de Stapleton qui pioche dans sa collection de voix féminines pour s’adonner à une transformation iconoclaste et concocter une chanson qui croule sous les assauts comme Marianne à Azincourt. Après avoir écouté In Fractured Silence, il ne vous restera plus qu’à choisir votre camp.
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2023 |
€14.00 |
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Struppig Schweben (LES MARQUISES / TROUM / KILLER+LICHT-UNG / ANDREW LILES) |
CD |
https://licht-ung.bandcamp.com/album/struppig-schweben
"About once or twice a year you can head out to Leverkusen in Germany, where the Licht-ung labels puts on a small festival, which always results into a CD release. Each festival has the word ‘struppig’, meaning ‘shaggy’, followed by another word, such as ‘Mahlen’ (painting, Vital Weekly 1405) and ‘Droehnen’ (droning, Vital Weekly 1323). November 26, 2022 it was time for ‘schweben’, floating. It’s unclear to what extent the musicians keep the title in mind. Every night has four or five artists/groups, meaning they have quite some space to fill on the CD. Only in the vase of Killer + Licht-ung (also a musical concern, next to the label), we deal with a live recording; or, perhaps, we don’t hear it with the other pieces. The CD starts with the for me unknown quantatity of Les Marquises, of which Discogs says “Les Marquises is a French experimental pop band founded by Jean-Sébastien Nouveau in 2010”, yet Nouveau is the only member. He has a lovely piece of slow drones, presumably recorded with guitars, loopers and effects and the whole thing is a beautiful gorgoeus, slow-evolving piece of drone music, with, surprisingly, also percussion. Very atmospheric, and also very musical, a great piece and certainly a band to hear more work from. Troum is next up and one could say the big stars of the evening, along with Andrew Liles. Their piece might also be more of a microphone recording, judging by the quality, and shows them doing what they do best, playing moody and spacious music, which could maybe use a bit more definition, but is a damn fine piece. Killer + Licht-ung’s piece is called ‘Jeans Beast (irgendwo & unvermittelt), which may have something to do with the musician Jeans Beast, also known as Julian Flemming, but I have no idea what. Their piece is also based around drones, but contains a most curious form of percussion, sounding like moving around objects (chairs?) in the performance space. The drones are generated by guitars and feedback and grow in intensity. Andrew Liles is the only that doesn’t play the pure drone card but has four quite different sections. Opening with piano music, hard strums rather than gently playing, and some obscured samples, slowly morphing into a drone/organ piece with more schwung. More synthesisers in the third part, ending with a pulse beat and voice from TV/film. It’s the sort of thing we’d expect from Liles; soundtrack-like, collage, a bit of a cut-up and an altogether different kind of atmospheres, delivering the goods as expected." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
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2023 |
€12.00 |
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Spectra Ex Machina - A Sound Anthology of Occult Phenomena 1920-2017 Vol.2 |
LP |
https://subrosalabel.bandcamp.com/album/spectra-ex-machina-a-sound-anthology-of-occult-phenomena-1920-2017-vol-2
The Anthology Spectra Ex Machina brings together rare documents pertaining to so-called occult phenomena, most of them taken from little-known archives. In the course of three volumes, this series traces an audio history of parapsychology through the exploration of spiritualism and haunted houses (vol. 1); musician mediums (vol. 2); experiences of extrasensory perceptions (clairvoyance, psychokinesis, etc.) and electronic voice phenomena (vol. 3).
The link between music, sound and the paranormal is manifested in many different ways. Gerard van der Leeuw, the Dutch historian and philosopher, wrote "Music represents the great struggle of reaching the wholly other, which it can never express". Furthermore, "The effect of music on the emotions is so mysterious as to seem magical. There is no logical explanation why a particular combination of musical notes, whether in the form of a tune or of a simple chord, can affect the heart. Nothing in nature has perhaps so persistently resisted explanation",
as said Derek Parker, the British journalist. Since music is arguably the most intangible of the arts and since the paranormal, in all its manifestations, continues to intrigue people, the placing of these two
subjects together seems obvious. This second volume of musical and audio anomalies continues and expands upon the works initially reproduced in the latter. Rosemary Brown makes a welcome re-appearance, especially with a performance of Grübelei via Liszt, as well as the Caruso-inspired tenor Leo May making a repeat performance. Few people realize that both Anton LaVey and Aleister Crowley were quite fine musicians and Alex Sanders was also interested in music. The background music of Wagner's Tannhäuser used by the latter combines both pagan and Christian elements. So close your eyes and let the magic of sound take over!
|
2023 |
€19.50 |
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DAIS223 (DAIS X RETROSPECT) COMPILATION |
MC + Portable Cassette Player |
Dais Records, das in LA/NYC ansässige Label, das klanglich ausdrucksstarke und visuell dynamische Künstler vertritt, ist mit dem analogen Innovator und Produktdesignstudio Retrospekt eine Kooperation eingegangen. Das Vermächtnis und die Tradition von Dais passen hervorragend zum Leitbild von Retrospekt: "Wiederbelebung von Retro-Tech für eine neue Generation". Das Ergebnis ihrer ersten Zusammenarbeit ist ein schickes, weißes, limitiertes Exemplar des tragbaren Kassettenspielers CP-81 von Retrospekt, das eine exklusive 19-Track-Kompilationskassette mit unveröffentlichtem Material aus den Reihen des Labels mit dem Titel DAIS223 enthält. Nathaniel Young, Kreativdesigner bei Dais, hat die Standardpräsentation des CP-81 sowohl für den Player als auch für die Verpackung neu gestaltet. Die weiße Dais-Edition des Kassettenspielers wird in einer weißen Schachtel mit schwarzem Text verpackt, zusammen mit einem Satz weißer Dais-Kopfhörer und dem C23-Compilation-Tape. Das Gerät verfügt über alle wichtigen Funktionen eines Kassettenspielers: Abspielen, Vorspulen, Zurückspulen, Aufnehmen und wird mit einem verstellbaren Dais-Kopfhörer geliefert. Der Dais x Retrospekt Kassettenspieler ist auf 1000 Stück limitiert - die Kassette wird nicht separat verkauft. Zu den Funktionen gehören: Wiedergabe, schneller Vorlauf, Rücklauf, Aufnahme, Mikrofonbuchse, Kopfhörerbuchse, Typ-C-USB-Stromversorgung, Batteriebetrieb möglich Enthalten sind: Tragbarer Kassettenspieler, C23-Kassettenband, 2x AA-Batterien, Verstellbare Dais-Kopfhörer, Benutzerhandbuch Der Compilation-Titel DAIS223 bezieht sich auf die Katalognummer (DAIS223). DAIS223 enthält unveröffentlichte Tracks von High Vis, High-Functioning Flesh, RIKI, Private World, Helm, Tor Lundvall, CoH, AURAGRAPH, ADULT., Drew McDowall, SRSQ, Cold Gawd, Remixe von SPICE und Cold Showers sowie Demos von Body of Light, Choir Boy, VR Sex und Xeno & Oaklander.
https://daisrecords.bandcamp.com/merch/dais-x-retrospekt-collab-limited-cp-81-cassette-player-and-compilation
We are proud to announce our collaboration with analog innovators and product design studio: Retrospekt.
The Dais x Retrospekt Portable Cassette Player is a limited edition release of Retrospekt’s CP-81: reimagined with a new graphic design in white, with rose-adorned artwork by Dais creative director Nathaniel Young. The device features all of the core cassette player functions, packaged with adjustable Dais branded headphones and an exclusive 19-track compilation cassette of unreleased material from our roster.
Limited to 1000. Tape not sold separately.
DAIS223 Tape Compilation
Listen to Sampler: found.ee/DaisXRetrospekt
SIDE A:
High Vis - Forgot To Grow
High-Functioning Flesh - Down To Sense
Riki - SAS (For Those Who Speak And Spake)
Private World - Through The Distance
Body of Light - Out of Season (Demo Instrumental)
Helm - Evil Ceramics
Choir Boy - Happy to Be Bad With You (Demo)
Tor Lundvall - Black Fly Day
CoH - Vow a Vow
SPICE - I Dont Want To Die In NY (Remix)
SIDE B:
VR SEX - Runway Runaway (Demo)
Xeno & Oaklander - Hoplite (Demo)
Tempers - Camino Del Sol (Antena Cover)
Cold Showers - Sliver (Inner City Remix)
AURAGRAPH - No Control
ADULT. - Few Warnings Are Important (2003)
Drew McDowall - Animals Will Sing
SRSQ - Phantasmata
Cold Gawd - Gin (At The Mountain)
Contents include:
- Portable cassette player
- Dais Records "C23" Compilation Tape
- 2x AA batteries
- Dais adjustable headphones
- User guide
Tape Player Features include:
- Play, fast-forward, rewind, record
- Microphone jack
- Headphones jack
- Type-C USB power supply
- Battery operable
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2023 |
€100.00 |
|
|
NEW STATE OF FLUX |
do-CD |
listen:
https://reversealignment.bandcamp.com/album/new-state-of-flux
New State Of Flux was conceived by Raffaele Pezzella, head of the Unexplained Sounds network of aural disorientation, after Swedish label Reverse Alignment became a part of the network at the beginning of 2021. The extremely fine work released by label founder Kristian Widqvist from its inception in 2007 and over the next 13 years is a rare example of integrity and quality in terms of aesthetic choices, creating a collection of minimalist and isolationist gems by releasing a series of albums by musicians that have constituted a new paradigm in minimalistic ambient music. The New State Of Flux compilation has been curated with the intention of continuing that tradition in the same spirit of sonic exploration and philosophy, and adding some new names that we hope will be appreciated just as their predecessors were. Many of them will be the launch-pad for a new Reverse Alignment trajectory.
"I love a 2xCD compilation. Big compilations are a lot of fun, especially comps that exist to spotlight a particular label’s aesthetic, which is what “New State of Flux” is. (A quick aside: when I first read the title, I’d hoped that “New State of Flux” was a double-disc survey of 1980s Massachusetts cassette label A State of Flux… but no, it’s not. Someone should still do a reissue or comp of A State of Flux one day, though). This album was compiled by Raffaele Pezzella, who runs the Unexplained Sounds Group. A network consisting of several labels under one umbrella. There’s USG itself, which has put out important surveys of experimental music from Iran, Lebanon, the Balkans, China and more… and then Eighth Tower and ZeroK. This comp exists to spotlight USG’s newest partnership with the Swedish dark-ambient label Reverse Alignment, effectively now being run from Italy by Pezzella. The intent is to introduce Reverse Alignment to new listeners, which it certainly does.
Evidence of the label’s clear curatorial vision is that all 20 of the pieces on this compilation are of a similar mood and seem to run into one another. It’s hard to tell one artist/track from the next. For me, that’s one of the album’s strengths, especially since most of the artists’ names are unfamiliar to me; I was able to put on my headphones, press play, then close my eyes and soak it all in as if “New State of Flux” were a single thought by a single person. The album opens with a track by Jarl (aka Swedish artist Erik Jarl of IRM, Skin Area, & Sharon’s Last Party), one of the names I knew going in. His piece “Chemical Mirror” is a sombre, subtly psilocybic drone with echo-laden sci-fi bloops that hint at a sinister something below the surface. Taphephobia’s “A Journey to the Outside World” leans worryingly towards Hearts of Space territory, but recovers well enough. Another highlight comes from VelgeNaturlig, whose “Raga in Height Dimensions” consists of an insistent electric tone that grows somewhat more abrasive and unnerving, eventually breaking into a passage of delay-saturated instruments. One might be a sitar, but It's hard to tell. RNGMNN’s piece is another strong entry, a lugubrious slather of percussion and ghostly moaning. Some other names that stuck out to me are B*Tong (whose foreboding piece features the voice of NASA controller, informing someone of something distressing about to happen…), Freiband (aka Vital editor Frans de Waard/Modelbau), SITKA (a tape-delay lullaby), Ajna (classic post-Lustmord dark ambient) and Equal Stones (whose lighter, heavenly-choir sound is a welcome change of colour). In all, a solid and enjoyable listen and a fine introduction to the label for anyone who likes this sort of sound." [HS/Vital Weekly]
https://reversealignment.bandcamp.com/album/new-state-of-flux
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2021 |
€15.00 |
|
| |
Nyarlathotep - A Tribute To Howard Phillips Lovecraft |
MC |
https://eighthtowerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/nyarlathotep-a-tribute-to-howard-phillips-lovecraft
Eighth Tower is proud to reprint the rare and long time out of stock compilation “Nyarlathotep - A Tribute To Howard Phillips Lovecraft”, originally released in 1997 by the label KADATH. With this remastered release Eighth Tower brings to light a jewel of the Portuguese post-industrial tape culture, featuring some of the most interesting projects from the late 90’s Portuguese, Italian and French underground.
Special thanks to Nuno Loureiro (KADATH label mastermind) and all the artists who provided the original master tracks for the reprint project.
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2022 |
€10.00 |
|
| VACANT STATIONS |
Clones |
CD |
Awaken. Force yourself up. Draw the blinds. Grey light burns your eyes. Plug yourself in. Step out of the door and fade in to the swim....
From the first opening moments of 'Day', you already know that you are about to experience something totally different from the artist 'Vacant Stations'. As the first solemn sounding notes play out, the mood is set, hanging in the air like a heavy, dark oppressive mantle. But all is not lost...there is always hope.
Vacant Stations is an ambient project hailing from London, UK who has a background in film and video. Through his music, Vacant Stations generally hopes to conjure visuals and inspire creativity. A little bit about the thoughts behind 'Clones' in the words of the artist himself.
"Some of the motivations and intentions behind 'Clones', are mostly concerning the theme of identity: A meditation on the conflict and pressures of striving for individualism in an era of homogenisation, while considering implications about the future of human identity as it inevitably merges with the technology it creates. A self-reflexive comment on what have come to be regarded as dark ambient genre conventions. Hopefully a sense of narrative also comes through." - Vacant Stations.
All music recorded by Vacant Stations 2017. All tracks have been mastered by Cruel Sound Works. The cover concept and design is by Midnight Sun Studio ©.
The edition is presented in a 6-page full colour digi-pack. 13 tracks, running time 62:00.
www.winter-light.nl
"Music should aspire to link us to universal truth. Even ambient music can do that, as Vacant Stations demonstrates with great elegance here.
Westerners like to move freely. We like to travel great distances; eat a wide variety of foods; purchase a dizzying array of highly specific products marketed to our tastes. We aren’t limited by the rhythms of night and day; of seasons; of social propriety. Our places and spaces have evolved to meet our demands. What do they say about us? Here is an album that seems perfectly crafted to show us. We all have an image that we hold in our minds of the total creep-out that we’d get from one of these populated spaces suddenly bereft of life and purpose: it’s why we love Urban Exploration. Clones is Urbex for the ears, then.
This is drone done right: patience and perseverance over thirteen tracks which open and close like portals between the listener and a succession of vast echoing warehouses, tunnels and even retail spaces necessitated by our twenty-first century appetites.
Expert, subtle layers of synth which occasionally fatten out into buzz and then dissolve again into hollowed submerged spaces float over a spare bassline powered by a creepiness almost sub-aural. Sometimes the whirring of wheezing, uneven machinery intrudes uneasily into this mélange like a reminder of entropy. All is not peaceful in the abandoned landscape of Clones; routine maintenance is required. Ain’t that a universal truth?
We are invited to self-examine as we ponder the meaning of single-word track titles like 'Lapse', 'Penultima' and even 'Publix'. Who would have associated that bustling grocery chain with the ominous string of underwater chimes like a deadened jingle that haunt this latter piece with such melancholy? Certainly no shopper in the daylight hours, comparing packages of frozen broccoli and thinking about getting to soccer practice.
Let’s do what the track compels us to as listeners: empty the store of customers. Let the fluorescent overheads flicker and die until the space is lit at a quarter of their wattage. Peruse the aisles and freezer cases alone, with nothing but the sound of our mortal heartbeats in our ears, and the deep internal realization that our Western food supply is fragile, susceptible to even the smallest disruption, and based upon the unquestioned labor of the nameless and the unprotected in fields and fisheries.
Care about soccer practice now? I don’t. And this is the dark gift of Clones." [Brutal Resonance] |
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
| VAINIO, MIKA (aka "Ø") |
Oleva |
do-LP |
"Finally available again, Mika Vainio's Oleva was released in 2008 and ranks alongside his most contemplative work. It alternates between shades of the OG Panasonic blueprint and the explorative ambience perfected on 'Kantamoinen'. It also includes a rare Vainio cover version; an interpretation of Roger Waters’ 'Set the controls for the heart of the sun’.
Under the Ø moniker Vainio proffered some of the most singular and shining electronic music of the last three decades, starting in 1993 with a template-setting series of 12"s for his native Sahko imprint, and ending with 2013’s Konstellaatio. Situated somewhere outside Vainio’s best known ice cold minimalist vs hardware gnarrrr modes, ‘Oleva’ finds Vainio at his deepest, opening with the subs & shimmer of 'Unien Holvit’ and ending with the vapourised lament 'Muistetun Palaava Taajuus’. In between, there are more familiar bleep reductions (if u squint 'U-Bahn’ could almost sit perfectly on top of an Eski blueprint), ‘Mojave’ is pure windswept introspection, and the remarkable ‘Tasanko’ sounds like whatever you'd call the Finnish equivalent of porch-side blues, all slide guitar and a deep sense of unease.
Since his untimely passing, Vainio's extensive catalogue has been weighing heavily on the minds of an electronic music community that was in one way or another completely indebted to his singular sound. Re-evaluating ‘Oleva' with that in mind imbues it with a kind of poignancy that’s hard to describe - this is, after all, minimal music. And yet, it feels deeply moving. Somewhere behind the isolated vista on the cover was a man of few words who quietly set about imposing his own precise aesthetic onto the world. In his own time, and without compromise." [Boomkat]
https://sahkorecordings.bandcamp.com/album/oleva |
2021 |
€26.00 |
|
| VAINIO, MIKA / KOUHEI MATSUNAGA / SEAN BOOTH |
3. Telepathics Meh In-sect Connection |
CD |
"This is Important's second release in a 4 record series, each featuring the work of the enigmatic Japanese artist Kouhei Matsunaga. Telepathic full length collaborative release from Kouhei Matsunaga, Sean Booth of Autechre and Pan Sonic's Mika Vainio. Using space, silence and electronic tones, these three electricians rewire your brain for a new comprehension of sound." [label info]
www.importantrecords.com
|
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| VAINIO, MIKA / PAN SONIC |
Kilo |
CD |
"MIKA VAINIO's first solo album for Blastfirstpetit sees him return to his classic power electronics, heavy beats approach that made PANSONIC garner a worldwide reputation.
The album developed from VAINIO's recent live sets to make ten tersely titled tracks inspired by the shipping container industry.
Four stars in Mojo " heavy-freight" ,The Quietus described it as "fearsome"." [label info]
www.blastfirstpetite.com
"Mika Vainio, one half of Finnish minimal electronic duo PanSonic, has a new record of atmospheric industrial music coming out. Louder Than War contributor Craig Johnson has been having a listen.
To be honest, it’s exactly what you’re expecting. It’s slow, atmospheric and industrial. The fact that it’s so predictable isn’t a bad thing though as that’s exactly how Mika Vainio made his name. If you’re good at something, why give up?
In a time where electronic musicians seem to spawn from every corner of the world, it’s easy for music to start sounding the same without any differentiation between what has merit and what doesn’t. In this case, Kilo is a really great document of how to make industrial ambience sound very, very good.
What we have here is a weird mix of ambient soundscapes and beat-heavy industrial trance; it feels like a soundtrack to some sort of brutalist post-apocalyptic rave. In my mind, it conjures up black and white images of deserted industrial space, filled with jagged edges and metal structures. It’s stark, yes, but it’s also quite therapeutic. I can sort of switch off and let myself become fully engrossed in this alternate world. Ironically, it’s not the sort of music you want to share with others.
I’m aware that writing this piece means I’m sharing my thoughts on the music with you but I mean share in a different sense. It’s an album that you only ever want to listen to when you’re on your own; late at night, early in the morning, any time of day as long as you aren’t in a group of people. I cant imagine this being the soundtrack to a dinner party or on the office stereo. This is subtle music that’s made specifically for the recluse. The person that wants to sit in his own company and be overcome by the powerful imagery these bursts of sound create.
The juxtaposition of calm, atmospheric pieces and heavy industrial beats work to give an almost frightening nightmare like state on track such as Scale. The whole album fits together with a strange contrast running throughout. At times it feels like it’s about to collapse in on itself, then comes a sudden burst of energy in the form of an industrial barrage or a eerie screech.
It’s removed from reality in a sense that it manages to project an alternative, abstract setting. I can’t imagine it soundtracking anything other than this industrial landscape I view in my mind. I think there’s a definite divide in the style of tracks here.
While some do have that calmer, more subdued tone, other has, overall, a fiercer and driving sound. Luckily though, they work together in perfect harmony. Never sounding out of place, the whole album flows and each new sound follows on logically, never letting you awake from the industrial dreamland you’ve suddenly found yourself part of.
I’m actually going to see Mika Vainio play at The Sage, Gateshead in June and am eagerly waiting being transported into this dream like state. I just want to be sat in a dark room, his industrial soundtrack taking me away from the reality of the world outside. Even just for a short period of time, I have a feeling it’ll be fantastic." [Lounder Than War]
- See more at: http://louderthanwar.com/mika-vainio-kilo-album-review/#sthash.s5DDP4Q1.dpuf
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| |
Last Live |
do-LP |
"This edition was produced and finalized in a particular context, Mika Vainio having left us on 12.04.2017. This material is the last concert he has given. It took place at Cave12 on 02.02.2017. We needed time to listen to this archive again, which we did in situ in June 2020 with Cindy Van Acker. After this listening, we felt invested in having to make this archive public.
In order to edit and work on this material, we asked Carl Michael von Hausswolff to do the mixing. At our request, this recording was organized in 4 movements. Stephen O’Malley kindly joined in the pre-edit process that took place on August 24 2020 at EMS Studios, Stockholm. Denis Blackham did the mastering. This process was carried out in collaboration with Rikke Lundgreen.
Artworks by Franz Graf, Mika Vainio Archive, Oslo and Cm von Hausswolff collection"
https://mikavainioemego.bandcamp.com/album/last-live
|
2021 |
€26.00 |
|
| VALANX |
Tidelands |
CD |
Water is flooding. Land is obsolete. Scattered tribes rule their part of the world. Struggling. Adapting. "Tidelands" is Valanx soundtrack to a post-apocalyptic future where water is abundant and the circumstances of living has changed radically.
This is the final album by Valanx and Reverse Alignment is very happy to release it. We've been fortunate to work with such great artist.
"This album is the swansong of my long musical journey and I would like to dedicate it to the most important person in my life, my wife Petra. Without her I’d be lost in nothingness. Eternal love.
I’d also like to thank Kristian Widqvist for his continued belief in Valanx and his dedication to the project.
Last but not least, a big thank you to all the listeners over all these years."
Arne Weinberg
CD in 4-panel ecopack limited to 200 copies.
Released September 28, 2018
|
2018 |
€12.00 |
|
| VALEN, FARTEIN |
The Eternal |
CD |
FARTEIN VALEN (1887-1952) ist ein legendärer norwegischer Atonal-Composer, der symphonisch-dramatische, düster-unheilvolle Neue Musik komponierte – diese CD gibt einen beeindruckenden Überblick über sein Schaffen..kommt in einem wunderschönen Klappcover mit ausführlichem Booklet!
"A highly personal selection of works by one of Norways greatest composers, by many, ourselves included, considered a genius. Symphonic poems like 'Pastorale' and 'The Churchyard By The Sea' are among the most potent, strangely beautiful and extraordinary pieces of music to come from any composer of the 20th century. Included here are also 'Ode To Solitude', the violin concerto, the first symphony and two piano pieces. 'A major figure in 20th century music' Glenn Gould." [label notes]
|
1999 |
€15.00 |
|
| VAN DER VLEUTEN, MAARTEN |
High Intolerance toward low Energies |
LP |
"Van Der Vleuten, 1967 geboren, veröffentlicht mit der "High Intolerance Towards Low Energies" LP sein erstes Album unter seinem Geburtsnamen, den er fortan für seinen musikalischen Output verwenden will. "High Intolerance Towards Low Energies" ist eine von Tonefloat sehr ansprechend gestaltete LP, limitiert auf 500 Exemplare, und auf 180g Vinyl gepresst. Das luxuriöse Gatefold Cover mit einem eher rostig anmutenden Artwork trifft gut den submarinen Charakter des Albums: Man meint von der Wasseroberfläche des Meeres langsam abzutauchen, Druck baut sich auf, je tiefer man sinkt. Dröhnen in den Ohren und plötzlich sieht man in der Tiefe ein altes, mächtiges Schiffswrack auf dem Grund liegen. Der Rost zeigt, dass es da schon gar Jahrhunderte liegt. Neugierig und interessiert umkreist man es, aber irgendetwas scheint nicht zu stimmen. Flüstern und Murmeln, wabernde Stimmen und rhythmisches, maschinelles Stampfen. Nervöse, pulsierende Bass- Frequenzen und seltsame, gebrochene Melodiefetzen. Halluzinationen? Tiefenrausch? Man weiß es nicht. Maarten Van Der Vleuten gelingt es auf "High Intolerance Towards Low Energies" ein eigentümlich dichtes Gewirr aus Drohnen und Ambiancen zu schaffen, das in seiner Gesamtheit zu überzeugen weiß. Dass Van Der Vleuten mit dieser LP ein anderes Bild im Kopf hatte als mein submariner Eindruck, ist nicht weiter schlimm. Er legt den Fokus der Interpretation eher auf eine radikale Darstellung unserer sich immer schneller beschleunigenden Umwelt und will diesen Eindruck mit "High Intolerance Towards Low Energies" eingefangen haben. Diese Intention passt auch wunderbar zu dem unruhigen, fast bedrohlich wirkenden Charakter des Albums. Die enthaltenen 4 Stücke offenbaren eine nervöse Welt in der man entweder immer wieder ob der Bildhaftigkeit paralysiert und staunend stehen bleibt oder eben wie im Fieberwahn durch einen Irrgarten voller unruhiger, fremder Stimmen stolpert." [Creative-Eclipse]
"Amidst an infinite ocean of information, finding yourself is turning into a complex mission nowadays. On his latest full-length, ambient house pioneer Maarten van der Vleuten is returning to the memories of demolished Dutch monastery Regina Coeli, his head still spinning from the confounding excess of images and impressions. on his long and winding journey, he has come a long way from his early dance singles to being recognised as a widely respected, colourfully uncompromising personality. High intolerance towards low energies, pressed in a limited edition of 500 copies in a luxurious gatefold sleeve, has consciously been conceived as a radical representation of our rapidly accellerating environment: nervously pulsating bass frequencies and frenzied percussion are underpinning shattered sonic figments like the ground drone of a surreal urban raga, with shardes of song and prayer forming broken melodies. Finding his way through this menacing maze has certainly paid off for van der Vleuten: after releasing under 26 different pseudonyms over the last two decades, he has found his definitive musical identity on this haunting soundscape, with future works to be published exclusively under his common name. The album is pressed as a 180 grams black vinyl lp in heavy gatefold picture sleeve." [label info]
www.tonefloat.com
|
2008 |
€16.50 |
|
| VAN GULICK, JASON |
Concrete |
LP |
"Jason Van Gulick is one of the most inventive drummers on the contemporary music scene. For more than a decade, he has used his education as an architect to explode the foundations of drumming. Maintaining a distance from all aesthetic, disciplinary or formal limitations, he has developed his artistic approach in the confrontation between the acoustic character of his chosen instrument and architectural resonant spaces.
This piece is the result of several years of research on the deep existing connection between the production of sounds and their dffusion in space.
It has to do with our primitive bond to music, with the concrete experience that is specific to every diffusion of sound and explores the acoustic specifities of an architectural space through percussions.
The work combines, through the process of improvisation and of composition in situ, the idea of the metamorphosis of material : « Halle B » due to its volume, its ability to reverberate the sound and its echoing faculty, transforms the sound of the percussions following the example of former places of worship. This industrial nave made of concrete has forged the creation of the music by imposing to the latter a specific temporality and an almost spiritual depth." [label info]
2More along the lines of Vital Weekly is the work of percussion player Jason van Gulick. I didn’t review his previous release, 'Entelechy' (Vital Weekly 930), so this is the first time I hear his music. I believe he is from Belgium, but recorded his CD in Halle B of the 'La Condition Publique' in Roubaix. It is apparently a space with some great acoustic proportions and Van Gulick has an interest in using sound and the way it travels through a space. Interestingly enough not all of the five pieces here have this massive, natural reverb. In the opening piece everything is very close and quite direct. The ringing of cymbals open up and at one point in this (untitled, all are) piece the sound is being picked up from a bit further away and we hear a massive drone like. Van Gulick shifts back and forth with his playing,
using sticks, bows, and objects on the entire kit. This results is an occasional thick, massively sound, in which Van Gulick's playing blends refined with the travels of those sounds through that space. I can imagine he used quite a bit of microphone set-ups in this to come up quite close or, as a total opposite very far away and in the process of making this CD, Van Gulick mixes these recordings together. While
it may sound like a 'live' record, I am pretty sure it isn't. Quite a bit of work went into balancing the various recordings and Van Gulick delivers a beautiful record. Loud and dark, light and quiet; he knows how to built excellent soundscapes in space, but also he knows how to transfer these to the listener and give him a similar experience." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| VAN HOEN, MARK |
The Revenant Diary |
CD |
" "Don't look back," repeats one of several voices within Mark Van Hoen's The Revenant Diary, his fifth solo album and first release on Editions Mego. Surrounded by weighted beats, analog synthesizer drones and granular dirt, the unidentified, siren-like female voice's advice is as much seduction as warning. Tellingly so, for as well as being both Van Hoen's most ambitious and his most accessible work, The Revenant Diary is an eloquent meditation on the allures and dangers of memory, regret and nostalgia. The album's foundation was shaped by a memory and a chance encounter. While remastering some of his early '90s releases and Peel Session tracks, Van Hoen -- a founding member of Seefeel, who also worked as Locust and in Seefeel offshoot Scala and has collaborated with Slowdive, Robert Fripp, Edison Woods and Esben And The Witch, amongst others -- happened upon a track he had recorded in 1982. Attracted by its simplicity, he was inspired to record the basis of The Revenant Diary on 4-track tape, using a minimal set-up, reminiscent of his first early '80s musical adventures as a young teenager. The recollection of one of these -- a 13 year-old Van Hoen's experiment in reel-to-reel tape recording of an ineffectual pop song playing on the radio, which spuriously transformed it into a spooky amalgam of backwards church organ and unintelligible voices -- provided an evocative inspiration. The Revenant Diary pivots on this combination of complex reflection and simplified technology. A determinedly analog affair, it brims over with Van Hoen's signature sounds: immersively-decayed drones, almost broken ambient surfaces and lulling rhythms, with granular crackle providing spectral grit. Fragments of female vocals pepper the album, and notably dominate the 10-minute epic "Holy Me," one of Van Hoen's most complex compositions, in which non-verbal sounds rub delicately against each other in an otherworldly choral composition. Less song-based than his last solo work, the well-received Where Is The Truth (CCO 046CD/LP), its palette and structure are more descendants of the 1995 album Truth Is Born Of Arguments, which utilized a similar combination of decayed atmosphere against a granular/glitch rhythmic structure. Tracks like "Laughing Stars At Night" and "Unknown Host" exude a powerful emotional undertow, as alluringly woozy as they are intensely contemplative. But this is no exercise in Instagram-style disposable nostalgia. Van Hoen's adroit juxtapositions of gauzy textures evoke the blurred luminescence of 16mm film and the rich, color-saturated hues of rediscovered Polaroid photos, as the cover artwork, designed by Stephen O'Malley, acknowledges. The Revenant Diary expertly renders displaced memory daze in lushly melodic, gently delirious electronic sound. All titles composed by Mark Van Hoen. Recorded in Brooklyn & Woodstock, NY, 2011. All instruments & processing by Mark Van Hoen with additional vocals by Georgia Belmont." [label info]
www.editionsmego.com
"Over the years I didn't keep up with Mark van Hoen's solo work. I remember Aurobindo to be a nice work but haven't heard that in a long time, and also 'The Last Flowers From The Darkness' has faded from my memory, but then no less than fifteen years have passed. Van Hoen, once a member of of Seefeel, Scala and collaborator with Slowdive, discovered some old tracks which brought him in the a teenage mood again: why not use that old four track tape machine again with a minimal set up? When hearing this, I reminded of his older works again. Van Hoen plays, at least for me, pop like music, with rhythm, broken down guitar sounds, samples and occasionally a female voice dropping into the music. Grainy, down-sampled voices going back to the 2-bit sampling mood add a certain raw texture to the album. Hazy stuff, a bit blurry. Its a clash of the modern versus the old, new and ancient technology meet up in a very nice way. A well entertaining record, filled with melancholy, ambience, choir
like sounds and glitched up rhythms. I am told this is all a bit more abstract than his previous work, but I think this is some very nice alternative popmusic. Certainly the kind of popmusic I like." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
"The Revenant Diary (eMEGO 136) bringt ein Wiederhören mit MARK VAN HOEN, den ich seit den Tagen mit Seefeel und Scala oder als Locust lange nicht mehr auf dem Radar hatte. Maßgebend für die 11 neuen Tracks war, so heißt es hier,
die Erinnerung an sein jüngeres Selbst als tonbandelnder Teenager Anfang der 80er. 'Don't Look Back' und 'I Remember' halten das Motiv der Rückkehr fest, das ihn dazu bewegte, sich diesmal doch wieder althergebrachter technischer
Mittel zu bedienen. Entscheidender ist jedoch das emotionale Moment, ein Schwanken zwischen Nostalgie und Trauer. Da herrschen anziehende und abstoßende Kräfte, die auch in 'Why Hide From Me' und 'No Distance (Except the
one between you and me)' reflektiert werden. Downtempo-Triphopbeats transportieren orchestrale Samples und eine verwehte Frauenstimme (die vokalisierende Georgia Belmont). Orchestral? Vielleicht sind es schimmernde Gitarren, Klanggewölk aus Streichern? Van Hoen inszeniert da eine mehrspurige Unschärfe aus flackernden, kaskadierenden Klangfetzen. Auch Belmonts Gesang
wird dabei zu einem phantastischen Folklorechor. 'Ambient' ist wohl auch ein irreführendes Wort, Van Hoen macht phantastische Musik, durchsetzt mit tierischen Lauten ('Garabndl x'). Das poppige 'Don't Look Back' ist insofern eine schwache Nummer. 'I Remember' hat danach mit seinem verschleppten Beat einen Steampunk-Touch, der Gesang ist nur ein Schatten seiner selbst. 'No Distance' tickert wie ein elektronisches Spinett, über Synthienebelstreifen schimmert ein Knabensopran auf ü. Wieder mädchenhaft, schliert die zerhackte Stimme über das motorische Tuckern und Synthiegeflöte von '37/3d'. Die 80er und 90er im Reißwolf der Erinnerung? "Wo warst Du?" lautet die wehmütige Frage, die Van Hoen aber über krumme Beats stolpern lässt. 'Unknown Host' überbrückt als halbe Samba die Zeit bis zu 'Laughing Stars At Night' mit seinem Baritongitarrenloop über Breakbeats und Lyrics, die hier mehr sind als nur eine Catchphrase. 'Holy Me' multipliziert Belmont für ein verzerrtes Replikantenmadrigal a capella in der Kirche der verlorenen Zeit. Da darf man dann schon mal Einkehr halten." [Bad Alchemy]
|
2012 |
€14.00 |
|
| VAN HOUDT, REINIER |
MMXX-04: Les Champs Lissajous |
LP |
Matière Mémoire presents the MMXX Series.
In anticipation of the year 2020, Matière Mémoire asked 20 great artists to create an original 20 minutes piece and an artwork.
Throughout this year, each quarter will see the release of 5 new vinyls, available individually or as a bundle.
Each record is limited at 500 copies and comes as a crystal clear vinyl featuring an original track of 20 minutes on one side, and a laser engraved artwork on the other.
Each contained in a transparent sleeve printed with the MMXX logo, and each coming with a print of the artist artwork.
Participate in this series :
Franck Vigroux
John Duncan
Phill Niblock
Jim O’Rourke
Reinier Van Houdt
Stephen O’Malley
CM Von Hausswolff
Hampus Lindwall
Oren Ambarchi
Kevin Drumm
Bérangère Maximin
Kassel Jaeger
Daniel Menche
Charlemagne Palestine
Giueseppe Ielasi
Carlos Casas
Susanna Santos Silva
Joachim Nordwall
Karbé Dinel
Mauro Lanza
credits
released March 19, 2020
MUSIC & ARTWORK BY REINIER VAN HOUDT - this music is a reworking of material I developed for Takashi Makino’s film Memento Stella (2018)
Special thanks to : Rita Knuistingh Neven, Peter Fengler, Michael Pisaro and Empty Gallery Hong Kong - GRAPHICS & LAYOUTS BY CEDRIC D’HONDT - Mastering & cut by Frédéric Alstadt
MMXX-04 © ART SONORE SPRL - MATIÈRE MÉMOIRE
https://matiere-memoire.bandcamp.com/album/mmxx-04-les-champs-lissajous |
2020 |
€24.00 |
|
| VANCE ORCHESTRA |
Hot Water Music (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
"This outfit comes from Arnhem, Netherlands, where they started to confuse the listeners with a mixture of strange loops and unexpected sounds in 1995. Their first 7" with two tracks presents electronic soundsources, effected field recordings and samples which are combined for an intelligent, atmospheric & suspenseful acoustical ride. Orange vinyl, beautiful coverartwork, each one is unique!!"
[Drone Rec. May 1998]
|
1998 |
€ |
|
| VEAR, CRAIG |
Summerhouses |
CD |
"SUMMERHOUSES takes us on an acoustic trip through arctic landscapes. The atmospheric pieces are entirely based on field recordings made by Craig Vear himself. By just modulating these few but rich samples, he created 6 ambient tracks, that could hardly be more minimalistic - and could hardly be called music. Only the warm and gentle last track AFTER THE SINKING (check the video!) is based on one (and one only) musical chord, which seems like the lucky escape from the endless, cold, and dark widths of the first five tracks. Play on headphones during your next trans-arctic flight.
SUMMERHOUSES ist eine Klangreise durch arktische Weiten. Die atmosphärischen Stücke basieren ausschließlich auf Geräuschen die der Akrtiserfahrene Craig Vear VOR ORT aufgenommen hat. Allein durch Modulation dieser wenigen (aber gehaltvollen) Samples entstanden 6 Ambient Stücke, die minimalistischer kaum sein könnten - und auch kaum als "Musik" bezeichnet werden können. Lediglich das ruhige und warme letzte Stück AFTER THE SINKING (Video ansehen!) besteht aus nicht mehr und nicht weniger als einem (1) Akkord und wirkt wie die Rettung aus den unendlichen, kalten und düsteren Weiten der anderen 5 Tracks. Der Soundtrack für Ihren nächsten trans-arktischen Flug." [label info]
www.mille-plateaux.com
|
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
| VELEHENTOR |
Boeing: There and back again |
CD |
VELEHENTOR ist die dark-noise-wavig und zynisch-industrielle Seite von CLOSING THE ETERNITY, dem sibirischen Cosmic-Drone-Projekt. „Boeing“ widmet sich drei Sternstunden menschlichen Barbarentums, HIROSHIMA, dem Oklahama-Bombenanschlag (19.04.1995) und dem 9.11.2001. Die sechs Stücke sind meist im elektronisch-rhythmischen Bereich angesiedelt, zwischen tief-melancholischer Tristesse und rasender Industrial-Manie. Authentisch und abwechlungsreich. Kommt in DVD-Box mit Vollfarbbooklet.
VELEHENTOR is the dark-noise-wavey and cynical industrial side of CLOSING THE ETERNITY from Siberia. This release confronts with three extreme incidents of the human monsters (Hiroshima, 9/11 and the Oklahoma-terror-assualt. Six pieces between deep melancholic sadness and manic industrial sounds, mostly electronic-rhythmic based. Very authentic and varying enough. Comes in DVD-box with full-colour booklet.
|
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| VELEZ, DAVID |
Alku |
mCDR |
"DAVID VELEZ is a colombian sound artist who creates soundscapes mainly based on field recordings. this piece was composed as a soundtrack for a painting exhibition named "homenaje al planeta" ("tribute to the planet") by liliana duran. here, DAVID tried to combine field recordings with more musical elements such as deep drones and more piercing sines.
co-curator of the excellent IMPULSIVE HABITAT netlabel devoted to field recordings, DAVID VELEZ past works were published on many international labels like test tube, ripples recordings (a collaboration with james mcdougall), semperflorens (with juan josé calarco), mystery sea, siridisc, conv or audio gourmet." [label info]
www.taalem.com
|
2012 |
€5.00 |
|
| VELGENATURLIG |
Humus |
CD |
"Portuguese soundscaper VelgeNaturlig has a penchant for creating dramatic soundworlds where the elements interact freely with more complex constructs. His magical album Húmus, originally self-released some nine years ago, is a true gterma favourite and we are delighted to bring it once more into the spotlight where its regal stature can inspire a new generation of listeners. Album comes in jewelcase with 16-page booklet." [label info]
http://gterma.blogspot.se
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Kundalini |
CD |
Having previously released the full length 'Opalescent Pust' on our label, the Portuguese sound sculpture VelgeNaturlig returns with an album of deep, immersive ambient drones - 'Kundalini'.
On 'Kundalini', Ivo Santos presents us with an album, layered with a rich tapestry of dense drones, reverberating sub-bass and circulating processed sounds, cleverly woven together with field recordings.
As with most, if not all of VelgeNaturlig's work, on 'Kundalini' the tracks flow together as one, creating vast musical landscapes to traverse within the minds eye. The music weaves an infinite pathway between the light and the dark, sometimes isolating but always keeping the listener engaged.
'Kundalini' is an album of true awakening, invoking a clash of primordial sounds and energies. Let the currents flow...
https://velgenaturlig.bandcamp.com/album/kundalini-2 |
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| VENROOY, ESTHER |
Shift Coordinate Points |
LP |
Schon mit “To shape volumes, repeat“ (CD, Robo Records] war diese belgische Komponistin aufgefallen, jetzt erscheint diese sehr konzeptuelle Soundart-Platte als erste LP-Veröffentlichung auf dem britischen ENTR’ACTE, die ominöse Spionage-Radiodurchsagen als Soundquellen benutzt.
“Composed and produced by Esther Venrooy in 2005. Commissioned by Happy New Ears with the kind support of the Flemish community. In 1997, British maverick label Irdial-Discs collected a selection of so-called ‘numbers stations’ or ‘spy stations’ recordings under the title The Conet Project. This plays like a ‘best of’ of more than 30 years’ worth of secret radio and contains fragments of American, German, Swedish and Russian transmissions. Belgian composer Esther Venrooy was given permission to work with the material and for the occasion of the celebration of 75 years of Belgian radio created a highly personal interpretation of the medium’s secret history. Using manipulated sound and collage techniques she manages to distill an abstract poetry of sounds and thereby succeeds in extracting some meaning out of these hermetic transmissions.K9 moved back into the combat area ‹ Standing now in the Chineseyouth sent the resistance message jolting clicking tilting through the pinball machine ‹ Enemy plans exploded in a burst of rapidcalculations ‹ Clicking in punch cards of redirected orders ‹
Crackling shortwave static ‹ Word falling ‹ Photo falling ‹ Break through in Grey Room ¬ Pinball led streets ¬ Free doorways ¬“ [label description]
“About nine years ago, Irdial Records released a four CD 'The Conet Project', collecting sounds from number stations, or spy stations: transmissions found on radio waves of various secret services. A great and no doubt worrying work, if you understand the consequences of it, but also a wealth of great sound. I believe it is not allowed to use these sounds at will (I forget what the fuzz was all about, but somebody got sued for sampling some of it), but Esther Venrooy asked and got permission to use the material to create a sound piece for Belgium radio, which existed seventy-five years. If one is familiar with the original 'Conet Project' recordings, then it's easy to spot all the original voices ('five - three - two - zero - five'), but Venrooy knows her classics in music, especially that of musique concrete: the sudden shifts in sounds, the gentle gliding electronic tones, but also incorporating a little melody at the beginning of the second side. There is nothing really frightening about these voices anymore, they are isolated from the original context, and placed in this new, abstract picture, where they become voices of the unknown. They no longer have their original meaning, but rather a new one. This is a more than excellent record, and by far the best work by Venrooy to date.” [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2006 |
€15.50 |
|
| VERNON & BURNS MEETS LIED MUSIC |
Lost Lake |
LP |
Lost Lake sees the return of the collaborative project between sound art duo Vernon &: Burns (Mark Vernon and Barry Burns) and Lied Music (Luke Fowler and John W Fail). It is a sequel to the long-sold out LP Lied Music vs.Boy-Band Tax Returns (released on Ultra Eczema, 2006). This LP merges musique concrète compositional approaches with absurdist improvisational strategies. The four artists met in Glasgow where they recorded a series of sporadic improvised sessions using a diverse array of sound-making instruments (amplified toys and objects, guitar, analogue synths, percussion, squeeze box, field recordings and found tapes). Improvised sessions from 2008 were subsequently manipulated, tortured and caressed, both individually and collectively, into a series of highly idiosyncratic song-forms and sound collages.
https://vernonandburns.bandcamp.com/album/lost-lake
"The latest entry in the Vernon & Burns catalogue sees this Glasgow duo teaming up with Lied Music, the duo of Luke Fowler and John W. Fail. Lost Lake (SHADAZZ SHA.11) is one of the stranger and darker emissions from these talented creatives, particularly if you care to compare it with the sometimes more playful assemblages of V&B, or the deliciously offbeat melodic avant-pop tunes created by Fowler as part of Rude Pravo. At first spin the record is a near-bewildering toasted-cheese sandwich, a concoction which contains at least a zillion ideas apparently thrown together any which way. Faced with such an array, discerning avant-LP listeners may want to reach for The Faust Tapes as one touchstone, but another credible precedent is the unearthly Bladder Flask LP 1, that ne plus ultra of cut-up sound art put together by a teenaged Richard Rupenus as if possessed by some fevered desire to surpass the worst excesses of the lunatic fringe end of the United Dairies catalogue. But the Bladder Flask release had the underlying sinister aim of sending all those who heard it mad, through highlighting the complete absurdity and futility of everything. Lost Lake has a more benign mission, thankfully. The album has been very carefully crafted, using sets of recorded improvisation sessions produced by the four players, aiming to resculpt the near-chaos of that source material into a coherent structure. Within that structure, fractured songs and equally fractured stories emerge; yes, a scrambled form of a radio listening or cinematic experience, which is an effect Vernon & Burns have striven for with a good deal of their work (and have produced many items expressly in radiophonic mode). As to the cinematic, Fowler is also a film-maker. There is a logic to this scheme, but it is hard to follow and weaves its way around in a highly secretive and intuitive fashion, like an errant underground stream full of eccentric fish and darting river-insects stained in unnatural colours. We could account for some of this quirkiness by pointing out that all four creators were involved in the refashioning process, rather than a single editorial hand behind the editing knife; one can imagine the clashing dynamism generated by four powerful personalities, each of them bending the path of events in their favour. Additionally, the source material itself was not exactly straightforward music to begin with, but created using the now-virtually-standard set-up of the modern improviser, that is amplified instruments, toys, found tapes, field recordings, and live electronics. From this rich stew, voices and tunes emerge from amid a varispeeded and highly layered humid aggregation of extremely strange sounds. And yes, like the Rupenus LP, it is quite absurdist, but I like to think it’s a fun and cartoony absurdity, rather than bleak and Beckett-like. That said, this aural bric-a-brac crawls out from a dark attic of the mind, and is as much an unsettling listen as it is entertaining. Corin Sworn’s cover art encodes all the above information quite perfectly. Using collage technique (naturally), it depicts a figure sitting on a sofa surrounded by hideously “tasteful” drapes and furnishings. This image of bourgeois normality is thoroughly disrupted by replacing the outline of the figure with fragments of urban horror and machinery, then further scrambling the visual schema with concentric rings and diagonal bars, suggesting the power of the aural emanations on the record. The album is, we are told, a sequel to a 2006 release called Lied Music vs Boy-Band Tax Returns, which we reviewed in our Vinyl Viands issue." [Ed Pinsent, Sound Projector online, December 15, 2012]
|
2011 |
€16.00 |
|
| VERNON, MARK |
An Annotated Phonography of Chance |
LP |
"An Annotated Phonography of Chance expands upon the soundtrack to an uncompleted 16mm film made in collaboration with English filmmaker Martha Jurksaitis and the Portuguese artist duo Von Calhau! The film ‘Nossos Ossos’ (which also lends its name to one of the tracks on this record) was shot largely on location in the Alentejo region of Portugal in 2013.
Sites visited included Evora, Evoramonte, the bone chapel ‘Capela dos Ossos’, Almendres Cromlech and many other castles, churches and megalithic sites in the area. These locations were used to make experiments with natural reverbs, for the most part sounding out the spaces with voices. Along with location field recordings and found tapes this provided the raw material for much of the soundtrack."
https://markvernon.bandcamp.com/album/an-annotated-phonography-of-chance
https://misanthropicagenda.bandcamp.com/album/an-annotated-phonography-of-chance
“Glasgow’s radio producer/sound artist Mark Vernon is about to release his follow-up to the incredible Ribbons of Rust (Flaming Pines, 2019). His sound is intensely intimate, one might think their own pipes are dripping as each droplet is painstakingly captured with precise fidelity. These ten tracks that span forty minutes are woven with zags and fluctuating warp that brings to mind the inversion of a jazz trumpet, its brackish and suspenseful.
The Consensus is to Delete sounds like one of those lost Coil tracks that continue to permeate the underground, paced and plotting, a bit of the spirit world and low in timbre. Perfect for the bewitched season of hallowed souls (and all that jazz). He tends to his set of reels with a real vision, one based on “a soundtrack to an uncompleted 16mm film made in collaboration with English filmmaker Martha Jurksaitis and the Portuguese artist duo Von Calhau! The film ‘Nossos Ossos’ was shot largely on location in the Alentejo region of Portugal in 2013.” It’s as cinematic as it sounds.
Still, Vernon, while capturing the spellbinding echoes of cathedral oration, songbirds tweeting and other street noise, this is far from the typical field recording document, not only in form, but much more deeply in nuanced atmosphere. The slow-churn of ‘scenes’ like Revolving Rivers is almost numbing as a retrospective snapshot in time. Yet it dances in the moment via its sing-song visceral qualities, obliterated transmissions and melodic wooziness. Only at marked times does one feel ‘cozy’ here, due to the carpet being psychically unfurled from under your feet, sending the listener adrift into new atmospheric scapes. A visionary tale of chance and observation.”
[T.J. Norris, Toneshift, October 28, 2019]
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| VERNUSKY, MIKE |
Aatma |
LP |
"Aatma is the re-imagining of my recent journey into Mumbai through sound, place, and moment with a Nagra SD recorder. The work was composed immediately upon my return while these things were, in a very real sense, still resonating in my mind.
Part 1 is the arrival. Echoes of the shanka can be heard from a distant past across the Arabian Sea, as waves wash debris ashore and push you deep into the tumult of the city. Here you may experience the current of life and ride old trains into spectral shadows of obscure & eccentric Bollywood and devotional vinyl records from a local music boutique.
Part 2 is a precarious walk across the narrow causeway leading to Haji Ali Dargah, a 600-year-old mosque only accessible at low tide. It is difficult to reach the mosque without being taken aback by the disparate forms of life unfolding on the way in, both in the sky and on foot as can be heard here.
Part 3, the final section, is a departure from the hustle of the city altogether. This section delves into the droning, colorful, and percussive instruments with their richly complex and evolving timbres. It culminates in a return to daily shanty life on the beach accompanied by transistor radios blasting modern bollywood music.
Aatma is a tribute to Mumbai’s wonderful people and culture, and in the hope of representing different and altered states of listening, living, and celebrating. I hope you find this journey as inspiring as it was for me." [Mike Vernusky]
Music and field recordings by Mike Vernusky
Mastering and additional tempura by Cory Allen
Design by Noopur Choksi
Photography by James David Smith
Kind logistical support by Bhanuj Kappal, Damian O'Riain & Jay Kumar Singh.
Special thanks to Manuella Blackburn and illapfest UK.
Bollywood vinyl courtesy of Pilak Bhatt of MusicCircle.
https://fernsrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/aatma
|
2021 |
€18.00 |
|
| VERTICCHIO, GIUSEPPE |
Tjukurpa |
CD-R |
GUISEPPE VERTICCHIO is the man behind NIMH, who also pubished deep ambient works under his real name.
This private release from 1999 explores the beauty of Didgeridoo-sounds, six very nice pieces of ehnic ambience...
reminds on some works of AMIR BAGHIRI, GRASSOW, the AMPLEXUS-Label.
“Get in if you are into didjeridoo: Giuseppe's a skilled pratictioner, and though i'd have appreciated more a bunch of crude, unmediated recordings of the instrument's playing, this disc goes by way fascinating, enriched by tribal chants, processed crickets, synthesizer textures and a bunch of fx's that helps making the whole smoother. If the name of Steve Roach comes to your mind reading these words, be warned: this is less produced, less big studio imprinted than the before mentioned, therefore, at least to my ears, sounds more genuine, authentic, sincere. No loops, no tricks, just somebody blowing into a big hollow trunk and an old computer tricking backgrounds into existence while it happens. The jewel case presents a colour print of a cave painting, perfectly in argument."
[P.Ippoliti]
|
1999 |
€8.00 |
|
| VERTONEN |
Return of the Interrobang |
CD |
VERTONEN gehört mittlerweile zu den interessantesten US–Elektro-Geräuschmusikern, tönt stets abwechslungsreich und überraschend. So auch hier, ein übergreifendes „Thema“ sind repetitive Klangstrukturen..... so gibt es ein langes welliges Drone-Stück, welches sich gut entwickelt; pumpende Sinustöne- und Gameboy-artige Sounds beim nächsten, repetitive Orgel-artige Loopmuster, Samples von lockerer Piano-Barmusik, etc. etc.
“Produced with support from a CAAP grant, this disc highlights three aspects of experimental audio I have been exploring over the past years: deep drone washes, throbbing, lurching activities, and manipulated turntables/vinyl.” [Vertonen] “Have seen a lot of Vertonen shows here in Chicago, bumped across a comp track or two, heard him on the radio twice, but this is surprisingly the first time I've sat down at home with a Vertonen release. So far the live stuff has come across as great loud deep-flow crash-sizzle, often with a nasty beat orientation wrecking through it, but on wax it's been unpredictable, softer but somehow heavier--and Return of the Interrobang surprises me further with deep glacial industrial dare-I-say-mellow textures. First track is a rather gorgeous and fairly soft (but thick) drone, not completely unlike something you'd hear from Birchville Cat Motel.... Great tones, glowing embers with doom undercurrents, packed with a sci-fi title: "Toroidal Circulation 1 & 2." (Never mind, I just looked it up and it's a science fact title.) Second track comes in with a hard beat, your basic urban alarm siren drill kind of thing, with mysterious sounds floating in the background, and it's pretty heavy, but ends up the most 'typical' track on the CD, because the remaining three, a trilogy called "The Medical Turntable Variations," are just lovely little subtle stumbling loop miniatures. I mean, sure, you can infer a creepy entropic 'broken machine' connotation with all three tracks, and the title of the third part, "Deplete To Ruination, The Wide Shift," is of course something scary to contemplate, and topical too: the ostensibly approaching era where dystopian science fiction becomes dystopian science fact. (There's that "it's not science fiction, it's science fact" thing again, he's good with that.) Possibly the loveliest of the three, but it does have a haunted piano thing going on...like, say, the haunted piano bar of a big-city luxury hotel in ruins, long abandoned by human life, now a bizarre gargantuan relic of the oil age...oh, and hey, what's an interrobang?! Is that science fiction or science fact?!—[Blastitude 18]
|
2004 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
The ocean is gone, the ship is next |
CD |
VERTONEN aus Chicago vertont hier seine Turntable-Experimente und betört den willigen Hörer mit knisternd-knarzigen Rauschdrones, bizarren Vinyl–loops, noisigen Pulsations-mustern und ganz konkreten Metall-Geräuschtupfern.
* Vertonen is Chicago experimental music veteran Blake Edwards and this CD continues an ongoing exploration of turntable-fueled drones. The opening track's title is self-explanatory: "untitled for air organ and turntable motor". Recorded live on the radio in Chicago, this piece is a fourteen minute long deep and dense mix of beautiful bass tones and thick breathy hums playing endless phase games with each other. On the second piece, a very heavy speaker-rattling bass tone loops through the beginning as metal-percussion sounds slowly cycle in the background. Scratchy vinyl sounds and dense ambient tones continue throughout as some recognizable vinyl-sourced sounds emerge- like a looped horn-line perhaps. the regular sound of the loop disturbs the drone atmosphere a little, adding some humor to a track that doesn't seem to need any. The next piece, "Four chambers plus their various fluids" kicks out the noise from the get go- fast and loud cycling noise whirring and flanging endlessly. Hissy field recorded sounds predominate as the track fades out to silence. "Soma Trio Study (2)" is the shortest cut one here at 5 minutes and could have used a little more time to develop. The sounds at play are delicate and melodic slowly evolving loops drifting in and out of phase- a bit like Philip Jeck, perhaps and much more romantic than the claustrophobic sounds on the previous pieces. Final track begins with warbly locked groove piano sounds eventually overtaken by a darker, machine loop that slowly fades in as the piano plays on. The mix of endless drone frequencies and more loopish vinyl sounds works wonderfully throughout this disc.” [Angbase]
|
2003 |
€8.00 |
|
| VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA |
The queen of guess |
CD |
“While certainly VCO's most upbeat and percussive music, the nine tracks on this immense, visceral slab of rackety action run through a wide range of styles. "Ramshackle Sunrise" has a gamelan-like, five-note melody overlaid with a hovering drone. "The Silent Socket" rocks with "Sister Ray"-style guitar careening along side actual drums. The two 20-minute epics that bookend the record are a study in contrasts: "Your Head Shone Like A Stone" has a heavy, excited buzz, while the closing "Goodnight Stars Goodnight Air" is a gentler acoustic epilogue, gliding into the rosy future.” [press release]
|
2003 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Tuning to the Rooster |
CD |
Die Meister des instrumentellen impro-psych-drones mit neuem Material, dass zum ersten Mal durch ein 24-Spur Mischpult gewandert sein soll (und nicht wie sonst aus simplen 2-Spur Aufnahmen besteht).
Nicht nur alte Acid Heads wie JULIAN COPE halten diese in quasi-rituellen Gruppen-Performances entstandende Musik für zeitgemässes Schamanentum, mit der bewussteinsverändernde Exkursionen möglich werden.....hier trifft die Kraft des Ur-Klangs, des Ur-Drones auf archaisch-menschliche Ekstasewünsche, und das macht das VIBRA-ORCHESTRA so besonders....
"This is music as a shamanic aid, made as much for the players themselves as for the listeners. But as I'm writing from the listening perspective, I have to inform y'all that this is music to get you there. Every track sounds as though it has always just 'been there,' it's just you ain't quite tuned into its peculiar frequency until now. The 12-and-a-half minute 'Wearing Clothes of Ash' is like a piano-led 'Paradieswarts Duul-period drone-a-thon with John Cale and Terry Riley guesting on viola and keys. Following this, the sublime 'Baptism Bar Blues' is proof positive that they can rock the riot house with pure adrenaline rush when the decision is made. Indeed, this track is magnificent and should be available to the masses free or in pill form." [Julian Cope]
“Vibracathedral Orchestra are one of those rare groups with a completely singular sound and a seemingly endless reserve of psych rock free drone inspiration with which to explore it. For us, they are one of the only bands who we could literally listen to forever, an everlasting endless jam, unfurling over the course of the next 50 years, each riff unfolding every month or so, each drum hit an entire day, melodies stretching for weeks and weeks. Our eyes close and we drift off to the next world while the music plays on...
That's exactly how it feels listening to Tuning To The Rooster. The songs are long, and they do feel gloriously and deliriously long, but they're never quite long enough. Not for us anyway. VCO have been masters of the drone, of the slowly shifting soundscape since their inception, but much like Skullflower discovering their inner Hawkwind on recent records, VCO seem to also have rediscovered the RIFF this time around. The opening track is like an Allman Brothers track gone totally apeshit. Or maybe Skullflower jamming with the Outlaws. Or something! There's a jangly sort of Southern rock riff, over chaotic propulsive drumming, a serious jam for sure, but the whole thing is wrapped in a thick cloak of droning shimmering distorted guitar noise, a continual psychedelic freakout SO continual that it becomes a static psych rock drone, with the original riff eventually repeating mantra like until it meshes with the background drone and it all becomes a brain melting divine psychedelic jam of the highest order. Woah, everyone who freaked out over Skullflower's Exquisite Fucking Boredom needs to check this out! The second track is back to that classic VCO sound we can never get enough of. A primal primitive space jam, all drones and rumbles and whirs and shimmers, a glorious pagan ritual that makes us want to lay naked in the middle of the forest and sink into the wet leaves as our eyes sparkle with reflections of shooting stars. Drifting and dreaming... The last two tracks again focus on the riff, hypnotic and repetitive, like Steve Reich composing for Hawkwind. A glorious minimal psychedelic jam, wreathed in a haze of swirling feedback and wild melodies, minor key pianos, and all manner of swoosh and swoop. So utterly and fantastically divine!“ [Aquarius]
|
2005 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Wisdom Thunderbolt |
CD |
"Wisdom Thunderbolt marks the triumphant return of Vibracathedral Orchestra after more than three years in the wilderness of intermittent performance, tangential projects, and unfindable limited editions.
The seven tracks on Wisdom are thee VCO's most rocking dispatch ever, neatly combining the Ra-like collage of tracks like "Wisdom Thunderbolt" with the insistent pulsing jams of "A Natural Fact" and "Order of the Broad Eraser." "Ochre Dust" and "Rainbow Whirlwind" are more in the old-school VCO thick-blanket of sound, with tuned-percussion melody peeking out from the fog. After a surprise opening, "Sway-Sage" heaves with raucous drumming (courtesy of Magik Marker Pete Nolan) under the swells of sound. Hard to imagine, but this is the first widely available music (except for the Tuning to the Rooster comp) from the VCO since 2003's acclaimed The Queen of Guess." [label info]
"First proper full length in a while from these ur-drone space
explorers, which is long overdue, considering the protracted near
silence of VCO, and Matthew Bower all but abandoning his Sunroof! in
favor of the noisier Hototogisu. Whatever you call that sort of music
that Sunroof!/VCO traffic in, very few other outfits have managed to
channel the same sort of ferocious guitar freakout and blissy ambient
swirl into the magical metallic drift that those two groups did.
So here we have Wisdom Thunderbolt, featuring the VCO usual
suspects (Neil Campbell, Mick Flower, Bridget Hayden, Adam Davenport) with a whole mess of special guests, underground drumlord Chris Corsano, the aforementioned Matthew Bower (Skullflower, Sunroof!, Hototogisu, etc.), Pete Nolan of the Magik Markers and John Godbert (Skullflower, Total) and the sound is exactly as we remember it. Thick and dense, swirling and blissed out, druggy and blurry,
smeared and shimmering. There is percussion, it mostly tinkles and
skitters, but occasionally pounds and swings, organs and synths are
woven into weird little buzzing soundscapes, horns wail and skronk,
guitars growl and jangle...
While the opening track is a ramshackle stumble, all over the
place, but in a very good way, the second track is where the band
locks into that perfect groove they've always been capable of. A
blown out stretch of raga like buzz, tribal drums underpinning a
simple riff, a spacey sea sick shimmer, all wrapped up in layers of
guitar buzz and hissy synth, rich and thick and totally mesmerizing.
The rest of the record is more of the same, longform buzz
drenched krautrocky drone jams, with some notable exceptions. The 12+ minute "Rainbow Whirlwind, which sounds like some lost Spacemen 3 jam, the guitars pulsing and throbbing, tones beating against other tones, the synths and guitars creating constantly shifting rhythms, interrupted in the middle by a blown out free noise fest, before
slipping back into spaced out pulse and dreamy drift.
And, the uncharacteristically 'rock'-y intro to "Sway-Sage"
that sounds like the Guess Who's "American Woman", before quickly
slipping back into some super distorted space jam, with a glitchy
buzz laid over a relentless rhythm, and with thick ropy swirls of
guitar and synth buzz burying everything in that distinctly VCO warm
washed out sonic blur." [Aquarius Records]
www.vhfrecords.com
|
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Rec Blast Motorbike |
LP |
"Return of the mighty “classic” lineup of the VCO with their first new music in many years. Here the quintet of Michael Flower, Neil Campbell, Bridget Hayden, Adam Davenport, and Julian Bradley (joined by raconteur John Godbert) feature in a set of upbeat tracks that put the group's radical instrumental strategies into a package of full on rock action. Recorded live using a binaural head system, the sound is nicely ragged in a you-are-there way, with scouring guitars and bleeping electronics riding atop the band’s signature grooves. As with some of the band’s other records, there’s more than a hint of the early Velvet Underground spirit here – if you wish that Cale and Reed would have been more into being an instrumental band, here it is. Includes download code." [label info]
"We’ve long worshipped at the altar of these psychedelic shamans, dutifully prostrating ourselves before them, and bathing in the luxurious glow of their din, a din that has constantly evolved over the years, sometimes pure, cosmic ur-drone, other times, free-from, avant rock space-psych, and at others, a sort of mutant electronica. But in each incarnation, the group never failed to conjure up a sort of transcendental soundstate, the music, whether caustic and chaotic, or moody and minimal, always evoking a tranced out sense of mesmer, a true psychedelia that is rare, even amongst proper ‘psych’ bands.
Rec Blast Motorbike, finds the group’s original line-up together again (Michael Flower, Bridget Hayden, Neil Campbell, Adam Davenport, Julian Bradley and John Godbert) and it sounds like it. If we didn’t know better, this could easily have been some old self released cd-r, which is fine with us, the sound raw, and free, lo-fi, yet somehow lush and epic, beautiful blustery blowouts set alongside fractured folkiness, essentially rhythmless, but the rhythms that are present are more spluttery and loose, sounding like an errant snare rolling down an immense flight of stairs one minute, a field recording of someone bored restlessly tapping a tabletop at others, some tracks are driven by what could be a junkyard wind chime, and others, by a veritable hippie percussion ensemble. All the while, the rest of the crew are unfurling streaking arcs of distorted guitar buzz, rippling sheets of feedback and grinding FX doused riffage.
It’s hard to define exactly what would qualify as ‘classic’ Vibracathedral’, but to our ears, this is pretty much it. The old gang together again, making a glorious noise, like they never stopped in the first place." [Aquarius Rec] |
2015 |
€20.00 |
|
| VICENTE-SANDOVAL, DAFNE / LARS PETTER HAGEN |
Minos Circuit |
LP |
MINOS CIRCUIT
Minos Circuit is the resonance of a double exploration, that of an instrument, the bassoon - an instrument dear to Dafne Vicente-Sandoval - and that of a listening, of a gaze, almost. The first exploration deconstructs the instrument, tearing it apart, reducing it to an archipelago of sound bodies stimulated by an electro-acoustic device that generates feedback and infiltrates each part of the bassoon, in order to carry out a methodical, systematic examination. The second exploration is the inner one of attention and listening, the one that measures, at each moment, the necessity or not of an intervention in the very act of the musical work, of this subtle balance that is established between composition and observation, between action and contemplation.
Minos Circuit est la mise en résonance d’une exploration double, celle d’un instrument, le basson — instrument cher à Dafne Vicente-Sandoval — et celle d’une écoute, d’un regard, presque. La première exploration déconstruit l’instrument, le met en pièce, le réduisant en un archipel de corps sonores stimulés par un dispositif électroacoustique générateurs de larsens qui vont s’infiltrer dans chacune des parties du basson, pour en faire l’examen méthodique, systématique. La seconde exploration, c’est celle, intérieure, de l’attention et de l’écoute, celle qui mesure, à chaque instant, la nécessité ou non d’une intervention dans l’agir même de l’œuvre, de cette bascule subtile qui s’établit entre composition et observation, entre action et contemplation.
—
TRANSFIGURATION 4
Both a “meditation on musical ruins” and “a study of the material of Richard Strauss’s Metamorfosen”, Transfiguration 4 works on the musical fragment as an expressive and poetic possibility that can be deployed below or beyond simple musical syntax, a syntax that is still too often equated with music itself. What Lars Petter Hagen highlights in this remarkable work is that the power of music lies at its fringes, that is, at the edge of its own disappearance. Transfiguration 4 floats in a particularly moving way in these troubled lands, where nothing is ever resolved, and where everything, however, is suspended, like a stream of blurred memories that memory would summon to form an intuition. A musical intuition.
A la fois « méditation sur les ruines musicales » et « étude du matériau de Metamorfosen de Richard Strauss », Transfiguration 4 travaille le fragment musical comme possibilité expressive, poétique, pouvant se déployer en-deçà ou au-delà de la simple syntaxe musicale, syntaxe encore trop souvent assimilée à la musique même. Ce que met en lumière Lars Petter Hagen dans cette œuvre remarquable, c’est que la puissance de la musique se situe à ses franges, c’est-à-dire aux lisières de sa propre disparition. Transfiguration 4 flotte de manière particulièrement émouvante dans ces contrées troubles, où rien jamais ne se résout, et où tout, pourtant, se suspend, comme un flux de souvenirs flous que la mémoire convoquerait pour former une intuition. Une intuition musicale.
https://portraitsgrm.bandcamp.com/album/minos-circuit-transfiguration-4 |
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| VIDNA OBMANA |
The Face that must die |
CD |
Vidna Obmana – The Face That Must Die CD (OCCD32)
Vidna Obmana is a pseudonym used by Belgian artist Dirk Serries. He has been one of the most significant names in the ambient scene for more than three decades, releasing over more than 50 solo albums and numerous collaborations. Apart from his main ambient colleagues, Vidna Obmana originates from the industrial cassette network scene in early eighties. ‘The Face That Must Die’ was recorded when Vidna Obmana was slowly transforming into his trademark ambient signature. In-between the noise outbursts and his melancholic ambient music Vidna Obmana produced a few albums which are industrial-oriented but more of an orchestral and percussion nature, in the vein of Autopsia. With turntables, shortwave radio, voice and synths Vidna Obmana recorded one of his most underrated albums full of tribalesque, doom-risen and dark ambient atmosphere. Originally released in a limited run on Vidna Obmana’s own Mechanical Orchestration Music and almost around the same time issued by Trev Ward’s The Order Ov Wolves, who also narrates the opening track, this is verily an indisputable masterpiece accompanied with four rare vinyl tracks from the same obscure era to turn the edition into a true collector’s precious document. Limited to 300 copies in a 4-panel matte-laminated black & white Digipak.
Tracklist:
1 Prologue Voice [Introduction By] – Trev Ward 04:10
2 Doom Asylum 08:48
3 Angel Of Life 04:10
4 Grave Upon Body 07:20
5 Sweat Session Pt. 1 04:09
6 Almost Certainly 04:31
7 Proto Anguish 03:55
8 Entombed 01:41
9 Bring Out Your Dead 03:43
10 Second Praise For Little Hope 07:11
11 Hidden Voice 03:39
12 Sweat Session Pt. 2 01:59
13 Burnpassion 02:31
14 Inferno 05:00
15 Another Earth To Pass 02:19
16 Bondage Doom To Creator 05:19
credits
released April 25, 2017
Original Tape Release : 1988 (Mechanical Orchestration Music, Belgium)
Tape Reissue : 1988 (Order Ov Wolves, UK)
BONUS TRACKS :
13.14. from A Thunder Orchestra/Vidna Obmana split 7” (Climax Productions 1988)
15. from Motop 1 LP (IF Records 1989)
16. from Cobwebs TAPE (Epitapes 1988)
Vidna Obmana : electronics, loops, turntables, shortwave radio, voice. Introduction by Trevor Ward.
https://oldcaptain.bandcamp.com/album/vidna-obmana-the-face-that-must-die |
2017 |
€13.00 |
|
|
The Trilogy |
3 x CD |
Dirk Serries, known for his Zoharum collaboration with Celer entitled 'Background Curtain', was operating for many years as Vidna Obmana. The first recordings under this moniker appeared in the mid-1980s. Initially in his work he penetrated very rough industrial sounds, but at the beginning of the following decade he turned to ambient music with subtle ethnic undertones. His first albums, where he successfully explored this style and which also brought him wider notoriety, were 'Passage in Beauty' (1991), 'Shadowing in Sorrow' (1992) and 'Ending Mirage' (1993), composing a trilogy in both sonic and visual sense. A few years later, they were reissued in one package by the American label Relic.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the release of the last album from these three. This is a good opportunity to bring the entire trilogy to light again, as it is considered one of Dirk Serries' outstanding achievements as Vidna Obmana. On top of that, all three albums, both in the form of a triple compilation and as single discs, have long been unavailable and reach quite high prices on auction sites. The discs received a new graphic design, their sound was also remastered by the artist himself. We can enjoy over three hours of these classic ambient sounds again.
The triple album is released in an 8-panel digipak and it is strictly limited to 400 pieces. The cover is designed by Maciej Mehring based on the photographs by Martina Verhoeven. Dirk Serries himself is responsible for the mastering. The whole production process was overseen by Michał Porwet.
The trilogy will be also available as a limited wooden box with an expanded content.
zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/the-trilogy
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Dante Trilogy |
3 x CD |
An almost his 25 year existency as VIDNA OBMANA Dirk Serries never shied away from challenges, sometimes to the regret of many of his fans, but it’s when he was offered a record deal with the renowned metal label RELAPSE RECORDS/RELEASE ENTERTAINMENT Vidna Obmana took his boldest step ever. With his DANTE TRILOGY he created his most ambitious, daring and unique set of albums which, for good, made him to be one of the most unique voices in the ambient and experimental scene.
Not only brought he VIDNA OBMANA to a definite conclusion but executed for him that perfect fusion of everything his project stood for since the first release in 1984.
His industrialism, the minimal ambience, the fourth world explorations and his electronic processing experiments went into blender. Utterly surreal, intense and expansive, the 3 albums TREMOR, SPORE and LEGACY showcase VIDNA OBMANA at his creative peak while conceptually the trilogy expresses Dirk Serries’ frustration, disappointment and creative turmoil as his role as VIDNA OBMANA in the ambient scene. This trilogy became that end of the road for probably his most critically-acclaimed and world-wide appreciated project but a change was necessary.
Having these 3 albums out on RELAPSE RECORDS/RELEASE ENTERTAINMENT solidified his connection to the metal and heavier guitar scene and the next chapter in DIRK SERRIES’ obsessive quest for that sublime in sound and mood was born: FEAR FALLS BURNING.
Now fully remastered, making every complex detail stand out even more, ZOHARUM is releasing the trilogy as a 3CD set with the related breathtaking photography by MARTINA VERHOEVEN. Music that according to VIDNA OBMANA was especially recorded to experience on a qualitive set of headphones.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/dante-trilogy-tremor-spore-legacy
"Die DANTE'S INFERNO Trilogie markiert einen starken Bruch mit den Jahren des "Transzendental-Ambients" und ist einer der letzten Arbeiten von DIRK SERRIES unter dem Namen VIDNA OBMANA. Basierend auf der dunklen Poetik der Dante'schen Verse setzt er hier schon Gitarren, metallische Obertoneffekte, elektronische Rhythmen & diverse handgespielte Perkussion ein, aber auch Ethno-artige Flötensounds und die typischen ultra-sphärischen OBMANA-Drones... auf LEGACY gibt es Gastauftritte von STEVE VON TILL (NEUROSIS), STEVEN WILSON (BASS COMMUNION) und anderen.. - das ist weit mehr als der vorher so perfekt ausgeprägte aber vorhersehbare Ambient-Stil, das ist post-industrieller, abgründiger dark ambient mit überraschenden Stilmerkmalen.." [Drone Rec. info]
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| VIDNA OBMANA / DAVID LEE MYERS |
Tracers |
CD |
" „Traces” is a fourth album in VIDNA OBMANA reissue series released by Zoharum. This time we present a collaboration with American artist David Lee Myers that was released in 2003 by Klanggalerie.
In the early years of 21st century, vidnaObmana teamed up with US experimentalist, of the Arcane Device fame, for a collaborative album that showcases their shared fascination for processing and recycling sound. “Tracers” is the audio evidence of this meeting. A few years later this material was mastered by Dirk Serries and got the new design based on Martina Verhoeven artworks.
Album folded in 6-panels digipack. Limited edition of 400 copies."
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/hotel-bravo
"Äußerst fruchtbare Zusammenarbeit des Belgiers mit dem wieder aktiven „ARCANE DEVICE“ David Lee Myers. In großartiger Weise verbinden sich hypnagoge Dronewellen OBMANAs mit sirrend-feedbackenden Mikrosounds von MYERS, eine sehr eigene, mysteriöse Klangwelt voller auraler Geheimnisse." [Drone Rec. info]
|
2020 |
€12.00 |
|
| VIGROUX, FRANCK |
MMXX-01: Tension 24 |
LP |
Matière Mémoire presents the MMXX Series.
In anticipation of the year 2020, Matière Mémoire asked 20 great artists to create an original 20 minutes piece and an artwork.
Throughout this year, each quarter will see the release of 5 new vinyls, available individually or as a bundle.
Each record is limited at 500 copies and comes as a crystal clear vinyl featuring an original track of 20 minutes on one side, and a laser engraved artwork on the other.
Each contained in a transparent sleeve printed with the MMXX logo, and each coming with a print of the artist artwork.
Participate in this series :
Franck Vigroux
John Duncan
Phill Niblock
Jim O’Rourke
Reinier Van Houdt
Stephen O’Malley
CM Von Hausswolff
Hampus Lindwall
Oren Ambarchi
Kevin Drumm
Bérangère Maximin
Kassel Jaeger
Daniel Menche
Charlemagne Palestine
Giueseppe Ielasi
Carlos Casas
Susanna Santos Silva
Joachim Nordwall
Karbé Dinel
Mauro Lanza
credits
released March 20, 2020
MUSIC & ARTWORK BY FRANCK VIGROUX - GRAPHICS & LAYOUTS BY CEDRIC D’HONDT - Mastering & cut by Frédéric Alstadt
MMXX-01 © ART SONORE SPRL - MATIÈRE MÉMOIRE
|
2020 |
€24.00 |
|
|
Totem |
do-LP |
New full length album by one of France’s most singular contemporary composer. Reflecting on ancient culture’s use and reverence for emblematic monuments which most often represent myths and stories, the album’s narrative has been infused with such symbolic and depicts an envisioned mythology, unfolding through it’s 10 aural pieces. Franck Vigroux‘s music is unique and comprised of tectonic tension, pulsating rhythms and abrasive analog textures like few can produce. Applying his own calculated personal signature in his sonic explorations his distinctiveness comes not only by his unique approach to sound but also by his incorporation of new media practices and performing arts into his A/V work.
Mastering by Denis Blackham.
Cover Photography by Emile Barret, model Armand Yerly / 2010
Double Vinyl Edition of 500 copies in matt laminated Gatefold Sleeve.
10 Tracks. Running Time 55:10.
https://aesthetical.bandcamp.com/album/totem
"With a title like Totem and its evocation of Native American traditions and the stereotypical association that evokes of nature and animals one could be forgiven for assuming French producer-composer Franck Vigroux has gone down a folk road. Instead his collision of musique concrète and electronica reasserts folk’s relationship to both the avant-garde and dance music, albeit in brutalist and abrasive fashion. This isn’t music for a campfire sing-song or to be played in a pub at midsummer but its rugged vigour nonetheless stretches away from modern production tools into something more primeval.
Totem features some of the most uncompromising and colossal electronic music you will hear this year. In a manner not a million miles away from the later work of the great Scott Walker, Vigroux builds up and juxtaposes hefty blocks of sound, often alternating between moments of calm and seething noise, as on ‘Capaupire’ on which a metronomic, minimal backbeat and ambient textures are sporadically interrupted by walls of abrasive white noise. On ‘Tropiques Tropiques’ these slabs of noise come close to echoing the caustic doom metal of a SUNN O))) or a Wolves in the Throne Room, another North American pagan leitmotiv to chime with the album’s title even as it slyly confounds any expectations of the tropics.
For all the sturm und drang, however, Totem is a subtle and intricate album that owes just as much to Wolfgang Voigt as it does Throbbing Gristle or Merzbow. Tracks like ‘Rhinocéros’, ‘Frontières’ and ‘Baron’ are low-key electronic explorations, hypnotic beats and looped synth patterns building quietly, with the expected explosions of noise kept at bay. The joy is in delving into the sonic depths Vigroux plunders to parse out hidden melodies and meanings. ‘Cris’ and ‘Chronostasis grand finale’ meanwhile are redolent of Ben Frost’s epic constructions but with the Australian’s bombast stripped away to reveal a moody, haunted core. ‘Elephant’ takes this mood to notable heights as synth lines and disembodied voices swim in and out of focus like ghosts pleading to be noticed before a wave of drone swallows them whole like a tide.
On Totem, Franck Vigroux’s take on folk traditions sees him heave up almighty boulders of sound to unearth the hidden ghosts underneath. Quite how they relate to a notion of totems remains somewhat out of reach, as do the animals evoked in certain track titles. Is this a form of unpleasant cultural appropriation or a case of sardonic humour? Such questions can make it a frustrating experience but on the other hand Totem certainly towers like its namesakes tend to and between this scale and the mysteries it contains, it’s an album that lingers in the memory even after the last notes have faded away." [The Quietus]
|
2019 |
€28.50 |
|
|
Totem |
CD |
New full length album by one of France’s most singular contemporary composer. Reflecting on ancient culture’s use and reverence for emblematic monuments which most often represent myths and stories, the album’s narrative has been infused with such symbolic and depicts an envisioned mythology, unfolding through it’s 10 aural pieces. Franck Vigroux‘s music is unique and comprised of tectonic tension, pulsating rhythms and abrasive analog textures like few can produce. Applying his own calculated personal signature in his sonic explorations his distinctiveness comes not only by his unique approach to sound but also by his incorporation of new media practices and performing arts into his A/V work.
Mastering by Denis Blackham.
Cover Photography by Emile Barret, model Armand Yerly / 2010
Double Vinyl Edition of 500 copies in matt laminated Gatefold Sleeve.
10 Tracks. Running Time 55:10.
https://aesthetical.bandcamp.com/album/totem
"With a title like Totem and its evocation of Native American traditions and the stereotypical association that evokes of nature and animals one could be forgiven for assuming French producer-composer Franck Vigroux has gone down a folk road. Instead his collision of musique concrète and electronica reasserts folk’s relationship to both the avant-garde and dance music, albeit in brutalist and abrasive fashion. This isn’t music for a campfire sing-song or to be played in a pub at midsummer but its rugged vigour nonetheless stretches away from modern production tools into something more primeval.
Totem features some of the most uncompromising and colossal electronic music you will hear this year. In a manner not a million miles away from the later work of the great Scott Walker, Vigroux builds up and juxtaposes hefty blocks of sound, often alternating between moments of calm and seething noise, as on ‘Capaupire’ on which a metronomic, minimal backbeat and ambient textures are sporadically interrupted by walls of abrasive white noise. On ‘Tropiques Tropiques’ these slabs of noise come close to echoing the caustic doom metal of a SUNN O))) or a Wolves in the Throne Room, another North American pagan leitmotiv to chime with the album’s title even as it slyly confounds any expectations of the tropics.
For all the sturm und drang, however, Totem is a subtle and intricate album that owes just as much to Wolfgang Voigt as it does Throbbing Gristle or Merzbow. Tracks like ‘Rhinocéros’, ‘Frontières’ and ‘Baron’ are low-key electronic explorations, hypnotic beats and looped synth patterns building quietly, with the expected explosions of noise kept at bay. The joy is in delving into the sonic depths Vigroux plunders to parse out hidden melodies and meanings. ‘Cris’ and ‘Chronostasis grand finale’ meanwhile are redolent of Ben Frost’s epic constructions but with the Australian’s bombast stripped away to reveal a moody, haunted core. ‘Elephant’ takes this mood to notable heights as synth lines and disembodied voices swim in and out of focus like ghosts pleading to be noticed before a wave of drone swallows them whole like a tide.
On Totem, Franck Vigroux’s take on folk traditions sees him heave up almighty boulders of sound to unearth the hidden ghosts underneath. Quite how they relate to a notion of totems remains somewhat out of reach, as do the animals evoked in certain track titles. Is this a form of unpleasant cultural appropriation or a case of sardonic humour? Such questions can make it a frustrating experience but on the other hand Totem certainly towers like its namesakes tend to and between this scale and the mysteries it contains, it’s an album that lingers in the memory even after the last notes have faded away." [The Quietus]
|
2019 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Ballades sur Lac Gelee |
LP |
Black vinyl LP pressing in gatefold jacket, printed inner sleeve, artwork by Olaf Bender.
We met Franck Vigroux for the first time years ago at Berlin's Berghain during a soundcheck. At that time he performed with Mika Vainio, with whom Vigroux often worked together.
The first track on »Ballades sur lac gelé« dates back to that time. It was created under the impression of this collaboration and friendship with Mika Vainio. This album is dedicated to him.
Vainio's oeuvre is also significant in connection with the history of raster, so it was only logical and our wish to release this album by Franck Vigroux.
With the beginning of the corona pandemic, Franck Vigroux took up this early material again, he continued to formulate it and completed the present album »Ballades sur lac gelé«. The title already defines the theme of the ballad, a "song/poem with very minimal structures" (quote Vigroux).
"Ballade" is also a play on words with the French word "balade", in this sense a ramble, a ramble over a frozen lake. The reduced, cool structures reflect this. But at the same time, under the surface, the (often distorted) sound carpets steadily increase to immense power. Like ice that grows and tectonic forces that have to erupt, glacier-like.
Vigroux is very skilled at creating music in this minimalist setting. The intertwining of very few musical elements creates a kind of soundtrack that is multi-layered and at the same time universally intelligible.
»Ballades sur lac gelé« will be released on June 26th, 2020 as a digital pre-release exclusively on our sites. The physical formats, i.e. CD and vinyl, can be pre-ordered. The official worldwide release date will be announced at a later point in time.
https://raster-raster.bandcamp.com/album/ballades-sur-lac-gel
|
2020 |
€21.50 |
|
| VIKTOR, KNUD |
Les Ephemeres |
do-LP |
The lost masterpiece Les Éphémères by the self labeled ‘sound painter’ Knud Viktor (1924-2013) now sees its first ever release by Institute for Danish Sound Archaeology – 40 years after it was conceived. Viktor’s pioneering work – his Images Sonores – are composed of field recordings of insects, animals and the his surroundings.
A finished master tape and even a complete cover layout for Les Éphémères was found in Viktor’s archives after he passed away in 2013. The phenomenal piece was originally commissioned by the French radio station France Musique in 1977. The twenty short ‘sound images’ of Les Éphémères were originally broadcast as vignettes in-between other radio programs.
From the middle of the 1970’s Viktor began composing almost exclusively for four channels. He invented his own intuitive quadraphonic mixer – the Tetramix – to realise his spatial visions for his Image VI – The Lubéron Symphony, and from then on worked with quadraphonic sound, thus making the release of his works difficult. Les Éphémères is close in time and also holds close ties to The Lubéron Symphony, which Viktor considered his magnum opus. Perhaps most strikingly is the shift in the way he uses the recordings of insects, birds and animals in both The Lubéron Symphony and Les Éphémères: Often untreated and clearly recognizable, the field recordings leave the inherent melody and rhythm of the animal sounds to sing for themselves, layering recordings to create simple and elegant sound images. In two of the twenty pieces Viktor’s own voice blends with the animals, as he recites two poems. One about the singing vineyard populated by musical crickets, the other painting an autumn picture with wine bubbling in the barrels as we hear the wine flies humming.
Viktor’s work emanates with a tremendous love and fascination with his companion species and the landscape and geology that surrounded him. His works are devoted to depicting the life on the mountain where he lived for fifty years. Hearing how the ecology of the landscape changed as commercial farming and pesticides took effect, a larger perspective in his work became clear to him:
"As it turns out, my work has actually set many things in motion; it touches upon something universal that I feel I have a duty to convey to others. A duty that I feel as a citizen of the earth. Not as a human citizen, but as a citizen of the earth. It may sound pretentious, but this is a question of generations to come." – Knud Viktor
The world has seen dramatic ecological change since Viktor recorded his sounds. Not only have the individual insects and animals that he recorded vanished from Lubéron, so too have entire species. Like fossils, their imprints now exist only in his works, in the recordings stored on tape. In the midst of our planet’s sixth mass-extinction event, the growing silence that Viktor heard in his immediate surrounding is now global: scientists estimate that half of the planet’s animal life has already disappeared. Viktor’s sound works allow us to borrow his ears. They convey his love for the animal worlds that surrounded him and perhaps we too can see our companion species differently through his works.
|
2018 |
€24.00 |
|
| VINAO, ALEJANDRO |
Hildegard's Dream |
CD |
Chant D'Ailleurs (1991) for soprano and computer, commissioned by Groupe de recherches musicales (GRM). Premiered at Grand Auditorium de Radio France in Paris, in 1992. Computer part processed at GRM using the Syter System. Soprano part performed by Frances Lynch.
Hildegard's Dream (1994) for soprano and computer. Premiered at Grand Auditorium de Radio France in Paris, in 1994. Computer part processed at GRM using the Syter System. Soprano part performed by Frances Lynch.
Borges Y El Espejo (1992) for soprano and computer. Premiered at Palais Jaques Coeur, Bourges, 1992. Soprano part performed by Frances Lynch.
Go (1981) for 8 channel tape. Premiered at St John's Smith Square, London, March 27th 1981.
|
1994 |
€15.00 |
|
| VINCENT, VERONIQUE & AKSAK MABOUL |
Ex-Futur Album |
do-LP |
"Crammed Discs founder Marc Hollander and Honeymoon Killers vocalist Véronique Vincent finally release their trailblazing avant-pop album, recorded and unfinished in… 1980-83!
This record was never completed. What was originally intended to become the third album by Aksak Maboul (the seminal band formed by Marc Hollander) had gradually evolved into a strange artefact, closely mingling (iconic Honeymoon Killers chanteuse) Véronique Vincent’s dreamy vocals and deceptively bubbly lyrics with Hollander’s musical ramblings. Electronic pop music with genre-wrecking leanings. But the project (too pop to be experimental? too quirky for early ‘80s pop?) was dropped at some point, and life went on.
When they were ‘rediscovered’ three decades later, it seemed obvious that the songs had aged delightfully well, and that they probably make a lot more sense now than they did then… So here’s that Ex-Future Album, collated from demos and rough mixes (some of them on cassette tapes), and brought to you in its original glorious unfinished state, with a slight delay of 30 years.
This most unusual story is far from being the only point of interest of Ex-Futur Album: the songs overflow with memorable melodies, with playful trademark Aksak Maboul instrumental moments and eventful arrangements which all give the album a retrofuturistic, almost timeless aspect, often predating certain hybrid musical trends which may or may not have emerged later on (think pop meets proto-techno, with African, Middle-Eastern, dub, jazz & cinematic French flavours…)
Recorded by M.Hollander & V.Vincent in collaboration with (Aksak Maboul member and Congotronics producer) Vincent Kenis, the album contains 10 tracks, plus 6 bonuses (including wild live versions of some songs), three of which will only come with the download code included in the CD and vinyl LP versions. The first single is Chez les Aborigènes (and its visionary lyrical stabs at the Western world’s exploitative attitude towards world music… this is 1981, remember…). It comes with a new remix by great electronic music duet EΔSY & C.O.U., stalwarts of the Nordic skweee scene (they’re the main –and sole- exponents of the sub-genre called Oriental Skweee…)." [label info]
www.crammed.be
|
2015 |
€27.50 |
|
| VIOLENT ONSEN GEISHA |
Shocks! Shocks! Shocks! |
LP |
"The Tokyo-based Japanese experimental musician Masaya Nakahara as kwon as Violent Onsen Geisha has been dazzling us with his entirely singular approach to sound since 1989. Harnessing his unique natural approach to mixier by combining techno, pop samples and hip hop, as well as his sister's karaoke singing or his parent quarreling, screams and glass or ceramic bowls broken, he incredibly built a body of work in recorded contexts that has almost no parallel, producing arrangements where all the style and the sonic atmosphere meet in a happy junk room and elaborating his delirious patchwork studio from magneto-phone tapes. His amazing cut-up proved interesting to major band such as Sonic Youth and Beck, who invited him on a US tour in 1995.
At the height of his music career as Violent Onsen Geisha in 1998, Nakahara published Mari & Fifi No Gyakusatsu Songu Bukku (Mari & Fifi’s Massacre Songbook) and made his debut as a novelist. In 2001, he received the 14th Yukio Mishima Award for “Arayuru Basho Ni Hanataba Ga” (Bouquets of Flowers Everywhere), and became increasingly active as a writer and movie critic.
His best-know cassette Shock! Shock! Shock! released in 1989 from legendary Vanilla Records, first time reissued on vinyl format, takes us deep into the intimately responsive aspects of his work. Despite the density of its structures, that combine the most disparate musical genres with deafening shouts and crashes, Shock! Shock! Shock! feels like a breath of fresh air, fearlessly skirting the line between creative rigor and focused interplay and a playful irreverence in ways that leave you wondering where the hell you are.
‘’For someone who has no musical talent like me, the only thing that I could naturally create was noise.’’ Masaya Nakahara"
Vinyl with the magnificent mastering by Andrea Marutti is a truly thrilling exchange of collages, vacillating between kitsch, the austere, and boundary pushing structures, all played against and pushed onto the next level by Nakahara incredible talent. Unflinchingly beautiful and creatively challenging, Shock! Shock! Shock! completely defies genre and definition, rising as a wonderful reminder of what noise music is all about. A justly radical zone of creative patchwork sound that renders an engrossing listen that you can’t pull out of once you’re in.
Released in an edition of 299 copies sole, unquestionably one of our favorite reissues of the year. Absolutely stunning, this is a stone-cold killer that can’t be missed.
https://urashima.bandcamp.com/album/shock-shock-shock
|
2022 |
€23.00 |
|
| VIOLENT SHOGUN |
Breath and Steam |
CD |
Breath and Steam’ is the latest CD album by Rémi Dazet, the mastermind behind Violent Shogun. He's been active lately also with other projects like Hattifnattar, Cryptofascisme and Mold, which are swimming in the similar experimental noisy waters. All those projects stand on their own feet, and the releases have been well thought out and nothing less than brilliant. Nevertheless, Violent Shogun can be seen as his main project, and it's always exciting to see which directions the sound is progressing to next. Sound palette on ’Breath and Steam’ is hard to describe with usual genre definitions like ”harsh noise” or ”industrial”, as the overall atmosphere is very unique. Remi has developed his tools further and uses them skillfully for scanning the depths of his own sonic ocean. This album is very focused. It's minimal and breathtaking at the same time and not least of all, it carries a strong message
https://satatuhatta.bandcamp.com/album/breath-and-steam
"Behind Violent Shogun, we find French musician Remi Dazet. He too works (worked?) under other guises, such as Hattifnattar, Cryptofascisme and Mold, all of which are, so says the label, "swimming in the similar experimental noisy waters"; why a different name, I wondered. Violent Shogun is called his primary project, and the cover mentions the use of tape loops, Serge and Eurorack modular synths, metal junk and apathy (not sure how that translates into sound). The album is dedicated to people who have shitty jobs around the world, working for "the classist, ableist, and racist ruling elite". While hearing this music, none of this message comes through, I think. I leave it up to your discretion whether that is good or bad. The loops are the primary focus, rough and ready; they are brutal attacks, not in the harshest of senses, but instead controlled and creepy. Whatever Violent Shogun sticks on these loops is another mystery; my ideas range from field recordings to bashing. A bit of junk and the odd bleep from a synthesizer. Whatever emotions are summoned here, fun isn't one of them. Throughout these thirty-seven minutes, the overall mood is one of depression. But that is an emotion that some people thrive upon, so there is pleasure in the pain, the agony and the ecstasy, if you get my drift. I enjoyed this noisy take on lo-fi sounds, which made it stand out from the traditional flock of noise mongers." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| VIOLET |
Violet Ray Gas & The Playback Singers |
CD |
VIOLET gibt es schon seit geraumer Zeit (in der Cassetten-Szene bereits als "1348" und NEW CARROLLTON aktiv!), ist aber leider bislang im Drone-Katalog kaum in Erscheinung getreten... Dieses Album auf dem eigenen ZEROMOON-Label präsentiert rauhe, grobkörnige, experimentelle low-fi drones inkl. Einsatz von Schallplatten-Loops, Stimmzitaten & Feedbacks, zum Ende hin aber weniger noisige polyphone Sphären-Schichten, die schon fast an PHILL NIBLOCK gemahnen... ein weites Spektrum öffnet sich hier mit eigener Handschrift...
"Quite an intriguing burst of dark electronic and sample noise from Violet, whose Violet Ray Gas and The Playback Singers (ZEROMOON zero008 / SENTIENT RECOGNITION ARCHIVE SRA 10) is released in a digipack covered with Futurist-inspired monochrome images full of harsh diagonals and fuzzy dreams of the machine age. Jeff Surak arrives here from Washington DC, a hero of the 1980s cassette tape scene when he used to release music under his 1348 alias and ran his Watergate Tapes label. Consequently we can hear much stern authority and grainy power in these grim process-works. My fave so far is the opener ‘All Records Collapse’, with its implacable radio voice plucked from an indeterminate Eastern European zone, but ‘Snakehead Lapping’, ‘Plague Numbers’ and ‘Marionetki’ all communicate the requisite doses of futility. Two long tracks at the end, ‘Violet Ray Gas’ and ‘Interior Ghosts’, are somewhat more musical than atmospheric, shaped from queasy long-form drones tempered with alien sounds. Surak strives to offer ‘near-silence’ and ‘full-on tonal Brutalism’, with all shades in between." [The Sound Projector]
"... Dark and mysterious, mixing in bits of Jeck and Tim Hecker, Wolf Eyes, blending them into Violet's ominous world of sound. There's feedback all over the place, but it's far from harsh or jagged, instead it's used like color, to paint greyed out landscapes burnished reds, and melted oranges, thick tones, reverberating chimes, bits of buzz and crunch, disembodied voices, intercepted broadcasts, clouds of hiss, chugging machinery, industrial sonic detritus, warped strings, woozy synths, all wound up into dense walls of sound one second, blurred into delicate crystalline lattices the next. "Plague Numbers" is total Jeck, a skipping scratched record smeared into a gauzy washed out living portrait of sound, indistinct figures, flitting shadows, mysterious shapes, all moving as if through a thick field of static, not even four minutes, but we found ourselves wishing it would never end. Elsewhere the sound of lapping water is swallowed up by a crackling crumbling fog of burnt melodies, and slowed down riffs, a sort of sun dappled lysergic sonic swirl. The title track is a tuning up orchestra stretched out into a softly chaotic symphony of angular tones and fractured melodies, of sine waves and groaning creaking low end rumbles, augmented by curious crackles and strands of distortion arranged in patterns resembling speech, but rendered in impressionistic shards, finishing off with a gorgeous high end ur- drone, a softer Sunroof!, a field of static bagpipes, their overtones creating otherworldly patterns in the ether. Gorgeous." [Aquarius Records review]
www.zeromoon.com
|
2009 |
€12.00 |
|
| VIOSAC (VIOLENCE AND THE SACRED) |
Rustypile |
CD |
"Instigation to obsessive behaviours through the use of a neurotic variety of dissonant sequencing (brought to extreme consequences in the exaggeratedly protracted title track). Elsewhere, intriguing reiterations and leisurely paced abstract electronics pave the way to an easier enjoyment of an ill-minded quietness, the impossibility of referencing the sounds to anything well-known a definite plus. Samples of classic music appear like funny ghosts amidst panoramas overflowed with deformed dichotomies and rambling precariousness. Spoken word (texts by a William Shakespeare) is not exactly welcome, especially when it ruins a beautifully misshapen string loop (“Sonnet 139/66”) or unspeakably nonfigurative suspensions (“Sonnet 64/15”). This is uncompromisingly disordered stuff: at times naïve, often labyrinthine, for the large part appreciably unendurable due to a reluctance to open the doors to a “first come, first served” kind of short-term audience. On the contrary, Rusty Pile must be attentively analyzed in order to appreciate its most satisfying traits, which translates into “legitimate experimental release”." [Massimo Ricci / Touching Extremes]
www.viosac.net
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
You are planning to enjoy the Apocalypse |
CD |
"The record was mainly composed on Korg analogue synthesizers plus “processed audio from primary source material and field/found recordings”. Besides the boss, it features the participation of other human entities in a couple of instances (Ted Wheeler and a “St. Deborah”). This time the title track – also the longest, once again – is placed right at the beginning but its compulsiveness is rendered more acceptable by the volatility of the sequences, and the nineteen minutes flow pretty easily. The rest is a mixture of relentless aural vexations and cerebral bewilderment permeated by sonorities that are best described as “deliriously cluttered”. One manages to get a vague impression of a few familiar elements: deformed voices, guitars equalized as if played inside a stomach. The recalcitrant temperament of some of these digressions – at times enhanced by industrial percussions who would test Job’s patience – is not exactly what will persuade a loved person to remain faithful. However, this constant rupture of any scheme that might remotely be associated with consonance and mental respite is entertaining. Quite often, this music is so absurdly unhinged that ends sounding like a sticky magma of cacophonic emissions of which we can just imagine the underlying plot. Fact is, this kind of matter has always interested yours truly and Stewart is not an adolescent foot-dragger." [Massimo Ricci / Touching Extremes]
|
2009 |
€13.00 |
|
| VIR |
Strika / Solaris (SOLD OUT) |
7 |
"VIR is a new project from Chicago, coming from the surroundings of the most spheric & experimental Projekt Records signing LOVESLIESCRUSHING, using the most beautiful four-dimensional guitar-sounds you can imagine, plus the enchanting female voice of K.JOY on Side A - all mixed up for an enlightning, and still very experimental music. The noises on the two sides "Strika" and "Solaris" here create a tremendous room, monumental distortion & overtones, deep rumbling & vibrating, melodies and harmonies in between... it's like falling into a staggering whirlpool of sounds and emotions. BLUE – GREY MIXED VINYL, HAND-TYPED AND NUMBERED SLEEVES." [press release]
|
2000 |
€ |
|
| VIRGEN VAPOR [= REYNOLS!] |
All the songs of the universe played at the same time, shaping an invisible golden-fluo triangle |
CD-R |
Crazy argentinian project consisting of 5 people with Anla Courtis from REYNOLS – this is pure improvisation-madness, with the members playing stuff like “mysterious percussion” and “inca flute”, sometimes quite atmospheric, sometimes more noisy. |
2003 |
€10.00 |
|
| VISIONS & PHURPA |
Monad |
LP |
Celebrating its 100th release, Cyclic Law presents an exclusive collaboration between label head Frederic Arbour’s long standing project VISIONS and Russia’s most enigmatic ritual formation, lead by Alexey Tegin, PHURPA. Merging PHURPA’s penetrating organic meditational chants and shamanic percussive elements with the slow-shifting, multi-layered textural drones of VISIONS, this unique joining of forces resulted in a vastly expansive and time bending opus. Channeled throughout are primordial sonorities to alter ones deeper psyche, a spiritual ascent unifying with the whole, the elemental cosmic life force that transpierces us, to the monad of creation.
CD Edition of 500 copies in 4 panels Digisleeve. 4 tracks. 40:37
LP Edition of 200 Copies in Standard LP sleeve with black paper inner sleeve. 4 tracks. 40:37
credits
released April 25, 2018
cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/monad
|
2018 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Monad |
CD |
Celebrating its 100th release, Cyclic Law presents an exclusive collaboration between label head Frederic Arbour’s long standing project VISIONS and Russia’s most enigmatic ritual formation, lead by Alexey Tegin, PHURPA. Merging PHURPA’s penetrating organic meditational chants and shamanic percussive elements with the slow-shifting, multi-layered textural drones of VISIONS, this unique joining of forces resulted in a vastly expansive and time bending opus. Channeled throughout are primordial sonorities to alter ones deeper psyche, a spiritual ascent unifying with the whole, the elemental cosmic life force that transpierces us, to the monad of creation.
CD Edition of 500 copies in 4 panels Digisleeve. 4 tracks. 40:37
LP Edition of 200 Copies in Standard LP sleeve with black paper inner sleeve. 4 tracks. 40:37
credits
released April 25, 2018
Channeled by VISIONS & PHURPA 2017
Produced, Mixed & Mastered by Frederic Arbour
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| VITAL |
Magazine for Electronic and Electroacoustic Music - The complete collection 1987-1995 |
BOOK |
Vital - The Complete Collection 1987-1995
various authors
580 pages, hardcover
Frans de Waard published Vital, a fanzine for electronic and electroacoustic music, from 1987 to 1995. It was a low-budget, Xeroxed publication, bearing the revolutionary instruction: ‘No Copyright Publication. Reprint Now!’ It featured interviews with Asmus Tietchens, O Yuki Conjugate, Merzbow, P16.D4, Pierre Henry, Jim O’Rourke, Brume, Döc Wor Mirran and many others, hosted discussions on copyright, plagiarism and plunderphonics, house music, ambient music, cassette culture and noise, and included contributions from musicians such as Leigh Landy, Godfried Willem Raes, John Duncan, and GX Jupitter-Larsen. Every issue included reviews of cassette releases, LPs, CDs and books. A total of 44 issues were published. Vital moved online in 1995, where it appeared every week since as Vital Weekly.
This book is a reprint of all 44 issues and is a lively record of the heyday of cassette culture and industrial music, but also of developments in the wider field of electronic music.
kormplastics.nl/vtcc.html |
2020 |
€20.00 |
|
| VITRIOL |
I-VII |
CD |
Wow! Leider erst spät entdeckt, dieses alchemistische Gebräu von ex-GODFLESH BC GREEN. Rückwärtige Gitarrensounds & drones, eine dumpf-beschwörende Stimme aus dem Untergrund, sich wellenartige ergiessende Chords....
“Ben Green (Godflesh) takes us on a haunting and elemental journey of the soul. Recorded in the mountains of Wales in order to document alchemical pursuits....’ In 1995 I moved to a remote cottage in the Ystwyth valley, to escape the noise of the city in order to listen, without distraction to the sounds within, sounds that I had been feeling for a long time. I spent 12 months here in virtual total isolation, focusing not only inwards, but also allowing myself to be an elemental "sponge", initially at nature’s mercy, but eventually learning to coexist with all natural elements, becoming completely aware of the natural order and flow of things. One of the ways in which I explored this was using sound, for as a musician I was very aware of the strength of sounds, particularly in a pure state, and the effect they have on our psyche, and therefore our fundamental state of being.’ [Ben Green 2001] “ [label info]
|
2001 |
€14.00 |
|
| VIVENZA |
Realite de l'automation directe |
LP |
"Réalité de l'automation directe:
Bruitism is the representation of a living, biological body, not unrelated but on the contrary intimate to the substance. The nature/technique gap is totally, in The Art of Noises, the most accomplished form of a reconciliation with industrial mechanization.
By highlighting the autonomy of the dialectical movement in its inaugural tension, bruitism reestablishes this relationship with the pure objectivity of the substance, which is the cornerstone of the program of futurism and remains more than ever valid for the future of all futures. The sonorous world, the noises of life, are not just a simple residual environment but the material of a new art, The Art of Noises !
Luigi Russolo declares : « In a few years the engines of our industrial cities can all be skilfully sounded so as to make from each factory an exhilarating orchestra of noises ». The futurist objective is « a will for a back to original forces »[3], it finds in bruitism the most intense form of a participation to the universal energy of the being of the world.
Extract from L'art des bruits futuristes (The Art of Futurist Noises), Vivenza, 1982
1. L. RUSSOLO, The Art of Noises, Milan, 1913.
2. L. RUSSOLO, The Noises of Nature and Life, Milan. 1913.
3. L. RUSSOLO, The Art of Noises, Milan, 1913." [credits]
"From his first works in the middle of the 70s, Jean-Marc Vivenza places himself in the field of the theorico-political link attached to the Italian Futurists and Russian Constructivists trends whose bruitist-plastic propositions are the only theorical sources having ever been developped with consistency, and qualifies his music as « bruitist futurist » rather than industrial.
It is the re-appropriation of noise as a formal plastic aid. He explores the field of perspectives that the acoustico-plastic material offers and works on a concept that he calls « the objective materiality of noise », basing himself on the futuristic thesis of Luigi Russolo, exposed in « The Art of Noises » edited in 1913, constituting the working guide for Vivenza and remaining the base of any authentic bruitism. He is then the first, between 1976 (with the band Glace) and 1979, to build a bridge between the thesis of Luigi Russolo and our time.
The originality of Vivenza is to use industrial sonorous material in the literal sense of the word (machines, workers in action, factories) and records real industrial sonorities in factories : reality is the subject of futurist research." [biography info from the label)
http://rotorelief.com
|
2011 |
€23.00 |
|
| |
Realites Servomecaniques |
BOOK / CD |
"Deluxe CD book, 32 pages, pictures & texts in three languages: French, English, Japanese. 'Réalités servomécaniques' is an improved version faithful to the original recordings with visuals specially reworked, answering to a categorical assertion, theoricaly and practicaly on Vivenza's bruitist point of view, who presents sounds, 'noises', under their rawest and genuine aspect: sounds are machines / machines are sounds. Thus Vivenza captured the essence of factories with a strong sense of austerity, radicality, verticality, including thick smokes and intense darkness of industrial landscapes, as Réalités servomécaniques directly refers to the triumph but also decline of heavy industries in the 80s. The mechanics, cogwheels, forges and machines smash us in the face in a radically powerful way, being at the same time under our eyes and inside us, at the heart of our selves, in an ultra realistic way while listening. We are then, with Réalités servomécaniques, plunged in the midst the machines, and in the machines, with a surprising and striking strength. 'Machines are sounds / sounds are machines!' " [label info]
http://rotorelief.com
|
2015 |
€20.00 |
|
| VOGEL, MICHEL |
Une petite musique de Nuit |
LP |
"PLANAM proudly presents the first LP by the artist and sound sculptor Michel Vogel. Born in 1941 in Strasbourg, France, Michel Vogel artistic activities start in 1960 when, as a painter under the materic influences of Antoni Tapies and Jean Dubuffet, his mineral and sound experimentations built a universe influenced by free jazz, extra-European music and Olivier Messiaen. His researches develop with new sculptures and the creation of his own resonating metal instruments. His friends of the minimalist group, and specially the Fluxus artists, support and push him to carry on his acoustics explorations while his sonic creations get closer to the music of John Cage, Philip Corner, Morton Feldman and Giacinto Scelsi. For this first project PLANAM selected, in direct collaboration with the artist, an improvisation for large size gongs prepared with metal rods, little gong, Chinese cymbal, caoutchouc ball, titled Une petite musique de nuit. Recorded live with no over-dubbing the night of January 18th, 2002. A very deep and alfa-wave oriented listening that will make you discover very intimate as well as stellar new sonic dimentions. Edition limited to 300 copies." [label info] |
2009 |
€19.50 |
|
| |
Ronde Matutinale a Amilis / Berenice |
LP |
"PLANAM proudly presents the second LP by the artist and sound sculptor Michel Vogel. Born in 1941 in Strasbourg, France, Michel Vogel artistic activities start in 1960 when, as a painter under the materic influences of Antoni Tapies and Jean Dubuffet, his mineral and sound experimentations built a universe influenced by free jazz, extra-European music and Olivier Messiaen. His researches develop with new sculptures and the creation of his own resonating metal instruments. His friends of the minimalist group, and specially the Fluxus artists, supported and pushed him to carry on his acoustics explorations while his sonic creations get closer to the music of John Cage, Philip Corner, Morton Feldman and Giacinto Scelsi. After the deep cosmo night music of 'Une petite music de nuit' (Vogel first LP) PLANAM decided to issue two more early-morning oriented realizations, or 'Ronde mattinale à Amillis' and 'Berenice'. These alfa-wave improvisations for 'prepared' gongs and self-built metal instruments, selected in direct collaboration with the artist, will make you enter into luminous sonic dimensions. Edition limited to 270 copies with full colour space cover and inner sleeve." [label info]
|
2011 |
€19.50 |
|
| VOICE OF EYE |
Sprocket (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
released November 1994
"This band from Houston, Texas, is one of the main groups being active in a field of music one could name "New Sensitivity" , or, according to the group, "Somnambulart". After their two great CDs 'Mariner Sonique' (1992) and 'Vespers' (1994) Drone Records can offer the very first VOICE OF EYE-vinyl. The opening track 'Belladonna' is a timeless manifestation of deepest emotional expression; a wonderful sad and yearnful piece of music based on magic flute-playing. The other tracks are perfect examples of exploring new scopes of sound and building strange environments, finding 'gateways' to trigger Otherworldliness; using bicycle-sounds and 'oscillations' of a forest in an improvised and intuitive way. VOICE OF EYE take you to a voyage to most precious inner treasures - this music may melt your heart & soul!" [label info]
"What we are expressing is not traditional notes but VIBRATIONS OF THE SOUL" [V.O.E., ND #17, 1993]
|
1994 |
€ |
|
| |
Primaera |
mCD-R |
"founded in the late 80's on the ashes of esoterica landscapes 7, voice of eye is the duo of bonnie mcnairn and jim wilson. they released several discs during the first part of the 90's on their own cyclotron industries, a 7" on drone records, a live lp on anomalous records as well as collaborations with another ethno/experimental/ambient band life garden, all of them documenting their fascinating and captivating atmospheres mostly made from self-built instruments, creating a unique sound.
after a 12-years hiatus, voice of eye was back in 2007 for a us & europe tour together with ure thrall, unleashing two new self-produced discs (recently re-released by old europa cafe) proving the magic wasn't gone. this 18min track, especially recorded for taâlem in 2008 confirms bonnie & jim haven't lost the touch!" [label info]
www.taalem.com
"Primaera; the first creation. Follow the journey of sound from its inception in silence as it enters the fertile soil of your mind and evolves through the yearning to know its purpose and fulfill its destiny only to expire back into silence. Recorded in the coastal redwood forests of northern California, Primaera is one 18 minute track released on CDr by French label Taalem. Full color disc artwork by delphine ancelle-b. January 2010." [Voice of Eye]
"Voice Of Eye is also a duo, but then from Houston and after a hiatus of several years, they seem to be fully back on track. This one is from last year and shows Voice Of Eye in a somewhat improvised mood, I think. All the machines they have at their disposal are set to play something, guitars are plugged in, microphones are open and here we go. A bit more experimental than y'r average drone release I'd say, but in its rawness I'd say this is a great piece. The edges are rough, like that howl of feedback towards the end of 'Primaera'. Great psychedelic mood music." [FdW, Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€5.00 |
|
| VOICES OF THE COSMOS |
Interstellar Space |
LP |
VOICES OF THE COSMOS - Interstellar Space
Eter Records & Gusstaff Records, 2021
Aurora Bis & Six Pulsars composed, recorded and mixed by Rafał Iwański. Additional sounds by Wojciech Zięba.
Maser Emission & Methanol Flash composed, recorded and mixed by Rafał Iwański & Wojciech Zięba.
Toruń and Grudziądz, March – October 2020.
Mastering: Marcin Bociński | legatomastering.pl
Artwork and layout: Wojciech Zięba
Logotype design: Chris Konky
Astronomical consultation: Sebastian Soberski | planetarium.grudziadz.pl
Coordination of the "VOTC IV" project: Rafał Iwański
Special thanks to: Paweł Wolak (Institute of Astronomy - Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland) for radio telescope maser sonifications G75.761+0.340, G107.298+5.639; Stephen P. McGreevy (The University of Iowa, U.S.) for aurora sounds; Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics (Manchester, U.K.) for 47 Tucanae pulsars sounds.
The project is co-financed by the Scholarship of the Marshal of Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship.
VOICES OF THE COSMOS project combines efficiently the achievements of astronomy with electroacoustic music. The creators use the original extraterrestrial signals and sounds received by radio telescopes (e.g. pulsars, magnetospheres of planets, Sun, aurora borealis, masers) and other radio devices, sometimes they use sonifications and archive recordings from space missions. Instrumental tracks integrated into the processed rhythms and tones of the “space sounds” are created with electronic instruments, both digital and analogue, as well as various acoustic objects.
The project has been presented many times in scientific institutions and at music festivals, in the form of audio-visual concerts, also in the version extended with astronomy lectures and sky observations. It is a unique initiative in Poland, which uses the original space recordings, including from a 32-metre fully steerable single-dish radio telescope located at the Institute of Astronomy of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń.
Electronic music and radio astronomy are inventions from the first half of the 20th century. From the very beginning, both areas were permanently associated with technical progress and new technologies that determined their development. Artistic productions such as “VOTC” kind would not have been be possible without the achievements of modern astronomy. Outer space with the necessary technological support to convert radio waves into acoustic waves is full of the source of sound phenomena: noises, vibrations, pulsations, shreds of melody, grunts, as well as chaotic and mysterious sounds, often difficult to determine.
https://voicesofthecosmos.bandcamp.com/album
/interstellar-space
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
IV |
CD |
VOICES OF THE COSMOS project combines efficiently the achievements of astronomy with electroacoustic music. The creators use the original extraterrestrial signals and sounds received by radio telescopes (e.g. pulsars, magnetospheres of planets, Sun, aurora borealis, masers) and other radio devices, sometimes they use sonifications and archive recordings from space missions. Instrumental tracks integrated into the processed rhythms and tones of the “space sounds” are created with electronic instruments, both digital and analogue, as well as various acoustic objects.
The project has been presented many times in scientific institutions and at music festivals, in the form of audio-visual concerts, also in the version extended with astronomy lectures and sky observations. It is a unique initiative in Poland, which uses the original space recordings, including from a 32-metre fully steerable single-dish radio telescope located at the Institute of Astronomy of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń.
Electronic music and radio astronomy are inventions from the first half of the 20th century. From the very beginning, both areas were permanently associated with technical progress and new technologies that determined their development. Artistic productions such as “VOTC” kind would not have been be possible without the achievements of modern astronomy. Outer space with the necessary technological support to convert radio waves into acoustic waves is full of the source of sound phenomena: noises, vibrations, pulsations, shreds of melody, grunts, as well as chaotic and mysterious sounds, often difficult to determine.
https://voicesofthecosmos.bandcamp.com/album/interstellar-space
https://voicesofthecosmos.bandcamp.com
|
2021 |
€10.00 |
|
| VOISEY, VEN (V.V.) |
Note |
CD |
"C.I.P. and crank satori are proud to announce their co-release of the first CD by v.v., "note." v.v. are the initials of Ven Voisey, a sound artist and sculptor from Oakland, California. "note" evolves as a series of meticulously crafted sound events drawn from myriad sources, including a dynamic range of hisses, crackles, and tonal hums, field recordings, electronics, and acoustic instruments. While his work has been placed in the same arena as artists such as Joe Colley (Crawl Unit) and Toshiya Tsunoda, Ven's deft composing skills and innate sense of sound elements clearly define him as an artist with a unique vision for realizing captivating and rewarding audio. Ven's previous titles on cassette and CDR has been met with critical acclaim; with the release of "note," C.I.P. and crank satori hope to introduce v.v. to a much wider and deserving audience." [label info]
|
2003 |
€13.00 |
|
| VOLCANO THE BEAR |
Classic Erasmus Fusion |
do-CD |
Was soll man zu dem britischen Quartett VOLCANO THE BEAR noch sagen? Wer auf der Suche nach überraschender & neuer, (noch) nicht klassifizierbarer Musik ist, die nicht am Computer entsteht, muss hier einfach mal reinhören!! Ihre Musik mit Einflüssen aus Folk, Drone, Avant-Rock & Impro-Jazz ist nicht nur oft irgendwie “weird” und verquer, sondern weist auch streckenweise grosse harmonische & elegante Schönheit auf... wie immer ist vokales Material omni-präsent!
“.... zeigt Antifolk flippernd zwischen Didgeridoo und Handy, Daumenklavier und elektrischer Störung, als Folklore des Absurden, die es fertig bringt, in raffinierter Unschuld zerebralen Goldstaub aufzuwirbeln..” [Bad Alchemy # 51]
„...Describing Volcano the Bear's music is about as difficult as identifying the instruments. The quartet's arsenal of gear is transcendant of time and space, culled from different cultures and different eras, from classically orchestral woodwinds (albeit sometimes just blowing through the mouthpiece) to African thumb piano, helicopter sounds, thunderstorm and rain and running water, medieval squeeze boxes, squeak toys, chirping or crying bird sounds, and Asian stringed things. While improvisation has been integral to the band's development, Volcano the Bear can always be counted on very cold-calculated and composed songs appearing on their official studio albums. Their arrangement is loose but never wanky or show-offey. Perhaps it's this lack of soloing and pretention that has kept them from appropriate recognition by some of the major experimental media in favor for a whole "free folk"/"weird rock"/"new weird America" obsession.“ [Brainwashed]
"VTB have crafted a strange geometry in their musique concrete between celestial duck honks and what sounds like a flood in the living room, there are more than a few occasions of heads cocked at the speaker in mundus caninus. Of course, this bodes well for humans, too. Augmented by all the dog friendly moments is a double album of sprawling musical invention. Record one births gently into a lo-fi-adelic Comus-like saline that even might even win over the Devendra crowd, if the Devendra crowd had ingested just a little too much mushroom tea on that day and left their ironic trucker hats at the door. Song becomes fever dream and then pitches into a barren place of low estate and low chanting whose Residents might well be Eskimos. With typical minimalist pageantry, VTB mutate from piece to piece, punctuating along the way with surprise sounds that the aforementioned dogs love so well; the kinds of quirks that make Nurse With Wound and P16.D4 records such fun listens. VTB spin some very melodious tales, which are subliminally hooky, after a fashion. Spiritual and surreal are sisters. Quiet ritualism queues with dadaistic and with progressive harmonies, together on the same fractured, out world, sing-along journey. And that's just record one. Record two crawls slowly from the echoey ooze, grows legs and then presents as a different and, in many ways, more dramatic creature. A long, shifting organ drone becomes a deeply psychedelic statement that bleats loud and strong like an acid bleached Spiral Insana or a sneaky This Heat.” [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Planetary Betlehem |
LP |
"New planetary compositions by the always genre defying cosmic collective that is Volcano the Bear. For this journey, The Bear present reworkings / collages of material originally recorded in 1995/1996 performed by Nick Mott, Aaron Moore, and Clarence Manuelo. Electro-acoustique doom? To be issued early Dec. 2010 as an edition of a one time press of 300 numbered copies on 220 gram vinyl and book bound sleeve. No CD edition will be made available."
[label info]
www.blrrecords.com
|
2010 |
€20.00 |
|
|
Golden Rhythm / Ink Musik |
LP |
"Das brandneue Studioalbum von VOLCANO THE BEAR ist eine kalkuliert-hysterische Verschmelzung von THIS HEAT, ROBERT WYATT, FAUST und THE RESIDENTS, aus Musique Concrete und Ethnofolk, gesehen durch ein Kaleidoskop aus theatralischer Improvisation. Gegründet 1995 waren es VOLCANO THE BEAR, die Steven Stapleton von NURSE WITH WOUND derart in Aufregung versetzten, dass er sein United Diaries Label wiedererweckte, nur um 2000 ihr erstes Album ,The Inhazer Decline" herauszubringen. Seitdem haben VOLCANO THE BEAR Alben auf einer ganzen Stange von Labels (und ihrem eigenen!) veröffentlicht, von denen ,Classic Erasmus Fusion" von 2006 ein definitives Highlight ist. Wenn die Band aufnimmt, dann geht es darum, krasse Absurditäten auf bizarr-schönste Weise darzustellen. "Golden Rhythm/Ink Music" ist ihr erstes "richtiges" Studioalbum seit "Amidst The Noise And Twigs" von 2007. Das neue Album konzentriert sich auf die soundtechnische Trennlinie zwischen Aaron Moore und Daniel Padden und dürfte das fokussierteste Album von VOLCANO THE BEAR überhaupt sein. Es zeigt ,Rockmusik" aus der leicht verdrehten Perspektive von VOLCANO THE BEAR und wartet mit mehr Schlagzeug/Gitarren Kombinationen auf als jemals zuvor. ,Golden Rhythm/Ink Musik" übersetzt die bizarre Energie der VOLCANO THE BEAR Liveperformance in die Umwelt des Studios.
#########################################
Rune Grammofon presents the brand-new studio album from Volcano The Bear, a calculated, hysterical melting-pot of This Heat, Robert Wyatt, Faust and The Residents, of musique concrète and ethno-folk, all seen through a prism of theatrical improvisations and unhinged set pieces. Formed in 1995, and after several self-released tapes and CD-Rs, VTB so excited Nurse With Wound's Steven Stapleton, that he brought his United Dairies label out of cold storage to release their first album proper, The Inhazer Decline, in 2000. Since then they've released music on such labels as Misra, Beta Lactam Ring, Textile, Digitalis, Pickled Egg, Alt Vinyl as well as their own imprints Volucan and Volfurten with the exceptional Classic Erasmus Fusion from 2006 being a possible highlight. On record, VTB offer stark and stunning absurdities in the most bizarrely beautiful way. Recycling and re-contextualizing their material is an innate habit, and the variety of recording options they might choose (be it a highly-equipped professional studio or a second-hand dictaphone) allows their craft to be formed in a myriad of different ways. VTB have toured extensively throughout Europe and North America and in concert they are the duo of Daniel Padden and Aaron Moore. Absurd humor and eclectic ways of producing sounds are characteristic of their live performances and their extensive knowledge of the traditions of experimental and folk music makes the band difficult to categorize. The band record everything they play and will often use these recordings as raw material for their albums. VTB have released a number of records since the start, often mixing studio, live and home recordings. Golden Rhythm/Ink Music is their first more or less "proper" studio album since Amidst The Noise And Twigs back in 2007. Largely based on the sonic fault-line between Aaron Moore and Daniel Padden, it's also the most focused and driven of VTB's prolific output so far, showcasing the duo's unique musicality and interplay, while retaining their trademark eccentricity and humor throughout. It presents "rock music" as seen through VTB's skewed eye, featuring more of Padden and Moore's drum/guitar combination than on previous albums. Taking the bizarre energy of their live duo performances into a studio environment, and combining it with VTB's eclectic instrumentation and Clarence Manuelo's singular audio-work, GR/IM shows VTB making their most vital work to date. Includes mp3 download code." [label info]
www.runegrammofon.com |
2012 |
€20.00 |
|
| |
Commencing |
5 x LP BOX |
"Leicester, England – mid 1990's. Aaron Moore, Nick Mott, Clarence Manuelo & Daniel Padden create a free form group named Volcano The Bear out of their frustration with standard musical limitations. Now, after 20 years of experimenting with improvisation, folk, Dada, Post Punk, Krautrock, noise, surreal comedy, pure avant-garde and more, the group has obtained a cult following and high critical praise across the globe. Reknowned for their highly theatrical and obscure live performances, as well as their mind-blowing catalogue of releases, VTB truly is a one of a kind group, consistently pushing forward with their own unique, experimental approach to sound making.
Commencing manages to be both a retrospective of the group's 20 year history as well as it ´s own unique release filled with vast amounts of material. The 5 albums, 64 tracks & over 4 hours in length, presented here has been carefully put together over the last couple of years to become an entity – working as much by itself as well as a whole. Expect an abundance of unreleased material, alt-versions, tracks from early cassette albums never released on vinyl, live recordings, pieces from forgotten compilation appearances and more, all mixed and compiled together to form 5 stand-alone albums.
The physical release also includes a book of writings, photos and flyers from their long history, along with a bonus download only album of tracks that didn't make the final cut. This is the ultimate VTB release for fans of the group and of surreal, experimental musical history in general.
Deluxe Silkscreened Box-set, incl. 5LPs with individual covers & linernotes for each track on the back, 50 page book of photos, artwork, flyers and stories of the band´s 20 years of existence. Also includes a free download of all 64 tracks + 10 track bonus album. |
2015 |
€90.00 |
|
| VOLCANO THE BEAR / LA STPO |
The Shy Volcanic Society at the Beat and Bird Parade |
CD |
"A split CD containing five tracks from Volcano the Bear and four by STPO. The French group STPO is a long existing and very underestimated group with limited releases over the years. Their history of dadaist and experimental music started in 1984. Beta-lactam Ring released and re-released some of their older material. For this release they choose four tracks that were recorded in 2003 and were not included on earlier releases. These tracks again illustrate their very odd musical universe. I admire them for staying close to their unique musical vision and language. For Volcano the Bear things are opposite in at least one aspect. Namely, they released already a bulk of records in the past. Less bizarre then STPO Volcano the Bear refer in their experimental music to folkmusic. Their compositions stay somewhere in the middle between song-structure and soundcollage. Also they are one dimensional compared to the compositions of STPO that are structured along the inimitable logic of their musical fantasies. The same for their carefully worked out arrangements. The over the top and very expressive vocal work by Pascal Godjikian is the heart of most of the tracks on this CD. Can't get enough from them." [DM, Vital Weekly]
"CD issued early May 2009 as an edition of 500 copies in a full color gatefold sleeve. A split album with Volcano the Bear and La STPO. VTB tracks 1-5 and STPO tracks 6-9. Bears and Birds, oh my! One side keeps the hot hot. And the other keeps the weird weird. VTB’s typically atypical entomological set scratches like a hive that has evolved just to the point of thumping out tribal fealties to its giant insect God-Thing. Environmentally ritualized sub-rhythms mix musique-concrete with actual concrete, forming freakishly minimal foundations for the hive of whatevers to swarm within. Noise, once again, for heroes. All this, of course, juxtaposed against France’s hidden reverse: La STPO, who absolutely let it blurt. Their pounding system of post-post-punk-neo-Zeuhl cracks the mantle, with bass lines thicker than Sequoias. And louder than screaming Sequoias. La STPO vacillates between two extreme extremes: something approximating a kind of industrial strength nouveaux bâtiments s'effondrants (German buildings are not the only ones susceptible to collapse), and crushing riffs ala SunnO))). Pascal Godjikian’s fierce grunts and barks keep the hive on the other side believing he is their God-thing. He is someone’s God-thing, that’s for sure." [label info]
www.blrrecords.com
"Diese Split-CD vereint Stücke zweier experimenteller Bands, Volcano the Bear aus England und La Société des Timides à la Parade des Oiseaux aus Frankreich. Beide bieten, so viel vorweg, alles andere als leichte Kost.
Volcano the Bear zeigen sich bereits reichlich unkonventionell. Die bis auf einige textlose Lautäußerungen instrumentale Musik wälzt sich wie ein zeitlupenartiger Klangstrom aus den Boxen, ohne dabei eine rechte Form anzunehmen. Streich- und Blasinstrumente mäandern entlang, allerlei Schlagwerk rumpelt vor sich hin, dazu knurrt oder brummt ab und zu jemand, was letztlich wie ein weiteres Instrument klingt. Einige undefinierbare Geräusche vervollkommnen das Ganze. Da hört man gelegentlich schrilles Kreischen wie von einer Kreissäge, oder wurde da ein Instrument malträtiert? Wer weiß. Ein andermal spielt eine einsame Flöte (oder ähnliches) eine seltsam schiefe Melodie, nur von sporadischen Beckenschlägen begleitet, oder Blechbläser stimmen eine Art ländliche Weise an. Äußerst kurios.
So strukturlos diese Klänge sich über weite Strecken zunächst präsentieren, herrscht doch nicht völlige Planlosigkeit, es scheint doch irgendein System dahinterzustecken. Auf jeden Fall entwickelt diese Musik nach anfänglicher Skepsis eine starke Faszination.
LaSTPO agieren hier noch ein ganzes Stück avantgardistischer als auf ihren mir bisher bekannten Alben. Vor allem die Stimme von Sänger Pascal Godjikian schlägt hier noch wildere Kapriolen, es ist kaum möglich, dieses permanente Knurren, Bellen, Heulen, Brüllen, Würgen mit Worten adäquat zu beschreiben. Da glaubt man, der selige Demetrios Stratos von Area sei wieder auferstanden! Dazu liefern seine Mitstreiter Klänge, die mit dem üblichen Verständnis von Rockmusik, auch von progressiver, kaum noch etwas gemein haben. Das ist zu großen Teilen schon radikale Anti-Musik! Da knarzen Streicher in Zeitlupe, als würde ein alter Holzschrank quälend langsam über einen Dielenboden gezerrt, Bläser schnarren, Schlagwerk rasselt, bis unvermittelt eine gigantische Lärmeruption einsetzt, in der die einzelnen Instrumente nur noch durcheinander purzeln. Les Oreilles Internationales treibt es in dieser Hinsicht auf die Spitze, es wirkt wie ein einziges Konglomerat unterschiedlichster Arten von Lärm. Und immer wieder die brutalen Lautäußerungen, als deren Urheber man kein menschliches Wesen annehmen möchte.
Diese Lärmorgien sind wirklich so ziemlich das krasseste, das ich je gehört habe. In Worten lässt sich kaum beschreiben, was hier auf den Hörer einprasselt. Grandios! Mehr davon! Warum gibt es nur so wenige CDs von LaSTPO? Tipp für alle abenteuerlustige Hörer! Und wer die Gelegenheit hat, die Band live zu sehen: Hingehen! Es lohnt sich!" [Jochen Rindfrey / Babyblaue Seiten]
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| VOLGA |
Pomol |
CD |
Trancig-tribale, durchaus ungewöhnliche hypnotische und z.T. sehr wuchtige Beats, ost-europäisch anmutender weiblicher Gesang, harmonische Flächen & Instrumenteneinsatz, manchmal hat das sogar einen Orient-touch, manchmal klingt es mehr nach Electro-Wave der 80er.. . Atmosphärischer, einnehmender Avant-Pop aus Russland!
"VOLGA stammen aus Moskau, kamen 1997 zusammen und arbeiten seitdem extrem hart: auf Touren haben sie einiges der Welt gesehen und zehn Jahre nach ihrer Gründung steht mit "Pomol" ihr insgesamt siebtes (und fünftes Studio-) Album in den Startlöchern. Mit Alexei Borisov, der als bekannter Solokünstler elektronische Soundkunst erschafft, weben VOLGA einen dichten Electronica-Klangteppich, der mit bunten Mustern aus elektroakustischen Elementen, mantrischen Tanzrhythmen und traditionellen, schamanischen Folktexten glänzt. Die Texte von Sängerin Angela Manukjan stammen aus der russischen Folklore des 19. Jahrhunderts und lässt die Volksgesänge umso einzigartiger wirken. ,Pomol' ist auf der einen Seite eingängig und heimelig, auf der anderen Seite düster und akustisch kontrovers; aus den beiden Polen entsteht Musik, die das lose Konzept des Pop gründlich auf links zieht." [Cargo]
"The latest album by this Moscow-based group, scheduled to go into production anytime shortly, alongside the above release. Thirteen wonderful tracks that, helmed by the powerful, dynamic, expressive and unique voice of Angela Manukjan, sway between electronica's moody yet accessible outer reaches, folk and other traditional music, plus the same kind of sensibilities ensnared so well by
contemporary pop's more wayward souls such as Bjork and Sigur Ros." [label info]
www.lumbertontrading.com |
2007 |
€14.00 |
|
| VOLLMER, CARSTEN |
Arbeit Nr. 23 - Ich arbeite mit Frequenzen Teil 1 - 3 (ansteigend / abfallend / 2600 Hertz / Phreaking) |
3 x CDR set |
The last part of the trilogy Ich arbeite mit Frequenzen forms a trilogy in itself: it is made up of three tracks while its two predecessors only contain one long track each. And while parts 1 and 2 work through a frequency grid of apparently mathematical rigour, this one focuses on the particularly distortion-rich frequency band around 2600 hertz. The two 2600 Hertz tracks are live recordings of a performance by Carsten Vollmer. Here, and on the opening track Phreaking, the first non-electronic sounds of the whole trilogy can be heard: the performer's screams put into relief the expressive quality of noise that was consciously underexposed on the 'antihumanist' parts 1 and 2.
The fact that all of Carsten Vollmer's releases come as numbered Arbeiten (works), but in particular the verb arbeiten (to work) in the title of this release, emphasise the (physical) labour of building up his walls of sound. Thus, part 3 of Ich arbeite mit Frequenzen once more enacts the drama of 'man vs machine' or 'body vs bodily harmful frequencies and volumes' through which the noise genre time and again confronts existential and social alienation with an ecstatic, but 'parole-less protest' against it (to borrow a phrase from Carsten Vollmer's fellow noisician Anton Kaun aka Rumpeln).
The first track of the album, Phreaking, also features a list, but not one of frequencies, but a list of textual references to Ron Rosenbaum's classic 1971 feature story The Secrets of the Little Blue Box about the hardware-hacking network of the Phone Phreaks, who built a counter-network within the official telephone network of the U.S.A. From the vantage point of the officially sanctioned telephone signals, these subversive actions were undoubtedly noise, and it is plain to see that Carsten Vollmer's Phreaking is a sympathetic homage. In a 'communication guerilla' practice such as this, Michel Foucault's basic tenet 'Where there's power, there's also resistance' meets the axiom of information theory: 'Where there's a signal, there's also noise'. The fact that this third and final album comes not as one monolithic track, but as an object fragmented within itself, is programmatic for ways in which noise can stand for the freeing of spaces in political contexts: instead of the monologue of an author(itarian) voice – 'I, and only I, work with frequencies' –, this album signals within itself the clamourous debate of different, dissenting voices, which in the political field is always preferable to the undisputed monologue of an absolute power. At the end of the live recordings, one eventually hears the voices of the audience; the author is no longer alone within his work, and someone says: 'It continues here, in the next room.' Thus the album ends with an invitation to claim new spaces of possibility.
File under: Noise
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/arbeit-nummer-23-ich-arbeite-mit-frequenzen-teil-1-ansteigend
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/arbeit-nummer-23-ich-arbeite-mit-frequenzen-teil-2-abfallend
https://emerge.bandcamp.com/album/arbeit-nummer-23-ich-arbeite-mit-frequenzen-teil-3-2600-hertz-phreaking
***
Der letzte Teil der Trilogie “Ich arbeite mit Frequenzen” bildet selbst eine Trilogie in sich – anders als die beiden Vorgänger, die jeweils nur aus einem langen Track bestehen, umfasst er drei Stücke. Statt ein mathematisch-kalkuliert wirkendes Frequenzschema durchzuarbeiten wie Teil 1 und Teil 2, wird hier auf 2600 Hertz in einem in Sachen Verzerrung besonders effektiven Frequenzbereich gearbeitet. Die beiden “2600 Hertz”-Tracks sind Livemitschnitte von einer Performance von Carsten Vollmer. Hier, aber auch auf dem Opener “Phreaking”, sind erstmals auch nicht-elektronische Klänge zu hören: Schreie des Performers rücken jene expressive Qualität von Noise in den Fokus, die auf den beiden “antihumanistischen” Teilen 1 und 2 betont ausgespart blieb.
Nicht nur die Titulierung von allen Veröffentlichungen Carsten Vollmers als durchnummerierte “Arbeiten”, sondern speziell das Verb im Titel dieser Veröffentlichung betont die (physische) Anstrengung, die in die Errichtung seiner Klangwände einfließt. So führt auch Teil 3 von “Ich arbeite mit Frequenzen” das Drama “Mensch vs. Maschine” bzw. “Körper vs. körperfeindliche Frequenzen und Lautstärken” auf, mit dem das Genre Noise immer wieder existenzielle und gesellschaftliche Entfremdung sowie den ekstatischen, aber “parolenlosen Protest” dagegen (eine Formulierung von Carsten Vollmers Noise-Kollegen Anton Kaun aka Rumpeln) inszeniert.
Das erste Stück des Albums, “Phreaking”, führt ebenfalls eine Liste auf, allerdings keine mit Frequenzen, sondern eine mit textlichen Anspielungen auf Ron Rosenbaums klassische Reportage “The Secrets of the Little Blue Box” von 1971 über das Hardware-Hacker-Netzwerk der “Phone Phreaks”, die im offiziellen Telefonnetzwerk der USA ein Gegen-Netzwerk aufbauten. Aus Sicht der offiziell im Telefonnetz vorgesehenen Signale waren diese subversiven Aktionen zweifellos “Noise”, und es ist unschwer zu erkennen, dass Carsten Vollmers “Phreaking” eine von Sympathie geprägte Hommage ist. In einer “Kommunikationsguerilla”-Praxis wie dieser trifft sich Michel Foucaults Grundsatz “Wo Macht ist, ist immer auch Widerstand” mit dem Axiom der Informationstheorie: “Wo Signale sind, da ist immer auch Rauschen”. Dass dieses dritte und letzte Album nicht als ein monolithischer Track, sondern in sich fragmentiert daherkommt, kann dabei programmatisch dafür gelesen werden, wie Noise auch im politischen Raum für das Schaffen von Freiräumen stehen kann: Statt des Monologs der Autor(itäts)stimme – “Ich, und nur ich arbeite mit Frequenzen” – wird hier innerhalb des Albums der lautstarke Widerstreit von verschiedenen Stimmen angedeutet, der im politischen Feld allemal wünschenswerter ist als der unumstrittene Monolog einer absoluten Herrschaft. Auf den Liveaufnahmen hört man dann am Ende auch die Stimmen des Publikums, der Autor ist nicht mehr allein in seiner Arbeit, und jemand sagt: “Hier im nächsten Raum geht es weiter.” So endet das Album ausdrücklich mit der Eröffnung von Möglichkeitsräumen, die es zu nutzen gilt.
File under: Noise
-----
VITAL WEEKLY
Origami derives from ori, meaning "folding", and kami meaning "paper". The mathematics of the fold is relevant, is analogical to 'the fold'. This can be understood as the new mathematics of the curve, of changing quantities which is often difficult for non-mathematicians, of which I am one. Put simply in simple geometry of a flat surface, say a chessboard, a piece, pawn, knight etc. can be located by two coordinates. These are static set properties, which Deleuze via Leibniz relates to Descartes. Complex curves, changing velocities, cannot be precisely modelled using such a method. This was accomplished by using mathematics to model dynamically changing events, the Calculus. If modernism in its linear development fixes and finalizes itself in a Cartesian / Euclidean fixed point, a null event, the Baroque does not. The metaphor of calculus is useful, for around it are mathematical objects such as the limit. In simple non-mathematical terms, a series of calculations can approach a limit but never reach it, and in getting closer, to a potential infinity of numbers. For non-mathematicians, this is best seen in the obvious Baroque of The Mandelbrot Set. Folding can produce an infinite variation. Associated with 'folding' in Deleuze derives the aesthetic, especially the visual aesthetic in the Baroque, one of the dynamic curves and dramatic events. “Leibniz is endlessly drawing up linear and numerical tables. With them he denotes the inner walls of the monad. Folds replace holes...” (The Fold). Elsewhere (in The Logic of Sense) Tenth series of the ideal game -”of which we speak cannot be played by either man or God. It can only be thought as nonsense. But precisely for this reason, it is the reality of thought itself and the unconscious of pure thought. This game is reserved then for thought and art.” Baroque music of the 'classical period' - (late 17thC- 18thC) used accomplished improvisation, complex polyphony, multiple independent melody lines, the fugue and ricercar (which explore the permutations of a given motif). The 'metaphysics' that the Baroque produced was significant in music. Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Monteverdi, Scarlatti, Purcell, Telemann... such that with Bach there is the deployment of a pure abstract formalism which could be regarded as a metaphysics of the free play of the potentialities of the abstract (windowless) structures of music. And in thinking the Baroque we also arrive at Leibniz and German Idealism, but also the more recent 'idealism' of Deleuze and the Speculative Realists and Object Oriented Ontologists. To judge these metaphysics in 'scientific', empirical terms, would then be to miss the point. They are not in all cases Monads, as they are not closed off to ourselves. They are like Monads in that they seem closed in on themselves. The point is that 'Baroque Folding' is an internal programme. Thus it typically appears when genres become exhausted or fully mature. A very early classical example is the development of Corinthian Architecture from that of the Doric & Ionic, or the much more recent, post-modernism, especially noticeable in Architecture. A certain playfulness which can and does in Po-Mo reduce, at times, to mere sensation and irony. Within contemporary music, 'noise music' and 'harsh noise' was to lead to a reductionist, 'analytics' of the extreme minimalism of Harsh Noise Wall's monolithic unchanging noise. This cul-de-sac has an obvious problem, and various methodologies have evolved in order to circumvent its effective closure of the noise genre, from abandoning noise altogether (Wolf Eyes), to alternatives, such as shit folk and ultra shit folk (Romain Perrot). The process of 'folding' is synthetic, not analytic (reductionist, minimalist walls). Both processes are to be found in Metaphysics and Art. In The Critique of Pure Reason, Kant sets out to establish an a priori basis for his transcendental metaphysics and makes two distinctions, that of the analytic a priori and the synthetic a priori. The philosophy of this needn't concern us. What is useful is concerning the idea of The Fold. The epistemological, philosophical implications disputed by some also need not bother us here. For us, what is significant in Kant is that Kant maintains that the Synthetic can produce (a priori) new objects without recourse to finding them in the outside world. In Analysis, something is broken down or examined to find its fundamental form or origin (The Wall of Noise). This is normally regarded as a task that will arrive at something fundamental. In early philosophy – the Atom – in Jungian analysis the archetype. It may well be that such a final analysis is not possible, that analysis is potentially infinite, or results in a void. Synthesis is the reverse. Given some fundamental objects, we can create new objects and structures – out of what is already given. A triangle can be analyzed into its basic three sides of straight lines, but we can synthesize new objects given a triangle. We can make a quadrilateral with two triangles and continue – pentagons, hexagons, and no limit – and no recourse to anything external to our basic element. And whereas Analysis is contained by the analysis of 'what is there' synthesis creates new objects that are not 'already there'. The Baroque is this distinction between the Analytic A Priori and Kant's idea of a Synthetic A Priori. An example in the arts is that of Analytic Cubism and Synthetic Cubism. Whereas Analytical Cubism broke up the picture plane into its elements, Synthetic Cubism used these basic 'elements' to synthesize new compositions. The tendency in modernism was analytical. “What is painting?” “What is music?” “What is Art?”, the analytical desire of what is “essential”. In Cubism, the 'Analytical' phase was relatively short-lived, the Synthetic move allowing Picasso and others an alternative continuous productive methodology. The (Baroque) fold is a synthetic methodology. At the most pedantic Origami – (from ori "folding", and kami "paper"). An origami Swan is a synthesis of a flat sheet of paper. All creations of Origami are in the last analysis, flat sheets of paper. The methodology of Origami, of 'folding', is Synthetic and offers an infinity of productions. Which is occasioned in Noise – here! which is not the abandonment of noise or a retrograde movement back into music. The baroque fold, abstractly using the tropes, forms etc., of noise music not as an external expression but as internal work exploring the permutations and improvisational possibilities of a given motif. The tropes of Harsh Noise, the motifs of feedback, oscillator sweeps, distortion, white noise etc. Abstract sounds, found in Harsh Noise before its collapse into a minimal wall. What is removed is the idea of a linear 'progress' (modernism) replaced by that of infinite synthesis. Ansteigend, Abfallend and 2600 Hertz_Phreaking are 3 parts of Arbeit Nummer 23 - Ich Arbeite Mit Frequenzen.
www.vitalweekly.net/1316.html
"Steht 'Frequenzarbeiter' schon im Duden? CARSTEN VOLLMER arbeitet jedenfalls daran, mit seiner Arbeit Nr. 23: Ich arbeite mit Frequenzen (3xCDr, jeweils in DVD-Schuber). Dieser nächste Arbeitsschritt nach der bad alchemystischen „Arbeit Nr. 22“ (BA 103) ist ein in strenger Schwarzweiß-Optik vereinter Triptychon, den drei Labels stemmen: Teil 1 – Ansteigend (ACU 1027), Teil 2 – Abfallend (Cat Killer), Teil 3 – 2600 Hertz / Phreaking (Krater Recordings, KR05-010). Das oft genug unangebracht verwendete 'experimentell' ist dabei halbwegs gerechtfertigt durch die demonstrativen 'Versuchs'-Reihen mit 55 – 77 - 160 – 300 – 666 – 800 – 1000 – 2000 – 4400 – 5000 – 9000 Hz rauf und runter ('Ansteigend'/ 'Abfallend') sowie drei Episoden mit 2600 Hz. Darunter, neben zwei Live-Exzerpten vom Schrei/Ende/Ohren-Festival, eine Hommage an das in den 70ern popularisierte und bis in die 90er mögliche Phone-Freaking in den USA, wo die von Hackern entdeckte, von den Yippies popularisierte Freischaltung auf eben der 2600 Hz-Frequenz als Akt des zivilen Widerstands aufgefasst wurde. Aber diese Frequenz-Folklore erscheint wie ein narratives Surplus in Vollmers bildlos purer Darbietung eines Blizzard-Kontinuums, in dem McLuhans 'kalte' und 'heiße' Medialität verwischt. Indem ein schrillendes, zerrendes Zuviel mit myriodophonem Rausch überwältigt und lähmt, doch in seinem informatorischen Überschuss zugleich nach Kryptologen schreit. Für einen auch merkwürdig flötenden Code. Aber vor allem für ein Unsagbares, das sich als kataklysmische Schallmauer zeigt wie bei Wittgenstein das Mystische. Dass in allem, was der Fall ist, atomare Niagarafälle toben, die jedes menschliche Maß übersteigen. Der infernalische 'Gesang' der Neuronen, das heulende Elend der Elektronen, das universale Alpha, Vollmer hat es zwischen Infra und Ultra brachial orchestriert als kakophon schillernde Metapher für das Mega-, Giga-, Tera-Chaos im elektromagnetischen Radio- und Mikrowellendschungel. Als Sturz der Erkenntnis über die Marmorklippen durch die Stahlgewitter ins Spektrum der Strahlungen, als total mo-bilgemachter Black Metal vor einem Schwarzlicht-Horizont. Das von Ernst Jünger immer wieder gebrauchte Tat Tvam Asi [Das bist du] zeigt dazu seinen technologisch fitten 'Ar-beiter', der als 'organische Konstruktion' mit der technoiden Mobilmachung heißläuft. Und einige wenige, die, obwohl gleichermaßen involviert, in kühler Desinvoltura dazu Distanz halten. Vollmers akribische Abbildungen, 48 + 48 + 50 Minuten intensive Immersion, können als stoischer Härtetest erscheinen. Als stockholm-syndromatische Affirmation eines Factum brutum. Oder sogar als akzelerationistisches Vorwärts (Nick Land), das die transhumane Umgestaltung des Menschen (durch die aggressiven Metastasen des Kapitalismus) ins Auge fasst. Mit der Utopie einer KI-generierten 'technologischen Singularität' würde Jüngers 'organische Konstruktion' zum Pionier der transhumanen Erlösung. Jede durchgestandene Noisattacke wäre, gerade indem sie das hinfällige Fleisch von den Knochen schabt, ein Evolutionsschritt dorthin. Der Geist, schon bei Hegel ein harter Knochen, steckt seinen Kopf, wie sein Renaissance-Vorgänger durch die Käseglocke seiner Scheibenwelt, unter die Bremsscheiben eines endlosen Güterzuges, in einen brausenden Bienenstock, der Züge von StanisławLems Partikelschwarm auf Regis III trägt. Steht Hz auch für neuen Horizont, für abenteuerliches Herz? Vollmer gibt sich, wenn er 'ich arbeite...' sagt, beeindruckend cool und souverän. Oder verdolmetscht er so bloß die Mutter der Teilchen und Wellen? Alan Moores Parent of suns and substance, she! Womb of all possibility! Als menschliche Spur im Dauertrommelfeuer der Klangpartikelstrahlung bleiben dann nur die Schreie, die Vollmer zuletzt, von 2600 Hz-Stacheln an die Wand gespießt, ausstößt. Kein 'Banzai!', aber doch wie mit geballter Faust und mehr als nur Schmerz und Angst. Noise als Waffe der Kritik an Betonköpfen, verkrusteten Strukturen, Kalk, Rost, marmornen Popanzen. Als, o Killer-Kaninchen von Caerbannog, o schwarze Bestie von Aaa, als Speer, der die Wunde heilt, die von ihm herrührt?" [Bad Alchemy]
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| VOLLMER, CARSTEN / RECTAL SURGERY |
Arbeit Nummer 12: Tonbandprotokolle / Actually I tried to fuck his girlfriend |
7 |
"Rectal Surgery : sick noise with a harsh sense of humour & this time with a truly obscure sexual twist.
Carsten Vollmer : dynamic & aggressive tape cut-up noise at its best. Some of his greatest work !!" [label info]
www.deafborn.de
|
1999 |
€5.00 |
|
| VON EULER-DONNERSPERG, DITTERICH |
Knüllungen, Wulstungen, Klumpungen |
LP |
Geierberg Sterben Sie Bitte!
Und Ist Kein Jammer In Der Welt
Wahres Gegen Nichtwahres
Die Schläferfalle Vom Ende Der Zeit
Studioaufnahmen 1980-82, geringfügig überarbeitet und ergänzt 2012. Recorded 1980-82, slightly enhanced and added to 2012
© MOLOKO+ 2015
MOLOKO PLUS 080 PICTURE DISC
donnersperg@web.de
www.molokoplusrecords.de
„Wer Versucht, Den Menschen Mit Seinem Tiersein Zu Versöhnen, Wird Selbst Zum Menschen.“
KLOPSTOCK
„The One Trying To Reconciliate Man To His Beastly Existence, Is Doomed To Become a Human Himself.“
KLOPSTOCK
VIRB:
Ein grauer Knurrhahn und Grummelsack, der eine Schule für Honiggewinnung und Schnittblumenzucht in Alt Wrietzen im Oderbruch betreibt. Steht neben Dr. Kurt Euler, dem Vorsitzenden der Parteikommission für Volksbildung und Kulturkampf beim ZK der Kommunistischen Einheitspartei Deutschlands (KED) in dem (ungerechtfertigten?) Ruf eines im Geiste Johann Gotthilf KLOPSTOCKs, des Lehrers einer irrenden Menschheit, wirkenden, sinnenfrohen Zuchtmeisters fehlgeleiteter junger, mitunter auch alter Menschen, welche in hemmungslosen Daseinsirrtümern schwelgen und ihr Leben von dessen Ende her betrachten. Tritt seit dem Rübenwinter 1946/47 als Sachwalter des Werkbundes und des traditionsreichen Tonverlages Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien unbedingt gegen Wirrnis und verstocktes, kleinbürgerliches Schwarzsehertum auf und betreibt unter den Leitgedanken Verdunkeln! Der Feind sieht dein Licht! Beginne den Tag mit Sterben! Das „Scheitern als schöne Kunst“.
Im Jahre 1980 gründete Euler-Donnersperg die WALTER ULBRICHT SCHALLFOLIEN Hamburg, welche sich im Geiste Walter Ulbrichts, des damals meistgehaßten Menschen der Erde, des Erbauers des Berliner Antifaschistischen Schutzwalls, unbedingt der Langsamkeit verpflichtet fühlen und unter dem Leitwort NEU KONSERVATIW die ehernen Werte des klassischen „Industrials“ zu pflegen bestrebt sind (vgl. SPK: The Cathedral of Death - Die Kultur der Todesverdrängung). Bis Ende der 80er Jahre des 20. Jahrhunderts veranstaltete Euler-Donnersperg zahlreiche Auftritte mit geistverwandten Klanggestaltern, u. a. mit Illusion of Safety, Jim O’Rourke, The Hafler Trio, Bourbonese Qualk, Nocturnal Emissions, Whitehouse, Gerechtigkeitsliga, The Legendary Pink Dots, Laibach, Asmus Tietchens. Gleichzeitig geben die Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien Dokumente der Gruppen SPK, Throbbing Gristle, Laibach, John Watermann, Asmus Tietchens, The Hafler Trio, Werkbund, Mechthild von Leusch, Column One, Evapori und Hyph heraus. Im Nebenamt Sachwalter des WERKBUNDES tritt Euler-Donnersperg mit Lesungen und Klangschöpfungen eigener Werke hervor – unter anderem mit Michael von Hausswolff, Leif Ellgren, Kent Tankred, The Hafler Trio, Asmus Tietchens, Dan Burke, Organum, John Duncan. Seit 1996 jährliche Herausgabe eine Heftes der Pelzwurstlieder, Bildschallplatte im handgestalteten Portfolio, Reimdichtungen im Geiste Klopstocks mit elektronischem Zuspielband: Zustandsbeschreibung der Welt mit den Augen der Listspinne, der Trugnatter, der Assel, der Klappnase, des Stachlers.
www.molokoplusrecords.de
|
2018 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
Weisheit aus des Kindes Mund tut uns stets die Wahrheit kund |
LP |
Ditterich von Euler-Donnersperg, also known as Uli Rehberg and most certainty other names, is a mythologized figure in Germany's industrial underground. The man behind Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien, a label responsible for early releases by Throbbing Gristle and SPK and for being the home of the enigmatic Werkbund, it is long believed that Ditterich is part of, or completely behind, Werkbund himself. A Colourful Storm presents another piece of his puzzle.
Wisdom from the child’s mouth always tells us the truth.
It’s hard to overstate the influence of Ditterich von Euler-Donnersperg on A Colourful Storm; indeed, it’s almost impossible to imagine the label’s existence without it. A figure whose movements within Germany’s industrial avant-garde span almost forty years, it would be in 2010 that he unknowingly entered our orbit through two important releases. At the time, SPK’s Auto-Da-Fé and Throbbing Gristle’s Journey Through A Body left some impression on us, their discovery propelling an interest in the possibilities opened up by industrial music that we still explore today. Responsible for publishing these releases was Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien - who, or what, were they?
Founded in 1980 by Hamburg-based Uli Rehberg, Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien was a base for Laibach, Asmus Tietchens and Werkbund as well as Rehberg’s own artistic endeavours: the most devilishly humorous his adopting of the name Dr. Kurt Euler, spokesperson of a satirical political party comprised of musicians Felix Kubin and Gregor Hartz. The project would foreshadow the life of Ditterich von Euler-Donnersperg, an alias unveiled in 1998 with the first in a series of spoken word 7” picture discs that have since become highly collectable.
Attracting an enviable list of collaborators throughout his career (John Duncan, Thomas Köner and Column One have all lent their expertise), it is perhaps the enigmatic Werkbund project that remains most coveted within the world of von Euler-Donnersperg. Cloistered and clandestine since their inception in 1987, their brooding, synthetik atmospheres have long been speculated to be the work of von Euler-Donnersperg himself. Listen to Werkbund’s Skagerrak or Stahlhof and tell us we’re wrong...
The culmination of decades of sound research and electroacoustic investigation, Weisheit aus des Kindes Mund tut uns stets die Wahrheit kund is significantly also a tribute to von Euler-Donnersperg’s children, their voices and spoken word hocus-pocus conjuring clairvoyant visions amongst soaring metallic sheen and spectralist digital debris. Cybernetic ooze spilling into servers and causing subdued bleep signals and static. A slasher film soundtrack starring the German avant-garde dressed in laboratory coats. The latest piece of von Euler-Donnersperg’s peerless, endlessly imaginative puzzle.
https://acolourfulstorm.com/album/weisheit-aus-des-kindes-mund-tut-uns-stets-die-wahrheit-kund
|
2021 |
€20.00 |
|
| VON HAUSSWOLFF, ANNA |
Live at Montreux Jazz Festival |
CD |
Anybody who has witnessed a live performance of Anna von Hausswolff and band can attest to the extraordinary and commanding nature of the experience. The distinctive music, as captured across five full-length albums, comes to life, shifting from hypnotic and mantra-like moods to thunderous drama, dissonance and cacophony. The musicians master playful dynamics and wield immense power.
Across six pieces, Anna von Hausswolff performs sensational renditions of fan-favourites from the two beloved albums; The Miraculous and Dead Magic, with the backing of a full band including additional vocals from her sister / cinematographer Maria von Hausswolff.
Recorded at Montreux Jazz Festival in 2018, in Auditorium Stravinsky.
Performed by :
Anna von Hausswolff – vocals, organ, acoustic guitar, octatrack
Maria von Hausswolff – vocals
Filip Leyman – synth, percussion
Ulrik Ording – drums
Karl Vento – electric guitar
Joel Fabiansson – electric guitar
David Sabel – bass
Justin Grealy – sound engineer
Mixed by Filip Leyman and Anna von Hausswolff
Mastered by Hans Olsson Brookes
Illustrations by Zezeah / Zeynep Kis
Sleeve design by Magnus Andersson and Anna von Hausswolff
Special thanks to Montreux Jazz Festival, John Harris and Mathieu Jaton
Mixed on the “Queen Neve” desk, previously owned by Queen ( thus the name ) and situated at the Mountain Studios in the casino of Montreux, now located at Svenska Grammofonstudion, Gothenburg.
https://annavonhausswolffsl.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-montreux-jazz-festival
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
All Thoughts Fly (Pink) |
LP |
Sacro Bosco (“Sacred Grove”) is the starting point for Anna von Hausswolff’s new album All Thoughts Fly, incoming on Southern Lord on 25th September. Here in solo instrumental mode, the entire record consists of just one instrument, the pipe organ, and represents absolute liberation of the imagination. All Thoughts Fly radiates a melancholic beauty, and is distinguished by fluid transitions of contrasting elements; calmness and drama, harmony and dissonance, much like the place that inspires the music.
Sacro Bosco is a garden, based in the centre of Italy, containing grotesque mythological sculptures and buildings overgrown with vegetation, situated in a wooded valley beneath the castle of Orsini. Created during the 16th Century, Sacro Bosco was commissioned by Pier Francesco Orsini, some say to try and cope with his grief following the death of his wife Guilia Farnese, others speculate the purpose was to create art.
About the album Anna explains “there’s a sadness and wilderness that inspired me to write this album, also a timelessness. I believe that this park has survived not only due to its beauty but also because of the iconography, it has been liberated from predictable ideas and ideals. The people who built this park truly set their minds and imagination free. All thoughts fly is a homage to this creation, and an effort to articulate the atmosphere and the feelings that this place evokes inside of me. It’s a very personal interpretation of a place that I lack the words to describe. I’d like to believe Orsini built this monumental park out of grief for his dead wife, and in my Sacro Bosco I used this story as a core for my own inspiration: love as a foundation for creation.”
The accompanying video for the first single “Sacro Bosco” is, just like the music, an interpretation of the park with an imaginary twist. Directed by Gustaf and Ludvig Holtenäs.
Anna summarises, “Sacro Bosco in Bomarzo is a creation carved out from one man’s head. A frozen thought lasting throughout time and touching people across generations. All thoughts fly, Ogni Pensiero Vola, is about this: the importance of sharing for surviving, creating space and evolving. Once you’ve shared your words they are not only yours anymore.”
All Thoughts Fly ultimately embodies the exploration of any and all possibilities, and the audience is invited to listen, liberate the mind and let it wander.
Notes on the recording process:
The organ on All Thoughts Fly is situated in Gothenburg and is a Swedish replica of the Arp Schnitger organ in Germany. It is the largest organ tuned in Quarter-comma meantone temperament in the world. With it’s four manuals, one pedal and 54 stops, it was built as part of a ten-year research project reconstructing 17th Century North German organ building craft. The tuning temperament is an important detail to note here, as it deeply affects the sound and tuning, and thus radically changed the process of creating this album. Anna speaks of a pleasant surprise during recording, the organ’s ability to create beautiful “pitching” notes through its stops and air supply system. She remarks “We took advantage of this so most of the pitching sounds and notes that you hear on the album comes from the mechanics of this organ, effects made entirely acoustically.” The organ was recorded with two room mics for atmosphere and two pairs of close mics placed inside the organ to capture nuances and detail for further organ sound processing by Filip Leyman in his studio.
All songs written & played by Anna von Hausswolff
Organ sound design by Filip Leyman and Anna von Hausswolff
Produced and mixed by Anna von Hausswolff & Filip Leyman
Mastered by Hans Olsson at Svenska Grammofonstudion
Recorded in Örgryte New Church, in Gothenburg January 2020.
Organ recorded with mobile equipment from Svenska Grammofonstudion
Cover photo & inner sleeve photo by Gianluca Grasselli
Layout & design by Tina Damgaard
https://annavonhausswolffsl.bandcamp.com/album/all-thoughts-fly
|
2022 |
€25.00 |
|
| VON HAUSSWOLFF, C.M. & CHANDRA SHUKLA |
Travelogue [Nepal] |
CD |
Travelogue [Nepal] is the first in a series of collected international audio diaries. The premise is quite simple: the two galavant the globe with field-, EVP- and phone recorders and other devices where they record the essence of everything from the tiniest microcosms of nature on up to the polluted, diesel–fuelled roars of postmodern globalization. What surfaced are soundtracks that act as sonic documentaries of their travels.
In September 2019, CM von Hausswolff and Chandra Shukla met in Kathmandu, Nepal, over the course of 7 days. Recordings were made at the Bagh Bhairav Temple and Chilancho Stupa (Kirtipur), Durbar Square, Boudhanath Stupa, Swayambhunath Stupa and Shri Pashupatinath Temple (Kathmandu) and at The World Peace Pagoda, The Shiva Cave, Devi Falls and Phewa Tal Lake (Pokhara).
https://cmvonhausswolffreleases.bandcamp.com/album/travelogue-nepal |
2021 |
€17.00 |
|
| VON HAUSSWOLFF, C.M. (CARL MICHAEL) |
The wonderful World of male Intuition |
CD |
Wieder ein herrlich absonderliches Werk des schwedischen Parapsycho-Soundwerkers: Sinuston-drones & -tunes in verschiedenen Ausprägungen und verdeckte & verzerrte Zitate diverser berühmter Leute, die wie aus einer Geisterwelt zu uns sprechen, sind die Ingredienzen dieses Albums... VON HAUSSWOLFF ist wieder so weit vom Alltäglichen das es eine wahre Freude ist !
'The wonderful world of male intuition is an astounding masterpiece dedicated to male intuition : all a program. It will be followed by a second opus later this year dealing with the Horrible sides of male intuition...' [label info]
"Probably the name Carl Micheal von Hauswolff doesn't need much introduction. His conceptually edged releases on labels as Sub Rosa, Touch and Raster Noton deal with such subjects as architecture and voices from beyond. Here 'The Wonderful World Of Male Intuition' is the subject. To shed some light on it, he uses sine wave oscillators, field recordings (sea, land, outer space) but also the voices of persons important as 'positive energies in a world that obviously is feasting on itself without knowing how to go to the toilet', being the Dalai Lama, Willem de Ridder, Gregory Bateson, Alvin Lucier, John C. Lilly, Albert Hofmann, Friedrich Jürgenon and Brion Gysin. Many of these voices are processed through the use of the sine waves, in some way or another, which makes the voices hard to understand, but of course that is not the intent anyway. Throughout the forty some minutes, I learned nothing much about the male intuition (if that exists at all), but purely as a work of sine waves and field recordings I must say that this is a particular strong work by Hausswolff. Not too overtly minimal, leaning on his sine waves, but it's the combination of all three components works quite well, the sine waves, field recordings and voices. It might perhaps even the best Hausswolff I ever heard (despite not having heard all, he admitted straight away)." (FdW / Vital Weekly]
Address: http://www.oral.qc.ca
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
|
There are no Crows flying around the Hancock Building |
CD |
Typisch ober-obskures Konzept bei diesem neuen Soundscape des schwedischen Klangkünstlers: Als Grundlage dienten Feld-Aufnahmen die auf der Spitze eines 100stöckigen Hochhauses in Chicago gemacht wurden, später wurden “elektronische Krähen” dazugemischt, das alles in ein knarzendes, höchst pulsierendes Fliessmusster gegossen... One-tracker, 40 minutes.
“In August 2003, Lampo invited Swedish artist CM von hausswolff to do a project specific to Chicago. Intrepid traveler that he is, hausswolff ascended to the top of the 100-story John Hancock Building and collected sounds from the open-air observation deck. While taking in the sights, he recorded building vibrations, passing breezes and overheard speech from tourists. Later, in his Stockholm studio, he added a series of feedback rotations to suggest crows (guardians or enemies?) encircling the conceptual tower. The result is this belching, super dense, low-end drone work. hausswolff's new piece is his rumination on security and paranoia. What makes us safe? Is it better to dwell in a cave or in a skyscraper penthouse? Could be another lecture on sound and architecture. We hear a secret gastrointestinal message. Say what?!“ [label description]
|
2006 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Three overpopulated cities built by short-sighted planners, an unbalanced and quite dangerous airport and an abandoned church |
CD |
Beeindruckende field recordings von Riesenstädten vom bizarren Performer, Künstler und Musiker C.M. VON HAUSSWOLFF.
“ By visiting Lagos in 1983, Tokyo in 1999, 2000 and 2001, Bangkok several times between 1986 and 2002 and Mexico City in 2002 and 2003, CM von Hausswolff came, as thousands of other people, to the conclusion that something is running amok. An uncontrollable avalanche consisting of the construction of houses, streets and in-between spaces develops in large cities as independent do-it-yourselves-organisms.” [press release]
|
2004 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Perhaps I Arrive - music for Atatürk Airport, Istanbul |
do-CD |
"This double disc set includes some of the most unusual sounds you will have heard from Carl Michael von Hausswolff. The story goes like this. Von Hausswolff was chosen by the 1997 Istanbul Biennal to create a sound installation for Atatürk Airport. His classic sound combining low frequency rumblings, very monotonous oscillations and hissy non-narrative sequences was deemed too confusing for the commutors. It was feared, von Hausswolff’s sound installation might be mistaken for an alarm and would be capable of causing serious panic at the airport. Hence the original soundtrack for “Perhaps I Arrive” was neglected. This music can now be heard for the first time on disc 1. Carl Michael von Hausswolff’s response to the artistic restrictions was to produce the four tracks you hear on the second disc. These only make use of the very basic pre-set industry sounds included in the Yamaha QY22 and show a new side to the von Hausswolff sound. Very simple, post-nuclear lounge music. These four tracks you guessed it! ¬were happily used in the context of the Biennal exhibition. Art is a three-letter word (William S Burroughs)" [label info]
"Nothing is for a musician more annoying than a response like: whatever you are doing, it sounds like a test tone, alarm signal, hiss or worse: I think your equipment is broken. So when Carl Micheal von Hauswolff was asked by the Istanbul Biennale to make a site specific work at their airport, he was probably very annoyed when they turned down his piece of low rumbling, because it could have caused alarm. So instead he created something else, on a Yamaha QY22, using preset sounds only - probably to annoy the organizers. Now both versions are released as part of this double CD - the rejected piece on one CD, and the accepted on the other. The rejected piece is indeed a piece of low rumbling, a bit of hiss sounds (long waves picked up from the ether I think) which may not have worked at the airport - depends of course on how things are presented - but for home listening I must say this is quite nice. Perfect Hauswolff styled hiss music. And what a difference indeed with the accepted version. Four pieces there of lounge like music, but with a more forceful rhythm underneath, so it wouldn't entirely work in lounge bar. But you can imagine people at an airport, hastily walking along Hauswolff march like beats and bittersweet keyboards with a vague trace of arab-like sounds. This is a side that we haven't heard from him before, and it's not something he should do a lot (or in fact never did again, as far as I can recall), but it's surely a curious album. " [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.aufabwegen.com
|
2008 |
€18.00 |
|
|
800000 Seconds in Harar |
CD |
" CD digipak. CM von Hausswolff says: 'I was approached by my old friend and Radium 226.05 colleague Ulrich Hillebrand, now director of Angered Theatre in Göteborg. He informed me that there was a new play in the process of being written by author and theorist Michael Azar called 'Jag r en annan' (I is another) stemming form the famous letter written by Arthur Rimbaud in his youth. The play uses Rimbaud's life from being a young poet in Charleville ending with him being the trader in Harar, Ethiopia. Hillebrand asked me if I was willing to compose the music to this play. I accepted. I told Hillebrand that I needed to use material that had something to do with Rimbaud's life and as he had connections in Ethiopia and in the small city of Harar he said: why don't you go to Harar for 10 days and see what you can find ? So I went to Addis Ababa where a guy was waiting for me and drove me the 10 hours beautiful ride to Harar. I made recordings and looked for other useful material. There are 2 tracks. On the first track, which consists of three 'parts' I have used material from Harar. The long dronic sounds are taken form an instrument that I, after searching for days, bought in Harar - it's called a 'krar' and is a string instruments (it's quite clear that I have used a string instrument- also if you study Ethiopian music you came across the name of Saint Yared and he was the first to construct a notation system for music... much earlier than the Europeans). As I could not really master the actual playing of this instrument, I bought a bow for a violin and some rosin and with this I got one good tone out from this krar. Then the computer helped me to sort the modes and pitches out. On this piece there also two location recordings: the first one you hear is a recording I did outside Harar on a hill where there are next to no car sounds or other machine sounds - just the wind, insects, some kids and that (I wanted this recording to be more or less timeless or at least 19th century and forward...). The second location recording was done in the night in my hotel, where I woke up one night and became fascinated by the leaking taps in my bathroom so I decided to records this. On the second there are only oscillators used... several of them... And using one low pitch oscillator I ran a sound filtered through. This sound is the low 'rhythm' you can hear, and it's a low pitched morse code signal... and the text is the famous poem Rimbaud wrote in his youth called Le Dormeur Du Val (The Sleeper in the Valley). This poem is a beautiful text starting off in the nature, where a person is sleeping in the grass. Slowly Rimbaud zooms in and we read that it's a soldier and at the very end we are told he has two red wounds on his chest - the guy is dead!'
Arthur Rimbaud lived in Harar from 1884 until shortly before his death in 1891. This is Carl Michael von Hausswolff's first album for Touch, but the connection goes back many years, of course. Carl Michael von Hausswolff was born in 1956 in Linköping, Sweden. He lives and works in Stockholm. Since the end of the 1970s, Hausswolff has worked as a composer using the tape recorder as his main instrument and as a conceptual visual artist working with performance art, light and sound installations and photography.' [label info]
www.touchmusic.org.uk
"Dem Minimalismus wird definitiv in der heutigen Zeit viel Raum gewährt. Vergleichbar dem graphischen Design einer Designer Republic wird Weniger zum Mehr, ist die Leerstelle längst
Ausdrucksmittel für den mondänen Zeitgeist. Hausswolff fährt diese Schiene seit Jahren
erfolgreich, verlässt sie aber nur für kurze konkrete Zwischenhalte (siehe das Triptych für das Laton-Label) um dann wieder drei Alben mit konsequent kurzgeschnittener Konzeption und
Kuration zu veröffentlichen, deren Sinn sich in stehenden Tönen auf Viertelstundenbasis und
kraftvollen Feldaufnahmen äußert. Die Vergangenheit die Hausswolff hier besingt, schleicht sich auch in Künstlerreichweite, denn die Kuration aus alter skandinavischer Galeristenarbeit wirkt auch Jahrzehnte später bei Hausswolff nach. Sicherlich ist »800 000 Seconds in Harar« ein im heutigen Sinne weitaus ausgewogeneres Werk, auch wenn die spärlichen
Akkordwechsel der Drones eher lange auf sich warten lassen. Geduld muss vorhanden sein,
das Goutieren der Musik wird schlagartig zum Spiel mit Zeit und Raum. Erst im dritten Stück
entfalten sich orgelartige Strukturen, auf die John Cage angesichts seines Jahrtausendwerkes
ORGAN2 stolz sein dürfte. Ähnlich verlangsamt, aber mit präsenten Bassschwingungen hallen
die organischen Zutaten eines Besuchs in Harar umso mehr am Hörknochen noch. Nichtsdestotrotz ist Hausswolff auf dünnem Eis. Das sorgfältige Konstrukt aus Schwebungssummern und genau präzisierter Hertzzahl gerät angesichts der emotionalen Verortung in der Musik bisweilen ins Wanken. Dann muss man Geduld aufbringen, um dieses Werk in seiner vollen Länge zu würdigen.
4/5 " [Thorsten Soltau / AEMAG]
"Selbst wenn man die Hintergrundinfos zu dieser CD nicht kennt, ist es immer wieder ein Vergnügen dem "Meister des Drones" zu lauschen. - Nun, auf CD ist das bei CM von Hausswolff immer so eine Sache, da seine meisten Tracks sehr lang und auch abhängig sind von der Qualität der Stereoanlage, denn der Herr hier bevorzugt extrem tieftönendes Klänge. Live und direkt ein unglaubliches Erlebnis, wenn er die Filter zum glühen bringt, man in den Sitz gepresst wird und die Kleidung wie Folie sich um den ganzen Körper spannt und das nur durch einen herrvoragend aufeinander abgestimmten Drone. Für diese Veröffentlichung, die gleichzeitig Musik für eine Theaterstück über die letzten Lebensjahre von Arthur Rimbaud in Harhar ist, wurde CM kurzer Hand in ein Flugzeug verfrachtet und zehn Tage nach Äthopien geschickt und das nur, weil er sagte, er bräuchte Basicmaterial für seine Kompositionen. Also hört man hier die bearbeiteten Klänge der Originalschauplätze, Reiseeindrücke und Aufnahmen auf der Grundlage traditionellen äthiopischen Musikinstrumenten. Wunderbare und meditative fließende Drones umschmeicheln den Hörer und nehmen ihn mit auf diese (Traum)Reise!" [Carsten Vollmer / OX]
|
2011 |
€14.00 |
|
|
Squared |
CD |
"digipak designed by Richard Francis. Ltd. to 300 copies
On “Squared”: Squared consists of two longer pieces. a) is a recording of a live performance executed at ZKM in Karlsruhe. It is an abstract piece of music that has evolved during the time the composer has performed live - since 1980. For the composer, generally, a live performance
is always the "same thing", but listening to the early recordings it occurs that the music has changed drastically - only the format is still there. This is analogue to life in general - Earth looks the same like always, but,
of course, it isn't. This piece won the Karl Sczuka Price Price in 2014. The piece is a co-production with ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe and Südwestrundfunk (SWR).
b) is a piece using the sound generated from the soil in the German cemetery in Montevideo, Uruguay. With a technique called emission spectroscopy the composer has experimented with the frequencies that emits from the actual
material in the ground and by pulling out samples from these recordings, organising them and looping some this piece became the soundtrack for the film "North Cemetery, Montevideo, Uruguay" directed by Jan Håfström, CM von Hausswolff and Juan-Pedro Fabra Guemberena.
Biography:
Carl Michael von Hausswolff lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden Since the end of the 70s, von Hausswolff has worked as a composer using
recording technology as his main instrument and as a visual artist using video and still photography as well as other media.
He currently curates the sound-installation FREQ_OUT (including artists like Jana Winderen, JG Thirlwell, Finnbogi Petursson, Anna Ceeh and others) and collaborates with artist Leif Elggren, film-maker Thomas Nordanstad, EVP
re-searcher Michael Esposito and author Leslie Winer. He has exhibited in documenta, Kassel, the biennials in Venice, Moscow, Liverpool, Istanbul, Sarajevo etc and in Rijeka, Stockholm, Nicosia, Tokyo, London, New York etc. His music has been played in festivals such as Sonar (Barcelona), Red Bull Adademy, CTM (Berlin), L’audible (Paris), el niche
Aural (Mexico City) etc. and released on record by labels alike RasterNoton (Berlin), Touch (London), Laton (Wien), auf abwegen (Cologne), iDeal (Göteborg) and MonoType (Warszaw).
www.cmvonhausswolff.net" [label info]
www.aufabwegen.com
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
|
A Lecture on Disturbances in Architecture |
CD |
R. Buckminster Fuller's voice on track one sampled from The Critical Path - Spirit of Health, recorded October 1982 in Maui, Hawaii (Dolphin Tapes, Big Sur, California). Track two is taken from the exhibition Red Code (CCA, Kitakyushu, 2001) and was recorded by Scott Olson and myself. A version of track four was also used in the exhibition 3D+ (Bruxelles, Berlin, Dublin etc., 2001 - 2002). Track seven is an earlier version of a designed sound used in Jesus_C_Odd_Size, a play by Hotel ProForma, Malm–, 2000. A shorter version was also released on the CD Because Tomorrow Comes #4 (btc, K–ln, 2001). Cover photograph from Red Code (CCA, Kitakyushu 2001) and from Hashima. Back cover photo from Red Code. All photographs by CM von Hausswolff. Special acknowledgements go to Akiko Miyake, Nobuo Nakamura, Scott Olson, Josefine Eriksson, Raytheon Fishfinder, Ericsson, Kirsten Dehlholm, Kyra Stratmann and the Esalen Institute. This record is dedicated to Marietta von Baumgarten All titles composed by C.M. von Hausswolff. Recorded between 1997 - 2002 and edited at the New Old Studio, Stockholm, 2002. All titles published by Touch Music, London.
www.fireworkeditionrecords.com
|
2002 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
MMXX-03: For Marietta |
LP |
Matière Mémoire presents the MMXX Series.
In anticipation of the year 2020, Matière Mémoire asked 20 great artists to create an original 20 minutes piece and an artwork.
Throughout this year, each quarter will see the release of 5 new vinyls, available individually or as a bundle.
Each record is limited at 500 copies and comes as a crystal clear vinyl featuring an original track of 20 minutes on one side, and a laser engraved artwork on the other.
Each contained in a transparent sleeve printed with the MMXX logo, and each coming with a print of the artist artwork.
Participate in this series :
Franck Vigroux
John Duncan
Phill Niblock
Jim O’Rourke
Reinier Van Houdt
Stephen O’Malley
CM Von Hausswolff
Hampus Lindwall
Oren Ambarchi
Kevin Drumm
Bérangère Maximin
Kassel Jaeger
Daniel Menche
Charlemagne Palestine
Giueseppe Ielasi
Carlos Casas
Susanna Santos Silva
Joachim Nordwall
Karbé Dinel
Mauro Lanza
credits
released March 19, 2020
MUSIC & ARTWORK BY CM VON HAUSSWOLFF - recorded in Imperia, Italy and Alligator Head, Jamaica - composed at the Castle, Stockholm, Sweden, 2019
published by Touch Music/Fairwood Music UK Ltd - acknowledgements to Francesca, Markus and Jónsi - GRAPHICS & LAYOUTS BY CEDRIC D’HONDT - Mastering & cut by Frédéric Alstadt
MMXX-03 © ART SONORE SPRL - MATIÈRE MÉMOIRE
https://matiere-memoire.bandcamp.com/album/mmxx-03-for-marietta
|
2020 |
€24.00 |
|
| VON MAGNET |
Ni Predateur Ni Proie |
CD |
"Das schon mit dem Begriff "Flamenco-Industrial" charakterisierte spanische Kult-Projekt mit einem Album auf ANT ZEN. Sehr wuchtig, tribal & expressiv, vermählen sich hier ethnische Rhythmen & Gesänge mit Elektronik und neoklassischen filmischen Elementen zu einem recht einmaligen Ganzen. PHIL VON bringt diverse Musiker zusammen, die orientale Instrumente wie NEY oder OUD beisteuern, Filmzitate geben ein poetisches Flair, elektronische Beats & Sounds sorgen für "industriellen" Druck, das ganze ist hochpolitisch & poetisch ausgerichtet gegen die heutigen Polarisierungen auf der Welt, experimentelle "One World"-Musik ohne Kitsch. Herausragend und keinem der üblichen Genres klar einzuordnen." [DRone Rec info]
"VON MAGNET dreams of the existence of other possible paths; thin and minute. Those tightrope walking paths almost invisible. Bouncing in between two perils, two poles, above empires, across frames, which can slip through the breaches of any walls. That is the story of this album. When rage is accompanied by tears. This album is our reaction facing the brutal reality of our world today. A world under pressure where all is put into opposition, where everything would like to divide us and where we are being arbitrarily dictated the absolute necessity of a choice. But with 'Ni Prédateur Ni Proie' (neither predator nor prey) we will not choose our side. There between partial / impartial, north / south, subjective / objective, orient / occident, coward / hero, poor / rich, indifferent / partisan . We will remain bare handed, like astonished and turbulent children dancing on a mine field. We will just stare at you, we will fall into rage and boil into tears. Within this emotional turmoil, flore magnet and the turkish actress esra bezen bilgin replace women where they are never welcome. Women of multiplicity, violence, engagement and resistance. Phil Von gives way to the voices of the Rom kids of Mostar and the Jewish and Palestinian actors from Amos Gitai and Hany Abu-Assad movies. At their side, Def sharpens his analogue bass lines and darkens atmospherical ambiances which often feel like 'war'. Scattered explosions, shots, crackles, complaints or laments. Only our guest, Kurdish Sufi musician Mübin Dunen softens the crawling tension. His ney bringing our clamour down to a silent light thread. Now Von Magnet signs a harsh, raw, urgent and poetical piece, mixed and produced flawlessly by Master Norscq. Another dary fusion which binds classical music flavours with oriental rhythms, tribal percussions within neo-industrial electronic soundscapes. Here orient is not any more sensual and phantasmagoric, it is rigid and almost cold. Here occident is no more sparkling and victorious, it is sad and decadent. Nevertheless 'neither predator nor prey' is the length of rope which suddenly ties them up, confronting our hearts to dive close to the abyss. Digipak packaging." [label info]
www.ant-zen.com
|
2008 |
€14.00 |
|
| VOWINCKEL, ANTJE |
Terra Prosodia |
CD |
"Sound composition with dialects and disappearing languages from Europe
With: George Cadéac, Nesa Engler, Don Eoil, Remy Graillon, Ingvar Larsson, Peter Meyer und Ingrid Wahlgren
1. Rumansch
2. Gutamal
3. Provencal
4. Wallis-Deutsch
5. Provencal
6. Gascon
8. Scottish-Gaelic
8 Tracks (33′46″)
CD (500 copies)
Currently about 6000 languages are spoken on the world. Most of them will disappear soon – and together with them a meldodic richness of human expressivness. However, the fact, that dialects and disappearing languages are only spoken by a few people has one advantage: only if one does not understand the contents it is possible to really listen tot he sound, saying far away from their homeland these languages unfold their musical enchantment (charme?). What you find are melodies that nobody invented (conceived of?). They arise in the process of impulsive speaking, on the grounds of oral tradition. Landscapes seem to continue there with melodic heights and valleys. Often single sentences remain in our heads as catchy tunes.
In Terra Prosodia people tell a short spontanuous story based on a personal experience. Stories about storms, excursions, accidents and so on. Particularly speakers who have spent their lifes in remote valleys or islands often speak with much more distinct modulation. This expressiveness gets lost quickly one cou live in a big city.
In the compositions the contents of these stories do not matter any longer. The pieces focus on the melodies in the dialects and add second instrumental or humed melodic voice. By this also the melody of the speaking voice is underlined. In the beginning the second voice will imitate the speaking voice, later becomes indpendent and follows own directions. As soon as the focus of perception is on the melody, you can listen to both lines as independent voices.
During my work I found out, that an even more exact decoding and mapping oft he intervalls (which would be possible technically) on no account lead to better results. Quite the contraray the effect of a catchy tune that occurs when you remember the melodies is based on the fact the our brain is already during hearing looking for characteristic figures and intervalls. Our ear behaves like the eye in a stalagtite cave. In a vast array of stalagtites and stalagmites we always remember nothing then typical single shapes. „Look, that looks like….“. Only this mechanism allows us to remember something of huge amount of shapes.
(Antje Vowinckel, translation: Chris Heenan)
Text by Christina Kubisch:
Many things disappear and only then gets attention. Images, texts, sounds appear in archives in audio-visual documentations in the net.
But archiving the no more living existence is partial maybe even sometimes absurd or naiv. Language only can remain vivid and interesting, if it is spoken everyday. When it is staying in a process of change, articulated by different persons, when it is depicting facts, information, thoughts, emotions and so on.
Antje Vowinckel’s Terra Prosodia makes happy and sad at the same time. The musicality of the spoken word sinks in even more by the melodical adaption as in case of pure listening of an unknown lanugage. You admire the beautiness and complexity. You instantly wish to speak one of these languages yourself for not leaving them to archivars and linguists but forward them to people who would use them in future.
In Terra Prosodia Antje Vowinckel succeeds in a wonderful mixture of a political important theme, a formally convincing process and a subtle and profound humour, that is hard to find. Once you have listened to the voices you will listen differently to spoken language in every day life." [label info]
www.gruenrekorder.de
www.gruenrekorder.de
|
2014 |
€13.00 |
|
| VOX POPULI! |
Psyko Tropix |
LP |
Touch Sensitive is honoured to dig into the vaults of legendary cult French group Vox Populi! with a collection primarily pulling from their creative highpoint of 1986-1990. The vast majority of the works are unreleased and all make their first appearance on vinyl. The recordings have been licensed from the group's extensive archive, mastered by Rupert Clervaux and cut by Andreas Kauffelt at Schnitstelle. The release is completed by liner notes focusing on Vox Populi!'s creative process and prolific output. Springing from the rip it up restart of post-punk in 1980 and primarily active throughout that decade, Vox Populi!'s discography is a perfect showcase of an almost unclassifiable group. The often-used 'ethno-industrial' tag - even if not approved by the group - goes some way to describing a melting pot of primarily self-taught techniques and vast cultural influences. Founding member Axel Kyrou's parents were avant-garde musicians and filmmakers resulting in a heavy cultural immersion from a young age. His partner and bandmate Mitra moved from Iran to Paris in 1978 - followed a few years later by her virtuoso brother Arash who joined the group at the age of 14. Based in their 14th arronidissement studio - previously Axel and his brother's family playroom - Vox Populi! quickly became a lynchpin in the Parisian experimental scene and beyond through the burgeoning mail-art scene. The group contributed work to a huge number of independent labels. Their music and approach quickly progressed from rudimentary experiments to harness transcendental spiritual qualities and moments of intense beauty. In this collection, we can feel the vibrations of Don Cherry's Organic Music Society, Faust's communal explorations and King Tubby's forward-thinking studio experimentation. "We recorded everything - every idea. We would always have a cassette or a reel running. We made such different styles - freaky, alternative, experimental, industrial etc. We had no rules and no plans - our main motives were play and pleasure. I think that many people can feel that in the music." Three tracks recorded in 2017 by a reconfigured Vox Populi! sit perfectly with music from 30 years previous - "We were never defined by fashion or the zeitgeist. So we remained ourselves. Our sound is still natural. We had to be turned on by our own music and we wanted the music to have an impact on consciousness. We were the subjects of our own experiments and there was also a kind of mystery - even for us." The Psyko Tropix collection is another magical and mysterious addition to the open-hearted and open-eared world of Vox Populi! "The music of Vox Populi! found me several years ago and it was one of my record digging highlights. Their stark contrast of dark and light paints a beautiful picture of the physical and mental world we all live in. This new album doesn't miss a step in exploring further in both directions" Cut Chemist
https://touchsensitiverecords.bandcamp.com/album/psyko-tropix
|
2022 |
€29.50 |
|
| VRIL |
The fatal Duckpond |
CD |
"Award-winning soundtrack to the film by Horst Gack,(Prix Ultra de Concourse Lumiere, Ulm, 2009: Best Soundtrack). After a break of six years, Chris Cutler, Bob Drake and Lukas Simonis, now with added ingredient Pierre Omer, present the second volume of recordings by the elusive VRIL - a band who revive and update both the great institution of the guitar instrumental and the now sadly neglected practice of collective arrangement, intense rehearsal and live studio performance. Appropriate to the half century that has passed since the birth of the form, these hits dodge about, get bored easily and blend both concentration and complexity with the still indispensable traditional qualities that made the genre great: hummability, crafted sounds, nifty arrangements, ridiculous gimmicks and ensemble playing. 'Neither tribute nor parody, these enigmatic pieces are never more nor less than exactly what they are'.... wrote Lothar Preen in his Melbourne concert review....'but perfectly realised'. With film stills, misleading sleeve-notes and storyboard by the Diogenesian recluse Frank Key." [label info]
www.rermegacorp.com
|
2009 |
€14.00 |
|
| VROMB |
Jeux de Terre |
CD |
Das erste VROMB – Album erschien 1993 auf Tesco und wird inzwischen zurecht als Klassiker betrachtet – irgendwo in der Grauzone zwischen dunklem ambient Industrial und rhythmisch-futuristischer Elektronik siedelte VROMB seinen ureigenen Stil an..
"until 1993, hugo girard's only appearance on record had been on a canadian compilation cd (adolphe présente), but these new ambient industrial sounds caused enthusiastic reactions in europe and canada. the first full length release was a canadian / german label collaboration: 'jeux de terre' . this cd was beautifully packaged in a 7"x10" cover and the disc was in a hand numbered paper sleeve. also included was a postcard and several large prints of nicely drawn insects - the text was in both french and english. the original 'jeux de terre' has been deleted for years. now there is the opportunity for vromb addicts to get it again. this re-release is in celebration of the ten year anniversary of vromb. the concept behind 'jeux de terre' (earth plays) was of a journey through an imaginary world of
insects. insects that had not been identified yet - as you can now read in english for the first time. 'insects, go for food or discovery, warzone, life purpose at the insect dimension' as girard explains it. the sound on this disc is less beat oriented than later vromb releases, but nevertheless it is partly rhythmic. drones and basses create a hypnotic and sometimes threatening atmosphere. you might seem to hear natural, even sampled, insect sounds but there were no samplers used. just 'strictly analog and digital synthesis'. you can hear what makes vromb's music unique even on his debut.
a soundtrack to a film yet completed. the ant-zen re-release contains one unreleased extra track which was intended for the original version and an 8 page booklet which includes a modified version of the original artwork."
[label info]
|
2003 |
€13.50 |
|
|
Rayons |
LP |
Konzeptuell und musikalisch wieder überzeugend – das neue VROMB-Album beschäftigt sich mit der akustischen Umsetzung von STRAHLEN...
“ vromb's intention on 'rayons' is to translate several kinds of rays into music - ranging from sunbeams to optical rays. so, 'rayons' can also be seen as an aural sight-seeing tour. the 'speed' factor is that of a person moving (whether by foot or in different vehicles). this movement was transformed into rhythmic patterns. imagine the aural equivalent of taking a walk during a thunderstorm ('éclairs') or feeling the sun peaking through a clouded sky while window shopping ('boulevard'). all sounds were generated with analog and digital synthesizers. the listener might believe that they are hearing modulated samples but this is not true. it is once again, an example of girard's virtuosity in creating 'naturalistic' soundscapes with pure electronic equipment. for the images on the album cover, girard gave the photographer, alain gauvin the basic audio tracks for inspiration. the final musical structure on 'rayons' is based on inspirations from gauvin's pictures which were taken in the montreal area. so close your eyes, let yourself go and feel the rays coming out of your speakers.” [label info]
|
2003 |
€8.00 |
|
|
Rayons |
CD |
"Konzeptuell und musikalisch wieder überzeugend – das neue VROMB-Album beschäftigt sich mit der akustischen Umsetzung von STRAHLEN..." [old Drone info]
“ vromb's intention on 'rayons' is to translate several kinds of rays into music - ranging from sunbeams to optical rays. so, 'rayons' can also be seen as an aural sight-seeing tour. the 'speed' factor is that of a person moving (whether by foot or in different vehicles). this movement was transformed into rhythmic patterns. imagine the aural equivalent of taking a walk during a thunderstorm ('éclairs') or feeling the sun peaking through a clouded sky while window shopping ('boulevard'). all sounds were generated with analog and digital synthesizers. the listener might believe that they are hearing
modulated samples but this is not true. it is once again, an example of girard's virtuosity in creating 'naturalistic' soundscapes with pure
electronic equipment. for the images on the album cover, girard gave the photographer, alain gauvin the basic audio tracks for inspiration. the final musical structure on 'rayons' is based on inspirations from gauvin's pictures which were taken in the montreal area. so close your eyes, let yourself go and feel the rays coming out of your speakers.” [press release]
|
2003 |
€13.50 |
|
| |
Polygonie |
LP |
vromb creates unique soundscapes consisting of analog synthesizers, pure electronic music, fascinating subtle music layers and sci-fi sounds. he explores the possibilities offered by geometric shapes and repetitions translated into sonic patterns and plays with the eruption of both known and unidentified sounds.
on 'polygonie', hugo girard aka vromb explains: “invaders do exist, they are everywhere surrounding us. and certainly in my head, they are sonic'. at first, created by vibrations in the air, they evolve into physical forms: triangles, squares, spheres. free and constantly transmuting, they become airborne, moving around and above us. some of us might perceive them, and i could swear at certain moments i see them. their abstract movements dance and get enmeshed in a synchronized choreography within a constant progression, reshaping and reforming. 'polygonie' is like recalling of memories from childhood, where i witness the intriguing beauty of electronic music. the contour of a tridimensional object that could provide us multiple shapes to see, to hear, to feel.”
in the independent underground electronic music scene, veteran producer vromb has such a solid and well respected reputation for his releases as well as for his intense sonic live presentations. since 1993, the canadian hugo girard has released about two dozen records and cds on reputed labels from germany, austria, canada, the united states and france such as ant-zen, hymen records tesco organisation, klanggalerie, angle rec and hushush. as the audio live mixer at the legendary maschinenfest told us: we love the music of vromb - with his analogue gear and his production techniques we always can reach the maximum of dynamics on our sound system. it is rare, that an artist is able to produce such are pureness of power and sound
https://ant-zen.bandcamp.com/album/polygonie
vromb creates unique soundscapes consisting of analog synthesizers, pure electronic music, fascinating subtle music layers and sci-fi sounds. he explores the possibilities offered by geometric shapes and repetitions translated into sonic patterns and plays with the eruption of both known and unidentified sounds.
on 'polygonie', hugo girard aka vromb explains: “invaders do exist, they are everywhere surrounding us. and certainly in my head, they are sonic'. at first, created by vibrations in the air, they evolve into physical forms: triangles, squares, spheres. free and constantly transmuting, they become airborne, moving around and above us. some of us might perceive them, and i could swear at certain moments i see them. their abstract movements dance and get enmeshed in a synchronized choreography within a constant progression, reshaping and reforming. 'polygonie' is like recalling of memories from childhood, where i witness the intriguing beauty of electronic music. the contour of a tridimensional object that could provide us multiple shapes to see, to hear, to feel.”
in the independent underground electronic music scene, veteran producer vromb has such a solid and well respected reputation for his releases as well as for his intense sonic live presentations. since 1993, the canadian hugo girard has released about two dozen records and cds on reputed labels from germany, austria, canada, the united states and france such as ant-zen, hymen records tesco organisation, klanggalerie, angle rec and hushush. as the audio live mixer at the legendary maschinenfest told us: we love the music of vromb - with his analogue gear and his production techniques we always can reach the maximum of dynamics on our sound system. it is rare, that an artist is able to produce such are pureness of power and sound
|
2022 |
€26.00 |
|
| VROMB / SZKIEVE |
Le pavillon des oiseaux / Le monorail |
7 |
Kanadische Collaboration-Single mit einem tiefpulsierenden Klangobjekt von VROMB und industrieller Hypnosis von SZKIEVE.
“ The monorail provided by les Enterprises Hushush will take you on a journey to our own World Fair, an exhibition for advanced technologies and oddities. Recorded on this seven inch vinyl is a visit to the Birds Pavilion, “le pavillon des oiseaux” as well as
an overview of the site. Often remembered for the showing of tomorrow’s technological advancements, World Fairs presented many mechanical, electronic and magnetic types of equipment. Thought to be the way of the future, some of them remain now very odd pieces of history, yesterday’s tomorrows. This recording is the first collaboration effort for Vromb. The Montreal dark electronica wonder has teamed up with an almost Canadian fellow, Hushush’s headhoncho project, Szkieve. Only 500 copies were made, this is guarenteed to be a very fast seller." [label description]
|
2003 |
€7.50 |
|
| VULTURE CLUB |
Live young, die fast and leave an exquisite Corpse |
CD |
"Released: January 20, 2007. Recorded: July-September, 2006. Amps-gtrs-programming by Thomas Lee. 'The guitar is not dead. It is still humming and I believe in it. Copper wound is copper wound, today and yesterday. Magnets are magnetic, today and yesterday. Wood is wooden, today and yesterday. Electricity is electric, today and yesterday. These things shift in their own time and on their own basis. They are not forced and in my own capacity, I do not force them. The editor's role is Advocate. The rattle you hear, that is the energy and the idea. It is not all mine and it is not all theirs and it is not all yours. But it is all ours.' 'There was darkness before there was light, I guess. We live in between. Name is Thomas Lee born somewhere and will die somewhere too currently living in Lawrence, Kansas. I reside here because neighbors are not so close and most of them are old and deaf already. Downtown where the hipsters are, I can walk amongst them and no one knows about the amps and guitars. No need to scream about the weirdness because I am invisible and alive they let me walk fast and away. These are my people is one way or another and I refuse to belong to them. Live Young, Die Fast and Leave an Exquisite Corpse. I can't explain it any better than that." [label info]
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| WADA, TASHI |
Gradient |
7inch |
"In service to TASHI WADA’s ongoing work with sound perception as a basis for direct modes of listening, he and Marc Sabat produce two sustained tones, a fourth apart, positioned along a wall, one at each end—a very slow glissando from one pitch to the other while moving accordingly. In other words, the string players' physical locations in space correspond with pitches of the sounds. One of his adapted violas of Harry Partch, who often worked with this type of harmony, was used for the recording of Gradient. The result is a sculpture-like presence shifting through all the blue notes." [label info]
|
2012 |
€10.00 |
|
| WADA, YOSHI |
Earth Horns with Electronic Drone |
CD |
Bisher unveröffentlichte Aufnahmen eines Konzertes von 1974 (New York City)! Handgespielte Ritual & Transzendental-Drones at its best !!
"A world premiere from Yoshi Wada and EM Records-Omega Point: the first-ever release of Earth Horns with Electronic Drone, recorded live in 1974. Combining four of Wada's self-made pipehorns (made from plumbing materials, over three meters in length), with an electronic drone tuned to the electrical current of the performance space, this is a lost masterpiece of early minimalism, placing Wada rightfully in the pantheon with La Monte Young, Phill Niblock, Maryanne Amacher and Alvin Lucier. Recorded live in Syracuse, New York, this recording captures the room-filling complex overtones generated by the ever-shifting interplay of the breathing horns and the constant electronic drone. This is a music of ritual hypnotic power, its heavy low end mass and sense of change within constancy engendering a meditative transcendency. 'Earth Horns with Electronic Drone' is the fourth and ultimate release in our Yoshi Wada series, a must for all fans of minimalism, heavy drones, ritual, mystery and world-shaking transcendence. From an original performance of almost three hours, the CD features a 77 minute excerpt; we are especially honored to also offer the full performance as a triple LP set (sold out !). From Earth Horns to beyond the firmament: prepare to be elevated ! Composition by Yoshi Wada. Recorded at Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York on February 24, 1974. Pipehorns constructed by Yoshi Wada. Electronic equipment designed by Liz Phillips and Yoshi Wada. Electronics: Liz Phillips. Pipehorn Players: Jim Burton, Garrett List, Barbara Stewart and Yoshi Wada. Recorded by Yoshi Wada."
[label info] |
2009 |
€16.50 |
|
| WAKINYAN |
Copal Flow |
LP |
"In November 2011, after 20 years, the Italian band TERRORITMO became "WAKINYAN". "Copal Flow" is the first step in Wakinyan's exploration. Like the strong scent of copal brings ancient memories and visions, each track here depicts a scenery and involves the listener directly, totally. Introduced by the obscure night of "Notturno", like in a wood, crowded with spirits and animals, you're guided through 9 gates, each one opening on a different space and time. As if the purpose was to awake the slumbering ancestral memory of man, this record is fundamentally based on the dualism of elements strictly relating to the human being: "voice" and "iron". Whispers and screams, heartbeats and metal clashes, pulsing rhythms and voodoo drumming, ancient chants of the earth. Anything takes place all around you... and inside you.
Enjoy your journey!
Backwards released this record in a limited edition of 350 copies as gatefold sleeve. First 50 copies are in coloured vinyl with a special silkscreened insert and an additional DVD by Davide Pepe. The remaining 300 copies are in standard black wax." [label info]
about the band:
"In November 2011, after 20 years, Wakinyan became the new name for Terroritmo. Since the very beginning, in 1991, this Italian collective has explored unconventional music, using any kind of instruments, objects and tools to create its distinctive sound, with roots in industrial music and musique brut. Metal pipes and springs, glasses, Tibetan bowls, gongs, metal sheets, oil bins, knives, custom drums, rattles create hypnotic rhythms or powerful crescendos, while subtle drones made of processed voices, harmonics and noises fill up the atmosphere. Chants inflate Life in these layers of primal cadences. The industrial meets the organic. Fire and darkness.
Wakinyan's act is a modern ritual. What's below and what's above get connected. The emotional and the spiritual, the individual and the shared, they all melt into each other. Sounds perceived physically, almost unconsciously, take the listener into a mysterious place, the unknown, the hidden. Out of space and time."
|
2012 |
€15.00 |
|
| WALDRON, M.S./ STEVEN STAPLETON / S.B. SIGMARSSON / JIM HAYNES / R.K.FAULHABER |
The Sleeping Moustache |
CD |
Akustischer Surrealismus in Reinform auf dieser aufwendige Ketten-Collaboration, Drones und Collagiertes zu gleichen Teilen, Sprachexperimente, Geräuschaftes, Weirdes, abenteuerlich und schön!
Anhören und staunen !
„... Im fünfmaligen Wechsel von gut 10-minütigen mit 2- bis 3-minütigen Tracks jonglieren die Fünf mit den elektronischen Schatten von Nähmaschinen und Regenschirmen, wuchten nackte Eselskadaver auf Konzertflügel, klingen nach der Nachtschwester und lassen sich das Schamhaar neu friesieren [...].. Auch wenn sie das Pissoir nicht neu erfindet, ist sie doch Frucht einer langen Erfahrung aquis submersus.“ [Bad Alchemy #51]
“....Each with a peculiar understanding of the audio arts, these five artists came to the proverbial table and thought it a good idea to collaborate. Given the predilection for the surreal and the sidereal that each of these five employ in their many audio and visual projects, those agendas oozed from the recordings that became known as The Sleeping Moustache.
An epiphany of controlled disorder, a convulsion of beauty, a cascade of thought from delirious minds, The Sleeping Moustache is an exquisite manifestation of sound poetry scattered into a tortuous collage mired in an oblique melancholy. Magnetic tones extracted from the ether, mechanical sounds smeared into a lugubrious growls, horns trumpeting straight out of John's Book of Revelation, ululations sliced into information overload that Schwitters himself would be proud of. The Sleeping Moustache presents a psychically instable landscape, where dreams and nightmares wreak havoc upon the drudgery of daily life. The closest audible territory for The Sleeping Moustache might be the psychoactive constructions of Nurse With Wound's Homotopy To Marie, although the characters in this drama happened upon an entirely different map of that terrain.
The artwork for the first edition of The Sleeping Moustache features five letterpress prints from each of the artists with an edition of 1700.” [from the label description]
"You know it's gotta be an amazing record when we start a review by stating "we don't know where to begin with this record" and then we blather on and on for another 500 words pretty much demonstrating that while we may not where to begin, we certainly have a lot to say. And that totally applies to The Sleeping Moustache, the latest release from the enigmatic Helen Scarsdale Agency. The most well known of these five audio contortionists is Steven Stapleton who is the brains behind Nurse With Wound, who convolutedly reconstitute Surrealism, avant-garde aesthetics, and krautrock expressivity, resulting in some of the most profoundly brilliant and disturbing records we've ever heard. Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson is one of the drunken pilots of Stilluppsteypa, an Icelandic project of electro-absurdity capable of magnificent minimalism. M.S. Waldron is responsible for irr. app. (ext.), (an unwieldy moniker for sure) which has produced an amazing body of post-Surrealist expressivity in recent years. When he's not manning the fron counter here at Aquarius, Jim Haynes has developed a peculiar knack for rust-inflected dronescaping, and finally R.K. Faulhaber, who is the mystery man amongst the bunch, although we've been told his unpublished works offer a byzantine array of mutilated sonic collages. The album that these five produced is a weighty proposition to say the least, with detours a plenty within this mangled concoction of delirious dronescaping punctuated with glossalaic vocalizations. Delicate plinks and plonks sprinkled across sublime, gaping tones which transition to a convulsive beauty with mechanical spasms and nightmarish creakings. Throughout The Sleeping Moustache, ghostly reminders of each of the contributors' refined aesthetics emerge as a Gordon knot of convoluted logic, unsettling shifts between horror and comedy, psychological instability, and disquieting soundscapes. If you're even remotely a fan of Nurse With Wound or irr. app. (ext.) or Stilluppsteypa, this album is not just recommended... it's absolutely required." [Aquarius Records] |
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| WALKER, SCOTT & SUNN O))) |
Soused |
CD |
"Freigeister unter sich: Der US-Chansonier trifft auf die Drone-Doom-Band: Als Sunn O))) im Jahre 2009 erstmals bei Scott Walker anfragten, ob er einen Beitrag zu ihrem Album "Monoliths & Dimensions" beisteuern wolle, ahnte niemand, dass es einmal eine echte Zusammenarbeit geben würde. Vier Jahre später meldete sich Scott Walker schließlich bei der US-amerikanischen Drone-Doom-Band: Er habe neue Musik geschrieben und dabei stets eine Kollaboration mit Sunn O))) im Sinn gehabt. "Soused" ist das beeindruckend wuchtige Ergebnis einer Kooperation zweier Freigeister. Scott Walker feierte in den 60ern weltweite Erfolge mit den Walker Brothers, veröffentlichte in Folge viel beachtete Soloplatten und etablierte sich als Chansonier mit teils bitterböser Lyrik. In den 80ern erfolgte ein radikaler Stilwechsel und zudem eine Änderung seiner Arbeitsweise. Alben wie "Climate Of Hunter" (1984), "Tilt" (1996) und "The Drift" (2006) zeigten einen wandlungsfreudigen Künstler, der 2013 mit dem komplexen Meisterwerk "Bish Bosh" seinen Weg fortsetzte. Mit "Soused" folgt die logische Konsequenz Walkers künstlerischen Schaffens. Das Vinyl erscheint mit Downloadcode.
///
When Sunn O))) first approached Scott Walker about appearing on their 2009 album Monoliths & Dimensions, little did they know what it would actually lead to. Four years on, Scott was back with something even more enticing, collaborating on Soused, a body of work he was writing with them in mind.
Recorded in London in early 2014 and produced by Scott Walker and long-time ally Peter Walsh with the assistance of musical director Mark Warman, Soused is a 5-track 50-minute body of work that cements both acts’ wide-reaching and otherworldly renown." [label info]
www.4ad.com
www.4ad.com
|
2014 |
€12.50 |
|
| |
Soused |
do-LP |
"Freigeister unter sich: Der US-Chansonier trifft auf die Drone-Doom-Band: Als Sunn O))) im Jahre 2009 erstmals bei Scott Walker anfragten, ob er einen Beitrag zu ihrem Album "Monoliths & Dimensions" beisteuern wolle, ahnte niemand, dass es einmal eine echte Zusammenarbeit geben würde. Vier Jahre später meldete sich Scott Walker schließlich bei der US-amerikanischen Drone-Doom-Band: Er habe neue Musik geschrieben und dabei stets eine Kollaboration mit Sunn O))) im Sinn gehabt. "Soused" ist das beeindruckend wuchtige Ergebnis einer Kooperation zweier Freigeister. Scott Walker feierte in den 60ern weltweite Erfolge mit den Walker Brothers, veröffentlichte in Folge viel beachtete Soloplatten und etablierte sich als Chansonier mit teils bitterböser Lyrik. In den 80ern erfolgte ein radikaler Stilwechsel und zudem eine Änderung seiner Arbeitsweise. Alben wie "Climate Of Hunter" (1984), "Tilt" (1996) und "The Drift" (2006) zeigten einen wandlungsfreudigen Künstler, der 2013 mit dem komplexen Meisterwerk "Bish Bosh" seinen Weg fortsetzte. Mit "Soused" folgt die logische Konsequenz Walkers künstlerischen Schaffens. Das Vinyl erscheint mit Downloadcode.
///
When Sunn O))) first approached Scott Walker about appearing on their 2009 album Monoliths & Dimensions, little did they know what it would actually lead to. Four years on, Scott was back with something even more enticing, collaborating on Soused, a body of work he was writing with them in mind.
Recorded in London in early 2014 and produced by Scott Walker and long-time ally Peter Walsh with the assistance of musical director Mark Warman, Soused is a 5-track 50-minute body of work that cements both acts’ wide-reaching and otherworldly renown." [label info]
www.4ad.com
"When we first heard about the collaboration, it sounded like a joke, like some internet meme. It did seem crazy, and on the surface, pretty hilarious, but eventually it was proven to be an actual thing. Then when we first heard a little snippet online, we weren’t entirely sold, Walker sounded even more over the top than usual, and the title Soused seems to indicate that maybe Walker was in fact completely wasted when he recorded his vocals, cuz it definitely sounded like it. But when we finally got to hear the whole thing, it suddenly all made sense, Walker’s vocals, while still insanely dramatic and over the top, were somehow perfect, and SUNNO))), instead of just doing the guitars-against-the-amps drone thing, really seem to be working way outside their comfort zone, and in fact, lots of this record sounds extremely, sonically uncomfortable. Fantastically so. We were so smitten by opener “Brando”, we had trouble digging any deeper into the record. Right from the get go, opening with Walker crooning over a whirring organ, shimmery and sun dappled, and what sounds suspiciously like the Guns ’N Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine” guitar lick, but then the thick, viscous drones creep in, accompanied by strange ticks and pulsations, as well as what sounds like a bull whip, as well as the occasional burst of distorto guitar, the combination of that low end creep, and Walker’s vocals, as well as a cool feedback/high end that seems to echo the vocal melody, it’s pretty powerful, and stunning, weird, but also weirdly beautiful. “Herod 2014” was our next obsession, with it’s weird squelchy electronic rhythm, buried in thick rumbling thrum, it’s Walker who carries the song, some sort of demented, and yeah, likely seriously soused, torch song, flecked with static, and driven by a slo-mo Sabbath riff stretched out into near static sprawl, Walker’s vocals wreathed in lots of mysterious noise, the whole track peppered with what sounds like some strange banshee wail, or pterodactyl cry, but it’s somehow so perfect, that it becomes as integral to the song as any other element.
“Bull” is downright balladic after the previous heaving monoliths, but not for long, the song exploding into some serious Swans like pummel, with Walker kicking it up a notch, some loose chaotic drum damage, some junkyard percussion, and a ‘hook’ that manages to be the catchiest bit on the whole record, the song slipping into slo-mo somnambulant creeps, before launching right back into that ‘chorus’. We have to be honest, the first three songs are so perfect, it’s not until maybe the 20th listen that we even made it to the last two, but they’re similarly broody and bombastic, “Fetish” featuring some seriously buzzed out bass (assuming that’s a bass), and like “Bull” before it, another killer ‘chorus’, that sounds like Swans gone haywire, dosed on some serious narcotics, a wild cacophony of elephant like electronic bleats, churning metallic riffing, monstrous drumming, before settling into what sounds like some sick, mutant strain of kraut-doom. And don’t even get us started on Walker’s INSANE lyrics, in this case, a refrain of “Choo Choo, Choo Choo mama”, which sounds ridiculous, but in the context of the song, it sounds mad, maniacal, and like some sort of twisted genius, which we’re assuming it is. Finally, there’s “Lullaby”, which is one, at least for a moment, until another blurt of atonal, moaning, keening, doom cabaret explodes from the murk, only to settle right back down, most of the track spent in hushed lowercase mode, finishing off super dramatically, a field of barely there guitar rumble, distant sonar like pings, ominous swells, mysterious insectoid clicking, and one final, haunting stanza from Walker. Most definitely a twisted outsider masterpiece, and considering how skeptical we were, it’s even more surprising that this might just end up being a record of the year contender for some of us!" [Aquarius Records]
|
2014 |
€29.50 |
|
| WALLACE, ZACH |
Glass Armonica |
CD |
"Glass Armonica is the first solo CD by musician Zach Wallace. When not counting fauna in the Montana wilderness, Zach can be seen performing across the incense sticks from Greg Davis in their stoic long form drone duo Sun Circle. Zach's Armonica, based loosely on Benjamin Franklin's 1761 design, is built entirely from thrift store bought wine glasses and has been modified to handle multiple players. The performances captured here were recorded in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the spring of 2007. The results are not too far off from what you might imagine if you've ever coaxed sound waves from the rim of a wine glass with your finger. Now just imagine multiplying that sound a few times over until you arrive at a dense fog of resonant tones that hover in mid air while concurrently penetrating your pituitary glad. That's getting close. Edition of 500 in an offset white case with silver ink." [label info]
www.rootstrata.com
|
2009 |
€15.50 |
|
| WANDER |
same |
CD |
Viermal pure Drone / Minimal Music–Stücke vom BEEQUEENSeitenprojekt, warm und analog und sachte schwingend.... klingt sehr
„klassisch“ wie die Vorbilder aus den 70er Jahren.... am besten das vierte Stück wenn sich zu tiefen Drones Wassergeräusche mischen...
Dies ist die EINZIGE jemals erscheinende WANDER CD, da sie auf jeden Format nur einmal veröffentlichen!
“Wander are Freek Kinkelaar and Frans de Waard, also known as Beequeen. Since changing Beequeen's musical direction in the summer
of 2000 (drones out and 'popmusic' in). However, since they both love drone music, they founded Wander in 2001. In Wander they explore
drone music in it's widest possible form, with each new release exploring a specific concept. Wander will release their music on various
formats, but every format only once. Each release is called Wander, and there is a total absense of any information on the cover. So far they have released a 10" on their own Plinkity Plonk label, a LP for En/Of, a split 7" on Plinkity Plonk (a split single with Beequeen), a CDR on XZF and a 7" on Edition... and a forthcoming split 7" recorded in collaboration with Andrew Liles. The material was recorded in the analogue studio Geluidswerkplaats
Extrapool in late 2004 and early 2005, using a wide variety of vintage synthesizers (juno 60, korg MS20, roland SH 102 and Arp synthesizer)
and a Philicordia organ. The four long pieces breath an atmospheric, pastoral sound of slow and deep evolving drones. The CD was mastered by Raymond Steeg of The Legendary Pink Dots' fame. The images on the cover and the disc were made with the help of Elise de Waard. Released in a special cardboard package with varnished
images. Strictly limited edition of 600 copies only. Wander live performances are as rare as hen's teeth. So far two took place: providing a new soundtrack to Derek Jarman's 'In The Shadow
Of The Sun' and a gallery-show in Amsterdam (to much ignorance of a snotty and arty audience - but then we wouldn't have expected otherwise). official website at http://www.beequeen.nl/wander.htm“ [label info] |
2005 |
€8.00 |
|
| WANKE, RICCARDO DILLON |
Cuts |
LP |
\"I explored for years the use of repetitive structures within different perspectives. In many cases, these figures involved long developments. \'Cuts\' is the effort to merge this attitude with concise forms and tight evolutions. Vertical exploration of sound needs time; I tested this exploration in shorter times. Good part of the inspiration for this record came from works by Mario Benedetti, Roberto Bolano, Julio Cortazar and Juan Carlos Onetti.\" (R.D.Wanke)
comes with download code (including two bonus tracks)
All tracks by RDW. Recorded between Lisbon and Hamburg during 2013, \'Dust\' was partially recorded in Milan on 2003.
Mixed in Lisbon and mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi on 2014. \'La puerta condenada\' takes inspiration from Julio Cortazar\'s short story.
https://wearethreefour.bandcamp.com/album/cuts
|
2015 |
€19.50 |
|
| WARMDESK |
InvalidObject Series (function) |
mCD |
Das irische FÄLLT-Label hat auf einen Schlag ein Kompendium zur neuen digitalen laptop / click / glitch / IDM – Musik herausgebracht ! Das sind 24 mCDs mit allerlei bekannten und unbekannte Vertretern dieses jungen Genres. Wir haben die meisten da, hier eine Übersicht ! Limitiert jeweils auf schamlose 250 Stck ! Preis pro mcD : € 9.50
Better priced now, last copies of this absolute compendium of IDM. € 9.50
“ The invalidObject Series was established in 2000 as a sublabel of Fällt to release a finite series of twenty four 3"CD/.mp3 works.
Offering a unique perspective on a diverse range of musical output at the turn of the millennium, the Series features work by some of the most respected artists operating within the field of '.microsound' and has been described as "a remarkable document of a vibrant artistic community and a critical moment in the evolution of digital music" (Philip Sherburne), "a showcase for the extraordinary range of practical approaches within contemporary electronic music" (Matt Ffytche, The Wire) and, simply, "impressive" (Rob Young, Editor, The Wire). “ [label press release}
|
2000 |
€9.50 |
|
| WASHBURN, SEAN |
Wave Mantra |
CD |
"We step into the year of 2015 with a retrospective look on an album that has since become quite scarce in the marketplace. Wave Mantra was originally released by Sean himself fifteen years ago. It is best described as a sonic journey through an enigmatic and absorbing soundworld with a very rich organic flavour. A beautiful tale that we are very happy to see back in print again. This reissue has, like so many other gterma titles, also been gently remastered by Anders Peterson. Comes in a jewel case with 16-page booklet." [label info]
gterma.blogspot.de
gterma.blogspot.de
|
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| WATKISS, THOMAS |
Ancestor Phase I : Silence |
CD |
Dark Ambient & Experimental Drone Newcomer aus Pennsylvania (USA), sein Debut-Album ist Sitting Bull gewidmet und taucht thematisch ein in die Mythen von Abstammung & Geschichte der Menschheit. Illustriert wird das von zum Teil archaischen, recht rauhen & gurgelnden Drones, aber auch sanftere Elektronik-Wallungen kommen vor und geheimnisvolles Oberton-Geflüster... das alles wurde effektvoll in Szene gesetzte mit Gitarre, Bass & Synth / Computer.
"This ambitious, hour-long dark-ambient soundscape composition is certainly one of the finest we've heard in years. The basic concept seems to be rooted in the depths of human history and experience on Earth, and this is expressed primarily through gentle washes of electronics, computer generated sounds, and very heavily processed electric guitar and bass, occasionally building to dramatic intensity. This is divided into 12 parts, each of which stands alone with its individual theme, but also works naturally with the others to form the entire composition. Comes in triple-fold digipak." [label info]
www.thomaswatkiss.net
|
2008 |
€12.50 |
|
| WEHOWSKY, RALF / JOHANNES FRISCH |
Tränende Würger |
CD |
RLW COLLAB(or)IERT wieder ! Diesmal mit dem uns unbekannten JOHANNES FRISCH, der aus der Impro-Szene stammt.... Vier Stücke voller Überraschungen !
“ 1) Johannes Frisch: works since the late 1970s as a performer, composer and improviser of contemporary music between experimental rock, free jazz and other openminded styles. on his main instrument, the double bass, he works for more than three decades consequently on an individual expressive language. he played with lot of musicians of the international scene of free improvisation and all experimental fields - among others Lol Coxhill, Maggie Nicols, Johannes Bauer, Le Quan Ninh, Paul Hubweber, Michael Vorfeld, Misha Feigin. Compositions for theatre, film and dance theater actual projects: Kammerflimmer Kollektief; Home of the beast, with Peter Hollinger und Helmut Bieler-Wendt; Ensemble Sondarc, music for six double basses; rat'n'X; trio with Paul Wirkus & Mikolaj Trzaska; concerts & festivals all over europe.
2) Ralf Wehowsky: founded the group P.D. (in 1981 renamed P16.D4) and the label Wahrnehmungen (in 1982 renamed Selektion) in 1980. P16.D4 were one of the most influential groups of experimental industrial music. They developed concepts of materialaustausch long before the term remix was even coined. for their live appearances they were equally at home at punk and no wave festivals as at the holy grails of academic avantgarde like the Ferientage Neuer Musik, Darmstadt. since the early 90s Wehowsky worked under his own name (rlw). the quiet, highly complex style of composition, based on artifacts of instrumental and electronic lateral noises, evolving out of his collaboration with bernhard günter was influential for numerous artists in the fields of electronic and improvised music. some reflections on his work can be found on TULPAS, a 5CD-box-set, featuring more than 50 artists performing their versions of rlw pieces (incl. Jim O´Rourke, Brume, Achim Wollscheid, Toshiya Tsunoda, John Duncan, Antanas Jasenka, Ryoji Ikeda, John Watermann a.o.). the new decennium started with a surprise for many as first releases showed a new approach of integrating improvised music and composition (as can be found on the CDs VIEWS and SIGHTS, the latter w/ long-time collaborator Bruce Russell).
3) Tränende Würger: is based on free improvisations by the Frisch/Wehowsky duo, reworked with electro-acoustic means. the compositional process did not intend to mask the nonlinear nature of the improvisations. quite on the contrary their organic character has been emphasized by crystal-clear sharpening of details. you´ll find complex structures and dark atmospheres, not unlike those on some P16.D4-, This Heat- or Mnemonists- releases, though absolutely rooted in the 21st century. beauty and posoning are not far from each other.
'Tränende Würger' comes in a plastic bag, 15x15cm with the artwork on six seperate sheets, dealing with poisenious plants. Design by Meeuw.” [label description]
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Which Head are you dancing in? |
CD |
"An album 'Which head you're dancing in?' is full of weird rhythms and glitches but the most amazing thing here is the main inspiration. All of the pieces from this release wouldn't have been created without Ornette Coleman. Both Frisch and Wehowsky found many inspiring moments in music played by the father of free jazz. Their own work is full of glitches and noisy ornaments. In some parts one can find rhythmical structures reminiscing discotheque for spoilt laptops, other compositions show beautiness of contrasts between silence and prolonged, dark and wiry bass phrases.
Johannes Frisch works since the late 1970s as a performer, composer and improviser of contemporary music between experimental rock, free jazz and other openminded styles. on his main instrument, the double bass, he works for more than three decades consequently on an individual expressive language. he played with lot of musicians of the international scene of free improvisation and all experimental fields - among others Lol Coxhill, Maggie Nicols, Johannes Bauer, Lê Quan Ninh, Paul Hubweber, Michael Vorfeld, Misha Feigin compositions for theatre, film and dance theater actual projects include Kammerflimmer Kollektief; and collaborations with Helmut Bieler-Wendt.
Ralf Wehowsky founded the group P.D. (in 1981 renamed P16.D4) and the label Wahrnehmungen (in 1982 renamed Selektion) in 1980. P16.D4 were one of the most influential groups of experimental industrial music. They developed concepts of materialaustausch long before the term remix was even coined. For their live appearances they were equally at home, at punk and no wave festivals and at the holy grails of academic avantgarde like the Ferientage Neuer Musik or Darmstadt. Since the early 90s Wehowsky works under his own name (rlw). The quiet, highly complex style of composition based on artifacts of instrumental and electronic lateral noises, evolving out of his collaboration with bernhard günter was influential for numerous artists in the fields of electronic and improvised music. Some reflections on his work can be found on TULPAS, a 5CD-box-set, featuring more than 50 artists performing their versions of rlw pieces (incl. Jim O«Rourke Brume, Achim Wollscheid, Toshiya Tsunoda, John Duncan, Antanas Jasenka, Ryoji Ikeda, John Watermann a.o.). The new millennium showed a new approach of integrating improvised music and composition (as can be found on the CDs 'VIEWS' and 'SIGHTS', the latter w/long-time collaborators Bruce Russell and Johannes Frisch)."
|
2014 |
€12.00 |
|
| WEIS, MIKE |
Don't know, just Walk |
LP |
" “I used to think that music was my escape from reality, now I think it’s an escape into reality.” – Mike Weis, 2014.
Mike Weis is probably best known for sitting behind a plethora of drums and gongs in long- running Chicago three-piece Zelienople, but his music is just as potent unaccompanied. Weis might be an obsessive collaborator (his work with Scott Tuma, Mind Over Mirrors and Kwaidan is also essential), but on his own, he is able to allow his unique percussive skills to bubble to the surface, without the intervention of conflicting egos.
He began working on Don’t Know, Just Walk under particularly difficult circumstances. It was 2013, he had just been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and was gearing up for a punishing year of “man-diapers and boner pills,” that could very well have been his last. Thankfully though, the time wasn’t entirely spent holed up in a hospital bed under the watch of urologists – Weis managed to spend choice moments in the woods or on prairies with a microphone, and in the Zelienople studio (which has long been in his basement) while the family slept upstairs.
These late night sessions weren’t only musical – Weis used the time to meditate, and to clear his head of the mental baggage that was clouding his view of the world. In spending time using Zen Buddhist techniques (which the title references), this allowed him to not only meditate on life (and its brevity), but also to inform his compositional and recording techniques. At this point, the music came naturally, and Weis began experimenting and recording without hindrance.
Using loops of field-recordings, gongs, radios, home-made instruments, drums and traditional Korean percussion, Weis pieced together an album that is as reflective as it is mesmerizing. Solo percussion albums are rare, certainly, but Weis uses his drumming simply as the record’s backbone, allowing his ideas to flourish overhead.
Don’t Know, Just Walk is a complicated record – an album about death that doesn’t dwell on the negative, and one created by a drummer that doesn’t contain a whole lot of rhythms. It’s right to expect the unexpected, and as Weis found solace in the recording process, we too can find solace in the listening. " [label info]
www.typerecords.com
|
2014 |
€18.50 |
|
| WELBURN, JAMES |
Hold |
LP |
"Like watching a massive twisting fire slowly fading into the open skies, accompanied by a drum section so repetitive yet mind bending that you're unsure if it's ever going to stop. This is how Hold starts off, leaving you catching for your breath before the album has even reached the second track.
James Welburn steps into the ashes covered in drones and noise together with drumming partner Tony Buck (The Necks), producing a debut album crushingly epic. Hailing from the UK, but located in both Berlin (DE) and Lillehammer (NO), James has been on a path to catch the perfect drone through the last years, playing an abundance of underground drone and noise sets in Berlin and Norway. This can be heard on Hold, though set in an impressively produced setting closer to a recent Swans record rather than the raw noise of those early live shows.
It's hard to label the album too much in one style, as it shifts and turns into parts inspired by everything from Shoegaze to Black Metal, all set in a state of endless repetition." [label info]
www.miasmah.com
"Quite an impressive solo debut from British noiserocker James Welburn! His bio quips that he's been playing in various art/drone/noise rock outfits since the '90s, though a quick glance through the entire internet didn't provide much in the way of information on what those projects might be. However, we know that back in 2008, he had a release under the name Project Transmit, which also featured the fantastic drummer Tony Buck from trance-inducing Australian 'jazz' group The Necks. Now, Buck has joined forces with Welburn once again for Hold - a well-controlled album of darkly ascendant drone guitars guiding a well-heeled rhythm section that's crushingly muscular when it needs to be and skeletally restrained when called for at other times. Second track here "Peak" falls into the latter camp with Buck and Welburn conjuring the slow-core nocturnes from Low's first couple of albums, with a Joy Division-y spaciousness on the bass and Buck tapping metonymically on the ride. Welburn fills in the blanks with cinematic melancholy dripping from his guitar strings into pools of drone. Buck stomps hard on the accelerator for the next track "Shift" with a punk-as-fuck jackbooted riff on the black metal blast beat, albeit done on a jazz kit, with Welburn slipping the buzzsaw guitars into icy layers. The detuned bass that anchors "Duration" with a bloody-knuckled masonry on par with Todd Trainor of Shellac, with the guitars again crashing forward with drone-metal blurs and slabs of frigid noise. Swans and Godflesh are reasonably close neighbors of what Welburn is up to here, although these tracks are entirely instrumental with the songs hitting their dynamics through slow-burn and flame-out approaches to their compositional arcs. Just imagine if Welburn and Buck were to get a hold of two or three dozen guitarists with their slipstream noise perfectly in step with Welburn's compositional prowess. Look out, Branca. Look out, Chatham." [Aquarius Rec]
|
2015 |
€16.50 |
|
| WENZEL, BETTINA |
Mumbai Diary |
CD |
VOICE as Instrument of Affection
Sound diaries have their seductive appeal. Unlike written memoirs, sketches, cartoons and photo journals they share a common feature with film documentaries – the temporal sound-image. Deprived of visual information (and of predominance of sight), sound-image attracts listeners’ ears, penetrates their bodies, permeates through their minds, initiating the process of imagination and articulating lived as well as imagined experiences. No escape; intrusive meanings are always present. In contrast to moving images that reduce space and vision to the surface and depth of a screen, sound-images are capable of not only extending the listeners’ universe but also making them aware of and signifying the impulses within their bodies. If combined with appropriate musical expression, as in the case of Bettina Wenzel’s Mumbai Diary, the ambition to represent the unique artistic intention in correlation with genius loci and intimacy of a place where one finds oneself in a particular moment succeeds in producing interaction.
Wenzel’s abstract voice finds proper structural support in the concrete soundscapes (of urban origin) she created from the field recordings during her artist residency in Mumbai; it bodily spaces the intervals and foldings that house voice as their natural constituent. Although we do not see her, we feel that she is singing with her entire body; it is the body which paints the vocal lines and pointillistic textures onto the surface of a sound time-crystal. The resulting form was neither composed nor improvised; it was created by affection. As we know (from Bergson and Deleuze), the affection is coupled with the body that offers the internal space for the act of affection.
Mumbai Diary is therefore not an itinerary, it does not provide listeners with any space-time coordinates or information from the life of its author. Rather it is a sound album, a collection of sound-images, thoroughly arranged by the memory as well as by the taste and style preferences of its compiler, composer and adapter in one person. She compiles out of the obsessive need to give a new meaning to the recorded fragments of her memory. She composes because she desires to manifest her relationships with the world and other people through a new meaning that is no longer dependent on the old codes and conventions of art communication and music making. And finally, she adapts the compiled and composed result to her instrument of affection – VOICE. It is the VOICE that brings into the memories of Mumbai, now embodied in the sound-images, the affection from outside – from the body of their originator. And the same VOICE generates later the affective response in the listeners, whose memories are not bound to the above mentioned genius loci. The VOICE becomes the guide through the unknown soundscape, thanks to the VOICE the soundscape becomes familiar to the listeners.
So, what can listeners hear (and feel) during the affective sound walk Bettina Wenzel invites them to? Unconventional, extended vocal performance used as a means to define herself against a foreign culture. Pleasure of the immediate need to vocalize. Barthesian grain of the voice in full effect. Expressive voice escapades against sound patterns alienated from their original environment. Improvised vocal comment to an appropriated religious song disturbed by traffic noise. Suggestive percussive textures woven from metallic sounds and breathing noises. Unidentifiable sound objects versus clear vocal intention. Unexpected juxtapositions of ambitious onomatopoeias and indeterminist formalisms. Potential stimuli to fictive narratives…
As the chronology and causal-consequent relations are no the focus of in this sound album, you can listen to its impressive sound-images-affections in random order. M.D. could stand for Mumbai Diary as well as for membra disjecta in this case.
Jozef Cseres, aesthetician of arts
September 2010
www.wenzelvoice.de
www.wenzelvoice.de/mumbai
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=553258571
mail: bettina@wenzelvoice.de
All COMPOSITIONS BY BETTINA WENZEL
FIELD RECORDINGS/ VOICE/ AKAPPAIKINNARI BY BETTINA WENZEL,
APRIL–SEPTEMBER 2009, MUMBAI
MIXED BY BETTINA WENZEL, MAI 2010, COLOGNE
MASTERED BY JOKER NIES, JULY 2010, COLOGNE
PRODUCED BY BETTINA WENZEL
PHOTOS/ DRAWINGS BY BETTINA WENZEL
Artwork BY CHRISTA MAREK
TEXT BY JOZEF CSERES
© Bettina Wenzel 2010
www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=3722 |
2010 |
€13.00 |
|
| WERDER, FELIX |
The Tempest - Electronic Music |
CD |
"Please note: "Banker," "Oscussion" and "The Tempest" were all released on LP in the early 1970s. The master tapes of these pieces were all lost in the ensuing years. And the pressing of "Banker", unfortunately, was substandard. With considerable work the pieces were able to be recovered from their LP recordings. In the case of "Banker", a degree of surface noise, and pressing distortion remain. This is also true, but to a much, lesser extent, with "Oscussion" and "The Tempest".
Felix Werder was born in Berlin in 1922. Possessed of an omnivorous musical curiosity, over the course of his career, he has explored many of the issues of concern in contemporary music, from serialism and aleatoric techniques, through opera, improvisation, graphic notation and electronics, always through the lens of his intense expressionist aesthetic. His father was Boaz Bischofswerder, one of the leading cantors and Jewish liturgical composers in Berlin, and a member of Schoenberg¹s circle. At 8 years old, he started copying his father¹s scores, and considerable musical experience ensued. All this came to an end in 1934, when the family emigrated to England to escape the Nazis. For 6 years, they lived in England, and Felix began to study music, fine arts and architecture in a series of English institutions. At the outbreak of World War II, the family, along with almost all the other German-Jewish refugees in England, were declared enemy aliens, and offered a chance to emigrate to Canada, where they would work for the war effort. For some reason, the ship, the Dunera, headed for Australia instead, where Felix and his father, and 2000 other German-Jewish refugees were placed in internment camps, and held prisoner for the rest of the war. It was under these circumstances that he wrote his first Symphony, in 1943. On his release from the prison camp, he worked for a while as a jazz bassist in Sydney, before moving to Melbourne and beginning his musical career. In the 1950s, along with fellow composers Margaret Sutherland, Dorian Le Gallienne, and later, Keith Humble, they formed the core of Melbourne¹s small, but active new music scene. From 1955, Felix taught music and art history at the Melbourne Council of Adult Education, as well as privately teaching many generations of Australian composers, and he was music critic for The Age newspaper from 1960 until 1977. He became involved with radio in the mid 1970s, producing new music programs for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in the 1970s, and community radio in the 1980s and early 1990s. For 20 years, his performance group, Australia Felix, gave concerts of new Australian music both in Australia and in Europe.
Werder was introduced to the use of electronics in the late 1960s by his friend Bruce Clarke, whose Jingle Workshop was the first commercial electronic music studio in Australia. He shortly thereafter acquired an EMS VCS3 analog synthesizer, and incorporated electronics into his performances. His group gave some of the earliest live electronic performances in Australia, two of which, "Banker" and "Oscussion", are recorded on this CD. In 1974, he worked with the EMS Synthi 100, a large digitally controlled analog synthesizer in the studio at the University of Melbourne, where he produced his electronic masterpiece, "The Tempest - After Giorgione¹s "Tempesta". By the late 1970s, however, he had largely stopped working with electronics, as he devoted himself more and more to composing chamber works for his ensemble (and others) to perform. In the early 90s, with my urging and assistance, he made one foray into the world of computer music, with the contrapuntal fantasy "V/Line." He has not returned to the medium since then. His electronic work, then, forms a small but unique part of his output." [From the liner notes by Warren Burt]
www.pogus.com
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| WESOLOWSKI, STEFAN |
Kompleta |
LP |
"This record is the reissue of Stefan Wesolowski's first album, Kompleta, which was composed in 2006 and released on Gusstaff Records in 2008. Given that he was only 21 at the time, a record which was considered a first attempt now seems something of a master work. It portrays a universe deeply influenced by sacred music and offers clear, direct compositions and liturgical chants which are powerful vectors for emotion. These songs are interpreted by Stefan Wesolowski himself accompanied by Maja Siemińska and their work fits together wonderfully. The record also marks the beginning of a beautiful friendship with the composer Michal Jacaszek who did the electronic arrangements. This worked so well that they have collaborated on several other projects since. A tangible spirituality emanates from these 9 tracks, providing a contemplative, introspective experience for listeners.
Kompleta is mainly based on strings (violins, viola, cello) but also manages to distance itself from traditional compositional methods by including subtle electronic touches to help anchor the work in a resolutely progressive dynamic. It is also interesting to note how Wesolowski decides not to choose between the spheres of heritage and modernity - on the contrary he seeks a balance between the two without ever deforming or betraying his sources of inspiration.
In around 30 minutes, Stefan Wesolowski marks the start of a remarkable career. The Mind Travels Series is under the spell of this record and happy to be able to offer Kompleta a new lease of life, fittingly illustrated by a fine new serie of photographs by Françis Meslet. The album has been re-mastered and will be released on CD and for the first time as a vinyl LP. It is a record for all lovers of Modern-classical and contemporary music looking for new sounds to go with their albums by Greg Haines, Arvo Pärt, Nils Frahm, Steve Reich, Hildur Gudnadottir, A Winged Victory For The Sullen, Jóhann Jóhannsson... For other listeners, it is an ideal gateway to these universes where elegance and intensity are key."
stefanwesolowski.bandcamp.com/album/kompleta |
2015 |
€18.00 |
|
| WESTBERG, NORMAN |
The All most quiet |
LP + CD |
"Since SWANS‘ 1983 debut album “Filth”, Norman Westberg has essentially been a permanent member of this project. Anyone who has experienced SWANS live on one of their recent tours will know who Norman Westberg is: the almost stoic, tall man, who coaxes rhythmic sounds from his guitar with an incomparably minimalist power and elegance.
With “The All Most Quiet,” Norman Westberg has returned to Hallow Ground with a new solo album. The play on words in the title can be applied to Westberg’s own musical work, because whereas SWANS are hard to surpass in terms of brute force, the artist’s solo work is much more subtle, and therefore also quieter. The resulting juxtaposition between the dense metropolis of New York, where “The All Most Quiet” was recorded, and the album’s minimalistic strains open up virtual spaces for attentive listeners. The opening, nearly twenty-minute title track begins with a lucid echo-like and extensive sound that seems to expand spatially and then contracts again. At the same time the piece is evocative of lighting effects: mostly the music is slightly cool but rather bright. Individual beams break open or darken the mood. The consistent subtlety of the collages provokes the increased attention of the listener and every sonic shift is consciously perceived. The track “Sound 2,” which fills the entire B-side, begins with atonal and slightly bumpy delays, which become increasingly confused and develop an unpleasant undertow. It is a kind of clamorous minimalism combined with an ability to conjure up sounds from a guitar that hardly sounds like guitar that makes Norman Westberg’s music so unique." [label info]
www.hallowground.com
"While MRI, released by Room40 in February, was a reissue of a 2012 album, The All Most Quiet contains new material in the shape of two long-form tracks. Like its predecessor, The All Most Quiet is radically different from his contributions to Swans. The fact he’s actually found the time to compose and record new material is impressive in itself: the latest Swans album, The Glowing Man was released on 10 June, and the two-hour colossus of a sonic experience was developed and recorded off the back of a full year spent touring its predecessor, To Be Kind. Given the duration and intensity of a Swans live show, it’s remarkable that Norman Westberg’s had time to piss and still has the energy to stand, let along record a new album. But then, perhaps his solo work has therapeutic benefits, and affords him the opportunity to decompress after long days spent in the Swans pressure-cooker.
The All Most Quiet is, as the title suggests, not a loud album. It is also a gentle album. But that doesn’t mean it lacks dynamic tension, and while it is calming, it’s also not completely undemanding.
The title track starts its long, meandering journey as a mid-range drone which pulsates subtly. The tonal changes which emerge are gradual. It’s easy to let it simply drift by, and it’s pleasant enough to appreciate in this way, but attentive listening brings its rewards. The introduction of new layers, textures and tones, shifts in the scale and pace of oscillations change the mood, subtly, inconspicuously, but no less definitely. And while The All Most Quiet bears no obvious resemblance to Swans, it is possible to hear a certain correlation in the way Westberg builds on slow-burning transitions to hypnotic effect. There are hints of ominousness and darkness, but the sense of scale and grandeur seeps through the very fabric of the sound. The second track, ‘Sound 2’ maintains the atmosphere, and the absence of any clear highs or lows builds a tension beneath the calm surface.
The All Most Quiet once again highlights the trait I most admire in Norman Westberg’s approach to guitar laying: patience. No heroics. No sense of the ego common to guitar layers. His playing is focused on achieving texture and an overall listening experience. Whether he’s peeling off shards of noise, as on early Swans’ releases or creating more sculpted sound, as on their later releases, and in his solo recordings, at no point dos one ever find oneself thinking ‘what fretwork! What guitar wizardry!’ In fact, much of the time, Westberg’s guitar doesn’t sound like a guitar, particularly on The All Most Quiet. And for the most part, the sound is too immersive for one to really think at all." [Christopher Nosnibor/Aural Aggravation] |
2016 |
€22.50 |
|
| WESTERKAMP, HILDEGARD |
Transformations |
CD |
Fünf faszinierende Arbeiten (1977-1992) der kanadisch-deutschen Akustik-Designerin, die für ihre fliessenden, poetischen Kompositionen allerlei field- & Umgebungsaufnahmen (z.B. Stadtgeräusche, Grillen, Raben, Nebelhörner und Fabriksirenen, etc etc) benutzt, die später im Studio nachbearbeitet werden... wie immer bei EMPREINTES DIGITALES kommt das ganze in einem aufwendigen Cardboard-Klappcover und mit dickem Booklet!
„ Westerkamp creates new possibilities for listening. One can journey with her sound to inner landscapes and find unexplored openings in our sound souls. The experience of her music vibrates the potential for change. Her compositions invite interaction – a chance to awaken to one’s own creativity. One can transform through listening as she has. In the music and soundscapes of Westerkamp we feel memory and imagination as we hear trough the future.” [PAULINE OLIVEROS].
“ Vancouver based German with a strong interest in sound ecology and the use of everyday sound environments. ranges from walks through soundscapes to environmental compositions. a wonderful disc.” [Anomalous Records ]
www.empreintesdigitales.com |
1996 |
€15.00 |
|
| WESTON, MATT |
For Alexandros Grigoropoulos |
CD-R |
"it was early december 2008 when the 15 year old alexandros grigoropoulos dropped dead by the bullet of the cop, epaminodas korkoneas (an action that bursted into some of the most severe riots greece had lived for at least the last 3 decades). at that time we were nuts with the work of matt weston, the us percussionist whose sounds were recorded and then were given a more musique concrete approach turning his improvisations to more vital electroacoustics. under our enthusiasm for his work we asked him for a recording for 'a question of re_entry" which upon landing on our desk set our office in amphissa on fire with its intense electroacoustics but also astounded as it was recorded as a kind of memorial for the late alexandros which, as a tribute to his memory was issued on his name day the 30th of august 2009. www.mattweston.com " [label info]
http://absurd.noise-below.org/
"But sunday afternoons can get disturbed. In December 2008 15 year old Alexandros Grigoropoulos was shot by the police. US percussion player Matt Weston, of whom I think I never heard, created a tribute to Grigoropoulos' memory, which is a powerful, loud work of electronics, turntablism (it seems, it might also be the kaos pad), and percussive instrumental bits, all recorded loud, in your face, without becoming too obvious noise based. This is also only partly rooted in the world of improvised music, but perhaps owes more to old good musique concrete in the old analogue sense of the word. Quite a powerful work of heavy electronics for a heavy subject." [FdW / Vital Weekly] |
2009 |
€7.00 |
|
| WHALESONG |
Leaving A Dream |
do-CD |
"Leaving A Dream" is the third studio album in WHALESONG's discography released by Zoharum in coopertion with Old Temple. Two CDs contain over 120 minutes of music combining various genres into one coherent whole. A sonic feast composed of blinding light, hopes, dreams. A kind of endless stream of consciousness, sonic cinema for everyone who loves to lose themselves while listening. Many distinguished guests took part in the recordings, including Attila Csihar (SUNN O))), MAYHEM), Steve Blanco (IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT), Wukir Suryadi (SENYAWA) and many other excellent musicians, such as vibraphonist Tomasz Herisz, saxophonist Aleksader Papierz or pianist Miro Snejrd from HERR LOUNGE CORPS.
Whalesong is an experimental collective from Tarnowskie Góry and for years the main band of Michał Kiełbasa (Grave of Love, Lugola, Harmony of Struggle, NHC). Although the group's work defies all possible definitions and unambiguous pigeonholing, in their work one can find references to such genres as industrial, noise rock, no wave, drone, jazz and post rock. In their compositions, often lasting several minutes, they attack with weight, dynamics and hypnotic phrases, crushing with the powerful, sometimes even overwhelming sound of guitars, which is constantly accompanied by a tribal, mechanically hammered rhythm. For this purpose, the musicians use both classic "rock" and more unconventional instruments, from various types of percussion, such as: gong, cymbals, tubular bells, mellotron, and even everyday objects, elements from scrap metal, some pieces of sheet metal or circular saws . So far, the group has had the opportunity to collaborate with, among others: with such artists as Thor Harris (Swans, Wrekmeister Harmonies), Wacław Kiełtyka (Decapitated, Machine Head) or Aleksander Papierz (Sigihl).
The 2CD edition and the digital version will be released on July 14 and will be combined with a special premiere concert during the Castle Party festival. Shipping of orders collected from our store and other platforms will start on July 18, after our return from the festival.
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/leaving-a-dream |
2023 |
€16.50 |
|
| WHARTON, DONATO |
A white Rainbow spanning the Dark |
10inch |
"Donato Wharton is a composer based in London, UK. He has previously released three records for the Manchester and Berlin record label, City Centre Offices. The most recent of these was the 2006 release, 'Body Isolations'. 'A White Rainbow Spanning The Dark' therefore marks his first publicly released work in five years and his first for Serein.
Born in Cardiff and raised in Germany, Donato continues to travel extensively with his work as sound designer for stage and theatre productions. The influence of these journeys can be read in his chosen track titles; together, they evoke a sense of great distance and expanse.
These are not wistful tales of missing home, however, neither of new faces nor unfamiliar cities. The inspiration stems directly from the act of travelling, of being in transit thousands of feet above land. 'A White Rainbow Spanning The Dark' mirrors the changing landscapes of our planet, 'A Vast White Solitude', 'Ink Mountains', 'A Thousand Miles Of Grass'.
By pushing the limits of his tools of creation, primarily guitar and field recordings, Donato introduces swathes of noise into his compositions, shaping it as a sculptor chisels stone to form topographies of often rugged terrains, blustery, cold and unforgiving. The startling opening to 'In A Mute Scape' has you standing in the middle of a vast plain, your voice long lost to the wind, ringing in your ears.
There is something inherent to these pieces, though, which stops them from becoming too unforgiving or desolate. At times it is as if we observe these elemental environments from some safe haven or shelter, perhaps looking down from a window seat far above the land.
This record marks a sure-footed step forward for Donato on his quest for refinement, reduction and concentration. Artistically, one of his greatest triumphs is having crafted a style which is uniquely his own - 'A White Rainbow Spanning The Dark' couldn't have been written by anyone else, and that is surely a compliment of the highest order." [label info]
www.serein.co.uk
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
| WHETHAM, SIMON |
D/R |
CD-R |
"October 2008, I join a group of UK based performance artists in Tallinn, Estonia, to produce new collaborative works as guests of Non Grata. The project, Co-LAB‘08, is organised and run by Orion Maxted and protopPLAY. The theme of the project is 'Deconstruction/Reconstruction‘, appropriate as this reflects my composing using field recordings.
The first performances are solo, showcasing existing work. I spend two days recording and composing in Tallinn, performing a 30 minute sound piece for the group. The second performance has barely begun when the power is cut and a hole is smashed in the wall of the performance space with a sledgehammer.
The third performance is a group reaction to this, starting loud and intense, gradually becoming calm and peaceful.
Throughout the fourth performance, individuals reacted to artists actions during the previous performance. My subject, Yoko Ishiguro, carried out the following: smoking, cooking, washing her hair, eating a banana, attempting all simultaneously. (Simon Whetham, 2009)" [label info]
www.1000füssler.com
|
2009 |
€9.00 |
|
|
Prayers Unheard |
CD-R |
"In February 2010, Simon Whetham was invited to perform at Audio Art in Krakow by Marek Choloniewsky, for which he proposed visiting the city for three or four days prior to the performance in order to record the sounds of the place, to compose a site specific piece for the event.
Whetham stayed in the Kazimierz area of Krakow, the old Jewish area that during the Second World War became a ghetto through Nazi persecution. Walking the streets, he felt a certain sadness and longing that was almost tangible. The buildings, the very fabric of the city there, had to bear witness to the atrocities of that time. The walls still stand, unable to impart their testament to the horrors committed - the roads that bore tanks and trucks that took hordes of innocents to nearby Auschwitz unable to show us the despair of families torn apart...
The Jewish people of Krakow believed their God would save them, and yet they still suffered terribly at the hands of the Nazis. Their prayers, along with the sounds of pain and suffering, have long since died away, unheard. But perhaps the stone and metal of the city retains some echo, some imprint from that time..." [label info]
www.dragonseyerecordings.com
|
2011 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Hydrostatic |
CD |
" ‘Hydrostatic’ was commissioned by the McNeill Street Pumping Station New Music Festival, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA in November 2011, and presented as a multi-channel performance.
Simon Whetham spent more than a week exploring the site, capturing the sounds of the space, the vibrations of the buildings, the spirit of the community and perhaps the echoes of past activity…
Mastered by Miguel Carvalhais..
Simon Whetham – Biography 2013
Over the past eight years Simon Whetham has developed a practice of working with sound recordings as a raw material for composition. These are often environmental sounds he has captured employing a variety of methods and techniques, in order to obtain discreet or obscured sonic phenomena.
In removing sound from it’s source, sometimes amplifying it significantly, it becomes abstract – familiar yet otherworldly. More recently, when presenting work in a performance or installation, for him the space and the objects within become instruments to be played.
Simon has a large number of works published through many specialist organisations, including Touch Music, Cronica, Dragon’s Eye, Monochrome Vision and Entr’acte; has performed extensively internationally; collaborated with artists from musicians to performance artists, painters to video artists, dancers to poets; has run listening and field recording workshops in UK, Colombia, Chile and Australia; and received a large number of commissions and awards for projects and installations – notably ‘Active Crossover’. Supported by the Arts Council England and PRS for Music Foundation, the project comprises sound installation, performance, collaboration and workshops. ‘Active Crossover’ has toured six cities in the UK, and also been hosted in Estonia, Argentina, Australia, Chile and Colombia, with future residencies in Germany and Norway in 2013." [label info]
www.aufabwegen.com
"SIMON WHETHAM, dem wir zuletzt als Eyjafjallajökull-Gestrandeten im April 2010 in Lissabon begegnet sind, treffen wir wieder im November 2011 in Shreveport, Louisiana. Das dort stattfindende McNeill Street Pumping Station New Music Festival hatte ihn mit einem Beitrag beauftragt. Er verbrachte eine ganze Woche in dem einstigen Pumpwerk, um den hydrophonen und postindustrialen Genius loci oder Hausgeist zu begegnen. Das Rauschen von Wasser, der Geschmack von Eisen, Rost und Patina wurden zu Ingredienzen seines Dröhnscapes Hydrostatic (aatp39), den nicht zuletzt der Fluss der Zeit durchströmt. Pfeifende Laute und geisterhaft summende evozieren dabei etwas Älteres als das Industriezeitalter. Hölzernes und metallisches Gestöber suggeriert eine verlassene Geisterstätte, eine Ruine, die nach noch Brauchbarem durchsucht wird. Organum hat schon auf Vacant Lights solche Klänge eingefangen, Ephraim Wegner hat kürzlich ähnliche in verlassenen Hotelruinen gefunden. Immer ist damit ein ‘Danach’ verbunden, ein ‘Vorbei’. Latten scharren über den Boden, der Wind faucht, als wollte er noch den letzten Eindringling verjagen. 1887 in Betrieb gegangen, wurde bis 1980 dampfbetrieben, heute ist das McNeill-Pumpwerk ein National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. Whetham erschafft mit droneüberwölbtem Getröpfel und Geplätscher die Illusion einer Quelle, des verborgenen Anfangs einer Lebensader, die hier mit nahezu kultischer Aura widerhallt und wieder als pumpende Mechanik zu ‘atmen’ beginnt. Das Elementare, das das vermeintlich so rationale und funktionale Maschinenzeitalter ignoriert und verdrängt hat, kommt wieder im Denkmal zum Vorschein, nachdem die Funktionalität modernisiert und inzwischen noch unbewusster geworden ist. Ich glaube, es war Ernst Jünger, der zuletzt Zweifel an einer Freiheit hatte, die davon abhängt, dass Wasser, Strom und Gas in unsichtbarer guter Hand sind." [Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy]
"The ever so busy bee Simon Whetham and his multiple travels around the world. Here we find him guest of the McNeill Street Pumping Station New Music Festival in Shreveport, Louisiana in November 2011 where Whetham spend a week going about this pumping installation to create a multi-channel performance of his music. It's not only the pumps, but the complete site, the buildings and the people around it that have been captured by him and collages into five pieces of music, totaling around 53 minutes. With Whetham, I must admit, I am never sure what it is that he does. Obviously he picks up sounds from the environment, that's hardly a secret, but then what does he do? Is he playing them one at a time (which I doubt), is he layering them together, or is there any sort of electronic treatment going on? I assume the latter is the case, but I might be wrong altogether. Whetham does apply 'musical' techniques to create his music, like using loops in the fifth part of a jackhammer, the
melodic drone touch in the third part and such like. He creates all these little touches which stretches it far beyond the mere documentation of a certain area. Spooky and mysterious at times, this is another fine addition to what mounts to a vast amount of releases by now. It's almost on par with his recent 'Never So Alone' (see Vital Weekly 870), which I thought was his best so far. This one is almost as refined I am to say. It's only in the smaller, somewhat untouchable details that I think this is just a bit less. Just a bit, I may add. If the name Whetham is new to you, then 'Hydrostatic' is an equal fine starting point." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
"The globe-trotting British sound artist Simon Whetham found himself in Shreveport, Louisiana in 2011 where he was commissioned to develop a body of work based on the defunct MacNeill Street Pumping Station. This artifact of the 19th Century was the last known steampowered water plant in the United States and has been a historical site for several decades now. He was one of many acclaimed artists asked to contribute to the seemingly inactive MacNeill Street Pumping Station New Music Festival, alongside Tim Hecker, Lawrence English, Mark Fell, Eli Kezler, and about a dozen other denizens of avant-garde soundcraft. It was a great idea to have all of these artists develop compositions, installations, and performances within such an interesting space; and we can hope that the festival is merely on temporary hiatus. Needless to say, here we have the stereo mix of Whetham's multichannel installation that he presented at the festival. His source material consists of drones from the huge metal pools and the network of pipes from that space, focusing mostly on the resonant frequencies of the ghostly drones and watery tones. Overlapping, sinewy electric vibrations tumble into a pool of isolationist dank at the beginning of the album before a reverberant flute utters a solitary bellow amidst the metallic klang reverb articulating two of the techniques of Whetham's sound-hunting - that of the contact microphone on sonorous objects and the open-air recordings of those reflective surfaces. Deep, low-end rattlings gird the bulk of Hydrotasic with wind-swept thrumming, agitated found objects, and plenty of nocturnal clutter being moved around by the ghosts that lurk in the sticky humidity of a Louisiana swamp, or at least that's what it sounds like. Brilliantly akin to the processed field recording work of Jonathan Coleclough, Thomas Koner, and BJ Nilsen." [Aquarius Records]
|
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Forced to repeat Myself |
CD |
“When performing with a limited set of resources, through choices in materials to work with and the constraints of being nomadic, there can be a tendency to repeat actions and scenes that 'work', even when improvising and having to respond to each new situation in a unique way.”
One characteristic aspect of the touring experience that is not discussed often enough is the dilemma of repetition.
Not repetition as a mechanism of the work itself, but as a tedious consequence of being obligated to perform night after night in quick succession. Generating a completely unique performance for each stop, even with the assistance of improvisation, is a laborious undertaking that consumes too much time and sanity, while adhering to a rigid set of rules leaves one open to both burnout and diminishing returns. Is there a way to split the difference so that both performer and audience are always engaged to the highest standard?
“I set these constraints on myself. The need to produce something (at least a little) different in each event of a tour was fierce, especially when traveling with other musicians.”
Explicitly within the title itself of his latest CD, Forced To Repeat Myself, UK sound artist and composer Simon Whetham tackles these questions with both a sly wit and sincere inquisitiveness. The tracks, all collected from recordings documenting a 2018 tour, utilize analogous source material and means of execution. Whetham paid particular attention to the contour and character of each venue when deciding how to best put the pieces together, offering a customization that subverts pure deja vu for a sharp observance of the unfamiliar.
“In each situation objects and materials unique to the space were incorporated into the performance setup and structure, generating sounds or resonating with them. And yet I could hear similar scenes, movements, even spaces. This repetition determined the dynamic of the composition, working with it and against it.”
By the very nature of their disseminating sparseness, the tracks of Forced To Repeat Myself demand from the listener an attentiveness fixed on nuance and variation. The amplified cracks and static of ethereal currents and anonymous electronics infer the works of others who’ve made it their mission to attune our attention toward sounds outside our natural perception, including Christina Kubisch’s electrical walks, Toshimaru Nakamura’s no-input mixer excursions, and Jason Zeh’s experiments with blank tapes and the mechanizations of his cassette players. Whetham’s shaping of the album’s source material to highlight certain exclusivities of each live performance emphasizes how the inherent dynamics of time and chance guide his self-imposed constraints into pathbreaking spectrums.
“The title references a phrase many of us will have heard in our formative years, ’Why do you force me to repeat myself?’ I have no answer to this question. I never forced anyone to do anything. But with this work, I did.”
One inherent paradox of Forced To Repeat Myself is that each listen naturally manifests a distinct, individual experience. The way sounds are received and processed in one instance to the next each forget their own entryway into transcribing meaning from this abstraction. And Whetham is keenly aware of this as the sounds of Forced To Repeat Myself find consistent, unique ways to perpetuate themselves, ensuring any repetition to be delicately understated.
https://simonwhetham.bandcamp.com/album/forced-to-repeat-myself
|
2022 |
€13.00 |
|
| WHETHAM, SIMON & FRIENDS |
Meditations on Light |
do-CD |
"In 2009 Simon Whetham was commissioned by painter Kathryn Thomas to compose a surround sound composition and installation to accompany her Darkspace project, a series of paintings inspired by the infinity of the cosmos, which was exhibited as part of her biggest solo exhibition to date, 'Lightyears'. The composition was also mixed down to a stereo version, mastered by Scanner, and released on Simon's own label, Traceable Echoes, to be available to visitors of the exhibition. Many other artists heard the work and gave praise to this departure from Simon's work up until that point, as for the first time he had composed with much more musical elements, and an idea
emerged. Simon was already planning his own reworking of the raw materials of 'Lightyears', as he felt the brief was very restrictive, and wanted to hear the results of using the same material without these constraints. He also offered the opportunity to all artists who responded positively to the work to produce their own characteristic interpretation of the composition.Here are the results; a common thread is evident, but very individual voices are heard, leading you on an immersive, engaging journey..." [label info]
www.monochromevision.ru
|
2011 |
€15.00 |
|
| WHITE NOISE |
An Electric Storm |
LP |
"Still available. 'An Electric Storm' (1969) is justly renowned among techno boffins as one of the first albums to fuse pop, psychedelia and electronic music before the advent of the Moog synthesizer. But you don't have to be versed in the language of sine waves and oscillators to enjoy this mostly delightful and hugely inventive album." [label info]
www.islandrecords.com
"White Noise's landmark 1969 album An Electric Storm might not the first thing most people think of when considering 1960s music, but there are few records anywhere tied more intrinsically to the moment of their creation. Recorded in the months immediately prior to the widespread availability of keyboard-based synthesizers, An Electric Storm might be one of the most painstakingly crafted electronic recordings of all time. Pieced together on improvised equipment via innumerable tape edits, this remarkable album is at once futuristic and unavoidably date-stamped, serving as a fascinating audio snapshot of a bygone era in sound generation and recording technology.
One of the few acts in pop music history able to trace their origins to the lecture hall, White Noise were first conceived when American electronic engineer David Vorhaus-- following a lecture by BBC Radiophonic Workshop veteran Delia Derbyshire-- enlisted Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson to integrate their experimental electronics with more pop-oriented material. (Derbyshire, of course, was by this point already responsible for the classic theme song from "Dr. Who" and other music for BBC TV and radio programs.) Commissioned by Island Records' Chris Blackwell, the three musical scientists soon holed themselves up for months in their Camden Town studio, fastidiously assembling what Vorhaus later surmised to be the most heavily tape-spliced album in history.
Yet knowledge of White Noise's academic or technical background does little to prepare the listener for the widescale psychedelic mayhem of An Electric Storm. Despite its brief 35-minute running length, the album covers an enormous amount of stylistic ground, as White Noise overlay their fractured pop songcraft with musique concrète effects, weird bits of radio theater, and long stretches of gothic horror. While other groups of the period--such as Silver Apples or The United States of America--made use of similarly primitive electronic equipment, An Electric Storm was a separate beast entirely, and its singular textures have been a primary influence on such subsequent acts as Stereolab, Broadcast and Belbury Poly.
Not originally issued in the U.S. until 1973, the album has seldom stayed in print for long, and surely owes at least a portion of its peculiar mystique to its rarity. With their latest reissue, Universal has kept the original tracklist intact, without unearthing any additional alternate or bonus material. The album has been splendidly re-mastered, however, and An Electric Storm remains a virtually requisite headphone experience with an otherworldly appeal that transcends its considerable influence.
Like so many ambitious albums of the time, An Electric Storm is consciously split into two distinct sides, the first half dubbed "Phase In" and the second "Phase Out". On the first side, White Noise indulge their daffy pop appetites with such bizarre trinkets as the cartoonish "Here Come the Fleas" and "Love Without Sound", the sensuous track which first encouraged Blackwell to pony up the cash for the full album. With the aid of rotating vocalists Annie Bird, Val Shaw, and John Whitman, the songs on the album's first half are melodic and memorable, and often infused with a cheeky sense of humor. The group's quirky wit is perhaps best witnessed on "My Game of Loving"; the album's notorious "orgy" track that follows an ecstatic bit of sexual frenzy with the sound of contented snoring.
Things get considerably scarier during the lengthy "Phase Out" segment, which begins with the group's 11-minute ambient centerpiece "The Visitations". This death-defying piece, which reportedly took over 3 months in the studio to assemble, ostensibly tells the tale of a motorcycle accident and its supernatural aftermath. Packed dense with disembodied noises and eerie panning effects, this intense track can become addictively engrossing, a perfect slice of audio theater that one can't help but ride through to the very end.
Vorhaus, Derbyshire and Hodgson took so long in recording An Electric Storm that Island started to get antsy, and well before completion the label began to demand the finished product. Presented with the challenge of such a time crunch, many groups might panic and fall back upon more conventional material. But true to their iconoclastic nature, White Noise instead improvised the still-astonishing "The Black Mass- An Electric Storm in Hell", a spirited cacophony layered thick with percussion, funereal chanting, and the tormented screams of the damned. Like the rest of An Electric Storm, this dark finale sounds quite unlike anything recorded before or since, and stubbornly refuses to ever settle in as background music.
And this unrehearsed episode of grotesquerie provides An Electric Storm with a strangely appropriate ending, as it stands as one final monument to White Noise's unique inspiration and eccentric approach to technical problem-solving. Theoretically, with the benefit of all the ensuing advances in recording technology, it should be easier than ever for today's musicians to duplicate such a production. Perhaps this deceptive sense of ease is precisely why no one has ever really been able to do so." [Matthew Murphy / Pitchfork]
|
2008 |
€20.00 |
|
| WHITE STAINS |
Singleminded Dualisms |
CD |
WHITE STAINS came into the minds of many listeners thanks to the regular debut album, recorded together with Psychic TV "Live At Stockholm". However, the history of this band and its metamorphoses goes back much further. Founded by Carl Abrahamsson, from the beginning it served as a tool for proclaiming manifestos inspired by the works of, among others, Aleister Crowley (White Stains is the title of one of the most important texts of the British magician) and other proponents of free thought. While the issues they raised were invariably focused around the subject of occultism and secret knowledge, in the musical layer the band underwent many metamorphoses: from occult/gothic rock through ambient to experimental electronics. As their style crystallized, Carl and Thomas Tibert renamed White Stains to Cotton Ferox. This publication opens the series of reissues of the Swedish group. It is a collection of all short publications that preceded their debut, recorded in the years 1987-1989 and released in the same time only on vinyl 7" and 12" EPs. So far, they have not been available on any other medium. The whole thing was provided with a proper commentary by Carl Abrahamsson, which is a great introduction to listening to the material, pointing to the context in which the compositions contained therein were created.
On the occasion of this publication, we have prepared a special collector's edition in a wooden box, limited to only 50 pieces, which, apart from the regular CD, contains various extras: cards with replicas of the original covers, a sticker, pins and a backpack (bag) with the characteristic logo of the Swedish band.
credits
released June 15, 2023
Previously released / tracks taken from:
1. Sweet Jayne*
2. Here to Do*
(1988, AOIT 001, 12” 400 copies w 40 in purple vinyl)
3. It’s Yours If You Want It*
(1988, TOPYSCAN 002 PETS, track on the compilation LP “Swedish Exotica Vol 1”, 1000 copies)
4. Express Your Desire*
5. Death At Hand*
(1989, TOPYSCAN 004, 7”, 500 copies)
6. The Energy**
7. Phase of Madness**
(1988, TOPYSCAN 001, 7”, 93 copies, with 23 copies in red vinyl)
8. The Awareness***
9. My Hallucination***
(1989, TOPYSCAN 003, 7”, 93 copies, with 23 copies in blue vinyl)
10. The Result***
11. Ov Like Mind***
(1989, TOPYSCAN 007, 7”, 93 copies, with 23 copies in green vinyl)
* Carl Abrahamsson: vocals, Jan Ekman: lead guitar, Tomas Sandell: guitar, Johan Sandell: bass guitar, Nicklas Hansen: drums
** Carl Abrahamsson: vocals, bass guitar, Jan Ekman: guitar
*** Carl Abrahamsson: vocals, Peter Bergstrandh: bass guitar, Jan Ekman: guitar, Thomas Tibert: synthesizers
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/singleminded-dualisms
|
2023 |
€13.00 |
|
| WHITE, FRANCES |
In the Library of Dreams |
CD |
"I was going to write about how this is an absolutely beautiful and disturbing record, but I think quoting from the liner notes of James Pritchett really does sum it up. 'Frances White invites us to take a walk through her Resonant Landscape. Where are we going? We are walking through the woods, marshes, and streams of New Jersey. She points out the birds and frogs that make their home there, the water that flows through it and the wind that shakes the trees. But then we turn and there is that other sound world, the one in which these woodland sounds are transformed, or in which we find sounds altogether new: spectral birds singing to us through a sparkly haze; distant colored winds, like the breath of giants; the air around us, alive, charged with long, low drones and sudden electric crashes. There is something magical about this other world, and (like most magic) there is something disturbing here as well. We move between the two worlds almost at random, bumping into one sound after another. We find ourselves rising off the path and floating, then falling abruptly into silence, reappearing in a marsh full of geese and blackbirds. This is more than a sonic postcard from Princeton: it is a journey into the inner world of Frances White. We could call it an electroacoustic dream drawn from her memories of hikes in the woods. As in a dream, real experience is placed in a surreal context, a play of inner and outer. We fill in the gaps, supplying connections among the random fragments of reality, memory, and imagination. This gets to the heart of White's music. She has made a body of work in which she takes the real, brings it into her being, transforms it there, and then brings it out again in her compositions. Technically, she works by using the computer to manipulate recorded sounds and to synthesize wholly new ones. She mixes her timbres by hand as a painter would mix colors, and she applies them lovingly and painstakingly to her canvas of silence. But the power of her work comes from her ability to take listeners on journeys through her inner sense of sound, finding something luminous, exalted, dramatic, and at times frightening there. Her music is like the work of dreams, both the pleasant ones and the nightmares. It is not by accident that Gus Van Sant set the calmly-executed bloodbath of his film Elephant to one of White's Walks through 'Resonant Landscape'. White's unsettling juxtapositions of real and imagined sound work well with Van Sant's matter-of-fact treatment of almost unwatchable violence. Frances White studied composition at the University of Maryland, Brooklyn College, and Princeton University. She has received awards, grants, commissions, and fellowships from organizations such as the Guggenheim Foundation, Meet the Composer, the Alice M. Ditson Fund, the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, Prix Ars Electronica, the International Computer Music Association, ASCAP, the Bang On A Can Festival, and the Other Minds Festival. Ms. White's music can be heard on CD on the Wergo, Centaur, Nonsequitur, Harmonia Mundi, and Bridge Records labels. A CD devoted to her chamber works, Centre Bridge, was released in August of 2007 on the Mode label. Ms. White's music was featured as part of the soundtrack of three of Gus Van Sant movies." [label info]
www.pogus.com
"This new Pogus release is a work of a composer who is completely new to me. White studied composition at the University of Maryland, Brooklyn College, and Princeton University. Some of her work has been released by labels like Mode, Bridge, Harmonia Mundi, etc. This new release gathers six compositions for very different line ups. The first one, ‘Chosi’ is for solo shakuhachi, beautifully played by Ralph Samuelson. White studied Shakuhachi herself and feels inspired by traditional music that has shakuhachi in a main role. Also she feels inspired by nature. No wonder that she often uses natural field recordings in her electronic work. Just like Jonas Braasch, White has a comparable fascination for space and environment in her musical output, like titles as ‘Walk through Resonant Landscape 5.1’and ‘Walk through Resonant Landscape 5.2’ indicate. Both titles provide a picture or metaphor that describes how one can experience these pieces: it feels like a travel through different parts of a jungle. Here birdcalls dominate, there sounds from insects. The works are built up as a series of waves of manipulated environmental sounds. The works have a fine balance of acoustical natural sounds and electronics. White builds successful imaginary landscapes and surroundings. Also I would say she is searching for some spiritual quality in sound. The title piece ‘In the Library of Dreams’ is written for viola d’amore played here by David Cerutti, against a background of electronic sounds. Only one piece is for an ensemble, ‘The Ocean Inside’ played by Eight Blackbird, an ensemble of six musicians. It is a romantic piece of work of slowly moving patterns that disappear in a background of fragile sounds. The closing piece ‘The Book of Roses and Memory’ has very sensible playing by Liuh Wen Ting on viola and Thomas Buckner as narrator. The electroacoustic music of White takes you into dreamy atmospheres, with compositions that are not extremely complicated. In fact her work is very accessible. It is also very solid work and far from some easy romantic pastiche." [DM/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€13.00 |
|
| WHITEHEAD, CHRIS / ANDREA BORGHI |
Wade's Causeway / Gelazen |
CD |
SEMPERFLORENS label begins a series of Split-Discs. time will tell whether this idea good or bad. But I sincerely hope that you will accept this venture with dignity and appreciation. The series opens with two small works of...
Chris Whitehead
Chris recorder material exclusively for our label. The source of inspiration as well as workplace for this record became the abandoned Roman. This abandoned architectural monument is filled with diversity of nature's ambient sounds and Chris' reflections about the symbiosis of life and death. This is gorgeous and nuanced sound work worthy of multiple immersion to reveal the hidden at first glance facets.
Andrea Borghi
In recent years, Andrea Borghi focused on study of substitutability of material and sound. He makes sound directly from the concrete material through "discomateria". He is experimenting with different materials such as glass, plastic, metal, and more recently, marble. In discomateria one play, treated and processed and generate sound in real time. And at the same time discomateria is independent works of art. So, all tracks on this album are mainly documented pieces of process of improvisation.
format: CD in digifile ltd. 300
www.semperflorens.net/sf01sp.html
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| WHITMAN, KEITH FULLERTON |
Lisbon |
CD |
„KEITH FULLERTON WHITMAN ist nicht nur irgend ein umtriebiger Musiker der seiner Zeit voraus scheint, er ist einer der Wenigen, die denjenigen, die da noch kommen mögen, neue Straßen pflastern. "Lisbon" ist bereits seine fünfte Veröffentlichung in den letzten drei Jahren und entstand auf seiner letzten Europatour im Galeria Ze Dos Bois in, genau, Lissabon. In den 41 Minuten Spielzeit vermittelt "Lisbon" einen sehr guten Einblick in die Whitmansche Herangehensweise der Live-Umsetzung seiner Idee von Musik. Aus diese Zusammenführung synthetischer als auch organischer Elemente lässt WHITMAN mit "Lisbon" einen atonalen, düster, dynamischen Monolithen erwachsen. WHITMAN war nach langer Tour ausgebrannt und mit Tinitusproblemen in Lissabon angekommen und wand sich frisch inspiriert vom Zauber der portugiesischen Hauptstadt neueren Klangforschungen zu, bei denen er neue Aufnahmetechniken entwickelte und erprobte. Eine Zeit, in der sich auch seine Herangehensweise, weg vom ausgefeilten, perfektionistischen hin zum Fehler und Natürlichkeit zulassenden wandelte.//
Those of you who have been lucky enough to get a copy of the recent "22 Minutes for Electric Guitar" tour-only mini-cd on Entschuldigen may have an idea of just where my head's been at over the past year or so regarding the evolution of the "Playthroughs" system of live/real-time guitar/computer synthesis; the piece I often play in concert has gradually been getting much darker, more dynamic, and in general; monolithic. I've started to embrace traditional "loud guitar" concepts (via a collection of bizarre, home-made/boutique guitar pedals) along with the sine-tone throb and "slow aerosol dispersion" of the classic "Playthroughs" material. More recently, I've augmented the pure-guitar sound(s) with a collection of small, battery-powered sound-devices and several tapes of "automatic synthesizer compositions" (recorded this past summer on the same Serge Modular Protoype and Buchla Music Box 100 systems used on Multiples) and field recordings from all over god's green earth. Finally, on top of all that I've re-kindled my love of Alvin Lucier-lineage process music by placing microphones and small speakers / fm receivers / speakers around the space, capturing the sounds as they occur at various points in the room, feeding them back through the central artery that is the max-msp-based playthroughs patch, then out again to any number of locations... This recording, captured to hard disk on stage at Galeria Ze Dos Bois on October 4th 2005, is in my mind the perfect encapsulation of all of these elements into a single lilting piece of static sine-tone harmonics, squared-off electric guitar haze, clangorous roomtone eruptions, and high-end synth freakouts...” [Cargo / press release]
www.brainwashed.com/kranky
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
live |
7 |
Atmosphärische, experimentelle Gitarren-Pickings für Freunde von TORAL, MAZZACANE-CONNERS, KRANKY Records..
“ this is the second release by keith fullerton whitman as keith fullerton whitman - and it's a beautiful diversion to his mighty drill'n'bass productions as hrvatski (on his own label reckankreuzungsklankewerkzeuge) or dj hekla (recently on planet mu). you could witness that already last year on his first release on apartement b, a stunning guitar-cum-laptop cd. although "live (at the tremont theater)" also consists of these elements the result differs from that cd for it's more a coalition between the fragile
sound of the acoustic guitar and the punctual sparkling electronic
interruptions by the computer processing. the sublime beauty of the two long pieces – the 7" contains almost 14 minutes of music - of, say, loren-mazzacane connors or some of o'rourkes early pieces which results in a strumming drone-fest. this live recording was the opening slot for a peter kowald-daniel carter-lawrence cook-jonathan lamaster quartet show at the tremont theatre in boston's thriving theatre district and shows once more whitman's ability to combine different aspects of experimental and electronic music. imagine godspeed you black emperor! stripped down to a solo project - watch out for his longplayer on kranky soon.” [press-release]
www.tonschacht.com |
2002 |
€6.00 |
|
| WHITMAN, KEITH FULLERTON / ALIEN RADIO |
split |
LP |
"We are stoked and honoured to release this Deutsch-Amerikanische meeting of two Meisters of the Modular Electronic Music System (originally invented by Don Buchla in 1963 for the likes of Morton Subotnick, Ramon Sender, Terry Riley et al at the San Francisco Tape Music Center). Both are presenting very distinct approaches displaying the vast possibilities of the machine yet maintaining similar Klang aesthetics (and maximum quality). KFW is a renowned master of the Modular, especially in live situations. 101105 is Whitman captured at his most symphonic. Recorded last year at one of the semi-monthly The Bunker parties in Brooklyn opening for members of Ectomorph he sent the audience (all high on LSD) straight into sawtooth arpeggio heaven. 101105 is a condensed edit of these recordings, cut on 45rpm for maximum fidelity. KFW has released records on a myriad of labels, most notably on Kranky and Planet µ (under his Hrvatski pseudonym). Last year's (vinyl-only) album Disingenuity b/w Disingenuousness on Pan made it into many year-end Top 10 lists, including The Wire and Boomkat. This year Whitman has been commissioned a residency at GRM studios to work on a piece for François Bayle's original 80-channel acousmonium! Alien Radio is one of many aliases of Northern Germany's Ulf Schütte, a (part-time) member of Datashock, Black To Comm, Aosuke, Phantom Horse, etc. and founder of the Tape Tektoniks cassette label. His recent Modular System explorations showcase a more basic, sketchy and song-based approach, reminding of Jan Jelinek's Ursula Bogner recordings and having been compared to the likes of Conny Planck, Delia Derbyshire and Dick Raaijmakers. His debut release was a split 7 on the Belgian Kraak label with Köhn, Ducktails and Peaking Lights." [label info]
www.dekorder.de
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| WICKED MESSENGER |
The River disappeared sidewards |
CD |
"The first glance is often deceiving. What at first appears simple often turns out to be surprisingly complex and detailed. So too in the case of German Dark Ambient-project Wicked Messengers' first CD-release. At first one could be mistaken into thinking it's a minimalistic, monotonous and simple thing we've got on our hands here, but on the second listen (at the latest!) the depth and complexity of "The River" starts to become apparent. Even after several listens you discover something new in the rich layers of sound.
When it comes to (Dark) Ambient, too complex structures might potentially detract from the coherence and continuity of a composition, making it sound more like a collage of vastly different entities. Wicked Messenger manage to unite the coherence and continuity with surprisingly multi-faceted layers and compositions, with an integral core that is often quite monotonous yet never without some evolution, adding several layers of a very varied nature that lend diversity and complexity to the composition. There is a great and pleasing variety in the layers: human voices, bassy rumblings, more high-pitched metallic sounds, sparsely used percussions, et cetera. Percussion is not in a large role here, but when used, it is used to great effect.
Between the tracks, the common denominator is not only the full and clear sound but also the atmosphere; there is a strange warmth here, in spite of the more metallic-sounding layers... I cannot fully explain it, but it is a warm presence of sorts, very different from the usual detached inhuman nature of so many Dark Ambient-projects. It is as if the coldness of space around the astral traveller is removed by the warmth of gently shining distant suns, a tranquil drowsiness invading the mind of the traveller. "Sinister", "malevolent" and all the other usual words to describe Dark Ambient are words I would never use to describe "The River"... Hell, even "Dark" feels out of place. Mysterious, ominous, astral, haunting, beautiful, any of these words... but dark? Sinister? No. The listener is gently swept away (sidewards of course) by harmonious waves of sound, to a place somewhere far away where a gentle light shines upon the Aniara as she slowly drifts away from the known universe, and there is only peace and calm. A silver tear in the eye of the universe.
I admit. I'm a fan. No release of Wicked Messenger has so far let me down; not always outstanding, but never disappointing. "The River Disappeared Sidewards" is, without a speck of doubt, the finest release so far. I don't really have any complaints about it, and I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to get this CD and judge for themselves... I think few of you will be disappointed. I am 100% sure Wicked Messenger have the potential to evolve into something even better in the future, but this is a strong achievement and a fine first CD-release." [Kaniba, Finland, Plague Haus] |
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| WICKHAM-SMITH, SIMON |
Love & Lamentation |
CD |
Eine kaum zu beschreibende, faszinierende Klangwelt (basierend auf Bearbeitungen von vokalem Material) betritt man auf der neuen CD von SIMON WICKHAM-SMITH. Ob er ein buddhistisches Gebet verfremdet, einen poetischen Text von mehreren Personen gelesen multipel übereinanderlegt, oder Klagegesänge von Psalmen mit dem Sazspiel & der Stimme des türkischen "Troubadours" ASIK VEYSEL SIRSOGLU auf seltsamste Weise verbindet: stets schafft er so ungewöhnliche Ergebnisse dass man das Gefühl hat, etwas derartiges garantiert noch nie vorher gehört zu haben - auch die emotionale Wirkung beim Hören hat etwas ungeahntes, noch nicht eindeutiges...
"... Its not easy to describe the music of Wickham-Smith, both from how it was made and how it sounds. Perhaps he uses a computer to alter his sounds, but I tend to believe that's only in the final stage of the process. I envisage his music as generated with lo-fi means: worn out cassettes, cheap samplers, reel-to-reel tape loops. There are three pieces on this album, all of which seem to be dealing with voices, altered and otherwise. Wickham-Smith takes these, makes loops out of them and crafts a minimalist changing pattern with them. Through the various techniques, which I hope to be lo-fi as outlined before, the sounds are a bit hissy, static, crumbled, warped, folded and of a lower resolution. Chanting like in 'Sandokai' or the three parts of the title piece, or more poetry spoken word in 'The Kin-Kindness Of Beforehand', this is all excellent stuff, bringing back the good memories of his older work (which, if Vital Weekly wouldn't consume so much of my ear-time, I would grab out and play again). Wickham-Smith's music is like an anthropologic quest for voices connected of rituals, all over the world, from Tibet to Egypt, but he manages to give things a twist of his own, while maintaining a zen-like character to them. Great one." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"... The "Sandokai" ("The Harmony of Difference and Equality") is a prayer written by the eighth century Japanese Zen teacher Sekito Kisen. The basis for this piece was a tape given to Wickham-Smith by a nun of a recital at her monastery. He wanted to create of this sample a prayer without borders, a follow-up to an earlier work, Ave Regina Caelorum (2000, released on Extreme Bukake [VHF65]), in which he used the Latin plainsong of a prayer to the Virgin Mary in much the same way. The organ sample at the end is from a piece by Erik Satie, whose spirituality was equally strange and eclectic. All the samples have been stretched and pitch-shifted beyond (immediate) recognition; to the ears they have melded into something that seems at once both ethereal and solid.
"The Kin-kindness of Beforehand" grew out of his "Multiple Tongues" project, a series of pieces in which Wickham-Smith exposed the spoken word in many different languages to a series of digital manipulations. The Kin-kindness of Beforehand is divided up into several distinct sections, each of which took on a particular persona during its creation. For the composer, this was the most complex of all the "Multiple Tongues" works, because he wanted to use specific strings of words and the quality of writer Rachel Becker¹s voice somehow to comment on each another.
"love & lamentation" started life as a setting for voice and electronics of part of the biblical Book of Lamentation, but it quickly became clear that the literal setting of words was not going to convey the melancholic intimacy that needed to be expressed. As a teenager Wickham-Smith had heard Alain Gheerbrant¹s wonderful ethnomusicological recordings of a blind Turkish troubador and had fallen hopelessly in love with his voice and exquisite playing of the saz. About the same time, through his friend Richard Youngs, he had discovered also the ex tempore psalm singing of the Scottish Isle of Lewis. Fifteen years later, he decided that these two could be made somehow to work together to show the love and lamentation which he felt they both held in their deeper recesses, and which he wanted to present in this new piece. The result is a strange melée of feelings, repetitions and textures. From time to time we hear a somewhat bizarre percussion sample, which he had first worked on in 2000. Part 3 opens with an offcut from an unreleased (and now never-to-be-released) piece from 1999 called Deaf Piano. Veysel¹s voice starts the piece and revolves through Part 2 in a kind of hippy trance love-in fashion. The congregation from Lewis sing their melancholy in a sparser and maybe wilder ways and die slowly away into the distance at the close." [label info]
www.pogus.com
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
| WIEMAN |
Alive Futarist Minifesta |
CD |
"In 1914 Luigi Russolo wrote his famous 'Art Of Noise' manifest. The 100th anniversary of 'Futurism' was celebrated all over the world but also in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Wieman was invited to perform their meltpot of futurist noise and since Tilburg is the hometown of their close friend Jos Smolders, and since he has switched to modular synthesis (and his synthesizer looks like a space ship control unit anyway), it was decided we would join forces for this project. In the usual fashion of home preparation and then spending a day to sort out the sequence of the tracks, Wieman and Smolders set to work, plundering freely from recordings of Russolo's original 'Intonarumori' instruments, via the sixties soundtracks of sci-fi movies (Star Trek, 2001 A Space Odyssey), Vivenza's machine recordings, industrial music and afro futurism, Wieman applied their usual meltpop techniques, while Smolders added his modular synth madness. It's bursting with mechanical rhythms, spacey choirs, and machine noise as well as sampled spoken word. In accordance with true meltpop the guessing game (hmmm, where have I hear this before?) is yours.
Wieman is the project of Roel Meelkop & Frans de Waard; the logical runner-up to Goem, first called Zèbra, but in 2012 they changed their name to Wieman. They call their music meltpop and take conceptual approaches to create new music. They created new pieces out of the catalogue of Factory Records, worked with music that had the word 'music' in it, remixed music from the cassette label Limbabwe Tapes, provided music for a performance leading up to screening of 'El Topo' by Alejandro Jodorowsky (together with Ben Schot), worked with Wally van Middendorp (of Minny Pops), reworked Cybe (80s synth musician) for an LP, dissected classical notions in pop music and even mined their own Goem catalogue as the source of music for a new piece of music. They only work on commissioned music.
Jos Smolders is a composer and mastering engineer, who recorded for Korm Plastics, Quiet Artworks and Staalplaat, is a member of THU20 and WaSm (together with Frans de Waard) and whose motto is that "Getting into the headspace and understanding the perspective of the artist is essential". His mastering clients include Merzbow, Pierre Henry and Scanner among many others." [label info]
|
2016 |
€10.00 |
|
| WIESE, JOHN |
Deviate from Balance |
do-LP |
"John Wiese's long awaited Deviate From Balance is the artist's first album since 2011's Seven Of Wands (PAN). Recorded throughout Europe/UK, Australia, and the US, the album includes scored ensemble pieces including over 20 musicians on each, recorded in Melbourne and Portland, as well as audio documentation of installation pieces Wind Changed Direction, a four-channel sound piece presented in the garden of the Getty Center (curated by Liars), and Battery Instruments, an eight-channel piece presented at HSP in New Zealand, now heard for the first time. Also included are various collaborations and recordings from live performances. At over 80 minutes, Deviate From Balance has been packaged as a 2×LP with tip-on gatefold jackets. Musicians appearing include Joseph Hammer, Ikue Mori, Evan Parker, C Spencer Yeh, Joe Preston, Smegma and countless more. The material is extremely diverse and services as a comprehensive and detailed document of this prolific individuals work over the past several years." [label info]
www.gilgongorecords.com
|
2015 |
€32.00 |
|
| WILKEN, ANSGAR |
Thank You |
10inch |
"Ansgar Wilken is a skilled kitchen sink avantgardist who‘s not only playing the cello or the fiddle but is also utilising his cutlery and dishes to make you feel at home in his unique and colourful universe of sound. A plethora of sonic adventures awaits the avid listener, musical surprises catch the ear, voices high and low are calling – there‘s even a hamster‘s cage rattling! Playfully produced, „Thank You“ keeps giving with every new listen. Think of Moondog thumbing Michael Francis Duch‘s nose and you‘re close
Originaly published 2014 as Cassette on Spam.
10" released in an edition of 300.
Music: cello, fiddle, keyboard, electronics, samples, camping dishes, glasses, hamster cage by Ansgar Wilken
Mastering: Frank Schültge Blum
Photo: Jann Wilken
Layout: Ansgar Wilken & Xenia Zenner"
|
2016 |
€13.00 |
|
| WINDEREN, JANA |
Spring Bloom in the Marginal Ice Zone |
CD |
The listener experiences the bloom of plankton, the shifting and crackling sea ice in the Barents Sea around Spitsbergen (towards the North Pole) and the underwataer sounds made by bearded seals, migrating species such as humpbacks and orcas, and the sound of hunting seithe and spawning cod. All depend on the spring bloom.
In view of the recent UN Climate Change report, this release is most timely...
The marginal ice zone is the dynamic border between the open sea and the sea ice, which is ecologically extremely vulnerable. The phytoplankton present in the sea produces half of the oxygen of the planet. During spring, this zone is the most important CO2 sink in our biosphere. In 'Spring Bloom in the Marginal Ice Zone' the sounds of living creatures become a voice in the current political debate concerning the official definition of the location of the ice edge.
'Spring Bloom in the Marginal Ice Zone' is Winderen’s latest instalment in a series of works that reveal the sounds of underwater life, from the warm waters in the Caribbean to the cold and nourishing waters around Greenland, Norway and Iceland. 'Spring Bloom in the Marginal Ice Zone' was a Sonic Acts and Dark Ecology commission supported by Art & Technology — Arts Council Norway, Fond for lyd og bilde, Tono stipendet, ARCEx R/V Helmer Hanssen, University in Tromsø & Foundation Mamont.
Artwork & photography by Jon Wozencroft
Booklet photography by Philipp Assmy
Mastered by Denis Blackham, Skye
Published by Touch Music/Fairwood Music UK Ltd
Thanks to Paul Wassmann, Carlos Duarte, Britt Kramvig, Berit Kristoffersen, Hilde Methi, Northsailing, Tromsø Friluft Centre, TBA21 Academy. |
2018 |
€16.00 |
|
| WINDY & CARL |
The Dream House |
do-CD |
„ 'The eternal Struggle', der Titel des ersten Tracks auf dieser zwei CDs umfassenden und achtzig Minuten dauernden Huldigung der Langsamkeit, beschreibt die Musik von Windy Weber und Carl Hultgren treffender und prägnanter, als dies Horden von Kritikern in Dutzenden Reviews zustande bringen könnten. Langsam und zäh entfaltet sich ein nahezu dreißig Minuten langes Stück, das trotz seiner Dauer und Viskosität genau das vollbringt, was guter Ambientmusik heutzutage oft fehlt, nämlich die Fähigkeit, den Hörer stundenlang in den bequemen Ohrensessel drücken zu können. 'I have been waiting to hear your voice' knüpft hingegen eher an älteres Windy and Carl-Material an, wie es beispielsweise auf „Antarctica“ bereits zu hören gewesen war. Hier liegt der Fokus auf lang anhaltenden Drones, die jedoch nie nach Laptop klingen, sondern so organisch wirken, als hätte man sie in einer großen Konzerthalle oder Kathedrale aufgenommen. Die zwei auf der zweiten CD „Dedications to Flea“ enthaltenen Stücke sind dem gleichnamigen, verstorbenen Hund gewidmet und bewegen sich musikalisch auf dem gleichen Niveau, das Windy and Carl mit „The Dream House“ als Maßstab ausgegeben hatten. Um den Bezug zu dem Verblichenen herzustellen, wurden jedoch einige Field Recordings integriert und die Stimmung gegen Ende der zwei Tracks etwas gedämpft. Auch mit ihrem ersten Lebenszeichen seit fünf Jahren gelingt Windy and Carl der eindrucksvolle Beleg, dass sie auf dem Gebiet der sich langsam entfaltenden Musik ein einzigartiges Gespür für den richtigen Ton zur richtigen Zeit besitzen und damit zu den Besten des Genres gehören.“ [Echoes-online.de]
"The Dream House is the first album of new material from Windy & Carl in five years. Recorded at their home studio in Dearborn, MI it consists of two tracks. The Dream House is in many ways the duo's simplest and most straight-forward release, concentrated as it is on two evolving pieces. It is also Windy & Carl's most ambitious recording, with the duo deliberating on longer forms. Windy & Carl are capable of sustaining melodic ideas and patiently apply attention to singular musical gestures. Windy Weber describes the album as being about 'death and dreams and beliefs and leaving and moving on.” [label info]
|
2005 |
€16.00 |
|
| WINER, LESLIE & VON HAUSSWOLFF, C.M |
1 |
LP |
Leslie Winer is an artist and author living and working in France. Earlier releases include Witch (recorded in 1990, released in 1993), & That Dead Horse (recorded in 1994, released in 2010), Always Already (2011), and the retrospective compilation Leslie Winer &c. (WHO 003CD, 2012). She has collaborated with Jon Hassell, Bomb the Bass, Mekon, and her words and voice were heard on a track on CI by Diamond Version (Carsten Nicolai and Olaf Bender) (2014). As of 2015, she is co-editor and co-executor for the estate of beat writer Herbert Huncke. (1), by Winer and Carl Michael von Hausswolff, is Winer's first full-length original release to be recorded since 1994. CM von Hausswolff divides his time between the worlds of music and visual art. His records, which he has been releasing since 1979, have been released by such labels as Radium 226.05, Ash International, Raster-Noton, Laton, iDEAL, and Touch. He curates Freq_Out, a collaborative sound installation shown in Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Marrakesh, and beyond, with such artists as JG Thirlwell, Finnbogi Petursson, Jana Winderen, and Christine Ödlund. He makes films with Thomas Nordanstad and music with Martin Rössel (as Gomila Park), Jean-Louis Huhta and Graham Lewis (as Ocsid), and Joachim Nordwall and Jason Lescalleet (as ENOUGH!!!). Leslie Winer and Carl Michael von Hausswolff met in 2011 in Lisbon, Portugal, via Philip Marshall, co-owner of The Tapeworm. They decided to make a vocal/electronic music collaboration just for fun, with no intentions to have it on any kind of phonogram. Time proved different! Text and vocals by Winer; music by von Hausswolff, except for "Talked to some of them," which features music by von Hausswolff and Nordanstad, from their 2009 film Electra, Texas 2008. Recorded, mixed, and treated in Vigny, France, and Stockholm, Sweden, 2012-13.
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"Leslie Winer has long been an intriguing figure to me, an eighties fashion model who while in London frequented Leigh Bowery's infamous Taboo nightclub. In New York in the seventies she lived with Jean Michael Basquiat and became acquainted with the Beats in the form of William S. Burroughs and Herbert Huncke. But it is her association with musicians connected to Adam And The Ants that really gets me. She had a short lived marriage to Kevin Mooney, and was instrumental in his post Ants projects Max and Wide Boy Awake.
This is her first proper album since Witch, a cult album with a turbulent history which first surfaced as a white label before its official release in 1993 on Transglobal Underground's own label. Its hazy atmosphere, spoken passages laced with samples and dub infused beats, has as many commentators pointed out laid down something of a blueprint to what became known as trip hop - something which Winer herself has reservations about. Witch featured a rich ensemble of artists including bassist Jah Wobble, filmmaker John Maybury, and various ex-Ants musicians including Mooney and Matthew Ashman, alongside Mooney's former Max/Wide Boy Awake associate John Keogh, as well as Karl Bonnie of Renegade Soundwave. Winer also featured on Sinead O'Connor\'s The Lion and the Cobra which in various formations also included Mooney, Marco Pirroni, and O'Connor\'s ex-husband John Reynolds, who also turns up on Witch. The interconnectedness between these players beggars belief and that\'s without bringing in John Gosling's Mekon whose releases feature many of the aforementioned, as well as Winer herself.
But that's just the backstory. In 2010 The Tapeworm released & That Dead Horse, a collection of unreleased recordings, while 2012 saw the release of & © on The Wormhole, containing material from the aforementioned Witch with other material recorded in Miami and collaborations with Vincent Gallo and Christophe Van Huffel. Van Huffel would go on to work with Winer as Purity Supreme releasing the guitar strewn atmospherics of Always Already as a 12-inch on Ash International. It was around this point The Tapeworm's Philip Marshall brought together Leslie Winer and Swedish sound artist and composer Carl Michael von Hausswolff, who agreed to collaborate on music. The results are (1).
It's easy to regard Winer's delivery as a stream of consciousness, but there's thought behind her lyrics and particularly in the emphasis found within her phrasing. Lines appear and then reappear later in another form, as she plays with reality, in a voice deeper and more lived in than the mischievous delivery of Witch. It's difficult to ascertain Winer's viewpoint in her words on (1), as they sway between the poetic and the philosophical, especially on the longer tracks found on the first side. On 'I'll Be Mother' over a discreet ringing drone, she ruminates about "the next generation" and the need for "a pharmacological method of making people love." Her husky drawl, speaks of a susceptible populace where "we are creators, yet we have also been created". "I'll Be Mother" she repeats, adopting the role of the maternal figure characterised in the ritual of making tea. Winer, as executor to the works of Herbert Huncke, has long been associated with the Beats, but it is in the following track the friendship and the education learned from William Burroughs comes to the fore. 'I'll Be Mother' may have touched upon the Control Process that Burroughs dwelt on, but 'This Discreet Organ' looks to transformative powers of interconnectedness, touching upon observation and evolutionary evidence to question "long held notions of who and what we think we are" where time, sequence, speech, language and pattern recognition play a role. This is Winer in full-on philosopher mode: "The concept of what a thing looks like takes precedence over direct observation". In measured breathless tones she reflects on human development and the need for sleep, questioning evolution, biology and gender roles when she inquires "Did women throw enough spears?" Mirroring Burroughs she asks "Who is running the show?" over Von Hausswolff's lingering drone.
More than ever on 'Can I Take Your Order' her husky, hesitant delivery apes the sardonic drawl of a Burroughs reading. The text concerning culture and patriarchy is cut-up with various sections reappearing and reformed over the powerful undulating drones of von Hausswolff. While much of von Hausswolff's score is understated and subtle it is much more prevalent here - and in all the tracks on side 2 - gently swelling around Winer's fragmented oblique text entwining biographies of an aspiring writer and isolated academic. Juddering glacial tones form a frosted layer to the treated, distant and hard to discern delivery of Winer on 'Weatherman'. The closing track 'Talked To Some Of Them', additionally features and is credited to Thomas Nordanstad. It is taken from Electra, Texas 2008, the third in a series of films by CM von Hausswolff and filmmaker Thomas Nordanstad. The music is reduced to arching electronics, rising and falling behind Winer's fragmented musings, recycling text that originally surfaced on 'I'll Be Mother'. "This seems to be the final revolution", she muses, over effects resembling distant tolling bells.
Last year, Leslie Winer, in a photographic session by Juergen Teller, became the face of Vivienne Westwood's 2014 campaign, and amidst all the Tapeworm associated releases it seems Leslie Winer, from her reclusive life in France, is making tentative steps back to into the public arena. Without downplaying von Hausswolff's contribution here my focus on (1) is in on Winer, her voice and the spoken word text giving form to her philosophy and current thinking. (1) won't garner the gushing words that surround Witch, recently reissued by Superior Viaduct, but (1) does show she still has much to say, and (1) is worth seeking out, especially if either artist is of interest. For more information go to Monotype Records" [Compulsion Online]
|
2015 |
€26.00 |
|
| WINTER FAMILY |
Red Sugar |
CD |
"Second long awaited album by duo Ruth Rosenthal and Xavier Klaine, actually based in Brooklyn.
A rare and unique audio worldview expressed by the singular approach of Ruth Rosenthal (voice) and Xavier Klaine (harmonium, organ etc..).
From the first bares of Searching Donkeys this new album creates a glowering and intense atmospheric...part nightmare, part uplifting dreamscape. It permeates and builds into a compelling whole. a reference point might be some of the output of Constellation records - indeed GYBEs Norsola Johnson plays on this record..
However it is doubtful whether any of those artists ever produced anything to match the taut tension of the title track Red Sugar..an hymn to absence. The ambition of Winter Family is evident on the expansive, orchestral epic dancing in the sun..crank your speakers, sit back and open your mind.. it WILL blow you away." [label info]
www.subrosa.net
|
2011 |
€13.00 |
|
| WISHART, TREVOR |
Machine |
CD |
Endlich wiederveröffentlicht, das erste grössere Werk des britischen Elektronikers von 1971, erschienen zuerst als Teil der "Electronic Music from York" 3LP-Box 1973. Bearbeitete Field Recordings von Maschinen und Fabriken kombiniert er mit "spoken word" und Chor-Elementen, "echte" Instrumente kommen gar nicht zum Einsatz!
"Although Machine was completed in 1971 it was not released until 1972, shortly after the release of Journey Into Space. Machine is therefore the first major composition by Trevor Wishart. It was composed at York University and was originally issued on vinyl as 3 sides of a highly adventurous 3LP box set called Electronic Music From York, released by the University's own record label. In common with Journey Into Space (also on Paradigm Discs), Machine makes use of a large number of volunteer contributors, mostly from the student body at York. With this recording, however, there are no instruments used. Instead, the music of Machine is made up entirely from a combination of spoken text and carefully directed improvising choirs that take their lead from prerecorded factory sounds. These are extensively mixed and edited with yet more collected Machine sounds and other sources of musique concrète, as well as occasional use of basic electronic sources. The scale of this work, and the degree of preparation involved in scoring it, seem to have more resonances with the world of theatre or film rather than tape composition. Much of Wishart's early work involved the use of musicians and artists being directed to perform in new ways, outside of their usual remit. A combination of late 60s openness, detailed scores that provide frameworks for improvisation and slavish editing have resulted in an incomparable sound work. With a continuous playing time of one hour, the wild and previously unexplored terrain covered by this pioneering work of British experimental music moves in turn through the full range of possible audio landscapes from the oceanic calm of the doldrums to earsplitting factory mayhem. Jewel case cd with 12 page booklet." [label info]
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| WOLF EYES |
Human Animal |
CD |
Material von 2006, das erste Album ohne AARON DILLOWAY, der sich jetzt seiner Solo-"Karriere" widmet. HUMAN ANIMAL ist ein mitunter ziemlich aggressives Noise-Brett mit sehr spannenden "Hinführungen", wie immer schwelend und bis zum zerbersten gespannt...
Wir meinen: WOLF EYES sind einer der wenigen Noise / Rock / Industrial - Bands zur Zeit, die es verstehen, "intelligent", d.h. mit Spannungsbögen & interessanten Sounds, zu agieren.. und wenn sogar das HELLDRIVER-Magazin schreibt: "....manchmal klingts auch ein bisschen nach Geisterbahn. Kurz und gut: Das ist gequirlte Scheisse, reiner Krach und versprengte, teilweise angejazzte Tonsprengsel ohne jede Struktur oder gar Wiedererkennungswert! Im Endeffekt nur anstrengend, könnte ich mir prima in den Top 10 der internationalen Foltercharts vorstellen – ich würde wohl nach ein paar „Songs“ alles Mögliche und unmögliche gestehen – wo soll ich unterschreiben Mr. Bush?" ... dann ist das für den geneigten Noise-Hörer doch eher als Auszeichnung zu verstehen ;)
"After a year of non-stop touring in support of 2004's Burned Mind, Wolf Eyes were ready; seasoned to travel through horrible new areas of sound. During one four-week period at the dawn of '06, they laid down ideas in their studio, the Terror Tank. Those ideas would shape what would be the new album, Human Animal. This new slab is the first with Mike Connelly (of Hair Police and the Gods of Tundra label) replacing Aaron Dilloway. Though he no longer tours with the band, Dilloway remains involved and helped to mix the new record with BMG (who also did the deed on Burned Mind). These songs are rotten with metal, reeds, consciousness-erasing islands of black doom. Bass-heavy rippers, late-night free-terror jams, afflicted dog-hearts, underwater crabs: pure mayhem. The new double bass attack is showcased on "Human Animal"/"Rusted Mange" with scraping strings and a full terror-shriek workout re-organized by Dilloway. New directions are countered by "Rationed Rot," which revisits the eerie Throbbing Gristle-esque vocal deployment that dates from Wolf Eyes' Dread LP. The album also features the band's first ever cover song: a dead-on rendering of No Fucker's rotten hXc anthem, "Noise Not Music," which closed out a lot of shows on Wolf Eyes' recent European tour. As ever, Wolf Eyes will be living on the road, with Australian and American tours in the works, and an invitation from Thurston Moore to play at All Tomorrow's Parties in December 2006 alongside Sonic Youth and The Stooges." [press release]
|
2006 |
€14.50 |
|
| WOLFSKIN |
O Ajuntar das Sombras |
CD |
"Finally, after years of delay, O Ajuntas das Sombras by Portugals Wolfskin is finally unleashed. Initally intended to be a re-issue of 2001s lmtd CDr The Gather of Shadows by the Setting Sun (Ajna), it eventually evolved into a re-working of three tracks from that
release, complimented by 7 newly recorded tracks. As the Wolfskin era comes to end , this release represents a glimpse into their pasts more organic, flowing ambient record than what you may find today, and perhaps the least conceptual of all their releases.
That being said, it most certainly will go down as one of their more stunning, darker visions; a masterpiece of shadowy atmospheres and drifting currents, featuring multiple layers of archaic sounds, foggy, nebulous textures, and ritual invocations, perfectly combined to form a release of intense depth and complexity. In elegant 4 panel digipak designed by A. Coelho.
O Ajuntar das Sombras is Wolfskins fourth full length CD, following releases on Cynfeirdd, Essence Music, and Neuropa." [label info]
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| WOLFSKIN FEAT. OBJEKT4 |
The hidden Fortress: A Revisitation |
CD |
"Wolfskin is one of Europe's finest and most original ritual ambient acts. Over the years they, along with their partners of Forgotten Blood, are surely responsable for putting Portugal on the dark-ambient map. 'The Hidden Fortress' is both their first and last output: originally released as a cassette tape back in 1995, Johan Aernus decided to close the Wolfskin circle with a remastered and partially re-recorded edition of that same record. On his last journey to the hidden fortress, he took a companion with him: Swedish audio-genius Objekt4 gave the whole record a new life & dynamic. This record was years in the making, no risks were taken to prevent this from becoming a worthy testament for one of the most exciting dark-ambient acts Europe has known." [label info]
www.neuropa.be
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM |
Celestite |
do-LP |
"Seit der Bandgründung 2002 haben WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM über 4 Studioalben und hunderte von Konzerten hinweg die transzendenten und mythischen Aspekte des Black Metal durch ihr ganz eigenes Prisma gebrochen und Musik erschaffen, die in direkter Beziehung zu den wilden Landschaften des pazifischen Nordwestens steht. "Celestite" bricht auf zu einer Reise, die tiefer in den kristallinen, Synthie-getriebenen Herrschaftsbereich vordringt, der WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM schon seit langem fasziniert. Mit Unterstützung des Produzenten Randall Dunn (EARTH, SUNN0))), MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE) hebt die Band eine versteckte Soundlandschaft aus, die sich nur lose an den gewohnte Sound bindet und doch jederzeit als WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM zu erkennen ist. Während sich das Album entfaltet, entwickelt sich eine meerestiefe psychedelische Soundlandschaft; Portale öffnen sich und geben den Blick auf eine Zauberwelt frei, die nur in Träumen, Visionen und Musik zu betreten ist. "Celestite" wurde in den Avast Studios in Seattle und in der bandeigenen Owl Lodge in Olympia realisiert, wo die Band ein ganzes Arsenal an Vintage Synthies und Effekten aufreihte; dazu gesellten sich ein Ensemble aus Bläsern und die klassischen API und Neve Konsolen. Kommentar der Band: "Um 'Celestite' zu machen, tauchten wir tief in die unterirdischen Sounds, die im Mix von ,Celestial Lineage verborgen lagen. Wir isolierten sie, entwickelten sie weiter und wählten die so gewonnene Soundlandschaft als Startpunkt.
Auf diesem Fundament errichteten wir das ganze neue Album. Manche Melodien von "Celestial Lineage" sind wiedererkennbar, doch diese vertrauten Sounds erscheinen als Geister, die nur lose mit den Originalkompositionen verbunden sind." "Celestite" ist der erste Release auf dem bandeigenen Artemisia Records Label." [label info]
https://artemisiarecords.bandcamp.com
"We're super into this, but avant black metallers Wolves In The Throne Room have gotten a lot of flack for this new record of theirs, which seems to be more based on them as a band, than the record itself; like Deafheaven or Liturgy, the fact that they're 'hip' and 'cool' and lots of non metalheads dig them makes them ripe for criticism from the 'troo cvlt' black metal crowd. Also that they're doing something a bit different. A LOT different, here. And we applaud it! 'Cause taken objectively, as in, if you didn't even know this was WITTR, you might find yourself pretty into it.
The deal is, there's really no black metal here, just pure spaced-out synth shimmer, completely cosmic and kinda New Agey, even. It's total Tangerine Dream worship, but with plenty of dense bombast and thick layered drones. More like Emeralds than Emperor. The sort of thing some black metal bands dabble in as "intro music", taken to the full-length extreme. And it's pretty good - the first track sounds like it could be an alternate soundtrack to Bladerunner. Haunting and ominous, lush drones and buried melodies... Elsewhere, the swaths of thick synth-iness sound almost like Salem, some beatless almost witch-housiness... There's even some Carpenter-y electro beats on "Sleeping Gold Storm". The moaning horns and other elements, in the more cacophonous crescendos, builds up the drama and edginess, but it never gets metal, nope. It's the intro to itself, instead.
Thumbs up from us! And, black metal and/or WITTR fans who aren't open-minded enough to approve of this, don't fret, it's just meant as an electronic "companion" to their last album, 2011's Celestial Lineage, not a follow-up. You still gotta keep waiting for that, but in the meantime, you could try to relax and enjoy these surprisingly spaced-out sounds. Plus, it's not like there's not precedence for stuff like this in the realms of black metal, from Neptune Towers to Alturaz... And for other folks, more into synths and drones than metal, this could easily be the first (only?) WITTR you'll ever need." [Aquarius Records]
|
2014 |
€30.00 |
|
| |
Thrice Woven |
CD |
Now, a portal into the dreamworld of Wolves in the Throne Room opens again with THRICE WOVEN. It is a glorious return to the blazing and furious Black Metal that they alone can create!
The album begins with Born From the Serpent’s Eye a true thrashing black metal epic that is bisected with a haunting northern lament sung by Swedish star Anna von Hausswolff. The band worked with metal documentarians Peter Beste and Nico Poalillo to create a video for this track which captures a bonfire-lit performance in the forest near their Olympia compound.
The Old Ones Are With Us opens with the crackling of a fire and the voice of Steve Von Till (Neurosis) invoking the springtime thaw. It then storms into a dirge inspired by 90’s Finnish doom with lyrics that celebrate Imbolc, the holy day which marks the end of winter and the first stirrings of spring.
Figures from Norse mythology intertwine with personal heartbreak and rebirth in the bleak Angrboda. The song is named after a frost giantess who birthed Fenris Wolf, a beast who was destined to destroy the world and murder the gods. Fenris Wolf also appears on the cover of THRICE WOVEN in a painting by Russian occult artist Denis Forkas. Forkas’ obscure medieval painting techniques perfectly compliment the music of Wolves in the Throne Room.
A raven’s wings stir the air in the interlude Mother Owl, Father Ocean. Anna von Hausswolff returns in a duet with Turkish harpist Zeynep Oyku. Forlorn industrial atmospheres haunt the mix. Hausswolff’s lyrics, sung in Swedish, echo over a barren grey seascape.
Fires Roar in the Palace of the Moon is the classic Cascadian Black Metal epic. The third eye opens to see holy rivers being born from the ice on the tallest peaks. The lyrics offer blessings to the waters of the earth as they flow from the high places to the source of darkness, the ocean.
https://wolvesinthethroneroom.bandcamp.com/album/thrice-woven
|
2017 |
€14.50 |
|
| WORLD DOWNFALL |
When the World ends |
CD |
"Steeve Bouchard with 12 new tracks from WORLD DOWNFALL / this album is a nightmare of power-electronics / last track is a collaboration with BARRIKAD." [label info]
"...Have you ever listened to a harsh noise PE album that actually manages to make you feel slightly light-headed? Well, this latest effort from Steeve Bouchard’s (Bleak Existence) World Downfall project achieved just that very thing with me. After listening, on headphones, to the sound of rasping industrial machines drilling into my pleasure centres and boring them out for something close to an hour, I almost felt like I was just about to burst through to a higher form of consciousness – either that or my brains were attempting to dribble out of my ears. All flippancy aside, this is a harsh, unforgiving album, simple in execution but devastating in effect. Utilising a very Whitehouse-esque line of attack, with most of the tracks consisting of a buzzing, rasping backing of grating electronics, augmented here and there with industrial strength machine noises and topped off with distorted vocals, both spoken and shouted, it’s in essence a very direct aural assault. It’s unrelenting and not for the faint-hearted; and in some respects requires a feat of endurance on the part of the listener, as after a while the sameness of a lot of the tracks can become something of a monotone blur. Occasionally even I found myself losing the thread somewhat...." [S:M:J63 / Heathen Harvest]
www.lwhite-records.de
|
2008 |
€6.00 |
|
| WRIGHT, PETER |
Air Guitar |
7inch |
Neuseeländischer Gitarren-Drone pur vom Wahl-Londoner PETER WRIGHT, Musik wie ein Tagtraum, der mit delikaten Obertönen & Resonanzräumen aromatisiert ist...
„Welcome to the Dance of Overtones! New Zealand's PETER WRIGHT (residing for some time in London, UK) has raised a reputation over the last few years with his music built mainly by guitar & field recordings. This 3-piece EP #Air Guitar# consists of little fluxion-mantras, made by waving guitar-overtones & sounds of air & water, with little additional sounds of daily room-noises. Ultra-minimal & harmonic, but with a certain raw directness & concreteness that creates a unique atmosphere, these wonderful over-tonic vibrations & sounds seem to tell little stories or daydream-phantasies... Filed under: Guitar-Mantra drones. BEAUTIFUL STENCIL-COLOURED SLEEVES (ORANGE / WHITE / BLACK). ORANGE VINYL & ORANGE INLAYS” [label description]
|
2006 |
€7.00 |
|
|
Desolation beauty violence |
CD |
Langsam scheint sich herumzusprechen, welche aussergewöhnliche Drone-Klänge der Neuseeländer PETER WRIGHT zu erschaffen in der Lage ist. Wir feiern das in kürze auf Drone Records mit einer komplett orangen (denn so ist seine Musik) 7“ EP! DESOLATION BEAUTY VIOLENCE, das dritte „richtige“ Album nach diversen CDRs, basiert alleine auf 12-saitiger Gitarre, Effekten und field recordings. Seine sich sehr weit öffnenden Drone-Harmonics & auch die Titelgebung der 8 Stücke verweisen auf Natur- und Reiseerlebnisse - wenn der fremde Ort mit magischer Atmosphäre aufgeladen zu sein scheint...
“Recorded in London, spring 2003 along with Yellow Horizon, Desolation Beauty Violence is a very personal take on environment and landscape. Peter Wright uses a 12 string guitar and a handful of effects to illustrate an instrumental journey through the human detritus of city living juxtaposed with a wistful remembrance of pastural isolation, it's author torn between a desire to be part of a larger community and a need for space and solitude. Far from being just another drone record, Desolation Beauty Violence is a dichotomy of musical visions that are at once both blissfully dreamlike and expressively manic." [label info]
www.ikuisuus.net
|
2005 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Red Lion |
CD |
Londoner Aufnahmen von 2004: field recordings von verschiedenen Plätzen Londons (Red Lion Square, Tate Modern, etc.), feedbackin’ hyper-effektierte Drone-Guitars, merkwürdige Obertonräume entstehen, Daydream-Akustikgitarren verschmelzen mit Environmentals, sowas wie Helikopter-Vibrationen(?), einzelne metallische Töne ziehen Resonanzen wie Schweife hinter sich her, himmlische Vibratos, die in der Luft schweben & zu schimmern scheinen, sirrend-fräsende Klangwolken mit Siren-Effekt...
Wie fast kein Zweiter ruft PETER WRIGHT aus seinen Gitarren manchmal fast aberwitzig zu nennende Obertonresonanzenschwälle hervor, schafft sirrend-schwirrenden Singsang par excellence, der nie in langweiligen tumben Noise oder Drone abgleitet, sondern immer in fein- ästhetischer Balance bleiben....
RED LION ist ein poetisch-verträumtes Werk mit vielen Facetten und sei hiermit allen die PETER WRIGHT noch nicht kennen ans Herz gelegt. 9 tracks, ca. 55 min.
“You can remove a Kiwi from New Zealand but you sure as hell can't remove New Zealand from a Kiwi. Such is the case with Christchurch transplant, Peter Wright. Over the course of a decade, Wright has etched his name in glass in the annals of drone-world superstardom. And while I'm not sure what that really means, the point is that when it comes to soaring dronescapes, few do it better than Peter Wright. He has helped pave the way with contemporaries such as Birchville Cat Motel and Double Leopards, but clearly has his own distinct voice. With his past few albums, Wright seems the logical successor to native Kiwi, sound manipulator extraordinaire, Roy Montgomery.
"Red Lion" is Wright's latest incarnation and, once again, pushes the boundaries of what he can do with his trademark 12 string Danelectro to the absolute outer limits. He pushes the limits of simplicity without ever breaking. Wright's albums are a thing of sheer, pure beauty, existing in a vacuum where nothing on the outside can tamper with their grace. Even with his lofty intentions, "Red Lion" is immediately approachable and grabs the listener from the opening notes. As always, Peter Wright offers up something wholly infectious and undebatably magnificent.
Press about Peter Wright: "The finest in underground free noise / drone...mostly from New Zealand but all around the world as well. For those of you new to the CpsiP label, imagine classic Siltbreeze (Dead C, etc.) mixed with Jewelled Antler (Thuja, Blithe Sons etc.), dark and deep listening that sometimes verges on all out noise, but more often than not remains subtle experiments in avant drone and abstract sound." - Aquarius Records
"This is easily some of the most evocative proto-drone work to reach these ears in a while, with beautiful almost folk melodies that flutter on the edge of audibility cut up with a thick soup of early-evening smog and long forgotten geographies. Somewhere between early Flying Saucer Attack, Mirror and William Basinski. Highly recommended." - David Keenan, Volcanic Tongue
"If Windy & Carl's vision of Antarctica is your idea of bliss, you will drool over this soundscape depiction of Peter Wright's home in New Zealand. Now living in London, these are what the label calls "love-drones," as Wright's memories of his home's wide open spaces inspire slowly unfolding waves of lush guitar." - Jim Steed, Fakejazz “ [label info]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
|
Unvarnished, untreated, unzipped |
CD-R |
Zweimal live-Extrakte vom neuseeländischen Pendant zu AIDAN BAKER, Gitarrenozeane und field recordings in unnachahmlicher Manier, mit unglaublich druckvollem Ende auf dem zweiten Stück…. Limitierte maxi-CDR.
“ 2 incredible live trks recorded during Peter Wrights 2005 UK tour. Perhaps nothing more needs to be said? Well, ok then... The 1st trk was recorded in London and is built up from field recs and guitar loops in an ocean of reverb and is reminiscent of his work on Yellow Horizon and Desolation Beauty Violence. The 2nd trk was recorded in Aberdeen and features feed back loops and delayed strumming patterns that get more and more intense until they reach a truely spinetingling crescendo. Essential!“ [label info]
|
2006 |
€9.00 |
|
|
Yellow Horizon |
CD |
Der grossartige Neuseeländer PETER WRIGHT (auch aktiv als POLIO) liefert seit Jahren Gitarren-drone durchtränkte Traumlandschaften ab, die sich dunkel aber unpathetisch in den Äther schwingen. Seine tänzelnden Gitarren-Ozeane sind von besonderer untergründiger emotionaler Spannung und Melancholie beseelt, und wirken doch auch entspannend....keine Oberflächenmusik, sondern der „wahre“ Kern des Selbst scheint hier aufzuflackern..... Demnächst auch eine 7“ auf Drone Records !! NZ-Import.
“New Zealand guitarist and sound-artist Peter Wrights back catalogue stretches to something like 30 releases over the last dozen years. 'Yellow Horizons' is the most recent of these and follows on from 2004's 'Distant Bombs' (Last Visible Dog), and 'Desolation Beauty Violence' (Digitalis). This CD finds him relocated to dirty old London town from where he has written a series of love-drones to the wild South Island of his homeland. Described by David Keenan (of The Wire, Volcanic Tongue) as a "consistently impressive thinker", Wrights guitar craft opens vistas that are as contemplative as they are emotionally engaging. Periods of preperatory silence awaken into long slow shifting drones; layered 'folk' patterns build to an almost psychotropic intensity before being subsumed once more within the drone... These scenes are as varied as the South Island itself. There are glaciers as well as sunburnt plains. Writing about the recording of Yellow Horizons, Peter had this to say: "The nature of my reduced travelling bag of equipment has meant a more concise distillation of sounds than before with the 12 string guitar now dominating. To make things even more cohesive I tuned the guitar to an open C chord and every track on this disc uses this tuning, creating an almost seamless continuity, and an overall foundation". [press release]
“Another fucking stunner from this re-located New Zealander, Desolation Beauty Violence is mostly based around various manipulations of Danelectro 12-string guitar using minimal effects and field recordings but for the most part the source feels supremely dislocated. This is easily some of the most evocative proto-drone work to reach these ears in a while, with beautiful almost folk melodies that flutter on the edge of audibility cut up with a thick soup of early-evening smog and long forgotten geographies. Somewhere between early Flying Saucer Attack, Mirror and William Basinski. Highly recommended.“ [David Keenan/ Volcanic Tongue]
www.pseudoarcana.com
|
2005 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Let's hide under the House until they're gone |
LP |
"NZ sound artist Peter Wright is back with his very first solo recordings since 2008's ‘An Angel Fell Where The Kestrels Hover’.
For this new offering he took the label’s name to heart and reconnected with his old bass guitar, gathering dust in storage for 7 years or more, using it as a new source of inspiration, in the process creating enough material over a two week period to fill at least three LPs. Combined with a down-tuned guitar and an assortment of laptop based effects the addition of the bass gives this record an atmospheric range that is both heterogenous in it’s vibes and homogenous in it’s inspiration.
I am then extremely excited to release this new album that has been recorded specifically for Basses Frequences !
180gr black vinyl with download code. Edition of 300." [label info]
www.bassesfrequences.org
https://bassesfrequences.bandcamp.com/album/lets-hide-under-the-house-until-theyve-gone
|
2011 |
€16.00 |
|
| WRIGHT, PETER & BRIAN GRAINGER |
Peint Arbre |
CD-R |
https://pspsph.bandcamp.com/album/peint-arbre
Initially recorded between Summer and Autumn of 2009, then stashed away in the shade for almost nine years, my collaborative full-length album with Peter Wright is now finally issued forth into the universe. A mammoth album of drones, feedback, sub-bass harmonics and psychedelic textures, set across three different pieces, Peint Arbre is a dense and enveloping trip through the tangential and exploratory minds of two men, working almost 8,000 miles apart.
Peter Wright, if you are unaware, is an outright legend of drone music, guitar improvisation and spectacularly filmic textures, having been active in the New Zealand experimental music culture since 1992. I've long been influenced by his recordings, and in 2009 I was lucky enough to host his epic Snow Blind double-album at INSTALL, the now-defunct label I co-operated with David Tagg. We followed Snow Blind with a vinyl release of Wright's transcendent Orbit, and he also guested on my One Bleak Try album, lending many additional layers of sonic seasoning to the track "Black Rust Caress."
Since INSTALL closed its doors years ago, I've wanted to give this unreleased album we did a proper release. Since so much time had passed, Peter decided to revisit the recordings and add/subtract some things to bring it into its present form (so for those few out there who heard this album in its previous iteration, this is a different beast). Peint Arbre is an interesting cross-pollination of my distorted bass monolith drones, generated using guitar and organ in the Rolling Knoll studio, and Peter's contributions of guitars, vocals, percussion and all sorts of other instruments. Indeed, it feels very alive, and that is almost all Peter's doing - I merely provided the initiative steps. So it follows that hopefully another collaboration is due between us, and the door is of course always open for Peter to issue something of his own here at Psøma Psi Phi.
W/P by Peter Wright & Brian Grainger. Principal recording done in South Carolina at Rolling Knoll, Summer 2009. Subsequent and final pass recording done in New Zealand, 2009 and 2018. Text and design by ABM&D. This is Psøma Psi Phi number ØΨΦVII.
Packaged in a clear CPP plastic 120-micron thick sleeve with two hand-cut pastel cardstock inserts, custom hand-affixed text decals and black ink stamping, with an in-house duplicated/printed white CD-R.
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| WYRM |
Divination Bones |
pic-7 |
"We are happy to present the second ever PICTURE 7" in the Drone-series (first one was CRANIO-CLAST / DR-44) by this promising project from the United States formed by ALLAN ZANE and LIZ LANG. ALLAN has worked with JOHN MURPHY (SPK, SWORD VOLCANO COMPLEX, etc.) in the past and also released with RATS WITH WINGS, GX JUPITTER-LARSEN, NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS, IRR.APP.(EXT.), etc.. and solo works. Forthcoming CD includes the works of VAL DENHAM and PBK. LIZ is also active as AURACENE and has had a very successful CD with RIVER GUERGUERIAN.
The droning world of WYRM (an old word for "serpent") appears to be at the same time raw & inaccessible, but then also subtle and mysterious. Crackling noises, granular sounds, waving drones, and more undescribable acoustic objects form an "other dimension" of its very own. The music seems to point to existential archaic areas in our mind that are unaccessible but somehow known.
A definite must for fans of abstract drone experimentalism in the way of early HAFLER TRIO or BRUME.
Filed under: DIVINATION DRONES
PICTURE 7" DESIGNED BY ALLAN ZANE. EXTREME HANDPAINTED COVER WITH STICKER DESIGNED BY LIZ AND ALLAN ZANE. BEAUTIFUL PARCHMENT INLAYS. PLAYS ON 45 RPM !!" [label info]
|
2010 |
€8.50 |
|
| WYRM + RATS WITH WINGS |
D.I.S.C (Death Inducing Signaling Complex) |
CD-R |
Strange Sounds noch und nöcher, alles rauscht & glitzert und blitzt elektronisch... wir vermeinen Rückwärts-Klänge & Flöten herauszuhören, seltsame Loops sind sowieso omnipräsent, für jeden BIG CITY ORCHESTRA - Fan zu empfehlen!
Nice collaboration by the projects from US & Australia, hard to describe whats going on here really, everything drones & sounds & glitters & blinks... a great journey into weird sounds & noises!
label-website: www.roilnoise.com
|
2006 |
€10.00 |
|
| WÄLDCHENGARTEN |
Distractions |
CD |
Trotz diverser hervorragender Releases sind die Dänen WÄLDCHENGARTEN weiterhin ein Geheimtip für Drone-Freunde. Elektronische, rauhe & majestätische Drones voller amorpher Elemente sind ihre Spezialität, Soundquellen sind kaum auszumachen, im Klang liegende Wellenbewegungen bestimmen das Bild. "Distractions" ist ihr drittes "full-length" Album.
"The senses are hit by a typhoon of charged electricity, which sends your mind into a cabinet of mirrors where darkness folds and unfolds. The sound image presents itself as an inseparable unity in which myriads of parallel sequences are constantly undergoing transformations. Transcend through ethereal radiation!" [label info]
"Since seven years Wäldchengarten exists as a lone but strong voice in the world of Danish experimental music. They have had a couple of releases (see for instance Vital Weekly 510, 465, 380, 338 or 265) which all can be noted for the strong love of noise and drones. Everything they do deals with electronics, from the samples they use to the sound effects and the analog electronics. Noise is never the end result: rather Waldchengarten use noise to create an effect that is trance inducing. Also Waldchengarten has no theme, it seems. No track titles, no obscured nazi images or any such things known to the world of noise, all they (the two brothers Hansen) care about is playing mind altering ambient industrial music, and they do a great job. They can easily be compared with the likes of Troum. Forcefully present, but twistin' the senses. With 'Distractions' they created an even finer balance in the music, moving slowly forward with their sound. Every new release is an improvement from the previous, slightly refining the music. Waldchengarten doesn't take big steps, nor are they in for a radical change, but with releases at this rather slow speed, it's quite alright. So far their best release." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.phisteria.com
|
2006 |
€14.00 |
|
| X-NAVI:ET |
Dead City Voice |
LP |
"Dead City Voice" is the second vinyl album by Rafał Iwański aka X-Navi:Et(of HATI, Voices of the Cosmos, KAPITAL, Innercity Ensemble fame). It's the follow-up to acclaimed "Soundtracks for the Dying Moments" LP released on Instant Classic last year. It contains 6 new electroacoustic compositions recorded from 2010 to 2013.
The theme of the city has appeared in the modern art territory quite a few times before. Wim Wenders, a cult German director, once said that "thecity shapes people, leaves its stigma on them and deforms them to its own likeness." Murray Schafer, a Canadian composer, while working on the concept of "soundscape", claimed that many of the surrounding sonic incidents infiltrates the music of our times. Following the footsteps of Charles Baudelaire among others, urban artists, Rafał Iwański and Ewa Bińczyk, replayed the city, penetrated its spirit and echoed it in their activities. Telling the city by means of sound and vision is becoming an inward journey as well.
Inside the cover one can also find the literary text by Dariusz Brzostek (Ph.D. at the University of Toruń, Poland) - a literari, anthropologist and music journalist who has collaborated with many magazines, such as Glissando, Trans/Wizje, Antena Krzyku, Teksty Drugie, Magazyn Fragile.
Visually the album is of the highest value. The gatefold cover is adorned with works by Ewa Bińczyk. Additionally, a special edition of 33 copies will include genuine intaglio prints signed by the author making it a true collector's item.
The album was released by Zoharum in collaboration with Eter Records, a label set up by Rafał Iwański to release music by his projects X-Navi:Et, HATI, Voices of the Cosmos in digital and analogue formats.
The album is released in a gatefold cover in a strictly limited edition of 250 copies." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"On vinyl, in a fine fold out cover, we find Hati's Rafal Iwanski's solo project X-Navi:et. Both this and his Hati project are quite active when it comes to releasing music, so you could wonder: do they ever sleep? The main concept behind the six pieces on his new LP is the 'city', but not in a very strict sense I would think. This is not twice 20 minutes of city sounds, or something like that set to music, but pieces that depict the sounds of city through musical means. He uses analog filter machine, analog synthesizer, sampling pad, loop system, hulusi, bells, rattles, metal objects, field and found recordings and effects. Me think that a lot of the acoustic sources here have been sampled and treated extensively before finding their place inside a composition. Take for instance 'Tinnitus Auris': the tinkling of bells are the sounds that a lorry makes when trying to park. Next to that we hear a conveyer belt like sound - the other cars on the same street. Below that is a fiery drone-ventilation shafts on the side walk. That's what I heard. In the other pieces there is a similar liveliness, which we find a big cities - not in the street where I live, and not many cars or people pass on an ordinary working day. But of course all of this is easily said, when you look at the title(s), the picture, the text and such like and make these connections with a big city. I wonder what someone would imagine playing this music as it is, without knowing these references; it might not be the city. But who cares about that? We know what it is about and it's the gesamtkunstwerk that counts. This is a beautiful record of some fine, dark ambient music, with a nice industrial touch to it, very occasionally. Great release!" [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| XABEC |
Dark massive |
7inch |
Zweiter Teil der schönen ELECTRIC MANDALA-Serie, hier weitaus dark ambienter und droniger, beautiful streams of sound-lava with pulsative elements..
“ LIMITED NUM. EDITION 400 COPIES THIS IS THE SECOND 7“ OF FOUR ELECTRIC MANDALA 7“S. THESE 4 ELECTRIC MANDALAS WILL SHOW YOU THE DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF XABEC’S WORK. ON DARK MASSIVE MANUEL RICHTER SHOWS YOU HIS DARK AMBIENT SIDE. DEEP FLOATING SOUNDSCAPES WITH PULSATING SOUNDS.” [label description]
|
2003 |
€7.50 |
|
|
Feuerstern (SOLD OUT) |
7inch + box |
"Feuerstern (DR-92, 7“ EP in Kartonschachtel, dunkelrotes Vinyl) bringt zuerst das erhaben dröhnende Zentralmotiv des Auftritts von XABEC
beim Audioframes Sonic Art Festival in Herne 2006 zu Gehör. Der Musiktherapeut Manuel G. Richter, der sich mit dem The Electric Mandala-Quartett (Hands, 2003-05) als Zengärtner profiliert hat, lässt meine blühende Phantasie wie Münchhausen auf einer dröhnenden Klangkugel zu den Sternen sausen, und macht dazu klackende Gaumenlaute. Für die B-Seite rahmt das von MNortham in Herne eingefangene Feuerwerk zur Performance und weiterer O-Ton Xabecs Dröhnen und Klacken ein und verortet es im Hier und Jetzt." [Bad Alchemy]
"DRONE RECORDS is very proud to finally issue this long planned Drone by this prolific German artist! FEUERSTERN (which translates as "Firestar") captures two tracks of luminous tones & magnetic resonances which create a warm and floating aural flux. With mellow concrete material setting the counterpoint, very subtle hisses, smacking & clicking sounds can be distinguished. These are enriched further on Side B with field recordings by MICHAEL NORTHAM made in September 2006 at the Audioframes Sonic Art Festival in Herne. This was where FEUERSTERN was also performed in a choreographed way using fireworks! Very delicate tone colours and a perfectly balanced sound pattern allow for contemplative listening sessions...
The 7" comes in a golden lettered & embossed grey cardboard box with golden printed grey inlay.
Filed under: GLOWING DRONE-AMBIENCE more info: www.xabec.com
DARK RED VINYL. COMES IN CARDBOARD-BOX WITH GOLDEN EMBOSSING." [label info]
|
2008 |
€10.00 |
|
|
Transformed (Remixes) |
CD |
"12 XABEC Tracks aus den Jahren 2000-2006 werden von 12 Künstlern aus den Bereichen Ambient, Industrial und Klangkunst transformiert. Mit dabei sind AH CAMA-SOTZ, ORPHX, SCHACHTANLAGE GEGENORT, NORTHAUNT, INCITE, WILD SHORES, THE EMPATH, ALIO DIE, PATRICK FRANKE, ELEKTRONENGEHIRN, ATMOGAT und CONTAGIOUS ORGASM.
TRACKLISTING: 01. GUMMAFF TRANSFORMED BY NORTHAUNT 02. TRANSFORMATION TRANSFORMED BY INCITE 03. LIQUID JOURNEYS TRANSFORMED BY WILD SHORES 04. SŽGE TRANSFORMED BY EMPATH 05. LEAVES TRANSFORMED BY ALIO DIE 06. PUMPENWASSER TRANSFORMED BY PATRICK FRANKE 07. DER RISS TRANSFORMED BY SCHACHTANLAGE GEGENORT 08. OPEN STATE TRANSFORMED BY ELEKTRONENGEHIRN 09. IF TRANSFORMED BY ATMOGAT 10. SCI-FI TRANSFORMED BY ORPHX 11. CONNECTED TRANSFORMED BY CONTAGIOUS ORGASM 12. OPEN STATE TRANSFORMED BY AH CAMA-SOTZ" [label info]
www.handsproductions.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
| |
Random Errors down the Line |
MC |
raubbau and pflichkauf have set a goal in the past, and that is to make the most memorable performances from the legendary maschinenfest festival available to the audience. and this had to be done on tape, because that is the ideal medium if you want to restrict your audience from skipping through tracks; it's like you're there (again), experiencing the whole thing.
the latest release in this series is the 2018 performance by manuel richter a.k.a. xabec. if you were there you will admit it was an amazing moment we all shared. it was a moment of relaxation or - if you prefer - meditation on the final day of the final maschinenfest. no harsh beats or power electronics, but a tribute to the beauty of sound. played on an enormous installation with some of the best technicians behind the venue's mixers.
the seven tracks xabec chose to perform were taken from his whole musical career which is already covering 20 years; as long as maschinenfest has been there. from 'schneegarten' the track uhrklang is taken, which brings us back to how and when we met manuel as an artist. furthermore, there are tracks from the highly collectible 7" series on hands productions as well as a few tracks from 'closing the circle', written with architect and spherical disrupted).
musically the tracks range from modular experimentations where it's all about the sound (calx saturni) to rhythmic sequences with droney layering (snowline) and even highly danceable yet laidback grooves (morphosis). and if you take into account that this was the first xabec performance in 5 years, well, it couldn't have gone any better.
'random errors down the line' doesn't contain any actual errors, it is a showcase of what may be considered the best a man can do with a computer, some synths and a microphonic soundbox. the title refers to the artist's working method of composing with found sounds and 'accidents', which has developed as a working method over the years.
https://raubbau.bandcamp.com/album/random-errors-down-the-line |
2020 |
€10.00 |
|
| XEDH & CARLOS SUAREZ |
Cuculacanto |
CD |
"About: This album shows a series of improvisations that I realized with the Galician composer Carlos Suárez. His work, heir of a certain electroacustic tradition but subverted to a more visceral and private plane, is interesting for the reality that it reflects: his music is a result of an intense personal vision about the world, a music that it's real in essence.
For our live collaboration I didn't try to adjust me to the particularities of his sound, it has gradually growing in unconscious forms of working that I abandoned long ago, but without falling in the imitation or the falsifications, using techniques and perspectives that I currently use. Our meeting, I want to believe, was so real as Carlos´s music. This CD serves as a small tribute to its work into the filed of electoacoustic, ethnomusicology and fieldrecording that he captured and developed away from the moder civilisation for many years. (M.A.G. / Xedh)
German translation: Dieses Album zeigt eine Reihe von Improvisationen, dass ich mit der galizischen Komponist Carlos Suárez erstellt hatte. Seine Arbeit, die Erben eines bestimmten Elektroakustik Tradition, sondern unterwandert zu einer viszeralen und privater Ebene, ist interessant für die Realität, dass es reflektiert: Seine Musik ist ein Ergebnis einer intensiven persönlichen Vision von der Welt, eine Musik, dass es 'wirklich' im Kern ist.
Für unsere Live-Zusammenarbeit habe ich nicht versuchen, mich auf die Besonderheiten seines Sounds einzustellen, wurde es allmählich in unbewussten Formen des Arbeitens, die ich vor langer Zeit aufgegeben, aber ohne zu fallen oder in der Nachahmung der Fälschungen, mit Hilfe von Techniken und Perspektiven, die ich derzeit verwenden. Unser Treffen, Ich möchte glauben, war so real, als Carlos Musik. Diese CD dient als kleine Hommage an seine Arbeit in den von Electoacoustic, Ethnomusicology und Fieldrecording, dass er genommen und entwickelt hat seit vielen Jahren aber entfernt vom 'Moderne Zivilisation.' "(M.A.G. / Xedh)
"This is a sonorous eclectic offering. Collaboration album, abstract dark ambient, highly inspiring sound art work from two dedicated electro-acoustic and ethnomusicologists.
Tracks:
01. Regresión afín
02. Varios errores
03. Sacrá nemesis
04. Juntos hacia la gran reverberación de los tiempos
05. Una última bienvenida
Total run: ~ 42 min.
Recorded live at Larraskito, Bilbao-Basque country. Edition by Miguel A. García." [label info]
www.essentiamundi.com
"Miguel A. Garcia sometimes works under his own name and sometimes as Xedh, and I am never sure when one comes into play and when the other. Maybe there is no separation? Here he works with one Carlos Suarez, of whom I think I never heard. He is from Galicia in Spain and works inside the field of electro-acoustic music. If I am well informed the pieces here were recorded through live improvisation in the studio which was then edited by Garcia. Garcia is at his best, at least for me, when he too works with electro-acoustic music, and stays away from overtly noise based excursions which he sometimes also does. Here he does stay away and together with Suarez he created five excellent pieces of electro-acoustic music which suggest lots of space between the cracks, sometimes artificially enhanced by the use of reverb. There is computer processing, analogue knob turning, field recordings of water and metallic rumble, looped and toyed around with. The overall mood of the pieces is more ambient and atmospheric than is perhaps usually the case with this kind of electro-acoustic sounds. More ambient than microsound I would say. Garcia has reconstructed the live recordings accordingly and without losing the aspect of a live recording, these five pieces are very good, well done and reshaped into the form of compositions, with heads and tails and fine structure. This is the Garcia I like and this CD is a fine addition to his rapidly expanding discography." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| XQM / EMERGE / LDX#40 |
Session #43, recomposed |
CD |
original field-recordings and sounds by xqm
reworked and recomposed by EMERGE and LDX#40
xqm - Session #43 | 2018-07-05 | Track #02
Recorded during 43rd session 05th.July 2018 at WWII shelter Koblenz-Neuendorf/Germany
Manuel Schaub: Sequencer & FX
Matthias Weigand: Analog Synth & FX, Recording & Mastering
xqm-beats.bandcamp.com
EMERGE - trover
composed in the region of Kutná Hora
final editing and mastering in Berlin
in August 2018
emerge.wordpress.com
LDX#40 - Pangea Mix
Assembled in Frankfurt/Main
in December 2018
kunstscheisse.net/ldx40
vimeo.com/ldx40
xqm artist-edition available here:
ecocentricrecords.bandcamp.com/album/session-43-recomposed
credits
released November 8, 2019
VITAL WEEKLY
There is a slightly confusing cover here, which tells us that the music recorded by xqm is the source material for the other two, but the booklet may seem to indicate that the order of the CD is Emerge/xqm/LDX#40, whereas it is xqm/Emerge/LDX#40. The previous time I heard music by xqm I found it rather noisy and left it to Jliat to devote a review to (Vital Weekly 1187). For no reason I expected this to be along similar lines, but here the duo went out with the sequencer, analogue synthesizer and effects to produce a twenty-one minute piece of drone music, with a fine dark undercurrent and some heavily produced white noise/hiss-like sound that over the course of the piece becomes a very fine dark ambient beast. Emerge then applies his 'usual' cut-ups techniques to it, by alienating the sound and using a collage-like approach. It means that there are all the colours of ambient industrial sound pass by, and they either have a full stop or a gradual, chameleon changeover. LDX#40, of whom I may not hear a lot before, prefer to stay in one dark ambient field with a slightly more distorted drone, without it all turning to true noise fest. There is some excellent buried tension in this piece that has some fine suspense; like a good horror movie. Even though the presentation is a bit weird, this is a very fine three-way compilation. (FdW)
https://immerge.bandcamp.com/album/session-43-recomposed |
2019 |
€12.00 |
|
| YANAGISAWA, EISUKE |
Path of the Wind |
CD |
The Aeolian Harp (also called Wind Harp) is a string instrument that is played by natural wind. It sounds like layered feedback or drones with rich harmonic textures that will change continuously according to the wind direction, strength and consistency. One day, I bought the materials at the local DIY store and built a small Aeolian Harp. I brought the harp outside on windy days, but it made no sound at all. Through trial and error, by altering the string materials, tension, and the angle against the wind, it finally produced a sound.
The harp resonates with the surrounding environment, changing from place to place. I put two lavalier microphones into each of its two holes to clearly record the tiny resonant sounds, without too much wind interference. What is intriguing to me is that the recording will inevitably include environmental sounds from near and far which are condensed and slightly modulated by the harp. In a way, I use the harp as a kind of transducer as well as sounding body to interact with the environment through the forces of the wind. The recordings themselves are ecological, meteorological and geomorphological observations at a certain time and place.
1. Ferry Passing
Recorded on the seashore of the uninhabited island called Narugashima in the Hyogo Prefecture, where stiff winds blew intermittently. The sustained low-pitch sounds come from the ferries passing each other off the coast.
Path of the Wind | Eisuke Yanagisawa
2. Seagull
Recorded on the Kehi no Matsubara, a quiet and scenic beach with many pine trees. You can hear the seagull screaming and people chatting while strolling. The beach is located at the foot of the Tsuruga Peninsula where seven nuclear power plants are currently in operation.
Path of the Wind | Eisuke Yanagisawa
3. In a Park
Recorded at the Nodagawa Shinsui Park in Yosano-cho, Kyoto Prefecture. Yosano-cho is a rural town on the alluvial fan surrounded by the mountains; the park itself is located along the Noda River.
Path of the Wind | Eisuke Yanagisawa
4. Old Camellia Tree
Recorded near the 1,200-year-old Camellia tree (Camellia japonica, ‚Kurotsubaki‘) located deep in the valley in Yosano-cho. The height and branch spread of the tree is about 10m, presumably one of the biggest and oldest of its kind.
Path of the Wind | Eisuke Yanagisawa
5. Ridge Line
Recorded in the morning at the Kaetsu Soho Park located half way up Mt. Oeyama in Yosano-cho. Nature and objects on the mountainside fade in and out as the place where the sunlight shines gradually changes.
Path of the Wind | Eisuke Yanagisawa
6. Hegurajima
Hegurajima is a small island located in the Sea of Japan at the far north of the Ishikawa Prefecture. There are various small shrines and cairns on the island. I set up the harp near the Yasaka shrine in which the god of epidemic prevention is enshrined.
Path of the Wind | Eisuke Yanagisawa
7. Kinshozan
Kinshozan is a small mountain located in Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture. The mountain is famous for its abundance of fossils like corals, bivalves and snails which inhabited it about 250 million years ago. People started exploiting its high quality limestone and marble during the Edo period, and the mining-activities are still going on today. I set up the newly-made harp at the watchtower of the mountain where I could see the whole mining area. The intermittent sounds come from the drilling of rocks under the cliff.
Path of the Wind | Eisuke Yanagisawa
7 Tracks (41′14″)
CD (300 copies)
All the recordings are unprocessed field recordings using Aeolian Harps of our own making. Recorded in the Kyoto, Hyogo, Fukui, Ishikawa and Gifu prefecture, Japan from September 2014 to November 2017.
Recording, Edit, Texts: Eisuke Yanagisawa
Audio Mastering: Lasse-Marc Riek
Photography: Shin Tukinaga
Artwork: Takamitsu Ohta
www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=16674
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| YASNAIA |
Oniro |
do-CD |
Zoharum is proud to present “Oniro” an extended 2CD reissue of 1996 classic previously released by World Serpent - home to projects like Current 93, Death In June, Coil and alike.
Leen Smets aka Yasnaia - vocalist of Hybryds project (until her departure in 2000) takes us on a great journey through many states of consciousness and dimensions. Her haunting and hypnotising voice guides us through 10 tracks of the album. Chants and incantations keep us captivated from very beginning to the very end. Dark rites and ethereal psychedelia. A sexual energy channeled in rhythm driven magical tribalism.
Exclusive to this release is a second CD containing live performance recorded at "Wolfsmond", München, Germany on 16th of August 1997 giving you a pretty good impression of how the whole ritual conducted by Yasnaia might sound and look like. The CD ends with 3 tracks, two of which were previously released on 7” vinyls courtesy of Ant-Zen and Spectre (Nexus) and third has been unreleased - until now.
A great testimonial of '90s Art of industrial music. Unparalleled and essential.
2CD edition of 500 copies comes in 6 panel digipack.
Tracks 1-10 taken from the original album released by World Serpent in 1996.
Tracks 11-17 Live recordings
Track 18 taken from 7" Picture Disc (AntZen 1997)
Track 19 taken from 7" split with Hybryds / P.A.L.(Spectre 1997)
Track 20 unreleased
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/oniro-extended-edition |
2021 |
€17.00 |
|
| YELDHAM, JUSTICE & THE DYNAMIC RIBBON DEVICE |
Birthdays |
LP |
Dokumentation zweier live-Gigs vom Mai 2007 (Marseille und Porto) von diesem extrem freakigen Body-Performer, der sich eine (mit Kontaktmikros abgenommene) Glasscheibe ins Gesicht presst und durch diese hindurch orales / vokales Lautmaterial hindurchgibt, während er mit den Füssen Effekte bedient. Der Sound der dabei entsteht ist höchst abartig, am Ende zerschlägt er die Glasplatte aus einem Kopf was stets in einem kleinen Blutbad endet. Die starke Physis dieser Performance wirkt natürlich am besten "live", aber auch der Mitschnitt sorgt bestimmt für einigen Eindruck!
"Birthdays consists of two live sets by maverick amplified-glass player Justice Yeldham recorded during his & Keg's recent tour of Europe. If you've never heard of the guy you are in for a bloody treat. Using concert-grade piano contact mics, he amplifies a sheet of glass and plays it with his mouth and face, processing it with pedals attached to his belt, usually barefooted. The results are unworldly, and hearing it you would never imagine what created it, something an Aussie could especially achieve. Like careening assaults of insect spaceships, he transports the listener to other worlds of sound, ending most often in a crash of the glass upon his head. He survives, bloody but alive, never worse for wear in the morning. Side A was captured in Marseille on the eve of Justice's 35th birthday while side B was recorded on Kegs birthday in Porto (for a preview listen at myspace.com/justiceyeldham). And to top off the birthday cheer Keg also did the cover illustration as a gift for Justice's Birthday. Mastered by the god-like Rasheed of Dubplates (Berlin), the record has been collaboratively released in an edition of 600 copies across the world by Anarchymoon Recordings (North America), Turgid Animal (Europe) & All Thumbs Press (Australia). Black vinyl, B-on-W labels, 2-sided glue-on cover art (lim 600)." [label notes]
www.anarchymoon.com
|
2008 |
€14.50 |
|
| YELLOW SWANS |
Psychic Secession |
CD |
"I woke up to the end of electricity. I woke up outside of time. I woke up with my dreams in my life.'" [I Woke up] Ziemlich genialer Ambient-Noise im Stile von WOLF EYES, pulsierend, einnehmend, gefährlich, spannend - schwelend noisig aber nicht kakophonisch, genial perkussiv mitreissend das dritte stück "I woke up". "Das neue Album der YELLOW SWANS "Psychic Secession" schaut aus dem Himmel wohlwollend auf uns herab, um uns vor uns selbst zu retten. Nach "Bringing The Neon War Home" beehren uns die gelben Schwäne mit einem Werk voller kompromissloser Visionen, in denen sich alle losen Fäden, die das Duo jemals geknüpft hat, an ihrem Bestimmungsort in kunstvolle Knoten legen. Momente von leisem Summen lehnen sich an lautsprecherberstende Ausbrüche, die "Psychic Secession" zu einem Muss machen. In den letzten Jahren sind die YELLOW SWANS mit ihren fast schon legendären Liveaktionen einmal um die ganze Welt gezogen, um das neue Material auf den Opfertisch hungriger Augen und Ohren im Publikum zu legen. "Psychic Secession" wurde ursprünglich in Australien veröffentlich und kommt in seiner jetzigen Inkarnation als remasterte Version. Hier hört man jedes Flüstern, jede polyrhythmische Atacke und jedes noch so kleine Quietschen // Beaming down from the sky like a ray of white-hot light intent on saving us from ourselves, the Yellow Swans come up with their second studio record. Psychic Secession is a work of uncompromising vision, weaving together all sides of this duo's 20-sided die. Moments of quiet hum but up against crunchy speaker burners to make this record essential listening. The last few years have seen the Yellow Swans coat the planet with live dates in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. Songs on this record were road tested in front of this planet's hungry eyes... you might have heard 'True Union,' which has been a staple of many of these live sets. This record was originally released in Australia by the Numerical Thief label, and comes to you on Load in a remastered format." [press release] |
2006 |
€14.50 |
|
| YEN POX |
Deliver (SOLD OUT) |
7inch |
this newcomer sets your mind in fire with the most alien and deepest possible spacey landscape - not from this world
"LIMITED+NUMBERED FIRST EDITION OF 250 COPIES.
RED VINYL, HANDMADE SILK-SCREENED COVERS
THIS DUO FROM THE U.S. MAY BE KNOWN ONLY TO VERY FEW LISTENERS OF EXTREME MUSIC SO FAR. YEN POX ONLY RELEASED ONE FULL-LENGTH-TAPE IN 1994, WHICH WAS SO AWE INSPIRING THAT DRONE RECORDS DECIDED TO RELEASE A FIRST 7" AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. IN THE MEANTIME, YEN POX ALSO APPEARED ON THE OUTSTANDING CD-COMPILATION "INVISIBLE DOMAINS" (MALIGNANT RECORDS) - THE SAME LABEL THAT HAS JUST RELEASED THEIR DEBUT-CD. THE YEN POX SOUND CAN BEST BE DESCRIBED AS DEEPLY DRONING POLY-DIMENSIONAL SOUNDSCAPES, RATHER DREAMSCAPES, THAT TRANSPORT THE LISTENER THROUGH ALIEN, DARK AN SURREAL ATMOSPHERES, COMBINED WITH A KIND OF STRANGE ENERGY THAT DOESN'T LET YOU STAND STILL. THE TWO TRACKS ON THIS E.P.,'DELIVER' and 'REMOVE' SHOW YEN POX WORKING IN THE MOST DARK, GLOWING AMBIENT MOOD POSSIBLE. THIS IS STIRRING FOOD FOR YOUR BURNING SOUL!
"LET ATMOSPHERE SPEAK THROUGH THESE UNIQUE
POLY-DIMENSIONAL SOUND-WAVES"
DRONE RECORDS DR-15/ DECEMBER 1995 |
1995 |
€ |
|
| YEN POX & TROUM |
Mnemonic Induction |
CD |
" 'All minds dream, and all dreams are flavored with madness...'
Completely re-mastered re-issue of this much requested dark dream-opus from 2002, now bringing out more sound details inside the endless amorphous morass; 4 movements, 63+ min. long. Comes with NEW artwork by GYDJA incl. the 'dream essay' by R.B. HENSLEY that should be read accompanying during this subconscious/subsonic experience..
"How could this be anything but perfect? Two of the most capable ambient projects of the current generation doing what they do best: dark ambient. I'm tempted to say nothing except that this is exactly what you hope it will be. Dark, escalating, imperious walls and oceans of titanic sound. Swelling currents of icy miasma swirling endlessly on through a descending subterranean river five miles wide. It rumbles and groans and shudders for ages. How does one get so much depth out of sound? .... The listener can penetrate so far into this landscape. The tones are so elaborately pieced together that the forefront is gauzy, wispy, ghostlike. On the horizon are huge stone structures, mountains, tornados of power but far away and almost invisible to the ear. Affecting you only by subsonic booms that rattle the soles of your feet. You can almost step into this and turn around on your heels, face your room and watch your body recede as you slip slowly away on a living ocean of sound." [Malignant Records]
"German drone artist Troum and the American dark ambient project Yen Pox collaborate on one of the best albums released so far this year. Some might say that ‘Mnemonic Induction’ would make a great soundtrack for a film, and while that may be true, it would totally ruin the album. Other people’s images associated with this cd would never do it justice. Like they say, nothing can be worse (better than?) your own imagination, and such is the case here. The four long, untitled tracks have one thing in common, a deep brooding low end drone that gave my subwoofers a much needed work out. Layered over top are eerie wails and moans stretched out to inhuman lengths while bleak rumblings phase in and out. The best thing about this album is the way in which it is able to capture and hold your attention. Rather than becoming just good background music, it stays active, alternating between soaring expansiveness and claustrophobia. The slick digipack contains a paragraph about dreams and the separation of mind and body, but to use this cd as a dream aid, something to fall asleep to, would be a mistake. What the album does best is not to conjure strange dreams, but to evoke one’s waking memories, and associate the album with one’s own experiences. But try not to dwell on your bad stuff, this album deserves better." [Brainwashed 2002]
listen & digital downloads:
https://yenpox.bandcamp.com/album/mnemonic-induction |
2015 |
€13.00 |
|
| YOUNG, JOHN |
La limite du bruit |
CD |
Fünf Stücke von diesem neuseeländischen Komponisten, geräuschhaft-dynamisch-nah-ungeheuer vital-partitioniert-detailreich; fantastisch das 12minütige INNER welches auf menschlichen ATEM-Geräuschen besteht! Für Explorer !
“Pythagoras’s curtain” (2001), “Inner” (1995), “Virtual” (1997), “Time, motion and memory” (1997-2001), “Liquid sky” (1998). “From New Zealand and now living in the UK, John Young’s main interest in composition continues to be in acousmatic music, particularly forms based on the interplay between recognizable natural sound sources and computer-based studio transformations. The 5 works on La limite du bruit (The Edge of Noise) are all truly acousmatic. With Pythagoras’s Curtain this shift between recognizable and disembodied sound (or invisible worlds) is develop through sounds of intimately tactile origin. The suite made of Inner, Virtual and is exploring movement between sound sources which are ‘internal’ and ‘external’ to human sensibility. Liquid Sky is an exploration of the sound-image of rain.” [label info]
www.electrocd.com
|
2002 |
€12.00 |
|
| YRSEL |
Abraxas |
CD |
"The album «Abraxas» is recorded during 2011-2013 and contains some of the bands most challenging and yet accessible music so far. On this album the band has taken in some guests to contribute with sounds. Denis Del Nista (Moon, Burning Emptiness label) appears with sounds on the track «Simon Magus» and Alice Dourlen (Chicaloyoh) contributes with vocals on the tracks «Asat» and «Nequaquam Vacuum».
YRSEL is a collaboration between Julien Louvet (Austrasian Goat, Death To Pigs, 14:13) and CJ Larsgarden (Ondo, APF, Forest City). Though hailing from different musical genres and from France and Sweden respectively, the two artists bonded following a split release on the label Burning Emptiness. YRSEL create complex, multi-layered and atmospheric music that fully explodes the genres of drone, doom and electronica resulting in a glacial melt of sound and texture." [label info]
www.pactasuntservanda.se
"A duo from France and Sweden, consisting of Julien Louvet (who you might know from Austrasian Goat, Death To Pigs, 14:13) and CJ Larsgarden (whom we know as Ondo, APF and Forest City), who already released two albums in 2010 and played some concerts shortly after in France and Belgium. A collaboration of humans meeting up and not gigabytes being exchanged. They spend two years making this album of nine tracks, which lasts nearly 80 minutes (and it is also available as a double CD). Instruments aren't specified as such, but me thinks there is lots of guitar sounds, electronics, processed acoustic instruments and such like. I wouldn't bet my life on it, though. There is guest vocals by Alice Dourlen on 'Asat', but I must admit I wasn't blown away by that piece. Her vocals are drenched in reverb to add something mysterious to the music but it's a bit too much, maybe because of the length of the piece - seventeen minutes. All of these pieces are hardcore atmospheric: lots of sustain on the strings, lots of reverb in and out of place, mumbling vocals and the overall color is grey towards black, rather than towards white. Perhaps doom drone is the best description of this. I enjoyed it however, maybe because I was trying to continue to read 'Game Of Thrones' (or whatever it is called) and Yrsel provided the best bleak soundtrack for a book on murder and deceit, and when it came to vocals here, I was a bit less interested, but mainly because it wasn't my cup of tea. It's music that works well on CD, I thought, as you flow from one piece into the next, rather then interrupt your flow and switch to the next side of the record. Very nice indeed, very dramatic." [FdW/Vital Weekly] |
2013 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Abraxas |
do-LP |
"The album «Abraxas» is recorded during 2011-2013 and contains some of the bands most challenging and yet accessible music so far. On this album the band has taken in some guests to contribute with sounds. Denis Del Nista (Moon, Burning Emptiness label) appears with sounds on the track «Simon Magus» and Alice Dourlen (Chicaloyoh) contributes with vocals on the tracks «Asat» and «Nequaquam Vacuum».
YRSEL is a collaboration between Julien Louvet (Austrasian Goat, Death To Pigs, 14:13) and CJ Larsgarden (Ondo, APF, Forest City). Though hailing from different musical genres and from France and Sweden respectively, the two artists bonded following a split release on the label Burning Emptiness. YRSEL create complex, multi- layered and atmospheric music that fully explodes the genres of drone, doom and electronica resulting in a glacial melt of sound and texture." [label info]
www.pactasuntservanda.se
"A duo from France and Sweden, consisting of Julien Louvet (who you might know from Austrasian Goat, Death To Pigs, 14:13) and CJ Larsgarden (whom we know as Ondo, APF and Forest City), who already released two albums in 2010 and played some concerts shortly after in France and Belgium. A collaboration of humans meeting up and not gigabytes being exchanged. They spend two years making this album of nine tracks, which lasts nearly 80 minutes (and it is also available as a double CD). Instruments aren't specified as such, but me thinks there is lots of guitar sounds, electronics, processed acoustic instruments and such like. I wouldn't bet my life on it, though. There is guest vocals by Alice Dourlen on 'Asat', but I must admit I wasn't blown away by that piece. Her vocals are drenched in reverb to add something mysterious to the music but it's a bit too much, maybe because of the length of the piece - seventeen minutes. All of these pieces are hardcore atmospheric: lots of sustain on the strings, lots of reverb in and out of place, mumbling vocals and the overall color is grey towards black, rather than towards white. Perhaps doom drone is the best description of this. I enjoyed it however, maybe because I was trying to continue to read 'Game Of Thrones' (or whatever it is called) and Yrsel provided the best bleak soundtrack for a book on murder and deceit, and when it came to vocals here, I was a bit less interested, but mainly because it wasn't my cup of tea. It's music that works well on CD, I thought, as you flow from one piece into the next, rather then interrupt your flow and switch to the next side of the record. Very nice indeed, very dramatic." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2013 |
€16.00 |
|
| Z'EV |
live 03.01.86 |
10inch/object |
Z’EV is back! Z’EV is more than back ! Nicht nur war der legendäre Klangkabbalist in 2004 wieder auf Tour in Deutschland, es sind auch diverse neue Sachen erschienen. Von der Coverartwork am eindruckstvollsten ist sicher diese live-10“ mit einer Aufnahme aus Chicago 1986, denn sie kommt in einem schweren Metall-Cover in 333er Auflage, wobei die Nummer der Edition in jede der Metallplatten einzeln eingraviert wurde! Z’EVs unkonventionelles 1-Mann Metall & Gong-drumming, das sich auf den KLANG und die DYNAMIK konzentriert und nicht aufs Metrum, ist wohl einmalig zu nennen... und genauso sollte man sich auf seine Sounds wohl auch einlassen und sie betrachten: nicht als Komposition, welche es zu analysieren gilt, sondern als Klangalchemie, welche das Selbst in Schwingung versetzt...
„Three excerpts from a 1986 performance at N.A.M.E. Gallery, Chicago. Given the special packaging with this release, it was essential to have the audio component be as special. After listening to a handful of unreleased material Z'EV had given me and comparing it to his released work, I found this performance contained elements I'd not heard developed in previous releases. For one, the components of the pieces shifted quicker; he'd add new instruments and rhythms at more frequent intervals, say 3 to 4 minutes, giving a continuous piece (still between 9 and 12 minutes) a much different dynamic than other recordings. This is presented on side one, and the piece features one of the few instances I've heard where there is a secondary, or "triggered," percussive element. In this case, something akin to ball bearings were placed on a gong, adding a second layer of rhythm as Z'EV worked the gong. This is similar to his well-known car spring on bass drum pieces. Side two opens with one of the few live recordings of Z'EV's rubbing pieces (scraping a metal tube/pole or rubbing a rubber ball on a sheet of metal to make dronish, almost whale-like sounds) which segues into a subtle tonal wash of gong sounds. The final piece on side two is a rapid fire downpour of furious percussion. A unique addition to Z'EV's output, this release comes in an edition of 333 copies in steel plates. Each plate is sequentially hand-stamped, and each copy has an insert signed by Z'EV.”[label info] "Also by Z'ev, but from a historical perspective is a really beautiful 10": packed inside two metal plates which are stamped with 'Z'ev' and the copy number (of a total edition of 333 copies). It resembles that other metal packaging, by Chop Shop from so long ago. Crippled Intellect has released a 3" with historical live recordings before and this 10" features recordings made at the N.A.M.E. Gallery in Chicago in 1986. On the first side there is a rhythmic piece, which doesn't sound like it is kept in the same rhythm, but rather like an exploration of the sounds metal on metal can produce. Side B starts with slow rumbling of metal sheets being rubbed with balls which built in a peaceful way. The second piece is a fast drumming on metal piece‹maybe better known as Z'ev trademark playing. A fine addition to the already vast catalogue of material by Z'ev of which much is no longer available. It could also serve as a fine introduction to his work, in case you missed him out in the eighties." [Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly #411]
|
2003 |
€22.00 |
|
| |
Outwaard |
CD |
Einen ganz anderen Charakter als "Inwaard" nimmt der zweite Teil der Zusammenarbeit von Z'EV & FRANS DE WAARD an. OUTWAARD wird dominiert von schwer ächzenden & tiefbassigen organischen Klängen, Tiergeräusche sind vernehmbar aber so sehr verfemdet dass man sich wie in einem fremden Dschungel mit 10facher Gravitationskraft vorkommt.. (in der Tat beruhen alle Sounds auf field recordings von Frans die er in einem Kleintier-Zoo machte). Z'EV hat sich stilistisch mehrfach gewandelt, und OUTWAARD ist wieder ein beeindruckendes Zeugnis von seiner Transformationsfähigkeit.
Beängstigend gut !!
"For close to forty years z'ev has been at the absolute fore front of new musics. Playing his unique brand of percussive music he gained a lot of attention, but in more recent years he returned to working with electro-acoustic manipulations. Since 2003 he has also begun a wide ranging series of collaborations, working with Francisco Lopez, Stephen O'Malley, David Jackman/Organum and Oren Ambarchi among others. One such ongoing collaboration is with Frans de Waard, with whom he released 'Forwaard' in April 2007 and 'Outwaard' is the next installment. Whereas the sound sources used on 'Forwaard' where of a varying nature, on 'Outwaard' they were all made at a petting zoo in Kleve, Germany. These recordings which are 'recoded' by z'ev into a forty minute, densely layered pattern of musique concrete. Many of the animal call like sounds disappear in the 'recoded' version and makes a particular strong work, but occasionally one returns and leaves a no less than haunting listening experience. The cover contains field photography Frans de Waard and was designed by Meeuw Muzak. It comes in the 15x15 cm cover that Korm Plastics has used before." [label info]
www.kormplastics.nl
|
2007 |
€13.00 |
|
| Z'EV & BOYD RICE |
untitled |
mLP |
"... This vinyl EP features two untitled tracks. One side plays at 45 rpm, and the other side plays at 33 rpm, with the two sides clocking in at around eight and 16 minutes respectively. Both sides feature vocals by Boyd and percussion by Z’EV, with the source recordings having been subjected to extensive post-production treatment by Z’EV. Although the sound sources used here are vocals and percussion, it would really be impossible to know this without being told – Z’EV’s treatments of time and pitch shifting, distortion and stretching have radically transformed the source material into a dense, churning mass of textured drones and abstract noise, with shimmering metallic tones swooping and falling, interspersed with low rumbles which could conceivably be derived from a human voice slowed down way beyond the point of comprehensibility. Anyone expecting to hear something like NON’s ‘Total War’-era works of martial rhythms and stridently declaimed rhetoric will be disappointed – this record is much more akin to NON’s earlier pure noise pieces like Pagan Muzak and Rise. In terms of Z’EV’s work, this is quite similar to his collaborative releases with Hati and Stephen O’Malley of Sunn 0))), both of which involved his collaborators creating source material which Z’EV then treated in this way." [Heathen Harvest]
"This stunning 12" brings together two long-time San Francisco friends and legends of the Industrial music scene, both active since the late 70s! Boyd Rice is well-known for his project NON and for his collaborations with Death In June, Rose McDowall, Coil and Tony Wakeford to name but a few. Z'EV is a prolific composer and conceptual artist, who utilises metal percussion and electronics to create mystical rhythmajik - and who is also known for his collaborations with hard-hitters such as Stephen O'Malley, Oren Ambarchi, Psychic TV, KK Null, Organum and many more. Two lengthy and exclusive tracks! Ltd x 1000 copies on marbled vinyl." [label info]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2008 |
€15.00 |
|
| Z'EV / DAVID LINTON |
Untitled |
CD |
Diese CD erschien zum Anlass des - leider sehr mässig - besuchten Konzertes in Bremen am 11.November 2006, wo die Besucher Zeuge eines fantastischen DAVID LINTON-Konzertes werden durften.
Auch die CD überzeugt mit 4 Stücken: ein kurzer obskurer Z'EV live-Mitschnitt mit cut-up voices aus London vom April 1990, ein exzellentes fast 20minütiges neues Power-Ätherdrone-Stück (Zusammenarbeit von LINTON und Z'EV), ein Live-Mitschnitt einer LINTON-Performance (New York Mai 2006), und ein ebenfalls sehr frischer Remix von LINTON von Z'EV source-Material. Ein kleiner, fast unauffälliger Release, der dem geneigten Drone-Fan aber sehr ans Herz gelegt sei!!
"A four track CD released in conjunction with a live concert on the 11. November 2006 in the 'Lagerhaus' Bremen, feat. Exclusive tracks by
Industrial Music legend Z'EV and New York based percussionist and multimedia artist DAVID LINTON who has worked with among others: Lee Ranaldo, Glenn Branca, Rhys Chatham, Diamanda Galas, Christian Marclay and Elliot Sharp. Each artist is featured with a solo track plus a remix of the other artists material. Limited edition of 500 numbered copies. Playing time: 60:36 min.
Track listing:
1. Z'EV 'Soliloquy #1' 11'11
2. Z'EV 'Not Nil' 19'58
3. DAVID LINTON 'Emerald Portal Excerpt - Part 1' 22'27
4. DAVID LINTON '7/11 elective-RE:mix_Z'EV' 7'00" [label info]
|
2006 |
€12.00 |
|
| Z'EV / FRANCISCO LOPEZ |
Buzzin' fly / Dormant spores |
CD |
Zwei lange Stücke auf dieser beeindruckenden CD, die auf gemeinsam erstellten Klangquellen beruht. Das 32 minütige "buzzin fly" von Z'EV ist ein atemberaubendes Dronescape voller aufblitzender und schneidender Sounds, bei LOPEZ wird daraus eine 40minütige Versenkungsübung, wenn mächtige Eisberg-Drones auftauchen und wieder verschwinden gerinnt die Zeit, hier tun sich furiose Welten auf ..... genius stuff !!!!
"A sensational collaborative album between Z’EV, one of the forefathers of industrial music, and renowned Spanish artist Francisco Lopez, known for his releases performances and installations worldwide. Z’EV’s ‘buzzin’ fly (in loving memory of Tim Buckley)’ is a full spectrum 32 minute piece full of dynamic shifts, sonic worlds and can be described as oceanic in feel. Lopez’s ‘dormant spores’ takes 40 minutes to run it’s course, and is perhaps a more meditative piece than Z’EV’s, but no less challenging. Lopez skilfully crafts minimalist hypnotics that can be as destructive to delicate eardrums as they are captivating. Both
works complement each other and form a powerful album that Lapilli and Black Rose Recordings are happy to release." [label info]
"...Lopez more than Z'EV, but both are avid collectors of sound material from the world that surrounds us. Lopez is the man with the microphone, while Z'EV does that too, but he also is on the look out for material to play his percussive music on. Throughout Z'EV's career percussion music has played an important role, but the studio has had a likewise big role in his work. Using the studio (no doubt a harddisc these days) to its extreme, using as many tracks as possible to make subtle shifts and changing patterns throughout the piece. Perhaps the opposite of how Francisco Lopez: using sometimes just one or two sound sources and exploring them through radical equalization. Before he did this using a very low audible range for his music, but lately he has shifted towards audible material, but in cut-up/collage way. Here it is no different. The sound sources of both are presented in a strong collage form, in which loud/soft material, sometimes with smaller blocks of silence in between them. A very intense piece of music.
In the five pieces by Z'EV things stay throughout on a more equal level, in which sounds seem to shift and phase along side each other. The whole thing, rather one piece in five blocks than five separate pieces makes a highly psychedelic pattern of sounds moving in and out of phase. Two sides of the coin called field recordings and both sides, even when so different, are equally great. Powerful, intense and illusionary. Great stuff." [Fdw / Vital Weekly]
"Sadly, this is music that some would describe as “ambient”, simply because that seems to be the going term for music that doesn’t have drums or traditional style guitars. The problem with that definition is that it is considered synonymous with “nothing really happens” and there is a world of chthonic wonder to be found in the depths of the sounds herein. It’s virtually impossible that any fan of experimental or concrete music will not have happened upon the works of either Z’ev or Lopez in their travels. Each is prolific, respected and established within the community. The album is a split, rather than a collaboration (hence the divided title) with the first half, comprised of five shorter linked tracks, belongs to Z’ev, the second, a long single piece, to Lopez. The two halves are a nice match, with the almost blissful organic drift of the former leading nicely into the intense rise and fall of the latter. This release is all about the texture and progression of sound, so if you are looking for something that truly is ambient- something inoffensive that meekly fades to the background- you might want to look elsewhere. If you’d prefer to throw on headphones for something that will reveal itself more with each subsequent listen, you could do a lot worse." [KM, Adverse Effects]
|
2006 |
€13.00 |
|
| Z1// |
Drone Works # 1 |
maxi-CD-R |
"Since we greatly enjoy drone/ambient/dream Muzak a new CDr series called Drone Works has just been launched here at DANHUSER Org.
Each release contains one lengthy track and will be treated with the same hand-crafted, generic packaging as above. The series of course will be limited/unlimited, as we produce a first run of, let’s say twenty copies, and if there should be demand for more, we will produce yet another one and another one and so on and so on. Of course every follow-up edition will be marked as “The 2nd, 3rd, 4th Edition” etc. Apart from that there will be no difference." [label info]
http://danhuser.wordpress.com
|
2013 |
€5.00 |
|
| ZAMMUTO |
Solutiore of Stareau: Disc One |
CD |
Ungewöhnlicher minimal/digital-Ambient auf einem neuen Label der RIOUXS-Betreiber! Dies ist die Wiederveröffentlichung einer CD eines ursprünglich als 3 xCDR erschienenen Werkes, mit warmen Klangfarben & -flächen, die aber stark fragmentiert werden durch klicks & cuts, immer wieder gibt es kleine Veränderungen im Sound, trotzdem „fliesst es“ sehr eindringlich, und Harmonien tauchen aus dem Untergrund auf.. entspannend und beruhigend und doch nicht gewöhnlich oder langweilig..
“This disc one is a quiet atmospheric minimal soundscape. Distant radio waves floating in the night, warm drones rising and falling, punctured by a faint yet insistant pulsing rhythm. Deep listening in which surface variation is so subtle - getting lost in the recording for hours is almost inevitable IF YOU give it the time. Time well spent.” [press-release].
|
2001 |
€10.00 |
|
| ZANNI, ADRIANO |
Songs to the Sirens |
CD + BOOK |
"This work is loosely inspired by the title of a song by Tim Buckley included in his 1970 album "Starsailor" (a cover version by This Mortal Coil released in the '80s by 4AD was quite formative for me).
My passion for the sea, observed, listened and lived mainly - but not only - from the beaches of my land and during winter. A solitary invocation, a project still open, in progress for several years during which the photographs and field recordings used for its composition were collected, and assembled in its musical component during the months of lockdown.
The audio part opens with a track centered on the recording made on the morning of 23 February 2020, which then, ironically, would have been the last time I could see, hear and feel the sea before the forced isolation caused by the pandemic.
The sensory lack - visual, auditive and olfactory - that I suffered the most during isolation was that of the sea. To overcome this lack - as far as possible - I have composed, produced and mixed the audio tracks which are part of this album. As usual in my work, the photographs and sounds are complementary to each other and make up a single emotional and sensorial body.
A single contemporary, visual and auditory landscape." - Adriano Zanni
"On the edge of absence" by Mirco Salvadori
Standing on the edge of the vastness of the sea, the infinite space embraces our gaze creating emptiness, the same in which we got lost, each of us confined within the walls of our own flats. The undefeated storm was raging outside, while our imaginary boat did not emit even the smallest creaking, motionless and sheltered in its own absence. Yet thoughts returned there, on the edge of the immensity that had always been frequented, our feet sank on the shoreline of memories, our hearing distinctly perceived the Sirens' song: "Sail to me, sail to me, Let me enfold you, Here I am, here I am". Modulating the melody of the words, a guiding voice shaped by waves capable of unspeakable violence, a liquid essence able to penetrate and destroy, dragging the shipwrecked man towards the cliff of abandonment.
Adriano Zanni has listened to it, he has followed it trying to filter what it was whispering to him. He has travelled closed in his hermetic confinement with the constant presence of a poet who decided to welcome the last wave inside himself on a hot June day. What we listen here is nothing but their dense dialogue along a vast tract of beach that welcomes the two travellers, enveloping them in the sounds of marine space and time. It almost seems as if Zanni is attempting to drive away from himself the ghosts wrapping the continuous whispering of his travelling companion, filtering the sweetness of the dance of the waves, the shouting of the beaches crowded with summer heat, the footprint that sinks into the limpid substance, the unknown sound that hides in its depths, the murmur that turns into a song from which it's impossible to move away.
Just like water that penetrates between the rocks, reaching the most remote sea ravines, transforming itself into sonic purity, the echo of memories glides towards us, enveloping our innermost thoughts and inviting us to dive into the wave that wraps up its body before it is welcomed by the land.
A work that fascinates by transforming the perception of reality. We listen to sound, we dive into it, we get lost... Maybe all is just a dream, even our continuous swimming towards the open sea.
Adriano Zanni: photographs, field recordings, analog and digital electronics, resonances and sampling
13.silentes.it/private_sounds/sps2039_adriano_zanni_songs_to_the_sirens.htm
|
2020 |
€23.00 |
|
| ZAVOLOKA |
Suspenzia |
CD |
Hinter "ZAVOLOKA" steckt eine Frau namens KATERYNA ZAVOLOKA aus der Ukraine, die hier sehr spröde und gewagte Elektronik produziert hat, real experimental stuff for explorers, Stimmenexperimente, mad rhythms, Sinuston-Attacken, mal verspielt rhythmisch , mal die-hard digital, schwierig mit irgendwas anderem zu vergleichen.....
Dies ist die Re-edition des Debut-Albums CD (vorher auf ZEROMOON erschienen).
“ Kateryna Zavoloka is a musician from Kyiv city, Ukraine. This is an extended version of her first release Suspenzia. The sound of Zavoloka is very impuslive mixture of rich and dense however sometimes abstract analogue and digital noises, melodies and idm-like drums. Often unexpected music design and courses create an impression of body motion of a fighter in kung-fu drunken style. This release however called SUSPENZIA (in regards of Natalia Zhizchenko essay) that is "suspension" or "slip" in russian or ukrainian.” [label info]
|
2005 |
€10.00 |
|
| ZBEEN [ENNIO MAZZON, GIANLUCA FAVARON] |
Tonal Whiplash |
CD |
Tonal whiplash is a dissonance between tones, a lack of narrative coherence or the evil headache caused by a nonsensical explanation. One might argue that this is the defining characteristic of modern political discourse. Zbeen (Gianluca Favaron and Ennio Mazzon) translates this jarring disconnection into music, daring the listener to locate patterns and linear equations. But the mind is more creative than one might think. The more one plays these tracks, the more one detects some overall threads: isolation, dehumanization, menace. The warm cover image reflects a false sense of security.
Once again something is lurking around the corner, but while the duo’s previous installments inspired images of laboratories and aliens, the evolution of the news cycle since 2013 has sparked a brand new set of associations: technology, surveillance, encryption. The music now sounds like signals attempting to break through, hackers intercepting whispers, cellphones charging, then ringing unbidden. In real life, we struggle to make sense of all these buzzes and beeps, or we simply ignore them, content to be told that everything is safe so that we can continue to consume.
Tonal Whiplash defies its title. Each track adopts a particular pace, while the fragments of sound whirl around the speakers like shattered glass in a vortex. This sound and fury must signify something. An aerosol can is shaken; an alarm sounds; static breaks through the upper levels of the atmosphere. The music is not catchy, nor is it intended to be. It serves instead as an aural Rorschach test. What do you hear in these sounds? If the “warmest” seems like a cellphone (“Marciulionis’ Tash”), and the coldest the complete electronic stop in the center of “Tea Cube”, this says a great deal about our addiction to technology. But the titles themselves provoke tonal whiplash. This is not music for drinking tea and watching old videos of a Lithuanian basketball player; or is it? Have we become so acclimated that we no longer recognize tonal whiplash as such, or worse, that we recognize it, but now accept it as a way of life? (Richard Allen/acloserlisten)
https://capillarywaves.bandcamp.com/album/tonal-whiplash
|
2017 |
€10.00 |
|
| ZEALLEY, ANDREW |
Themes & Variations |
LP |
"ANDREW ZEALLEY: THEMES & VARIATIONS is the third installment in Zealley's "How To Explain Silence To A Dead Hare" series of vinyl project editions. The album showcases selected film, video, installation and performance music by Zealley, commissioned by visual artists - including Luis Jacob, Joey Medaglia, Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay, and Scott Treleaven. Produced by PSBEUYS, THEMES & VARIATIONS is released on Tourette Records (USA). This vinyl-only edition of 300 numbered LP's launches at Art Metropole on Saturday April 25, 1-3 PM.
On THEMES & VARIATIONS, Zealley intersects various aspects of his sound practise: field recordings, audio art, existential house, tonal mantra, and musical form/composition. At the center of THEMES & VARIATIONS are the scores for Scott Treleaven's trilogy of short films: GOLD, SILVER and LUSTRE. Composed and produced in 2005-2006, this group of instrumental compositions is punctuated, for the album, by four thematically-related works: APOTHEOSIS II, HABITAT THEME 2, SIGNAL, and ARENA.
TRACK NOTES:
The score to Treleaven's film on pandrogyny (starring Genesis P'Orridge and the late Lady Jaye Breyer), GOLD's cycling vortex of digital and acoustic sounds is followed by two variations on the same melodic and tonal themes: APOTHEOSIS II (an early audio sketch for GOLD), and HABITAT THEME 2 (developed for Luis Jacob's HABITAT installation at AGO). The plaintive love-pop electronics of SIGNAL, originally produced for Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay's CONSTELLATION performance piece, is newly remixed by PSBEUYS for the album. The swirling dream-scape of SILVER, the score to Treleaven's homage to John Dee (starring AA Bronson), is a seemingly endless sustain of electronics, violin and bell tones. ARENA, featuring the "beatbox" vocals of Luis Jacob, is the audio score to Joey Medaglia's video RE: FORM (BECOMING VISIBLE). An alternate version of ARENA's motifs can be heard on Zealley's exhibition soundtrack, AA Bronson School For Young Shamans. THEMES & VARIATIONS concludes with the 3-part score for LUSTRE, Treleaven's super8 tryptich starring Massimo & Pierce (Black Sun Productions). Here Zealley turns to a more classical interpretation of "themes and variations," literally voicing the score's tender melodic main theme (written for a local violin busker), through a series of pastoral string and oscillating electronic deconstructions.
ANDREW ZEALLEY: THEMES & VARIATIONS is mastered for vinyl at The E Room, by Peter J. Moore, and features performances by Luis Jacob, Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay, violinist Adm Shedden, and the PSBEUYS-directed Prospect Cottage Strings.
THEMES & VARIATIONS is released on Tourette Records (USA), catalogue number TOURETTE009, and is available online at www.artmetropole.com and directly from the artist's site.
more info : www.andrewzealley.com"
[website info]
www.touretterecords.com
|
2009 |
€25.00 |
|
| ZEITKRATZER |
(Old School) James Tenney |
CD |
"“Critical Band” (1988), “Harmonium #2” (1976), “Koan: Having Never Written A Note For Percussion” (1971). Zeitkratzer directed by Reinhold Friedl: Frank Gratkowski (clarinet), Hayden Chisholm (alto saxophone), Matt Davis (trumpet), Hilary Jeffery (trombone), Reinhold Friedl (piano), Maurice de Martin (percussion), Burkhard Schlothauer (violin), Anton Lukoszevieze (cello), Uli Phillipp (doublebass), Ralf Meinz (sound ). Recorded live at Philharmonie Luxembourg, Luxembourg, October 3, 2009. Recorded and mixed by Ralf Meinz and Reinhold Friedl, produced by Burkhard Schlothauer, executive producer: Reinhold Friedl.
“The internationally acclaimed “hilarious releases” [vital weekly] of Zeitkratzer records will continue with the new series [old school]. The first two CDs, dedicated to the music of John Cage [zkr0009] and James Tenney [zkr0010] are now released together. The collaboration of Zeitkratzer with William Bennett /Whitehouse [zkr0007], recorded live in 2009 in Marseille/France and Den Haag/Netherlands, will follow this summer. Later in 2010, the [old school] series will continue with two more releases, dedicated to the music of Alvin Lucier [zkr0011] and Morton Feldman [zkr0012] respectively. James Tenney’s music has been part of Zeitkratzer’s repertoire for almost a decade. This CD presents a new recording of Critical Band – Tenney’s late classic – with maximum clarity. Also included is the first recording of Harmonium #2. Both works demonstrate the remarkable power and resplendent sharpness which Tenney achieved by composing with pure tunings. Koan: Having Never Written A Note For Percussion for tam-tam completes this CD with an orgiastic listening experience in the form of a huge crescendo on this wonderfully simple instrument - from whispering to singing, culminating in shrill roaring and blustering – and it’s dark decay. Tenney’s music as a sensual sound adventure !" [label info / credits]
www.zeitkratzer.de
"...I'm less familiar with the ideas and music of James Tenney, so its a bit hard to say anything about it that is connected to historical knowledge. I learned from the booklet that Tenney created 'swell pieces': music for long sustaining sounds, played on traditional instruments (same list as above), which have an almost electronic feel to it. It works in the region of overtones. Its great music. Sounds swell, rise from below and beyond and make a dome like sound. Think Alvin Lucier or Phill Niblock and you get my drift. But whereas they seem to be operating from a more studio based environment this is all live, which makes it even more remarkable, since it sounds like many voices at once, more than what the list of instruments suggest. In 'Koan: Having Never Written A Note For Percussion' the tam-tam is played, making a low rumble, that swells up like a giant roar. Indeed a swell piece. Whereas the Cage CD is a fine release but perhaps something we already heard before, this Tenney release is mind blowing." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
"Das hochkarätig besetze Ensemble zeitkratzer streckt sich je nach Aufgabenstellung zum Himmel, wenn es sein muss. Bekannt geworden ist die Gruppe um Reinhold Friedl durch ihre pop-avantgardistischen Diskurs-Pogos im Grauland zwischen Neuer Musik und Improvisation, zwischen Noise und strenger Reduktion. Nach einem eher durchwachsenen Gastspiel auf der MusikTriennale Köln in diesem Frühjahr kehrt das Ensemble mit seinen beiden old school/Klassiker-Einspielungen zu konzentrierter Strärke zurück. Besonders die CD mit den Tenney Stücken, darunter der Klassiker Critical Band, zeigt, wie reizvoll es doch sein kann, jegliche Tonalität zu zerstören nach einem akkuraten Schlachtplan. In Koan: Never Written A Note For Percussion (1971) kommt dieser Ansatz zu einem grandios blitzflackernden, elektrisierten Finale. Die Cage Aufnahmen, mit den Stücken Four6, Five und Hymnkus weiß auch durch präzise Durchführung zu gefallen, hier sind es die Stücke selbst, die altersmilde aber auch weise anmuten." [Zipo / Auf Abwegen]
|
2010 |
€14.00 |
|
|
[old School] Alvin Lucier |
CD |
"1| Alvin Lucier Fideliotrio [1987] 12:10
for viola, cello and piano
2| Alvin Lucier Music For Piano With Magnetic Strings [1995] 13:21
for grand piano and as many as five e-bows
3| Alvin Lucier Silver Streetcar For The Orchestra [1988] 10:03 for amplified triangle
4| Alvin Lucier Violynn [2001] 09:38
for violin and tape
5| Alvin Lucier Opera With Objects [1997] 10:59 for performers with resonant objects
zeitkratzer
directed by Reinhold Friedl
|| Burkhard Schlothauer < violin, viola, objects || Anton Lukoszevieze < violoncello, objects || Uli Phillipp < objects || Reinhold Friedl < piano, objects || Maurice de Martin < triangle, objects || Frank Gratkowski < objects || Hayden Chisholm < objects|| Matt Davis < objects || Hilary Jeffery < objects || Ralf Meinz < sound ||
[1-5] recorded live at Philharmonie Luxembourg, Luxembourg, October 3, 2009
[4] recorded at GreenHouseStudios Schwielowsee, Germany, June 4, 2010
recorded and mixed by Ralf Meinz and Reinhold Friedl, produced by Reinhold Friedl
Beautyfull Lucier compositions, recorded at the Philharmonie Luxembourg. Including: Silver Streetcar, Fideliotrio, Music for Piano with Metal Strings, Violynn, Opera with Objects.
And the thirs release in the series [old school] now !
“zeitkratzer are creating a New Music, worthy of the name!”
[Rob Young, The Wire Magazine]
The internationally acclaimed “hilarious releases” [vital weekly] of zeitkratzer records go on. This is the third release in the new series [old school]. The first two CDs, dedicated to the music of John Cage [zkr0009] and James Tenney [zkr0010] have been highly acclaimed. London’s Wire Magazine wrote: “The rigour and discipline they collectively bring to this compositions make both discs utterly enthralling, from start to finish.” The new release is dedicated to the music of Alvin Lucier.
In 2011, the [old school] series will continue with two more releases, dedicated to the music of Morton Feldman [zkr0012] and Karlheinz Stockhausen [zkr0014] respectively.
Alvin Lucier is one of the most outstanding American minimalists. He could be called a sound physician and his compositions regarded as acoustic research settings. Often his pieces turn inside-out the inner properties of the room they are played in and the instrument that they are played on. zeitkratzer had the chance to work with the composer in Dijon, France in 2008, and continued to work on and to program his music in different places. The Philharmonie in Luxembourg turned out to be the ideal space for recording.
On this CD you can hear how Lucier enables zeitkratzer to create sounds, most people have never heard before. Ringing overtones, a singing piano, a thrilling concert triangle, pencils on little objects, and how irritating a violoncello, a viola and a piano can sound together creating sonic interferences. This music is not only a physical phenomenology, but becomes inherently a sensual listening experience." [full press release info]
www.zeitkratzer.de
"In der Reihe [old school] arbeitete ZEITKRATZER dieses mal mit dem amerikanischen Minimalkomponisten Alvin Lucier im Auftrag der luxenburgischen Philharmonie zusammen. Herausgekommen sind 5 Stücke die sich alle mit Obertönen und dem akustischen Phänomenen der gegenseitigen Klang-/Tonaufhebung, bzw. Beeinflußung befassen. Das Prinzip kennt jeder: Ein durchgehender Ton trifft auf einen schwingenden Ton und man meint, dass auf einmal beide Töne schwingen würden, was aber nachweislich nicht der Fall ist und eben ein solches akustisches Phänomen ist. Treibt man die Sache nun bewußt voran und lotet diese Grenzen klangtechnisch und kompositorisch aus, kann man wirklich sehr interressante Effekte im Raum und für eine Aufnahme erzeugen.Klänge verschmelzen und erzeugen dabei neue Musik! Großartig und spannend zugleich und gar nicht kopflastig, sondern wirklich sehr seltsam, wunderbar und auch noch schön anzuhören!" [Carsten Vollmer / Ox-Fanzine]
"Old School is a series of works performed by Zeitkratzer Records dealing with one composer, although they are not always 'old' (as in 'still alive'). Following James Tenney and John Cage (see Vital Weekly 724), the ten piece ensemble performs here works by Alvin Lucier, another particular hero of mine. Lucier doesn't just compose pieces of music, he explores sound, and the way they move around in space. Zeitkratzer keeps to the scores, most of the times, such as in 'Silver Streetcar For The Orchestra', in which the triangle plays an important role or in 'Opera With Objects', where the orchestra plays with small objects indeed. These are the compositions by Lucier which are 'free' in a way: a set of instructions to be performed and Zeitkratzer is, as we know, good at that. The more fixed pieces here, 'Violynn' and 'Fideliotrio' (which I must admit have never heard performed anywhere else) seem to be following the score more careful, i.e. playing the right notes at the right time. Zeitkratzer does an absolute great job at that. Lucier's originals are expanded here into small ensemble pieces and each instrument gets his own place in the composition. Five excellent executions thereof. Old master pieces." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2010 |
€15.00 |
|
|
Zeitkratzer performs Songs from 'Kraftwerk' and 'Kraftwerk 2' |
LP |
Format: 180gr LP incl. DL code + insert, 500 items
Release date: march 24th 2017
#DOUBLE BIRTHDAY RELEASE !! KARLRECORDS celebrates its 10th birthday, ZEITKRATZER even its 20th! And the party starts with the necessary re-interpretations of early compositions by electronic pioneers KRAFTWERK.
Founded in 1997 by REINHOLD FRIEDL, ZEITKRATZER have since been creating an impressive catalogue of recordings that embraces 20th century avant-garde composers (CAGE, STOCKHAUSEN, LUCIER) as well as electronic artists (CARSTEN NICOLAI, TERRE THAEMLITZ) or underground experimentalists like THROBBING GRISTLE or COLUMN ONE. In their 20th anniversary year, the critically acclaimed ensemble will release a series of diverse albums that will explore new grounds in the typical, adventurous zeitkratzer way – the first of these albums is dedicated to KRAFTWERK and their early, kraut-esque albums “Kraftwerk” and “Kraftwerk 2”. As KRAFTWERK never re-released these albums, ZEITKRATZER gave its best to cover the first tranche of the songs (second tranche to come…).
Recorded in Marseille / France in May 2016, the six tracks reveal a bucolic and even psychedelic aspect of the ensemble that’s mostly known (or feared) for its interpretatory and aesthetic acerbity. And yet there’s no doubt that “Songs From The Albums „Kraftwerk“ And „Kraftwerk 2“ turned out a true ZEITKRATZER recording in the best and full meaning!
zeitkratzer directed by Reinhold Friedl
Frank Gratkowski / flute, clarinets, Elena Kakaliagou / french horn, Hilary Jeffery / trombone, Reinhold Friedl / harmonium, piano, Didier Ascour / guitar, Maurice de Martin / drums, Lisa Marie Landgraf / violin, Burkhard Schlothauer / violin, Elisabeth Coudoux, violoncello, Ulrich Phillipp / double bass
Recorded and mixed by Martin Wurmnest
Mastered & cut by Mike Grinser at D&M, Berlin
www.karlrecords.net
|
2017 |
€18.00 |
|
| |
Zeitkratzer performs Songs from the Albums 'Kraftwerk 2' And 'Kraftwerk' |
LP |
2nd volume of „modern composition supergroup“ (The Wire) ZEITKRATZER's re-interpretations of early compositions by electronic pioneers KRAFTWERK.
In more than two decades ZEITKRATZER has created an astonishing broad catalogue from the obligatory (20th century avant-garde composers like CAGE or STOCKHAUSEN) to the unexpected (electronic artists such as CARSTEN NICOLAI, TERRE THAEMLITZ or underground experimentalists like THROBBING GRISTLE and KEIJI HAINO) – but hardly anyone was prepared for the ensemble’s choice of early KRAFTWERK pieces! When volume 1 was released in 2017, ZEITKRATZER founder and director REINHOLD FRIEDL announced that there'll be a volume 2 of course – and here it is::
from the opening drony horns of „Harmonika“ to the subtle guitar of the album closer „Wellenlänge“, the 4 tracks own all the interpretatory and aesthetic acerbity the ensemble is known and praised for.
The first album made it immediately into “The Wire office ambience” playlist and to the
“Best of Bandcamp Contemporary Classical Releases”: “ZEITKRATZER’s interpretations are bouncy, horn-driven motorik grooves, static explorations of pointillistic overtones, breathy Zen-like meditations, and rollicking rhythms.” The Spanish Rockdelux concluded: “Keep close and be happy to get more!” Sonic Seducer attested ZEITKRATZER to “uncover unexpected potential. It’s a blessing that the next KRAFTWERK is already announced!”
And here it is! Now you can listen to all the music of the first two KRAFTWERK albums “as gloriously played as one could ever desire” (Vital Weekly).
Recorded live at HELLERAU - European Centre for the Arts, Dresden in january 2019, „zeitkratzer performs songs from the albums „Kraftwerk 2“ and „Kraftwerk“ “ delivers the compositions that were still missing to complete zeitkratzer's stunning take on the early, hybrid kraut-esque electronic avantgarde albums “Kraftwerk” and “Kraftwerk 2”. Mission accomplished! A must-have. As German radio SWR agreed: “ZEITKRATZER is serious music turned from stiff to joy!”
https://karlrecords.bandcamp.com/album/zeitkratzer-performs-songs-from-kraftwerk-2-and-kraftwerk
|
2019 |
€18.00 |
|
| ZENI GEVA |
Maximum Money Monster |
CD |
"Re-issue of the legendary debut CD by Zeni Geva. Prepare yourself for the pounding, monolithic Japanese noise / doom / post-rock barrage that is Zeni Geva. For fans of early Swans. Zeni Geva is Kazuyuki K. Null, Mitsuru Tabata (ex-Boredoms), Ikuo Taketani and Tatsuya Yoshida.Comes with 3 bonus, previously unreleased tracks, recorded live in Tokyo 1988-1989." [label info]
".... Musically, is like listening to an extreme version of Black Flag on acid and by the way guitars are treated you can understand the reason why K.K. Null collaborated with Merzbow later. I saw Zeni Geva live twice at the times of "Desire for agony" and I assure you that their nihilism was throbbing and alive, on and off stage (the guitar player that time was so angry for some reason that he beat his head against a wall of the bathroom). Thanks to this new Cold Spring reissue you can check their live sound on the three bonus tracks: "War pig" and "Skullfuck" (coming from this album) plus "Dead car, sun crash"." [Noisebrigade]
www.coldspring.co.uk
|
2008 |
€13.00 |
|
| ZENIAL |
Connection Reset by Peer |
CD |
"It's Zenial's first album in 6 years, and it shows his creativity in the context of live activity. It does not mean that 'Connection Reset by Peer' is a live album as such. Yes, the source material for the record was recorded live during sonic experiments and creating sound installations over the past few years. The album is not a compilation though-it's a well-weighed entity, thematically and sonically coherent. 'Connection Reset by Peer' is a result of interferences of environment sounds based to a large extent on electricity, radio feedback, electromagnetic field sounds emitted by current generators and elements of the so-called field recordings." [label info]
www.zoharum.com
"After six years Zenial, also known as Lukasz Szakankiewicz, returns with a release. Apparently he was occupied with playing live music in between, bringing him all of the world, even into Peru, Ecuador, Luxembourg and Kazakhstan. The four pieces on this new CD deal with works that were recorded over the past few years, live in concert or from sound installations. Zenial uses environmental sounds, but mainly those which deal with electricity, radio feedback and electromagnetic fields. Music which is entirely different than the one produced by Inner Vision Laboratory. Music that owes equal portions to musique concrete, noise and microsound, not necessarily in that order. This is where I think noise is interesting. Things buzz, crackle, hiss and form long wave sine tones, radio interceptions, stuck together in an interesting collage of sound. It reminds me of the work of Francisco Meirino with some minor differences. Zenial is through a bit louder on an overall level and is therefora little less dynamic. Also more than Meirino does, Zenial works with computer treatments and not straight with the sound material itself. Quite a loud release but one that works pretty well. For the strict lovers of noise probably too intelligent and perhaps that's why I quite enjoy it. The most curious thing is probably the inclusion of a remix by Michel Banabila, from The Netherlands. Best known for his (fourth) world music, but here he proofs he knows his way around with more abstract material, although far away, an ethnic influence can be heard. Maybe working on a new career as a remixer? It fits well here." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2012 |
€12.00 |
|
| ZGA |
Sub Luna Morrior |
CD |
Die musikalische Sprache dieser legendären russischen Experimental-band um NICK SUDNICK ist schwer in Worte zu fassen: Haufenweise selbsgebaute Instrumente, oft auf Metallbasis, aber auch klassische Instrumente wie Akkordeon, Klarinette, Trompete, Spielzeug, etc.. und Gesang auf russisch. Es gibt Strukturen, sowohl harmonische als auch rhythmische, es gibt Gesang, Dynamik, Melodien und Gesangslinien, alber alles scheint in einem fremdartigen Parallel-Universum stattzufinden. Super! Dies sind letzten Studio-Aufnahmen ZGA’s (Januar 1995) vor dem Tod von Alexander Zhylin, der im März 1995 auf Tour in Italien tragisch verstarb....
“Latest recording by the ever deeper Russian instrument builders and masters of live electroacoustic/song/sound sculptures. Dangerous, Bitter, Desperate and Down to the Bone, but carrying a huge emotional charge and a rare beauty. This is lived music, both mature and profound.“ [ReR]
|
1993 |
€14.00 |
|
| |
Riga |
CD |
"One more of my favourite groups. Zga came from Latvia (they've relocated since to Russia) and this is a recent Russian CD reissue of their first (and for me also the best) album originally issued by Recommended in 1989. The tracks were recorded in 1987 and 1988 in a public apartment, played mostly on home-made scrapyard instruments (metal plates, springs, wood) amplified and recorded direct to a stereo tape deck. This is very serious and powerful music, extremely inventive and deserves anyone's attention. The reissue contains also some extra material reportedly from even earlier. Unfortunately it seems that this particular CD is totaly unavailable outside Russia. So, you can get it here. The group is still active and going strong. Thanks goes again to Hrempe for suggesting this." [Mended Records] |
2004 |
€13.00 |
|
| ZIMIAMVIAN NIGHT |
Zimiamvian Night 2 |
CD |
"Mike Bennett's guitar-based ambient drone is draped across sounds created on the other side of the world. Using New Zealander Christopher Orczy's harmonium works from his October release as a basis, Bennett recreates an entirely new majestic work. The result is a chilly, nearly mournful depiction of the sound of northern lights as they ascend and fall in the night sky. Bennett previously released his debut, Zimiamvian Night 1 on Infraction Records in 2005. It was a dark cavernous foray into Zoviet-style old-school ambient with tape loops and guitar-based drone. This new work is a leap forward in texture and atmosphere two years in the making." [label info]
www.infractionrecords.com
|
2007 |
€13.50 |
|
| ZINC ROOM |
Ash |
CD |
"The sixth album of Zinc Room coming from Ekaterinburg was recorded last for today, but thematically stands as a beginning of the spontaneously formed trilogy of "Ash / Shifting Soil / In Wooden Room". The author is traditionally true to himself in terms of sound sources and general approach - bass guitar, spiral springs, samples and natural elements (steel slabs, sand, dry branches, stones). Once again he was aided by the fellow Kein (Scratching Soil, Carved Image Of Emptiness, Prognostic Zero) who played keyboards and added some atmospheres. The music can be described as a mix of harsh industrial noise and cemetary dark ambient. For the fans of old school!" [label info]
|
2013 |
€12.00 |
|
| ZOVIET FRANCE |
Collusion (WHITE vinyl) |
do-LP |
"First vinyl pressing of ZF’s 1992 compilation of tracks for Mute’s Grey Area, spanning obscure cuts 1984-1991 ranging from signature, weathered ambient to grinding rhythmic noise and mindbending enigmas that affirm faith in music of the most mysterious sort." [Boomkat]
Original liner notes: “For many years we avoided participation in compilation projects, although opportunities were frequently presented to us. We have developed our music in such a way that it is most appropriately experienced in isolation. Therefore, allowing it to be presented in a form where it could be preceded and succeeded by other recordings, over which we would have no control, was alien to our intention. It also seemed (and in many cases still does) that compilation projects serve little purpose other than to fulfil the collector or editorial aspirations of the originator. In such circumstances the listener becomes little more than the end-user.
In 1984, following an approach from Jon Wozencroft of Touch seeking a contribution to Lands End, we revised our policy: we inverted the criticisms outlined above and sought to exaggerate them so that they became a positive technique in their own right. We encouraged the active and overt participation of the compiler so that the project would become more than the sum of its parts. In practice this required us to produce music akin to the incidental music produced for film and television soundtracks, music that could be cut up, manipulated and re-worked into new contexts, yet still retain its inherent characteristics. Now, with the general availability of sampling technology, the appropriation and translocation of music in this way is widespread, elevating the end user to a position of experiential collusion.
More recently, we have adopted a more closely defined stance, working only with those projects behind which we can perceive a unifying concept, either of form or purpose. Most of the recordings on this CD were created in this context and therefore represent a degree of creative input on the part of the labels concerned – Prometheans all!” |
2020 |
€30.00 |
|
| |
The Decriminalisation of Country Music |
do-LP |
\" * 300 copies * As Glasgow\'s Tramway building evolved from train station into arts space, Zoviet France were present recording the ambient sounds for use in their commissioned themes for the Scottish Arts Council. Though you\'d hardly believe it from the mostly non industrial nature of these very comfortable soundscapes. Five tracks range between five and twelve minutes apiece and the remaining four serve as in-between filler. In \"Something Spooked the Horses\" a constant warm drone and panning scratchiness are overlaid with yearning strands of pedal steel guitar. \"Electron Gate\" gently pulsates a bass loop as microscopic bits click and fuzz. \"Pyroclastic Flow\" is noisier with some possible power tool abrasion honed into layered drones. \"Spiiltek\" is dancing plastic chips and electronic blips which relinquish to the deep bass waves beneath.
\"Light Abrasion\" closes with a higher pitched wall of sound and occasional cricket like chirping. All in all \"Decriminalisation..\" is an engaging work of auditory art. And it\'s as suited for busy high brow art rooms as it is lonely late night bed rooms.
|
2022 |
€33.50 |
|
| ZSOLT SORES |
Astro-Noetic Chiasm (Ahad's Flux Worlds 2) |
LP |
Representing Ahad's 'Flux Worlds 2', this album arrives as the companion to the 'Flux Worlds 1' DOUBLE-CD, 'Memo Point Soundmap...'. Recorded live, 'Astro-Noetic Chiasm X' once again takes us through an immersive setting where real time electronics converge with improvised viola, percussion, cello, trumpet, synths, gadgets and so on to create vast washes of avant-garde turbulence that assumes a stance rarely seen outside very early electroacoustic-
flavoured kosmische music or abstract droneworks.
https://hingethunder.bandcamp.com/album/astro-noetic-chiasm-ahads-flux-worlds-2
In listening to Astro-Noetic Chiasm χ by Zsolt Sőrés, one quickly has the impression that the sounds being heard are coming from an anomalous nowhere. As if they were not generated here but received from there. They simply sound otherworldly. So, what is their actual address in space and time, as well as the sender’s or the receiver’s? How are we to identify them?
We could of course try to single out the sonic settings and processes we hear according to the technology that produced them (unconventionally played musical instruments and diverse electronic sources), but this strategy would be counterproductive in terms of poetics. Sőrés is not a technocrat and the titles he gives to his pieces reference philosophical concerns that are represented both conceptually and sonically. In his dystopic sonic fiction he is a time traveler, but not the one we know from science fiction; rather than going against time to generate an extraterrestrial experience, he composes present, past, and future the way we compose our percepts, affects, desires, or utopias. Once the sound he or his sonic collaborators create starts to evolve in space-time, the battle to control its identity begins. This does not necessarily mean mastering a sound in terms of appropriation, but grasping it conceptually, purposefully registering its existence in order to use its physicality as a potential means of expression. Naturally, not all generated sounds are worthy of Sőrésʼs aesthetic attention or utilization, only those that his experience identifies as suitable vehicles for significant differentiation. This happens in real-time, composed improvisation, scored for five musicians; on this recording are trumpet player (Franz Hautzinger), two cellists (Anthea Caddy, Judith Hamann), sound effects producer (Mihály Kádár), and Sőrés himself playing viola with the help of various objects and devices.
And so, welcome to Ahadʼs sonic garden and lend your ear to the flux sound manifestations of “astro-noetic chiasms” that are woven successively and synchronically into a pliable decentralized patchwork, visually represented by the hermetic symbol χ in the pentagonal “middle” of the non-hierarchical score. Sőrés as composer does not approach his work in a centralizing way, he designs flexible structures so that musicians can playfully recombine and deconstruct the entire central structure and linear order. Ahadʼs creative philosophy simply refuses to think in terms of a restrictive and pointless metaphysics.
Jozef Cseres
April 2022
"For a moment, I thought this was the re-issue market going bonkers. Didn't I review a CD with this title two weeks ago? While I said, it was the best piece on the CD, I don't think it needed a re-issue on LP immediately. I am wrong, of course, not for the first time. I am just confused by the words 'Flux Worlds'. Effectively, this LP is an extension of the double CD and contains a recording from a concert from January 2022 at the "Ultraschall Berlin - Festival für Neue Musik" at Heimathafen Neukölln, and Zsolt Sőrés plays with some guests, such as Franz Hautzinger (trumpet), Anthea Caddy (cello), Judith Hamann (cello) and Mihály Kádár (live sound, effects). The man himself is on the 5-String Viola, Cymbal on the Top of the Viola, Vibrating Objects, Mole-Rat Electromagnetic Field Explorer, Domino Synth, and an EBow. One Jozef Cseres delivers the liner notes, which I didn't quite comprehend, but I loved the words "sonic fiction" in there. I understand there is some composition at the core of all of this, but I believe there is some freedom of interpretation. Like with his double CD, improvisation plays an important role, going hand in hand with a love for all things sonically forceful. This LP connects to the final piece on the 2CD in that this is, most of the time, at least, a work of loud, aggressive droning. The instruments are all amplified, there is some voice material (on the second side), and the ritual aspect plays a role. I wrote that this is the kind of music by Zsolt Sőrés where I can see a dialogue with sounds and instruments, and that's what works best here. Buy the LP and download the music; thus, it is possible to enjoy the whole work uninterrupted. I know, people like vinyl, but in work like this, I think the constant flow is an important factor for enjoyment." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2023 |
€20.00 |
|
| ZUCCHERI, MARINO |
Parete '67 |
LP |
"In the world of artifacts, there are the known, the unknown, the forgotten, and the lost. An artefact may pass easily between the four, entirely at the mercy of the care it is offered, or which finds along the way. The music in question – Marino Zuccheri’s Parete 1967 Per Emilio Vedova, an massive electronic composition created by the multi-talented engineer of the famous Milan RAI Studio of Phonology for the Italian Pavillion at the Montreal Expo ’67, is one such case. It began as part of something known – a wild, sonic public event, was almost entirely forgotten, becoming lost and then unknown. It wasn’t until 2005, when these recordings entered the orbit of Die Schachtel, that anyone had been able to hear them since they were made in 1967, offering their world premiere. As is often the case, the limited edition LP quickly sold out and drifted from view. Finally, after more than a decade long wait, Die Schachtel has wondrously pressed it again, allowing its beautiful challenges to reenter the world. Parete 1967 Per Emilio Vedova is one of the great artifacts of 1960’s Italian avant-garde – a wild, grinding metallic expose which sucks the ear into its depths, made, like so much of the best work of the era, in the spirit of collaboration and the meeting of two minds. Die Schachtel’s edition is the realisation of a life long dream of Marino Zuccheri’s to see this recordings issued. Pulled from the original tapes in his archive, and working closely with him before his death in 2005. A true wonder of towering historical importance. As essential as it gets for any fan of experimental music, or the history of the Italian avant-garde."
www.die-schachtel.com
|
2018 |
€25.00 |
|
| ZURRIA, MANUEL |
Again & Again |
do-CD |
This is the third and final chapter of a project/research on "minimalisms" that the Italian flutist Manuel Zurria, acclaimed instrumentalist and passionate lover of the more adventurous contemporary music, began in 2007. The double CD include near two and a half hours of music, which reveal how much different the approaches to the beloved "minimalist" verb can be. And how much an inquiring and participatory interpretation can lead to exciting results.
In this brilliant collection Zurria not only "plays" pieces by some of the most important and exciting composers on the international scene, but "it makes them its own", reinterprets them, adapts them to his sensitivity, finally making a "version" that transcends the limits of the genre. Here you find an exhilarating review (transgressive but, in a personal and deep way, "faithful") where the research spirit of Zurria introduces us to old and new authors from Eastern Europe (such as Sáry, Szemző, Demoč, Kabelis, Mažulis) and makes us re-know essential musicians such as Riley, Reich, Glass, Tenney, Skempton, Volans.
Music that will make you fly!!
Manuel Zurria is an Italian flutist and multi-instrumentalist of international fame. He worked with composers such as Sylvano Bussotti, Aldo Clementi, Alvin Lucier, Salvatore Sciarrino. Composers from around the world wrote pieces for him; in between them Giancarlo Cardini, Philip Corner, Noah Creshevsky, Bernhard Lang, Mary Jane Leach, James Saunders, Stefano Scodanibbio, Jacob TV and many many others.
As a performer he played the music of Terry Riley, Arvo Part, Frederic Rzewski, Alvin Curran, Kevin Volans and a plethora of others, all around the world in international festival and concert series.
He recorded wih BMG Ariola, Mode, Stradivarius, Ricordi, Die Schachtel, EdiPan, Capstone, Another Timbre, Mazagran, Megadisc, ANTS. He's author of a unique discographic project on Minimalism in 3 parts and 7 CDs ("Repeat!" by Die Schachtel -2007-, "Loops4ever" by Mazagran -2011- and "Again & Again" by ANTS -2020-).
2 CD set, comes in a gatefold cardboard cover with 12-page colour booklet with liner notes by the author in Italian and English.
https://ants4.bandcamp.com/album/again-again
|
2020 |
€16.00 |
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| ZYLO, ARVO |
UPHEAVAL |
CD-R |
In 2005, Arvo Zylo constructed a drone piece out of several layered samples from pop divas holding sustained notes. It was submitted to a compilation with this information ahead of time, and rejected out of fear of copyright retribution. Thinking that since no single sample therein is easily recognizable in the slightest, "Upheaval" was reworked in a total of 100 different versions, the final version being four hours long ("The torture has been transcended" - WIRE Magazine).
This release, which has been released in a cassette edition at Czech label Nova Alternativa, is now available on pro CDR in the states. More than just drone material, it traverses several different approaches, from soundtracky ambient "vistas" to abrasive industrial repetition.
https://nopartofit.bandcamp.com/album/upheaval-2
"It has been a while since I last heard some new music from Arvo Zylo, following quite a bit of his work on LP, CDR and cassette. Much of his work is about noise, but not exclusively, which he proofs on 'Upheaval'. In 2005 he "constructed a drone piece out of several layered samples from pop divas holding sustained notes", and submitted to a compilation, who refused out of being sued by said (sad?) pop divas. That piece was worked over by Zylo for 100 times and on this CDR we get 'Upheaval Version 93' to 'Upheaval 99". It was previously available as a cassette by Nova Alternativa, and now as a great looking CDR. As is to expected you couldn't recognize any pop diva in here and let it be known I could not name many pop divas, old or new, but the nature of Zylo's processing means that is surely not the case to recognize any of it. As his tools, Zylo uses, so I believe, a combination of digital and analogue tools. The digital ones to pitch the material up and down and to get a loop going, while analogue stompboxes are used to further colour the material. At various times these transformations are taken to the extreme, enter Zylo's love for noise, with loops and sounds from the conveyor belts of an industry in decay, but also decay of a more subtle origin can be spotted in not so ambient but also not so noisy excursions such as 'Upheaval 96', which reminded me of Vivenza. I prefer that more 'subtle but not too subtle' approach by Zylo, perhaps more than the blunt noise of 'Upheaval 99'. It is, however, the variety of approaches here that makes this a most enjoyable release, even when the noise pieces could have been shorter." [FdW/Vital Weekly]
|
2019 |
€9.00 |
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| |
333 |
CD |
Originally released in 2010 on cassette and pro-CDR, then reissued as part of a "remix DVD" called "333REDUX", now finally available as a glass-mastered CD on 07/07/2023.
Some select quotes about "333":
"...this recording feels like it had to be made, and it transcends its limited equipment resources as if the music couldn't be stopped..."
"....Arvo Zylo's work is often the product of literal years of toil, the potent result of countless hours refining, perfecting, and focusing wild energies. Projects like his "333" and "Assembly" feel more like they've been finished in a metal refinery than a mastering house, their labyrinthine vertical layers chosen and fixed in place with firm force."
Scott Scholz/Tymbal Tapes/Words on Sound/KZUM's "Other Music Radio Show"
"First, I was really focused on the intensely constructed sequenced structure - then, today, I was struck by the more organic components that seem to grow around the more rigid parts. It is an intense listen, for sure. "
Mark Solotroff (Bloodyminded, Anatomy of Habit, Intrinsic Action)
"A technicolor nightmare..." "...A cyber punk thrill ride" "...totally assaulting music without actually relinquishing the conventional rules of what music should be." Drew Dahle/Auxiliary Out
https://nopartofit.bandcamp.com/album/333
|
2023 |
€5.55 |
|
| [AD]VANCE[D] |
poem#red128dot |
CD-R |
"Der erste Schritt Mars F. Wellinks nach der Auflösung des Vance Orchesters ist diese vermutlich limitierte CDR-Produktion im übergroßen Cardboard-Cover in Plastik aus Griechenland. Ein gegen 40 Minuten tendierendes langes Stück im entspannten Spannungsfeld zwischen Musique Concrete, experimenteller Elektronik mit ambienten Charakter inkl. wohl eingesetzten Fieldrecordings. Hier findet sich alles wieder, was das Vance Orchestra so unverwechselbar gemacht hat, eine organische Entwicklung, die den Hörer nie ganz losläßt, aber auch nicht knebelt und fesselt. Hervorragendes ambient noir, das aus meiner Sicht gar nicht hoch genug geschätzt werden kann. Gewidmet dem Andenken Geert Feytons (Noisemaker's Five, Negative Entropy und NMT Productions), der im Juli 2006 gestorben ist." [ [cs] / Bad Alchemy]
VANCE ORCHESTRA is dead, long live AD]VANCE[D]! This is the first release of the follow-up project of the split-up VANCE ORCHESTRA, Arnhem-based musician and designer MARS F WELLINK does it now alone! "Poem#red128dot" is dedicated to GEERT FEYTONS from NOISE-MAKER'S-FIFES, who died last year. A real sound-poem.
"Vance Orchestra from Arnhem are no more, but out of his ashes new paths are chosen. Robert Deters plays around with various people from the local scene, including Machinefabriek, while Mars Wellink goes on solo. As (ad)vance(d) he now presents his first solo work, I think, for the Absurd label. It has been around in their offices for a while, but it's release comes in handy. In various cities (Arnhem, Leiden, Molovos) Mars recorded some field sounds which he knits together to a thirty six minute sound poem. Voices play a role, but more over it's here to create an atmospheric piece of music. The backdrop is a sort of ambient piece of a wall of synthesizers, but it's too angular to be a dull piece of music. On top of that hotbed, Mars lets his recordings drop in and out of the mix, bird calls, insects, people walking and talking. Over the course of the piece things move away from the ambient patterns played at the beginning and moving into the world of strict soundscaping and then spiral back into the ambient backing of the start. A highly atmospheric work that is more like a sound picture, be it of different places, of sound moving in and from various directions than a strict music piece, more like a sound environment." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2007 |
€10.00 |
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| |
Two Events |
LP |
Waystyx goes vinyl! Fabulöses neues Werk vom niederländischen Projekt um MARS WELLINK, allerbeste atmosphärische Collagen-Musik und archaische Drone-Fliessmuster, loopig-pulsierende Strukturen in typisch VANCEiger Machart. Bisher seine überzeugendste Veröffentlichung! Limitiert auf 200 im Poster-Cover mit Postkarte!
"Not much info on this otherwise beautifully packed LP. The story should be known: following the split of Vance Orchestra, Mars Wellink started (ad)vance(d), together with Jan Dekker. The music of (ad)vance(d) is a continuation of lines set out by Vance Orchestra: that of the cross road of ambient music, bit of rhythm (mainly through samples) and a hint of industrial music. Two side long pieces, an event per side me thinks. The music slowly evolves and develops - the archetypical form of drone music, which is in these four hands in great form. Deep rumbles from below the earth's surface, which grow in intensity and take a big shape, almost without the listener realizing this. Voices (?) seem to mumble, the rattling of a bike, all against a nice, thick brick wall of sound. It reminded me of some of the best work of zoviet*france. The rotating swirls fit the medium, or the medium fits the swirls of sound. Two particular great pieces that one keeps rotating on end. Fabolous headspace
music." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
www.waystyx.com
|
2009 |
€16.00 |
|
| [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE, THE |
Isolation |
CD |
Zweites Album für das niederländische Projekt, anxiety-drones im Zwischenraum von Isolationism und dark ambient Industrial...
"the ritual as a method of coping with fear" is the basic thought behind 'isolation', which is the first output by the [law-rah] collective since the release of 'incarnation' in 2001. the emotionally triggered droning soundscapes, which are the collective's trademark, have the power of confronting the listener with his or her deepest inner fears.
the 44 minute track, built from drones, ambient noise and extreme frequency modulations, was created for and performed at the new forms festival in the hague, netherlands on june 7th 2002. the performance was (and still is) a collaboration between the [law-rah] collective (music) and juxtapose (choreography and dance). to underline the collaborative effort, a 12 minute video is included on the cd which holds outtakes of the actual performance. the video was shot with four camera's and produced by videopunx in amsterdam. 'isolation' was mastered by the [law-rah] collective at studio am rhein between december 2002 and march 2003. in order to reassure the performance's nature and concept, this cd has not been stripped from extreme frequencies and its live-dynamics; therefore care should be taken when listening to it at high volume. are you ready to confront yourself?” [press release]
|
2003 |
€13.50 |
|
|
Vesuvius |
12 |
Neues US-Label mit neuer 12“-Serie, wo um es die akustische Darstellung von Naturkatastrophen geht. Den Anfang macht das
[LAW RAH]-COLLECTIVE aus den Niederlanden mit einer bedrohlich-dark ambienten Umsetzung des Vesuvausbruchs! Goldenes Vinyl.
“...'vesuvius' is the second vinyl release on force of nature and the first in a series, where each release will be describing a different natural disaster. both tracks are around fifteen minutes in length and created with analog sound sources only. while the first side of the 12" describes the expulsion of volcanic gasses - solfataras - poisoning the air, the second side sketches a picture of Pompeii, herculaneum, oplonti and stabiae, each hidden under 10 to 75 feet of tephra (ashes). two days of volcanic activity killed over 3300 people. the design and packaging of 'Vesuvius' is explosive itself; slightly transparent golden vinyl resembling the power of the magma hidden deep inside the earth. An ash and smoke colored cover insert designed by dominick fernow of hospital productions not only gives a brief history of the volcano; it also acts as a guardian protecting the gold of an once so prosperous city which is no more.” [label info]
|
2003 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Inspiration |
CD |
"this time the [law-rah] collective is martijn pieck and bauke van der wal. bauke is the founder and original member of the collective, hence the first releases were the result of his twisted mind. during the years of law-rah's existence, he has collaborated with several people and re-evaluated the collective nature of the project. this in turn has changed a solo project with a weird name to a true collective of artists in both the audio and visual arenas. martijn and bauke have known each other since 1993 and shared many hours making music together. however, in the mid 90's both martijn and bauke went in different directions when it came to creating electronic music. in the autumn of 2007 the time was right and they once again started making music together. with this release martijn has become a full member of the collective and ideas for many future projects are already locked into their collective minds. "it's a new collective now. so a new i ... i (me) becomes us. after incarnation and isolation, now inspiration." (bauke van der wal)
compared with the collective's conceptual works like '1953', which was an earlier release by bauke and dutch writer, vocalist and member of the collective hiekelien van den herik, this album's subject is a more private and subliminal one. all track titles are related to baukes and martijns home town utrecht, and to the history they shared there over the years. a quote from a band both bauke and martijn appreciate is printed on the cover as a good example of their 'inspiration' and perfectly illustrates their thoughts about this town:
"this is the place where all roads meet, the place where all is secret. the place where time stands still in the comfort of night and love becomes will in the presence of light. i never want to leave..." (taken from 'terminus' by psychic tv)
musically, 'inspiration' can be clearly identified as a new step in the [law-rah] collective's exploration of their electronic microcosm. sub-bass lines and drones interact with beautiful idm'ish melodic lines that are complimented by pulsing beat sequences - inducing an overall majestic and sometimes melancholic impression. this music is filled with deep, haunting and phantasmagorial sounds that are expertly adapted to give one's fancy a full scope of emotion. more simply put, this is a inspired journey through two persons' past and present.
"the basics from the [law-rah] collective always was that you create your own imaginary movie and we'll take care of the soundtrack..." (bauke van der wal)
[full label info]
www.ant-zen.com
|
2008 |
€12.00 |
|
|
Field of View |
CD |
"additional engineering by manuel g. richter
photographs & layout by salt
by now it should be common knowledge that no two albums by our dutch friends of the [law-rah] collective are alike - their output is a constant journey of discovery. 'field of view', the eighth full-length cd in their discography, is no exception. for the first time the collective wrote and produced the music as a trio: bauke van der wal - the original initiator of the project - is joined by hiekelien van den herik (member of the collective on the albums '1953' and '...as it is...') as well as martijn pieck (a.o. 'solitaire', 'inspiration', '[ans]werk' and the soundtrack of the documentary 'verzet in indië').
this collaboration resulted in an album which has the typical [law-rah] signature: massive deep drones and minimalistic sound collages are accompanied by minimal sequences and (un)steady beats that blend into the alienating soundscapes or set the pace for memorably haunting, atmospheric melodies. in the vocal department hiekelien proves herself to be an amazing singer, alternating between spoken word recitations as known from earlier [law-rah] albums and one-of-a-kind songs.
'field of view' delivers a new chapter in the history of this prolific project's output - a fascinating insight into different perspectives, exhibited in a surprising and captivating album. the whole view we have of things, how we observe, what we see ... what is reality?... is reality really what we see?" [label info]
www.ant-zen.com
|
2012 |
€13.50 |
|
|
Innovation |
CD |
the latest output by the [law-rah] collective is called 'innovation'. on this release the utrecht based duo consisting of martijn pieck and bauke van der wal chose to explore new methods within each of the steps it takes to create an album.
the experiments have led to an album with seven coherent yet diverse tracks with a total playing time of just under an hour. from this perspective, the story that is being told never gets boring in any way. it grabs your attention from the first tones of 'the theory of co-evolution' and it doesn't let you go until the final moments of 'diffusion of innovation'.
while they were working on 'innovation' pieck and van der wal stayed close to the sonic palette for which the collective is known and appreciated; it's still those massive drones - or if you prefer noisey soundscapes - which at moments hurt either your ears or your emotions. but the album is called 'innovation' for a reason, so how the album was created has changed in all possible ways: sound sculpting, composing, mixing, mastering and even collaborating ...
the sound sculpting part was done all with modular synthesis. all sounds have been created from scratch, which was long trajectory of pulling and patching cables and intensive listening until the sound was what it needed to be.
as for the collaborating part, with 25 years of working together it was hard for pieck and van der wal to try something new. for 'innovation' the workflow of creation was considerably different than any other album by the [law-rah] collective. the outcome could have gone two ways: either all the tracks had no relationship to each other, or the tracks would form a coherent story with matching production.
with 'innovation' the [law-rah] collective asked themselves whether it pays off to leave the beaten track; to take a step back and question yourself and your ways.
it's a proven fact: 'innovation' has become a very intense and consistent album with a clear message. it's not for your average background listing sessions. the sounds are all over the frequency spectrum and the compositions are quite demanding to the listener.
it's intense ... it's dynamic ... it's innovative ...
https://soundcloud.com/raubbau/sets/the-law-rah-collective-innovation
|
2018 |
€13.00 |
|
| |
Tess |
mCD-R |
at first a solo dark ambient project created by bauke van der wal more than 20 years ago, the [law-rah] collective has evolved through the years for more diverse sounds while more and more collaborators were added (including martijn "cinema perdu" pieck).
"tess" is a kind of special release as it's a solo droney piece made by bauke.
tess
(19:53)
forever in our hearts
this time the [law-rah] collective is bauke van der wal
www.darkambient.net
https://taalem.bandcamp.com/album/tess-alm-141
"The [Law-Rah] Collective started as the solo project of Bauke van der Wal and later became a duo, with the addition of Martijn Pieck (also known as Cinema Perdu). 'Tess', however, "is a kind of special release" by Van der Wal solo. Now, when I think of Taalem releases, over 140 of them (and not sure how many I heard, but a lot surely), this would be the sound to describe the label. The music here is dark, sad, electronic, and thoughtful. It doesn't stay in one place but is on a constant shift. These shifts are minimal, but they all happen at the right moment. I have no idea how Van der Wal works (somehow, I think I may not have seen a live concert by him/them), whether this is modular electronics or computer-generated music, but it has a great warm feeling. From the opening drone, the pieces move on, paces the drones and slowly adds a metallic percussion in the background. Metallic and mechanic, I should think, like machines at work on a construction site or a life support system in the hospital. A sombre piece, but maybe that's also because of the 'special release' and 'forever in our hearts' note that comes with this. An excellent release, this one, very moving." [FdW / Vital Weekly]
|
2021 |
€5.00 |
|
| [SIC] |
Gorilla Masking Tape |
CD-R |
Hinter [SIC] verbirgt sich die junge Nachwuchs-Elektronikern Jen Morris aus Montreal, die hier auf sechs Stücken analog-elektronischen dark ambient entwirft, der aber sehr UN-minimal ist, d.h. sich ständig verändert & neue Sounds & Färbungen aufnimmt.
Sehr subliminal & z.T. mechanisch-maschinell, sehr zu empfehlen !
“Having listened to and zoned out on this release at least half a dozen times, it should be obvious what it is that is so compelling about [sic]'s compositions of dusty long drones, deep ambient spaces and bump-in-the-night tension, but it's not. On the one hand, this is difficult listening: all uneasy sounds and dischordant timbres rubbing up against one another to create an ambiguous feeling of dread. On the other hand, for those familiar with the work of like-minded artists like those featured on the quasi-legendary "Isolationism" compilation, [sic] fits perfectly into a already-defined niche of dark, brooding ambient characterized more by its claustrophobia than by its use reflection of space as an expanse. I could tell you that Gorilla Masking Tape is a beautiful, haunting record, or that it's alpha-wave inducing at the right volume, or that it's a perfectly quiet record for people who lead unquiet lives, but none of that really captures the force that these tracks embody. Perhaps the record's most defining characteristic is that it is indeed so malleable that it can be both loud and quiet, both serene and disturbed, both beautiful and terrifying and that it does all of this effortlessly. I often wonder what more can be said about music like this that is both barely there and a force of nature all at once, depending on your volume knob. I always think that it will be impossible for someone to release yet another essential dark ambient disc in a world where artists who do this sort of thing tend to have voluminous discographies of equally affecting work already. I think that, and then I hear a record like Gorilla Masking Tape and it suddenly all sounds fresh and important and essential again and I'm left wanting more. It doesn't get much better than that.”
[Matthew Jeanes - Brainwashed Brain]
|
2004 |
€11.50 |
|
|
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